The salmonella attack had been but a dry run for what was to come next.  Jennie knew that now.  But a year ago it was not so apparent – at least for the first couple of months. 

  

Sarin_SpecsIn retrospect she knew that it should have been obvious that something was very wrong when the Federal Government could not even identify the sources of the spreading epidemic.  But America was not prepared after seven years of childish incompetent, if not treasonous, leadership. 

 

Jennie and her husband were not affected by the dry run.  In fact to the vast majority of Average Americans the salmonella outbreak was just another scary story on their cable news, buried amongst the exploding bank failures, frantic “breaking news” about the Fed and Treasury trying to stick ever bigger fingers in the collapsing dike of the financial system, oil prices skyrocketing out of sight, and drug cartel violence spilling across the border into the United States. 

  

Little did we know that that violence gave cover to the main event by the terrorists.  

  

Jennie mused over how they had been so complacent.  Jim might still be with her here in their darkened cold house along side of her with his shotgun if they had been more aware.  

  

As she gripped her Ruger .22 Single-Six magnum pistol more tightly for reassurance, she whispered a little prayer of thanks to her Jim for insisting that she get the pistol and learn how to use it.  She had picked the weapon out herself, and thought the magnum version was too powerful, but he had overridden her objections.  Although at the time she had insisted the extra cost was not warranted for defense against home invasion, now she was grateful that he had insisted, and wished he had insisted on an AK-47 instead.  

  

But who could have guessed that survival would depend on staying awake all night with your weapon cocked and ready?  The electricity had gotten progressively less dependable, and the phones were unreliable.  Even if you did call for police help, the overburdened police forces were often unable to help in a timely manner.  And the gangs roamed pretty much at will after dark.

  

The thought hit her all of a sudden: the anthrax attack was never solved either.  She wondered why.  Could that have been the first attempt by Al Queada at a dry run in conjunction with the 9/11 attacks?  The government was not prepared to track that down – and it never did. Or at least the Average American never heard about it if the government knew anything. 

  

That might have been marginally excusable at the time, but the Bush administration had had ample warning and time to prepare for the future.  There was no forgiving its gross failure to protect America seven years after that event.

     

The terrorists were deadly accurate in there thrust at America’s Achilles heels.  The Average American was so dependent on a complex system for survival.  If the right brick could be removed from that complex structure at the right moment, the Average American would be up the creek without a paddle. 

   

The financial system was the real target.  They struck when it was in real danger of collapsing under its own greed and mismanagement.  The brick was the cash.  Once they poisoned the cash so that no one would handle it, the collapse of commerce dependent on the medium of exchange was unavoidable.  That was the push that destroyed the wobbly system.   

  

The coordinated sophisticated hacker attack on the ETF system prevented the Average American from resorting to credit card use.  That by itself was a devestating blow, but could have been weathered by itself until the electronic world was up and running again.  But without both cash and credit, the system's destruction was sealed.

  

The terrorist had secretly set up sites here in the United States within which they could dose great volumes of cash with Sarin in every sector of the country and get it into circulation fast.  The psychological effect of people around you all of a sudden coming down with terrible symptoms and dying in agony was way worse than 9/11.  It too was close to home for everyone not to create wild panic.

   

Jim had not succumbed to the Sarin attack.  They had been aware enough of what was happening that they had prepared for such an eventuality, and were able to stay holed up in their home.  He succumbed to gunshot wounds a few days after a shootout, along with some of their neighbors, with a well armed roving gang from down Mexico way.  Two other neighbors had been wounded, but they had recovered in the hospital.  

   

Jim had at least been able to get to the hospital.  Now that was no longer a possibility.  The gangs had attacked and ransacked all medical facilities for the drugs and anything else of value on the black market.  Now the remaining neighbors waited apprehensively along with Jennie, knowing that they were on their own.  

   

She snapped out of her reverie as she heard the squeal of tires and the roar of a powerful engine turning into her cul de sac …