Mountaineer Sunset - Fiction

Dosadi

Dosadi

Brown Coat
I read up to this point and can't wait for MOAR. LOL


I have people strung up from Oak Hill over towards Ripley. Know the area, but more from a kids memory than adult. Have one very close cousin and his family up there on 400 acres. I will try to weather storms here as I"m set up about as well as I can manage, but he is one of my hard times bolt holes.

Thanks for adding more, and at a good time.

Dosadi
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Chapter 8

Something was eerily familiar about this morning Sam thought to herself as she finished her morning prayers and slowly settled into the porch swing on the back porch. Daylight was slowly creeping in as Sam quietly reflected on the events that had unfolded, Had it been 5 years? Was that even possible she thought? She was struggling to figure out whether it felt like it happened all too fast or whether it seemed as if it had taken a lifetime to get where they were now. One thing for sure, life had changed dramatically and it was never going back to the way it had been.

Then she remembered why it was so familiar, it had been 5 years! She had been sitting right here in the early morning twilight, when Frank had alerted to possible trouble. The memories of that morning flew back as if they were yesterday. She had backed into the house and woken Allen to warn him of the situation, he had eased out of the front door creeping around the house to confront trouble but instead he found their oldest daughter Lauren and her daughter Faith walking up from the locked gate at the end of the driveway. What had been perceived as a threat had actually been an unknown blessing. Later that same day their youngest son Mike also rode in on his motor cycle. For the most part their immediate family had gathered together to face the storm. No other family members ever made it back to the farm, only two had ever been heard from again, but Sam and Allen always held out hope.

Life in America and around the globe had taken a step back at least 100 years, war had raged on for almost 5 years, losing more and more strength as it went, until all that was left were small groups and factions that kept it from finding peace. What started out as a full scale attack on the United States, had ended up becoming World War 3 instead. First came the hackers from China, Russia and Iran, they had been exploiting our Internet based infrastructure for years and had already placed many back doors into our systems. Our computer operators and Cyber Security Companies fought and won many battles in the first few days, every time the hackers shut off a power plant or water treatment facility our experts would block them and bring it right back online, then the enemies added layers and started successfully wiping out bank and stock market data, Americans that were worth millions one minute found themselves completely broke the next. There was no way to fix it, they overwrote the data with useless information and filled hard drives to the brim, in essence there was nothing left to recover, next were the media outlets and communication systems they wiped everything out except the highest military and government channels, which were super hardened against attack. Americans found themselves in the dark as far as information went and shortly there after they controlled our Internet connections and encrypted them so no one could connect, this ensured the fight was won, the power plants went down, the water treatment facilities went offline, trucking, navigation and everything else American foolishly put online to make life easier died in less than a week.

Allen was able to get information from the shortwave here and there and it wasn’t just us, the entire western world had been shut down. Trillions of dollars in wealth were evaporated and were never coming back. Oil and other energy production came to a screeching halt. Farming, airlines, and all forms of transportation were destroyed on the large scale. The next step planned was to exploit our military and destroy the U.S. Government permanently. While President Whittington was evacuating on Air Force One a terrorist, sleeper cell near Washington D.C. was successful in shooting his plane down, killing everyone aboard, including the Vice President who boarded at the last second. This left the Speaker of the House in charge and he was a very conservative, retired, military man who was pissed, even though he isn’t still with us, no one will ever forget George Willard (President 45). Members of Congress and their families were tortured and murdered all across the U.S. by terrorist and foreign military cells, by the time the dust settled there were less than 50% of our elected federal officials still alive and most of them were too scared to come out of hiding.

Our military was making plans to take the world out with us as the enemy started the next phase. Our Navy was the first group targeted and our ships came under constant attack from missiles and bombs, 2 entire navy fleet commands and all their ships were entirely wiped out when they finally ran out of defensive munitions, they were sitting ducks and ended up on the bottom of the big pond. Feeling like they were winning China and Russia started feeling suspicious of each other, it didn’t take long before they started fighting each other and that's probably the only reason the U.S. wasn’t wiped out. China and Russia did manage to fire nuclear weapons at the U.S. mainland, but out of the 60 missiles launched only two made it in and detonated successfully. The technology and power of our missile defense shield was far greater than anyone expected and it automatically fought day and night. Had we not invested so heavily in this secret defense project everything CONUS would have been wiped out permanently. Once the enemy opened the canned sunshine and destroyed Mountain Home AFB in Idaho and Washing D.C. our nuclear subs unloaded from close range on the shores of both Russia and China, the fast launches from close range negated any defense by either nation and when it was said and done 31 Russian Cities and Military installations and 26 Chinese Cities and Military Installations were forever erased. Our remaining naval fleets, though battered and wounded opened fire on all the enemies of the United States, the new President gave two orders, #1 Attack at will and #2 Show no Mercy! Air Force assets from all over Europe joined in quickly and there will never be a threat from the Middle East, Africa or North Korea again, tired and nearly out of energy we spent what ammo and fuel we had left and made sure Russia and China would have no ships left floating on the ocean. Years of frustration and restraint were unleashed and our forces rained hell down on the earth. Out of ammo, out of targets and low on supplies our Military began withdrawing our troops home from every location on the planet and headed home.

Trouble was far from over though, the internal struggles and wars were just getting started in the U.S., the next 5 years were going to rip a nation apart from the inside… The members of the family on a ridge in West Virginia would not be left untouched by these events.


The Sun Set had occurred and now the fight moved into the dark.

Continued....
 
Griz3752

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
OK, you slipped this one by us but now you've chosen to resurrect the tale AND finished up today with 'Continued....'

Hmmm....sounds like an implied contract as in YOU will write & post more AND we will faithfully continue to read and respond accordingly.

I'm sure I can speak for the rest of the TB2K herd when I say we'll happily keep up our end.

Thanks for this so far.

Take care & stay well (so you can write more)

G.
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Chapter 9

The first days of the war could have almost gone unnoticed by the average American, Other than the lights flickering now and then, everything appeared normal. However Allen was still highly suspicious, something felt wrong and that usually meant something was wrong.

After getting his oldest child squared away and getting all of her and Faith’s belongings moved into the extra bedrooms, Allen slipped away to go find Abe. After a short search he found Sam’s dad in the workshop piddling with a chainsaw. “Morning Abe” said Allen as he approached, to which Abe simply replied “Morning”, without looking up from his chore. “Whatcha working on there dad”? Asked Allen, “Just tuning up the saws and getting them cleaned and sharpened” replied Abe as he set down his tools and turned to face Allen. The minute he saw Allen’s face he knew there was more to this conversation than just casual morning talk, he noticed the deep thought lines and the way Allen’s eyes were moving around but not stopping to focus on anything.

Seeing Allen like this reminded Abe that the man in front of him wasn’t always just a mild mannered farmer in the middle of nowhere, Allen had pulled 4 combat tours throughout his Army career. Abe sometimes struggled to remember everything Allen had done in that career, but he knew he had a Ranger tab, was an air assault warrior that had also been an armored tank crewman at some point, worked intel and had even pulled a stint on the Drill Sergeant trail in South Carolina as well as a few other things.


Abe could remember the ribbons and medals that decorated his son-in laws dress uniform, the few rare times he had seen him dressed for an event. He had heard stories and seen file after file of written commendation letters, but Allen talked very little of the things he had seen and done and no one ever pushed for more. The 3 oldest of Sam and Allen’s children had all served and all seen at least one combat tour, at one point in time Allen was actually in a unit with his oldest daughter Lauren and his oldest son Jack, they served together for over a year before they all transferred other directions. The youngest son Mike was a satellite and communications specialist in the Air Force or as Allen often teased, the Chair Force.

Abe’s deep thought was canceled when Allen said “Abe, things are bad and we need to find out how bad, but I think this is an end of the world type event and no one seems to be talking”. The older of the two men asked “How do you plan to go about finding answers”? “Well not on the news stations, even if they were still talking they’d probably still be lying” Replied Allen. He then went on to explain how the radio was playing music last night when the lights came back on, but now they were broadcasting nothing, not even static where stations should be. Abe listened and felt his heart rate increasing slightly, he didn’t know what all of this meant, but he trusted Allen without question, so if he said something was wrong, then something was wrong.

Abe suggested they fire up the shortwave radios in each house and monitor all the usual stations and check in with the contacts they had made over the years to see if anything would shake loose. Allen quickly agreed and they separated and headed in the direction of their own houses to get started. Both men expected to find some information here and there and later they could get together and piece together the information to form a better opinion. Neither man had a clue how much the world had changed while they slept. but they were about to be thrust into reality with no warning. Just as Allen entered his house the lights went out and the fans fell silent once again. He smiled at Sam as they made eye contact in passing, she felt complete when Allen was around. Allen fired up the radio and put on the headset, almost immediately his eyes grew wide and his breath paused…
 
BeeMan

BeeMan

Just buzzin along
I had thought this wonderful story had fallen into that group of stories that were never to be finished.
Great to see you’ve picked it up again.
Thank you, great story.
 
Texican

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
WVS,

Great story. It is good that you started writing again for it pleases your readers.

Thank you.

Texican....
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
A little pause here while we prepare the Homestead for a possible hurricane... We are 30 minutes into North Carolina from the South Carolina line... about 4 minutes inland from the coast... Just getting everything put up and stored, picking through the gardens and making sure the fuel and preps are in order... Should be back to a regular schedule tomorrow evening.
 
Griz3752

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
wvstuck said:
A little pause here while we prepare the Homestead for a possible hurricane...
Click to expand...
Well good luck with all that.
May we assume the story is on a couple of usb sticks or in the cloud or....you know; backed up?

We'd all hate to see another gap in the timeline.
Try to stay dry.

G.
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Chapter 10:

Both Abe and Allen sat and listened for hours, they talked with others they knew from around the world and they learned the extent, or at least the opening extent of what was beginning to transpire around the globe. Once he felt he had heard enough, Allen went to find Abe, he found him in his outbuilding sitting quietly with his head in his hands, leaning on his elbows intently listening to the radio chatter though an old set of headphones. Allen reached up and switched the radio power to the off position, Abe looked up and solemnly nodded at Allen with a tired but knowing look. Allen looked into Abe’s eyes and said, “30 minutes there will be a family meeting in Sam’s kitchen, get cleaned up, find mom and head on down”, with that he turned and walked out of the shed.

Allen walked into his house and found the girls all in the kitchen sitting around talking with their mother about the recent events. Sam was stunning as usual as she calmly led the conversation and reminded everyone that we as a family were settled and prepared for the current events. Allen walked over and gave Sam a light kiss on her forehead and then announced to all present that there would be a family meeting in 30 minutes that everyone on the Farm was required to attend. All eyes fell on Allen and the questions came from everywhere, he simply held up his hand and let everyone know now wasn’t the time. Sam instructed the girls to get some hot dogs and buns out of the pantry freezer and she would grab some chili out of the kitchen fridge and whip up some coleslaw. Lauren went to grab the dogs and buns while Claire and Janie started grabbing condiments, chopping onions and getting some chips ready. Faith was given the task of getting Paper plates and cups from the pantry.

By the time Abe and Olivia showed up there wasn’t much to do but sit down and eat some good hot dogs with chili, slaw, mustard and onions as the toppings, Sam added ketchup to hers and caught a contorted look from Allen, she chuckled lightly because this argument had no expiration date. With Prayers said everyone dug in and talked lightly about the world and the farm.

With the meal out of the way, everyone gathered around the big farm table as was the custom in this and most other southern households. Allen started laying out the information he had gathered on the shortwave this morning. Sam squeezed his had a little more with each passing moment. “Guys, it’s very serious, possibly even a little worse than I thought and we are going to have to get this farm prepared for the worst”! Said Allen. Faith was now hugging her mom tightly, Clair and Janie were nearly sitting in each other’s laps while Abe and Olivia sat silently across the table.

Allen continued and started giving details of the things he had learned while Abe filled in some other spots here and there. He explained the hackers and how they had started taking control of utility companies around the country and how the banks were locked out of their own systems. Rumors going around the shortwave communities were saying that the President and Vice President had both been killed while taking off on Air Force 1, rumors were also bouncing around stating that both Chinese and Russian Navy assets were all leaving port and headed out to the big water. Allen looked into every eye in the room and said “if the rumors are true, we are about to go to war! China and Russia seem to be looking for a fight, and with the news stations being hacked and unable to broadcast, there is a good chance we won’t get any warning until the mushrooms start growing on the horizon”! Enough was enough and Sam looked into her husbands eye and asked the question on everyone’s mind, “What did you just say”? Sam continued, “Are we all going to die on this ridge or do you have one of those magic plans worked out”? The room was silent, it felt like time stopped and all eyes were on Allen. He looked at each person, some had wetness in their eyes, some had pupils and no whites, but all were trained on him. Allen broke the silence, startling Sam just a little, “I have a plan worked out but we need to move, no more questions, no more talk for now, lets just get the task at hand done”.

With that he pushed his chair back and gave everyone a direction to head. Claire was instructed to get the tractor, hitch up a trailer and head to her grandparents house, Lauren, Faith, Abe and Olivia were to start loading everything important from Olivia and Abe’s house onto the trailer, all food, guns, ammo, personal clothing, toiletries, medications, bibles and anything really personal to them. Once the trailer was loaded Claire was to bring the tractor to the basement doors to be unloaded. Abe and Olivia really didn’t understand how living in the Reed’s family room was going to make anything better, but Allen looked serious and no one wanted to ask questions. After every left Sam was instructed to open the shelter and start getting it ready for occupancy, turn on the propane lines, open the water lines, switch to solar and batteries and make sure bedding was placed on each bed. Janie was instructed to carefully gather every gun in the Reed household and bring it to the shelter, then start bringing ammo to the shelter. Allen assigned himself the task of switching off the propane to both households, killing the electric mains, and closing the steel shutters on every window and door on both households. He also went and closed the main gates to every access on the property, not just the farm gates but also the heavy drill steel pipe gates and securing them with American locks in the recesses.

Later after everyone returned and learned the secret of the shelter, the livestock would have to be secured for the coming storm, as Allen watched the family quickly loading the trailer at the second home, he finished his chores and went to check on Sam. Storm clouds were forming and the wind was starting to pick up. He knew that he had more to tell the family, he had held back and hadn’t yet let them know how close this actually was to their door, once settled he would let them in on the rest of the information. For now he had to get them secured and ready to face what was coming.
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Chapter 11:

When Sam came out of the shelter she left the vault door open but closed the bookcase, concealing the opening, when she rounded the corner and saw Allen standing by the big french doors on the far end of the family room, he was staring out the windows overlooking the farm and she could tell he was very deep in thought. Sam spent a few minutes just quietly watching him, he was strong, in shape and at least in Sam’s eyes she believed he could take on an entire Army by himself to protect her and the children and win every battle. They had been together so long she couldn’t really remember life without him, the 4 times he went off to war and came home keyed up, nearly broken and exhausted she had nursed him back to the man she married. Sam never failed to listen without judgment when he would blurt out some piece of a battlefield story that was haunting him, yet she never pushed for more even though she felt she needed to know it all. She would hold him through the long night, shower with him and remind him in every way how much he was appreciated. Allen would always come back around, his love for her was stronger than any flashback or memory his mind could conjure up. Allen loved Sam with every breath he drew, he wanted her spoiled, and fulfilled. He made sure every need was met and worked hard to make sure every expectation was attended to, there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her.

Hearing the tractor crawling it’s way towards their house Sam decided she better break his trance before everyone showed up, she walked up behind him and slowly wrapped her arms around his waist tightly, laying her head against his back she whispered “Where ya been Cowboy”? Allen smiled and held her hands in his and sighed, “just trying to figure it all out Sam”, was his response. “Well you better put that on hold for a little while, I hear the family headed this way with a load of stuff to bring in” said Sam, with that said, she lightly kissed his shoulder and pulled away. Allen opened up the outside doors and motioned where he wanted Claire to park the tractor. Abe walked around the corner and said “There isn’t a whole lot, and we got everything you said to bring”. Without further delay the entire family started moving things inside, Allen instructed them to move it all to the other end, down by the big bookcases. In no time at all everything was sitting in sorted piles on the Family room floor. Olivia spoke up next and said, “There is quite a bit of frozen and refrigerated food in those bags and boxes”, as she pointed to the largest stack. “I don’t mean to rush anyone but we need to find somewhere in the freezers to put it before it starts to thaw”. Allen simply replied that he knew exactly where it was going but he needed another short family meeting first.



As Allen looked around the room he realized for the second time today all eyes were on him, the room was quiet, but not nearly as intense as the earlier meeting. Sam, Claire and Janie all were concealing slight smiles knowing what was coming, Lauren, Faith, Olivia and Abe looked a little nervous and confused as they noticed the little smiles on the others. “Might as well just spit it out” said Allen. He cleared his throat and began speaking, “As everyone knows the world is turning upside down right now, everyone in worried about the future and even more so concerned about staying safe from the threats we are facing”. He paused and then continued, “Sam and I always believed this day would come, and we wanted to make sure those that came here would be safe from about everything thrown at us, except maybe a direct hit from a big nuke, but then again no one should be targeting hay fields and small cow farms in the hills of West Virginia”. Everyone chuckled a nervous laugh at that but Allen continued. “Everyone here knows we put up extra food, extra ammo, extra of lots of things, what I’m about to show you though is a secret only a select few know about ”. With that Allen walked across the room, unlatched the bookcase and swung it open, the vault door was already open but it was clearly viable to all who looked on. It seemed like hours had passed before anyone spoke or moved even though it was only a few moments. Abe was the first to break the silence with a simple “WOW”! Followed by Lauren who stuttered and said “Is that what I think it is”? Sam hugged her oldest and said “I’m not sure what you are thinking exactly, but it probably is just what you are thinking”. Faith looked absolutely confused and just stood there looking back and forth between Sam and the open door. Sam grabbed her little hand and disappeared into the shelter, everyone else started making there way inside one by one. Janie and Claire were hardly ever allowed into the shelter and were excited to get back in and really study everything. Abe and Olivia were now smiling and feeling better about the recent events which were occurring.





Once everyone had a chance to really explore the shelter Allen called them all into the living room area where everyone took a seat. Allen explained how the shelter came to be, how it was powered, how the systems worked and how well it would protect them in the event they needed to lock down inside. He explained that for now the door would stay open and everyone could come and go as they pleased while he continued to monitor the situation on the radios. The women all left to go start something for dinner while Abe and Allen moved Abe and Olivia’s belongings into the shelter.

Over dinner Allen told the group there would be plenty of chores tomorrow to get the farm locked down completely, everyone should get a good nights sleep and be ready at first light to get things done. Sam’s parents decided to sleep in the shelter and took one of the small bunk rooms, Faith, Claire and Janie all decided to sleep in the big bunk room, Lauren retired to her regular bedroom and Sam and Allen headed to theirs. Sam fell asleep almost instantly while Allen brushed the hair from her face with a single, gentle finger. Allen watched her sleep for quite a while as he sorted thoughts in his head. He hated that he was thinking like a solider again, but on the same hand he knew his knowledge and skills would keep this family alive during the worst of times, as he drifted off to sleep he felt guilty that he still hadn’t disclosed everything he knew, he needed to find time to let everyone know that danger was close and they all had to keep their eyes and ears open for any signs of trouble. He fell asleep without knowing it happened, he drifted away from thought and into a deep sleep.
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Chapter 12:

Allen’s eyes opened instinctively just before 4:30 am, he glanced at the clock and quietly rolled out of bed so as to not wake Sam. He quickly dressed, and slipped out of the bedroom silently shutting the door behind himself. He moved into the kitchen to start some coffee but was startled when he turned the corner and found Abe already starting the brew in the old percolator.”Morning” Allen said as he walked in the room, “What has you up so early dad”? Abe answered “I thought I’d see what I could find on the radio this morning before the chores start, plus I couldn’t sleep last night and decided to just go ahead and get up” Abe waited for the coffee to finish and headed off to the radio room to see what he could find.

Slowly the family started to appear in the kitchen one by one, coffee was poured, breakfast was made and dishes were washed and put away. Everyone wandered off to get dressed for the morning chores and to finish the locking down of the farm.

Allen handed out assignments to everyone and they each set out to get the details completed. Sam and Lauren went off to make sure all of the round bales of hay were organized, secured and covered tightly. Using the old Ford tractor Sam skillfully rearranged, stacked and tightened up the bales into an organized set of rows. Once completed her and Lauren covered the hay with extra large tarps and set T-posts around the perimeter to securely attach the tarps.

Janie and her grandmother Olivia were given the task of moving all of the chickens and turkeys out of their normal coops and into the large concrete barn. Built to look like a regular cattle barn Allen and Sam had designed the concrete barn as the most affordable solution they could find for a secure barn that would offer some protection from radiation if ever needed. The walls were constructed of 12 in concrete block filled with concrete top to bottom, once the walls were set they hired a crew to set the forms lay in the rebar rods and reinforcing wire so the ceiling could be poured in 12 inch thick 5000 psi concrete. On top of that walls were framed and a roof covered with metal sheeting. The hay loft was not secure but it didn’t protect anything other than square bales of hay. Once it was all completed they piled dirt along all of the outside walls from the roof down, sloping as it went up. With the concrete and earthen berms, the barn should survive just about any natural or man made disaster.

Meanwhile Allen took Faith with him to secure the horses and cows. Faith was bouncing in her steps on the way to the smaller horse barn and fidgeting in a way that Allen recognized as a question stuck in fear mode, in other words, something was on her mind and she didn’t want to ask, and Allen knew what it was. He just grinned to himself as they walked. When they entered the horse barn heads started popping out of stalls and the light grumblings from the equine units started. Allen turned to Faith and squatted down, “Hey, I have an idea if you think you could help me” Allen said to her… “Whatcha thinking peepaw Faith answered back”. “Well I was thinking… While I was moving horses to the secure barn, just maybe you could saddle up Smokey and go start running two cows toward the barn”? With that Faith’s eyes lit up and she was already heading to the tack room to grab her favorite saddle and blanket.


She was small but she was skilled. Allen watched her pull Smokey from his stall, slip a bit in his mouth, flip the bridle over his ears and fasten the strap under his jaw like it was second nature, then she dropped the reins on the ground letting him be ground tied. Without hesitation she moved her horse steps up beside Smokey and climbed the steps to reach his back, at 16.5 hands Smokey was a large quarter horse with a wide back, she laid the blanket out, went down the steps and returned, saddle in hand, climbed up, tossed the saddle over and climbed back down, she reached under, grabbed the nylon end of the neoprene girth and quickly wrapped it through the saddle ring, she climbed the steps and pulled the strap down hard and quick from the ring while giving a quick knee to the ribs causing Smokey to let out the air he was holding, she tied off the girth, threw a leg over and was seated on her favorite mount ready to head out.

Allen turned and opened the door to the pasture and barely got out of the way before the cloud of dust passed and the sound of thunder passed his ears, he took off his hat and rubbed his head, wondering if she knew anything other than full throttle take offs.

He went back in the barn and started putting halters on the other 3 horses and attaching lead ropes so he could lead the gang of geldings over to the big barn. He didn’t worry about his grand daughter for a second, she’d been riding since before she could remember, for the last couple of years she had been competing in barrel racing and actually had several first place finishes this year. The girl could ride about as well as anyone on the farm. He led the horses over to the big barn and barely had them secured in one of the big shared stalls when he heard the kissing and urging of Faith pushing cattle toward the barn, he shut the stall and opened the other big stall on the other side so when she pushed them in the barn he could guide them in the stall. Once the cows were secure Allen told Faith she could ride for a while if she wanted while he tended to other chores.

Exiting the barn and crossing the yard he ran into an excited Claire, “Dad, my friends are on 4 wheelers at the gate and can’t get in”. Faith was just about to ride by and Allen whistled loudly and motioned her over, he gave her the keys in his pocket and told her to ride down and open the gates so Claire's friends could ride up. Like a lightning bolt she was gone again. “Do I have anymore chores Dad, or can I grab my 4 wheeler and ride with my friends”? “Nope I’m about finished up, have fun, but take a radio with you and stay close, we don’t know if we’ll have to lock down quickly or not and I’m not wanting to come find you”. Said Allen. Claire jumped up and kissed her dad on the cheek saying thanks as she was already turning and running for the shed that held the two 4 wheelers. In mere minutes the group of teens were gone. Allen looked around and except for the goats everything was put up and as ready as it could be for what may come.

Sam, Janie and Lauren were relaxing on the porch sipping on some sweet tea watching Faith dart around the farm on her horse, Abe and Olivia were at their house making sure they didn’t forget anything and Allen was headed to the porch to rest and visit when he heard the vehicle start up the driveway. Looking quickly with all suspicion he was quickly relieved to see their neighbor’s truck climbing the grade. Jim Thompson jumped out, waved at the ladies and headed straight for Allen. “We’re headed out neighbor”. “what do you mean out”? Questioned Allen. Jim replied “Headed to Maine to stay with family, we feel trouble is headed in and we were invited to stay there and decided that was a better plan”. Allen didn’t know what to say, he wasn’t sure it was a good idea but it wasn’t his choice so he just smiled and nodded “Anyway, we are leaving tonight and we wanted to give you and Sam our Dexter cattle and the keys to the new Tractor I bought this spring, we have signed the deed to the farm and property over to you and Sam in case we don’t come back”. Said Jim in a very serious tone. “Of course if we come back, I trust you’ll tear it up and hand the keys back”? Allen responded “Of course we would, be safe on your trip and if possible check in from time to time”. With that Jim handed over the keys and an envelope, got in his truck and drove off. Sam had wandered over and heard the last parts, she and Allen discussed it back and forth and made plans to get the 1 Dexter Bull and 4 Cows moved tomorrow morning.

Everyone was tired after dinner and turned in for the night. Claire was in her room talking with her friends on the radio and making plans that her parents might kill her for. Claire and her friends had discussed some rumors a few of them heard and they were making plans to be a part of the solution. Claire was a good kid, but right now she was making dangerous plans while her friends tried to confirm the rumors. As the family slept, the world kept sliding a little further out of control and soon it was going to affect them all.
 
RememberGoliad

RememberGoliad

Veteran Member
Great read. Sure hope Claire includes the "old folks" in her planning. There might be support, advice, and knowledge come from there, if the kids have a good basis for doing something. At the same time, they might have knowledge that the older generation(s) might not have that would come in handy in their own approach to the situation.

Not telling you how to write your story LOL....just free-flowing my thoughts! Keep on keepin' on with what you're doing.
 
RememberGoliad

RememberGoliad

Veteran Member
wvstuck said:
Thank you... With everything going on in the world today I just can't seem to find the words to finish it, someday I will though.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean, WV. I've had Bo and Sandie's adventure rolling around in my mind for years, where to go from there, and every time I go to put fingers on a keyboard something else pops up that pulls me in a different direction and either makes my 'destination' for them either look silly or my tinfoil zaps me somewhere around the sweatband line.

But I'll still thank you for what you've given us so far!
 
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