SSLI- A novelette

[NWOKguy]

Greetings y'all. I want to first thank Deena in GA for making these forums available for us to read these awesome stories and for a place for the authors to place their stories for everyone to read. I also want to thank you authors for your awesome stories, especially Kathy, Grand, Deena and ReneeT. Reading your stories has been the catalyst to getting me to sit down and write again. The following story has been rattling around in my brain for a few months...I just hope I can follow the example you guys have set in being a good story teller.

[NWOKguy]

Self Sustained Living Incorporated

By
Guy Wright

Chap 1

Danny peeked through the small gap in the curtains from back stage as his audience slowly took their seats. The house lights had flashed a few times, signaling the start time of his speech. He'd been speaking “professionally” now for just over six months. Though he'd given this same speech over 40 times to various groups, this was by far the largest audience he'd had. He knew there were quite a few preparedness minded individuals in the Oklahoma City area, but he'd never imagined over 400 gathering in one spot. Let alone to come listen to him spout his mouth off.

“Ladies and Gentleman”, the MC began as he stepped to the microphone, “I ask that you give a warm welcome to Daniel Thomas, one of the nations leading experts on preparedness and self-sustained living. He asked that I not go into a long winded speech about his accomplishments as this workshop is about you, not him. So without further adieu, I give you Daniel Thomas.”

Danny listened to the light applause as he stepped to the front of the stage to shake hands with the MC and accept the microphone. He knew they were just being courteous, but it still gave him enough encouragement to overcome the butterflies nested in his tummy.

“Thank you Don”, Danny said into the microphone before laying his outline cards on the lectern and looking across the crowd. Swallowing his nervousness, he stepped to the side of the lectern to begin. “This evening will be an introduction to the lifestyle of Self-sustained living. Rather then getting detailed about any one sub topic, I will cover the entire general idea. On the handouts being delivered to you right now, you will find lists of recommended reading, both online and on print, to find more detailed information about the things I cover this evening. You will also find my email address, for which any one of you are welcome to correspond with me concerning questions you have trouble finding answers to.”

Danny took a moment to gulp down a few swallows of his water while the handouts were distributed before continuing. He received a thumbs up from the sound engineer as he turned to the smart board, letting him know his lapel microphone was good to go. “Now the first thing I want to discuss with you, is happiness”, he continued as he stood to one side of the board, “more specifically, the “pursuit of happiness. You see, if you do a study of our country's founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, it will become quite obvious to each of you that the very founding of our country was designed to guarantee every individuals right to seek that 'happiness'. But in order to understand just what it is we are seeking, 'happiness' needs to be defined. Some have tried to define it as success, money, wealth and even love. While those are contributing factors, I believe that they don't quite hit the mark. This evening I will show you four items, just four, that one must absolutely have to gain happiness. It might surprise you.”

Danny grabbed a marker as he stepped up to the board, then wrote the words 'Water', 'Food', 'Shelter', and 'Security' across the top with an underline right below them. The crowd had a low murmur as he turned and began speaking again, “I know, not exactly what you would expect. I will show you however, that all four of these items are things you MUST have to attain any happiness. Let us first talk about water. It is something we MUST have, after all, over 60% of our body is composed of water. Now if you believe that water isn't a key to happiness, let me challenge you...work 4 hours in the hot summer sun with no water then come back and tell me how happy you are!”

He winked at the crowd as he took a sip of his water to keep his mouth from getting dry before continuing, “Now some sassy liberal might spout off with something like we've got all the water we need, just turn on the tap at the sink. Of course I must respond by asking what you do if you don't happen to be at home, or if there is an interruption in your water service?”. He noticed more than one person nod their head in thought over that one. “There have been battles throughout the history of our country just over the access of fresh water.”

He circled water on the smart board before going to the next topic, “Food is another item that is paramount to one's happiness. I can honestly say I have never seen someone fasting, whether trying to lose weight, for religious reasons, or just plain don't have the resources to get food, walking around with a bright smile on their face. In fact they are usually miserable from what I can see. If you honestly cannot see where food is a necessary item for your happiness, go without it for the next four days then come back and tell me how you've had the grandest time in your life.” Danny smiled as heard the chuckles from most the audience. He circled food before continuing to the next item.

“Shelter can be one of those confusing things. As concerns your happiness, it would include shelter from the weather, from predators, even the ability to cook your food.” He lowered his voice so that he was barely audible, forcing his audience to unconsciously lean forward in their seats, “Even a cave feels like a 5 star hotel when you're stuck in 15 degree below zero weather”. The crowd openly laughed at this one, easily sucked in by his personable manner.

He circled shelter before saying in a louder tone, “Security! It binds the other three together and is one of the things that contribute most to the failure of Americans to gaining the happiness they toil for every day. Now I have had people from both sides of the aisle, conservative as well as liberal, say 'hey, you're talking about guns!'. While weapons and ammunition can be part of security, they are only tools and in of themselves cannot guarantee security or the lack of it. Security is the primary motivating force behind prepping and the self-sustained lifestyle. Security is having these other three items in abundance. Security is keeping access to these three items from those who would take them from you, either willingly or unwillingly. Have any of you seen the anxiousness of a mother who doesn't know where the food to give her young children dinner will come from? That is a lack of security.”

Danny circled the last item before returning to the lectern, “Over the next hour, I will show you how living the self-sustained lifestyle gives you all four of these items in abundance. No matter your present career or location, this lifestyle can move you to the happiness you have always sought, but till now were unsure how to gain”.

Danny spent the next hour going over every aspect of self-sustained living from water storage to distributed energy creation. It took another half hour after he completed his speech to do the obligatory 'meet-n-greet' line as he shook hands and accepted thank you's from the attendees. A tall, very well dressed man was the last person in line.

“That was a very interesting talk Mr. Thomas”, the man said as he shook Danny's hand, “I would like the opportunity to sit down and discuss some things in detail if you have some room in your schedule?”

Danny got this kind of request all the time and usually turned them down, but something with the intensity of this gentleman's eyes piqued his curiosity. “It will be another three weeks before I have another scheduled event actually”, Danny replied as he dropped the other man's hand, “I'll be headed back to Woodward tonight. We could have a cup of coffee before I leave though?”

“No, no, I know you are tired and still have a bit of a drive before you”, he shook his head as his eyes narrowed in thought, “My name is Tom Hunter by the way.” He quickly produced a business card to give to Danny. “Tell you what, I can be in Woodward day after tomorrow, would you be available for lunch then?”, he asked as he put his wallet back in his front lapel pocket.

“Well sure”, replied Danny, surprised that someone would want to go that far out of their way just for lunch, after all, it's a 2-3 hour drive to Woodward from the 'city'. “I wouldn't want to you to go so far out of your way though, I'm sure I could answer any questions you have through email”.

“To be honest Mr. Thomas”, replied Tom, “the subject I want to discuss is something I'd rather do in person. I'll know more details of my schedule tomorrow and shoot you an email of when I can get up to Woodward, is that acceptable?”

“Well, ok sure”, replied Danny as he thought about his schedule, knowing he didn't have anything pressing planned, “I'll be looking for your email then.”

They shook hands again before parting as Danny took a look at Tom's business card, still confused about why he would want to go so far out of his way just to have lunch with him.

Tom Hunter
Investment Consultants LLC.
Dallas, TX
312-738-4002

He turned over in his mind what this might be all about the entire trip back to Woodward. For the life of him, he couldn't think of a thing. He'd just have to wait and see what came out of it.

[Kathy in FL]

Looks interesting ... now keep it up and don't leave me hanging. ROFL!!!

[Jimbopithecus]

Looks interesting ... now keep it up and don't leave me hanging. ROFL!!!

ROFLMAO!! Now you know how we get to feeling Kathy

[CGTech]

Yep, looks good so far!

[Barb]

Thank you. Looking good.

[223shootersc]

good start, need more soonest

[NWOKguy]

SSLI-Chap 2
The Meeting

As Danny fired up his PC to check his email and get his day lined out, he thought about the events of the past few years that had gotten him to this point in his life. Just 2 years ago he'd been a simple school bus driver for a medium sized school district. The pay wasn't exactly great, but between what he made and his wife working full time at the hospital as a registrar, they got the bills paid and a little more. They'd been what folks term 'prepping' for a few years. Though his parents and grand-parents didn't call it prepping. With them growing up in the depression era and the years following, that was just how you were supposed to live. They had their house paid off, owning it free and clear, though their tax preparer always tried to convince them they were missing out on a huge tax deduction by not having a mortgage. He preferred having the security of knowing his shelter would not disappear if something terrible happened to him or his wife and they no longer had the income to make the mortgage payments. They'd set back food and water every month, building the extra supplies they'd need in any emergency that might come along. The one thing that had always bugged Danny was their house was all electric with the only source of electricity coming from the commercial power company. He knew how problematic that was after going 2 weeks without power during the 2002 ice storm. That was one of the catalysts to him studying self-sustained living. It had taken something far more tragic to motivate him to do more than just study it however. In early 2011 his wife died quite unexpectedly due to complications of COPD and a sudden collapse of an artery in her brain. It had happened while she was sleeping and before he realized anything was wrong, there was nothing that could be done to save her. Danny had sunk into a deep depression that he didn't come out of till a week later when his step-son, suffering even more than him, took his own life. Rather than completely destroying him, the second tragedy snapped him out of his self-induced catatonic state and motivated him to get things right. As he looked at self-sustained living with now completely opened eyes, he realized that not only could they have been living happier, his wife may not have even had to work. That would have reduced her stress level, and maybe even have prevented her fate. It didn't take him long to sell the house and move to a small acreage outside of town. The bus driving job provided him enough monthly income to maintain the items he couldn't produce himself, which wasn't much. It also provided him the opportunity to talk to the young folks. More than a few had their eyes opened talking to him. They sure didn't get this knowledge inside the classroom. This led to an invitation from the FFA teacher to speak to the entire FFA program about self-sustained living. And thus was his new “career” started. Within a week of that speech he had invitations from 6 different organizations to come and talk to them, 5 of them offering a small fee and travel expenses since they were out of his local area. Each successful speech led to more invitations. While traveling throughout the country he decided to write a book about self-sustained living as his speeches usually didn't allow him time to go into as much detail as he liked. After talking to a few different publishers who weren't interested in his book, he decided to just self publish it and make it available for downloading. More than a few publishing companies were kicking themselves as his book hit the amazon top 20 inside 2 weeks and sold over 25,000 downloads the first month. He had no problem booking paid speaking engagements throughout the country, though often enough he did it for no more than the cost of his travel expenses, as he believed so thoroughly in the necessity of getting this knowledge to as many people as possible.

His PC played a light-hearted tone as a message flashed in the lower left part of the screen telling him he had 846 new messages. He clicked on the icon for his email program and waited patiently for the messages to be displayed after the filter went through and deleted the 830 messages that were pure junk mail. “Wish I could put a filter on my snail mail box down at the post office”, he mused to himself as he scanned the list of messages coming up on his screen. Seeing one from Thunter@ICL.com, he double clicked it to open it up.

Mr. Thomas,
I'll be in Woodward tomorrow morning at 11:00 AM. If you could arrange ground transport at the Woodward Municipal Airport, I'll pick up the tab for lunch.

Look forward to talking to you,
Tom Hunter

“Interesting”, Danny thought to himself as he typed a short reply in the affirmative, “I've definitely never had someone fly into Woodward to meet with me. Guess the Poly Anna Cafe is out for lunch. Hopefully the Westside will be acceptable”. There weren't many 'fancy' restaurants in Woodward, and none of them open for lunch, but Westside probably had the best food in the county.

The next morning Danny arrived at the airport half an hour early. He needed to find out where to meet Mr. Hunter. He was also pretty anal about time after his years in the military. In his whole life he'd only been late once, and the butt chewing he'd gotten from the Sr. Chief for being late had been a life changing event! After he ascertained where to wait for the flight, he double checked the interior of his truck to make sure he'd gotten rid of all the garbage that accumulates when you drive long distance 2-3 times a week. He'd thought about renting a nice car for the day since this guy seemed important, but he just couldn't justify the expense for a lunch meeting. If Mr. Hunter threw a fit about riding in a pick-up truck, he may not be the kind of person he wanted to associate with anyway.

At about 5 till the hour, Danny's eyes widened when he saw a Gulfstream G500 on final. He watched in silent awe as it gently set down then taxied over to the spot near where he was parked. He got out of his truck and approached the plane when he saw the cabin door open and the stairs extended. As he reached the bottom of the stairs Tom Hunter appeared and waved as he came down the steps, a small overnight bag slung over his shoulder. Danny noticed that rather than the expensive suit Tom had been wearing the last time they met, this time he was wearing clean, but somewhat worn wranglers, work boots and a t-shirt that said “Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader fan club” of all things.

“Nice taxi!”, exclaimed Danny as he extended his hand to Tom.

“It gets me from A to B”, replied Tom with a wink as he took Danny's hand in a quick handshake before they both turned and headed toward the truck. “Like the wheels, that a '95 or a '96?”

“ '97 actually”, answered Danny as he opened the passenger door, then the rear door to the extended part of the cab, “it's been a money pit from hell, but it does exactly what I want it to do.”

“I've got a '93 suburban myself'', Tom chuckled as he set his bag in the back and closed the rear door before climbing up the running board to get in the front, “don't think there is anything original but the frame anymore!”

Danny laughed as he walked back around and got into the driver's seat. He started the Chevy's engine as they both latched their safety belts. He could see a slight nod from Tom at the low rumble of the truck, “must be the 5.7 liter V-8 right?”

“Yessir”, Danny replied as he put it in drive and headed back to town, “had a new crate engine dropped in her two years ago when my mechanic told me the price of repairing the original would be more than dropping a new one in would be. Had it converted to run pure alcohol a few months back.”

Tom's eyebrows climbed to his hairline at that news, “Is this some kind of dragster then?”

“Nah”, replied Danny as he patted the dashboard, “I won't lie, she does have a bit more power, but alcohol is renewable and gets me about 10 extra miles to the gallon compared with running on fossil fuel. The conversion process was pretty easy as well.”

“I might just have to look into doing that on my BOV when I get back to Dallas”, Tom replied, getting a notepad and pen from his pocket to write a note to himself.

“I'll give you some links and a phone number to the mechanic that did my conversion”, said Danny as he began slowing down for the in town traffic, “it's not as bad as it might seem in the beginning.”

They spent the next few minutes talking about Woodward and the local area as Danny drove them across town and into the parking lot of the Westside restaurant.

As they entered the restaurant, several regulars called out Danny's name and waved, to which he responded with a smile and a wave back. He asked the waitress to seat them in a private booth as this was a business lunch and they might need a little privacy. After she had poured them coffee and taken their food order, Danny turned to Tom.

“Now, I'm very curious as to what would bring you to Woodward, in a G500 no less, just to talk to me over lunch”, Danny gave 100% of his attention to Tom, making Tom feel like the restaurant and everything else had just disappeared.

“Well Mr. Thomas”, began Tom, almost unnerved by the intensity of Danny's gaze, but he was a successful businessman, and knew how to make himself at least appear relaxed, “I'm a successful businessman, have been for quite a few years now. I happened to become interested in prepping about 5 months ago. One common thread I've noticed in a lot of the fiction stories I've read is that no one man, or maybe even family can survive a localized disaster, let alone a regional or bigger, by themselves. That got me to looking into mutual assistance groups, retreats and planned communities. When I started researching more into how to be more self sustaining, I ran across your book. What I read so fascinated me that I had to attend one of your talks when the opportunity presented itself”. He didn't mention the fact that he scheduled his entire business trip to Oklahoma City around attending his speech. “I'm looking into doing something that your expertise and knowledge would be a great asset for”.

“I've never considered myself a consultant”, replied Danny, “but I have helped a few communities get things setup to be living a self-reliant lifestyle as much as they can. Just what kind of help are you looking for? It would take me a few days to gather information and I'd need to see the area as well.”

“Actually no”, Tom shook his head, “I'm not looking for a consultant per say. I've got something a little different in mind”. Their food showed up right then. As their plates were sat down they thanked the waitress as tom said, “Why don't we scarf first and we'll continue on a full stomach?”

Danny replied by simply nodding as he dug into his 5 egg omelet. The next few minutes were spent in silence as they heartily consumed their lunch.

“Wow, the place doesn't look like much, but boy can they cook!”, exclaimed Tom as he pushed his plate back and settled back in his seat, a satisfied expression on his face.

“Very true”, agreed Danny as he set back in his chair as well,”Can't always take things at face value. Now Mr. Hunter, let's cut the chase, you want something important. Just come out with it, worst I can do is say no”

“Please just call me Tom”, he replied,”we are just having an informal lunch after all. What it is I am looking to do is put together a planned community, but with a corporate connection so to speak. One that is self-sustaining, not only in the current world as it is, but in any situation to come down the chute. I would aim for complete autonomy, especially in a national or international disaster. I'd like to have a community that would not only survive, but thrive afterward. I just have too many questions and unknowns to get a start. The biggest being the size of said community.”

Danny sat in thought for a moment before he replied, “Well Tom, that can be a can of worms. The biggest factor for size of the community is genetic diversity. If there is not enough new blood, so to speak, coming into the community, then genetic defects begin creeping in, much like what happened with a lot of European communities throughout the dark age era. There has been a lot of debate within the scientific community about the minimum size needed to avoid those problems, from a couple hundred to many thousand. Personally, I set the bar right at 1800 minimum, with 2200 to be ideal.”

Tom frowned before stating, “That's a small city Danny. You're talking quite a few resources to support something like that”.

“You're right”, Danny nodded in agreement,”but it's not without precedent. You'll find many Mennonite, Mormon and even Amish cities that started out as self-reliant communities of that size. This day and age however, you are talking quite a bit of money just to get things of that size started, and probably a few years of monetary support before it could become completely self-reliant. I'm not saying it's impossible or hasn't been tried before, because I've seen a couple of successful communities, though not quite that big.”

Tom sat in thought for a minute before he looked up at Danny, “I'm not worried about the money. I am however, concerned about the knowledge and expertise needed to put something like this together. That is the main reason I decided to come to you”.

Danny shook his head, “I'm not sure of what all you need from me Tom, but I could put a package together for you, but it will take me some time as there are a lot of wheels to put together here.”

“No let me explain better”, replied Tom, “I'm sure you tried to do some research on me and my company before our meeting and you found that we are a consulting group that assists small to medium size businesses. That should be about all you've found out, because that's about all I let be public knowledge about us. Let me explain in greater detail. Danny I am what is known as an “angel investor”. I find small businesses with a good chance of success and invest my money and experience in helping them be successful. I've been doing it for nigh on 30 years now. Other than a couple of mistakes early on in my career, I've been wildly successful...to put it lightly. I could have retired 20 years ago, but I enjoy what I do so much, that I can't really see myself ever retiring. Up until 6 months ago, I thought I was on top of the world, till I met this guy and his family at a shooting range I was visiting down in Austin. He kept asking these little questions, like “what would happen if oil prices went so high that it was no longer affordable to ship food and other necessities to all the cities and towns in the U.S.?” It got me to thinking, and to be honest, I didn't like the answers I came up with, not one bit. I know what I want to do, I have the money to do it, but I lack the expertise to put it together. Your the expert I want in charge of this. My idea is to make a corporate community that is as close to self-reliant as possible. Me and my firm would be the silent partners and investors so to speak.”

Tom trailed off and grew silent as he saw Danny's gears clicking in over drive. “Tom, I have an idea that, well, is a bit different”, Danny finally said, “I've actually had this idea for 3 or 4 years now, just never had the opportunity to put it into action.”

Tom sat up, pulling his notepad and pen out, “I'm all ears Danny”.

“Having a couple thousand people around a retreat can be difficult, as you need to have some kind of gainful employment for them”, started Danny, “my thought however, is having a retreat setup for that number, maintained by a skeleton crew. The bulk of the rest of the employees would be at distributed corporate sights, carrying on the company business until the need to go to the retreat arises.”

“Hmm, having a successful company outside of the retreat could offset the expenses of setting up the retreat, I'm intrigued, but what would be the product or service of this company?”, asked Tom.

“My thought is to have a chain of outlet stores based around preparedness and the self-reliant lifestyle”, replied Danny, “as it is right now, we have to shop a gazillion different stores and web sites, deal with long shipping dates and so on, just to get the things we need. We could supply that demand by creating a chain of one stop preparedness outlets, offering everything from get me home bag contents to entire energy production systems”.

Now it was Tom's turn to let the wheels click, and click they did. Suddenly he burst out laughing. Before Danny could get upset he raised his hand and began speaking, “I came up here hoping to get someone to organize a successful retreat for me, and instead I might have come across the best business idea I've seen in years!”

Danny sighed in relief as this had actually been a dream of his and thought it would get shot down immediately. The men spent another half hour writing down more details and ideas when the waitress informed them that the restaurant would be closing soon. Tom had to fly out to Tulsa as he had a meeting the next morning so they headed back to the airport. Just as Tom was about to enter the aircraft, he held a finger up to the pilot and came back down the stairs.

“I have to talk to some of my staff before putting everything together on this”, Tom said as he shook Danny's hand, “I want you on board, but not as a consultant, I think you'd be the perfect candidate to head up this new company. Please consider accepting a position as CEO. Don't give me an answer now, just think it over tonight. I'll give you a call after my meeting is done tomorrow.”

Danny was so stunned he couldn't think of a response so only nodded and waved as Tom climbed back into the Gulfstream. All the way back to his home from the airport he thought about the offer and what it would mean. What he'd have to give up to take the position. Whether he could even do the job. Once he returned home he continued thinking about it as he took care of the little chores he had to do around the property. By the time it was turning dark and he went inside he had made up his mind. With enthusiastic determination, he began gathering the materials he thought he would need to get this thing started. He was startled to notice the predawn light peeking through the shades of his window several hours later. Stifling a yawn behind his hand, he shut down his system and headed for the bed. He needed some shuteye before Tom called.

[NWOKguy]

Looks interesting ... now keep it up and don't leave me hanging. ROFL!!!

Not to worry. This next week is spring break, so no worky for the whole week. I have a few honey-do's, but nothing that should keep me from my goal of completing it by the end of the break.
And thanks for the kind comments...now if my space bar would quit double spacing on me!

[Deena in GA]

Very nice!!! I really look forward to reading more of this!

[sssarawolf]

Hey good ideas to bad more of us dont have the resourses to do things like that lol. Thank you for the new story.

[223shootersc]

sometimes all it takes is money, good chapter

[goinpostal]

Good start!Thank You for sharing it with us.
Matt

[moldy]

Been years since I've been to Woodward, but Mom and Dad are there every year for the class reunion of the Quinlan high school. Welcome - and great story!

[SheWoff]

Looks to be a really good story forming up here! I like it and waiting for more please?!

She

[debralee]

I agree with everyone, this story looks to be a good one. More please.!

[bad_karma00]

Nice. A great idea, too. Looking forward to where this goes.

[nancy98]

WhoooHoooo! I likey.

Thanks

[sabretech2001]

Definitely gonna stick around to see what happens.

[NWOKguy]

SSLI-Chap 3
Dallas

Danny jumped as his pocket buzzed and began playing 'Country boy can survive' by Hank Jr. He'd finished his planned chores around the property and was kicking back on the porch rocker. There was just enough of a breeze to lull him almost to sleep.

“Daniel Thomas”, he spoke into the phone after hitting the receive button, “how can I help you?”

“Hey Danny!”, Danny recognized the voice coming through as Tom's, “just finished my business up here in Tulsa and thought I'd touch base with you about the proposal I made yesterday. Have you had enough time to give it some thought?”

“Indeed I have”, replied Danny as he stood up and walked into the house to his desk, “In fact I spent a good part of the night gathering materials and ideas. I'd really like to conference with you on just how we're gonna do this.”

“Well Danny boy”, Tom chuckled into the receiver, “the first thing to getting a company off the ground is getting the leadership in place. I had planned on being back in Dallas tonight, but why don't I come back by Woodward first and we can knock some details out?”

“Sounds fine by me”, Danny nodded into the phone, “What time do you figure you'll be here?”

“Will take me about 30 minutes to pack up and to get to the airport”, Tom came back slowly while he figured his time, “about an hour flight time, so figure about 1PM give or take. Will that work for you?”

“No problem”, replied Danny, “I'll be waiting at the tarmac to pick you up.”

“Great, see you soon then”, said Tom before hanging up.

Danny looked around his home for a minute before going into over drive. He figured he'd just bring Tom back out to the house. Problem was, being a bachelor, he only lightly cleaned and dusted once a week, and didn't do any hard cleaning but once a month. Sure, he took care of his dishes after every meal, and everything had it's place and all. But the light amount of dust on everything would have given his wife fits were she still around. He quickly went around using a swiffer to knock the dust off shelves and tables. Then he put the little auto vac on the floor before hitting the button to get it started. It didn't polish his hardwood floors, but it did get everything prepared for them to be polished. He checked his watch before running upstairs to get a quick shower and change out of his grubbies before heading to the airport.

Danny leaned against the front bumper of his truck as the G500 taxied down the tarmac. It was twenty minutes later than what Tom had supposed, but it didn't bother Danny, HE was on time and that's all that mattered. He approached the aircraft as the turbines wound down and the stairs came down. He smiled and shook Tom's hand as they turned and headed to the truck.

“I apologize for being twenty minutes later than I thought I would”, Tom commented as they reached the truck, “it was a stinking mess getting out Tulsa at that time of day”

Danny waved his hand in a negligible sign, “no problem Tom, I know how that can be. I thought we'd just go on out to the house instead of a restaurant.”

“Sounds great to me”, answered Tom as he buckled his belt, “I'm interested in seeing the setup of the country's most popular self-reliant living expert anyway”.

“Bah, I've never claimed to be an all knowing expert”, Danny replied with a frown, “I've just figured out where most the answers are and do my best to pass that knowledge along”.

“Ha”, chuckled Tom, “the best leaders in business I've met didn't have all the answers. What made them such great leaders is they knew the questions and where to get the answers.”

They spent the remainder of the drive talking about their times in the military. Danny had spent eight years in the National Guard as an 11B, dismounted infantry. He'd been the heavy weapons squad leader when his contract ran out, just in time to miss being deployed to Iraq. He'd felt a little bad about leaving his company to their fate in Iraq, but he'd been there the first time when we kicked Hussein out of Kuwait. Except back then he was in the active duty Navy, repairing fire control radars on F-14's and F-18's in the Persian Gulf. Tom on the other hand had graduated from Texas Tech. He had a bachelor's in business administration in one hand and a commission in the Air Force in the other. He did his mandatory six years as a logistics officer at Lackland air base in San Antonio. By the time he got out of the Air Force, he'd already had his consulting business up and running for four years.

As they pulled onto Danny's property, Tom was astounded at what he saw. There were at least 3 greenhouses along with fields and fields of different crops that he had no idea what was growing there.

“How the heck can one person manage all this?”, he exclaimed, eyes nearly popping out of his head.

“Oh trust me”, Danny answered with a chuckle, “one person wouldn't have a chance. I loan out probably 75% of my property to the local high school FFA chapter for their ag programs. In return they maintain my gardens and the few animals that are actually mine since I travel so much on speaking engagements. It's a great relationship.”

Danny pointed to the wind generators and solar setup as he continued talking about the property, “I could actually live off grid here if I wanted. When the sun isn't bright enough to fully drive the solar system, the wind is usually up enough for the wind generators to make up the loss. The only reason I stay tied to the grid is I get paid wholesale for the extra energy I export to the electric company. I actually bring an extra $200 to $300 a month from that.”

“This is fantastic”, commented Tom as they finally approached the house, “but I have to admit to being mildly surprised at your house considering you are such a proponent of earth shielded construction”. He pointed at the single level ranch style house they were entering.

“To be honest Tom, I didn't have the funds for the earth shielded home when I acquired the property”, replied Danny as he held the door open for Tom to enter, “I'm about six months from being able to break ground on what I want done.”

He led Tom into the den where he had his desk set up, “Have a seat, I'll get us something to drink, coffee good?”

“You bet”, replied Tom as he had a seat on the couch, “I like it just like my women..hot, black and strong. Or at least sassy”, he laughed with a wink.

Danny laughed as he went into the kitchen. He grabbed two “VFA-15” mugs and filled them with coffee before pouring the rest of the pot in a carafe to keep it warm. Walking back into the den, he passed Tom's mug to him before setting the carafe in the middle of the table and taking a seat opposite of Tom. As Danny settled into his chair, Tom pulled a folder out of his bag.

“Ok”, started Tom, “I had my staff do some preliminaries this morning while I finished up that other project in Tulsa. This project is huge, much larger than I had originally thought of. What we need to layout right now, is our roles in the project, both me personally as well as my firm. Right now, I still have a few other projects going, so I cannot devote 100% of the firm's time to this. So I'm going to go with the advice of my staff. What I'm going to do is set this up like I would any other business I invest in. My firm and I will be the silent partner, so to speak. While we'll be available to help when needed, the onus will be on you as the CEO to get everything setup and running. You won't be doing everything by yourself, I have a couple of personnel to help get things setup, especially on the legal side of things. But before we get into any details, I'm sure you have some questions and concerns, so shoot.”

“Well”, began Danny as he tried to get his whirling thoughts into words that could be spoken, “my first concern is the amount of funds required to set this thing up. When I did some preliminary planning last evening I was shocked at the amount required just to set up one outlet, let alone a chain of them and the retreat itself. I think the idea is sound and the market is there, I'm just concerned whether I have the business experience to make it successful.”

Tom grinned before saying anything, “Danny boy, the funds are nothing you need worry about. You pretty much have a blank check to setup what you need to. I'll let you know if you're getting too close to the ceiling. Since I'll be part of the review process before I sign any checks anyway, all I can say is don't worry about the money. As far as business expertise, you have more than you realize. Couple that with your knowledge on prepping and self-sufficient living, there isn't too much you need know that you can't hire someone that can cover what you don't. Remember our leadership schools from when we in military? Leadership is the art of motivating others. And you have that in spades. Now what other concerns do you have?”

“To be honest”, Danny replied with a look of consternation, “I'm not sure where to start”.

“My first suggestion”, Tom said with a softer voice, having seen this look many times before in his career, “would be putting together the leadership team. You know you can't do everything by yourself. Set down on paper the different departments and expertise you'll need. Then begin hiring the folks needed to get that done. I'll help as much as I can, but you know somewhat better than me the knowledge required for a lot of these things. I'd also suggest you come down to Dallas for a few days. I have an empty office you can work out of and you'll have a better labor pool to draw from than you have here in Woodward.”

“Shoot Tom”, replied Danny as he looked off toward his bedroom, “I'm not even sure where we'll headquarter this thing, though I agree that working out of Dallas for now would be a good idea”. He'd already decided he'd go to Dallas for a while if he took the position and had gotten packed earlier in the day. He'd even made arrangements with the FFA director and his neighbors across the way to look after the property.

“Let's take one thing at a time then”, replied Tom as he put his folder back in his bag and dug out his cell phone, “I'll make some calls to get things arranged in Dallas before we arrive while you gather your gear. We'll worry about where to HQ the company when we sit down with Debra tomorrow morning. She's my legal expert and can give us some good ideas”.

He started dialing before Danny even had a chance to respond. Danny decided to go ahead and start loading things in the truck. He already had everything packed and took all of ten minutes to load. He was placing a couple of weapon cases in the back of the cab when Tom walked up, putting his phone back in the carrier at his waste.

“We have excellent security Danny”, he said pointing his chin toward the weapon cases, “I assume you have your CCP though?”

“Of course”, replied Danny with a nod, “and Texas honors CCP's issued by Oklahoma, so I'm good there as well. As for the long guns...better to have and not need, then to need and not have.”

Tom laughed as he replied, “Quite true, think I've heard that statement a thousand times in all the prepper sites I've looked through.”

They finished loading up the truck and locking the house down. As they headed toward the airport Danny called the FFA leader to let them know he would indeed be out of town for at least a week, maybe longer. After loading his gear into the plane, Danny parked the truck in the long term parking area before climbing the stairs and getting his first look inside a Gulfstream G500. “I could get used to this!”, he thought to himself as he sat in the huge leather seat for the trip down to Dallas.

A custom H2 hummer met them after they landed in Dallas a few hours later. They unloaded all their gear and headed to the northwestern side of the city. They pulled through the security gate of a non-descript three story building half an hour later. Danny saw some beautiful grounds just before they went into the underground parking area. Their driver hopped out and began unloading the back of the car as Danny opened his door.

“I have some work to take care of at the office”, Tom told him through the opened door, “your office won't be ready till tomorrow morning. So take the evening and get yourself ready for an exciting day tomorrow”.

“Alrighty”, replied Danny with a nod before quickly grabbing his gun cases as he saw his gear being quickly hauled off to wherever his room would be. He turned and waved as the hummer headed back out. He turned to walk in the building and almost bounced off a huge man wearing an Armani suit.

“Beg your pardon sir”, said the man as he grabbed Danny's arm to keep him from falling, “I'm Steven, I'll show you to your room if you'll follow me”. Without waiting for a reply, he turned and headed back into the building.

Danny did a quick step to keep up with him before they stopped at the security desk.

“All doors are secured by thumbprint and voice recognition Mr. Thomas”, Steven pointed at scanner at the security desk, “if you would let us scan your left thumbprint in to the system, we'll have you taken care of before we even get to your room.”

“Umm, sure”, replied Danny as he hesitatingly held his left thumb up to the infrared scanner. A couple seconds later the computer beeped and the guy behind the desk nodded, confirming it had gotten a good scan.

“This way sir”, said Steven as they turned and headed to the elevator. Danny took note of the stair wells to the north and south of the building. He knew not to count on an elevator in an emergency so knowing the location of the stairs was a must. Once in the elevator, Steven showed him how to place his thumb on the scanner, then state his name and the floor he wanted to go to. His room would be on the second floor, but since he had VIP access, he could travel to any floor he wanted. He was however restricted from entering any private quarters beside his own. Steven also told him that dinner would be served at the central dining hall at 7PM. He was welcome to dine there, or he could cook for himself if he wished from what is in his room. With that, Steven left him to explore his living arrangements for the next week. It was a simple 2 bedroom suite that would give most 5 star hotels a run for their money. He found a moderate sized, but well stocked pantry just off the small kitchen. He had just come in from looking at the view from the good sized veranda when his suite phone started ringing.

“Daniel Thomas”, he spoke into the phone as he sat at the desk, “how can I help you?”

“Mr. Thomas”, a female voice spoke through the receiver, “my name is Britany Weinig. Mr. Hunter assigned me to be your personal assistant while you are getting your company set up. I just wanted to call and introduce myself, and see if there is anything you need before heading to the office tomorrow morning?”

“Well Miss Weinig”, replied Danny, “I've had a pretty long day. I was going to eat dinner down at the dining hall and catch some shut eye so I'm fresh for the day tomorrow, so no nothing I can think of at the moment.”

“It's actually Ms. Weinig, but I prefer you call me Britany”, she chuckled in reply, “sounds too much like my father when you address me by my last name. If you'll tell me what time you want to be in the office, I'll make the arrangements for ground transport from the parking garage in the morning.”

“I like to get started early”, Danny replied, his eyebrows climbing up his forehead slightly at the sweet lilt of her voice, “I'd like to be in the office at 6, that ok by you?”

“You're the boss”, she replied with a light laugh, “so it doesn't matter if it's ok by me or not. I'll see you in the morning bright and early, nite sir”.


“Good night Britany”, Danny replied before hanging the phone up. He was definitely looking forward to the next morning now, though whether it was to get things moving or meet his new assistant, he just wasn’t sure.

After a dinner of some Italian dish he couldn't remember the name of, he showered and laid his things out for the next day. He drifted to sleep with department names floating through his head...Security, Logistics, Marketing, Human Resources...etc.

[NWOKguy]

Sorry I didn't get anything posted up yesterday. It was my b-day and I ended up taking a holiday from the world. Got chewed out for not getting anything done on the to do list, but I'm fully refreshed today, heh heh. I apologize for all the edits, but it seems no matter how many times you proofread your own work, you always miss sumthin...grrrr.

[223shootersc]

thanks for the new chapter

[bad_karma00]

Moving nicely. Much faster than I ever manage, lol. I really like this whole idea, too. It may not be original, but I've never seen it before, and I like it. Great work!

[nancy98]

“You bet”, replied Tom as he had a seat on the couch, “I like it just like my women..hot, black and strong. Or at least sassy”, he laughed with a wink."

Do me really say hokey things like this anymore?
I won't think a man of Tom's position and caliber would.

Oh Well, the rest of the chapter was good. Thank you.

[VANDJ]

Great story! This has a chance of going so many different ways. But you know the way it will go and I'll just wonder until the end.

Nancy when guys are alone they can still talk as they want, it's just in mixed company they try to say the right thing.

[ejagno]

Oh my! I will definitely be keeping close tabs on Danny's progress. Thank you for sharing this story with us. Please keep it coming.

[methos]

Interesting. You have to think that there are those with the means to hire someone like this out there right now and doing it. One wonders just how their preps are going, and what they look like from the outside, whether you'd recognize it for what it is or not.

[sssarawolf]

Talk about taken through a whirlwind lol. Left his head a spinning. Thank you and we all need days off.

[goinpostal]

Interesting. You have to think that there are those with the means to hire someone like this out there right now and doing it. One wonders just how their preps are going, and what they look like from the outside, whether you'd recognize it for what it is or not.

Tom Cruise supposedly built a $40mil bunker under one of his houses,and it's supposedly stocked to survive for years.
Matt

[PA Gene]

This is really a good story...please don't let it die!

PA GENE