Prepper's Crucible (Omnibus, Volumes 1-3): A Post Apocalyptic Tale (Preppers Crucible)

by Bobby Andrews

  “Same here,” Baxter replied, returning Cory’s stare with one of his own. “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you.”

  “Cory just got here,” Don explained. “He’ll be staying with us for a while.” Baxter glanced toward the barn, and noted the eight ATVs parked along the side of the structure.

  “How many people are staying here?”

  “Enough to defend the place,” Don replied, mentally kicking himself for not parking the ATVs in the barn.

  “Well, that’s a good thing, because security in the area is part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. We’ve had a couple of cases of shootings and looting in this area. It’s mostly drug addicts from all the rehab centers in town, but we’ve also heard of an organized group that’s stealing food and ATVs from some of the ranches in the area.”

  “Drug addicts?” Cory questioned.

  “You don’t know about all the drug addicts in rehab in the Prescott area?” Cory shook his head in the negative. “At any given time, there are more than fifteen hundred drug addicts in Prescott. In fact, Prescott has six major drug rehab centers, and another fifty or so halfway houses and treatment centers. It’s known as the rehab capital of the West. About one in thirty residents of the city are here for drug treatment. It’s a real problem that nobody wants to talk about because it would hurt tourism and real estate if it was generally known how many addicts live in this area.”

  “I had no idea,” Cory said. “I’ve seen all those funky looking people that hang out in front of the courthouse on the square, but had no clue they were all drug addicts.”

  “They’re normally pretty harmless,” Baxter said. “But, the treatment centers ran out of Methadone and other drugs they use to keep them calm. And now, a couple groups of them are crazy with withdrawals and getting violent.”

  “Yeah,” Don replied. “I ran into a couple of them at the Walgreens a few days back.”

  “Was it you that took the Prescott cop to the hospital?”

  “Yes it was,” Don replied grimly. “Do you know if he made it?”

  “I know he’s still in the hospital and the doc says he is going to fully recover. Beyond that, I don’t really know anything. That was a fine bit of work you did to get him away from the Walgreens. I heard a description of the guy who rescued him, and figured it was you.”

  “Wrong place, wrong time,” Don shrugged.

  “I doubt that cop would agree with you.”

  “Probably not,” Don allowed. “I didn’t really think about it. The training kicked in and took over. If I had time to think it over, I probably would have run the other way.”

  “I know how that works. It’s happened to me a couple of times on the job.”

  “Baxter is a former Marine,” Don explained to Cory.

  “Former?”

  “Yes, there is no such thing as an ex-Marine. We take an oath and never walk away from it. That’s why we call ourselves former Marines rather than ex-Marines,” Baxter explained.

  “So what’s this other organized group you were talking about?” Cory asked.

  “We’re not really sure. We think they might be a group of convicts that escaped from the prison over in Prescott Valley. Whoever they are, they’re brutal. They wiped out the entire Nelson family over in Chino Valley two nights ago, and we think they might be in this area.”

  “Damn, that’s awful. Why do you think they might be around here?” Don asked.

  “Same thing happened last night at the Denton ranch down the road.” The house was riddled with bullet holes, and they didn’t leave any witnesses there either. Both Fred and Alice were killed.”

  “I didn’t know the Dentons very well. I saw them in town every so often, but they never stopped to chat.” Don paused, and then continued. “The gang must be pretty mobile. Those locations are around thirty miles apart.”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “We already thought of that, and we’re telling everyone we can to keep an eye out for a group traveling by vehicle or horseback. Nothing else we can do for now.”

  “Do you guys have any communications?” Don asked.

  “We found some old radios in the safe at the office. So, most of us can talk to each other, but that’s about it. We are mostly just patrolling our areas and go wherever we hear gunshots.”

  “I’ve been hearing a lot of gunfire at night lately,” Don said. “It’s been increasing the last three nights.”

  “Things are getting out of control,” Baxter admitted. “But, we’re doing what we can.” He sighed once, then added, “I doubt this thing is getting better any time soon.” Silence ensued as each of the men pondered the situation.

  “How are you fixed for food?” Don finally asked.

  “Fine for now. I always stock up on stuff when the stores have sales. And, it’s just me, so I don’t have to worry about feeding a family.”

  “Well, if you need anything, please just ask. We really appreciate what you’re trying to do.”

  “Thanks,” Baxter replied. “I better get back to doing what they pay me to do,” he smirked. “I guess it might be a long time until pay day.”

  “Seems so; take care out there.” Baxter mounted his horse as Don opened the gate and they watched him recede into the distance.

  As they walked back to the house, Don reflected on how well Cory and his wife, Julie, had fit in with the group. Julie, although a stunning beauty, had pitched in with no need to be treated with deference due to her looks. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and she approached every task with zeal. Cory had proven to be quietly competent, and was helping Bud partition the bunkhouse into three rooms: one for him and his wife, and one for each of his children.

  When Cory explained his love of the Prescott National Forest, how it was a living thing to him, and not just a bunch of trees, Don happily agreed to put Cory in charge of hunting and survival training. Cory explained the migratory paths the animals followed during the year, began talking to Bud and Ed about tracking and woodcraft, and volunteered to move their emergency rations and equipment to a cave Don had found a few miles into the forest. Ed and Bud, in turn, explained to Cory that the ranch did have a few rules and procedures, and trained him on how all the systems on the ranch worked, as well as how to monitor the security systems, radio discipline, and how to operate the drone.

  Don was equally happy about the rapid adjustment Cory’s two children had undergone since they arrived three days prior. Tommy and Angie were a welcome addition to the group, and were adopted by everyone. The women fawned over them relentlessly, and Mary was setting up half-day classes for them to continue their educations. They has taken a shine to Ben in particular, who allowed them to chase the chickens around the yard, which they found wildly entertaining, and to pet the rabbits. They generally tagged along with Ben as he worked, and seemed fascinated by the animals. When not around the animals, the children both pitched in with weeding and harvesting the garden, cleaning and doing dishes, and helping with the cooking. They were remarkably well-behaved children, quiet and obedient, but still filled with the wonder of youth, and the enthusiasm they displayed at simple things was contagious. In short, they brought a love of life and a joy to the group that can only come from being in the presence of children, and they quickly became a focal point of affection for everyone at the ranch.

  When Don finished his thoughts, he turned to Cory as they approached the house and said, “when are you planning to start moving some stuff to the cave?”

  “As soon as we finish the rooms in the bunkhouse.”

  “Good, I’ll take you to it when you’re ready, and show you how to find the entrance. We’re going to have to make sure nobody sees us around the cave. I don’t want to worry about somebody stealing our emergency kits.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I’ll get back to work and get it done so we can leave in the morning.” Cory walked to the bunkhouse and disappeared inside as Don walked into the ops center, where Julie sat watching the monitor.

 
“Things quiet?” Don asked.

  “As an empty church,” she replied. “Aside from the guy at the gate, I haven’t seen anything move all day.”

  “That’s a good thing,” Don joked, as Kate entered the room to take her shift at the center. He gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. “We don’t have any lights off on the monitors, but I am going to go visually inspect the cameras and sensors anyway. I want to make sure we don’t have any problems tonight. Could you ask Cory to explain to everyone what the deputy told us about those groups?” He asked Julie.

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, I’ll be back in a half hour or so.”

  When Don returned, he faced a somber group seated at the picnic table. As he approached the group, Cory was finishing his briefing on the conversation with the deputy. After Cory finished, Don took a seat, and everybody sat in silence. Ed finally spoke first. “I guess we all knew something like this was coming. We are as ready as we’ll ever be.” His tone of voice was calm, but it did little to settle the rest of the group; as time went by, they appeared to grow more concerned.

  “We need to get Julie and Cory up to speed on our battle plan, and get the kids in the basement if things head south on us,” Ann finally added.

  “Julie, do you shoot?” Bud asked.

  “I’ve hunted with Cory a few times, and I’ve been to the range a couple of times as well. I’m not a marksman or anything, but I’m comfortable with the AR—pistols, not so much.”

  “Well, then you are the logical one to go to the basement with the kids, and hunker down until it’s over. Not only are you their mother and can keep them more calm, everybody here has tactical combat shooting training and you don’t,” Don said. “We can train you up later, but for now we need to use the best shooters we have. Kate will get you one of the shotguns. If they get as far as the basement, it’s going to be a close-quarter fight and you can’t miss with it,” He finished.

  “Okay, I’d rather be with the kids anyway,” she replied.

  “I’d like to take the floor for a while and review our security arrangements. We need to figure out what we can do, between now and nightfall, to secure the place. The first thing I’d like to do is finish installing the floodlights on the front of the house. The two attacks we know about took place at night, and we will need the light to spot the bad guys. The night vision googles make it hard to shoot, so those really aren’t going to work for us.”

  “I got that,” Bud offered.

  “We also need to hollow out an area in the basement between the boxes of supplies to provide additional cover for the kids. Kate, can you handle that with Julie?”

  “Sure.”

  “Cory, you and yours are going to have to move into the house for now. We have no shooting portals in the bunkhouse and no plywood reinforcement. The moment you fired a shot, you would be cannon fodder for the gang we heard about. The apparent M.O. is to use suppressing fire to storm the houses. The number of bullet holes in the houses the deputy described make that likely.”

  “Not a problem. We’ll each get a change of clothes and bring the weapons over. But, we have to do something about the guns all over the house. I’m worried about the kids.”

  “Good point,” Mary said.

  “Ideas?” Don asked. “We won’t have time to unlock the gun locker and distribute the guns and magazines. They’re already in the rooms where we need them.”

  “I’ll keep the kids in the basement until morning, and then maybe we can put the guns away. I don’t know what else we can do,” she shrugged helplessly.

  “If you paint lines around ten feet from where the weapons are, and told the kids not to cross the lines, would they listen?” Kate asked.

  “They would listen to Cory,” Julie said, turning to her husband. “What do you think?”

  “It will work for a while, but you know how kids are. They will forget eventually.”

  “It would probably just be for a few days,” Don offered.

  “Okay. I’ll paint the lines after we break up.” Cory smiled weakly, clearly not liking the plan.

  “Lastly, I would like to go from one to four guards at night. We need one in the ops center, two on the front of the house, and one watching the back. I know we can’t do this forever, but we need to be on high alert until we know that gang is either gone or no longer a threat.”

  The group broke up and Cory went to fetch paint and a brush to mark the lines that his children were not to cross. Bud and Ed went outside and screwed floodlights to the fascia board across the front of the house, then wired them into a switch that sat on the desk of the ops center. After testing the floodlights several times, they went to the kitchen and began preparing supper. Don staffed the ops center, while Kate and Julie went to the basement and began moving boxes around to create a protected spot for the children. When finished, Cory and Julie took the children to each room in the house, showed them the lines on the floor, and admonished them to not, under any circumstance, cross the lines. The children nodded their heads solemnly, and Cory grew more confident the plan would work at least in the near-term.

  Since Bud and Ed prepared dinner, the group ate shredded chicken tacos, canned beans, and undercooked rice. Everyone ate dutifully, if not enthusiastically, and dinner was, for the most part, a somber affair. Each of them realized they were very likely to be tested before long; for some of them, it would be the first deadly encounter they ever faced.

  After delivering a plate to Kate, who was in the ops center, Don sat down and said, “what’s everyone’s plan for tomorrow?”

  “I have to get the fall garden in,” Ed replied. “I’m planting beets, carrots, cabbage, eggplant, potatoes, and carrots.”

  “All my favorite stuff,” Don deadpanned.

  “Yeah, but at least it will be fresh food for the winter. Canned and freeze-dried veggies will get old pretty fast.”

  “True.”

  “I guess I’ll get the ham radio set up tomorrow,” Bud said. “I have no idea how to operate it, but I can play with it until I figure it out. I printed the manual, so I can study that in the morning.”

  “Good idea,” Don said. “It’ll be useful to figure out what is going on in the rest of the country. I’m guessing there will be a number of broadcasts from all over the place. We have been so focused on getting things ready here, that we’ve ignored the bigger picture. That could become costly at some point.”

  “We’ll start by just listening for a while. I don’t think it’s smart to jump in and broadcast the fact that we’re here,” Bud said. “I have to get the telescoping antenna and set it up behind the ops center in the back yard. We can run it up at night and bring it down during the day. That way, it won’t be visible and we can stay on the down low.”

  “Can you use it as a police scanner as well?” Cory asked.

  “Yep,” Bud replied. “It’s a tri-band Yaesu VX. So, you can use it as a scanner and it automatically memorizes any signal you receive when in scan mode.”

  “That could come in handy,” Cory said before shoveling a fork of beans into his mouth. “The deputy said they have radios working so we can figure out what they’re doing, and what incidents they respond to. That’s a good thing.”

  “Ed, where is that hand-crank radio of yours?” Don asked.

  “It’s in the ops center,” he replied.

  “Let’s get it out and see if there is any more news out of Washington.”

  “Sure.” Ed returned shortly with the radio, cranked it for a minute, and then set it on the table. A few minutes later, it came to life.

  “My fellow Americans,” the voice began. “This is Vice President Paul Babson. Last week, the North American continent was attacked with two nuclear missiles that were detonated high in the atmosphere over Chicago and Los Angeles. Let me start by reassuring you that there is no danger of radioactive fallout. Our population is not in danger of radioactive poisoning. Let me also add that, for some of you, portions of this address will be repetitive.
However, for obvious reasons, we cannot assume that all listeners have heard previous broadcasts.

  “I am saddened to report that President Harris has died as a result of the blast. He was pronounced dead due to a pacemaker failure associated with the explosion. I join you all in mourning the passing of a great statesman and dedicated American.”

  A short pause followed and he then again spoke.

  “The blasts created an electrical surge that has effectively disabled much of our infrastructure. Much of our transportation system has been badly damaged due to the destruction of electronic components in motors. The damage includes most vehicles, railroads, and airplanes. There are, at last report, many thousands dead from motor vehicle accidents, plane crashes, and hospital fatalities due to the failure of life support systems. All public transportation has ceased to function and many people are stranded, in some cases far from home.

  “The attack is known as an electromagnetic pulse. It has also taken down most of our power generation and transmission systems. The same is true of our telecommunications infrastructure. With the exception of some military networks, all communications systems in the country have effectively ceased to function.

  “I have ordered the immediate recall of all military personnel from overseas locations. We have already brought many of our assets home and they are now working, in and around the Capitol, distributing food and water and offering medical assistance. The states of Alaska and Hawaii have been spared from the effects of the blasts and we are using Air Force transport to move vehicles and personnel to the Continental U.S. from those locations. Our armed forces stand ready to defend the country and are in the process of testing all equipment and systems. They will have a plan on my desk, in the next week, to begin efforts to restore power and other infrastructure as quickly as possible.

  “I ask that all National Guard personnel report immediately to their duty stations. The same is true of all first responders; including fire, police, and hospital staff. As many of you know, we are facing difficulty responding to emergencies. Many first responders are unable to respond to calls for help. Fires burn in many cities that cannot be extinguished and police, for the time being, have little mobility due to inoperable vehicles.