The minute man picked up the bags and dumped everything out. He picked up a small pistol. “No guns, huh?” He kicked the guy while he was down. “You answer with the truth when asked a question. We’ll be keeping this. You’re damn lucky we ain’t taking your food too. Now get the hell out of here.” They were about to get in the truck when they heard a noise by the barn and stopped.
Everyone looked over at the barn. Haliday was ready. A big raccoon went scurrying out from one of the windows, down the side of the barn and across the field. The minute men lowered their rifles and got back in their truck. They told the family to get going. They took off down the road. Haliday heard them call the check in on the radio. That was a close one.
Blake said, “Let’s go see if they need help.”
Haliday said, “No, we can’t. If they get stopped again and they are afraid, they’ll rat us out in a heartbeat. They have two days tops to get to Imlay City, maybe three if they move slow, but they’ll make it. You go hit the sack for a little bit more and I’ll keep watch again, it’ll be a while before its safe to go.”
He watched the family gather themselves and head out. What the hell kind of militia was this? These guys should be helping these people not beating them and disarming them, especially when they are out on the road. That was total BS in his mind but he had to stay focused on his own group. Were these guys rogue from their own group. He kept wondering about them. He should have shot them and given the truck to the family, but that would have opened up a whole different can of worms.
After the family left and was well on their way, Haliday called his group. “Hey listen, if you are approached by a group of militia, or members of the militia be careful. They seem to have designated a Russian camo as their uniform which looks like the old U.S. woodland BDU pattern, only with finer detail and the colors are not as contrasting. Shoot the bastards on sight. Don’t mess around with them.” He relayed to them the story of the family.
He woke Blake up. “You feeling better?” he asked.
“Ya, I’ll be ready to go.”
“Good, now tonight is going to be tense as well. I’m going to cover a few more basics on the rifle with you. We can’t live fire or we’ll attract attention, but you’ll do fine.” He spent about an hour covering a few marksmanship skills and safety points with him.
“This is Roger, you there Kaybear?”
“Ya Dad, I’ve been waiting.”
“Ok, let me know what the latest news is.”
“Ok, you ready?”
“I’m going on memory Kayla; I don’t have the resources for notes.”
“Ahhhh, alrighty then. How’s Blake?”
“Kayla, he’s fine. If you want him to stay that way, spit it out.” It’s starting already, he thought.
“Ok, they talked on the net about contacting the Bay City group and how Bay City themselves had big trouble and could not send help. It sounds like they are running the four patrols and now two response unit’s 24 hours a day now. I did notice they seemed to be concentrating on the northern areas a bit more. That’s the plan right?”
“Yes it is kiddo. Anything else?”
“Oh ya, lots more.
“They have been talking about people traveling and how they have been disarming them. They even mentioned seizing a truck. Sounds like their own version of martial law. They also said they were posting signs: looters would be shot on sight. They set out signs for curfew as well. No one is to be out from dusk until dawn. Now for information on you.
“They think there are six motorcycles and about a half dozen trucks. They said your manpower would be at least 24 to 30 or more. They figure you guys to be operating in the northern sector somewhere. Sounds like they are going to concentrate patrols there. They are trying to find your base camp. One last thing Dad, they’ll shoot you first before they try to stop and ask you questions. Be careful, love you, Dad.”
“Love you too, kiddo.”
“Roger, you want us to stay on schedule?” It was David now.
“Yes I do. Promptly. You’ll have to get the horses moving quickly. If it becomes an issue they are going to have to leave them. Be firm about it. You might want to give them an hour head start actually. You only have about 12 miles to go. Get them there, ok brother?”
“Ok, be safe.”
“You too.”
Chapter 18
Haliday and Blake were getting ready to go. It was noon and they wanted to be in place by dusk. They wanted these guys to be tired and pissed off. If they started around 1800hrs that would put the fresh shift on duty. The others would not be in bed yet. Chances are they would all want to play cowboy and show up for the festivities. When morning came, around half would still be tired from the night before and the other half ready to go home.
They took off and followed a small river toward Oliver Township. They barely crept along to avoid overly loud engine noises. Haliday remembered people always talking about what vehicle you should have for this. What you should have for that, and it drove him nuts. Pretty much anything running was a gem these days. What really drove him crazy were the guys who swore by two strokes. Way too loud─ way too easy to find.
It seemed like it took forever. Once they reached a secure location, they got off the bikes. They dug into a couple MRE’s before they got going again. They would be walking for the next couple of miles. They camouflaged the bikes and took some mental notes of the area.
Haliday pulled out some small reflectors and pushed them up high onto some trees. With any luck the moon would catch them and make it easier to find the bikes in a hurry. He explained this to Blake. If anything happens to me, get the hell out of here. By now he had studied the maps and would know where to go.
Haliday set to work on the distractions. He pulled out four small wind-up clocks and wound them up. He set the times on each so they were all set to the same time. He had ripped off the plastic face covers and attached some metal connectors to the minute and hour hands. These would set off a small igniter which would then light a piece of fuse.
He packed these into some small containers with gun powder in it that would create a small explosion. Next to these he would place a few bags of various chemicals mixed together, liquid drain cleaner, diesel and Styrofoam pellets which would ignite and stick to surrounding objects. He read this on the internet. These he would place next to some old abandoned buildings or vehicles. He placed another igniter system nearby to ignite the gel. The explosion, mostly just noise, and the accompanying fire would make a great distraction. The gel was to make sure the fire spread rapidly throughout the area.
These would go off about 15 minutes apart and should draw quite a crowd. They waited until it was nice and dark out. The clouds were covering the moonlight as they passed through the sky now, so Haliday told Blake how important it was to remember where the bikes were. It would, however, help provide better cover for them. They were well camouflaged; Rambo face paint included.
They took off for their destination. First up was a small sugar beet storage plant. They approached from the side and didn’t see anyone. They went up to a small maintenance shed which they found unlocked. It looked like it hadn’t been used in quite a while. He placed the box on the work bench. They left and followed some train tracks down to a golf course.
Here he found the storage barn for the golf carts. They were all gone. So were the charging stations and parts for them. Someone had these and his guess was confiscation by the militia. He set up the device and they moved on. They were close to the center of town now and he looked for another target. Haliday heard a vehicle approach and they ducked behind an old trailer. The vehicle passed by, but Haliday couldn’t see inside well enough to make out who it was.