“We were discussing with Orson about the possibility of moving to their safe house,” Steven stated. He didn’t make it sound like they were disagreeing just throwing other options.
“You want to move there?” Captain Underwood asked.
Sergeant Miller stood next to Captain Underwood when he heard ‘safe house’. “It would be easier to guard. It is in the suburbs.”
“That doesn’t always make it easier to protect,” Sarah added.
“We need to find out where we are meeting Mr. Reese. If it is nearby it might better to accept the risks.” Captain Underwood concluded.
“If we stay Orson brought up that, us walking around might draw attention,” Sarah added. She wanted to make sure that Captain Underwood was thinking about everything.
“Will, if we walk around this place all day the people near us might think we are criminals or something,” Steven added.
“We are,” Sergeant Miller laughed.
“That may be true but I don’t plan on getting caught,” Steven said. He was stern about it.
“We should be hearing soon when and where the meeting is. When we learn that, I’ll make a decision. If things go right we won’t be here very long.”
“And things always go as planned for us,” Steven said.
Sarah laughed at this. It did seem that things always went wrong on their missions. She wondered if they had this problem before her and Nolan arrived. She decided not to ask that at this moment. Captain Underwood instructed them to head to the empty house on the opposite side and they will wait there until it gets dark or they get news about the meeting. Ms. Hill came out from the bedroom and she looked, please.
“I have good news.” She said. “He set up a meeting for tonight. We need dress clothes though.”
“What?” Captain Underwood asked.
“He is meeting us for dinner. It is a restaurant downtown. It is a fancy place. Mr. Schweppes is going to get everyone dress clothes.” Ms. Hill informed them.
“We need to find a way to get you protected.” Sergeant Miller added.
“Not necessary. He owns the restaurant. He will have a private room for us.”
“When do we need to be there?” Sergeant Miller asked.
Ms. Hill looked at the watch on her wrist.
“Two hours.”
Chapter 9
Family Reunion
Nolan had his hands up, he regretted not bringing his rifle. As he looked around he knew, even if he did have his gun it wouldn’t do much good. Nolan looked to Anthony and Ian both didn’t look pleased with the situation they found themselves in. Guns to their heads twice, in less than twenty-four hours. Nolan vowed if he didn’t get killed here then he would be more cautious in the future. Mark put up his hands and stood in between Nolan’s squad and his rebels.
“Listen to me,” Mark pleaded.
“Why should we listen to you,” The woman with the short pink-streaked hair said. “You brought these people here.”
“Yeah, we don’t want their kind here,” Another man yelled.
“They wish to help us,” Mark said. He tried to raise his voice over the yelling.
“They will only bring the Security Bureau down on us,” The woman said. She had her gun pointed directly at Nolan.
“I wish to speak with Lee,” Nolan yelled.
This seemed to silence the room.
“You are in no position to make demands. Get them down on their knees,” The woman said.
People pushed past Mark and grabbed Nolan and thrust him to his knees. Ian was also taken down to the ground. Anthony on the other hand, decided to resist. He hit one person square in the jaw. This knocked the man out cold. Anthony slapped another across the face and grabbed his gun. The room was chaos. Anthony had a gun to one of the rebel’s heads. Nolan was grabbed and he could feel a cold barrel of a gun against his neck.
“Anthony put the gun down,” Nolan yelled.
This went unnoticed as the shouting in the barn was too loud. Anthony kicked one man in the crotch and had his boot on the man’s neck. Nolan was waiting for someone to make the wrong move and all of the guns in the room to go off. The sound of a loud whistle echoed through the barn and the room fell silent.
Except for Anthony who still yelled. “I dare you mother fuckers! Come at me!” His voice was so loud Nolan also thought he had a microphone.
“What is going on here?” A familiar voice said.
The group of people turned and slowly everyone’s weapons went down. Anthony still had his gun on one person and his foot on the other. The person on the ground was in severe agony. Nolan could see through the people crowded and caught a glimpse of Lee. Nolan could spot that blond hair anywhere. He and his sister both had that gene.
“Lee,” Nolan called out.
The man holding him at gunpoint kicked out Nolan’s legs. He fell hard on his knees as the man whispered. “Shut up,”
“I know that voice,” Lee said.
He walked towards Nolan. The crowded room split and Lee stood in front of Nolan. Lee looked at Nolan and looked at Anthony who had two prisoners.
“Is he going to kill those men,” Lee said. He pointed at Anthony.
“No he won’t,” Nolan said. This was more of an order to Anthony.
“You let them go,” Anthony ordered.
“I am not going to let my cousin get killed because of me,” Lee said.
Lee took the gun from the man who had Nolan and helped him up. He ordered the other people to let Ian go.
“Let them go,” Nolan said to Anthony.
Reluctantly he let his two prisoners go. Lee turned to look at his rebels.
“These men are not to be hurt,” Lee ordered.
“They are Insurgents,” The woman said.
“I understand that Terri,” Lee started. “Mark briefly told me. However, you all made enough noise you probably woke the whole damn country.”
“I am glad you all rushed to make a decision though,” Lee said sarcastically. “Everyone get back to work. I will have a word with our Insurgent friends.” Lee brought them over to a corner of the barn that had a couple of old chairs and a small table. Lee let Nolan, Ian, and Anthony take chairs first. Lee sat on a hay bale. Mark stood right behind Lee. “How did you boys find us?” Lee asked. “This is important.”
Mark cleared his throat. “I can answer that one.” Lee looked surprised. “I contacted them,” Mark said. He seemed nervous. Where people here afraid of Lee? Mark continued. “After we hit the dead end with Lucas Valley, I knew we needed more help. We all want the same thing.” Nolan assumed that Lucas Valley was the name of the small town. “I knew we couldn’t handle this on our own,” Mark continued. “I didn’t think your cousin would come through,”
Lee laughed. “I could have told you that. After all, Uncle Neil certainly did want to take down the government.”
“How did you know that?” Nolan asked.
“My father knew. He told me. It didn’t surprise me after what happened.”
It seemed his father liked to share his plans with other people, but just not his children. Nolan pushed the anger back down.
“How is Uncle Neil?” Lee asked.
This was worse than the gunshot in Nolan’s shoulder. Ian coughed. Anthony shook his head and shifted in his seat.
“My father is dead,” Nolan said.
Nolan looked at Lee and could see the pain on his face. Tears formed but Lee quickly rubbed them away. His voice cracked when he spoke again.
“I didn’t know. I am so sorry, Nolan,” Lee said. He stood and hugged Nolan. “How did it happen?”
“He was killed when we attacked that prison, you all heard was a base.”
“I knew it couldn’t have been a military base,” Lee said. “He helped in the attack. I always knew he would lead people into battle.”
“He, actually was a prisoner there,” Nolan said. He then explained what happened.
Lee sat in silence when Nolan finished. He didn
’t seem to have any words. Mark put his hand on Lee’s back.
“He is with the angels now,” Mark said.
Lee nodded. The woman with the pink streaks in her hair, named Terri walked over. She must have been watching the entire time. She had a concerned looked on her face.
“Everything alright?” Terri asked. Her voice seemed somber.
“My Uncle; Nolan’s father was killed.”
She put her hand on his shoulder but moved it before he could reach out to hold it. Lee ran his hand through his hair to cover the awkward action.
“So, you came to help us?” Lee asked.
“We came because we want you to join us. We need to be united against the government. That is the only way we can expect to beat them.” Nolan explained.
“We won’t join you,” Terri said. “We want to be free of a government who doesn’t treat us right and does not care what happens to us.”
“Our government won’t be like that,” Nolan said.
“That is what they all say,” Terri said.
“We have the chance to change how things were. We…”
“Just need to defeat the ruling government,” Lee finished. “We have a good thing going here.”
“Do you?” Nolan asked. “You guys are not playing it smart though,”
“Says you,” Terri said. “We have been doing this since the take over from President Marshal.”
“We have been doing it longer,” Nolan said. “Your base is barely hidden. You have no security. If we were USSB agents we have walked right into the barn before anyone noticed.” Terri flushed. Lee looked at the ground. They knew he was right. Nolan continued. “If you join we can help you. You doing your raids on USSB trucks that are bound to fail at some point. They will catch on, then what? They come here? Kill you all? Or imprison you? Does that sound like winning independence to you? You are never going to be free on your own. The government is too powerful,” Nolan looked at the three of them.
“That is not our decision to make,” Lee said. “It is my fathers.”
“Let me talk to my Uncle Danny,” Nolan said.
“You should anyway,” Lee started. “He needs to know what happened to Uncle Neil.”
Nolan nodded. He wasn’t looking forward to telling the story again. Lee cleared his throat.
“This is Terri by the way,” Lee said.
Nolan thought he changed the subject on purpose.
“She is my second in command.” Lee continued. “Terri, this is Nolan,”
Nolan stood to shake her hand. She had a much firmer grip than he expected. Nolan introduced his squad to them. Terri glared at Anthony.
“You banged up my men pretty good,” Terri said.
“That’s what happens when you try to kill me,” Anthony said.
Terry grunted.
“That is a mistake then we shall only make once,” Lee said.
“That is probably a good idea,” Anthony said.
Lee stood. “Come, let’s take you to talk to my father. He should be pleased to see you.”
Nolan and his squad rose and followed Lee out of the barn. Mark and Terri followed behind them. Nolan would have preferred to have the meeting be private. As they walked towards the house Lee filled Nolan in on what has been happening by them.
“Since the end of the other branches, the activity in our area had grown. It wasn’t until several weeks ago did we find out that Lucas Valley went missing.”
“How have you been pushing back?” Anthony asked.
“We have been raiding out Security Bureau’s convoys. That is how we obtained most of the weapons and some vehicles.”
“How do you raid them?” Nolan asked.
“Mark acts as though he has pulled someone over. This is to keep watch. When the convoy is in range we attack.”
“Sounds foolish,” Nolan said.
“Who are you to talk?” Terri said. “We aren’t the ones who attacked a military prison.”
“You attack the same road,” Nolan started. “You are drawing attention to this area. The USSB will know that there are people here who are against the government. I am surprised they haven’t raided any houses yet.”
“Unless they had,” Ian said.
“They can’t just…” Mark started but was interrupted by Nolan.
“The rules are all changed. They can do what they want. The old rules are gone. The law is against us now,” He said.
Nolan couldn’t believe how careless they all were being. The operation was nearly in the open and they kept attacking the same area. Nolan’s uncle Danny fought in the war. He should have known better than to start developing a pattern.
Lee walked up the steps onto the porch. He held open the door for Nolan and his team. Nolan was relieved when Lee asked Terri and Mark to wait outside. Nolan entered the kitchen and he was surprised by how normal the house looked. He expected to look more like it was being used as a base and less like a normal house. If someone were to walk into the house they would have no idea what was going on. Perhaps that was the point?
“Wait in the living room,” Lee said. “I will go get my father ready.”
Lee took them to the living room before going up the stairs to get Danny. Nolan looked around at the pictures. He spotted one of his parents. They were dressed up. It might have been his Uncle Danny’s wedding. It seemed like forever ago since he saw his parents together. He turned away quickly in hopes that Ian and Anthony wouldn’t find the picture.
“Do you think the USSB is already watching this place?” Ian asked.
“If they have any brains at all they would be. Between my sister and I being current members and my father working as a spy. It wouldn’t surprise me if this house was being watched.” Nolan looked out the window towards the street. “They have their operation out in the open. They are putting everyone in danger here.”
“Well,” A voice said from behind them “Tell me how you really feel.”
Nolan turned to see his Uncle Danny sitting in his wheel chair. Danny, if Nolan remembered correctly had only been a few years older than his father. By the look of Danny now you would think he was at least ten years old. His hair was completely gray and his face was wrinkled. Danny had lost his legs in the war and Nolan saw the surprise in Ian and Anthony’s face. He didn’t tell them what happened to his Uncle. Danny wheeled towards him and shook his hand and pulled him in for a hug. Nolan was pleased to see him.
“I am surprised it is only you here,” Danny started. “I would have thought my cousin would be here to talk me into joining. He always wanted me too. Ever since your mother…” Danny trailed off remembering. He looked around at the three other men. “No Sarah. No Neil. Where are they? Not off doing better things, I am sure?”
Nolan didn’t know how to start.
“Sarah is north of the wall.” Nolan started but Danny interrupted.
“Canada? What would the D.I want with Canada? They can’t help.”
“Some people there might be able too.”
“My cousin with her I am sure,” Danny said.
“No,” Nolan said. He wasn’t sure if he could get the words out.
“No? Why didn’t he come?” Danny asked.
Nolan could feel the tears start to come to his eyes. He couldn’t dance around any longer. Nolan cleared his throat.
“My father died.” The words came out so fast from Nolan. He didn’t even have time to think about the best way to tell him.
Danny was silent. His lip quivered. Nolan couldn’t stop the tears. He sat on the couch and hid his face. Nolan heard Danny crying. Nolan looked up and Danny had his face in his hands. He looked like he was shaking. Lee had his arm around his father.
“How…” Danny’s said muffled from his hands. “How did it happen?”
Nolan explained what happened, about getting caught and how he and Sarah had no idea what was going on. He told them about the rescue and how he was executed in front of Nolan. Lee’s face was white with shock. Lee must
have figured Nolan and Sarah found out he was killed but not that it happened in front of him.
“That fool didn’t tell you?” Danny said. That information seemed to steady Danny.
“He didn’t,” Nolan said.
“Fool. If he would have been open with his family then it would not have turned out like this.” Danny said.
“That is a bit harsh,” Ian said. “Nothing anyone could have done would change what happened.”
“Listen, boy. These kids are smart. If they had known and if Neil didn’t want to be this solo Insurgent then they could have helped. They could have been together. It was a foolish mistake.” Danny said.
As much as the thought had always crossed his mind Nolan didn’t want to agree. He took this moment to change topics.
“Like the mistakes happening here?” Nolan said. Danny glared at him. He wanted his point to be clear. “You have been acting just as foolish as…” He took a moment before he finished. “As my father. He was foolish and look what happened. I don’t want this to happen here. Our success in winning this war depends on this.”
“We aren’t at war here,” Danny said.
“No?” Nolan chuckled. “You attack military convoys. What do you call that? You are fighting a war and it is one you aren’t going to win alone.”
“You think joining the Insurgents will make a difference? Why would we put a new government up that still doesn’t help us? What good will that do?” Lee said.
“You won’t have any government except the one that is ruling now if you don’t join,” Ian said.
“The USSB will tear this place apart,” Anthony said. “You all wouldn’t stand a chance. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t both even sending people in. They will just launch a missile to take you all out.”
“You are exposed. Hitting the same targets. It doesn’t help that my sister and I are both known to be working with the Insurgents.” Nolan said.
“What do you want us to do?” Danny said. “What can I do for the D.I? Look at me.”
“You can talk your people into joining. You aren’t the only group trying to fight. We are all on the same side. We all want the same thing.” Nolan said. He didn’t remember standing but he was now. “Look out the window. If someone drives past and they see all these people here.”
Resistance Rising Page 10