Gunny came into the house where Ralph and Doug were going over their inventory. “Mayor just drove up, has the Chief of Police with him.”
Ralph walked toward the gate at the front of the Compound.
The Mayor parked by the front gate. Both the Mayor and the Chief stood at the gates. “You gonna let us in, Ralph.” The Mayor said.
“I don’t reckon I am.” Ralph said.
“What do you want?” asked Doug.
The Mayor continued looking at and talking to Ralph. “You know, I can order you to let me in.”
“Not really, this is not city property.”
“We are going to declare Eminent Domain and it will be.”
Ralph pulled out an official looking document and handed it to the Chief. “I thought you might try something like this so I have an injunction from the State Attorney General keeping you from Eminent Domain or Annexation until a full hearing has occurred.
The Chief looked it over. “Looks legit.”
The Mayor said “There are other methods to get our way.”
The Chief’s right hand traveled toward the Taurus .357 in his holster.
Gunny racked the shotgun making that well know Hollywood sound that strikes fear into people.
“I’ll be back; it’s only a matter of time.” The Mayor said as the Chief of Police slowly withdrew his hand.
“You do that.” Ralph said.
The Mayor and the Chief got in the car and slowly drove away.
“How did you think of getting an injunction?” Doug asked.
“I didn’t. It is a worthless piece of paper I printed off from a document I made up, but they don’t know that. With the communications down, I don’t figure they’ll be able to validate it one way or the other, at least not for a while.
Gunny said “I know that type of person, the Mayor won’t stop. You will have to watch your back.”
“I always do with him, no change there, but you are right, we need to start assigning security shifts around the clock. There was a rough looking crew that passed by yesterday. They were scoping us out and either decided we would offer too much resistance and moved on or they catalogued us for future reference.”
“How many were there?” Doug asked.
“There were about ten, maybe more if some held back. Ten were all I could see through the scope.”
“I’ll pull the shift tonight.” Gunny said. “We can organize rotations tomorrow.
So far twenty people agreed to live at the Compound and they were all here. Word was trouble was starting to find its way in town. Stores ran out of supplies so there was no food or water. People were starting to branch out to neighborhoods looking for or taking what they wanted after they were turned away from the city. Sheila told them her dad had ordered the Chief and four of his men to go door-to-door and confiscate people supplies. He gave them a paper receipt for what he took and said to come to the city where everything would be distributed equally. They took the worthless paper and when they went to the city warehouse where the supplies were supposed to be stored, it was virtually empty. There were rumors the Mayor stored most of the supplies somewhere else for his own use but no one dared voice those rumors. Martial Law was declared nationwide to be enforced by local law enforcement in the cities, sheriffs in the unincorporated counties, aided by National Guard and State Troopers. So far all they’d seen was the locals led by the Chief.
Sheila had greatly disappointed her dad, the Mayor by agreeing to live in the Compound and follow the rules but she’d told her dad she felt safer there.
The Compound “core four” was Ralph, Doug, Susan, and Gunny. They were the decision making body. Sheila moved in next, followed by Jeb Rodd, the veterinarian, and then Houston Ashcroft and Sean Buckler that owned the Canoe and Kayak store, then Tim McCall from the feed store.
After they’d settled in, Mike Michaels and his family along with Maureen and Dan Martinson and son Roscoe, daughter Trey and daughter Alicia.
Several people from town saw those people moving and found out where they were moving to. They followed them and were stopped at the gate. They’d asked to live in the Compound as well as it sure beat the arrangements that the Mayor was providing. Basically the in-city arrangement was you give me what you have, then you go back to your homes, you defend yourselves, and when you really need something, just try and come and get it. People already saw the writing on the wall, yet they had no choice. The town of Paradise was the only support they would get, no matter how limited.
Doug organized limited excursions going through town. They limited them not only because of the finite amount of fuel but because of the ever growing hostility of everyone outside the Compound. The last trip, in the Chevy pickup a couple of volunteers took to look around town almost didn’t make it back. They’d run into Mark, Mack and Zeke who were carrying their rifles. Mark stood in front of them in the middle of the road and told them to stop. They’d backed up quickly but not before Mark shot a round through the engine. They barely made it back to the Compound as the engine seized. They abandoned the Chevy a block from the Compound gate and ran inside just as the three stooges came driving up.
Chapter – Ralphs Welcome Speech
Weeks went by. More people requested to join the Compound but most were sent on their way with only a few accepted. The Compound contained 38 people currently. If necessary, it could hold more people, less comfortably but 38 managed ok. Ralph called a meeting for everyone and stood waiting at the Gazebo for the last few people to show up.
Ralph held both hands up palms facing outward. “Greetings everyone. This is our first group communication. You all agreed to the rules and you knew what you were signing up for by being part of the Compound. I’d like to remind everyone why we are here and why we are doing this. Since you are here, you must agree that it is safer here than in the general populace of the world. Even Paradise can’t withstand the ravages of a society in chaos. There are going to be many, many forces against us, overwhelming odds and for that we have planned. We have joined together as a community to take care of each other, to watch each other’s backs. We have to follow the rules as agreed upon however. Failure to follow the rules will most likely result in you being asked to leave the Compound. The rules are made for our ultimate safety and survival. No going outside the Compound alone. No fighting amongst ourselves, one of the core-four which is myself, Doug, Susan, and Gunny will remediate all disputes. No stealing or lying will be tolerated. You can do no harm explicitly or by omission of action that will harm anyone or anything in this Compound. The only way this works is if we all pitch-in with chores and tasks necessary to sustain us. We are only as strong as our weakest link.
We have a variety of skills here and I expect everyone here to not only do their core job but to learn one or more other jobs as well. We can share our skillsets where we all become more valuable Compound members. This is not a democracy, rather but an autocracy. This is absolutely necessary and by the fact that I organized and planned it, I own the land and paid for most of the supplies you all will be sharing I retain absolute authority. We will all share here, but we will all contribute and work here as well. Those that don’t contribute as well as they can, will get a warning. After multiple warnings they may be asked to leave.”
Ralph paused for a second to look at the faces in the audience, making sure there were no confusing looks or dissention.
“Relationships here are by mutual agreement. That means both parties agree they are in a relationship, then they are. If either party does not agree then they are free to do what they want to as long as it does not involve someone else’s relationship. I’ve seen communities wrecked because of petty jealousy and raging hormones. This WILL NOT happen here. If you don’t resolve any differences you have with each other the issue will be brought to me and my decision is binding. We will work hard here and if we have time, we will play hard. We will have training, entertainment as I’ve already talked to a number of you about teaching classes or playing music for us on the instruments you play. It might just be possible for us to ride out the chaos America is going through right now and will go through in the near future to not only survive but to emerge stronger. Please bring to my attention anything you think needs to be discussed. Everyone please stay for the Gunnies presentation on Security.
“We have freedom of religion here. You are free to believe whatever you want. What you cannot do is to impose your religion on anyone else. If they believe different or don’t want to hear about what you believe they have that right.
We have freedom of speech here but if what you say causes dissent or conflict, you may be asked to take your free speech outside these walls where I’m sure you will NOT have those same freedoms.
We do not recognize anyone’s authority here but our own. We are sovereign. Especially any authority from Paradise. I’m not sure about the rest of the United States but I suspect Paradise is not on their radar screen right now.” Ralph stepped down the three steps and Gunny replaced him at the top.
“Thank you all for coming today, not that you had a choice.” Gunny said with a slight smile.
“Today we are going to talk about Compound security, what it is, why you need it and the hard and fast rules. For example, NO ONE goes outside the Compound without an armed escort. Why, you might ask? Very simply, we have items in the Compound that people on the outside would want. They will resort to anything including but not limited to kidnapping, killing, and breaking in to get what they want. We have it, they don’t. We cannot allow another group to get leverage on us by taking one of us and holding them ransom say for all the food we have or medical supplies or whatever else they are looking for. If we allow that, then in a short amount of time, we will be them, we will be without the items we so carefully saved for our survival.
We will have to have shifts for security; we can’t all sleep at the same time. The shifts will not only patrol the Compound but will take turns in the tower.”
The tower was in the Center of the Compound. It was thirty feet in diameter at the base. The tower rose to fifty feet where it was five feet in diameter for the top platform. Cross shaped openings allowed maximum visibility and minimum exposure. Below the top platform was another platform with evenly spaced cross shaped openings. The cross shape allowed a weapon to be adjusted up or down, left or right, and was only 3 inches wide at any portion.
“We are fairly self-sufficient in the Compound, but there will be times we have to venture outside. You must camouflage yourself. At all times you must treat the outside as a hostile environment as if there are people waiting there for you to emerge. You will be at your weakest outside these walls. Look at the shapes of the things you are wearing or carrying. In nature there are no squares or straight lines. Break them up with strips of camo cloth in shades of brown and green. Cover your weapons with camo paint. Dull anything that shines or could reflect such as metal fasteners, buckles or chrome. Don’t wear jewelry as it could reflect light. If you wear eyeglasses, keep them hidden by a low-brimmed hat or take them off unless it is absolutely necessary. Keep in mind your backlight. Is the sun or moon behind you and where you are headed? A silhouette shows the outline of the human form and the equipment it is carrying. The shape of the head and shoulders of a person are unmistakable and a attract attention. If possible break up that silhouette with the use of vegetation like thick handfuls of grass tucked into your shoulder straps or added to your helmet. Do not wear colognes. Most people that have spent time outdoors get finely attuned to the surrounding smells. They will be able to detect body orders, cooking, scents from colognes or soaps with fragrances; they will be able to smell machine oils. Keep quiet. Boots can squeak. Cleaning kits or magazines can rattle in your ammo pouches. If you forget and leave your radio on someone can talk over it at a most inopportune time. Be mindful of unanticipated coughs or sneezes and talking. Sounds can carry for long distances, especially at night. Learn the hand signals to replace talking and if you have to talk, whisper. Double check each other for proper stowage of your gear, slings and other noisy equipment before you move out. Do not wear colors that are rare in nature. Blend in with the natural vegetation. Check and change your camouflage regularly. Leaves could dry out and expose skin. You could have vegetation but move from the forest to open fields which would stand out. The most important color that needs camouflaging is that of human skin so use the G.I. camo sticks that come in your kits. Remember, being a good marksman with poor camouflaged is not as good as being a poor shot that is well camouflaged. Next week we will have a presentation by our resident Blacksmith, Dan Martinson.” Gunny stepped down from the gazebo.
Ralph stepped back up. “This is a new beginning for all of us. Do any of you have any questions?”
Lucy Daniels, a history teacher at the Paradise High School timidly raised her hand.
“Yes, Lucy, go ahead.”
“Well, I’m glad you made a spot for me and my husband, but you make it sound awful bad out there. I fear we won’t be able to hold out against all the bad people.”
Ralph said “I think we all feel that way Lucy and not all the people out there are going to be bad people but good and bad alike, they might choose to take from us what they need. We are holed up in our Compound armed to the teeth against city people who would normally never leave their houses or pose a threat to us. People are going to envy us, they are going to fear the unknown, and our methods must remain unknown to them. I know many of you have friends that are not part of the Compound. We aren’t saying you can’t be friends with them, only that you do not share what resources we have at the Compound or any of our schedules or routines. If I was to give any advice, it would be to not allow fear to fill you but hope. If it is our time to go then there won’t be anything we can do about it anyway, but if it’s not, then we can make it past this burdensome time in America’s history and come out on the other side, ready to start again. Lastly, I think you would have more to fear by NOT being in this Compound, than you have to fear for being part of it.”
The town librarian Mrs. Smooty raised her hand. “I know we can’t feed everyone, but what if someone really in need comes to our gates and really needs help. We can’t just turn them away.”
Ralph nodded as if in agreement. “There probably will come a time when men, women, and children stand before us at the gate and beg our mercy, our food, our water. In the Dallas Fort Worth Area, there are over six million people. You would agree that we couldn’t feed all of them?” Mrs. Smooty nodded in agreement.
“Paradise has a population of over 800 people. With our current food and supplies and the 38 slots for people that have been allocated for, those reserves would last approximately one year. Maybe a little more if we supplement them with hunting and if our well continues to run. If we took in just half of those, our supplies would be gone in a little over a month. We would be defeating the very purpose we initiated this process for; we would not be taking care of each other and our loved ones. That doesn’t include the people from Bridgeport, Decatur, Denton, Springtown, Justin, Keller, and Fort Worth that might wander by here. The most dangerous people will be the non-survivalists, those who have not made provisions for surviving; they will be a mortal danger to us and are not to be let into this Compound without clearance from one of the core four. Don’t we have a duty to ourselves to give us the best chance to survive as possible? In fact, we have a social obligation to our family and community to survive and the non-survivalist is simply a poor and irresponsible citizen.”
Mrs. Smooty said “I understand, but what if we could grow crops, and have more than we need, couldn’t we share some of it.”
“The first maxim of farming is to “Feed yourselves first. After plowing, sowing the seeds, harvesting the crops and processing them, we put away what we think we will need to feed us until we can grow the next crop. Then we take maybe ten to fifteen percent so for seeds for the next years’ crops. We must put aside a reserve in case of a disease, drought, mildew, rat infestation or some other event limits the food we have. But yes, if after all that if we have any extra, we could possibly share it with people in dire need. Remember, we are survivalists because we are optimists. Some people say we are pessimistic but a fireman is a fireman, not because he believes everything will burn, but because he believes much can be saved. Doctors don’t believe in death, they believe in life, and a survivalist believes that life and freedom can be saved, if people of good will are prepared.”
All she said was “Thank you.”
Ralph stepped down and milled about with the Compound members. Most conversations we various scenarios that might or might not happen and how this new life was both frightening and exciting.