“Oh, oh…let’s go have a cup of tea and talk first. I’m tired from all that shopping and would like a chance to rest for a few minutes before I unload. What’s up?” I asked as we went into the house, straight to the kitchen to get the kettle going. Tom frowned as he sat down at the kitchen table.
“I am really worried. After our conversation last weekend, I didn’t sleep a lot, thinking of the things we talked about. I have been having nightmares for the last week or two that something is going to happen, but I don’t know what.”
I was shocked, because I had not told anyone about my own nightmares, just that one feeling of foreboding that I’d mentioned to Tom last week. Yes, the one that still hasn’t gone away and that, combined with last night’s nightmare, led me to spend many hours – and dollars – shopping today. Rock steady, that’s me. Yeah, right.
“Before I tell you what’s bothering me, let me give you a progress report on the construction. Solar is almost done on the house, and they should finish tomorrow. We were able to get more materials than we originally planned, and in addition to barn and workshop, we have plenty of spares. This morning, Jose and Tim used up the last of the cinder block left over from the foundations and built a small well house for you. They’ll do the wiring in the morning so it can also be hooked up to solar. With the solar, hand pump, and now shelter from the weather, you should not have any water issues if the power is out this winter. The propane appliances are all installed in both wings, and your propane refrigerator and Gabby’s commercial fridge are also installed. I put your old electric refrigerator out in the workshop for now. The hardwood flooring is done and the insides of both wings are primed and ready for paint. Tim and Jose will be doing some finish trimming. I expect both areas will be ready for inspection by Monday.” Tom sat back and took a sip of his tea.
“I am amazed! How did you get so much done so quickly?” I was incredibly impressed with how much work had been done in such a short time. Tom smiled, but then his expression became very serious.
“Denise, you’ve known me for a long time. Do you think I am some kind of nut or kook?” I looked at Tom with some confusion.
“You are one of the most stable, level-headed people I know. You are one of the last people I would think of as a kook or nut.”
“I want to make a confession to you, and I don’t want you to think less of me because of it.” I was starting to get worried, wondering what could possibly be going on with my friend to make him think I would think poorly of him.
“What is going on? What’s bothering you?”
“I’ve been really focused on the world situation for a long time. You know that I’ve always been a news junky, but lately, I’ve gotten really worried. We talked a little bit the other night, but I really held back my worries because of your kids and friends being there. I am worried that something is going to happen to our society, sooner rather than later. I’ve been a prepper for years, but I think you’ve probably figured that out about me. I know you prep – I’ve been in your basement! – and because of that, I wanted to see if you had any insight into what I am feeling. I know that with both of us being former military we tend to look at things differently. I really value your opinion. Do you think this premonition I am having is something psychiatric, or do you think it could possibly be real?”
Wow! Tom just said exactly what I’ve been thinking for the last week. “I think you are spot on. I don’t know what is happening, but I sense it too. I know the stocks are climbing to unseen-before levels, but I know that those gains are not sustainable. I expect that with the dollar losing ground against the yen and the Euro, and the Fed threatening to raise interest rates, we will start to see stocks tumbling in the very near future. We keep getting sneaky hints about Kim Jung Un’s activities, but nothing specific. For a supposedly strong economy, the hospital is really struggling, laying people off and having trouble meeting the community’s needs. I know that the sheriff’s office is having to cut back because of Frank telling us about the deputies having their hours cut and a couple of the old-timers being offered early retirement. Other businesses are also showing signs of economic instability. Jon tells me that his store just laid off three part-time salesmen, and he is really worried about his job – which he was not worried about just last week. Gabby is also experiencing cut-backs, and her bakery just did another across-the-board price increase. When I went shopping this morning, the stores were busy, but the shelves were far more empty than I would expect, and that was Costco. Gas is up (again!) another 72 cents since last week. All of this to say, in spite of what the government is telling us, I think our economy is on the rocks and it wouldn’t take much for the whole thing to come crumbling down. All we need is for something to happen to the grid, be it terrorists or Little Rocket Man, and all of our finely balanced pieces of society will collapse. I think we are way closer to that happening than anyone realizes.”
We sat there in silence for a few minutes, both of us deep in our thoughts. Finally, Tom looked at me and asked, “What do you think we should do?” I told him about my shopping trips today, and my earlier trip to the feed store. I shared my nightmare with him, and the fact that my initial feeling of foreboding has never gone away, but rather has intensified over time.
Finally, I took a deep breath and said, “I think we need to put together a plan. I think having a plan we never use is a lot better than needing a plan and not having one. We need to be sure we cover all the big areas. For me, that means shelter, power, water, food, security, and health. I think, though, that we also need to consider numbers- there is strength in numbers and it will be impossible for me to defend the farm with just the boys and their wives.
“Tom, if something were to happen, I would hope that you and my other friends would be willing to join us here. There is plenty of room, and I firmly believe in strength in numbers. Are there any others you would suggest we include in our group? What about Jose and his wife and Tim? Also, your sister Judy would be very welcome.”
“Jose and Maria Contreras would be great additions. Jose is a strong worker, and one of the nicest men I know. Maria is an excellent cook and does sewing on the side for people. Tim McCleary is actually dating my sister right now, and that would work out well. Judy is still the purchasing director for the hardware warehouse in town and is incredibly organized and detail oriented. Tim is also ex-military – Navy – and is an avid hunter and shooter. He is also a fix-it wizard, and would be invaluable keeping things running.”
“I would think all of my friends in my little circle would be interested in joining, with the exception possibly of Samantha. That gives us quite a crowd to be able to handle the Zombie Apocalypse, don’t you think?”
Tom smiled at that, and said, “OK, Project Zombie Apocalypse is on! There is one other person I'd like you to consider bringing in, and that is my friend Daniel. He is single, a retired Catholic priest, and a ham radio nut. I think communication is going to be another important category for us to consider.”
“I don’t know Father Dan very well, but he seems to be a good guy. If you recommend him, I concur. I think we need to add communication as another column, and we probably ought to add transportation as its own column too.” I took another sip of tea as I began to count in my head. If everyone joined, we would have around 30 people. That would also give us a great assortment of skills to cover all of our critical areas.”
Tom reached into his binder and pulled out a note pad. He made eight columns and titled them Shelter, Power, Water, Food, Health, Security, Communication, and Transportation.
“Let’s tackle each column and list all of the things we would need for survival in each column if the economy and/or the grid were to fail. For shelter, you've got the farm, the house and all of the outbuildings. You should have enough resources for warmth from the solar, the propane, and the wood stoves. In the summer, there are ceiling fans to keep the house cool. With fourteen bedrooms plus basement areas, we would probably have enough room t
o put people up, at least temporarily. I think privacy is an important part of shelter. I think we would have to do something to be sure people had enough space to have alone time when they needed it.”
“Ah, fourteen bedrooms, but the boys don’t have furniture for all four bedrooms. Jon and Gabby only have furniture for one bedroom, and Chris and Gabby only have two bedrooms. I know Chris and Gabby were planning one room as a nursery, but I think I need to come up with at least five more beds. I think I may need to check out the furniture store next time I am in town to see if I can at least get mattresses.”
“Well, you could ask people to bring beds over, but that might be hard if they are coming in a hurry.” Tom replied. “I have two guest beds at the house that I never use. One is a queen and one is a regular double. I’ll load them onto the box truck next time I come over. That will be two less you need to get.”
“That would be terrific. If nothing happens, then we’ll get them back to you.”
Tom looked at his list. “Next is power. I think the solar is good, but we probably want to have spare batteries, panels, and inverters. I think we need to be sure the battery room is well-vented. I know you have one diesel generator; how well does it work?”
“Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I fired it up. We probably ought to put checking that generator on the list, as well as getting another one for each of the wings, the barn, and the workshop. While we’re at it, let’s add an enclosure for each generator to keep the noise down, and a dedicated tank of diesel for each one. Also, what supplies do we need for maintaining the generators? Tubing, oil, other things? I have no idea what we need, so we’ll need someone to be the genny expert and make sure we are covered there.”
“Let’s ask Tim about it for now” Tom answered. “He is the closest thing to an electrician we have. Let’s talk about water. We have the well and the pond. Do you have any kind of storage tanks?”
I thought for a minute. “I do have the two tanks for the animals that are windmill powered. There are also a number of creeks here and there on the property, although I can’t say exactly where. I think we need to consider a holding tank for drinking water, since thirty-some people will need a lot of water.”
Tom nodded his agreement. “I have two 500-gallon tanks in my yard that I bought for a project last year and never used. I can get those installed over here, maybe by next week. How are we set for water purification? I have a Big Berkey water filter we can use.”
I told Tom I also have a Big Berkey, but maybe we should add another to the list to be sure each area had one. We also would need to get additional filter refills. I told Tom I also had a case of buckets of pool shock in the basement that could be used instead of liquid bleach for water purification, and there was always boiling.
Food was next on the list. I told Tom that although I have enough stores for twelve to fourteen people for at least a year or two (not counting my purchases today), it would not be nearly enough for the size group we were talking about. We decided to put aside the food list right now and work up what our actual requirements would be. We did have the garden, and there was plenty of room to expand. Thanks to my seed fetish, I probably had enough seeds to grow gardens for at least the next fifteen years. But then, Tom reminded me to add things like garden tools, hoses, fertilizer, bug spray, and other garden chemicals to the list. He also suggested we get the makings of several greenhouses to use to extend growing seasons. Manual tillers, plows and other non-electric garden tools would also be needed. If we had a good garden, we would need a bigger root cellar to store all of the produce. We’d also need many more canning jars and lids. I have a big pressure canner and several water-bath canners, but for the size of our crowd, I thought we ought to get a couple more canners. Tom remarked he also had a big pressure canner and a water bath canner.
“Well, the next column should be right up your alley! What do we need for health?”
“Let’s break up health into sanitation, first aid/medical care, veterinary care, and health promotion. For sanitation, we need to consider latrines – we have a lot of bathrooms, and a pretty big septic system to handle all of them, but will it handle the additional load from all the extra people? We may need to consider building an outdoor latrine near the sheds out back. With sanitation, we need to think about hand washing. We will need plenty of sanitizers and soap. We’ll also need to stock up on toilet paper. I’ve got about two years worth right now, but I’m thinking that is nowhere near enough! We also need to think about feminine products since we’ll have a bunch of young women in the group. Toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, mouthwash, razors, body soap, laundry detergent, dish detergent, bleach, household cleaners, stuff for the septic systems, washcloths and towels, shower facilities, bathing facilities, baby wipes, diapers...” I stopped to take a breath. “And that’s just to stay clean. To stay healthy, we’ll need vitamin supplements, over-the-counter and prescription medications, first-aid supplies, trauma supplies, surgical equipment, obstetric equipment, pediatric medications as well as adult, and enough of everyone’s personal prescriptions. We’ll need dental repair kits, eyeglass repair kits, spare glasses, and lots of sanitizer. We’ll need alcohol, peroxide, betadine, surgical scrub brushes, gloves, tapes, suture materials, and IV fluids. Oxygen concentrators that can run off solar would also be good to have. And for all the human supplies we need, we’ll also have to have supplies for the animals. I’m hoping Clark can help us there. We probably need to set up a room somewhere that can be a medical area for humans, and another area for the animals.”
Tom nodded as he took notes on his pad. He pointed to the next column. “Security is next. We are going to need to be sure everyone that winds up here is able to take turns providing security. That means making sure everyone is armed and comfortable shooting.”
I cut in and said, “I am not sure what everyone has in the way of guns. I know Lisa and Chuck probably have enough to open a store! We’ll need to see what everyone has, and also what kind of ammunition stocks everyone has. I know I probably have at least two or three thousand rounds for each caliber I own, and close to ten thousand 9 millimeter for my carbine and my carry handgun.”
Tom continued, “Yes, I probably have at least that much, plus I reload, and I have all kinds of reloading supplies. While we’re still on security, we probably need to reinforce fences, and more than likely add some additional barbed wire fencing to keep people out. Let’s put security on hold until we can talk to Frank or Bill. I think they can give us some good ideas. Communication – we’ll need to talk to Dan and see what he recommends we have here. Do you have a HAM radio by any chance?”
I shook my head no. I always wanted to get involved in HAM radio, but just never seemed to have the time. I did have a couple of sets of walkie-talkies, though, that I kept in a metal box in my storage area.
“Transportation is the last category. Is your Jeep gas or diesel?”
“It’s gas. I also have three ATVs out behind the barn that are also gas, plus two older snowmobiles. I’m not sure if the snowmobiles still work, though. Next to the barn, I have a buried gasoline storage tank. It’s just about full, since I’ve not used it since it was filled back in August. And yes, it has stabilizer in it. I also have a 200-gallon diesel tank for the tractors. It’s also full and also has stabilizer. Oh, and don’t forget the four horses. I ride all four, although Ranger is my favorite. Patches and Squeaky are trained to pull Grandpa’s old hay wagon. Tara is getting old, though. I don’t use her for anything too heavy, but she is still okay for easy riding.”
“It sounds like you are covered pretty good for transportation. I also have an ATV, and my pick up and my old box truck are both diesel. I have a spare gas tank at home that I use for tools like my generator, but it doesn’t have a lot of gas in it right now.”
I felt a little bit better that we now had started a plan. We had a lot to do in order to make sure we were completely covered in all of those eight categories as well as anything else
we thought about. I looked out the window and saw with surprise it was starting to get dark. I suggested to Tom that we work on the lists more tomorrow and see if we could get everyone together in the next day or two for a meeting. Tom agreed, and we went outside to unload my crammed trailer and Jeep. By the time we were done, it was after seven. I made us some soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Tom left shortly after, and as soon as he was gone, I headed for bed with my head swimming with information.
Chapter 4
I woke up Thursday morning with a sense of purpose. After my morning chores were done, I got online and started ordering some of the supplies we had discussed the day before. First were the Big Berkey filters and three more Big Berkeys. I figured if we had one for each kitchen, one for the barn, and then a spare, we would probably be okay. Next, I placed an order for more canners. Amazon promised me I would have all four pressure canners and three water canners by Saturday. As long as I was ordering canners, I decided to order extra lids, rings, and canning supplies like the pickling salt, citric acid, pectin, and other supplies like funnels and jar lifters. I didn't want to buy jars online because of risk of breakage, so I planned to go to town later today for those, among other things.
Around 10:00, the phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered it anyway. Janet was on the phone in tears because Marty was just laid off from his construction crew, and she was in a state of panic. I asked her if she and Marty and the boys could come to the farm around six o’clock tonight. I told her we would have a cookout, but that I was inviting the rest of the group as well as some other friends to talk about the economic issues going on and some things we could do. Janet agreed, but only if she could come early and help set up. I told her to come on over any time. It suddenly dawned on me that it was a Thursday, and Janet should have been at work. I asked her why she was at home, and she started crying again. “That’s the other bad thing that happened today. I had my hours cut. I’m only going to be working three eight-hour shifts a week instead of five. Lisa got cut back to four shifts a week. I’m not sure what is happening in your department, but I saw Sally, the new obstetrics educator leaving today, and she was crying, too.”
Premonitions (Book 1): The Farm Page 5