Cry Havoc

by A. American

  Pushing his plate away, Matt replied, “I know. But our rules of engagement are pretty clear. We are defensive only. We’re not looking to start a shooting war with the Feds. But if they press us, we will defend ourselves.”

  Gene hadn’t said anything, focusing instead on his meal. But he was done now. Pulling the napkin from his shirt, he dropped it on his plate. “You really think a militia with a few small arms can take on a column of MRAPs?”

  Matt smiled and shook his head. “No. No I don’t. It’s not here yet, but we’re moving armor closer to the border. A lot of the military sided with us, the ones here anyway. We’ve got fighters flying combat air patrols. And we’ve got naval vessels off the coast. We’re doing what we can to protect ourselves.”

  “This is so weird,” Christy said. “States leaving.”

  “We didn’t leave it. It left us,” Matt said. He waved a hand in the air. “This whole financial crisis is all BS. They shut everything down. Turned off cellphones and the internet. We didn’t ask for any of that. They’re not helping us.”

  “They’re handing out money now,” Daniel said.

  Matt snorted, “Yeah, new money.”

  Surprised, Bob asked, “What?”

  “Oh yeah. That money they’re handing out. It’s a new dollar. We think this was their plan the whole time. They did all this to introduce a new dollar.”

  “Have you seen it?” Daniel asked.

  Matt pulled a cellphone from his tactical vest and pulled up a picture. It was a colorful piece of red currency with a man’s portrait on it. “Yeah, they have Roosevelt on it. Not even one of the founders. I think they’re sending a message.”

  Bob took the phone and looked at it. “Where’d you get this?”

  “We politely asked the DHS to leave one of their facilities. They resisted at first, but gave up when they realized it was a no win for them. They wanted to take everything with them, but we made them walk out empty-handed. They burned most of their stuff. But we got some of it.”

  “So it was already here. Before all this started,” Bob said.

  Matt pointed at him, “Exactly.”

  “Can we get to Texas?” Daniel asked.

  Matt sat back and tucked his hands into his vest. “I don’t see why not. It shouldn’t be an issue. Do you have someplace to go?”

  Daniel shook his head. “No. We just thought it was better here. So we came.”

  “We’re working out of Red River. We can take you there and see what we can do,” Matt replied.

  “When can we go?” Christy asked.

  “We can go any time you want,” Matt replied.

  “I want to stay with you guys,” Teague said.

  Matt sat forward. “You’ll have to go to Texarkana to enlist in the militia. It’s a little more formal than just saying that you’re in.”

  “Why are you going to do that?” Christy asked.

  Teague shook his head. “I told you before, someone has to do it. Why shouldn’t it be me?”

  Matt stood up. “Let me go talk with some folks and I’ll see what I can do about getting you guys down to Red River.”

  Tommy came out from the kitchen. “What’d you folks think of the food?”

  “It was fantastic. I’m a fan,” Gene said.

  Bob nodded with a laugh. “And you can take that to the bank. If Gene likes it, it’s pretty good.”

  Tommy smiled. “Well, I’m glad you folks enjoyed it.”

  They walked out to van. Matt told them to hang out while he went and talked to some people. Bob leaned against the van and lit a smoke. Gene opened the side door and sat down. Looking up at Teague, he asked, “Were you touched by someone in uniform as a kid?”

  Teague looked at him. “What?”

  Deadpan Gene said, “You seem to have a lot of hate for folks in uniform. Just curious if you had a bad experience as a kid. You know, like someone touching you or something.” Bob lowered his head to hide the fact he was smiling.

  “Screw you, Gene!” Teague shouted.

  Gene pointed at him. “See, so much hate. Takes a lot of hate to hide that much sadness.”

  Teague was fuming. “Fuck off!” He turned and walked away.

  Gene laughed. “I think he’s been buggered.”

  “That’s just mean, Gene,” Christy said.

  Gene looked at her. “No it’s not. He knows I’m just messing with him.”

  She looked at Teague. He was standing at the back of the van with his foot on the bumper. “I don’t think he does. What’s wrong with you guys? Why are you so mean to one another?”

  Bob laughed. “Because we’re guys. It’s what we do.”

  Christy looked at Daniel. He shrugged and said, “Don’t look at me. He’s right. When Teague and I were kids, we were mean as hell to one another.”

  She shook her head. “But saying he was molested as a kid? That’s really horrible.”

  Gene laughed. “That’s what makes it so funny! Besides, he’ll get over it.”

  Christy shook her head. “I do not, and never will, understand you guys.”

  Bob flicked his butt to the curb. “Well, if you ever figure it out, please let me know. I’d like some clarity.”

  Matt returned from his trip to the courthouse across the street. “We’ve got the nod to go. We can leave now if you want. I’ll go with you guys too. Got some stuff to take care of down there.”

  Daniel smiled. “Cool. Let’s go.” Everyone loaded into the van for the last leg to the great state of Texas.

  “How long is it going to take us to get there?” Daniel asked.

  “About three hours or so,” Matt replied.

  “It’s going to be dark before we get there,” Christy said with an air of concern in her voice.

  Matt laughed. “Don’t worry about that. That curfew crap doesn’t exist out here.”

  Even though the city of Texarkana straddles the border of two states, the entire city had power due to its connection to the Texas grid. They arrived about nine PM at the outskirts of the city, where they were stopped at a checkpoint manned by men wearing the same Texas state flag Matt wore.

  Seeing the checkpoint, Daniel slowed. “What do we do?”

  Matt waved him forward. “Just keep going.”

  Unlike the roadblock in Hamburg, no one pointed guns at them. Four men manned the checkpoint. And while they had tactical-style vests on with weapons, they were worn over Wranglers and checkered shirts. These men looked more like cowboys than soldiers.

  Daniel rolled to a stop where Matt indicated. One of the men walked up to the van as Bob rolled his window down. Matt leaned forward and said, “Hey, Jessie.”

  The man pushed a dusty, worn Stetson back on his head. “Hey, Matt. You guys got here quicker than I expected.”

  Matt nodded. “Yeah, this young feller here has a lead foot.”

  Jessie stepped back and looked at the van. “Hell of a contraption you got here.”

  “We started in Atlanta. It was a rough trip,” Bob said.

  Jessie looked at the door where Bob sat. “I’d say so.” He looked back at Matt, “You heading to the depot?”

  Matt nodded. “Yeah, got to see them before figuring out what to do with these guys.”

  Jessie waved. “Alright. See you later.”

  Matt patted Daniel’s shoulder. “Go ahead.”

  Daniel pulled away, following Matt’s directions. He told Daniel to get onto I-30. Daniel looked at him and asked, “Are you sure? We’ve been avoiding the interstates.”

  Matt smiled. “You’re in Texas now. Things are different.”

  Christy leaned forward. “We’re in Texas now? We made it?”

  Daniel looked at her. “We made it.”

 
Matt had him exit at Hooks and they pulled up to the very nondescript gate of the sprawling Red River Army Depot. As they approached it, Christy asked, “What is this place?”

  They stopped at the gate, that was now manned by uniformed men wearing the Texas Republic flag. Matt showed his ID to the guard at the gate, who quickly waved them through. Bob noted that. Thinking it interesting they had already issued photo IDs to members of the militia.

  “Its primary mission is the repair and maintenance of heavy equipment, tanks, MRAPs, that sort of thing,” Matt said.

  “So this place is full of armor?” Teague asked.

  Matt turned and smiled at him. “Yeah it is. We’ve been getting some of it back into service. That’s why I came down with you, to take one back.”

  “Look at the size of this place,” Bob said as they drove through the massive complex of industrial-looking buildings.

  Gene was looking out the window as they passed one of the sprawling buildings. The huge rolling doors were open and a hoist was moving an entire M1 Abrams tank through the air. “This looks like my kind of place.”

  Matt looked at him. “They could probably use the help. We lost some people here who didn’t agree with the secession. So if you’re mechanically inclined, they could use you.”

  Gene smiled. “I spent twenty-six years in the Navy. You could say I’m mechanically inclined.”

  Bob looked at Matt. “He’s really good.”

  Matt pointed to a small brick building. “Pull up there.”

  Daniel turned into a parking spot and stopped, where they all got out. Daniel looked around at the massive facility that was very busy, even at nearly ten o’clock at night. Christy walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He smiled and leaned in and kissed her.

  “Let me go in and check on some things. I’ll see if I can find you guys a place to stay. Gene, you want to come in and see if you can help out here?”

  Gene nodded. “Yes I do.”

  Looking at Teague, he asked, “You still want in the militia?”

  “Damn right,” he replied with a nod.

  “We’ll wait for you guys out here,” Bob said.

  Matt nodded and the three men went inside. Bob leaned against the van and lit a smoke.

  “We’re in Texas,” Christy said with a smile.

  “We’re in Texas,” Daniel repeated, then looked around. “Now what?”

  Bob smiled and stood up. Nodding, he echoed Daniel’s sentiment. “Now what, indeed.”