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Bill gathers his thoughts and responds to the situation. “Mr. Martin?”

Mr. Martin lowers his rifle and signals all clear to his wife. “I see you decided to bug-out. When you didn’t show up last week, I imagined the worse had happened to you, Bill.”

“I understand. For a while I thought things were going to work out OK. But no.”

Mr. Martin’s wife walks half the distance toward them and stops. “I must return to the house to help our son. Glad to see you again, Bill.”

Mr. Martin tells her “I’ll be right behind you, Emma. Just need a moment.”

He turns toward Bill. “Getting worse every day. I heard they called out the army and the national guard in most states. Today I hear those forces are splintering as well.”

Bills looks shocked.

Mr. Martin speaks rapidly before Bill can respond “My feelings exactly. Things have been bad on the farm. Broken equipment I can’t get fixed. Then failed crops two years in a row. We’ve already used up half the food we had canned. Yesterday we had to shoo off two different couples who wanted to park their campers here. Then, just this morning, Emma shot a man trying to break into our basement.”

As he turns to return to his house he points over to the West “We lost the blood trail over there. All I’m saying is, watch out.”

Bill leans down to reach into his pack. He extends his hands to offer Mr. Martin six protein bars and a bottle of unsalted peanuts. “That’s what I have to spare.”

Mr. Martin walks back to take the food offering and he thanks Bill. Then he quickly walks away to rejoin his family.

Bill didn’t choose this location randomly. He had helped Mr. Martin bale hay for three summers while he was in high school. He returned to visit Mr. Martin last year to explain his bug-out plan and to get Mr. Martin’s permission. He also had a back-up location in a different direction set-up.

Bill is trying to sort things out. “My plan was to camp here for up to a week and hope the situation would improve so I could return to normal life.”

He breathes out hard. He’s adjusting his thinking for a change in plans. “I have just one stash and it’s about five miles northeast from here. Then I’ll try to work my way further northeast toward unused government lands in the foothills that I hope few people know about. The other way is state parks. I can imagine the glut of camper vans and such there. Full of people who are running low on supplies.”

Ben turns on his weather radio. “Nothing but static. Things keep getting worse. I hope I can adjust.”

The sun is low in the sky. Ben selects just the right place for his tent. He sweeps leaves and broken roots from the area and throws down his tarp. The tent is easy to put up. He stands to admire his work. He is very hungry. “I don’t want to start a fire here. I’ll have a protein bar and some water.”

Then he thinks “Hell, and I planned to go fishing tomorrow morning! No time.”

When he imagines all the great stuff in his stash, he feels a bit more secure. The air is cooling this evening, and the quiet is reassuring. He slides into his sleeping bag and is soon asleep.

(To be continued soon with Part Three)

Bill is a city prepper. He has been researching and preparing for several years for both urban “dig-in” and rural “bug out” scenarios. In this story Bill is now caught in a longer-term societal breakdown. After about a month of trying to survive in his city apartment he decides that his situation is untenable. He’s been planning carefully for this day. “It’s time to get out of here.”

The next morning Bill waits until an hour after dawn to walk out on the streets. Despite the warm weather he wears as many layers of clothing as he can without drawing attention. He has his trail hat and his large backpack. He avoids quiet lanes and walks along the busier streets that lead away from the center of town and toward route 19, the nearest road to the less populated countryside.

Bill knows that even a well thought out plan involves some element of luck.  Three hours into his escape to safety Bill feels fortunate to be walking along a gravel road where no house can be seen. Before he drops under the barbed wire fence, he considers a hard fact. “This may be countryside but most of it belongs to other people. Especially the parts with barbed wire fences.”

He drops under the fence and makes a beeline through a small field to the woods. He walks quickly in bright sunlight. He sees an opening coming where he will enter the woods. Then he hears the faint sounds of running approaching from his left side. It’s two does running together. They are also seeking safety in the woods.

Bill walks through the woods where there is no trail. He walks about twenty minutes until he sees a spot he likes. He’s thinking “Lots of cover and no houses or roads can be seen.” He clears a small spot behind some good cover that blocks the view from all directions. “I’m not unpacking, just taking inventory and setting aside the things I need right now. There will be time for the bivy tent before sunset.”

“Okay, multi-tool folding knife, emergency first aid kit and ferro rod plus waterproof matches. And there’s my lightweight sleeping bag! I was worried I didn’t put it back after I cleaned it.” After he determines that he has his portable water filter, collapsible water bottles and high protein bars he relaxes and reaches for his canteen.

“Stop right there! VERY slowly stand and face me! Now!” A quick shiver of fear and failure darts through Bill’s body.

He slowly rises and turns to see a tall man pointing a rifle at his face. He also catches a glimpse of one other person holding a rifle on him from behind a tree about twenty feet out.

(To be continued soon with Part Two)