Read Online Compass Call: Survival & Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 3) by Kenneth Cary - Free Book Online

to make enemies, not now, and definitely not like that. Enemies would be all too easy to make in the days and weeks to come, when his preps really began to stand out.
    “Yes, thank you,” said Amy, with much more sincerity than Kevin expressed. She glared at her husband and they reached down to pick up the bucket.
    They turned to walk away, and John and Pete watched after them. As they reached the back corner of the house, John called out, “Hey, Amy, what’s your street number?”
    “We live just down the street from you . . . number 237 . . . about seven houses down. Why?”
    “No reason,” replied john. “I’ve just never met you before and wondered where you lived. You’re welcome to come back for water, I just ask that you come to the front door first.”
    “Sure, that won’t be a problem. Thanks again, John,” she said, and the couple turned and walked away.
    John and Pete climbed the short steps onto the back patio and sank into two padded patio chairs. They discussed their encounter with Amy and Kevin, especially the implications of their requests. But what bothered John the most was Amy’s request to join them. The idea of forming a survival community around himself was something he never considered, and certainly didn’t relish, at least not in their neighborhood. For one thing, he didn’t have the resources to support a large group of unprepared people, maybe with water, yes, but not food, fuel or weapons. He knew it was too late to make the neighborhood self-sufficient.
    Next there was the issue of leadership, which was another thing John didn’t desire, or even consider. He could take charge when needed, but he wasn’t an empire builder. Some people enjoyed managing other people, but not John. He didn’t have the patience for it,and often expressed his dissatisfaction with lazy, ignorant or agenda driven people. If the people were selfless, committed and motivated, then he could work with them, but those qualities were hard to find. That’s why he had very few really close friends, his standards were very high.
    From his perspective, forming a larger group was more an issue of diminishing returns. He didn’t know the exact math, but he figured he had enough food to feed his group of twelve mixed-aged people for about eight months, tops. And that estimate was at the standard caloric consumption rate for each of the different age groups and sexes. Adding more people to their group would impact the overall caloric consumption rate dramatically.
    John was concerned about the numbers because he knew the next two months would be the most challenging. If they weren’t planning to leave they could plant bigger gardens, but that’s hard to accomplish when you’re busy defending yourself from hungry, two-legged predators. The way he saw it, that give them about four months to find more food, or begin a self-sustaining lifestyle somewhere. Until they could live off the land, every ounce of food they had would be needed to keep them alive, so John wasn’t interested in risking the lives of anyone in his group by including strangers.
    He once tried to imagine how much easier survival would be if everyone in the neighborhood prepared as he did, but the reality of life was that few people felt preparedness was worth their time, money, or effort. He figured most people in the neighborhood were probably now wishing they prepared, but it was too late. He confessed to Pete that it bothered him that so many people in the neighborhood were unprepared, and that he couldn’t do more to help.
    Pete shrugged and told him he wasn’t responsible for the neighborhood, just his family. John agreed. He knew preparedness was a personal decision, which made it a personal responsibility, but things could have been so much easier, so much better, if everyone prepared.
    “No sympathy . . . no regret,” said John.
    “Take no prisoners,” replied Pete.
    John looked at him and laughed. “Take no prisoners,” was their