MacArthur's Freehold

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 -- HTMRZDYFSOCXEHFWWI

Dinner with grandfather Campbell was as he remembered, not especially fancy but no expense spared for quality. The roast beef was beyond anything he had ever experienced, the other dishes equally so. He wondered where it came from.

"There are several small farms around, quite a few nationwide, where people grow their own livestock and have it processed with small operators." Donald told him. "They take them the cows, hogs, whatever and have it cut up and packaged to their specifications. So it has natural food, no chemicals. We get most of our fruits and vegetables the same way, from small farmers who only sell direct to the consumer."

Carter remembered that much of the food and Charlie Niner was locally produced or came from other freeholds. He already knew that they traded among themselves, whether food, weapons and equipment, or facilities for training.

"If what I've seen so far is any indication," Carter said, "you're a lot better off that about ninety percent of the country if things fall apart suddenly."

"There's a pretty good chance our network could survive, somewhere close to indefinitely, as long as no one has the ability to attack us on a scale that only the government can, and they'll be too busy with that ninety percent. Cities full of people who weren't civilized to begin with suddenly deprived of the basic needs - what will they do?"

"It's entirely possible" said Gordon "that we may go into a period of chaos in like that seen in so many smaller countries, constant warfare between various groups, a government that essentially does nothing except try to put out fires, or what it perceives as fires. The question is whether one of the big enemy states - China or Russia - will try to take over, or just wait and see."

"An attempted takeover would have the same problems the current government has, I would think" said Donald. "Except they would be far from home with people shooting at them from every window or tree. I wonder if those governments even have a plan, or if they believe the status quo won't be disturbed, and they can continue exploiting us."

"Once it breaks down, though." Jessica said "we won't be such a lucrative buyer for China. I have to wonder what will happen."

"That" said Gordon "is the question we have to deal with in deciding when to move. We often think of that time coming when the confiscation of weapons, the detention camps being populated - what if it is just a collapse on such a scale that the machine grinds to a halt. Manufacturing and transportation greatly curtailed or stopped almost completely, the populations of the inner cities doing whatever they will do..."

He left it hanging there.

"So do we act earlier?" asked Donald. "We know now that the election process is unlikely to recover. It's gone too far. They don't have to start rounding up dissenters and guns right away - just grind everything down gradually. That's what they're good at."

"I suppose we should shut up for a while and have dessert" said Gordon. "She's going to be disappointed if we don't - I'm fairly certain there's a cherry pie or two involved."

As if on cue, probably because she was listening in the kitchen, Mary entered with a large, freshly baked cherry pie balanced on each hand. Expertly setting them on down on the table, she returned to the kitchen and came back with a large bowl of ice cream.

Mary and her husband were longtime employees of the elder Campbell, with Mary overseeing the house and her husband, Dalton, taking care of the outside. While Mary cooked, her actual job was managing the upkeep of the house with various hired personnel, while Dalton oversaw the grounds maintenance and other outdoor duties. Their main job was seeing to it that they came and did the work and left, and didn't do any snooping. Although there was never anything left to be seen or overheard.