“But Jon you hardly drink beer anymore, mostly wine.” said Mort.
“Yea that is true, just can’t stomach it like I used to. Besides, beer just seems to go right to my waist line.”
“What, are you getting particular in your older age? Do you think anybody cares what you look like these days?” said Riley.
“Well not to make a point but now that Catherine is back, you all saw she is one good looking woman. I can’t let myself go or one of you guys may chase after her.” said Jon.
With that they all laughed and shook their heads.
“So the wine will taste good tonight.” threw in Chris.
The comment drew a chuckle and the three continued down into the forest. The light was fading as the three came into a small clearing. All at once a nice sized bull bolted out of the woods on the other side and Mort quickly shouldered his rifle and fired. The bull staggered and fell dead in his tracks. The hunt for this group was over and now they had meat for the winter and beyond.
When they had finished dressing Mort’s bull and stowing it away, they built a large fire and pulled chairs around. Breaking out beer and wine the five men sat back and began to first discuss their success in the hunt.
“Almost seems too bad we got our limit so early.” said Angus.
“Yea it would be nice to stay out a few more days and do some more hunting.” said Chris.
“By the way dad, since there is no authority here and since what we are doing is illegal in the eyes of the current government, why do we have a limit?”
Jon took a good drink of his wine then looked at the crew.
“Well you are right in that frankly there are no rules. But fact is I was always brought up on limits in hunting, just like Mort and Riley. While there may be an overabundance of elk and deer, I still feel like we should limit our take. Besides, all the meat we get takes care of us, the folks who are in need, and provides us extra for barter. Hell, a good elk steak is like gold to some folks.”
“Yea, dat is one thing I will never understand about those urban people. How can they eat that processed crap they call food? Nothing beats a rare elk steak and a cold beer.” said Mort.
“Well it all goes to the bureaucracy and their false information about what is bad for you. I would bet that if they put us into a test with those urban dwellers, we would be healthier. It is all about exercise and eating good.” said Jon.
“You know maybe if and when those urban troops show up, we ought to just invite them for a steak and a beer. You know show em what they are missing.” said Riley.
“I wish it could all be that easy, but chances are they will come looking for trouble instead of a barbeque.” said Jon.
The reminder of that reality brought the group back to other thoughts and away from the moment of joy. They knew what they were facing but tried to let it at least be placated for the moment by the time at hand.
“Well guys, let’s get to bed, we have work to do in the morning and we best be getting back.” said Jon.
Mort headed to his tent and Riley and Angus to theirs. Chris was walking toward his tent and turned to see Jon staring at the sky.
“What is it dad?”
“The sky has cleared and the snow has stopped. I was just taking a moment to say hello to an old friend.” said Jon.
“Old friend, who is that dad?” said Chris.
“Orion, it is the constellation Orion. He is known as the hunter and I met him as a young boy. When I was about nine years old, I learned about the stars and planets and one night I was out staring at the sky. My father came out and started pointing out the constellations to me. When he showed me Orion, with his belt and knife, it was at that point that Orion and I became friends. He has always been my guide.”
“Dad, what was my grandfather like? You really never talked about him much and I only saw pictures and old movies of him.” asked Chris.
“My father, your grandfather, was a smart and hardworking man who loved his family. He was a doctor and spent much of his time with his profession. He wasn’t always around but when he was, he tried to do the best for us. He died when I was a boy and as such I was raised mostly by my mom, your grandmother.” said Jon.
“Now I remember her, she was fun and when we would visit her house it was always around a football game.”
“That’s right Chris as you and I would mostly go in the fall.” said Jon.
“I guess you miss her, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. Fact is she would have fit right here in the valley as she was a strong woman. I used to call her a tough old bitch, of course in a loving way.” said Jon.
Chris paused and looked up at Orion.
“Maybe I should find a guide too dad?” said Chris.
“Oh son, don’t worry, one day your guide will find you. Now let’s get to bed. It is cold and I am tired.”
Chapter 15
Governor Tarl was busy behind his desk giving orders to adjutant Schneider as he was anxiously awaiting word from the patrol, he had sent into the valley to begin bringing in the outliers and he expected good news and as such was in high spirits.
“Schneider, what is holding up the report from the company we sent into the valley? I would expect that they would have returned by now with fifty or so outliers to bring in for indoctrination.” said Tarl.
“I am not certain sir but I will ring down to headquarters and see.” said Schneider.
The adjutant picked up the phone and called the security headquarters for a report. After a few minutes his face became quite pale as he informed the other end to send up the commander of the operation for a full report to governor Tarl.
“Well what is the news, you seem a bit disturbed Schneider?” said Tarl.
“Sir, it seems that the mission was a failure.” said Schneider.
Tarl suddenly turned red and then had look of rage upon his face. He walked toward the window and took a long gaze out toward the snow-covered mountains. He noted the lowering sky and began to realize that the season of snow was setting in and any further plans he wanted for his operations would need to be put in place quickly.
“Is the commander on his way up?” asked Tarl.
“Yes, he should be here momentarily.” said Schneider.
About twenty minutes later the door opened and in walked Captain Schumacher. His head was bowed as he knew this would not be a good meeting.
“So, captain you failed in your mission, what happened?” asked Tarl
“We went into the valley as planned sir. We came to the first homestead and were moving along an older man and his wife. We figured that if they were all going to be like this it would be an easy job. Then four men showed up. There were two older men and two younger men. One of the older men was quite powerful and pushed us around. It also helped them that they were all armed with hunting rifles.” said Schumacher.
“But sir, we have heard that these outliers were no more than scare crows, barely living off the land. Are we to believe this story? Rifles, where would they get ammunition as we banned those years ago?” asked Schneider.
“I don’t know but they routed us pretty good. In fact, as we left the big one put a bullet through the back window of one of our vehicles.” said Schumacher.
Tarl stood for a moment contemplating his words. He had not expected this nor had he expected needing to do what had to be done next. He looked the two men in the eye and began to speak.
“You both understand what must be done or rather I hope you do. We cannot let this action stand or word will get out and more will become defiant. Our power resides in multiple ways. First, we control all the media and all the entertainment that is put in front of our people. Second, we provide cradle to grave care so that the people want not for what they have never experienced. Third we give them purpose by providing a work and life and amusement. What these people
in the outlier world represent is a long gone past. They have a long-held belief in what they called freedom. We cannot let them exist or it will destroy all that we have built. We must destroy them before their message destroys us.”
“So, what do we do next sir?” asked Schumacher.
Tarl hesitated for a moment then gave a firm response.
“Schneider, call Commander Ross and get him up here at once. We need to come up with a plan to deal with this.”
Commander Ross answered the ringing phone and soon was making his way to the 51st floor. Ross was not a politician of sorts as he had actually been quite high in rank in the military. He had commanded forces in the Islamic wars of the prior decade and was a respected tactician. Being a soldier, he did not care as much for the bureaucracy that had grown nor did he truly believe in all the teachings of the New World Order. He was though a good soldier and took his command from the ranking politicians and as long as he could maintain his station, he would go along with whoever was in power.
As Ross walked into Tarl’s office he saw the man pouring over maps of the mountain areas outside of the city.
“Commander Ross, good to see you.” said Tarl.
“And you Governor. What is up, why have you summoned me?”
“You are fully aware that we are under orders to round up the outliers near our city and bring them in to conform.” said Tarl.
“Yes, I am aware of the orders. I understood that you had dispatched a group to being this process. I would think that this action would be quite easy.” said Ross.
“Well it turns out that the group of outliers who reside in this valley.” As Tarl pointed to a location on the map “turned out to be a bit more than expected.”
“Well it seems these people turned back our attempt and as such we have quite a dilemma. I am under orders to complete this exercise and would like you to advise us on what to do next.”
“What did they run into? I would think that those people are barely surviving.” said Ross.
“Well according to the report, it was some large strong men that were armed with rifles.” said Tarl.
“Rifles hum, I always knew that the disarmament plans would fail. Well my advice is to simply send a larger force that is better armed. They should be given instructions to subdue no matter what method.”
“How large a force do you think we will need for the operation?” asked Tarl?
“Mobilize three full platoons of security forces with vehicles and arm them with machine pistols. I would send them into that valley to remove the people they can and to eliminate those that resist. Let’s just see what those outliers can do against one hundred and fifty well-armed security troopers.” said Ross.
“Do you have a suggestion of who should lead this excursion?”
“I recommend Major Brown; he is a capable commander. Not as adept at military exercises but a quite exceptional political leader. Yes, send Major Brown.” said Ross.
“Sounds good then we are set.” said Tarl.
“What about the weather as it is starting to close in with snow?” asked Schneider?
“Yes, it is but that is why I want this force ready to go now. Friday they are to move against that valley and finish this task before winter.” said Tarl.
“We will get the troop mobilized and ready to move, I will see to it myself.” said Ross.
Ross stood at brief attention and then left the room. Tarl looked at Schneider and shook his head.
“I thought it would never come to this. During our period of change it never required us to use military force to make the people go along. They went along not knowing what was really happening and since we were doing what was best it did not matter. Now we look to draw blood on our own continent. Well it serves those people right. They should have never tried to stand up for what they thought was right because we always knew what was right.”
“Well we have to do what we have to do” said Tarl.
“Yes sir we do, and we will” said Schneider.
Chapter 16
Chris and Jon had dropped Mort and his two elk off at his place. They had helped him haul the carcasses to his back porch and strung them up.
“Mort, looks like you have a lot of work to do here, do you need some help?” asked Jon.
“Nope, I am going in the house and get a beer and then head back out here and skin these critters. Then I will get them in my cooler, and of course have another beer.” said Mort.
“Well you enjoy yourself.” said Jon.
“Oh don’t you worry, I have all afternoon and plenty of beer.” said Mort.
Jon and Chris got back in the truck and headed up the road toward their cabin. They made a brief stop by Doc’s place just to check in for news. As such Doc had heard nothing from the look outs as things had been fairly peaceful. Jon made sure Doc knew that there was elk meat for him as soon as Chris and he got it hung, aged, and cut up. Doc showed his gratitude and waived the men on their way.
As the truck pulled up to the cabin both Jon and Chris saw the wisps of smoke coming from the chimney. They both looked at each other with the same thought.
“You know son, it is nice to be coming home knowing that there are people that you love waiting for you. While I have enjoyed life all these years, everything now seems complete.” said Jon.
“I know what you mean dad.”
As the men closed the truck doors, the front door opened and out came Amanda and Catherine. They stood on the porch looking at the men as they got out of the truck.
“Well did you catch anything?” asked Amanda.
“Catch isn’t quite the word.” said Chris.
“No we didn’t catch anything, but we killed two very nice elk and have quite a bit of work ahead of us. Do you want to help us skin them and hang them?” asked Jon.
“Well I think I will pass on that. In fact, it is kind of cold, I am going back in and curl up under a blanket and start to enjoy one of your books.” said Amanda.
“And what book are you going to read?” asked Jon.
“Well I thought I would start with one you spoke of, Tarzan of the Apes.” said Amanda.
“A great choice.” said Jon.
Chris and Jon took their gear out of the truck and laid it on the front porch. They were both tired from the hunt and as such went inside to get a cup of coffee before they got started on the work at hand. After a brief break they went back outside and hauled both elk to the back-hanging porch and subsequently hung both of the animals up. They then took out their knives and started to work. Catherine decided to brave it and pulled up a chair to watch and see what exactly this job entailed. As Jon removed the skin from the large Elk Catherine let out a sound that resembled something like blah.
“Oh my, it really is tough watching you two do this. I feel like I am in a slaughter house.” said Catherine.
“Well my dear when it is early January and there is two feet of snow out and it is zero degrees you will be quite happy to put a mouthful of hot elk stew in you to warm up. I promise you that it will make you much warmer than eating that synthetic protein you have survived on the last ten years.” said Jon.
“You know what is funny is that I have never been a big meat eater as you know. But coming up here I have really begun to enjoy the taste and the sensation.” said Catherine.
“And may I add my dear that since you have been here the color has returned to your face and you seem to be gaining in strength.” said Jon.
“Yes I know that Jon. What I am not sure if is it the food, the fresh air, or you.”
“I think it is a combination of all of it. And I think that it is the freedom that we have here. You have to admit that you feel like you have a freedom you have not experienced in years.” said Jon.
“Yes, I think you are right. There is a life here in this valley that is healthy. I just hope w
e find a way to make it last.” said Catherine.
Jon stopped and looked down. With the hunt and him being with Catherine he had totally let slip the reality of what was more than likely to come. He looked out toward the woods and then turned back to Catherine.
“We have to make it last no matter what. No matter what the cost on either side. I make no pretense in believing that the New Order will leave us alone. They will be back and when they do, we will be ready for them.”
“Jon do you really think it has to come down to a fight? Do you think these folk here are ready to kill and be killed? I will be honest with you that I have my doubts about the value of it. It just doesn’t seem right fighting with fellow countrymen just to stay here. I mean you can disagree with their politics and their way they have decided to govern but do you really hate them?
“No, I don’t hate them, but I don’t think any of this is personal. It is a matter of maintaining our way of life and as we lost that ability through political means we now have to defend ourselves against an invading army. So as such those fellows are not my countrymen. My countrymen are those people like us that have left the city and the New Order.” said Jon.
Catherine looked deeply at her husband and was mulling over Jon’s words as she knew what they meant. She looked hard at the man in front of here and knew what he stood for. He was strong and steadfast in his beliefs and had lived his life as such. She knew he would not back down and yet she feared for all of them. But then suddenly she began to take comfort as the reality of life came back to her. She was not long for the world anyway, or so those doctors told her, and as such she knew that going forward, she would have to rely on Jon to take care of Chris and Amanda. With that thought and again looking at Jon she shook her head and had no worries that he was just the man to do so.
“Well I guess we will just have to see what happens but I know I am not going to convince you otherwise. I feel sorry for those men they will send up here because no doubt you are going to figure out a way to really punish them.” said Catherine.
Jon turned from his task, blood dripping down his hand and displaying a grim smile.
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