time either. He wore two model 1873 Single Action Army 'Peacemaker' revolvers chambered in .45 Colt on his belt in cross draw holsters and carried Model 1894 lever action rifles in .30-30 Winchester caliber when hunting.
As usual Beacon had brought large bags of rice, beans and flour with him. "That's the last we'll see of them for a long time," he said as he set the last bag of flour atop the stack by the fireplace.
Normally Beacon didn't bother bringing news from the "flatlands" to Old Bill, but tonight was different. He finished his stew and his story at the same time, "So everything was so interconnected and interdependent that when one part went down, even for a little while, it had devastating affects on other parts of the system that had nothing to do with it."
"Currency was worth something only as long as people thought it was. When people stopped believing fiat bills had value they went from being legal tender to tinder."
"After the die off everybody left will be living in the 1800's like you Bill."
That night they listened to the BBC and several other foreign English language stations on Beacon's hand cranked shortwave radio. The news readers were basically repeating the same stories Beacon had heard on American AM and FM stations until they'd been replaced by civil defense recordings telling people to "Not panic" and "Remain in your homes" on endless loops.
In the morning they unloaded all of Beacon's stuff, except the gas cans, from the truck. One gas can and some of the guns and ammo went inside the cabin. All of Beacon's first line equipment went into an underground bunker out back and the rest to caches around the mountain top. Beacon left his camo clothing, except the MultiCam boonie hat, in the cabin and donned the leather leggings and fringed leather shirt of a Mountain man.
The following morning they hooked the horse trailer to Beacon's pickup and loaded Old Bill's two horses into it.
Stopping only to hide a chainsaw in some bushes behind the gate, they drove down the mountain and across a valley to a tiny town at the end of a paved road many miles away and announced they'd trade gasoline for ammunition and arthritis medicine.
The tiny town was packed with shortsighted citizens who'd run out of gas or just planed to sit out what they hoped would be a short term emergency by camping out in the woods. The refugees dreamed of a return to normalcy and clamored for gas to run their electric generators, motor homes and cars.
The "Mountain Men" as they were called because of their buckskins, were willing to trade. The gas, even gasoline treated with stabilizing products, was good for at most two maybe three years. Stored in a cool dry place ammo would last for decades. Trading perishable gasoline for virtually nonperishable ammo would give the mountain men ammo and trading goods for decades to come.
Old Bill stood guard with a steely eye, two Colt Single Action Army revolvers in cross draw holsters on his hips and a Winchester lever action model 94 rifle in 30-30 caliber in his crossed arms, as Beacon bartered.
They turned down gold and silver, diamonds and jewelry; holding out for factory ammo and one antique Sheffield Bowie knife Old Bill took a liking to.
It would be a generation, Beacon felt, before the survivors reorganized into any semblance of civilization structured enough to make use of gold and silver.
Once trade could safely be carried out between villages, forts and fiefdoms there would be a need for something small that wouldn't spoil in transit over long distances. Gold and silver coins with their thousands year long history of value would fill the bill nicely.
Being of known weight and karat gold and silver coins would facilitate commerce much better than gold wedding rings and diamonds of uncertain karat. Beacon believed he'd have to live to be an old man to see
As usual Beacon had brought large bags of rice, beans and flour with him. "That's the last we'll see of them for a long time," he said as he set the last bag of flour atop the stack by the fireplace.
Normally Beacon didn't bother bringing news from the "flatlands" to Old Bill, but tonight was different. He finished his stew and his story at the same time, "So everything was so interconnected and interdependent that when one part went down, even for a little while, it had devastating affects on other parts of the system that had nothing to do with it."
"Currency was worth something only as long as people thought it was. When people stopped believing fiat bills had value they went from being legal tender to tinder."
"After the die off everybody left will be living in the 1800's like you Bill."
That night they listened to the BBC and several other foreign English language stations on Beacon's hand cranked shortwave radio. The news readers were basically repeating the same stories Beacon had heard on American AM and FM stations until they'd been replaced by civil defense recordings telling people to "Not panic" and "Remain in your homes" on endless loops.
In the morning they unloaded all of Beacon's stuff, except the gas cans, from the truck. One gas can and some of the guns and ammo went inside the cabin. All of Beacon's first line equipment went into an underground bunker out back and the rest to caches around the mountain top. Beacon left his camo clothing, except the MultiCam boonie hat, in the cabin and donned the leather leggings and fringed leather shirt of a Mountain man.
The following morning they hooked the horse trailer to Beacon's pickup and loaded Old Bill's two horses into it.
Stopping only to hide a chainsaw in some bushes behind the gate, they drove down the mountain and across a valley to a tiny town at the end of a paved road many miles away and announced they'd trade gasoline for ammunition and arthritis medicine.
The tiny town was packed with shortsighted citizens who'd run out of gas or just planed to sit out what they hoped would be a short term emergency by camping out in the woods. The refugees dreamed of a return to normalcy and clamored for gas to run their electric generators, motor homes and cars.
The "Mountain Men" as they were called because of their buckskins, were willing to trade. The gas, even gasoline treated with stabilizing products, was good for at most two maybe three years. Stored in a cool dry place ammo would last for decades. Trading perishable gasoline for virtually nonperishable ammo would give the mountain men ammo and trading goods for decades to come.
Old Bill stood guard with a steely eye, two Colt Single Action Army revolvers in cross draw holsters on his hips and a Winchester lever action model 94 rifle in 30-30 caliber in his crossed arms, as Beacon bartered.
They turned down gold and silver, diamonds and jewelry; holding out for factory ammo and one antique Sheffield Bowie knife Old Bill took a liking to.
It would be a generation, Beacon felt, before the survivors reorganized into any semblance of civilization structured enough to make use of gold and silver.
Once trade could safely be carried out between villages, forts and fiefdoms there would be a need for something small that wouldn't spoil in transit over long distances. Gold and silver coins with their thousands year long history of value would fill the bill nicely.
Being of known weight and karat gold and silver coins would facilitate commerce much better than gold wedding rings and diamonds of uncertain karat. Beacon believed he'd have to live to be an old man to see
Similar Books
