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Part 37
Jim had met with Mr. Gibson again and Jim set the date for the meet and the communal butchering of two cows. Several of the group members spent an afternoon writing out by hand a couple dozen "notices" about the gathering. This included information telling people to bring firewood, large pots, any canning jars, lids, etc. that they had, salt, etc.
"Why don't you just print those out on the computer?" Bill asked.
"Don't you think that seeing computer printed sheets on computer paper might give away that we have power and some working electronics?" Jim said.
Bill just nodded his head. Jim hadn't thought of everything, but he didn't miss much.
"That's why some of these are half in pen and then the other half in pencil isn't it?" Lyle asked.
"Yep, that's part of it also." Jim smiled and winked at his nephew, "I'm glad I got you guys to think of all this for me..." Jim joked.
"Aren't we taking a helluva risk with your plan Jim?" Bill asked.
"Without a doubt." Jim said. "I figure it this way, we can sit here in our little stronghold and do nothing. If the area gets organized one of the first tasks will be acquisition of supplies. Then we will be facing locals, semi organized, with a purpose that will see US as the enemy. That is absolutely why we have to be- for lack of a better phrase- in on the ground level, of this organization phase."
"Why don't we just tell them what we did to Gomez crew, then they will either be frightened or appreciative, or both." Lyle said.
"At some point in time, law and order may very well return. Some liberal will be looking for a job. Eventually one of them might get the great idea to investigate and eventually prosecute people like us that killed murdering raping thieves like Gomez crew. I'd love to think liberalism died in all that happened, but idiots have a way of making it and continuing on. All we can hope is that enough people with brains made it and more liberals died out." Todd replied.
They all laughed. But Todd was only half joking.
He went on. "This is a risky time and like I said, I think too early to start any "community" efforts. While people in these rural areas have always had more of a sense of community than in the suburbs, everyone is still focused solely on themselves and I think it will remain that way for a while. We want to provide some help, if for nothing else than to remembered as a help to the community, not a hindrance. Also for all the security reasons I mentioned before I think we HAVE to get involved. That being said, as much as possible we are going to play this on the down low." Todd finished.
One of the things Jim had considered way back when, but never acted on, was the idea of having a couple more "normal" looking rifles. Jim had realized that the presence of ANY weapon amongst a group of people in bad times would be considered a threat by the right person, whether it be an AK 47, an AR15 or a Winchester 70. Jim just didn't like the idea of handicapping himself with lesser firearms in an attempt to "fit in." His plan was never to stay in the suburbs and try to be the only well fed family amongst 500,000 starving pilgrims. He knew that was suicide. Out in the middle of nowhere without 50,000 people living within a couple miles, their wouldn't be the need to try to play those little "hide amongst the sea of humanity" games. From the stories they were hearing on the radio and from some of the folks they talked to, the cities and the suburbs were clearly NOT the place to be. Too many people, too little resources for the long haul, too fragile infrastructure. Americans were finally back to being truly on their own.
Jim decided to take the Trijicon ACOG off the M1A and carry that in for the community butchering season. It had the most "wood" look and the shortest magazine with a 20 round magazine. He would tuck two on his person and conceal his Glock 26 and some 17 round magazines on his person also. More important than "blending in" was the fact that Jim wanted as much as possible to not get fingered for the Gomez hit. Everyone in the Group was cautioned to not mention it if they ever interacted with anyone in the area. The real chances of anything ever coming out it were slim, but even in the 21st century, "loose lips" did in fact "sink ships." Lyle had volunteered to go with Jim to the meetup and would carry a Winchester Defender shotgun in 12 gauge. While they had very few of the "short" 12 gauge rounds, Lyle would use some of them in the tube of the shotgun to slightly up the number of rounds he already had loaded in the weapon.
The week prior to the meetup, Jim and Lyle did not shower or shave at all. Both men were now a little on the thin side anyways, so that negated the problem of sending someone who looked very well fed to the meetup. Kat and some of the gals offered to use some makeup to make their eyes look a little hollow, etc. but it was decided against doing that. The idea was to look lean and hungry but not sickly or an easy target due to malnutrition, etc. The morning before the meet they spent a lot of time by an outside campfire liberally "smoking" their clothes. Jim wore concealable Level IIIA body armor. Kat offered Lyle her set of concealable armor but Lyle refused saying "I'm almost a foot taller than you, my stomach wouldn't be covered at all, what's the point?" Kat asked him twice if he was sure. Lyle kept it to himself but he refused more because someone else in a dangerous job could then retain the armor.
A couple of cows had been retrieved one night after Mr. Gibson confirmed the date. They kept the two in the pasture with the Group's cows after taking a circuitous route back to the retreat, brushing out tracks here and there.
Steve had commented to the others, "so here we were brushing out COW tracks from sandy areas, and all I can think about is that episode of Andy Grifith where the guy steals the cows and put old boots on the cow's feet to fool the cops."
They had a good laugh at that one and Jim showed that episode on DVD that night to a couple of them. The next day would prove very interesting.....
Jim had met with Mr. Gibson again and Jim set the date for the meet and the communal butchering of two cows. Several of the group members spent an afternoon writing out by hand a couple dozen "notices" about the gathering. This included information telling people to bring firewood, large pots, any canning jars, lids, etc. that they had, salt, etc.
"Why don't you just print those out on the computer?" Bill asked.
"Don't you think that seeing computer printed sheets on computer paper might give away that we have power and some working electronics?" Jim said.
Bill just nodded his head. Jim hadn't thought of everything, but he didn't miss much.
"That's why some of these are half in pen and then the other half in pencil isn't it?" Lyle asked.
"Yep, that's part of it also." Jim smiled and winked at his nephew, "I'm glad I got you guys to think of all this for me..." Jim joked.
"Aren't we taking a helluva risk with your plan Jim?" Bill asked.
"Without a doubt." Jim said. "I figure it this way, we can sit here in our little stronghold and do nothing. If the area gets organized one of the first tasks will be acquisition of supplies. Then we will be facing locals, semi organized, with a purpose that will see US as the enemy. That is absolutely why we have to be- for lack of a better phrase- in on the ground level, of this organization phase."
"Why don't we just tell them what we did to Gomez crew, then they will either be frightened or appreciative, or both." Lyle said.
"At some point in time, law and order may very well return. Some liberal will be looking for a job. Eventually one of them might get the great idea to investigate and eventually prosecute people like us that killed murdering raping thieves like Gomez crew. I'd love to think liberalism died in all that happened, but idiots have a way of making it and continuing on. All we can hope is that enough people with brains made it and more liberals died out." Todd replied.
They all laughed. But Todd was only half joking.
He went on. "This is a risky time and like I said, I think too early to start any "community" efforts. While people in these rural areas have always had more of a sense of community than in the suburbs, everyone is still focused solely on themselves and I think it will remain that way for a while. We want to provide some help, if for nothing else than to remembered as a help to the community, not a hindrance. Also for all the security reasons I mentioned before I think we HAVE to get involved. That being said, as much as possible we are going to play this on the down low." Todd finished.
One of the things Jim had considered way back when, but never acted on, was the idea of having a couple more "normal" looking rifles. Jim had realized that the presence of ANY weapon amongst a group of people in bad times would be considered a threat by the right person, whether it be an AK 47, an AR15 or a Winchester 70. Jim just didn't like the idea of handicapping himself with lesser firearms in an attempt to "fit in." His plan was never to stay in the suburbs and try to be the only well fed family amongst 500,000 starving pilgrims. He knew that was suicide. Out in the middle of nowhere without 50,000 people living within a couple miles, their wouldn't be the need to try to play those little "hide amongst the sea of humanity" games. From the stories they were hearing on the radio and from some of the folks they talked to, the cities and the suburbs were clearly NOT the place to be. Too many people, too little resources for the long haul, too fragile infrastructure. Americans were finally back to being truly on their own.
Jim decided to take the Trijicon ACOG off the M1A and carry that in for the community butchering season. It had the most "wood" look and the shortest magazine with a 20 round magazine. He would tuck two on his person and conceal his Glock 26 and some 17 round magazines on his person also. More important than "blending in" was the fact that Jim wanted as much as possible to not get fingered for the Gomez hit. Everyone in the Group was cautioned to not mention it if they ever interacted with anyone in the area. The real chances of anything ever coming out it were slim, but even in the 21st century, "loose lips" did in fact "sink ships." Lyle had volunteered to go with Jim to the meetup and would carry a Winchester Defender shotgun in 12 gauge. While they had very few of the "short" 12 gauge rounds, Lyle would use some of them in the tube of the shotgun to slightly up the number of rounds he already had loaded in the weapon.
The week prior to the meetup, Jim and Lyle did not shower or shave at all. Both men were now a little on the thin side anyways, so that negated the problem of sending someone who looked very well fed to the meetup. Kat and some of the gals offered to use some makeup to make their eyes look a little hollow, etc. but it was decided against doing that. The idea was to look lean and hungry but not sickly or an easy target due to malnutrition, etc. The morning before the meet they spent a lot of time by an outside campfire liberally "smoking" their clothes. Jim wore concealable Level IIIA body armor. Kat offered Lyle her set of concealable armor but Lyle refused saying "I'm almost a foot taller than you, my stomach wouldn't be covered at all, what's the point?" Kat asked him twice if he was sure. Lyle kept it to himself but he refused more because someone else in a dangerous job could then retain the armor.
A couple of cows had been retrieved one night after Mr. Gibson confirmed the date. They kept the two in the pasture with the Group's cows after taking a circuitous route back to the retreat, brushing out tracks here and there.
Steve had commented to the others, "so here we were brushing out COW tracks from sandy areas, and all I can think about is that episode of Andy Grifith where the guy steals the cows and put old boots on the cow's feet to fool the cops."
They had a good laugh at that one and Jim showed that episode on DVD that night to a couple of them. The next day would prove very interesting.....
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