Drew was holding a large mailing envelope. He smiled and handed it to Grant.
“Go ahead and look inside,” Drew said, still smiling.
Grant opened it. It was full of $100 bills. He couldn’t believe it. Drew kept smiling.
“I had a little account,” Drew said, “on the side for a big trip I was planning on taking Eileen on.” He paused and looked out toward Frederickson. “No use trying to take a trip now. I pulled this out of the bank about a week ago, when it was obvious that the banks would be closed soon. I didn’t tell Eileen. Do you think she’ll be mad?” Grant could relate.
“Yes, for about five minutes,” Grant said. “Then she’ll be glad - and, if she’s like Lisa, she’ll never tell you she’s glad. She’ll just be nice to you like nothing happened, like she had never been wrong.” The two men laughed because they knew it was true. Eileen and Lisa were so similar.
“Where should I keep this?” Drew asked.
“We have some other high-value items,” Grant said with a wink. “I can’t say right now what they are, but you’ll see in a while. I could keep your envelope with them.” Drew would never trust someone with tens of thousands of dollars of cash, but Grant was his son-in-law, and had basically sent an armed team to rescue him. Besides, what good is cash if you don’t have guards and a safe place to stay?
Drew pointed to the envelope of cash and said, “OK, but don’t lose this.”
Grant realized the politics of the situation. “Drew, this is very generous of you,” he said. “I want you to get the credit with everyone for this. You can hand out the money. A few hundred bucks a carload. I will put the rest of the money in the safe place first so they don’t see it.”
Drew nodded and smiled. He wasn’t looking for “points” with the Over Road people; he was just trying to get them supplies they’d all need.
Grant knew that Drew, who was a little older than the others and didn’t have traditional survival skills to offer the group, needed to have a role everyone would appreciate. Handing out $100 bills, especially in a crisis, was a good way to make friends.
“Sure,” Drew said. He started thinking about the insane inflation that would be roaring that morning. “I think with all the crazy prices, $500 a carload ought to work. I’ll take another $1,000 in case we need more. I have my gun and there’s all your guys with their guns, and there’s John who’s got a gun, too. We’ll be OK carrying around all that cash.” Grant nodded. Drew counted out a number of $100 bills and gave the envelope with the remaining cash to Grant.
“Don’t watch where I’m going,” Grant said, only half kidding. After Drew had gone back inside, Grant walked around the cabin a few times and then quickly disappeared into the basement and came right out, double checking to make sure the basement door was locked.
When Grant was done, he found Drew in the cabin chatting. He hadn’t handed out the cash yet. Grant motioned for him to come over. One by one, Drew handed out $500 to each driver. Eileen looked at Drew as if to say, “What?” Drew put his finger up to his lips to tell her not to say anything.
Each time Drew handed out $500, Grant would say, “This is one of Drew’s contributions to the effort.” Everyone’s eyes were wide. It wasn’t every day they were given a handful of $100 bills. They all thanked Drew. He was very proud that an old accountant was able to contribute to the effort.
“Now the hard part,” Grant said to Drew. “You have to go tell Eileen where the money came from.” Drew nodded and went to find Eileen.
She didn’t take it well at first, but, just as they predicted, she was OK with it after it sunk in. “I told her they were loans,” Drew said to Grant. “And I told her that I’m crazy. She seemed to accept that,” he said with a smile.
People gathered by the truck they’d be taking into town. The Team had a dog tag chain visible around their necks. They had their “badges” under their shirts. Those could really come in handy.
Everyone got in the trucks and headed out. They would be going into Fredrickson, the town a few miles from the cabin. The town had a couple of big stores, but was much smaller than Olympia.
Pow took Lisa. They would focus on getting medical supplies. And…feminine products. They would be going to the drug store first.
Bobby took Mary Anne. She would focus on canning and preserving supplies. She would also buy bulk food and gas. Everyone was trying to get gas and gas cans. Grant had two five-gallons cans at the cabin with gas, including Stabil, which was the additive that allowed gas to be stored for years without deteriorating. But that wasn’t enough. They would need more. Lots more.
Wes took John and Drew. They would focus on bulk food first, and building supplies second. Specifically, they were going to get pancake mix, biscuit mix, oatmeal, and any other items that were cheap and easy to store (and cook) that could be the breakfast anchor at Grant’s cabin. Let the grasshoppers clean out the Doritos; the Over Road crew would get the oatmeal.
Scotty took Mark. They would focus on hunting and fishing supplies. They would also get household items, like matches and Stabil gas preservative. Grant had printed out a list several months ago from the Survival Podcast forum and put it in the storage shed. It was called “The 100 Things to Disappear First in a Crisis.” It was invaluable.
Given the danger of the grocery store, Wes wanted to bring a rifle with him, but couldn’t walk around with it. He asked Grant, “Hey, man, you got that AK underfolder out here? It could go under a baggy shirt.”
Grant smiled. “Sure ‘nuff, brother.” He got his AK with the wire stock that folded under the gun so it was much shorter than a fixed-stock rifle. Grant called the underfolder the “checkpoint” gun because it was small enough to be hidden in a car and get past a checkpoint. When he started using that phrase it was a joke, but it was serious now.
Grant also got a big buttoned-front camouflage hunting shirt sized for his formerly heavy self. He handed Wes three extra 30-round loaded magazines. Wes put the underfolder on with the sling and threw the hunting shirt over it. Perfect. The AK was undetectable.
Drew just watched. He’d never seen an AK-47, and now a guy he’d known for a few hours was wearing one concealed, and Drew was getting in a truck with him. Drew had his revolver and a pocket full of shells.
This all seemed normal. Not normal in the sense of it being common, just normal in the sense that there was such a good reason to do it.
Mark brought his shotgun, which was a nice duck hunting gun. Scotty had a tactical shotgun that would work better. Scotty pulled Grant off to the side, explained that Mark was bringing a duck gun, and asked, “Shouldn’t I let Mark use my Benelli?” That was his high-end tactical shotgun that looked like a SWAT gun. “It’s shorter and holds more rounds.”
Grant said, “Nah, I don’t want to overwhelm these guys with our tactical stuff. We need to integrate with them, and they’ll integrate with us, eventually. It’s just day two out here. Besides, I bet Mark has shot that thing hundreds of times. He’s probably really good with it. And, in a pinch, he could carry that around town and everyone would just think he’s a good ol’ boy hunter, not a threat like they’d think if they saw your tricked out Benelli.” Scotty nodded.
Grant had another idea. He wanted to get Mark into the effort instead of just riding along with the Team. He turned to Scotty and Mark and said, “Hey, how about if you two go in Mark’s truck instead of Scotty’s? It would make sense for the neighbors to see a familiar truck instead of all these strangers’ trucks driven by strange men.” Mark liked that idea.
Mark said, “I can take the lead, so the Pierce Point people can see me. I can wave like everything is normal. And I know how to get to Frederickson and,” he motioned toward Scotty, “you guys don’t.”