American Exit Strategy: Book 1

by Mark Goodwin

  "Yes, it's when the military takes over enforcing the law." Matt answered. "The military is trained to kill people. They lack a certain 'finesse' that one would like to see in a civilian law enforcement effort."

  “Doesn't that violate Posse Comitatus?" Karen asked.

  "The way the law reads now, Posse Comitatus Act doesn't prohibit the National Guard from stepping into a civilian police function as long as they are acting in their own state or are invited by the Governor of a neighboring state." Matt answered. "I just saw Jack’s van pull in. I’m going to see what he thinks about all this."

  Jack Mason was the Bair's next door neighbor. He was a general contractor and liked working with his hands. Jack was a very intelligent guy but paid little attention to news and politics. He was a stocky guy with a beard and very nice. If he saw anyone in the neighborhood working on a project, he would always offer a hand or to lend out a tool.

  "Jack" Matt yelled as Jack stepped out of his work van.

  "How you doing buddy?" Jack responded.

  "I'm good. What do you think about what’s going on."

  Jack looked around as he asked "Why, what’s going on?" With the recent string of crime in the neighborhood, he assumed something else had happened in the area.

  Matt proceeded to fill him in on the recent news. He had tried to engage in topics of this nature before with Jack, but he showed very little interest. Now that it was happening, Jack listened a bit more intently.

  "OK, some of that was a bit over my pay grade, but it sounds bad. Still, I don't think anything like what happened in Detroit will happen here." Jack concluded.

  Matt then filled him in on his adventure at the Publix grocery store earlier. He explained the situation with the separate lanes and the fight involving the stock clerks and the manager against the trouble makers.

  Jack started to come around to reality at that point. "I still have a week's worth of stuff left over from what we bought when it looked like Hurricane Lucinda was going to hit us."

  "That’s a start" Matt said, "but it could get worse than a week."

  "Maybe I'll head over to Winn Dixie after dinner." Jack stated.

  Blaine Phelps was walking his two Huskies and came over to say Hi. "You guys see what's going on in Detroit?"

  Jack wanted to seem like he knew what was going on and gave Blaine the abbreviated version of Matt's Publix story.

  "No kidding!" Blaine responded. The conversation turned to provisions and Blaine explained he had a couple of weeks’ worth of dry goods he had bought for hurricane season. He also mentioned that he had a revolver and a shotgun if things got nasty. Matt smiled and gave a nod but didn't tip his hand. Part of the prepper code was to maintain operational security or OPSEC which entails keeping your mouth shut about what you have and how much of it.

  "Are you guys all set?" Blaine asked.

  "We can get by for a while." Matt said.

  "Can you take care of yourself if things get bad?" Blaine inquired of Matt.

  "We have a pistol." Matt said. "And then some." he thought to himself.

  Jack thought about it, then said. "Things are getting kinda rough around here anyway. Maybe I should get something. What do you guys recommend?"

  Blaine started ".357"

  ".357 is a nice gun" Matt commented, "but it only has six rounds. And it takes a while to reload. Glock makes a .45 that takes a 13 round magazine plus one in the pipe. Once those are out, it’s a matter of seconds, not minutes to change the magazine. It’s a popular gun which makes it easy to get extra magazines and parts for it. They are also the gun of choice for many law enforcement agencies and militaries around the world because of their dependability."

  "Wow" Blaine added, "I hope I never need 14 rounds."

  "I hope I never need one round." Matt chuckled.

  CHAPTER 10

  "The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty."

  Proverbs 22:3

  Matt went to the shed and got the hurricane shutters out. He started to place them on all of the windows that were inside of the back fence.

  Karen came out and asked "What are you doing?"

  "Just putting up the hurricane shutters to harden our house. It will make it harder to get into and also bullet resistant to most handgun and shotgun ammo." Matt replied.

  "Do you think it’s going to get that bad here?" Karen asked.

  "I don't know. Do you put your seat belt on because you expect to get into an accident?" Matt replied.

  "Good point." Karen said.

  Matt finished with the back shutters and took the shutters for the front windows in the house. He set each set of steel shutters next to the corresponding window. "I will put these up inside if it gets bad. It will just take a few minutes to screw them into the walls. I don't want to do anything that would mark us as having something worth taking. It’s a delicate balance between looking like a hard target and looking like you’re fortifying because you have something to protect. Besides that, the shutters will be harder to get through if they are on the inside."

  Karen was concerned. “Will they leave holes in the walls?"

  "There are worse places that could end up with holes than the walls." Matt replied.

  "You mean us." Karen knew what he meant.

  After he was finished with the shutters, Matt and Karen started to move all of the extra food they had purchased earlier that day into the office. They did not have a huge house and all of their storage areas were full. They stacked the bags of rice on top of each other and then stacked the beans on top of the rice. The canned goods were stacked along another empty space on the wall.

  They completed that task and started dinner. They had a great meal of steak quesadillas and fresh greens from the garden that evening. Police sirens were a common sound around their home these days, but this evening they were more prevalent than ever.

  Karen cleaned up the table and dishes and Matt went to the safe. He loaded an extra magazine for his .45 caliber Glock 21 and one for Karen's 9mm Glock 19. He put fresh batteries in both of their tactical lights. These had been their nightstand guns. He had used his subcompact Ruger LC9 as his concealed carry weapon and she had been carrying her Kel-Tec .32 auto. From now on, they would be wearing looser clothes and carrying the Glocks. Different times call for different tactics. The new 'nightstand' guns would be the Mossberg 12 gauge for her and the AR-15 for him. They were all equipped with tactical lights. Matt topped off three extra 30 round magazines for the AR-15 and set them on the nightstand.

  There was a knock at the front door. Matt looked out the front window for a car in the driveway. He didn't see one. He walked past Karen and put a finger over his lips to signal to be quiet. He drew his pistol from the back of his jeans and signaled for Karen to go to the bedroom to get a weapon. They had been over this few times, so she knew exactly what to do. He walked to the side door which would allow him to surprise the person at the front door. The locked gate was between the side door and the front providing a safety zone that would slow down any would be home invader. With one hand he opened the door while concealing the loaded Glock in the other still inside the doorway. It was only Jack, the next door neighbor.

  "Jack!" he yelled which also signaled to Karen that everything was OK. "I'll be right out." He stuck the pistol back into the small of his back. Matt walked back to the front door and opened it.

  "What's happening?" Matt said cheerfully.

  "I just wanted to give you a heads up." Jack said. "I went to Publix and it was chaos. The police were there arresting people left and right, but they couldn't get a handle on it. It was like everyone thought the end of the world was coming or something. I finally got in there and there wasn't much on the shelves. I just started filling my cart with whatever. I got hotdog buns but there were no hot dogs or any other meat left. I got some pasta sauce but no pasta left. I bought some mixed fruit jelly because that was the only flavor left. There was nothing on the shelves. This is w
orse than before a hurricane. Then I tried to go to Winn Dixie to see if they might have a few more items. They were closed and there were two cop cars parked in front of the doors with their lights on. I didn't see any action in there like it was a crime scene or anything, it was just closed. There were several people standing around yelling at the cops, but they just stayed in their patrol cars. They kept calling over the loud speaker for the people to disperse. But the people would back up a few yards then start closing back in. I have never seen anything like it. I’m going to try to get a pistol tomorrow."

  "Well, there is a three day wait on handguns; you should probably pick up a shotgun too. That will cover you ‘til you get the pistol." Matt said.

  "Wow, I don't really want two guns. Three days, huh? I don't know. I'll think about it tonight." Jack replied.

  "Outdoor World is still open; you could pick up a shotgun right now." Matt said. "People might be scrambling for guns tomorrow like they are scrambling for groceries right now."

  "OK, I think you're right. Can you ride over there with me?" Jack asked.

  "I can't leave my wife here with all of this going on. I certainly don't want to say I told you so, but I have tried to talk to you about this stuff before and you blew it off. I can't put myself at risk because you failed to prepare. I’m not judging you; I am just telling you how it is.” Matt said sympathetically but firmly.

  "What can I say? You're right and I don't blame you at all. Can I at least call you when I get there if I have any questions?" Jack said with concern.

  "Absolutely" Matt replied with a smile.

  Jack left and Matt joined Karen on the couch to watch the coverage of Detroit. The Sun had just set and aerial footage showed fires all over the city. There were reports of several shootings, carjackings and massive looting. Cops had lost all control and the criminal element knew it. They were running wild.

  "So much for Mayor Jones' curfew." Karen said with a faint snicker.

  Patrick James had just arrived and was starting his “on the scene” coverage. They had hired a private security firm for protection while they broadcast. Normally, you would never see the security personnel in the camera shots, but there were so many, you could easily spot a couple on the side every few minutes. These guys weren’t mall cops either. They were decked out in full riot gear with folding stock shotguns and semi-automatic pistols in cross draw holsters on their tactical vests.

  Patrick James was commenting on the chaos."Folks, many of you may remember; I was embedded in Syria with the rebels during their civil war a few years back. I do not feel any more secure right now than when I was in that war zone. In Syria, there was some feeling of knowing who was behind you. We had a pretty good idea who wanted to hurt us and who didn't. Tonight, I will tell you, this is a completely volatile situation."

  Patrick called to a passerby to tell him what he thought of the situation. The young man stated "This is crazy. The government can't just let all these people starve to death. They have to do something. They have to bring in food. These people are going to die! This ain't no joke man! We gonna die!"

  Patrick replied to the man "But there is money on the EBT cards. No one should die. Everyone is going to get half of their SNAP benefit credit on the day they were originally supposed to get it. The White House has promised the balance of the benefits will be paid on the 15th."

  "Come on man" the man objected "They lyin! they ain't no more money! It's gone. What they gave em today was it. Ain't nobody gettin no money tonight, tomorrow, on the fifteenth, never. If they had it, it would've been there today. They taken care all these rich people and leave us out to die. I'm tryin to tell you man!"

  Patrick inquired further "So is that the consensus? Everyone in town believes the White House is lying about the benefits that will be loaded over the next few days? Where is this information coming from?"

  "Everybody knows it man." the man returned in a hostile tone. "Why you don't know? You the news! Ya'll believe them? Ya'll better wake up. We goin get ours!"

  The man walked off insulted that Patrick didn't seem to agree with his perception of reality. Patrick turned back to the camera. "All the comments we have gotten since we got here seem to confirm that a mob mentality has taken over. They seem to not believe anything the press or government spokesmen tell them. By not getting in front of this issue before the benefit cuts appeared in people’s accounts, the government has lost all credibility with this community."

  An armored police vehicle pulled up to the camera crew. An officer dressed in riot gear got out and told them they had to leave the city immediately. Rapid machine gun fire was heard in the distant background. Patrick argued with the man for several minutes about freedom of the press and their ability to care for themselves. Patrick called his producer. Five minutes later, the lead officer got a phone call. He returned to the armored vehicle and pulled away.

  The security personnel told Patrick they should relocate. The security guard was friendly with some officers in the Detroit Police Department and was getting information on what was happening where. He had just gotten a warning that a large mob was heading his way. They were burning cars, breaking windows and looting every store in their path. The crew found a nearby parking garage. They went to the fourth level which gave them a tremendous vantage point. From the corner of the garage, they could see down several blocks to where the mob was creating all the havoc.

  The team quickly set up and began broadcasting live again.

  Patrick got right to the action. "The sight you see behind me is a mob that has lost all hope in their government. They feel betrayed and feel they have no other recourse but to go out and take what they need. If we zoom in, you can see several of the people in the group are carrying various types of makeshift demolition instruments. They are bashing cars, windows, trash cans and anything that gets in their way. We see flashing lights from police vehicles right now coming together two blocks in front of where the mob is. They are setting up a barricade with police cars to try to head them off. The officers are forming up into a phalanx with tear gas guns."

  The camera focuses on the line of police. The mob continues in their direction undeterred. The police begin firing tear gas. The mob covers their face and runs to the barricade. They soon reach the barricade and begin beating the police officers. Several officers begin firing their side arms simultaneously with the armed individuals in the crowd. The unarmed members of the mob fall back while the armed elements of the mob continue to engage the police in a firefight. The camera shows several police and rioters getting shot before they cut away from the horror.

  The coverage goes back to the CNC studios with Ed Nolan "Folks we just saw some very horrific sights of people being shot. We are going to continue to get footage of the events occurring right now in Detroit. We’re going to edit through that footage so not to disturb our sensitive viewers and we will get it right back to you. We are also getting reports of smaller riots, fires and looting of large grocery chains from cities all over America tonight, but nothing compared to what we just saw in Detroit."

  Karen looked up from the television. "Can you believe they just showed that on TV?"

  "Everybody is watching it." Matt said. "They know they’re going to get viewers glued to the television now."

  Shots rang out from a few streets over from the Bair's house.

  "Was that gunfire?" Karen asked.

  "Sounded like it" Matt said. "I am going to listen in on the scanner." He didn't have an actual police scanner, but he did have the city police scanner bookmarked on his internet browser through Broadcastify.com. One quick click and he could monitor whatever went over the regular channels. A lot of the very bad stuff went to the police tactical channels, but in the event of widespread civil unrest, the tactical channels would be overrun with traffic. They would have to use the regular channel. He had also downloaded the Scanner Radio app to his phone. It helped to know the streets that were being blocked off in manhunts. The Scanner Radio app al
so used Broadcastify.com to stream the communications from the police radio frequency.

  From what Matt could pick up, people were looting the Winn Dixie a few blocks away from the house. Evidently they had overrun the two patrol cars. SWAT was being called in with orders to shoot on sight. One of the officers parked at the store had been injured, so the rubber bullet courtesy had been suspended for this incident. Matt didn't get everything that came over the scanner. He was starting to recognize the 10 codes the police used, but he still had to refer to his cheat sheet which caused him to miss a lot of information while looking up the translation of the 10 codes.

  The phone rang. It was Jack. "Hey Matt, it’s chaos in here. I had to take a number and have been waiting almost an hour. They just called my number. They have a Glock .40 caliber and a Sig Sauer 9mm left. Those are the only two semi-automatic pistols they have. Everything else is revolvers. Which one should I get?"

  "Do they have ammo for the .40?" Matt inquired.

  "I don't think they have any ammo for anything. The shelves were pretty low when I got here, but they look like they have been completely cleaned out now." Jack replied.

  Matt said "Then get the Sig. I will spot you a box of 9mm ammo. I can't help you with .40 cal ammo and you may not find any for a while. A few years ago when we had the gun ban scare following the school shooting, there was no ammo for about six months. What about a shotgun? Are you going to get one to hold you over until the waiting period is up for you to pick up the pistol?"

  "They only have one, it's a semi-automatic Benelli 12 gauge. It's $2,100. I was expecting to get something for around $600 or less." Jack explained.

  "If you had been watching what is happening in Detroit right now, you'd give the guy $5,000 and tell him to keep the change. I can spot you a box of 12 gauge shells if you get it. I’m sure they’re out of those too. Whatever you think your life is worth, that’s your cap on how much you should spend." Matt said with conviction.