“I have to pee. Can’t I go pee?” Rich answered.
The guy told him, “No, you can hold it.”
Rich looked at him, “I can’t hold it. I’m 75 years old.”
“Piss your pants then, old man,” the guy replied. “We ain’t letting you piss all over the place.”
Dawn got out now. “Let the man go the bathroom for God’s sake.”
“Shut up bitch.”
“Don’t call me a bitch.”
The guy lowered his rifle and flipped her off. “Screw you bitch.”
Dawn said, “All he wants to do is go to the bathroom, ok? What if I take a bucket out for him?”
“I don’t give a shit. Like I said, let him piss his pants. Should have put on some Depends, old man.”
Dawn called him an asshole. The guy by their truck called him, “Hey, we got a big problem, we have to go.”
“Rich, as soon as they leave you can go.” The militia man walked up and slapped Dawn.
Rich bent down a bit and said, “Don’t hurt us.” Dawn cowered down and covered her head.
“You start to listen to us from now on you stupid bitch.”
“Leave me alone you bastard.” The other militia man started walking toward them. The guy called Dawn a bitch again and raised his hand to hit her again.
David squeezed the trigger five times, hitting the man three times. Randy fired his shotgun once at the second man, pumped it and then fired again. David walked up and checked the guy; he wasn’t dead, but just lying there. He kicked away his rifle and grabbed his pistol from his belt. Randy yelled over that the second guy was dead. “Uncle Roger was right. Buckshot is good stuff.”
They grabbed all of the gear that they could and tossed it into the vehicles. Randy grabbed a can of compressed air and filled the Tahoe’s tire. He walked over to the militia vehicle and using a knife flattened all four tires. They took whatever was in the truck and put it in their own. They took off as soon as they could. They left the injured man just lying there.
The second truck came speeding down the road and saw them pulling away. They tore into the parking lot to check it out. They had had no idea that David had hidden a rifle and a shotgun up under the truck. The flat tire and Rich’s bathroom plea had been a diversion. Of course, Dawn hadn’t expected to get slapped.
The militia grabbed some first aid supplies and tended to their friend. Once they got him bandaged quickly, they put him in the back of the truck. They grabbed the other man’s body and placed it in the back of the truck as well. They sped off heading toward their compound.
David and company made a few turns, waited, and then headed back to the house. This was all that was expected of them. They made it back and put everything away. They turned the radio on and listened. Everything was boiling over right now and it was chaos at the militia compound.
They had forced the group aside and opened the gate for the patrol truck to enter with the injured man. They rushed him into the admin building, where a nurse from the militia was working on him. At this same time, the crowd outside was yelling that they wanted to talk to the militia leader. They were not leaving until that happened.
One of the militia came out and asked them what they wanted. Rob told him, “We want our food and stuff back. You guys don’t have the right to keep it. You didn’t have the right to take it.” The man from the militia told him to take it easy, disperse the crowd, and then he would get the commander and they could talk.
“What do you mean get the commander, who the hell are you? I know you from somewhere. You work at the sheriff’s office. Is he in charge?”
“The sheriff is the commander. We are under rule of militia law now.” The crowd was yelling at them loudly now. More of the militia came around by the gate. They now had a few guys patrolling up and down the fence line continuously.
Someone ran inside and spoke to the commander. The commander came out and walked behind a barrier. “What do you people want?”
Rob replied, “We want what’s ours. What you took from us, what you stole from the community. That’s what we want.”
The commander responded, “You got it all wrong.”
“Then explain it to us,” yelled Rob.
“We are under militia law now. Everything was commandeered for the good of the community. You’ll be able to buy food and supplies in a couple of days.”
Rob yelled again, “Why the hell should we buy what belonged to us in the first place?”
The commander tried to explain. “Things are different and we need to maintain order. That’s why we are in charge.”
Some in the crowd hollered out, “Who the hell put you in charge?” The commander didn’t answer.
“I was the sheriff and now I am the commander of the militia. We are doing what is best for us. If you listen to us and follow our law you will be fine. Now disperse and go home and wait for notice.”
A woman asked him, “You mean what’s best for you or what’s best for all of us?”
Someone in the crowd threw some rocks at the militia. The commander ordered them to leave. The crowd threw some more rocks. Two members of the militia approached the gate with what looked like flame throwers, but they were not flame throwers. They sprayed the crowd with pepper spray from these tanks.
Some of the crowd started running away. A lot of the people were, coughing and tears and snot were running down their faces. The commander ordered them to disperse once again. They crossed the street but were still yelling. People continued to throw rocks, bottles, or whatever they could find. Someone threw a Molotov cocktail.
The militia fired toward the crowd to scare them. One man went down and others helped him up. He had been hit in the leg by accident. The crowd started running away now through the houses across the street and down back toward the feed store. The militia fired only sporadically.
Blake fired first. The round arced over toward the crowd and exploded in the air, lighting up the scene. It was a simple fireworks cartridge from the 37mm. The militia had been caught off guard. Everyone looked up. Haliday squeezed the trigger on his M24 and dropped the commander. The shot tore through his upper shoulder near his neck. They grabbed him and rushed him into the command center.
The militia didn’t know whether or not to fire on the crowd. Some of the crowd ran and some lay down on the ground. Haliday placed his next shot into the open hangar where they were working on the planes. He fired a shot into what looked like a small fuel caddy and it started to leak. He fired just one more shot into it.
He handed the rifle to Blake and told him to put it away. Blake stuffed it in the case and used some bungee cords to secure it to Haliday’s bike. He wrapped a couple quick pieces of hundred mile and hour tape on it. This rifle was too important to lose. Blake grabbed his AR and fired at the compound and kept an eye out for patrols.
The militia sent a couple guys to the fence line closest to Haliday and Blake. They fired a few shots at them. Haliday and Blake returned fire. Blake emptied a magazine and loaded another into the rifle. Haliday crawled over to a tree and rose up behind it. He aimed the 37mm and launched a flare toward the hangar.
The flare fell short. Haliday loaded another one and fired again at the hangar. This one hit the tarmac in front of the hangar and bounced in. Someone came running out. Haliday watched as a group of guys ran toward the motor pool hangar. Haliday loaded one more cartridge into the launcher and fired it toward the hangar. Blake continued to fire at the men near the fence line; he had gone through three magazines and just loaded his fourth.
The fireworks cartridge landed near the open door of the hangar and exploded sending colorful sparks everywhere. One landed in the puddle of fuel and sent up a wall flames. A couple guys grabbed some small extinguishers and tried to put it out. The flames grew in size. Haliday was disappointed there was no explosion. “A little 4th of July celebration for ya Wright brothers. Fly this.”