Dave's Story

[iamnobody]

Every 2 weeks he was placing more food orders. Every time he ordered, the cost was higher. A pound of pinto beans had been costing him 99 cents earlier in the year. Now it was $1.40 a pound. A gallon of milk at the store was $7 for “whole” milk. Mae was buying “raw” milk from a neighbor that had a Jersey cow and gave the guy the store price. Once the cream rose to the top, Granny took ½ of it off and saved it for making butter. She left the cream set out so she could make “sour” butter. Then a little buttermilk left over to use in making pancakes.

They got the potatoes dug out with the tractor. They would keep some in the basement but most were cut into cubes and freeze dried. The same with onions. They had planted Sterling and the onions produced a bumper crop. They got freeze dried. Cabbages were next. Granny was doing a few crocks of cabbage, but most were freeze dried.

The 3 of them planted a winter crop of assorted greens in the high tunnels. The crops wouldn't make it the whole winter once the temperatures stayed below freezing, but up to then, they would have fresh salads and supply the store and diner. They would replant again early next spring.

The several acres of field corn, Dave was picking it by hand and storing it in corn cribs. The remaining stalks would be slowly harvested and fed to the goats. Then the bare stalks would be shredded to be spread back on the fields. Deer season was in so he also harvested a few of them. Again he had the hind quarters and “bacon” cured, the front shoulders and ribs smoked. He gave the hides to the neighbor that helped with the pigs.

[udwe]

Great story, keep it up!

[ydderf]

Thanks for the update.

[texican]

iam,

Your two finger typing keeps the moar hounds reading and reading.

Thanks for the chapters.

Texican....

[iamnobody]

With the way the economy was going down, he had their septic tank pumped out. That way the tank would be of use to them for a longer time. Also he set it up that “gray water” from the shower, sinks and washing machine would not go into the septic tank, but go out into the field to help water them. He ordered many cases of toilet paper and stored it.

Granny asked about a grain mill to make flour and corn meal. Dave ordered 2 Country Living grain mills plus 4 sets of replacement burrs. Dave loved home made corn bread smeared with honey. When they got the grain mills, he bolted one down on a counter top in the barn. Mae found it hard to turn so Dave attached a longer bar to the handle and it was easy to turn then.

On the prepper forums, he read about it being so much more time efficient to trap, than to hunt. He read about leg hold traps vs body grip traps and decided to go with the body grips. He ordered Connibear traps in 2 sizes. 50 dozen in size 110 for squirrel and rabbit, 20 dozen in size 220 for raccoon and groundhogs. The next bigger size was 330 for beaver but there were no beaver around here.

[iamnobody]

Granny asked about sewing machines and supplies. She wanted a treadle sewing machine that used no electricity. He ordered 3 of the Janome 712 and their tables. She picked out many spools of thread, bolts of cloth and extras needles and replacement treadle belt material. Also many sewing patterns for men, women and children.

Granny and Mae were worried because they were personally reaching the $10,000 loan they had with Dave. They had been buying farm things and he was paying the bills. When they came to him about it, he simply said “we are all in this together”, marked their loan paper paid in full, signed and dated it.

He had read about reloading ammo from the fired casings. He thought about buying reloading supplies, talked it over with the women, then decided to not do it. He did buy another truckload of ammo in the popular calibers.

He read about solar panels for electricity and just bought enough to provide power for running radios and some lights. He didn't want to get in the mess of enough to run a whole house.

[iamnobody]

Dave was working in the barn with the pigs and goats. Mae was watching him throw bedding into the animals. She was thinking how far he has come since he arrived as a city slicker. How he treated her with respect and made sure she and Granny had what they needed. How he was smart and wise, which are 2 different things, and he was attractive too.

Dave heard someone approaching and turned around to see Mae waking towards him. He thought she was very attractive this morning in a long flowing skirt and a blouse. She even had on regular shoes instead of her normal work shoes. Her hair was hanging loose instead of being in a ponytail.

Stopping in front of him, she asked what he was doing. He replied that he was freshening the animal bedding but was done. Mae said that was good because “tag, you are it” touched him on the shoulder and then took off running.

Dave stood there dumbfounded as she ran away laughing. Then he sprinted after her. He caught up to her just inside the forest, catching her arm and turning her around to face him. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled as they both leaned in to kiss.

Several long minutes later she pulled back and looked him in the eyes, saying that before they went any further, she wanted both of them to go to the doctor and have STD tests done so that each one would be protected. Dave agreed that was good and she had beat him to asking for the tests.

They walked hand in hand back to the cabin, told Granny they were driving into the big town and would be back later in the evening after supper. Granny smiled as she watched the 2 of them walk arms entwined to Dave's car.

[iamnobody]

Weeks later after Thanksgiving Day, the weather was definitely chillier. The nights weren't cold at all, in the new bed he had bought for Mae and him. Plus he had got several heavyweight blankets for them and Granny. The STD tests had come back negative for both of them. Mae and Granny were arranging a small wedding for the beginning of January. Mae wanted a small wedding with just simple wedding rings.

The economy was still going down fast, though the government kept saying it was doing great. The government said the inflation was only 1-2% but every time Dave bought more things, he was paying 10-15% more. The government must be using the “new math” they pushed in school where the answer is whatever you want it to be.

Today Mae and he were sitting out in the woods doing some squirrel hunting with the 22LR. Granny hated picking shotshell pellets out of the meat as she ate it. They had 6 squirrels and were headed home. Out of the forest and in the field, Dave was looking up in the sky. Mae was looking too.

There were jet trails crisscrossing the sky like a checkerboard. They were everywhere. He had never seen things like that. On the prepper forums some people had talked about such things but Dave had always taken such talk “with a grain of salt.” Jet trails changing the weather, that was hard to believe.

By the next day, it was very cloudy and even the animals were subdued. No wildlife was making any noise. By lunchtime Mae came out and said the news had a special weather alert of a severe winter storm. By nightfall it would start snowing and it would be turning bitter cold. Forecasting 36 inches of snow and -10F with strong winds. Mae said it was very rare to get this kind of storm plus this early in the winter season.

Granny was inside getting things ready for the big storm. Making sure of flashlights, batteries and candles along with the Aladdin kerosene lamps. Outside Dave and Mae made sure all the animals had deep bedding, extra food and water. She helped him get the snowplow hooked up to the 4x4 dump truck and get the snow chains on the tires. The back already had 2 tons of small grit for traction and to put on spots that were real slippery.

Then they made sure there was lots of firewood ready for their stove and the snow shovels ready at hand. They ran some buckets of water to have ready in case theu lost the electricity, so they could flush toilets and have drinking water. Sipping hot chocolate that evening, the news report said this storm was covering 25 of the States, From Texas all the way up to Maine. The 1st flakes were falling when they went to bed.

[texican]

He ordered many cases of toilet paper and stored it.

Yep, if you wish to keep the women folks happy, do not run out of TP.

Dave and Mae are an item as it should be.

Thanks iam for the chapters.

Texican....

[iamnobody]

Feb 3, 2022 16:56:25 GMT -6 texican said:

He ordered many cases of toilet paper and stored it.

Yep, if you wish to keep the women folks happy, do not run out of TP.

For many years, my late wife used to use a "double roll" of toilet paper EVERY DAY.

I have no idea how she could use that much.

[iamnobody]

Next morning when they got up, there was already 10 inches of snow on the ground. Granny made some quick breakfast for everyone while Dave and Mae dressed for outside work. He shoveled paths to the chicken coop and barn, checked food and water for the animals and then got the dump truck ready to start snowplowing.

By the time Dave had finished the driveway, he had the hang of how to operate the plow. He stuck his head in the cabin door and said he was going to plow out on the road to different places. Mae said she would ride along, grabbing a thermos of hot tea to take along. Dave lowered the snowplow and headed to Ruth, the midwife's place. Ruth was surprised to see them as her place was plowed out. He told Ruth that this was so people could get in to see her. Then he headed the plow to town.

The storm lasted for 72 hours and they got a total of 38 inches of snow, Dave plowed 4 different times. The wind died down but temperatures still were at 10F. The electricity had stayed on and with the woodstove, they had stayed warm. Dave had found a gap in his preparations – snowshoes. So he would order 12 pair whenever all the roads cleared up.

This snow had covered 25 States. Even the southern States had got several inches of snow and they had no snow removal equipment because they didn't get snow. Trucks and trailers were stranded everywhere on the roads, supplies were not getting to the stores. The big cities had massive problems removing the snow and no food in the stores and restaurants.

Most people rarely had more than 1 or 2 days of food at home. A lot of people usually stopped at stores on the way home from work to get enough for supper, many more didn't cook and always ate out at fast food places every day.

People in the big cities were hungry, the only thing that stopped any riots was the deep snow and cold temperatures. The local town fared much better since Dave had stored food in the grocery store and diner's basements. He had even authorized lines of credit for families he knew were struggling with money. He knew those people would pay or arrange to work in trade.

[iamnobody]

2 weeks later the temperatures came back up into the 40's and the snow started melting but it still was a week before the local roads were all cleared. Reports of the big cities were of many people attacking neighbors to get food. A can of Spam sold for $20. The trucks finally coming into the cities had to be escorted by the National Guard to kept them from being hijacked by gangs. Even stores were guarded to prevent looting and theft. Some cities took 30 days to go back to “normal.”

Dave and Mae were able to get married on time, a small wedding. Neither one wanted to go away on a honeymoon. Granny did go to visit with a friend for several days so that Dave and Mae had some privacy and alone time. They did a lot of talking too, planning for the future.

Once the supply chain got straightened up, Dave started ordering things again. He talked with Ruth again, about more supplies she needed as a midwife and herbalist. In times of trouble, she may be the only “doctor” around. He had tried talking to doctors and nurses but every one of them thought he was crazy.

He also talked with Clyde who sold him his guns. He offered him to be a silent investor like he had done with stores in town. Clyde was wary that he might be part of a Federal sting operation. On the other hand Clyde knew Dave had been around for some time plus had several full automatic guns and also had helped a lot of local people in need. In the end, Clyde sat down with Dave and came up with things to order. Dave also put up $50,000 cash for Clyde to buy any guns to put in his special back room.

Dave ordered 2 truckloads of supplies for Ruth, from baby supplies to herbs to medical items. He arranged for the out of State construction crew to come in and put in a building for her and also at other places. Clyde was surprised when a building was erected for him and even more shocked when several truckloads of ammo and gun supplies arrived.

Spring arrived and they were getting their fields ready for planting. The high tunnels were already in full production which was going to the local grocery store and diner. The alternate news sites were still showing how bad things were. Any money in bank savings was earning 1 cent on every $1,000.

[udwe]

Amazing how close you are to reality.

[kansasterri]

Awesome!

[iamnobody]

Dave was thinking about what to do. He still had $9,000,000 in the bank and right now was earning 0%. The economy was in a steep slide. Officially the government said the unemployment rate was only 7% but looking around people could see it was really at 20%.

Locally people were starting to suffer. Less jobs, shorter hours and everything costing more. In town Dave started a “soup kitchen”. People that were needy could get something to eat, usually bowls of soup, in exchange for some work around town. Not once did anyone ask for food without working. There was work for anyone to do, whether they were 90 years old or 16 years old, crippled, disabled or whatever. These people were proud and did whatever they could to earn their food. Many of the older ones “babysat” the young children so that their parents could work. The old people taught slightly older children, from book learning to basic skills in a trade. The people of the town and surrounding area were becoming tight knit.

[iamnobody]

Several weeks after starting this, a government official showed up. She said her name was Karen and that he couldn't be feeding people like this. Karen said Dave needed the proper permits, it was unsafe plus he was degrading the poor, needy people by requiring them to work. The local people were gathered around to look at this crazy woman. Karen faced the people and told the people did not have to do work to get food, they were entitled to free food and deserved it. She explained to the people that all they had to do was apply to the government for assistance and the government would give them things. All the people had to do was agree not to work at a job, be lazy and give up all their freedoms.

Karen held up a clipboard and said she would start taking applications now. 5 women stepped forward and Karen looked at Dave and smirked. The women encircled her, grabbed a hold of her and took her behind a building. Dave heard a bunch of screams of pain and sobbing. Minutes later the women dragged Karen back out. Her clothes were ripped, her hair messed up and looked like there was some missing. She had a black eye, her cheek had a red hand print that was swelling and it looked like she was missing a tooth. The women threw her against her car and told her to never come back spreading her garbage ideas. Karen got in her car and drove away.

[gipsy]

"tight knit" might be better and Karen got what she deserved

[iamnobody]

The crops were doing good. By mid July the field corn was already chest high and garden crops like bush green beans were hanging full of baby beans almost ready to harvest in a week. Temperatures were a nice 78F. Early one morning, while tending the animals, Dave again noticed the jet trails everywhere in the sky. They started out like before, as individual trails, then spread out and blended as solid covering.

That night on the weather news, a weather alert was issued for heavy rains. The next day saw the rains start and out of the next 30 days, it rained 25 of those days. Often they got 3 to 5 inches a day of rain and the temperatures were hovering around 90F. The humidity levels were nasty and mold was trying to grow everywhere. When the rains finally stopped and Dave checked the crops, everything was a moldy, slimy, rotting mess.

Again this unexpected storm had covered all States from the mid west to the east coast. All crops had been a total loss. Rivers had flooded, bridges had been stressed and big city sewage systems were overloaded and spilling raw sewage. Truckers from the rest of the country had loaded trailers of food and supplies, trying to deliver to the affected States. The Federal government in their wonderful wisdom announced that truckers would now need special training and permits before they could enter and cross State borders.

There was a massive outcry of rage from the truckers and people all over the country. The truckers said no to the Federal government and formed long convoys and headed east. People formed along the roads and on over passes showing support to the truckers. State police were sent to set up roadblocks to stop the truckers. People started pelting the State police cars with bottles and rocks, smashing the windows out and stoning the police as they exited the cars. Any State police that were able to set up roadblocks, the truckers just plowed through them, tossing police cars to the side of the road.

National Guard troops were called up to help the police but many refused the call up. The Federal government called out the military. The US Air Force was ordered to bomb the convoys. Many of the officer pilots were going to obey their orders but many enlisted men grounded the planes by saying there were bad parts that made the planes unsafe to fly.

The US Army was in the same shape, about 50% for obeying orders and 50% against the unlawful orders. Then the American people chimed in and said that they would start shooting any military or police personnel trying to stop the truckers. The military and police finally stood down and the truckers were delivering the needed food and supplies to their fellow countrymen. Dave was watching all this on the news in utter disbelief at the State and Federal governments turning against the people that they were supposed to be protecting and representing.

[iamnobody]

Feb 5, 2022 10:51:38 GMT -6 gipsy said:

"tight knit" might be better

Thanks and corrected.

[iamnobody]

They had some crops from the high tunnels but not like they would of. He tried placing fresh food orders and for canned foods but they were high in price even when they could be found. A lot of local people were only eating 2 meals a day. The town grocery store and diner still had food from the basements and Dave made sure it was sold at prices reflecting the cheaper wholesale prices when they had been bought.

In October, Granny was over visiting with a friend, Dave had just came in the cabin from tending the animals. Mae said “wash your hands for lunch dad.” He was half way through washing his hands before what she said sunk in. Dad? Dad! He took her hands in his, looking her in the eyes and asked “are you sure?” Yes, she is due in May. Dave let out a yell of delight that Granny heard at her friend's place ½ mile away.

Dave had lots to do – baby crib, clothes, blankets, Mae wanted cloth diapers because it was healthier for the baby. He was all excited and Mae had to tell him to take it easy, there was plenty of time. He was there for every visit to Ruth's for checkups.

Food and supplies were more available but the prices weren't coming back down. Dave restocked the food in the basements of the grocery store and diner. In fact he crammed so much in there that there was only small walkways.

By December the banks were charging negative 1% interest on all money in the bank. Meaning they charged a fee of $1 for every $100 a person had in the bank. With most people's paychecks required to be direct deposited into the bank, the negative 1% was taken as soon as the check was deposited.

[iamnobody]

Taking lessons from the 2 extremes of weather they had in the past 12 months, Dave erected a small greenhouse to start seeds for vegetable plants. It would be heated by a woodstove. He had also read about low tunnels and had 2 truckloads of ½ inch pvc pipe 10 feet long. Also 3 truckloads of plastic covering. He held classes to show how anyone could bend the ovc pipe arched over a 5 feet wide row of ground, cover it with plastic and have a quick, cheap way to extend the growing season. Everyone wanted to do it and Dave sold them the material at a small profit and turned the money around and bought more pvc pipe and plastic for putting in storage.

For the feed mill, he ordered a lot of open pollinated seeds for the garden and field. He got several truckloads of bulk fertilizer. They would sell to the customer by the pound. A year ago, 10-10-10 fertilizer cost $14 a 50 pound bag, now it cost $30. Dave had 2 truckloads of assorted bags of animal feed delivered. Another truck had assorted Connibear traps and fishing supplies plus a bunch of bib overalls in assorted sizes. It seemed like everyone in the area wore bibs.

Clyde was surprised when another 3 truckloads of ammo showed up. Clyde had also picked up more full auto guns from the black market. He had also continued to buy a lot more used guns for hunting. Clyde's place had more inventory than a lot of major big city gun stores.

Dave ordered another 3 truckloads of ammo for himself. He figured that he had more ammo stored than some smaller countries had for their military. He was stocking both fmj and hunting rounds. He was ordering anything he could get his hands on. That way after the economy collapse, he and his family maybe could open stores to sell needed supplies.

This winter was a normal one. February came around and on Sweetheart's day, the banks announced a negative 5% interest on bank deposits. At the same time, the Federal government announced they would be soon switching over to CBDC – Central Bank Digital Currency.. Which they said would be so much safer for the people. Dave thought of the old saying about the most dreaded words of “I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.”

He sat down with Mae and Granny and asked them what else they could buy, how could he protect the money. Granny asked how much was he talking about, Dave said there was still $6,000,000. Mae's mouth dropped open and she stuttered “you still have that much?” Dave told her “we” have that much yet.

He said that his late wife had did him nasty all those years, but the money he got when she died has funded all these purchases so that Dave could provide for Mae, his child and Granny in these uncertain times. Granny asked if he had considered getting silver. She remembered talk of how her parents were glad to have some silver dollars during the Great Depression.

He looked online at silver and decided on a $1,000,000 worth of US Silver dollars, pre '64 quarters and dimes. He told the company to deliver it in an unmarked truck to the feed mill in boxes marked “Not For Human Use.” That he would be there to pick it up at delivery time.

[udwe]

Like I said, "amazing you're so close to what's going on".

[iamnobody]

Dave was there to meet the silver shipment. He was dressed as a local farmer with dirty clothes. He was standing on the loading dock but his FAL was within arms reach as a safety precaution. Also he had Clyde sitting close by in a chair as backup. He had told Clyde to bring serious firepower but didn't know what he had brought. All he saw was a crate that Clyde had his feet propped up on.

The delivery guys showed up in the unmarked truck, Dave showed his ID for verification. The delivery guys opened the back and Dave went in with a hand truck and brought a pallet out, did a quick peek inside the boxes stacked on the pallet, signed the delivery paperwork and the guys drove away.

Dave backed his dump truck up to the dock and started loading boxes. Clyde had seen the boxes marked “Not For Human Use” and thought why would he be brought along for an animal medicine shipment. Then he saw Dave grunting as he lifted the boxes, so he looked away. It was none of his business what Dave had in there.

Back at the cabin, he took one of the boxes inside and opened it for Mae and Granny to see. Inside were bright shiny new US silver dollars. The women had never seen such a sight. Truthfully, neither had he. In his earlier life, he had always used credit cards to pay for everything and then used bank transfers to pay the credit card bills. As an IT man from his old job, he knew that a digital currency would be an alluring thing for a a lot of people. But he also knew the big danger of a Central Bank Digital Currency.

Knowing that a government using such a currency could and probably would control how much a person could spend or on what a person could spend it on. A government could limit how much food a person bought and cite health concerns of gaining weight as a reason to limit food buying. Or limit the amount of fuel because you were a threat to the planet by causing too much carbon. Or forbid the buying of certain things like guns and ammo because they could harm people. And surely no evil government would shut off a person's “digital wallet” because they were politically incorrect. Everything a person did could be controlled by a government using a digital currency. This CBDC screamed danger to Dave. He stashed the silver in one of the basements. He would hold it in reserve and use his money to continue buying things. He had a gut feeling that things were going to get really bad in the near future.

[iamnobody]

Dave was hearing conflicting reports. The regular TV news was showing peaceful scenes of cities where families were happily playing in their yards. The alternative news were showing scenes of families fearfully peeking out from behind windows as riots and looting were going on in the streets over lack of food and no money. The town hadn't seen any trouble since that government official Karen had been there. Most locals had taken to carrying guns now, including Dave. Openly he had his 1911A1 in 45ACP strapped to his waist and any time he went to town, his FAL and a bandoleer of magazines was handy in his car.

Today he had just pulled up to the feed mill to check inventory when a small cargo van pulled up to the grocery store 50 yards away and 4 men jumped out carrying guns and pointing them at people. Now this group was studying diversity and being politically correct because there was 1 white, 1 black, 1 mexican and 1 asian man.

Dave yelled a warning towards the guys inside the feed mill of the attack, while he yanked his car door open, grabbed his FAL and the bandoleer of magazines.

Crouching behind the car motor for protection, he cycled the gun action chambering a 7.62x51 fmj round. He laid on the ground and sighting on 1 of the hoodlums, he stroked the trigger and sent a round center of mass. The 1 thing about ammo is that it does not discriminate against race or gender, the asian man went down with a hole in his chest. Some bullets started coming his way and he heard car windows busting. By now other townspeople were joining in the fight. 2 more of the attackers were down. The remaining man, the black guy, jumped back in the van and sped away.

Checking around, everyone was okay. Checking the attackers, the white man was alive. Dave tried questioning him but all the man did was constant cussing and how they were entitled to free food. Tired of the garbage, Dave pulled out his 1911A1 and put a bullet between the man's eyes. Several of the townspeople loaded the dead men into a truck bed to haul off for disposal.

Back home Mae and Granny saw the shattered car windows and were more worried when Dave told what happened. He said that from now on all 3 would carry rifles when out of the cabin for any reason. They would also have radios to talk with each other.

[iamnobody]

About a week later a lot of the men, including Dave, were in town standing together on the street discussing things when 2 “official” cars pulled up. One was the county Sheriff and the other was a Federal FBI car. The Sheriff got out and there were 2 guys from the FBI. Dave looked at them and shook his head, thinking why do Federal agents always wear dark sunglasses. Did they think that made them look cool.

As the group of 3 approached the townspeople, the townspeople spread out some and faced them. The Sheriff started to talk but the head FBI man cut him off and said “why are you citizens carrying guns on the street?” One of the men from town said that the FBI man was also a citizen and was no better than them. Another man said “the better question is why you FBI men are carrying guns in OUR area.”

The FBI men got red faced and puffed their chests out in a display of intimidation but the Sheriff spoke up and said they were here to investigate violence against peace loving group of men last week that came here. Dave asked who filed such outrageous charges and was told that it was an upstanding man of color. The head FBI man cut in and said this was a racial crime and a domestic terrorist act. Another man looked at the FBI and told them they had no authority to be here, then spoke to the Sheriff and told him that he was the highest law authority in the county and could ordered the FBI to leave. The Sheriff started sputtering but another man spoke up and said the Sheriff could be a small lap dog on the FBI's leash doing tricks for them or remember that he took an oath to uphold what was right, but the Sheriff had to make that decision right now. The Sheriff looked at the FBI, then at the townspeople, straightened himself up to his full height and told the FBI to never come back into the county without his permission again.

The FBI men were purple in the face, filled with rage, and said that they would be back, the town hasn't seen the last of them. The sheriff said that the town had the right to take them into custody if they showed up again and if they tried using force, the town would be able to defend themselves.

As the FBI got in their car and spun gravel as they left, Dave was thinking - “why do public servants who are employees of the people, always think that they are some kind of king to rule over the people.” The townsmen all put their rifles back on safety.