Escaping Home (17 page)

T
he Alexander Run was a meandering body of water, with depths ranging from less than a foot to ten feet deep in the channels, separated on either side by a shallow bar in the center. It was a picturesque Florida river with cattails, water lilies and cypress trees with full beards of Spanish moss lining the banks.

Danny navigated the boat slowly down the river. Sarge sat on the bow pedestal seat, his SAW lying on his lap. Jeff sat on the rear pedestal seat, his feet outstretched, enjoying the warm sun.

“Water's gettin' darker,” Sarge said.

“Yeah, the farther we go, the darker it gets. Up toward the spring, it's crystal clear,” Danny replied.

They cruised on without talking. Rounding a bend in the river, Sarge jumped from his seat and shouted.

“Holy shit! Look at the size of that lizard!”

Danny dropped the boat into neutral. Lying on a small sunny patch was a gator of eight or nine feet. The big reptile paid them no attention.

“Yeah, that's a big 'un,” Jeff said.

Sarge pointed at it. “That's all right, Mr. Crocodile. I got your number, I know where you live and I'll be back to get your ass.”

Danny grinned. “You like to hunt gators, Sarge?”

As Sarge sat back down, he chuckled. “I like to hunt everything.”

Shaking his head, Danny dropped the boat back into gear and they continued down the river.

“How far do you want to go?” Danny asked.

“I don't know. This thing go all the way to the St. John's?”

“Yeah, but it's a long-ass ways.”

“I don't want to go all the way. Let's just keep going for a bit.”

“There's a place up here on the left, we call it the swimming hole. A forest road dead-ends into it and there are some campsites. How about we go at least that far? Past that there really aren't too many ways to access the river.”

Sarge propped his feet up on the side of the boat. “Sounds good to me.”

They continued down the river, passing two more gators, much to Sarge's delight, as well as a number of turtles, and birds of many types. As the boat emerged through a narrow opening in the cattails, the river suddenly widened. Sarge put his nose to the air.

“Smell that?”

Danny and Jeff looked around, sniffing the air. “Smoke,” Jeff said, sitting up in his seat.

“Keep yer eyes open, boys.”

Danny moved the boat out toward the center of the river.

“Y'all see anything?” Sarge asked, swiveling his head back and forth.

“Nope,” Danny replied.

“Someone's out here.”

“That swimming hole is just up ahead; there might be someone up there,” Danny said.

The river soon narrowed again, fallen trees and mats of water hyacinth reducing the channel. Around the bend, the swimming area with its boat ramp came into view. Two uniformed men stood on the concrete ramp looking at the boat as they approached.

“Looks like company, boys,” Sarge said, though he made no movements.

The two men were in what appeared to be current army uniforms, complete with Kevlar helmets. They were leaned in close, talking to one another. One of them took a radio mic from his vest and started talking into it.

“What do you want to do?” Danny asked.

“Keep going. Let's go say hi.”

Danny ran the boat toward the small ramp. The river at this point was maybe thirty or thirty-five feet wide, the only way out at this point was in reverse or to gun the throttle and run past them. Both of the men cradled M4s across their chest and made no hostile movements. As the bow of the boat pushed into the sand and mounds of ancient snail shells, Sarge nodded to the two men.

“Afternoon, fellers! How y'all doing today?”

Maintaining the little distance between them, the man with the radio replied, “Not bad, how about you?”

“Fair ta middlin'.” Sarge tried to get a look at the patch on the shoulder of the man he was talking with. “What's that unit patch there?”

“We're with the Guard, out of Eustis. You with the Hundred and First?” the man asked, nodding at the patch on Sarge's hat.

“Formerly. Retired now.” Then Sarge thought about that for a minute. “Actually, I guess I still am, having been pressed back into service, so to speak.”

“Where's the rest of your unit? We haven't heard of any other units around here.”

Sarge chuckled. “The rest of my unit, all three of them, is back up the river there.”

A Humvee came rolling to a stop at the top of the ramp. Four men climbed out of it.

“I'm Captain Sheffield; who might you be?” the lead man asked.

“First Sergeant Linus Mitchell of the Hundred and First.”

A look of disbelief washed over the captain's face. “Where's the rest of your unit? Are you the recon for them?”

“No, sorry, Captain, we aren't the lead element of anything. Like I told the sergeant here, the rest of my unit, all three of them, are back up the river a ways.” Sarge paused and stood, causing the men on the ramp to back up. “You mind if we step out?” he asked, laying the SAW on the deck of the boat.

“Yeah, sure, sure, come on up.”

“Come on, boys, get out and stretch your legs,” Sarge said to Jeff and Danny.

Danny and Jeff climbed out of the boat, standing uneasily near the bow.

“What are you doing out here?” Sheffield asked.

“Same thing as everyone else, trying to survive.”

“But you said you were pressed back into service,” the sergeant said, then looked at the captain.

“And that's true.”

“Then what's your mission?” Sheffield asked.

Sarge smiled. “You will understand if I don't answer that question.” Sarge paused and looked around. “What are you boys doing out here in the boonies? You're a long way from Eustis.”

“Yeah, we were but had to leave. Things got out of hand there—too many people and not enough of anything.”

“Why didn't you get together with the sheriff's office?” Danny asked.

“They're in almost as bad shape as we were. They had to leave Tavares too. The fucking feds came in and started demanding stuff. At first we all cooperated, because they said there were supplies coming to us. When that didn't happen, we quit playing ball.”

“And that's when things got ugly?”

Sheffield nodded.

“Figures. They always want more than they give, huh?”

“They never gave anything, just kept taking, and then they started hauling people away. Hell, they wanted to take my guys and tried, but that wasn't happening.”

“How many guys you got out here?”

“I've got fifty-seven Guardsmen and a bunch of civilians.”

“That's a lot of mouths to feed. How're you managing to do it?”

“Lots of hard work. And everyone's hungry, regardless,” a man beside the captain said.

Sheffield looked over. “Oh, sorry, this is Lieutenant Bob Hines.”

Sarge nodded to him. “I bet. Where are you set up?”

“We've set up in the campsites by the river over here. We fish, hunt, forage, whatever we can come up with,” Shane said.

“Had any trouble since you got out here?”

“No, no one knows we're here. There's only one road and we've blocked it at the other end and keep a watch on it. No one's come up the river—well, until now.”

“So what are you boys going to do now?”

“We don't know,” Sheffield said, pausing. “The orders we've received didn't come through our command chain, and we disregarded them.”

“What if I can get you some help? I know this isn't your command chain, but I can put you in touch with some higher-ups.”

“First Sergeant, as long as the orders come from the United States Army, I'll follow them, and these men will as well. But if they're coming from any alphabet soup agency, you can fuckin' forget it.”

Sarge laughed. “I can assure you, Captain, I ain't part of any soup sandwich. You got any comm gear?”

“We do.”

“Let's set up a channel we can talk on.”

“Bob, take him to Livingston and see if they can set something up.” Sheffield looked at Danny and Jeff. “You guys can come too. They'll keep an eye on your boat.”

Together, they made the short walk over to the campsites. Large areas had been cleared to make room for the military tents that were set up everywhere. Mixed in and around these tan and green tents were civilian tents of every sort. The ones close to the edge of the camp were covered with camo nets. People both military and civilian were sitting around. Almost everyone had a weapon.

Fire pits were scattered throughout the area, some with pots or kettles sitting on them. Despite the number of people living in such close proximity to one another, the camp and the people alike were clean. Sarge was led into a tent while Danny and Jeff stopped outside and waited.

Danny looked around at the faces peeking out of tents or from under tarps strung in the trees. “Man, I wouldn't want to be here.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Jeff looked around. “Too many people.”

Inside the tent, Sarge was introduced to man sitting behind a small folding table crowded with electronic equipment. Even though he was in civilian clothing, his short-
cropped hair and military bearing made it clear he wasn't one.

“Ian, this is First Sergeant Mitchell.”

The man stood up, cradling a radio handset against his shoulder and shook Sarge's hand. Sarge looked at him with one eye half-squinted, turning his wrist over and inspecting the tattoo on his forearm, then back at Shane.

“What the hell y'all doin' with a jarhead running your comm gear?”

“He wandered into the armory a couple weeks after the shit hit the fan.”

Sarge smiled looking at the marine. “An' you fed him and he won't go away.”

Ian smiled. “Dog's gotta eat.”

Sarge made a show of looking around, looking under the table and lifting papers piled on it.

“What are you looking for?” Ian asked.

“You fuckers are like roaches; where there's one there's usually more.” The comment got a laugh out everyone in the tent.

“No, I'm the only one. They give me hell for it”—Ian looked at Shane—“but I keep telling them that since I'm active duty they all work for me.”

“If you're active, how the hell did you end up here?”

“Was on leave at home; when the balloon went up I wanted to get back to my unit but couldn't. They were the next best thing.”

“Well, I don't care how you got here. We need to set up a channel we can talk on.”

Ian smiled. “No problem.”

With the communication channels set up, Sarge left the tent and waved for Danny and Jeff to follow. They went down a path to another tent and Sarge went in, leaving Jeff and Danny outside.

“Captain, we're all set. That sea-goin' bellhop's got my call sign, Stump Knocker.” Pulling a pad out of his pocket and looking at it, he added, “an' you're White Four Delta.”

“Correct.” Sheffield crossed his arms over his chest. “You think you can get me some help?”

“I can't promise anything, but what I can promise is if I do, there will be strings attached.”

Sheffield's eyes narrowed. “What sort of strings?”

“You'll have to earn your keep. Nothing's free, Captain.”

Sheffield slowly nodded his head. “All right, you get me some help and we'll go to work.” Sheffield offered his hand and they shook.

Sarge spun on his heels and left the tent, Danny and Jeff followed him out to the boat and they quickly boarded.

“Take us home, Danny, we got work to do.”

T
he empty trailer bounced horribly on the dirt road. “Slow down, Morg, or that thing is going to come off,” Ted said.

Looking at the speedometer, I replied, “Hell, we're only going twenty.”

“Then go fifteen.”

“These damn roads could use a motor grader.”

“Call the Forest Service; I'm sure they'll get right on it.”

The girls were looking out the rear window of the Suburban. Ted was up front with me and Mike was in the backseat. When we finally made it to the paved road, it was a short piece to the gate of Alexander Springs State Park.

“Lotta cars,” I said, pulling through the gate and past the guard shack.

The parking area was full of vehicles that obviously hadn't been moved in quite some time. Dust, dirt and leaves were on the roofs and hoods. Piles of the same were blown up against the tires, giving the lot an eerie look. I put all the windows down, and Ted immediately stuck the muzzle of his weapon out. In the side rearview mirror, I could see Mike had done the same.

“Keep your eyes open, boys and girls,” Mike said, scanning the parking lot.

Taylor looked at him, then at his weapon. Slowly, not knowing what to expect by doing so, she raised the H&K, resting the muzzle on the rear gate. Lee Ann quickly followed suit. In the mirror, I saw Little Bit leaning over the seat, smiling at Mike, who was oblivious with his eyes focused on the lot.

The parking lot was a loop road, coming in toward a concession stand at the edge of the swimming area. As I approached the store, Ted told me to stop. He wanted him and Mike to take a look.

“Keep it running,” Mike said as they walked toward the building, weapons at the ready.

They approached it, looking in the windows. Mike waited outside while Ted went in. He wasn't gone two minutes when he reemerged, saying something to Mike. They quickly started to move back to the truck. Mike was walking backward watching the building as Ted moved forward, his head constantly scanning.

“What's up?” I asked as he got to the truck.

“Someone's living in there, but they're not in there. They're either watching us right now or they're out. Either way, I don't like it.”

“There's a camp loop over there; we can go over there and get one of those tables. We passed it coming in.” I pointed behind us.

“Can you back the trailer to it?”

“Oh, hell yeah.”

“All right.” Ted looked at Mike and patted the hood. “Jump on.”

They hopped up on the hood and I began backing the rig toward the campsites. In the mirror I saw Taylor looking forward. “Keep an eye out back; they've got the front.” She quickly jerked her head around, gripping the H&K. At the loop, I backed into the road so that the truck would be facing the right direction if we needed to haul ass out of there.

Stopping the truck between two campsites, I jumped out and dropped the rear gate. The campsites, once kept so clean, were littered with leaves and fallen branches.

Mike and Ted moved toward the site, weapons ready, and cleared it.

“Little Bit, you stay in the truck. You two get out and keep an eye out for people.”

As Lee Ann and Taylor were getting out, Little Bit complained, “I wanna get out! I can help watch!”

“You keep watch from in there.” She rested her chin on the top of the backseat with a frown on her face.

Mike and Ted were already moving one of the aluminum tables toward the trailer. As soon as it was on, they went for another one. They had just set the edge of it on the trailer when Little Bit shouted.

“Daddy, I see someone!”

The guys dropped the table, bringing their weapons up.

“You two watch that way!” I shouted, pointing to the rear of the truck.

Ted and Mike advanced to the front of the truck. I came up behind Mike as Ted shouted, “Let me see your hands!”

The man stopped, taking his hands out of his jacket pockets and raising them. “Don't mean no harm!” He shouted, “Just haven't seen anyone in a long time!”

“All right, keep coming till I tell you to stop!”

At a ten-foot distance Ted told him to stop. He was wearing a worn fleece vest and what looked like typical hiking pants, though they were threadbare in some places. A shaggy beard obscured most of his face.

“Hi.”

Ted nodded in reply. “What can we do for you?” Mike asked.

Scratching at his beard, the man said, “Like I said, just haven't seen anyone in a long time.” He paused, looking at the truck and trailer. “Getting some tables?”

“Yep,” Ted said, looking down the barrel of his M4.

“You guys got a camp around here?”

“Nope. You alone?”

“Oh yeah. There were a bunch of people here, but most of them left. Some said they were going to walk home, but a few of them came back.”

“Where are they now?”

“Oh, FEMA came through one day and pretty much everyone went with them.”

“Why didn't you go?” Mike asked.

“Oh, me, I'm not a real people person. I was hiking the Florida Trail and figured I'd just keep going. Once everyone left, it was kinda quiet around here, so I stayed. People left all sorts of stuff, so I took what I needed. There's canoes here, fish in the river and other food, if you know what you're looking for.”

A black dog came trotting out of the woods and stopped beside the man, sitting down and scratching at his ear. The man looked down and smiled. “That's Drake. He keeps me company.”

“It's been good talking to you, but we gotta go,” Ted said.

The man looked up, running his hand through his beard, and smiled. “Oh, sure, no worries.” He waved, turned and walked away.

“Strange little man,” Mike said.

“Yeah, he's a sammich short of a picnic, I think,” I said.

Ted kept watch while Mike and I loaded the other table. We were strapping it down when Taylor walked up. “Are we okay? Is he gone?”

“Yeah, he's gone, nothing to worry about. He's just some dude living in the woods.”

“He scared me.”

“Someone showing up like that could be a bad thing. That's why you two were supposed to be watching for it, not watching us. It's a good thing Little Bit spotted him.”

“I know, we messed up.”

“No, you didn't. If it had gone a different way, then yeah, you would've messed up.” I smiled at her. “Get your sister so we can head back.”

The trip back was uneventful. Pulling the truck around the cabin, we saw the boat tied up on the bank. Danny and Jeff were working with Thad on some sort of small thatched hut. We unloaded the two tables in the grass between it and the creek, setting them end to end.

I walked over to where they working while Ted and Mike went off to find Sarge.

“What's this?”

“It's gonna be our smokehouse,” Thad said with a big smile on his face.

“Cool, I like it. Where'd you find the cane?”

“There's a big stand of it just down the creek, right over there,” Jeff said, pointing into the woods.

“Nice, we can use it for a lot of stuff.”

“I'm going to get more palmettos,” Danny said as he walked off into the woods.

The smoker was a large teepee-like hut that used the cane for the structure, the sides covered with palmettos. Horizontal pieces of cane were tied to the uprights and the stems of the palmettos were woven in between. At the corners of the frame, the tips of the fronds were folded in around the pole to seal it.

“Hey, Thad, is there enough of this stuff to make a chicken coop out of?” I asked.

He was on his knees, weaving in palmettos. “Oh yeah.”

We worked on the smoker for another couple of hours to finish off the outside. Thad went to clean the fish, while Danny and I went off to find some oak and hickory for the fire.

“Did you hear about the National Guard unit we found?” Danny asked.

Surprised, I asked, “No, where'd you find them?”

“They're at the campground by the swimming hole. Got a bunch of people with them too.”

“No shit.” I caught myself and looked at Little Bit, but she was busy with the dogs and didn't hear my slip. “Where are they from?”

“It's a unit from Eustis.”

“Really. Did you go into the camp?”

“Yeah, it's crowded but they had it put together pretty nice.”

“You remember my buddy Vance? Did you see him there?”

“I remember him, but I didn't see him there.”

“He was with them when they were still in Eustis. What made them move?”

Danny stopped and grabbed the end of a large limb blown out of an oak tree. I grabbed the other and we lifted it up and shouldered it.

“They said there were too many people and that the feds kept coming in and taking stuff from them. They got tired of it and bugged out.”

We carried the log over to the smoker and dropped it. Thad was cleaning the last of the fish.

“You know how to keep the fire in that thing?” I asked.

“Yeah, I got this.” He dropped a fileted mullet into a bucket. “You wanna take that to Mel so she can start on her stew?”

I picked up the bucket. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

“All I need is a chainsaw and axe to cut up that wood.”

“Under the cabin on the left.”

Thad smiled and headed for the smoker with a bowl heaped with filets.

 • • • 

Thad sat in a chair beside his smoker. He craved activity, anything to keep his mind busy. It was those idle times he dreaded. Sleep was the worst. Luckily being here gave him the chance to work and keep his memories at bay.

He'd found a stump and placed it on the ground in front of the chair. Using the axe, he broke up the piece of oak into chunks small enough to feed the little fire in the smoker. He peeked in at the fire as smoke poured out around his face. Satisfied, he walked over to the picnic tables. Jeff was sitting on top of one and he climbed up beside him.

“What's up, big 'un?” Jeff asked.

“Nothin', what're you doin'?”

“Just watching the river. It's peaceful.”

Thad looked out at the water, its lazy current causing lilies to sway back and forth. “Yes it is.”

“I like it here better than where we were,” Jeff said.

“Them cabins ain't as comfortable, but this place is a lot nicer.”

Thad asked about the trip down the river and Jeff told him about the Guard unit they'd found.

“Huh, I bet that old man is going to start some shit with someone soon,” Thad said.

“I would imagine. He was already starting to plan something. I don't know what, but from the way they acted, they've got something cooking.”

Staring out at the water, Thad said, “I don't want no part of it.” Jeff looked over and Thad continued, “I've seen enough killin', I just want to be left alone.”

“I can dig it. I don't know, though, if something kicks off I may go with them.”

Thad looked over and smiled. “Have fun.”

Jeff laughed. “I don't know about fun, but sitting around just isn't my thing. I wanna do something.”

“Careful what you wish for.” Thad looked over again. “You just might get it.”

“Life without adventure is a waste of oxygen,” Jeff said, smiling.

Thad looked around, holding his arms out. He said, “All this ain't enough adventure for you?”

Laughing, Jeff replied, “Okay, you got a point there.”

“Thad?” a little voice called from behind. He turned to see Little Bit holding palmetto stems and string.

“What'cha need, little one?”

“You know how to make a bow and arrow?”

He smiled as he stood up. “I was the best bow-and-arrow maker in my neighborhood.” Little Bit smiled and held out the stems and string.

“Come on, let's go make you a bow.” Thad found a limb and carried it back to the table. Little Bit hopped up on top of it and sat down. Thad pulled out the big Bowie and started cutting branches off the limb.

“Wow, that's a big knife!” Little Bit said.

Thad looked at the knife. “Yeah, it's sharp too.”

She reached in her pocket and pulled out a little Uncle Henry folder. “This is my knife; my Daddy gave it to me. It's got two blades.”

Thad smiled, looking at the big blade in his hands. “Your daddy gave me this one too.” He strung the bow and pulled back on it. Satisfied, he handed it to her. “Be careful.”

She took the bow and ran toward the river. “Thanks, Thad, I will!”

Jeff called out, “You know how to shoot that thing?”

She stopped and fixed one of the palmetto stems to the string, drew it back and let it go. The green stem flew about twenty feet and stuck in the ground. “Cool!” she cried out, jumping up and down.

Thad looked at Jeff. “I guess she does.”

Mel and Bobbie came out of the cabin carrying a large pot and set it on the fire pit. Little Bit ran up with her bow. “Look what Thad made for me.”

“Oh, that's nice. Be careful, baby.”

“Hope you don't mind,” Thad said.

“Not at all; her dad makes them for her all the time.”

Thad smiled, but it faded quick. “I use to make them for Tony. He was always an Indian, never a cowboy.”

Mel smiled at him. “Hey, this will be ready in a few hours. I'll just have to keep an eye on the fire.”

“What's in it?” Jeff asked, spinning around on the table.

“It's got the fish, some dehydrated stuff, potatoes, carrots, celery, rice and some spices. It should be edible,” Bobbie said, then added, “I hope.”

“Sounds good to me, can't wait.”

Mel looked over at the smoker. “Is that thing working?”

Thad smiled. “Full of smoke. It's working.”

“I've never had smoked mullet before. What's it taste like?” Bobbie asked.

Thad smiled. “Kinda like smoked manatee.”