Paycheck

[Bearman202]

Jerry sat at his desk and looked at his bank statement online. He had direct deposit, like everyone else, and he'd gotten into the habit of checking as soon as the checks hit the account. Most of the people he worked with did the same. The bosses didn't like it, but there wasn't much they could do about it. He stared at the numbers. He felt sick. With inflation running at close to a thousand percent, his past two week's worth of work would barely buy him a loaf of bread. He stood up and looked over the top of his cubicle. There were six other people doing the exact same thing. He looked at them, and they looked at him, and they all knew what the other was thinking. There was just no point in doing what they were doing, for the amount of time they were doing it, for the amount of money they were getting. More heads popped up. It was like everyone realized at the same time what was going on. Bob, their section manager, stuck his head up, saw what was happening, and grabbed his phone. He called his boss.

[eeyore]

Great story i hope you have more coming. Just like the other stories here, they carry a message

[All Talk]

I'm really getting into theis premise. I had never really thought of hyperinflation as a trigger for rapid societal breakdown, so this is new ground for my thinkin' engine. Please continue!

[Bearman202]

Jerry waited until a half hour after dark, then checked on Sheryl and Jeffie. They were both settling in on pads in the basement. Jeffie thought it was a hoot, so Sheryl had a small problem getting him settled in. Jerry left her to it and went back upstairs. He went to the garage and loaded his bicycle onto the bike rack he had for the car. He got in and drove it to a spot he had picked out about ten minutes away. It was a junk yard. The front gates were open, mostly because the owners had realized that when nobody has money, nobody is buying anything. Jerry parked by the gate, next to an old abandoned car, and went to work.

He took the battery out and put it in the trunk, along with the bike rack and lisence plates. Then he let the air out of the back tire that could be seen. After he finished that, he scrounged an old, rusty fender and leaned it against the front of the car. He then found a couple of old bumpers and leaned them against the back. The car looked like it had been abandoned some time ago. He'd made a point of not washing it for the past two weeks.

He jumped on the bicycle and began the ride home. It took him a lot longer to get home than it did to get to thejunk yard, but he made it. He pulled the bicycle into the garage and went to work on the truck. He pulled out the battery and sat it by the door so he could take it down and add it to the bank that was charging from the solar panels. Then he took the five gallon jerry cans and stacked them near the rear of the truck. He got down and started filling them from the small spigot he'd installed in the tank. It took him a bit, but he drained the tank. When he was done, he unscrewed the spigot and let a few drops of gas hit the floor. He then took a small, one-gallon can and laid it under the rear of the truck, with a small funnel by it.

He walked to the end of the drive and looked at the garage. It looked like someone had left, and abandoned the truck. It also looked like someone had tried to drain the gas tank and had given up on it. He walked back to the truck and let the air out of the back tires, so it was sitting low in the back. The tailgate locked, so he didn't worry about that. He doubted that anyone was going to be scrounging metal in the burbs anyway. Even if they could get it, who was going to buy it, and with what? He left the driver's side door open and carried the battery down to the basement. He went back up and got the bicycle and took it down. It took five more trips, but he managed to get the gas cans and the two seven gallon air tanks down to the basement too. He debated kicking in his front door, for appearance sake, to make it look like someone had already been there, and decided against it. It was too early.

Jerry took one last look around the neighborhood, then shook his head. He headed down.

For the next week, things got pretty tense. The rioting started the third day, and people were looting everything they could get their hands on. Jerry and Sheryl just shook their heads as they watched the news reports of people carrying big screen televisions out of the big box stores. The grocery stores didn't last long. By day five the serious rioting had started. The government had been promising food for two days, but none of it had made it there yet. On day six, the national guard was called in. Less than a third of the troops actually showed up.

The ones that did brought their guns with them, and started using them as soon as they arrived. A lot of the people were really desperate by that time, and realized that the national guard troops had food. The national guard troops became prey.

There was one news report that showed a man shooting a national guard soldier. The man dug through the soldier's pack and found his MRE. He held it up to show the crowd behind him, with a big smile on his face. As soon as he did, another man shot him and grabbed the MRE. The second man made it almost twenty feet before he was gunned down from behind. A young boy grabbed the MRE and ran. He made it behind a building without getting hit. Shortly after that, the people realized there was a helicopter overhead and started shooting at it. It pulled up and to the side with several curses from the pilot and reporter.

Through it all, Jeffie sat and watched the news. He didn't understand everything that happened, but he understood a lot of it.

On the morning of day seven, the President declared martial law. Part of that was a curfew, in which he stated at anyone on the street between the hours of eight p.m. and eight a.m. would be shot. During that speech, he federalized the police forces throughout the country, and put them under his command. He stated that Army and Marines would be used to enforce the martial law, and since many of the police forces hadn't shown up for work, and at least half of the armed forces had just gone home, (they needed a real paycheck also) he was asking for assistance from the United Nations.

As soon as he said that, Jerry looked at Sheryl.

“We're done. As a country. We're done,” he told her.

“Maybe it won't be that bad?” Sheryl said.

“Keep listening,” he told her.

The President went on to say that China had agreed to send three hundred thousand troops as soon as they could get them shipped. Russia and a smattering of other countries agreed also, though with a lesser number of troops. The foreign troops would begin arriving the next day. He ended the news announcement by stating that he would restore order, one way or another.

“Why are they sending troops, instead of food?” Sheryl asked.

“They want to protect their investment, not support refugees,” Jerry told her. “They've already bought most of the country anyway.”

“Why doesn't the government give people food?” Jeffie asked. “They'd stop then, wouldn't they?”

“Probably,” Jerry told him. “The problem is that there isn't any food. The producers don't want to work for free, and they're not going to produce food if nobody is going to pay them for it.”

“Even if they could produce it, there isn't any way to get it to the people. They stopped shipping gasoline to the cities two days ago. Nobody could afford to buy it, and anybody on the road is getting shot and robbed anyway,” Sheryl added.

Jerry nodded, then reached out and turned off the television. He got out his bible and started reading it. Sheryl and Jeffie both listened.

The next day the big news story was the arrival of Chinese troops in California. It seems they had been in route for over a week. They arrived in San Diego, and the gangs were there to meet them, in force. Once the Chinese figured out what was happening, they called in air strikes from their aircraft carriers. Combined with shelling from their destroyers off shore, the gangs didn't have much of a chance. They just didn't have the firepower to mount an effective defense. Once the Chinese were off the ships, they started marching north.

The other big news story was from Indiana. The national guard there had discovered a man who had stocked up on food, and was hiding in his barn. They charged him with being a hoarder and hung him from a tree in his front yard. The commentator explained that the man was the next worse thing to a traitor, keeping food while his neighbors were starving. He then said that his supplies were confiscated and given to the military. Jerry and Sheryl watched the report in silence.

After the report finished, Sheryl looked at Jerry. Her face was white. “What are we going to do?” she asked.

Jerry thought for a few seconds, then shook his head. “I don't know, hon, I really don't know.”

Jerry sat back and thought. What could he do? Realistically, what could he do?


((Somebody else is going to have to continue the story. I don't have a good answer to that last question. Do you?))

[groovy mike]

Great story.

Number one answer for the very short term is "pray"

At present they are secure, but the idea of staying locked in a absement really doesn't seem like a long term plan.

The family seems to haev planned ahead, did they plan a fall back location? Bug out plan? retreat? Do they have supplies cached offsite even if they don't have a retreat? Do they have liek minded friends and family? Maybe in a more remote location?

With only a few days of hungerbehind them most of teh population does not visually appear emaciated, thus they would have no problem blending in with teh unprepared should they exit the shelter either to flee, or to just resume life among their neighbors without disclosing their reserves.

If they appear hungry like those around them, they blend in (gray man) and are not targets. Its like leaving your lights off during a black out to avoid making your generator a target.

So if they join the neighborhood, and help organize a community garden - even plan communal dinners to pool and share supplies and forage, then they can share small amounts without tipping their hand.

My plan would be - cache the majority of supplies into a few locations. Leave a few days of food in sight in the kitchen cupboards etc. and re-establish contact with one neighbor at a time, while willingly sharing what you have.

"We are all in this together neighbor!"

And point out that most of what is on the lawn, in the hedgerows, and a lot in the flower beds are edible.... Start planting, fishing, trapping, and hunting for community meals.

[rockriver]

bear,
i just read first chapter
plainly spoken. easy for an old geezer (me) to understand. easy style. easy to visualize.
can't wait to read the next.
i haven't been to this forum in a while...
my loss.
i see several stories working.
rr

[rockriver]

bear,
lol.
talk about a Lesson...
--
i was looking forward to 20 chapters of developing story!
but by stopping it, you sure made a point..
--
could i encourage you to pick up the story and maybe send the family through a perilous trip to so. georgia... or some farm community where they could have a chance.
rr