“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.”
Roger asked, “What’s the form for? What info do they want?”
Rich responded. “They want to know the names, ages and sex of everyone staying here. They want to know if we have running vehicles, what kind, how much food and water we have and what kind of guns and ammunition are here. It asks about generators, fire wood…”
“Stop Dad, I’ve heard enough. When do they want the form back?”
Rich said, “It’s written down that they will pick it up the day after tomorrow.”
Roger thought for a moment, then spoke, “Ok, listen up. It’s not that safe outside right now. I’m not sure if they do or not, but assume you have someone watching you. It might be the militia or might be someone else close by that they have watching you. They are probably taking notes on your every move. Do not answer any questions, do not talk to anyone, understand?”
Rich said, “Yes, anything else?”
Roger told him, “Ya, as hard as it’s going to be, you need to add a third person to the security watch.”
He looked over at Blake, who was shaking his head.
“Not good,” he said.
Haliday dialed in his radio to the same frequency. “Keep listening Blake.” Haliday pulled out his maps. “Gotta find some place to hide.” He kept looking around and referencing his notes. “Let’s see, ok, got it, this is the best chance we have right now.
“Let’s go Blake. Time to go to school, the old Freidberger school to be exact. This place is very old, very unoccupied. No one has probably been there for years. It’s as rundown as you can get and we can hide there for now. It was left to rot out and crumble with no money to restore it. We just need to get out of the woods if that’s where they’re looking for us.”
They would wait it out until it was dark outside. Then they would make the move to the old schoolhouse. In the meantime they ate. Their food was getting very low. They each had an MRE left. Haliday had a couple bags of soup mix and a few other small items. They could get through the night and tomorrow, after that they were going to start to get hungry. He wished he would have taken a .22lr so he could hunt a squirrel or rabbit, but he hadn’t counted on being out this long at all.
They sat there and listened to the radio. These guys had pretty much pulled out all of the stops. Haliday figured that they had about 12 vehicles on the road and looking for them. If their area was roughly 35X50 miles, that was 1,750 square miles. That was one big area to cover. The only problem was that only about 10 percent was wooded. The rest was flat barren land for the crops. They had to have extra eyes out there as well. They were probably giving food to the people in exchange for them watching the area.
They were definitely pissed for sure. They wanted them badly. They didn’t have any idea who they were looking for, other than guys on bikes. Even though the description of the bikes varied, they would be gunning for anyone found on one. They had gotten into quite the pickle here. It was only 1800hrs, but already completely dark out.
“Blake, I hate to say this, but we only have about a mile to go if that and I think it’s going to be in our best interest to push the bikes.” Blake wasn’t happy about that but he agreed. They pushed the bikes along through the woods and across an open field. Haliday worked his way up to the road. He looked around and then worked his way back to Blake.
“We have a little problem Blake, someone must have bought the land, the school is still there but so is a house. I’m going to go back and check out the house.” He ripped out some long weeds and covered up Blake and the bikes. “Wait here, don’t move at all.” He went back and watched the house for a while. It looked empty. He crossed the road and got a better look. The garage door was slightly open and he peeked inside. Nothing in there.
He went inside the garage and walked up to the door. He collapsed the stock on his AR and got ready to enter. He noticed the door here had been opened as well. He felt along the jamb and sure enough it had been forced open. He turned his flashlight on and placed his thumb on the activation switch ready to light it up. He slowly opened the door and went inside.
This was a small mudroom. You came in from the field, took your boots and stuff off here before entering the main house. He entered the main house and listened. He didn’t hear anything at all. He activated his flashlight and swept it around quickly. He had been in the funnel of death. When you stand in the doorway you were at the small end of a funnel. Anyone in the room could concentrate fire to that point easily. It made you feel uneasy.
This place had been ransacked. Blake called on the radio, and it was hard to hear him, “We have company.” Haliday flipped the light off and ducked into a closet, but left the door half open just like it was. He heard the vehicle pull in. A couple of car doors opened and closed. He noticed the flashlight shine through the windows.
He heard the doors to the house open and saw the light bouncing around off the walls. He heard the voices talking. “Looks like this place hasn’t been touched since the last time we checked it. Call it in.”
“Let’s check the schoolhouse first.”
“Forget it, It’ll probably fall on us.” The men left and Haliday just stood there. He heard the vehicle start and then leave.
“Papa 4 bravo we checked Delta 30 and both were empty. Doesn’t look like anyone has been in there since it was last looted. We’re heading out to Delta 31.” It was just a matter of about three minutes when he heard them again. “Papa 4 bravo we’re out at Delta 31.” He waited. This must be the house next door. Just about an eighth of a mile away. Same routine for the next half hour. They were moving along this main road checking it along the way.
He switched frequencies again. “Blake you there?” There wasn’t any answer. “Blake you out there?” No answer. Haliday went outside and made his way over to where Blake was. “Why didn’t you answer me?”