The E.M.P. Chronicles (Book 1): 458 Miles & 24 Days

by McTatey, Zayden (Oz)

  Lloyd kept guard as Randall and Nicki watched Cali and talked through the night about what had become of the world they previously knew.

  43

  You Can Only Live 3 Days Without Water

  HAVING TREKKED FOR FOURTEEN STRAIGHT HOURS, NAOMI said, “If it’s not one thing it’s another.”

  “I know. We need water. We’ll stop at the next pond or stream we come across,” Oz said.

  It didn’t take long before the group came across a small wet weather stream. He turned to the ladies and said, “I made sure we kept the water bottles because of their many uses; one of which is it disinfect water. Our two primary concerns with water are cryptosporidium and giardia.”

  Naomi, Cheyanne, and Oz approached the small stream. Oz took a plastic water bottle and filled it completely. He then took a clean sock, which he had in his Bug Out Bag, and filtered the water of solids by allowing the water to flow through the sock into another water bottle.

  “Ok, we’ve removed debris from the water. The big stuff,” Oz said. “We have to now disinfect it. There are a couple of ways. The first and easiest way is to boil it. It’s not an option for us because we need to save the remaining fuel for our camp stove. The second thing we could do is place the water bottle over the coals of a fire but not directly on the fire and let it boil for one to two minutes. We don’t have time to start a fire so we’re going to use a method using a tincture of Iodine. We’ll add five drops per quart to clear water; like the water in our bottle. Add ten drops per quart when the water is cloudy. We’ll let the bottle sit for thirty minutes before drinking. Now, it’s going to taste funny. Okay, terrible, but it will be safe.”

  Cheyanne made a face but was so thirsty she was willing to drink directly from the pond at this stage if she had to.

  “Oz, how did you learn this stuff,” Naomi asked.

  “Lots of books followed by lots of practice and many mistakes,” Oz said.

  With drinking water now replenished, the group foraged for plants, set a few snares, and made camp for the night.

  Cheyanne woke the next morning and saw Oz sleeping. She looked around and didn’t see her mother.

  “She must be on guard duty,” she thought.

  Before they started their daily trek, she thought it would be a good idea to take a quick sponge bath at the pond. She grabbed a t-shirt from her Bug Out Bag and headed to the pond. The morning was beautiful and as she stopped to listen all she heard was silence.

  “That’s the loudest noise I’ve ever heard,” she said to herself.

  She looked around, didn’t see anyone, or anything for that matter, and slowly took her shirt off. She placed the t-shirt in the water and cleaned her face, arms, chest and then placed her shirt back on.

  She took her pants off and began to clean the rest of her body when she heard an unfamiliar voice say, “Very nice. Don’t stop.”

  “Wish I had money to give her. You know, like at the strip clubs,” said another voice.

  Cheyanne quickly looked up and saw two men. Both men were dirty and didn’t take their eyes off her. One of the men appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, had rotten teeth, a ripped shirt, ripped pants, and duck tapped shoes. The other man had a scar going across his cheek and what appeared to be a broken nose. He had rotten teeth, dirty hair, and Cheyanne could smell him from ten feet away.

  “Can I help you?” she said.

  “Oh, yeah. You’re going to help us. Help us both,” the man with the ripped shirt said.

  Cheyanne quickly pulled her pants up and began running. She didn’t get more than five feet before she was tackled, flipped onto her back, and her pants pulled down.

  Cheyanne tried to scream at the top of her lungs but before she could say a thing a hand was placed over her mouth. The man with the scar began to take off his pants when the other man said, “Hey, it’s my turn. You went first last time.”

  “I went first last time because I found the woman,” the man with the scar said. The two men continued arguing with one another for another thirty seconds. This gave Cheyanne enough time to pull out the four-inch Cold Steel knife.

  With the two men still arguing, she ran the blade of her knife across the hand of the man who had his hand on her mouth. He instantly released his grip and yelled with a voracious scream that could be heard for miles.

  Cheyanne quickly rotated the knife forty-five degrees and drove it deep into the stomach of the man with the scar. He fell on his side and clutched his stomach. Cheyanne began screaming and running which instantly woke Oz up.

  Oz quickly scanned the campsite and didn’t see Naomi or Cheyanne. He grabbed his Glock and ran in the direction of Cheyanne’s voice.

  As the pond came into view, he could see the situation was well under control. He saw Cheyanne shielded by Naomi who had the two men at gunpoint.

  Oz ran up to Naomi and Cheyanne and asked, “What the hell happened?”

  “My daughter left camp alone. She didn’t wake up or tell either one of us. They were going to rape her and probably kill her. This will not happen again!” Naomi said looking squarely at Cheyanne.

  Cheyanne only looked down realizing she had made a huge mistake.

  “What do we do with these assholes?” Oz asked.

  “We castrate them,” Naomi said without hesitation. “Cheyanne let me have your knife.”

  Naomi took Cheyanne’s knife, turned to Oz and said, “Take Cheyanne back to camp. I have it under control.”

  “Are you sure?” Oz said.

  “Yes, I couldn’t be surer of anything,” she finished. As a precaution, Oz took out some paracord and tied both men’s hands behind them and bound their feet.

  “There,” he said. “A little extra insurance.”

  Oz took Cheyanne back to camp and remained ever vigilant just in case Naomi needed help. Before he could think another thought he heard the screams of one of the men followed by the screams of the second. Several minutes later he saw Naomi and asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Oz,” she said. “Who have I become? In the last days, I’ve been raped, my daughter was almost raped twice, I’ve killed, and now, I just cut the balls off two pedophiles. Oh yeah, I cut their ropes. If they survive, they get to live.”

  “You’re adapting Naomi. You’re adapting. I just need to remember to never get on your bad side,” Oz said as he began packing up camp.

  44

  Back Again

  “I WAS READING THROUGH YOUR DAD’S SHTF MANUAL AND I’LL be damned if he didn’t mention LP/OP. We had those in Vietnam. They were the first line of defense for us,” Lloyd said talking to his grandson.

  “After what happened last night, I think it’s time to find a good location and establish an LP/OP.”

  Randall was still focused on his sister and only gave a slight nod.

  “I’ll take care of it,” his grandfather said.

  Against the family rules, Lloyd went outside by himself. He looked the property over assessing the terrain and elevation. At first glance, there really was no ideal location for an LP/OP. As he continued walking the property, he noticed a location that would work. It was in the tree line in between Frank’s house and the McTatey’s. It would provide natural cover, allow for a 360 degree view of the property, and was well within a rifle’s distance to the house. The only problem was that it didn’t allow for much reaction time.

  “Better than nothing,” Lloyd said to himself.

  Before he could continue to the next task at hand he heard Nicki say in a snippety voice, “Father-In-Law, you never leave the house alone. This is your last warning. Do you understand?”

  “Understood,” Lloyd said looking down at his daughter-in-law.

  “Randall,” Nicki said over the radio. “Please come stand guard duty for your grandpa. He seems to think he’s invincible. Put your vest on under your ghillie suit and wear the PASG
T helmet. I want you armed with your Springfield and AR-15.”

  “10-4,” said Randall who appeared from the door several minutes later.

  As Nicki looked at her son she no longer saw the young man of weeks ago. She saw a man wearing a bulletproof vest, PASGT helmet, ghillie suit, and carrying two firearms. A man who would defend his family to the death. That was her son and she was proud of him.

  As Randall stood guard duty, his grandpa worked to create an LP/OP. It would provide an early warning to the family. With the tripwire securing the outer perimeter and the LP/OP securing the inner perimeter, the family had a simple but basic security system. It would give them the warning they needed.

  Lloyd used branches and downed trees to create the framework of the LP/OP. It needed to blend in with the environment and not easily seen.

  Randall scanned the entire perimeter of the house looking for anyone or any movement. The last thing he wanted was someone watching his grandpa constructing the LP/OP.

  After working on the LP/OP for eight hours, Lloyd had reached a point in the construction where it wasn’t complete but could be used. The last task of the night was to run telephone cable from the LP/OP to the house and connect the EE-8A phones. Oz bought the phones years ago and knew there was no real practical purpose or reason to have them. But today, without electricity, they were the perfect communications tool.

  With the EE-8A phones connected in the LP/OP and in the house, Lloyd went inside for the night.

  “Nicki, the weather looks like it will be clear tonight. The LP/OP isn’t complete but can be used. I’ve set the phones up and they’re ready to be used. I would recommend either you or me man it tonight. We just repelled a serious attack. They may want vengeance,” Lloyd said.

  “You’re right. I’ll man it tonight,” Nicki said. “Just make sure the phones work and someone answers if I call.”

  “They do work and I’ll be the one to answer,” Lloyd proudly said.

  Several hours after the sunset, Nicki positioned herself in the LP/OP. It was a nice night, temperature wise, but with the bulletproof vest on she felt hotter than it was.

  “It’s not lingerie, at least not the kind I like,” Nicki laughed as she sat in an old lawn chair. Nicki settled in for the night, remaining vigilant, and constantly scanning for movement.

  Time went by slowly for Nicki and she was excited to see the sun rising. As she was enjoying the view, she was suddenly caught off guard and jumped when she heard one of the tripwires go off. She immediately grabbed her binoculars and scanned the area. To her relief, she caught a glimpse of a deer running away. She put the binoculars down and just as quickly brought them back to her face. She thought she saw something else moving. Within seconds she saw the movement of several bodies. She grabbed the EE-8A, wound the crank, and a sleepy Lloyd answered.

  “Get everyone up. Get everyone ready. They’re back. They’re avoiding the tripwires. Assume worse case. They want vengeance. Make sure to hide Buzz,” Nicki said quietly so as to not alert anyone nearby.

  She picked up the binoculars and scanned the remaining areas of the property. She counted at least fifteen people. Most of them armed with guns but several with crowbars and baseball bats. She slowly turned and looked behind her and saw five individuals; two armed with guns.

  She picked up the phone, wound the crank, and quickly said, “Twenty in total,” then hung up.

  She turned to the closet aggressors, flipped the AR-15 safety off, sighted in one of the men carrying a rifle and fired twice. The four remaining men ran in every direction. The only one she cared about was the other man with the rifle. She saw him run behind a tree and waited for him to appear. She didn’t see his body, but he had made the mistake of leaving his foot out in the open. She aimed and pulled the trigger. The man was in immediate pain and made the mistake of moving out from behind the tree. Nicki placed three shots in various parts of his body before he dropped.

  Nicki was unable to hear how her family in the house was doing as the sound from her AR-15 had temporarily deafened her. Though not able to hear, she quickly turned around searching to find the other three men or any target for that matter.

  What she saw horrified her. She saw a person with a baseball bat beating down her front door while another person was preparing a Molotov cocktail.

  “No one’s going to burn down my house,” she said as she placed the man in her gun sights. Before she could fire, she saw the man fall and instantly catch on fire as the Molotov cocktail exploded in his hand. Someone from the house must have shot him. Muzzle flashes erupted from all over the property. She quickly realized that there was a good chance that her house would be overrun.

  Randall took the west side of the house and was outflanked. He got very few shots off. He was pinned down. Lloyd would belly crawl from room to room, fire, and then move. He wanted to give the illusion that the house was well armed.

  Several minutes later he heard the smoke alarm going off. Lloyd ran to the kitchen and saw a fire that would engulf the house within minutes if it wasn’t extinguished. Before he had time to act, Connie ran in with a fire extinguisher and handed it to Lloyd. Lloyd pulled the pin and aimed the extinguisher at the base of the spreading fired. He pressed the handles together and swept the extinguisher across the fire. Thirty seconds later, the fire was out and the extinguisher empty.

  “I love my son,” he said before running to help Randall.

  Oz always purchased the bigger 40-pound fire extinguishers because he knew, if used correctly they would put out most fires.

  The attackers had finally identified Nicki’s location and began concentrating fire on her position. She had no choice but to duck and take cover. Her only hope was that Randall and Lloyd could hold them off but, in her heart, she knew she would probably not survive the day.

  45

  Just In Time

  NAOMI, CHEYANNE, AND OZ WALKED FROM LEBANON TO OZ’S house throughout the night and into the early morning. It was an uneventful but long walk; all accomplished without stopping. They were excited to get to the house and rest.

  As Oz, Naomi, and Cheyanne approached Oz’s house, they could hear gunfire coming from the direction of his house.

  Oz immediately began running toward his house when Naomi grabbed his shoulder and said, “Stop. You know you can’t run into a gunfight. We need a plan.”

  Oz pushed her hand away and continued walking toward the house.

  “I’m telling you to stop. You saved my life now let me save yours,” Naomi begged.

  Oz reluctantly stopped and looked at her before saying, “Ok. What’s the plan?”

  “This is your part of the country and your house. You tell us what the plan is,” Naomi said frustrated.

  “First, we hide Cheyanne,” Oz said.

  “Cheyanne you follow me and when I say stay, you stay right where I tell you until your mother or I come to get you. Do you understand?” Oz said frantically.

  Cheyanne shook her head up and down.

  “Keep your bow ready to shoot, protect yourself at all times, but one more time, do not move from where I tell you to stay. Naomi, my house is down that drive. I’ll approach it from the west and you approach it from the east. It will be easy to identify my family members. They should all be wearing the Italian military Vegetato battle dress units (BDU). Similar to US BDU’s but a different pattern. If you come across someone not wearing the uniform and think it might be one of my family members, ask them their last name. If you don’t hear the words McTatey, Foster or Balgemann, then they’re the enemy. We need to move, now,” Oz finished.

  Oz and Cheyanne immediately turned into the forest and disappeared as Naomi walked the tree line for approximately 100 yards before turning towards Oz’s house.

  Oz motioned for Cheyanne to sit and stay hidden behind a large fallen tree. Once he saw she was safe, he briskly walked towards his house. As he
walked through the forest and closer to his house, he noticed fishing line tied off from one tree and ending at one of his grenade heads on another tree. The fishline could only be seen when the sun’s rays reflected off of the string.

  “Hot damn,” he thought to himself. “Someone set up my tripwires.”

  Now more cautious so as not to set off a tripwire, he took up a position and could see at least a dozen people either firing at his house or getting ready to torch it. Oz took up a position of concealment and readied the Rock River LAR-15.

  Naomi quickly ran through the forest knowing she needed to get into position. Her military training told her that the quicker the firefight ends the better. Before she could take another step she heard a horrendous sound. The sound came from right where she was standing. Temporarily immobilized, she quickly checked her body to make sure she wasn’t injured. She was fine but could not hear a damn thing. She quickly saw that fishing line had been tied to a tree and then to a grenade head.

  “A tripwire,” she said to herself and continued towards Oz’s house.

  Oz took out two people getting ready to throw Molotov cocktails at the house and then concentrated his fire on the west side. He had caught them off guard. Using cover as much as he could, he moved his position to a southern point and eliminated three more threats; they didn’t see it coming.

  Before Oz could move to another position something collided with his head. The last words he heard was, “You’re going to pay for what you did. Pay with your life!” Then his eyes closed.

  RANDALL SAW HIS mom pinned down in the LP/OP. He counted three or four people running toward her location.

  “Grandpa,” Randall said. “People running toward mom. Looks like they got her pinned down. She’s in trouble.”

  “I see them!” Lloyd yelled over the radio.