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Post by texican on Oct 25, 2019 20:10:44 GMT -6
Well the vennies were sent to a permanent dirt bed.... and left a few gifts.... Now what ill will is coming? Thanks A for the early Thanksgiving chapter.... Texican....
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Post by 9idrr on Oct 25, 2019 20:56:39 GMT -6
Thanks for more.
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Post by texican on Oct 26, 2019 22:47:40 GMT -6
9,
Are you feeling poorly.... "Thanks for more."
Your verbosity is not showing....
Texican....
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Post by 9idrr on Oct 27, 2019 20:01:23 GMT -6
9,
Are you feeling poorly.... "Thanks for more."
Your verbosity is not showing....
Texican....
Nah, it's just that I got off work with about enough time to get to town and fill a few gas cans and the truck, plus pick up dinner so I could make it home before the projected power shutdown. Ended up with an extra 3 hour grace period but still would've appreciated not feelin' the need to rush. Don't worry though, I'll add a few extra paragraphs of bravo sierra to somebody's post in the near future. :^)
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Post by texican on Oct 27, 2019 20:19:56 GMT -6
9,
Are you feeling poorly.... "Thanks for more."
Your verbosity is not showing....
Texican....
Nah, it's just that I got off work with about enough time to get to town and fill a few gas cans and the truck, plus pick up dinner so I could make it home before the projected power shutdown. Ended up with an extra 3 hour grace period but still would've appreciated not feelin' the need to rush. Don't worry though, I'll add a few extra paragraphs of bravo sierra to somebody's post in the near future. :^)
9,
Be careful for there are those here that would enjoy the back and forth banter....
Just sayin....
Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 27, 2019 20:45:14 GMT -6
9, Are you feeling poorly.... "Thanks for more." Your verbosity is not showing.... Texican....
Nah, it's just that I got off work with about enough time to get to town and fill a few gas cans and the truck, plus pick up dinner so I could make it home before the projected power shutdown. Ended up with an extra 3 hour grace period but still would've appreciated not feelin' the need to rush. Don't worry though, I'll add a few extra paragraphs of bravo sierra to somebody's post in the near future. :^) Must be nice to live in a place where they can tell you about power grid failures before they happen so you can be prepared for them. NOT!! Hope you have enough gas for this one. A future story includes a comment about PG&E being grateful to the Chinese for a hack that shuts down the power grid because it's an outage PG&E didn't instigate ;-)
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Post by texican on Oct 27, 2019 21:48:16 GMT -6
Nah, it's just that I got off work with about enough time to get to town and fill a few gas cans and the truck, plus pick up dinner so I could make it home before the projected power shutdown. Ended up with an extra 3 hour grace period but still would've appreciated not feelin' the need to rush. Don't worry though, I'll add a few extra paragraphs of bravo sierra to somebody's post in the near future. :^) Must be nice to live in a place where they can tell you about power grid failures before they happen so you can be prepared for them. NOT!! Hope you have enough gas for this one. A future story includes a comment about PG&E being grateful to the Chinese for a hack that shuts down the power grid because it's an outage PG&E didn't instigate ;-)
PP2,
Never let an emergency go to waste....
Isn't that the mantra for the left?
Texican....
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Post by arkansascob on Oct 28, 2019 10:58:00 GMT -6
Wow Thanksgiving came early and I missed the pecan pie. Leftover dressing and a cold potatoes is all I see. Glad the family came out on top in that little warm up.
Thanks A for another chapter.
Now it seem that 9 has a fire fight of his own. Thoughts and prayers be with you along with all the others in the danger zone. Be safe 9 and stay aware.
COB
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Post by 9idrr on Oct 28, 2019 21:29:37 GMT -6
Wow Thanksgiving came early and I missed the pecan pie. Leftover dressing and a cold potatoes is all I see. Glad the family came out on top in that little warm up. Thanks A for another chapter. Now it seem that 9 has a fire fight of his own. Thoughts and prayers be with you along with all the others in the danger zone. Be safe 9 and stay aware. COB Thanks, COB, but the fires are all West of here. We had 'nough fun last November when we evacuated for 10 days with the Camp Fire. Since I had to work, I ran another 16 miles into town today and replaced the 9 gallons of gas we'd used up through this mornin'. Next power shutoff will be tomorrow, if the forecasts hold up. Whenever the next one is, we'll have plenty of fuel for the gennies so we can keep pumpin' water.
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Post by 9idrr on Oct 28, 2019 21:30:08 GMT -6
Nah, it's just that I got off work with about enough time to get to town and fill a few gas cans and the truck, plus pick up dinner so I could make it home before the projected power shutdown. Ended up with an extra 3 hour grace period but still would've appreciated not feelin' the need to rush. Don't worry though, I'll add a few extra paragraphs of bravo sierra to somebody's post in the near future. :^)
9,
Be careful for there are those here that would enjoy the back and forth banter....
Just sayin....
Texican....
I don't think any of us here would have it any other way, would we?
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Post by 9idrr on Oct 28, 2019 21:33:54 GMT -6
Nah, it's just that I got off work with about enough time to get to town and fill a few gas cans and the truck, plus pick up dinner so I could make it home before the projected power shutdown. Ended up with an extra 3 hour grace period but still would've appreciated not feelin' the need to rush. Don't worry though, I'll add a few extra paragraphs of bravo sierra to somebody's post in the near future. :^) Must be nice to live in a place where they can tell you about power grid failures before they happen so you can be prepared for them. NOT!! Hope you have enough gas for this one. A future story includes a comment about PG&E being grateful to the Chinese for a hack that shuts down the power grid because it's an outage PG&E didn't instigate ;-) Advance warnings are nice, but we always seem to have enough gas, firewood, fuel, food and whatever, even in the winter. The outages may not be planned then but we know they're comin'.
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Post by accountant on Oct 30, 2019 13:55:45 GMT -6
Chapter 51
Leaving Safehaven
“Clarice, all clear. You can bring them up.”, said Laura into the radio as the group walked into the barn.
On the floor of the barn, Don and Tara had Eugene laid out and his shirt open. Don was pressing some clean kitchen clothes against a wound to Eugene’s upper left abdomen close to the shoulder.
“How’s it looking Don?”, asked Laura.
“It’s not as bad as I first thought. It’s a through and through from the pec to the rotator cuff muscle in the back. Luckily, the bullet didn’t hit any major veins or arteries. Even then, he wouldn’t be able to use is left arm for a while. If we can take him to the main building, I can do some clean up and get him a proper brace for it.”, said Don.
“We can’t do that. The main building isn’t structurally sound anymore. I can’t risk anyone going in there. For the time being, clean it up here and strap his arm to his body to immobilize it.”, said Laura.
“But we can’t just leave it like this, especially here in the barn. There’s a serious risk of infection setting in.”, countered Don.
“Bring him into our house. We can apply cayenne pepper and honey to the wound and give him some garlic tincture. The cayenne pepper will work as a blood clotting agent and the others are both antibacterial, and anti-fungal.”, said Martha.
While this was occurring, the flap on the front of the work table at the back of barn flipped open and slowly the children began to emerge from the underground tunnel.
“Take him to the house and get him cleaned and ready to travel as best you can. I don’t expect that we have a lot of time so the quicker the better.”, said Laura.
Don and Henry helped Eugene to his feet and walked him to the house with Martha and Tara in tow.
“Daddy!”, exclaimed Colton as he ran into Chandler’s arms.
“Everyone okay?”, asked Laura when Clarice had exited the tunnel.
“We had a couple of scares during the blasts, but I think we did okay.”, said Clarice, as Darren crawled out of the tunnel.
“Do you think any of the kids will have problems travelling?”, asked Laura.
“No, as long as the adults are with them, they should be okay.”, said Clarice.
“Okay, thank you for watching over them. Once Eugene gets fixed up, we can move out. Let’s get the kids to do a quick potty and get a snack into them before the hike.”, replied Laura before turning to Chandler.
“Chandler, I need an update from you.”, she said.
“Spider, before you do that, I need a word.”, said Magnum.
“Okay, what do you need?”, asked Laura.
“I don’t like the idea of just leaving those pickups layin’ there for everyone to see. The holes’ll show that we have some serious fire power. If things happen like you expect, I’d rather not give the enemy any information on us.”, said Magnum.
“What do you suggest?”, asked Laura.
“I’m thinking we take the flatbed tow truck I have and put the wrecks behind the workshop. They’ll be out of the way and after all this is over, we might be able to stitch one working machine from the three of them.”, said Magnum.
“Okay, take Bill and Phil to help you. You’ve got an hour, then we move.”, said Laura.
Turning back to Chandler, Laura said, “Okay, spill it.”
Chandler puts Colton down and said, “Okay buddy. Go to Mommy. I’ll be with you soon.”
After Colton had left, Chandler straightened up and started his explanation, “We were with the 230th out in Chattanooga when the bombers hit the airport. We retreated back to the base and waited since we knew they would be coming. We had already moved the civilian population out to Signal Mountain, so the city was pretty much deserted. We had scouts out and snipers in some of the taller buildings along 1-24 since our intel already showed that they would be coming that way. When they came, they came with about 12 gunships, twenty tanks, a slew of technicals, and around 2 thousand men. Together, we could only field 300. We waited until they there close up to the armory before we hit them with everything we had. The snipers hit them from behind and the rest of us hit them from the front. We were doing a number on them, but those damn helo’s were chopping us to bits. We took out most of them with SAMs but didn’t have enough. Their infantry began to flank us and it wasn’t looking good….”
“What happened to Eugene?”, interrupted Laura.
“We were using some of the young ones as runners getting orders passed from one location to another. He got hit on one of his runs. I saw him go down and went and grabbed him. I promised I’d look after him and that’s what I did. I hauled his ass to the Chevelle and high-tailed it out of there, taking a gunship and five technicals with me.”, replied Chandler.
“Where’s Boomer?”, asked Laura.
“He was part of the sniper squad. I don’t know what happened to him.”, said Chandler, lowering his eyes.
“Did the 230th go down?”, asked Laura, coldly.
Chandler didn’t answer and couldn’t look Laura in the eye.
“I asked you a question. Did the 230th go down?”, said Laura, tersely.
“Yes, it went down.”, said Chandler.
“So, you left them there to die while you saved your own skin. Just what I expected.”, spat out Laura.
“No, I kept Eugene alive. I promised I would do that and I did.”, said Chandler.
“Get out of my sight.”, said Laura.
Chandler left Laura standing there and went to be with his family.
Darren took Laura’s hand and said, “Hey. Let’s go for a walk.”
They walked around to the side of the barn where Laura collapsed into Darren’s arms.
Darren held her as she began to shudder in his embrace.
“Shh. It’s okay. Deep breaths, hun. Deep breaths.”, he said.
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to save us. Eugene’s hurt, Boomer’s gone, and now they’re going to come for us. It’s too much, Darren. It’s too much. We’re not going to make it.”, she sobbed.
“Shh. You’re doing the best you can. I know it’s not easy. We all know that, but we’ll just take it day by day. We made it through today and that was thanks to you. We just need you to be strong. We know you can do that. I know you can do that.”, Darren whispered.
“But the children. They’re just children. They shouldn’t have to deal with this. They should be safe and protected.”, said Laura.
“The children are fine. They’re safe and with family. They know we’ll protect them with our lives. I know you have a plan, so we need to get moving on it. You’re our leader and we’ll follow you wherever you need us to. All you need to do is tell us what you want us to do. We’ll deal with today, today and we’ll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow, okay? Just hold on for a little bit longer, for me, for us, and for the kids, okay?” said Darren.
Laura wiped her tears, kissed her husband, and said, “Thank you.”
They released their embrace and holding hands walked around the corner and back into the barn. By this time Henry has returned from the house and said, “Eugene’s been patched up and is ready to move when you are.”
“Thanks Henry.”, said Laura, “Can you do me a favor and open up all the pens and let the animals out? I don’t want them trapped in here if we’re not around to take care of them.”
“We’re all set, Spider.”, said Magnum, swinging a distributor cap on a spark plug wire, “The pickups have been moved and our vehicles have been disabled.”
“Thanks Magnum.”, said Laura before keying her radio, “Rattler, it’s time to move. You know where to meet us.”
“Copy that, Spider. I’m on my way.”, came the response.
“Okay everyone, it’s time to go.”, announced Laura, “Clarice and Magnum will lead. Children, follow Mrs. Jackson, but walk carefully, we don’t want anyone to get hurt. Henry, can you get everyone out of the house? We need to get going.”
Together, the group stood and the ones with packs checked them before walking out away from the barn and towards the trail in the mountains where Darren had first practiced his running exercises.
When they got there, Rattler was waiting for them.
When the last of the group had passed into the forest, Darren took one last look at the retreat and said to Laura, “I’m sorry we have to leave your secret hideaway. I know you worked hard at putting it together.”
Laura gave him a sad smile and said, “Safehaven wasn’t our secret hideaway. It was our home. Where we’re going is our secret hideaway.”
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Post by texican on Oct 31, 2019 0:25:44 GMT -6
Preplanning overcomes tragedy....
Thanks A for the chapter....
Texican....
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Post by texican on Nov 4, 2019 22:23:47 GMT -6
A, Since everyone is being silent, I will beg.... Thanksgiving is fastly approaching and the Moar Hounds would appreciate a feeding or two before Thanksgiving.... Texican....
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Post by arkansascob on Mar 27, 2020 10:25:07 GMT -6
Anyone know what happen to A and this story ? Havent been here in a few months.
COB
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Post by 9idrr on Mar 27, 2020 21:52:05 GMT -6
Nah, COB, no clue. He missed my birthday a while back... would've been a great present, right? Should I schedule another "birthday" for next week, hopin' he'll deliver this time? ;^)
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Post by texican on Mar 27, 2020 23:20:18 GMT -6
A,
Hope you are doing well.
Your readers would like to know that you are ok.
Texican....
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Post by sniper69 on Mar 28, 2020 10:11:18 GMT -6
A, Hope you are doing well. Your readers would like to know that you are ok. Texican.... Agreed, hope all is going well with you accountant.
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Post by accountant on Apr 17, 2020 10:04:43 GMT -6
Hi all,
I know I've been gone for a while and some of you have been worried about me.
I apologize for the absence.
Life has a way of pulling the rug out from under you just when you think things are starting to settle down. That happened to me in November, professionally. I started a new role in January and it's actually a lot more exciting than the last one. But with the stress and depression which started in November and the getting up to speed with the new role which started at the end of January, its been a really rollercoaster.
Then this whole pandemic started and it looks a lot like TPTB have been reading quite a few completed stories on this board and have been taking notes. To me, it looks like we are living out the beginning few chapters of a new PAW story. Part of me wants to continue with writing "A New Life", but another part of me is looking at what is happening in the world and saying that Darren and Laura's story doesn't hold a candle to the real life crisis unfolding.
Everyone, please try to stay safe and secure. Please stock up on food, supplies, medicine, and anything else you can think of.
If you're a meat eater, I urge you to prioritize this protein now. I'm predict that is the next grocery item which will become scarce.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones. I'll be praying for all of us.
A.
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Post by solo on Apr 17, 2020 12:53:47 GMT -6
I see meat going that way too, especially with the labor issues in the packing plants. Take care of yourself too and don't think you writing doesn't measure up to real life, it does, and it has the added bonus of giving us a moment's respite from our own reality. Please continue!
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Post by 9idrr on Apr 17, 2020 20:12:56 GMT -6
I see meat going that way too, especially with the labor issues in the packing plants. Take care of yourself too and don't think you writing doesn't measure up to real life, it does, and it has the added bonus of giving us a moment's respite from our own reality. Please continue! Yeah, what he said. Good to know you're okay, and you can rest assured we'll be happy to read whatever you feel like postin'.
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Post by texican on Apr 17, 2020 23:47:45 GMT -6
A,
Good to see you posting. It is great that the new job is going well.
The virus has messed everything up. Food is the first priority, especially meat which is in short supply everywhere that I look.
The virus is very contagious and deadly for the elderly.
Sounds like a new story line for A.
Be careful out there and remember gloves, masks and face shield or googles.
Texican....
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Post by arkansascob on Apr 22, 2020 8:00:41 GMT -6
Well glad to see A and the rest of you are still good. Crazy stuff going on out there. Is it real or a big experiment ? Maybe A will enlighten us with his next story.
Ya'll be safe and stay healthy.
COB
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Post by 9idrr on May 24, 2020 20:51:10 GMT -6
Accountant- been a month or so since your last post. Be nice to know how things are goin' for you.
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Post by texican on May 26, 2020 22:02:26 GMT -6
Accountant- been a month or so since your last post. Be nice to know how things are goin' for you. A, Please drop a line so we know that you aee doing ok. Thanks, Texican....
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