by Mark Goodwin
Sharon rubbed her forehead. “I’m not sure I follow all of that, but it sounds bad. Maybe I should stock up on the things I know I’ll need for the Kettle. Should I think about buying some silver or gold?”
Isaiah patted her back. “You can try, but I doubt you’ll find anything. Your best bet would be to check pawn shops. You might be able to find silver and gold jewelry, but they’ll probably rake you over the coals for it.”
Cassie took out her phone. “I’ll check the online dealers for you. Do you have an idea of how much you’d like to buy?”
Sharon opened her eyes wide. “I don’t know, maybe five thousand?”
Cassie jumped from site to site. “Everyone is completely sold out. Usually, you’d still be able to place a back order, but none of the sites are letting me do anything.”
Cassie continued looking. “Someone is selling some Silver Eagles on eBay for $190 each. That’s a fifty-dollar premium over the spot price.”
Sharon looked at Isaiah. “Should I do it?”
Isaiah shrugged. “Could be $50 on Monday or it could be $250. You have to decide for yourself.”
Sharon looked back at Cassie. “Maybe I’d do better in the pawn shop.”
Isaiah interjected, “But you’d have to drive into Knoxville to go to a pawn shop. I’d say if you want any silver, you’d better buy it now.”
Sharon thought for a moment. “Okay, buy ten of them.”
Cassie hit the Buy It Now button. “Already gone. Sorry.”
“What? Someone bought them?” Sharon was excited.
Cassie scrolled through the page. “Here are 20 one-ounce, private mint bars. They’re Sunshine mint. That’s a very reputable mint. They’re $205 each. Do you want them?”
“Yes! Buy them!” Sharon stood to look at Cassie’s phone.
Cassie hit the Buy It Now button and handed the phone to Sharon to enter her information.
Meanwhile, Noah and David were making a preliminary list of the things they wanted to order through Sharon’s restaurant supplier.
Noah scratched some numbers on a separate sheet of paper. “Flour, sugar, coffee, pasta, number-ten cans of pasta sauce. . .”
David cut him off. “I think those are the pre-measured, single-pot coffee packets. That might not be the best price. Even if it is, it might take up more room than coffee in a can.”
“Good call.” Noah looked up to see if Sharon was finished with her eBay order. “Sharon, can you buy coffee that’s not pre-portioned?”
“Yes, but only whole beans.”
Noah looked back at David. “Do you have a grinder?”
David nodded. “Yep, an electric one.”
Noah made a note on his paper. “A hand grinder would probably be a good thing to have for a backup.”
Isaiah said, “I have a small hand-operated coffee grinder, but we should get something that can handle grinding corn, meat, or whatever by hand.”
There was a knock at the door, and David got up to answer it. “Jim, come on in.”
Jim removed his hat. “Did y’all start the party without me?”
Noah handed the order form to Jim. “There’s plenty of partying left to do. We’re ordering a few long-term storable food items through the Country Kettle. Look this list over and see what you’d like to buy.”
Jim took the list and scanned over it. “Thanks.”
Isaiah gave Jim just a minute with the order form. “Any word from the sheriff’s department in Knoxville?”
Jim looked up from the list. “They acknowledged that there is a military training exercise authorized by DHS going on in Knoxville over the weekend, but that was it. They wouldn’t tell me how many troops, which branch, or where they would be training. I asked for the sheriff, but he was just as tightlipped as the deputy who answered the phone. We’ve been monitoring the radio channels, but the military operation is using digital encryption software.”
Isaiah took out his phone. “I wonder if Benny could crack it. I need to get him over here to see if he wants to order some dry goods anyway.”
Noah looked at Jim and David. He wasn’t sure how much they knew about Benny’s previous work history with the NSA.
Jim said, “Tell him he can use any of the Sevier County Sheriff’s radio equipment he needs to break it.”
Based on Jim’s confidence that Benny could crack the encryption, Noah thought that he must know.
David leaned over and whispered to Noah. “Am I missing something here? Why would a church handyman be able to break military encryption?”
Noah just shrugged.
Everyone handed their individual order list to Noah to add up and put on the master order form. “Should I wait for Benny?”
Isaiah shook his head. “He said he’s pretty well stocked up.”
David furrowed his brow and shot Noah a look. “All stocked up? What does Benny know?”
Noah tried to dismiss the comment, but he could tell that David sensed he knew more than he was saying. “Lots of beans and rice, huh Jim?”
Jim smiled. “They’re cheap and they store for a long time.”
Noah added several large bags of beans and rice to his order as well. “Honey and peanut butter. Good high-calorie foods, David.”
David sat back in his chair. “Lynette could live off of honey and peanut butter. Honey will keep forever. They found honey in the pyramids that was still edible after thousands of years.”
Noah added several containers of honey to his order also. “Maybe everyone should take a look at each other’s lists to see if there are items you might have overlooked. I’m getting some good ideas from what you guys ordered.”
Noah passed the individual lists around the room. Everyone added at least a couple more items, then handed the lists back to Noah. He tallied up the totals. “Sharon, when will this be delivered?”
“I’ll call it in right now. It will be on the Monday morning truck, unless you want to pay the $100 rush fee. In that case, it would come tomorrow after lunch.”
Noah looked around. “What do you think, guys? That’s twenty-five bucks each to get it tomorrow. I’d hate to be penny wise and pound foolish. If something blows up this weekend, we’d be hurting.”
Isaiah nodded. “I’d rather pay a little more and be safe.”
“Me, too,” Jim added.
David shrugged. “Whatever, an extra twenty-five bucks to get it tomorrow is fine with me.”
Noah handed the list to Sharon. “Thanks for doing this for us. We can be there with our trucks when the delivery comes, so it doesn’t get in the way of your business.”
Sharon looked over the list. “You guys are really concerned about all of this. I suppose I should at least top off my dry stock room and fill up the meat cooler.”
Isaiah put his arm on the couch behind Sharon. “I’m thinking about getting some rabbits. I don’t have much room, so I’m limited as far as what I can raise. Is anyone else thinking of getting any animals?”
David smirked, “I’ve got a dozen chickens, give or take, depending on what the raccoons leave me tonight. I think Noah was planning to get two of everything, right?”
Noah laughed. “Ha, that was funny. It would’ve been even funnier if I hadn’t heard the same joke three times a week in grade school. But we might get a couple goats. They’d help us clean up the fruit that we lose in the orchard.”
Jim nodded. “Goat manure is great for the garden. Of course, rabbit and chicken manure is, too. We don’t have much room for animals either. I’d like to see what Isaiah comes up with for his rabbits and see if that would work at our place. David, you’ve got more acreage than anyone else. You should add some more livestock.”
David thought for a moment. “If you want some animals, let me know. I’ll help you put up a pen to keep them here. You can probably pay Lynette to feed them when you can’t get by the house. She’d love to have some more animals around here.”
“Thanks for the offer,” Jim said.
“Sure thi
ng,” David replied. “The same goes for you, Isaiah.”
Isaiah smiled. “Thanks. I might take you up on that.”
Minutes later, Benny Loomis arrived.
David opened the door. “Come on in.”
“Thanks.” Benny was soft-spoken as always.
Becky passed the snack plate to Benny as soon as he found a seat. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
“Please, that’d be great.”
Isaiah filled Benny in on the troops in Knoxville. “Jim said you can use the radio equipment at the sheriff’s office to try to break the encryption.”
Benny put a couple of crackers and some cheese on a napkin. “I can work on it from home.”
David took a cookie off the snack plate. “Benny, I guess I didn’t know breaking encryption was a hobby of yours. How long have you been doing that?”
Benny grinned. “Oh, a few years. No one has told you where I used to work?”
David laughed. “No. Everyone but me seems to know what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it; I just don’t talk about it much.” Benny gave David a short synopsis of his work history with the NSA.
David listened with eyes wide open. “And you think you can break the military encryption? You have good comms set up at your house?”
“I have the basics.”
David continued to quiz Benny. “Isaiah said you’re all stocked up on dry goods. What made you decide to do that?”
Benny took the coffee Becky had set on the table in front of him. “I still have contact with a couple of people in the intelligence community. One, in particular, seems to think we’re in for a major event—an event that could change everything about life as we know it.”
Cassie leaned in toward Benny. “So, a planned event. Is it a plan to wipe out the currency and bring in a one-world government and global currency?”
Benny chuckled. “My friend seems to agree with most of your theories. And he’s traveled in some pretty well-connected circles.
“Anyway, I’ll see what I can find out about what’s happening in Knoxville.”
Isaiah stood. “I’ll drive out to your house later tonight, Benny. I can relay the info to everyone else tomorrow when we pick up our delivery at the Kettle. We can all meet up after church on Sunday and discuss the developments.”
“Good plan,” Benny said. “We need to avoid electronic communications as much as we can and try to speak to each other in person whenever possible. Stay away from email, phone calls, text messages, and anything else that leaves an electronic footprint.”
The group said their goodbyes, and each went their separate ways. Noah’s mind was spinning. He hadn’t even had a chance to clear his head from his trial, and already he was facing the loss of his church, catastrophic swings in the markets, and a military troop build-up less than fifteen miles away.
CHAPTER 2
The future belongs to those who prepare for it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Early Saturday morning, Everett Carol opened the door and let Courtney in. “Wow, camos. You look like a militia member. You might be on one of the watch lists I monitor.”
Courtney smirked as she walked in. “And you’re going shooting in jeans, tennis shoes, and an oxford shirt? At least get some hiking boots. You have to drink in the experience. At least I know what to get you for Christmas, I guess.”
Everett tried to give her a hug, but she playfully pushed him away. “Get away. I’m a domestic terrorist, remember?”
Everett stole a kiss. “A very cute domestic terrorist. I thought you were bringing a gun to shoot.”
Courtney plopped down on the couch. “I left my rifle case in the car. I figured it would be easier to just pitch it in your trunk when we’re ready to leave than lug it up and down the stairs. Of course, I can drive out to the cabin if you want.”
Everett brought his pistol case and his shotgun case into the living room. “I don’t mind driving. The highway is the only place I really get to open up the engine. Besides, you’ve already driven quite a ways to get here.”
Courtney popped the tabs up on Everett’s pistol case. “I can get here in less than an hour on the weekends.” She took out the Sig P229 and checked the chamber. “You don’t keep this loaded?”
“Not till I need it.”
“So when you hear a burglar coming through the door, you’ll ask him to hold on while you load your pistol. Is that the plan?”
Everett brought out his bag of old clothes to take to the cabin. “I can see how that plan might need some adjustments. Did you bring your extra clothes to keep out at the cabin?”
Courtney continued to inspect the Sig. “They’re in my car. I’ll grab them when we leave. This thing is super clean. Have you ever shot it?”
Everett grabbed his jacket. “No, never fired the shotgun either.”
“So this will be fun. Are you ready?” Courtney put the pistol back in the case and secured the tabs.
“Ready!” Everett grabbed the shotgun case and the duffel bag of clothes.
The two of them headed down the stairs to the parking lot. They put Everett’s things in his trunk, then retrieved Courtney’s clothing and weapons cases.
“What’s in this box?” Everett inspected the Glock pistol box.
“Glock 21. It’s a .45.”
“I thought you said you had a .380.”
“I do. I carry a Beretta Tomcat .380 in my purse. The Glock sits on my nightstand. A .380 beats a can of mace for a concealed carry weapon, but I want something with a little kick for the house, being a girl who lives alone.”
Everett stuck her clothing bag in the trunk and closed it. “Do you have ammo for all of this?”
“Yep.”
“And what’s in the rifle case?”
“Mini 14.”
Everett shut the door for Courtney, then walked around to his side of the car. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It shoots a .223 round. Same thing that an AR-15 shoots, but it looks more like a regular rifle with a wooden stock. Until you put a thirty-round magazine in it, that is.”
“Sounds like it’ll be fun to shoot.”
Courtney smiled. “Oh, it is!”
They were soon on their way to the cabin, past Woodstock, Virginia. The sun was bright and warmed the cold November air.
Courtney fidgeted with the radio until she found a country station.
“Country?” Everett protested.
“We’re going to the woods to shoot guns. Remember what I said about drinking in the experience?”
“I’m trying to; it’s just that country music doesn’t seem to fit a BMW. It’s like peanut butter and pizza.”
Courtney lowered her sunglasses, so Everett could see her wink. “Yeah, but it’d be silly to buy a truck just to go shooting.”
Everett rolled his eyes. Deep down, he enjoyed the playful verbal sparring with Courtney. It had been a while since he’d dated a girl sharp enough to keep him on his toes. “Any word on what happened to those troops from the foreign bases that were shut down?”
“Oh yeah. They’re being reassigned to US bases all around the country. In the interest of frugality, the troops are being trained to deal with domestic threats.”
Everett laughed. “Yes, because frugality has always been a top priority. Where are they being trained?”
“Cities all over America. DHS has been working with the Army to train large numbers of soldiers at Fort A.P. Hill for asymmetric warfare. They set up an entire city as a training ground. They said it’s for fighting radical Islam in the Middle East, but the mosque in the mock city has a steeple with a Christian cross on it. It looks like a little country church from a Thomas Kinkade painting.”
“Or Iraq.”
Courtney chuckled. “Yeah, or Iraq. And the mock-up subway signs, railroad signs, everything is in English.”
Everett put one hand in the air. “Again, just like Iraq.”
“Or Anytow
n, USA. Which, incidentally, is where all of the men who have been trained at A.P. Hill are going for this massive countrywide training exercise. I couldn’t get everything, but I know DHS has training exercises going on in LA, Miami, New York, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Houston, Vegas, pretty much every major city.”
Everett shook his head. “Won’t the residents of those cities get nervous with all of these training exercises going on in their cities?”
Courtney smirked. “Most of these cities have been hosting training exercises for years.”
“But all at once? Won’t that sound fishy to the public?”
“No. The media and law enforcement have been issued National Security Letters to keep them quiet. The letter is essentially a federal gag order. If it’s violated, you can end up in Gitmo with a rectal feeding tube. National Security Letters were another fantastic feature of the Patriot Act.”
Everett rolled his eyes. “There’s nothing more patriotic than torture.”
Courtney crossed her arms. “Oh, no. Remember? The previous CIA Director, John Brennan, said rectal feeding wasn’t torture. He called it an EIT.”
Everett tilted his head to one side. “Enhanced interrogation technique, that makes it sound more pleasant. I guess we’ll see how pleasant the American public thinks it is when it’s used on them.”
“If it’s used on Americans, it’ll be some marginalized class of people that’s been demonized so the public at large won’t care.”
Everett thought about how insightful Courtney was. He felt very lucky to have met her, just the right person, at just the right time. He supposed it was fate. It had to be more than just a coincidence. He knew John Jones would accredit it to a divine plan, but Everett wasn’t quite ready to accept that. “This positioning of troops all over America sounds exactly like what Jones predicted would happen right before they pull the trigger. Another thing he told me would happen is that all of the money being held in these cryptocurrency accounts that I’ve been monitoring would suddenly rush into gold and silver. That started on Thursday and continued all the way through yesterday’s crash.”