Cole's Saga: FEMA WARS: Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Fiction, page 1
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Cole’s Saga:
FEMA WARS
Book 2
By
AJ Newman
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Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to Patsy, my beautiful wife of thirty-four years, who assists with everything from Beta reading to censor duties. She enables me to write, golf, and enjoy my life with her and our mob of Shih Tzu’s.
Thanks to Wes, David, Jeanette, and Mitchell who are Beta readers for this novel. They gave many suggestions that helped improve the cover and readability of my book.
Thanks to WMHCheryl at http://wmhcheryl.com/services-for-authors/ for the great proofreading.
The excellent cover design was by Mark / AKA Gig Freak at Fiverr https://www.fiverr.com/gig_freak
Thanks to the folks I met in Kentucky at Calvert City, Paducah, and Graham for welcoming me into their cities. Cole’s Saga Book 2 is based in those Western Kentucky cities and the area from there to Oregon.
AJ Newman
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Copyright © 2018 Anthony J Newman. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. All events, names, characters, and places are the product of the author’s imagination or are used as a fictitious event. That means that I thought up this whole book from my imagination and nothing in it is true.
All rights reserved. None of this publication may be copied or reproduced without prior written permission from the publisher.
Published by Newalk LLC.
Owensboro, Kentucky
Chapter 1
16 miles south of Dutchtown, Missouri
The road behind them was forlorn and desolate. The streets weren’t used much now since the shit hit the fan so grass and weeds now choked the sides and crept into every crack in the backwoods road. Every highway and road they traveled on so far had been covered with leaves, twigs, and small limbs. Some even had large trees across them. It was now midsummer in the Missouri heat and humidity was stifling as it was typical in these parts of the country. They shied away from Highway 55 for fear of running into the FEMA troops and being recaptured.
Gemma sat beside her new husband, Cole, in the front seat of the old Ford Bronco with a smile on her face. Cole had his hand on her thigh, which made Gemma feel safe and comfortable. She had only known this wonderful man for a short time but had fallen deeply in love with him and knew that he would protect her forever. They had been through a lot the last few months from being captured by slavers in California to spending a couple of months working at a FEMA slave camp. Cole had brought this band of unlikely companions together and led them in a daring escape from FEMA. Cole had saved her cousin Molly, her twin sister Jenny, and her from a horrible life of depravity in the FEMA camp.
Gemma turned her body and twisted her head to look back at her cousin and sister in the back seat of the SUV. The two women slept even though the truck bounced along avoiding stalled cars, breaks in the pavement, and downed trees. They had to take turns pulling guard duty every day and grabbed a few hours of shuteye anytime they could.
Gemma turned back to look at her husband and ran her hand across the stubble on his chin. She leaned over to him and laid her head on his shoulder. “Honey, I’m worried about Jack and Madison. Both were running a fever at the last stop, and Jack shouldn’t be driving the truck. Normally, he is like a puppy when Carole gets after him to take care of himself, but he wouldn’t even let her take his temperature. Honey, Madison was barely awake and has a raging fever. I hate to say it, but we could lose one of them.”
Cole glanced down and saw the beautiful redheaded woman nuzzling on his neck. They had only been together for several weeks, but he had fallen for her at first sight, months ago on the day they were captured. “Damn you feel good against my neck. You might want to stop that or I may have to pull over and take you up into the bushes.”
“Cole, I was talking about something serious. We have to do something about Jack and Madison.”
“Babe I’m sorry, but it’s hard to concentrate with you kissing on my neck. Yeah, I saw all of that myself. I tried to get Jack to take it easy for a while, but he wants to prove himself to the others and won’t listen again.”
Gemma took Cole’s hand and squeezed it. “I don’t know Babe, but my gut tells me that we need to stop long enough for them to recover from their wounds.”
“Oh, shit that could take weeks, maybe months.”
Jack was driving the lead vehicle in the small convoy. His wife Carole sat beside him, and Deacon and Madison sat in the back seat. Carole was trying to console her husband who was upset about a letter he’d read that night. His mother had written his son Joe and him a series of letters before she died. Her lawyer had presented them to Joe and Jack after the funeral. Both sets of letters contained Agnes Harp’s wisdom and advice from the grave for her son, Jack, and grandson, Joe.
Joe had cherished and learned a great deal from his Grandma’s letters; however, his father, Jack, didn’t like the tone of his mother’s letters to him. Jack never bought into the doomsday prepping that his mother kept pushing on him and Joe. She tried desperately over the years to get both to learn survival skills and stock up on food and weapons. Neither, had done an adequate job of preparing for the apocalypse, but at least Joe took his mother’s letters to heart and was a quick learner. Jack felt that the letters put him down and made him feel like his mom thought he was a failure. Jack had done well running his business, but wouldn’t listen to his mother’s rants about an upcoming apocalypse.
Dear Jack:
I had a good day today, as I often do between the chemo treatments. I asked Alfred to take me over to the cabins and bunker east of Ashland. We took the company helicopter down to Ashland and rented an SUV for the trip up into the mountains. We visited the bunker but didn’t make it over to the cabins because of a massive thunderstorm. I thought about you and Joe and how you two are unprepared for the apocalypse.
I deeply care for both of you, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’m very disappointed that you haven’t taken being prepared more seriously. I know you put your heart and soul into your business, but when the shit hits the fan. Your business won’t mean diddley.
You need to ditch that money-grubbing wife of yours, find a nice lady that cares for you more than your money and prepare for the apocalypse. Son, if you just paid attention to the news and current events, you would be scared. North Korea or Iran could launch a nuclear attack from ships off our coast and kill our grid. The EMP blasts would kill most electronics. If that doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what to tell you.
I know that you think I’m just an addled brained old broad harping on her pet peeve, but I really do care for you and want you to survive. Your dumbass sister and her family will probably die in the first few months of an apocalypse. I have much higher hopes for you and Joe.
Well, it’s time to say goodbye. Alfred and I are taking the chopper over to Bandon for some seafood. Tell your miserable wife that your senile mother said hello.
Love Mom
Carole had read the letter that pissed her husband off and tried to console him. “Jack, Honey, you know your mom meant well, and she was right about your ex-wife. You take these letters too seriously. No one, well at least very few people prepared for this damned apocalypse. Don’t be so harsh on yourself. I wish you would just take the advice from the letters, use the good stuff, and ignore her criticism. Remember you did take her advice and marry me and started some prepping before TSHTF. Your mom can’t be all bad.”
Jack reached across and held his wife’s hand. “I know you’re right that I should dwell on the good stuff. After all, mom did tell me to ditch that harpy and marry you. I think that’s what eats me up, is that she always reminded me that I could’ve done better had I joined dad’s company. Harp Enterprises meant everything to mom and dad. Hell, it made them millionaires. They offered me a job at least once a year for my entire adult life, but I wanted to make it on my own. The funny thing is that now, after the apocalypse, money doesn’t mean shit. Hey, what’s that up ahead?”
Jack saw the kids and hit the brakes as he saw an old truck around the bend just behind the kids. “Son of a bitch, it’s an ambush, and the kids were the bait.”
The Bronco slid to a stop. Carole saw several kids on the road. One was a baby. “Stop, there are babies in the road.”
Before Jack could react, Carole jumped out to save the kids.
Cole saw the Bronco in front of him slide to a stop with tires squealing and smoke billowing. The smell of burning rubber permeated the early morning. Cole yelled, “What in the hell is Jack doing now? Babe, do you see anything?”
Gemma looked to the left and right of the stationary vehicle only to see Carole and Jack jump out and move ahead of their truck with reckless abandon. “Cole, I don’t like this at all. They should have stopped and signaled for us to check the situation out before running into a possible... Oh, shit, look to the right about halfway up the hill. It’s an ambush.”
Cole saw the men behind the fallen tree and yelled, “Jack, it’s an ambush. Retreat!”
Jack didn’t reply, so Cole took action and barked orders. “Girls get out and take up a defensive position. Molly, take Jenny to the right and Gemma will go with me to the left.”
Cole stayed low as he left his Bronco and ran into the thick brush and woods. The grass and bushes were still wet from the dew. The ground was mushy because of the rain for the past two days. Water ran six inches deep in the ditch beside the road.
Cole stopped and checked to see if Jack and Carole were okay. He saw Carole holding a bundle wrapped in a blue blanket with her good arm. She hid behind the Bronco as Jack tugged a small boy to safety behind the vehicle. Deacon huddled behind the vehicle and aimed his rifle at the men up in the woods. Madison lay in the floorboard of the Bronco due to her wounds from the last gunfight. Deacon was trying to protect her amid the confusion.
Cole waved at Gemma to follow him as he worked to get a clear view of the area in front of and to the left of the lead Bronco. Cole wondered why the men hadn’t shot at Jack as he low crawled another fifty yards ahead of Jack’s position in an attempt to flank the ambushers. The road curved to Cole’s right and was covered in debris, leaves, and grass, which was growing through every crack in the pavement. He spotted an old truck parked in the weeds alongside the road, and the reason they hadn’t attacked was now apparent to him. They wanted both of the Broncos and didn’t want to take a chance on damaging them in a firefight.
Gemma saw Jack edging closer to the end of the Bronco and caught Cole’s attention. “Cole, I think Jack is going to try to run with the kid in tow. Crap, Carole has joined him.”
Cole knew he would draw attention to himself, but he still frantically waved and yelled at Jack to stay put. Shots rang out from the hillside at Cole and Jack as he tugged the boy toward the woods. Several bullets struck the road around Jack with bits of rock and bullet fragments spraying the boy and Jack. Carole drew back to the Bronco and hid with the baby. The boy fell to the ground as Jack retreated to the Bronco for cover. Jack had been wounded by several of the ricochets.
A bullet ricocheted off the pavement, and a small fragment hit Cole’s right shoulder. There was a painful sting as the fragment struck his shoulder, and then blood trickled down his sleeve. Cole ignored the pain and returned fire at the men up on the hillside. Gemma, Molly, and Jenny joined in directing withering fire onto the men. Two died instantly as multiple shots struck their torsos.
Deacon yelled, “I got one.” He then turned and shot another man trying to sneak up behind his position.
Gemma saw movement behind a bush, took aim, and fired. Gemma yelled at her husband. “Cole, there are two men behind the orange bush. I killed the third one. They’re trying to escape.”
Cole saw the bush and movement; he aimed and placed two shots into the left side of the bush. A body rolled down the hill, and a woman raised her hands to surrender. The fight was over as quickly as it started. Cole posted Molly and Deacon to guard them while they attended to their wounds and interrogated the young woman captive. Jenny tended to Jack’s wounds while Cole and Gemma questioned the woman.
Gemma had her rifle trained on the short dark haired woman and made her squat down to sit on the pavement. Cole walked up and poked her on the side of the head with his rifle. “What kind of dumb shit were you and your friends trying to do? Was it worth the lives of the boy and your friends just to steal our trucks?”
The woman looked up and said, “We have to capture five people a day to sell to FEMA, or they will kill us.”
Cole replied, “Take your kids and get your sorry ass out of my sight before I slit your damned throat.”
They quickly regrouped and headed on to the next city. It was only a short trip to Dutchtown, where they thought they would just spend the night there, but the following day both Madison and Jack were running high fevers. Carole applied the antibiotic salve to the wounds as they had done in the past and placed cold, wet towels on their foreheads but nothing seemed to do the trick. Cole’s injury from the ricochet was doing well and needed no attention.
While Carole and Jenny tended to the wounded, Cole took Gemma and Molly with him to scout the area. While they still had plenty of supplies and gasoline, Cole thought that it was best to use the downtime to scrounge the area to top off supplies and always be prepared. Deacon stayed back with the others to provide security and to check the Broncos to make sure everything was in running order.
Deacon caught Cole off to the side when he returned and said, “I am beginning to see what you tried to tell us about Jack. He’s a great man, but he just doesn’t think things through. I like him, but he’s gonna get us killed if we don’t do something about it. Cole, you’re our leader, and I think the group needs to talk about it and figure out a plan to get Jack under control.”
“Deacon, I just don’t know if Jack gets it. As you mentioned, I was trying to think things through and always have a plan A and a plan B just in case the shit hits the fan. We should never go into a situation without scouting the area first. As my friend Earl used to say, I’m gonna sit down with Jack and tell him ‘where the bear ate the buckwheat.’ Either we get him under control, or he has to leave the group. No questions asked.”
Deacon looked down at his feet. “I hate that it has come to that, but I have to think about myself and Madison. She’s lying on that dirty bed and might die because of his rash behavior. You can count on Madison and me to back your play.”
“Thanks, buddy I knew I could count on you in a pinch.”
“Cole what will you do if Jack and Madison can’t travel,” Molly asked.
Cole looked in Gemma’s face as he answered. “Molly I just don’t know. Jack’s stupidity has put us all in trouble, and now we’re paying for his rash action. If I had to guess, we’re faced with a possible delay of a month or two and even the death of Jack or Madison.”
Gemma gasped, “Surely they won’t die from those wounds. The wounds weren’t that serious.”
The realization that the apocalypse was real and that the day-to-day things that had made their lives more comfortable and safer were now gone was finally settling into the girl's minds. They couldn’t take for granted modern medicines and the availability of doctors. People could actually die from a small scratch or an infected tooth.
Cole replied, “I guess we all have to come to grips with the fact that this is a different world and we’re living back in the 1850s. We’ve all grown accustomed to being able to run to a doctor or an urgent care center for all our boo-boos and issues. All of those modern antibiotics and vaccines that tamed the viruses and germs are no longer available. All you have to do is look in Carole’s medical bag, and you will see that she only has a few bottles of aspirin, several tubes of antibiotic salve, and bandages. We have to avoid getting injured.”
Molly pulled the three of them together and hugged them for a minute before tears flowed from her eyes. “This is almost too much to take in. How can we survive and how can we avoid injuries?”
Cole squeezed his wife Gemma and kissed Molly on the forehead. “Molly, most people survived the 1850s, and we can survive also. I guess that we’re going to have two months down time here in Dutchtown, and we need to make use of that time. We need to dig out all of Carole’s books on medicine, herbal remedies, and old-time healing to help us prepare for our future. We also can’t go charging into ambushes nor pick fights with strangers.”
Gemma wiped the tears from her eyes and looked into Cole’s eyes. “Honey this scares the hell out of me. What the hell do we do if one of the ladies gets pregnant?”
“Babe, I guess we’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way. Women have been having babies for millions of years without fancy medical facilities or wonder drugs.”
Gemma gently punched Cole in the stomach. “And a lot of babies and mamas died back then.”
Molly stuttered and then tapped Cole on the shoulder. “Cole we’ve been dancing around the elephant in the room, and we’ve got to do something about it now. This is the second time in a few days that Jack has almost gotten several people killed. We need to help him get well and let him and Carole do what they want to, but I for one do not want Jack with our group. He’s going to get one or all of us killed.”
