Just for the helluvit I thought it may be a good idea to condense the scenarios into a fictional chronicle for brevity and ease of access. I'll post it below.
Please be gentle with your slagging it off
The Preppers Chronicles
A collection of interlinked scenarios.
© Northern Raider
Scenario
The Fall
The BBC news from Robert Peston at 1PM those few months ago made the city traders panic and it was reported that both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had turned white when an aide broke the news to them. “How in god’s name did we end up in this mess?†was the PM’s first thought.
In less than 3 months the nation’s economic forecast had gone from a promising future to a state of borderline collapse, one minute news of the massive economic boom of the Chinese and Indian economies and healthy growth in east Africa was driving up the value of the Dollar, Euro and Pound and pushing the markets to record highs.
Next total chaos reigned supreme as a coalition of most of the major oil producing nations announced that they were changing the focus of their oil production and its price structure so that China, India and Africa became the favoured customers in a huge deal that saw special trade agreements between India and China and the Saudi Arabia headed Oil coalition of nations. Basically China and India were to get the oil at very favourable prices in return for opening up the markets of the Arab states, East African mineral rich states and a huge chunk of South America.
The Chinese let this news rattle the western world for a few days before applying the Coup de grace of announcing in cooperation with the Oil Coalition nations that the cost of a barrel of oil to the Western nations would be levied at $200 a barrel.
It really did not matter if the price rise was simply a political tool to gain leverage with or even a bluff the effect was instant and devastating. Basically the markets and economies of the Americans, British and European nations collapsed within days. The entire western world saw the Chinese and Indians become the new super powers without a shot being fired. Suddenly the value of the Dollar, Pound and Euro collapsed and the west could not afford to buy the oil that was essential to their economies. The oil stopped flowing west, and within days the Russian federation upon seeing who had the upper hand offered preferential trading agreements to the Chinese and Indians for the huge reserves of natural gas they had for sale.
The price of natural gas to Europe doubled overnight, Ukraine protested so Russia turned off the gas supply. Norway stopped exporting its gas reserves immediately and the UK government seized control over the remaining oil and gas wells in the North Sea. The cheap imported coal from South America and Poland which sustained the UK’s remaining coal fired power stations stopped coming. America immediately in cooperation with Canada stopped ALL exports of grain to anyone and everyone in order to try and appear to be doing something useful, but it was too late confidence in the Dollar was gone, no one wanted Dollars any more, or Sterling, or Euros.
The government of the UK tried to play down the seriousness of the crisis, it took various steps to stabilise its economy, it made wild claims that the UK could sustain itself on North Sea oil and gas until the political crisis was resolved, it claimed the few remaining old nuclear plants and newly built wind farms could meet most of the nation’s needs. They were wrong.
Some rationing of petrol, diesel, gas and electricity were to be applied but the government assured the nation the measures would be temporary. Across the nation the masses did not care, did not understand or trusted blindly the government would sort out the mess and take care of them. Whilst the power still flowed thousands of people who were often referred to as Survivalists, Preppers, Homesteaders and Off-gridders furiously texted, E mailed and posted on their communities forums.
They exchanged files on self-reliance, self-sufficiency and self-preservation to each other. They agreed on dates, times and places where they could be contacted if all other forms of communication failed. They agreed on various locations in the UK where they would meet on set dates to trade and barter if society collapsed.
Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, The Washington Monument in County Durham, Hatton Locks in Warwickshire are places agreed upon to be the new hubs for the preppers to gather at in England.
“This is the BBC world service, today it was announced that Her Majesty the Queen and her ministers would be extending indefinitely their stay in Canada, The Trade minister said it was so Her Majesty and her ministers could negotiate face to face with the American and Canadian government to try and get grain shipments restored and to gain access to the huge reserves of shale oil the Canadians haveâ€Â.
The survivalists and preppers chose not to believe the promises the government made and set about updating and preparing for the worst, Caches and Stockpiles of food, fuel, medicines, seeds, barter goods etc were checked over and concealed in various locations. Vehicles were serviced and loaded with extra equipment, fuel tanks and spare jerry cans filled with stabilised fuel. Bug out Bags were checked, contents and refreshed. Extra food stuffs were bulk bought, sorted and stored, some families who were more advanced in their preparations or just better placed financially actually packed up and moved out to their “â€ÂHoliday homesâ€Â†as their chosen places of safety were called in polite company. For a few die-hards who had long foreseen major problems coming they had already long since sold up and moved out of the towns and cities, these old time preppers just hunkered down to watch the world unravel around them.
“Reuters News article, It is reported that some members of the Royal Marines, Parachute Regiment Troops and members of the Special forces were now moving with their families into gated communities and large extensive Country Estates owned by the nation’s richest and most powerful people in the UK. An insider reported that the soldiers and families were being accommodated by the owners of the estates in return for providing 24 hour security to the owners and landlords.â€Â
“BREAKING SKY NEWS, Reports are coming in that many hundreds of white collar and public sector workers from London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and London are refusing to report for work. The Mayor of London issued a statement saying less than 20% of the capitals police officers have reported for dutyâ€Â
“London Evening Standard†headline is “Where are they going?â€Â
The Standards society reporter is telling the news desk that as far as she can find out many hundreds of the social elite and rich from the Westminster and Chelsea areas are loading their Range Rovers and Mercedes G Wagons and leaving the city for “planned extended vacation in places the St Kitts, Guernsey and the Bahamas.â€Â
The online version of BOATING & YACHTING NEWS is still being published but in greatly reduced form, It’s reporting in a massive surge in people re-provisioning their boats and offering huge sums of money for contract skippers with ocean going experience. They also report that large numbers of yachts and cruisers are leaving the south coast ports every day, destination unknown.
The following Monday morning the government announced that its welfare payment system which distributed Unemployment Benefit, Sickness Benefit, Disability Benefit, Pensions etc had suffered a “glitch†and payments would be delayed by 14 days until the next due payment date.
The morning news reported the association of Chief Police Officers had issued an instruction to all holders of Fire Arms Certificates for gun owners to be responsible citizens and to take their fire arms to the nearest open police station and hand them in for safe keeping, The evening news reported how the ACPO were disappointed with the fact that only 5% of registered gun owners had surrendered their guns.
Five days after the government failed to pay out the billions in pension and welfare money it is reported that looting of food shops by desperate and hungry poor people were resorting to looting shops after charitable FOOD BANKS ran out of supplies.
That evening small scale looting of petrol stations was reported on roads leaving many cities.
BBC BIRMINGHAM REPORTS, Due to technical problems the main BBC broadcasts from London have been temporarily stopped and news will now come from Birmingham and Salford.
BBC SALFORD REPORTS, It has been confirmed the remaining members of the government have relocated from London to the secure facilities of an undisclosed military base near Corsham, and reports that the BBC film crew from Birmingham who were sent to assess the situation in London were found murdered near Wembley stadium.
At night for weeks on end across the UK, walking across the Pennine Way,hiking along the Manchester ship canal,trail following the East Coast Mainline,cycling along the Fosse-way, moving into the Brecon Beacons, along the Festiniog rail track and on hundreds of other pre-selected and well reccied paths if you were alert you may have caught glimpses of various groups of preppers and survivalists with their families heading away from the large towns and cities. They accessed their pre-deployed caches to re-supply, they rested at locations they knew to be secure, and they made their way quietly to their bug out locations to hopefully survive the nightmare descending on the country.
“The final report from the BBC Salford news team before their helicopter was lost confirmed that during their extended flight they confirmed Leeds, Bradford, Halifax and Sheffield are ablaze just as their previous reports had confirmed hundreds of fires visible in London and Birmingham. They also relayed a message from a RAYNET team near Bristol who report that both dysentery and cholera have been reported in Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea.
“It is also with great regret that we at BBC Salford and Manchester will be going offline after 8 PM this evening until we can obtain fuel for the generators.â€Â
The City
The city was huge, a behemoth a massive interconnected and inter-reliant lattice work of career people, families, travellers, traders, migrant workers, and refugees both economic and political.
Wealth creators and wealth users, consumers and producers all kept functioning by the never ending efforts of the utilities and service industries.
The city was like a giant living and breathing entity and it was dying. The massive swings in the global economy coupled to political uncertainty at home had caused the financial sector to take massive calculated risks with billions of pounds of investor’s monies; it had caused much of the nation’s remaining manufacturing base to move overseas seeking cheaper non-union work forces and lower production costs.
The rising unemployment in the nation especially affected the city as its wealth ebbed away on just trying to keep the utilities and public services running, more money haemorrhaged away on the various social welfare and benefits schemes that had flourished during the wealthier times.
The over indulgences that made the city so unhealthy and so vulnerable to the fatal infection was complacency and over confidence. People and systems became utterly reliant on services provided on demand at the moment of need. They became too confident that technology would provide all their needs 24/7/365.
People imported almost everything they needed without giving where those goods and services came from a seconds thought, or as to what would happen if those supplies stopped arriving.
People could and did simply go to the 24 hour supermarkets to buy that days food not giving a thought as to what they would do if the food did not reach the shops.
They turned on a tap and pure clean drinking water spurted out, they turned on a knob and natural gas belched out to cook their food with and to heat their water for washing with. They flicked on a switch and the electricity flowed to power their lights, run their computers, and drive their TVs.
The same people poured waste down sinks, flushed toilets, and put rubbish out and it simply “went away†the people did not know nor cared where all their waste went to. If a problem occurred such as a blocked drain, outbreak of rats or cockroaches they simply made a phone call and someone else fixed the problem.
When interviewers asked many of the city’s younger inhabitants where food came from or where fuel came from they replied most ironically “shops and service stations†and that was as far as their knowledge based reached.
Broken street lights, bunch of young thugs scaring the community, overflowing drains, a fallen tree, failed traffic lights, late running train, protest rally causing trouble, body found behind shops, insects found in take away meal, stolen car racing the streets, stranger enticing children, noisy neighbours stereo, thug with vicious dog attacking people, ethnic gang robbing school kids, overflowing bins blocking pavement, car on fire, light not working, missed parcel delivery, doctors surgery closed because of violent incident, young mum faints in street, anarchists squatting in mansion, illegal immigrants aggressively begging, burst water main, daily paper undelivered, bread delivery late, cash point out of action, fresh bought chicken leg found to be rotten, wheely bin gone missing , fallen tree embedded in shop front. This list goes on and on, and all are either fixed or made better by simply E mailing a department or phoning a help line. People simply relied completely on the “system†to provide for all their needs from cradle to grave.
But what would happen if the system failed or stopped?
8AM
Charles Winstanley city broker pulled up at the ATM to withdraw cash, he needed funds to pay for his daughters ballet lessons at Miss Markova’s that evening. The cash point refused his request for funds, the screen simply apologised and asked him to try again later.
8.10AM Gavin Boyd tried to fill up his car but the guy in the cubicle barked over the speakers to say “CASH ONLY the card reader was not workingâ€Â. Gavin did not have any cash so had to leave without his fuel. Gavin was heading back to Northamptonshire over 100 miles away he only had enough fuel for probably 30 miles, He wagered himself the Bug Out kit in the back of the car would almost certainly be needed, some instinct confirmed by the radio news made Gavin very cautious about the day ahead.
8.10AM 3E27 was the train’s designation, 10,000 tons of prime coal for the power station, it is part of a never ending set of trains that continuously supply the power stations with the coal they need. They are called Merry Go Round trains because they follow a circular never ending route from coal mine (or docks) to the power stations. Day in day out they keep feeding the ravenous furnaces with the coal that is burnt to heat the water that is turned into high pressure steam that is used to turn turbines that in turn spin the generators. The generators that keep the city supplied with its electricity.
This morning was different though, Driver Ackland saw a yellow light followed by a red light in the far distance and slowed his train right down, when he finally got the green light to go ahead he was baffled to find himself being routed into a very long siding, and in that siding he found the sister coal train that was supposed to be 2 hours ahead of him. Driver Ackland could do nothing but sit and wait and took the opportunity to drink some piping hot tea from his flask. About two hours later Driver Ackland was startled to see that the route signalling lights were not showing any lights at all. So he decided to walk to the line side phone and check with the control room as to what was happening.
When he reached the little grey box he found the other coal train driver chatting with the driver of a local commuter train also held up on the southbound side just out of sight at the junction. They told Driver Ackland the phones were not working! The trio waited five hours before shutting down their engines off -loading the few passengers from the commuter train and setting off on foot for the next station.
8.35 Ali Saddiq of the village bakery tried yet again to phone the big regional bakery to find out where his supplies were he now had less than 4 hours to prepare enough bread, rolls and cakes for a 1200 place school and an 800 place sixth form college with whom he had contracts with. The lady on the other end said she could not help him and told him he had to phone another number which was a government agency number, not as he expected another department of the grain suppliers company.
The problem was the government number was permanently engaged. With little food available the schools were forced to close at noon and call the parents to come collect their kids. But by 7PM that evening nearly 300 kids were still uncollected from school.
9.08AM Tom and Louis stood open mouthed in awe and surprise they looked at each other in amazement. Roughly two minutes ago the entire control panel of the pumping station that they were in charge off went silent and dark. Normally the room buzzed with the sound of hundreds of dials, meters, printers, hydrometers, pressure monitors etc. The noise was normally compounded by the high pitched whine and rumble of multiple high and low pressure pumps and their associated electric motors. But two minutes ago the pumps and motors slowed down then stopped, the gauges fell and the dials and lights went out. The water supply for nearly two million people and businesses that they controlled had stopped flowing. A minute later they got a call from their sister plant at the other side of the city who reported that their pumps had also stopped, they also got a call on Link Net the emergency radio system that ALL of the areas effluent and sewage plants had stopped.
9.35AM “They are nearly two bloody buggering hours late†growled a furious bus depot fleet maintenance manager to his foreman, “Where the hell is my diesel delivery, last nights did not come and now my bloody buggering morning fuel delivery has not turned up. I don’t bloody buggering well need this, at this rate I will be pulling buses off the road just before lunchtime and head office will kill me if I doâ€Â. At 10.30 AM when his foreman went to meet his manager for coffee he found him dead on his office floor, He dialled 999 but the operator said it may be a while before help comes because they ambulance service is struggling to find fuel for its fleet.
12.02 PM Gladys Mabel Arkright stood at the bus stop and wondered where had all the buses gone to, 73 years old with a dodgy hip she now faced a 14 mile walk back to her village after a visit to her elderly sister in an nursing home.
15.40PM Ross Carr was feeling light headed and sweaty, her hands were trembling and she felt suddenly very tired. Ross was a type one diabetic as well as a teenager. And like many teenagers she took silly risks with the control over her condition. She had missed her morning shot and noon shot and was now paying the price for her folly. She got back to the tower block where she and her mum lived on the 5th floor. She found the main entrance door open which was unusual because it’s an electromagnetic card operated door system. She would tell her mum when she saw her. She hopped the elevator and pressed 5 but no sooner had the door shut and the lift started climbing it stopped dead and the lights went out. Using the battery powered back up light she found the emergency call button and pressed it, but no one answered it. Nor were they likely to either the microwave radio link to the control room was without power and its back up battery was defective. For 15 year old Miss Ross Carr, type one diabetic no one would find her until it was too late.
18.00PM a radio, phone, cell phone, text and pager message went out ordering all police officers to report for emergency deployment. Many officers look out the window and listened to the radio news about the developing problems and decided to stay at home with their families.
20.20 PM a group of commuters whose trains had not arrived and who could not get a straight answer from the few remaining railway staff were walking through Lake Valley Gardens the lowest point in the city, the street lights had faded out nearly an hour earlier, and as they walked in a group led by a guy called Adam who had a street map, flashlight, compass, light sticks and radio in his rucksack (someone asked if his nickname was Rambo the survivalist, he replied the name was wrong but the title right). The group reached the bottom of the gardens just as it reached the new executive housing estate that had been built on the old marshland five years ago. Adam paused and asked “can you smell that and what is that noise it sounds like running water?â€Â
Playing his FenixLD20 flashlight out ahead he could see water or liquid percolating up out of the gullies and drains ahead of them. It had formed a growing pool across the full width of the path and was flowing very freely and quite fast into the streets of the executive housing development.
Sewage, neat untreated sewage, plus other effluents and waste water was pouring out of the drains and sewers, this was the lowest point on the drain and sewer network and pumps were supposed to carry the effluent from the underground Victorian built storage chambers and pump it to the treatment works outside the city limits.
The pumps had stopped and now the raw sewage was following the easiest route that gravity would allow, straight towards the homes of 30,000 city workers.
22.00PM , Chaz,, Kam, Dodger, Davie, Chris, Wayne, Akim, Paul, George, Wallace and Carl were all sat in the lounge of the regional secure unit for young violent criminals. All were guests of the state for carrying some of the most horrible and depraved crimes you could imagine. Our young products of broken homes had already noticed the night shift of prison officers had not turned up for work and in the last 90 minutes they had not seen nor heard from the remaining members of the day shift. Suddenly the lights flickered and went out and the emergency lighting kicked in. This made the boys laugh as it was a change from the drudgery and routine they were used to.
Then a few minutes later Kam noticed the electromagnetic door locks to the secure lounge were clicking like mad. Kam went to the door and pulled at the handle, nothing it stayed locked. So being a typical teen whilst he was about to tell his friends that the door lock was “doing his head in†he leaned back putting his weight onto the door just as the mechanism clicked again as the power supply to it was briefly interrupted. Suddenly Kam found himself sat on the floor staring at a now open door leading out of the lounge, and no prison officer was on the other side to remonstrate with him
By midnight with much pulling, prying, kicking etc aiding by an intermitted power supply the boys found their way to a fire door just off the library floor. From there eleven of society’s greatest failures, sadists, thugs and perverts found themselves outside in an unlit city with no sign of any authorities anywhere. It took them less than 40 minutes to rob their first late night store and to rape and kill the two girls running the store. From there the eleven melted into the night to add to the spreading anarchy and chaos that was devouring the city.
The next day
06.35 Adam the survivalist with a heavily bandaged left arm struggled to clean and re-cock the crossbow he had recovered from a cache of survival supplies he kept in a U –Hire 24 hour access Storage Company on the industrial estate. His crossbow was from the Barnett stable and was the RC-150 compound bow, it was chosen for its lightweight but powerful 150ft pound capability. With him was a numb with shock, bruised and battered but very much alive was a young nurse who he came across during the night.
He had heard her scream just about 3AM the night before just as he passed an access road to the wine shop. He looked into the access road to see a group of young men clearly drunk to the point of almost collapse, totally inebriated but desperately trying to drag a young woman further up the access road.
Adam shouted a warning to the thugs to stop but just got verbally abused and a half empty bottle of vodka thrown in his direction. He had already seen enough over the last 18 hours and heard enough on the radio to realise no cops were likely to arrive any time soon. That is why he had elected to draw on his cache of survival supplies before trying to get out of the city. Boy was he pleased he had decided to collect his reserve Bug out Bag and crossbow.
He shouted again and two of the thugs turned to face him, one held a large bread knife and the other a Stanley craft knife. That was enough for Adam and he shot the guy with the breadknife with his crossbow, immediately reloading he shot the second before he was able to respond. Adam started to advance on the pair of which only the second one was still standing and screaming abuse in Adams direction. As he passed the vocal thug he brought his telescopic baton down hard across the thugs head and he fell like someone had turn off a switch, but not before the thug slashed Adams arm with the craft knife. The baton was one of his tools chosen for its near silent operation and because it telescoped down so small, it was an ideal item for the Grey-man survivalist philosophy he believed in.
The noise, swearing, screams and sight of a manic in a combat jacket carrying a crossbow and a baton advancing on them certainly got the attention of the rest of the gang, they could see very clearly their two chums were down and out, and before they could decide what to do the biggest member of their group suddenly doubled over with another crossbow bolt embedded in his lower abdomen. This was not the sort of “Agro or Bovver†they liked, they preferred defenceless opponents and as they saw the guy with the combat jacket raising the crossbow to the aim again they decided discretion was the better part of valour and they fled leaving the young lady on the floor.
It was a good ten minutes later before Adam managed to persuade the young nurse she was safe from the gang and that he would not harm her, her eyes kept flickering between him, the bow and the two original thugs laying still on the rubbish strewn access road. It did not take her long to persuade Adam to help her get home which fortunately for Adam was not too far off his own route home.
But first she used Adams first aid kit to bandage the knife wound in his arm.
0.00AM The BBC news reports that her Majesty her family and the ministers of her government had relocated to Balmoral and Winsdor for the duration of the temporary crisis. A state of emergency was also declared. Also the news reported that many police and emergency services staff along with many UK based soldiers had not responded to the emergency order to report to work. The news also said the government was implementing a curfew from dusk til dawn and ordered that people stay at home and don’t go trying to leave the city, emergency supplies would be brought to the people but they must be patient.
A final comment noted the arrest of some people found hoarding stocks of food they had stolen from an abandoned warehouse.
7 days later without power, water or sewage the first reports of dysentery and cholera were reported, numerous apartment blocks had burnt down as people tried to cook and light their flats with improvised tools like candles.
21 days later people who still had the energy and strength started to leave the city by any means available.
3 days later a very sick, heavily coughing refugee who was originally from Kazakstan arrived in a refugee camp that had spontaneously formed on the downs outside the city. He was a former deck hand on a scrap metal carrying ship that came from the Black Sea to the UK twice a year.
He was coughing badly, sweating profusely though complaining of being cold. A first aider gave him Aspirin to try and get his temperature down. They placed him with hundreds of others in a huge circus marquee tent where he lay down on the blanket he had brought with him. Four hours later someone realised he was dead and as they carried him out they noticed large black blue pustules around his neck and on his face. The camp was desperate for warm clothing for the survivors so they pulled off the seaman’s Norwegian army shirt and put it in a pile for giving to the needy. It was then some else noticed that those black blue pustules were also prominent under the sailors arms, and realised it looked like plague. They burnt the shirt the sailor had been wearing but not thought about the wool blanket he had worn when he arrived. At that very moment a family of four were just settling down for a few ours rest on the sailor’s blanket.
35 days later the survivors abandoned what was left of the camp and spread out in all directions, many of the survivors scratched at flea bites as they walked away.
Are cities just necropolis in waiting?
The Bug Out Bag
John Smith the senior manager in a big city company is sat at his desk one late afternoon when suddenly all the lights went out in his office, as he peered over his shoulder out of the window he was taken aback to notice that the lights were going out right across the city like a rolling wave, even the street lights went out. He looked at his self-winding watch and noticed the time 4.45 PM
John stood up and turned to view the events unfolding in the world outside, he could see the trains grind to a halt, the guy on the gate of the tube system was using a flashlight to guide out stranded passengers, after he cleared the station he locked the gates and disappeared inside. To his left John could see the main junction that fed traffic out of the city, the traffic lights had failed and a multi vehicle crash had totally blocked the junction. As John observed events unfold around him he could clearly hear the sound of other vehicles crashing into each other as people tried to get through various other traffic light controlled junctions further into the central area of the city.
He returned to his desk and sat down; first he unclipped his key fob from his trouser belt and turned on the tiny single white LED flashlight he normally used to find the door lock on his car in the dark. Peering under his desk he grasped a rather plain looking Uncle Mikes Cordura Attaché case that he always kept at work. Opening the bag he found a small Roberts battery and hand cranked SW radio which he turned on and set on his desk. From the radio he immediately picked up news reports of the total chaos that was affecting the entire region, A total failure of the national grid had caused a cascade failure plunging many towns and cities into the dark, thousands of commuters were trapped on trains and tubes with many more being stuck on buses and in vehicles stuck in ever growing traffic jams.
The police were asking people to remain calm as the 999 and breakdown services were overwhelmed with thousands of calls for help. The fire and rescue services simply could not reach the stranded train and tube passengers because of the gridlocked road network.
John once again dove into his attaché case and produced a bundle of Cyalume chemical light sticks, he opened one and activated it, his office was once again illuminated and as far as he could tell his was the only one in the entire complex.
Clipping his Fenix L2D LED flashlight to his belt, along with his Gerber multi tool he took stock of the contents of his bag, In it he found a pair of broken in walking shoes, a waterproofed fleece jacket, two bottles of water, a Silva type 4 tritium compass and a full sized OS map of his city, He also found four long life food bars and two tins of all day breakfast , soap, hand wipes, cell phone, spare batteries for phone and flashlight, £50 cash, a small medical kit, a sealed packet of five dust masks ( he remembered the images on TV of the dust from the collapsing 911 towers), two Bic lighters, a good quality lock back folding knife and a titanium pry bar, last but not least he had a notebook and pen, a small pair of binoculars, a pair of leather gloves and a spare pair of specs, and a small hexamine camp cooker.
John decided there was no point in hanging around, even if the power came back on it would be tomorrow at the earliest before the transport system could possibly be restarted, besides the office heating had also gone off as it was electrically fired so it was time to leave. On the radio the news reports were coming in of panic and looting along the main city roads that passed through the centre of town and out towards the ring road, John wisely decided that route was no longer suitable.
He changed his shoes and swapped his suit jacket for the fleece, repacking his bag then sliding it over his head cross belt style John headed out of the building, stopping only to use his flashlight to check his route out across the car park and onto the main street. Using his bug out map he selected from one of five pre planned routes marking the best possible way out of town, it was along the old towpath down by the canal.
Access to this old industrial relic which led in an almost straight line out of town towards his semi-rural home was gained via a padlocked gate leading down to a water company flow metering station, John reached the gate after a brief walk of about 7 minutes during which time he could hear screaming, shouting and the sound of breaking glass assailing his ears from all directions.
Using the pry bar from his bag John quickly snapped off the elderly brass padlock and slipped through the gate remembering to close it behind him.
As the city descended rapidly into chaos and anarchy John quietly and calmly navigated his way along the canal towpath until it intersected with the ring road, He kept the pry bar in his hand until he was certain he was far enough out of town to not bump into anyone with hostile intent. By now it was 11.25 PM and behind him John could see the flicker of flames from burning buildings, he stopped and heated himself a tin of all day breakfast. John listened to the late night news about the army being called in to restore order and provide help before checking his bearings for one last time then continuing his long walk home.
The EDC
Blast and damnation said Chris as the Dodge pickup ground to a halt neatly half way between the railroad freight depot where he had been repairing the staff canteens aircon unit, and the quiet northern town he called home. Chris thought to himself “That will teach me to put off fixing the fuel pump on my truck, I won’t get back to my trailer tonight†with that thought Chris got on with making himself comfortable for the night. It was not going to be any real hardship for Chris to spend the night in the open as he routinely kept his truck supplied with basic but essential survival kit.
15 minutes later he was well sorted, his sleeping bag was laid out over a foam campa mat in the load bed of the truck, his mini butane cooker was happily heating up a can of Chicken and vegetable soup, and Chris himself was sat reading the trucks repair manual while chewing on a protein bar.
As the night wore on to the early hours he realised that this normally very quiet back road to town was rather busy. Not more than a few minutes passed by without a vehicle or group of vehicles speeding past heading away from town. Oddly enough for such a close knit area no one bothered to stop to check over Chris’s Dodge. After a while Chris felt the need to answer a quick call of nature and dismounted from the truck to relieve himself. “That’s Strange†said Chris to himself “I know that I should be able to see the towns lights from here, but its pitch black out there, I wonder what’s going onâ€Â, with that he jumped back up to the comfort of his temporary bed. Chris pondered briefly the night’s events before he finally drifted off to a deep sleep.
Dawn came upon Chris when all of a sudden a female voiced roused him from his sleep “Hello, are you all right? I don’t suppose you have a tyre pump? would you like a coffee?, Have you been here all night ?†Said the rather attractive lady chattering away excitedly as she peered down at Chris in his sleeping bag.
“Erm Yes to the first, second and fourth†piped Chris and no to the third but I could drink a fruit juice if you have one?†He said quickly gathering his wits and taking stock of the morning.
After the usual platitudes, greetings and getting his stuff tidied away Chris found that the ladies name was Diane and her car was parked not twenty yards away from his immobile truck. Diane had stopped mainly because she did not like driving late at night down unfamiliar roads; she had seen Chris’s truck and decided this was a good a place as any to stop for the rest of the night.
Chris explained his predicament to Diane and enquired as to why she was heading out of town so late at night.
“I’m trying to get to my friend’s house, her name is Sharon and she lives well out of town and it should be safe from the troubles†said Diane
“What troubles?†said Chris “what are you talking about?â€Â
“Last Night, Last Night†said Diane, The power went off about 4 pm, then there was some explosions, first at the police station, then at the big hypermarket fuel station, then shooting started in various areas. I got my weekend bag together and set off for Sharon’s house, I thought it would be safer there with her until things got sorted. I was OK until I realised my tyre was flat this morning that’s when I came over to investigate your truck and found you.
Within the hour they realised that the trucks fuel pump was not going to play ball, and the tyre of Diane’s car would not hold air, so Chris swapped over the tyre for her spare and agreed to accept a lift back to town from her, even though it meant going the opposite direction to where she wanted to be.
Soon they were climbing the stairs to Diane’s apartment, but sat outside her front door was a mountain bike, a rucksack and a very tired lady, it was Sharon. It turned out that the power was out state wide and trouble was brewing all over the region. Sharon had tried repeatedly to contact Diane, and eventually decided to cycle the 35 miles from her house to Diane’s place. Being cautious she had come down the old cycle way (used to be a railroad track years ago) to avoid meeting strangers, and apart from falling off a few times she had got here in a little over 6 hours and two punctures later.
Sharon was feeling rather chuffed with herself as she had repaired the punctures using the repair kit on the bike, her multi tool and two spoons from her camping kit. She had kept the dust off her face and out of her eyes using the bandana and sunglasses she carried as part of her EDC along with the Leatherman multi tool. She had used her Inova X 5 LED Flashlight to illuminate the stairs and passageway to Diane’s apartment, then cracked off a Chemical light stick to provide the needed light allowing her to save the batteries in her flashlight for later. Being stuck in a lobby exposed to anyone passing through the building she kept her A G Russell Sting 1 A boot knife close to hand,.
Shortly there were three people happily resting and cleaning themselves up in Diane’s pad, Chris set two bring up some pieces of kit he had brought with him from the truck. A Butane camping stove, A World band battery powered radio, Some 12 freeze dried mountain warehouse meals and his portable water filter. The ladies after cleaning themselves up as ladies do set too taking stock of their supplies and preparing a meal.
After everyone was cleaned, fed and rested the trio used their combined intelligence to assess the situation. They agreed that it was best they stay put until early morning and to leave town for the safety of his self sufficient residential trailer. (Composting toilet, PV cells, Micro turbine, own deep well, and thriving vegetable garden) So before settling down to get as much rest as possible they packed everything that they thought would be useful into an assortment of rucksacks and fanny packs. Clothing, Diane’s .38 Ladysmith revolver, the bits Chris had brought with him, Two Silva Expedition Compasses Diane had inherited from a previous tenant, and the travel EDC kit that Sharon had brought on her bike.
Sometime in the early morning Chris woke to the sound of glass breaking and people yelling, Carefully peering through the closed blinds into the street 15 feet below he was just in time to watch a group of about 6 men, clearly drunk and all carrying guns, as they threw three blazing bottles of gasoline through the smashed windows of an apartment below and to the left of Diane’s first floor apartment.
As the 6 men wandered off up the road Chris watched with great alarm as the fire took hold in the apartment below, it only took seconds for the flames to begin roaring out the smashed windows and up the side of the building. By this time the girls were up and peering over Chris’s shoulder.
“We had better get out of here quick said Diane to none in particular and they all grabbed for the rucksacks and fanny packs, put on their coats and fastened their boots as they headed for the door.
Chris was at the front and his hand was reaching for the door handle when Sharon screamed at him “Don’t open the door†which made Chris jump back as though the devil himself was walking in.
Before he could ask what was the matter Sharon leaned past Chris and briefly put her hand on the door before pulling it away quickly, “ The door is very hot to touch†she said “ The fire is obviously raging in the hallway, we need another way out†said Sharon as the retreated back to the lounge.
Even in the short time since they tried the front door, the temperature in the lounge had gone up dramatically, and it was getting harder to breath as noxious fumes from the fire came up through the floor. The three of them grabbed their bandanas and scarves and wet them under the tap before tying them round their mouths.
“The bathroom, the bathroom quick†said Diane as she led them across the apartment, down the hall and through the bedroom into the bathroom.
“The children’s play area has a sand pit, and its right under this window, the problem is the window is a sealed double glazed unit that does not open†said a worried Diane. “It does now†said Chris as he drew his fire fighters Life tool from his belt, and using the tungsten tip quickly smashed through both panes of glass.
Within two minutes of Chris smashing the window the rucksacks and fanny packs were tossed out of the window, quickly followed by three hot and bothered survivors.
After gathering their packs and their wits the three survivors set off on foot as quiet as they could, soon they dropped onto the towpath that ran passed the playground, after about an hour’s walk Chris found a linesman’s Dodge truck just like his own, and being very familiar with this model he quickly hotwired the vehicle with the aid of his multi tool and flashlight. The trio boarded the “borrowed vehicle†and drove as carefully as they could straight out of town towards Chris’s secluded trailer home.
Many a night over the following weeks was spent round the wood burning grill in the garden of Chris’s place having heated arguments over the merits of various items of essential kit. They agreed to disagree on many aspects but they all agreed that no wise person should venture out without the following.
A good quality fixed blade or lock knife.
A good quality multi tool
A Flashlight and spare batteries
Eye glasses or sun glasses
A Compass
A Bandana
A Lighter
The rest is they say history.
The Bug Out
“What do you mean you have no seed grain†said Rick to the warehouseman.
“Just as I told you Sir, We simply have not got any seed grain, no winter Wheat, no Rye, no Corn, no Barley, nuthin we aint had squat from the suppliers for three weeks now “ said the guy behind the counter.
“Heck I can’t seem to find any at all this year, not even from the wholesalers†said Rick as he walked out.
Rick decided to ponder over his problems with a coffee down at the cantina near the railroad yards, when he arrived his old friend Jim was already there scrawling notes on a lined pad. Getting his coffee Rick sat opposite Jim and asked him why he looked so worried this morning.
“You need ask, you really need ask†said Jim bitterly, “you have been complaining about getting hold of two 25 pound bags of seed grain for weeks, but your problems are nothing compared to mine†snapped Jim.
“Ok I’ll bite, what’s up thenâ€Â
Jim leaned over the table and whispered “ You know my company supplies 95% of the grain and milled flour for this region doncha ?, Well we are running out, we only have enough grain and flour for another 8 days, the silos, mills and bakeries are almost empty†.
Jim continued “God knows what is going on, I know its been only a modest harvest but the farms still produced millions of tons of grain, but its not getting to me, My opposite number who runs the eastern area reckons he has only four days supplies left. But that’s only part of the problem. The grain company is part owned by the railroad and Northern Oil Inc as you know. What you don’t know is the two refineries in the estuary have not had any crude oil deliveries for 3 days and the railroad only has enough diesel bunkered to last until Friday. Oh and according to the gossip there no tankers due to arrive in the near futureâ€Â.
Hells teeth said Rick “I wonder what’s going on, I think I’ll ask on the preparedness forums the only sure fire thing I know is just about everything I like from coffee to wine that comes from abroad has nearly doubled in price lately.
That evening Rick found the true value in having a communications link with other members of the survivalist community, these folks picked up news that the mainstream media missed, ignored or were prevented from broadcasting.
Much of the nation’s basic food stock of grain was going overseas to pay for the oil that kept the nation moving and working. Because of political problems in various areas (plus a few anti-western governments) the oil producers were not accepting more than a third of the payments for their crude oil in Dollars, Sterling or Euros. The oil producers were demanding payment a third in grain, a third in gold or silver and the last third in ordinary currencies. This was being compounded by the oil producers giving preference to the growing economy of China. We were giving away our food for oil and not even getting enough to keep the fires of industry burning. The worst part of it was the government was pretending nothing was wrong.
The information shared between the survivalist communities soon spurred them into activity, almost immediately every family or group went out shopping. Every credit card got maxed out as the survivalists stocked up on essential food stuff that had long shelf lives. The survivalist’s pressure canners and vacuum packers worked over time, and the fuel drums and jerry cans at caches, houses and retreats were filled up with fresh diesel and treated with Sta-Bil fuel preservative. Prescriptions were filled and medical supplies updated. Water filters set up, vehicles serviced and defensive weapons cleaned and loaded into BOVs. Vacations and long trips got cancelled, kids who were schooled outside the neighbourhood stopped getting the school bus each day, instead Ma or Pa did the school run in a fully fitted out Bug Out Vehicle. If trouble hit the kids already knew exactly where to go and what to do while waiting for their parents to arrive and pick them up.
While the motivated members of the preparedness community worked themselves into a frenzy in order to best protect their homes, retreats and families, the average man in the street either ignored the warning signs or believed with blind obedience the information being put out by the western governments.
Six days later the government announced that rationing of fuel and food would be implemented immediately as a temporary measure, that same day Jim from the yard phone Rick and told him “Rick you are a friend and I trust you so I thought I would let you know, last night the fast freight from the capital did not arrive, nor did the stopping freight or the bulk oil train turn up this morning. I’ve just seen some reservist troops putting up a barricade by the hypermarket and mall. I may not be a survivalist Rick, but I’m no bodies fool. I’m getting the wife and we are heading up our fishing cabin, I think you………………………………………………….
The phone line went dead, Rick pressed 3 to return the call to Jim and the phone rang but it went unanswered. Shortly after Rick noticed a police car cruise slowly passed his home, pausing only briefly as the driver peered across the lawn towards Ricks house before driving off.
Rick phoned his wife and told her to get the kids, he said “AB†which his wife well knew was his coded warning for her to drop everything and get home now. He then went to his computer and sent a group posting to the people he knew and trusted in the survival community. It simply said “Alas Babylon†in homage to the far sighted author of a book that inspired so many survivalists.
Then Rick got changed into boots, cargo pants, T shirt, and leather ranger belt with his knife and multi tool on it. He then put on his old Regatta OS 4 travel vest containing his EDC and his PSK, finally putting on his shades and baseball cap he proceeded to add the last few items of supplies into the van.
An hour later with the gas, electricity and water turned in his home Rick and his family drove quietly out of the street and set off the meet the other two survivalist families who should be waiting by now at the lay by outside of town.
On board the vehicle they had each individuals own Bug Out Bag (BOB, food, spare clothing, tools, weapons, first aid kit, camp cooker, defensive weapons etc. The vehicle based survival kit was as always permanently loaded in the vehicle itself (extra fuel in five 20 litre jerry cans, breakdown tools, portable toilet, camp kitchen, sleeping bags, extra food, extra weapons etc) plus a few boxes of extra supplemental supplies from their home.
What future they faced was absolutely uncertain but at least they went into the unknown as well prepared as they can be.
The Bug Out Vehicle
When the street and traffic lights went out as she was driving to her next appointment city analyst Lucy Jones was not to worried, "There's a Road Chef café just a few hundred yards away I’ll get a bite to eat and phone the client to tell him I’m running late. I can do a bit of re-scheduling, by that time I’m sure the power will be back and things will pick up". Lucy accelerated her Turbo Diesel GTI along the road noting her fuel level was under a ¼ of a tank, I’ll fill up on the motorway later she thought, it’s cheaper than this place.
“Oh Heck“ Lucy said as she approached the Road Chef, the car park was full and she could see that there was a big queue waiting to be served inside the building.
At that point her world started to unravel, she decided to push on to the motorway services many miles down the road, she estimated she had enough fuel for at least 50 miles so off she went.
Lucy immediately notice how heavy the traffic was as she joined the motorway, she hoped it would not slow her down or delay her further, she was meeting the girls that evening to go for a meal and a show in the Capital.
As Lucy drove on it began to rain and the traffic began to slow, Just to her left she passed a crash involving three vehicles and a mile further on was another crash. Strangely as she watched a policeman taking notes from one of the drivers, she could see over his shoulder the lights of a town in the far distance simply go out. Lucy shuddered and this made her feel cold so she turned up the cars air con to full as she crawled along the motorway in heavy traffic at no more than 15 miles an hour.
Slightly later Lucy estimated she was at least 20 miles short of the service station when the traffic came to a complete halt.
“Grrr†she thought I’ll have to phone both the customers and the girls and tell them I’m stuck in traffic. But when she tried to call them her cell phone could not connect to the network and that worried her even more. Lucy being Lucy often found that when she got stressed she found she needed to use the toilet, and now her tummy was beginning to tell her she needed to go. “I hope this traffic moves soon she thought, I need a wee and I need fuel soon. She noted the fuel gauge was nudging empty and to compound it the rain outside was turning to sleet.
After an hour or more Lucy began to take notice of the vehicles around her, most had turned off their lights and engines to save fuel. She did not switch off her engine because she only had on her business suit and it was getting pretty damn cold outside. Fifteen minutes later the decision was taken away from her when the engine cut out as the remaining fuel was used up. “Oh knickers now what?†she said to herself. She tried her mobile again but it was still out, so she hopped out of the car and tottered off in her high heels the 500 meters to the roadside emergency phone. As she was walking along she could see that there was lots of vehicles blocking the hard shoulder as well as all the lanes, she thought to herself “That’s going to make it very hard for the police or garage to reach me when I use the roadside phone†When Lucy arrived at the phone another woman was already trying to make it work. “This is the third phone I have walked to and they are all out, my mobile phone wont work either†she complained.
Lucy turned round and started to head back to her car as she did she noticed more and more people abandoning their cars and trucks and walking off down the road.
She had only walked about a kilometer in her high heels and already her feet were hurting like hell, plus she was wet and freezing cold from the sleet. She gladly climbed back into the security of her car if just to get out of the wind and sleet, and turned on the radio.
She was horrified by the news coming over the airwaves, riots, looting, crashes, people stranded and the emergency services completely overwhelmed by the amount of incoming calls for help. The radio station she was listening to was fairly distant but it shocked her to hear that many other radio and TV stations were off air because they did not have backup generators or fuel.
She was now cold, wet, hungry and getting afraid, and her bladder was bursting, she had no food nor fuel nor warm clothing, or contact with the outside world. It was dark and very lonely and Lucy at a complete loss what to do.
Suddenly there was a tap on the glass of her car door she nearly wet herself with shock (She was only a few minutes away from having to squat at the side of the road and that would complete her misery and humiliation) Peering through the window was a woman, about 35 years old wearing a parka. Lucy wound down the window about half way. “Are you OK" asked the woman, "Do you need a cup of tea or a bite to eat?†she asked the astounded Lucy.
“I need to pee more than anything†spouted Lucy surprised at herself for her sudden frankness in front of a stranger.
"Well feel free to use the loo in my van" said the smiling woman who introduced herself as Clare “Come with me it’s only to that VW van two cars behind yours†said Clare as she walked back towards her vehicle.
Lucy thought “Well what choice do I have†and quickly abandoned her car and headed after Clare. Upon reaching Clares vehicle Lucy noted it was a VW like hers but a van not a car, not only that it was the same silver metallic and had the same wheels. “Nice looking van†said Lucy as she caught up with Clare, "thanks" she replied “but I think you will like the inside better†As she opened the sliding door on the side and stepped in with Lucy right behind her.
She was amazed she looked around to see a fully fitted micro kitchen along the side of the van, a full length sofa and what looked like two full length wardrobes at the rear. Clare opened one of the smaller cupboard doors at floor level and pulled out a Porta Potti 165 telling Lucy to help herself while she waited outside.
When Clare came back in she found a wet, cold and bedraggled Lucy with a great look of relief on her face, “My God I was desperate for that, thanks so very much†said Lucy. “No problem†said Clare as she made a pot of tea and knocked up some sausage sandwiches which they both devoured.
Later on after Clare had given Lucy some warm dry clothes to wear she described the contents of the van.
It’s my Bug Out Vehicle and every day transport rolled into one said Clare. It does all the things your GTI does and more, It’s got air con, plus diesel cab heating, a 174 HP diesel engine, a micro kitchen unit containing two gas rings and a grill, mini fridge, water tanks, and cutlery and crockery storage, and a gas bottle locker, the kitchen is only 18 inches wide four ft long and 30 inches high. The sofa you are sitting on has storage underneath and it converts into a double bed if I get stranded overnight, there’s a toilet compartment and a wardrobe. I have 12 volt and 240 volt lighting circuits and a propane / diesel heater for the living area, there a mini TV DVD and radio unit in the roof lining and long range fuel tanks underneath. I use it to visit my clients and to go camping with my kids it’s so much more useful than a simple car or 4x4. My van overall is only 4 inches longer than your car and a few inches wider.
“Please feel free to rest here and watch a DVD with me until the roads are cleared or until my family contacts us via the CB radio system on where we are to meet them. They will come cross country if necessary to rescue us if the road does not re-openâ€Â.
Two days later an army patrol that was bulldozing stranded vehicles aside to clear the road came across Clare and Lucy who by now were the best of friends.
After they had been freed to go about their journeys Lucy decided the first thing she wanted to do was to have a long hot bath, and the second was to find out how quick she could part exchange her car for a van. When Clare dropped her off at home she gave her a list of useful items she should buy and keep with her at all times. IE fleece jacket, waterproofs, walking shoes, flashlight, food, water, spare fuel can, light sticks, maps, survival guide etc etc. A suggested EDC kit (Every day Carry Kit) and a suggested BOB (Bug out Bag) list. Lucy swore to herself to get a van as soon as possible if the opportunity arose. Lucy decided that if any sort of normality returned she was to find out much more about prepping and survivalism. Clare had started the process off by giving her a photocopied version of "The Basic Preppers Guide for Families" by the prepper and author known as Northern Raider.
The farsightedness of Clare had saved at least one extra life, Lucy's.
The Cache
John Smith’s wife Wendy a specialist nurse was just finishing off the last of her patients notes before she closed down the clinic for the night when the lights went out, She sat patiently for about 10 minutes under the dim light from the low powered emergency escape lighting system. “Damn it†she thought “John was right I should keep a torch of some sort in my uniform pocket, rather than on the table in the clinic with my other examination equipmentâ€Â.
Using the dim emergency lighting she retrieved the flashlight from her desk and headed for the locker room. Opening her locker she first grabbed her cell phone to call John but it was not connecting to any cell. Slightly worried about this she turned on the portable radio that sat on the coffee table by the sink. She soon became alarmed at the news about the rolling blackout affecting most of the region.
She headed back to her locker and pulled out a small rucksack that John insisted she kept at work. In it she found her spare well-worn but exceedingly quiet and comfortable walking shoes, a fleece vest and a waterproof cagoule. She changed quickly as the heating in her work place had suffered the same fate as her husband’s office and it was cooling off quickly. She decided to wait an hour to see if john called before she decided to make a move.
In her rucksack she had a flashlight and batteries, small lock knife, compass, two bottles of Lucasade, three low fat nutrition bars and two tinned energy booster fortified milk shakes. A small radio, two light sticks, a first aid kit and a Leatherman juice multi tool were among the other items she kept in her bag.
After listening to the radio once again and drinking one of the fortified shakes Wendy decided it was time to head home, so of she went to the station at the end of the road,
The station was closed and locked and the lights were out, “Bugger†thought Wendy it’s the bus for me so she walked briskly to the bus stop. When she got there she found dozens of people waiting but no bus. One lady said she had been there since 5.30PM and it was now getting on for 7.45PM. At that point she spotted a guy in a railway workers uniform cycling slowly up the road. She asked him if he knew what was happening as he rode a
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