Hornet's Nest: A Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Fiction Series (The Blackout Series Book 5)

by Bobby Akart

  Another trade took place between a farmer and a local resident. He offered half a dozen apples in exchange for a can opener. Another farmer overheard this proposal and chimed in that he’d provide eight apples for the can opener.

  Because apples were readily available this time of year, they quickly became a standard of exchange to go by. Then one of the farmers offered up a jar of canned apples. This was seen as more valuable than the picked-off-the-tree apple and more offers were exchanged.

  Services were exchanged for services and goods were traded for goods. One thing was agreed upon by all of the attendees—the barter market was a hit and should be a regular Sunday event after church.

  There was now so much interest in the barter market that Coach Carey had to resort to his megaphone to remind everyone to vote before the polls closed. After the polls closed, a handpicked group of six canvassers were chosen to count the votes and announce the winners before dark so folks could get home. When they emerged onto the front steps of the courthouse, the candidates all stood before them and awaited the results.

  Once again, Coach Carey had to resort to the megaphone to get everyone’s attention. Over the moans and groans of the citizens, he declared the barter market to be closed so they could conduct the business of the county.

  As expected, he was elected mayor with Leslie Bryant his vice-mayor. Jake was elected a county commissioner, and former Deputy Stanford was now Sheriff Stanford. The winners accepted applause on their victory and immediately entered the large courtroom inside to cover a few major issues left hanging.

  Everyone approved an ongoing barter market each Sunday. Mayor Carey quipped that it would happen whether they approved it or not.

  They decided not to revise and reinstate the radio broadcasts over the local AM Emergency Band. With winter coming and food in short supply, the town didn’t need any more mouths to feed.

  After a short debate, it was decided to house displaced refugees lured by the Durhams into Savannah in abandoned homes around town. The refugees would be told that the housing was temporary, pending the return of the owners or their kin, and they would be monitored to insure proper maintenance of the home. They were also required to work for the county in some capacity. There were no free rides unless disabled or elderly.

  Many topics were tabled for a future meeting, including the suggestion that arms be distributed to the residents, method of payment to the deputies, and the level of security deemed necessary in light of the changes brought about by the Durhams’ arrest.

  Sheriff Stanford was instructed to come up with a manpower plan for the county and submit it at the next meeting. The temporary deputies consisted of volunteers and they were far from a disciplined security force. Finding the right people and placing them into service would take many weeks.

  Coach Carey and Mrs. Bryant took a tour of the grocery stores, which had been commandeered by Junior. They found an abundance of food that, based upon simple calculations, could feed the town until late spring. Jake volunteered to create a committee of ranchers and farmers on the west side of the county to develop a sustainability plan involving the Savannah residents as labor to help grow crops throughout next year as well as assist with the cattle.

  Rhoda, who was elected the commissioner from the southeast part of Hardin County, volunteered excess milk from Croft Dairies to help feed the citizens in exchange for items at Tractor Supply that would help her expand the dairy’s operations.

  The group could find no meaningful use for the Vulcan Quarry and voted that it never be reopened. Cherry Mansion was ordered to be bordered up and condemned. Despite its historic significance, the group would decide later whether to tear it down or create a museum depicting its recent grim uses.

  They agreed to meet again the Wednesday afternoon prior to Thanksgiving. Finally, they discussed the need to continue the goodwill among the residents. The people had been through a lot and the new community leaders wanted to put an exclamation point on their newfound freedom. A Thanksgiving Day celebration was proposed and approved.

  The new leadership team would put the word out that a potluck Welcome Home celebration would take place Thanksgiving Day on Main Street for all to attend. Mayor Carey said he’d put together a scrimmage in the vacant lot to substitute for the usual Thanksgiving Day games on television. Vice-Mayor Bryant volunteered her husband to prepare a Thanksgiving Day sermon, which he could give from the gazebo in Court Square. All of the commissioners would reach out to their neighbors and ask for food donations.

  This would be an event to give thanks for being alive and free from tyranny. It would also be the start of a new chapter in Savannah’s version of post-apocalyptic America.

  Chapter 39

  Afternoon

  Thanksgiving Day, November 22

  Court Square

  Savannah

  The Bennett brothers proudly put the final touches on a Welcome Home sign and affixed it to the gazebo. The United States flag once again flew proudly above the Hardin County Courthouse. Folding tables had been gathered up from every meeting place, the store shelves of Lowe’s and the aisles of Walmart. Hundreds of people had gathered for the Thanksgiving festivities on a sunny day in the mid-fifties.

  Rather than hit the citizens with another healthy dose of preachin’ right after church, Pastor Bryant blessed the food and suggested that everyone enjoy God’s bounty. The scene was one to behold, and due to Alex’s quick thinking, it was memorialized with pictures.

  She charged her iPhone, a device she hadn’t used since their arrival at Shiloh Ranch, and took dozens of pictures of the attendees. She also managed quite a few selfies with Beau. They were inseparable now and had even shared a kiss in private that morning after Alex arrived. In her mind, sufficient time had passed between their introduction to Savannah, her abduction, and the takedown of the Durhams, to pursue a possible relationship with Beau.

  The world was different now. Movie dates ceased to exist. The Friday night lights of high school football were turned off. Lunch at The Bluebird Café was no longer an option. A young teenage couple who’d experienced more than most adults had to find other ways to allow their courtship to take place.

  Alex invited Beau out to Shiloh Ranch, where they rode horses and she taught him how to shoot. Beau invited Alex to Savannah when he and the guys played a pickup football game. At night, everyone was expected to be at home. After all, a grid-down world was still a potentially dangerous place.

  They shared their time together as much as possible and were excited about today because Beau was going to show off his football skills during the first annual Turkey Bowl in Savannah. Also, Alex wanted to spend some time with the girls of Croft Dairies. They’d returned home and she wanted to make sure her Feisty Fifteen were getting back to normal.

  The breaking of bread and socializing continued. Alex promised to figure out a way to print the photos and she would pin them to the newly created bulletin board on the front of the courthouse.

  People who had certain services to offer or products to sell could post a written notice on the bulletin board. This enabled people to transact business during the week, in between the barter markets.

  A special bulletin board was established for those seeking information about missing loved ones. This included those who might have been sent to the quarry and never returned. The Vulcan Quarry operation had been well guarded by Junior’s people and information leaks were few. The activities there were known to be dangerous and it was not unusual for a bus to return to town at night with several seats empty.

  A suggestion box was also placed by the entry to the building. When information was readily available via the Internet or media, this archaic form of communication became a thing of the past. Now, the primary means of reaching out to the county commissioners was via the suggestion box.

  Not everything was perfect, and obvious aspects of everyday life were overlooked, but the community was working together without friction or acrimony. The citizens of
Savannah were bound and determined to make it work despite the horrors of the past eleven weeks.

  With full tummies and happy hearts, everyone turned their attention toward Pastor Bryant as he took his position behind a lectern set up for him in the gazebo. He started out by drawing attention to the sign above his head.

  “Welcome home!” he shouted.

  “Welcome home!” the crowd yelled back in unison.

  “This is a homecoming in every sense of the word,” started Pastor Bryant. “Although many of us never left Savannah, it hasn’t really been home since the solar flare devastated our world. We have seen evil, looked it in the eye, and with God’s help, drove it from our town!”

  “Amen!” yelled the crowd. Pastor Bryant was a traditional Methodist minister and didn’t have the dramatic touch that his evangelical counterparts had. Today, the wave of euphoria had swept over the entire town, and Pastor Bryant was feeling it as well.

  He continued. “This morning, during church, I presented my usual sermon about the Pilgrims coming to the New World and their perseverance against all odds. If you missed it, join us next year at Graham Chapel and you can hear it then. Now, enough shameless advertising.”

  Pastor Bryant took a sip of water and began after the chuckles died down. “The real story of Thanksgiving is about freedom. Religious freedom if you are a student of history. It’s also about political freedom. In the seventeenth century, King James persecuted anyone who did not recognize his absolute authority during his reign. If you dared to challenge the king, you’d be publicly executed or you’d disappear. Either way, all of your worldly belongings would be confiscated for distribution throughout the kingdom, all for the greater good of the realm.

  “The original Pilgrims fled Holland and came to the New World via sponsorships by wealthy merchants and landowners. Once they arrived here, they found desolate wilderness and were forced to live off the land, something none of them had ever done. This is where the traditional story of Thanksgiving fits in.

  “After only half the Pilgrims survived the winter, the Indians stepped in and taught them how to build shelters, plant crops, and lead a self-sustainable lifestyle. The Pilgrims eagerly built homes and created farms full of crops. Then it was announced that everything they produced went into a common store—community ownership—for the purposes of paying off their benefactors overseas.

  “Each family was given one common share of the harvested bounty regardless of how much they produced. Those who produced little or nothing got one share. A family who produced enough for ten families got one share.

  “This created a problem because soon, the number of takers rose and the makers’ levels of production fell, which reduced the amount contributed to the common store. Governor William Bradford concluded that the most creative and industrious families had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else because no matter what they produced, they’d just get one common share.

  “Bradford decided to shake things up by changing the system one spring. This time, everything you produced you kept for yourself and you were allowed to market your products for sale in a free-market manner. Bradford was pleased with the results and it resulted in a thriving community that produced lots of crops with which to trade with the Indians. Trading posts were created and goods exchanged throughout the New England colonies.

  “The word of this newfound economic freedom reached the shores of Europe, which turned into what’s been known as the Great Puritan Migration. An adventure that originally started out as the pursuit of religious freedom morphed into the creation of the greatest free-market society in the history of man—America.

  “My friends, God puts before us trials and tribulations that force us to seek solutions. The early settlers came to an unknown world, seeking religious freedom, and through death and harsh conditions, they discovered the power of the free market.

  “We have all persevered through the horrors. Now it’s time to accept the direction God has sent us. We should thank him for his guidance in restructuring our community and accepting the gifts of new friends who lead the way back to freedom. Let us not ever take for granted our freedoms again.”

  Chapter 40

  Afternoon

  Thanksgiving Day, November 22

  Court Square

  Savannah

  Mayor Carey reassumed his title of Coach Carey for a while as his Hardin County Tigers prepared to square off for the first annual Turkey Day Bowl game in Savannah. It didn’t matter that the game wasn’t being played on the football field down at the school. None of the kids or fans seemed to care that the game was located on a vacant lot behind La Dee Da’s boutique and Ma Ma Fia’s Café. It was football, a Thanksgiving Day tradition, and it represented normalcy for them all.

  The teams were equally divided between white-jersey visitors and the burgundy-clad home squad. Beau, wearing his burgundy jersey with the number 1, would act as quarterback for both teams.

  This was a flag-football game intended to minimize contact between the boys. The makeshift field, which the boys had marked with chalk earlier, was full of stones and tree roots. Coach Carey didn’t want anyone to get hurt.

  “You never know,” he said to the fans as they lined the field. “We might be conducting spring practice in a few months. I’m gonna want a healthy squad to coach.”

  Beau adjusted the flags on his belt and Alex gave him a very public kiss, which was out of character for her. She whispered, “Good luck, QB One.”

  The Kiss That Reverberated Around Savannah was seen by her parents, the Feisty Fifteen, and all of the Tiger Tails. Savannah had a new king and queen—Beau and Alex.

  The game got underway to the delight of the loud and boisterous crowd. Alex took up a spot behind Coach Carey and was joined by her parents.

  “Hey, Coach,” shouted Colton, “do they get this loud at the regular games?”

  “Sometimes, but not usually like this,” Coach Carey replied. “I think the crowd has a lot to crow about. I like it!”

  “It does feel good,” said Colton as he hugged Alex and Madison.

  Many of the residents wore the school colors and some even picked sides if they had a particular favorite on the field. Alex noticed several of her new friends from Croft Dairies were also cheerleaders for the team. She was proud of the courage they’d shown in standing up against the Durhams.

  The Bennett brothers were on defense for this particular set of downs and Beau was under center. In the spirit of the Harlem Globetrotters, and to stir up a little playful banter, Beau issued a challenge.

  “Yo, Jimbo and Clay, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t I tell you the play and you guys see if you can stop it. How’s that?”

  “How about we tear across the line and dump you on your—”

  Coach Carey blew the whistle. “Delay of game!”

  “C’mon, Dad, I was just playin’ with ’em.”

  “March back five yards, Mr. Mouth,” Coach Carey yelled back amidst the laughter of the crowd. The exchange between the father, his son, and the two adopted young men tickled the crowd, who began to taunt each other.

  “Burgundy!”

  “White!”

  “Burgundy!”

  “White!”

  Jimbo Bennett yelled mockingly across the line to Beau, “Bring it, QB One!”

  Beau glanced in her direction and winked. Alex blushed as she realized that Beau must have relayed her pet name for him to the guys. She was also flattered that he was talking about her. This was the first boy she’d ever liked, and she was enjoying the attention.

  Beau, anticipating a blitz from the Bennetts, called a swing pass to his running back. The play began and, as predicted, the Bennett boys roared through the line, looking for blood. With a big smile on his face, Beau easily flicked a pass to his right and caught his tailback in stride, who raced for a touchdown.

  The play didn’t end there, however. Jimbo and Clay scooped up Beau and ran with him to their end zone, unceremoniously dumping
him in the grass. They danced, high-fived, and celebrated as the crowd roared its approval.

  Alex also applauded the fun, but then she heard something. Something in the distance. A steady rumble.

  As the crowd continued to enjoy the festivities, she slowly backed away from her parents toward Court Square. She glanced toward Stubby, who nodded his head. He’d also abandoned Jake and Chase and moved deliberately toward the center of town.

  The roar grew louder. The sound began to reverberate off the buildings and was clearly approaching from the east along Main Street. Stubby and Alex reached the back of the crowd about the same time and then began to walk briskly toward Court Square.

  The rumble turned to a roar and others began to hear it. The celebration died down and the euphoria slipped away as the fear of the unknown settled in. Within a minute, everyone was slowly walking toward the courthouse and barely breathed as the continuous deep, resonant sound grew louder.

  The lead vehicle of the military convoy appeared, followed by another and then another. The crowd had migrated from the football field toward the convoy. Alex and Stubby stood dumbfounded in the middle of the road.

  As the citizens of Savannah filed onto Main Street, a voice boomed through a loudspeaker.

  “Attention, attention. You are conducting an unlawful assembly in violation of the President’s Declaration of Martial Law. You are to cease and desist immediately. Place any weapons on the ground and stand still with your hands up! You are all under arrest by orders of Major Roland Durham, commander of the Federal Emergency Management Association headquartered in Jackson.”

  Thanks for reading!

  The saga concludes in …

  DEVIL’S HOMECOMING

  Book six of The Blackout Series