Tuesday.

Six of us were at the turnoff to greet the NG patrol. At first it was a little tense until each of our intentions became known! The young 2ND Lieutenant's name was Aaron Masters. Really a pretty decent guy as it turned out! He was from Albuquerque N.M. He mentioned that the light to our east wasn't from a nuke, but from fires purposely set to burn down N.M. He also told us what the situition was in AZ.

Foreign troops had been staged below the border. Chinese, Cuban, and Nicaraguan. Gee, Red Dawn was closer to the truth then anyone ever figured! They invaded when the nukes went off on the west coast. Chinese nukes btw, thanks Bill!!!!!

The enemy met fierce resistence in Graham county in the south east part of the state. What the residence lacked in numbers they made up in firepower and determination!!! One crazy with a quad 50 took down a whole squad of Hinds before the fast movers took him out!!!! They are holding despite being outnumbered 2 to 1!!!!

West of Phoenix, their light armor rolled up past Wickenburg until the terrain slowed them down. That's when the ambushes started. A mine here, a trip wire there, and the enemy slowed to a crawl. The snipers would take down anyone who showed themselves!

Masters told us that the military was going to make a stand at the Mogollon Rim south of Payson. Williams and Luke Air Force bases had been wiped out along with most of the fighter jets stationed there. About thirty had gotten airborne and about 25 escaped the first nuke blast. They were going to come back from Colorado with a vengence to offer air support to the ground troops!

The next few days would be very telling as to what areas were ours and which ones were theirs! I still wasn't getting much comms except by satellite. The President was telling people not to panic (YA) and to stay where they were. He kept saying help was on the way! We could see our fast movers screaming overhead going south. Almost as many came back as went!!!

The rad meter was starting to pick up a little radiation, but nothing to worry about so far. We all took our KIO3 and went about our business as usual around the farm. We didn't turn the goats out to pasture but kept them close in. I further sandbagged all the entrances to our house and all the outbuildings. I checked our cisterns and sealed them off. I put plastic sheeting over our 1/4 acre garden. What a hassle!!! Camo net went over all our vehicles. Our dirt bike, atv, and my beemer were safe in the garage. I brought as much wood inside the house as would fit without getting in the way.

By evening the radiation had doubled since morning. I told everyone to take a long look as this would probably be the their last time outside for a week or two!!!! The sunset was beautiful, but the dust carrying radiation causing the beautiful colors was suspect. I checked the stock one more time to make sure they had enough food and water for 2-3 days and went inside.

Spirits were reasonably good considering the situition. We tried to use up our fresh veggies by making a large pot of stew. I told everyone to savor the flavor of the meat, as we won't be seeing much in the future!

I stood guard until midnight. Robert took over then and I relieved him at 4:30 am. Things were quiet. Too quiet!!!!!