Smoke and Mirrors

                        Graham Heights 

Beginnings

Chapter 3
Smoke and Mirrors

Journal Entry - May 22 2016 
Alan Scott

The Chinese government announced today that they were pulling all military forced back from the Malaysian peninsula.  Their relief efforts were spent and the government was not happy with the results.  The entire southern Asian area was affected by disease and poverty.  Gangs ran any type of settlement and food rarely got to where it was needed.  Most relief agencies had to pull their people out because they were targeted by these insidious groups.  The Chinese government was supposed to help with security; however the corruption amongst their military leaders just made matters worse.   

Our own government was not faring well in this new financial storms.  As the current crisis mounted our government was forced to pull back its monetary backing in countries all around the world.  Smaller countries turned to neighboring counties for help.  Many ended up getting swallowed up to become satellite states of the bigger countries if they were lucky.  The unlucky ones found themselves at the mercy of rebel forces that carved up the country and allowed one loud mouth or another to do as they wished.  Sometimes multiple leaders rose to create civil wars.  Either way many of the smaller counties just ceased to exist.  

Our Federal government continually pump out propaganda that everything will be good, in an attempt to keep the monetary velocity in America moving.  However trust in our elected officials was less than effective and most people started building up supplies.  Prices started to rise and unrest in the inner cities began to increase. Then they introduced the Inflation act which looked good on the surface, but cause even higher inflation. The act syphoned enormous amounts of money into project that helped politicians and their families by creating infrastructure projects so fat with pork and light on oversite. These projects were being pilfered at all levels and very little infrastructure was actually getting fixed. Oh the higher prophile things were getting fixed, but that little bridge that linked a rural community to larger one. Nope. So many people were getting into the "I'm going to get mine" mode that much of it was overlooked by authorities. All this money was driving up prices not bringing them down.

I had to make a decision.  My best friend had been building up supplies and materials that would get us through such times.  We had discussed it on several occasions but I was not willing to think that our system would allow us to get that far.  It wasn’t till I learned that the market was being manipulated by the government in order to make it look profitable.  In reality the Stock Market was being propped up by a thin green line that lead to the Federal Reserve.  Printing money that had no backing, was an easy fix to a much bigger problem.  The only catch was, that if something went wrong and you got caught, it was certain doom for the system.  I was no historian, however throughout history we have learned of counties that did this and they are not with us today.  

I did a little more investigation and the more I learned the more I am convinced that this system is choking itself to death.  The division in our government, people and religions are creating such a separation that we can not be called one nation.  The concept of diversity is good  and we need each other’s differences to be a more well rounded person, however it is eroding the very moral fabric that makes us unified.  

I have watched in horror as criminals are hoisted up on pedestals as heros and the cops that stopped them from committing crimes were chastised by the media for doing their jobs to protect us.  It was just another wake up call that there was something very wrong.   What’s worse, is that our elected officials were actually agreeing with these hooligans and calling for their constituents to rebel, throw rocks and assault police officer that were just doing their jobs.  I could not agree with the way our society was going and so, we were going to have to divorce ourselves from a system that called good, bad and bad, good.  

I went to Mike’s home and asked if I could stockpile food and supplies with him and that if SHTF, that me and my family could join them in an attempt to ride out the turmoil.   To my surprise he just said, “It’s about time.”  He had been waiting for me to ask.  Now the only question was where to start.  

Mike took me to his shed and retrieved a key.  We then went to the back Southwest corner and behind a small grove of trees.  There was a door the led to an underground storage unit.  All plastic and well concealed.  There were no lights or power at all.  We had to use the flashlights that were stored on hooks by the door.  The storage had a few boxes and buckets of material, all labeled and dated.  

Mike then turned and said, “I only have enough for my family to last about three months, if you want to join, we need to triple that amount.”

I was a little shocked.  I have helped Mike install just about everything on his property and I knew nothing about this.  I had to ask, “Is there anything else you want to show me?”

Mike’s only response was  “In time.”

Mike said that they had other things “Stored” but not here and no details as to what that meant.

We returned to the garage and Mike put away the key.  He then turned to me and said, “Even if we combined our two families together, we would not be able to defend ourselves.  We are going to need more.”

“If I read you right, that would mean risk.”  I responded.

“Yep, but if we choose the right ones and we train together, we could be a formidable force.”  Mike said.

“To what end?”  I asked as the hair stood on the back of my neck. What was Mike saying?  What did he want to do out here?  I had no interest in becoming part of some Waco thing.  

“To stay put and keep our families alive.”  Mike responded.

“Nothing more?” I asked.

“Nothing more.” Mike responded.  Mike hung the key up and looked at me, “Welcome to the preppers.”  

To myself I though, Okay so now I’m a prepper, what’s next?

 Mike was reading my mind.  "Let’s get the group together and start with introductions.  From there things will shake out the way they need to."  

                Group?  Okay, now we’re a group?

Next Chapter

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As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

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R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Campaign Cacophony

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

en.wikipedia.org

Chapter 2
Campaign Cacophony

       
Journal Entry - Wednesday, January 20th 2016

Alan Scott

It’s not like me to include things of a political nature to this journal, as I have kept most of the normal stuff out of my prepping folder.  However, the events that are unfolding in America this season, well let’s just say, may inspire our group to work a little harder to get ready.  So, I’m delving into this because it can’t be avoided.  Not that I avoid difficult topics, but politics just seem to be one that most people avoid as there are so many opinions and beliefs that it’s impossible to try and keep any conversation civil.  However, this election we had to vote for a new president and it’s been difficult to watch unfolds.   One does not have to look far to see that this year is different.  Well, it started long before this year, but it’s definitely different than any of the election year(s).  Quit honestly, it's hard to stomach what it happening in the political arena.  And as I see it, I have never seen an election have as detrimental effect on the American population as this one.  The amount of distance that stands between the candidates only emphasizes how polarized we have become.  Usually it’s only a matter of semantics that separate one candidate from another, but not this year.  We started out with a multitude of contenders. It started out civil, but then the media turned it in to a shark's feeding frenzy and blood was in the water. Within a few long months was saw the tattered lives of these people being drug across our TV screens and as candidates were discredited, disgraced, and even destroyed. One by one, they simply bowed out with whatever honor they had left. In the end we were left with three choices; Status Quo, supported by big money and the current regime.   Then Overly Socialist with his desire to stop the uneven distribution of wealth.  And finally, OMG Hyper Charismatic, that gets your blood boiling with every speech.  To say it was not a great choice was quite the understatement.  

Status Quo is backed by big money and corporations but bills herself as a person of the people.  She is no more one of us as a chimpanzee is to a gorilla, but her supporters believe she can keep America moving forward as it should and she will have the support of politicians and corporations that want to keep everything as it is now.  Big money making more money for the 1 percenters.

Then we have Overly Socialist, he is supported by the people and wants to change the way the monetary system doles out its rewards.  As promising as this sounds, he is unlikely to gain enough support amongst the millionaires that make up the majority of the House and Senate.  This will leave him as inert as the last president, so most likely he will do little more than make a few small steps in the direction that would make our live more equitable.  Other than that, he will go down in history as just a inert president that occupied the oval office for 4 year and little more.  

That brings us to our last contestant, Hyper Charismatic.  He has a flamboyant style and uses strong and pointed rhetoric to stir the crowd.  He is about “action” whether it is right or wrong does not matter as much as the level of excitement that it brings.  Which is exactly what he wants, as excitement stirs emotion, Not logic, emotion is what is driving his campaign and this is what we need to talk about.  

 Emotionally driven candidacies are not new, they have been around from the beginning of Man.  They are the ones that shake us out of our apathy and drive us to do what we long to do, but don’t.  Why?  Mostly because we are lazy.  We live our lives just getting enough to be comfortable, which is different for everyone, and then sit in our chair and watch the mind sucking box on the wall.  We watch the commercials that tell us we are less than perfect and that we only need one more thing to be truly happy.  All the while we eat our favorite snack, drink our beverage of choice and believe that this is the life.  Oblivious to what is happening around us, because if we knew, we would not be able to relax, so we work on not knowing.  

 Slowly over time that nine to five jobs that we have done for twenty years becomes obsolete.  We find ourselves outmoded and don’t understand why.  We’ve done a good job.  We put in our eight hours of mind dulling work and we should get paid.  But now your job is being shipped to somewhere else or is being done by a computerized machine.  What are you to do?  Complain.  Yell about how unfair it is.  Oh, and here’s a good one; Blame someone else.  It the politicians’ fault that my job went away, or it’s the rich man just trying to grab more money.  Yes, it’s always someone else’s fault.  

 This is the perfect climate for a charismatic politician to strike.  You are already upset and there are so many reasons and people to blame, so you listen.  And you hear something you want to hear, so you listen some more.  He is telling you that you have a right to be angry.  He is telling you that you can use your emotions to get what you want.  He is telling you that we have someone that will pay for what has happened to you…. And you listen.  

 Much like a soothsayer he gives you just enough truth to believe the rest of what he is saying.  Is there injustice happening to people everyday? Yes.  Is there an undertow of rhetoric that tells you that you are inferior and that you need more stuff to make you as good as the next guy? Yes.  Is the system stacked in favor of the rich? Yes.  Is there racism, sexism and prejudice activities everyday? Yes.  The answer is YES! and it must stop.  This is the emotional battle cry.  We need to rise up and do something about it!  We need to take action!  

 We have heard these words before.  We have seen what these words can do.  But time has made us dull and dimwitted, so we listen.   Our lives are not what we want them to be, because someone has taken it from us.  We hear that we can be great again.  That we can do something to stop the pain...so we listen.  Many greats have used this tactic in the past, Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler were all very charismatic leaders that cried out against perceived injustice and won the hearts of the people...

 It will not matter who wins this year, the remnant of the emotional tide will reverberate in the air no matter who is elected.  Rise up and do something to take back what is yours.  This is not a logical approach to success.  Logic has nothing to do with an emotional response.  As a matter of fact, the logic centers of the brain cannot get a signal through when emotions run rampant.   However, emotions are short term and if by some miracle logic should win this round and emotions fade, they will not be extinguished.  The embers will remain.

 By November we only had two choices, Hyper Charismatic and Status Quo.  The rallies were crazed with both excitement and emotion.  Protesters were poised to do harm in every city that either of the candidates went to.  Threats to family members became more than threats, America was at each other’s throats and no election was going to stop this.  This emotional rollercoaster was going to follow whoever got into office.  It would not be as flammable, but the powder keg was still there, waiting for some event to spark its ignition.  Or in other terms, the embers of emotions were still burning, and it only needed someone to fan them in order to create a fire that would consume us all over again.

 It’s just a matter of time...

Next Chapter

Please add a comment.

If you like Graham Heights, please share the link with friends www.rogeratlarge.com.

As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

You can Leave a comment.  

Or follow us on Facebook.  

Or hit the subscribe button to get updates on new chapters or books.

Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

We Gotta Go!

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

We only intended to hide from the chaos.  We never dreamed that we would be chosen to colonize the stars and ensure the survival of the human race while the Earth rebuilt itself.  

PIXNIO

Prologue:

 I'm sitting on a mountain that no human has ever set foot on. Looking at the beginning of a settlement built by those not of this world. And yet I can not be a part of it.  I can not join the thousands of humans that will build a new world.  I am set apart by my burden.  One that only a handful of people know about and have sworn to carry.  We will carry this burden until we can either deliver to a save place or we will pass it on to others to carry.  

My name is Harold Hansen Jr. I am the son of Captain Harold Hansen, the man who got us here. And the great, great grandson of Alan M. Scott, a leader of those that survived the downfall. Our story begins almost six hundred years ago on a planet called Earth. Only the Remnant know of this truth,  as its been removed from the memories of the colinis. They only know that this planet is our home now. 
As far as the official records goes, we don't exist.  We live between the walls and under the deck plates and in places that no one ever goes.  We record the history that slips from others memories and we know where we come from.
      My mother, Julia Scott, was the keeper of the Journals of her  great grand father.  And was the one that saw the truth slip from others memories.  It was her efforts that kept the Journals alive and intact.  We keep these journals and a few other books to preserve the truth as to who we are.  In the following pages you will read of the fall of man; "Beginnings" in the form of Alan Scott's journals.  The rise of a new society that is faced with a choice to live on a dying world or to take to the stars.  This is "Rainier".  And how we became the Remnant and keepers of the truth; "MayFlower". This history is limited in scope, but it is all we have left, and we must keep it from being discovered by those that would pervert history to their favor...

  Chapter 1

We Gota Go!

Journal Entry - Friday, March 18^th 2018 
Alan Scott    

The day we dreaded has finally arrived….   

“Hurry, leave those, we won’t be needing them.”  Alan Scott was ushering his kids to the car while Junior threw some more sleeping bags in the back.”  Alison was already in the driver’s seat with the car running.  Alan focused on getting his daughter buckled in and kissed her dark forehead.  Her nappy hair tickled his nose.  She was 5 going on 10, wise beyond her years due to the abuse she had been subjected to by those that were supposed to keep her safe.  Her brother had been spared most of this abuse, why who could tell, abuse has no rhyme or reason.  He was 7 and he knew how to buckle himself in.  

 Alan walked around to the driver’s side and leaned into the window. “Take the back roads past Sunrise.” He looked at her scared face, “It will be fine, everyone still believes what they are saying on the news.  Just get out of town and I will meet you there.”  Looking across at the young man in the passenger seat, “Take care of her and try not to shoot anyone, it scares the kids.”

 “Are you sure we have to do this?” Alison did not want to leave the comforts of their home.

 Alan looked at the clouds of smoke that seemed just miles away. “Yes.”  He looked at the house and then at his wife of six years. “Yes, we have to leave.” He looked at the ground, “If we don’t go now…well, It’s now or never.”

 Alison looked at the steering wheel, “How long will you be?”

 Alan said, while looking at the house, “It’s almost ready, I just need to load the old truck and then I can start out, but I’ll be slower with all the weight”

 Alison shook her head, “Why. Just leave that old thing and let’s go now.”

 Alan shook his head and said, “With the way things are going, it will be one of the few things we can keep running.”

 Alison did not like it but, knew that when her husband “knew” something, well it usually came true.  She had learned to become dependent on his intuition.  Besides it was what brought them together in the first place.  A smile came across her face as she remembered that night.  “I trust you.”  She put the car in drive and looked out the open window, “Don’t be long.”

 Alan watched his wife drive away, a huge piece of his heart was driving out of that driveway and he quickly turned and looked back at the house, he knew that they would never return.  Once that thought was extinguished, Alan busied himself in the back yard.  The large truck was already packed and attached to the double axle trailer.  The “old truck” was sitting at the base of the trailer and running.  It took a while for the old beast warm up and if it wasn’t warm, well she didn’t cooperate.  Alan went to the shed, which was all but empty and closed the door, he put the lock on it and then proceeded to make the place look like people were still there, He needed people to believe that they were still living there.  It would give the house time before someone torched it.  He looked over the fence towards the neighbor's house or what was left of it.  It was a cold reminder of how close death was.  The charred remains of a home, that no one came to save, was an example of how the emergency services were already stretched beyond their limits.

 Turning to the old truck he opened the door and jumped in.  It was so small as compared to his newer truck.  Pushing in the clutch he coaxed the gear shifter into first.  The truck resisted the idea of moving, but the Alan knew how to work the throttle and the choke to keep the engine alive when it was on the cold side.  He drove the truck up on the trailer and felt the bump of the front tire that indicated that it was in position.  

 It has been nine years of work on this old beast, it ran great, once it was warm, but it still looked like a pile of rusted parts.  This would serve him them well now.  No one would give this old beast a second look and that was what they needed, to hide in plain sight.

 The rest of the packing went well, and Alan was ready to go.  He looked at his home. No, the place that he and his wife had made a home.  His home was fifteen miles south by now, and that is where he needed to be.

 Getting into the “big” truck Alan looked at all he had done over the last nine years.  He knew it would be the last time he would see it this way.  Putting the truck in drive he pulled out of the gate, that lead from the back yard and onto the street.  The wind had changed directions, it was now moving South.  The stench of the smoke told him that more than wood and plastic was burning.  He wondered if he should torch his home as well or leave it to someone else.  As the house was on a corner lot, he continued to look at it as he entered the main road and one last look at the old brick house, “You… take care.”  A tear rolled down his face.  Turning his head, he set his mind to getting South.  The big truck pulled at the load and moved out.

 At first the trip was easier than he had anticipated, he steered the truck with his right hand and held a gun in his left.  He was hoping that he would not have to use it but was ready and willing.  Times had been bad, but lately they were really bad.  He knew that people would probably ignore a car that was only hauling minor things, but a truck that was fully loaded with stuff was a tempting target.  That is why he sent Alison on ahead.  Due to the size of the truck and trailer,  Alan decided to use Meridian as it afforded him more maneuvering room than the back way, beside this normally overburden road would be all but empty now.  

Slowly Alan made his way down the street.  The Traffic lights were missing and debris was scattered all over the road, most of the businesses on either side of the street were burnt, burning or smoldering.  Just weeks ago, it was a different story, but that reality was gone and it would remain like this until the current reality changed.

Suddenly, a man came running out from one of the abandoned vehicles, he was waving a bat.  Without hesitation Alan brought up the gun and shot him in the chest.  The man continued to run at him, Alan shot again, and the man fell over.  Without stopping Alan looked for a second or third, none came.  

They would stay hidden, knowing they could not overpower a man with a gun.  Alan hit the accelerator and sped through the next intersection.  Searching the road for any traps, as the dead man might be part of a larger party.  Alan avoided two more abandoned cars and some small buildings, then another intersection.  This was going well until he spotted some spikes in the roads.  Alan was not going to stop, he scanned the sidewalk, it appears to be clear and pointed the truck toward it.  The burnt building to the right could be harboring more men, but he would have to chance it.  The truck jolted as it climbed the curb and Alan aimed it so that two tires were on the sidewalk and two in the grass.   This worked well until the next intersection and he had to go back onto the street to avoid the one light pole that was still standing.  He scanned the road for more spikes but could not see any.  He continued another six miles cautiously and painfully slow for his taste.  

At the old shopping center on 160th he spotted a woman with a child that was clinging to her side.  She looked pitiful.  She looked directly at Alan but did not say anything.  Alan shook his head no and started to accelerate.  A shot rang out and a bullet hit the windshield then another, Alan accelerated more and swerved a few times to make it as hard as possible for the shooter.  The shoots stopped as he continued to speed away.  He had another six miles to go, but they would get easier as the distance between him and his home town grew larger.  Besides he was just three miles to the first checkpoint.  

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and he approached the checkpoint and slowed the vehicle.  A man in camo gear approached the vehicle.

 “Alan, glad to see you could make it.”  Said a jovial man in his fifties.  He looked at the bullet holes in the windshield and then back at Alan “Alison came through almost an hour ago.”

 That’s what Alan like about Mike, no small talk.   Alan looked at him and said, “Thanks Mike, how’s everything else?”

 Mike shook his head, “We're only going to be able to hold this position for a week, then we are going to have to pull back to the main gate.”

 Alan shook my head and said, “I’ll talk to the council, I don’t think we should wait for it to become a fight, we should pull back now.” looked back the way he'd just come, “they’re getting desperate.”

 Mike shook his head, “not ready yet.  Another two days and we should be good.”

 Alan looked at Mike and said, “Be careful out there.”

 Mike clapped Alan on the arm and smiled, then turned and signaled for the gate to be opened.  He aimed his truck through the small gap in the barricade.  As he drove through a dark cloud block the sun and it became so dark the lights on the truck came on.  A tear rolled down his cheek as he remembered the woman’s face just few miles back.  He knew it was a trap for him, but she was also trapped.  Trapped on the wrong side of the wall.  

 The wall, I guess I should explain how that came to be.

Two years earlier…

Next Chapter

Please add a comment.

If you like Graham Heights, please share the link with friends www.rogeratlarge.com.

As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

You can Leave a comment.  

Or follow us on Facebook.  

Or hit the subscribe button to get updates on new chapters or books.

Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.