Avenging Home (34 page)

I nodded. “Yeah, they should be on any time now.”

Livingston pointed at the radio. “That what you’ve been listening to them on?”

Holding it up, I laughed. “Yeah. It ain’t much, but it works.”

We moved around to the other side of the truck to block some of the sound from the band. It wasn’t long before the little radio crackled to life.

Good evening fellow Patriots. You’re listening to John Jacob Schmidt coming to you from the Radio Free Redoubt. Broadcasting to all of you in occupied territory and those outside the wire. Bringing you the news you need in these trying times. We have a recording we’re going to play for you tonight that’s chilling. We here in the redoubt are working to confirm this information. Be warned, what you’re about to hear has serious implications for all of us.

A man’s voice that was obviously recorded began to play. It sounded like a radio conversation.

There’s smoke coming over the horizon. Thick black columns of it! We’ve even seen contrails from what must be rockets.

Another voice asked,
Where are you?”

Cape Hatteras. This has been going on all day! I can only imagine what’s going on out there.

Must be the Navy going at it with someone.
The other voice said.

Yeah, but who?

I’ve heard the Russians and Chinese were coming. They must be trying to stop them.

There’s another one! Another rocket just crossed the horizon!

Do you see any planes?

No, it’s far off. Can’t even hear anything.

This ain’t good. Ain’t good at all.

With that, the recording stopped, and John came back on the radio.
Folks, if this is the Navy in ship to ship battle with Chinese or Russian forces, we are in real trouble.

We traded looks around. It was sobering news. To think we just got things settled down and we could be facing a much, much larger issue now was disheartening. I thought about what that possible future could look like as the broadcast continued.

Here at the Redoubt we’re trying to verify this recording, but our preliminary findings are that it is indeed credible. Our contacts inside the DOD have been out of touch, and this only reinforces the fact they have their hands full. We’ve talked about this very scenario in previous broadcasts and it looks as though they are coming to pass.

If you haven’t prepared yourself, your family and community for what’s coming, you need to do it now. Because folks, it looks like time is running out. We are about to be in the fight for our lives. We’re cutting tonight’s broadcast short to give everyone more time to prepare.

A woman’s voice came on next.
Good evening Patriots, standby for a message….. To our patriots under the Birch tree. To our patriots under the Birch tree. 27807 96664 40629 12071 50393 15323 15996 16341 32069 35757 19073 82868 24366 72726 77987 09349 50907 87851 15215 34264.

When the coded message stopped, Toby Keith’s song “American Soldier” started.
Speaking over the intro, John said,
Now we’re all American soldiers.”

At some point Cecil showed up.
I realized he was there when he said, “I’ll decode this later.”

Looking at him, I asked, “When did you show up?”

He smiled. “I been around.”

Sarge asked, “You think you have the one-time pad for this?”

“I’ll go through my stack of them and see.”

Sheffield looked at Sarge. “Can you try and make contact with folks up the chain? You seem to have better luck than I do.”

Sarge leaned back on the truck. “Fawcett was just here. You heard what he had to say. We know this is coming; and from the sounds of that broadcast, it’s already started.” He looked around at all of us. “The question is, what are we going to do about it”

Shaking my head, I started to walk away. Sarge called out to me, “Where the hell are you going?”

Looking back, I said, “This sounds like a military issue. I’m going to be with my family while I have the time. From the sounds of what we just heard, things are about to change.” I looked out across the park where people still danced and the music played. “There’s nothing I can do about it tonight. So for tonight, just for one night, I’m going to pretend things are just fine.” I saw Little Bit dancing around the fire with Mel. “Right now there’s a couple of ladies over there I want to spend some quality time with. Enjoy it while you can, guys. The only day we’re guaranteed is yesterday.”

With that, I walked across the park, leaving them to think about it. We’ve had enough worry. Enough fighting. Tonight wasn’t about that. I came up behind Little Bit and scooped her off the ground. She laughed and kicked and I plopped her back on her feet. Taylor was standing on the side of the fire watching everyone run and dance. I grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the swirling circle of bodies.

As we made our way around the fire, I grabbed all of the girls by the hand, pulling them out. When I pulled Fred out, she dragged Aric with her. Mary did likewise with Thad when I dragged her out. Making another pass, I pulled Jess out. She resisted, saying she couldn’t dance, to which I replied, “Me neither!” As I passed Doc, I grabbed him and tried to pull him out, but he planted his heels and wouldn’t budge. So Instead, I pushed Jess into him, that was good enough.

I found Mel in the crowd and we danced through the swirling bodies. Seeing Miss Kay off to the side, I guided us over to her. Leaning in, I pointed at Sarge. “Go over and get that old man out there!”

Kay blushed. “Oh, I couldn’t.”

Mel grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards him. “Yes you can. Go get him!”

Kay laughed and covered her mouth. Looking back over her shoulder, she shrugged and started off in his direction. Mel and I went back into the circle and bumped into Gina and Dylan. We laughed and traded partners and made a pass around the fire. Before long, everyone was changing up, and we all found ourselves dancing with people we didn’t even know. The fun was infectious and much needed.

The band quickly got into it as well, calling out to change partners. It was during one of those changes that I turned to see Kay and the old man. I smiled and held out my hand. “Mind if I cut in?” I asked.

“I do!” Sarge barked. “Find your own. This one’s mine.” Kay blushed and smiled and the two of them disappeared into the crowd again. I couldn’t help but smile at them. It’d taken long enough, but seeing that proved this was the greatest night I’d experienced in a long time. I went off to find Mel again, who I would dance with until the sun started to come up. Come what may tomorrow, I was going to enjoy this night, every last minute of it.