Dystopia: The Beginning of the End (6 page)

Chapter 7

“Bad Tidings”

“If ever again our nation stumbles upon unfunded paper, it shall surely be like death to our body politic.  This country will crash”

- George Washington

The next few days offered little in the way of news on either the banking holiday or the Ebola outbreak.  While each of them had their thoughts on these things, mostly they just tried to enjoy the weekend. 

They spent some time harvesting and storing things from the garden. This happened to be one of Tawny’s favorite past times, she said it helped with her anxiety and stress. 

Sam wandered out into the garden to see if he could help Tawny with preparing it for a few fall crops.  When she saw him, smiling, she looked up and saw him smiling back. He liked this girl, dirt on her face, a single curl hanging down in front. 

Awkwardly, she said, “You wanna pass me that little spade?”

Not realizing he was standing there gawking at her Sam hurriedly fumbled through the garden tools.

Earlier in the day Tawny was just telling Dez how she thought Sam was very well put together.

She looked up at him standing there and mumbled to herself, “If Dez said anything I am going to kill her.” 

She smiled at him and said, “If you want to, you could help me by digging the potatoes.” 

Explaining how she continued, “I can fish through the dirt and pick them out as you turn it over. Make sure to give me time between scoops to allow me to pull out the potatoes.”

Sam seemed as though he loved this idea and helped her all afternoon. 

They left the pumpkins, kale and squash for a later harvest, as they would still continue to grow until the frost hit.

When they finally came up to the house Tawny was laughing and noticed Dez helping Lynn organize all the seeds they had acquired.

Sam went past them into the house to find Matt, while Tawny went over to Dez and whispered,

“Did you say something to anyone about me liking Sam?” 

Dez swore she had not said a word to anyone and asked why she was asking. 

Tawny sat down to help organize the seeds and talk about their afternoon in the garden.  They carried on chatting about Sam, not really paying attention to what they were doing mixing seeds into a pile that Lynn had already organized. Watching in horror as they continued messing up her organization.  Lynn finally let out an exasperated sigh and said,

“Now you ladies do not want me to go OCD on you.  If you don’t exit the organizing area, I will march on in there and tell Sam he has been the topic of lady talk.” 

They all laughed, but still Dez and Tawny both knew she would do just that and excused themselves to find other things to do, or at least another place to continue their chat.

Lynn separated the seeds into two main categories first off, Hybrid and Heirloom.  After which they were further organized into their respective planting seasons, spring, summer and fall. She saved aside some spices and others that they could use for winter plantings inside. She had them all separated for ease and identification in each season. 

Dez and Tawny had only made it as far as the porch and Lynn could still hear the conversation.  Dez swore she had not told anyone anything and assured her Sam had approached her on his own. Then scolding her for not having more confidence in herself.

Finally, Lynn interjected, “Now I know and I will tell everyone if you two don’t move along.”  Smiling she winked at them.

On Sunday they took a drive to Dez and Tawny’s property that was about an hour away in the Kentucky Mountains.  Dez and Tawny had purchased 150 acres a few years back that they hoped to homestead on, but for now it was just wide open property with but a single barn on it. 

They thought it might be prudent to preposition some of the supplies into the barn, just for back up.  It was mostly water purification, some of the seeds, spare canning items and other things.  They also brought tools they knew they would be needing but were too heavy to carry if they had to go there on foot.   They also made sure that they were all just back up items for now, while also trying to do all in one trip. They had to limit it to only as much as would fit in the trucks. 

Monday came and went with all the things that were already feeling normal.  Sam and Tawny headed off early for a hike in the woods behind the house.  They wanted to check out the area and did not return until late in the afternoon.

Matt gave Sam some ribbing about it; while Dez warned him he had best be a gentleman. They all had a hearty laugh while Sam urgently assured Dez he was not about to be some kind of jerk.

The evening was cool and the ladies made sure everyone ate a hearty meal before relaxing. Some of them watched movies, but most just went to bed early. It seemed, though, no one could sleep. They were all anxious to find out if the banks would open in the morning.  Dez went for a glass of water and finding Jeremy sitting in the kitchen sipping cocoa, she hugged him tightly whispering,

“It’ll be ok, I love you bud.” 

Jeremy nodded and smiled a weak smile that they both understood.  Jeremy was the oldest and had been the man of the family since he was fourteen.  Much of their lives Dez had bought extras during a sale or squirreled away things for what she would say to him was a rainy day.

In reality Dez was simply trying to make ends meet and she would coupon or buy only sales, scratch and dent or thrift items to keep the household afloat.

September 18
th

             
It was Tuesday morning and everyone was already awake and having coffee as Tawny and Lynn walked into the house chattering away about something.

Toni whispered to Dez, “I’m glad they are becoming friends, we were worried about whether or not she would feel comfortable.” 

They each grabbed a cup of coffee and before Dez could even say anything Lynn was making another pot.  She was around often enough to know the rule; if you drain it you make it.

Thus far there had been nothing on the news at all about either Ebola or the Bank holiday.  No one could access their online banking either though.  Once it hit nine a.m. Sam and Matt headed out the door to go try the ATM.  It was just up the road at the corner store, and they were curious if they too were offline.  They wanted to check, just to see if it would work. 

Getting out of the truck they approached the ATM, there was a crowd around it already; some of the people were getting quite upset.  One young lady was crying that she needed diapers, talking to an older man she explained how she could not get her EBT card to work.  Sam felt bad for her, he walked over to her and gave her twenty bucks.  Although afterward he told Matt,

“I know it will do little to ease what was coming, but it felt like the right thing to do.” 

They quickly headed back to the house to get everyone moving on what they did not yet know would be their last shopping excursion.  Pooling all the money they had left to see what extra supplies they could afford.

Some of them had only a little left from the previous trips, while others had more.  Matt and Dez however, still had the money for the mortgage payment.  This brought them up to over two thousand dollars; they split it up between all the shoppers made lists of what each should look for and headed out.

Tawny, Sam and Jeremy went to the Army surplus store and the two gun shops in town to see what they could find while the rest went to the grocery stores and to Walmart. Except Matt and Dez who opted to stay with the kids this time. 

Picking up anything that would be helpful not caring about what it might look like this time, each of them seeking what their lists required.  Some of the things from the grocery store were, baking supplies of all kinds, Gatorade and other drinks, beans, peanut butter, oatmeal, Powerbars, and Ensure drinks. 

The ones who went to Walmart, got more medical supplies, alcohol, peroxide and what was left of the ammo.  They also hit the sporting goods section and found fishing things; fishing line, tackle and lures.  Finding camping equipment as well as hats, mittens and gloves, lots of socks, and various sizes of thermal underwear. 

Toni found totes and began to put everything in them, she was very good at organizing.  No one even thought about their uses other than storage until she began pointing out they could be used to catch rain water and other things, which then made them think of hardware. 

Gathering up a few five gallon buckets, and various nails and screws as well as zip ties and two car batteries. Finally spotting some cans of black spray paint on the way up to the register, there were twelve of them in all.

When each shopping party had exhausted the cash they were allotted they headed home.  Tawny, Sam and Jeremy had scored a thousand rounds of nine millimeter rounds and five thousand rounds of various twelve gauge shells. There were no gas masks or anything like that to be had, but they already had on hand the N95 masks.  

Jeremy was thrilled as he walked in the door, holding his new and much coveted 1944 Mosin Nagant.  He regaled the group with this treasure saying,

“Check out this baby, it’s got the archangel stock with a Barska 10-40 x 50mm scope.  It is waterproof and fog proof, look at this is easily adjusted.  I am going outside to test this thing out, any takers?” 

Dez laughed, saying, “Jeremy, we don’t have any 762 x 54 ammo.” 

Jeremy promptly stepped out the door, grabbing four full ammo boxes before coming back in and said,

“Yes, we do.”   They all laughed and enjoyed Jeremy’s excitement.

After setting everything aside for the evening everyone took a place at the table. Dez and Matt had prepared a very well deserved boiled dinner for everyone while they were gone. 

Looking around the table, it seemed to everyone that they all knew something was coming.  Each in their own thoughts, no-one really knowing what the future held.

Chapter 8

“Others Near and Far”

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family:  whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

- Jane Howard

September 20
th

             
The aroma of fresh coffee filled the air while the news was reporting rioting and looting in almost every major city, it began almost immediately. Once people realized the banks would not be opening, they instinctively began to panic, they realized they would not be able to access their money.  The recipients of public assistance could not access their funds or food stamps, and people learned quickly that if your funds were not in cash you were not going to get anything. 

Some of the first places to start losing control were Detroit, LA, and New York City.  The National Guard was sent to some of the worst cites and Martial Law had already been declared in most major cities. 

All of these things were to be expected, but when the local news reported looting in Lexington the volume of the chatter in the room rose and the talk was about fears it might come to their small town as well.

Matt was really starting to worry about his family in the north, he tried several times to contact them, but the phones were not able to get through. He just kept getting the same message,

“All circuits are busy, please try your call again later.”
 

He tried a few times each day, and asked the others to do so as well.  He wrote down the numbers and put them on the counter so that anytime anyone thought of it they could call one of them. 

This morning while going through the numbers, the call he placed to his friend John started ringing. 

John answered, “Hello”

Matt, relieved he could communicate with someone responded, “John… Hi it’s Matt.” 

“Matt? Oh my God, Matt I’m so glad to hear from you, I’ve been trying to call you for days!”

Matt was worried about his parents and asked, “Have you seen my mom and dad?” 

John chuckled a bit saying, “Of course man, I go check on them daily.”

Matt sighed, “Thank you, I’ve been so worried.  How are things up there?” 

John’s tone changed, “It’s not good here, and things are going down fast.”   

Matt told him what he had heard about the major cities and martial law.

John sighed as he spoke, “They instituted martial law almost immediately here, it’s getting harder to even go the 5 miles to your parent’s house.  I thought being somewhat out of things here it would be ok, but they come and take things for the camps and said we could not keep more than we could use in a week.” 

Matt became agitated, saying, “You gotta get out of there, get my family and come here, do it now.  Do you still have the map with our location that I sent you?”

John replied, “Yea, I got it and I buried some things for the road in case looters came here.  I didn’t think I would be hiding it from those damn FEMA guys.” 

Matt responded, “Can you leave right away?” 

John said he headed over earlier and gotten his family today and already planned to leave tomorrow. 

Matt added, “John, stay off the highways and far away from any city, even towns try and take country roads around them if you can.  Word to the wise, if the town shows up on a map as more than a dot or cross road avoid it.” 

John said he understood, they all agreed to try and communicate as long as they could get the call through.

Matt had a somber tone, saying, “John, Little Matt”, John said “No worries my friend, no matter how I had to do it, Matty would come.  He is at my house now.” 

Matt knew that John would not leave without his son; he and John had discussed Matty on a number of occasions.  He was grateful for his friend John and hoped they would see them soon. 

Everyone already heard the news that Matt had gotten through to someone and everyone eagerly waited for him to fill them in.  

He talked to everyone telling them that the others were coming from the north. 

Toni excitedly said, “My mom is up there too, can he get her?” 

Matt said, “If we could get a call through I will get her information to them and ask that he try and find her.”

He asked Toni to write down her info and leave it with the contact stuff on the counter.  He tried to look hopeful when he said,

“Since she lives right in the middle of the city it may be hard to get her out.” 

He explained most of the people who were in the city were already in the FEMA camps.  He told Toni to try and call her or anyone with her and see if she could travel to John’s place immediately. 

Charleigh suggested that they make a communication board with all the numbers and addresses of those they were looking for.  If anyone got a call then they could go to the board and see who is where.  Matt thought that this was a good idea and added all of the information about the group forming to get out of there with John. 

Toni was quite upset so Charleigh asked her to help get the information on the board.  She was hoping it might help her feel better that they were doing something to help.  

She told her, “We will keep trying to call anyone on your list while we do this.” 

Toni felt better having a purpose and working toward not only finding her family, but also in helping others to get to their location.

              Since their last meeting with the group, each day two people from the house would go over to the cul-de-sac where the others who were part of their preparedness group lived, they would check on everyone and share information from each location. 

Things were getting rough already, a few issues had already arisen, but when Sam and Jeremy went over today they noticed that there were a couple cars across the road, blocking the entrance to the cul-de-sac.

Approaching the roadblock Jeremy raised his hand in greeting and asked Frank,

“Hey Frank, what is with the roadblock?”

He said, “We’ve been having trouble from a group of teens out joyriding.  Riding around smashing windows and mailboxes.” 

As soon as Sam and Jeremy arrived back at the house they went and talked with Dez and Matt.  They were not only concerned for their friends, but the continuing safety of those who were scheduled to go check in each day,

“Listen Ma, we have to get our people out of there.” Jeremy said.

Tawny came in just then and noticed Jeremy and Sam Looked concerned about something.  She didn’t hear what they were saying, but the tone Jeremy had used seemed urgent, she asked,

“Hey guys, what’s up?.” 

Jeremy continued explaining what was going on, saying, “They have the entrance blocked off because of vandalism mostly, but I think they are not safe there.” 

“Well, we could use the tents out in the back yard” Tawny said. 

Sam spoke up and said, “That would be ok for now, but once it starts getting colder we will have to think of something else.” 

Everyone agreed it would be better to have the whole group all in one place.

Matt called Frank on the CB. 

“Hey Frank, Matt here, you listening?  Over.”

Frank replied “Hey Matt, what’s up?  Over.”

“Frank, we want all the families to come here ASAP, we are not sure we can get to you quick enough if you are having more issues than just some broken windows, over.”

Frank replied, “You don’t have enough space for all of us, what would we do?  Over.”

Matt explained the tents and Frank was reluctant, saying, “It’s going to get cold soon, I don’t know if I can sell this to these guys, over.” 

Matt replied, “How about you gather your people for 6pm and Dez and I will come by and talk to them.  Over.”

Frank responded, “See you then? Over and out.”

Dez said she had an idea, not sure how it would go over, but asked Matt to come look at something. 

Matt did not know what she was thinking, but followed her out the back door. 

She explained while they walked across the back yard, “This house behind us was a foreclosure and has been empty for the past year or so.” 

Matt knew the house and immediately caught on to what she was thinking.  The house had been broken into and the doors were unlocked. Dez would occasionally go close the doors on the house and had been inside it.

As they walked over to it, she said, “I know it’s not right to squat and at this point and I don’t think it is a good idea to do so, but if things get worse.  I’m sure the bank isn’t going to come looking.” 

She continued, “If stuff gets back to normal, it will be in better shape because of its use.  Right now it is vandalized and dirty, but we could clean it up.”

Matt thought about it and said, “We will mention it at the meeting and get their thoughts on it.  At least it is an option and it is better than having some people move into it that we don’t know and might make trouble for us.” 

Dez agreed, and said, “There is also a pretty big barn, and while it is not ideal, it does have a cement floor that would work to house the group from the north when they get here if we need to.”

              As Dez and Matt were walking back to the house, they heard Toni shouting for Jeremy.  They entered the back door just as Jeremy came in from the garage; they were all on edge and feared that an intruder had entered the house or worse.

Toni had the phone in her hand excitedly handing it to Jeremy.

Practically crying as she said, “Here, it’s Danny he wants to talk to you.” 

Jeremy took the phone and almost shouting said, “Danny? Danny is that you?” 

Danny said, “yeah man, I’m sure glad to hear your voice.” 

Jeremy said, “Same here guy, how’s it been going for you?” 

Danny replied, “Not good, not good at all.” 

Jeremy frowned at everyone in the room signaling it was not good.

Danny continued, “A few days ago after the banks didn’t reopen, riots began almost immediately.  National Guard came in and shot a lot of people and started putting people at the old Fort Devons.  Remember, we had talked about that?” 

Jeremy nodding his head said, “Yea, I knew Devons would end up a FEMA camp or something.”

Danny continued, “Well, we got out of the house, I took Mom, Melinda, Brian, Ashley and Nancy up to the old cabin at that pond we used to go fishing at.”

Jeremy was just saying, “Uh Hua.”

They were all standing there waiting to hear what was going on and talking.  Jeremy put his hand up for everyone to be quiet while Danny continued.

“I went back to the house to get some clothes and stuff, but the FEMA people had mostly cleaned it out.  Man, I gotta tell ya we left just in time.  I saw them dragging the neighbors out of their house in cuffs, it is bad here!” 

Danny paused a minute and continued, “We have had lots of fish to eat but not much else.  Nancy left last night to go to the camp; she insisted that they just wanted to help us.  I followed her and watched the camp a while.  I gotta say guy, no one wants to end up there!  They had the people working like slaves and they were under armed guard.  Why would a relief camp have guards watching the people?  They looked like prisoners not refugees.” 

Jeremy said, “Ok Danny this is what I need you to do.  Matt’s friend John is coming down with some of Matt’s family. I need you to get to John’s place.  He lives out in Auburn, his place is out on Sandy Lane.”

Jeremy motioned for someone to give him the address.  Matt gave him the paper and as he did, he told Jeremy.

“He needs the code word, when he gets there he needs to say Hannity, John will reply with foxtrot, to be replied with Matt.  This will tell John that I sent them.” 

Jeremy nodded and gave the information to Danny and said, “Danny, it is important you get there tonight!”

Danny said he understood and would get them ready to go now and thanked him.  Jeremy gave the phone back to Toni to talk to her family.  Toni said hi to everyone and assured her mom she was ok and that once they got there they would be too. She said her goodbye’s and hung up. 

Matt immediately was texting John, not sure if it would go through, telling him about Danny coming to his place.

Matt exclaimed, “We have a winner!” Right away John texted back that he understood and would look for them.   Another text followed, saying that he had gotten more his family to his place already.  Telling him that his mom insisted he please go to see if he could find Kimmy and Jenny while he was out. 

Matt was pleased to hear that he found them, Kimmy and Jenny were his cousins, they moved in together a year or so ago and it was very close to where Matty lived.   While Jenny was lazy and Kimmy was about as stereotypical a blonde as anyone could get but they were both close to him.

              It was almost 6pm, and time for Dez and Matt to go to the meeting at the cul-de-sac.  Sam came walking up and asked if he could go too. 

Matt said “sure, I think it is a good idea, you know some of these people better than I do.”