by Pete Thorsen
Even though at this point there was plenty in the large storage tanks just waiting to be delivered. And when people get crazy they often riot so that’s what they did. There were riots in every large city which the police tried to disperse with tear gas. In many places this only made the rioters mad and then it got ugly. The next night it would get even worse and by the time a week had passed the police were totally ineffective at controlling the riots at all in most large cities in the nation.
Businesses were looted, fires were started everywhere, many people were killed, it was totally out of control with even police stations looted and burned down. Roads were jammed with people trying to get somewhere else and with many cars running out of gas because they couldn’t afford the huge prices on gas and then they blocked many of the roads. With the roads clogged delivery trucks couldn’t make it through to deliver food and fuel and other goods so then there were real shortages.
This made things even worse. With police tied up with rioters and trying to straighten out the traffic and the large number of accidents, it gave a free hand to criminals to rob, steal, rape, and kill. The cities were in total lawless chaos. And in many cases it was spreading out of the cities and into the rural areas surrounding them for many miles around.
Special Insert
The man with the black hoodie was having a great time. He could loot and steal at random now. His whole apartment was full of loot. He had never been this rich in his life. He thought about just kicking back and relaxing but was so greedy he just couldn’t stop. He had to make multiple trips back to his apartment just to unload his loot each night before heading out again for even more.
He was so anxious and greedy to get more that he did not even wait for darkness before leaving his apartment to go out to loot and steal this time. When he was only a couple blocks from his apartment he spied a white woman loading a pickup. The pickup already had a lot of stuff in it so she was carefully packing in more.
He thought he would just walk up quietly behind her and tap her on the head with his crowbar then go through the big pile of stuff. Heck he decided he would just drive the pickup over to his apartment when she was out of the way. So he walked very quietly and drew out his crowbar. She was totally unaware of his presence and when he was close enough he raised the crowbar and then heard a crash and instinct made him turn toward the noise……….
Chapter Six
When Al and Liz heard about the bond selling they knew it was likely the time to leave. Neither wanted to lose their jobs if they were wrong so each went to work the next day and things were perfectly normal. That night they found out about the emergency act by Congress to seize everyone’s money. They started packing and Al drove to a local Walmart and bought many empty totes which they packed full of their stuff. They slept one last night in their apartment and both planned to call in sick in the morning. But in the morning when they went down to the pickup they found someone had smashed the windshield during the night. They never broke into the truck just vandalized it.
Al called his insurance company while Liz called to get a new windshield put in. Al had better luck as they said they had gotten many such calls yesterday and already this morning. He was totally covered and the glass guys were used to submitting bills to the insurance companies so he could use whatever company he wanted for the work. When he hung up he saw that Liz did not look happy.
When she hung up she told him that she had called two places so far and they would have to wait two days for a windshield. They each tried a couple more places and Al even offered a two hundred dollar cash bonus if the work could be done sooner but to no avail. He settled on one place that said they would try to get him in sooner but he had to have the cash bonus in hand when they arrived.
He assured them it was in his pocket as they spoke and they made a deal but only if the actual windshield could be found that quickly. Al gave his cell number and said he would meet them at any time when they were ready to install. With nothing else to do Al and Liz both went to work just because it would at least keep them busy.
No windshield that day and that night Atlanta got way worse. There were many riots and during the night both Liz and Al woke to the sounds of gunfire in the distance a couple times. In the morning Al called about his windshield again and they promised it would happen that afternoon. This time both of them called in sick to their jobs.
They were leaving today with or without the windshield. They would wait for the afternoon and then start loading the pickup. If they didn’t get the new windshield Al would kick out the old one and they would drive the whole way with plenty of fresh air. After lunch they cleaned out their refrigerator and threw all the stuff in the dumpster. Al used Liz’s car and pickup some traveling food from the little local grocery store. They would drive straight through to the ranch that night no matter what.
They were about to start loading the truck when the guy with the new windshield showed up and started working on it. He was obviously very well versed on the procedure as it took very little time for removal and replacement. As soon as he was done they started loading the pickup. Al would carry the totes down and Liz would pack them in the back of the truck. It was early evening and they were almost done packing. Both Liz and Al were carrying both their small carry pistols and their full sized ones in hip holsters.
They had heard shooting off and on all afternoon even in the day time. Al only had two more totes to carry down when he came outside and saw a man in a black hoodie that was about to hit Liz! He dropped the tote and drew his old Browning without a second thought and as soon as the gun came up and he found the sights he fired two shots into the man’s chest as the man had turned to face him with the crowbar still raised in his hands.
Both shots hit their mark and the man in the black hoodie fell in a heap on the ground. By this time Liz had turned at the sound of the tote hitting the ground and took in the whole scene in a second. She had started to draw her Glock by the time Al fired the two rounds into the man.
Liz never completed the draw and just settled the pistol back into the holster and jumped down and ran to Al. Al embraced Liz with only one hand as he kept the pistol pointed at the man lying on the ground until he could make sure that he was indeed dead.
Letting Liz go after both assured the other that they were fine and not hurt, Al advanced on the man and gave him a good kick but he did not react. Then Al knelt down and checked the neck for a pulse and could find none. Only then did he holster his pistol.
“What do we do now? We will be tied up here with the police all night at least maybe even a couple more days.”
“We load the last three totes and leave as planned. The police will not show up before we go even if someone did call them which is doubtful because 911 has a waiting list I’m sure. Let’s get loaded and get gone.”
“What about that dead guy? We going to just leave him lay there?”
“Yes we leave him on the ground just like he would have done to us. Now let’s get moving.”
Al moved fast and got the last three totes in the truck, tarped the load, tied it with more rope than necessary to make sure it was very secure, and they left on their trip. They just left Liz’s car in the parking lot of the apartment after taking everything out of it. With the truck loaded full and securely tarped and tied down they left Atlanta.
The roads were far from normal and they had a tough time driving the first twenty or thirty miles. Several times Al drove in the median or the shoulder or where ever he had to just to keep going. They stopped after about three hundred miles to fill the tanks and for bathroom and snack breaks when it looked safe to do so. Al called ahead to tell Art they were on the way and would drive straight through so they would arrive during the day sometime.
The trip was long but totally uneventful and they even topped off the tanks before leaving Interstate Forty so had a lot of fuel left when they got to the ranch. Art and Joy were very happy to see them get there safely and shocked when Al told them abou
t the man he had killed.
Ann and her husband (Bob) with their two year old girl Jennifer hoped to arrive later that evening from Boston and their house was opened up and waiting for them. Amy and her husband (Dean) had only just left their place in Seattle so they would be arriving much later having to drive close to two thousand miles, which concerned all of them.
Amy and Dean called a couple times and they were going to drive straight through without staying overnight anywhere. They were switching off driving so each could relax some though sleep was hard get. If everyone’s luck held they should all be together soon. Dean and Amy had all rural western areas to drive through mostly so they were a little safer than in cities, at least everyone hoped so.
At the ranch no one was very hungry for supper and after everyone watched the news and saw all the bad stuff that was going on everywhere all of them were worried. It was a big relief when Ann and Bob showed up around eight that night.
They all talked for awhile and when Amy called to say they were making good time and everything was going good but they were both tired so were going to stop at a motel in a smaller town and sleep for a few hours before driving the rest of the way. Everyone wished them the best and then everyone decided to try to get some sleep and went to their own houses.
The next morning the regular chores were done and Joy led the other two girls out to pick from the garden. Green beans were picked, washed, snapped, and then canned while the men baled, hauled, and stacked the second hay cutting. During lunch break Amy called to say they were well on their way though fuel was sometimes harder to get and was very high priced. She said one more fill would see them back to ranch and she expected no problems.
In the afternoon the men finished with the hay and the girls canned carrots. They were just finishing supper when Amy and Dean drove in the yard. More plates came out and the newcomers found a place at the table to eat and share their experiences on the road trip to the ranch. Dean told them that they had actually seen several cars with bullet holes in them. There had been more police presence on the highways and people were driving better than normal.
Dean thought everyone was afraid of getting in an accident and were also likely driving slower to conserve their fuel. When the kids went to play Al told them about what happened to them. At first they thought he should have waited for the police then all of them realized that nothing would have been gained by doing so. In the morning the police would find a guy that very likely had a rap sheet dead in a parking lot and probably think he got what he deserved.
They watched the news that night and things were very grim in the cities. The rioting and looting did not even stop during the day now and there were helicopter views of cities being burned and looted that looked like a war zone in some third world country with bodies lying in the streets, not the great United States.
It was reported that some state Governors had called out the state National Guard units to help restore order. They showed aerial views of many highways that were totally blocked by stalled or wrecked cars. International air travel was very limited due to the currency situation with many citizens stranded in other countries.
The US State department urged any US citizens stranded in other countries to make their way to any US consulate or any US military base where they would be protected and arrangements would be made for their safe return to US soil. The State department also said that any US citizen wishing to leave the United States could do so but would have to sign a waiver that they would be totally responsible for their own safety while abroad and would have to find their own way back. All US consulates would be closing temporarily in two weeks time and in the mean time would be receiving heavy military reinforcements.
Shipments of all foreign goods had stopped due to the refusal to accept United States currency. Some were sitting at US docks waiting for alternate payment before unloading while others at sea were returning to their home ports. Prices on goods and services were rising with many people afraid to go to work because of the violence or unable to go to work due to the clogged roads or because of the fuel problem.
Fuel was still available at many stations but was cash only at crazy unheard of prices. Credit card and debit card services had stopped just about everywhere. Cash was still accepted but prices were sometimes double or triple or even more what they had been. No one really knew what was happening with the money or if it would have any value at all in the near future.
Gold and silver dealers were all sold out and people were buying anything they could that might hold some value in the future. Every gun shop had long lines waiting to buy guns or ammunition. Crime in larger cites, suburbs, or even in rural areas nearby was rampant. People were being told to stay home and keep their doors locked.
Armed vigilantes were often seen patrolling neighborhoods day and night. 911 services were down in many areas with police, fire, and ambulance totally overwhelmed. Hospitals were setting up sleeping areas for all their employees so they could get some sleep whenever they could because the hospitals were packed with patients and just could not keep up with all those in the emergency rooms.
Art shut the TV off and faced the others.
“I am so thankful you all have made it here safely. This is all something we thought would possibly happen and we have prepared for but to see it in progress is awful.”
“We are in a pretty safe place here but the chaos will spread. I think we should all start getting used to being armed all the time now. At some point we may need to have a gun and we shouldn’t wait.
You all know what happened to Liz and I in the city. If we had not been armed I don’t want to think what might have happened. That was in the big city but it will spread everywhere. We have to prepare ahead of time just like what we did with the other things we did here.”
“I think we should be safe here for quite awhile before we would ever need to carry a gun everywhere. We are a long ways from any city,” said Bob.
“I totally agree with you Bob. The trouble is we will not know what day to start carrying a gun until someday when we need one. On that day it will be too late. The safest thing for everyone is to start carrying right away.
The kids here have seen us shoot many times and will think nothing of seeing us carry a gun. It might not even be to protect us from bad guys. People are going to drop off their dogs when it gets too expensive to feed them and a hungry dog might very well view one of the kids as an easy meal.
I know for a fact that you would do anything to protect any of the kids as would the rest of us. This would just be a logical way to prepare for that event,” replied Al.
“I didn’t think about dogs. You are right. It is just like the other preps we did to protect ourselves and the kids. I’ll start carrying tomorrow.”
Then everyone agreed that it would be a good idea. All of them wanted nothing to have a chance to hurt the children and had talked in the past about if there was a collapse things had the possibility to get violent.
All of them had firearms and all had practiced at least every time they stayed at the ranch. All were weary and the ranch chores would be waiting in the morning so they all headed off to their own houses and to bed.
Chapter Seven
As per the plan most meals would be taken in the big house instead of everyone doing their own separate cooking in their own houses. This just made sense for saving food and fuel. The cooking could still easily be shared amongst the families. So they all piled into the kitchen and around the big table where there was room for everyone. Cooking was done by the women by mutual agreement of everyone mostly because it was the most practical. If a member of the ranch was good at something it was prudent to give them that particular job, whether it be hunting, welding, or cooking.
Everyone pretty much had some work to do. The newcomers had to get their houses arraigned and there were still many chores to do on the ranch. Al and Liz were going to hike the perimeter of the ranch which would take most of the morning.
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sp; Al thought it would be a good chance for Liz to see how big the ranch was and get the lay-of-the-land. The three small houses had many boxes in them from stuff being shipped out there that had to be sorted and put away. Everyone left for their individual projects.
As many days went by and everything was turned ship-shape at the ranch with so many willing hands to get projects done. All were packing guns even the ladies but no trouble had come their way so far. Everyone knew it was likely just a matter of time though.
Evenings were most often spent together in the big family room of the main house. They watched the news reports together and every night it got worse and worse. Even with the help of the National Guard some of the cities were all but abandoned with some that had large sections that were totally burned. Even smaller towns were having trouble with the huge numbers of refugees that had evacuated the bigger cities.
There was no place to put them and no food to feed them. Of course along with the refugees came the criminals who preyed on them and then on the rest of the people in the towns. The National Guard did make sure all interstate highways were open and in many cases had just pushed the wrecks or abandoned vehicles into the medians but hardly anyone could afford to travel except the military.
There were power outages in some areas both from local storms that had brought lines down that were very slow to be repaired due to workers not coming to work or unable to do so. Some power plants had shut down due to lack of workers showing up at the generating plants or from no coal shipments because of lack of workers. Many workers did not want to work for basically no wages because the dollar was dead and had very little value even in the United States.