Dark Days Rough Roads (34 page)

They had
a little more than half a mile before they reached the road they needed. One of
the vehicles pursuing them turned into the marina and the other kept up
pursuit. Haliday couldn’t make out anything on the ham; his earpiece had fallen
out. He was just hell-bent on getting out of there.

They
reached the little river which was more like a creek in spots and started
riding in the water and on the bank. The vehicle following only made it in
about 100 feet before it got stuck. The occupants jumped out and fired. It was
hard to zero in on them due to the twisting of the waterway.

They rode
on for almost six more miles, cutting through multiple farms and across
multiple roads. They found a spot to stop. If they continued, it would
practically take them right to the militia compound. They wouldn’t be very
welcome there, that was for sure. Haliday sat there for a brief moment. He
tried to listen on the ham, but it was silent.

“Blake,
call the group and tell them to use the hams to start searching the
frequencies. Tell them they need to find out what these guys are talking about.
Here’s the book. Tell them to start with these. If those don’t work tell them
to do it the old fashioned way and have the ham scan for them.” All hell had
broken loose now. They were in the center of the fury.

Haliday
got up to go to the bathroom. A voice came from the woods. “Don’t you guys move
or so help me I’ll put a bullet in both of you.”

Haliday
looked at the guy. Mid-forties, medium build, brown hair, dressed in real tree
camo. Basically your average guy off the street around these parts. Haliday
looked over at Blake, “Don’t move, just stay still, and do what he says.”

“I plan
to, trust me.”

The man
asked, “Who are you guys?”

Haliday
answered, “I can explain that, you mind lowering that rifle first?”

“Yes I
do, it’s staying right here.”

“Ok, we
have some land just south of Cass City. We were just out and about checking out
the area. Seeing what else is going on around here.”

The guy
looked at them, “You expect me to believe that crap while you hide in the
woods?”

Roger
said, “I guess not, may I ask who you are, sir?”

“That’s
not important right now; you want to answer my question?”

Roger
figured, why not. “Sir, I don’t think you would believe me.” Haliday was going
to carefully word his answers and statements to try and figure this guy out.

“Go ahead
and try me out,” the man said.

Haliday
replied, “If I don’t answer, what do you intend to do then.”

There was
a long pause. “I have a few ideas, probably shoot you two so don’t worry.”

Haliday
asked him, “Why don’t you take us back to your camp and we’ll talk there?”

Here came
the response that set Haliday at ease a bit. “I don’t know you or what you’re
up to, but I sure ain’t taking you back to my house.”

Next
question from Haliday was, “What about your boss, the one that runs things?”

The next
answer came, “I’ll tell you the same thing I tell her—I wear the pants in the
family, now enough bullshit.”

“Ok,
listen. We came out here to go to our cabin and get away from the city. It’s
pure madness down there. We figured we might be safe up here. We went into town
looking for food and gas and ran into some trouble with your cohorts,” Haliday
told him.

“What
cohorts would those be?”

“Your
militia members.”

“I ain’t
a part of those assholes.”

Haliday
looked past the guy when he heard a noise and then a voice. “Hey Dad,
everything ok?” Two boys walked up.

“Stay
back sons, these guys might be trouble.”

Haliday
looked at the boys and spoke. “You guys save some of that food you got from
your aunt’s house?”

The
father spoke, “How did you know about that?”

Haliday
went on to explain the encounter the other night. The guy looked at them. “Why
were you guys hiding?”

“Like I said
it’s hard to explain.”

“You the
guys that have been causing the militia problems around here?”

Haliday
wasn’t sure how to answer. “Look, all we want to do is get the hell out of here
and get home.”

“You
avoiding the answers for a reason?”

“Look, I’m
taking a guess here. You were out hunting, and we happened upon this area here
and you watched us come in. You got us cold. These are your boys here and you
want to protect them and your family, right? Let me ask you a question, has the
militia done anything for you and your family? I mean, are they taking care of
you guys or are you fending for yourselves?”

“We’re on
our own, I guess,” was the answer.

“Then
isn’t it a good thing someone is pissing in their Wheaties?”

The guy
lowered his rifle and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry man, I
have the feeling I should be thanking you guys instead of pointing a rifle at
you. It’s been hell around here. A lot has happened and a lot of it because of
those militia. They didn’t waste any time when the power went out. No one
really saw it coming. Even the sheriff is one of them.”

“You mind
if we sit and talk?” Haliday asked.

“I’ll
tell you what; my house is a few hundred yards that way. The blue vinyl sided
one over there. We can go there if you want.”

Haliday
replied, “No offense but that’s not a good idea. If we’re seen, you end up in
deep trouble and no telling what they would do to you. Give me a few minutes
and I’ll heat up some coffee.” Haliday put some water on to boil. He made some
coffee in a canteen cup and handed it to the man. He made another with hot
cocoa in it and gave it to the boys to share.

“Tell
Blake and me what you know.”

The man
relayed his story. “Ok, the power went out and at first everyone thought it was
just the power. I was working down the street at the general store my brother
and I own. After a couple hours, I locked up and walked home. In the morning
when everything was still out, I figured it was bad. I went down to the store.

“When I
got there I saw a guy standing outside the door with a rifle dressed in camo. I
asked him who he was and he told me he was militia. I asked him to move and he
told me no. He told me the store was being appropriated by the Bad Axe Minute
Men. I asked him to produce some legal documents and he told me to leave. I
told him I would contact the police and he told me the sheriff was a minute man
and had given his ok on everything.

“They
wouldn’t let me in my own store. When I looked up and down the street I saw
quite a few of them standing by some of the stores and the gas station. Not
every store though. Just stores that sold food. I went back home and told my
wife. I took one of my rifles and went back. When I got there they had a couple
extra guys walking around the area so I hid my rifle. They had taped up some
kind of flyer on the windows.

“I read
the flyer; it said the area was under control of the minute men, and they had
confiscated merchandise for the good of the community. They had old army trucks
and they were emptying the stores. The big supermarkets they chained up and had
guarded. It ain’t a big town. Not many stores, but they got them all anyway.

“They
said they would be posting information in town and on certain buildings. The
flyers were all printed. Not sure if they can print or what. But it was really
odd. I felt like it was some kind of movie or something. I couldn’t believe it.
They said no one could walk around or travel with firearms. Curfew was dusk
until dawn. Few more rules; looters would be dealt with and all that stuff.

“I guess
they got some looters and they keep them at the airport with all of the stuff
they took. They have it locked up in hangars is what we were told. They have
tanks and everything.”

Haliday
interrupted him, “I’ll fill you in later on what they do and do not have,
please go on.”

The man
continued, “They caught people on the roads leaving and going to stay with
family. If they had guns they took them. Sometimes they beat the people too.
People around here are pretty frightened of them, but they keep telling us it’s
for our own good. Then you guys showed up. Man, they have it out for you guys.”

Blake
said, “Oh ya, wait until you hear the latest from them.”

The guy
continued, “They call you guy’s terrorists.”

“They put
out a flyer yesterday. They said in one more week they would open the trade
store up. It said you would have to trade jewelry, coins, or valuables for food
or gas. I don’t know how they can do that. It’s not right. It was our stuff to
begin with. My store could have fed us for a long time until the government
help came in.”

Haliday
rolled his eyes at that statement. Why do people insist the government will
always rescue them, he thought.

“Listen,”
Haliday said, “these guys are not legitimate according to constitutional law.
Even the damn sheriff is wrong. They are rogue thugs in my eyes. You people
need to band together and take back what is yours. Otherwise you guys are going
to die. You have anything at all from the store? Anything stored anywhere
else?”

“Not
really. I mean I have some stuff in my pole barn, but not any food. It’s all
toilet paper, paper towels, things like that which are bulky. I stored them
here to save space at the store.”

“Keep it
all, you can trade it for what you need. You’d be surprised how valuable a roll
of toilet paper will be. Speaking of, now that we’ve made acquaintances, I
really have to go squirt.” He left for a minute then returned. “Now, back to
business, where's your brother?”

“They go
to Arizona for a couple months each winter,” was the response.

It was Haliday’s
turn to talk a bit. “Now let me tell you what they have and what they are all
about.” He told the guy everything he knew about them. The guy was awestruck
over what Haliday told him. “They will be searching for us with a vengeance. We
killed six of them this morning. Somebody’s brother, son, husband, father,
whatever. But they got what they deserved. They got what they were giving out.
But we can’t do it all. We just want to get back to our own family as well.”

The man
asked them, “Where are you guys going to go?”

“We are
going to go find a place to camp until it’s safe for us to move out. We are
going to connect with our family and try and wait it out until we can go home.
Not sure when that will be. Hopefully soon.”

“Do you
guys have food and stuff?”

Haliday
lied when he answered. Ya, we have about two cases of MRE’s, a few more days’
worth of food for us, so we can hang out up here for about one week before
we’re hunting with you guys.”

The guy
thanked them for the coffee and cocoa. Haliday told him again, “This is still
your country, your state and your home. These guys don’t have the right to do
what they are doing. Should be enough of you out there to make a difference.
Before they summarily start executing people, I’d get an alliance together and
do something.”

“Can you
guys help?”

“We did
enough; it’s not our fight anymore. There’s nothing here for us now, we’re just
fighting to live now, just like you. I’ll try to check back before we head back
to the burbs. I wish you guys luck.” Roger and Blake took off and headed
straight south. Haliday told Blake they had to start being more careful to
avoid encounters like that again.

They went
straight south hoping the militia would stick to the north where they were
causing all of the trouble. They found a large patch of woodland near a small
city named Freidberger. Blake said, “Friedburger.” Haliday thought that sounded
good about now. Even though he had given up red meat except for a few times a
year, a nice juicy burger with bacon and cheese on it sounded real good right
now.

“This is
Roger, checking in.”

“Roger,
it’s Dad. We found the new frequency for the militia. It’s the fifth one you
gave us.”

“Hold on Dad.”
Roger had Blake tune in to the militia. “Okay go ahead.”

“You guys
are in deep trouble. They are on the hunt for you big time. They know you guys
are staying in the spots of woods. It’s not safe anymore. Did you guys really
do what they’ve been saying?”

“Dad, I
have no idea. We haven’t heard their claims. They could be full of it. We’re
going to find another place to hide. I’ll call you guys later.”

“Wait a
minute Roger, something else. Some guys from the militia snooped around a bit,
checked out the place with binoculars. They know someone is here, smoke from
the fireplace I guess. They left a letter in the mailbox with yellow caution
tape tied around it to get our attention. We went and got it when it was safe.

“It
states who they are and what their mission is. It says that all people in the
district they control must abide by the mandates they have in place. It’s a
whole list of crap, curfew, travel, all that garbage you said it was. They have
a form they want filled out and put back in the mailbox.”