Prepper's Apocalypse | Book 1 | Prepper's Apocalypse

by Newman, AJ

  Then Tom whispered, “We can’t let the others know about our supplies and bugout locations.”

  Tom reflected back on his Grandpa’s insistence on practicing target shooting. They didn’t have live TV, but his Grandpa had a vast collection of movies. Tom’s favorites were the old cowboys starring John Wayne. He went through what Jackie called his John Wayne phase. He spent all his free time moving and shooting subsonic rounds from behind barrels and hay bales at various targets on their firing range. The subsonic rounds were good enough for close up targets and weren’t near as loud as regular loads. His Grandpa preached every day that they should never draw attention to themselves.

  His Grandpa had taught him how to reload all of the centerfire bullets so Tom could practice all he wanted. Jackie didn’t practice as much but was a better long-distance shot. She had more patience than her brother, who excelled at the move and shoot close up action. They had made a great team and could almost read the other’s mind.

  *

  Chapter 3

  The Pacific Ocean – One hundred miles off the California coast

  The plane had begun a slow descent as it approached San Francisco. The pilot could see the sun on the horizon as it rose above the mountains to the east. There was enough light to see the water and make out objects below. Everyone was eager to see the coast and the city, hoping that everything was normal and their fears were for naught. A woman yelled, “There’s a ship down there on the left!”

  Granny B pulled small fold up binoculars from her bag and peered down at the ocean. Her head moved around for a minute while the twin's curiosity increased by the second. Then Granny B said, “Oh my! That’s not good.”

  Jackie couldn’t stand it any longer. “Granny B, what do you see?”

  “The ship is dead in the water. People were waving to get our attention. Get ready for the worst. Look, they shot a flare into the air. We can’t do them any good.”

  They took turns looking at the ship through Granny B’s binoculars and then several more ships and boats as they closed the distance to the coast. None of the vessels was under power. Someone called out. “There’s the coast! I see the coast!”

  Granny B focused her binoculars on the coast and said. “Poop! Son of a biscuit eater! There are numerous columns of smoke rising all up and down the coast. We’re in deep doo doo.”

  The pilot had continued lowering the elevation to land, and there was the announcement – “Raise your seatbacks, stow your trays, and fasten your seatbelts for landing.”

  The cities around the airport looked as though they’d been bombed. Smoke rose from large craters, and crashed planes littered the ground. Many buildings and vehicles still burned with black smoke billowing from the vehicle’s burning tires. Tom could see piled up cars and trucks everywhere, and the freeways were clogged with abandoned cars pointing in all directions. Ships and smaller boats bobbed in the bay and off the coast with none underway.

  Tom was astounded. “It was an EMP blast, and one also occurred near here. There aren’t any huge blast craters. There’s only damage from crashed planes littering the ground and a few fires in buildings. The riots and looting will start tonight. We have to get home quickly.”

  The pilot kept the plane at five thousand feet and made a pass over San Francisco International Airport. Everyone gasped when they saw the smoke rolling high into the sky from crashed aircraft, and the runways blocked with crashed and stalled jets. The pilot keyed his microphone. “I guess most of you can see the devastation at the airport. I’m taking us to an alternate airport. Don’t worry. We have plenty of fuel, and I’ll get you on the ground safely.”

  The pilot continued to reduce the plane’s altitude until he leveled off at two thousand feet. Tom could now see individual people milling around and some large crowds fighting with police in front of buildings at a mall. “Granny B, people are looting that grocery store, and it’s only the first day.”

  Granny B nudged Tom from the window and gazed at the events on the ground. “Those are the usual yahoos who think the power is out and just want to raise a ruckus and get some free stuff. Wait until the idiots figure out the shit has hit the fan.”

  Tom was deep in thought about what their next steps would be when something dawned on him. As usual, he spoke before he gave the subject enough thought. “We won’t find a place to land. Planes were stacked up waiting to land, and all crashed when their controls went haywire. The pilot will have to land in a cornfield or patch of desert. Then we’ll walk home.”

  Everyone heard what Tom said, and a hush fell over the group around him. Bill’s head snapped around, and he grabbed Tom’s shoulder. “Tom, you just scared the crap out of everyone.”

  Tom sat there for a few seconds. “Sorry, but as blunt as it sounded, that’s what’s going to happen. We need to prepare for a crash landing and walking wherever we want to go. I guess I should have sugar-coated my words, but all of you have seen the crashed planes, looting, and massive wrecks on the interstates. The shit hit the fan, and we have to suck it up and get our asses in gear if we want to live. We have forty-eight hours to land and get the Hell away from all of the big cities.”

  Samantha’s eyes leaked tears down her cheek. “How do you know this will happen? People aren’t that mean or cruel.”

  Granny B had patiently listened after poking Tom in the ribs. “Time out! Tom is right. I’m sure all of you remember the riots in Portland and Seattle last summer. The government executed that anarchist group's leaders after they were found guilty of bombing the federal courthouse. The animals went berserk. Think about what happened in LA back in ’34 when the power was out for six days. The looters and thugs burned half the city down. Ya’ think they’ll react any better now?”

  “Won’t a rescue team show up to take any injured to the hospital and put any fires out?” asked Betty.

  Bill shrugged. “Their equipment won’t run. They can’t walk to a crash and do any good. About this time tomorrow, the first responders will have figured out that they’re more needed at home to help and protect their loved ones than any good they can do for strangers.”

  Samantha sneered at Bill. “Why would you say that? They’re professionals.”

  “I’m a cop, and that’s what I’d do. My folks are more important to me than any ungrateful civilian is. I …”

  Several loud bangs and screams interrupted Bill. A man slumped down in his seat with blood spreading across his white business shirt. Blood had splattered on several people. The woman next to him kept screaming until the flight attendant shook her. The plane lurched to the right, and the engines thundered as the pilot sought to gain altitude and get out of range of the thugs taking potshots at the jet. Tom reacted without thinking. He unfastened his lap belt and ran to the man’s side. Tom placed his hand on the wound to stop the bleeding and then checked the man’s pulse and shook his head. The attendant put a blanket over the man, thanked Tom, and sent him back to his seat

  The main attendant picked up the microphone. “Is anyone else injured? If you are, please raise your hand.” No one raised their hand. “Please stay calm. No one is trying to shoot the plane down. That was only a stray bullet. We’re safe now since the pilot increased our altitude.”

  Everyone was still in shock. The passengers were dumbfounded, and there was a hush in the air. Suddenly an unknown voice blurted out, “But we have to land. They can shoot us when we land.”

  Tom motioned to the others. “Do you now understand the situation is serious?”

  After a short pause, the speakers sounded again. “This is your friendly pilot. We’re almost over the Sacramento airport, and I’ll gently let us down to the airstrip in about ten minutes. … Oh, Crap. … Huh.”

  The speakers went silent when the pilot knew he’d screwed up. Below them was the Sacramento airfield, and it looked like a tornado had plowed through the parked planes. Smoke from crashed aircraft and the inferno blazing in the main terminal dashed their hopes of landing. The pilot turn
ed the plane southeast and quickly found Mather Air Force Base to be in the same shape. The extra fuel the pilot had bragged on was now expended, searching for a place to safely land. The pilot looked at his co-pilot. “Where’s a good straight piece of highway?”

  “This is your pilot. We’ve been forced to attempt to land on a highway due to our low fuel level. Do not worry. The highways are wide, and we will set this big bird down and have some free drinks while we wait on busses to arrive to take you to … Well, anyway, we’ll wait on the busses.”

  “What the Hell do we do now?”

  The co-pilot finally replied. “Turn around and head west while I quickly look … Darn, watch for Highway 80 or the 505. Turn a bit south, now, and then head north. That’s Vacaville. There’s the 505. Start reducing speed and altitude. We need to hit the pavement just past that overpass. Watch for utility poles. I can’t remember which side they’re on.”

  The pilot responded. “Nothing’s been on our side today.”

  Tom looked over at Samantha and Lucy. He worried about the child being hurt when the plane landed. He grabbed several blankets from the overhead storage and took them to Samantha. “Wrap your daughter up in these. Finish wrapping her head just before we touch down.”

  Samantha hastily wrapped Lucy and prepared for the landing. She smiled at Tom. “Thanks. Lucy is small for being twelve-years-old, but she’s a tough little girl.”

  “Mom, I’m small, but I’ll be a teenager in a few months.”

  Tom then reminded everyone to use their pillows and blankets to protect their heads.

  The plane was down to one hundred feet when the pilot saw the cars dotting the highway on both north and south lanes. He pushed the throttle forward, and the plane roared back up to a thousand feet. “Sumbitch, that was too close. Let’s check out 80. They flew over the section of Highway 80 from Vacaville to Davis. They found a section about three miles long without any stalled vehicles. Massive wrecks on either end of the stretch left the section open for their attempt to land.

  “Looks good to me. I’m heading back around, and we’ll land here.”

  The pilot addressed the passengers. “We’re landing now. Place your heads in your laps and pray.”

  One of the two engines flamed out with a bang and smoke before they were lined up with the highway. The plane lurched and dropped precariously low to the ground. The pilot fought to get the plane on course to line up with the road when they clipped the top of a tree by the first overpass.

  The co-pilot yelled. “We’re too low! Pull up! Pull …”

  The plane slammed into the road below. Black smoke then fire rolled from the tires causing several to blow. The landing gear on the left side folded under and struck the belly of the fuselage. The plane slid down the center strip between the two lanes as it turned almost sideways. The tail barely missed several utility poles before it stopped spinning. Just before it came to a rest, the nose hit a tree on the highway's right side and exploded in metal and glass with bodies flung through the air. The remaining wheels hit a concrete culvert and ripped the plane's front half from the tail section. More bodies, seats, and luggage scattered along the jet’s path. The passengers’ screams were drowned out by the sounds of the metal screeching on the concrete as the plane disintegrated.

  Tom and the others around him tried to cling to their seats but were buffeted around like rag dolls. Tom and Jackie banged heads together, and both had blood running down their cheeks. Granny B’s shoulder had hit the side of the fuselage several times and had been dislocated. She’d wrapped a blanket around her head and didn’t suffer any head wounds.

  The others in their group suffered as well. Bill’s arm slapped Betty across the back of her neck, and then their shoulders crashed together. Samantha hadn’t had her head tucked between her legs when the plane struck the ground and was unconscious because her head ad hit the armrest beside her.

  The screeching stopped abruptly. Tom was a bit dazed and took a minute to regain his balance after being tossed and battered during the crash. He looked around him and saw blood on many of the people close by him. Tom was shocked to see he was looking out onto a grassy field instead of the plane's front. Tom shook his head to clear the cobwebs and knew he had to do something. He turned and saw the blood on his sister’s face.

  “Sis, are you okay? Granny B, what about you?”

  “I’m okay. I’m just battered and bruised.” Jackie said.

  Granny B shook her head and then smiled. “Lord, thanks for keeping us alive. Judging from how short our section of the plane is, several people didn’t make it. Thank God for sparing us today.”

  *

  Chapter 4

  California - Northwest of Sacramento

  Everyone ahead of them was in slow motion. The sight of bloody bodies still strapped to their seats sickened Tom. Several survivors had arms dangling uselessly by their side, grimacing in pain as they tried to escape the wreckage. The plane's front had disappeared, and ragged edges were left as a reminder that the plane had broken into several pieces. The tail section had been full, leaving Hawaii. However, now, only about half of the eighty to ninety passengers were still alive. The smell of fear and urine filled the plane as Tom surveyed the situation. The smell choked him, but he steeled himself for the worst to come.

  Tom turned to Granny B and smiled at the tough old bird. “Granny B, I believe you escaped without a scratch.”

  “I’ll be sore as a rising tomorrow, and you’ll have to help get my shoulder back in place, but I won’t slow us down any. You know what we need to do.”

  He wiped the blood from Jackie’s brow and cheek. “Sis, can you get up? We need to shag ass out of here.”

  “I’m okay. We need to help some of these folks escape the plane.”

  Tom unbuckled his belt and stood up on wobbly legs. “Get up! Let’s go! This sumbitch might blow up at any time!” He doubted that since the plane had run out of fuel, but a little sense of urgency would be in order now.

  Tom saw Bill helping Betty to her feet and saw Samantha struggling to get her daughter untangled from the blankets. Lucy fared better because her mom had wrapped her with several blankets. Samantha unwrapped the child. “Thanks, Tom, for the taco idea.”

  “I’m glad she’s okay.”

  Tom knelt down in the aisle, lifted the little girl to his shoulder, and held her while her mom checked on her. Lucy wanted down, but Tom held her until Samantha finished.

  Samantha had blood dripping from her nose. “Thanks, Tom. My arm is hurt. Can you carry Lucy? Please?”

  “Of course.” Tom took his handkerchief, dabbed the blood from Samantha’s nose, and gave her the cloth to help stop the flow.

  Tom smelled smoke and was fearful the wrecked section of the plane would catch on fire. He carried Lucy past the restroom to the emergency escape door and opened it. Tom looked out the door and saw the floor was about seven feet above the ground. The inflatable slide didn’t deploy.

  “Bill, come here, please.”

  Bill moved quickly. “Darn, we need to lower the women and injured to the ground. I’ll lower them if you can catch them.”

  Tom handed Lucy to Bill and then climbed out of the door before lowering himself to the ground and asked for Lucy. Bill took her by the arms and slipped her into Tom’s arms. Tom looked at Lucy. “Please stay right here while we lower the others.”

  “I will. Please get my mommy down,”

  “Bill, lower Samantha first. Watch out for her arm.”

  Bill couldn’t lower Samantha due to her injured arm, so she sat on the floor and slid off into Tom’s arms. Tom caught her and their eyes locked for an instant. She said, “Thanks. Maybe you’re not as big a jerk as I thought.”

  Tom bit his lip and thought, And maybe she’s not the worthless bitch I thought she was. Yes, she is a bitch but perhaps not worthless.

  Tom asked for Granny B and the other women first, and then the men before he helped Bill climb down. Tom and Bill walked to the othe
r end of the tail section and saw several people still trying to climb down. They jumped in and helped five more people escape when Tom heard a faint cry for help. By this time, smoke rolled from the open end of the tail section, but Tom climbed up and into the jagged entrance.

  He saw an elderly lady blocked in her seat by a large bag that had fallen from the overhead luggage bin. He tossed the bag out of the opening and then carried the lady to the door. Bill and another man helped lower her to the ground. Several people clapped when Tom passed the lady to the others, causing Tom to blush.

  He looked around the broken tail section and began tossing all of the bags and luggage out the escape door and the front opening. Tom found his family’s get-home-bags and felt a big relief. The bags contained three days’ supply of food and other survival items that could be carried onto a plane. Their bugout bags were in the plane’s cargo hold and contained their carry pistols, knives, and more survival equipment. Granny B and his grandpa had always stressed being prepared, even on vacation.

  Tom climbed down from the fuselage and saw Jackie tearing into the luggage stored below the flight deck. “Hey Sis, find anything usable?”

  “Yes, Granny B’s and your bugout bags are here beside me.”

  Tom looked around and saw it was safe to secretly take his 9mm Glock from his bag and tuck its paddle holster in his waistband under his shirt. It made him feel a bit more secure, and he’d needed that. “Give Granny B hers and secure yours when you find it. You know the old saying, ‘I’d rather have one and not need it than need it and not have one.’”

  Jackie grimaced. “We need to get some of these folks to help us scavenge before our section, or the middle of the plane catches on fire.”

  Granny B heard her and yelled, “Attention! I need your attention!” A small crowd gathered around Granny B. She said, “We need to search the luggage for anything we need to survive.” It surprised her when most of them balked. It had never dawned on her that these folks didn’t know the crap had hit the fan.