When The Fault Breaks: Life Will Never Be The Same Page 6

  I called out, "Quiet please… can I have everyone's attention please?"

  The area slowly fell quiet, Ben and I stood in front of the crowd with Fred and Brandon by our sides.

  "I hope everyone has had a chance to get to know our guests. I personally believe that like us they are of the same mind as many of us here. They may dress like militia but they are anything but militia, they too are Preppers. They felt our society was on borrowed time and took steps to be ready for it. After talking with them, I hope most of you have come to the same conclusion."

  "What about all the armament?"

  "We will take questions after I have finished going over what we have to talk about. But to answer your question Ramon, I will ask a question. Who out there has their own arsenal now and wishes they had even more?"

  I knew the answer to that question before I even asked it.

  "If you had the money before this, many of you would also have lots more. Come on now don't be shy, let's see your hands."

  Ben put up his hand and spoke up, "That includes me, how can you be upset about these guys being armed given many of you just used many of my weapons to defend us and still have them."

  More and more put up their hands as they realized how hypocritical the question was.

  "So Ramon did that answer your question?"

  I looked at Ben and mouthed, "Thanks Ben."

  I turned back to the crowd.

  "As I was about to say, they came here expecting it to be isolated and found us already here, so it was just as much of a surprise for them finding us, as it was for us seeing that convoy of heavily armed men and women coming up the road.

  We all have come here looking for a safe place to survive and maybe build a better life in this new world. We all know that life as we knew it is no more and we have to make a new world on our own.

  How many out there were more than happy to eat the MRE's they handed out? From my point of view these guys are no different than any of you. Ann and I had this place to ourselves and now look at all of you. This same discussion as to who to trust has gone on each time someone new arrived here.

  You did not see us telling any of you to go away, this is our lake. Instead we have helped clothe, house, and feed many of you, as you have to those that have come after you when you could.

  That has been the nature of our little community, we help those who come in and make them feel welcome. Now this well-equipped, and yes well-armed, group has asked to stay and they have made a very generous offer in return. I will turn this over to Sarg now."

  "Thanks Peter, first off let me thank you all for coming and hearing what we have to offer. I want to start out by saying that we are not a militia, we are simply very well equipped Preppers who have tried to be ready for anything."

  Jade asked, "Then why do you all wear those uniforms?"

  "Uniforms serve a few uses; for one thing they create uniformity by everyone dressing equally. A more important reason is that it makes it easy to tell who is who in a firefight.

  I hope you will find that our staying here is a win-win situation. In return for your generosity we will defend this community with our lives the same, as you all were willing to do. All we want in return is a location to set up our camp and live our lives in peace.

  I understand that many of you have lost friends and loved ones to the militia groups out there and so have we. Like I said we are NOT a militia, we are just like many of you here now we are Preppers, that's it.

  We knew life as we knew it was on borrowed time, so my team and I spent years putting together everything and made plans to get out and live our lives in peace. Away from all the people that would do anything to get to what you have. We are heavily armed because we want to stay alive same as you, like Ben already pointed out.

  Like some of you we encountered that militia group below. They wanted us to join them and be a part of their army. We wanted nothing to do with that and told them so. That action cost several of our close friends their lives down there. We drove for days taking many back routes to get here and destroyed every bridge between there and here to ensure they could not find us.

  Now we just want a place we can call home and are happy to build our camp on the other side of the lake, away from the camp here, if you will have us. If not, we will leave the first thing in the morning and continue looking for a place for us to live."

  With Fred finished I figured I would open it up for questions,

  "Alright then, are there any questions?"

  You could hear many little conversations going on between groups of people, but no questions.

  "So if there are no questions I put it up to a vote. Let me see the hands of those that are for allowing them to stay."

  I was over whelmed to see almost every hand go up.

  "Those opposed?"

  A small handful raised their hands.

  "Then it is decided, Sarg you and your men are welcome to stay under the conditions we have already discussed."

  A grateful Fred responded, "I thank every one of you for your hospitality and I promise you that you will not regret your vote."

  "All right everyone there are things that need to be done. Andy I believe you are the section leader for watch tonight, can you come up here before you head out?"

  Andy was a little guy with a big attitude, from Phoenix Arizona, and he made a great section leader. His life as a contractor enabled him to lead others.

  "Sure Peter, I will as soon as I deal with something."

  "Ramon I would like to talk to you before you go, but I need to give Andy his marching orders for the night first."

  "Okay I will be right there."

  "Andy I would like for you to double up the watch tonight, Sarg here will help you to make the arrangements. I would like you to show him the ropes and he will provide you with the other half of watch from now on. I want everyone to be armed the same as we are every night."

  "But Peter do you really want to do that; we don't know any of them?"

  "I know Andy but like I did with you I have a feeling I can trust them, and that they may someday save our bacon."

  "Yes sir, I will get right on that."

  "Thank you Andy, Sarg if you can have one of your leaders go with him to see what is needed to be ready for watch tonight, that would be great."

  Sarg replied, "That sounds like a plan Peter... Henry front and center."

  Henry comes up to Sarg.

  "Henry this is Andy; you work with him to set up the watch. He will fill you in on all the details. You two work together and make it happen, understand?"

  "Yes Sir" and off they went.

  "Whew!! Now with that done and out of the way, Ben can you go with Sarg and start checking out the other side of the lake for their camp?"

  "Sure thing Peter."

  Ramon was hanging out with some others talking, so I went over to him and put my arm around his shoulder in a guiding manner and said, Ramon lets you and I go for a walk."

  "What is wrong Peter?"

  "Nothing is wrong Ramon, first I want to say good job on catching that convoy coming down the other side of the valley, that was a good keen eye."

  "Thanks Peter is that all?"

  "No Ramon it's not, I noticed when I asked for hands of those opposed you raised your hand. May I inquire why you feel so strongly against them staying? I do not recall you telling me any horror stories about encountering any militia in your travels here."

  "Can I be blunt with you Peter?"

  "Always," said Peter.

  "Then let me ask you a question? Why are you exposing us to this heavily armed group of people that we don't even know?"

  "Well Ramon that is not an easy question to answer, I guess I can only call it instinct. I rely heavily on my instinct to get me through all kinds of stuff. I used it when everyone started to arrive here, I used it when Ann was ready to beat feet and get out of here for the same reason you just asked me. But here we are now with you being a total stranger t
o me not very long ago and now I put my life in your hands today when we stood there on the road."

  "But that is different you know me?"

  "Not really, I did not know you when you got here but I trusted you didn't I?"

  "I guess so, but still how do we know if we can trust them?"

  "We never really know we can trust anyone until the day comes that we have to put that trust to the test. That day truly came for you today Ramon and I am happy I was right on trusting my gut with you, all we can do is take the leap and see how it goes."

  "I guess I see where you are coming from, I will give them the benefit of the doubt."

  "Thanks Ramon, you have a nice night who knows you may find a friend among them. After all there are girls in his group," I said in a kidding manner.

  "That's true Peter; I guess we will see."

  When I found Ben and Fred they were around the other side of the lake in a large clearing that had not been taken. We asked Fred if it would work and he said it would be fine.

  When we returned to camp Sarg brought his team to the spot and they started to get unloaded. Fred had his quartermaster Eric go over their setup with our guys while they helped unload the gear. Eric began by describing their ATVs.

  "We have over a dozen custom ruggedized off road vehicles, these thing are decked out for rough off road travel. They are like miniature pickups, some with a dump bed and all. All of them are equipped with snorkels on their intakes and risers on their exhausts for water travel."

  "Their suspensions are beefed up as well with a very high clearance and extra-large tires to handle any terrain or large rocks in a stream. Most are four seaters but a few are only made for two, most have trailers in tow and they all have a camouflage paint job to make them harder to spot from a distance, or from above."

  "All of them are equipped with winches in the front to pull them or others out of anything if they find themselves stuck or just want to go up or down a near vertical face. As you can see they all have a mount for a 50cal machine gun, but we don't have enough for every one of them."

  "Every trailer carries at least 25 gallons of diesel in 5-gallon Jerry cans so we have plenty of fuel. The engines can run on almost any type of fuel including used motor oil."

  As Eric went on about all the detailed information Fred turned to me and said, "I hope you understand that this kind of information would be highly classified. You never tell anyone details about your operation, your assets or your strengths. I have instructed all my guys to be open and honest with the people here and to answer ALL their questions honestly in hopes of gaining their trust."

  "I understand and know that makes you vulnerable, I think almost everyone will come around."

  "Peter, we had several members of the team not make it before we left for whatever reason and lost a few getting here so we have some openings. Anyone that wants to help out setting up and does not have a good place to stay can have a job, food, and a warm bed in return for their assistance."

  Several of the guys and a couple of the girls took him up on the offer. It took most of the day to get everything off loaded and set up but when it was done it looked like an Army command post.

  "Fred how did you pick your team?"

  "It wasn't easy Peter but I found experts in every field we felt would be needed to make it in this crazy world. Most are ex-military, many seasoned Special Forces combat vets. We have a couple of medics, mechanics, scouts, and some snipers and of course some cooks; we even recruited a couple of doctors. My team is made up of both men and women but not in equal numbers and I made sure they were all very well qualified in their field."

  "As you can see some of the equipment includes three modern military tents, the types that look like the old Quonset huts but made of a strong extra thick military grade vinyl. One unit is configured as a medical unit with all the supplies needed to take care of almost any problem including combat surgery."

  "The second tent is my headquarters in the front half and quarters for Brandon and I in the back half. The third one is configured as a mess hall by day and a barracks for the team by night. They all have cots to sleep on and zero degree sleeping bags."

  "I bet this all cost a fortune where the hell did you come up with all this stuff."

  Sarg laughed and replied, "I got all three as a package deal, cheap from an army surplus auction. The tents came complete with all the gear in hard shelled cases for easy transport, they even included multi-fueled heaters for each."

  Ben asked, "But the heaters won't do you much good out here; they will run out of fuel."

  Fred replied, "Sure they will, they even burn cut wood. Each tent and equipment fit into the trailers behind the ATVs for ease of transport. It's all sort of like a rolling army post ready to be set up in less than a day."

  I felt I was getting to know Fred and I was happy to have his team with us; I knew they would be an invaluable asset. Like any good leader I wanted them on our side and made sure that everyone made them feel welcome.

  In the end more than a hundred people had made their way to our remote location, with the group made up of all sorts of people from every walk of life. Now sometimes I sit on my overlook watching all the people going about their day and I wonder what I got myself into. They look to me for guidance and I have no idea what to tell them, I only know that the life we left back home was no more.

  All of us are in the same boat and many have very little but the cloths on their backs. Now the only thing we can do is try to work together to make our little corner of the world a livable place.

  We knew we had to set some ground rules that would keep it livable for all, but I wanted nothing to do with being a cop. I had no problem explaining to people what we would need but I was not going to be a dictator and tell anyone what to do. We had no cops and no one telling anyone what they had to do or when to do it. And the one thing that Sarg and I never wanted to happen was for Sarg and his team to be cops. Their only function was to defend the camp from outsiders and help in hunting for food for all.

  Ann and I decided to just concentrate on our little camp knowing that when or if the day ever came that someone wanted to take over and run the camp, as far as we were concerned it was all theirs. We would just leave.

  Chapter 6: Life in Camp

  It seemed like an eternity had passed since the vote. Life in camp had settled down into a routine; everyone went about their day doing whatever was needed to live. Time seemed to stop because there was no longer any reason to worry about what day it was anymore. Unfortunately, though, there were so many people living in camp it was becoming unpleasant.

  One night Fred, Ben, the girls and I were sitting around our fire just reminiscing about how things use to be.

  "Fred things sure have changed since we first got here."

  "I bet you are right Peter, it has changed even since I got here, I could only imagine what it was like before anyone else came here."

  "It was like heaven, we were alone on this incredible heavily forested isolated lake with lots of fish and abundant wildlife surrounding it."

  Ben added, "In some ways it still is, there are just a few more people."

  "We are tens of miles off the beaten path with more twists and turns on this set of ever smaller forest service roads than I can count. Before the influx we figured we would stay here as long as we could, it was an incredible location."

  "We took so many roads to find this peace and quiet, we hoped this far back we would not encounter anyone else. We would sit by the fire in the evening and could see the stars and enjoy the sounds of the night."

  "I remember Peter some of the roads in were very rough; it required us to disconnect the SUV instead of towing it to make it past them. We had to cross several streams with some sections that didn't even look like a road."

  Ann added, "Us too Ben, you should have seen Peter he was walking in the stream several times to get us past them."

  "Thanks Ann that was something, I could have forgotten th
at and would never have missed it."

  "Stop whining Peter you loved it here."

  "Whining! No way, this is the kind of place you hope to find; and when you do you stay for as long possible. We were so happy when we made that last turn and there was the most beautiful lake we had ever seen peeking through the trees."

  Ben recalled, "The lake is not very large but it was so clear you could see the bottom twenty feet down. When we stood out on Fish Rock we could see schools of trout swimming around; it made our mouths water just looking at them."