by A J Newman
Mike, help me put a bunk bed mattress in the back of Bert’s station wagon to help cushion him from the bumps.
All right, everyone, we are heading to the church camp ground above Rolling Hills. We’ll stay there until Bert can move or we find a better place. ”
Everyone knew their jobs and scurried about loading their vehicles and hooking up the cargo trailers preloaded with supplies. I finished loading my truck behind Paul and Ally. I ran over to help Roger and Lynn drop the pallet of supplies into the bed of Roger’s truck and then run back to mine. Ally and Suzie were waiting on me. Joan was in the back of Bert’s truck with Sally driving while Bert’s wife and Joan tended to Bert.
Roger and Lynn would bring up the rear with the other vehicles traveling in the middle. We had five trucks, three old Bronco 4x4s and Bert’s station wagon. All were four wheel drive vehicles so the snow wouldn’t be much of a problem.
We pulled out of the hideout 17 minutes after I said Bug Out and we’ll never know how close we came to being caught, but we had miles to go before we slept, and couldn’t think about that now.
Davi rode with me to man the SAW while I led the caravan on back roads over to Highway 231 before heading south as fast as I could, dodging stalled cars and slick spots.
We were making 45 MPH and traveling without lights, so we couldn’t go wide open. The snow was pouring down and we had over four inches on the road. I slowed down to 35 MPH and kept trucking.
I turned off 231, got on the Natcher Parkway at Beaver Dam. We then got back on 231 at the Morgantown interchange.
By this time, the snow was almost reaching whiteout level, and I knew that only diehards would keep following us. We drove on south until we were about three miles north of Rolling Hills, and made a right on Old Church Road. The snow was eight inches deep and our tracks were disappearing behind us.
We drove about a mile and turned left into the abandoned campground.
The camp was originally a small resort back in the 50’s that catered to the fishing crowd before the Southern Baptist Church in Rolling Hills bought it for a church retreat and campground for church families.
There were 12 cabins, a barn that held the lawn and garden equipment and a large building with a central kitchen and dining room attached. The large building had been a bed and breakfast long ago.
There were several large lakes on the property and it was only half a mile from the Barren River.
We parked the vehicles by the large building and I gathered the team.
“We need to clear all of the buildings before we occupy them. They were empty when we scouted the area, but who knows what has happened since then.
Mike, you and Roger take the six cabins on the right. Greg and Ben search the main building and Paul and I will take the other six cabins.
Move Bert into the large building after we clear it so Joan and Ally can continue patching him up.
We’ll all move into the large building until we sort things out. Let’s move, people.”
We cleared the large building that had been the bed and breakfast first and got fires started in the fireplaces.
Paul and I then cleared the first four cabins quickly as did Mike and Roger. Three of the cabins Roger and Mike cleared were full of can goods, guns, ammo and prescription drugs.
The fourth one we cleared reeked of ammonia, as we got closer to it. I slowly opened the door and saw tables covered with chemicals and lab equipment.
“Paul, this is a meth lab.”
“Zack, oh, crap, we got bad guys. Be ready for anything ’cause they ain’t leavin’ here alive.”
“Mike we found a working meth lab. These guys will be dangerous.”
The last cabins on both sides were a hundred yards down the hill and by the largest lake.
The fifth cabin was storage for the thug’s marijuana processing.
Paul and I came out of the fifth cabin when he pointed at our next cabin and whispered, “Look, smoke.”
Several trees blocked our view so we ran across the road to join the others. The cabin came in view and even through the driving snow, I could see smoke billowing from the chimney. There was also a faint glow coming from one of the windows.
I said, “Paul and I will knock on the door and you two cover us.”
We carefully walked in the woods to the back of the cabin and circled to the front. I stood to the side and knocked on the door. The door opened a crack and a man said, “Go away.”
I replied, “We’re friendly and just want to know who our neighbors are. We’re moving in to the other cabins up the…”
I didn’t get a chance to finish when there was a boom, a hole exploded in the door and we were covered in splinters. I would have been dead if I had been in front of the door.
I heard Roger shout, “Are y’all okay?”
“Yes. Mike, take Roger and break down the back door when I yell. They’ll turn to see who’s breaking in and we’ll come through the front door. Shoot anyone who resists. A prisoner would be nice to question, before we send him to whatever hell meth makers go to.”
I waited a minute and yelled, “Go!”
We heard the crash of the door being breached, waited a few seconds and I crashed into the already damaged door. I saw a scruffy man with a shotgun turning to shoot Mike. I fired, dropping the man where he stood. A younger man dropped his pistol and cried, “You done kilt my daddy. Wait don’t shoot me mister, please. Don’t shoot me mister. We hain’t done nothing agin y’all. You hain’t got no call to barge in here and start a killin’ people.”
I looked from one man to the other and saw both looked like they had been on Meth for years. Both had a mouth full of rotten teeth, were filthy and undernourished to the point where they looked like walking death.
I replied, “Trying to kill me for knocking on the door seems to be wrong in my book. Why would he shoot someone for knocking on the door unless he was hiding from the law or done something bad? What’s your name, boy?”
“I’m Billy Owens and that’s my daddy, Alf. We hain’t bad people. We jess tryin’ to make it from one day to the next, like everbody else.”
I tied the man’s hands behind his back and shoved him down on the couch.
“Paul, shoot him if he tries to get off the couch. Let’s search the other rooms and then check the other cabin.
Scumbag, what’s in the other rooms?”
“Just my mom and sisters.”
“Roger, cover me while I enter this room.”
I moved out from in front of the door and knocked as I said, “I’m coming in. We won’t harm you. Put down any guns and you’ll be okay.”
No one replied so I slowly turned the knob and then pushed the door open while staying out of the line of fire. I could see several girls standing in the right corner. None of them was armed so I walked into the room and saw an older woman behind them.
The woman said, “I heard shots. Who got shot?”
I replied, “Come out from behind the girls with your hands up and you won’t get shot.”
“We ain’t done nothin’ wrong. These are my kids. My old man and me’s just doing the best we can.”
I looked at the girls and saw that all three had bruises on their faces and arms. Looking on down to the floor, I was astounded to see they all had chains around their ankles.
Looking up at the woman, I saw that she also had bad teeth and her face was old beyond its years. She stayed behind the girls and I knew she must have a gun or a knife hidden behind them.
“Ma’am, I need you to come into the living room so y’all can see to your family. Your husband tried to kill us and we want to know why.”
Suddenly she raised her arms, grabbed the girl in front of her and held a knife to the girl’s throat and said, “Get the fuck out of my house, or I’ll kill this bitch.”
I raised my 9mm and pointed it at the woman’s head. The girl started crying and trembled.
“Look, no one has to die today.”
“Y
ou won’t shoot with this girl…”
She didn’t finish the sentence because I squeezed the trigger and blew the top of her head off. The knife fell to the floor and the girls swarmed me begging for their freedom.
“Calm down. We’ll set you free as soon as we can find the keys to the locks.”
“The old woman has the keys in her jeans pocket. Please unlock us so we can go find our families. There are more girls in the cabin across the road.”
I found the keys and freed the girls while Roger and Mike checked out the last cabin.
They found three more girls who were also chained to their beds. These were girls, and young women, that had been kidnapped from the surrounding communities and were being traded to gangs for food, drugs and alcohol.
I asked Paul and Sally to get beds ready for them in the large building and moved them up the hill. I also placed a guard on them until we could make sure they could be trusted. I told the girls the guard was for their protection.
“How do we know you ain’t gonna’ be just like them, and sell us like slaves?”
Ally spoke up, “Ladies, you are free to leave now. We’ll give you clothes, food and that shit heel’s truck. Leave now if you want to go.
However, you did just walk up here thru 12 inches of snow and it would be crazy to leave, but you are not our prisoners. We don’t know you and yes the guards are for the safety of us all.”
The older of the girls stepped forward and said, “It’s not that we ain’t grateful for you freeing us, it’s just that it’s hard to trust anybody after being kidnapped, beaten and raped for weeks.”
“Darling, I can’t say I know how you feel, but try to put that behind you and move on. As soon as the snow stops, we’ll try to help you get back home. Until then it’s our rules because we know how to survive.”
Later I gathered those of my team not pulling guard duty and asked, “I’m going to put that piece of shit down. He’s guilty of rape, kidnapping and drug dealing.”
Davi answered, “Of course, we have to execute him. We don’t have a jail and are not able to baby sit a prisoner, besides, what would be the purpose?”
“I agree and we need to quickly carry out the execution.”
Mike spoke up, “Roger, come with me and we’ll take the bastard out into the woods and he won’t come back. I’ll put a .22 in his head.”
“Thank you, Mike. Do it.”
They came back twenty minutes later and neither was worth a damn the rest of the day. Even killing an asshole wears on you.
I knew this wouldn’t be that last up close and personal criminal that we would bring to justice, but nothing could make it feel good.
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Chapter 7
Snowmageddon
The Campground
The snow continued into the next day and we couldn’t see across the court to the cabins. The big fluffy flakes blew around in swirls before ending up in drifts against fences, buildings and trees. Some of the cabins had drifts higher than the tops of their windows and would soon be just big lumps in the deep snow. There were 18 inches of snow covering the ground between the cabins, which made it hard to fetch wood and coal.
It appeared as if the campground had been in operation one day and closed the next. There was firewood stacked beside each cabin and the coal bin for the large building was full.
The large cistern below the front porch of the large building was full of water. All of the buildings had gas heat and air conditioners along with the fireplaces. Each building had its own large propane tank. We decided only to use the propane for heating as a last resort when the firewood and coal were depleted. We did use it for cooking and hot water.
I could only guess the coal fired heater was left over from the forties or fifties. We didn’t trust it enough to use it, but we would burn some of the coal to help extend the firewood. Besides, a pile of burning coal lasted longer over the night than wood. The smell was a bit sulfury, but the heat felt great.
We spent the second day at the campground moving the canned goods from the cabins to the large heated building to keep them from freezing. I handled that detail while Joan had a team performing an inventory of the other new supplies.
Mike’s group unloaded the water and canned goods from our vehicles and moved them to the heated building. We left all other supplies in the vehicles in case we had to Bug Out again.
“Paul, get your old lady, and let’s bring buckets full of snow in to melt for drinking water. Callie always wants to play in the snow.”
“Uh, Zack, I’d rather massage a lion with a hand full of briers than call her, my old lady.”
“Who’s the man of your family?”
“Zack, I know you’re kidding but I want to live longer, so I’ll pass.
Callie, would you please come over here and please help fetch some snow.”
“Dad, I’ll bet you didn’t know that even with this damned snow falling, I could hear every word you said. We share everything and I know he would never call me names like that if he wants to get in my bed at night. And dad, he really, really likes being in bed with me. I take good care of my man.”
“Shit girl, that’s way TMI. Sorry I started this crap. You are still my little girl and I don’t want to know what y’all do in bed. Come on, let’s collect that snow now.”
“Dad, don’t poke the bear unless you are ready for a fight.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“I’m going to ask Ally if you call her old lady.”
“You trying to get me killed? I was just trying to stir Paul up a bit.”
“Dad, I might get her so stirred up that you’ll be sleeping by yourself tonight. Hee hee hee. Old people don’t do much in bed anyway, right?”
“Look young lady. We are not old, and we do a lot in bed. However, none of it is your business. Drop it; I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“Paul, I beat dad at his own shit stirring game. Mom will be so proud of me.”
“Oh, shit. Don’t tell your mom or Ally.”
The little witch told everybody in camp. They were all poking fun at me for a week. Alas, I am the master, and will get even. Shit stirring is what Mike and I do best. Of course, Mike took that to new heights when he took that dump in Todd’s Corvette. Damn, that seemed like a million years ago. I wondered if someone had put a bullet in Todd yet.
The going was slow due to the heavy snow, but we got the work done by noon and took a break for lunch. I walked into the dining room and was amazed at how large our group had grown. We had doubled in size counting the six rescued girls. We now had 30 people in our group.
Bert was sitting sideways in a recliner to ease the pain in his back, but was alert and doing as well as could be expected.
I thumped a spoon on a table and got everyone’s attention.
“I want to formally welcome everyone to our little tribe. I know the young ladies won’t stay with us, but I want them treated as though they are part of this extended family.
Except for Ben and Lynn on guard duty, this is the first time in days that we have all shared a meal. I’ll ask Callie to say grace and then I want everyone to introduce themselves.”
Callie bowed her head and said, “Thanks God for delivering us safely to this campground. Thanks for the food we are about to eat and please help dad learn not to poke the bear. Amen.”
That brought laughter from Joan and Ally.
I replied, “I may have to learn to spank the bear. Let’s eat.”
***
Suzie was in bed and Ally and I were getting our cold weather gear on when she came over to me and nuzzled her lips against my neck and said, “Do I take good care of my man in bed?”
I was slow and started to respond when she broke out laughing.
“Darling I’m sorry, but it just strikes me funny that my son’s 16 year old wife is telling her father that she takes good care of her man in bed.”
I replied, “I hope he takes good care of he
r in bed for the rest of her life. Happy wife, happy life.”
She came over and gave me a full kiss on the mouth, ran her hand under my shirt and rubbed my chest”
“Zack, I hope that I take good care of you because you make me the happiest woman on earth.”
I started to take her clothes off when she backed away and said, “We have to relieve Sally and Mike. I’ll take good care of you after guard duty.”
“I love you Ally. You make me want to conquer the world and make it safe again.”
Damn it was cold outside. The temperature dropped to the low thirties every night and seemed to be colder every new day. The wind blew all night whipping the snow around and building on top of the already high drifts.
We had some of the best winter gear made and still had to keep walking to stay warm. We sweated and became chilled as the sweat evaporated. It was miserable.
“Darling, we have to figure this guard duty out. I don’t want anyone to get frostbite or lost in these whiteouts.”
Ally replied, “Do you really think anyone will be out in this trying to attack us?”
“No, but if I wanted to take someone by surprise, I’d attack in the worst conditions.”
“I guess we can switch to one hour shifts at night. Bert and Davi won’t be much help for another month.”
“That would be a big help. My butt and feet are freezing.”
“Damn girl. Your feet are cold on a warm day. Hey, there’s Roger and Lynn. Let’s get back to the discussion we were having before we came out here.”
The snow was now over 25 inches deep and more was falling every minute. We had teams shoveling walkways around the main building and most of the way down to the lake, but had to give up on the path to the lake.
Roger took his Bronco, drove it up and down the path down to the lake and made a path that was rough, but worked. He was trying to figure out how to mount a make shift plow, but couldn’t find anything to make the blade.