Dark Days Rough Roads (40 page)

Everyone
was standing around now. They started to ask a bunch of questions. Haliday
stopped them all. “You guys know a doctor around here?”

They all
kind of looked at each other. One guy spoke up, “Ya, my neighbor, but I don’t
speak to him, why?”

“You have
three wounded that need attention. Get them loaded in this four wheeler and
take them there. He won’t like it, but he’ll help, it’s in their genetic make
up. Then hook back up with Rob.”

They got
the injured guys loaded up and the four wheeler took off. Rob said, “What if
the patrols get them?”

“They are
all in the compound right now, Rob. I don’t think they are coming back out any
time soon. Too many injured and dead to worry about, and we just handed them
their asses. We took hits too, but we hit hard with those planes and that
track.

“Is there
a place we can go talk?”

One of
the guys spoke up. “We can go to my tooling shop just down the street.”

“Ok,
let’s go.” They left the burn barrel going and went down to the tooling shop.
The barrel might lead the militia to believe they were still near the feed store.
As they walked by the feed store, Haliday looked the place over. “We’ll grab
our bikes and meet you there.”

The guy
unlocked the door; Haliday posted someone near the door to keep an eye out.
“Before we start, what’s in the bins and everything over there at the feed
store?”

“Oh, it’s
corn, wheat and soy. Same with the trucks in the lot.”

“Damn,
that’s a lot of food. I’m surprised they didn’t take it.”

“Well,
they tried, but no way to move it in bulk. They were trying to find a truck to
tow the trailers.”

Haliday
was surprised they hadn’t posted a guard there. “I thought it was a feed store,”
he said.

Rob said,
“No, it’s an elevator co-op, too.”

“Hold on
before we continue.” Haliday called the group.

Kevin
came on the radio. “We’re all fine. Uncle Roger, are you guys ok? We got
worried. We heard them say they took out the leader and thought it was you.
Dawn and Grandma are basket cases. Well, they were. Now that they heard your
voice, they are ok, I guess.”

“Ya, we’re
fine. I’m going to cover a few things with these people here. I have to get
them organized so they can handle the militia themselves now. Give them some
ideas and plans. We’ll be there soon.”

“Ya, you
keep saying that.”

“Ok, ok,
we’ll be there when we get there.”

Haliday
gathered the guys around. “This shop have any welding tools?”

Andy the
shop owner answered. “Ya, we have plenty of tanks and torches. It’ll be old
school, but we can manage.”

“You have
sheet metal at all?”

“Nothing
more than ¼ inch.”

“What
about the other shops in the area, there’s a bunch of them I noticed.”

“I’m sure
we have quite a bit if we put it together,” the shop owner said.

Roger
looked at him, “That’s good to know.

“Anyway,
you guys have seen first hand how the militia here is operating right? So you
all know first hand along with the rest that those people are not here for the
good of the community. You need to spread the word.”

“How do
we do that?” someone asked.

“Word of
mouth, use markers and write on their bulletins, whatever you can think of,”
Rob told him.

“Use the
ham, search for others, pass the word about who they are and what they are
about. Let them know you do not recognize their authority. Make sure they
understand that. Make sure you tell them you are now in charge.” Rob looked
concerned. “Not like your pal Jim did, I mean the community is in charge.”

“I told
you guys already you need to be teamed up when you are out. I also told you
that you need to be armed. That means everyone who can fire a weapon. Power in
numbers. Carry as much ammo as you can. Avoid firefights, shoot and run to get
the hell out of there. You get out of there as fast as possible. They’ll win a
straight up firefight.”

“The gas
stations are important. You need to lock them all down and let them know what’s
going on. That gas is a precious commodity. You might want to think about treating
as much of it as you can. Any stabilizer you can find you should use. Don’t let
them get that either. If you place a car over the tank access and take the
wheels off, it’s hard to move it that way.”

“Save any
canned food for last. Eat what’s fresh first. Use that grain. Hit up the
library and check for cookbooks. Same with auto repair manuals, electrical
repair, hell, anything you think you might need. Conserve your wood, burn it
for warmth, not comfort. There’s a difference. Only burn enough to keep the
edge off the cold. Use clothing and blankets to keep warm.”

“Think
about teaming up in households. It’ll help save wood and the safety factor is
worth it alone. Make sure the houses are secured; keep doors locked, windows
secured, all that good stuff. I can’t tell you enough how important it is.
Remember safety and security at all times and in all locations.”

“If you
guys plan to hunt, try to keep it reasonable. I mean, don’t hunt to eat meat
every day. You can overhunt. If you all go out and hunt everything in sight,
within a few weeks it’ll be impossible to find game. Ration control is your
friend. You’ll be surprised at how little you need to eat. Keep a balance of
protein and carbs though. Think about crops next year. That’s all you guys do
around here is farm and fish, right?”

 “I could
go on and on, but it would take weeks. What I will do is teach you some of the
tricks I used here and some new ones as well. You have to think guerilla
warfare. If you can’t work it out with them and you go on the offensive, you
need to go primal on them. You’ve seen how well it works.”

Haliday
walked out to his bike and brought in a star jack. “These are also known as
caltrops. I’ll leave this one with you. If you are being followed by bad guys,
you toss a few dozen of these behind you and they’ll flatten tires. Make as
many as you can. Keep them on every vehicle you use.

“Everyone
here knows what stop sticks are, right? The cops use them. Well, here’s a poor
mans version. You take plate steel and cut it in strips. The longer the better.
Six inches wide. Use a torch and cut some very sharp V’s into the middle. Three
inches on each side. Bend those up and sharpen the edges and point. Hide them
under leaves, loose dirt, lay them down as needed, you get the idea.”

“Don’t
try to up armor your vehicles, the weight will kill them. But you can double up
this plate steel and make some firing portals. If you build a plate that’s 30
inches wide and 18 inches tall, with a slot cut in it, when you are laying down
prone behind it, it’ll provide cover. Except from snipers who take the high
ground. But they can’t be moved easily because of the weight, so be careful how
you use them.”

“You can
take some peppers, grind them down, mix in some boiling water and let it cool.
Add oil along with a touch of gas and use it in balloons, squirt guns, water
extinguishers or whatever will spray and spread it. Improvised pepper spray.
The stores around here might have some they usually sold for key chains.”

“Bug
spray and flammables can make some nice little flame throwers. Light it with a
match or lighter and spray away. If you feel giddy enough you can tape a candle
to the can and light it. Just move slowly so the flame doesn’t go out. You guys
have to think outside of the box here on everything. I’ll try to make contact
and give you more ideas.”

Rob
walked over to him. He extended his hand. “I don’t who the hell you are, but
thank you very much. I hope I speak for everyone here.” Everyone was thanking
them. “Any parting words of wisdom?”

“Bury your
dead, and honor them with the freedom the constitution gives us.”

They
peered outside. They walked over to their bikes and climbed on. A quick wave
good-bye and they were on their way. The streets were all empty. No one was
out. They barely noticed any candles burning anywhere as they rode along. About
45 minutes later they called on the radio. “Open the doors. Stand by. We’re
home.”

They put
the bikes in the pole barn and walked by the horses’ stalls. He paused to say
hello, they knew him well. They locked up the pole barn with the help of Kevin
and went to the house. They walked in and were greeted with hugs from everyone.
Even Blake who had found a new family. Lots of tears of joy streamed down the
faces.

Haliday
walked over to Blake. He gave him a handshake and a quick shoulder hug. “Damn
good job kid, I’m proud of you.” Roger looked around. “No offense anyone, but
we’ll have plenty of time for stories in the morning. I’m going to bed. Blake,
there’s a bunk up there for you too.” Blake opted to stay downstairs for a
while. Haliday went upstairs and passed out. He slept for 12 hours straight.

When he
woke up, he felt the ground and looked around half expecting to be in the
woods. He swung his feet off the bed and went to stand up and hit his head on
the ceiling. He would have to get used to this. The bunk area of the house was
basically a big loft that skirted the perimeter of the house. He looked down
and saw Max and Romeo looking at him. “What’s going on furballs?”

He walked
down the spiral steps into the common area of the house. “I need coffee.” Dawn
brought him a cup, which was unusual. She hated the stuff; even the smell was
disgusting to her. He took a long sip. “Oh man, nice hot coffee and nice warm
house.”

She
looked at him. “You stink.”

He raised
an armpit and whiffed, “Just a little sweet aroma to this hunk of man candy,” That’s
all he said.

“Oh boy.
Ok,” she said, “coffee then shower.”

He sat at
the large table and looked around. He never really expected to use this place
for what they built it for. It was really just a cabin they built and used
occasionally in the summers to get out of the city and away from the crap that
enveloped it. This was close enough to take a long drive into the cities for
shopping and entertainment, but far enough away to avoid crowds of people.

The cabin
was built according to his plans which he had had a small firm draw up. Had to
submit plans to the county for approval or he wouldn’t have bothered. Of course
they had no idea of the modifications he would make during the entire
construction process. Lack of inspectors and the distances they travelled made
it easy. They would come out and inspect prior to any particular phase, and
then after it was done. They never showed up unannounced.

The land
was roughly 60 acres, just less than half backed up to a large creek and woods.
Plenty of water and enough wooded land for hunting. The rest was all flat land
for crops. He leased the farming rights to a farmer who planted crops and
harvested them. This helped to pay the taxes and to build the new cabin. During
the year they built the cabin, they didn’t let anyone plant on it.

There was
nothing wrong with the old house except it was just not suitable. They tore
this down and left a pole barn and another smaller outbuilding. They built the
cabin to the specs they outlined and did a lot of the work themselves. They
used a wide variety of different contractors for other parts. The locals just
figured he was cheap and looking to save a buck. Security was the reason. No
single one contractor knew too much about the place. The locals would know very
little about the place.

Four
large shipping containers of building materials had been brought in. They sat
there during the construction process and disappeared during the process. First
up was a new foundation. The foundation would accommodate the cabin which was
only 30X40. A complete extra deep basement was put under the cabin. Each window
was ported to be used as a firing position if needed. Armored with quarter inch
around the small windows.

On two
sides of the foundation he had put down one of the containers. The cinderblock
walls had been constructed so that he could use a concrete saw and cut access
into them after the final inspection was made. He had steel framework hidden in
the walls for door jambs. The containers had been reinforced with I-beam steel
inside and only buried a foot under the ground. They had been completely
rubberized outside for waterproofing. He then built the doors to mate up
properly.

The cabin
itself was extremely open as far as the floor plan went. Toward the back was a
large bathroom and toiletry closet on one side, and a large laundry room and
linen storage on the other. In front of that was a large kitchen area and
massive dining table with bench seats on one side and chairs around the other
sides. In between was a spiral staircase with a good old fashioned firemen pole
next to it.

For the
bathroom, outside of the cabin he had a rain catch for a large 250 gallon water
tank that was elevated, and it supplied water strictly for the toilet. The tank
was black to attract sunlight and he used small solar powered bubblers to
prevent freezing in the winter time.