Dystopia Box Set [Books 1-4]

by Cooper, DJ

  She shot him a dirty look. “What? Do I just sit there and listen to his commands like some kind of robot?”

  Making a “Pssshhht” sound, she stomped off. Matt was getting flustered as Dez continued, “What I see is he is gonna get people killed if the shit hits the fan. I for one don’t want us to be the ones doing the dying under his power-mad dictatorship.”

  She moved closer to Matt and in a much calmer almost worried tone she said, “How is what he is doing any different than the rights grabbing, power hungry politicians we swear to fight against to defend the Constitution?”

  Matt looked at her quizzically. “I never really thought about it that way. I haven’t been happy with the direction this group is going really. But I do think Loel and a few of the other guys would be an asset to us. This is why I put up with him.”

  Dez nodded, “I know, let’s discuss this tomorrow. I wonder what the guys wanted.”

  Looking out the window, Matt noticed a car pull in the driveway and nodded to Dez. “Well, we’re about to find out. They’re here.” Dez headed for the kitchen to start the coffee as the friends knocked at the door.

  Matt opened the door for the visitors. Standing with Loel was Sam and two others he didn’t recognize. Loel introduced everyone to the two guys that were unfamiliar to them. “Matt, Dez, this is Aaron Mills and Frank Little, and you know Samuel Boyd.” As they all shook hands Loel continued; “Aaron, Frank, this is Matt Burns and Destiny Walters.” Each reached out a hand and shaking they nodded.

  Dez indicated for them to go into the living room, asking if they would like coffee as she went into the kitchen for the cups.

  They each found a place to sit and sat down as Loel began. “I suppose you want to know what we wanted to chat about.”

  “Yeah, it did kinda cross my mind.” Matt laughed.

  They all laughed, as Loel continued. “Well, I guess what I was wondering was, ummmm….”

  After about a thirty-second pause that felt like half an hour, Dez spoke up, “Well, out with it already.” Laughter lightened up the moment.

  Matt turned to Loel and said, “Hey now, no worries, you can always speak your mind. What’s up?”

  Loel hesitated a moment, then blurted out, “I hope you don’t think I'm just a whiny ass. But I don’t think I’m going to continue with that group anymore. George is just out of hand.”

  Matt and Dez looked at each other, while Loel continued, “That’s why I wanted you to meet Aaron and Frank. They have a good group going and I like the way they think. Most of the folks in their group live in small houses or the townhouses just out of town without much of a yard to speak of. They all agree that things are not going well, but don’t really know what to do. “

  He paused a moment for it to sink in and gauge what Matt and Destiny thought. “We all need someplace to train and prepare, and well ummmm...”

  Matt looked at Dez, and both of them burst out laughing; they knew what he was thinking. Their laughter made Loel feel a little uneasy. Sam looked around. He knew Dez and Matt better than Loel and he knew why they were laughing.

  Dez had been saying the very same thing for months now. Matt pretended to be all serious and said, “So you mean to do a bit of survival training and stuff… without George?” He paused, looking at Loel. “Gee Loel, I think George would just about have a meltdown if he found out. He doesn’t even like to see HIS group members barbequing without his presence.”

  Loel looked up at Matt as though he’d crossed some line. Matt simply couldn’t hold in the laughter anymore. He began laughing as did Dez and Sam. Loel looked about the room as if they’d all gone mad.

  Matt stuck out his hand and said, “I’m in… Dez is gonna end up shooting George herself if we don’t get away from that guy!”

  Looking at Dez, he smiled a nice toothy grin and said , “I know the perfect place. Raising an eyebrow, he continued, “Right, Dez?”

  “Yep, will a hundred or so acres do?”

  Aaron and Frank’s eyes widened and almost simultaneously said, “Wow…. Yeah, it would.”

  “Ok then,” Dez said. “Maybe next weekend?”

  She looked at Sam with what Matt was fond of calling ‘the stare’ and said. “I trust you, and it is safe to assume you will ensure all those who attend are…. shall we say…. ok?”

  With a nod, Sam said, “You know it.”

  He knew this was exactly what Dez and Matt were wanting: a group that could defend, build and run the 150-acre farm when the time arose, and he’d carefully chosen these two to meet them.

  Sam was a longtime friend of Matt’s. They’d grown up together since starting middle school but they’d lost touch over the six years Sam was in the Marines. It was only a few years ago during a visit with Matt’s parents that they’d run into each other again.

  Shortly after that time, Sam decided to move to Kentucky near where Matt and Dez lived and was part of their prepper group already. Dez added a comment to the murmurings, “Did anyone take note that it’s September 11th in four more days? I think it’s strange that this Ebola thing comes out now.”

  Aaron replied, “Personally, I think this is some kind of false flag. You know, something to draw attention away from something else possibly?”

  Dez nodded, “Agreed. Matt has been harping on the same thing. We should all check our supplies just in case.”

  Aaron had a small notebook he was writing in and without looking up, he was shaking his head in affirmation saying, “mhmmm.” Stopping his writing and looking at Dez and then to the ceiling he tapped his pencil on the pad, “And we need to get some kind of coms to stay in touch in case phones don’t work or power goes out.”

  Loel looked a little shocked and asked, “Do you think we need to get all worked up? It isn’t even in this state.”

  Frank and Matt were animatedly discussing security with Sam, who put his hand up to pause them and turned from his own conversation at hearing Loel. “I think we should take it seriously but not for the Ebola. I think something else is going on and something as big as Ebola. With so little being said about it? Just tells me there is definitely more to this.”

  Dez stood and headed for the bookcase. She reached in and grabbed a book on ham radios. Turning back, she looked at Loel and said, “I think we should treat it all like something bad will happen tomorrow.” Everyone went silent and listened as she continued, “What’s the worst that can happen? We end up ahead of the game?” Going back to her seat she added, “I agree with Sam on this, something doesn’t feel right. We need to step things up and get organized if we can.”

  Looking through the book, she asked them, “Do you each have a CB? We can start there for our comms. I can get Tawny to work on some stuff for CB communication codes; she’s good with that stuff. We can’t just blurt things out over unsecured airwaves.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement and made some preliminary plans for the following weekend to head out to the land and have a look around.

  After another hour of discussions, Dez said, “It’s late, we have a pretty good start on things for this evening. What do we say we get some rest and consider the things we discussed and chat later in the week?”

  Loel shook both their hands and said, “Guys you are awesome… I was a little unsure as to how you would take my words about George. I like him and all, but he is just too radical for me.”

  Dez and Matt agreed with him and told him so. As Dez was cleaning up the coffee mess, Matt said, “See! I knew we could hook up with some good guys. I think this is going to be a good thing.”

  Dez agreed, “I trust Sam. He knows we don’t share the location with others… he must think they’re ok or he would never have suggested it.”

  Chapter 3

  “OPEC”

  “Beware the greedy hand of government, thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry

  -Thomas Paine

  September 11

  The day seemed to be going smoothly although they all seemed just
a little on edge. They tried to continue as normal throughout the day as anyone could with Ebola topping the news of the day. All while scattered snippets of Isis threats, weather reports, and what Kardashian was doing what dominated the rest of the news. The group CB channel was abuzz with chatter of various reports of alert and incidence, more as a test of range and general set up than anything else.

  Remaining vigilant and aware of things but appearing calm was the mantra for the day. The evening cam, and eerily there were no reports of attacks or incidences all that day, offering a sense of relief to Matt, Dez, and Tawny. Later that evening the new group was planning to meet at Dez and Matt’s house again, but this meeting was going to include all those who would be considered.

  Tawny was in attendance this time, although she was not happy to do so after attending one of George’s Militia group meetings. Dez assured her this was not the same and apologized for dragging her to that other meeting.

  When she came inside the house, she was decidedly against anything going on and was more than a little disagreeable. As the others began to arrive, she mused to Dez that things were looking up, especially once she caught sight of Sam.

  “Now who is that?” Tawny whispered to her as she eyed Sam while he spoke with Matt.

  Dez smiled at Tawny with that knowing smile they shared that said, “I’ll tell you later.”

  Sam caught Tawny staring a few times during the meeting. He leaned over and told Matt that he thought she was quite lovely and wanted to know all about her if they had a chance to talk later on. Matt laughed, telling his friend he would fill him in later.

  Sam said, “Hook me up, man.” They both laughed.

  During the meeting they discussed an online group. This group was ONLY for these members and there would not be additions to the group unless they met with everyone in person. This was for sharing and information within the group only.

  Matt knew that secretly Dez wanted to lurk about on their online profiles as a way to ‘background check’ their new friends. While she knew that people don’t always show their true selves online, she hoped she could possibly garner some insight into their new friends. She assured Matt that it would never be used as a reason for anyone to be included or not. She said that she felt ‘it would give them an idea of the personalities of those in the group.’

  It was also discussed that they would monitor CB channel seven for group info, at least until Tawny could come up with a good comms plan, a system where the channels would change by the day.

  Between the Isis concerns, economic woes, threats of war, solar flares and Yellowstone, not forgetting to mention whatever else might lie ahead, the group was very much on edge. Add to that the increased threat of Ebola and things seemed more urgent these days.

  Loel spoke up. “I don’t know what might happen, but it is definitely a good thing to have a well-organized group of friends if we should find ourselves in a bad spot.” He then raised his glass, to which everyone responded in kind.

  All in all, it was a good meeting. Matt, however, went to bed that night with an uneasy feeling. He’d had the same nagging uneasiness for days but thought it was simply September 11th that was bothering him. He could now see that was not it, there was something else that was making him feel anxious, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

  He knew that something was eating at him, he just couldn’t figure out what made him so uptight. He’d been trying to put all the pieces of things together. It really bugged him that the news had still not revealed any details about this Ebola thing. They did little more than repeat the first message. He could not help but wonder about it and questioned what it could be a smokescreen for.

  Sleep eluded him for a long time because he could not make his thoughts go calm. He kept running scenarios over and over until he finally succumbed and fell asleep.

  September 14

  Matt woke up and headed to the kitchen for some coffee to find Dez fussing over his cup already. The past few days were sort of a blur and all seemed calm. He thought he was all worked up about nothing and was just grateful for the quiet morning that felt almost normal. Almost.

  They never seemed to tire of hanging out together. Dez was a writer, and Matt worked on computers, so both of them could work from home most days. They sat having their coffee on the porch swing, enjoying the crisp morning air when Tawny came hurriedly up. Dez raised her cup and said,

  “Day off? Grab a cup.”

  Tawny headed for the door. “Yea, but let’s have it inside. You need to look at the news.”

  Matt instantly felt dread. He’d known something was wrong for weeks… Something more than just September 11th, Ebola, or run of the mill terrorist stuff.

  They sat in front of the TV, reading the ticker along the bottom. Today’s real news wasn’t even spoken by the anchor. Questioning how the news agency could not think this was important enough to speak on was beyond them. The ticker read “financial markets are experiencing a drop today in the wake of an OPEC announcement. The standard for oil sales will no longer be backed in U.S. currency; all oil will now be transferred in Gold.”

  They all knew what this meant. Although most Americans had no clue what the petrodollar is, Matt, Dez, and Tawny knew exactly what this meant…. Hyperinflation. The question as to what Ebola news was obscuring became clear. What had been plaguing Matt was on the horizon. This was something they were sure of and felt a desperate need to get things in order. And Fast.

  Thank goodness it was Friday and payday. They decided to pull nearly all their cash out of the bank. This was just for safekeeping. They also planned to go out to pick up a few things and felt they needed to do it today.

  Dez texted her kids: they, too, knew what the end of the petrodollar meant. Charleigh texted back immediately saying she was going to the bank for money. They’d seen the news and were getting some things ready. They would come down for the weekend… at least.

  Matt phoned Sam to get his opinion and see if they could get a few of them together later in the day. Sam agreed to phone the others and get it set up.

  Matt looked up from his texts. “We didn’t even have time to get out and make one campout. This is going to get rough.”

  Dez and Tawny grabbed their purses and were ready to go. They took the truck and headed to the store, while Matt and Dylan got Charleigh and Conner’s room set up.

  Dylan, excitedly looking at him, said, “Is Jeremy coming, too?”

  Dylan liked Jeremy and hoped he would be coming back soon.

  Matt smiled and said, “I expect we will be seeing him soon and Toni as well.”

  Dylan was excited and ran off to Jeremy’s room exclaiming, “I’ll get the stuff for his room, too!”

  Matt remembered they’d not heard from Jeremy yet and decided to call him and see if he’d heard the news. After a couple of rings, Jeremy answered,

  “Hey, Matt.”

  Matt laughed, “Guess there is nothing like caller id to spoil a surprise.” He continued in his best Boston accent. “Hey, theah guy how you doin on this wicked good day.” He and Jeremy were always doing that bit. They would have entire conversations this way and it would keep everyone laughing. Dez always said they watched too many Adam Sandler movies.

  Jeremy quipped back, “I’m wicked busy, what’s up theah guy?”

  Matt asked him if they had heard about the Petro-dollar. Jeremy replied, “Yeah guy, we were just heading to Walmaht for some hookahs and some beeahs to toast the end of Americah.”

  Matt laughed while Jeremy continued in a more serious tone and explained they had already cashed his check and were planning to take at least the next week off and head down tonight, just in case.

  Jeremy was already homesick and not happy that this job had lasted a month longer than expected and told Matt he would be glad to be coming home. He hated Pittsburgh; he hated all big cities for that matter and longed for some of the fresh air and the space of home.

  Matt checked the time. It was
nearly six o’clock already and the question that had been plaguing him would be answered soon. He was half keeping an eye on the news, half organizing and checking their supplies when a knock at the door startled him.

  He went to the door to find Sam standing outside with his pack and gun slung across his back. His truck in the driveway was loaded with four large crates of various ammo and supplies.

  Matt cocked his head to the side to pretend he was checking it out and said, “Going hunting?”

  Sam used his best John Wayne impersonation and said, “Nope, reporting for security detail.”

  They both laughed as Matt motioned Sam to come inside, explaining that only ten minutes earlier he himself was impersonating Adam Sandler.

  Matt knew Sam lived alone and in the opposite direction from everyone else in the group. They had already planned for him to be issued the spare bedroom when things went bad.

  Matt asked Sam, “So… you think this is it?”

  “Either that or a practice run for us. No matter which way it goes I figured I’d better come help before everyone comes over,” nodding as he headed down the hall to stow his gear in the spare room.

  Tawny and Dez came home with what they called their bounty. Matt and Sam, followed by an enthusiastic Dylan, dutifully went out to bring in the ‘goods;’ as Dez had called it. They said they’d just picked up some basics but when Matt approached the truck he exclaimed,

  “Did you leave anything for anyone else?”

  Tawny replied, “Nope,” and flashed a sly grin.

  They got the basics all stowed away and organized. It consisted mostly of canned and dry goods, along with fuel for the generator, toilet paper, and even liquor of all kinds. Everyone knew it was all to be expected in one of their trips for the long-term and emergency items. What Sam questioned was the meat. They’d purchased at least twenty-five pounds of steak and another twenty pounds of chicken, pork and turkey. He asked why they’d bought so much meat. If they expected to lose power how they would preserve it?