by Pete Thorsen
The fact that I liked to work hard and end each day tired let me fit right in with the other two. And Lily was sure no shrinking violet and she could easily out work most men I think. Though we worked hard the three of us found enjoyment in the work and just being outside and enjoying the natural world around us. I was surprised at all the different wild critters we would see on just about a daily basis.
I told them that I could not get enough of taking in the beauty of the surrounding country. I did realize that both of them even after living all their lives on this ranch still appreciated the fact that they actually lived in such a wonderland.
Chapter Twelve
Finally bowing to pressure the federal government decided to re-open the US stock markets. It was announced on a Thursday that the markets (at a new location) would open on the following Monday and would remain open and follow all the existing market times and rules.
When the markets opened on that Monday stocks fell at a rapid pace and this was expected and caused no undue alarm. The market-wide circuit breakers kicked in causing a coordinated cross-market trading halt and then resumed after the standard ‘cooling off’ period. This happened twice and then the level three trigger was reached and the markets closed for the day.
All this had been expected and there was no panic or anything. The markets had been expected to drop and the early close would likely happen at least on Tuesday also. World markets had fallen a large amount and the US markets were bound to follow suit at least to some point. So falling enough causing two or three short trading days was what had been predicted and expected.
Tuesday the markets opened and had the same results as Monday with the two breaks and then the early closing for the day. Wednesday followed the same pattern. When it happened the exact same way on Thursday some were beginning to be troubled.
Then Friday came with the same result of the two breaks and then promptly closing for the day. The result was the worst week the US markets had ever experienced and many looked to possibly see more of the same on the following Monday’s open.
When the following week resulted in five short trading days due to reaching the level three circuit breaker thresholds causing the coordinated cross-market trading halts everyday many got alarmed.
Talk and predictions were running the gambit and many thought the government would keep the markets closed the next week but many also said that would do little good for anyone. Many people did give the government some credit when they did not keep the markets closed and let ‘nature run its course’ with the values of stocks the following week.
And the stocks continued to fall well below what even most of the more pessimistic economists had predicted. Finally the market mostly settled down at least for now. The loss of market value was listed in the trillions of dollars by most estimates.
With the stock market now at its new low everyone with investments could finally see how much value (if any) they still had left in those accounts. It was 1929 all over again but only much worse. Yes people were jumping out of windows again though most found other ways to end their lives.
With stocks worth so little and with the real estate market also hitting bottom the loss of value was devastating to many. At the same time many people were so poor that the huge number of people that had been on anti-depression drugs found many unable to afford that medication at a time when they really needed it. This also led to many suicides.
Of course the banks now had nothing to hide behind with the stocks down to their actual value. Basically just about every home loan (and business loan) was under water and/or no payments were even being made on them and with the bank’s foreign investments all bad also they now had no recourse except to close. There were no buy-outs or bailouts.
The city governments, the county governments, the state governments, and the federal government were all broke. Businesses and individuals were not paying taxes because they had no money and no jobs.
The states with sales tax were getting almost no income from that source. Gas tax income was almost non-existent. All the non-federal government services were ending, first the non-essential services then more and more of the essential services. The federal government could keep printing more money but it had been doing that for so long and no individuals or other countries were interested in buying our bonds or even would take our dollars.
Everything ground to just about a stop.
But not quite everything there were still stores open and trucks on the highways delivering goods but the numbers of both were way down. Some people were still working at their jobs and still had to drive to and from work every day. Farmers and ranchers still had to work their fields, tend their livestock, and carry on with their regular chores. Winter was fast approaching and in the northern areas many people who found themselves out of work were cutting, splitting, and delivering firewood both for income and wood for themselves.
Flea markets, farmer’s markets, yard sales, and places like Craigslist were full of common people trying to sell or trade what they had for what they needed. Beggars were a very common sight just about everywhere. Many people would work for food but there were just too many looking for any kind work and there were almost no jobs of any kind to be had.
Very few restaurants of any kind were still open. The ‘fast food’ ones were among the first to close but most including everything from diners to five star restaurants were closed because most people just did not have the money to eat out anymore.
Schools were starting across the nation but most were going to a four day a week plan to save on costs and some were talking about dropping back to only three days a week. There were no extra-curricular activities scheduled at any school but often teachers would stay after school and play football or basket ball with the students and then have impromptu games.
Large urban areas were a mess. The federal government deployed all the National Guard to the cities to keep the peace and to provide ‘soup kitchens’ because welfare plans and food stamps were stopped. To receive food at these places you had to show identification and any illegal aliens were arrested on the spot and then deported.
There were riots and looting but looters were shot on sight by the National Guard and rioters were stopped with non-lethal weapons and tear gas and in rare cases when that was not enough lethal weapons were used to end the riots.
Every city now had curfews in place and those were enforced by the troops. It soon became apparent that the National Guard troops were not enough and because Congress had repealed the Posse Comitatus Act regular military troops were then used for added manpower in mostly just the largest cities.
Many people lost their lives. Suicides were very common. Along with death from natural causes when prescription medications ran out and there was just no money to purchase more. And there were a lot of deaths due to violence.
Gangs and the National Guard had many shootouts with the gangs taking the greatest amount of casualties. No one knew just how many looters were shot but some thought that number was very high. And it was also likely that some of the ‘looters’ were totally innocent but there was very little oversight on the National Guard troops or the regular military troops.
FEMA worked hand in hand with the military units to provide the ‘soup kitchens’. With winter coming on in the northern areas, government transportation was provided to bring the now homeless ( or hopeless) people from the northern areas of the nation south to more temperate climates where they were allowed to stay at mostly temporary ‘camps’ where food and lodging were provided.
These camps were often located near farm areas where those in these camps could be then used as ‘farm labor’ to help earn their keep. This had the double benefit of assuring that farm labor was readily available, that work was done only by US citizens, and no one got a ‘free ride’ with benefits. It also kept the food ‘train’ up and running so the nation would not run low on food.
Word did get out that anyone receiving any benefits from our government were all
getting ‘chipped’ with biometric identification chips. These chips were ‘injected’ into the backs of people after their regular identification was verified and from then on their ID could be very easily scanned with hand held scanners or even at some distance with larger scanners.
Many objected to these chips but were told that they were voluntary and if they did not want to get chipped they could just leave. But no food or lodging was provided without those receiving such being chipped. All those in any military branch had also been chipped along with all prisoners in federal prisons. Illegals were all chipped before being deported and told if they showed up here again they would be shot.
None of this happened over night as the federal government has always moved very slowly. There were many reports of deaths by starvation long before the soup kitchens had been set up despite the best efforts of many church groups.
There was certainly a limit to the number of these soup kitchens and while large urban areas had several and smaller cities would have one or two smaller towns had none. And of course those living in rural areas were on their own to find food. Some of these rural folks that could find transportation to a military detachment; they could then be provided government transportation to the nearest camp. At least there they would not starve.
Chapter Thirteen
Life on the ranch was idyllic with hard work shared among the three friends. Ben taught me some about hunting and I was with him when he shot a ‘spike’ bull elk. I was obviously still learning much but more and more we would split up during the days now with each of us doing our own tasks for the day.
In the evenings we continued to listen to the news reports on the radio daily. Sometimes the news was so bad that Lily would openly weep for the many people who had lost their lives or loved ones.
There was never any kind of good news and some of the reports were so bad that we all found it hard to believe, especially given our own peaceful and happy surroundings. Things just were getting worse and worse and we wondered if and when it would hit the bottom.
Violence was widespread throughout the whole nation and though mostly centered in and around big cities it was bad in rural areas also. Some of the reports of home invasions and robberies were very gruesome and were somewhat reminiscent of the Indian war party attacks of one or two hundred years ago.
I told Ben and Lily that we should all start carrying handguns on us all the time and after some more of the awful gruesome reports there were no objections to this practice. Ben even put loaded rifles in handy spots in the house and the barn.
We were very secluded here with our closest neighbor over two miles away and the odds of any evil doers showing up way out here was slim indeed. But it was still a possibility and Ben told our neighbor that it would be a good idea for them to be armed all the time also. They also made a pact to lend any assistance they could to the other in these very trying times.
When we heard about the biometric identification chips the government was basically forcing on the citizens we were not all that surprised. It was something that had been talked about for many years with most scientists and news commentators saying it was just a matter of time before these chips were common place and now they were actually here.
There was always plenty of work to be done at the ranch and we were always busy every day and all day long. The changing season with winter coming led us to be doing different things to prepare for the coming months. The one day it took for Ben to go out and shoot that small bull elk was like a vacation day for us. Of course we all got involved with the aftermath of hanging, skinning, quartering, de-boning, cutting and grinding, wrapping, and finally freezing all the meat.
Ben even worked on the elk hide and tanned it for later use. His dad had tanned all the deer and elk hides from the animals he had shot but it had been many years since Ben had done so. He thought it was time to get back into the practice again. Nothing could go to waste anymore during these hard times.
We got a couple of light snowfalls that melted off and we all knew soon the snow would stay. I asked how much snow they usually got here and Ben said it varied a lot from year to year but around four feet was common. It was obvious that we would be snowed in over winter because we were all sure the roads would not be plowed. It was before we got any real snow that we had the problem.
It was a typical day on the ranch. Ben was out on horseback and was going to start moving a few head cattle to another pasture. Ben and I had cut wood all day the day before and I was going out with the small tractor and a wagon and load the wood and bring it in. Lily was working on a couple projects up around the house. Ben and I had not packed lunches because we would be close by and would just eat lunch back at the house (though maybe not at the same time).
Late morning found me heading back to the ranch with a good load in the wagon. When I got closer I saw what looked like a pickup parked up by the house. A very rare event. The barn was in the way and I could not see the house hardly at all from where I was coming from.
I was not alarmed but did leave the tractor and wagon behind the barn and on a whim when I walked past the barn I picked up the rifle that was now always stored there. I had shot all the guns on the ranch and was now pretty familiar with all of them, something I was soon to be thankful for.
Walking towards the house I did not see anyone but when I got closer I heard angry sounding voices from the other side of the house. When I walked around the corner of the house I immediately threw the little saddle carbine to my shoulder at the sight before me.
There were two men and Lily with one man holding tightly to Lily’s arms behind her back and I could see blood on the corner of her mouth. The other man had blood pouring from his nose and was very obviously mad and was just raising a pistol which he was going to use to strike Lily when I yelled.
“Let her go and you might live another day. I’ll not tell you again.”
“You drop that rifle or I’ll shoot this hell cat.”
I already had the gun to my shoulder and only shifted the sights slightly and pulled the trigger. The man with the pistol and the bloody nose flew backwards from the force of the bullet striking his head. I worked the action fast while I swung the rifle towards the other man. About that time Lily brought the heel of her cowboy boot down very hard on the instep of the right foot of man holding her. He screamed in pain and let go of her and when she was just clear I put a bullet into his chest.
It was over in just a few seconds with two very dead looking men on the ground and then the realization that I had just killed these two men hit me and I started to feel my knees get all wobbly and thought I would fall down when Lily stepped up and hugged me.
That’s the scene that Ben saw when he came up with his horse on a dead run and his pistol in one hand and the reins in the other.
Chapter Fourteen
Lily was fine but had a bad bruise and a swollen lip. She had punched the one guy in the nose almost knocking him out but he had struck her a hard blow also. She was dazed from the blow when the other man had grabbed her from behind.
Both Lily and Ben could hardly thank me enough for saving her life. After hearing the story Ben said he did not think either of the two deserved to be buried so he used a horse and a rope to drag them well away from the place for the critters to feast on.
The back of their pickup was plumb full of ‘loot’ which we unloaded and put away in the house and sheds. There were several guns (Ben had taken the pistols and holsters off the dead men along with a considerable amount of money before dragging them off). We parked their empty pickup along side one of the sheds and would worry about what to do with it later.
I got over the trauma of killing the two men in time and put the episode behind me. After the first few days the event was not talked about between us any longer. What was done had to be done and it was all over and done with and there was no sense on dwelling over it.
There were several jokes at Lilly’s expense about her bruise and swollen lip but
soon that was gone and things were back to normal. It was shortly after that when Mother Nature did her part and put a fresh clean blanket of snow over everything to totally change the view.
Within a month we got enough snow so the road was impassable to regular pickups and such. Horses or a snowmobile (if you had one with fuel) was the only way you could travel other than skis or snow shoes. We no longer had to worry about bad guys showing up here anyway.
Work at the ranch dropped with the heavy snow and cold weather. Oh there were always some chores that needed doing but we now had a lot of free time which was something new (at least since I had been here).
We all listened to the radio more now and we noticed a gradual change from the constant bad news. Things actually appeared to be maybe on the up swing a little or at least not getting any worse. As the winter wore on the changes were more and more on a positive note.
The federal government was taking a very strong roll in keeping essential services going. First priority was the electric grid and for the coal fired generating plants this had many facets, including mining the coal and keeping the trains running to haul the coal to power stations.
From there the oil refineries were kept going using our own oil that we produced here in the United States. With the drastically reduced travel on the highways we now produced plenty of oil for what we currently needed. After it was refined we even had some excess that could be shipped out to other countries.
No one trusted any country’s currency anymore but they used more of a barter system to begin with. We had some refined petroleum products and some food products mostly for export. And there were plenty of items we wanted to import so deals were reached and the trades happened. Fuel was made available to the nation’s fishing fleet so they could provide our citizens with plenty of protein from fish.