Survivors – A Novel of the Coming Collapse

Approaching Bovill, they saw that the terrain was rolling and mostly wooded. Low on fuel, their planes were now considerably lighter. There was no airport at Bovill, but they were able to land on Highway 8 just west of town. The hamlet was so small that they just taxied up to the junction of Highway 3. Landing so close to town got everyone’s attention. A swarm of children and teenagers ran up to the planes, just after they shut down their engines. In answer to the Doyles’ queries a local woman said that she knew Todd and Mary Gray, said that they were safe and well, and explained how to find their ranch house. A few minutes later she brought the Doyles a road map and a Clearwater National Forest map. On the latter she pinpointed the ranch.

The flight to the ranch took only three minutes. Blanca spotted the Quonset-style barn that was opposite the Grays’ property. As they circled, they could see a woman armed with a rifle in a large fenced garden behind the house.

Ian thumbed the mic switch for his Icom transceiver and said delightedly, “There it is, Blanca! That’s definitely Todd’s house. It’s just the way the Fongman described it.”

Eyeing the trees below, Ian judged that the breeze was light. They circled and sequentially touched down on the gravel county road, with Blanca taking one extra orbit. They taxied until Ian’s Laron was opposite the Grays’ lane and mailbox. As they shut down their engines, Blanca radioed, “I sure hope we’ll be welcome here.”

Ian touched his mic switch and responded, “I trust that we’ll be. We just have to live by faith.”

Glossary

?: Ham radio shorthand for “I’mgoing to repeat what I just said.”

10/22: A semiautomatic .22 rimfirerifle made by Ruger.

1911: See M1911.

73: Ham radio shorthand for “Bestregards.” Always used singularly. (Not “73s.”)

88: Ham radio shorthand for “Hugsand kisses.”

9/11: The terrorist attacks ofSeptember 11, 2001, which took three thousand American lives.

AAA: American AutomobileAssociation.

ABT: Ham radio shorthand for“about.”

ACP: Automatic Colt pistol.

ACU: Army combat uniform. The U.S.Army’s “digital” pattern camouflage uniform that replaced the BDU.

AK: Avtomat Kalashnikov. Thegas-operated weapons family invented by Mikhail Timofeyevitch Kalashnikov, a RedArmy sergeant. AKs are known for their robustness and were made in huge numbers,so that they are ubiquitous in much of Asia and the Third World. The best of theKalashnikov variants are the Valmets, which were made in Finland; the Galils,which were made in Israel; and the R4s, which are made in South Africa.

AK-47: The early-generation AKcarbine with a milled receiver that shoots the intermediate 7.62 x 39mmcartridge. See also: AKM.

AK-74: The later-generation AKcarbine that shoots the 5.45 x 39mm cartridge.

AKM: “Avtomat KalashnikovaModernizirovanniy,” the later-generation 7.62 x 39 AK with a stampedreceiver.

AM: Amplitude modulation.

AO: Area of operations.

AP: Armor-piercing.

APC: Armored personnelcarrier.

AR: Automatic rifle. This is thegeneric term for semiauto variants of the Armalite family of rifles designed byEugene Stoner (AR-10, AR-15, AR-180, etc.).

AR-7: The .22 LR semiautomaticsurvival rifle designed by Eugene Stoner. It weighs just two pounds.

AR-10: The 7.62mm NATO predecessorof the M16 rifle, designed by Eugene Stoner. Early AR-10s (mainly Portuguese-,Sudanese-, and Cuban-contract, from the late 1950s and early 1960s) are not tobe confused with the present-day semiauto only AR-10 rifles that are moreclosely interchangeable with parts from the smaller caliber AR-15.

AR-15: The semiauto civilianvariants of the U.S. Army M16 rifle.

ASAP: As soon as possible.

ATF: See BATFE.

AUG: See Steyr AUG.

B amp;E: Breaking andentering.

Ballistic wampum: Ammunitionstored for barter purposes. (Term coined by Colonel Jeff Cooper.)

BATFE: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms, and Explosives, a U.S. federal government taxing agency.

BBC: British BroadcastingCorporation.

BDU: Battle dress uniform. Alsocalled “camouflage utilities” by the U.S. Marine Corps.

BK: Ham radio shorthand for“Break,” this means “Back to you,” with no need to use call signs.

Black rifle/black gun: Genericterms for a modern battle rifle, typically equipped with a black plastic stockand fore-end, giving these guns an “all-black” appearance. Functionally,however, they are little different from earlier semiauto designs.

BLM: Bureau of Land Management, aU.S. federal government agency that administers public lands.

BMG: Browning machine gun. Usuallyrefers to .50 BMG, the U.S. military’s standard heavy machine-gun cartridgesince the early twentieth century. This cartridge is now often used forlong-range precision counter-sniper rifles.

BOQ: Bachelor officersquarters.

BP: Blood pressure.

BX: Base exchange.

C-4: Composition 4, a plasticexplosive.

CAR-15: See M4.

CAS: Close air support.