Mountain Home

[Christian for Israel]

Chapter 19

The next several days saw a great change in Robin. No longer shy, she was self assured and confident. Jack was concerned that, after such a terrifying attack, the girl would retreat back into her shell forever. He had noticed after she’d been married that she had seemed more self confident, taking an active part in conversations and looking for ways to help others. When she’d first gotten there a few months earlier, she’d hardly said a word to anyone, always keeping her eyes downcast and sticking close to Eric. He wasn’t sure why, but marriage had changed all that, and she’d really started to open up.

Now, with the attack and all, he’d been sure she’d close up again, but the opposite had happened, and he couldn’t figure out why.

Lying in bed one night after the attack, Robin was thinking about her life and how much it had changed in just the past few months. Doug’s assault on her had shaken her up, but her own actions had surprised her. It was the first time in her life that she’d ever taken control, always before she had just accepted whatever happened to her without a struggle. But this time she fought back, and it was a liberating experience. She realized now that she had authority over her own life, that nothing had to happen to her unless she wanted it to.

Just a few months before she had been the little passive girl her parents had raised, mimicking them in their reactions to the things around them. Her father would never have raised a fuss, no matter what someone was doing to him. He didn’t like guns and would never even allow discussion of them in the house. Her mother shielded and protected her so that she never had any experience with confrontation, and her father wouldn’t even allow her to talk about problems she had at school, let alone the things she saw on the news or heard about from her friends.

When they died she felt that she’d died also, but in a surprising way her life seemed to have begun at that time. And now she was married, and to a wonderful husband. That had been her first act of self determination, and it felt wonderful. But during the attack, that was when she’d really taken control, first drawing attention to her situation, then actively fighting back. Since then she realized she didn’t have to just let things happen to her, and that was a wonderful feeling.

Thinking of these things, and snuggling up to her husband, she drifted happily off to sleep.

In the days after the incident with Doug, Eric and Jack took care of several projects. First they mounted the M-249’s to the kestrel, and fixed a trigger so that the guns could be fired from either seat. They mounted them to the landing skids, far enough forward that there was no way to get their feet in front of the muzzles, and close enough so they could reach down and change ammo boxes if needed. Each ammo box held two hundred rounds, and they set the guns up to fire alternately, giving each one a second to cool while the other fired. Jack knew that extended firing could warp the barrels, and hoped that by alternating between them when firing, they could avoid that problem.

Next they tackled mounting the Browning on the mog. This had been kind of tricky, and they finally decided to cut a hole in the roof of the camper and put the swivel mount in front of the hole. They also fashioned a door they could close to keep rain out of the interior, and fixed a half inch steel plate to the front of the mount to give the shooter a little protection from return fire. Jack knew it wouldn’t offer much help against a well armed enemy, but he also knew there weren’t many people left, at least not in their immediate area.

One other vehicle he wanted to arm was the ‘viper’. This was a homebuilt jet he’d bought several years before, and it was lots of fun to fly. He’d shown it to Eric, but so far they hadn’t had the time to fly it. The boy wanted to get checked out on it, so Jack made the time and took him up.

Flying the little two seat jet was an experience. Faster than anything else in the hangar, it looked and handled like a fighter plane. After several days of instruction Eric soloed, and after that it was the only plane he wanted to fly!

Arming it was tricky however. There wasn’t enough room in the nose to mount an internal gun, and the plane wasn’t designed to carry external weapons. Finally, the two men made a trip back to Gowen field, to the army reserve area to see how things were mounted on military aircraft.

“You know, now that I look at it, mounting any sort of weapon is going to be tricky.” Jack said.

“You’re right, the wings are just too small for anything to be mounted there, that’s for sure.”

“I guess we could put a .50 cal under the belly, on the centerline, but how would we store the ammo?”

“Hmm, could we cut a hole in the floor of the rear cockpit and mount a box there?” the boy asked.

“Maybe, but we’d have to mount the gun sideways, and I’m not sure it’d work that way.”

“Well, all we can do is try it, I guess.”

After playing with one of the Browning’s for an hour, they found it would fire no matter what orientation it was in. next they went over to look at the plane and see if there was enough room in the cockpit floor for the ammo box.

“This’ll never work, the control links are in the way.” Eric groused.

“Actually, there may just be a way. If we offset the gun to the left, there should be just enough room to mount the box between the seat frame and the stick, without interfering with the linkages,” Jack observed. “See what I mean?”

Looking, the boy agreed, and they spent the rest of the afternoon mounting and sighting in the gun. They had to make their own crude iron sights, but eventually they got to where they could hit a target at least three hundred yards out with fairly reasonable accuracy.

“The ammo box only holds a hundred rounds, and there’s no way we can reload it in the air, but it’s better than nothing I guess.” Jack said.

Eric agreed, and the two got in the small jet and headed back to the complex. One of the things Jack had been worried about when they mounted the gun offset was the effect it would have on the handling of the aircraft. Getting in the air, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that he couldn’t even tell it was there. Next, they wanted to see what would happen when they fired it while in flight. When they mounted the gun, they had cut a slot in the skin of the plane to allow the cocking handle to stick through. Pulling it to the rear to charge the gun, Jack got set up and aimed at a car on the outskirts of Boise. When the sights lined up he worked the lever they’d mounted to actuate the trigger, and the airplane bucked gently as the gun fired.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad.” He said. And it looks like we hit that car as well.

Landing back at the complex, the two went in to get something to eat, happy with their efforts, even if they never needed the extra firepower.


Some time later, Jack walked in to the dining room with a smile on his face. Looking up at him, Pam asked “what are you so happy about?”

“Do you know what day this is?” he asked.

“No,” she responded, curious.

“It’s the forth of July.”

“It is? Really? Cool!” She said.

“And I thought we could have a picnic topside, and maybe later even have some fireworks.” Jack said, grinning.

At this, the others perked up as well. “Hey! That sounds great.” Eric chimed in.

“Good idea.” Mel added.

Suddenly everybody was busy planning what they’d do to celebrate the day. The girls got busy preparing the picnic, while Eric and Jack made a run to Gowen for some ‘fireworks’.

When they returned, they saw that the others were outside already, and had blankets spread with food on them.

Sitting on a blanket with Pam at his side and a plate of lasagna in his hands, Jack said “you know what would be really good on a day like this?”

“No, what?” Pam said.

“Fried chicken. I mean real chicken, not the textured vegetable protein from the storage foods, but real meat. We should see about finding some chickens to raise, that way we would be able to get real meat once in a while.”

Pam thought about that and said “yeah, and some eggs too. I miss real eggs, and we ran out months ago.”

Eric spoke up and said “What I want is a hamburger. I miss beef more than anything.”

“Well, couldn’t we start raising our own livestock? It can’t be all that hard, and I’m sure there’s enough feed around that’s still good.” Robin added.

“That sounds like a plan,” Jack said. “Why don’t we get started working on that tomorrow?”

The others thought that an excellent idea, they’d all missed real meat more than a little, and this was a project they all could get into.

Finally, as the sun was setting, the men got ready for their ‘fireworks’ display. They started off by bringing out several weather balloons they’d found at the airport in Boise. These they filled with helium and attached half pound blocks of C-4 to, with fused detonators inserted. After filling the balloons, they lit the fuse and released them one at a time, letting them float upwards to explode, to the delight of the group.

Next, they got out an 81mm mortar they’d found, and proceeded to fire several explosive shells towards the fence line at the far end of the property. Finally, as it was getting fully dark, Eric brought up the mog, and started firing specially linked ‘all tracer’ ammo into the night sky.

After they were done, the girls applauded and, going to their men, Pam and Robin gave them long kisses of appreciation.

Over the next few days the group worked to prepare for raising livestock. Going into Mayfield they got fencing materials from the farmers co-op, and used this to set up places for the animals. They also got lumber and built a chicken coop, as well as stalls and a shelter for the cows, so they wouldn’t have to stay outside during bad weather.

Finding a few cows wasn’t too hard, there had been several cattle ranches in the area. True, many of the animals had died off, but there were several that had had enough grazing area and were still healthy. Using a horse trailer they found at one ranch, they managed to get half a dozen cows back to the complex. Jack knew they needed a bull also, but they hadn’t found one, and he didn’t know what to do about it.

Finding chickens was a different story. Most were raised in large factory type places where food had to be brought to them. Since no one had been around to take care of them in months, the flocks had died of starvation. Finally however, they found a few yard birds that had survived, mostly at houses in the country around the towns. Gathering them up, they now had a source of meat and eggs that they could maintain, as they had found several roosters to go along with the hens.

An unexpected but welcome surprise came when they found a sow and eleven piglets at one of the houses where they got chickens. The piglets were obviously several weeks old, and Jack figured they could likely be weaned soon. The problem was, the sow was feral, and she didn’t take too kindly to strangers messing around her yard. In the end, they had to shoot her. Fortunately, the babies were big enough to survive on their own and as there were two males in the litter, they would provide another continuing source of meat. The mother also provided meat, and after all the animals had been settled at the complex, everyone took a day to rest and have a barbeque.

They indeed had been able to find unspoiled feed, and had taken all they could store, by Jack’s estimate, they had enough to feed all the animals they had for at least two years. Also, the manure and byproducts from butchering could be added to the other waste for the oil converter, meaning they could finally start producing their own crude oil. The converter had been finished weeks earlier, but they didn’t have a good source of garbage material. As a result they had only run the thing one time, but that had resulted in sixty gallons of oil that they had then been able to refine into decent diesel fuel. Jack knew they would now be able to provide new fuel for their vehicles, if only they could find a good source of material to feed the process.

A couple of weeks after their forth of July celebration, Mel noticed that Robin seemed to be under the weather. Talking with her, she learned the girl had been feeling badly every morning for weeks, but said that it soon passed.

“Robin, when did you have your last period?” Mel asked.

“I don’t know, it’s been a while. But my period has always been funny.” The girl replied.

Nodding her head knowingly, Mel said “well, this time I think there’s a reason. I do believe that you are pregnant young lady.”

“Pregnant!” the girl was stunned. “How?”

Smiling, Mel said “well, I can think of one way at any rate.”

Blushing, robin realized suddenly that this wasn’t a bad thing. She had been thinking that she would be in trouble if this was true, but now she realized that it was ok, she was married! In fact, it was wonderful!

The girl suddenly smiled so big Mel thought her face would split. “Wait’ll I tell Eric!” they girl squealed, and started for the apartment.

A moment later Mel heard a shout of joy from the direction of the apartments, and a few moments later the young couple emerged, each grinning like crazy.

That night they had a party to celebrate the upcoming event. Pam was as happy as anyone for them, but a part of her was also envious. Realizing finally that she would never be in the same situation unless she came to grips with the idea of marriage, the girl resolved to pray about it, and follow where the Lord led her.

Jack drew Mel aside after the party had died down. “Uh, do you know how to deliver a baby Mel?”

“Well, I’ve had three of my own Jack, and it is a natural process.” She said, seeing the concern on his face. “Women have been having babies for thousands of years, somehow I think Robin will be just fine with only our help.”

Realizing she was probably right, Jack decided to let it go for now and just pray that everything went all right.

[Christian for Israel]

Chapter 20

Eric had been spending a considerable amount of time flying the Viper. He loved the little jet, and took it up whenever he could. One day, while accumulating flight hours in it and showing Robin how it handled, they flew over a small valley about sixty miles north of the complex. Looking into the valley, they spotted cows grazing, and knowing that Jack wanted a bull, the boy decided to fly low and slow over the area and see if they could see any.

After several minutes, Robin called out “there’s one Eric, off to the right.”

Looking to where she’d indicated, he spotted the animal also, and knew the others would be pleased. Circling back, he checked out the rest of the valley, then returned to the complex to tell them the news.

After landing, the couple hunted down Jack and let him know what they’d found. Hearing about the bull, Jack got the details of the area and said “If that’s the same place I’m thinking of, that animal’s gonna be tough to get out of there.”

“Why’s that?” Robin wanted to know.

“Because there’s no road into the area, except for a dirt bike trail. Last time I tried to drive there, even the mog had trouble. There’s no way we’ll ever get that horse trailer in there, and that’s the only way I know of moving an animal that size.”

Deciding that the bull wasn’t likely to leave the area anytime soon, the group agreed to discuss it with the others and figure out a solution to the problem.

Upon hearing the news and finding out about the situation with the location, Mel said “you know, I saw a movie on TV one time where these guys carried a water buffalo under a helicopter. Do you think you could do that with the Huey, Jack?”

Considering her suggestion, Jack thought it might be possible. “Maybe, but it’d have to be knocked out. I doubt if we could attach the sling to the animal with it awake, and if it thrashed about it could injure itself.”

“What about knocking it out with a dart gun?” Pam asked.

“Where would we get something like that?” He asked.

“A veterinary hospital?”

“Hmm, I guess we could look, anyway,” He replied.

That afternoon Jack, Mel and Eric took the Huey into Mountain Home. Jack knew there had been a large animal clinic in town that had serviced many of the ranches in the area. Finding the place, he landed in the parking lot. Leaving Eric to watch the bird, the other two went inside to see what they could find.

Walking inside, they were surprised to see the dried out body of a person in a lab coat lying halfway behind the front counter. Taking a closer look, Jack saw that it was the woman who ran the place, the Vet he’d dealt with on several occasions in the past, as he’d used her as a source for medications for the shelter. He figured she must have stayed here to take care of the animals, and eventually died here.

Moving past her into the back room, the two were startled to see all the dead animals. Hesitating for a second, they stared into the cages.

“Well, at least the smell is gone. It’s so sad though, you know?” Mel said.

“I know,” he responded, “But it’s something we’re going to see a lot of as we go around looking for stuff, so I guess we’d better get used to it.”

Looking around, they found the supply room. On one shelf was what they were after, a tranquilizer rifle and darts. Looking further, they found the anesthesia meds, and a dosage chart for various animals, including cattle. Taking everything, the two returned to the chopper.

“Find what we needed?” Eric asked when they walked out.

“Yep, at least I hope so, anyway.” Jack said.

“We’d probably better test this stuff on a cow before we use it on the bull though,” Mel said. “I’d sure hate to go to all this trouble and then kill the dang thing by giving it an overdose.”

“Or have it wake up before we get it home.” Jack quipped

Agreeing, the group took off and went to a local cattle ranch where they’d left several cows. After finding one for the experiment, they filled a dart with the listed amount of the drug for cattle, and fired it at the animal. It took several minutes to have any effect, but eventually it went down and stopped moving. Approaching the cow, Mel checked for breathing and found everything looked all right.

“We’d better wait until the drug wears off. That way we’re sure the animal is all right and we’ll know how long the effect lasts.”

Thinking that last part of her statement to be the most important, Jack said “ok, let’s get something to eat, I packed some stuff in the chopper just in case.”

Ribbing him about always being prepared, the others went back to the bird to wait.

Two hours later the cow started coming around, and forty-five minutes after that, it got up and started to graze. Deciding they had seen enough to know the stuff worked, the they returned to the complex, as it was starting to get dark.

The next morning the group met in the hangar. They decided that Mel would stay behind with Robin this time, and the others would go get the bull. Robin looked dejected at the thought of staying behind again. After all, she’d worked hard to keep up with the others so she wouldn’t have to be left out anymore. But they had convinced her that, in her ‘delicate condition’, playing with a full grown bull just wasn’t too bright.

Jack had left the Huey on the elevator the night before, since they would be taking it back out in the morning anyway. It’d been quite a trick getting it squeezed into the crowded hangar, and in the end they’d had to disassemble two kit planes and move them and the Para-glider to the top level of the garage silo. Only the fact that this particular model of the craft, the 412, had folding blades made it possible, as the four blades stuck out almost twenty feet to each side, and the elevator was only thirty feet wide.

Getting the craft set up for flight, the group got on board and headed to the valley in question. It took more than two hours to find the bull, and Eric was getting frustrated, swearing to the others that they’d really seen it. Finally they spotted it, hidden for the most part under some trees near a stream that ran through the valley.

Knowing it would be impossible to hook up to the animal with it under the trees, Jack brought the bird in low, scaring it and making it run out into the field. When it was far enough away that there was little chance it would head back, he told Pam to go ahead, and she fired, hitting the animal in the flank. Within minutes it was down, and they cautiously approached. Determining the bull was well out of it, they spread the cargo net they’d taken from the army reserve base out behind it. Getting that done, Eric asked “How are we going to move it onto the net jack, it must weigh a ton!”

“Watch and learn, grasshopper.” Jack said.

“Grasshopper? Huh?” Eric said, looking confused.

Realizing he was too young to remember the old TV show, Jack said “forget it, it was before your time.”

Tying the bulls’ legs together, Jack attached a rope to them and tied the other end to the landing skid of the helicopter. Then getting in, he lifted off and gently pulled until the animal rolled over, settling in the middle of the net. Setting down again, they untied the rope from its legs and gathered the corners of the net, fixing them to the cable attached to the sling hook on the chopper.

When they were all set they got aboard and Jack eased the load into the air. Traveling slowly so as not to set up a swinging in the load, they made their way back to the complex. The flight was uneventful, and they arrived an hour later. Setting down the load, Jack told Eric to get out and cut the bindings on the bull’s legs, then come back. When he returned, they lifted off and landed on the elevator pad, planning on retrieving the net after the animal awoke and moved off. With the task accomplished, the group went inside to grab a bite to eat.

*

Over the next several days, they observed as the bull got used to his new home. Eventually he took over the herd, and started mounting the cows one by one. This made Jack very happy, not only would they now have a renewable source of beef, but they’d also be able to collect fresh milk. The milk problem had always bugged him. Powdered milk was ok, but it didn’t last more than a couple of years in storage. Worse than that as far as he was concerned, it couldn’t be used to make ice cream, and he’d always liked ice cream. Now, with fresh milk available, they could make that and many other things besides, including real butter and cheese.

Pam had also noticed the bull in action, but she wasn’t thinking about milk. She’d noticed that Robin’s belly was starting to poke out a bit, and it made her want to have a baby of her own. Finally coming to grips with the idea of getting married, she decided to talk to Jack about it.

Calling him on the intercom one morning, she asked if she could talk to him about something. Jack told her to come on up and waited for her in his apartment. When she arrived he could tell she was nervous, so he invited her to sit down and relax, taking a seat across from her.

“I can see you’re upset Pam, what is it?” He asked.

“I’m not upset Jack, I was just wondering…why haven’t you ever asked me to marry you?”

Startled by the question, he replied “well, for starters, I didn’t want to push you. I could see that you weren’t all that thrilled with the idea, and I figured that I could wait until you were ready.”

Overcome with love for him because of his consideration, the girl said “at first I didn’t think I was ready, and the idea kinda scared me, but the past few months here have changed that. I want to marry you Jack, I want to be your wife.”

With happiness filling his soul (he’d wondered if she’d EVER get over her reluctance to getting married), Jack took the girl into his arms and said “that would make me the happiest man alive babe.”

Thrilled with his response, she said “so, when can we do it?”

“First we both need to make sure we know what we’re getting ourselves into. You know that marriage is permanent, right? God allows divorce for only one reason, but even then He doesn’t like it. In a perfect relationship, the couple would forgive and work through any problem, and stay together. Also, if someone else came along in the future, someone closer to your own age, you would still be married to me and wouldn’t be able to just up and leave, no matter how much you liked this other person.”

“Oh Jack, I’d NEVER want to leave you! No matter who came along. I love you, and I’d never do anything to hurt you, ever!”

“Ok, as long as you’re clear on that.”

The two spent several hours discussing the details of marriage, and in the end Jack felt the girl really was ready. But he also knew he was biased, and asked her to talk to Mel also, just to make sure.

Mel was thrilled that the girl had finally made the decision, but she also understood the importance of being sure. After talking with her for the rest of the afternoon, she was convinced as well. Next, they had to decide how to conduct the ceremony.

Pam suggested that Mel officiate at the service, but she disagreed. “According to scripture, women aren’t supposed to take a position superior to a man, and that rules out me performing the marriage. As I see it, there are only two options. First, as Eric pointed out when he married Robin, the Bible doesn’t say anywhere that a pastor or other official is needed. The reason we did it that way before is that the law said we had to, and the Bible DOES tell us to obey the authority of the land, which means obeying the law as long as it doesn’t oppose scripture. But now, with society and its laws gone, we can fall back on the scriptures themselves to find out how to do things. Therefore, if you two decide, you could simply stand together in front of the rest of us and declare your intent to stay together and fulfill the marriage covenant.

“Second, you could get Eric to officiate, as he’s the only other man here, and therefore the only one able to fulfill the role. Why don’t you and Jack talk it over, and decide which way you’d like to go. I won’t mention these options to the others to spare Eric’s feelings if you choose not to use him, ok?”

Pam said that would be great, and went to talk these things over with her husband to be.

In the end they decided to do it themselves. Standing in front of the rest of the group in the chapel, they recited their vows, almost word for word the same ones Eric and Robin had said. Afterwards, Jack bent over and kissed his bride, amid the cheering of the others. Retiring to the rec room for the reception, Pam couldn’t wait to finally get her new husband alone. After a short celebration, Jack took his bride to their apartment, and they didn’t show themselves again for two days.

[Superman]

I like the outsider coming into the compound...BUT I am wondering if Jack's thoughts were a little too much...it made the situation predictable. I think if it were simply stated the dog didn't know the guy...it would have made an avenue but not necessarily a drawn out map to what could happen.

Also...(I realize you have had this written for a while so changing it may be tough) but I wonder if that situation should have taken an extra couple days to climax? Let the guy interact a little more...maybe lull them into a little more confidence...sort of take the readers' minds off of it...then BAM. He attacks (which was written very well!!)

Hoping not to sound to critical..just making some observations. I don't have the net at the new house yet so I am excited to get to work and be able to read this!

[Christian for Israel]

actually, in re-reading this i find that the story moves much too quickly in many areas. i value your insights and will strongly consider your points when i rewrite it.

so, what did you think of their decision on how to deal with him?

[Christian for Israel]

Chapter 21

Just because the newlyweds didn’t leave the apartment for two days didn’t mean they spent the entire time in bed. On the contrary, mostly they sat and talked, watched movies together and generally enjoyed spending time together, just the two of them.

When they finally did emerge, Pam was radiant with happiness, and Jack seemed more relaxed than the others had ever seen him. Mel thought it was cute the way they both walked around with a grin on their faces all that day, but she didn’t comment on it.

For her part, Pam was deliriously happy. She’d been a little afraid on their wedding night, but Jack had been slow and gentle, being more concerned with her happiness than his own. The result had been an experience beyond anything she’d ever imagined, and way beyond anything her friends had ever talked about when she was in school. Thinking about it, she realized that what Robin had said was most likely true. When done right (in marriage), and when both people were serving God, sex truly was a thousand times better than if she’d just ‘done it’ with anyone who was available.



As it was now early September, and Jack knew winter would be there before they knew it, he decided that the livestock would need better quarters for the long cold months ahead. Sitting down with the others, he sketched out what he thought would be needed. The rest of the group offered suggestions as he went, and they finally agreed on how to go about the project. After a trip into Mountain Home for supplies, they got to work. Two weeks later they were almost done, and everyone was impressed with what they had accomplished.

The animal barn sat on top of the number three silo. This was one of the storage silos, and didn’t open anymore. There was however an access port that used to be used to fill the liquid oxygen tanks for the missile. That would give them access to the structure without having to walk through the snow that usually started some time in November. It was through this access port that they also ran the water and electrical lines, ensuring that the water pipes wouldn’t freeze. The barn was built large, and divided. The bull had his own area, built out of heavy steel pipe and angle iron, to make sure he didn’t break out. The cow area had one section set aside for milking, and another for calving. Dividing the cow and bull areas was a feed trough set up with an automatic feeder. They’d found it at the co-op in town and it would provide just enough for all the animals each day. The hopper was filled with enough feed to last for six months. Next to the trough was a water tank, also accessible by both sides.

Going through the back wall one entered the pig house and chicken coop. these two sat side by side and also had automatic feeders and waterers. Doors to separate outdoor yards were set in both sides, and could be closed during cold months. All the pens had concrete floors, and there was a hose available to allow the group to hose down the pens to help keep the place clean. Heaters attached to the walls would keep the temp above sixty degrees automatically, and all Jack and the others would have to do was wash the floors down every few days and collect the milk and eggs.

Almost finished, Jack and Eric had been wiring in the lights when Jack’s pager started buzzing. Dropping what they were doing, the two men raced down the access port and to the intercom at the entrance to the silo. Hitting the button, Jack called for someone to go to the control room and see what had set off the alarm system. A moment later Pam called back and told them that they’d gotten a message in on the radio.

Jack had forgotten all about the automatic signal they were sending out, as there had never been a reply. Telling Pam they’d be there in a minute, he and the boy started off towards the power dome at a trot.

Arriving out of breath, he saw the message on the monitor next to the radio.

“G6WZZMJ calling whoever is sending out the automatic signal. Please respond.”

Sitting in front of the terminal, Jack typed “hello? Can you hear me? Who are you? We’d about given up hope of finding anyone else around, this is the first time anyone’s called us on the radio.”

After a moment, more words appeared on the screen. “Well I’m not surprised, as this frequency is usually only used for air traffic. I just happened to be bored enough to be monitoring it when I heard your automatic signal. My name’s Michael and I’m in upstate New York.”

“Hello Michael” Jack typed, “my name’s Jack, and I’m in southern Idaho. How are things where you are? Is there anyone else there with you? Have you contacted anyone else?” He was full of questions. To actually be communicating with someone across the country was amazing to him after so many months of silence.

“Well, things aren’t too good here Jack, I don’t imagine they are many places anymore. There are five of us here, myself, my wife, and our three kids. As for contact, I’ve spoken with several groups around the world, but no one has the ability to do more than just talk.”

“Did you say your wife and kids? How did you all manage to survive the plague together?”

“Well, I guess they aren’t really my wife and kids, although I think of them that way now. Jennifer I met about three months ago, and she found two of the kids along the way to where I’m at. The other child, Eddie, I found in his parents house not long after everyone around here died. I know they’re not really my family, but it makes it nicer to think of them that way.”

“Sounds like they’re family to me Michael. You said things aren’t so great there, why is that? Is there some way we could help?

“I don’t see how. We were doing great at first, but we live in a very rural area. At first I went all over looking for folks, and used up most all the gas I could find doing that. Now that we’re all together here, we’ve gone through the food quickly and there’s no more around. We don’t have enough gas left to go looking for more, and it’s too cold to walk, especially for the young’uns. By my figuring we should have enough to get us through to January…after that I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

Thinking for a moment, Jack said “Michael, I need to discuss something with my people here. Could you call me back on this channel in about two hours? We may be able to do something to help you all out.”

“Are you serious?! Sure, I’ll call you back…what could you do?”

“I’m not sure at this time, let me talk it over with my people first.”

“Ok, talk to you in a couple of hours then… G6WZZMJ out.”

Switching off the radio, Jack looked at the others and suggested they go into the dining room where they’d be more comfortable and discuss an idea of his. Getting up, everyone filed out.


An hour later they were still ‘discussing’ Jack’s idea. Actually, discussion was too nice a word, in reality this was an argument.

“I just can’t believe you want to bring them here Jack, especially after what happened with Doug.” Mel said, throwing her arms up in frustration. “Didn’t that whole episode show you how dangerous it is to open ourselves to outsiders?”

“Mel, calm down, have a seat and let me say my piece…please.” Jack was weary, this wasn’t going as he’d thought it would.

Pam, Eric and Robin hadn’t said much, mostly they just sat on the sidelines and watched, but Eric was decidedly with Mel on this one, he didn’t see any reason for them to open themselves to that sort of danger again. Thinking about what had happened before, he put his arm around his wife and drew her close.

“Look, first off there’s no reason to get upset, I just want to put it to a vote. And I won’t do anything until we have a unanimous decision, so just relax.” Jack started. “Next, I have two main reasons why I want to do this, and after I list them we can vote. If just one here is against this, we won’t do it…fair enough?”

The others looked at each other, nodding. Mel sat down, still looking upset, but willing to listen anyway.

“Ok, reason number one. These people need help. They had no reason to lie to us as we’re thousands of miles away and they never thought we could do anything for them in the first place. They need help or they’re not going to make it through the winter. As Christians, our duty is to God first, and one of the things He tells us to do is help each other. As for the danger, as long as we are doing His work, we’re supposed to look to Him for protection, setting aside our fear and trusting Him to take care of us.”

At this, Mel spoke up. “What about what happened with Doug, why didn’t God take care of us then Jack?”

“Who says He didn’t? How do any of us know that without God’s direct intervention, Doug wouldn’t have dragged Robin off into some dark corner, like in one of the storage silos, and then raped her? If he’d done that, there’s no way any of us could have gotten to her in time to stop him, and she’d be in a much worse condition now, if he didn’t kill her outright. It’s obvious to me that God wanted us to witness to that man, which is why he came here to begin with. But God also was watching out for us, and that’s why Doug was stupid enough to attack one of us in an area where the others would be close by.”

Mel wanted to keep arguing, but she saw enough truth in what he said to keep her mouth closed.

Continuing, Jack said “now for reason number two. Robin and Eric are going to have a baby soon. Pam and I are working on that as well.” At this, Pam blushed. “So tell me…who’ll our kids marry when they get old enough? Each other, right? But who will THEIR kids marry?”

Jack paused a moment, letting the others think about that for a second.

“According to experts, it takes at least six hundred unrelated people of child bearing age to provide enough genetic diversity to allow a society to grow. Without that many, the descendants will eventually end up marrying their close relatives, and the society will die due to mutations resulting from compounded genetic defects, including retardation and sterility. The only way to avoid this is to get as many different people of child bearing age together as possible, at least six hundred, but preferably several thousand.

“Look, letting others in here may have its dangers, but is that any reason to deny our descendants the chance to exist? Think about out grand kids, and our great-grand kids, don’t they deserve a chance? Well, we’re the ones who get to decide if they get that chance or not, and that decision involves just what we’re discussing right now…whether to gather as many people as we can and bring them here, or not.”

“Ok, I’ve said my piece, why don’t we all pray and think about this tonight and vote on it in the morning…ok?”

The others sat there stunned. They had never even considered the children or their future, only thinking about what was best for themselves. Realizing their own selfishness, they got up and went out of the room to pray and think about what they’d heard. Jack took the opportunity to call Michael and ask him to call back the next day, then went to his apartment.

The next morning Jack and Pam walked over to the dining room. The night before, when he’d gotten up to the apartment, Pam had been in tears. As he’d stepped off the elevator she’d gone to him, hugging him and asking him to forgive her for being so selfish.

“It’s all right, you didn’t know.” He said, trying to comfort her.

“But you were right, Jack, and the rest of us were wrong. We HAVE to get other people here, I see that now. If we don’t our children won’t have any future at all.”

Glad that she’d seen the light and hoping the others did now as well, he had continued to comfort his wife until they went to bed.

Entering the dining room, they saw that everyone else was there as well. Mel looked embarrassed, and Eric still looked unsure, but Robin smiled at them when they walked in, and Jack thought that everything would probably be all right.

They decided to vote before breakfast, and as Jack had hoped, it was unanimous in favor of bringing Michael and his family in.

After they ate, Jack got on the radio and made contact.

“Michael, my people have reached a decision and would like to invite you and your family to come stay with us. We have a large shelter I put together before the plague, and it has room for dozens of people, and food and supplies for a long time.”

“Wow, that’s a generous offer Jack, but there’s no way. We can’t even get into the towns in this area, how would we ever get to Idaho?”

“Don’t worry about that, we’ll come get you. Is there an airport near you?”

“Well, I believe there’s one about thirty miles south, in Rome. I think it has a paved runway, but I’m not sure.”

“That sounds perfect, where exactly are you from there?”

“We’re near an area called ‘Michigan mills’. It’s right at thirty miles NNW of Rome. I can give you the coordinates if you want.”

Jack got the coordinates and asked Michael to hold on a second as he looked it up on the terminal. Finding it, he typed “ok, that looks good. We could be there in the morning if that was acceptable. We’ll land at Rome and come up to your area by helicopter, if that’s ok.”

“Sounds great.” He hesitated, “I have to ask one thing though…what’s the catch?”

“Tell me, are you a Christian?”

“You better believe it.”

“How about the others there?”

“Jennifer is, and we’re raising the kids that way as well.”

“Excellent. Well, to answer your question, the catch is we live with the Bible as our guide here, and we would expect your group to do so as well. Also, as this is my shelter, you’d have to be willing to live under my authority, although we make most decisions as a group.”

“What would happen if we didn’t agree on something?” Michael wanted to know.

“Well, if we couldn’t work out our differences, we’d either bring you back to where you are now, or take you anyplace else you wanted to go, within the same distance.”

“Sounds fine to me then, and yes, we’d love to join your group.”

“Ok then, we’ll be there some time tomorrow morning. I’m sure you’ll hear us when we arrive.”

“Great, we’ll be looking for you in the morning, G6WZZMJ out.”



They spent the rest of the day getting ready for the trip. Knowing they would need to refuel at least once in order to make it home, and that it was too risky to take the chance that a fuel truck would still run, Jack took the Huey into town and found a gas powered pump at the local fire department that could be used to pump flammable liquids. It put out a hundred gallons a minute with the four inch lines that came with it, and he figured they could completely refuel the plane in about an hour and a half. Returning, he secured it in the C-130, then went into the hangar and brought out the Viper.

“Why are you messing with that?” Pam asked.

“We need more firepower than the Huey can provide hun’, in case these people aren’t so friendly after all. The wings come off easily, and we can put them back on and be ready to go within half an hour after we get there.”

“Cool.” The girl said.

Getting the wings off, Jack and Eric pushed the plane up the ramp and secured it inside the transport. Next they brought in the wings and tied them down as well. Lastly, they moved the Huey itself into the plane, using the winch to get it up the ramp. When it too was secured, they went inside.

Jack had reconsidered the design of the small plane and its gun. Removing the rear control stick and moving control to the front cockpit only, he’d made it so that someone in the rear could reload the gun. They had since placed two more ammo cans in the rear area, giving them a total of three hundred rounds of fire power.

Thinking about the situation, he decided they would have to break with protocol and have everyone go on this trip. Robin would have to be in the Viper with Eric in order to reload the gun if it were needed, and Mel and Pam would have to stay with the plane for security. Realizing they would need more firepower than just the H&K’s if anyone made a concerted effort to take the plane, he considered his options and finally decided to dis-mount the M-249’s from the Kestrel and have the girls use them. That would give them an impressive amount of firepower and should allow them to hold out until he or Eric could get back.

Hoping all the bases were covered, he went inside for the night. Letting the others know they would be leaving at 2am, he headed for bed.


At five past two in the morning, the group took off. Quickly climbing to altitude, Jack set the auto-pilot and went back to the cabin to eat breakfast with the others. The cargo plane wasn’t the most comfortable aircraft they could have chosen, but they made do. After hours in the air, the auto-pilot buzzed to let them know they were coming up on their destination, and Jack and Eric went up front to check out the area and bring them in.

Scanning the area in the dawn light, they didn’t see anything moving. Lining up on one of the two concrete runways, Jack brought the plane in, coasting to a stop and parking with more than enough runway ahead of them to take off again.

After getting the Huey and Viper out and bolting the wings on the little jet, the men flew over the airport in the chopper, looking for a fuel truck. Finding one, they set down and went over to it to see if it would run. To their amazement, it cranked up after Jack attached the jump-start box to its battery. Getting in, Eric drove to the plane, as Jack brought the chopper back.

The truck had a little over a thousand gallons in it, and after putting that into the plane, they had to make several trips to the tank farm to refill it. The tank farm pumps didn’t work of course, so they used the portable pump they’d brought to fill the truck. Within three hours they had the plane fueled and ready to go, and Jack was feeling much better about the situation. Getting into the Huey again, he got into the air and headed towards Michigan Mills. A minute later, Eric and Robin took off as well, so they could be in the area when Jack landed and offer air support if it were needed.

A few minutes later, after flying over farm land and a few houses, Jack came to the coordinates Mike had given him. Hovering next to a farmhouse, he saw the front door open and a middle-aged man step out. The man wasn’t armed so he set the bird down, making sure it was pointed at the house and the trigger for the rockets was armed just in case this was a trap. As he settled, the man approached, keeping his hands away from his body so as not to make Jack nervous. When he was a few feet away, Jack opened the door and stepped out, sticking out his hand to the man.

Shaking the offered hand, Mike said “Jack, I presume?”

“Michael. It’s good to meet you in person. Where’s the rest of your family?”

“They’re inside. I wasn’t sure you wouldn’t turn out to be hostile, so I had them get into the basement while I came out to meet you.”

“I understand perfectly Mike, as you can see, we too took precautions.” Jack said, indicating the armed chopper.

Continuing, Jack said “well, if you’re convinced that we’re here to help, get your family and get aboard…it’s a long flight home and I’ll feel better when all my people are together and in the air.”

Mike walked back into the house, and a moment later he emerged again with a young lady and three small children. All of them were carrying bags of belongings, and they walked out to the helicopter and climbed aboard, with Jack’s help. When they were all set, Jack called Eric and told him to return to the plane, then he took off and headed back as well.

Everything went as planned, and as they were flying back, the two groups got to know one another. Mike turned out to be forty-six, and his wife was twenty-three. The kids were Allison, age eleven, Robert, age nine, and Eddie, who was seven. None of them was related by blood, but they were indeed a family, and they acted like it.

Finally landing at the complex, Jack suggested they get everyone settled inside and put the equipment away in the morning. Everyone agreed, as it had been a long day, and after getting the new additions settled in their own apartment, everyone turned in for the night.

[Superman]

actually, in re-reading this i find that the story moves much too quickly in many areas. i value your insights and will strongly consider your points when i rewrite it.

so, what did you think of their decision on how to deal with him?

Being a believer myself I'll admit it was the right thing to do. Being human and knowing that thinking about doing something is the same as doing it in God's eyes...I would have killed him...they did that anyway just in a more round-a-bout way. No...they weren't directly responsible...they just chose a different path of murder than shooting him. BUT this is getting into a moral debate...and in truth justice was done the way you wrote it AND in the end 'Doug' will get his.

I do agree it moves too quickly in some areas...but I wouldn't change much. Just some specific situations such as the Doug incident...and as we already discussed the preface/prologue/introduction so there's more underlayment for the rest of the story.

I also believe part of the reason it moves quickly at times is because the story as a whole reads very well and easily. While there's plenty of room for interpretation and reader opinions...it's not something where you have to put it down and walk away to try and figure it out...it flows well and is precise which I like.

[Caribou]

Hi CFI, good story! I've enjoyed it a lot so far! I have to admit, however, when I first started reading, I gave a pretty big eye-rolling to the part where Jack finds Pam. Seemed WAY too convenient and stereotypical of survival stories. "Oh look, a lost and forlorn pretty young thing! I will take her under my protective wing!" &#58 &#58 My curiosity of what else would happen in your post-apocalytic world brought me back, and I've enjoyed it.

Other comments:
The character development moves a little too fast, especially Pam maturing. Yes, in such a world, a 16/17-year old marrying a 38 year old will be acceptable, but in the world of your readers, it's still a taboo. You might consider spending a little more time proving to your readers that Pam has the maturity level required for marriage. Jack may be convinced, but I wasn't.

I agree with other comments that Jack is too trusting. The doors on the apartments don't even seem to have been equipped with locks! I would not be able to sleep in that silo with a newcomer without locking HIM in at least.

I think that they should have executed Doug. I, too, am a Christian, and we are not to take revenge, since that is God's right/responsibility ultimately. However, the STATE (government) does have the responsibility to mete out justice, as ordained by God. Since Jack and crew are the only government remaining, they had the duty to pass judgment. Instead, they left a proven criminal alive to prey on other innocents. They even said as much. If Doug kills someone else, they are responsible.

Jack built a hidden runway, but leaves a C-130 parked outside in plain view?

Too much time spent on all the "toys" Jack has collected. Pare it down to a couple personal aircraft, then they can collect more (like the Huey and the C-130) after the plague.

That's all the nits I have to pick right now. It's a really great story, and I will be following it! I'm glad that they are starting to reach out to others (but they should still be careful!), since they will have to re-establish dominion over creation.

Thanks for sharing your story with us!

Caribou

[Christian for Israel]

thanks for the comments folks...your insights are greatly appreciated.


Chapter 22

Lying in bed one morning, Mike still felt like he was in a daze. The past few days had been a whirl, even more so than the first few weeks after the plague. Thinking back on events, he was amazed for the hundredth time that he was safe and in a place that was well stocked for the winter, and much more.

When he’d first seen Jack, hovering over his front yard in the Huey gunship, he’d been sure he’d made a bad mistake, and that this stranger was about to kill him and his family. Then upon meeting him face to face and realizing they really were safe, he’d been too busy getting everyone aboard and settled down to really consider things. Landing at the airport a few minutes later next to the huge military cargo plane and then seeing the little jet fighter taxi up a second later had shocked him afresh, just who were these people, he wondered.

On the long flight to Idaho he and his family had gotten to know Jack and his group, and he finally started to relax. These people really seemed to be what they claimed, Christians who simply wanted to help him out. That was a welcome relief, God knew they really needed help.

On the flight they’d learned that Jack lived in an old missile silo, so landing and going underground wasn’t too much of a shock. The long walk from the entrance to their rooms was disconcerting, but by that time he was too tired to give it much thought. All he wanted at that point was to get his family settled and crawl in a bed somewhere. He figured everything would still be there in the morning.

The next morning he had been filled with amazement. He’d always been into preparedness, and had even installed a shelter at his house, but nothing like this. This was the kind of place he would only have dreamed of, if he’d ever even thought that big. It was huge beyond belief, had enough food to feed the ten of them for fifty years, and obviously set-up by someone who put quality first. When Jack had shown him the control room he thought he’d died and gone to heaven. The radio and security equipment was top notch, better than what some countries had. Looking over the set-up, he’d been stunned to see how Jack had closed off almost all frequencies, effectively amputating ninety percent of the radio waves. It was sheer luck he’d been monitoring that air traffic control frequency and heard their signal, he’d never in a million years have thought to look there for anybody who was trying to make contact with others.

Setting the gear up the way it should have been to start with, they started getting signals from other groups almost immediately. Jack had said he couldn’t believe there were that many out there, and hung his head as Mike explained what the problem was.

That had been several days ago, and Mike had effectively taken over control of the radios. He had made contact with groups all around the world, many more than his old set-up had allowed for. Over the past few days he’d contacted everyone he could, at Jack’s request, and he was trying to find out how people were set and if they needed any help. Most groups seemed to be ok for the moment, and said they would probably make it through the winter without a problem, but there were a couple who were in a bad way. One was in Australia, a group of eleven, mostly teens and pre-teens, the survivors of a clash between two groups of plague survivors. They had fled when the adults were killed in the fighting, and made their way to the northern town of Darwin. They said they were scavenging daily just to find enough to eat, and didn’t know how long they could continue. Mike had told them he would see what he could do, and went to talk to Jack. Jack decided to wait until this morning to discuss it with the whole group, as by then many were already in bed for the night.

Lying in bed that morning, Mike was grateful to God for the blessing of finding this place. Hoping the group could find a way to help the bunch in Australia, he got dressed and went down to breakfast.



Walking into the dining room with Pam at his side, Jack saw that again Jennifer was helping Mel with breakfast. The younger girl was a fine cook, and seemed to love cooking for the whole group almost as much as Mel did. Sitting down at a table with Mike, the couple chatted with him quietly. Finally, the others wandered in and breakfast was served. Jack marveled again at what Jennifer had been able to do with storage food, and commented to Mike. For his part, Mike had gotten used to it, so he just sat there smiling and feeling proud of his new wife while Jack complimented her.

After breakfast, Jack asked for everyone’s attention, and announced the news about the group in Australia.

“Can I have your attention everyone. Our new radio expert has been able to undo the mess I made with our communication gear, and as a result we’ve been able to get in voice contact with over a hundred groups of survivors around the world.”

He paused as everyone cheered for a minute, then continued. “Having spent the better part of yesterday talking with these groups, a clearer picture of the world scene emerges. It seems the plague reached all parts of the world, there were no groups of people who were not exposed and devastated by the disease. We have also learned that several of the countries took the opportunity in the last days of the sickness to launch attacks on their neighbors, apparently to settle old scores. That, combined with the sickness itself and even reports of survivors battling for resources with each other, has led us to conclude that as few as one hundred thousand probably survived until now, maybe less.”

Stunned at the magnitude of the news, the others just sat there stunned, unable to even speak. Everyone was aware that a hundred thousand people was practically nothing, and really wondered if the human race would be able to survive this after all.

“With so few left, and with survivors scattered around the globe, it’s very possible that many of humanity’s descendants will die out due to lack of genetic diversity. That’s why I feel it’s so important that we gather people together here…we may be the last chance humanity has to even continue to exist.”

Having said that he paused then continued “I said all that to lead up to this, Mike has made contact with a group in Australia. There are eleven in the group, mostly kids and teens who escaped from a battle between surviving adults. They are in the town of Darwin on the north coast, and they need help. Mike has explained our desire to help, and the way things are run here, and they have agreed to live by our rules, if we can find a way to bring them to us. What I need is the approval of the group to make this attempt. It won’t be easy, there’s nearly seven thousand miles of ocean between us and them, but I think we can do it if God is willing. What I want everyone to do is, go to your rooms and pray about this. We need His direction before we can do anything, and I want to be sure we all get the same message from Him. After lunch we’ll see where we stand, and go from there. That’s all.”

With that, the group got up and wandered off to seek God’s will on the issue.




After lunch they voted, and Jack was pleased to see that it was unanimous to try and bring the group in. he knew it would be a dicey operation, but he truly felt in his heart it was what God wanted them to do.

As they began to discuss how to go about this, Eric spoke up. “Well, first we need a plane that will make it. Jack, didn’t you say you had a long range corporate jet at the airport in Mountain Home?”

“Yeah, but I don’t even know if it’s airworthy. I haven’t seen it since before the plague.”

“A corporate jet?” Mike asked skeptically, “wouldn’t that be too small? And just how long is long range anyway?”

“Actually it’s pretty big for a corporate jet, its Bombardier’s Global Express, and can seat up to thirty if you wanted that configuration. I wanted it for myself and a few friends, so I ordered it with seating for twelve, but it sure is luxurious,” he smiled. “And as for range, if we keep the speed down to five-fifty or so, it’ll go nearly seven thousand miles.”

Staring at him unbelievingly, Mike said “this I want to see!”

“Yeah, me too,” Eric spoke up. Besides, we need to see if it’s ok, don’t we?”

“Ok, I guess that does make the most sense, its better than trying to fly a passenger jet for the first time over the Pacific Ocean anyway. Why don’t we go take a look at it, and go from there?”

Agreeing, the three men got up and walked to the hangar. Getting the Huey out, they quickly flew to the municipal airport at Mountain Home. Landing in front of the hangar, Jack got out and unlocked the doors. Pushing, he got them moving and soon had exposed the plane for all to see.

Upon seeing the jet for the first time, Eric was overcome. “It’s BEAUTIFUL,” he said, staring at it.

Indeed, it was beautiful. It was long and sleek, its wings were swept back and had little vertical winglets on the tips. It looked like it was going fast just sitting on the ground, and Eric couldn’t wait to get in and fly it.

Opening the door, the three went inside. Eric thought it looked even bigger on the inside than the outside. All the seats were leather, and suddenly he got a feel of what kind of life Jack had led before the plague.

After a few minutes, Jack got back out. He went to the fuel taps under the wings and opened them to see if any water had accumulated in the tanks. Thankfully, it didn’t appear that any had. Walking over to the ground power unit, he got it running and, with Eric’s help, hooked it to the plane and went to the cockpit to try and start it. A moment later the engines wound up and the plane started to idled smoothly. After a while he shut it back down and, looking at the others he said “Well, that answers that question. I guess we’re good to go as far as the plane’s concerned.”

Flying back to the complex in the Huey, they discussed what else they’d need for the long flight.

Back at the shelter, having solved most of the problems with the trip, Jack sat with Pam and Mike and plotted their course.

“I want to make sure that, no matter where we go to refuel, we have enough in reserve to get us back to the previous location.” Jack stated. “That way, if we can’t find usable fuel, we’ll still be able to return to the last place and refuel, meaning we’ll be able to make it home. Los Angeles is the first logical stop, followed by Hawaii. We shouldn’t have a problem finding fuel in either place, and each leg will be less than three thousand miles, giving us our safety margin. Where we go from Hawaii is the question, however.”

Looking over a map of the south pacific, Pam said “man, there’s lots of islands down there…I never realized.”

“Yep, but most of them are too small to be reliable, and there aren’t any US military bases on them. I know we used to have a base on Pogo Pogo in American Samoa, but I don’t know if it was still active. From there it’d be an easy shot to the Australian mainland, but I don’t know how we’d find out without going there to see.”

Winding up their discussion late that night, they decided Pogo Pogo was their best shot. If they couldn’t find fuel they could always return to Hawaii and try somewhere else.

The next morning they decided to leave that afternoon. Everything was ready as far as they could see, and Mike had spoken with the group that morning. The kids said they were going to move out to the airport and wait on them there. With everything settled, they decided Jack and Eric would fly, and Mike would go along to provide security. After lunch Pam flew Jack to the airport in the Kestrel to pick up the Global Express, wanting to spend as much time with her husband as she could. She knew this was the most dangerous trip they’d ever contemplated, and the fact that she couldn’t go with him made it that much worse.

When they’d returned to the complex, Pam spent several long minutes holding her man, but finally relented and let him get on the plane. The others also said teary good bye’s, and after several long minutes the men finally boarded the plane and took off.

The trip to LA was short and uneventful, and Jack let Eric do most of the flying, getting the boy accustomed to the plane. They landed and found fuel without incident, and were soon in the air again headed out over open ocean. This was the part of the trip that worried Jack the most. Fortunately the Geo-Positioning Satellites were still working, and they had no problem staying on course. After about five hours, they saw the island chain, and soon thereafter found a large airport.

Landing, they quickly discovered that the fuel in the tanks at this airport had not been treated, and wasn’t fit for the plane. Debating what to do, they were startled to hear the sound of a rifle shot, and see a hole appear in the wingtip next to them.

[DirtPirate]

THAT'S IT!!!...if you don't post up some more ASAP...I'm on the first flight out to Nevada!!! :shock:

:lol:

[Christian for Israel]

come on out, we'll go shooting. you wanna try the 600 or the 1000 yard range? :lol: