by A J Newman
“Zack, you are our leader. Lead, damn it. Let’s go get them now.”
“I guess you’re right. I couldn’t live with myself if Sam or Jacob’s family starved to death. We’re seven miles from Sam’s place and another ½ mile to Jacob’s home. We need to go back to the hideout and put a plan together and leave the hideout at sundown.”
“Sounds good to me. Let’s shag ass home.”
The trip home was uneventful, and everyone had a million questions for us when we arrived back at the hideout. We filled them in on what we heard and saw while gorging on Joan’s deer stew and Ally’s cornbread.
“They actually killed that asshole and buried him.”
“Yes, I think he planned to rape the woman, and they knew his plan.”
Callie spoke up, “Dad we have to help Sam and Jacob’s families.”
“Darling I agree. I want to put a plan together to bring both families here as soon as we can safely do it. Who else do we need to bring over here that we can trust?”
We all thought about who could be trusted and couldn’t come up with any more names that the team thought we could trust our lives with. We came up with several families that we wanted to save, but not bring back to the hideout.
Ally asked, “If we don’t trust some people with our lives, but may need them to fight against Prescott, could we help feed a few of these families?”
I replied, “You mean leave anonymous care packages?”
“Yes, something like that. Perhaps we leave a bundle of food with a note from the resistance saying to keep their chins up while the resistance deals with Prescott.”
Paul asked, “What is the name of the resistance and can we have a symbol?”
Mike replied, “How about “The Green River Rangers?”
Sally countered with, “The Patriots” for her suggestion.”
I looked around the picnic table and said, “All for the Patriots raise your hand.”
Everyone except Mike raised their hand.
“It’s official, we are the Patriots. Now, what is our symbol?”
Ally spoke up and said, “Our symbol has to be a Christian Cross.”
She drew one on a slip of paper that looked like this -✞.
“That’s what we place on walls, houses, and care packages. If we shoot an evil person, we mark them with a cross.”
The group approved the cross as the symbol of our resistance movement then went on to plan the rescue of Sam and Jacob’s family.
Davi wanted to join us as we went to rescue Sam’s family, but my threat to chain her to her bed backed her off.
“Davi, it’s just been two weeks since you crawled in here half dead. I know you are better at this type of work than we are, but you are wounded and recovering. You could get us killed if you have a relapse and we have to carry you back,” I implored.
“I know you are right. I just hate sitting here on my ass while y’all are having all the fun.”
“Damn, did I hear the Israeli girl say y'all?”
Davi kissed me on the cheek and said, “Your bad influence. Come back safe.”
“I will.”
Ally caught me as I left Davi, gave me a kiss and hugged me for a minute before saying, “Be careful. You aren’t 1o foot tall and bullet proof.”
The plan was for Paul, Mike and me to drive over to Sam’s place load the family up in the pickup and high tail it back to the hideout without being seen.
I saw Paul walking towards the pickup with his bow slung on his back and said, “We don’t have time for hunting this trip.”
“Zack, we might want to take out a thug or two without making any noise.”
We slipped away from the hideout after midnight and drove one of the old trucks the eight miles to my old farm where Sam’s family was still residing in camping trailers. We took the side road to the back of the farm and slipped up to the back of the workshop. I blew my house and barn up to make Prescott think we were dead. The trailers were between the workshop and the remains of the house.
We expected to find Sam, his sons, Greg and Ben, and Ben’s wife, Millie. The ride back would be crowded, but it was only a thirty-minute drive to where we would stash the truck in the old barn about a half mile from the hideout.
Mike saw the man guarding the campers and waved to the rest of us.
“It’s Greg, and he is armed. Let’s don’t get shot doing a good deed. Let me get his attention.”
Mike snuck up closer to Greg’s position and kept a large oak tree between Greg and him.
“Greg, this is Mike Norman,” Mike loudly whispered.
Greg came to attention, raised his shotgun and said, “Mike, is that you?”
“Yes Greg, it’s me. I’m stepping out from behind the oak tree with my hands raised.”
Mike leaned his AR against the tree and walked out with his hands up in the air.
“Mike, I see you. You can put your hands down. What are you doing here? We thought you were dead.”
“Greg, Zack, and Paul are with me. Can they join us?”
“Of course. What can I do for you?”
I shook Greg’s hand and said, “We want you to join us and get away from here.”
“I’d like that, but we are running out of food and don’t want to burden you.”
“We have enough food for your family and us. Wake them up, and we need to leave now before someone spots us.”
Greg went into two of the campers, woke his family up and soon they were standing in front of us. I saw a young girl that I didn’t recognize.
“Sam, who is the girl?”
“Her name is Betty, and she is an orphan. Prescott’s men killed her parents while she hid in a brush pile. She is 16 years old, and we took her in with us. Ben and Millie have adopted her.”
I stopped at the front door and drew our symbol on the door so Prescott’s men would see our✞on the door. I wrote ‘PATRIOTS!’ below the cross.
“Grab a few personal items, your weapons, and ammo and load up in the truck. Millie and Betty get to ride up front with Mike. The rest will ride in the back and watch for Prescott’s men. Hold on tight. We will be running without lights, so Mike tends to run off the road every now and then.”
Everything was going as planned when I saw lights up ahead around a curve. Mike saw them at the same time, slowed up and drove off into the brush alongside the road. He stopped about 30 feet in and cut the motor off. An old truck came around the curve, slowed up and stopped a few yards past where we had left the road. We could see a couple of men get out of the back of the truck and walk to the side of the road in front of the truck. It was soon obvious they were Prescott’s men, and they were drunk. Two were relieving themselves while attempting to sing 99 bottles of beer on the wall. They finished, got back in the truck and sped off down the road.
Mike said, “Damn I’m glad those short dicked fuckers didn’t try to write their names on the ground. If they turned just a bit, they would have seen us.”
I replied, “Mike, there is a girl present.”
“Sorry, mam.”
Betty replied, “Don’t worry Mike; I was thinking the same thing.”
We arrived at the abandoned barn and parked the truck inside, then took some branches from a brush pile and wiped out the tracks leading off the road.
“I’ll take the lead; Mike, bring up the rear. Greg help me look forward, Paul, take the left side and Ben the right. Be alert for any danger. Sam, please guard the girls.”
We were only a few yards into our trek when there was a howl from our left.
Greg said, “Damn, that sounds like a wolf. Don’t worry they are afraid of people.”
We kept on walking but heard something walking in the bushes behind us and on our left side. I looked back and saw Paul draw his bowstring back and fire an arrow just as something flashed into my view. Paul grabbed another arrow and let it fly to the rear of our column; there was a loud yelp and then silence.
We bunched up with everyone looking in
to the woods around us when Mike leaped away and tackled a dark object flying through the air. There was a struggle, and we heard growling and Mike cursing. I ran over to help, but only saw a mass of dark shapes wallowing on the ground. I wanted to help Mike but knew any action could hurt him or his attacker. There was a loud yelp, and the struggle was over. We couldn’t see anything, and then Mike came walking towards us covered in blood.
Mike wiped his bayonet on his sleeve and said, “I killed whatever the bastard was, but he scratched and bit me.”
Paul stepped out to the left with another arrow ready and came back into view with an arrow in his hand.
Paul said, “Wolves. I killed one and may have killed the one attacking from the rear. We need to move on because this is a large pack and they definitely aren’t afraid of us.”
We arrived back at the hideout an hour later, and our team welcomed Sam and his family to our new home. The women had prepared two of the trailers for the Hager family and another for Jacob’s family. Ally and Joan showed them to their new homes and promised a tour of the hideout in the morning. Our new team members settled in for the night as did the rest of us who weren’t on guard duty.
Sally and Ally tended to Mike’s wounds, and then everyone, at last, turned in for the night.
Ally lay beside me and asked, “Darling are wolves and lions going to be a problem?”
“Baby, I never gave that much thought before tonight. I always worried about stray dogs forming packs and killing people, but never thought about lions and wolves in Kentucky. I guess the short answer is yes. We will have to stay on guard for wild animals from now on. They are multiplying while mankind is still dying off.”
Ally replied, “Can you get me a bear rug?” Then she paused and said, “Just kidding.”
We had a group breakfast at 9:00 the next morning, brought Sam’s family up to speed on our recent history and filled them in on what Davi had told us. They told us about what happened after we bugged out and how ruthless Prescott’s black uniformed men were to the local farmers. They also told us that the regular guards and local police tried to treat everyone as well as possible, but disappeared if they crossed the line on enforcing Prescott’s laws.
We planned the mission to rescue Jacob’s family and added more support for the trek to the truck and back. Greg and Ben were both bow hunters, so we added them to the party in case we ran into the wolf pack again. I also filled some spray bottles with a 10 percent ammonia solution to spray around us if we heard the pack in hopes that would drive them off without a fight.
Sally walked up to Mike and me, handed each of us a large container of MACE and said, “I’ll bet this will discourage wild animals.”
I replied, “Damn good idea. They even make “Bear Spray” for hikers to ward off bears. I never thought we’d need this stuff in Kentucky.”
We never saw or heard any humans close by, but did hear a vehicle in the distance towards Highway 54 a couple of times; however, we heard wolves, coyotes and perhaps a cougar. I guess it makes sense that animals would take back their natural habitats with 50 percent of mankind dead and gone. Mike even made the point that the animals had a large human feast for months after the shit hit the fan. Dead people were everywhere for over a year. The buzzards and predators got fat and multiplied.
After the encounter with the wolves, Paul set up an archery range, and we were all trying to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. We had a dozen compound bows and several hundred arrows that we might have to depend on for protection and hunting if this catastrophe continued for several years. I urged everyone to practice because I knew that a gunshot could give our hideout away while an arrow was silent death. We would all pack a bow and quiver when outside the hideout in the future unless the plan called for maximum firepower and then only a few would pack bows.
We left the hideout a little after midnight and quickly walked the mile to the trucks. We heard some large animals following us in the brush, but a couple of squirts of the ammonia ran them off.
The plan was for Mike, Paul and me to travel by truck over to Jacob’s place while Greg, Lynn, Ally, and Ben waited at the barn to assist us when we arrived back to the hideout.
I left Lynn in charge and gave her orders to watch for both human and animal threats. I told her to use the mace and ammonia to scare off any predators, and only shoot to save their lives.
***
“Hey dumbass, put that cigarette out! That glow can be seen for miles.”
“Stick it up your ass, man. I’m out here playing soldier watching an old man’s house because our dip shit leader thinks that old man is the mastermind of the resistance. That’s a load of horse shit.”
“Look, as long as we keep following orders, we keep our families fed. Where else could we get food?”
“Well, for one we could grow it except Prescott keeps taking the crops away from the farmers. When will the idiot learn that happy farmers are productive farmers?”
“Put that damned cigarette out and stop changing the subject numb nuts.”
“I’m cold, hungry and I need a smoke. Go fuck yourself.”
***
I saw the red glowing dot of a cigarette in the dark as soon as we cleared the tree line about 100 yards away from the men. Lowering my Night Vision Goggles (NVG), I could see the men hiding behind a clump of tall bushes another hundred yards from the rear of Jacob’s place.
We stayed low, made it to within 50 yards of their location and could hear their voices, but we were unable to hear what they were saying.
“Mike, sneak up on them and see what you can learn.”
“Okay General.”
Mike crawled towards them while keeping concealed by staying low and walking in a shallow ravine that ran across the back of Jacob’s property. Mike was about 50 feet from the men when he stopped to watch and listen.
There were three men, and they were arguing about being out in the cold having to watch Jacob’s place. Mike listened for ten minutes and then headed back to the others.
“Zack, they’re just three Owensville locals drafted into Prescott’s army to keep the county people in line. They hate the work and hate Prescott even more for forcing them to watch an innocent man.”
“Then why are they out in the cold camped out behind Jacob’s house?”
“Because Prescott thinks that Jacob might be one of the leaders of the resistance, and if they don’t camp out behind Jacob’s house their families won’t receive food.
We can sneak Jacob and his family out from the house and the way they’re bitching at each other, they won’t stop bickering long enough to notice.”
I said, “I’ll go down to the road and get closer to the house using the barn to conceal me from the men then crawl across the front yard up to the front door.”
“Sounds like a plan, but I don’t think these guys would notice if you drove up in a fire truck with the lights on and sirens blasting.”
“Key the walkie talkie twice if something changes. Like maybe, they actually start watching the house. Only talk if you think the mission is in danger. As we’ve seen here, voices travel a long way.”
I went back about 50 yards towards the tree line and positioned the barn between the men and me for as long as I could. When I had to leave the security of hiding behind the barn, I noticed that if I stayed low, I couldn’t see the men’s position so they couldn’t see me.
I was only a few feet from the front door when I saw the movement in the front room. Now my problem was how I get the person’s attention without being shot in the process.
The man opened the door, walked out on the porch to the side and relieved himself.
I whispered, “Jacob this is Zack.”
“Zack who?”
“Your friend Zack.”
“Oh, I’m Ira, Jacob’s son. Slowly come out of the shadows with your hands up.”
I complied with his instructions, and he instantly recognized me and lowered his rifle.
“Zack, the
whole county thinks you and your family died in the fire.”
“That’s what we wanted them to believe. Wake up your dad. We need to get your family out of here and safely to our hideout.”
We went into the house, Ira walked into his dad’s room, and they came back quickly.
Jacob saw me, shook his head and gave me a hug while saying, “We thought you were dead.”
“We made it look like we were dead so Prescott wouldn’t search for us. He tried to kill my family and me earlier that day and had guards watching us for weeks before.”
“How did you get in here? Prescott has men watching us right now.”
“I know. They are back behind the house about a hundred yards.”
“I don’t know about them, but there are two across the road in the trees. They don’t know that we made them the other day.”
“Are they locals or the men in the black uniforms?”
“They have the black uniforms.”
“Damn, then they probably know I’m in here. I need to warn the others. We have a secure hideout with plenty of food and warm housing not far from here.”
I keyed my walkie-talkie and said, “There are two more across the street from the house. They are the real deal. Hold while I check them out with my NVGs.”
Mike replied with two clicks.
I peered out the front window and saw a man in the woods facing the house. I watched for a few minutes and saw another man switch positions with him. My only guess was that they didn’t have NVG equipment or they would be attacking us right now.
I keyed my walkie-talkie again, and said, “Meet me on the west side of the barn in ten minutes. We have to take them out.”
I turned to Jacob and said, “Have your family ready to travel in twenty minutes. We have a truck stashed about a half mile back in the woods then we’ll have to walk another mile when we get closer to our hideout. Travel light.”
I stopped twice to watch the men as I moved back to the barn and could see that they had not spotted us. What the hell, maybe we could pull this off.