American Exit Strategy: Book 1 (9 page)

"You guys should pack it up and head on up here. You can have the pull- out bed in the office for as long as you need it. We have plenty of storage space in the garage for all of your stuff. Rent a trailer, hitch it to your truck and come on up." Adam said.

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think the roads are all that safe right now. We would have to come through Jacksonville and Atlanta to get there. There are large scale riots in both of those cities; worse than what we have here in South Florida. We are pretty well set to hunker down for a while." Matt replied.

"Did you hear about the bill Senator Dina Fitch is sponsoring?" Adam asked.

"Actually I just woke up. We had to take shifts last night. Karen slept ‘til 6:00 am, then she got up and stood guard and I went to sleep." Matt explained.

Adam continued "Fitch is asking Congress to put a 'temporary' moratorium on all gun sales until the crisis is over."

"There has been a crisis of some type for the past year. If they pass it, they will never lift it. There will always be a crisis if the government needs there to be one." Matt said.

"I think that’s the point" Adam said.

"How’s your brother? Does he like teaching at Berea College?" Matt asked.

"He likes it alright. We’ll see how long that last." said Adam.

"Why do you say that?" Matt inquired.

"They are forbidden to date students. Wesley is 25 and most of his students are Juniors, around 20 or 21. Being off limits makes him forbidden fruit. He gets a lot of notes." Adam explained with a laugh. "He shot a big o'l buck yesterday. We'll have plenty of meat all winter. We could live off of deer meat. People who don't like it don't know how to cook it."

"That's great, what did he take it with?" Matt questioned.

".308" Adam replied.

"His .308 battle rifle! Is that legal?" Matt said inquisitively.

"As long as it has a 5 round magazine, it’s legal." Adam said.

"How are you guys set for ammo? This gun bill will probably start a panic buy if it hasn't already. Outdoor World was completely out of every type of ammo last night. Empty shelves as far as the eye could see." Matt said.

"Between us, we probably have over 5,000 rounds. Lots of .308, 5.56, .40 cal, shotgun shells, .22 LR; I stocked up after it came back on the market from the last Fitch gun bill scare. If Al Mohammad is the number one firearms salesman in America, Fitch takes the gold medal for selling the most magazines and ammo. We should really send them a “thank you” card for helping America get so prepared if it all goes to the devil." Adam said.

"What would we do without them?" Matt said with as much sarcasm as he could stomach. "Did you guys get some extra dry goods?"

Adam answered, "Yes. I got beans, rice, sugar, coffee, flour; we also bought several country hams. We just hung them in the cellar. You don't even have to refrigerate them. They have enough salt to last ‘til Jesus comes back!"

"That might not be that far off." Matt added.

"I hope it isn't far off." Adam said. "The Marines made me as tough as a bag of nails, but I wish Mandy and Carissa didn't have to grow up in this kind of world."

Matt thought of the tragedy of all the children that had to get by in all the chaos that was going on around the world. It broke his heart. "They've got a good family. Those girls are going to be just fine. I am glad to hear you guys stocked up. Have you heard of any trouble around there?"

"No." Adam said. "Business as usual around here. There are quite a few people on food stamps around here but from what I hear, they went to the store and used up the credits they had on their cards. They will go back when they get reloaded."

"So they believe they will get the balance on the 15th?" Matt asked.

"I don’t know but if they would’ve acted a fool like they're doing in Detroit, they'd got shot. I suppose that’s good motivation to behave." Adam said.

"Detroit and London Kentucky are two different worlds, Adam." Matt said. "I'll call in a few days to let you know how things are going around here. Take care."

"You too." Adam closed.

Karen stayed home from work as the public schools were closed due to the civil unrest. The sounds of gunshots and sirens had died off during the early morning hours. They had all but ceased when Matt had gone to bed at 6:00 am. It was just after 1:00 p.m. now and he was still drinking his morning coffee. Karen was doing her normal routine. She had just finished a load of laundry and was checking her coupon sites for deals.

Matt said, "You know you're not going to be able to use your coupons for a little while baby."

"I know." she replied. "It just helps me to feel normal to keep up my routine. I can only watch the replayed footage from the riots last night for so long."

"Have there been any new developments this morning?" Matt asked. He had not gotten around to the news yet.

Karen replied, "Things just look really bad in Detroit. The military has blocked all the roads that lead in and out of Detroit. FEMA is there processing people who are asking to leave. They’re taking people away on buses to a FEMA camp in Lansing, Michigan. It looks like a Nazi concentration camp. It’s fenced in with 10 foot chain link fences topped with razor wire. It even has guard towers."

"How horrible, why would anyone elect to go there?" Matt asked.

Karen answered, "That’s the only way they are allowed to leave Detroit. The government doesn't want refugees sprawling all over the country, especially trouble makers, and they can't tell who is and who isn't."

Matt said "I suppose we have been heading in this direction for a while. Our phones have been tapped for years by the NSA, our gun rights have been assaulted at every turn, and we are treated like criminals every time we travel. It’s just the natural progression of things. Once a tyrannical government starts to taste power, it’s like a drug addict that can't get enough. Very few people have said anything about the destruction of the Constitution all these years; it will soon be too late to say anything.

I’m going over to Jack's. I’m going to see if we can get a block watch started tonight. If we can get a few people involved, we won't have to stay up all night.”

Matt knocked on Jack's door. Tina answered and let him in. Jack was watching the news as was most of all America, not since the days following the 9/11 events had so many people been glued to their televisions.

"Did you get any sleep last night buddy?" Jack asked.

"I got a few hours." Matt said."How about you?"

"We both sat up till about 4:00, then we fell asleep on the couch watching the news." Jack responded.

Matt thought about how vulnerable they were during the worst part of the night. He remembered some of the calls that were coming across the scanner last night at about that time. He thought to himself "Ignorance is bliss... at least until it is unfathomable horror.", but he didn't comment. He had made his recommendations and they were old enough to make their own decisions.

"How do you feel about setting up a block watch tonight? I was thinking dusk ‘til dawn." Matt said.

"The worst seems to be over. I hope things will be getting back to normal." Jack said.

"OK, let me know if you change your mind.” Matt said. He let himself out the door. He knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere, so he went to Blaine's house across the street. Maybe he would be a bit more receptive to the idea. Blain and his wife Annie came to the door. They all discussed the events in Detroit as well as what had been going on in the surrounding areas. They seemed to think a bit more about a block watch, but like Jack, hoped that the worse was behind them.

On his way home, Matt saw Trevor Smith who lived directly behind him. He was at the end of the street talking to Chicken Elvis. Trevor normally had little to say to Chicken Elvis, but times like these brought people together. Matt walked over and joined the conversation.  Trevor was fully convinced that this was the end of the world as we know it. While not quite a prepper, Trevor was fairly well tuned in politically. He had no love for the Democrats nor the Republicans.  He had been watching the demise of the dollar for decades and had been expecting some type of event like this a long time ago. Trevor was a landscaper and had a very nice garden as well as a variety of fruit trees. Matt figured the reason he was talking to Elvis was most likely to establish communications for future trade involving some chickens.  If it had indeed just hit the fan, Chicken Elvis was going to be a popular guy.

Matt threw out the block watch idea to Elvis and Trevor. They both thought it was a good idea. Since it was just the three of them, they set up a triangular perimeter that included their three homes. They decided to split the evening into thirds. Each guy would pull 4 hours outside patrol and four hours inside on call, in case the outside guy needed back up. The on patrol and on call guys would use Matt's walkies. Each guy would get 4 hours to sleep. They decided on that plan for the night and they would evaluate the schedule as needed each following night.

Matt headed home. He took some old boards and ran 3" wood screws in various places all along the boards. He laid the boards, screws facing up, in various places along the perimeter of his backyard fence. Anyone jumping his fence would have a rough landing. He also ran a few long screws facing both directions along the tops of the wood plank privacy fence. Anyone who was stupid enough to try to navigate between the screws sticking out on the outside of the fences was likely to get caught on the screws facing inside.

Matt continued to think of ways to harden his property without marking it as overly prepared. He put up two metal hurricane shutters on the inside of each of the windows facing the street. He positioned them to the sides of each window leaving the middle of the window exposed. This left enough space to see out of, or if necessary, to shoot out of. The thick metal shutters offered a much higher level of protection than just the glass.

Lastly, he parked the car caddy-corner in the yard. This created a fall- back position if there was trouble from 9th Avenue. Matt Bair's property was near the end of Oak Street, where it terminated on 9th Avenue. 9th Avenue was a neighborhood access street. It was not a main artery; however it did get a significant amount of traffic. There was a much higher probability of trouble approaching from that direction than any other.

Having worked off some of his nervous energy, Matt got cleaned up and had a nice lunch of pasta and salad with his wife. Karen cleaned up the dishes and Matt sat down to watch the news until his shift for block watch came up.

CHAPTER 14

“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”

-Patrick Henry

"The emergency session just ended." Paul Randall told Sonny Foster over the phone. "I'll be staying in DC tonight. I have a lot of work to do. The Senate passed both of Fitch's bills. The gun sales freeze, they labeled the 'right to security' bill. The authorization for the military to assist the National Guard and local police is called the 'liberty' bill. The en vogue thing to do on Capitol Hill is to try to label bills exactly the opposite of what they do.”

“Oh yeah, kind of like the Patriot Act was the most unpatriotic piece of legislation ever passed. And the Affordable Health Care Act made health insurance prohibitively expensive for millions.” Sonny said.

“Exactly.” Paul replied. “I’m going to try to get some support in the House to reject the bills."

Sonny responded, "The House won't pass the freeze will they? Even the neo-cons respect the Second Amendment. Any Republican that votes for that will get killed by the NRA in the next election."

Paul answered, "Republicans only hold the House by seven votes. If four Republican congressmen sway on this, it will pass. I know Marcos will cave on it. He has based his whole campaign on the middle ground. I am sure he will vote for the freeze. That means if three more cave, it passes. Forget about the military powers bill, it will pass with flying colors. And Mustafa Al Mohammad will be waiting at the back door to sign it into law. How is everything back home?"

Sonny replied "Anthony Howe is getting destroyed in the polls. You are up 6 points. It seems people think you saw this mess coming and your prediction of failure is coming true. Even though many don't want to subscribe to the pain involved in your plan, they would rather have someone who knows what’s going on at the wheel."

Paul said "I wish I were wrong, but I think this is just the beginning, the first big crack in the facade. It’s too late to get a hold of it. I just feel like we could do a better job of managing the collapse. Perhaps we could save some lives if we had the opportunity. There will be no glory to the next president. Whoever wins will be blamed for the collapse. In many ways, I dread winning; I am truly in this because I feel it is my duty."

Sonny added, "If they would have gotten a new captain on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg, it would have still gone down. I suppose we’re just trying to get everyone to the life boats."

Paul Randall ended his conversation with Sonny and headed to “Capitol Dill”, a nearby deli, for a quick sandwich. Due to its close proximity to the Capitol building, it was a regular lunch meeting place for Senators and their staff. Paul grabbed a seat at the counter to try to blend in to the crowd. He had been around these people enough, and needed a break before he spent the next few hours trying to convince House members to defend the Constitution.