Prepper's Collapse: Prepper Post-Apocalyptic Survival Fiction

by AJ Newman

  *

  Chapter 21

  The Clark Ranch – The Bunker

  Tom and Kate checked in on Sam before leaving to go to the cave. Granny B’s sleeping pills had worked their magic, and Sam was very groggy. Lucy sat in the recliner, watching over her mother. “The medicine makes her sleepy. I think that’s a good thing because she wanted to get out of bed and wander around. She needs to rest and recover from the wound.”

  “That’s right,” said Tom. “Your mom is a bit stubborn and could tear her stitches. You stay here and keep her safe. I’ll get the others to share your chores. You might want to go to the library and pick out some good books to read while Kate and I are here to watch her.”

  Lucy smiled. “Thanks. I’m almost done with the Great Gatsby."

  Granny B never trusted Sam but wasn’t sure why, other than the connection to Carlos and drugs. She saw how happy Kate made her grandson, and didn’t want Sam to come between them. She knew Tom liked Sam and would be hurt if she attacked the woman. Granny B decided to have a private discussion with Kate.

  “Kate, can we speak off the record? I think it would be best if Tom didn’t learn about our conversation.”

  Kate’s eyebrows rose. “Of course. Is it about Sam trying to get her hooks into my husband?”

  Granny smiled. “Yes, I don’t trust the bitch any further than I can throw a dead mule. She’s had her sights out for Tom since a few days after our plane crash-landed. She did everything but get naked and jump on him. That woman knows how to use her assets, and it didn’t work on Tom. That extreme flirting works on most men, but Tom was a bit bashful.”

  Kate took a deep breath. “You don’t think he would fall for her crap. Do you?”

  “No, but she might try to undercut you with him. I’m going to drop a few subtle warnings to my grandson, and you need to stick to him like glue,” Granny B said.

  Kate’s shoulders slumped. “I hate this soap opera crap. Can’t we just pitch her down into the pit at the cave?”

  Granny B’s eyes popped open. “Now that’s a thought. Darn, girl, we think too much alike. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings.”

  Kate gulped. “I was kidding.”

  Granny B had one of those big old country girl grins. “I wasn’t kidding.”

  ***

  There were only about twenty million survivors spread out across what had once been the civilized world. Third-world countries fared much better from the EMP-caused chaos but were engulfed in endless wars to conquer each other and take as much land as possible.

  The oceans were beginning a long process of cleaning themselves from a thousand years of pollution. Only a few hundred military vessels were plying the seas and almost no civilian ships. The usual Asian and African sail-powered fishing boats were still hunting their game in the saltwater. The rivers and streams were cleaner of chemical pollution, but were becoming fouled with human waste. The air was filled with smoke from cooking and heating with wood and coal.

  Animal life surged in population at first, and then game animals became the only source of meat. The fish in the ocean recovered much faster without the huge factory ships gobbling up fish every minute of the day. The enormous Chinese fishing vessels were stranded all around the world. The crews deserted and moved inland where possible to eke out a living. Military groups from numerous countries were stranded at their assigned bases, and immediately had to compete with the surviving locals for food and other necessities. Brutal battles were fought across the globe. The locals rarely won a fight. There were too many weapons and ammunition in small groups of highly trained men for the locals to ever win a battle.

  Life was literally dog-eat-dog and might made right all over the world.

  ***

  Several miles northwest of the Clark Ranch

  Their horses sauntered along at a good pace through the evergreens and tall grass. The smell of wood smoke rose from the city below and contaminated the clean mountain air. Tom wondered what the environmentalists would protest about in this new world. He looked behind them every now and then to make sure no one followed and to check on the packhorses, which were loaded down with supplies and the balloons Jerry had found.

  “Granny B, the pills are working, and Lucy bought your explanation. I wouldn’t press my luck beyond three to four days,” Tom said.

  Granny B replied, “If Lucy keeps giving her one in the morning and one before supper time, Sam will sleep like a baby. I hope to get the radio working and work out what I’ll be broadcasting about who I am and where I’m located. We don’t want people trying to find us.”

  Kate thought for a minute. “Keep using Granny B, but change your location every time you start your program. That should confuse them.”

  Tom said, “I don’t think any non-military groups would have the equipment to be able to trace our signal back to our location. I’ve given this some thought, and I plan to test the radio here, but move the location of the actual broadcasts around southern Oregon.”

  Kate’s head was shaking side to side. “No! Don’t you think the bad guys have a much larger chance of finding us out on the road than if we stay put. It seems like every time we go out scavenging, we have to kill thugs and gang members. Wouldn’t it be nice to go a week without killing anyone, even if they deserved to die?”

  Tom knew Kate was right and mentally kicked himself in the ass for not thinking of that possibility first. “I agree. I was wrong.”

  Granny B jumped in and interrupted. “Kate, write that down. A man actually admitted he was wrong today.”

  “Granny B, you’re my loveable grandmother, so I won’t dog you about being a smartass.”

  “I am smart and cute.”

  Kate knew to stay out of the banter and kicked her horse to pull ahead of the others. She caught something out of the corner of her eye, and her hand shot up as she steered her horse into some thick bushes and short pine trees. Granny B and Tom pulled in behind her.

  “Look up north about there,” she said as she pointed in the direction of the movement.

  They didn’t see anything, but after a minute, they heard someone talking in the distance. A man’s voice boomed through the forest. “Shut up the whining! You’re better off with me than having Carlos’s men raping you anytime they want you. I know where a cabin is up here somewhere.”

  A young woman’s voice could be heard. She chuckled. “A blind man could find the cabin before your sorry ass. We’ve been wandering around looking for this freaking cabin for two damn days. Untie us and let us go!”

  The man replied, “I said shut up! We’re going to live up here in these woods like Mormons in the old days. You three are going to be my wives. You’ll cook, clean, and raise a big garden. Then, I’ll spend the night with a different wife every night. We’ll have a passel of kids and be happy.”

  A different woman’s voice said, “My Jill is only fourteen. She’s not ready to be a wife. If you touch her, you’ll go to bed one night and wake up minus your pecker.”

  Tom had unfastened his crossbow from his saddle as Kate and Granny B had done when the three horses came into view. An older man led two horses with a young woman on the first horse and a woman and young girl riding together on the other horse. The man had two packhorses trailing behind them. The women were dressed in clean clothes and looked healthy, but their hands were tied in front of them.

  Tom motioned to the others and then cranked the bowstring back and nocked a bolt. He raised the weapon, took careful aim, let his breath out, and squeezed the trigger, and then felt the recoil as the bold flew from the crossbow. Tom heard the thud and saw the bolt strike the man in the chest. The man gripped the bolt and tried to pull it out to no avail. Tom heard the twang of another bow and saw a bolt strike the side of the man’s head, knocking him to the ground.

  The women could see the man die but had no clue where the small arrows had come from. Tom circled around behind them to make sure there weren’t any more thugs
. Finding no one around, he rode up to them and called out for Granny B and Kate to join them.

  Granny B stopped a few feet from the women. “Where are you from?”

  The older woman said, “I’m Lou, and my daughter, Jill and I are from Medford. The young woman, Jane is from Ashland.”

  Kate asked, “How did the man capture you, and do you have family back there?”

  “No husband. Mine was killed in the last Mideast war. The gang killed her boyfriend. This asshole stole us from the gang the day they captured us with one of their raiding parties. We’d hid from several, but our luck done run out. At first, we went with him willingly to get away from the gang. We thought it would be easier to escape from a single man than a jail cell and a hundred horny men. The dipshit was smarter than we’d thought and tied us up as soon as we escaped from the gang’s detention center.”

  Tom kept vigilant as Granny B and Kate untied their bindings. “What do you plan to do now that you’re free?”

  The young lady hadn’t spoken until then. “I’m Jane. I want to kill as many of those gang members as I can. I guess that won’t happen, so we need to get out of the area and find a safe place. Do you know of any groups of free people who might need a few more women? We’re willing to work hard for our food and help anyone with any tasks.”

  Tom looked at Granny B and Kate. Both shrugged their shoulders, and Tom knew he had to make the decision. “Ladies, we might have room for you three in our group. We have some strict rules but won’t work you to death, and you eat what we eat.”

  All three pleaded with Tom to take them into his group. He explained the rules and made sure they knew they weren’t going to have to give sex for security. He spelled out the rule about being in isolation the first month so the group could make the final decision on keeping them or not. They all agreed to the rules.

  Granny B nudged Kate. “Bill might like the older one.”

  “You’re a shameless matchmaker,” Kate responded.

  “The quicker we get the loose ones paired up, the less drama, catfights, and men doing plain old dumb crap for sex.”

  Kate said, “And you always say what’s on your mind.”

  Granny B responded with a girlish giggle. “Better to get them loving on each other than hating everyone.”

  Kate spoke, and Granny B’s jaw dropped. “I thought you’d hook up with Bill. You two seem to get along well.”

  “Harrumph. I’m past wanting a man in my life. I get my kicks from stirring the crap.”

  Kate chuckled. “My daddy always said – she who stirs the pot should have to lick the spoon.”

  Kate stared at Tom for a minute until she caught his attention. “Where do we house them? You don’t want the family at the cabin to know about the cave or the ranch. There isn’t enough room in that cabin for all seven of them. We need a solution because you bring people in like a little boy brings puppies back home.”

  Tom snickered. “I think we need to protect the location of our cabins and ranch from outsiders. I also have come to believe that there will be risks in adding people to our community. Maybe we should start another community that is part of our group, but not privy to all of our locations.”

  Granny B perked up and grinned. “Bill and his scouts told me all of the cabins and bed and breakfasts around Hyatt Reservoir are empty. We could start with the B&B at the southwest end of the lake.”

  Tom said, “Great idea. Let’s take them over to the B&B and set them up with some of these supplies. Then I’ll fetch Bill and James with the new family at the cabin and bring them over to the B&B. I asked Bill to set up a rotation of guards to help protect them until we add to the group.”

  Kate snorted. “Lou appears to be about forty to forty-five, and Bill is in his early fifties. I think …”

  Tom chuckled as he cut her off. “I’m not running a dating service!”

  Kate quipped. “The sooner these people are focused on expending their excess energy in the bedroom, the less trouble and hard feelings will be spread around the camp. Can you just imagine if Sam started making passes at you?”

  “Crap, you’re right. You’d be scratching Sam’s eyes out every time she looked at my manly body.”

  “Hon, you’re a legend in your own mind.”

  Tom’s face flushed. “I’m also smart enough to read between the lines. I’ll keep my distance from Sam.”

  “Good boy. Maybe I’ll have a treat for you tonight.”

  The Lake View B&B was deserted as expected. Tom rode around the area, checking the cabins and homes to make sure there weren’t any dangers. The entire south end of the lake had been deserted. Granny B and Kate unloaded enough supplies to last several days. The three women found the rooms ready for occupation after a thorough dusting. The two dozen cabins and the main office looked like they’d been occupied one minute and deserted the next. Plates with dried food and cabins with unmade beds were the norm. The women didn’t mind cleaning their new homes.

  Tom gave each of them a pistol and trained them in gun safety. The older woman had been shooting most of her life and had helped her husband skin deer and other game. Since her husband died, Lou had lived with her daughter, Jill, in an apartment. The young woman, Jane, had been in class at Southern Oregon State when the lights went out. She’d stayed in her dorm room until the toilets backed up and the place wasn’t habitable. She had moved in with a friend’s family, but there wasn’t enough food for an extra person to stay long-term. That’s when she’d gone to work on one of the gang’s farms. One of the guards had taken a fancy to her, and that’s where she’s been when the deserting guard had taken her and the other two ladies.

  ***

  Tom rode over to the cave and asked Bill and Greta to help him take the family over to the new community. He asked them to stay with the people until they could work out guard duty for the community. Tom filled them in on the three women and the plan to start a separate community, and to keep them from knowing about the other locations.

  Tom had a private talk with Alan and Kendra and told them that he wanted them to become responsible for the new community until Tom could make other arrangements.

  Alan asked, “What if I’m doing a good job and want to keep being in charge?”

  Tom took the man’s hand. “If you’re doing a good job, I won’t have to appoint anyone else to do the job. That’ll be one less headache for me. I’ll cover my expectations with you on the ride over to the new community.”

  *

  Chapter 22

  The Community

  Kate met them with her rifle ready when she heard them riding down the hillside. Tom introduced everyone and then turned the community over to Alan. Alan took his family and the three women to the office building. He had a get-to-know everyone meeting and then covered his expectations for the community. Tom saw smiles and some laughter and decided to walk away before he butted into Alan’s business.

  Bill caught up to Tom. “I’m surprised you feel good enough about Alan to turn a small community over to him.”

  Tom’s brow wrinkled, and he cracked his knuckles. “I don’t know if I have faith, but I need you and James with us. You two are the only ones besides Rick that I’d trust to handle this new community. Alan talks a good story. We’ll see if he can handle the responsibility. I’m hedging my bets by having a couple of us stationed here for the next month pulling guard duty. You’ll let me know if he fouls up.”

  Bill laughed. “I like the plan, and ya done good.”

  Tom chuckled. “Kate thinks you and Lou would make a good pair.”

  Bill looked away and then turned to Tom. “Lou would clean up and make a pretty woman. Do you have any dating rules?”

  “Nope. Just don’t date more than one at a time. I don’t have time or patience for crying men or women,” Tom said.

  Bill said, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous of the couples in our group. It would be nice to come home to a good woman. Darn, you done got me thinking.”
<
br />   “Sorry about that. All I have to say is that sleeping alone wasn’t near as much fun as sleeping with Kate.”

  “Damn your old dirty hide,” was all Bill said as he left.

  Tom noticed Bill was hanging out with Lou the rest of the day, helping them settle into their new home. Alan’s son quickly became enamored with Jill, and they took a long walk along the lakeside.

  Kate also noticed. “Isn’t love a wonderful thing?”

  Tom grumbled. “Yep, but is it as powerful as lust? You’ve got a horny old man and a teen with raging hormones stalking our new women.”

  Tom harrumphed. “To hear you talk, we’ll have a crop of babies in nine months.”

  Kate hugged her husband. “Worse things could happen. Don’t you think everyone should have what we have?”

  Tom poked the bear. “Even Sam?”

  Kate answered through clenched teeth. “I’m not taking the bait. I’m not a bit jealous, but I’ll either shoot her or marry her off in the next ninety days. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, buster.”

  ***

  The Clark Ranch

  Granny B banged a spoon on the table. “Son, I like the idea in general, but how do we vet these people? Just escaping the gang in Ashland doesn’t mean squat to me. Anyone can claim they were abused and join us. We need better proof they’re trustworthy and the kind of people we need.”

  Tom nodded as she spoke. “I agree, but we don’t have polygraph machines or truth serum. We don’t have a lot of time or ability to properly vet them.”

  Kate bit her lip as her head moved side to side. “I almost hate to say this, but Sam has vetted most of her vigilante group. Do we trust her or not?”

  Bill shrugged his shoulders, but Greta said, “Everyone around the table except Kate, James, and Jack has been with Sam since our plane crashed. Why should I trust Tom or Bill more than Sam? Sure, she was a pain in the ass the first day, but so were my mother and me. I trust Sam.”