Also, loose in the back of the car, Lee had a waterproof plastic EMP proof electronic case. Inside were two five-watt Ham-Band radios, extra batteries, a dipole antenna, a Garman Etrex GPS, and a Samsung Tab3. Lee turned on each of the electronic items to ensure they were working. He did not wait to see if the GPS satellites were working, knowing the garage could slow down that process. The Garman Etrex would be worthless without GPS satellites. The Samsung tablet contained a program which displayed high-resolution Google Earth images, which he had painstakingly downloaded onto micro SD cards. This would provide him close up detailed maps of the entire region from Las Vegas to home in Agua Dulce. The photo images could be of utmost importance for getting home in one piece. As a backup, he had a California map book, which contained detailed maps of the entire state. His maps overlapped from California to Las Vegas. He also had a Vegas city map. Out of the atlas, Lee took the relevant maps and the Vegas city map and folded them with the immediate area on top. He put them into a plastic map case from the chest rig bag.
Lee gathered the electronics, slid them into a special Mylar antistatic bag, then placed the bag into the BOB. He discarded the heavy plastic box. The Mylar would provide protection in case another EMP occurred. Lee dug into the bottom of the BOB and found the fifty-round box of 9 mm cartridges and then pulling out ten rounds and reloading the empty mag. He put the mags into the chest rig. The last loose items were a fanny pack, a heavy jacket, and a “Boonie” hat and a cardboard box. Inside the cardboard box was two plastic half-gallon jugs of water and four square-shaped Fiji bottled waters. Lee always kept the square Fiji bottles as they compacted better into tighter spaces in the bag. The bag had a unique expandable bottom section. He opened it up to full expansion and stuffed in the four small water bottles. Opening one of the large bottles, Lee started to chug down the water as fast as he could. Lee drank the water as if he were preparing for a colonoscopy, sucking down the fluid in large gulps. The second bottle Lee would tie onto his bag. With a possible 250-mile hike home from Vegas to home, water was his most valuable commodity. He knew many tricks to scavenge water, but the more he had to start, the better he would feel.
Lee performed a mental check of the contents of his bag. The bag included about every suggested item the survival prepper community could dream up. There was a variety of food items, including military-style MREs, or “Meals Ready to Eat,” high-protein power bars, and emergency survival bars. Spread in various compartments and separate bags were hygiene items, tools, defense, first aid, water treatment, a lock pick, and all kinds of utility stuff from rope to clothespins. Lee did not pack a sleeping bag but instead he preferred the “stay dressed” with a blanket and jacket method. He did carry a hammock so he could rest suspended off the ground and away from bugs and snakes. His preference would be to take inventory and sort out the contents, but he did not want to spend the time. He tied his heavy jacket on top of the bag with the extra bottle of water.
Lee looked around the car for other things worth taking. He had leftover snacks from the ride up. He removed the phone charger and placed it into an outside pouch on his bag. He removed an extra flashlight from the glove compartment and added that to his pack also. He also found a half bottle of Gatorade, which he downed even though it was warm.
When he finished packing, Lee scanned over the car and remaining items once more. He had remorse about just walking away from his car. Bummer! he thought. He had extra keys and, for some reason, decided to leave them under the seat. “Never know,” he said aloud. He looked at the new Toshiba laptop and sadly stuck it back into the empty duffel bag that he shoved down behind the second and rear seats. The weight of a worthless laptop computer was not something he wanted to add to his load.
Lee pulled the map case out of his chest rig and studied his way out of Dodge. A part of good prepping was to plan routes out of places you may find yourself. Lee had done so for the best route out of downtown Vegas. This was another prepper pastime. Using a sharpie, Lee marked his planned route, memorized as much as he could, and returned the map back into the chest pouch. While in the pouch he retrieved a strap-on headlamp and put it around his forehead but left the light off. The headlamp, as well as all his flashlights, were dual-lamp type, with white and red light. The red lamps were usable in the dark without losing night vision, and they were not nearly as noticeable from a distance. Lee made sure he was familiar with the red lamp button versus the white lamp button.
It was time to get moving. Lee looked around, and not seeing anyone, he slowly slid out of the rear seat and started putting on the various bags. He did so while trying to remain hidden. First, the fanny pack went on and around his waist, hanging in the front, then the main pack. Once the main bag was on and adjusted, the chest rig went on, attaching to metal rings on the front straps. He had a leg holster for his pistol but decided to forgo wearing it while still in the city. Having a worried, pissed-off cop seeing a side arm would not be wise. He put the pistol into the fanny pack and put a rag over it. The two extra mags went in his front top pocket of the cargo pants. Some extra rounds went into the other pocket.
Shit, this stuff is heavy, Lee thought once he took the full load. He guessed it was at least fifty to sixty pounds. Lee took one last look inside the car to ensure he had not left anything behind, left the doors unlocked, and headed toward the stairs.
Chapter 2
2330, Day Zero, Garrett Household, Agua Dulce, California
Madison Garrett was woken from her deep sleep by the front door slamming and then her youngest son Logan shouting in a frantic voice, “Mom, Mom, wake up, something is wrong.”
Madison opened her eyes to a bright light from the upper corner of the room. The LED battery-powered emergency lights were on. Her husband Lee had installed the lamps around the house a few years back. The few times they had come on because of a power outage, they annoyed the heck out of her. The emergency lights did provide decent light in the room. She slid her legs out of bed, arousing the two family cats sleeping on the bed near her legs and feet. She heard Logan again. “Mom!”
“I’m coming, Logan. Calm down,” she replied while pushing her feet into her plush house slippers. She looked back to see the time but found the digital clock to be dead. She thought, Well the power is definitely out.
Madison came out of the room, finding Logan standing at the bedroom door. She could see him clearly in the living illuminated by another emergency light. She also noticed two plug-in emergency flashlights were shinning up the walls above their respective wall sockets. Emergency socket lights all around the house were another one of Lee’s safety items.
“What is it, Logan? You scared me and the cats half to death,” Madison asked.
Logan was huffing and puffing and sweating prolifically on his forehead and chest. His shirt was soaking wet. She knew it was not a hot night outside, “So what gives?”
While trying to catch his breath, Logan explained, “I was on the 14 freeway, and all the cars just stopped suddenly, even mine. I managed to pull over to the center divider okay, but a lot of people crashed. I guess they lost control of the cars without power brakes and steering.”
“All the cars?” Madison asked.
“Yes, Mom, all of them. After I pulled over and started looking around, I could tell the powers out as far as I could see. I have never seen it so dark. The glow from LA over the mountains is gone. It is pitch-black outside, and you can see a zillion stars.”
“Where were you when the car quit, and what did you do?” Madison quizzed Logan.
“I was just about to the Agua Dulce Exit. I did not have to walk far. I grabbed my Bug-out Bag that Dad gave me and walked—well, ran mostly home,” Logan answered.
Logan was the youngest of the Garrett children. He was eighteen and still living at the Garrett house while attending