by Steven Kagey
He had scanned the radio the previous night. He heard disheartening reports that almost every major city was breaking down in riots less than twelve hours after the loss of power. That is not what he wanted to hear, Brian had hopes that maybe the government had planned for this, but things were going downhill too fast. It was unbelievable that the social structure could break down that fast without electricity. Twelve hours was quick, but there was a progression of events that led to the rioting and looting in almost every city.
It started with the basic riff raff sensing blood in the water, and they began looting the dumb shit—TVs and VCRs. Oddly enough there were reports of VCRs being stolen. Brian didn’t even know you could still buy a VCR let alone find a store to steal one from. Then the druggies saw that no cops were responding to any of the crime and decided to go after the pharmacies for a quick score. By this time there were a handful of cops who were responding, most of the time on foot. They were severely outnumbered. In some instances, it was a thousand to one or more.
When the crowd showed aggression toward the officers, the only thing the officer could do was run. The group would chase, forcing the officers to shoot their weapons into the crowd. Being on foot and with no real radio communication to call for backup they were overtaken and did not fare well at the mercy of the mob. This caused the next round of officers that would show up to discover their dead colleagues and then immediately take revenge out on the nearby crowd, and the cycle would continue. The intensity of the mob led to fires being started, which were burning out of control due to no fire services or no water pressure available in the cities.
The non-violent were forced to flee the burning cities on foot with not much more than the clothes on their backs. The outlying smaller cities and towns were quickly overrun by the refugees from the larger cities, combined with the large amount of motorist that were stranded by vehicle far away from their homes. Fear was abundant and soon the mob mentality would take over, and the looting would begin there as well, and the only response left to the local law enforcement was to use deadly force to try and prevent looting and wanton destruction. It was a self-feeding cycle of destruction, mayhem, fires burning out of control, and loss of life.
No one could have predicted such a downfall of society in less than twenty-four hours.
Most farming communities in rural America could weather such a setback and continue to thrive. In rural America, older traditions and self-reliance was a more prominent way of life. Unfortunately, that way of life was not prepared or set up to handle a huge influx people. Local governments and churches could not put together food and water distribution fast enough to prevent the intended recipients from becoming frustrated and simply attacking those that were attempting to help and provide for them. Tensions rose, and it became a shoot first ask questions later situation between those that had left the cities with nothing and those they were encountering on the way out.
Brian thought it was weird he hadn’t heard Los Angeles or Washington, D.C. mentioned in the looting and rioting reports. All other big cities such as New York, Chicago, San Antonio, and Phoenix were mentioned; nothing was said about LA or DC. Something else that he did not hear was what actually happened, no mention of who attacked the US, no one claiming responsibility for the attacks, nor how severe or widespread the damage was. He did hear that the president would be addressing the nation at 6 p.m. tonight to discuss the events affecting the country and the response to them.
***
Brian rolled over and woke Evelyn up, then went to fix breakfast and woke Avery up. There was a small discussion on everything that needed to be done today. Sean and his family were still at their house. They were almost done transferring everything useful to the homestead. They heard from Doc and his wife on the radio last night, who had packed everything into the travel trailer and were going to tow it over this morning. The recent news from Craig was that everything was quiet. They still had a few people coming to the shop looking for a mechanic to fix their cars, but the out of business sign was doing the trick. They would be bringing some loads over as long as it was safe to do so.
Around noon Sean’s family had finally moved over and was getting settled in. Evelyn, Christina, and Carol were organizing the food in the kitchen and making out meal plans to feed so many people. Daniel was still over at Craig’s helping provide security for the shop and house. Sean had the kids organize the tools and extra equipment that was brought over in the garage and workshop.
Brian was busy replacing the inverter and charge controller on the solar panels that were fried during the pulse. Kept in steel trashcans, which acted as a Faraday cage, Brian had stored a complete backup system for the solar panels. Once repaired, the solar panels should provide power to the entire homestead, although with three new travel trailers to power, it would be stretching its capacity.
He would need to go through his house and start trimming the fat on their electrical use. He would start by removing all but one bulb from most light fixtures and completely removing others. They would need to start observing light discipline and cover up windows on the front and sides of the house that faced the roads. He would also need to unplug everything that pulled a vampire charge simply from being plugged in, and those same items could be relegated to the basement. With twenty plus people moving around the house, anything that could be cleared out would be better. Thankfully it was getting cooler at night, and the AC didn’t need to run as much.
***
Brian and Sean discussed the current situation and determined they would need to start guard shifts soon, and that everyone would need to start carrying weapons. Brian and Sean had pistols on their sides, and their AR-15s were loaded and kept close. All the other guys, as well as their wives, would need to be armed at all times, and kids old enough would need to be outfitted with pistols. Shotguns and rifles would be strategically placed around the property, next to doors and windows and in some of the outbuildings.
They had not heard any reports of things becoming too bad near them yet. The biggest problem would be the crowd on the interstate spreading out into the countryside, but they were a few miles down the road, and those people were headed into town and further down the interstate to Knoxville. Those heading to Knoxville would soon cross paths with those fleeing from Knoxville as the larger cities collapsed from within.
That evening everyone sat down to a large meal in an effort to use up the perishable food that the Williams’ had in their refrigerator. Most of their frozen foods were still frozen and were squeezed into the freezers at the homestead. Thankful, Brian was able to get the solar panels up and working with enough daylight remaining that the freezers and refrigerator were able to cool themselves down to normal temperatures. Doc Hughes and Craig had checked in on the radio at regular intervals, and Doc Hughes reported that their car had broken down right as they were getting ready to leave the house to tow their travel trailer to the homestead. Craig immediately grabbed some tools and parts to head over to their place and try to get their car running. Craig also reported that Lillian had returned home early from her shift at the hospital to say that the things had turned bad in town and the hospital was on fire.
Apparently the hospital had started drawing in a crowd of people who were camping out in the parking lot. Most had assumed that the power would be on at the hospital and that government efforts would put it at a higher priority. The crowd of people started reaching a mob mentality and soon stormed the hospital when no aid was seen coming from the local government. Half of the group went in looking for food and water; a few had gone in looking for drugs. The city police and fire department, county sheriff department, and local National Guard unit all responded to the attack on the hospital. The fire had already been started before they were able to quell the looters and then went to an all hands situation trying to get all the patients out before the primary efforts could be put into fighting the fire.
“After I get Doc Hughes’ car running, Lillian agreed to mov
e out to the homestead and we’ll be coming out soon. She still thinks the government will have the power back up and services restored in a few days, but all the people coming up to the house looking for help are starting to scare her.”
***
When Lillian told Craig that all the strangers coming up to the house were scaring her, he asked if they could move to Brian’s house. She didn’t like the idea because she always felt like Brian and Sean’s families were Craig’s friends and not hers. But because she no longer felt safe, she agreed they could move.
“What are we going to do about food and supplies?” she asked Craig.
“I’ve been giving Brian money to buy food to stockpile for the last few years and we have enough to feed everyone for a year, not including everything that can be grown in the garden or gathered from the land.”
Lillian immediately got angry. “You mean to tell me that you have been giving him money after I told you not to?”
Craig’s temper began to rise, but he maintained his calm. “Yes, you have your extra money that you spend on clothes and shoes, and I have my extra money that I give to Brian to buy food and supplies since you didn’t approve of me buying those types of prepping supplies.”
“So the last two years I have wanted to go on a vacation, and you said we couldn’t afford it. If you hadn’t been giving our money away, we could have gone?”
“Yes, we probably could have, but right now considering the circumstances, I’m glad we didn’t. Because we didn’t go on a vacation, you and the kids now have food to eat, and we have supplies to last us!”
Lillian didn’t say anything else. Craig slept on the sofa that night, for security, but also because he was disgusted with Lillian and didn’t want to be around her.
***
Saturday, September 21st
6:00 p.m., Central Standard Time
Everyone was eager to hear the president’s address that night. The Stewarts and Williams were all gathered around the radio at the homestead. The Turners and the Hughes were glued to the radios at their respective homes.
An automated voice kept repeating that the president would be addressing the nation in a few moments. It was 6:10, and the same automated message was repeating. Everyone was looking at the time and speculating what was happening. Five minutes later the recording stopped, and human voices could be heard setting up a microphone along with other people moving around and talking. An outside observer would have a hard time telling that this was an official radio broadcast from the president of the United States. A few minutes later the broadcast began.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Mr. Adam Morris, President of the United States, the announcer said.
Sean said, “Umm, doesn’t he mean Vice President of the United States?”
Yesterday, September 20th, 2018, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was deliberately attacked by an unknown entity.
Multiple nuclear devices were detonated over the United States. Washington D.C. was the target of one of those attacks and it is with a heavy heart that I must report President Campbell was killed.
I was sworn into office this morning by the remaining members of congress and will do everything in my power to restore our country. No, I must do everything in my power to restore our nation.
At this time we do not know why or by whom we were attacked. We lost communication capabilities, but had been receiving reports that Europe and Asia had been affected by a solar storm. We fear that one of those countries attacked us after assuming that we had been the ones to attack them. This is all merely speculation at this time. We have been unable to make contact with any of our allies to request assistance.
Fellow citizens, we are currently in a crisis the likes of which we have never experienced. As such, I have signed numerous executive orders ordering the seizure of any and all civilian food reserves and civilian weapon caches to prevent those places of business from being overrun by looting and rioting.
Residents of larger cities must refrain from looting and violence while we attempt to restore order. Government agents and National Guard units have been activated to assist FEMA during this recovery process. Please comply with any order you are given from these forces.
With your help, we can rebuild our country. I pray God be with us all during these trying times. God bless and good night.
Static filled the airwaves.
“I’m not sure, but I think the beginning part of that speech was from FDR’s speech after the attack on Pearl Harbor,” Daniel said.
No one said much of anything following the broadcast. They really didn’t learn anything from the speech that they didn’t already know, except that Washington D.C. had been attacked and the president had died.
Chapter 13
Sunday, September 22nd
Cumberland County, Tennessee
The following morning Craig was able to get to Doc Hughes’ house to work on their car. Doc’s car and trailer were hooked up and sitting in the driveway, where it had broken down. The inside of the trailer was packed from floor to ceiling. When Craig arrived, he could tell that the doctor had not gotten any sleep that night. He had sat on his front porch with a shotgun in his hand because of his trailer and the car loaded with all their gear. He had already retrieved all the medicine from the veterinary office and was afraid someone might try to get the pain medications.
Craig got right to work on the vehicle. Doc was still standing guard so Craig could work without having to worry about being attacked while his back was turned. Janice was set up in the upstairs bedroom with a rifle on watch as well. Craig soon determined it was the fuel pump and had it changed out in short order. Craig then stood watch while Doc and Janice made a last minute check over their property to see if they had missed anything of importance to the group. Soon they were on their way to the homestead and Craig went back to hook up his own trailer and bring his family to the homestead.
On his way back to his house he noticed a lot of people out. Most seemed to be guarding or taking care of their own properties, perhaps consolidating their food and supplies. He received many dirty looks as he drove by and very few people waved. He passed a few groups which appeared to be on their way to one of the many churches in the area. A few individuals attempted to flag him down as he passed. He waved back, pretending they were trying to be friendly and not trying to get him to stop.
Craig arrived at his house and noticed Lillian carrying armloads of stuff into the garage where he had their travel trailer packed and ready to go. When he parked and got out, he realized she was carrying armloads of her designer clothes and shoving them into any available space that was left in the trailer.
“What are you doing, Lillian?”
“I’m not going to leave my good clothes behind to get stolen if our house gets broken into.”
Craig stood there speechless, confused how he could have married someone so oblivious.
“Did you pack anything useful or just clothes that won’t do you any good working on the homestead?” he snapped.
Lillian gave him a dirty look. “Why would we be working? We gave them all of our vacation money.”
“Look, we don’t have time for this. I drew some attention driving to the shop in a working vehicle.” He rounded up David and Patricia, loaded them and Lillian up, and was off down the road. The travel trailer was loaded to its limit with spare parts, tools, and equipment. They also were loaded down with what little food they had on hand in the house and what appeared to be Lillian’s entire closet. The trailer was probably double the weight it normally was and likely approaching its max capacity. Craig could tell it was loaded heavy from the strain on the truck's engine trying to tow it.
***
Doc and Janice arrived at the homestead without much further incident. They only passed two other vehicles on the road and saw three ATVs off in a field. When they arrived, they opened the gate and proceeded up the driveway, noticing Brandon in the upstairs window of the wo
rkshop with a pair of binoculars. He waved, and they waved back.
Brian and Sean met them at the top of the driveway and directed them around back to the pad to unhook their trailer from the car. The car did not quite have enough power to pull the wheels of the trailer over the concrete lip of the pad.
Brian, Sean, and Daniel rushed behind to push the trailer for a little extra oomph over the lip, and most of the women came to give a hand as well. They heard a loud engine rumble from the driveway and looked down to see Craig’s truck and trailer slowly coming up the driveway.
“That thing must be loaded to the hilt,” Brian remarked. “That engine sounds like it’s going to explode.”
They all laughed and put one last heave into Doc’s trailer. It finally made it up onto the concrete pad, and they rushed to chuck the wheels and get the car unhooked so Craig’s trailer could be put in place. The trailer and car were at different levels now, and it was putting a kink in the trailer hitch and not allowing it come undone. Craig finally made it to the top of the driveway, parked, and came over to see if he could help with Doc’s trailer.
Craig was about to ask what the issue was when a loud booming voice said, “Everyone freeze! Nobody move, put your hands over your heads and keep them away from your weapons. DO IT NOW!”
Brian and Sean instinctively went for their pistols as they spun around to confront whoever had challenged them. When they turned, they saw a group of sheriff’s deputies armed with AR-15s pointed at them. The deputies saw their hands going towards their sidearms and one shouted, “Don’t fucking move, hands up now!”