Finding just who is my family by D.A.Sanford - HTML preview

Finding just who is my family

By D.A.Sanford

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. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Readers be advised

Warning: Contains adult content due to graphic descriptions of any or all of the following:

Battles, Language, Sexual

Both the cover and images in this book are not photographs or hand drawn art. They were created using AI text to graphics programs by the author.

Finding just who is my family © 2025 D. A. Sanford

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the author or publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

for permission from the author contact danielsanford@sbcglobal.net Governments are crazy

It had become apparent that this society has reached the tipping point. The animosity between the two opposing factions has reached the point of no return. It was going to be an all out global war. I tried to get my family to follow me into an area that I had bought recently.

Seeing the buildup of tension. The news makers, I call them such because they no longer report the news, they invent it and then whip people into a frenzy. The ratings are all that counts. They make the news.

Knowing what was inevitable, there is an innate instinct for self preservation in most. No matter how friendly your town seems, given the right, or should I say, the dire circumstances, most civilized people will become feral.

They want what you have and are willing to kill you for it. This is not being pessimistic, it is just a cold hard fact that hunger, for most, makes all of societies morals fall by the wayside. Never to reemerge.

The forest area I wanted actually was not owned by anyone private. It was under the control of the county. The land management official wanted the money to fortify the family compound so he accepted my generous offer for the one hundred acres.

There is an old logging road that allowed me to access the middle area. I have flown over the area many times and it still looks like it has not been touched. It needs to look as if nothing is there.

I took a page from a country overseas, during the air raids of the last world war, where they had whole complexes under false canopies that, from the air, looked like countryside. At the beginning of the logging road, there is a movable gate that looks like it is part of the forest. All this so only I knew what was happening on the hundred acres.

My refuge has been made from a large number of modular rooms which were assembled in the small area that I cleared. Around the perimeter of the house lot is an eight foot tall chain link fence with razor wire topping it. I want this place to be protected. Buried under the house, is a two floor shelter where I have all the staples for a prolonged period of time until the war is settled. It goes without saying that I can defend this place.

My family has been invited but I have not disclosed the location. Much to my dismay, all of them called me obsessed and declined. They called me foolish when I described that I had enough stock for a few years stay for the thirty people I invited. To the person I was told “You’re crazy to think that things will go that far. A waste of money.”

A waste of money? I could see that it was going to happen soon. The rhetoric, the insane posturing at the brink told me that within a week, it was going down. I was going, if alone I don’t care, I’m going.

I sit here and look at what I need to take with me. There is very little I need that I don’t have in those stores that are there. I know that I will not be back or a few years so I need a final look through. This is going to be a new life so why drag baggage. Those childhood trophies are out.

As I am deciding, I hear a knock at my door. It is my neighbor. She and I have had a good neighborly relation. Plenty of talks over the fence so to speak. She is my age, a little over forty. Average looks but pleasant to look at and more important pleasant to talk with. She an I have had lively discussions over the present situation.

“Don, I hate to bother you but I am seriously worried. I have to admit that you are right. This is going to be no place to be in a short time. No one is backing down. I wanted to tell you that I am going to hit the road and hope to get away from the fighting.”

She looks like she knows it is a futile gesture. I now feel that I need to do this.

“You have been good to me. I can see that you are scared. Marie, I won’t say where but how would you like to take a helicopter ride tonight? You can take one bag. Where I am flying to, it will be relatively safe but it is fortified and well stocked. Food, clothes and weapons. If you are willing, we take my car and I will fly you there. Most important, do not tell anyone and no obligations other than courtesy.”

Marie is besides herself and I have her sit. “What are you saying? Are you telling me that you have a safe haven? I know you, when you want to kid me you are always smiling but I see a very serious look on you. I will tell you that I will go with you and don’t care what rules you impose as long as I can be safe.”

“It is now five pm, be here at six. I will leave at six whether you are here or not. I’ll fill you in once we are driving to the private airport.”

She looks both panicked and relieved. She dashes out and within ten minutes she is in my house with a bag. Marie told me that she was going to leave after she talked with me, so she was packed. She does ask if we want to take her food.

“Leave it for the scavengers.” Is all I say.

I have my one bag already. No sense to wait. We go through to the connected garage and load my car. Turning off the garage light, I pull out and the door closes automatically. We are off. I pity my relatives. The news is saying that talks have broken down. I turn the radio off and fill her in.

“Okay, here is what is happening. I own a helicopter designed to carry up to 10 passengers. I have had it prepped a few days ago. Once a week, as a cover, I would fly for a few hours at this time, land and then refuel. Without disclosing the location, I offered to take in my close relatives. They all said that I was crazy. None of them know of the helicopter. I have made a retreat piece by piece. It is an hour’s flight into nowhere.”

“I asked thirty relatives to join me, thirty declined but only after I had stocked it with enough to live well for a few years. It is not hard to figure that the two of us will not be on starvation rations.”

I stop talking because we are at the airport. It is still light out but it will not be more than an hour before sunset. There is no one around as I pull up to my helicopter. We quickly load aboard. With a few last instructions, I have Marie sit in the copilot’s seat. I sit and we are off.

There was the usual chatter on the radio about airspace now being restricted but I fly at tree top level under the radar. Don’t think the FAA will be listening to complaints of low level aircraft..

She gets serious. “Why do you live in that house when it is very obvious that you are not strapped for cash?”

“It is very simple. I liked the area and the people. The people that flaunt their wealth as being better than someone else are always afraid that someone will be better off. They are never disappointed. There is always someone with more to display. I had good people that treated me for me. Look at it this way, my relatives thought I was crazy for building what I built. A waste of money they said but each had beach front houses that are so close together that you could hang the toilet paper roll between each house. Those are just empty lots. Lost in that fire. We are about there. Look down. Do you see any lights? That is why I spent my wealth on the property and the build. You need to strap in. We are about there.”

It is almost dark so I hit the lights and land. Immediately I kill all lights and go into the passenger area. There in the locked cabinet was flack jackets and side arms. I insist that we both wear them.

“Just precaution. It should be clear but this is just in case. You will need to cover me as I tow this under that camouflaged roof.”

No one was there. Both the landing area and house were clear. It was quiet until we had the shit scared out of us. My cell rang. It was my relatives saying that the fighting had started. They wanted me to pick them up. I hung up within seconds without saying anything as they were asking if I could hear them. I threw it down and crushed it with my foot. No way to track its location.

I truly did not like doing that but now that fighting has started, I needed to be cold. There is no way that I would jeopardize being shot down or being followed. I flew here with the helicopter lights off and also the location transponder turned off.

After going over the layout of the house, I sat down with Marie and told her about the fighting starting

“It has started. From this point on, the both of us will be carrying side arms. The people will flee but they will become scavengers. They will kill to take what you have. It should be safe here for now but people may start to come into these woods. Only the county land officer knows that I bought this land. There are only two types of humans alive now. Those who are hunters and those who are hunted.”

This shocks her but I can see that she understands this fact.

Now for the full tour. I tell her that there was enough rooms for those I invited, two per room. Four full bathrooms. Large kitchen and eating area. Communications room, shortwave with a ham setup. The two lower levels can be sealed off and used as a shelter in case of forest fires or war related explosions.

She is really beside herself. I can tell that she is in overload. I show her to the bedroom side.

“You pick a room and I will then pick one away from yours. For your comfort.”

We go to bed. Tomorrow will be a big day. There are things that need to be done to disguise the remaining presence of this place being here. That I have covered.

In the morning, I wake to the smell of cooking. Marie has found the stores and it smells like pancakes and coffee. She says that she has found the flour and dry yeast. She tells me that she will be making bread.

“What we need to do today, is make sure that we get familiar with the outside of the fence. If we follow the same path all the time, it can be spotted. The biggest thing that is left over from my prep list, is that large white sign of a propane tank. I thought I would paint it leaf green.”

Marie interrupts me, “Leaf green in the winter? A blind man would spot that. What if we made a long tray that would act like a roof for it. Then plant it with vegetables but not in an ordered manner. From above it would look like just vegetation. Camouflage that we can eat. This being spring, we should do it right now. Do you happen to have seed packets?”

“The seeds are in our stores. I did stock potatoes in the cold cellar. We can cut the eyes and plant those ground level. I have five gallon buckets that we could use for those.”

I have stockpiled lumber in the woods so it did not take all that long to build it. What took the longest was the dirt we needed to fill it. I have a bobcat tractor so I was able to get soil from the woods but the bucket would not go high enough . Bucket by bucket, it took a few days.

After planting, I covered the soil with some hay. Looking at it, I have to say that it blends in. When the seeds broke through the hay, it looks like just a bunch of random plants. We carefully thinned it out. Over the summer, we had fresh vegetables but I get ahead of myself.