When The Fault Breaks: Life Will Never Be The Same Read online

  "Fred!? What are you guys doing on that thing?"

  "Hi Ann, our new friend Alex here gave us a ride home."

  Ann asked, "Where is everyone else?"

  "They are back at Alex's place Ann, Peter and the rest stayed because the helo only seats four. Alex is going back to get them, so now everyone step back so he can head out."

  We removed the barrels from the net and signaled the all clear to Alex.

  "EVERYONE BACK UP SO HE CAN TAKE OFF."

  As everyone backed away the helicopter took off and disappeared up the valley.

  Inquisitively Ann asked, "So who was that Fred?"

  "His name is Alex; he lives on the other side of the pass above us in a really nice ranch."

  "Is Peter alright over there?"

  "He is fine Ann, he is back at the ranch with Alex's wife and kids, and they will be back in an hour or so."

  It took about fifteen minutes to fly back to Alex's ranch, and when Alex got back he had a surprise for me. The night before Alex and I had worked out a deal for some additional supplies. He gave us three baby steers that rode back in our laps and a pregnant heifer slung below for some trade to be determined at a later date. We also arranged a trade of pheasant, ducks and chickens to ensure a good genetic mix for both of us. We loaded it all up and readied to go.

  Alex said, "Oh I almost forgot these are for you."

  "What is it?"

  "Well the large wrapped ones are steaks, enough for dinner tonight for everyone, then there's some smoked bacon and ham, this one is just for you I bet you recognize it."

  "I do that is the same way the Navy buys coffee."

  "Yep it's twenty pounds."

  "Oh My God I cannot thank you enough for all this."

  "I have a couple hundred pounds of coffee, so twenty won't make a difference."

  "That is very kind of you Alex, I will need to find something to do in return for your generosity."

  "That will not be necessary, think of it as a gesture of good faith."

  After we loaded the inside we attached another sling load with the heifer and took off, when we reached the X-Bar we dropped the load then took off again for a fly over of the area so I could show Alex Little Haven.

  As we took off I started telling Alex about our little home, "Welcome to Little Haven Alex, our little haven in the woods."

  "It's great, the name fits it perfectly."

  As we flew down we looked at all the fields and the mill, it was kind of cool flying over Little Haven like that. It gave me a hell of a perspective on our little village. To minimize the impact on the area we established roads to get around. We were on our way to the fort when Alex looked down and something caught his eyes.

  Excitedly Alex called out, "Is that pot I see growing down there?"

  "It is, why? You're not one of those sheep that bought into the lies the Christians tried to brain wash everybody into believing about it are you?"

  "Hell no, I think you and I have found the price of those cows and then some."

  I nodded in agreement and Alex reached over to shake hands.

  "That harvest down there is only the first year, next year we plan on doubling the size."

  "Why do you need that much weed?"

  "It's not about the weed though that is an added bonus, we are more interested in the hemp. We will utilize every part of all those plants. Besides using the buds for medicines we can also use the rest for a wide range of things. We can make clothes, paper and rope to name a few, we can also get the cannabinoids from the stalk for medical uses as well."

  We past the fort on our way down and continued until we flew over the lower outpost. We decided not to fly further and headed back up valley and hovered over the fort before we returned to the X Bar. I could see Brandon waving at me and I waved back at him. I was glad Fred had told him we were coming I didn't want to get shot out of the sky by a .50 cal.

  As we landed at the X Bar and the blades came to a stop, I could see Ann waving at me. We all got out of the helicopter and walked over to everyone else. After hearing the helicopter come and go, several folks had made their way up to our ranch to find out what was happening.

  "Hey everyone this is Alex, he and his family live on the other side of the pass above us and he was nice enough to give us a ride home, I want everyone to make him feel welcome."

  "Hi everyone it is nice to meet y-all I look forward ta working with y-all. From what I could see as I flew over we'll be able to work out some nice trading."

  "Oh and by the way Alex here has given us a very generous gift. He has given us a hundred pounds of beef for lunch. Henry didn't you say you were a BBQ chef in your past life?"

  "I sure was, and you don't even have to ask Peter I'm on it, and I'm sure I will have plenty of helpers."

  He was right people came out of the woodwork offering to help. A bunch of us jumped on a couple ATVs and headed off to give Alex a better look at our little haven. We drove from place to place and Alex laughed when he saw we had named the roads. It was beginning to look like a little city with roads connecting all the areas we travel.

  It took a couple hours to give Alex the dime tour of the place including the fort, and we ended up at the cave. By then it was lunchtime and Henry and his crew had cooked the beef over the fire at the amphitheater, the smell drove everyone nuts. The steaks were huge so everyone got about a pound of beef. While we were eating someone in the crowd called out.

  "So Alex where were you when the quake struck?"

  I had to interrupt.

  "Let's let the man eat."

  "It is alright Peter, I'm sure they want to know what is going on out there. Besides I have already finished my lunch."

  Everyone gathered in anticipation to hear what Alex had to say, people settled in for his story and continued to feast on the meal, mostly steaks.

  Chapter 34: Washington D.C.

  Alex started his story.

  "I was in Baltimore when the quake hit. It was 3:45 pm when the news interrupted Ellen DeGeneres with the story of a massive earthquake that had struck the entire west coast. Ma jaw dropped to the floor, the entire west coast? How's that possible?

  I watched in horror as the news trickled in that the Cascadia Fault had ruptured along its entire length. They said that every major city from Seattle to San Diego was in ruins and that the Golden Gate Bridge had collapsed. They said it had triggered the San Andreas, which also ruptured completely.

  As we watched it all happening I told Elaine this was it, that this was the straw that would break the countries back. I told her watch the Dow it's a fixin ta collapse, and shore unff it did. With that we finished loading our bags with those last minute items. We never completely filled them because we figured it was better ta do that last bit depending on what the problem was. We not only already had an escape plan in place, we had a several escape routes planned out to the airport.

  The roads were already crazy and we were hearing about looting all over the country almost immediately after the quake. We made it ta the airport, fueled up the helicopter and took off. There is not much isolation from civilization within a hundred miles of D.C, but we had found a fairly isolated spot, with no roads to it, for our bug out location.

  The ash from Mt Rainer had spread mostly east and was not heavy were we were. We knew there was a no fly directive due to the ash, but what choice did we have. So we just took our chances with both the ash and the authorities and took off. We heard the control tower tell us about all air travel being halted but we pressed on anyway.

  We stayed low and were heading out of town, maybe they had bigger fish ta fly so they left us alone. Our bugout location was well stocked, just waiting for our arrival. From our vantage point we could see the lights of Washington DC and the surrounding area in the distance.

  Floyd asked, "Are you sure it was Washington DC?"

  "Yes this was our bug out location, we knew exactly where we were and what was around us. We had plenty of food and water and we
were armed to the teeth, so we decided to hang out there at least until they lifted the no fly order or it was safe to fly.

  "I knew that even with the engines off, ash could get into the turbines. So we taped plastic over every place that ash could get in and cause damage; we even taped the doors closed. A few days later we heard on the radio about New York City burning to the ground and that order had broken down. Everything was happening just as so many of us Preppers said it would, if something really big happened."

  Fred spoke up, "You are in good company here, many of us here right now have said the same things for years."

  Floyd asked, "So why would you leave that spot if you were far from anyone, well supplied and safe? Where you were?"

  "Haven't you heard?"

  We all responded, "heard what?"

  "Oh My God you don't know."

  "KNOW WHAT!?" Alex looked at Elaine and with the most painful face you can imagine said, "It's all gone, everything in a fifty-mile radius of Washington DC has been vaporized."

  We all exclaimed, "VAPORIZED! What do you mean VAPORIZED?"

  Fred spoke up and said, "They did it didn't they? Who was it the Russians? China? Who?"

  Ed asked, "Who did what?"

  Fred answered, "Someone dropped a nuke on DC."

  Alex responded, "The bombs came from one of our own Trident submarines. It was around two weeks after the quake and order had already collapsed. Washington was no longer in control of anything including the Navy. Every ship captain acted in what he felt was best for him or his crew.

  Before Washington lost control the Captain of the U.S.S. Florida heard about the quake and requested permission to return to their home port of New York. The Captain and crew expected there would be chaos in the aftermath and wanted to ensure their families were safe.

  Washington denied their request and ordered them to stay at sea. None of the crew was very happy about being denied permission to return to be with their families. The Captain was so upset when his request was denied that he lost his mind. And because his crew was pissed he had no problem convincing them that Washington would have to pay. Captain and crew knew that life as we all knew it was over and they all wanted pay-back."

  Floyd asked, "What does that mean?"

  "The Captain launched one Trident missile with all its warheads on DC. There are ten MIRVs on each missile. Each MIRV is a separate warhead and all of them came down on the DC. area. The Captain of the sub said if any one came after him he would fire the rest of his missiles."

  Everyone exclaimed, "Oh My God!"

  Ben asked, "How did you hear about it?"

  "Well we saw it happen, it was mid-day and we were still in the mountains a hundred miles northwest of DC. From our location we saw the first blast then another and another in a matter of minutes all of them had detonated. It was a site that'll be burned into my mind for the rest of my life.

  I couldn't tell how many there were but there were multiple mushroom clouds rising over the Washington DC area. It didn't take long before the outer bands of the blast waves hit us. I knew that meant things just went from bad ta worse, we already had planned to make our way out of there but had waited be'cuz of the ash, but now with DC being nuked we figured that it was time to leave."

  Someone called out, "Did the radiation reach you?"

  "No most of it went to the east and we were far enough away from the blast zone. We packed up our stuff and took off as soon as we could, and headed west. We made it to Chicago with the fuel we had and landed to refuel. That was where we heard about why and what the Captain wanted."

  "He had only one demand, to be left alone where ever he settled. We only stayed long enough to refuel the helicopter and off we went. We made it here and haven't left since we got here. Have you guys heard anything new?"

  We have much to tell you Alex. It could take some time to go over all the stories that our new comers have told us. Do you want to wait to go, or come back with your family and we can go over all the gory details at that time?"

  "It's already been several hours since I left this morning, and I'm sure Elaine is starting to worry about me."

  "I understand, why don't you bring your family back tomorrow for dinner at our place, we can tell you all about it, we have plenty of room and you guys can stay the night."

  "That sounds like a great plan. I will see you tomorrow evening but we will have to leave early so I can deal with the cows. Hey Peter did you like the tequila last night?"

  "I loved it."

  "Well I will bring a bottle with me when we come back."

  "That will be great, we look forward to sitting down and getting to know each other better."

  Ann overheard Tequila and looked at Peter with raised eyebrows and asked, "Tequila…?"

  I will never understand how when I say something she can't hear me but when it comes to something like coffee or Tequila she has killer hearing.

  "Sure we had some last night after the best damn smoked ham I have had in months."

  "SMOKED HAM!? What else have you not told me yet?"

  As I reached down and tapped on the top of an unopened mostly unmarked can.

  "Well this, twenty pounds of coffee he gave me just before we left."

  "You jerk how long were you going to hide that from me?"

  "Well I was going to surprise you by you waking up to it brewing."

  Fred caught the last part of that and asked, "BREWING? Brewing what?"

  I laughed.

  Ann responded, "Peter here has been holding out on the coffee he has."

  "Oh yea it was great, that first smell made me drool, wait did you say has? Not had?"

  "Ya, what do you mean why the distinction?"

  "Oops, you spilled the beans Fred, no pun intended."

  Beth asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

  Ann answered, "These guys have been holding out on the coffee."

  "Now wait a minute I was going to surprise all of you in the morning with it brewing so now the surprise is spoiled. And Alex made us some while we were there that's it."

  Fred came back, "Yea it was great we had some the first day there, before that ham dinner and had some more with a killer country breakfast of bacon and eggs."

  Now all the girls exclaimed, "BACON? YOU HAD BACON for breakfast?"

  Fred looked at me and said, "You need to shut up before they string you up Peter."

  "I have some bacon for us, I was planning on a hell of a breakfast. Forget it now."

  Ann exclaimed, "Forget it my ass, where is that stuff?"

  "Right there in the corner."

  Ann looked at Beth and said, "Beth you grab the coffee from the jerk over there and I will get the bacon. We are having some right now."

  The girls went nuts and cooked two of the four packs of bacon Alex gave me and did not want to share it with Fred or me.

  The next day Alex returned with his family. Lucky for me besides the birds we decided on he brought me a variety of meats including more ham and bacon so I was out of the doghouse for at least a little while. Many of our neighbors turned out for our meeting, we talked late into the night around the fire like so many times before. During that time the topic of what was below us came up.

  Alex asked, "Peter, how far have ya scouted out the valley below you?"

  "We have gone several miles down on our own, down to the top of a series of waterfalls and had not gone any further. We went several miles past the point where Floyd and his people came into the valley."

  "Did they come up from the valley floor?"

  "No they had seen our fires from high on a ridge down quite a bit below where we scouted out. So we really have no idea how far the valley goes or if it is even uninhabited like yours or if it leads straight into the remains of civilization."

  "We really need to go all the way down to find out."

  "You are right Brandon; we do need to."

  Sandy asked, "Why don't you fly down to check it out, it would be faster than if yo
u tried to make your way down, and would not leave any trail to follow back if you find anyone."

  "Let me answer that one for you Alex, if we fly down and fly over someone in the trees below they would know someone is up here with a helicopter and come looking for us and the chopper."

  "You are right Peter, but you missed an even bigger problem with that, if they have any large ammo they could shoot us down, not something I want to happen."

  "I didn't think of either of those issues, so what are our options?"