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and Harry’s units were constructed, though not finished inside. Barbara’s was close, and the others were coming along nicely, as were the common buildings.
    With the additional money from the buyout, Brady had started negotiations to get commercial power to the site. They had stalled, but during the three months Brady was gone Barbara had continued to pester the power company. They finally agreed to split the cost with the MAG of bringing in the new line from the nearest source.
    The line would be pole mounted until it reached the compound. From the transformer bank at the edge of the main clearing the service lines would go underground. Brady had to do some tricky trench design work to get the main line into the compound perimeter to avoid the various tunnels.
    Like he had done with co-workers and acquaintances in St. Louis, Brady had begun building up friendships within and around Branson. That included the Branson police and the county sheriff and his deputies. They introduced him to the Missouri Highway Patrolmen that worked the area.
    They were well aware of the several survivalist compounds in the area. So far none had developed into the media description of survivalists, but they were keeping a wary eye on all of them they knew about.
    Brady was fairly open with them all about what he was doing, without revealing too much. They seemed to appreciate his coming to them openly about the compound. It helped that he lent his talents to them on a couple of cases on an informal basis.
    One of the Branson officers, as well as one of the sheriff’s deputies, contacted Brady and expressed an interest in joining the MAG. Brady was happy to invite them in as minor investors. He was relatively certain that each of them would keep their respective departments apprised of the goings-on of the MAG, but Brady was keeping it strictly legal, and decided the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
    Another was the farmer that was bringing in the manure for the garden plot. Brady convinced him to join the MAG as a no dollar investment outside member. The farmer would be responsible for the garden plot and orchard. His own farm would provide beef, chicken, pork, and dairy products at a reduced, guaranteed, price, for a spot in the compound for him and his family.
    The MAG would finance some shelter space on site at the farm, and help provide security if it ever became necessary. It would also subsidize a fuel alcohol still and a small scale biodiesel production set up if the farmer would put some of his fields into good oil producing plants.
    As the gaps between the existing walls became filled with the housing units the compound became a real compound. It was going into winter before all the housing units were completed. All the primary investors had used the same construction method as had Brady in his construction of the garage/utility building, creating fire and bullet resistant walls, even inside the compound.
    Though the political situations around the world were still calm, Brady continued with the preparations, despite the winter coming on. He hoped for a mild winter like the one previous, but he didn’t count on it. It was well he didn’t. The final touches on three commercial green houses in the middle of the compound were completed in a light snowfall.
    More of the solar water pumps were paralleled in the concrete water tank, and fed to a thousand-gallon pressure tank to provide the pressurized well water to all the buildings.
    Two of the manufactured housing units Brady had ordered got stuck on the road coming in during a heavy rain. They wouldn’t be placed until the following spring, when they could be retrieved without damaging them.
    The manufactured housing units were for the minor investors. Well insulated and efficient, they offered little ballistic and only moderate fire protection. The residents would use the community shelter if it became necessary. The units that made it were placed against the inside compound