by Ron Foster
If it was the feared big grid down, double” damn damn” apocalypse occurring in the country and all of the power plants were fried beyond 6 month repair.. Then he knew things would spin out of control quickly and with a swift and definite finality. The outcome of what once was a technological and civilized world would soon be a smoking ruin in no time and of that he was sure.
However, the event he himself personally was experiencing of a darkened world without power could easily be nothing more than a localized disaster or a geographical grid down thing. You know one that could be recovered from in a few months if a concerted organized effort amongst the utility companies could get the grid back online even a few blocks at a time. The type of event that some radio announcers might say after a major disastrous event, don’t worry, the power will only be out for X many months in certain areas of the country until the problems were isolated or fixed.
Some more skeptical or informed scientists and engineering experts were saying perhaps the power would be out at most a year until efforts to restore it were successful on an attack of this magnitude. Of course one significant tangible thing to consider strongly and also, it is one strategy or theory that for some reason strangely no one in authority was talking about publicly, was that as the electrical power distribution stations are repaired, or as they were being repaired, these were the same facilities that can also be hit and attacked, time and time again with either cyber-attack or physical destruction. The choice of keeping the grid down just depended on, but was not limited to, how the original power disruptive attack was done the first go round by whoever had the ax to grind and said lights out America.
“I can’t believe this government was actually being foolish enough to think that the impacted and darkened cities could try to survive an entire year without power. Really? No freaking way anyone is that stupid. There have been plenty of their own studies performed and by all kinds of Federal agencies as to expected causalities and costs occurring after an EMP attack takes out the grid for example. That type of a dark world scenario is basically the end of our modern civilization as we know it and according to most scientific predictions and assumptions a staggeringly enormous number of the population will have died in the first six months from starvation, dehydration and violence. As well as one must stop and strongly consider the devastation and aftermath from the unstoppable fires generated from societal unrest and ignorance. These types of things will force a bug out on you. Look at how much of LA burned from the riots and that was when electricity, water, communications, National Guard, Police and Firemen were on duty to handle one segment of one big city acting the fool.
I think the estimate in the government sponsored studies for the United States casualties was something like 300 million dead or 90% of the population dead within a year if a EMP strike took out the power grid.. Put a fork in it folks, we are done and our butts are baked!” David though morosely. He knew that the turmoil and chaos of a long term grid down situation could not be contained and would be spilling over this country like a plague of flaming locusts.”
A 119-square-kilometer (46-square-mile) swath of Los Angeles was transformed into a combat zone for 6 days in one riot called the Watts riot in 1965. Times have changed and so has weaponry and attitudes. The government is going to have to be everywhere showing they are doing something about the cause of this disaster and will pick out a focus to scapegoat on at first before the food riots start. People are angry, they want revenge, better to direct this energy towards some other enemy than the racial, rich or anti government grievieances that will get expressed with fire and destruction. A distraction or a real need response will be used by the President to try to call the nation unsuccessfully together to fight a common cause. Problem is everyone’s common cause is to live for themselves another day.
“I wonder just what in the hell the government has in its devious little mind as to what it is going to do for, or to the general populace? Well they are going to first fill up the detention camps and prisons most assuredly and I bet they start with the various foreign terrorist cell member watch lists DHS has somewhere. Those are long subjective lists filled with religious radicals, terrorist wanna be`s, subversives etc. Probably that list will include a whole lot of south of the border illegal immigrant folks who will be trying to come in to this country now in droves because that now, even our lax but somewhat effective hi-tech security is down. No grid power to run surveillance cameras and sensors on the border, greatly reduced border guards, fuel shortages, armed drug cartels, oh yea we will have all kinds of unwanted visitors aplenty. Hurray, now it’s easier than ever to get into the U.S.A, gringos are such dumb asses.
Mixed in with all the would be poor but descent hard working immigrants taking advantage of the situation will be disaster refugees seeking to leave their countries who are also without power etc. and the terrorist like or state sponsored foreign military special forces who somehow manage to get through the borders everyday anyway and they are not coming as tourists anymore. There will be a whole fresh new shit load of assorted terrorist cells moving up their troops from their bases in South America to create more mischief and a actual militaristic invasion of the U.S. of sorts which is not out of the question A few hundred dedicated soldiers or terrorists could easily keep us tied in knots as they blew power stations, upset shipping etc.
Damn right those savage people need rounding up first and detained somewhere in a concentration camp like sized affairs. As far as David was concerned, hell they need to just be shot while crossing the border and he wasn’t adverse to summarily declared executions if found to be foreign agents in a round up. This was a touchy subject with him, As far as he was concerned as a former soldier, a soldier was a soldier and deserved the rights and privileges of the Geneva Convention. But he had no problem throwing out the rule book when dealing with the festering politically and religiously radically influenced insurgents that might come to our shores.
David thought that regular Mr. or Mrs. John Q citizen shouldn’t worry too much about some of the more oddball internet conspiracy theories on FEMA camp reserving a place for them should the whack jobs in Washington somehow feel threatened about preppers or patriots right now. The government was going to be entirely too busy and have their hands full dealing with real active threats and challenges to care if they been complaining on face book too much or about which citizens was ever on the DHS list for expressing patriotic sentiments that somehow the justice department found to be subversive .Hell us good old boys and Constitution wavers are now the first line of defense and they can worry about us taking our country back later.
David thought disgustedly that the terms the media bandied about causally labeling folks like him or those following a lifestyle of self reliance as being some kind of a nut job right or left wing prepper, homesteader or survivalist, you name it was treasonous to our history as a nation. Did they think our fore fathers never prepped or what? The label or name they wanted to put on you these days usually depended on what kind of firepower, guns and such you might have personally on hand and what they thought this subjective term might imply to their political aspirations or sensationalism.
Well no one would probably label him or call him an excessive armament stocking doomsday prepper or some kind of bunker conspiracy fearing commando survivalist. He believed in the common core Minute Man theory our leaders should have learned in elementary school regarding his guns but he just had what he considered basics.
However, you could also easily say about him that he had more than a sufficient range of firearms and ammo to deter most folks from trying to take his stuff and encourage their thinking that he was far from an easy target or mark to be strong-armed or robbed should someone get such an ill advised strangely misbegotten notion... Couple shotguns, some pistols, a few rifles, more than some folks, less than others, nothing special.
Whatever the label someone used to describe those survival oriented folks like him who were trying to become more self-
reliant while becoming less reliant on big government was redundant. The common thread about it all concerning the survival movement and self reliance community was that things are going to hell, we see it for ourselves everyday in the news and feel that you should and can take measures and steps to defend and provide for yourself and your family.
It didn’t matter what you wanted to call David, to him it was enough to know he just tried to live a lifestyle that mattered. He was a survivor, someone who believed in the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared.” and he dang sure planned on keeping it that way. He knew deep in his soul that the societal glue that held everything together was dissolving faster than he might be realizing and if he was taking unnecessary precautions to deter someone at this stage of the game, well then you could bet your sweet bippie he didn’t give a damn. It was open carry season in his neck of the woods now.
Practicing his battle drills in anticipation for what threats or risks he knew would come later in his direction as this apocalypse progressed didn’t seem to him to far fetched either..
Tactics or drills he envisioned and had rehearsed from his old Army days might just become necessary soon enough as cities burned and people migrated. There were oh so many half remembered or tried to be forgotten memories of mayhem and battles that needed to be practiced and planned for by him, He had an edge and some practical experience if such extraordinary measures were required to hang on to his homestead should it be challenged and he didn’t plan on making any forgetful or newbie mistakes.
A loaded semi auto black AR 15 rifle with an adjustable stock and his old green canvas H pattern harness military web gear sat next to his boogy bag in back of a black futon not far from him. The field gear was positioned somewhat out of sight should the need for him to decide to go full military battle rattle. He looked over at its familiar comfortable presence of the web gear to once again reassure himself that it was handy and that the straps and rigging remained untangled for quick donning should the need to put on his rig in a hurry occur.
“That is if, the big if”, David considered. This wildly obscure depending on his luck big “If”, was something that might be his opportunity to flee should he somehow be lucky enough to be forewarned, or “if” he possibly saw a large group of folks approaching his place, then he hoped he might, just might mind you, have enough time to get the hell out the backdoor of the house unnoticed and deal with the threat from his now hopeful unscathed and miraculous escape to the wood line.
David could decide if he made it to a safe position with a survival pack and his battle rifle if it made more sense to take flight or fight from there. Running away from indefensible odds or escaping to fight another day was not cowardice but hard earned wisdom and survival. He could always bring the fight back under his own guerilla warfare rules another day if it made sense. Live to fight another day, haul ass, avoid confrontations when you can and let folks know the devil might follow them back home if they knocked at his door with hate or theft in their hearts.
“After all, the ants should be ready when the starving grasshoppers start running around in the woods or vice` versa.” David mused grimly with a wicked smile. He knew you had to prepare for the fact that true aggressors are not going to use the normal way to your house, knock on your door or unlatch your gate hollering to come in etc. If they were intent on robbing you, you were going to get robbed, but folks just looking for a soft or unguarded target of opportunity were a different matter. So were folks with murder already in their hearts who were most likely on the prowl taking by force already. That’s why countries have different uniforms, so enemies recognize each other and shoot on sight remains an option. Thing is, whose uniform you going to shoot at and why now?
David wasn’t ignorant of the messy facts facing him or even considering deluding himself in anyway that he or his girlfriend could do anything much more than maybe performing a heroic vain attempt at temporarily holding off a determined enemy. If people wanted something from you, eventually they can get that from you, your food, house, wife, it does not matter what. You are not omnipotent or ever awake and ready; it’s as simple as that.
Only chance for him and Julie in the unlikely, but still very possible event of being directly targeted was that the imagined adversaries did not notice his escape. He also considered Psychological warfare. If there was an opportunity that he could convince others that they might think he had enough men or firepower to protect his goods from loss they might decide whatever it is they wanted from the house was going to cost too dearly and avoid him and his house.
“Now then, back to this stupid stagnant reality I am trying to sort out. At this very moment I am looking good.” David said to himself while admiring his gaunt but wicked looking form in the mirror.
“Yea, handsome indeed.” David kidded with himself comically posing with a shotgun and six shooter like some Wild West photo shoot.
“If I spied someone coming in the gate and it was just a neighbor that was looking for another hand out coming to see me, this .357 mag hogleg style pistol on my belt and this 12 gauge pump shotgun I would be holding should more than suffice to get my point across that this” mothers “cupboard was bare and guarded by some redneck cowboy shooter in a unfriendly mood about the notion of giving up any of his vittles.” David mused admiring himself in the mirror once more while making mock threating faces.
“Hopefully who ever it might come visiting unannounced desperations would not out shine their realization that it might be very unhealthy to hang around and not take his firm no way José for an answer.” David thought while considering where he was going to conceal his extra 9mm backup pistol on his body.
“Hey, extra knife too, he surmised checking that he could easily get to some kind of a weapon with his left or right hand in an instant.
“Humm, how about that brace of OSS Phillips head looking knives he had pit back from his crazier times thinking about this day? No that was frivolous and unnecessary. He had what he needed weapon wise and if it wasn’t sufficient he would be dead anyway.” David thought why was it that no one was considering that just plain dying of old age was no longer an option and that helping each other in mutual kindness to hopefully not meet too much of a untimely or very painful death was much more important than dreaming up things to die over? Of course if a lot of people just remembered the fact that survival skills are not just for war, they’re needed in our daily lives as well, then we might all get through this.
.
That it was a well known fact by some that David had military grade weapons around and readily available to him was a pretty much known or a guessed fact by most folks in his small rural community.
The residents of this backwater were also precariously somewhat aware or had been forewarned about his alleged prowess and marksmanship in using said firearms tactically and effectively. For him to have pondered on his small arsenal of guns and having chosen as his daily carry for today an old western style six shooter and a 12 gauge pump shotgun also spoke volumes about his shoot them if I need to mindset.
Nothing like having a shotgun in close quarters battle. David also stood a pretty good chance at shooting a deer at 50 yards or so with the flat trajectory of his potent .357 magnum pistol. He could at one time back in the day, he thought whimsically also place an accurate lightening quick follow-up shot with the single action pistol if needed. He wasn’t really to sure how much of his previous prowess and accuracy he retained with it though, because he hadn’t fired that particular weapon in years. However he was comfortable with it and hoped his muscle memory and brain sighting of it remained.
David loved the old simple six shooter pistol and had learned and practiced several western trick marksman shots with it over time, but that had been with a younger mans eyes and a much longer time ago than he cared to think about. A lot of water had passed under his bridge and time and age had sneakily caught up with him as the years faded and he mellowed.
David had been prickly as hell though l
ately, hinting about or directly telling the few folks he had seen around that his “well was running dry” regarding any food supplies and that his “well bucket” had had itself a big hole in it for weeks in regards to leaking out any more morsels of food to the needy non preppers looking to him for a hand out.
Oh, give him a little credit now. He had given away some basic foodstuffs away like a few pounds of rice and beans to assuage his conscience and other folks hunger and he use some goods to try to gain some time and allegiance with one set of not so savory neighbors, but he had judged this little bit of foodstuff loss as a necessary evil and not a total loss entirely.
The old late seventies in age couple across from his property had taken in the grandkid and his girlfriend a year ago and the boy had walked over about a week and half ago to ask David would he mind helping dig a grave for his grandmother that had just passed. She had been on a cord plug in oxygen generator and had bless her old heart, expired within a day of switching to bottled emergency oxygen. This tragic event had happened not to long after the grid was shut down and was a surprise to David just because he had not considered her fate or plight until then. Too many things affecting his own life and others made him remiss in his considerations of some neighbors he rarely saw.