Vigilante: Book One: Into the Darkness

VIGILANTE: BOOK ONE: INTO THE DARKNESSby Lt. Col. Cliff DeaneColonel Levi Levins retires from the Army and is off on vacation before starting his new job in the civilian world. After serving all around the globe during his military career, he is ready to finally live the good life with his beloved wife, Sarah. But fate has other plans and when a solar flare knocks out the grid, Levi must not only survive, but find a way to help humanity to keep his own sanity. Since he is on vacation, Levi has no bug out bag, no hidden weapons cache, no transportation. What does he do, and how does he do it? Levi will walk us through his path to survival. Perhaps it may also be yours...Vigilante: Into the Darkness takes us on a journey to try to stave off the New Dark Age brought on by a worldwide EMP apocalypse. Can Government survive when no food is being trucked to the masses? Can our military survive without the tons of food needed each and every meal? The answers are here. Vigilante: Into the Darkness pulls no punches when it comes to the horrific details of a worldwide grid down situation, from the effect on the food chain from ants to rats. With so many dead, how do the survivors deal with rotting corpses, diseases, and villains? Will good triumph over evil? Maybe...EXCERPT29 March Defense 101Kill Devil Hills, NCA block from Virginia Dare Trail, Levi found a sporting goods store and thought, well, well, well, my personal little weapons depot. Of course, a Walmart Superstore would have been ideal, but none were available close by.He entered the store and found the owner standing guard over his merchandise. “We’re closed until the power comes back on, please come back then.”In his most polite and soothing voice Levi said, “Sir, the lights will not be coming back on for years. The entire grid is fried, as are cars, and cell phones. Didn’t you see the smoke trails from crashed planes? No one is coming to help you. “My best advice to you is to leave, don’t lock the door and you might save the windows, as if that should ever become important. Go home, gather the family, hug them to you, and get out of town. I suggest bicycles, even though others will try to take them from you unless you are willing to shoot first.”“Nonsense, this is just a power outage, and the power company will have it fixed soon,” the man said.Levi looked down at the floor and said, “Sir, ok, you have been warned. Now, I have a problem that you can fix.”The owner looked warily at Levi as he responded, “…and that would be?”“Wonderful, now we can get down to business. I need a gun, but since you do not sell those, I would like to purchase an aluminum baseball bat. Do you have any for sale?”“Well, yes, of course but my registers are locked.”“Sir, I assure you that is of no concern. I will take one bat and pay you $25 cash. Is that a fair offer?”“Well, yes, but they don’t cost that much, and I don’t have any change.”Smiling now, Levi said, “Sir, I will pay you $25 in cash, right now,” and he reached into his back pocket retrieving his wallet and took out $30. Well, dang, I don’t have any fives, so I guess the price is now $30. Is that all right?”“No, that’s too much, how about $20?” and with that Levi had his first weapon. He did feel sorry for the owner. Not for the price but because the man had, as yet, no inkling of the wrecking ball about to fall on his head. Oh, well.Ah, now this feels so much better, thought Levi as he walked away from the store and back to the hotel, where he knew he would still find food. Levi decided to eat dinner from whatever he could find in the hotel kitchen, and then he planned to burn the hotel to the ground after putting the scumbag that had murdered his wife inside it. It seemed appropriate for his Sarah.