The End - a Post Apocalyptic Novel

by G. Michael Hopf

  ****

  San Diego, CA

  “Gordon, what the hell are you doing here?” Jimmy asked, surprised to see his friend up and about.

  “We need to pack up and get out of here,” Gordon said walking into Jimmy’s house.

  “What’s up, man?” Jimmy asked, surprised. He hadn’t seen Gordon awake for days, and here he was now telling him they had to leave.

  “Samantha told me about what happened with Mindy and Dan. I know that any day now they’ll come for our food and resources. We have the issue with those Villistas and now I think we have another huge problem with some type of radiation exposure north of here.”

  “Radiation? Where? Gordon, slow down,” Jimmy said, reaching out and patting Gordon on the arm.

  Looking irritated and tired, Gordon snapped back, “I don’t have time to slow down. It will take us a couple of days to get squared away before we can leave. We don’t have the luxury of slowing down! I need you to trust me! We need to act fast!”

  “Okay, okay,” Jimmy said, putting his hands up.

  Gordon quickly explained to Jimmy his plan of driving to Idaho. After years of knowing Gordon, Jimmy had learned not to interrupt Gordon when he focused like this.

  Gordon’s plan called for them to leave in two days with whoever wanted to come, albeit they had their own supplies and vehicles. The route involved traveling off the main freeways by taking older state highways and surface roads. Avoiding major cities and heavily populated areas was important.

  “How are we doing for vehicles?” Gordon asked.

  “You still have that truck you took from the man you shot at the hospital and Nelson still has his vehicle. Mine was blown up.”

  “What about trailers?”

  “I have the camper we can tow and besides that we have the horse trailer we can use especially since the horses are gone.”

  “What happened to the horses?” Gordon asked, although he had his suspicions as to what might have happened to them.

  “They were killed and eaten about a week ago.”

  “Well, the trailer will come in handy. Who else do you think will want to come?”

  Jimmy gave his opinion on who he thought might want to join their convoy to the north. They discussed the merits of each person or family to determine if they would be a good fit.

  “Your idea of who can go and not is kinda harsh!” Jimmy exclaimed.

  “What’s wrong with it?” Gordon asked.

  “The way you put it, sounds like no one can go except for us, your criteria even excludes Melissa and her baby.”

  “If Melissa wants to go, I’ll take her but that’s it. Everyone needs to have their own vehicle and food. We don’t have enough of our own supplies to go around and feed a large convoy of people.”

  “I hear what you’re saying, but there are some good people here who don’t have what you deem necessary but would be an asset.”

  “I don’t care, Jimmy; they’re not coming unless they have the supplies to take care of themselves,” Gordon said sternly.

  “You’re jaded. You have always been a bit rough around the edges; I suppose that came from the war.”

  “You keep bringing that up. Let me explain to you why I’m not here to take care of everyone. I was once idealistic and believed in taking care of everyone who couldn’t take care of themselves. I took this blind idealism with me when I dropped out of college and joined the Marine Corps after 9/11. I thought it was my generations’ calling to support this country and to promote freedom. I left everything behind and went to war. I did the best I could over there and the thanks I received from many in this country was ridicule and hatred. I was used as a political pawn after an incident in Fallujah by those who looked down on me. I was over there risking my life to bring freedom to a people who don’t understand it and now hate us. I risked my life to protect the freedoms that many take for granted here. I ended up being the poster child for everything wrong with our war in Iraq. I was headline news when they accused me of murder, but when I was acquitted that never made the news. So, yes, I am jaded! I don’t believe that it’s my responsibility to help everyone anymore. I only have the moral responsibility to take care of my family and loved ones. I have lived a life believing that it’s a man’s responsibility to have the tools to ensure his family is safe and secure. Some men didn’t think that was necessary, they thought owning dozens of expensive watches and designer jeans were more important than having a gun or even a damn knife. If people didn’t take the time to prepare because they thought that was someone else’s responsibility, well, my friend, they can now figure it out. I don’t have the time nor do I care. It’s already hard enough for us to survive without having to sacrifice my resources for others,” Gordon exclaimed, his face flush.

  Jimmy just stood there looking at him, not knowing how to respond. He knew he had struck a nerve with Gordon and didn’t want to get him further upset.

  “Hey, I didn’t mean to get you upset. We’ve all had a lot to deal with, some more than others. Let’s get working on this plan, okay?”

  Gordon wanted to get moving, so he nodded and said, “Okay, let’s get this done and get out of here.”

  JANUARY 4, 2015

  “If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.”

  – Thomas Sowell

  USS Makin Island, Pacific Ocean

  Barone had called an emergency meeting with all of his commanders to discuss the landing in California. The ships were close, and based upon the intelligence from their reconnaissance forces he had a better idea about how the entire operation should proceed.

  He had not been himself since his son’s death. What little sense of humor and kindness he had was now shut down. He had become hard and unforgiving. He poured himself into ensuring nothing else could go wrong, he became hyper focused on getting his men to California. The preparations for the landing consumed most of his waking hours. The only other thing that frequented his thoughts was how he would tell his wife about Billy’s death. He dreaded that future date when he would stand in front of her. The promise he had made to her years ago was now broken. He had promised that he would do what he could to ensure Billy was always safe. While it was an unrealistic promise, he had made it. It was the reality of his death that made the promise feel truly broken. Billy had been under his command, so he could have prevented it. The guilt he felt ran deep inside him, and what came out of him wasn’t depression anymore but anger. He was angry at himself for not monitoring the flight plan more carefully and he was angry that the battle between them and the USS New Orleans even had to take place.

  The vibe and feel on the ship had changed; everyone was careful about what they said and no one made any mistakes. The word given to them from their unit commanders was that the colonel would not accept mediocrity. If anyone wished to change their mind, then they would be arrested and locked up. No more excuses, no more complaining, each and every Marine and sailor had a job to do and it was expected they do it.

  As unit commanders walked into the briefing room, Barone looked at each one. No one said a word to each other, very few looked directly at Barone; there was no small talk. Everyone took a seat quickly in the small room. The seats were set in a series of six rows all facing forward toward a map and screen.

  Barone looked down at his watch and then looked at the men assembled before him. By his count, all were present.

  “Gentlemen, I called this emergency briefing to cover our plan for landing in California. We have had reconnaissance teams going into Southern California for three days now. The intel they have brought back has given critical information for us to draft the plan I am about to detail. However, before I go into this plan I want to set rules for this briefing. I will not take questions as I go, once I have explained everything I will then open the floor for any questions you may have. Is that understood?”

  In a chorus, all the men responded by saying, “Yes, sir.”


  “Great, let me start by covering the ground truth of what is happening in Southern California. Our teams went to these locations,” Barone turned around and pointed to a map that showed Southern California. “Coronado, 32nd Street Naval Base, Point Loma and Camp Pendleton. They reached them safely. They were able to make liaison with the base commanders except for Camp Pendleton. I’m not going to break down what each base commander told us but will jumble it all together as a lot of the information is similar. They report that all electronics were down, no vehicles except older vehicles were operating, aircraft, ships and the entire power grid is down. Each commander has been feeding their personnel on stockpiled MRE’s after they had consumed what food rations they had left in their specific mess halls. They also expressed that they have had trouble with some of their personnel going UA. They have been operating at a lockdown and not allowing civilians onto the base unless they were family members of personnel. They have been monitoring the situation on the outside and report that mass deaths are starting to occur from dehydration, starvation and civil unrest. They have reported roving gangs taking advantage of the situation. The city has descended into chaos gentlemen, there is no law enforcement and there are rumors that the mayor of San Diego has fled the city. They did tell us that they have been receiving communication from the US government now headquartered in an undisclosed location via the SIPRNet, or in layman’s terms the government’s own secret Internet. The Federal government has promised that they soon will be sending supplies, but to date they have received nothing. There are two pieces of confirmed intel that we received that changed our plans from what I had first detailed a few weeks ago. We will not be staying in Southern California. We will only be landing to go retrieve our families and can only stay for a week. After that, we must depart and head north. The reason for this change in plan is because the San Onofre nuclear plant is in full meltdown and radiation has contaminated an area about 10 square miles. Most personnel at Camp Pendleton have evacuated and moved east to 29 Palms. Our teams there met with a few Marines who were remaining from the I MEF command element. The other situation we have is a former Mexican drug cartel has moved into the area. They are expanding quickly across the county. According to reports from Coronado and the few elements left at Camp Pendleton, the cartel’s numbers are growing and they are well-armed. So here is what we are going to be doing: We will conduct an amphibious landing on the beaches of Camp Del Mar here. We will set up a presence at the camp and will operate out of there for a week’s time. We will also conduct a simultaneous operation a day later on Coronado Island. There, those sailors who have families in and around San Diego can go get them. By now you have compiled a list of which Marines or sailors will be going onshore to find their families. We will set up a rotation so that everyone has a 24-hour period to go locate and bring back those family members. We want them to bring back what resources they may have. Those resources are on the list that Simpson is handing out now. We will not be allowing personal possessions such as furniture, trinkets etc. Understood?” Barone looked around and seeing nods of assent finished his briefing, “Gentlemen, this mission will be tough, as not all those looking for loved ones will find them, I fully expect to lose some people to possible fighting and to those who will decide to go UA and not return. I want a full count of your men now and upon departure a week later. Where we have openings, I will fill with them with Marines and sailors who wish to join us from Camp Pendleton and the other bases I mentioned earlier. I do understand that the amount of time we are now giving is not a lot, but with the realities on the ground specifically from San Onofre we cannot stay here. Those going ashore at Camp Del Mar will do so in full MOP gear. We will begin operations at 0530 January 6th. Please have those lists updated so we know who needs to go ashore. We do not want anyone going ashore who wants a joy ride; this is not a liberty port. Tell your men this is now hostile territory and to expect hostile contact. The ROE’s for this mission are every Marine and sailor going ashore will have weapons and ammo, they will return fire if fired upon and if they see an incident where they can defend innocents then they can engage the hostiles. Now I can take questions.”

  A dozen men sitting in front of Barone threw up their arms.

  “Go ahead, major,” Barone said to an officer in the room.

  Standing up the, major asked, “Colonel, you didn’t mention the civilian population. We will be encountering them and they will look to us for food, water etc. What do we do with them? What are the SOPs?” The major sat down after asking his question.

  “Good question, major. We will avoid the local civilian population, we cannot help them; we do not have the surplus resources to give them anything. Your mission, and it cannot deviate, is that we are here to secure those family members and bring them back. Just family members, not friends, not random people; I need you to make this clear to the men. Those caught bringing back stragglers will find the stragglers left adrift at sea, and they may join them if they wish to not follow orders,” Barone said sternly, he then pointed to a captain in the back.

  Standing up, the captain asked, “Can you cover in more detail the rules of engagement?”

  “Captain, the ROE’s for this mission are simple. Every Marine and sailor going ashore will have weapons and ammo, they will return fire if fired upon and if they see an incident where they can defend innocents then they can engage the hostiles. I do not want our men going out looking for a fight; we have a short window here and we must have them get to their family and return directly. I want to stress that this mission is to just go directly to residences or locations of their family members, pick them up and come directly back. I do not want our troops out on a joy ride or fucking off. We don’t have time for that.”

  One by one he went through and picked each and every officer and senior NCO who had their hand up. He would not let anyone leave this room until they were all clear about the mission ahead. He was now down to the last two Marines.

  “Go ahead master sergeant,” Barone said pointing toward the center of the room to a tall and bald older man.

  “Colonel, what are we going to do with the prisoners? They are using up resources and there are a lot of them,” the master sergeant said.

  “Master sergeant let me just be blunt, those Marines and sailors who are in the brig now will not be joining us after we depart. We are going to dump their asses on the beach with some MRE’s and water. We will provide them with them means to defend themselves because in the end they are still our brothers, but we will not be taking them with us. We will wish them well and that will be it. I think that answered your question.”

  The master sergeant nodded and said, “Yes sir, it did. It was crystal clear.”

  Looking around the room there was one last hand raised and Barone called on him, “You there, Captain..Ah…Smiley,” Barone said hesitating then grinning when he read the captain’s name.

  “Thank you, colonel. Where are we going after we depart San Diego?”

  “Another good question. Captain once we complete Operation Homestead we will be departing San Diego and heading north toward Oregon. We have spotted a good location to conduct an amphibious landing in Coos Bay. After we secure the beach head we will march toward Salem, the capital, and take it.”

  Captain Smiley looked stunned when Barone finished what he said. He then asked, “Take it, sir?”

  “Yes, captain, take it. We will need a new place to call home. We will need a new country to start. We have the means, we have the resources, hell, captain we have an army! What we don’t need are sniveling politicians telling us what they’re going to do with what we have. We don’t answer to them anymore; we only answer to ourselves. No longer will we be second-class citizens. We will go to Oregon to set up a new country where it’s not the politicians or the celebrities who are at the top of the food chain. We will build a country where the warrior is appreciated and where the warrior class is above everyone else. There is plenty of land in Oregon, good land. This is whe
re we will settle down. I chose Oregon because there are no nuclear plants within 500 miles. The area is easily defended due to the mountains, there is plenty of wild game, and they have four seasons and get plenty of rain so agriculturally we can be self-sufficient. This will be our new home, gentlemen, and we won’t ask permission to come there. We will take what we need and not be sorry for it. We, all of us, have sacrificed a lot. Many of our brothers made the ultimate sacrifice and for what? For a country where half of the people don’t even care for them or respect them? We are no longer sacrificing for a lazy people. Does that answer your question?” Barone finished, his face flush.

  “Yes, sir,” the captain said starting to sit down. He stopped, stood straight up again and asked another quick question. “Sir, what do we tell our men this new mission is called?”

  “Rubicon, Operation Rubicon.”

  ****

  Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

  Conner stood staring at Julia sleeping; a range of emotions ran through him. Last night had finished better than it had started. She had finally given in and told him that she understood. Realizing that he had a tough job, she decided to support him. She made him promise that he wouldn’t do anything foolish and he agreed that he wouldn’t.

  Before he tore his gaze away and left, he bent down and gave her one more kiss. Pressing his lips against her warm cheek, he held it there for a few seconds while taking a breath through his nose so he could capture and remember her smell. He gently touched her hair and whispered in her ear, “I love you, Julia.” It took a lot of inner strength to pull away. While he had made her that promise, he really couldn’t guarantee his safety. Standing at the door, he grabbed the knob but couldn’t turn it. He turned around and looked at the room. He wanted to create a mental image of everything in there. The trip would only take two weeks, but not knowing what he would encounter he wanted to remember this moment. .