The Days of Noah: Book One: Conspiracy (21 page)

“Years later, Edward Snowden sacrificed his citizenship to tell the American people about the atrocities that were being committed by the federal government. By then, the public had become rooted in their complacency. I’m convinced nothing will dislodge them at this point, so why would anyone else make such sacrifices to warn them? It’s too late anyway. In 2006, an enraged public could have effected a change; when the Snowden leaks came out in 2013, perhaps there was still some hope if Americans would have stood up together. Not today. The infrastructure is established, the Constitution has been nullified, and we’re just waiting for the catalyst. When it comes, we’re in for a totalitarian regime that will make Hitler, Mao, and Stalin look like Sunday school teachers.”

Noah was deeply concerned. He looked at Isaiah, who appeared to be well aware of everything Benny was saying. His eyes then went to his wife, who was drinking in all the information but also seemed unsurprised. “What can we do?”

Benny looked down as he took a deep breath. “Not much we can do. You can make it more difficult for your oppressors to track you. You can quit posting updates on Twitter and Facebook and use encrypted email when you absolutely have to communicate online. Keep the battery out of your phone until you have to make a call, pay with cash, and generally try to reduce your electronic footprint.”

Noah said, “Sounds like a hassle.”

Benny smiled. “Between convenience, security, and freedom, you can pick two. But you can’t have all three.”

Noah considered the different combinations of the three attributes Benny offered. “Yeah, I guess convenience should be the lowest priority.”

He looked at Isaiah. “And what did you mean by being prepared? How can you prepare for a totalitarian regime?”

Isaiah winked. “You saw my safe. I suspect you have an idea of what I mean by prepared. Of course, it’s more than guns and gold; it’s food storage, community, and skills. I’m looking forward to the Homecoming tomorrow. I’m planning to take notes on some of the exhibitors. Especially blacksmithing and sorghum production.”

Cassie remarked, “And you’ll have a lovely escort, won’t you?”

Noah looked away in disbelief that she’d just put Isaiah on the spot like that, but he could still hear the embarrassment in Isaiah’s voice.

“Indeed, I will,” Isaiah said sheepishly.

David Ray approached the group, and Noah turned toward him, relieved to be distracted from the somewhat awkward conversation. “Did you try the hazelnut pumpkin pie?”

Noah pursed his lips. “Bro, who are you talking to?”

David chuckled. “Oh, yeah. What was I thinking? Did you like the pie better or the pecan bar?”

Noah put his head in his hand and furrowed his brow as if he were in deep thought. Finally, he looked up. “Are you making me pick? I guess I have to go with the pecan bar.”

David nodded. “Tough call. Hey, do you guys want to ride out to Clinton with us tomorrow? The girls can keep each other occupied.”

Noah replied, “Sounds like a good idea. Lacy and Lynette can keep each other entertained as well.”

Cassie slapped Noah on the arm playfully. “Watch it, mister!”

Noah tried to fight back a smile. As Cassie walked away, Noah winked at David.

David shook his head. “You’re a braver man than I am. Why don’t you bring that new rifle over on Saturday morning? We can set up a little shoot-and-scoot course over behind the barn.”

“That’d be fun. How much ammo should I bring?”

David said, “I’m going in with a couple of buddies to buy a pallet of sixty-two grain mil-spec ammo. You can have 1,000 rounds out of that for $250. Inflation has pushed ammo sky high; that’s a real deal.”

“Wow. That is a good deal. I think Cassie paid $150 for 200 rounds when she bought the rifle, and that was the cheapest option available at Tim’s Guns. I’ll take 1,000 rounds.”

“Should you check with Cassie before you commit?”

Noah laughed. “No way! She’ll be trying to buy a pallet. In fact, I should go ahead and buy 2,000 rounds if you have enough to spare. That will give us a thousand rounds to train with and another thousand to store. Will they keep well?”

“Oh, yeah, we’ve got plenty, and the ammo is in metal, thirty-cal ammo cans. The cans have a rubber gasket, which creates an airtight seal. That ammo will last longer than we will. Isaiah is coming by on Saturday as well. I think he’s planning to pick up a few rounds.”

Noah rubbed his brow as he thought about what a valuable commodity ammunition might be after a collapse. “How much is Isaiah buying?”

“At least 5,000 rounds,” David replied.

“Really? How much is on the pallet? I mean, how much do you want to get rid of?”

David said, “We’d like to sell as much as possible. The pallet we bought has 80,000 rounds. That was a big nut to come up with, but it was such a good deal that I was sure we could get rid of it.”

“Can I take 5,000 rounds?” Noah asked.

“Sure. Are you positive you don’t need to ask Cassie?”

Noah curled one side of his mouth. “My only risk is not buying enough. I’m afraid if I give her the option, we’ll have ammo cans stacked to the ceiling. Did you tell Jim about the deal? I’m sure he’d buy some.”

David nodded. “He’s buying a pallet for the sheriff’s department. That’s part of how we got such a great buy.”

“Did he say anything to you about getting ready for hard times ahead?”

David crossed his arms. “Why do you think we’re buying a pallet of ammo?”

“Are we doing some type of militia training on Saturday?” Noah asked.

David paused as if he was crafting his response. “Maybe mutual assistance group is a better name for it. But keep a tight lid on it, especially around Henry Whitaker. Benny doesn’t trust him.”

“Why don’t we just kick him out of the group? Wouldn’t that be easier than tiptoeing around him?”

David sighed. “That’s what I said. Benny seems to think if Henry is some type of tattletale, he could serve as a conduit to feed misinformation.”

Noah looked around to make sure Henry was a good distance away. “What do you think? Is Henry some kind of informant?”

David shrugged. “Benny thinks he is. Isaiah trusts Benny’s judgment; I guess I do too. Henry works for code enforcement. It’s in his nature to keep an eye on people for the government. That’s pretty much his job description.”

Noah thought for a moment. “I hate to falsely accuse someone if they’re innocent.”

David looked at Noah. “Not trusting someone isn’t really accusing them. And the consequences of having an informant in our midst could be detrimental if the stuff your wife talks about ever comes true. I’d rather err on the side of caution.”

This reasoning seemed sound to Noah. The people from Bible study were putting a lot of stock in what Cassie was saying. It was time for Noah to go all-in as well. “Cassie and I are going to have to share a rifle on Saturday unless one of us can use our shotgun.”

David replied, “I can lend one of you an extra rifle. You know you can pick up a good AK-47 for less than $1,000, right?”

Noah said, “That might make a good Christmas present for Cassie. But maybe I should buy another AR so we can use the same ammo.”

“That’s a valid argument. The good thing about AKs is they’re more resilient. They don’t need as much maintenance, and they can handle tough battle conditions. Rain, dust, dirt, and mud will ruin an AR if you don’t keep that thing super clean and well oiled. An AK will take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.”

Noah rubbed his chin. “I suppose there is something to be said for diversity.”

David added, “But if you’re buying it for Cassie, you might want to look around for an AK-74. It’s designed the same as the AK-47, but it uses a smaller round and is quite a bit lighter. The smaller round is similar to a 5.56 round. It makes it easier to shoot and easier to carry more ammo into a battle.”

“But it looks just like an AK-47?”

“Skinnier barrel and magazine, but otherwise, yes. Most people probably couldn’t tell them apart at first glance.”

Noah grinned. “Don’t say anything to Cassie. That’s what she’s getting for Christmas.”

***

The next morning, Noah and the girls were ready to go as soon as the Rays’ minivan pulled into their driveway. Cassie escorted Lacy to the van, and Noah grabbed a small cooler.

Noah sat in front with David, Cassie and Becky sat in the center seats, and the two girls sat in the rear.

“Are you driving through Knoxville?” Noah asked.

David shook his head. “No way. We hear all of the Knoxville EMS calls over the radio. That place is getting to be as bad as all the other major cities. We’ll drive out to Emory Road and take that to 441. It’s about ten miles out of the way, but it’s a scenic drive, especially with the leaves changing. We should get there in about an hour.”

Noah snickered. “And it increases our chances of survival.”

David nodded. “And then there’s that.”

Noah sat back in his seat. “Ah, the good old days. Remember when Detroit was the only city in America that looked like a third world country?”

David looked over at Noah and smiled. “I remember when no cities in America looked like a third world country.

“What did you bring in the cooler? You know they’ll have all kinds of food out there. Right?”

Noah opened the cooler and handed David a cold bottle of root beer. “Just a few cold drinks and some water.”

“Root beer in a glass bottle. Now that’s living it up. Good call, Noah.”

Noah offered a selection of root beer or cream soda to the girls. Cassie and Becky each took a bottle and passed one back to each of the children.

They soon arrived at the museum, which was spread out over several acres in the form of cabins, barnyards cordoned off by split rail fences and filled with sheep and goats, barns filled with old farming tools and equipment, and a millhouse for grinding corn powered by a nearby stream.

“Animals!” Lacy screamed.

“I want to pet the sheep! Daddy, can we?” Lynette begged.

David slung his daypack over his shoulder as he exited the vehicle. “First stop, petting zoo.”

Noah insisted on paying the price of admission for everyone since David had driven.

David took out his wallet. “Noah, come on. That’s too much. That’s way more than the gas to drive out here.”

Noah put his hand up. “Your family has done so much to help us – keeping Lacy while we were fighting for custody, tricking out the AR for us, all those magazines. Please let me do this.”

David shook his head and reluctantly put his wallet back in his pocket. “Where did the girls go?”

Noah shrugged. “Petting zoo, I’d imagine. I guess we’d better kick it into high gear if we want to keep up.”

The two men headed toward the animal pens in search of the rest of their party.

David nudged Noah in the arm. “Is that Isaiah holding Sharon’s hand over there by the quilts?”

Noah smiled. “That’s him. He said he was coming out today. He wants to take notes on some of the lost skills. He thinks things are going to get pretty tough.”

David’s eyes were wide with surprise. “Did you know he and Sharon were an item?”

Noah tipped his head from side to side. “Cassie suspected that they might be. I guess it’s out in the open now.”

David shook his head. “Or they don’t know anyone is watching. Let’s go over there and bust them.”

Noah tugged David on the arm. “Let’s go find the girls and leave the lovebirds in peace for a few more sweet moments.”

David pursed his lips. “You’re no fun at all.”

Noah and David found the girls at the animal pens. Nearby, there was an exhibit of a farmer preparing the shorn wool for spinning.

Lacy pulled Noah’s shirt sleeve. “Daddy, does it hurt the sheep when they shave their fur to make wool?”

Noah patted her on the head. “No, honey. They like it. I think they do it in the summer, so the sheep won’t be so hot. Are we ready to walk around and see some other exhibits?”

“Okay,” Lacy replied. “Can we come back to the animals if we have time?”

“Sure thing, honey.” Noah led the way to the next building, which was the blacksmith’s shop.

Isaiah and Sharon arrived at the blacksmith’s shortly after Noah’s party.

Noah acted surprised to see them. “Hey, when did you two get here?”

David looked at Noah. “Yeah, what a shocker.”

Isaiah replied, “We’ve been here for a while. We wanted to get here early, so we wouldn’t miss anything.”

Lacy and Lynette looked on in amazement as the blacksmith took a simple piece of metal and fashioned it into a horseshoe.

After the demonstration, Isaiah took out his notepad and asked the blacksmith several questions about setting up a forge.

The blacksmith was eager to teach. “Essentially, you need something to hold, heat, and hit your work with. You don’t need a super elaborate forge like this. You can build one out of a few cinder blocks as long as you put in a pipe or some other source to get oxygen in from below the fire. For hitting, you could use a ball-peen hammer, but I’d recommend picking up a cross-peen hammer like this one. For holding my work, I made these tongs out of half-inch rebar. Let me see if I have some in the back.”