Mountaineer Sunset - Fiction

wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Here is the first chapter of a book that has been rolling around in my head for quite some time. I won't be posting chapters everyday, more like once a week or sometimes twice a week. Constructive critisim is always welcome..


Mountaineer Sunset
Chapter One

Sitting straight up in bed, Allen Reed was startled to find that the sun had already begun to peek over the misty mountains surrounding his rural West Virginia homestead.

At 46 Allen rarely slept this late, as a matter of fact he usually woke up on his own, a few minutes before the alarm went off at its normal time of 4:30 am.

Quickly gathering his wits he glanced over to the trusty, old fashioned, wind up alarm clock on his dresser, “dang”!, he mumbled under his breath, “its nearly seven o'clock”. Shifting his eyes to his right, he saw the love of his life, Samantha, still sleeping comfortably under the soft, mink blanket which was loosely wrapped around her body.

Sam as everyone knew her, had been his best friend, lover and wife for nearly 30 years. Slipping quietly out of bed to get dressed, he intended to sneak off and leave her resting peacefully this morning.

Grabbing on an old pair of BDU's and a nearly worn out Army, brown, t-shirt, he bent over to slip his left foot into a clean sock, he had no more than stuck his toes in when he heard her sleepy, soft voice say “Morning, would you like me to make you some breakfast before you head out”? “So much for letting her have a late sleep in”, he thought.

“I was going to let you sleep in this morning, love” he said, “but if you are getting up anyway, I'd love to share some breakfast and conversation with you this morning”.

Rousing herself from the warm bed, Sam stood up and smiled at her farmer, while turning for the bathroom, watching her walk away in nothing but a long t-shirt, Allen stood silent in awe at her still youthful beauty. At 44 years of age she was still the sexiest woman he'd ever laid eyes on, her long, waist length, dirty blond hair was slightly messed up and her shapely 130 pound frame swayed gently from side to side as she stepped across the room, her golden bronze arms and legs were muscled and defined in the early morning glow coming through the eastern window.

He never once in his adult life regretting choosing her as his bride.

Having moved into the kitchen to wait for Sam to start breakfast Allen started a pot of coffee on the propane kitchen stove in his grandmother's half worn, enameled percolator. With the coffee started he turned on the radio to 94.5 to listen to America's Morning News.

Although he never really listened to the details anymore, he still liked to start his day with the news, just in case some small country had decided to declare war on the United States overnight.

This morning the news was just more of the usual, financial this and thats, somebody going to jail for daring the speak out about U.S. Policy and for kicks and giggles a few commentaries on the Republican's weakness in standing up to the new Health Care Law.

Just as he had become bored with the same old news, Sam strolled into the kitchen and walked over to the bar where he was sitting, she placed a kiss on his lips and while still holding his head in her hands whispered “What'll it be for breakfast cowboy”?

To keep from being smacked and ruining the moment, he put his mind off her and told her to surprise him. He sat quietly on his stool and watched as she prepared fresh from their farm bacon and eggs, buttered toast made from wheat she milled in the Country Living Grain Mill the day before, topped with fresh churned butter and homemade blackberry jelly, served with a glass of milk from their very own Jersey cow.

They both ate and discussed plans for the day, first he would feed the livestock, then milk the cow and then he wanted to get started fencing in another 3 acres for pasture.

With breakfast finished, they both rinsed their plates. He headed out to start the morning farm chores and she went to wake their two younger daughters for breakfast.

Waking Janie was never any trouble, at 11 years old she was a morning person through and through, with the slightest touch she would jump right out of bed, with her feet firmly planted on the floor she would smile and say “Good Morning”! With her long blond hair, blue eyes and slim build she looked like everyone's idea of the American Girl.

On the other hand Claire could be just a little more trouble to rouse in the morning, having just turned 14 she was developing a level of self independence and showed it every chance she got.

At 5'6” with dark brown hair just slightly touching her broad shoulders, firm strong muscles from working the hay fields every summer and a developing body she was just a little too big for her own britches at times. As independent as she was, she was still well mannered and very helpful once she got started.

Both girls were a father's nightmare, beautiful, smart and hardworking farm girls. Allen often thought he was cursed for receiving daughters such as these, but he loved them with all his heart and would protect them with his life if needed.

Sam on the other hand enjoyed the younger children being at home. After raising three older children that were already out in the world, having the two younger girls around made her life seem full.

While Sam was inside finishing up breakfast for the girls, Allen was already in the barn getting a good start on the morning chores. Standing alone in the hayloft, looking out over the scenic, quiet, ridge tops surrounding his rural homestead, Allen just couldn't shake the feeling that something just wasn't right.

If he only knew the truth about the future and the horrible events lurking just around the corner, he might shudder in fear and start calling his family members home.

The chatter in the forums he visits on line keeps everyone believing the fall will be a long drawn out process that will slowly slide down the tubes without much fanfare...

The arm chair quarterbacks will be decidedly proven wrong this time. While Allen stood quietly in the barn, the events leading to a devastated world were already playing out behind the scenes. For Allen Reed and his family, a Mountaineer sunset was coming...
 
H

hummer

Veteran Member
Just what I needed to get the old brain to thinking.....what is just around the corner...what kind of effect will it have on Allen, Sam and the girls? Both girls seem to have good qualities that will help out with whatever is down the line... thanks! Waiting for more. :)
 
CGTech

CGTech

Has No Life - Lives on TB
looks very interesting! great start... you do realize of course, that you will be hearing lots of ***MOAR!!!*** ;)
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Thanks for all the encouraging comments.... This is my first go at a full length story so it may get rocky at times. If you find mistakes please point them out and keep your thoughts coming.
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Chapter Two

Chapter Two​

Allen shook off the strange feelings and got back to the task at hand, feeding a herd of mixed animals.

After tossing a couple of square bales down from the loft for the horses, he headed for what he liked to refer to as his ugly old tractor. The starter turned true and the 3 cylinder diesel fired up without a hitch on his faded, blue 1969 Ford 3000 tractor.

A hint of black smoke rose in the air from the first shot of cool diesel passing through the injectors, but the engine soon leveled off to a smooth purr.

For many folks in modern America the old blue beast just wouldn't have made muster. The left headlight was sagging down to the ground, the white grill was faded, flaking and curled up where a tree limb had caught it during a long day of tree dragging. The engine had signs of small leaks here and there and a few drips of diesel an hour, slid slowly down the side near the lift pump. The blue paint was now missing in several places and oxidized from years of wear, but the tractor had good tires and ran smoothly every time Allen asked it for a hard day's work.

Sam was in the bedroom changing her shorts and long t-shirt for some well worn work clothes when she heard the tractor start up. She pictured Allen in his Wrangler jeans and brown t-shirt wearing muck-boots and a faded brown Stihl ball cap. She smiled quietly to herself as the memories of thirty years quickly passed through her mind. She was convinced that God himself picked her and Allen for a long life together.

When they had decided to leave the rat race near Charleston and pack everything to move to the rural land they owned outside of Ripley, it was a solid decision made only after they both prayed deeply, asking God what his will was for them.

After praying, things moved very quickly, the house they had shared and raised their children in was under contract in less than a week and they had only 30 days to move their belongings from the house and barns.

Never looking back, they quickly carved a homestead out of a thick tree covered parcel of land and started getting set-up in case the world ever took a turn for the worse.

Sam was now dressed for her day, she wandered outside to see if Allen needed any help.

Allen was backing the tractor into a 1400 pound round bail of hay, trying to get the hay spike to line up dead center so he could take some hay out to the pasture for the lone dairy cow, the pair of donkeys and the three sheep.

As soon as he pierced the bale and pulled the hydraulic lever to pick it up, he saw Sam walking from the house toward the barn with a slight smile on her face. He reached up and pushed the throttle control forward, idling the tractor down to a quiet purr.

Sam walked up and asked if there was anything she could help with. Allen climbed down from his tractor and wrapped his strong arms around Sam in a bear hug and said “I love you”, Sam smiled a bigger smile and said “I know, but I love you more”!

Anyway, he said, feigning a distraught look, which quickly changed to a smile, he then said “The chickens need some scratch grain and you can check for early eggs”.

“Anything else need done”, Sam asked. “Yep” and he paused for a second... “You can feed those darn goats of yours”!

It was no secret around the farm that Allen really didn't care for goats and their seemingly effortless methods of escape. Sam laughed and headed for the chicken house, Allen cringed a bit thinking about the goats and climbed back on the tractor to finish feeding the big livestock.

With the morning chores done, Allen sat on the seat of ole' blue looking around at the accomplishments Sam, Janie, Claire and himself had made in the year and a half they had inhabited this piece of land.

There were six cleared acres of land with fenced in pasture, a 22 tree mixed, fruit orchard, Plenty of terraced garden space, a sturdy 20' x 24' storage building, a small barn for the livestock, a chicken house and fenced in lot, electric fence surrounding the large pig lot, the small house which was nearly finished, the root cellar and many buried concrete tanks around the various building which held tens of thousands of gallons of rain water from the roofs.

Allen was happy here, it was quiet, secure and safe, out here the neighbors were a mile or so apart, but always willing to lend a hand if you needed it.

As he headed the tractor back to the barn he saw Sam standing by the chickens with her cell phone planted on her ear, he could tell the conversation was serious by the look on her face.

Allen parked the tractor and walked over to stand by Sam as she finished her phone call. She finished the call with an I love you too, and stuck the phone back in her pocket.

Sam turned to face Allen and said “That was my Dad, he wanted to know if you could hitch up the big trailer to your truck and head to Huntington to help them move most of their stuff today”?

Baffled, Allen looked at Sam and said “I thought they weren't moving everything out here until their house sold”. Sam took the next few minutes to explain the conversation she had just had with her father.

You see when Sam and Allen started carving out the homestead, they set aside an acre for her parents to retire on, they had moved in a double wide and had spent a year getting it set up for everyday living.

Sam slowly explained that her dad had been watching the news this morning and some troubling events were starting to transpire around the country and around the globe. Her dad was not in a panic but wanted to go ahead and move most of their stuff to the farm in case things got worse faster than the talking heads were expecting.

“Something must have spooked him Sam” Allen said, “Your dad is not a knee jerk reaction kind of guy”. “I know”, she said with a worried look on her face.

Allen moved quickly to hook up the trailer and get on the road for the hour and a half trip to Sam's parents house.

Listening to the radio and reading between the calm propaganda being put out, Allen started to feel very uneasy once again. It seemed the headlines were all over the map, about every scenario ever talked about on the prepping forums, was being discussed as a true potential breaking point.

...in Iran today, Now back to you in the studio Brett... If you are just joining our broadcast today here's what's going on around the globe.

U.S President Whitington has been promising some sort of military action in response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, apparently by the regime.

Support for this President has vaporized quickly throughout the day and has left him isolated on his stand, the American people have spoken loudly against any new military action and the U.S. Congress just defeated the measure in both houses by a resounding majority. The President seems undeterred and has released several letters to the press reminding them he can still strike without the approval of Congress.

Russian, Iran, North Korea and many large terrorist organizations have become emboldened by this apparent lack of leadership from the U.S... Russia has been adding warships by the dozens onto the waterways surrounding the Syrian theater, in some cases even moving, right along side ships from the U.S 5th fleet.

Iran is sending troops and equipment into Syria as we speak while extremist forces from Iran, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda are moving men and equipment ever closer to Israel and threatening to destroy the country if the U.S. Strikes Syria.

On another front North Korea has been moving mobile missile launchers provocatively towards the South.

China, today issued an official statement calling for the U.S to stand down and move it's war ships from the region.

America's allies refuse to become involved and some have even publicly stated that the U.S. has become too weak under the current administration, and they are not moved to support her this time... We'll be back after a short break.

With that, Allen reached up and turned the radio off. The once greatest nation in the history of the world had over played her hand and was beginning to fade, “without true leadership, the prosperity of our nation was doomed” Allen thought to himself out loud.

Thinking of the possibilities and how fast things might begin to move, Allen pressed the pedal down a little farther and unleashed the horses behind his Chevy 6.0 liter.

Reaching up and pressing the On-Star telephone button Allen called Sam at the farm and instructed her to pull the inventory sheets they had made for their well stocked supplies. Then told her to hook the small livestock trailer to her truck and head into to Ripley, he gave only one short instruction... Double and triple everything on the manifest you can.

With that he hung up and took the exit leading to Sam's parents house.

Lots needed to be done and time seemed to be growing very short...
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Chapter 3

It took Allen about 20 minutes to get from the Interstate exit to the area Sam's parent's house was located. Turning off the main road, up the hill into their quiet subdivision, Allen's mind was still trying to sort out the events playing out around the world.

The one thing that kept playing over in his mind was the underlying threats of war that the MSM kept hinting on. In his mind, he couldn't see that scenario playing out very clearly, even if the entire world attacked the United States, there would be hell to pay for all those involved. The U.S., though weakened, was still not a force to find yourself tangled up with, after all we still had enough nuclear weapons to destroy the earth ten times over, and you could easily bet that we would never go down without taking our enemies with us.

Although all the players were in place, Allen just couldn't bring himself to believe that's how it was going to go down. As he was shaking the thoughts off, he decided that he would check The Tree of Liberty and Timebomb 2000 as soon as he had the chance, just to see what everyone else was thinking.

Seeing his in-law's driveway up ahead on the right, he turned into a neighbor's wide parking area to begin the task of turning his truck and fifth wheel livestock trailer around. Once he had the rig headed the right direction, he began carefully backing up the narrow road to the point where he would have to drop over and down Sam's parent's driveway.

In his mirror he could now see Abe, which was Sam's father, standing there to guide him down the drive toward the house. Abe was a formidable man, in his late 60's, he didn't have an ounce of extra body fat to spare, with his stout body from years of hard work and his flat top hair cut, he was a force to be reckoned with at times.

After carefully guiding the farm combo into a good loading spot, Abe walked up to greet Allen as he exited the truck.

“Good to see you son” Abe said in a relaxed voice, “Sorry to call on you with such short notice” He added. “Never a problem, Dad” Allen responded, “Besides, I had to see what you looked like when you were in panic” Allen continued in a joking manner. “Panic!... Nope just a little concerned is all” countered Abe.

Now that the two men were finished with their greetings, they shook hands and walked toward the house to figure the best method of getting this job done as quickly as possible.

Walking up the steps, across the deck and into the kitchen, Allen stopped and watched as the overhead light came on, went back off and a few seconds later came back on with no one standing near the switch. Just as he was about to turn to Abe and ask about it, Sam's mother Olivia walked into the room and calmly said “The power has gone on and off like that a few times today, it's nothing to be concerned about”.

With that said, she walked across the small room and gave Allen a big hug. Allen loved his in laws, they were both wonderful people and had both been there every time He and Sam had a need.

Allen often thought that Olivia was hand picked by God to be a warrior for Him here on earth. A devout Christian woman, she was always soft spoken and willing to lend a hand to anyone in need.

Interrupting the moment of reflection, Abe firmly said “Let's get started boy, daylight's a burning”. And with that, they got to work loading the trailer.

Five and a half hours later with some good help from the neighbors, both Allen's and Abe's trucks were loaded, along with the 26' stock trailer and Olivia's car. The power had only flickered a few more times that day, in fact, so little that it was barely noticed.

With the vehicles loaded and pointed out of the driveway, Abe and Olivia said their goodbyes to the wonderful neighbors they had lived near for the last ten years and prepared to head to the farm.

Before leaving Allen gave both Abe and Olivia a small hand held shortwave radio, already set to the frequency in his truck so they could communicate along the way if some need arose.

Before starting the truck, Allen pulled his 1911 from the console and pulled the slide slightly back, seeing the gleam of brass in the chamber he smiled and laid his trusty peace keeper on the seat beside him.

Putting the truck in gear he eased down on the accelerator and headed for home.

A couple hours away, Sam and the girls were busy filling a truck and trailer with goods and supplies. Sam wasn't really sure why Allen had sent her off to do this job so quickly, without discussion, but she had also learned to trust his instincts over the years.

At almost the last second, Sam had a thought, She decided to go to their local bank and pull some hard cash out of savings, just in case things took a wrong turn over the next few days.

Walking into the bank she was immediately greeted by most of the bank staff. Claire and Janie had been coming with their mother over the past year and selling eggs, cheeses and homemade crafts to the bank staff on every visit, so they were always happy to see the family.

Sam walked over to the head teller, a woman in her mid 40's that attended church with the Reeds every Sunday and asked if she could pull some cash from her savings. The teller asked how much and Sam replied “$10,000, if that's possible”.

The teller had to leave and ask the bank manager, but shortly returned and escorted Sam to a private room, where the transaction could take place without prying eyes. The teller confided in Sam and told her that the bank had received large amounts of cash over the past few days and had relaxed the limits of daily withdraw. She also told Sam she may want to consider taking a little more, since she wasn't sure what was going on, and she didn't know how long it would last.

Sam left Ripley with a full trailer of supplies and $17,000 in a bag under the seat.

Reaching under her jacket, she felt immediately safe as her hand rubbed the Taurus PT-145 she always carried in a concealed holster.

Leaving town and heading back to the farm took a little longer than usual. The traffic lights were out at every intersection and people were having to stop and take turns going through. Sam didn't think about the lights being out, she just carefully made her way through town and out into the rural landscape for the drive home.

Driving from separate directions Sam and Allen were headed towards home with some of the people they loved most on this planet.

The future was headed toward them at light speed and some rough times were coming.
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Chapter 4​

Once out of Ripley, Sam and the girls made fairly good time on their trip back to the farm. Driving the secondary roads in West Virginia, the only thing you really had to fear was the occasional white tail deer jumping out into traffic and totaling your truck, luckily the deer all seemed to be tucked back in the woods this afternoon.

Turning off route 21, Sam began an 11 mile journey across a strip of blacktop so narrow, vehicles had to get off either side to pass, but she had made the trip so many times in the past, that she expertly handled the truck and trailer through the sharp curves and steep hills.

On her way in she recognized a familiar face standing by a propane delivery truck filling a 600 gallon tank in a customer's yard, she stopped her truck in the road and waved the man over. Jim walked up and smiled at the Reeds and asked Sam what she needed.

Sam asked Jim if he would have time to stop and top off the propane tanks at the farm, In his head he pictured the two, twin, buried 1000 gallon tanks and quickly glanced back at his truck. “How much do you think you'll need Sam”? he asked, Sam explained that one tank was full and the other had been topped off just about a month ago. Jim agreed to stop by and fill the partially used tank later in the day if he still had propane at the end of his route, Sam thanked him and continued toward the farm with the trailer load of supplies in tow.



Working his way toward the farm from the opposite direction, Allen had already exited the Interstate and was coming into Winfield. Stopping at the only red light in town, Allen waited for it to turn green.

While he was waiting he raised Abe on the two way and asked how he was doing on fuel. “I've got about half a tank, Son”, Abe's voice returned through the radio.

“Ok, then we'll stop and top off all the tanks up at the BP station”, Allen replied. The light turned green and Allen turned right onto the highway, less than a mile up the road he turned into the BP mini-mart and pulled up to the pumps.

Abe and Olivia pulled their vehicles up on the other side of the same row of pumps.




As soon as Allen exited the truck he heard the shouts and screams coming from the other side of his truck, he couldn't see what the fuss was all about because his trailer was blocking his view.

Being unsure of what was going on, he reached in the truck, grabbed his pistol and stuck it back in the holster at the small of his back.

Walking around the truck he saw a young man and a young girl having a rather animated conversation with a Putnam County Deputy Sheriff, The young man was tossing his arms in every direction and the young girl was shouting at the top of her lungs. The Deputy however was standing there looking at them calmly and seemed uninterested in their extreme antics.

The young couple evidently realized that the Deputy wasn't changing his mind and the young girl loudly told the Deputy where he could go and spend eternity while walking back to their car.

As the young man was squealing his tires and quickly exiting the gas station parking lot, Allen walked to where the Deputy was still standing.

As Allen approached, the Deputy threw up his hand as if to say stop. Allen stopped where he was and politely asked what the problem was. The man in uniform told Allen if he didn't have cash, he couldn't enter the store.

With a puzzled look on his face Allen asked “Cash, as in paper money only”? The officer simply said “Yep, that's what I mean”. As the conversation went back and forth over the next few minutes Allen learned that many of the credit card machines were down in various parts of the county, and in certain areas people were becoming angry when they couldn't get gas with their credit cards, and in the poorer areas people were getting downright belligerent when they found out their government issued EBT cards wouldn't work for any purchases.

Abe and Olivia stood back and watched the exchange until Allen pulled out his wallet and showed the Deputy cash money and three were allowed to enter the store.

Giving the cashier $300 in cash to hold, Allen went out and filled all three vehicles, he returned to the store and grabbed a few sodas for the traveling trio, got his change and they quickly got back on the road to the farm.



Sam hadn't been home 15 minutes when she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle on the tiny gravel road the farm was located on.

She was relieved when she saw Jim turning the big propane truck into their driveway. Jim backed the truck up to the hidden fill valves on the partially empty tank, but before hooking up he walked over the Sam and told her that he had received a radio message instructing him to collect cash for every delivery.

Sam said “Jim, we've always been good customers and we always pay our bill before it's due, I don't understand”, Jim apologized but told her he didn't have a choice, the owner of the company had radioed out the message himself.

Sam told him to go ahead and fill the tank and she would pay in cash. Once the transaction was complete and the tanks were full, Jim collected the money, apologized once more and drove away. Sam and the girls immediately went to work getting the supplies off the trailer and into the basement of the house.



Forty-five minutes later Allen turned his truck off the blacktop and onto the narrow gravel road for the remaining 9 miles of his trip home.

Coming around a steep curve, he slammed the brakes on hard enough to kick in the anti-lock braking system, narrowly avoiding a collision with a large propane truck.

Trying to maneuver the truck and trailer and wave to his old friend Jim was just about more than he could handle, passing safely without swapping paint was all Allen concentrated on, once he was past the danger, his breathing came short and shallow for the next few minutes.

Without any more incidents he finally arrived at the farm, he drove past his in-laws driveway and instead turned up his own, reaching the top he turned the trailer around and backed it safely into the barn for the night.

Just as he reached up to turn the lights off, they went off on their own. Standing in the dimly lit barn for a minute and a half he listened quietly and then smiled as the diesel generator turned over and fired up, slowly bringing all the lights back on line.

He flipped the barn lights off and slid both doors shut. Walking toward the house, he began to wonder about the events of the day. Power seemed to be going off in a wide spread area and to top it off the credit card machines weren't working in certain places.

He wasn't sure he was right about what he was thinking as he strode up to Sam and embraced her in his arms. He might not be right he thought to himself, but he was certain something very wrong was going on.

He and Sam walked hand in hand up the path to her parents home on the farm. When they arrived, Allen quickly spilled the beans on what he was thinking, the others all seemed a little shocked, but couldn't come up with any reason he might be wrong either.



Storm clouds were beginning to gather as the four adults stood silently on the deck, all contemplating what was to come if Allen was right.
 
CGTech

CGTech

Has No Life - Lives on TB
very well done! I suspect that the gas station scene is one that would be seen in our reality very easily!
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Sorry folks, no new chapters this week-end, just too many farm chores to get done as winter seems to come faster on the farm. I'll get at least one up tomorrow evening... Thanks for all the kind words.
 
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