Dystopia: The Beginning of the End (9 page)

Matt asked both of them to help him with this issue, figuring they already knew and could therefore be trusted.  He went to talk to Jeremy and Connor, they would all have to watch and see who was doing what in the night. 

At dinner, everyone noticed something in the back corner of the barn with a sheet covering it and they were all curious about it.  Many could be heard asking one another questions.  Janice with a smirk just informed everyone it was something to be discussed after dinner.  She caught Dylan a few times trying to peek, but otherwise no one dared disturb it.    After all, no one could miss the fact that Dez and Toni were on guard.  

When dinner was almost over, Janice announced that she had a surprise for everyone. The murmurs were about the sheet. Everyone was looking in the direction of the sheet waiting to see what it was, when she held up a knife proclaiming,

“I baked cake, tonight we will be having dessert.” 

They all cheered and waited for the desert to be dished up. 

It was starting to get dark and Toni placed a candle on each table and was lighting them as Charleigh helped pass out the desert and drinks.  There was coffee and hot chocolate all around.  Janice previously made a large amount of popcorn and was placing bowls of it on each table as well.

Thanks to Tawny’s knowledge on how to set up the batteries and solar system, all was ready.  Toni and Dez already set up the TV and tested it.  They chose a movie and had it all set up, mostly for the kids.  Tonight’s movie was to be “Ice Age.” 

Dez was busily setting it up behind the sheet curtain and when the sound hit the air, the sheet was pulled down and they all sat in shock.  The kids cheered and they all enjoyed their first movie night since the power went out.  Movie night was a hit and it helped bring their spirits up.

The guys had not forgotten about the hidden stash, later that night they waited.  Jeremy was quietly sitting in a tree watching the pile while Connor and Cameron watched the house for movement.  Matt and Joe were to watch the barn. 

It was not until about 3am that Cameron saw movement in the house, he poked Connor who keyed the walkie talkie twice.  This was the signal that there was movement going on.  They did not want to risk someone hearing them talk so they just keyed the walkie which would make a sound on the others.

Two figures crept out the back door of the house with a bag and walked to the barn.  One stayed outside while the other went in.  Matt keyed the walkie he could see them, they heard some shuffling around inside the barn and the figure came out with a box and they then made their way to the stash in the woods. 

Connor and Cameron crept over to where Matt and Joe were and were motioned to move to the far side of the barn.  As the pair made their way to the bounty they had already stolen earlier the others followed them quietly.  They talked in whispered tones. 

Matt could not hear what they were saying, but knew one of them was Rose.  That shrill voice he would know anywhere.  Matt keyed the walkie three times and that meant move in. As they closed in upon the pair, Jeremy shined the flashlight right on them and bellowed out, “Hold it.”

They turned to run and found the other four men standing there.  Matt was shocked when he shined the light to see who the thieves were to find Jim at his wife’s side. 

He asked, “Why Jim? Is there a problem?”

Jim hung his head and said Rose wanted to leave and we did not have any supplies at home, she doesn’t like it here.  I’m sorry, I just didn’t know what to do.” 

Connor was angry and spat on the ground in front of him. 

Rose looking defiant began to speak, saying, “Jim helped gather these with you, and we are entitled.”  

Jeremy was down from the tree and was losing his temper, he got right in Rose’s face and with gritted teeth said,

“These things came from the homes of people here, as we were not entitled to your measly items so you are not entitled to theirs.” 

He looked to Matt as he continued, “They don’t want to be here and we don’t need thieves in our midst they must go now.” 

Matt agreed and brought them and their stolen items to the barn. Herb was sitting in the barn by now having been awakened by the noise. When Rose noticed him she was mostly concerned with what people would think.  Jim was just unusually quiet as Matt spoke.

First to Rose telling her, “Be quiet.”

She began to object and he said, “Or I will wake everyone and have a vote.” 

She looked down and Matt began to speak with Jim asking him how he had intended to haul the stuff home. 

Jim replied he had not yet figured that out yet, that maybe he would go get their car.  Matt instructed Conner and Cameron to remove everything from the boxes and bags to see what they had stolen.  There were lots of canned goods and other things, but what surprised Matt was he recognized a necklace he had given Dez.  He was angry now and demanding to know what they felt they needed that for.  Jim was shocked, he had no idea Rose had stolen other’s valuables,

Rose said nothing and continued her defiant look.  Jim and Rose were told to have a seat.  Matt told them he would bring them home with the supplies they had come with.  Herb motioned Matt he wanted to speak to him and Matt went over to hear what he had to say. 

Herb said, “I know you are angry, but they can’t possibly last long with that.  We have to be better than they are.” 

Matt thought about it and after a pause, thinking of just how meager it was, he said, “Plus a box of food for each of you.” 

Matt instructed Jim to look in the boxes and retrieve anything that was theirs, Jim said they had not packed their stuff yet and that none of the stashed items was theirs.  He was told to go into the house and pack what was theirs and that Joe would accompany him.  While they were gone Matt and Jeremy packed a few boxes of food, they also added a small first aid kit and some matches and toilet paper. 

There were 4 boxes packed into the truck when Jim arrived with their belongings and stowed them as well.  Matt and Jeremy brought them to their home and helped them unload the things. While no one had anything but disgust for Rose, they were all sad that Jim had chosen this. 

Matt pulled Jim aside and shook his hand and wished them luck.  When Jim entered the house Rose was already digging into the boxes and was exclaiming that they had given them chocolate, toilet paper and other things. 

He just shook his head in disgust, he too was not happy with her.  That would be the last time any of them would see Jim or Rose.  A few weeks later when they went to check on them and there were no residents at the cul-de-sac, everyone it seemed had left.

Chapter 12

“Amanda Talks”

“The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is, because man is disunited with himself.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

October 16th

As the weeks progressed, a nice fall garden was coming in and everyone was getting along well. The duties list had worked out beautifully and their little group was becoming like a well-oiled machine. 

The men began working on the training schedules for everyone and practicing security scenarios.  Even the children over 6 were learning to shoot, which tickled Dylan, he said it was his job to protect Ariel.  They hadn’t heard anything more from George’s gang, but they knew he was out there, and felt like they needed to be ready if he came back. 

Amanda finally began to tell them about her ordeal. She told them that she did not know how long it had been before they had found her, or since George and his gang came by demanding payment for the protection. She had nothing left, they already took nearly all her food and valuables before the lights even went out. 

The evening of the attack, she was eating her last can of green beans when George and two of his guys came bursting into her home demanding more payment. 

She said, “I told them that they had already taken everything.” 

Crying, she continued, “They searched my whole house and then told me that I would need to find other ways to pay.” 

Amanda told the group she knew right then that they had bad intentions.  George told her that women had something to pay that made them special.  

Amanda continued, “I was instantly terrified, I knew what he meant by special.” 

Pausing to compose herself, she went on, “One of them started taking off his gear when George slapped him, yelling at the man that he knew the rules on new whores, and that he had to test out the merchandise first.”  

Still sobbing, she went on, “I ran to the bathroom and locked the door, but they broke it in and dragged me into the bedroom.  They each took a turn, it was awful, and it felt like an eternity.” 

Through the sobs she relayed the rest.  At first she fought them with all her strength and even bit George’s ear.

She told them that doing so had only gotten her a beating, tied up and gagged.  When they were done with her he told her they would see her next week and to take care of herself and to clean up and to make sure she was presentable before then.

She said she was so scared, and told them that she went and hid in the closet and had been hiding in that closet until our guys had found her.  She was afraid they were coming to get their turns and that is why she fought them when they tried to get her out of the closet. 

The women were horrified at what she had been through.  They realized that they needed to worry about this and prepare the women in the group to defend themselves.  The men were outraged vowing to make George pay for how he was preying on the community.

Herb enjoyed going down the road to Arthur’s house he was able to learn from Arthur a lot about ham radios.   He heard that a real militia group were keeping things in check around town, assisting the local law enforcement as well.  They often discussed the news and between them and thought that might be why they had not heard from George.

Arthur opted to bring Herb home today so he could talk to the group.  Arthur told them that some the information coming over the ham was spotty, but it seemed that Isis had been in cahoots with or funded by those from OPEC and other forces. 

Saying, “These fanatics change with the dollar paying them, they are just a small cog in the grand scheme of things.” 

He explained that there was a plan to crush the US on multiple fronts from some of its foreign enemies. Some of what he was catching said that it was discovered that there were even factions of this plan inside our own government, stretching all the way up to the presidency.

Arthur continued his news, “When they realized that they had been discovered, there was a coo within the government that had both succeeded and failed on different levels.  Splitting our entire government and the military as well.” 

The group sat silently listening as Arthur shared what he had learned, “When it was discovered that Russia was backing the militants. There was a limited exchange of nuclear weapons.  Moscow was gone as were a number of mostly military targets on both sides.  Except North Korea, they fired on US targets almost immediately.  US retaliated and left North Korea completely decimated.” 

All of this came as a shock, no one thought it was a worldwide issue. 

Arthur said, “There’s more, China was hanging in there, but they are without power.  The US sent them a little present in the form of an EMP, China had a great deal to do with what was going on and we were not going to let them come through this unscathed.  At this point most of the world was without power for one reason or another and all of the oil producers in the Middle East were for the most part crippled.” 

Like the newscast that everyone remembered watching shortly before the collapse the news seemed somehow surreal.

Arthur gave a somber look and said, “There’s more and this is more local.  The Isis factions operating here in the US are still beheading people and wreaking havoc where ever they go.  Local militias are taking them out all over the country, there were more of them than we could have even thought possible.  It was quickly realized that they have been infiltrating us for years.” 

Janice brought him a cup of coffee while he continued, “Gangs mostly run the cities and stay pretty close to them, but they have been venturing further and further for supplies.  Most surviving residents that were not in the gangs of have been relocated to the FEMA camps, they went long before the gangs took over.  It seems Ebola is Rampant in both the cities and the camps. The gangs are unorganized and have spent most of their time killing one another in turf wars or plundering outlying areas.”

Matt and Sam had a meeting to go to with the militia leader that evening and were looking forward to speaking with him.  It felt good to find some allies and from what they just learned from Arthur they were going to need them. 

Over the past few weeks there were a few spotty reports of Ebola and the total collapse of the banking system.  These were nothing they had not expected to hear and they all knew it would be some time before things got anywhere near normal, but they had no idea how widespread the chaos was until now.

Before dinner Matt, Sam, Frank and Loel were the ones to go and meet with the Militia leader.  What Matt liked was that they met at the sheriff’s office, this gave them a sense of security knowing that they had indeed been working with the law enforcement. 

After all the introductions, Matt shook hands with Ryan Fowler the head of the militia and said, “I am very glad to meet you, it’s been a little rough for of some of us.” 

The first thing Ryan wanted to know about was also the first thing the guys had wanted to discuss with him, George, and his gang! 

Sam filled him in on the “payments” they were exacting and told about Amanda’s ordeal. 

Ryan acknowledged that it was not an unfamiliar story; at least 3 other women had told similar ones and were now in protected areas.  He asked if the group were subjected to any run-ins with him and Matt explained how previously they attended some of his meetings and said,

“I think we all just decided that they were just not our cup of tea.” 

They all chuckled about it, although it was still a very serious matter. 

Matt said, “We had a run in with him when he thought he would come up to our place to exact his payment from us.  He was promptly refused and told not to return, however, I know he will be back at some point.”  

Ryan agreed and said, “With all the pressure we have been putting on him here in town he’s been having a pretty difficult time getting what he wants.  The more areas we secure, the further out they have to go to get their payments.”

They all nodded in agreement as Ryan continued, “We know he is on the south side of town somewhere, but just can’t seem to find where they are holed up.” 

Matt and Loel looked at each other with a knowing look and Ryan asked what they knew. 

Matt said “One of the guys that were in the group had a place out that way, it was very secluded and nestled into a mountain, I don’t know the exact location but I bet I can get you close.” 

They began pouring over the maps as Matt tried to remember the road they went up to get there the one time he had attended one of their FTX outings. 

Frank had been there a couple of times, but also could not remember the exact location; never actually ever having driven it.  They narrowed it down to an area where three roads intersected but could not remember anything more.  Frank volunteered to go out to that location with the sheriff and some militia guys to see if anything jogged his memory. 

The sheriff knew the area and said, “It can only be a few locations, I know most of the people out that way.” 

Ryan asked if he could come up to Matt’s and meet the group. He also offered to look over their layout and see if he could help with their security, but that he also wanted to know where they were located. 

Matt said, “Sure, that would be a big help, I also think it would be a good idea for you to meet everyone.”

Matt and Loel both thanked him, saying that they would appreciate the help.  Ryan said that they would come tomorrow and afterwards Frank could go with them to see if they could find the location of George’s gang. 

Matt, Sam and Loel shook everyone’s hand and the sheriff said he knew where Matt lived and would bring them tomorrow around noon.

Frank had taken his own truck because he wanted to check on Sarah’s cousin in town and said he would meet them back at the house.  On the way back the three of them chatted about getting rid of George and his gang and were a little more encouraged than they were after they heard Arthur’s tale earlier in the day.