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

by Bobby Andrews

  “Okay, lead on.”

  Over the next two days, the group caught up with all the work that had been deferred due to the security threat from the gang. The garden was fully planted and the irrigation system turned on. It was too late in the summer to plant corn and wheat crops, so they had to settle for a year with no fresh bread or tortillas.

  Bud had learned how to use the ham radio, if only at a basic level, and spent much of his evenings listening to conversations from other radio operators around the country and taking notes. Each sundown, Bud cranked the antenna up to its thirty-foot height, and each evening it came back down.

  Don insisted that Bud stay in a listen-only mode for the time being. He knew it was possible for others to triangulate on transmissions from the radio, but was not certain exactly how it worked or how much of a threat it might pose. He also monitored the radio that Bear had left. Luckily, it fit into the universal chargers they used. Since the Sheriff’s Department and Prescott Police had agreed to use the same frequency, he was also able to get a handle on the situation in town.

  The group met every so often when Bud had news that was important to them, but aside from that, they pretty much lived in a vacuum and had little dealings with the outside world. Since the children were often in the ops center, Bud used earphones to protect them from the bad news coming in from around the country. He reported to the group that a ham operator north of Phoenix was also monitoring the police bands, and that the entire city was engulfed in chaos. Motorcycle gangs were growing larger and consolidating with other gangs, and violent crime was out of control. Gunshots filled the night and the Police and Sheriff’s Departments were reporting high rates of absenteeism and resignations.

  As the city ran out of water, camps formed along the canal, where people could boil the water and use it for cooking and cleaning. These camps were becoming increasingly violent and were a magnet to criminals who stripped their victims of whatever food and water they had.

  He also listened to a ham operator out of Denver, who reported widespread food riots and looting. As the cities ran short of food and water, a migration to rural areas was occurring as well.

  The situation locally seemed much better. Bud was able to learn that the police were able to get some old school busses running and were shuttling hungry townsfolk to local farms and ranches, where they bartered labor for food. Since automatic feed and watering systems no longer worked, farms and ranches depended on manual labor again for harvesting and caring for animals.

  A local farmers market was set up in the town square and operated twice a week. Fortunately, it was the summer harvest season and food supplies were plentiful for the time being. The winter would pose a much harder challenge. Police seemed to have the situation under better control, although gunfire was still frequent at night. And, the survivors of the ambush were still out there somewhere, although Bud had not been able to find them with his daily drone flights.

  Bear visited the ranch daily, played with Cory’s children and chatted with the group. He warmed up, to some degree, with Don, and the two men started again enjoying each other’s company, if in a guarded and cautious way. Bear was true to his word, and asked no questions about the incident at the Ross house. Don wasn’t sure if the sheriff truly dropped the matter or was waiting for someone to slip up so he could arrest them. Cory assured Don that Bear had dropped the matter, but a nagging doubt remained in his mind. He wasn’t sure Cory was the best judge of the sheriff’s intentions.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “I’m going stir crazy,” Ed complained. “This place is starting to feel like a prison.” It had been two weeks since the EMP, and most of the work to get the ranch fully functional had been done. Ed and Don were seated on the porch drinking coffee and watching the sun come up.

  “We still need to get the bug-out cave ready,” Don offered. “You want to help with that?”

  “Anything to get out of here for a while.”

  “Well, let’s go.”

  “Now?”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you never do anything spur of the moment. That’s why.”

  “I’m getting a little bored myself,” Don admitted. “Let’s get Cory, load up two ATVs and go to the cave.”

  After the three men finished loading the ATVs, they put on their tactical vests, grabbed spare magazines, checked two radios out of the ops center, and started down the road to the National Forest. It was a typical late summer day: cloudless skies, bright sunlight, and a stiff breeze serving to cool the temperature. Don and Cory rode in one; Ed was alone in the other. As they entered the forest, the elevation slowly increased and they wound their way up a switchback, then leveled out. Don directed Cory to the cave site. It was well hidden and undetectable from the front of the hill that the path crossed.

  “Stop here,” Don said, and Cory applied the brakes and turned off the engine. “I’m going to the top of the hill and glass around us to make sure nobody can see us unload. I’ll wave if the coast is clear and we can start hauling stuff up there.”

  “Where is it?” Cory asked. Don pointed up toward the summit of the hill.

  “The entrance is on the other side. You can’t see it from the trail. Unless you know it’s there, you would never find it. That’s why I want to check the area. The only way anybody can find that is if we lead them to it, and that is not happening.” Don started up the hill with binoculars in hand, disappeared from sight, and a few minutes later, reappeared and waved for them to come up.

  As the men arrived, Don said, “let me give you the tour.” He walked around the side of the hill and pointed to the entrance.

  “I still don’t see it,” Cory said.

  “Follow me.” Don moved around the side of the boulder that concealed the entrance and the two men followed. They stood in front of an opening that was four feet high and three feet wide. “That’s it.”

  “It really is hidden,” Cory said.

  “It gets better,” Don replied as he stooped and entered the cave. Once they were all assembled, Don moved to the back of the cavern saying, “its sixty feet deep and around forty feet wide. It would fit us nicely. As you can see, it has a level floor of sand and there are no leaks here when it rains.”

  “Very nice,” Ed commented.

  “It’ll do in a pinch,” Don replied. “But check this out.” He moved to a spot where the cave narrowed and pointed to a small opening. “It has a back door big enough to exit in case we ever had to bug out of here.” The men moved back to the front entrance and stood admiring the view for a moment.

  “It’s going to be murder getting all that stuff up here,” Cory said.

  “It’s not going to be easy,” Don allowed. “We can take turns standing watch here, so we can all get a rest every fifteen minutes or so. Let’s leave the ARs here and the watcher can provide cover for the other two.”

  “That works for me. Carrying rifles would be a pain,” Ed said.

  “Well, let’s get to it,” Cory replied. Don stood the first watch as the two men brought cases of water up the hill. When they had twelve cases stacked against the side of the cave, Don handed his AR to Cory.

  “That’s all the water?”

  “Yep. You guys get to carry the lighter stuff.” Cory was beginning to catch his breath, and grinned widely at Don. “You old guys need to take it easy.”

  “That’s why I let you carry the water.” Don moved down the hill and passed Ed, who was on his way up with two ammo cans. He continued down the hill, grabbed two more ammo cans from the ATVs, and started back up. He got to the top, breathing harder than he should and reminded himself to begin his daily three-mile runs again. He dropped the ammo cans, and he and Ed headed down the hill to bring up the four replacement ARs and MREs.

  On the last trip up the hill, with Ed now acting as over watch, Cory brought up a first responder kit and blankets. Don carried the emergency water filter. The cave was now stocked with enough food and water for a week.

&n
bsp; “We probably didn’t need to bring the water,” Don said. “There’s a stream about a half-mile west of here. I tested it a few months ago, and it is pure enough to drink without boiling.”

  “Good to know,” Ed replied.

  “Let’s take a break and rest up before we head back,” Cory said. The three men sat down, facing Mingus Mountain and admired the view.

  “Cory, I was going to wait for some privacy to ask you this, but we are all family so I am guessing you won’t mind Ed hearing it. Do you remember when we were coming back from the ambush?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you know you were smiling?”

  “No.”

  “That’s an odd reaction to having just killed several men. I’ve never seen it before. What were you thinking?”

  “Probably that I was happy to be alive.” Cory thought for a moment and added, “Julie once said that my reaction to things seemed muted compared to most. I guess I don’t feel fear or joy to the same extent as most people. Could be all the time I spent with the Yavapai before my first wife died. Most Native Americans view displays of strong emotions as inappropriate in most situations. Maybe I got it from them. Either way, I took no joy in shooting those men. It was something we had to do. To be honest, I’ve had to kill two men in the line of duty in the park. In both cases, they shot first.”

  “Did you feel any fear while we conducting the ambush?”

  “Sure. I just controlled it. Besides that, chances of us getting shot were close to zero. We had them where we wanted them, high ground, and cover.” Cory shrugged and looked away.

  Don looked at Ed, who shrugged once and returned to gazing at the mountain. After a few moments, they all moved down the side of the hill and departed. Don was riding shotgun for Cory and Ed followed them.

  “It is nice to get off the ranch and enjoy being in the wilderness,” Cory said as they entered the forest road. “I miss being in the forest and spending days without seeing anybody. It recharges my batteries. I guess that is sort of odd, but I do need time alone every day.”

  “Me too,” Don replied. “I used to get up an hour before Kate and drink coffee, do my run, and have time to think about things. That was before all this started, of course. I also went to bed many nights an hour after Kate. Normally I would read or do something in the shop. I miss that too.” Don paused, then added, “no offence intended. I am delighted to have you guys with me.”

  “None taken. I get it entirely.”

  “Let’s pull over here and take a minute. I need to hit the head.” Cory pulled to the side of the forest road and shut down the engine. Ed pulled up next to them and did the same. Don got out and relieved himself, then returned saying, “Cory and I were just talking about how we need time alone more than most people. Are you like that too Ed?”

  “Probably less than you two,” Ed replied. “I spent most of my life bunking with eleven other guys on five-day shifts,” he said, referring to his occupation as a firefighter in Phoenix. “You two lived much more solitary lives than I did, but I do need time alone as well. Just less of it probably.”

  “It’s funny. All our wives like nothing more than being in a group, and we’re like social misfits,” Cory said.

  “Yeah, Ann never saw an invitation she didn’t like,” Ed replied.

  “Hey, I like a good party,” Don said. “I just like being the first one to leave.” Ed chuckled.

  “You know, we really need to get out more,” Cory said. “According to Bud, things are pretty quiet in town and I would like to head in there and see what’s going on.”

  “Well, I guess that wouldn’t hurt anything,” Don replied. “We probably should head in and see what we can buy with the cash we have left. When Bear comes over today, we can get a situation report from him. If things seem pretty calm, we can head in tomorrow. Cory knows his way around town, so you and he can go get a look at things.” The men heard a rustling sound behind them and turned in time to see a flash of white tail disappearing into the tree line.

  “Lord,” Cory moaned. “I love pronghorn meat. I will take it over beef or elk any day. Fry it up with a little butter and sage and I am in heaven. I got to get Ben and do some hunting soon.”

  “Go right ahead. It’ll do Ben some good to get away from the ranch for a while,” Don replied. “All right, let’s get back to there and get some work done.”

  “I really don’t have anything to do right now,” Ed said. “Ben took over taking care of the livestock and the garden is on the sprinkler system and we won’t be harvesting that for another month.”

  “Who ever thought that our greatest enemy, after an EMP, would be boredom?” Cory said.

  “Yeah, it is weird,” Don replied.

  “You got us set up too well,” Ed added jokingly. “I thought we would be fighting every day just to feed ourselves. Here we are, eating like nothing happened, with power and water, and whining about being bored.”

  “It’s a high-quality problem,” Cory quipped.

  “No crap,” Ed replied. “But, we really need to think about what we can do to keep people busy. Bored people, even well-intentioned ones, will find a way to make trouble eventually.”

  “True. Wiser words were never spoken,” Cory added.

  The ride back to the ranch was uneventful. Don sat in the passenger seat, thinking about what Cory and Ed had said, and realizing how true it was. The fact of the matter was everybody was beginning to get edgy. Tempers were beginning to flare occasionally, although nobody in the group was openly fighting with anyone else. Don concluded that he would not be able to make up bogus work assignments without the group realizing what he was attempting to do— although he had done just that during his 20 years in the military. That was with young, impressionable men who were in a system characterized by rigid discipline. The endless drills, inspections, and other activities designed to keep young men out of trouble simply would not work with older and wiser people who knew him well.

  Don was also growing increasingly worried about how comfortable the entire group had become since the encounter with the gang. There was no question in his mind that the security posture at the ranch was greatly diminished from an acceptable level of preparedness for an attack or other forms of trouble. Although they now had a radio from the Sheriff’s Department, and could call for help in the event of an emergency, he also knew they couldn’t count on the sheriff being able to respond to a crisis in a timely way. He mentally chided himself for allowing the situation to deteriorate to the point of becoming a form of carelessness that could cost everyone dearly if anything unanticipated came to pass.

  As they approached the gate, Don called into the ops center. Ben cleared them through the gate, his AR dangling from a sling. They parked in front of the porch. As they got out of the ATVs and removed their tactical vests, Don sat in the passenger seat, still lost in thought. He finally concluded that the security situation was his responsibility and his alone, and it represented a failure of leadership on his part that had to be repaired.

  He decided he needed to call a meeting, confess his failure, and take steps to remedy the situation. He also had to ask the group to address the issue of boredom and discuss how to combat it so they remained cohesive and focused. He sighed as he got out of the ATV, muttering, “the only thing I hate more than failure is having to admit it.”

  “What’s that?” Cory asked.

  “Nothing,” Don replied. “I’m just thinking out loud.” Cory shrugged and walked into the ops center, where he stowed his vest and AR. Don followed and did the same.

  Don was still thinking about what he was going to say to the group when Mary, who was staffing the ops center, said, “the sheriff is at the gate.”

  “I’ll get it,” Don replied. He grabbed his AR and left the house. Clearing Bear through the gate, he returned to the porch, where Bear was waiting for him. Cory and the kids also sat on the porch, chatting with Bear. The sheriff came by every day at four o’clock to visit with Cory and
the kids.

  “How you been?” Don asked, shaking his hand.

  “Pretty good,” Bear allowed. “Things in town have quieted down quite a bit, but we still have some theft and shootings in the country. The National Guard now has checkpoints in town and is acting as a deterrent more than anything. Folks are a little reluctant to argue with M-16s.”

  “I imagine not all of them reported for duty?”

  “No, only sixteen of them, all younger and single. They don’t have families to worry about, so it’s not really a tough decision for them.”

  “You find that gang you’ve been looking for?”

  “Not yet. I’m starting to think they moved on. They took quite a beating at the Ross place.” The two men looked at each other, with neither stating what they both knew. Their truce had become more of an alliance of late and the little lie they shared was never discussed.

  “What else is going on in town?”

  “Well, we’re making a lot of progress. The National Guard now has two old trucks running and making daily trips to the freeway to get food from the trucks that were broken down from the EMP. Apparently, there are many trucks that stalled at the truck stop, and more they’re finding close to the freeway entrance. They have a stockpile of quite a bit of food. The mayor’s office set up a soup kitchen outside the old courthouse on the town square. Between what they are getting from the trucks, and the produce and meat coming in from the farmers and ranchers, everybody is eating fairly well.”

  “How do they pay for stuff?”

  “Well, some folks are still taking cash, and the rest of it is barter. The soup kitchen is free to any resident, but nobody really asks anyone where they live if they’re hungry.”

  “Do you think it’s safe for us to go into town?”

  “I think so,” he replied slowly. “I’d be more worried about what happens between here and town, than in town.”

  “Okay, it’s good seeing you and I appreciate the information. I best leave you to the kids and Cory.” Don left them chatting on the porch and entered the house, where he stowed his AR. Kate was in the kitchen getting dinner ready, and Don joined her.