The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (11 page)

That night it
snowed for hours, but the EMP didn’t hit until two days later.

It had been
three days since the EMP took out all of the news stations.  The group’s damage
was mostly to some unshielded radios and vehicles, though Jim was startled that
some of the unshielded vehicles would still start.  All of the shielded
electronics were fine.  When Jim asked about this, Rob said, “We just plain got
lucky. It was weak enough or far enough away to not fry everything.”

For some of the
vehicles that were affected, Dave and Frank were able to replace solenoids and
computers to get them working again.  A few were now just rolling scrap heaps.

They had
started dismantling the metal surrounding the RV ports, drilling out the rivets
and carefully stacking the sheet metal in one of the empty storage containers
for future use.  It was a low priority job at this point and might take a few
days.

Julio started
teaching firearm safety and marksmanship classes using pellet guns at first
then moving up to twenty-two rifles and pistols.  It was a good starting place
for the folks who didn’t have a background in shooting and a good review for
those who did.  The plan was to move on to combat shooting and squad tactics as
soon as it was safe to do so.    

Once students were
cleared by Julio, they were given an AR 15 and a .40 caliber pistol unless they
had their own firearms that they were more comfortable using. 

Rob asked Jim
to teach hand to hand and knife skills due to his background in teaching Japanese
and Russian martial arts.  It would take a few weeks of daily classes, but they
would soon be able to combine the martial arts training with paint ball
sessions to work on combat shooting while moving.  The plan was to start paint
ball teams once everyone had the basics down. 

Rob insisted
that his people stop in for advanced classes with Jim.  The eye rolling stopped
right after Dave was disarmed and tied into knots repeatedly.   Rob just sat
back and laughed as Jim tied Dave into a pretzel and said, “Pussy!” when Dave
tapped out. 

Projects
continued as well.  The solar power systems were set up for the pub, cabin,
mobile home, and RVs.  Security cameras running off of solar power charged
batteries were placed to monitor the road and other approaches to the property. 
They broadcast the pictures which could then be picked up on a hand held
monitor. 

A “good enough”
filtration system was set up so that they could pump pond water to a tank above
the laundry/bathroom/ shower facility.  After being run through a filter, a
small amount of chlorine was added to the water to kill anything off and it was
more than adequate to meet their cleaning requirements.  The gray water was
used for the plants and the sewage was sent into a septic tank.

A much better
filtration system was in place to produce potable water, but there wasn’t the
need for it yet.  Rob delivered a stern warning about the need to preserve
water and to limit showers to as short as possible. 
Everyone is going to be
very happy for those hot tubs by the time we finish
, thought Jim.

The pumps were installed
to run pond water to a tank above the greenhouses, where Helen had set up an automatic
watering system.  They planted the greenhouses right away and started heating
them as needed.  

Water pumps
were also in place to pump pond water up to a small artificial waterfall to
help aerate the pond.  Fishing at the pond was proving to be one of the most
popular leisure activities among the men, even though it was catch and release
unless you were planning to eat the fish that day. 

The hydroponics
shed was producing well.  The pumps were run off of solar power and batteries
and the lights were run off a small generator during the night.  Already there
was a fair crop of tomatoes; so many that they were going to have to start
canning them soon.

Rita was
enjoying cooking with all of the fresh vegetables.  Jim had to admit that the
meals were some of the best he had eaten anywhere. 
Here we are at the end
of the world, and we're eating like we're in a five star restaurant,
thought Jim. 
Something feels wrong about this.

A
communications room was set up in a bedroom of the mobile home.  A monitor for
the security cameras was placed in there so it was easy to watch the monitor
while monitoring for information.  Communication with the outside world was
limited to shortwave radio and Ham radio, and so far the reports were of chaos
all over the country as supplies were running out and the virus was wreaking
havoc.  It was frightening. 

No one felt
like celebrating New Year’s Eve, so everyone was left to make their own dinners
and use the time to unwind as they chose.  It was just another night in the new
world.

JANUARY 5
^th

This is the
coolest stuff I’ve ever seen,
thought Luke.  It was his second week of
classes with Uncle Jim and he was amazed by what he was learning. 

“Human beings
fight with weapons.  You are human beings.  If you’re going to fight and it’s
real, you should be using a weapon.  You need to have the understanding that your
opponent is armed, even if you haven’t seen the weapon yet.  You need to
understand that he probably has a friend with him who is also armed, even if
you haven’t spotted the friend yet.”

Jim waved Frank
up and said “Punch.”  Frank punched at full speed and somehow missed by
centimeters then froze, feeling the point of the training blade stabbing into
the skin above the carotid artery. 

I never even
saw the knife come out! 
 This was nothing like what Luke thought it would
be.

“Again.”  This
time Luke watched closer, and still missed it.

“Okay let me
show you what I did.  Very slowly this time, Frank. “This time Luke could see
Jim shift back and then to the side while his right hand drew the knife
downward from where it was tucked into his belt.

“It’s upside
down!” 

“That’s it,
Luke, the knife isn’t where you thought it was supposed to be so you didn’t
even see the draw earlier.  That’s an important lesson in itself.  Okay,
everyone.  Practice slow and accurate.  Be good to your training partner.  Help
each other to learn.  This isn’t a competition.  Play!” 

After class,
Luke asked Uncle Jim, “Why don’t the movies show this kind of thing?”

“Did you think
about that question first?”

“Because the
real thing is too hard to see?”

 “And why would
it be designed to be too hard to see?”

“Because it’s
real and you win by not letting the bad guy be able to figure out what you’re
doing!”

“I’d say that’s
a good answer, don’t you think?” 

“Thanks Uncle
Jim!”

After class,
Luke left the training room and ran to catch up with Julie and her hot
friends.  “Hey you guys!”

Helen looked
back, “Uh, oh.  Anybody hear a mosquito?”

Angie answered,
“I thought it was a stink bug.” 

Julie laughed
and said, “It’s another kind of pest,” and grabbed Matt lightly in a headlock
and started grinding her knuckles into the top of his head. 

He tucked and
turned his head, slipped out of her arm and tackled her at the legs.  Next
thing he knew he was pinned by all five of her friends who were tickling him
mercilessly.  He was in teenage boy heaven.

After a couple
of minutes, Julie said, “Okay, pip squeak.  That’s enough attention for one
day.  You go play with the boys before we put a dress on you.”

“No, not
that.”  He was up and out of there like a shot. 

As soon as he
was around the corner, Pia said, “He seemed awfully
happy
to see us.” 
They all laughed.

Julie said,
“Don’t encourage him.  I don’t want to be looking at my little brother pitching
a tent every time any of you are around.”

“Oh he’s not
that
little,” said Samantha, and they all cracked up again. 

Poor kid has
no idea the teasing he’s in for,
thought Julie.
 
She almost felt
sorry for him, but knew he would enjoy every minute of it. 

The new girls
were sharing the fifth wheel and the motor home that Helen and Julie had bought
on the night of the lockdown and the youngest, Jamie, was staying with Julie
and Helen.  So far it was working, but Julie had a feeling that having the
three in the fifth wheel wasn’t going to last.  Too much togetherness wasn’t especially
comfortable.  Even so, they would all have to watch out for each other. 
And
I’ll have to keep a close eye on all of them since I brought them in
.

JANUARY 7
^th

“Well, that
didn’t take long,” said Jim.  The men were watching the security monitors where
a truck with a couple of hunters pulled up to the end of the road to the
ranch.  The two hunters stopped to put on ghillie suits. 

“You’ve got to
be kidding me,” Rob said.  “These clowns are just asking for it.  How about a
warning shot?”

Frank said,
“Good idea,” and Jim agreed as well. 

Rob picked up
the radio and said, “Okay for a warning shot.”

Will’s voice
answered, “Copy that.”

A moment later,
a tree to the left of the hunters took a .50 caliber round into a branch about
8 feet up, shattering it.  Both of the men dropped to the ground and turned
their rifles toward where they thought the shot came from.   Both were still in
Will’s scope.

After a few
minutes they stood up, shouldered their rifles, and waved, before walking back
to the truck and driving off. 

Will said over
the radio, “Not quite as stupid as they looked.”

Rob answered,
“Nice shooting, Will.  See you at lunch.”

“Sounds good,
boss.”

The rest of the
men talked in headquarters.  Jim said, “Those ghillie suits bother me.  Those
are for people, not for hunting.”

“Yeah, but
those ass clowns didn’t even know that you don’t drop flat when someone’s
shooting from above,” added Frank. “That was amateur hour out there and they
just got pulled off stage with a big hook.”

“We need a
policy decision,” added Jim, “I would argue that the ghillie suits indicated
hostile intent, but I don’t want to tie the hands of the watch.  If Will had
chosen to drop them, I would have been okay with that.  In this case, I think
he made the right decision.  If they come back armed, I’m more than okay with
removing them from the gene pool.”  Rob nodded agreement.

“Look, you
folks are professionals at this sort of thing,” Jim said, “I trust your judgment. 
I just don’t want the non-pros making that kind of decision without some kind
of guidelines.  We need to train them to be able to handle situations like
this.

“We also need
to have the ability to talk to whoever is down there without exposing ourselves
to anything.  Maybe stashing an intercom system?  I don’t know.  We can put up '
Lethal
Force Beyond this Point'
signs.  There were too many people involved in
putting up buildings and making deliveries to the properties.  We’ll be
remembered.

“We should have
a quarantine building with a couple weeks’ supplies at the far edge of the
property, too.  If someone lasts 10 days without showing symptoms, they’re
clean.  I’m not looking to bring in people, but there may come a time that we
need to, or we may need to quarantine one of ours.”

Rob answered,
“We’ll do those things, but I won’t endanger the mission.  It’s too important
and we really don’t have a plan B, or even any kind of real timeline.  It could
be two years before we get a vaccine, then we’d need every bit of food we have
for ourselves. 

JANUARY 10
^th

Jim’s radio
woke him in the early morning hours.  Julio’s voice came across, “We have a
single intruder on property.  We have a single intruder on the north side.” 

Rob’s voice
answered, “Watch’s call.”

“Affirmative.” 

Susan woke to
Jim dressing in the dark.  He told her, “We have an intruder.  The watch is
going to deal with him if need be.  Get dressed and stay down.

Jim shouldered
his crossbow, picked up his Beretta CX4 nine millimeter rifle and put his matching
Beretta nine millimeter pistol in its holster on his right hip. He plugged the
ear piece and microphone to the radio and broadcast, “Jim is up and out,” before
stepping out into the night.  He heard the click as Susan locked the RV behind
him. 

There was the
faint sound of a shot through a silencer, and Julio’s voice whispered in his
ear piece, “The intruder is down.”

Jim answered,
“Roger that.  Are we clear?”

Ann and Matt
both answered affirmative. 
I’d forgotten Matt was on morning watch,
Jim
thought, grimacing.  He hoped Matt wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger. 

By this time,
all of the adults were up, dressed in woodland camouflage, and heavily armed. 
They were all at their emergency stations.

Jim put on his
facemask and started up the tractor with the smaller back hoe.  He located the
body, dug a six foot hole, and pushed the body into the hole with the bulldozer
blade on the front of the tractor.  He pushed all of the blood soaked dirt into
the hole first, then filled in the rest of the grave and leveled the area.    

Rob kept
everyone up and watching for the next few hours, telling Jim, “I don’t expect
any more issues right now, but it’s a good chance to practice, and I don’t want
to waste it.” 

“It’s not like
anyone is going back to sleep anyway,” said Jim. 

“One thing, we
know people are getting hungry about now.  That won’t be the last body we bury
out there.”

“There's just
something about killing other Americans that feels very wrong to me.”