One Tin Soldier – Foreword

The tale doesn’t star Billy Jack. It is cautionary in nature. There are disasters and then
there are disasters. The Northridge Earthquake didn’t affect too many New Orleans res-
idents. Hurricane Katrina didn’t affect too many Los Angeles residents beyond raising
the price of Folgers coffee. Hurricane Rita was more powerful than Katrina yet did much
less damage. Ray Nagin got confused and thought he was Alexander Haig who said,
“I’m in charge here.” He even ordered firearms confiscated.

Preppers prepare for the just in case events that affects them directly. For every major
event, suppliers experience runs and people who suddenly realize that they need it
can’t get it. Try to buy a portable generator if a hurricane is headed your way. Good
luck. Prices for one year supplies of LTS foods have risen about 20% over the past five
years. Suppliers don’t always have what you need or want. Witness the thing with
Mountain House a while back.

There were several instances during the Cold War when it almost became hot. In each
case, someone held back and planet Earth got lucky. Some of the people responsible
for preventing a GTW were actually punished for their actions. The new treaty with Rus-
sia is called the STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty or START. Most of the weapons are
tactical weapons, not Strategic.

Yellowstone isn’t the only caldera in the United States. It’s one of two that show some
amount of activity. We have an assortment of major and minor earthquake faults and
even our own subduction zone, Cascadia. Two notable faults are the San Andreas and
the New Madrid. The fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of faults in this country
and other countries as well. Plus a lot of active or semi-active volcanoes.

A disaster means different things to different people. If it directly affects you, the term is
generally disaster. If it affects others and not you, the term is generally tragedy. Some
events are both, like September 11, 2001. In many ways, it’s a matter of scale. Witness
the death toll for World War Two, sixty million, ten times the number of victims of the
Holocaust.

You are a select audience because most of those of you reading this are preppers.
Prepping takes two things, time and money. In my opinion, there are probably more
preppers with limited resources than unlimited funds. In this tale, you’ll see both. I’m not
good at writing action sequences and prefer to concentrate on the preparations.

As an author, I’m running out of steam. I have two incomplete works and incorporated
portions into this story. Frankly, I’m running out of different ways to present the same
message, Be Prepared. It seems like that’s the Boy Scouts’ motto. That doesn’t make it
any less appropriate. There’s a thread here, ‘What did you do to prep today?’ Good
question, what’s your answer? I did nothing today, just because it wasn’t a good day for
me to prep.

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 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 1

It was in early 1965. I was getting a little pressure to reenlist and a lot of pressure to get
out and go to college. Enlisting had been my way of thumbing my nose to the head of
our family. The old man was, well, the old man. It was his way or the highway. I reckon I
chose the highway. Now I had to choose whether to stay in or get out. There was a hint
at a fourth stripe in a year, two max, if I kept my nose clean. It would take six more for
the fifth stripe and no telling on the sixth stripe.

I looked at what I had and it became the basis for my decision. I had a M1911 and a
M1903A3 I’d gotten from the DCM, now the CMP. The rifle had the barrel worked on,
hot bluing applied and the bolt jeweled. It was stocked with a properly inlet Fajen stock
with a free floating barrel and the receiver glass bedded. The original Weaver K-4,
6×38, fixed power scope adorned the rifle on Redfield mounts. The .45 had a new barrel
for $12.95 plus shipping. My other guns were a Winchester model 94 in .30-30 and a
Ruger Mark II. My firearms all came from DCM, fellow airmen or Jack First.

I decided to stay in because three or four of the guys in my squadron were into quick
draw. I went with one of them down to Alfonso’s to pick up a new fast draw rig for his
Colt SAA. He didn’t say what it cost, but I think the reason I had to wait in the car was
so I didn’t find out.

Sixty four was a good year. I had been able to pay off the NRA and had my shiny new
Life Member card. I also spent $200 at the Bank of America every payday buying rolls
of silver coins. When your paycheck is $287 and change, that’s no mean feat. At the
end of the year, I had $200×24 in silver coins. The Mint was going to cut the coins from
90% silver to 40% silver and one of the sharp guys in the unit said, buy silver coins,
young man. I ended up with $1,600 each of dimes, quarters and halves.

I bought three SAAs. The first was the SAA Calvary model with the 7½” barrel; the sec-
ond was the SAA Artillery model with the 5½” barrel; and, the third and final was the
gunfighter model SAA with the 4¾” barrel. All three bought in the space of one year,
1965. Went down to TJ and got the holsters I wanted, a double rig with 2 7½” holsters
and a shoulder holster for the 4¾”. However, to be really competitive, I need a rifle and
a shotgun. Plus more money.

Assured that I wouldn’t have to go to Nam, I started saving money. That’s not to say I
didn’t buy dimes, quarters and halves, I still did that. I managed to acquire an additional
$1,200 of the older coins. The teller at the B of A thought I was nuts. It was essentially
what I’d done the year before except I turned in most of what I bought for more. Packed
away quite a bit of silver. Right at 300 pounds total. Also packed away about $3,600 in
cash. No promotion.

Between others getting in on the 90% silver bandwagon and the diminishing returns, I
stopped that entirely for sixty six. Kept saving money but did splurge and buy a Reming-
ton 870 with a spare 20” barrel with rifle sights and improved cylinder choke. What I

2
wanted and couldn’t get was a semi-auto M14. Since Uncle Curt had seen fit to equip
the Air Force with the M16, and McNamara had issued an order to replace the M14s
with M16s, I knew they’d come on the market. I just didn’t know that it would be the
seventies before the new Springfield Armory started to sell them.

No promotion in sixty six either and I kept my nose clean. The word was first promotion
cycle in sixty seven. In sixty seven for want of something to do, I checked out the weight
lifting program. I had that mandatory physical coming up and there was no way I could
pass it. One of the guys, Mike, took pity on me and we worked on getting me in shape.
Didn’t lift a lot of weights, at first. I finally got the 4th stripe on the first cycle and passed
my physical.

A couple of years back, the Air Force got confused and thought they were the Army. We
had dress fatigues, complete with bloused trousers, neck scarf and the whole 9 yards.
Lucky me, I passed my physical and Mike got me started lifting weights. Medium
amounts of weight, nothing heavy. This was mostly amateur bodybuilding, I didn’t want
to have to buy new uniforms. I had a goal of weighing what I did when I finished phase II
basic back in sixty two, 145. What I ended up with was the measurements from sixty
two, but weighed closer to one fifty five.

We got a new Company Commander, Captain Wilson. He had sat down and read each
enlisted man’s file. I got called to his office and thought, “oh, oh.”

“Sergeant, I’ve been reading your record. The first three years, you mostly got by. What
happened in sixty four to turn you around?”

“Captain, I heard roundabout that the Mint was going to stop minting 90% silver coins
and got into buying them up. I paid off my Life membership in the NRA and decided to
reenlist because I didn’t want to go back home. I started to get into Cowboy Action
Shooting but couldn’t find a coach gun or a lever action rifle in .45 Colt. I guess I lost in-
terest. I got started doing some bodybuilding so I could pass that new physical.”

“I see that you passed it without a problem.”

“Yes sir. Wouldn’t have passed it without some help. I’m continuing to work out so I can
stay in shape. Got my promotion and that meant a lot.”

“If you maintain your current achievement pattern and I remain your Commander, it’s
possible you might make Technical Sergeant with minimum time in grade.”

“I’ll work on it Sir, count on it. I’ll be honest Sir, when I was notified to report to you, my
first thought was ‘Oh, oh’.”

“Done anything I don’t know about Sergeant?”

“Apparently not Sir. You probably have the size of my drawers in that file.”

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“We do try to follow enlisted personnel who are problems and those that stand out as
achievers. Nobody’s perfect Sergeant, keep that in mind. Just because an Airman or
NCO is a problem doesn’t mean they must remain so. When the change is accom-
plished on the person’s own, it means more. That’s all Sergeant, any questions?”

“No Sir. Thank you Sir.”

I reenlisted in sixty nine. In the fall cycle, I made Technical Sergeant. I went back to
buying the change from the B of A because most people lost interest. It really was get-
ting hard to find many 90% silver coins. I was up to buying $300 a payday and reselling
about $275 that weren’t sixty four or earlier. But, there was a new series of coins minted
in South Africa, the Krugerrand. The typical ratio of value between gold and silver varied
around 50:1. They were very difficult to find, illegal in fact, but I started buying gold, one
or two ounces at a time down in LA.

My third term of enlistment from sixty nine through seventy three wasn’t particularly no-
table. I served my time; I bought Krugerrands and still bought rolls of coins looking for
the ever more elusive 90% silver coins.

By now, I was stationed in Elgin AFB. Edwards was hot, but dry. Elgin was hot and very
wet. While I mostly manned a chair, I bought a second set of uniforms and changed af-
ter lunch in an effort to remain a recruitment poster Tech Sergeant.

Although I failed miserably at being a recruitment poster Sergeant, I did something right,
I was promoted to Master Sergeant. I reenlisted one more time; I was on a career track
now, during seventy three. I found the bodybuilding shop shortly after transferring and
stayed in condition. I had found that it was easier to stay in condition than get into condi-
tion. Still single, I lived in the NCO barracks. At the end of this hitch, I’d have in sixteen
and be close to the 50% pension.

Around seventy one, someone started making commercial versions of the M14. In fact it
wasn’t someone but several someone’s. The one I heard about was some guy in Texas
making what he called the M1A. By the time I tracked him down, circa seventy four, he’d
sold out to a company in Illinois. I bought one of the standard models in seventy five.
There were plenty of USGI magazines floating around since the war was over and I
bought fifty new USGI magazines.

Ruger brought out the Mini-14 and I bought two; a blued model with the wood stock and
an AC-556 with the 18” barrel and tricked out folding paratrooper stock, flashhider and a
bayonet lug. Scouted around and decided the PMI magazines were probably the best
and bought one 30 rounder to try out. It worked just fine and I added another 24. I
bought two sets of ALICE gear, each with 4 magazine pouches, two canteens, a surplus
WW II folding entrenching tool, a holster for the M1911 and 2 double magazine pouch-
es.

4
I decided to get an apartment during seventy five because the silver and gold was a se-
curity concern and I was taking too much space in the NCO barracks armory. Spring-
field Armory had a Super Match but the barrel only had one turn in twelve and that
wouldn’t handle heavier bullets. Ammo wise, I could maybe handle one or two firefights
since I hadn’t begun to acquire large stocks of ammo. I had an assortment of hunting
ammo for my ‘03 and both bullet weights for my model 94.

I was still saving money and buying Krugerrands. I’d given up on the silver coins be-
cause having over 300 pounds was enough. I had the silver coins stored in locked
steamer trunks and the Krugerrands in a cheap fire safe. Nothing significant happened
during my seventy three to seventy seven enlistment other than what I already men-
tioned and I reupped in seventy seven, going for the twenty.

I was giving retirement at twenty a lot of thought. I’d be 38 when I had my twenty. Many
of the civilian contractors and GS employees put in anywhere from twenty to thirty, re-
tired, began collecting retirement and then went to work for the military as a civilian,
sometimes doing the same job they did when they were in. The civilian pay was higher
than the military pay and, except for taxes the military retirement was pure gravy.

During my last hitch, several things changed. Springfield Armory brought out a Super
Match with one turn in ten and I bought one. I added a good scope mount and a Ger-
man scope plus a Harris bipod. I didn’t need more magazines because I bought fifty
when they were cheap and available. I did rent a climate controlled storage room and
began to accumulate surplus ammunition. About half of my spare money went into sur-
plus and the other half into Krugerrands. For the PMs, I strictly followed a policy of buy
low and sell high with one exception, I never sold. For the ammo, the policy was buy it
cheap and stack it deep.

I carefully rounded out my ammo supply, buying FMJ and HP 230gr .45ACP. I also
bought .45 Colt full power rounds. Not that I’d need it, but I had a full case each of 150gr
and 170gr .30-30. For my ‘03, I bought 1,000 rounds of 180gr soft point and 7,500
rounds of FMJ on strippers. I also had a case each of solid point and hollow point
.22LR. I also ordered two Marlin rifles, an 1894 in .45 Colt and an 1895 in .45-70. I con-
tinued to buy ammo and Krugerrands up to ’81.

I was pretty well set when I advised personnel that I’d be retiring with twenty. The next
thing I knew, I was summoned to the Captain’s office. Different Captain of course. I
knew I hadn’t done anything wrong and wasn’t too concerned about the summons.

“Sergeant, I understand that you’re putting in your retirement. From the looks of your
file, I figured you for a thirty year man.”

“Captain, it appears that Senior Master Sergeant is a no go and I figured to get on the
gravy train like the others.”

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“You’re at the top of the list for next cycle, Sergeant. I can’t guarantee the promotion but
I did give it my highest recommendation. You have to have a guaranteed retention peri-
od or you won’t get it. Four more years would get you to a 60% pension and at the full
thirty the 75%.”

“What does it look like down the road for Chief Master Sergeant?”

“We have two positions opening in the future; one at thirty six months and the second at
forty eight months. Reenlist for six when you have twenty four in and I know you’ll make
Chief.”

“I think I’d be money ahead if I went the way I’m thinking.”

“That’s possible, but you’re category one for recall for the first five years of your retire-
ment. Something happens and you’ll be back on active duty as an E-7 rather than as an
E-8.”

I did think about it, long and hard. The Cold War wasn’t over but we hadn’t fought any
major battles since Vietnam, yet. There didn’t appear to be anything looming and with
my AFSC, 31390 Instrumentation Superintendent, I’d never be in combat. What the
Hell, I reenlisted for four more. And, true to the discussion in the Captain’s office, I made
Senior Master Sergeant the next promotion cycle. This enlistment ran from eighty one to
eighty five.

The only thing I bought for my armory during that time was more ammo and a one of a
kind set of holsters for my Peacemakers from Kirkpatrick Leather Co. I bought the
crossdraw rig for my short guns and a Paladin rig from Alphonsos for the 7½” Colt SAA.
I had them make the belt twice as wide with 48 cartridge loops for .45 Colt plus loops for
ten rounds of .45-70 above the left holster. Darn near needed suspenders to support the
weight.

I also had my eye on a couple of knives. I wanted a 24” Latin Machete for each of my
ALICE packs and a Cold Steel Laredo Bowie. They had it in steel and in San-Mai with
the latter costing more than double of the former. So, I went on a brief spending spree
buying blades. The gun belt got the San-Mai Laredo Bowie and the ALICE harnesses
each got a Gerber Mark II with the machete on the pack. Since both M1As had bayonet
lugs, I picked up a pair of M-6 bayonets.

One thing led to another and I started looking at the M1As in terms of Load Bearing
Equipment. I stuck with the ALICE gear, getting two pistol belts, holsters, dual pistol
magazine pouches, harnesses, dual canteens WW II surplus entrenching tools and
magazine pouches that each held two M1A magazines. I also bought a second M1911
good used, and replaced the barrel.

I began to check out suppressors for my M1As and Mini-14s. I contacted a firm in
Phoenix, Arizona and got the low down on integral suppressors for the Mark II. They

6
would sell me a complete upper if I got the tax stamp and Florida was fairly friendly so I
put in the application and sent the two hundred bucks. In the blink of an eye, like 7
months, I had the stamp and called Phoenix. They shipped to an affiliate near Eglin and
I was on my way. I then applied for four more stamps, two for 7.62 caliber suppressors
and two for 5.56 caliber suppressors.

This time around, it went a bit quicker and four months later all four rifles were equipped
with screw on adapters. However, someone must have ratted me out; I got called into
the new Commander’s office.

“I understand you recently acquired five weapons suppressors Sergeant.”

“Yes Sir, one for my Ruger Mark two and one each for my two Mini-14s and two M1As.
Is there a problem Sir, I got the tax stamps.”

“No problem exactly, Sergeant. Curiosity as to why you need a bunch of silencers.”

“If you must know Sir, I’m also thinking about purchasing a pair of suppressors for my
M1911s. I have the threaded barrels now and was just trying to decide on which brand I
wanted.”

“I understand, but you haven’t explained why you need a bunch of silencers.”

“Because I can legally own them, Sir? I live off base and my weapons are stored in a
good gun safe so it’s unlikely that anyone could get to them. We all have the right to
keep and bear arms Sir, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.”

“Life member?”

“Yes Sir and a Patron member too. That’s a higher level of membership in the NRA Sir.
I’m working on getting an even higher level of membership.”

“I can’t say that I approve of you having suppressors, Sergeant. However, your record
and evaluations since sixty four have shown you to be a good Airman and NCO. You
easily pass the physical exams when you take them. The comments in your file indicate
that should you reenlist for the final six years, you should be promoted. Was your former
Commander aware of your activities?”

“I doubt it Sir; I only got into acquiring the suppressors over the course of the past year.”

“I see. Thank you Sergeant that will be all.”

“Does my acquiring suppressors have any bearing on possible future promotions, Sir?”

“That will depend on who your Commander is when you meet all of the criteria in terms
of time in grade, tests scores and so forth.”

7
“And if it’s you Sir?”

“The military uses silencers but infrequently. You have five and are considering pur-
chasing two more. It is a concern.”

In other words, if it was up to the Captain, Senior Master Sergeant was the top of the
line for me. I concluded that I’d give it up with twenty four in and take the 60% pension. I
did go ahead and buy the suppressors for my M1911s and locked everything up in my
gun safe.

I picked up a pamphlet to read in the barbershop off base and saw that it was by Kurt
Saxon and was on the subject of Survivalism. It was a copy of ‘The Survivor’ and while I
didn’t agree totally with what the guy was saying, the idea of having preparations for
some unknown future event like TEOTWAWKI or TEOCAWKI made sense. I had the
armory, for sure. I checked my kitchen cabinets when I got home and realized that I
maybe had enough food for a month. I headed for the Commissary to stock up and add
a second month of food. Thereafter when I went to the Commissary monthly, I double
bought. I kept that up until I had a full year’s supply of food, much of it stored in boxes,
but dated with the date of acquisition.

I also began buying more surplus 5.56, 7.62 and .45ACP. I had a chance to pick up a
9mm Browning Hi-Power from a Staff Sergeant under my command who needed some
quick money, for what, he said not. He had 4 spare Browning magazines, a standard
holster for a M1911 and magazine pouches for the extra magazines on the pistol belt. I
helped him out and immediately ordered surplus FMJ and commercial HP ammo for the
pistol. It took a while but I located a threaded barrel and went through the usual routine
of getting the tax stamp and suppressor. That was back in eighty three, halfway through
my enlistment.

It was about then that I picked up a copy of an old novel written by Pat Frank…‘Alas,
Babylon’. The novel was set in Florida and I began to rethink my plan to go to work
there at Eglin. I tried to get my hands on every piece of information about Survivalists,
Survivalism and any related subjects. At that time, there were two schools of thought on
the subject, those for and those against, Survivalism. I concluded that should I choose
to do it, it had better be on the sly. There were quite a few negative comments in the
media about survivalists and militias.

Look, I just wanted to hang on until June of eighty five, get my twenty four in and try and
find some safe place to live. I spent the next few months checking out various locations
around the US and noting what type(s) of disasters might befall a resident. The east
coast and Gulf experienced hurricanes and Nor’easters. The Midwest had tornados,
floods, droughts and the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Plus all of the country north of ap-
proximately I-70 got blizzards and south of I-70 was hot and humid. West of the Rockies
was a whole lot of hot and dry desert. California and Nevada had earthquakes and Cali-
fornia north through Washington volcanoes. Seattle was near Cascadia and there was

8
no telling when it would slip. On top of those situations, there was Yellowstone which
couldn’t seem to make up its mind to erupt again or just shake some to keep everyone
on their toes.

The missile silos were in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and elsewhere. At that time,
there were 500 Minuteman III missiles plus 50 Peacekeeper missiles scheduled for de-
ployment in eighty six at Warren. The Navy had 18 Ohio class SSBNs with 24 tubes
apiece and 8 warheads per tube. They were beginning to remove the MM IIs from
Whiteman AFB. No good place to go because for every pro there was a con.

I put in my papers in eighty five and didn’t get called to the Commander’s office for a
change. The only significant thing I did in ’86 was convert my Krugerrands to US gold
Eagles, divided equally among the 4 denominations. One would have thought that the
coin dealer I chose wouldn’t have been unreasonable. Yeah, right. The newness had
worn of the Krugerrands and although the Eagles were the same 22 carat gold, it cost
me a 2% handling fee over and above the extra costs associated with the small denom-
ination coins.

In the end, I moved back to my home state, Iowa, although nowhere near my home
town. Having savings proved to be very necessary since jobs for Instrumentation spe-
cialists/technicians/supervisors were few and far between. I eventually got a job as an
apprentice electrician in Ankeny.

Once I was reasonably certain that my job was secure, I bought a small bungalow in
Cambridge. It had several things going for it: it was small, had a basement, it was a
short commute to Ankeny and affordable. Between my earnings and military pension, it
was within my means and I bought it using my GI Bill. I got a copy of the inspection so I
knew what I needed to fix.

I did as much of the repair work as I could and hired a roofing contractor to put on the
new roof. I asked about the photovoltaic panels and shingles and he said I’d do better to
wait another ten years. The costs were still high and the efficiency of the panels low. So,
I suggested going with a 20-year shingle, he countered with a 40-year shingle and said
the panels could be mounted over the shingles. He had a deal going with a plumber to
install solar water panels to reduce the fuel usage of the hot water heater so I did that.

When the internet finally became truly operational, I bought a Dell Desktop with a 56k
modem and found an IP. It wasn’t long before I did a search using the term Long Term
Storage Food and hooked up with Walton Feed, Emergency Essentials, Lehman’s and
Canning Pantry. I suppose that’s when I began taking preparedness more seriously. I
had enough set aside for four one year deluxe supplies from Walton and some things
from Emergency Essentials that Walton didn’t have. A saying I’d picked up on the net
was, “Beef, Beans, Bullets, Bullion and Bunker.”

All but the bunker were either on hand or on order, to an extent. There was no shortage
of guns or ammo. I’d need an alternate source of power and it wasn’t going to be solar

9
for the moment. I also needed a shelter and the basement under the bungalow didn’t
lend itself well to meet that need. What I came up with was a detached double garage.
I’d have room for my pickup and trailer; and with a basement underneath, a shelter. I
selected a prefabricated 24’×24’ garage with a side entrance.

I pulled the building permit and hired a contractor to put in a 28’x32’ excavation 18’ deep
with the soil piled by the side until the project was finished. Step two was to install a
sewage holding tank just below the floor level of the basement. Next, I got a plumber in
and ran lines for the water and sewer under the soon to be poured slab and footings. He
put the pipes low enough to avoid problems with the footings.

Next, I located a concrete contractor and showed him what I wanted. I got some strange
looks concerning the two doors in the walls of the basement. Like they say, money talks
and he did it my way, including the I-beams to support the overhead and adjustable
support posts to support the I-beams. When I pointed out the second 8” concrete wall I
wanted run from the door and around the corner for the depth of the garage five feet out
from the inside wall he just shook his head.

To recap, I had a 24’x24’x9’ (5,184ft³) basement under the garage with 8” thick walls,
two door spaces and an outside tunnel leading from the main door around the back of
the basement for the full length of the basement. The second door was intended to run
to a concrete block generator room and it would allow access to a concrete culvert to be
used as an escape exit. When all the concrete was in, I got the excavator back to dig
the space for the generator room and another set of holes for a diesel tank, gasoline
tank and propane tank. I bought used tanks, a 10,000 gallon diesel tank, a 2,000 gallon
gasoline tank and a 3,300 gallon propane tank and had them installed in the holes.

While he was doing that, I put in the metal conduit for the outlets, switches and lights. I
also moved in the used refrigerator and used freezer plus a new stacked washer/dryer
pair. The freezer and refrigerator were on an extension cord. The package I bought from
American Saferooms came in and I asked two of the guys from work to help me install
the blast door. We got it in on a Saturday and I gave them a C note apiece for their help.
The following weekend, I put in the generator room except for the overhead.

The generator I selected was a Cummins 12.5kw Quiet diesel. It and the 100amp ATS
cost me as much as everything I’d done to that point excluding the equipment from
American Safe Rooms. I ran pipes from the diesel and propane tanks and a pipe from
the sewage holding tank to the septic line coming from the bungalow. It’s probably easi-
er at this point to note what was undone that what had been accomplished.

01. I need stairs in the tunnel on the backside of the garage.

02. I need to fill the space above the basement roof with 6’ of fill.
03. I need to fill the propane tank.
04. I need to fill the diesel tank.
05. I need to fill the gasoline tank.
06. I need POLs and a bunch of filters for the generator.

10
07. I need to move everything from the house basement to the garage basement.
08. One or two complete outfits from Approved Gas Masks.
09. Hook up and plumb the Safe Cell with blast valves and ventilation pipes.
10. Figure out maximum shelter capacity given the volume of air exchanged (best
guess, 6 max)
11. Alternate source of water.

I needed to know the answer to the tenth question in the worst way and found the an-
swer at Utah Shelter Systems: How often and for how long the air handling unit should
be operated depends on the size of the shelter, the number of occupants, and the ca-
pacity of the unit. Assuming a family of six in a 3700 cubic foot shelter, they may wish to
operate the air system for an hour every six hours or so to freshen the shelter atmos-
phere.

This schedule is not very close to the level of desperation, but it does maintain good
morale and comfort for shelter occupants. In order to maintain acceptable air quality in a
shelter housing twenty to thirty occupants, the ventilator should be run for twenty
minutes and then rested for twenty minutes. Fifty occupants is considered the absolute
limit with a single VA-150 and would require continuous operation to support life. This
assumes a steel or concrete shelter with un-insulated walls that will absorb body heat
and keep temperatures under control. The combination of insulated walls, lots of occu-
pants, and inadequate ventilation will cause temperatures to soar to intolerable levels in
a short period of time. With this many people in a shelter, there will be a larger number
of volunteers to operate the system (imagine the consequences of losing power with an
electricity-dependent air handling unit under these conditions). The “ventilation officer”
will also have the job of listening to the radio (perhaps on headphones) to stay informed
about an ongoing situation. For this reason, we suggest that you position the radios
near the ventilation unit.

Briefly, the Safe Cell was adequate for 6 people even if not run 24/7, which I intended to
do should the need arise. The maximum capacity was 17 people. The system I bought
would run on 110/220VAC or 12VDC.

The following weekend, I filled the blast door with concrete and got the generator down
into the generator room.

Working very slowly, I lowered the generator until it was just inches above the stand I
built out of 6”x6” posts and a triple layer of ¾” plywood. I moved the stand just a tad and
finished lowering the generator to about one inch above the stand. I pulled the rope that
held it above the pickup when I pulled out and lowered it the rest of the way. I slid piec-
es of 1”x4” under each corner and lowered it the next ¼”. Next, I removed the ropes and
went top side using a ladder and secured the block and tackle. Back down I went and
using a pry bar, the corners were lifted one at a time and the blocks removed, allowing
the generator to sit on its own short legs.

11
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 2

I threw a tarp over the generator and called it a day because I was tired.

I had a message on my answering machine when I got home from work Monday. When
did I want the garage delivered? Call 1-555-555-5555 ASAP. The garage was prepaid
and it was at my convenience. I reheated some of the leftover tuna casserole and had
supper. I needed to add the 6’ of soil on top of the basement overhead and pour the
garage slab. So, I needed to find the piece of road plate I wanted to use to cover the
generator room and have a ring welded on the top so it could be lowered. Then, I need-
ed to get the excavator back to move the dirt. I called them back and suggested it would
take 3 weeks for the spot to be ready. The following day, I ran new power lines from the
transformer to the ATS and pulled the old lines from the transformer to the house panel.
I used that wire to connect the ATS to the house panel.

The next day I asked the boss for Thursday and Friday off explaining I had a few things
to do that I could only accomplish during working hours. I knew we had nothing pressing
and was surprised when he hemmed and hawed before saying yes. If you’re curious,
POL is a military term for petroleum/oils/lubricants.

Thursday morning I found a piece of road plate at a junkyard. Considering what I had to
pay for it, it was better than new. Since it was too heavy to haul in my pickup, I had to
pay for delivery. But, I did talk them into welding on the lift ring, for a fee. They told me
when it would be delivered and if I wanted it in a particular place, I’d best be there when
they delivered. Otherwise, they’d just drop it at any open spot.

I rushed home and was waiting when they delivered the plate and it went down next to
the hole I was going to lower it in. However, before attempting that, I cut the holes in the
block in the generator room and added the extensions to the through the wall fittings
and connected the intake and exhaust extensions for the generator. I went topside and
lowered the plate in place, very, very carefully. Finally I connected the ventilation pipes
to the intake and exhaust wall fittings and ran them to the surface. That hole was now
ready to be filled.

I’d seen an 85 gallon pressurized water tank at Tractor Supply and ran down to Des
Moines to pick one up. I also bought a 4 in one kitchen and a pair of pre-hung solid core
doors for the generator room. On Friday, I went to the Merle Hay Sears and bought a
chest freezer and a refrigerator only refrigerator for the bungalow. I had all of my pur-
chases in place and running except for the doors by Friday night.

Saturday I installed the two pre-hung doors for the generator room. I also called a well
driller and asked him to come by and discuss putting down a well. He asked if he could
come right away so I gave him my address.

“I like to dowse. You aren’t one of them that think dowsing is the Devil’s work, are you?”

12
“Not particularly. As you can see, there are several open holes in my large backyard.
That’s a secure storage room and those are the holes for the various tanks.”

“Secure storage room my aching butt. That’s a bomb shelter and you’re a prepper. Ok,
you get my prepper’s discount if I put in your well.”

“Have at it.”

“I’ll get my coat hangers.”

He got his coat hangers and started walking the backyard. Three times he passed the
same spot from different directions before he said, “Right here.”

“How deep?”

“Sixty feet give or take. I’ll put it in, including the pump and make it a turnkey project. Six
hundred.”

“How soon?”

“You’ll have water by the middle of next week. Two inch pipe ok?”

“Whatever you recommend.”

“Ok, two inch pipe. You might get a trencher and run your water lines. Make them deep,
eight foot minimum. You on sewer or septic?”

“Septic. This lot is outside the town limits. Don’t know why it didn’t have a well.”

“Might have in the past and it went bad. Previous owner might have figured city water
was cheaper.”

“You know the language, you have preps too?”

“Bought into it. Back in the sixties a lot of Iowa residents put in shelters. The place we
bought came with a nice shelter, 32’ wide by 48’ long. We’ve been stocking it for several
years with LTS foods, radiation detection equipment, personal protective equipment and
so on. Just bought one of those Barrett rifles.”

“I heard of them and thought it would be something that would be nice to have but it was
expensive and relatively new on the market. There are cheaper .50 caliber rifles and I
want a really accurate one if I do buy.”

“Sniper?”

13
“No, I’m a retired Air Force Instrumentation Supervisor. I’m working as an apprentice
electrician these days.”

“You don’t say. Well, you want the well?”

“Yes, please.”

My pension check was directly deposited to my savings and I had more than enough to
pay for the well. I finished installing the ventilation pipes for the Safe Cell, plumbed in
the water and got the excavator back the following week to begin filling in the holes. He
asked what I wanted to do with the extra soil and I told him I wasn’t sure. He offered to
haul it off for free.

“I suppose you’re going to haul it for free and sell it to someone else?”

“I was, yes.”

“How about a discount on the refill?”

“Best I can do is ten percent.”

“Ok. You’ll be compacting the soil as you go?”

“You mean with a sheep foot roller?”

“That’s what I had in mind.”

“Over the tanks is no problem. If you cover that exit tunnel with a stout cover to keep the
dirt out, I’ll compact the soil, but no discount.”

“Will you grade it level over the storage room so I can pour a slab?”

“I will do that. It will look like it did when I began excavating.”

“Deal.”

It was beginning to come together. I decided to get a carpenter to build wooden steps
rather than buy steel steps. Which was fine until the carpenter I hired suggested 36”
steel steps would cost about the same and he and a buddy would install them. The
steps were in two sections. The upper section went down to a landing where they would
install a steel door. The second section went from the inside landing to the tunnel floor
and there was storage room under the stairs. The lower section of stairs were hinged at
the landing which allowed them to be raised allowing full access to the space beneath
the stairs. He gave me a quote and I checked my accounts before giving him the go
ahead.

14
Two weeks later I began moving my supplies from the house basement to the shelter,
keeping back only a two week supply of food in the house basement. While it may
sound like it happened overnight, this process actually ran from eighty five to November
ninety two. I had the propane and gasoline tanks filled and I was working on the diesel. I
ordered 1,000 gallons of diesel at a time, when I accumulated enough money to pay for
the load. Fuel prices in Iowa were, at this point in time, substantially below the national
average price.

My trailer was parked in the garage in one stall and the pickup used the other stall. I
bought a small compressor to refill tires and such. I had a small homemade workbench
and a medium sized tool box with an assortment of mechanics tools. I also had a sec-
ond toolbox with carpenter tools. Once I had the first load of diesel in the tank, I set up
the generator to exercise monthly for 15 minutes.

My freezers were stocked with pork loins, bacon, hams and butter from Costco in West
Des Moines. The remainder of the space held a beef I bought from the place that sold
cut and wrapped Black Angus. Iowa had changed from sixty one when I graduated from
high school to the present. For one thing, I was forty eight not eighteen. My favorite ca-
fé, Maid Rite, were few and far between. Plus their Maid Rite sandwich was no longer
fifteen cents. I had two freezers and neither was full.

Iowa still didn’t allow NFA weapons so the Mark II never came out of the safe and the
other suppressors never saw the light of day. I should have bought more select fire
weapons when I had the chance because I couldn’t buy them now. The safe was also in
the shelter and it had been hard to move. I bought an AN/PVS-22 UNS nightscope for
the Super Match even though it kept me from adding 5,000 gallons to the diesel tank.
What can I say, I got it.

Nevertheless, two more loads and the diesel tank would be full. I had it stabilized with
PRI-D and the gas with PRI-G. Although it was expensive, I had several 5 gallon cans
of both with the ratio being 5 cans of D to one can of G. There were ten cans of D and
two cans of G. The house heat was a wood/coal furnace and I filled the coal room every
fall. The stove and hot water heater were natural gas until I converted to propane.

My pickup had seen better days; it was a 1960 Ford F-100. When I moved back to Iowa,
I had a rust treatment applied and the body was still in good shape. The engine was the
original and non-electronic. In fact, the only electronics were the radio and the CB. I
took it in and had the motor and manual transmission (four in the floor) rebuilt. I had the
body cleaned and a second coat of rust preventative applied. Finally, I got it painted in
the original blue it was when it was new. I would have loved to convert it to a 4x4 but it
was cost prohibitive. I did add an aftermarket second gas tank. I paid off the house
ahead of time by double paying every other month. It was now free and clear.

I was disappointed in the election, but Bush has no one to blame except himself. The
‘read my lips’ comment came back to bite him on the butt. What do potato and tomato
have in common? Ask Dan Quayle. I don’t know much about this new guy, Clinton, but

15
he looks shifty to me. I had to replace my computer and the new one was several
notches up from the first. My first was one of the first generation models and slower
than molasses in January. I think this internet will take off pretty soon; maybe within the
next three or four years.

I should note that the diesel tank is now full and I bought 4 cords of firewood for the fire-
place in the living room. The bungalow is small enough I can almost heat it with the sin-
gle fireplace. Not quite, but it was close. The guy just dumped the wood and I stacked it.
When I was done I realized that I was missing almost a full cord. I called him up and told
him I bought four full cords, not four pickup loads and I expected the rest of the firewood
post haste. He tried to give me some lip but I had the invoice in my hand and it said four
cords. Four cords is 512ft³ not 400ft³. He showed up 2 hours later and was going to just
dump the load. I told him to stack it and if it was still short, he could go get the rest. He
wasn’t a happy camper when he came up a little short but he went home and brought
back enough to fill in the missing 18ft³ plus four extra pieces so I’d quit complaining.

I suppose I’m remiss in putting a few personal details here in my diary. I was originally
from Mason City and my name is Jason Jones, DOB May 1, 1943. I’ve never been mar-
ried or even close. I did date some both when I was at Edwards and at Elgin. I like
women, not men. I continued my prepping once I moved back to Iowa. After I got every-
thing completed in December of ninety two, I concentrated on more LTS food and can-
ning supplies. I had sampled all of the various dehydrated and freeze dried foods and
replaced what I ate. Some of the things were almost better than fresh and I bought extra
of those.

After studying the issue, I narrowed down my grain grinder choice to one of two models,
the Country Living Mill and the Diamant 525. The latter model is imported from Poland
and much more expensive. I selected the Diamant, just because, and purchased spare
burrs. I added two sets of extra fine and all-purpose burrs and one set of extra course. It
came with a pulley, making it easy to motorize. The manufacturer recommended a ½ to
1 HP motor, a 3" pulley that fits on the motor's shaft, and a ⅜" v-belt that is about 64"
long. In the instruction brochure, it refers to a 3½” pulley and a 1400 RPM motor, which
is common in Europe. In North America, however, the pulley should be 3" to adapt to
Lehman’s 1725 RPM motors. I bought the motor and the v-belt/shield/pulley kit to go
with the grinder. I built a heavy table and mounted everything in place, down in the shel-
ter.

For no reason in particular, when I worked on the inside of the shelter, I put in one bed-
room and two bunk rooms, insulating the walls. A queen sized bed and two dressers
went into the bedroom and I hung a closet bar for hangers. The bunk rooms each had a
pair of bunk beds, two dressers and a closet rod. The washer was electric and the dryer
propane. I went back to American Safe Rooms and got the air pump for the top of the
Safe Cell to insure the dryer wouldn’t cause a buildup of carbon monoxide. I also in-
stalled that overpressure valve.

16
I got a better TV for the bungalow and put the slightly used one in the shelter along with
a VHS/DVD player. Then, I sat back and reviewed where I was in terms of being pre-
pared. I realized that my biggest deficiency was in the area of communications. I started
to check the outlets for various gear and made the decisions on what I wanted. It fell in-
to categories, amateur radio, citizens band, business band and FRS/GMRS. I bought a
pair of the FRS/GMRS radios at Radio Shack and my neighbor and I checked them out.
Kids toys, at best. I decided to do the CBs first and bought two Galaxy DX2547 AM/SSB
CB Base Radios, one for the house and one for the shelter. I also bought two Cobra
148GTL SSB radios and 2 Wilson mobile antennas (one set of spares). The base sta-
tion antenna was shared and was a Starduster. There were sleeping accommodations
for six so I bought six Cobra HH Roadtrip 40 channel portables with the Cobra Microtalk
MA-EBM Earbud Microphones.

I got the exams and studied until I was positive I could pass the amateur exams. On
successive weekends I passed the exams all the way up to extra class. However, I
couldn’t get the code and applied for the Technicians license from the FCC. Meanwhile,
I shopped for amateur radios. I really liked the Kenwood TS-2000. However, in the end,
I bought four Yaesu FT-897 and two power supplies. The FT-897-D can’t be broad
banded easily. I got the radios hooked up in the shelter and the house but couldn’t turn
them on because I had no antennas. What I really needed was a tower and that be-
came my sole focus until it was up. Finally, I had a US Towers 55’ collapsible fold over
tower with three stand offs and a rotor.

I put in a Mosley Pro-57-B40 beam topped with a MFJ ten band vertical, the MFJ-1798.
On one standoff was the Starduster, on a second was the business band vertical and on
the third, the Diamond D-130-J Discone. I wasn’t totally sure and bought a MFJ antenna
tuner for the Discone as a just in case measure.

I had that all wrapped up before the bombing in Oklahoma City. I had taken to eating at
a Maid Rite restaurant in Ankeny when I didn’t feel like cooking. There was a waitress,
maybe 42-44 and no wedding ring or diamond. We visited a few times when the restau-
rant wasn’t busy. Her name was Kristin and she was divorced. She said they hadn’t had
children. Working in this type of restaurant really doesn’t lend itself to going all out on
makeup; still she was quite attractive.

“Jason, would you care to take in a movie on Saturday?”

“What’s playing?”

“I’d like to see Braveheart.”

“Mel Gibson?”

“Yes.”

“Sure. Where and when do I pick you up?”

17
“Let me write down my address and phone number. Say one o’clock?”

“All I have is that old Ford pickup so you should dress accordingly.”

“Not much better than what I have, a Mercury Comet that was once red.”

It so happened that her Comet and my F-100 had the same engine. Her engine and
manual transmission were also rebuilt. I had a full set of spare ignition parts that would
work on either vehicle.

“So you’ve never been married?”

“No. I dated some but never got close to marrying. I had my hobbies and was doing my
best to accumulate various things for after I got out of the Air Force. Some of what I did
was and probably still is classified. Overall, it’s no secret; we collected data from tests
on various systems for the engineers to evaluate.”

“What kind of hobbies?”

“Well, I like firearms. I both collect and shoot them but primarily modern firearms. I do
have a small collection of 19th century type firearms including Colt revolvers and Marlin
lever action rifles. They are all of recent manufacture. Are you familiar with the term
prepper?”

“Not really.”

“A prepper is a person who prepares for an uncertain future. Originally preppers went by
the term survivalist but it became a bad thing to be due to the media and most people of
that ilk began to use the term prepper. I don’t know how the media came to believe that
survivalists intend to overthrow the government, but that’s the current image.”

“But we do get the occasional winter blizzard and it pays to have a good pantry.”

“True, but my pantry is good for years not days or weeks.”

“How do you keep food that long? Doesn’t it go bad?”

“There are certain Long Term Storage foods. For example, wheat stored in a sealed
bag with the oxygen removed and the bag stored in a sealed 6 gallon pail. If a person
has a grain grinder and the wheat, they have flour. Other things are freeze dried or de-
hydrated, mostly the former.”

“That must be bulky.”

18
“A one year supply of food for one person only takes 33ft³. In a cube that’s ~3’ 8” in
each dimension. I have eight years of LTS supplies for one person plus twelve months
of short term supplies. Those are regular shelf stable groceries. Some things, like coffee
and bath tissue I have in bulk because once they’re gone there might not be any more
for a long time. The LTS foods only account for five percent of the space in my shelter.”

“Bomb shelter?”

“More like a storm shelter or fallout shelter but yes, a bomb shelter.”

“Could I see it sometime?”

“After I get to know you a little better, sure.”

“What do you want to know?”

“How do you feel about firearms? What hobbies do you have? Are you a good cook? Do
you sew? Do you know how to can garden produce? Really, I don’t know where to
start.”

“I was raised on a farm which actually does happen in a state like Iowa. I can’t remem-
ber how old I was when I first learned the safety rules and how to shoot. I started on a
.22 rifle and graduated to a 20 gauge shotgun. My brother bought a Winchester model
70 in .30-06 to hunt out west and taught me to shoot it. I eventually graduated to a 12
gauge pump. However, I don’t own many guns at the moment.

“My main hobby is horse riding. There’s a stable on the southwest side of West Des
Moines run by a guy named Baker. I go out there at least twice a month for the trail
rides.

“I think I’m a good cook. At least I’ve never had any complaints. We grew a large garden
and canned a lot each year. My father was partial to canned beef and when we butch-
ered, part of the beef was brought home and canned.

“I suppose I’m an average seamstress. It’s more a matter of not having the time than
the ability to sew. I took home economics in high school and my mother sewed. I
learned from both school and her.”

“I’ve never ridden a horse.”

“Feel like going on a trail ride next Saturday? He gives lessons too.”

“If you are willing to go shooting the following weekend, sure.”

“We could go riding Saturday and shooting Sunday.”

19
“Ok. I’ll show you my preps on Sunday.”

“You don’t want to know about my first husband?”

“What’s to know? You’re no longer married for whatever reason. There’s no rush.”

“I caught the SOB in bed with my best friend. Goodbye husband and goodbye best
friend. I was only twenty four at the time so I’ve been single for twenty years.”

The next weekend we went riding and shooting. I made arrangements with the guy run-
ning the place, for riding lessons. I seemed to have some innate fear of horses that they
sensed. The main news was the bombing in Oklahoma City and the capture of Timothy
McVeigh. It looked to me like about 40% of the building was missing. The speculation
was that the bombing had been his attempt at making a Statement about Ruby Ridge
and Waco. Not that some of his reported beliefs differed much from the beliefs of other
Americans. We expressed our opinions at the ballot box, not with a truckload of ANNM
(Ammonium Nitrate-Nitromethane) and Tovex.

I got my first riding lesson Wednesday after work. On the way home I stopped at Maid
Rite and was surprised to find Kristin working. I waited until she was free and asked why
she worked so many hours. She simply replied that the scheduled waitress couldn’t
make it in. She asked what I had been doing and I mentioned the riding lesson.

“Want to do it again next Saturday?”

“Shooting on Sunday?”

“I’ll look forward to it. If I were to buy some firearms, what would you recommend?”

“Handgun would either be a Browning Hi-Power in 9mm or a M1911 in .45acp. I’m not a
Glock fan although they’re good firearms. You will want either a Main Battle Rifle like
the M1A, FAL or HK 91. The shotgun should probably be a 20” barrel with cylinder or
improved cylinder choke. Remington 870 or the Mossberg 590A1 would be good choic-
es. You should get a .22 rifle for small game.”

“You said you had Colts and Marlins; what about those?”

“Probably a Colt or a clone in .45 Colt with a 5½” barrel. You can get a Marlin 1894 in
.45 Colt. I have those plus an 1895 in .45-70 Government. You make enough working in
the restaurant to afford guns like that?”

“I do. But I have quite a bit in savings and if necessary could sell a portion of my gold
and or silver.”

20
Gold and silver? We went riding on Saturday and when she showed up Sunday, she
had a Browning Hi-Power, a P-14 .45acp, a standard M1A, a Mossberg 590A1, both
Marlins, the (genuine) Colt revolver and a Marlin 39A.

“The remainder of the ammo I wanted is on order. I went with Brenneke slugs and 12-
pellet Magnum Express 00 buckshot. The M1A ammo is German surplus. I have more
of each on order and had to settle for two bricks of Remington solid point .22. He only
had 100 rounds of .45-70. What do you think?”

“Did you get any rifle magazines?”

“Yes, 10 pre-ban 20 round magazines.”

“No scope for the MBR?”

“Not for the moment. I may upgrade it to a Super Match.”

“Would you like to take the tour?”

“Lead on.”

“Ok, here’s a key ring with duplicate keys. One is to the diesel pump, the second to the
gasoline pump, the third is to the door in the stairway landing, the fourth to the padlock
on the blast door and the last one to the gun safe. The safe has a combination dial like
most safes but I drilled a hole through the knob and it’s locked in place with a long
shackle keyed padlock.”

“It sounds like you have something to hide.”

“Actually, I do. I have eight suppressors and a select fire AC-556.”

“What, no hand grenades, LAW rockets or Raufoss?”

“No hand grenades or rockets. No Raufoss since I don’t have the M82 Barrett rifle.”

“Why no Barrett?”

“Cost and accuracy.”

21
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 3

Side note: Wiki reports the accuracy of the M82A1 as less than 1 MOA with match am-
mo and the M107 as 3 MOA. The Tac-50 is guaranteed at or below 0.5 MOA.

The Browning had adjustable sights and was soon shooting right on the money. The
39A had primitive sights and it went quickly. A tweak got the Mossberg ghost ring sights
dialed it in. The Colt had fixed sights. Finally, we sighted in the M1A at 200 meters using
the iron sights. While we were sighting in the firearms, she got a cell phone call.

“Problem?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to work tomorrow.”

“Can’t the boss fill in when something like this arises?”

“She does.”

“Then, why are you working?”

“I’m the boss. I hold the franchise for that restaurant and not only work a shift, but fill in
for others when they can’t make their scheduled shift.”

“I’ll be damned, I never would have guessed. It’s time to go back and clean the guns.”

It was mostly silent as we cleaned the firearms other than my suggestions when re-
quired. After we finished, she asked if she could store the firearms in my gun safe.

“You don’t want to keep them at home?”

“I have one I carry. These are extra.”

“What’s your carry piece?”

“A PPK in .380.”

“You are a most unusual woman.”

“In what way?”

“You own the restaurant franchise so you must have some money and yet you drive a
thirty year old car. The money thought is supported by the new firearms. You were
raised on a farm and have the skills associated with being a well raised farm girl. What
am I missing here?”

22
“Not much, just some details I left out. My ex wasn’t totally poor or extremely rich. His
father on the other hand was very well off. He wanted the details and circumstances of
why I filed for dissolution kept quiet. I would have never told anyone anyway but he
didn’t want to take a chance. Daddy’s attorney contacted my attorney concerning a non-
disclosure agreement. My attorney was as sharp as a tack and quick. He said he’d take
the matter up with me but he knew how badly I’d been hurt and it wouldn’t be easy or
cheap.

“I got forty thousand and attorney fees in the property settlement and my used car, the
Comet. The non-disclosure cost Daddy four hundred and fifty grand. My lawyer got one
fifty and I got three hundred. I socked the three hundred into blue chips and got a job
working as a waitress. The earnings were reinvested into more of the stocks producing
the dividends. It accumulated.”

“Good stocks?”

“Xerox, IBM, GM and a few others. I have a good broker. I sold some of it off when I ac-
quired the franchise. I needed capital and I wanted some kind of iron clad investment,
just in case. I bought some gold and silver Eagles assuming that they’d hold their value,
regardless. They’re stored in a lock box at my bank. The franchise has been reasonably
profitable and I’ve invested a fair share into additional precious metal holdings. I live on
my waitress wages and tips. If I work overtime, I’m paid overtime the same as the rest.
The franchise is held by a corporation that I own and none of the staff know I’m the
owner.”

“So you’re well off?”

“Comfortable, not rich. I keep a portion in a money market checking account for whimsi-
cal moments. That’s where the money came from for the firearms and ammo. I don’t
own a home. I lived in the same apartment for years. When I got the franchise, I moved
to Ankeny, but as you’ve seen, I still live in an apartment. You don’t seem to be too bad
off yourself.”

“My home is paid for and over the past few years I added the shelter and garage. I’m on
septic and had a well put in. There are tanks for diesel, gasoline and propane buried in
my rather large backyard. It took a while, but they’re full and stabilized. As I mentioned,
I’m setting money aside to acquire a large caliber sniper rifle when I can find one I can
afford that consistently shoots sub-MOA. I have my military pension and my wages as
an electrician. I’m fairly frugal when it comes right down to it. Silas Marner had nothing
on me.”

“My brothers bought the farm when mom and dad retired. I assume the will divides their
estate equally among us. I’m in no hurry to get that share. Farming is a tough way to
make a living and I wanted no part of that although I was offered the opportunity to buy
a share.”

23
“I’m getting hungry, how about we go out for something to eat?”

“I’m not really dressed for anything fancy.”

“That Italian restaurant we went to before doesn’t have a dress code.”

“Chuck’s? That sounds good.”

We started dating on a fairly regular basis and one thing led to another. I got to thinking
that Kristin was a person I could spend the rest of my life with. I eventually brought up
the subject of marriage.

“I probably have the same feelings for you Jason. I don’t know as I want to get married
a second time. If you’re offering, I’d be happy to move to Cambridge and share the bun-
galow.”

“What would people think?”

“This is the mid-nineties, not the mid-fifties; who cares what people might think? It would
make it simpler for each of us considering what we’ve accumulated over the years. If we
did marry, there would have to be a prenuptial agreement anyway to protect both of our
assets. Why don’t we try it my way first and if we need to formalize it, we can do that
later. We won’t be having any children. I developed endometriosis and had radical sur-
gical treatment due to chronic disabling pelvic pain. I do have to take hormones to main-
tain my pain free condition.”

“Oh, I just thought that you had experienced early menopause.”

“I did, all in one fell swoop.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m willing to give it a shot, if you are.”

Kristin didn’t have a lot of possessions. We blended what we had, using the best of both
and storing the rest in the garage loft. The only thing she insisted we add was a laundry
pair in the house. Not long after she moved in, my hot water heater sprung a leak and I
replaced it, moving from a 40 gallon unit to a fifty gallon unit with a quick recovery time.
It was supposed to be a top brand, Bradford-White.

Our arrangement had its benefits; there was a certain amount of anonymity when it
came to our business affairs. She bought a safe for the restaurant but it somehow end-
ed up in the shelter and was used to hold our separately labeled gold and silver. She
watched the market closer than I did and over the course of the next six years, into oh

24
one, we accumulated a fair amount of additional precious metal. We also accumulated
an inordinate amount of ammunition.

Two thousand and one was notable for three reasons, perhaps four or five. First, the
reviews of the McMillan Tac-50 rifle and the company’s 0.5MOA guarantee led me to
finally buy a .50 caliber rifle. They brought the rifle out the year before. Second, Kristin
got an offer for the franchise that was too good to refuse and she sold out in March.
Eighty percent of the proceeds went into gold and silver and the remainder in her mon-
ey market account. Third, September eleventh occurred and America got a wakeup call.
Fourth, George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan. They also executed Timo-
thy McVeigh in 2001 for the Oklahoma City bombing.

We picked up some lumber and built extensive shelving in the basement of the house.
Kristin contacted someone she knew and purchased enough quarts, pints and jelly jars
wholesale to completely fill those shelves and additional shelving in the shelter. We
bought a new Troy-Bilt rototiller, the largest model they had and put in a huge garden.
We added a patio behind the bungalow and plumbed it for propane, water and septic. A
work counter was installed and it held a small electric hot water heater with a power
switch. Kristin said she’d do the canning there to avoid heating the house. She had a
carpenter come out and install a roof and framing for either screens or windows. Both
were full height and the windows were Plexiglas and it had a combination screen door.
We planned to put up the screens in the spring and the windows in the fall, after can-
ning season.

One other thing comes to mind and it’s unrelated to the current events. I kept up the
lessons at Baker’s until I was an accomplished rider. I wouldn’t be entering any rodeos,
but I was very comfortable on a horse. Kristin bought two four year old gelded saddle
horses and boarded them at her brothers’ farm out by Adel in ninety eight. The tack was
rather plain but of good quality. She included saddlebags, pommel bags and a lariat.
We bought rain slickers and fleece lined drover coats. I bought some western shirts to
go with my jeans and got a good pair of western boots for riding. Our hats were brown
Stetsons, same color but slightly different styles. We also bought Stetson straw hats for
the summer months.

I bought a fair amount of gold and silver over the course of 2001; in addition to that Kris-
tin bought, and added it to my individual stock. Gold was ‘cheap’ in 2001. Kristin finally
bought a Springfield Armory Super Match rifle and went all out on a scope. It was a Carl
Zeiss Victory Diavari 6-24×72mm T* FL. I got jealous and asked her to order one for
me. We choose the illuminated Rapid Z 5 reticules. With Match ammo, the rifles were
now tack drivers out to 1,000 meters, assuming we gauged the wind right. I stored my
previous scope.

I added an AN/PVS-27 to the Tac-50. When I bought the rifle package, I upgraded the
scope to the Night Force NXS 12-42×56mm Mil Dot scope and added the McCann
Night Vision Rail Mount. The rifle package came with a total of two magazines and I

25
bought three extra for a total of five. I selected the Hornady 750gr A-MAX Match ammo
and bought 200 rounds initially. That stuff is expensive.

We upgraded the computer to a Pentium III with a gigabyte of memory in December and
got the Windows XP Professional operating system. We were too far to get ADSL from
the phone company and got high speed internet from our cable provider.

We were now sitting on ~10,000 rounds of ammo per rifle, 4,000 rounds per shotgun
and 3,000 rounds per handgun. About one half of the rifle ammo was Match grade.
That, of course, excludes the Tac-50. I was buying either one extra magazine or 50
rounds of ammo per month. I was shooting for a total of eleven magazines and all the
.50 ammo we could afford. Buy it cheap and stack it deep.

I helped with the canning because there was simply too much work for Kristin to do by
herself. The only jelly she could make was strawberry preserves. We discussed it and
decided to have the property fenced with 6’ high chain link fence and three gates; vehi-
cle gates front and back plus one pedestrian gate in the front. The fencing company of-
fered a discount if we added the barbed wire top at the same time. The discount only
applied to barbed wire and supports, but we decided, why not. It didn’t take all that long
to get the fence in and Kristin checked with a nursery about having thorny blackberries
planted inside the fence except for the three gates. The price must have been right be-
cause the nursery planted the blackberries and even ran sprinkler lines.

“Maybe we don’t need as large a garden next year. We have enough canned food for
two years.”

“I was thinking about cutting it back to about ½ to ⅔ this year. You’re just going to have
to continue to eat commercial blackberry preserves until next year. From what the
nursery guy said, I think I’ll use pint jars. If we were going to have this large a garden
again, I think I might buy a second pressure canner.”

“How did you come out on jars?”

“I had enough, barely. My local wholesale source won’t sell them for wholesale unless I
buy a gross of cases of jars. Is there room in the garage loft?”

“Are you going to get a second large order?”

“If we have the space, I will. I’m going to get a few cases of lids while I’m at it. How do
you like the dill pickles?”

“They’re good. Do you have a recipe for bread and butter pickles?”

“Mom does. I’ll get that and her sweet pickle recipe. Have you been watching the gold
prices?”

26
“I just check once in a while. Up or down?”

“They’re holding. I could be wrong but I think the market is due for a slow upswing.
Now’s the time to buy.”

“Considering how much we already have, I’d prefer to concentrate on getting our ammo
supply up to the desired levels.”

“We have a lot of ammo.”

“Not .50 caliber. I started with 200 rounds and have added 50 rounds of ammo or one
extra magazine each month. My personal goal is 5,000 rounds. I found that source
charging $59 for ten rounds plus shipping.”

“What brand?”

“Hornady A-MAX 750gr Match ammo.”

“I figured you would have found a source for the Mk 211 MP by now.”

“I wouldn’t have any idea where to look.”

“Do you want some?”

“Does a man dying of thirst in the Sahara want water?”

“I may know somebody. If I did get you some, you’d have to put it up until times get
desperate.”

“There you go, one full can of ammo.”

“What did that run?”

“Five per round…six hundred for the can.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you will suffice.”

“Of course thank you. Can you get more?”

“Maybe one can per quarter. At least that’s what Charlie said.”

“Who’s Charlie?”

27
“A supply Sergeant. He said they use about 80 rounds a month. He can record a usage
of 120 and come up with an unaccounted for can about once a quarter.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“You bet you will. Besides, it’s cheaper than that A-MAX you’ve been buying.”

“Not by much, only a buck a round difference.”

“I’ll let you know when to have the six hundred. Mind if I ask you a question? It’s not that
important but I’ve been curious since I met you.”

“Ask away.”

“You got out of the Air Force about fifteen years ago, right?”

“Yes, June of eighty five.”

“Why do you get up every morning and do calisthenics?”

“Oh man, that goes way back. I went in during June of sixty one. At the time, the physi-
cal conditioning wasn’t emphasized and I let myself go to pot and picked up a bit of a
gut. In sixty four, they announced physical standards that had to be met. I got with a guy
who worked with me to get me in condition. I even started lifting weights. The bottom
line was I discovered that it was easier to stay in condition than get into condition. It be-
came a habit and when I got out, I just kept it up.”

“Why did you get out? Couldn’t you have stayed until thirty years?”

“That was mostly a political decision. We had this CO who called me into his office and
started grilling me over some of my weapons purchases, the suppressors. I concluded
that I’d never make Chief Master Sergeant even if I stayed in the extra six years. I
guess you could say I tried to cut my losses.”

“You are in pretty good physical condition for a man who is 59.”

“I try. I don’t care for running and have never jogged. I do have that shortcoming among
others.”

“It’s a good way to burn off fat.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“I’ll jog with you. We can start off easy and slowly increase it. Probably be good for your
heart too. Why did you stop lifting weights?”

28
“I didn’t have a set of my own and never was into bodybuilding like some the guys with
a nineteen inch collar. It was just to maintain a high level of muscle tone. I suppose I
should get a barbell and dumbbell set and do it again.”

“Only if you want to, Jason. You’re in good condition.”

“But I could be in better condition. I’ll get the money set aside for the next can of Mk 211
and see about the weight sets. By the way, I found an interesting website. It’s called
Frugal Squirrel’s. I made a book mark in favorites. Check it out sometime.”

Nothing of note happened during 2002. I continued to buy .50BMG ammo and got the
weight set. I had to ease into lifting weights because it had been a while. It got more in-
teresting in November of 2002 when the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1441.
Despite the inability of the UN Inspectors and the Iraqi Study Group, no weapons of
mass destruction were found in Iraq either before or after the March 20, 2003 invasion
by the US and the UK. On 1May03, my sixtieth birthday, Bush made a speech from the
USS Abraham Lincoln, CVN-72 where he announced ‘Mission Accomplished’.

We did buy the extra order of jars at wholesale. Most were stored in the garage loft and
what wouldn’t fit went into the bungalow basement. Kristin also bought a new kind of lid,
the Tattler reusable lid. The manufacturer guaranteed the lid to never wear out. The lid
was 2 pieces, a plastic lid and a rubber ring. I’m not sure if the guarantee extended to
the rubber rings. No matter, she stored the extra rings in seal-a-meal bags. We shall
see what we shall see.

The mission wasn’t quite accomplished and they didn’t catch Saddam until 13Dec03.
They eventually hung him on 30Dec06. The continuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
were an anchor around the neck of potential Republican candidates and on November
4, 2008, the US elected its first black president, Barack Hussein Obama II. In the mean-
time, troops had been surged in Iraq and that situation was more or less under control.
However, the Taliban and al-Qaeda upped the ante in Afghanistan and our new, anti-
war president was forced to surge troops in Afghanistan.

The new president got an economic stimulus passed and a year later, National
Healthcare. It’s hard to say what he’s going to screw up next, but I’m certain he has it on
his agenda. He obviously plans on turning the US into a socialist country. I never
thought I’d live to see the day. Recently, I began to record my diary in Word, in book
form.

As far as the .50BMG ammo, I ended up with 36 cans before Charlie disappeared. On
top of that, I had a lot of the A-MAX, 6,000 rounds. But, I was no longer 18 and Kristin
was no longer 44. Over the past 7 years, we bought the 2½ acres adjoining my proper-
ty. We had a pre-fab barn erected and moved the two geldings from her brothers’ farm
to our little acreage. We had a separate well put in by the same well driller.

29
I retired at 65½ and mostly spend my time helping out around home. There is not a lot
to do, feed the horses, muck the stalls, grow the garden and help can. I got to looking
around the backyard with my tape measure in hand and decided we had a spot for a
nice medium sized hobby greenhouse. I’d picked up the name Texas Greenhouses
from a PAW story and checked them out. I determined that their AC-1700 which was
17’5” wide by 32’ long would just fit. Kristin said to get the full glass to ground model in
the bronze color.

You’d be surprised how quickly they can get a greenhouse shipped and erected during
their ‘off season’. We added the automatic vent and a propane fueled heater so we
could hopefully keep it the same temperature year round. It turned out to be a lot of
back breaking work after it was up and the carpenter she hired got the tables in. She
found some wooden ‘grow pans’ about 12” deep, give or take, 36” long and 24” wide. I
filled them with a mix of soil, potting mix and vermiculite. I got to looking at one of the
pans and decided they were nothing more than 1”x12”s cut to length and attached to ½”
plywood.

“Don’t buy any more of those grow pans, it will be cheaper for me to make them.
They’re nothing but ½” plywood and 1”x12”s with holes in the plywood for drainage and
glue and screws to hold them together.”

“I know Jason; that’s why I only bought twelve. How many are ready for planting?”

“All twelve.”

“Good, I’ll plant those and you can build me twenty-four more to start with.”

“Why don’t I just build all we have table space for?”

“Fill them as you go?”

“Might be easier on my back.”

“Good. I’ll pick up more vermiculite and potting soil. You can continue to mix that with
the soil in your wheelbarrow and fill the pots.”

“Maybe we should compost that horse manure and use it as a natural fertilizer.

“I’ll check it out on the net.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, I’m starting to feel my age. I got the material for the box-
es and built five. They’re 12” deep, 24” wide and 36” long, the same as the others ex-
cept the fifth has a pieced together bottom. I should be able to use the last small
squares for something, maybe smaller boxes. I’ve got to get them filled so you can
plant. I’ll check the internet after I get that done.”

30
The tables were 36” wide by 8’ long. There was a 2’ space at the end of each row and
space between the tables of about 18”, give or take. There were 3 rows of tables for a
total of an even dozen. Each table would hold four grow pans meaning we could fill forty
eight at once. Figure 6 heads of cabbage or lettuce or four rows of carrots per. One or
two tomato plants depending on variety. Potatoes were over planted in the regular gar-
den and stored mostly in the shelter where we could keep it around 40°. There were
certain crops we reserved for the outdoor garden like corn, melons, potatoes, onions
and garlic.

“I think I’ll try my hand at growing two trays of herbs.”

“Which ones?”

“Basil, dill, summer savory, mint, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and tarragon to begin
with.”

“Simon and Garfunkel?”

“What?”

“Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.”

“That was, uh what, Scarborough Fair?”

“Yeah. It started off with, Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary,
and thyme. Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine.
You’ve been keeping the food inventory. How do we stand at the moment?”

“Two years of canned garden produce. One freezer is full. The one year of short term
supplies can’t be short more than a week or two. Two large bags of onions. Fourteen
bags of potatoes. The two years of garden produce include 55 jars of pasta sauce. The
LTS stuff is 6 years for two and the extras you like to include in our regular diet. Why,
something bothering you?”

“Yes and no. Something is eating at me but I can’t pin it down. The stock markets are
up and down like a roller coaster. Gold traded for over twelve hundred an ounce today
on the New York Spot Market. Kim Jung Il is visiting China and President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad still trying to drum up support for a reduction of sanctions because of their
nuclear activities.”

“It will come to you.”

“I just hope you mean I’ll figure it out as opposed to a missile flying over the Arctic.”

“You were at Edwards during the Cuban Missile Crisis?”

31
“Yes I was.”

“Did you know Gary Ott?”

32
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 4

“I knew him. He mostly had his nose stuck in a bottle of Olympia beer. I think that event
spooked him more than a little, he didn’t drink for almost two weeks. In some ways, we
had quite a bit in common. He was from Charles City and enlisted to get away from his
father like I did. He got an early out to go to college at ISU.”

“You know that he’s one of the Patriot Fiction authors at Frugal’s don’t you?”

“Which one is he?”

“Tired Old Man.”

“TOM? You can’t be serious. I wonder when he moved back to California.”

“Eighty two according to something he said in one of his stories.”

“Still a drunk?”

“I think he cleaned up through AA.”

“Good for him. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t a horse’s hind end, but good for him. What did
he end up doing?”

“Got a BA and an MBA. Worked for the Department of Revenue for 19 years and then
resigned. He’s been disabled for several years.”

“Seems to know his stuff on most survival related issues. I like those links he sometimes
includes in his stories. Plus we both have the same taste in music.”

“I prefer Jerry D. Young. I figure he’s rich because I’ve looked up some of the equip-
ment he discusses in his stories. Pricey stuff.”

“I looked some of it up too. It’s pricey but of the highest quality. I’m not so sure I agree
with his preference for the PTR-91 over the M1A. However, I checked out the AUG and
they’re top notch. His hands must be larger because he favors the Glock 21 or P-14
over the single stack M1911s. I’ll give him one thing; he is partial to Cold Steel knives.”

“Are they the best?”

“What’s best is mostly a personal choice. There are some of their 24” machetes on the
ALICE packs. That knife on my gun belt is a San Mai Laredo Bowie, also from Cold
Steel. The assorted bayonets are mostly from Ontario Knives and the daggers are Ger-
ber Mk 2 fighting knives. Randall made knives are the best in my opinion.”

“Come on, I’ll help you with filling those boxes.”

33
“Sure. What’s for supper?”

“Would you mind terribly if we went to Maid Rite?”

“Not at all. Guess we got out of the habit when you sold out.”

After we filled the boxes, she began planting the seeds. She said I had time to do some
checking on the internet. I went to the link describing composting horse manure and
printed it out. I went to Canning Pantry and Lehman’s and checked out the grain rollers
and ordered one. Finally, I went to Hall’s Arkansas Oilstones and ordered three natural
stones. I washed up and was waiting for her when she came in from the greenhouse.

“Give me five minutes.”

“Take as long as you need.”

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

“I don’t know if I want the tenderloin or the Maid Rite.”

“As hungry as I am, I may get the Tenderloin basket with a Maid Rite on the side.”

“That’s a lot of food for one sitting. Tell you what, I’ll have a word with the guy who
bought me out and get a box of Maid Rite meat and one of Tenderloins. If he’s not
there, maybe the shift super will sell them to me.”

“It would be nice to be able to have a Maid Rite without driving to Ankeny.”

“You should have said something Jason. It’s usually no problem for a former franchisee
to get a box of the meat or tenderloins although it is against policy.”

“While I was waiting on you, I ordered a grain roller and three natural Arkansas stones. I
only had the one and it’s seen better days. With the three I bought, I’ll get every knife
we have sharp enough to shave with.”

“Fat lot of good that’ll do me, I don’t shave.”

“I guess I should have just said razor sharp.”

“I knew what you meant, lighten up. Are you going to do all of them including the bayo-
nets?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

34
“I saw a knife on the internet I wouldn’t mind having. Maybe for Christmas?”

“What was it?”

“A Spiderco Harpy.”

“I know the knife. Wicked.”

“How about you? Anything you’d like to have?”

“Not really. I have all the boy toys I’ll ever need. We even have the smoke grenades you
found at Ammunition to Go and the special 12 gauge and .45acp ammo. Two colors of
flares and shot shells for the .45acp and flares for the shotguns. There was a time when
I was engrossed in the Out of the Ashes book series. I have the Thunder Lizard but the
Chicago Typewriter is too expensive to buy and too expensive to shoot.”

“A Thompson submachine gun?”

“Yeah. Can’t own one in Iowa anyway.”

“But you have the AC-556.”

“I lived in Florida when I got it and didn’t send a change of address to the ATF.”

“Why did you get the folding stock?”

“It’s compact enough to carry in a large backpack with the stock folded. I like it because
it is semi-auto, 3 round burst and full auto. You don’t need full auto or 3 round burst of-
ten, but in those situations where it’s appropriate, you’re glad to have it.”

“What situations would those be?”

“If you’re conducting an ambush or being ambushed. At least you can lay down sup-
pressive fire and make good your escape.”

We had our meal and Kristin disappeared for a few minutes. She paid for the meal and I
noticed it ran more than a single twenty.

“You must have gotten the goods. The Maid Rite is good but two meals don’t cost over
twenty dollars.”

“I got two boxes of each. They always keep a little in reserve and will be refilling their
stocks on Monday. It’s probably a good thing Julie was working rather than the new
franchise owner. She and I go way back. She said the new owner strictly follows com-
pany guidelines and wouldn’t have sold me any.”

35
“Is there room in the freezer?”

“If not, I’ll take out some of the frozen jugs of water.”

Another day in the life, routine, boring. I caught the news the next morning on the radio
and switched on the TV when I heard about Yellowstone. I caught the tail end of an in-
terview with Jake Lowenstern. About all I heard was his statement that the swarm was
‘most unusual’. I assumed they replay the clip during the next news hour and pulled up
the few files I had on Yellowstone on my computer. We had breakfast sitting in front of
the TV so we could catch the interview when it was replayed.

“I see what you mean Jason; this could be a problem if it let loose.”

“For sure we’re in the area covered by the Lava Creek ash bed and I think probably the
Huckleberry Ridge ash bed. It would just be our bad luck if it does erupt and the erup-
tion was larger than Huckleberry Ridge. That one put out 2,450km³ according to the
map in that one file. Supposedly it’s forty thousand years overdue based on the average
interval.”

“I’m not going to worry about it since there’s nothing we can do to affect whether or not
it happens. I have a question. Can we add grow lights to the greenhouse?”

“We can. However, if we’re on grow lights, I doubt we’ll have enough electricity. That
12.5kw generator we have isn’t big enough for the additional load.”

“What can we do about that?”

“I suppose we could replace it with a larger generator or add a second of the same
model and synch them. The other way to go would be to just use the new one to power
the greenhouse grow lights.”

“Get your hat, we’re going shopping.”

“Let me call the excavator and get him started on digging down to the overhead.”

“Let’s go.”

“What did he say?”

“He’ll start within an hour. The way I set this up was with a road plate as an overhead. It
had a large ring welded on it and we can lift it out with a block and tackle.”

“Hogwash. We’ll hire a crane to remove the plate, lower the new generator and replace
the plate.”

36
“If we’re going to do that, we’ll need to get a welder to build a new support frame.”

“That sounds like a lot of work. Wouldn’t it be easier to put in a bigger generator?”

“Well, we could. But, it doesn’t make any sense. The QD12.5 generates 100 amps. To
get to 200 amps of single phase, we’re looking at a larger, louder, fuel hog compared to
adding a second QD12.5. If we can’t synch them, we’ll just use the one for the green-
house.”

The dealer didn’t have a QD12.5 on hand or a QD10. We ended up at another vendor
and brought home a Kohler 40REOZJB. It had just enough extra power, a total of 150
amps, to do the job. We had to buy a 200 amp ATS, a new electrical panel and all new
filters but we’d have the power we’d need. When we arrived back in Cambridge, the ex-
cavator was shoveling the last of the soil into the bucket. He asked why we needed it
uncovered and I briefly explained, omitting any reference to Yellowstone. He said to get
the block and tackle and we could raise the plate up near the surface and he’d lift it the
remaining distance and set it beside the hole. If we could call him within the next two
days, he’d be available to lower anything and everything, but the day after he and his
wife were headed to Florida. Nobody in their right mind goes to Florida in August.

I turned off the diesel line and disconnected it and the intake and exhaust from the
QD12.5. The block and tackle was used to remove the generator and stand in a single
lift. Then, he lowered the Kohler into place with me guiding it. OSHA would have never
approved. Next came the overhead and finally the soil. Meanwhile, I had the fuel con-
nected using a wire braided hose and managed to get the intake and exhaust adapted
to the lines. The QD12.5 was stored in the garage.

The excavator finished backfilling the hole and made out an invoice. Kristin gave him a
check and we began to haul the filters down to the shelter. We got back in the pickup
and went after 4 drums of oil.

“Any more spending is going to have to come out of your checking account Jason, I’m
tapped out.”

Figuring 7 pounds per gallon, a 55 gallon drum of oil weighs 385 pounds. Call it 400 to
include the drum. The F-100 1960 Ford pickup is a half-ton. Can you imagine what it
looked like with 1,600 pounds of oil in the back?

“I’ll finish it up tomorrow. We need the fixtures, bulbs and more conduit, flex and wire. I’ll
put a string of lights end to end over each row so we’ll need 24 fixtures and maybe 30’
of conduit plus a switch box and heavy duty switch.”

“Why don’t you put each row on a separate switch?”

“If that’s what you’d prefer, fine.”

37
“What do you want for supper?”

“Hot pizza and a cold beer.”

“In or out?”

“Let’s go out, it’s not a DiGiorno night and we don’t have any beer.”

“We don’t have any DiGiorno either. I’ll have to fix both tomorrow after we go shopping.”

“For the lighting?”

“No, I’m taking the trailer and going to Costco and Sam’s Club first. I’ll get some beer
and DiGiorno at Hy-Vee and then we’ll stop and pick up the electrical supplies on the
way home. You might want to check the freezers and see how much room we have.”

“We have room for a box of loins, a case of hams, 60 pounds of bacon, 60 pounds of
butter and a beef before we have to pull ice jugs. They were emptier than I thought. We
can use my checkbook; I’m in pretty fair shape money wise. I’ll put the two Igloo coolers
in the trailer with a jug of ice in each. While I’m doing that, could you call the Black An-
gus place and put a rush on a side of beef?”

“Extra boneless to use all the tallow?”

“Yes. Tell them that we want 10% ground sirloin in one pound packages. That should
use up all of the trimmings. Might take a box or two of boneless, but tell them to use all
they need.”

I hooked up the trailer and pulled 2 ice jugs from the shelter freezer, locking it up on my
way back up. I had added my 1911 in a Galco Miami Classic rig and slipped my small
boot knife in my right boot. I notice that Kristin had her Galco purse so she was armed
too.

At Costco, she loaded a trolley with bath tissue and I loaded one with 60 cans of coffee
and a list of spices we were low on. We arrived at the checkout together and I told him
we were together. He rang us both up and I wrote the first check. The purchases were
stored in the trailer and we went back for the refrigerated goods. We had to ask to get
that many hams and they were pulled from a walk-in cooler. While they were at it, I
asked them to pull enough butter so we could get 60 pounds plus a full box of loins. I
topped the load with two flats of canned mushrooms.

“That’s a lot of meat, expecting trouble?”

“Could be; have you been following the news?”

38
“Yellowstone? They have swarms all the time.”

“Yeah, well, we’re stocking the freezer.”

We also got twelve 6-pound cans of Crisco, several boxes of tea bags, salt, pepper and
sugar. Kristin left me to guard her cart and went for another. She filled it with the various
mixes for cookies, muffins, pancake mix and Aunt Jemima Syrup two packs. The last
item we squeezed into a third cart was several gallons of vegetable oil and a 100 pound
bag of flour. After we had that paid for and loaded into the trailer, we headed for the
nearest Sam’s Club. We stocked up on several varieties of pasta and Bunn coffee fil-
ters, among other things.

We went into the liquor store and got a mixed case of Liquor including Jack Black, Jose
Cuervo, Absolute and Sapphire gin. Next, we stopped at Hy-Vee and got 6 cases of
beer, four dozen DiGiorno pizzas, six cases of Coke and an assortment of mixes. I like
Jack and Squirt so I added two cases of Squirt. Normally Costco is cheaper on Coke
than the grocery stores but Hy-Vee had it on sale.

The last stop was the electrical supply house and I gave Mel the list of things I wanted. I
told him we had the pickup and if it wouldn’t all fit there was some room in the trailer.
They got right on assembling the order, loading it in the pickup as fast as it was pulled.
We were on the way back to Cambridge in under an hour. I got the appliance caddy and
moved the two coolers into kitchen and put the balance of the food in the shelter. After
the electrical fixtures and supplies were in the greenhouse, I went to the kitchen to help
Kristin cut and wrap the loins and add everything to the freezers. About half went into
the freezer in the basement and the other half in the shelter freezer.

“When will the meat be ready?”

“Monday after three.”

“What’s the holdup?”

“Too many orders. He said we were lucky the wait wasn’t longer. They’re filling them on
a first come-first served basis, barbershop style.”

“Is the boneless they use Black Angus or milk cow?”

“Yes. Black Angus milk cows. He said that boneless was hard to get but they had more
than enough to get our order filled. He wasn’t too sure how many after us would have
their requests for boneless filled. Knowing the guy the way I think I do, he’ll just substi-
tute with whatever he can get. Would you like me to run down to Ankeny and get more
Maid Rite and Tenderloins tomorrow while you hang the light fixtures?”

“Ah crap, I forgot to get the chain, S hooks and eyebolts. You get the stuff from Maid
Rite and I’ll get what I need to hang the fixtures.”

39
“Is everything unloaded and put away?”

“You bet. I even put the water jugs back in the freezers until we see how much space
the beef will take. A question just popped in my mind. How did you acquire your pre-
cious metals?”

“From coin dealers.”

“That wasn’t what I was getting at. Cash no name transactions or credit card purchases
with your name being recorded.”

“Oh, I see; cash only and if they wanted my name I gave them my married name, Law-
son.”

“I take it you went to court and got it changed back to Wells.”

“Long after I bought the gold I did, except for the gold and silver I bought when I sold the
franchise. That was a no name deal because they just assumed my name was still
Lawson and I didn’t tell them I’d changed back to my maiden name.”

“After I get the lighting installed in the greenhouse I have to install the new ATS for the
new generator. I think I’ll build a cover for the open section of stairwell down to the shel-
ter and cover it with a couple of inches of dirt. Very few people know about the shelter
and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Not to sound like a broken record, but what would you like for supper?”

“I put a six pack in the fridge. Pizza and a beer or a soda?”

“Which flavor?”

“The Ultimate Supreme ok?”

“Sure. Rather than a beer, could you make me a Tom Collins?”

“I’ll do that. I think since you’re having a mixed drink I’ll have Jack and Squirt.”

“Have you ever tried their Single Barrel?”

“I’m too cheap to spend the money and I rarely drink it neat or on the rocks. I’ve only
been drunk twice in my life, once when I was about 15 and the second time when I was
in tech school in Denver. I decided that alcohol and I didn’t get along well and I rarely
drink. That mixed case we picked up would last for years if it were only me drinking it.
The beer is nice with a pizza and we did buy 48 pizzas.”

40
“But you bought six cases of beer.”

“Four cases to go with the pizzas assuming we each have a can with the pizza. The
other two cases for when we’ve put in a hot grueling day and just feel like a beer. I’m
going to turn on Fox and see if they have an update.”

It wasn’t their breaking story but it was still a major news event. The earthquake swarm
hadn’t slacked off indicating the continuing movement of magma. They had John Gib-
son substituting for Shep Smith. He reported that Lowenstern had declined a second
interview stating he was too busy. They then ran some footage of Mt. St. Helens, it was
smoking again. It seemed to me that the USGS had its hands full at the moment. I put
my empty glass in the sink and Kristin put the cut up pizza on a platter, saying, “Dinner’s
ready.”

Her drink was mostly full and I asked if she wanted a beer. She said, “No thanks” so I
only got one out of the fridge. Pretty fair pizza for factory made, there weren’t any lefto-
vers.

“Want to go with me out to the greenhouse? It just occurred to me that putting in the
eyebolts will take two people. Someone has to be inside to drill the hole and insert the
bolt and someone else has to be outside to fasten the nut.”

“We need a cherry picker for the person outside.”

“Good idea. Maybe we can rent one.”

“You know, I may just know someone who has one. I’ll check on that tomorrow while I’m
getting the Maid Rite. If I’m right, he’d be a lot cheaper than renting one. The advantage
of working in a café for years is all the people you meet. I’ll look him up in the phone
book when I’m in Ankeny.”

I took off late the following morning to get the additional materials, a roll of chain, box of
S hooks and two boxes of eyebolts with nuts. I added two 100’ lengths of 10 gauge ex-
tension cord and one three way splitter. The conversation of the previous night came to
mind and I stopped at the package store and bought one bottle of Single Barrel. Fifty
bucks, for crying out loud, for the 750m bottle.

Kristin was home when I got there. The guy with the cherry picker happened to be in the
Maid Rite getting an early lunch. She asked him how much he’d charge to help install
the eyebolts. A buck a mile and ten bucks an hour, door to door. She got his phone
number and told him she’d check with me and let him know either way. We spent the
remainder of the day on a tall step ladder drilling the holes. When we finished, she
called the number he’d given her, his cell phone, and he said he’d be here at 9 am the
next morning.

41
I was up until almost midnight assembling the fixtures, putting in the eyebolts on the top
and doing what I needed to do, so hanging the fixtures would take the least amount of
time. I moved the grow boxes from the center row and lay the assembled fixtures on
that table. I could worry about the chain later.

By the time we knocked off, all I had left to complete was running the flex to the three
rows of fixtures. We had supper and I went back out and made the final connections.
The grow lights were ready to go by 10 pm. I flipped the three switches and the green-
house was flooded with light.

“We have grow lights. Now no matter what happens we can grow food in the green-
house.”

“You look tired.”

“I’m exhausted, if you must know. I forgot to ask, how many boxes did you get at Maid
Rite?”

“Three of each and several bags of the French fries. We can take the day off tomorrow,
except for feeding the horses, and pick up the meat any time after three the following
day. I went through what we have on hand and except for a couple of items we’re cov-
ered on food for several years.”

“You want to pick up what we need tomorrow?”

“Why don’t you rest up and I go after the things, it’s really not that much.”

“You said you’re tapped out. Get some cash out of the safe and just pay cash. Did you
catch the news?”

“The status on Yellowstone is unchanged, but Mt. St. Helens’ activity is marginally high-
er. And two more volcanoes in the Cascade Range have begun showing smoke, Mt.
Rainer and Mt. Adams.”

“They did Rainer on that Mega Disasters program. That could be bad if it let loose. It
could wash Seattle into the Sound.”

The next morning, I fed the horses and mucked the stalls. I left the door open so they
could run in the pasture if they wanted. Kristin was gone for about two hours and those
‘few items’ had grown to more than a few. Well, maybe that’s an overstatement; she
had several of a few different items. We divided her purchases between the shelter and
the basement. I was glad I hadn’t put the soil down on the plywood covering the stair-
well to the shelter.

42
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 5

Around 4pm on Monday, we were on our way home from the meat place when she
reached over and turned on the radio, putting it on WHO. An excited announcer was re-
lating the events of the previous half hour, the Cascadia subduction zone, which had
been frozen, wasn’t frozen anymore and had subducted. I pushed up the speed slightly
and got us home.

We rushed to get the meat put away and then we got the horses into the barn. We put
out extra grain and fresh bales of hay which should see them through a day or two. She
put on a pot of coffee and started the deep fat fryer, pulling out two Tenderloins and
some fries for supper. I grabbed a coke and plunked down in front of the TV, changing
the channel to Fox.

It was like a scene from prehistoric times. Local affiliates were forwarding footage from
whatever volcano was in their coverage area and Fox was moving from one to the next.
Kristin came in and handed me a plate with a Tenderloin sandwich and fries. She then
set up TV trays for both of us and went back to get her plate and a Coke. We sat, mes-
merized, taking it all in. She cleared the plates and brought in coffee.

Over the course of the next few hours, it went from bad to worse. The FAA started to
restrict flights and close airports. The first closed was Sea-Tac and they began to ex-
tend the no fly zone. Mt. Hood, one of the most climbed mountains in the range began
to put out smoke. To make matters worse, the slip had generated a tsunami that had
struck as far south as California and sent a wall of water racing across the Pacific. The
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawai’i and the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami
Warning Center both issued Tsunami Warnings.

It was getting late and we were getting tired. We had the Oregon Scientific WR602 on
and the WRB603 in the stand on the desk. The latter includes a separate weather sta-
tion. Both use the WR602 radio but the WRB603 has a remote wireless sensor for hu-
midity and temperature.

“House or shelter?”

“Either way. Which would you prefer Kristin?”

“I think it might be wise to sleep in the shelter, just in case. With all the geological activi-
ty, the New Madrid Seismic Zone may feel left out and join in.”

“I tend to doubt that, but the shelter is fine.”

We moved the charging stand for the WR602 plus the WRB603 to the shelter and had
both radios charging. The sensor was on the outside of the garage on the side facing
the house. I had an antenna on the edge of the garage roof, specifically for those times
when we had the 603 in the shelter. She set a package of bacon in the fridge to thaw

43
and had carried a 1½ pound loaf of bread and a carton of eggs to the shelter when we
went down.

Nothing happened locally and we woke up with the alarm at 6:30 the following morning.
I used the bathroom, washed up and put on coffee. Kristin called when she was out of
the shower. I had originally put in a 10 gallon electric water heater but later replaced it
with a 38 gallon model. Ten gallons would allow a quick shower, almost Navy style. The
larger unit had a fairly fast recovery rate and two people could shower and still have
some hot water left. I slipped into clean clothes and made the toast while she finished
poaching four eggs.

We hadn’t emptied the refrigerator in the kitchen because sleeping in the shelter was
only a precaution. One, it would turn out, that had consequences.

I had the TV on, Fox of course, and we watched the news through breakfast. The tsu-
nami had hit Japan and Hawai’i but caused little damage. Some of the western shore of
the US had more damage. The Cascade Range volcanoes putting out smoke and or
steam were continuing to do so but no additional volcanoes had become active. After
we had the kitchen cleaned up and everything put away, we went top side to check on
the horses and the place.

I was tending to the horses when she came to the barn carrying both shotguns with my
1911 on her arm and hers strapped on.

“We had company last night. Somebody cut the lock off the front vehicle gate. I brought
your shotgun and .45. Take a look and see if you can fix it.”

“Ok, show me.”

“There was no reason for someone to do that much damage. It was probably some kids.
Could you call the fencing company and tell them we need a new gate? Tell them we
want wire on top and a heavier lock. I going to run in and pick up security lights for each
of the gates with wireless remote alarms.”

The motion sensors with the lights weren’t hard to find. Motion sensors with lights and
built in wireless transmitters were much harder to find. After I studied the schematic of
the motion sensors with lights, I got 3 transmitters and two receivers. Using my long for-
gotten skills, I wired the transmitters into the motion sensors so the transmitter would
send a signal if the light was activated by the PIR (passive infrared) sensor. I checked
them after I had them installed and they worked, almost too well. I had to reposition the
PIR units to avoid setting off the units with passing traffic.

The new gate was just a little stouter than the previous gate and had the barbed wire on
the top. A Story County Deputy stopped when he happened to drive by.

“Are you sure that barbed wire is legal?”

44
“Nope, so I put it on the inside rather than the outside. We had a break-in last night and
I added those motions sensors with the lights you see. I hooked them into small trans-
mitters and if someone tries to get in again, the alarm in the house will sound.”

“You leave the law enforcement to us. Call before you go off halfcocked.”

“Do you even know where the expression halfcocked comes from?”

“Yes, the reference is to a single action revolver.”

“I’m surprised you know that, the revolver was released 100 years before you were
born.”

“I compete a little in SAS.”

“I almost did that once, back in the late sixties. Bought the revolvers but couldn’t find a
coach gun or a rifle in .45 Colt.”

“Oh, what do you have; short, medium or long barrels?”

“All three. I got a Marlin 1894 in .45 Colt and later, a Pioneer Arms coach gun.”

“Call if they come back.”

“You guys have a plan in case Yellowstone erupts?”

“We have a plan alright. I’m not so sure it will work if we get a lot of ash. The ash is very
abrasive.”

“Will it interfere with your communications?”

“We don’t really know. Opinion is divided about fifty-fifty. What’s that hedge inside the
fence?”

“Thorny blackberries.”

“Do you have much trouble with people harvesting those on the outside of the fence?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t amount to much so we leave them alone unless the try to climb the
fence. Usually a word to the wise is sufficient.”

“And when it isn’t”

“I rack the slide on my 870. They leave. End of story.”

45
“What’s it loaded with?”

“The first round is a beanbag, the second 00 buck and the third a slug.”

“Is that all you have, the Marlin, Remington and Colts?”

“Not exactly. I have an M1A too.”

“Springfield Armory?”

“Yes, standard model. I have a few more firearms than that and my wife has some too.”

I wasn’t about to tell the punk that Kristin and I weren’t married. It wasn’t any of his
business. He had just a bit of an attitude and I responded with a bit of my own. I sure as
hell wasn’t going to tell him about the AC-556 or the suppressors. And, for sure, he
didn’t need to know we had as many sniper weapons as the Sheriff’s Department. I was
fairly sure they didn’t have a .50 caliber rifle. Because of the terrain and all of the farms,
Iowa requires the use of shotguns to hunt deer. A .50 caliber rifle bullet can travel six
plus miles if launched like an artillery projectile.

I could sense that if he knew about the registered and unregistered (Mk 211) NFA pos-
sessions we had locked up in the shelter, I’d be in the Nevada (NE vay da, not Na Vad
da) lockup faster than I could say Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don’t Care. Hell, he’d proba-
bly arrest me for having a .50 caliber rifle and they’re legal in Iowa. According to the
NRA Factsheet, sawed off shotguns and silencers must be legal because the NRA
doesn’t say they’re illegal. See if the judge believes that…all NFA items are illegal in Io-
wa, see Code section 724.1.

“I don’t want to have to come back because you shot a trespasser.”

“Bury ‘em deep, huh?”

“Jason, you’d better shut up before you get in any deeper. Come to the house, supper is
almost ready.”

“I don’t know, maybe the stress of all of the geological activity coupled with someone
breaking in and our having to replace the gate. This is Cambridge, Iowa not New York
City, Chicago or Los Angeles. When I mentioned a break-in to him he didn’t even ask if I
wanted to file a report. He was more concerned about those three stands of barbed
wire.”

“Come on in and have a hot meal and forget about Deputy Dog. Maybe you just caught
him on a bad day.”

“And we didn’t have a bad day?”

46
“Maybe I’d better mix you a Jack and Squirt so you chill a little. I wouldn’t mind a drink
either.”

“You said supper was ready. Maybe we can have a drink after supper if you still want
one. Besides, I’d like to eat in front of the TV and get caught up on what’s happened to-
day.”

“Set up the TV trays and I’ll bring in the plates. I wasn’t sure, do you want a Maid Rite, a
Tenderloin or reheated leftovers?”

“What’s hot?”

“The French fries, 2 Tenderloins and two servings of the Maid Rite.”

“Ok, one of each; mustard for the Tenderloin, ketchup for the Maid Rite and pickles for
both.”

“Top or bottom?”

“On the bottom; mustard or ketchup topped with the pickles, please.”

Historical note: The Maid Rite sandwich is uniquely Iowan. It was invented in Iowa and
mostly enjoyed in Iowa. The breaded pork tenderloin can be found in Missouri and Kan-
sas, occasionally, but not the Maid Rite. As a child, I’d go into the local Maid Rite and
get a sandwich and drink for 25¢ plus a penny tax. Sandwich was 15¢, drink 10¢. Can’t
remember if fries were 10¢ or 15¢. The waitress would ask what you wanted on it and
she’d build it, putting down the ketchup and then pickle and top it with as much meat as
the bun would hold. She’d slap the top bun on and wrap it in paper. But then, I remem-
ber when McDonald’s had Golden Arches and a burger, fries and drink was 46¢.

In summary, Fox said that the volcanoes active in the Cascade Range were still active
but not had erupted. Several volcanoes in Alaska had become active, rather more than
usual. Lowenstern was shown for a 45 second clip where he referred to the activity at
Yellowstone as approaching mega swarm status. Later, I tried to look it up on Wiki. The
closest I could come was Super Swarm on Mega Disasters about the plague of locusts.
Failing to find anything pertinent on Wiki, I tried the USGS website. It came up with a
403 error message, access is denied. Usually, a person gets a 404 message, file not
found. Why would the USGS website be blocked? Too much traffic or were they, per-
haps, limiting access to a select few? The latter was easily accomplished using a data-
base of approved Internet Protocol Addresses. A corollary might an internet cookie that
you save on your computer to keep you logged into a website like Frugal’s.

The problem with cookies is that you end up with a huge file and if you clear the cook-
ies, you have to log back in to each website. A program like Cookie Cleaner allows you
to save the cookies you want to keep and delete the rest. It’s freeware and updated pe-
riodically.

47
“Do you still want a mixed drink?”

“Only if you want one.”

“Well, I would like to try that bottle of single barrel I picked up.”

“You said you were too cheap to buy it.”

“True, but I’d hate to die having not tried it. Would you like to try it or do you want a Tom
Collins?”

“I’ll stick with what I’m used to, but go ahead. If you think it’s really good, I might try a
sip.”

Since I didn’t have any shot glasses per se, I used a three ounce rocks glass I picked
up somewhere and filled it about half full. I mixed her drink and returned to the living
room.

She was engrossed in a book so I gave her the Collins and sat down at the computer. I
started checking the forums because they sometimes post current news even before
the media.

I learned a little more than either Fox of CNN had. Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams were pro-
ducing small amounts of lava. One guy whose address said Washington claimed he
was in Seattle and would bug out as soon as his kids were home from school. He open-
ly debated the wisdom of going south and said he was considering Vancouver.

“What do you think? Want me to empty the refrigerator and move the contents to the
shelter?”

“Is something up? I didn’t hear the TV.”

“I checked the forums and a guy in Seattle is going to bug out but can’t decide between
Vancouver and a fast run south past the Cascade Range.”

“Did you reply?”

“No, the post was at least 12 hours old and I’m reasonably sure he’s made his decision
and taken off.”

“How much ash could we get under the worst case scenario?”

“Hopefully less than a foot. Hold on while I bring up ‘How Far is It’ and get the distances
involved. It’s 883 miles (1421 km) (767 nautical miles), on a course of 91.1°. Darn, we’re
straight east of Yellowstone. I used Jackson, Wyoming as the point of origin, that won’t

48
be more than 1° off. If it does let go, we’re in for a bad time. This is not good; not good
at all.”

“I’m glad now I thought to buy two extra sets of pre-filters from American Safe Room. I
initially bought two complete replacement sets and later bought the two additional pre-
filter sets when I expanded the coverage to include other disasters such as this one.”

“Expensive?”

“The full sets were seven hundred per set, the pre-filters only fifty-five per set. Might be
hard to get now, the place is up in Oregon in the no-fly zone.”

“Is this the only use for them?”

“Well…they would come in handy if we had another Dust Bowl. The pre-filter is intended
for all applications. The HEPA and Carbon filters are for protections against WMDs.
They filter radiological, bacteriological and chemical agents.”

The cable news channels didn’t have much new to add to the previous evening’s re-
ports. The volcanoes listed the previous night were still active. The states of Washing-
ton and Oregon had their National Guards out. A portion of northern California was in-
cluded down to the southern terminus of the Range; Lassen Peak was under the watch-
ful eye of the California National Guard. The Yellowstone swarm was continuing with a
marginal increase in frequency and strength indicating that the magma was still moving.

I went out and let the horses out so I could scoop up the manure for our compost pile. I
made it a point to limit the amount of bedding added to the pile, creating a separate pile
for the excess straw. I added grain and hay to the feed troughs and hay racks for the
two stalls. They came back in on their own three hours later to a cleaned up barn with
fresh hay and grain out.

That night after we’d headed to bed, the NOAA NWS SAME radio came alive about the
time we finished undressing. It was time to move to the shelter on a permanent basis.
Yellowstone was close to another eruption.

“I’d better call and get the diesel, gas and propane tanks topped off. I sure wish we had
more diesel stored.”

“Do you have enough set aside to buy a full load?”

“Actually, I do. Since we stopped buying ammo, I’ve accumulated a substantial amount
of money.”

“Enough to top off all the tanks and buy another 9,000 gallons?”

49
“It will tap me out. But I’m sure I can handle it. With you tapped out, we could have a
problem until we get my retirement checks or you get a dividend check.”

“There’s still cash in the safe.”

“If it’s enough, we’ll be okay. Anyway, what’s this about an extra 9,000 gallons of die-
sel?”

“A regular customer I had was an over the road trucker. He had a 40’ box trailer, a flat-
bed and a 9,000 gallon tanker. I ran into him recently at the café and he mentioned that
he still had his equipment although he’s retired. He said he was giving some thought to
leasing out the three trailers.”

“Lease a tanker?”

“If it’s available. He could pull it to the distributor and take on a load of diesel. We could
take him 4½ gallons of PRI-D and have it added when he fills the tanker. He can park
the trailer over the diesel tank and run the line from the tanker to the fill pipe.”

“That’s about twenty two thousand five hundred for the fuel. What will the lease run?”

“I’ll pay that, in gold. Best guess would be about one tenth ounce per month.”

“I’ll call for the loads to top off the tanks. You call him and the distributor. I’ll make out a
check for the fuel. You can take the check and the PRI-D to him and he can get it taken
care of. Does that sound ok?”

“Yes, let’s get those calls made.”

It didn’t actually take much to top off the diesel, gas and propane tanks. I kept a record
of our usage and ordered a mixed load of diesel and gasoline. Kristin took the check
and the PRI-D to the guy with the tanker and he showed up just after noon.

“Where do you want it?”

“The fill pipe is over there.”

“Ok, I’ll move the tanker and hook up the line. The lease on the tanker is two ounces per
year. Normally, I’d charge one tenth ounce per month. With this Yellowstone thing, I got
several calls from people wanting to lease it. I explained it to Kristin and she said ok.
She already paid me. Think we’ll get much ash?”

“Hard to say. The longer it lasts, the greater the volume. The largest was 2,450km³. I’m
concerned because of that Cascadia subduction and its effect on the Cascade Range. If
some of those volcanoes let loose, it could add a fair amount of additional ash. The last
thing I heard on TV just a while ago was that the airspace west of the Mississippi was

50
closed except for the most southern routes. About half of all the flights around the coun-
try are grounded.”

“They were talking about Alaska.”

“They’re lots of volcanoes in Alaska. One area is called the Valley of Ten Thousand
Smokes. Novarupta erupted in 1912 and put out about 15km³ of ash. Those weren’t
volcanoes, just cracks in the crust spewing gases. I can’t remember the scientific term
for them.”

“What’s going on with the planet? Half the scientists claim we have global warming and
the other half say we’re entering a period of global cooling. The hurricanes we do have
seem to be worse. Strange…really strange.”

“It’s just Mother Nature in her finest hour.”

“I’d better get going; I’m expecting a propane shipment for the tank I had put in for our
new generator.”

“Ok, see you. Thanks.”

“How long are we good for Jason?”

“At minimum power, 17,273 hours and at maximum power, 6,552 hours. My best guess
is around 8,261 hours, a little shy of a year. Assuming we lose power. We may not be-
cause of the nuclear power from the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Palo. It supplies
about 2,000 megawatts.”

“God help the people that bought natural gas fueled generators. Most could be convert-
ed to propane if they had replacement jets and a supply of propane. Instructions on how
to make the conversion would be useful too. We get our propane via pipeline and if the
grid goes down, there won’t be any propane either. We can go for years on our supply
of propane if we restrict it to the hot water heater and kitchen stove.”

“You sound like we’d be better off with a different source of energy.”

“Wind. There is considerable competition for wind farms among farmers in places like
Iowa or ranchers in Colorado. Farmers, with no investment on their part, typically re-
ceive $3,000-5,000 per year in royalties from the local utility for siting a single, large,
advanced-design wind turbine, which occupies 0.25 acres (1,000 m2) of land. This land
would produce 40 bushels of corn worth $120 or, in ranch country, beef worth perhaps
$15.”

“It’s a little late in the day to be thinking about wind energy. Assuming we could find a
turbine and all of the equipment; and, further assuming we could pay for it with gold or
silver; and, further assuming they could get it up and running in the time before the ash

51
gets here, it’s a non-starter because the ash would destroy the bearings in the turbine.
What you’d better plan on doing is put one of those pre-filters on generator intake.”

“I’ll get on that right now.”

“Wait. Do we have gas masks or Tyvek suits?”

“No, it was on my to-do list and it didn’t get to-done.”

“Where are they?”

“San Diego, California. If I remember, they have a toll free line: 1-877-AGM-1010. It
would have to be overnight air and hope like hell they can get it to Des Moines within 24
hours. We’re two hours ahead of them and maybe you can con someone into shipping it
today.”

I had a bad time configuring a frame to hold the pre-filter and didn’t get done until sup-
per time. It took a half a box of Band-Aids to cover all the nicks and cuts from working
with the thin sheet metal.

“Did you reach them?”

“Sure did. Did you know that they carry the Safe Cell?”

“Must be something they just added.”

“I got 2 Tyvek suits, gloves, boots, tape, Millennium masks with CBRN filters plus an ex-
tra 10 filters, the voice amplifiers, gas mask bags, two extra clear and tinted lenses and
two addition Safe Cell pre-filters, just in case.”

“Overnight delivery?”

“He said it was overnight or do without.”

“How much was that?”

“It was one of those, ‘if you have to ask the price you can’t afford it deals’. He said we
could substitute P-100 masks and nitrile gloves after the ash lessens. I checked and we
have 4 boxes of the filters and 2 boxes of the gloves.”

“How did we pay for it?”

52
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 6

“I had forgotten about the reserve I have in my high interest checking.”

“Reserve?”

“Yes. Way back when I opened the account, I deposited five thousand of the property
settlement and didn’t include it in the balance. I sometimes forget and I have one heck
of a time balancing the checkbook. It’s sort of like life insurance.”

“Yeah, and you don’t have to die to collect.”

“Right. I used my ATM on that account and FedEx should deliver the stuff tomorrow be-
fore noon.”

“I sort of wonder what else I forgot. In a way it’s nice being ready when something like
this happens. We could have gotten by without the trips to Costco, Sam’s and Hy-Vee
but I’d rather have it and not need it.”

“Something just occurred to me.”

“What?”

“I assume that Cascadia caused the Cascade Range to become active. If that’s the
case, did it affect Yellowstone or vice versa? It seems to me that I read that Yellowstone
sometimes reacts to other geological events. California is famous for their earthquakes
and TOM wrote in a story about Cascadia triggering the San Andreas.”

“I remember that. It, in turn triggered Long Valley. Nuclear winter is speculation but vol-
canic winter isn’t. Remember Frankenstein?”

“That was just a book.”

“Yes it was just a book written during the Year Without a Summer, 1816, due to the
eruption of Mount Tambora in the spring of 1815.”

“Have you ever heard of the Toba catastrophe theory?”

“Yes. A mega eruption 75,000 years ago reduced the human population to between
1,000 and 10,000 breeding pairs. It apparently shows up in genetics. Nah, that won’t
happen this time, there are six and a half billion people on the Earth.”

“Now there are. Have you ready Jerry’s new story, What If?”

“Not yet. Did you download it?”

53
“Yes. You can read it later.”

“I’ll wait until the ash gets here so I can read it uninterrupted.”

“You’ll get a kick out of it because the male lead is named Gary.”

“The female lead named Kristin?”

“No, Bethany. She went looking for a shelter location on the shores of Gichigami aka
Gitche Gumee.”

“Lake Superior? Gordon Lightfoot fan, huh? The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side

coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well-seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound

and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.

"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven pm a main hatchway caved in; he said,
(*2010 lyric change: At 7 pm, it grew dark, it was then he said,)
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in

54
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes

when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings

in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,

in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

“You should stick to playing a guitar.”

“I don’t play the guitar.”

“Exactly, it matches your singing.”

“How did we get sidetracked talking about a ship that sank 35 years ago?”

“Lake Superior.”

“Oh, yeah, some person looking for a shelter location. Well, if they don’t have one now,
they’re in trouble. What happened?”

“He had a place on Table Rock Lake. Sad ending, they got married and he became the
Vice President.”

55
“You know I feel the same as I always have Kristin.”

“What’s wrong with our current arrangement? Neither of us has an absolute claim on
the other. It doesn’t make sense to screw it up by getting married. I’ve got another ques-
tion and it doesn’t have to do directly with what we’ve been discussing. How do you
want me to do the bread? I have the three loaf version strapped Pullman pan and could
make a French bread and some cinnamon rolls.”

“Pretty late in the day. Want to put it off until tomorrow?”

“Works for me. If we have more trouble and the phones go down, how are we going to
contact Deputy Dog?”

“You know about the fusible links in those Yaesu radios?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The Japanese build most of the popular Ham radios. The US standards are different
from the International standards. It’s cheaper to build a radio that will cover all bands
and disable certain bands on the radios so they comply with both US and International
standards. In a pinch, a Ham can melt a link inside the radio and eliminate the lockouts.”

“Have you had your fusible links removed?”

“They can only lock me up once. Eight silencers are good for 40 years, the AC-556 for 5
more and then there’s the matter of four illegally modified radios. Each round of the Mk
211 is a destructive device. Think …in the year 2525.”

“Do you even know how to operate a hand grenade or a LAW rocket?”

“I have the field manuals.”

“In other words, no.”

“How hard can it be? Clint Eastwood can fire one.”

“I’m hot, tired and don’t feel like cooking. You’re going to have to settle for pizza and
beer or eating out.”

“I sure don’t want to drive very far to eat. You get a shower and I’ll put a pizza in. Name
your poison.”

“Supreme and you’d better add another six pack to the refrigerator.”

56
I looked and there were only two cans so I put two in the freezer to chill fast and the
other four in the fridge. I started the oven heating and got a pizza from the freezer in the
basement. Then, I sat down and had one of the cold cans of beer. When she came out,
I pulled the beers from the freezer and headed off for my own shower. I was only a few
minutes late for supper.

“This beer was a little warm.”

“I put two cans in the freezer and the other four in the fridge. I pulled the cans from the
freezer before I went to shower. You must have gotten one of the warm cans. I’ll drink
that and you find the really cold one.”

“After we’re done eating you can start sealing the windows with duct tape while I clean
up the kitchen. Once the house is sealed up, we’ll empty the refrigerator into the fridge
in the shelter. We need to bring several changes of clothing too. The last step will be to
seal the kitchen door with duct tape. Do you have anything you can put over the fire-
place chimney?”

“I’ll cover it with a tarp and lash it in place with a hank of paracord.”

“What about the horses?”

“Essentially the same thing, canvas over the two doors held in place with bungee
cords.”

“I’ll help with that once we’re done with the house.”

I don’t really know why but I disconnected all of the radios and took them to the shelter.
The package I’d gotten from Radmeters4U which contained the usual assortment plus a
CD V-700 and CD V-717 also went to the shelter. I filled another box with batteries and
spare light bulbs for our MagLites. The tarps and paracord were in the garage and I
closed the damper on the chimney and covered it with the tarp. I wrapped it tightly with
paracord.

I then moved to the barn with the two tarps and some roofing nails. I went back and got
the ladder, hammer and bungee cords and returned to the barn. I had the back door
covered when Kristin jointed me and we made short work of the front door.

“You ready to help with the fridge? Don’t forget several changes of clothes.”

Big deal, I had a total of eight sets of underwear, a dozen pair of socks, eight shirts, four
pairs of jeans, athletic shoes, my cowboy boots and Wellingtons plus my two hats. My
outerwear consisted of the slicker, Drover’s coat and a light jacket. I had a suggestion
list for various things I wanted and they could just as well be birthday or Christmas pre-
sents. It included a Cooper ZERO GRAVITY A2 Leather Bomber Jacket and rifle scab-
bards for the horses.

57
With all of the chores done, we went down to the shelter and locked up. I set the Safe
Cell to bypass the filters and we each got a shower. After, she made hot chocolate and
buttered toast (to dip in the cocoa) and we collapsed in front of the TV. Fox was report-
ing that all air traffic in the US west of the Mississippi was grounded.

“So much for the FedEx delivery.”

“They might land in Moline and truck it in from there.”

“Yeah, and brown cows give chocolate milk. But, you never know, they could haul it
from Memphis to Moline by air and by ground from Moline to Des Moines. Approved
Gas Masks sure won’t give you a refund unless they get their equipment back.”

“I’m ready to turn in. You staying up to watch the news or coming to bed?”

“I’ll be in shortly. I want to hear WHO’s 10pm broadcast.”

The ‘good’ news was that nothing had changed.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I wasn’t quite asleep, Jason. I think I may be more concerned about this than I let on;
it’s keeping me awake. What was on the news?”

“What little ash that gets this far will arrive early afternoon tomorrow.”

“No more eruptions anywhere?”

“They didn’t report any. Mother Nature is enjoying her finest hour and getting even for
any perceived wrongs humans have done to the planet.”

“Just as long as that mountain in the Canary Islands doesn’t collapse, the country may
survive this.”

“Do you mean La Palma? That’s the island with the Cumbre Vieja volcano.”

“The name sounds familiar.”

“God’s in Heaven using the Mega-Disasters TV show as a guide book to direct Mother
Nature? I seriously doubt that. It may just be a chain of semi-related events. One would
expect the Cascades to react to a Cascadia subduction. Yellowstone has reacted to
other events before. There was no real reason to believe it would have an explosive
eruption other than the fact that it did. But, if some of those PAW stories are right, it
might not be over yet.”

58
“Doesn’t TOM live on the San Andreas Fault?”

“Three miles north if I recall.”

“I wonder what The Three Amigos are doing in response to this?”

“Clarence moved back to Alabama and Ron moved to Arizona. I guess that leaves Gary
alone. As much as he denied it at the time, I think he loves the Antelope Valley. It’s a
strange place. Hot as an oven in the summer and you sometimes need an arctic parka
in the winter. A small amount of water accumulates on the dry lake during the winter
and the spring winds whip it back and forth to level the surface of the lakebed.”

“Do you miss it?”

“It was better than Eglin, but not by much. Even if I had stayed in and completed my
thirty, I’d have been out in ninety one. I sometimes miss it; mostly I’m happy I got out
and had a chance to do some of the things that make going through this event, in rela-
tive comfort, possible.”

“I guess we’re just going to need to tough it through, aren’t we?”

“That’s the way I see it. I just hope that all of the airborne ash doesn’t lead to worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“That Toba catastrophe theory is based on the inability to grow food. If there is enough
ash in the air and it hangs on for very long, people all over the world will be starving.
Famine has been known to cause a few wars. From the viewpoint of the Japanese,
World War Two was over acquiring needed natural resources. Food is as much a natu-
ral resource as oil or iron; if I remember my history correctly.

“Other than a few coal and iron deposits, Japan lacked true natural resources. Japan,
the only Asian country with a burgeoning industrial economy at that time, feared that a
lack of raw materials might hinder its ability to fight a total war against a reinvigorated
Soviet Union. In the hopes of expanding its resources, Japan invaded Manchuria in
1931 and set about to consolidate its resources and develop its economy. Insurgency
by nationalists south of Manchuria compelled the Japanese leaders to argue for a brief,
three month war to knock out Chinese power from the north. When it became clear that
this time estimate was absurd, plans for obtaining more resources began. The Imperial
Navy eventually began to feel that it did not have enough fuel reserves.

“To remedy this deficiency and ensure a safe supply of oil and other critical resources,
Japan would have had to challenge the European colonial powers over the control of oil
rich areas such as the Dutch East Indies. Such a move against the colonial powers was
however expected to lead to open conflict also with the United States. On August 1941,
the crisis came to a head as the United States, which at the time supplied 80% of Japa-

59
nese oil imports, initiated a complete oil embargo. This threatened to cripple both the
Japanese economy and military strength once the strategic reserves ran dry. Faced
with the choice of either trying to appease the US, negotiate a compromise, find other
sources of supply or go to war over resources, Japan chose the last option. Hoping to
knock out the US for long enough to be able to achieve and consolidate their war-aims,
the Japanese Navy attacked the US Navy at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. They
mistakenly believed they would have about a two year window to consolidate their con-
quests before the United States could effectively respond and that the United States
would compromise long before they could get anywhere near Japan.”

“Yamamoto was right, wasn’t he?”

“The sleeping giant comment was attributed to him in the movie ‘Tora, Tora, Tora’. I
don’t know if he said it or not, I wasn’t born until 1May43.”

“True, but you make a valid point. Worldwide famine could lead to worldwide war.”

“Only if people act stupidly. The US will recover quickly from this event and once again
become the breadbasket of the world.”

“Good night.”

“Sleep tight.”

I was up at 6am, showered, shaved and used the toilet. My first task was to check on
the two horses. I added some grain and split a bale of hay to top off their hay racks. I
released the bungee cords and tacked the canvas door cover back so they could have
some time in the pasture before being confined to the barn for an indeterminably long
period. Next I returned to the shelter and put on coffee and woke Kristin.

“What would you like for breakfast?”

“Bacon and eggs; toast and hash browns. Is the coffee ready?”

“Should be about finished dripping. I let the horses out and will clean their stalls after
breakfast. Why don’t you do your morning ablutions?”

“Can you hold breakfast for 20 minutes?”

“It will take that long to find a package of hash browns and get the bacon fried.”

“I put packages in the fridge to thaw last night.”

“Hash browns or bacon?”

“Both.”

60
I set 6 slices of bacon in one frying pan and added oil to a second for the hash browns.
When the oil was hot, I added two servings of hash browns to the pan and turned the
bacon. Next, I turned the hash browns and put the bacon on a paper towel to drain. I
pulled out the poacher and added water before turning on the heat. A pat of butter in
each cup followed by an egg and breakfast was nearly complete. I dropped the toast so
it would be done about the same time as the eggs. I buttered the toast, filled the plates
and set them on the table.

“Perfect timing I see.”

“I got lucky.”

“My mother would have fits if she saw how many pans it took for you to cook breakfast.
She’d fry the bacon, drain some of the fat, fry the hash browns and use the drained fat
to fry the eggs, dirtying a single pan.”

“My mother wasn’t much of a cook. She got by, but barely. If we were having ham,
she’d bake it until it died. Sure made great fried chicken and potato salad though. She
used celery seed instead of chopped celery. Let’s see, potatoes, eggs, onions, celery
seed and Miracle Whip. That’s about the only thing I miss from growing up.”

“I’ll try to make a batch. I know we have all of those ingredients except for Miracle Whip.
All we have is mayonnaise. I’ll clean up after you while you muck out the stalls. Any
signs of ash yet?”

“Not when I went out. They said early afternoon so I figure sometime between one and
three.”

“I hope we get our order from San Diego in time. Why are you putting on nitrile gloves?”

“To keep the leather gloves from stripping off my Band-Aids.”

“You know, I have a bottle of something that seals cuts so you don’t have to wear Band-
Aids. It’s called new skin or something similar.”

“I should be done in forty-five minutes. Why don’t you call FedEx and give them the
tracking number for our goods? They might give you the status.”

“Did you call?”

“Sure did. We may have gotten lucky. It was on the last flight out of San Diego for
Memphis and arrived in Moline around four this morning. He said they were trucking the
orders to Des Moines. He also said they couldn’t guarantee noon delivery.”

61
“Look, it’s only about 175 miles from Moline to Des Moines. Figure three hours. We
should have it by ten.”

“We might if we lived in Des Moines. Up here, who knows?”

I looked at my watch when the FedEx truck pulled up, 11:45.

“I was afraid we wouldn’t get this in time.”

“What is it?”

“Gas Masks and filters.”

“For the ash?”

“Yes. Have you heard anything?”

“Only that it’s in portions of northwestern Iowa. You really think you’ll need those?”

“I hope not but I expect we probably will.”

“Sign here.”

After lunch, we cleaned up the dishes, put the horses back in the barn and secured it.
Then, we set up two lawn chairs facing west northwest and waited for the cloud to ar-
rive. I don’t know what I expected, a wall of dust like they had back during the dust bowl
era or something similar, I suppose. The sun was mostly overhead and the view to the
west was simply a bit darker than normal. Soon there were a few fine particles of sharp
sand drifting to the earth and we put the chairs in the garage, checked the gates and
went down to the shelter.

“That was eerie.”

“Probably still is. Let’s put on WHO and watch their coverage.”

“Want coffee or a coke?”

“Coke.”

WHO had been recording the event from the time it came within range of their cameras.
An insert showed the current outside view, which wasn’t much, while they ran an edited
tape showing the approach of the ash cloud. It was progressing about 12-15mph to the
east and east southeast.

62
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 7

“I should have put in a tunnel like Percy did to reach the barn from the shelter.”

“Stop worrying about what we didn’t do and be thankful for what we did do.”

“I wanted to put CCTV cameras on the radio tower but didn’t because of EMP.”

“If you had put them up, that ash would probably have scratched the lenses until you
couldn’t see anything anyway.”

“There is that. I’m going to switch to Fox for a minute or two.”

… On the west coast, Mount Rainier erupted sending massive lahars through Tacoma
into the Puget Sound and reaching as far north as the southern portion of Seattle. At
this hour, the eruption is ongoing.

Further south, Mt. St. Helens, in a near repeat of the 1980 eruption, experienced an ex-
plosive eruption with the accompanying lahars. The USGS stated that unlike the 1980
eruption, the ash volume will reach forty cubic kilometers.

Mount Lassen in California which has ongoing minor lava flows also erupted. No esti-
mate has been given so far about the size of that eruption. The observatory at the Long
Valley Caldera reports that the resurgent dome has risen two meters over the past 24
hours.

In the Pacific, Anak Krakatau is now showing smoke and seismic monitoring indicates
the movement of lava.

Finally, in the Mediterranean Sea, the ongoing eruption of Mount Etna on Sicily took a
dramatic turn earlier today when the volume of lava nearly tripled and threatened villag-
es that escaped past eruptions. We’ll be back after a word from our sponsor.

“Not all of those are going to put ash into the air. The ones that will are divided between
the northern and southern hemispheres. Now if Long Valley or Yellowstone erupts we’re
in for trouble for much longer than I thought likely.”

“What makes you think they might erupt?”

“In 1980, shortly before the eruption, the dome in Mt. St. Helens grew at an astonishing
rate.”

“How much ash did Long Valley put out?”

“A shade under 600km³. Add that to a possible 2,450km³ for Yellowstone plus the minor
amounts the other volcanoes put out and the ash might reach the eastern seaboard.”

63
“You studied history in college?”

“I never went to college. I did get bored at times and headed to the library.”

“So what does your historical perspective on this tells us?”

“I was right the first time, ‘Katy bar the door, here come the Indians.’”

We had switched back to WHO when the lights went out and the generator kicked in. I
jumped up and turned off the TV in case of a voltage spike. Once everything was run-
ning smoothly, I turned the TV back on. WHO was just coming back up, apparently they
had a backup generator.

Sorry about that folks, we just lost power and it took a minute for our backup generator
to kick in. Due to a limited fuel supply at our studios and the transmitter site, broadcasts
will be limited to ten minutes at the top of every hour. WHO radio uses a different power
source and will remain on the air, provided it can get additional diesel fuel. We will rejoin
you at 2pm.

“They must be on natural gas or propane.”

“Can we crack the blast door and peek out through the landing door?”

“I suppose we’ll have to periodically. How about once every 24 hours?”

“How often do you need to go take care of the horses?”

“Every other day. They’re set for two days at the moment.”

“Let’s go look.”

“Lead the way.”

“Are you going to help with the blast door? The more weight we put on it the faster it
moves.”

“Sure.”

We opened the blast door and climbed the steps to the landing. The door opened out-
ward and she cracked it and took a peek.

“It’s like twilight.”

“Let me look. You’re right, it’s darker. Do you want to look again? Last chance for 24
hours.”

64
“No thank you.”

“It’s about time for WHO to come back on again.”

“We can run a radio can’t we?”

“Sure. I can hook it to the Discone.”

“What time does your watch show Jason?”

“Three after, why?”

“They’re not on the air.”

“Try channels 11, 8, 5 and if they don’t come up, try Fox.” (PBS, CBS & ABC; Fox was
on a transponder)

“Nothing.”

“Let me hook up the radio. Can you get it out of the cabinet, please?”

She handed me the radio and I plugged a bayonet type plug into the antenna connec-
tion and clipped the other end onto the radio antenna using an alligator clip. We ran the
dial, nothing. WHO AM radio is 1040 and a clear channel station and WOI AM is 640
and closer than Des Moines. The only thing that occurred to me was that perhaps there
was enough electrical charge in the atmosphere because of the ash to temporarily dis-
rupt communications.

“I don’t know what to tell you Kristin. My guess is atmospheric effects due to the ash. Do
you want to eat early and put on a movie?”

“I’m not overly hungry. I’ll fix you something if you want.”

“If I get hungry, I just get some leftovers out of the fridge. How about that movie?”

“I think I’ll read if that’s ok.”

“There is a box of books around here somewhere.”

“I have one I’ve been working off and on for over a year.”

“Which one?”

“Atlas Shrugged. Who is John Galt?”

65
“He’s a member of Frugal’s Forum and has his own website called Shenandoah.”

“No, that’s just the question asked throughout the novel.”

“Just teasing.”

I measured the ash and we received slightly less than one inch. The stair well had got-
ten cleaned out the first time I’d had to go feed the horses and I covered it with plywood
before returning to the shelter so I wouldn’t have to sweep it again.

Meanwhile, Kristin unsealed the back door to the bungalow and vacuumed up all the
dust she could. She had to vacuum around the back door before she could get the duct
tape to stick. Even with the bungalow supposedly completely sealed up, ash drifted in
through tiny cracks, somewhere. It indicated if nothing else, the house wasn’t so tight
we’d suffocate.

Feeding and mucking up after horses isn’t my idea of quality time and Kristin said that
cleaning the house every other day was way down on her list. Even after we moved out
of the shelter, small amounts of ash continued to accumulate and weekly dusting was
mandatory. One major disaster had been avoided, Yellowstone and Long Valley didn’t
erupt.

Since we were on generator power, that meant a daily check for leaks, oil and coolant
levels. Once every four days, I’d remove the air cleaner and tap it clean or replace it.
Once every ten days, I had to check the battery and a few other things and every twen-
ty-one days, shut it down and change the oil. Fortunately, we still had the QD12.5 in the
garage and I’d managed to get it wired into the grid side of the ATS allowing me to start
it up and let the Kohler shut itself down. While I haven’t mentioned it, one of the tasks I
completed before we sheltered was to cut a hole in the garage floor and auger a hole
for a section of three inch pipe to the shelter and from there, along the corridor to the
generator room. The downside was the additional noise that slipped past the cuts I
made for the pipe until I filled them with foam insulation.

There was ash in the air in the form of a slight haze. The sun wasn’t a bright light in the
sky that you couldn’t look at. Maybe a light fog would describe the effect, but I hadn’t
been in fog for a while and wasn’t sure. Visibility was about ½ mile, at the most. We
were just on the edge of Cambridge, past the town limits. We couldn’t really make out
most of the buildings in town. We’re east of town, near, not on, the South Skunk River.

“I hate to think this far ahead Kristin, but once that tanker is empty, I’m going to need to
go find another 9,000 gallons of diesel.”

“How much is left?”

66
“Well, at the moment, it’s mostly full. If the air clears and Washington gets its head out
of you know where, maybe they can get the grid up. Another thing to consider is that,
even with proper maintenance, that generator will only run two years tops.”

“How do you figure?”

“There are 365.25 days in an average year and 24 hours per day or 8,766 hours in an
average year. Times two is 17,532 hours and I’d be surprised if it ran much over 15,000
hours before something needs to be rebuilt. If I’d have been thinking, I’d have put the
generator in the garage, not a hole in the ground.”

“Can’t we move it? It would mean digging down to that road plate and lifting it with the
block and tackle. Then, we’d have to disconnect and lift the generator up to ground lev-
el. Next, we move it into the garage, right?”

“So far.”

“You have a fuel pump between the tank and the generator and the generator has its
own fuel pump, right?”

“You’re on a roll.”

“So, Jason, we reroute the fuel lines and the power feed to the garage. It doesn’t matter
where the ATS is located. While you’re at it, maybe you could pick up an old fashioned
outside DPDT switch and manually switch between small generator and the grid and
feed that to the ATS.”

“No can do, honey. The grid tie has to go into the ATS so the manual switch would have
to go between the two generators. Any time you use a manual switch like that, you’re
switching the generator from no load to full load or some portion thereof. That bogs
down the generator. Since the QD12.5 puts out a maximum of just over 100 amps, it
might work, but no guarantees. What would be a better idea would be to get a synchro-
nizer and feed both generators into it. Then we could cut either of them off.”

“I’m a waitress, remember? You’re the electrician.”

“True, but I’ve not worked on those types of setups much.”

“Do you think you can figure it out?”

“We can get a synchronizer from Kohler. I just should have bought one in the first place.
I’m sure they have an installation manual for the unit.”

“When can we go?”

67
“If we go slowly so the ash doesn’t scratch the windshield and I start with a clean air fil-
ter and take a spare, anytime.”

“Will they be open?”

“They probably have a line out of the door. They may have sold out and closed up shop.
If it were me, I’d keep at least one salesman and one parts person working.”

The air filter was clean so I just grabbed two spares and we started out for I-35. Nobody
in their right mind would be speeding in this stuff…but there’s always a kid who thinks
he’s Superman. It took ninety minutes to get to the Kohler dealer. He had lights on,
probably using a Cummins diesel.

“Help you? No wait, I just sold you a generator last month, right?”

“Yep. I screwed up. I had, and still have, a Cummins Quiet Diesel 12.5. We bought the
40REOZJB so we had enough power for the lights in the greenhouse. We have an un-
derground shelter and the generator room is off to the side of it at the same floor level.
What we want to do is dig out that generator and install it in the garage and synchronize
the two generators so we still have power when one is shut down for servicing.”

“Two hundred amp?”

“Yeah, single phase, 120/240, 200 amp synchronizer.”

“You have any money?”

“What’s the spot price on gold?”

“I don’t know, the internet is down.”

“We had the same problem. How much gold for the synchronizer?”

“In a box or installed?”

“To install it you’d have to move the generator out of that hole.”

“I know. Say two ounces, installed and running.”

“Say one ounce; it was over twelve hundred when the internet went down.”

“Ounce and a half and it’s a turnkey deal. We’ll even put the cover back in place and
refill the hole. I assume you have a small room with some kind of removable cover if you
replaced the 12.5 with the 40.”

“Honey?”

68
“How soon?”

“Give me directions and we’ll be there at eight tomorrow morning. COD.”

“Does that mean when you arrive or when you’re done?”

“Show me the coins when we arrive and pay me when we leave.”

“Kristin, draw the man a map. How are you fixed on filters?”

“How many cases?”

“How many to the case?”

“Twenty four.”

“Three cases of each.”

There are 3 different filters and if you change the oil at 500 hour intervals, you need 18
oil filters and probably the same number of fuel filters. The number of air filters would
depend on how much ash the pre-filter removed. Three cases of each would be a four
year supply and we bought a case of each when we bought the generator.

“Total is now two ounces.”

“Deal. See you tomorrow at eight.”

“Why did you pay that much for the filters?”

“Because I’m dishonest?”

“What do you mean?”

“He slipped a digit and multiplied by two not three. That’s what he gets for doing it in his
head instead of using a calculator.”

“Maybe gold is higher.”

“It probably is higher. We didn’t get hurt, that’s for sure. How is your supply of tenth
ounce coins?”

“Are you asking if I have twenty?”

“Yes, I give you two full ounces.”

69
“Why do you want to do that?”

“I don’t want him to get the idea that we have a lot of gold. If it’s all one-tenth ounce
coins, he might make the wrong assumption and assume that we don’t have much
gold.”

“But ten tenth ounce coins are worth more than a one ounce coin.”

“Not anymore. Now they’re simply gold. Maybe I ought to pawn off those two gold buffa-
los I have.”

“Why?”

“They’re 24 carat and soft. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Forget the tenth ounce coins.”

“You’re late.”

“Yeah, bad accident on I-35. Some kid running at 70 who should have been running at
35. Do you have the gold?”

“Here you go.”

What are these?”

“One ounce gold Buffalos. They’re .9999 fine, pure gold.”

“What are the Eagles?”

“They’re only 22 carat, not 24 carat.”

“Why are they in a plastic case?”

“To keep them in an uncirculated condition.”

“Oh. Ok.”

Even if many of his customers were preppers, he seemed not to know what an average
prepper knows. Each coin has the same amount of gold, one ounce. However, the Ea-
gles can be circulated because the gold doesn’t rub off. The Eagles also contain 3 per-
cent silver and 5⅓ percent copper.

Our pasture was to the east of where the bungalow and garage set and didn’t get as
much wind. All of the east facing building surfaces had an accumulation of ash and the
west facing surfaces were kept clear by the wind. They had an excavator, a truck
mounted crane and shovels to get that last bit of soil off the plate. They disconnected
everything and did the rerouting as part of the turnkey project. Before they lowered the

70
plate back down, I slapped a coat of Thomas roofing tar on the top of the generator
room walls creating what I hoped would be a waterproof seal. I was going to turn the
generator room into our armory. Since the escape tunnel extended from the generator
room, we would have outside access to the armory.

“It’s done.”

“Did you test it?”

“It will work.”

“I believe you, but you still have to test it.”

“Start that piece of Cummins junk and stand back and watch.”

I fired it up and he got some kind of meter that showed the different phases on the line.
The output was single phase, in synch, and another meter showed the lines pulling 170
amps indicating electricity was being drawn from both sources. It took me a minute to
figure that out. The power had been down while they worked on the units. When they
turned them on, the QD actually supplied additional load because everything was run-
ning at once.

“Ok, here’s the gold. Did you unload the filters?”

“Oops.”

When they say, “oops,” you just naturally think, “This is not good.”

“Remind me to shut down non-critical circuits when I service the Kohler. At the very
least, make sure the lights in the greenhouse are out. We were pulling 170 amps. The
main service panel is rated at 200 amps but I’ve never known it to draw that much cur-
rent.”

After they left, I checked on the horses and refilled their feed. Kristin had a meatloaf in
the oven with potatoes. She also had two ears of sweet corn from the freezer for the
vegetable. She hadn’t spent much time watching, opting instead to bake bread and cin-
namon rolls.

“I sealed the overhead to the generator room.”

“Oh? What are you going to use it for?”

“Our armory.”

“But, that means that someone can get into it from the barn.”

71
“Only if they know the escape tunnel comes from the armory to the barn. Besides, there
is loose hay spread over the access hatch to the tunnel.”

“So there’re three ways to do things, the right way, the wrong way and your way?”

“Five. The right way, the wrong way, the Air Force way, your way and my way.”

“You’re pretty fast on your feet.”

“I don’t like sleeping on the couch.”

“It would be more effective if you added some of the dirty horse bedding to the pile.”

“You may be right, I’ll do that.”

“Is that composted manure ready to use?”

“Several garden carts worth.”

“Tomorrow I will finish starting the plants in the green house. I’ve been nursing some
strawberry sets. Do you think I should go ahead and plant them?”

“Maybe you should go ahead and plant in the greenhouse. Fresh strawberries sound
good.”

“Dinner will be another fifteen to twenty minutes.”

“That will give me time to bring all the firearms up from shelter so I can clean them after
supper.”

“I’ll help.”

“Thank you. I want them all clean and ready to go. Did you see the way that one install-
er was trying to determine the level of our preps?”

“I was in the house. What happened?”

“First, he tried to casually pump me for information. Wanted to know how big the shelter
was and how many people it could sustain for an extended period. And then, he wanted
to know what we had for livestock. As I said, it had the appearance of casual conversa-
tion but Pinocchio had nothing on this guy. It made me think about the eventual necessi-
ty of defending the place.”

“You mentioned livestock, are we planning to get something more than the horses?”

72
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 8

“Do you think your brothers would sell us meat when the need arises?”

“Most likely. It would be nice to have a flock of chickens for eggs and meat. We could
get one or two roosters, some brood hens and some layers. There’s ample room in the
barn.”

“Those geldings are easy riding horses but I wouldn’t mind a pair of mares. We could
truck them to him or he could truck a stallion over here and allow us to increase our rid-
ing stock.”

“Tack might be hard to come by. They don’t have any extra that I know of.”

“We can get a Des Moines Yellow Pages and see if there is someone locally who deals
in tack. I have rifle scabbards on my wish list.”

“How are your boots holding up?”

“Very well; I only use them when we ride.”

“I need a new pair; add that to your wish list.”

“I assumed you had your own list.”

“‘Fraid not. Dinner is ready, would you set the table?”

“I’m on it. Want to go to Adel tomorrow?”

“Sure. Ok if we stop by Mom and Dad’s?”

“No problem. How much do you think the horses will run?”

“About fifteen hundred each. Tack will most likely set us back another five hundred per
horse. More if we get saddle bags, pommel bags, scabbards and lariats. If you want to
play cowboy, it’s fine with me. One question. What are you going to use for a backup
piece?”

“My 1911. Maybe in a paddle holster on my right hip. Shouldn’t be too noticeable that
way.”

“I guess I’d better go with my P-14 for backup. Enough chitchat; let’s eat.”

“The barn had less dust from the ash than the house did. Um, this is good. Oh, as I was
saying, the fact that the barn is new compared to the bungalow seemed to help keep

73
the ash out. It’s going to a while before we can let the horses out, maybe we should
hold off on buying more.”

“How do you intend to clear the pasture?”

“I don’t. Mother Nature put the ash there, she can clean it up.”

“I know our planning provided for most events, even if you forgot the gas masks, but this
is strange. Everything seems so normal except for the ash in the air and the loss of utili-
ties and communications. I can’t believe the east coast isn’t functioning at near normal
levels because they shouldn’t have gotten more than a dusting.”

“I don’t know about that, my father said they had red snow on the east coast during the
dirty thirties.”

“What’s this grudge you’re carrying?”

“In our home there weren’t several ways to do things. There were two ways, his way or
the highway. I took the highway and never looked back. I picked the one thing I knew
he’d disagree with and enlisted in the military.”

“Why the Air Force?”

“At the time, they offered the best guarantee and the least danger. Call me chicken if
you want, but what we did was important. Much of the manned space flight program
evolved from the testing we did.”

“Dessert?”

“No thank you. Mighty fine meal and I’m afraid I overate. Let me give you a hand with
the dishes.”

“I have them. Why don’t you check and see if any of the TV or radio stations are on the
air? It might be nice to get an update.”

“Kristin, WHO is back on the air, apparently fulltime.”

“I’m almost done. I’ll be there in a minute. Coffee?”

“Yes please.”

…and despite concerns that the expansion of the resurgent dome at Long Valley indi-
cated a possible eruption, it didn’t occur. Other speculation that the events associated
with Cascadia, like a massive earthquake on the San Andreas or Yellowstone erupting
failed to materialize. Some thirty plus days into the events, the volcanoes are still erupt-

74
ing. The volcanoes in the Cascade Range are beginning to slow and the USGS said the
eruptions would stop within the next ten days to two weeks.

Mt. Etna stopped erupting last week and Anak Krakatau consisted of the single explo-
sive eruption. The USGS suggests that the series of volcanic activities that traces back
to the eruption on Iceland has finally begun to end. There is still limited concern about
two of the volcanoes in Alaska and one in Kamchatka.

Current estimates of the total ash output rather small in total volume. The ash reaches
to the San Joaquin Valley in California east to mid Kentucky and Tennessee and north
from there to Chicago.

Scientists say it will be three to four years before the atmosphere clears to pre-eruption
levels. The Department of Agriculture estimates that this coming year’s production of
crops will be the lowest in eighty years. Governor Culver has suggested that Iowa farms
plant cover crops to prevent erosion and forego attempting to produce grains. He went
on to say that the limited feed would force the reduction of herds but that the absence of
other foods would raise livestock prices.

In other news…

“You want to give me a hand changing the sheets?”

“Ash?”

“Some. I looked at the bed and decided our best bet was to fold the bed covers in over
themselves and take them outside tomorrow and shake them before I attempt to laun-
der them. We do have clean sheets, pillow cases and a bedspread.”

“Ok. I think we should go ahead and plan on going to Adel tomorrow. In view of what
that announcer said, your brothers may be anxious to sell some horses so they can
keep more beef and hogs.”

“We’re not going to take advantage of the situation, are we?”

“No, we’ll pay the same as we discussed. My initial concern was that they might not
want to sell. Know where we can pick up some decent tack?”

“Do you want the whole shooting match; saddles, bridles, halters, lariats, saddlebags,
pommel bags and scabbards?”

“If we can.”

“We can, but it will have to be new rather than used. Yes, I know where we can get the
things. Remind me to get some gold and silver from the shelter.”

75
“How about I buy the horses and you buy the rest?”

“That’s not fair. Let’s just buy everything first and divide the costs afterwards. It’s going
to be a challenge to get hay and grain. I know they won’t have any to spare other than
straw for bedding.”

“Do you want to go ahead and get the chickens, beef and pork?”

“I thought you wanted to buy meat from them when the need arose.”

“That was before I watched TV tonight. Maybe we’d better plan on getting our own live-
stock and shop around for feed. Some farmers are going to have feed to sell and if we
pay the same price as the elevators or perhaps a small premium, we’ll be ok on feed.”

“Where are you going to store it?”

“I thought we might stack the hay and straw outside covered with tarps and store the
grain in the barn loft. Do you think that will work?”

“It will take a minor amount of reconfiguring the loft, but we can make it work. We’ll need
to get a grain elevator from someone close to get the grain up there.”

“Sounds like we’ll be busy for a few days.”

“You can rest when you die, Jason.”

We spent two hours visiting her folks and went out to the farm. They had three mares
with foal they were going to have to unload. Kristin and I said we’d take them off their
hands for a reasonable price. That deal was quickly struck and the conversation turned
to hogs, chickens and beef. We could get a feeder beef and a bred cow plus two bred
sows and they would deliver all of the livestock in a single trip. Since we didn’t really
have a place for chickens, they’d set them aside until we got a chicken yard and hen
house. Gold and silver was fine and we paid for everything.

With the size saddles the three mares needed written down, we headed for Perry to buy
the tack. The gear was relatively plain and great quality. He said he didn’t get many
calls for scabbards but had a few in stock for some locals into Single Action Shooting.
We got three scabbards for each horse, one for the 1895, one for the 1894 and a third
for a coach gun. The pommel bags had holsters for 5½” revolvers. On the way home,
we stopped in Des Moines and picked up four Ruger Vaqueros (old model) with 5½”
barrels in .45 Colt and a Pioneer Arms coach gun (imported) for Kristin.

We stopped in Ankeny to eat, but the Maid Rite was closed. Kristin said we’d just cook
the stuff we had in the freezer, so we went home. She set out a package to thaw with
the microwave and I unloaded the tack into the garage in the stall with the generators.
Despite her comment about my playing cowboy, I had no intention of doing so for the

76
moment. I was concerned about the long term effects of the ash on our vehicles and the
horses would provide an alternative means to move around. It started sprinkling while I
was putting the tack away and by the time I finished, it was pouring.

“It’s raining cats and dogs.”

“Didn’t happen to see a Siamese, did you?”

“You know what I meant. The ash is absorbing the rain and swelling but it’s coming
down so hard that it’s being washed into the ditch.”

“There’s not enough on the roofs to be a problem is there?”

“No, I hosed them down yesterday so there was almost no ash on them. The rain will
clear anything I missed. I put the tack in the garage stall with the generators. Maid Rites
or tenderloins?”

“I decided on tenderloins since I’m using the deep fat fryer anyway. Less mess to clean
up.”

“Paper plates are fine with me. All we’ll have to wash up is the coffee cups.”

“Why don’t you see if WHO has a weather report?”

I washed up, set up the TV trays and turned on the TV. WHO was using that running
scroll along the bottom of the screen and it pertained to the weather. A system had
moved in and stalled. We would receive heavy rainfall for at least two days and possibly
as many as five. I got lost in thought wondering what that would do to our small five acre
plot. I was more than certain that the ditch couldn’t possibly hold all of the ash and rain-
fall.

“What did they say?”

“Two to five days of heavy rain.”

“Good, that should clear the pasture and around the buildings. The Skunk River is going
to be more mud than water.”

“I hadn’t thought about that. I was worried the ditch wouldn’t hold the ash and rainfall.”

“I could be wrong, but this rain should help clear the air and wash a fair portion of the
ash off our acreage.”

“If it does, we may be in better shape that I imagined.”

“Tomorrow we need to go shopping.”

77
“What do we need?”

“A hen house and some fencing for a chicken yard. The chickens all have their wings
clipped so they can’t fly. Wing clipping is where you clip the primary flight feathers on
one wing with sharp scissors. Clipping one wing puts them off balance but still allows
them to fly a little. You may need to do this if your chickens are likely to be able to fly
away over a fence, but bear in mind that it will also make it harder for them to fly away
from any predators.”

Back to what I was saying about being a cowboy. I could maybe see the six gun and all
of those trappings if we lived in Texas, New Mexico or Arizona. You have to deal with
rattlers, people sneaking across the border and who knows what. Iowa is …civilized,
whatever that means. CCWs are ‘may issue’ until the new law is in effect. Centerfire ri-
fles are legal to own but not to hunt with. Lots of old Damascus barreled shotguns float-
ing around. Kristin and I may not be sniper trained but we’re most certainly sniper
equipped and sniper qualified, very good rifles and excellent optics.

The next morning after I tended to the horses, we set out in the midst of a pouring rain
to get a hen house, fencing and etc. She directed me to a lumberyard in Ankeny where
they had prefabricated buildings. Their largest, a 12’x18’ would do as a hen house and
they would deliver. She used her debit card. Our next stop was a farm supply where we
got the T-posts, wire, a post driver, wire clips, staples, a post hole auger and 8 cedar
posts. Pretty much filled the empty space with bags of chicken feed and tarped the load.

I checked the barn when we got home to see if the livestock had been delivered. It
hadn’t. There no way I was going out into that downpour to put in fence post holes or
drive fence posts. It didn’t rain 40 days and 40 nights, just 5 nights and 4 days. It finally
stopped and I was able to let the horses out and clean up the barn. I went up into the
loft to see what needed to be done to store grain. All it would take is some plywood to
divide the space if we wanted to keep the grains separate. If we mixed them, all we
needed was something around the loft access that would hold the grain back until I
shoveled it over. I figured three sheets of ¾” plywood and some 2x2s for the corners. I’d
just extend the ladder higher.

Visibility was greatly improved, 2-3 miles. Kristin said that WHO announced that coal
was being brought in from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Expectations
were that power would be restored within two weeks. Part of the delay was due to bring-
ing the grid back online in sections. There was enough coal available now. It was time
to change the oil in the Kohler a second time and I went around and made sure that on-
ly the critical systems were powered.

I fired up the 12.5, let it synchronize and shut down the Kohler. I had to let it cool some
before I could work on it. I went ahead and opened the empty drum and added the fun-
nel. Then, I lined up the replacement filters and measured out nine quarts of oil. I
checked the radiator and topped it off with 50/50. I replaced the air filter and fuel filter

78
and then, wearing my leather gloves, drained the oil and replaced the filter. I added the
oil, double checked everything and fired it back up. When it was synchronized, I shut
down the 12.5 and drained the Kohler oil filter into the drum. If I mention this again, I’ll
just call it the 500 hour oil change.

It took a bit longer than anticipated to get the power back up and I had just done the
third 500 hour oil change when the ATS shut down the generator. The way they had it
wired, regardless of which generator was running, they were shut down when the power
came back on.

“We have the power back.”

“I know, mother called.”

“Something going on?”

“They’re bringing the livestock tomorrow.”

“Couldn’t put another bushel of grain in the loft and that hay is on pallets and tarped. I
hope they bring the straw.”

“They are. Separate truck, but they’re bringing a truckload. Is the fence finished?”

“Sorry, forgot to tell you. I finished it yesterday. I built the nesting boxes and used some
of the last straw for the bottoms.”

“Do you think we can plant a garden this year?”

“Oh, we can plant one, but is there enough sunlight for it to produce? We may have to
settle for what we can get from the greenhouse. That was why we invested in it after all,
for those just in case situations.”

“Apparently we got off luckier than some countries. Northern Europe, Russia and north-
ern China crop forecasts are way down. I didn’t pay much attention until I heard the guy
refer to Russia and then China. Russia can trade oil, gold and diamonds for food but
what will the Chinese do? Let’s face it, US demand for Chinese products will be way
down until we recover from the eruptions.”

“Now you have some insight into what I said about the causes of wars.”

“You said famine was a cause.”

“I don’t have a crystal ball but I’d hazard a guess that if China’s population begins to
starve, their government will do whatever it takes to feed the people.”

“But a nuclear war would be counterproductive.”

79
“Yes and no. It would reduce the available food but it would also reduce the demand for
food. The US will be growing more each year starting next year. The Chinese can raise
an Army nearly the size of our population. If they chose to invade rather than use nukes,
they might be able to gain a foothold and grow food.”

“You can’t believe that, not really. Seventy-five million Americans would be up in arms
and fight any invasion every step of the way.”

“If they invaded, it would be the west coast or perhaps through México like some of the
writers suggest. It could end up like what Jerry D. Young talked about in China Gamble.
Just be aware that other outcomes are possible. How many illegal Hispanics are in the
US? Enough to make an army that would reduce the effectiveness of homegrown ef-
forts?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I’m not some punk kid fresh out of high school anymore. In case you ha-
ven’t noticed, I’ve had to curtail my efforts at conditioning.”

“You still work out.”

“Not as much as I used to. I spend the same amount of time, but I’m slower.”

“After we get the stock, I want to go for a ride. We can hang the scabbards and see how
that works out.”

“Good enough. I’m going to wear my slicker in cases it rains. It will also hide my 1911.”

“You’d just better hope your friend Deputy Dog doesn’t catch us. You know the law as
well as I do and any loaded firearm would be a problem.”

“I forgot… we’re civilized. We were lucky to get matching Pioneer Arms coach guns.”

“Lucky maybe, but that was a lot to pay for a shotgun.”

“That ounce of gold barely dented our supply.”

“That’s not the point. We have what we have because we don’t spend it the minute we
get it. By the way, the internet is up. The spot price for gold was hovering around two
thousand.”

“That will change as the food supply dries up.”

“It’s strange you should say that, More than 1,000,000 persons in southwest China are
reported to be affected by a famine in 133 counties in Sikang, Yunnan and Szechwan

80
Provinces. The famine was still spreading and many persons were committing suicide
because of cold and starvation, according to news reports. Add the loss of crops in oth-
er areas within China and the scenario you describe is frightfully possible. If their neigh-
bor to the east gets involved because of it, a war seems suddenly plausible.”

“How do you envision that occurring?”

“If China has food problems as does their major ally in the region, North Korea, don’t
you see how that could lead to a fight for control of the food resources?”

“But what does that have to do with us? An invasion of the US seems more probable.”

“Either way, it could unlock the triggers on the nukes. I can’t imagine what would hap-
pen if we somehow got involved.”

“You don’t suppose we could find a source to fill the newly developed holes in our long
term preps?”

“We could try the local elevators for corn and oats. Some of the health food stores might
carry bulk wheat and we have more beans and rice than we could eat up in ten years. If
you want to go that way, I’d suggest doing what we did before the eruptions, Costco,
Sam’s Club and Hy-Vee. The only alternative to that would be to take I-35 to Oklahoma
City and cut west to Las Vegas. From there, we could take I-15 to Orem and Montpel-
ier.”

“I’d hate to be away from home for that long. Let’s do it the way you first suggested. I do
know where to get the wheat in the area and there’s a food co-op up in Ames. We can
go tomorrow after they drop the livestock off. I know you wanted to go riding and I hate
to postpone that for a day, so it’s up to you.”

“I’ll call mother and see it they can bring the chickens tomorrow too. Can you think of
anything else we might need?”

“I used the last tarp coving the hay and I’ll need one to cover the straw.”

“I’ll add Tractor Supply to the list of stops. We can look around for chicken feeders and
waterers plus appropriate tanks for watering the cattle and hogs.”

“I called the farm. Robert wasn’t there so I spoke to James. He said they had a couple
of cages and would bring the chickens. They would check the wings and re-clip as re-
quired. He said they were concerned about a possible war due to food shortages both
here and abroad. I told him we already had hay, corn and oats. He asked if the rain
cleared the pasture and I explained how the rain washed most of it into the ditch and
from there into the river. He mentioned that they had four sawbuck pack saddles just

81
taking up space and they planned to give them to us. He said they’d be here by nine at
the latest.”

“We should be able to leave by ten. Add a pharmacy to the list for first aid supplies and
OTC medicines.”

“You want anything from Maid Rite or a restaurant supply?”

“How much Maid Rite, tenderloins and fries do we have on hand?”

“I’ll have to check. If we need anything I’ll add it to the list.”

“If the restaurant supply is handy, two one gallon jars of the thinly sliced pickles. Would
they carry other kinds of beans? Great northern, navy, kidney and small pink?”

“We’ll stop there too. They have the pickles for sure.”

We purchased a 2’×1’×4’ tank for the hogs and a 2’×2’×4’ tank for the cattle plus two
float valves.

Costco was similar to our previous stocking trip as far as dairy and meat products ex-
cept we added two more pails of oil, extra paper towels and bath tissue. We bought 4
100# sacks of flour, 100# of sugar and 60 cans of Folgers, four bags of rice and eight
bags of pinto beans. Kristin went back in and checked their pharmacy and got what we
needed there. She added more spices and mixes and ten six packs of Hormel no bean
chili for chili dogs.

Sam’s Club was our source for a half a dozen different types of pasta and ten cases of
pasta sauce. We ran the aisles picking up other items here and there. That had us down
to Maid Rite and the restaurant supply. It was a full day and we were up until ten just
unloading and putting everything away. Kristin pre-heated the oven and got a pizza from
the freezer. It was cold out and we set the box of pork loins on the back porch to deal
with the next day.

We were halfway through slicing and packaging the pork loins when a car pulled in.

“Jason, it’s you buddy Deputy Dog.”

I grabbed my jacket and went to meet him, overlooking the fact that I had on the .45 in
my paddle holster.

“Now what?”

82
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 9

“Nothing bad and I’m sorry about last time. I was a little on edge over Yellowstone. I fig-
ured I owed you and decided to pass along some information that’s being passed out to
law enforcement agencies around the country. The Sheriff ok’d me telling you and said
if you can get to the office in Nevada, he’ll issue you CCWs.

“We received an advisory from Homeland Security. It warned of possible attacks against
the infrastructure as the first step of an invasion along the Pacific coast and across the
Mexican border. National Guard forces are being activated in every state and are going
to either the border or west coast.”

“Did they say why they suspected an invasion?”

“It wasn‘t in the advisory. If you want my two cents, the Chinese are desperate to feed
their population. Since you’re a prepper, I wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Prepper?”

“Survivalist. You know what I mean. Where’s your shelter, in the basement or under the
garage?”

“What gave you that idea?”

“Come on now, you couldn’t be more obvious if you ran up the stars and stripes on your
barn. Besides, firearms transactions involving five or more guns are reported to the
ATF. I told the Sheriff we’d met and you were ok. He ran the background check just to
be sure and is holding the CCWs. All you need to do is fill out the paperwork. Your sig-
nificant other needs to demonstrate completion of a firearms familiarization course. She
can do that in the office by field stripping and reassembling her handgun.”

“Do you have time for a cup of coffee?”

“If it’s not an imposition, thanks.”

“Kristin, this is Deputy Lawson. He came by to check our weapons purchase and to give
up some information they received from the DHI.”

“DHI? I said DHS.”

“Do you feel secure? I don’t. So I refer to them as the Department of Homeland Insecu-
rity.”

“You may have a point.”

“Cream and sugar?”

83
“Black, please. I take it that you have more firearms that you mentioned last time.”

“A few more.”

“A Barrett?”

“No, we have a McMillan Tac-50 and a pair of M1A Super Match rifles; all with extreme-
ly good optics.”

“That’s about what I figured. Are you any good?”

“One thousand meters with the M1As and 1,500 meters with the Tac-50. Couldn’t find a
longer range to use.”

“What do have for sights on the standard model M1As?”

“ACOGs.”

“You have a lot of money tied up in your firearms, don’t you?”

“We do, for a fact. We have horses, too.”

“I saw them in the pasture. I don’t remember seeing hogs and cattle the last time I
stopped. New additions?”

“Yes, and we added chickens.”

“Excuse me; did you say your name is Lawson?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“May I ask what your father’s name is?”

“It’s John, but he goes by Jack.”

“You grandfather wouldn’t happen to be Robert Lawson?”

“Yes it is. He died about 3 years ago. What’s your interest, if you don’t mind me ask-
ing?”

“What’s your mother’s name?”

“Cheryl. Now are you going to tell me what this is about?”

“I was your father’s first wife.”

84
“I didn’t know he was married before.”

“Four years. If you will excuse me, I have something I have to do.”

“Do you know what she’s talking about?”

“I do. It’s not my place to say. You might try asking your mother or father. I seriously
doubt Kristin will tell you. We’ll drive up to Nevada later today.”

We filled out the paperwork, Kristin did the demonstration and we were issued our
CCWs. We then met with Sheriff. He was thinking about a plan to create a Special Pos-
se of Reserve Deputies under the guise of a Search and Rescue unit. Members would
be sworn officers with very limited authority. They’d work on Amber Alerts and as a mili-
tia if needed. Each member would be required to provide a handgun, shotgun and rifle
and qualify with all three weapons. Additional training would be provided for anyone
who needed it, but he was trying to select only combat veterans. Kristin and I would be
exceptions to the rule if we were as good of snipers as Deputy Lawson indicated.

It’s about 2,300 miles from Mason City to Edwards, I drove it once. If an invader made it
all the way to Des Moines, they’d have half the country under occupation. Kansas, Mis-
souri, Iowa and Illinois would be their destinations due to the average farm output. Still,
they would be deep inside hostile territory. I knew we weren’t the only people in the area
with M1As because a gun store in Des Moines, Smith’s, sold them. As far as it goes,
any decent 7.62×51mm rifle would be perfect in an area like Iowa. We thanked the
Sheriff for sharing his idea and told him we’d keep it in mind. Probably in that back cor-
ner where we store various crackpot ideas. That’s not the same as dismissing the idea
entirely and it wasn’t tinfoil hat time, yet.

“What do you think, Jason?”

“I’ve heard crazier ideas. Patton’s dead. The Chinese couldn’t move 100 miles in 48
hours if their lives depended on it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Patton relieving the 101st at the Battle of the Bulge. Surely you saw the movie?”

“Pompous SOB.”

“Yep. Bradley and he didn’t get along quite as well as the movie suggested. He got
along better with Ike. You know if we applied for CCWs, the Sheriff would have probably
turned us down.”

“Probably. Even with CCWs, it doesn’t change a lot…we’re civilized.”

85
“You make it sound like a dirty word.”

“I don’t know why I came back. I’m glad I did, since I met you; otherwise I’m not so sure
I wouldn’t have moved to Arizona.”

“Arizona? It’s hotter than Hades in Arizona.”

“I know. That’s the only thing that held me back. I took a week’s leave once and
checked out Tucson, Tombstone, Phoenix, Sedona and Prescott. It was the last week of
July. Never went back.”

“This war talk; do you really believe it will happen?”

“I don’t know if it will happen. It has been possible since the late 1950s when I was in
high school. To date, only two nuclear weapons have been used in a war, in 1945. I
don’t believe those figures we see in the media about Russia and the US only having
2,200 weapons each. Given that, even those weapons would be enough to wipe out a
large proportion of humanity.

“Do you know how many weapons we have?”

“Twenty-two hundred?”

“Try ten thousand six hundred and forty. Dubya claimed they were doing something like
seventeen hundred and I don’t know what became of that. Even if you take out the four
hundred for the ground launched cruise missile, that leaves ten thousand two hundred
and forty. And, I bet they have some in reserve that aren’t counted in that total.”

“But that’s good. We have more than they do.”

“If we’d lie what would you do in their place?”

“You have a point.”

“Do you know how many warheads we have on our boomers?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

“Twenty four missiles per boat, eight warheads per missile equals one hundred ninety
two per boat times fourteen boats equals two thousand six hundred and eighty-eight.
That more than the new agreement will allow. The boomers are the edge we have to
keep everyone else in line. Those Chinese maybe have two or three missile boats, the
Russians one old Typhoon they don’t use. Our Ohio class boats are keeping the world
safe.”

86
Tactical weapons include not only gravity bombs and short-range missiles, but also artil-
lery shells, land mines, depth charges, and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare, with
nuclear warheads. Also in this category were the former nuclear-warhead surface-to-air
missiles (SAMs), ground-based or ship borne and air-to-air missiles. Small, two-man
portable, or truck-portable, tactical weapons (sometimes misleadingly referred to as
suitcase nukes), such as the Special Atomic Demolition Munition, have been developed,
although the difficulty of combining sufficient yield with portability could limit their military
utility. In wartime, such explosives could be used for demolishing “choke-points” to en-
emy offensives, such as at tunnels, narrow mountain passes, and long viaducts.

Other new tactical weapons undergoing research include earth penetrating weapons
which are designed to target enemy-held caves or deep-underground bunkers.

The yield of tactical nuclear weapons is generally lower than that of strategic nuclear
weapons, but they are still very powerful, and some variable-yield warheads serve in
both roles. Modern tactical nuclear warheads have yields up to the tens of kilotons, or
potentially hundreds, several times that of the weapons used in the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Some tactical nuclear weapons have specific features meant to enhance their battlefield
characteristics, such as variable yield which allow their explosive power to be varied
over a wide range for different situations, or enhanced radiation weapons (the so-called
“neutron bombs”) which are meant to maximize ionizing radiation exposure while mini-
mizing blast effects.

The treaties didn’t apply top tactical nuclear weapons.

“We missed the end of the world you know.”

“No, I must have missed that because I was concentrating on a possible war. What are
YOU talking about?”

“Planet X. The Mayan Calendar ended on December 21st, 2012 and some thought that
signified the end of the world.”

“Nah, they just started the 14th long count Calendar.”

“So you did know.”

“I saw the show on Mega Disasters or a similar program. Believe none of what you hear
and only half of you see. I’m still holding out for weapons of mass destruction. Nukes,
chemical warfare or biological warfare.”

87
“So, you’re glad you came back home?”

“Well…think about it. Would you want to live in Arizona in this day and age? This illegal
immigration problem is only getting worse. A couple of years back the President of
México addressed Congress and blamed all of their problems with drug traffickers on
the sunset of the Assault Weapons Ban. I really thought Obama was going to call for a
renewal of the ban.”

“Why didn’t he?”

“I think he was afraid he wouldn’t get reelected.”

“He didn’t.”

“You and I know that, but he didn’t at the time. Considering his ranking in the polls, I’m
surprised he got 37% of the vote. You know, I read an article at the Bulletin of Atomic
Scientists just after they signed the new START Treaty. The guy said:

After missing more than a few deadlines and achieving several so-called significant
breakthroughs, the United States and Russia finally have reached an agreement on a
new arms control treaty. It will be signed in Prague on April 8, almost a year to the day
US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to begin
treaty negotiations and Obama announced, also in Prague, his commitment to a nucle-
ar-weapon-free world.

So, was the treaty worth the wait? As a disarmament measure, it will be a very modest
step. The treaty will set a ceiling of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads-technically a re-
duction of more than 30 percent from the current levels-but almost all of the reductions
will be accomplished by changing the way the warheads are counted. That means most
of the warheads will still be in the US and Russian active arsenals.”

“So there are probably more weapons than anyone is admitting. Another thing…it’s
called START because it only relates to strategic weapons. That totally ignores tactical
weapons.”

“What do you want to do, live in the shelter for the remainder of our lives?”

“Not really. Just make sure your NWS radio always has fresh batteries.”

There are upsides to bad events. Volcanic winter halted global warming, at least for the
moment. That, in turn, kept the Gulf Stream from sinking, for now. I rather doubted most
people cared about global warming because they were too busy trying to line up their
next meal. Meanwhile, we continued to turn a fair share of our incomes into commodi-
ties. No, not the market, real commodities like 6 gallons pails of grain, beans, rice, cof-
fee and toilet paper. Every chance we had to get a good deal on ammo, albeit at a

88
greatly inflated price, we spent the money. We ran out of storage room although we
weren’t parking vehicles in the garage because the garage was full of commodities.

“We need a storage building Jason.”

“You’re right. It sure would be nice to be able to park in the garage. Any ideas?”

“One. How about a three story building with a basement, main floor and second floor.
We can store the ammo in the basement, medium weight goods on the main floor and
lightweight goods on the second floor.”

“Frame construction?”

“Reinforced concrete. And, I’m not just talking about rebar. There are all kinds of addi-
tives a person can have added to concrete. Some make it stronger, some make it more
flexible and some make it dry faster.

“How big?”

“Same size as the one we have, 24’×24’.”

“Turnkey?”

“It would have to be, you can’t work like that anymore. We could mount PV panels on
the top, too. I’d be willing to let go of some of my gold to make it happen.”

“We’ll go fifty-fifty. Might be a good time to unload a little gold.”

The garage turned out to be 24×24 inside or 26×26 outside due to the foot thick rein-
forced walls. We figured the closest target was Des Moines and built accordingly. A
manual lift was included to ease the burden of taking things to the basement and sec-
ond floor and back, later. A large portion of the basement was taken up with large 2.2v
batteries at about three grand a pop. We would have lights for thirty years, depending
on the photovoltaic panels. There were 26 of the batteries including two spares. Weight
1068 lbs. with acid; 900 lbs. dry; 14”×14”×58” high; fiberglass case for extra strength; 22
gallons of ordinary auto battery acid (available in most cities for $1.50 per gal.); all new
cells shipped dry on pallets FOB Brockton, Massachusetts. One truckload halfway
across the country.

We bought four pallets of 21 Suntech 280w Polycrystalline Solar Modules. They were
installed by pros and tilted at an angle that would produce the highest average annual
power output. We agreed we’d probably never recover our investment. However, we’d
always have power and we could use one or both of the generators to charge the sub-
marine batteries. The maximum power output was 23,520kw. The batteries held 7,000
amps each for a total of 168,000 amps which is a lot of kilowatts at 120/240 volts. We
had enough charge controllers and inverters to meet our demands, up to and including

89
105+150=255 amps. We weren’t really sure why, but it was only money and we were
aging and we couldn’t take it with us. How much does a pallet of PV panels cost? About
sixteen grand; around $3 a kilowatt.

One of the reasons that people save and accumulate in their youth is so when they get
old and can’t work, they have the money to hire it done or buy what they need to make
life simpler. My fifty year old pickup and Kristin’s 50 year old car were doing just fine.
Parts were getting hard to find, but we made a list and gave it to one of those auto sal-
vage places that was connected to places all over the country. We got spares and had
them rebuilt and added them to storage, just in case. Spare everything, engines, trans-
missions, brake drums, brake pads, starters, generators, fuses and so on. Front ends
dismantled for parts and put up. Shocks, spark plugs, filters, voltage regulators. If it
went on the F-100 or the Comet, we had it. Plus new tires sealed up like in the story,
The Fifth Key. We even had parts kits to rebuild the engine or transmission we re-
placed.

“We’ve been together for almost twenty years. Why is it that every time I bring up mar-
riage you change the subject or indicate in some way that we should leave things as
they are?”

“When was the last time we had a fight Jason?”

“We’ve never had a real fight, have we?”

“No, we haven’t. Any more questions?”

“You didn’t answer my question. All you did was ask another question. Is there a lesson
there that I’m missing?”

“Yes.”

“Well, are you going to tell me what the lesson is?”

“Think about, it will come to you.”

“We don’t fight because we’re not married? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Eureka!”

“We’ve not always agreed.”

“That’s true, but it never turned into a fight because neither of us would push it to that
point. Jack had the attitude that he owned me. I was obligated to be faithful to him but
he wore a different set of shoes. In case you’re wondering, I’ve been faithful to you
since I moved in. I’m more than certain that you’ve been faithful to me.”

90
“You know it.”

“The marriage vows are to love, honor and cherish, keeping yourself only to your
spouse. We’ve managed to do that for almost twenty years. Why ruin a perfect relation-
ship?”

“I do love you, you know.”

“And I love you Jason. Let’s not screw up a good thing.”

It occurred to me that whenever there had been a disagreement, and there had been
more than a few, we worked through them, somewhat fearful of losing the other be-
cause there would be no dissolution involved. It was thoroughly practical. What did peo-
ple do before they had people to perform marriages? Interesting thought. However, a
relationship based on fear wasn’t much of a relationship. This definitely requires more
study. I checked. The first recorded marriage laws were part of the Code of Hammurabi,
circa 1,800BC. So were the first liquor laws. Do you suppose there’s a relationship?

It seems that King Hammurabi had all kinds of problems in his kingdom, Babylon. So,
he had his scribes write down the Hammurabi Codex. It was a far reaching set of laws
that touched on a bit of everything, including marriage and the hours of operations for
bars. Carved in stone, literally.

It took the other countries about a year to realize how bad they had it and develop solu-
tions. The solutions invariably were some form of take what we need from someone
who has it. You know, like the Japanese did in the 1930s and early 1940s. Our country
was digging itself out, sometimes literally, and the air was just a little clearer each day.
The ash that had been incorporated to the soil was very fertile and when blended with
existing humus and a bit of water, produced increasing yields.

Three years after our country and other parts of the world blew themselves up we were
meeting all of our needs. The Department of Agriculture was saying we’d have exporta-
ble amount of grain in a year or two. Baby boomers are the same the world over, they
want it NOW, not in two years.

The illegal immigrants who have decided that they were better off south of the border
changed their minds a second time and decided to come north again. That proved to be
harder than they had imagined. California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, with the
assistance of .gov, built a real fence. It sort of looked like the Berlin Wall in news pho-
tos. I was pretty sure that was real razor wire on top, too. On top of that, they had tow-
ers about every two miles, over 1,500 of them. Each was ‘manned’ by a Border Patrol
Agent with FLIR or something similar. They could see them approaching the fence from
miles away and on the off chance that one of them managed to get to the top and
through the razor wire, a nice warm set of handcuffs were waiting.

91
Spaced along the wall at intervals were National Guard units, although I couldn’t really
understand why. We weren’t hearing much from the Minuteman Movement these days.
Maybe we couldn’t stop them from trying to cross the border, but we sure could prevent
any attempt being successful. I hear they may be taking the Lazarus inscription off of
the Statute of Liberty. You know that one, right?

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to
land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch,
whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her bea-
con-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor
that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent
lips. Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-
tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Emma Lazarus, 1883

(emphasis added) The Greek reference is the Colossus of Rhodes.

We’re sort of full up with refuse at the moment and are having problems with our own
homeless. Besides, it’s copper not gold.

“We need to get to the range and practice.”

“You go ahead. Shoot once for yourself and once for me.”

“Come on Jason, this isn’t like you.”

“That Tac-50 has been gaining weight. We may have to put it on a diet.”

“It still weighs 26 pounds plus the scope.”

“It must be the ammo.”

“That’s still about 5 ounces a round. Your problem is that we haven’t anything really ex-
citing happen since the volcanoes blew. We still need to be ready in case the Chinese
invade or something.”

“They built that wall on the border; the Chinese can’t get in that way.”

“One round of 125mm would change that in a heartbeat.”

“I’m tired; taking care of the sows, the cattle, eight horses and all those chickens are
wearing me out.”

92
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 10

“The exercise will be good for you.”

“I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”

“Nope. You should be in good shape from moving all those goods from the garage to
the new storage building. That reminds me. I ordered two gross of cases of canning
jars.”

“That’s over three thousand jars!”

“They don’t last forever. I broke one just the other day.”

You know all those shelves I mentioned that we had in the basement and the shelter? It
seems Kristin got concerned about the New Madrid Seismic Zone and I had to add a
1”x4” across the front of each shelf so the shaking wouldn’t knock the jars off. I had to
leave a 1” gap at the bottom to keep the jars on the shelves. The shelves also had to be
anchored to the walls. It was actually a good idea but do you know how many shelves
we had? You’re wrong, part of what we had stored in the garage was, you guessed it,
shelving. It was a cross breed type of shelving, metal legs with wooden shelves.

“You need more practice Jason. Once a week until you are back in top form.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry about it; I got more Match grade ammo. We should take all of our brass to
someone who can reload it to Match specs using the Hornady A-MAX bullets. I’ll look
into it while you’re taking care of the livestock tomorrow.”

Since the Mk 211 has been mentioned and I implied that we lost our source, do we still
shoot it? Do we have a replacement source? Yes and no. Our supply is slowly dwin-
dling. Based on my shooting performance on this day, Kristin wouldn’t let me shoot any
of it. We tried to limit use to five rounds or less, just to verify the sighting. It doesn’t
shoot to the same point of aim as the Hornady so the scope adjustments are in our
range books.

Someday when I have the money to waste, I’d like to take a 55 gallon drum of gas and
shoot it with one of those rounds just to see what would happen. It would be interesting
because the round is HE, high explosive, I, incendiary, AP, armor piercing. The HE and
I effects would be in play when the slug was about halfway through the drum. I envision
two possible results, the first spectacular, a huge explosion and the second disappoint-
ing because there wouldn’t be enough oxygen mixed with the gas. I’m fairly certain that
a half filled drum would explode if I hit it above the gas.

93
Note to self: AIM Surplus has more Radway on stripper clips, mid to late nineties. Prop-
er stuff for the standard model.

I’d finished off all of my South African target practicing and all I had these days for my
standard model was Radway. Kristin had a small amount of the German ammo left, but
the bulk of hers was also Radway. We had accumulated quite a few CMI mags, all 20-
rounders. Every time it looked like they were going to outlaw something related to fire-
arms, we bought magazines and ammo or more firearms. I haven’t mentioned it, recent-
ly anyway, but I said I had two 7.62 suppressors, one for my standard and one for my
Super Match. The standard now had a flashhider with a bayonet lug and Kristin has the
suppressor on her Super Match. But her standard also has my other bayonet lug so
we’re sort of even. And, I still don’t want to get close enough to use a bayonet. We got
the last of the Radway AIM had and Kristin found someone to load the Hornady Match
ammo. We thought we were walking in high cotton.

Food had gone through a wide swing in prices. After the volcanoes, it was difficult if not
impossible to find. Oh, we had the one trip to Costco, Sam’s Club, Hy-Vee and the res-
taurant supply just like I said. Not long after we stocked up, you couldn’t get food for
love nor money. Beef prices started to creep up as the supply dried up. The same hap-
pened to pork and chicken although slower. Eventually the only sources of protein were
what you grew or vegetable protein, like beans.

The second summer it began to switch and the third summer we’re where we are. With
two freezers full, we didn’t want for anything. I expected we’d have to patrol the five
acres on horseback to keep people out. However, our large garden wasn’t visible from
the road and we used heirloom seeds, so nobody, other than family, knew how much
food we actually had. Packed the way it was, the bacon and butter stored perfectly fine
in the freezer until we needed to use it. Kristin’s careful canning habits paid off big time
and either that or those new lids kept the food well past two seasons.

We provided her parents with garden produce, both fresh and canned, and her brothers
provided them with meat. When we had a beef and two hogs butchered, we gave them
all their small freezer would hold. The premium food item turned out to be coffee with a
57 ounce can of Folgers going for $14.99 when you could find it. We didn’t even look;
we had enough for several years.

But, as I said, famine was spreading around the globe and it wasn’t limited to third world
countries. The real concern all along, in our minds at least, was the Chinese. They were
starving before the events and now they were well along with whatever solution they
had devised. The new Republican President continued Obama’s policy of winding down
the foreign wars. I was sure he would leave troops in Germany and South Korea, but he
pulled every last one of them, including liaison personnel. They got leave when they re-
turned home and were quietly moved to the Mexican border to replace the National
Guard units. The National Guard units were then redeployed to the west coast along
with the troops from Korea and Germany.

94
Lake City ammo had begun showing up at AIM, Ammoman, Ammunition to Go and
several of the online ammo dealers. It disappeared and it was Wolf, Serbian or do with-
out. You could still get Black Hills but it was right up there around $2+ a round. The
Black Hills factory had a terrible time digging out from the ash and their prices reflected
that plus the sudden shortage. We got some of the last 175gr Match HP. Hornady had
some 168gr A-MAX and the heavier 178gr bullet was A-MAX Match and we didn’t have
any experience with it. We elected to shop around for more of the Black Hills and got
2,000 rounds from MidwestUSA for $722 per case plus shipping. I drove down to Co-
lumbia, Missouri and picked it up

You realize, I assume, that we were having a large number of .50 caliber rounds re-
loaded. She got the best price she could…but still, I almost choked when she told me
what it cost. I’d originally been buying 50 rounds at a time at about six bucks a round.
The guy was turning out about 200 rounds a week so it would take a while. The first in-
dication of an attack was the detonation of three enhanced radiation warheads.

Space Command tracked them and reported them to the President. They also reported
that the warheads weren’t on a trajectory for any US city. The US held fire until they
detonated at 400km altitude. A one for one proportional response was then ordered, all
targeting Beijing. The missiles had been launched from Chinese submarines.

Satellite orbits were modified slightly and we learned that the DF-5As not in silos were
erect and being fueled. A second strike was ordered for those sites, cutting the available
long range Chinese missiles to those housed in silos. Estimates of silo based DF-5A
was uncertain with the minimum estimated at four and the maximum estimated at four-
teen. There was also some dispute about the size of the warheads, initially thought to
be 5mT and more recently 2mT. The same source reported that none of the missiles
were MIRV’d.

Both the US and Russia were probably at an Alert Status or Defense Condition of One. I
had to move the chickens to the barn two pairs at a time and absent a cage, they had
full run of the barn.

“Everything is set in the barn.”

“Help me move the food to the shelter if you would. I packed two suitcases. The only
guns in the house are our carry guns.”

“Did you perchance check to see if the PV panels are still working?”

“I haven’t had a chance. I’ll check them when I come back from delivering the first load.”

“Don’t dawdle. “

“What?”

95
“Get your butt in gear.”

“What next?”

“Are the PV panels working?”

“Like a charm.”

“The guy we have doing the reloading delivered the ammo and I wrote him a check.”

“Is it a good check or will it bounce?”

“It really doesn’t make any difference, but it’s a good check. Take those boxes to the
shelter and come back for the last load. Wait. Make it two loads, the suitcases.”

“Ok, what next, the suitcases or something else?”

“I’ll take two boxes from the kitchen and you take the other two. While I’m putting every-
thing away, you can get the suitcases and lock us down.”

I dropped the next load off in the shelter and headed back to the house to get the suit-
cases. A car was sitting in the drive on the other side of the gate. It was Deputy Lawson
with his wife and two children.”

“What’s up Deputy?”

“Is there any room in the Inn?”

“Hold on. Kristin, Deputy Lawson is here with his family. Do we have room to house
them?”

“Ask if they brought anything with them.”

“Well, Deputy?”

“Extra clothing, the food from our pantry and two coolers of frozen meat and vegetables.
Oh, plus my firearms and ammunition.”

“Did you catch that?”

“Yes. I suppose you’d better let them in and move their things to the shelter.”

“She didn’t sound enthusiastic.”

“We’ll discuss that later. For now, move around behind the garage and park. I’m grab-
bing two suitcases and will help you unload.”

96
It didn’t take long to move their possessions. The boxes of food were typical pantry
items plus a few things probably picked up when they were on sale. Both the Deputy
and his wife had tears in their eyes.

“I don’t know how to thank you.”

“That’s easy, just say ‘Thank you’. For the moment avoid discussing your father and
mother. If Kristin won’t explain, I will but you have to keep your lips zipped. Let’s get
your weapons and ammo put away in the armory. Wouldn’t want one of the children
playing cowboy and Indians with a real firearm.”

I unlocked the door to the tunnel to the old generator room slash new armory.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you had a few more firearms.”

“The room over there will be for you and your wife. The next one over for your children.
Both are set up with bunk beds, we can unstack them if you want. Didn’t catch your
wife’s name.”

“Melody. My son is David Jr., I’m David and our daughter’s name is Cheryl. Is there any-
thing about the shelter that we should be aware of?”

“Not really, it’s just your average well-built and supplied storm slash bomb slash fallout
shelter. There are PV panels on the roof of the storage building feeding submarine bat-
teries in the basement of that building. We have extensive supplies, both LTS foods and
short term foods.”

“LTS?”

“Long term storage. You saw the armory, although you might not have recognized some
of the weapons. And, of course you saw the suppressors and Mk 211. You could really
put me between a rock and hard spot.”

“Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about. What silencers? I’m sure I’d know
Raufoss if I saw it, you must have it stored elsewhere.”

“When we have time, I’ll introduce you to the Tac-50. The bathroom is over there. Flush
toilet, shower and a small sink.”

Their children, one five and one three, were restless, tired and probably frightened. Kris-
tin had introduced herself to Melody, David Jr. and Cheryl. She already knew David
Lawson, just not by his first name and I noticed she was quite reserved with the family.
Any discussion in that regard would have to wait. David followed my activities with the
remote survey meter and the spiral notebook I recorded radiation readings and events

97
in. It was divided into sections, one for fallout data, a second event log plus a third sec-
tion to record miscellaneous information like radio contacts.

When we put in the storage building, a concrete arch was installed between the barn,
storage building, shelter and greenhouse. Another idea borrowed from one of the PAW
stories. The tanker was still on lease but now ran three ounces per year. All of the tanks
were full, included the new above ground 1,100 gallon propane tank. These additions
were small when compared to the cost of the storage building and the additions we in-
corporated.

“Did you ask your parents to explain about Kristin?”

“Dad got angry and sulked off. Mom looked like I’d stabbed her in the heart and started
crying. Neither was willing to discuss it. I did some checking on my own and eventually
found the records of the dissolution. They were unrevealing. Then I got busy with life
and haven’t pursued it.”

“In flagrante delicto is a Latin phrase used to indicate that a person or persons have
been caught in the act of committing an offense. There’s more to it, but she’ll have to tell
you. It also involves your grandfather.”

“Are you two married?”

“‘Fraid not. It’s not for want of my asking, believe me.”

“Once burned, twice shy?”

“That isn’t it. Sorry, it’s personal. So, where do you live?”

“Kelley.”

“You obviously made it through the volcanic events.”

“We taped every seam in the house we could find and had two of those Iconic air clean-
ers. That helped some. So did wearing P-100 masks. Protecting the kids was the hard
part. We used surgical masks. We have a small gasoline generator and used it to power
a shop vacuum. Melody vacuumed daily. Fortunately we use propane so we had gas for
the stove and hot water heater. The house is small and has a fireplace. That was our
only source of heat. It looks like you have a lot of food.”

“We do and it’s not all stored in the shelter. It’s been a long process going back over 20
years preparing for the worst that Mother Nature and mankind could throw at us. I’m re-
tired Air Force and Kristin owned a Maid Rite franchise in Ankeny. We both had funds
accumulated when we met. I hazard to say that we spent most of those funds and a bit
more accomplishing what we have. I want to check on the livestock, care to come
along?”

98
“Sure.”

“We have to go through the armory. Initially I had a 30” concrete culvert as an escape
tunnel. When we built the storage building, the culvert was replaced with a 6’ high pe-
destrian arch. The stuff is called three sided concrete culvert and can either be rectan-
gular in shape or arched. These were precast in a special pour and are 6’6” high at the
peak and 3’ between the walls. Watch your head.”

We moved up the upgraded tunnel to the storage building.

“Ok, where are we now?”

“This is the basement to the storage building. We made it 12’ deep rather than 8’. Those
batteries are fairly big and take a lot of floor space. We put that storage shelving over
the top.”

“Batteries with wheels?”

“Transfer dollies. We have two spare batteries. We’ll probably never need them, but we
have them.”

“How do you charge them?”

“Photovoltaic panels on the roof. They can put out about 23kw. You can see some of
our extra ammo over there. There are two generators in the garage. The basement
holds the really heavy things, the main floor medium weight items and the second floor
the lighter items. This tunnel goes to a small room beneath the barn.”

“Whew, quite the smell.”

“It will get worse as we accumulate manure. Everything here is about what I expected.
Climb back down the ladder and we’ll go back to the shelter.”

“Is this the last of it?”

“The greenhouse is also connected via tunnel. I’ll have to check the radiation level be-
fore we can go there.”

“You don’t think Des Moines will get hit do you?”

“I don’t know what will get hit. So far it’s just been HEMP devices. If you had a newer
car, I doubt it would run. Have you been following the news? China only had about two
dozen of the intercontinental ballistic missiles, the DF-5A. According to Fox, when US
satellites showed them being fueled, they were taken out. They still have some silo
based DF-5As; anywhere from four to fourteen. The HEMP devices were apparently

99
fired by their two submarines. That would leave them with 33 SLBMs off our coast
spread among 3 SSBNs. The only military targets in the Midwest would be Whiteman
and Omaha. They could feasibly target the Lake City ammo plant in Independence.”

“Why there?”

“Have you been following the news? The President is bringing the troops home and af-
ter leave, they’re being deployed along the Mexican border. The National Guard units
and a portion of the active military are also being deployed to the west coast. Kristin and
I have discussed this at length. China was in a drought before the volcanic events. The
volcanic winter that followed must have tens or hundreds of millions of the Chinese
people starving. Famine is one of the natural causes of war.”

“You must follow things like this closely.”

“To an extent. Plus I belong to several boards that are preparedness oriented. People
run across interesting tidbits from various sources and post the information and or a link
so others can check it for themselves. One section is usually devoted to fiction. Those
authors try to envision some sort of calamity and the possible or probable outcomes.
The stories are also good sources of information because many of the authors do ex-
tensive research when they put a story together. TOM and Jerry are two of our favorite
authors.”

“The cat and the mouse?”

“No. TOM is an acronym for Tired Old Man. His name is Gary D. Ott and he lives in
Palmdale, California. Back between ’62 and ’65 we were actually stationed together at
Edwards Air Force Base. Jerry D. Young lives somewhere in Nevada. I suspect he
might have been raised in Missouri because most of his stories take place in the
Ozarks. There’s no radiation, we can go to the greenhouse. Kristin, do you need any-
thing from the greenhouse?”

“Salad makings, please.”

“What are you preparing for supper?”

“Tuna and Noodle casserole.”

“You want salad with that?”

“I guess it doesn’t really go together does it? Just check and see if we have lettuce get-
ting ready and let me know. I’ll plan around it.”

“I’m really sorry if we’re upsetting Kristin. You were the only place that came to mind
when we got that EMP.”

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“I’m not sure that’s exactly the problem. She developed a medical problem, she never
said when, and can’t have children. The fact that you’re the son of her first husband
could be reminding her of that. As I said, keep a low profile and give me a chance to
discuss it with her.”

“How long have the two of you been together?”

“Almost twenty years. Twenty very good years. In relative terms, she’s much better off
financially than I am. I get my Social Security and Air Force retirement. She has invest-
ments that have done very well over the years. She mentioned once what she had but
we don‘t discuss it. Her broker is in Des Moines and she said he was very good. For all I
know, he might have taken her out of the stock market and moved her to precious met-
als. An ounce of gold is a lot of value in a very small package. I have some too, how
about you?”

“No gold. Another Deputy sold me several rolls of junk silver so he could get something
he wanted. You have rifles similar to the one he bought, the civilian version of the M14.”

“We have four, two standard models and two Super Match models. Although they’re
rated for eight hundred meters, we can do well out to about one thousand. My Tac-50 is
just getting warmed up at those ranges. The longest recorded sniper kill for a while was
a Canadian using a Tac-50 and Hornady A-MAX ammo. The distance was 2,430 me-
ters. Earlier the same day, another Canadian sniper made a kill at 2,310 meters. That
was broken in 2009 by a British soldier using an Accuracy International AWM, British
designation L115A3, in .338 Lapua Magnum. The distance there was 2,475 meters. He
reported it took about nine shots for him and his spotter to initially range the target suc-
cessfully. Then, he reported, his first shot ‘on target’ was a killing shot.”

“I can’t imagine shooting that far.”

“Kristin can approach two kilometers. I’ve gotten a little rusty.”

“You mentioned Single Action Shooting. Did anything ever come of that?”

“Sort of. I bought leather from Kirkpatrick in Laredo. We have rifle and shotgun scab-
bards on some of the tack. You working with the Sheriff to get us CCWs was a boon.
We carried .45acp pistols for backup, concealed of course. Single Actions are great
firearms, but nothing beats a pistol for fast reloads. I think that’s why police departments
gave up on revolvers and speed loaders and replaced them with pistols.

“But, back to the sniping for a moment. The previous distance record was held for over
forty years by Carlos Hathcock. When it comes to the fastest pistol shot, that record was
held by Ed McGivern even longer. History channel or maybe it was Military channel
showed a film of his shooting. Fame is fleeting. A lot more Americans will remember
Hathcock’s name than will remember the Canadians or the Brit. They were using fancy,

101
expensive sniping rifles. Hathcock used a Ma Deuce with his scope mounted on it. I
bought my Tac-50 before the Canadians set their records. I even use the same ammo.”

102
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 11

“You follow the buy cheap and stack it deep philosophy?”

“For the most part. The problem is that ammo is no longer cheap. We’ve had a buying
program of sorts and use Match ammo for the sniping rifles and NATO surplus for the
standard rifles. And, before you ask, I don’t care for the AR-15 and its ilk. A Mini-14 may
not be quite as accurate, but it’s ten times more dependable.”

“What ammo do you use for the pistols?”

“Speer. Gold Dot for carry and Lawman for practice. Hornady A-MAX for the TAC-50,
Black Hills 175gr BTHP for the Super Matches. At the moment all we have is Radway
for the standards. The .45acp flares came from firequest dot com and the .45acp shot
shells came from midwesthuntersoutlet dot com. The twelve gauge flares are standard
12 gauge marine flares. And, our 5.56 is a Lake City M193 on stripper clips. I got that
from Ammoman.”

“Do you have flechettes?”

“Two sources, Ammunition to Go and antipersonnel dot net slash sdllc but I didn’t buy
any. They’re awfully expensive and with the terrain around here, I question how useful
they’d be.”

“Slugs, buckshot and regular shot shells?”

“Brenneke slugs and 8 pellet Remington Low Recoil 00. The shotguns are cylinder or
improved cylinder and I’m not much of a wing shooter. Our .22LR ammo is 40gr solid,
36gr hollow point and an even mix of Yellow Jacket and Viper. We have three cases to-
tal. Miscellaneous ammo for guns like my ‘03. No LAWs rockets or fragmentation gre-
nades but we got some smoke grenades from Ammunition to Go.”

“I think you mentioned nearly everything except those cans of Mk 211 that I didn’t see.”

“Well…I didn’t acquire 36 cans and I don’t have 35 and a fraction left.”

“I noticed the extended barrels on the .45 pistols.”

“What you see is a thread protector. I have cans for those, a pair for the Mini-14s, a pair
for the Super Matches, a Mark II with an integral suppressor and one for my Hi-Power. I
wasn’t satisfied with the subsonic ammo and stuck with the 36gr hollow points.”

“How did you get a can on a Mini-14?”

“Two came with threaded barrels, the AC-556 and the Mini-14GB. I got a gunsmith
down in Florida to swap out the barrel on the one with the standard barrel to an AC-556

103
barrel and added a folding stock. A few years back, Ruger modified the piston assembly
to reduce barrel vibration, but I decided against having the carbines retro fitted. I
couldn’t very well drag an AC-556 into an Iowa dealer, could I?”

“Does it keep you up at night worrying?”

“At my age, it doesn’t make much difference. I might not live through the trial.”

“What are you going to do with them when you die?”

“Kristin has family that might want them. I’ll be dead so I doubt I’ll care what happens to
them. Maybe find a LEO that can legally own them and sell them off if I have the time. I
haven’t had any contact with my family since 1961. One of the reasons we didn’t marry
was the agreement that what’s hers is hers and what’s mine is mine. I did have a simple
will drawn up that leaves her everything if we’re still together when I die. We try to avoid
sticking our nose in the other’s business except those things that affect us jointly.
What’s your story?”

“Two years of Junior College down at Des Moines and then I became a Deputy. It’s
99% boredom and 1% action. We’ve been married a little over six years. Not sure
whether we’ll have a third child or not.”

“I’m surprised we haven’t gotten any radiation. I’m going to hook up a cheap radio to my
Discone antenna and see what’s what.”

None of the stations in the area were broadcasting. I turned the TV on and it was dead.

“There’s still no fallout David. Want to go topside and take a look around?”

“As long as it’s safe, sure.”

“We’ll take the low range Geiger counter just to be sure. Maybe air out the barn for a bit
if it’s all clear. Let me zero out a pair of dosimeters. You’d better wear your duty belt.”

“I always carry, even off duty. Compact Glock in an ankle holster.”

“What caliber?”

“Forty Smith and Wesson. The US Law Enforcement pistols, G22 and a G27.”

“Don’t own one but they seem to be popular.”

“I’d prefer the .45acp but the Department chose these. We can carry the .45acp, but
they won’t supply the ammo if we do.”

“What ammo do you use?”

104
“Winchester Ranger Partition Gold. I have quite a lot accumulated.”

“What do you have for long arms?”

“Department issue shotgun and issue semi-auto only M16. My person arms include a
Remington Express combo and a Ruger SR-556. Plus I have one other handgun, a Colt
Python with the 4” barrel. I have assorted ammo including the same M193 you men-
tioned on stripper clips. We don’t get rich being Deputies and I had to decide whether I
wanted an M1A Loaded or the Ruger. I went with the more expensive and am trying to
save up for the M1A. I can get the M1A for wholesale and maybe I should have gone
with it. But, the ammo is so expensive.”

“That depends on where you buy it. Clip this on. Are you ready to take a look?”

“Is the Geiger counter on?”

“Yep. Let me get the blast door. You may want to lean on it to help push it open.”

“What’s it filled with, concrete?”

“Actually, yes. Ok, no radiation so far. When I turn the corner, we’ll have a better idea.
Nope, nothing. Follow me up the stairs and watch your step.

“Nothing here at the door. There, that got it, we’re now fully exposed.”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

“I supposed maybe we overreacted.”

“That remains to be seen. Somehow I doubt China won’t react to us taking out those
missiles they were fueling or the attack on Beijing in retaliation for the HEMP devices.

Look, up in the sky.”

“For what, Superman?”

“No. Contrails. Not a single one. That’s very unusual; there always seem to be a few.
You know about the contrails/chemtrails conspiracy?

“Nope, now what?”

“We’ll loosen the canvas cover to the barn doors and open the top halves to air the
place out.”

105
“Dutch doors?”

“Very handy for this sort of thing. They were invented to keep farm animals out of hous-
es and permit air circulation. The reverse should hold true; keeping the animals in the
barn while allowing circulation.”

“Those animals aren’t well protected. What good does a canvas cover do?”

“It keeps out the particles but that’s about the limit. Now that we have time, care to help
me move some bales of straw and hay against the barn? You’ll notice that I changed
the original haystack and put bales of hay against the barn two layers deep plus one
layer of straw. All we need to do is move hay and straw to cover the doors. Got the idea
out of a PAW story. In that case, the man had earth sheltered barns. I have rolls of plas-
tic to cover the hay and straw.”

“PAW?”

“Post-apocalyptic world. You know, the world after it’s gone to Hell in a hand basket.
Sort of like after the volcanic eruptions.”

“Just how long could you last in a PAW?”

“We probably have enough food for ten years. We could fight a couple of wars if we had
to. Kristin’s family is about in the same situation. They have a large farm out near Adel
with a fair amount of remaining livestock. They had to sell off quite a bit but they’re re-
building the herds. Huge garden. Enough to feed three families: her parents and both
her brothers. Proportionally about the same as our garden. We have a large garden and
it’s only the two of us. We sometimes end up giving away potatoes and onions.”

How do you explain what’s involved with survival in a PAW? Especially when he doesn’t
know what PAW means until you define it? Most rural people have a clue, at least. Da-
vid seemed to instinctively know, in general terms, what it took. I had a passing thought
that perhaps there was a temporary vacancy in China’s leadership which might account
for the delay in their response. I considered and dismissed the possibility that they
wouldn’t respond. At that particular time, I failed to consider the troops the President
had ordered to the border and west coast.

The President of México was so angry with the US over the Arizona law, the drug cartel
infighting and so forth, he accepted an offer from China to assist in controlling the drug
war. The Chinese supplied three companies of soldiers and then three more and then
three more and all of a sudden there were more Chinese soldiers in México than there
were Méxican soldiers. Satellites are wonderful devices; you can keep an eye on every-
one, including your neighbors.

106
When the Director of National Intelligence presented the President with irrefutable evi-
dence of a Chinese buildup in México, the President began moving troops. It didn’t hit
MSM but the amateur net was abuzz. Other satellites caught Chinese troops being
loaded on cargo vessels and the President moved the National Guard and some of the
troops to the west coast and put front line troops on the border with México. About the
only real surprise was the attack with HEMP devices. A proportional response was
made against, not the submarines, but Beijing. When China began to respond by drag-
ging the missiles out of their tunnels, erecting and fueling them, the missiles were de-
stroyed in place. The White House viewed their actions as proportional but the Chinese
didn’t agree.

With the schedule of the planned events firmly in place, the Chinese had little choice
except follow the schedule and continue to assemble their forces for transport east. Ad-
ditional troops were flown to México but their equipment was on ships in the mid Pacific.
An army travels on its logistics and requires both the equipment and replacement stores
to conduct a military campaign. Ask Napoleon, he said an army travels on its stomach.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has introduced a ration consisting of pre-
packaged 1-man meals sealed in hard plastic retort pouches. The Chinese soldier ra-
tions is divided into Instant Meal Individuals (Twelve item menu), and Self Heating Indi-
viduals (Three-item menu.) A typical Chinese ration package contains roughly 1000
kcal, and includes compressed food, energy bar, egg rolls with pork, pickled mustard
tuber, and instant solid beverage. Every Self Heating Package comes with an insulated
flameless heater activated by water.

In the event that we had to be away from home on a ‘mission’ we had civilian MREs
packaged by SOPAKCO as Sure-Pak Meals. They came 12 to the case and cost sixty-
four bucks plus shipping. While they might not be a roast turkey dinner, à la Thanksgiv-
ing, they’d fill the hole. We had 12 cases on hand but only because it seemed like the
right thing to do at the time. We initially bought 13 cases and tried one case to decide
which each of us liked. They didn’t include toilet paper so we bought Bio Wipe Rolls,
$105 for a 200 pack of 140 sheets packaged in a plastic wrapper. I added matches, cig-
arettes and the missing condiments.

Certain things, gold and silver for example, held their value. If a dollar bill was printed in
a size corresponding to its value, they’d be smaller than postage stamps. What didn’t
get spent on precious metals and supplies for future needs, including ammo, was spent
on various ‘nice to have’ things. We discussed and discarded the notion of acquiring
gemstones as part of our preparations. While they probably were a good investment,
they were really much more of a long term proposition while gold and silver were imme-
diate.

The barn was aired out enough by the time we had the hay and straw up to the top of
the bottom door, so we closed the top, slid the canvas back in place and covered the
top of the door with hay and straw bales. When we had that completed, I got a roll of
plastic from the storage building and David tucked it in at the top of the bales while I

107
nailed it to the ground to allow any rain to run off. It took a while and 2 rolls of plastic be-
fore we finished. It was also dark out by the time we finished.

“I kept your food hot. Where have you been and what have you been doing?”

“We filled in the hay and straw in front of those two doors and covered all of the hay and
straw with plastic. That smells good.”

“It’s probably dried out from keeping it warm.”

“I’m sorry; I should have waited to do that until tomorrow.”

“There’s no radiation. Was it a false alarm?”

“I thought China would have retaliated by now.”

“We don’t grow that much rice in the US, do we?”

“We actually import rice from Thailand and several other countries. California and Ar-
kansas are two of our principal rice growing states. That Elephant brand rice we get
from Costco is grown in Thailand.”

“Speaking of rice, how many bags do we have?”

“Forty-four unopened. That’s twenty-two hundred pounds. We have eighty unopened

bags of pinto beans. The other dry beans, maybe one thousand pounds. That includes
the Great Northern, Navy beans, Kidney beans and Pinquito beans. And, we’re long on
coffee. There are 92 of those six can flats. The cans are 57 ounces and the label says
each makes 380 cups of coffee. The other super critical item is bath tissue and it looks
like about half a truckload.”

Melody raised a trembling hand. “Do you have any feminine hygiene supplies?”

“We have some as part of our trade goods, Melody. I haven’t needed them in years,”
Kristin replied, smiling. “But I always figured they’d be worth their weight in gold if they
were needed. Oh, not actually, that was a figure of speech.”

Is the ice starting to melt? A smile? Every generation has a legend. Every journey has a
first step. Every saga has a beginning. – Star Wars

Kristin took Melody aside to explain that we had both pads and tampons. While we
didn’t have as many packages of those, as compared to bath tissue, the supply of both
was substantial. Realizing that manufactured goods would be difficult to obtain in a
PAW, as evidenced by our experience during the volcanic period, we had increased our
supply of manufactured goods, especially those that were disposable or would wear out,
like clothing.

108
About the only thing we didn’t have was children’s clothing. There were cloth diapers in
our trade goods, but no children’s clothing. What we had instead were multiple bolts of
cloth, boxes of thread and notions and both an electric and a treadle sewing machine.
The electric was White and the treadle was a rebuilt Singer straight stitch. But then, we
had multiple sources of electrical power. There was another brand that was of Japanese
manufacture that showed up on the internet when we searched, but it proved to be dis-
continued.

One thing we intentionally excluded from our considerations was payback period, e.g.
how long will it take us to break even on something like 26 batteries, 84 PV panels, the
charge controllers and inverters. We concluded that the answer was probably, ‘not in
our lifetimes’. The equipment had a projected lifetime greater than ours. We simply
wanted what we wanted, power until we no longer needed it, as in when we died. All I
had, besides my material possessions, was Kristin. She had both material possessions
and a family and was younger than I.

The discussion never came up until now, but I smoke about a pack and a half a day and
have since I was in Basic Training. At Edwards, cigarettes ran $1.90 per carton. Now
days they’re more than double that per pack most places. For a long time, I drove down
to Missouri and bought really inexpensive brand name smokes. Still do; Iowa charges
$2.37 tax per pack and Missouri charges $1.18 tax per pack, a savings of $11.90 per
carton. Second cheapest legal smokes in the US; South Carolina is cheapest. Generally
bought 20 cartons, give or take, at a time and the $238 I saved more than paid for the
gas. How many cartons of smokes do I have put up? I won’t be having a nicotine fit any-
time soon. And, if the cigarettes were going to kill me, I’d be dead by now. (That was
dated information. At the moment, Missouri has the lowest taxes 17¢ in the US. Even
with local option taxes, they’re still the lowest.)

However, I can’t smoke in the house even though it’s my house. The first time we shel-
tered, I just used one of the bunk rooms to smoke. We reached that agreement before
Kristin moved in. When I think back to that time, I’m sure it was a deal breaker. The
bunk rooms are full up now, but I can go down one of the tunnels and stink up the stor-
age building or greenhouse.

We stayed in the shelter for three days. When it became obvious that we were under no
threat of immediate attack, we came out. The decision was reached after Kristin and
Melody had started the evening meal and they agreed to stay and help us eat the small
turkey. During those three days, I had to show David where I snuck off to have a smoke.
He only had a couple of packs so I broke out a carton for him. I smoke Kool’s, but my
trade goods had a few cartons of Marlboro’s. They were close enough to his Camel’s to
tide him over. We had several discussions, mostly pertaining to preparedness and he
slowly came to appreciate our viewpoint. The fact that they’d suffered badly during the
volcanic period and were almost totally unprepared when war threatened appeared to
change his thinking.

109
“I don’t know how fast we can do it, Jason. We’re going to need clothing for the children.
I’d really like to get that M1A or something in 7.62×51mm. I can’t surf the web to find a
cheaper alternative so I’ll probably go with whatever model of M1A I can find. I have a
lock on some magazines and know where I can get the ammo. There are other things
we need to gather up that I’ve never given enough thought to, like Melody’s feminine
hygiene supplies and my smokes, for example. I’m afraid those smokes are going to be
on the bottom of the list, though. You guys have literally tons of food. No wonder you
had to build a storage building.”

“We didn’t buy it all in one fell swoop, David. We’re talking about several years’ worth of
accumulation. When I originally replaced the roof on the bungalow, I considered PV
shingles but the guy talked me out of it. I wasn’t until recently that we went to those PV
panels and, let me tell you, it was a major expense. Had to sell off a little gold to finish
paying for it.”

“Just how much gold and silver do you have, if I may ask?”

“I slowed down buying junk silver coins when I got to 300 pounds.”

“What’s that worth?”

“That’s 4,375 troy ounce of coins which are 90% silver. Some the coins were new and
uncirculated. Assuming they were all uncirculated, that would be about 3,937.5 troy
ounces, all purchased at face value of the coins. At today’s market, $32.25 times
3,937.5 equals right around one hundred twenty seven grand.”

“I suppose you bought gold cheap too?”

“Not all of it, but it averaged out. I got into that when Krugerrands came out. Switched to
Eagles when they became available. Had to pay a little premium, but considering what I
paid for the Krugerrands, I did all right. I have an equal quantity in troy ounces of each
of the four Eagle coins. Kristin and I keep ours separate and I don’t know what she has
other than it’s more than I have.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so Jason, you’re awful free with the information. Aren’t you
afraid it will turn around and bite you on the butt? From what little I know about survival-
ists and, what did you call them, preppers, they hold the information pretty close.”

“We do. And you being a Deputy Sheriff has nothing to do with my being open with you.
It is unlikely that anyone can get inside our compound. If they do, we will be aware of
their presence. Period, no discussion. I learned a long time ago that it’s better to shoot
first and answer questions later. Iowa, after all, has an unusual law with respect to those
circumstances. You know it as well as I do. It’s justifiable homicide so long as you are in
fear of your life. There’s none of this equal force crap. That went out what, late seven-
ties? I don’t have to get a ruler and measure the length of the knife blade because I

110
don’t have to see a knife, gun or anything else. All I need is to be in fear for my life.
Maybe the guy knows Kung Fu or something. Can you tell by looking?”

“It still has to be reasonable.”

“I know. Can you tell a knife from a screwdriver in the dark? I can’t. It’s been tested in
court. Some eager beaver might arrest a person, but the county attorney is going to set
them free 99% of the time. I didn’t even live in Iowa when they passed that law, but I do
like it. A man’s home is his castle and he shouldn’t be forced to retreat. If someone
breaks into that castle, the man has a right to put them down.”

“You’re not armed all the time, are you?”

“Don’t wear it in the shower or to bed, but in both cases it’s very handy. One of the
perks of not having children or many visitors is how little we’re limited. Next time I go to
Bethany, you want me to pick up some smokes for you?”

“Call me before you go and I’ll let you know. We only have so much money to spread
around. I was wondering, if this situation arises again before we have time to get a little
better prepared, will your door still be open?”

“Ask Kristin. For my part yes. It’s always a comfort to have a LEO around when there’s
trouble. It is totally her decision and my opinion only counts if she says yes so don’t tell
her I said yes until she agrees.

“How do you remember things like that?”

“I’m old and don’t have a lot of things to do. I read it until it sticks.”

“So, what does it tell you?”

“The law? Don’t shoot ‘em in the back.”

“That’s all?”

“Just about. Well, no coup de grâce. You do realize that it’s ku:de gra:s and not how we
usually pronounce it.”

“Won’t leave them any less dead.”

“I guess you’re right. You’d better have a word with Kristin and whatever she says
goes.”

“Uh, right.”

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From the grin I deduced that she said yes. I had a feeling she’d say yes because she’d
gotten very fond of the children. The fact that David was Jack and Cheryl’s son wasn’t
his fault. Additionally, Melody seemed to need mothering. They loaded up their things
and left shortly after dark.

“I conclude you told David yes.”

“Did he ask you?”

“I told him it was entirely up to you. I’m ok with it but I wasn’t hurt like you were and it
would be categorically wrong to impose my views on you in this matter.”

“In this matter?”

“Well, most matters. I’m as entitled to an opinion as you are Kristin.”

“That you are. Sorry.”

Don’t believe that crap that love is never having to say you’re sorry! That’s just a line out
of a movie, Love Story. Neither Ali McGraw nor Ryan O’Neal look like that anymore ei-
ther; she was born in 1938 and he was born in 1941. Senior citizens now.

“Why don’t we wait until tomorrow morning to sort out what needs to come up from the
shelter and what stays?”

“That sounds good to me. Remind me if I forget to stock up a little heavier on feminine
hygiene products. It might be a good idea to have a small assortment of children’s cloth-
ing, just in case.”

“Thinking about David Jr. and Cheryl, are you?”

“The little girl, Cheryl, yes. I guess I can’t fault David for who his parents are. It upset me
when I found out and again when they showed up unannounced. It wouldn’t be right to
punish the children and grandchildren for the sins of the parents. Melody is kind of a lost
soul. Big town girl from Cedar Rapids. Where they live is the boonies by comparison.
Kelley is what two or three blocks long and two blocks wide?”

“It’s not very big. One of those blink and you miss it small towns.”

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 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 12

I was tempted to go to Frugal’s when the net came back up and send an email to TOM.
Mostly just to see if he remembered me. It was just a passing thought that got lost
among the chores the next day as we sorted through the shelter, moved things back to
the house, restocked the shelter from the storage building and tended to the livestock.
The chickens went back to their normal quarters and the pasture barn door was opened
to let them out for a while.

Midafternoon, Kristin sat down with a legal pad and made a list of things she wanted to
add to the stores. She listed shoes, socks, jeans, shirts, blouses, underwear, coats, mit-
tens and toys. Instead of tampons, it was Kotex regular panty liners and heavy flow
pads. Apparently what she had in her trade goods would remain in her trade goods. I
made a mental note to pick up a few cartons of Camel filters. I also decided to see if any
surplus NATO 7.62 was available in Des Moines.

We weren‘t going for a few days, there was nothing pressing and we still had a level of
uncertainty relating to the HEMP and our unanswered retaliatory strikes against China.
Surely the US could have gotten a pair of P-3 Orion’s airborne and located the Chinese
subs. Why then did TPTB elect to nuke Beijing? One of the highly touted pieces of
equipment on ASW aircraft is the MAD. Unfortunately they work best when the target is
shallow and properly aligned with the sensor.

Cheyenne Mountain could produce the approximate coordinates of the launch sites.
There was a time lapse between detection and detonation. There was a further time
lapse between aircraft launch and transit to the launch sites. If the subs dived to near
their maximum operating depth and moved off at maximum permissible speed, the
search sector would be fairly large and expanding continuously. That’s just one of many
explanations of why they did what they did. Unlike the subs, Beijing was a static target.
And if an invasion was actually expected, chopping off the snake’s head wasn’t without
merit.

We didn’t know the status in Eastern Europe either. The latest news had put Russian
forces at the borders of the Baltic States. Given my limited familiarity with military com-
munications systems, the hardened systems were mostly operable. Low earth orbit sat-
ellites had probably been damaged to an extent. That would limit the effectiveness of
several weapons systems including GPS guided bombs and artillery shells like Excali-
bur. During testing Excalibur was intentional fired 15° off target and landed well within
the 10 meter CEP, missing the exact spot by two meters. However, going over my notes
I discovered that the GPS satellites were in an 11,000 mile high orbit.

We went to the stores that I knew carried surplus ammo and they had the Radway. $45
a bandoleer compared to AIM’s 35.95. I got 6 750-round cases and another case of 12
gauge slugs. He had a Harris bipod the same as the one on my Super Match and I add-
ed that to install on Kristin’s Super Match. Got the stud too.

113
The next morning after chores, we decided to run the risk of a trip to Des Moines to
shop. Penny’s was open at the downtown store but they were using old fashioned sales
books. Hadn’t seen those since the 1950s. I pushed the cart and Kristin methodically
went down her list. By the time she finished the cart was full and the sales clerk whose
job was to write up the sales ticket was scowling. It took almost as long to write up the
sale as it did to select the items.

When it came time to pay, Kristin pulled out a roll of hundreds, peeling off enough that
she had change coming. Apparently the clerk thought she intended to pay with a debit,
credit or a check. The cash brightened her mood considerably. The next stop was the
shoe department and to keep it simple, she bought a set in white in each size and a
second set of each size in black. The final stop was the clothes in teen sizes and virtual-
ly identical exercise as it had been in the children’s section. This time I took the items up
in groups so the sales ticket would be almost ready by the time Kristin presented her
last choices.

While the boy’s and girl’s clothing were adjacent sections, I took it all to the one sales
person. This time I was the heavy getting the occasional dirty look. We pulled/pushed
four carts out to the pickup. Placed in a single pile, it was a lot of clothing but Kristin told
me she’d only bought three or four pieces in each size. It took two drug stores to get the
things for Melody and I took advantage of that to get just a few more first aid supplies
and OTC medicines.

I was getting hungry and started looking for an open café or restaurant.

“I’m hungry. All of the food establishments seem to be closed. Do you know where we
might find one that’s open?”

“We might try Chuck’s. If he’s not open, let’s just go home.”

Chuck’s was closed. The SUV that pulled in before us was packed to the gills with
packages of food. I hopped out and flagged the guy down.”

“Excuse me, where did you find an open grocery store?”

“Costco in West Des Moines.”

“Is it picked over or do they still have food?”

“They had plenty when we left about an hour ago.”

“Costco in West Des Moines is open as of an hour ago. Want to check it out or go
home?”

“It’s about the same amount of time it would take go home. Since we’re here, let’s see
what they have left.”

114
“How big is that roll of cash?”

“About ¾”.”

“Enough to go to Costco?”

“Costco, Sam’s Club and every Hy-Vee in town.”

“Work up a shopping list on the way.”

The store had been picked over and they were limiting although I must say that the lim-
its were generous. Four flats of coffee, four cans of Crisco, two bags of flour of any size,
two bags of sugar of any size, four cans of Hersey’s cocoa, twenty pounds of butter,
twenty pounds of bacon, six hams, four package limit on any fresh meat product includ-
ing pork loins, sirloin steak, 12% ground beef and chickens, one jar of each spice, four
bundles of bath tissue, one flat of mushrooms (24 cans), 12 cans of Spam, four four-
packs of chicken and beef, one flat of tuna, two 15 count bundles of macaroni and
cheese, five bags each of any prepared mix like pancakes, muffins and cookies, four
one gallon jugs of vegetable oil, five two bottle packs of Aunt Jemima syrup, four bun-
dles of paper towels. We started out with a cart apiece. We had to add second carts just
before we got to the homestretch. We ran the aisles of the pharmacy, selecting a few
things and moved to the nearest checkout lanes. We checked out separately.

“Time to stock up again?”

“It is. Why the limits?”

“Transportation issues, among other things. As you probably noticed, all of the mer-
chandise stored on the high shelves had been moved to the bottom shelves. We were
supposed to get a truck but it seems to be running late. Might have to shut down for a
day or two to let the supplies build up to meet the demand. We’re usually busy but since
the nuke thing we’ve been swamped.”

“How is it that you have cash registers?”

“We were shut down to rearrange the checkout lanes and the cash registers were
stored in the cigarette cage. We have a generator and conditioner for the electronics.
We can’t take checks, credit or debit cards. Like the sign says, ‘cash only’. Some genius
said it would be better to disconnect the registers and leave the wiring in place. He must
have been right; we’re the only store I know of in Des Moines with operating cash regis-
ters.”

“I know that Penny’s downtown is using sales books. I don’t suppose you know if Sam’s
is open?”

115
“I heard they were but they’re using sales books too. Their generator will only handle
the lights, refrigeration and equipment in their meat department. Cash only, the same as
us.”

I finished before her and parked my carts.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yes.”

“What do you think?”

“I could really use elbow macaroni, egg noodles and penne pasta. I’ll run back and get a
flat of tomato sauce and tomato paste, I’ll be right back.”

“Can you ring up a flat of tomato paste and tomato sauce without having the cans?”

“No problem.”

“She’ll be right back, she has the cash.”

“I’ll start boxing her order.”

“She’s back.”

“There’s the total, cash only.”

“Not as bad as I thought. We’ll get this in the trailer and head for Sam’s and then home
for hot turkey sandwiches with smashed potatoes, turkey gravy and corn on the cob.”

Sam’s wasn’t as busy as I feared. We only needed a few items. She added several
large containers of Nestles hot chocolate. It was around three thirty when we pulled in.
We took everything to the storage building to sort through later except for the fresh
meat. While she repacked the ground beef, I cut the loins into pork roasts and added
them to the basement freezer along with the four chickens and four packages of sirloins.
When she took the ground beef to the basement freezer, she came back with the pack-
ages of sirloin and repacked them two pieces per bag.

“I think we’re about full and I mean really full. The freezers are both full and the water
jugs had to come out. There’s almost no room in the storage building. Perhaps we
should let David and Melody know that we bought some clothing for the children so they
can concentrate on other preps.”

“We’ll do that tomorrow after I’ve sorted through the clothing and put it up. I believe it
would be best to vacuum pack it to prevent dry rot, keep critters out and allow us to
store it in the minimum space possible.”

116
“What did we do before they invent seal-a-meal?”

“We got by with something else. Let’s eat.”

“I thought you said corn on the cob.”

“I did. It was buried so I open a can of Mexicorn instead. I’ll dig some out when I have
the chance. I’ve been wondering; how did we manage to accumulate over a ton of rice
and a ton and a half of dry beans?”

“Most of it happened because we double and triple bought when we went to Costco and
Sam’s. The rice should keep almost forever. The beans may require pressure cooking if
they’re really old but everything is useable.”

“Do you have any idea what’s going on around the country? World War Three turned
out not to be World War Three, troops are being moved to who knows where. You’d
think the government would at least try to get the NWS radio system operable and get
some information out to the public.”

“Maybe they’re working on it. It may be a matter of priorities or the ability to get those
local stations back on the air. The SAME system relies on stations all over the country.
It could be a nightmare getting them back up. Damaged equipment would need to be
repaired and a source of power supplied.”

“Get on the amateur radio after supper and see what you can learn.”

I did get on the radio after supper. It was immediately obvious we should have been on
the radio the moment we decided there were no warheads headed our way. I didn’t
even try to talk; I listened and jotted down notes about what I was hearing. I was up until
after eleven with most of the discussion coming from the west coast area later in the
evening. I covered my notes with Kristin the next morning.

“The President has been moving troops. The National Guard on the border was re-
placed by front line troops fresh from Iraq and Afghanistan. The National Guard forces
were redeployed to the west coast along with the troops from Korea, Germany and
some other active duty forces. As best as I could tell, the forces are going in at or near
possible landing sites for an invasion force.

“Another guy who works for a radio station said that the government is working 24/7 to
get the NOAA NWS SAME system reactivated. There was some speculation about the
Militia.”

“What Militia?”

“Oh, that’s US law. The law says at TITLE 10 Subtitle A PART I CHAPTER 13 § 311:

117
Ҥ 311. Militia: composition and classes:

“(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of
age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or
who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and
of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

“(b) The official classes of the militia are:

“(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia;
and
“(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not
members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

“The organized militia created by the Militia Act of 1903, which split from the 1792 Uni-
form Militia forces, and consist of State militia forces, notably the National Guard and
the Naval Militia. The National Guard however, is not to be confused with the National
Guard of the United States, which is a federally recognized reserve military force, alt-
hough the two are linked.

“The reserve militia or unorganized militia, also created by the Militia Act of 1903 which
presently consist of every able-bodied man of at least 17 and under 45 years of age
who are not members of the National Guard or Naval Militia.” (That is, anyone who
would be eligible for a draft.).

“We’re too old.”

“It’s still our country. Remember the discussion we had back, oh I don’t know when,
about famines and countries invading to get territory to produce food?”

“We were talking about Toba.”

“That’s right, the Toba catastrophe theory. The world is in a similar position because of
the volcanic activity. I’m surprised it has taken this long to happen. Hungry people aren’t
particularly patient. I doubt it will be like Jerry outlined it in China Gamble.”

“I must have not read that one.”

“It started off with a yacht trip.”

“I remember. A bunch of Marines on a yacht checking out the Chinese. The owner died
and the guy found guns, money and precious metals? Converted everything to some
uniform means of exchange and ended up going off to California to fight the war?”

118
“That’s the one. In some ways our present situation reminds me of that. Those authors’
covered just about every possible scenario; it seems inevitable that some of what they
suggested would happen, eventually.”

“I guess more than one of the stories combined volcanic eruptions and WW III. Some-
times it was geological targeting. There’s no reason to believe that the order of events
couldn’t be reversed with the volcano preceding the war.”

“Kristin, I believe we’d better spend more time at the range. I admitted to David that I
was a little rusty.”

“A little? Ok, I’ll be nice. More than a little, but it shouldn’t take too long to get back up to
speed. We can test fire the .50BMG reloads and compare them to the Hornady A-MAX
rounds we have. If there’s a significant difference, we’ll just note it our range books. It
would be best if you started out with a known quantity, the Hornady ammo and when
you’re shooting is back up to par, switch to the reloads. I’ll do the same.”

“We’ll go see Melody and then go to the range. Maybe your decision will give her some
relief. We have to be careful, however; it can’t smack of charity. Charity usually has a
negative effect. Either it lowers the person’s self-esteem or it creates a condition where
they come to expect it. We don’t want to do either of those. I’m not going to mention the
ammo I picked up. I want to wait and see what he finds for a rifle. He seemed adamant
about acquiring a 7.62×51mm rifle. Some of them out there are less expensive than the
standard M1A. He might find a STG-58 or other FAL, an HK-91 or PTR-91. I suppose
he might even find an AR-10 or one of the newer rifles made for the military for use by
Designated Marksmen.”

“You have that Browning Hi-Power if Melody needs a pistol, but somehow I can’t feature
her as being comfortable with a firearm. She’s just too timid, I guess.”

“That could change if it got down to protecting her children. If he doesn’t get the rifle he
wants, we could let one or both use our standard models. Although, realistically, I think
the Mini-14 would suit her better. She’s a little light for a full power rifle.”

“The enemy may or may not be at the door of our country. They sure aren’t at our door
at the present. Let’s get this show on the road Jason before they are.”

Kristin didn’t exactly tell Melody that she gone to Penny’s and bought new clothing for
the kids. She suggested that with all of her nieces and nephews, clothing was available
in our storage building and if they didn’t bring more than a few changes of clothing it
wouldn’t be a big deal. Melody sure was shy. She said that Dave had the rifle but it
wasn’t the model he wanted, just the same brand. She then surprised both of us by say-
ing that Dave had taken her shooting. The grips on the Python were too large for her
hands. The Glock was marginal and she might have been able to handle a lighter car-
tridge but the .40 S&W was a tiny bit more than she was comfortable with.

119
We discussed what she had said on our way to the range and concluded that either the
Hi-Power or the Mark II would be the pistol of choice for Melody. I voiced the thought
that I hoped she could handle the Hi-Power because of the ammo I had for it.

Over the course of the next month, my shooting improved back to the previous level.
That is to say, 1,000 meters 95% of the time with the Super Match and 1,500 meters
98% of the time with the Tac-50. We were using silhouettes. Kristin was in top form in
two weeks and had the reloads doped out.

What happened next was right out of Hollywood. Remember the Wolverines from circa
1984?

A film depicting the invasion of the United States from the north and south by com-
munist forces from Cuba and Russia in the beginning of WWIII and the efforts of parti-
sans from a small mid-western town to turn back the invasion. This film is one of the ba-
sis of the beliefs of the citizens militias and patriot groups about the possibility of a UN
takeover of the US. The movie and the theory of the New World Order proposed by the
militias are similar, invasion by a foreign force, a big gun grab, arrest of gun owners, mil-
itary equipment being moved on railroads, enemy helicopters, re-education facilities
(concentration camps), and a citizen force that strikes back.

Yeah those Wolverines. I don’t know about the New World Order crap. Yeah, I know
about all those groups, The Round Table et al. I tend to be big on conspiracy theories
but be that as it may what happened was similar to Red Dawn. It wasn’t Colorado (ac-
tually Los Vegas, NM), it was Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. I later heard it also included
Illinois. So, what do these states have in common? They’re the breadbasket of the
world. Look up agricultural outputs of the four states and you can see why someone
would load a bunch of Chinese troops aboard cargo planes and haul them from some-
where in México to the Midwest.

Only the pathfinders arrived by parachute. Their sole purpose was to secure airports
adequate to land the transports. Where, one might ask, were our Air Forces? Heavily
engaged with scores of foreign fighter aircraft. We might have been winning the air war,
BUT, most of the transports were getting through. And, where was our military and Na-
tional Guard? On the border and west coast. Even the Interstate highways that Eisen-
hower had built for this very purpose presented no immediate solution because it’s a
long way from California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to the
Midwest. We don’t have any pathfinders or aircraft in Cambridge but they’re fairly close.
Ames Municipal Airport, identifier AMW, isn’t a huge airport but it does have a 5,700’
runway.

The Xian Y-7 is a Chinese copy of Antonov An-24 which is similar to the US C-123 or
the DCH-4. Twin engine turboprop. The Chinese were only supposed to have a few but
maybe Russia sold them some An-24s. That lingering question may never be an-
swered. But, that’s not the point. The point was we had ‘a few’ aircraft loads of troops
right in the middle of Iowa, about 20 miles to the north. Another point not generally con-

120
sidered was that Sino-Defense reported much larger numbers of Chinese transport and
tanker aircraft.

I left the gate open for David and Melody. While we waited for them to show up we
moved the things from the house to the shelter, one more time. We have it down pat by
now, but the stuff keeps getting heavier…or something. And, I hadn’t had the time to
make the trip down to Bethany so it was Marlboros or go without. Ask me if I care. The
people in Iowa aren’t all that much different from most of the people in the country. In-
vade us at your risk.

“Sorry it took so long Jason. We had to come down the long way. Is the invitation still
open?”

“She said yes didn’t she? What’s in the trailer?”

“We have a few preps now. Mostly stuff I could buy locally and store in five gallon food
pails. Magic marker says what’s in the pails. You know I got the rifle because Melody
told me you asked. (She volunteered) I got stuck doing a prisoner transfer to Missouri
and while I was there, I picked up some smokes. Got you a carton of Kool’s and a re-
placement carton of Marlboros. Couldn’t get much ammo, someone was there before
me and bought 6 cases of the Radway. I got a little and some of the other stuff. Hang on
while I get…”

“Slow down before you have heart attack David. They’re in Ames, not Cambridge.
Probably a bunch of students from ISU out there with posters protesting the invasion.”

“How did you know about that?”

“That’s what kids do. I read once on Frugal’s that they didn’t even know how to plant a
garden. Someone suggested putting the instructions on MTV.”

“Can you grab the gun cases?”

“Yeah. Let me get a cart to move the stuff or you can just pull the trailer around behind
the garage. Probably a good idea, it will be out of sight.”

“The house is locked down Jason.”

“Thanks Kristin. We’ll get their stuff in the shelter and take care of the livestock.”

“Are you going to block those doors again?”

“I don’t think so David; it’s an invasion, not a nuclear war or Yellowstone.”

“That’s the last of it. Do you have anything cold to drink?”

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“Got a Colorado Kool-aid.”

“It’s awful early.”

“It’s never too early for a cold beer. But there’re Cokes and Squirt in the fridge. Or bot-
tled water if you’d prefer.”

“I’ve been thinking about some of the things you have in your armory. It may be illegal,
but it could come in handy. It’s just a shame you don’t have a suppressor for the Tac-
50.”

“It’s true that I didn’t get an Elite Iron suppressor.”

“I detect a but.”

“But, I got a Jet suppressor. Cost about $2,350 including shipping. Made out of titanium.
It’s a big sucker, 2⅜” in diameter, 14¼” long. Just got that recently.”

“You can’t buy suppressors in Iowa!”

“I guess the guy that sold it to me didn’t know that. He got the tax stamp and it’s in his
name so I don’t really care.”

“Another violation, a strawman purchase.”

“No siree Bob. Solid fat and muscle.”

“You’re impossible. If the NRA knew about you, they’d cancel your membership.”

“How many Endowment members have they thrown out?”

“You spent the money?”

“Well, it’s only money and it’s worth less every day. I don’t plan on running for the Board
of Directors. That’s everyone and everything. Time to lock it down.”

“But then you won’t know what’s going on outside.”

“Oh ye of little faith. Figured we missed the nuclear war and bought a camera. Had it
installed on my radio tower underneath one of the standoffs. We have a 370° field of
view. I know there’s only 360° in a circle so it sort of overlaps.”

122
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 13

“It’s a shame you didn’t go all the way and get rockets and hand grenades.”

“But! I have a copy of FM 3.23.30 and it shows most of the foreign hand grenades.
Don’t know what they have these days to replace their copy of the RPG-7 but they won’t
be too hard to figure out. I don’t plan to get close enough to the Chinese troops to have
to worry about most of their weapons. I done some reading and I know they have some
anti-tank stuff filled with ball bearings or some such, PF-98 and so forth. They have to
be able to see you to shoot at you and you can just call me the grey ghost.”

“Not particularly overconfident are you Jason?”

“Not really, no. You and I both pretty much know the area. We have weapons than can
reach out and touch someone. After we touch a bit, we’ll sneak in and recover what we
don’t have, be it hand grenades or rockets. Just don’t go dragging back any of those
crappy AK-47s or whatever the Chinese call them.”

“So, we’re not going to just sit down here and wait out the war?”

“You can if you want to David, but I’m going out making a statement.”

“What kind of statement?”

“Kiss my butt? I don’t know, but first things first. We need to get those two sheets of
plywood and cover the stair down to the shelter. Throw some of that sand and gravel I
have piled there for that very purpose. Then, we put the cross bolts in place on the stor-
age building doors. They can get in but it would take a detonation charge. Finally, we’ll
put the hay and straw in front of the front barn door but not the back. Did I tell you about
the roof access from the second floor of the storage building? No matter, it’s there in
case we had a problem with a panel or something. It does give us a second story to
look at the surrounding country. Had to raise the panels because we decided at the last
minute to put in a parapet with merlons and crenels. That’s why it sort of looks like a
castle.”

“Whoa, you slow down; you’re losing me here.”

“Get your rifle, pistol, load bearing equipment and a pair of leather gloves. I’ll explain as
we do it.”

“Ok if I finish my Coke first?”

“Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug, Make you want to holler hi-de-ho, Burns your tummy, don'tcha
know Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug.”

“Don’t remember his name, but he’s dead.”

123
“Roger Miller.”

“Ah, right.”

“Grab a sheet and put it up near the door. I’ll use the second to fill the gap. Ok, now,
shovel maybe 2” on top; just enough to hide the plywood well.”

“What’s next? Oh, bar the doors.”

“Changed my mind. Hay and straw first, it will be easier.”

“We gonna put the tarps back in place?”

“Might just as well. Next the storage building. You notice how I made provision for the
cross bars for the door? Used 3 laminated 2x12s for each cross bar. Now we do the
same to the back and we can check out the roof.”

“There’s no windows in this building. I guess I just never noticed.”

“This way was a whole lot cheaper and safer. Twelve inch reinforced walls with fine
mesh tied to the rebar.”

“What for?”

”Because it cost more? Well it did but that wasn’t the reason. The reason was EMP. I
had thought of acquiring spares of most things and storing them in here. Never got
around to it. But, all of our radios work just fine so it doesn’t much matter.”

“What do you have?”

“Four Yaesu all band ham radios and two Galaxy a DX2547 AM/SSB CB Base Radios
and two Cobra 148GTL SSB radios plus six Cobra HH Roadtrip 40 channel portables
with the Cobra Microtalk MA-EBM Earbud Microphones. Should have gotten some of
those Motorola VHF business band radios. Got side tracked, I suppose.”

“How many do you want?”

“I would have bought one CM 300 32 channel radio for each vehicle plus one or two
with power supplies as base stations. I’d have gone with the CP 200 16 channel porta-
bles.”

“Do you have another antenna standoff?”

“I have a spare in case one of the three got damaged. Do you know something I don’t?”

124
“How much coax?”

“About 80 feet.”

“Would a 100’ prewired coil of RG-8 work?”

“I’m pretty sure it would.”

“And you’ll need an antenna.”

“Yes antennas for each of the CM300s. A coil of RG-8 plus three vehicle antennas. The
portables have antennas with them.”

“No, base station antennas? Are we done here?”

“Let me show you the roof first.”

“The overall wall that you see is a parapet. The uprights are called merlons and the fir-
ing slots crenels. The parapet is 6‘ tall and the crenels are 4’ tall. Won’t protect against
RPGs but it provides good small arms protection.”

“I like the idea that it has access from inside the building. A person wouldn’t have to ex-
pose himself to fire getting up here.”

“You’re right, but that’s not why I put in the access that I did. It was simply cheaper.”

“You watch the small change and the rest takes care of itself?”

“Exactly. Remember I said that I wouldn’t be surprised if Kristin’s broker moved her in-
vestment to gold and silver.”

“Did he?”

“Told her he got a wild hair and cashed her out and put everything in gold and silver
Eagles. The safe was nearly full and she had to find a place to store the excess. We
compromised. I took out my gold and silver and that gave her plenty of room. Ended up
back in the steamer truck I originally used to store it. It’s well secured in an out of the
way place.”

“I was able to get 13 20-round magazines for my rifle.”

“We can give you a few more. The guy who bought those 6 cases of Radway was prob-
ably me. It ran $450 a case plus tax. A little higher than Aim Surplus but no waiting for
UPS to deliver it.”

“You a church going man?”

125
“As a kid. Only went one time while I was in the Air Force. Went on 9/11 for the last
time. One other thing, Kristin has taken a shine to your children. Don’t worry about
clothing for the moment. I suspect that Melody wouldn’t understand so just let her find
out if and when we have to dig out the clothing. Melody and you are on your own.”

“The two of us are well supplied with clothing but the kids grow so fast.”

“Do you think you can get her to try a Browning Hi-Power?”

“Maybe. Those oversized Python grips were too big for her and the .40 S&W a little too
powerful. If not that, maybe your Mark II.”

“That’s what we figured. That Mark II is only a .22. It’s a little light for a proper defensive
handgun.”

“Maybe start her on the .22 and move her to the 9mm?”

“That would be my choice. We going to have to maintain a 24/7 watch on the roof of the
storage building. Should we go with 4 6 hour shifts or 8 3 hour shifts?”

“We could start with the 3 hour shifts and move to 6 after everyone is accustomed the
shorter shifts.”

“Do you know anywhere in Story County that sells explosives?”

“I don’t think so. We could probably get them in Des Moines. Alternately we could mix
up some ANFO.”

“Who in Des Moines?”

“Binns & Stevens Explosives, but they’re actually in Oskaloosa and have a listing in the
Des Moines Yellow Pages. Where are you going with this?”

“It’s pretty hard to move on roads with blown bridges and overpasses.”

“There are maybe a dozen bridges/overpasses between Ames and Des Moines.”

“Exactly.”

“If that’s plan, the sooner we go the better.”

“Side roads or main highway?”

“Side roads. It will take longer but should be safer. One condition, Jason. At the first
sign of trouble, we turn around and come back.”

126
“Agreed.”

“How much do you know about explosives?”

“I saw Force 10 from Navarone.”

“Ha-ha, funny. You’re joking, right?”

“Well, I saw The Dirty Dozen, but they used gasoline and hand grenades. I also saw
Where Eagles Dare.”

“Yeah and only Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson survived in the first and only Eastwood
and Burton in the second.”

“We’ve get some with the caps and lots of det cord. We’ll use what looks like enough
and adjust from there. Since dynamite is being replaced by other explosives, we’ll just
have to experiment.”

“Right, you have no experience.”

“There’s a first time for everything. I ran across something on Wiki and followed the link.
I downloaded a pdf file and I think I saved it under the title explosives. It was some
guide for law enforcement concerning explosives. Let’s bring up that file and see what it
shows. If I remember correctly, there was an appendix discussing specific explosives
and various uses, like shaped charges. We can’t check if there’s an update with the net
down.”

“You were right. At least we know what to look for. It sounds like PETN in its various
forms is what we need. We can get the number 8 caps to set it off, either electrical or
fuse type. Are you sure we want to do this Jason?”

“I’m not 100% positive David. If we can help contain them, even briefly, it gives our
troops time to get in place. There’s a downside, of course. When our forces do arrive,
they’ll be up against the same barriers we created to contain the Chinese. What we
could do is acquire the materials from Oskaloosa and decide what to do later. It’s like
you said, if we’re going to do it, it had better be now.”

Surprisingly, there was someone at the business in Oskaloosa. The first thing he want-
ed to see was our ‘explosives card’. Said he couldn’t sell any to people without ‘the
card’. We explained why we wanted the materials and went on to explain that we didn’t
really know what we were doing. He paused in thought for some time. Apparently, he
had an epiphany and started to lay out things on the counter. When he finished making
his selections, we got a very quick lesson on what we had and how to use it. He even
suggested quantities for various tasks.

127
“Any questions?”

“About a million give or take. I don’t want you hurt by this so how about I pay for it in
gold?”

“You can pay? I thought you wanted a donation to use against those Chicom SOBs.
Hold on and I’ll get you some more. You say you’re going to try and drop bridges and
overpasses? Let me get you some of the shaped charges we carry and explain their
use. Best if I give you electrical caps and a blasting machine while I’m at it. Don’t really
have time to conduct a training class on explosives so you’re going to have to go down
and dirty. I’ll give you plenty of blasting wire but try to recover as much as you can and
reuse it.”

“That was easier than I thought.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures David.”

“Where are you going to store the stuff?”

“Haven’t figured that out yet. The most sensitive things we have are the blasting caps,
he said. Have to think about that on the way home. Call home on the Yaesu and tell
Kristin we’re on our way home.”

“Kristin, this is David. We’re on our way home.”

“Ten four.”

“At least you didn’t give anyone time to get a fix on us or her.”

“You didn’t say to keep communications tight, but it seemed like it was the thing to do. I
really had an urge to ask how things were going at home but that would only expose
their location.”

“I didn’t see a scope on your rifle.”

“Didn’t have the time or money to get that done.”

“I have my Schmidt and Bender you can use for now. If we don’t have to borrow one
from a gun store, I won’t have to debate the differences between salvage, scavenge,
scrounging and looting with you. It’s a pretty fine line anyway, but salvage and scav-
enge generally refers to abandoned property, scrounging is begging and looting refers
to possessed property. Picking up something at the dump is scavenging, recovering
cargo from a ship or trailer involved in an accident is salvaging and looting is taking
something from someone when the opportunity arises.”

128
“I wouldn’t consider taking things from a wrecked trailer to be taking abandoned proper-
ty.”

“Not under normal circumstances. But after they’ve cleaned up the accident site and re-
covered all they’re going to recover, what about something in the ditch they might have
missed? If they’re not going to spend more time looking, it’s abandoned. Mostly the dis-
cussion pertains to recovery of hard goods in a PAW.”

“That raises a question. Assuming, for sake of discussion, we defeat the invaders. What
then?”

“It has been suggested that in that case they’ll have nothing to lose and we’ll need to
duck and cover.”

“Huh?”

“What TOM calls Global Thermonuclear War or GTW. The parties, having failed to
achieve their aims, have nothing to lose. There are five primary nuclear powers and
several minor nuclear powers. The US, Russia, UK, France and China are the five ma-
jor powers. Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea and possibly Iran are the minor powers.
There could be more like Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Germany, Japan and so forth.
Nobody knows until they test a weapon. Israel maintains a policy of refusing to officially
confirm or deny having a nuclear arsenal, or having developed nuclear weapons, or
even having a nuclear weapons program. It’s called nuclear ambiguity.”

“Don’t we have weapons sharing through NATO?”

“We do. Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey have been provided nu-
clear weapons to deploy and store. This involves pilots and other staff of the ‘non-
nuclear’ NATO states practicing, handling, and delivering the US nuclear bombs, and
adapting non-US warplanes to deliver US nuclear bombs. Canada and Greece have
opted out of the weapons sharing. Apparently the US nuclear weapons based in Europe
are in the sole possession and under constant and complete custody and control of the
United States.”

“How can that be if a nuclear bomb is placed aboard a German fighter?”

“It is ambiguous, isn’t it? Supposedly that would only happen in the case of a war and
the bombs would be classified as tactical nukes.”

“So even if we win, we lose?”

“So it would seem.”

“But what about the other major power, Russia?”

129
“Who knows?”

“We have to stop on the way back to get those Motorola radios. Bet you thought I forgot.
They’re used but are all functional. There are more than you want, so we can take as
many as we need.”

“If we can find an antenna switch, we can hook up the base radios to a single antenna.
It would probably be a good idea to put the switch in the shelter and set it to either the
house or shelter as appropriate.”

“What do you use for a ground?”

“An eight foot copper coated ⅝” steel rod with four inches exposed. There’s one for the
bungalow and one for the shelter.”

“Where did you get those?”

“Radio Shack before it became whatever it is now. Most of their radios are CBs or those
FRS/GMRS radios. They’re a lot different than they were in the earlier years. Where are
we getting the radios?”

“A company I know of that replaced their radios with newer digital radios. It’s a plumbing
company with two locations, hence two base stations and two base antennas. Every
truck had a 32 channel mobile and every employee, excluding office personnel, a porta-
ble. They had the software to reprogram the radios as they licensed additional chan-
nels. The equipment is stored in a warehouse in Nevada. It’s not abandoned but it isn’t
being used.”

“Can we get into Nevada without being spotted?”

“Yes, there are several ways. I brought my universal key with me.”

“What’s that?”

“A 30” Stanley Fubar.”

“Use that much?”

“Several times, it does at least eight different things. Had to use it in an accident more
than once.”

“Accident?”

“Car wreck. Take that road coming up on your right. That will take us right where we
need to go.”

130
I slowed and made the turn. David said we weren’t that far out and I kept my speed
down. We’d been on the road for some time and we had no idea how far the soldiers
had spread out from the Ames Municipal Airport. Or, for that matter, if they we somehow
bottled up at the airport by a bunch of flag loving patriots.

“Pull up to that door.”

“Shut it down or keep it running?”

“We’ll be gone in three minutes or less.”

That door popped open like he had a key and he was inside in a flash. He was back in
30 seconds with a large box, which he put in the back of the pickup and turned to get
more. It took three trips to get the radios and power supplies plus rolls of RG-8. On his
fourth trip, he brought out the antennas, placing them in the back of the pickup. He went
back, pulled the door shut and climbed in the pickup.

“Go.”

“Three minutes and twenty seconds. No bad. Knew where the stuff was, huh?”

“I made an inquiry concerning how much they wanted for it. Low key, kind of a just curi-
ous kind of question. They went through the boxes for me showing what they had avail-
able. Sometimes people are a little more cooperative with an officer.”

“And sometimes you run into someone like me.”

“That too. You weren’t that bad. I was impressed with the fact that the first round in your
shotgun was a beanbag. A non-lethal shot should get the message across. If it doesn’t,
the buckshot may be called for. The three shells each represented an escalation in
force. That’s in the spirit of the law. I’m well aware of Iowa Code section 704; we all are.
They’re changing the terminology too. They really should be called less lethal rather
than non-lethal. Non-lethal is the military term while less lethal or less than lethal is
commonly used by law enforcement. I also took note of your approach to people picking
the blackberries. Jacking the slide on a pump shotgun is a real attention getter.”

“But it’s all the same stuff isn’t it?”

“Pretty much. I’m not familiar with the military non-lethal, only the stuff we use.”

“What do you use?”

“Bean bag, rubber baton, OC.”

“You have some with you?”

131
“A little. I didn’t assume much of our activity would involve less lethal.”

“I’m not certain at this point exactly what we’re going to do. You and I know our capabili-
ties and the tools we have to work with. As you pointed out, I’m no explosives expert.
Getting set up by a professional in the business makes it easier with the most danger-
ous part, the caps.”

“Timothy McVeigh used ammonium nitrate and Nitromethane (ANNM). It’s available as
fuel for drag racing. If push comes to shove, we can go that way.”

“Court of last resort?”

“To respond to your assertion about not knowing what to do, I saw a movie once with
Clint Eastwood playing a Marine Gunnery Sergeant.”

“Heartbreak Ridge. TOM brings it up often. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.”

If you know this guy, why don’t you use his name?”

“I’m not sure; it wouldn’t seem right. I’d think of the drunk I knew during the early sixties
instead of what he’s made of himself. Somewhat knowledgeable on preparedness.”

“Kristin called him a guru.”

“That’s not for me to say. He does like the right firearms, I’ll give him that.”

“What’s he have?”

“An M1A Loaded, Mossberg 590A1 and a Taurus PT1911B. He apparently has a .32
auto taken off a dead Nazi during WW II. His dad bought it from the guy who captured it
and gave it to him when they pulled stakes in Phoenix.”

“Where’s he from?”

“Charles City, but he wasn’t a native. He was born in 43, same as me, on an island in
San Francisco Bay, Alameda. We also had a guy in the unit from Sumner, I think; mis-
sile engine mechanic.”

“What was he doing on an Island?”

“That’s where the Naval Air Station, Alameda, is. He said his father was a metal smith.”

“Civilian or military?”

132
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 14

“Civilian. He was 4F. You learn a lot about a person when they’re in their cups.”

“Did he know he was a drunk?”

“As a matter of fact, I think he did. He said he was carrying on a ‘family tradition’.”

“Didn’t think much of his father, huh?”

“About the same as me. I couldn’t tell you if any of my relatives are living or dead. That
much we had in common. I could have gotten into the booze, but at Lowry, I got drunk
and decided that alcohol was my enemy. He was there at the same time in a different
class and made a different decision. We’re here. See anything out of the ordinary?”

“Not really.”

“Call Kristin on the CB and say, ‘Situation’. If we’re in the clear, she’ll say ‘Copasetic’.
Borrowed that out of Jerry’s story, ‘What If?’.”

“You do everything TOM and Jerry suggest?”

“A fella could do worse.”

“Situation.”

“Copasetic.”

“What would she have said if things weren’t copasetic?”

“Hunky-dory. Same source. We’ve read the stories several times because they educate
and entertain. For example, if you ask me the hermit’s name I’d say Neal Grant. Or if
you wanted to know the cowboy’s name it is Craig Davenport but you can just call him
cowboy. Leonard Dobbs got rich off of peak oil and Louie Vargos, despite being laid
back, got the girl. TOM had a series revolving around himself and two friends who
Fleataxi dubbed The Three Amigos probably based on the movie of the same name.”

“What goes where?”

“Access the storage building from the barn or greenhouse and open the front door. The
explosives will go in there. Same with the radio equipment for the moment. I’ll go find
someplace to store the electrical blasting caps. You keeping track of all the laws we’ve
broken so far?”

“Nope, I lost count.”

133
“That’s got it. I fed the livestock while I was at it and gathered the eggs. The box of caps
is to your right at the top of the ladder to the barn loft under about 6” of grain. I’m going
to check in with Kristin and see if I have time before supper to muck the barn out.”

“How do you handle the smell?”

“If it really gets ripe, I dab a little Vicks under my nose.”

“Any trouble?”

“Quite the contrary. There was a guy at the explosives place and he selected the explo-
sives we needed and even gave us brief lesson. I went ahead and paid for what we got.
On the way back, we detoured to Nevada and got a slew of business band radios and
equipment. The barn needs cleaned out; how long before supper?”

“One hour.”

“David, would you give me a hand? Vicks is in the bathroom medicine cabinet.”

“You have some rubber boots?”

“Being the good Boy Scout that I am, several pairs.”

“Let me hit the head and get the Vick’s. Five minutes.”

“Know anything about what’s going on in Ames?”

“They brought in six cargo planes of troops and two planes of equipment and stores. So
far the hunters have managed to keep them bottled up at the airport. That can’t last,
that’s two companies of troops with modern weapons against less than 100 on our side
equipped with hunting rifles and an occasional military style firearm.”

“It looks like our work is cut out for us.”

“I established contact with a few on our side. One of them is a demolition expert. He
said to call him on channel 31 on the lower side band if you were successful. I’m specu-
lating here, but he probably has the same idea you have, cutting off their routes of
egress.”

“Only the major routes. There are too many farm to market roads to completely cut them
off. Do you have a name or call sign?”

“Demolition Man. I used our last names, Jones and Lawson. Since I switched back to
Wells, it would be hard to pin us down. Unless you want some nom de guerre.”

“I may just do that. How does Single Barrel sound?”

134
“Like a made up name.”

“How about Jack Black or Jose Cuervo?”

“Jack Black.”

“I try to reach him.”

“Demolition Man this is Jones.”

“Gotcha 5 by 5. Successful?”

“Affirm.”

“What did you get?”

“Mostly PETN, det cord, electric caps and a blasting machine. Some shaped charges.”

“Ten Four. Want a face to face?”

“Affirm.”

“Where?”

“East side of Skunk River bridge on 595th.”

“Wait one. Ok got it, when?”

“Tomorrow eight am.”

“Affirm.”

“Will now use Jack Black.”

“Rog, Jack Black.”

“Jack Black clear.”

“Are you going to just show up? What if it’s a trap?”

“We’re leaving at 6am on horseback. We’ll stash the horses in that timber over there
and wait for them to show up. It they’re on time we’ll have to wait about 90 minutes.
That’s ample time to check out the location. When they show up, if it looks clear, we’ll
approach on foot, armed to the teeth. Rifle, shotgun and pistol. I’ll give you two white
smoke grenades, just in case.”

135
“You don’t think we should just go home?”

“Are you nuts? We’re secure here in the shelter and can keep an eye on the outside.
Assuming Demolition Man is on the up and up, maybe we can stop this before it gets
out of hand. At least here in central Iowa. I know for a fact that you can get from Mason
City to Edwards AFB in 42 hours if you can travel non-stop. My average speed was
55mph.”

“I thought you left home and never looked back.”

“Went back for my pickup. Flew in, took a cab home, got into the truck and left. Waved
goodbye to my mom and never looked back.”

“Have you ever stopped and thought how much that grudge you have against your old
man cost you?”

“No, it’s water under the bridge. Let’s get some sleep, tomorrow comes early. We have
to tend to the livestock before we leave.”

“Oh, yuck.”

“We’d be leaving through the barn anyway.”

“Did you talk to Demolition Man?”

“Yes. We’re meeting at 8 am over by the bridge.”

“Good. I don’t like the idea of you messing around with explosives since you clearly
don’t know much about them.”

“Maybe one good turn will lead to another.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe I can trade him the explosives for some hand grenades or LAW rockets.”

“You sound just like TOM. He’s not satisfied until he has his cowboy guns, a .50 caliber
rifle, hand grenades and LAW rockets. Did you ever notice that he accumulates the stuff
but never seems to use it?”

“Would you rather have…”

“Yes, I know. The grenades and LAW rockets are about the only thing we don’t have.”

“We don’t have any M1022.”

136
“If there’s a way to get some, I’m sure you’ll find it.”

“I wonder whatever happened to Charlie.”

“I hear he retired.”

“He’s still around?”

“Haven’t seen him in a while but I assume so.”

“Do you know his last name?”

“Uh-un.”

“How about where he lives?”

“Ankeny.”

“Oh great, one in fifty thousand people. I’ve got a little extra energy to burn off. Any ide-
as?”

“One.”

I was out of bed at four-thirty and had the coffee brewing while I showered. I dressed in
jeans with a western shirt and my riding boots. I slipped the PT1911 in its paddle holster
above my right rear pocket and strapped on the Laredoan. I then laid out my Super
Match, 870, the two Marlin rifles and my coach gun. The saddle bags held extra ammu-
nition already and the Rugers were in the pommel bag holsters. I poured a cup of coffee
and hauled the guns through the tunnel to the barn, taking two trips to complete the
task.

David came out of their door at five ten.

“Coffee is ready, but we have to shake a leg. Put out the guns you want and I’ll take
them to the barn.”

“I didn’t get those M14 magazines from you.”

“I loaded them for you. Grab a shower, get a cup of coffee and let’s get gone. I’ll be
waiting in the barn.”

He poured the coffee and took it with him into the bathroom. I gathered up his duty
shotgun, M1A and the magazines and headed for the barn. He showed up around ten to
six by which time I’d fed the livestock and gathered the eggs. I’d even had time to take
the eggs back to the shelter and put them in the fridge. I’d had a couple of those vile

137
toaster pastries for breakfast and left the package out for him to find. Being almost pure
sugar, they’re a quick source of energy.

“I saddled your horse.”

“Which one is mine?”

“The one with empty scabbards.”

“How many guns did you bring?”

“Six handguns, my 870, my coach gun, both Marlins and my Super Match. What, not
enough?”

“By the time you figure out which one you want to shoot, you’ll be dead,”

“Don’t you worry about that; just so you know, your nom de guerre will be Jose Cuervo.”

“Why that one?”

“Because I took Jack Black.”

“Oh, names of different kinds of booze, huh?”

“The light came on? I think maybe Kristin will go by Sapphire rather than Wells. Melody
will stay home to tend the kids. Did you reach a decision between the Hi-Power and
Mark II?”

“She’ll try the Hi-Power and your regular Mini-14.”

“Melody seems to be timid.”

“Shy, not timid; although one of the definitions of shy is actually timid. She just uncom-
fortable around people until she gets to know them. She’s not easily frightened despite
the fact that her shyness gives people that impression.”

“I’m not a combat soldier and never was; more of a tin soldier. I do know that we have to
watch our noise discipline. From here on out, no talking. We’ll look in field manual 5.10
that I have on my computer and adopt those. If I raise my hand and clamp it into a fist,
stop. If I pump it up and down go. If I need you go some direction, I’ll point. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

Off we went to meet Demolition Man; was that Sly or Wesley? Wait, it was Sly; they
called him that for wrecking buildings while making arrests. I was thinking maybe the
guy had been a SEAL or maybe an Army Demolitions Specialist, possibly a Green Be-

138
ret. We arrived at the location about six thirty, right on time. I used a lariat for a quick
rope corral back in the woods a ways and we moved up to have an overview of the des-
ignated moving spot. I’d hung my gun belt on the saddle horn and left the Marlins and
coach gun in their scabbards. As it was, I was loaded down.

I’ve never had the patience to just wait. Given a reasonable degree of uncertainty con-
cerning Demolition Man, it was prudent to show up a little early. So there we were,
prone, rifles pointed in the general direction of the specific meeting spot, building anxie-
ty. Finally, 8am came without Demolition Man. He wasn’t there at 8:15 or 8:30 and I de-
cided to call it a day.

“Looks like he’s not going to show. Let’s get the horses and go home.”

From behind us came a deep bass voice, chuckling. “I wondered how long you’d wait.
I’m Demolition Man. You’re Jack Black and you are?” he asked looking at David.

“Jose Cuervo.”

“And Jack Black is good Kentucky bourbon?”

“Jack Black if very good Tennessee sipping whiskey.”

“Prefer Single Barrel myself.”

“When did you get here?”

“Five. Where are the supplies?”

“At my place.”

“I figured that. Since you rode horses it can’t be far. There’s no Jack Black listed in the
Cambridge phone listings, but that’s understandable now. How about you get your
horses and I’ll get my Harley?”

“Question.”

“Shoot.”

“SEAL, Special Forces, Force Recon, what?”

“Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children. You have the bearing of a military man, probably an
NCO. Air Farce no doubt.”

“Why would you think Air Force?”

“No situational awareness. You wore the uniform but only shot at the firing range.”

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“Usually qualified Expert when the piece of crap M16 would cooperate.”

“At least you have a real rifle now. Smith, Devine, Fulton Armory, Springfield Armory or
what?”

“Springfield Armory Super Match.”

“Nice scope.”

“Zeiss.”

“Oh, very nice scope. Barrett or what?”

“McMillan Tac-50 with the Night Force NXS 12-42×56mm and the Jet Suppressor.”

“You any good?”

“Not as good as Hathcock.”

“You’re all right for a fly boy. Get the horses and I’ll get my hog and meet you right
here.”

“Are you just going to take him back to your place?”

“Five will get you ten he has a scabbard on his hog with some version of this rifle. He’s
close to my age and probably carried one in Vietnam. Regardless of what a person
thinks about Marines, they’re Riflemen. The M14 in all its versions is one of the finest, if
not THE finest, rifle fielded by the American military. The Air Force had the M1 carbine
until Curtis Lemay went for the M16.”

“You didn’t even ask his qualifications. What’s infantry know about explosives?”

“He wasn’t infantry after he got out. Besides, the Corps has Combat Engineers and Ex-
plosive Ordnance Disposal. I’m sure we’ll know what we need to know before he wants
to put his hands on the explosives.”

It was more like a silent prayer. There was just something about the guy that made me
trust him. Maybe it was his flattop haircut or the look in his eyes. He exuded confidence.
We got back to the horses, I strapped my guns back on, slung the shotgun over my
back and handed David the Super Match while I mounted. He handed me my rifle and
his rifle and he mounted and we set off to the rendezvous point. Demolition Man was
there astraddle a slightly chopped Harley and we headed down the road towards home.

On the way back, I had a word with David and had him call the shelter to tell Kristin to
answer to Sapphire and to select some liquor based name for Melody. He whispered

140
back that they settled on Brandy. I chuckled and started to hum the song by Looking
Glass. Apparently David had never heard the song because he really gave me a
strange look.

There's a port on a western bay

And it serves a hundred ships a day
Lonely sailors pass the time away
And talk about their homes

And there's a girl in this harbor town

And she works layin' whiskey down
They say "Brandy, fetch another round"
She serves them whiskey and wine

The sailors say "Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)
"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)
"Yeah your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea"
(dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)

Brandy wears a braided chain

Made of finest silver from the North of Spain
A locket that bears the name
Of the man that Brandy loves

He came on a summer's day

Bringin' gifts from far away
But he made it clear he couldn't stay
No harbor was his home

The sailor said " Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)
"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)
"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea"
(dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)

Yeah, Brandy used to watch his eyes

When he told his sailor stories
She could feel the ocean foam rise
She saw its ragin' glory
But he had always told the truth, lord, he was an honest man
And Brandy does her best to understand
(dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)

At night when the bars close down

Brandy walks through a silent town
And loves a man who's not around
She still can hear him say

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She hears him say " Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)
"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)
"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea"
(dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)

"Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)

FADE

"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)

"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea

When we got home, I directed him to park his hog behind the storage building and had
him follow us to the rear door of the barn. I grabbed my CB and told Kristin, “We’re
home.”

“10-4.”

We unsaddled the horses and I had more firearms than hands to carry them. DM of-
fered to take the coach gun and two lever action rifles. Of course when I flipped up the
hatch to the tunnel he got a strange look on his face.

“I’ll hand them down to you.”

“Uh, thanks.”

I slung the Super Match over my right shoulder and descended after DM was down and
had the firearms. The lighting in the tunnel was a string of those small incandescent
bulbs, 15 watts, pink frosted, 20,000 hour life. Sort of a cross between white light and
red light like they use on submarines, et al.

The Purkinje effect occurs at the transition between primary use of the photopic (cone-
based) and scotopic (rod-based) systems, that is, in the mesopic state: as intensity
dims, the rods take over, and before color disappears completely, it shifts towards the
rods' top sensitivity. The insensitivity of rods to long-wavelength light is related to the
use of red lights under certain special circumstances – for example, in the control rooms
of submarines, in research laboratories, or during naked-eye astronomy.

“Let’s put the firearms away and I’ll make introductions.”

“Fine.”

142
“This sweet thing is my other half Sapphire. The cute one over there is Jose’s other half,
Brandy. The kids are down for naps.”

“Ladies. Nice to meet you.”

“Coffee?”

“Yes please, black. I suppose you want my bona fides? I took the standard training for
the time and then was trained as a combat engineer. I excelled in blowing things up. So,
when I got out of the Corps, I got involved in demolition. As of two years ago, I was cur-
rent on the latest and greatest in the field of explosives. PETN has been around for a
while and I am quite familiar with its application. As I understand it, you acquired a
quantity recently from my favorite dealer?”

“We did. Blocks, sheets, shaped charges, a blasting machine, det cord and electric
caps. I know squat about explosives beyond they go boom. We were going to wing it,
but Sapphire told me about you. We weren’t using a nom de guerre before. At that, you
wouldn’t found our listing, we’re unlisted and the phone is in Sapphire’s current last
name, not the name she gave you.”

“Target’s?”

“The thought was to bottle them up by dropping bridges and overpasses.”

“Good idea. You’re going to be so popular with our forces when they want to use the
same infrastructure elements.”

“There are plenty of roads going into Ames they can use.”

“And the Chinese can use to leave. I like the idea, with a qualification. We only blow
those bridges and overpasses when they have some of those Chicoms’ on them. We
can set the charges and some of our guys can set them off at the appropriate moment.
We’re not setting off nukes here so we have several ways to set the caps off. Plus I col-
lect blasting machines as a hobby.”

“Then you propose to set the charges and have each location manned to catch the Chi-
nese flatfooted?”

“For as long as it takes them to wise up, yes. Eventually, probably after we’ve done it
twice, they’ll be sending combat engineers ahead of the forces to clear the way. Now
what can I give you in exchange for the explosives? There must be something you want
that you don’t have. From the looks of that armory, it isn’t ammo.”

“We’re in really good shape as far as ammo goes. We saved the Hornady brass and got
it reloaded. It shoots identically to the factory ammo. We have Mk 211 Raufoss but don’t

143
have any of that M1022 that matches it. That’s probably a minor consideration… one of
those nice to have things. What I’d really like is some LAW rockets and hand grenades.”

“Why didn’t you get them from whoever supplied you with the Mk 211?”

144
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 15

“We were doing one thing at a time. The guy was charging $600 a can for the Raufoss
and between it and other things, the source dried up before we got around to asking.”

“You get the stuff from Charlie?”

“You know Charlie?”

“Nope. I know about Charlie. Charlie wasn’t careful and so Charlie got caught. Couldn’t
have been stuff for you, he had a load of M-67s.”

“Hand grenades?”

“Yeah. They brought those baseballs out around the same time as the M-61. Didn’t is-
sue a lot early on. There were a few M-61s floating around, probably sitting on some
shelf in a bunker collecting dust. They were, in some respects better than the M-67. The
61s used a segmented coil of wire inside. The 67s have a pattern inside to create frag-
ments. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t. Now I can’t say where they came from,
but if you were offered some, how many and which model would you want?”

“Two or three dozen of the M61s with the jungle clip, assuming someone had some.”

“But any port in a storm?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Now LAW rockets are a different story. Talley Industries made and still makes them.
Most of the production comes from the company that developed the Raufoss. Do you
remember the movie Commando that Arnold did? He had a M202A1 FLASH which
used 4 LAW rockets in a quad carrier. They selected the AT4 to replace the M72. But
Raufoss licensed and built them and they continued in service with other countries. Ar-
my junked the AT4 and went back to the M72 and added the Javelin. The Corps or-
dered 7,750 M72A7s for Iraq. If there were any laying around looking for a home, how
many and how soon?”

“You know, four to six dozen hand grenades would be ideal. Two crates of the rockets
would give us fifteen apiece. You should know that I paid for the explosives. If any or all
of that stuff shows up behind the garage some morning, I sure wouldn’t shed any tears.
Let’s go get the explosives from the storage building. How do you plan to get them to
wherever you’re going?”

“Let me use your radio. Horny Toad, you there?”

“Ten four.”

145
“Ok, first place on the right after you cross the bridge. Bungalow, detached garage,
storage building and a barn. It’s like you figured, bring both crates of LAWs and all of
those grenades. Park behind the garage and we’ll unload there.”

“Copy, fifteen mikes.”

“Ok, let’s see the explosives.”

“They’re in the storage building and the caps are in the barn. Jose, you help him move
the boxes and I’ll get the caps.”

By the time we had the explosives and caps sitting behind the garage there was Dodge
dually at the gate. I lead him around behind the storage building rather than the garage
and we started unloading the pickup.

“Each of the wooden crates contains three boxes of five rockets each. There are two
dozen M-61s and the same of M67s. We included some you didn’t ask for, a dozen
MK2A3 concussion and a dozen AN-M14 TH3 Incendiary. Don’t be wasteful; there
won’t be any more.”

“Some way we can keep in touch?”

“Try 28.250 on ten meters or 14.150 on twenty meters. That should get me or Horny
Toad most of the time. If someone else comes on ask for a weather report. Fair sky ear-
ly, rain by morning will identify other members of our group. You did very well selecting
the explosives. I take it you told the man what you wanted to do and he picked them
out?”

“Actually, yes.”

“He was a combat engineer too. Liked to blow things up almost as much as I did. We
worked together most of the time.”

“I suspected that. He used the term Chicom SOBs. I noticed you did too. Pretty thin to
base an assumption on, but what the hell.”

“I suggest that you folks just stay out of the fight for the most part. If you must get in-
volved, do it at long range. Quite the combo, a fly boy and a Deputy Sheriff.”

“Where did you get the idea Jose is a Deputy?”

“Well, I’m not blind and he’s on patrol. I have a good memory for faces. I’ve seen him
several times. Come to think of it, Sapphire used the name Lawson. Related?”

“Not directly. It’s a long story.”

146
“Tell me sometime when we have the time. We’re gone.”

DM got on his hog and Horny Toad back in the pickup. I opened the gate and they
turned east. David and I moved the crates and boxes into the storage building and
locked it up. We returned to the shelter and proceeded to bring the Ladies up to date.

“It’s a shame the internet is down.”

“Why’s that?”

“You could send TOM an email and tell him you’re loaded for bear. Obviously the old
saying is true. The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.”

“You’re probably right. Back when I was a kid, we played cowboys and Indians with cap
guns. At the time I doubted I ever thought I own all of the Colts and Rugers. Or, for that
matter, the Marlins. I suppose we even played war since WW II wasn’t the far in the
past and Korea started when I was seven.”

“So, we’re just going to hole up here?”

“Like I said, he said if we had to get involved to do it at long range.”

“How do you propose to do that? You and I can snipe but we’d only have one observer.”

“The Canadians use three person teams. David will just have to spot for both of us. Do
you think you could do that David?”

“I’ve never done it before.”

“We have a laser range finder and a 60 power spotting scope. The problem will be esti-
mating windage. I didn’t cough up the money for the BORS from Barrett. That would
have made the ranging easier but even that doesn’t help with windage. I have a course
outline the Marine Corp uses. We can study that and get some range practice based on
David’s estimates of windage and elevation. The range books have the elevation data
we developed through trial and error and we can use that.”

“I’m game to give it a try. You said something about a Schmidt and Bender scope you
could loan me for my rifle?”

“Yes, it was the first scope I had on my Super Match. When Kristin got her own Super
Match and a Zeiss Victory Diavari 6 - 24×72mm I got a bit jealous and upgraded to the
same scope. We already had ACOGs on the standard models so I put up the scope for
later use.”

“That’s an expensive scope to just have in storage.”

147
“True. On the other hand, if one of the Zeiss scopes was damaged, we had an appro-
priate replacement that would only require minor adjustments to be right on the money.”

“I take it that neither of you have ever shot anyone?”

“There’s first time for everything. I’ve read that people’s reactions to killing someone for
the first time vary widely from puking up their guts to the other extreme of cold ac-
ceptance.”

“I think most people’s reactions are similar to the first. Only a sociopath walks away
without feelings. The problem with sociopaths is that there is no cure. Deputies forced to
shoot someone are immediately placed in counseling. Even justified shootings leave
some traces of feelings of guilt. I know of one Deputy who couldn’t cope with the feel-
ings and resigned.”

“Have you been in that position?”

“Position? To an extent. I never had to pull the trigger. When there is an indication that
the situation may call for lethal force, the weapons are presented.”

“Tomorrow, early? Let’s get that scope mounted on your rifle.”

The next day we went to the range and sighted in David’s scope. I felt very exposed
during the process and would have given anything to have a suppressor to mount on his
rifle. I made a note to ask DM if he had a suppressor for a M1A. There was enough
wind to give us a chance to experiment with doping it out. It was light and variable, rang-
ing from about 3mph to 8mph. It tended to increase later in the day but we didn’t want
hang out at the range too long.

David had a new notebook and made copious notes about the number of clicks at vari-
ous wind speeds for various ranges. The data would be applicable for both the Super
Match rifles. Separate data were compiled for the Tac-50 out to 1,500 meters. Even with
the data, there would be an element of judgment involved because under certain condi-
tions the winds between the shooter and target could vary at different distances.

“DM called while you were out. He said to tell you everything was in place.”

“Thanks Melody. I’m going to call him and see if we can get a suppressor for David’s
rifle.”

“Demolition Man, Jack Black.”

“Go ahead.”

“Got your message. Looking for a can for a M1A standard model.”

148
“I’ll have to check. Ready to do some long distance work?”

“10-4. It would be better with the silencer.”

“Give me twenty four hours. Demolition Man out.”

“Good, you and I can take Melody to the range tomorrow and let Kristin keep an eye on
your children. We need to get her up to speed on the Mini and the Browning.”

“Give them to me and I walk her through dismantling, cleaning and reassembly. It would
be nice if you could get me a suppressor. Would you listen to me? I’m supposed to up-
hold the law, not flaunt it.”

“Unusual times, remember? I’ll acquire it and loan it to you. Am I going to have trouble
with you when this is all said and done?”

“No. You’ve had most of these things since you came back to Iowa and they haven’t
been a problem. I doubt they will be after this is over. When you’re gone, I’ll have to
check for them since I know about them. I’m not going to bust a gut chasing down Kris-
tin looking.”

“Fair enough. I’ll get the carbine and pistol.”

“Jack Black, Demolition Man.”

“Go ahead.”

“Got lucky. Surefire with M1A adapter. One ounce of gold. Can do?”

“Where and when?”

“I’ll come by shortly. First guy I asked had a spare.”

“10-4.”

“Here’s the carbine and pistol. You can get started on the lessons and I’ll go topside to
meet DM.”

“Oh, you’re here.”

“Yeah, I don’t live that far away and the guy with the spare lives even closer. Do you
have the flashhider alignment tool?”

“Yes, I got one from Fulton Armory when I got the match flashhiders with the bayonet
lugs that we have on our standard models.”

149
“This is for Jose?”

“Yeah. I suppose I should tell you our real names.”

“I don’t want to know. What I don’t know, I can’t give up if I get caught and tortured.
When we formed our group, we all agreed from the outset to only use the pseudonyms.
It’s bad enough that I recognized him as a Deputy Sheriff. I think I’ve seen Sapphire
somewhere before. A waitress, I think. I’d better get going. Those Chicoms pulled their
aircraft out. Their troops have managed to breakout from the airport and are forming up
to move out on foot with type 92 IFVs leading the way. They’re headed both north and
south. They’re in for some nasty surprises. They have armor protection up through
12.7mm, so go for the people if you run into one. The M72 LAW should take one out if
you dare get that close. And, keep you heads down.”

I took the box containing the Surefire suppressor back to the shelter and got out David’s
M1A. I removed the flashhider and laid out what I’d need to install the adapter. The key
part of the process, as far as I was concerned was the alignment. I accomplished that
with the flashhider alignment tool and some of the supplies in the box the suppressor
came in. Once I was satisfied with that, I attached the FA762 and checked the align-
ment. It was right on the money. If the adapter is properly aligned the suppressor is
properly aligned.

We would need to take his rifle the next day and sight it in with the suppressor installed.
The suppressor would cause a minor, repeatable shift in point of aim. Maybe we’d sight
in the iron sights without the suppressor and the scope with the suppressor. The sup-
pressor for the Mini was kept installed. The Browning suppressor was kept in a nylon
case with ALICE clips and could be threaded on or left off, depending on the circum-
stances.

The charges were placed on the second bridge on south I-35 and the fourth bridge on
north I-35. Both locations offered cover and concealment for people alongside the road.
They had only brought in 4 IFVs (Type 86A) and we observed, two days later, a for-
mation with one in front and the other at the rear with the body of soldiers in between.
Each formation was led by the pathfinders that had parachuted in and secured the air-
port, six for each of the two formations.

The previous day we’d put Melody through the paces and she did surprisingly well with
the Mini. She didn’t like the blast from the Browning and we installed the suppressor.
Although the suppressor didn’t really change much, she did much better with it installed.
I dug around and found an old surplus 1911 military flap holster and cut the end out. It
would be awkward but workable.

We’d received a short call on the radio the evening before giving us an estimated time
of departure. How they knew that was beyond me but we planned accordingly. Keeping
in mind that we weren’t to get close, we chose the Super Matches plus the Tac-50. I
would carry the Tac-50 and the Super Match with ammo. David would carry my ten

150
spare .50 caliber magazines and his rifle, rangefinder and spotting scope. Kristin would
carry her Super Match, ammo and 590A1 with 50 rounds including what was in the
shotgun. We each had our handgun of choice with four spare magazines.

As we came into the area where the mined bridge was, we were met by Horny Toad
who took us to a location they had checked out. He gave David a slip of paper with
ranges written on it and as soon as he was in position, David confirmed the ranges.
They were right on. We were none too soon because less than an hour later we could
hear the IFV fire up and start rolling.

Their pathfinders led the way, checking for IEDs and demolitions. They either didn’t no-
tice or DM had done his job well, the charges weren’t spotted. With men on foot, the
formation wasn’t moving very fast and it began to bunch up. By the time they reached
the bridge, everyone except for the pathfinders were somewhere on the bridge. There
was an explosive crack and the bridge simply folded up.

Some of the soldiers closest to the IFVs were struck by the IFV nearest them while
some were able to ride the bridge down. They were shaken but not out of commission.
With David calling targets and ranges, we made sighting adjustments and fired. Given
the density of the Chinese troops, it was possible to adjust using Kentucky windage. I
put down nine of the first ten I shot at with the Tac-50 and replaced the empty second
magazine with one with Mk 211. There was diesel fuel leaking and I fired at each vehi-
cle until either the sparks or incendiary started the fuel burning.

I set aside the Tac-50 and switched to my Super Match. The troops were still on their
feet, albeit behind concealment, but fading fast. I went through two magazines with my
Super Match and reloaded as the firing came to a halt. I paused for a few moments.

“I’m moving up there to see if we got them all,” I said as I rose.

“No…wai…” I heard Kristin say as I was slammed to the ground by a tremendous shove
against my shoulder. I must have hit my head when I fell, my vision faded.

I was in the worst fight of my life. We were surrounded by the NVA and I was so thirsty.
I mumbled, “Water,” and my eyes opened. I tried to clear my vision and focus on my
surroundings, my eyes refusing to cooperate. “Water,” I uttered yet again. A light
snapped on blinding me. I shaded my eyes and looked around. I was in our bed in the
shelter.

“Only a sip,” Kristin said as she held the water bottle with the built in straw. “You’ve
been hurt.”

“What happened?”

“You got up to go check to see if we got them all. I tried to tell you to wait, but the bullet
was already in the air. One man had a Russian rifle in 7.62x54mmR. I don’t remember

151
the name the DM told me. You were hit in the right shoulder and some bones were
shattered. Primarily the ball although the socket was damaged too. You need shoulder
joint replacement surgery. DM is working on trying to get that set up for you. It would
have to be done on an inpatient basis, probably at Methodist or Mercy Hospital. It’s a
complex procedure requiring a surgical team and four days of hospitalization, one be-
fore and two after, excluding the day of the surgery. For now, your shoulder is immobi-
lized and I have pain medication.”

“Dragunov rifle. Did we get them all?”

“Yes. David shot the SOB who shot you.”

“I know I killed several people but I don’t think I want to know how many.”

“You even got a few with those two diesel fires you started. Everyone who participated
got their share. The northbound formation was also stopped. That bridge dropped a lot
further than the one we were at. You know which bridge I mean?”

“The long curved one? Ouch.”

“DM and the others recovered what ordnance they could. It wasn’t much due to the fire.
The northbound vehicles didn’t burn and more was recovered there. He said to tell you
that if your shoulder didn’t heal up right, they’d have to take back the rockets and gre-
nades.”

“This hurts.”

“Try not to move too much. You’ve been on morphine and will now be on a very strong
pain pill with specific limitations. You can’t have one for two hours.”

“Could I have some more water?”

“Do you want me to help you to sit up?”

“I couldn’t support myself.”

“I have pillows. I’ll get David.”

“I’ll help you Jason and Kristin will slide in the pillows behind you. Grit your teeth, this is
going to hurt.”

“Boy, you weren’t lying about that. Are the missions over or are there more?”

“They’re over. Why?”

152
“I was going to suggest you use my Super Match until I can get around and use it my-
self.”

“About that. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to use a rifle in the future. It de-
pends on the outcome of the surgery and we don’t know yet when they can do the sur-
gery.”

“Why?”

“Both hospitals have limited power and surgery is very limited because of it.”

“What’s that noise?”

“The ham radio.”

They had moved the radio into the bedroom so I could follow the descriptions of the
fighting on amateur radio. It’s kind of blurry due to the pain medication, but the end run
China had tried was Operation Red Dawn, our name not theirs, and had failed misera-
bly. One theory getting a lot of support was that the original movie had given people
pause for thought and when it happened for real, they were far better prepared than the
characters in the movie. One ham fractiously suggested it might have been different if
they’d had William Smith on their side. He is fluent in English, Russian, German, French
and Serbo-Croatian. (He got great reviews for Red Dawn) If the action had involved
Russians and Cubans, he might have had a point.

Most of the action was on the border rather on the coast. One of the reasons suggested
was that it was easier to blow through a fence than effect D-Day type amphibious land-
ings. As good as the border wall was it didn’t stand up well to 125mm cannon shells. US
ground forces were located on or near the border and Airborne assets at the various
airports behind the battle lines.

Despite the high numbers of SAMs deployed by the Chinese, the Apache and Cobra
gunships supplemented with retrofitted UH-1 Huey’s armed with Dillon Aero M134D
Mini guns took a tremendous toll. The guns, which can be setup to fire either 3,000rpm
or 4,000rpm had been equipped with the 4k motors and each Huey carried two guns
and four 4,400 round ammo cans. One ham who had talked to a gunner reported that
cutting the Chinese soldiers down was like mowing grass.

Troops were never assigned to come to the Midwest to deal with Operation Red Dawn.
Unlike the movie, it was over almost before it got started. There were Patriots every-
where and not all those AR-15s were semi auto either. It would seem that some folks
didn’t like certain portions of the law and had acquired all the necessary M-16 compo-
nents to go with their pre-81 auto sears. Possession of any M-16 components was ille-
gal in Iowa, excluding the magazines. Possession of an auto sear and an AR-15 was
illegal in Iowa. David tried to explain it to me, but I dozed off.

153
“David paid us for the suppressor.”

“Where did he get an ounce of gold?”

“He didn’t say and I didn’t ask. I suspect he gathered up his share of the Chinese weap-
ons and ordnance and sold it to raise the money. He’s our ally, not our enemy. He and
DM went back to Nevada and got the rest of those radios and they programmed them
and every member of the group ended up with one mobile and one portable minimum. It
seems that David finally remembered where he knew DM from. He won’t say anything
about it. I got the impression that whatever he figured out was good.”

“If I’d only kept my head down for a few more minutes…this could have all been avoid-
ed.”

“If anyone ever had a doubt about your courage, you showed them what you’re made
of. I’ve been thinking and the next time you ask, I think I’ll say yes.”

“Are you talking about marriage?”

“As a matter of fact yes.”

“Will you marry me Kristin?”

“I’d be honored Jason.”

“This was hell of a way to convince you.”

“Totally unrelated to you’re getting shot. It was more about how you handled yourself
though all the recent events. Well, starting with the volcanoes through the present. You
have more perseverance than any two men I’ve ever known. You just get the bit in your
teeth and don’t stop until you accomplish whatever goal you’re seeking. And you re-
spected my wishes not to get married and only brought it occasionally.”

“Jack Black, Demolition Man.”

“Go ahead.”

“You’re awake. When did that happen?”

“During the last hour.”

“Hot damn. That is going to make this call all the more important.”

“What’s up?”

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 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 16

“We’ll be picking you up in the morning to take you to Iowa Methodist Medical Center.
Surgery is scheduled for the day after. They got sets of replacement components from
University Hospital in Iowa City. Due to the nature of the injury, they may use a Europe-
an replacement joint they’re evaluating because it eliminates most the related pain. It’s
FDA approved but isn’t used often. They will decide which option to use after they get
inside. There’s a good physical therapist in Ames at Mary Greeley.”

The next morning on the way to Des Moines DM showed me pictures of the two devic-
es. The American device replaced the ball with a metal ball and the socket with a plastic
socket. The European device replaced the socket with a ball and the ball with a socket.
Both devices were very reliable. The 40mg Oxycontin were the minimum to mask the
pain and left me slightly loopy. Once I was in the hospital, I was poked, prodded, sub-
jected to an MRI and had extensive lab work performed.

“Mr. Jones, when did you become aware that you’re slightly diabetic?”

“That’s first I’ve heard about it.”

“Post-surgery, we’ll begin a treatment regimen probably using Actos or Avandia. If that
fails, we’ll probably switch to Avandaryl. Actos and Avandia make the cells more re-
sponsive to the natural insulin your body produces. The Amaryl component causes the
pancreas to release more insulin. There’s also Avandamet which combines Avandia
and Metaformin. We may have to experiment to determine which works best. If we go
that way, it will probably be Avandamet. Has my colleague explained the surgical pro-
cess?”

“Yes.”

“An anesthesiologist will be by to discuss what he needs to know to make the proper
decisions about which anesthetics he’ll use. A nurse will come in after with the consent
forms. You’ve been taking 40 mg Oxycontin?”

“Since I woke up, I have. I think they used morphine before. Question?”

“Yes?”

“I’m a shooter. How will this affect my ability to shoot?”

“That’s an unknown. A lot of it relates to the success of the surgery and how well you do
in physical therapy. It could range from 50% mobility to about 95% which has no bear-
ing on the answer. There is also the possibility of ongoing pain. We’ll do the best we can
to restore function to your shoulder and eliminate sources of pain.”

155
While I waited for the anesthesiologist and later the nurse, I recalled the dream I had
been having as I came to. It was very strange. I had never served in Vietnam and cer-
tainly wasn’t recalling a personal experience. And yet, I distinguished the opposing forc-
es as being NVA and not Viet Cong. We were surrounded. Was I thinking about Ia
Drang or Khe Sanh? The more I thought about it, I realized it was Ia Drang under the
command of Hal Moore.

For some reason, I had focused on the movie starring Mel Gibson, but why? I hadn’t
been there and the movie couldn’t have possibly shown the real horror of what hap-
pened there. Then, I recalled reading about Bruce Crandall, a Huey pilot. He got the
CMH for his actions that day. It wasn’t presented until 2007 by George W. Bush. I re-
called reading about the battle on Wiki and seeing the picture of Crandall’s Huey. He
was one brave SOB and very, very lucky. Why that information popped into my head as
I began to come to might forever remain a mystery. The anesthesiologist arrived and
started asking questions.

The nurse brought the papers, asked if I had any questions and then had me sign here,
here and here. I was prescribed a mild sedative to help me sleep and early the next
morning they woke me up to give me a pill to help me sleep. I know… it doesn’t make a
lot of sense. I was the first of two scheduled surgeries that morning and they wheeled
me in early. The anesthesiologist slipped a needle into my IV once I was arranged on
the table and I came to in recovery, six hours later. I couldn’t see much other than
bandages. One of the surgeons put in an appearance and asked if I was fully awake
and how I felt.

“It hurts a little and I’m a little groggy. How did it go?”

“Better than anticipated. As good as they are, MRIs don’t always tell the full story. We
replaced the ball. The socket wasn’t as damaged as the MRI showed but we replaced it
anyway. We think it was due to a bone fragment from the head of the humerus. You
should recover nicely. Do the recommended physical therapy and you may regain near-
ly full use of your shoulder and arm within a year.”

“When do I get out? I have a wedding to attend.”

“One of your grandchildren?”

“No. Me. For the first time no less.”

“There’s someone waiting to see you. The intended bride?”

“If she’s in her late fifties that could be.”

“How did it go?”

156
“I didn’t feel a thing. The doctor said it wasn’t quite as bad as they thought. I may regain
full use of my arm and shoulder. Did you find someone to marry us?”

“About that. Getting a license could be a problem at the moment. Since we’ve lived to-
gether all these years, if we say we’re married, we’re married. I bought a set of plain
gold bands.”

“Oh, ok. I can’t remember all the promises, but consider them made.”

“And I make the same promises. Hold out your left hand.”

She slipped the ring on my finger and handed me the ring to put on her finger. Iowa, ob-
viously, has laws governing common law marriage and we were now married in the
eyes of the law. Other than the fact that we did everything backwards, lived together for
all those years and then got married, everything was as it should be. DM had made ar-
rangements at Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames for me to receive physical therapy and
that would commence once the stitches were removed. Kristin changed the bandages
per instructions and I finally got a look. I’d have a nasty scar.

“They’re pulling out.”

“Who, from where?”

“The Chinese have pulled the few remaining troops from the west coast and are moving
their remaining forces to Méxican ports.”

“You know what that means, GTW.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not DM?”

“They surrendered, officially. The US agreed to supply our excess grain to help feed
their population. We’re going to get some of those dollars back.”

“That could take forever.”

“Not with corn selling for seven dollars a bushel. No one else in the world will take US
dollars at the moment.”

“I take that some news sources are available now?”

“They came back up while you were in the coma. We all forgot to mention it and put the
ham radio in the bedroom instead of the AM radio. Russia pushed through the Baltic
States and ran into the proverbial brick wall when they tried to invade Poland. It was a
tank battle that rivaled the Battle of Kursk. This time, the Russians lost. Probably for the

157
same reason that they won the original, defenses ten layers deep, massive air cam-
paign, tanks better than theirs that knew of the strategy they employed in the original
battle. They withdrew their remaining forces and there have been no threats made con-
cerning a strategic retaliation.”

“Huh?”

“No missiles coming over the arctic. The war is already being referred to as World War
Three. Despite the potential for a very large army, the Chinese used less than a million
troops because they had insufficient resources to feed a larger army. The government is
making an all-out effort to restore the infrastructure. One other thing you might find in-
teresting and then I’ll have to go. The President, with the backing of Congress, ordered
the UN out of the US. He gave them three months to clear out about four months ago.
They’re all gone. France and Belgium are vying to host the reassembled UN. Anyway,
I’ve got to go. Congratulations. It’s about time you two got married. I remember where I
knew her from. The Maid Rite in Ankeny, Kristin Wells.”

“What’s your name?”

“You’re not going to believe me when I tell you, but it’s John Smith.”

Smith is the most common surname in the US and the second most common in Cana-
da.

I was really beginning to feel my age due to the injury to my shoulder. For the next six
months we made a daily trip to Ames for physical therapy, seven days a week. After
that, it was cut to three times a week and eventually, eliminated. I was ready to go to the
range and see if I could still shoot. Well, I could still shoot, the real question was could I
deal with the recoil. I started with my Mini and it wasn’t too bad, a NSAID was sufficient
to deal with the discomfort. I moved up to my Super Match and the number of Ibuprofen
tablets increased to three. My 870 also was in the three tablet range and the Tac-50
called for four.

What it finally came down to was I could shoot if it was necessary. The Story County
Sheriff had never implemented his militia plans. He did do one rather surprising thing.
Those people that he’d talked to about it who had actually passed the firearms testing
were assembled into a force of Reserve Deputies. We had the same badges except the
word ‘Reserve’ was prominently featured. We got the whole nine yards, Department ID,
badge and carry case. All featuring ‘Reserve’ prominently. We would be activated for
such things as Amber Alerts, crowd control and things where presence was required
above the available regular Deputies. We weren’t the only seniors in the group, either.
Everyone had a military background. I went looking and the LAW rockets and hand gre-
nades were missing except for the Mk3A2s and our own smoke grenades.

There was an explanation offered concerning the average age of the Reserve Deputies
being around 55. In a word, patience. Many of the situations where the Reserves were

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activated would be those situations where patience was called for. That applied equally
to crowd control as it did to BOLOs for the Amber Alerts. We were classified as peace
officers and allowed to carry 24/7 in many places where only LEOs were allowed to car-
ry firearms.

As a concession to our advancing ages we acquired Glock 21SFs and Glock 30s. I
could either go with my Miami Classic rig or the paddle holster for the 21. I bought a
new paddle holster for the G21 and an ankle holster for the G30. Kristin opted for a Mi-
ami Classic for her 21 when she wasn’t carrying her Galco purse and the same ankle
holster I selected. The ankle holster carried the pistol and one magazine on the off side.
The other ankle sported a dual magazine pouch.

Her Miami Classic had a dual magazine holder on the off side and she carried no addi-
tional magazines. I carried two paddle style double magazine pouches behind the pistol
on my right side. We also carried handcuffs, primarily to supply the Deputies.

David came away from the affair with Corporal stripes on his sleeves, designating him
as a training Deputy. They moved back to Kelley and he had an excavator putting in a
hole in his backyard for a shelter, the size of ours. Apparently he had studied what we
had and decided to duplicate it. They also elected to stop their family at two children.
They were already on septic and he had a well drilled. Two friends of his helped him lay
the block for the shelter and the outside tunnel.

He didn’t get a pre-built garage, electing instead to build his own, again with the help of
friends. It took two and one half years for him to complete the process. They had two
one year deluxe food supplies on hand and were now concentrating on adding a third.
Meanwhile he continued to pack five gallon food pails with bulk purchases of things like
corn, wheat, oats, beans and rice. He didn’t count those preparations as part of their in-
ventory although they probably represented another full year for four people.

Kristin and I continued to have the .50 caliber brass reloaded by the same man who had
done the first reloads. Because of my shoulder, she was the primary sniper with the
Tac-50 and I was her spotter. We continued to work out to maintain our muscle tone
although it was getting harder. We had to shut down the Kohler for an engine and alter-
nator rebuild and were relying on the QD12.5 to assist recharging the submarine batter-
ies. The dealer picked it up, hauled it to Des Moines and returned it ten days later,
claiming it was ‘as good as new’.

“Do you think we’re finally going to have some peace and quiet Jason?”

“Lord, I hope so Kristin. But you know that TOM always claims that bad things happen
in threes. I hope he’s wrong about that. I sort of figured he’d spend his time writing sto-
ries and post them when the internet and Frugal’s came back up. I haven’t seen any if
he’s posted them.”

“He just posted one.”

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“What’s the title?”

“I don’t recall. It involves an asteroid strike. I downloaded it.”

“He reworked The Rock?”

“No, it doesn’t involve the Three Amigos.”

“It’s past time David and I made a trip to Bethany, I’m getting low.”

“How low?”

“Down to 30 cartons.”

“How many do you intend to buy?”

“As many as I can get for two grand. I do want to keep some cash on hand, just in
case.”

“How many cartons is two thousand dollars?”

“About fifty.”

“I wouldn’t want you to run out, buy five thousand dollars’ worth.”

“Are you sure? That 125 cartons.”

“It’s your only major vice and as long as you don’t smoke in the house or blow smoke in
my face, I can live with it.”

“I know it gives me bad breath and the smell of the smoke clings to my clothes. But I’ve
smoked so long I’m not sure I can give up the habit.”

“I’m going to give you some extra money and I want you to stop at the liquor stores ei-
ther in Des Moines or in Ames.”

“What do you want?”

“Several cases. One each of Jack Black, Single Barrel, Jose Cuervo 1800, Bombay
Sapphire gin, Absolute vodka, Chivas Regal and a mixed case containing Grand Mari-
ner, sweet and dry vermouth, Drambuie and other things we need to make cocktails.
How about I add to that and you get a case of bourbon? TOM has mentioned Maker’s
Mark.”

160
“We still have liquor left from the last time we bought and that seems like forever ago.
What’s going on?”

“I would like to be in a position where we wouldn’t have to leave here for any reason
whatsoever for a period of five years.”

“Ok, I take more money and buy extra cigarettes. I’ll need a minimum of 260 cartons if I
limit myself to a carton a week.”

“I thought you only smoked a pack a day. That’s only 37 cartons a year.”

“It’s more like a carton a week.”

“Will you be able to get that many cigarettes?”

“I’m pretty sure I can. Two hundred thirty cartons will run over nine grand. The liquor
you want is the expensive stuff. I’m going to take three bundles of Ben Franklins.”

“How many do we have in the safe?”

“Five bundles, fifty thousand.”

“Good, I’m going to hookup the trailer to the Comet and head for Costco, Sam’s and Hy-
Vee. Fill in a few holes here and there.”

“I’ll call David.”

“David, Jason. When is your next full day off? Tomorrow? Outstanding. Do you have
any commitments? Oh, I’m driving down to Bethany and getting several cases of ciga-
rettes. I thought if you were free, you might like to ride along and get some for yourself.
Yes, I’ll wait while you ask Melody. You can? Great. I’ll pick you up around eight.”

“Kristin, are you sure you want to try and tow that trailer with your Comet?”

“Why not? There won’t be that much weight and it’s not like I have to drive through
mountains to get to West Des Moines. I’ll take it easy. The towing speed limit is 55 so I’ll
probably keep it to 50 in the far right lane.”

It took us two hours to get to Bethany and an hour to talk the store manager into letting
me buy 270 cartons of Kool’s. He had them; he wasn’t sure it was legal. I think the Iowa
plate on my F-100 made him leery. Since I was taking delivery in Missouri, he decided I
was within my rights and set out the cases of Kool’s. I pulled a bundle of 100s and ask
how much. He gave me the total and I removed enough 100s from the bundle to cover
the purchase and leave me with a small amount of change.

“Count ‘em if you want, it was a full bundle.”

161
“You’d better believe I’m going to count it. Mary, come over here and recount as I hand
you a bundle of $1,000.”

They actually did it twice. Then he begrudgingly gave me my change and David pro-
ceeded to buy 30 cartons of Camel filters. We had stopped at a few liquor stores on the
way down and I had the miscellaneous case right off the bat. Iowa used to have state
stores but during the 80s they licensed retailers and closed their stores. These retailers
typically had a larger supply than the state stores, except when it came to the high
priced liquor.

“Are you planning on going on a lifetime drunk?”

“Just following orders David. This was Kristin’s idea, not mine. We still have a little of
the liquor we bought way back when. I asked and she said, I would like to be in a posi-
tion where we wouldn’t have to leave here for any reason whatsoever for a period of five
years. That’s a verbatim quote.”

“What set her off?”

“TOM posted a new story about an asteroid strike. She said it isn’t the same as The
Rock that he wrote way back when.”

“If he posted a new story he must have made it through all of the happenings.”

“You’re right. I never thought about that. I read a few pages of The Rock and that was
when he was writing the Three Amigos series. They ended up in a cave near Carlsbad
Caverns. I didn’t read the whole story.”

“It’s fiction, right?”

“Yes, he writes PAW fiction. Probably half of his story is getting his main characters in a
position where they are ready for come what may. Then, as soon as the dust settles, his
characters begin salvage operations. Kristin copied the story to Word but I haven’t time
to read it yet.”

“How much liquor are you planning on buying?”

“One each of Jack Black, Single Barrel, Jose Cuervo 1800, Bombay Sapphire gin, Ab-
solute vodka, Chivas Regal and a mixed case containing Grand Mariner, sweet and dry
vermouth, Drambuie and other things we need to make cocktails. Again, that’s a direct
quote.”

“What do you drink the most of?”

“Jack Black.”

162
“That’s probably cheaper than any of the others, why not two cases of that?”

“No reason I can think of. That might be a good idea. I’ll need to corner the market on
Squirt, though.”

“You prefer Jack Daniels with Squirt?”

“The regular black label and Gentleman Jack. If you get thirsty, stop by, we should be
able to mix 90% of the drinks in The Bartender’s Guide.”

“You must not have Gentleman Jack on your list; you’ve passed it up three times.”

“The Single Barrel is usually taken neat or on the rocks. In a mixed drink I can’t tell Jack
Black from Gentleman Jack.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Jack is run through the maple charcoal once and Gentlemen Jack twice. Other mixes
will come from the grocery store, like Margarita mix, Collins mix, Seven-up, Ginger ale,
tonic and Coke. Damn, I forgot the Myers rum. I’d better get a split case of the light and
dark. Plus she said to get a case of Maker’s Mark.”

“So, some of everything?”

“Probably a lifetime supply. Since beer doesn’t keep beyond a certain time, we’ll have to
buy that to go with the pizzas. I’ll look for Carlings and when I can’t find it settle for
Coors as I always do. I think Carlings was a Canadian beer that is now marketed in the
UK, South Africa and Australia.”

“You’re well versed on alcoholic beverages.”

“I know what I like; it’s as simple as that. Kristin generally drinks Tom Collins but she
tried a sip of the Single Barrel and became a true convert. I don’t drink much bourbon or
scotch. Canadian products are good; I’ll look for some Crown Royal.”

“Do you have Cuban Cigars to go with the good booze?”

“They’re embargoed. I might just get a mixed case of Crown Royal and some sort of
Brandy. Better split that case three ways and include some Kalúha.”

“We’d better finish this up before you remember other things you forgot like crème de
menthe and crème de cocao.”

“Good idea. I’ll find something else to fill out the case of Crown Royal. Maybe some of
the fancy things like Frangelica, Benedictine, Tia Maria and Baileys Irish Crème.”

163
“Thanks for coming along David. Do you see what I mean about the cigarette store?”

“I was there once, remember?”

“Oh that’s right. You got me a carton of Kool’s and a carton of Marlboros.”

“Is there anything to be concerned about with that story you mentioned?”

“He’s surprisingly accurate on some things and totally misses the mark on others. Keep
your powder dry and continue with your preps as money permits.”

“Why?”

“Oh, bad things happen in threes.”

“Hogwash.”

“Believe whatever you want. How are your preps coming?”

“All we need is a generator.”

“Would you be interested in our QD12.5?”

“How many hours does it have on it?”

“Eight thousand or less. You could get it checked out before you decide. I’ll let it go for
five thousand.”

“What do they cost new?”

“I gave $9,650 plus tax. The 100amp ATS was extra and we do have quite a few filters.
I followed the maintenance schedule to the letter. It’s a fair price. We can carry you if
you can come up with two thousand down.”

“I’ll have to talk to Melody”

“Smart man. Either way, let me know.”

“I will. Thanks for the ride. It was an enlightening experience.”

I wonder what he meant about it being enlightening. Kristin was halfway through unload-
ing the trailer and hadn’t touched the car with its full trunk and back seat.

164
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 17

“Find everything you were looking for?”

“And then some. I’ve been unloading it and sorting it into two piles; one for the base-
ment and one for the shelter. If you want to help, you can take the shelter pile down and
add it to the shelves. Everything go ok on your trip?”

“Ended up getting extra liquor as things came to mind. Did you get mixes?”

“I didn’t have time. We can do that tomorrow.”

“Is this all because of TOM’s new story?”

“Not particularly. It does relate to one thing he brings up a lot. You know, bad things
happen in threes.”

“It took David to point it out to me but his posting of that story would seem to indicate he
survived.”

“Why wouldn’t he? Only three nukes were used against the US, all HEMPs. The San
Andreas didn’t let loose when Cascadia slipped so barring something unforeseen, he
should be fine. The tuff pattern did include a portion of California where he lives. Fox
reported that it didn’t amount to much.”

“I may send him an email after all. I can do that through Frugal’s, I checked.”

“Do it later, I want to get everything unloaded and put up tonight.”

“What about what I brought back?”

“Put the liquor in the basement and the cigarettes in the tunnel to the armory.”

“Did you give any thought to supper?”

“Maid Rites and French fries, I’m bushed and don’t feel like cooking.”

I got the appliance caddy and hauled the liquor to the bungalow and by hand down the
steps to the basement. The cigarettes were next and went into the tunnel between the
shelter and the armory. Finally I began transporting the things she’d bought and sorted
to be put into the shelter. We left the goods for the basement on the patio. We ate,
showered and were asleep by the time our heads hit the pillow.

Over breakfast the following day, I asked, “If we get the odds and ends done this morn-
ing, would you like to go riding?”

165
“I was going to suggest going to Adel to bring back the canning jars, rings and plastic
lids. We should see how much hay and straw they have that they’ll sell us. They may
have enough grain to refill the loft in the barn. If we get back early enough, we can go
riding; otherwise we’ll make a point of doing it tomorrow. The day after, we’re going to
have to till the garden. I want to go big this year like we did the first time.”

“Ok, what’s bothering you?”

“I don’t know. I know that something is but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Are you sure it isn’t that story?”

“Can’t be, I haven’t read it beyond the first half dozen pages. I remember back in 2010
when you had the same thing happen. Something was bothering you that you couldn‘t
put your finger on.”

“With the two of us, Edgar Cayce doesn’t have a chance. After whatever it is happens,
I’m sure someone will find a Quatrain to show we were warned by Nostradamus.”

“You left out Jean Dixon, one of the Reagan’s soothsayers. Let me mull on it, I’m sure it
will come to me. I can tell you flat out Jason, I’m not thinking about an asteroid strike.”

Kristin had a tone in her voice that suggested we drop the matter. I was usually the one
who got the feeling in my gut that something was coming that would be a challenge to
get through. I sensed nothing. I should have listened to news closer. There are those
triplets again, shoulda, coulda and woulda. I tended to the stock while she cleaned up
the kitchen. I put two coolers with a jug of ice each in the back of the pickup because
she hadn’t said what the odds and ends were beyond the mixers. I dawned on me that
we had the room for a small bar in the living room. Very small. While she pondered her
feeling, I pondered what I might want in the way of a bar. The vacant space on the wall
was 37” wide so it would most likely be something 36” wide. Just big enough for the liq-
uor and a set of bar glasses. Have to get a shaker with a strainer and some shot glass-
es. I’m sure I’d seen a set somewhere.

We moved the previous day’s purchases from the patio to the basement. It was mostly
shelf stable food like pasta with a shelf life of ten centuries if it were kept dry and pro-
tected from critters. We had two stacks of nestled 5 gallon food grade pails to store the
stuff in. In fact, it looked to me like we wouldn’t need to shop for groceries for years. I
didn’t remember seeing butter, bacon or hams and I’d put everything away.

“Ready?”

“Yep. Where do we stop first?”

“Hy-Vee for soft drinks they have on sale and mixes they carry. I see you put in the
coolers. Good, I didn’t get some things at Costco yesterday.”

166
“Hams, butter and bacon?”

“You read minds?”

“No, I put everything in the shelter and basement.”

“The Black Angus place is picking up the steer to butcher, cut and wrap. I want to stop
at Sears and see about an upright freeze for the kitchen. I’d much prefer a chest type
but there isn’t room in the basement or the shelter.”

“We could put it in the storage building.”

“We could, couldn’t we? I’ll think about it.”

“Hang on a minute; I think I’d better take the trailer, just in case.”

“Just in case what?”

“Just in case we forgot something else.”

“Good, we can get another cooler. The ones we have are 100 quart. We should get a
250 quart and I know just where to go.”

“I’ll get two more ice jugs.”

I hooked up the trailer, transferred the two coolers to the trailer and added two extra
jugs to one of the coolers.

“Anything else or are we ready?”

“We’re ready.”

The first stops were two Hy-Vee stores in Ankeny plus a stop at the Maid Rite. The
French fries, tenderloins and Maid Rite meat filled one cooler and the second part way.
Another store in Ankeny had the 250 quart Igloo and she bought two. I wasn’t excited
yet; we need ham, bacon and butter. Of course that meant a trip to Costco. We filled
both of the new coolers plus the partially full 100 quart. Naturally, the stops at Hy-Vee
weren’t limited to soft drinks and mixes, it included garnishes.

“Ok, next stop is Sears Merle Hay. I think we’ll go with the chest freezer and put it the
storage building. We’ll have them deliver it.”

“Question.”

“Go ahead.”

167
“Russia pulled out after their defeat at the Polish border, right?”

“That’s what they said on the news. At the moment the US isn’t involved in any wars.
Does that have something to do with what’s bothering you?”

“I’m not sure. Possibly. Have you ever known the Russians to back off?”

“Sure, the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

“Excluding that.”

“They pulled out of Afghanistan.”

“But we didn’t help NATO defeat the Russians, did we?”

“We had problems of our own.”

“Did we bring all of our tactical nukes home when we left Europe?”

“I would assume so. The only time the weapons are supposed to be out of our posses-
sion is when they’re actually deployed.”

“Supposed to be?”

“Yeah. We’ve discussed this.”

“Not with me you didn’t.”

“Oh, it was with David.”

“What did you discuss?”

“We have weapons sharing through NATO. Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands
and Turkey have been provided nuclear weapons to deploy and store. This involves pi-
lots and other staff of the ‘non-nuclear’ NATO states practicing, handling, and delivering
the US nuclear bombs, and adapting non-US warplanes to deliver US nuclear bombs.
Canada and Greece have opted out of the weapons sharing. Apparently the US nuclear
weapons based in Europe are in the sole possession and under constant and complete
custody and control of the United States.”

“A long time ago I read somewhere that those sharing nations might not give up the
nukes if the US pulled out.

“Schlesinger wanted to know if the US nuclear weapons were secure and asked his di-
rector of telecommunications and command and control systems, Thomas C. Reed, if

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he could talk to the US officers holding the keys to the weapons. Reed reported back
that the US custodians were in charge, but at one Air Force base ‘things got a little
dicey. The local Army troops outside the fence wanted in. Their Air Force countrymen
inside wanted them kept out. The nukes on alert aircraft were hastily returned to bun-
kers as the opposing commanders parleyed under a white flag. Soon both sides went
off to dinner, but through it all we held our breath.’

“‘When the wall fell, non-Soviet Warsaw Pact countries were formally removed from the
US strategic nuclear war plan (SIOP), requiring adjustments to the theater strike plans
for the tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. One year later, by the time of the INF dead-
line in June 1991, less than 2,500 US nuclear weapons were left in Europe, 1,400 of
which were air-delivered bombs.’ For some reason, the number 480 sticks in my mind. I
think it was the number of stored bombs from 1994 through 2004.”

“So what you’re implying is that the 480 shared weapons are still shared and not under
US control?”

“It’s a thought. We’re here. There’s a parking space over there where the pickup and
trailer will fit.”

She bought the 25ft³ chest freezer for delivery in three days. With that out of the way,
we went north on Merle Hay and picked up I-80/I-35. We took I-80 west and exited US
169 North, switched to two local roads and pulled into the farm. She was all business,
almost as if she were on a mission. The straw was last year’s straw but it was only bed-
ding. The alfalfa was the first cutting this year. Her brothers were happy to unload the
straw but not the hay.

When she offered above market for the hay and grain they changed their minds. They
even offered to take the back roads and bring a grain elevator. They would start with the
grain and bring a truckload each of shell corn and oats. If that wasn’t enough, they go
back for more and fill the loft ‘to the rafters’. Man, I hope the loft will support that much
weight. After we were fixed up on grain, they’d bring the entire first cutting of hay and all
the straw we could stack. She peeled off several Ben Franklins for a down payment.
The agreed price was $150/ton on the hay and much less for the straw.

We had pallets to stack the hay and straw on. These were the set surrounding the barn
and a second set in the only free space left on our 2½ acres. By the time they finished,
they were using the grain elevator to move bales of hay and straw to the top of the pile.
I had to get an extension ladder to tarp the pile after they left. Her brothers still used the
old twine square baler with a bale chute feeding bales to the wagon it towed. It wasn’t
broke so they didn’t fix it. Most of the farmers had switched to the large round bales but
they were some holdouts. I like the bales because they were so much easier to handle.

Sears showed up with the freezer while I was on top of the pile of hay spreading out the
tarps. I had cleared a spot next to an outlet for the freezer and Kristin directed them to
that location so I didn’t have to climb down. Let me tell you, by the time I had the hay

169
and straw tarped, I felt like, ‘come and go breath, I’m too tired to help ya.’ This aging
stuff is for the birds.

The next day, the Angus Beef place called and told us our order was ready for pickup.
After lunch, I put the four coolers in the back of the pickup and we went to pick it up.
The meat would be frozen brick solid and I didn’t bother with ice jugs, preferring to have
the extra room. When we picked up a side, the two 100 quart coolers weren’t large
enough to hold the meat. I was speculating, correctly as it turned out, that even with the
two 250 quart coolers we lacked sufficient space for a full beef.

While we were there, Kristin asked if they did pork. They did and had the capability to
smoke the hams and bacon. We had three hogs that were at or slightly above market
weight. After a bit of discussion, we decided to get six smoked Country hams, six
smoked Country picnics, six slabs of smoked bacon and two smoked pork loins, thinly
sliced. Thinly sliced smoked pork loin is called ‘Canadian Bacon’ in the US but not in
Canada. They would pick up the three hogs later that day and start the process with the
killing and skinning. We could pick up the meat in four days and the smoked goods in
two weeks. They used a wet brine process and hickory to hot smoke everything once
the brining was done.

We went back and got another 250 quart cooler. You know how I think they must price
cooler? A buck a quart. We could haul 950 quarts of frozen goods if we had to bug out.
All three of the freezers, from the oldest used one I bought to the newest came from
Sears, originally, and held 25ft³. About all that was left to do was something I hated,
butchering chickens. I had two nails driven in stump where I could catch their heads.
Once caught, one swing with a Cold Steel machete and they went to flopping around.
That was the easy part.

The hard part was scalding the chickens and then plucking them. It was especially hard
because we used three wash tubs. One was always boiling hot, a second heating and a
third emptied, washed out, refilled with water and heating. Kristin insisted changing tubs
every twelve chickens. There was only one way to keep hot water available continuous-
ly and that was to fill the third tub with water from our hot water heater. It probably lost
10° on its journey in the hose from the drain faucet on the hot water heater but that beat
starting out with cold water. We had a trench just wide enough to build a fire in and sup-
port the weight of the wash tubs.

I was chopping heads and dipping the chickens and handing them to her. She would
start the plucking process and when we had to wait for the hottest tub to finish heating I
lent a hand. After that, they had to be singed to rid them of pin feathers and were
dumped in a bath of ice water until we were ready to stop. We then gutted the birds,
saving the heart, liver and crop which would become the gizzard. Depending on how
many we processed on any given day, we’d cut them up and vacuum pack them or
vacuum pack them whole.

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We had a very large flock this year and it included 18 hens that weren’t laying much and
needed to be turned into baking chickens. That was on top of 118 fryers. We did fifty
chickens the first day, another fifty the second and the rest on the third day. The day af-
ter, we went to pick up the fresh frozen pork. While the freezers weren’t quite full to ca-
pacity, there wasn’t much room left. Between a full beef, three hogs, 136 chickens, the
things from Maid Rite and from Costco we’d be lucky if some of the meat didn’t freezer
burn.

The meat packer wrapped the meat in plastic and the plastic package in Kraft paper,
butcher paper lined with a layer of plastic. We, in turn, vacuumed packed the packages
with our seal-a-meal, providing a third layer of protection and greatly reduced the possi-
bility of the meat drying out. Additionally, all three freezers were manual defrost which
also lessens freezer burn. Finally, every package was dated and rotated with the oldest
being moved to the top quarterly. It was, by any stretch of the imagination, a lot of food
for two people.

“What do you suppose number three will be?”

“So that’s what’s behind our suddenly preparing for the end of the world?”

“At least to an extent, yes, I’ll admit that. And, since they’re classifying what happened
recently as World War Three, I think we’ll probably end up naming the next one World
War Four. The US and India will support Israel. That was discussed over North Korea
sinking that South Korean ship and later that attempt to run the Gaza blockade. Do you
believe the “Anti-Christ walks among us?”

“You sound like you believe it’s the End of Times.”

“Maybe it is.”

“You’ve been watching the History channel again?”

“What? Oh, no I haven’t. I have given a lot of thought to the state the world is in with
food shortages, lousy weather, Iran now officially being a nuclear nation plus the others
with weapons sharing arrangements. With our additional preparations, we can weather
any storm, natural or manmade. At one time, our single greatest resource was ammuni-
tion. Now, we’ll run out of ammunition before food.”

“About that. Can you get the empty .50 caliber brass reloaded? I want to sort through
the other rifle brass and pull out the boxer primed ammo for reloading. Does he do all of
the calibers we have?”

“He has some kind of progressive loaders for regular ammo, both rifle and pistol. He
said he does 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge shotgun shells. Is the .45 Colt already separat-
ed?”

171
“That, the .45-70, .45acp and 9mmP.

“I’ll take the .50, .45 Colt, .45acp, .45-70 and the shotgun shells tomorrow. You sort out
the boxer primed 7.62×51mm, and the boxer primed 5.56×45mm. We might as well load
as much as we can.”

“After we have the ammo reloaded and pick up the remaining pork, will that do it?”

“Pretty much.”

“There’s more?”

“I can’t tell you what it is, but it seems like we usually overlook something. And…it just
dawned on me two things that we didn’t add to our existing stock, tea and honey.”

“Start a list and after we have everything else done, we make a final pass. If we don’t
get it then, we do without.”

“Do you have a pair of binoculars?”

“No, put it on the list.”

“We have four sets of ALICE gear, two set up for M1As and two for the Minis. We don’t
have a suppressor for your Browning although I have one for mine. You want me to find
a threaded barrel?”

“If we can, sure. I suppose getting a silencer is out of the question?”

“Do you want one for your Browning?”

“Yes and I’d like one for my Para too.”

“No sweat, I have two.”

“Hard to get?”

“Money talks.”

I got both cash and gold out of the safe and headed out to this guy I knew. How he
managed to get suppressors escaped me. He was out in the country and I’d never once
seen any sign he was under surveillance by the BATFE or state or local law enforce-
ment. If he didn’t have it, he could get it.

“What now?”

172
“Threaded barrel for a Browning Hi-Power classic. Suppressor for the same. If you have
a threaded barrel and suppressor for a Para P-14, I’ll take that too.”

“Two ounces of gold. American Eagles, no foreign stuff.”

“Apiece?”

“Total.”

I laid two one ounce Eagles on his table and he left to retrieve the merchandise. He was
back in a minute with two boxes.

“The barrels are in the boxes with suppressors. How’s that Jet suppressor working out?”

“It works great. For what it cost me, it should.”

“The Elite Iron would have worked too; it’s just that it’s so much heavier.”

“Are you a prepper too?”

“Me? Hell no, I’m a ‘died in the wool’ Survivalist. There are a few of us in the area and
we keep an extremely low profile. I worked for the ATF for a few years. It gave me a re-
ally bad taste in my mouth. Last assignment was Des Moines. I know the guys in the
office and they never give me a second thought. Even if they did, they could get search
warrants and search until the 22nd century and never find my inventory. And don’t think I
don’t check out potential customers because I go through a very thorough background
check. You already had a bunch of suppressors here in Iowa that you bought when you
lived in Florida. Not to mention an AC-556. I even know the stamp numbers.”

“Got tired of being a jack booted thug?”

“Got tired of being called a jack booted thug. The NFA is unconstitutional regardless of
the holding in Miller. Ninety nine point forty four percent of the gun laws in the US are
unconstitutional.”

“I gotta go.”

“I’ll be here when you need something else.”

“How much for a Thompson submachine gun?”

“Twenty grand. It’s the military model M1A1 and uses the 30 round sticks. Kinda beat up
but works just fine. Price includes a dozen sticks. You interested?”

“Not for twenty grand, no. They cost a couple of hundred new.”

173
“It comes with a tax stamp. Of course the National Firearms Registry has no record of
that stamp number. Perfect counterfeit. The only problem is that this is Iowa and we’re
civilized.”

“I know what you mean, believe me.”

“Did you get the barrels and silencers?”

“Two ounces of gold total. He has a Thompson complete with counterfeit tax stamp.”

“How much?”

“Twenty grand.”

“You want it?”

“Not at that price, no. Before the war, the government was paying $209 for a M1A1 and
by the end of the war, $45 for a complete package including accessories and spare
parts.”

“We have the gold.”

“I know. I had enough with me to buy it. I couldn’t bring myself to spend the money.”

“But, it would round out your ‘Out of the Ashes’ collection.”

“Do you want me to buy it?”

“I wouldn’t object. I’ll pay half, if you want.”

“No, I’ll pay the full cost. I’ll be back.”

“Wife talked you into it?”

“How did you know?”

“Didn’t. Just a guess. How are you fixed on .45acp?”

“With this, not as well as I’d like to be.”

“I have 230gr FMJ brass based Federal American Eagle.”

“How much?”

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 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 18

“Four hundred per case of 1,000 rounds. An ounce will get you five cases and I’ll throw
in the rest of the 30 round sticks I have.”

“Eleven ounces total?”

“Yep.”

“Do you have ten cases?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll take ten and count out 12 ounces while you get the stuff.”

I laid out twelve Eagles in a row to make it easy for him to count. He came back with a 4
wheel caddy loaded with ten cases of ammo and the Thompson in a box. He showed
me the contents of the box and it was just as he said. The metal was fine but the stock
showed use. All sixteen magazines were in vinyl wrappers, apparently new or repack-
aged. He swept the gold into a pile and slipped it into his front pants pocket.

“I’ll help you load it.”

“Thanks.”

“Well?”

“Feel free to call me Ben Raines.”

“Jason will do just fine. Got it all out of your system now?”

“I do. What about you?”

“I picked up the reloaded ammo today. We’re pretty well set on Match grade ammo.”

“Good. How are we on medical supplies?”

“Like what?”

“Blood stoppers, blood bulkers, antibiotics and whatever we’d need if one of us gets
shot again; although getting shot again is at the bottom of my list of favorite things to
do.”

“We have a full supply of QuikClot ACS+ sponges. Our IV’s are out of date. So are the
antibiotics. I’m not sure about the morphine. Most of the rest of the stuff is over the
counter and current.”

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“Will your doctor give you refills?”

“As long as I take in the out of date stuff. I’ll have to explain the normal saline, Ringer’s
and morphine I used when you got shot. Not a problem, I’m sure he heard about us tak-
ing on those Chinese. He’s a prepper, you know.”

“Is that why he prescribed the stuff?”

“Yes. Although he gave me extensive written guidelines on the antibiotics, they were
intended to be used by any available physician.”

“It was mostly a review for me. I had a chance to train and earn an Enlisted Medic
badge. That’s the Air Force equivalent to a Combat Lifesaver.”

“I wondered about that at the time. You had no problem with the training at all. I thought
it was just a natural talent.”

“I’m afraid not. I had a hard time learning to establish an IV.”

“You seemed to have that down pat.”

“Sometimes things that you have trouble learning really stick with you.”

“Those Reserve Deputies Badges were what allowed us to get the ‘TraumaPak w/
QuikClot, Emergency Bandage and high volume gauze’.”

“Maybe they’ll keep me out of jail over the NFA items.”

“It would be best to keep a low profile with those, just in case.”

She wasn’t gone that long considering she had to see the doctor and stop at a medical
supply. Although some of the supplies she took back were ‘out-of-date’ the doctor said
to keep them and use them. He wrote her prescriptions for everything she took in even
though she kept some of the stuff. She paid cash and stopped by the bank and cleaned
out the money in both of our checking accounts to put in the safe restoring our cash re-
serves. She had also stopped and picked up a case of honey and several cases of tea
including Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Jasmine, English Breakfast, English Teatime, Constant
Comment and Chamomile. She made one other stop and picked four cases of the 85
serving containers of Nestle Nesquik and two fifty pound bags of yellow popcorn.

“They called and the smoked pork is ready for pickup.”

“Help me unload the pickup and we’ll go get it.”

176
“It can wait a day.”

“No, it can’t. I’ve almost been holding my breath for the entire two weeks. Don’t ask
why, because I simply can’t explain.”

We moved everything from the pickup into the storage building, temporarily. She was
sitting in the Ford with the engine running when I came out from carrying in the last
load.

“You carrying?”

“Don’t I always?”

“Ok.”

Off we went at a somewhat accelerated pace. The smoked meat went into the coolers
which contained ice jugs and return trip was even faster than the trip there. A mile from
home, the NOAA NWS SAME radio came up with a message to standby for the Presi-
dent. She drove through Cambridge like it wasn’t even there.

“You get the meat to the storage room. That freezer has the most room. I’ll grab the
suitcases and empty the refrigerator. I’ll get my Oregon Scientific portable and you get
yours.”

My fellow Americans,

Our satellites have revealed the launch of missiles from Russia. Take cover immediate-
ly. I repeat, take cover immediately.

That was probably the shortest Presidential address in history. I helped empty the re-
frigerator and made sure that the livestock was all in the barn. I started to stack the
bales of hay and straw in front of the doors. Kristin joined me and moved the plastic in
place after I finished the back door and moved to the front. It took only a few minutes for
that task and we hurried to get into the shelter, via the storage room where we put the
three 2×12 cross bars on both doors. We went to the basement and entered the tunnel
to the shelter. Passing through the armory, I checked to see that all of the guns and
ammo were there and properly stored. We could fight this war and the one that followed
if we lived that long. But wait, this was number three. If there’s a number four, I think I’ll
just lie down and die. Or, was it? Yellowstone didn’t blow.

Once we were settled in the shelter, I stopped and went over the announcement in my
mind. Our satellites have revealed the launch of missiles from Russia. What was miss-
ing was where the missiles were targeted. Even under a launch on warning scenario,
we wouldn’t retaliate until the targets were determined.

177
“Correct me if I’m wrong. The President said quote our satellites have revealed the
launch of missiles from Russia unquote. Is that right?”

“That’s what he said. Why?”

“Where are they targeted?”

“The US obviously.”

“He didn’t say that. One could assume the US because he said quote take cover imme-
diately unquote. You know what happens when a person assumes, right?”

“Makes a bass out of u and me, right?”

“Yeah, without the b. Let me hook up the CD V-717 and the AMP-200 and we’ll wait and
see. There’s an interesting article on Wiki discussing launch on warning. Because we
have those Ohio class subs deployed, there is absolutely no reason to launch on warn-
ing. Even if only half of them are deployed, that’s 1,344 warheads. I suppose it’s better
for us to jump the gun than ignore his take cover instruction, but still…”

“Let’s wait for a while.”

“Did you get binoculars?”

“Oh I forgot.”

“Maybe we can get some later.”

“I didn’t forget to buy binoculars; I forgot to bring them to the shelter. They’re in the stor-
age building with the tea, cocoa, honey and other things. It’s a brown paper sack.”

“You know how TOM usually manages to get a Global Thermonuclear War In his sto-
ries? Well, if this is really a war and not a false warning, I hope they’ll be ok out there in
California.”

“I’m sure they will be. Was he a gun nut when you knew him?”

“He was, why?”

“Something he wrote once listed all of the guns he owned at one time before he began
to sell them off. He had 23 firearms.”

“What did he have?”

“Let’s see if I can remember. He had:

178
1. AR-7 .22LR
2. Winchester 9422 XTR .22LR
3. Winchester 9422 XTR .22WRM
4. Winchester 94 XTR .30-30
5. Winchester 94 XTR .375 Winchester
6. Winchester 70 .30-06 iron sights
7. Marlin 1894C .357 Magnum
8. Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum
9. Ruger Mini-14 Stainless .223
10. Ruger Mini-14 Blued .223
11. Ruger Bearcat original .22LR
12. Ruger Single Six convertible .22LR/.22WRM
13. Ruger Blackhawk convertible 9mm/.357 Magnum
14. Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum
15. Browning Hi-Power 9mm
16. Colt Python 2½” Barrel .357 Magnum
17. Colt Python 4” Barrel .357 Magnum
18. Colt Detective Special .38 Special
19. S&W 36 blued .38 Special
20. Remington 870 20 gauge hunting barrel
21. Remington 870 12 gauge hunting barrel
22. Remington 870 blued riot gun
23. Remington 870 blued riot gun

“I could be wrong on the Detective Special and the S&W 36. I know he owned both, but
I can’t remember if he had them both at the same time. It was either both or he had a
pair of 36s, one blue and one nickel. What is an S & W model 36?”

“J frame. Their smallest .38 Special. They brought it out around 1950 and initially called
it the Chief’s Special. When they went to the numbering system it became the model 36.
It has a barrel 1⅞” long and holds five shots. It was discontinued and brought back
around 2010 or so. I shot one once. It was an air weight that went about 15 ounces
empty and really a handful. I’ll bet he regrets selling those Pythons. Do you have any
idea what a pristine Python is worth these days?”

“Uh-un.”

“Three grand.”

“WHO is still broadcasting.”

“Are they saying anything about the EAS warning?”

“Uh…yes, it was a false alarm. Russia launched missiles but not at the US.”

“Who then?”

179
“They didn’t say. What do we care so long as it wasn’t us?”

“What if it were an ally? Britain got sucked into WW II when Germany invaded Poland. I
haven’t made up my mind about the Anti-Christ yet, so don’t ask.”

“Does this maybe count as a half?”

“A half of what?”

“A half of a disaster.”

“I think you either have a disaster or you don’t. You can’t have half of a disaster. A hap-
pening, if it’s a disaster, becomes smaller and smaller until it’s no longer a disaster. Ex-
ample. Katrina was a total disaster, even without Brownie. Rita was a minor disaster but
still a disaster. But Rita was a more powerful storm than Katrina. It makes a difference
where a Hurricane hits land.”

“So, can we put the food back in the refrigerator in the kitchen and return to the bunga-
low?”

“Help me move the straw and hay and I help you move everything else.”

“Good. When we’re done, I want you to put a box or two of each flavor of tea in the shel-
ter and the same in the pantry. Better do the cocoa too. Then, we’ll go find that bar you
wanted for the living room and try to find the glassware.”

“I didn’t mention that, did I?”

“Mention? No. Muttered about it under your breath, several times. Thirty six inches wide
you said.”

“It’s not good to mutter. It’s something I almost never do, as a practice in the field so as
not give away my location.”

“I’m hungry.”

“You should have said something when we were near the Maid Rite.”

“I’m more in mood for a pizza.”

“Is the beer cold?”

“Yep. What flavor tonight?”

“The four meat pizza.”

180
“I’m going to shower and will take over for you. I won’t be long.”

It took the oven a while to pre-heat and I had just put the pizza in the oven when she
came out of the bathroom wearing a robe and using a towel to dry her hair. I laid out the
clothing I needed and had a medium length hot shower, shaved and brushed the fangs.
She was just taking the pizza out of the oven. I got the pizza cutter and she pulled out
something we decided to take a chance on, Miller’s Genuine Draft. Heavier than Coors
but not bad.

The next day, we found a Steamer Trunk Indoor Home Bar that folded to 30” wide and
expanded to 60” wide when pulled away from the wall. It was the least expensive of all
the bars we looked at, running $419 plus tax. We checked with a nearby bar, got the
suppliers address and drove over there to pick up the barware. The furniture was ‘aver-
age’ the barware was standard commercial barware. The contents were anything but
average or standard.

Once we had it set up and stocked, Kristin handed me an old book, The Old Mr. Boston
Official Bartender's Guide. It would have been nice to have a small keg refrigerator with
a carbon dioxide set up. No more than we drank, a half keg would go bad before we
were more than halfway through it.

“Dad gave me that. He said it dated to the mid-1960s. I just wish that Single Barrel
wasn’t so expensive, I actually enjoy it neat or on the rocks. What are those small
glasses we got?”

“The short three ounce shooter glasses? As a kid, I watched a lot of westerns. You see
someone go into a bar and order a shot. The bartender would set a glass on the bar
and fill it about ⅓ full. I’m not sure how they did that pouring from a bottle. But those
pourers we bought will pour one ounce at a time. The other style I bought pour at a fixed
rate and you can learn to count to one ounce. I think the ones we bought are slow pour
so you’d count to six for a one ounce shot. We didn’t buy many because unlike a bar,
we’d lose too much to evaporation. Once we can eyeball an ounce, we won’t use them
anymore. That’s why I bought the cheap plastic kind rather than the nice stainless kind.
I did get two stainless dual jiggers with half ounce on one side and one ounce on the
other.”

“I’d say we’re set in the bar business.”

“You floored me when you came up with that list of liquor you wanted. We haven’t fin-
ished some of that first bunch we bought way back when we were doing the green-
house.”

“I don’t know what to say, Jason. I can tell you it’s related to this gut feeling I have. How
it’s related is beyond me. For a bit there when the announcement came over the NWS
radio, I thought, This is it. I was obviously wrong. Maybe it’s just what some of the folks

181
on Frugal’s say that I’m combining in my mind and drawing some conclusion. Just you
wait, one of these days TOM will say lock and load and won’t be joking.”

“He’s said that several times and nothing came of it. He always did seem to overreact to
things. Like that Cuban Missile Crisis. He was the only one in the barracks to do their
laundry and load their duffel bag.

An inside look at what was happening:

About the only volcano that hadn’t erupted during the volcanic period was Cumbre Vieja
on La Palma. It didn’t erupt this time either. And had that been the only event that oc-
curred, it wouldn’t really effected Cambridge, Iowa. A ‘missing Russian nuke’ of relative-
ly low yield was planted in the crack of the volcano during the volcanic period. For
whatever reason, it wasn’t set off and remained in position until members of the same
terrorist group managed to locate it. They were waiting for the perfect moment to make
their statement July 4th, Independence Day.

The second part of their plan was similar to a plan that Grand58742 had used in Nor-
mal. In his story, the US attacked Iran after it was ‘proven’ that Iran had used six stolen
Soviet nukes on the US. The US attacked Iran after protracted diplomatic discussions.
Similar because the same terrorists had six Russian nukes purchased from a Russian
General for ten million Euros each. They had been placed in major Iranian cities and
would be detonated after the weapon on La Palma.

The third and final part of the plan involved getting India and Pakistan into an all-out ex-
change of nuclear weapons with Pakistan launching the first strike and India retaliating.
A small portion of the Pakistani missiles would be intentionally rerouted to southern
China, bringing one of the Big Five into the melee. China was still licking its wounds
from the failed ‘Invasion USA’. They used their remaining missiles with the range to
shower both Pakistan and India.

The thought was that China would fire a few towards Russia or the US and initiate a
GTW. China couldn’t spare the missiles and didn’t attack either of us. And you remem-
ber our mad dash to the shelter over Russia launching missiles? Test flights with dum-
my warheads that splashed down in the southern Indian Ocean. It was just another of
several situations that had arisen during the Cold War that Wiki lists in detail.

With the various attacks occurring July 4th, North Korea used both their nuclear war-
heads on short to medium range missiles and nuked Seoul and Pusan. The following
day, their troops began to pour across the DMZ. The actions of the North Koreans
weren’t part of the terrorists planning. But it worked well because US Carrier Strike
Groups were in the area conducting training maneuvers with the South Korean Navy.
The nukes aboard the carriers are B-61 7/11s and they’re delivered by F/A-18 Super
Hornets. They fall into the class of weapons known as tactical nukes. The treaties deal
with strategic nukes.

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The US chopped the head off the snake and was bringing the troops from Okinawa. An
amphibious ship was included in the exercise and carried a full complement of US Ma-
rines. Where is it written that GTWs are all out weapons exchanges with perhaps a sec-
ond or third wave? Before the days of ICBMs, a GTW was a prolonged affair using
bombers carrying small quantities of very heavy nuclear bombs. Had countries not been
able to reduce the size of the weapons, ICBMs might not have ever been used.

Two major powers, China and the US were now involved as indicated. Russia had her
systems on 2 minute alert as did the US with its primary systems, the Minuteman IIIs
and Ohio class SSBNs. The UKs nuclear weapons are Trident SLBMs and France has
a mix of SLBMs and land based warheads and bombs. Public information, all you have
to do is look. You’ll get the numbers, not where they’re located unless you visit the cor-
rect websites.

The explosion of the nuke on La Palma had the desired effect. That portion of the island
that was sheared slid into the Atlantic and created a huge tsunami. Sixteen hundred feet
high near the island, the height fell as it traveled in an expanding circle. When it reached
our Continental Shelf, the height grew again and it was over 200 meters high when it hit
our eastern seaboard. The distance the water traveled inland was primarily controlled
by the terrain. Low lying Florida and the Keys were washed smooth of structures. There
hadn’t been sufficient time to evacuate the state or the islands and millions died there
and along the east coast.

To the north, Long Island with a peak elevation of 122 meters had some of its seven
million plus inhabitants survive. Manhattan Island had water in the streets and up sev-
eral floors of high rise buildings. It wasn’t that there was no warning, there was. Nuclear
detonations leave a seismic signature. Geologists around the world knew in minutes of
the location, La Palma. One of the few international flights in the area reported the
mushroom cloud at the far reaches of their visual range. A satellite also picked up the
nuclear detonation. Another satellite got a picture showing part of Cumbre Vieja miss-
ing.

The word went out, worldwide. It was especially important to countries with Atlantic
coastlines, South, Central and North America. Caribbean Islands. Other islands of the
north Atlantic and eastern Atlantic. European coast lines. To an extent, the Med and
most definitely Africa. Some would have minutes to deal with the crisis, others scant
hours. The lessons of hurricane Rita and the evacuation came back to haunt the US.

In addition, some of the other things happening were reported by various news sources.
They reported North Korea nuking South Korea and the US response with tactical nu-
clear weapons. They further reported that both the US and Russia were at the highest
state of alert they had. While aircraft weren’t grounded, international flights fell sharply.

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A portion of domestic flights were cancelled. Temporary restrictions were placed on air
travel to limit it to business related travel only. Additional Amtrak trains were put into
service along with additional long haul buses to handle the non-business travel needs.
The nuclear war between India and Pakistan that also involved China was reported.

Despite the scope of the tragedy the terrorists had caused, we were as snug as bug in a
rug in Cambridge and didn’t even need the shelter. On the east coast, Delaware was
mostly under the Atlantic and Chesapeake. Washington being just inland from the
Chesapeake and on the Potomac River had more than its share of water. It reached up
the steps of the Capitol Building. Per SOP, the Supreme Court Justices, the members of
Congress and the Executive Branch were evacuated. Both VC-25s and several com-
mercial aircraft stranded at Reagan and Dulles were commandeered to fly out members
of Congress. The Supreme Court Justices and various members of Cabinet Agencies
joined them along with the Vice President. The President and most of his Cabinet offic-
ers were actually aboard ‘Air Force One’, tail number 29000.

The President and his Cabinet went to Offutt AFB, Omaha. The VP went to St. Louis
with the Cabinet subordinates and the Supreme Court. Congress was delivered to Pe-
terson AFB and bused from there to Cheyenne Mountain AFB. The Cabinet subordi-
nates complained about an inability to contact their Secretaries. Congress was just plain
unhappy.

After we heard the news reports on WHO about the government being evacuated and
the grumbling of Congress, Kristin remarked we should have just let them drown, no
doubt a popular sentiment. Which brings to mind the phrase, ‘consent of the governed’.
Let’s talk about that. ‘Consent of the governed’ is a phrase synonymous with a political
theory wherein a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is only jus-
tified and legal when derived from the people or society over which that power is exer-
cised. This theory of “consent” is historically contrasted to the divine right of kings and
has often been invoked against the legitimacy of colonialism. A key question is whether
the unanimous consent of the governed is required; if so, this would imply the right of
succession for those who do not want to be governed by a particular collective.
Somewhere, at some time since 1775 and now, the government formed in 1787 lost
track of that portion of the Declaration of Independence.

“I guess you were right, things are popping up all over.”

“Yeah, huh? It’s kind of a good news-bad news sort of thing. The good news is, of
course, that all the things that happened haven’t directly affected us. The bad news is
that my gut is in an even tighter knot. Whatever is eating at me wasn’t this.”

“Ok what do you want to do?”

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 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 19

”Seriously? It’s going to sound silly, but here goes. We have almost nothing to use in a
bug out situation. We have enough coolers for 950 quarts of frozen food. We don’t have
a propane camping stove, lanterns or a heavy grill for the top to a fire pit. Cast iron
cookware is heavy but very durable. We don’t have a tent, good or otherwise. We don’t
have any propane bottles; I’d favor five 100 pound bottles. Briefly stated we need a
complete set of camping gear and some Mountain House two serving freeze dried
foods.”

“I don’t understand. Why would we need to bug out?”

“I don’t know that we would need to bug out. At the moment, we couldn’t if the need
arose. We obviously couldn’t take everything we have. Both of our vehicles have trailer
hitches although we only have one trailer. A non-vehicle bug out could be accomplished
on horseback. We have enough horses and tack to do that. Jason, we have to do this
systematically. Decide what we want to take and acquire what we don’t already have.”

“You just like shopping. Admit it Kristin.”

“Most women like to shop. It’s not about that. Are you going to give me trouble over
this?”

“I may be slow. I’m not stupid. Do you know what you want?”

“Mostly. I have the needed items grouped to allow for substitutions. It’s like I know more
what we don’t need to buy than what we do need to buy. We sure don’t need any fire-
arms or ammo. We can go through the cases we got from Walton’s and pick out the
number ten cans. We can compare what we have with what’s available and add any-
thing we’re missing. For example, how many boxes of strike anywhere matches do we
have?”

“I usually just buy a three pack. About one and a half boxes. About the only time I use
one is to light the grill or on an occasion a cigarette.”

“Right. We should buy a full case; they don’t go bad with a little proper care. It was only
an example Jason.”

“Wait a minute. We have 8 horses and only four sawbucks. All the horses are trained to
pack, to be ridden and to harness. We either need something that a pair of horses can
pull or more sawbucks.”

“I planned on making a trip to Perry where we got the saddles. However, my brothers
have a wagon with a tongue so it can be pulled by horses. I want to keep our options
open. We can probably haul more with a wagon.”

185
“What kind of wagon?”

“Just your everyday modern pneumatic tire wagon with a wooden tongue and a box bed
with 24” aluminum sides. They added a full width seat mounted on springs. It’s not ac-
tually very heavy. They also made hoops that fit into slots on the sides and a lightweight
canvas cover. It’s about as close to a Conestoga wagon that you can get.”

“How much distance could we cover in a day?”

“Oh, forty miles top. That would be pushing the horses and I rather shoot for an average
of twenty-five miles per day. Figure one hundred fifty miles per week. Have to take a
day off to rest the horses and ourselves. Plan on some horse feed to supplement the
grazing. I’m assuming a walking pace of four miles per hour for the horses. Our Stand-
ardbreds are as good as they come for multiple use horses.”

The wagon had the regular tongue on it with the horse tongue, hoops and canvas
packed in the bed and held down with bungee cords. From Adel, we went to Perry and
picked up a pair of saw bucks and replacement harnesses. The ones we had were in
pretty sad shape. We also picked up two scabbards for scoped rifles. Kristin said she
wanted them mounted on the wagon for our Super Match rifles.

Back in Des Moines, we went to several stores before we had the #10 cans of the
Mountain House products she wanted. No one had a full case of strike anywhere
matches so we had to buy them by the three packs from hardware stores. A full case
was 16 three packs. There were six Ace Hardware stores in the greater Des Moines ar-
ea plus one in Perry, one in Nevada and one in Boone.

We got five of the 100 pound propane bottles and hoses. We added a pair of propane
PowerPack Coleman stoves and a quad lantern. We added a full set of the Coleman
cast iron products, an oven and a toaster. Dinnerware was two sets of enamelware and
two sets of stainless steel enamel flatware plus assorted utensils. Rather than separate
screened room and tent, we selected the Elite Weathermaster 6 screened tent which
even included a battery operated 15 watt spiral fluorescent tube.

We did not go with Coleman for our sleeping gear. We selected Therm-a-rest Base
Camp inflating mattress pads to support Mountain Hardwear Ultralamina Sleeping
Bags. However, we did select a Coleman PackAway folding table with benches that sat
four plus a thirty inch square compact folding table for the stoves. Having a single trailer
wouldn’t do and we bought a re-painted U-Haul 6x12 enclosed trailer. She could pull the
old, smaller, trailer with her Comet.

The Coleman stoves would work with a hose adapter or a one pound canister. We
avoided the canisters because of the 25 gallon tanks, hoses and adapters. The shop-
ping took three days. It took us a week to get everything sorted and organized and two
days to carefully pack it in the trailers. We combat loaded the trailers with sixty percent
in the larger trailer and forty percent in the smaller. All of the goods could be carried with

186
the horse drawn wagon using five pack horses and one rider or six pack horses if we
both rode the wagon. Kristin suggested she should be the rider and I drive the team if
we had to bug out on horseback. The subject of bugging out on horseback wasn’t any
more unusual than bugging out using kayaks. We couldn’t do that here because of the
possible dams on the Skunk River. The process of bugging out by kayak had been
thoroughly discussed in Kayak Bug Out.

Tom and Jerry had different approaches to their tall tales. TOM spent most of his story
getting ready for the disaster(s) while Jerry spent most of his time dealing with what
happened. To get a complete picture for any given event, it was better to find a story
each had written concerning a particular subject and sort of roll them up into a com-
bined package. For want of a name, call it ‘One Tin Soldier’. I kid you not.

“Do you want to do a trial run?”

“It’s not a bad idea. That said; it lacks the spontaneity of an actual event.”

“I can fix that. We’ll get Deputy Dog to stop by some night when he’s out on patrol and
call the alert.”

“I don’t call him that anymore. You really shouldn’t either. It’s not his fault.”

“Just to make it more interesting, I set it up through Melody and neither of us will have a
clue when he’s going to pull it off.”

“It’s going to be tough getting those propane cylinders on the top of the sawbucks. Ok if
I load them in the wagon instead?”

“Whatever trips your trigger works for me.”

“Speaking about tripping my trigger, I think I’ll get a shower.”

“I guess I’d better join you.”

Kristin called Melody the next day and explained what we wanted. She carefully ex-
plained that we could bug out by vehicles or horseback and it was up to David to make
the decision of what was appropriate and why. It was to be unannounced and the
choice of time, day or night was up to David. I went through our preps top to bottom,
practicing moving the supplies from the trailers to the wagon and packhorses and then
back to the trailers. I got it down to a matter of four hours by myself. Kristin helped the
next time and cut the time in half. We selected several locations, starting with Ledges
State Park south of Boone. Using a protractor, lines went in 12 different directions
roughly 30° apart.

While we waited, a few minor adjustments to our equipment were made. Elastic butt-
stock shell holders, sidesaddles and shell holding slings were added to the shotguns.

187
Additional 20 round CMI magazines were acquired and loaded. Four double pistol mag-
azine pouches and magazines were purchased for the pistol belts. The plastic one quart
canteens were replaced with stainless single wall canteens and the canteen cups re-
placed with stainless cups. Canteen stoves were added to the second canteen pouch
and four two-quart and four four-quart Oasis canteens were picked up along with a sup-
ply of Micropur tablets and Katadyn Combi water filters with one spare ceramic element
and several packages of activated carbon for the 2nd stage filter.

While you might be thinking we were overloading the horses, we weren’t. Each could
easily carry up to 300 pound loads. The heavier items would go in the wagon. Breast-
plates and cruppers would keep the packs from sliding backward or forward. Cargo car-
ried on the packhorses was packed in duffels easing the transition from the trailers to
the horses. It was planned, checked, changed as needed and rechecked.

We decided to go with a single 250 quart cooler if we used horses and a pair of the 250
quart coolers if we pulled trailers. From start to finish, it took three weeks to complete
our preparations. Four days later a police siren went off at our front gate. I dressed
quickly added my Glocks to the ankle and paddle holsters and went out to say good
morning to David. It wasn’t David at the gate. It was another Deputy who announced
that an evacuation had been ordered by the Governor. He added that I-35 was blocked
for several miles. The reason for the evacuation was a train wreck of a train hauling
several highly hazardous chemicals. We quickly decided to use the horses and wagon
and take county roads for the entire trip to the park. We were loaded and ready to go in
an hour.

“Set?”

“Let’s go.”

Kristin led the way being more familiar with this part of Iowa. We followed back roads
and eventually enter Ledges State Park from the east side. We strung a rope corral and
had all eight horses on halters tied to the rope with a lead to allow them to graze. We
proceeded to set up the tent, spread out our sleeping gear and added the cooking gear
to the screened porch. The ten 5-gallon water bottles in the wagon would cover our wa-
ter needs for several days. I set up the porta potty inside the privacy enclosure and
hung a five gallon sun shower bag above the center of the shower enclosure. A second
bag was hung to warm for a second shower. I added the bag to the porta potty and our
sanitation needs were covered. I doubted the shower bags would fully heat because of
the lateness of the day and left room for a gallon of water heated on the stove. We took
the horses to the Des Moines River two at a time and let them drink their fill.

“I’ll start a pot of coffee. Do you want to pick the entrée and side dish for supper?”

“How about that Chili Mac with beef and sliced strawberries for desert?”

“How much?”

188
“I’m hungry. I’ll have a double serving of the entrée and a single serving of strawber-
ries.”

“May I ask what you two think you’re doing?”

“Camping out. The Governor ordered an evacuation of the greater Des Moines area due
to a train wreck involving hazardous chemicals.”

“You don’t say. Let me check.”

“You don’t suppose David got another Deputy to initiate the test run?”

“Sorry folks, you’ve been misinformed. There is no train wreck in Des Moines involving
chemicals or anything else.”

“That’s good to hear. I believe I know what happened. A friend of ours, who is a Story
County Deputy Sheriff, was asked to give us an alert to bug out to test our preparations.
You can check; his name is David Lawson.”

“I’ll check it out.

“It checks out alright. I spoke to Lawson. He said he had another Deputy give you the
warning to evacuate so you wouldn’t suspect it was the planned drill. He went on to say
that you are both Reserve Deputies as part of the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit. I
must say that strikes me as odd, considering your ages. I don’t suppose you have ID
and your badges with you?”

“You mean our American Express Cards? We never leave home without them. Here is
mine.”

“And here’s mine officer. You didn’t say what agency you’re connected with.”

“Boone County Deputy Sheriff. I’m not on duty. When I saw you two with your horses
and wagon, I figured I’d better check you out. Considering the hour, you can stay the
night. Try to be on the road by nine am.”

“It will be earlier than that, you can be sure. Get you anything? Coffee, iced tea or a
beer?”

“No thanks, I’d better get going. The scuttlebutt is that Lawson has gotten into prepar-
edness in a big way.”

“He has; probably because of us. I’ve been at it forever and the two of us for over twen-
ty years.”

189
We spent the night, got up at 5:30, had breakfast and packed up. We were home late
that afternoon. David was waiting for us.

“Sorry about that. The warning was true. The Department of Energy has classified the
incident as a national security issue. Do you know what a BLEVE is?”

“A BLEVE is a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. So the warning was true?”

“What warning? Look, the train was transporting some spent reactor fuel rods from
Duane Arnold to a storage site in Texas. The initial fear was that if a BLEVE occurred,
we might end up with a so called dirty bomb. If you’ve seen the special containers
they’re going to use to transport those rods on TV, you know that even a BLEVE
couldn’t cause a release of radiation. The issue is sensitive and could cause a wide-
spread panic. The Governor issued the order and later withdrew it when the fire was ex-
tinguished. It was several miles east of Des Moines and could have caused a major
panic. By focusing on a potential BLEVE, the Governor diverted attention from the real
problem.”

“No harm, no foul. Our system checked out perfectly. Next time, we’ll try it with vehicles
rather than horses.”

“But the horse thing worked?”

“Without a hitch, no pun intended. At least your explanation covers one thing that con-
cerned me.”

“What was that?”

“The other Deputy said I-35 was blocked. Yet when we crossed it wasn’t.”

“Actually it was, further south in Polk County. It was totally blocked from the Ankeny exit
to the Elkhart exit. They had I-80 eastbound closed, leaving I-35 north and south open
and I-80 west open. It was worse than rush hour. How did you make the trip and where
did you go?”

“We used back roads from here to Ledges State Park. Got everything set up, watered
the horses and got ready to spend the night. I referred the Deputy to you, end of story.”

“Where did you get that wagon?”

“My brothers built it David. The body will lift off and other bodies lift on. It has a standard
pull tongue and that wooden horse tongue. There are hoops and a lightweight canvas
cover. Since we have 8 horses, we picked up more sawbucks in Perry. What’s the deal
with strike anywhere matches? They’re hard to find.”

190
“That’s like everything else, blame the feds. Say you order a three pack online. Maybe
four bucks plus shipping. Add another twenty eight bucks for a hazardous material
charge. The only place I know to get them anymore is Ace Hardware.”

“They’re out.”

“What? I just bought some.”

“Right, we bought the rest and cleaned out several stores. We didn’t go to Boone.”

“I understand preparing for disasters. What the two of you are doing smacks of hoard-
ing.”

“If I recall correctly, Melody was awfully glad we did.”

“Oh, that’s where she…”

“Probably worth their weight in gold, in a manner of speaking, right?”

“She got something made out of cloth for her needs during those times.”

“I don’t have any of those. What I have is a pattern and two bolts of the appropriate cot-
ton cloth. I also have a box full of the belts I picked up in the eighties when it appeared
they’d stop making them. They did not longer after.”

“What’s your food supply up to?”

“More than ten years, average. Longer on some things we can’t grow. It’s the same way
with manufactured goods. Kristin has this nagging feeling that something big is going to
happen. Several times recently, we both thought, this is it. We were obvious wrong, the
last major incident in the US was the tsunami and it didn’t affect us.”

“With all of the things you have collected, why would you even consider bugging out?”

“Options. A person has to have options. We can bug out by vehicle, using horses or on
foot. The last choice is way down on my list. We’re well prepared here, too, and our first
choice would be to stay.”

“Man, I hope to tell you. With the PV panels and the submarine batteries, you should
have power forever. About the only thing I can see that you don’t have is a grain silo for
the livestock. What’s in the barn loft, one year, two?”

“Probably between the two figures. Kristin’s brothers have that farm out near Adel. I
suppose a silo is something to think about. We’d probably need to discuss it with Kris-
tin’s brothers and get their input. There is also the matter of hay storage. The loft
wouldn’t store enough for as long as we could store grain.”

191
“You do know they store alfalfa in silos don’t you Jason?”

“They do? That’s a new one on me.”

“We’ll definitely talk to my brothers.”

We talked to them alright. It was good we did. They had three Hanson concrete silos
and wanted to replace them with larger Harvestore silos. At the moment, the silos were
nearly empty and if we wanted them, we had to act fast. They’d already arranged fi-
nancing for the new silos through their bank and we could pay for the old silos as we
had the funds. Disassembly, moving and reassembly would all be on us. It was too
good of a deal to pass up.

The barn was constructed just inside the second 2½ acre field. There was room for all
three silos between the barn and either property line. Kristin’s brother found a contractor
to handle the old silos, another turnkey deal. The guy erected silos for a living and there
hadn’t been (m)any concrete silos sold in Iowa recently. He had the equipment and
many of his employees were looking for work. He cut the brothers a very good deal.
Kristin and I forked over some cash and a bit of gold to get the ball rolling.

“How are we going to get the corn and oats out of the barn loft?”

“It’s a turnkey deal. It includes conveying the grains to their individual silos, pelletizing
the hay for the third silo and moving the straw to the loft. I think he must be hiring ille-
gals or people willing to work for minimum wage based on the cost of the transfers.”

“So we’re going to have to pelletize all the hay we get from your brothers?”

“Not at all. They have the baler because of the straw. They bale hay especially for us.
They use pelletized hay stored in one of the elevators. This will make it simpler for them
and probably reduce what they charge us for hay. The only piece of equipment we’ll
need to purchase is a large grain auger/screw conveyor. They may even sell us their old
one since the new elevators they’re putting in are much taller and they’ll need a new
one.”

“How do we power it?”

“It has a built in gasoline engine. We should probably have the engine looked over and
rebuilt if necessary.”

“Do you have an answer for every question?”

“I won’t if you ask one I don’t know the answer to.

192
“One of them mentioned about ten years back that they had to purchase a new auger
because of the hay. They have a smaller diameter one they use for grain. If you want,
we can install a system to auger the grain and hay to the barn. I wasn’t sure if we could
afford to do that or if we even wanted to.”

“Good point; maybe we should wait and see. We’ll have to build up our funds after we
get the silo installation paid for and the silos paid for. I can’t see me hauling grain and
hay by wheelbarrow. How do we get the grain and hay out of the silo?”

“The lower section has an auger that transfers the contents to whatever you use to
transport the hay or grain.”

“Are all brands the same?”

“I don’t know. They must have something, but what it is may vary by manufacturer. Did
you see the Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis movie, Witness?”

“Yes, why?”

“The Amish don’t use powered equipment and I think that scene with the silo showed a
different arrangement. Ford suffocated that guy with corn.”

“That’s right, buried him, shot another one with the recovered shotgun.”

“Now I’ve seen how the concrete silos were set up initially but not the third silo that they
used for hay. We’ll probably need some kind of cart to haul a few bushels at a time. It’s
going to be a while before we can do the vehicle bug out drill. Do we really need to do
it? There’s only one difference I can think of. With the horses and no wagon, we’re very
mobile. With the horses and the wagon we can go the same place we can with the
pickup, car and trailers.”

“I wasn’t thinking Kristin. I mean having the silos and all will be nice; BUT, we still have
other expenses, like fuels and the extra hay and grain to fill the silos.”

“Does that mean we’re finally done prepping?”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far. We have to replace whatever we use.”

“Obviously. But, not more new preps?”

“I seem to recall that this last round was because of you having a funny feeling in your
stomach.”

“It was. We never considered the possibility of needing to bug out. With that base cov-
ered, we’re down to getting replacements.”

193
“I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“You’re not eighteen anymore either. Or, for that matter, the forty two you were when
you retired from the Air Force or the sixty-five and a half when you totally retired.”

“I’m not so sure retired is the right word. It seems like I’ve worked as hard or harder
since I retired.”

“You haven’t. Neither of us has the energy we once had. Which reminds me; we need to
get out our artillery and make a trip to the range.”

“I think that Tac-50 has gained more weight. Even the Super Match rifles have picked
up a couple of pounds.”

“Posh, they came that way. A standard weighs 9.3 pounds while a Super Match weighs
12.2 pounds. That’s with an empty magazine and no optics or a bipod.”

“How do you know?”

“Look at the screen. I have Springfield Armory’s website up.”

“It’s going to feel strange with no project to do. You did get heirloom, open pollinated
seeds didn’t you?”

“Yes dear. I shopped around and bought the heirloom varieties that we would eat. I
have sixty different kinds of seeds representing forty varieties of plants. Want a run
down?”

“Maybe some of the stuff.”

“Potatoes in three varieties, Yukon Gold, Russet Burbank and Kennebec; Chioggia
beets; cabbage: King Slaw and early red; Danvers and Touchon carrots; a collection of
four heirloom tomato varieties, Black Krim, Burpee’s Supersteak, Brandywine plus Little
Mama Roma; Romaine and Iceberg lettuce; Blue Lake and heavyweight II snap beans;
California bell peppers, Anaheim and Poblano peppers; Acorn, Butternut and Spaghetti
squash; Ruby seedless and Georgia rattlesnake watermelons; Hale’s Best Cantaloupe;
Little Dillicious cucumbers; Onion Parade, a combo pack with white, red and yellow on-
ions plus Walla Walla sweet onions; two types of sweet potatoes; Purple top turnips;
garden and snow peas; Early Sweet Sugar Pie Pumpkin; and, Golden Bantam sweet
corn. That should cover it unless I forgot something.”

“Radishes. How many seeds did you get?”

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 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 20

“A three year supply.”

“How do we stand on jars and lids?”

“We primarily need replacement rings for the plastic lids. Depending on the size of the
garden, we may turn up short on jars so I checked and it’s the same deal, wholesale if I
buy 144 cases of jars or more.”

“You arrange for the jars. If you need me I’ll be in the storage building rearranging
things to make room for those jars. Can you order the rings by email?”

“Yes. However, I’d better get 1,800 of the lids and 5,400 of the rubber rings. I bought
you a present when I was out and about. Give this a smell.”

“Cuban?”

“Yep. Got a full box so you can have a good smoke with the Courvoisier Napoleon Cog-
nac you bought.”

“I haven’t even opened a bottle. I’ve wanted to try cognac since I was stationed at Ed-
wards because one of the guys in the Missile Squadron only drank cognac. Apparently,
you drink it neat in a brandy snifter and heat it with your hand to raise the aroma or
bouquet.”

“Oh really? Maybe the cigars weren’t such a good idea. The smoke will ruin your taste
buds and your sense of smell. Maybe you should choose either one or the other.”

“I’d better get busy on the storage building. Maybe if I’m lucky I can get done today.”

You have to understand about the jars. There are 12 jars in a case. A gross of cases of
jars is 1,728 jars (1,440+288). I’m certain that we’ve bought 4 gross or almost 7,000
jars. We needed jars because we never seemed to get them back from Adel. We stored
canned produce in the shipping cases the jars came and labeled each case according
to its contents using computer labels and a felt tip pen. And, she wants to add another
1,700 jars? They don’t wear out that fast! On the other hand, it was Kristin’s money. Tat-
tler said: “Wash plastic lids and rubber rings, rinse, dry and store for future use. Do not
save any rubber ring which is cut or deformed. Tattler rubber rings can be reused if no
damage is visible. We suggest they be turned over each use. Previous placement will
be evident by seal ring grooves left by lid.” But, you had to be oh so careful and use a
table knife to break the lid’s seal.

“We have to go to Adel before you order more jars. We bought 6,900 plus jars over the
years and I want to get them back. Then, we’ll count and see how many we really
need.”

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“But…”

“But what? Your parents said they’d return the jars. Both of you sister-in-laws said the
same thing. What are they doing with the jars?”

“Truthfully?”

“If you’re not going to tell the truth, don’t answer.”

“They’ve been selling their excess canned goods at the Adel Farmer’s Market.”

“Ok. They can just deduct $5,000 from what we owe them for the silos and you can or-
der more jars, rings and lids. Do you want to explain it to them or should I do it?”

“I think I’d better do it Jason. We have to be careful that we don’t cut off our nose to
spite our face. I can start with mom and dad and see how well they take it.”

“Either way, there’s room in the storage building for the new jars. As much as I love your
blackberry and strawberry preserves, could we put in a few grape vines?”

“I’ll call and order the jars. We can get Concord grape vines from a nursery in Ankeny.
Do you want to take the trailer in case they return any jars?”

“No. I intend to insist the jars be offset against what we owe them.”

“Bob will probably accept that. You know what a hot head Jim is. Expect him to tell us to
stick ‘em.”

“Jim can say anything he wants. Talk to Bob. We’ll still owe them a bundle for the silos
and don’t want to alienate them so we can still get corn, oats and hay from them.”

Kristin placed the order for 1,800 new lids with rings and another 5,400 rings online. We
stopped by her friends on the way and ordered the jars. Next, we stopped by her par-
ents where we learned that they had been giving the empty jars to Bob and Jim. We
confronted Bob together to see what he’s say.

“We don’t have the jars, sis. We’ve done a land office business on selling our extra gar-
den crops. What do you figure the jars were worth?”

“Considering shipping they run a dollar per jar. We’ve done some calculating on our
own and between the two of you and mom and dad, we’ve supplied you 5,000 jars in
round numbers. Any suggestions?”

“We could knock $5,000 off the price of the grain and hay you need or off what you owe
us for the silos, your choice.”

196
“Jason?”

“With the silos we have now, we’re going to need a lot of grain and hay to fill them.
When we came over, I was thinking about the second choice. I think your first sugges-
tion might be the better choice. How much spare production do you expect to have?”

“After setting aside hay and grain for our livestock and selling some excess grain to re-
cover our costs, it will take us two years to fill the hay silo and three years to fill the grain
silos. Our agreement was for you to pay for the silos as you had funds to do so. You got
a bargain on those, let me tell you. They would have cost you double if you bought used
silos from Hanson. Plus I understand you got a deal on the disassembly, moving and
erection. Do you both agree to apply the cost of the jars against your grain and hay pur-
chases?”

“Kristin?”

“Ok.”

“Done.”

“Do you have enough of everything for moment?”

“We need hay soon and the oats not long after. The corn should see us through until
mid-October.”

“We’re doing the second cutting of hay next week. You can have all of it. The oats will
be six weeks or so and we’ll split them right down the middle. The corn should come out
during late September or early October. We can let you have a third. The real problem
is going to be Jim.”

“I warned Jason about the possibility.”

“That she did. I think we can cover the excess charge for the feeds without a problem
and still make a reasonable payment against the silos. Once they’re full, we should be
able to increase the silo payment.”

“I’m just curious; are you preparing for Armageddon? You’ve been at this since the two
of you got together.”

“I began accumulating weapons and ammo since the early ‘60s. I suppose Armageddon
is included in the list of possibilities. They start with lesser natural disasters and go all
the way up to something like that volcanic period a few years back. On top of that they
include man-made disasters, like the Gulf oil spill of 2010 and up to a GTW. We’ve been
at it longer than you suggest. ”

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“GTW?”

“Global Thermonuclear War.”

“The Chinese did launch that HEMP attack as a prequel to their invasion. India and Pa-
kistan used up their nukes against each other and China. To top it off, there was that
Russian multiple launch of missiles into the Indian Ocean. WMDs aren’t limited to nu-
clear weapons either. Biological and chemical attacks are included. I also would include
radiological weapons like dirty bombs. Then there was that thing with La Palma and
Iran.”

“You’re reliving the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War. It’s not like that now.”

“Sure, if that’s what you think. You seem to have a large amount of home grown food.
There are a few things you could add that wouldn’t bust your budget if you were inter-
ested.”

“Kristin?”

“I check it every day Bob.”

“I can’t see how it would help with something like that volcanic period we experienced.”

“It might not; not everything can be anticipated. The Forum has members from every
state in the Union. They know what’s happening locally and occasionally give everyone
a head’s up. You take something like the Cumbre Vieja volcano. Terrorist act, pure and
simple. Pretty difficult to predict something like that because they don’t take out ads in
the New York Times to advertise their plans.

“Chemical weapons are localized and while deadly, have a limited reach. Biological
weapons only require a single infected carrier to fly to the US from a foreign location,
say London for example. Almost everyone on the plane gets exposed to whatever the
person is infected with and when they reach their final destinations, a lot more people
are exposed. The hard fast rule I personally believe in is isolation. It could take months
for something to die out. Kristin and I could go for three years, minimum, once we get
those silos filled. That’s just the livestock feed; we have enough food for over ten years
and the means to produce more.”

“So biological weapons are a poor man’s nuclear weapon?”

“If all the user does is collect and increase the supply of an existing virus or bacterium,
that’s possible. There may or may not be a vaccine or treatment, depending upon what
they use. The sophisticated weapons are expensive to produce because they’re engi-
neered to have no available treatment. It all depends. The single carrier idea reflects
several real life situations over the past twenty-five years.”

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“We’ll talk it over. Are the silos up?”

“Yes. Our existing supplies of oats and corn have been transferred. We didn’t bother to
chop the hay and will use up the bales. The straw is in the barn loft.”

“We’ll bring the pelletized hay over as soon as it’s harvested.”

“If you need a hand, I can drive your big truck.”

“It’s fed directly into the wagons. We only have three so we’ll have to split up the har-
vesting into three wagon loads at a time because of the distance. You don’t have a trac-
tor with a PTO so we’ll have to take one to your place to power the wagon unloader.”

“How small are the pellets?”

“The pieces are maybe an inch long. They’ll go up the auger that came with the silo.”

“How much hay should we expect?”

“We got fifteen tons per acre with the first cutting. This second one will go twelve or thir-
teen. Forty acre field, around 500 tons. Silo holds around 1,000 tons.”

“The oats?”

“Sixty bushels per acre with 80 acres planted. Figure on 2,400-2,500 bushels. Corn will
go 150 bushels per acre or more. We have 120 acres of corn so your third will amount
to about 6,000 bushels. The corn silo is the largest of the three and you’ll be feeding
from all three silos. I’m fairly sure we’ll have them close to full in the three years I men-
tioned. If not, the fourth year will see them completely full.”

“What’s the determining factor?”

“The same as always, rain. In the spring you want mostly dry fields so you can plant
early. Then you need enough rain to grow the crops but not so much you can’t cultivate.
We don’t like to use pesticides and herbicides because of the expense and the fact that
pesticides and herbicides could taint the grain. We use manure and have the soil tested
to add lime and whatever else it needs. Anhydrous if it’s low on nitrogen. Real pain in
the behind with that stuff, since people steal it to make speed.”

“I’ll have everything set up and ready to go when you start the alfalfa harvest.”

“It’s a shame they have to truck a tractor over to our place.”

“Does that mean you want to buy a tractor?”

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“Yes it does. Something old with a PTO is all we’d need. Like an old John Deere or an
old Ford.”

“Ok, we’ll look around.”

We found an old 1953 "Golden Jubilee" tractor, the model that replaced the 8N. It ran
well enough for our immediate needs but would need a complete rebuild and coat of
paint between the time the oats came in and the corn came in. Kristin called Don and
told him we had acquired a NAA Ford tractor to supply PTO power. Kristin shopped
around and found a dealer who could get the parts to rebuild the engine, transmission
and carburetor. He had the paint. Fortunately, there wasn’t any rust anywhere indicating
the tractor had received excellent care. Being 7 years older than both our vehicles
meant the paint was faded worse than the car and pickup.

The Ford engine used sleeves and you could get a set of sleeves with or without pis-
tons. A typical engine rebuilt required a set of sleeves and rings, the valves ground and
the crankshaft bearings replaced. Sometimes, you needed to have the crankshaft
turned and balanced. Add a carburetor rebuild, points, condenser, rotor and distributor
cap plus new plugs and filters and you were good to go unless you needed new spark
plug wires or a coil. The manual transmission that was relatively easy to rebuild and
usually the generator and or starter went to an electrical shop to have the armature
turned and brushes replaced plus bushings as required.

A new government forecast about the possibility of a coming solar storm warns that it
could eliminate – at least temporarily across large swaths of the world – power grids, air
travel and communications, including those operating financial services and emergency
systems, as well as GPS functions and even cell phones.

“Is this it? We aren’t getting any younger. If it doesn’t happen soon, we might just miss
out.”

“Which are you referring to Jason, the Saudi missiles or the potential solar storm?”

“The solar storm. Nature can be more predictable than people. If the Saudis do have
missiles, they’ve had them for ten years. And, they did give Israel a free pass to attack
Iran to use their airspace to attack Iran a few years back. Several writers have men-
tioned CMEs. Fleataxi and Jerry, for certain.”

“Is there a difference between a solar storm and a CME?”

“Both are classified as solar storms. A CME is much more severe than geomagnetic so-
lar storms. Sunspots run in cycles of about 11 years with low levels of sunspots being
called solar minimums and high levels called solar maximums. High level mess up
communications. A massive CME can be several orders of magnitude higher than a so-
lar maximum. We’re talking of natural EMP of massive levels. Observations revealed
that the solar cycle is a magnetic cycle with an average duration of 22 years. However,

200
because very nearly all manifestations of the solar cycle are insensitive to magnetic po-
larity, it remains common usage to speak of the ‘11-year solar cycle’”.

“If that’s what we have to prepare for, what more can we do?”

“Everything electrical that’s connected to long lines has to be disconnected and shel-
tered in faraday cages.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“We have to install relays for disconnects and build grounded faraday cages. We can
build the cages out of fine copper mesh. The key is to have mesh with spaces which are
smaller than the wavelength of the EMP. Then, everything has to be grounded. We’re
going to have to pull the PV panels and store them. We’ll be on generator power when
we lose power. Have to use those to charge the batteries.”

“Won’t they be burned out up in the garage?”

“More faraday cages and we can protect them too.”

“How long do we have?”

“Hard to say. They haven’t announced either a CME or solar storm headed this way.
Let’s shake a leg and get everything protected first. Then, we can watch and wait.”

“Why don’t you do those things and I’ll put that new software on the computer? Once I
input the stocks of foods we have on hand, we can fill in based on what the program
recommends.”

“Sure, but I’ll need help lowering the PV panels once they’re detached. Will that be a
problem?”

“It shouldn’t be. You want me on the ground stacking them?”

“That was my first thought. Before I do that, I should drive down to Ankeny and get more
ground rods, cable and fine mesh for the faraday cages.”

“You do that and I’ll verify the inventory in our old program, adjust the balances and im-
port it into the new program. It will take me about three days.”

“Good, it will take me that long to disconnect the PV panels and connections. Should
work out about right.”

“Where are you going to store them?”

201
“Under the stairs leading down to the shelter. I’ll stand them upright and pack them as
tight as I can.”

“Anything else we need to do?”

“Pull all of the radios and cover the generators.”

“I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Find everything you need?”

“I did. That copper mesh isn’t cheap. I got that, some heavier one inch mesh to support
the fine mesh and some ground rods plus 6 gauge wire to connect the cages to the
grounds. I also picked up some resin core solder and a portable torch so I can bond the
corners where the mesh meets. To be totally confident that the cages will work the guy
suggested we set the generators on mesh and make sure it’s connected to the covers.
How’s the inventory coming?”

“I compared our computer inventory to our physical inventory and noted the differences.
I’ll input them and install the new software. Once that’s done, I’ll import the data to the
new program and do a printout. We can go over that and make a shopping list. I know
for a fact that some things are high, some about right and probably only a few low. I’ll
make sure everything is about right or higher. I can’t really see the need to bring every-
thing up to our supply of beans and rice.”

I didn’t say anything, remembering that we had about 2,200 pounds of rice or 44 bags.
For just the two of us, it was a 44 year supply. We also had about a ton of pinto beans
and a half ton of assorted other dry beans. We also had two cases of Beano tablets to
allow our systems to adjust to the beans, rice and corn diet. We agreed that whatever
was left when we passed on would be divided into two shares; one for David and Melo-
dy and the other for Kristin’s family. In fact, everything we had would be divided be-
tween the two recipients. My things would go the David and her things to her family.

“This is getting old.”

“What is?”

“Well, we’re prepared, right? Every time it looks like something is going to happen, we
check our inventories, fill in the holes, buy more ammo and start moving, or get ready to
move, things to the shelter.”

“Bad things happen in threes.”

“And, we’ve had three?”

202
“Right, the HEMP, Volcanos and the Chinese invasion. Don’t know for certain what
number four will be, but it should be a doozy. The only problem with that is it changes
the number from three to nine.”

“I looked that up, you know.”

“Looked what up?”

“Doozy. It’s slang for a remarkable or excellent thing. Since we’re talking something
bad, I guess it would be remarkable rather than excellent. I’ll input the inventory correc-
tions after supper and have a printout we can go over late this evening or tomorrow
morning.”

“Let’s do it tonight if possible and you can go shopping tomorrow.”

“Jack Black, Demolition Man.”

“Long time, no hear.”

“Been busy. What’s your take on this solar storm business?”

“Don’t know what to think. We’re getting prepared, just in case.”

“How do you protect those PV panels?”

“I’m taking them down and storing them. I bought a roll of fine copper screen, 50 mesh,
and 4’ wide by 100’ long plus one inch mesh to support the fine mesh. I’ll make faraday
cages for things we have to protect.”

“Where you get that?”

“Ankeny. Five twenty five plus tax for a roll. Came to almost six hundred. Also bought
grounding rods and 6 gauge cable to connect the cages to the ground rods.”

“Maybe we should do that.”

“I have more screen than I can use. Same with the cable. Pick up some grounding rods
and you can buy what I have left over.”

“Deal. Could I trade labor for the cable and mesh?”

“Doing what?”

“Helping you dismantle your solar setup.”

“Just you?”

203
“Horny Toad will lend a hand.”

“Hells bells, we’ll get it done in a day.”

“Tell you what. If you help us each take down our systems, I’ll pay you for the materials
in cash.”

“Sure. I figured it would take me three days anyway. That would leave Sapphire free to
put away our purchases and update the inventory.”

“You’re buying more? Are you nuts?”

“Could be. There are some things you can never have too much of. Coffee and toilet
paper come to mind. If I could get a large diesel tank, I’d add it to the one we have. The
rent on the tanker isn’t bad but it only holds nine thousand gallons.”

“How big of a tank are you looking for?”

“As big as I can afford. It would have to be used and certified not to leak.”

“I know where you can get a 15,000 gallon tank. It’s not certified, but it’s free. Plus it
didn’t leak when they pulled it out of the ground.”

“Fiberglass?”

“Yeah. That okay?”

“I’ll call the excavator.”

“Don’t. Horny Toad will dig the hole for you after we get all of the solar done. You’ll have
to pay transportation from Walcott and hire a crane to set the tank in place.”

“I’ll get on it. When will everything happen?”

“Say a week from today. Have the crane at your place around noon. The driver will load
around 8am and be on the road by 8:30 to 9. That should put him here by noon. Don’t
forget the plumbing.”

“Copy. See you tomorrow.”

“Sun up.”

“Jack Black clear.”

“Demolition Man clear.”

204
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 21

“What was that all about?”

“DM and Horny Toad will help me with the panels and I’ll help them with theirs. I’m add-
ing a fifteen thousand gallon diesel tank. Tank is free except for delivery charges. Horny
Toad will dig the hole. I wonder how much fifteen thousand gallons of diesel will run.”

“If you’ll settle for biodiesel, twenty two thousand five hundred. My brothers have their
setup running and have been selling it for one fifty a gallon. Petroleum diesel is running
two seventy five a gallon.”

“We can dump the tanker into the new tank, add six thousand gallons of biodiesel plus
top off the tanker.”

“Don’t forget to add anti-gel to the biodiesel. Interstate Products sells it in five gallon
pails for one twenty five a pail. We’d better get a pallet of eighteen pails so we have it
for future needs.”

“Can you handle that?”

“No problem. I’ll call tomorrow and use my debit card. That will give us thirty four thou-
sand gallons of diesel, right?”

“Right. Should last us for years and we can get more from your family. What do they
use as a heat source?”

“Methane from the manure.”

“Soybeans?”

“Rapeseed. Specifically canola.”

“That’s high yield isn’t it?”

“One hundred twenty seven gallons of oil per acre. They use it exclusively for their
cooking oil needs too. When they change the old cooking oil out, they save it and use it
in the biodiesel production. That new section they bought is planted solely in rapeseed.
They produce over eighty thousand gallons per year. Those are averages, not their
highest yields.”

“Will they sell us what we need?”

“Blood is thicker than water. If we’re willing to pay their going price, no problem. Plus
they’ll take gold at the spot price. Here’s the printout. Check what I’ve marked to buy
more of.”

205
Kristin had determined that we had up to forty years’ worth of some supplies and that
the lowest quantity we had was ten years for the majority. She noted what she wanted
to buy and the quantities. I noted that she wanted to butcher a beef and can all the
meat. We weren’t short of jars, lids or rings and canned beef has good shelf life. It ap-
peared that I’d be helping with butchering 100 or so chickens. I wonder if she could get
Melody to help her.

“The anti-gel will ship today. I’m leaving now for Costco, Sam’s and Hy-Vee. It will be
late when I get home. They’re picking up a beef and four hogs sometime today. Two
hogs are going to be all smoked meat and sausage and the others treated like normal.
They know what to do and you can pick out which animals you think they should take.”

“See you when you get home.”

“There’s the truck. You’d better check on the livestock.”

I picked out the largest steer and four hogs that ran about 250 pounds for them to load. I
had done my chores much earlier and got out the ladder to access the roof from out-
side. I had all of the panels disconnected by the time DM and Horny Toad showed up.
When we stopped for lunch, the panels were all down and just had to be moved to stor-
age. There was room in the basement of the barn to store the panels even though the
barn only had a very small basement off the end of the tunnel.

We had time to fabricate the faraday cages and solder the seams. I’d been writing down
how much screen was coming off the roll as we used it. I used thirty six feet off the roll,
leaving sixty four for them to divide up. DM gave me a location where we could meet the
following morning. By the end of the day two days later, we had their panels stored and
faraday cages built to protect everything. Horny Toad said he’d see me tomorrow and
start on the hole for the diesel tank. He suggested that I get a pump and pipe for the
new tank so we could hook it into the current line.

When I got home, I got four stakes and a spool of yellow line to mark the location for the
new tank. We were almost entirely out of room for more additions. Melody had been
over the past two days helping Kristin butcher and pluck chickens. They’d done one
hundred fifty and Melody took thirty of them home with her. Kristin had both canners
running and had canned half and frozen the other half. The canned chicken jars each
contained one half chicken, cut up.

The ‘new’ diesel tank arrived as planned and the crane operator lifted it off the flatbed. I
paid the driver and as soon as the tank was set in place, the crane operator, DM and
Horny Toad helped me connect the plumbing and we began the backfill with rock fol-
lowed with soil. I had a pile of leftover soil that I was going to use to fill in some low
spots on the second 2½ acres and reseed them.

206
I called the guy we were renting the tank from and asked him if he could make a couple
of trips for us. He wanted time and fuel which I agreed to. He was there the next morn-
ing and he moved the tanker so we could empty it into the ‘new’ tank. I rode with him to
Adel to pick up the first nine thousand gallons. We topped off the new tank and I told
him I wanted to go back and top off the tanker.

“I don’t suppose you’d be interested in selling those three thousand gallons would you?”

“Make me an offer.”

“Six thousand.”

“Done. You have a tank?”

“A small one, five thousand. It’s getting empty.”

“Let’s do it. I have to help the wife with canning.”

We unloaded the fuel at his place and he handed me 60 pictures of Ben Franklin. That
increased the amount for fuel from her brothers from fifteen to eighteen thousand gal-
lons. I already had the twenty two five hundred to pay them and his six increased the
amount to twenty eight five hundred. Eighteen at one fifty was twenty seven, reducing
our cost slightly. When we got back, a Sears delivery truck was just leaving.

“We buy something from Sears?”

“Another twenty-five cubic foot chest freezer. I decided to freeze all of the steaks and
some of the roasts. I’ll can the rest. Plus we have the four hogs and the other freezers
are pretty much full.”

“Isn’t this stuff going to freezer burn?”

“Nope. It’s wrapped in plastic and then Kraft paper. I’m going to put each package in a
seal-a-meal. You can help me pack the cut up beef for canning. I changed my mind and
called them back. I had them turn one hog into sausage. When they delivered the order,
they took another hog to be smoked. We need to sell off those hogs. Any ideas?”

“Maybe DM or Horny Toad. What about David and Melody?”

“We have five available. Why don’t you make some calls?”

Previously, we’d had her brother pick up the excess beef and pork and take it to market
with theirs. At the moment we didn’t have any more market weight beef and we’d sold
off the excess hogs out of the first litters of the year. We’d only sold half of the second
litters, keeping the gilts for breeding purposes. We’d butchered or were having butch-

207
ered five leaving five to dispose of. We had a large meat supply and the hogs liked to
reproduce so more pork wouldn’t be a problem.

“Jack Black, Demolition Man,”

“Go ahead. I was going to call you.”

“Ok, you first.”

“We have five hogs leftover and we discussed selling two each to you and Horny Toad.
Interested?”

“Know where to get them processed?”

“Sure do.”

“Ok, I’ll take two and ask HT if he wants the other two.”

“Great. What can I do for you?”

“We’ve been awfully lucky when you think about it. Out of the three bad things that hap-
pened, the only gunfire was that Chinese thing. I got a feeling that if we get a number
four; we’re going to be fighting people from the cities looking to get what they can.”

“That’s a distinct possibility.”

“Ok. So, here’s my question. If that happens can we count on you to get involved as
backup? I only ask because of how bad you were hurt in that Chinese deal. Are you
gun-shy?”

“Nope. It took a while to recover and I couldn’t shoot the Tac-50 for over a year. We’re
both up to speed now. Sure would like to have some kind of body armor that would pro-
tect more than an 8 by 10 spot on my chest and back. I tried to bring up the website for
Pinnacle Armor but I got a 404 message.”

“Dragon Skin?”

“Well yeah, just because the military doesn’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not any good.”

“It’s expensive.”

“So I’ve heard. I think we could handle it if we could get some of their Level IV stuff.”

“They have a Level V that’s not available to the general public. It may provide better
coverage than Interceptor but it weighs twice as much and failed the Army tests.”

208
“It would beat what we have.”

“What do you have, Second Chance?”

“No. We don’t have any body armor. Second Chance went out of business back in ’05
over that Zylon fiasco.”

“They were bought up. They were owned by Armor Holdings and then Armor Holdings
was purchased by BAE Systems. They’re still making body armor up in Michigan. Thing
is, it’s all that soft stuff and no good for rifle fire.”

“There’s no way we’re going to California for two sets of body armor, regardless of how
good or bad it is.”

“I know a guy who works there. If you can give me a full set of measurements, I can
wire him the money and fax the specs. If you’re willing to pay the freight, I can have the
stuff in 3 days.”

“I’ll get back to you DM.”

“Later JB.”

“DM will take two hogs and he’ll check with Horny Toad on the other two. We got to talk-
ing body armor. He thinks he can get us Level V Dragon Skin from Pinnacle. Interest-
ed?”

“Full coverage?”

“I wouldn’t say full coverage, but it has the most. It weighs a lot though.”

“How much?”

“Maybe 40-45 pounds.”

“Too heavy. What was the stuff they had before Interceptor?”

“PASGT.”

“Should be fairly cheap. Can we get it?”

“I’d have to check. I’ll need your measurements.”

“I’ll get the tape and you can get them yourself.”

Hmm…

209
“Jack Black, Demolition Man.”

“Come back.”

“Horny Toad will take two hogs. Can they pick all of them up at your place?”

“Affirm. I’m going to sell the fifth one to Jose Cuervo and they can get all five at the
same time. My other half says no go, but I’ve got our measurements. She said PASGT.”

“Hold one and I’ll get a pen and paper. Ok, go.”

“Her first. Neck is 15.5, chest is 38, waist is 26, hips are 39 and distance from underarm
to waist is 17.5. My neck is 17.5, chest is 44, waist is 38, hips are 39 and distance from
underarm to waist is 19.”

“Give me a couple of days. Good enough?”

“Do we have a choice?”

“Not really.”

“Yeah, fax the measurements. Do you need the money now or later?”

“Pay me when I pick up the pork.”

“I ordered the armor.”

“Help me box up this canned meat and get it to the shelter.”

“Ok. I’m going to call and have them pick up all five hogs. DM and Horny Toad will take
four and we can set the fifth aside in case David wants it.”

“We haven’t seen much of them lately. Melody helped with the chickens but I sort of
thought they’d do a better job of keeping in touch.”

“I see him driving by occasionally, but not lately. He waves if he sees me. Been a while
since I’ve talked to him.”

“The last time I recall was when I told him my brothers about the wagon.”

“It has been a while. Box the meat you said?”

“Yes, just put them back in the boxes and we’ll use the 2 wheeler to get them to the
shelter. It’s only five boxes.”

“But they’re quarts, not pints.”

210
“Great for stew or something quick. Stew only improves with age.”

Our relations with the other prep minded folks in the area had maintained the nom de
guerre each had. It was like being on the forums where almost everyone had a ‘handle’.
I figured it was time to shorten the names to something like DM and HT, JB and JC. The
ladies could keep Sapphire and Brandy. Hadn’t met DMs and HTs other halves, assum-
ing they had one. They were big on OpSec and I half expected to be blindfolded when I
went to help. We were all in the same general AO southeast of Ames.

“Where does that leave us on supplies Kristin?”

“Eleven years across the board, minimum, except for fresh meat. Between the frozen
and canned meats, we have eleven years’ worth of those too. Some things are much
higher but eleven years minimum. With the greenhouse, we can fill in a few holes and
probably stretch it to fifteen years in a pinch. Want me to start beans and keep a cooked
pot handy all of the time?”

“Beans and withit?”

“What’s withit?”

“Oh that. We eat beans and whatever else we decide to have with it. Don’t recall where
I heard that.”

“I called Julie and she upped the order for the store. I got tenderloins, Maid Rite and
fries. The bread guy was there delivering buns when I went by and I got him to explain
how they make their buns. I’m sure I can duplicate them but they’ll be whole wheat if we
have to grind our own flour.”

“Did you get the recipe?”

“I did and he said it makes great loaves too. Need some of those large loaf pans but he
told me where to get them.”

“What size?”

“Four by four and a half by sixteen. I think I’ll buy six.”

“Local or mail order?”

“Des Moines. I’ll get them tomorrow. I kept out some of the ground sirloin in case you
wanted to can it. We can make patties or meat balls.”

“Meat balls sound good since we have several boxes of Maid Rite.”

211
“Can you help with that?”

“Right after I get the chores done and let the stock out.”

“Don’t forget to add the anti-gel when it comes in.”

“Right. I’ll add five gallons to the new tank and seven and a half to the tanker. I made
fifteen hundred off the biodiesel.”

“Do tell.”

“After we topped off the tank, there were 3,000 gallons left in the tanker. I sold it to him
for two dollars a gallon. It’s not much, but I saved us fifteen hundred on our fuel pur-
chase. That gives us a total of thirty four thousand on hand. I called the propane dealer
and gas dealer to top both of those tanks.”

Two weeks later, the meat had arrived and been distributed. The body armor came in
and it was a perfect fit. We checked our ammo supplies and set out the reloadable
brass. Kristin called the guy who reloaded our .50BMG and told him she wanted the
7.62 loaded to match specs with Sierra 175gr MatchKing SPBT. The empty .50BMG
would be reloaded the same as before. We also had him reload all the other ammo with
either JHP or JSP and commercial equivalent powder loads. He said it would take a
week.

The first indication of trouble came with a showing of the Northern Lights, aurora boreal-
is. They were quite a sight to see. I hadn’t seen them since the ‘50s. We didn’t experi-
ence an EMP allowing us to conclude that we hadn‘t been hit by a CME.

“CME?”

“I don’t think so. Solar storm probably. If there is a CME, we’ll know it because the
phones and power will be out. It’s likely that the radio and TV will be down too. Do you
suppose that WHO got a larger fuel tank?”

“Don’t have a clue Jason. BUT, if we experience a CME, it won’t make much difference.
Think we should add some of those Alpha Delta air gap insulators?”

“Couldn’t hurt; don’t know how much they’ll help though.”

“I’ll get some tomorrow. You can stay here and keep an eye on the place. Want me to
pick up some 100 pound propane bottles?”

“What for?”

“Trade goods.”

212
“Oh, ok. Will you have time to stop at a liquor store and pick up some trade goods there
too?”

“I can work it in. How’s your supply of Kool’s?”

“Are we ok on money?”

“Yes.”

“All they have, but at least 60 cartons.”

“When are you going to quit smoking?”

“When they bury me.”

“Sign two blank checks for on your account or give me your debit card and PIN num-
ber.”

“Here you go. PIN is the last four of my SSN, 2950.”

“You want good booze or the cheap stuff?”

“Let me check what’s on hand. Give me five minutes.”

“Ready to copy?”

“Un-huh.”

“One case each of Maker’s Mark, Jack Black, Single Barrel, Jose Cuervo 1800, Bombay
Sapphire gin, Absolute vodka, Chivas Regal and a mixed case containing Grand Mari-
ner, sweet and dry vermouth, Drambuie and other things we need to make cocktails.
Jose Cuervo margarita mix and four cases of Squirt. You like the Collins so four cases
of Collins mix. Trade goods should be the same except cheaper brands. Jim Beam in-
stead of Maker’s Mark and the Jack Daniels, cheap tequila, Popov vodka and a cheap
blended scotch.”

“I hope someone helps me load. I’ll get the liquor last and come straight home.”

“You want Coke Classic?”

“Sure. I’ll get some Seven up as a mixer.”

When she returned, the pickup and trailer were loaded down. She had an even dozen
25 gallon (100 pound) filled propane bottles, 90 cartons of Kool’s, the Alpha Delta air
gap arrestors and all of that booze. She moved the cigarettes and lightening arrestors
leaving me to move the remainder. I put the propane in the garage on the end opposite

213
the generators. The liquor went into the storage building. I rechecked to see if I’d
missed anything and found 30 cartons of Camel filters. They went into the storage build-
ing next to my supply of Kool’s.

I hadn’t told Kristin how many cartons or how many bottles we still had. I had 200 car-
tons of Kool’s and while most of the liquor bottles, the first one in each case, had been
opened and was in the bar in the bungalow, my list more than doubled what we had on
hand.

We had 2 cases each of the four flavors of DiGiorno pizzas, plenty of coke, a diminish-
ing supply of beer and one assorted case of dinner wines. There were enough Maid
Rite supplies to supply a busy café for a week. We could refill the beer supply whenever
the stuff hit the fan.

All the silos were full so we had the livestock covered and the loft was well supplied with
straw. The reloader bought the ammo and as soon as we had it paid for, we headed to
the range to check it out. It was definitely Match grade and uniform. We spent several
hours filling stripper clips with 7.62 and 5.56. The 7.62 went into those quality Radway
bandoleers and the 5.56 into some cheap bandoleers we’d gotten off the net.

“David, this is Jason. What’s up; long time, no hear.”

“Yeah, been really busy. I’m home recuperating.”

“Been sick?”

“Got shot.”

“Didn’t hear it on the news.”

“I was doing undercover. They kept my name out of the papers. Drug deal. I can’t say
much about it since it’s an ongoing investigation.”

“Look, we butchered a hog and were planning on getting it to you and your family. Do
you have room?”

“Freezer space? I pretty sure we do.”

“We’re long on canned goods too. Have some empty shelves?”

214
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 22

“Man, I hope to tell you. The Doc said I probably won’t be able to return to my former job
due to the nature of my injury.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I got kneecapped. Both legs. ‘Course, I only felt the first one, I was passed out
before they shot the other knee.”

“When would be a good time?”

“Anytime. Melody got a job working for the Sheriff’s Department and I’m home with the
kids.”

“How bad is it?”

“Most kneecapping cases don’t injure the patella. In my case, they made a point to shat-
ter the patella on each leg. I’ll have to wear a brace on each leg and will limp for the rest
of my life. Our insurance paid all the bills so we’re lucky there. I’ll get a full pension plus
disability. Come on over.”

“See you in an hour.”

“Who were you talking to?”

“David. He was working undercover and got shot. Kneecapped in both legs and he’s out
of work and on a full pension plus Social Security Disability. Melody is now working for
the Sheriff’s Department. Any objection if we give them that hog and some of our sup-
plies?”

“Not at all. Get the ice chests in the back of the pickup and we’ll load up the meat. I’ll go
through our commercial goods and give them a portion of those plus some of the home
canned food. You can give me a hand once we get the meat moved to the ice chests.”

I won’t say it was a lot of food and neither will I say it was inconsequential. From their
point of view, it must have been like they hit a jackpot since it was about six months’
worth of food. From our viewpoint, what’s six months’ worth when you have a minimum
eleven year supply? It’s not like David was the son I never had, although that couldn’t
be said for Kristin. We had the food and they needed it, end of story.

After we had the food unloaded and put away as directed, David gave us the full story
as far as he could. I changed the subject briefly and inquired about the state of their
preps, making notes.

“How’s your supply of ammo?”

215
“Fifteen hundred 7.62 and a thousand 5.56. A thousand .45acp and the same with the
9mmP. Both of those are Lawman FMJ.”

“So you need on the order of thirty-five hundred Radway, four thousand M193, a thou-
sand each .45acp and 9mm +P Gold Dot. What about a shotgun?”

“It’s a 12 gauge, improved cylinder. Don’t have much of that, one case each of 9 pellet
Federal low recoil buck and a case of low recoil slugs.”

“A case each will give you enough for now.”

“I don’t have the money Jason.”

“I don’t care David. I’ll bring it over tomorrow. Do you have a vest?”

“It’s a new Second Chance rated at IIIA. Not Zylon.”

“Won’t stop rifle bullets.”

“That’s why I have ESAPI plates, front and back.”

“We bought some PASGT.”

“You got a bee in your bonnet?”

“Could be. Something is going down and we’re not sure what. We’ve done our usual
pre-event preparations and I called you about the hog. I was going to sell it to you if you
wanted it. When you explained approximately what happened, we decided to plug some
of your holes. Trust me, we didn’t hurt ourselves. I’ll bring the ammo over either later
today or early tomorrow. See ya.”

“I noticed he didn’t get up while we were there. How bad do you think his injuries are?”

“I suspect that it will take a year for him to heal completely. He’ll have to have physical
therapy too. Probably Mary Greeley. I had hoped you could stay home and he’d be my
spotter.”

“Isn’t going to happen Jason. You know I don’t mind being your spotter plus my Super
Match is just as accurate as yours. It’s a shame we only have one Tac-50. Say, I have
an idea. McMillan is in Phoenix, right?”

“Near Sky Harbor airport.”

“How long is the wait?”

216
“I have no idea anymore. What are you thinking?”

“Get an identical setup as yours. I can redeem some gold with my brother and use that
to buy the rifle, scope, accessories, extra magazines and Jet suppressor. AN/PVS-27
nightscope, isn’t it? We’re good on .50BMG ammo but we could always buy a little more
Hornady A-MAX. When my dividends come in, I’ll buy my gold back.”

“I’ll redeem some too and get two sets of AN/PVS-14 night vision plus those Kevlar
MICH helmets. We can mount the night vision on them. That should increase our effec-
tiveness. Are you willing to wear MARPAT? The woodland pattern would be ideal
around here.”

“Sure…if we can get something cut for my figure.”

“If they don’t have it to fit you, it’s their loss. It’s made by Popper. Let me check the cata-
log on the computer.

“Well, they don’t sell MARPAT to the public. It’s ACUs, ABUs or BDUs.”

“What about Camp Dodge? Do they have a clothing store? Maybe a post exchange?”

“Never set foot on the place. My retired ID is current and I can go there. They probably
have clothing sales for ACUs. I don’t have any of those rank insignia they use on the
uniforms now but I do have the collar pins. Maybe clothing sales can order in MARPAT
and the Air Force rank insignia. Meanwhile, I do have BDUs. I’ll drive down there tomor-
row and see what I can find. I need your shoe size for boots. All military boots are now
uniform and available to the public.”

As it turned out, clothing sales had MCCUUs to supply the recruiters in the central Iowa
area. They were available in dessert and woodland MARPAT. They also had the Velcro
rank insignia for all branches of the military. I got the Senior Master Sergeant Insignia
for my uniforms and Technical Sergeant Insignia for Kristin. I bought three sets apiece
in each of the two colors, a total of twelve uniforms. I also bought two pairs of boots
apiece. Covers were a boonie hat and a utility cover in each color for each of us. I knew
her hat size because of a trip to buy new straw cowboy hats. I picked up Camelbak 3
liter hydration packs in both colors, a total of four, from the PX.

“I got the uniforms.”

“Good. I converted some gold, called McMillan and they’ll ship the rifle within a week to
Smith down in Des Moines. He said he’d handle it for fifty bucks. The suppressor and
the MUNS will be shipped directly since I’m a Deputy.”

“Reserve Deputy.”

217
“Yeah well, so what? I contacted Hornady directly about an ammo purchase. I wired
money to McMillan and Hornady and it even covers shipping. Think a pallet load will be
enough ammo?”

“Who are you buying for, the whole Canadian sniper force?”

“Not at all, we actually practice and brass does wear out. Your rifle is Olive Drab so I got
mine in Dark Earth. I got the same parts kits as you did and the same scopes. Scope
mount is 60MOA instead of 30MOA.”

“Sounds good. Are you sure you want to lug a heavy rifle around?”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m not in good shape. I plan to carry the TAC-50, my pistol and the
Super Match. You’re the one who needs to get back in shape.”

Was that where this all started? I think it started with me getting in shape way back
when. Were we trying to take coal to Newcastle? You can look it up if you want, but
what the expression refers to is doing something foolish. Newcastle in the United King-
dom was a coal mining town until recently and to quote, “Selling coal to Newcastle is an
idiom of British origin describing a foolhardy or pointless action.”

When we had the discussion concerning body armor, I was all for the Dragon Skin, re-
gardless of the cost. Kristin had a counter argument based on our radio system.

“Remember when we had the discussion about the radio antennas?”

“Not really.”

“I said you should have the Yaesu radio with 400 watts output. You said the secret
wasn’t the radio, but the antenna. Specifically, even the best radio isn’t worth a damn on
a lousy antenna.”

“What’s that have to do with Dragon Skin versus PASGT?”

“We have very good rifles, don’t we?”

“As a matter of fact…”

“And we rather proficient with them aren’t we?”

“Yes, we can…”

“So unless somebody does something stupid like stick their head up before someone
else verifies that the targets are really down, PASGT should be adequate.”

“If it was adequate, why did the military replace it with Interceptor and the MICH?”

218
“Not everything the military does is right. What’s the official military rifle?”

“The M-16. Ok, you’ve made your point.”

As I pointed out earlier we got PASGT vests and MICH helmets and the helmet mount-
ed night vision. We had been ready for fifteen or twenty years. If something didn’t hap-
pen soon, I wouldn‘t be involved. We could have moved to Adel at any time and chose
not to do so to keep just a little distance between her family and us. They were well pre-
pared but not to our extent. They had 3 M1 Garand rifles, a few crates of Greek surplus
ammo, shotguns with the original long barrels and a shortened smoothbore with rifle
sights for deer hunting. I know for a fact that on top of the hunting shells they bought,
each has a case of slugs and another of buckshot. They only needed one caliber of
handgun ammo, .45acp to feed their M1911s.

“Do you see that?” I pointed.

“Sirius?”

“Sirius is over there.”

“Comet?”

“That or an asteroid. Comets are distinguished from asteroids by the presence of a co-
ma or a tail. However, extinct comets that have passed close to the Sun many times
have lost nearly all of their volatile ices and dust, and may come to resemble small as-
teroids. Asteroids are thought to have a different origin from comets, having formed in-
side the orbit of Jupiter rather than in the outer Solar System. These have somewhat
blurred the distinction between asteroids and comets.”

“Could it be a Centaur?”

“What’s that?”

“Centaurs are an unstable orbital class of minor planets that behave with characteristics
of both asteroids and comets.”

“That would explain why it’s visible.”

“It might be visible because of sunlight reflecting off its surface.”

“I noticed it last week. I thought it was Sirius, but looked to another part of the sky and
found Sirius right where it is supposed to be. I assumed we would hear about it on the
news. Nobody is talking about it. It seems to be getting larger.”

219
“That sounds like that movie.”

“Which one?”

“Deep Impact. What was that song you were humming earlier?”

“One Tin Soldier. It was written by Lambert and Potter. The first recording was by The
Original Caste. When Tom Laughlin decided to use it in Billy Jack, it was recorded by
Jinx Dawson of Coven. The story behind the movie Billy Jack is that Laughlin and Tay-
lor, she’s his wife you know, came up with the idea in South Dakota while he was meet-
ing her parents in Winner, South Dakota and what it’s really about is the treatment of
the Lakota. There were several versions of the song on you tube.”

“Do you know the lyrics?”

“I’ll have to look them up. I have them in a document file on my computer.”

“Where can we find out more about the light in the sky?”

“Maybe Space.com. They have that piece on solar storms. The internet is up, right?”

“I downloaded that story so of course it is.”

“I’ll check Space.com and maybe Wiki. Someone has to have some information on that
light.”

“Just remember what Morgan Freeman said to Tea Leoni. We always thought the dead-
line for public knowledge was the publication of next year's budget since we've spent
more money than we can account for. That won't happen for two weeks. I don't suppose
I could prevail upon you to wait two weeks in the name of national security?”

“Her reply was, Two weeks? There's no such thing as two weeks in the news business.”

“Here are those lyrics you wanted for One Tin Soldier.”

Listen, children, to a story

That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below.

On the mountain was a treasure

Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own.

220
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley

Sent a message up the hill,
Asking for the buried treasure,
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.

Came an answer from the kingdom,

"With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there."

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,

Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

Now the valley cried with anger,

"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
And they killed the mountain-people,
So they won their just reward.

Now they stood beside the treasure,

On the mountain, dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it...
"Peace on Earth" was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,

Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

221
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

“I’ll tell you, I searched the net to find out what the song actually meant. One fella had a
website where he discussed what it meant to him. I agreed wholeheartedly with him.
Here, I printed it out.”

This song never fails to give me goosebumps. It is definitely my all-time favorite song.
The song has powerful meaning on many fronts to-which I will get to soon.

I can still remember hearing this song as the opening sequence of the movie, Billy Jack
is happening. There are beautiful wild stallions running in slow motion through a can-
yon. The horses are running for their lives. They are being chased by a wealthy banker
(Posner) and his police deputy friend. They are going to shoot them and sell the meat to
dog food companies. They cross over onto an Indian Reservation. As they raise their
rifles, ready to shoot, the deputy senses something in the air and hesitates. Through the
woods we see the legs of a white horse slowly making its way out. On top of the horse
is my all-time hero, Billy Jack, complete with a Wovoka hat (A hat worn by the Paiute
Messiah, Wovoka. Wovoka was the visionary of the Ghost Dance). Billy says, You’re
illegally on Indian land. Posner replies, Sorry about that. I guess we got caught up in the
chase and crossed over. Billy says, You’re a liar. Billy Jack-the ‘One Tin Soldier’-all by
himself with his convictions, stands up against several men and defends the innocent
horses against slaughter.

The song is much more than just the theme from the movie, to me. It is so powerful.
What does it mean to me? It means many things. First, what the song is talking about is
what happened historically to Native Americans. The ‘mountain people’ are, no doubt,
Native Americans. The ‘valley people’ are white and black ‘Christians’. I put ‘Christians’
in quotes because they sure did not act like it. I include blacks because they were not
innocent in the near genocide of the Native Americans, either. As a matter of fact, an
all-black infantry referred to as 'the buffalo soldiers' were used specifically as ‘Indian
fighters’. They contributed to many massacres of defenseless women, children and old
people.

The song, not only is general in what it is saying, but also specific. The treasure, buried
beneath the stone, on the mountain, refers to the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota.
Analogous to the Black Hills would be Mecca to a Muslim, Rome to a Catholic or Jeru-
salem to Jews, Christians and Muslims. The ‘treasure’ can be viewed two different
ways. From the Native American (The Sioux aka ‘Lakota’, in this case) perspective as is

222
seen in the song, the ‘treasure’ is not some concrete, material thing. The ‘treasure’ is
spiritual. To the white settlers, protected by George Armstrong Custer, the ‘treasure’
was gold in ‘them there hills’.

So, the ‘people of the valley’ went into the Black Hills under the protection of the US
Army. They did it to take gold from the sacred Black Hills. At this time there was a very
real idea of what was known as ‘manifest destiny’. ‘Manifest destiny’ is a protestant
Christian idea that God wanted capitalism and Christianity to spread and anything in its
way was to be overcome. So, now think of the lyrics: Go ahead and hate your neighbor.
Go ahead and cheat a friend. Do it in the name of heaven. You can justify it in the end.
To me, the lyrics are talking about how ‘Christians’ (I put Christians in quotation marks
because I differentiate pseudo-Christians from true Christians) thought they were right-
fully entitled to steal. The lyrics, Came an answer from the kingdom, “With our brothers
we will share. All the secrets of our mountain. All the riches buried there,” shows the
Sioux were willing to share if asked. They referred to not only themselves as ‘brothers’,
but everyone. Isn't that, in fact, how Jesus Christ wanted all people to consider each
other? So, who were the Christians and who were the savages here?

The part of the song that really makes me get goosebumps and tear up is: Now they
stood beside the treasure on the mountain dark and red. Turned the stone and looked
beneath it, ‘Peace on Earth was all it said’. The materialistic ‘valley people’ had no ca-
pacity to understand the difference between the material and the spiritual. They thought
that one led to the other (Material wealth meant that one was in God’s favor. That is the
basis for what is known as “The Protestant Ethic”). The ‘treasure’ was ‘Peace on Earth’!
The treasure was sharing.

Only one person understood, in the end, how wrong it all was (in the song). On the
bloody morning after...One Tin Soldier rides away. There is that theme again. The soli-
tary individual who has a mind of their own and goes against the grain. They do it be-
cause it is right. They do it because they have a conscience. So much wrong happens
because it is human nature to follow the crowd-that is, to want to fit in. It takes extraor-
dinary courage to not follow the crowd. By virtue of not following the crowd, one is not
going to be popular. But, ‘popular’ is not necessarily what is right or just.

In the movie, Billy Jack stands up to the townspeople because he has a conscience.
Suffice it is to say this song and movie has had a huge impact on my way of thinking. It
does not make me popular. But, I choose to have a conscience and not to follow the
crowd.

“Indian lover, huh?”

“Actually, I sort of figure it was written by a Lakota.”

“Did you find out anything about the light in the sky?”

“Not one word.”

223
“Spooky.”

“I did find pieces on asteroids though.”

“Were there any references to that light?”

“None.”

“Think we should buy a telescope?”

“I can’t imagine why.”

“We could get a better look and maybe tell what it is.”

“Look, if you want to get a starter telescope to watch it, it’s all the same to me. I wouldn’t
think we’d want to spend more than five hundred. I checked the web and a prominent
name is Meade. They run from less than one hundred up to thirty six thousand accord-
ing to the video on their website.”

“Did you see any that you liked?”

“The Meade 90AZ-ADR Altazimuth Refractor #04085 is about two hundred. It has a
90mm whatever. They refer to a 70mm but I couldn’t find it on their website. I did an in-
ternet search and brought up a product manual and I assume it’s an older model they
discontinued.”

“Can we get one in Des Moines?”

“I checked and they have one in stock. I asked them to hold it until noon tomorrow.”

“Did they agree?”

“Yes, but only until noon. He said they’ve sold quite a few telescopes recently.”

Since we were sort of in between checks, I picked a model that we could afford without
hurting ourselves. Had we lived near San Diego, we could have gone to Mt. Palomar
and begged for a peek. We got the telescope and took it home. I followed the instruc-
tions in the owner’s manual to assemble the tripod and mount the telescope on the tri-
pod. I completed 11 of 12 steps and the last had to be completed after dark. There were
also six steps to assemble/align the red dot viewfinder. Once that was done, I got the
laptop and loaded the software and made sure the cable connections were secure.
Since the manual said to do the sixth alignment step and try out the telescope during
the daylight, we checked out a barn across the river.

224
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 23

An hour after dark, we took the telescope out and hooked everything up. I completed
the last step and booted the computer program. I enter Sirius and the laptop showed me
a star map indicating Sirius. This was strictly a manual mount. Next, we cranked the tel-
escope until the small sight picked up the unknown object. The telescope came with a
low power 25mm eyepiece, a high power 9mm eyepiece and we bought the optional
Barrow Lens which doubled the magnification of the telescope. We both took a look
through the 25mm eyepiece and switched to the 9mm eyepiece.

“Wow, check this out. Still can’t tell what it is, but it’s lots bigger.”

“How do these controls work? It’s not quite centered.”

“Turn this knob for vertical and that knob for horizontal.”

“It’s centered.”

“Want the Barrow Lens?”

“Yes, please. Oh wow it’s tumbling, I think. You look Jason.”

“You could be right. Your eyes must be better than mine, I can’t real tell for sure.”

“So what is it?”

“One of three things, an asteroid, a dead comet or a centaur.”

“I think a dead comet or small asteroid. There is no coma or tail.”

“Centaurs have been observed which don’t exhibit a coma and later do. The reverse is
also true. I looked them up after you mentioned them. Wiki brought up the Greek half
man thing but I looked at the other choices and found the minor planets.”

“I don’t want to stay up all night watching. It would be nice if we could leave the tele-
scope right here with the present settings.”

“What would that tell you?”

“If it’s getting bigger for one thing. And something about its trajectory. If it’s not headed
straight for the Earth, it should move off center over the period of a few nights.”

“I’ll go get my rain slicker and cover it up.”

“Thanks. I’ll start some coffee; I want to ask you a couple of questions.”

225
“It’s covered up. What did you want to know?”

“Did you see Billy Jack?”

“I did. The movie was meant to portray Billy Jack as a sympathetic character and it
pulled it off quite well. I never really understood the One Tin Soldier bit until I found that
piece I gave you to read. Of course, the movie starred Laughlin, his wife Delores Taylor
and their daughter Teresa Kelly. She was the one that sang the song. That movie cost
eight hundred grand to make and had a box office of sixty five million. I think someone
released a DVD, but I’m not really sure.”

“What’s with all the different names?”

“I don’t really know. Laughlin goes by about eight different names. Taylor kept her
maiden name. I don’t know what’s with the kids’ names. They have three children and
they probably all have different names. He’s older than I am by twelve years. Puts him
in his eighties, I guess. They live in Camarillo, California. I just liked the movie. It’s what
that guy said in the paper I gave you.”

“So you see yourself as One Tin Soldier?”

“I’m no Billy Jack if that’s what you’re asking. Since I never saw combat, I do consider
myself as a tin soldier. I did twenty four in the service and only ever fired a weapon on
the range, excluding my personal weapons. I don’t know any martial arts. Period. I’d like
to think I’d stand up for people who were being treated the way the mountain people
were in that film. Did you know Laughlin went to school with Gene Wilder and beat him
up once? I don’t like Wilder’s films so it didn’t bother me when I learned that.”

“I didn’t see it. Jack didn’t want to go. I think he may have taken Cheryl. He was such a
dreamboat until we said I do. It was okay for the first year but he didn’t want children at
our age and always used condoms. Then, he started to have to stay late at work a few
nights a week. I didn’t suspect anything at the time. Then when it looked like the busy
season was over, he still worked a couple of nights a week. I was totally naïve and
didn’t suspect anything was wrong. The third year, he became somewhat hostile. Of
course, I thought it was mostly my fault.

“Then, I came home from work early and you pretty much know the rest. I thought we
had a fair amount in savings, but he’d been spending it on her. That’s why I got my
Comet and forty grand plus attorney’s fees. His Daddy jumped right into the mess and I
told him to talk to my attorney. He was a good one and that gave me the head start.
We’ve spent a fair amount of money over the past twenty years and even adjusted for
inflation, I have more than I started with not to mention my livestock and so forth.”

“Just so you know, I made you the beneficiary of my will. I would ask that you consider
David getting my firearms since you have pretty much the same things as I have. You
can’t shoot two TAC-50s at the same time. I have no known health issue beside the di-

226
abetes they discovered when I got shot that time. The Duetact 30+2 seems to keep that
in check. I take an 81mg aspirin to keep my blood thinned out. Keep that in mind if I
happen to raise my head too fast again. The Doc said my blood pressure was on the
high side and if we can’t get it down with exercise, I’ll have to start something for that.
He said maybe one of the older drugs that are available as a generic, like verapamil.
Brand name was Calan.”

“You need to resume the calisthenics. You still have the weights and I’m willing to jog
with you.”

“Get me back in shape so I can catch that rock single handedly?”

“We don’t know if it’s coming straight at us. Look at all the times we went into an alert
mode and nothing much came of it. We didn’t get but a light dusting of volcanic ash. We
always had power, even when those HEMP devices took out the power for over a year.
The military handled the Chinese invasion for the most part, except for you getting shot.
While we might not be a part of DM’s MAG, I believe we could be if we so chose. Riding
tomorrow?”

“Riding and some time on the range. Ok?”

“My second and third favorite things to do.”

“What’s first?”

“Come with me and I’ll show you.”

Each succeeding night, we’d uncover the telescope and check the light. It slowly began
to fill the eyepiece but it also move towards one side forcing us to realign the telescope
occasionally. There was no news on the radio, broadcast TV or the cable channels con-
cerning the object.

“DM, JB.”

“Come back.”

“Have you seen that light in the sky?”

“Just noticed it recently. Any idea what it is?”

“Negative. We bought a cheap telescope to observe it. It doesn’t appear to be on a

straight line towards us. It’s growing in size indicating it’s getting closer.”

“Should we be concerned?”

227
“I’m always concerned when something unusual happens and the government, scientific
community and mainstream media aren’t discussing it.”

“Understood. Isn’t much we can do about it is there?”

“Cross our fingers I suppose.”

“You don’t suppose it’s really something like Lucifer's Hammer or The Hammer of God
do you?”

“What’s that?”

“The first was a novel about a comet strike and the second about an asteroid strike. The
second was the basis for Deep Impact.”

“Never read ‘em. TOM has a story posted about an asteroid strike.”

“Prophetic?”

“Haven’t finished the story so I don’t know. You know how he is, 90 percent buildup and
10 percent action.”

“Sounds like the two of you. You’ve been getting ready for over twenty years and are
fully prepared. Yet, every time something happens, you add to your preps. What are
you up to, fifteen years?”

“Twelve minimum and about forty maximum. Lots of beans and rice.”

“You sound like TOM. That would be an awful diet.”

“Boring, maybe, but sustaining.”

“How many freezers do you have full of frozen food?”

“Four.”

“Canned goods?”

“Store bought, one year for two. Home canned, three years for two. LTS about twelve
years for two people. The point is we won’t just be eating beans and rice, especially
considering my age.”

“You’ve been talking that way for as long as I’ve known you.”

“And feeling every day of my age too.”

228
“You out of shape again?”

“We were just discussing that.”

“Me too. How about I come by each day and we work out together?”

“My other half said she’d jog with me.”

“I’ll bring my wife along and we can all four jog.”

“So you are married?”

“Forty two years. HT and his wife have been married forty three.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Sure. Say nine am.”

Her name was Bookkeeper. Still the nom de guerre stuff. Then he remembered telling
me he was John Smith and said his wife’s name was Nora. Nora, like Kristin, was rea-
sonably fit. We did a few basic calisthenics, lifted some weights and jogged for a mile.
They stayed for lunch, Maid Rites, and we discussed the body building program and the
slow approach we’d take to getting back in shape.

Then, the discussion turned to the light in the sky and Kristin and I laid out our observa-
tions. They had to leave, but DM asked if they could come back after dark and get a
look through the telescope. We agreed with that and told them to be here around nine.

“It’s moved sideways a lot. Hang on while I adjust the scope. Ah, there you go. I wonder
if that means it will miss the planet.”

“Let me look. Oh…it almost fills the viewfinder. Maybe we’d better take out the Barrow
lens.”

“Nine or twenty five millimeter?”

“Try the nine.”

“Ok, it only fills half the screen.”

“Let me look again. Now there, you can see that it’s tumbling. I definitely think asteroid.”

“Let me see if I can tell. I’ll be damned, it is tumbling, end over end.”

“There’s John and Nora. Go open the gate.”

229
“Can you see it?”

“Had to reduce the magnification by half. It’s tumbling end over end. Moving to the west
too. Had to realign the telescope.”

“How many power is this telescope?”

“The way it’s set up right now 100. We were using 200 until tonight. We have a lens that
doubles the magnification. We can reduce it to 36 power with one other eyepiece.”

“Nora, take a look.”

“How can you tell it’s moving west?”

“Had to crank the telescope to the right. It’s pointed south hence the rock is moving
west.”

“Will it miss us?”

“I doubt it will hit Iowa. I don’t know about further west. It could miss the planet com-
pletely.”

“How big is it?”

“Since we don’t know how far out it is, we can’t calculate the size with the equipment
that we have.”

“Surely it’s going to miss or the media would be all over it.”

“I’ve checked DM and there isn’t anything out there that I can find. I agree that this
should be news and since it isn’t, it’s tin foil hat time. Kristin and I discussed this and I
searched everywhere I know to look.”

“Let me check around. I might come up with someplace or somebody you didn’t access.
Tumbling, isn’t it? We’d better go. See you at nine tomorrow.”

“If I can move tomorrow, you mean.”

“Try some Icy Hot; it works wonders for me.”

“You sore?”

“A bit, yes.”

“Don’t let him kid you, he’s a lot sore.”

230
“Maybe Nora and I should lay in some more preps.”

“How long could you go if there weren’t any stores open?”

“One year on our double bought short term supplies and four more years on our LTS
foods from Walton.”

“You don’t need to go through them for everything. I put up a fair portion of our pails of
food. Got food grade pails here and there, mostly donut shops. Standard five gallon
food grade pails. Sacked the food in a Mylar bag, added a pair of 500 sized oxygen ab-
sorbers. Sealed the bags and then the lids with a small amount of silicon. Did corn, oats
and wheat mostly. Cheaper than Walton by a long shot and we didn’t have to wait for
several weeks for the delivery.”

“How large is your supply of ammo?”

“Before or after we bought the pallet of Hornady A-MAX?”

“A pallet? Are you nuts?”

“No, we’re supplying the entire Canadian Army sniping team. I didn’t order it, Kristin did.
We’re in good shape on Beef, Beans, Bullets, Bullion and Bunker.”

“Sounds like I should let you have those rockets and grenades back.”

“Sure wouldn’t turn them down. Why’d you take them back?”

“Didn’t think you’d get full use of your shoulder back. You’re pretty tough old bird.”

“I don’t feel it. If I can get through the training tomorrow, I might actually be able to get
up to par for a man my age.”

“Those McMillan rifles are nice but expensive. I should be able to get a single shot for
four grand or less. Nora, would you mind?”

“Thanks for putting me on the spot. I suppose not but isn‘t that ammo expensive?”

“Kristin, how much did you pay for it buying by the pallet?”

“About four per round including shipping.”

“It’s Match grade John. We’ll sell you all you want at our cost.”

“Nora?”

231
“Oh all right. Give him back his rockets and hand grenades; I don’t like having them in
the basement.”

Basement? Oh-oh.

“We’re leaving. See you at nine in the morning.”

“What do you think he’ll get?”

“If he’s going to keep it cheap, probably an AR-50. With good optics and a suppressor,
his rifle will be a good unit. Not a 0.5MOA rifle, but adequate.”

“How good is it?”

“Under 1MOA. We can’t pay him for the rockets and hand grenades but we can give
him a few boxes of ammo.”

They were there at 8:45 the next morning. We moved the two cases of rockets to the
storage building and eight cases of grenades.

“What’s the deal; you left us with the concussion grenades and took back the Thermate
and four cases of Fragmentation.”

“Well, we found two more cases of the M61s and one more case of the Thermate. Since
you’re supplying me ammo at wholesale, we decided to give you the extras.”

“That’s ironic. We discussed giving you some of the ammo. When will you have the ri-
fle?”

“This afternoon. I’m putting on a Night Force scope and an Elite Iron suppressor. Damn,
I hope we don’t get caught with this stuff.”

“You’ll want some Raufoss?”

“Three cans should be enough for now. I have the M1022 already and with the A-MAX I
should be set. I had the radio on when we came over. They mentioned the asteroid.”

“Then it’s confirmed it’s an asteroid?”

“Apparently. Said it will pass the Earth just outside of orbit of the Moon. At least that’s
what JPL if saying.”

“You want to come back tonight and have another look?”

“Wouldn‘t miss it for the world. We’re going to hit Costco and Sam’s this afternoon.
Need anything?”

232
“Can you get me another case of Jack Daniels and a case of Bombay Sapphire Gin?”

“I’ll give it a shot. No promises. I thought you didn’t drink much.”

“We don’t. But I’m down to my last 47 bottles and wouldn’t want to run out.”

“Who drinks the gin?”

“She likes Tom Collins and I like gin and tonic during hot weather.”

“How much booze do you have stored up?”

“For us or counting the trade goods?”

“Either way.”

“I don’t have an exact count but probably on the order of four or five cases of what we
like. We even have bourbon although I not particularly a fan. I prefer the Tennessee
whiskey. In addition, we have that plus bourbon and Canadian whiskey.”

“I know where we’re coming for New Year’s Eve.”

“You realize that we have one disaster left don’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Bad things happen in threes. The volcanic period really didn’t affect us so it’s out. The
HEMP attack was part of the war with the Chinese hence a single event. That Mega
Tsunami was the second major disaster. From this point of view, we’re down to one
event remaining. On the other hand, if you include the volcanic activity, Cascadia and
the HEMP as separate events, that brings us to five and leave four more to happen.”

“Wouldn’t it still be one? Five plus one equals six. Either way, there’s only one remain-
ing.”

“It’s exponential. You know 3, 9, 27, 81.”

After we finished our workout, John and Nora left to do some shopping. We took the
time to update our inventory, which was usually off by a few items. Apparently because
of the new computer program, our periodic inventory matched our computer inventory.
When John and Nora returned after supper, he and I moved the coke, squirt, seven up
and Collins mix to the storage building. I quickly added the liquor to our inventory and
we joined the ladies for a little star gazing.

233
We had to crank the telescope about 2” to the west to center the image and switch from
the 9mm eyepiece to the 25mm eyepiece.

“It’s getting close. Take a look; you can even see some features with the 36 power
lens.”

“I’m not so sure that it’s going to pass outside the Moon’s orbit. Take another look.”

“Hmm, you may be right. Kristin why don’t you and Nora take a look and see what you
think?”

“You guys could be right. Nora, you take a look.”

“This is only ⅓ the power of the setting from last night?”

“Thirty six compared to one hundred.”

“In that case, I agree. I think it will pass closer to the Earth that they reported. Maybe as
close as 100,000km.”

“What the distance between the Earth and the Moon?”

“I can answer that,” Nora replied. “It varies from about 360,000km and 405,000km in
round numbers.”

“You’re an astronomer?”

“Not really. I had an interest in it in High School science class and pursued it during Jun-
ior College. I could be wrong, it may pass closer.”

“I could use a drink,” John muttered.

“Come into the house, we have a bit of most everything.”

“Nora?”

“Tom Collins, please.”

“Kristin?”

234
 One Tin Soldier – Chapter 24

“Tom Collins.”

“John?”

“You have Single barrel?”

“Yep.”

“Two fingers neat.”

“I’ll join you in that. Let me get a tray of ice.”

After the drinks were made and passed out, the conversation resumed.

“If Nora is right, we could have a problem. Say it passes very close to the Earth maybe
skimming the surface of the Pacific. What would happen then?”

“Kristin, was that 3 Time Jinx by Jerry or TOM?”

“Jerry.”

“What are the two of you talking about?”

“Well, Jerry D. Young is a patriot fiction writer that we both follow when we can. He had
a story that included Planet X skimming the Pacific on December 21, 2012 when the
Mayan Calendar ended. Wiped out Hawaii. And, in the Atlantic, it triggered La Palma
causing the Cumbre Vieja volcano to explode. Which, in turn created the tsunami. We
don’t have to worry about that since Cumbre Vieja already slid into the Atlantic.”

“But, it’s going east to west, not west to east.”

“Won’t make a lot of difference if it skims the ocean or worse, slams into it. Maybe we’ll
get lucky and it will slam into China and end our problems with them for once and all.”

“That might not be good,” Nora suggested. “Imagine how much soil would be thrown in-
to the air.”

I looked at Kristin and she replied to Nora.

“That’s been covered in a story titled Disaster In The ‘Burbs. Asteroid broke up as it hit
the Earth’s atmosphere. Got up to about 140 degrees out for a while. The people who
came through it the best had shelters, like the heroine, Darlene.”

“You two talk like these two guys, TOM and Jerry are good writers.”

235
“Jerry has published two books that are available on Amazon, Shipwrecked and Mr.
Man. TOM hasn’t published any that I’m aware of. All of his stories can be found on
Frugal’s Forums starting around 2004. You have to go into the archives for some of
them but they’re all there. He also developed an Excel spreadsheet to compute shelter
stay time based on the seven/ten rule. It’s a sticky under Emergency and Disaster Pre-
paredness.”

“I’ve got it. So that’s where it came from?”

“There’s another out there. I’m not sure where, maybe Alpha Rubicon. It’s very compli-
cated. I think TOM assumes you have an adequate protection factor if you build a shel-
ter. Six feet of earth or seventy two inches is adequate. That’s twenty halving thickness-
es. The reciprocal of zero point five to the twentieth power is over a million. Soil is heavy
so you probably have six inches of concrete holding it up and that just increases your
protection power.”

“How do you keep track of all of this stuff?”

“When I retired from the Air Force and got into prepping, I started a sort of a journal. I
went back to when I originally enlisted and covered the high and low points of my Air
Force career. After that, I noted things as they happened, for the most part. It’s all there,
more or less. Maybe I’ll become famous and have to publish my memoirs.”

“It may not matter much.”

“Why not Kristin?”

“Let’s say for sake of illustration that hits the Far East, either the ocean or on land.
You’ve got a few known nuclear powers like China, North Korea and in the Indian
Ocean, India and Pakistan. Plus some unknowns, like probably Japan and Taiwan.
What’s that, more than half the Earth’s population starving? If they resort to war, it will
escalate until it includes every nuclear power on the planet. Between the dust and/or
moisture in the air combined with the airborne fallout, it will take years before the planet
recovers. Jerry warned in more than one of his stories that it could take at least a gen-
eration. In that one story about the climate change, Man It’s Cold Outside, it took 500
years.”

“If that happens, honey, we may get a chance to use up some of that ammunition and
ordnance.”

“Protecting what we have?”

“Exactly.”

“At least you two have a greenhouse.”

236
“True, but we’ve been prepping for over twenty years. It doesn’t happen overnight un-
less your name is Neal Grant.”

“Who is Neal Grant?”

“The Hermit. A guy from St. Louis who lost his entire family in an auto accident. He was
already wealthy and spotting a small gold store got him to thinking about a cave in the
Ozarks. He sold out lock, stock and barrel and converted a lot of it to gold and silver. He
found a property and improved it. Got himself a fancy PAW vehicle and so forth. Part of
his money went into annuities and every annuity check he got went into more preps until
he ran out of room. Jerry wrote that one.”

“Don’t forget Percivale George Jackson.”

“Percy’s Mission? Hard to forget. Percy was an Iowa farmer. The story included a cou-
ple into landscaping/earthmoving, a plumber and his girlfriend and a bum name Charlie
if I remember. A tale of World War Three and the aftermath.”

“So you read them online?”

“Hell no. We copy them into Word and save them on the computer in document format
and portable document format. I suppose I could violate their copyrights and burn you a
copy but I’d hate to get caught. What I can do is burn a copy in pdf and let you read
them and give them back if you promise not to copy them.”

“You’d take my word I wouldn’t copy them?”

“A man’s word is his bond.”

I didn’t tell him that included in the stories were copies of Mr. Man and Shipwrecked that
I gotten from Mr. Young. Nor did I mention the two unpublished/unposted stories he’d
sent to me. Those wouldn’t be included. One of them was about 2,335 pages long and
took a week to read. It was a twelve megabyte pdf file. It was undoubtedly his finest sto-
ry, bar none. I got a call from David the following day and he wanted to talk to us. We
drove over to Kelley for a cup of coffee and some conversation.

“You’re a lot better compared to last time.”

“I actually feel a little better. I’m completely off pain meds and have an early morning
Physical Therapy session every day at 6:00 am. That allows Melody to take me up, wait
until the session is over and drop me off at home before she has to go to work.”

“How are you two doing financially?”

237
“We’re making it between my SS Disability, the retirement pension and her wages.
Doesn’t leave much disposable income after all the bills are paid. The last time we add-
ed to our preps was when you gave us the ammo.”

“Food holding out ok?”

“We’re staying even. What’s your take on that asteroid?”

“We watched for some time in an inexpensive telescope we bought. We knew it was
moving to the west. With the media, governmental and scientific community blackout
our best guess is a near miss.”

“How near?”

“It could move through the upper atmosphere.”

“Splash down?”

“Possible?”

“Anything is possible. I don’t think it’s probable.”

Interestingly, the US government and agencies like NASA, JPL and the like issued no
official reports of a possible impact event. The asteroid or Centaur or whatever it was
entered the Pacific at an extremely shallow angle, traveling hundreds, if not thousands
of miles before it slowed and fell to the seafloor. It was Cumbre Vieja in reverse with the
Pacific coasts and islands bearing the brunt of the tsunami. While Cumbre Vieja slid into
the Atlantic, the small size of the object had velocity multiplied by its mass and the tsu-
nami reflected the combined energy otherwise known as momentum.

It was almost a non-event excluding the residents of the various Pacific coasts and is-
lands. Initial estimates of the death tolls ranged from 1 million to 20 million. Cambridge
experienced none of the results from the impact event.

“This is getting old,” Kristin said shaking her head.

“Do you suppose we should go shopping before something else happens?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Just curious.”

The ‘Rock’ had ended up at the bottom of the Mariana Trench and scientists’ claimed
there was no way to retrieve it from that depth. The resulting damage was on the same

238
scale as the mega-tsunami caused by Cumbre Vieja. Does the rule of threes apply if
you aren’t affected by the bad thing? I’m going to chance a guess and presume it
doesn’t. That left with us with 3 rather than 4 so we shouldn’t have to worry about num-
bers five through nine.

239
 One Tin Soldier – Epilog

A few years later, I began to experience severe pain just below my anterior ribcage. As
much as I hated to see a doctor, I didn’t have a choice.

“Have you been experiencing this pain for long?”

“About six months back, I had some pain and treated it with Vicodin ES. That really
didn’t seem to help, but the pain passed. Maybe a month later, I had another attack that
put me on my back for three days. After that episode, the intervals became shorter and
the pain more severe.”

“And the pain medicine didn’t stop the pain?”

“Not really.”

“I’m going to order a CT scan. I have a suspicion but need the CT to confirm it. Wait
here and I’ll check on something and be back in a few minutes.”

“Ok Mr. Jones, it just so happens that the CT scanner will be free in one hour. I’ll like
you to get it done today.”

“Today?”

“Yes, today. It’s important. I also want you stop by the lab for a blood draw. When you’re
done, see my receptionist for an appointment for the day after tomorrow.”

“Is it serious?”

“Possibly. I won’t know for sure until I see the CT scan and lab work. I see that your
shoulder healed well. Did you regain full use? Oh, I assisted on that joint replacement.”

I took the slip he handed me and got directions to the Lab. After a fifteen minute wait,
they drew three vials of blood and pointed me in the direction of Radiology. That wait
was about 25 minutes before I was shown in and told to disrobe. Open backed hospital
gowns were on a shelf in the changing room. I locked the door and took the key with
me.

“Key please?”

“Here you go.”

“Have you had a CT scan before?”

“Not that I recall. I have had an MRI.”

240
“Ok, lay down on this gurney and we’ll run you through the scanner.”

“I’m back. The doctor said to schedule an appointment for the day after tomorrow.”

“Eleven am ok? If not, he can see you at 2pm.”

“Eleven is fine.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“Nothing. He said he had suspicions but didn’t elaborate. He ordered a blood draw and
a CT scan. I have to go back day after tomorrow for the results.”

“Can I go with you when you go back?”

“Sure. In the meantime, I’m going to check a few things on Wiki.”

“What did Wiki have to say?”

“The symptoms match acute Pancreatitis. It listed several symptoms and a few causes
like alcohol abuse, smoking and some other things.”

“What other things?”

“Several things. I don’t remember all of them. It affects more men than women and is
more prevalent in men over sixty.”

I wasn’t about to tell her that one of things that caused the symptoms was cancer. The
article suggested if pancreatic cancer was the underlying cause, symptoms frequently
didn’t appear until the cancer reached stage III. That explained why the survival rate
was very low. The options were limited, the Whipple Procedure followed up with chemo-
therapy.

Kristin seemed very concerned but no more than I was. Que sera, sera.

“Let’s go out for dinner.”

“What did you have in mind Jason?”

“How about Chuck’s down in Des Moines? Best onion rings in the state of Iowa. Maybe
a steak, baked and salad with the rings as an appetizer.”

“If you’re sure, ok.”

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“Grab a shower and I follow you. Let’s go western tonight.”

One thing that startled me was when I stepped on the scale at the doctor’s office. I was
down 14 pounds. That went along with some of what I’d read on Wiki.

“Next?”

“I won’t be long, 20 minutes.”

“K”

I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth and shaved. Next, I selected the best of my
western shirts, newest jeans and gave my boots a lick. I taped my hat and was ready to
go.

“Ready Kirstin?”

“Locked and loaded. You?”

“Only have the G30.”

“You look peaked, are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m fine.”

I should be… I’d taken a 40mg Oxycontin. It was enough to block my discomfort, barely.
I had a spare in a tissue in my shirt pocket. With the Oxycontin, I’d have to skip a drink
because of the synergy between booze and the medication.

“Feel like driving?”

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Tired… long day and you know how I hate to go to the doctor.”

“Sure. Buckle up.”

Maybe I would have a drink. She usually had a Tom Collins and I had Jack rocks. I was
afraid if I didn’t have a drink, she might see through the façade. It would be bad enough
when I ordered the petite filet instead of my usual 12oz sirloin. They also put together a
pretty mean Caesar salad.

We were seated immediately and the cocktail waitress was there to take our order.

“Tom Collins for my wife and Jack rocks for me. Could you send the waitress back so
we could order an appetizer, please?”

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“I can take your order and give it to her.”

“Great. The large order of onion rings.”

“Tom Collins, Jack rocks and large rings. Anything else?”

“Not for the moment, thank you.”

“You’re keeping up a good front, Jason. The eyes are the windows to the soul. How bad
are you hurting, really?”

“At the moment, not that bad. I took an Oxycontin.”

“Maybe we should just pay and go home.”

“Kirstin, I really want this night out. The reason I asked you to drive was because of the
pill and the drink I ordered. May I bring up a difficult subject or should it wait until we get
home?”

“Lite or heavy?”

“I’ll keep it lite.”

“Go ahead.”

“You know that I intended that David and Melody have my possessions after I’m gone?”

“You said it was in your will.”

“I did, didn’t I? Should something happen, will you stay where we live or move back to
Adel? I’m just curious.”

“I’m not sure… it depends. Did you include the disposition of our place in your will?”

“I didn’t. That’s why I asked the question. It was an oversight that I’ll fix by adding a cod-
icil to my will. You answer will be reflected in the codicil.”

“In the unlikely event that something happens, I think I’d prefer to stay here, in the Bun-
galow.”

“Fair enough you’ll get the property and all of my possessions not otherwise intended
for David and Melody.”

The cocktail waitress brought our drinks and onion rings. It was a good time to change
the subject.

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“Um, good.”

“The rings or the drink?”

“Yes. And the company can’t be beat.”

“You still have that je ne sais quoi.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“It translates roughly into ‘undefined something special’.”

“Thank you. It applies equally to you.”

Between the pill and the drink, any discomfort I had quickly faded. In fact, I ended up
ordering the 12 ounce sirloin. We ate our rings and well before they were finished, put in
our dinner order, Caesar salads, our usual steaks and baked. It was a pleasant evening.
I dozed off on the way back to Cambridge.

“Wake up, we’re home.”

“Sorry. I really enjoyed that. Thank you.”

The pain in my gut woke me around 4am. I took an Oxycontin and started coffee. Then,
I sat down with a pad and made notes concerning the codicil. After I had the chores
done, I’d go see my attorney.

We got in early and gave him the list I’d written up for the codicil. He wasn’t busy and
asked how soon I wanted it. I told him today, if possible. He said to come back at 2pm.
Kirstin and I went shopping just to kill the time. It was Tuesday so we stopped at that
little café behind the Register and Tribune and had their famous bean soup. Other than
the meal and the attorney fees, we hadn’t spent a dime. The attorney validated parking
so we left the Suburban sit and walked, working out the kinks.

“You’ll get that filed today?”

“Immediately.”

“How much?”

“Three hundred. You can pay my receptionist.”

“Thank you.”

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“It was my pleasure. Strictly boiler plate.” (Boilerplate is any text that is or can be reused
in new contexts or applications without being changed much from the original.)

Kirstin went with me to see the doctor the following day. He smiled, but seemed grim.

“As much as I hate to admit it, my estimation of you condition was correct. It was con-
firmed by a blood test, CA19-9 and the CT scan. You have pancreatic cancer, stage
three.”

“I suspected as much and looked it up, Doc. Stage three makes it too late for a Whipple
or chemotherapy, doesn’t it?”

“At best, it would only give you a few months. The Whipple is a complicated procedure
often lasting 9 or more hours. The chemo would keep you sick as a dog. It’s your
choice, of course.”

“I’ve had a good run. I’d prefer quality over quantity. Can you do anything for the pain?”

“Are you limited to Vicodin ES?”

“No, we have some Oxycontin 40mg.”

“I’ll write three prescriptions; one for more of the 40mg, a second for the 80mg and a
third for morphine. Are you going to get a nurse, check into a hospice or stay home?”

“Stay home. Kirstin and I’ve both been trained on injections. Is that ok with you Kirstin?”

“What?”

“Jason to Kirstin, Earth calling.”

“Oh, you suspected didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Home care for as long as possible will be ok.”

“These are strong analgesics and if the pharmacy gives you a problem, tell them to call
me. I’ll also write a script for the needles and syringes. We may resort to a PCA where
you self-administer the morphine IV. We’ll discuss that should the need arise.”

“How long?”

“It’s difficult to say. Typically six months.”

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“You knew!”

“Suspected. It was only a guess and could have simply been pancreatitis. Would you
mind stopping by David’s?”

“Not today.”

“Sure, ok.”

From the moment Doc said pancreatic cancer, the tears started to flow. This was not
the time to press. When we got home, Kirstin told me that she needed a little space. I
went out and fussed around in the greenhouse after I took another 40mg pill. It cut the
edge, barely. When I couldn’t find anything else to do in the greenhouse, I returned to
the house.

“What would you like for dinner?”

“Lady’s choice.”

“Tenderloin and fries ok?”

“Perfect.”

“Jason, why didn’t you tell me what you suspected?”

“Because I wasn’t sure. It could have been pancreatitis which is not that uncommon in
men my age. Let’s just make the most of the time we have left together. Don’t bother to
fill the script for the 40mg pills, they barely cut it. It’s only BID and I took two this morn-
ing already.”

“I’ll run up to Ames and fill the prescriptions. Want to ride along?”

“I think I’ll drive over to Kelley and talk to David while you do that. I want to explain
about my guns and things.”

“I should be back in an hour.”

“I won’t be gone much longer.”

“How are you doing, David? Physical therapy working?”

“As much as possible.”

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“Have you looked into knee joint replacement?”

“We don’t have the money.”

“That wasn’t what I asked. Would you do me a favor and look into it? There are various
procedures ranging from partial replacement to full replacement. As I understand it, the
best choice is to just do the minimum. I’ll pay for it, lock stock and barrel. Now, speaking
of guns, you know I have a lot, right?”

“Absolutely!”

“What you don’t know is that I have pancreatic cancer with a six month prognosis. When
I’m gone, Melody and you will inherit my entire gun collection and half the ammo since
Kirstin will keep the other half. You need to get those knees fixed so you’ll be mobile
enough to use the guns, for pleasure shooting if nothing else.”

“I don’t know what to say. Are you sure about the cancer?”

“Came from the doctor earlier today. I’ve had a good run and meeting Kirstin was the
best thing that ever happened to me. We’ve weather the worst that Nature and man has
thrown our way. By the way, DM replaced what he took back when I got shot. Kirstin will
show you.”

“Aw man, this is the pits.”

“It’s life.”

Afterword: Jason actually only lasted five months and asked me to finish up his journal.
He got David the needed surgery and David is about 90% whole. He only uses a cane
these days. I eventually explained everything to David and Melody about his father and
mother. He’s never talked to them since. I’ve tried to convince him that wasn’t neces-
sary, but he’s stubborn.

Per his wishes, Jason was cremated and we interred his ashes in a small stone memo-
rial in the backyard. These days, Melody no longer works because Jason, bless his
soul, gave his precious metal holdings to David and Melody. She helps in the garden we
still raise and helps with the canning. They eventually bought a house next to Jason’s
Bungalow and moved. Their property in Kelley sold, eventually. We ride and shoot on
the weekends. It’s not the same as before, but I’ve sort of adopted them. I had my will
made out and they’ll get everything when I’m gone in another 20 years or so. That’s the
story of my Tin Soldier.

© 2011, Gary D. Ott

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