Days of Descent

By Vincent Ramirez

A fictional story based on real life events occurring today and how everyday people pull together to form a cohesive bond and commitment to survive. Based in California's Central Valley this story tells how we all have something to offer each other in situations that not many prepare for or realize that they may be faced with.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vincent Ramirez
• Release date: Aug 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310035074

Book preview

Days of Descent

By Vincent Ramirez

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 Vincent Ramirez

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 1

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Matthew 24:7

The night air feels crisp on Matt's face as he checks the perimeter of Sarge's compound. Drew and a few of the others should be back soon from what Matt hopes is their last trip into town to forage for any useful supplies and non-perishable food items. Over the past several months their group has grown to about 50 people; so they will need all of the provisions that can be salvaged to get through their trip. Their group is getting ready to move to what they believe to be a safer location and they want to begin their journey soon before winter sets in. They're not really sure what obstacles they'll run into on their trip to New Mexico and want to get to the other side of the Sierras before the heavy snows begin to fall. Matt could not keep thoughts of the Donner party and their resolve from creeping into his mind every time he thought about preparing for the possibility of getting snowed in while crossing the mountains.

Matt knows that traveling will be dangerous. None of them is sure what they will run into... or more importantly who. He knows that there are gangs roaming the roads, looking to rob anyone trying to get out of the area. They had heard horrendous stories of savage beatings for a pair of shoes, a small bit of food, or something even less valuable from the new members of their group that they have either stumbled across or saved from the violent mobs roaming the roads. Rape and other torturous acts are common. In some cases, for those attacked, death is a welcome relief.

Matt shivered as the wind picked up and he felt the frosty air travel up his spine. A slight drizzle began. Matt didn't mind getting wet, but the rain and wind was cold. He wondered if leaving this time of year was a good idea. He heard King walk up behind him and bent down to pet his new friend. The dog turned his head sideways to receive the show of affection. After a few minutes, the dog ran off to explore the sound of rustling in the bushes. Matt raised his rifle in the direction of the noise. The 7,000-candela peak beam from the Streamlight Tactical flashlight mounted to the M4 that he carried, lit up the area around the bush that King ran to, in time to see a jack rabbit scurry into the darkness. King looked back at Matt as if asking permission to chase the rabbit. Matt said, Go get it boy, and King took off chasing it into the night.

Matt smiled and then continued his check of the perimeter. His stomach let out a low rumble. His meager dinner wasn't enough to keep him satisfied through the long night and he suddenly had a craving for barbeque potato chips. Another reminder that only months ago what he took for granted was not available anymore. He licked his lips and through his memory could taste the salty, spicy goodness of the imaginary chips. He shook his head and brought himself back to reality. He continued his rounds making sure the perimeter was secure. About ten minutes later, he paused and looked up at the stars. The wind had separated the clouds enough for the moon and stars to shine through. How bright they shined now that there were no streetlights or glow from the lights in town. He thought, Man I wish Drew would get back.

They spent the last several months, sneaking into town and gathering whatever supplies they could find. Canned goods and other non-perishables were sealed and boxed up for travel. Whatever fresh fruit and vegetables that could be gathered from abandoned gardens and farms had been dried and packaged for future use. The little fresh meat that they could get from a few mule deer that they were able to kill, and one emaciated cow, they salted and dried in order to preserve it for the trip.

By scavenging through deserted homes, offices, and stores, they gathered medicine, flashlights, batteries, tools and anything else that might be useful or valuable. They focused on items that could either be used, or possibly traded to others during their trip.

Lawn mowers, abandoned cars, or any other equipment that had run on gasoline found by the group, was drained of every little drop of the precious liquid. As dangerous as it was, the group stored and packed filled gas cans in one truck with a camper shell on it. The walls and roof of the camper shell were reinforced in an attempt to protect the vehicle's valuable load from stray gunshots if they were attacked during their journey. This was probably a futile effort, but it made everyone feel a little safer.

The group packed blankets, sleeping bags, and clothing in anticipation of possibly having to spend winter in the mountains. Lastly, they gathered anything that could be used as a weapon; firearms, ammo, knives; it was amazing what they found in people's homes. Everything was brought back to the compound and gone through to evaluate whether it was worth taking on the trip or not. It is very possible that at some point during their journey they would have to abandon a few or maybe even all of their vehicles and make the trip on foot; so they were careful about what they chose to take.

The goal was to get safely away from town and make their way to a member of their group's family land in New Mexico. The violence from town continued to spread further from the boundaries of the city limits. More and more often, the group had no choice but to use force to protect the compound. With each clash, the attackers that were repelled would go back and spread news of the existence of the compound to other groups of raiders. The attacks were occurring more frequently and the number of attackers was growing. Their main enemy was a group of persistent biker's hell bent on taking over the compound.

Missy, a member of the group staying at the compound offered her family's land in New Mexico as a possible safe haven for them. It was a long trip and would be difficult getting there, but spirits were high with the knowledge that they had a destination. Missy described the area that had been owned by her family for years and it sounded perfect. It had a running stream, but was away from roads so that they would not be exposed. Its distance from roads and towns served as a safety buffer away from the marauding mobs terrorizing law-abiding citizens. There was a lot of wildlife and sections of the land opened up to large meadows that Missy figured would be good for growing crops.

Matt's thoughts went through the verbal plan they had discussed before Drew left; the day before the main group planned to leave the compound, two members of the group would head out traveling at night on motorcycles to scout the route ahead and to try to find potential sites for the group to camp along the way. Each morning at sun up, the scouts would rendezvous with the rest of the group. The bikes would be loaded onto a trailer before the riders retired to one of the make shift campers; they would update the rest of the group on any potential dangers and map out the route they felt was safest for the convoy to follow.

For the last three months, every night, teams of four took turns going into town to look for anything of value. They used the many waterways leading into town as transportation. They floated silently downstream, would dock at a location somewhere in the middle of town, hide their boat, and then make the rest of the way on foot. If they did not run into any trouble, they might be able to make two or three trips back to the boat. They carried an additional inflatable boat, which they filled with any overflow of supplies and towed it behind their small Zodiac boat. They always made sure to finish their trek long before light. The Zodiac, which was equipped with a shallow water outboard motor, would be run full throttle in order to whisk them back out of town as fast as possible.

In town, they were careful to work quickly and silently. They only ran into major problems a few times, but almost every night they took on fire as the engine roared them away from town. Luckily, their boat was so quick and low to the water that neither they nor the boat was ever hit. However lately, they've been finding it harder and harder to change their landing location. People were looking for them on the waterways and staking out the many levees. Last night's team barely made it back to the boat. They were forced to abandon some of the supplies that they found, as they resorted to hand-to-hand combat to break away from their pursuers. Luck was on their side when another gang joined the fight. The two mobs ended up fighting each othe,r allowing the team from the compound a chance to put some distance between them and their attackers in order to make it back to their boat. By the time the gangs heard the engines roar it was too late. Too much space had been put between them for the team to be caught. Two of the team members had been banged up very badly though and they couldn't make it back to the boat on their own. They needed assistance getting to the boat. Back at the compound Dr. Shaw diagnosed one with a slight concussion and the other ended up with bruised ribs.

Matt wanted to cancel tonight's trip into town, but Drew insisted on going. Drew decided that he wanted to make his way close to one of the many encampments set up by the gangs. He planned to gather intelligence on any plans the gangs might have. Tonight's trip wasn't going to be about finding supplies, but to see if he could find any news about the situation in town and the surrounding area. Matt was very apprehensive about this trip. He again wished that Drew and the rest of tonight's team would get back.

Everything seemed secure at the compound, Matt let out a whistle, and within seconds, King came running up to him. Matt patted King on the head, and said, No luck catching that rabbit I guess. Let's head inside where it's warm boy.

Before entering the small house that was now their headquarters, he checked the barn, which had been converted into a bunkhouse. Zeus, who had become attached to Don since Sarge's death, lifted his head calmly but his eyes held an alertness that showed he was ready for action if needed. King walked over and lay next to Zeus. He looked at Matt and let out a sigh as if to say goodnight. Seeing that all was well, Matt closed the door and crossed the small driveway to the house. Once in the house he grabbed the teakettle from its spot heating over the fireplace and poured the hot water into a cup that held his overused tea bag. He stoked the lantern sitting on the kitchen counter and the room lit up. He sat down anxiously waiting for tonight's team to get back. He took a sip of the weak brew and sat back in the wooden kitchen chair. The chair was hard and somewhat uncomfortable, but after being on his feet all day, he found it to be a welcome relief. As he fought back the urge to fall asleep, his mind raced over the events that led them to the compound.

Every time he started to dose off, his mind filled with images of the faces in their group that had now come to rely on him and Drew for leadership. His mind relived all of the events that brought them to this point. His eyes closed as his mind fell somewhere between sleep and reality, but he winced as he relived the horror, fear, and despair that they had lived through since leaving town. He finally could not muster the strength to fight his need for sleep and began to dream; a dream that took him back to the beginning of the nightmare that has become their life.

Who would have believed this could ever happen? The United States in utter chaos, no order, no shred of authority, nothing but complete lawlessness.

Looking back, it didn't really take much to drive the country to this point. Arrogance and ignorance had left us unprepared. US citizens over the years had developed a sense of entitlement and had become lazy. The public relied on the government to take care of everything and mistakenly believed that the government would always be there to take care of them.

Weakened by the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina and several other domestic issues, government resources had long been depleted and were spread thin. The economy was weakened by rising energy costs and the mortgage crisis. Then the earthquakes started. Not only did the frequency of quakes increase but the magnitude increased also. The quakes up to this point had hit other countries and mostly remote areas. Then, what had been forecast and dreaded for years happened; massive earthquakes hit several major fault lines world wide. Scientists and psychics had predicted this event. It had been the prophesy of all ancient cultures, but very few people had imagined the devastation this catastrophe caused was ever possible. The loss of human life, property damage, and the economic impact was overwhelming. Weather devastated other parts of the country as the severity of storms worsened due to global warming. Earthquakes and aftershocks continued to ravage California up and down the San Andreas Fault wreaking havoc on the populace there.

As the nation, hell the world, focused on relief efforts because of these events, our country's terrorist enemies took advantage of our government's preoccupation. They hit D.C. and several other major US cities all on the same day. They used homemade bombs that compared to the events of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing did not cause much damage, but caused panic all the same. It felt as though our vulnerability as a nation had been exposed.

To make matters worse the flu season hit. Overreaction and panic created by the government in prior years over suspected pandemics like the H1N1 virus heightened sensitivity to the flu results in the minds of people.

Although it is documented that 36,000 people on average die from the flu each year, this year there was speculation that bacteria or some kind of chemical agent had been released into the air during the bombings causing this year's viral outbreak. Because of deteriorating conditions and lack of resources, the number of deaths caused by the flu increased dramatically. Not because the flu virus was worse or due to some biological agent, but because medical assistance and vaccines just were not available. Each death fueled the panic and fear from the general population. Sensational and erroneous news reports delivered by the media only heightened the public's alarm and anxiety, adding credence to the speculation of bio-terrorism.

People were afraid to go to work fearing that they would encounter someone that was infected. Everything and everyone became suspect. In an effort to control the hysteria, the government set up quarantine centers and forced anyone that had been in direct contact with the sick into these camps. These centers turned into death camps for the inhabitants; confining that many flu victims together only insured that those not sick eventually became sick. Government sources referred to those condemned to these centers as the infected. Eventually the 'infected' became desperate to the point of organizing camp riots in which many escaped. This led to more panic from the general public over concern of the infected hiding among us. Families of escapees were searched out, as scared, usually normal citizens became out of control vigilantes. Many families with sick relatives tried to escape to Canada or Mexico, just to have time to nurse the flu victim back to health.

News reports continued to exaggerate the situation adding to the paranoia. All infrastructures began to breakdown. Citizens demanded that the government test and provide safe drinking water and food supplies. Protests and rioting became common. Things that we took for granted; power, running water, going to the grocery store etc..., became a luxury.

As the New Year passed, the last bits of civility unraveled. The brutality being displayed by many was unbelievable. Matt was not sure what finally did it. His guess was that the Holidays had come and gone and the reality of the Nation's situation really hit home.