Survival Family

by Stephen Brandon

  Monday four miserable looking individuals rappelled down the cliff. In the safety station I had the local newspaper reporter and photographer. They grinned as they were interviewed and told how terrible the three days were. The young lady that I didn't think would make it when asked if she'd go through it again simply stated, “Hell no, but I'm glad I did it once. I now know I can handle anything.” A group photo was taken with their certificates stating that they survived three days on Camp Mountain with their T shirts. After shaking their hands I invited them all downtown to The Best Little Restaurant and told them the bear stakes were my treat. As they looked at one of the No Trespassing signs that stated violators would be eaten by hungry bears one of them mumbled I didn't see any bears.

  One of my guides then stated, “What don't eat you, you eat!”

  That brought a nervous laugh from all.

  At the restaurant Dale and Jesse were waiting. They congratulated me on the opening and asked how many survived. My comment about one injury and one quitting out of six brought a smile to Jesse's face. Then he told me that the course would be added to his agencies requirement for advancement. Then he mentioned that I needed to pass it also. Brenda just laughed and said, “We designed it with help and were the first to make it through. Half the Indian guides failed the first time. The only group that made it through complete was six of the construction girls, but their guides took a week off to recover. No one will talk about what happened that weekend.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter 12

  Two years later Brenda and I were married.

  Camp Mountain was a success and only had two fatalities. One of them was a trespasser that almost made it to the top of the cliff before he slipped. The other was a guy that wandered off from the group and was mauled by a bear.

  The town now brought in half their revenues from tourist trade.

  I added a youth camp to the weekend camps and it went through the valley that Matthew owned. There were four weekend camps of varying difficulty with certificates for each. Three civilian type campgrounds and over fifty miles of hiking trails made up the parts of the mountains open to the public. Even the small Indian reservation I hired my guides from began to prosper.

  Then one Saturday evening our phones went off and Jesse said, “The shit is about to hit the fan, I suggest you head home. Take good care of my girl, and a crew will be there in a day or two.”

  The sheriff stopped by with his daughter Deborah and informed me that she needed a place to stay. She then said everything was buttoned up at her restaurant and handed me the keys. I sent the crew to move all the food up to the refuge. Then the sheriff kissed his daughter and told her he had a job to do keeping order it town.

  When the crew returned with the last load from the restaurant I noticed they were short one woman. I asked and was informed that she had partnered up with the sheriff and was staying in town.

  That winter the radioactive fallout from Vancouver blew through. We went to radio silence until we picked up a call from Dale two years later.

  ~ # (ToC) # ~

  The Valley

  Chapter 1

  “Jim, I need you to call a meeting of the families for this evening. Make sure the com links are all set to video.”

  “Sure Dale, anything else.”

  “Yes, inform the families that I don't think youngest children should be in the rooms when the information I have is put out. I don't think anyone under 16 will understand.”

  “Got it.”

  That evening Jim pulled up a recording of the last three days news and weather forecast. After watching the recordings he opened the meeting for analysis and discussion of what was developing.

  Andrea jumped in and told everyone that she was moving herself and her children into the valley in the morning. Butch will follow in a couple of days after making arrangements to keep his business running if her analysis was wrong. Either way their health was paramount. Then she asked Dale if he could quickly build an air filtration system for the cavern and what materials he would need.

  Dale commented that in two days he would have everything he needed. I'll send my daughter to the valley in the morning with my son and then have him return to help me pack in equipment and supplies.

  Daniel then commented, “If I understand this correctly, it means that rising atmospheric contaminants will are going to cause a lot of lung problems within the next few months and probably contaminate my crops. The weather forecast for this fall and winter is severe and will probably make it a late spring for planting which could cause food shortages next year. I'll pack up all my seed and send it to the cavern and monitor the air quality at my farm. I suggest we hunt and preserve half the game in the valley quickly. I'll have Alice make a run into town and get a lot more canning jars and another pressure canner in the morning. Butch, do you think you can haul in 50 or 60 bags of fertilizer without raising suspicions?”

  “No problem Daniel, I have about 40 bags in stock and can order the rest tonight. I'll also move in a couple of large fans and the angle iron to build frames for the filters I ordered. My boring machine will be repaired this week and I'll move it up to drill a couple of vent holes. Anyone know it we have enough supplies for the welders in the cavern?”

  Jim replied, “We have enough for the arc welder, but need another set of gas bottles for the other one. The trailer for my hummer was deliver yesterday. I'll be hauling up a water distillation setup this weekend. I also have ten bundles of hunting arrows that I'll be bringing. Anyone want any luxuries brought up?”

  Albert then added, “I'm halfway through converting my Hydroponic farm to Aquaponics. I can finish it up in a week if you'll bring me a couple of 500 gallon tanks and a mechanical water pump. I'll email you the information of the equipment I still need. Daniel, I'll need you to bring me live fish from your ponds as soon as I get the tanks installed along with enough fish food and water plants to keep them alive for a few weeks. And by the way does anyone have an adult bicycle they don't need?”

  “No problem Albert.” replied both Daniel and Jim.

  Then Jim announced, “I think that just about handles it, we'll set up another secure link for anyone that isn't at the cavern Monday evening.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter 2

  By 5PM Sunday evening everything was unloaded and stored in the cavern entrance. The tents were set up at the west end of the valley and boys were all excited about going bow hunting in the morning.

  At dusk a helicopter circled overhead shining its spotlight down on the camp and two hummers with Feds blasted into camp. With them was the county game warden.

  Their warrants included a search for illegal weapons and the game warden wanted to see all their hunting permits.

  After lining up all the weapons in camp the Feds were pissed that they couldn't find any assault weapons. Jim, Dale, and Dale R all had 30-30's with scopes and Daniel's boy had his 22 and his bow.

  All the boys had bows. The arrows were a mix with bird and small game tips to heavier large broadhead arrowheads.

  Jim reminded the game warden that they didn't need permits to hunt on his private property, but they did have their permits back at his farm house. If they'd give him a ride back he'd get them.

  The ride back took 45 minutes and the game warden OK'd the hunting permits after a cursory check. They then left Jim at the farm house to make his own way back to the campsite. A three hour hike left him so exhausted he immediately crawled into his sleeping bag and crashed.

  Dawn came to early, but the boys were lined up and ready to go before the coffee was even finished. After a quick breakfast they lined up and moved out. The men carried their rifles. After all any game not killed outright was not to be left to suffer.

  By noon the boys had three deer, half dozen rabbits, and numerous squirrels.

  Butch set up a campsite to clean and prepare the game for storage. He even had the boys build an oven out of rock and clay gathered from th
e creek.

  The wives had girls with them when they arrived that afternoon. It was different for them because they had never canned outside. They had mix of campfire stoves and a solar oven to use. Maintaining their fires hot enough to keep each pressure canner at the right temperature was to be a new experience.

  No sooner than they'd started two of the younger boys reported that they'd spotted and tracked several men in camouflage prowling the valley and taking pictures of everything. Hope was in hog heaven when she heard, because she had her camera and laptop. After her first batch was started she pulled them out and started taking pictures of each setup with a brief description.

  Dale R assigned wood gathering teams and then took three of the younger boys out to do some tracking. He explained to them that there were several men in camouflage in the valley and their job was to mark them. He just happened to have three cans of spray paint. They were to sneak up on them without being discovered and paint whatever part was handy. He explained to them that they'd probably be discovered because the spray cans hissed, but that was no problem because he'd be nearby.

  Two of the boys managed to sneak up on their targets and spray them before they radioed their confederates and informed them that they'd been spotted by children. No mention was made about the florescent orange spray paint on their backs and boots.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter 3

  Two hours later a Fed stormed into camp. He threatened to arrest everyone on charges of destruction of government property. Butch then called the three young boys forward and told him what they'd done. Two of the boys told how they snuck up on the guys in camouflage and spray painted them. The third admitted to catching his target as he ran by and only got his ankles and boots.

  When Hope walked up and asked his name, he looked around and spotted the movie camera and two smart phones that were recording everything. When he demanded the recordings Hope informed him that the recordings from the smart phones was already posted and showed the Tweet requesting the names of all parties involved.

  He slapped the phone out of her hand and then stomped on it.

  One of the other girls yelled can you do that again, I didn't get a clear picture.

  The Fed then lost his cool and stomped off tearing down a tent as he tripped over the rope. When he got to his hummer he drove over a fire leaving camp and ruined two pressure canners.

  I got it all screamed two of the girls.

  One of the other girls then announced that the site she checked already had over 500 hits on their recording.

  Jim then told everyone that they needed to keep watch on their canning and detailed the boys to put the tent back up and set up the fire that had been driven over. Also there is someone on the ridge to the east because he'd seen a flash off something so they were still under observation. He then called his lawyer in the city and told him about the encounter and told him that he wanted him to get an injunction against the Feds. His reasons were invasion of privacy, trespassing, threatening children, and destruction of part of their campsite. He could find the video proof on the girls websites.

  The next day they moved the campsite over to the edge of the valley near one of the camouflaged cavern entrances. Half of the canned game was taken inside.

  Then Albert and his girls started building a smoke house and smoking racks. He detailed two of the older boys to go out and get a small deer. They were half way done building when the boys returned with the deer slung between two poles. After butchering it they cut the meat into thin strips and steaks. Two of the other girls cooked the steaks for supper. The scraps went into a big cast iron pot slung over the fire with vegetables and herbs. Hope told everyone that that would be stew for tomorrow.

  After supper guards were posted to keep scavengers out of camp and protect the meat on the drying racks.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter 4

  A week later we moved into the cavern. It seemed crowded at first with everyone working in the two main rooms. We got the air filtration system installed and the air holes bored. The Hydroponic farm was converted to Aquaponics. The fish installed and a few plants put in the fish tanks to help feed them.

  The older boys explored down and found an underground river. After testing, Andrea, Butch's wife declared it safe to drink, but she'd need to test it frequently for safety.

  Every day or two we sent out a couple of hunters to get a deer. They were butchered and we only kept enough fresh meat for one meal. The rest went into the smokehouse. Wood was becoming a problem, the wood crew had to travel out of the valley to prevent over cutting.

  Air quality continued to degrade outside. The news reported terrorist had blown two chemical factories, one only two hundred miles northwest of us. Between the coal plants in China putting out all their pollutants, the chemical plants pollutants, and the dirty bomb in Vancouver, we were lucky we were underground. Every week we had to send out a crew to clean the windows to the Aquaponics farm and the solar cell arrays.

  After three months underground Daniel put forth the suggestion that he an another man go to his farm and bring back a generator and two of his diesel tanks. The discussion was heated, but he finally prevailed. He and Butch would make the trip with his son, Allen, as scout and guard. Making protective breathing headgear took three days and the rest of the preparations took another day. They left before dawn on the fifth day and walked out. Arriving near his farm Butch holed up while they scouted the entire area. After getting the all clear, Butch moved in and they rigged his tractor with three tanks and the generator. They were filling the second tank when they heard a shot. Scott called over the walkie-talkie and reported that he'd been shot at by four men near the front gate. Daniel and Butch immediately moved out in a split formation that would take them to each side of Allen's position. The intruders ran when they started being fired upon from three different positions.

  After loading all his fuel tanks on his second trailer Daniel had Butch start back on one tractor. A few minutes later he and his son started shooting and then they set fire to the house. When they caught up Daniel simply said, “If one set of scavengers is looking for easy pickings there may be others. With the gunfire and smoke from my house burning they may decide this area has already been stripped. Know of anything at the other farm that we need? We might just need to burn that house also!”

  Butch got on his walkie-talkie and called the cavern for guidance. Dale and Jim both agreed that it would be best to burn their farmhouse also after getting the extra guns and ammo. Jim told them he'd meet them there. They should scout the area before going in.

  Dale and Jim arrived in the hummer shortly after Butch called the all clear. With Allen and Daniel on guard they stripped the house. After about five minutes of gunfire with sever different rifles and pistols they lit the five gallons of diesel they'd poured on the living room carpet and in the kitchen. They quickly retreated up towards the valley and found a good spot to watch the farm. As soon as they had word that the tractors were back at the cavern they headed into the valley and reset the alarms. They also dragged down a rotten tree and moved it across their trail.

  One of the fuel trailers was backed into the smokehouse. The other was moved into the main cavern entrance. Daniel then drove his oldest tractor down the trail and turned it over at a choke point near the valley entrance.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter 5

  That fall there was only one incursion into the valley. It was a group of three men and three women. They were sick with open sores. The decision was made to keep isolated to prevent contagion from entering the cavern. Distant observation was maintained for the week they lived. Then a team was sent out to bury the bodies. The team did all they could to decontaminate and then remained in quarantine for two weeks after returning to a little used section of the cavern.

  The winter snow was really bad. Not only was it discolored but it had a bad smell to it.

  When spring arrived the melting snow and water in
the creek smelled so bad no one could go outside without a charcoal embedded mask. Over half the vegetation in the valley turned a sickly yellow or died. Game was almost nonexistent. The game spotted looked diseased and malnourished. The decision was made to not hunt for a year and hope that the wildlife would recover.

  The boys built crystal radio receivers from several types of crystals they'd discovered while exploring the cavern. Late spring they started picking up signals. Butch then ran an antenna wire to the ridge and built an antenna that the boys mounted in the top of a tree. Dale R converted one of the walkie-talkies and hooked it up to the antenna and tried to establish contact.

  It took until early summer to contact another group that claimed they were located in the foothills of Virginia. They also claimed to be in good shape with over 10 families in their community. Of course neither of us would give our exact locations.

  After talking with their leader for several hours, Dale explained to them that we were to far away to offer any physical assistance. We could and would exchange information on weather, contamination appearances, and technical know how.

  The next day two more groups transmitted their willingness to join our loose community. Neither would give their location, but one did say they were in Arizona. Jim welcomed them to our radio community and we set up a communication schedule for around midday. He told them that we were on solar power and could only transmit when we had sufficient power. We did have some children that could monitor their crystal radios all the time, so we'd know if anyone called.

  It was the next summer before we dared to briefly venture outside. The vegetation in the valley had recovered, but game was still scarce.