The Coming Storm: Liberators Part 11

With the battery slowly running out of power on her phone, Malorie noted the date and devised a way to count tick marks to keep a written calendar on the cave wall so that they would not lose track of time. The group also took turns reading the survival guides out loud with the screen on the lowest brightness setting. They hoped that if everyone read them out loud, perhaps as much as 40 percent of the information could be recalled among the five of them.

23.

SIGNALS COLLECTION.

While we all benefit in some ways from modern technology, I do wonder what state our world would be in if we suddenly lost the electrical power necessary to keep our communications functioning. Would the younger generations know how to grow crops to feed a family? Would they know how to drop anchor and wait for the catch? Would they know how to survive by the sweat of the brow? New is good. Old is necessary.

-Reverend Billy Graham Olympia State Forest, Kentucky-December, the First Year The days continued to get shorter and the nights were colder. It was not common to see other people in the state forest, but when they did see anyone it was usually one or two people hunting for food.

The long times together in the cave off shift gave Megan and Joshua time to really talk about their spiritual, political, social, and any other kinds of beliefs they held. Joshua joked, "You know, maybe when this whole Crunch blows over, we can start a couples' wilderness retreat and do premarital counseling-this is great!" The large overlaps were comforting to Megan, and the points where they disagreed were not fundamental orthodox doctrine, so they could be mutually overlooked. Joshua was strict during watch, but on his off time he diligently worked to carve two wedding rings out of the core (or what would be called "quarter sawn" lumber) from an oak branch.

Jean would often go fishing with his auntie Malorie, and although it was not enough to subsist on, everyone was able to get his or her fill of sushi that winter. Leo and Jean were both becoming quite adept at finding edible plants, although they would stick to the ones that the group could positively identify, using the description from the survival apps on Malorie's phone until the battery ran out.

The three adults would train to stay in shape four times a week doing hill sprints and floor exercises. Each adult learned all the parts and the manual-of-arms for every individual firearm, in case someone had to pick up someone else's weapon to return fire. Jean and Leo were taught the parts of every firearm as well, but were strictly admonished not to touch one if it was loaded-and all weapons were a.s.sumed to be and were, in fact, loaded. The group slowly learned how to successfully move over terrain in two-person patrols, staying together and communicating with hand and arm signals. They knew that when they headed west in the spring they'd be traveling at night and sleeping during the day.

The winter had in fact come early, just as the farmer's almanac had predicted. One cold December morning while Megan and Malorie were out on a deer hunt, Megan left a plan with Joshua that they would head due west to recon the nearest road, gather any information possible, and see if there was still any vehicle traffic. Both Megan and Malorie kissed the boys and headed out to the west. With all of the cold and hunting pressure, it was hard for Megan and Malorie to get a shot at any game. Megan suggested that they make the most of their time and survey Clear Creek Road, which ran parallel to Route 211, to see if there was any traffic.

"You have to admit, this is boring, Megan."

"I freely admit that! I can think of better things I'd rather be doing than lying here on my stomach in the snow looking through Joshua's scope for signs of life."

Malorie asked, "Say, do you mind if I take a spell?"

Megan answered, "Be my guest. There is a patch of leaves over there that looks a little dry-I'll be right back."

Malorie scanned from south to north up and down the road. At that distance, she would not have been able to successfully pattern any deer by spotting the tracks through the snow, but she held out hope that she might at least see some movement along the narrow valley floor. As Malorie was just about to give up, she noticed what looked like a man sitting back against a tree along the east edge of the road.

"Pssssst, Megan! Psssssssst. Over here, I see a guy."

"I've seen one of them before, too."

"You're hilarious, you know that?" Malorie was not in the mood for humor. "He's sitting up against a tree right down there on the road."

Megan reached in the breast pocket of her jacket and got a pad and pencil. "Okay, let's take a SALT report: size, just the one guy?"

"It appears to be just him by himself, yes."

"Activity, what would you say that he's doing other than just sitting there?"

"Tough to tell; with these optics it looks really shadowy, but he has something in his hand that's flat, a book maybe? I'm really not sure, that would be mere conjecture on my part, but it looks like he also has some kind of handwritten sign on a piece of cardboard up against his leg."

"That would make sense if he was. .h.i.tchhiking, but I can't imagine that there are too many vehicles looking to pick up people these days. Okay, I got that written down for activity. How about location? Still the east side of the Clear Creek Road?" Megan spread out the map of the state forest. "Can you point to it on the map here?"

"I would say right here, north of the junction of Leatherwood Road."

"Got it. Now the last is time, and I'll mark that at thirteen-forty-six. We can share this with Joshua later, but for now let's get back to our primary task; how about we stalk our way back to camp along the south side of this ridge here? We may be able to find a fat doe sunning herself."

"Sounds good to me. No four-wheeled or four-legged traffic to be seen here today-that guy down there does give me pause, though."

"I'm not so weirded out when it's a klick or more away and my boys are safely in the other direction."

"Gotcha. Okay, put your game face on; Papa would never let us get this chatty on a hunt-zip that lip, sis."

The McGregor Ranch, near Anahim Lake, British Columbia-Late October, the First Year Phil soon worked into the routine at the McGregor ranch. With all liquid fuels now considered precious, a lot of their formerly mechanized tasks were laboriously performed by hand. So Ray and Phil's extra manpower were greatly appreciated. With the many ch.o.r.es-including lots of manure and sodden-straw shoveling-there was very little spare time available.

The precious free time that Phil did have in the evenings was spent listening to shortwave broadcasts on his Grundig G6 Aviator radio, trying to catch news reports. He was troubled that there were fewer and fewer stations operating each week, as the global economic collapse slashed the budgets of most stations, or as power grid failures took them down. But there were still many hams operating in the U.S. and Canada-some of whom had photovoltaic power systems-and he greatly enjoyed listening to their chatter. He even heard some radio amateurs in j.a.pan and Siberia talking in English to hams in Alaska. With his training as an intelligence officer, Phil regularly took down detailed notes about what he heard.

Whenever he heard a callsign that began with a V or C, then he knew that it was a Canadian ham. A, K, N, or W prefix callsigns meant they were in the United States. The wealth of information that the hams imparted over the course of several months was amazing to Phil. But like all other raw intelligence, their reports ranged from reliable to wild speculation. Piecing together their reports, he was able to establish the severity of power outages and level of societal breakdown in most of the United States and Canada.

It became clear that the eastern United States had been the hardest hit. With its high population density, there simply were more mouths to feed than there was food, and the chaos was intense. He expected a ma.s.sive die-off, especially in the frigid Northeast. Canada's large cities-particularly Toronto and Montreal-had enormous riots that had been quelled only with machine-gun fire. Alaska was completely isolated. Because it had long been dependent on air transport, there were thousands of deaths due to starvation and hypothermia. In Alaska's larger cities, there was even some cannibalism.

The McGregors were anxious to hear any news about the conditions of their daughters' locales in Tavares, Florida, and on Samar Island in the Philippines. The only concrete things that Phil heard about Florida and the Southeast were that the eastern power grid had gone down and stayed down, and that there was uncontrolled looting all along Florida's southern Atlantic coast from Coral Gables to Delray Beach. There was also continuous looting throughout the Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville metropolitan regions. He heard a secondhand report that the City of Ocala had barricaded itself and was fending off large bands of looters from Orlando. He hoped that Tavares, a slightly smaller town in the same region, had taken the same precautions.

Because they still deemed the threat of looter gangs minimal in the ranch's remote region, the McGregors didn't inst.i.tute twenty-four-hour-a-day security, as they'd heard the families in Kamloops had done. They did take the precaution of doing some target shooting to confirm the point of aim for every rifle and pistol at the ranch-except for the old "flop top" single-shot .577 Snider carbine, for which they had only seven cartridges. Since neither Alan nor Claire had any military experience, Ray and Phil taught them the basics of patrolling, ambushes, and "fire and maneuver" team tactics. They did quite well, considering their age.

24.

END IN MIND.

By faith Noah, being warned of G.o.d of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

-Hebrews 11:7 (KJV) Olympia State Forest, Kentucky-Late December, the First Year As the Crunch continued and society devolved, millions of average Americans were forced to go out and "forage" for food. The first targets were restaurants, stores, and food distribution warehouses. As the crisis deepened, not a few "foragers" transitioned to full-scale looting, taking the little that their neighbors had left. Next, they moved on to farms that were in close proximity to the cities. A few looters formed gangs that were highly mobile and well armed, ranging deeper and deeper into farmlands, running their vehicles on surrept.i.tiously siphoned gasoline.

Once the envy of most nations, the United States quickly plummeted to conditions matching those of many Third World countries. Power failures were followed by munic.i.p.al water supply failures, followed by major disruptions of food distribution, the collapse of law and order, fires, and full-scale looting. The last phase was a ma.s.sive and desperate "Golden Horde" outmigration from all of the major cities, mostly on foot, as food supplies ran out. The loss of life was tremendous.

By late December, Joshua's little group had patrolled a sizable swath of the forest in their environs, and in that time they did not see very many people, nor did they see any snowplows on the roads, although there were tire tracks. They heard occasional rifle shots in the distance, usually just one or two shots. But on three different nights they heard firefights, with exchanges of gunfire that ranged from dozens to hundreds of shots. Clearly, someone was taking lives in addition to property. The closest firefight sounded like it was two or three miles away, an uncomfortably close distance.

When Megan and Malorie returned to the cave after the patrol out to Clear Creek Road, they reported that they had spotted more deer tracks and even fresh deer scat-but were unable to pack out any venison.

"I'm just glad that you were able to make it back safely," Joshua said. "The boys have been playing quietly most of the afternoon. When I went down to check on them earlier, Leo had fallen asleep."

Malorie slumped down to take the load off her feet and spoke first. "Megan and I did take a SALT report while we were out there. It was rather odd, so I'll let her tell it."

"Well, with a lead-in like that . . ." Megan smirked at her sister. Jean and Leo, who had decided to collectively sit on their mom's lap, giggled when Malorie returned fire by playfully sticking out her tongue. Megan continued, "We went west as far as Clear Creek Road on our hunt. We stopped to rest and observe on a hill overlooking the road. There were tire tracks, but no vehicles around. The odd thing was that Malorie spotted a man just sitting on the edge of the road by himself." Megan handed the sc.r.a.p of paper holding the SALT report to Joshua to read over. "She observed him for a few minutes, but he just sat there. It appeared that he had some kind of cardboard sign with something written on it and something flat in his hand resting on his leg as he sat against the tree."

Joshua pondered what he had heard, and said, "It's only a matter of time until the fuel runs out, but I have to think that there will be more people tracking through these parts. We can't be the only ones to find out about the caves."

Megan spoke. "Good point, Joshua. I say that after the last of the snow melts off and at the last phase before a new moon we should leave here and continue west."

Malorie said, "That guy we found today makes me think that we might get discovered before then."

Joshua leaned over and grabbed a stick to draw on the ground, then said, "Take this as Clear Creek Road, and this as the lake over here to our east. We have no idea who or how many other people are out here, but if they didn't roll out of town supplied like we were, then most of them are not going to make it for very long."

Malorie looked down. "I hate that our survival chances depend so much on the demise of others."

"It bothers me, too, Mal, it really does," Joshua said.

As Malorie walked to the observation post, Joshua continued, "So the next patrol/hunt is not for two more days. We sure are burning up a lot of calories without having any meat to show for it. Can you pa.s.s the map to me?"

"Sure thing. I have to imagine that the hunting pressure is high on these deer and that they're making themselves scarce."

"So we've been checking out this swath of land here up to Clear Creek Road, right? Well, it looks like there is a pretty big section across that road over here before you get to Highway 211. I'm not much of a hunter, but perhaps I can go with Malorie. It appears to be about six miles one way, putting us there at midday if we set out early. And if we can't make it back in one day, we could set up overlooking Highway 211 and try to get some intelligence for what is going on."

"Right, but your best hunting opportunities are not going to be midday," Megan answered. "Game studies have shown that deer are actually active for feeding based on the rising and setting of the moon. Plus, don't you think that going to a patch of woods near a big road is dangerous? There would just be two of you-not enough of a force to mount an effective defense if you were spotted. "

"All good points, Megan. I guess that I just really want to know what is going on out there in the world! We still have a long way to go to get to Bradfordsville, and there just doesn't seem to be any way to get the info we need." After a few minutes he said, "Okay, tomorrow it's my turn to get water from the lake. I'll see what fish I can catch and perhaps a better idea will come to me." Megan nodded in agreement.

The next day Joshua grabbed his empty rucksack and eight quart-size Ziploc bags that the group had been using to collect water from Cave Run Lake. The most efficient way they had found was to fill up the bags with water and bring the water back to camp to filter through one of the one-quart-capacity Go Berkey travel water purifiers that they had with them. The second filter, along with their other small valuables, was in the cache that they made off site.

Joshua tried to fish but gave up after thirty minutes since staying out by the lake's edge meant more exposure and a higher chance of being discovered. He packed up the water, but as he ducked under a branch, one of the twigs caught the back of his rucksack and sent a shower of snow down on him, with some of it managing to find a path between his neck and collar. The cold, wet snow down his back made him take a knee to stop and shiver. He checked his watch. It was 10:37 A.M. on December 23. Before he could stand up he saw a glimpse of movement in his left periphery toward the lake. There, standing with her back half concealed behind a tree, was a yearling doe broadside. Joshua kept both eyes on the doe and when she twitched her nose and started to stamp and snort, Joshua raised his Remington 870 into position and established a firm position against the tree for support. The water sloshed in his backpack as he made his final adjustments and took the shotgun off safe. At this distance the 000 buckshot would spread out quite a bit, but he was not going to pa.s.s up the opportunity to bring meat back.

The doe was about to trot away when Joshua pulled the trigger. The report from the shotgun was loud, but it seemed deafening in the near-complete tranquillity of the state forest. The deer took off running toward the lake down a narrow trail. Joshua instinctively cycled the pump action on the shotgun to prepare to take a follow-up shot if need be. He examined the place where the deer was standing, and he saw some marks on the tree from where some of the shot had hit. Disappointed, he stood up and covered the last five minutes or so back to camp.

When Megan saw Joshua, she ran out to meet him. Everyone was so used to keeping their voices down that neither of them spoke until they were within normal voice distance. "Are you okay? We heard a shot."

Joshua looked down and said, "Yeah, that was me. I saw a skinny doe and took a shot at her, but she took off."

"Did you follow her?"

"No, are you supposed to?"

Megan giggled and said, "Did you see any blood?"

Joshua was still rather embarra.s.sed as he responded, "I was sure that I hit her and even saw some shot marks on the tree she was standing behind. On the hunting shows the animals always seem to drop right there. I just don't get it."

Megan kissed him on the cheek. "Drop your pack and we'll go back and see if we can find blood and track her."

Joshua led Megan back to the place where he had shot the doe. Megan asked where he was when he made the shot, and he pointed across to the spot where he pulled the trigger. Megan drew a line and started to look for blood in the snow on the ground. "Joshua, come look." She pointed with a stick to the blood on the ground. "See the blood here? You definitely hit her."

"Somehow it all looks easier on TV." Joshua's eyes brightened and he said, "But if we have blood and some intermittent tracks through the patches of snow, then we can track her, right?"

Megan stood up, grabbed his hand, and said, "Yipper, right this way, Wingnut."

The snow was very spa.r.s.e under the dense trees, but working together they were able to follow the doe's tracks, confirmed with small spots of blood. Eventually Megan found the animal in some thick brush near the water. She threw her arms around him and said, "Nice job! That's meat right there. I'll poke her with a long stick to make sure that she's dead, otherwise, you're liable to get kicked."

Megan confirmed that the doe was dead, and she then methodically showed Joshua how to open up the abdominal cavity and eviscerate the deer, saving the heart and the liver. She looked up at him and said, "It's tradition, you know." Joshua winced but was trying to be a good sport. He couldn't tell if she was pulling his leg or not.

Next she found a thick green branch that could be whittled down to a point on both ends to stick through the back leg between the bone and the tendon on the lower hock. Joshua had never done this before, but he was catching on, so he threw the rope over a st.u.r.dy branch. Megan lashed the two back legs to the green stick, which would have to do in place of a proper gambrel, then the two of them hoisted the deer up to working height. Megan started to take off the cape, but once Joshua saw how it was done he insisted on getting in there to help. Megan worked to cut off the doe's head while Joshua worked on removing the cape. She smiled and said, "You're lucky the doe is still warm; this is a real ch.o.r.e when the meat is cold!

"Tell you what, let's quarter this doe back at camp. It'll be good for the boys to see how it's done, and we can just tie the legs together and carry her out on a long pole between us," Megan said.

"Cool. Do you know how to do anything with this hide?" Joshua asked.

"Well, without salt it would be hard to preserve it, but if we sc.r.a.ped it really well we could likely roll it up and either use it for something or trade it. Let's put it in the lake with a bunch of rocks on top to keep it submerged in the water. That will soften everything up really well and we can come back for it in a few days. The meat and hair should sc.r.a.pe right off."

Megan and Joshua packed the deer out on a pole back to camp and returned midafternoon to cheers and high fives from Malorie, Jean, and Leo. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" Megan said. Malorie got to work with her knife alongside her sister, as there was still plenty to do with the deer carca.s.s.

"We'll have to find a way to cook some of the meat and dry as much as we can," Joshua said.

"What if we dug another hole outside of camp and filled it with snow so that we could pack some of the meat in the snow-that should keep it from spoiling, with it as cold as it is," Megan suggested. "I remember Papa telling me about them having to do that sometimes when they were out at logging camp without refrigeration." In the end they roasted one front quarter in a pit, made jerky with the chest and flank meat, packed one hind quarter in snow, and hung up the other two quarters. Although they couldn't measure it exactly, they guessed the high temperature was only forty degrees during the day.

That night there was a lot of thanksgiving for their provisions as everyone had their fill of hot food for the first time in a long time. They made sure to stop themselves from overeating to prevent illness.

Joshua was on shift from the early hours of the morning through dawn when Megan came on duty to relieve him. "Good morning, beautiful. Listen, I've been thinking. Now that we have a store of meat, the pressure to conserve our supplies is a lot less immediate. I want to find out what is happening out there in the world. According to the tick marks on the wall, we checked out of the world two months ago, and for all we know, the government might not be the same government anymore."

"Okay," Megan replied.

Joshua waited for what seemed like a long time before saying anything. "I was hoping for more of your input."

"Tell me, are you thinking of the contingencies here? What happens if you get killed?"

"You're right. It sounds a lot more stupid hearing my idea repeated back to me. Our whole mission could fail." Joshua stood up and kissed Megan on the head and went back to the cave.

Megan spent the first part of her shift in silent prayer. Her thoughts raced from the great blessing of getting the venison, to her memories of walking out of the NSA the day before the Crunch, to meeting Joshua for the first time. Would he risk going alone to find answers? Could she bear that unknown? She was lost in thought, and didn't notice Malorie had walked up and sat down next to her.

"You have a friendly approaching." Malorie smirked as she nudged her elder sister.

"Yeah, some vigilant guard I am, huh?" Malorie smiled back and waited for Megan to say what was on her mind. "Joshua wants to ask somebody, anybody about news out there on the outside. He thinks that if he had more facts to pa.r.s.e he'd be able to make a better decision about our situation. I know he isn't arrogant enough to decide something unilaterally for our whole group, but we can't afford to lose him to an ambush or abduction."

"So my super-spook sister is asking me what I think about her fiance going out for information about the state of our Union. Seems to me that the a.n.a.lyst in you would be chomping at the bit to get facts to pa.r.s.e, cross-examine, and a.s.sess."

"We're not talking about doing a Google search here, Mal."

"If Joshua was able to find out anything about the towns to our west, we'd know more about the ground we have yet to cover. Just because it's been quiet here in this little slice of the world doesn't mean that everyone else is sanguine with the world's lone superpower going offline. Heck, if you wanted to go with him, I'd hold down the fort here. You probably know how to ask more probing questions than I do."

Malorie got up and went back to the boys, who were asking her to play tag with them. Joshua returned with a blanket to keep Megan warm in the chilly morning air. She looked up at him and said, "Okay, you and I can go. Malorie can cover my shift. Since we're not stalking for game, we can move quickly and be back by dinner."

Joshua said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, but I want to do this my way. If/when you see someone, you approach with your shotgun slung and your hands laced behind your head like when you went up to the West Hamlin checkpoint. I'll cover you with the .270. Keep in mind where I am, so that you don't get in the way of my shot if I need to neutralize a threat."