Blade Tech Prologue

The world of Felix is magical and powerful with its seven continents, and it’s sixteen countries. Each country has a college, a college they call a fighters paradise.Each college tries to recruit the best fighters to help them gain rank in the yearly School Joint Bought. Powerful fighter family’s sponsor fighter schools, using their wealth and power to help others. Felix is filled with rich and powerful stories, this is one of those.

Lance Carbeg is the black sheep of the Carbeg family, one of the greatest fighting family’s in Felix. After losing to his twin sister in a one-on-one duel to see who would be the next heir, he was cast out. The family did not see any signs of ether natural magic or natural fighting ability. Living with no resource but what he could scavenge was a huge change for the young man. Swearing revenge, Lance leaves Shard. He is not seen for a long time.

Lex Carbeg has pretty much forgotten her black sheep of a brother after four years. Since she entered Blade Tech two years ago, she has become one of the greatest fighters in the whole school. With her natural magical potential and fighting ability, she is a contender for one of Sword Tech’s School Joint Bought team. But when a mysterious man appears on the school scene, things turn from boring to interesting.

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(Year of Garnick, 2010)

(Honor House of Carbeg, Shard)

“I am sorry, Sir Carbeg. Your son has no signs of ether magical or fighting ability,” said Doctor Raven, the Carbeg’s personal doctor and guide.

Lance Carbeg looked at his ten-year-old feet as the words rained on his soul. His medium blond hair, the hair that every Carbeg has, was covering his crystal-blue eyes. His lanky build was shaking under his father’s glare.

“Lance is just lazy, you need to push him,”growled Sir Carbeg. He slapped the top of Lance’s head. Lance flinched from the presence of his father, but the slap shook him.

“Sir, we have already done the greatest of tests to check and see if he had any ability. There has been just not anything there. It was like his body did not have the ability to create any magic or psyche-weapons. He was not lazy, he actually put more work into the tests than many fighters would do in his place,”replied Doctor Raven. He then gave the young Carbeg a reassuring smile.

“Give him another round of tests and we will talk later,”said Sir Carbeg as he turned and left the medium sized doctors office.

For the next hour, Doctor Raven went through many tests that measured magical and psyche, but just like all the times in the past, they showed that Lance has no ability.

(Five Years Forward)

“Get up! Fight you slime”yelled Lex Carberg as Lance blocked her psych-kantana with his real metal short-sword. Lex looks like her twin, but she has green eyes instead of Lance’s unique shade of blue.She only used one-tenth of her ability and she has kicked his ass. The crowd of judges and family members could see this and noted it down. They have already chosen who the next heir will be, and it is not Lance.

“I’m fighting,”whispered Lance as he staggered to his feet. He has been in this cat-and-mouse fight for five minutes, and he already lost breath some of his breathing ability.. The short-sword was heavy in his tow-handed grip, and he was going to lose his hold .

“Fine then! If your not going to fight like a Carbeg, then you’ll lose like a dog!”yelled Lex as she kicked Lance’s blade to the side and pointed her blade at the side of his neck, ending the bought.

“The winner is Lexus Carberg. All see that our new heir is properly congratulated,”said Uncle Arnold Carbeg, the referee for the bought. The thirty men and women that are in the event hall to match the bought all got up from their seats and clapped. Lex’s psych-weapon disappeared and Lance tried to get up, only to be pushed on his back by his sister.

Lance had an emotionless expression on his face. He had been broken for a long time and losing to his sister did not help. Lex just glared at him and left the hall. Lance’s relatives walked past his battered body as they headed to the dinning hall. No one had eyes for the young failed Carberg.

(One Week latter)

“As tradition has dictated, all banished members of the family will get a weeks worth of supplies before being tossed,”said Sir Carbeg. He then tossed a gray bag of supplies to his son, who was standing right outside the gates of the compound. Lance wordlessly caught the tossed bag and looked at his father with an emotionless expression.

The once delighted and playful boy has been gone for a long time. Sir Carbeg shut the door as his son walked down the path that joined the street below.

As soon as Lance touched the ground, he picked a random direction and went that way. Before that day, he really never left his home. Unlike his sister, Lance never had activities outside the compound. When he was not being tested, he was in the compounds massive library.

The concrete road was rough on Lance’s feet. This part of Belice, Shard’s capital region, was heavily un-urban thanks to the lack of anyone but the rich and powerful living in the area.

After walking twenty minutes, the Evain peaks could be seen by Lance. At the top of one of the smaller peaks, the eight story building of Sword Tech could be seen. It’s marble walls and bronze towers were a huge contrast to the green peaks. Lance looked at the school with a almost longing look. He was hoping to go there so that he could learn and even try some different techniques to try to open his abilities that he might have hidden inside him.

“It was a stupid idea anyway!”yelled Lance, releasing some of his built up emotions. He then kicked a rock down the road and kept moving. He kept moving for miles, taking drinks from various water sources as he went.

He eventually comes across a medium sized town that has access to a river. That River has direct access to the Southern Vine Ocean. Lance passed through the town, avoiding the glances of the towns people. He hated how others saw how weak he was. Lance eventually found the town’s port. He got in line with ten others who were waiting for the next landship to arrive. Just as Lance got to the ticket-house, a steam-landship arrived at the port.

“Are you old enough to travel?”asked the old man who ran the ticket-house.

Lance relied by nodding his head and passed the required amount of rein to the ticket-master. The amount of rein he gave was all that his father offered in the bag. For the first time in his short life, Lance was broke. He got on the long hovering two-story boat with the rest of the passengers.He then found a corner and stayed there for the rest of his long trip. He did not care where he was going, he just knew he had to leave Shanna, Shard’s largest country.

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(Chapter Terms)

Magic-A energy source that most humans of Felix have control of. This energy can be used for everyday use like lifting heavy objects, or it can be used for combative purposes.

Psych Energy-Psych energy is the magic that naturally comes from the brain. Magic users use this energy to forge everything from common tools, to brutal weapons.

Felix-Felix is an alternative Earth. It is like Earth, but humankind is drastically different than Earth humans. Magic is just one of the differences. There are other powerful beings that inhabit Felix as well.

Shard-Shard is one of the largest of the seven continents. It is known for having powerful magic users and a great culture. It has four countries in its borders.

Shanna-The largest country that is in Shard. It is the home of Blade Tech, and is known for trading opportunities and powerful magic users.

Rein-Rein is the universal currency of Felix. It has the same value as a dollar does on Earth.

Landship-A landship is a hovering boat that travels on water. It hovers because the driver uses his magic to cause a chemical reaction with water to force it to float.

Black Flame Chapter 8

(Maybell, Oregon.)

“How is it going in town,”Scott asks Jared. Scott spent most of the morning calling his contacts around North America, and he only learned what he suspected: most of the U.S has been hit by at least one type of attack. The list of events ranges from planes crashing to oil rigs off the coast being hit by possible bombings. The only thing Scott knows for sure is that something serious has happened.

“Do you think this is one of the events we talk about?”asks Jared. The only way they can talk on the HAMs is their solar systems and diesel generators that they set up together a couple years ago. Jared and Scott are what people call preppers. This means they are prepared for possible emergencies that might happen. They have worked together for five years and are pretty well off in terms of skills and supplies.

“Yea, I would say that,”replied Scott with a dry voice. They war-gamed many scenarios which included economic collapse and riots. Even though they should’ve thought of such of an event, they did not think of a terrorist attack this large.

“Do you think I should run by the storage unit in town?”asks Jared with a worried voice. He doesn’t want some idiots to get their stash before he can get to it.

“Good idea! Bring everything back here so we can set up. When do you think you guys will move?”asks Scott. He then opens a drawer by his HAM desk and removes a red folder. This folder is a detailed group of plans that cover almost any scenario that the two men could think of.

“I’m guessing we will plan 67?”asks Jared, who is looking at an identical copy of Scott’s folder. Plan 67 calls for Jared and his family to come to Scott’s cabin for the duration of the emergency. It is pretty straightforward and has a couple of emergency routes to help them reach their destination.

“Yep, that’s exactly what I think we should put into effect. It handles most problems that might come up. And I’m sure we don’t want to make this too complicated,”replies Scott with a strong tone. After talking specifics, they cut their call. Socks lays his head on his master’s lap, giving him a begging look. Scott pats his buddy’s head and goes into the kitchen to fix them both a snack.

Jared puts away his folder and gets up from his chair. Since both John and Sarah can’t go to school thanks to the blackout, they are playing board games in the living room. Jared has not told his kids about his and Scott’s prepping. He just didn’t want to worry them about what might happen. He is regretting it a lot right now. If he told them about emergencies, then it might be a little easier for them in the long run.

“Kids, I’m heading to the storage unit. Uncle Scott says we can come over during the duration of the blackout so get your stuff ready. John, get the food and water from the cabinet and box it up. Sarah, get the camping gear and a lot of clothing ready to go,”says Jared with his no-nonsense tone. The kids know that tone and what it means: something serious is going on.

“Yes, Dad,” they both say and leave their game to get their jobs done. The last time Jared used that voice was when they had to go visit their mom for the last time, so they know for a fact it is not a minor issue. Jared walks outside their small single story white house. He walks to his sky blue jeep and starts up it’s purring engine.

He then drives off the short driveway and heads down the long street. Most of the passing houses are owned by ether young couples or elderly people. Over all, it is a pretty calm and “normal” street. Jared tried to get some of the people to prep awhile ago, but they refused to even try. Jared can’t think why they would not even put a small amount of supplies back so that if an emergency hit, it would not be too bad.

Jared enters Main Street, the main financial area of the town.After many of the larger businesses left the area, it left a void in the town’s local economy. Jared passes many closed businesses, but a couple of stubborn owners refuse to close down. Of course, since there is a power outage, no one in their right mind would be open right now. Jared could remember a time when his town was a booming logging community, but once that dried up, the town slowly died.

Jared drives about twenty minutes until he reaches the red gates of the storage unit building. He gets out and has to manually open the gate. He then proceeds to drive through the entrance. He drives until he reaches unit number twenty, the unit both he and Scott rent.

Jared parks the jeep next to the unit and jumps out. He takes out his key ring and unlocks the unit’s catch. The door retracts upwards until the contents of the unit is revealed. The back area has a massive shelve full of canned goods, MREs, and freeze dried foods. The left side is completely full of camping and survival gear. The right side has a modest gun safe and a shelve full of ammo boxes.Most of this was bought by Scott since Jared doesn’t have a lot of cash most of the time.What Jared brings to their small group is his skill as a trained EMT and his construction skills.

He gently puts most of the food, camping gear, and survival supplies into the back of the jeep. He will try to come back here for a second load. Jared then walks to the gun safe, unlocks it, and then opens the heavy steel doors. Everything from hunting rifles to a couple of AK-47s semi-autos line the safe. Jared removes a couple of handguns with magazines and places them inside a large duffle bag that is next to the safe. He then does the same with three of the AKs. He then starts debating about taking some of the other guns, but he knows that Scott has plenty so this small amount would be serviceable.

Jared swings the now closed duffle over his shoulder. He then grabs two of the five large ammo cans and heads for the jeep. He then gently places these on the passenger seat so they would not be damaged. Next he closes the storage unit’s door and locks it again. Jared then gets back in the jeep and leaves the storage area. He does shut the gate before heading to Scott’s place to drop off his load. He will pick up his kids after he does this.

There is very light traffic on the roads. There is normally few people driving now days, but it seems the blackout is keeping most people at home right now. It takes Jared fifth-teen minutes to reach Scott’s long dirt driveway. It takes another ten of bumpy driving to reach the cabin. Scott is waiting outside on the front staircase. He gives Jared a friendly wave as he parks.

“How did it go? Any problems?”asks Scott as he grabs some of the supplies in the back of the jeep.

“Na, it went better than what we planned. I got most of the supplies and got a couple of guns. I think we will be okay for awhile,”replies Jared. After that, they wordlessly place all of the jeep’s load into the shed on the left side of the cabin.

Jared gets back into his jeep and Scott takes out one of the handguns, which he hands to Jarred, grip first. Jared takes the gun and looks at it. It’s that moment that his mind catches up and he realizes that this is for real. The events he never wants to deal with are about to make a presence in his life.

Jared shakes his mind back into gear and puts the handgun in his inner jacket pocket. With that, he starts on his drive back to his home, a home that he might not get to live in for a long time.

 

 

Black Flame Chapter Seven

(Sherman’s Hills, Oregon)

“So, tell me what happened again?”asks the well-built Sergeant Eric Gardener to the three men in front of him. His office is lit by lanterns since Sherman’s Hills is having another power outage. The sergeant would not be this calm if he knew what is really going on.

“We where camping in Shadow Falls when a plane crashed near our site. We tried to help the passengers, but the plane exploded and we had to leave as fast as possible. We tried to find help in the ranger station, but like everyone else there, they were gone,” replies Jacob.

“We had everyone leave after the power outage. It is standard protocol for the rangers to get everyone out of the two campgrounds during one since they require police support even during normal business hours. They must have missed you during their pullout of the area,”relies Sergeant Gardener.

The sound of two cars passing by the small police station breaks through the quiet night. Sherman’s Hills is a small rural town and rarely has something exciting going on. The last major event that has happened was an Oregon governor ate at Pete’s Grill, a local favorite,one time.

“What about the crashed plane? The fire that came from the explosion could be spreading!”points out James.

“Once I heard about the plane, I had an officer sent to the fire department. They will handle that problem,”replies Sergeant Gardner. The three men let out a relieved sigh.

“I’m glad to hear that; I was getting worried for a while there,”replies Gabe.

“The only place we can house you is at a local hotel. Is there anything else I can do for you?”asks the sergeant. He writes down the hotel’s address and hands it to Jacob, who puts it in his inner jacket pocket.

“Yea, is there any open gas stations? We are running out of gas for our van and we are going to need to leave in the morning,”asks James. He is hoping to refuel the van’s tank.

“The only gas station that had backup power closed down last year, and the only remaining one not going to be open since it is grid-tied. The only one that might be open is two towns down the highway,”replies Sergeant Gardner. The three men look at each other and then return their attention to the sergeant.

“Thanks sir, we will be going now,”James politely says.

“I hope you enjoy your stay here,”replies the sergeant.

The three men get up from their seats and exit the small office. They then enter the small main body of the building with its one secretary and the arms closet that takes up a whole wall. The five desks in the middle of the room are filled with officers who seem to be on break.

The three men walk past all of these and reach the exit. Gabe opens the door and they all leave the building. The station’s parking lot barely has any cars in it. This makes it pretty easy for the guys to reach their van and drive towards the address.

“Should we pick up some supplies?”asks James as they pass a row of stores.

“No, why do you ask?”replies Gabe. He is busy looking at a map. He is pretty tired and just wants to get back home.

“Because if this is as bad as I think it is, we are going to need stuff. If nothing happens, I will pay you guys back. I still got all that money that I inherited from my grandparents last year, but don’t overdo it
,”replies James.He is thinking about all those doomsday movies and books he has read over the course of his life.

“Yea, I agree with you. It is just a precaution, but you might be right,”says Jared. He is not sure, but something is telling him that buying some things might not be a bad idea.

“Fine, but I attend to collect my cash when we get back,”replies Gabe as Jared parks the van in an empty area by a storefront. Gabe puts the map back in the glove compartment. They all exit the van and regroup near the van’s sliding-door.

“We need to split up. Jared, go to the grocery store and get food products that will last awhile. Gabe, head to the sporting goods place we passed awhile ago and get what you can. I will go to the convenience store and get what I can,”says James.

“Sounds good to me. I will make sure to not go to crazy,”replies Gabe.

With that, they split up. Jared to the grocery store, Gabe the sporting goods, and James to the convenience store. Jared got a variety of canned foods. He got chili, apple sauce, canned vegetables, and a couple of massive bags of pasta.

He also got some drink mixes and some spare can openers. On the way to the checkout, he saw a display for matches and candles. He shrugs and tosses a bunch into the cart. He enters the checkout, pays, and leaves.

Gabe gets jerky, two personal water filter that was on sale, and a case of camping fuel for his stove. He also gets some snap-lights, some batteries, and some hand-warmers. He wanted to get some other things, but he did not want to make James to make James pay too much for something that he thinks they will not need.

James buys jerky, baby wipes, toilet paper, soup, three cases of water bottles, tang, and a set of cheap candles. When he went to the cash register, the clerk gave him a weird look as he hand-counted James’ purchases.

Together the three men have plenty of gear to handle most emergencies. As they put their purchases in the cargo area, they talk and comment on what the others bought. Once they are done, the back is completely packed.

They then drive to the hotel, not knowing that the next day was going to change their lives forever.

Black Flame Chapter Six

(Bandorian Military Base, Texas)

“What the hell just happened!”yells Major Tomas Kain to the rest of the command unit of Bandorian Military Base.

This base is part of a chain of bases that is in charge of defending the homeland. The alert system that warns of an attack just went off, scaring the small team of bored staff in the command sector out of their distractions.

“It looks like a report on a series of attacks, Sir,”replies Sergeant Lopese,.He is looking at a computer screen, reading the large amount of data coming in.

“What is the damage?”asks a stern Kain, who is looking at the digital command map as the data shows up. He is trying to hold in his rising emotions so that his small team of men and women can concentrate on the job at hand.

“Major ports where destroyed in apparent suicide bombings. Twenty power-transformers and ten coal and hydro plants were hit. A large amount of planes crashed into various airports all around the country. Estimated causalities are a million civilians, Sir,”says Corporal Mitch Berg. He is busy scanning over the line of continuous data on his screen.

“Looks like Europe is having similar problems,”calls out Specialist Joseph Miller from his station in the back of the room.

“Can we get communications with Command,”asks Kain. The main screen switches to a map of Europe and the stream of red dots that indicates attacks or possible attacks. The list continues to get bigger and bigger every waiting moment.

“Sir, I am having problems with reaching Command ,”replies Private Lucas Marvic, the newbie of the group and radio man. He is trying a couple of different signals, but it’s not doing any good. It seems that he is either being blocked, or there is no one to contact. None of his training has prepared him for anything like this.

“Get Internal Command on the headline and get me some god damn coffee,”commands Kain. His men and women get moving. Marvic gets the coffee going and rest start getting the hard-line working.

(Las Coranios, California)

“Who are those people, Uncle Phil?”asks Chris as they work their way towards the Mayor’s Office. Its marble walls counter the plain wooded neighboring buildings that line the street. They reach the other side of their street right as the private military troops enter the building.

The sound of birds chirping welcomes them to the area. Uncle Phil takes a quick breath before responding to his nephew.”From their uniform, I would say private military since they do not have military uniforms. I do hope I am wrong though.”

“Why is that?”asks July as she opens the mayor’s office front door, letting the trio enter together. She is just as curious as Chris to the who those soldiers are.

“Most private militarys do not follow traditional chain-of-command nor do they use a traditional military ranking system. This makes them unpredictable and why they are used by governments around the world to do police and security work,”replies Phil as the door closes behind them. All of the private military soldiers have entered the mayor’s office chamber, which is in the far end of the building.

The trio enters the hallway and heads there, passing the wooden staircase and the fine artwork that covers the entry area’s walls. The sound of a group of people talking can be heard from the mayor’s office chamber. The trio follows the sound until they reach a beautiful set of hardwood doors that block the entryway to the mayor’s chambers.

Chris politely knocks on the doors, which stops the mumbling on the other side. The sound of a chair sliding on wood followed by the sound of footsteps heading towards the door can be heard on the other side. The door is then opened by a tall, Asian man, with a military-style vest. He is blocking any view or access to the room beyond.

“Yes, what do you want?”he asks with a stiff voice. He gives each member of the trio an unfriendly glare that just screams “do anything stupid and I’ll kill you”.

“We are here for the meeting,”replies Phil, who does not flinch under the mans glare. He does not like people like this man; they always to try to push into other people’s business.

“Let them in. They are with me,”says the older voice of the mayor.

The Asian man reluctantly moves out of the way, letting the trio enter the office. The office is almost completely packed with the wheal-chaired mayor and the eight private military troops. With the addition of the trio, it is just like a sardine can.Phil squeezes past the Asian, followed by Chris and July, who are both looking at the private military troops with a open wariness. The other PM troops mirror that look.

“I see we are all here,”the mayor says with a kind, business-like smile. Everyone turns toward the mayor, all attention on his words.

“Why where we called here, grandfather?”asks July. The Main family has been in a powerful position in Las Coranios since its founding. Because of this, July was automatically respected by many of the town’s people. To gain real respect, she joined the police force.

“Because something has happened, something very bad. My contacts have reported that a massive group of terrorist attacks has happened all.around the country. I’ve called in some favors and triggered some protocols to have these fine men and woman to help protect our town from what can be around the corner,”replies Mayor Main with a slight smokers cough. Even though he quit a long time ago, his old habit is still affecting him.

“We don’t need them, mayor. The P.D can handle it,”replies Chris. His comment ears him some soft laughter from the private military bunch. They are a serious bunch, but that was a funny enough comment to break their protocol about civilians and how they are supposed to react to them.

“Chris, the town is going to need all the help it can get from what might be around the corner,”replies the mayor.

“Tell them what is coming, Frank,”says Uncle Phil, who was previously waiting for a good time to talk. He is interested in what the kids reaction will be to the mayors words.

“The destruction of America as we know it,”replies the mayor with a solemn voice.

Live Reading of Black Flame(Part One)

Here is my live reading of Black Flame.

Black Flame Chapter 5-Stress of Time

“It takes FEMA and the Red Cross around three days to get situated. They need to find out how bad things are, and that takes time to accomplish. Have at leased three-to-five days of supplies at leased. This helps the authorities help people that actually need it.”-Justin Miles.

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(Maybell, Oregon)

Scott closes the door as Socks starts to eat one of his toys:a stuffed cat. Did he over react? Scott does not think so. His natural instincts told him to get out of that area, and they have not failed him once. He just knows that something bad has happened.

The high-pitched sound of Scott’s HAM radio in the kitchen going off breaks him from his thoughts. Scott follows Socks to the kitchen. The large metal box with knobs, flashing lights, and a microphone is a expensive piece of technology that can talk to people as far as another country, and as near as a nearby town.

Scott gives Socks a quick pat on the head as he picks up the HAM’s microphone. There is some static on his end before he begins talking.

“This is 222UKR43, is that you AT55674?”asks Scott. It takes awhile for the person on the other side to respond.

“This is AT55674. We have something serious going down at City Hall,”says the person on the other end.

“Jared, can you tell how bad?” asks Scott, who takes out a piece of paper and a pen from a drawer.

“Yea, I can do that. We got reports last night of some attacks around the mainland. We are not sure how bad it is, but some idiot crashed his tanker near your place. That is why I wanted to call you about,”replies Jared, a friend and police officer. He is a tall, black hared man is his late forties.

“Yea, I smelled that crap. How goes the clean up?”asks Scott. He is writing down everything to keep track.

“It is going OK. The clean teams got there pretty fast and have gotten most of it done. They tell me if will be done in a hour, but you know how unions are,”replies Jared with a laugh.

“Trust me, I have had my dealings with those fools before. How bad are the attacks? How is the kids?”asks Scott, trying to change the topic. The sound of moving can be heard on Jared’s side of the call. He is walking into another room so the kids can not hear him. He can do this since he has a mobile instead of a fixed HAM.

” I am not sure about the attacks. The reports are pretty sketchy and no one in command seems to have an idea. I will keep you up to date if anything comes up. John and Sarah are doing as well as you would expect. Kim’s death has hit them pretty hard and I’m not doing any better. With John going to college soon, I’m not sure what to do. ,”says Jared, tears falling from his eyes onto the carpet. The financial situation that Jared is going through after Kim’s death from cancer is very bad.

“If you need anything, you can always ask,”points out Scott. Scott is like a uncle to those kids. That is something he prizes over everything.

“Yea, I and the kids know. Do you want to talk to them?”asks Jared.

“Sure, put them on,”replies Scott.

The sound of movement and a door opening can be heard on Jared’s side of the call. Jared is moving towards the living room. That is where the kids normally hangout. Jared can see that the kids are playing a board game on a table. Jared covers the receiver with his spare hand so he talk to the kids.

“Uncle Scott is on the HAM. Do you guys want to talk to him?” John, the tall, nineteen-year-old, boy gets up and takes the radio from his fathers offered hand. Sarah gets up so that she can talk next. She loves her uncle and wants to talk to him as much as she can.

“Hi, Uncle Scott. We have have not seen you in awhile,”says John. John misses his uncle a lot. Scott used to take him to pizza after football games and he used to come over a lot, but Scott has neglected to do for awhile. Jared walks off so his kids can have some privacy.

Scott sighs before replying to John.”I know that. How about I come and see you guys tomorrow after the show.” Socks gives Scott a lick before he walks to his water and food bowels. Scott quick gives his buddy a quick grin before returning to the call.

“Yea, that could work”replies John. Sarah starts poking him, wanting to.talk to Scott. John gives her a look before returning to the chat.

“You still like that pizza joint by the hunting store?”asks Scott. The sound of his computer saving a important article rings through the cabin. He will get to that later.

“Of course,”replies John. He never complains about food. Sarah starts to march in front of him so that John knows for a fact that she wants to talk soon. John just ignores her.

“Good, then we will go there. Now, I know your sister is probably jumping at the radio right now, so you should hand it over before she hurts her self,”says Scott. John reluctantly hands the radio to the jumping five-foot-tall, brunette, sixteen-year-old girl. Sarah takes the radio as she gives John a smile.

“Hi, Uncle Scott,”says Sarah after she sticks out her tongue at her brother, who replies with a glare.

“Hay, Sarah. How is school treating you? Any boys I need to beat up,”asks Scott.

“School is going just as it normally goes. There is no boys yet, Uncle Scott. You know I’m waiting until after college to start dating. The boys in high-school are not worth it,”she replies with a smile.

“Well, if you decide to change your mind, I could always use hunting practice,”jokes Scott.

“Trust me, Uncle Scott, I will not change my mind–” It is right then that the power goes out and the world changes for Maybell, Oregon and the towns around it.

Black Flame Chapter 4

This chapter is dedicated to my new backpack. Good bye back pain, hello internal frame backpack of love, Godhand also deserves another dedication for pointing out the problems in the past chapters. Go check out her stories, will you not regret it.

Quote of the chapter.

“The only thing that will stop you, is yourself. Never give up.”- General Patton.

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(Shadow Falls, Oregon)

The trio of boys walk up the hill with a steady pace. None of the boys know why they are going to the crash site. It just seems like the right thing for them to do. Their training as Boy Scouts trained them to have the mindset of always helping when they could, but their training did not get them ready for this.

“How much longer do you guys think?”asks Gabe, who is lagging behind the other two.

“From what I saw, only fifty paces or so from here. We should be seeing it soon,”replies Jacob, remembering his search and rescue training.

“Good, my feet are starting to hurt,”complains Gabe. He has blisters starting to appear on his feet. His socks and boots are brand new, which means they are not broken in.

“Those new boots causing you problems?”asks James.

“Yea, they are. I was hoping to break them in last week, but it only came in two days ago. I have not had time to break them in, so I’ll just have to deal with it,”replies Gabe as they reach the top of the hill.

The scene bellow is a brutal one for a crash that just happened. Both shrubbery and trees are burning despite the cold air. Parts of the plane are tossed almost randomly in the area. The gruesome image of bodies of passengers can be seen with the wreckage.

James almost throughs up, while Gabe and Jacob stare with an almost shocked-awe. Anyone with any moral sense would be doing this at this time.

“Holy Hell!” yells Gabe. It is right then that the sealed gas tank of the plane ignites from the flames entering. The force forces the boys onto their asses, and what is left of the plane explodes.

“Why! Why the heck did this happen!”cries James. All three of the trio gets up from the ground with shaky legs. James starts kicking rocks with force. Jacob places his hand on James shoulder.

“There is nothing we could do,” he says. A couple of tears are falling on all three of their heads.

“We have to contact the police or somebody. People have to know what happened,”says Gabe.His positive poster helps calm James.

“Are you sure we can’t do something to help?”asks James, his voice still shaking.

“There is nothing we can, or could help those people. They where already dead when we got here,”says Jacob with a reassuring voice. He says this even though he does not believe that himself.

“OK, let’s go. Gabe, do you have that satellite phone?”asks James.

“Yea, but I left it in the car,”replies Gabe.

“Fine, then let’s go then,”says Jacob. They then start to return to the car.

It takes them about twenty minutes to pass their camp and return to the car. The car looks the same, so the boys don’t think anyone has messed with it. The few cars that used to be parked there as well are missing, which puzzles Jacob. There should be at least a couple of cars still. It is early in the camping season after all.

“Where is everybody?”asks James as Gabe removes the satellite phone from its case. It is an older model, but it works.

“I have no clue. Maybe the plane crash forced them to leave, or maybe it is something else”replies Jacob.

“Guys, I can’t get a signal,”says Gabe, who is pushing buttons on the phone’s surface. The constant signal that he is used to is not showing up.

“Did you charge the battery?”asks James.

“Of course man, I always do before a trip.”

“Maybe the network is down,”says Jacob. He is starting to worry about what is going on.

“I guess . . . but I don’t think that is likely,”replies Gabe. He tries to get the phone to work one more time before he replaces it in its case.

“Since we can’t use the phone, let’s try the Ranger station that is near the entrance of the ground,”says Gabe.

“Yea, I remeber that last time we came up. Let’s go,”replies Gabe. After they place their bags in the car, they start walking the short distance towards the Ranger station.

It takes them around seven minutes to reach the red-colored wood building, which is not a problem. The problem is the green closed sign on the main door.

“How the hell are they closed!”yells Gabe as he kicks a rock with force.

“Maybe they are out to lunch,”points out James.

“They have to have at least one staff member working. Something is not right,”replies Jacob. He is looking through the glass window, but does not see anyone in the dark room.

“Yea, I agree with you man.Something is not right,”says James.

“Let’s get to that town we went by on the way up. If there is a place for us to find out what is going on, it is there,”points out Gabe.

“I agree. We are more likely going to find help and news in an urban area than here,”replies James.

“Fine, we are just wasting time here anyway. Let’s head out,”says Jacob. With that, they head back to camp site. They re-pack everything. This takes twenty minutes to do so. It would be a lot quicker, but their hands are shaking, which makes it hard to work.

Once they finally get everything ready, they gather their gear and return to the car. After they replace the gear back in the vehicle, they take off. They are in their original seats, just like they normally do.

“What do you guys think is going on?”asks James. He is curious about what his friends are thinking.

“Maybe an Internet problem? Kinda like what people thought would happen after Y2K”replies Gabe.

“It could be a terrorist attack. The government blocked cell phones after 9/11, so it could be possible,” points out Jacob.

For the next twenty minutes, the boys bring up possible theories. Some of them are crazier then others.

They pass abandoned cars. Some of those have people inside. James wants to stop and help, but the others don’t want to stop.

The boys start to relax when they pass a welcome sign for the upcoming town, Grain Hill, Oregon. Things are about to get interesting.

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I hope you enjoyed the chapter. We are about to enter a small action phase in the story. I hope that makes you guys excited.

Support the story by voting, following, and commenting.

Black Flame Chapter 3

New chapter #4-Moving Lights

This chapter is dedicated to both Godhand, for being such a good friend and helper, and the first responders, both civilian and government

News- I just got back from the Survival Expo and i cant wait to mix it in with Black Flame. I learned a lot more about gardening and military aspects, all in which will be included in this book.

Quote of the chapter.

“The survival of you is caused by yourself and yourself alone.”-FuturePrepperSir.

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(Las Coranios, California)

Las Coranios is your classic medium-sized farming town in California. It has a mall that has recently been open. It also has its own base-ball team, the Hogs. Things are normally quiet, but not this day

“Why do we have to pick up this dead beat?” asks Chris Richardson to his partner, July Cones. They just parked their squad car in front of one of Las Coranios’s most famous and rich lawyers’ houses.

“Something came down from Chief about something serious. I know this guy made you lose a couple of cases,but try to be decent,” replies July, who turns off the engine and removes the keys from the ignition. They get out of the car and start to walk up the marble staircase of the beautiful brick house.

Once they reach the red door of the house, July knocks. They can hear the sound of a piano playing, which adds to the peaceful feeling that this area of town seems to give off. With the warm spring air, and the birds chirping, it is very hard to think that anything could go wrong.

The sound of boots walking can be heard from the other side of the door. This makes Chris mentally prepare himself for the onslaught of yelling that the lawyer is about to bring. The door opens to a semi-fat man with a bald head, a suit, and a pair of wire-framed glasses.

“Hello, Uncle Phil,” Chris says to the man as he rubs the back of his head.

“I see they sent you to pick me up. How disappointing. I was hoping they would send someone with a higher rank,” replies Uncle Phil, who grabs a bag and exits the house, closing the door behind him.

“Right this way, Sir,” July says to Phil while giving Chris a humorous grin. Chris gives her a glare in reply as they walk down to the patrol car. Phil walks with a slight limp from his Army paratrooper days, but he is used to it, and it doesn’t bother him much. They reach the car and take off to the Mayor’s office, which is in the older part of the town.

“So, do you have a girl yet?” asks Uncle Phil to Chris. Chris mentally strangles his uncle.

“This is not the time to talk about this,” replies Chris, who purposely doesn’t look at his uncle.

“I told the family that I think you’re gay, but most of them thought I was blowing smoke,” Uncle Phil says, as if no one else can hear him. July is silently laughing at the look that Chris is sprouting now. She is having a hard time focusing on the road. At least there is very light traffic now, or she might have crashed .

“I dated a girl in high-school!”

“Yea, I know, but It might have been a cover. I saw a T.V show, and they said that gays have girl friends because they don’t want people to know that  they are gay.”

“Every time you guys meet, it gets pretty funny,” laughs July.

“If you dated my nephew, I would be around more often,” points out Phil.

“No can do. We are partners which instantly removes that. Plus, we have been friends since diapers, so I doubt I will ever like her that way. No offense, July,” says Chris.

“No offense taken,” replies July with a smile.

The rest of the trip is filled with the occasional small talk and inappropriate joke from Phil. They are about to enter the street where the mayor’s office is, when Chris sees something interesting.

“What the hell is that?” asks Chris, who is pointing to three approaching huge armored vehicles who are now just entering Main Street.

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“Why are we even in this junk heap of a town?” asks Sergeant Laura Parker, to her driver and mechanic, Josh Pine, who is driving the rear truck. Laura is in her mid-twenties. She has dark-blond hair, gray eyes, and a medium-sized build.

“Gray Tear got a contract in yesterday. The people on top, which includes the Governor, want places like this town secured since it is a strategic asset with its food and scientific production,” replies Josh with his deep southern drawl. Josh has a heavy build, brown hair, green eyes, and has a knife scar over his left eyebrow.

“Something serious going down?” asks Laura. She says this right as the convoy passes a lone police car. The convoy enters the street that houses their destination: the Mayors Office. Some of the passing buildings have “For Sale” signs, but a good few have what looks like good businesses. The two stores that interest Laura the most are the gun store and the hunting supply store. She might check those out later.

The three heavily armored trucks park outside the old, marble, two story building that is the Mayors Office. The patrol car passes them and does a U-turn to park on the other side.

The eight private-military personal get out of the trucks. Each one of them has standard bullet-proof vests and a sidearm of their choice at their hips. A couple of the people Laura never met before today, but she recognizes Jared and Bill, brothers from the Army, who saved her but a couple of times in the Sand.

“Come on people, let’s get this over with,” says the commanding officer of the group. This can be easily seen by the yellow Gray Tear leadership patch on his vest. The group starts to walk up the staircase. Josh gives Laura a slight pat on her shoulder as they move.

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Phil looks at the soldiers entering the building as the trio crosses the street. Dread enters his heart at this sight. He has an idea what is going on, and if he is correct, then things are going to be bad. The government would not hire a private military just for police work. Something is happening, something bad. Phil is just glad that Las Coranios is out of the way and does not make a huge target.

He looks at Chris and July with sadness. He hopes for their sake that this is just a drill.

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I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Now that all the introductions are done, more plot and action can happen.

Black Flame was originally going to be a series of short stories about the Event, but I figured it would be better as a joint story.

Support the story by voting, following, commenting, and sharing.

Black Flame Chapter 2

Chapter 2- And We Fall.

This chapter is dedicated to Bob Main for letting me on his show, Today’s a Survival Show. Thanks man for the great time.

Quote of the chapter.

“For those who fall, others rise to replace them.”- Joseph Stalin.

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“Welcome back to the Scott Mess Show. Where everything and anything is discussed. Let’s give an applause to your host, Scott Mesh,” says the recorded voice of a robot.

“Yes, this is the Scott Mesh show everybody. I’ve got a good one for you guys today. I’ve had reports of everything from a terrorist attack on America to China buying everyone’s gold again. It seems that the common man can’t get a break now. Other news will include China invading India over a land dispute and America losing the Internet War we have now. For now, a word from our sponsors.” Scott Mess says this, and then  he pushes the sponsor button on his computer key-board.

Scott Mesh has been many things in his long life. Scott is a white German/Irish dude. He is 6,6″, has a medium sized beard, and dark-green eyes. In a former life, he was a navy man. He almost made it as a seal, but he was injured in training and could not continue.

After his service, he did a quick gig as a body-guard before he became a writer for a newspaper. That career did not have a good start since Scott pushed his boss down a flight of stairs. From then on, the then forty-year-old man became a radio-host. He has done the Internet-radio thing for almost six years, and he is gaining popularity by the day.

Scott drinks his still warm coffee as he looks out the main window that overlooks his small patch of Oregon woods.. He sure loves the outdoors, with both its flaws and its beauty. He got this cabin as a beater and fixed it up so that he can live it in it.

The sound of ringing coming from his computer tells Scott that he needs to return to the show. He turns his computer chair to the desk, pushes the talk button, and begins to speak into his microphone.

“I am back listeners. To start-up today, let’s look at the possible upcoming terrorist attack. Some of my old military contacts have told me that faint reports of a sleeper-cell in America that has plans of an attack on the American main land. Of course this could just be back chatter from forced-information released by the government.” Scott takes a sip of coffee before continuing.

“My opinion on this is that anything could happen. Let me give an example. Right before World-War-Two, most military-scientists and historians said that another World-War was impossible. This was because of a joint-economy, and a weakened European military strength. As we all know, another World-War happened. We also did not think that a terrorist could attack America, but it did.” Scott pulls up his show-notes on his computer right before he starts on another topic that is on his list.

“As I reported last year, China invaded India over the fact that India was building defensive-bunkers on their side. China, feeling threatened by its economic enemy, took the first strike. From what my sources have told me, their trade and political differences are in the decline. I feel this could go on if those two countries don’t make up.”

Scott proceeds to go trough the rest of his news. This mainly includes business, economic, crime, political,and military news. Scott believes that if everyone is knowledgeable about what is going on in the world, people will have more control.

He closes the program after his normal twenty minutes of news and related topics. Scott makes everything to the point, but only uses as much time that he feels is right for each news piece. As you can tell, Scott is not your typical journalist. That is exactly what Scott wants, some originality.

After a minute of post-radio relaxation, Scott cleans up after Socks, his German-shepherd, who has a habit of making a mess. Scott got Socks from one of his military buddies who breeds service dogs. Socks got his name from the white socks on his paws that is outlined by the rest of his black furred body.Scott raised his closest friend from a cute puppy  to a powerful, full-grown patrol dog.

Right as Scott cleans up the studio, he is bowled over by two-hundred-and-ten pounds of fur. He goes flying through the air and lands on his firm carpet. He is then assaulted by the wet kisses of Socks.

“Socks, get down boy,” commands Scott, who is using his left hand to block at leased some of Socks’s kissing. The dog instantly  stops his assault and stands at attention by sitting on his back legs.

Scott gets up and gives his pal a pat on his panting head. “Come on buddy, let’s get us something to eat.”

The duo walk the short distance to Scott’s tiny kitchen. Scott makes himself a ham sandwich and gives Socks the leftovers. He eats those right up and gives Scott his classic begging face. Scott knows that if he looks at his buddy at that point, he would give him more. So because of this, he does not. He loves his dog, but overfeeding him was not on his list of things to do.

After their short lunch, Scott decided that they would go on a walk around their acre of woods. He puts on his boots while Socks races back and forth around Scott., who cant help but smile. If it was not for Socks, Scott would have already pushed the ticket on himself.

Their walk takes them deep into the jungle, near the border of his property. The sound of a nearby stream can be heard as well as the peaceful sound of birds chirping. This peacefulness is only part of why Scott loves the outdoors. Another reason is people. Scott is not a huge fan of people after his past.

Smoke enters Scott’s sight radius. That is pretty common since most people use a wood burning stove to heat their houses in this part of the country. What is weird is the chemical scent that seems to be coming from the smoke.

Scott reacts fast and has to drag a yipping Socks back to his cabin. Scott only calms down after he is safely behind his old wooden door. He calms his beating heart by taking in a couple of deep breaths. He starts to relax again until the sound of jets going over his house breaks the silence.

 

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Book dictionary and book notes can be found at my blog.

Top Seven Places Where a Pandemic Could Start.

I keep getting reports from China and other places in the East. A lot of these are about a possible pandemic. I feel it is time that I make a list of some of the locations that a pandemic could start from.

Number 1-Chuck E Cheese.

Chuck E Cheese has a reputation of bad food and old video games. Those don’t give you a idea of a possible home for a pandemic.Lets think about this rationally. Many kids go to places like Chuck E Cheese all the time. Some of these might have a disease, but he has not shown signs of being ill. Lets also think of all of those machines and games that might not be cleaned every day. Mix those two and you have a breeding area for diseases.

Number 2- Bus Station.

This is a classic Hollywood pandemic start point, but it is realistic in that it could be a pandemic zone.With all the travel cross country and state, a bus can be deadly,

Number 3-Train Depo.

It is just like the bus station, but with slightly different rules. A train is bigger which means more people and a bigger chance of spreading a disease.

Number 4-Aiport.

This is just like the previous two, but with the ability to travel fast and go across countries in a day. This makes them a huge modern concern for medical and military researchers.

Number 5-Hospital.

With all those sick people, it is likely that a pandemic would come from one of these. For an example, two plague reports have shown that they came from a hospital. These where in Britain, around 2011.

Number 6-Shopping Centers/Malls.

These are prime places for a virus or a disease to mutate. There is a lot of people and a lot of cash exchanges, which has diseases on it. They don’t clean those ATM machines ether.

Number Seven-Schools.

As my friend Godhand has mentioned, schools can be a disease site.  A lot of people go here and at leased some of them might be sick. Doorknobs and pens are not cleaned. Lets also not forget lockers and the library which just adds to the exchange of disease.

I hope this list gave you a short, but good look at the possible pandemic zones. Stay safe everyone.