Preppers of the Apocalypse - Part 1: Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival by Godsby Jim Read Free Book Online Page A

Mart which was being raided by
the soldiers. Frank’s face was red, though it wasn’t through anger. Ash didn’t
know him very well, but even he was aware that Frank couldn’t start the day
without draining a quart of bourbon.
     
    “Why
are you doing this? What the hell are we supposed to do when you’ve bled us dry?”
     
    Beele
opened his mouth and spat a spray of apple chunks to the floor.
     
    “Sorry,”
he said. “Pips.”
     
    “Tell
your men to put down my plum tomatoes and get the hell out of my shop,” said
Frank.
     
    Beele
placed his hands on his lap.
     
    “Needs
must,” he said.
     
    “This
will all pass in a few days,” Frank said. “And you’re gonna leave me high and
dry without any stock.”
     
    Beele
glared at the shop owner.
     
    “America
is never going to recover. Don’t you understand what has happened? This isn’t
someone forgetting to pay the power bill. A god damn EMP has crippled the
mainland. The American dream is a nightmare now, buddy.”
     
    Frank’s
face screwed into a mask of anger and he started to move closer to Beele. Before
he could take a step, the army commander pulled a handgun from a holster at his
side and shot the shop owner through his skull. Frank Tealman was dead by the
time he hit the floor. A wisp of smoke drifted from Beetle’s gun, and then the
streets were silent. Even the soldiers had stopped in their tracks.
     
    “Back
to work everyone,” said Beele, and dropped down from the bonnet.
     
    In
just over an hour the soldiers emptied each shop of everything worth taking.
They loaded their truck with tinned foods and water bottles. They siphoned the
fuel from nearby cars and then raided the gun store on the corner. Satisfied,
Beele ordered them to get back to their vehicles and leave in formation. Within
twenty minutes, the soldiers were gone. They were like a plague of locusts who
had buzzed through town, stripped it bare and then left.
     
    Ash
helped Tony to his feet and supported him as they walked into the centre of the
town. Chad followed with tentative steps. As they reached the Pasture Down
folk, Ash realised that there were fewer of them now than there had been in the
town hall. Perhaps some had skipped town.
     
    Kenny
was the first to see Ash. He broke away from the crowd and met him in the
middle of the road. A few minutes earlier the soldiers had kept him in line.
Now that they were gone, it looked like his confidence had returned.
     
    “Look
who’s back. And I see you’ve got a friend.”
     
    “The
plant’s in meltdown,” said Ash. “We need to leave. I don’t even know how long
it takes for radiation to be carried by the wind. Where’s Grebe?”
     
    Kenny
shook his head. “No idea, and it’s none of your business anyway. “ He gestured
toward Chad. “Who’s this guy? You made friends with the soldiers? Don’t you
know that they just cleaned us out?”
     
    “He’s
okay,” said Ash. “He helped us get here.”
     
    Kenny
turned and looked at the crowd of Pasture folk. He looked like a shepherd
addressing his flock. The crowd waited for him to talk, seeming to hang on his
words. In times like this, people needed to be told what to do and how to
think, and Kenny loved to hear himself talk.
     
    “Anyone
with a working car,” he said, “Better bring it here. We need supplies. Dry
food, canned food. Stuff that won’t go rotten after a few days on the road.
Fill your trunks with bottled water and things like that. Use your goddamned
heads.”
     
    “Where
are we going?” said a man.
     
    “I
don’t know,” said Kenny. “Gimme a break. I don’t have all the answers.”
     
    People
began to file away toward their homes. Most wouldn’t have had far to go, since
many people in Pasture Down had built their houses near the town. It was as
though they loved the place so much that they couldn’t bear to be too far away
from it. Sure enough, within two hours most people were back. Some turned up
with sacks over their