When The Fault Breaks: Life Will Never Be The Same Page 38

  They all looked over at me and saw me nodding my head yes.

  Bill continued, "Now your wife's skills are a different story for me at least. There are several kids in our village and we have talked about getting some sort of school started for them, but many believe that living in our lifestyle teaches them everything they need to know. Personally, I don't see it that way. Does your wife, what was her name, have any books for teaching?"

  Jason replied, "My wife's name is Kim, and yes she was able to save a lot from the school before it was burned. The old school is where the meeting was held. She risked her life to get them out of there. She went back in the burning building several times before I had to hold her down to stop her from going in again. And before you ask Aztec has no desire to open a school."

  Bill laughed and replied, "I was."

  As far as I was concerned I had heard enough, and I could tell by Bill's reactions to his answers that he was okay with him too. So I told him the good news but with a small caveat.

  "Thank you Bill those were some hard questions to answer; I wonder how I would have answered them. Jason, we have allowed several people into Little Haven and have always brought in people from the cold. I don't see any need to change that now. As long as you and your wife are okay with the way we live our lives you will be welcomed there by all.

  I do however have one thing I would like to do to make me feel better about bringing a fully armed gunship to Little Haven, I would like to ride there with you if that is okay with you."

  "That would be great Peter, it would give you and I some time to talk man to man. But I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about, remember I will have my wife and kids with me. I would never take any action that would put them in jeopardy."

  "I didn't think you would Jason to be honest, I just wanted to ride in an Army gunship."

  With that we all laughed, it helped break the slight tension that I felt. I figured we had taken in many people already and that we could use more to help make our community stronger so we told him yes.

  "Great what time do you plan on leaving tomorrow?"

  "We will be leaving shortly after it's light."

  "Okay we will be ready to take off at first light as well. I will see you in the morning. I will be landing in that field next to you."

  Off he went but Samuel stayed behind.

  "Peter I have another request, I have a close friend that I won't leave behind either, can I invite her as well? I trust her with my life."

  "Sure as long as she understands the conditions."

  "That is not a problem, I think she will like some of those alternate lifestyle things you talked about."

  Off he went as well.

  That night we packed away all our goodies so we would be ready to go in the morning. The next morning, we had breakfast and as we were finishing breakfast we heard the helo coming in. It was one hell of a site to see this fully armed gun ship land next to us. After the blades stopped turning Jason jumped out and came over.

  As I neared the helo Jason put out his hand to shake and with a sly smile said, "What do think of my little baby?"

  I replied, "I like it, what is it?"

  Jason replied, "It's a UH-1/T700 Ultra Huey and she is fully loaded."

  I replied, "Nice, I flown in a Navy helo before but never an Army one."

  Jason replied, "It's better than theirs." we both laughed.

  Samuel jumped out of the helo. As he passed me, he turned to me and asked me to watch out for his girl for him. Just before I jumped on board we recovered our weapons and took off for home. I was happy to have a chance to meet Jason's family and his two dogs, one of which was a wild dog from Afghanistan.

  The ride home was uneventful and everyone was happy to see Alex's helo come over the ridge. I had radioed in that we were coming back with some friends so everyone knew to expect the second helo. I knew they got the message because I heard the three quick keys I was listening for when I did it.

  Fred had made sure there were ample people at our ranch with the ATVs and their trailers to help unload the helos. This was the first chance Brandon had to check out Jason's aircraft. The bird was decked out with a .50 cal's mounted on each side. When it landed it was loaded with ammo and all the family's possessions.

  That night we all gathered at our ranch instead of the cave. Jason and his family brought a large military tent and cots for his family so they all just set up in my field. Once they were setup the community came together for a huge cookout and Jason told us about his experiences.

  Chapter 47: The Destruction of LA

  "I know we all are eager to hear what Jason has to say about where he came from and what he saw, so I will let him go first before I fill you in on what I learned. Jason it's all yours."

  "Thank you Peter, hi all, my name is Jason Badik and to my left is my wife Lindsey and our two kids Ben and Tom. The first thing I wish to say is thank you all for allowing our family to join you here in Little Haven."

  A loud your welcome came from the crowd.

  "Before the quake I was a helicopter pilot for a helicopter tour company in LA and an apache helicopter pilot in both Iraq and Afghanistan. My family and I lived on the edge of the Angeles National forest in the hills above LA. Our house overlooked the city and we loved the view of the city lights at night, it kind of looked like fire.

  That fateful day I was standing on our deck looking down on LA when the ground started to shake. This quake was not like any we had felt before. We could tell it was from a very long way away and very different. It seemed to last forever. I could see the earth rolling from our vantage point and was horrified as we watched the devastation unfold.

  Our house was built to withstand an 8.5 quake and I was pleased to see it fared very well. Then just as we thought it was over, the ground shifted under our feet. The sideways movement was so sharp that it took my feet out from under me. I knew this one was closer and it felt much like so many other quakes we had experienced, except this one was huge. It lasted several minutes, it was crazy.

  When it had all stopped, we looked out to see the city in ruins, we could not believe our eyes. The city was in flames, there were explosions going off everywhere and smoke filled the air.

  Every now and then we could see the skyline through the smoke and we were not surprised it was not the skyline we were so used to seeing. Most of the tall buildings were gone, we could make out some of them all toppled over and laying like dominos.

  There was one thing I never understood about most Californians. All we ever heard for the last few decades was that it was not a matter of if, but when, the 'Big One' was coming. Yet few in California took steps to be ready for it and called the Prepper's movement nuts. Hollywood tried to make a show that portrayed being ready as a good thing, but all they succeeded in doing was making the people look like idiots.

  We knew this was an end of the world as we knew it event, and that the Zombies would be banging at our door before too long. Our neighbor to the north and I had spent years planning our action. As soon as they got home they came over and we put our plan in action."

  "They weren't home when it struck?"

  "No, they were at a local store when it happened. As soon as the quake was over they made a beeline home and grabbed their go bag and everything else that was important and came over to our place. We set off the armed charges in the drive to our homes and dropped trees across the beginning to hide it as best we could, then waited and watched."

  Sam asked, "How long did it take for the first people to find your place?"

  "That's a good question, we expected it to happen before night fall of the first day but we were surprised it took two days before we saw the first people on our road."

  John asked, "What did you do?"

  "When we saw them on the road we set off one charge a bit in front of them, that scared them so they turned tail and ran. The next ones were not dissuaded, after setting off the rest of them in the road they left the road
thinking it was safer."

  "Unfortunately for them we set trip wires all along the road, so as soon as they hit the tree line claymores went off and killed all of them. After a week of on and off attacks we had to replace most of the traps, but we knew we were not going to be able to hold the house any longer so we headed for the bunker."

  "Luckily for us money was no issue, so everything we did was with that in mind, right down to which piece of property we chose for our home. We made sure the backside of our property was on National Forest land. Before the house went up we built a two-story bunker under the house that was even larger than the house. The entrance to the first floor of the bunker was hidden and designed to withstand several pounds of C-4. The lower access was also hidden, and it was where we stowed our food and where the entrance to the escape tunnel was."

  "How long were you able to stay there?"

  "We lived in the house most of the way through the first winter and only needed to use the bunker if someone came. Every time someone took over the house we used the bunker to hide. We then used the escape tunnel to get out and take out the invaders from a safe distance with a sniper rifle with a suppressor."

  Nathan asked, "When you started killing them off why didn't they come looking for you?"

  "Oh they did come looking for us, but when we built the bunker we made sure there was no outward sign it even existed. Our air intake went all the way up through the roof so there was no sign of it on the ground. Our exhaust filtered everything including cooking smell and we got our power from the solar panels on the roof. If no one ever looked up there, which no one ever did, we would still have power. Our water supply was a secondary well under the bunker that could be pumped by hand if necessary."

  Sandy asked, "So how did they find you?"

  "The only thing we could come up with is that when we kept taking out their guards they figured we had to be in a bunker, so they came looking until they found our entrance."

  Someone asked, "How did they get in?"

  "Well the first to try it didn't make it. The entrance was inside a two-door air lock and when we saw them inside it we set off gas and killed them. That, of course, pissed off their buddies and they really came at us. We did not have enough gas to stop all of them and in time ran out of defenses.

  Thing is we used that weakness as a weapon, after we killed them in the trap, we went into the lower bunker. They thought we escaped out the upper exit so they thought they won. When several of them moved in thinking they scored a nice bunker, we set off a second line of gas defense and killed even more.

  We knew that would really piss them off and that it would only be a matter of time before they got in. As soon as they found our air intake and covered it up and then cut the wires from the solar panels it was time to go."

  Sandy asked, "How did you get out?"

  "We used the lower escape tunnel that took us into the National Forest, so after night fall we made our way out and disappeared into the forest. They looked for the exit but never found it. We had a stash and an ATV some ways in and more stashes including gas at regular intervals so we headed deep into the forest. It took us a few months, but in time we made our way to New Mexico and the group you met."

  "Damn it sounds like you could not have been better prepared. It's too bad they found you, you could have stayed there a lot longer."

  "It did suck to have to give up our place like that, but we knew it would be impossible to stay there forever. We hoped to be able to stay long enough for things to settle down out here."

  It was getting late so everyone dispersed and went their way. Over the next few weeks both Jason and his family and Samuel and his girlfriend had found places and had a couple simple cabins built. They had become valuable assets to Little Haven and carried their load with hunting and farming.

  Chapter 48: Getting Ready for Harvest

  It wouldn't be long before we would need the thresher for the harvest. One day not long after they got back from the swap meet, Allen came up to our ranch and wanted to talk. I was in the barn doing my chores when I heard, "Peter where are you?"

  "I'm in the barn Allen, come on in."

  "What ya up to Peter?"

  "Not much, just trying to figure out how to fix this damn thresher. As far as I can tell all the metal parts are here but none of the wood is left. I can see where it belongs because you can see the screw holes and a little wood left on some of the holes but nothing else is left. Do you know much about them Allen?"

  "Yea it cuts the wheat from the ground, then separates the seed from the plant and drops it in a hopper on the back, it seems the hopper is gone. I tell you what Peter I can get the wood parts replaced and I know that Fred's mechanic Jordan can get the rest of it going. Why don't you let us take care of this thing and you go about doing what we hired for?"

  "Hired? Funny Allen, real funny, so what IS my pay?"

  "The love and gratitude of the people."

  "All right I will go for that, thanks the job is yours. Do you need me to ask Jordan?"

  "No I will take care of it, he owes me anyway I made a cedar chest for him and his wife Sue."

  "Do you want us to move it to your place?"

  "No I think we are better with it here; you have more resources for repairing it."

  "That's even better because I want to help refurb it. Besides we have the torch Alex brought back from the mill. We will need it to break some of the bolts on this thing."

  We continued our talk and had a few of the newly brewed beers that Rodger made. It was good stuff for homemade brew and it had a hell of a kick. That was when we heard Ann calling, "Peter, can you come in, I need some help."

  Allen quipped, "The boss is calling."

  "That she is, I best get and see what she needs."

  "Alright Peter, I will catch you later."

  He made a cracking whip sound as I walked away.

  "Good one Allen, of course you know I owe you one now."

  "I wouldn't have it any other way, later."

  I made my way in to see what Ann wanted, the surprise I got almost made me drop. Tammy and Sandy where sitting at the table with Ann talking. When I came in they all just looked at me with this strange look, one I had never seen before, that made me nervous.

  "Hi sweetie what can I do for you?"

  "Well to be honest it's not me that needs you, the girls have something to ask you."

  "Sure what can I do for you ladies?"

  They both paused and looked at each other, Tammy was the first to speak up.

  "We both want to have a baby."

  "I'm sorry to tell you about the birds and the bee's ladies but that requires a guy and a girl, and even if one of you plays that role that won't get you one."

  "Funny Asshole, we're not here to joke we have a serious request for you."

  Sandy decided she didn't want to wait anymore and blurted out, "We want you to get both of us pregnant."

  That almost dropped me to the floor, not something I had ever even thought of. I looked over to Ann and she was smiling back at me.

  "You knew about this? How long?"

  "Yes and no they just came to me now while you were out there with Allen and brought it up. I think it is a great idea. Remember you were one of the ones that championed the whole community breeding thing. They're part of the community and want to do their part and have babies. Who better then someone that lives in the same house, besides you can't tell me that you don't love both of them."

  "No you're right I can't. So you two, how long have you been thinking of this?"

  "We have been since shortly after the vote. We have been talking it over for some time and decided that you were our first choice. So, will you do it? Will you try to make the two of us pregnant?"

  "At the same time!?"

  "No."

  "You do, of course know, we don't have any of that medical stuff to do it that way, other than a turkey baster, we would have to do it the old fashion way. Your choice ladies and rememb
er that it doesn't always happen the first try."

  "Of course we do silly, we have talked all about that, we both love the both of you and can't think of a better choice of who to try it with."

  I looked at Ann again then both the girls, they stood there with this...well look, until I said, "Okay I will do it."

  Both the girls came running over and through their arms around me and kissed me, Sandy said, "Oh Peter, thank you we can't tell you how much we appreciate this."