by John Price
"Finally, Gretchen, a topic that I think most of us here in the UK would rather avoid, but many people are quite interested, particularly if they had family and friends, business associates and the like, in the U.S. What can you tell us about the status of the seven or eight percent of Americans who are still alive, who didn’t die in the detonations, or since due to the devastating effects of a collapsed, non-functioning society?"
"All that we know, Jala, is what we have learned from the Royal Air Force fly-overs, by the Sentinel R-1s, and from the short wave broadcasts which we have discussed. Those who were able to flee America after The Day on available ships which were not destroyed in the blasts are not much help to us, from an information view-point. The last ship or plane to transit the Atlantic from the U.S. was many months ago. Our satellite systems of communication with the U.S. have been inoperable from almost day one, as the sending/receiving stations on the U.S. end of the system were either immediately taken out in the blasts, or ceased to function over time without power and with exhausted fuel for back-up generators."
"Given those limitations, Gretchen, what can you share that we do know?"
"It’s not good. In fact, it’s very, very bad. There were many Americans who saw that the nation was a target for future troubles. They were what were then called ‘preppers’, because they laid up substantial stores of food, weapons and other preparations for future survival. Some of the short wave transmissions that were received came from ‘preppers’."
"That seems like a wise and prudent course of action. How are the ‘preppers’ in America faring?"
"Not well, Jala, not well at all. It seems that most ‘preppers’ knew other people who were not prepping, as they say. After the food supplies dried up, and there was no electric power, no gasoline, you know, then people who knew where they could find such vital items, that is from the ‘preppers’, located them and took what they wanted."
"But, Gretchen, didn’t that lead to….violence? Were they willing to share what they had stored up?"
"We understand that some shared. At first, but when people get hungry they….well….let’s just say that they lose some of their normal societal inhibitions….Then….they do what they have to do….to….survive. The end result over the last year has been that millions have died, either directly from starvation, or killed at the hands of starving people who wanted what people had stored up. Some of the things we have heard from short-wavers are truly beyond belief. In my opinion the percentage of Americans still alive is more like two to three percent, and that may be overly generous."
"Gretchen, without dwelling too much on the macabre, what does America look like today – a full twelve months, 365 days since The Day? We’re about out of time, so I’ll ask you to be concise, please."
"Imagine this scene. This is America one year after The Day. No houses or apartments are lit at night, not by electricity, of course, but also not by candles or oil lamps, as any light seen at night is an invitation to marauding bands of cutthroat killers anxious to find food and new prey. In the day time, no one with any sense goes out into the open, for the same reason. Spotters will alert the gangs and they will track and follow you back to your place of hiding, hoping to loot, rape and destroy.
"The result, as we understand it, is that what is left of America belongs to the armed gangs, many of whom were prisoners on The Day. They either escaped or were released from jails and prisons which weren’t nuked. The U.S. had over two million prisoners incarcerated on The Day, the highest number in the world at that time. Estimates are that at least one million survived and are now in gangs. The gangs number from small, 15 or 20 killers, all the way up to what amount to armies, small armies, but with several hundred armed men, all safely hiding in tightly barricaded buildings, warehouses, office buildings. The type of building varies depending on the army. But, the critical aspect of their encampment is that have to be able to secure their bolt-hole location from entry by other gangs, or other armies who want to get what they may have."
"Wrapping up, Gretchen, you didn’t mention how women and children are surviving in America in these perilous days."
"I didn’t forget, Jala….I just didn’t want to be the one who….well….the ….uh….gangs don’t need youngsters, whom they would have to feed, or older women and certainly not any men who may have families and who need to try and protect them. It appears, Jala, that apart from teen-aged women and younger women who are allowed to live as….you know….as….sex slaves….sorry to say, almost all of the population still surviving and alive in the U.S. are men in gangs, in small armies. I sincerely regret to report."
66
Carrasco Community Church
Carrasco, Uruguay
Pastor Jack Madison stood in front of the group assembled in a vacant storefront on Cambara Street. He smiled, swallowed hard, took a deep breath and began his first South American Sunday sermon, "Brothers and sisters, remember this day. The day when the Carrasco Community Church was born. Officially. What started two months ago with our Bible Study of five couples is now a church of thirty folks. If we are faithful to preach the Word, God will be faithful to increase our impact for Him in Uruguay. I’ve been asked why the Madisons chose Uruguay, since it is reportedly the least religious country in Latin America. Good question. Simple answer. We had a few choices of countries, but we wanted to be involved in a ministry where we could effectively spread the Gospel. Where better than in a country which needs evangelizing? Uruguay is our family’s new mission field. We’re very excited about it.
"Some of you know that I was a pastor in Dallas. It’s a long way from Dallas to Carrasco, but anyone who knows the Bible understands that it records the many times that God moved His people from their comfort zones out into the world to share the Gospel. We pray daily for the dear people in the church that we left behind in our church in Dallas. Fortunately, Dallas wasn’t one of the cities nuked, but with no gasoline or electricity, the result, as you know, was a scarcity of food, medical care and the basics of life. Communications being as poor as they are, almost now non-existent, we have no word on how those whom we knew and loved are faring in a destroyed America. We pray for them, as I said, but there’s precious little else anyone can do."
As he spoke, Jack looked at his wife, Allison, their two children and his mother and father, John and Debbie Madison. He reflected on how good God was to allow all of them to flee the Daughter of Babylon. He remembered briefly how his father had been indicted by the federal government for supposed hate speech in which he was charged with attacking the President in political speeches in Texas. John Madison had been set free, after a jury ridiculed the government’s case in opening jury selection. Jack’s memory flitted over the fact that, soon after, the federal government indicted Jack, also for hate speech violations, after he gave the Biblical view of traditional marriage in a Sunday sermon. Jack silently thanked the Lord, again, that he was tried and found innocent by the federal court jury, who took less than an hour to deliberate, not even enough time for the jury to order pizza. Now Jack’s family members were gathered safely in a new place of divine adventure. God is good, Jack reminded himself.
"Most of us are Americans who chose to leave our native land. We’ve chosen to settle in this peaceful country for different reasons. One couple told me they were most attracted by Uruguay’s rating as the freest nation in the world, with the fewest government laws and entangling regulations. Others moved here instead of nearer the equator because didn’t like the heat. One couple has a child who came here as a missionary to the Uruguayan cowboys. Whatever the reasons for moving here, we have assembled ourselves together to see what God wants to do through us in our new home. I encourage each one of us to seek out a ministry in which you can be involved. I’m looking forward to a future Sunday, hopefully with even more expats who have joined with us, when we will share stories of the Lord at work through a bunch of re-located Yanks. What a blessing He has given to us."
67
; Bluemont Gardens
Mountain Brook, Alabama
Mountain Brook’s initial claim to fame was its Irondale Foundry, but it was destroyed by Yankee soldiers in the War of Northern Aggression, a/k/a the Civil War. Over time the area became famous for the several dairies located on its rolling and wooded hills. In the 1940’s a local developer constructed Bluemont Gardens, an apartment complex with twenty high-ceilinged, wood floor buildings. In the mid to late twentieth century the area was extensively developed with expensive and imposing houses.
Mountain Brook after The Day was an immediate target for looters and hungry Alabamians who assumed that houses as large as those in Mountain Brook would have plentiful food and ammunition for the picking. Residents soon fled or tried, unsuccessfully and fatally, to defend their assets. Within just days every McMansion in Mountain Brook had its windows and doors smashed in, most razed by fire. The same thing happened to the twenty buildings in Bluemont Gardens. Because it was such an obviously looted and pawed over site, Darrell Wright, the group’s leader, saw it as a perfect place to hide their several families who had come together from local homes and churches. Darrell was an engineer with a construction background. After some study he decided to select the basement of a large interior apartment building, one which from the outside looked totally ravaged. The windows and doors were all blown out. The ivy on the red brick exterior was burnt black from the fires that had been set in the complex. To any casual visitor coming through the apartment complex it looked just like the other destroyed buildings.
Death and Snake Head took their time. Once they figured out which building was number six they watched the hide-away from another building, though carefully hidden so they would not themselves be spotted. Death was the first to spot the armed, relatively tall man emerge from the burnt-out main door just after dusk, sneaking out so that in the fading light he wouldn’t be seen. He carried an AK-47, with four ammo clips on his belt. He was followed by another armed man, with an AR-15, and two teen males, both carrying 22s. The four looked carefully around the apartment complex for unwanted visitors before they set off to hunt for game.
Death whispered to Snake Head, "Piece of cake. Your dead kid snitch was right on. It’s a pretty good hideaway from a location viewpoint. Who would ever think anyone would be here? What a dump. But, from their defense standpoint, it stinks. It looks like they all go in and out of that entry door there. Inside there must be a stair down to their hidey-hole basement. Can’t see any lights at all. Very good. Very good."
Snake was excited, as he could imagine fresh food, and armaments and women in his future. He was also apprehensive. He asked, "Death, what’s our plan? We don’t want to lose a bunch of guys to a bomb or to hand grenades, like back at the school."
"Don’t remind me, Snake, if we hadn’t stepped out when we did we’d have been blown apart like our buddies. No. My plan is simple. We quietly go into one of the first floor apartments, during the day when they’re talking and making noise so they don’t hear us. We hand drill a hole through one of the wood floors into the basement and pour a gallon or so of our remaining gasoline down the hole. They didn’t use pre-stressed concrete floors to build apartments in the 40s. One match and we got a parking lot full of scared, suffocating people. As each one pops out of their little hidey-hole we wait by the entry door and dis-arm them. Like I said, Snake, piece of cake."
68
BBC Studios – Broadcasting House
Central London, England
The co-host of WORLD IN REVIEW thanked Gretchen Rice for her contribution to the BBC’s special report, America – One Year After the Day. She threw the newscast back to Rab, her male co-host, "Not a very cheery report, Rab, but, of course those of us living in the UK have known for almost a year how truly devastating was the collapse of what was then the world’s remaining superpower. To wrap up our special tonight, Rab, what have we learned about the impact of the attacks last year on America’s nuclear power industry?"
Rab smoothed his beard with one hand while gazing into camera one, carefully enunciating, "Well asked, Jala. This is really the other part of the story upon which we are reporting tonight. By now most persons on the planet know about the sneak attack on America, with an as of yet not totally known number of nuclear weapons, though it is known with precision that the bombs were all set off within ten American metropolitan areas. As we have reported, millions died immediately, estimated at around 55 to 60 million, with many millions more dying from radiation sickness, fallout health issues and the like. Once the initial nuclear device-caused deaths took place, the second large waves of deaths took place, from starvation, rioting, looting and the like. What has not been widely reported is that in the second wave of mass deaths, those that occurred well after The Day, there was a secondary cause of additional deaths. For the details on this story, which the BBC is breaking for the first time publicly tonight, we go to Alastair Smyth, the recently retired Chairman of the Office for Nuclear Regulation. Thank you for joining us, Chairman Smyth."
The seventy three year old former British civil servant, looking every bit the part, replied, "Distinct pleasure to be with you, I’m sure."
"Chairman Smyth, we have only a very short time left in our newscast tonight, so I would appreciate if you could keep your responses brief. Let me just ask you, what have we in the UK learned about secondary causes of death in America that had been largely unknown until recently?"
"Humph….Humph….Well, let me just say that….Keep it brief, though, right? Certainly….Well….In brief, the one hundred or so nuclear reactors located at sixty five American nuclear power plants….well….they all experienced nuclear core meltdowns. Eventually….that is….each one."
"Mister Chairman, can you explain to our younger viewers what that means? Nuclear core meltdown. Sounds quite serious, actually."
"It’s much worse than serious. It’s catastrophic, as we learned at Chernobyl and Fukushima, which took place 25 years apart. The results in Russia were epidemic cancers, what has come to be known as Chernobyl AIS, chronic fatigue, you name it. Genetically deformed and mutated human babies and animals. Horrible. Many innocent victims. The problem, Rab, is that about one third of all Americans lived within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant. So….humph….you can see the problem if the nuclear power plants all of them, uh, went into reactor core meltdown."
"Yes, Mister Chairman, you have explained what can happen when a nuclear plant, let alone over one hundred of them, go into core meltdown, but why did that happen, they weren’t all, surely, within range of the nukes that were detonated?"
"Quite right. No, they weren’t. A few were taken out by the nukes, of course, but most, we estimate at least three-fourths, were not destroyed by the nuclear detonations on The Day. The seventy to eighty that survived did not immediately go to core meltdown. What happened was caused by the Yanks making two critical errors, we now believe. They designed their nuclear power plants to be critically dependent upon maintaining connection to a functioning electric grid. Why? Well….humph….the electricity was critical to keeping the reactor cores cooled at any given point in time. Within two hours, give or take, after a failure to cool the reactor cores adequately the cores begin to melt down, throwing off massive amounts of radiation into the air, and into any nearby bodies of water."
"Surely, Mister Chairman, there were back-up generators at the nuclear plants should their electric grid power go down?"
"Well yes, Rab, of course. That was the second major error. The Yanks’ Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is very much like the agency I headed, that is, until recently, only mandated a one week supply of backup generator fuel stored at each reactor site. Under normal circumstances, if a plant lost its electric grid power, it would go to backup generation, and if it saw a long term power outage it would be sure to start hauling in extra supplies of diesel fuel for the back-up generators, as much as would be needed."
"Ah, I see. There was the rub. America’s electric grid went down w
ith the nuclear attacks, as well as its refineries, so no new supplies of diesel fuel. The result?
"Disasterous. Truly catastrophic. It’s almost as if those Yanks who lived through the initial blasts were then eventually felled by the radiation coming from eighty or so plus nuclear reactors, all in full meltdown mode, located all over the country. What an unprecedented….well, words fail me to describe what happened next. No electricity, no fuel. No cooling of the cores. Full meltdown. All over the country. Whichever way the winds would blow, radiation would soon follow, covering every square mile of the nation, eventually, with high levels of radiation, on top of what resulted from the nukes, of course."
"Mister Chairman, we have aired in this show the results of a British government study that 92 to 93 percent of the American population is no longer….this is difficult to say….but no longer alive. Before you came on the show we aired a segment from a former American newspaper reporter. Based on short wave transmissions and other sources, she opined that the number of Americans still alive could be even less. Do you have an opinion on this question of significant interest to many of our viewers?"
"Rab….humph….no one can be precise, naturally. But what I can say is this….however many Americans may still be alive, very few, if any will survive the next twelve to twenty-four months."