Apocalyptic Empire: The Hatchery Compound

by Chris Blake

  They cut back to the anchor, and he explains that in just a few hours this small town has been abandoned by the civilian population and turned into a warzone. He says that citizens of the small town have fled in all directions, some into Mexico, some further north into California, and some even heading for Arizona.

  It is at the mentioning of Arizona, where Vintago starts to freak out.

  “How can this be happening in real life?” He asks himself.

  Vin’s brain starts running at a thousand miles a minute. Things start spooling up in his mind like the distance to this town in California. It could be days before this thing makes it to the valley. They said that it had an incubation period of three hours, and it is too far to drive in three hours. It is only an hour flight, and that is a scary thought. One would think within a day or so the military and law enforcement types would have it contained.

  Then he asks himself the next logical question, “Do you trust them to protect you, they did a fantastic job at the hospital...”

  That pretty much settles it for Vintago he decides that it would be smart to start thinking about an exit strategy. There needs to be a plan in place in case this shit hits the fan and starts heading towards his home.

  Of course, Vin does not tell his family any of his plans. They probably would say he was overreacting. They would want to let the “authorities” deal with it. Vintago, on the other hand, did not put much faith in the government or the “authorities.”

  Vintago figures that it might be prudent to call in sick tomorrow and start putting a plan together. His family might think that he is crazy, but if he explains it to Victoria that he just wants to be prepared, she will understand. That should provide a convincing argument for stocking up on food, water, and medical supplies.

  Vin just will not tell her that he also plans on purchasing some extra guns and ammunition.

  Everyone goes home for the night, and they put Grayson to bed like they usually do. Instead of going to sleep, Vin decides to start looking at Google Maps and plotting out possible routes of escape. The neighborhood the Hawkins family lives in only has one way in and one way out along a main road which leads to a highway. That is a little concerning for Vintago, but if worse came to worse they could bail into the desert behind their house. The highway is another problem. It leads west into the greater Phoenix Metropolitan area, which should be avoided at all costs. It also heads on east into, and a bunch of smaller towns and eventually into the mountains. At least that part is settled I guess, the only smart choice would be to head out east, and then turn north to the mountains.

  Next, Vintago starts thinking of possible places to hide out up north. He will need a place that can provide food, water, and protection. All sorts of places burst into his head, hospitals, hotels, resorts, even shelters. The problem Vin has with these places is that everyone would think of them. He needs a place that an ordinary Joe would not come up with.

  About an hour into his mental paper toss game he comes up with a stroke of genius. It came in the form of a memory of when Vin was a young boy on a Boy Scout camp out.

  Vintago’s Boy Scout troop was camped along a small creek in the mountains north of Phoenix, just outside the small town of Payson. One of the badges they were going to acquire on this campout was for hiking. To earn this badge they needed to hike up a steep, windy, road, which lead to a fish hatchery.

  Vintago remembered the hatchery from this camping trip with incredible detail. That’s when it hit him that this would be a terrific place to take refuge. Vin remembered how the hatchery has a large pond full of large trout and all the little hatchery tanks with various stages of new fish. The hatchery is also at the top of the canyon where a small fresh water source starts and feeds the stream down at the bottom of the canyon. Besides the small stream, there is a large grassy area where Vintago remembered picking natural berries with his Scout buddies. The hatchery also had a few small buildings. One of them had a full kitchen and quarters for the crew that managed the hatchery. Another building housed a small museum talking about the different kinds of fish. There were also two other buildings that must have been an office type of environment, and a massive warehouse building.

  In his mind’s eye, this would be the perfect setup. It has food, clean water, and a place to stay. Everything that might be needed to hold out until things blow over. Well, pending that things do blow over.

  After Vintago decides that this is the place to be, he decides it is time to roll over and go to sleep. Tomorrow he is going to run into town and start purchasing some supplies. He is not quite sure what he will need, but he knows that he better just get everything he can afford. Vintago does not want to be labeled one of those “preppers”, but he does need to be prepared. Hopefully, this whole thing will be swept under the rug, and they can resume their everyday lives. Hopefully, things will turn out OK.

  Chapter Two

  Time for Preparation

  January, 2013

  After Vintago wakes in the morning, he does not enter into his daily routine. Instead, he calls his job. He coughs a little bit and tells them that he is far too sick to come into the office today. Vintago talked to Victoria shortly before he finally passed out for the night. He explained to her that he needed to take a day off and put some things together. She gave him a strange look about it, but knew that ultimately, Vin did not make decisions without weighing all the options. She could also understand how intensely worried he felt about the situation in California and was not about to fight him over it. Victoria is an extremely understanding woman and knows when to get her way and when to let Vin have his way. She knows that, in the end, Vintago will always try to make the best choice for her and Grayson.

  Vin quickly has some breakfast and kisses his family goodbye. He takes off in their Mitsubishi Outlander and heads into town.

  The first stop he makes is to the local Walmart. Normally, he could not be caught dead in a Walmart unless it was a last resort. Today, he has an extensive inventory of things to buy, and he still needs to keep his spending under control. Just in case this whole thing does blow over he does not want to be largely in debt over a stupid decision.

  After about an hour and a half, Vin exits the store with not one, but two carts. He even had to ask one of the Walmart representatives to help him out. Vin loads up the back of their Mitsubishi Outlander with five cases of water, cases of canned goods, non-perishable food, extra blankets, flashlights, batteries, etcetera. If it could be thought of, he made sure it was in those carts. Vin looked one more time at the receipt and shuddered a bit, the total was a bit too much to handle. The back of the Outlander is about half full by the end of the Wal-Mart visit. Vintago likes to call it the “mommy wagon”, but the vehicle has it is uses, now being one of them.

  After the stop at Walmart, Vin drives over to the local gun shop. Vin is a regular here of course as he has bought his last firearms here. Even the Taurus 24/7 G2 .45ACP that Vin carries daily was purchased at this shop.

  The store owners give him a slight nod as he enters the store. They are not too warm, but there are not a lot of options in this part of town.

  Vin currently does not have any rifles or shotguns, and he desperately needs to change that. Being on a severely tight budget, Vintago does not have the luxury of buying an AR-15 like he would like. Everybody and their mother has an AR-15 these days, and for good reason, because they are an excellent rifle platform. Unfortunately, they cost about $900 or more at this shop. Vintago just cannot justify spending that amount of money. Instead, Vin decides to go off the grid a little bit and picks up an all-black AK-74. This is not the popular AK-47 that everyone knows. The AK-74 is like its little brother. The AK-74 fires a much smaller and faster round, much like an AR-15. It makes it more accurate while retaining the same gritty durability of the AK platform. The only crappy part about an AK-74 is that the 5.45x39mm rounds will not be easy to find. Vin decides to splurge a little bit and grabs an ammo can with 1080 rounds and an additional six
magazines making a total of eight, thirty round box magazines.

  Next, Vin starts looking at combat shotguns. He is not looking for the crazy semi-automatic shotguns, but the compact shotguns with no butt stock. He finds a decent looking used shotgun for a reasonable price and also picks up a couple hundred shotgun shells. Additionally, he asks for four boxes of .45ACP for his Taurus, eight boxes of 9mm for his Taurus 24/7 Pro, and three boxes of .380ACP for his wife’s Ruger LCP. Adding to that, he gets one more additional magazine for each handgun making his total three for each handgun.

  He spots a couple nice tactical lights that can be mounted to his new rifle and shotgun. These will be good to have as both his handguns already had those, and they are invaluable in dark situations. He also grabs an excellent four times magnification scope for his AK-74. The last things he grabs are additional cleaning materials for all of the weapons he purchased and currently owns.

  Grand total at the checkout register is; heart attack! Vintago slowly slides the gun shop owner his credit card and dies within, just a little bit. He is going to have to beat his wife to the mailbox when the statement comes.

  It takes Vin about as long to haul all of the ammunition and firearms out to the Outlander as it did the groceries. Once everything is loaded up, the poor little mommy wagon is practically sitting on the ground.

  Vintago makes the trip back home a little bit slower due to the full load in the back and not wanting a fireworks plant to go off behind him.

  He unloads all the groceries into the kitchen first, and while Victoria is in the kitchen putting everything in the pantry he smuggles the firearms and ammunition into the office. He will have to go through all of it later.

  After they get everything put away in the kitchen, with much protest from Victoria of course, it is almost time for dinner.

  They eat their dinner in relative silence. While Victoria cleans up the kitchen, Vintago decides to turn on the TV and check the status of the situation in California. He has been too occupied all day to stay in the loop, and he needs to get caught up.

  What he sees on the TV makes his demeanor change suddenly. The coverage is coming from a news chopper circling what looks like the small town, and the whole town is on fire. There are military vehicles spread out in a giant circle surrounding the town. Further back in the scene, as the camera pans out the military is setting up barriers miles away from the town. Outside the barrier, a line of Humvees, light tanks, and infantry fighting vehicles are all firing their enormous guns into a lot of people running towards the fence.

  “What the fuck is going on over there!” Vin yells out.

  “Vintago Hawkins! Not in front of Gray!” Victoria scolds.

  Vintago ignores his wife altogether and continues watching the carnage on the screen. The TV cameras switch to a reporter standing behind the line of Humvees, who is reporting on the situation on the ground.

  The reporter is saying, “The National Guard troops have been trying to stop the infected people from getting past this line” as he draws his foot in the sand marking an imaginary line. “A military official has told us that some of the people in the initial migration out of the first town have shown up in other towns with signs of the virus and had to be quarantined. The military has now put stopping these infected people priority one, and the chain of command has changed their rules of engagement to shoot anyone attempting to reach this line.”

  Before the reporter can finish his report the news anchor in the studio interrupts him, “Bob I apologize for cutting you off, but we have breaking news.” The news anchor looks at the information in front of him. His face sinks visibly, and he continues, “We have just been informed that some of the people that fled the initial outbreak to San Diego have infected an entire hospital.” He lets that sink in for a second and then starts speaking again, “Authorities in San Diego had attempted to stop the infected before they left the hospital, but it has failed as it did before. Residents of San Diego are being urged to take only what you can carry and safely evacuate the city.”

  “Holy shit Victoria, there’s over a million people in San Diego!” Vintago yells.

  Things were quickly beginning to spiral out of control in California. If this thing got loose in a city that size, it was only a matter of time before it totally fucked the entire state. Shortly after that, it would be a game over for Arizona. Vintago did not want to be around for the end game.

  After the sobering report from the anchor, the cameras cut back to the battle going on at what will eventually be called “Ground Zero”. The scene unfolding was a crowd of people armed with civilian firearms, fighting their way to the barriers set up by the military. The military men stopped firing briefly in amazement as these people battled the infected and made their way slowly to the barrier. As they got closer to the barrier one of the officers used a bullhorn to tell them to stop. The civilians who were clearly losing their damn minds did not heed the warning of the military. They kept running towards the barriers, not slowing down in the slightest. The camera is panning around, and clearly there is hesitancy on the faces of the gunners.

  The man holding the bullhorn gives them one more warning, “Stop or we will have to open fire.”

  The mob does not stop moving as they are clearly running for their lives and have nothing else to lose. Among the mob, there are small children and women. They are just ordinary people, trying to get the hell out of dodge. Unfortunately for them, it was already far too late.

  The officer waves his hands and orders his men to engage the civilians. The roaring sound of .50 caliber rounds begins, and the camera soaks in every gruesome detail as the mass is cut to pieces. Arms and legs flying, heads being removed, and complete gore are frozen on the screen forever seared into the brains of people around the world.

  Upon seeing this scene, Victoria runs into the kitchen and loses her dinner in the trash can. Gray, in his innocence, is not sure what is going on. Vintago, on the other hand, is having a mental blackout.

  “That’s it,” he says mostly to himself, “the shit just hit the fucking fan.”

  After mere seconds, the CNN anchor comes back onto the screen, his face looks like every other American right now, his mouth is hanging open, and he has tears rolling down his cheeks.

  He mumbles under his breath, “God help those people...”

  After what seems like forever, he finally composes himself again and begins to talk about another city that has signs of an outbreak.

  The name of this city sends a chill down the spine of Vintago like he has never felt. Cold sweat forms above his brow. At the mentioning of this city, Vintago knows that it is time to leave.

  Yuma, Arizona.

  Chapter Three

  SHTF Scenario

  January, 2013

  Vintago just blankly stares at the TV for about five minutes. Not moving, not thinking, and not talking. Then after what seems like an indefinite amount of time.

  “They are in Arizona.” is all that he says.

  Vintago finally gets up and walks into the kitchen. Victoria is still standing in the kitchen holding Grayson. She is in as much shock as he is and her face shows it. Gray, on the other hand, keeps smacking her on the chest wanting to be put down.

  Vin walks up to the pantry door and slams it open, grabs a bottle of Vodka, and takes a long swig. He lets that sink in for a minute, takes another long swig, and replaces the cap on the bottle.

  "We need to have a serious discussion about getting the hell out of here Victoria," he says to his wife as he wipes the excess vodka off his lips.

  “What do you mean get out of here?” she replies with tears rolling down her face, adding, “Where are we going to go?”

  “We need to get out of town, because if this thing makes it to the valley we are fucked.” Vintago tells her.

  “I know that, but I asked where are we going to go” she insists.

  “I think it’s time we sit down with our families, and I will explain my plan and then we can go
from there.” Vintago tells her.

  She just shakes her head and walks away, ending the conversation.

  Vin picks up his iPhone and places a call to his parents Benjamin and Rebecca Hawkins.

  They pick up the phone after two rings and immediately ask Vin, “Are you OK sweetheart! We’ve seen all this stuff on the news, and it’s got us pretty freaked out.”

  “Of course I’ve seen it Mom.” Vin replies as he rolls his eyes.

  “Listen” he continues, “We need to sit down and talk tonight. I’ve invited Greg and Cindy to come as well.”

  “Ok, we’ll leave right now” Ben Hawkins replies.

  After the phone call to his parents, he places a similar phone call to his in-laws. As they live right down the street, they head over within ten minutes. Within the next half hour, the senior Hawkins family arrives.

  Everyone groups around the coffee table with a worried look and Vintago stands up in front of the TV and begins talking.

  “Ok guys, listen. I haven’t actually explained this plan to anyone, but hear me out.” he begins.

  “In light of everything going on with this virus outbreak and the fact that it has crossed over into Arizona, I think it would be smart if we all thought about getting out of town for a little while.”

  Vin looks around at each face and takes in their demeanors. His wife is nodding her head because she knows putting her child in harm’s way is out of the question. Both sets of parents are still skeptical, they all have jobs and lives to worry about.

  “Let me explain my plan, and then you can let me know what you all think.” Vin continues.

  Vintago explains his plan and how he wants to pack up as much food, water, supplies, and munitions as they can and head up north. Upon hearing the rest of the plan, it seems to go over about as exciting as when he first suggested leaving town.