by Pete Thorsen
The rocks could be moved enough to get through with only a bit of work but it would certainly stop most people. When they left they tied a bunch of brush behind the truck to wipe out their tracks all the way home. They were now officially sealed in for the duration.
Chapter Fifteen
Finally the Army was here! Jason had lost some of his fear of looking out the window just because there was absolutely nothing else to do. So he sat and looked out the window about every waking moment. He saw the Army guys come through his street and it looked to him like they were shooting every single person that they saw. This seemed a little extreme to Jason but he guessed they were in a hurry to clean things up.
The next day the Army came with trucks besides all the fighting vehicles. They had a very loud loudspeaker and it said “All citizens come down and stand on the edge of the street at this time. Do not bring any possessions of any kind except for your ID card. Move now and come down to stand quietly at the edge of the street. Do not bring anything with you except for just your ID card. Bring nothing with you just put your ID card in your pocket or in your hand nothing else. Come down now.”
Jason was ready to be saved and he put on his shoes and shoved all the furniture away from the door so he could get out and go to the street. He was far from the first but was not the last either. He stood tall and waiting in a line with the other people that were showing up. It was very loud down on the street with them repeating the summons again and again.
Finally it looked like no one else was coming down. Everyone waited and after a few more minutes then Jason saw squads of troops were being sent into each building. Still they all waited and they could now hear gun shots off and on coming from the inside of the buildings the troops had entered. Eventually the troops all returned and reported in to one of the Humvees.
Then some troops could be seen going up and down the line of people waiting in the street. Some people had brought suitcases, backpacks, or purses. Those people were all struck by the troopers and the items were thrown back toward the buildings. Some people tried to talk to the troopers and they were struck also.
Two guys jumped on and started beating the troopers but those guys were pulled off and shot on the spot. Jason was shaking he was so scared but he waited quietly. After the troops had made two passes along the line of those waiting the loudspeaker started up again.
“Citizens, at this time you will be directed to get into the back of these trucks. Stand where you are quietly and wait until you are directed individually to one of the trucks. Only at that time will you move and you will walk directly to your assigned truck and get into the back where you will sit quietly.
You will be taken to a temporary Security Center where you will be processed and shown where you will be staying temporarily. You will be fed and there will be water for you to drink. Wait quietly until you are directed to a particular truck and do not move until you are directed to do so.”
Troopers again started going up the line of people and some troopers were standing at the back of each of the trucks. People were sent to certain trucks until the troops stationed at the trucks shook their heads then people were sent to the next truck.
Jason waited his turn and then tried to walk to the truck without shaking to bad and got into the back and was crammed in with way too many people for what the truck should hold with many in the truck crying. There was literally standing room only in the trucks and it was impossible to fall down if you feinted. It seemed like forever but finally the trucks were started and began to move. Some time later the trucks stopped and then the back was opened and those in Jason’s truck were allowed to get out.
Jason did not know exactly where they were but they were parked next to a large building and Jason could see they were being lined up single file to enter a door in the building. The line was moving very, very slowly. There was nothing to do but wait your turn and move slowly forward. When his turn finally came up Jason entered the building and was directed to stand in a certain spot and told to move to the next spot when that person moved on. There was electricity on in the building so they must be using a generator, Jason thought.
At the first spot Jason was searched and his watch was taken and everything he had in his pockets was taken except for his ID card. Jason had watched and the women in line were searched by the male troopers and they made sure to enjoy themselves while searching all the women. One woman had slapped the trooper that was searching her and she was beaten by the trooper until she could not get up. She was then dragged away to where Jason could not see.
The next station he was asked for his ID card which Jason promptly gave the man. The man looked at the picture and at Jason very carefully then filled out some information on a laptop computer. Another man handed the first a card that had been printed by a printer sitting nearby and the first man looked carefully at the information printed on the card to see if it matched what was on his computer then gave the card to Jason and he was sent to the next station as the man threw Jason’s old ID into a trash can.
At the next station Jason gave the card to the man waiting there and the man typed something from the card into an odd looking computer and in a few seconds removed something and placed it into a strange looking thing that maybe vaguely resembled a gun. He was directed to step forward and remove his shirt.
The man then stepped behind him and Jason could feel something cold touch up between his shoulders then he felt a sharp sting and was told he could put his shirt back on. Then the man held up another devise and waved it past Jason’s back. After the man looked at the reading on this devise he told Jason that he could now move to the next station.
This station had several workers at it. Jason could not quite see what they were doing but it looked like they were giving tattoos which seemed very odd. When he was directed to do so Jason went forward and sat in a special chair. The chair had only one arm and he was told to place his arm in the slot on the arm of the chair where it was strapped down securely and tightly with wide Velcro straps.
Then the man took his card and put the card in a clip that held it where he could see it easily next to Jason’s arm. The man then took the tattoo machine and proceeded to tattoo a number on Jason’s wrist. It hurt badly but Jason tried to say nothing and tried not to move. When the man was done he threw away the card into a trash can and directed Jason to move forward.
Jason was directed into another room. There he was told that he could relax and move about the room freely. He was told that in the back corner was a door that led to the toilets that he was free to use and could talk to any others in the room.
Jason walked right to the back door and walking through it he saw it led outside where there were many of the standard blue porta potties in a fenced area. Jason did not hesitate and gratefully used one of the toilets. Jason did not bother talking to any of the other people because he realized they would know nothing about their current situation either. So Jason just waited. His wrist hurt pretty badly and so did his back where he had felt the sting earlier.
Later several troopers came into the room. One of them had a bullhorn which he used to talk to the crowd inside.
“You have now been processed into our system. Look at the number on your wrist and remember that number. Anytime you are addressed it will be by that number. We do not know your name and we don’t want to know your name.
No matter what you did or who you were in the past does not matter now. Here you are all the same. Shortly after I am done giving you instructions you will be led to an area where you will be given food and water. After that you will be led to where you will be sleeping.
From now on you will be working everyday. Everyday you will be brought to different areas of the city and given jobs to do. You will be fed in the morning and in the evening after work. Anyone caught not working will be punished or shot at the discretion of the trooper.
You have all had a tracking and information chip inserted into your back. If you try to escape
while out working we can use that chip to find you. If you try to escape you will be killed slowly. Likely some of you will try to escape and the others here will then get to see what happens to escapees at that time when we bring you back.
If you think you have very valuable information at any time you can relay that information to any trooper. But know that we are very busy and do not wish to be bothered so I would strongly advise that you not to address any trooper unless you are very sure that the information that you possess has real value. If you require information it will be given to you without you asking.
If you always do exactly as you are directed your stay here will be much more pleasant for you.”
True to his word shortly after they were led to an area and told to get into a single line for the evening meal. When he got farther up the line each person was given a cup, a plate, and a plastic spoon. Continuing up the line each person held out their plate and three different people put different food items onto the plate. Then everyone was allowed to fill their cup with what looked like Kool-Aid.
Farther down was a spot they could return to and fill their cup with water as often as they wanted. There was no seating. You could stand and eat or sit on the floor and eat. You obviously had no choice what you had to eat and the portions were meager. But everyone ate every bit of their food that they were given and many went and refilled their cups with water to drink.
After awhile everyone was marched back to the room where they had previously waited. This time each person was handed a blanket on the way into the room and told they could sleep on the floor anywhere. Some sat and leaned up against one of the walls and most just lay down on the floor and either used the blanket as a pad or to cover up with. The blanket was not big enough to do both. When Jason finally lay down he found it to be very uncomfortable. Jason thought he would quite possibly never be comfortable ever again. It was not a good thought.
Chapter Sixteen
Ron was going to give Ann a call at lunch time but he saw that his cell phone had no signal. Ron then tried the land line phone in his office but it had no dial tone. Next he checked the internet and found that it was down and at that point he knew the government had just shut down communications for the masses.
He debated whether he should just go on home for the day but thought that would be jumping-the-gun a little. So he worked through the afternoon with no interruptions and things were normal on the drive home. He did stop and top off the gas tank on the way even though there was a line and he also picked up a pizza for supper.
At both places there were large signs saying ‘cash only’. This was no surprise with both phone and internet down. Ann was home when he got there and she looked quite happy when she saw the pizza. Ann was the first to speak.
“So you think the government shut the phones and internet down?”
“I think that is a pretty obvious yes.”
“What is your guess as to how long it will be down?”
“Honestly my guess is a long time, months at least. Have you watched any news yet since it happened?”
“No not yet. Let’s get some pizza and eat in front of the TV for once. I am anxious to see what they have to say about this. Oh, I also got laid off work today, at least until the phones and net are working again.”
They all loaded their plates with pizza and went in to watch TV which really surprised Hal but when he saw they were just watching the news he went back and ate in the kitchen. Curious what the government would have to say about the loss of phone and internet they turned on the GBS channel. They watched for a half hour and the phones and internet situation were not even mentioned.
“What do they think? That people won’t notice that their phones and internet aren’t working? How can they just ignore it like that?”
“If they say nothing on the ‘national news’ then everyone will think it is just a problem in their local area. It will likely buy them a couple days before they have to say something about it.”
“Let’s see what the local station has to say.”
They switched to the local news channel which was just starting at the top of the hour. The first thing on the news was the loss of phone and internet. But the local channel said they had not found out why they were down or how wide spread the loss was.
They only said nothing was on the ‘national news’ about it so many thought it may just be a local event. They promised to keep trying to get more information and would break in as soon as anything new came in to the news room.
The next morning before he left Ron reminded Ann to wear her pistol at all times at home. By the time he got back to work he had decided to tell them it would be his last day until things got ‘straightened’ out. When he got to work everyone was gathered together and the management said they would be closed starting today and everyone could go back on home.
Before anyone left they were all given a check that equaled about three weeks of pay. Even though most everyone had direct deposit this time everyone received standard checks so they could get the cash from the banks because there was no way to transmit the direct deposits. The management wished everyone good luck and told them they hoped this was just a temporary thing.
Ron got a couple things from his office before leaving and then put his holster on when he got back to his truck (his company had a ‘no weapons’ policy). Next he drove to the bank and waited in line to cash his (likely) last check. When his turn was up he found out that he could only get five hundred dollars in cash and the rest would be credited to his account. With no choice Ron got his cash and the deposit ticket for the rest.
On the way home he stopped at another branch of his bank and was able to get another five hundred out of his account. When this worked he made a loop and stopped at five more bank outlets and got another twenty five hundred that way.
It was the only plus side to having all the phones and internet down. The loop he drove stopping at the banks took him close to Emily and Ike’s house so he stopped on the off chance one of them would be home. Ron was surprised when Emily answered the door. They both looked at each other and at the same time said “Why aren’t you at work?”
“I went in today only to find out they were closing for awhile. They gave everyone a check and when I tried to cash it the bank would only let me have five hundred so I drove to six other branches of the same bank and got five hundred from each because they had no way to communicate with each other. When I noticed I was close to your house I thought I would stop on the off chance one of you might be home.”
“With all the phones and internet down there is nothing to do at my job and they are also now closed. We all got our regular checks also. I wish I would have thought to go to other branches of the bank.”
“For awhile cash will be king because no one can take any credit or debit cards right now. I think even the days of taking cash are numbered. Without any electronic banking the whole United States will shut down. Of course the stores can not take any EBT cards for those on food stamps either so we can expect trouble at the grocery stores.
It won’t take long and they will see no police can show up because no one can call them. When that is discovered the grocery stores will be looted. Then every other store will be looted. I think you and Ike better come to our house very soon. Like today or tomorrow.”
“I never thought about not being able to call the police. Of course we know that there aren’t really any police left anyway. I’ll tell Ike and I think we will stay here tonight and come to your place tomorrow. I’ll start packing right away. I know Ike is going to board up all the lower windows but he has everything cut and ready so that should not take very long.”
“I think you better start packing a gun at all times now even in your own house. Tell Ike he should also. And when he is working outside you should keep watch so no one sneaks up on him. Things are going to get bad very quickly now. I’m going to stop at a grocery store to get one last big load on the way home if I can. I better get goi
ng. Be very careful and get your gun and make sure all the doors are locked now. I’ll see you guys tomorrow then.”
“OK I’ll put my pistol on as soon as I get back inside. See you tomorrow.”
Ron did stop at a grocery store and picked up quite a bunch of groceries to add to their large stockpile on the way home. As he was leaving the store with both him and a store clerk each pushing two loaded carts out there was some kind of ruckus starting at one of the checkouts.
He was leaving just in time. Taking his dad’s advise he also picked up a couple of kid’s small swimming pools to use for added water storage if needed at another store. He would not be back in shopping again for a very long time he thought. He did top off the gas tank on his truck at the station closest to his house this one last time. Ron was happy when he did get home and saw that everything was fine there.
The next morning Ann helped Ron put the heavy wire mesh on all the windows and attach it very securely. The heavy fencing was in one inch by one inch mesh and they fastened it very securely so even when pushing on it would not cause it to come close to touching the glass. Then they went inside and put clear packaging tape in patterns on all the windows. The wire mesh would likely stop any thrown rocks from breaking the windows and the tape would help hold the windows together if someone shot through them.
Ron thought the wire mesh should also prevent the government from shooting tear gas canisters through the windows also. The dirt boxes that they had made and attached to the house would stop most bullets so they could shoot out from the open windows and be safe as soon as they ducked back away from the window. The dirt boxes now that they were painted the same color as the house were very hard to even see and if they were seen they would just look like an architectural element of the house.