Cataclysm - Post 6

May 15 2011
Made it home without incident from Larry's. The boys and I had a great time riding and looks like the boys are natural riders. Larry and his family stayed the night and left early the next morning.

Just to keep updated we are using the telephone landlines to call each other. Using cryptic messages for valued information. It's getting dangerous to even travel the 15 miles thru the countryside. I spent the last two days finally meeting my neighbors. Yes, we've been so busy we've not met but the closet neighbor. We met aver 20 neighbors the past couple of days and formed friendships with those who seemed trustworthy. We have begun the process of networking for supplies and needs. Of the 20 surrounding neighbors, 12 seem to be good people. I guess you can call us a farming community of around 50 people.

Bad News - Petroleum supplies have dried up around the county. We traveled to town today and met a few towns people. People already knew who we were though, so it made it a bit uncomfortable being stared and talked about. Anyways...Entire country is under martial law. Electricity is shut off in most major cities except for the government buildings. Gas supplies are mostly gone except for military and government supplies. Unemployment has sky-rocketed past numbers/percentages seen in the Great Depression.

We know use no electricity during the day or night. We go dark when the sun goes down. Right now it works well as we get much needed rest. There is still electricity available to us as most of our local power plants are coal fired. We are going dark to protect us from roaming bands of armed gangs. The neighbors closet to town were attacked last night. Everything was looted and the family is safe as they were prepared for such an event. They had escaped through a tunnel in the basement.

Meeting next week with the 12 neighbors to devise a protection plan and start pooling our resources. All machinery have been drained of the fuel and stored in a safe place. Now time to build a shelter(s) for our food supplies. We are going to be proactive and make this work.

May 20 2011
We were attacked yesterday, during the day, by 5 armed men. 4 left their bodies on our property while their souls went to meet their maker. Was first time killing a man and while its not pleasant, it was necessary for our survival. The 5th person was wounded and the local authorities were able to track him down and arrest him.

First guy made it through the front door and halfway through the house. He was met with 12 ga. 00 buckshot. Second guy behind him has the same fate. Other 3 started to flee the property but 2 were dropped with my Remington 700. The 5th one was hit 3 times with a 22 rifle from my wife. She thought she had the 270 but in all the excitement she grabbed the 22. I am thankful the nephews and son were over at a neighbors for the day. Its hard enough dealing with this emotionally AND trying to help the wife cope with it. I cannot imagine how'd we deal with this if the kids were involved. We know were firearms even in the house. I have my 40 cal and the wife has a 380. The son will be carrying a 9 mm when they return tomorrow.

I need a drink...