Premonitions (Book 1): The Farm

by Anderson, Diana E.

  Bill looked at Frank and exclaimed, “Frank, what a great idea! I wish I thought of wearing my body cam today! I have it with me, and from now on, I’ll wear it when we do these patrols.” Frank nodded, and told us that he was concerned about these four, and we needed to watch the security cams pretty closely in case they came back. He said he knew they were up to no good, and he did not trust them at all.

  Bill added that none of the ladies needed to be out here without a couple of the men with them, as James Dudley has a history of arrest for assault on a female, among other charges. Great, I thought, as if we didn’t have enough to worry about, we had to worry about these guys now, too.

  We fixed the fence again, made sure the security cameras were still aimed at the area, and then headed back to the barn. We put the horses up after putting the tack away. As usual, Sarah was right there to brush all of the horses down and give them water and treats. Frank and Bill headed back to Frank’s RV to set up the laptop and print off the pictures from his body cam. I decided to go check the outbuildings to see what I could find to reinforce the fence in that area. Chuck offered to come with me, and we went to what I called the junk shed. This is a shed where Grandpa put everything he couldn’t find a place for. There were all kinds of boxes and bins. One of the first things Chuck found was a box of rusty old ten penny nails. I was not sure why he thought that was a great find, until he explained that these nails were three inches long, and if you take these nails and drive them though an old board, you could then place the board on the ground with the nails sticking up. Cover the board with leaves and you now have a trap that will hurt anyone trying to access the property. I thought that was gruesome, but would be pretty effective. I found the next treasure – a bag of rat traps. I remembered a military class on perimeter security that I sat through years ago that used rat traps and shotgun primers or percussion caps hooked up to trip lines to create booby traps. We also found a number of pieces of odd-sized old rebar. Could we reinforce the fence with this? Maybe not. Could we make punji stakes out of these? I shook my head. Punji stakes and exploding traps? Is that what it had come to? I was supposed to be a healer, and it shocked me to think we needed to resort to booby traps to stay safe.

  There was not a lot else that inspired us at the moment in that shed, so we gathered up our supplies and headed to the workroom. We ran into Bill and told him what we found. He was excited, and said he would be happy to help us. We got busy finding old boards lying around and used almost all of the ten penny nails making our traps.

  That evening we shared the day’s excitement with the rest of the group. Bill and Frank said that everyone needed to be armed at all times, and anyone who was not comfortable with that or who did not have a weapon needed to see one of them as soon as possible so they could arrange whatever training was needed or find a weapon for them. They also suggested that we try to stay pretty close to the homestead area of the farm and avoid distant fields and pastures for now. They both felt strongly that Dudley and the others would be back and were not coming to call on us for tea. The security patrols would be beefing up patrols in that area. Everyone was pretty upset at the thought of these trespassers, but also felt confident that our security team would protect us.

  It was time to watch the news, and today almost everyone stayed to watch. The news started off talking about Greece’s financial collapse after refusing to pay back loans. Not too surprising, France, Portugal, and Belgium also announced they would not be paying back any loans. The next story was about the US President giving the United Nations notice that they had fifteen days to vacate the UN building in New York and to remove all UN staff who were not US citizens from this country. Of course, that got all of the liberals who were in favor of a global government into a tizzy, and a loud argument ensured among the panelists brought on to discuss the move. The next story told how the stock market opened this morning, but closed for the day after a 28% drop in the first two hours of trading. Again, foreign investor anxiety was blamed.

  Suddenly, the breaking news banner came across the screen. A different newscaster appeared and announced that one of the largest refineries in the Gulf was just attacked by “unknown parties” – can’t they just say terrorists? The refinery was destroyed, and there were massive fires throughout the area. The news said there were tremendous casualties, and they could not even begin to estimate how many people were hurt or killed. They also could not or would not say who was responsible for the attack. They promised more news as it became available. The local news had less than five minutes coverage of the violence in town. I was sad when a picture of Dr. Nolan flashed on the screen to announce his passing. The mayor made a brief impassioned plea for the city to calm down and stay safe, and then coverage went back to the Texas refinery. As we watched, reports came in of attacks at five other refineries, and other attacks on oil rigs in the gulf. More death, more destruction. We watched the news from Texas for a few minutes, and then turned off the news and went to bed. I believe the world as we knew it had just changed forever.

  Chapter 11

  I was up at five on Friday morning after a night full of nightmares. I wanted to think the terrorist attacks last night were dreams, too, but I knew they were not. Thank God all of my friends and family were here and – at least for the moment – safe. I wondered what the day would bring, and knew we were getting close to the point where we sealed off the farm from the outside as best we could. I figured I was done sleeping for the night, so I quietly dressed and slipped downstairs. Fifteen minutes later I had a cup of tea and was sitting in my office with my laptop checking on the news. There was another terrorist attack during the night – an explosive device went off at a hotel in Los Angeles, killing at least fifteen people and wounding close to two hundred more. As if our failing economy was not enough, somebody wanted to send us completely over the edge! I closed the page with the news and opened my favorite prepper forum to see what my online friends knew and were willing to share. I avoided the posts about the terrorists, and instead went to the ones that told what was happening in various places throughout the country. I was surprised there were not more posts, but then I realized a number of people had probably already headed to bug-out locations and didn’t really have time (or internet access) to be posting on a forum. The folks who did post told of conditions similar to what I found in Riverdale: lots of violence, banks closed, grocery stores with higher prices and fewer products, and impossibly expensive gas. Quite a few of them were pretty sure the internet was going to go down soon and were sharing ham radio call signs. I jotted down as many of them as I could. I would give these to Father Dan later to see if we could connect with anyone. Not that we can do anything much for each other, but it would be a good way of getting information about other parts of the country, not to mention a morale booster to know our friends were still out there somewhere. I posted our call sign (really Father Dan’s call sign), wished everyone luck and safety, and signed off.

  I could hear the wind picking up outside. I opened the drapes on the bay window and saw it had been raining. That means we would be doing a lot of indoor activities today, but it also means we were more vulnerable from trespassers. We needed to start around the clock watches today – I did not want Dudley or any of his despicable friends to try getting inside our fences. I turned from the window in time to see Tom coming into the office with his coffee.

  “Were you having trouble sleeping, too?” I asked.

  “Yeah, between the rain, the nightmares, and just plain worry, I doubt I slept more than half an hour at a time. I figured I’d come down and check on the monitor station. Jeremiah is monitoring the cameras and is doing a really good job. I was worried the kids would fall asleep, but he has his brother and Sarah Flinn keeping him company, and the three are paying very close attention to the monitors.” I felt bad – I should have gone down and checked on them sooner. To be honest, though, with everything else, I forgot they were down there.

  “I think today is going t
o be an indoor work day except for the security team. I have a list of things we need to get done today. We need to finish moving those metal cabinets into the infirmary. Doc and Samantha have several cases of medications they need to unpack and put up in the cabinets. I believe they are also starting to schedule physicals for everyone. Marty and Jose are finishing the conex shelving – Judy needed some additional shelves for storing clothing totes. Chuck mentioned something about stringing some shotgun booby traps – do I even want to know what he is talking about?” I explained to Tom about the things we found in the junk shed, including the big bag of rat traps.

  “We can build booby traps that use the bale of the trap to set off a shotgun primer or percussion cap when activated by the trip wire. It sounds like a shot being fired and will do two things – alert us to trespassers and scare the daylights out of the ones who set off the trap. We’ve got everything we need to make at least 30 or so traps.”

  “That is a great idea. We just need to be sure everyone knows where those traps are so nobody sets them off by accident! Maybe we could have a map somewhere so everyone can see where the traps are placed and avoid that area.” I told Tom I thought that was a good idea. We just needed to be sure the map wasn’t put anywhere that the bad guys could see it.

  “Janet and Judy said they still have some inventorying to do in the basement, but they are getting close to finished with that. Anything else?”

  “Yes, Stacy told me last night that Chris is bringing over a couple of totes that have clean clothing needed mending, and Stacy will be sitting on the couch monitoring the TV and doing mending. Gabby mentioned baking bread today, and Jon and Chris will be helping the security team set up some observation posts.”

  “Well, it sounds like another busy day in paradise, then. Was there any news this morning about last night’s terrorism?” I told him what I saw online this morning, and also about the postings in my forum. Tom asked me which forum, and when I told him, he started laughing. I asked him what was so funny, and he told me he is on that forum, too. He told me his screen name, and I started to laugh, too. We were on-line friends in the forum, but OPSEC (operational security) kept us from giving out anything about ourselves other than generalities, so we never knew who the other was or where they lived – until now! I wonder how many other folks in that forum were also real-life friends and did not know it.

  Just then, we heard the kitchen door open. It was Maria and Maureen, here to help Janet start breakfast. They had barely gotten their raincoats and umbrellas put away in the mudroom before Janet was coming down the stairs to start cooking. She waved at Maria and Maureen, and came over to Tom and me.

  “Good morning! You guys are up awfully early! Is anything going on?”

  “Nah, neither one of us could sleep, and so we’ve been planning out some of the things we need to get done.” Tom answered.

  “Well, I hate to add to that list, but we do have a small issue. As each person here cleaned out their freezers at home and brought food here, there was not enough space in the freezers downstairs for all of it. I have at least six coolers of frozen meats and three of frozen veggies on the back porch that we will have to do something with today before they are completely thawed. I think we ought to can it all so we don’t lose anything, and that also helps us keep from needing to find additional freezer space. I’d like as many folks as possible to help. I think this will be a great chance for anyone who does not know how to can to come learn. In the long run, having the extra meats and veggies canned now will be a blessing if the power does fail.”

  “Janet, that is a great idea! I have a couple of Easy-Up picnic shelters we can set up on the back porch for now. That way, you can work out there, the shelters will keep you dry, and you won’t die of heat in the kitchen. Will that work?”

  “That would be perfect! It gets pretty hot standing over the canners, so that would be a great solution. Can you get us the Easy Ups after breakfast is done?”

  “I’d be glad to! Let me know when you are ready.”

  I smelled something really good coming from the kitchen and followed my nose. Maria had a couple of trays of cinnamon rolls going into the oven. “How did you make them so fast?” I asked.

  Maria grinned. “I made them last night and let them slow rise in the refrigerator. They should be ready in about a half an hour or so. We’re also making scrambled egg burritos with some ham and cheese. Since it is rainy and wet, we didn’t think everyone needed as big and heavy a breakfast today, but thought some comfort food would be better.” The heck with breakfast, I thought to myself. I just want one of those cinnamon rolls. If they taste half as good as they smell, I’ll be happy!

  Over the next half hour or so, people began arriving from the rest of the house and the RVs. When Father Dan came in, I hurried over to him and gave him the sheet listing the call signs for my forum friends. I told him that those folks knew me as PrepperRN, and asked him if he could try getting in touch with those folks as soon as he could, just to ensure we had a connection in case anything else happened. He looked at the list and pointed to one call sign.

  “This guy goes by the screen name of Guardian. I’ve already been talking to him on and off for a couple of weeks. He is a rancher and lives in Montana, I believe. I’ll make notes of the ones I can reach and let you know at dinner tonight.”

  “Thanks so much. They are good people, and I’m glad we have another way to stay in touch with them. Just don’t give anyone too much information. I don’t know who else might be listening, and I don’t want to give away the fact that we have “stuff” here.”

  “Oh, I understand, and don’t worry, I won’t give us away. I know a little bit about OPSEC!” I thanked him, and then was off to the kitchen to see if I could help – or at least snag a cinnamon roll!

  After breakfast everyone split up to go about their different tasks. I helped clean the kitchen and do the breakfast dishes. I also reminded people that today would be a good day to do laundry, as we still had power to run the dryer. I then ran out to the garage to get the three Easy Ups from the camping gear stored there. Janet took them from me and told me that she had plenty of volunteers, and I should go find something else to do.

  I saw the security team headed to the barn, and I followed them out. Only four of them were going to do the patrols today, and another four would take over tonight. Since Bill would be on the evening patrol, Chuck and I grabbed him, and the three of us went out to the workshop to make some booby traps.

  The traps were not hard to make, just time consuming. We decided to make the traps with shotgun primers, but to not put the primers on until we were ready to set the traps to prevent them from accidentally being fired. First we marked the traps along the area where the bale hits the base when the trap is sprung. Then we put in two small nails or brads on the line where the bale hits. Next we attached fishing line to the trigger. Once the alarm was set and the fishing line was tied off, we put a primer on top of each nail. When the bad guy walks into the line, the line pulls on the trigger and makes the bale snap forward, hitting the primer on the nail. That makes the primer go boom! If the trap is attached to a tree or post, it can be reset later and used again. We made one first as a test, and when we set it off, in addition to scaring a bunch of people, it also split the wood on the base of the trap. So, back to the drawing board. We decided to use some scraps of ¼” plywood and glued the trap to the plywood. Then, when we put the nails through the trap, they went though the plywood, too. We tried it again, and this time we got the boom without cracking the trap! We were in business! It did not take long for us to put together 34 traps. All we needed to do was set them and add the primers. We were using Winchester 209 primers, and they are supposed to be weather-proof. I guess we’ll find out! The only problem I saw was the primers were a little loose, and I worried about them falling off. I tried putting a piece of scotch tape over the primers, and it worked! So we went back and put primers on all of the traps and covered the primers with tape
. Now we were ready for the security team to take the traps out and set them.

  We looked at the rebar and decided that as a last resort, we could use them as punji stakes, but not unless we started really having problems. Once we had all of the traps made, we sat around talking about other things we could do if we did have to repel invaders. I knew I had a lot of tannerite around from target shooting and suggested we could use some to make home-made claymore-type mines. I also suggested we might be able to make home-made napalm using gasoline and dish detergent. You would think that someone who spent her life as a nurse, trying to bring health and comfort, would be ignorant about some things. Here I am about to be a grandma and instead of home-made cookies, I am talking about home-made claymores! We decided that we would look around the farm to see if we had everything we would need to make claymores and would just gather the supplies. We would worry about actually making them if we felt like we were in danger. At least we would have everything we needed (we hoped) in one place.

  We had been making traps for a couple of hours, so I decided to head back to the house to see how the canning marathon went. I found the girls just finishing putting everything away. The amount of meat they canned was really impressive! Beef, chicken, pork, venison, lamb, sausage, and even fish all got canned. There must have been 50 or 60 filled quart jars sitting on the counter cooling off. There were another 40 or 50 jars of vegetables already cooled and labeled, waiting to be put away in the basement after Judy logged them into the inventory. That ought to help keep us all fed for a while! Janet said that having so many canners made it much faster work than if they only had one or two. She also said that working under the canopies on the deck was a lot more comfortable than trying to do it all in the kitchen.