End of Days

Whiteman AFB Missouri

Primarily strategic bombers and drones.

Many other surviving units of the US Air Force seek refuge?

20,000 feet detonation altitude of one Megaton nuke.

Max overpressure is only 1 psi. Barely breaks windows. Not best for story.

Slant range for lethal thermal radiation from one Megaton nuke is 5 to 10 miles depending on atmospheric conditions and skin pigmentation.

Velocity greater than Mach one at bomb release, say 500 meters per second. Two minutes from release to detonation.

Assuming 10,000 feet HOB

Max overpressure = 15 psi at ground zero.

4 psi radius = 5 miles.

Delay time equals 25 seconds.

A Week Later

The rising sun was at George's back as he followed Grandpa Zurcher's pickup. George was driving his new Freightliner Argosy while Alice was driving the diesel Dodge with Leon riding shotgun. Alice was more than competent to drive now that the roads were finally thawed.

George had found his Freightliner Argosy parked in a shop by the waterfront. Someone had ordered the truck to be assembled from a glider kit. Aside from an eighteen speed, Roadranger, manual transmission, it had an old school Caterpillar-3406B, remanufactured engine. Someone had obviously specified the obsolete engine because it had a mechanical fuel injection pump. The engine wasn't as powerful and fuel efficient as some of the more modern, electronically controlled engines. It certainly didn't meet the modern emissions standards that no one had ever given a damn about. However; the old school Caterpillar with wet sleeves was still able to run when more modern engines were dead in the water.

George had been compelled to spend a few days servicing his new truck. He'd had to install new batteries of course. The tires and custom wheels had been mounted and balanced, but he'd had to air them up and install them himself.

The Argosy was pulling a B-train. Aside from a twenty-six foot flat bed, he was pulling a fifty-three foot tilt bed. The combination wasn't legal, of course. George's commercial drivers license had expired years ago. However; there were no longer any cops or courts to object.

The trailers were stuffed with lathes, milling machines and other machine tools. Everything was old school with manual controls rather than computer. George had even salvaged a crankshaft grinding lathe and a line boring machine! The Armadillos would have even more tools with which to rebuild civilization.

The nuking of Chicago had been a blessing in disguise. The atrocity had thoroughly discredited the remnants of the Federal government. The cackling whore of Babylon had been summarily executed by her own troops. They'd left her impaled corps on display for days. Missouri was joining the Confederacy. A delegation from Indiana and Illinois was journeying to Texas to discuss joining. The new Confederation would probably spread West to include Idaho. Even Oregon and Washington might join, assuming that the day of detonations and the aftermath had killed enough of the useless idiots who'd governed those states.

George looked once again at Mary. The Argosy 's heater was working now that George had jury rigged manual controls. She hadn't bothered to get dressed after they'd given the bed of the Argosy's sleeper cab yet another workout barely an hour ago. George's semen was still seeping from between her labia to soak her pubic hair. She'd belatedly confirmed his presumption that she remained fertile. There was a good chance that George had gotten her pregnant. There was also a chance that Deke had gotten Mary pregnant. There was even a chance that George had gotten Deidre pregnant. It was all good. They had a world to repopulate.