Project Terminus

by Nathan Combs

  Lost in thought, Maggie didn’t respond. Sensing her conflicting emotions, he took her hand and looked into her eyes. “Maggie, you know I’m madly in love with you, and I intend to spend the rest of my life with you. I would never do anything that would hurt you, or complicate your life unnecessarily.”

  “Oh, Wade, I do know that. You prove it to me every day. And you have to know that I love you more than life itself, and I trust you implicitly. You’ve filled my world with magic, and I can’t begin to imagine a life without you.”

  They held each other in a silent, prolonged embrace until Maggie broke the silence. “Wade…someone’s hand is on my ass.”

  “Well, whoever he is, he has good taste.”

  Pulling away, with a suggestive smile, she led Wade into their bedroom.

  Six days later on New Year’s Eve, Bill and Linda joined Wade, Maggie, and Adam to watch the ball drop. Bill started on the bubbly early and was getting loud, so Wade took him out to the lanai so Adam wouldn’t learn any new words.

  Kicked back in the lounger, Bill asked, “Did you ever notice how everything bad that’s happening is put on hold over weekends and holidays?”

  Wade replied, “Yeah, I have.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  “I don’t know why, Bill, but I’m not gonna waste my time wondering about it.”

  Bill stared at Wade, then said, “You know why I think it is?”

  With a knowing grin, Wade said, “I’m sure you’re gonna tell me.”

  “Damned right I am,” muttered Bill. “It’s because those pricks in DC are doin’ this shit intentionally. Every one of ’em should be tried for treason and shot. They’re a bunch of worthless whores.”

  Wade laughed. “I can’t argue your point, but do me a favor, and at least for tonight, can we dispense with any discussion about the morons in DC?”

  Bill was silent for a moment, then exhaled heavily and said, “You’re right, Wade. Sorry, man.”

  “No apology necessary, Mister Scarlett. Let’s go watch the ball drop.”

  *****

  New Year’s Day was in the books. On Thursday, January 3rd, Linda called Wade.

  “I’ve found five properties that come very close to our parameters, and one of them sounds absolutely perfect. But it’s expensive.”

  “I’ll be right over, Lin. Has Bill looked at them?”

  “Yes, he has. And he’s excited.”

  In less than five minutes, Wade was sipping the coffee Bill had thrust into his hand. “Come on, man, you’re gonna love this one,” and grinning, he led Wade to the Florida Room where Linda sat in front of an open laptop.

  “Show him the first four, Lin.”

  The first four properties ranged in size from eighty-three to one hundred twenty-eight acres, and while they were all possibilities, Wade could see Bill was dying to show him the piece de resistance. “Okay, Bill, wipe that shit eatin’ grin off your face and show me the one you guys are so excited about.”

  Linda made a big production of clicking on the fifth property. “Voila!”

  Voila, hit the nail on the head. Two hundred eighty-three acres located twenty-three miles from Robbinsville sat in a wide valley nestled between two mountains, with a river on the east side of the valley. It also contained numerous creeks, peaks to 4200 feet, and bordered National Forest Service land on three sides. The only access was on the south side via a road maintained by the National Forest Service. The price was $1,971,000. Bill pulled up a minimized page and a sat-map from the USGS sprang into view.

  “Wow!” exclaimed Wade. “Now I see why you’re wearing that grin, old buddy. This one is definitely worth a look. Have you been in touch with the listing agency, Lin?”

  “No. I’ve been waiting to see if you wanted to set up a showing.”

  “Yeah, we definitely want to look at this one. Set it up ASAP.”

  Two days later, Wade and Bill arrived in Robbinsville. The realtor, Connie Atkins, told them they were welcome to spend as much time as they needed to check out the property, and handing Wade a plat map, she said, “Come on, I’ll take you as far as the forest service road.”

  The service road turned out to be little more than a goat path. Wade said he would contact her when they finished, then headed into the wilderness with Bill.

  Before they’d left home, Wade downloaded area maps into his GPS. They were on the east side of the valley floor about a mile in from the forest service road, walking along the riverbank, when Wade stopped and stared at the mountain to the west.

  With a confused look on his face, he said, “Look at that, Bill. There’s something odd about that area. Right there…about a quarter of the way up that peak.”

  Fixing his gaze where Wade was pointing, Bill viewed the area through his binoculars and after a minute said, “Yeah, you’re right. That’s…I don’t know what the hell that is. It’s subtle, but there’s definitely something different about it. Pull it up on the GPS.”

  Wade did so, but neither the topographical map nor the satellite imagery showed anything unique. The area in question turned out to be a 150’ long plateau, about 100’ deep, roughly 250’ above the valley floor; a huge overhang from the mountainside above covered and protected three quarters of the plateau. It looked like a giant hand cut a wedge out of the side of the mountain. The plateau itself was sparsely covered with brush, but there were mature trees at the edge. It was the anomaly of the indentation and the slight difference in the angle of the tree growth between the mountain and the plateau that had caught Wade’s eye.

  They explored the plateau for an hour and discovered a cave with a vertical shaft coming out on top of the mountain. The cave was the clincher. It was perfect. That evening, sitting on the edge of the plateau, they admired the opposing mountains painted in hazy gold and watched the sun make its exit.

  Bill mused, “You know, Wade, if it was possible to design a survival spot, I couldn’t come up with a more perfect layout. Plus, this place is absolutely beautiful.”

  Wade grinned. “I agree. It’s hard to see with no foliage. It’ll be almost invisible when there’re leaves on the trees. The god’s have smiled on us. Let’s bivy here for the night and check the surrounding area tomorrow, then let’s go buy this sucker.”

  When they entered the realty office two days later, Connie was all smiles.

  “Hi,” she said. “How did it go?”

  Wade told her the property met their criteria and asked for information on its history.

  Reaching into her briefcase, she pulled out a sheet of paper. “I was pretty sure you’d like it—it’s definitely a great property—so I did some research for you. The land has been in one family for three generations. The owners are getting on in years, and since they have no heirs, they’ve decided to sell it. As you know, they want one point nine million for it, but I’m pretty sure they’ll accept any reasonable offer.”

  Wade told her to write an offer for 1.5 million dollars, and wrote a check for $50,000 dollars earnest money. “How long before you can get an accepted offer?”

  Connie grinned. “Well, fortunately, the owners live just up the road. With any luck, I may have an accepted offer, or at least a counter offer, within hours. Why don’t you guys go have lunch and I’ll go see them. I’ll call when I have an answer.”

  Two hours later, she informed Wade he was now the proud owner of 283 acres of prime Western North Carolina real estate. Wade immediately called his bank and started the financing process, then texted Randal and Chris. Dirt’s in the house.

  At the beginning of February, the group snail-mailed him progress reports on their lists. Linda had completed her assignment and was bored, so she asked Wade what she could do to help out.

  “Lin, I guarantee you we’ll welcome fresh milk, eggs, and meat. Why don’t you start researching the best goats, chickens—don’t forget a rooster—and rabbits, to keep in a survival situation? And since you love to cook, it’d be a good idea for you to learn how to bake and co
ok on a woodstove and over an open fire.”

  Linda was thrilled with her new assignment, and beaming as she headed to the Internet to start her search.

  Watching her hurry and pick up her laptop, Bill grinned. “God, Wade, she is so easy to please.”

  Laughing, Wade said, “That’s a fact, pal. After all, she married you.”

  Bill laughed. “True.”

  On the Friday after closing, the entire group met in Robbinsville and went to the site. With a visual of what they were working with, they updated their to-do lists. That night, sitting around a crackling campfire, Sean suggested they give the site a name rather than just call it “the site” or “the land.”

  Jody agreed. “A name makes it personal. Since we’re calling our preparations Project Terminus, why don’t we call this Fort Terminus?”

  “I like that,” said Chris.

  So did everyone else, and the area became known as Fort Terminus, or as Adam suggested, “Fort-T, for short.”

  The following day, Wade went over the next step while Linda served campfire scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee. “We’re not going to buy supplies in town, and we will not, under any circumstances, use local businesses for anything we need. You all know why. We have to be able to do everything that needs to be done ourselves. And the first order of business is to figure out a way to get supplies from the valley floor to the plateau.”

  Everyone went home Sunday night, except for Wade, Bill, and Highlander.

  When Bill first met Conner, he asked if he could see his sword.

  Conner was confused and said. “My sword?”

  “Yeah, your sword.”

  “What are you taking about?”

  “You’re Conner Macleod, right?”

  Conner stared.

  “If you’re the Highlander, then you have to have a sword. I wanna see it.”

  Other than Jody, that was the last day anyone called him Conner.

  For the next ten days, Wade, Bill, and Highlander designed, built, and tested a simple crane-winch system that could hoist supplies to the plateau. They also cleared and marked the area where the tents would be located, and in general, measured and staked out Fort-T. The three men sat on the edge of a barren Fort Terminus the evening before they were going to leave and watched the sun set.

  Bill said, “Damn, it’s so quiet and peaceful here. I almost hope God does give the earth an enema. If He does, you know He’s gonna insert the nozzle at DC.”

  Wade and Highlander both smiled.

  In a quiet voice, Wade said, “I know you don’t really want a collapse, Bill, but I understand what you’re saying. The country we grew up in is almost unrecognizable. And we both know it’s not going to get any better. It’s comforting to know that if and when the shit hits the fan, we’ll be prepared not just to survive, but to thrive.”

  By July, Fort Terminus went from concept to functional. There was a high capacity, off-grid power system, which included two wind turbines and a motorized solar system that tracked the sun. It was capable of producing more than enough power to cover their anticipated requirements, including electricity for cooking and heat since the smoke from burning wood could give away their location. They decided they would use the wood stoves sparingly, and only during stormy weather and/or at night. Springs were located on both ends of the plateau and spring boxes were constructed to capture water. Highlander crafted and installed a grated floor system in the cave, strung lights, and installed a heavy-duty aluminum entrance door. Planting bushes and strategically placing boulders in front of it further concealed the cave opening. The shaft exit at the top of the mountain was capped with an aluminum hatch and named “the crow’s nest.” The vantage point provided unrestricted views of the valley floor and would serve as a sniper position if needed. They analyzed the defensive and offensive potential of Fort-T, and decided on where future watch posts would be manned, how best to access and conceal them, where they would place claymores, and which trees would ultimately be wired with C4.

  Chris and Wade put together yet another list of survival supplies.

  Bill and Randal produced an impressive list of weaponry.

  Going over the armaments list, Bill told Randal, “With our contacts, we can get everything on here, but it won’t be cheap.”

  Randal said, “That’s a fact. Unfortunately, getting our hands on some of these items will take awhile, so we should start now.”

  Maggie and Becky had a list of medical equipment and supplies that would rival any military field hospital in the world, and a toiletries list that was going to make a Cape Coral Walgreens manager very happy.

  Handing the list to Wade, Maggie said, “Here you go, Honey.”

  Wade looked over the list and started shaking his head from side to side. “Balls, Maggie, I can’t believe you forgot a CT scanner.”

  Maggie made a scrunched up face. “That’s very funny, Wade. You asked me to get you a detailed list. That’s what I did.” Then she turned and walked away.

  Wade grimaced. After catching up with her, he said, “I was just kidding, Mags. If this is what you want, this is what we’ll get.”

  Maggie looked at him and started laughing. “You look like a lost puppy, Wade. I was only kidding too.”

  Tina had a list of every book, pencil, and sheet of paper she would need to teach April and Adam through high school, and if necessary, into college. She also had an impressive list of music, which included over 10,000 songs on several different MP3 players with external speakers, and an extensive library of how to books.

  Carol put together a list of recreational items, including footballs, soccer balls, baseball equipment, badminton, horseshoes, and even a portable basketball hoop. For indoor games, she included numerous board games, card games, puzzles, drawing and artistry supplies, and a variety of boy and girl’s toys. She told Wade, “I included a bunch of Christmas decorations, several American flags, and picture books depicting Americana, including the celebrated holidays.”

  Sean gathered information on every piece of equipment necessary to construct, manage, and maintain a hydroponic garden of epic proportions. “Wade, this garden can produce enough fresh veggies to feed us indefinitely. And the best part is that it takes up a small amount of space. I also added a large amount of non-hybrid Heirloom seeds, including wheat and oats, for future use.”

  Linda was in heaven, and every day she was at Fort T, she practiced her campfire cookery. One weekend when they were all together, she prepared a simple but delicious evening meal consisting of fresh caught wild trout, potatoes au gratin, peas, fresh baked bread, and an assortment of fresh veggies. Dessert was homemade German chocolate cake.

  While they were sitting around the campfire drinking coffee after the meal, Bill looked at his wife, belched loudly, and said, “When we get back, I’m building a fire-pit in the back yard and gettin’ rid of the kitchen range and microwave.”

  Linda smiled sweetly and said, “I appreciate the compliment, sweetheart, but if you do that, I’m getting rid of a husband.”

  Everyone laughed, including Bill.

  Wade was impressed by everyone’s work. During their July 4th get together, he gave them an update on where they stood. “You guys have done an outstanding job in a very short time. Now we need to start getting this gear together and into the Fort. Unfortunately, we can’t have anything delivered here, but I’ve set up a shipping location in Atlanta. That’s reasonably close. We’ll pick it up and haul it here ourselves.

  By October they had a five-year supply of food, more than half of the other supplies they intended to stock, and backups for every piece of critical equipment. They started on the final design phase of the Fort. The remainder of the year flew by, and problems for the United States and the world continued to mount.

  For Wade and the others, the nightly news was greeted with dumbfounded skepticism. The lack of reporting on the potential dangers to the country was obvious. Which was troublesome. Because the news failed the “gut test,
” they doubled down on their efforts to complete Project Terminus.

  Eighteen months after the purchase of the land, Fort Terminus was operational with every survival and tactical item imaginable fully stocked, and they took turns manning it for a few days to a week at a time. Five hundred gallons of treated gasoline was stored. They had two heavy-duty modified 4-wheelers, night vision and thermal imaging scopes, two-way radios, and silencers for select weapons. The solar system powered various sized DRASH military tents, one of which included a bathroom, a composting toilet, and a shower system. The five years of dehydrated and freeze dried food was augmented by a hydroponics section for fresh fruit and vegetables. Extra food would come from fishing the numerous creeks and the river running through the valley and hunting the variety of wild game available. They also had an impressive array of weaponry secured in Fort-T’s armory, including eight M4 carbines, a SAW, a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, an M24 sniper rifle, half a dozen .12-gauge shotguns, twelve handguns, and thousands of rounds of ammo for each weapon. Randal and Bill also managed to obtain claymores, frag and smoke grenades, disposable anti-tank weapons, and enough C4, det-cord, and primers to blow up half the county. They also had dosimeters and clothing to protect themselves from radiation and diseases such as Ebola carefully stored in each family member’s locker.

  Every item was tested and retested, and anything electronic was encased in a copper mesh cage for protection against an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse). With the crow’s nest cap in place, the cave maintained a constant temperature of 57°F and the relative humidity was consistently less than 50%, making it the perfect place to store buckets of survival food and other heat sensitive items. The chickens, goats, and rabbits were kept at a country house in Florida belonging to a friend of Linda’s, to be taken to the Fort when the time came.