“My radio went dead. I forgot to change the battery.” Haliday only had two batteries for each radio; he put them on a small charger connected to his bike.
He had connected a small inverter to the battery of his bike and the charger to that. It did a good job, but the past two days had been so busy the batteries were almost shot and needed a good charging. They hadn’t really had the time for that. He called the group and told them they would be off radio for a while. “We’ll check in every two hours for a minute and that’s it. We have to charge the batteries.”
He swapped the batteries around and both radios were working for now. He turned them off. “We can’t listen in Blake. We need to save the batteries for when we need them. Without starting the bike I can’t charge them. Now let’s get over there and get some sleep.” They rolled the bikes over the road and put them behind the schoolhouse. They covered them up carefully to hide them, but still made the place look untouched. A few handfuls of dirt and garbage helped with that. They went inside, found a decent hiding place and got some rest.
Chapter 22
It was early in the morning and they were hungry, so they ate their last MRE. Both of them had gotten quite a bit of rest. Haliday was still fairly sore from the bruise on his abdomen from the airport shooting, not to mention pushing the bike around. He popped open a bottle of Tylenol and popped a couple in his mouth. Blake asked for a couple and he handed him the bottle.
Blake took the cotton out and looked at Haliday; “I didn’t think they put cotton in these anymore.”
“They don’t, I do it so the bottle doesn’t rattle,” Haliday said. “Just in case I have it on me, it’s not rattling around. Same with water, your canteen should be full or empty so it doesn’t slosh around. No noise at all if possible. We haven’t quite adhered to that discipline, but we need to start before we get too lax.
“How are you holding up Blake?”
“I’m doing ok.”
“You sure?”
“Ya. I mean, I got sick while you were sleeping. I was thinking about the shootings and everything.”
“Normal response Blake, here’s some gum.”
“That’ll help my stomach?”
“No, it’ll help your breath. Take two or three sticks. Please.” They both laughed a bit.
Blake flipped the radio on and called the group. Kayla answered, “Hey Blake, you guys all right?”
“Ya, we’re fine. I mean everything considered and all I guess. Your dad wants to know what’s going on there.”
“Ok, we had four patrols drive by last night. One actually sat on the road for almost half an hour. They were watching everything related to the house. We only burned candles and didn’t use the generator at all. We’ve only had my uncle David and Dawn go outside so they would be the only ones seen in case they were watching from somewhere. This way they don’t know how many people are here.”
“Hey, tell my dad we heard from my uncle Alan and his family. They are all ok and at a friend’s house right now. They can’t make it here any time soon, but they are all ok. They have a radio in the neighborhood that the guy has been letting people use. He said they are going to be good for a few weeks or so.”
“Your dad heard you Kayla, he’s listening in too.
“Here he is now.”
Roger got on the radio, “That was good news, kiddo, anybody else?” He was wondering about his sister and her family in Texas and brother and his family in Missouri.
“No, that’s it.” He had given them the frequency, but who knows if they still had it or were able to get to a radio.
“Kayla, how’s the group holding up?”
She answered, “Everyone is ok. Bobby is ok, and his head looks good. Sarah is just really quiet, kind of in her own world and everyone else is ok. We have been eating limited rations since we are not real active, but everyone is making sure they get a good balance of protein, carbs and vitamins.”
“Anything on the militia?” he asked next.
“Well, they still don’t know how many of you there really are, but they are changing the estimate to about four guys on bikes. They don’t believe the trucks are moving with you at all. They pretty much think they are hidden and camped out or do not exist. They still think the plan is to raid their camp with all of the stuff you guys are doing.”
“Ok, listen; this is what I want you guys to do kiddo. Forget about that form. Don’t bother doing anything with it at all. They might try to come up to the house. Remember; be ready to shoot the bastards at all times. I’m pretty sure they know people are there, just not how many yet. I don’t want to risk bringing the bikes in yet, that would draw a shit storm for sure. But, we need a care package.”
Blake looked over at Haliday. “A care package?”
“Ya, Blake, we have to avoid drawing any attention to the group right now. We have to give it a few days to settle down if we can. But, we’ll need a few more things in order to make it. Food for one, few more toys too. Kayla, write this down, then I’ll tell you guys when and where meet us. Couple of you will have to leave the house for about an hour or so.”
Haliday gave her a complete list of resupply items. He would be swapping out his AR for one with a 37mm launcher attached to it. He’d also be picking up his M24 Remmy. Some more rounds, food of course, and a couple of other things along with some fresh under clothing. They’d make the exchange and then get back to business.
It would be easier to just head in and try and hold the fort, but with the plane or planes bound to take flight eventually, the tracked vehicle and the way they were running the area like they owned it all, he couldn’t let things happen like that. They would have to even out the odds a bit more. Not just for them, but this community as well.
If they got a tighter grip on the whole community even more than they had now, this whole area would be a wasteland. They had too much invested in their house and land to have to move. If they did try and move again who knows what would happen. It was just getting worse out there day by day. Haliday wondered how he got tied up in this mess.
As they were sitting there they heard a vehicle pull in by the house and stop. They heard a couple of voices. Militia again. They waited and listened. Same old cursory check but this one didn’t last long. He heard one guy say it was a waste checking a house located right off the road. “Better safe than sorry,” the other man replied. They checked quickly and then drove off.
After about 15 minutes Haliday looked at his watch, called the group and asked them if they were ready. The Cherokee from the group was heading out. They would wait about another 15 minutes and then leave themselves. It was a long wait. They dug the bikes out and headed to the meeting place.
As they pulled up, they saw the Cherokee off to the side of the road. They saw Kayla and David out there pacing back and forth. The signal was that if there was a trap, they would just be standing still next to the car. They pulled up by the Cherokee and got off the bikes. A quick round of hugs and some frantic hand off of the resupply equipment. They didn’t want to be seen. This spot was blocked by trees and no one could see them unless they were on the road and close by.
Last but not least, fresh batteries for the radios, three for each of them. David handed them each a cup of hot coffee. Blake looked at it and said “What the hell, I’ll drink it, not a coffee fan though.”
Kayla said, “I added sugar and French vanilla creamer to yours, Blake, so it tastes better.”
Haliday said, “Gee, thanks for looking out for me.”
Kayla said, “Dad, I made yours the same way.”
David brought over a couple of five gallon gas cans and topped off their tanks and cans. Roger asked, “You hearing anything about troops or feds.”