Samson Davis swung by the house at his lunch-break to retrieve his phone before heading east, off the property to use it. He wanted to research swales or "key-line detention ponds". The three new cows drank as much water as twenty humans and the weather was only going to get hotter.
Turning on the phone, he was unable to connect with his cell provider. That was unusual!
As he stared at the deep-blue screen, a message started scrolling across it and started looping.
“11:23 EST EXECUTIVE ORDER from President Albert: To all citizens. Shelter in Place. Do not leave your homes, school or place of business. More information to follow.”
“Oh crap! It started!” Samson thought. He tucked the phone into his pocket and went to find Heddy. Samson was sure that WWIII had just started.
***
The Sheriff called all of the non-corrections staff who were on duty into the squad room.
“I was just informed that all Law Enforcement Personnel will be Federalized as-of noon, Eastern Standard Time today” he informed the assembled staff.
“Does being Federalized mean that we can be ordered to leave Rhea County?” Deputy Canina asked.
“I cannot answer that” the Sheriff admitted.
Canina turned to leave the meeting.
“Where are you going?” the Sheriff asked. “I haven’t dismissed the meeting yet.”
“I just resigned and I am going to clean out my locker before the clock hits noon” Canina said. “...unless you want me to disrobe here in front of the staff.”
Canina came from a military family and she had a very clear understanding about the consequences of being AWOL after one was “Federalized”. Whatever had happened had thoroughly spooked The Feds and they were not screwing around. Canina would rather take her chances as a civilian than as a "door-kicker".
“Just give me your badge and weapon” the Sheriff said. "Leave the rest of your gear in your locker."
Canina unpinned her badge and handed it to him. Then she dropped the magazine from her weapon, racked the slide, reinserted her duty pistol into the holster and then handed the holster and belt to the Sheriff. Two other deputies were standing behind Canina and doing the same thing. Most of the office-staff elected to stay in their positions.
***
11:40 EST EXECUTIVE ORDER from President Albert: Martial Law is declared and Right-to-Assemble is suspended until further notice.
Current estimate is that two weeks will be required to contain terrorist elements.
***
11:45 EST EXECUTIVE ORDER from President Albert: No Semi Tractor-Trailer trucks to be allowed in tunnels or on bridges crossing navigable rivers (List attached, subject to later additions) or on roads that pass beneath rail lines prior to being searched by certified explosives-sensing dogs or certified technicians using calibrated “sniffers”. Use of lethal force authorized to stop rogue trucks.
***
11:55 EST EXECUTIVE ORDER from President Albert: People operating “drones” within 400 meters of transformer substations or power generation plants to be detained and their aircraft to be crash-landed. No exceptions. Use of lethal force is authorized.
***
12:07 EST EXECUTIVE ORDER from President Albert: URGENT! All fuel stations to discontinue sale of diesel fuel and to restrict customer to one-gallon of gasoline per day, effective immediately.
***
12:15 EST EXECUTIVE ORDER from President Albert: Only Federalized Forces are allowed to possess firearms. Violation of this order is subject to summary execution.
Details for turning in firearms to be published at a later date.
***
In a suburb south of Cincinnati Fred Jaeger told his boss "I have to go home. My wife has panic-attacks. She gets anxiety and thinks she is having a heart attack."
Fred's boss told him to not punch out. He would take care of it. By manually entering the "punch", his boss could avoid the hassle that might come from allowing one of his charges to violate the Executive Order. He could pretend that he simply thought Fred had forgotten to punch-out.
Brittany, Fred's wife was no more prone to panic than anybody else but they had talked about what “On your mark, get set, GO!” would look like. The shelter-in-place order matched the description.
Fred knew that it would take time to enforce the orders. The Jaeger family could either move now and apologize if caught...or wait for months or even years as the "two weeks to control the situation" and "...in an abundance of caution..." played out.
Brittany was happy that Fred had been a stickler for keeping the vehicles more than half full of fuel. In normal times it was a three-hour drive to Copperhead Cove but Fred already had a route using back-roads highlighted out on the paper map-book. And he had alternates in case choke-points were impassible. Thank God they lived on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River!
Fred stuck the thin poly tubing down the fuel-fill pipe of the Camry to drain it into jerry cans. They would would only be taking Fred's extended-cab pickup.
As the low-voltage pump hummed away, Fred started moving tubs from the shelving that lined the front of his garage into the trailer staged in the turn-around where the kids had a basketball hoop. He figured he had about two-and-a-half hours before the kids got home from school before they could flee.
Fred had the tubs color coded with the stickers folks used at yard-sales. The heaviest tubs went in the front of the trailer and on the bottom level.
The last thing Fred had on his check-list to pack were twenty, used, 300 Watt solar panels and the controllers for them.
1st Thessalonians 5: 3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.…
ReplyDeleteSuddenly trouble, often the way of the world as mentioned a few dozen times across that history book known as the bible.
The kids being at school is going to be the tough nut to crack. They're full of government employees that are emotionally-controlled. They're not going to go against an EO.
ReplyDeleteFred's going to have to go in and get them, and if there's a "school resource officer" inside, things could get dicey.
Also, if your plan is to siphon gas from your unused vehicles, try it before you need it. Most, if not all, cars today have valves in the filler necks to prevent fuel from being siphoned out, or spilling out in a crash.
Anon,would first say have full jugs with PRI G that is rotated on regular basis along with my limit of no more then a 1/4 tank down on vehicles(pain some times but worth it).
DeleteAs for siphoning,I like the shake and bake siphons and if car equipped with anti siphon fill just cut out the rubber fill tube a ways down with bread knife/hand saw ect. and you are good for go,just DO NOT use a corded/battery operated tool to do this.
Interesting times.
If your vehicle's fuel pump is electric (almost all of them are) then there are easier ways than a siphon to get that fuel out of car #1 and into a can.
Delete*poof*
ReplyDelete...and just like that 2nd amendment is vaporized
THANK YOU PATRIOT ACT!
If an Act, or part of it, is in violation of the Constitution, such Act or part is invalid and can not be legally enforced. That said, might makes right. .Gov can substitute for 'might' in this instance. Further, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. I am neither a lawyer nor Cinncinatus so do as you think best when the time comes.
DeleteInteresting, Joe - and quite likely, what would actually happen: no news bulletins, no lead up, just the announcements.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder what - if any - justification will be given.
“So it begins—the battle for our age.” ~ Théoden
ReplyDeleteThanks for spelling out for the Biden regime how it's done.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he spelled out anything for them. Thet aren't stupid you know. Dare I say, some have even read history books.
ReplyDeleteThey aren't ALL that stupid.
DeleteThere will be a warning. Three days before, Seventeen thousand one way flights will leave this country, for australia , new zealand, belize, etc. Congressman, rinos, there type. Woody
ReplyDeleteLOL like the ememedia would tell us about THAT.
DeleteI prefer my humor to be the Gomer Pyle version:
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.
And Canina moves to the Cove.... Also, a bit spooky to read the decrees - thank you for reminding us.
ReplyDelete"...interesting times..." we are here.
ReplyDeleteMostly, from here on, you will have to make do with what's on hand, hope you prepped good enough..
A part of me is scared to death of a situation like this, because I know the oppression and suffering that follows. Another part of me feels the call to rise to the challenge, as God made men to do, and exert the strength, skills, and resources He has given me to protect my people, quoting Théoden, as I wrote above, and John McClane: “Yippee ki yay, motherf***er.”
ReplyDeleteThe reality of the decrees is that they are extremely manpower intensive. If you hold the kids past the normal dismissal time...how do you feed them? Do any of them take meds (maybe as many as 1/3!). Bedding? Any parent who shows up and firmly and respectfully says "Give me my kid" will get their kid in MOST places.
ReplyDeleteSomething happened. Based on the decrees it involved power distribution and transportation infrastructure.
Shutting down the flow of semis into major metropolitan areas isn't going to last long. Food. Chems for water-treatment. 40oz Malt Liquor.
However, once having made the decree, Prez "Hey, Hey, Hey" Albert cannot back down because he would lose face. He has to vacuum up massive amounts of manpower and reallocated it so he can go through the motions of following through on his edicts.
Most of that manpower will move to the Gulf, East and West Coasts. The interior (excepting bridges crossing major rivers) and Chicago will be left to shift for themselves.
Buildings that depend on A/C will become unbearable as summer waxes. The niceties of the current legal system will become untenable and "self-deputized citizens" will take whatever steps they deem necessary or expeditious.
First stop of the day, to see what’s happening at Copperhead Cove.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm....,and so it begins.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Fred has in those "heavy totes",best of luck to Fred and all of us!
6000 watts of solar power is a pretty good-sized setup, but does he have any appliances/equipment to use it. Since the Cove is currently off grid, they probably don't have any way to use it, other than perhaps power tools in Gregor's and the others' tool boxes, or maybe the 3-d printer to make the CCArms carbines. A couple of freezers and refrigerators set up in a central location could be really useful, though, especially with the soon to be freshened milk cows
ReplyDelete6000W rated probably comes down to about 5 horsepower at-the-shaft for 6 hours a day, maybe two-days-out-of-three which can be a lot of power or a woefully inadequate amount of power depending on how it is allocated.
DeleteThe first W-hrs (not kW-hrs...we aren't dealing with those kinds of numbers) should be allocated to keeping command-and-control structures in place. Cell phones charged. LED lighting.
Pumping water, if there is enough water to pump, is a high value use. So is running a sturdy washing machine. Dirty skin and grubby clothing cause health issues especially if activities result in skin abrasions or punctures.
Ceiling fans only use a few Watts (maybe 15 or 20W at lowest speed) and air movement helps dry things out. It is most appreciated when power is most available.
A healthy man in the prime of his life can perform about 1/5 of a horse-power of work if he is conditioned for that kind of work. Retrofitting the sawmill with a 3/4 hp induction motor (requires AC power but is supremely robust with regard to the quality of the wave-form) would be a lot slower than the 25 hp internal combustion motor but it will be a lot quieter than the IC motor but a lot faster than having men saw planks in a saw-pit.
I am not an expert on electricity and I am not going to dive into lots of details because I am afraid I will write something really stupid that a reader will take as Gospel and maybe kill themself or their grandkid.
When folks tell me a few hundred watts of solar electricity isn't important. I ask them to turn off their main circuit breaker for a weekend.
DeleteAmazing what just a few hundred watts means when you have NO GRID Power.
Hot days are better with a few fans, laundry dries better in humid environments with a fan. Yes, I've seen outside clothes lines with moldy clothing in real humid windless days.
While a strong man can do 1/5 HP for a while (most of us far less) 200 watts of direct solar power to my ranch pump a few hours a day keeps my IBC water tanks full for critters and gardens. As folks need 5 gallons daily at a minimum for drinking, cooking and helmet bathing how many trips can Rodger (an older gentleman IIRC) and his wife do to the creek?
Now add a slip and twisted ankle to the show.
Just to add simple wiring, a few electric lights, and fans or a pump would be a big help.
ReplyDeleteSouthern NH
Maybe some small panel, solar lights at the outhouse!
DeleteSNH
Coup by executive decree. Excellent twist. Well Done
ReplyDeleteOK, I read this at 0300 in the blessed AM, just because it's a grabber of a story. I'm looking forward to reading about Canina the civilian. Can she talk her way into the Cove? What does she bring to the table/barn/field/etc.? I'm reminded of Heinlein's short story _On the Slopes of Vesuvius_, and how Paddy Hughes was willing to walk away from everything, even if it meant going back to farming. Spoiler: he got out just in time.
ReplyDeleteStay safe