“Nothing Dad, people are complaining about being left out to dry. They say they see activity at bases, but not much and nothing off base.”
“Ok, thank you sweetie. Keep listening for anything important. Here’s a list of what to do and when to do it.” Another quick hug and it was goodbye.
They all took off. David and Kayla went back to the house and Haliday and Blake down the road and into a small farm by some round hay bales. Haliday wished he had the map memorized. He actually did, except for the areas where they could easily hide. It was mid-morning and they needed a place to go study the map and come up with some plans. “Screw it,” he said, “this is today’s plan.”
They headed out and went east back to the old school. They hid the bikes and walked inside. Haliday took a bunch of rags and soaked them with a little gas. He laid a bunch of debris around the area as well. Blake went into the house and did the same thing. Both used the cigarette ignition with paper clip, lit them and left. So much for the house and old schoolhouse. It was another screw you to the Militia.
Next up was a visit to a familiar face. They went back to try and connect with the guy who had been out hunting. Haliday stayed out in the woods while Blake snuck out to the street and just walked up the guy’s house. He had changed real quickly, and had on blue jean pants and a grey hoodie pulled up. Normal kid off the street. He walked up and knocked on the door.
The guy came to the door and said, “Can I help you?”
Blake lowered his hoodie and said, “It’s me from the woods; I need to talk to you.” The guy opened the door right away and let Blake in.
“What’s going on?” the guy asked. “We need some help. We can help you guys, but we need some help too.”
The guy said, “Sure, no problem. Where’s your dad?”
“Oh, he’s not my dad; he’s my friend’s dad. He’s out in the wood line.”
“Well, ok, but go tell him I’ll open the back door of the pole barn, you can hide your bikes there. Then we can talk.”
Blake said, “Ok, wait until seven though so it’s dark.” Blake went back to meet Haliday.
Seven came around and they pushed the bikes through the dirt field and into the back of the pole barn. Haliday went back out and fluffed up the foliage and dragged the rows of the field they used to bring the bikes in. He walked back into the pole barn. “My name is Rob, we weren’t formally introduced.”
“I’m Roger and that’s Blake, can you turn the flashlight off please?”
“Oh sure, sorry,” Rob said.
Haliday asked, “Anywhere in here we can turn on a light and not be seen from the outside?”
Rob said, “I have a small room I keep things locked up in over in the corner. Let’s go over there.” They made their way over there and went inside. Haliday turned on a small led lamp with red lights.
“Rob, thank you very much. Listen, I’m not going to beat around the bush, we can help you, but we are doing so because it will help us too. You game?”
“Yes I am. Let’s hear what you have.”
Roger said, “First things first. What’s the latest you’ve heard?”
Rob pretty much told him what Haliday already knew, but with a different twist. The militia made them out to be terrorists killing people in cold blood for no reason at all. They were going to come in and take over the community, robbing people, raping women and stuff like that. Haliday chuckled at that and asked, “What do the other people think?”
Rob answered, “They don’t know what to think. Some believe them, but a bunch know what the militia is really doing. The rest are just kind of here. They don’t seem to care.”
“Rob, I won’t lie to you. Here’s how everything went down.” Haliday told him exactly what happened, minus a few small details in order to avoid looking like cold-blooded killers. He wasn’t sure Rob would understand the justification to kill. “Now, Rob, if you are still ok, this is what we have planned.” He covered a few details and looked at Rob.
Rob said, “That sounds fairly dangerous.”
“Well Rob, it does, but with safety in numbers it’ll be ok.” Rob then thought for a moment and agreed.
They would take the night off and use the whole day tomorrow to prepare. Right now they imagined the militia was running around again completely upset because they torched the house and the old school. These were areas they knew the militia was checking. They really just wanted to let them know they were still in the area.
The radio was abuzz with the school and house burning. They didn’t quite send as many patrols as they thought they would, but that was ok. They heard a transmission on the radio. “Hey, is anybody there? Anybody out there?”
The militia responded. “This is the Bad Axe Minute Men. You are on a frequency designated for militia operations. Cease your radio traffic and stay off this frequency.”
“Hey man, listen, we need some help, there’s a bunch of guys on motorcycles who have been causing trouble around here. The police are long gone and we don’t know what to do.”
The militia asked them, “Where are you guys located?”
“We’re south of Sandusky; they just firebombed a store and then torched a car too. Can you guys help?”
“That’s a negative. You are not located in our control district.”
“Come on man, help us out.”
“Negative, now please clear this frequency, try and contact the government on the civil defense frequency. Do not take the law into your own hands. Let the authorities for your area do it. Locate another frequency.” They went back to their own transmissions. Haliday expected them to change frequencies next shift change. He would have to remember to tell Mike “Good job.” The militia might now be thinking they were heading back south after causing trouble up north. The school and house and now the Sandusky area pointed that way.
They discussed with Rob what he would have to do. After a couple more hours, they were done for the night. Rob offered to let them stay in the house, but they politely declined. They asked him to make sure his wife and boys didn’t leave the house and that they remain quiet. Rob assured them it would not be a problem. Rob was about to leave. “Hold on one second, Rob.”
Haliday looked around the little room. There was a good amount of alcohol in boxes on shelves, evidently for the store. Haliday told Rob to keep this secret, maybe even put some in smaller containers to use as trade items down the road. Rob said he hadn’t thought of that. Haliday himself had purchased liquor and empty pint bottles for the same reason.
Haliday went over to his bike. He pulled out four small sized mylar bags and handed them to Rob. “Boil eight cups of water, empty one packet in and let it simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes. You’ll have a complete meal for the four of you. It’s like a cross of red beans and rice and dirty rice.” He handed him a square of Datrex bars and a baggy full of Tang. “This will feed you guys for four full days and give you what you need. Save what you have in the house for now.” Rob protested, but Haliday wouldn’t hear it. Rob thanked them.
After Rob left, Haliday told Blake that they would stay here the night and rotate sleep again. “Can’t be too sure we are in safe hands just yet. Peace offering or not, you never know. We’ll get to work on the toys and plans in the morning. Things will be busy soon enough.”
Haliday woke up and looked outside. There was a heavy frost outside. If they didn’t get this done soon, it would become increasingly more difficult to move around and not leave tracks. Haliday peeked outside the windows. There weren’t any tracks around the building in the frost. No one had checked on them last night. Rob had stayed away like he promised.