Patting the back deck of the four-wheeler, Nelson watched Zeus jump up and lay down. “I’m not going to throw my life away, babe,” Nelson said and Michelle pointed at his front deck.
“Then why are you taking a Javelin and a Stinger?” she asked.
“Better safe than sorry,” he smiled, pulling his AR across his chest.
Looking at Nelson’s four-wheeler, Michelle sighed. It had equipment and ammo cans attached around it with a metal gas can. “Remember, those guys are learning, so don’t push them hard,” she said.
“We’re only going thirty miles,” Nelson said. “Gerald’s going back to Springfield this week. That’s the trip I’m worried about.”
Hearing a soft hum, they turned to see Sean pull up on a four-wheeler. Dallas had started pulling them in on his patrols and now, they had over twenty at his farm. The four-wheeler Sean was on was the largest one made and it still looked small. Scott had one just like it and Nelson thought Scott looked like he was screwing a football, the four-wheeler looked so tiny to his massive frame. Taking his tactical helmet off the four-wheeler, Nelson saw Sean wearing a tactical helmet like his.
“Where did you get a helmet?” Nelson asked because it looked like it was too small.
“Momma asked Michelle if she could try and remake the webbing so it would fit me, and it does,” Sean said grinning and reached up, tapping his head.
Glancing over at Michelle and then back to Sean, “You sure it’s not too tight?” Nelson asked.
Shaking his head, “Trust me, it’s not tight,” Sean grinned.
“Give Kathleen some more helmets,” Nelson said, kissing Michelle. Climbing on, Nelson started the engine and pulled out with Sean following. Pulling out, Nelson headed straight into the woods toward the bridge Bernard had helped Curtis and his group build over the swollen creek.
It was Nelson that had asked because he hadn’t liked that Curtis’s group was driving beside the road for three miles west and then driving a mile south until they reached the bridge. Especially, when they were less than a mile away from the farm as the crow flies.
So, with Bernard’s help, a bridge was put over the creek and a trail made under the trees to Curtis’s house. Reaching the cable bridge, Nelson slowed and looked at it hard again. Three posts were shoved into the ground three feet apart and a one-inch cable was strung from each side to the posts. Then, two-by-tens were lashed to the cables to make the ten-foot-wide bridge. Nelson had watched Gerald drive one of the Flyers across the bridge and it had barely swayed.
Goosing the throttle, Nelson drove up and over the bridge and saw the camera Nancy had put up before the bridge was even finished. Reaching the other side, Nelson rode along, looking around. The wind rushing past his ears was louder than his engine, so it was peaceful.
In a trip that used to take a half an hour, Nelson was pulling up to the house only ten minutes after he’d left. Shutting the engine off, Nelson climbed off and saw six four-wheelers and two side by sides parked in front of the house.
Jana stepped outside. “Come on in, they’re almost ready,” she said, walking back into the house. Turning back, Nelson saw Sean climbing off his ride and then turned back to the house and for the first time, studied it. It had blue siding with a metal roof sitting under several trees. Looking around, Nelson saw trees all around the house. They were spaced apart, but there were a lot of them.
Walking up to the house, Nelson just shook his head. The house looked funny. Like it was standing on tiptoes and Nelson realized the windows were much higher than normal. “Shit,” he said, stopping and looking at the windows.
“Double-paned storm windows,” Sean said behind him.
“Bet that cost a pretty penny,” Nelson said, heading for the door.
Giving a curt laugh, “Not compared to the house,” Sean said.
“You’ve been here?” Nelson asked, stopping at the door.
“No, but Nelson, look at the walls. That’s not wood or brick, that’s formed reinforced concrete,” Sean said, pointing at the house.
Spinning around, Nelson stared at the structure, “No way,” he said.
“Nelson, look at the eaves of the house. That’s concrete from the roof meeting the concrete from the wall,” Sean said, pointing up and Nelson’s jaw fell open.
The door opened and Jana held it open. “Sorry, forgot you haven’t been here yet,” she smiled.
“You have a concrete house?” Nelson cried out.
Blinking rapidly, “Ah, y-yes,” she answered like they had made a mistake. Nelson walked in looking around and saw kids sitting at the table with the other wives. “Was that wrong? Curtis researched it before it was built and all the books said concrete was the best to build for defense,” Jana said.
Inside, Nelson could tell the house was concrete as he ran his eyes over the house. Curtis walked in carrying his boots. “Sorry, but it’s not 0900,” he said, quickly putting his boots on. “I know we should’ve gotten ready early, but the kids wanted to play.”
“Curtis,” Nelson snapped and Curtis looked up. “You have a concrete house!” Nelson declared.
Curtis looked at Jana and she just shrugged, so Curtis turned back to Nelson. “That’s supposed to be the best,” he said timidly.
“You built a bunker!” Nelson said, moving into the house. “How big is this place?”
“Fifteen hundred feet here and three thousand in the basement,” Curtis answered. “Is that good or bad?”
When Nelson spun around quickly, Curtis jumped. “If you could keep an enemy from using explosives, you could hold up here forever,” Nelson said.
“Explosives?” Jana said with apprehension.
Walking off and looking around, “Yeah, that’s why we built the berm. To keep people from shooting directly at the house without coming over the berm so we could shoot them. We put a berm like that around you, that would stop people from shooting rockets to gain entry,” Nelson said, moving down a hall.
They all turned to Sean and he nodded. “Listen to him. Nelson knows his stuff,” Sean said.
“When did you put in the surveillance system?” Nelson called out from the back of the house. “You have four dead spots you need to cover with cameras.”
“We put those in after the house was done!” Curtis said, putting his boots on and looking at Sean. “That’s why I asked him to come over and tell us what we needed to do,” Curtis said.
“That’s why we’re thirty minutes early. Nelson wanted to see what he had to work with,” Sean said grinning as Kenny came running out and carrying his boots. “Guys, slow down. When you rush, you make mistakes and mistakes now can get us killed.”
They both relaxed as Nelson came back in. “I’m sorry I have to ask, when did you build your house?” he asked.
“Two years ago,” Curtis answered. “Nelson, this is our bug out location. None of us lived here,” he said, standing up.
A loud thump sounded and everyone turned to see Sean had stumbled into the door. “This isn’t your house?” Sean shouted.
Rick walked in also carrying his boots, “No, we all live in different areas and this was central to all of us,” he said, sitting down.
Taking his AR off, Nelson moved over to a chair and sat down. Shaking his head, Nelson took a deep breath. “So, let me clarify. Four families went in together and built a bunker that none of you lived in?” Nelson said slowly.
“Yeah,” Curtis said. “Everything we read said bugging out was better than bugging in.”
“Everyone did come out one weekend a month and a few weeks during the summer,” Jana added, walking back to the kitchen.
Walking over to Nelson, “Want to see the rest of the house?” Curtis asked smiling.
Holding up his right hand, “I can’t handle it right now,” Nelson said and then got up. “Show me around outside, so I can get some ideas,” Nelson said, putting his AR across his chest. Not waiting to see if anyone was coming, Nelson walked outside.
Curtis and the ot
hers looked at Sean. “He’s not mad, is he?” Curtis asked.
“Curtis, we,” Sean stressed, “are in shock. I’ll be outside with Nelson.”
When Sean walked out, Kenny looked up as he put his boots on. “I knew we should’ve built the house underground,” Kenny said. “Nelson’s worried about explosives.”
Curtis headed for the door with Kenny following. They saw Nelson walking around and looking at the trees as they walked over. “Those all the solar panels you have?” Nelson asked, pulling out his notepad.
“Yeah, solar is okay, but I don’t like it because it draws attention,” Kenny said and Nelson nodded, making notes.
“How much do you have to run a generator?” Nelson asked.
“We don’t,” Curtis said and Nelson looked over at him.
“There is no way you’re getting enough power from that many panels,” Nelson said.
“No, we have a wind turbine and a hydro station,” Curtis said. “We wanted to diversify our power.”
Looking back at the house, “I don’t see a chimney. How do you heat it?” Nelson asked.
“Geothermal pump,” Kenny said. “It heats the floors and gives us free hot water.”
Throwing his notepad in the air, Nelson walked off. “Holy shit!” he gasped.
Walking over, Sean picked up the notepad chuckling. “I like you guys,” he said grinning. “You studied something and did it.”
“What’s wrong with Nelson?” Curtis asked.
“To be honest, he wasn’t expecting your setup to be so awesome,” Sean said and turned to follow Nelson, who was walking among the trees and mumbling.
“They think our setup is awesome,” Curtis beamed, grabbing Kenny’s shoulder.
It was 0930 when everyone loaded up and the wives and kids were outside to see them off. “You’re heading over soon, right?” Nelson asked.
Nikki nodded. “Yes, we packed an overnight bag just in case and are leaving in a few minutes,” she said.
“Thinking ahead, that’s what it takes,” Nelson said and they all beamed.
Gunning the throttle, Nelson headed for the trees, driving south. Keeping Curtis’s group in the middle, Sean followed the line through the trees. “Guys, watch your spacing. No closer than ten yards from the one in front of you,” Sean called out over the radio and the line slowed.
When they had the spacing, everyone sped up following Nelson. Coming to a stop at a field, Nelson climbed off and grabbed a set of wire cutters, cutting the three strands of barbwire. Turning around, Nelson waved them up. Putting the wire cutters up, Nelson moved back to the four. “When I’m fifty yards out, Curtis, you take off but stay at my speed. When he’s fifty yards out, Kenny, you follow out and we repeat that. When I get back to the trees, I’ll slow down and wait till Curtis reaches me and then move off as he watches, making sure Kenny makes it across, and we do that until Sean reaches the trees. This way, we don’t present a juicy target and if someone is hit, one of us can call out over the radio. If we can, we’ll go around fields and stay under cover.”
Nelson sighed as Curtis pulled out a notepad, making notes. “I know we patrol here all the time, but this is where I want to practice before we get into injun’ country,” Nelson said and Kenny raised his hand. “Yes, Kenny?”
“We’re going through a reservation?” Kenny asked with a straight face.
Chuckling, Nelson shook his head, “No, that’s slang for enemy territory. You need to watch some John Wayne movies.”
Rick raised his hand and Nelson nodded. “You said anything you’re not standing on was enemy country,” Rick said.
“Very good. We can relax some, like sit in the woods talking strategy, instead of the middle of the field,” Nelson said.
“Oh,” Rick said nodding.
“Man, you always give us good stuff,” Curtis mumbled while writing and Sean bit his lip to keep from laughing.
When Curtis put his notepad away, Nelson looked at him. “Curtis, I like making notes too but please, don’t stop to make notes. Wait till I stop,” Nelson said and Curtis nodded. Before he turned around, Nelson stopped and walked over to Curtis and pointed at the AR in the gun rack on the front of the four-wheeler.
“Why is your gun there and not on you?” Nelson asked.
“The manual says to keep both hands on the handlebars at all times,” Curtis said and the other three nodded. Nelson turned to see their ARs were in the gun racks.
Taking the AR out of the gun rack, Nelson saw it had a tactical sling and clipped one end to the front of the AR. Hanging it over Curtis until the AR rested across his chest, Nelson turned and saw the other three grabbing theirs and copying what Nelson had done. “Now, if someone shoots at you, you can show them the same kindness and shoot back,” Nelson said.
Ripping his notepad out, “Damn, that sounds so cool,” Curtis said, writing again. “Do we shoot first or call on the radio?”
Glancing over, Nelson saw Sean laying back on his four-wheeler, laughing silently. “I’m shooting first but remember, you don’t get help until you call for it, so I’ll leave that to your judgment.”
Justin raised his hand and Nelson sighed with a nod. Lowering his hand, “Why is your AR sling in a one point?” he asked.
“So I can hold it like a pistol, if I have to shoot across my body. I rest it across me because I’ve learned how to do it without my gun sliding down and banging around,” Nelson said and saw Justin raising his hand again. “What?” Nelson asked before Justin raised his hand.
“Can I see how you do it, so I can try?” he asked and Nelson nodded, turning around and climbing on his four-wheeler. All four came up as Nelson adjusted the sling until the butt was under his left arm. They all let out ‘ahhs’, seeing Nelson was using the magazine to hold the gun in front of him.
With Curtis writing, they all moved back to their rides, climbing on and putting their ARs like Nelson had his. When they were ready, Nelson turned around gunning the throttle. “Glad they are on my side,” Nelson said, speeding across the field.
Moving south for three hours, Nelson came out of the trees to a field and slammed his brakes on, then backed up in the trees. He jumped off and looked back, moving his hand across his throat and everyone turned off their engines. Digging into his rucksack, Nelson had to admit, the boys were good. If one made a mistake, it was never repeated by any of them.
“What’s wrong?” Curtis asked in a low voice.
“Something in the field,” Nelson said, pulling out the thermal binoculars.
“Want us to get our long rifles?” Curtis asked.
“Let’s see what it is first,” Nelson said, creeping forward. “Come,” Nelson said over his shoulder and Zeus jumped off, trotting up beside Nelson. Reaching the tree line, Nelson went to one knee and looked around with the thermals and didn’t see any hotspots and set the thermals down and grabbed his binoculars around his neck.
“Is that a crashed jet?” Kenny asked as Nelson put his eyes on the binoculars.
“I do believe it is,” Nelson said, zooming in.
“You know what kind of plane that is, Nelson?” Rick asked.
“Nope, but it’s Russian,” Nelson said.
“How can you tell?” Curtis asked.
“Look to the right and you’ll see the tail section, and there is a big red star on the tail,” Nelson said. “Sean, how long you think it’s been here?”
“Four, five months,” Sean said, looking at the plane with his rifle scope.
“Here,” Nelson said, passing Sean his binoculars.
“Nice,” Sean said, studying the wreckage. “Closer to five months.”
“How can you tell?” Kenny asked.
“See the burn marks and how there’s new grass grown over them? The black you see is the burnt dirt. We’re in late fall and the grass stopped growing around October,” Sean said.
Hearing Curtis pull his notepad out, Nelson chuckled and picked up the thermal binoculars. “How did you guys learn all this stuff
?” Curtis said in wonder.
“Stay outside long enough, it stays with you,” Sean said, lowering the binoculars. “Nelson, nobody has driven a vehicle near the crash,” Sean said and before one asked. “If you look at the grass, you can see where tires would have made the grass fold down in one direction and pop back up.”
Pulling his map out, “I can’t believe locals wouldn’t come and investigate,” Nelson said, looking at his map. “We are heading further east, there’s more trees.”
Folding his map up, he turned to see Kenny, Justin, and Rick all had maps out. Getting up, Nelson walked over to look at Kenny’s map. Seeing it was a satellite/topo map, “May I?” Nelson asked and Kenny grinned, handing it over.
Rubbing his gloved fingers over the map, Nelson furrowed his brow and pulled off his right glove and touched the map. “It’s cloth,” he said and then folded it out. The sheet was four-foot-by-four-foot, but Bernard’s was at the top of the map and the Arkansas line was at the bottom. “What the hell?”
“It’s polymer microfiber,” Kenny said as Nelson studied the map and turned to Kenny in shock.
“You printed this?” Nelson gasped.
“Yeah,” Kenny said as his grin died. “We wanted to see how you planned your route.”
“When did you print this?”
“Last night,” Kenny said.
Dropping his arms down and letting the bottom of the map drag on the ground, “I worked in business. A printer like that costs stupid amounts of money,” Nelson said.
“Oh, Justin got a good deal on the printer and several thousand microfiber sheets,” Kenny said with his grin returning.
Not rolling the map up, Nelson handed it over, “Men, when we get back, you are going to sit down and tell me what equipment you have because you have shit I didn’t even dream about getting,” Nelson said as Sean handed his binoculars back.
“How much do they cost?” Sean asked.
“I saw a cheap one that was sixty inches wide and it was eight grand,” Nelson said, heading back to his four-wheeler.
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