Dystopia: The Long Road (23 page)
Read Dystopia: The Long Road Online
Authors: DJ Cooper
Jeremy caught sight of Dickie standing alone watching the going on’s and asked him, “Whatcha thinkin theah guy?”
This caught Dickie off guard, but he always loved the way Jeremy would talk like that. Laying on the strongest accent he could muster he said, “Just can't Adam n’ Eve all the bollock's we've gone through.”
Jeremy taking a more serious tone said, “Yeah brother, I heard about Jules and the kids, how are you holding up?”
Dickie looked dead into Jeremy’s eyes and said, “My kids are in the hospital, I don’t even know if they are still alive. I am here for your momma.”
Jeremy looked shocked and said, “What do you mean my momma?”
Dickie said, “Listen mate, I know you are an ok guy, so I can talk to you. Let’s take a walk.”
They walked over to where the outhouses were, trying to look like Jeremy was showing him around.
Dickie began, “Pay attention, your momma is in danger. We don’t know all the details, but someone needs to stick to her at all times. There is a traitor amongst you, we caught ours and now we need to flush out yours.”
Jeremy looked shocked, asking, “Woah, what is going on?”
Dickie said, “Morgan a friend of Matt’s is with a gang that has been tailing us. She has information from this group and Dez is her target. They wanna take over the farm and kill her.”
Jeremy flushed with anger as his voice raised, “What?”
Dickie touched his arm hushing him, saying, “Tell no one but never let your mom be without someone by her side and most of all don’t tell Matt.”
Jeremy looked shocked, saying, “Don’t tell Matt? Why?”
Dickie said, “Rita told Amy that Matt was having an affair with her.”
Jeremy looked disgusted, saying, “Are you serious? Matt was cheating on my mom with that scum bag? Dude, seriously, that chick is nasty.”
Seeing Dez come out of the barn they started walking back, Dickie made some disgusting comments as they returned to the party making Jeremy laugh.
The sun began to set and feeling relieved that everyone would soon go inside, Dickie walked with John to the food table. Dez and Amy headed for the outhouses when a shot rang out, echoing across the hills. A scream coming from the outhouse direction drew all attention there. Dez lay half in and half out of the outhouse, blood rushing from her side.
Amy could be seen struggling with someone and took off up the hill after a woman. Jeremy followed chasing the women into the woods. Ray rushed in with his shirt applying pressure to try and stop the stream of thick red fluid. Dickie stepped in and scooped her up placing her in Ryan’s jeep and sending Ray along for protection.
Matty hopped into the jeep crying, saying, “I was supposed to protect her.”
Dickie scooped Ariel from Charleigh and said, “Take them with you.”
Charleigh objected, but another shot rang out sending them for cover, this one from further in the distance.
Dickie turned to her saying, “My kids are also where they are going, and it’s the safest place for them. I know you can shoot Charleigh we need all the guns we can get.”
Ryan’s men were already positioned on the ridge above the attackers and began to create a crossfire as the occupants of the farm fired from below.
John crawled to Dickie and pointed to Matt. They noticed he wasn’t even paying attention to the battle, but watching a figure dart across the other ridge with two others following.
Dickie gasped, “That is Amy and Jeremy chasing the shooter.”
John was horrified as he looked, he saw Matt taking aim, and he was not aiming for the shooter but for Amy and Jeremy. John and Dickie both sprinted reaching Matt just as he pulled the trigger. Amy faltered and fell to the ground at the same time John tackled Matt.
What was left of the gang slipped away, including the shooter. They counted five dead from the gang, one of which was Cindy. This confirmed it was the same ones that were following them.
Jeremy came down the hillside with Amy hanging on to his arm limping. The bullet passing clean through her right calf.
John and Dickie still had Matt held down as Amy approached saying, “What? Are you blind or something?”
She kicked dirt at him as she headed for the barn to get bandaged. John went to the barn with her to check on the wound. While Dickie stared Matt down.
Matt looked at him and said, “I didn’t know it was her, I was just trying to get one.”
Dickie knew something was wrong but couldn’t prove it… Yet. He shoved Matt at Jeremy and went to check on the others and get a vehicle to take them to the infirmary. Jeremy looked at him shaking his head. Everyone knew Matt was an exceptional shot and it was clear to everyone as well who was who on that hillside. John was sure he was giving the shooter the chance to get away.
Most wounds were superficial, Amy was the only one with a gunshot wound. Sarah made some coffee while they waited for the ok to go check on Dez.
A crackle came over the CB, “Militia leader to farm, do you read?”
Jeremy grabbed the mike responding. “We read you, how’s my mom?”
Ryan came over the air saying, “Status unknown on that. I have a person requesting admittance to the farm here.”
Jeremy replied, “Who is it?”
Ryan said, “She says her name is Rita and she has information about the gang and has proof of who had Dez shot.”
Everyone gasped, and John shook his head no. Jeremy replied, “Negative we will come to you.”
John and Amy sent Dickie, with Charleigh and Jeremy to town to meet with Rita.
John looked to Mark saying, “We have dark days ahead I fear.”
Many of the inventions or ways that the persons in this book choose to improvise are derived from various sources and things learned over the years.
In an effort to share some of these things with my readers following I have compiled a few resources to assist in the application of these techniques.
While I do not personally endorse untrained persons in attempting some things they are not trained to do. I always encourage others to learn so you and your families can be prepared in the event of any unforeseen “dystopian” moments.
Preparedness, is an age old means by which people for generations made it through tough times. Many prepare for eventualities such as described in this book. Being prepared is a mindset. It is sometimes as simple as keeping a months’ worth of cash in the bank for something like time off work.
Those in hurricane prone areas might keep water stored or wood on hand to board windows. Persons in Tornado prone areas might have a storm shelter. But the greatest preparedness tool you can have is Knowledge.
Many of us have had, “One of those days.” You wake up late to find the pipes are frozen and you can’t take a shower. You fluff yourself up enough to not look like you’re a wrinkled mass that just rolled out of bed. To find that the car won’t start and when it does and you finally get there. Someone dumps a cup of coffee all over you. The day continues this way until you finally fall into bed completely spent.
These days happen… In this book this day happens but on a larger scale. How many of us keep a spare shirt at work in case of coffee? Or have a battery pack to jump the car? This is an example of being prepared.
Many have the view of a person who tries to keep these bad days from being much more than an inconvenience that is possibly not positive. The connotations of the media and other places sets people with an eye on the horizon and the forethought to consider the inevitable as some kind of disturbed human.
Realistically the things in this book could happen and have, possibly not to some of us. But world over many things happen that will carry us from our comfort zone.
If we are spent at the end of, “One of those” days, where will we stand on, “One of THOSE days?”
This book is without a doubt an
idealized
view of how things could go, they find many resources along the way and have help from other like-minded individuals. Ideally we could all live a life free from the constraints and needs of the big cities, but often this is not the case.
Our group in this book must travel over nine hundred miles, not just a small band of wanderers but friends and family of the group in the first book. Many drawing on the knowledge of others and sharing.
In book three Dystopia: The Dark Days, we get to look into the darker side of human nature when no one can be trusted and betrayal is commonplace. At the end of the resource section find a preview of Dystopia: The Dark Days.
Following are a few websites, books and videos I have enjoyed while writing this book. Included are the prior book’s resources as well. I hope you find them useful as well.
DJ Cooper
More from DJ Cooper
www.prepperbroadcasting.com/surviving-dystopia
http://survivalblog.com/planning_for_extra_mouths_to_f/
Composting is the art of recycling organic matter into excellent fertilizer and garden material. Adding compost to your garden can enhance the nutrients plants need.
Basics of composting
http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html
http://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/
Book: Composting secrets by David Isaac Yoder
Collection of rain water has been a viable source of water for many in the Midwestern states and continues to be used today. Please check local ordinances and laws for your area as some areas regulate rain water catchment systems.
A basic article about catching and storing your own rain water
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Rainwater-Collection-System
I love mother earth news, there is always tons of information for the homesteader in this magazine
This one is good because it also touches on the grey water usage
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06702.html
Solar Hot Water
The sun shines on us a tremendous amount of energy. This energy can be harnessed in many ways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DKJ4AkxJr0
This site actually has lots of good information
http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/diy_pex_solar_hot_water_thermal_dn.htm
Those who burn wood for heat could easily heat their water using some of these techniques.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/wood-stove-water-heater-zmaz76ndztak.aspx
http://www.mdpub.com/SolarPanel/
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Solar-Panel/
The use of batteries can make a solar, wind or hydroelectric system provide them with enough stored energy to run an entire home.
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Solar-Setup/
http://www.altenergymag.com/emagazine/2010/12/the-diy-guide-to-off-grid-solar-electricity/1650
http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/diy-solar-heating-zmaz77sozgoe.aspx
http://www.thediyworld.com/DIY-Passive-Solar-Heating-Projects.php
http://stonehavenlife.com/7-diy-pop-can-solar-heaters/
Noun:
an alphabet or code in which letters are represented by combination of long and short signals of light or sound.
www.survivingdystopia.com/how-to-build-your-ultimate-bug-out-bag-aka-the-bob
Book: Bug out Bag by Roger Clark
www.Survivalsullivan.com/154-bug-out-bag-essentials-open-list was fairly comprehensive an in list form
Americans Networking to Survive…I highly recommend you check out this site as an excellent resource for finding like-minded individuals and excellent educational resource.
www.americansnetworkingtosurvive.org
A cache or survival cache is a small established hidden supply location. Like with your computer cache, this can be temporary and should be emptied and restocked often. Some good sites for this info can be found below.
www.survivalistprepper.net/a-preppers-survival-cache-from-building-to-burying
Canning is the process of saving food for later by processing into jars. There is a specific method for doing this to ensure the food safety. My go to book for is the Ball Blue Book of Preserving published by Alltrista Consumer Products.
The Dakota Pit is a means to build a fire for heat or cooking with limited light and smoke signature. A means to remain stealthy from prying eyes in situations when you may wish to remain hidden
www.graywolfsurvival.com/2430/how-to-make-a-dataoka-fire
The ham radio is an excellent means of communication worldwide. There are specific rules and regulations for Ham operators and licensure to operate.
www.wireless.fcc.gov
will explain the regulations
www.arrl.org
this site is full of great information for Hams
Youtube channels with lots of great information, be sure and follow their channel so you can get updates whenever they put out a new video
John Milandred, well known for his experience and survival expertise has some great how to videos.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcU9nITkSdxeEbZ2Wo92Gfw
Eric ware, this channel has some very good information about a wide variety of topics
https://www.youtube.com/user/eware421