72 Hour Kit Discussion Part 1

Recently I started a new book based on a politician shutting down the government and manipulating Congress into default on our debt. Sounds familiar huh?

Well, the story goes on with the economy crashing and bringing down the world. Civilization is set back hundreds of years and normal people have to learn to live through it. This is a conversation between the two main characters. Mid-size town teacher and police detective with no survival skills, little money, and no prepping plans.

This is a very rough draft, so be kind. I put this in a post straight out of my allergy, stopped-up head.

BTW, the book is titled Political Fools and I think it may be ready by the first of the year.

Owen stood by the porch door and watched mother nature put on a show. A severe thunderstorm was making its way through the DFW area. Winds up to 80 mph had been recorded just a few miles away from the Harper’s house. Softball sized hail had devastated downtown Fort Worth and the airport had already measured three inches of rain.

“Watcha thinking about?” Melissa asked Owen as she walked up beside him and looked out the sliding door.

“Girls in bed?” Owen replied.

“Finally. It took forever to get them settled down.”

“I bet they’re back down here before long,” Owen said with a smile on his face. “This storm’s too bad.”

“We’ll, you’re up next. So watcha thinking about?”

“Just the storm and a few other things.”

“Like what? You’ve been quiet for a few days now. It’s more than the storm.”

“You remember that political rally for Senator Williston I worked at two weeks ago?”

“Yes, want about it?”

“I was stationed inside with RJ and we got to hear what he was saying. It was weird. He kept making references to starting over and creating a clean slate. I really didn’t know what he was talking about, but it sounded like he wants to shut down the government and default on our loans. I think he thinks that they can just hit a “restart” button on the government.”

“What did RJ say about it? He’s the financial brain.”

“He agrees. We talked about it later and he said that he’s been tracking a growing number of politicians who want to cut the budget to zero and rebuild it from scratch. Fund only what they think is good and cut everything else.”

“Really? Senator Williston is part of it? We always voted for him. I thought he was doing a great job?”

“His not only a part of it, he’s the leader. RJ didn’t have a great opinion of him. Thinks he’s corrupt and only looking out for himself.”

“That’s hard to believe, but okay. What else did you two talk about?”

“We talked about what would happen if they did shut down the government and default. RJ thinks it would ripple around the world and devastate the economy.”

“What, like a depression or something?”

“Much worse. Like the end of the civilized world as we know it. Something that would send us back hundreds of years.”

“You don’t agree with this do you? Is this why you’ve been so quiet?”

“I don’t agree completely. I can’t wrap my head around everything he believes. I can agree that maybe we may go into a depression, but I can’t believe we wouldn’t pull out of it in a few years.”

“So, why are you so upset?”

“I’ve been thinking about us and what would happen to us if something went wrong. What if something as simple as this storm caused a problem?”

“What you come up with?”

“We’re screwed,” Owen laughed as a bright flash of light and a huge crashed sounded just as the lights went off. “See, even the storm agrees.”

They both laughed as each went off in different directions looking for flashlights. Owen found three in the hall closet, but only two worked well enough to use for long. A third was very weak and they knew it wouldn’t last for more than an hour or two. He looked around in the kitchen and found another one that worked. Giving the three working flashlights to Melissa, he asked her to take two to the kids and he would scrounge in the fading light of the last flashlight until he either found another one or some replacement batteries.

Melissa came back down from looking in on the kids. “They slept through that. I wished I could sleep like that.”

“Then who would hear the kids when they are sick or have a bad dream? You don’t expect me to listen to you snore and still hear the kids?”

She punched him on the arm and sat down at the table. “So we’re screwed huh?”

“Yep. We could barely find flashlights. How would we survive if the power is out for more than a few hours?”

“It’s never been out for more than a few hours in the past. Why would tonight be any different?”

“I did some research last night. I found a web site that tracks power outages. Power outages are taking longer and longer to repair. Not enough workers, trucks, equipment, or too many people. It takes forty percent longer today to get power again versus two years ago.”

“Haven’t noticed.”

“Me either. We always just read our Kindles and go to bed.”

“Yea. What bothers me is what would happen to us and the kids if this power outage went for days instead of hours.”

Melissa didn’t say anything, she just look off in space for a few minutes. “Couldn’t we just go to a hotel or something? Maybe to your mom’s or my parent’s house.”

“That’s always what we thought in the past. But what if something really bad happen?”

“Like what?”

“Like a major hurricane hitting Houston and then making its way up here. Wiping out all electricity and utilities from here to Houston to Austin. Flooding in San Antonio wipes them out. Storm goes Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri and wipes them out as well. How long do you think it would take to get power back then? You remember when we went to Houston after that hurricane and helped out, don’t you? You really want to put our kids in one of those shelters?”

When Owen and Melissa were first married, they decided to volunteer with the Red Cross. Everything went fine for first few years. They went out to several disasters and helped the people get back on their feet. Everything was just like the brochure said it would be. Three years after joining up, a category five hurricane flooded large parts of the Houston area. This time instead of working with small towns or in rural areas, Owen and Melissa were assigned to a large shelter in the worse area of Houston. They stayed two nights before walking out after witnessing three rapes, four gang murders, and more thief than they could write down. They saw what happens in poorer areas of American cities when disaster happens. Their innocence went out the window during that storm and they both agreed they would never live or work in a large city again.

“I remember. I’d rather live in a hole than one of those places.”

“Exactly, but what have we done to prevent it?” Owen asked.

“Nothing.”

“Right. Nothing.”

“What should we do?” she asked in a whisper.

“I’m going to make a basic seventy-two hour kit. Put together some plans for various levels of events.”

“Various levels of events?” Melissa said in a mocking tone. “You’re not at work, what do you mean?”

Owen looked at her, “Okay. Okay. What I meant is that I want to create plans so we can survive if the power and water went out for three days or if the house was damaged, or if we needed to run out the door and head to safety.”

“Why would they be different?”

“Most of it would be the same. Minor things would be different.”

“Like what?”

“The ability to go out and get food and water. If the house was just slightly damaged we might still have water, if not electricity. If we had to go out for three days, we would need credit cards and clothes. Things like that?”

“So, how much of this do you have down?”

“Not much. It’s just been going around and around in my head over the week. I’m struggling with how to break it down into small enough pieces that it’s doable. It’s not like we have thousands of dollars lying around.”

“So once this power outage is over, how can I help?”

As if on cue, the lights came back on. They looked at each other and silently agreed that they would never take their children to a shelter. No matter how bad it got. No shelters.