Fire From The Sky | Book 11 | Ashes

by Reed, N. C.

  He was out the door and gone before she could frame a reply to those chilling words.

  -

  Gordy and Sam were dancing to the music around the bonfire, both smiling after a long day of merry making.

  “This has been so wonderful,” Sam almost sighed as she leaned on Gordy’s shoulder.

  “Has been pretty cool,” he agreed.

  “When was the last time we were able to do something like this?” she wondered aloud.

  “Um, Halloween?” Gordy replied lightly. She hit him lightly on the shoulder with her small fist.

  “I mean something so broad and big, like this,” she clarified. “Even with Amanda in the clinic this has been a major celebration. And still has a day to go, too.”

  “It has been a shindig sure enough,” he agreed once more. “We’ve been really lucky with the weather, too. You can’t tell it this close to the fire, but the temperature has really dropped since sundown.”

  “When did you check it?” she asked, looking up at him.

  “Didn’t have to,” he shook his head. “I can see the breath of every person that isn’t close to the fire. It’s cold tonight. Won’t be long until we’re looking at a hard freeze.”

  “Sounds like we’d better make the most of this, then.”

  -

  “Operations, this is Red. Please respond.”

  It took Leon a second to realize where the sound was coming from. The radio, all the radios, had been stone quiet for hours as the celebration continued.

  “Go for Operations,” he managed to scramble to the microphone from where he had been reclining with his feet up, reading.

  “I am currently at the eastern boundary, near the road,” Xavier’s voice was hushed. “There is movement on the road, inbound. Multiple noise sources. I have not yet moved to take a closer look and check for weapons.”

  “Roger that, Red,” Leon was all business. “Stand by one.” Leon leaped from his chair and ran to the door. With all the commotion outside, no one would hear that radio message, or any he tried to send.

  Bursting out of the door, the first person he saw was Corey Reynard, walking with Terri Hartwell.

  “Corey, we got inbounds on the road from the interstate!” Leon told the older teen. “Red is at the property line, about to look them over. No one can hear us on the radio!”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Corey promised, taking off at a run without even an apologetic look to Terri.

  “Sorry,” Leon offered before returning to the radio.

  “Red, I’ve sent someone for Boss. Please stand by.”

  “Roger that.”

  In less than a minute Clay was standing in Operations, Corey and Jose behind him.

  “Red, this is Bossman,” Clay took the radio. “Say threat.”

  “Unknown threat at this time,” Red replied quietly. “There are at least ten people in this group, making their way steadily, albeit slowly, toward the farm. There is zero noise discipline among them, and the only light appears to be some sort of small lantern. Unable to confirm if they are armed or not.”

  “Roger that. We’ll be ready in two minutes. I’ll contact you again when we’re ready to challenge them.”

  “Roger that. Standing by.”

  “Gear up,” he told Jose and Corey. “Spread the word, quietly, for everyone to gear up or take cover. I want everyone who can be there on the pad in two minutes.”

  Two minutes and thirty seconds later thirteen people were assembled on the pad with their gear, or at least most of it. Zach and Titus had been on the response team and were the first to arrive. Gordy had stored his gear in Operations with Leon and had grabbed it, then suited up as he moved to the pad. The rest were moving as quickly as they could.

  “Situation is as follows,” Clay said quietly. “Red has encountered a group of people moving toward the farm along the road, from the interstate. No idea if they’re hostile, or even if they’re armed. We’ll move down the road, hit them with the handheld spotlight, and challenge them. I want three with me on the road, the rest divided north and south of the road. Your men are yours to command, Sergeant,” he told Gleason, who was already geared up along with three of his men who had been on what they called a ‘soft watch’.

  “We’ll back you on the road,” Gleason had already made his mind up about that.

  “Everyone else, as they assemble, will take defense positions,” Clay ordered, looking toward Jose, who would remain behind. “This may be nothing, it may be some kind of hit. We can’t know until we go see. Move out.”

  -

  “Red, we’re about to hit the lights.”

  Clay and the others had moved silently down the road until they could hear the noise that had alerted Xavier to the presence of intruders. Night devices were turned to stand-by or else the wearers were careful to be far from them as Clay made his call.

  “Roger,” Red whispered in Clay’s ear.

  “Hit it,” Clay said simply. Gordy and Titus activated the handheld one million candlepower spotlights, shining them down the roadway to illuminate a ragged group of people, all now trying to shield their eyes amid panic.

  “Stop and stay where you are,” Clay called, his voice at a conversational level rather than a shout. “You are surrounded and have nowhere to run to. Raise your hands, empty, above your head and you will not be harmed.”

  “Who are you?” a voice from the crowd demanded. “This is a public road!”

  “The road may be public, but the property to either side is private, and remains that way for five miles,” Clay responded, keeping his voice reasonable. “Unless you can give us a good reason for your being here, I’m afraid you’ll have to turn around and head back the way you came.”

  “There’s nothing back there!” the same voice stated. “And there’s something up ahead because we can see it!”

  “There are homes ahead, yes,” Clay agreed. “What you see is a simple pallet fire. Burning wood scraps. Now again, unless you can name a specific reason for being here, we’ll conclude our conversation and ask you to return the way you came.”

  “We’re hungry,” a new voice chimed in, a woman this time whereas the first had been a man. “Give us food.”

  “We don’t have it to spare, ma’am,” Clay replied evenly. “I’m sorry about that, but it’s just the way it is.”

  “This is farm country!” the male voice broke in again. “Don’t tell us there’s no food here!”

  “We’re past the harvest, friend,” Clay said firmly. “We’ll be lucky to get through the winter with what we managed to put back. As it is, we’ll be hungry ourselves before the next harvest. Now, I’m done explaining myself to you. Turn around and head back. If you stay on this road once you cross the overpass, the town of Jordan is about ten miles or so that way. There’s a National Guard contingent there as well as Constables and Militia. Maybe they can be of help to you, but we don’t have the help to offer. While I’m sorry for that, I can’t change it.”

  There was a grumbling discussion among the group, which Clay estimated to be around twenty-five people, give or take.

  “You promise they’ll help?” the woman’s voice asked again.

  “I can’t promise something for someone else, ma’am,” Clay said kindly. “I’m just saying they’ll be more likely to be in shape where they can help. We’ve just got too many mouths to feed as it is.”

  “You know, we ain’t the only people moving this way,” the man’s voice claimed, even as some of the group began to shuffle back toward the east, and Jordan. “There’ll be more coming. We were just among the first to get out. We’ll be sure and point them your way.”

  “I killed the last man who threatened me with that,” Clay’s voice was like ice. “I guess I need to make an example here as well.” He made a show of racking a round into his rifle.

  “No, no, no!” A woman’s voice cried, different from the first. “He’s just a loudmouth, that’s all. Don’t pay him any mind. I know he seem
s useless, but he’s my son’s father!”

  “Then take your baby daddy away from me before he threatens my family again,” Clay ordered coldly. “I’m sorry he’s no good for you, but that is not my burden to bear. Neither are you. While I am sorry for your plight, there’s nothing I can do to change it.”

  Technically, that wasn’t true, and Clay felt a twinge of conscience as he said it. While the farm could provide meat, though at great expense to themselves, vegetables for so many was another matter. And he had to stick to the plan that had been set up by those who were experts in their field. If they wanted beef and pork for the morrow, then they had to preserve and conserve today. It was just that simple. In eighteen months, two years at the outside, the farm would have more than enough beef to feed many more than they did currently.

  But not if he cast that plan aside in a bout of conscience, or out of fear from one loudmouth.

  “We’re going!” the woman’s voice assured him. “I’m sorry! We’re going!”

  There was a great deal of grumbling within the crowd, and no small amount of literal crushed hope as the group had been moving toward what they had thought was a good meal. They had been right, for the most part, but unfortunately for them that meal was meant for others.

  “Kill the lights,” Clay ordered. “Lights are going out,” he called over the radio. Seconds later the two spotlights began to dim, it taking a few seconds for such a bright light to go completely out.

  “Heading back your way, Red,” Clay called softly. “Grumbling.”

  “I have them,” Xavier’s whisper came back. “Are they headed to Jordan, then?”

  “That’s where I pointed them,” Clay admitted. “Where they go is up to them.”

  “I believe I shall remain here for a bit,” Xavier said after a pause. “To ensure no others make this same trek.”

  “I’m sending Zach to join you,” Clay informed him. “We’re doubling the watch tonight, after this.”

  “Affirmative. Advise him I am on the south side of the road, roughly fifty yards from you.”

  “Got that Zach?” Clay called.

  “Already on my way,” Zach assured him.

  “We can help with the watch, Lieutenant,” Gleason said gently.

  “There’s an OP buried near here, stocked and with a field telephone,” Clay said after a minute. “If you want to man it, that would be a help.”

  “We can do that,” Gleason nodded.

  “Corey, take whoever the Sergeant assigns and show them to the OP, and where everything is.”

  “Got it, Boss.”

  “Everyone else, back to the barn,” Clay called. “We need to regroup. It may be a long night.”

  -

  The party was officially over. No one really liked it, but it was necessary considering the new development. The bonfire was extinguished even as personnel moved to assist with the doubled watch.

  Down the road, Xavier and Zach sat with an electric cart, just off the road on a small field road entrance.

  “How much charge does this thing have?” Zach asked.

  “A bit over three-quarters,” Xavier replied. “Why?”

  “I…I can’t explain it, exactly, but I got a feeling we need to go look at the interstate,” Zach was hesitant, as if he didn’t truly understand it himself.

  “Is this a hunch or just something you think we should do?” Xavier asked carefully.

  “It’s a feeling is all,” Zach waved his hands a bit. “If I could explain it, I would. I guess hunch is as good a word as any.”

  “Get on,” Xavier said at once, turning the key to turn the cart on. In seconds they were on their way east toward the interstate.

  -

  “Have we got everything covered?” Clay asked as he entered operations. Leon had been joined by Millie and Leanne to help cover all the radio traffic with people checking into position.

  “We do,” Leon nodded without looking up. “This is straining the hell out of the watch schedule, though,” he warned.

  “Can’t be helped,” Clay shook his head. “Tomorrow, when we can see, we can get a better handle on this, maybe. Tonight, though, we can’t see what or who’s out there. That bunch could have walked right up on us if X hadn’t just happened to be over that way at the right time. That was sloppy. I was sloppy,” he amended. “This rests on me, tonight.”

  “Well, now that you’ve immolated yourself, you may want to look over who is where,” Millie told him with a raised eyebrow. “Everyone has checked in somewhere, but almost no one is where they should be. I don’t think it’s a problem, but I can’t swear to that.”

  “Bossman, this is Red. How copy?” Xavier’s soft whisper was almost lost amid the noise.

  “Go for Bossman,” Clay replied, resisting the urge to swear.

  “You will want to very quietly make your way to the interstate,” Xavier informed him. “I really must stress the word quietly. Perhaps take one of the electric carts. You may want to bring Gleason with you as well.”

  “X, what the hell is going on?” Clay demanded.

  “You’ll need to see for yourself,” Xavier replied. “Both of you. And Gleason may well want to make a radio call to his superior in Jordan. I suggest you hurry right along, by the way.”

  “Roger that.”

  -

  Clay had taken one of the newer model electric carts that had been taken from the state park before the National Guard had taken over and stopped at the barracks to see if Gleason did want to go, explaining that Xavier had recommended it. Gleason was not only willing but eager to see what the commotion was.

  The two rode mostly in silence, occasionally exchanging comments about how to secure the area if need be. Through his night vision device, Clay was soon seeing Xavier and Zach standing in front of the golf cart they had been on, looking north down the interstate. Parking perhaps twenty yards behind them to avoid the noise, Clay and Gleason moved stealthily to join them.

  “What are we-,” Clay started, then stopped as Zach raised a hand, pointing northward. Following that point, Clay looked down to the interstate. He could see blobs that indicated cars that had never been removed from the road, but noth….

  Suddenly, Clay was aware of movement. Not from the cars, but around them. Not just one of them, but all of them. Everywhere.

  It took him a minute to figure out that he was looking at refugees streaming down the interstate. Individuals, groups of two or three, occasional groups of a dozen or more. Some pushing shopping carts or pulling wagons or game carts, a few riding bicycles with weak lamps on the front, others pushing bicycles because it was too dark to ride safely.

  “How many do you think?” Gleason whispered to Xavier.

  “It has been steady since we arrived here some…twenty-eight minutes ago, now,” Xavier informed him, checking his watch carefully. “A stream of them. Some have taken the road to Jordan, while others simply continue south. If I were forced to give a count, I would estimate at least five hundred, counting those we can see now.”

  “And no end in sight,” Zach added from the dark. “As far as you can see, there’s people.”

  “What happened to cause this sudden migration?” Clay asked out loud, without thinking about it. “Why now, of all times?”

  “Lack of food, getting colder, bandits and lawlessness, take your pick,” Gleason shrugged. “I told you this was coming. I’m surprised that it’s taken this long. If I was to make an educated guess, I’d say that the gangs in Nashville have moved out of their hovels and begun attacking places like Murfreesboro. Which probably means we’ll be leaving,” he sighed.

  “Going back?” Clay asked and the older man nodded.

  “I doubt we’ll surrender the town without a fight, and that fight will have to include our group,” Gleason confirmed. “If it doesn’t, I just don’t see a way to make it happen. I should probably get back and make that call to the Captain.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Clay agreed. “You guys hang here and st
ay back out of sight,” he told his two men. “I’ll send some help your way soon as I can, but things are a mess for the moment. We’ve got people all over the map right now.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Xavier assured him. “Though if you can find someone to bring us some food and water that would be appreciated. Warn them not to use the lights and to stop about where you did. We’ll go to them.”

  “Will do,” Clay promised. “You guys watch out for yourselves.”

  “But of course.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Dawn found most of the farm still awake. All the security members were on a rotating watch, four hours on, four hours off. While the rest had been allowed to return home, everyone was warned to be constantly prepared for the alert to be sounded. There was no way of knowing what kind of threat might emerge from the southerly flow of refugees.

  In hindsight, Clay should have known better than to send that first group to Jordan. If he’d had more than a minute to think, he would have sent them on south, toward Lewiston. But, he hadn’t, and now Gaines was arriving in a Hummer, her face red with anger.

  “What do you mean telling all those people I could help them?” she demanded without so much as a hello.

  “I didn’t,” Clay replied with a shrug. “I did mention that there was a Guard contingent stationed there, and that maybe you could provide them assistance, but I didn’t know that for certain. All I knew for certain was that we could not.”

  “Yeah, right,” Gaines snorted derisively. “This is a farm! You could have fed those people if you wanted to!”

  “And have them ask to stay here?” Clay returned her scoffing. “No, thank you. We don’t have the room, nor do we have the food to spare to take on so many new mouths for the winter. You may believe what you like, Lieutenant, but those are the facts. We will not allow people that we are not certain will be safe to be around to take up residence on this farm, where our homes and families are. Period.”

  “You’re lucky Adcock is in charge of this area and not me,” Gaines growled. “If it were me, I’d-,”

  “Be dead,” Clay interrupted gently, his voice now soft and frosty. “That’s what you would be, Lieutenant Gaines. Dead. Because you were about to threaten me with seizing my family’s property, weren’t you? And I assure you, that is a grave mistake indeed,” he leaned forward slightly as he finished, forcing Gaines to move back.