They were busy organizing their gear more efficiently when Rob came in. “You guys can fire up that wood burner if you want to.”
“No thank you, two stove pipes from two different buildings might attract attention. We’ll be fine. You heading out Rob?”
“Ya, I’m going to use the kid’s scooter to make my rounds.”
“Good luck, let us know how it goes.”
After Rob left, they got busy working on their little toys. If it hadn’t been for eBay and all the chinamarts online, he wouldn’t have acquired the stuff he needed in bulk. The little alarm clocks were a steal. He bought them by the dozen for about two bucks a clock. They were perfect little timers. They only needed a few of these this time around.
Haliday pulled out the homemade chart of the airport and studied it. He was looking it over and made some more notes. He looked at the map as well. “Time for a quick break.” He called the group.
Bev answered. “We’re all ok, everyone is busy getting ready. We should be all set, how about you guys?”
“Ya, same here,” said Roger. “Anything more on the patrols?”
“Hold on a minute,” she said.
Kevin came on the radio now. “Uncle Roger, I went out to get some firewood to load up in the rack. While I was out there, one of the trucks pulled up on the road. They sat there for a few minutes and then yelled over to me. I asked them what they wanted and they said they wanted the form. I told them we didn’t have any form for them─it wasn’t any of their business─and to just leave us alone. They talked back and forth to each other a few minutes and then left.
“A couple hours later they came back and had another truck with them. They called out on a bullhorn, but we didn’t answer. One of the guys started coming up to the house. Uncle David and Dawn went outside and told him to leave. He put another letter in the mailbox and told us we had 72 hours to fill it out or they would come onto the property and see for themselves. They wouldn’t be nice about it next time. They stopped at the neighbor’s house too.”
“Well, in 72 hours the game will hopefully change. Talk to you guys later.” Haliday looked out the window and saw a quad coming down the tree line. The quad was only going about five miles an hour and the rider was looking into the woods as he rode along. He passed the pole barn without stopping. Haliday went to the other side and watched the guy continue along. These guys were persistent, that’s for sure.
It was late afternoon when they heard Rob on the scooter. Haliday watched him pull up. It looked comical, almost like a clown in a parade. Seeing this big guy on this little scooter. Rob went into his house, then came out about 15 minutes later and came into the pole barn. “Ok, I have some help. I talked to only the guys I could trust and they talked to a few family members as well. We have about 30 people.”
“That’s great news. That’s more than I expected.” Rob said they could double that if they used the older kids. He said he left it up to the others to decide.
Haliday said, “That’s your decision. The risk is there, but in a sense it’s not. I can’t put you or your family in any danger. You are volunteers and if that’s what you decide then I’m with you. Everyone understands the ground rules right?”
Rob said, “Yes.”
“Any other news?”
“A little bit. They have a couple motorcycles now and a few quads. Some of the militia are using them to check the woods and property lines. If you are using those areas, you might be in trouble.”
Roger said, “Ya, I saw one pass by earlier. That won’t be a problem, they won’t find anything, we covered our tracks enough.
“Rob, go inside and spend the evening with your family. We’ll be fine out here. I’ll talk to you again in the morning.”
“Goodnight Roger. Goodnight Blake. Again, I can’t thank you guys enough.”
“Rob, thank us if this works, and don’t downplay your role. It’s just as dangerous and just as important. Tomorrow night is the big night.” They parted ways for the evening. Haliday noted that the patrol quad drove by twice more during the night.
It was past dinner time when Blake and Haliday ate. They whipped up a package of chili and ate dinner. They turned the radio on and listened. Just a few more minutes to wait, then it was time. “This is the St. Clair Tridents trying to raise the Bad Axe Minute Men, over.” There was no response. “St. Clair Tridents calling the Bad Axe Minute men, over.”
BAMM responded. “Who are you?”
“This is Colonel David Howe from the St. Clair Tridents.”
“We never heard of you.”
“Well, we never heard of you either until this morning. Let’s cut to the chase. I don’t care if you know me or not, but all we are looking for is some info. We had a citizen give us this frequency after they said they called for help and you answered.”
“Go ahead, what do you want?” the minute man asked.
Howe continued. “We had some problems last night and this evening. We have some kind of gang causing problems. Lighting fires and shooting at people to scare them. We had a few trucks come through yesterday afternoon, but we lost track of them. The worst part though is they have some motorcycles causing troubles. You guys have any information on them at all?”
“No we don’t. We haven’t had any problems at all up here except for some local people looting. But the police are handling it. If we have any other information, we’ll call you on this frequency. We monitor it, but that’s all. We wish you luck.” Haliday shook his head. These guys are some cool players. Protecting their little country, lying through their teeth, they really are something else. Tomorrow night they’d be put to the test.
Haliday called the group before they settled in for the night. “Make sure you guys go over everything again and again. I can’t tell you guys enough how important it is. There are going to be a lot of people depending on us, but what you have to consider before anything else is your safety and the safety of everyone around you. Ok, we’re getting some sleep. Talk to you in the morning.”
Chapter 23
This morning was a busy one. Rob had taken the scooter and made his rounds to make sure everyone was going to be ready. Haliday and Blake double-checked everything and loaded up the bikes to get ready. Rich, Bev, David, Dawn, and Randy got the Cherokee and Tahoe ready. They too were packed and ready. Kayla helped them go over everything and then made sure the house was ready. She would be staying with Sarah, Kevin, Bobby, Karen, Diana, and Elizabeth at the house.
Rich was driving the Cherokee and David the Tahoe. They headed out and northwest toward the western shoreline of the Thumb. They had with them quite a few little packages. Their main area of operation was going to be the Caseville area and along that shoreline. As they approached the area, they would stop on occasion. Timed surprises to help keep the militia on edge.
It was early afternoon and over at the airport, a crowd started to gather near the front gate. The militia warned them to leave and they did. They went about a quarter of a mile down to a feed store. They lit up a couple of burn barrels and stood around. The crowd increased in size, drawing the attention of the militia. They had a patrol drive by about every 10 minutes.
Over in the Caseville area, the two vehicles pulled into the parking lot of a small grocery store. A militia patrol pulled in behind them. They got out and approached the vehicles with their weapons at the ready. A few minutes later another patrol pulled in to assist them. They ordered the group out of the vehicles.
David and Dawn got out first. Randy got out of the Cherokee and walked over to the driver’s door. He opened it and Rich got out. Rich leaned up against the fender playing the feeble old man. Randy went and opened Bev’s door and helped her get out. He pulled out a small stool and she sat down. The militia approached them.