Four large shipping containers of building materials had been brought in. They sat there during the construction process and disappeared during the process. First up was a new foundation. The foundation would accommodate the cabin which was only 30X40. A complete extra deep basement was put under the cabin. Each window was ported to be used as a firing position if needed. Armored with quarter inch around the small windows.
On two sides of the foundation he had put down one of the containers. The cinderblock walls had been constructed so that he could use a concrete saw and cut access into them after the final inspection was made. He had steel framework hidden in the walls for door jambs. The containers had been reinforced with I-beam steel inside and only buried a foot under the ground. They had been completely rubberized outside for waterproofing. He then built the doors to mate up properly.
The cabin itself was extremely open as far as the floor plan went. Toward the back was a large bathroom and toiletry closet on one side, and a large laundry room and linen storage on the other. In front of that was a large kitchen area and massive dining table with bench seats on one side and chairs around the other sides. In between was a spiral staircase with a good old fashioned firemen pole next to it.
For the bathroom, outside of the cabin he had a rain catch for a large 250 gallon water tank that was elevated, and it supplied water strictly for the toilet. The tank was black to attract sunlight and he used small solar powered bubblers to prevent freezing in the winter time.
The front of the cabin was completely open as well. They had chairs, couches and coffee tables spread around for seating and there was a fireplace. There hadn’t been any sense in wasting the space on bedrooms. If they had to, they could use the basement to create space for privacy.
When you looked up at the second floor, it was almost completely open. With the cabin being 30 by 40 and an “A” frame style roof, the sides had high pitches. You could walk around the entire upstairs close to the opening, which was railed off for safety. The opening was almost 10 by 30. This loft space had bunks galore spread out with under-bed storage and small dressers. There were thin panel walls between bunk areas and curtains toward the fronts. It looked like a large hunting lodge.
The storage containers provided space for storage of all of the food and supplies. The basement was left open as a recreation area. Pool table, dart board, card table, bubble hockey, couch and chairs, small library and games. They even had a space for a TV and entertainment system if it worked. He wouldn’t know yet. It was buried underground in a Faraday cage along with a few other items, with a grounding rod pounded deep into the ground.
Everything they would need was here. They would be able to farm the land, hunt if the game population wasn’t decimated and not far from the lake’s shores to put a small boat in and do some fishing. They had plenty of firewood stored already and access to as much as they needed. It had been a labor of love and now a labor of sustaining their lives.
They had compiled enough food stores to sustain 20 people for two and a half years on normal diets. They could ration and extend this if they needed to. This didn’t include any farming, hunting or fishing or what they brought with them. That would all be extra. They had the other two containers buried as well. One served as a hidden cache and the other as a storage unit for gas, kerosene, diesel and whatever else they put in there.
The cabin was built using eight inch logs and they up-armored the bottom 30 inches inside with 3/16th inch steel plate. It would stop all 5.56 rounds and most 7.62. The areas around the windows were even more heavily armored to provide more protection as a gun port. This was all covered with wood paneling. The doors were all steel. There were only two of them. He hadn’t had the money to put ballistic glass in.
The doors to the pole barn and outbuilding had all been re-enforced to keep them as secure as possible. Tools, the trucks and trailers and an old tractor were all kept out there with the two horse stalls. They would move the trailers out shortly to make more space. Around the property he had a few more upgrades to help keep them safe.
The shower felt good. The water wasn’t hot, but was warm enough. He had plumbed a coil around the wood burner that ran the course of the hot water pipes normally supplied by the hot water heater, which no longer worked. The coil worked just fine and made it easier to boil water. The cabin was on a well pump and septic system which operated ok, too.
Kayla had worked up a watch schedule which was posted on a big dry erase board near the kitchen. Same with chores, wood retrieval, cleaning, laundry, cooking and whatever else needed to be done. Haliday walked out after getting dressed. “Can I have more coffee please?” Bev put the percolator on.
Haliday walked over to the desk with the radio. He checked in with Mike and Linda. “How you guys doing?”
“We’re doing fine, Rambo.”
That struck a bad chord with Haliday. “Not in the mood, Mike. Just doing what I hope any other American would do, that which was necessary to keep order in a place that didn’t have any. You guys going to be set for a while?” he asked Mike.
“Ya, we’ll be fine, sorry. I got a deer and we plan to use that up first.”
“Ok, talk to you later,” Roger said.
Haliday changed the frequency and called Rob. There wasn’t any answer. He would call back later. He looked down at a note. “Oh ya, Alan.” He called on the frequency that Kayla had written down. There came an answer. It was typical of a ham operator. Call sign and everything. Haliday apologized for not knowing the proper protocol and such.
The man said, “No problem, I understand.”
“If you have a chance, and Alan Haliday asks, can you get him on for me?”
“Sure, I’ll leave a note up for him. I put a message board up for folks.”
“Hey, my name is Roger by the way; can I ask a few questions?”
“Yes sir, how can I help you?”
“You hear anything about the military or feds doing anything?”
“I only hear what you’ve heard. They are locked down on the bases, they have had a lot of deserters and they don’t plan on doing anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just like I said, they don’t plan on doing anything any time soon. That’s the rumor.”
While it didn’t surprise him he still thought it was odd. “What’s going on around you?”
“Detroit.”
Roger asked, “What do you mean, Detroit?”
The guy said, “The city itself is pretty much a wasteland and the suburbs have become like Detroit itself. Looters, robberies, people shooting each other, it’s really bad. You can’t leave your house and you have to be careful. Hearing that some gangs are on the move. People aren’t putting up with a lot though.”
“I appreciate the info. Mind if I add you to my friends list or whatever it’s called.”
The man laughed, “Ya, go ahead. I’m Adam by the way.”
“Thank you again Adam, it’s been a pleasure. I’ll be talking to you again soon.” He sat back and tried Rob again. Still no answer at all. He flipped to the militia freq. This was interesting indeed.
It sounded like they were just attacked by Al Qaida themselves. “This is the Bad Axe Minute Men. Last night we were provoked by a group of terrorists. These terrorists have turned members of our community against us. They attacked us when we were openly attempting a cease-fire.”
“Bullshit,” Haliday mumbled under his breath, along with some more choice words. Our community? Oh, that was good. These guys are playing the psychological warfare game quite well. He couldn’t wait to hear what else they were saying. These guys are playing the victim role really well.