A Novel by L.Michael Rusin
SJO 13637
words: 94,309
Pages 309
7979 NW 21st Street
Doral, Florida
33122-1616
crcaseyboy@msn.com
Avalon
“This is a story about what might happen, and soon!”
Copyright © 2008 COPYRIGHT L. Michael Rusin. All rights reserved.
1
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Caching goodies along your
route to your Retreat (a)
Page 6-10
“The Balloon Has Popped”
Chapter Two
Caching goodies along
the route to your Retreat (b)
Page
12-16
Chapter Three
Caching goodies along
the route to your Retreat (c)
Pages
17-23
Chapter Four
Caching goodies along
your route to your Retreat (d)
Pages 24-24
Chapter Five
Caching goodies along
your route to your Retreat (e)
Pages 27-33
Chapter Six
The Retreat-Almost Home
Pages 34-46
Chapter Seven
Safe and sound at the Retreat
Pages 47-51
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Chapter Eight
Looking grim in the US
Chapter Nine
Pages 52-59
Pages 60-65
The Rescue (a)
Chapter Ten
Pages 66-74
The Rescue (b)
Chapter Eleven
Pages 75-79
All together at Avalon
Chapter Twelve
Pages 80-86
Life at Avalon
Chapter Thirteen
Pages 87-91
The World War is accelerating
Chapter Fourteen
Pages 92-96
The country in turmoil
Avalon at Peace
Chapter Fifteen
Pages 97-107
Occasionally we need a little help
Avalon at Peace
Chapter Sixteen
Pages 108-121
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Setting up the silent sentinels at Avalon
Chapter Seventeen
Pages 122-129
First Christmas
Chapter Eighteen
Pages 130-137
The people in America hang by a thread
Chapter Nineteen
Pages 138-150
The new flag
Chapter Twenty
Pages 151-165
A dangerous journey
Chapter Twenty One
Pages 166-176
Children Brigade
Chapter Twenty Two
Pages 177-186
The trek Continues
Chapter Twenty Three
Pages 187-193
Fitch
Chapter Twenty Four
Pages 194-202
The smell of death
Chapter Twenty Five
Pages 203-211
Desperation
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Chapter Twenty Six
Pages 212-225
The Slaver’s Camp
Chapter Twenty Seven
Pages 226-233
The Bee’s Nest
Chapter Twenty Eight
Pages 234-241
The Slavers
Chapter Twenty Nine
Pages 242-252
Getting United
Chapter Thirty
Pages 253-255
The Battle
Chapter Thirty One
Pages 256-258
The Second Push
Chapter Thirty Two
Pages 259-264
Fitch Re-organizes
Chapter Thirty Three
Pages 265-268
Chapter Thirty Four
Pages 269-279
The United States Government
Chapter Thirty Five
Pages 280-284
The East Coast
5
Chapter Thirty Six
Pages 285-294
The West Coast
Chapter Thirty Seven
pages 295-299
The Radio Station
The Epilogue
Pages 300-306
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Chapter One Avalon (a)
Caching goodies along your route to your Retreat
“The Balloon Has Popped”
The sirens are wailing, piercing the air and impossible to
ignore. Mike tuned in the radio and a few of the stations are
reassuring everyone to remain calm and to stay-at-home. The TV
talking heads are doing the same.
“Stay-at-home, No way I’m outta here!”
Mike turns on his handheld radio and there is a message coming
in a slow but precise rhythm. They are using The DaVinci Code by
Dan Brown paperback version. As the numbers repeat he has them
all written down and it says…………
Chapter six page thirty-five, third paragraph, twenty-third
word, third letter (w).
Chapter six, page thirty-five, second word, and fourth letter
(e) break.
Chapter six, page thirty six, fourth word, second letter (a).
Chapter six, page thirty-six seventh word (r).
Chapter six, page thirty-six, first word, and fifth letter (e)
break.
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Chapter six, page thirty nine, first paragraph, second word,
fifth letter (a).
Chapter six, page thirty-nine, second paragraph, second word,
second letter (l).
Chapter six, page thirty-nine, second paragraph, seventh word,
fifth letter (l) break……
Mike goes to his writing table and starts writing after he opens
his copy of the group’s codebook. When he has copied all the
letters it reads,
“We are all leaving now. See you there. Luck.”
The message continues repeating itself, he understands the
purpose of the repetition, others in the group may not have
gotten the word. It is still early. Grabbing the Alice Pack that
sits in a corner Mike walks over to the closet and opens the
door reaching in and grabs the web belt, setting it aside it is
time to lace up his boots. Without giving it much thought his
shirt comes off which leaves him with only a “T” shirt on. He
straps on the custom shoulder holster that has two holsters, one
is for the .44 Magnum Smith and Wesson six inch barrel and the
other is the Colt .45 1911 A1. He doesn’t want someone aware
he’s armed heading for the retreat.
The USMC Kabar, Vietnam issue with an eight-inch blade taped
with duct tape to his calf and his wrists twist as he rolls his
pant leg back down to hide it. A quick check and a scan from
left and then right he is ready.
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The Smith .44 comes out a push on the cylinder release and with
a flip of the wrist the cylinder opens and he notes the loads
they are hollow points. Putting it back in the holster Mike
pulls out the .45 and ejects the magazine catching it with his
left hand. A quick look and he’s satisfied it‘s full. Drawing
back the slide the one in the pipe pops out and it’s caught. The
magazine goes back in the housing and the slide drawn again. He
chambered another round deftly and the safety slips into
position making it locked with the hammer ready to fall. The mag
comes back out and the loose round seats in the magazine. The
1911 slips in place into the holster. Mike has done this a
hundred times and it is automatic. The Alice Pack will go on his
back just before he heads down the road.
He enters the garage his Yamaha waits in silence, it sparkles as
the dim light is caught on the chrome and gives off momentary
little bursts of light as he moves toward the machine. He straps
on the extra gas, and a couple of essential goodies and he
cranks it up. The remote control button activates the switch and
the door slowly comes open, it sounds metallic.
The noise in the garage is deafening from the bike’s powerful
engine and blue smoke is filling the space but begins to drift
out the open door. The backpack goes on and he is ready. One
more check and he’s satisfied, easing the bike out the door he
hits the button on the remote, it starts to close. He shoves the
remote in the side pocket of the backpack as the door closes for
safekeeping. He looks left and then right and it is clear. A
small adjustment to the chin strap on his helmet and his wrist
twists, popping the clutch at the same time and away he goes.
Reaching over and he deftly unbuttons his shirt front allowing
him access to one or both handguns under each armpit. The next
stop will be the first rendezvous at the first cache’ he and the
others in the group painstakingly set up months ago. Once there
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they will become better armed. He knows he is precisely seventyfive miles from it at the entry to the garage. Perhaps one of
the others will be there when he arrives. Everyone at this stage
is on their own unfortunately but those are the circumstances.
Traveling down the open road the route will take Mike along
country roads, open fields and off the beaten path. Another part
of the journey will have him running down in a creek bed, which
seldom has any water in it. It will be dry this time of the year
there has been no rain. It is cloudy and cooler today. Some of
the trip will take in to consideration an abandoned railroad
right-of-way but there are no railroad tracks, long ago deemed
unnecessary and removed by the Railroad. A passing thought has
him thinking it may rain. This is a safer course because it is
not likely he will meet anyone as the miles slip by. If he does
he decided moments ago with another passing thought to ignore
them if possible and continue on. Thinking about it, he is
grateful it is still daylight. Traveling by dirt bike has one
major drawback; they are noisy and you can hear them coming for
a mile or more. You have to be careful where you travel and not
set yourself up for an ambush, other than that, they eat the
miles up almost anywhere. Seventy five miles will pass by in
about an hour and a half.
Five minutes into the trip rounding a corner he sees a band of
Mexicans plundering an abandoned car. Stopping well away from
them he surveys the scene. Some guy is lying in the road and a
pool of blood is growing around his head. The color of his skin
convinces Mike he is dead or nearly dead from the massive wound.
Three of the gang has a woman on the hood, she is raped by one
and held by two others, it seems unnecessary appears to
beunconscious and is not putting up a fight. They have ripped
her clothing to shreds and the front of her body is exposed. He
thinks about stopping and killing a few of them but moves on.
There are people depending on him to show at the first
rendezvous and although he has enough ammo, there is a need to
conserve it in just in case.
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On second thought, he brakes turns his body slightly aims with
the big .45, squeezes three rounds off killing three of them
instantly. They go down and don’t move. As he puts the .45 away
the others run around the car and are hiding. The woman falls
from the car to the street clearly lifeless. He shoves off as
they stare at him. A couple of them turn and run away two others
stare at him and he can see the hatred burning in their eyes.
They stare and remain behind the car but he ignores them. He
sees no weapons. He hears the word, “Gringo.” Thinking about it
and decides in the split second……
“You can’t save the world.”
The people he pledged to are the most important people to him
and he needs to make the meet.
Once out of the dry creek bed he crosses a field of clover and
he notices there are a few cows grazing leisurely. He stops and
cuts the barbed wire, but once through, he mends the fence, that
was part of the plan he planned to do long ago with the extra
wire wrapped around the post. There are woods ahead and he
thinks it could be a dangerous area maybe the ideal place for an
ambush by unfriendly bodies. It is early the balloon has just
gone up when Arab extremist set off a small suitcase nuclear
bomb in the middle of Atlanta, Georgia. Another one detonates
minutes later in Washington, D.C. He doesn’t know it yet but the
death toll is soaring. The Twin Towers deaths will pale in
comparison to what has just happened. The overwhelming carnage
and casualties is swamping police and hospitals. He continues
toward the woods. At the edge he stops and decides to go around.
It will add fifteen minutes to the trip but it seems like the
best choice. Mike goes around and as he passes a section of the
woods that concerned him a few rocks whiz by his head. There are
people hiding in there and they are trying to knock him down
with rocks. His instinct was good, and he listened to it. They
cannot catch him as he eats the countryside up on the motorcycle
and leaves them on the outskirts of the wooded area jumping up
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and down and shaking their fist at him. In another moment they
are gone from view. He is grateful he trusted his intuitions and
listened to the inner voice that saved him again just like it
did in Bosnia when he chose to listen and to heed.
Up ahead and a turn to the left he will come up to the first
cache’. Stopping he takes out the binoculars and looks around,
it appears safe enough and he sees there are two other bikes
there. They are hidden tucked into the brush and partially
hidden but not from him. He recognizes their rides and they know
his too. At first glance they remain hidden but show themselves
at his approach, they heard him coming. It appears they already
started digging as Mike parks his bike and takes off his
backpack to help with the digging as one of them assumes the
guard.
The tubes are not deep in the ground. They are PVC plastic 8”
pipe with a cemented end cap on one end and a threaded and
screwed on cap on the other side. The threaded cap has a rubber
gasket on the inside and it is waterproof. Inside there is food,
medicine, bandages, ammo, long guns and magazine for each one of
them plus a few others. He pulls out various straps with
magazine pouches sewed on them. A few tools, an ax, a hatchet, a
South American Bolo, a folding saw and several machetes, some
fishing odds and ends, a large camo netting, and a few rolled up
nylon bags to carry it all in. The last item was a can of gas
that was only a month old with a piece of chamois to strain it
with in case there was water in it. The Reburying of the PVC is
covered up with tree limbs and debris from the surrounding area.
Now they have long guns and only 150 miles left to travel but
the group has grown to three. They wait an extra fifteen minutes
and no one else comes along and they leave for the next cache’
and rendezvous spot another seventy-five miles ahead of them.
One of the group members is a woman who is an Emergency Room RN
and an important member.
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Chapter Two Avalon
Caching goodies along the route to your Retreat (b)
The trip moved along smooth. They passed several burning houses
as they traveled along soon and up ahead they had to enter and
travel the state highway for a short distance. They tried to
limit these trips in duration on an open public thoroughfare. Up
ahead, and on this road was a railroad trestle that passed over
a large river, they decided to cross there.
Not long after crossing they came to a car with the doors wide
open. They stopped for a moment. Looking in there was a man and
woman slumped in the front seat. They were both dead and it was
obvious they were looters. The car is jammed full of personal
and household items and the backseat and trunk was full as well
with silverware, canned food, and various other household items
up to the headliner. Someone turned their pockets inside out.
That someone caught up to them and sent them on their last
looting binge. Caroline checked their pulses and there was no
doubting it, as soon as she touched them she knew, they were
cold but rigor mortis was at least an hour away. She guessed
they had been dead an hour already. Someone delivered them to
Heaven or Hell with a single shot to the head and one to the
chest. Double tapping was the sign of someone who knew what he
was doing. Mike knew about that, he was an ex-SEAL and that’s
how it’s done. They searched for weapons and ammo and there was
none. The gas tank was obviously siphoned dry.
They checked their own tanks and topped them off with their
spare gas. Taking a moment to check their loads, satisfied with
the cursory check, they were off. Greg checked his wristwatch
and mentioned that without any further delays, they still had
about another fifteen minutes to go before reaching the next
cache’ spot.
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Exposed on a main highway wasn’t a good idea and they left it in
another five minutes, moving down into a semi-wooded valley off
to the left. In a few minutes of riding, they saw smoke over
toward the highway and Mike wanted to see what caused it. He
parked his bike and made his way up to the crest of the hill
where the highway went by a couple of hundred yards down below
and just a little on the other side of the ridge. It was here he
noted there were about fifty of them, all armed with long guns,
both rifles and shotguns. The smoke came from old tires stacked
up along both sides of the road and were burning fiercely
sending black smoke billowing into the cloudy sky. It was a
roadblock with several pickups blocking the road and two cars
were police cruisers with their emergency lights flashing. They
were collecting a toll from anyone wanting to pass them Mike
guessed. Three cars stopped, one behind the other. There was an
argument going on between one of the car drivers from the first
car and a large burly guy who was in charge of the roadblock
gang. Suddenly, the big guy butt stroked the argumentative
driver with his rifle butt and down the screamer went in a heap
and he didn't move. The other drivers seeing this decided to
cooperate and walked over to the rear of their cars and started
taking various items out of their trunks and handing a few items
over to the mob meekly. There were too many to do anything about
what was happening here or to resist. Mike watched with interest
as several of the mobs carried items over to a panel truck and
began putting them inside it in the back cargo bay. The urge to
go down there and kill most of them passed.
It startled him when Caroline crawled next to him. He didn’t
notice being preoccupied watching the action below with
intensity her unexpected touch made him jump. She noticed and
laughed.
“We need to be moving on, it’s getting late.”
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She was right of course so he nodded his head and he wiggled
backward to clear the brim of the ridge and the two of them
stood up and walked to their bikes. Greg was standing guard with
his nine mm Uzi at the ready tucked in the crook of his arm.
Mike noticed there was an oversized magazine in it, probably a
hundred rounds. It was one of the weapons cached’ at the last
stop. Mike now armed with an H&K MP3 nine mm also in one of the
PVC goodies at the last cache’. Caroline had an H&K 91 strapped
to her bike with a thirty round mag in it. She also had a 9mm
Mac-11. They mounted up and after a quick bearing from a GPS
they were on their way. These stops were eating time but the
overwhelming curiosity to stop and see what was happening was
too compelling not to take a quick look.
In another twenty minutes the sky was beginning to cloud up more
than before and you could smell the rain coming. They pinpointed
the second cache’ and began to dig. There were three more tubes
and one of the end caps on one of them is red. They all knew
what that meant it is medical supplies, vitamins, mineral
supplements, and some vials of morphine and of course disposable
syringes. There was a battlefield suture kit, and a few I.V’s.
Many goodies to take to the retreat, and of course more powdered
veterinarian grade antibiotics and some bags of sulfur, and much
more necessary items to add to the retreat's clinic. It was all
packed inside the tube and inside triple plastic garbage bags
and sealed at the top.
One of the other tubes had bulletproof vests in them and
clothing. Mike mounted the medical tube on his bike. They
mounted the other two on Caroline’s and Greg’s. Two more bikes
showed up while they were assembling the cache’ goodies, these
were members of their group. The loads quickly shifted between
the other two bikes and these two new riders grabbed long guns
from the last cache’. Each of them donned a vest. Once they were
ready, they topped off again from their spare portable tanks, a
quick look at a map, and another GPS check and they were off.
They burned up about thirty minutes and it was time to move.
Five of them now instead of only one and enough ammo among them
15
to hold off a small army and that was a comforting thought to
all of them.
About three miles into the ride they stopped. Ahead was a large
fire, the smoke coming from it was huge Mike wanted to take a
look. It was directly in their path and there was no way around
it that was easy. Mike, Greg and Sam, who was a Mike Force Team
leader in ‘Nam decided to walk rather than ride to within seeing
distance because of the noise the motorcycles made. It was about
a mile walk. Once they were within seeing distance of the large
fire, it was clear it had been a farmhouse; part of a large
dairy farm complex and these structures joined other small
outbuildings. Right now it was a series of bon fires. The glow
from the fires was eerie as they approached the tragic scene.
Shadows danced and changed shape as the fire flickered and
popped. There were dead all over the ground, especially around
what had been the main house. It burned fiercely, and felt hot
enough to make you flinch from the heat and they weren’t that
close to it. By the colored bandannas over their heads Mike
guessed they were Crips from the city and now dead ones. There
were thirty four of them when he finished counting. The farmer
and his wife were dead around the side of the house and their
bodies were cooking because of their nearness to the fire when
they fell. It was difficult to tell which one was male or female
by then. No one had any firearms, including the dead gang
members, someone plucked them clean probably the survivors, and
they were long gone. Spent brass was everywhere. It must have
been an intense battle. They wondered how long it lasted. In the
end the farmer and his wife died. If there were others there was
no one now and probably taken along by the marauder if there
were any other members of their family here. Mike, Greg and Sam
turned around and headed for the rest of the group and their
bikes. When Caroline saw their faces she didn’t ask, her only
comments was,
“Nasty?”
16
They just stared at her without answering.
They were roughly seventy miles from the next stop and it was
getting moist. The drizzle had caught up to them. They all
agreed they must push on and rest after the next stop. There was
a place for all of them and their motors and equipment.
During the scouting for the cache’ spots they found a large cave
that had a small opening toward the back of it in the ceiling,
perfect for expelling a campfire's smoke, a natural chimney. The
opening was large but they had closed it with large rocks once
they were getting ready to leave. There were the remnants of an
old fire pit on the floor, some old Indian pictographs on the
wall and they when they were getting ready to leave they
camouflaged the entry better than it had been naturally by the
vegetation growing up in front of it. It was better when they
left it than when they found it originally.
They stocked it with kindling and firewood and rebuilt the fire
pit before they left. It was going to be a comfort once they
were there and in it. The fire would dry them out, and it would
go a long way to boosting everyone’s moral. From there they only
had another twenty miles to the entrance to the last leg to the
retreat. Mike took out several generous chunks of Pemmican and
each person helped themselves. It was a little difficult to chew
but it was nourishing and loaded with protein. One of the group
members made it earlier in the year from some venison he had in
the freezer and blackberries. It went down easy and tasty.
17
Chapter Three Avalon
Caching goodies along the route to your Retreat (c)
Another GPS reading was made and Mike told them they would be
heading North and East from their current position. It would be
another fifteen minutes before they would take another reading.
Mike took the lead and they fell in line traveling single file
separating each one from the other by at least a couple of
hundred feet. It was safer traveling this way if the lead bike
went down the others wouldn’t. Time to react to anything was
critical. Traveling this way the spacing was enough so if the
lead bike went down the others would have reaction time to avoid
whatever happened to their companion retreatist and offer
support as well. Another fifteen minutes would pass as they made
their way toward the cave.
It was a tossup about choosing the dirt bikes as opposed to
another of transport. The motorcycles were noisy and you could
hear them coming a long way off, so the surprise was lost to the
noise. But the one persuasive argument to use them was the speed
and agility one had at their disposal. You could climb, dodge,
carry much weight including your own body weight, and in general
get to where you needed to go quickly. The trade off was the
noise.
They came to another stretch of the state highway after leaving
the small valley. The noise alerted them well before they
reached a crest where they could see the crowd. Too many cars
stopped in the road blocking it and hundreds of people could be
seen milling around the massive traffic jam that trapped them.
Horns honked, people yelled, some children chased one another as
they played, and several arguments were well underway. A man and
his family had obviously developed mechanical problems and
stalled in the road. Instead of making an effort to move on to
the shoulder he just stopped where he was. Someone else left the
18
road to pass and was stuck fast on the high shoulder. Other
vehicles began to stack up. Someone else mired in on the other
side of the shoulder making getting past impossible, and on and
on it went, stupidity in action on a grand scale and growing.
Tempers flared. One person was yelling at another and suddenly
the man’s dog jumped out of the window of the family car, ran
over, and bit the other guy on the leg. A handgun came out and
with a flash and a loud pop, the dog was dead. The dog’s owner
horrified by this incredulous cruelty jumped him and so did the
man’s wife and in a couple of seconds they too died of gunshots
and laid in the road with the dog. Most of the crowd stood there
and watched as the shooter moved over and slid into the driver’s
side of his 4 X 4 pickup pointing his handgun ominously at the
crowd as he moved. He got in and started the truck, shifted and
rammed cars out of his way. He made a hole, but as he moved
around the cars blocking the highway, he too stopped. Sticking
also when he high ended and the crowd moved in and some of them
had guns in their hands now and the driver of the 4 X 4 was dead
in a couple more seconds. The bullets flew at the driver from
every direction. The people began yelling and cheering as if it
was some grand sports event when it was obvious the deed
completed their mob revenge.
Up ahead was a narrow bridge and cars stopped in front of it, on
it and beyond. This mess must have been going on for some time
and the vehicles kept piling up. The decision to find a way
around it came about. Up ahead another twenty or so miles was a
small town named Fitch. They circled back and away from the road
at Mike’s signal they paralleled the highway toward the
Northeast. There was a river ahead and the reason for the
bridge. The water was deep here and it was swift. There wasn’t
much chance of them getting over from this spot so they grabbed
a right at the river and moved through the brush until a
crossing spot came into view another five miles away from the
bridge downstream. The drizzle continued.
19
In a few minutes of slow travel the small group of survivalist
came to a spot that was shallow enough to be a crossing area.
There was a sandbar in the middle of the river which was about a
hundred fifty feet wide in this place including the high water
area on both sides. There was a large sandbar in the middle of
the river. The sandbar had grown through the years as the
sediment wedged one-piece after another joining and forming this
crossing. Otherwise the width of the river and the swiftness of
the water made it impassable. A person could easily drown or
lose all they carried.
Mike went first and the water was only up to his chain but was
traveling fast. In a couple of places the bike sank down farther
wetting him up to his knees. Once he made it to the sandbar, he
motioned for them to stay back as he tried to make his way
across from here to the other side. His bike slid on the loose
stones and he almost lost it but he made it. He unstrapped his
shooter from across his back and chambered a round making sure
the safety was off. He motioned for the others to come across
one at a time by holding one finger up and motioning them to
come across like a police officer directing traffic. He put his
hand to his forehead. Just above his eyes and moved his head
from left to right. All the time pointing his other hand out in
front of him with his index finger extended. The signal was to
keep a good lookout for “unfriendlies.” They were vulnerable
here. An ambush could go down at any moment.
One by one they came. It was difficult as all of them were
packing a load and the bikes were a little off balance. When the
next bike was across the river the rider did the same by making
her SMG at the ready. She was guarding that area ahead of them
away from the river. Her back to back with Mike’s each watching
the other’s backs. Those still on the other side of the river
watched as well. Everyone understood if Mike fired, they were to
drop to the ground. The next person came across and he guarded
west once he was able to and the next person watched east. Once
they were all across the need to take a bearing to continue to
the next cache’ took place to pinpoint their position.
20
This next area, overgrown and covered in blackberry bushes, made
the going slow. They just had to get through it as best they
could and Mike and Sam cut a path right through the bushes with
two of the machetes they had recovered at the last cache’. Some
of the bushes were ten feet tall, thick and could lay you open
with some nasty cuts if you were not careful. The disagreeable
job lasted about a half hour but soon they were on their way
again and past the dangerous bushes. The turn off to the cave
was the next waypoint on Mike’s GPS and he stopped to see how
everyone was doing. His ass was going numb and thought theirs
might be too. They decided to skip the next cache’ and go on
instead to the cave and after spending the night there they
could go on to the cache’ the next day. It was important to get
off the trail, out of the drizzle, dry out and have some food.
A short rest brought out the conversations, talking about what
they saw in their travels. The drizzle continued and everyone
wanted to get in the cave and get a good fire going. There were
enough of them together as each member joined the main body to
post a guard so the rest of them could sleep. In a moment after
topping off their gas tanks, eating some more pemmican and
taking a good drink from their canteens, they were ready. Mike
led the way again. It was not long until they were at the turn
off and Mike sent them on ahead as he cut a few branches from a
large bush and covered the tracks of the bikes as best he could.
It was getting dark. Satisfied with his concealment effort he
mounted up and followed the group.
The bushes that hid the cave entrance were a lot taller than the
last time he saw them. He had not been here in months. He
grimaced when he saw the tracks the others left leading to the
entry. This he set out to repair before he did anything else.
After finishing he surveyed the layout of the approaches to the
cave with his back to the entrance. He surmised placing
Claymores, in a sweeping arc in the direction where he looked
would block any surprises in the night. He walked out a hundred
feet on the left and placed one of his Claymores into the
ground. He stepped off and away from it about twenty feet
intervals and set another by gently pushing the spikes into the
ground. He held off pulling the pins that armed them. He set
21
four more forming a large arch, he strung and attached a trip
wire to each and began removing the safety pins. He put all of
them in a small pocket on his vest to use again later. He didn’t
want to lose those babies. He walked over to his bike and pushed
it behind the bushes that hid the entry to the cave. As he
stepped in to the Roach Hotel as they fondly referred to it he
said, “Friendly One” and someone said, “Pass through brother.”
He was home for the night.
Inside the light from the new fire was bright and flickering, it
burned fiercely and Mike saw there were three more of them now
in their group. He noticed the fire was drawing to the rear of
the cave and up the “chimney” as he predicted it would when they
first stumbled on to it. Chad and Linda, and Penny were here.
Everyone has made it on schedule. Caroline approached him and
began dabbing at a few scratches Mike got from the blackberry
bushes. They were stinging but once she put a dab or two of an
antibiotic ointment on them the stinging stopped. Mike took some
food and he gobbled it down quickly. He forgot how hungry he
was. Caroline mentioned,
“The coffee is boiling, anyone want some?”
He noticed she was smiling at him when she said it. Mike
replied,
“I have Claymores out there, so if anyone needs to go to the
bathroom, don’t go straight or left, go right and no more than
five feet.”
The women grumbled but everyone was relaxing and getting ready
to eat in a little while.
22
In a few minutes, they would draw straws to see who would stand
the first watch while the rest of them slept and dried out.
Someone chopped down a few saplings and limbed them and put up a
drying line for the wet clothes. They arranged the saplings in a
tripod position and tied them together at the top of all three
poles with some twine. It impressed Mike, thinking how far they
advanced from when he started training them a few years ago. It
was paying off in a big way. He no longer had to do it all
himself. Once they set the watch, they could strip down to the
essentials and dry out. They placed everything away from the
fire and near a wall that would prevent the dripping from
interfering with any sleeping area. The cave was large and
everything fitted in nicely without crowding. It was a great
score when they found it.
Greg and Sam drew the first watch. They would stand four hours
watches. One would be at the entry to the cave and the other in
a small stand of bushes. Hidden but with a view of any
approaches to the cave and away from the Claymores. Now that the
cooking was done and all the coffee consumed, it was time to
shed some clothes for drying and set up a sleeping area.
First, with a branch he gently swept the floor of the cave. It
is a nasty sleep if you’re lying on a rock or twig all night
long. A piece of plastic Visqueen went down on the dirt floor as
a moisture barrier and on top of that was where your sleeping
bag spread out. Some members had a small sleeping roll that had
a cushion built in under the sleeping area. They are similar to
a mattress but not as thick or heavy. They are often referred to
as “trail beds.” Those are more comfortable but more bulky to
carry. Obviously prepared, everyone stripped what he or she
wanted to dry, hung them up and crawled in to their bags. It
made Mike laugh when he thought about it, years ago when he
first faced this with these people they were out in the open and
a squall came through and soaked everyone. He showed them how to
set up a shelter, a drying line for the wet clothes, they had a
23
fire going in quick succession, and he started stripping off his
clothes. They all stood there watching him, and he didn’t notice
they weren’t doing the same. When it dawned on him what the
problem was he blurted out,
“Look people, stripping down to your underwear, you aren’t
naked, you still have clothing on. You wear bathing suits don’t
you?”
They stripped like he did and that was the last time anyone ever
hesitated when there was a need to do it again.
The next watch standers would suffer once awakened from a sound
sleep. Mike was glad it wasn’t going to be him. His mind was
racing but he used an old trick of relaxation he learned many
years ago and in thirty seconds, he was gone in a delicious
dream that included Caroline.
“Man she had great legs!”
An explosion brought everyone awake and Mike was the first one
out the door clenching his shooter. Greg was holding his piece
to his chest and pointed outside. Mike went out and there was
Sam standing there looking bewildered. He shrugged his shoulders
in an “I don’t know what it was.” Mike knew and cautiously
worked his way toward some bushes that were on fire right where
he planted a Claymore.
24
Chapter Four Avalon
Caching Goodies along Your Route to your Retreat
Part One (d)
Mike approached the burned area with caution. Something was
flopping around on the ground. His thumb flipped the selector
from semi to full rock and roll. The light of the burning
vegetation was beginning to fizzle out because of the rain. It
was still dark out. It was a deer. “shit” was all he could say.
What a waste of a good claymore. He shot it in the head and drug
it back toward the cave. Everybody was waiting for him to come
back and they were relieved when they saw it was not a person he
was dragging. He busied himself in gutting the animal out and a
couple of sturdy poles were cut by someone and a cross piece was
tied into place to hang the carcass until the morning. He was
anxious to get back into his sleeping bag tomorrow was going to
be a long day. A quickie clean up with the assistance of
Caroline and it was sack time again. The adrenaline was pumping
and getting back to sleep was not going to be easy this time. He
closed his eyes and counted backward 10, I am relaxing…….nine I
am getting sleepy and so on when he woke up again it was dawn.
They decided to stash the empty gas cans here in the cave once
the bikes were topped off again. All trash was gathered up as
well and stashed toward the back of the cave. Mike applied a
little chain lube to his chain and did the same to Caroline’s.
Breakfast was started. Mike went to work on the deer and soon
had it cut up into nice pieces. It would make great pemmican but
the meat had to age first. Ordinarily he would not have done the
butchering and would have preferred to let it hang, but you have
to do what you have to do. It would be difficult to haul the
whole thing on just one bike and he wasn't going to let the meat
go to waste. Mike knew that things had just begun and the
wildlife would be heading for the high country just like they
were doing and if anyone expected to live off the land when the
balloons went up they would be in for a hungry surprise. These
animals were not as stupid as some people think they are. They
25
also will be in a survival mode once people started coming for
them. This one just stumbled into its death.
Chad and Linda did the cooking. They were both certified Chef’s.
His specialty was meats and hers was pastries. She graduated
from a school just outside of Paris about ten years ago and he
attended and graduated from a school in Naples Italy around the
same time. The cave filled with mouth-watering smells. Mike was
hungry and so were the rest of them.
Chad was a national Pistol Shot Champion and Linda was an
archery shooter of some note. She competed in the Olympics and
did well, but did not take any medals. She later was selected to
be a judge at another Olympics a few years later. They met at a
chili cook off one day and their quick wit, great looks and
personalities had them going out for a couple of years. When
asked what brought them together she would always attribute it
to their love and expertise of cooking and Chad always told his
close friends it was her smile and perfect legs that did it for
him.
They were amazing to watch. When someone knows what he or she is
doing it looks so effortless. They were eating in short order.
Mike suggested the guard stay put until they could be relieved.
These were unpredictable times. Chad brought a cooler along
loaded with meats and Linda had other foodstuffs in the one she
was carrying along with their normal accoutrements. Her bow was
strung and it was a sixty-pound compound. She could take out a
sentry from three hundred feet easy and quietly.
One of the decisions that was been made years ago when the
people came together and formed the group initially, it was
decided that everyone would have at least two side arms or more,
either in 9mm or in .45 acp. The battle rifle each would own
would be in standard .308 NATO and a backup of something in
.223. There are millions of rounds out there in those calibers.
26
All shotguns would be 12 gauges, and there were several .22’s in
pistol, wheel guns and rifles. Those were mainly used for
practice shooting because it is cheaper to shoot .22’s than
.45’s. It was suggested that each person purchase and bring to
the retreat over the many months 10,000 rounds of each caliber.
Thereby insuring there would be adequate ammo to go around in
case of a need. Some of them opted to have additional weapons
and that wasn’t discouraged but by adopting a standard, they
could better buy the reloading components in large lots thereby
saving money and ensuring there would be ample firepower when
and if it was needed.
There had a few hunting rifles that were amply fitted with
scopes for sure shots. Waste not want not so it goes. There also
was a couple of .458 Winchester Mags, which were referred to as
the “car stoppers.” One shot in the motor with one of those
cannons and that vehicle was not going anywhere again.
Every person in the group had copies of the Ingram MAC-11
submachine guns in 9 mm. It was a favorite of the Green Berets
and Navy SEALS way back when and it was still a great
serviceable assault weapon. What is referred to as “Up Close and
Personal” type work. Over a period of months, a reliable
machinist copied these weapons piece by piece and all the proper
heat treatments were done to perfection. The nice thing about
these arms was they were as sterile as it gets. There were
absolutely no stampings anywhere. Under extreme testing, they
were found to be very reliable and many spare parts were
acquired in this same way. Everything was handmade. When they
were all done, they were stashed in their caches’. Other goodies
were acquired in a similar manner, or fab’ed from the originals.
Once in a great while the real McCoy was sought and found but it
was a chancy business doing that.
Everyone was well fed, the clean up was done and it was time to
make the cave secure again. Several of the men stacked rocks
against the cave entry while other cut branches to stack near it
27
to hide the access. Earlier Mike had replaced the safety pins in
the Claymores, put them away, and carefully wrapped up the trip
wire. The deer was divided up among several people for
transport. Mike outlined the travel rules for everyone. Single
file, spacing would be at least two hundred feet intervals and
no one was to stop until they all stopped together. No chatter.
The next stop would be at the last cache’, which was about forty
more miles down the road. As he talked, his breath was observed,
it was chilly and they were steadily going up in elevation.
“Everybody ready?” They all nodded and away they went following
the leader.
28
Chapter Five Avalon
Caching goodies along your route to your Retreat (e)
They traveled for ten more minutes in cross-country off-road
uneventfully and arrived at an old railroad bed. It didn’t look
like a railroad anything. A lot of it was grown up with bushes
and other weeds, and it didn’t look like it went anywhere. A
large portion of it was hidden by large landslide years ago and
most people coming to this area wouldn’t bother to go any
farther because of the difficulty it required. At first glance
it looked like the end of the road. There was however a small
way around it but it had to be found and that wasn’t easy. They
worked in a chain and cleared the obstacles that prevented
access to the small opening through the huge pile of rocks and
dirt. Once it was unblocked they all went through and then
blocked it again.
The railroad came through and removed the ties and the tracks
years ago. It was a level and weed infested trail used only by
animals and these motorcyclists. It was long ago forgotten by
all and sat there year after year unnoticed and unused. It began
to switch back and forth, as it went up the grade in a long
winding conduit. There was no industry here in this area and
there had not been any for nearly a century. The railroad in
previous years hauled out coal, cattle and lumber while the
heyday of the coal mines was king in these areas but not even a
memory any more. The last coal and lumber taken out of these
mountains was in 1921. Mike and Daniel discovered this access
several years ago while out riding. It was becoming difficult to
find good places to ride and this area was a great find, and
remote enough to serve their needs yet close enough in to access
during a weekend outing by camping out.
Mike took out his GPS and read the waypoint he saved months ago.
The way to the retreat was set and fastened in place in his
29
memory, but Mike liked to extract the GPS or a compass so these
people could see with repetition how it was done. If they were
alone, it might be necessary. Although, he was confident that
all of them knew the way by heart after all these years of
coming up here, they were less than half way to the next and
last cache’. Once there and their things were retrieved, they
would load up after eating and topping off their bikes for the
next and final stop, the Retreat and Home Sweet Home for them
all and who knew for how long? They were close and you could
feel the tension in the group rising in anticipation. Mike
wasn’t the only one who liked where they were headed.
The travel on the old railroad bed was bumpy but no more so than
any other off road rides on unimproved trails. They were making
good time. Mike noticed a lot more large rocks lying on the old
bed and it made him wonder why they were there all of a sudden.
The first time they came down this path years ago, Mike and
Daniel were riding together and there weren’t that many slides,
an occasional one and those were minor. They reached a bend in
the rail bed and could look down where the main highway turned
to the East and went out of sight through more mountains.
The vista here was awesome. It was easy to stare off into the
valley below and get lost in one’simagination. The sky was
clearing but cumulous clouds rolled by and many of them
surrounded the tops of the distant mountains and appeared to be
staked to the tops like a collar on a coat. High up above
everything were the long spreading clouds that were referred to
as “Mare’s Tails,” or stratus clouds if you wanted to be correct
with your nomenclature. They were stretching across the blue sky
for miles. Mike guessed the winds up there were strong. Here on
this ledge on the side of this mountain the breeze was slight,
just enough to stir the hair of the women accompanying this
group.
30
They climbed for quite awhile. It was a very long way down to
the valley floor from their vantage point and the river was seen
to parallel the road. There were people down there and campfires
were sending smoke into the clear mountain air, hundreds of them
in fact. It wasn’t possible to see what they were doing, just
that they were there as their fires gave them away. The vehicles
were smaller than the size of grains of salt from where they
stopped. People or vehicles didn’t register on his vision.
Something was going on and it sparked his imagination as to what
it might be. A glint from one of the vehicles occasionally
flashed as the sun’s position moved ever so slowly from East to
West. It stopped drizzling about a half hour ago as they passed
through a small squall. Linda had a Grundig transistor Satellite
Radio and was tuned to a man talking.
“Casualties are raising by the hour, FEMA estimates more than
three hundred thousand are dead or horribly burned in and around
the two cities struck by the Terrorists. Others are getting sick
from the radiation. Hospitals, Doctors, all authorities are
overwhelmed. Atlanta is devastated and Washington, D.C. as well.
It is being evacuated as I speak and the traffic jams are
monstrous. Capitol Hill and all members of Congress and the
Supreme Court were relocated to a secret place for their safety
early this morning, apparently there were few casualties among
them. Not everyone was evacuated because some of the members of
Congress were on speaking and sight-seeing tours. It is hoped
they will be picked up by the authorities and saved from what is
being called the worst attack on the United States in all of its
history. The President, his Cabinet and staffers have been
relocated to an undisclosed place. It is expected the President
will address the nation at six o’clock Eastern Standard time and
ask congress to declare war on….. There was static. The message
cut out for a moment. “I make that in about ten more hours from
here. Fires are raging everywhere………..” Suddenly the radio
station went silent again. They waited, but it didn’t come back
and Linda moved the dial, on another station an Arab was
speaking,
31
“You evil Americans have felt the wrath of Allah the
magnificent, and it is not done. We will kill all of you
infidels……” She turned the radio off and said,
“Well, we know who did it don’t we?”
She took her helmet off earlier to hear the radio better and her
blonde hair was blowing in the slight breeze.
“Any comments before we shove off?”
Mike wanted to get the show on the road. They were not in any
danger here, the chance of anyone being in this place was
extremely remote, but he cautioned they stay alert anyway. He
told them often enough
“Expect the unexpected.”
They put their helmets back on and cranked up their bikes. In
less than a minute, they were single filing it down the old bed.
The long winding turn that swung them to the left came to an
abrupt halt. In the middle of the bed was another landslide. It
would take a bit of an effort but once a small path was cleared,
they could easily get over it by removing some of the debris and
rocks. Mike parked his bike, set up a guard behind them and two
of them went over the top on foot to watch in that direction.
The East was a sheer drop of at least three thousand feet
straight down to the river below. It sparkled in the sun
glinting and gave off small bluish spark like brilliant flashes
that looked like diamonds for just an instant when they caught
32
your eye just so. The West was a sheer cliff cut away from the
side of the mountain years ago. Mike began by removing a few
large rocks. They were rocked back and forth until they moved
and soon one by one they were falling off the edge and down to
the valley below. As he worked, he bumped into Caroline’s chest
accidentally, it felt soft she was at his side working. He said
he was sorry, and she looked into his eyes and said,
“Why?”
He worked a little faster on the next rock. In fifteen minutes,
a path was cleared. Off in the distance Mike caught the glimpse
of something coming up through the valley. He caught the shine
of it well before he heard it.
He grabbed his machete and began hacking at some of the various
bushes growing at random along the bed. He yelled for them to
bring their bikes over and when they did, he began stacking the
cut brush over them. It went fast lucky for them. The
imperceptible whine and clacking of the rotors was turning
toward them. They scurried under an end and waited. The chopper
veered off and circled back toward the river valley again. Mike
didn’t think anyone saw them. Why would anyone think that anyone
was way up here?
One by one, they went over the slide area and were on the other
side waiting for the last person to complete the group. When
they were together again, Mike changed the orders.
“Make the distance separating each of us closer. Make it fifty
feet. Follow my lead. Is everyone ready?”
33
They were nodding their heads and he rolled on power, each one
following in behind the other at the proper intervals and they
eased the clutches to engage the gears. They rode single file
for another ten minutes and came to another slide area. They did
the same thing and when it was adequately cleared, they were off
again. These slides were new; there was a 5.5 earthquake only
two weeks ago and it must have caused these slides to happen. It
was good because if anyone found this old railroad bed, these
slides would make things difficult for them too.
In fifty minutes of a bumpy ride, they came to what once was an
old railroad shack that saw better days. What was left of it sat
off to one side of the track area? A large boulder tumbled down
from the huge rock overhang that towered above it and when it
hit the little shack, it just exploded into debris. It was a
wide area where the shack sat originally and it was at the
bottom of a steep grade. On this wide table top plateau there
were huge sand traps on the ground to stop a train if it was a
runaway. The engineer would sound the warning with his whistle
as he sped down to this spot and the switchman would turn the
large lever that switched the tracks to divert the train off to
the sand pits and stop it. There were no longer any switches in
place to do this. It all removed when the tracks were taken out.
Looking around, Mike noticed this had also been the place the
men camped and cut thousands of trees for the railways
construction. Inside of the new growth were huge stumps that
hinted at the size of the trees that were removed more than a
century past. Some of the trees were ten feet across. They were
silent reminders of that time when things were still relatively
untouched up here. A little ahead and off to one side where the
tracks once sat an old water tower stood to one side for the
steam locomotives. It still remained there as a silent sentinel
which was another testament and reminder of the days gone by. It
was here the old steam locomotives topped off their water
storage. Off to the right of the large stand of Douglas firs was
a road and at the end of that road hidden in the trees was their
retreat.
34
In the old days, around the turn of the century it was a pioneer
cattle ranch, then a prosperous and posh dude ranch and finally
a forgotten derelict devoid of any human activity for more than
eighty years. There was a time when the railroad brought the
people and visitors to this place. They also hauled in supplies,
animals, vehicles and spare parts eagerly awaited sometimes for
months. Eventually the owners died off through the steady
progression of the years and the property sat in the state
archives as an abandoned trust. Mike and Daniel found it, paid
the back taxes after a brief but brisk round of negotiations,
and were the owners of what some might consider a deserted town
less the mineral rights which the state retained for itself. It
had everything a group such as theirs would ever need for the
long haul of what might come and as it was beginning to turn
out, this was that time, and no one knew or could guess how long
that would be.
Mike pulled out his GPS again and found the coordinates that led
him to the last cache’. This one was going to take many people
to not only dig up but to transport to the retreat. They decided
to skip this last project and await a larger body of the members
to get this job done. It took a lot of bodies to move it all
here and it was going to take an equal amount to get it all to
the retreat which was another fifteen miles away out there at
the end of those firs down that dirt road. He stared at them for
a moment and took in the splendor of the huge trees. With one
tree there was enough lumber to nearly complete a three bedroom
house. He said to no one in particular,
“Through those trees is our new and permanent home. We all
thought today might come but none of us could say when that day
would arrive if ever. It has come to pass, and we will be safe
here. We will raise families and we will survive. You may not
believe it but down there where we just came from there will be
millions that will not. They will die, and many of them will die
in the most brutal and painful ways. Whatever man can dream up
will be done in terms of man’s inhumanity to other men. We will
survive because we had the foresight to prepare for this day, to
35
get ready for an event that was foretold by many but no one knew
accurately in terms of the time reference. We will live and we
will prosper and we will have the opportunity to teach those who
are not yet born what it is to be a truly patriotic and God
fearing person. We will begin to instill the values that once
made our country the greatest country man was ever able to
conceive in all of recorded history. Hoooraah. Hoooraah!”
The small group understood his words and the important message
conveyed, and each one of them had some secret desire or wish.
Most of them or possibly all of them felt the same things and
that was why they made the commitment to the group and to
themselves. They were here, they were alive and well, and they
would start a new world in this place.
36
Chapter Six Avalon
The Retreat-Almost Home
Avalon Ranch was originally a cattle ranch founded back in 1878.
Its mainstay was the cattle and what made it profitable was the
railroad. Before that it was a five month herd drive to get the
cattle to the nearest railroad junction. The Elyria and Atchison
Railroad came in at the right time and the profits boomed as the
beef trade blossomed. Eli shipped all the cattle east to the
slaughter houses in Chicago. The lumber industry began in
earnest right around the same time to haul out the beef when the
railroads need came into being of laying track and building
railroad trestles through the canyons that joined one mountain
to the next with the long trestles. Coal was discovered in the
mountains during the same time and that was all the railroad
barons needed to make it worth the expenses they incurred and
the profits from that one commodity alone. The profits soared.
Everyone needed the coal including the railroads. Rail car after
another began leaving the mountains piled high and loaded with
all three moneymakers. Eli Cameron was the rancher who began
Avalon at a time when men who had vision and the guts to stick
it out made massive fortunes. A few of those immense fortunes
stand to this day. Weyerhaeuser is one of them, and there are
others.
Eli was born in 1838 in Kentucky. He grew to manhood and in 1861
at the age of twenty-three the “Great Trial” of the nation came
to a head when after years of economic hardship on the southern
states by northern politicians passing laws that made the price
of southern cotton nearly worthless. The south seceded from the
Union. There are some that would tell us that was the beginning
of the war, but there was talk of secession for fifteen years
before it happened.
In the north there were more people who could vote than in the
south. The south had a large population but a million of those
37
people could not vote because they were the slaves and had no
vote. First, in order to reduce the price the greedy
industrialist in the north were required to pay for cotton grown
in the south they passed a tax on the slaves. Then they reduced
the tax on imported cotton from England and increased the tax on
cotton from the southern states. Lincoln was also a much hated
President and many in the South considered him anti-slavery and
they feared he would end slavery in the South. In December 1860
South Carolina led the way for the South by voting to secede
from the Union when it became too much for the southern states
to bear on that fateful day on April 12, 1861 General Pierre
Beauregard gave the order to fire on Fort Sumter and the Civil
War began, also known as The War Between the States, The War of
the Rebellion and the War of Northern Aggression. More than
600,000 men died from both sides by the time it ended on April
9, 1865.
In the beginning young men like Eli jumped at the opportunity to
“teach those damn Yankees a lesson.” But as the war dragged on
and hundreds of thousands were laid in their graves or where
they fell, it became apparent that the might of the
industrialized north would prevail against the predominately
agrarian south. Eli came through the war broken in spirit but
with one burning resolve. He was going to move from the ravaged
south and go west to where the opportunities didn’t include the
carpet baggers and the unscrupulous tactics of a Union bent on
punishing the south for its sins of the war. He was also
consumed with a dream of striking it rich.
Eli wandered from the gold mining areas of California to the
cattle enterprises of Montana and Wyoming. He spent a time in
Alaska and then came back to California with a small stake in
his poke. He met a woman, Eldora Avalon Spears and married her
during his wandering years. One day he came upon that area that
would be his ranch as a prospector in search of a rich claim had
him wandering the hills. It became his home and the base of a
cattle empire that would make him a very rich man.
38
In August of 1902 while taking down a big fir, at the age of
sixty four Eli was killed when the big tree split up the middle
and the shards shot out in every direction killing him and his
son Jeremiah instantly. Eli’s wife Eldora was left to run the
ranch, but the death of her son, and husband was too much for
her, and she wandered off naked one night from the house and was
found a few days later dead, propped against a crook of a tree
and stiff as a board. The wolves had eaten part of her. A
relative from back east took the ranch over soon after but was a
gambling man and soon the ranch was mired in hopeless debt. That
was when Slim Rankin, legally know as Aloysius, but no one had
the guts to address him with that name, he preferred Slim, and
he found out about the old cattle ranch and decided it could be
maintained as a working Cattle Ranch and later as a resort.
Cattle in that time fetched enormous prices from the eastern
city slickers and there was good money to be had selling beef to
them.
Slim struck it rich in Nevada a few years previously and had
money to burn. He struck gold and silver on his claim just
outside of Silver City and killed several claim jumpers before
the mine began to pay off in a big way. He had so much money
that it was said when the government needed money they came to
Slim to get it. He tired of the mine and sold it for a healthy
profit. He wanted to do something else and one day as the good
fortune of a word here or there passes between men he heard
about Avalon, and bought it.
The coal, lumber and beef continued to produce revenue under the
masterful skills of Slim a natural businessman and his two sons.
One of his sons was a silent movie star. Blessed with good looks
and a ready smile women of the era loved his look and he was
very successful. He lived in the small town in southern
California called Hollywood nestled among the thousands of
orange trees and dry canyons.
39
The blossoming industry was beginning to make celebrities from
the new invention out of the laboratory of the creative genius
of Mister Thomas Alava Edison; he called his new invention a
“moving pictures camera.” While working in Hollywood on the
pictures Slim’s good looking son talked up the frontier spirit
of his father’s ranch up in the mountains and many of his fellow
silent movie stars begged to go and ride horses and just get
down to the basics as their pioneering ancestors lived. It was
all the rage. Henry Ford was doing it, George Eastman was too
and so was old Tom Edison. They all came to the ranch by train.
In time the stars were going to Avalon, the film producers did
too with some young starlet under their arm to do a “casting
couch” screen test up there tucked away in the mountains. They
were out of sight and out of mind for several days. It was ideal
for everyone. The staff at Avalon served their every beckoning
need.
Soon the word was out and politicians, businessmen and star
struck wannabes were flocking to the ranch. As the word spread
about the new Hollywood celebrities set going to Avalon, other
people began flocking to the ranch. An all out effort was began
to make the place as luxurious and comfortable as possible for
these high rolling guests.
Slim began pouring hundreds of thousands of his coal, lumber,
and cattle money into the complex improving it. Every train that
came up the mountain brought with it some new machinery to
develop the ranch and of course accommodate more guests. Many of
the company that arrived were wealthy and although some were
connected to the new but growing movie industry, others were
people who just wanted to rub elbows with that crowd and they
had the money to spend doing it. Socialites they were called.
40
The business boomed for about twenty years. Slim ran for
Congress but lost and never tried again. Then one day the coal
gave out and the railroad decided to take out the tracks and the
ties and use them somewhere else. The only remaining commodities
that were still available were the trees and the cattle and they
were available elsewhere and they were cheaper to bring to
market than having to chug way up those steep grades. Once the
railroad stopped making the runs up the mountain, the tourists
stopped coming because there was no other easy way to get there.
By the time that happened Slim was getting on in years and the
hope he had to continue Avalon died in the Great War in 1917 in
Germany which left bitterness in Slim he never got over. When
his son died leading a charge against the murderous machine guns
across the battle field on that day against the “Hun,” Slim
embittered and crushed by the loss refused to leave his room.
His son’s body was buried over there and that was another
terribly debilitating blow in itself. Slim was an Isolationist
and didn’t believe the US should be meddling in European
affairs. As far as he was concerned “they started the mess, let
them finish it.” was what he thought. Slim died in 1919 and
didn’t witness what happened to his beloved Avalon.
The last remaining son of Slim tried in vain to sell the place
and eventually stopped trying. He was a movie producer of some
note by that time and no longer acting in the films. He was
making them. He certainly didn’t feel like spending his own
money to maintain something that was a loser and wasn’t
generating a dime. It just cost him money paying the land taxes
to the state every year. He wanted to unload it in the worst
way, but there were no takers. He formed a trust thereby
reducing the taxes and there it sat empty.
As the years passed the memories of the place receded in
people’s minds and since there was no revenue being produced
anymore, the State even forgot about it too. Slim’s last son
41
died of heart failure in 1940 and was given a gala funeral by
his peers, and Avalon was forgotten.
Mike and Daniel were out riding and wanted to explore a
different area a little farther out. On that day, they found the
old abandoned track beds and drove out until the tracks ended
and they found the little shack and the sand trap area. They
climbed the old water tower and it was full of water to their
amazement. They continued to explore the area and they came on
to Avalon mostly by accident.
They were just about ready to turn around and go back when they
came out into the clearing facing Avalon. It stood there like
something out of a fictional novel, a fairy tale. It was a place
where time stopped. Coming out of the trees and seeing it
sitting there, quietly waiting for someone to come along and to
enjoy the grandeur of what was Avalon. They were rendered
speechless in the moment at the first sight. About five hundred
feet from the exit from the dirt road was a free standing post
separated by a space of about seventy five feet where another
pole was in the ground. They stood about twenty-five feet high
connecting the two posts was a top piece that was horizontal and
tied the two verticals together and hanging from that was a
large hand carved sign that read, Avalon. On each side of each
post, both left and right a rail fence was installed joining
each vertical post and they stretched out for about fifty feet
to either side of the posts. This was the magnificent entry to
the ranch with that facade of a fence and it was meant to
impress.
Avalon was set back from the road about a half-mile at the edge
of what was a clearing but more than that it was a grand meadow.
They stood there quite some time taking in the splendor and the
superlative grandeur of what was Avalon. It was large, extending
from one side to the other a distance of about four hundred feet
42
which was the main building by itself. The construction was log
cabin style and it was obvious at one time all the peeled logs
were varnished.
Off to either side were smaller cabins that went in a straight
line jutting out like wings from the main building although each
one was separate from the others and different in some way.
There were twenty-five cabins to a side. In between all the
cabins was at one time a grassy and park like area. Grown up and
weed infested now but it could be cleaned up and restored to its
former garden like motif.
To one side of the main hotel and restaurant a massive swimming
pool sprawled out, and a dance floor that was built to be both
inside and outside of the building but joined together was
bigger yet. The outside dance area was covered, and there were
sidewalks that went meandering in every direction. The cement
was covered in green fungus that grew in profusion. An ivy plant
nearly covered the front of the main building, and a couple of
the smaller cabins were severely damaged from a tree that fell
on them at one time and crushed a portion of each one. There
were small tables and benches scattered near the main building
and the pool. Off to the right were several more outbuildings
and most of them were very large.
They explored the main building first. As they went in the main
entry the large double doors were hand carved and appeared to be
very heavy. They were made from oak planks and they were about
four inches thick. The hinges, door fasteners and other hardware
were massive and appeared to be hand forged and beaten and made
specifically for these doors. On the inside was a large place to
insert a wooden beam that was about ten feet long and went
across the back side of the two entry doors to secure them from
the inside, in effect bracing them from any entry. There was a
43
place where the large beam could be laid in an iron cradle but
the beam was missing.
Stepping through the doors they saw a large counter about twenty
feet long. It was obviously where the guest registered. It was
situated about forty feet from the main doors forming a large
lobby area. The entire counter was hand carved and it was a work
of art. The name “Avalon” was carved into the wood across its
front. Behind that was a standup secretary complete with
numerous pigeonholes in it and there were keys in every one. It
had to be keys for the cabins were their guesses. Below those
were drawers and cabinets with doors on the fronts of them.
To the left of the registration area was a large living room
area replete with leather furniture and on one wall was a huge
fireplace. Above the fireplace was the life-size and old
Daguerreotype of a man, a woman and two young boys. The
fireplace was large and you could walk right into it. There was
a mantle that was built to go past the width of the fireplace
opening and it was about eight inches thick, fourteen inches
wide and about fifteen feet long. It was obviously made from a
single tree. On the floor of the fire pit was a log holder that
was made from railroad tracks. On both sides of the fireplace
rock work made up the wall and located at a height of about
eight feet from the floor were large stained glass windows that
depicted deer and Bison grazing in what appeared to be a large
treed meadow. There were bookshelves on one wall that were about
fifty feet long and full of old books and there were old
magazines stacked on a few of the tables. To one side was a
stack of logs waiting to be burned sitting in a log holder made
from old railroad tracks.
One wall was of natural granite rock which were fitted and
cemented into place. Four large overstuffed leather chairs were
near this wall and each one had a table in between each and on
the top of the tables were Aladdin oil lamps with the large
blown glass mantles that diffused the bright light. There were
44
nine large leather couches situated throughout the room along
with an additional twelve leather chairs. Each of these chairs
had a table located to one side of each seat. The colors were a
deep burgundy and dark coffee brown. Mixed and matched
throughout the room. Surprisingly there was more than ample room
to move around in there. The rest of the walls had window
openings cut away from the logs and these windows were the old
fashioned glass that appeared to have wavy places throughout the
vitreous placements. It was bright and airy looking. On the
outside were large shutters that closed over all the windows.
They were made from wood and they were each about two inches
thick and fastened in place with old hand beaten and formed iron
hinges. The hinges were massive. The date on the magazines was
October 1921. This lounge area was about eighty feet by eighty
feet.
Past the main counter was a wall that ran from left to right. It
divided the lounge area and the registration desk from the entry
to the restaurant and dance floor. It terminated on the left
after traveling about sixty feet and past that was a huge
hallway that made an immediate right and after twenty more feet
it took a hard left turn ninety degrees. Straight ahead was a
set of double doors. To the left was the large hall that led to
the hotel rooms. There were fifty rooms on either side of the
hallway. At the very beginning of the hall leading to the rooms
were two larger rooms on either side of the hall. These were
furnished to be used for gatherings and meetings.
Through the large double doors at the end of this hall was
another large room with bookcases, leather chairs, and an old
fashioned slate pool table with leather pockets. On one wall was
a cue stick rack. Next to that was another rack and there were
three complete sets of balls. All the balls were made from
ivory. Above the pool table was a mirror encrusted cover that
hung from chains from the ceiling and there were Aladdin oil
lamps that lit it up. There was a small bar in one corner and
one the wall were stuffed lions, tiger and leopard heads. There
was a snake skin that was about thirty feet long on another
45
wall. In one corner was a stuffed crocodile that was about
thirty feet long sitting there watching everything in the room?
Off that room were two separate bathrooms. There were stand up
floor ashtrays located here and there. Another door led to the
dance floor. Above the pool table was a wire with beads on it
for keeping score.
Past the wall that divided the reception area from the dance
floor was a huge open area with tables and chairs on one side,
it was the restaurant, in the middle and more forward was a
parquet inlaid dance floor covering an area of about one hundred
feet long by about seventy five feet wide. The restaurant had
seventy five tables arranged by five tables wide, coming back
three tables wide and coming back again five wide to the end of
the eating area. All the table chairs had leather covered seats
and backs and were fastened to the wood with brass button headed
nails. Each table had four chairs. The count was one hundred
tables and four hundred chairs. The tables were inlaid with the
word Avalon and the backs of the chairs had the same carvings.
At the end of this area was a stage that could easily seat a
full orchestra. It was replete with moldy curtains which
appeared to be velvet. Across the front of the stage and tucked
behind a cover was a mirror lined trench that had Aladdin lamps
hidden in small pockets to light up the stage.
Down one side was another doorway that led to the large hallway
which led to the comfortable hotel rooms whichstretched down the
rest of the two hundred fifty feet. Two more rooms were located
near the restaurant and there were two rooms that were about
seventy five feet by fifty feet wide each. They were void of
any furniture. At the far right of the restaurant area through
four double doors was the kitchen. In the kitchen were sinks and
stoves and ovens and to the rear of that was a huge set of six
doors and inside each of them was what had been a commercial ice
box, but it was plumbed for refrigeration, very old and dated.
Meat hooks hung from the ceiling and metal racks were against
the walls in all six rooms. Two rooms were freezers and four
were refrigerators.
46
As they walked around, they saw stuffed animals mounted on the
walls. Bears and deer and elk, many different birds and a few
buffalo heads. There were old wagon wheels and rusty old pioneer
era traps, a corrugated washing board, a scythe, and on and on.
There were hundreds of things just mounted there on display.
On one wall were photographs separated from the rest of the wall
space with a large tile border around it of famous people. Most
of them Daniel and Mike didn’t recognize, but Teddy Roosevelt’s
picture was unmistakable as was the photograph of Thomas Edison.
They were signed in the flowing hand style of the era in ink.
The ink was faded but still legible. In addition, there were so
many more arranged in an orderly collage meant to impress.
Looking at everything, it was if people walked away one day and
left everything in place and they took nothing with them they
just forgot to dust the place.
They also found hundreds of old oil lamps mounted on the walls,
many of them were mounted in wagon wheels that were raised and
lowered from ropes to the ceilings. In fact, they observed there
was very little in the way of wiring for electricity.
In a private space behind the key area, they found an office
with filing cabinets, bookshelves, a desk and off in one corner
was an very old Ham Radio Set.
Off to the right and to the right of the reception desk was a
bar which came off a large and wide hall that led into the area.
There were ceramic pots that once held plants lining the
hallway. There were bottles of various types of liquors.
Virtually all of them were still full on glass shelves behind
the bar backed by elaborate large mirrors that swept past the
bar from one side to another.
47
Inside on all the tables were candle holders and the candles
were dried out and wilted, and encrusted with dust. Some bottles
were opened and those were dry. Down a set of steps behind the
bar they found bottle after bottle of wine in a cellar. The bar
had a sit at bar with stools for about fifteen people and there
were chairs and tables placed in the rest of the floor area. The
barroom was big enough to accommodate about seventy-five people
in comfort.
There was a fireplace in there as well but smaller than the huge
fireplace in the lounge area. On one wall was a zebra skin and
on another was a male lion’s head. To one side of the large
fireplace were elephant ivory tusks that were crossed like
swords across the mantle. It had all been left behind because
there was only a few ways to get here once the railroad left and
that was plane, horseback or you walked.
They walked out to the cabins and found that they were all
furnished, had moldy rugs lying on the floors and the bedding
was all intact.
They walked out past the swimming pool and directly to the barn.
There were stalls for fifty horses, and all the tack was there.
Saddles, reins, and much more, there were wagons, buckboards and
a stagecoach and off to one end was a complete blacksmith shop,
forge, and anvils everything to keep the ranch operating. There
was a shop that looked like a saddle stitchery shop, and there
were other stalls for various animals.
Their amazement to what
They found a laundry, a
with a shoeshine stand.
the bunk house was once
some of the closets.
they had found was absolute non-belief.
cobbler shop and barber shop complete
It just went on and on. They found what
and there was still clothing hanging in
48
They immediately made plans to buy the place if there was any
way to do it. Daniel had a pal that was an attorney and he
wanted to discuss it with him. Brad was a good guy and could be
helpful with this acquisition if there was any chance they could
swing the deal it had to be done.
Many improvements came to pass in the last six years it was
cleaned up, the weeds were taken down or removed and someone
from their group lived here twenty-four hours a day three
hundred sixty five days a year.
The galley was renovated painstakingly by bringing parts and
pieces of parts up here over the years. An artesian water supply
was found and cleaned up and they had the water tested and the
water from the wells on the property. They tested as pure as you
could get. All of the sanitary services were cleaned, painted
and repaired much to the pleasure of the women of the group. The
swimming pool was repaired and they would fill it once they were
all here for good. It was going to take about four days to fill
it. They had channeled the artesian water supply to flow through
the pool by opening a valve at the supply end and a spill way
they installed at the far end of the pool emptied the excess
water into a canal which then traveled down to a large pond.
This was where they would raise fish and by the water flowing
constantly through the pool they didn’t need an electric
filtration system and the pond would make a good place to stock
fish later on. It was also pointed out that it was a good supply
for water for firefighting if necessary. The fish were to be
brought in two at a time in special little plastic containers
and released. Certain vegetation was planted around it to feed
the fish.
49
One last and very important item was found. While exploring the
place they found what turned out to be a boiler fired tractor
made by Allison Iron Works in Saint Louis, Missouri. It was
stored in the old barn. Meticulously, it was disassembled,
cleaned up and repaired. It was fired up one day after a coal
fire was burning fiercely and the water was topped off. It ran
like a charm and it could be used later in the huge meadow out
back for all sorts of things. It also had a power takeoff and
could be used like the large boiler to run additional machinery
if necessary. The nice thing about it was it could be moved to
where you wanted it.
Mike and the group came through the trees and stopped to take in
the view of Avalon. Every time he saw the magnificent structure,
it nearly knocked him over. It was like stepping out of those
huge trees into an imaginary world. It was in reality a place
where time stopped. He loved this place and he had no misgivings
about being here all the time. He didn’t care how long it took
to get the world back together, as far as he was concerned this
was it for him from now on. He took out his small transceiver
and spoke into it,
“Birds coming home to roost.”
The radio crackled and a voice came over it back at him,
“I had you in my scope, did ya feel it?”
He raised an arm over his head and looked over his shoulder and
said to his friends,
50
“Welcome home and to heaven.”
Everyone smiled. Mike looked at Caroline and she was smiling at
him.
51
Chapter Seven Avalon
Safe and sound at the Retreat
They moved forward together and each person in the group was
anxious. It was all each of them could do to not roll it on and
make a dash for the huge log building dead ahead. They arrived
in a few minutes at a leisurely pace and more people already
gathered on the massive porch of what had been the main entry.
The four large stone chimneys sticking above the roof looked
inviting and made you feel that to cuddle up with a good book in
front of one of the fireplaces must be a special delight.
They stopped at the entry in a cloud of blue smoke that quickly
dissipated. One by one they parked their bikes. They would put
them away in a while over at a place they all referred to as the
“Motor Pool.” There was a mechanic’s shop on the other side of
the large horse barn. For now, all they all wanted to do was sit
and chat and let the adrenaline settle down. There were eight
more people here. Daniel was leaning against one of the four
large stone columns that made up part of the massive porch. It
was curious because there were only supposed to be four people
here and that number was double. Mike was curious when he asked,
“How did you beat us here? We made good time.”
There was laughter and Silvia chimed in by saying,
“We were all getting a head start for a few extra days here and
decided to leave four days ago, and of course it was before the
bombs went off.”
52
She adopted a more serious tone when she elicited,
“Was there any trouble while you were en-route getting here?”
She was expecting an answer and Caroline said,
“A little but the boys got us around it without any trouble.”
She looked at Mike and her face filled with respect and
admiration for him. The others understood. Mike was that kind of
guy. Just then, Susan Riley came out with a large jumbo pitcher
of fresh squeezed ice cold orange juice from the orange trees
behind the main building and many glasses. The reefers were
working. Off to his right he could see the stack of the old
boiler sticking up above the roof line. She announced to no one
in particular,
“Anyone thirsty fresh squeezed OJ?”
Everyone filled up their glasses and chugged it down. It was so
fresh and full of pulp it was nearly like eating an orange. No
one said anything until a second glass was filled, emptied and
the pitcher sat empty. Susan turned on her heels and went to
make some more.
Daniel was there and he asked,
“Okay Mike, just how bad was it?”
53
Mike began to recount the things that he saw and once in awhile
someone else jumped in and added bits and pieces to the story
until Daniel understood what happened in detail. Everyone had a
good laugh about the poor deer and the waste of a good Claymore,
but Mike wasn’t laughing.
He had done a lot of bartering to get the few he had. Paying
about a thousand dollars for the twenty-four he ultimately
bought, which was down to twenty-three now. At first, dealing
with the man, he freely admitted when asked by anyone in the
group. he first thought the guy was an ATF Agent. He made the
decision early on if necessary, he was prepared to kill him if
he had to because he wasn’t going to prison for getting and
having something he felt he was entitled to, and just because
they were banned by a government that existed for its own
designs and not the needs of honest citizens.
Later he bought a case of Fragmentation Grenades, the old style;
we referred to them as "Pineapples" because of the deep
serrations where they would come apart upon exploding. They were
loaded with TNT and if one went off in a house, there would be
nothing in the place that would still be functional after the
explosion. Mike followed the man around a few days and
discovered he worked at an Army Ammo Depot and he was stealing
the stuff and selling it. Apparently, he had been doing it for
months. Mike felt better about the man then but still preserved
the tape recordings he made of the transactions for later in
case he needed them to prove he had not stolen the stuff. Mike
found out through an article he read later on in the newspaper,
within six months of his dealing with the man, Army Intelligence
busted him and he dropped dead from the stress shortly after
when his heart gave out.
Mike wanted to know how they managed to get by the slide areas,
and found out they did the same thing Mike and his group did, by
removing debris and then covered their tracks again. Mike was
54
impressed it didn't look to him as if anything was touched. He
looked around and saw that there were others here as well; there
were still a few of them yet to arrive. They would wait a few
more hours before making a search for the missing members by
backtracking. They all knew that if there was any problem and
any of them were out there trying to make it to the cave or here
someone would be along shortly. Right now, they had to rest up
and stow their gear. Mike wanted a shower in the worst way.
Long ago, each of them selected the cabins they wanted to make
into their little homes. Mike excused himself and headed for
number seven. Instead of wheeling his bike into the shop, he
took it to his cabin. Caroline walked toward number eight. They
each began to make their way to the cabins and Susan Riley came
out on the big porch with more orange juice. Some of the people
stayed and had more but Mike was more interested in getting
comfortable and taking a shower. Avalon had hot and cold running
water at this stage of the occupation. The hot water was
provided by a large boiler that was fired by coal and was
working wonderfully. There was a person who monitored it twentyfour hours a day. Years ago, one of the priorities of Mike and
Daniel was to put it in excellent working order to provide the
Avalon members all the comforts of home. Each cabin was
originally plumbed with hot water radiators in addition to hot
water to bathe with. It had been part of the big remodel Slim
did here. Mike wanted to take a shower and change clothes. The
hot water would charge up his batteries.
He parked his bike over in a corner out of the way and made sure
there was a piece of plastic under it to catch any dripping if
any fell from his bike. He stowed his backpack and other items
in another corner they retrieved from the caches’ and remembered
the venison. He hauled his pieces out of the cabin on his
shoulders and went back to the main lodge. There were a number
of the group still talking and Mike rolled his eyes at them and
said,
“I have to get this in the walk-in and hang it I almost forgot.”
55
Several of them also had pieces and retrieved them and followed
Mike carrying their meat. Once the parts of the deer were hung
Mike went directly to his cabin again.
“Now for that shower.”
He said it to no one in particular. His clothes came off in a
series of rapid movements; he opened the shower door and stepped
in. The water came on ice cold but not for long. As he was
adjusting the handles, the shower door opened and Mike
immediately brought his left arm up with a clenched fist to his
upper chest and the right hand drew back to his side with a
clenched fist it was his standard fighting stance. Caroline was
standing there with a towel wrapped around her and she cooed,
“Want me to wash your back sailor?”
He instantly relaxed his stance as her towel dropped to the
floor and she stepped in.
Later Mike contemplated the incident and decided it was up there
with just about the best shower he ever had.
56
Chapter Eight Avalon
Looking grim in the US
Mike owned a Grundig Satellit 6001 Transistor radio. He got it
from an uncle who used it years ago to get time checks from the
Greenwich Mean Time Observatory while he was sailing his Ketch
in the South Pacific. He used the HO 216 Navigation system and
it requires to the second accuracy of the time when taking your
series of noon sights. He always reset his watches at Greenwich
Noon wherever he was while sailing. Mike liked it because with
the copper wire connecting it to the antenna jacks, and
stringing it to a tall pole he planted just for the antenna
wire. The reception was fantastic up here in the mountains he
listened to stations all over the world with it. Daniel had a
Zenith Transoceanic and the two of them tried at times to brag
the other one into admitting there’s was the best. It was late
at night and the solar panels were charged and he listened to
music as Caroline snuggled close. Her long blond hair kept
tickling his nose and he found himself blowing it away from his
face only to have it return and tickle again. An urgent message
interrupted the sentimental melody……
“The President announced hours ago Iran was bombed by seven
Hydrogen Bombs launched by a Los Angeles class submarine off the
Persian Gulf. Reports coming in from satellite photos tell an
alarming story of mass destruction all over that country. In
other news, another US nuclear submarine launched an atomic
strike on North Korea. Little is known with a only a few
exceptions, the fires that are burning all over the country can
be seen from space……”
“One moment please, …….” Ladies and gentleman I am saddened to
tell you that a tank farm located in Long Beach, California has
ignited by a powerful explosion. The deaths are incredibly high
from the secondary blast of the natural gas tank that was
57
nearby. It is not known who did it but the fires are tremendous
and firefighters are doing the best they can but the drought has
limited the water available to fight the fire with. Tanker
helicopters are being rushed to the scene and it is hoped the
fire retardants used in the forest fires will be useful.”
“In other news, Swarms of Texans wielding assault rifle have
averted a hostage’s situation at a small University in the
middle of that state. All the homegrown terrorists of Iranian
descent were cut down without mercy. Likewise, an attempt to
explode a high explosive device in Miami was thwarted by a group
of armed citizens who just happened on the scene. They called
out to the bombers, and one eye witness who saw what happened
said, they all appeared to be from the Middle East and at the
confrontation, several men and one woman began to run from the
scene and were mowed down with an incredible volley of gunfire.
Nancy Jones, the Senator from New York is deploring the violence
and said at a Town Meeting of her constituents,”
“No matter what these people have done to us, they feel
justified and once again I will ask the Senate once we are back
in session to back me in an all out ban on all weapons to the
American people. This violence must end forthwith.”
She was booed and fruit was thrown at her as she was rushed away
from the conference room by armed guards who were concerned for
her safety. In another……………”
Caroline reached over, turned the knob, and selected another
station playing music. The voice of Cher, silken and sultry
moaned her plight as she told about her mother dancing for the
money the men threw. Caroline snuggled up closer and there was a
knock at the door. Mike got up and put a towel over himself and
Caroline scooted under the covers. Mike opened the door it was
Daniel. He said calmly,
58
“Mike have you been listening to the news?”
Mike nodded, and Daniel continued.
“There are riots all over the place. A few Congressmen and a
several judges were at a luncheon and a mob stormed the house
and lynched all of them that were there. A few more bombs have
gone off and China is apparently getting ready to make an
invasion on the US and they’re joined by Russia for now but
several other countries are negotiating to join them. Mexico has
already declared their allegiance to the Chinese but is holding
out for a monetary package before they allow the Chinese to use
Mexico as a staging ground for launching attacks on the Southern
border. It is speculated the US will Nuke Mexico the moment they
agree to allow the Chinese to enter their land declaring it to
be an act of war. The Mexicans have expressed doubt that it will
ever happen. The President neither confirms nor denies the
allegations. Canada is vacillating as to whether to allow Russia
to come in through their territory to enter the US’s Northern
borders. Nobody knows yet what will happen.”
He looked at Mike and replied,
“Are you hearing me?”
Mike answered him,
“Look Dan, there isn’t much we can do about any of that right
now. We have to make sure all our people are here and they are
safe for starters. In the morning, I’ll put together a team and
we’ll go look for the rest of us if they don’t show in the
meantime. Now chill out my friend. Have a drink or get laid, but
59
stop worrying. We are safe here for the time being and we need
to put into action all the things we all agreed on a long time
ago. Incidentally, are you posting and relieving the watches?”
Dan acknowledged he was and Mike muttered in a low voice,
“No offense my friend, but I’m sort of busy right now.”
He swung the door a bit and Dan could see Caroline lying in the
bed. Dan turned and walked away without saying another word.
In the morning, the sky was pink from the rising sun, which was
still hidden. The dew covered everything and he stretched as he
yawned. It would begin to heat up soon. He walked into the
bathroom and emptied his bladder. He broke wind and Caroline
yelled,
“I heard that.”
Mike replied,
“It must have been one of those famous mountain barking spiders
we hear about now and then.”
Caroline snapped back with……
“Yeah, yeah, can’t blame the spider or anything else on that one
sailor.”
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Mike jumped into the shower and after drying off brought out a
complete change of clothing. He had most of what he owned here
in this cabin having brought most of it up months ago. He went
to the door after dressing and said,
“I’m going for coffee, want some?”
She answered him,
“Go ahead I’m going to shower and I’ll meet you there.”
By this time, the sun was just beginning to show itself and the
pinks and yellows were spectacular as they merged one with the
others. He walked to the main building and a multitude of birds
chirped it was breakfast for them too. When he entered the
reception area several people stood around chatting. Most of
them were up most of the night with Daniel listening to the
American and International news. It was grim worldwide. Holland
was hit by multiple attacks by their own Muslim residents,
France and Germany and Italy as well. Turkey had declared war on
Iran last night and was hit an hour later by a nuclear strike on
Istanbul after the announcement. Israel in the meantime was busy
bombing everyone around them, and they were using nuclear
devises. Every country in the Middle East was petitioning the UN
to make them stop and the Israelis sent this message to the UN,
“Kiss our asses.”
The Republic of Taiwan declared war on China and were leveled
within hours. The Chinese flag now flew over what was Taiwan and
61
there were Chinese troops on the island as occupation forces.
France was pleading with the United Nations and in particular,
the United States for help and America’s response was,
“You’re on your own, so deal with it. We will offer you nothing
in terms of aid or support or anything else not today or any
other day.”
A high ranking Naval Officer was heard at a gathering of
diplomats in Paris to say,
“France can fuck off and die.”
The US has denied any such comment was made. In the meantime an
attaché in Paris, Admiral Stewart Davis has been reassigned to
the Naval Staff in Holland.
France has offered to Ally itself
been rebuffed. It appears that no
anything. The French are wringing
anyone to help but they have been
thus far.”
with Russia and China but have
one wants to help France with
their hands and are begging
met with silence worldwide
Mike walked over to a table, where he decided to wait for
Caroline but before sitting down, continued over to the coffee
urns sitting on a corner of the coal fired stove, and helped
himself. He walked back to a table and sat in one of the chairs.
He liked his coffee black and hot. As he sat there the events of
what occurred was surreal in as much they always talked about
what it would be like, and most of the group, although realizing
you had to have a place to escape to for safety, would not
believe the brutality of people against people when it was
62
predicated by desperation. The very worst usually came out and
displayed itself and sometimes in the worst ways. The farmer and
his wife if that was what they really had been were the classic
example. But sadly they were somebody at one time and they sure
appeared to have put up a tremendous fight. In the end, they
died because they were outnumbered by a superior force and not
prepared. His thoughts carried him away and he found himself
thinking about Caroline.
She was thirty one, five feet six, about a 36-24-36, he was
guessing and never asked. Her blue eyes made you feel when she
was looking at you she was in fact looking into your soul with
their clarity and blueness. They were unlike any eyes he had
ever seen before. She was a serious person, he knew that, but
she was a person with empathy and that was why she was a nurse.
At least that was what he thought. What he liked best about her
was her hair. Her hair was nearly white in places but the
mixture of so many different blonde hairs scattered throughout
her head was so unusual and extremely attractive. It wasn’t one
color it was different colors of yellow, white, and steaks that
blended throughout. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were blond as
well. She wore it straight back down her back or in a ponytail.
Mike found at times he couldn’t take his eyes off her when she
was around, and she was always smiling at him. She was more
beautiful than any woman he had ever known before.
She told Mike in a quiet moment some time back she nearly
married once but she caught him cheating and dropped him like a
hot rock. Between going to school and taking extra courses to be
an effective and competent Emergency Room and Operating Room
nurse, it didn’t leave much time for anything else. They met
during the preliminary getting acquainted time that all group
members went through. Over time, Caroline and Mike grew much
closer than either intended.
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His thoughts were interrupted when she sat down next to him. He
immediately went and got her a cup of coffee without being
asked. He came back with it and sat down again. She leaned over
and said in a husky voice, low and inquisitive,
“Are you going after the others today?”
Mike answered by saying without making eye contact,
“I haven’t heard yet, maybe“
he hesitated,
“Probably will.”
Daniel came over and by the look on his face Mike had his
answer.
“How are you two feeling this morning?”
“Great Dan, how about you?”
Dan shrugged his shoulders and seemed to be thinking so Mike
waited for whatever he was going to say to come out. Caroline
watched both of them.
Dan finally broke the silence by saying in his way that made you
64
feel he was thinking about something other than what he was
talking about,
“We haven’t heard a word from the others and we expected to see
them by sometime after you and your group arrived. I’m worried
sick; I think we need to at least see what’s happened. Maybe
nothing but there’s only one-way to be sure. How do you feel
about taking a party of three or four with you to find out?”
Mike showed stoicism about what was said and said in response,
“That’s my job, and that’s what I’ll do. I’ll take Roger, Danny
and Sam with me. We’ll all have radios with us and we’ll take
plenty of ammo.” We should be back in no more than two days.
I’ll let them know in a bit and we’ll start filling our water
supply and get some food to take with. I think we should take a
couple of empty gas cans and see if we can score a little gas
while we’re out and one full five gallon can in case we don’t
find anything.”
Crystal came out of the building and said,
“China and Russia have just nuked LA, San Francisco, Seattle and
Portland!”
It was a miserable piece of news and it made you almost want to
cry to cry for your country, and for its people.
65
Chapter Nine Avalon
The Rescue (a)
Mike stood in front of them and said in a matter of fact way,
“You and I know if it was us out there someone would be coming
to help out.”
It was delivered with finality. There was to be no discussion
about his words just action. Each of them knew they had the same
commitment to the group. Most of them knew each other for at
least five years, and it wasn’t a matter of if they were going
to help, just when. Sam had a question and Mike nodded to him.
“Has there been any radio contact at all?”
“None.”
“Everyone has plenty of ammo, water, food?” Who has the First
Aid kit?”
Roger stuck an arm up in acknowledgement he had the First Aid.
That was logical he was a Paramedic with the Fire Department. He
was a Medic in the Army during Desert Storm. Roger was short and
stocky. About five eight and two hundred pounds and he wasn’t
fat.
Mike and Roger worked out at the gym and both of them were
66
pumping iron regularly. There was a competition between them.
Mike always said that if you can lift your own body weight plus
a little more, it would be no problem getting up a rope or a
tree or anything else without breaking a sweat, so both of them
were bench pressing right at two forty, and they were both
believers in being able to run a very long way if need be.
Double-timing it could be that one element necessary to save a
life or the group. As a result, both of them were doing five
hundred pound squats. They also ran up and down the beach on a
regular basis. They were both pushing for a ten-mile steady run,
but neither had done it yet because every time they began,
someone’s cell went off and they had to terminate it. Five mile
runs were most often the case.
Roger Tully was a natural blonde like Caroline except it was
darker. He always wore it in a fifties style flattop. He was
tanned and quiet spoken. He wasn’t much for idle conversation
but when he spoke, he always had something constructive and
pertinent to say. Everybody liked Roger. Roger was pushing
forty-two and was married to one of the women at the retreat.
She was standing there with the others watching from the huge
porch and the look on her face was tense and worried. He smiled
at her and she turned and walked into the big building. She was
obviously worried sick and couldn’t watch him leave.
Sam Wolchak was tall, had a deep voice, and looked and talked
just like Sam Elliot the movie star, so he cultivated the look
and talk. His thick wide mustache made him look like an 1880’s
cowboy. On the phone, if he told you he was Sam Elliot you would
believe it. Sam was tall. He probably topped out at six four and
weighed in at about two ten or there abouts. He wore cowboy
boots which put him up there at six-six, and he had a triple XXX
Stetson that he dearly loved. When he had it on, which was all
the time he was taller appearing yet. His hair was nearly white
because of his age of sixty-four and he wore it long. It always
stuck out from under the hat.
67
His hero was Buffalo Bill Cody. He was a no nonsense kind of guy
when it came to business but was very magnanimous in all that he
did and his interactions with others was always generous. He was
a Mike Force Leader in Vietnam and a Green Beret, “Q” qualified.
“Group” as they like to refer to themselves was what you said
when referring to a Green Beret. He spent sixteen years in the
Army and retired as a Sergeant First Class. Prior to the stint
in the Army he was a Marine for four years. Most of his Army
pension was currently diverted to an ex-wife who lived somewhere
in Virginia. His only real passion beside his job as a first
class Machinist and Mechanic was women. He dearly loved each and
every one of them. Someone once heard him say,
“I don’t care if they’re skinny or fat, tall or short, ugly or
pretty, God knows I love every single one of ‘em.”
He did too. However, there was no better man to cover your back
when you needed it. He once clothes pinned a guy in a bar that
was getting ready to take Mike down with a pool cue from behind.
He was tough and everyone loved him like an older brother. The
kids in the group adored him.
Danny Croft was a younger member of the group at only twentyseven he was a junior member but he served six years in the
Marine Corps and was trained as a Sniper. In High School he was
a good football player, a Wide Receiver because he was fast and
could take the hits. He was one of the few people that deferred
away from the standard NATO .308 round battle rifle. He sported
a converted Mossberg bolt action fifty caliber single shot with
a fifty power variable scope mounted on it. It was customed made
for him. He also carried one of the sterile 9mm alley sweepers,
the Mac-11. He favored the US Army pre 1970 Colt Automatic .45
Model 1911. He wore two of them in special custom shoulder
holsters. Danny was teased by all of the women because he was
painfully shy and as Caroline liked to say,
68
“He’s just cuter than a button.”
He was a gunsmith by trade and a good machinist, he did most of
the reloading for the group and he was darn good at everything
he did. He kept to himself but there was a woman in the group
who was obviously trying to get him to notice her, but he kept
his distance. He was madly in love with a girl he referred to as
“his High School Sweetheart” but she sent him a Dear John letter
while he was away in Boot Camp. It made him wary of women and he
probably was a little scared of getting his heart broken again.
He was about five ten and weighed in at one eighty. His brown
hair always seemed to fall down his forehead into his eyes. He
had thick eyelashes and the girls loved them. Like most snipers,
he stayed to himself and remained quiet most of the time. It's
just one of those traits.
Mike Reynolds lubed his chain and offered the tube to anyone who
wanted to use it. Sam accepted. Mike was a former SEAL, and
after ten years in the Navy decided, he wanted to try something
else. He was a Lieutenant Commander when he got out. A Platoon
Leader Gold and the Exec of SEAL Team six and was in line to
become the commanding officer of his own team when he decided to
get out.
SEAL Team six was the Navy’s version of Delta Force. He saw
clandestine action all over the globe and went to many of the
finest specialty schools offered to only members of the elite.
When he first got out, he went to work at an American Embassy as
a security consultant but quit after only a year. It bored him
to tears, the pecking order was vicious and was full of ring
knockers, the Masonic kind, and he didn’t care for them much. He
wore an Annapolis Class Ring and that was sufficient in his
opinion.
69
He was a Sheriff’s Deputy for another year and that left him
dissatisfied. He was beginning to wonder if it was a mistake to
get out of the Navy and that’s when the offer to run a security
school that trained executives and their bodyguards how to
conduct themselves when they were sent on an overseas contract.
That was a good job, it held his interest and he felt as if he
was doing something positive at last. The money was excellent,
and that helped keep him in the goodies he wanted to have. He
became in short order the Executive in charge of training.
Strangely, he was a licensed Mechanical Engineer but never made
use of his chosen profession.
Mike was five ten, and his jaw was square. He had a slight
dimple at the base of his chin but not a deep one. When he
smiled he had dimples on both cheeks. His hair was jet black. He
wore it long and combed it straight back. He grew a mustache
about a year ago and liked it so it stayed put. He weighed two
hundred twenty pounds and was in the peak of condition because
of his daily workouts. He did a lot of shooting on the course
where the bodyguards were trained, and he was a dead shot. He
was a good tactics and operation planner and was considered the
principal security man and trainer of the group.
He was thirty-five last August and although he was, married once
and she left him because of his job as a Navy SEAL. It seems
every time there was a call, his beeper went off and away he
went on the next mission and he wouldn’t tell her where he was
going and what he was going to do, she became fed up after
awhile by her own insecurities. He came home one day and
everything in the house was gone.
He started living on base at the BOQ. The Bachelor’s Officers
Quarters as it turned out, was more convenient that way. He was
served divorce papers and she got everything. He got his
70
freedom. There were no kids so there was nothing to be disbursed
in terms of money. She was a corporate lawyer, was making mid
six figures every year, and was being considered as a partner at
her firm. She went her way and he went his.
There were a few women here and there after that but nothing
worth hanging on to until he met Caroline. The women liked him
because he was good looking and had a physique they admired. He
was smart, articulate and his buddies referred to him as a
“Smooth Swordsman.”
They were ready. Daniel Crowley, Mike’s partner at Avalon and
his equal in the retreat, came forward and wished him luck. Dan
was a Medical Doctor, a GP and a surgeon, and a serious man who
depended on Mike for his take on certain situations and didn’t
want anything to happen to him, especially now.
“You be careful, and if you need any extra help, you be sure and
let us know. May the Saints protect you Michael?”
He and Caroline were the only persons who called him Michael. It
reminded him of his late mother when she was angry about
something he did.
“Not to worry. Look for us in a couple of days and nights. If we
have to we will back track to as far as town, but I’m hoping
that won’t be necessary.”
With that he looked over his shoulder and said to the others,
“Let’s do it.”
71
They rolled on power and away they went toward the dirt road in
the big firs. Dust whipped up and smoke jetted out from behind
the bikes. Next stop, God only knew.
72
Chapter Ten Avalon
The Rescue (b)
Getting down the old road was so much quicker than when they
were heading toward Avalon yesterday. This old dirt road
painstakingly carved out of the middle of these magnificent
trees so many years ago by Eli to move his cattle to the new
railhead was ample in its width and ran for a good fifteen miles
through the fir trees. Throughout the years, the ash from coalfired stoves and the big boiler came down the road loaded on
horse drawn wagons to be dump here. It was gray in appearance.
Barely a weed grew here.
The trees on both sides of the road now grown back, were at an
impressive size again left alone by men and their axes. Most of
them were at least four feet from side to side and towered at a
good seventy-five feet or more. The clear cutting stopped more
than eighty years ago and because the woodsman’s axe was silent
for these many years the trees did what they always do when left
alone, they grew into towering behemoths. This group on their
Motorcycles was dwarfed in size as they moved together in
unison.
The old rail bed came into view. Mike signaled for them to stop
at the edge of the woods. They were still on the ash road but
still in the trees. He parked and walked out to the clearing and
took his binoculars out to take a better look. It wasn’t likely
there were any “unfriendlies” out there but he wanted to check
first. The watch at the hidden bunker wasn’t set yet. Mike got
on the radio and pushed the send button,
“Base, this is Leader One.”
73
He waited and the radio crackled when Dan’s voice came back to
him.
“What’s up?”
“Set the watch out here ASAP.”
“Roger that.”
It would be done. Sam accompanied him as they edged closer to
the clearing. Mike swept the area from side to side several
times and stopped frequently looking for any subtle movements
anywhere. He knew because of his training most people will slap
at a bug away from their faces or turn their heads, and those
small movements were discernible by a trained observer. Sam knew
this as well. In a few minutes, Sam and Mike turned back, walked
toward their bikes, and hopped on. They continued toward the
clearing slowly. At the tree line, they stopped again and did
another sweep with the glasses. There was nothing. It was early
but it didn’t hurt to be cautious.
They made their way past the sand traps and were on the old rail
beds heading toward the river below and the state highway that
wound its way through the lower mountains far below them. At the
first landslide, Mike halted the group and had Sam and Roger
stay behind. He said to them,
“When we reach the next slide area I’ll give you a radio check
and say “Clear,” if there are any bad guys coming this way, we
may have to make a fight, and on that ledge, there is nowhere to
go, especially if they happen to be above us. A few grenades and
we’re toast. There is absolutely no cover whatsoever. There’s no
reason to lose everyone and you two can make a run for Avalon
just in case and at least get ready for whatever got us.”
74
The other two nodded and Mike and Danny went up and over the
slide and motored to the next slide area. Once they arrived,
Mike scrambled to the top of the debris and took out his
binoculars again. There was nothing ahead, above and down in the
valley there was a great deal of smoke coming from the highway.
With the glasses, he still could not make out much but something
was going on or happened down there. He keyed the radio button
and spoke,
“Clear.”
Sam responded by saying
“Roger that.”
They “Leap Frogged it” again same drill different spot. When
Mike and Danny made it to the next slide area, the radio
crackled again. In a few minutes, they were all together and
past the last slide. They continued their journey until they
arrived at the turn off that would take them to the Roach Hotel.
Mike took out his GPS although he knew the route by memory he
simply wanted to verify. You can never assume anything and at
any time.
It was so far to everyone’s relief, so good. They were going to
approach the area near the cave soon and Mike stopped the group.
“Keep your eyes peeled, we’re only a few more miles to the cave
and we need to be alert as of now and until we are back at
Avalon. There are no more “Friendlies except our own, wherever
they happen to be.” I suggest we make another two and a half
miles and stash our bikes. Roger, you’ll stay with them. I don’t
want the noise getting the wrong people’s attention focused on
us.”
75
They rode on to a specific place that Mike knew the distance
from there to the cave. They pushed the bikes another mile and
stopped. They stashed their bikes and Roger began cutting brush
to hide them under. Mike, Sam and Danny began on foot toward the
Roach Hotel. It was straight ahead and up and over a ridge and
then down slightly and to the right.
“Maybe three more miles”
Sam offered a guess. It was getting hotter as the day grew and
they all sweated as they climbed the ridge. At the top they
stopped. Here was a vantage point where they could see just
about everything down near the opening to the cave. Mike took
out his glasses. They could see people milling around. The cave
was covered but the job of concealing it was hastily done at
best. If someone got close they would probably find the opening
and those inside had no place to go. Mike thought about it and
said to Sam,
“I think some of our people are in the cave and those are
unfriendlies wandering around looking for them. We need to even
out the odds. Sam you go left and work your way toward the cave
by coming out through the woods there.”
He pointed at where he meant and Sam nodded.
“I’m going to go right and circle back toward the back side of
the cave. Daniel you cover us with your fifty, wait fifteen
minutes and start straight on toward the entrance from here and
open fire at any target of opportunity. Everyone stay low and be
careful.” Ahead of them, the ground was soft from the previous
76
rains and the motorcycle tracks were visible. There were other
tracks too. Mike said to Sam and Daniel.
“I make it to be about twenty-five to thirty of them based on
what I see there,”
He pointed at the tracks,
“ they’re all together in a group bunched together and close.
How nice, one grenade would take most of them out.”
Mike took out his magazine and ejected the round in the pipe. He
inserted another magazine that looked to be about a seventy-five
round capacity and chambered a round. Out of a small pouch, he
extracted a copy, but a very good one of the famous Sonics
Suppressor and screwed it on the end of his barrel. Sam was
doing the same thing and so was Danny with his Mac-11 he kept
slung over a shoulder. They were using sub-sonic special loaded
ammo that would not break the sound barrier when fired and the
suppression level of each explosion would be no louder than a
handclap. Mike looked at each one and asked them,
“Everyone ready?”
They nodded and Sam smiled wide making his big mustache wiggle.
“You boys be careful, I don’t want to give Roger any practice
patching someone up. Although God knows, he probably needs it.
Let’s do what we have to do. If we can get them all, that would
be good, they’re low life bikers and they’re not friendlies.”
77
Sam smiled and Dan’s face was tense. Mike switched channels on
his transceiver and spoke in a low voice,
“Nineteen,”
Roger and Sam switched theirs and Mike spoke into the radio.
“Rats in the trap. This is Mike.”
He waited, the radio crackled, and a voice said,
“Where have you guys been?”
It was Crystal Sneed.
Mike answered by saying,
“We had to have supper and then breakfast sugar pie!”
Crystal responded quickly,
78
“We aren’t sure, but we think there are about a dozen out there
and thank God they haven’t found the cave entrance! We came on
to them over near the river and they engaged us in a gunfight.
We’ve been here a few hours.”
She sounded like she was out of breath.
Mike said to her,
“We make it thirty or so, but we are going to do a quickie clean
up, stay calm and wait. The password will be page fifteen,
paragraph two first words for affirmative and same page, third
paragraph first word for negative you’re on your own.”
“Damn you Michael! Why did you have to trash my illusions by
saying that, there will be no negative do you read me?”
She was agitated. Mike wondered why people referred to him by
his first name when they were pissed.
Mike looked at Daniel and Sam and pointed a finger ahead of them
and said, “Hoooraaaah! Fifteen minutes from now.”
Everyone did a time check and confirmed one by one,
“Fifteen minutes.”
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They moved out. In thirteen minutes Sam was on the backside of
the small patch of woods, Danny was on his stomach and he
wrapped the sling around one arm and steadied himself on an
elbow his legs spread wide apart and took aim at one guy who was
busy yelling at everyone. He waited, in fifteen minutes exactly
he would fire. He looked at his watch ten more seconds. Thousand
one, thousand two, thousand three…….He looked through the scope
again, took a breath, thousand ten held it and squeezed the
trigger and the guys head evaporated into a pink and red mist as
if someone had just popped a balloon filled with red Kool Aid.
Sam was coming out of the woods and was reloading another clip.
Danny swung left and took out another bad guy with a fifty
through the chest that was leveling a handgun at Sam. The bad
guy crumpled like someone dropped a wet rag on the ground. Danny
swung right and a bad guy was coming from behind the rock
cropping that was the back and roof of the cave. He was picking
his feet up and laying them down as if the hounds of hell were
after him. Before Danny could fire Mike dropped him with a three
round burst, the guy crumbled and rolled and didn’t move. The
entire fight lasted about two minutes once they were in place.
There were thirty-two of them sprawled on the ground and dead.
“Dead Amateurs,”
Mike’s thought it but didn’t say anything.
He pushed the radio button and was smiling when he said,
“Okay sweetheart the bad guys are all dead. Come on out.”
The people in the cave came bursting out led by Crystal. She
grabbed Mike and kissed him on the mouth hard and it was a
lingering kiss. There were eight of them in the cave. That made
it a full count. Everyone was excited, but Mike made the “Time”
signal by placing a finger in his palm. Everyone was quiet.
80
“Sam, you and Danny start looking around for anyone who might be
hiding and take them out. See what they had on them while you’re
at it.”
He looked at the cave dwellers and said,
“Anyone hurt?”
Crystal blurted out,
“Only my feelings if you tell me you and Caroline are still a
number and if you aren’t, boy are you going to get lucky
tonight.”
Mike smiled. Crystal was a handful for any man, and he was sure
she was going to latch on to someone eventually. He keyed his
radio and said,
“Roger, is everything alright?”
Roger came back and said
“Is it over?”
Mike spoke into the radio,
81
“Affirmative that. We’ll be coming over to you in a few. We’ll
latch on to a ride with one of the others that were in the cave
from here.”
In a few minutes they were with Roger, they formed a convoy, and
Mike led the way back to Avalon.
The ride going home was uneventful and the group was together
finally.
82
Chapter Eleven Avalon
All together at Avalon
With the arrival of Mike, his team and the group members that
were hiding in the cave, the total count was twenty-four adults
and six children at Avalon. These were members completely
dedicated to the retreat and to each other. It was all for one
and one for all if you don’t mind the cliché.
In the coming days Dan, Roger and Caroline organized and put
into place their clinic and small hospital. Sam helped Greg
organize and make sure the blacksmith shop was in order and
could be put into operation at a moment’s notice. Since they had
an unlimited supply of coal to burn, a fire was kept lit all the
time. Others went about taking care of their areas and making
sure that whatever the “Group” needed it would be available.
They had been stocking the retreat for over six years. On
different occasions, a pair of them would bring in an animal or
two, usually babies. For instance, there was the day Mike and
Dan brought in the calf by connecting a sidecar to Dan’s Bike,
after some modification to it, got the calf in, and brought it
to Avalon. The next time out they brought another one. Now they
had male and female calves from different herds. They repeated
the evolution until they had six females and one bull calf.
Eventually they brought in chickens by stuffing them in
backpacks, sheep came in later, they decided to make a weekend
plus a couple of days of it, and rode horses in which were left
behind when they left. They did it again until they had four
draft horses and they had ten saddle horses. The transportation
problem back and away from Avalon was solved on a couple of
trips when two bikes would come in with two riders and they
would go back out with one bike with two riders on it.
Eventually several good used bikes were left at the Resort.
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As the problems and challenges came up the logistics were worked
out and planned like a military operation. In the course of six
years, the Resort was stocked generously with a renewable supply
of food; non-gas burning transportation they were manufacturing,
spare parts galore, and most importantly they found and
cultivated good sincere people to be a part of their Retreat.
One big project was fencing in the Mountain Meadow behind the
main building. That was a ten outing effort before it was fenced
and crossed fenced but important.
They had what they fondly referred to as The General Store. In
its heyday it indeed was a store. They stocked many of the
little things the former guests needed such as sanitary napkins
for the women, chewing gum, bags of tobacco and rolling papers,
the new fangled cigarettes, magazines, books, and things of that
nature to keep the guests from being either inconvenienced or
bored.
The newest residences of Avalon used it as a library, and most
of them brought books with them over the years and it became
nicely stocked with a huge variety of books Novels, History,
First Aid, College Level course books, High School and Middle
School curriculums as well. So many different books in fact it
was exceptional. There were “How To” and so much more only Penny
knew what all was there. Penny Rolls was the Group Librarian.
She had a degree in Library Science, had things looking like a
professional library once she took it over, and of course had
the time to get it catalogued and organized. Everybody
contributed and there were about fifteen thousand books in it by
the time the bubble popped.
The Armory and Gun shop came together in the same manner as all
the rest of the small shops and modern conveniences. Harlan
Herrera and Dennis Chambers took on that task. Occasionally they
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relied on Sam to do a bit of complicated machine work. They
organized all the spare parts, and catalogued them. They had
extra screws and springs, barrels, the reloading equipment,
which were all Dillon Progressive and the dies to reload
everything from .222 all the way up to .50 calibers in rifle and
from .25 all the way up to fifty-caliber pistol. Of course, they
processed everything in between and shotguns. They had the husks
for 10, 12, 16, 20 and .410 gauges. Of course, they had a wide
assortment of powders, primers; new brass, wads and the list
went on and on and scales to weigh their charges with. There was
very little they could not reload or fix. They even had a small
carbide cannon.
Chad and Linda Sienna, both of them being world class Chefs,
staffed the kitchen. The meals they whipped up for the entire
town’s people were phenomenal. They baked and cooked everything
imaginable under the sun and most of the time they used only
five basic ingredients. Flour, honey, salt, pepper, and soybean.
Of course, they were able to add things like vegetables, eggs,
chicken meat, not all the time but occasionally they would
slaughter a calf or an older cow that went dry. The superb job
they did feeding the whole group was nearly impossible to
describe accurately. Suffice to say it was an incredible feat in
every way. They not only did the cooking but the butchering as
was necessary and there were always people offering to help.
Sometimes Susan Riley helped in there and Claudia Paulson did
too. They were both single women.
Perry Stone and Sally Zeller a couple, and had two of the
group’s children. They were never officially married but were as
in love as anyone could be. They were together seventeen years
so far. They were in their mid-forties. They were the official
caretakers of Avalon once they became a member. The day they
came out to see the old resort, they were in at first sight and
never wanted to leave the place. They moved there inside a month
after being accepted and Dan collected their fee for their share
of the ownership of the great retreat. They had been living
there for five years. Prior to that everyone in the group took
turns staying at the Retreat four days every month to six weeks
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in order to make sure things were secure and to feed and water
the animals that were slowly accumulating at the retreat.
Sally home schooled the kids and every time someone went up or
came back out they would take their letters or deliver them
along with whatever they needed as a list of “Must Haves.” Perry
was an excellent carpenter, plumber, electrician and general
overall Master Builder. He was a General Contractor with his own
company before closing the doors and moving to Avalon.
Sally was the Master Gardener. She worked with her husband doing
the Landscaping of the spec.’ homes they were building. She had
a green thumb and could grow rocks if she had the right
ingredients. Her garden grew from one acre to three in five
years. Once the retreat was occupied all year around, every
summer when the time was right all the members that could get
away came up there and helped with the harvest. In five years,
she had shelf after shelf of canned goods put away. She had a
very large root cellar and there were potatoes in bins, squash,
pumpkins, apples, corn, onions, and she was growing tobacco
among other things in her garden. She was also putting away
seeds every harvest to do it again the coming spring. She had
bag after bag of seeds and none of them were of the Hy-Bred
variety which cannot reproduce their own kind.
Out behind Avalon was a natural mountain meadow that stretched
out toward the North and encompassed an area of about four
hundred acres. Enough room to graze animals, grow their feed,
plant orchards of fruit and nut trees and have an ample garden
that would keep everyone well fed and healthy. In the five years
they were here, she succeeded in doing a remarkable job with a
lot of help from the others. The creek that flowed down the
middle of the meadow irrigated everything and kept the stock
watered. Perry built loafing sheds for the animals near the
creek, these were covered areas made from logs that the animals
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could get under and hide from the sun or rains and squalls that
came through in the spring and fall. Sometime from the winter
storms, but they had an ample barn to house the livestock when
they needed to be inside.
The children went to school every day and had the weekends off
once the entire group was there. Susan Riley was a teacher with
a Masters in Education. She taught Middle School but taught
elementary levels and High School at different time. She was one
of the single women of the group.
Crystal worked in the kitchen most of the time but she was the
kind of person that liked people so she staffed the bar in the
evening hours “just so she could visit” as she liked to say. She
was also a single woman.
Dennis and Charlene Post worked either in the fields or where
they were needed. They were both dairy farmers originally from
Pennsylvania in a small area known as Sullivan County. It was
exactly forty-five miles from Wilkes-Barre and the same distance
from Williamsport where the little leaguers go for their World
Series every year. They moved out west to get away from the
taxes and the insufferable laws that were coming down from the
Liberals and the area was economically depressed from the lack
of industry there. Mostly he liked farm animals and growing. He
was an able hand milker and knew how to separate cream from the
gallons of milk they got twice a day from the cows. He could
make butter and whipping cream and he knew how to make the best
mouth watering cheeses one could hope to eat. He was happy here
and he moved to Avalon once the group approved them and they
paid their share of ownership.
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The watches were posted full time now that everyone was there.
The bunker resembled a pile of logs sitting on other logs to
weather. The entry was hidden and if you didn’t know where it
was you would miss it. It had slits between the logs to peer out
and it would be difficult to see the person in the bunker. It
took a lot of work to build. Two were posted at the beginning of
the Fir stand near the rail bed in this bunker that was built as
an early warning if anyone came from that way. With a radio
message a warning to the others was made possible in plenty of
time. Also they had a battery inside the bunker that they would
use to set the charges to fell some of the big firs across the
road.
All watches were four hours on eight hours off and were advanced
every day by one hour at noon. This prevented you from standing
the same watches all the time. There were two lookouts in a
tower out on the back meadow. At night, there were two more
beginning at dark or dusk, one in the front of the main building
and one at the rear of it. It was a good system and it would be
difficult for anyone to surprise even the tower watchers because
the person at the rear of the main building could see it clear
as day. There were booby traps all over the place. Some made
noise and some would hurt anyone sneaking up unaware they were
in place.
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Chapter Twelve Avalon
Life at Avalon
Two months went by swiftly. It felt odd they didn’t have to
leave the retreat anymore and before the chain of events of the
bombings they used to relish the moments when they were there if
only for a short time. Now it was everyone’s home and maybe, the
way it was looking, for a very long time.
Everyone was busy doing something. Sam and Greg found the old
wagon the old timers used to haul the ashes out to the road. It
sat in a corner rusted and in need of a major repair job but
between all able bodies pitching in it was nearly new in a
couple of weeks. The trap door in the bed was working smoother
than the trap door on a gallows.
There was a large pile of the ashes and unburned coal nuggets
mixed in it already accumulating, and they were going to have to
be redistributed somewhere other than where they were. It was
unsightly and with a small breeze, the dust would swirl around
and eventually get into the main building or the cabins. The ash
wagon was finished in record time, and just when it was needed
as it turned out. Sam wanted to hitch a couple of horse to it
and start dumping the ashes right away. His cabin was close to
the pile and he was getting tired of dusting all the time. As he
was hitching up the team, a call came in over the radio from the
lookouts at the end of the road near the rail beds. They were
panicking. Mike decided to go out on a bike and see what was
going on. He took Sam as backup. It was a long ride but at sixty
and seventy mph they got there fast enough.
Well before they reached the clearing at the end of the firs,
they stashed their bikes and hiked to the area where the bunker
lay hidden. Sam went right and Mike went left into the thick fir
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trees, they worked their way toward the sand traps at the end of
the road. Both men carefully avoided the booby traps that were
all over both sides of the road. Mike didn’t hear the radio
message, so he wasn’t sure what to expect only that the watch
was in some sort of trouble. As he approached the clearing, he
heard her. She was angry and she sounded fierce. There in front
of them was a grizzly mom and her cub and she was raking the top
of the bunker with her huge paws trying to dig down to the
occupants. It looked like she was tiring but the cub saw Mike
and ran at him in a playful trot. Mama saw it too. She turned
and came at Mike with the grace of a thousand pound wild dog.
The saliva flowed out of her mouth like a silver stream covering
her front legs and chest. She was in a full run and was moving
toward him fast. There wasn’t much he could do at the moment so
he raised his 9mm, selected a three shot burst, that was when an
explosion from behind him rang out and caused him to jump. It
was Dayna. She dropped the bear with a single shot from about
three hundred yards with a .308 Remington pump action Game
Master. The bear dropped to the ground and was dead before her
head hit the road. It was a great shot. Dayna had jumped on her
bike and came to assist.
The cub started moaning and raking at his mother with his paws.
He would die without her milk and her watchful eye. Mike, Sam
and Dayna went back to the Retreat leaving the bears there and
came back with the ash wagon a few hours later. It was nearly
hitched before the call came over the radio to do the ashes and
now they would use it to retrieve the dead bear. Dayna was with
them. She was going to keep the cub alive considering she shot
the mama. Several other men came down to help get the bear
loaded on the wagon and they all jumped on as it lurched and
headed down the ash road. When they arrived the watch was
changing in the bunker. They were going to have to repair the
damage the mama bear did to the top of it, but it could wait
until tomorrow. The little cub was nursing on the dead mother.
Dayna picked him up and he began licking her face but he was a
handful for the wriggling he was doing. He was heavy too. She
walked over and Sam helped her get into the wagon. She scratched
his stomach and in a moment, he was sleeping in her lap. The
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others began the difficult task of lifting the dead bear into
the wagon. It took some time but they got her in there. It was
getting late. The trip back was going to take awhile.
Back at the Retreat the others had eaten hours ago. Sam
suggested Dayna put the cub in the tool shed for safe keeping
and they would deal with the mother later. They all went inside
to eat. The cub needed to eat and Dr. Daniel with the help of
Caroline made a rather large bottle for him and put part of a
rubber glove over the end to serve as a nipple. She warmed the
milk as was suggested in the kitchen and went out to feed her
seventy pound baby. The rest of them went in to the dining area
to eat.
The cub came out of the tool shed and was bawling, finally Dayna
had to set the bottle down and chase him. When she caught up
with him she couldn’t let loose and go get the bottle at the
same time. Sam was done eating and was standing there watching
the comedic chase. She appealed to him with a look and he walked
over and retrieved the bottle. With it in hand the cub settled
down to a drinking fest and soon fell asleep in her arms. Sam
left them and went in and got her some food and a drink. He hand
fed her until she finished her supper. The two of them took the
cub to her cabin and laid him on the floor. Dayna kept the
bottle in case she needed to feed the cub later.
The next day, several of them hauled the
front paws out by the barn and began the
and then skinning her. The entrails were
of pigs they kept way out behind the big
away from the predominant wind.
mama bear up by the
job of gutting her out
fed to the small family
barn and situated well
One of the things they painstakingly brought to the retreat was
a set of eight inch paper wheels they mounted on a trundle type
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apparatus by way of an axle. Perry built it from the plans he
got from an old Mechanic’s illustrated magazine. You could sit
at the apparatus and work the trundle with your feet. As the
wheels turned you faced the wheels. One was for sharpening and
the other was for polishing. Both would put a razor sharp edge
on anything they used for cutting. You made one pass on each
side of a blade and then polished it on both sides with the
polishing wheel. It took a bit of a knack to get the hang of it,
but once mastered it would yield sharpness that you could shave
with. They were used frequently to get the big bear skinned.
Once the animal was skinned and gutted, she was taken into the
barn area and was left to hang for the next two and a half weeks
to age and to make the meat tender. There was little waste at
the retreat and mama bear was going to yield some tasty steaks
and it would be a real treat for everyone when the time came.
Dressed out and skinned she tipped the scales at eight hundred
pounds of mostly meat.
The next big project was to stretch the large hide, fur side
down to the dirt and begin the job of staking the raw hide with
stakes and stretching it as you went. The tauter you got it the
better. A pair of house paint scrapers were used to scrape the
hide to remove any traces of meat and then when they were
satisfied with the job, the brain of the animal was extracted
and the process of rubbing her own brain matter into the hide
was begun. All animals have enough tannic acid in their brain to
tan their own hide to perfection. After the initial rubbing in
of the brain matter what was left of her brain was saved for the
second application until it was gone and totally used up.
Beverly and Stan Doyle wanted to give it a try but Beverly threw
up when the smell graced her olfactory senses and she was done.
Stan on the other hand helped quite a bit. Finally it was done
and it was a matter of waiting for the hide to dry out, washing
it, and allowing it to dry again and the hard job began of
softening it up would begin in earnest. Sam said to Dayna,
“Dayna, do you know how the Indian squaws made leather soft?”
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She admitted she didn’t know and Sam said,
“They chewed it until it was soft.”
“Yuk.”
Thinking about it made him laugh.
Dayna made no bones about the hide, it was hers and she was
going to use the skin for wall to wall carpeting in her cabin
even though the hide was too large to fit properly, it was going
to go up the walls a bit. She wasn’t going to chew it either.
Her cabin like all of them except for the five special ones were
one room affairs with a bathroom, a bed, a sitting area with a
couch and a couple of easy chairs, a table and three chairs. A
few lamp tables and they all had the old fashioned Aladdin oil
lamps sitting on them with the glass shades that sat on a three
rest cradle that were attached to the lamps. There were three on
the walls and three on the tables. One in the bathroom attached
to the wall. One problem with them was the heat they gave off
but the light from each could be as bright and comparable to an
electric 100 watt light bulb. They were growing soybeans and it
was yielding oil for the lamps by now, prior to that they
brought in kerosene by the five gallon containers one trip at a
time.
The cabins were twelve by fifteen on the inside and the
bathrooms added another ten by eight feet to those dimensions.
Each had five windows, one on each side of the entry door, one
near the bed, and two more on the opposite wall of the bed. The
bathroom had a small window above the toilet.
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The larger cabins were two bedrooms, a small kitchen area,
bathroom, living room and a side door and a main entry. Each had
a stone fireplace. They were twenty feet by thirty feet. Doctor
Dan had one, Mike had one he didn’t use, he liked number seven,
it was cozier than the large cabins. Perry and Sally occupied
one, and Dennis and Charlene Post had another. One was left
empty but was kept clean by Charlene. The rest of the group
members occupied their smaller cabins, and everyone was if not
happy, content with their situations.
One thing that was important for the group was to conserve all
that they had together. That meant cleaning up their plates and
only taking the food they planned to eat. Lamps in the cabins
were not left burning unattended. Dayna was making candles and
it was encouraged by the group to use candles when light to see
where you were going in the dark was necessary, a night light,
but the main lamps were not used. You seldom saw any cabin with
all the Aladdin’s lit at the same time unless there was a
meeting going on and that was usually done in the main building.
They had regular meetings where all members attended, usually,
after the evening meals. If there was anything to talk about it
was discussed during that time. If they were running low on
anything it was discussed.
Sam and Greg with the help of Dennis made a large alcohol still
and they were brewing their own alcohol. The welding that was
required was done the old fashioned, blacksmith way, by using a
bellows and anthracite coal for the correct temperatures; Wood
fires don’t get hot enough to weld metal, Coal on the other hand
with the aid of a bellows will. They were now producing enough
ethanol they mixed with the gasoline they had on hand from the
finished still, and was anticipated it would last them a very
long time considering they added a fuel preservative to all the
storage tanks just before the bubble went up. Once the mix they
had on hand was used up there was always going to be the
ethanol. Sam would adjust all the carburetors to be compatible
with the alcohol when the time came. To solve the problem of oil
94
for the mix in the gas, they stocked many gallons of it but
Randy, their resident chemist was experimenting with vegetable
oils to come up with something they could replace the oil they
mixed with the gas and the oil in the various engines they had.
It was a study in patience.
Once Randy and Ginger Keys joined the group he as a Chemical
Engineer made a valuable addition to the group and he had a
suggestion. It was important the group gather certain chemicals.
They should be hoarding for later if there was a later, and as
it turned out here they were in it, and God only knew how many
people were still alive down below their mountain top retreat.
The suffering must be horrible for so many of them. With the
help of the entire group, he began buying certain chemicals that
he could turn into nearly anything they needed. He also acquired
an out of print book called Henley’s Twentieth Century Book of
Ten Thousand Formulas, Processes and Trade Secrets. Last printed
in 1977 by Publishers Agency, INC, Cornwell Heights,
Pennsylvania. It was designed to be used in Laboratories,
Workshops and the home. Today the book sells by various
collectors for about a thousand dollars. In it you’ll find how
to make: Dyes, Inks, Waterproofing, Perfumes, Cement, Plating,
Glass, Dentifrices, Varnishes, Soaps, Glues, Paints, Adhesives,
Enameling, Hairdressings, Cosmetics, Oils and literally
thousands of other useful products for people that have to make
their own. As a survivalist who better needs a copy of this
book?
Some critical chemicals one should strive to hoard are:
At least a couple of pounds of the following:
Iron Oxide Red
Sodium Fluoride
Calcium Chloride
Iron Filings
Powdered Charcoal
Aluminum Powder same as used in paints
Dextrine
Calcium Oxide
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Sulfuric Acid
Calcium Oxide
Barium Peroxide
Potassium Permanganate
Black Antimony Sulphide
Potassium Carbonate
Potassium Chlorate
Sodium Peroxide
At least a half pound each of:
Potassium Cyanide
Powdered Magnesium
Red Phosphorous
Note: The list of Chemicals courtesy of Kurt Saxon from his
book, The Poor Man’s James Bond If you don’t know how to mix
different chemicals together, DON’T DO IT. You can die, or be
horribly burned among other nasty un-expectant incidences. This
is an area you need to avoid unless you are a competent chemist.
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Chapter Thirteen Avalon
The World War is accelerating
The week was winding down, and everyone looked forward to the
Saturday night dance and potluck. Several of the group played an
instrument, and they jammed when they had nothing else to do.
The week was a particularly active one.
First of all the bear cub which got named “Buddy” made it into
the kitchen and while searching for the source of the great
smells from the huge kettle of soup that was bubbling on the
coal fired stove, managed to get up on one of the counters and
knocked everything off onto the floor. He tore open a bag of
flour and scattered it all over the place. He was just being a
bear cub, and having a great time before Chad caught him and
carried him over to Dayna for safekeeping. He departed by
saying,
“If you don’t want stewed bear cub keep him out of my kitchen.”
Then he got into the chicken pens and broke several dozen eggs,
before he was caught again. Shortly thereafter, he got into the
barn and scattered the contents of a bin full of oats all over
the floor of the “BIG” barn. It was time for Dan to do something
about the cub. He asked Mike to talk to her and he refused by
saying,
“You do it; I’m not going to get between her and that little
animal.”
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Therefore, the job fell on Doctor Dan, and as he was walking
toward the small shop she put together to make candles, the bear
cub flew out the door and by him and he and Dayna came together
in a head-on collision. She was after the cub and didn’t see Dan
until it was too late. Before he could say anything, she started
to laugh and it was so infectious he started to laugh, and so
they sat in the dirt laughing. Later that same day during the
changing of the watch at the hidden bunker out by the locomotive
sand traps, Buddy followed them like a little puppy and while
they were changing the watch, they just caught a glimpse of the
little guy tumbling off the cliff and they heard him bawling as
he fell. That was the end of Buddy. It was up to Dr Dan to break
it to her, and he did it reluctantly.
That Saturday night Dan and Dayna danced a few times and not
long after that, they both disappeared for the night. They tried
to pretend nothing was going on but one thing led to another and
of course, everyone knew what was up. They were a couple. The
relationship continued and after awhile people got used to it,
and there were few times anyone mentioned it as time went by.
Just before the dance, Friday night to be exact, Dr Dan tuned
his Zenith in on shortwave and heard the news. It had been
awhile and everyone wanted to know what the situation was down
below.
A man was talking,
“The US declared war on China and Russia, as the Chinese landed
troops on the Baja Peninsula. The expectations of the Chinese
were to come up the West Coast and begin the invasion in
California and later land troops further south and have them
swing north and come through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Russia was landing troops East of Anchorage Alaska on Canadian
soil per their agreement with China. The first Chinese invaders
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were nuked after the third day of troops being unloaded. The
bombs killed upwards of five hundred thousand troops. Mexico
City further south got one as well and the death toll was upward
of three million people. The same scenario befell the Russian
troops and that ended any further invasions. Mexico sued for
peace three days after Mexico City went up in ashes.”
A woman took up where he stopped and said,
“The Middle East was ashes and ruins and was glowing in the dark
and the weather was beginning to turn cold for all the ash
circling the planet in the jet stream. All the oil wells were on
fire in every country where there were wells and no one was
making any attempt to put the fires out. The Germans signed a
cease-fire when they saw what was happening to the Middle East.
China, Russia and the pitiful country of Mexico were on the run.
They wanted no part of it.”
“A submarine, no one knows whom it belonged to, made it to
within ninety miles of the East Coast and launched a series of
missiles from somewhere near Cuba. Thirty minutes later
Jacksonville, Florida, Baltimore, Maryland evaporated along with
Philadelphia, Norfolk and New York City; the Cuba Island was
consequently melted to the water line of the Caribbean and no
longer existed by a Hydrogen Bomb a day later. The North Koreans
were nuked repeatedly over several days and they were reduced to
a Stone Age culture, probably for the next two or three hundred
years. Although China and Russia wanted to end it shortly after
Mexico was bombed, the US nuclear submarines launched all
missiles in their inventory on Russia and China, and both
countries joined North Korea in their manner of living. After
that, what was left of the US demanded, and got an unconditional
surrender?”
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The man began speaking again in an emotionless monotone,
“The US was being overrun by motorcycle gangs, who were in the
process of setting up Feudal Systems in California and Arizona.
There were Gang Member in Southern Florida and they extended
into Western Georgia and Western Virginia doing the same thing.
The mid-west from Chicago down to Mississippi were the only area
more or less functioning but at a reduced rate. Armed patrols of
citizen soldiers were on guard and patrolling all borders that
connected with any state close to those who had in effect broken
off with the USA.“
“Starvations are rampant, crime and looting was unchecked by a
law enforcement that nearly no longer existed due to the War in
parts of the country except for that area between Chicago and
down to Mississippi. People in prisons, old people’s homes, and
mental institution starved to death in their rooms and cells.
All abandoned by those in charge of them. The black population
was being hunted down by certain members of hate groups and was
being executed wherever they were found. Politicians were being
lynched by mobs and the insanity has not stopped. Those
mentioned are being killed in wholesale numbers everywhere.
Mexicans were fleeing for the borders but were being shot on
sight. Those that are making it past the armed hoards are dying
from radiation………….”
Dan clicked the radio off and was stunned into speechlessness.
Everybody in the large room was quiet except for a few of them
who were crying or blowing their noses. Claudia was moaning and
she shook from the convulsions her crying and grief was causing
her. They all had friends and family down there, probably dead
by now. That was the night the realization of what was happening
came home to all of them and it hit them hard. They were
sheltered here at Avalon and not really in acceptance of what
the real world was all about but this night it hit home and they
all felt it deeply and thoroughly to the bone. What was in the
rest of the world was gone to them. This was their world.
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Mike came in
the big room
happening to
he knew what
with Caroline, they were standing at the entry to
and were listening, he stopped, he saw what was
them, and he announced in a booming voice because
they felt and feared,
“What is the matter with you people? Did you think while you
were bringing things up here and preparing all these years and
thinking it was some kind of game? Did you think it would last a
week, maybe a month? This is as serious as it gets people and it
isn’t a game. You struggled, and you saved and you put away and
you did without so you could live. This is our home and they
will come up this mountain and do the same thing to us if we let
down our guard, if we get complacent the way Americans did for
years and look what it cost them, us, our country.”
And his voice rose in volume and the oil lamps fitted to the big
wagon wheels above their heads rattled, and he said,
“This is our home and I’ll be damned if they’ll come here and do
that to me, to us, to our little town! I’ll die first defending
it! God Bless Avalon!”
He raised a clenched fist up over his head and yelled the SEAL
battle cry,
“Hoorahhhhh! Hooorahhhh! Hooorahhhh!”
That night the Australian Cattle Dog Pretty Girl had puppies,
and Mike got drunk and Caroline washed his back again, well
………sorta.
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Chapter Fourteen Avalon
The country in turmoil Avalon at Peace
It was getting colder in the evening and more so in the early
mornings but the radiators in the cabins kept everything cozy.
One of the nice aspects of steam is the fact it doesn’t dry
everything out and you feel better and your breathing is more
relaxed and natural. The harvest was full swing, and Sally
Zeller was harvesting a bumper crop of pumpkins, squash,
potatoes, radishes, cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans
and snap beans, peas, and carrots. They already gathered in the
asparagus, onions, beets, lettuce and tomatoes, and the haying
was done in record time maxing the barn hayloft out, and other
areas were being used to store additional loose alfalfa. The
barn was full of alfalfa and oats. They had a small patch of
barley, hops and malts which were stored in a different shed.
Sam wanted to try making beer, so that was on the agenda for
later once things reached a bit of a lull in activity. They had
grown some hay which was also put away for bedding for the cows.
The trees out in the orchard were bearing fruit in season and
they had plenty of peaches, apples, almonds, walnuts and
apricots. The plum trees were struggling with a mold and it
wasn’t looking good for them. Perry had taken to dusting it with
pure sulfur and it looked like it might be helping. In the
meantime the bees were multiplying and several stories had to be
added to the hives, Perry referred to them as supers. There were
nine four footers in all. Part of the honey was harvested but
Sally felt it might be a good idea to leave about two thirds of
it with the bees to overwinter with; otherwise you have to feed
them sugar water.
The spice garden yielded so many different spices and other
exotic ingredients that only Chad, Linda and Sally knew what
they were all for. The medicinal plants grew as well and some
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tea and coffee but it was debatable so far how they may turn
out. In addition they had stands of corn, wheat, and soybean and
all these homegrown foodstuffs combined with the food they had
laboriously hauled up here over the years which amounted to a
sizeable amount of stores. The group was in no danger whatsoever
of starving. A couple of the women were starting to put on some
weight and it was suspected they were pregnant.
Dennis and Perry built a structure for the silage that was for
the cows. When it was done they built a greenhouse and began
building tables and racks that were filled with rich soil in the
wood bins they built to plant starter plants in. They built and
they designated specific areas divided into zones that could
allow passage between the tables but still have enough room to
work and still use as much of the space as possible. They
installed what they referred to as a potting table complete with
a sink. Several of the windows opened on hinges made from
leather. The watering would have to be by hand for the time
being until someone could come up with a gravity fed devise, Sam
was already talking about it. In one corner they installed a
small coal burning pot belly stove that Sam and Harlan designed
with a metal wall behind it by way of sheet metal scraps they
put together to reflect the heat out into the greenhouse. They
didn’t need the little stove yet but when the strawberries and
tomatoes started to bloom there was sure to be a need because of
the cold winter and it was going to get very cold outside.
The manure pile continued to grow and it constantly had to be
redistributed by taking half of the pile and putting it
somewhere else. The compost pile was maxed out and yielding
methane daily. Someone wanted to move it over by the kitchen and
that got nixed in a hurry by everyone. The coal stoves were
turning out to be working great.
Occasionally a calf or a pig would get butchered, but they were
conservative, all of the animals were multiplying nicely and
there was plenty of meat for the table these days. They had
chicken, eggs, pork, bear, calf and cow beef, mutton and
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occasionally someone would bag a deer but that was rare. They
also had rabbit from the small coupe they kept behind the barn.
Rabbits multiply very fast and there was always rabbit stew or
rabbit gravy.
Dan suggested that they only listen to the world news once a
week because it was taking people down on a morale level for a
day or two after, and the news was more or less bad every time
they listened to it. That area between Chicago in the North and
Biloxi in the South was managing to keep its head above water
but no one was making any effort to rock the boat either.
Anytime any raids happened in this territory, hundreds of
citizens rushed to the scene and killed every perpetrator that
could be found. There were no exceptions, the battle cry became,
“If you come in here for any reason, you die.”
Nationalism was getting a new life and people began praying and
asking for not only help but for forgiveness, and slowly things
seemed to be turning around until it happened.
It started in Europe as best as anyone can tell and spread like
a forest fire jumping oceans in quick succession. The plague,
mankind’s unmerciful killer swept through the human population
and killed people everywhere as it was incubated. It sprang to
life and after killing its host died with its own victim but not
before infecting scores of other people. In the first month a
hundred million died in Europe, and crossing the Dardanelle
Straights into Asia, another hundred million perished in bone
wracking misery. Skeletons were everywhere, but it didn’t stop
there, it swept through what was left of China and Russia, and
then it stopped. Not a single continent was spared the wrath of
the wholesale death which left a scar on humankind. Later it
would go down in the journals of history as written by the
survivors for hundreds of years thereafter, as the “Big Sorrow.”
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Bodies floated in the waterways and they stacked up in small
towns and villages. Abandoned houses and vehicles were left to
rot or rust where they stopped the last time. The buildings in
the large cities became ghost towns and not many brave souls
ventured into them. As the years passed weeds and trees grew up
and began to reclaim its lost territory. Forest fires burned
themselves out leaving nothing more than blackened stumps in
fields resembling a lonely and abandoned battlefield. People
wandered the land like nomads arming themselves with whatever
they could find to protect themselves from the wild beast, once
domesticated dogs and zoo animals out and roaming like
themselves the pitiful creatures that were barely humans.
Things changed in society and it happened almost overnight.
Slavery came back into being, for one, and women were reduced to
either sex slaves or they were used to do the dirty work the new
lords required them to do. There were many dirty jobs that
needed to be done. There was never a mention of equality, or
equal anything, a sharp tone from the mouth of a woman usually
meant a severe beating or mutilation. Some blacks were able to
escape death and they were caught and enslaved as well. Most of
the Mexicans were killed either by the radiation or they starved
to death, or they were murdered where they were found. Some of
them were enslaved as well. The slave trade became a brisk
industry once again in the world where life was considerably
left less than untouched everywhere.
Caroline was pregnant, and so was Dayna. There was snow on the
ground and the big fireplaces in the main building burned most
of the time and so did the various coal stoves situated here and
there. Mike and Caroline moved into one of the bigger cabins
abandoning their smaller cabins numbers seven and eight. The
entire community was continuing to train for each season brought
on different sets of circumstances. The sentries wore white made
from old sheets over their winter clothing. The ash dumping was
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spread over the various sidewalks and then out toward the road
and most of the animals were in the barn. Two colts had been
born to the saddle horses and one mare colt from the draft
horses. Christmas was fast approaching Avalon and everybody was
involved in making presents for everyone else.
Mike brought home a tree that Caroline made him go out and chop
down and drag back to their cabin. Sam went with him and got one
for Crystal. She was visiting Sam’s cabin quite a bit lately.
The big dance and Potluck was going to be the biggest party of
the group since they began stocking it nearly seven years ago.
It was all that anyone talked about and feelings ran in high
gear. With this mood of happiness and togetherness they all felt
for each other and for their community, each flip of the button
on the shortwave radio again brought the news and it was always
bad out there in the rest of the world. Crystal said it best, by
summing it up in a single word,
“Bummer.”
This night the radio was tuned in on shortwave and a man was
describing a savage attack by one of the Feudal Gangs in
Southern California.
“Apparently,”
He began,
“A sweep was made outside of Fresno by the gang members to
gather children and women for trade, to sell and to replenish
the stock of fresh women and to sell the older ones the gang
members had tired of and something went wrong. Tragically all
the children and women were slaughtered. The rumors are that the
gang members gathered the dead children up and took them back to
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their camp and they were cooked and then eaten. It is difficult
to confirm these things but it seems that eye witnesses have
verified the truth of this story.”
Once again there was mass silence in the big room, but Sam
yelled out breaking the eeriness everyone felt and grabbed
Bobby, Sally’s twelve year old, He spun him around and said
“I’m gonna show you a trick. Are you ready?”
Bobby nodded his head and Sam stuck out his hand and said to
Bobby,
“Pull my finger.”
Everyone ran for the big double doors laughing and squealing.
Chapter Fifteen Avalon
Occasionally we need a little help
Avalon at Peace
Some of the group members were beginning to suffer from boredom
and cabin fever. The snow was light but it was cold outside and
it was far better to sit over at the library, in one of the
cabins or in the great lounge of the main building where it was
warm. Some people did not exercises’ and other than some of them
having to stand the guard duty there was less to do from day to
day. Of course the chores had to be done and everyone chipped
in, but there was that feeling of nothing to do. Boredom was
leading to crankiness, and that led to arguments. Occasionally
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the meanness of the moment carried over into the next day and it
was beginning to make enemies. Mike called a meeting and except
those on guard duty, everyone attended after supper and the
cleanup.
Most meetings, were usually done in the restaurant of the main
building because there were tables and enough chairs to
accommodate everyone for such occasions. The small talk was
buzzing. Everyone was wondering what it was all about.
“He looks pissed Caroline.”
Susan said to her leaning over across and between another table.
Crystal also asked by saying,
“What’s going on?”
Caroline replied to them with a look of mystery on her face,
“We’re all in for a classroom study in behavior.”
Crystal smiled but it was with a look of not understanding what
she heard. Perhaps curiosity was a better description of the
look on her face.
Mike was standing at the front of the tables his back to the
stage, he said finally,
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“Quitcherbellyakin.”
Most of them didn’t get it because it was delivered quickly, and
most of them weren’t really paying attention to him.
“What was that?”
It was Penny and Crystal, and they said it at the same time.
They both laughed. They had their arms up in the air trying to
be noticed. There were others waving an arm. Mike just glared at
them. He appeared stern and annoyed. He began to talk when the
mumbling and moving around stopped and it was quiet. He began to
pace back and forth and had a hand to his chin as if he was in
deep thought about something important. He stopped and turned to
face them. He said in a voice they could all hear well.
“How many of you are happy being here and not down below? Let’s
see your hands.”
The hands went up to the last person. He stared at them again.
“Okay. So you think you’re happy, that’s a start, but I think
some of you are lying to me. There is a lot of petty dissention
going on and we need to nip it in the bud and that is the
purpose of this meeting. We cannot continue under duress from
within because Greg didn’t get laid or Linda is having her
period. Your husbands will put up with that crap, but I won’t
and I’m telling you that here and now.”
It was quiet. Someone coughed, and a chair scraped the floor,
but no one talked. Mike continued by saying in a more benevolent
tone of voice,
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“Now, let’s hear the reasons, for the strife,”
He pointed at Crystal,
“You first.”
It caught her completely off guard and her face flushed at being
singled out. Her mouth opened but there were no words.
In a meek but firm manner, her voice wavering a bit but her
explanation was uttered when she said,
“I’m not getting enough exercise and I’ve been getting a little
bored but it’s so damn cold out there who wants to be out there
freezing your butt off?”
Mike said,
“How come you aren’t exercising in your cabin? Do you not have
adequate room?”
She replied,
“I can’t get motivated to do it, it’s so boring. I guess I don’t
have the will power to stay with it once I start, and one thing
leads to another, and I get pissed at small stuff.”
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Ginger spoke up and offered her opinion,
“I think that’s it in a nutshell, we just can’t get motivated
and stay that way because it is boring to tears. Sure, we’re
safe up here, but there isn’t anything to keep us entertained
either. No TV, no movies, you know …………?”
Most of the women and some of the men spoke up and the consensus
was boredom and the enclosed atmosphere the winter months
presented them was getting everyone down, and it wasn’t
something they were able to overcome. So Mike offered his
solution by saying,
“Here take these, I wrote it many years ago for some students of
mine who were having a similar problem, and what I am giving you
applies to any situation. It isn’t laid out for menstrual pains,
or for the lack of exercising, it is a way for you to control
your inner most switches. Study, practice, learn, and tomorrow
we will organize a workout program for the males and one for the
females. ”
Caroline passed out handwritten sheets of paper to each one of
them. He began to recite what was written on the sheets and this
is what he said;
“At times we need a little help to develop the discipline and
the stick-to-it that is necessary to get things done. Sometimes
we face little things which are difficult to accomplish, and
working it to a conclusion can be tough. If you are the sort of
person that needs that little something extra, the following
system will help. I have taught it to many people and they have
been able to persevere when all else failed them by using the
simple method outlined below.”
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“This is a method to train yourself. If you are sincere about
what you want to know or get done, it can be as simple as
strengthening your personal resolve, just do the following every
night and keep practicing. The more you do it the easier it will
get. It is simply a matter of just doing it repeatedly until it
connects. It may take some follow through but it will come if
you keep at it. This system can be used to slow down your heart
rate, and to diminish pain among other things. It works once you
master it. People have undergone surgery without anesthetic by
doing what is on these sheets of paper.”
“This is how it works and why it works.”
“You and I are two beings in one body. One is the sub-conscious
and the other is your conscious levels. When we are awake it is
the conscious level we are working in. Asleep it is the subconscious level. It is difficult for the conscious level to
communicate with the sub-conscious level without getting into a
relaxed but aware situation first.”
We are able to connect to our inner being or the sub-conscious
by simply talking to ourselves once we are relaxed and
comfortable. To do that and to connect, you have to be in a
frame of mind where the sub-conscious and the conscious are
connected and only then will the sub-conscious get the message.
It works best when you are comfortable, relaxed and are in an
atmosphere that is calm and quiet. When possible, it is best to
achieve this just as you are preparing to go to sleep. Make
yourself comfortable and begin the process of relaxing. Clear
your mind by telling yourself this is what you are going to do.
Be specific when you tell yourself what it is that you want your
sub-conscious to do. Never make any statement like---
“One of these days I’m going to do ……”
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“Your sub-conscious is lazy and it will answer you in the way it
performs something along these lines,”
“Oh great, you don’t really want me to do anything so I won’t do
anything at all.”
“It’s as simple as that. You have to be specific as to what you
expect the sub-conscious to do, and it will start working on
specific problems right away. If you’re nebulous about what it
is you want it to do, it will not begin working on it at once.”
“You are in control of the mind, and your mind or your thoughts
are the messenger to the brain. Think in terms of the thought
process as the “keyboard” and the mind as the “send button” to
the computer hard drive which is the final control or your brain
in effect. Make the connection by simply telling yourself this
is what you want to do. Part of what you are going to do is to
send commands to your inner self via the outer self or the
conscious level.”
“Once you are comfortable, lie down, make sure your clothes are
loose, block out noise by closing the door and darkening the
area where you are or do it late at night. Tell your conscious
level that you will relax and you will release all the stress of
the day as you count backward from ten to one. First, take five
big deep breaths and hold them to the count of ten and exhale
long and drawn out, and empty your lungs completely. The
conversation you do with your mind to yourself, your conscious
self talking to your sub-conscious self could be along the
following script:”
“Ten-
I am very comfortable and I will block out all
distractions but be alert to any emergency or danger that might
develop. I feel good and very comfortable.”
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“Nine-
All the stress and worry is going to ease out of my body
and as I inhale I will feel more comfortable and each breath I
exhale will take the stress and worry out and away from my body
as my breath leaves it. I feel good and I am very comfortable.”
“Eight-
As I count down to the last number I am getting so
comfortable, more comfortable than I have ever felt before. My
breathing is helping me reach this level of comfort and total
relaxation. Noises and distractions are blocked from distracting
me.”
“As I exhale the worry is going away and the stress is
disappearing. I feel comfortable, I feel very relaxed.”
“I feel I’m getting lighter as the stress and worry leaves my
body.”
“I feel good and I’m in control of myself. I can accomplish
whatever I tell myself to do. I am very comfortable and I am
content with how I feel.”
“Each and every breath will make me more comfortable and it will
remove the worry and stress from my body. I feel good.”
“Seven-
I have no stress and I have no worry, it is all
insignificant and I know it will not help me to worry about
anything and worrying won’t solve a thing. The worry is escaping
from me with my breathing. My breathing is setting a good and
easy rhythm and I feel good. I am comfortable and I feel good.
On the next number, I will give myself a set of instructions for
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my sub-conscious to take care of for me. These are easy
instructions and as soon as my sub-conscious receives them, it
will begin to find a solution to these directions.”
“I feel good and I am relaxed and comfortable, more relaxed and
comfortable than I have ever been before. I am breathing deeper
and deeper and each breath takes me deeper into a very
comfortable state of being.”
“Six-
I’m very comfortable, I feel good and I am very relaxed.
In the next forty-eight hours I will (put in something important
here that is something you have always wanted to do, i.e. quit
smoking or stop biting your nails). It could be something like
this;”
“I will start buying and putting away my survival stores in
small increments beginning tomorrow, and I will continue doing
that until I have put everything I will need in a future
survival situation away. The money will be there, as I need it.
I believe it.”
Or:
“I will be energized by a workout program. I will not be bored
any longer instead I look forward to the next work out. I am
getting healthier and I am getting better because of it.”
“I feel good and I am comfortable. I am not worried about
anything.”
“Five-
As I count down I will concentrate on my conscious being
talking to my sub-conscious, and the sub-conscious will
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understand and the sub-conscious part of the mind is finding the
solutions to what I ask of it to do as I speak to it. I feel
good and I am comfortable. As I count backward and I slip into a
very relaxing state I am aware of everything around me, I am not
worried about anything and I know I can do anything. I feel good
and I am comfortable.”
“Four-
Tomorrow morning I will understand ways to get the money
for the things I need for my Survival Program, or- (my exercise
program). I will get out of debt permanently and will turn my
life around and I will stay that way, (I am getting healthier
and I have more energy because I am exercising regularly). I
feel good, I am comfortable, and I am relaxed.”
“Three-My
conscious level is talking to my sub-conscious level
and they both understand what each wants and needs. Tomorrow I
will turn my life around both financially, and regarding my
Survival Program and my life in general. My sub-conscious level
will begin immediately to find a solution, (in this segment is
where you will want to set a time limit that is reasonable,
perhaps ten days from today, and don’t suggest stupid things for
instance; I’m going to win the Lotto, or something like that. It
has to be reasonable, direct to the point and given in a
distinct manner and as positive as you can be about it). My subconscious is already working on finding a solution of the
problem. It understands my needs. I am comfortable. I feel
relaxed.”
“Two-I
feel I am in a very deep, comfortable, and relaxing
state. I feel good and I am relaxed. My sub-conscious is working
on my problem for a solution and it will have an answer for me
in ten days or less beginning as soon as I wake up in the
morning but it is working on the solution now, and will continue
working on the problem until the solution is reached. I feel
confident my sub-conscious is finding the solution I seek. I am
comfortable and I am relaxed.”
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“One-I
am completely relaxed, and comfortable and I know my
sub-conscious is working on the solution to my financial problem
and I am confident that in ten days from tomorrow or less I will
have the answer to my lack of money and how to fix the problem.
My Survival Preparedness will begin with new energy and as the
source of money is found in ten days or less the survival
program will proceed with renewed energy. I am completely
relaxed and comfortable. As I count to three I will come out of
this state of total relaxation and I will feel better than I
have felt in a long time. Or, you can choose to go to sleep at
this point.”
“One-I feel good and I am waking up with renewed energy.”
“Two-I am waking up and I feel good and totally energized.”
“Three- I am awake and I feel great and completely confident
and energized and I feel that my burdens have been lifted. Feel
well rested and have lots of energy.”
“Please remember, Very Important- If you want something you
can channel your thoughts to make it happen. A very central
factor to always remember is, once the sub-conscious does go to
work and finds the solutions you seek to your problems, you must
reward yourself by getting something special for yourself. It
doesn’t have to be anything expensive, just something you have
wanted for a long time. Once you get it the sub-conscious will
react by doing something like……….”
“WOW! If he/she will get this for only having done that, what
will he/she get me for something better or more difficult?”
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“Never ask your sub-conscious to work on any problem that is
nebulous or totally out of the question. It has to be possible,
realistic, and you must give it a time frame within which you
want it done. Other than that, it will work to stop smoking,
drinking, biting your finger nails, lose weight, exercise more,
improve your memory, and the list is endless.”
“Always start your morning just as you wake up with these words
and your life will change for the better, guaranteed, you have
my word on it.”
“Each and every day in every way I am getting
better and better.”
The group was excused and several people stood around talking
and some of them hugged each other. There were many apologies
given and accepted. The next day the classes started, and things
went back to normal at Avalon, and everyone seemed happier and
upbeat than just before the talk. It was snowing again, and Sam
was busy spreading ashes on the walkways between the cabins and
the main entry.
The puppies grew and as Christmas fast approached Caroline knew
what she was going to have under their tree. She counted seven
puppies, and the other bitch was going to whelp in another week.
They decided months ago they wanted Australian Cattle Dogs for
the Retreat. With the sheep, cattle and horses to round up it
was a perfect job for the dogs. The Cattle dogs were smart, and
had boundless energy. They were loyal to a fault. There were two
males from different bloodlines and originally three females
also from separate families.
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Sam and Roger decided to get the still for the beer started and
misjudged, nobody knows for sure what went wrong but it blew up
sending mash and goo everywhere. Not one for failure Sam said,
“Well Partner, I guess we have to start all over. Man am I
looking forward to some homebrew!”
Roger replied,
“I was
good a
manure
so dry
thinking about it the other day, and thinking just how
brew would go down at the moment. We were shoveling cow
out of the barn and I got mighty thirsty and dry. In fact
I started fartin’ dust.”
He laughed and so did Sam. That homebrew was going to be mighty
tasty alright if they could find out what went wrong with that
first batch.
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Chapter Sixteen Avalon
Setting up the silent sentinels at Avalon
Once in awhile we run into people who we immediately like and
some of the times those people become lifelong friends. It was
like that between Doctor Dan and Mike Reynolds. They were both
preparing to pay their tabs at a restaurant where they just
finished a superb meal where almost anything you can pick and
choose from buffet style was served. The assortment as you go
down a long line of steam tables is particularly laid out for
big eaters, and there is usually something for everyone. Mike
frequented this particular eatery often and as it turned out so
did Doctor Dan Croft. It is a bachelor’s gourmet delight. The
cooking was very nearly like Mom used to prepare. Mike knew the
owners on a friendly but casual basis and he liked and respected
them both. As Mike and Dan waited in line to pay the cashier
that afternoon two young hoods muscled their way up to the front
where the cash register was and in a flash the guns came out
from under their coats.
Mike’s instincts kicked in and in a flash his arm lashed out and
chopped the throat of one of them and he fell to the floor
gurgling and grabbing at his esophagus rendering him unable to
breathe. Doctor Dan went down on a knee and began tending to the
injured man. From hundreds of hours of split second responses
such as this one the young doctor didn’t have to think about it,
he just did. Mike grabbed the other one in a wrist lock and
shoved the shotgun up toward the ceiling with his other hand and
grabbed his wrist. He came back on the wristhe heard it snap,
the crook let out a scream that could be heard outside the
restaurant. Mike reached over and grabbed a handful of hair with
one hand and the man’s crotch with the other and he squeezed
hard. This was the bad guy’s initiation to the “Hearts and mind
technique” of street fighting. That is, wherever your balls go
your heart and mind will follow close behind. The miscreant went
out the main door of the restaurant guided by Mike in a quick
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walk and was bent over at the waist as he exited out onto the
sidewalk. Once outside Mike began to royally beat the crap out
of the worm.
The young robber was crying like a baby and begging Mike to
stop, but Mike wanted to give the punk an attitude adjustment
that he would reflect on for a long time. He grabbed handfuls of
the guy’s skin and twisted his wrist about a hundred twenty
degrees in one vicious pinch after another. He stomped his
instep and all of the little bones in the foot were smashed into
jelly. He grabbed the other wrist and bent it backward until the
tendons stretched and became useless. Just as he was getting
ready to poke both eyes out with a knife thrust with his
stiffened fingers, Doctor Dan stepped up to him, reached out and
grasped his arm and asked him to stop.
This man’s voice was calm and it caught Mike off guard. Mike
looked at this man for a moment and for whatever reason,he did
not know why, he stopped and let go of the miserable little
scumbag. The young “bad ass” collapsed to the sidewalk and that
was when Mike reached over and pulled his nose ring out and it
ripped away from the meat leaving a nostril bleeding and a flap
of ragged skin dangling on the end of his nose. The entire
incident lasted a minute and a half at most. It was just one
more little thing to do and he was done.
There were sirens down the street and they were heading their
way. Doctor Dan, said again speaking in that calm voice,
“I’ve got the other guy breathing through a piece of a ball
point pen housing I inserted in a hole in his esophagus, and I’m
going to have to do something for this one. If you don’t mind
moving aside he’s in shock and he may die. They both need to get
to a hospital. Where’d you learn to fight like that?”
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Mike gave him a grin and said casually,
“I’ll be over in the park across the street, when you’re done
with these pieces of crap, we’ll talk then.”
Mike
work
came
away
turned and walked over to the park and Doctor Dan went to
on the moaning and pleading man on the sidewalk. The owner
out and Dan asked him to bring him some ice. The man turned
and went back inside but didn’t return.
The police showed up and in a few minutes so did an ambulance
and they put the two bad guys in the emergency vehicle and in a
few minutes away it went with an ear piercing wail en-route to
the hospital. Dan came across the street and Mike was sitting on
a bench watching him walk his way. The doctor sat down and
placed the little bag he was carrying next to his feet. He
turned to face Mike who was sitting on the edge of the bench
with his legs and feet stretched out in front of him rather
indifferently.
“They wanted to know who it was that did that to those two.”
“What did you tell them?”
“I just said just some customer who was standing in line waiting
to pay his bill like the rest of us when those two came barging
in. When he was done with them he left the scene.”
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“Sounds like to me you told them the truth.”
Dan looked at this man with a sense of awe and admiration for
what he just saw him do to those two, and how quick he laid them
out and rendered them a couple of piles of squirming, begging
and whimpering lumps of mutilated flesh. He was also a little
afraid. This guy was dangerous.
“I’ve never seen anyone fight like that. It was amazing and you
had them both down so quick I could hardly believe it. You also
pretty much ruined them; they’ll never be the same. The one
outside will have to go through intensive therapy to learn how
to walk again, the very least that will happen is a series of
intense and complicated orthopedic surgeries to mend his wrists
and foot and the other fellow with the crushed windpipe may not
live. It’s certain he will need reconstructive surgery at best
and there again intensive physical therapy just to be able to
talk when it’s all done.”
He stared at Mike and Mike was just staring off into the
nothingness that was the other side of the street past the park.
Dan waited and then Mike spoke slowly and calmly.
“I hate people who prey on others. They opened the door to what
just happened to them the day they made the decision to take up
guns and steal from people. I don’t care if they live or die. I
intensely dislike anyone who threatens innocent people with guns
whether they intend to use them or not. I especially hate to
resort to any heavy exercise just after a good meal. To answer
your question, I was in the Navy for eight years and I learned a
thing or two about self defense while I was in and serving. My
name is Mike Reynolds.”
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He stuck out his hand and Dan took it in a warm shake. It was
firm and belied great strength. Dan said,
“Please to make your acquaintance Mister Reynolds, my name is
Dan Croft. I am a Medical Doctor and if there is anything I can
ever do for you let me know.”
He took out a card and handed it to Mike. Mike took one of his
own out and gave it too Dan. It said, Mike Reynolds, Deputy
Sheriff with a phone number and a beeper number on it. He said,
You never know Doc’ I may be able to do something for you some
day.
Dan looked at him for a moment and said,
“You just did. You may well have saved my life.”
In a few days they met again and started riding together. The
Survival topic didn’t come up for awhile but they shared a love
of dirt biking off the beaten path and camping out. One day, Dan
asked him what he thought about the situation with the US, the
economy and the constant wars America was getting involved in
and Mike was honest about his answer when he replied,
“Dan, just between you and me and the fencepost we are in for
some serious happenings down the road and I think it’s going to
get ugly. I’ve been thinking lately about finding a piece of
land, something out and away toward the mountains to make myself
a retreat. Maybe a place to stock up with some food, guns, and
ammo and build a bunker to hole up in if the proverbial top
blows off the powder keg.”
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Dan said, I can attest to the fact you sure know how to handle
yourself, in a fight, you never did tell me where it was that
you learned how to fight like that.”
Mike smiled and said,
“If I tell you I’ll have to kill you later. Hooraaah!”
He was laughing. The outburst startled the Doctor and he
flinched.
In the weeks that followed they both stayed busy with their jobs
and Dan began his Residency at the County Hospital. Not long
after that Mike took the job at the Defensive Training School
and was appointed managing Director of the Curriculum. Four
months later they were riding in new territory and they found
Avalon and formed a partnership that endured.
It appeared to be an assumed deal as to whether they were going
to be grouped up together right from the start. Both men trusted
the other implicitly. They also had tremendous respect for each
other. As the search began for partners in the retreat, they
began hauling goodies up to Avalon. They were always cautious
about ensuring no one followed, and there were small indicators
that Mike set up right from the start to see if anyone came up
there while they were gone. He placed small threads that could
be broken by someone walking or riding their route. When they
came back he would stop to look and sometimes some of them were
broken but it was invariably done by an animal. At times there
were tracks at or near the spot. Where a person would walk was
never broken in a continuous line which would have been a strong
indicator Avalon was visited by someone other than them. There
were no footprints either and Mike showed the doctor how to look
and to find the small details that would tell on the intruder.
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The first member accepted into the group was Bobby Larson. He
was not a degreed Civil Engineer but was as competent as any
might be. He worked on large construction projects from the time
he left High School. Dams, roads, bridges, and parking lots were
some of his accomplishments. At first he “drove a shovel” as he
referred to it, and he meant that he worked with a pick and
shovel. Then he started driving a backhoe, and later a
bulldozer. He eventually began as a surveyor’s helper, and took
some classes at a community college in the evenings. A few
intense math classes later and he did the surveying with a small
crew of his own.
As the years progressed he kept moving up and doing what he
needed to do becoming a valuable addition to any construction
crew he worked with. Mike and Dan met him at a competitive
shooting meet one weekend and they talked. One thing led to
another, and Mike checked him out. In a few months he was
invited to go riding with them and also to camp out. In a short
time when Mike gathered what he needed about the man he was
invited to go with them to Avalon. He was overcome with
amazement as was everyone’s reaction who first saw the ranch.
They camped there and Bobby was offered a cabin with a
membership and he accepted. The going price initially and it
remained the same always until the last member was brought in,
was $50,000 per person. A short time later they signed the
articles in front of witnesses, and Bobby was officially a
member. Additionally one was asked to contribute a hundred
dollars a month thereafter for the many expenses that were ongoing at the retreat. It needed a lot of work back then.
Bobby was married once when he was a young man but it didn’t
last and never remarried but had a girlfriend he was very close
to. After he joined the Avalon group she split with him telling
him that he and that group were a bunch of whackos and probably
homosexuals too since it was only guys. Bobby was down about it
for awhile but got over it.
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Out in the surrounding woods on all sides of the retreat where
there were bare spots in the forest, anyplace that would allow a
motorcycle and rider to get through unhampered, Mike and Dan
strung piano wire at throat high when sitting on a standard dirt
bike. On either side of most of these they began mapping out
booby traps and setting them up. They kept both a state and
Geodesic map and plotted their positions down with GPS readings.
Each trap was flagged on the map and they had a code for what
each one was. PS was pungi stakes. P designated pit filled with
impaling poles. DF meant dead fall and so forth. None of the
traps were active in that there were covers over the foot holes
where the pungi stakes were, the large tiger pits were also
covered over and none of the snares and whips were loaded with
triggers. There were two main reasons for this. First, if a
hunter or some other such person was up in the woods and was
impaled by a spiked trap an investigation would ensue. They
didn’t need that. Second, there was no reason to have them
active until the rocket was launched. They were built, mapped
and could be set in a few of days when the need was necessary.
There were a lot of them.
Looking down at Avalon from the air it was laid out and looked
like an irregular and large cross. The top was the large meadow
area and it was surrounded by trees and mountains. From tree
line to tree line the upper meadow was about two miles wide by
about four miles long. Coming back from the meadow toward the
main building and the cabins out in front of them it jutted out
at a ninety degree angle left and right and that was an open
area of about eight thousand feet long by about a mile wide. The
bottom post of the cross was the long road that traveled through
the fir trees to the abandoned railhead. It was nearly as
straight as an arrow and a hundred fifty feet wide. All
throughout those areas left and right, up above, and down below
in the thick trees were booby trapped with some mechanism that
would incapacitate the bad guys. It took months to get them
ready and now that the breakdown of society and civilization had
come about, all the traps and man killers were set by Roger,
Mike and Sam. Later as they were working on them Harlan Herrera
helped plant and or build them.
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There was a plan in place to take down eight tall firs to fall
across the road out toward the old rail bed. They were ringed
with Det Cord and had shaped charges in a notch specifically cut
for the TNT and fastened in place. The shaped charges were made
from old champagne bottles bottoms with a concave area in them.
Those hollows were filled with a homemade TNT, rigged with a
detonator and would be fired by the motorcycle battery kept in
the hidden bunker. Once ignited explosions would bring the trees
down blocking the road to any vehicles except motorcycles that
might get around them or, one could walk through and over, but
it would be easier to go around the blocked road sidestepping
the big trees and or come in by horseback.
Either way, if you had to move off the road either right or left
it was heavily booby trapped with all sorts of niceties that
would either take off a foot because some of them were old
fashioned bear traps, smaller traps as well, some were a devise
that would sit down in a hole and when a foot and leg came down
on them it was hinged so that it collapsed down into the hole
where spikes were waiting for the foot, and the force of the
foot going down closed the two sides on either side of the legs
with a jaw like apparatus imbedding the twenty penny nails into
a leg. Getting it off would take some doing because they were
all staked to the ground and had short cables attached to them.
The road in and out was very convenient and they waited to close
it if at all. It made the access to the retreat and its members
very convenient, but block it they would if the need arose. The
first defense was the hidden bunker by the road near the sand
traps. That was where the sentries would in all probability get
it first but the thought was, they would at least warn the
others before they fell.
The large meadow in front of the main building was a bit of a
problem. As in the road coming in to the retreat, they were
reluctant to take the trees down or to actually close the road.
The meadow was long and wide enough to allow a good sized plane
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in and land. Finally after much discussion they decided to mine
it with homemade anti-personnel mines and that took a long time
to do. The trouble with doing it was it left it out in terms of
pasture for the animals later. Everything was a compromise. The
mines composed of 12 gauge shotgun shells mounted on a cardboard
tube the charge or shot side pointing up. When someone stepped
on it, it would be driven down into a small piece of wood as the
cardboard support collapsed that had a roofing tack sticking up
so the shell casing came down hitting the primer on the nail.
Boom, no foot. They were very simple and easy to make. Without a
foot a combatant was no longer a threat. They had lots of them
out there in the field all marked on a map and plotted by GPS
bearings. One day a calf wandered out there and was injured so
into the stew pot he went.
Down the rail bed about a mile and a half another trap was set
above it. A number of large boulders were rolled in to place and
they were set above the rail bed at a downhill slant. Once
activated, they could be rolled toward the old track bed through
the force of gravity. Braced by a log wall that could be
triggered to fall by releasing the trigger the boulders would
come tumbling down in a large and destructive mass on top of
anything coming such as a tank or anything else. Another mile
farther down was another one of these set and ready to fall. The
danger with using one or more was that the rail bed could be
taken off the side of the mountain in a worse case situation but
that was unlikely, but if nothing else, block access with some
very large rocks that would take some effort to move thereby
making it difficult for all of them to come and go as they
pleased later. These were “last resort tactics.”
They made sure they had backups for backups. Water was flowing
in several areas, not just one. Food was distributed out and
away from other food storages not in just one place. Walking out
and behind the main building if you walked a hundred yards and
turned exactly thirty degrees on a compass course and then
walked a half mile straight ahead, you would come to an old
cemetery tucked back in the woods. It was there Eli and his son
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and wife were buried and a few other unknown souls due to the
weathering of the old wood markers which rendered them
unreadable. A large marble tombstone marked the somewhat
ostentatious grave of Slim Rankin. Off to the right of that
another fifteen hundred feet was the original homestead that Eli
built. It sat there in silence keeping the dead company. A
couple of the group decided to draw straws for the old place and
Chad and Linda won it and changed their minds later and gave it
to Sam and Crystal who took it with great relish. They began the
clean up and remodel right away when they were not busy with
their regular jobs. One of the things that kept Sam and a few
others busy was a modification to the ash wagon.
The manure piles were growing bigger every day and the intent
was to use it out on the various fields as a natural fertilizer.
They had to come up with a way to get it out there, that was
what the wagon would be used for, and then they had to come up
with a plan of how they were they going to distribute it evenly
once it was out there? Nobody was looking forward to doing it by
hand. Perry came up with the answer.
They designed a series of tines bolted onto two angle iron
pieces which were also bolted together and that fitted into the
wagon bed full width from one side to the other. They made four
of them and then connected them to a geared mechanism below the
wagon and made it fast between the axel. As the wagon moved
forward drawn by the draft horses or the old tractor, the fixed
gears moved turning the shafts above and the four shafts rotated
inside the wagon bed. With a load of fertilizer on the wagon,
the lever that switched it off by pushing on the engaging
handle, this action mechanically allowed the mechanism to idle
in place, however, once engaged they rotated and threw the
manure high into the air thereby distributing it in a wide area
and evenly. This would allow them to transport a wagonload out
to the field before engaging the devise.
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They built side rails from an old dilapidated shed that was out
behind the barn and a good sized load would cover a couple of
acres at the very least each time it was used. The whole
assembly could be taken off when not needed and the flat bed
wagon could be used for hauling just about anything from a load
of lumber to a wagon full of food or alfalfa, whatever was being
worked on at the time. When the wagon wasn’t being worked on or
iron parts were being fabricated in the blacksmith shop, Sam and
Crystal were working on their home.
On a daily basis everyone had more than enough to do in terms of
manual labor. Except for the weekends and even on those days
someone was doing something. If it wasn’t preparing food to be
cooked, cooking or baking, cleaning up, sweeping and dusting,
mending something, or invariably someone was standing a watch.
There were cows to be milked twice a day and someone had to feed
and water all the animals. The sentry standing was an important
duty and everyone except a very few stood the watch. The Chefs
didn’t have tothey cooked about twelve hours every day. Doctor
Dan didn’t. Mike didn’t. Perry and Sally didn’t. Dennis and
Charlene Post didn’t either. The rest of the members did.
The children worked as well but on a lesser level than the
adults. Some of the women were pregnant and their workload was
reduced appropriately. Doctor Dan was staying busy and so was
Mike as he patrolled the woods checking on any signs of activity
or intruders. He was doing it more or less on a daily basis and
was doing it by horseback. The motorcycles were relegated to
quick runs as in changing the watch out by the end of the road
in the bunker. Although they had enough gas in their stockpile,
there was always the backup of the ethanol for combustible
engines. Every other weekend a training period was ongoing. Mike
wanted them to be sharp if need be.
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They exercised, they ran obstacle courses, shooting, and the
hand to hand combat classes always had a new twist to it. If it
wasn’t about how to take out a sentry there was knife fighting
and vital spots was pointed out for killing an enemy that made
Doctor Dan cringe. One of those techniques was sneaking up
behind an enemy combatant and shoving the blade down into the
body by way of the shoulder area next to the neck. You held on
to the victim with a head lock and moved the blade back and
forth severing the Axillary Artery which runs down the arm. This
allows you to take out a sentry without making a big mess. The
bad guy bleeds out internally thereby keeping your work area
clean. They were shown with pictures of where this main artery
was situated by looking at a diagram in the Gray’s Anatomy. They
also used The Merck Manual for references all the time. Dayna
was an excellent artist and she made a few posters from paper
grocery bags they stored away. In addition there was practice in
every regard for patrolling, tracking, moving a group, commands,
and shooting exercises.
They had a training area that teamed groups working together in
pairs and fours. The challenges were taken from the Nazi
training exercises of World War Two era wherein a team would
come to a hole that was dug in the ground that was wide and long
(it represented what could be a crevasse or a ditch). The idea
was to take a board that was there at the obstacle one wanted to
cross, and how it was accomplished? The board was shorter than
the area you needed to cross. The group had a time limit and had
to figure out how to get across the obstacle using the board and
their imagination.
They had classes on getting across a fast moving body of water
as a group and as an individual. One class was on building
Monkey Bridges and another on a three rope bridge. There was an
area out by the track bed that was used for rappelling
fundamentals and rock climbing. In another class they trained in
the art of camouflaging both themselves and their equipment. All
in all, the entire group stayed busy.
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Mike was making the effort to get them ready for war and to
protect not only their retreat but each other. The most
important element he taught them was teamwork.
Dan, Roger and Caroline taught classes on Emergency war surgery
and emergency medicine. They showed the group how to set up an
I.V. and to control the drip sequences. Everyone learned how to
sew up wounds and on the larger ones how to and why to leave a
small “Irish Pennant” referred by some as a drip to allow the
wound to drip a little and heal from the inside out such as
penetrating wounds such as those from a gunshot. Broken bone
mending was emphasized and more importantly they were taught the
stopping of blood flow or dealing with a severed artery. It was
emphasized in no uncertain terms that when and if you had to
apply a tourniquet, it was the first step in the amputation of
that limb. However, it is better to lose a limb than to die from
bleeding out. To truly bleed out can be done in as little as
three minutes. When heavy bleeding occurs after a couple of
minutes the pressure to hold the veins open is reduced and when
the veins collapse they stick together like two pieces of tape,
and you are not able to get anything in there once that happens.
The information flowed and the time passed at Avalon, and the
people got smarter by the day, and they thrived in the small but
comfortable homes they put together or built for themselves.
Christmas was next week and the spirit among them was high with
not only anticipation of the day but the bickeringstopped. The
idea of camaraderie among the group was as close if not closer
than any group of non-related people any of them could remember.
They considered each other as family. They were there to watch
each other’s backs. They were there to see to it that each of
them was cared about by the others and they were there in
particular to survive the tragedy that was happening to the rest
of the world. The group was also about to get larger because
there were births that were going to happen soon.
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Dan and Caroline assisted by Roger made the hospital larger and
it was as organized as anything one might find in a small town,
smaller of course but it was as effective as it was operational.
The small operating room had mirrors on the ceiling to direct
the light from the cluster of Aladdin lamps that hung in the
center. It lit the area up as well if not comparable to a
electrified Operating Room. They had a couple of generators
stored away but they preferred to live without it.
More often than not they used solar panels to charge up
batteries. The generators were simply backups. They were fired
off once in awhile just to make sure they were working, but
other than that they lived without it. The way matters were
going on in the world there wasn’t much need anyway. There was
no TV, and the radio stations were all short wave. The US was
trying to restart the government but it wasn’t doing well.
Most people had a huge distrust of politicians because of the
former corruption, and as a direct result the world arrived in
the state it was in. Nobody trusted them anymore. As always
there were those who felt they needed someone else to deal with
what was going on around their own feet so the parasites were at
it again. The military abandoned their posts and no one cared.
Submarine sailors abandoned and then scuttled their boats and
left them to rust. Some of the crew stayed with the craft and
continued to cruise the waters. Most of the subs were self
sufficient and many not only made their own water but
hydroponically grew much of their own food. They were scattered
all over the world in waterways that accepted their drafts.
Occasionally one would hear from or about one, but as the time
passed by they became just another old part of the story as
happens with all things.
Someone made a suggestion and it was accepted by all that those
who wanted to, or needed to go to a church service, were able to
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use the restaurant as a service area. Eventually they shifted
over to one of the private rooms off the main restaurant area
and turned it into a church. The services were well attended and
surprisingly Stan Doyle, Beverly’s husband was an ordained
minister and he stepped up to the responsibility to administer
the services. It wasn’t long after that he was called on to pray
over the body of one of them. Bobby Larson died at his post out
at the large tower behind the main building and was found when
the watch was changed. It was a sad moment. Bobby was a quiet
man with the skills of a civil engineer. He was missed instantly
and his body was taken out to the old cemetery near Sam and
Crystal’s home. Doctor Dan attributed the death to heart
failure. Bobby was forty nine.
They prepared his body the way they did it in the pioneer days.
No embalming, just a quick clean up, they displayed his remains
in the small chapel and the words were said about this nice and
gentle man who everyone liked enormously. The next day he was
transported by horseback pulling a travois and he was laid to
rest in the old cemetery. Rest in Peace Bobby.
Chapter Seventeen Avalon
First Christmas
People walked around humming Christmas carols and the mood was
festive. The women and some of the children stayed busy
decorating the main lounge with homemade everything in
preparation of the big night. The preparations for the grand
Christmas dinner and then a dance progressed smoothly. A small
boom box stereo was connected to a converter which would change
the voltage from twelve volt direct current to one hundred
twenty volts alternating current. Several people brought
Christmas music on CD’s to the retreat and there was enough to
keep the party going for hours. Chad and Linda made taffy and
some other treats and those sat around in bowls or plates for
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anyone who was inclined to help themselves. There was no sugar
in any of it having been replaced with natural honey as the
sweetener.
The fireplace in the lounge blazed away with a warming and
cheery atmosphere. Many of the people at Avalon would come there
and read or to converse. Today there was a beautiful baby fir
tucked off to one side and decorated with trinkets, ribbons and
all sorts of things, the only thing missing were the lights. If
you didn’t know it you would never guess the rest of the world
was in collapse and crawling in the slime just to get by. Ice
formed around the edges of all the windows. It was about twentyeight degrees Fahrenheit outside. The residents of Avalon
continue to be comfortable and warm.
The people at Avalon lived in relative comfort with plenty to
eat, warm and protected from the cold. They slept in real beds
at night under sheets. There was an ample supply of anything
they needed. The supplying that went on for those many years was
paying off in compounded interest. If you needed to use the
bathroom, there was either your cabin, the outside services and
there were bathrooms in any corner of the retreat one might find
oneself at in any given time. The toilet paper went away
quickly. They were down to a wet cloth to wipe with and another
cloth to dry off with. People were seen carrying their small
bucket with fresh water in it and two cloths once in awhile or
they used their facilities in their cabins which was so much
more private. If not having anymore toilet paper was the worst
of their inconveniences, one could surmise it was nothing at all
in the grand scope of things.
The activities in the kitchen were as usual frantic but the two
Chefs’ were so organized they had one system on top of another
and it always went as smooth as cold cream on a doorknob. There
were always several bodies that turned out to help. Chad and
Linda had developed a routine that had one of them working and
the other was off and the following day the routine was
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reversed. It worked out well and they had ample free time to do
what they needed to get done for themselves. They also cooked
things ahead of time and kept them in one of the walk-ins. If
something went awry with both of them almost anyone could get a
few meals prepared and organized without both of them being
there. One simply had to pull the pot out and set it on the
stove to warm up. Many people commented that the food was always
better because the spices and herbs had ample time to sit in the
food and to permeate it appreciably.
In the clinic Roger was being trained to be a backup medical
doctor under the tutelage of Doctor Dan and Caroline. Caroline
was moving beyond the requirements of a nurse. She was becoming
a medical doctor as well. Likewise Mike was training several
people in his arts just in case something happened. Backups of
all critical trades and occupations were an essential factor in
making the retreat more than just a home. It was in fact under
the surface of a domesticated tranquil veneer at first glance,
in reality an armed camp of trained soldiers. Everyone was
developing fighting forms, they were staying in good physical
shape, learning how to do the jobs normally performed by someone
else, and not only was it interesting for the people being
trained, but it was a vital necessity for all of them. The
theory of everyone being crossed trained came from the US Navy’s
system of cross training each crew member of a submarine knowing
and understanding not only their own job but that of the buddy
on the left and the right. Time moved forward, the training
became a way of life and people couldn’t get bored, there was no
time for boredom. There came a day when you would never hear,
“I don’t know how to do that,” or “That isn’t my job.”
If you didn’t know, you learned and that was the end of the
story.
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The flat bottom wagon was hitched to a team of draft horses and
a trip to the coal outcropping was necessary. It was located out
beyond the back meadow where a small access was carved out of
the giant fir trees a few years ago when it was found. They were
burning coal in the main boiler that supplied steam to all the
radiators not only those in the cabins but to the main building
itself. The barn had a few to keep the cows content, the stables
had several and the old bunk house had quite a few in it as
well. Coal was burned in all the stoves located in the various
buildings spread around, to the side and out and away somewhat
from the main area. It was cold and the stoves were fired up and
burning twenty-four hours a day. The small house that Sam and
Crystal were remodeling had a couple in it too.
The big consumer of the coal supply was the main boiler. It took
a considerable amount of time to completely overhaul it and to
get it in working order. It needed constant monitoring and
attention to be on the safe side. Not only did it have multiple
relief valves incorporated on it, it had a firebox dump under
the grates operated from a large handle that could be engaged by
a single person. Once the coals were dumped into a large steel
box the red hot nuggets could be extracted from below the boiler
thus stopping the heat from continuing to heat the water. It in
effect, shut the system down in a matter of minutes.
The main boiler was very big, about fifteen feet high, about
eight feet across and a stack that towered another twenty feet
above that. It was round and the rivets that held the plates
together were massive. It was a major chore getting the parts
and materials to the retreat but was worth it in the final
result. A few of the men worked on it until they had
incorporated a flushing system that washed down the stack
internally and the sludge was diverted to a holding pond that
had another and then another so that when one filled the next
would take on the debris and then overflow in to the next one.
This caused the smoke that came out of the smoke stack to look
no more ominous than steam emanating from it. That one clean up
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was adopted for the kitchen smoke stacks as well to clean the
smoke up over there.
Much later the large vent hoods that were over the cooking areas
were fitted to a similar devise and they also had a water spray
system that when activated cleaned the stacks and the filters
with hot water thus removing any buildup of grease and creosote.
The kitchen also had a spray system that could flood a
particular area if there was a galley fire. A large tank made
from wood and lined with plastic that looked like a large
laundry cart was rolled over to the stove area, pushed under the
hoods, and a vent at a time was rinsed of any grease. That was
rolled over to the back door and emptied and then rolled back
over for the second vent. Once they were cleaned they were
serviceable for a couple of months and the process was repeated.
All this was accomplished without electricity.
The large main boiler had a date on the outside that read,
Hudson Boiler Works, Chicago, Ill, 1901. Pat. 14608 US Pat off.
It was fastened to the door of the firebox. It had a gear
network that when engaged would turn a shaft and that in turn
drove several other pulleys and geared works. There were horse
hide belts that were twelve inches wide and some of them were
forty feet long when doubled in the middle.
From this series of drives they were able to rig a system to
drive and to power anything in the small machine shop such as
drill presses, or a grinder. The main job was to supply pressure
to the water pump that kept the water circulating throughout the
compound. The water entered the large water tank located behind
the main building first and then another pump drove the pressure
to keep the water at an even demand wherever it was needed. That
was crucial for the convenience of a pressurized water supply.
They had showers, flushing toilets, and the radiators were recirculated constantly when in use.
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The other critical task performed by the boiler was to power a
belt that ran a compressor pump that cooled the big walk in
refrigerators and freezers. There was a mechanical timer that
was set near the boiler each time it was turned on for twenty
minutes, the pump was disengaged and then activated in another
hour by doing the same thing. It kept the temperatures in the
reefers constant. The main boiler needed water added to it and
regularly.
A group of them came up for a four day camp out several years
ago and they dug up the huge septic tanks. Guided by the
expertise of Bobby Larson they found three tanks in line. It
took some doing to find them but once they did, they cleaned
them out, a terrible and disagreeable job, they emptied the
dried out muck that was in them did some patching here and there
and fixed a few of the broken leeching pipes that were crushed
and non-functional. The septic system that was in place now
would last many years before the nasty job would have to be done
again. Perhaps, it was a job for the next generation that was
growing in the wombs of some of the women.
They cleaned out the water tank, also a nasty job but nothing
was nastier than the septic clean out. Slowly the jobs needing
to get done were accomplished, and the group residents were
enjoying the fruits of those labor and they were enjoying them
in a trouble free environment. Everyone liked the running and
pressure water system. The pump was reliable and they could
rebuild it several times if need be. Later what they didn’t have
in replacement parts they could be made from scratch in the
machine shop. Dayna was reading about doing casting for a later
time.
The people started coming to the main building singularly and in
pairs or in larger groups. The lounge was the recipient of most
of them and slowly the people made their way toward the tables
that were set up in a row and they helped themselves to the food
and goodies laid out on the tables buffet style. On one end the
plates and silverware, glasses, bowls and cups and saucers, and
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a paper tag with their names on it sat. The music emanated
throughout the lounge and the dining area. Some of the children
were delighted by the music and the decorations. The tags were
deposited in a large basket later.
It was a time to be grateful they were there and not out in the
terrible world suffering, maybe starving, not privileged to real
medical care, and suffering deprivations that were becoming
insufferable. A prayer was offered, and the music was turned
off. The people bowed their heads and every single one of them
was sincere when they thanked the Lord for all that they had and
all that they were. They thanked Doctor Dan and Mike for having
met them and for having had the foresight to buy into what was
for some an incredibly expensive venture based on faith and
little more. There were people running all over the world making
vast fortunes selling the gloom and doom of “The End of the
World” type stories to anyone who would buy into it. Mike and
Dan did not do that, in fact if anything they were very
selective who they offered the carrot of Avalon to. As it turned
out, the choices made by all of them was the correct one. They
were living breathing proof of that. The Amen was offered by all
and it was given in justifiable humility of the moment.
The Christmas party was a work of art. It lifted the spirits of
everyone and broke up the routine of class work. If you weren’t
studying this, studying that you were working out in a martial
arts class or you were working on your assigned job. The work at
Avalon was never ending but worthwhile because everyone
benefited from every improvement and the skills that were being
developed made the confidence level in everyone soar like an
arrow shot up into the air.
They ate the food that was laid out, they danced and they sang
carols, some of the adults played games with the children and
the children were delighted from both the attention and the
games. Different people gathered in small groups of as many as
only two or three and one was composed of six people. The drinks
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flowed and some of them were getting a little tipsy. Mike
offered up his own prayer to himself,
“Please God, don’t let anything happen tonight.”
The name tags were drawn from the basket and read off in another
moment once people were done eating and a large cart was wheeled
out of one of the private rooms off the restaurant and dance
floor area. It was loaded down with presents and wrapped in meat
wrapping paper from the kitchen. Most of the paper was decorated
with drawings of Santa Claus and reindeer pulling a sled. There
were stars and snowflakes, and snowmen, drawn on them. Each had
a hand written name tag. The adults got a couple a piece and the
children were recipients of more than just a couple. They got
toys and clothing. The adults received handmade clothing, a
jacket to one, a pair of mittens for another, and a woolen watch
cap for another and more. All were handmade and appreciated by
the recipients’ for the labor that was expended making the gifts
and the sincerity behind each one. When Caroline gave a present
to Mike, she stepped up on her tip toes and said into his ear,
“The other present from me to you is waiting for you once we get
back to the cabin.”
He feigned a surprise look on his face, put both hands to his
cheeks and rocked his head from side to side and said,
“What in the world could that be?”
She socked him in the stomach slightly and said,
“Boy are you dumb!”
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He couldn’t help himself and laughed. He turned to face her as
he slipped his arms around her waist and lifted her toward him.
He kissed her on the mouth for a brief second and then broke
away and said,
“Merry Christmas my love, I love you more than life itself.”
Then he resumed the kiss that lasted a lot longer than the first
little peck. People ignored them; they were too busy doing their
own thing to be bothered by watching them.
The party began to wind down at about ten o’clock that evening.
Some of the children were getting cranky, while other people
felt the drain of the work of the day ebb away and a couple of
them fell asleep in the large comfortable leather chairs of the
lounge. To be sure the alcohol was a contributor of the
tiredness, but they all worked at something and they worked hard
making sure the small community of Avalon remained a viable and
well run machine. Several people left and others remained until
after midnight talking, laughing and just enjoying themselves.
The music was shut off at eleven o’clock and didn’t seem to be
noticed. Several had to leave to relieve the watch and when the
members of the watch came to the main building they ate and had
a few drinks and joined in the conversations as if they had been
there the whole time. In the morning it was going to be a lax
time because of the holiday.
Mike and Caroline retired to their cabin and she stopped him at
the door. She put a finger to her lips and said,
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“Shhhhh, you’ll wake him up.”
They entered and over in a corner near the bathroom door was his
“other present”. He was fast asleep. Occasionally he would
twitch and cry out softly as the dream he was involved in
wrapped itself around his little mind. She said,
“Merry Christmas my love. What will you call him?”
Mike reached down and picked the puppy up in his hands and
admired him as he held him up at eye level.
“How does Champion sound? Champ for short.”
“Champ it is then.”
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Chapter Eighteen Avalon
The people in America hang by a thread
That area in California from north in Bishop west to the Pacific
Ocean and East to the Great Sierras continuing on down to the
Tehachapi’s, and from there extending into The Imperial Valley
which joins Baja. It was a dry, hot and dust laden wasteland.
Now it sat there nearly devoid of life.
There was some life in evidence in this once considered the
“Bread Basket of America. Today it is an area filled with
roaming armed thugs on motorcycles and blowing dust. Some of the
areas are poisoned by radiation fallout. These days scarcely a
Mojave Green slithered across the sands. It was dry inhospitable
and a nearly unforgiveable wasteland.
Some people made it to the hundreds of old gold mine diggings
and stayed in the tunnels to escape the burning heat. Most of
the irrigation canals went dry and they too become lifeless.
Most of those people living in that area slowly starved to death
a day at a time. Hundreds of thousands already died in just the
last two months alone and their bodies could be found lying
where they fell when the life escaped from the confines of the
body. In some areas, the dead were eaten. The living in search
of food and found little or no food at all. There was food to be
had in the cities along the coast but those were death traps of
starving roaming bands of people half mad from deprivations and
lack of food and the slavers were working there too.
To say this was a dangerous place to be was to say sky diving
without a parachute might get you hurt. Women in particular were
stalked and used and then killed rather than be left alive to be
in competition for the precious little food that was hidden in
basements, on boats still tied to the moorings in the marinas,
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or in motor homes parked here and there. The food could be found
but it was a difficult search the competition fierce and most
times deadly. The restaurants, grocery stores and warehouses
were cleaned out months ago. The children without someone to
protect them died quickly. They were defenseless creatures from
the start of the conflagration and most died soon thereafter.
The slave merchants were actively searching out anyone strong or
pretty enough to be bought by those who still had money which
was in the form these days of food, booze and cigarettes and
anything fit to drink. A candy bar could get you the use of a
good woman for the night.
A young woman named Beth Kelly was one of those people caught
here. Smart. Athletic, and although the lack of food was
detracting from her natural good looks, she was still a very
desirable woman. She was hunted and pursued by the slavers and
managed to get away each time so far. She was being driven north
in incremental pushes to trap her.
She found herself in a small area in the High Desert called Jaw
Bone Canyon just north and west of the small outcropping
designated as a town named California City. It was a rock strewn
area full of snakes, scorpions, spiders, Gila Monsters, coyotes
and now as of late feral cats and dogs that once were household
pets. She hid in the rocks and watched and waited. They were
passing no farther than a hundred feet from where she hid. They
were armed with all manner of weapons. They had large dogs on
leashes and the dogs howled and carried on like possessed
beasts. Her heart was beating fast and she could feel the pulse
in her forehead and in her neck. There was water left in her
canteen and she screwed the cap off and drank from the spout. In
a few minutes they passed and were heading toward the east away
from her.
She leaned against the rock heavily as relief swept through her
and she was thankful they were gone. She waited in spite of them
passing in case there were any stragglers still coming. She
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needed to get out of the sun and started looking around for
anything that offered shade. She guessed she was about a hundred
or so miles from Death Valley and another fifty to Bishop. She
wasn’t sure but was hoping that was about how far she still had
to go. She was in the Tehachapi’s earlier but it was crawling
with people from Bakersfield, Fresno and many of them were from
Los Angeles. She was sure because as she hid from one group she
heard them talking. Later when it was dark she made her way into
the camp and filled her canteen with water and left without
making a sound. She thought if she could stay west of the rocky
hills she was traveling in she could avoid the desert and keep
going north for the final destination up in the mountains
farther north. As a small girl her dad took her to this place he
called a ranch way up in the mountains and she was going to go
there unless something stopped her first, like slavers.
She had a little food, a compass, a canteen almost full of
water, warm clothes for the evening, and some odds and ends she
thought were important. She had a sheath knife with a six inch
blade and a stainless steel .357 magnum with a three inch barrel
on her belt. She had used it twice so far. She had a box full of
bullets for it in the pouch at her waist and a few matches. If
anyone came close she was prepared to use it again. She saw what
happened to people that weren’t prepared to fight. She watched
three grown men rape a little girl of about eight or nine years
old about a week ago. Later, when they decided to sleep for the
night she slit the throat of two of them and shot the third one
in the forehead between the eyes as he was waking up. The little
girl was dead. They threw her aside like a bag of garbage once
they were done. Now, here she was trying to make her way north.
She was smart to wait because there were three more of them
passing by now, laughing about something, and they had a boy
with them of about nine or ten years old. He was bound at the
wrist and there was a rope around his neck like a dog. She eased
out from behind the rock that hid her and stepped in line behind
the three slavers. She stabbed one of them in the kidney with a
rapid thrust and it hurt so bad he couldn’t call out and dropped
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to the ground and she made it in three steps to the next one and
did the same thing burying the knife deep. The third guy was so
busy laughing at his own joke he didn’t realize what was
happening until the knife entered his side. By then it didn’t
make any difference.
She searched the bodies in quick time and took what they had.
The boy was cowering from her but she reassured him she wasn’t
going to hurt him and not to cry out. She untied him and took
the rope from around his neck. It was a nice rope, the kind they
use for roping cattle and she coiled it up and kept it. One of
them had a bag on his waist and it was full of rings and other
jewelry so she kept that too. All three had water canteens and
they were full. That was luck. She said to the boy,
“I’m called Beth. We need to get away from here before these
guys are missed and when their buddies find them here, they’ll
be looking for whoever did this to them. Let’s go!”
She grabbed him by the hand to emphasize the need for speed and
the boy ran after her.
They ran for at least a mile and had to slow down and then they
were compelled to stop. The boy was weaker than she was. She
offered him water and he chugged it down and then spit it out
when he started to choke. Good thing she caught the canteen or
it may have spilled on the ground. They couldn’t afford that.
“You okay pal?”
He was still trying to recover and he nodded.
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“Take it easy, take small sips and try not to spit any of it out
okay?”
The boy sipped a little more water and it seemed to rejuvenate
him a little. He said,
“Matt……..”
She looked into his face and said,
“Wh……what was that?”
The boy said,
“My name is Mathew.”
She smiled at him and reached over and gave him a hug and said,
“Nice to meet you Mathew, where are your parents?”
Mathew shrugged his shoulders and his head hung down and he
said,
“Everyone is dead.”
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It was very matter of fact in the delivery of the statement.
Those were the times they were living in.
“I’m sorry Mathew. We are going to head north. There’s a place
I know about up north and it will be safe for us there. Please
be quiet when I ask you to okay? Stay close and try to keep up.
We have a long way to go. Think you can do all of that?”
He blurted it out,
“Do you have any food?”
She reached into her small bag and pulled out a Baby Ruth and
handed it to him. He devoured it with a single shove of the
whole thing into his mouth, and chewed a very long time and his
eyes rolled up so the whites were visible and he seemed to be
staring at something in the sky. He was smiling.
It was getting close to dusk and they needed to find a place to
hide for the night and begin the trek north in the morning.
Morning came, as she waited to venture out and have look around.
There was nothing but her and Mathew. They began walking and she
took out her compass to verify the course. Her dad taught her
how to use a compass when she was a girl. And he taught her
about camping. Mathew didn’t say anything but then he said,
“Wait.”
She stopped and he ran behind a rock and emptied his bladder.
When he came back out from behind the rock he said,
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“I’m ready now.”
They began walking again and Beth calculated they might have two
more weeks ahead of them of hard hiking to get to that old
ranch. She hoped it was still there.
Two more incidents occurred where they saw people and Beth and
Mathew hid. None of the people appeared to be anything other
than refugees but Beth wasn’t going to take any chances and they
hid until it was clear. On the fifth day they passed a small
house at the end of a field sitting in the shade of a stand of
cottonwood trees. There was a cement lined irrigation canal that
passed by it. She and Mathew climbed down into it and walked. It
seemed like a better thing to do than to walk out in the open.
They came to skeletons in the canal a little way further, mostly
human but she saw a few animal skeletons too. She wondered what
happened here. Several skulls displayed neat little holes in
them. They sure looked like bullet holes and then she found a
few shell casings lying on the floor of the canal. This was the
place of an execution. It gave her the creeps. She wondered if
it was slavers that did this. Mathew stared at them as they
passed and he pushed against her tightly as they went by the
bones. Flies buzzed around the bones and made lots of noise. The
boy was scared. They walked a little while longer and when they
were adjacent to the little house they got out and walked over
to it. You could see for a mile or more in every direction and
there was nothing but weeds and hard packed sun baked dirt.
The screen door was hanging by one hinge and it banged
occasionally against the jamb and swayed back and forth gently
as the slight breeze coming out of the west pushed it. The sky
was cloudless and baby blue. They walked into the little house
that appeared to be abandoned and in disarray. Someone had been
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here and turned tables and chairs over and a few windows were
broken, but it could be made to be livable again with just a
little work. They turned on the spigot in the sink and nothing
came out. There was a noise in another room and Beth pulled the
revolver from its holster and pointed it at the ceiling as her
elbow bent at the joint with the movement. Her dad always told
her to never point at anything you weren’t going to shoot. She
put a hand to Mathew’s lips and walked toward the sound. She
went through the door and the .357 was cocked at the same
instant. A little girl was standing there near the entrance of a
hidden closet and there was a can of peaches she just dropped
still rolling on the floor. She saw Mathew and Beth and
instantly began to pee and it ran down her leg. She stood in a
puddle in her bare feet. She was dirty and Beth guessed she was
about seven or eight. Her hair was straggly and dirty and she
was shaking as if she was very cold. She trembled from head to
foot. Beth put the revolver in the holster and stretched her
arms out to the little girl and went down on one knee. She
wiggled her fingers to the girl beckoning her. The girl had her
fingers from one hand in her mouth and tears were dripping down
her cheeks. Beth inched her way toward her scooting along and
said in a gentle voice,
“Come here honey, no one is going to hurt you. My name is Beth.
Come on, don’t be afraid, come on……”
The little girl ran over to Beth and threw her arms around her
neck and was crying and saying something that neither Beth nor
Mathew understood what she was saying. They remained in that
position until Beth began to feel it in her knees and she
straightened up and then picked the girl up who promptly wrapped
her wet legs around Beth’s sides and hugged her neck and
wouldn’t let go. It took awhile but the little girl finally told
her what her name was she said,
“My name is Glory and I’m seven already. Some bad men came and
took my daddy and mommy away and they never came back. I was
eating the stuff in there.”
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She was referring to the canned food that was stored in the
little storage room.
“I hid in there for a long time. When the bad men came into the
house my mommy put me in there.”
She pointed to the closet.
“And closed the door and put a chair in front of it. I heard
screaming and yelling and then the voices got smaller, (her
words) later I heard loud popping noises. I was quiet and later
the people came back and throwed things around and then left. I
was opening canned stuff and eating it.”
Beth looked in. There were three five gallon water bottles in
there and Glory managed to get one open and was drinking water
from an empty can that was sitting on the floor next to the
water bottle. There were still a lot of canned goods in there as
well and they started looking for something to carry them in.
She found a large water canteen and filled it up.
A search of the house revealed a few pillow cases, and she tore
a few articles apart to make a harness to carry the water bottle
with on their backs.
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Chapter Nineteen Avalon
The new flag
It was the day before New Years. It was still cold and the
retreat was in what Mike referred to as “The Holiday Routine.”
The normal jobs got done and the people stood their watches but
it was a new year coming up and people were painfully aware that
it was a different world they were living in. What was in the
past was now a poignant part of history and it was time to begin
recording what happened in the world and what things were
leading to.
Also it was felt by many of them that a new flag should be
depicted and adopted because there wasn’t a much left of the US
anymore. They decided the word would be put out to the group and
have people enter a contest by submitting the designs as to what
they imagined a new flag would look like. Another meeting was
proposed to add to the American flag a different banner, one of
their own design which would represent them as a group, and it
was to reflect the new country they were in the process of
building. Everyone decided to submit their renditions of what
the new flag look like. They worked on it tirelessly. There were
some very innovative designs, and each one was labeled and a
name was put on each one and the different designs grew. Some
submitted different designs, and some seemed to be very creative
and submitted various designs regularly. No decision was made
and after awhile the zeal to submit began to ebb away until
there were no more being submitted, and they forgot about it.
It was at one of those after dinner meetings a proposal was put
forward to begin writing a history of Avalon and the people
there. There would be births, deaths, and much would happen and
changes were bound to become their own history as the time went
by. It needed to be recorded and set aside for the generations
who were to come along. Those children not yet born would
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deserve to know what it was like during the war, and what
happened to every person here as the progress of time ebbed away
from all life. There were also those who wanted the history of
not only the United States to be preserved, but the history of
the rest of the world as well. Nothing should ever be
intentionally left out of the story. Linda, the resident Chef,
raised her hand at the conversation and was recognized. She
said,
“If there are no objections, I recommend that Penny Rolls be the
person to do that.”
She paused for the effect and everyone concurred. Penny smiled a
little self consciously for being put on the spot, but didn’t
object.
Mike asked her in a direct way and was looking at her when he
said,
“How do you feel about this responsibility Penny?”
He waited for her answer and she answered the question by
saying,
“It would be an honor to be the person who
happenings and to preserve what transpires
been doing that since I became a member of
been writing down most of everything in my
I can make it official to you all.”
documents the
here. In fact, I have
the group. I have
personal Diary. Now,
She paused, and took a deep breath and continued. Sam raised his
hand to be recognized and she said,
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“Yes Sam, what is it?”
Sam got a wide grin on his face and said,
“Penny, does that mean we will all be able to read what you have
written in your Diary?”
She smiled, and knew exactly what he was referring to and said,
“Not all of it Sam, there are certain parts I will keep for
myself.”
Sam replied a little too quickly,
“Does that mean all that stuff about you and Harlan is going to
remain a secret?”
Crystal could not believe it. She punched him in the ribs and
everybody laughed. Sam feigned being hurt and started yelling,
“A doctor, I need a doctor. Anybody know where I can find a
doctor?”
The laughter was contagious and the place was alive with
laughter and more than a few comments. Harlan Herrera stepped
over to Penny’s side and put an arm around her waist and was
smiling from ear to ear. Everyone knew what was going on between
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them and it was approved by one and all not that they needed any
approval.
Penny became the historian of the Group. Years ago she brought
with her blank bound books and added it to the library. She also
hoarded reams of paper that she brought up those many times and
every day she wrote in precise penmanship the happenings at
Avalon. She posted them at the entry to the doorway to the huge
lounge in the main building and everyone read it each and every
day from that day forward. It was named the Avalon Reporter.
That night the dining area was set up as it was for the
Christmas party the week before. Chad and Linda laid everything
out on joined tables buffet style and the food was spectacular
as usual except there was a difference. This was a special
moment for all of them. They were beginning a new year at Avalon
and it was the beginning of a new life for each individual.
Nothing would ever be as it was and every one of them knew they
had lost friends and loved one due to the war and the poignant
problems the war caused. They were grateful for Avalon and to
Mike and Doctor Dan because through them they were here. They
followed the progress of the war and the ravages it caused from
the radio and they learned there were people all over the planet
suffering incredible hardships and many of them death.
Here they were thriving. They lived, they laughed and they
worked side by side. These were people they chose to be with
until they died in all probability. But it was their choice made
by men and women with the freedom to make those decisions not
handed down by some obscure edict dreamed up by some bureaucrat,
because that person didn’t have much else to do but make someone
as miserable as they were. The children were growing up with a
value system that would carry them through all of their adult
lives with a sense of dignity and self worth for who they
ultimately would become. A lot could be attributed to Avalon,
but this place was only a shell or the body of something much
larger than anything else. It was the people who made the soul
of Avalon.
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The people came one by one and some together. Laughing and
chattering some holding hands while others locked arms and
happiness fell on the place like a comforter full of warmth. The
watch standers were the only ones left out of the festivities
but at a different time this vacancy would be rectifies. People
other than those who were compelled to stand it during the
Christmas party were enjoying themselves thoroughly as the
festivities began. First a prayer was offered and everyone bowed
their heads and each person listened but had a message of their
own to give for thanks for the blessings that was Avalon and the
people residing here.
They headed for the dishes and the food and piled on their
plates. Then individually and in groups they walked toward the
tables and everyone sat down and ate a wonderful and filling
meal. A small calf was slaughtered and he was the main course.
The mashed potatoes and beef chunky gravy was doled out
generously. The green peas and sweet potatoes scooped out on
most of the plates and the squash was tender and succulent. The
desserts were apple pie, peach cobbler or a fruit cake loaded
with nuts and wild blueberries and candied fruits throughout its
bulk. They talked and they had either coffee and real cream or
milk. Some preferred water but whatever you had it was worth the
effort to get it down.
Later, when the clean up was done and the majority of the food
was put away. The games for the children began. They did the
musical chairs where the music plays and all the kids marched
around the chairs, when the music stopped everyone sat in a
chair quickly. The one left standing was out. When they tired of
that game they had a Maypole set up and they did that for awhile
until it was time to move on to something new. The next game was
a form of Horse shoes but this game was several post mounted on
a piece of wood weighted down with heavy weights. The kids
tossed round pieces of rope formed in a loop and tried to lasso
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one of the posts. Each post had a different value and the points
began to mount up until there was a winner. There were others
and they played on in absolute glee in the competition of the
games.
Some of the people migrated to the pool room and shot pool.
Often times as it were they betted millions of dollars on a
single shot. Sometimes they lost and other times they won. It
didn’t matter because it was all in fun.
People sat at the tables and they talked either in pairs or in
groups. Some slowly eased over to the comfortable furniture of
the large lounge and the choice seats were near the blazing
fireplace. Others went into the bar and Crystal was there to
serve them and she was tipping a couple with them. People sat at
the bar and some over near the fireplace. The laughter and the
camaraderie was deeply felt wherever you went. They partied on
and the hours slipped by. The discussion came up about Penny
becoming the new recorder for the group and the conversations
escalated a bit more. A couple of people left the bar to return
in a moment with the rest of the group as it was approaching
midnight. The countdown began shortly and as they counted down
to midnight a cheer went up among them. Happy New Year was
sounded out in Unison and everyone was either shaking someone’s
hand or hugging them. Others were locked in to some serious
kissing. The festive moment lasted until Chad and Linda went to
the bar and turned to face the group. Chad said,
“I’m not much for speeches, but Linda and I want to say a few
words as we offer a toast. Our toast first of all is to you. May
God bless you all and protect you. I also want to include Avalon
in these words because without Avalon we might not be here right
now. We, like you, were fortunate we found and met Mike and Dan
and listened to them when they proposed our joining this group.
There has not been a day or a moment quite frankly when I don’t
find myself thanking them and the Almighty for us being here. We
are safe and we are thriving. My wish is happy New Year everyone
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and thank you all for being who you are right now and in the
coming new years.”
He ended his speech and the cheers and clapping was deafening.
Linda waited and when things quieted down a bit she began to
talk,
“First of all there isn’t much I can add to what my husband just
said to you all, you know us Italians, we like to talk, I concur
with every word he said. It amazes me that the circumstances
that brought us together are so similar in so many ways.”
She cleared her throat and continued,
“ Chad and I had a very successful business and many of you know
that because you were all customers at one time or another. I
talked to my mother after we came here the first time and she
thought I was crazy when I asked her to talk to Mike and Dan. We
saw things as we listened to Mike and Dan and there was so much
truth and common sense in what they said that I believed
immediately what they were saying was a viable project and it
only needed people to make it come together. Look at us here. We
wanted to be a part of it and here we are. Can you really
believe that the end of the world is nearly on us? Do you
believe the numbers we have heard on the radio about how many
people are dead or nearly dead? We love Avalon and we love you
all with as much love as we have to give. Happy New Year
everyone and I sure hope we are going to have a lot more of
them. We never get to choose our family members; we just get
what we get. Here at Avalon we had that unique opportunity to
choose our families, and we chose you and this place. I love you
all with all my heart.”
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Again the clapping and the cheers went up and the noise was
incredible. Everyone ordered another round of drinks. There was
plenty of Scotch, Sam made a batch by putting pure grain alcohol
and water together to cut it down somewhat and they added a
little iodine from the clinic to give it that authentic flavor
and it flowed. Mike jumped behind the bar to help and so did
Caroline to speed up the serving process.
Penny came to the bar and put her back to it and she raised her
drink into the air above her head. Crystal took a spoon and
started tapping a glass with it to get everyone’s attention.
When the crowd settled down Penny said,
“There have been a couple of toasts to us and to Avalon, but I
think we have left a significant person out and I would like to
propose a toast to Elion Cameron the founder of this place and
one we should always keep in our prayers because if it wasn’t
for him none of us would be here because this place would not
exist without his efforts. I salute Mister Elion Cameron because
of his Pioneering spirit and his intestinal fortitude to carve
out a home in the wilderness and raise cattle on it. It took him
nearly six months to drive his cattle to the nearest railhead in
those days. How many of you could have done that? How many of
you could have braved the wild Indians and the grizzly bears
that dominated this area? I know it would have been a low
priority for me living in those days to do any of it.”
She paused and sipped her water. People were clapping but mostly
they were offering encouragement for what she was saying.
“The second part of my toast is for you, all of us here, and for
this place we cal Avalon. I am eternally grateful for what I
have found here living among you fine people. I was one of those
people that existed but scarcely anyone knew I did. I was shy
and dedicated to my work it was nothing more and nothing less.
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Here I am standing in front of people I admire and respect and I
can hardly believe I am here. This was not my style and it
wasn’t who I was until I met some of you and began to get
together with you at some of your functions. I have to tell you
seeing this place for the first time was what sold me but more
than that, it was you, the people that are a part of this group,
you are what really sold me. I salute you and I am ever grateful
that I am here with you. Happy New Years everyone and may the
Saints bless you all.”
Harlan Herrera came up to where she stood and put an arm around
her tiny waist and her shyness caused her to look down at the
floor. Harlan reached a hand over to her chin and with an index
finger and his thumb he guided her lips to his own. They kissed
and he said something that was lost in the roar of the shouts
and they broke loose and smiled a happy couple.
Dan stood toward the rear and he was smiling at the festivity.
Several people kept prodding him to go to the bar and to say a
few words; the chant from the crowd was,
“Speech, speech, speech, speech!”
He came to the bar as several people pushed him from behind as
he was maneuvered to the bar, arriving there he turned to face
them. He was smiling and everyone wanted to hear what he had to
say. The cheering was still going on so he waited, then it got
quiet and he said,
My Brothers and sisters, we are gathered here to ………No! No!
No! Different speech!”
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He was laughing and so were they. He was a little high from the
homemade scotch. He began again.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to make light of the occasion but I
just couldn’t help myself in the moment, Okay, here it goes.”
They all helped to make a dent in that large gallon bottle of
homemade Scotch and he wasn’t the only person feeling pretty
good. He said,
“There was a time when I was so jealous of this place I didn’t
want to share it with anyone, but I was counseled and I changed
my mind. We are here because we had the foresight to do
something for ourselves and that is usually the case, it is us
that have to made the decision to do what is right for each of
us.”
As you all know I was a successful medical doctor down below and
I studied for years to achieve that pinnacle I strived for, to
be called a doctor. I studied and I went without sleep and at
times I felt as if I was being required to memorize almost
everything in that medical dictionary but one day, there I was.
And I was a physician and I was proud of myself and all that I
did. But, there was a problem that I had been too busy to pay
attention to and that was the people I was enmeshed with were
greedy and money hungry, and you the people had to suffer their
mistakes and or suffer from them. While they went along their
merry way playing golf, sailing on their luxury sailboats and
enjoying the good life many of you slowly but surely began to
lose the quality you expected but didn’t always get from my
peers. You paid exorbitant prices until little by little many of
you could no longer afford real competent professional medical
expertise at all. We the medical profession became the place
where incompetence was protected by all of us together as a
group and you the public suffered. I became ashamed. I was
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looked on as a healer and I was becoming just like them a money
machine and my patience began to suffer for the impatience I had
for them and the need to make more to buy something else.”
“One day as I was riding with my friend we came across this
place and it was that day my perspective for life and what I was
meant for came into sharp focus. I was a doctor. That was what I
always wanted to be. I only needed enough money to get by and to
take care of my needs. I was one of those people who found early
on what they wanted to be and what to do the rest of their lives
and I was wasting it chasing the dollar into a never ending loop
that had no end. God Bless Avalon, and God Bless you all for
saving me to do what I always wanted to do.”
“We are here under the protection of each other. We are here
because we chose to be and we are here because we had the
courage to be different from everyone else. We need each other
and no one is more important than anyone else. We are here most
of all because we believed in what we were doing and take a look
around you, we are comfortable, there is plenty of food to go
around, we sleep in real beds off the ground and we sleep
between clean sheets. I’d like to think you’re getting proper
medical attention……….”
That made them go off and the clapping and hooting and hollering
and cheers went up several notches. They settled down and he
continued by saying,
“Happy New year to you all and I hope with all that I am that it
comes true and we will all be here in another year, safe, secure
and blessed because of your individual sacrifices and efforts.
You had the vision and you made it come true for all of us. I
thank you for what I have and what you returned to me by
allowing me to be your physician in this place and for allowing
me to have my dignity returned to me as well. Last, I thank
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whatever makes the universe revolve I have met and have the love
of a good woman. Happy New Year to you all!”
The cheering went up louder yet and everyone was clapping. There
was no one who did not feel the gratitude they all felt being
here. Dayna came over to him and the kissing and embracing
began.
Now they began shoving Mike toward the bar and he was resisting
but they won so there he was his back against the bar and he
looked at them. He tried to look into the eyes of all of them
one at a time and he began to speak.
“Thank you for honoring me in this way. It is I who owe my
thanks for what we have here and I am only a small part of. I
have gained one thing here at Avalon that I have missed in my
life for a very long time and that can be summed up in a single
word, Freedom. I didn’t have freedom for many years and now I
do.”
“We worked hard through these many years first with the clean
up, then the repairs, and the constant coming up here packing
something we would need later, but we did it all. We have
animals to help us work to get us to where we need to go, to eat
and to share our happiness and companionship with. We have food
that we gathered in the bounties of and enjoy just like we did a
little while ago. Don’t ever forget at any time there are those
who are dead and dying right now who don’t have a fraction of
what you have every minute of the day. Some of those people we
knew. There is no way to describe the suffering that is going on
and that has happened but we are here, and we are safe for the
time being. We have the individual choices to love who we want
to, to laugh if for no reason but to do it without any fear of
repercussions.”
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“Here we fear little but we are vigilant and we guard what we
have from those who would take it and by force if we didn’t give
it up. Look around you into the faces of your neighbors, your
true friends could you bear to know one of them was dead because
of his philosophy or what he owns.”
“I make you a solemn promise here and now, I love Avalon and
what it represents to me. There are no limits as to what I will
do to protect it from anything that would bring harm to this
place. I pledge my life to Avalon and I pledge it without
reservations to you. I will gladly give up whatever I have to
ensure the endurance of this place.”
“I am a free man and the yoke of the slavery I had on my
shoulders supporting the designs and corruption of a government
that was out of control down there has been lifted and it will
not go on my back again. Look at what the results are of that
same government, it is a legacy of death, destruction and
suffering. It is nearly the end of the world but here we thrive.
Here we are truly united, here we have love, companionship, we
have togetherness, we have happiness, and we have each other and
most importantly we have FREEDOM!”
The crowd went wild and Caroline pushed to the bar and to her
man and she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a
splendid kiss. As she pushed against him he felt a little as if
he was going to melt and a little weak in the knees. They would
be excusing themselves from the festivities soon. They had to
check on the puppy he got for Christmas, one of Pretty Girl’s
pups and a delight to him.
The flag came up at the next meeting in a few days and the
committee Dan formed made a decision from among the many designs
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submitted, Dayna won and was given a letter of appreciation and
three watches she could skip as a reward.
Her design was thus;
It was the standard rectangle as the American flag, but it was
different. At the top from left to right was a dark blue. This
area encompassed a third of the flag from the top down. In the
middle of the blue rectangle was a drawing of the main building.
On both sides of the building was a fir tree. Directly above the
building and centered was a single white star. Just below the
main building was an arch with the Word Avalon going from left
to right and the arch was like a quarter moon sitting on its
back with the two points straight up. Under that were crossed
swords. From the blue rectangle there were stripes that came
down from the bottom of the rectangle emanating out in every
direction toward the sides and to the bottom of the flag. There
were ten stripes, five white and five red.
At the award ceremony Dayna was asked to describe the meaning of
the symbols and she said,
“The dark blue rectangle represents the sky above us and the
rest of the world. The building represents Avalon, our home and
where we all come to do things together and where we live. The
white star represents us as a territory or possibly a new state
and it could also represent us as a country unto our own. To one
side and the other there are two fir trees. They represent what
we are surrounded by. Below the arch are the crossed swords.
That means we will take up arms to defend our home against
anyone or any threat. The stripes represent many things but I’ll
start with the colors first, the white represents peace for we
are a peaceful group of people and the red represents our
lifeblood we are willing to sacrifice to preserve our home, our
territory and each other if need be. The number of stripes
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represents, one Eli Cameron who began this ranch. The second is
for the coal. The next is for the trees. The fourth is for the
cattle Eli brought and raised here. The fifth is to remember the
railroad. The sixth stripe represents us as a group of people.
The seventh represents sacrifice, the eighth reminds us of the
war below, the ninth represents our determination, and the last
stripe represents Freedom.”
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Chapter Twenty Avalon
A Dangerous Journey
Beth crept up the side of the large rock that was slanted and
sticking out of the ground at a thirty degree angle. It was huge
and below it was a natural shelter. Half of its bulk was buried
in the ground the other half was what she was crawling on. She
heard dogs howling in the distance and wanted to see if she
could see anything from the top of the rock. Off in the distance
coming through an opening of an outcropping of rocks like the
one she was perched on she saw them. It was slavers coming
around meandering in between the huge rocks. They had people
roped at the neck and in a chain one in front of the other in a
long line. Their hands were tied behind their backs. About half
of them were children and the other half were half starved
teens. They appeared to be coming her way and if she timed it
right the trail they followed would pass below her prominent
view point. The dogs incessantly howled and bayed at nothing. It
was if they were out for a casual walk and they enjoyed
themselves. She had to be careful, the dogs had great noses.
Her plan was to kill the slaver at the end of the line and then
the guy at the front if she could get to him quick enough. They
were both armed and carrying long guns casually over their
shoulders. She scooted down from the rock. She guessed they were
about five minutes out and she had to get ready. She went below
the rock and crouched down waiting for her was Mathew and Glory.
She said to them,
“I want you both to get down in that corner and hide and stay
there until I come back for you, there’s something I have to do.
Whatever you do, don’t move and don’t go anywhere until I come
back. Okay?”
She pointed to where she wanted them to hide and they nodded
their heads. As she turned to go and take care of business Glory
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grabbed her arm and began to whimper. She had become very
attached to Beth and had separation anxiety every time she moved
out of her sight. She put a hand on each shoulder of the girl
and stooped to talk to her face to face,
“Glory, you must listen to me. It is important you do what I
tell you. Those men coming are bad men like the ones that came
in your house. You must be quiet and you must do what I tell
you, and don’t make any noise because they will hurt us.”
She turned her by the shoulders and with a gentle push headed
her toward that area to hide. She said,
“Don’t make any noise Glory. Mathew, make sure the two of you
don’t move from that spot until I get back.”
She grabbed Mathew and whispered in his ear,
“If I don’t come back……..” and he flinched and pulled away from
her and looked at her with a look of absolute terror on his face
and she saw the look and said quickly,
“Mathew I’ll be back, it’s just that in these uncertain times we
have to have a backup plan just in case, okay?”
She pressed her fingers to his lips and said,
“Take care of Glory, Mathew. I love you both.”
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She turned and walked toward her spot for the ambush bent over
at the waist and moved fast. They came, and they were oblivious
of any danger to them. The two dogs were in the front of the
procession. That was a break. If they were in the rear, she
would never get this opportunity. Her thoughts raced and her
breathing was coming in fast gulps of air. She was afraid but
her hatred for the slavers drove her forward and she stepped
behind the last slaver and her knife came out of the sheath. She
drove it forward hard, but she hit a military style web belt and
all her knife did was wound the man. He let out a yell in pain,
and she slit the man’s throat as he turned to face her turning
the scream into a gurgling sound. She thrust again and the knife
went into the man’s chest. She left it there and pulled out her
.357 Magnum and took a stance at the guy in the front and he was
struggling to get his gun off his shoulder and she screamed at
the chain of slaves,
“Down, on the ground now……….. all of you now.”
They dropped and she fired. She got him in the neck as his
shotgun came to his shoulder. He dropped the weapon and grabbed
his throat. The dogs were howling and barking and took off
running dragging their leashes behind them. She went back to the
first guy and retrieved her knife and wiped the blade off on his
pant legs. She looked in his face and his eyes stared at nothing
and they were dilated. He was dead. You can always tell by
looking at their eyes. The blood was bubbling out of his chest
where the knife finished him off and the whole of his chest was
glinting from the shiny blood from his throat. It reeked from
the sweet smell of fresh blood; she had the urge to vomit but
suppressed it. She turned and cut the rope binding the last kid
in line his hands and handed him the knife, and said,
“Hurry, we don’t have a lot of time. Make sure they’re all freed
and search those two and take whatever they have on them, food,
water, guns and ammo. Understand? Take it all and hurry!”
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It didn’t take long and she was walking back to the slanted rock
buried in the ground. The slavers had some food, canteens that
were almost full and the man at the rear had two of them. They
had a sawed off twelve gauge pump, two pistols, another shotgun
a double barrel, and a 30.06 rifle. The long guns all had slings
which made it easier to carry. Both of them had sheath knives
and wrist watches. One had a leather bag and it was full of old
silver quarters maybe fifty dollars or so in actual cash value.
She was guessing. Then she saw that one boy had collected three
handguns and handed them to her. She looked them over and asked
them.
“Do any of you have any firearm training? Don’t lie to me, it’s
important I know.”
One boy who looked to be about eleven raised his hand and said
he was a member of NRA and did a lot of shooting with his dad
before the war. Others had a hand raised. She selected the older
boys and made sure they were armed. She explained,
“I’m Beth and since we are now a team, I will observe you and
we’ll turn this group into a semi-military unit. Everyone
understand that?”
They all murmured something and nodded their heads. It was time
to get back to Mathew and Glory. She said absently,
“I have a couple of more kids behind that rock and once we get
them, we need to be making tracks out of here, there may be more
slavers coming this way. It looks to me this is a well worn
path.”
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She did an about face and went and got Mathew and Glory who
hadn’t moved from the spot she put them in. At first they were
intimidated when they saw all the others but it didn’t last and
they were off in only a couple more minutes. She insisted they
follow and in single file. They traveled a bit off the trail
that appeared to be very used and worked their way toward the
tree line off to the right. The two five gallon water bottles
which Beth and Mathew had been carrying on their backs, were now
carried by two of the older boys. Everyone got a good drink
before shoving off. They were all thirsty.
It was rugged terrain and there were sticker bushes everywhere.
It was still desert here and they had to be especially aware of
where they walked and where they put their hands and feet. You
looked first. They didn’t see any snakes but they saw an
occasional jack rabbit darting off away from their approach, a
centipede crawling on a rock and once in awhile they saw that
there was a dog staring at them from a distance but would
quickly dart out of sight. They found themselves climbing a
little at a time as they walked. In a few hours they stopped in
an area that had shelter and a couple of lookouts were posted.
One guarded the rear and one ahead of them. She made everyone
understand the dangers of the situation by saying,
“Keep a sharp eye peeled for bad guys. We don’t need a firefight
with anyone. We are poorly armed and would probably all wind up
dead or slaves when the fight was over, so make sure you pay
attention. Don’t stand out in the open either, hide behind
something. Anybody need any water before you go?”
The two that would be standing guard drank a little water and
walked off toward their assigned areas. Beth wanted to take a
few minutes to do an inventory of what they had. They had fifty
rounds of loose pistol ammo, fifteen rounds of shotgun rounds,
ten rounds of 30.06, four sheath knives, a folding Buck, a
cowboy lariat, and three pistols so far. A couple of wrist
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watches several canteen now, some silver coins and now to count
the food.
The two bad guys had several packets of MRE’s and s few candy
bars. Three packs of cigarettes, Marlboro Reds, a Cuban Cigar,
about a hundred strike anywhere matches, and several cans of
Campbell’s Soup, and a quart of Jack Daniel’s Black Label. She
screwed the cap off and took a sip. It burned all the way down
and continued to burn until a rosy feeling enveloped her for a
couple of minutes and then passed. Both had back packs. She
decided to wait to feed any of the kids and concentrate on
keeping everyone hydrated for now. After a rest of an hour she
sent two boys to tell the sentries that they were moving out and
for them to join them.
Another two hours of grueling climbing over loose rock and hard
pan they came to a ridge. On the other side of the ridge was a
cliff that was nearly but not totally a sheer drop off straight
down to the valley floor. Off to the right was an old cabin that
looked to be abandoned and very old. It sat on a shelf near the
cliff. She motioned for all of them to get down and she put her
fingers to her lips and looked at them. They got the message and
she crawled toward the cabin and ran hunched over at the waist
and then crawled some more until she was at the side of the old
cabin. It was the color of rust with black streaks running with
the grain mixed with a few scatterings of dark brown stains. It
was weathered and it was definitely old. The roof was tin
sheeting. She wasn’t surprised to see there was no glass in the
windows just old shutters. One hung there by a single nail
driven through it and would not open or close. She eased toward
the opening and picked up a few pebbles and when she got to the
door threw them inside and they clattered on the floor. Suddenly
three birds flew out the doorway and away from the cabin.
Flapping their wings and squawking as they went. That nearly
caused her to pee her pants. She eased her head around the
doorsill and looked in, on the floor over in a corner was a
human skeleton and there was another one lying on the old bed
over next to the one in the corner.
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To the opposite side was an old pot bellied wood stove. It
appeared the chimney was intact. She moved inside with caution
her pistol pointing up and she had two hands on it and it was
cocked. There was a makeshift cupboard against one wall and it
was covered with old burlap bags tacked in place. On the floor
next to the stove was a pile of sticks, kindling she suspected
for the stove. She lifted the burlap away from the cupboard and
there were about fifty cans of food stacked in neat little piles
on the shelves.
In an old tin with a lid that screwed on was some coffee, and
several cans of evaporated milk. None of it looked very old. On
the wall hung by rusty nails were skillets and a few pots. There
was a makeshift sink and on top of that was a counter top. A few
books were lying on the floor near the old bed. Against the wall
were three rifles, several boxes of shells and each skeleton was
dressed in jeans and each had a shirt on. Around the waist of
each of them were a pistol belt and a revolver. The skeletons
both had watches on their wrists. It appeared nobody had been by
and found this treasure trove. Up above the bed was a large
yellow jacket nest and they were busily coming and going and
meandering on the outside of the paper nest that was football
sized. She kept an eye on it as she moved around.
She walked back out of the cabin and stood by the doorway and
motioned for them to come to her. They all got up from the
ground and approached. Most of them walked quietly not like
ordinary kids but like little robots devoid of happiness, stoic
and displaying no emotions at all. She stood leaning against the
doorway watching them come toward her and she thought about them
more in that moment than at any other time prior to this very
second. It seemed she was too busy trying to keep things
together to be bothered talking or interacting with any of them
for fear she might forget one little detail and then one or more
of them would be dead.
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Here she was a twenty six year old woman with a degree in
accounting from the University of California at Los Angeles and
about to finish her third year as a Federal Special Agent of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and she was out in the mountains
bordering the High Desert with twelve children. She found this
almost bizarre beyond belief. When they reached her she raised
her palm up for them to stop and they did. She said,
“Is there anyone among you afraid of dead people?”
Almost all of them raised their hands. She studied them and saw
that one boy appeared to be serious and he didn’t have his hand
up. There was another one. They were a bit older than the rest
of the children. She pointed to each one and said,
“Come here in the cabin with me.”
She turned and called over her shoulder almost as an
afterthought and said to the others,
“The rest of you stay there, we’ll be back out in a minute,”
Inside she pointed to the dead bodies and said to the boys,
studying their faces as she spoke,
“We need to get rid of these bodies but we need to search them
and find out what’s on them first. Then we need to bundle them
up in something and get the bones out of here so the others
won’t be scared, understand? Watch out for the bees, don’t piss
them off!”
They both nodded, they understood quite well and she said,
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“What is your name, let’s start with you first…….”
And she waited, he said,
“I’m David Driscoll, my friends call me Davey.”
She looked at the other boy and he said,
“I’m Tom Wyatt.”
“Are your parents still alive?”
They both moved their heads from side to side.
She said to them,
“I’m sorry boys. Let’s get this done and then we can eat,
there’s enough food here to feed everyone.”
She felt a twinge in her stomach, sadness for these children and
these boys for having lost probably everyone they loved and
trusted. They moved quickly and took everything that was
serviceable from the dead and put the bones in an old sack that
was over by the cupboard. The two boys carried the sack outside
and she directed them around the back of the cabin and they
placed the sack on the ground. She handed one gun belt and
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pistol to Tom and the other pistol and belt to Davey. She said
in a soft voice,
“These are yours from now on, look around for bullets for these
when we search the cabin later.”
She went outside and said to the children patiently standing
there waiting,
“Anyone hungry?”
The smiles brightened up their faces like turning on a light
switch in a dark room. The children suddenly became children and
they were excited and talking and crowding to get in the door.
She had to tell them not to crowd and as they went in each and
every one of them looked around and pushed forward. Beth shouted
above the noise they were making in order to be heard.
“This is Tom Wyatt and this boy is David Driscol; they are my
helpers. This boy is Mathew Dempsey he is a personal assistant.
We must work together as a group and as a team, does everyone
understand? Also, don’t do anything that will make the bees up
there angry, okay? If we leave them alone maybe they’ll leave us
alone, but I don’t trust them, they are yellow jackets and
they’re mean.”
Everyone was nodding and smiling and one boy said,
“Where’s the food?”
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She went to the cupboard and started pulling out the cans on the
shelves and there were baked beans, about fourteen cans full.
She examined the cans and none appeared to have any rust on them
or were swollen in any way. She took the small Swiss knife she
had in her pocket and flicked out the can opener tool. She told
Matt to look for another can opener in the box on the floor and
he found one and brought it to her. She took one of the pans
hanging on a nail down and began pouring the beans into it. Six
cans later it was nearly full and she reached for another pot.
They did the same with the nine cans of Spam. She chopped the
meat into small pieces. When they were done opening the cans she
began placing a portion into the empty bean cans and handing one
out to each kid, beans on the bottom and spam on top. They dug
in with their fingers and they ate ravenously. Some of them
merely poured the food from the cans directly into their mouths.
Everyone got a share. She began opening one of the cans of
peaches and when it was open she reached in and pulled out
another one. There were fifteen cans of peaches so each person
got a can for themselves with two cans left over. There again
they tipped the contents into their mouth and ate slovenly and
they made a lot of noise doing it. The peaches were mighty fine.
She looked at Glory just as she finished her peaches and the
little girl let out a huge belch and everyone laughed about it,
including Glory.
They sat back later and were content. That was the most food any
of them had in a week. The three boys, Davey, Tom and Matt
walked out of the cabin and walked toward the back of the cabin.
Beth surmised they were showing off the bones of the bodies that
were in the cabin. She was lost in a day dream when the boys
came back in. She was tired suddenly, and it wasn’t because of
her period, she hadn’t had one of those in a few months and she
knew she wasn’t pregnant either. It was the lack of nutrition
and water that did that number on her. Matt touched her on the
shoulder and it made her jump. It scared him, he had seen her in
action and he was afraid of her to an extent. He knew she was
nobody to fool with.
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“What is it Matt?”
“We found something.”
It was difficult getting up but she managed and wearily walked
out of the cabin following the boy. He didn’t say anything as he
walked straight away and off behind the cabin a few hundred feet
was a large cave in the side of the mountain. She could see it
from this angle but off in the distance because of the way it
was positioned, she was certain it could not be spotted with a
telescope or any other viewing aid. As they got closer she saw
that Tom and David were inside the old mine. She got closer and
said to them,
“Look around and see if we can find anything to light our way up
with.”
Davey said,
“There’s a lamp in the cabin.”
She nodded and away he ran to fetch it. They waited and soon he
was back with the lamp. She dug down in her pack and got out a
single match from her pack and carefully put the rest of them
away again. She set the lamp down and took the glass mantle off
and raised the wick.
“Here goes nothing.”
She struck the match and quickly cupped the flame with both
hands brought it to the wick and it came to life. She turned it
down, and put the mantle back on the lamp. The mantle was loose
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so she had to be careful not to drop it as she walked. The four
of them eased into the mine slowly and carefully. She knew these
old mines had a tendency to have open areas that fell straight
down hundreds of feet. There was no surviving that kind of fall.
Slowly their eye became accustomed to the dim interior and as
they walked it occurred to her that leaving those children
unaccompanied by someone wasn’t a good idea so she said to
Davey,
“Go back and make sure the children are safe. We shouldn’t leave
them unattended.”
His facial features were a little difficult to see clearly but
she heard the disappointment in his voice,
“Aw gee, do I hafta?”
“Yep. You know its best, I don’t want one of them falling off
the cliff or wandering off and getting lost, scoot mister.”
“Yes ma’am.”
He was gone and they continued inching into the mine. The mantle
was warm enough now not to smoke so she turned the wick up for
more light. She thumped up against something hard. She bent down
and saw that it was a metal box. It had a padlock on it but it
was open and the lid was open too. There was something else next
to the box. It was another skeleton. It was fully dressed and
the shirt had a large blood stain on the front. This one had a
revolver lying on the ground next to one of the boney hands. She
looked down in the box and there were fifteen leather bags in
the box. One was open and lying on the ground next to the dead
man and the glittering gold dust sparkled in the dim light. She
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picked the bag up spilling some of the gold, but only a little
and closed the bag up with the draw string. It was heavy maybe
five o six pounds. Possibly more it was hard to tell.
Her training led her to the conclusion when the bombs went off,
the three of them decided to terminate their partnership and
they killed each other in the process. She wondered how they
knew about it way up here unless one of them had just returned
with the groceries from down below and not only brought home the
groceries but the news as well. Who knew what the real story
was. There was a fortune in gold here regardless of the truth to
it all. The gold was real enough. They had to pick the leather
bags out of the box and carry them two at a time to the entry to
the mine. When they were outside they brought the box out as
well. She guessed wrong, it wasn’t fifteen bags it was thirty.
They were stacked one on top of the other. She did a quickie
calculation in her head at thirty two ounces to a pound times
about five or so pounds to a bag and maybe, depending on the
market of gold about five hundred dollars an ounce, that came to
about ninety-six thousand dollars a bag times thirty of them, it
was a whopping two million eight hundred eighty thousand dollars
sitting at their feet. In a real world that might mean something
but she figured they should take at least a few of the bags with
them and bury the rest of them here before they left. If there
was ever a need she could come back another time and you never
know when a bag or two might buy you out of an unpleasant
situation. She decided to bury all but three bags.
They searched the other body and stripped everything it had. It
yielded another pistol and belt, a jack knife, matches, a wrist
watch and a great cowboy hat for someone. After they buried the
box and noted the position by using triangulation using her
compass and pacing off the distances she carefully noted the
places on her map and made herself a few notes, she knew she
could find this place again, and decided to call it a night. She
still wasn’t through exploring that old mine. They walked back
to the cabin and everyone was tired some of the children were
already asleep when they got there. The buzzing of the bees was
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all she heard and when she sat down her back to a wall she fell
asleep too.
The morning came quickly. It seemed like only a little while ago
they went to sleep. Beth had the boys and a couple of the girls
to help and they went into the cupboard again for breakfast.
They ate several cans of green beans, some stewed tomatoes; a
couple cans of Okra and a large half gallon can of fruit
cocktail. It was all washed down with water. Beth decided to go
back to the mine and this time she was thinking a little better
and posted sentries with rifles out toward where they came from.
She stepped out of the cabin into the blazing sunshine. It was
early and it was already hot. She stared off into the distance
and the sky was blue with a few white puffy clouds drifting
toward the East. High above them was a hawk looking for
breakfast. She had to pee so she went toward the mine and turned
right into the trees. That’s when she saw it. A burrow was tied
to a tree and it died right there and the poor thing probably
either died from lack of water or food or both. It was a pile of
bones and some of the hide was still there covering the bones.
It looked sad. This place was a tragic tale told in death and
misery over riches.
The same old story she saw many cases that either was about
money or sex or both. She was hardened by the life she led and
she was good at what she did. She heard the nasty little
comments by some of the other agents when she was in training
and she vowed to best them all and she finished at the top of
her class. One guy in particular she body slammed while doing a
Judo class. She hurt him and it put his attitude about her in
the proper perspective. She was smiling as she recalled the
incident.
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In the morning when everyone was fresh and after a good night’s
sleep they would move on. She found a good place to pull her
jeans down and emptied her bladder. It felt good and when she
was done she got herself presentable and walked away. She wanted
to check out the mine a little bit during the daylight hours.
Back at the cabin she laid down the rules about wandering off
and about going over toward the cliff. The boys were placed on
guard and her, Matt and Davey went to the mine.
Inside they walked about fifty feet past where they found the
skeleton and the box full of gold and found another box with two
smaller onesnext to it. Inside the large box was dynamite. It
was labeled 50%. She knew what that meant; it signified the
sticks were 50% nitro-glycerin. Good stuff. In the little box
were dynamite caps, the non-electric types. In another box they
almost didn’t see was a box with the fuse, the burning kind you
light with a match. She examined the dynamite carefully and it
didn’t appear to have any nitro leaking out of it anywhere. It
is customary to turn the box 180 degrees periodically to prevent
that from happening. They dragged the boxes out and decided that
this was a keeper. She loaded about ten sticks with the caps and
fuse by making a hole in the stick on one end in the center,
placing a twelve inch fuse in the cap, crimping the fuse with a
pair of crimping pliers which were in the box with the fuse and
then burying it down into the stick. The twelve inch fuse was
about a thirty second delay. To be sure they took a piece off
the roll and lit it to see how long it would take. Thirty
seconds was adequate for their purposes. Beth measured it from
her index finger to her elbow. Just a little more than a twelve
inches but good enough. The critical point was the second on the
watch. She just needed a place to use as a guide initially for
later.
They had supper, the children now energized were outside playing
and as darkness settled in on them they turned in for the night
only this time they posted sentries. In the morning they would
continue pushing forward toward that big ranch up there in those
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mountains. She said a small prayer that it was still there when
they got there.
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Chapter Twenty One Avalon
Children Brigade
As they moved away from the cabin and mine it was with
reluctance. They did the charitable thing and buried the three
sets of bones before leaving with the picks and shovel left in
the excavation. Beth split the loads of the gold, dynamite and
food between all the children and the entourage moved out in
single file.
The going was somewhat cooler but still difficult due to the
terrain. It was rocky but in the shade of the tall ponderosa
pines it was less of a challenge. They stopped frequently so the
smaller children like Glory could rest and remove the load they
carried. The bugs buzzing around the faces of everyone were
tormenting them all to a person. They were fierce and
persistent. After the brief rest they pushed on. Beth frequently
took her small pocket compass out and referred to the readings
it gave her. She headed north dead on as best they could manage.
Traveling a compass course isn’t like putting the needle on
north and walking. The changes are frequent and have to be
adjusted in order to stay on track.
In three hours of walking broken up by fifteen minute rests
every hour they came out of the thinning trees and arrived on an
old dirt road. It traveled in a north south direction. It was
tempting to follow it north but she knew that was a foolish
move. Traveling on a road made them exposed to anything or
anyone coming or going and since they were mostly children, she
couldn’t risk the contact. There was little protection in this
area. The rocky outcroppings were long behind them and the trees
were thinning out. They were vulnerable here. She needed to move
them in to an area with more places to hide or somewhere that
offered some sort of protection. She heard them coming well
before they reached her and her group. She screamed at them.
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“Run toward the trees, run!”
They ran deeper into the trees and she yelled again.
“Lay down on the ground!”
Everyone went down on their stomachs and the slavers went by on
dirt bikes in a couple of minutes oblivious to the small mounds
off to one side hugging the dirt. They passed leaving a large
dust cloud hovering in places and swirling in others. She
decided it was going to be a better plan to go back into those
trees than out here exposed like they were. That was close. She
yelled at them,
“Back toward the trees, quickly!”
The small group trudged back into the sparse trees and turned
north. They walked and the trees began to be separated by larger
distances stretching off into long rolling yellow grass covered
hills. She saw a few rock outcroppings here and there but no
wide profusion of them. The trees stood alone or in small groups
separated by as much as several hundred feet before coming to
another. The road however, was down and away from them as they
traveled this high prominence and it was unlikely they would be
seen unless they remained here for a long time. Several children
whined about wanting to rest but she drove them on. They had to
find another place with more cover away from this wide exposure
they found themselves in. In another hour they were on higher
ground and there were thickets of trees again. Here under the
pines and the scatterings of golden Madrona trees, they found a
level spot that was under a heavy accumulation of the pines and
they peeled off their loads and sat or laid down in the shade.
Beth had the boys carrying the water to go among the others and
made sure they drank some of it.
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It would have been easy to close her eyes and fall off into a
sleep. She was nodding as her mind raced off into a distant time
and she was at Quantico, Virginia on the firing line. The
command to stop firing was given and the students stopped
shooting. She knew she did well. Her dad taught her early on how
to shoot and she was good at it. The targets were reeled in and
her instructor eyed her grouping and grunted but smiled at her
and moved to the next target and student. They were all in the
ten. A nice grouping sitting inside a space the size of an
apple, the guy was dead if it was in actuality a man. The
student next to her was admiring her grouping and he said to
her,
“Nice group little lady, where’d you learn to shoot like that?”
She was tugging at her arm and the dream evaporated. It was one
of the smaller girls and she was holding something in her hand.
It wriggled and squirmed and the girl said,
“Look at the big worm I found.”
Beth looked at it and suddenly found herself backing away from
it as she scooted on her butt. She slapped the girls arm and the
baby rattler fell to the ground. Beth shoved the girl away from
it and the girl fell to the ground and began to cry. She stomped
it repeatedly until she was satisfied it was dead and said,
“Where did you find that thing?”
She was nearly frantic and the girl was frightened and her
crying increased.
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“Where?”
The girl pointed and there were other children dancing around
the small snakes that were coming out of a small hole in the
ground. Beth screamed at them and they turned and looked at her
like little robots.
“Get away from those things!”
The children understood there was danger and Beth’s voice being
shrill as it was they moved away from the snakes and she ran
over to them and began stomping the snakes to death. When she
was satisfied they were all dead she said,
“Was anyone bitten by those things?”
They didn’t speak. They were afraid to. She examined the
children checking their arms, hands, and legs for any tell tale
signs of a bite and were satisfied they had gotten lucky this
time. There were no bites obvious. She raised her head to the
blue sky above and said under her breath.
“Thank you God for sparing these children one more time.”
“Let’s go; we’re moving away from this spot.”
The kids picked up their packs and loads and began to move out.
Some grumbled and others complained, and slowly they began to
walk away toward the north. Beth absent mindedly took out her
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compass and looked at it. Satisfied with what she saw she walked
to the front of the children and took the lead.
In another hour they were all tired and she said,
“Look around and make sure there are no more worms here and no
ant hills. Be careful where you sit down.”
Jimmy yelled to her,
“There are bees coming out of the ground over here,”
They moved again and this time there were no dangers to the
children when they all sat down and removed the loads they
carried.
Beth looked around and saw they were on the side of a large
sweeping hill that was laid out in a large rolling undulating
panorama of one yellow hill merging into the next continuously
and it was that way as far as one could see. Once again she was
in an exposed situation. Only this time there was no place to
move to. They were going to be here for a while. There was no
way she could adjust their position but looking again, way down
below the hills was what appeared to be a winding valley. It
might be an old creek or river bed that snaked its way through
the hills. The cottonwood trees she saw appeared to follow some
sort of a path. Where there are green trees there was water she
surmised and the walk was only a couple of miles. If she was
wrong the climb back up here on this prominent place was going
to be grueling. No matter where they went from here other than
down to those trees, it was going to be uphill all the way. She
decided to let them rest and go for it once everyone was rested.
She was tired and she knew they were too.
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In an hour they headed down toward the small valley below them.
It was a steep walk and she worried the whole time someone was
going to fall and start rolling like a ball. In a couple of
hours they were under a clump of cottonwood trees and no one was
any worse for the trek other than being tired. She decided to
get some food out and let everyone eat a little. They chatted
and laughed and they were beginning to be more like children
again considering how meek and scared they were when she first
met them.
She had a dozen cans of apple sauce to top off the meal of
canned spaghetti and mini meatballs. One water container from
Glory’s hidden closet was empty and they left it there. What
remained was the full canteens and the other five gallon bottle.
She decided to split it between the other bottle and the empty
one, the only problem was there was no lid or stopper and it
would slosh around if she did that. She changed her mind and
decided against that plan. They couldn’t afford to lose a single
drop. Here in this place there was no water, but she did have a
plan. When they were done eating, she had them bury the trash.
It was best to leave this place as unnoticeable as they could in
case anyone came along behind them later. They kept several of
the empty cans for later.
In a number of hours of walking along the old creek bed they
came to a rocky area that displayed a large outcropping of
enormous rocks jutting out of the ground, they camped below one
of them for the night. It got cold and the children slept
together in a group like puppies. It kept them warmer, but it
was cold that night. Beth dug a hole over in the middle of the
creek bed and cut some vegetation from the plants growing at
random and lined the hole with the green vegetation. She sat one
of the apple sauce cans down in the hole in the middle and
spread a piece of plastic sheeting she had with her. Placing
that over the hole she put rocks around the edges of the plastic
to hold it in place. A small hole was cut in the middle of the
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plastic. A small rock was placed down in the middle of the sheet
and it stretched it downward making it look a bit like a crater.
In the morning hopefully there would be some water in the apple
sauce can from the humidity of the ground itself and the
vegetation. She turned in for the night and she set up another
couple of the older kids with rifles to stand guard while the
majority slept.
In the morning they finished the last of the food but everyone
was fed adequately, and the water was going fast. She went over
to her water still and the can was half full. She tried it and
it tasted like apple sauce, so she drank it all. It was time to
dismantle her still which she did and put everything in her
pack. It was almost time to move out. She got the boys with
rifles and pistol to gather around her and she drew a picture of
a circle on the ground with a stick. She began to talk to the
boys,
“This circle is your target.”
She drew just below that a depiction of the letter “U” and said,
“This is the rear sights on the pistols and your rifles. Can
everyone see that?”
Then she drew a double line inside of the “U”. She connected the
two vertical lines with a small bar at the top of them.
“This represents the front sight on the weapons, notice the
distance between the two sides are the same? Also notice the
circle is sitting on top of the sights? When you site on a
target you take a breath, hold it and place the sights on the
target just like this drawing. Squeeze the trigger slowly and
when your weapon fires it should be a surprise. If you squeeze
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it quickly you will jerk the rifle and you’ll miss what you’re
aiming at any questions?”
“One last thing, steady your rifle on the ground or against a
tree. Make sure it’s something solid. It will help to keep the
rifle from weaving around. You want the sights on your target if
you expect to hit it.”
“Okay Tom, repeat what I said.”
They listened to him. He gave it back nearly word for word.
“Very good, now you do the same.”
They all repeated what she said and she was satisfied they
understood.
“Okay boys, one last thing. We don’t have tons of bullets, so
every shot must be a good one, if you miss it could be the cause
of one of us dying. Make the bullets count every time you fire.
If you do it the way I just showed you, you’re going to do just
fine. We have to make every shot fired count, understand?”
She looked over at the youngster, who was an NRA member and
asked him,
“What was your best shot?”
He said,
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“Excuse me?”
“How far was the best shot you ever fired?”
He understood and answered,
“Three hundred yards.”
“You aren’t lying to me?”
He said,
“No Ma’am I got a trophy and everything.”
“Okay, you will be the group’s sniper. Are you afraid to kill
someone?”
He said,
“If it’s a slaver, I have no problem.”
She asked him,
“What’s your name?”
He answered,
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“It’s Jason, Jason Smith.”
She believed he made the shot, it was said with a conviction
that was unmistakable. The boy meant it. She turned to the
others and looked each one in the eye and asked them the same
thing, and they all had a hard look and they nodded their heads.
She said,
“You have to be sure boys, this isn’t a game, and this is all
about whether any of us lives or dies after the dust settles.”
She looked at them and she was satisfied they meant it. If and
when the time came to prove it would be when they would be
tested for real. She knew an agent who was a boastful kind of
guy and always talked about if and when the time came to face
off with a bad guy and to listen to him tell the story he was
all heroes rolled up into one man, him. The first firefight and
he was shot in the head because he hesitated when he had the
advantage of the draw. So much for the big mouth hero,a dead one
as it turned out. They didn’t have long to wait. When they
continued through the small valley following the old creek it
came out into an opening and dead ahead was a camp of slavers.
They had tents set up and motorcycles parked all over the place.
Some of them were riding in circles and shooting guns into the
air. Dust was spreading into the air resembling an explosion.
They were screaming and yelling and just having a great time.
Off to one side below some small trees were bound captives tied
to a rope stretching between two of the sturdier trees. They
looked pitiful, gaunt, dirty and listless as if the energy
inside of each of them was gone. There were three men and four
women. No children could be seen. Beth backed away a few
hundred yards and they waited until it was dark. She discussed
the plan with the older armed boys. They would go in and see
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what they could do for the captives and retrieve any food if
there was any. They were to be sharp and no talking and no
noise. Each boy not only had a sidearm, but also a rifle or
shotgun and a sheath knife. In addition, she gave each boy three
sticks of dynamite and several matches out of her precious
little stockpile. The children were sent further back than they
were presently. On her command they moved slowly toward the
camp, crouched over. She was to place Jason in the middle and
behind her.
The camp was well lit up. They had highway flares tied to poles
that were stuck in the ground they were burning and with an evil
malevolent red glow. The whole camp flickered with red shadows
and the smell was that of sulfur. Three boys went right and
three went left. Beth came toward it from straight on. She
looked to see where her boys were she was satisfied with their
positions. Jason laid on the ground and spread his legs apart
wide as he was taught to do and steadied himself for the first
shot. She lit the fuse of one stick and counted to ten by saying
one thousand, two thousand ………and tossed the first stick next to
the largest of the tents. It went off with a deafening
explosion. It surprised her how loud it was. Dirt rained down on
her. There were several of the slavers standing over by one of
the campfires and they were thrown up into the air and then to
the ground. When they got up the first shots were heard and the
men who stood up went down. Several men came out of some of the
other tents and a second stick was thrown right near them.
Another huge explosion threw the slavers into the air, and she
wasn’t sure, but it sure looked like a lot of pieces of them
were flying too. The explosion and the subsequent shock wave hit
her in the face and it felt as if someone had slammed her in the
face with a pillow and hard. She discovered her nose was
bleeding. It was the concussion of the blast.
Shots were being fired but she couldn’t tell where they were
coming from. She saw him; he was off to the side of the camp and
he had a shotgun and was firing wildly at shadows. She took
careful aim and squeezed and he went down. Another slaver was
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shooting wildly and she took aim and before she could fire a
shot rang out and he spun around and went down. It was Jason
taking care of business. She felt so proud of them she could
hardly stand it. They were good boys after all and true to their
word. A slaver came up behind her without her being aware and
grabbed her, she tried to get to her knife but could not reach
it and a shot rang out he went down in a crumpled pile. It was
Tom Wyatt, and he waved at her. Several more slavers jumped on
dirt bikes and kick started them and took off. She fired at one
and it looked like she got him but he didn’t fall and got away.
Beth went over to the rope tether and let the hostages go. They
were so undernourished they hardly knew they were free one man
thanked her and said,
“Come here, I want to show you something.”
She followed him and off to one side of the camp was a pile of
bones. All small, the bones of human children and counting the
little skulls there were more than thirty of them. It was too
much and she bent over and began to vomit. The boys came to her
side and one of them was rubbing her back. Just when she thought
it was over she convulsed and retched some more.
The entire camp was on fire here and the dead were lying
over the ground. Many of the slavers had limbs blown off
they had lots of side arms on them. Once Beth recovered,
the boys go around and collect all the food, weapons and
all
and
she had
water.
“If you see any clothing and blankets or anything of value take
that too.”
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She picked up a shotgun lying on the ground and checked to see
if it was loaded in the eerie red light from the torches that
were resting on their sides on the ground but still burning and
walked up to a slaver that was laying there with a leg blown
off. He was begging her for mercy and she blew his head off with
a blast of the shotgun. The rest of them that appeared to be
alive had their throats cut and left to lay there for the bugs
and birds to pick their bones white.
Chapter Twenty Two Avalon
The trek Continues
With the map spread out on the rock before her and she studied
it intensely. As best she could determine, Bishop was off to the
right about fifteen miles from this spot where they were camped.
It was how she planned it, passing it to her left. It was her
opinion safer than approaching Bishop head on. Looking at the
map she saw a road that led from Bishop over to the coast but it
bore straight into a small town by the name of Fitch. The road
continued toward the west from there after passing Fitch and
then split in three directions after that according to what she
could see. The highway went west toward the coast or, another
leg toward the south approaching Chico and one that bore right
and headed north toward Mount Shasta. It was an interesting
intersection. There must have been a reason for this town being
located there. As far as she could tell it was a small town of
no particular significance. As in her approach to Bishop she
wanted to side step this little town and if her memory served
her correctly the old railroad track bed was somewhere over to
the left of Fitch.
There was plenty of food from the ambush and the children and
the captives were eating as she came over to them and sat down.
A tin can full of pork and beans were offered to her by Glory
and she accepted. She just realized she was hungry. Tom Wyatt
came strolling over to her and he was carrying a pair of
binoculars in his hand. He stopped in front of her and handed
the field glasses to her and he was smiling. She reached over
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and took them and examined them for a moment. They were great
glasses. 8X50 zoom. She could really reach out and they were
“wide vision” whatever that meant? They looked new, hardly used
at all. She put them up to her eyes and tried them out. Off in
the distance was a tree standing alone and she focused the
lenses, first one and then the small slider that brought the two
sides together into sharp focus. She shifted the zoom slider and
everything came toward her.
“These are going to come in handy.”
She spoke to nobody just a comment of admiration, and then she
saw the movement. It was subtle but it was there and it was a
man on a dirt bike near a rock. He had a pair of binoculars and
he was looking at her group. He let the glasses rest against his
chest and he and the bike began to move and it appeared he was
heading toward Bishop. The man was studying her and the children
and it could mean trouble. They needed to get moving before he
could come back with reinforcements. She and the children were
no match for armed men. They were still children after all.
“Everybody! Listen to me!”
She was talking in a loud voice but not screaming at them. They
all looked at her and when she thought they were paying
attention Beth said,
“We may be in for company. I want everyone to gather up their
things and form a group over there; we’ll be leaving this place
in a little while,”
She was pointing to the place she wanted them to begin gathering
at. They stirred at her request to move and some of the children
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ran in play. One of the captives came toward her and she studied
him as he walked. She remained seated as he approached.
“Hi, I guess I should introduce myself, I’m Doctor Lenn Stroud.”
“Are you a medical doctor?”
“No, I’m a dentist. That is, I was before the war.”
“You’re still a dentist, Mister Stroud.”
“Please, it’s Lenn.”
“Olay, then, Lenn it is. I’m Beth Kelly nice to meet you.”
He smiled and he had
the perks of being a
was tall and slender
They shook hands and
perfect teeth. She guessed it was one of
dentist but the man had a nice smile. He
and not bad looking. He seemed nice enough.
she noticed he had a firm grip.
“What’s your plan?”
He was waiting for an answer, and she thought about it for a
brief time and responded casually by saying,
“Just a minute ago when I was testing out these new field
glasses I saw a man on a dirt bike. I’m positive the slavers are
200
watching us. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t try an
attack, especially once they realize we are mostly children.
He looked off where she indicated with the movement of her head
when she was talking and squinted his eyes but didn’t see
anything.
“He’s gone, he moved out just after I saw him. Do you have any
military training?”
He smiled at her showing those perfect teeth again and he
answered by saying,
“Sergeant Leonard Stroud at you service ma’am US Army Airborne.”
That was a stroke of luck. He saw the question in her eyes and
followed up by saying,
“G.I. Bill.”
“What was that?”
“I got out after six years and went to dental school at U.C.L.A.
using the G.I. Bill, I’m a Bruin.”
She was laughing and he wasn’t sure why and she saw the look and
explained,
201
“I’m a Bruin also, Accounting.”
Now he was smiling.
“Do you have any objection of my grabbing one of those street
sweepers over there? I’m sure I can do a better job with it than
that kid can.”
She answered by saying,
“Help yourself but don’t ever underestimate those boys, they
follow orders and they can shoot. They also have a lot more guts
than some men I’ve met in my days.”
“Incidentally, are you ex-military as well?”
She answered him,
“Special Agent Beth Kelly, Federal Bureau of Investigation at
your service. I’ve been trying to evade those slavers since
right after the nukes began to fall. I hate those sickos more
than anything I’ve ever hated in my life. All twenty-six years
of it. How’d they get you?”
“Kind of an embarrassing story really, I was asleep under a tree
when they came along and the rest you know. I was with them for
about ten days. I think that woman over there might be a little
gone upstairs. I think they not only raped her but ate her
child.”
202
Beth looked over and the woman was sitting on the ground staring
at nothing and rocking back and forth continuously. She looked
devoid of feeling or any emotion whatsoever. She wasn’t eating
and could die if that continued.
Mathew came over and said,
“Beth, I think there are motorcycles over there.”
He pointed
looking at
take a few
She jumped
and when she looked they were sitting on their bikes
their little group from on top of the hill. It would
minutes to get here once they started down that hill.
up and screamed at the group of kids,
“Everybody, over here, get behind those rocks, everybody, now!”
The children stopped playing and ran for cover. The woman who
stared at the ground just sat there staring at nothing,
“Tom, Davey, bring me some of that dynamite. Be quick.”
She started digging in her pack and found the Blue Tips in the
plastic sandwich bag. She distributed the matches by giving five
to Tom, five to David, and five to Lenn. Each got three sticks
each. She said hurriedly,
“Toss them when they are close enough to you to nearly be able
to hit them with it. Light it, count to ten and throw.”
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She looked at Lenn and said,
“These are thirty second fuses. We test burned a piece of one
way back, wait ten seconds before you throw. They work pretty
well. We have some decent fire power now between us. I wouldn’t
trust anything longer than ten seconds, move!”
She looked around and said,
“Children, stay hidden. Boys make sure you keep each one of
those creeps on the “O” before you fire!”
The bikes were moving toward them by twos and threes. She
counted about thirty of them.
She shouted at her group,
“Don’t fire until I tell you to and make sure you’re behind some
cover. Here they come, get ready.”
They watched them come and could only see hand guns. A long gun
would have been a little difficult to use while they were
riding. They came straight for her little group and she
hollered,
“Get ready…… get a good bead on them………steady now, not
yet…….fire!” Four of them went down in the yellow grass at the
first volley and their motorcycles either fell or kept going and
then fell, then a loud boom went off and ten or more of them
204
went flying through the air along with their dirt bikes. One
bike landed on one of the bikers and crushed him instantly.
Another man blew apart into pieces. Several of the bikes caught
on fire. Another loud boom went off and more of the scumbags
went flying through the air. Five of them stopped and turned
around and headed toward the crest of the hill from where they
came from. Several more shots were fired from her boys, and
several more bikers fell into the dirt. Another stick went off
and at least a dozen bikers flew through the air when the stick
went off.
“Cease fire! Cease fire! Cease firing.”
A couple more shots were fired, and it was quiet. The yellow
grass was burning fiercely and moving away from them.
“Tom, Wyatt, Everybody, get over there and stomp out those fires
or the whole place will go up in flames, hurry. Lenn, go around
and check out those bikers and make sure they’re all dead. No
survivors and no prisoners. I’ve seen how they work and they
don’t deserve any mercy. You reap what you sow damn it!”
Lenn walked around surveying the dead and mutilated slavers.
Some of them were still alive. He tapped the man with his foot
and David ran over and slashed the man’s throat. Beth was
watching. Doctor Lenn was appalled and it was obvious. Beth was
looking at him and yelled,
“Hey Doctor, come over here.”
He walked toward her his sub-machine hanging limp pointing down
at the ground from his grip on the handle. Before he reached her
she said,
205
“Let’s get something straight right now Mister, when I give you
an order you either do it or you can pack it up and get the hell
out of here right now! We are not going to leave anyone who can
come after us from behind if there is anything we can do to
prevent it. Those people are scum and none of them deserve mercy
or any human charity from anybody. You got that Mister?”
He stood there and he towered over her five foot five stature.
The man must have been close to six seven or so. He said
finally,
“We are not animals, I am not an animal, and I refuse to do
that.”
She pulled the slide back on her sub-machine gun and made sure a
round was chambered, stepped back about three feet and pointed
the weapon toward his head and screamed at him,
“Then you best be moving along partner ‘cause you don’t belong
with us anymore. Thanks for your help in the fight, but we won’t
be needing your help any longer. Tom and Davey make sure they’re
all dead and then escort Mister Doctor here out and away from
us.”
Several of the children were screaming and crying and scared
witless. The woman who was staring at the ground got up and went
to them and motioned for them as she went down on her knees
encouraging them to come to her and she wrapped her arms around
those who were crying and comforted them. One little girl was
shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, and the woman stroked her
hair and they put their heads together.
206
“I’m waiting Mister, don’t mess with me, I’ll off you so fast
you won’t know you’re dead for a hundred years and all of a
sudden you realize it. I said get!”
“Is it too late to offer an apology?”
She glared at him for a long moment. No one knew what she was
going to do until she dropped her weapon’s working end to the
ground and her thumb slid the safety in place. She said in a low
voice and she made eye contact with the man,
“Don’t ever challenge me again. The next time I will shoot you
dead. There will be no more conversations like this. The only
reason I am doing this is because I believe we may need your
expertise later where we are going, but I will be obeyed and I
will not tolerate any insubordination period. We are at war and
I can’t afford to watch my back because I can’t trust someone. I
offer no apologies, the only reason we have made it this far is
because we have worked as a team. You are a part of that team
but not that important until you have proven yourself first.
Look at those boys there, they are not boys anymore, they are
men in mind if not in body and they are good soldiers. They do
what they are told, so that’s settled, we will talk no more of
this.”
She turned toward her soldiers and said,
“Everybody, let’s go through all these bodies and check them out
and see what they have on them. Gather up all the firearms and
put them in the cart. Take it all. Watches, rings, bracelets,
gold chains around their necks, bullets, everything, don’t leave
anything that can be used. Check out the bikes too, if there is
anything on the bikes take it, none of these guys will be
needing anything from now on.”
207
She turned to her three little warriors and said,
We’ll be leaving in a few minutes. We’re going to a place called
Fitch.
208
Chapter Twenty Three Avalon
Fitch
It was a good haul from the dead slavers. They had lots of arms
and ammunition, an assortment of gold neck chains, bracelets,
watches and rings, several canteens full of water, pistols,
sheath knives, folders, and some good clothing that would come
in handy. She decided to split some of the blankets in quarters
making squares out of them. Then she put a slit in the middle of
those with her sheath knife. Placing one of those over the head
of a child made for a great makeshift coat. It covered them down
to the hip area. With a piece of rope or cloth tied around the
middle it stayed out of the way. If their arms got cold all they
had to do was put them behind the blanket piece. Many of the
bikers had hats and these were distributed among the children
and the adults. They counted the dead slavers and they left
thirty-one lying on the ground to feed the birds and insects and
probably a few coyotes.
They stopped several times; the children needed to rest, eat and
drink some water. They found quite a bit of food on the bikes
and that added to their stock but every stop depleted it that
much more. They would run out of food completely in another few
days at the latest. She was nibbling on a piece of dried fruit
and the woman who stared off into space came walking toward her.
She waited as she approached and the woman stopped in front of
her and said,
“If no one cares, could I have something to eat?”
Beth blinked and was caught without anything to say but
recovered and said,
209
“Someone bring this woman something to eat.”
One of the younger of the boys ran to her with a can full of
pears and handed it to the woman. She said in a soft voice that
was barely audible,
“Thank you very much.”
She turned and walked back toward the children and sat down
among several of them. The children liked her and sat close. She
began to eat the fruit quietly.
Lenn walked over and said,
“What’s the plan boss?”
She looked to see if there was any sarcasm in the remark and
didn’t notice any and she relaxed. She smoothed the map out and
picked up a small branch laying off to one side of her foot and
said,
“As best I can determine we are here.”
She pointed to an area on her map with the twig.
“If we continue our compass course in this direction, we will be
on the southern out skirts of Fitch, that’s this little town. I
expect with the speed we’re traveling, we should make it there
in another three or four days with lots of rest in between and
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stops to eat. The place I’m taking everyone to is over here
approximately. When I was a kid I went there with my father and
we camped out along the way. There is an old railroad track bed
that skirts the side of the mountain and it will take us right
to it. It is a large ranch house or something, I can’t remember
that much about it, but I remember it was very large and
abandoned.”
Lenn reached over and picked up the map and looked at it a
little closer, and studied it. He looked at it for a couple of
minutes and traced his finger over an imaginary line he drew on
it. Satisfied he said,
“Do you think it’s still there, I don’t see anything on this
map?”
She looked at him and replied,
“God, I hope it is. There’s no place else to go for us. In a few
days we’ll be out of food and I don’t think many of them will
make it without food.”
She was looking over at the woman and some of the smaller kids
around her, and he just nodded. She was right of course; few of
them would make it. It was amazing to him they made it this far.
In a half hour they were packed and ready to walk some more.
There was no more trouble except for one small inconvenience.
While they were walking toward Fitch, one of the children was
playing with a kitty cat, except it wasn’t a kitty at all. It
was a skunk, and it seemed happy to be trotting along with the
group and especially the children. She smelled it, but it didn’t
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occur to her it was with them until she saw it. One of the boys
enticed the smelly creature away with some canned meat, and as
it ate they moved away in double time putting distance between
the smelly little animal and them.
They walked until nearly all of them were exhausted and needed
a place to rest. The skies were clear and sunny. She prayed it
didn’t snow or anything else to make things harder. In another
hour when everyone was complaining loudly, they found a spot and
they camped. There was a small stream going by dancing and
playing on the rocks as it hurried away to some far off
destination. She saw a fish jump and they sure could use some
fresh fish. It would do them a lot of good if they could catch a
few. When she looked closer, there were several of them slowly
swimming along unconcerned that they were about to become food.
The Dentist came to her side and said,
“I learned an old trick in survival school how to catch them.
Want me to try?”
She nodded and he went about making a fish trap in the stream
bed. He piled rocks up on two sides and left an opening that was
nearly as large as it was wide, but it got narrower and made a
couple of turns and then there was a large area again where he
piled the rocks higher than the water level. They stood back and
watched the fish swim into the trap. First it was one, then two
and then five and the kids were squealing with delight having
made a game of it. Fifteen fish swam into the trap in twenty or
so minutes and they began to catch them with their hands, which
brought on another series of howls and laughter from the kids.
Beth decided that they would chance it and build a smokeless
fire. They gathered stones and brought them to a spot where the
fire would be and made a circle of the stones. The children
began gathering small dried sticks they burn rapidly and won’t
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smoke. They got the fire going and it was smokeless. They built
a small brace for the sticks that held the fish. It was an
inverted “U”. First two branches with a fork in them were found.
They were limbed and the bottom part opposite the forks was
sharpened. One of the children brought an empty tin can and as
one person poured water on one side of the fire pit into the
ground one of the pointed sticks was rammed up and down in the
wet spot and down and it began to bury itself deeper and deeper
until it was down in the dirt a foot and a half. They did the
other side the same way until that branch was buried. They piled
several rocks around the base of each branch to support them and
placed a brace off each one coming down at a forty-five degree
angle opposite the direction where the weight was going to be
placed against the top piece, and the cross piece from one fork
to the other was added making a brace across the top.
The gutted fish were stuck mouth first on a sharpened stick and
laid against the top brace at an angle near enough the fire but
not right over it, and they began to cook. They had them all on
sticks and cooking in about a half hour from the start of the
project to the cooking part. In fifteen minutes they were
beginning to drip juices. Everyone gathered around the fire and
stared at the cooking fish. No one said anything but the smell
nearly had some of them drooling. They stared and thought about
how good they were going to taste. In the meantime there were
more fish in the trap that took care of the problem of having
enough to go around.
The watch was posted from the four cardinal positions on a
clock, one at twelve o’clock, three o’clock, and six o’clock and
nine o’clock positions out and away from the camp in plenty of
space to give the rest of them an opportunity to defend
themselves if necessary. They were all armed with shotguns. Her
idea;it was probably a better way to have them armed because the
chances of them hitting a target was probably better that way.
Everybody was hungry. She was happy there was going to be enough
fish to go around. She felt like she could eat five or six of
them herself.
213
When the meal was done later, most of the children gathered
around the silent woman and fell fast asleep. Beth was nodding
off and she was talking to her dad. He was saying,
“You’re a smart girl Beth, just like your mom was and if she was
still alive she would be so proud of you for what you’ve done
with your life. You are what makes a man proud. You have made my
life complete and you filled the emptiness that was there after
your mom died. You will make some man a lifelong companion some
day and he will be as proud of you as I am. I hope you choose
well and you support him when that time comes. I hope I am alive
to see it when that time arrives.”
He would not be. He died when she was sixteen and left her
determined to be all that she could be, and she was still
working on it.
She only had a couple of serious relationship. Most of the men
she met and liked were flawed in some way, but with serious
introspection she decided it wasn’t just them, it was her too.
She wanted a career. The baby thing might be in the cards later,
but right now she was building a life for herself that suited
her and there was little that got in the way of it. In reality,
she didn’t have the time required to build a relationship so she
stayed focused and solo. There was talk she was a Lesbian and
she scoffed at those little digs, to herself of course. She
liked men almost too much but she was in control. Occasionally
when the need was there, she could always get one for the night.
She often said to herself,
“If there’s an itch scratch it.”
It was a pleasant enough morning but cold, colder than usual.
Looking off in the distance, the mountain tops had snow on them.
214
After all it was December something or other. They were lucky it
wasn’t colder. All of them had warm clothing now thanks to the
slavers, and the weather seemed to be in some sort of high with
incredible mild days. The evenings were cold and so were the
mornings but the days were great. She hoped the weather held
together for another week tops.
They finished eating and began to walk after she checked her
compass again. They were on the correct bearing to get to the
southern end of Fitch probably in the afternoon tomorrow. There
were no signs of the slavers so far and again she felt grateful
for that. The food was getting low. They had several fish packed
away and they could nibble on those in between. She left the
bulk of the distribution of the food for the children when they
stopped.
They walked and stopped and did it again. Until, it was the last
campout before they reached Fitch. It might be a possibility
they could do a little exploring and come away with some food.
It was hard to tell what was what anymore. You never knew if
someone was going to take a potshot at you or not. There was
that time before she headed toward the High Desert. She was
approaching a motor home sitting in what looked to be a vacant
RV Park and out of nowhere someone started shooting at her for
no reason. She yelled at the shooter,
“Federal Agent put your weapon down!’
They man yelled back at her,
“Blow it out your ass federal agent!”
215
It was the times they lived in. Maybe they would get lucky at
Fitch and be welcome. They would know the answer very soon.
“Let’s camp here for the night and set the watch!”
Tomorrow they would walk a little longer and she wanted to go
into Fitch and check it out.
Chapter Twenty Four Avalon
The smell of death
The walk was grueling. On the third hour of the march to the big
ranch, on this day, less than four or five days from the refuge,
the silent woman fell over and was dead. They never knew her
name or where she was from. Nothing at all about a human being,
who lived, loved, suffered horribly and then she was dead. No
one was sure of the date, but she had mourners, and that was
fitting and they laid her to rest in a shallow grave and stacked
216
rocks on her final resting place. The only thing any of them
knew was that she suffered at the hands of the slavers and never
was able to fully put it out of her mind whatever was left of
it. Many of the children had become attached to her in a way
that children bond with certain people. Glory cried the rest of
the day. When the ceremony was over, they had to leave her and
push on toward Fitch. Glory wanted to stay but Beth explained to
her that it was impossible to leave her because none of them
were coming back this way, maybe ever. That did it and she fell
into line with the others.
The funeral put them behind an hour but as they pushed on it
began to grind away on Beth. The insecurities of the final legs
began to eat at her with indecision. She kept asking herself the
“what ifs.” What if the ranch was no longer there? What if it
was already taken over by slavers? What if this and what if that
and it nearly caused her to lose her resolve? She stopped and
said to herself,
“It will be there, and we will be safe.”
That solved the issue for her and she hurried a bit to catch up
with the others. About another hour from Fitch they stopped and
ate one last time. There was no more food left. The water was
topped off and there was plenty for a week or so, but the food
was gone with this meal. She didn’t say anything but some of
them knew. When everyone was rested and the food was eaten they
began to march again.
In another forty minutes a large fly landed on her face and as
she went to shoo it off, it stayed there and she had to
physically remove it. Then another one landed and that one was
swiped off her cheek, and then she noticed the others were
shooing flies away from their faces. And that was when she heard
it, it was a low hum. The flies were getting thicker as they
traveled toward Fitch. Once they rose to the top of a small hill
and they came out of the thick fir trees, she saw the fires.
217
Half the town was on fire and the hum was louder. It was flies.
The big shiny green ones, and there were the big shiny blue
ones, and others and they were everywhere. She yelled to the
others,
“Put something over your mouth and face…………….”
A fly flew into her mouth and she spit it out and nearly puked.
It was only with a massive effort she didn’t lose her stomach
contents. There was no more food. The flies were trying to get
into people’s mouths, their eyes, and their ears. The children
were screaming and everyone ran back into the woods from where
they just came from. They all collapsed in a group pile after
about fifteen minutes of running. They were all breathing hard
from the effort. She was at a brick wall. What was she going to
do now?
*****************
“What’s the matter Mike?
You look bothered about something.”
“Wha….what was that?”
Dan was standing in front of him and he was talking to him and
he was lost in thought and didn’t get what he was saying, so he
said again,
“What did you say Dan?”
I said,
218
“You looked like you were in a pretty deep thought and you
looked a little worried, what’s up?”
Mike stared off into the nothingness and he looked as if he was
looking at something specific, but there was nothing there. He
said,
“Dan, when we were coming back from the Roach Hotel with the
rest of the group as I was coming to the really great vista of
the valley below, you know the one where it is nearly straight
down and it curves around the mountain and the river look like a
silver ribbon down there………?”
“Yes, I know the place.”
“I saw something strange that day. There were hundreds of fire
down there but it’s so far away I couldn’t tell what was going
on down there, and I am curious enough that I want to go back
down and check it out.”
“What for? Does it matter?”
“It does to me.”
“Who will you take with you?”
Mike thought about it for a moment and answered by saying,
219
“I’ll have to ask, but I think Roger will go, maybe Sam or
Gregg, I’m not sure.”
“When would you go?”
“As soon as possible, I have this feeling about something I
can’t put my finger on, and the only way to know is to go down
there and check it out.”
“You know, don’t you, Caroline is going to have a baby, and she
won’t like it.”
“A baby? Caroline? I’m going to be a …... me and Caroline?”
“That’s right my friend, you’re going to be a dad.”
Mike leaped to his feet and was out the door and headed for the
Clinic.
She was in the middle of looking down the throat of a child when
he came in. He grabbed her by the waist, lifted her into the air
and the lozenge went flying across the room. She started to
laugh and he stopped her with a kiss. When she broke for air she
said,
“What in the world has gotten in to you Michael?”
He kissed her again, and she resisted a little but then pushed
away again and said,
220
“Michael!”
He said,
“I just found out, I’m going to have a baby.”
“Now that’s going to be some trick Michael.”
“No, no, I mean you’re going to, we’re going to, you know what I
mean.”
She was laughing and he had a look on his face of total nonunderstanding and she laughed some more.
***************
Beth, Lenn, Davey and Tom were on their stomachs crawling toward
the small crest of the hill. From here they were able to look
into the town of Fitch with the field glasses. They stopped and
her arms were propped up on her elbows and she swept the main
street with the glasses. There were no lights on in any of the
buildings but the light from the various fires lit the place up.
There didn’t appear to be anything moving down there. There was
a car in the street with the hood up, a bicycle was lying on the
sidewalk, a fire reflected in the window of a small shop and she
could see the window was broken in a corner and the glass was
laying on the sidewalk and it the pieces flickered as it
reflected the fire too. It was a ghost town of sorts. She
finally said, handing the glasses to Lenn,
221
“We have to go down there. Go get Jason and have him come back
here with a rifle and tell him to bring lots of bullets for it.”
The boy took off running back to the others in a run.
“It looks like something happened down there Lenn, what do you
think?”
He was looking through the glasses and said,
“Un huh. Yep.”
He handed the glasses back to her and said,
“Look at the passenger side of the car.”
She did, and she saw it too, it was someone sitting there
slumped against the window but low, almost slumped all the way
down in the seat. The head was tilted up and was turned away
from them. All you could see was a dark shadow instead of hair.
It was a person alright.
She swept the area several more times and could not see anything
in the shadows, the flickering fires were almost all you could
see from here. Jason lay down next to her. She turned and looked
at him and she said,
“Jason we’re all going to go down there and have a look around,
when we get down there I want you to climb up to a spot where
222
you can cover us. If you need some help someone will give you a
boost. We need you to watch our backs so keep your eyes moving
from left to right all the time. Understand.”
He said,
“Un huh.”
They moved out toward the town.
Doctor Dan said in a low voice as if he didn’t want anyone else
to hear,
“Mike, about twenty years ago a small town by the name of Fitch
was situated down there in that little valley it only had about
five or six hundred people living there. It was settled a little
before Eli started the ranch. They had an assayers’ office for
determining the value of a claim, a claims office where people
could file a claim of the claim stake in the mountains and hills
all around here in case they struck it rich and could make a
legal claim to the land. There was a jail and a public gallows
and they had a doctor down there. There was also a lawyer and
three or four houses. Later the town grew to about five hundred
people and stayed that way until about twenty years ago.”
“People tired of the rat race in the big cities moved here, and
then another family came and so on. One man built a factory
there that made computer chips. Then a gas station went in,
followed by a school. And a few more houses. The word got out
about the clean mountain air and water and the town swelled to
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about fifteen thousand people in five years. The main highway
from Bishop went right down the middle of the town. The land
values skyrocketed and all that property along the highway was
like gold.”
“They were sheltered down there until the war started. After
that there was no word coming out of there and the rest of the
world’s more or less lost touch with the residents. It could
still be there in one piece, but the bikers were moving this way
and who knows what happened to the town or the people. You boys
be careful down there. I wish you weren’t going to be honest
with you.”
“Let’s each take a radio, a sub-machine gun, a couple of hand
guns, Sam. You want one of my grenades? The usual stuff, I
expect the trip there and back max two days tops. I want to take
some extra food okay. I think we’re ready.”
Mike looked at him and said matter-of-factly,
“You know Doc; a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
He smiled and winked at Caroline. She was trembling. A tear
slipped down her cheek and fell away.
“Don’t worry sweetheart. I’ll be back soon enough and then
you’ll get so tired of me you’ll want me to leave again for a
few days.”
Her hands went to her face and she began to cry. Her shoulders
shook and Mike reached over and wrapped her in his arms, and
kissed her forehead and her lips, and then pulled away and said,
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“Stop that wench, if we keep this up, I won’t go.
They all laughed except Caroline. The men went outside, cranked
up their dirt bikes and away they went through the big firs
headed toward the hidden bunker. Caroline watched them go and
was rubbing her stomach as she watched them go until they were
out of sight.
*************
Beth was at the edge of the main street and it was smelling like
open sewage everywhere. It was so powerful that she had a tough
time breathing without having the urge to vomit. It was bad. She
walked up to the car she saw from the hill and it was a dead
woman. There was a dead man slumped down on the seat and his
head was nearly on her lap. There were hundreds of thousands of
flies on the overhead of the car, and maggots were crawling all
over the bodies. They all had to hold their hands over their
faces. The smell was beyond nauseating. She saw Jason crawl up a
fire escape ladder with a boost from Davey and he scrambled up
to the roof. She suggested they split up, she would take this
side of the street, Lenn the other and Davey could walk behind
her next to the walls. Tom was on the other side behind Lenn.
They walked down the street and on Beth’s side was a restaurant.
She looked inside and people were dead everywhere. They moved on
and there was a grocery store, one of the fires and there were
dead bodies lying on the floor. They walked for an hour and it
was the same everywhere, it had been ransacked and looted and
many of the people were dead. There were few dead women and no
children. It was the slavers that had been here.
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Chapter Twenty Five Avalon
Desperation
She was in a quandary. This was going to be more of a
Her ultimate goal was to get to the old ranch, but if
there in the dead of winter, and she had no illusions
cold it was going to be on top of that mountain, they
probably either freeze or starve. She didn’t think it
a whole lot of difference if they died here or there.
challenge.
they got
about how
would
would make
The quest to make it to the ranch was powerful. It was the
single thing that kept her focused on this entire journey and it
seemed now looking back on it that they were at it for months
rather than days. She was counting on finding food here at
Fitch. In fact she was hoping it would be the ultimate answer to
her fervent prayers and now it was no more than a place reeking
of the dead and full of flies that tormented one nearly to the
point of insanity.
She was at her wits end. She decided to get everyone involved in
the decision on this one. She called them all together in a
group. There were a total of seventeen of them. Two men, three
older teens, four younger teens like Matt, three women including
her, and the rest of them were younger children and no food. She
asked them to an individual and they all said more or less the
same thing. They wanted to stay right here until the flies died
off and then go into town and stay. Nobody had an answer for the
food situation except Lenn. He offered his suggestion by saying,
“We have only scouted a small portion of the town so far and not
all of it. Why don’t we go back tomorrow in the late afternoon
before its dark and search a little on the perimeters? Maybe we
will find something.”
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It was as good as anything else so it was settled on. They would
go in tomorrow evening and see what they could discover. Right
now they would go to bed hungry. Several of the children were
crying and complaining they wanted something to eat. It tore at
her heart to hear them. She tried to sleep but it was fitful and
she wasn’t sure she did and it was morning. They had to wait for
the dusk to go into town or the flies would drive them crazy. It
was a long day and the children constantly complained about
wanting food. Finally it was dusk and they prepared to walk down
to the town again.
They went down the street but there was no food to be had, Just
about all the shops that carried food were ransacked. Lenn did
see one place he wanted to explore, a dental office. He went
inside and found what he wanted. Tooth scrapers and picks and
various supplies for filling cavities. Drills, and filling
ingredients, epoxies, small mirrors, and more tooth picks. He
found a bag in a supply cabinet and filled it with the things he
needed. He found vials of anti-biotic and nova-caine and minisutures. He looked and found excellent grade stainless steel
syringes. There were other odds and ends, pliers, small
stainless inserts that could make a dam and the various pieces
used for building dental braces. If he could only find some pure
gold for some bridging and reconstruction of the bridging, but
that was a little too much to hope for. He took what he needed
and he took as much as he could carry. There was form casting
material and the items added up. It was a good haul and with
what he had he could do almost anything. The bag was heavy.
Back out on the street Beth and the boys were standing guard and
waiting for him. She commented,
“I was beginning to worry; you took your sweet time.”
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“I found almost everything I needed to fix someone’s teeth, I
can do nearly any job with this stuff and believe me, when you
need my services you need them.”
She knew that was true. There were a couple of times she needed
a dentist and although tedious and uncomfortable the visits were
worth it in the end. She said to them all,
“We need to go a little further, it’s critical we find some food
to take back with us.”
They traveled slowly and with care. The main road stretched out
in a straight line for a couple of miles. There were
restaurants, clothing stores, and a sporting goods store, other
shops and places of commercial enterprise followed the road down
both sides of the street in an unbroken line interrupted only by
the fires. The smell of the rotting dead was almost more than
she could bear. The sporting goods store was worthy of a visit.
She went inside like she was trained to do, back to the wall,
her covering fire to both sides of her, and as point she whipped
around the corner quickly and stepped inside with her revolver
pointing straight ahead, with a two hand stance quickly her back
was against the wall and she went into a crouch. It was dark and
hard to see, but although it had been ransacked, there were many
items of value left behind.
There was a display cabinet with the glass intact and there were
several different kinds of binoculars on the shelf. She signaled
for the boys to come over and help themselves. There were sheath
knives, and pocket knives mounted in a rack with a clear plastic
cover over it. It was opened and they were all taken. To one
side were baseball gloves and bats and balls. She wanted the
bats. Over on one side of the store was a wall full of archery
equipment. She ordered it all to be gathered up. In a few more
minutes they could carry no more and still no food. It was time
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to leave and go back to the group and the children. Davey wanted
to know how they were going to carry all the stuff. She sent him
back down the street to get the bicycle lying on the sidewalk.
He took off. She sent Tom into the sporting goods store and told
him to get the large table cloth that was in the main window
used as a prop for the display. Tom returned in a few minutes,
and Davey wasn’t long coming back with the bike.
“Lay the sheet on the ground and spread it out. Okay, that’s
good, now pile the things on the middle of the sheet. Okay, now
fold the four corners toward the middle and tie them in a knot.
Great, now boys one on each side of it and lift the bundle and
put it on the bike seat. That’s great. Now a boy on either side
of the bike to steady the load and let’s push it back to where
the rest of us are waiting.”
As they headed toward the outskirts of the wooded area where the
rest of them waited, they passed Jason; she whistled for him and
he poked his head over the top of the roof. She called to him,
“Come on down Jason we’re heading back.”
He scrambled down the fire escape and jumped the last few feet
to the pavement with a thud.
As they made their way back to where the others waited, she felt
hollow inside. She knew they would be expecting food not
hardware. They needed to meld into the trees, set up camp and
comeback after dusk to avoid the flies and do more exploring.
When they arrived most of the children were asleep and the
lookout challenged them as she approached. It made her proud
they learned so quickly. She said,
“Beth and the others Ricky.”
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“Okay Miss Beth, c’mon in.”
She laid her head down and tried to ignore the hunger pangs in
her stomach. Her mind was going from one thing after another and
she couldn’t go to sleep. She was really worried. Without food
they were all dead in another month, some of the young ones
sooner. This was bad, she had counted on their being some food
here and it was a ghost town full of the dead, an awful stink,
smoldering fires and those terrible flies. Just thinking about
them brought to mind the one that flew in her mouth and it made
her shiver involuntarily.
The next evening they started back again, only this time they
went around the town to the west walking down a road that was a
small asphalt covered strip and ran a couple of blocks away from
the main street paralleling it. All along the small street were
cars stopped haphazardly as if they suddenly ran out of gas and
were abandoned there. Here there were some houses, a car wash,
farther on they came to an auto repair shop, and beyond that
were more fires burning except these looked different than the
fires burning in the town. These were smaller. There was a
different odor. One of meat cooking. It was slight but it was
unmistakable, there was meat over a fire somewhere. They turned
down an alley that went behind the businesses and the homes.
They could not see anything but they heard noises ahead. It was
difficult to make out what it was because they were still too
far away from the source. She had them separate like before, a
few to the left and a few to the right. They walked slowly and
the smell increased in intensity. Now after another ten minutes
of walking they could see the pin point flickering of a couple
dozen fires at least. They continued to edge forward, and the
scene became clear in another ten minutes. It was a main
encampment of slavers and they were roasting dead children on
wooden spits over the fires. She stood there taking in the scene
and was mesmerized by the absolute unbelievable scene in front
230
of her eyes. She came to her senses and motioned for them to
fall back.
They had to have a plan and a good one. She did a very sketchy
count and there was probably over two or three hundred of them
camped over there. They didn’t see any captives but Beth was
sure they were there somewhere. She decided to fall back and
cross over to the other side of town, the opposite side of where
they were now. They kneeled in a circle like football players
and she told them what she thought they should do. No one
argued, and it sounded like a good plan to all of them. They
fell back about three blocks and cut over another five and came
out onto a large building with a parking lot all around it. It
looked abandoned but it was buttoned up tight when they got to
it. They walked all the way around it and it must have been a
couple of acres in size sitting there. There were several cars
in the parking lot but all appeared to be abandoned. She sent
Davey and Tom back to the auto parts store and asked them to
find and bring back a crow bar back with them. Beth, Lenn and
Jason walked around the building again, for another look. It
appeared to be untouched. Apparently the bikers were
concentrating on the west side of town and were ignoring this
area altogether. There had to be a reason. There was. A large
sliding door opened in front of them and there was a man’s
voice, it said,
“If you move a muscle you’re all dead. Put your weapons on the
ground”
And they did as they were told. The voice said,
I am Sheriff Bob Waters, and you can consider yourself all under
arrest. If you do anything you’ll be shot. Put your hands over
your head and walk toward me. Chris, can you cover them?”
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A voice from the roof said “we got ‘em covered Sheriff.”
Beth said,
“If you’ll allow me……….”
The Sheriff said,
“Shut up, you’ll get a chance to talk inside. Step this way and
do it now.”
They walked and the door closed as they stepped through the
threshold. Inside there was light. They must have had a
generator running somewhere. It was a store like one of the
warehouse types with huge shelves of everything imaginable. She
saw garden lawn mowers, shovels and food. Lots and lots of food
piled high on the big shelving units. The Sheriff that was
talking came forward and said,
“Okay missy, who are you and what are you doing here?”
Beth said
“Can we lower our hands?”
The man barked,
“No and answer my question damn you!”
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She spoke slow and deliberately,
“My name is Beth Kelly; I am a Special Agent with the Federal
Bureau of Investigation my credentials are in my pocket.”
He reached over and felt for them through her clothing. He found
something and relaxed his attitude.
“Okay Miss Kelly you and your people here can lower your hands.”
Just then a man said,
“Sheriff the kids that were with her are back.”
The Sheriff said,
“Let ‘em in Ralph.”
The boys were startled when the door began to open and they
stood there blinking in the light.
Beth introduced her people,
“This is David Driscol and Tom Wyatt. This is Lenn Stroud and
this boy is Jason Smith, our resident sniper and he’s a good
one.”
233
It took a while but Beth told them about the trek with the
children, about the high desert, and how they had gotten this
far. It was an incredible story and the people in the warehouse
gathered around. There were maybe fifty of them in there and the
Sheriff explained how the slavers came out of nowhere and began
killing people and they were overwhelmed. The slavers were all
armed and the townspeople weren’t. It wasn’t much of a battle.
They quickly rounded up all the women they could find and the
children and headed out of town.
Beth spoke up,
“They didn’t go far Sheriff, they are over on the west side a
few miles from here eating your babies. One woman shrieked, and
they all turned to look at her. Beth said,
“Look Sheriff I have some half starved babies just outside of
town toward the south and I could sure use some food to take
back to them if you could be so generous.”
The woman who screamed said,
“Give her whatever she wants Sheriff and maybe some of us can go
along. It is a remarkable thing this woman has done.”
The Sheriff agreed and in a half hour they were getting ready to
leave. Beth stopped and said,
“I’ll be back with the kids and then we have to figure out a way
to go after those animals,and we need to kill every last one of
them Sheriff. When we return can we give you a password or
something to get in?”
234
The sheriff replied,
“Don’t worry Miss Kelly we’ll know it’s you.
235
Chapter Twenty Six Avalon
The Slaver’s Camp
Mike and his group came down off the mountain in an easy ride.
It didn’t take long to get to the base of the mountain and they
swung toward the east to cross into the small valley. In another
hour he expected to be arriving on the western outskirts of
Fitch. He signaled to them to pull over under a stand of Madrona
trees. Looking off toward the east, the sky was a bit hazy but
the weather was warm. The sun was trying to burn through and it
looked like a big yellow ball one could actually look at but not
for long. There was no breeze and only the evergreens had leaves
on the branches. He was looking for spring to arrive. He caught
himself laughing,
“We’re always wishing our lives away. We always want something
different than what we have.”
A woodpecker landed on a tree trunk and was busy searching out
bugs.
“Want something to munch on Mike?”
It was Sam offering a piece of jerky made from the Claymore
killed deer. Without saying anything Mike reached over and
grabbed a piece. He chewed for awhile until it was soft enough
to swallow. Each of them drank some water from the canteens and
rested. Mike opened the cap on his gas tank and the rest of them
followed suite and opened theirs. He moved the bike with his
knees to shake it a bit, and put the kickstand down. It was time
to put a little in there to top it off. Sam and the others
waited for Mike to finish and then Mike handed the can to Sam.
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“I make it an hour’s ride to Fitch. We should park the bikes a
couple of miles from the main highway and go in by foot to
reconnoiter the place, what do you think Sam?”
Sam looked up from his pouring and said,
“Good idea. There’s no telling what the source of those fires
were. Could be friendlies and it could be the bad guys. No sense
in letting them know we’re coming. That would be my plan, sneak
up on’ em, check out the situation and decide what we’re going
to do.”
Mike looked over to Roger and Gregg and they simply nodded.
“Then we’re all in agreement, we’ll swing in from this
direction,”
He pointed toward the east with his arm extended.
“Find a spot to stash the bikes and go in the rest of the way by
foot. Everybody rested and topped off? Let’s do it. I need to
get back to Caroline, I already miss the wench.”
Twisting their throttle, the clutches engaged and they were off.
In another hour or so they would be where they wanted to be.
The terrain was tall grass, lots of sandy soil, and gravel. This
was an ancient river bed carved out by the receding glaciers
about twelve thousand years ago. The tall mountains towered over
237
them and surroundedthem on all sides. Above the mountains the
sky was haze separated by patches of blue sky. Looking off in
the distance you could see the firs growing wild and in
profusion. Mike liked this country. They traveled easterly for
another forty five minutes and it was time to stash the bikes.
This time Roger would be with them. If they needed his
expertise, there was no sense in leaving him behind. It wasn’t
that far of a hike back to Avalon if the bikes were lost for
whatever reason. They were all busy cutting branches to cover
the motorcycles. When the job was done to their satisfaction,
they headed east again. Mike checked his Mac-11 and then pulled
the magazine out and checked that and then re-inserted it into
the housing. The others did the same.
“Put it on safety boys I don’t want anyone shooting their feet
off.”
They walked. In another forty-five minutes they saw the smoke in
the distance. Mike thought those were the same campfires he saw
way back when as he was heading up the mountain. It had to be
campers; there is no way that many fires could be maintained
without constant replenishment. The highway had to be close over
that way.
There were voices, and they went down to the ground in a crouch.
There was a group going past on one side of where they were
watching from and they saw that it was about ten women and a
couple of teen age girls. They were dirty and their clothes were
rags; a slaver prodded them along with a stick. He had a sawed
off shotgun with a sling over his chest and one shoulder. It
hung down pointing at the ground. He whacked one of the women
with the stick and she cried out. They were gathering wood for
their fires. Further over to one side was another one watching
and apparently unaware of Mike and his men’s presence. None of
this wood gathering group knew there was anyone other than them
here. Mike looked as Sam and rocked his head toward one of them
238
and Sam smiled, at the same time Mike took out his knife and so
did Sam.
Sam, crouching, worked his way over to the one slaver and Mike
went after the other. Roger and Gregg watched and covered them.
Mike went up behind the one with the stick and Sam faced the
other by stepping out from in front of a bush. Sam thrust his
knife and buried it in the slaver’s throat in a classic fencing
move. The man’s face took on a surprised look and he buckled at
the knees. Mike came around behind the other one and one of the
women screamed and gave away the surprise, but Mike stepped in
close quickly, and with an elbow slam to his chin he went down
and backward. Mike leaped on the man and cut his throat nearly
decapitating the man. His head sort of flopped over on to his
shoulder. One of the women started to run and Mike grabbed her
by an arm.
“Take it easy lady we aren’t going to harm you!”
His words made her relax. The others stood there cowering in
front of the men. One said,
“Thank God someone has come.”
Mike said,
“We’re only four, but we are here to help. With your help we can
see what we can do.”
The woman looked at Mike and had a look on her face of total
defeat and she said,
239
“What can we do? We are a bunch of women who have had the life
nearly kicked out of us, and our children were eaten by those
animals over there.”
Mike took her hands in his and he held them and he faced her
when he said,
“We need information. You can give us the lay of the camp, how
many of them are there, how many guns do they have, who is the
leader……………, that’s how you can help, and I want you to know
right now, you and the rest of these women are safe at this
moment. We will protect you from them with our own lives.”
Her shoulders drooped and her head went down to her chest and
she began to cry and so did the others. The woman shook as the
grief spawned from the happiness of this news enveloped her and
she wept uncontrollably. Mike and the others just stood there
waiting for them to get it out of their system but after awhile
he said to all of them,
“Listen to me ladies, my name is Mike, and this is Sam, that’s
Gregg and this one here, is called Roger. We need to know
everything you can tell us about those men over there. Is anyone
hungry?”
They all stepped up to him. The men offered them water and they
drank greedily from the canteens. In less than ten minutes, Mike
decided to contact Avalon; this was too big for only four of
them. The last thing they wanted to do was to get killed or to
have any of these hostages killed by wild shooting from a
firefight. He stepped off to one side and took his radio out of
the pocket on his pack. He turned it on and it crackled,
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“Calling base…….”
He waited.
“Calling Base…….”
He waited again.
“This is Mike calling base,……….”
“Nice to hear from you Michael, you aren’t in any trouble are
you?”
The static from the radio followed the transmission and Mike
said,
“Switch to eleven now.”
He waited, and the radio static came on and Dan said,
“Ready.”
After the conversation began between switching channels every
thirty seconds with the system they worked out a very long time
ago inserting certain words and so forth, the instructions were
given and things were set into motion.
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Roger started walking the captives back from where they came
down the mountain toward the abandoned railroad bed. Mike, Sam
and Gregg moved forward toward the slaver’s camp. They had a
good idea as to the approach and were on their way to take care
of business. They swung south and followed an old creek bed. It
was desolate here and the walking on the gravel made you unsure
of each step or the rocks would roll away from under your feet
and down you would go. In twenty minutes of walking they covered
the distance of ten football fields, a little over a half mile.
It was slow going and he wished they were covering this distance
on dirt bikes, but that’s the way it goes. They continued
walking and the creek bed crossed under the highway in another
hour. There was a low bridge and they scooted under it on to the
other side. They looked left and could see the campfires plainly
from here.
The plan was to circle the slaver’s camp coming in from the east
and working toward the west. They wanted to catch them by
surprise, go in, kill several and get back out before anyone saw
what was happening. If they continued doing this they might get
fifty or more of them. Strike fast, hard, silent and melt away.
Come back and do it again. The psychology to this tactic would
unnerve anyone suffering the casualties and when you have them
pissing their pants, they can’t think.
First, they were going to take out their sentries. The Sionic’s
Suppressor copies were screwed on and the ammo was changed. Mike
directed his men, one would come straight on following the
highway but following the creek, another would come from his
right and the other would cross back over the creek and come in
from the left of the center man. They were going to stay within
seeing distance of each other. Mike marked the time and said,
“In ten minutes from………….now.”
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They all moved out toward their designated positions, and made
note of the time. There was not going to be any noise, only a
surgical and methodical removal of the obstacles blocking the
way or sounding the alarm and making a difficult problem into a
major shootout. The first man was leaning against a rock. His
piece was on his shoulder hanging by the sling. He was smoking a
cigarette and casually talking to another slaver standing next
to him. Mike crept up to the guy leaning on the rock and a
bullet to the back of the neck turned off his computer and Mike
swung the small sub-machine gun over and did the same to the
talker. He grabbed one by the collar and dragged him away into
the bushes behind him. He went back and got the other one and
dragged him back and laid him next to his pal. Two down.
Gregg moved down the creek and came to a man and a woman. She
was talking to him and had her arms wrapped around his neck,
their noses almost touching. He took the man out with a round to
the head and just as she started to scream, her cry was cut off
by a bullet between her eyes. The round sort of caved in her
forehead squeezing her eyes together in a comical look. She
collapsed on top of the man. Gregg dragged first one and then
another back down into the dry creek bed. He continued to move
down the creek bed.
Sam saw there was a group standing together having a BS fest and
the one who was supposed to be on watch was laughing about
something. He took aim and took out the one on the left, moved
slightly and the next one caught a deadly projectile in the
throat, and they all turned and looked his way, and then his gun
jammed. Before he could draw his side arm the other four went
down crumpled into a pile one after the other before any of them
could think. It was Gregg and Mike that covered his behind. He
looked over to them and gave them a thumbs up. Sam worked on the
round and freed the mechanism. He chambered a couple of rounds
and it was working, He bent over and picked up the special loads
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and after ejecting his mag, he inserted them in it. Mike
signaled to them,
“Reload your mags.”
They did, and then he signaled for them to fall back. Each man
crawled backward a hundred feet and went back to the spot where
they started from. Mike smiled and said,
“Well, that’s eleven, only two hundred fifty left to go.”
They all laughed at the joke, but it was no joke. The odds of
them pulling this off were remote at best, but it was just like
the old saying,
“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”
It was time to work their way over to the northeast and come at
them from that direction before someone discovered those dead
guys were not at their post anymore. They swung wide and toward
the northeast. They moved by crawling, crouching and running and
then hugging the ground again. In twenty minutes they were in
position again. Same positions, same plan but different terrain.
Gregg moved toward a group of three, and each went down with a
subdued clapping sound. Mike moved on two more and they were
taken out quickly, Sam approached three of them sitting on the
ground under a tree and his three went down. They spent a few
minutes dragging the dead out and away from view of the camp. As
he was moving one Gregg bumped against one walking toward him
zipping up his fly and he turned in a flash and cut the man’s
throat. He fell to his knees clutching his throat and the blood
was spurting out from between his fingers and some of it landed
on his front and on his face. They finished with the bodies, and
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moved back again another hundred feet behind some bushes. Mike
said,
“Reload.”
Mike looked at Gregg and smirked, he said,
“I see you got a little close to your work.”
Gregg said,
“What’s that?”
Mike pointed to his face where the blood had splattered. Gregg
put a hand to his face and wiped. Smearing it across in a wide
swath and looked at his hand and rubbed it on his pant leg. Sam
poked him in the ribs and said,
“Nice work son.”
Gregg had a look on his face of disgust but said nothing.
said,
Mile
“You know what the SEALs call that Gregg?”
Gregg replied,
245
“What?”
“Getting wet all over. You usually hold them long enough and
look in their eyes until they dilate and then you know you’ve
sent them to hell. While you’re holding them it squirts all over
you.”
“Nice, you know Mike, I’m used to doing my work at a distance,
we snipers don’t like to get dirty.”
“Let’s work our way toward the north now and come down on them
from that direction. I think if we go this way there’s enough
cover to get us over there without being seen. Once we’re done,
we should go toward the north. See those trees over there by
that small hill all by itself?”
They nodded,
“That’s where we’ll meet when we’re done. We will need to come
off this adrenaline rush and we can do it there. Check your
magazines; we don’t want to go into this thing with a dry
magazine. When we’re done we should work our way back to the old
railroad bed and wait for reinforcements Roger will be bringing
to us from Avalon. A few of those that are coming will escort
these women back up the mountain, the rest will be coming this
way, I think we should meet them and lead them back here not to
cause any confusion.”
They swung south first to make a wide swath and then they
planned to swing toward the east north east, and then west North
West. They wanted to take out anyone on the perimeters in the
northern sector of the camp. This would demoralize the whole
bunch of them and scare them enough into making stupid mistakes.
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As they swung south Mike saw them first, but Sam stopped dead in
his tracks, he saw them too. It looked like a woman with some
kids and they were packing boxes of things. Sam went left and
Mike went right. When they passed by Mike stood up and said,
“Stop and don’t do anything stupid or you’re dead.”
You could feel the frantic vibes as they froze in their tracks.
Sam popped up behind them and said,
“It would behoove you to listen to the man. We don’t want to
hurt you but we will if necessary.”
Just then Gregg said,
“Drop what you have in your hands and make sure all those
weapons go in to the dirt as well. I want to see all those hands
up on top of your head and lock the fingers together. Do it
now.”
Feeling surrounded and completely caught off guard the small
group complied. Boxes went to the ground and so did the weapons.
“Who’s in charge of you?”
Beth said,
“I am.
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“And who might you be?
“I am Beth Kelly, Special Agent Beth Kelly of the FBI.”
“Well kiss my as……..”
“Cut it out Sam!
You have anything to prove that ma’am?”
“In my pocket.”
“Do it slow lady I wouldn’t want to kill you but I will if you
do anything stupid, please believe it.”
She handed it to him and stepped back, and he read the I.D. card
inside the badge case. She was who she said she was. He handed
it back and said,
“Relax guys, she appears to be legit. You can lower your hands
miss…….Kelly. I’m Mike Reynolds, this smart mouth over there is
our resident comedian we call him Sam. And that’s Gregg. What
are you doing out here? Don’t you know there’s a large camp of
slavers right over there?”
Beth relaxed and asked,
“You boys are pretty smooth, are you ex-military?”
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Sam smiled with pride and said,
“Mike here is one of the Navy’s finest, an ex-SEAL. I’m ex-Green
Beret, and Gregg over there is an ex-Marine Sniper. We’re going
to work on those fellows over there a little and were going to
make sure they stop what they are doing here and now and when
the rest of our people get here, we’re going to wipe them out,
every last breathing one of ‘em.”
She asked incredulous,
“You have re-enforcements?”
Sam smiled, he was looking at her chest, and he said,
“We have a few. How many do you have besides these boys?”
She was protective of “Her Boys” and she said,
“Mister, don’t underestimate these boys. That little one over
there is our Sniper and he’s good. These two boys are my
lieutenants and they aren’t afraid of anything. We’ve come a
long way together and I have bet my life on them more than
once.”
Sam smiled at her and answered,
“No disrespect ma’am, I was just making an observation, they are
boys and I believe it if you say they’re good soldiers.”
249
He looked over at them and spoke to them,
“Sorry boys, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
The boys just smiled they weren’t insulted in any way, it was
only Beth.
“Where were you headed with all those boxes?”
Beth replied,
“Over that way another mile, want to go for a walk?”
Mike replied,
“Any minute now they’re going to find out we off’ed a bunch of
their troopers and they’ll be out in force looking for us, let’s
go with them.”
Mike said to Beth,
“Lead the way ma’am and we’ll cover your backs.”
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Chapter Twenty Seven Avalon
The Bee’s Nest
The Slavers were camped out on the West side of Fitch. They rode
in strong on that day and they took the town by surprise. It was
easy and the pickings were like taking apples off a tree. As
they came into town people stared at them from the sidewalks and
from the store windows. Nobody suspected what was in store for
them but they found out in short order.
One of the local Sheriff Deputies was standing next to his
cruiser when they hit town. They came in an endless stream of
them, riding up on the sidewalks, some went into the stores on
their bikes, and the roar of three hundred plus was deafening
with the fumes almost choking you with the burning they caused.
Randy watched them coming and he stood there and stared as they
passed one after another and there was nothing he could do but
watch. Using the radio was useless no one could hear from the
roar of that many motorcycles coming into town. The ground
literally shook as they passed by.
One man stopped next to him and he was a giant of a man. Sitting
on his motorcycle he was taller than Randy was and the man was
sitting. He had big arms and he was wearing a leather jacket
that was turned into a vest when the sleeves were removed. He
said something to Randy but Randy couldn’t hear for the roar.
The motorcyclist smiled at Randy and showed yellow teeth. Randy
saw they were all heavily armed with shotguns, rifles, almost
all of them had pistols on their waists, and most had large
daggers. Some of the blades were strapped to their waists others
were strapped to their calves and many of them had what looked
like to him full auto sub-machine guns. There were short ones
and long one such as the AK-47’s, and the smaller carbines.
There wasn’t much he could do in the moment so he did the
prudent thing and did nothing, he just stood there and watched
251
them come from the east from out toward Bishop. The big man sped
away and Randy felt better about that. He watched and they just
kept coming.
In fifteen minutes they passed through town and appeared to be
headed toward the park on the edge of town. When he could
finally use the radio he called the office,
“Unit five calling the Sheriff.”
Static crackled and he waited. He thought Marci their dispatcher
was probably using the bathroom. He waited. A shot was fired off
down the street from him, and he keyed the button again,
“Unit five, I just heard a shot fired down in the direction of
Flynn’s Firestone Store.”
Static.
He tried again,
“Is there anyone listening?”
Static.
Randy was thirty one and he was engaged to get married to Janet
Rawlins in another month. She was pregnant, but no one mentioned
it. She wasn’t showing yet. They were high school sweethearts,
and had been going together for years, split up while he was
252
serving in Bosnia and then when he came home, they got back
together again. He was offered a job by the Sheriff and he
accepted it. Between being a deputy, and the Marines, those were
the only two jobs he ever had unless you counted the time he was
a bag boy at Phillip’s grocery store during high school. He
tried the radio again,
Static.
Randy took his night stick off and laid it on the seat next to
him and got in and started the car. He switched on the emergency
lights, put it in gear and backed away from the curb, and
started toward the Firestone Store. As he drove down the street,
a motorcycle raced by passing in front of his car and he had to
slam on his brakes to keep from hitting the man, and the
motorcycle was gone in an instant. Randy put the car in park and
got out of it car and looked around. There was a commotion down
the road a little farther and he saw people forming a crowd on
the sidewalk and they were spilling out into the street and he
heard more gunfire. He took the mike from the cradle and said,
“Marci, there’s a major disturbance down by the Firestone Store,
send back up now!”
Static.
Just then, three bikers jumped him from behind and another came
around the car and they were beating him with wood bats. The
first blow broke his collar bone and the second broke his neck,
and Randy no longer felt anything or was aware of anything but
the beating continued until the was scarcely anything
recognizable of what once was a young man. He was a piece of raw
bloody meat dressed in a sheriff’s deputy uniform laying in the
gutter next to the open door of his cruiser. That was in
reality the beginning of things to come here in the town of
Fitch. His radio came to life and Marci said,
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“Randy, can you repeat your message?”
Static.
Bob Waters was Sheriff for fifteen years. He lived in Fitch all
his life and was from a pioneer family which was a status symbol
there these days. So many people moved to the small town in such
a short time that it was in fact a town full of strangers, but
those who knew each other from childhood were in control of
everything and they jealously guarded that pecking order. The
mayor was an old classmate of Bob’s from Kindergarten on, and he
depended on the Sheriff for nearly everything. In fact there
were those who said Bob Waters was in reality the Mayor, but
when Bob heard those rumors he just scoffed at them. He was
perfectly satisfied being Sheriff. It allowed him everything he
needed or wanted in life. Being Mayor wasn’t part of what he
needed or wanted. Speaking of the Sheriff’s position, now that
was something, and he liked it. If anything happened at Fitch he
always heard about it, and everyone who was anyone came to him
first. He always had a new pickup, and the best of everything
including, Marci.
He was attending a conference in Sacramento when the Bikers
rolled into Fitch and his Chief Deputy, the Under Sheriff, Kjell
Svenson, was in charge. Kjell, pronounced chell was at a
shooting meet at the range behind the Armory the day they
charged in. There was talk all over the state about what some
were calling insurrection, and lawlessness, but few believed or
thought it would happen in Fitch, until the town was taken over
that is. By that time it was too late to do anything about it.
About seventy five of the townspeople went to the Randall
Brothers Wholesale Store and they were holed up inside.
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There was a reason for them going there; first of all it had TV
cameras everywhere on the inside and the outside of the
building. Second, it was made out of cement which made it almost
fireproof. Third, people could go to the roof from the inside
and from there defend themselves from the raiders with high
powered rifles, that was the fourth reason and there were plenty
of them in the sporting goods department, and lots of ammo. This
was a big hunting area and they always stocked lots of bullets
for the upcoming season. Fifth, they had enough food to feed
every one of them for months. Most important to all, the
building had its own diesel power generator that was on the roof
and the diesel tank was buried in the ground and it was full
with over five thousand gallons of diesel. When the bikers
raided the town the Randall’s were on vacation. They were doing
a European swing starting in the Greek Islands and were planning
to visit the entire coastal areas from there to Spain, Italy,
and France finally ending in Copenhagen before returning home.
The war caught them in mid stride. The store manager was running
things and opened it up to the town’s people when the bikers
showed up, and here they stayed.
Most of them stayed in the book section or over in the furniture
department where the plush furniture was on display. Others
watched videos from the hundreds of selections available over in
electronics. They had hot and cold running water, and ample
bathroom facilities. One thing they had was hundreds of boxes of
real toilet paper. They didn’t know it but they would be the
envy of everyone around the area later.
The bikers made a couple of attempts to get to the people inside
Randall’s but gave up after awhile. It cost them nearly fifty
men and they decided it wasn’t worth it. They tried raiding the
Armory and that was also a loser. Several men and women made it
to the Armory and were inside the big building with all the
firepower necessary to defend themselves, but not much food. The
bikers gave up on raiding that place also. Slowly one or two men
left the Armory late at night and were able to get over to
Randall’s but were reluctant to leave the Armory, so they traded
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food for high powered machine guns and ammo. Between the two
places were the only safe places in all of Fitch. When the
Sheriff came back to town he was met by Kjell and was escorted
over to Randall’s. That’s where he was when Beth showed up.
************
Mike, Sam, Gregg and Beth and her gang made it back to the
children waiting in the small clearing at the edge of the thick
woods south of Fitch. They were excited to see them but when
they saw Mike and his people they were scared and ran back and
got behind Beth for protection. She reassured them it was okay
and she announced,
“Anybody hungry?”
They shouted and screamed like excited children do and there was
no subduing them. It was everyone crowding up toward the front,
but there was food for all of them fortunately. Mike and his men
ate some food and then said,
“We have to head back now, some of our people are coming toward
Fitch and we need to make sure they run into us and not that
hornet’s nest over there. I’m sure by now they know they were
hit. You stay put and we’ll come for you later.”
She started to protest and he said in a gentle voice,
“You’ve done a remarkable job getting this way with all those
kids, and I know they will love Avalon once they get there………….”
She interrupted him and said,
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“Avalon?”
He responded but curiously,
“Yes, it’s a big ranch up on top of a mountain over in that
direction,………….”
She interrupted him in an excited voice,
“Are you talking about a great big log construction at the end
of an old railroad track bed and then you have to go through
this long road that goes through those great big trees?”
He answered her,
“That’s the same place. Do you know it?”
She laughed a bit while she talked and told him in a serious
voice as she began her explanation,
“When I was a little girl I was up there with my dad before he
died of cancer and that’s where me and the children were
heading. Avalon……I remember that name; isn’t there a big sign
just as you come out of the tree that says that?”
257
Mike answered,
“That’s the place.”
“I remember it was pretty run down when I was there, maybe
fifteen years ago. Lots of room though.”
“You’re in for a great surprise Beth, it’s changed a little.”
“Is there food there?”
“Tons of it.”
“I like the sounds of that.
You boys hurry back, you hear?”
Mike and his people turned and walked back toward Fitch. In
fifteen minutes he said,
“Let’s get one in the pipe and make sure your safeties are on.”
The metallic sound of slides moving back and then into place
again was a crescendo of clicking as they complied. The plan was
to head toward Fitch from here and then turn left toward the
west. The predominant wind was directly at their faces and it
was picking up a little bringing the stench with it and the
smell of wood fires with a hint of roasting meat. They turned
bearing west in another ten minutes and continued walking. None
of them talked; all of them were on the alert for slavers who
were probably looking for them at this very moment. Mike guessed
they probably headed north by the trail they left them to follow
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by the dead bodies that would indicate they were moving off in
that direction by simply following the dead bodies.
They walked for another hour and they found their dirt bikes
where they left them. They cranked them up and headed toward the
old rail bed.
259
Chapter Twenty Eight Avalon
The Slavers
The “Bone Breaker” was troubled by what he was being told.
Whoever took out all those men were good, too good. He posted a
double guard around the perimeter of the camp. He figured they
would be here another month and then move toward the coast and
then turn south. It was going to be too cold to stay here. He
knew that it snowed here on a regular basis, but this was
strange weather they were having. It was amazing how warm it
was. He expected that wouldn’t last. In a month or at the first
snow they were out of here.
The bodies were stripped, no weapons, no personal processions of
any value, watches, rings, wristwatches, it was all gone.
Whoever they were they were damn good. Why didn’t he or anyone
else hear anything? They found spent brass, it was 9mm and by
the markings on the brass they were fired by an automatic of
some sort but no noise? He understood the knife slashes that are
a no sound action but 9mm? The knife kills were good, he admired
almost as much as he hated whoever did this. He had his men
gather around and he stood on a motorcycle with a trunk on the
back of it, a three wheeler. In a booming voice he said to them,
“I want you to listen to me people. There is someone out there
somewhere, and they are pickin’ us off one by one, and it
appears by twos and threes. I don’t know if it’s the town’s
people doin’ it, or someone else. It doesn’t matter who they
are, they are good. They came in here sometime earlier and they
killed a bunch of our people. Look sharp, be sharp and don’t let
your guard down from now on unless you want to join your pals
laying in puddles of their own blood. I want twenty men to go
west, another twenty to go east, another bunch south, and I’m
going north with a group. If you find him or them, I want the
leader for myself. Everybody understand that? The rest of you
260
make sure you guard the camp and the goodies. I am sure we have
superior numbers and we have good fire power, let’s do what we
do and let’s find ‘em.” He was smiling, and it was an evil
smile, not one of mirth.
There was a cheer that erupted from the hundreds. The groups of
twenty gathered and began to move out in their designated
courses. Bone Breaker headed north and he was confident it would
be his group that found them. He lumbered along at a quick walk
heading north. There was a small hill ahead and there was a
clump of trees near it. They would go at least that far, maybe a
couple of miles. He yelled at his guys,
“Spread out, don’t walk too close together. We can cover more
area better that way, Split up damn you and quit talking like a
bunch of old ladies at a sewing bee!”
The men spread out and they headed north. Likewise the groups
that headed in the other directions walked along weapons off
safety and they were looking at everything. One group walked
toward Beth and the children, but her lookouts saw them coming
way before they knew they were being watched. She ordered Jason
on a small mound and told him to hold his fire until he was sure
of the first shot. The others were all armed including the other
man who was released the day Lenn was. Lenn found a place and he
laid down on the ground and spread his legs wide. Beth crawled
between her people back and forth talking to them,
“Steady, take nice easy breaths, don’t allow yourself to
hyperventilate, calm and steady, we’re a better bunch of
soldiers than they are. Steady, stay calm.”
She checked and found she had seven sticks of the dynamite with
fuses ready to go. She reached into her shirt pocket and the
261
blue tip matches were there. She patted her pocket as if
reassuring herself.
“Steady boys, ……….be sure of your target. I count about eighteen
or so, that’s nothing, we can take them easy. Everyone pick a
target, focus on him and squeeze it ever so gently, easy now
boys………..easy, just a little farther and we should be able to
get half of them or more. Easy………..not yet easy………Fire!”
The first volley took out twelve and the others ran for cover
behind a large boulder. Beth took out a match and lit the fuse
on one of the sticks, one thousand, two thousand,
“ Jason, Tom, Lenn, cover me,”
And she threw the stick. It sailed over the top of the rock and
exploded in mid air above them. The explosion threw rocks and
dirt into the air, fractured the big rock, and everyone pushed
their faces into the dirt. One of the men behind the rock came
walking out with an arm missing and the blood was spurting all
over like a torn water hose. He fell over in a worthless pile.
Beth ran over to the rock and looked behind it and there were
five more dead ones laying there shredded by the blast. She
turned and looked around and saw nothing but dead ones laying
like cord wood that fell off a truck. Her nose was bleeding
again, she said to no one,
“I gotta throw those things a little farther.”
Her face felt numb from the explosion. Several of the children
were shrieking hysterically. She ordered Lenn and a couple of
the others to make sure they were all dead, and to strip the
bodies. She walked toward the children and went down on one knee
in front of them. They rushed her and she fell over backward.
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Two of the slavers were running for their lives. It was a
slaughter. They ran toward the camp for all they were worth. The
Bone Breaker had to be told, there must have been a hundred of
them just waiting and hiding. They were sitting ducks in a rain
barrel. They must have been military or something like that.
They rehearsed the story in their minds as they ran toward the
camp. They had grenades and everything. As they ran the story
got wilder and more elaborate.
Beth yelled at Lenn,
“How many do you count?”
“I count eighteen of them.”
“That was about what I counted, I think we got them all. Davey,
you and Tom look around in case there’s one hiding down there
somewhere. Look hard, we don’t want one of them coming up here
while we aren’t expecting it.”
Bone Breaker heard the boom. It was loud and the sound echoed
off the surrounding mountains in a drum roll effect toward the
end of the long narrow valley and then it stopped. He looked
south but could see nothing. It wasn’t good, a sound like that.
Mike and his people heard it too, but were unsure of whether
they had heard something or not, the bikes made a lot of noise.
They stopped but with helmets on they didn’t hear the echoes
263
that rolled through the valley. They headed out again after
taking some water.
The different groups heard the boom also and they didn’t like
it. Most of them wanted to head back to the camp. There is
safety in numbers, so most without being told turned and headed
back to camp. Bone Breaker made it to the small knoll and they
spent about fifteen minutes looking for anything suspicious but
found nothing at all and they also headed back to the camp.
In an hour he was back and so were most of his men less eighteen
of them. He called the two that were left of those that went
south and wanted to know what happened and where were their men?
First Reefer spoke,
He had a raspy voice and a bad cough from all the weed he smoked
in his youth. He was skinny and had hair sticking out of his
shirt that grew in profusion on his boney chest. His arms were
hairy too. He said,
“We went south and there’s a small incline that goes up to a
small opening in front of a dense stand of trees. They were
waiting for us. I think it was the main force, professional
soldiers they were. They cut us down with an M-60 mounted on a
tripod. We never had a chance. They had grenades and threw one
of ‘em at us. That took out half of us. The explosion knocked me
and Rick off our feet backward and we rolled down the incline.
Lucky for us too, or we’d of died up there with the rest of the
boys. There was nothing we could do so we came back to camp, we
figgered you’d want to know what happened.”
He began to cough, and Rick just stood there. Bone Breaker
looked at Rick and said,
264
“Is that how it happened Rick?”
And Rick replied,
“That’s it like he said, we never had a chance.”
Bone Breaker said to them,
“Go over and get yourself a woman from the slave tent and have a
good night,”
They both turned and walked toward the slave tent which was
located in the middle of the camp surrounded by other smaller
tents set up at random. They approached the tent and the guard
looked over at Bone Breaker and he nodded his head to the guard
and Rick and Reefer went inside.
Bone Breaker was satisfied, he lost some men but he knew where
they were now and he was going after them in another few
minutes. The flies were a lot less in the last two days, it was
strange. He didn’t like this valley and was looking forward to
getting out of it.
Beth was discussing this situation with Lenn and her main boys,
she said in a low voice,
265
“I think we need to move away from here and I think we should do
it before the morning. Sooner or later those eighteen dead down
there are going to be missed, and if their pals come looking for
them we shouldn’t be here waiting dumb and sassy, know what I
mean?”
Everyone agreed with her, Lenn asked,
“How soon you want to move out?”
She answered,
“Right now. We should circle toward the west and head toward
that old railroad track bed over that way. That’s where we’re
going anyway, why put it off? The sooner I can get these
children to proper food on a regular basis, the better off
they’re going to be.”
She stood up and said to everyone,
“Okay everybody let’s get ready to leave this place.”
********************
The Bone Breaker longed for the old days when he was a
professional wrestler. He was a star, he had money, nice cars,
clothes, the choice women, he had it all and then the bombs
fell. A little later he got hungry. He’s a big man, seven feet
four inches and he weighed five hundred fifty pounds. He got on
his Harley and began heading through the San Fernando Valley
266
when he ran into the first of them. All bikers, a few of the
lowest of the low and the others were just lazy bums who would
rather steal, do dope, get drunk and fight than hold down any
real job. Most were motorcycle mechanics and welders. Some were
construction workers, roofers, carpenter, cement workers and
some landscapers, but most of them were low life thieves and cut
throats who would rather steal from you than anything else. His
first altercation was with a guy that called himself Sonny. He
seemed to be the leader and he wanted Bone Breaker’s ride. Bone
Breaker, put down the kick stand and faced the man and said,
“Take it if you’ve got the balls.”
He saw that Sonny went for a knife immediately, and Bone Breaker
lashed out like a cobra striking and hit the man in the throat,
and that was the end of the fight. He had followers in that
moment and as they traveled, they gathered in more. Each new
challenger made for new recruits to join in the fun of
plundering, raping, pillaging and then one night there was a
twist to the scenario. He was hungry just like everyone else and
caught one of his men chowing down on some fresh meat. He took
it away from the man and ate it himself. He didn’t realize it
was a child until later, but figured what the hell; it was
easier than hunting deer up in those mountains. One thing led to
another and they ate child after child in their travels. It
wasn’t a bad life. He still had the fame, the power and the
choice of the women but most of them these days were skinny as
hell. Now his followers were around three fifty or more men, but
the soldiers in the hills to the south had cut a swath right
down the middle of his camp and they were going to pay for that.
267
Chapter Twenty Nine Avalon
Getting United
Beth and her group circled off to the west to meet Mike and
whoever he was bringing to the fight. She sent a runner to
Sheriff Waters and asked him to get the people at the Armory to
unite with him and if they could move on the slaver’s flank from
the east her and her group would attack from the west after they
joined Mike and his people. If Mike and his group joined the
attack with a flanking move just north of where she would begin
it could well be a very rewarding battle. By the moves she
contemplated, the slavers only had one option. They either
attacked head on in force or overwhelmed her and the kids or
they would win and drive them toward the north. There was no
other option for them. They moved right away toward the west.
Mike and his men made it to the old rail bed and met Dan Crowley
and with him were, Bobby Larson, Harlan Herrera, Ken Foxx,
Dennis Post, Chad, Stan Doyle, and of course the men he was
traveling with- Himself, Sam, Roger and Gregg. That made eleven
able bodied men to attack with. They were well armed and Sam and
Harlan brought some interesting goodies with them, the homemade
variety. They all had dirt bikes and they moved toward the
slaver’s camp fast. Not long after everyone was moving Mike and
Beth came together. Mike suggested they attack in spurts of five
to the attack, moving in on the perimeters and taking out the
stragglers in and out on foot and fall way back then someone
would come around and attack from the north, do the same thing
and fall back. In the meantime the runner Beth sent to the
Sheriff circled around and heard them coming, he fell down on
his stomach and watched the slavers moving toward where he and
Beth were previously camped that morning.
They moved in a rowdy disorganized mob toward the small patch of
woods with the slight incline before it. Tom Wyatt laid there
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and watched them pass the dust nearly choking him there was so
much of it. It amazed him how many men there were and he started
counting as best he could. He knew Beth would ask how many. In
fifteen minutes a straggler stopped. He seemed to be having
problems with his bike and he stopped and while still sitting on
the machine he was bent over at the waist looking at something
on the motor. Tom moved toward the man and suddenly the man
looked up and Tom drove his knife into the man’s chest. He died
nearly at once. Tom moved toward the west and looked back
frequently as he moved. He was afraid, but he was a valiant
young man. He learned one thing during these past days with
Beth, always stay alert and watch your back.
Mike and the Avalon men parked their bikes and camouflaged them
with some odd cuttings and posted a sentry off behind them and
the sentry promptly scurried up a tree. They went in quietly and
on the outskirts they saw about a dozen men guarding the camp.
All the slavers were gone. There was a big tent in the middle of
the camp and there was a guard at the front and one at the back.
Mike told them in a small huddle, each man was going to take out
an individual guard on a signal.
“Change of plan, we need to do things differently, gather
around, Beth you and the kids move over there and just stay
there as backup if something goes wrong.”
They would start from the one o’clock position and work their
way around the clock to the twelve. He checked his watch and
said,
“I’ll take the skinny one on the left by that rock and Sam, you
take the next one to his left your right, Harlan you take that
one over there, and each one of you will do the same thing.
Let’s lie here prone so the one we go for will be the only shots
fired at that one. Me and Sam will take out the extra left over
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after we fire. All of us in a line and we will fire in, ………….One
more minute from ………..now.”
Each man lay down in the dirt and took aim. Mike spoke,
“In ten… seven, four, fire!” It sounded almost as if a single
rifle went off, and the sentries doubled over and fell to the
ground. Mike jumped up ran toward the camp and a slaver ran out
of the big tent and Mike cut him down with a three shot burst to
the chest. He ran to the tent and rushed in. He was stunned.
There were nearly fifty women in the tent. Most of them looked
haggard, dirty and the clothes they had on were torn and ripped.
Mike said,
“We aren’t going to hurt you. Where are you all from?”
One woman came forward and said,
“Just about all of us are from Fitch. The slavers were going to
take us to the coast and sell us to some men over there. I heard
them talking about it. My name is Mary Donley.” She stuck out a
dirty hand and Mike took it in his own and said,
“Nice to meet you Mary you’ll be home in a few more hours.”
A few more shots rang out; it was Sam cleaning up the extras.
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“Let’s take these women toward the northeast and get them home.
We can come on to town from the north. We need to scout the area
for any stragglers. Check the bodies and make sure they’re all
dead. Sam, come over here.”
He looked at Sam and said,
“We need to get these women back to Fitch, find the Armory if
you can and drop them off, while you’re there see if you can
bring some sort of an equalizer with you.”
He winked and gave Sam a big smile. Sam understood.
“Me and the rest of us are going toward the south. I am sure
they went that way. Hey Beth, come over here.”
“Did you tell me earlier you had a bit of a fight with some
slavers not long ago?”
She spoke with conviction and said,
“We did and we killed all of them. There were eighteen of them.”
Mike looked at her and replied,
“I think a few of them got away and came back here to let their
leader know what happened. I think they are all over where you
were earlier looking for you. Look around, everyone is gone and
so are their motorcycles. It’s just a guess but why else would
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the camp be empty? Those boys will be coming home when they
don’t find you and those kids. I strongly suspect they went
south in force and will be coming back here soon, Beth, if you
will, go with Sam and once the women are dropped off circle back
from the east and head west. We will be waiting for you
somewhere. We will meet them as they head this way and see what
kind of damage we can do to them. When the slavers show up me
and my friends here will probably get busy, so a flanking attack
will be very helpful.”
Beth came over to Mike and
it. Reaching in she pulled
the caps and fuses already
them to him. She said with
took her backpack off and unzipped
out a dozen sticks of dynamite with
inserted in each stick and handed
authority in her voice,
“Those are thirty second fuses and they pack a wallop. Throw
them as far as you can or they’ll bite you. We’ll see you boys
in a couple of hours.”
She turned and walked away with Sam and the women and of course
all her kids followed along. It made Mike smile it reminded him
of a mother hen and her chicks going wherever mama went.
“Let’s get ready to move people, I want to find some shelter
because they’ll be on their bikes when they come, and we want to
take out as many of them as we can on the first pass.”
Mike told two of his people to go over by the small trees to his
immediate left and cut a few branches about the size of a cue
stick in diameter. They went over and immediately had several
branches and brought them to him.
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“I’ll need something to tie with, cut the paracord off those two
tents.”
When Harlan brought the cord, Mike was finished limbing the
branches and they were nice sticks. He cut them into two foot
sections. After that he got busy tying eight of the sticks of
dynamite on to the ends of the two foot sections.
They began to walk south and looked over briefly and saw Beth,
Sam and the kids disappear over a small knoll. In a half hour
they heard them coming. Mike and the others found an old creek
bed that ran east to west and about five feet deep. Just deep
enough to stand in and fire over the rim. This would have to do
there wasn’t much cover around in this place. Off in the
distance was a huge dust cloud. A young boy fell in next to Mike
and said,
“I’m Tom Wyatt, Beth sent me over to talk to the Sheriff. I was
on my way back when those guys were heading for our old camp, I
got one of ‘em and counted the rest.”
“You counted them,……all of them?”
“I think so, there was a lot of dust but I think there are three
hundred ten of them. The guy in the front is a giant.”
“Well we’re going to reduce that number by a bunch pretty soon.
Everybody get ready and keep your heads down. This may get ugly.
We may be hearing from Sam soon, at least I hope so.”
He laid the dynamite down next to him and noticed there was a
small plastic bag of strike anywhere matches with the extra
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sticks not tied to a branch. He made sure they would be ready to
use when he needed them. He could hear the rumble of the bikes
now and the dust cloud was getting nearer. The grass in front of
the creek bed stretched out and away from them and he got an
idea. The predominant wind was toward the south and that’s the
way they were coming from, maybe………..He struck a match and
touched it to the tall yellow grass and it lit immediately and
in a half minute it was burning hard and gathering momentum it
was going toward the bikers coming at them. In another minute it
was a firestorm and its own heat drove it forward. He was
wondering how close they were getting when one of the slavers
broke through the fire and came straight at them and he was on
fire and fell over and was thrashing and writhing on the ground.
There were large burn blisters all over him. His bike exploded
when the fire reached the gas tank. This was going to get
interesting. Another bike came through and that guy was on fire.
Mike yelled at his troops,
“Hold your fire!”
The noise of the motorcycles roaring stopped momentarily and as
the fire rushed south, once it past a certain point they could
see burned slavers laying on the blackened ground and all of
them were on fire and smoking and so were their bikes. The roar
of the bikes went up again and it was moving away from them.
Several of the motorcycles ahead of them exploded sending sparks
everywhere and various bits and pieces of debris rained down on
them. The burned bikers were twisting and writhing on the
ground. Everyone ignored them.
Mike yelled to his people,
“We’re going to have a lull for a little while, once the fire
burns out or passes them, they’ll be back in force, and they’re
going to be pissed! Hold your positions and make sure each shot
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takes one of them out. Check your pieces and make sure you have
it on semi-fire mode. We won’t be getting any ammo drops and
none of us will be finding a store around here. If you can’t do
the job with single fire, we’re all going to be dead in a little
while. Tom says there are a little over three hundred of them.”
He looked out in front and counted the downed and burned bikers.
He counted fifty of them.
He said,
“Maybe two hundred fifty or so, a cake walk boys.”
Sam and Beth arrived at the National Guard Armory in an hour. As
they approached a man with a bullhorn said,
“Okay people that’s far enough. State your business.”
It was loud and several of the children started to cry. Beth
looked at the front of the building and did not see anyone, so
she address the front wall when she spoke,
“I’m Beth Kelly, I’m a Federal Agent with the FBI and I have to
put these children and these women we rescued from the slavers
somewhere where they’ll be safe. I also need some fire power
from this Armory because we’re heading back to the fight with
the bikers. There are others over there and they will need a
little help, there are only ten of them against several hundred
slavers. What can you do for us?”
Silence………………….
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Beth hollered again repeating herself, and she dug out her
credentials and thrust her arm out with them in her hand for
display.
Silence………………………….
They waited for at least ten minutes and she was getting angrier
by the second.
“Look you sons of bitches, open this door now. Sheriff Waters
knows who I am and he told me about you. Open up now!”
The front steel doors began to slide open. It was actuated by
chains and someone was yanking the chains from inside causing
the doors to open. It opened four feet high and stopped. A man
bent over and stepped out with a woman and she rushed to the
children. The man was tall and husky. He looked like an exfootball player or a professional weight lifter. He was tall and
he probably weighed three hundred fifty pounds. He had grey
hair, she guessed him to be about fifty or so. He approached
them and stopped in front of Beth and said,
“We talked to the sheriff just now and he confirms what you
said. Sorry it took a little long, the Sheriff was using the
bathroom when I called on the radio. We can’t be too careful
these days, I apologize for the delay. If you will all step this
way and watch your head.”
They all approached the door and went in. As soon as they were
in the man operating the chains began to close it. The big man
said,
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“I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself, I’m called Randal Stone.
I was the senior sergeant here while we were still a country. I
don’t know what we are anymore, and I am at your service. What
can I do to help?”
Beth responded with her request,
“I need to feed these children and women, do you have any food?”
He replied by saying,
“We sure do, and if you’ll follow me, we have a kitchen off to
this side here.”
They went down a large hallway and turned through two large
double doors and in that room was a dining hall and off that to
one side was a large kitchen. Several people were in there and
they all smiled as they came in. Several of the women from
Beth’s group ran over to the people who sat at tables and began
hugging them. Randal said,
“We will have them all fed in about fifteen more minutes.”
Beth replied to what he said and the impatience was unmistakable
in her voice when she said,
“Mister Stone, ……..Sergeant, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,
because I am very grateful, but there are people out there that
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are about to be overwhelmed by hundreds of thugs and I want to
get back as soon as I can to help.”
Just then a man came in and said to the sergeant,
“It’s all ready to go Sarge.”
Randall looked at her and said,
“Come this way Miss Kelly we anticipated your needs.”
Sam went along as well and they went into another large room. It
was the main armory.
“Do you think any of this will do you any good?”
Sam said,
“It’s makin’ my mouth water, and I swear I’m getting’ a hard-on
………oops, sorry Beth.”
“Okay let’s load it up.”
Randal said it with authority in his voice and several of the
men began to move to a Humvee that was parked adjacent to the
armory door.
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In ten minutes Sam, Beth, and four soldiers from the armory were
on their way to the battle and it was in style. She was driving
and Sam kicked back in his seat and enjoyed the ride. Beth
looked over at him and said,
“I’m going back to the camp itself and then swing south from
there; I want to be able to find them.”
Sam replied,
“Just follow the shootin’ noise ma’am and we’ll find ‘em.”
In the meantime Sheriff Waters and a number of his people waited
outside the large store in the parking lot and several duces and
a half six by six’s, sat there and men began to get in the back
of them as they came out of the store. People from the armory
were already in and waiting. The men from the armory wore
uniforms, and were equipped with full battle dress, packs,
weapons, grenades and lots of ammo. There were M-16’s in the
back of one of the trucks those would be used by the Sheriff’s
men. It was important they all be using the same ammo. When they
were loaded they started for the end of town toward the north
where the highway began a swing to the west near the river. A
large boom was heard. It sounded like dynamite.
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Chapter Thirty Avalon
The Battle
The slavers were stopped for a little while, but once they regrouped they were ready to attack. Bone Breaker was guessing but
he estimated he lost about thirty or forty men. They couldn’t
get away from the flames in times for all the bikers ahead of
them and thereby blocking the way. Escape was impossible. The
smell of burnt grass and flesh was heavy in the air but was
moving a little by the breeze that brought the flaming death
with it. The smell was putrid. The only saving grace for all of
them was the flames ran out of grass and burned itself out. It
was rocky and sandy here and devoid of thick grass, only a few
clumps scattered around the area. It looked to be an old
prehistoric river bed.
Bone Breaker stood on the seat of his bike and his booming voice
came out strong and most of them heard what he had to say,
“Okay, we had a little set back but the battle has yet to really
start, this is what we will do. I think a charge straight on in
a frontal attack will overwhelm them by sheer numbers. We are
strong and we are used to killing, but to cover our bases I want
one group to swing wide left and another to swing wide from the
right. By attacking the flanks there is no way they will be able
to survive unless they are an army and I don’t believe that.”
He pointed to a group and said,
“You go right!”
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He pointed to another group and said,
“You go left. The rest of you here will go straight on. Hit them
hard and do it quick. Let’s go boys do it now!”
In the meantime Bone Breaker and several of his top lieutenants
went back to the small hill that led up to the small woods where
Beth and the children were camped out. He would observe, along
with his top people. They motorcycles closed on Mike and his
nine men. Mike yelled at them,
“Keep your heads low, and make every shot count.”
The slavers drew closer and the noise from the motorcycles was
deafening. The fumes were thick in the air but it blew away from
Mike and his people. Mike took one stick with the dynamite
attached to it and lit a fuse, and lobbed it out there and it
went nearly the length of a baseball field. The extra length of
the throwing sticks made a difference. It laid there and smoke
poured from the fuse. He lit another one and threw it off to the
left and another one off to the right. They sailed through the
air and landed. He was counting mentally, five thousand, six
thousand, in twenty nine seconds the first one blew and there
were fifty or more bikers already around it when it went off. In
a few seconds, the second went off and there were more bikers
thrown into the air and then the third went off. It was raining
motorcycles and riders. Most were missing arms or legs and a few
heads. The bikes were on fire. The rest of the bikers laid down
their bikes and began to shoot at Mike and his people. The
bullets were ricocheting off the rocky soil and as they whizzed
away making a noise like a zinging sound that lasted for just a
split second. The bullets were flying like angry hornets coming
from a nest you had just swatted with a stick. All Mike and his
people could do were keep their heads down. The cover of the
creek bed was protecting them but they couldn’t shoot back for
the hail of bullets coming their way. Then there was firing
coming from both the right and the left. This was bad. Mike
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passed the word to move with the creek bed toward the east and
to keep low. They did and it helped a little. They were another
hundred yards from the claw they were in. Now instead of being
nearly surrounded, they had fire coming from the front and to
one side. The others on what was their left stopped for some
reason.
The firefight lasted for another thirty minutes and incredibly
nobody on Mike’s side were hurt or wounded at all. Mike lit
another stick of dynamite and threw it as hard as he could
toward his front. He threw himself to the ground and bullets
struck the ground in as many as fifty or sixty times, but he was
sheltered from them. The dynamite went off and killed at least
another ten of them. It still wasn’t enough. It was looking
grim. They weren’t going to win this battle if they couldn’t
fire back. Then he heard it. It was the unmistakable sound of an
M-60 firing off toward the east. It raked the landscape with
murderous fire. Whoever it was, they knew how to handle the
weapon. The sound of motorcycles starting up was heard, and then
they were moving away. The M-60 kept firing. Then the sound of
another M-60 was heard, and small arms fire as well. The battle
ground was getting lively and Mike noticed there were no more
rounds striking the ground around him. He poked a head up and
could see the Army trucks parked to his left. One of the guys
firing was Sam. His mustache made him look like a wild man.
The firing continued for at least another ten minutes. Smoke was
heavy everywhere, it was if as if a fog descended into the small
pocket of the battlefield. Several of the men’s faces were
blackened by the gun smoke and burned cordite. The breeze that
moved the wildfire slowly dissipated the heavy smoke. Several
soldiers from one of the army trucks got up from their firing
positions and began walking the areas where so many of the
slavers lay, some smoking from the fire and others torn to
pieces from the hammering of the M-60. When the final count was
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in,they counted two hundred thirty bodies. Only two were still
alive and they were dispatched with a single shot to the head.
Bone Breaker scanned the killing field with binoculars. He
studied the area with intense scrutiny and said,
“Well boys, we need to head for the coast; I feel snow in the
air.”
They cranked their bikes up and swung well south and west.
Chapter Thirty One Avalon
The Second Push
The radio message came in to the Armory. Corporal Linden
answered it. Once he acknowledged he received the message he
jumped up and ran out of the radio room and down the hall to
where Sergeant Randal Stone kept himself busy. He burst into the
office without knocking and put the message down on his desk in
front of him. The sergeant was a bit miffed at the intrusion but
when he looked at the message he said,
“Assemble every available troop. I want all the trucks, a Humvee
for me and make sure it has an M-60 on it and a couple of cases
of ammo. I want all the men in battle dress and battle ready.
We’re going to finish this once and for all. Oh, yes, bring out
that old Bradley, we’ll place it on the west end of town. Make
sure it has plenty of ammo.”
The corporal said,
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“I’ll get right on it sergeant. Will you be participating?”
“Nothing on this earth could stop me corporal.”
The corporal spun on his feet and did an about face and was out
the door. An alarm was heard throughout the building in about
sixty seconds. It was a sharp buzz that was intermittent. In
fifteen minutes they were ready and heading west on the main
road that went through the center of the town.
Sheriff Waters looked at his watch. It had only been twenty
minutes since the message came down from Avalon. That would make
the slavers at about here, and he made a note to himself as he
looked at the big map on the wall before him. He pushed the
intercom and Marci came back to him,
“Yes Sheriff?”
“Marci, how many citizens do we have deputized?”
“Counting me, six.”
“Turn on the air raid sirens, and send a car out with a PA
system on it. Tell the deputy to say this,
“All able bodiedmen assemble at the Sheriff’s office. A slaver
attack is imminent. You got that?”
“Got it Sheriff!”
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In five more minutes the car was going up and down the street
broadcasting the alert and the sirens were blaring. People were
running down the street toward the Sheriff’s office. All of them
were armed with an M-16, an ammo bandolier over their shoulders
with clips full of NATO .223 Ball. They all had side arms and
bayonets. Some had pockets on their vests with a grenade on each
side. In five more minutes, eight trucks, mostly pickups pulled
up in front of the Sheriff’s office and the men climbed in,
three men plus the driver in the cab and the rest in the back.
The Sheriff took his radio out of the pouch and said,
“Marci, shut the siren off now.”
“Okay Sheriff.”
In thirty seconds just as the Sheriff was getting ready to call
her again the sirens wound down into a progressive deeper and
deeper groan. They finally stopped. The Sheriff said to the men,
“Let’s go get them. No prisoners, no mercy. If any of them gets
away it won’t be because we didn’t try to kill ‘em all. Let’s go
to the west of town!”
Mike and the rest of the men were assembled riding their dirt
bikes heading down the old track bed. In thirty minutes they
would be at the base of the mountain. The slavers will have gone
past them but it was their intention to cut them off and allow
the attack to come in on the slavers from both the front and to
their rear. They all had radios, and were able to keep in
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contact with one another easily. The Sheriff and Mike looked for
Bone Breaker but he and his men escaped just in time.
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Chapter Thirty Two Avalon
The Slavers Regroup To Challenge
Bone Breaker rode along in the front of his four hundred men. It
took a couple of months to gather that number for a “Payback”
visit on Fitch. This was going to be his day. This time he was
going to either kill all of them or enslave and sell them back
on the coast. The day was clear and there wasn’t a cloud in the
sky. The blue sky was an omen that all was going to be well. He
relished this moment. It nearly gave him a sexual thrill
thinking about the pleadings and the blood that was going to
flow, and it wasn’t going to be his or his troops that was shed
today. He was confident and the ride toward Fitch became tedious
and filled him with impatience.
The sentry posted with the large binoculars saw them going down
the highway heading for Fitch. He got on his handheld radio and
alerted Mike at the main building. Mike and Sam alerted the main
battle group at Avalon to get prepared for battle, they jumped
on their bikes and headed out to the large binocular site and
talked to the sentry about what he saw.
In the meantime Dan was on the Ham Set and talking to the
Sheriff in Fitch. He said,
“Sheriff, they’re on their way. From what Mike just told me on
the handheld it looks about like three or four hundred of them
coming toward you fast.”
The air raid sirens were turned on and people converged on the
Sheriff’s office again like they did two months ago. The Sheriff
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was standing in front of his office with his hands on his hips.
He said to them in a voice they could all hear,
“They’re coming. Mike says maybe three of four hundred of them.
We need to head west and meet them.” Randall, is the tank
ready?”
Randall stuck a hand up with a thumb sticking straight up. The
Sheriff said,
“Let’s roll, and this time let’s put an end to them.”
The pickups, duce and a half’s and Humvee began to roll toward
the west of town. The tank lurched and followed. In a little
while they were just outside of town; the group stopped and
waited and the old Bradley continued toward the Bikers at thirty
miles an hour. Blue smoke came out of the exhaust pipe and it
rattled and clanked at high speed.
As the slavers rounded the large curve that skirted the river,
it was just before crossing the bridge. There it led into the
main road which ran through the middle of town. A movement
caught his eye and one of his riders, a tough lieutenant and
trusted advisor slumped on his bike, veered off the road and
went into the river. Another rider fell and several of the
riders behind him ran over him or hit him, lost control of their
bikes and crashed. Thirty or so riders crashed in this way
before those coming behind them could veer off and avoid the
conflagration.
Bone Breaker signaled for them to pull over and in a long line
they began to do it, but more of them were slumping at the
controls of their bikes and were showing a profusion of blood
where a round penetrated their chest or head. One man had an arm
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just hanging there at what was left of an elbow. They were
sitting ducks, sharpshooters were picking them off. He saw
rounds hitting the road and tearing chunks out of it. He yelled
at his fellow slavers,
“Turn back, let’s get the hell out of here.”
In a moment they were turning and going west toward the coast
again. More men went down on the road as round after round found
one or more of them and tore holes through them. In a moment
they were out of range and had yet to see who was firing at
them. Bone Breaker couldn’t believe there were enough of them
left alive to put up this kind of resistance, and then he
remembered the big cement walled store and the Armory. There
must have been more of them left than he thought and they were
putting up a good fight.
******
At thirty miles per hour the Bradley came down the road heading
directly toward the slavers. The big gun was locked and loaded
and the gunner had strong instructions,
“Don’t ruin the road with that gun; we need it.”
The fifty caliber machine gun mounted in the turret was manned
and hot. A few rounds already sent into that group found its
mark several times. The turret gun was to shoot if they headed
off the road and then they were his. They barreled down the road
and the gap separating them was closed by the ever increasing
yards at 44 feet per second, the big machine ate up the
distance. A large group separated and went north away from the
river and the turret man yelled to the gunner,
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“They’re splitting off to the right ahead, do you see them?”
The gun moved right and exploded. Fire and smoke came out of the
muzzle and the explosion was enormous. A huge ball of fire
erupted where the bikers were, and to a man they were all torn
to bits. The fire ignited the landscape. The turret man yelled
to the gunner,
“Great shot, you got the whole bunch!”
Bone Breaker saw this and he could hardly believe his eyes.
“A tank. They have a tank? Everybody head west if you don’t want
to die; we can’t fight a tank!”
They began to turn and the fifty calibers began chewing holes in
them. Panic set in and it was every man for himself. Every time
some of them headed off the road the big gun barked and that
group ceased to exist forthwith. And the Ma Duce did its job
grinding the slavers into hamburger. The bikers had to cover a
lot of territory and in a hurry to get out of range and they
rolled on the power.
In the meantime, pickups loaded with Sheriff’s Waters men sped
pass the tank at about eighty mph, passing it on both sides and
caught up to some of the slavers. The men in the back were
shooting at the bikers with shotguns and M-16’s. Down the bikers
went one after another. It was a rout and they were killing them
at ten and twenty at a time. The huge group was quickly being
pared down to a manageable number. The sheriff and his men were
not done yet, and they kept at it. More of them went down.
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Another pickup full of men came along and was stopping at the
bodies of the slavers along the road and began shooting each one
in the head whether they were alive or not. One man lost his
whole family to these scum and he was making sure he got his
fair share of them. Some of the wounded bikers were begging for
mercy and he shot those twice. He shot them once in the knee and
then one to the head but not too quickly after the knee shots,
he was in no hurry, there was still all day long.
A large group of the bikers managed to get far enough ahead of
the others and rolled the power on and were virtually burning up
the road in their haste to get away from those deranged farmers.
They were in for a big surprise in a few more minutes. Dead
ahead and coming at them at eighty plus was Mike and his boys.
In about ten more minutes they split into two groups. A radio
message from the Sheriff made the decision for them to stop. One
group placed themselves in position on each side of the road.
Mike gave them strict orders,
“Do you all see that big tree over there? Everyone stop firing
until they get over to that large rock there, everyone see those
two objects?”
His men were acknowledging they understood. Mike continued,
“We don’t want to get ourselves into a crossfire situation. Take
your time, make your shots count and let’s kill as many of them
as we can. Good luck, I think I can hear them coming. Get ready.
Hoooraaah.”
The bikers rode into the trap and Sam who kept the M-60 he
“borrowed” from the Armory opened fire well beyond the tree Mike
pointed out to his men. The bikes began to go down on the road
and sparks flew looking much like a Chinese New Year
celebration. The asphalt ground down machine and gas tanks as
the bikes slid more than a hundred feet and then they started to
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blow up as the sparks ignited the gas. Bikes and men were being
blown into the air by the explosions that were happening like a
string of firecrackers lit and going off like a machinegun, one
after the other in a rapid staccato of shrieks and balls of
fire.
Bone Breaker and several of his Lieutenants saw this. They were
toward the middle of the group, veered left and headed south.
They weaved back and forth and made it to the river. There was a
small area to cross over and they did. Once on the other side
the weaving began anew hoping to stay away from the big gun on
the tank. The tank didn’t fire at them, the gunner didn’t see
them since they were considerably behind the racing group of
bikes. In a little while, Bone Breaker stopped on a hill near a
small patch of trees to the rear of them. Here he took out his
binoculars and surveyed the area before him. Out of over four
hundred fellow pillagers, it was now him and seven trusted
Lieutenants and that was it.
As he scanned the area down where he was just at, he could see
smoke rolling up into the blue sky like black ribbons curling
upward. Hundreds of the dirt bikes were burning fiercely and
although he could barely make them out, there were his men
laying everywhere, and they were dead. Several of the
townspeople were going from man to man and shooting them.
“They nearly killed us all. I’ll be back Fitch. You can count on
it. You only won a couple of battles, but the war will
continue.”
The men in the pickups moved from one pile of dead or dying men
to another and continued delivering the coups de grace at random
until they all were dead.
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Chapter Thirty Three Avalon
Fitch Re-Organizes
The Sheriff of Fitch and the majority of the townspeople began
to rebuild their town’s infrastructure, the businesses, moving
of goods and vital materials from one place to another, and
Doctor Dan Crowley and Caroline came down and helped them put
their small hospital back in working order. The Fire Department
was overhauled to the best of their abilities, and Sheriff
Waters deputized more people. All of the citizens emulated the
Swiss where every able bodied person had a fully operational
battle rifle in their closet and plenty of ammo for each one.
Every person carried a sidearm. There was no talk of anyone
banning guns since the last speech or utterance was made just
prior to the start of World War 111. Little by little the
citizens of Fitch prospered. Surplus food was moving from Avalon
to Fitch and in return whatever Avalon needed to fix or install
something at the Retreat was made available.
Proper Medical care was being administered to the people of
Fitch because of Dan’s efforts and when Dan couldn’t be there,
it was Caroline or Roger who was becoming a competent Medical
Doctor in his own right under the tutelage of Dan. The hospital
at Fitch had everything Dan needed from X-rays to mending broken
bones and the wonderfully complete operating room.
When anyone from Avalon came off the mountain to spend some time
at Fitch they were provided a house to live in while they were
there. Many of the residents of the town were killed in the
first raid of the slavers and as a result sadly, there were many
empty houses replete with everything one might need to live
there over an extended period. Mike and Sam came down and were
offered each a house. Their job was to train the townspeople in
military tactic; setting sentries, patrolling, small squad
tactics, firearms handling, marksmanship, and medical first aid
battlefield conditions. There was more, but the basics were
taught, the people trained and they became citizen soldiers.
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While Mick and Sam were there it became a rotation between them
one week off for one of them and one week on for the other.
Reversing until the job was done.
The Ham Set system first deployed by the Avalon group was so
effective especially with the “Eagle’s Nest” sentry post
operating, that’s what they called the huge binoculars and where
it was placed these days. There was a push to set up something
similar by the Fitch people to cover the approaches from the
Bishop area. A spot was located and it was manned 7/24’s from
then on. There were only two land accesses to Fitch and that was
by the highway from Bishop and from the coast. There was nothing
that was a direct route north or south. Protecting the access to
Fitch was important and they had vowed to give their lives if
they had to prevent any reoccurrence of what happened with the
slavers.
Both Fitch and Avalon took turns reaching out by shortwave radio
to those outside of their immediate areas. They heard from a
group in Biloxi, Mississippi, another from Elyria, Ohio, another
came from Springfield, Illinois. Every night they met others,
and it was decided they would meet every night at seven o’clock
Pacific Standard time. In this way they began to find out about
what was happening in every part of what was left of the United
States. There were many people who survived the radiation
poisoning, later the plague, and later yet the hoards of gangs
who decided to do with the strength of numbers they had to
subjugate the people. In some areas they were successful and a
terrible bit of common information was that slavery and
cannibalism was rampant in these groups of thugs. Mike and
Sheriff Waters explained in detail what measures they took to
stop and thereby control these criminals. It surprised them when
they discovered how hungry people were for information and they
parted with it freely.
One of the most notable contributions from Avalon to Fitch was
the growing seeds Sally hoarded away. With her seeds more food
was going to be available not only to Fitch but to Avalon as
well. Prior to the war Fitch was a farming community that became
over-run by Wall Street types and the computer technology. The
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valley was well on its way to becoming productive and prosperous
again. Everyone helped anyone who needed it. There was a spirit
of camaraderie and sharing expressed not only by the way people
acted toward one another, but in the way they thought about the
other person. It was obvious everyone was important in the
machinery that made up the common population which was now at
last count three hundred people.
******
“I’ll be going down to Fitch tomorrow on the buckboard.”
She sounded tired.
“Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“Uh huh.”
Her answer wasn’t very encouraging, and she still sounded tired.
“Are you sure you’re okay Caroline? You sound a little tired.
Are you okay, ………really okay?”
“Well to be honest, those trips down that Damn Mountain and then
back up here are starting to get me down. I’m not complaining
you understand, but it’s a long trip. I know those people down
there need us, and you would not believe how many of those women
down there are pregnant, I wish I had wings.”
He slipped around behind her and put his arms around her stomach
and rubbed gently with his hands. She put her head back on his
shoulder and they rocked back and forth to an imaginary tune in
each of their heads. He said in a soft voice,
“I can’t imagine why all those women just all of a sudden got
pregnant. Must have been something in the air.”
295
She broke away from him, turned to face him and said,
“It was a long cold winter that did it Michael.”
There she goes again calling me Michael! He thought it but
didn’t say a word. He had a plan and was going to work on it
tomorrow.
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Chapter Thirty Four Avalon
The US Government
Both Fitch and Avalon were monitoring their Ham Sets for any
word about anything that could be of interest to any of them.
Penny Rolls posted everything that was interesting and everyone
at Avalon read every word. Eventually the Avalon Reader began to
circulate down into Fitch and it was widely read by everyone
there as well. The two towns were becoming good neighbors and
everyone wanted to know what was happening in both places. There
was a newspaper office at Fitch but no one knew how to operate
the presses so it remained closed.
Mike remembered talking to one of the Fitch residents and the
mention of an airport sort of whizzed by in the conversations
but it was something he filed away for future reference. He knew
that once the booby traps were deactivated out in the large
front meadow at the entrance to Avalon a good old fashioned
airport could be put in place and working, he went into action
with some of the other men and quickly deactivated the antipersonnel devises. The holes were filled and the grass was cut
down by allowing the cattle and horses to graze the area and
some old fashioned hand cutting. When it was prepared Mike went
to Fitch.
As a SEAL he was privy to going to a number of schools and one
of those schools was a private pilot course where he learned to
fly a single engine airplane. He went to Fitch as soon as the
air field was prepared. His first stop was the Sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Waters was in his office when Mike got there and he was
shown to the door. Mike knocked on the door and the Sheriff
said,
“Come in.”
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Mike walked in and greeted the man by saying,
“How have you been Sheriff?”
The Sheriff extended his hand and replied in a friendly way,
“Couldn’t be better Michael, what’s your pleasure?”
Mike looked at the man and replied,
“Sheriff I need a single engine airplane to go from here to
Avalon with Caroline. She’s expecting and I’d like to eliminate
that long drive in a buckboard. Know of anything?”
The Sheriff tapped his forehead with a finger and a smile came
over his lips, and said,
“I got just the thing for you my boy, come with me.”
They went out to the street and got into the Sheriff’s car and
headed out of town. They drove for about fifteen minutes and the
tell tale windsock was visible ahead. It was bright orange. The
Sheriff pulled into what was once the airport and continued over
to the large hangar off to the left of the office that had a
large sign over the top of it, saying, Flight Instructions and a
phone number below that. The Sheriff was chatting about
something and Michael grunted now and then, but he was checking
out the layout of the airport in reference to what was off in
the distance. He was going to have to find his way back here
once he left Avalon. The Sheriff stopped and he said to Mike,
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“This is it; lad come with me,”
The Sheriff fished out a key and opened the large padlock and
they walked inside the large hanger and there parked inside were
twelve aircraft. Some of them were new, but most were older
models. The Sheriff said,
“Pick the one you like and if it suits you consider it a gift
from the City of Fitch to the Town of Avalon with our
compliments.”
Mike asked,
“Is there any gas available for these babies?”
“Right over there behind the hanger. We hid the tank truck from
the bikers and its sitting there full and I believe all of the
birds are full. Who you gonna get to fly it?”
“Yours truly Sheriff lets push this out and I’ll pre-flight it,
and shoot a few take offs and landing and I’ll be on my way back
to Avalon.”
The Sheriff was right, it was full and only one small problem
put a damper on things, the battery was dead.
“Damn shame son, I suppose we can jump it or something later
on.”
Mike replied,
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“No need Sheriff, you do what I tell you to do and I’ll crank it
by hand.”
The sheriff got in, and Mike set the brakes, primed it, turned
on the switch to the mags and pumped the throttle a few times
after draining all the water out of the wing tanks and the
carburetor. It looked pretty good, so he said,
“Are you ready Sheriff?”
The Sheriff said,
“Do it.”
Mike cranked the prop on the old Cessna and it sputtered and
popped. He said to the Sheriff,
“One more time except this time start pumping the throttle back
and forth and see if it’ll start as I hand crank the prop.”
The Sheriff said,
“Fire away!”
This time the engine sputtered and a cloud of smoke came out of
the exhaust as the Sheriff was rapidly pumping the throttle and
then it came to life. The engine was solid and was running
smooth.
Mike ran around to the cockpit and said to the Sheriff,
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“I’ll take it from here Sheriff, thanks.”
The Sheriff got out and Mike got in; he released the brake and
slowly taxied out to the strip, put on the brakes and did an
engine run-up where he checked the mags at eighteen hundred
rpm’s. He moved all the controls and was satisfied it would fly.
He slowly pushed on power and began to roll down the runway and
then went in with full power and ten degrees of flaps. And in
another minute he was at seventy mph and he slowly eased back on
the yoke and the aircraft lifted off the pavement; he was
airborne. He lowered the nose a bit and released the flaps. When
the airspeed increased he pulled back gently on the yoke and the
plane began to climb straight ahead. Mike stayed in the pattern
for about fifteen minutes taking off and landing repeatedly.
When he felt comfortable he went over to where the highway left
town for the coast and he followed it until he saw the old
railway bed that inched up the mountain and he got above that
and followed it up to the top where the big stand of firs were
and the road Eli built through those trees, and on the other
side of the tree was the big meadow. He eased back on the power,
dropped in ten degrees of flaps and pulled on carb heat. The
airplane began to slow and he cranked in another ten degrees of
flaps. It slowed more and when he felt his approach on final was
a good one he put on full flaps and the plane settled down
toward the grass. In another minute the wheels were touching
down and he let it roll out until it stopped. He pushed on power
and gave it rudder and rolled the plane toward the big log
building. People were coming and were watching him taxi toward
them.
Mike got out and said,
“Where’s my woman?”
Caroline said,
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“I’m here.” She stepped out of the dispensary and made herself
visible to him. Mike yelled,
“Look what I brought you! Now you can ride down the mountain in
style.”
Everybody was laughing and clapping and Caroline smiled wide.
That night after supper most
the radio Mike set up and he
static and then some obscure
voice came over the speaker.
of the residents gathered around
turned it on. At first there was
station could be heard but then a
It was a man talking-
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
My name is Carl Richards. I am the new President of these United
States of America. First, I want you to know who I am. I was a
farmer. I grew corn, alfalfa, wheat and I had dairy cows that I
milked twice a day. I grew up on my Dad’s farm, as he grew up on
his Dad’s farm and going back before the Revolutionary war, that
is what most of the men in my family have done. I went to
college and in college I studied accounting and farm management
practices. I am not a lawyer and I never studied law.”
“I stand here this day to inform you citizens out there what is
the state of our nation. Sadly our nation was attacked by Middle
Eastern terrorists with satchel nuclear devises that were
purchased from the Russians. One of those destructive weapons
was detonated in Washington, D.C. and the other one a short time
later destroyed a large portion of Atlanta, Georgia. That was
the beginning of a terrible nuclear war. While we were in a
crippled state our enemies decided to attack us and declared war
on this nation which led to escalations that subsequently led to
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various countries in the Middle East and elsewhere being reduced
to nearly a Stone Age existence with the help of our friends and
allies the Israelis.”
“An accounting of what countries were attacked is as follows:
Russia, China, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Syria, Libya,
Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, Iran,
Nigeria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, and
Bosnia Herzegovina. Much of those countries no longer have an
infrastructure. Their industries have been reduced to almost
nothing.”
“Attacks launched by us at those countries were through the
efforts of the Air Forces’ Strategic Air Command and the United
States Navy’s Nuclear Submarine Forces which launched most of
our nuclear arsenal at those perpetrators’ who would make war on
the United States of America.”
“Our message to those countries that would make unprovoked war
on the United States of America is this; we did not seek a world
war, but we ended it the only feasible way available to us,
Multiple Nuclear strikes at those our avowed enemies. If there
are those out there wishing for more destruction we are prepared
to strike again or to reduce our weapons into the proverbial
plowshares. The choice as to what we will do is up to those who
made war on us for no reason.”
“The United States of America has always been the country first
to step up and offer aid and assistance to any country on this
planet that was in need of help. That is over. We will no longer
offer food, money, medical or intellectual help to any other
country that previously received it from us. Our benevolence is
at an end. The free handouts are over. Those statements will
apply not only to the countries that used to be recipients of
303
our benevolence but it applies to our own citizens as well. We
are going back to the philosophies of our pioneers, if you want
to eat, you will have to have some sort of job or you will
starve. To our friends, we are still your friend but our
resources must and will be directed to our own, first and
foremost.”
“Those areas struck by either Russian bombs are; On our East
Coast; New London, Connecticut, New York City, Norfolk Virginia,
Atlanta, Georgia, Washington, D.C., and Jacksonville, Florida.
On the West Coast, Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, San
Francisco, California, Los Angeles, California, and Long Beach,
California.”
“On the East Coast of our great Nation from those cities struck
by Nuclear Bombs inland to about seventy five miles the
radiation is strongest but diminishes after the first ten miles
and is the most critical. It is suggested that those citizens
still in or having to travel inside those areas do so at a
reduced time frame of less than seventy two hours. After the
initial ten miles the danger subsides considerably but will
still pose a danger to those citizens for exposures longer than
seventy two hours. Beyond those distances of the initial ten
miles and seventy two hours the radiation levels are halved in
intensity and duration and we are told by scientists that moving
farther than twenty miles the radiation is greatly diminished
further yet to ninety six hours in duration. For those of you
who do not need to be any closer than twenty or thirty miles
from the coast, don’t go there.”
“On the West Coast we have little news. The majority of the
populations was within the greater Los Angeles area north to San
Francisco, and was both hit with multiple nuclear weapons. The
information coming out of there is sketchy at best. Stay away
from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Satellite photos show us
that most of the fires are out, but the Radiation poisoning will
affect anyone from about San Francisco and south. The oil fields
in Bakersfield and Long Beach are still on fire. Every day we
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are in contact with new pockets of people who have survived the
conflagrations, and we will report to you as we find them and
learn a little about their situations.”
“Fellow Americans these are difficult times we are in, and the
death and destruction is so big and so widespread simple words
or descriptions will fail even the best of narrators. Please
allow me to be one of the first to offer my condolences to you.
Those are not meant to be hollow words they are my most profound
and humblest in the giving. I am sorry for you, for our country
and I offer my words from one American to other Americans. I
lost my entire family and everything I hold to be dear during
the war and I can attest to the pain we all feel, mine
notwithstanding.”
“It is estimated that more than five billion worldwide died to
nuclear bombs detonating, the radiation aftermath, followed by
those who were injured and could not survive because of the lack
of so many things, and there was starvation, and as if those
weren’t enough, the Plague hit. We are down but not out.”
“There are estimates that it’s going to take a thousand years
for the world to repair itself from the destruction we have
thrust on the planet in these times, but there are enough of us
left we can rebuild the world and repair some of the destruction
we have caused it. Your government is here to help in any way it
can.”
“There were those who took God out of Government, out of the
schools and out of ordinary public and private living, I would
like to be remembered as the President who put it back, not only
for your sake, but for mine and for our country.”
“Further, I would like to go back to the roots of the founding
of this great nation and erase those things that evil men and
women tried to do to America and Americans.
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“Starting now, the United States Senators will be elected the
way the founding fathers wanted and laid the process out for us.
They will be elected by the Legislature.”
“I am hereby abolishing the 12th Amendment and your President and
Vice President will be elected by the people and by popular vote
of the citizens of the United States. The Electoral College will
no longer exist.“
“No elected official will be elected to any office for longer
than a second term regardless of the office that person seeks.”
“The US Income tax is hereby abolished forever more.”
“The coining and control of US currency will again revert to a
standard that is backed by something tangible. In this case, it
will be backed by gold. The US Government will print and coin
its own money. The Federal Reserve is hereby revoked.”
“Congress will no longer restrict inter-state commerce, or
trade.”
“Hereafter there will be no more law by edict. Henceforth all
Executive Orders are herewith suspended.”
“A license will no longer be necessary to practice any trade or
profession in the United States as long as that person has
sufficient training and can go before a group of their peers and
show satisfactory knowledge and training to practice that trade
or profession.”
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“A license or permit will no longer be required to do ordinary
tasks or jobs as long as the task is done in accordance with
common sense and acceptable standards.”
“The profession of lawyers is hereby revoked and all cases of
dispute will be done by Arbitration which decisions will be
final.”
“No one who ever practiced law in any form will ever be able to
hold public office for the remainder of their natural lives.”
“All Capital Cases will be sent to a committee for review upon
the handing down of the verdict to the attending judge. Once the
review is completed the execution of the sentence will be
carried out within thirty days from the decision of those who
did the review. All executions will be in public view.”
“The following crimes will be considered Capital Crimes and the
ultimate penalty will be death by public hanging in the town
squares. They are:”
“Rape, Child rape, homosexuality, arson, and crimes made on the
public by any elected official while in office, crimes
perpetrated on the public by any law enforcement official, fraud
against any agency that is serving the need of the needy or the
causes of any elderly or infirmed person(s). Crimes committed
against any person or group of persons when committed more than
three times in the natural life of the perpetrator regardless of
the description of those crimes, perjury has also been added to
this list. And a warning to all who would hold public office,
death to anyone who would hold public office and would attempt
to enrich themselves at the public’s expense and those who would
attempt to introduce or create any law that is in direct
violation to the Constitution of these United States.”
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“Fellow Americans, it is with a heavy heart filled with deepest
humility I make this vow to you, I will maintain this office to
the highest and most ethical standards possible. I will pledge
my life to my country and to you as a public servant. I love my
country and all that it stands for, and of most import, it is my
personal belief that what we all cherish the most is the promise
of peace and Freedom for each of us. God Bless you all and good
night.”
A stunned silence fell over the group and slowly they left the
big room and retired to their cabins. It was the final dialogue
that put everything into perspective, and it was the finality of
it all that made them realize the situation was what it was, and
they all knew they were on their own. However they were coping
just fine, but it was a sadness in what they heard because it
made them realize there was no more guessing about what happened
and what was happening, and they could depend on no one except
themselves.
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Chapter Thirty Five Avalon
The East Coast
Those who heard the President’s speech were caught up in the
emotion of his words and most of them had little if anything to
say. It had to sink in to make the significant impact that it
would later in years to come. It was a good speech, they all
concurred.
The following night as the shortwave band was being tuned in
they heard from a man broadcasting from a radio station in upper
New York State. He was unemotional, the characteristic of a
seasoned veteran broadcaster, and his telling of the happenings
along the Eastern Seaboard was compelling;
“Millions have perished. From New London, Connecticut to New
York City, and south from there all the way down to
Jacksonville, Florida the death and destruction is beyond
imagination. First it was the bombs. The destruction was beyond
belief. Then, we saw the radiation sickness set in and literally
over night hundreds of thousands died in the street in their
homes, sitting in their cars, at school, in the factories, at
airport terminals, and of course in the hospitals as they were
being attended to by medical staff. People just like you and me
sat down and they died. The radiation killed most people in
seventy two hours or less.”
“Of course once the people died that manned the public utilities
and were no longer there, garbage piled up by those still alive,
telephones and power ceased to function. Water systems were shut
off, and of course the sewage systems stopped working shortly
after the power companies quit sending out electricity to the
homes, factories and the cities. Soon, there was no food and
those still alive became sick, disoriented, some became
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pathological and killed others out of despair or out of revenge
toward everyone for the suffering they were enduring. The
madness escalated and within ninety days most people on the east
coast were all dead.”
“In and near those areas nuked it was the same. People died
everywhere as the invisible radiation penetrated their bodies,
their drinking water, and what little food there was. Rivers
disgorged dead fish and marine life by the millions. The dead
nautical species floated on the tops of rivers and lakes, they
washed ashore along the beaches of the Atlantic from Maine all
the way down to Key West. Millions floated on the top of the
water in the South Atlantic and the Caribbean from the Hydrogen
bomb that literally melted the Island of Cuba to the waterline.
People in Haiti, The Bahamas, and The Dominican Republic, in
Venezuela, and Brazil suffered from the fallout of deadly
radiation and still are.
Then the stink swept over the land from the putrid bodies that
never got buried, because there was no one left to do it and so
there they lay rotting. Rats and mice seemed to thrive but they
too died. The flies were akin to the Biblical Plagues of the Old
Testament. Scarcely a living being went untouched. This land
became a stretch of eighteen hundred miles by seventy five miles
wide of death, destruction and a wasteland of nothingness. This
was a land devoid of all life. The only inhabitants that seemed
to go untouched, thrived in fact were insects, in particular,
cockroaches. In fact they were dining on the cornucopia of so
much dead and dying food they were getting bigger as each
generation hatched.”
“The United States although badly damaged from the nuclear
conflagration caused by the terrorists and then the war itself,
has emerged with a new President, Carl Richards who vows to
reorganize the states into a viable and cohesive union again,
but there are those who express doubts. Most of the elected
politicians were killed by one deadly means or another, but only
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a handful of those Congressmen and Senators are still alive and
by all accounts are hiding out somewhere at places undisclosed.
There has been no word about the Justices of the US Supreme
Court. It is assumed they are all dead. Almost nothing on the
East Coast is alive, or productive. It is a dead wasteland.”
“Hundreds of notables of movie and Television fame boarded their
private jets and left the US for hide-a ways in Europe at the
onset of the initial terrorist bombings. It isn’t known with any
certainty thus far, but according to shortwave broadcasts, most
if not all of them were caught up in the plague outbreak that
swept through Europe, and are presumed dead. Few escaped the
invisible bugs of the age old harvester of human lives. It would
seem Liberalism is ended in America. The rich, effete,
influential and outspoken members of that infestation are all
dead.”
“Radio signals from the orbiting space shuttle and the space
station have not been heard in a couple of weeks and it is
assumed they have perished. In all probability their oxygen or
food ran out.”
“Small bands of people located all over the US are coming on the
air and we are hearing from them daily. We have heard from no
one on the West Coast or on the Atlantic Seaboard so far, but it
is hoped that some of them made it through the terrible events
that has cost America so much and in such a small time period.”
“Canada made it through relatively unscathed regarding the bombs
but the plague cut its numbers down to a fraction of what they
once were. It is estimated Canada lost four fifths of its
population to the plague but there were other factors that
caused a great deal of casualties.”
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“Canada’s strict gun control laws curtailed the number of
weapons at the disposal of its citizens. When the mobs raided
across the unprotected and almost unguarded borders the Canadian
people were overwhelmed by the well armed hordes. People from
Connecticut, Maine, Upper New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and areas north of Washington state and Montana,
and further east to the Great Lakes areas, the Canadians didn’t
have a chance. There were two reasons for this happening; First,
Canada began negotiating with the Russians to use their
sovereign soil as a staging ground to invade America. That made
many Americans angry and second, The Canadians did not have the
capabilities to stop the American invasion. Canadians are
actively fighting the invaders but without arms it has been a
struggle for them with a now greatly reduced population.”
“It is known that away from the seaboard there are pockets of
groups who are holed up in enclaves that are completely
independent of everyone, and they do not hesitate to kill anyone
on sight. Initially these people were friendly to the hundreds
of thousands that began to pass through their area but the mobs
stripped the areas clean like a horde of army ants and left
little for the residents to survive on. Those who survived
became distrustful and they no longer tolerated random passersby
to enter or to traverse their territory. The war came to Middle
America and it was an ugly and thankless war of territorialism.
Soon, there were no more trespassers and the people,although on
guard from that day forward, went back to the task of growing
food to survive but with an ever watchful eye. Those that passed
through kept moving and some of them made it to the Ohio
Valley.”
“We know the following states are what is left of the United
States: New Mexico, Iowa, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska,
Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah, Oklahoma, Wisconsin,
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky,
Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and
South Florida are what is left of the United States. We have
heard nothing from Alaska and Hawaii so far. We also know roving
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patrols are shooting anyone who penetrates those territories,
and they are doing it on sight. This wide belt that cuts down
the center of the United States is the United States. The new
President Carl Richards has declared Chicago to be the Nation’s
new Capital. We also know industry and manufacturing is
proceeding almost as much as usual with minor exceptions. The
farmers are promising a bumper harvest considering the weather
has been cloudy and overcast since the war ended.”
“We are hoping to hear from all areas outside of the central
areas of the US. We do get messages now and then but only a few
have been consistent.”
“Armed gangs have terrorized many areas hardest hit, we hear
stories of slavery, children being eaten, and other acts of
cannibalism. So far not a shred of proof has been verified to
establish those allegations to be other than just stories and
not fact. To paint a picture of horror is an understatement. We
know full well the hardships the entire country has had to
endure, and we want to know the truth about these stories one
way or the other. Static……………………………….. The station was gone.
They waited but failed to get it back. Once again people walked
away without saying very much. In the morning it was expected
they would have a healthy round of discussion about this latest
broadcast.
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Chapter Thirty Six Avalon
The West Coast
Now that Caroline had a little easier ride down the mountain,
Doctor Dan asked if he could ride down with them and then it was
Roger. Mike didn’t care as long as there was sufficient gas for
the little Cessna 182. It was a Turbo and whatever you could
cram in to it she would fly. Gas was becoming a problem but Mike
had an idea and he was going to put it into action in a couple
more days. He waited until he was sure no one needed a ride and
he asked Sam to accompany him.
“Sam we need to find some gas for this bird and other vehicles.
I know that in a pinch when all else fails we have the Ethyl
Alcohol, but surely there is some gas out there somewhere
hiding.”
Sam thought that was a good idea, so they loaded up a few
necessities in the plane and after a few goodbyes, they were
airborne and heading toward Fitch. Mike called the Sheriff’s
Office on the radio and in a minute a voice was acknowledging
their call,
“This is the Sheriff’s office, over.”
“Is the Sheriff in?”
Not yet but he’s on his way.”
“Can you ask him to come out to the County Airport? This is Mike
Reynolds.”
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I’ll do it right now, he has a radio in his car and he probably
heard you, but just in case he didn’t, I’ll do it now,”
“Thank you. Mike out.”
In a moment the Sheriff was on the horn and said,
“What’s up Mike?”
“I need to find some gas somewhere in the Valley. You have any
ideas where some might be stashed?”
The Sheriff was thinking about it and Fitch came into view on
the horizon as they waited. The radio came on with the familiar
voice of Sheriff Waters. He said,
“Mike I may be able to come up with something. I’ll meet you at
the airport. Out”
Mike clicked the button on his mike a couple of times to
acknowledge the message.
It was a clear sunny day and the wind was slight. Not enough to
move the windsock in this small and sheltered valley. Mike
turned on final approach and set the last notch of flaps, pushed
the prop to maximum inches giving it maximum bite in case they
had to do a “go around”, and reduced power a little more. The
plane began to slow, at seventy the tires screeched as they came
in contact with the runway, and he put the flaps back up to zero
degrees, he reached down and opened the cowl flaps, and let the
momentum of the airplane slow itself down. As they taxied over
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to the hangar they saw the Sheriff pulling in to the airport and
he stopped in front of the office.
Mike rolled over to the office and shut it down by pulling the
fuel mixture to full lean. The engine sputtered and then
stopped.
Mike and Sam got out and walked toward the office. The Sheriff
was already in there rummaging around. When they walked in the
Sheriff turned and said,
“Somewhere they keep their maps, and I just can’t remember where
that is off the top of my head.”
Mike walked over to a file cabinet and pulled the steel drawer
open. It was labeled “Sectional Charts.” Mike pulled one out and
unfolded it, showing Fitch and a few other small towns sprinkled
here and there just a name and a dot. They walked over to a
table and the three of them hunched over the aviation chart and
studied it. The Sheriff finally spoke up and said,
“This might be a good place to stop and check out. I know there
was a crop dusting outfit here, just outside of town called
Ruston. Over here is a small strip that belonged to the farmer
named,……… named………, I can’t remember now but we could go down to
The County Building and look him up.”
“That won’t be necessary Sheriff, Sam and I are going to top
this bird off with some of the gas stored over there in the
tanker you keep locked up in the hangar and then we’ll be
heading that way. It looks to be about a fifteen minute ride
from here.”
Sheriff Waters said,
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“You boys ain’t going without me.”
They gassed up the 182 and in a few minutes were ready to go
toward Rushton.
The short flight lasted seventeen minutes and the strip was
about a mile from the main farm house. When the airplane stopped
they taxied as close as they could and shut the bird down.
Getting out they began to walk. All three men were armed with an
M-16 from the Armory.
As they walked the tall grass came up to their knees in places.
They stopped several times to remove burrs from their socks that
aggravated the ankle where they lodged themselves. The farmhouse
was big, and off to the right of it was a large barn. The house
was big but could easily fit inside the barn it was so big. The
house was painted white with dark green trim. The barn was
painted a reddish color but was weathered and appeared to be a
light rust color. It was at least three stories tall. Sheriff
Waters said,
“I don’t know a lot about this guy but I understand he was
loaded, he had more money than some countries. I had forgotten
about him. He owned an airplane he used to go to the coast with
and if I’m not mistaken it was a twin engine job. I am almost
positive he will have some gas stored away somewhere, probably
over there behind the barn.”
They continued to walk and eventually arrived at the house. They
knocked on the door and waited. There was a small windmill off
to one side of the house and as the wind blew a man with a
hatchet chopped incessantly away up and down and up and down. It
made a clacking noise. No noise came from the house, so the
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Sheriff reached over and twisted the doorknob and pushed and the
big door opened with a squeak. Sheriff Waters said in a loud
voice,
“This is Sheriff Waters from Fitch. Is there anyone in here?”
It was silent. It smelled bad in the house, at first it was
subtle, but it became stronger as they moved toward the center
of the house. The Sheriff yelled this time,
“Sheriff Waters from Fitch, is there anybody here?”
Silence.
They moved to the kitchen and there was neatness and
orderliness. Nothing appeared to be touched. The refrigerator
was obviously not running and the Sheriff opened the door and a
terrible stink came out. All the food in there was rotten. He
immediately closed the door and said,
“I sure wish I hadn’t of done that!”
It made Mike and Sam laugh.
They moved through the house and everything was so neat, so
perfect and they decided to move upstairs. At the top of the
stairs was a landing and it was large. There was a hallway that
went left and another that went right. Mike went right and Sam
and the Sheriff went left. There were six rooms down the hall
that Mike chose. Each door was painted with white enamel and
looked as if they had just been painted. The door hardware was
rich and obviously expensive. He tied the door knob and the door
opened toward the inside of the room. There was a large bedroom
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fitted with a large wardrobe, several chairs, a table, and a
couch. Off to one side was a door and he went over and it led
into a huge bathroom complete with all the fixtures. He went
back out and went over to the other door and opened it. It was a
large walk in closet. It was packed full of women’s clothing.
Mike left the room and went down the hall toward the next room.
In the hall he saw the Sheriff and Sam beckoning to him. He
turned and walked toward them on the plush carpeted floor.
“What’s up guys?”
The Sheriff said in a hushed voice,
“Take a look at this.”
Mike went inside and lying on the huge bed were four bodies.
Each next to the other. A man was on one side, two women in the
middle and another woman on the other side. On a table on the
other side of the room was a hand written note. The Sheriff said
to Mike,
“Read it son.”
Mike picked it up and read it,
“To Whom It May Concern, I Thomas Daltry, I Doris Daltry, I
Janet Daltry, and I Margaret Daltry are hereby committing our
souls to God for safe keeping. We understand taking one’s own
life is a mortal sin, but we hope and we pray the Lord will
forgive us for we cannot bear, what is happening with the war
and the news of the war. If anyone finds us, please see to it we
have a Christian burial. May God Bless and keep you if you honor
this last request from the Daltry’s.
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Signed,
And the signatures were neatly applied to the bottom of the
letter.
Mike said,
“I suppose we need to honor this request my friends. Let’s wrap
these up individually and take them out behind the house.”
They found fresh sheets in a hallway closet and took out four of
them. They wrapped each one up in a sheet and took them outside
behind the house and carefully laid them down on the ground and
then dug shallow graves for all of the bodies and placed them in
the ground side by side. Mike went inside and searched the
massive room that was the library and found a Bible. He came
back out with it and opened it to Romans, Chapter 6,4 and 5-
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that
“like” as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, “even so we also should walk in newness of life.” For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.”
“Rest in Peace this family, Thomas, Doris, Janet and Margaret
Daltry. May the Lord have mercy on you and that you receive the
everlasting light from God.”
“Amen.”
The Sheriff and Sam uttered their ending to the prayer together.
Mike turned and looked at them and said,
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“What say we look around for some gas?”
They found a huge tanker truck that Mister Daltry used to fill
up his plane with, and not only was it full of aviation gas, but
the diesel tank on the truck was full as well. They also found a
five thousand gallon tank full of car gas and a fifteen hundred
gallon tank of diesel. This was all going to have to be
transported back to Fitch for later use. The twin engine Beech
was in the large barn collecting dust. They made arrangements to
bring some people back in the Cessna, drop them off and to have
all of the gas delivered to Fitch. In a few days it was done.
Sam and Mike went back home to Avalon after the ferrying
operation was done. Sheriff Waters coordinated the salvage
operation of the fuel. It was a productive day and they had
plenty of fuel to last awhile, especially Avgas for the plane.
It sure was coming in handy these days.
The evening came to Avalon and after a sumptuous dinner, Dan
clicked on the radio and a man was talking,
“…..the President assures us that is what is in the process of
being implanted as I speak. Last night we reported on the East
Coast of the United States, tonight we will give you pertinent
information that will help you see a picture of the West Coast
of the United States and we are confident you will have a better
understanding when we finish this broadcast.”
“The President has still had no communications from anyone out
West in particular, the Great State of California. No one seems
to have any hard evidence as to what the status is. The
President has satellite photos of the strike zones, but little
else is known. We are all hoping someone will get on a radio and
enlighten us, and soon. It is a terrible situation not to know.”
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“I can share with you here and now, this is what we do know.
Satellite images reveal Seattle, Washington was hit with
multiple bombs. The bombs took out the Boeing plants in Everett
and in Seattle, Washington and one which greatly reduced the
military capabilities of McCord, Air Force Base, and Fort Lewis
located south of Seattle near an Area known as Puyallup,
Washington. The President is in communication with the military
installations, but no word as to their status is forthcoming so
far.”
“Moving south now to Portland, Oregon. It was nuked by a single
bomb, and nothing is coming out of that area.”
“Farther south, San Francisco, California was struck with three
bombs. The devastation is tremendous and the City by the Bay no
longer exists. Satellite photos show the Bay Bridge is damaged
but still stands. The rest of the city burned for about two
weeks and there is no detectable life there.”
“Farther south, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, little is
known. There are no radio transmissions coming out of that area.
As I have stated earlier, there are rumors abounding Motorcycle
Gangs have formed mobile armies and are looting and pillaging
the entire areas. An expert in nuclear fallout, Dr. Duane Adams
from the University of Chicago tells us that in all probability
the activity in those areas is reduced from radiation poisoning
which probably moved from West to East and was blocked by the
Sierra Madre Mountain Range, The Great Rocky Mountains, and the
Tehachapi’s. That would explain the lack of any information
coming out of there. It could well be that almost if not all of
the residents from San Francisco and south are all dead.
Aircraft from what is left of the Air Force have flown over the
area and have taken readings. The President released that
information a month ago, but it is being updated by additional
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flight as I speak. As soon as we have that information we will
let you know what it is.”
“Food shortages will be averted from the new food bowl located
in the middle of America where food crops are actively being
cultivated. The twenty six states encompassing what is left of
the United States are beginning to work hard and industry is
booming with little exceptions. People all over America are
experiencing a renewed surge of Patriotism and pride in America
attitudes. Just outside of Austin, Texas a group began to
protest some remote happening and they were all shot and killed
by a Texas mob waving American flags and sporting full automatic
weapons. The President commented about the incident today by
saying,
“Although we abhor violence in any form, anyone who would burn a
flag or condemn these United States of America should be well
advised to do so at your own peril. Feelings run high right now
and the American population has a low threshold toward anyone
who would condemn or utter anything derogatory toward this
country. I understand how you feel put I implore you, do not
take the law into your own hands. We are a country of laws and
we are a land where justice will prevail.”
“It is predicted that much of California will remain
contaminated for at least a century. The oil wells that are
burning out of control near Los Angeles and down in the valley
near what was once Bakersfield will probably burn for a number
of years. No one can get to them because of the deadly
radiation, and the resources to do it are very scarce.”
“In other news the President and his cabinet are instituting the
gold standard. Gold has risen to ten thousand dollars a Troy
Ounce, which makes America’s reserves a precious commodity…………”
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The radio was turned off, and Beth stood up and said to the
group.
“Since you all have been so gracious to allow me to live here at
Avalon, I’d like to present you, the citizens here and the
community a gift.”
She asked Tom Wyatt, David Driscol and Matt to come forward and
they did, carrying small leather pouches. They sat them down on
a table near Beth and she said,
“Here in these bags are about twenty one pounds of pure gold. I
make that to be a little over three million dollars and we know
where a lot more of it is.”
The boys were beaming, Beth couldn’t help herself and she was
smiling too.
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Chapter Thirty Seven Avalon
The Radio Station
Dan had an idea, and he thought about it a great deal. At first
Caroline and Roger suspected there might be something wrong with
him and he was hiding it from them. H seemed preoccupied of
late. On this evening after dinner, Caroline questioned him
about her concerns because it was becoming a strain worrying
about him.
She stood up and said not only to the Doctor, but she was
addressing everyone in the room. The population of Avalon had
just about doubled with the addition of Beth, her people and
some of the rescued women and of course others that made their
way to the great retreat over the last months. She said to them
all.
“Doctor Dan, you are worrying us all sick. You haven’t seemed
yourself in a week or more and we want to know what the problem
is.”
She stood there waiting for an answer and Dan stood up slowly
and he smiled at her. He looked at her stomach and patted it
affectionately and turned to face them all. He spoke in an even
voice, it was steady and it was as always deliberate as he said
to them,
“I have been wondering for a long time lately if we should
extend our reach in terms of communications beyond Fitch. Every
time we listen to Stanley Kennedy telling us about the
happenings in the rest of the world he keeps telling us we are,
that is, the West Coast is dead. Although we are not the coast
in reality we are part of what was once California and I want to
acknowledge the fact that we are alive and thriving.”
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He paused for a moment and drank some water but remained
standing. Caroline sat down and looked up as he was about to add
to what he was saying.
“I realize that letting the rest of the world know we are here,
alive and well, that it could be leaving the door open for
attacks by slavers or some other unknown dangers. Hidden away up
here we are relatively safe, and I have to admit I like that,
but we are part of the United States. I remember when we were
not sure as to what was left out there and we adopted our new
flag and there was talk of us possibly being a new country unto
ourselves. Well, we know now there are others out there, and I
think we should let them know we are here and that California
isn’t totally dead. We have children about to be born, new
citizens into a new world remarkably different than the world we
were born into. They will pick up the torch and they will step
into our shoes eventually. Are we to be a stand-alone group or
will we join the rest of the country?”
The group talked among themselves. The murmur was similar to a
hive of honeybees buzzing inside a large nest. Sometimes someone
laughed and at times there was a sudden high pitched
exclamation, but they were busy. Roger stood up and the crowd
quieted down. He spoke directly to Dan when he asked him,
“Well Doctor, you didn’t really tell us the whole story, what
else is there?”
Dan smiled and he said,
“Our good Doctor Roger Tully has spoken the truth. How easy it
is for me to get sidetracked. My proposal is to use our Ham Set
to start our own radio station. We can begin to tell the rest of
America what we are doing, what has happened since the inception
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of the group here and what is happening in Fitch. I am not
qualified to tell you what we need to do to make this idea a
reality, but I think we should do it and as soon as we can set
it up. Penny can write the script, because her daily news would
be a good start if that was all that was sent out daily and
almost anyone could read it over the air. I think Sam would do a
good job with that rich deep voice of his, but that part I can
leave up to you to decide.”
He sat down and Crystal jumped up and said,
“You know, everybody, things get discussed better in the bar.
Especially after we get some of the shine Sam and Perry have
been brewing up these days behind some serious discussions.”
Everybody moved to the bar.
It was decided that Sam and Harlan would take the flatbed wagon
down to Fitch and see what they could come up with. After a
discussion with Randal and the Sheriff an antenna was selected
to be disassembled loaded into the wagon and after a number of
uneventful and long boring trips, the tall antenna was hauled up
the mountain piece by piece and then assembled on the ground
near where it was going to be erected.
In a few days it was ready to be hoisted up into a vertical
position. It laid there on the ground and stretched out a little
over a hundred feet long. Eight positions were designated and
laid out on the ground for the anchors of the guy wires that
would support the tower. Twenty-four 55 gal drums were hauled up
the mountain and they were filled with gravel from the creek bed
behind the large lodge main building and three at a time were
buried in the ground and attached to a piece of the old railroad
327
tracks as the main attaching points. When it was ready to be
hoisted, a team of horses was positioned on two different sides
opposite the side that would be raised but separated by about
seventy five feet in a wide arch.
At first all sides had wire fastened into place and were loose
but three of them were fastened to three different teams of
horses. Wires were connected to the three sides, and on the
signal the slack was taken out of the wires by the big
four-horse draft team as they began to move and the tower eased
up in the air a foot at a time and then rose steadily as the
tower went up. The four horse teams on the opposite sides kept
the slack from getting too loose and the tower went up and was
held in a vertical position until the anchor points could be
secured in place. Once the initial three anchors were fastened,
the horses were led away and the work of securing the other five
positions was done. It took two days to get the job done.
The copper wire that led to the antenna connection on the Ham
Set was connected and it was time to do a test. First they
called Fitch. The signal came in down there five by five. It was
strong and it was clear as a signal could get. That night after
supper, Sam turned on the set, let it warm up and then did a
test to Fitch. Fitch answered,
“Loud and clear Avalon. Good luck and we’ll be listening, over
and out.”
Sam began to speak to the world, to the country, and to anyone
who was left in the world. Avalon was alive and well.
“Hello out there from Avalon. We are in the United States of
America, the mountains in California to be exact. Our location
is just west of Bishop, and the city of Fitch, California. We
are sending this message out to let you all know we are alive
and we are well. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say we are
thriving. We have women who are pregnant and some of them will
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be delivering soon. We have enough to eat, we have competent
medical facilities and personnel to attend to the sick or
injured and we finally installed the antenna to allow us to
reach out to you with this news.”
“We had a number of fights with slavers but we are happy to
report we killed many of them without losing a single person
during the fighting. They have dispersed and moved toward the
coast. We are in daily communications with the citizens of Fitch
and the Sheriff there by the name of Sheriff Robert Waters. They
send their salutations.”
“We made plans a number of years ago to make provisions to stock
an abandoned town with food, growing seeds, livestock, tools,
medicine and everything we felt would be necessary to get us
through any sort of major disaster. As it turned out we were
right and what we did has saved the lives of more than thirty of
us. That number has grown as we accepted stragglers and we get
stronger by the day. The addition of this radio station is a
culmination of those efforts by every man, woman and child here
and in Fitch.”
“We cannot report the status of the West Coast at this moment
but we intend to explore as much of the coast as we safely can
in the upcoming months and we will let you know what we find. We
do not have radiation detection devises enough to go around, but
we are working on the problem. We think there are enough in the
Armory at Fitch to outfit a squad of about eight men, maybe
more. Once we secure the devises we will be venturing out toward
the west. Our intentions are to move north as well but that will
have to come in its own good time.”
“The townspeople at Fitch are armed, and they are trained in
adequate military tactics to suppress any forces launched at
them from now on. They have enough food and weaponry, as well as
ammunition. We have opened and staffed the hospital, and there
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are armed patrols keeping a watchful eye on all points of the
compass. We defeated a large force of slavers and we are
confident we can do it again if necessary. We are all armed and
we will not tolerate any attacks on our citizenry by any
aggressive forces.”
“We have a daily newspaper written by one of our citizens and we
hope to be reading this to you on the air everyday from now on.
We will be doing our broadcast at seven each evening west coast
time. Our radio is monitored every minute of every day and if
anyone wants to talk to us, we will be on this band you are
tuned to. Our call sign is Avalon.”
“We survived the nuclear attacks on our country, and we defeated
the Biker Gangs we refer to as Slavers. We survived the plague
and we defeated hunger by our planning and our efforts. It is
our united intention to survive anything else that comes our
way. With the help of God and through cooperation among us here
we will survive anything else that is brought our way. We are a
free and freedom loving people and we are peaceful, but if war
is brought to our doorstep we will rally and we will overcome
our enemies with every drop of blood in our bodies and with
every breath we take. God Bless America and for what it and its
people stand for. Avalon out.”
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Avalon the Epilogue
The next day after the first broadcast the Sheriff called
Avalon, the radio crackled with a message,
“This is Sheriff Waters calling Avalon, do you read?........”
It was Crystal monitoring today and she responded by answering
the Sheriff,
“This is Avalon, I read you loud and clear Sheriff, go ahead.”
“Can you ask Mike if he’ll fly down here and get me and another
person and take us back up to Avalon? I’ll stand by and wait
for his answer. Tell him it’s important. Out.”
Crystal got on one of the handhelds and said,
“Mike the Sheriff is calling for you, he needs you to come down
and get him, he says it’s important.”
Mike said,
“Tell him I’m on my way.”
Mike went out to the plane and did a pre-flight on it in
preparation to taking off and Sam came over,
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“Trouble?”
“I don’t think so I’m going down to get the Sheriff and someone
else and bring them up here.”
“Don’t know why eh?”
“Nope. See you in awhile.”
Mike climbed in to the cockpit and prepared to start the
airplane and yelled the customary signal,
“Clear Prop!”
He cranked it up and it started right away. He turned the plane
and taxied down the field a ways and turned the little airplane
and did a run up, recycled his prop, checked the mags, released
the brakes and headed down the runway. It didn’t take long and
he was landing at the airport. He saw the Sheriff’s car waiting
for him and he taxied up near it.
“What’s up Sheriff? Hi Randal. Jump in, Randal you sit up front,
you weigh a lot more than the Sheriff.”
In a moment the little airplane was speeding down the runway
gaining speed and then broke ground and Mike turned the airplane
toward Avalon. In less than twenty minutes they were landing.
There were several people on the big porch when the plane taxied
up toward it and stopped. He pulled the mixture control and the
engine stopped.
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They all walked around the grounds and Randal and the Sheriff
were nearly speechless at what they saw. As was usual with most
people Avalon did that to you at first sight. It was extremely
impressive. They did the royal tour and Doctor Dan was the tour
guide. There was food cooking and they were offered a bowl of
beef stew and they both sat and ate. The Sheriff said.
“This is just about the best stew I’ve ever eaten.”
Caroline went and got Chad and Linda from the kitchen and
brought them out to meet the Sheriff and Sergeant Randal. In a
while when they finished eating, the tour resumed, and after a
couple of hours of walking around the Retreat they returned to
the main building and Dan invited them into the bar for a drink.
The Sheriff was dumbfounded and he said,
“Bar?”
They all laughed and took the Sergeant and the Sheriff in to the
bar and Crystal said,
“What’s your pleasure?”
They stayed in the bar talking until it was time for supper, and
they all went out and had a fabulous meal of spare ribs, mashed
potatoes and gravy, sweet buttered corn, and for desert they had
apple pie. Coffee was served as well. As seven O’clock
approached they went to the radio room.
Dan turned on the radio set and was letting it warm up in a few
minutes the radio came alive and it was the new President of the
United States. He said,
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“This is the President calling Avalon, over.”
Dan responded by saying,
“This is Dan Crowley speaking, how can we help you Mr.
President?”
The President said,
“Is this Doctor Daniel Crowley I’m speaking to?”
Dan responded by saying,
“Yes it is Mister President at your service.”
“Good, you are now Governor Daniel Crowley. I am appointing you
the new Governor of the State of California. In a few weeks we
will be dispatching an aircraft to your airport with some
pertinent information, and a few things you will need as the new
governor, including a certificate of your office.”
Dan replied,
“Thank you sir, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t need to say anything Governor, good luck. Sheriff
Waters, are you there?”
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The Sheriff picked up the microphone and spoke into it with
hesitation,
“This is the Sheriff Mister President, what can I do for you?”
The President spoke clearly and said,
“Sheriff, you are the kind of man I admire and I am appointing
you as the Lieutenant Governor of California. You may remain
Sheriff as well if you desire.”
The Sheriff murmured.
“Lieutenant Governor? Me?”
“That’s right. Your are now just under the Doctor, and may God
help you make all the right decisions. I want to address
Lieutenant Commander Michael Reynolds now. Is he there as well?”
Mike took his turn at the microphone and spoke into it,
“This is Mike Reynolds Mister President.”
Mike felt like he should be saluting or something but resisted
the urge.
“Michael Reynolds, you are now Admiral Michael Reynolds, that’s
four stars son, and you can be my advisor, or you can go on
active duty and assume your station here, but that decision is
yours alone. Congratulations Admiral, the appropriate paperwork
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will be sent along on the same airplane I’m sending for the
Governor.”
“Is Special Agent Elizabeth Kelly there?”
Beth stepped up and held the microphone in her hand, she spoke
into it,
“This is Elizabeth Kelly sir,”
“Good, good, you’re there too. I want to inform you that you are
now the Agent in charge of the entire west coast and that
includes Alaska and Hawaii and any Pacific Territories we have
left. You will take orders from me, the Attorney General, or the
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, no one else.
Congratulations. Your new credentials will be on the same
airplane.”
“Is Sergeant Randal Stone there?”
Randal walked over and put the microphone up to his mouth and
spoke into it,
“I am present sir, Sergeant Randall Stone at your service.”
“Good, Sergeant, you are now promoted to the rank of Brigadier
General and you will be in charge of all of the National Guard
in California, congratulations General.”
“I want to congratulate all of you for serving your country in
this time of need and to inform you of the value I believe each
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of you has for this government, and for your country. Good night
and we will be speaking again soon.”
The Sheriff stepped over to Mike and said,
“I was saving this but it doesn’t seem fitting anymore, an
Admiral, wow, an Admiral.”
Mike stepped over to the Sheriff and put an arm around his
shoulders and said,
“Sheriff I’d like to take the opportunity to express my most
profound thanks to you and to the General for your help, for
without it I might not be here today, we have accomplished great
things together and under extremely difficult conditions. Thank
you. Now, what was it you were saving?”
The Sheriff, pulled a wallet out of his pants pocket and
presented it to Mike, and said,
“It no longer seems significant Admiral, but I thought I’d
present this to you as a token of my appreciation of all that
you have done for me and Fitch.”
Mike opened the leather case and inside it was gold badge; on
the badge were these words,
Clallam County, California
Under Sheriff
Badge number 2
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The Sheriff seemed embarrassed and Mike said,
“Thank you Sheriff I will treasure this.”
In another area of California, a group of men gathered around a
radio and were listening to the radio conversation between the
President and the different members of Avalon and Fitch. Bone
Breaker said,
“Enjoy it Sheriff, Admiral, General, Governor, I’ll be back and
this time you won’t get away so easy. I’ll make you all pay. I
think in another year or so there will be a few succulent and
tender babies to eat. I’m going to enjoy that.”
The Beginning!
Copyright © 2008 COPYRIGHT L. Michael Rusin. All rights reserved.
"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging
thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the
wage payer.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by
encouraging class hatred.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
338
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than
you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away
man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what
they could and should do for themselves."
- President Abraham Lincoln
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