by John Grit
Two men saw him coming and yelled for Ramiro, who was in the shed. Ramiro appeared, his face showing concern. He threw his hands up. “No! We do not handle things that way.”
Nate had nothing to say to anyone. He shouldered his rifle and clicked the safety off with the back of his trigger finger.
“This is a matter for a tribunal,” Ramiro said. “We know how you feel, but cannot allow it.” Several men lined up between Nate and the shed door. They were all armed but didn’t point any weapons at him.
Nate raised his rifle higher but didn’t point it at anyone. He wanted Slim but wasn’t willing to kill innocent men to get at him.
Ramiro held his arms out. “Are you going to shoot us?” The compassion in his heart showed on his face. “We didn’t hurt your son. We’re your friends. I promise you he’ll be punished. For now, we should be concerned most about Brian. My wife and I pray for him every night.”
When they looked at Nate’s face, they saw death staring back at them. The men gripped their weapons tighter, but didn’t move. One man’s chest heaved, and sweat ran down his face. He said nothing and stood his ground along with the others.
Nate saw good men standing before him, men he couldn’t kill. His chest deflated, as he lowered his rifle and clicked on the safety. He turned and walked away without a word. The path he walked returned him straight to Brian.
One of the men pointed into the shed and told Ramiro in Spanish, “He brings nothing but trouble and pain to everyone he comes close to. If he is to die, I’ll do the dirty job myself. God have mercy on me, but I’ll do it.”
A few minutes later, Mrs. MacKay entered the room Nate and Brian were in. “I was just told what happened. We cannot let you kill him. If you had caught him attacking Brian and killed him then, it would be different.”
Nate’s shoulders slumped. He kept his eyes on Brian. “I just want Brian to live and recover. I’ll worry about Slim later.”
Mrs. MacKay said, “Slim will be exiled.”
Nate jerked his head and stared at her. Rage contorted his face. “If Brian dies?”
She looked back at him with understanding and compassion. “Then he will be shot. We decided on these things long ago. We needed laws, so we voted on what to do in cases like this.”
Nate rubbed the stubble on his jaw. “I hope you’re going to keep him locked up until it’s certain Brian will live.”
“Yes.” She put her right hand on his shoulder. “I wish this hadn’t happened, Nate. I really do. I’m sorry.” She searched his face, perhaps for any sign Nate was blaming her as much as she blamed herself. “You left him in my care. I feel responsible.”
“I’m responsible. I should’ve killed the bastard instead of just breaking his jaw. It was a mistake to create an enemy and then leave him alive. Mistakes like that are too costly now that there’s no real civilization.” Nate lowered his face to his open hands. “I’m afraid he may be bleeding inside. I knew soldiers who fell from helicopters or while repelling down cliffs that suffered the same kind of head injury.” He looked up at her. “Did he bleed from his ears?”
“No. And he didn’t fall from a helicopter,” Mrs. MacKay said. “He was punched and kicked. The forces are less, and the damage should be less. Don’t let worrying about what may happen eat you up. All we can do is take care of him. I think he’ll be okay in a few days.”
Nate straightened his back as he sat in the chair. “Well, there’s nothing more to say about it. I will sit here and watch my son get better, or watch him die, as I watched my wife and daughter die.”
“Until then,” Mrs. MacKay said, “will you promise me there will be no more trouble from you about Slim? Will you let us handle him?”
Nate appeared twenty years older than he had only two days before. He looked at her and said, “I will not go after him here. But if you let him go, even if Brian lives, I’ll hunt him down, but not here.”
“What you do off my land and out of my sight is not my concern.” She left Nate alone with Brian.
Ramiro waited for Mrs. MacKay in the living room. He saw something on her face, prompting him to suddenly stand.
“Come with me,” she said.
He followed her in silence.
Taking much longer strides than normal for her, she crossed the distance from the house to the barn in a few short minutes. She stopped at a tool rack and picked out a broken wooden rake handle four feet long. Without a word, she fast-stepped to the shed where slim was being held, Ramiro following. The men guarding the door were alarmed by the look on her face. They had never seen her like that before and stepped aside, giving her a wide berth.
The sound of the rake handle coming down on Slim’s back repeatedly and Slim moaning emanated from the shed’s open door.
Inside the house, Nate stood, not sure what he was hearing. He walked to the window and opened it. Realization washed over his face. He closed the window and went back to the chair, trying to keep his mind on Brian.
~~~
It was time to contact the HAM operators again. The threat of a crazed military officer sending soldiers to arrest them or worse still hung over their heads, and Nate decided he had no choice but to go with Deni and Austin. Leaving Brian took all the will power he had. He did spend fifteen minutes with Kendell, training him on Brian’s AR15.
“I’ll stay with him,” Kendell said. “When you get back, I’ll be right here. Ain’t nobody goin’ to hurt him again.”
“I doubt there’s anyone here who wants to,” Nate said. “Except Slim.”
Kendell’s eyes grew cold. “Slim ain’t in no condition to move much, after what he got last night. I wish they would’ve asked me to do it.”
Nate put his hand on Kendell’s shoulder. “You leave him to me.”
Renee was sitting on a chair next to the bed. “We’ll take care of him while you’re gone. Don’t worry.”
Deni waited outside the house by the pickup. When Nate appeared, she asked, “How’s he doing?”
“The same,” Nate said. “Other than that one time, he hasn’t shown any sign of waking.”
Austin sat behind the wheel. “He’s just healing. He’ll wake when it’s time.” They got in beside him and he cranked the pickup. “Which way?”
~~~
The radio crackled, and the man’s voice sounded like he had been huffing helium. “We haven’t been able to get in contact with Col. Greene. But we have been able to contact a Capt. Boatswain of the National Guard. He’s trying to get in touch with Col. Greene for us. The Colonel seems to be incommunicado for some reason.”
Austin reiterated the severity of the situation and told the HAM operator he would radio him again in two days. “Well,” Austin said, “we might as well pack up and head home.”
~~~
Back at the farm, Nate and the others learned there had been no change in Brian’s condition. Nate thanked Kendell and Renee, then relieved them from their vigil. Deni sat beside him for more than an hour. They talked quietly about Brian and their troubles with the Army.
“I’m thinking as soon as Brian can travel we should hit the road,” Deni said. Their eyes met. “You know as well as I do there isn’t anything we can do for these people if the army comes, except die along with them – or surrender our weapons and go to the concentration camp like sheep.”
Nate rasped his whiskered face with his knuckles. “Brian isn’t going to be able to walk for a few more days, even if he woke up at this moment. I don’t disagree with you, but there’s no reason to make that decision now. At least not until he’s awake and able to travel.”
“It’s not that I’m heartless,” Deni said. “But you know as well as I do I’m right.”
The bedroom door was open, and Nate checked to make sure no one was standing there listening. “Yes you are. You also have the added worries of being a deserter. You’re crazy colonel is likely to have you shot.”
“Deserter?” Her voice rose both in volume and pitch. “So I’ve gone from being
AWOL to being a deserter coward?”
“Whoa,” Nate said. “You know me better than that. And I know you’re no coward or deserter in time of war. There is no war. I’m the one who talked you into going AWOL in the first place. I meant you will be considered a deserter, even though there’s no war going on. The people need help, and I know you would have preferred to stay and do your part. The fact is if Hewitt wasn’t nuts you would actually be safer with the army than here with this small band of survivors, so you didn’t leave because you feared to do your duty.”
“I guess I’m touchy about the subject.”
Nate nodded in understanding. “I know you feel bad about the whole damn thing. It was forced on you. Don’t let it eat you up. You’re not less of a person or less of a soldier, or less of an American. As to how it turns out in the end that depends on what kind of government we have now, and we don’t know what kind of government we have. Not yet. It could be your going AWOL will be deemed justified, but to find out could be costly. I wouldn’t advise turning myself in. Again, we have no idea what kind of government we have in Washington today. They might be hanging people on the Whitehouse lawn for all we know.”
“Yeah,” Deni agreed. “I know more about what’s going on beyond this county than you do, and if you’d seen what I have, it would scare the hell out of you.”
Nate tilted his head. “We have time. Why don’t you fill me in?”
“Maybe later,” she said. “When I’m not so worried about Brian. Mind you I only know what’s going on in the Southeast. There are plenty of rumors, though, about the rest of the country and Washington.”
Nate’s thoughts drifted to worries about his son. Why wasn’t he conscious yet?
Chapter 7
A helicopter flying low over the farm three hours before sunup woke everyone in the main house and outbuildings. Those on security duty were alarmed, searching the sky for more danger. Nate woke from the chair in the dark room, walked past the bed Brian was in, and pulled curtains aside to look out the window. A full moon glowed in the clear sky, and he could see the silhouette of the helicopter as it turned to buzz the farm again. Damn it!
Nate rushed out into the hall, where he was met by Ramiro and half a dozen other sleepy eyed men and women. Nate said to Ramiro, “I saw it, but can’t tell if it’s Army or Guard.”
“What does it mean?” Rita, Ramiro’s wife asked, as she stood in the hallway in her nightgown.
“I’m not sure,” Nate answered truthfully. “Could mean trouble.”
Mrs. MacKay waited in the living room, already dressed in her work clothes, as if she had not been awakened only moments before. “Nate,” she said, “I think someone needs to get on the radio again and try to avert a potential tragedy. If that colonel is as crazy as you say, he may be about to order a raid on this farm.” Her eyes betrayed her dread. “I’m not sure how to handle this. What do I advise the people here to do? Should they pack what supplies they can and flee now? But how will they survive without the farm? One thing that’s completely out of the question is that we stay and fight. I know you told us we should defend the farm to the death because we’ll starve without it, but this is different.”
“Well, the last part is certainly true,” Nate admitted. “One missile from a helicopter gunship would kill everyone in this house. No, we can’t defend this farm against an airstrike.”
“Perhaps the decision to flee or surrender should be left to each individual adult,” Ramiro suggested.
“Who decides for the children who have no parents?” Mrs. MacKay asked. She was a woman who had always been confident of her ability to take on life’s problems, but this was beyond her. She obviously felt she had no right to decide the next course of action for others, when the consequences of making the wrong move could be so terrible for so many innocent people. No matter how they reacted, if the Army was coming to disarm them and take them away to a concentration camp, the outcome was going to be bleak.
The sound of the helicopter coming back to buzz the farm a third time caught everyone’s attention. Panic erupted in the house, as more people woke to gather in various rooms. People became loud and yelled at one another, demanding to know what they should do. Some were already gathering their children and preparing to flee into the surrounding woods.
Nate raised his voice above the clamor. “I think those with children should load packs with food and take their families to the backup camp you prepared for this kind of emergency. Volunteers will be needed to help the children who have no parents and the sick and elderly. A few of us will stay to guard the farm and stay on the radio, asking for help from the National Guard, Washington, or anyone else with the power to stop the mad colonel.”
“Why should you stay?” Deni asked.
“Because Brian cannot be moved and I will not leave him.”
“We’ll make a stretcher,” Deni said. “Since they’ve already found the farm, it won’t matter if they recognize my voice on the radio. So I might as well stay and broadcast for help as long as I can.”
Nate shook his head. “No. You may be shot on sight as a deserter. Go with the others.”
The clamor subsided, as most of the men and women ran to other rooms to collect children.
“Then at least let Kendell and I take Brian with us. We can carry him with a makeshift stretcher.”
“I would, but I’m afraid to move him. It’s been so long since he woke up there must be something seriously wrong.”
“I don’t think you’re making the right decision here,” Deni said. “But Brian is your son, so it’s your decision to make.”
Austin and his daughter rushed into the room from outside. Austin had heard the last part of the conversation. “I’ll stay at the radio,” Austin said. “Just take care of Renee. See to it she gets away from here.”
Nate hesitated.
“You’re forgetting something,” Austin said. “Slim. He’s out there in that shed.” Austin moved closer and whispered, “I’ll take care of the bastard for you, while the others are at the camp.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that.” Nate was changing his mind about Brian as he spoke.
Austin smiled ever so slightly, softening the look of concern on his face somewhat. “You didn’t ask.”
“Thanks, but he’s mine.” Nate offered his hand and the two men shook. “We don’t have all night. You get on the radio and try to get in touch with someone, anyone, who will help. I’ve got to make a stretcher and get Brian ready to travel.” He turned to Kendell. “Stay with Renee. Make sure she makes it to the camp. Deni and I won’t be far behind, carrying Brian. Go on now. The sooner you leave the safer it’ll be for both of you.”
“The kids,” Kendell said. “I ain’t leavin’ them.”
“Of course,” Nate said. “You and Renee gather them up and take them with you, but be quick about it.”
Kendell and Renee rushed upstairs.
Ramiro and his wife Rita had disappeared, but they came to the front door of the house carrying a military surplus stretcher. “For Brian,” Ramiro said.
“Thanks.” Deni took it. “That’ll make things a lot easier.”
“Set it on that couch over there, and I’ll go get Brian. The hall’s too narrow to use a stretcher.” Nate squeezed by a line of half-awake children in the hall and turned into the room Brian was in.
Kendell stuck his head into the doorway. He had his pack on and his rifle in his hand. “We’re leavin’ now.” Adults and children rushed by in the hall as he spoke.
“Go on. We’ll be right behind you.” Nate lifted Brian off the bed and headed down the hallway just behind Kendell. He could hear Austin on the radio pleading for anyone listening to contact someone in authority. Kendell and Renee disappeared out the front door, herding the frightened children before them.
Hurrying back into the bedroom, Nate grabbed his rifle and pack. Deni had followed. She scooped up Brian’s rifle, backpack, and boots. The two of them headed back into the living r
oom and prepared to travel. In less than a minute, they were out the door, carrying the still unconscious Brian.
Outside in front of the shed, Ramiro told the guards to grab their backpacks and follow the others into the woods. He walked in and held his rifle to Slim’s head.
Slim begged. Tears ran down his face. “Please! This is murder. Don’t do it! Don’t!” He dropped to his knees, begging.
Ramiro couldn’t pull the trigger. Instead, he found a coil of rope and tied Slim’s hands more securely and then tied his feet, so he couldn’t run away. “You’re the curse of the devil. But I cannot murder you.” He noticed that Slim had wet his pants but said nothing. Leaving, he turned at the door, and said, “The army may take you off our hands. Good riddance.”
The house and outbuildings quickly emptied of all people. The horses were released into the pasture. Those on security searched the area and all the out buildings to be sure no one was being left behind but Slim. Mrs. MacKay was with Ramiro and his wife and entering the tree line. Having already been educated by Nate on the dangers of military aircraft equipped with forward looking infrared (FLIR), the group didn’t cross the clearing between the house and the nearest trees in single file, but instead, purposely made so many tracks in the wet grass and in such a wide area that they left no discernible infrared trail to be detected, should aircraft fly over. Seen from the air, it would appear a lot of people had been walking around, perhaps going to and from the fields to harvest vegetables. In time, even that would fade away, as the heat left behind in their tracks cooled.
Many of the smaller children cried, picking up on the anxiety of the adults and sensing something was wrong. The swarming mosquitoes didn’t help. The sun was rising by the time the large group of refugees made it to their fallback camp.
~~~
Austin worked the radio desperately. So far, he had not been able to raise anyone. It seemed everyone on the frequencies he tried was asleep, or at least every HAM operator. His ears perked up when military traffic came over a new frequency he had just switched to, and his heart jumped a beat. Fine tuning the frequency rewarded him with a clearer signal, but what he heard outside caused him to turn pale. From up the drive, probably at the locked gate, came a loud explosion. He grabbed up his rifle in one hand, but kept the radio mike in the other. “If there is anyone out there listening, Mrs. MacKay’s farm is about to be raided by the Army. Please get in touch with Col. Greene of the National Guard.”