Elizabeth stood up and walked over to Nicki grabbing her hand in a caring manner.
“This is not the same world,” she said compassionately. “We are not the same people. We are adapting to our environment and if we don’t continue to adapt, we die. This family is all we have. We can’t tolerate actions of people like Damion. There are no police to call. This is no legal system to ‘judge’ others for their crimes. It sounds strange, but we are all that we have.”
Elizabeth looked into Nicki’s eyes with empathy and then turned to the group and said, “We chose two punishments, death or branding. I vote we go will the lesser of the two evils, branding.”
Before Oz or Brian could say another word, BJ, Cali, and Randall raised their hands and in unison said, “Branding.”
Oz, Brian, and Luke remained quiet. This was not the punishment they would have chosen, but it was a family decision.
Several seconds later, Oz and Brian looked at one another and both nodded in agreement.
“Branding is the punishment,” Brian said while touching Oz’s shoulder.
The family never discussed what symbol, letter, or figure was to be branded on Damion or on what body part he would be branded. The subject of who would do it was never mentioned. So, without a conversation taking place, the family knew that Oz and Brian would be the ones to carry out the sentence. With nothing further to discuss, they each turned and went in a different direction.
SEVERAL HOURS AFTER the conclusion of the family meeting, Oz and Brian approached Damion alone. They both stared into his eyes and there was no mistaking their anger. The vote did not go in their favor, but as leaders of the families, they had the ability to change the outcome.
“The family has decided your fate, Damion,” Oz said.
“Death,” Brian said emotionless.
The look of defiance left Damion’s face and for the first time he spoke up.
“I didn’t mean to shoot you,” he uttered. “I was nervous and scared. If you let me go, I promise to never return. I won’t tell anyone about your location and what you have. Please, please, don’t kill me!”
Damion began to shake visibly.
“Too late,” Oz flatly said. “Death is your sentence.”
“You will be put to death tomorrow morning,” Brian began. “We’re not wasting bullets on you; they’re too precious. You’ll be burned at the stake. God have mercy on your soul.”
As they walked away, they could hear Damion sobbing and pleading for his life. Brian and Oz looked at each other and kept walking.
IT WAS TWO hours before sunrise when Oz and Brian walked into the basement. They told Randall he was relieved of duty and to get some sleep. Furthermore, they instructed him not to talk to anyone and go straight to bed. Damion heard the two and began pleading for his life again.
“I’m begging!” Damion moaned. “Please don’t kill me. I shouldn’t have done it. I know that now. Please, please.”
Without a word being said, Oz placed a dark blue pillowcase over his head while Brian cut the zip ties that prevented him from walking. Brian then helped him stand. Oz and Brian each held one of his arms and walked him out the basement door. Five minutes later, they stopped.
“This is the place,” Oz said. “Get the fire ready.”
Damion continued to plead for his life but Oz and Brian did not respond or say one word to him. Damion became silent and heard the stacking of wood.
“How high should I make the fire?” Brian asked.
“It doesn’t need to be too high,” Oz answered. “Once his clothes catch on fire it should go quick.”
“Please, please, please,” Damion quietly begged. “If you believe in God, please stop.”
“Should I put diesel fuel on it or start the fire the old fashion way,” Brian asked.
“Diesel fuel; it will be quicker,” Oz said. “We have a lot to do today, so the quicker we get this done the better.”
Damion could hear that more wood was being stacked somewhere closer to him when he heard the splash of what he assumed was diesel fuel. With the sound of a match being swiped across a matchbox, he froze. Several seconds later, he could smell the diesel fuel burning and the sounds of the crackling of the wood.
“I beg you, please,” Damion groaned one last time before resigning to the fact that Oz and Brian would not change their minds.
“I was thinking,” Brian said. “Maybe we should give him the choice. Death by fire or death by shooting.”
“Did he give you a choice when he shot you?” Oz asked.
“No, he didn’t,” Brian answered. “The difference is that I survived. He won’t.”
“Please, let me go!” Damion screamed. “Please. Please!”
“Damion, what do you chose: fire or a bullet to the head?” Oz asked.
“Neither,” he answered. “Please. Let me live.”
“Last chance to answer the question before we decide,” Brian said.
“Bullet,” Damion said before he let out a loud scream of despair.
“Fair enough,” Oz said. “Place him on the ground. I don’t want to clean up the mess of splattered brain everywhere. At least on the ground, the animals will do the job for us.”
Damion was making a moaning noise when he heard Oz ask, “Are we ready?”
“Ready,” Brian responded as he forced Damion to lie down face up on the ground. He took the pillowcase off his head but made sure he could not see anything by folding the pillowcase and placing it across his eyes.
Oz looked at Brian with a questionable look.
“What? It’s a good pillowcase,” Brian said.
Oz took out his gun, racked it, and placed the barrel of the gun on Damion’s temple. Before Damion could take another breath, he felt a searing pain before letting out a harrowing scream. His body contorted in all directions before his eyes closed and his breathing slowed.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER, Damion woke with Oz and Brian on each side of him. They were standing on the edge of the Zulu Papa property line. Damion felt his head and noticed that it was bandaged. Oddly enough, he couldn’t understand why. He didn’t feel any pain but at the same time didn’t feel right.
“I’m alive,” Damion shockingly said. “You didn’t kill me? Why?”
“Unlike you, we’re not killers,” Oz replied. “Like I said before, had you asked, we would have given you the supplies.”
“Instead of death, we chose branding; a permanent reminder of the animal that you are,” Brian explained. “We didn’t have to but we gave you a shot for the pain. You can thank the ladies for that. Here’s a small backpack with supplies. We’ve included three codeine tablets for the pain, Neosporin™ for the burn, extra bandages, and two days’ worth of food and water.”
Brian threw the backpack on the ground in front of Damion.
“If you ever come back, you will be shot on site,” Oz warned. “If you tell anyone where we live or what we have, we will track you down and kill you. The only reason you’re alive is because we still believe in civility. Are we crystal clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Damion responded. “Crystal clear.”
“Get off our property before we change our minds,” Brian said as his hand hovered over his Glock.
Without another word, Damion picked up the backpack and left the property.
He turned around and with a quick glance said, “I’ll be seeing you gentleman around.”
26
THE UNFORESEEN FUTURE
With everything they had been through, the violence, stress, long hours, and now a security breach, the families couldn’t recall how long it had been since the power went out. Had it been six, seven, or maybe eight weeks or more? They weren’t sure, but what each member did know was that they went through harrowing trials and tribulations to get to ZP, to get to the one place that would provide security and the opportunity for survival.
Even though they knew ZP would never be 100 percent impenetrable, it was their Noah’s Ark. It was the only fortress t
hey had and, as a family, they would need it to survive.
Oz and Brian knew the importance of community and made it a point to visit and have frequent conversations with Van. There was safety in numbers, provided you could trust the numbers.
Although Oz, Nicki, Brian, and Elizabeth knew Van personally, their family members and Van’s family members did not know one other. Oz, Brian, and Van agreed that they would introduce the family members; a meet and greet was in order.
Furthermore, they came to a consensus, at least in principle, that they would discuss the creation of a pact that would create a formal alliance between the ZP families and Van’s family. The pact would be an agreement to trade food, goods, labor, and specialized skills with one another.
In addition, they spent hours discussing how they would come to the aid of each other, if needed. With their properties connected to one another, it was important that they be there for each other to help with threats or security issues of any type.
With the discussions came many action items, including establishment of communication between ZP and Van’s property, establishment of an LP/OP on Van’s property, determining the exchange rate for food, goods, and specialized services like medical care, a plan of how to expand relationships to other property owners in the area, and even plans on partnering on a trading post.
THE ZP FAMILIES also had to consider food. Their ability to grow, preserve, and store food after the growing season would be absolutely critical in order for the families to survive. They had planted a bounty of fruits and vegetables, and provided they were able to harvest and preserve the majority of it, they would be well stocked until the next growing season.
In order to establish communications with the outside world, Oz and Randall removed the shortwave radios from the Faraday cages that had been stored in the basement of the cabin. Oz stored the radios in Faraday cages to ensure that they were protected from any unexpected exposure to highly-charged particles such as those seen from a natural or man-made EMP or solar flare. Once set up, they powered the units on. They worked.
With the help of Van and his family, Oz and Brian were able to erect the antenna and, with everything in place, they were able to establish radio communications with others across the United States and the world.
What they had learned was to be feared, and for the first time, Oz wasn’t sure they were prepared for what was to come. They confirmed that there were multiple EMP attacks. The first attack disabled everything connected to the grid while the second event was comprised of two attacks, one on the west coast and one on the east coast, that disabled everything not connected to the grid.
Information suggested that the attacks came from within the United States but were triggered from outside the country. Speculation said that Mexico was involved.
With the grid down and the U.S. military crippled, other countries exploited this vulnerability to further bring down the country. Oz learned that countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala were flooding the southern U.S. borders with hundreds of thousands of immigrants. With no Border Patrol or wall to stop them, the country was free for their taking.
Oz also learned that China attempted to seize all U.S. ocean ports on both the east and west coast. Initial attempts had been repelled by the United States military, but it was only a matter of time before China succeeded. There was even mention about the use of nuclear weapons if they attempted it again.
A woman from Alaska told the group on the radio that Russian bombers were now a daily sight. She also mentioned that there was no sign of the U.S. Airforce who in the past had always intercepted illegal flights before they penetrated U.S. airspace. This was further confirmed when a man in New Hampshire said that Russian bombers were seen flying freely over the east coast city of Dover, New Hampshire.
Within the United States, it was reported that ISIS sleeper cells were organizing and aggressively attacking. It was mentioned that some cells controlled entire cities. A man Oz was talking to in California told him that they were partnering with gangs such as the Crips, Bloods, MS-13, and Hell’s Angels to divide and conquer.
While scanning the channels, Oz overheard a conversation from a man in Illinois. He was discussing how the Department of Homeland Security set up FEMA camps to care and feed the masses.
For some unknown reason, the occupants of the camps mysteriously died and were buried en masse in coffins that had been pre-positioned prior to the EMP attacks. He explained that it wasn’t the occupants of just one camp who died, it was all camps.
While listening to the shortwave radio, Oz and Brian never heard the mention of the continuity of power within the U.S. government. No one knew if the President or his cabinet was dead, alive, or in a shelter somewhere deep underground. No one knew who was in control of the country. With no TVs, computers, and very few working radios, communication was at a standstill. The United States was in utter chaos.
AS IF THE world deteriorating daily wasn’t enough, each member of the ZP family had their own emotions to deal with. Even though each family member had their own trials and tribulations, it was Cali that Oz and Nicki were most worried about. She was slowly adapting to her new world but struggled to understand the “why” of many decisions and actions taken by the family.
Furthermore, she knew she had a role to play in the rebuilding of this new world, but with a foot in her old life, she was struggling to understand her purpose. She captured her thoughts in a poem she called From A Life….
From A Life….
Where civility used to be expected, and at times enforced …. to a New World of murder, rape, anger, and vengeance.
Where a greeting was a handshake …. to a New World where a weapon is displayed.
Where an ounce of food was easily thrown away …. to a New World where it’s worth your life.
Where a 1%er was to be envied …. to a New World where a 1%er was simply somebody lucky to survive.
Where $1,000,000 in cash would buy a wonderful life…to a New World where $1,000,000 would only be used to start a fire.
Where families would eat and attend sporting events together …. to a New World where family is the difference between life and death.
Where electronics provided a distraction and often simplified life …. to a New World where knowing how to start a fire or growing your own food keeps you alive.
Where you were innocent until proving guilty …. to a New World where you are judged and sentenced within seconds.
Where a scratch was treated with antibiotic ointment and a bandage …. to a New World where it can result in death.
Where I used to be able to sleep at night …. to a New World where I stand guard duty afraid to fall asleep.
Where I used to socialize with my neighbors …. to a New World where I fear them.
Where I didn’t question my faith …. to a New World where I can’t wait to see God and finally find peace…
Cali McTatey
EPILOGUE
Now that the families were together, would Oz and Brian be able to create a cohesive family unit who was able to adapt to their new life at ZP? Would they be able to defend what was theirs from those who wanted to take it? Would they be able to become self-sufficient and develop homesteading skills to support all of life’s requirements?
Could they successfully create a partnership with Van and his family and expand their relationship with others?
Would ZP be tested by organized or roving gangs as had happened in the past?
They had enough food for the short term, but were they organized enough to grow, preserve, and provide stores for the long term?
And the most important question: would life ever return to what it used to be; a world with power?
Too many questions and not enough answers. Regardless of how the McTateys, Tregors, and Brennans felt, the world would move forward either with them or without them.
The choice was theirs!
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Thank yo
u very much for reading Book 2: A Life Without Power, by Oz McTatey.
Once again, I would truly appreciate a 5-star review on Amazon.com. If you feel this is not applicable, please email me at [email protected] or [email protected]. I welcome any input or recommendations you may have that will allow me to continue my development as an author.
Very Respectfully,
Oz McTatey
The E.M.P. Chronicles (Book 2): A Life Without Power Page 13
