Haliday had almost reached the sidewalk when he looked across the street and saw the oil change shop. He made a mental note of it. Although sooner or later someone will take the drums and bottles of oil, they might overlook the waste oil tank. This could be filtered and used for a variety of purposes and even burned if necessary. He started back on his way home.
As he continued to walk along the sidewalk, more and more people started looking at him. How funny this must be. This 6 foot 2 inch tall, 250 pound guy with a gun strapped to his waist, a rifle slung on his backpack and walking along eating a pizza like it was just another stroll in the neighborhood.
Just 10 minutes later, he was almost home. It was a typical suburban neighborhood with half acre lots and the houses too close for comfort, but he did not have the resources to relocate like he wanted to thanks to the wonderful economic conditions. He had to make do with what he had and that was fine with him as long as his plans could hold.
If he could maintain a good level of security, he should be fine. He paused long enough to tuck the pistol away along with his good old rifle, which was an Armalite AR180 with a folding stock, somewhat similar to an AR15. He took his pack off, folded the stock and slung the rifle on his back and then put the pack back on.
He looked like just an average guy except for the backpack and of course the pizza box. He was not worried about his neighbors, who were out and about and talking to each other. He had maintained a great level of OPSEC, operational security, and seeing him with his backpack was a normal everyday event. He told them before it was his uniform and equipment from work and they never paid him any attention after that. They didn’t this time either.
He waved as he passed the folks. He said, “Hell of a power outage, huh?” He walked the last couple of hundred yards to his house. Approaching the door, there was an electronic cipher lock which he attempted to use out of habit. No luck of course; he dug into his pocket and fished out the key.
As soon as he opened the door and stepped in, he breathed a sigh of relief. In one sense, it was good to be home, in another it was bothersome. Bothersome because he would have to temporarily leave for a few days or more and wasn’t sure what he would come home to in that amount of time. He walked around the house and made sure all of the windows and doors were locked.
He peeked out into the attached garage at his baby and said, “I’ll be out there shortly.” “For goodness sake,” he said. “It’s a truck. Don’t talk to it. You have work to do and the quicker the better.” It was mid-October and the Michigan weather was so varied that even though today it was sunny and 70, tomorrow could be wet and 40. Fall was here and the impending winter would be harsh with all things considered.
The first thing he did was go over to the fuse box and turn off the main power. No sense in any lights or anything coming on by accident. Next he reached down by the floor and flipped a single switch. This completed the circuit from a small array of deep charge batteries which ran a small series of 12v outlets throughout the house. Another switch actually turned them on, but until he pulled the bulbs out of their protective wrappers he didn’t bother to try it.
He unwrapped the bag that he had bought from eBay and took out a bulb. It was supposed to be like a Faraday cage, but he thought it looked like a Mylar bag. Not even sure it would work, he screwed it into a lamp that was on the counter and went and hit the other switch. There was nothing, the light did not come on.
“Damn eBay,” he cursed. He looked it all over and noticed he hadn’t plugged the lamp in. One more try and there it was. It still worked. He turned it off, there was enough light still out and he could see in the house just fine. He wasn’t sure how long the batteries would last anyway, and he didn’t want to waste them. He had a simple outlet in each room and four in the garage. That was the important area of the house.
He stepped out into the garage, walked over to the back wall and removed a sheet. Under the sheet had been a stack of plywood sheets he had prepared. Next to the sheets of plywood was a large roll of adhesive laminate plastic that printers used on big signs.
Haliday grabbed the roll of plastic and snagged a utility knife off a nearby bench. The plastic was practically useless for anything other than protecting signs the printers made, but he had a different idea for it. He cut off large pieces, peeled the backing off and placed it on every window in the house.
This wouldn’t do much other than to keep the glass from getting everywhere in case it was broken. Simply less mess to clean up or worry about later on. It’d be nice not to get cut when it came time to clean that mess up. Might even be an insulating factor, but that wasn’t the reason—he was simply trying to avoid a mess.
Next was the plywood. Each piece had another one that went with it. On the back of each one was attached a section of fairly heavy wire mesh. Pieces were marked with numbers so he knew which windows they went to. He would put one piece in place, secure it, then put the other in place and not only secure it, but join the two together. He used large doors hinges and hinge pins to do this.
They were anchored very securely in place. It would stop most folks, but those who really wanted to get in could do so with the right tools. As each room was sealed up, he lit some candles to light the place. No way had he wanted folks to know he had any type of electricity, no matter how simple it may be.
He finished up the patio door leading to the deck and this left the front door and the garage door. Those would be last, as they required something a little different, not to mention he would still have to get the truck out. It was late evening now and he was anxious to get started very early in the morning, so he locked the front door and secured the garage door.
He had drilled several holes along the garage door rail and placed six padlocks, three on each side so the door would not roll up. The wheels would stop because of the padlocks. Before he left he would be able to secure it further but that had to wait. He spent the rest of the evening prepping his gear and loading the truck for the next day.
Chapter 3
Time was going fast and much faster than he thought. He looked over at the old wind up alarm clock he had kept for years. It was a small reminder of a family vacation home they had just across the border in Canada on Lake Erie. Only about an hour’s drive away, but it was still a totally different world over there. It was almost a different culture and in some aspects it was.
It was little streets scattered about the beaches along the lake and surrounded by farms. He wondered if they got hit by the EMP as well, but after a little thought figured they must since they were so close to the U.S. With all the farms and few major congregations of people, they should be better off than most. They would be able to avoid the mass gangs and riots. Haliday almost wished it was his destination, but that was not the case.
Haliday pulled out another Faraday baggie as he had come to call them and inside was an Alinco ham radio. He had talked to quite a few people and explained what his intentions were. He needed a radio powerful enough to adequately reach 300 linear miles. He wasn’t concerned with getting his technician’s license or anything like that. He was not concerned about anything but the fact that it would work and reach to the other radio he would have ready.
He carried it along with a single deep charge battery to the back of his lot. There he ducked behind his old shed, where he reached up and grabbed the end of an antenna he had set up in the trees a couple years prior. He did this under the guise of trimming the branches hanging over his fence. Since it was a simple wire antennae and nothing fancy, it blended perfectly. He tested it monthly and so far it held up just fine.