by A J Newman
I asked, “Is anyone injured?”
“One of the fuckers bit my ankle,” replied Lynn.
Ally replied, “I’ve got some scratches.”
“I’m okay,” replied Ben.
Greg didn’t respond.”
“Greg, hey Greg.”
They turned and started to search the barn when Ben yelled, “They killed Greg.”
Greg was lying in the middle of half dozen wolves and had his throat ripped out. He died quickly, but not before he stuck his knife deep into the wolf that killed him.
I looked at Ben and said, “I’m sorry for your loss, but we need to get you and the Jacobs to the hideout before Prescott’s men come to investigate. We’ll bury Greg in the back of the barn and cover the grave with that pile of timbers. Sorry Ben, but we can’t carry him back home.
Mike and Paul, you stay with me while the rest of you head to the hideout. We have to figure out how to throw these assholes off our trail. We have to assume Prescott’s men heard the shots. Go now. If you are attacked again, don’t hesitate to shoot the nasty monsters.
Ally, we’ll key the walkie talkie twice, wait 10 seconds and key it again four times when we settle down for the night. We’ll do the same when we get back to the barn tomorrow.”
“Watch out for the four legged, and two legged monsters,” she replied.
We watched them leave and I wondered how, the hell, we could keep the hideout from being discovered.
“Zack, they had to hear the gunshots, but I don’t think they could know exactly where they came from. Let’s confuse them. Let’s take the truck five miles north, shoot a bunch of rounds, go another three miles east, shoot some more. Then we find a place to hide for the night.”
“They won’t know what to think. No one attacked them, so they might think a gang is attacking the farmers.”
“That’s what I thought.”
***
Ally, where’s Paul? I don’t see dad or Uncle Mike either. Are they okay? We heard gunfire,” asked Callie.
“Darling they’re okay. We were attacked by a pack of wolves. We had to shoot them to survive. Your husband, dad and Uncle are trying to make sure that Prescott’s men don’t come towards the hideout and discover us.”
“That sounds dangerous. How will they do that?”
“Darling I don’t know, but you know your dad and Uncle are really good Boy Scouts.”
It was only then that Callie saw the blood on Ally’s arm.
“You’re hurt. Let me help you. Mom, come over here and help.”
Joan replied, “Boil some water and get some bandages. Wash the bite with cold water and soap. I’m busy with Lynn’s injuries.”
None of the wounds had serious bleeding. Ally’s injuries were just scrapes and not deep puncture wounds so they were easy to treat with antibiotic cream.
Lynn had several puncture wounds that had to be cleaned and treated with antibiotic cream. Joan also gave Lynn some Ibuprofen for the pain. Joan gave all three a bottle of strong antibiotics and told them to get some rest.
“Ally, I’m scared. I won’t be able to sleep until Paul gets safely back home,” said Callie.
“Honey, that’s what women do when their men are off fighting thugs and wild animals.”
“But I want to fight alongside him. I don’t want to be stuck in a cave waiting for him to return, or die, out there without me. If he is going to die, I want to die fighting with him.”
“Don’t wish too hard. Women fight just as much as men do now that the SHTF. Besides, what will you do when you have two or three of my grandkids hanging on to your apron?
Callie smiled and replied, “I’ll leave them with my mom or their other beautiful granny.”
“The beautiful comment takes the sting off being a granny at my age. I’m just kidding; I’d love to have a bunch of grandkids.”
Ally watched Joan treating the bite wounds and scratches and knew that they would run out of antibiotics sometime in the next year. Even the pills would have a shelf life and would be worthless in a short time. Then a bite, infected tooth or bullet wound could be fatal. Then suddenly she wondered if the others had received a Tetanus shot lately.
***
Mike drove the five miles and never slowed down as Paul and I let off a barrage of shots. We repeated this several times around the county before we saw several trucks and a Humvee tearing up the back roads looking for us.
Mike drove us into a barn on the side of the road to avoid the first truck full of Prescott’s men and then we finally went off road into a thicket to spend the night about twelve miles east of the hideout. I keyed the mike on the walkie talkie and took first turn at guard duty.
We heard vehicles tearing down the road several times during the night, but none stopped close to us. Our ruse apparently worked. Chalk up one for the good guys.
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Chapter 5
Mayor Prescott
Prescott’s helicopter skimmed along the tops of the trees at night with no lights on to avoid detection by the military or DHS. The pilots flew with the aid of NVGs and had no problems steering around power lines, radio and TV antennas.
Prescott was furious about the ongoing failure to take the Wheeler hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River. He was certain this was due to faulty intelligence. His team had failed to infiltrate the group protecting the dam and only had information gained from surveillance.
His mission was to visit with his Alabama commander and decide if he was the right man for the job. He was hesitant, since he only had a few men as competent as the one in Alabama and hoped this was a set back and not a trend.
The helicopter landed in the parking lot of a warehouse complex in Courtland, Alabama. This was a northern outpost of the main compound in Birmingham.
He had complete control of Birmingham and had teams fanning out to gain control of the other major cities. He was promoting his group’s ability to provide food and protection to the town’s people.
His men killed or ran off the gangs that harassed most towns. They also killed drug dealers on sight. The town’s people liked that.
They just didn’t know that they were trading one evil for a different devil and the Federal Government was too busy fighting Russians and the Cartel to be of any help.
Prescott climbed down out of the helicopter and Mark Henson, the commander of his forces in Alabama, greeted him.
“Hello Mark, let’s head to your office.”
“Sorry, I thought that you would want to go to your room for the night before we meet.”
“No, I want to meet for an hour, and then fly on to Texas tonight. Let’s roll.”
“Yes sir.”
Prescott had several compounds across the USA and wanted desperately to consolidate them into a new country that took land from Texas to Arkansas over to Kentucky and then down to the gulf.
He knew that he only had a year to make it happen and the key was taking over the power generation and the military bases in his new country.
He thought most of the soldiers would join him since there was no hope of help coming from the USA and the government was forcing soldiers to leave their families and fight on the Mexican border and Oregon.
They walked into the warehouse, entered Mark’s office and started their meeting.
“Sir, I believe we found the reason our attacks have failed so far.”
“Enlighten me.”
“We captured one of the guards at the dam this morning and attempted to question her to learn more about this invincible force that guards the dam.
We couldn’t break her. No technique or type of torture worked. She passed out this evening after being nearly beaten to death and losing five fingers.
She was groggy as she woke up and began speaking in Hebrew. One of our men speaks Hebrew and actually trained Israeli pilots on our equipment years ago. He swears that she is Israeli Army or even a Mossad agent.”
“Can I speak to her?”
“Sorry, but she died a few hours ago. She killed three of my men and maimed two more before she was shot several times.”
“Your men were careless.”
“Sir, she was strapped to a chair with her hands and feet bound. She broke the chair and used it to club my men to death.”
“So you think you have the Israeli Army guarding the dam.”
“Sir, they are much better armed, have better intelligence and frankly their guards are better soldiers than I have. My solution is to bring in some heavy guns and mortars to eliminate them so we can liberate the dam.”
“Have you thought about sending in an underwater team to infiltrate them?”
“Yes, twice and they were all killed before they could get out of the water.”
“You might be right about the Israelis, but why are they here and why guard this dam?”
“Sir, I don’t mean to insult you, but what if they are doing the same thing we are doing. Their country was destroyed. Where did that quarter million Jews go? We heard that many escaped.”
“Damn, I think you are right. Those bastards have set up strong holds in the USA and other countries.”
***
Owensville Police Department
“Sheriff, shouldn’t you be out on patrol or something? Go find that drug dealer Johnson or his buddy Norman.”
Bert cast a dirty glance at the Captain of Prescott’s Owensville Police Force and replied, “Did you forget? They’re dead. Your boss says so.”
“Well then, get out of here asshole. If you get on my nerves, we might just find out that we don’t need you to keep the natives in line.”
“I’ll leave after I finish this report for Mr. Prescott. He’ll be pissed if it’s not on his desk when he gets back.”
“Okay, but get it done and get out of my sight, or I may have to visit your wife in the cell tonight.”
Bert didn’t react because that’s what this animal wanted. He would use any excuse to shoot Bert.
The Captain went into his office, closed the door and made a call on a satellite phone. There was no one in the room, so Bert moved closer to the door to eaves drop.
He heard, “Yes I’m sure. We checked all of the…and found a bunch of wolves buried in the brush behind a………….apparently, there is a big assed underground water tank nearby. Okay. I want to raid……….Johnson and Norman are holed up in the tank……..Yes sir, I’ll wait until you get back.”
Bert scrambled to get back to his desk before the door closed and only beat the Captain by a few seconds. He knew he had to warn Zack and Mike, but if Prescott found out, he would kill Bert’s family.
He watched as the Captain walked past his desk to check on the guard in the back of the station where the cells were located.
It was 10:00 pm and the station was deserted except for the Captain and one jailer.
Bert knew he had to act now or his friends and perhaps his family would die. He drew his knife, walked up behind the Captain, grabbed him from behind and cut his neck from ear to ear. The captain dropped to the floor, silently struggling for air that would not enter his lungs. He died within seconds.
Bert walked past him saying, “That’s what happens when you think you are superior to another and don’t think they’re a threat. Asshole.”
Bert took the keys from the dead Captain’s belt along with his gun belt and sidearm. He opened the door leading to the cells and called the guard’s name, “Fred, the captain needs you.”
“Why the fuck would he send a worm like you to relieve me?”
Bert shot the guard twice in the chest and ran to the cell where his wife and daughter were.
“Bert, is that you?”
“Yes, let’s go. I’m getting you out of here.”
His wife and daughter hurried past Bert as he opened the other four cells to release the prisoners.
They all thanked Bert and ran out the door. Bert followed his family and walked from the cell area into the office when there was a gunshot and he felt a burning stab in his lower side.
He quickly turned and shot the man who had just fired. Bert shot him again and took his pistol. He failed to see if the man was dead and paid a big price for the mistake.
Bert fell once as he used the furniture and cabinets to steady himself as he walked across the room. His wife ran back in and helped Bert into the driver’s side of the patrol car against her protest.
“Darling I have to drive until we get past the roadblock, then you can take us on to meet up with the Resistance. I’ll explain later.
You two hide under that blanket on the floor in the back until we get past the roadblock. I’ll make it that far.”
“Okay, but let me place this wad of cloth behind you to stop the blood. Keep your back pressed against it.”
They sped off down Main Street, turned left on Highway 54 and arrived at the roadblock in a few minutes. Bert knew he only had an hour before the night shift guards arrived at the jail and had to get to us ASAP.
“Damn, it’s beginning to snow. Shit, we’ll leave tracks that can be followed. Well, at least this old wagon has four wheel drive and it’s full of gas.”
He pulled up to the roadblock, stopped and waved at the guards.
“Hey Bert, what are you doing out tonight in this snow? Does Captain Asshole know?”
“Captain Asshole wants me to arrest Jacob Nelson. He thinks I can get him to come in without a fight. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Jacob will shoot your ass if you mess with him.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
They moved the sawhorse gate and let Bert drive away. He turned at the next right and headed south towards the underground storage tank and his friends.
“Darling, take the wheel and take us out Miller’s Mill Road and make the third right.
I’ll tell you when to turn left off the road. We’ll probably have to drive a couple of hundred yards across some grass and brush. Be careful; it’s not slick yet, but soon will be.”
***
Prescott’s Alabama Headquarters
“Mark, sorry but I had to take that call. I have to cancel my trip to Texas and head back to Kentucky. We’ve located my major pain in the ass up there, and I want to be onsite when we string those bastards up high in a tree on the court house lawn.
You have my approval on your plan. The mortars and recoilless rifles will arrive next Thursday. Thanks for figuring this out down here. Good luck and don’t fail me.”
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Chapter 6
Winter Bug Out
The Hideout
Dad, it’s starting to snow and it’s big fluffy wet snow. The ground will be covered in a few minutes. Can we make snowmen?
“Callie, we have to be extra careful when it snows and can’t leave any foot prints, much less snowmen for all to see. Just watch the beautiful snow and remember how pretty it was when you are cussing it after we are snowbound.”
“Darn, that spoiled my good mood, but staying alive beats making snowmen any day.
Ally? Do you know how to make snow cream? We can have something almost as good as ice cream.”
“Sure I do. What a good idea. I’ll gather the items I need and I’ll have some ready when you get off guard duty at 11:00.”
“Oh, I better get back out there with Paul.”
“Zack, do you think it’s safe to let those love birds pull guard duty together? They might get distracted.”
“Honey, they actually behave better than you and I do when we’re on guard duty.”
“Have you been spying on them?”
“Mike and I make regular checks on everyone to make sure our security stays tight. Other than a quick kiss or a hand that wanders every now and then, everyone stays alert.”
“Should I talk with Paul about that?”
“No, Mike told me that we were the worst of the bunch.”
“Darn, I like our time together under the stars. I guess I’ll keep my
hands to myself.”
I sounded whiney when I answered, “Yeah, I know, me too.”
“It was a little after 11:00 when Paul came running to me saying, “Zack, a station wagon pulled off the road and is heading straight to us.”
I yelled to the team,” Cut the lights, grab your guns and follow me. Ally and Joan, stay with the kids.”
I arrived in time to see the panel wagon slide sideways in the snow as it came to a stop. Two women got out of the back and helped a man walk towards us. I recognized one of the women and ran down to help her.
“Guys, it’s Bert and his family. He’s wounded. Let’s get him inside.”
“Zack, stop! Prescott knows that you are hiding here. I had to shoot two of his men to come warn you. We’ve gotta’ leave, now!”
A million things went through my mind and I’m sorry to say that the one that rattled around the most was, Shit, we have warmth, shelter and food here. It’s fucking cold out there. I wonder how much we can take with us and still get away.
The good news was that we were prepared to Bug Out at all times. We each had a Bug Out Bag and our vehicles were stocked with food, supplies and fuel. We couldn’t take everything, but we wouldn’t starve for a while. We also had the barrels full of supplies stashed around Daviess country that we could dig up in a pinch.
“Joan, you and Ally quickly treat Bert and get him ready to hit the road in 15 minutes. The rest of you know the drill. We are bugging out in 15 minutes.”
“Dear, we can’t get Bert ready in 15 minutes.”
“Prescott’s men know where we are and Bert just killed two and drove here leaving tracks in the snow. We could all be dead in an hour if we don’t leave, now. Do the best you can.