Options, Maybes, New Friends

by michaelcahill

Background
The world almost destroyed. Yosemite is one of the few habitable spots on earth. Survivors attempt to defend it.

Previously, The state of the world became more and more known. The make up of the armada approaching our compound became more clear as it came closer to us. It was huge and made up of all manner of vessels. Plans began in earnest, but many options remained up in the air due to unstable weather. Everything we planned always had a maybe attatched to it. Details were pouring in. The story picks up with Johnny consulting with the experts about the current state of communications and what survivors might exist globally.

The bunker pulsated with action. Meetings were taking place everywhere. Headphones sat atop talking heads that furiously took notes. Information seemed to be pouring in. There was a centrally located world map. There were four or five people working on updating it. It told a chilling tale. Even the concentration of multi-colored stickpins that traversed the U.S. had a tale to tell. At first glance, a sense of excitement struck me. Then, upon closer inspection, the reality of what it actually said devastated me.

"Linda, what do the various colors mean?"

Linda said, "The blue, that is the safe zones. Safe ecologically that is. Here we are. You'll see a lot of blue in Canada, the northern U.S. and some of Russia, but very little. The yellow is livable but unstable. The red is survivable but extremely volatile. As you can see most of the United States is red. We are hearing from the Midwest were people were able to survive because of tornado cellars and shelters. But, conditions now make staying in them an almost round the clock proposition. Most of the mountainous regions have yellow and blue areas like ours."

A quick glance showed many blank areas throughout the world. China remained completely empty. Europe had a few areas of survivors. That heartened me a little.

I saw Nikolai and motioned him over. "Nikolai. What are our capabilities? I guess what I'm asking is, can we count on any help outside of Yosemite? And…just what do we have here in the way of…well, weapons?"

Nikolai looked thoughtful as though considering an encyclopedia of information. "Everything outside of Yosemite is dependent on the crazy weather. There are ships. There are remnants of the Russian fleet and the U.S. Fleet, though there is no organization to it. There are pockets of ships, docked and at sea, attempting to stay afloat. The Canadians have some organization and there are commercial vessels, fishing and cruise ships, all in varying states of sea worthiness. It is hard to ask anyone for help, Johnny. They are in dire straits and the pathways here are treacherous. It is no picnic when they arrive either. The seas here are no better and there is the little matter of a massive force of murderous psychotics' hell bent on conquest. Little things like that can be a deterrent to cooperation."

Nikolai smiled coyly. He had picked up on the gallows humor that we employed to keep our sanity. I smiled and had to admit that humor made for a welcome transition between earth shaking revelations.

"What's your feel for the situation? If they are able, will they help?"

"Yes. They understand both sides of the coin, Johnny. If it is all out war, then it must be won. If it is a massive rescue operation then humanity decides its direction for the future."

"Is the recorded signal drawing in more survivors? I wonder if it is as effective, if it reaches the same way. I receive it, but without the urgency and without as much…I don't know…feeling, I suppose."

Nikolai sighed. "It still has an effect. There are still people arriving, but not with the certainty of the people that received the live transmissions. But, once they are here, they seem to absorb the mood of the camp and quickly settle in peacefully. Are you thinking of transmitting to the armada?"

"No! We must wait. It could be disastrous to transmit too early. There is no telling what those in charge there might do. If they sensed their people seeking refuge, they might retaliate. We have to time the signal strategically. We have to give the people a chance for rescue. They have to be close enough to make it to shore and we have to protect them."

Nikolai called a young man over. Well, he looked young to me. He had some scars and looked to be a man that had seen many a battle. "Johnny, this is Sgt. Ricky Chatham, he's laying out the strategy along with a select team of veterans. I wanted a group of men that had actually seen combat."

Ricky smiled broadly and extended his hand. A genuine down home smile wasn't what I was expecting. "A pleasure to meet you, Johnny. I've been briefed about not calling you sir. Nikolai also warned me about not calling you grandpa or referring to your advanced age."

I shook his hand. "Good advice, I wouldn't want the hottest gal in camp to know she hooked up with some old geezer."

I could see we were going to get along fine. I continued, "The pleasure's mine. What's our status?"

"Well, we have a helluva force of men and women here, both professional and volunteer. We have equipment for any kind of ground battle. We have some anti-aircraft apparatus, some surface to air and even some smart missiles. But, most of the ground vehicles aren't of much use in this terrain. I don't know what's coming our way, Johnny. They face the same disadvantages as we do once their boots are on the ground. We have a secure compound and observational capacity. We have surprise. They can't possibly imagine the ass kicking force that's waiting to greet them. If they're geared up for Tarzan and the Amazon Arrow Women, they might be a bit surprised."

"I gotta tell you, Ricky, that sounds pretty damn good. I haven't looked at it from that angle. You're right. They have no idea what we have here. Where did you come from anyway? I can't believe I haven't met you before."

"Well, Johnny, you're gonna love this. I arrived a couple days ago with the rest of my squad. I'm a boy scout troop leader. I brought some boys up here to learn survival skills. I thought it might be a challenge for them."

We all just burst out laughing.

Ricky suddenly jumped up. "You hear that? Shh. Shh. Everybody. Hold it down for a minute."

The noise level came down quickly. There it was. Explosions. Off in the distance.

"There bombing the shore, clearing a path. They have some firepower. That's some long-range stuff right there. Carlos, Turner, Tom and three other men I didn't recognize came rushing up."

Carlos spoke first, "Looks like they're just making some noise, sir. We'll keep monitoring the situation. Nothing from subs yet that we can detect. They have to be out there. They'd have a better chance of making the journey then what we are looking at. I'd hate to think about what they might be packing."

Nikolai stood and seemed to be the one in charge. "Remember, they want the land. They aren't likely to destroy the very land they plan to live on. Don't panic. If they knew we were here, they'd be bombing us. This is a good thing."

I felt an arm slip around my waste. Christine seemed to sense when an arm around my waste would be just the thing to soothe my jagged nerves. "I think I may be falling for you, Christine, would you like to be my queen?"

"You're already mine, Recon Johnny, you're already mine."

I smiled. It was good to be the queen. I couldn't recall the movie, some comedy. A funny line I recall.

"Let's get everyone together for a meeting. I'd like you to start it with a prayer. You know, something like what you said over the graves of those two back then. Would you mind?"

"No, I would like to say a few things. I imagine it would be called a prayer. Do you know what you're going to say, Johnny?"

"No, not exactly. But, like you always tell me, it's more than instinct. Something will come to me, I hope."

The bunker looked full and It looked impressive. I thought back to a month ago and our bow and arrow attack to gain back control of our campsite. We had advanced. I didn't see any bow and arrows anywhere. The image of those three gals saving my bacon will never leave my memory though. Amazon warriors from Mount Olympus, I couldn't see them any other way.

I stood up to the podium. The crowd quickly came to silence. The silence built as everyone anticipated what would be my opening remarks. "It's good to see all of you here in Yosemite."

The crowd broke into applause and cheers. It gave me chills. What the hell? Where is that coming from? The response startled me, but only for a moment. "It is good to be home!"

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Preparing for things to come. Trying to get to it. Setting the groundwork for certain things. Trying not to plod. Any input or suggestion is more than welcome. Wonderful help so far. Lots of work when I'm done. But, this has become a project worth the effort. Thank you so much for the great help. mikey

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A chapter in the book Yosemite

Options, Maybes, New Friends

by michaelcahill

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