Page 113 - The Lost Ways

priority is to keep wrongdoers out of your community. If they run, it’s usually best to just
let them get away; chasing them uses manpower and resources you can’t afford.

But posses had another use, and that was for self-defense against a large group of
attackers. That’s something you’re almost certainly going to need.

Sheriffs in the Old West had a legal right to draft manpower and were backed up by the
threat of penalties under Posse comitatus. That’s an advantage you won’t have. Law will
have broken down; you’re trying to hold a little piece of it together, but you can’t do it by

imposing fines on people who won’t join your posse. Ten to one they aren’t going to pay
the fines either. You’ll have to use persuasion, and again, most people will see the sense
behind it. Those who don’t will probably change their minds the first time your posse
proves its worth.

Raising a posse isn’t something you can leave until the barbarians are at the gates. You
have to know who you can call on that will be willing to help. Traditionally, that was all
able-bodied men; now it’s any able-bodied adult. You have to make sure they all have
access to a gun, ideally a long gun. If any don’t, see if you can get those with multiple guns

to loan one—and make sure the borrower knows how to use it.

Arrange a place for the posse to assemble if gunfire breaks out: somewhere central and
easily reached but not in the line of fire from the ways into your neighborhood. If you can
and if you have enough people, organize them into teams, and try to spread any veterans
among those teams to reinforce them.

When the community comes under attack, the last thing you want is for everyone to rush
toward the sound of the guns. What if the raiders have split into two groups? Keep a
reserve to deal with anything unexpected. An old sheriff wouldn’t take everyone with
him; he’d leave at least one trusted deputy and enough men to protect the town while
he was gone.

Sheriffs in the Old West had some other powers that you don’t. They could convict and
imprison or hang lawbreakers. Don’t even go there unless it’s clear the disaster is

permanent. Yes, you could lock someone up in your garage and call it the town jail, but
you’d just have to feed them. As for executions, that’s very dangerous territory. Even in
the worst-case scenario, like a major EMP attack, there’s a good chance the government
will regain control eventually. If that happens, you don’t need questions being asked
about what happened during the crisis.

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