The Road - The Journey

By A. B. Bishop

One morning, Beth awakened from a deep sleep and sat straight up in bed. She had been having the same repeated dream, again! Looking at the bedside clock, she saw that the power was out, again! She lay back down and sighed deeply. What was once considered “normal” was gone and never to return. That wall had been built right under everyone’s noses, and it now divided the country in half. What were considered their normal resources were scarce on this side but known to be abundant in the East, because that is where manufacturing, industry, health care, universities, the scientific communities, and everything else had been moved.

What are we going to do? she thought. Then she remembered the dream that kept repeating in her sleep. It seemed to hold a message for her. The dream was that she was walking down a rutted dirt road surrounded by trees and bushes, with the birds singing. She did not know where she was going in her dream. Today, she thought, there is a road we must walk down and a journey we must begin if we want a new “normal.”

Where does Beth need to start?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781649526175

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The Road - The Journey

A. B. Bishop

Copyright © 2021 A. B. Bishop

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books, Inc.

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2021

ISBN 978-1-64952-616-8 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64952-617-5 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

I was wandering down a rutted dirt road surrounded by tall pine trees and scraggly bushes next to the side of the road. It was a nice spring morning with a slight breeze. I could smell a light scent of mint as I walked along. A bird darted out of one of the bushes. It would be a perfect day for bird-watching.

That was not why I was here, walking down this road, on this day during this spring. I had just gotten up from a short sleep in this quiet forest. I was hungry and dirty from camping. My water cask was low, and I needed to find a creek soon. I adjusted my backpack, loaded with a sleeping bag and a few tools, straightening my taut back muscles, and moved forward on the road. My boots left tracks in the slightly muddy spots. I would have to be more careful and avoid those as I kept moving west.

I had just come from the Wall where I had traveled with a young mother and her baby. The baby needed health care not to be found here. There was a hidden opening that no one had noticed (yet), and this was the railroad to the other side.

You see, a few years back, after a long century of complacent citizens, the Wall had been built without anyone’s notice. Oh yes, there was talk about it, as it was to everyone’s knowledge, being built on the Mexican border, using military funding to keep out immigrants. Somewhere along the way, the military were instructed to turn north and continue building the Wall across the wide expanse on unpopulated range land, wheat fields, pastures, national refuges, and the High Plains desert. Oh, there were lawsuits raised when ranchers and farmers noticed, but their suits were taken in and buried by the court system as insignificant. When the military started building the wall across highways, rivers, and railroads, the citizens became alarmed and were questioning local law enforcement, commissioners, county and state representatives, and anyone that would listen. Local news picked up the complaints, but nothing was ever seen in national news sources. There was not a word on TV, electronic media, internet, postal mail, or any public information mode.

The military, as it reported to the president, was mum on the process. Local, county, and state officials were bought off, scared off, or just blinded themselves to what was happening. Citizens just let it go. They, too, were scared by gun-toting neighbors or police. No one listened, and stopped speaking out about the Wall, or the lack of transport lines for food, clothing, commodities. Oh, everyone complained but did nothing. Elections were a scam. People stopped voting.

And then it happened…

Food shortages hit from New Mexico to Montana and all states West. Then the power grid started to fail as it suffered for years without needed upgrades to the infrastructure. Airlines were restricted on who could travel. Health care was strangled by lack of medicine, equipment, cleaning products, and even nurses and doctors. Schools for health-care professionals had moved to the East. Big businesses were forced to move where their resources were available. Trucks and railroad could not transport goods into the West.

The presidential election was held and then tied up in a knot by the not-reelected president, claiming voter fraud and sending the case to the Supreme Court. The court refused to hear the case. So the president, all persons obliged to the president in Congress, the judicial system, and the military just made a decision. They would continue to be in charge. They would wall off the portion of the country that did not agree with them. The West would be on its own, and the East would agree not to help or negotiate with anyone from the West. Even some churches had declared that the West was going to hell because they did not follow the instructions of their priests on how to vote during elections. The Eastern government was now a dictatorship.

So what were the people in the West going to do about it?

Food and water, being key to survival of our bodies, came first. How to get water to areas not located on a river or watershed was a problem. People would have to move. There was not sufficient gasoline to travel. There was erratic electricity to pump from wells.

Where would they live, as building materials were limited? What heat source would be available in the winter?

Transportation of food quantities was out of the question. It became necessary for all households to grow and store their own foods. Who would train them?

Education was almost impossible because of the loss of the internet. There were limited written books, as most all education was electronic. Libraries were available, but limited. How would school systems be maintained to teach children to read, do math, learn science, and learn trades?

Who would lead? How would we communicate to bring people together? Would we become feudal kingdoms to protect ourselves? Would we carry guns and just shoot each other?

So you see, there were lots of questions and very few answers. We were taking steps back in time and lost technology that we had become dependent upon. No one could trust government or leadership, either city, county, state, or anyone related to the East.

Some people tried to go to the East. There were very specific criteria to get past the wall. Swearing loyalty to the dictator was first requirement. Next was to work in jobs that were selected for you (not by you). Often, you could not bring family members with you. What we had known to be free was no longer available. How much would you pay to get into the East? What favor would you do to be allowed in the East?

Many that tried to flee to the East returned to where they could find safety in the West.

First, you do what you have to do. You find water and a way to keep it clean. You find food and a place where you can grow more, then how to preserve it. You learn how to barter as there is no money of value.

So this is what we did first. Marie and I (I’m Beth), we sat down and cried and prayed. Then we went and met our neighbors to see who might want to create a united front to forage for food, retrieve water, and determine what we could do to stay warm and dry. We discovered what skills we had between us. We began to get to know those with which we shared our space.

Les has guns and almost refused to answer the door, but he finally did. Barry has the best view to keep an eye on our fortress. Ryan had some extra gasoline. Lynn is a nurse, as is Anna. Mona and Ann are teachers. There were several recreational trailers and vehicles for other family members or locals that needed space. Mary is a deaconess. Rick is a landscape guy. Dan is a builder. Marie is a gardener, as is Mary. Clancy has solar panels. We all have wells, and many have cisterns; we just have to determine how to maintain power to pump up the water. We have propane that will last a while. Lee knows about motors.

How do we bring it all together? We called a meeting in the middle of the hill at Mae’s house. Everyone that could walk came.

Let’s talk about how we organize. How do you all feel about democracy? asked Beth.

There was a sudden burst of cursing, loud shouts, and bitter silence.

Well, it worked for many years until we citizens got complacent and stopped participating and fighting back to keep it working as it was meant to work, said Mae.

"Yeah, and we have no money and very little