299 Days: The Collapse

Chapter 46 Empty the Gun Store (First week of May)

Grant headed off to work. No one was getting anything done, but the WAB guys were working hard on Rebel Radio. They put out a fabulous episode each week; there was a lot to talk about.

At WAB, Grant spent a good part of his day reading the latest news and talking on the phone or texting Pow, Bill Owens, Steve Briggs, and others. Pow was patrolling his neighborhood, Bill Owens was doing the same down in Texas, and Steve said things were relatively calm in Forks, but people were openly carrying pistols in town.

Not in Olympia, though. Life was going on as normal, which was really, really odd. Grant constantly wondered if he was overreacting. How could all these people in Olympia be so oblivious?

He would visit Capitol City Guns to quench his nervous curiosity about anything relating to the events that were unfolding. Capitol City was nearly cleaned out of handguns and shotguns. They still had quite a few ARs because the prices were so high; $3,000, or so. AKs were about $2,000. Ammo and magazines were through the roof, too. Grant was glad he had purchased his stuff long ago. And that he knew how to use it.

The WAB guys were still concerned in varying degrees, but didn’t seem to be doing anything about it. One afternoon, Brian came up to Grant and said, “Hey, man, when the shit hits the fan, I’m coming to your place.” He smiled nervously.

Grant didn’t know what to say. He wanted to say, “No, you’re not.” But Brian was a good friend. Grant thought about it and said, “I’ll do what I can but we all have to put our own families first.” He didn’t want to turn Brian away, but didn’t want Brian to rely on him.

“Understandable,” Brian said. He didn’t seem to be as concerned as he was in the past. “I have decided to buy a gun. Would you help me pick one out?”

“Hell, yes,” Grant said. This was more like it. Grant would be happy to help those who would help themselves.

“Tom and Ben are getting guns, too,” Brian said. “Can we all go to the gun store? Like, soon?”

“Hell, yes,” Grant repeated. Nice. These guys were taking some action.

An hour later, Grant took them to Capitol City and helped each one pick out a handgun. Chip managed to find some in stock for friends of Grant.

Ben pointed to a fifty-round box of ammunition and asked, “Should we get one?”

Fifty rounds won’t get them through what’s coming, Grant thought. He pointed to a thousand-round case of ammunition and said, “Actually, get one of those and split it.”

They all got 9mm Sig Sauers, which was all that was left. They were fantastic guns, but more expensive than most, so they weren’t sold out. At least Tom, Brian, and Ben could use each other’s’ magazines interchangeably.

Grant pulled Chip aside so the other customers wouldn’t hear him, “Hey, Chip, could my friends get a case of 9mm?”

Chip smiled. “Yes. And, you’re welcome.” Grant knew how hard a case of 9mm was to come by. “But, since they’re not you, they pay full price—$495. It’ll be $650 tomorrow.” Wow. Ammo prices were going crazy.

“Thank you, Chip,” Grant said. He told the guys how lucky they were to have any ammo.

Grant took them out shooting right after buying their guns. He showed them how to take apart their guns and clean them. They were OK shots.

“We’ll clean these now since we’re all here,” Grant said. “But if you need to use these, don’t bother trying to clean them. They run just fine without cleaning them. I’d hate for you to lose a part and not be able to put them back together.” Grant said. They were soaking it all in.

It was yet another amazing moment during a time that seemed to have several amazing moments every hour. There was Grant teaching Tom, Ben, and Brian how to shoot and clean pistols. This wasn’t for fun. It was for real. Everyone sensed how much things had changed.