by Mark Church
They welcome the camaraderie, which promises an expanded social outlet that is rare given today’s depleted population and widely distributed communities.
Even though he is the youngest in attendance, Cole is holding his own. None of this is lost on Jake as he watches Cole work the crowd. It appears that he is a natural diplomat, and that’s an essential life skill that will serve him well.
It becomes clear during these interactions that the others have informally elevated Jake and John to positions of leadership. People vie for their attention looking for direction. This is a bit surprising given the short time they have spent with the two men. The fact that the others are scared and at a loss on how to protect themselves sets the stage for them to be influenced by virtual strangers. Along come these two mavericks who are crazy enough to believe that they can take on the government military providing exactly the vision needed to move out of their stupor and into action.
Jake and John are lucky there are no strong personalities present who are misguided enough to challenge them. This will make it easier to implement their plans and hopefully improve their chances of a successful outcome. This may change as they continue their outreach to other communities but at least for now, the hierarchy has been established and everyone is on the same page.
✽✽✽
Amy and Kayla are cooking dinner when they hear the truck pull up out front. Kayla drops the knife she is using to cut up vegetables and races to the front porch. Amy quickly turns the stove’s burner to low and follows Kayla.
The two women join Kate on the porch where she’s been enjoying the warm rays of the afternoon sun from a comfortable old rocking chair. She is still weak from blood loss but showing no signs of infection, a fact for which she is grateful.
The three men exit the truck and approach the porch as Mike and Gena hurry across the front yard to join the group.
“So…how did it go?” Amy can’t read anything in the three faces presented to her.
“Better than we expected. They are capable people, but they were pretty naïve to the storm that’s coming their way. I suppose they chose to ignore the possibility of government intrusion. Maybe they had their heads in the sand or maybe they thought that geographic distance made them invisible, but after last night they were forced to face a new reality.” Jake climbs the stairs and sits down on the top step to fill the women in on the outcome.
“We weren’t the only ones who had a brush with the armed forces.” He describes the horrifying aftermath that the New Town team stumbled across.
“So they agreed to join us?” Kate’s face shows her feelings all too clearly. Despite her military background, she has never heard of such inhuman behavior.
“Yeah, in the end, they accepted our argument and agreed with our conclusion.” Jake is looking off across the fields as if scanning for an enemy, but his thoughts are busily running along a different track, already planning the needed organization and strategy for the new coalition.
“Thank God. How many are there?” Amy rubs Jake’s shoulder in support.
“According to Tim, we could end up with as many as two hundred fighters.” John is also already busy mentally laying out training drills and tactical exercises.
“That’s a good-sized militia.” Kate considers this a good sign.
“I wouldn’t get too excited. That number is just a guess.” Jake cautions.
John adds, “While most of them have no idea what they’re getting into, my gut feeling is that they’ll rise to the occasion. A good strategy and intense training will help instill some confidence in them, but that’s for us to deliver.”
“When do we get started?” Mike signals his willingness to do whatever is required of him.
“I gave Tim some time to reach out to more communities. He’s inviting them all to a big meeting on Friday. It’s being held in New Town. We’ll make the same pitch to the new attendees that we made today. Hopefully they will be as agreeable.” The group falls quiet as they consider this last bit of information. Jake is right, it all depends on the cooperation of unknown groups scattered around the countryside. Their fate is no longer in their own hands.
17 destination: missouri
Hannah hasn’t let off the gas since DC. Thanks to the Indiana welcome sign a few miles back, she has a general idea of her location. Based on the map that she has been following, she’s roughly halfway to her Missouri destination. The last ten hours have been a ‘hell-bent-for-leather’ ride but now she needs a break. Her bladder is about to burst, and she needs to refuel. Squeezing her legs together tightly and wiggling in her seat, she scans the roadside for a place to pull over and relieve herself.
Overgrown pastureland borders the two-lane highway. Hannah spots a large, lone tree about a hundred feet off the highway. With nothing but open ground in every direction, this looks to be her best option for concealment. Pulling off the road, she maneuvers through the three-foot tall grass and brush before stopping under the tree. Barren of leaves, thick craggily branches reach haphazardly in every direction. In spite of its vacant foliage, she’s counting on the massive structure to mostly conceal her vehicle.
Hannah scans the area. Aside from the thick tree trunk, all she sees is the tops of dormant grass waving in unison. Comfortable that the immediate area is void of danger, she rolls down the windows and turns off the motor to listen for distant sounds that could suggest trouble. She strains her ears. The swishing of grass and the whooshing of winds whipping around the large tree is all that she hears. She hops out of the truck, leaving the door open for additional shielding as she drops her pants, and squats to relieve herself.
The solitude around her is strangely peaceful. It’s a far cry from the hustle and bustle of DC. A bird lands in a branch above her. It looks down at her while cocking its head back and forth, chattering as if to scold her for intruding on its turf. The bird continues its protest as it flits from branch to branch.
Hannah, relieved of her most immediate need, leans against the vehicle’s fender and takes a deep breath. She repeats this ritual a few times in an attempt to steady her nerves.
Her thoughts move to Carl. While she’s hopeful that he escaped, she knows it’s unlikely.
Sadness replaces Hannah’s ever-present anxiety. Tears well in her eyes as she contemplates the notion that Carl unselfishly traded his life for hers.
Out of her element and vulnerable, it would be easy to give up, but Hannah doesn’t want Carl’s sacrifice to be in vain. She allows herself only a short time to wallow in pity. She pushes away her despair and digs deep for her courage. She silently mouths a promise to Carl, “I will honor your sacrifice. I will carry on.”
Hannah is rejuvenated by her newly found resolve as she begins taking inventory of the vehicle’s contents. Among other things, she finds weapons, ammunition, food, and water. She eyes a familiar pistol model. Her father had a similar handgun when she was a young girl and he’d often take her target practicing. She is unfamiliar with the long guns, so they have little to offer her without some instruction.
An audible rumble emits from Hannah’s stomach. She retrieves a ‘ready-to-eat’ meal, opens it and begins gulping it down. She follows that with a bottle of filtered water as she leans back on the vehicle and allows the rapidly consumed food to quiet her belly.
As Hannah relaxes, her mind goes to the small arsenal inside the vehicle. The government takes gun control seriously and they enacted laws prohibiting their possession. They didn’t want the citizens to have access to guns because an armed citizenry is harder to control.
Hannah chuckled to herself. She has broken so many laws, gun possession seems minor. Regardless, she’s too far down the rabbit hole to think that she’d be shown mercy if she were to be captured. Her sole objective now is to make it to her destination and, hopefully, gain her freedom.
Hannah spreads the map out on the hood of the vehicle as she contemplates the journey ahead. She focuses on the area of the map circled in red. The area
encompasses two towns, Arcadia and Pilot Knob. She works backwards toward her current location looking for the easiest but safest route. She figures that smaller highways and roads will be safer than larger interstates. Road conditions are bad regardless of their size, so other than providing a somewhat more direct route, interstates don’t offer much of a time advantage and those traveling on them are too conspicuous.
The planning is often a guessing game. In most cases Hannah has to go with gut feelings. She really doesn’t know this part of the country nor what lies ahead. She makes her best decisions based on the limited information she has and hopes for the best. Safe passage the rest of the way will rest mostly in God’s hands
It’s been almost forty-eight hours since Hannah last slept. Mental and physical fatigue make it difficult to go on without rest. Even plotting the next turn is hard for her sleep-deprived brain to calculate. A few hours of sleep will make a huge difference.
Hannah is forced to accept her body’s limitations. Needing to rest without being discovered, she retrieves the camouflaged netting from the back seat. She covers the vehicle from bumper to bumper.
After she’s done, she looks at it from multiple angles. When she’s comfortable that it is well hidden, she retrieves a sleeping bag and spreads it out on the ground. She wiggles into it feet first and lies on her back. Her exhausted body sinks into the soft material. It may not have been much, but it felt like a five-star hotel.
Hannah looks up into the branches of the tree and sees that her little feathered friend is still there. It seems to have accepted her presence and is no longer creating a ruckus. Her eyes involuntarily close. It’s not long before she’s adrift in a deep, fitful sleep.
✽✽✽
Roughly four hours pass before Hannah is startled awake by the bird above her sounding a shrill alarm. Hannah struggles to get out of the sleeping bag before jumping to her feet. She nervously surveys the road but sees nothing coming either way. She turns her attention to the surrounding countryside. Off to her left and still quite a distance away, she sees movement.
Hannah squints her eyes to identify the source of the movement before remembering that there is a pair of binoculars in the vehicle. She retrieves them and resumes scanning the area. Once she is able to focus the binoculars on the moving object, she sees that it’s a man. He’s slowly walking along a gentle grassy slope and moving in her direction.
All she can tell at this point is that he’s bearded, carrying a backpack, and seems to be oblivious to her presence. She continues to watch him, hoping that he changes direction.
The closer he gets the better she’s able to see his features. He looks to be in his mid-thirties with long, dark hair and a beard. Strangely enough, it appears that he’s talking to himself, or maybe singing. Either way, it seems a bit odd.
The man continues on his present course. At his current pace, Hannah estimates that he’ll reach her location in around ten minutes. As she decides whether or not to make a quick exit, something catches her attention. She pulls back the binocular focus to see a broader area and is stunned by what comes into view. A little girl, maybe four or five, is walking alongside the man. Until now she has been mostly obscured by the tall grass and brush.
Hannah rethinks her next move. While a lone man could be a threat, the presence of the little girl changes the equation. Additionally, other than being oddly misplaced, the girl seems content walking alongside him. Hannah is torn. Should she stay or go with her initial instinct and leave before they reach her. There is no way to start the vehicle and pull back onto the road without being seen. Either choice carries a significant risk.
Her compassionate nature wins out. She decides that she can’t leave them on foot and at the mercy of the elements. If she were to turn her back on them, she would never forgive herself.
She bargains with her conscience, agreeing to continue watching them as they approach. If she concludes that they are alone and not a threat, she will make her presence known.
Hannah prepares for the eventual encounter as the pair continues making their way towards her. Retrieving a pistol, she makes sure it’s loaded before sliding it into her coat pocket. If the man turns out to be a problem, she will at least have a viable deterrent.
✽✽✽
When the man and his young companion are about a hundred feet from Hannah’s camouflaged vehicle he stops in his tracks. It’s pretty clear that he senses danger, or maybe he’s made the vehicle. Either way, he turns and begins pulling the confused little girl back the way they came.
Hannah steps out from behind the vehicle so that she is in full view, and yells, “Wait!”
The man turns to look in Hannah’s direction but keeps pulling the girl away.
“I don’t mean you any harm,” shouts Hannah.
The man and the girl stop. They turn towards Hannah but stay where they are. It’s clear that the man feels very vulnerable. He looks rapidly in every direction.
Hannah risks her own safety by adding, “I’m alone.”
The man continues searching the area as he tries to determine whether or not Hannah is telling the truth.
“Who are you?” calls the man.
“Let’s just say that I’m a concerned citizen.”
“Concerned for who?”
“For you and the little girl.”
“Why would you be concerned about us?”
“Considering the current state of things, I guess that’s a fair question.”
The man stands resolute in his distrust, clutching the child’s hand.
“Let’s just say that I have a soft spot for kids.” Hannah tries offering a tentative smile.
“What are you doing out here?”
“I could ask the same of you.”
A silent standoff ensues.
Breaking the stalemate, Hannah finally comments, “I have food and water.”
The man’s interest is visibly peaked. He looks at the little girl and then back at Hannah before saying, “I have nothing to trade.”
“I’m not asking for anything.”
The man thinks it over, and finally says, “I suppose you could have taken us out already if that was your intention.”
“I guess you’re right.”
The man tries to reconcile the situation.
Hannah continues, “Are you armed? It’s okay if you are, I’d just like to know about it.”
“I have a pistol in my backpack.”
“That’s fine. Just leave it in your pack and come on over.”
The man looks at the little girl again. She’s staring up at him with big brown eyes. He nods in Hannah’s direction, “So…what do you think?”
The little girl smiles, “She seems nice.”
They have no shelter and they are hungry. The man looks back at Hannah. He takes one last look around before gently tugging the girl forward.
Hannah doesn’t move as the pair approaches. She doesn’t want to give the man any more reason to distrust her.
He continues to scan the area for signs of an ambush. When he gets within normal talking distance Hannah asks, “What’s your name?”
“Eli,” the man answers as he draws within ten feet. “And this is my daughter, Grace.”
Happy to hear that they are father and daughter, Hannah looks down at the little girl and smiles again, “What a pretty name.”
Grace smiles from ear to ear and asks in a cute little munchkin voice, “What’s your name?”
“My name is Hannah.”
“That’s a pretty name too.”
“Why thank you, Grace.”
Redirecting her attention back to Eli, Hannah suggests, “How about some chow?”
“That would be much appreciated. Grace hasn’t had anything to eat since yesterday.”
“What about you?”
“Maybe the day before that.”
“Well, let’s gets some food into you two, and some water.”
Hannah rummages around in her vehicle before retu
rning with two ‘ready-to-eat’ meals and two bottles of water. She hands one of each to Eli and opens the others before handing them to Grace.
“Eat first, we’ll talk more when you finish.”
Both Eli and Grace sit on the ground in a cross-legged position and dig in. Watching them eat gives Hannah great pleasure. Helping others has always been important to her. It’s what drove her to teach and, in an oddly similar way, to the resistance.
When Eli downs his last bite, Hannah picks up the conversation, “So where are you from?”
“Michigan, though we’ve been on the run ever since the government began forcing people into the RZ’s. What about you?”
“I’m originally from Maryland, but I’ve lived most recently in the capital.”
“DC!” Eli exclaims suspiciously.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay, I was never truly happy there anyway, and I’m pretty sure they aren’t so fond of me anymore either.” Hannah sighs as she thinks of all she’s left behind.
“Why is that?” Eli asks, still a bit unsettled.
“I’ll make a deal with you. You tell me your story first, and then I’ll tell you mine.”
“Deal,” agrees Eli.
Having finished her meal, Grace is nodding off against her father’s shoulder.
“Grace, if it’s okay with your dad, how would you like to take a nap in my sleeping bag over there?”
Grace nods sleepily.
Hannah looks questioningly at Eli. He smiles gratefully.
“Come on.” Hannah picks up the drowsy child. “It’s warm and cozy.”
She tucks Grace into the sleeping bag. As she is zipping it back up, Grace looks up at her with her big doe eyes and says, “I like you.”
A bit taken aback, Hannah smiles, “Well, I like you too.”
The little girl smiles sweetly.
For the first time, Hannah notices that Grace’s two front baby teeth are missing. She sweeps the little girls bangs from her forehead and whispers, “Now get some sleep while your dad and I talk.”
Hannah begins gently stoking the little girl’s hair. It’s not long before she is fast asleep.