The Day America Died! Frozen Apocalypse: After the EMP- A post Apocalyptic America Read online

“General, should we be concerned that local self defense forces may become the very element we wish to eliminate. I mean, how do we prevent them from subjugating weaker settlements through aggression?”

  The General stood, and replied, “Madam President, should we embark upon this tack, we accept that it is entirely possible that we open yet another Pandora’s Box. I wish I had the perfect answer for you, but there it is.”

  “General, I would like you to take charge of this mission. Develop your team, and get back to me with a proposal one week from today. I would also like an update on the viability of each state’s remaining government, to include the State National Guard.”

  “Yes Madam President.”

  “Thank you all for your input. I must now go practice my speech to be ready by 1900. May God bless the USA!”

  ***

  The Water Reservoir

  I yelled, “Hurry up with the popcorn. I don’t want to miss the president’s speech tonight.”

  Zack, “I’m popping as fast as I can with a pan and a propane camping stove. Darn, I miss my microwave.”

  “Darling, why aren’t you using the microwave in the trailer?”

  “I’m trying to save the gas for the generator for something more important.”

  “Mom, stop talking and pop faster. Callie and I are the only ones without popcorn and the President starts in ten minutes,” shouted Paul.

  The popcorn was finished in time and they all sat at the picnic tables around the radio. This was a weekly ritual since the first broadcast several weeks ago.

  The President started on time and after the Pledge of Allegiance began covering her talking points.

  There was cheering and a round of applause when she mentioned the retaliation against Iran and North Korea.

  There were tears when she stated that Israel was a lethal radiation zone and shock when she said that there was no help coming for the middle of the country for the foreseeable future. As always, she ended her presentation asking the country to pull together for survival and then the Lord’s Prayer.

  ***

  Presidential Compound

  Undisclosed Location

  The President watched as the camera crew, radio crew and her staff left the production room. She saw General John Keene walk across the room and said,” John, would you please come to my office for a minute?”

  “Yes, of course, Madam President. I’ll follow you there.”

  “How is your family doing? I know you had to travel up to Virginia to rescue them.”

  “They are fine now. The kids and I are still grieving over the loss of my wife’s parents, but otherwise they are okay.

  As you know, I lost my wife to cancer ten years ago. How are you Madam President? I know that you have also suffered personal loss.”

  “I’m holding up under the circumstances. My fiancée died in DC and my parents in New York. I was eaten up with anger and wanted retaliation. We nuked a lot of innocent people to get the traitors to humanity and that will be with me forever.”

  “Madam President…”

  “John, please call me Laura in private. It will keep me from getting a big head. I need your help and advice.”

  “Of course, Laura, what can I do to help?”

  “Let’s discuss that when we can make sure we have privacy.”

  “All right, Laura, I’ll arrange for your office to be swept for electronic bugs immediately. Shall we reconvene here in, say, one hour?”

  The President stood, offered her hand and said, “General, why don’t we have lunch while your people conduct their sweep.”

  The current home of the US Government is the Pennsylvania Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They entered the President’s office and sat on the couch across from her desk.

  “Madam President, I believe this room is clean.

  Before we begin with your agenda, may I ask if you have decided on a permanent location for our new capitol? You know that I am pushing for it to be located near a large military installation for security reasons.”

  “That’s one of the topics that I want to cover with you. I agree with your concern and assessment. Please formally present your proposal for a temporary site, at the next Primary Staff Briefing, and that’s where it will be until we have this nation in the firm grip of recovery, and have ended hostilities.”

  “Laura I strongly suggest Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, or Fort Gordon, with Fort Gordon being my personal preference. We need to close down many of our, now excess installations, so we can consolidate our forces. Due to the training infrastructures those three must never be closed.”

  “John, I agree and will approve your recommendation for Augusta, Georgia to be the temporary home of our government. However, please keep the site confidential you make the recommendation at the next staff meet up.

  The full Congress of the U.S. should be involved in making the final decision on a permanent location.”

  “John, I inherited most of my cabinet from the former president and let’s say that many of them do not see things the way I do. I am demanding a strong military, and they want to draw back from the fight and give up land for peace with the Russian terrorists and Mexican drug lords.

  John, with your support, I intend to initiate Martial Law, and wrestle near dictatorial powers to the Executive Branch.

  At this time in history, we cannot afford to be weak, especially in the eyes of the world. I will be replacing all liberal members of my Cabinet and Legislative Branch office holders, I believe that the War Powers Act, and Martial Law grants the President the authority execute this action. I need to know if the military is behind me.”

  “Madam President, all of the branches of the military expected you to do this and it is our intention to support you. However, please know that when the day comes when these extreme powers are no longer required, the military will no longer support such actions and, as defined in the Constitution, will take action as necessary to return to a Constitutional Republic. Are we agreed on this?”

  “General, I absolutely agree with your stance.”

  It would be a major mistake to give up our land to terrorists, who will only come back for more. And, the Joint Chiefs will be happy to recommend replacements for your cabinet positions.”

  “Thanks for the support, and the recommendations. Do you think retired General Joe Phillips would like to become Secretary of Defense and Lt. Col. Roger McNabb Director of Homeland Security?”

  “Yes, and they will do a great job. I’ll set up a meeting with them for you.”

  “John, I want a strong military presence when I ask for the resignations and especially when I kick Feinstein out. I fear he will orchestrate a coup attempt. Some of his top men are very loyal to him.”

  “Laura, we already have your back and you are right. The CIA approached me yesterday with the same concerns. The CIA and NSA are solidly behind you.

  However, we feel that the head of the FBI must also be replaced. He is loyal, but very weak, and incompetent.

  The CIA thinks that the Secretary of State and Director of Homeland Security are trying to stir up support for a coup against you. The Director thinks he should be the president because you have no experience. Madam President, I assure you the military will not let this happen.”

  “Damn, I felt something like this might happen. Do you have enough proof to arrest them?”

  “Not yet. You should consider firing the entire cabinet and reappoint the ones you trust. I will have troops stationed to enforce the firings and stop any potential coup.”

  “Thanks John, I knew that I could depend on you.”

  “Thank you, Laura, for the confidence.”

  “We must get this political crap over quickly or we will never get started helping our people recover.”

  “Laura, we are receiving more good reports than bad ones concerning the state of our recovery. Sure there are criminals killing and looting, but there are many more communities taking charge of their own recovery.�
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  ***

  The Water Reservoir

  Ally jumped into our bed, snuggled up close to me and placed her cold feet against my legs to get warm.”

  “Holy shit! Did you just take your feet off a block of ice? I had plans tonight, but you just froze everything.”

  “I’ll bet I can warm you back up.”

  “Not until those feet warm up a bunch.”

  “Zack did the President’s comment about us being on our own scare you?”

  “Baby, changing the topic didn’t make those feet any warmer. Yes it worries me a bit; however, we will keep chugging along to survive one day at a time and work hard to make each new day just a bit better than the one before.”

  Yes, I was worried; however, I don’t want my wife and kids to worry about being alone as we struggle to survive.

  I’m not worried for myself, but I am terrified that Callie, Paul and Suzie may face horrendous trials over the next 30 years. They will be living as people lived in the 1850s.

  There will be no modern medicine, no rabies vaccine for dogs, no life flight helicopters.

  A bad cavity could become infected and kill a person. Women will die in childbirth. Hell, even a tiny skin cancer could kill an otherwise healthy person.

  I could take Ally or myself becoming sick or wounded, but I am afraid that my little girl, Callie, may become sick or have an accident. I will do my best to protect our kids at all cost.

  I lay there trying to sleep as I tossed and turned until Ally whispered in my ear, “Darling, we will be okay. We will teach our kids how to survive and give them the best chance at making a good life for themselves, and our grandkids. Now go to sleep.”

  “I love you and needed to hear that, sweetie. Good night.”

  Life is tough enough without losing hope. Having Ally to comfort me and tell me everything will work out for the best is what I need.

  I always try to keep a positive outlook and make sure my friends and family know that we are going to survive. Deep inside I still have doubts.

  This is going to be one mother of a winter even though we are warm in our underground water reservoir and have plenty of food.

  I fear our friends in Owensville and the surrounding farms are either starving or freezing, or perhaps both.

  I resolved to focus on daily tasks to make life just a bit better, conduct ongoing training for our kids and friends to prepare them for all possibilities. We will look the unknown in the face and give it the middle finger.

  ***

  The Water Reservoir

  Sally grabbed her bag, stuffed her personal hygiene items in to it, grabbed her guns and laid them in the cab of the pickup. She helped Mike lower the pallet with the supplies, food, water and ammo down from the roof to the bed of the truck. Mike fired up the old Ford 4X4 up and drove to the front of the hideout. Ally and I arrived just before the remainder of our party.

  “Damn, we’re good. That was 12 minutes. In five minutes we would be a mile down the road.”

  “Dad, how often do we have to practice Bugging Out?”

  “Darling, we are going to do it once a week until the threat is over. If Prescott finds out where we are, he will try to wipe us out. Our lookouts can only give us a few minutes warning. Stay prepared.”

  I knew that once a month was probably enough drills, but I felt the drill kept us mentally sharp and drove the point home that we weren’t safe as long as Prescott existed.

  Before we had to retreat to the hideout, we had spent many hours preparing for several scenarios ranging from Bugging Out to guerrilla war.

  We knew the hideout could be overrun so Mike came up with the idea to bury food, weapons and other supplies in 55-gallon drums in several locations away from the hideout. It took over a month, but we hid 63 drums of supplies. Mike made maps of their locations and gave a copy to everyone to keep in their Bug Out Bags.

  We met each week to review our plans for survival and made adjustments as needed. I don’t think we ever thought we’d have to leave my farm, but we were prepared and made the move as planned.

  Joan, being kidnapped screwed up the process, but even that worked out in the end. I am very proud of my little tribe.

  Paul walked up to me after the Bug Out drill and said, “Zack, I know we have three locations already chosen to Bug Out, but I’ve been thinking about adding another.”

  “Paul, I’d be glad to consider another suitable location, but you know we have to be able to scout it before we decide.”

  “I know that and just want us to have fallback locations in an emergency. The place I’m thinking about is in Graham, Kentucky and is a campground where my uncle had a trailer. We camped there in the summer when I was young. It’s the O’Bryan Campground and it has a 50 acre lake and some caves that we used to explore.”

  “Where the heck is Graham?”

  “About 15 miles west of Greenville on Highway 121.”

  “Yeah, it sounds like a place we should consider. I’ll add it to our list to check out. Our two primary locations are just north of Rolling Hills. Perhaps you and I can go scout it out if the weather holds. This warm winter won’t last much longer.”

  ✪✪✪

  ✪

  Chapter 2

  Davi

  The Water Reservoir

  A month ago, Roger and I found Davi half dead, lying on the ground outside of the bunker. I walked up to her and tried to check to see if she was alive and she nearly stabbed me before I could subdue her. She had been near fatally injured, shot twice, beaten and tortured. She arrived at the hideout barely alive.

  Ally and Joan dug out the bullets, patched her up the best they could and we had to leave her in God’s hands. Ally and Callie changed Davi’s bandages daily and the wounds appeared to be healing, but she didn’t wake up for over a week.

  The first several days she just laid there and did not move. The last two days before she woke up were painful to watch. She tossed and turned while mumbling words that we couldn’t understand. At least once a day she would sit straight up and scream, Then she would fall back into whatever unconscious hell tortured her broken body.

  Nine days after we found her she woke up just before breakfast and said, “Those are breakfast smells. I’m hungry. Prescott’s men captured me and they plan to kill all of you. Damn I’m hungry. Who found me? What day is it? How long have I been out? Has Prescott attacked? Damn I’m hungry and thirsty.”

  Ally fetched a glass of water and handed it to Davi who drank the glass empty in one deep gulp.

  Ally said, “Davi, you’ve been unconscious for nine days and were shot twice. Be careful getting up. You were beaten and I think you have some broken ribs.”

  “You should see the other guys.”

  I spoke up, “I believe I know this story. They all have had their throats slashed and balls cut off.”

  “No, I shot six, cut three throats and strangled one with my bare hands. I didn’t have time to cut their balls off.

  That damn Prescott had me tortured for several days and when they couldn’t make me talk he let me hear his plans for me that night.

  When he was through with me, he planned to let his men have the leftovers. The idiot sent in two women to wipe the blood off and clean me up for their fun and games.

  The bath felt great and they took my chains off to finish cleaning and drying me while a man held a gun on me. I waited until one of the women walked between us and shoved her fat ass into him.

  I broke her neck as I sent her crashing into him and quickly kicked the other in the neck killing her. Then I whirled around and took his gun away. It was easy to beat him to death with his own pistol.”

  I asked, “Sounds like you had everything in control. Why didn’t you steal one of the women’s clothes?”

  “Yes, I was standing there bare assed naked when five men ran into the room after hearing the commotion. Seeing me naked must have frozen them because I shot the first three before they reacted. I got hit a couple of times be
fore I killed the others.”

  “Still, why didn’t you grab the women’s clothes?”

  “Damn it. They were dressed in see through tops and panties.”

  I started laughing and couldn’t stop. Ally and Davi gave me that look that could kill and still I could not stop laughing.

  After I regained my composure, I asked, “Okay, now how did you get away from their headquarters?”

  “I got dressed, grabbed all of the guns and ammo I could carry, stole one of their old trucks and blasted off in this direction.

  Since I killed everyone at that location, there was no one to follow me. I made it to the roadblock on Highway 54 and blasted my way through the guards killing all but one. Then about five miles from here, I ran out of gas and started walking. It was pure dumb luck that I got lost and passed out close to here.”

  Ally helped Davi up while saying, “Zack, this is one very scary woman.”

  “You got that right.”

  “Davi, Zack guessed that your story would be about the same as you just told. I never thought a woman could be such a bad ass.”

  “I can teach you how to be just as bad as I am.”

  I quickly replied, “Hell no! She might use it on me.”

  “Don’t you want me to be able to take care of myself when the big strong man isn’t around?”

  “Well, when you put it that way. Yeah, I guess I do.”

  Davi ate 5 eggs and a large steak along with 6 pieces of toast and 3 cups of coffee before declaring herself full. We watched in awe of this small woman’s appetite.

  Ally finally broke the ice by saying, “Davi, if you’re still hungry we can butcher a hog or a cow and BBQ it for you.”

  Davi looked up with her mouth still full, gave her the finger and smiled.

  She swallowed and said, “If I’m a bother, I can leave now, but I wanted to tell you what I learned about Prescott’s little kingdom before they caught me.”