by Mark Goodwin
“Looks nice, but it’s thicker that the Kahr.”
“It’s a double-stacked magazine. Springfield makes an XDS, which has a single-stacked mag like her old Kahr. This double-stacked model holds thirteen rounds, and you can get a nineteen round extended magazine for it.” Jim handed Noah another, smaller pistol. “Here’s a Beretta Cheetah. It’s about the same size as her Kahr.”
“Okay. Is this a nine millimeter?”
“It’s a .380, which is the same diameter as a nine, but with a slightly shorter round. You just have to be careful when you’re buying mags for this. They made different models for the .380 Cheetah, and the mags aren’t interchangeable. Some are even double-stacked. Beretta doesn’t sell these in America anymore. It might have some collectible value.”
“I think this will work. How much does this count toward my allowance?”
Jim looked at the ceiling. “We’ll say a hundred for the AK, a hundred for the Beretta, and a hundred for the XD. It’d be a nice concealed carry weapon for you. That leaves you with one-fifty. I’ll give you the department’s price on ammo for the XD, or I’ll cut you a check for the remainder.”
Noah continued to look at the guns on the shelf. “Could I buy another gun?”
Jim laughed. “Sure, but remember, I’ve still got your twenty-two rifle and your shotgun in the office to return to you.”
Noah picked up a bolt-action rifle. “What about this?”
“Ruger .270. That’s a nice rifle. Nice scope also. A hundred and fifty bucks if you want it.”
Noah smiled widely. “Would this be good for deer?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Do you have nine millimeter ammo?”
“Yes, but I’ll have to buy ammo for everything else.”
Jim directed Noah to the door and locked the cage as they exited. “I’ll still give you a couple hundred rounds of nine. We buy it in bulk. You can use it for training out at David’s, or you might be able to trade for some other caliber.”
The two men walked back to Jim’s office, and he pointed to his desk. “You can have a seat there and fill out that paperwork, and I’ll go find you a badge.”
Noah’s eyes lit up. “A badge?”
“Yeah, I told you I’d make you a deputy. A deputy has to have a badge. You’ll be able to carry open or concealed with it.”
Noah sat at the desk and started filling out the form. “Cassie is going to be jealous.”
Minutes later, Jim came back, administered the oath of office to Noah and handed him a badge, along with a sheriff’s department ID.
Noah exchanged it for the paperwork he’d been filling out. He was shocked to see the ID already had his photo and relevant information. “Wow! How did you get all of this?”
“Total integration. All government databases have been centralized, including the DMV. That’s your driver’s license photo. Over the past two years, the federal government has been working nonstop to tie all state and local databases together with all the federal information. DHS is in charge of the project. Now, your information on file with the IRS, Social Security Administration and DMV, as well as your school records, arrest records, banking records, credit card purchases, phone records, online activity, and, thanks to the health care law, medical records, are all just a keystroke away. Welcome to the New World Order. Big Brother ain’t got nothing on DHS. Calling this government totalitarian is like calling the Grand Canyon big. There just aren’t words to describe it.”
Noah looked at his new badge. “And now I’m part of it.”
Jim patted him on the back. “Now you’ve infiltrated it. Use that as a tool for good, to fight back and as a symbol of authority for the resistance.”
Noah smiled. “The resistance. I like the sound of that. Speaking of infiltration, any word from Benny?”
Jim nodded. “Isaiah stopped by early this morning to report on what Benny ferreted out.
“It seems the troops in Knoxville actually think they are running a drill that’s focused on containing massive civil unrest. They’re supposed to be practicing setting up detention centers for large groups of people.”
Noah rubbed his head. “Did he get any exact numbers?”
Jim shook his head. “No, but he’s sure it’s in the hundreds. He knows the troops are setting up their facilities in the parking lot, and the stadium is being used as the actual detention area.”
“Kind of like Red Dawn.”
Jim snickered. “Or Katrina.”
“And do you think it’s just a drill?”
“I don’t know. It’s awfully peculiar. Benny is going to keep trying to intercept as much signal information as possible. He’ll continue to boil that down to actionable intelligence as best he can. Of course, if the troops don’t know their own course of action, it will be difficult for him to do more than speculate.”
“Can you give me a shout if anything comes up?”
Jim nodded. “If I call you and say ‘The barbeque is getting cold,’ that means meet up at Isaiah’s ASAP. Otherwise, I’ll see you at church tomorrow.”
“Okay, sounds good.” Noah gathered up several of the guns he’d just purchased.
Jim grabbed what Noah couldn’t carry. “I’ll follow you out to the truck. You’ve got a full arsenal here.”
“Thanks. Lucky I’m one of the good guys, huh?”
Once Noah had his loot packed, he headed back to Tim’s. He brought all of the new purchases in for Tim to inspect.
Tim sized up the stockpile. “You made out pretty good, didn’t you?”
Noah smiled. “Jim took care of me because Cassie’s pistol was taken. Can you trick out and fieldstrip the AK? Also take care of any of the others that look like they need a good cleaning.”
Tim picked up the AK. “It’s seen better days, but I’ll get it in shape for you.”
He placed it behind the counter, then inspected the XD. “This has never been fired.”
Tim removed the slide and barrel, put a few drops of oil in various locations, wiped off the excess, and reassembled the weapon. “This one is good to go.”
Next, he inspected the .270. He dropped some oil in it as well and wiped it down. “This one has been taken care of. It’d be a waste to pay me to clean it.”
Tim examined the Beretta next. “Nice gun. It has a little rust. I could have this ready for you in fifteen minutes. You can wait or pick it up when you pick up the AK.”
“I’ll wait for it.”
Tim nodded and took it to the back.
Noah selected several boxes of ammo for his new weapons, including 7.62 x 39 for the AK. I’ll keep this in the truck under the back seat until I can find a place to stash it. If Cassie finds it, it’ll ruin her Christmas.
Noah placed the boxes on the counter and waited for Tim to return. Minutes later, he appeared from the back with the Beretta. He handed it to Noah and started ringing up the ammo. “I’ve got some bulk 7.62 that I don’t have room for on the shelves. It’s five hundred bucks for a thousand rounds. You’re already paying two hundred bucks for the two hundred rounds you have here. Little more money, but a lot more ammo.”
“Do it!”
Tim laughed. “Man, you’re easy. Let me sell you some extra mags for that while you’re in the spending mood.”
Noah just nodded.
“I’ll cut you a deal. Buy six and I’ll throw in two more free.” Tim rang up the total.
Noah counted out his money. “Does that include everything for the AK?”
“That’s for everything. It’s about what you were going to spend on the AK-74 alone.”
Noah smiled. “I’m happy.”
Tim winked. “Then I’m happy. The rifle will be ready to pick up on Monday, but I’d give it a few days for the paint to cure before taking it out.”
Noah quickly realized he had more than he could carry in one trip. “That’s alright. It has till Christmas to cure.”
Tim walked around to the front. “I’ll follow you to your truck.”
“Thanks.” Noah carried as much as he could out the door. He put the 7.62 x 39 ammo under the seat first, then loaded everything else and got into the front seat.
Tim paused with his hand on the door of Noah’s truck. “See you Monday.”
“See you then.” Noah headed home.
Once he arrived, he unloaded everything but the ammo and magazines for the AK and set the purchases on the kitchen table.
Cassie walked into the room. “What took you so long?”
“Oh, I had some heated negotiations. Your Kahr wasn’t in the lockup, so Jim cut us a deal on some other weapons.”
Cassie’s face showed mixed emotions as she looked over the other guns.
Noah handed her the Beretta. “I know you liked your Kahr, but this is a good concealed carry gun. We also got a Springfield pistol and a nice deer rifle with a fancy scope.”
Cassie worked the slide on the Beretta. “Pretty nice. And Jim just gave you two extra guns? What happened to the Kahr?”
“Officially, it was misplaced. Unofficially, Jim thinks one of the guys who raided the house stole it.”
Cassie picked up the rifle and looked through the scope. “I’d say we got a very fair trade. These look like they’re all in really good condition.”
“Yeah, I took them by Tim’s. He cleaned the Beretta and oiled the other two. I had to pick up some ammo from him anyway.”
Cassie kissed him on the mouth. “You’re a fine horse trader.”
Noah smiled. He knew how happy she would be when Christmas came.
CHAPTER 4
Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the “hidden” confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights.
Alan Greenspan
Everett looked over Courtney’s shoulder. “Good job.”
Courtney’s fingers slowly gripped the first gun in the safe. “Look at that. HK with a suppressor.” She removed it from the safe and inspected the short-barreled battle rifle. “G36, select fire, Eotech site, and magnifier.”
Everett took the rifle as Courtney passed it to him. “What good does it do to suppress a rifle that creates a supersonic crack?”
Courtney pulled out the next rifle in the safe. “It completely kills the sound of the round being fired, even if the bullet still makes the sonic crack. But they make subsonic rounds just for that purpose. I think they cut the powder, so I’m sure you lose some distance. Look at this rifle. McMillan TAC .338.”
Courtney removed the magazine and handed the rifle to Everett.
Everett set the HK G36 aside as he took the McMillan. “Is this a sniper rifle?”
Courtney removed one of the huge bullets from the magazine and held it up for Everett to see. It was well over three and a half inches in length. “If you want it to be, it is.”
Next, she pulled out a pistol from the top rack of the safe. “HK USP. This shoots the same bullets as my Glock.”
“That’s good. It looks like he has plenty of ammo in here as well.” Everett took out the top ammo box from a stack of many in the safe. He opened it. “This isn’t ammo.”
Courtney put the pistol down to look. “What is it?”
Everett pulled out a roll of silver coins in a plastic container with a green lid. “One-ounce Silver Eagles. There must be twenty rolls of these in here.”
“This is like hitting a pirate treasure chest.” Courtney pulled out the next ammo box.
“More silver?” Everett asked.
“No. This one is actually ammo: 5.56 for the HK G36.”
“Can you use that in your Mini 14?”
Courtney crinkled her nose. “Usually you can’t run 5.56 ammo in a rifle chambered for a .223, but the guy at the gun shop said it’s okay to run it in a Ruger unless it’s a Mini 14 Target Rifle. Mine is the Ranch. Still, I’m hesitant. I guess, if we’re ever in a pinch, I’ll use it in the Mini 14, but I’ve got a lot of .223 ammo.”
The next several boxes were various types of ammo for the three weapons in the safe. Everett found two different night vision devices as well. One was a weapons mountable unit and the other was a helmet or harness mountable unit to be worn directly on the head. “PVS 14. Do you know how to use this?”
Courtney took the weapons mountable unit. “No, but I’m sure we can figure it out.”
Everett surveyed the rest of the contents in the safe. “He doesn’t have a ton of weapons in here, but I’m guessing these three are all top-of-the-line.”
Courtney continued to look through the safe. “Uncle John was ready. I’m sorry he’s gone, but he sure left you in a good position.”
“He left us in a good position, you mean.” Everett stroked the back of Courtney’s head with his fingertips.
Courtney stuck her head inside the safe. “There’s something stuck behind the hinge. Looks like more silver. I think he used double-sided sticky tape to secure it.”
“Really? Pull it out!” Everett exclaimed.
“Looks the same but it has a red lid.” Courtney pried the container out and handed it to Everett.
He took out his knife and disjoined the lid from the tube. “One-ounce Gold American Eagles!”
Courtney squealed, then covered her mouth. “How many?”
Everett carefully removed the coins from the tube and counted them one by one. “Fifteen. Do you know what these are worth?”
Courtney’s hand was still over her mouth as she shook her head.
Everett lifted his eyebrows. “Nearly $3,900 each as of yesterday’s close.”
She spoke through her hand. “So that’s. . .”
“Almost $60,000, plus 400 ounces of silver at $140 per ounce. This will go a long way if we’re not able to go to work or if the dollar crashes.”
Courtney looked up. “Thank you, Uncle John. Wherever you are.”
The “wherever you are” comment caught Everett off guard. Not that he worried for Uncle John, but it reminded him of his own mortality. He peered at the floor silently.
Courtney put her hand on his back. “Oh, I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right. I just meant because I don’t really know where people go when they die. I’m sure he’s in a good place.”
Everett forced a smile. “It’s fine. Really. I didn’t think anything of it. I miss him; that’s all.” He wasn’t about to get into a where-do-we-go-when-we-die conversation with Courtney. He’d had enough of that with Jones.
Courtney started closing up the lids to the ammo boxes. “Are we still going to meet up with Ken and Lisa for dinner tonight?”
Everett was happy that the topic had been changed. “We should be able to get back in time.”
Courtney placed the boxes back in the safe. “If you’re tired, we could ask them if they just want to hang out and watch some movies.”
“Maybe it would be better if we weren’t in some crowded restaurant where we have to be careful about what we say. We’ve got plenty of stuff to discuss with them. Invite them over to my house if you want.” Everett passed the weapons to her so she could place them back in the safe.
“Okay, I’ll give them a call when we get back on the road. Are you planning on telling them about the guns and the bullion?”
“No. Of course I’ll share everything I have with them, but I don’t want them to get too comfortable and feel like they don’t have to contribute. We don’t know exactly how long this thing will last. Jones told me it’s purposely going to be a long time. The goal is to both reduce the population through a massive die-off and to get people to beg for the new system out of desperation. We need Ken and Lisa to be all-in with food storage, guns, ammo, and wealth preservation. I’m not trying to be dishonest, but I’ll tell them about the stuff in the loft on a need-to-know basis.”
“You’re doing the right thing. They seem pretty onboard with everything, but I’m not sure they see this as an imminent event. At least Lisa doesn’t. What about Ken?”
“I think it’s denial for Ken. H
e doesn’t argue about the facts. He’s certainly witnessed all of the stuff that Jones has been right about. But he seems to not be processing the full magnitude of what a complete socioeconomic meltdown will mean. I’ll give them some credit, though; they did chip in to buy those supplies last weekend, and they did help us bring all of that stuff up here. However, as of Friday, Ken hasn’t bought a gun yet, and he completely ignored my recommendation to buy gold and silver. From what I’m hearing, that opportunity is probably gone. I think the precious metals market has completely dried up.”
Courtney followed Everett down the ladder. “In their defense, they’ve only had a little more than a week to digest the complete destruction of their paradigm. And Lisa used to be a total anti-gun nut. The time I asked her to go to the range with me was almost the end of our friendship. She’s still no Annie Oakley, but her views are evolving with the thought of civilization melting away like a snowman in July.”
Everett snickered at the analogy. “We’ll keep working on them. After all, if it gets as bad as Jones predicted, we’ll need at least four of us to survive. Maybe I’ll pick up a couple of guns for them next week. Jones left all this stuff, so we have plenty of resources. Besides, since we’re all depending on each other, it’d be in our own best interest.”
Courtney followed Everett out the door. “I completely agree.”
CHAPTER 5
You take care of the church. You pastors should worry about getting people to heaven and leave this world to me.
Adolph Hitler
Noah flaunted his sheriff’s badge to Cassie as he got dressed for church Sunday morning. “Don’t forget your badge. Oh, that’s right—you don’t have a badge.”
“You won’t either if I throw that one out the window on the way to church.”
Noah was relatively confident that Cassie wasn’t really upset by the chiding, but he decided not to press his luck. “This is going to be tough. Faith Church has been our church home for so long.”