It couldn't happen but it did. Now, we have to survive.
By ronde, in 3 parts. Listen to the ► podcast at Connected.
I'd learned how to field dress an animal from Dad, but not how to cut it into steaks and roasts. As far back as I could remember, Dad had always taken his deer and the steer he killed every fall to a locker plant in town to be cut up and packaged. Mom said when they were starting out, they did that all themselves to save money and Christy said she'd watched her grandpa butcher several steers and thought she remembered what to do. Between them cutting and me carrying, it took us a whole day to get the steer cut up into manageable pieces and down in my freezer room.
I figured that steer had stretched our food supply by at least six months, and it broke the ice, so to speak. I planned on killing a steer or an older cow every winter after that. If things got turned around, I'd just pay the rancher for the beef. If they didn't, well, we needed the meat to survive and the rancher apparently didn't. About half the herd were cows, so there would be calves born the next spring. According to Christy, we'd have to watch which bull we let breed each cow, but if we kept half dozen bull calves, the herd would be self-sustaining. Over the summer, our meat would be beef stretched with rabbits, pheasants, and fish.
Reproduction.
We settled into a sort of routine for the rest of the winter. If it was sunny, I'd take my solar panels outside to charge the battery pack while Mom and Christy made breakfast. While I was outside, I'd see if there was anything on the radio. Usually there wasn't. Even the ham radio operators seemed to have gone quiet.
After breakfast, Mom and Christy would clean up the bunker or heat some water and wash our clothes. I'd take an axe and go split firewood or drive my truck into the trees to find some dead wood to carry back to the bunker. Once a week, we'd heat enough water that the three of us could take a shower.
I was happy that Mom and Christy got along so well for two reasons. Mom really needed another woman for company and so did Christy. They spent most days helping each other and talking about everything under the sun.
The other reason was now that I wasn't working my ass off at Ellison, I had some time to think about the future, not whether the world would ever be the same again, but about my personal future. Was this all there was to my future, to spend the rest of my life in an underground bunker and then die without leaving anything behind? That's what it was looking like more and more every day.
It was good that I had Mom there to talk to about it. She understood.
"I know what you mean. I used to worry about that when your dad and I were starting out. All we had was a few cattle and each other. If we'd died, nobody would have cared. It was after you were born I understood what my legacy would be. It would be you. That's every mother's legacy - her children."
I said there wasn't much of a chance of that happening, at least in the near future, but Mom just grinned.
"What if I told you that Christy thinks you're a pretty great guy? She does, you know. She's just too modest to tell you. If what you've been telling me is true, she might be your only chance. I can tell you that you could do a lot worse. Don't you like Christy?"
I did like Christy. She wasn't movie star beautiful, but she was still pretty, and I liked her personality. Because she was wearing Mom's clothes and they didn't fit, it was hard to tell much about the rest of her, but she looked pretty normal to me. She was also pretty practical about things just like I was, and she seemed to be adapting to what we now called life.
What Mom said about Christy liking me started to bring some things into focus too. Often, even though it was really cold when I went outside to do something, Christy would put on her coat and come out with me. Sometimes she'd just sit with me and other times, if the horses were close, she'd call to them and get them to come up to her. I thought she only did this to get some fresh air, but maybe she was trying to tell me something.
I told Mom I did like Christy, but even if we decided we fit together, it wouldn't do any good because there was no way we could get married. Mom just smiled.
"In case you've forgotten what your dad told you, you don't have to be married to have children. I promised your dad I'd never tell you this, but I think he'd understand. Teddy, you were born six and a half months after your dad and I were married. We went to Vegas and he paid the minister fifty dollars to backdate the marriage license so our parents wouldn't know. With things like they are right now, I don't see why you and Christy should have to be married. She's living with you right now. If things get back to normal, you can get married then. In the meantime, you can give Christy her legacy. Your legacy too."
Well, I never thought I'd hear anything like that from my mother, but the more I thought about it, she was right. I'd read somewhere that if the electricity was out for a year, most of the people in the metropolitan areas would die either from lack of food or because of disease or riots. Anybody who was left would be the ones to repopulate the U S, and they'd most likely be in the rural areas of the country. The problem was I didn't know how to ask Christy how she felt. She might think I was telling her she had to have sex with me in order to stay with us.
Mom solved that problem by asking Christy for me, though I didn't know it until Christy came out of the bunker one day while I was listening for anything on the radio. She sat down beside me and didn't say anything for a while. Then, she reached over and touched me on the arm.
"Ted, your mother asked me a funny question this morning. She asked me if I'd ever thought about having kids. I told her I wanted at least two, but that probably wasn't going to happen now. She said it could happen if I wanted it to happen. I think she was talking about you and me."
I nodded.
"She was. She had about the same conversation with me a couple days ago. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to make you think you had to do that to stay here. You don't need to worry about that, by the way. I'd never turn you out."
"That's what your mother told me too. Sometimes I wonder about what will happen in the future though. Do you think they'll get things fixed and life will get back to normal? What will we do if it doesn't?
I stopped tuning the radio and turned to Christy.
"I don't want to scare you, but we've been here for almost four months and it doesn't look to me like anything's changed. I haven't seen a light anywhere since that day, and I haven't seen anyone since that day you jumped in my truck. If there was a quick fix, the power companies would have already done it and they'd be back on line by now.
"I think the equipment damage must have been pretty extensive, and the problem is a lot of the equipment that keeps the grid running isn't sitting somewhere on the shelf. It'll have to be made from scratch somewhere where the electricity is still on because most of the manufacturing process is computer controlled. Even if the equipment does exist somewhere, that would only let a tiny little part of the grid start back up. It took almost a hundred years to get the grid to the state it was before. Getting the entire grid working again could take almost that long.
"I don't know when or if things will ever be what we used to call normal. What I do know is that if nothing changes, we'll find a way to survive here, all three of us. I don't know what that way is yet, but we'll find it."
Christy surprised me with her next statement.
"If we're going to live together for a long time, wouldn't it be natural for us to really live together? I mean, I like you and I think you like me. We seem to work together pretty well. I got married the first time based on less."
I put down the radio.
"Are you saying we should start living like man and wife?"
Christy grinned.
"Unless you don't want me."
Christy’s Initiative.
That night, Mom went to bed but Christy stayed up until I'd banked the fire in the stove and started turning off the lights. When I asked her why she was still awake, she just smiled.
"I thought maybe tonight would be our first night together. If you don't want that, I'll go sleep with your mother, but if you do?"
Christy pulled the sweater over her head and tossed it on the table. Evidently Mom's bras were too big for Christy because she wasn't wearing one. Her breasts weren't as small as I'd thought, probably because she hadn't been holding them up with anything.
I hadn't said anything yet, so Christy looked up at me and smiled.
"You better tell me now so I can get under the blankets and not freeze."
I was pretty stunned by what she'd done, so I couldn't talk. Christy grinned again.
"I guess you don't know yet, so maybe this will convince you."
With that, she pulled down the pants she was wearing and I saw that apparently Mom's panties didn't fit Christy either. I also saw that Christy hadn't shaved since I brought her to the bunker. The pale blonde hair on her arm pits, mound and legs was hard to see, but it was there.
Christy kicked off her shoes and then walked over to the fold out couch, pulled back the blankets, and climbed in. She looked up then and held out her arms.
"Don't make me wait too long or I'll fall asleep."
That first time with Christy was an experience I will never forget. When I took off my clothes and slipped under the blankets, she snuggled up to me and hooked one leg over mine.
"Umm", she murmured. "This is a lot nicer than sleeping with your mother. I couldn't snuggle with her."
I had to admit that it wasn't just nice, it was great. I was feeling Christy's soft breasts against my side and her smooth inner thigh was lightly touching my cock. She felt it start to rise and ran her hand down my belly until she was holding it.
Then she giggled. "You don't know how many times I've thought about this, about what it would be like. I think I'm going to like it a lot."
That night was probably typical of any newlywed couple's first night. It was more exploration and learning than anything else. Christy surprised me by being more active than the other two partners I'd had.
She didn't take charge or anything like that. She let me set the pace, but she wasn't backward either. When I stroked her breasts, she sighed and wiggled close enough I felt the hair on her mound against my leg. When I lightly stroked her nipples, they stiffened and she reached for my cock again.
When Christy started rubbing her mound against my leg, I slipped one hand down between us until I felt hair, then gently moved it down until I felt the separation of her lips. Christy opened her thighs then, and moaned when I slipped a fingertip between her soft lips. After the moan, she whispered, "Kiss me, Ted".
When I did, for a second I felt her lips against mine, but then I felt her tongue trying to slip between my teeth. She moaned again when our tongues met, and I felt her push herself into the finger stroking between her thighs. When that caused my finger to slip down to her entrance, Christy caught her breath and gave my cock a few more strokes.
She was wetter than I had expected when I slowly slipped that finger inside her. When I pulled it back out, I stroked up to the little button at the top of her lips. When I gently rubbed the tip, Christy broke our kiss and whispered, "I think I'm ready".
She didn't roll over and spread her legs. Instead, she gently guided my cock down as she wiggled up a little further, pushed it up and down between her lips a little, and then positioned my cock head at her entrance. She pushed her body toward my cock at the same time I pushed toward her. When my cock slipped inside her a little, Christy moaned and pushed harder.
She wasn't wet enough that my cock went home on that first try, so I eased back out almost all the way and then pushed in again. My cock slipped through the tight spot just inside her and Christy caught her breath. I pulled out, then pushed back in again, and this time, kept pushing until I felt hair around the base of my cock. Christy put her hand on my ass and held me there for a few seconds, then eased away.
That's how it went for a while. Christy met my strokes and rocked herself into me at the end of every stroke. If I kissed the nipple I could reach, she'd gasp and push a little harder. When I managed to suck that nipple into my mouth, Christy murmured, "Oh God, I forgot what that does to me."
I'd forgotten what it feels like to have my cock buried inside a very willing woman as well. It was either that or I'd never been with a woman as willing as Christy. I knew I'd never been with a woman who was as actively engaged or who was getting to her peak so fast. I was getting there really fast too. It had been so long that all that desire had built up until it was about to explode.
Christy got there first. I was slowly stroking away when she gasped, then held her breath, and started rocking herself over my cock. That put me in a position where I couldn't hold back anymore. I groaned when Christy cried out and started to shake as the first spasm raced through her. Seed flew out the tip of my cock and deep inside her. I pulled back out a little, but Christy held my hip and gasped as another wave shook her.
That happened twice more before I was laying there and panting and felt my cock being squeezed inside Christy's writhing body as little contractions kept making her jerk. Even when she calmed down, she didn't pull away. She held me tight inside her, kissed me sensuously, and then whispered, "I think this is going to work out just fine."
I can't honestly say when I fell asleep or if Christy moved off me after I did. When I woke up the next morning, she was in the same position, one leg over me, and with her breasts against my side. When I opened my eyes, I saw she was awake.
Christy fluttered her eyelashes at me and grinned.
"Your mom will be up pretty soon, so we probably shouldn't start anything, but I wish we could."
She kissed me then, just a soft kiss, and then got up and dressed. By the time Mom came out, Christy had the stove warmed up and the coffeepot was percolating. Mom looked at me, winked, and then smiled. She knew what we'd done, and she was happy about it.
Mated.
Our lives changed after that day. Christy and I got closer every day. It wasn't the sex, though that was fantastic. It was because I let myself see her as a woman I was starting to love instead of just a woman I'd accidentally rescued from some serious trouble. I guess it was what I overheard my grandma once say - that in her day, people got married to share the work and have children and that love came later.
We didn't make love every night. It depended upon what we did during the day. If Christy and Mom were doing the laundry or if I was splitting more firewood, we were usually pretty tired and just went to sleep. Whether we made love or not, I was starting to realize I could never let Christy go.
By May, I started thinking about our food supply again. We were still doing all right, thanks to the beef I'd killed, but what we really needed was some fresh vegetables. Christy had insisted we take a vitamin C and vitamin D tablet every day, but she said fresh vegetables and fruit would be better. I remembered that Mom had always had a garden and that's what we needed now. When I told her about my seeds, Mom agreed.
"If you can dig up a garden, we can raise enough vegetables to see us through the next winter. I used to can a lot of what I raised in my garden. I can't bottle anything here, but I used to dry tomatoes outside in the sun. We could try drying things like green beans and peppers. Things like beets and carrots and squash will keep all winter if you keep them cool.
May was too early to start a garden, but the weather was getting warm enough for another idea that had been filling my mind. I wanted to go back to Rapid City to see what was going on. I didn't intend to take any risks. I was just curious about how many people were still alive and what they were doing. If I had a chance, I'd check some grocery stores to see if anything was left.
Christy also liked the idea.
"I'd like to see if I can get into my apartment and get some of my clothes and other things. If you think it's too dangerous, I won't push the idea, but it would be nice to have clothes that fit."
I had no idea what we might find in Rapid City, so I was against taking Christy with me. She argued that she could take care of herself as well as I could. When I asked her how she'd manage to do that since she hadn't that day at Fairlawn, she shrugged.
"I didn't have any way to fight back that day except to run. My grandpa taught me to shoot a rifle and a pistol, so give me one of yours. Besides, if you should get hurt, how will you take care of yourself? I'm a nurse, remember? I can do that."
I did make Christy prove to me that she knew how to handle a firearm, and she did just fine with my Sig and with my pump shotgun. I spent some time on my battery-charging rig charging up my truck battery, and when I got done, my truck started. A day later, we put my bug-out bag in my pickup and after making sure Mom locked up everything, Christy and I drove to Rapid City.
Itinerary.
We decided to go to Christy's apartment first since we could get her clothes and anything else she wanted pretty fast. After that, we'd go to a couple grocery stores that were on the outskirts of town. I didn't want to go anywhere near Ellsworth or the city proper. Everything I'd read said if there was a problem the major population centers were where that problem would be.
I wasn't really surprised that we didn't see any vehicles on the road or even people walking. What I'd read was that by now, five months after the power went out, most people would either be dead or had moved to someplace where there was food and shelter. My guess was the U S government had set up Ellsworth as a refugee center and that's where most of the people would be.
They apparently weren't all there, though. When we started walking up to Christy's apartment, I heard a gunshot and the dirt off to my left splattered onto my pants and jacket. The voice that came from somewhere in the building sounded both scared and angry.
"Just turn around and go back to wherever the hell you came from. If you don't, I'll shoot you both dead before you take another step."
That's exactly what I'd have done if Christy hadn't yelled back, "Colonel Mike, it's Christy, Christy Boxer. Remember me? I lived in one-ten. I just want to get some things from my apartment and then we'll be gone."
Christy turned to me then.
"He's the man who owns the apartment building. He's a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. He and his wife bought the building when he retired and lived in one of the first floor apartments. She died two years ago. I used to check on him from time to time to make sure he was doing all right."
The voice yelled back, "I remember you. Who's that with you?"
Christy smiled.
"This is Ted. He's a friend and he won't hurt you. Can you let us come in?"
It took about five minutes before the door to the building opened, and when it did, there was a rifle barrel poking out of the small gap.
"Put your hands up and come closer", the voice demanded, "I want to see you up close to make sure it's you. Don't either of you try anything."
Once he was satisfied, he opened the door. I wasn't prepared for the man I saw holding the AR-15 rifle. Neither was Christy.
"Colonel Mike, what happened to you? You look like you're ready to fall down."
He frowned.
"I'm OK. I've just been rationing what food I have left, that's all. Couldn't get anywhere to get any more, but from what I heard from the other tenants before they left, there was no food anyway. I went through all the apartments that were empty and found a little that they left. That's what I've been living on.
"I didn't take any of your stuff, Christy. You still got your key or do you need me to open the door for you?"
Christy said she'd brought her key and walked down the hall to her apartment. I stayed with Colonel Jefferson. Christy was right. He looked like he was at death's door.
I asked him if he knew what happened, and he shook his head.
"I tried going to the base, but they wouldn't let me in and all the guards knew was the electricity is out over most of the U S. I haven't seen any bombers take off, so I guess nobody nuked us. I did hear from one of the cops before they all left that there was a suspicion about a cyber-attack, but he couldn't confirm it."
I couldn't believe there were no police left in Rapid City, but Colonel Jefferson said the Governor called them to come to Pierre and Sioux City.
"It was bad here for about a week. That's how long it took the mobs to take everything from the stores. I guess that was still going on in Sioux City and Pierre or they wouldn't have needed more cops. It probably got worse when they relocated most of the people from Rapid City to one of those places.
"A bunch of National Guard trucks and some busses came through town and said FEMA had set up refugee camps in both places and was sending them food and clothing. That's where almost everybody went, so I'll bet it's a goddamned mess. This place is all I got, so I didn't go.
"I don't know shit about what's happening there now. All I know is I managed to keep the looters out of the building and I'm still here. I still have to run off half a dozen or so every week, but it's not like before.
He looked at me then and his brow wrinkled up.
"How is it you and Christy are still around when everybody else is gone?"
I wasn't about to tell him about my bunker. As it was, I didn't have to. Christy came out of her apartment then with two suitcases.
"Ted, I got my clothes and shoes, but I think we should take anything else we might need to the bunker too. Can you help me get it packed up?"
She crooked her finger after she said that, and when I walked over to where she stood, she stood on her tiptoes and said in a quiet voice, "Can we take Colonel Jefferson with us? Mike was always nice to me and he doesn't look good at all. He's suffering from starvation, and he's going to die if he stays here by himself."
With what little help the Colonel could give us, we packed up anything any of us thought might be useful from both Christy's apartment and the Colonel's. He'd done a very thorough job of searching the other apartments, and he'd done so with the benefit of his military survival training. He had a box of kitchen knives, another of rope and twine, and a third with pots and pans. He'd also taken all the clothing that was left because as he said, "Clothes don't last forever and I'd rather wear a dress than walk around naked."
When we walked out the door carrying the first load of stuff, I saw three really grungy guys trying to get into my truck. Colonel Jefferson said, "Goddamnit, it's the same bunch from yesterday. Wait a minute and I'll scare 'em off."
Mike put down the box he was carrying, unslung the AR-15 from his shoulder, and fired one round in the air. The three guys looked up and then started toward us. One of them yelled, "You dumb-ass fucking old man. I got a gun now and I'm gonna send you to hell."
The guy was pulling a pistol from his belt when another round from the Colonel's AR-15 hit him in the chest. The guy went down hard and didn't move. The other two took one look and then turned and ran off. The Colonel sighed as he slung the rifle back over his shoulder.
"Most just run off when I shoot in the air, but they're getting more desperate I suppose. Third one I've had to shoot in the last month. At least the coyotes will eat good for a couple days. About the only thing those bastards are good for; coyote food."
We got everything loaded, including five thousand rounds for the Colonel's AR-15, his 1911 pistol, and five thousand rounds for it. The 1911 was a retirement present from the unit he commanded when he retired. The Colonel said he believed in being prepared for anything, so he'd stocked up on ammo.
Empty Tank.
We were heading out of town when Christy looked down at my dashboard.
"Do we have enough gas to get back?"
I cursed myself twice at that question, once for not looking at my gas gauge, and once for not stocking up on gasoline when I'd read that was an important thing to do. I had enough to get back to the bunker, but this would be our last trip anywhere.
"Yes, we can make it home, but that'll be it unless we can find some gas somewhere."
The Colonel laughed.
"Good luck with that because there's none left. When the National Guard came through, they pumped every filling station dry and into the tank trucks they brought with them. Got all the diesel too. Said they were taking it with them because all gas and diesel is being confiscated for the military, and unless you got an army back at this bunker of yours, you couldn't get within a mile of Ellsworth or any other base. They're locked down tighter'n a gnat's ass."
Christy looked at my gas gauge again, then said, "What will we do if we need to go somewhere?"
I shrugged.
"I don't know, walk I guess."
Christy sighed.
"Yes, I suppose so; wait, maybe not, not if they haven't looted a place I know about. I've been thinking about it anyway. It's on our way. Let's stop and see. Maybe we'll get lucky."
Saddle Up!
The place was called "Rapid City Tack and Feed", and though the door was standing open, it didn't look like it had been looted. I pulled up to the door and started to get out, but Colonel Jefferson stopped me.
"Let's go together. There might be somebody inside."
We walked into the business slowly with our guns drawn and looking in all directions, but found nobody there. What was there looked mostly undisturbed, but it was easy to see why. All that was in the front of the store was stuff for horses; saddles, bridles, halters, and grooming supplies.
When we checked the back where the feed had been stored, we saw a different story. Someone had cut open some of the bags at some point, to try eating it I suppose. It would have been possible to eat the oats and corn if you had a way to grind them, but it would have been tough if you didn't.
I didn't have a way to grind them either, but I still told Colonel Jefferson we should take all the unopened sacks we could fit in my truck. We went back to my truck then and told Christy what we'd seen.
She was happy.
"There are fifteen horses in the field around our bunker and I know how to saddle and ride a horse. If we take enough saddles and bridles for all of us, we'll have a way to go places."
When we started back to the bunker, my truck bed was overflowing and Christy and Colonel Jefferson barely had room to sit in the front. Besides what we'd taken from the apartment building, we had six bags of oats, five of corn, six saddles and saddle blankets along with bridles and halters, six lassos, and some brushes Christy said we'd need. Somehow the truck had enough fuel for the return trip.
When we got back to my bunker, Colonel Jefferson took one look and frowned.
"The bunker was a good idea, but you don't have any perimeter defense. Let me think about that for a while. We can probably come up with something."
Perimeters.
Well, as it turned out, he did, but it took him a while because he didn't have a lot of time to think about it. That was because Mom took an instant liking to him. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised because as I learned more about Colonel Jefferson, I realized he was a lot like my dad. He was confident in what he could do, knew what he couldn't do, and wasn't bashful about saying what he thought.
For the first two weeks, Colonel Mike Jefferson couldn't do much to help out because he was so weak. Mom kept pushing him to eat, and she sat at the table beside him to make sure he did. She also made him sleep on some blankets we'd brought from the apartment building on the floor in her bedroom so she could make sure he was all right. I didn't realize the other thing that was happening between them until one night, Mom said she was cold in bed without Christy being there, and wished she had somebody to sleep with. She was looking at Colonel Jefferson when she said that.
He didn't say anything. He just grinned.
I must have frowned, because Mom chuckled.
"Ted, I'm sixty-two, but I'm not dead. You and Christy have each other. I just want the same thing and so does Colonel Jefferson."
Well, that night, Mom and Colonel Jefferson slept together, although, from what Christy and I heard, they didn't just sleep. It's funny. You never think about your parents having sex, and Mom had never said anything to lead me to believe she missed sex. Apparently she did though. She seems a lot happier now. I know Colonel Jefferson is because he told me.
Companions.
Christy is happier too. She's about three months pregnant now and she and Mom talk a lot about how they're going to handle the birth. One of my survival books has some pretty good instructions, but Mom says she's already had a child and Christy is a nurse so they won't have any problems. I hope they're right.
Christy has appointed herself as our horse person, and has caught all the horses and has saddled and ridden them. She's teaching us now so if we have to go somewhere, we can ride instead of walk.
I'm not sure where we'd need to go on the horses, though Christy says we need to find a stallion and bring him back so he can breed the six mares in the herd. She knows of a couple ranches that had at least one stallion, but I don't think they're close enough we could get there and back without spending a night in the open, and I don't want to do that.
The Colonel says that's nothing to worry about if he went with us. Maybe after Christy has the baby, we'll think about it. I guess we're fortunate to have the opportunity even if we don't utilize it
I'm feeling pretty good about things too. Colonel Jefferson has proved to be a really great addition to our little group. He's knowledgeable about a lot of things relative to security and defense as well as just a great person to talk to. He's sort of taken the place of my dad. When I don't know what to do, I can talk with him and together we'll decide what's best.
He's also gotten back most of his strength. Between the two of us, we spaded up a big garden in June, and he and Mom planted it. Along with the seeds I bought, we planted some of the beans, peas, and lentils from our food storage. A lot of them didn't sprout, but enough did that we'll at least have some for fresh seed next spring. I'm not quite as worried about our food now, even though we have another mouth to feed.
It just struck me as funny that I just wrote "our food" instead of "my food". A year ago when I was planning all this, everything was mine. Now, I guess Mom, Christy, the Colonel, and I have become what used to be called a family. Without realizing it, I've started to think "our" and "we" instead of "me" and "mine".
Well, that's about it for now, though I'll keep adding to this as time goes on. I have no idea how long that will be. I'd think some of our allies, like the UK and Japan would have sent relief missions to the U S by now, but I don't know if they're in any better shape or if there's anything resembling a U S government to ask for or coordinate any relief operation. Even if there is an ongoing attempt, it will probably be a while before it works its way to South Dakota.
I haven't seen anything happening over Ellsworth since the day all the B1B's and six cargo planes took off and flew west. Colonel Jefferson said Ellsworth has probably been abandoned in favor of consolidating the Air Force along the coasts. He said that was one of the contingency plans in case the U S was attacked by an enemy. On the coast, their response time to an attack would be shorter, and given the sophistication of today's missiles, being inland isn't that much safer.
He said the Army and Marines were probably doing the same thing. That was because since the U S didn't have an operational power grid and therefore limited ability to respond, it would be pretty dumb to nuke us. Doing so would just destroy a lot of infrastructure any enemy would want to keep intact, like shipping ports, airfields, and highways. Any attack would probably be a ground attack against the major cities on either coast, and once the enemy had gotten a foothold, they'd send more troops and equipment and work their way across the country just like the Allies did at Normandy.
The old saying is that in any crisis, it's survival of the fittest. The four of us are probably not the fittest, but by working together, we'll keep on living because that's the most important thing we can do. There has to be somebody left when all this is over.
By ronde for Literotica.