Home Sweet Bunker by Jerry D Young

[TWP]

Report on the story "Home Sweet Bunker" by Jerry D. Young

This is my review of Jerry's story. Perhaps not precisely in chronological order.

This story, "Home Sweet Bunker" is actually a how-to manual for building and living in a homestead style prepper dream house.  While there are no actual building plans, it describes the basic features desired (necessary?) for an off-grid, self-sufficient home.  This make sense when you realize that every home location will be different, just as each home owner is different.  The basic features are the constant.  A rough list of these include:  Water (wells, roof runoff capture and storage), Sewage, Power (wind, solar and engine driven generators), Greenhouse(s), Living Space, Safe-space (bunker), Perimeter barrier (Think of a castle mote without the water), Security monitors, Communications (radio, TV and internet) and Fuel storage.

As I read the first couple of dozen pages, describing the design and construction process, I noted the preference for propane fuel storage.  I can see arguments both pro and con on this.  My view is that, given a long term SHTF event, the likelihood (sp) of being able to refill the storage tanks is low.  For events such as storms, earthquake, or even war, the time frame is probably from mere days to well over a year.  It is possible to store enough propane to last for several years, assuming a willingness to conserve fuel usage.

Than being said, Jerry did not have his characters install wood heating or cooking features (an oversight since they then proceed to harvest timber for construction and firewood...).  Again, there are arguments both ways on this.  While my preference would be to use wood for both heating and cooking, there is a problem with chimney smoke compromising your security.  The solution is to use both wood and propane (given an ideal situation with adequate money to set this up).

One design feature described in the story is the location of the bunker entrances.  There are multiple access points, including escape routes away from the homestead and smaller tunnels leading to guard posts around the property perimeter.  My feeling on this is that they are necessary feature for those who, like many of us, expect some rough times in the future.

The actual construction process, in the storyline, is compressed and the work is done by mostly outside contractors.  This works assuming you can afford to purchase such structures.  An alternative is to have the materials delivered and do the work yourself (you and your group).  For security, you could take delivery of construction material off-site, thus not revealing the location or nature of your construction.  There is an argument to be made both ways, depending on your group's skill set.  If you have the ability to do the work using group members, this preserves security.  The other option is to assume that a professional construction crew will keep quiet about your homestead construction features.  I do assume there are trustworthy businesses who engage in this type of work.

I note that the characters in the story did not make any great effort to keep their homestead location private.  They even had a party, with outside guests, when the main construction was completed.  Of course they didn't mention the bunker to the guests, but their home location was not kept private.  This is, again, a choice which depends on your personal goals.  My choice is for more privacy.

The story continues with the hints of global unrest and business downturns (sound familiar?).  A few years later the wife of the central character dies and he must deal with this, with the help of his brother who also has a house on the homestead/bunker property.  The brothers make a few business decisions which result in the acquisition of more power equipment, suitable for harvesting timber and farming.  The takeaway for me is that, given enough money, the use of power equipment does make sense.  The alternative is manual labor, with severely limits the amount of work accomplished and the amount of food that can be produced.

Note that this story was written prior to 2012, and the global situation, today, is not greatly different, but certainly no better.  Based on that, the story describes the urgency of getting the homestead into a working and productive farm.  This process takes another couple of years but results in a sustainable homestead and business based from that property.  This is the desired result, but attaining it is likely to be more difficult than portrayed in the story.

The two main characters, brothers, are using "outside" labor for much of their homestead and business work.  There is no dedicated group at this point.  The "event" begins with a warning from a financial manager about the stock market.  The main character, acting on some obviously thought-out plans, converts to gold and silver, pre market crash.  One point made in the story is to acquire gold and silver without leaving a paper trail back to you...  I would not count on having this much warning, but if you look at today's (9/22/15) stock market, you are getting just such a warning...

With the economic situation (in the story) beginning to fall apart, the main character (finally!) begins to form a group, issuing invitations to a few people (some he has never met) and advising on what to do.  I think this is not a safe method of creating a group, but it might be a lot closer to reality than the carefully planning and slow building we are doing ourselves, now.

In the story, a whole lot of last minute ordering of supplies and equipment is done.  This certainly isn't the best way to do this, but again, it may be much closer to reality than we will like.  All it takes is money...  The characters are liquidating their investments and spending like there is no tomorrow...  What will you do?

There are some underlying currents (good story telling Jerry) about how the main character is contacting people he knows, hinting at who will be invited to the homestead as the global situation worsens.  Note that the homestead was designed for a limited number of people, just couple and a brother.  The houses are small but the whole homestead has some larger structure, perhaps suitable for temporary housing?  The bunker itself must hold more people, if somewhat crowded.

Chapter One ends with the world holding it's collective breath and the homestead covered in snow.

Chapter Two

Having set up the situation, the story goes rapidly for several days, as supplies are received and a couple of new people arrive at the homestead.  The world economy is tanking and war looms in the East.  The breaking point is an announcement by the President of a bank "holiday", gold and gun confiscation with draconian penalties for non-compliance.  Whether this matches reality remains to be seen.  The point is, be ready now, for what might happen.  If you are following our media reports, today, there is certainly talk about just this kind of action, whether the market crashes or not.

Jerry's story has the expected response to a government gun confiscation.  People where not willing to give weapons and were willing to use them to defend their rights to "keep and bear arms".  Gold confiscation was also not welcomed, and certainly not at the prices being offered.  A media "blackout" was imposed, with the result that news reports become fewer and the information available more than a little suspect.

With "normal" communication lost, HAM radio was used for limited news reports.  The US withdrew it's troops from all foreign outposts, which may or may not actually happen.  This left the smaller countries open for attack by their neighbors and the world fell into a general state of war.  Nuclear weapons are used and the small group enters the bunker, except for the brother who leaves to bring back his long-time heart throb and their daughter.  Several more people are added to the group, and several others are rejected before everyone can get into the bunker.  Fallout is detected and measure are taken to decontaminate those who were exposed before they enter the bunker.

The scenario painted is one of people with some preparations already in place and others who did no real prep, despite some fairly big warning signs.  No bloodshed was necessary, but it was certainly a possibility.  My personal expectation is that if push comes to shove, there will be violence as people try to live.

With everyone inside, the bunker is sealed.  End of Chapter Two.


Chapter Three

There are now thirteen people in a bunker designed and supplied for twenty.  This is much better odds than one could expect to find in a public bomb shelter.  Given the amount of time available before the arrival of radioactive fallout, you may have time to travel to a shelter location, if you know where it is and have scouted the route.  In the story, they had several hours, but much depends on where you are at the time, where bombs are detonated and the prevailing winds at the time.

With everyone safe, life become somewhat routine and people fell into their roles.  The key here is having the ability to monitor radiation levels and knowing when it is safe (relatively) to risk additional exposure.  By the story line, about two months after the initial fallout, the levels were down to a tolerable level, but not enough to risk sleeping outside of the bunker.  Much depends on the type of weapons used and how the fallout is scattered by prevailing winds.  Remember that it is likely that more than one detonation occurred and there will likely be delayed fallout as winds carry material from distant points.

Also, remember that there could be repeat attacks, delayed by some time.  The story places a second detonation, fairly close to the bunker, two months after the first attack.  The group was prepared for another long wait, but the external video monitors showed a recognized vehicle outside the property.  The second detonation may have been an EMP attack, which disabled the vehicles, although not the electronics in the bunker...  This leads to two people leaving the bunker in protective gear to attempt a rescue before the radiation exposure could do too much damage to the vehicle occupants.  The older men elected to make the trip based on their life expectancy and the need to protect the younger people who might want to have children in the future.

The passengers turn out to be someone they knew and a family they did not.  On twist is the religious fanatic who is prepared die and take his family with him in the process.  This results in a death but the rescue of the wife and three children.  Everyone is returned to the bunker and decontaminated.  There are now five new members of the group, bringing the bunker to full occupancy.

The radiation exposure of the new people took it's toll, with the mother and younger daughter dying within a week to ten days and the two sons and the older women surviving.  The bodies were placed outside of the bunker, requiring additional radiation exposure but could not be buried outside until the radiation levels dropped.  The two older men, who wore protective gear, showed some symptoms of exposure, but recovered.  The lesson here is to have a means of handling bodies, particularly in a closed environment like the bunker.

During the extended waits, relationships developed among the various members of the group.  A marriage proposal is made and accepted, the orphaned children bond with the adults and life progressed.

All of this happened during winter, but with spring and a drop in the radiation level to one that was acceptable, the gardens and greenhouses were put into use.  The garden space was scraped to pull back the top layer of contaminated soil and the newly exposed ground tested.  It was found to be safe enough for planting.  This is a prime reason to have portable radiation meters.

HAM radio contacts with the outside world and other survivors revealed much loss of life, but the fact that their were survivors was significant.  As life progressed, expeditions were sent out to check the homes of several members of the group.  Some were gone, burned, others were being dismantled by less-than-friendly neighbors.  While some members had originally planned on leaving the shelter area and returning to their original home, the explorations changed their minds and plans were made to expand the housing around the original bunker.

One member of the group had medical training and wanted to open a clinic for the survivors.  It was decided that they could afford the fuel to run a mobile clinic.  Plans were considered for acquiring more fuel from abandoned sources in the nearby town.

With the need for more supplies and more work, plans for paying people for their labor were considered.  Some did not want to accept pay, until it was pointed out that they would need to hire more people from the available survivors outside the bunker property.  The need for a currency was recognized, but barter for labor, at least within the group, was not considered.

Further expeditions into town recovered canned goods and a workable RV.  With access to more tools, buildings and vaults were opened and quite of few guns and gold were found.  There were no encounters with other survivors until a few weeks later, when they were attacked by a gang that objected to having "their" mall being used for salvage operations.

The ensuing battle left the gang dead and one female hostage found alive.  She proved to be a capable individual and leads them back to the gangs headquarters where she recovered a small arsenal of guns and equipment.  She was given an accepted an invitation to visit the farm.  The woman turns out be a doctor, which adds a necessary skill set to the group.

Chapter Four

Prior to the start of growing season, salvage expeditions to nearby towns resulted in a lot of new supplies and pawnshops held a lot guns and gold.  Boots and shoes were found in mall shops.

The doctor knows another group with enough assets to be selling and trading, and that group knows another who can produce biodiesel fuel.  This results in an exchange for goods and foodstuff needed by both sides. 

One group member plans on opening a bar and grill with live music, after the economy recovers, so the salvage operation brings back musical instruments, along with juke box and electronic equipment.

Another 'find' is a pair of RV chassis which are planned for the mobile clinic.  They are added to the equipment salvage list. 

Needless to say, the amount of storage needed for all this is probably out of proportion to space available.  Planning is important but who can say just how much is enough?  The use of salvaged trucking trailers and moving vans makes a lot of sense for this.  The key is finding enough fuel for such fleet size operations.

More salvage expedition recovered medical equipment and medicines needed for the planned clinic.  The mobile clinics are rebuilt, advertising is posted listing the clinic location and the clinic put into service with payments accepted in the form of salvaged medical items.  The number of survivor is small, but most are in need of medical treatment and food.

In reality, the total amount of work performed is just short of staggering.  Personally, I suspect that people will be exhausted by simply making things work.  The size of the group needs to expand as people with the needed skills are found.  Not everyone is a jack-of-all-trades, but it sure helps the storyline...

In the storyline, surplus food is available, from both the farming operation and salvaged stores, it was decided to create a small farmers market which would travel with the clinic RV.  The same barter arrangement would work for food exchange with a preference for canning jars, lids and other equipment.  There was a need for security and this was addressed by additional people to serve as a rotating guard squad.  Again, the need for more, trusted, people in the group is obvious.

Chapter Five

The idea of gangs being formed in this situation is very real.  There are always people who will attempt to take from those who appear weaker or totally unarmed.  The storyline describes this and how it might be dealt with.  It was decided to lure one of the gangs to the shelter/farm, which was designed as a siege fort.  It also had working video surveillance.  When you know the enemy is approaching, it pays to hold the high ground...  The result was more of a slaughter than a battle.  This may have no relation to reality, but it does point to the need for armed protection and training in gun use.

Another gang was identified but it maintained a redoubt similar to the farm.  It was decided that the group from the farm would have to attack, rather than wait for a response from this new gang.  The main character spent time to scout the gang operation and plan a one-man operation against the gang.  This did not set well with most of the farm group, and with the exception of a small home guard, they all agree to participate.  There has been a significant change in attitude on the part everyone in the group, from before the SHTF event to the present situation.  I think this is a realistic change, since those who cannot adapt to the new world will be those who die first.

The attack was planned by the main character, without consultation with the other group member.  This scenario is both unwise and likely, based on the personality types in the story.

The attack is successful, with only the main character being injured.  He requires some serious medical attention, provided by the doctor.  He recovers and (shock) proposes to the doctor who (another shock) accepts.

Over the next months it is revealed that the survivors in nearby towns are recovering and a society is being rebuilt.  The planned bar and grill is built, which proves to be a success requiring the creation of a transportation system to bring in customers from neighboring ares.  Biodiesel is very successful, as are the other couple of larger survivor groups.  Some members of the farm group decide to move back into the nearby town.

Along with the entertainment industry, the market for alcohol and tobacco returns as does that for gambling.  The "world's old profession" also returns even if still viewed as something you don't talk about around the kids.

A large group wedding unites several couples within the farm group.  Children are born and the population begins recover.

Over the next few years, the medical clinic expands with another doctor and several nurses.  Medicines are still in short supply with no ability to manufacture most of the more advanced drugs and antibiotics.  I think this fact will be a major killer in such a scenario.  You can stockpile some medicines, but the manufacturing facilities will require serious technology and year of work.

With an economy growing, the use of gold and silver as money is firmly implanted, even if the difficulty of making small payments with fairly large size coins.  In the story, the use of non-precious metal coinage is accepted for making change from the large gold and silver coins.  I don't know how realistic this is, but the effort of counterfeiting may not be worth the value of the coins created.  At this point the closest thing to paper bills are barter exchange 'slips" which can be traded like money, if the parties agree.  Paper fiat bills are eventually created, which I think is an invitation for future trouble.  A banking system is established but the amount of paper bills is limited to a fraction of the gold and silver held in vault.

Another thing that is fixed by the passage of time is the return of wildlife.  Given half a chance, non-domestic animals will grow to the optimum population that the landscape will support.  Without massive human predation, this can become a very large number (think of the buffalo herds and pigeon flocks of the eighteen century and earlier.

With an ominous tone, the chapter ends with the main character worrying about future bad things which might be on the way (cue the ominous music as background).

Chapter Six

Yellowstone erupts, with the expected result of ash fall.  People were warned by the tremors although the HAM network couldn't report much until the news had a change to travel through that system.  People made a small run on the banks with people wanting gold and silver and not fiat paper bills.

The ash fall becomes significant, blacking out the sun and covering rooftops with enough weight to be a collapse danger.  Breathing masks and goggles were needed during the ask fall and for some time afterward as the light ash is blown by any winds.

When the ash falls slacked, the farm group made a laborious trip to the nearby town, to discover a few starving people being directed by people who who had taken their food and ruled with fear.  It took another death to end that situation. 

The farm operations are able to handle ash buildup, using power equipment.  Without such equipment, I don't see any way to handle the ash covering everything.  Plants die when their leaves are coated in ash.  Gardens must be swept clear before planting.  Doing this manually, with shovel and wheelbarrow may be beyond the ability of even a group like those in this story.

This second blow to the world would last for more years, but people would survive, perhaps because they learned how in the previous disasters.

END

My conclusion.  Overall a very thorough description of what might happen and how people might respond.  It contains a lot of lessons and some good hints about what can be done, now and in the post event future.  Well worth the reading time and worthy  of including in your book collection.  Thanks Jerry.