Days of Want Series (Book 4): Uprising

by Payne, T. L.

  People nodded.

  “We're going to need people to walk the fence line," Maddie continued.

  Again, they all looked to Jacob.

  Maddie stood and backed away. Her pride was hurt, but this mission was too important to let that interfere. Jacob knew the plan as well as she did. They knew and respected him. She got that. She needed to earn their respect. She was good with that. As long as each one did their job, she didn't care if they ever liked or respected her.

  She looked to her side. Roger and Maria stood with their backs to the building. Their eyes scanned the fence line. She walked over and stood beside them. They all listened to Jacob give his briefing. The way they were huddled reminded her of a quarterback giving plays to his teammates on the football field. She could see Jacob as a football player.

  A moment later, a group of ten men followed Jacob down the road and around the east side of the fence. He returned alone fifteen minutes later.

  Jacob came and stood beside Maddie, and the two stared off at the prison yard.

  "We will need twice that many in the morning," Maddie said.

  "Hopefully, the judge will be able to round up more volunteers. Until then, these twenty-six will have to do. We will be pulling four-hour shifts, so everyone can get some rest," Jacob said.

  "We should get back home and get some rest ourselves. We’ll come back refreshed tomorrow," Roger said.

  "I'll stay with our new guards," Jacob said. He turned to Maddie.

  "Go. Get rested up. You can stop by and see the judge tomorrow and get us some fresh replacements."

  Maddie wondered how long it would be before Todd could get back there. He'd be better at supervising the new guards. She'd feel better leaving with Todd in charge. He knew the prison and the prisoners.

  "I don't know," Maddie said, looking around at the weary, confused-looking volunteers.

  "Nothing's going to happen tonight. If it does, the MPs will handle it. This is your last chance to really rest before they leave. We don't know how long this will go on before the governor's people come through," Jacob said, placing his hand on her arm.

  Maddie nodded then looked at Maria. Maria nodded her head toward the Humvee and took off in that direction. Maddie looked over her shoulder as she followed Maria and Roger to the parking lot. Leaving him there didn't feel right.

  Roger was in the driver's seat when she reached the Humvee. Maddie recalled the story her mother told about their blacked-out ride out of California and hoped he didn't have any crazy ideas like that in mind tonight. She was too tired for that kind of stress.

  They passed a group of MPs standing in the parking lot as they left the prison and turned on to Highway 32, heading toward home. Roger flipped on the Humvee's headlights and weaved around the checkpoint. Maddie looked back at the prison. Generators ran a few lights, but mostly it was dark inside the fence. Tomorrow, the military would all load up and leave them to fend for themselves. It didn't make sense to Maddie. Didn't the governor understand the impact this situation could have on this tiny community? How did he expect them to defend themselves against six-hundred hardened criminals? Did he care?

  Maddie woke when the Humvee began shaking and rattling along the washboard gravel in front of Ron's house. She looked around. She hadn't intended to fall asleep. As Roger pulled into the driveway, Maddie wondered if she would always think of it as Ron's house.

  Beth, Roger, Dawn, and Krista now occupied it. Maria bounced between the cabin and Ron's. Maddie thought for a moment. She couldn’t recall seeing Maria sleep but assumed she must have done so when Maddie was on watch duty.

  Beth stood on the wraparound porch. Jason exited the screen door as Roger pulled the Humvee around to the machine shed. When Maddie opened her door and stepped out, Beth wrapped her arms around her. She led her up the porch steps and into the house.

  "How was it?" Jason asked.

  "It went according to plan. The volunteers are settled in and have their assignments. Jacob stayed with them."

  "Good. Good," Jason said, sitting down beside Beth on the sofa.

  Maddie took a seat in the recliner across from them.

  "We are heading to the cabin," Roger called from the door.

  "Okay, hold up," Maddie said as she stood.

  "You can stay here. There's room. Zach’s on watch," Beth said, following Maddie to the door.

  "I need to fill the rest of them in on the plan for tomorrow."

  "Do you really need to go back? You said everyone knew their assignments."

  Maddie stopped at the door and faced her mom.

  "I think that each of us will be pulling shifts at the prison after tomorrow. The place is just so big. There’s too much at stake."

  Beth said nothing as Maddie opened the door and stepped onto the porch.

  "Just be careful. Okay?" Beth said as she closed the door.

  After a night of tossing and turning and anxiously anticipating what they might face in the next few days after the military abandoned the prison, a knot formed in her stomach as she and Lugnut loaded the vehicle and prepared to leave that next morning.

  Time to face your fears, Maddie.

  She’d heard that so many times from her dad, but they’d never been more real than right then.

  Do it afraid.

  That was her new mantra.

  Chapter 11

  Texas County Courthouse

  Houston, Missouri

  Event + 21 Days

  Tensions were high as Maddie and Lugnut ascended the courthouse steps. People looked away as Maddie walked by. Margaret, who the day before had been friendly and chatty, suddenly ducked into her office as Maddie crested the top of the stairs.

  "Something's wrong," Maddie whispered as she leaned in close to Lugnut.

  "Really? You think it's me?" Lugnut asked.

  "No. I'm afraid it's something else."

  Maddie was surprised that no line formed outside the door to the judge's office. Maddie knocked and waited. There was no reply. She looked up and down the hall. She thought maybe the judge hadn't arrived yet. But why wouldn't Margaret have said so?

  She knocked again. Louder this time.

  A second later, she heard his gruff voice.

  "I said I don't want to be disturbed."

  Maddie glanced over to Lugnut. He shrugged.

  "Judge, it's Maddie Langston. You said you'd have another list for me this morning," Maddie called through the door.

  "Come in, then."

  An officer in uniform sat in the chair in front of the judge.

  "Have you met our esteemed chief of police?" Judge Farley asked.

  “Yes, sir. We met yesterday. Hello, Chief.”

  “She's the one you need to speak to about this little problem of yours," the judge said.

  The smirk on the judge's face puzzled Maddie.

  The police chief turned back toward the judge.

  "I'm serious, Judge. This is getting out of hand. We need to do something about it before it becomes everyone’s problem," the police chief said.

  The judge pointed to Maddie.

  "Tell her. I bet she can do a much better job dealing with it than your inept department can."

  "What exactly is the problem?" Maddie asked as she approached the judge's desk.

  The judge pointed a crooked finger at the chief.

  His wrinkled hand shook as he said, "Have a seat, you two."

  Lugnut grabbed a chair from along the wall, and they took a seat next to the chief. The judge's sports coat was wrinkled. It looked like he had slept in it. She looked around the office. The pillow and folded blanket on the sofa along the wall to her left confirmed her suspicions. But why had he slept here?

  "Guffey's daughter was one of the deputies killed by Mark Jewell and his sister when the sheriff went looking to arrest them for the murder of the Henson girl. Edward Guffey was the instigator of the Jewells’ lynching following the trial. He really stirred up the folks around here. It took days to get everyo
ne to calm down and get back to taking care of things,” Jacob said, leaning in close to Maddie.

  "What does that have to do with me and this situation at the prison?" Maddie asked, cutting to the chase.

  She didn't have time for a long, drawn-out story. The military was pulling out of the prison as they sat there. She needed to collect her volunteers and get to work making sure they had enough bodies to keep those prisoners locked up.

  "He's been at it all night," the chief said, looking to the judge.

  "What? What has he been at all night?" Maddie asked.

  She wasn't sure she wanted the answer. It was too awful to think about.

  "Guffey's against guarding the prison,” the chief said.

  "Damn it. Just tell her so I can get back to work," the judge barked.

  "He wants to execute them," the chief blurted out.

  "The prisoners?" Maddie said. "All six hundred of them? How the hell would we even do that? Is he going inside the fence to gun them down in their cells?"

  "I don't think he had thought it through that far. He has the ears of a lot of folks."

  "Lock his ass up," Lugnut said. "Lock him up. He’s a danger to the community. At least as long as we have this crisis at the prison."

  The chief whipped his head around and glared at Lugnut. The judge looked up over his glasses.

  "What? You have a jail, right?" Maddie asked.

  "Well, yes, but…"

  "Then lock him up so we don't have to shoot him," Maddie said as she got to her feet.

  "If he comes down there to the prison with some crowd thinking they are going to take over and cause trouble, I will shoot his ass," Maddie said, her eyes burrowing into the man.

  “That's why I picked her," the judge said, shaking his index finger. "Now, go pick him up. If his family gives you any grief, lock their asses up too. Get fucking control of your city, or I will let her do it," the judge said as he handed Maddie a new slip of paper.

  The chief was stammering something as Maddie opened the door to the judge's office. She looked over her shoulder, and the judge flashed her a smile.

  "I don't want his job," Maddie said as she exited the judge's chambers.

  "Neither does he, apparently," Lugnut said.

  Maddie chuckled.

  "I don't blame him. If he isn't careful, he'll be on the judge's bad side. I don't think he wants that either."

  Maddie poked her head inside Margaret's office door. She needed to know if the issue with the pot-stirrer was the only issue.

  "Morning, Miss Margaret," Maddie said.

  "Morning, Maddie. Who is this handsome devil you brought with you this morning?"

  "This is a friend of my dad's. They served together. His name is Christian, but we call him Lugnut."

  "Well, hello, Christian. It's nice to meet you," Margaret said with a big grin on her face.

  She stuck out her hand as if she were the queen and Lug was supposed to kiss her ring or something. Lugnut took it and gently kissed her hand. Maddie could see the woman swoon. She was afraid Lugnut was going to give the woman a heart attack. The judge wouldn't be happy if they killed his secretary.

  "Miss Margaret, is everything all right here this morning?” Maddie asked. “I sense some tension in the building."

  "Well, I hate to gossip.” She stepped over to the door, looked up and down the hall, then closed the door behind her. "The judge called a town meeting after you left yesterday. He laid down the law about volunteering for guarding the prison. When a few folks complained. He had the chief escort them out of town."

  Maddie gasped.

  "He did what?"

  "He called them ‘freeloaders’ and said he wasn't having freeloaders who were not willing to protect what we got here, so he ordered them and their families to leave town. When one of the officers refused to help the chief escort them to the checkpoint, the judge told him to pack his bag and go with them."

  "Oh my," Maddie said. "How did the rest of the town take that?"

  "Everyone's scared now. No one knows who'll be next."

  Maddie leaned in close to Margaret.

  "Why is everyone so scared of the judge? Why is he so powerful that even the chief of police cowers? Where’s your mayor and city council?"

  Margaret snickered.

  "Who do you think he had escorted out first?"

  "Really? The mayor?"

  "The judge has been the real leader of this community for five decades. The lights going out ain't gonna change that fact. Until now, most folks agreed with his decisions. No one thought him heavy-handed. Folks got out of line, he'd give them a kick in the pants, so to speak. But no one that didn't need it, you know."

  "But now—are folks questioning his leadership?"

  "Not so much that. They're just scared. Everything’s changing so fast. Food and supplies are getting short for a lot of folks—the unprepared ones, anyway. They thought they'd come with their hands out and not be required to do much for it. They were wrong."

  "Those types won't survive long," Lugnut said.

  Margaret looked up at him.

  "Not around here. Not if they get on the judge’s naughty list," Margaret said.

  "I hope I never get on his naughty list," Maddie said as she put her hand on the doorknob.

  "Oh, honey, I doubt you'll do that. He really likes you. He thinks you have what it takes to be his protégé."

  "Protégé?"

  "Yep. Says he ain't getting any younger, and ain't no one around here got balls as big as yours—his words. Not mine."

  Maddie glanced over to Lugnut. She started to say she didn't want to be the judge's protégé but Lugnut grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

  "It sure was nice to meet you, Miss Margaret. I hope to get to see you again real soon," he said as he pulled Maddie toward the stairs.

  "What the hell was that about?" Maddie asked as they descended the stairs.

  "Well, Maddie, I think you've made quite an impression on the judge."

  Maddie huffed and rolled her eyes. She just wasn't willing to bow to him like he was king. If he saw that as “having balls,” then fine. She had no intention of being anyone's protégé, least of all some small-town semi-dictator.

  Lugnut opened the right front door of the Humvee and held it open.

  "I think Miss Margaret has a crush on you," Maddie said as she slid into the passenger seat.

  “Well, the old lady obviously has good taste," Lugnut chuckled, as he rounded the vehicle and climbed into the driver's seat.

  "You’d better watch out. She might have a jealous husband."

  Maddie and Lugnut met the new volunteers in the Walmart parking lot. They were already loaded into the blue bus. Maddie stepped up into the bus, and everyone quieted down.

  "I'm Maddie Langston. I'm going to get you up to speed on the conditions you’ll face at the prison and what’s at stake."

  She explained to the new group that their sole responsibility was to walk the perimeter and make sure no one made it over the fence. Like the first group, some grumbled under their breath, but no one said anything out loud.

  “What do you think?” Lugnut asked as they headed back to the Humvee.

  “They look scared as hell. I think a few of them might actually pee their pants if an inmate approaches their position.”

  Lugnut giggled. “Let’s hope they can shoot and pee at the same time.”

  Maddie observed Lugnut's reaction as they passed the post office in Success. Neither of them spoke. She tried hard to stay focused on the task ahead. She knew she couldn't afford to go down the road of regret and doubt today.

  They met a convoy of military vehicles when they turned from Highway 17 onto Highway 32. The convoy turned north toward Fort Leonard Wood, as Lugnut steered the Humvee toward Licking and the prison. A knot formed in her stomach at the thought of what they could encounter there.

  As they approached the prison, the first thing Maddie noticed was that the roadblock was missing. The vehicl
es that previously blocked both lanes of the road were pushed into the ditches, and the officers who had manned it were gone. Maddie and Lugnut looked at each other then back to the road. The Licking mayor had, indeed, evacuated the town.

  The bus pulled around to the back of the prison. The MPs were loading into five-ton Army troop trucks. They looked relieved to be leaving. The new volunteer prison guards got off the bus and stared soberly at the MPs as they walked toward the building. The volunteers’ awareness of the seriousness of the task appeared to be increasing with each step they took.

  Jacob greeted Maddie and Lugnut as they exited the Humvee.

  "I see the judge came through," he said with a huge grin.

  His relief was short-lived as Maddie told him about the judge banishing anyone who refused to “volunteer.”

  "I would’ve preferred willing volunteers, but we have to take what we can get," he said as he turned to greet the people exiting the bus.

  Maddie looked to her right. Men in prison uniforms milled about the prison yard. That was Maddie's first glimpse of the inmates.

  "Any trouble when the military pulled out?” Lugnut asked.

  "Not so far. Before the last of the MPs left, the lieutenant made an announcement to the inmates. He told them that the order was to shoot anyone who approaches the fence," Jacob said.

  "What about the Red Cross and FEMA folks?" Maddie asked. "Any of them say anything about that?"

  "No. The FEMA coordinator actually came over wanting to confirm that was, indeed, the order. When I assured him it was true, he looked relieved."

  “So, FEMA and the Red Cross are staying for the long haul?" Lugnut asked.

  "They said they were. They won’t be delivering meals inside the fence anymore, but they've arranged to leave the food and supplies between the gates. The assigned prison trustees will open the gate and move the supplies inside. They were told that if anyone else approaches the gate, they will be shot and there’ll be no more food deliveries.”