After the Solar Flare (Book 1): Alone in the Apocalypse

by AJ Newman

  I don’t want him to know about the property.”

  A solemn look drained Mary’s face of color as she said, “Yes, that sounds like a regular night for him, and yes, you are definitely right about keeping him in the dark. He would spill his guts after a few drinks.”

  “I would appreciate it if you were to give her my money also and tell her it’s payment for services rendered, and don’t take no for an answer. Let’s give it to her in cash to help her hide the money from her husband, and the stinkin’ Feds. I get the feeling she might need a safety net one of these days.”

  “Matt, I have exactly the same thought. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

  “Mary, if you’ll get your lawyer to draw up the papers, I’ll have the money wired to your bank at closing. Which bank do you use?”

  “Wells Fargo.”

  “Good, I’ll start my own account there this afternoon. Oh, do you want a deposit?”

  Smiling, Mary said, “No, I wasn’t trying to sell the house so no loss if you walk. I do need 30 days to move out, and that is not negotiable. Agreed?”

  “Not a problem, as long as I can start moving my stuff into the garage and the barn immediately.”

  “Sure, that’s fine with me. I plan to stay around here and will probably move into a hotel until I find a nice little home.”

  “Mary, you can stay here until you find a place. I’m eager to get moved out here, not eager to kick you out. Why waste the money on a hotel?”

  “I might take you up on that, so don’t offer unless you mean it.

  “I do mean it. It will also give us an overlap on anything I need to know about the property.

  So, do I have my Shangri-La?”

  Smiling, but serious, she said, “Absolutely, as soon as I have the dough in my account. You really do have the money, right?”

  Laughing now, I said, “Yeah, I think I might be able to scrape up the cash. Seriously, it’s a done deal from my side.”

  We shook hands and then I took Patty back to the airport.

  “Can I buy lunch?”

  “No, my husband will be looking for me.”

  “Patty thanks for putting me in contact with Mary. I promise you that I’ll never forget your help. You’ll also be receiving a nice reward for helping us with the sale.”

  “Oh no, I can’t take your money.”

  “The hell you can’t, and yes you will. I’d much rather a nice person like you gets paid than a twerp like Carson. You earned it. Mary will handle it when we close.”

  She blushed and said, “Well, okay, thanks, I can use the money. My trip back home nearly broke the bank and my inheritance is tied up in court for several months to make sure my mom’s bills are paid.”

  As she walked away, I thought, damn, too bad she’s married. Then I mentally slapped myself for even having those thoughts after just escaping from Jane. That woman made me distrust all members of the female persuasion. I know that line of thinking isn’t rational, but it is what it is. I just wanted to get into my new home, make a few new friends and hide out until whatever happened, happened.

  We were able to get the house inspection done in 2 days, and 2 days later, on Friday. Man, oh man, things sure run at a different pace in beautiful Wyoming. Of course, we didn’t let the man see any of the secret rooms or survival features.

  I was unbelievably happy. Then I calmed down, did my usual thing and put a list together of stuff I wanted to do, and things I needed to purchase.

  After working on my list, I suddenly realized that, even though I still had a considerable nest egg, I also had no income. Ouch. Therefore, I put a budget together that had me eating a quarter of the time on my stock of food so I would keep most of it from spoiling. I would fish and trap another quarter and purchase the rest from the General store.

  I figured that if I could stick to my new plan, I wouldn’t go broke for about 20 years…after that……hmmm. Oh well, I’d worry about that 20 years from now.

  Still, I decided to purchase 100 pounds of pre 1964 silver coins as a hedge, to make my nest egg good for 15 years. I told myself that silver would have to increase in value, and if the worst happened, I thought that a silver quarter would always buy a loaf of bread.

  I also planned to inventory my survival supplies and food. Mary’s husband had a perpetual inventory system that he kept on clipboards hanging from the doors to the supplies. I told myself that I would try to keep that system up to date.

  “Did I mention that I was happy?”

  ***

  The Wrangler Café

  Pine St, Pinedale, Wyoming

  The dawn sky had been a bright crimson red, and had turned nearly black as the sun rose and fought to penetrate the storm’s clouds. The weather front brought a wind driven rain. Happily, the late morning forecast promised clearing skies with calming winds.

  Mary switched her gaze from the wet street and clearing skies to Patty as she sipped her tea during their luncheon at The Wrangler Cafe and said, “I really like that Matt. He’s gonna make some woman a great husband.”

  “Yes, he seems to be one of the near extinct good ones. Not that I’d know from any of my experiences. Are you going to play cupid and fix him up with one of our single gals in town?”

  “Something like that. There has to be a special woman out there for him. He needs time to heal and I do believe that time heals all wounds.”

  “Yes, Mary, I guess it does. At least I hope it does. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”

  “I know honey, but if you ever need to talk, well, you know where I am.

  Now, I have a small satchel with some cash in it for you that expresses both Matt’s and my appreciation for your help in selling the house and property. Keep it close and hidden from everyone else. Do you understand?” Mary asked as she handed the bag to Patty.”

  “Mary! Matt told me about this, and when I told him I couldn’t take any money for doing you a favor, he said that I could and I would. Still, I can’t take this much just for introducing you two.”

  “Not to be repetitive, but, yes, you can, and yes, you will! I only put in half and Matt put the other half in for you. He is very thankful that you warned him about Carson and helped him find my place. You saved him hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

  “He does seem to be a straight forward and honest man. Kinda’ cute, too.”

  “He spoke highly of you as well.”

  “Mary, don’t try to push him at me. I’m happily married.”

  “Bull shit. I’m your friend, so don’t even think about lying to me. I’ve seen the black eyes and bruises. No woman falls down that much. Hell girl, everyone in town knows George is banned from all but two bars in town for picking fights when he gets sloppy drunk. Now you listen to me. You keep this money hidden, and not in a bank that will create a paper trail. Don’t you dare let George blow it on booze and women.”

  Patty started crying and Mary went around the table to comfort her.

  “I didn’t know that people knew he was seeing Jean.”

  “Patty, the snake hits on every woman in town when he’s had a snoot full. He does most of his whoring around away from home, but everyone knows everyone else in a small community. Sorry, but you need to kick his ass out. The store is yours and you can make a good living from it once he stops robbing you blind.”

  “Mary, I hate the thought of divorce and always felt I could change him. It’s taken a long time, but now I know that won’t happen. You’re right, I have to stand up and stop being a doormat. I’ll do it. I’ll see a lawyer next week.”

  “That a girl. Maybe you’ll find a nice man who needs a good woman like you.”

  “Mary you old dog. You want to fix me up with the new rich guy.”

  “I’m only a few years older than you. Matt’s not rich. He inherited enough money to buy my place and live a simple life off the grid. He’s also single, has two dogs and no kids. I really like him.”

  “Then you date him.”
/>   “Smart ass.”

  ***

  The next 30 days flew by as I travelled back and forth between Pinedale and Smyrna. Mary insisted that I stay at my new home during the transition. I quickly fell in love with the place, as did Gus and Tina, my dogs. They spent a great part of the day romping around the property chasing squirrels and rabbits, and being chased by the geese.

  In my spare time I had my, soon to be ex-garage convert my 1949 FI to four wheel drive, sold my car and bought a used Jeep Rubicon. I had the garage convert the ignition and fuel injection to EMP proof pre 1974 type systems. Then I had them shipped to Pinedale, Wyoming. Sounds good to say that, yep, I think I’m gonna like my new hometown.

  A moving company took only one truckload to move my belongings from Smyrna to Pinedale. Most of the furniture stayed with the house, but I kept my dad’s personal mechanic’s tools, wood working machines and gun collection.

  I also purchased a large amount of gold and silver coins and had them shipped to my new homestead. The coins were placed in a safe in the gunroom inside of the bomb shelter. Pardon the pun, but you can’t be too safe in post-apocalyptic America with your gold and silver. I would also place most of my barter goods in the bomb shelter.

  I started calling my new home, ‘The Jones Homestead.’ It just sounded good to me and I was the only one I had to please these days.

  I closed out my bank account in Smyrna and transferred all of my money to the Wells Fargo branch in Pinedale.

  I spent several hours nearly every night researching on the internet to figure out the best trade goods I should purchase to replace paper money when it became worthless. Food, whiskey, ammunition, guns, medical supplies, feminine hygiene products, especially toilet paper, and birth control items were high on the list along with silver and gold.

  I ordered large quantities of all of the above except for guns through the internet and had them delivered to Patty’s store so she could deliver them to the homestead. I tried to pay her for delivering the supplies, but she wouldn’t hear of it. No one, but Patty and her husband knew there were large quantiles of supplies, since she made several deliveries to out of town customers each week. Patty knowing was one thing, but I was not happy about that rat bastard husband of hers knowing anything about me at all.

  The truth is that I was like a kid in a candy store. I only bought what I needed to survive, but think about it; it’s all stuff that’s fun for the most part. Guns, knives, axes, water distillation devices, supplies for my Bugout bag, back packs, animal traps, survival food and the list goes on and on. A hundred thousand dollars can buy you a lot of shit.

  I still had over $800,000 dollars in the bank. I would put enough aside to pay taxes just in case the apocalypse doesn’t happen before April, 15 next year. I was happy, happy, happy.

  Well I was happy until I met one more time with my buddy Sam Nolin the next Saturday to update him and say good bye. We met for supper at the Outback in Murfreesboro and I filled him in on my progress.

  “Well you certainly have accomplished a great deal over the past two months. Your new home sounds perfect. Now what do you do if twenty armed men attack and take it away from you.”

  I stammered and cussed before answering, “I’d fight back and kill the bastards.”

  “Yeah, sure, one man against twenty? Do you really think you could win that battle? They could take turns sleeping while half attack your home every hour of the day until you fall asleep.”

  “Shit, I hadn’t thought about that. I don’t want more people at my place to share in the security. What the hell do I do?”

  “Well, keep your place a secret for starters. Plan on being run out of your home. Hide supplies in several locations away from the house. I would suggest using plastic drums to store food, water, guns and ammunition. The things you need to survive. You might build a couple of small cabins on your property far away from the house for shelter during those cold ass winters, and Matt, the winters in Wyoming are freakin’ cold.”

  “Boy did you burst my bubble. I lose my house forever and live like a cave man.”

  “No. You regroup and fight a guerilla war against those bastards and retake your home after you pick them off one at a time.”

  “Look, I’m not Rambo. I’d just try to live off the land.”

  “No, you’ll do to what you need to do to survive, and keep what is yours. Take some more survival, first aid and marksmanship courses. Be prepared for any and every thing.

  Oh, make sure you have several suppressors and learn to use a compound bow. Learn to kill silently. A quiet shot from half a mile away, gives you time to escape. An arrow is silent death. You could kill a dozen men one at a time and never alarm the rest.”

  I was confused about something he had said, “Suppressor, don’t you mean silencer? Don’t silencers just go pfftt when you shoot?”

  Shaking his head, Sam said, “Jeez Matt, that’s 007 movie crap. Now listen and listen good. The word is suppressor because there is no such thing as a silencer. There is still a loud, but suppressed bang, and think about it, when that slide slams a new round into the chamber it makes noise, so get that movie crap out of your head. Guns are noisy…period. Now, that’s why you need to learn to use a bow; remember what I said, arrows are silent killers. Kill quietly, and it will scare the dog crap out of those thievin’ bastards. Got it?”

  I was embarrassed, and ashamed that I hadn’t realized these things before, but said, “All right, Good advice. Now I will be Rambo.”

  “Take the courses far away from your home. The guy training you could be the guy coming to take it away from you. Don’t tell anyone where it is. You have already told me too much my friend. Even your friends will kill you to get food for their starving children.”

  “I will take your warnings to heart and do my best to use your advice.”

  “Matt, one last thing; I have a friend at NASA who gave me a heads up that both NASA and the Military expect major solar storms at any time. You will soon see radio and cell phone reception become spotty and have interference.

  The grid will definitely go down in some areas around the world. The Aroura Borealis will reach much further south. The big Carrington event could happen before winter.”

  “Oh shit! Why aren’t they warning the public?”

  “Right, oh shit! They think there is nothing the public can do to get prepared and want to avoid panic. The panic could be worse than the actual event.”

  “Thank God for your friend.”

  “I’d take the courses and then get home, stop travelling by air no later than 90 days from now and then stick close to home until it passes. Don’t be in a plane when the Coronal Mass Ejection hits the earth. Only some military planes can survive a major solar flare.”

  “Thanks, that’s great advice, and for setting me straight on suppressors. I just can’t believe that I hadn’t realized that a gun won’t go pfftt.”

  Chuckling, Sam said, “Atta boy, Matt, now here is one last topic. I know you’ve noticed the infrastructure of our country has been left to rot for years, we pulled our military from overseas and are fighting a major war against crime and drugs in South America.”

  “Yes, but what do those have to do with prepping?’

  “I don’t know, but I think the government has some kind of secret project that is the largest ever conducted. Don’t count on them for any help and they may even become our biggest threat to survival.”

  “Thanks Sam. You have probably saved my life and I’ll probably never see you again. Sam, take this as a token of thanks for saving my life. Open it when you get home.”

  I handed him the small box with $50,000 cash and said,” Good bye my old friend.”

  As I was leaving, he said, “Be careful.”

  ***

  I found several survival schools in the Atlanta and Dallas areas and signed up to take courses over the next two months. Then I found the local Red Cross manager and signed up for First Responder training.

  I
learned about survival medicine, edible wild plants, snares, booby traps, shelter building, surviving without weapons, knife fighting and a host of other skills. I took several more courses during late summer and early fall. This caused me to stay longer than I had planned. I almost wished the shit would hurry up and hit the fan so I could use the training.

  Then I came to my senses and decided when I got home I would start living as though the fit had hit the shan. This made me very proud to know I could use my newly gained skills to prepare me for when it actually happened.

  Yep, be careful what you ask for…

  When I flew back to Pinedale. Mary was kind enough to pick me up at the airport. As I came out of the terminal, the Wyoming cold hit me like a hammer to my kneecaps. I thought, oh crap, I didn’t expect it to be this cold in mid-fall. There, it was; the Wyoming cold, and it was going to get much colder with a lot of snow. Snow was already ass deep to a tall Indian at elevations only 500 feet above my little oasis.

  Tennessee was never as cold as it was about to get in Pinedale.

  Mary asked about my trip back east and said, “I’m so happy you are back, something is going on. I don’t know exactly what but tv and radio signals have gotten very bad since yesterday, and the internet went down this morning.

  The news is filled with new wars being fought around the globe. Russia, China and Iran were running amuck conquering territories around them. The surprise this morning was that suddenly Russia attacked India in a massive invasion preceded with a nuclear exchange. The Indians lost.

  The Chinese launched a massive invasion of Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Sumatra at the same time. The world was going crazy. I was just glad we weren’t fighting.

  That quickly changed when news of our victories against the drug gangs in South America turned vicious. Our President went on TV, said that several of the South American governments were in collusion with the gangs and had to be replaced. The USA would watch over them until they could hold free elections. The world was going crazy.”