FMXXXVII – The Long Darkness

After years of preparing for TEOTWAWKI due to politics, zombie apocalypses, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., you always thought you could count on the rising sun to be your friend.  Then one day it was your worst enemy.  It started like any other summer day… bright morning, pleasant weather… Then everything… every last electronic device, shut down, cooked or caught on fire, due to a massive solar flare. Your world became eerily quiet… and when the sun went down, none of the lights came on.

The government had contingency plans for small-scale, short-term emergencies, but nothing like this.  With everything grinding to a halt, and the only working power systems and electronic equipment on the other side of the world, it was going to be a long and rough period for America.  With most communications and transportation systems completely dead, the federal government became mostly powerless to maintain order.  Disorder and violence ruled the dark nights, and made the days nearly as dangerous.

Your family had always maintained a relatively off-the-grid compound, in a semi-rural part of your state.  Knowing how to hunt, fish and grow your own food, as well as all of the other preparations, was really paying off.  Your family was living in relative comfort and safety while the metropolitan areas were disintegrating into chaos.  Then, six months into the Long Darkness, things started to change.  Large gangs of aggressive scavengers had begun to roam the countryside.  On a foray to a friendly compound to exchange goods and news, you come across one of these gangs, nearing your compound, preparing for attack.

Due to various skirmishes, your personal armory is becoming limited. You’re down to the last of your rifle and pistol ammunition, but you have plenty of shotgun ammo.

Stop, disrupt and thwart the attack.  Defend your family.  Survive another day.

Stage 1: - Dry Land (Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun, Buckshot and Slugs):

Starting off with rifle and pistol in a retreating / running gun fight, you run them dry. You retreat to your pushcart where your shotgun and ammo are, load up and continue the fight with buckshot and precision slug fire.

Stage 2: - Woods (Shotgun w / Slugs):

Running gun battle through the woods, forced to retreat to your compound where you are able to engage with slugs. Precision slug fire is very bad news for the scavengers. This stage will be very heavy on slugs, with long and tricky shots.

Stage 3: - Swamp (Shotgun w/ Buckshot):

Having devastated the invaders with precision slugs at your compound, they are beating a retreat through the swamp. You cannot afford to have any enemy survivors returning with reinforcements, so you pursue them through the swamp with extreme prejudice.