Beginnings

Copyright 2010: No reproduction without my consent.


----------------------------------------------------


"Shit" thought John. Hauling six-gallon containers of water out to the shed had suddenly gotten very old. He was on his fourth trip and the luster of adding to the water stocks had worn off.

"Oh well, at least this part of the chores are done", he muttered under his breath as the last load were put into place. It had been a long summer of rebuilding stocks after a relocation to the area. Some supplies had been used in the process of moving, while a couple of cases of MRE's turned up missing when the moving truck arrived.

Walking back towards the house John decided it was time to take a break. Pouring a cold soda and making a sandwich his thoughts drifted off to all that had happened in the past year. The promotion, the move to the south, buying a dream piece of land. It seemed that everything was falling in place for John and his young family.

Christy, his wife and Ava his daughter had gone into town to do some shopping. Ten years of marriage had brought the small family closer together and things really started clicking in their lives. Now they had twenty acres in a rural area complete with a shed, a barn, a creek and plenty of woods. Lots and lots of woods.

The transition from the north had gone pretty smoothly. Other than the missing MRE's the moving company did a suitable job and the people of the town warmly welcomed them despite being Yankees. It didn't hurt that John out-shot the good-old boys at an impromptu shooting competition and then sprang for a couple cases of Coors to celebrate. He still took ribbing but people grasped he knew how to handle himself.

Finishing up his meager lunch John decided to take a walk out into the woods. Looking around for his boots he noticed the dog wasn't following his every move. "That's odd" he thought chalking it up to a hardy nap. Coco wasn't a young pup anymore. Grabbing his Jumbo Versapack from Maxpedition he took up a brisk pace and headed off in a direction away from the house. Stepping over felled trees and bending under branches within 10 minutes he had made his way back to an as yet explored portion of the land.

Sitting atop a stump sipping some water the deafening roar of the A-10 startled him. He barely caught a glimpse of it through the trees. It was low, no more than 200 feet above the deck and the lead aircraft was followed by another in close trail formation.

Something wasn't right. The country had been in turmoil for months after the impeachment of President Crutchfield. His administration had promised a new hope and in 6 years had only delivered a deeply divided country. Tensions grew as the economy crumbled and different regions of the country started pointing fingers. Nobody knew where things were headed. Then there was the sex scandal and the lies during the deposition. The country had excused that once before but the acrimony wouldn't allow it a second time.

As the downward spiral of the country tightened, different factions started popping up. Crutchfield supporters, the new president Alan supporters, different regions of the country, different economic classes. Seemingly everybody and their brother was touting their new group and cause.

John and Christy had moved south to both get away from the turmoil and be in a better position to cope if something did happen.

His walk back to the house transitioned into a trot as he picked up the rumbling in the distance. By the time he broke into the clearing and could see the house he was sprinting. Coco was at the backdoor barking like mad.

Crashing through the back door his thoughts were already hurriedly but clearly doing a mental inventory of where all the vital supplies were located. He swore again as his sweaty hands flew off the doorknob to his office. As Coco panted in the corner of the office John's internet browser wouldn't load. "Dammit" he swore. After trying to refresh it three times he glanced at the modem. The service light off.

Suddenly the police scanner in the kitchen went off. He couldn't make out the announcement but the part he caught, the part that chilled the blood in his veins, was something about "cutting off the district".

He looked at Coco who stared back at him as if to say, "now what cowboy".

Gathering his thoughts and doing some square-breathing he moved towards the gun cabinets and other supplies. He knew this whole thing just wasn't right. And the rumbling in the distance hadn't gone anywhere. He moved quickly but without hesitation.

As he was slamming home a mag full of M855 into his AR15 it hit him. And it hit him with the force of a two-by-four to the solar plexus.

Christy and Ava had gone to the coast, 30 miles away, and he had no idea where they were.