Story After the End

fastback08

fastback08

Veteran Member
Chapter 25​

“Mister Frank, Ms Janet, y'all might want to see this,” said Patricia, as she was the only one watching the TV.

“What is it,” snapped Frank, “We are kind of busy.”

“Volcano,” said Patricia.

“Oh my God,” said Janet, “Frank, its the El Hierro. It has erupted. There is a tsunami warning for the entire East Coast of the United States.

“Dad, we are out of here, call us if you need anything, I am going to lock down the house,' said Frank frantically.

“Frank, they are saying the entire Florida peninsula could go under water if the tsunami reaches its full potential. Are we safe here,” asked Janet?

“We are about 125 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and we are 355 feet above sea level,” said Frank, “ I think we are OK, but I don't know about the Gulf Coast. Let's get home and I will see what I can find out.”

“Patricia,” said Frank, “I'm sorry I snapped at you. You are welcome to stay with us as long as you want, or we can help you find somewhere else to stay.”

“I don't have anywhere else,” Patricia said with a tremble in her voice, “They took everyone and everything I had.”

Frank grabbed Tommy and Janet picked up Sara, and the five of them left for home. John locked the gate after them and began the lock down of his own property.

Frank and Sara took the kids in the house and Patricia turned on the TV to see if there was any new information.

The tsunami was predicted to be three hundred feet tall and was moving at four hundred miles per hour. The good news, if there was any, was that the landslide had pushed more to the South and the wave generated would be most destructive to the area South of the US.

“Nothing to do now but wait and see how it turns out,” said Frank. “Janet, why don't you show Patricia the shelter and get her a spot and see that she settles in. It looks like we are going to have company for a while.”

“Follow me Pat,” said Janet, motioning her to follow, “I will show you our shelter and get you settled in, needless to say, this is something we don't talk about outside this house. What we have here is top secret, and you are to say nothing to anyone about it. Got it?”

“I understand,” said Patricia, “if anyone knew, they would all try to get in or at least take it from you.”

“Exactly,” said Janet, “Do you have any experience with firearms?”

“Pa and me used to go hunting together, I was quite a tomboy,” said Patricia, “I was a pretty good shot with a rifle. Pa bought me a rifle when I was ten years old, and I still have it. It was one of the guns that the bad guys had in the truck. Do you suppose Mr. Frank will ever trust me enough to let me have it back?”

“All in good time, dear,” said Janet, “all in good time.”
 
fastback08

fastback08

Veteran Member
Chapter 26​

The wave that hit the East coast was large enough that most of the coastline was inundated for twenty miles inland or more, the series of waves destroyed most everything in their path and then receded back into the sea. The lone exception was Florida. Due to Florida's topography, the wave made it over fifty miles inland. The entire peninsula did not go under, but it was a near thing in some places. Most of the coastal areas were so devastated it was a near total loss. More importantly, the areas that had been used to grow truck crops were simply gone. The soil was washed away leaving only sand and rubble in its place. As bad as it was in the United States, Latin America fared much worse. Some countries would likely never recover. Frank and Janet listened in disbelief to the HAM radio operators from around the world as they described their local conditions. Frank looked and Janet and said, “You know, the price of everything just went astronomical.”

“I know,” Janet replied, “I pray the affected people will be able to survive until help arrives.”

“Mommy,” interrupted Tommy, “I'm hungry.”

“Patricia,” said Janet, “would you give me a hand and let's feed this hungry crew before they turn on us.”

After the kids were fed and put down for their naps, Frank called Janet and Patricia into the seating area of the shelter. “There is really no reason for us to be in the shelter other than security. I am going to go upstairs and make sure all is clear, then you two can come up and join me. We can leave the kids down here to finish their naps, but I think we can all move back upstairs. Patricia, you and I need to have a talk, will you give me a hand with the animals?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Frank,” replied a nervous Patricia, “I can help.”

As the two of them made their way to the hardened barn, Frank asked Patricia, “Patty, we don't really know you, and there is no way for us to check out your story right now, but I have a good feeling about you.” Frank continued, “my wife and kids are the most important thing in my life, and I will kill, without question, anyone or anything that tries to harm them. Janet and I have talked this over, and I would like to formally invite you t o stay with us as a member of our family as long as you like. There will be chores and babysitting, but you will be treated no different than any other member of our family. After we finish here, let's go to the truck and get you outfitted with a rifle and a pistol. Remember, there is no more important job than protecting the family. That includes you.”

“Mr. Frank,” said Patty on the verge of tears, “I will not let you or Mrs. Janet down. I will do everything I can to earn my keep. You can trust me.”

“OK, then, let's finish up out here and get back to the house. I am afraid when people realize the extent of what has happened, there may be trouble. We have a couple of nosy neighbors that think we have a little extra going on here,” said Frank.

They took all the weapons from the truck and carried them into the house to inspect and clean if needed. There was a lot more ammunition than Frank had first guessed. “They have a cabin in the woods where they have more stuff stored,” said Patty, “I can show you where it is.”

“Maybe later,” said Frank, “right now, we need to get all this stuff secured and in the safe.

There was quite an assortment of guns, some wold be of no use to Frank and Janet and some would be a welcome backup to their current stock. The ammunition in the loose boxes was varied and mostly what would be considered hunting ammo. Some of the rifles were in a odd caliber and they had no ammo for them at all. Everything was arranged in order of usefulness and the thins that had no value for them were put into a pile for them to possibly barter later. The cases of 5.56 and 7.62x51, were carefully moved to the safe and added to the inventory.

“Most of the ammo came from a gun store they broke into,” offered Patty, “Some of those rifles and pistols are brand new. They also robbed a coin store, they had bags of gold and silver coins. They killed the owner.”

“If we can recover any of the stolen goods, we will try to return it to any surviving family members, if we can't find any survivors, I guess we can split it between ourselves. It may come in handy, but I really don't think there is going to be very much to buy,” said Frank sounding more worried than he meant to.
 
goinpostal

goinpostal

Contributing Member
I love the tale Her telling.
Only one thing that throws the story aquilter.
Her daddy thought it wasn't Christian to have guns,but he taught her to shoot.
It needs some kind of back story for that to make any sense.
Maybe a family member getting shot in some manner soured him against guns?
I hope you get better,and I'll send prayers your way.
Matt
 
fastback08

fastback08

Veteran Member
goinpostal said:
I love the tale Her telling.
Only one thing that throws the story aquilter.
Her daddy thought it wasn't Christian to have guns,but he taught her to shoot.
It needs some kind of back story for that to make any sense.
Maybe a family member getting shot in some manner soured him against guns?
I hope you get better,and I'll send prayers your way.
Matt
Click to expand...

I think I fixed it. I apologize for the error. The ineterupption in my writing is telling on me.


Thanks for reading, and thanks for pointing out the error.

Rick
 
fastback08

fastback08

Veteran Member
Chapter 27​

Word started trickling in, mostly from the HAM operators, concerning the condition of the afflicted areas. Most of the Florida coastline was gone, for several miles inland. The Northeast coast of the US hadn't fared much better. New York City, The Jersey Shore, Boston, and countless other cities that people had flocked to, were simply no longer livable. What wasn't destroyed by the wave, was washed out to sea when the waters receded. Millions were dead, and the government was too overwhelmed to be of any assistance. The people that had evacuated, had no homes to return to. There was no where for them to go and nothing for them to eat. With the infrastructure destroyed, there were no sanitary services, no drinking water and electrical service was spotty at best. It was the United States darkest hour.

Frank turned the radio off and turned to Janet, “The US may never recover from this,” he said somberly, “There is so much death and destruction, people starving and now diseases are sure to take as heavy a toll as the wave did.”

“What about us, Frank,” asked Janet, beginning to cry a little, “what we will we do. Are we going to die too?”

“We will,” said Frank, “but not from this, we are prepared to survive, and that is just what we are going to do. I need to start getting the gardens ready and you and Patty need to inventory everything. I need the specific number of everything we have. Beans, bullets, band-aids, and everything else. Bulk items need to be weighed and sorted. If we are going to survive, we need to know how long everything we have will last, and how long it will take before we can start replacing our food stuff.”

“We will get on it right away,” replied Janet, “You need to talk to your Dad and get some of the gardening questions answered.”

“See if Patty knows how and when to get the greenhouse producing starter plants. Some things can be grown in there during the cold weather, but I would like to primarily use it for starting plants for the outdoor garden,” said Frank as he was picking up the handie talkie to contact his Dad.

“Dad, I have some news I heard from the HAM bands, if it is correct, the US is in a bad situation. We need to talk as soon as you can come over.”

“Roger,” said Frank's Dad, “I will be there in a hour."
 
fastback08

fastback08

Veteran Member
Chapter 28​

After a long evening of deciding what crops would be best to put in and what they needed to do first, John and Frank decided that they would take Patty, and leave at first light to find the cabin the bad guys had hidden the goods in. Frank told his Dad good night and told him he would see him bright and early.

Patty led the men directly to the cabin. They had to get out and remove some brush where the bad guys had tried to camouflage the road into it. It was pretty ramshackle from the outside and had no doubt been a hunting camp at some time in the past.

The inside of the cabin showed signs of having been recently occupied, although there had been little effort on the part of the occupants to keep it clean. There was trash strewn about and dirty dishes everywhere. There was also evidence that mice had been having a field day in the cabin.

“They kept all the stuff they stole in the bedroom,” said Patty, “There is also some stuff buried outside, I can show you where, they made me dig the hole.”

Inside the bedroom, they found quite a bit of canned food, boxes of jewelry, and case after case of ammunition and reloading supplies. “They looked like they were getting ready to fight a war,” said John.

“Most likely these were targets of opportunity,” said Frank, “they were smart enough to know that this would be of value at some point, and all the ammunition they stole is ammunition that cannot be used against them.”

The two men, with Patty's help began loading the truck and trailer with the goods and while walking back into the cabin, Frank noticed the entrance to the attic. He pulled the string and lowered the steps and taking his flashlight he climbed high enough to stick his head into the attic and have a look.

“These guys must have hit a armory or a police station,” he said to John, “There are all kinds of guns and supplies up here.”

John climbed up to take a look as Frank climbed down. “This didn't come from a civilian source,” said John, “There are grenades, claymores, night vision equipment, and I think that is a Ma Deuce in the crate.”

John climbed further into the attic and examined the crate more closely. “Yep. A Ma Deuce with extra barrels and head space gages and armorer's tools. This changes our defensive posture a bit.”

Patty had busied herself with a shovel and had uncovered the buried loot. “I don't know what is in here,” she said, “They just had me dig the hole and then they loaded the boxes and I filled it back in.”

Frank and John pulled the first box out of the hole and were astonished to find it filled with cash. There was no telling if FRNs were still viable, but they had a box of them. The second bow was smaller, but much heavier. It was fill with Krugerrands and Gold Eagles. They didn't bother to count them, they just put the box inside the truck and locked it. More boxes and more valuables were pulled out of the hole. The two men decided not to open any more boxes, just load them and get them home. They would inventory them later. They had scarcely finished loading the truck when Frank's handie talkie squawked to life. “GET HOME, NOW!”, came Janet's voice. Frank could not reach here again to ask what was happening.
 
fastback08

fastback08

Veteran Member
Chapter 29​

They could hear gunshots as they approached the house. Frank stopped the truck and backed up the the intersection they had just passed. Turning onto the road he told his Dad, “I am going to drop you off at the property behind us. You can cut through the field and approach the house from the rear.”

Frank told Patty to load up and she grabbed on of the AR-15s and several loaded magazines. They pulled back onto the road Frank and Janet live on and leaving the truck they began leap frogging down the block towards Frank's home. Frank decided to give the radio another try since they were so close.

“Janet, this is Frank, come in if you can hear me,” Frank whispered into the microphone.

“Frank there are three of them. Two men and a woman, and I think the woman is the nosy neighbor from down the street,” said Janet.

Patty and I are on the street and are approaching the house. Dad is coming up from the back,” said Frank. “Be sure of your target.”

Patty suddenly stopped and aimed her rifle. She slowly pulled the trigger and the weapon in the hands of the woman aiming at the house flew from her hands. She fell to the ground screaming holding her hands in front of her. Frank watched one of the men turn and run toward the injured woman. Frank stepped out from behind the tree he was behind and ordered the man to stop. The man stopped and started raising his rifle toward Frank. It was too little too late, as Frank dropped the man before his rifle was in a position to harm anyone. The third man hit his knees and raised his hands over his head and began pleading for his life. John came around the side of the house and declared it was all clear behind the house. While John held a rifle on the two downed men, Frank went over to the woman who was still writhing in pain and holding her bloodied hand. Patty's shot had gone through the woman's hand and sent the rifle skidding away from her. She wouldn't die, but she wouldn't get much use from her right had anymore.

“Well, well,” said Frank, “Your nosiness has finally caught up with you. You couldn't stand the thought of not knowing what we had so you used force to try to take it. Who are the hired thugs,” asked Frank?

“Those men are not thugs,” screamed the women between screams of pain, “Those are my sons. They have hungry kids and we were just going to take a little food. I have seen your garden and I know you have food in there.”

“Did you ever think about just asking for some,” said Frank. “Sometimes just being pleasant works.”

“Son,” yelled Frank, “You want me to go ahead and finish them off?”

“One of the men suddenly soaked the front of his pants, as he considered his own mortality.

“Not yet Dad,” I want to have a talk with them first.”

John had no intent of killing either man, he was just softening them up for a Q&A session later, however, the man Frank shot needed help pretty quick or he would not make it.
 
Sammy55

Sammy55

Veteran Member
Thanks for the new chapter! I was getting quite concerned about Janet after the last chapter's Cliff showed up.

Great writing! Keep it up!
 
P

patience

Deceased
Hard decisions coming up. If these 3 live, they will try to get revenge, on way or another. If they died for some reason, that would go away, but there may be more of their family to contend with. Since some rule of law seems to still be around (?), there are many complications to consider.

Altogether, a very bad situation.
 
fastback08

fastback08

Veteran Member
Chapter 30​

While Patty held the motley group at gunpoint, the family held a quick meeting to decide what to do with the would be raiders. “Frank, why don't you see if you can raise the sheriff's office on the radio, while Janet and I see if we can stop some of the bleeding,” suggested John.

“Janet, how did this start,” asked Frank, “I know you would not have fired first, but I need a story for the sheriff.”

“I heard the buzzer at the gate and I went to the door to see who it was. As soon as I saw they were armed, I had Tommy take his little sister to the basement and I used the loudspeaker to tell them to leave. Their answer was to start shooting at the house. I got my rifle and fired back, but to be honest, I wasn't trying to hit them. I thought if I fired at them, they would just leave. I guess I was wrong,” said a sad but wiser Janet.

The power had been spotty since the East coast Tsunami, being off more than on, Frank used the modified base radio and turning to the public service bands, he called the sheriff's office.

“Sheriff's department,” came the response to Frank's call, “Who are you and why are you on this frequency?”

Frank explained the situation and requested a deputy and an ambulance as he had two people that needed medical attention. He explained that his house had come under fire and he and his family had acted in self defense. He advised the deputy that he would be pressing charges.

“I have an ambulance rolling to your address, and a deputy will be there about the same time. Please do not display any weapons when the deputy arrives,” said the dispatcher.

“These people tried to rob us and they fired on my house. I most certainly will display a weapon and I will be holding them at gunpoint until the deputy takes them into custody,” said Frank, losing his patience.

Frank could hear yelling from outside, so he advised the deputy he had to go and would be waiting. When he got outside, one of the neighbor's son's wife had arrived on the scene and was brandishing a rather large butcher knife. Frank told her to drop the knife or she would be shot. The woman started screaming and running toward Frank with the knife in her hand. Frank raised his rifle but before he could get a shot off, Patty connected the butt of her rifle with the back of the crazed woman's head, dropping her to the ground in a heap.

“Thanks,” said Frank, “I am not sure I could have gotten her in time.”

After a while, the ambulance arrived and stopped short of the house, waiting for the deputy to clear the scene of an active shooting before they would get out of the ambulance. John had done a passable job of bandaging the older woman's hand and done the best he could for the man that was gut shot. The deputy quickly surveyed the scene and called for another car to help transport the raiders to the hospital and then to jail.

“Looks like a justified shooting,” he told Frank, “There will be some questions to answer, but I don't see any problems for you, as long as you are being truthful with me.”

“It happened just like I said, they came over to steal our food, and when my wife asked them to leave, they fired on her,” said Frank, “She returned fire and called me on the radio. We were on our way home and we were able to come up behind them. I ordered them to drop their weapons and when they turned to fire on us, we defended ourselves.”

“Like I said, it seems like a good shoot, I will make a recommendation that all charges be dropped. You would not believe what is going on in some of the cities. Since the food trucks have stopped rolling, the shelves are empty. People are starting to move out toward the more rural areas like this to find food. You had better keep your eyes open, this is likely just the tip of the iceberg,” warned the deputy.

The ambulance took the two injured people and after securing them in the ambulance, the others were handcuffed together and placed in the deputy's back seat. “We have been denying bail for armed assault, and with three of these being form outside the area, they will stay in jail until their trial. Call us if you have any questions and we will will be back later to tie up any loose ends,” and with that, the deputy flipped on the lights and was gone, the ambulance following.

Frank went to Janet and calmed her and told her how proud he was of the way she handled the situation and assured here that from this point forward, she would not be left at home alone. There would always be at least two people there. Janet retrieved the kids from the shelter and passed the praise on to Tommy and told him what a big boy he was for taking care of his sister and protecting her.

John, told Frank he was going to go home and get Frank's Mother and bring her over. He backed the loaded truck and trailer into the barn and secured it and took Frank's truck to go get his wife.

Patty offered to help cook supper and she and Janet had the kitchen smelling good in short order. Frank took his water hose and washed the blood of the sidewalk in front of the house and then he and Tommy policed the area picking up all the spent brass they could find. The deputy had taken the guns and knife the raiders and Frank figured that was OK with him, they had more guns they they would ever need.
 
fastback08

fastback08

Veteran Member
Chapter 31​


After they had all eaten, and Frank's Mom and Dad had come back they all sat down and tried to make sense of what had happened. Frank reminded his Dad that they had to do something with all the loot they had found in the bad guy's hide out. Patty was adamant that she wanted no part of anything they had and Frank was of the opinion that Patty should have at least half of it due to the way she had been treated by them. John reminded Frank that all of the loot may have owners that would like to have it back. Frank didn't know where to start and with phone service being spotty at best, he didn't know how to research the issue. They went to the barn and got all of the precious metals and brought them into the house. The first thing Frank noticed was the bags were all marked with the name and address of a coin dealer. The dealer was in Key West, Florida. The Florida Keys were mostly gone now with a few consisting of only bare sand bars. There was no way to find heirs to the fortune, so Frank sat all the Key West bags to to the side for now. It seemed the crooks had been working along the Eastern Seaboard for some time as all the loot they could find an origin for seemed to have come from that area. There were bank bags full of money, but they were all from cities that were no longer functional as cities.

“Let's do a hard count and see exactly what we have and then we can decide what we need to do with it,” said John, “I am of the opinion that the case of finder vs. keepers is how we should handle this. How about a third for Patty, a third for Frank and Janet, and I'll take the remaining third.”

“I still think Patty should get at least one half and then you and I can split the other half,” Frank told his father.

“And I said I didn't want any of it, “ said Patty, with a firmness in her voice that they had not previously heard, “besides, what good is money now?”

“It may not be worth much at the moment, but gold and silver have always had value and you can bet in the future, you will be very glad you took your share,” said Janet.

“We don't have to do anything with it but secure it for now, I refuse to let this windfall become a problem or to drive a wedge between us. Let's table the discussion for now and work on security so we don't get caught off guard again like we did today,” said Frank.

The discussion went well into the night with nothing firmly resolved, but, a promise to everyone that there would always be at least two people at the house and some of the cameras would be repositioned to more completely cover all accessible paths.

Morning began with Janet and Patty starting breakfast and the sheriff knocking on the front door. Frank answered the door and invited the sheriff in. Frank's Mother brought them coffee and John joined them. Introductions were made and then the sheriff got a serious look on his face.

“Those people you got into the ruckus with are raising hell with me to let them go. The one that was gut shot is still in very grave condition and will likely not make it. They were overheard on the cell monitors, saying they are going to try to get more family down here and extract some revenge on you,” said the Sheriff, “I am not disposed to letting them go before they are tried and sentenced, but there is very little food available for the prisoners and we are overcrowded. The state pen is not taking anymore new prisoners due to crowding and no way to feed them, so I may not have any alternative, but to let them go. What I am about to say must never leave this room. If, they decide to come back, and there is every indication they will, do not call us, just do what you have to do and remove any evidence that they were ever here.” said the Sheriff.

“Sheriff, are you saying we need to just kill them,” asked Frank?

“I said nothing of the kind, I said do what you have to do,” he said with finality, “I will let you know if they hit the street, keep at least one radio on the county frequencies,” and with that the Sheriff was on his way.

“We need to get busy on some hardened firing positions and Frank, if you don't mind, I have an old friend that would be very useful. He lives by himself and he had forgotten more about this sort of thing, than most people will ever know,” said John.

“Get him over here,” was all Frank said.
 
K

kaijafon

Veteran Member
Thank you ! yes I do believe the sheriff said to practice the three "S's"....

can't say I blame him!

love how they are all arguing about not using/wanting the money. LOL! shows real good character.
 
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