After the Fall: Jason's Tale Read Online Free PDF Page B

exhaustion had its way. Waves of sadness would
envelope him without warning. He gradually came to accept that he would never see
her again. This acceptance did not end his grieving but allowed him to move
forward.
    One late fall day, Jason heard some commotion on his
driveway. Going to the window, he saw a group of five men and one woman
approaching the house. They were armed with bats, an ax and a couple of
pistols. Quickly grabbing his Ruger .223, he yelled out of his window.
    “Stop or I’ll fire! I’ve got an automatic rifle and I can
take all of you down before you get to the door!”
    The group hesitated. They looked at one another. Clearly
they had been going from house to house, scavenging what they could, and had
found either little resistance or no one home. They had not expected a
confrontation.
    “We’re hungry,” one of the group members called out. Jason
noted the speaker, figuring him for the leader.
    “Everyone’s hungry,” Jason replied. “Go to town and get in
line to be fed.”
    “They take everything from you when you sign up for a ration
card,” the leader complained.
    “Still better than starving…or stealing from others. Trying
to steal from me is going to get you killed.” Jason hoped they understood how
serious he was. He didn’t want to shoot them, but he was not going to let them
steal his resources.
    “Can you give us some food?” the leader called out after
considering Jason’s threat.
    “Sorry, I don’t have any extra to give you.”
    There was a conference among the group. Jason waited for
them to accept that he should not be challenged. “I guess we’ll just be on our
way,” the leader finally called out to the house.
    “I’m going to be real clear with you,” Jason answered. “I’m
the last house on this road for five miles and you can bet any people further
out are also armed and willing to shoot trespassers without warning. You need
to turn around and go back. This road holds nothing of value for you anymore.
And if you try to sneak up on me at night, I have power and trip lights rigged.
I’ll shoot you on sight now that I’ve warned you.” Jason was bluffing about
warning lights. He didn’t want them trying the house at night even though he
had secured it against easy entry.
    The resolve of the leader visibly sagged. “You won’t have
trouble from us.”
    “Good luck, then,” Jason replied as he watched them slowly
trudge down his driveway and off in the direction of town.
    It’ll be a light night of sleeping. He sighed.
     
    As winter approached, wild game got more and more scarce.
The deer population had either been killed or had moved further into the
mountains. Jason began to wonder if he should stay. His food supplies would not
last forever and local game was scarce. He could still survive but only by
going further and further afield to hunt and gather.
    He spent many nights sorting out his thoughts, pondering
what to do. Hillsboro was only partly under control. Food was still scarce and
what was available was controlled by the town’s safety committee. There was no
input from the general citizens. The emergency laws were put in place by the
committee which consisted of Frank Mason, previously Chairman of the Town
Council, two other Councilmen and Charlie Cook, the Chief of Police. Jason
suspected that Joe Stansky had a hand in much of what was going on as well. He
had heard his name invoked by the militia on some of his trips to town. Joe ran
a local strip club and was suspected of controlling much of the drugs and crime
in the city. There were still gun fights between either the police or militia
and scattered groups trying to steal supplies. However, most of the public had
been disarmed, if they ever had been.
    The ones who wanted to be fed, who signed up for ration
cards, were stripped of all weapons and forced to abide by a set of emergency
regulations set up to control them. The regulations directed where they could
live, where they could eat