Dark Days Rough Roads (31 page)

“Oh man,
you’ve got to be kidding me,” he said aloud. Blake asked him what he was
talking about. Haliday laid it all out there for him.

“So that
makes it real hard huh?”

“Well,
based on my last airport experience and I’m not talking about being groped by
the TSA, I don’t want anything to do with it.”

“What are
we going to do then?”

“Think
about it carefully, that’s what.

“Blake,
these railroad tracks will take us right through what I think is their HQ. The
airport on the right and this land on the left with the big pond is probably
theirs. The airport gives them a huge advantage on three sides as far as
visibility, it’s all open. The front can be covered easily enough with
manpower, especially if they are using the main building as their admin area.

“What I
propose we do is take these tracks up as far as we can. We head into the woods
to the east of the airport and then walk up as far as we can go. We’ll listen
in to their traffic and watch for a while and take some notes. See what we can
learn. We might have to stay a couple days. After that, we play it by ear. No
rescues, no diversions, just recon.

“I’m
going to call the group and let them know what’s going on. I want them to get a
couple guys together and keep them on alert in case we need some help. It
wouldn’t hurt to have some extra firepower in case it gets hairy and we need
help getting out. If that happens we’ll shoot straight for the house and say
our prayers along the way.”

Haliday
and Blake took off. All of the radio traffic they had heard recently pointed to
the militia patrols still concentrating on the northern areas. They used this
advantage to creep up into position. They settled into the wooded area directly
east of the airport. They covered up the bikes, grabbed their gear and started
the short hike toward the airport.

They were
close to the perimeter, but still hidden in the woods. Haliday and Blake laid
down their wool blankets on the cold ground. They concentrated on concealing
themselves. This might have been a good time for a ghillie suit, he was
thinking. But how much could he actually carry on the bikes. Blake’s didn’t
have saddle bags. He had to use some extra canvas packs that Haliday had extra
and with the rest of the gear it was tight. That was the main reason he left
his M24 at camp.

He did
take his spotting scope and would be using this. He had Blake cover himself up
with a smaller blanket and use his flashlight to take notes. Haliday’s maps had
aerial photos and he used this as a guide to jot down a rough sketch of the
area and number the buildings. Blake and Haliday were ready.

“Ok
Blake, I definitely see activity. I think this is the place.” He slowly worked
the scope around. “Building one, definitely their HQ. They have stalled cars in
place around the entire front and the sides of it for protection. Concertina
wire inside the fence too. Looks like they also have some fighting positions
fortified in a few locations amidst the cars. Everyone seems to be going in and
out of this building.

“It looks
like they pushed the planes out of the hangars and are using buildings 2 and 3
as some sort of motor pool. I can see the door open on one and see some
vehicles inside, but the other one just has a vehicle parked in front of it.”
They heard a small vehicle and Haliday covered the scope and ducked down again.

The
vehicle was running along the fence line and spotlighting it as they drove
along. The closer they got the more Haliday could make out. It was another side
by side four wheeler of some sort with two people in it. One was driving and
one was spotlighting the perimeter and both were wearing the same Russian camo
and they were armed. They continued on with their check. “Blake, it’s 2200hrs;
write that check down.”

Haliday
waited and listened. As soon as the four wheeler stopped by the admin building,
the occupants went inside. They weren’t calling in these checks so they must be
telling them when they go inside that everything is ok. He was wondering what
they would do if they came across a problem. Probably best not to find out.

He
scanned the other buildings as well. “Blake, building four has activity, but I
can’t tell what. I can only see the back of it. Looks like they are taking parts
into it, but I’m not sure what kind. They might be trying to get a plane
working. The other two buildings look big enough for their motor pool. I doubt
they need a third. We’ll have to keep checking on this one.”

2300
hours rolled around and the four wheeler made another circuit around the fence
line only this time they went the opposite direction. Midnight would reveal
their pattern. Hopefully it’s not every hour on the hour and just alternating
direction. Security 101, do not create a pattern. Change it up every time. Same
with the time, you do not do it on the hour, half hour, etc; you had to make it
seem random. Someone must have OCD or something.

Haliday
waited and then scoped the area once again. He saw the hangar door of the third
building open. “Yep, definitely part of their motor pool. They have a couple
deuce and a halves in there.”

“Deuce
what?” Blake asked.

“Big
trucks. Blake, think of
Good Morning Vietnam
when they were all sitting
around in the trucks waiting to move out.”

“I didn’t
see that movie, but I understand now.”

“They
have something else in the back, but I can’t quite see it.”

He saw a
few guys leave building four and turn the lights off. “How did I miss that?”
Haliday said. He looked around and found it. “Ok, got it, Building six looks
like it’s a power house or generator building. I can see the exhaust. They must
have power to the whole complex, but selective on what they are running. I
wonder how much fuel they have. No telling though. It looks like an underground
fuel tank.”

He
eyeballed the rest of the buildings over the next hour. Nothing he could really
see going on. Midnight came along and the security check was just like the
first. “Unbelievable,” he said, “they are too routine for their own good. They
have half of it right, but then make some dumb mistakes. They make it too easy
for someone to plan something.”

He heard
a loud truck in the area. He watched the entrance closely and saw an old army
surplus fuel truck pull in. Two guys were at the main gate checking vehicles
that were entering and exiting. He watched the fuel truck as it pulled up near
the generator building. “Looks like they are siphoning fuel from the gas
stations and then filling these tanks.”

After the
truck emptied its load it went and parked near the motor pool. Shortly
afterwards the whole complex went almost dark. They had either turned the
generator off or killed most of the power to everything except what was
critical. Maybe just the admin building was still powered up.

“You need
to stretch or anything Blake?”

“No, I’m
ok for a bit.”

“Ok,
rotate your ankles, stiffen your legs then bend your knees, rock from side to
side to keep your blood flowing and legs warm. Do not let them fall asleep. If
you have to get up and run you’ll be in a world of hurt. If you need to go to
the bathroom, then get up and go, don’t get plugged up again or risk an
infection from not wizzing.”

Other
than the security patrols of the compound nothing else really happened all
night. He did notice a lot of checks around building seven though. He didn’t
pick up on this earlier. Maybe it was due to the activity during the day and
none at night. Might be that he simply noticed the flashlight more in the dark.

Right
around 0530 the activity started to pick up. There were people coming out of
what he called buildings 8 and 9. These looked like they may be the housing for
the complex. Probably had sleeping quarters set up in there. Easier to keep
everyone warm that way without heating too many buildings.

He waited
until the 0600 patrol made its round and then called Mike as he continued to
watch. “Hey Mike, put Bill on for me will you please.”

“Ok, here
he is.”

“Roger
it’s Bill, how can I help you?”

“What can
you tell me about the Bad Axe airport?”

“The
memorial airport?”

“Whatever
they call it. What do you know?”

“It’s
very small, mostly all private planes, smaller stuff, and a couple helicopters
I think.”

“What
about the buildings. What about the main building?”

“Oh, it’s
their offices. Actually when you go in there it’s pretty nice, they have a
small little snack bar, you can rent out a large conference room too. Nice big
lobby, that’s all I know.”

“Ok, that
helps, thanks.”

“What’s
going on there?”

“It’s the
militia HQ now.”

“My buddy
is a pilot, the one who wanted to recruit me. So are a couple of his friends.”

“Is he a
big guy, black hair, mustache, attitude?”

“No, my
buddy is a smaller gray haired guy.” Haliday was trying to figure out who the
leader of this group was.

During
the conversation he noticed that the patrols had changed shifts. The day shift
headed out and within 10 minutes the night crew came in. After putting their
vehicles away, they went into the HQ. People continued to filter out of 8 and 9
and head to the HQ. Haliday figured they used the snack bar to cook and the
conference room to eat and hold meetings.

“You
ready to go Blake?”

“I sure
am.”

They were
about to get up when Blake said, “Look Roger.” Roger looked and saw three
people heading toward building seven pushing a cart. Two were heavily armed. They
opened a couple locks on the door and pushed the cart inside and took what
looked to be a partially empty one out. It was chow time for their captives. This
is where they were holding them; whoever they may be that is. No telling how
many of them there were either. Enough to need a cart for their food.

This
small group went back to the HQ. “Ok Blake, we need rest, let’s go get some.”
They packed up, messed up their area to hide their presence of being there and
went back to where the bikes were. A quick meal and radio call, then some rest.
They’d make sure they got some decent sleep over the next eight hours. Haliday
was analyzing the info he just acquired as he laid there.

“You
sleeping yet Roger?”

“No,
what’s up?”

“Why are
you so worried about these people and what they are doing?”

“You mean
the militia?”

“Ya,
them.”
“Well Blake, here’s the way I see it. Here in this country we have our
constitution. Now it’s been crapped on time and time again the past few years,
more so than any other time period. Slowly but surely, its meaning is being
eroded and the Supreme Court is trying to rewrite it from the bench.

“The
country is in a position now where we need to make sure we live up to the
meaning of the document in its purest form. We are practically back to that
period in time when it was written. Oh, we have modern housing, some
conveniences and such to an extent, but the next few years will be very
different than they were a week ago, but very similar to a couple hundred years
ago.

“Within
the Bill of Rights are some very basic rights we can’t take for granted. The
right to bear arms, the right to freedom of speech, the protection from
unlawful search and seizure, no cruel or unusual punishment and the right to a
fair trial. You follow me so far?”

“Yes sir,
I do.”

“Ok,
good. Now here is what I see now.

“This
group has declared this area to be theirs. They are taking what they want, when
they want and from whom they want. Not for the good of the people, but for
their own good. I don’t see them sharing anything with anyone. You think they
paid for anything they brought in there? I doubt they paid for that tanker full
of fuel. I doubt they paid for this airport or anything else they have acquired
most recently.

“A
traditional militia is about their own community but they also support those
around them. They may not take them under their wing or into their shelters,
but they certainly don’t steal from anybody or pull the BS they are pulling
here. They really don’t make sense to me. To me they are an enemy.

“They
took that family’s gun at the tornado shelter. He had a right to bear arms and
carry that gun, more so today than ever. They have people down there being held
prisoner for who knows what reasons. You think they had the right to due
process? You think they are getting trials? Who knows how they are even being
treated. Especially the ones caught while they were looking for us. They are
forcing their will upon the people around here and I would say they’re doing it
with fear and with force.

“I don’t
see these guys as a typical militia. I see them as nothing but a bunch of
hoodlums who have strayed far from their original goal, if they even had one. I
see a force of people no better than a lot of war criminals or Third World warlords. Years ago I took an oath. In that oath it stated enemies both foreign
AND domestic. These are enemies, Blake, I know that now.