Original Work The Unwelcome Sign

“That went well.”
“You did manage to keep your mouth shut. I know it must have been hard with what Johns was saying.”
“Nothing I haven't heard before. Police party line. Partly a liability issue, partly jealousy. I thought you were going to have something to say about the food issue.”
“It was tough holding my tongue. Stupid bitch has another thing coming if she thinks she's going to redistribute what we've worked and planned to put up. And Quinn thinking the government is going to save the day if she demands it.”
“I know, right? But were you surprised by any of that?”
“No, that's what I expected. Not surprised at all. That's why I said it would be a waste of time for us to go.”
“Yes and no. We knew how they'd react, but now we know what they are planning. And we have you on the inside. I think that was worth our time.”
“I see that. But I'm not sure how much of Carol I can take.”

“We should probably go over where we're at. We might still be able to get somethings that we need.”
“And we need to talk about how we are going to handle some things that are going to come up.”
“Those we can foresee, anyway. Our experience with hurricanes will only go so far.”

“We're in good shape for food and basic supplies. At least a year. More some things”
“We're cool on the guns and ammo side. What we got from Juice is just icing on the cake.”
“Power's going to go out at some point.”
“Yeah, sooner rather than later. We may have a few more days. A week or two at the outside.”
“Then things are going to get bad.”
“like they're not bad now.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I'm glad we started to make the move to solar. Getting the 12 volt freezer and running it on batteries was a good way to get our feet wet. Being able to freeze and cool things will be a big help.”
“I wish we had more capacity.”
“I was thinking about that. Food and gas are pretty much out of the question now, but I'm wondering if we might be able to get another couple of solar pannels and batteries. How's our cash holding out?”
“We still have a couple grand. You think they'll take it?”
“I think so. I'll bet most people still haven't come to terms with the situation. That's it's going to be a long duration event.”
“why should they? It's never happened before. The government might be slow, but they always show up to help. They've never had to deal with this before”
“I'd love to get a 12 volt pump for our plumbing. Pulling buckets out of the cistern gets old pretty quick.”
“We can alway set up a siphon below the house. Set up a place to shower and wash things.”
“True. But if we can keep using the faucets, wouldn't that be nice?”
“Yes. Hey, how are we doing for gas?”
“Which kind? My Jeep is full, yours is down to around a half a tank. We have twenty or so gallons in cans.”
“Propane?”
“Three full 100 pound tanks and the one we are currently running which is somewhere around half.”
“That should last us a while.
“I'm thinking a couple of years if we are careful.”

“The problem is our calculations are for just us. Is that realistic?” Sadie said.
“We've talked about this before. We may need to help other people. That will put a dent in what we've stored.”
“But we'll be better off with some people with us.”
“Exactly. But not just any people. We need to be choosey who we help.”
“That'll be a problem. How do we turn people away?”
“Yeah especially people we know. It'll be tough.”
“That's why it's best that no one knows what we have.”
“It's going to get harder and harder to do that. As other people stuggle to find food and are loosing weight, and we aren't.” I added shaking my head, picturing images of things to come. “Something as simple as neighbors seeing lights on in our house at night, or hearing a generator running, could bring us unwanted attention.”
“guess I should work on black out curtains”
“Wouldn't hurt. No matter what we do, we are going to attract attention at some point. We need to be on guard.”
“Loco and Rudi are good watch dogs. But I've had times when I've walked all the way into the house and they didn't know I was there.”
“Yeah with the wind blowing hard enough they won't smell or hear people coming from downwind. I'm going to have to come up with some sort of alarms. Especially in the vulnerable areas.”
“And you're right, we are going to need more people around. That whole 'safety in numbers thing. By the way, have you heard from Frank?”
“I talked with him yesterday around noon. They're OK.”
“It would be good to have him here.”
“Not going to happen. He's not going to leave that house he put all that work into. At least we have Stan in the neighborhood. He's turned out to be a good student.”
“I was surprised he didn't show up at the meeting”
“Me too. Although they are new to the neighborhood. Unless something happened... I'll try to text him.”

“I'm going to feed the pups and turn in.”
“Watch some TV?” Sadie asked
“No internet, so no Netflix, but we have all that stuff on the hard drive.”
“I could use some mindless entertainment to wind down.”
“Wanna drink with that?”
“Yes please.” Sadie smiled.
“Be right back.” I fed the dogs, gave them some head rubs, made Sadie's drink and headed back upstairs. I set up the laptop, our 'TV' in bed and hooked up the external hard drive. I got a 3 terabyte drive and gave it to a computer nerd friend who filled it with everthing from movies to TV series, to documentaries. All in high definition. Three terabytes is a lot of programing.

People don't realize the importance of entertainment for mental health. Being able to unplug and depresurize is critical to long term function. Being cooped up, bored spitless while a hurricane raged outside made me a believer. I love reading, but it takes effort and concentration. Sometimes being spoonfed video entertainment is just what the doctor ordered.

We were only a few minutes into the first program, some documentary on African Cats, that I noted that Sadies breathing changed. Seeing that she was asleep, I quietly turned off the laptop, missing being able to check Facebook. I wondered how my many friends scattered around the states were fairing.
Putting the laptop away, I got the radio out. Slipping the headphones on I started turning though the dial. Well, not really a dial, but you know what I mean.

I started with local channels, and hit paydirt with the first one I tried, a popular news and talk station. “...by for an official announcement from Government House at the top of the hour” I checked my watch, twelve minutes to 8:00pm. Well, that ought to be good...

I scanned through the shortwave bands. The static was still bad, although it seemed to be easing up. I caught bits and pieces of French and Spanish language broadcasts, and at one point a snippet of some Enlish with either an Australian or New Zealand accent.

That's quite a bit of skip. Ionosphere must be active. Looking at my watch again I saw that is was straight up eight o'clock, so I tuned back to the local station.

“...now go live to Government House for an official announcement from John Grey, spokesman for the Governor.”

“Fellow Virgin Islanders. I have been instructed by Governor Young to provide you with the following information. As most of you know, something catastrophic appears to have happened and we have lost contact with the Mainland three days ago. We have tried all channels of communication; direct phone line via the fiber optic cable, satelite, and shortwave radio. None of these have worked.
Additionally, airplane and boat traffic has ceased.
The governor directed that members of the Port Authority and Vitema take a patrol boat over to our neighbor, Peurto Rico. They left early yesterday morning. We lost contact with them approximately an hour later and we have not heard from them since.
Considering all of these points, the Governor has no choice but to declare an emergency and martial law. He has activated the National Guard units located in the territory. A dusk to dawn curfew is now in effect. Persons caught violating the curfew will be held in detention for the duration of the emergency.
Governor Young has directed that the VIPD in conjunction with the National Guard to provide security at all grocery stores, food distributors, and gas stations. The government will control distribution of these goods.
These are tough times, but Virgin Islanders are strong resiliant people. By obeying the authorities and working together, we will get through this.
On behalf of Governor Young, thank you for your attention. Good night, and may God watch over us and guide our actions”
“Whoa!” I reflected on what I had just heard. “That's going to go over well.”
All of the grocery stores and almost all of the gas stations were owned by Palestinians. Well armed Palestinians. I doubted that they would take well to having all their assets seized and doled out as the government saw fit.

Change of plan. For a moment I thought of sneaking out of the house and doing it myself. But only for a moment. If Sadie woke up, and I was gone, there would be hell to pay. Sigh. I hated to do it, but it was the least bad of two bad choices.

“Sweetie” I nudged Sadie. “Sweetie, I need you to wake up. We need to talk”

“Wha..What is it Sweetie” she said with some alarm. “I was totally out”
“I know, I hated to wake you. I almost didn't” I told her about the radio address that I just heard.
“That's going to cause some problems with the Arab store owners.”
“Yup. And I saw an opportunity. I was just going to leave you sleeping and go take care of it, but knew you wouldn't be happy if I did.”
“What opportunity?”
“It's only a little after eight. Curfew isn't until ten. Nadal's grocery is usually open till eleven. They are only taking cash. . . You see where I'm going with this?”
“We go and buy what we can from him now?”
“I'm thinking Ali would rather sell to use than have the government seize his goods. Tomorrow will be too late.”
“Let's go” Sadie said, climbing out of bed.

 

Nice. You've got me jealous!

 

Right back at you Zengunfighter, may you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!

 

Thank you Zen for the politically incorrect happy end of year festivalia and saturnalia celebration greeting....


and a Happy new Year ...
which will include Moar?

 

Oh! A comment! That means you get moar.


Ten minutes later we were on ther road. Nadal's was a small grocery store on the northside of the island. A short drive brought us to his shop, where I backed into a spot in the small parking lot, backing as close to the door as I could. There was a large white van parked right next to us, rear doors open.

Two men, both armed with Kalishikovs, stood on either side of the door. “We're closed” said the one on the left.
I didn't him, but I knew the man on the right, “Hey Ahmad, fun times, eh?”
“You got that right Zed. Everything safe with you?”
“As can be, considering the crap that's happening. You heard the speech?”
“That's why we're closed. We're taking as much of this somewhere else before the police get here”
“Don't blame you brother. That's just wrong, man.”
“All of the stores are pulling as much merchandise as we can. It's all going to one place so we can all guard it, together.”
I had a good idea of where that would be. So would everyone else if they thought about it. One of the biggest Palestinian families built an enormous house on the crest of one of the ridges in the middle of the island. Sitting on top of the ridge, it had a 360 degree view. An huge poured concrete structure, it was widely rumored to have bunkers and tunnels.

“Makes good sense. Hey, we have cash, can I go and talk to Ali? See if he's willing to sell me any of this?”
“Go on in my friend. I don't know what he'll say, but go talk to him.”
“Shukran.” I fist bumped him as we passed.
“Afwan”

“Zed my good friend!” People tend to really like their firearms instructors. I'm sure there are layers of reasons for that, but I wasn't going to dwell on that just now.
“Ali, bad times, eh?”
“Very bad. What does the Governor think he's doing? He doesn't give us any security and we are left to ourselves to protect our stores, and now he wants to take our merchandise? This is very bad.”
“I'm with you on that. Government reacted too slowly and now they are over-reacting. No good will come of it.”
“So, what can I do for you? As you see, we are moving our merchandise.”
“We have some cash saved up. I was hoping to buy some things. If you can't, I understand, but I thought it might be easier to protect cash than merchandise.”
Ali thought for a moment. “I might be willing to sell, but these things are more valuable now, than they were.”
“I understand the market. Supply and demand. But I am also offering you something. What I buy you won't have to move or guard. And you have cash that is easy to carry or hide.”
“I won't have to move it or guard it, but I won't have it to sell, either.”
“If the government takes it, you won't have anything. I know you guys are well armed, but are you willing to go up against the weapons that the National Guard has?”
“Ok, ok, you make a good point. And you have always been good to us. Show me what you want and we will come to an agreement on price, yes?
“Works for me.”

Sadie and I made a pile of the goods we wanted. I grabbed all the Coca-Cola they had. It's one of my few remaining vices. We stayed away from the liters and fifths of liquor and grabbed pints and single serving bottles of vodka, rum, and whiskey.
Not wanting to be greedy, we only took a portion of what was in stock of the items we picked. While we didn't really need any of this stuff, it was more valuable than our dollars were going to be soon, if things went the way I thought they would.
Coffee and a few cartons of cigarettes, Canned foods, toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, feminine supplies, hankerchiefs. Our pile grew pretty quickly.

Sadie had been keeping a running total going in her head. “I think that's close to what we can afford to pay for.” she told me.
“Hey Ali!” he came over. “this is what we want. As marked, it comes to around $2700.00 dollars. I've got three grand.”
“Three thousand for all of that?” he looked at the pile and at me, and back at the pile.
“That's all we got.” I looked him in the eye.
He extended a hand “Done”, and we shook on it.
“Hey listen, Sadie and I have our rifles in the car. We can pull security for you while you load up your van. That frees up Ahmad and the other guy to help load. Get you on the road quicker”
“You would do that?
“Sure. Glad to help. Oh, by the way..”
“What?”
“I don't know where you are going with this, and I don't want to know. But I'll tell you, I have suspicions. And they are the same suspicions that other people are going to have, if you catch my meaning.”
“I do”
“So word to the wise, you might want to not keep all of you eggs in one basket”
“I will consider what you say.” and we left it at that.

Sadie and I loaded up our Jeep quickly, slung our rifles and took over for the guards. Sadie moved the Jeep to a better position where she could use it as cover in an overwatch position.

I hadn't been standing by the door for more than ten minutes when a car pulled into the parking lot too quickly and slid to a stop. The M4 went to a low ready as my thumb sat on top of the safety, ready to push down. I stepped behind a corner for some cover.

A man exited the car, apparently unarmed, and hurried toward me. “Store's closed”
“What do you mean the store's closed?” The lights are on and the door is open”
“The store is not open for business”
“Hey, is that you Zed?” The man stepped forward and I recognized him as a sales person at a jewelry store that contracted with me to provide security consulting.
“Hey Drew” I responded curtly, not wanting to get into a conversation with this gladhander.
“Hey, you can let me in, right? You know me.”
“Sorry, can't do that. As I said the store is not open for business.”
“But I need to buy some things.”
“You have cash?”
“No man, no cash. They'll take a check right?” Where's this guy been?
“Can't help you. Sorry.”
“So what's going on, anyway?”
“Not sure. You probably know as much as I do.”
“ You're probably ready for something like this. Probably looking forward to it, even.” I just looked at him.
“Well, if things don't get any better, I'm coming to your house.”
“Don't” I gave him The Look.
He laughed nervously, “Hey, just kidding man, just kidding. I'd probably end up in a trap hanging upside down by my foot.”
I didn't reply, but continued to stare him down. He shuffled his feet, shifted his weight from side to side, couldn't figure out what to do with his hands, and finally backed away, got in his car, and drove off.

He never noticed that Sadie had her rifle aimed in on him the entire time.

 

“Who was that?” Ali came up behind me.
“Some idiot that thought you would take a check”
Ali laughed and shook his head. “We are just about done packing things up. What we are taking is all by the door. We just need to shift it into the van and we are done here.”
“We're in no hurry Ali. Take your time. We've got your back” We continued our watch while they quickly moved everything into the van. I watched as the crammed the last item in and closed the van doors and then locked up the store.

“Got everything?”
“No, no, but we have the important things. We can't get it all. But that is Ok.”
“Are you going to leave someone to watch the store overnight?”
“No”
No?”
“No. I left a couple of cases of cheap beer and cartons of cigarettes where you can see them from the door. As an enticement. I hope someone breaks in and takes them.”
I started to see where he was going with this. Devious bastard. “So you WANT someone to break in?”
“Yes, exactly. They break in, take the things that are left. I arrange to show up in the morning just as the authorities arrive. I will be shocked and horrified that my store has been looted. I will turn my anger on the officials who did nothing to stop it.”
“And they will think that your merchandise has been stolen and that you no longer have it. I'm impressed. Very smart”
“One needs to be if he hopes to survive. We Palestinians have experienced life in ways that will come in handy in the future I think.”
“Well Ali, we're going to run. Pleasure doing business with you. I thank you for your help.”
“And you for yours,” We shook hands.
“I have a feeling we will be seeing each other in the future, once things settle down. I think you are positioning yourselves for the New Normal.”
“I don't know this 'new normal' that you speak of, but we will see, Inshallah.”
“Be well, Ali”
“And you Zed.”

 

Good story. Thanks for the Christmas Eve update.

 

It was an hour past curfew by the time we got home. I'm not sure that my curfew pass would be honored at this point. But between being on the northside that is infrequently patrolled, and a heavy salting of friends on the force, I wasn't too worried.

We didn't pass a single car on the way home. Backing in the drive as ususal, I shut the Jeep down.
As Sadie got out she asked, “do you want to unload now?”
“Want to? No. But I don't want to leave it in Jeep overnight either. Let's just get it inside and we'll sort it out tomorrow.”
“We just blew through the rest of our cash, didn't we?”
“Yes ma'am”
“I thought we wanted to go to the battery store to see about solar panels”
“I do. It would have been a crap shoot as to whether they are interested in cash or not at this point. I think tomorrow will be our first adventure in bartering.”
“I can hardly wait” Sadie “I'm interested to see how this works out.”
“How's that?”
“Well it's simple now. Everyone knows the price for everything in dollars. But how much is a carton of cigarettes worth in double A batteries? How many rolls of toilet paper will it take to buy a chicken?”
“That's why I said it would be an adventure!” I shot her a crooked grin.
And that's when the power went out.


“Here we go” remarked Sadie as she carried a load past me to the house. I stopped my latest trip to the Jeep, reached in my pocket and pulled out my flashlight. Turning it on, I followed Sadie, illuminting her path. Once inside I set it on a shelf, standing on it's tail cap. With its beam shining on the white ceiling, the ninety lumen beam lit up the whole room quite adequetly.
“Wait here a moment, I'll get our headlamps.” I went up stairs and where I always keep mine. Putting it on, I poked around the likely locations until I found Sadies. I'm big on always keeping important things in the same place. I know exactly where they are, and can find them even in the dark.

“Here you go Sweetie.” I handed Sadie her light. Flashlight technology has really come along way in the last two decades. I carry a small, powerful light all the time, but headlamps are more convenient in general. It's handy having light wherever you look.

Headlamps in place we finished moving the things we got from Nadal's store. The living room was starting to look like a warehouse. That done, we climbed back in bed.
“What time do you want to leave in the morning?” Sadie asked.
“Fairly early. How about 7ish?”
Sadie nodded, we kissed goodnight and she rolled over, asleep shortly there after.
I lay awake thinking about what I wanted to get and how I would hadle things as they came up. There were so many variables I was getting dizzy trying to game them out two or three moves out. Unable to sleep, I got up and went out onto the balcony. The stars were amazing without the light pollution. The tropical night sky has always sucked me in, but this was awesome in the truest meaning of the word.
A thousand billion winking points of light. I often find myself trying to fathom the vast distances involved and always fail, slightly dizzy with the attempt.

I listened to the world around me. The crickets and tree frogs were making a frightful racket, which was a good sign. The area around me was otherwise quiet. But there, just at the edge of hearing, was that gunfire? Not sure. Wouldn't surprise me. And nothing to concern me, at least not tonight.

Yawing, I stretched, and feeling like I might finally be able to drop of to sleep and so climbed back into my warm bed made cozy by my wife.

Next thing I knew the rising sun was coming through the window waking me up. Groggily I saw that my watch told me that it was almost six. I gently got out of bed, pulled on my pants, got my Glock from where I keep it while I sleep, did my ritualistic chamber check before holstering and headed downstairs.

 

The pups were happy to see dad was up. They stretched themselves awake and leaned against me for some head skritches and chest rubs. Scooping a cup of kibble for each of them, and seeing that their water bowl would hold them for a little while longer, I grabbed a can of Coke out of the fridge. The interior light failing to come on reminded me that the power was out. My Coke was still cold though, and I sat on the deck to give the amazing elixer the chance to wake me up as I watched the sun climb it's way out of the Atlantic Ocean to light my day.

Finished, and a bit more awake, I went to the chest freezer and pulled out 2 gallon jugs of water that were frozen solid. I placed these in the fridge to hold it's temperature down for a while. I took 2 warm gallon jugs from a case and replaced them in the freezer.

Between the incredibly high cost of electricity, and the lose of power after hurricanes, Sadie and I had been working on becoming more energy self sufficient. We weren't where we wished we could be, but we were better off than most.

Our two latest projects had been to turn our refrigerator from an upright to a chest type. Sadie found the idea on line and I resisted it in keeping with my role as a 'Stubborn Male'. She wore me down and I looked at the link she provided me with instructions. Pretty simple really. You just need to remove the bracket holding the compressor, and carefully, without kinking the copper coolant lines, turn it 90 degrees so that it will be upright when the fridge is on it's back.

Now when you open the door, the cool air stays in it, instead of spilling out onto the floor. Sadie checked before and after with the “Kill-O-Watt” meter and the consumption was cut by around 60%.

With the power out, it was now just a large cooler.

The second of our recent projects was getting a 12volt freezer, solar panel, battery and charge controller. A bit pricey, at just under two grand for the complete set up. We now had a sustainable way to keep food for a long time. And ice in your drink goes a long way to making you feel a bit more civilized.

Going down below the house to my shop, I got two 5 gallon buckets and a section of rope. Back on the ground floor I opened the lid to the cistern, and with rope tied to the bail, dropped in the buckets. A gallon of water weighs eight pounds. A five gallon bucket hits the scales at 40. This would get old quickly and I rued that we hadn't gotten to the next project, a 12 volt DC water pump.

Replacing the cistern lid I carried the buckets out to the deck. I dipped the kettle into one to make coffee for Sadie. I boiled a full kettle even though her french press would only use ten or twelve ounces. The rest would be used as drinking water. Poured back and forth between containers to aerate it and with some ice, it will be welcome after hard work on a hot day.

I dipped another kettle of water and put it on the stove to heat, then poured it back into the bucket to warm up the water. Five gallon bucket in one hand, french press and cup in the other, I struggled my way up the circular staircase.

Sadie sat up in bed as I brought in the coffee. “I brought up some water. I'll put the bucket in the shower. If there's any left over you can use it to flush the toilet.”
“You going to shower?”
“Yeah, I'll clean up first while you enjoy your coffee. I'm figuring we leave in about an hour.”
“Kay, Sweetie, I'll be ready.”

Standing in the shower, I used a cup to pour water on my head and body. Three cups, properly applied is plenty to get you wet enough to wash. I shampooed and washed, then used the cup to rinse. All in all I used about a gallon of water to take a pretty thorough wash.

You can flush your toilet two different ways. Either fill up the tank and then use it normally, or pour the water directly into the bowl. You need to raise the water level enough to get the siphon going. You don't need a couple of gallons to flush your pee, just add enough to start the siphon which can be as little as a quart or so. When you are hauling water by hand, you quickly look for ways to stretch it. Later I'll retrieve the big galvanized tub from the shed. We can stand in that when we shower, catching the water and re-use it for flushing.

“Bathroom's all yours” I called into Sadie as I headed back down stairs. I went to my shop and spun the dial on my gun safe. Opening the door, I stood there looking at the contents for a while. Finally I reached in and grabbed an H&R 12 gauge single shot shotgun and a S&W Model 19 snub nosed revolver. I closed the door of the safe and put the guns on the work bench.

Swing out the cylinder to verify that it was empty, I checked the action, the lock up and timing. It checked out fine. Putting it aside, I picked up the shotgun and opened the action. Empty, I closed it again, and pulled the lever underneath the fore end which allowed it to come away from the gun. Breaking open the action once again, now the barrel could be taken off the receiver. The three pieces made for compact storage. The longest part was the 18” barrel. I wrapped it up in a couple of shop towels and wrapped the package with duct tape.

Ammo next. Opening another safe, I was confronted with a wide variety of ammunition, everything from .22 Shorts to 12 gauge slugs. I picked up a couple of boxes of the later, as well as some 00 buckshot and a couple of 25 round boxes of bird shot. I selected four boxes of .357 magnum ammo for the revolver.

Securing the ammo safe, I went to the shelves where I keep support gear. A speed loader and a holster for the S&W and a sling for the H&R. I placed all of this, including the guns into a cheap duffel bag and carried it upstairs and set it by the front door.

I was looking for trade items for the solar panels. We were in a transition phase here. Money had little value, yet being early days, I didn't think food was a valuable as it would be in a few weeks. Right now, security was the issue, and ways of providing that would give the most bang for my battering buck.

Thinking along these lines I gathered together some more things. A Surefire 6P tactical flashlight that I didn't use anymore since switching to LED lights that run on AA batteries. I had four spare CR123 batteries for it. An ASP expandable baton. I stopped using it when I discovered the Monadnock Autolock baton. Lastly I rounded my selection out with a Benchmade automatic knife, otherwise known as a 'switchblade', which joined the other items in the duffel bag.

This was a top of line unit for the genre, not some twenty dollar piece of crap. I don't think switchblades have that much utility, but the sex appeal factor is very high. And everyone knows, sex sells.

I started another box with different items, a roll of toilet paper, bar of soap, some canned and dried food, a can of coffee, a fifth of vodka and a carton of smokes. I hated to spend these items right now, because they will increase in value exponentially in the coming weeks. I'd hang on to them if I could, but would use them to sweeten the pot if necessary.

I heard Sadie coming down the stairs.
“Ready to go?” Sadie asked?
“Yeah, I think so. I've got some things put together for trade goods.” I explained what I picked out for barter.
“Looks like a survivalist starter kit” Sadie quipped.
“I guess it is, isn't it? I tried to figure out what would have the most value right now.”
“No, I think you did great. Now let's see if it works”

 

Sneaky Palestinians....

 

The pups were happy to see dad was up. They stretched themselves awake and leaned against me for some head skritches and chest rubs. Scooping a cup of kibble for each of them, and seeing that their water bowl would hold them for a little while longer, I grabbed a can of Coke out of the fridge. The interior light failing to come on reminded me that the power was out. My Coke was still cold though, and I sat on the deck to give the amazing elixer the chance to wake me up as I watched the sun climb it's way out of the Atlantic Ocean to light my day.

Finished, and a bit more awake, I went to the chest freezer and pulled out 2 gallon jugs of water that were frozen solid. I placed these in the fridge to hold it's temperature down for a while. I took 2 warm gallon jugs from a case and replaced them in the freezer.

Between the incredibly high cost of electricity, and the lose of power after hurricanes, Sadie and I had been working on becoming more energy self sufficient. We weren't where we wished we could be, but we were better off than most.

Our two latest projects had been to turn our refrigerator from an upright to a chest type. Sadie found the idea on line and I resisted it in keeping with my role as a 'Stubborn Male'. She wore me down and I looked at the link she provided me with instructions. Pretty simple really. You just need to remove the bracket holding the compressor, and carefully, without kinking the copper coolant lines, turn it 90 degrees so that it will be upright when the fridge is on it's back.

Now when you open the door, the cool air stays in it, instead of spilling out onto the floor. Sadie checked before and after with the “Kill-O-Watt” meter and the consumption was cut by around 60%.

With the power out, it was now just a large cooler.

The second of our recent projects was getting a 12volt freezer, solar panel, battery and charge controller. A bit pricey, at just under two grand for the complete set up. We now had a sustainable way to keep food for a long time. And ice in your drink goes a long way to making you feel a bit more civilized.

Going down below the house to my shop, I got two 5 gallon buckets and a section of rope. Back on the ground floor I opened the lid to the cistern, and with rope tied to the bail, dropped in the buckets. A gallon of water weighs eight pounds. A five gallon bucket hits the scales at 40. This would get old quickly and I rued that we hadn't gotten to the next project, a 12 volt DC water pump.

Replacing the cistern lid I carried the buckets out to the deck. I dipped the kettle into one to make coffee for Sadie. I boiled a full kettle even though her french press would only use ten or twelve ounces. The rest would be used as drinking water. Poured back and forth between containers to aerate it and with some ice, it will be welcome after hard work on a hot day.

I dipped another kettle of water and put it on the stove to heat, then poured it back into the bucket to warm up the water. Five gallon bucket in one hand, french press and cup in the other, I struggled my way up the circular staircase.

Sadie sat up in bed as I brought in the coffee. “I brought up some water. I'll put the bucket in the shower. If there's any left over you can use it to flush the toilet.”
“You going to shower?”
“Yeah, I'll clean up first while you enjoy your coffee. I'm figuring we leave in about an hour.”
“Kay, Sweetie, I'll be ready.”

Standing in the shower, I used a cup to pour water on my head and body. Three cups, properly applied is plenty to get you wet enough to wash. I shampooed and washed, then used the cup to rinse. All in all I used about a gallon of water to take a pretty thorough wash.

You can flush your toilet two different ways. Either fill up the tank and then use it normally, or pour the water directly into the bowl. You need to raise the water level enough to get the siphon going. You don't need a couple of gallons to flush your pee, just add enough to start the siphon which can be as little as a quart or so. When you are hauling water by hand, you quickly look for ways to stretch it. Later I'll retrieve the big galvanized tub from the shed. We can stand in that when we shower, catching the water and re-use it for flushing.

“Bathroom's all yours” I called into Sadie as I headed back down stairs. I went to my shop and spun the dial on my gun safe. Opening the door, I stood there looking at the contents for a while. Finally I reached in and grabbed an H&R 12 gauge single shot shotgun and a S&W Model 19 snub nosed revolver. I closed the door of the safe and put the guns on the work bench.

Swing out the cylinder to verify that it was empty, I checked the action, the lock up and timing. It checked out fine. Putting it aside, I picked up the shotgun and opened the action. Empty, I closed it again, and pulled the lever underneath the fore end which allowed it to come away from the gun. Breaking open the action once again, now the barrel could be taken off the receiver. The three pieces made for compact storage. The longest part was the 18” barrel. I wrapped it up in a couple of shop towels and wrapped the package with duct tape.

Ammo next. Opening another safe, I was confronted with a wide variety of ammunition, everything from .22 Shorts to 12 gauge slugs. I picked up a couple of boxes of the later, as well as some 00 buckshot and a couple of 25 round boxes of bird shot. I selected four boxes of .357 magnum ammo for the revolver.

Securing the ammo safe, I went to the shelves where I keep support gear. A speed loader and a holster for the S&W and a sling for the H&R. I placed all of this, including the guns into a cheap duffel bag and carried it upstairs and set it by the front door.

I was looking for trade items for the solar panels. We were in a transition phase here. Money had little value, yet being early days, I didn't think food was a valuable as it would be in a few weeks. Right now, security was the issue, and ways of providing that would give the most bang for my battering buck.

Thinking along these lines I gathered together some more things. A Surefire 6P tactical flashlight that I didn't use anymore since switching to LED lights that run on AA batteries. I had four spare CR123 batteries for it. An ASP expandable baton. I stopped using it when I discovered the Monadnock Autolock baton. Lastly I rounded my selection out with a Benchmade automatic knife, otherwise known as a 'switchblade', which joined the other items in the duffel bag.

This was a top of line unit for the genre, not some twenty dollar piece of crap. I don't think switchblades have that much utility, but the sex appeal factor is very high. And everyone knows, sex sells.

I started another box with different items, a roll of toilet paper, bar of soap, some canned and dried food, a can of coffee, a fifth of vodka and a carton of smokes. I hated to spend these items right now, because they will increase in value exponentially in the coming weeks. I'd hang on to them if I could, but would use them to sweeten the pot if necessary.

I heard Sadie coming down the stairs.
“Ready to go?” Sadie asked?
“Yeah, I think so. I've got some things put together for trade goods.” I explained what I picked out for barter.
“Looks like a survialist starter kit” Sadie quipped.
“I guess it is, isn't it? I tried to figure out what would have the most value right now.”
“No, I think you did great. Now let's see if it works”

 

Terrific story and locale. Great chase scenes and very believable people interactions......
GB

 

Sadie and I carried our trade items out to the Jeep, then went back inside to gear up. Pistols were on belts as they would be every waking hour for the foreseeable future. Slinging our M4s we did quick systems checks, tap and tug mags, chamber check, dust covers closed, safeties on. Grabbing our Get Home Bags we headed out the door.

Driving out of our neighborhood, Sadie asked “how much longer will it be OK to leave our house unguarded?”
“It's not safe now. The pups are a great deterrence, but not to a determined person.”
“If anyone hurts my babies, I'll hunt them down and kill them!”
“that's how I feel about it too. We can't leave the house empty any more, but I don't see what choice we have. I didn't even bother to ask if I could go on this trip by myself.”
“No way would I let you do that, it's too dangerous out there.”
“See? Anyway, I'm hoping this is the last trip out for a while. I'd feel better if we could just stay home.”
“Me too. And there's plenty we can be doing around the house right now.”
“We should make a list and prioritize it when we get home. Speaking of home, what's the status of the Food Committee?”
“I guess I'll have to see Carol later today and talk to her about it.”
“I'm interested to see how much 'volunteer participation' there is. I can't imagine people are going to willing give their food over to be redistributed.”
“No, me neither. I wonder how much Carol will push. Guess we'll see.”

I drove the back way around to the battery store, which was in a small industrial park. On the way, we passed Quik-Mart, a small convenience-grocery store. There was a National Guard Humvee parked out front with four guardsmen stranding around the vary obivously looted store.
“Shame about that. I'll bet it's the same people that looted Nadal's store.” I smirked at Sadie
“Wouldn't doubt it. And I don't blame them a bit. I wonder how the big grocery stores made out?”
“Don't know. I'll bet there was some hurried prioritizing late into the night. No way they could have gotten everything out. Must have been tough deciding what to take and what to leave.”
“If I were them I would have left all the stuff that will spoil”
“Yup. All the stuff in the freezers, and produce section.”
“It will be interesting to see what they end up doing. Will they keep it all for themselves, or set up new markets when things settle down?”
“Guess we'll find out”

We pulled up to the entrance to the industrial park, only to be met with a locked gate. The place looked deserted. The battery store was around the back of park, not visible from where we were.

I looked around for a way in but didn't see any. The bolt cutters in the Jeep would have handled the padlock on the gate, but I didn't want to do that if I could avoid it. I didn't even know if anyone was at the store.

I got back in the jeep. “Now what?” Sadie asked.
“Not sure.”
Sadie opened the center console and pulled out the small phone book she keeps there. She flipped through the pages and stopped on one, running her finger down the page.
“Got your phone?” she waited until I had it out and unlocked “340-555-8934”
I hit enter. The call went through, and after five rings the answering machine picked up. “Thank you for calling Tropic Battery and Power. Our hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday through Saturday. Please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for calling and have a pleasant day.”
“Hi, my name's Zed. I'm interested in getting some solar panels and batteries. I have some trade goods you might be interested in. Please give me a...”
“Hello” I was interrupted when someone picked up the phone.
“Um, yeah, hi. My names Zed, and I was hoping to talk to you about..”
“Yeah, I heard the message.” the voice said curtly. “What do you have to trade?”
“I'd rather not get specific over the phone, but it is stuff that would come in handy given the current circumstances. Let us in and we can discuss it”
“Us?”
“My wife and me. We're not looking for trouble, just hoping to do some honest trading.”
“Wait” and he hung up.
“Rude bastard” I looked at Sadie.
“But at least he listened and is going to let us in”
“Yeah, there is that.”
A minute later a 50's model pickup truck pulled around the building and drove up to the gate. I recognized it as the company vehicle, destinct enough to serve as good advertising. I got out so he could see me.
“Morning!” I greeted
“ Yeah” he replied. He didn't say anything else, just opened the gate, let me drive through, and closed the gate behind me. I drove up to the shop and waited for him to arrive.

He didn't say anything as he went to the door, unlocked it and entered. I looked at Sadie and shrugged. We got out, grabbed the trade items, and followed him in.

“What are you looking for?” he said bruskly
“I'd like to pick up a couple of 6 volt deep cycle batteries, a couple of 250 watt panels, and a charge controller”
“How you going to pay for it?
“Don't suppose you'd take a check?” I asked. He didn't answer, just looked at me.
“Things are getting kinda rough out there. Are you in a position to protect yourself?”
“Whatcha proposing?”
“Do you have the items?”
“Yeah. But maybe I don't want to get rid of anything right now. Who knows when I'll get more?”
“Good point. But how long before you get looted and loose what you have here?”
He just grunted. “Do you have a gun?”
He looked at me sharply. “Honest question. I was wondering if you can protect yourself and your goods. This stuff's going to be real valuable before long. I didn't mean for my question to be a threat.”
“I'd been meaning to get one, but they make it so damned hard, I just never got around to it. Not like back home where I could walk into Walmart and buy whatever I wanted.”
“I tell you what. I've got a nice little set up here. Smith and Wesson's best pistol ever, their model 19, .357 magnum. To sweeten the pot I've added a holster, a speed loader, four boxes of shells. Sound interesting?”
“You've got my attention.”
I pulled the revolver out of the duffel bag, opened the cylinder and handed it to him. He snapped the cylinder closed with a twist of his wrist.
“Been watching too much TV” I told him. “That looks cool, but it's kinda hard on the gun.”
“Oh, didn't know. So what else you got? This pistol doesn't add up to everything you want.”
“Would a shotgun help?” His eyes widened almost imperceptibly, but he didn't say anything.
I reached back in the bag and pulled out the towel wrapped package.
“Whatcha got there?”
“The shotgun”
“That small? It ain't a sawed off, is it?”
“No, full length barrel. It comes apart for easy transportation.' I unwrapped it, put it together and handed it to him, action open. Learning from the revolver, he didn't snap it closed, but lifted the barrel until it locked.
“How do you open it?”
“Push in the button next to the hammer. Whatcha think now? That baby will give you some reach and some punch. Nobody likes looking down the wrong end of a 12 gauge barrel.”
“It comes with shells?”
“I've got a mix of buck, slugs and bird shot. Hey, I thought of something else. You wouldn't happen to have a 12 volt water pump, would you?”
Shotgun still in his hand I could see him mentally shifting gears from the negotiations. “Yeah, actually I do. I just started installing them for a couple of people that wanted to go off the grid. I have three in stock.”
“I only need one. Hey check this out.” I snapped his attention back to the duffel bag. I pulled the ammo out and made a little pile on the floor. “Guns are cool, but only part of the picture.” I neatly laid out the holster, speed loader on the floor next to the ammo. The Surefire came next. I pointed it at him “Close your eyes”
“Why?”
“Trust me” as soon as he did I lit him up with the light for a second.
“Holy....”
“Yeah, bright huh? A good light is a valuable tool.” I set it down with the other items and put the spare batteries next to it. Reaching back into the bag I pulled out the last item, giving it a quick flick to open it, which is always an attention getter.
“What's that saying about big sticks? This is easier to carry. Sometimes shooting is too much, but you need to persuade a person to see things your way. So whatdya say, do we have a deal?”
“I don't think what you have there equals the value of the things you want”
“A week ago, I'd agree with you. But not now. This is a fair deal.”
He just stood there, not saying anything. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the knife. My hand covered the handle so he couldn't see what it was. Then I pushed the button flipping the blade out quicker that your eye could follow. It locked with a solid click.
His eyes were rivited on the stainless blade. “Can I check that out?”
“Sure.” I closed the blade and handed it too him. He went through the open/close, open/close cycle a few times. He was hooked.
“Done” He held out his hand and we shook.

 

Looking good man, keep on firing it out!

 

Nice bartering

 

“Nice job Sweetie! And we still have the box with the other things in it.” Sadie said as we drove home.
“Thanks. It really was a fair deal. I just needed to convince him of it.”
“I think it was the knife, not you that did the convincing.” She smiled at me.
“Well, who thought to bring it? I looked at her with my head tilted
“I take your point” She deadpanned back. Yeah, a wicked sharp sense of humor on that woman, that's for sure.

“How was the meeting of the Food Committee?” I asked when Sadie came home, just afternoon. She just glared at me and walked past, and headed upstairs.
“That good, huh?” I made her a screwdriver, figuring the vitamin C would do her good. I carried it up stairs to her office. She took it from me and drank a quarter of it right down.
“Thanks, I needed that”
“Sorry things didn't go well. Wanna tell me how it went?”
She took another sip and started. “Well, I got to Carol's and Amber, Wayne's wife, and CJ were already there.”
“So, that's the Food Committee?”
“Yes. They were already planning when I got there”
“I thought you were the head of the committee?”
“Carol just said that in the meeting to make it look like she wasn't too bossy. But no, she's taken over the food committee. I almost walked out, but bit my tongue and stayed.”
“Thank you Sweetie, I know that couldn't have been any fun”
“No, it wasn't fun. But I'm glad I stayed. How much food do you think they collected?”
“Hmmmm.... I'm figuring none”
“Right. No one has donated any food. Other than the few thing I brought with me.”
“Nothing from Carol, Amber, or CJ, then?” I smiled at her, already knowing the answer.
“We knew that was going to happen. This isn't about charity or helping others, it's about control. Carol wants to control the neighborhood. She thinks she knows best what needs to be done.”
“But with no food donations, what's she going to do?”
“She invited Mr. Johns to the meeting. He showed up a few minutes after me. In uniform.”
“In uniform? He's a detective, he hasn't worn a uniform in more than a decade. Anyway, what was he doing there? I thought he was in charge of security?”
“He is. And that's why he was there. Carol wants him to accompany us while we go door to door collecting food for the distribution center.”
“We have a distribution center? Let me guess.”
“Yup, at Carol's house. She took the things I brought over and put them right on the shelves in her pantry.”
“That's pretty brassy! So, Detective Johns, dressed in his official VIPD uniform, will be knocking on doors asking for food?”
“His presence is supposed to make what we are doing look official. I'm thinking that Carol is hoping his being there will have a coersive effect.”
“Plus, I think some people are not going to be happy to see the food committee. I think you should stay away from the collection effort.”
“No kidding! I don't want our neighbors to associate me with that.”
“So when is this collection supposed to start?”
“In another hour or so. We're supposed to meet back at Carol's and go from there. Oh! And get this, Mrs. Quinn took off this morning with that other woman to go to Government house to make their demands.”
“I'm sure that will go well. So, we can expect a visit from the food committee later this afternoon?”
“I guess so. They may come here first to see why I'm not with them. And we did put on that list that we had some food.”
“Let's go ahead and give it to them. It will throw them off. I'll greet them when they get here and tell the that you are laying down, feeling poorly. I'll be all friendly and cooperative and cheerfully give them what we promised.”
“You'll probably be the only one do be like that”
“Do you think that's the best way to play it?”
“I don't know Sweetie. We've never had to deal with a situation like this before. It's as good as anything I can think of.”

We ate a quick lunch and started making lists and sorting things.
“Ok, we're good for food for quite a while for both us and the puppies, and that's not including the things we just picked up” Started Sadie.
“I think we should consider the new stuff to be separate. Use it for trading or to help people out”
“Make sense, but we have to be careful about helping people. If we give people food they are going to realize we have enough extra to help. That could quickly go wrong.”
“Yup. We need to figure out how we are going to handle that. I think for the moment we just pretend we don't have it and can't help anyone, at least until we move into the next phase.”
“Next phase?”
“Yeah, I'm not sure what exactly that is, or when it will happen. Right now, people are confused, but not starving. Things haven't gone all the way over the edge. Soon people WILL be getting hungry, and worse, their children will be. Soon, the wholesale killing will take place. That's the next phase.”
“By your definition, that could happen in a week or two.”
“That's what I'm thinking. While we are pretty well positioned, there's just the two of us and the babies. We are going to be vulnerable. We can handle the lapping of the first wave or two, but before long those waves will get bigger and bigger.”
“So you're saying we can't ride this out alone?”
“I don't think so. Do you?”
“No, you're right. Who should that be, that's the question. I know who it shouldn't be.”
“Who's that?”
“People like Carol who are just takers, and people like our neighbor Macie. She's nice enough but brings nothing to assist us. She'll be a mouth to feed with nothing to offer. Can you see her with a gun, on look out?”
“I agree, Sweetie, I agree. There are some people that I'd like to see here, but they have their own places. And if they did come here, where would we put them?”
“Don't know. Let's let that roll around in our heads for a while. We'll figure it out before too long.”

“Assuming we get some people here to help out, every additional mouth reduces what we have for ourselves. It could literally be gone in a month or so.” I continued. “So we need to get a jump on sustainability”
“If you could help me set up some more raised beds, I can put more crops in.”
“Of course, Sweetie. We can start on that in the next day or so. How many people do you think you can provide food for with the amount of area you have available?”
“I don't really know. And it would just be suplimental, greens and herbs mostly. So maybe half a dozen to ten.”
“That's a start. I was glad to meet Mr. Charles. At least one good thing came out of that meeting.”
“He's got a great garden! Sugar cane, corn, Papaya, a couple of Mango trees, and that's just what I can see from the road when I drive by.”
“We need to cultivate him. We have to support him so he makes it through this. I was also wondering about that property on the edge of our neighborhood.”
“The one that is all terraced? What are they growing over there?”
“last I knew, they were growing produce for sale to the restaurants. That might be a valuable asset. At some point we need to figure out who owns that land and ask what we can do to help.”
“That would go a long way to feeding a group of people. What about protein?”
“Yeah, that's going to be a problem. I was thinking we need to get some chicken while they are still available. Right now they are all over, running free, but in a week or two it will get hard to find one.”
“Where will we keep them? What will we feed them?”
“They are feeding themselves, now. Not sure about where to keep them. Knock together a coup? We have a couple of rolls of chicken wire in the shed.”
“It would be nice if we could move their fence around so they have access to different areas.”
“I'll try to think of ways to deal with that. And if we have chickens, we have to worry about mongoose getting at them.”
“Traps and we shoot them. It will stretch the dog food too”
“There will be a learning curve. You had chickens growing up, didn't you?”
“we had a few, never too many. I remember some of it, but we're sure to make mistakes. Luckily the chickens we find will be used to taking care of themselves.”
“What about goats?”
“You know, I haven't seen too many on this side of the island. I don't know how that would work anyway. We can't feed them so we can't keep them penned. If we let them loose, other people will get them. That might be one of those things we revist in a couple of months. There are plenty of goats on the smaller uninhabited islands, we might be able to get some there.”
“We might be able to trade for some too.”
“Good point. Some of the Frenchies will manage to hang on through this and will keep their livestock. They may be willing to trade a fifth of rum and a box of shells for a goat.”
“Ok, what about.” Sadie was interrupted by the Loco and Rudi jumping up and running outside, hair raised on their backs.

When the dogs don't bark, that's a serious sign

 

Waiting to see how they protect what they have.

 

Also waiting to see how the Collective Hive Mind does its thing...
'Carol' IS my next door neighbor... totally helpless, but willingly helpless and clueless...
I may just have to shoot her and her arrogant know it all son.
Since I'm confident, that if anything like this happens,
this is the kind of crap she'll pull to cover her own laziness.
Good stuff Zen, keep it up...

 

Good read so far. Keep it up

Whynot