The E.M.P. Chronicles (Book 1): 458 Miles & 24 Days Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. As you read this book it is intended for entertainment purposes only. Statements should not be used as, or in place of, medical or survival advice.

  Copyright © 2019 by Oz McTatety

  BSF

  All rights reserved.

  Thank you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright law. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

  To contact the author email at [email protected]

  Design and composition by Teresa Muniz

  Cover design and illustrations by J. L. Alfaro

  Print ISBN-13: 978-1-09-227238-4

  First Edition

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Reflection

  Preparing—The Beginning

  When to Bug Out

  Normalcy: The Deadly Belief!

  Getting Organized

  Bug Out Bags

  Relocation

  Quiet but Disgruntled

  The Plan

  Zero Day—A New Puzzle

  Forever Changed

  Bugging Out

  The Journey Home

  Medical Failure

  Prepping Skills Kick In

  Listening to the Voice in Your Head

  4:20 PM

  Neighbors—Be Cautious

  Randall Home Alone

  Testy Neighbor

  Dad’s Manual

  Hunger Sets In

  Almost Home

  4:20 AM

  Supply Run

  Family First

  Ever-Changing World

  Saving Family

  The Screams of Despair

  Family Adapting

  New Friends—New Introductions

  Securing the House

  Hungry Neighbors

  Protecting the Family

  Looking for Help

  Protecting One

  The Trade

  Adapting to a New World

  Ambushed

  Desperate People Make Desperate Groups

  Primitive Skills

  Kill or be Killed

  You Can Only Live 3 Days Without Water

  Back Again

  Just In Time

  Reunion

  The New Beginning

  References

  Prologue

  WE LIVED IN NEW YORK WHEN 9/11 HAPPENED. WE SAW THE fear. We saw the pain. We saw the deaths. Through our friends, we experienced the anguish of not knowing if family members were dead or alive. Though I was not directly affected by 9/11, it changed my world. This book is written and based on my true concerns and fears should I directly experience a Stuff Hits the Fan (SHTF) event. As a prepper with eighteen years of experience, I share, through fiction, how my family and I would react and the actions we would take. Through the characters, I provide real skills that should be learned and practiced.

  So, what exactly is a ‘Stuff Hits the Fan’ (SHTF) event? It’s an event that significantly or permanently affects your life in an emotional, physical, financial, or other manner. As I write this book there were a significant number of rather large-magnitude manmade and natural SHTF events occurring. For example, The California ‘Camp Fire’ decimated 9,800 homes and 149,000 acres. The most upsetting fact is that there were over 76 dead and 1,300 unaccounted for residents. Or consider North Korea. As nice as the United States tried to play with North Korea, they still announced the acquisition of a new ‘high-tech’ tactical weapon. Is the weapon an upgraded Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) long-range missile or are they now experimenting with chemical warfare? Regardless of the new ‘high-tech’ tactical weapon, the fact of the matter is that North Korea is unpredictable and they have nuclear capabilities. President Donald Trump met with Kim Jong-un several times yet the rogue nation continued to develop nuclear capabilities.

  Yet another concern is the United States government’s prediction of the flu in future years. Yes, the flu. Some predictions show that future flu outbreaks could be worse than previous decades and potentially lead to a pandemic. The worldwide spread of a new flu virus could be as simple as one sick person getting on an airplane. It’s not ironic—probably more coincidental—that as I write this book there are numerous articles on the 1918 Spanish flu drawing comparisons to future flu outbreaks. From history, we learn that the Spanish flu of 1918 infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide (about one-third of the planet’s population) and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims including some 675,000 Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted:

  “The pandemic was so severe that from 1917 to 1918, life expectancy in the United States fell by about 12 years, to 36.6 years for men and 42.2 years for women.” (Prevention, 2018)

  At the time of this writing, we’re in a global trade disagreement with China. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 35 percent to 45 percent tariffs on Chinese imports to force China into renegotiating its trade balance with the US. Experts agree that if a trade war were to occur it would have a devastating effect on the United States as compared to China.

  Also, tensions between Russia and the United States have reached their most dangerous level in years. The souring US–Russia relationship has the potential to ignite a new deadly conflict. Specifically, the United States and Russia have plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. On March 8, 2019, President Trump said:

  “[The US] cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other. We will move forward with developing our own military response options and will work with NATO and our other allies and partners to deny Russia any military advantage from its unlawful conduct.”

  Prior to this, Russia created and tested new hypersonic missile technology that makes it much easier to evade US defenses.

  Lastly, in March 2019, Venezuela was hit by a cyberattack, allegedly, from the United States. The cyberattack brought the power grid down in twenty-two out of the twenty-three Venezuelan states. News agencies report that murder, rape, hunger, lack of sanitation, and no communication paralyzed the nation.

  Now, to the true reason for this book. You see, as I write this book, I’m the one who lives 458 miles and 24 days, by foot, away from my family. The reality is that it would probably take me over a month to get home if you consider 24 days does not include eating, sleeping, and resting. The decision for me to move away from my family was a complicated decision but one that my wife and I agreed to. We both agreed that the job opportunity at hand was a perfect fit for my skill set. The downside is that I would have to move to southern Georgia from Kentucky and we both knew I would be home, my true home, Kentucky, once a month at best. Sure, I could have settled for a job but that is just what I would have done, settled. I had ‘settled’ for far too many jobs in our life together and she was happy and supportive that I found a great opportunity albeit in another state.

  After a couple of months away from my family, I found myself in a psychological conundrum. The new job was great for our retirement but what if I never
saw my family again because an SHTF event occurred. A ton of questions came to my mind. “What if an Electromagnetic Pulse or cyber-attack hits and I have to walk home?” “What if there’s a viral outbreak and I’m unable to get home because of illness?” Given Kentucky sits on the New Madrid fault line, I also wondered, “What if a magnitude 8.0+ earthquake occurs and transportation routes are blocked?” The only thing I thought to myself was that I sacrificed the love of seeing and being with my family daily for money; the root of all evil.

  From a real-world experience and in the short time I’ve been in Atlanta and away from my family, I have experienced Hurricane Michael, tornadoes, and flooding all of which are serious events. None of them have prevented me from traveling, finding food or water, maintaining shelter, or compromising my livelihood. They were, however, all events that I took seriously and learned from.

  For example, immediately upon learning of Hurricane Michael, and given I was away from Kentucky, I purchased a Coleman® lantern, a dozen 16-ounce propane cans, extra wicks, several packages of freeze-dried food, and 12 gallons of purified water. The lantern would provide light, heat, and the ability to cook while I ensured I had three days of extra food and water on hand.

  I knew to do this before the rest of Atlanta panicked. Sure enough, two days before the arrival of Hurricane Michael, the entire population of Atlanta seemed to have panicked. Walmart® and the local grocery stores literally ran out of the staples (water, eggs, milk, flour, flashlights, batteries, heaters, and candles, to name a few). It was not the hurricane I was afraid of. It was the people who panicked. In my world, the ‘people’ will always be the ones I protect against.

  As I struggled with what to do in a life-altering SHTF, I began planning multiple options of how, regardless of the SHTF event, I would return to my family to protect and support them should something happen. This book is a journey and planning tool for how you can prepare for an SHTF event with the hopes you never experience such a thing. However, after living in New York and experiencing the effects of 9/11, I owe it to my family and to myself to do everything within my control to prepare for an SHTF event while I pray it never happens.

  In closing, this book is based upon my experiences and how I plan to get home during an SHTF. I use a highly possible scenario to describe my actions and what I perceive would be the actions of others. Where possible I use facts based on real data and information and provide the source. I communicated with experts and conducted extensive research on the topics in this book and pair personal experiences with the information I present. All sources can be found in the ‘Reference’ section at the end of the book.

  I consider myself a professional and well-versed in numerous subjects, including prepping, but do your own research and create your own experiences. May God bless you and your family and the United States of America.

  1

  Reflection

  OZ MCTATEY WOKE UP AT 6:00 A.M. JUST AS HE DID IN YEARS past. Today was September 11, 2001, and it would be the same old grind; so, he thought. Wake up, shower, drive to work, and attend all-day meetings. Living in Upstate New York was exciting for the outdoorsman, but the job was always the same. Little did Oz know that on that day there would be no all-day meetings. There would be no signs, no indications that the world would be forever changed.

  Sitting at his desk on that fateful day everything was normal when Nicki, Oz’s wife, called. It was 10:00 a.m. EST when Nicki frantically exclaimed, “You need to watch the news. Something bad is going on in the City. The South Tower collapsed. People are panicking. The City is . . . is being attacked.” Oz immediately turned to Fox News and saw replay after replay of the South Tower collapsing under the intense heat from what appeared to be a plane crash. Before he could say another word, he heard Nicki say, “Oz, what do we do?”

  “Nicki, you need to immediately go to the grocery store and load up. I would gather enough to last us several days. Don’t forget to fill the car up with gas and then go home. Stay home! I don’t know what’s going on let alone if it will affect us. I love you and will be home as soon as I can.” Oz said.

  Oz immediately gathered his team and had them meet in the auditorium where the live news feed would be projected. Though he and his team worked in Upstate New York, most of his team was from the heart of the City and he knew that uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, cousins, moms, and dads could potentially be missing or even dead. Once the team was fully assembled in the auditorium he quickly gathered and disseminated cell phone numbers of family that could potentially be stuck in the City, or even worse, in the Towers. The team began immediately calling those on the list. Oz picked up his cell phone to begin making calls. As he was making a call to his supervisor’s aunt who worked in the North Tower, he and his entire team lost cell phone service. Little did he know that was just the beginning.

  “Normalcy,” Oz whispered to himself. “One day when my children are old enough, I’ll teach them to understand the meaning of that word and pray they do not become as blind to the world as I have become.”

  At 10:30 a.m. the entire team sat motionless as they watched the North Tower collapse. Tears began flowing from those with family members who were supposed to be working there that day. Not being able to contact family. Not knowing if they were alive or dead. Not knowing if they would be seen again drove fear and anger within the teammates.

  Oz selfishly thought to himself, “I need to get home to my own family. I need to take care of them.” He felt guilty leaving his team but knew it was the right thing to do. He had to be with his family.

  Oz arrived home shortly before 12:00 p.m. Before he could close the door Nicki immediately began telling him story after story of the panic that had set in.

  In a low voice, Nicki explained, “Right after we talked, I drove immediately to the grocery store. Oz, people, I mean everybody was panicking. Sam’s Club® and Walmart® shelves were bare by the time I got there. There was no bread, water, flour, rice, beans, nothing. People completely emptied the stores of everything. When I went to get gas, I had to wait in line. I didn’t know what to think as I watched the manager of the gas station close and lock the building. To use the pumps, you had to have a credit or debit card; no cash. People who only had cash were desperately trying to barter or trade with others to allow them to use their credit cards. People were afraid and several times I literally saw people begging those with credit cards to accept the cash. Oz, money had no value. This led to tense situations because many people were unwilling to accept cash. I saw people cursing, threatening to fight, and even stealing. This, of course, caused more panic and it kept going downhill from there. Thank God I was there early enough that I was able to fill up and quickly come home.”

  Oz sat confused and recalled that he had only left the Navy a year and a half ago. He was excited to start a civilian career. After seeing cities and cultures destroyed by conflict and war, he could not fathom that this event, this disaster, this Charlie foxtrot would or could happen on US soil; yet it did.

  In May of 2006, the McTateys left New York for an opportunity to own their own business in South Dakota. New York had been good to the family, but the memory of 9/11 would never be forgotten.

  2

  Preparing—The Beginning

  TWO MONTHS AFTER 9/11, OZ AND HIS FAMILY BEGAN THEIR journey to being prepared. At the time he didn’t even know what a prepper was, but he swore to himself that he would never let his family be caught off guard or as unprepared as they were on that day. Granted he wasn’t a psychic and couldn’t predict when the next disaster was going to occur, but he could be prepared to shelter-in-place and watch the rest of the world panic while he and his family remained safe.

  The family would no longer shop only on paydays or live paycheck to paycheck. No longer would the family not have firearms. No longer would the family not have an emergency fund. No longer would the family sit in darkness and wait for a SHTF event. They would be proactive
. They would have food and water on hand. They would have the means to protect themselves. They would have emergency cash both in the safe and in the bank. They would not be victims of the events of the world anymore.

  Within two years of their prepping journey, Oz would become a well-known and established lecturer, author, and expert on prepping. This was most definitely not a path he chose but rather a path that was chosen for him. After 9/11, and as a military veteran, he felt the need to help the rest of America prepare.

  Oz knew finding like-minded families would prove difficult but was extremely important. As a prepper, there’s an unwritten code of secrecy. First, you never divulge you’re a prepper and second you never divulge what your preparations consist of. So, the dilemma for Oz became how to create groups of like-minded people while maintaining secrecy. If the Stuff Hits the Fan, Oz knew it would require many trustworthy people with different skillsets to survive.

  In a most unique circumstance, Oz was fortunate enough to have met Brian and Elizabeth Tregor. Brian was Oz’s best friend and married to Elizabeth. They both were physicians who had extensive experience in emergency medicine. They were like-minded families and over time opened up to Oz that they had been preparing food, medical supplies, guns, ammo, and general supplies for an emergency. Both families had the common belief that it was only a matter of time before the next manmade or natural SHTF event happened. They would not be as unprepared as they were during 9/11 and, more importantly, the families grew to trust one another.

  Oz, Brian, Elizabeth, and Nicki saw 9/11 for what it was. It was a terrorist attack that changed the lives of individuals, families, and the United States forever. Directly, it led to the death of 2,977 people and injured more than 6,000. Indirectly, it led to many more deaths including our brave military men and women serving overseas in the fight against terrorism. Just as important was the fact that the event was undetected by the US government.