by Ira Tabankin
A Novel
First edition
Copyright January 2016
Ira J. Tabankin
Knoxville, TN 39720
Cover by Matt Margolis
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my wife and true love, Patricia.
Thanks
I’d like to thank the many members of the survivalistboards.com who helped me with their knowledge, comments and encouragement. A very special thanks to Dianne Mayhew, who proofread and edited the manuscript making this edition possible.
Work of Fiction
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Prologue
Jay and Lacy Tolson are like any other working class family in America. They live from paycheck to paycheck. Every week Jay fantasizes about winning the lottery. He daydreams about what he would do if he won. Being a prepper, he dreams of constructing the ultimate shelter for his family. One week in January, Jay got the shock of his life when he won the lottery jackpot which netted them over $28 million after taxes. After the shock wore off, he began to seriously think about fulfilling his dream.
Jay and Lacy’s children and grandchildren lived in the Midwest; now having the money from winning the lottery, they decided to move closer to their family while also moving south to a warmer climate. Being a prepper, Jay looked for a new home which was both defendable and close to sources of water and food. They purchased a new 7,000 square foot home which was located next to a group of small farms. When Jay was informed his neighbor's farms were going to be foreclosed, he decided to buy the farms, he merged them into a single 1,000-acre farm with four tenant farmer families who became good friends with Jay and Lacy. Having secured a source of food, Jay turned his attention to building a shelter. He expanded his plans to include his new friends. While Jay was designing a shelter and learning what it meant to be a farmer, a quarter of the world away, the world’s economy was becoming very tenuous.
Greece ignited the fuse to the world’s economic meltdown and collapse when they elected a socialist as their Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister’s first act was to demand better repayment terms on their loans from Germany. Germany’s banks and Prime Minister refused Greece’s demands, knowing if Greece got away with altering the terms; every other country in the EU would follow. The result would destroy Germany’s economy.
When Germany refused Greece’s demands, Greece resigned from the European Union. Other European countries followed, ending Europe’s dream of a united continent. The Euro’s value collapsed. While the EU began breaking up, millions of Muslim refugees from IRAQ and Syria swarmed into Europe like a wave of hungry locust stripping a farm. This changed Europe forever. Almost overnight, Europe started to become Islamic. Europe’s famous cities were becoming dangerous places to live or visit. Entire areas of Europe became Islamic only zones, even the local police refused to enter these zones. Sharia law became the rule of the zones, the angry, young Islamic men expanded the zones. They attacked every infidel in the surrounding areas. Europe’s economy was in free fall.
While Europe was simmering, another quarter of the world away, China surprised the world by demanding full and immediate repayment of the loans she’d made to America. They further surprised the world by demanding repayment in either gold or silver, they announced they would no longer accept American dollars as payment for anything. They offered the American President a way out of the problem. They placed a proposal on the White House Situation Room conference table which shocked the world. China offered to accept the states of Hawaii and California as payment in full.
The President turned down China’s demand for repayment. He informed China they would be paid pack in due time. China responded by dumping their trillions of dollars for pennies on the dollar, destroying the dollar’s value. China ran a PR campaign to the people of Hawaii and California. China asked them to vote to stay in the Union or become a Special Economic Zone, similar to, but one with more freedoms than Hong Kong. The people of Hawaii voted to leave the Union and join China. The President refused to accept their vote. China assembled their navy which they sent to Hawaii to take by force that which the President withheld from them. America responded by assembling the largest naval armada the world’s ever seen. The World War Two battleship, the USS Missouri, was converted from a museum back to an active duty battleship which led the US Navy Task Force 77 into the largest naval battle in history against the Chinese fleet. The Task Force was broken into a smaller force centered around the last active Battle Ship, the USS Missouri renaming it Task Force 66.
The world around Central Tennessee went crazy, Jay went ahead with his dream of building a large shelter under the farm’s fields. The shelter was large enough to house the forty plus people who lived in the farm’s local homes. Jay designed the shelter to protect and provide for over one hundred people. It had its own hospital and security rooms. Jay had become close friends with the local mafia Don, Tony, who wanted to bring his extended family into Jay’s shelter. Jay and Tony determined the existing shelter while large, wasn’t large enough to support both extended families. Tony ordered pre-made shelters from a company in California; the two shelters were merged to form a small city under Jay’s farm.
The dollar’s collapse led to the economy crashing and melting. Millions of people suddenly found themselves unemployed without any way to feed their families. The Federal Government stopped making welfare, social security and disability payments so they could save money to begin making payments to China.
As transportation stopped, food became scarce, people were angry, scared and hungry. Gangs roamed the countryside looking for whatever they could steal to stay alive. The Mexican drug Cartel swarmed into the United States to enslave large farms in the Southern states to grow and process their product. After overrunning Europe, ISIS sent troops to invade America. One of Jay’s son-in-law Ricky, a progressive, is out of place in the shelter. He’s outspoken and in Jay’s words, a royal pain in the ass. Ricky decides that because Jay refuses to share his food and shelter with displaced and hungry neighbors, Jay needs to be removed as the shelter’s leader. Ricky steals potassium that Jay uses for leg cramps and pours it into Jay’s coffee, causing Jay a massive heart attack. This happens at the worst possible time. Jay hangs near death, for the second time as the Cartel and ISIS are attacking the farm, both wanting to use it as their base of operations.
US Army Captain Black was ordered to work his way from Chicago South cleaning up the country and providing whatever aid he could to the citizens. He and Jay became friends. He informed the people in the shelter he wants to build his headquarters on the farm, in payment for the land, his troops rebuild their trashed homes. Before Captain Black can begin building his HQ, he’s called to investigate a situation in Memphis. He and the shelter agree to check in every day. When he can’t reach the shelter for a few days, he worries that something bad happened to his friends. He dispatches Staff Sergeant Johnson with a reinforced platoon to check on the shelter.
The Sergeant arrives at the shelter, coming under attack from both Cartel and ISIS troops, he’s surprised when his vehicles come under RPG attack. He knows his only chance to save what’s left of his platoon is to get inside the shelter. He pushes his people towards the shelter’s front door. Bullets and hand grenades explode all around them as they run towards the shelter losing valuable soldiers the closer they got to the shelter’s front door.
The shelter is saved by the Free Tennessee Militia, who answers their call for help. After beating off the attack. The militia and the shel
ter become fast friends.
Doctor Basco figures out Jay has been poisoned, he tests everyone who had access to Jay and his food/drink for signs of the poison. Ricky’s tests come back positive for extra potassium in his blood. Tony places Ricky on trial for attempted murder. The population of the shelter is Ricky’s jury. He confesses during the trial. Many want him killed for his attempted murder of Jay. Tony argues that they shouldn’t kill Ricky, they should banish him. Ricky happily leaves and is quickly captured by some ISIS soldiers; they torture him to get information about the shelter. They broadcast his torture on the internet which is seen at the shelter. Sammi forces Jay to send a rescue team to save Ricky. He’s brought back and banished to a small trailer as far away from the castle as possible. He’s forced to wear an ankle tracking device with an explosive charge in it.
The Tennessee Governor is informed about Jay’s shelter by militia General Arthur. The Governor and twelve other Southern Governors are planning on using the current crisis to secede from the Union, forming a new Confederacy. Jay’s friends begin to pressure him to run for office in the new country. Jay worries about the damage a new civil war could cause. He tries to talk everyone out of it. The deeper the financial crisis grows, the more the people want to secede. Jay feels a line is going to be crossed which will launch not only civil war 2 but a third world war. Jay learns how hard it is to create a country while at the same time fighting for their lives.
The Shelter
Book 5
“WAR”
Chapter 1
Lacy lay unmoving in a deep sleep while Jay tossed and turned next to her. Sleep refused to come to him, he couldn’t relax and allow sleep to come to him. His mind continued to review the current situation. He tried to calm himself so he could get some much-needed sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw himself sitting in the Captain’s chair on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise replaying the Kobayashi Maru scenario. His ship is being attacked by three Romulan Warbirds. In the television program, Captain Kirk reprogrammed the computer so that he could win the no-win scenario. Jay also doesn’t believe in no-win scenarios. He always has a primary plan, a backup, and a backup to the backup plan. He doesn’t like to lose. As Jay laid in bed, he realized he couldn’t figure out how to get out of the mess he’s recently found himself and his family and friends in. He got up to use the bathroom four times during the night, he sat in the bathroom to write some ideas to himself. Each time he returned to bed, no matter how he lay or moved, he couldn’t get comfortable. He tried lying on his right side for ten minutes, then his left, his back and his stomach. He was warm, so he pulled his leg out from under the blanket. After tossing and turning for hours, he gave up trying to sleep. He quietly slipped out of bed, making his way to his office where he leaned back in his chair with his feet perched on the edge of his desk. He closed his eyes trying to figure out how to get out of the mess he’s allowed himself to get into.
Sitting in the dark, he cursed the day he met Major Walker and General Arthur. Jay shook his head thinking since I can’t change what’s coming or reverse time, or change the programming. I’m stuck with the Tennessee Governor coming here tomorrow, no, that’s now today. I know damn well he’s going to want my shelter for his base of operations. Once the other Governors make their secession announcement, my farm, home and shelter are going to be ground zero for an American attack. We built the shelter to withstand a large explosion, even a five-hundred-pound bomb, it can’t survive one of the Air Forces’ ground penetrators. They will crash through the shelter roof before exploding inside, killing everyone in the shelter. I didn’t build it to see my friends die inside of what was built to save us. Damn the Governor. I don’t see any way to stop him from selecting my shelter as his new office. I guess I should be proud of the fact that he’ll be impressed enough to select it, but he’s going to end up pushing me out of my own shelter. On top of the damn political issues, it still hasn’t rained enough for the crops. We’re going to be entering a war with a shortage of food. Damn it, our problems could be solved by more rain and fewer politicians.
“Can’t sleep?” Asked Lacy leaning against the door frame rubbing her tired eyes.
“I’m sorry, I tried to be quiet when I got out of bed.”
“You were. I rolled over, reaching for your hand, you weren’t there. I assumed you got up. I was sure I’d find you here. Why can’t you sleep?”
“I know the Governor is going to take over our shelter, leaving us out in the cold. Our farm, homes and shelter are going to end up being a prime target in Civil War 2. We’re going to have a bulls-eye hanging over our heads.”
“Why do you think that? The American DoD doesn’t know about our shelter, they can’t target what they don’t know about. Come back to bed. I bet that sleeping pill you took is going to catch up to you any minute. You don’t want to be doing something critical when the pill kicks in.”
“Honey, that pill doesn’t work. It hasn’t the past couple of nights. By the way, does the name Black mean anything to you?”
“Of course, it does, our friend, the Captain from across the street, why?”
“Honey, since he knows about our shelter, you can rest assured the idiots in D.C. know about it too. I bet he sent in detailed reports about our home and shelter. They most likely can target any weapon they have at us. He knows how the shelter was built and what would be needed to destroy it. I have to stop allowing outsiders in the shelter.”
“Shit, I thought General Arthur said he had turned the Captain around. Don’t you trust the General?”
“I don’t trust anyone who’s not one of us. I don’t care what their title or background is. I’m no longer trusting anyone with our lives.”
“What do you plan to tell the Governor when he visits? Are you going to allow him to use our shelter as his headquarters?”
“That’s why I haven’t been able to sleep. It’s all I’ve been thinking of. Every way I look at the problem, all I see is a lose-lose situation for us. I don’t like not being able to see a way out. I don’t have a backup plan, for that matter, I don’t have a good primary plan. I’ve never been in a situation like this. It’s driving me crazy.”
“You don’t have any ideas? That’s a first. What are you going to do? Honey, if our home and shelter are going to be a target, what should we do about the eleven thousand gold and twenty-five thousand silver coins in the sub-basement? Will they be safe from an attack down there? Should we move them? Where should we put them where they won’t be found?”
“That’s a great question. I don’t know. The walls of the castle are bullet proof against rifle and machine gun rounds, but bombs are a different matter. We didn’t make the roof bomb proof. I never expected to have to worry about the Air Force bombing our home. You’ve just given me something else to worry about.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Lacy, I really don’t know what. It’s 4:30, I have nine hours before the Governor arrives. I feel like our hands are tied and someone else is controlling our destiny. I don’t like it. On the other hand, I can’t figure out how to get out from under the mess I brought on us. I now know how hamsters feel running on the treadmills in their cage.”
“Honey, you didn’t do it on purpose. You aren’t responsible.”
“It doesn’t matter, by building the shelter I’ve placed everyone’s life in danger.”
“Stop it. You’ve saved everyone’s life more times than anyone can count. No one is holding this against you. Aren’t we building a new shelter? How quickly will it take to finish the new shelter?”
“I’ll know in about five hours when Franco gives me his update.”
“Do you think we’ll have enough time to finish the second shelter?”
“I don’t know. A lot depends on what the Captain told D.C. about our shelter, I don’t know when the governors are going to announce their intention to form the new Confederacy. I don’t know how the President will respond to their announcement. Ther
e are too many unknowns in this formula.”
“You don’t really think he’ll order Americans to attack Americans do you? Not even he would be that dumb, would he? His legacy will be the President, who oversaw the destruction of the greatest country in the world.”
“Remember our history. President Lincoln issued the order sending the Northern Army into the Confederacy to save the Union. To this day, many in the South call the civil war, the war of Northern aggression. What makes you think Obama won’t use force? He has far less respect for the Union that any other recent President. He’ll send the Air Force to bomb the shit out of us before he sends the army to mop up. He’ll want a quick victory so his party can quickly focus on the next election. The American people aren’t used to long wars, he’ll lose their support if he can’t quickly win the war and end the Confederacy.”
“What do we do?”
“Now you understand why I haven’t been able to sleep.”
@@@@@
Frank shakes his head wondering what he’d gotten himself into. Tony escorts him outside so they can have a private discussion. Frank looks up, feeling the sun on his face, he wonders how long he’ll be able to feel it.
“Tony, you’re crazy. You called me to take out a damn Army Special Forces Captain? A damn ‘green beanie’ who’s fought insurgents around the world. You sure picked a hell of a target. This settles our debt. After I do this, I don’t owe you anything, we’re even. I don't want to hear you ever say I owe you anything.”