Managealbe

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

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Chapter 14
Manageable

Journal Entry - May 2 2018
Alan Scott

Since the power failed we had to seize control of a few things in order to ration them.  One of our highest priorities was to take control of the water tower that overlooks Graham Heights.  It would be necessary to limit how much water was being used and what it was being used for.  So we secured the wells and closed the valves.  We then placed guards around it 24-7…

We sent men out to spread the word that the valve will be opened for 30 minutes each day at noon.  Everyone was to take what they needed and nothing more.  If the water levels dropped too fast then time would be reduced to 5 minutes each day.  We wanted people to take what they needed, but we needed them to use as much restraint as possible as the alternative was very unpleasant.    We then set up water wheels to produce power that could run the  wells that filled the tank.  It was slow going, but we managed to keep a trickle going all the time and it was manageable.  “Manageable;” that was the word of the year.

It’s May and things are going well.  We have the Spring and Summer planting in and the water tower will be at 100% by the end of this month, if the rains continue.  Things were going well under the circumstances and we set out to add onto the fifteen  water wheels and almost a dozen windmills that produced power for our colony.  It would be feasible to put lights and electric heat at each house by the end of fall.  This was quite a tall order as we had about one hundred homes in the area, however we would be forced to reduce that number to about forty five once the cold weather hit.  Using wood to keep homes warm was only a beacon to those that would take what we have, so we wanted to limit its use to only the worst of weather.  

As for other matters, our border control was still working and we’ve had fewer and fewer incursions as the number of people inhabiting the areas around us dwindled to almost none.   The winter was not harsh.  But cold is cold and when you don’t have the comfort of utilities to keep you warm, you have a tendency to rethink your place in this world.  And staying in a place that is cold and wet much of the year is just not sustainable if you didn’t prepare for it.  So it is believed that millions pick up and moved South.  But as luck would have it we have learned of two other colonies in the area.  One, we know little about as it is Southeast of us, next to the mountains in an area that use to be known as Eatonville.  The other settlement was nothing more than a band of the most ruthless bastards that refused to die.  They moved onto what was JBLM and have secured much of the area by means of killing off anyone else.  We don’t know what they are living off of, but eventually if they don’t plant food, they will be looking for someone who did and take what they have.  I fear that it is only a matter of time before we are forced to defend ourselves from them.  That is why we need to clear our way down to the port of Tacoma.  If we can figure out a way to move some of the containers up here, we could use them to improve our position.

We also wanted to secure any materials that we could use to defend ourselves with and to ensure that they would not be used against us.  I actually had this planned out for some time, as I knew that we would need materials to grow and to help us rebuild the area.  To that end, I knew where things were before the world ended and much of it was of no use to anyone that did not know how to put them together to make something useful.  So most likely they would still be where I last saw them.  I spent much of the winter months making maps for our teams to explore and or bring them back here.  

My time and attention was split between generator building, map making and rewiring the telephone lines to produce a crude field phone system that took little to no energy to use.  Its energy source was a crank generator to produce the ring voltage and then to charge the batteries that provided the power to conveyed your voice across the lines.  We put together ten phones and put them strategically throughout the colony.  Each was assigned a number 1 through 10.  So if you rang five times, I would pick up the line and we could hold a conversation.   This kept the radio signals down to just the most urgent communications.  Hopefully we could make more once we secured some of those resources strung across the area.  

Conservation of power and fuel to the most important matters meant that many things we use to do in a matter of hours, took days or weeks.  So our efforts to plow and plant was strictly a manpower issue as everyone tilled,  hoed and sowed what they could.   This would not have been tolerated in our previous world, but here, we had nothing but time and so we filled it making things manageable.

Next Chapter.

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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

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Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

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

Not Our People

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

en.wikipedia.org 

Chapter 13
Not Our People

Journal Entry - April 12 2018
Personal: Alan Scott

About two am I woke up to shooting again, this time it was just small arms fire in the distance.  The world on the other side or our gates seems to have gone from crazy to insane.  The sheriff and his men have joined our teams and have employed the night vision and infrared   We’ve had a few incursions into the cleared zone, but not as bad as we expected.  But these random shootout, they keep occurring and I wonder who is shooting at who?  We heard all kinds of rumors of anarchist groups that would rise up and destroy as much as they could in the event of the collapse in our social system.  One only wonders if that is causing all the trouble out there, or have neighborhoods turned on neighborhoods in an attempt to have enough supplies to make it to a time when order will be restored.  We do know, that whoever is doing the shooting, they don’t want to go up against someone that can fight back.  In the few times that our “walls” have been tested we have done little more than sniper work and they other side concedes and disappears back into the woods...

Since sleep was going to illude me again, I got up so that Alison could sleep.  I went out to the porch with my M&P9 and AR-15.  My infrared camera was by the front door fully charged and ready for a night of watching.  Our guard dogs were chained to their posts and we were ready for a long night.  As soon as I turned on my viewer I could see someone up by the dogs.  He was petting one of them, so it did not raise any alarm, it could only be one of our own.  The figure started walking my way.  He must have had his night vision on and could see me on the porch.  

I kept my device on his, hoping that I could make out some distinguishing features that would tell me who was approaching.  The figure pointed his gun skyward and I knew it was Mike.  His AR handgun was easy to see on the screen and to date he was the only one that had one of these toys.  

“Hey Mike”  I made sure he knew that I was aware of him.

“Alan.”  That was it.  Just my name and nothing else.  This was remarkable subdued for Mike.

“Whats wrong?” I asked as I had no doubt he was burdened by something.

“They’re killing each other out there.”  He made it sound like a new report, but I knew him better than that.

“We knew they would.”  As we both heard a burst of gunfire that was closer than we wanted to here.  Mike’s radio softly vibrated.  He picked up the mic and talked to it.  “Come back.”  There was a silence as someone reported to his ear piece.  I waited know that I would be filled in.

“Six males tried to cross the no-man's-land and all were shot.” Mike reported to me.  “More are in the trees down by the cemetery.”  Mike waited.  “They are waiting to see if we are going to shoot at them.”  Mike picked up his mic again. “Do you need the sheriff and his truck.”

Mike waited, “Copy that, no truck.”  Another pause.  “Keep your position and let team six take the patrol.” another pause, “Thanks six.  good hunting.”

“Why are you running commander again?”  I asked.

“Can’t sleep anyway, so why not.”  Mike responded.

“Where’s Junior?” I asked.  As he was more than capable, despite his young age, to running the night patrols.  

“He prefers to be out there.” In the dim moonlight I could see Mike pointing Northeast.  

“How long do you think you can keep this up?” I asked again.

“As long as it takes.” Mike said with little emotion.  

“I wonder if all this shooting is being caused by that anarchist group?”  I was fairly sure that it was, but of course we had no way of knowing being tucked in behind our wall.

“The weaponry seems consistent each night.”  Mike commented “And they are using a few automatic weapons, which makes them even more distinct.  

“We have automatic weapons, why can’t others?”  Alan asked.

“These guys obviously do, that’s why we keep hearing them.  I’ve notice the automatic weapons don’t usually start the gunfights.  Usually they start with a few single shots then a lot of single shots followed by the automatic weapons.”  Mike reported.

“They are trying to draw out the heaviest concentration of resistance and then focus their big stuff on that position.”  Now I knew what Mike was concerned with. “These guys are organized and know how to draw others into a fight so they can wipe them out.”

“How long do you think we have before they come after us?”  I had to ask the question.

“I’m fairly sure that those guys that were following the sheriff and his boys were a part of this anarchist group.  If that’s the case, they know that they would not last against us in a straight out fight.” Mike was musing, “They know what we have and so most likely they will probe and prod us to try and expose a weakness.  If they find one, they will exploit it.” Mike paused, “They will keep collecting materials, guns and whatever they can and then when they've exhausted that.  Well, then they are going to throw every nasty trick and devious scheme they can at us.” Mike was trying to get to a point. "We can't wait for them to poke and prod us until they find a hole we haven't filled."  Mike started to walk off.

"Mike!"  I called after him.  "It’s not that simple."  I walked off the porch.  "you know as well as I, we have a very good position here.  We have the high ground and we can see them before they see us."

Mike was not going to hear it again.  "They're running around killing good people and no one is stopping them."

"That's because our government pulled out."  I wanted, no need Mike to support the council's decision. "Mike, they want us out there so they can pick us off like we are doing to them in the no man's land."  I put my hand on his shoulder.  "We would be exposed and if we start losing people we won't have enough labor to get the crops in by the end of this month."

Mike turned around, "Crops!"  He shook his head, "People are dying."

"Yes they are!" I yelled back, "but they are NOT our people!  I’m sorry, Mike, but that's the best we can do!"

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.

JBLM Civil War

Graham Heights 

Beginnings

Wikipedia   

Chapter 12
JBLM Civil War

Journal Entry - March 28 2018
Alan Scott

We were rudely awaken by guns, big ones and explosions that were far larger than any civilians could produce.   At first all you could hear were the big guns going off and then explosions but you didn’t exactly know where they were coming from.  I called the Head of the watch and his teams were trying to figure it out as well.  At first guess it was coming from JBLM, but how could that be, but they were supposedly shipping everything out...  

We had to get to higher ground and figure out what we needed to do next, run or stay.  Graham Heights had one good size hill and that’s where I was headed.  224th was empty so it was easy to get over to Mike’s and he was already waiting by the road.  We raced down 224th and then turned left onto Meridian.  We made it about halfway up the hill and then turned the car sideways in the road.  You could see fires by JBLM and then the thunder of cannons opened up again.  Huge explosion were seen in two locations.  Who ever they were shooting at was right on top of them.  We pulled out our binoculars and focused on JBLM, but we were still too low.  So we jumped back in and headed up the hill.  Others were just starting up the hill as well.   

Mike jumped on his radio and commanded the patrols to stay put and that we would report what we saw and what we thought might be going on just as soon as we could figure it out ourselves.  Either way our boarders are going to be inundated by people trying to get out of the way of all this destruction.

Once at the top of the hill we could see more of the area and our binoculars showed us more smoke and explosions.  Then we heard and saw helicopters that were shooting both missiles and cannons at ground targets.  

Has someone tried to attach the Army?  That would be insane.  

The next six minutes were even stranger.  A prolonged series of cannon fire and explosions on JBLM indicated that whoever JBLM was shooting at, had the capability to shoot back with equal fire power.  The pounding continued and more smoke rose all over Lakewood, JBLM and South Tacoma was really getting in the way of being able to see and or determine who was fighting who or if they might be headed our way.

We reported what we saw to all that were on the radios, but we wanted to keep our conversations short and not draw any attention from these two contenders.  We had nothing that could compete with an Abrams tank or Striker Vehicle, so staying under the radar was vital.  The fighting lasted all night and into the next day.  We kept vigil on our little perch at the top of the hill.  The fires continued to spread from JBLM and all through the South of Tacoma and more.  It did not appear that anyone was making an attempt to put them out and who ever was fighting seemed to have enough ammunition to level the entire area.   It looked like Parkland and Spanaway were also involved in the fighting, which made it insanely too close to us.  

I suspected that the aggressors were trying to do and end run around JBLM and get at the artillery that was pounding them.  The helicopters were gone or destroyed by now, so it was strictly a ground fight and fight it was.  All morning cannons fired and explosions rocked our neck of the woods.  By noon of the second day A-10 Warthogs swooped out of the sky and reduced the number of cannons a little, but they were taking losses.

At 1:30 pm one of the A-10s came our way with a trail of thick black smoke, The pilot bailed and left his crippled ship to blow a whole wherever it landed and since it was headed our way it was going to be a whole that we would have to deal with. Thank God, The aircraft when the ailing aircraft was within a few miles it exploded mid air and disintegrated in a hail of shrapnel.    The bulk of the aircraft landed at least a mile from our boarder.  Shortly after that excitement, other aircraft flying at higher altitudes joined the fight, but due to the clouds and smoke, we never saw them.  Most likely they were F-35s or 22.  They would simply fly over and leave.  Moments later an area of ground would erupt in flames or explosions.    By evening of the second day the cannon fire had ceased.  Just smoke.  

We heard a few aircraft flying high overhead, but that was it.  

Just to keep on the safe side we ordered blackout conditions at night and minimal movement during the day.  With all the activity we did not want to be seen or be misconstrued as aggressive; To whoever was left at JBLM.  

The fires burned for the next four days, however the activity at JBLM seemed to increase as cargo aircraft could be seen coming and going.  The Air Force was really good at moving things in or out of a place and could keep up a blistering pace of aircraft both coming and going.  Since JBLM had two runways that could be utilized by these large flying cargo ships, it was quite a sight to see so many flying in and out of the area.  The big questions was, were they bringing in reinforcements and supplies?  That seemed logical after what we witnessed.  However this activity went on for another six days and then died down.  Finally all activity stopped.  No guns, cannons or aircraft.  Nothing.  Now that seemed very strange.

As for our boarders, we had very little activity.  I was expecting hundreds if not thousands of people fleeing the fighting, but we saw maybe one or two and when they saw the walls and didn’t even challenge them, they just turned and ran the other way.    I kinda wished someone would have petitioned to get in and we would get some answers as to who was fighting who.  By the time it was done most of the Southern Tacoma and surrounding area was blackened.  As the smoke lifted we could hear the sounds of thousands of crows and, an enormous murder of crows were headed toward the carnage.  Seagulls and eagles were next.  The fighting must have left thousands dead or dying and the birds were going to do what they do best, clean up our mess.  

We finally got a drifter at our gate looking for a handout in exchange for information.  

We actually let him in and gave him new clothes and food.  He was eager to tell us what he saw, which was not much, but did reveal some truths.   

From our belligerent guess we discovered that not all the Federal troops were happy with the order to pull out of JBLM and leave us undefended.  So they tried to desert and take as much equipment and ammunition with them.  That’s when the fighting started.  At first it was just on North Fort (The northern half of the Army base known as Fort Lewis).  The commanders on North Fort fought their way over to Logistics and took as many of the warehouses full of munitions as they could and before the Base commander could mobilize against them.  However with much of the artillery still at the base commander's disposal, he drove the deserters into Tillicum, then Lakewood and South Tacoma.  Meanwhile the Freeways were jammed with civilians trying to get away.  The fighting went back and forth and eventually moved into Parkland and Spanaway.  Our guest was not sure why the deserters didn’t just run for the hills, because when fighter jets came on the second day and just started destroying everything, that’s when our guest found his little hole and hid until the shooting stopped.  

I’m not sure what those deserters were actually trying to do or protect, but it seems strange that they didn’t run.  Maybe they were trying to stay behind to help protect the civilians, and when that went south they simply could not get out because of all the civilians had clogged the roads.  Now the deserters would had to run over the very people they were trying to protect.  We tried to get some answers about the civilians and where they were trying to go, but our guest just shrugged his shoulders and said that he was hiding.  

I looked at Mike.

“I know.” I looked down at our guest and back at Mike, “We need to know if we are about to get inundated with refugees.” Mike was already headed for the door.

I asked our guest again, but he stayed with his story about hiding.

Mike returned about ten minutes later, “We are sending out a recon team, just four men.” He looked at our guest, “Maybe we should continue this outside.”

Outside of the small shack we talked about the recon and how they should proceed.  It was decided that they would leave this evening and make their way along Meridian until they reached 158th Street, there they would head West to Fruitland and then make there way to the ridge that overlooked both Puyallup and Tacoma.  There was plenty of trees and houses to maintain cover and with the night vision and infrared cameras the team could avoid contact with others.  This mission would be radio silent, so it was imperative that they stay quiet and get to their objective and back with what they see.  

The team made it to the point and returned in four days.  However their report was horrifying and still didn’t answer some questions.  As for where all the refugee went, they didn’t go far.  Apparently they were slaughtered on the roads.  The first thoroughfare was SR512.  It was overstuffed with vehicles that were on fire or shot up.  Thousands of bodies lay in their vehicles or in the ditches as the birds feast on the routing flesh.  The team members report getting sick at the sight, but pushed on.  Interstate 5 and almost all the roads that lead up to it were as they had seen earlier.  Broken vehicles and bodies by the thousands.  Someone massacred them.  A swing South took them to SR 161 and 167.  Same story.  The roads were no longer passable and the dead would take years to rot away.  Looking West to the port, they noticed a void of boats in the marinas.  So some made it out alive or they sank them in place.  

For good measure the team made its way toward Parkland via Portland Avenue to see if they could get close enough to the battlefield.  This why they could see who was fighting who.  All of the broken vehicles belonged to the Army.  Our own forces were fighting each other.  It was then that the team lead noted that none of the small arms weapons were left behind.  Every handgun and rifle was missing, not even broken ones.  This is what prompted the team to return with haste.  Someone was still here and they were collecting weapons.  From the looks of the Trucks and Tanks, none of them were ever moving again, however this still did not explain all the civilian deaths on the roads.  It was impossible to believe that the aircraft would have bombed or strafed the roads unless they believed that the deserters were trying to escape amongst the civilian, even so, could our Federal troops exterminate that many people just to keep a few deserters in check?

Once the report was given and our recon troops had retired I mused about the fact that we have the most advanced armed services in the world, but how do you determine friend from foe at ten thousand feet.  If, in a rash decision, someone ordered the roads destroyed to keep the deserters from escaping, well... we have seen what the Air Force can do to a column of vehicles no matter how long.  It may have been over in a matter of minutes.  I wondered how many might have gotten away and where they would have run to.  

Now what? And Who is left?  Did the military or what was left, collect all the weapons?  These were the questions that will nag me tonight and many into the coming months.

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.

Point of no Return

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

Wikipedia

Chapter 11
Point of No Return

Journal Entry - March 27 2018
Alan Scott

Tipping point. Without warning our Debit/credit cards stopped working and banks had to close their doors because they did not have enough money to back their accounts.  Our local grocers were out of food in less than a week and without credit they didn't have the means to replenish them.  In no time flat, our old neighborhoods would be full of hungry and dangerous people.   It was no wonder that the sheriff did not return as promised.  It was almost a week before he returned again, but he was not with a large group of deputies.  He had five families, his and four other deputies.  He was held at the gate until I arrived.  I called out to the sheriff and asked him to approach the gate.  He did so with his gun out and held backwards.  The handle pointed at us.  He was surrendering his weapon to us.  I walked out armed only with my 9 and hoped that he did not kill me.  I stopped just short as he did the same.  He gave me his gun.  Then took off his badge and gave it to me as well.

As I recall it went something like this….

“We’ve lost the cities.” He said then hung his head and asked, “Can our… we join you?”

I was not happy to see the defeat in his eyes, it meant that there were a lot of angry people doing so many offal things to each other and we were way too close to it all.  

I asked, “What of the Guard or the military?”

He responded, “The Guard is all but overwhelmed and most have deserted to try and take care of themselves or their families.”  He paused, “As for the military, we have been petitioning the Federal Government to months and they just keep quoting regulations as to not interfere with local affairs.”  

“So they are of little to no help.”  I shook my head in disbelief.

“It’s worse than that.” The sheriff was angry, “They have been pulling out for months.”  He shook his head again, “They have secured the base and have let nothing in or out in months”

“What of the Navy?” My head was swimming.

“From what I understand, Everett is gone, Bremerton is shut down and I doubt Bangor is left either.”  The sheriff was trying to keep a calm voice as he understood the ramifications of having no back-up.

“State Patrol?” I was going through all the possible resources’ that could be used to keep order.

“They were few and far between before it got bad.” The Sheriff said in a low voice.  The look on the Sheriff’s face said it all, “We were alone.”

“How many deputies do you have that you can trust?” I asked

“About five, one is with me.” The Sheriff’s voice was gaining some confidence.

“Are you willing to recognize our council as the leadership that you and your family members will follow, even die for.”

He shook his head yes.

I gave him back his shield, “You will need this sheriff.”  I turned, “Mike! Open up we have some new members.”

Sheriff added, “I have some trucks coming this way with what was left of our armory.  We will have bullet proof vests, night vision glasses, inferred monitors and more than two dozen AR-15 with more ammunition than you could count.”

Mike had joined us and heard what the sheriff said, his response, “We can count real high.”  He winked at the sheriff, “What about food?”

Sheriff responded, “I cleaned out the contingency food bank.  We will have almost a tractor trailer full of MREs and some freeze dried crap that has been in that room for a better part of 10 years.”

Mike was fishing, “So that is where the other four deputies are?”

The sheriff was not stupid, “Mike, if you have something to say.”

Mike adjusted himself and lifted his head, “Just a few days ago you wanted to tear down this wall, now you want to hide behind it?”

Sheriff, “Yes, I want to hide behind it.  I’m a lawman; I swore to uphold the…law, despite what I felt about it.” He paused, “Now, there is no law, not out there.” He pointed North.  

“How is it that your trucks can get here without help? “ I asked.

Sheriff, “They have help.”

“Who?” Now my attention was focused, who is coming?

Sheriff looked a little nervous, “Three of the deputies have grown sons and one daughter, who are riding shotgun and they are bringing the assault truck.”

“It might have been good that you told us that at the beginning.”  I turned to Mike, “Get on the horn and let the advanced team know that a convoy of Sheriff vehicles is headed our way and that they are not to aggress it.”

Mike looked concerned, “How do you know that this is not a trick?”

“Jeeess Mike, His wife and kids are standing at our gate.  Do you think he would allow a fire fight with them in the middle.” I was trying to be reasonable, but it was uncomfortable not knowing these people and what they were capable of.  

Mike conceded, “Shit, I sure hope your right.”

“Me too, but we can tip the odds in our favor.” I said as I turned away from the sheriff and walked to the barricade with the radio to my mouth, “Alpha one.  Do you have a visual on some trucks.”

The radio responded. “Just worked their way past 176th.  There was a pause, “These guys are badass, they have a guy in a turret on the first vehicle.” Another pause, “And two guys in the back truck with guns, big guns.”

I turned to the sheriff, “There almost here, Sheriff I need you to put your families in front of the gate.”  I was going to be sure that this would not be our last stand.”  

The Sheriff looked at me in some disbelief, but then the look changed to understanding.  They were outsiders right now.  He turned and waved to the two vehicles, “Get out and come stand by the gates.”  

Reluctantly they started getting out and walking toward the gate.  Five women and at least eight kids and one deputy.  It was sad to see them line up at the gate.  Had it really come to this, using women and children as a shield?  Have we sunk so low?  Yes, we have.

Within minutes the first truck rumbled into view.  I’m sure the sight was disturbing as the brightly colored band of humans stood in front of a dark and foreboding wall of debris.   The truck stopped about a hundred feet from the wall.  The gunner on the roof ducted down and the side door opened.  A man got out and started walking toward us. The gentlemen removed his helmet revealing his salt and pepper hair.  “Sheriff, what’s going on here?”

The Sheriff and I walked out to talk with the gunner. As we did the second truck pulled up and stopped, this one was a regular tractor trailer set up.  We approached the man.

The Sheriff spoke first, “This is Alan, he runs this group.”

The gunner put out his hand, “Please to meet you, I’m Johnathan.”

I took his hand, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck starting to rise as I realize he could grab me and kill me before anyone could help. He did not. He also did not ask why his family was at the gate either.  It was a new day and this was the new norm.

“I’m sure you will want to inspect what we have brought before we enter, and I don’t blame you.”  He turned and walked back to the armored vehicle.  “This is an urban assault vehicle that was donated by the army.  It is blast resistant and bulletproof.  It has one M-60 mount that is belt fed from the cab.  It can hold four officers inside and can launch grenades or smoke from within.   He removed a piece of cloth from the front bumper as he passed it.  The vehicle had a lot of scratches on the front bumper and the side, “This is the first time we have ever used it as a battering ram.” He shook his head side to side.

The driver and the passenger of the second rig, got out and joined the group, I was feeling really outnumbered and not so brave being so far from the barricade with only a 9 mm to protect myself with.

The Sheriff addressed the passenger, “Alan, meet my son Kenneth.  19, headstrong and a dead shot.  

I shook Kenneth’s hand and we walked to the rear of the trailer.  They opened it and after climbing up the rear bumper-ladder, I could see all the boxes of guns, weapons, ammunition and food.  It was haphazardly piled in the truck and you could see all the way to the front, so there was no hidden army or Trojan horse, this was a truck full of what the sheriff said they were bringing.  That was a relief.

The last trunk pulled up and the men in the back jumped out.  They both had AR-15s with the barrel clips.  They kept the guns pointed skyward as they approached.  The first spoke, “We need to move this party soon, we are being followed.

In my earpiece our forward patrol reported, “Two trucks full of men on approach, not part of the first group.”

“He’s right, we need to move.”  I picked up the mic, “Slow them down, over.”

In my ear. “Roger that. Slow them down… permanently?”

“Sheriff, is this all of your team, no one else?” I had to be sure before we took any action outside our walls.

Sheriff confirmed that he had no one else coming, I responded to the mic, “Permanently.”

In the distance over the crest of the hill, gun fire could be heard to the North.  At first it there was three large caliber shoots then small arms then some more large booms which settled into silence as the echoes faded.  

The Sheriff looked at me, his expression asked, what the hell?

“Sheriff your contribution is nice, but small as compared to what we have.”  I said it with way too much confidence, almost gloating and that was not cool.

We walked back towards the wall.  The Sheriff stopped at the assault vehicle and put his left foot on the running board and grabbed a hand rail that ran the length of the vehicle.  I matched his move and so did Jonathan.  Johnathan then banged the side twice and we started moving towards the barricade.  We stopped just short of the line of people outside the wall.  I jumped down and walked up to the wall, turned and said, “Welcome to Graham Heights.”  I could hear the gate moving behind me, it was real dramatic.   I just wish we had a camera on it.  The only problem was, that in my mind I saw a Hollywood action hero standing at the gate.  In reality I’m a middle aged, overweight guy that did not get a haircut in past month, so my hair had a tendency to stick out on the side.  So, if I’d had a camera, the reality of just who I am would have deflated my imagination.

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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Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

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