by Ira Tabankin
“Boris, I think you should request additional rifles and other weapons be sent to us, we are almost out of the cases we were given to distribute.”
Laughing, Boris nods his head in agreement, “I will send a message to Darkenov, he will be happy we are spreading additional weapons, while we get silver and gold coins for each one we sell. The crazy Americans will fight each other without us risking our own skins. They think we stole the weapons, Darkenov thinks we’re giving them away, our people are happy and getting richer by the minute. Only in America could this happen.”
Sarnoff says, “I do not understand this President of theirs who wants to exchange their capitalism for socialism. He should see our normal standard of living. If the average American ever realized how they are getting screwed, they would take up their arms against their crazy President. How did he get as far in transforming America as he did? I thought the average American was smarter than to fall for what is obviously pure bullshit.”
“They are not interested in hearing the truth, they are only interested in their instant gratification. They have the attention span of a fussy three-year-old. Their media spoon feeds them only news which furthers their own agendas. The elites think they will end up ruling the average people. They plan to create two classes, the workers, and the rulers.”
“As long as they want to keep buying our weapons, I do not care if they all wet their diapers. I am surprised how quickly they are lining up to buy weapons. I thought everyone in America was armed.”
“Captain, in some states they passed laws to restrict the ownership of weapons. Illinois is one of those states.”
“Boris, I do not understand. I have read their constitution, it says the “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” I do not understand how one state can pass a law that goes against their core document.”
“My friend, this is the essence of America. They have core laws which make up the foundation of their country, while at the same time, their courts which have become politicized, their courts rule that laws which are clearly against their founding documents are legal. In the American legal system, once any court finds for or against a law, other courts use the published rulings to guide how they should rule. Doing so protects their rulings from being overturned by another court above them.”
“We may end up living here, but I do not think I will ever understand their legal system. One day one of their wealthy can be found guilty and get a slap on the wrist and a poor person who broke the same law will end up spending twenty or more years in jail. They are crazy, their capitalism controls their every action. Their personal profit is all that matters to them.”
“We must get used to it if we are going to live here.”
“It will not be that hard to do. I would rather be a rich capitalist than a poor socialist.”
“I am ready to try and be a capitalist. I like the way it sounds.”
Both men laugh as they break open a new bottle of vodka.
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Forty-five days after the economic crash, major U.S. cities resemble third-world war zones. The streets are filled knee-high in trash, wrecked cars and buses block many of the streets. Most modern buildings were built with sealed windows, very good for safety, not very good for those who lived in the buildings when the electricity went out. The majority of the buildings have their windows broken so fresh air can enter them. The upper and most expensive floors have been deserted due to the lack of electricity. No electricity means no elevators or water pumped to the upper floors. People who were proud they paid upwards of forty million dollars for a premium, top notch apartment or condo are shocked to learn they were left on their own. When the dollar crashed, fuel and food ran out, the typical US city only held a three or four day supply of both. When the electricity stopped, with it, heat and air conditioning also stopped. Most city homes and apartments kept only a few days supply of food on hand, why bother to think ahead when they had the status and money to get what they want when they wanted it. Fights quickly broke out for the limited inventory of food in the cities. Without daily food shipments, cities quickly ran out of food. People realized this wasn’t a normal blackout when everything stopped. When their local stores refused to accept cash, only gold, silver or guns, and ammo as payment for their limited supply of food. People realized this was a new world when FEMA didn’t show up. When the police and fire departments disappeared from the streets, they realized they were in deep trouble. It finally sank in they were alone with no one left to call for help.
Some streets are totally deserted while on others the people join together for mutual defense. They built blockades to separate their street from the more violent ones. Gangs of hungry people roamed the streets taking whatever resources they could find. Subway systems became communal living areas. Being underground provided a small degree of security the streets couldn’t provide. Families banded together for the security of their children. Schools are turned into family shelters, people who lived in multi-million dollar high-rise apartments found themselves sleeping on Red Cross supplied cots in school gyms and classrooms. Depression spread through the makeshift shelters like a brush fire in parched Southern California. Millions are confused and disillusioned, they don’t understand what happened to their families or how they managed to end up living in a Red Cross shelter. They woke one morning to find their bank accounts and investments all but worthless, that was if they could even be accessed.
They were surprised when the lights went out and the water stopped flowing from their faucets. Some waited hours for elevators which would never arrive. Some realized they had to walk down thirty or more flights of stairs to look for scraps of food and water and return up the same number of flights of stairs to bring home whatever they were lucky enough to find or steal. As the days wore on people left their high-rise homes behind. What was a status symbol a month ago is now a major liability. Hundreds of billions of dollars in different investments disappeared with the crash of the dollar. Lines of people miles long shuffled their feet, one in front of the other trying to leave the nation’s cities. Many rural neighboring areas blocked the roads, stopping the city dwellers from entering their states. Police units blocked the roads trying to turn the refugees around. The governors worried they didn’t have enough resources to even care for their own citizens, let alone the hundreds of thousands who are trying to leave the cities. Fights broke out among those trying to leave the cities and those trying to stop them from entering the border states. The wounded and dead were left on the sides of the roads as there wasn’t sufficient fuel and transport to carry them to hospitals.
Chapter 11
Tony, John, Todd and I are getting ready to make our first armed trip out of the shelter to pay a call on the Son’s of the Devil motorcycle club who are living in my house. We review the thermal and IR cameras before we leave the shelter. John says, “Whoa, the MC is getting a visitor.”
Tony looks at the monitor, “Can you zoom in on the visitor?”
John says, “Someone on horseback, I think whoever it is, is wearing a uniform.”
I spin around hearing the word uniform, I’m thinking, it can’t be. Not after six weeks. What would he want now? If it is really him, is he dumb enough to come alone? Something doesn’t add up.
Tony looks at me, “Jay, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yeah, my gut says our favorite sheriff has returned.”
“On horseback?”
“Where would he get fuel for his car?”
“Good point. Why is he coming alone, surely he knows he’s not loved here.”
“I wonder if he knows we were run off and the farms are under the control of the MC?”
“Tony, wouldn’t the town have heard the shooting? I’m sure he must have heard the gunfire. Wouldn’t there have been rumors of the battle? I’m sure he knows something happened.”
John looks close
ly at the monitor, “So why is he paying us a visit in the middle of the night and alone? It’s not like him to show up now, he's a bully. He's one of the first to know the rule of law died with the value of the dollar. I’d expect him to show up with a small army to take what he wanted. Coming here alone makes him an easy target.”
I nod at John, “I think we should wait and see what happens before we make our move.”
Tony and John nod their agreement. Todd asks, “Do you think he’s working with the MC?”
I stare at the monitor, “It certainly looks like him, a little thinner, but that’s to be expected. What the hell is he doing here in the middle of the night? John, can you scan the area around the farms, use the thermal cameras, look for heat signatures that say there are bodies hiding along the perimeter of our property.”
“Will do, give me a minute to start the scan.” John sits behind the monitors, he moves the camera controller, “Whoa, lookie here. We’ve got hits on five, seven, ten bodies trying to hide along the street and the farm. They’re slowly moving towards Jay’s house. They’re using the debris to cover their approach.”
“So the sheriff thinks he can open a discussion, and while I was distracted dealing with his BS, his people move in to capture my house, maybe even kill me. The big question is, does he know we’re not home and the MC has our house? Is he working with them or is he stupid and about to get a hell of a surprise?”
John responds, “He’s not stupid. He thinks he’ll catch you sleeping and confused. When you come to the door, his people will rush the house taking you hostage so Lacy gives him what he wants.”
I stare at John, an angry scowl on my face, “What do you think he wants?”
Tony smiles while shaking his head, “What he always wants, your gold and food and anything else he thinks he can use. He knows you must have supplies stashed away, he’s been trying to get them since the crisis started.”
“It should be interesting to see how Dutch reacts to the Sheriff paying him a visit.”
Tony, John, and Todd agree it’s a good idea for us to wait and see how Dutch reacts to the visit from our local sheriff. The sheriff arrives at my front door, as he dismounts his horse, he nods his head toward the street twice. John moves the camera to check on the people hiding along the street. He says, “They’re moving. They’re experienced, look how they move. One group moves forward while the second group provides over-watch. They reverse the roles as the second group moves forward. They’re heavily armed and expecting problems.”
“John, can we give them some problems they didn’t count on.”
John smiles, “I’m sure we have a few tricks up our sleeves. Give me a minute to see what surprises we have left in their path.”
“John, can you put the image from the camera watching the front door on the large monitor while you see what surprises you have?”
The monitor clears showing the sheriff pounding on my front door, it slowly opens showing a guard holding a shotgun at the door. “John, turn up the speakers.”
“Who the fuck are you? Where’s Jay?”
“Who the fuck are you and who’s this Jay?”
“I’m the sheriff, I give the orders around here. Where’s Jay?”
“Who’s Jay?”
“He’s the asshole who owns this house and the farm. I have business to discuss with him, send him out to see me.”
“Listen crap head, I don’t know who you are, or who this Jay is. Big Dutch owns this house now. Want I should wake him?”
Sheriff Grover nods his head to the left, giving a signal to his men to start cleaning out this nest of assholes. They quietly enter the other houses where they go room to room killing everyone they find in the houses using silenced 9mm semi-automatics.
Grover answers, “Yeah, I want that you should wake him. That would be a very good idea before I kill you.”
“You’re a shithead if you think I’m going to wake Dutch for some local county sheriff. I’ll put you down before you can draw you sidearm.”
“Hey asshole, look behind me. See those shadows moving in this direction? Those are my men, I have the house surrounded. I’m going to kill all of you in about thirty seconds.”
“Whoa, there sheriff. Come in, I’ll get Dutch for you.”
“Much better.” Grover nods his head to the right telling the men behind him to begin clearing the house. The slip into the back of the house where they kill everyone they encounter.
Dutch comes down the stairs sleepy and angry. “Who the fuck is here at this hour and what does he want?”
“Mr. Dutch? I’m the sheriff. I’m looking for the owner of this house. Jay Tolson.”
“Don’t know any Jay Tolson. This is my house now.”
“What did you do to the owner?”
Dutch begins to raise his side arm when he’s shot in his right arm. He drops his gun screaming. “Son of a bitch, Sheriff, you’re an asshole, you shot me.”
“Next round goes through your balls, now where is the owner of this house?”
“I don’t know who he is. We beat his ass and took his house.” The Sheriff pushes his way into my house, He shakes his head looking at the holes in the walls. The sheriff says, “Remodeling?”
“Yeah, I forgot where I put the safe.”
“That’s because it’s not in the walls. He had at least one safe in the basement. I came for what’s in the safe.”
“We searched every inch of the basement, there’s no safe there. If there were, anything in it would be mine since I own the house now. We found food, beer, and wine. I know there must be something else of value here, we haven’t been able to find it.”
“If I help you find it, do we split it?”
The Sheriff smiles while thinking, I’ll tell this asshole anything if he can locate the safe. When he shows me where it is, I’ll kill him. Maybe I should just kill this moron now and be done with him. I don’t know where Jay is, this asshole couldn’t have killed him. I wonder where Jay is hiding, I know he’s not far. He wouldn’t leave his house and the farm. He must be watching these morons until it’s the right moment to take them out.
Dutch opens the door to allow the sheriff entrance, the sheriff’s men have already entered from the rear and are killing the gang and their women. “Dutch, if something happens to me, my people will burn all of you down. First they'll shoot you in the feet, each shot will go further up your body, after your feet, it will be your knees, then your balls, your stomach and finally your head. You’ll die in horrible pain. Don’t play games with me. I want what’s in the safe.”
“What’s in the safe?”
“Don’t worry about it, just take me to the basement. By the way, if Jay returns and sees what you’ve done to his house he’s going to skin you alive. It won’t be pretty. I’d like to stay and watch him take you apart.”
“You aren’t going to help me?”
“If you don’t play ball with me, I may hold you and turn you over to him. I’d be in his good graces, he’d owe me a big favor and I’ll get to see you skinned alive.”
“Whoa there Sheriff, why don’t we try to work together? We’re both after the same thing, whatever’s in the safe. Come on, I’ll take you to the basement.”
John turns to look at me, “Jay, any chance he’ll find the sub-basement?”
“I doubt it and if he did, none of them would live to see the safes. I think the sheriff will think Dutch screwed him by already removing the safes, this may be good. The sheriff may get rid of Dutch for us.”
Tony shakes his head, “I bet they shoot each other, the sheriff’s men are already killing Dutch’s people in the house. I hope they don’t have a firefight in your home. Man, that’s going to cost a lot to repair.”
“Tony, it might be worth the cost if they kill each other off for us. Any of the MC who survive the Sheriff’s visit are going to split. They won’t want to mess with him again. That will leave only the mostly unarmed mob for us to deal with.”
John
frowns saying, “Jay, that mob overran us.”
“Yes, but this time the element of surprise will be on our side. We should be able to pop up and take down their leaders causing them to run into the winds.”
Todd smiles saying, “Dad, I hope you’re right.”
“Watch, I bet you a dollar, I am.”
“I’ll take that bet.” Replies Todd.
Dutch leads the sheriff into the basement, “Look asshole, there’s no safe in here. My people have torn this basement apart many times. We’ve never found a safe or anything except for the food and beer we’ve been living on.”