Duck and Cover! An American Spinoff of Protect and Survive.

OMG! The CDC transporting SMALL POX in an unsecurred panel van. What moron thought that would be a good idea???
 
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Considering the fact that smallpox vaccination was rather widespread at the time, a release of the virus would only be a small issue though with the weaker immune systems of the survivors it could lower productivity somewhat.
 
Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia would be good candidates for military districts.

Hope the smallpox weakens the Klan.


Keep it up,
Gen_Patton!:)
 
I wonder where can you find available troops to police a military district when most of the army is gone and surviving troops are largely second rate.Its best to concentrate on maintaining the regions that still exist and not waste valuable men for regions which have little immediate value.You can make an argument that letting these regions on their own might lead to the appearance of paramilitary forces which may or may not be loyal to the US government but I'd be willing to let it pass.For better or worse almost all residents in these states are dead or at best severly debilitated by radiation what armed groups would exist would be few in number and size.Its best to just declare them no-go zones enter at your own risk.Then after a few years maybe 5-7 you can send in the troops and see what's left.Spreading the men too thin is not smart when you can barely contain the regions that still exist.
 
Gen Patton...just wanted you to know I was enjoying your timeline. During the years involved I was living and working in Pendleton, Oregon so it was pretty cool to see Walla Walla, Washington become the new capital of the USA. Walla Walla is a very nice town only 40 miles from Pendleton. I live in Wyoming now but every spring I miss the flowering dogwoods in Walla Walla!

I hope for my own sake that Pendleton comes out of this OK. How does the Umatilla Army Depot at Irrigon, Oregon and the Hanford Nuclear area near Richland, WA come through the attacks? What about Grand Coulee Dam and the other dams down the Columbia River?

I'll be watching for your next version of the story. Don't quit now!
 
So Christmas time is the end of the year. Being quite busy with finals, traveling etc. While I didn't have time to write anything new, it gave me time to read what I had already written.

All I can say is Ouch!

Looking back now, I see some positives to DUCK AND COVER. My writing has improved dramatically, and I definitely got better at research as time went on.

However, (which is apparently my favorite word it appears A LOT in D&C) I have come to the conclusion that not only did I jump the shark, but nuked the fridge and ran myself into a brick wall of ASB and writers block.

In short, I am closing Duck and Cover and making Ducking and Cover v2. Starting over, is the best way forward I believe.

Thanks,

Gen_Patton
I also enjoyed your TL, and look forward to read version 2.:)
 
So, due to a slew of PM's and discussions, I've been throughly convinced to continue Duck and Cover as it is.


I also got this cool picture for Quid Pro Quo!


tRwSw.jpg


For those that don't know that is the Cleveland skyline, the "Last City on Earth."

So now the CCCP (Cleveland Community Cooperation Pact) has propaganda posters.

Ironic huh!

Thanks for everything!

Gen_Patton

tRwSw.jpg
 
Well, I'm really glad you like it. As I mentioned in the private message, it was originally suppose to be part of a set, but I got distracted with other things. I really like that picture of the Terminal Tower though. My only wish is that I could have found a clearer version of it online.

If you want, I could try my hand at a few more posters.
 
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Patton:

I notice that you keep talking about the Nazi attackers going to the swamps with the Romans right after them. You do know that it's a couple hundred miles to the swamps from Rome Georgia, which is in the mountains of GA? I don't see the bad guys running that far or the Romans chasing them that far.

I noticed that you use Stone Mountain GA as the rallying place for the racists. Stone Mountain GA is only 14 miles from the center of Atlanta, GA, which most certainly will be hit multiple times. Chances are that Stone Mountain isn't a good place to visit, much less live.

Torqumada
 
OK. Everybody saying that the dollar is worthless, especially in Cleveland. Are you forgetting that we have a Federal Reserve Bank? And as to growing anything, the fields are barren right now. They don't start planting up here until May. So it is possible that you have a massive campaign to remove the contaminated topsoil from these fields and replacing it with non-contaminated soil (Of course, where are you going to get it?). The OSU Agricultural Extension in Wooster will be helpful (If Wooster isn't slagged).
 
OK. Everybody saying that the dollar is worthless, especially in Cleveland. Are you forgetting that we have a Federal Reserve Bank? And as to growing anything, the fields are barren right now. They don't start planting up here until May. So it is possible that you have a massive campaign to remove the contaminated topsoil from these fields and replacing it with non-contaminated soil (Of course, where are you going to get it?). The OSU Agricultural Extension in Wooster will be helpful (If Wooster isn't slagged).

I seem to remember that the instructions for U.K home owners was simply to remove the top six inches or so to one side and then plant whatever you had in the way of seeds. This may have worked on a small scale [though most of the fertility in soil is in those six inches],but on a larger scale it may not be practicle.
I am no farmer so I may be wrong on this but possibly in the absence of artificial fertilisers a reversion to crop rotation and allowing fields to lie fallow may work.
Also most sewage farms use electric pumps and aerators as well as chemicals.These may well be in short supply at the moment. Human waste is just as good as animal waste as a soil conditioner, the Japanese used it for centuries. There is of course the problem of removing harmful microbes before use.
 
OK. Everybody saying that the dollar is worthless, especially in Cleveland. Are you forgetting that we have a Federal Reserve Bank?

Well thepenguin, the problem is not that there is too little money to go around, but too much! some people will have tried to withdraw all of their life's savings, combine that with the few unsavory characters who have stolen from banks and stores, and all of a sudden you have mass inflation.

How can you ensure that the money you are taking is coming from the person who stuffed every penny under their mattress or is from that guy who just murdered everyone in the America Bank down in Middleton and is high tailing his way out of there?

Short answer, you can't.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg like problem if we were to keep the Dollar around. First off it has no value, the Dollar and modern monies work because you have faith in the government that backs them. With no US government no one should trust that their money has value.

Secondly the most important thing on these peoples mind is survival, food and shelter. Money is what in psychology is called a "secondary reward" and object that's value comes from what others evaluate it at. Anyone who would normally accept American Dollars would place no value on them, and thus no one would take it.

I can keep going, but from both a story standpoint and from a survival standpoint, abolishing the Dollar (at least for Cleveland) appears to be the best option.
 
An Open Letter

Friends, Followers, and Fellow Survivors,


I should ask you a question. Should I resurrect Duck and Cover? I know that I have been working on The Day After, but now after some time I feel as if it has been a worthless exercise, a waste of not only my time but of an ever more valuable resource. Yours.


I guess here I should try and defend my decision to switch to The Day After. I should mention that some IRL problems were spiraling out of control. I should probably go on and moan about writers block and the holidays and getting drunk, and all of that. I should wine about how I posted that I was going to do it and the felt obligated to do it. But I know that I shouldn't this isn't the time nor the place. That's hogwash for another time or place.

What I would really like to do is apologize to my fellow writers, especially Chipperback who's TL I nearly derailed by my decision. I would like to apologize to Macraggle (where ever you are) by throwing your whole universe into whack with the Prospero Redux stories. I want to apologize to the others that have tried to start Tls with conflicting information and accounts. I want to apologize to my readers who I threw for a loop, to my friends for confusing the crap out of them, and to those out there who don't pay attention to Protect and Survive.


In retrospect I shouldn't have made that decision. It was stupid, it was unnecessary, and in a word selfish.


So I want to make it up to you.


DUCK AND COVER IS COMMING BACK BABY!


-Gen_Patton
 

Falkenburg

Monthly Donor
Glad to hear it. :D

If you really feel you have something to make up for then do 'Penance' by giving us lots and lots of luvverly Updates! :p

Falkenburg
 
Friends, Followers, and Fellow Survivors,


I should ask you a question. Should I resurrect Duck and Cover? I know that I have been working on The Day After, but now after some time I feel as if it has been a worthless exercise, a waste of not only my time but of an ever more valuable resource. Yours.


I guess here I should try and defend my decision to switch to The Day After. I should mention that some IRL problems were spiraling out of control. I should probably go on and moan about writers block and the holidays and getting drunk, and all of that. I should wine about how I posted that I was going to do it and the felt obligated to do it. But I know that I shouldn't this isn't the time nor the place. That's hogwash for another time or place.

What I would really like to do is apologize to my fellow writers, especially Chipperback who's TL I nearly derailed by my decision. I would like to apologize to Macraggle (where ever you are) by throwing your whole universe into whack with the Prospero Redux stories. I want to apologize to the others that have tried to start Tls with conflicting information and accounts. I want to apologize to my readers who I threw for a loop, to my friends for confusing the crap out of them, and to those out there who don't pay attention to Protect and Survive.


In retrospect I shouldn't have made that decision. It was stupid, it was unnecessary, and in a word selfish.


So I want to make it up to you.


DUCK AND COVER IS COMMING BACK BABY!


-Gen_Patton

Sorry to hear about that, TDA was actually kinda interesting. Still, though, I'll be glad to see Duck & Cover coming back too. :D
 
PART XII: The California War

DUCK AND COVER

PART XII: The California War


The Colombian Government reacted slowly and sporadically. With most of the executive branch still held captive by the madman to the south, and the VP grounded in Nevada, once again a continuity crisis gripped the capital. Acting by pure impulse the Joint Chiefs of Staff took charge of the military forces they could contact. After tact approval of the Vice President. Within minutes haphazard forces began to push the Californian “troops” back every way possible.


Off of the deck of the
USS Nimitz dozens of fighter bombers streaked across the Pacific Northwest. Their pilots were grim. Most had flown against Soviet forces in OPERATION LINEBACKER. In the massive blocking maneuver across the Arctic Ocean they had shot down half a dozen Soviet bombers making their way toward the US. The pilots had lost friends, comrades, for a futile victory. All they hoped was that they saved some American lives. Some pilots, drunk, depressed, and on shore leave in Aberdeen, boated that they had single-handedly saved Cleveland.


The fighters raced south, while they were hastily assigned targets. The officers planning the strikes faced a catch 22. Their overarching strategic goal was to preserve as many valuable assets in Northern California as possible in the hopes of making reconstruction easier. However, if they did not strike the same valuable targets, key to the enemies survival, the bombings would not be worth the fuel or the bombs involved.



They came to the decision that a series of bombings would be issued against enemy troop concentrations and personnel, leaving most of the bridges, dams, and water treatment plants intact. The fighter bombers, completing the single bombing run in the conflict, struck each of their targets with uncanny accuracy. 87% of returning fighters noted their targets “destroyed” or “heavily damaged.”



At the same time, the Army prepared their counter attack. The Naval Infantry were hastily rushed south in a blocking maneuver to stem the initial attack by the Californians. Bolstering local militias, their job was to hold the ground until the rest of the National Guard units were ready to push back south. Refugees from the initial attack warned that the Californians had stopped to rest after the battles, and were not advancing as fast as was initially thought, buying the Naval Infantry some time.



The Naval Infantry were spread thin among over a dozen towns and major crossroads. Reinforcing local militia, they ended up running two jobs, evacuating as many civilians and refugees out as possible, and prepare for what appeared to be a siege. Digging foxholes, setting up lanes of fire, the last few hours before the assault were filled with frantic activity.



Then in a repeat of the past evening, the Californians attacked just as twilight set in. A mass of eery shouts filled the evening sky. Then in the dark silence, up and down the defensive lines the troops noticed a shadow moving. One here, one there. The defenders opened up against the shadows, parachute flares were fired, filling the night with red daylight.



The moment the parachute flares ignited the enemy attacked. Throwing themselves across the fields, they screamed as they ran out of the forests and from behind cover. Firing from the hip, bullets were flashing everywhere. As the flares ran out, the muzzle flashes became the only source of illumination. Like camera flashbulbs, everything was illuminated for half a second, enough to see who was attacking.



Children. Dirty rags were wrapped around their shoulders, a motley assortment of weapons clutched in their small hands. Their eyes reflected a mixture of fear, hate, exhilaration, and something else. Militiamen shouted in horror as the children seemed to brush off a thirty aught six round as if nothing had happened.



In Carson City, Nevada, the Vice President waited impatiently for his request to be granted. Though he could theoretically demand a yes through federal authority, he had no way of enforcing it. Eventually the Nevada adjutant general agreed to his request. The remains of the Nevada National Guard as well as some local militias would attack from the east the next morning, in an attempt to rescue the remainder of the Columbia Government trapped just across the border.



As dawn slowly crept across the horizon, the attacks on the Oregon positions subsided. While a few successful penetrations of the perimeter were reported, they had not lasted long and were quickly beaten back. A light haze wafted over the battlefields, and the soldiers and militia sat unable to sleep after their long night.



As the Joint Chiefs of Staff sat there waiting for something news, any news, rumors began to creep from the south. The bombings from the previous day were successful, but the military formations were nothing of the kind. Most of the targets, especially those that put up “little to no resistance” were refugee camps filled with civilians.



*
The Chief of Staff lay on the basement floor. Though they were trying to hide it, the guards at the stairwell looked nervous. Unable to see the battle unfolding around them, the Chief of Staff intently listened, resting her head against the cool stone wall.


The crump of mortar fire echoed outside, only to be followed by the rata tat tat of rifle fire. The whopping of helicopters filled the air, followed by the sky wrenching sound of machine gun fire.



The battle came closer. The defenders rushed into the house, breaking windows for fire positions, they were quickly over whelmed.



As the sounds of fighting grew more intense, the Colonel barreled down the stairs. His shirt was torn, covered in blood, and a bandage was wrapped around his arm.



The sounds of soldiers entering the house quickly replaced the sounds of gunfire as the last of the defenders above were either killed or surrendered.



After a few tense seconds of silence, a voice echoed from the top of the stairs.



THIS IS THE NEVADA NATIONAL GUARD PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER.”


The smaller of the two guards opened his mouth to talk. The taller of the two guards shot him a furious glance. The smaller guard snapped it shut, tapping his bare feet nervously on the floor.



Now listen,” the Colonel shouted up the stairs, “I have the president, and I wouldn't think twice before shooting him.”


He roughly grabbed the President and shoving the barrel of a gun up to the president's head forced him into the doorway.



He listened for a second. Nothing.



It's your choice.”


Something clunked down the stairs spewing a noxious gas.



Teargas! The Chief of Staff thought as everything exploded.



As the room filled with the chemical, the sounds of gunfire erupted in the tiny cellar.



It's alright ma'am.” A gas masked soldier said lifting her up and propping her over his shoulder.


She stepped out of the doorway and into the sunlight.
 
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