by AJ Newman
Tom asked, “How do you know that?”
Jackie said, “The walls of the cave aren’t smooth. The rocks aren’t worn like they are at the bottom of the small creek.”
Tom said, “The gold could come in handy to trade with Mendoza in a sting operation or maybe just for trade with other groups like ours. I personally don’t see a use for gold, silver, or jewels. However, there are still folks around who will value what they worked hard to gain all of their lives. Perhaps we perform a test with a small bag of gold and see if Mendoza or others bite.”
Bill was quiet during the conversation then spoke up for the first time. “Paul told us there is still international drug trade. I think that also means sex, food, and medicine. Why should the evils of mankind disappear when evil is all around us? We need to guard the origin of the gold as we guard our own lives. Rick already told the rest of the cave exploration team to keep the discovery to themselves.”
Kate asked, “What would we trade for? We already have more food than anyone except Mendoza.”
Granny B said, “Women and children, medicine, and ammunition.”
Kate said, “Tom has all the women he needs.”
Granny B chuckled. “We can buy them and set them free.”
Tom shook his head. “Great idea, but they’d only be recaptured and sold again.”
Granny B said, “Tom, I know you’re right, but I can’t help but want to free all of them.”
Tom took his grandmother’s hand. “Perhaps you need to lead a small team to figure out how to free them into a safe environment. Maybe we could start a community further west or north, perhaps at one of the current small farming communities far away from the cities. I’ll ask Paul if he heard of any gangs out that way.”
Jackie said, “We could have a team travel in that direction and camp every ten miles. Then we use the drones to scout ahead to make sure we avoid any surprises.”
Granny B said, “I’ll volunteer to lead that team. I’ll need two scouts and two drone operators.”
Tom was thrilled with the idea but had reservations. “You’d need to take Alan or Jerry and two more good fighters. Then you’d need Kendra and Jackie or Kate to man the drones.”
Jackie interrupted, “To woman the drones.”
“Man the drones or woman the drones. I don’t care if you jackass the drones as long as the jackass is competent,” Tom said, not having time or interest in gender word games.
Jackie was pissed, but she knew not to challenge her brother in front of the others. Jackie said, “I’ll volunteer to go with Granny B. If nothing else, we might find or start other MAG groups.”
Rick wasn’t pleased about his wife going out into the world with such a small group. “You’ll have to wait for spring.”
Granny B said, “Yes, we’ll have to wait until spring. Our ranch usually gets eighty inches of snow a year. Howard Prairie Lake gets a hundred-fifty inches of rain a year. Poor Ashland only averages four inches but already has over twenty and winter is only half over. I don’t want to freeze my ass off in a snowstorm.”
Tom said, “Okay, we have plenty of time to plan that trip. Moving along, what do we need to do now to make things better or safer? We fetched the grain. We built the grain bins and added more living space. What do we focus on while we’re penned up in the cave?”
Rick said, “It appears everyone is hunkered down. There wasn’t an attack on the ranch. I think we need to use drones to map out every person or group within the range of the drones. That will keep the women folk busy.”
Jackie grabbed a hunk of Rick’s chest and twisted until he pleaded for relief. Tom said, “Children! Take your grab ass to some other place.”
Tom pulled out a pen and notebook. “I want each of you to give me your top priority to work on during this winter without any discussion. Then we’ll vote to rank them on our priority list.”
Bill said, “We still need to contact Cliff.”
Granny B said, “Map the groups in the area.”
Rick said, “We need to add more soldiers to our army.”
Jackie said, “Finish exploring the cave.”
Kate said, “We have to find the spy in our group.”
Tom said, “We need a better way to check out people before they join us.”
Tom read the list to the crew. “Most of this can start now. We just have to divide our resources and make assignments.
Rick has the cave exploration.
Granny B has the Map the groups’ job.
Bill has to contact Cliff.
Kate has the job of improving our people vetting.
Jackie will support all drone needs.
I will work on the spy situation.”
Granny B said, “I’ll begin mapping the area around the cave. That will include most of Ashland. We can do that now.”
Rick grinned. “I’ll finish mapping the cave within about two weeks. I also plan to look for more gold in my spare time.”
Bill said, “You do know the gold came from somewhere further up the mountain or maybe in the cave upstream.”
Jackie said, “There was a cave-in that blocks us from going very far upstream. There probably is enough gold in the low spots and those deadfalls to last us ten lifetimes.”
Tom watched as everyone left the room. “Bill is still limping from the wolves mauling him.”
Kate said, “We just patched him up the best we could. I tried my best to reattach a severed tendon, but obviously, I failed. He’ll limp the rest of his life. We need a real doctor and a surgeon. That is if we had more medical supplies and a small hospital.”
Tom gave a half-hearted chuckle. “If the apocalypse doesn’t kill ya, the lack of medical care will finish ya off.”
*
Chapter 17
The Cave – April 2039
The time passed at an agonizingly slow pace for Tom’s team. He tried to keep people busy performing their daily chores, but there wasn’t enough work to keep anyone working a full day. The kids played in safe parts of the cave, played board games, and raced on Tom’s slot car track. The track was meant for the kids, but Tom and the men started a racing league styled after the NASCAR rules. The women began their own game night for card games.
Granny B, Greta, and Lucy organized the kids into teams and played several sports to keep the kids active. Handball, running, stickball, and other silly kid’s games for an hour or two helped break up their day and gave them some exercise.
Tom spent much of the rest of his time keeping people from blowing up over petty issues. He began to feel more like a babysitter than the fearless leader of a band of survivalists.
Tom expanded movie night to three days a week and showed two movies on Tuesday and Thursday. He showed four films on Saturday, with the first starting at three in the afternoon. They had hundreds of the old DVDs and would make it through the winter without playing any of them again. Of course, it was impossible to get everyone to agree on what to watch. Tom took charge and showed them randomly as he pulled them from a box. He was always met with a mixture of groans and cheers.
The cave mapping process had been completed in three weeks. Rick’s team found old Indian artifacts and over twenty pounds of gold dust and nuggets before tiring of digging. They also found thousands of bones. Most were from animals that became meals for predators. Over a dozen were human remains. One was another miner, but the rest were Indians from hundreds if not thousands of years ago. Granny B placed all the bones and artifacts in a museum made from one of the side tunnels.
Jackie and Granny B mapped every home or dwelling that contained people within ten miles of the cave. They quickly gave up on Ashland and only noted where people lived. They took the time to observe the people in the cabins, ranches, and farms. Most were good people just trying to survive. Jackie bombed several when she found they contained the dregs of the earth. She wanted to attack some slaver houses but had to settle for shooting as many as possible from the drone when they reared their ugly heads
.
The weather was the worst in years, and Tom had to force everyone to move into one large room to conserve firewood. It took a while, but everyone became used to wearing their base layers, warm clothing, and a sweater or two to ward off the cold. Ashland fared better than the hills. The snow in Ashland melted in January, and it didn’t snow more than an inch total afterward. The area around the cave had snow on the ground until mid-March when an unusual warm front came through and melted the remaining snow except for the snow on the north side of cliffs, large trees, and buildings.
***
The snow had melted, and the ground was soaked as the ice below ground thawed. The drones flew every day, searching for any danger or intruders. They’d lost one drone that had a system failure and flew off, never to be seen again. The other drones’ batteries wouldn’t hold a complete charge reducing their range to less than eight miles using one battery.
One day Kate and Jackie flew their drones over the ranch and then to the north to find the cattle. Kate saw something that surprised her.
“Kendra, please fetch Tom,” said Kate.
Tom came running and sat beside Kate. “Someone is poaching our cattle. Look at the dead carcasses.”
Tom studied the monitor and then said, “It has to be a small operation. They just got enough meat to feed their families. I’m not getting excited …”
Jackie interrupted Tom. “I found six more slaughtered cows.”
Tom slapped his thigh. “Now I’m excited.”
***
Ashland, Oregon – Mendoza’s headquarters
Ike, the new mayor of Ashland, waded through the shallow lake in front of Mendoza’s headquarters. Many of the streets in Ashland were flooded thanks to debris filling the storm drains and drainage ditches. The record snow melted in only a few days, and the water was trapped in low spots across the city.
Ike trembled but spoke up to Mendoza. “We have to do something to allow the water to flow away from the city. My people are hungry, and now they’re soaked every time they leave their homes. Some of the gardens and fields are also flooded. We can’t have this continue to happen, or we won’t be able to plant our gardens and crops.”
Mendoza detested dealing with the day-to-day issues of managing a city. He didn’t like the last mayor and loathed this guy. “Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Aren’t you the mayor?”
Ike replied, “Yes, you should know. You made me the mayor when the last one left town.”
Carlos said, “Why come to me when you’re responsible for the city and its operation. You get rid of the water. Anything else?”
Ike knew not to press his luck. The last mayor had to run for his life in the middle of a blizzard and probably froze to death. “We need food. The people are almost starving. The corn helps, but it’s not enough to fill their bellies. We need vegetables and meat.”
Carlos laughed, “Wish in one hand and crap in the other. Guess which one will fill up the fastest. You know damned well there isn’t any food available in this area.”
Ike pressed his luck. “There are plenty of cattle up in the hills. The local ranchers let the cattle run loose during the winter and then round them up in the spring. Spring is almost here.”
Carlos asked, “What can I do to help with your round up?”
Ike blurted out. “You should conduct the round up. Those ranchers have guns. We don’t! You took them!”
Carlos smiled. “I think you got me. I’ll supply the firepower if you supply the cowboy power. I’d planned to expand to all of the ranches by summer, so this is a good idea. Ike, you are a genius.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but good words don’t feed the belly,” the mayor said.
Carlos was pissed and usually would have flown into a rage and shot the man. He changed the subject. “Is there any information on my dearest Samantha?”
The mayor knew he’d gone too far. “No, sir. We did hear that she’s back with the vigilante group. Apparently, she walked into their group, shot their leader, and was made the new leader of the group after a short gunfight.”
Carlos pounded the table. “I want her caught or killed! I’ll give a mansion, food, and women to the man that brings her to me – dead or alive!”
Ike left the conversation and knew he’d been played. Ike thought about the situation on his walk home. He decided to give the responsibility to one of his trusted men. Then he wouldn’t get blamed if it failed. Ike knew the end of the story and didn’t like it very much. He made plans to leave Ashland as soon as the snow was gone up in the hills.
*
Chapter 18
The Cave
Jackie followed the grizzly trail of slaughtered cattle until she found the group responsible. She watched them for an hour and knew the gang wasn’t one of Mendoza’s groups. Jackie laughed and said, “Neo-Nazi skinheads don’t exactly look like black or brown people. They would kill Mendoza and his men if they had a chance. The words Aryan Sons are on the back of their jackets.”
Kate moved her drone over, and both followed the movements of the group. Jackie was the first to notice the traffic in and out of one area and found the Aryan Sons’ headquarters.
Kate said, “They’ve taken over Oakhurst State Airport and the Oakhurst Inn only about five miles south of here. Holy crap! They have airplanes that work!”
They surveilled the airport and were surprised at how organized the gang was and terrified when they saw the machine gun emplacements around the compound. Tom studied the camp for over an hour using the stored video. A plane landed and disgorged several men and women, and then a crew began unloading the cargo hold.
Tom was sure this group was better organized and better armed than the Mendoza gang was. He thought, there has to be a way to pit one band against the other to rid the country of both of the vermin.
Kate flew the drone over one of the larger out buildings that appeared to have been a hanger. She saw something and rewound the video. “Tom, take a look at this. Those women and children are in chains.”
Tom viewed the video and then moved to a live shot of the airstrip when movement caught his eye. Several Army trucks had pulled into the airport property. Soon, Tom saw a dozen gang members jump out of the back of the first truck and watched them unload more weapons.
Tom exclaimed, “They have LAWs, SAWs, and a shit pot full of ARs plus tons of ammunition.”
Kate asked, “LAWs and SAWs are what?”
“The translation is - Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) M249 Light Machine Gun and M72 LAW Light Anti-tank Weapon. Those are light machine guns and tank destroyers. Even though those are older weapons, they are game changers. This is an army, not a gang.”
Jackie listened and then said, “So would Mendoza’s gang beat this Aryan bunch of thugs?”
Tom rolled his head around and stopped. “The Aryan’s would win based solely on firepower. The real factor would be leadership, and right now, the Aryans look more organized.”
Kate asked, “The big question is - which one do we want to win?”
Jackie stretched and yawned. “I think the answer is a fight to the finish with everyone dead and a draw. Now, how do we stay out of the fight?”
Tom quickly answered, “We stir the pot, start the fight, and steer clear of the war.”
Kate said, “We need to know if they have any drones. We also need to know if they’re scouting the area by air. I think they just moved into the area during the last week and sent hunters out for game. They got lucky and found our cattle.”
Tom said, “You’re right. Our one strength has been our air superiority and surveillance ability. We must take their airplanes out and get them fighting Mendoza. They must not know we exist.”
Jackie said, “Watch the monitor. A large plane is landing.”
Tom instantly recognized the old plane. “That’s a DC3. The darned thing is almost a hundred years old.”
Kate said, “How do they keep it flying at that age?”
Tom replied,
“There were maybe a hundred of those ancient planes flying when the lights went out. That plane is one of the most dependable ever made and the toughest. They can land just about anywhere with a relatively flat surface. They are so valuable they have been totally rebuilt many times to keep them flying.”
The plane pulled up to the hanger and made a sharp turn toward the building. Tom gasped. “They’ve made it into a gunship. Look at the machine guns bristling out the large holes in the side. They must have a mix of five .30 and .50 caliber machine guns per side. That plane could wipe out a small army by itself.”
Jackie, Kate, and Kendra took turns watching the Aryans the rest of the day. One watched the airport while another scouted the area for any Aryan activity. Jackie followed Coral Creek road up into the hills toward the ranch and was shocked to see ATVs on Beaver Creek Road less than a quarter-mile from the ranch. The ATVs were scouting for more cattle, and she was worried they might stumble on the ranch.
Jackie called for Tom on the radio, and Tom arrived in a few minutes. “What are the skinheads doing now?”
Jackie said, “They are riding ATVs all over the east side of the ranch. They’ll run into our fences soon if they keep searching for more cattle.”
Tom knew that any confrontation would result in his team being on the losing side of any battle. “Let’s drive the cattle over toward Hyatt Lake and hope this stops them from searching near the ranch. I’ll send Jack, Jerry, Rick, and Colt over to get that done.”
Jackie called out, “Crap, one of the ATVs just spotted the fence. He’s driving along the perimeter and heading southwest. He’s going to see the barn any minute.”