The three Marines transferred the materials from the destroyed trailer to the new one and life was good once again. The fuel tank would be another issue. It still had about two-hundred gallons of fuel. Dan took the initiative and refueled all the trucks, which took another fifty gallons out of the tank. Having no choice, we left the tank there.
It took about an hour before Dave and I were well enough to drive and for that matter, stand up and walk. “What was that?” Dave asked anyone who could answer.
“That was a Hellfire missile fired from another drone,” Jeff said, “But don’t worry, I killed it, so it won’t fire anymore. How many of those things you think they have?”
“Me? I got no idea,” I said. “No idea at all.”
“I don’t either,” Dave said. “No telling, actually.”
“Well, that’s three within a week,” Dan observed. “We have fourteen more Stingers so hopefully they don’t have more than that.” Jeff and Jack began to laugh.
“Frankly, I don’t see what’s so funny about that,” Dave said flatly. They continued to laugh.
“We’ve learned to laugh at a lot of things others find distressing,” Dan said. “It’s our way of coping with the stress and danger.”
“Well, don’t be offended if I don’t feel the same way,” Dave said, a little too sarcastically.
“I won’t,” Dan, answered.
“We won’t either,” Jeff said, smiling.
Dan said, “We need to get outta here. No telling what they did to your places, hopefully nothing, but we need to get.”
He did have a point there and we all jumped into our trucks and took off. Dave and I were worried to no end as we headed down the hill west of the airport. The good thing is we didn’t see any smoke. Dave got on the radio and contacted Ruth and the girls were fine. Dave told them we’d be there in twenty minutes.
Ruth told him she and Julia were going to make dinner and it would be ready shortly after we arrived. I told the trio following me and they were relieved to hear the ladies were fine.
Back at Paradise Valley, the ladies freaked when they saw the bandages and dressings on Dave and me. After they fussed, we unloaded the gear, poured ourselves some scotch and ate dinner. We all cleaned up afterwards and went to bed. Julia and Dave taking the last bedroom up in the underground. I was glad I’d built a place with five bedrooms.
It would be a long day tomorrow, preparing for what, we didn’t know. We would be ready, nonetheless.
The next morning brought clear sky and a light breeze. That was a good sign. We would need the good weather for the work we had to do.
We began with the east and west sides of the bridge to my place, rigging Claymore mines along both sides and rigging them to be command detonated from the house. With the time we felt we had, that was the best we could do.
Next, we split into two groups, one going to the bridge on Highway 130 and setting up the ambush site there, and the other going to Highway 11 and setting up in the spot I’d chosen.
Dave, Julia, Dan, and Jack, set up the ambush site on 130 the same way we had for the first ambush we set off destroying the five-vehicle convoy. They took along two M240 Bravos and set them up in positions covering the bridge from the south side. They camouflaged the positions using waterproof tarps and undergrowth cut for the task.
Over on Highway 11, Ruth, Jeff, and I set up an ambush in a similar fashion. We used twenty-four Claymores just like before and built two positions for the M 240 Bravos we’d brought. The two positions were about one hundred feet above the highway and would have clear firing lanes down to the road. They would be able to fire through the tops of the vehicles and into the steep depression on the opposite side of the road.
Those positions built and set, we concentrated on Dave’s place. It was indeed hard to protect. We set claymores along both sides of the bridge again and set a few here and there from the bridge up to the gate to his home. He set out more around the parameter of the house. We did as best we could for the Malone homestead. Dave still did not tell the Marines about his underground facility. I didn’t press.
We went back to Paradise Valley and made dinner. I started a fire as the chill was up in the valley, with an unusual high humidity, making the air feel much colder. I poured myself some bourbon mixed in Seven Up for a change, sat in my recliner and wondered why Dave was being so secretive. It was not like him to be this way.
Dinner was great with Ruth’s pork chops and potato salad. We talked about farming, ranching and the spring project of building the underground greenhouses. Dan, Jeff, and Jack all said they wanted to hang around and help. That’s when the conversation turned to the three places up on the southern ridge. We talked about that and the plan to connect the three with tunnels and an underground facility similar to mine. The three wanted to go look at the places and see for themselves. These guys sure had a fresh way of looking at a place from tactical and strategic points of view. It would be interesting to see if they agreed with our assessment of the southern ridge.
Morning brought a surprisingly clear and sunny day. I knew this weather could not last long…I’m not arguing, mind you, but we were in for, and from my view, past due for a winter storm. When it came, I was sure it would be a big one.
All of us wanted to go on the trip to the southern ridge, so we filled two trucks after breakfast and went touring. Dave had the lead. The place was five miles away, as the crow flew, and it took us about ten minutes. Dave and I decided he would go up the western lane and I would take the east. This would allow them to see the separation between the two and we could explain keeping only one open, blocking off one or the other.
We stopped at the entrances so the men could look up the ridge. They could see two of the homes and Dan asked, “Where is the third place?” I explained where it was, and he nodded. It was interesting to watch the three. They took in everything, the three heads looking in all directions from the entrances to the driveways.
Back in the trucks and heading up the ridge, Jeff said, “Glad I don’t have to live in that place just up the street there. It would be a real chore to defend being out in the open like it is.”
“I had the same observations,” I agreed with him. “We’ve gone there a few times and looked at it, but I got the hebbie-gibbies just being there.”
“Hebbie-gibbies…? What’s that?” Jeff asked.
“You know that feeling of danger even though there isn’t any,” I told him. “Every time I visited the place, I got that feeling and knew I needed to split.”
“Gotcha,” he said.
We pulled up to the first house and everyone got out to look around. We gave them the grand tour, leaving the trucks at the first place and walking to the other two. We showed them the creek, the pond, and the spot where we suggested building an underground facility. The trio looked the spot over, looking in all directions again.
They moved to the center of where the complex would be and spoke quietly with each other. I was curious about what they were saying to each other but stayed away. Those three were close…amazingly close. They moved as one and I saw them move in ways we would never understand. I watched them work together without saying a word but knowing what each other thought and wanted. I’m sure it was their Marine Corps training, their time in combat together in Vietnam, and their time together since.
“Doug,” Dan yelled at me, startling me out of my thoughts about them. I looked at him and he waved me over. “You’ve selected well. This is a great area. Which driveway would you close off?”
“East side - it needs improvements and work whereas the western side is set already. It’ll need less work to protect. I’d add boulders all along the frontage. That would hamper anyone cutting across country to get up here. I’d also put in a gate like what Dave and I have at our places, which we can do easily. I’d even add trees and human deterring shrubs and plants.”
“Human deterring?” Jack asked.
“Thorn bushes and low-lying brush that fos
ters hornet habitation,” I explained. “Otherwise the western lane up to here is sound.”
The three looked at each other and Jack said, “Told ya.”
“Now, explain what you have in mind for the underground if you would,” Dan asked.
“My first consideration was protection,” I began. “The trees back here would cover from the south, the uphill side. We can plant the same kinds of shrubs and plants in the aspens to deter anyone coming from that direction. You have 425 feet across here, more than enough room to build a suitable underground. I suggest making the tunnels from each home to the main complex out of containers, or if we can find it, the eight- or ten-foot corrugated steel pipe like they used for underground waterways. They’re more formidable and endurable with the proper treatments and they would give you an enormous storage capability.”
“This span can hold fifty containers, giving you twenty-five to live in if you want a facility that large. The surrounding twenty-six we’d fill with whatever, trash, rocks, gravel, wood…just about anything for filler that would give you added protection. You can do whatever you wish with them, even use them for storage. If you choose, I figure you’ll need thirty-three containers to build the three tunnels from the three homes to the underground. So, that totals eighty-five or ninety containers to complete the project, with a few for just in case needs. I’d use eight-gauge, steel in twenty-foot sections.
“As you can see, you have complete coverage of the valley below. You can make as many firing positions like my eastern and western portals, as you want, but I’d say at least three, east and west sides and center. I’d run the maintenance room to the south and probably several other containers going that way you can use for additional storage and shelter, like a safe room of sorts. You can store additional weapons and ammo, food, water, clothing…just about anything you might want.
“The creek doesn’t run all year, so you’ll need to store water and that’s another issue all by itself. All three homes have wells and the water is fresh so I’m betting we could drill one, two or three for the underground. They would supply you with a ready supply of water all year long – hot and cold. We can run sewage into that little depression down there to the northeast, putting in a septic system that’ll support three bathrooms. We can build it with an overflow allowing water to seep into the dried creek bed down there. I don’t think we need to worry about the EPA anymore.
“We can add generators like mine and hot water heaters, stoves and an HVAC system for heating and cooling. The stoves would be gas as will the heaters, using propane from three, two-hundred fifty-gallon tanks we’ll put in back here in the trees. We’ll paint them a dark green to help camouflage them in the woods.” I ended the conversation with, “It’ll take a great deal of planning on our parts to build it, but there is no doubt we can build anything you want.”
The three looked at each other. Dan gave a signal with his hands and Jack and Jeff went to where the ends would be. Dan stood in the middle and they looked all around once again. This time I knew they were looking at firing lanes for each of three firing portals like the two I built in the Underground.
Dan turned and looking at me said, “You gave this a lot of thought and already have it built in your mind, don’t you?”
“Some, but it’ll have to be what you three want, not what I envision. All I can do is suggest at this point. You’ll have to decide what your comfort levels will want to be in it when we build. I can do the engineering and design, most of the work, with help that is.”
“This is a good spot,” Jeff said walking up to the two of us.
“I agree,” Jack added as he came up.
“Well, the three of us need to have a sit down and plan this thing out…later,” Dan, said. “Right now, we have to help these folks fight a war. We’re going to win it,” he said with determination. “We’ll move in here after the war is over,” he turned to me adding, “if that is okay with you, Doug.”
“We were hoping you’d stay. We’re very happy to have you three here,” I said with a smile. We joined the others at the trucks and drove back to Paradise Valley after I gave the others the good news that the trio was going to stay.
Back at my place, I took out steaks and potatoes for dinner. We were going to celebrate the addition of the Marines to out little community. Now we were seven. In my mind, that was a God number and therefore a good thing. More would be merrier of course, but seven people in the community was a good start.
I went into the storage room and broke out a bottle of McClellan twenty-five-year-old scotch, from the case I’d found in the liquor store in Cheyenne. This event was definitely worth celebrating.
Chapter 13: The War
The Doc had been gone quite some time now, and after speaking with him through the messages using the drone, I still didn’t miss him. He’d left a sour taste in our mouths. We continued to find Zs from time-to-time, which we killed with salt water in our squirt guns or with other weapons, we had handy. The Marines thought that was a neat trick with the squirt guns. They were all still heading north so we assumed the Doc’s signal was still broadcasting.
With the arrival of the three Marines, things had begun to return to what came to be normal around the two homesteads. The seven of us got together every Wednesday and Sunday, Wednesdays for dinner and on Sundays, we would have a church like service with me giving a short talk and we’d do a Bible study then have a nice dinner together.
It was on one of these Sunday’s at the Malone place that our world changed. I had just finished an opening prayer for our Bible study when a bright flash like a camera flash went off and a few moments later, the ground beneath us began to shake and quiver. All of us put our hands out to the side for balance and our eyes told the same story of surprise and wonder. As far as I knew there had never been an earthquake in this neck of the woods, not at least since I had lived in the valley. The dogs were going nuts and wanted out.
My first thought was Yellowstone had finally blown its stack, but that, thankfully, was not the case. When the house stopped moving, the seven of us ran out onto the front porch and looked around, the dogs scattering in all directions. Julia was first to notice and brought our attention to a growing cloud to the north.
As the crow flew, I figured the site in Montana the Doc had told us about was roughly three hundred miles or so away. The cloud we could see was that direction, so I said, “They finally did it.”
Jack asked, “Who…did what?”
“Someone nuked someone - that’s a nuclear bomb blast’s mushroom cloud we can see,” Dan, said pointing. “Wonder what they nuked?”
“Remember the doc I told you about?” I answered. He said yes, and I further explained, “Remember I told you about the sound they developed…well he said that when they thought they had the majority of the zombies in one area, they would nuke it, killing millions of them in one shot.
“That thing must have been huge to rock this place like it did,” Dave commented.
We stood there watching the cloud and Julia wondered aloud, “I wonder if it worked?”
“I’m sure the vast majority were simply vaporized by a blast that big,” I said. “I thought he said they would use small yield weapons…that one looks really big to be a small tactical weapon like he described.”
“Maybe there was way more Zs than he figured on, so they used a bigger one to get ‘em all,” Dave said.
“That sounds logical, but we may never know,” Ruth commented, turned, and went back inside. Julia followed her.
The five of us men stayed on the porch looking at the cloud. “Did you hear any airplanes?” Dave asked me and I shook my head no. “I hope that cloud doesn’t come this way.”
“If it does, we’ll be in a lot of trouble,” I said. “We should put the contingency plan into action and be ready to bug out if it looks like it’s heading our way.”
“I agree and no better time than right now to get started,” Dave said and turned for the door.
“Contingency plan?” Jeff asked.
“It’s our plan to bug out if necessary,” I explained. “We have trailers already loaded with supplies and equipment and fuel, ready to go for a bug out if needed. All we need to do is hook up and go. If that cloud spreads this direction, we’ll probably need to get outta here.”
“Good thinking,” Jack said.
“Where will you go?” Dan asked.
“Looking at that and knowing the prevailing winds like I do, I’d head west. The prevailing winds are out of the west and northwest around here, rarely from the southwest. If we got to Saratoga, I think we’ll be safe as the mountains will be between us and the cloud.”
“We’ll do everything we can to help,” Dan assured me. They turned and went inside.
I stood there for a few more moments watching the cloud rise then whistled for the dogs. They completely ignored me, so I turned and followed the Marines inside. Dave was talking to the girls about beginning to get ready to bug out when I entered the kitchen. The Marines were standing there listening in. We all knew what we needed to do so Ruth and I gathered Sam and the little one, and the Marines, and left heading to our place to get our stuff ready. Julia, Dave, and their critters would stay at their place until loaded and hole up, keeping in contact with us by radio until we decided to leave or stay.
It took the rest of the day for the five of us to get our supplies and equipment ready to go. I pulled out another trailer with a fuel tank on it and made sure it was full then we loaded the materials we would need for survival. Dan, Jack, and Jeff prepared their trucks as well, hooking up to trailers also, including another with a full fuel tank. That would give us four trailers with additional fuel.
I'm Tired of Zombies | Book 2 | Full Scale War Page 31