The Day America Died Trilogy Read online

  “We’ll be back in a few weeks to celebrate your victory.”

  We pulled out and left Rolling Hills. We chatted about what we had seen and discussed our amazement that they were so far behind our progress.

  Ally finally asked the question that was on their lips.

  “Zack, what is the plan? I’m dying to know what you told them.”

  “Common sense. Armor plate a bunch of dump trucks, spike the gang’s food with ipecac and laxatives and attack when they are puking or shitting their guts out.”

  They laughed for an hour.

  Finally, Ally said, “That will be bad for the innocent women and kids, but being gang slaves is much worse. Thanks for helping them solve their problem. That Mayor has to be on the take.”

  “Ally, you just made me think that perhaps Owensville’s Mayor might be dirty also.”

  “I need to warn Bert.”

  The trip back to the farm only took four hours including the time stopping to relieve ourselves twice since we had drunk so much sweet tea for supper. We rolled in just before 11:00 pm and everyone was up waiting for us to return. Callie ran over, hugged me and told me how she worried so much about me while I was gone. I gave them an update and went on into the house. I fell asleep thinking about Mayor Bonner.

  “Ally, what have you learned from Mary about Grant?”

  “First, Mary is a good person, but she has fallen for Grant and believes all of his bullshit. He is plotting against us but doesn’t have any supporters in our ranks. He has hinted to Mary he is working with or for the most powerful person in this area and they have a plan to take over everything within a hundred miles.”

  “Did she speculate who she thinks that person is?”

  “No, I guessed it was Todd, the Mayor or both together.”

  “Thanks. What would you do with Grant and Mary?”

  “I’d take Grant out into the woods, and he would not return. I’d try to save Mary only because of Carrie and Billy, but I don’t think she can be saved.”

  “Good info and I agree with your thoughts.”

  ***

  “So Aaron left Sunday morning. I hope he and his family make it to Alabama without any trouble.”

  “We escorted them to the Kentucky border and spent part of the next day in Rolling Hills.”

  Bert got excited and said, “Did you see my brother Jake? He is the Sheriff of Rolling County.”

  “Yes, we stayed at his house and had a couple of meals with them. They get by but are in worse shape than we are. They aren’t using all of their resources, and the Mayor is a problem. A gang has control of a third of their city and most of the fuel. The Mayor has set up a deal where they trade food for fuel and a truce. Jake and I think that the Mayor is in the gang’s pocket.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help them?”

  I passed on the plan I left with them and said, “Your brother is a lot like you. He didn’t want to go against the Mayor even though the signs were there saying the Mayor has his own agenda and it isn’t in the community’s best interest. I think our Mayor Bonner has to go away before she decides to make you and your deputies go away.”

  "I would have argued with you last week, but Bonner brought Alan Prescott to the station yesterday and told me that she has appointed Alan in charge of developing our long-term security plan and I should report to him. I explained to both that the Sheriff reported to the people of the county and would not report to the Mayor or an appointee of the Mayor. Alan tried to talk tough, but Bonner asked him to back off, and both left. Since then one of my deputies came forth and told me that the Mayor and Prescott had plans to take over the whole county. Their first step would be to make me disappear and then stage attacks against my deputies. They would then replace them with Alan’s men. He also told me that Bonner and Prescott are to meet with the leader of Anderson later this week.”

  “Damn Bert, start by moving your wife and kids out to my place for their safety. If I were you, I’d move out there also. What should we do with this information?”

  “I think we should get the leaders from the various communities in Daviess County that we trust and put a plan in place to remove Bonner and neutralize Prescott before they attack. I think we have to get rid of the drug gang in Ohio County first.”

  “I agree, but let’s at least warn the others by tomorrow.”

  “I’m okay with that.”

  “We need to add to our army.”

  “What army?”

  “I have 15 at my place and another 30 fighters in the surrounding farms. You have at least 20-30 loyal deputies. That gives us 65-75 people who can hold their own against the drug gang or Bonner’s thugs. We can probably double the number after our first meeting.”

  “I agree on the number of people who are able to fight, but will they fight when the bullets fly?”

  ✪✪✪

  Chapter 5 - Todd Reaches Out

  Spottsville, Kentucky

  Alan’s spies told him Todd’s men would stake out the meeting early the morning of the meeting and have men in place to wipe out the Mayor’s team if the meeting went south. He had his team there two days before and set up practically invisible hiding spots with clear fields of fire for likely sniper locations. He also placed IED’s at the meeting site and the roads back to Anderson and Owensville. He definitely didn’t trust Todd or his people and wasn’t sure he needed the Mayor to take over Owensville. It was a coin toss if he killed both or none. He knew Todd had to go when he outlived his usefulness, but the Mayor could come in handy. Both would be the scapegoats in the end. Alan and his team would be the heroes, the citizens would be glad to get rid of Todd, and happy Alan’s team had killed the evil Todd and delivered Owensville from his clutches.

  “Alan thanks for providing transportation to the meeting and security coverage. Steve and I had to slip away this morning to prevent anyone from knowing about the meeting. Do you expect this to be a productive meeting or an attempt for Todd to expand his empire?”

  Alan looked over at Steve and said, “Is it okay to speak frankly in front of your City Manager? I don’t want to insult Steve, but how much does he know about this situation?”

  “Steve is my most trusted ally, and I trust him with my life.”

  Alan watched how close they sat together and thought Steve was the reason her husband had to be eliminated.

  “The answer is both. He will be quite helpful until he doesn’t need us anymore, then he plans to kill us all and take over Daviess County. See, Todd is jealous of the upcoming success of our local farmers. His are beaten down and only doing just enough to keep their lives. He knows this will mean starvation in the long run. He wants our farms and not our cities people. They will be expendable.”

  “Then why do we want to deal with this devil?”

  “Because you need someone to take the blame for the thinning of the herd and he is uniquely placed to deal with Zack Johnson and his band of troublemakers.”

  “How so?”

  “Zack’s wife, Joan, left him to live with Todd. Her brother rescued Joan from Todd just after the lights went out. Todd went from a middle management office drone to a raving maniac in a few days. He will do anything to get Joan and her daughter back while killing Zack and Joan’s brother.”

  “Sounds like a fucking soap opera.”

  “It is, but it’s our best way to kill several birds with one stone. Todd’s henchmen will kill Zack’s team, be blamed for wiping out half of the people in our town, kill our Sheriff Bert and most of his officers. The public will believe what we tell them to believe. We will be heroes when we drag Todd through the streets and hang him on the courthouse grounds for the mass murder.”

  “Damn, you’re good.”

  Steve looked from Alice to Alan several times and said, “What happens if the plan goes south?”

  Alan beat the Mayor to the punch, “That’s why I get paid the big bucks. To make sure it goes according to plan.”

  “What’s to prev
ent you from double crossing us all and taking the whole area for yourself?”

  “Alice your boyfriend has a vivid imagination. First, I am very rich and don’t need anyone or anything to survive. I have a small army to protect me against anything anyone throws at us. I don’t need Owensville; Owensville needs my help, and I’m glad to mentor the Mayor and be the man behind the power. I guess you might say it’s my only hobby now the world’s powers don’t need my services.”

  They had been waiting for half an hour when Todd’s Cadillac game in view. It was a 1959 Eldorado white on white convertible with red leather seats. Todd was sitting in the back beside a rather attractive very young blonde with a driver and an obvious security guard in the passenger seat.

  Alan knew by being late, Todd was claiming superiority over the Owensville team. His apology would be bullshit.

  “I’m very sorry; we had a flat tire coming over. The roads are not what they used to be.”

  Todd was dressed in a tailored suit with a flower in his lapel. He actually looked like a gangster from the twenties.

  After the pleasantries, Todd took over the conversation.

  “I want to make sure we all know what each party gets in any deal we make. I…….. err …. Anderson wants to rid the area of the riffraff that is attacking our farmers and citizens. We want to get rid of the drug trafficking that appears to be located in Ohio County, but managed from Daviess County. We also want to cooperate with Daviess County to improve our harvests, share farming equipment and work together to get our industries back up into operation.”

  The Mayor looked over at Alan and then spoke, “I couldn’t agree with you more on the topics you brought up; however, I feel we need to add to the list and clarify one item. We need to add a mutual security effort to protect our citizens and our mutual goals. There are enemies out there who will try to take away our ability to govern and enforce our community’s laws. We won’t interfere with how each other manages inside our own boundaries. We will help you solve a personal problem, the Johnsons, and you will help me with one of mine.”

  “Mayor, I see you have done your homework, and we are on the same wavelength. Let’s meet again in two days and introduce our department heads to work out the detail in their areas.”

  “I agree, say 10:00 in two days?”

  “Alan, what do you do for the Mayor?”

  “Security and problem solving.”

  “Okay, I have an Alan also. She will meet with you and perhaps you two can jointly solve a couple of problems for the Mayor and me.

  They shook hands and headed back to the office.

  ***

  “Did Todd have his men in place as you suspected?”

  “Yes, and they never knew we had them all covered. He did surprise me with his own IEDs spread around the meeting place. He is a little sharper than I anticipated. He has found a mentor.”

  ***

  “Imelda, did the Mayor have her men in place around the meeting site?”

  “Yes, ten more than we had and they had the escape routes booby trapped. You were right; this Alan is an expert and will need to go as soon as we finish cooperating with Owensville.”

  “That’s after I have Callie back and Mike Norman and Joan Johnson are dead.”

  “I need to give my moles time to dig in and gain the trust of the Mayor’s and Johnson’s people.”

  “Get Callie, and I will give you more time.”

  “Done, we will have her in a few weeks.”

  Chapter 6 - Always Prepared

  Southern Daviess County

  I kept thinking about the last advice Aaron gave me before heading south. He was right about the farm being hard to defend and not trusting too many people; however, would any place I’d actually want to live in be easy to defend? I didn’t want to think about moving, but having a fallback position fully stocked with supplies was a good idea. I gave it a lot of thought then decided to bring Mike, Joan, and Sally into my confidence.

  I caught Mike before the others, filled him in on the plan and asked for his opinion.

  “I like it. We can make this place much more secure, but having a secure place to bug out to makes a lot of sense. We could be overrun, bug out and snipe the bastards until we retake the farm. I would also bury some food and weapons here at the farm. Any idea where you want to locate it?”

  “I have a couple, but none are perfect. Down by the river is the old waterworks complex. No one has been there for years and has no reason to go there. It has several concrete buildings that would be easy to defend, and you could easily enter or escape the complex by car or boat. The other is the old feed mill on Green River.”

  Mike thought for a minute and said, “Do you remember your uncle taking us on a hike up Daviess Mountain?”

  “Yeah, you mean Daviess Hill. What’s up there that would make a good hideout? Damn, are you thinking about the old underground water storage tank?”

  “Yes, it has everything that we need and would be very secure, and I don’t think anyone still alive knows about it.”

  “You’re probably right about that. According to my uncle, it was abandoned in the thirties and was empty ever since. My uncle only knew about it because he stumbled across one end of it that had been exposed due to a landslide after a very wet winter. That was one creepy place.”

  “Dude, we were 11 the last time we were there. Let’s check out all three before we make a decision.”

  “That works for me. Who should we trust with the location?”

  “That’s tough. It’s not who we trust or don’t trust. It’s who we trust the most with our lives.”

  “I’m thinking Joan and Sally.”

  “What about Ally, Roger, Callie, and Paul?”

  “I don’t want Callie to slip up and tell her friends. I trust Roger, but we’ve actually only known them for a couple of months. Why did you bring up Ally?”

  “And you’ve known Sally for three to four months, and I’ve known her for three, and I trust her. I brought Ally up because you two have been making puppy dog eyes at each other since you got back from Rolling Hills.”

  “That’s bull. She’s younger than I am. I made that mistake with Geena. Hell, I’m still grieving over her, and you’re trying to hook me up. Anyway, I’ve been wrestling with who to trust for a week.”

  “Damn, you’re 35 and Ally is what about 32 or 33? Hell Geena was around 28?”

  “It just seemed more than that. I guess Joan was much more mature than me, so they seem much younger.”

  “Zack, don’t sell Callie short. She has grown up a lot since the lights went out. I think she and Paul will be…..”

  “If you say having sex, I’ll beat the shit out of you.”

  Mike broke out laughing and replied, “Aren’t we a bit over protective Daddy? Your little girl is 16 going on 25. She is proficient with every weapon we have and can knife fight better than most men can. Davi trained her well. I was going to say dating. Zack, your little girl, is very responsible, and Paul is cut from the same cloth. I would trust both of them along with Sally, Joan, and Ally. I’ll hold back on Roger, but my gut says we can trust him. It’s Grant we have to watch. He needs to go.”

  Mike and I made excuses the next day and took my truck on a road trip to evaluate the possible locations for our bug out place. We ruled out the old feed mill since people were living in a trailer just a hundred feet away. The old water treatment complex had promise, and we both agreed that it would do, but we both wanted something better.

  Mike was driving as I watched the countryside roll by.

  “Mike, turn right just around the bend. Then we stay on the dirt road for a mile or so before turning left and up a big hill.”

  “Just past the white cow with the black spot?”

  “Shut up and drive.”

  We started up the hill and came to a flat spot about 50 yards deep and a hundred yards long with a steep hill running the full length of the backside.

  “I remember this is wher
e we camped the day my uncle brought us up here. We pitched our tents over by that big rock and had a fire right here. Let’s look for the concrete air vents and the entrance. I know that we’d have to climb down a ladder, but the place would be very safe.”

  Mike led the way and headed through the thick tangle of trees, bushes, and vines until we saw where there had been a landslide. From the side, it looked like the entire hill had collapsed and washed out at a 90-degree angle heading to our left. There was a 15-foot wide flat area leading around towards where the earth had given way. Mike went first, only traveled about 30 feet and was just around the end of the hill when he yelled.

  “Holy crap, there’s a big cave. A big ass cave.”

  I cleared the side and there right in front of him was a large opening into the side of the hill. The opening was twenty feet wide and at least fifteen feet high. I looked at the edges, and they looked too regular.

  “This is the old underground water storage tank. Part of the wall collapsed and fell down the hill with the surrounding dirt. The floor was on bedrock and is two feet thick. Hell, we could drive a tank into this. Let’s go back and get a flashlight and a lantern.”

  I turned the flashlight on, and Mike lit the lantern as we entered the opening to the underground structure. It was built sometime around the turn of the twentieth century and was a massive structure for that time. It was as big as a football field and shaped like a big underground swimming pool with sides that went up and away at a sharp angle. The concrete sides, bottom, and top appeared to vary from about two feet to three feet judging from the concrete around the opening. There were round columns about every twenty-five feet that held the ceiling up. The columns were three feet in diameter. The ceiling was thirty feet above the floor.

  “No wonder I had nightmares about this place. I think my uncle intentionally brought us here to show us a good place to hide if the shit ever hit the fan. I remember him telling me that this would make a good bomb shelter if the Russians ever got the nerve to tackle the USA.”