by A. American
“That it does.” He nodded. “So, the ole man and his crew are leaving today?”
“That’s what he told me last night. I’m going to make a breakfast for everyone. The hens are starting to lay more with the weather warming. I figured we could send them off with full bellies.”
“Sounds good to me. Want some help?”
“Sure. How ’bout you go see if the hens laid any overnight, and I’ll bring the stove and stuff out here. There’s even enough coffee for one, maybe two more pots.”
Thad hopped off the table. “I’ll do almost anything for a cup of coffee right now. Let’s do it.”
Thad took off for the coop and I went to the cabin for the stove. I set the stove up on the picnic table and opened the last two canned hams we had.
“Not bad, five more,” Thad said, holding the watch cap open to show them.
“Nice, and there’s another dozen in the little fridge. I’ll run in and get them.”
Thad had the stove lit by the time I got back, some of the rendered fat from the hog heating in the cast iron skillet. We cut the two hams up and put them in the pan, then started cracking eggs. Breakfast would be the eggs and ham scrambled together—a simple meal, but a good one. While the eggs cooked, I put on a pot of coffee. We sat in camp chairs while we tended breakfast. There wasn’t any talk between us. We worked together in silence. The pan, popping and hissing, offered its own sound track to the morning.
“I’m gonna start a fire,” I said, standing up. Thad nodded as I set about getting a fire going in the pit. It was roaring by the time Sarge and the guys headed our way.
“You guys hungry?” Thad called out as he stirred the eggs in the pan.
“Of course we are!” Ted said.
“Where’s Jeff?” I hollered.
Mike shrugged, “Don’t know, he wasn’t in the cabin.”
With the meal almost ready, I went back to the cabin and woke Mel up, grabbing a stack of coffee cups on my way out. Thad served everyone a plate while Sarge poured coffee. The guys all took a seat at the table and dug in.
“This is good,” Mike said, holding up a forkful of ham.
“I hope so. It’s the last of ’em,” I said.
“We got more MREs down with them Guard boys. We’ll get some to you guys,” Sarge said.
“So, I know a little bit from Morgan, but I want to hear straight from the horse’s mouth. What are you guys going to be doing with the Guard guys?” Thad asked.
“I reckon it’s time to take the fight to them federal boys,” Sarge said, taking a sip of coffee.
“Good luck. I hope you guys are careful,” I said.
“We’ve got plenty of help now with the Guard behind us. We should be all right,” Mike said.
“Yeah, but even with them, how do you plan to take it down? I remember reading somewhere that an assaulting force needs a five-to-one superiority to attack a fixed position,” Thad said.
Sarge pulled the tattered hat off and rubbed the stubble on his head. “Well, we haven’t completely figured that out yet. I’ve got an idea. We need to work on it still, but I can assure you one thing: there won’t be any full-on frontal assault. We’re not going to be rushing the wire like some damn war movie.”
I spit into the fire, then looked at Sarge. “Why are you guys doing this? I mean, why stick your neck out? There’s enough shit going on, why add even more risk?”
Sarge’s head snapped up. “Why? What if it was you in there? What if your wife and kids were in there? Wouldn’t you want the cavalry to come save your ass? How about because this is still a free country and the fucking government doesn’t have the right to lock people up wholesale.”
“I get that, but I mean why you guys? If the army wants to take over the camp, why don’t they do it?”
Sarge dropped his head a little. “There’s an old saying: all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” Sarge nodded at Mike and Ted. “Despite their appearance, these are good men.”
I nodded. “I get it.” Sarge smiled and looked into the fire.
“Whatever you guys do, be careful. Ain’t no hospitals, you know,” Thad said.
“Hey, Doc, them Guard boys got a medic down there?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, but I wish they did. They just have some combat lifesavers.”
I looked at Mike. “You guys better be damn careful, then.”
“We will. I ain’t looking to get killed yet,” Sarge said.
Mel walked over to us, leaning in to give me a kiss. “Mornin’, boys!” I handed her a cup of coffee. A few feet behind her, Bobbie and Danny were trudging over, both yawning.
“Sleeping in this morning?” Sarge asked with a grin.
“Sorry, my alarm didn’t go off,” Bobbie said as she sat down.
Sarge looked at his watch. “You’re gonna be late for work!”
The joke got a chuckle out of a few of us.
“I wish I had to go to work. I’d happily mop floors and fold laundry today,” Bobbie said.
Danny looked up. “Wonder what all those people you cleaned for are doing now.”
“I doubt they’re doing very well. They all had a lot of money and could have done a lot to prepare, but they lived for the day, not the next.”
Thad fixed plates for the three of them and handed them out.
“You guys heading out today?” Danny asked.
“Yeah, we do have to go to work,” Ted said with a grin.
Danny looked out at the river, chewing a mouthful. Looking back at Sarge, he said, “Be careful with my boat, old man.”
Sarge looked over his shoulder at the Tracker. “I will, I’ll get it back to you soon enough.”
Danny nodded as he took a large forkful of eggs. “Good man.”
“You guys taking any of the four-wheelers with you?” I asked.
“No, we’ll be back at some point for my buggies, but you guys keep the four-wheelers,” Sarge said.
“Cool, they’ll be handy to have.”
A sound in the woods off to our right got everyone’s attention. I put my hand to my carbine, and Sarge stood up, craning his neck for a better view. After a tense few seconds, Jeff stepped out.
“That’s a good way to get your ass ventilated,” Sarge bellowed.
“Nah, you ain’t gonna shoot anything you can’t see,” Jeff replied as he walked up to us.
Mike started to laugh. “Ever heard of recon by fire?”
Jeff cocked his head to the side. “Hmm, never thought of that.” He plopped down on one of the benches. Craning his neck to get a look at the skillet, he asked, “What’s for breakfast?”
“Sorry, man. We ate it all,” Ted said as he stuffed the last bite from his plate in his mouth.
Jeff looked incredulous. “What?”
Thad took the heavy Dutch oven lid off the skillet. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let ’em do that to ya.” He scooped out a plate for him and passed it over.
Jeff smiled as he picked up a fork. “Thanks, glad someone’s looking out for me. Hey, Thad, any coffee in that pot?”
Thad poured a cup and handed it to him. “Anything else?” he asked with a smile.
“I’d like some pancakes.” He held his hand six inches off the table. “A stack about that high.”
Thad started to laugh. “You’re shit outta luck with that.”
“Actually . . . we can tomorrow,” I said, which drew looks from nearly everyone at the table.
“You got pancake mix?” Jeff asked.
“Yeah, syrup too. You know what? We should make some tomorrow. The girls will love it.”
“Of course you will, now that we’re leaving,” Doc said.
“I thought you guys would never leave,” I replied with a smile.
“That’s messed up! You’ve bee
n holding out on us,” Mike said with a smile.
I laughed at him. “I’m sure that Guard unit can whip up some hotcakes for you, big fella.”
“Enough flirtin’, you two! We got work to do,” Sarge said, as he stood up.
“You guys need any help?” Danny asked.
“Nah, we got it. We’ll check in with you before we head out,” Ted said.
Sarge stopped by the pot and refilled his cup before heading to the cabin. The guys wandered off one by one as they finished their breakfast. Jeff, Thad, Danny, Bobbie, Mel, and I all stayed around the fire. Danny got up and kicked the ends of some logs into it until it was really roaring.
“What’s the plan for today?” Jeff asked, holding a foot over the fire.
“I’m going to work on getting some firewood today. We need more,” Thad said.
“I’ll help. I could use a workout,” Danny said, flexing. Bobbie rolled her eyes.
“We need food,” Mel said. Bobbie nodded in agreement.
“I’ll start looking around, see what I can come up with. In another couple of weeks it’ll be easier to find food,” I said.
“I’m worried about today,” Mel said.
“Do we have anything left?”
“We still have some dehydrated and freeze-dried stuff like carrots, peppers, and onions, plus salt and some flour. There’s nothing to really to make a meal out of except for rice and beans,” Bobbie said.
“Rice an’ beans, beans an’ rice,” Danny said in a singsong voice.
Mel looked over at me. “An’ I’d appreciate it if we could limit your bean intake.” This got Thad laughing.
I jerked my head back. “Me? You should hear your ass trumpeting when you’re asleep.”
Bobbie held a hand out in front of her. “TMI, TMI, let’s just stop this before it goes any further.”
I smiled. “You’re just scared Danny’s going to join in.”
“Back to the topic at hand: we need food,” Mel said.
“Like I said, I’ll see what I can find,” I said.
“Care if I come with you?” Jeff asked.
“Not at all. And hey, what were you doing out in the woods this morning? Becoming one with nature?” I said, shooting him a grin.
“Just out for a walk really, nothing special.”
“See any deer or anything?” Thad asked.
“No, but lots of tracks. I did see an otter, though, down the river here,” Jeff said, jutting a thumb over his shoulder.
“Oh, don’t tell Little Bit,” Mel said. “She’ll try to take one home as a pet,” she added with a laugh.
After a few minutes, Bobbie stood up, stretching. “I’ve got to try and wash some clothes today,” she said.
“We’re almost out of soap. That’s going to be a problem soon,” Mel said.
“We can make some,” Thad said, getting Mel and Bobbie’s attention.
“How?” they asked in unison.
“We got that fat from the pig and plenty of wood ash. It’ll be easy. I know how to do it.”
“How the hell do you know how to make soap? Were you in the Girl Scouts?” Jeff asked.
Thad laughed. “Naw, my grandmomma used to make it when I was little. Back then, I hated it. I wanted store-bought soap. But it always cleaned really good.”
“Can we start it today? The more we can have, the better,” Mel asked.
“Sure, let me get some wood up first and we’ll start it up.”
“I want to see this too,” Danny said. “I’ve always read about it but never tried it.”
“Well, today’s your day,” Thad said.
“What would we do without you, Thad?” Mel got up from her seat. “Well, I’m going to wake the girls up so they can eat before it’s too cold.”
The rest of us decided not to start the day’s activities until Sarge and the guys left, choosing to hang around the fire pit chatting. A few minutes later, the girls came down and had their breakfast. It was a nice family meal. Little Bit climbed up into Danny’s lap after she ate, still in her PJs. Her older sisters, being teenagers and therefore having a genetic aversion to waking early, sat by the fire, staring into the flames as the fog in their minds cleared. It wasn’t too long after that Sarge and the guys drove their buggies up to the boat. We all walked down to the river as they were loading up.
“You gonna get all that in one trip?” Danny asked, looking at the huge pile of stuff in the beds of the two vehicles.
“Yeah, we’ll make it fit. I don’t want to have to come back,” Sarge said.
We all pitched in, helping them load the boat. It was packed, but they did manage to fit everything in. Sarge stood back, looking at the overloaded boat. “We’ll have to take it easy, but I think we’ll make it.”
“Yeah, you better go real slow. I don’t want you guys to capsize before you even get your shot at the Feds,” Danny said, shaking his head.
“Morg, can you move these buggies away from the river? We’ll be back at some point to get them,” Sarge asked.
“Sure thing.”
“You still got the codebook I gave you when you left my place?” Sarge asked.
“I do, I think it’s still in my pack. I never completely emptied it when I got home.”
“Good. If you guys need anything, just give a shout.”
“Same goes for you. We’ll keep someone around them just in case you need to get in touch.”
Sarge gazed out at the river. “It ain’t the Suwannee, but it sure is pretty here.”
I looked out. “Yeah, we’ve always liked it out here. It’s peaceful.”
“I could live here forever, I think,” Sarge said with a snort.
We spent a few minutes shaking hands and saying good-bye to the guys. Sarge hugged Mel and Bobbie. He knelt down and looked at Little Bit. “You keep an eye on your daddy for me, okay?”
She smiled. “I will, Mr. Sarge! When will you be back?”
“We got some work to do, but don’t you worry your pretty little head.”
She smiled and hugged the old man. It caught him off guard at first, but then he wrapped his arms around her small shoulders. “I’ll miss you,” she said.
Sarge leaned back and ran his hand over her hair. “I’ll miss you too.”
He quickly stood up and got on the boat, and the rest followed. Little Bit gave each of the guys a hug as they got on the boat, telling them to be careful and to come back soon. It brought a smile to everyone’s face, the innocence of a child not knowing the danger they were facing. Taylor and Lee Ann waved as the guys got on the boat, yelling good-byes. Taylor was fixated on Mike and flashed him a big smile. Mike winked at her. I saw it and narrowed my eyes at him. He saw me and put his hands up in mock surprise, and I shook my head, gesturing that I was watching him. Sarge started the boat and they were quickly out in the center of the river, barely moving faster than the current.
We all stood at the edge of the river and watched until they were out of sight.
“Well, they’re gone,” Jeff said.
Thad let out a huff. “For now.” We all stood there quietly for another moment.
I couldn’t help but think of what they were in for, remembering my last run-in with them over at Lake Kerr. Of course, these guys are the real deal—they do this for a living, after all. Maybe it was the image the DHS had built for itself, but there was a concerted effort to intimidate the American people. For the average person like myself, the thought of taking on an entire camp of DHS storm troopers was more than a little daunting.
The fact that Sarge and the guys didn’t have a concrete plan was also a little worrisome. While I know they wouldn’t take any chances, they certainly weren’t afraid to hang their asses out to get the job done. This is what I was worried about. Despite my concerns, Sarge and his merry band of marauders were some sne
aky, deadly bastards, and I was sure they would prevail.
“Come on, Thad. Let’s get started on that firewood,” Danny said, breaking the silence. Thad nodded at him and the two walked off.
I looked at Jeff. “You wanna go out and see what sort of grub we can scrounge up?”
“I’m game. Where do you want to go?”
“Let’s take the kayaks. I want to look on the river. There’s lots of stuff out there.”
“Cool. You get the paddles and I’ll put the boats in the water.”
I nodded and walked toward the cabin with Mel to get the paddles.
“You think you can actually find some food out there?” she asked.
“Yeah. It may not be the greatest stuff, but it’ll be edible.”
She looked sideways at me. “I was hoping for more than edible.”
I smiled at her. “I’ll see what I can do. It’s not like a grocery store, ya know.”
She patted me on the ass and winked at me. “See what you can do.”
“Well, since you put it that way . . .” I said with a laugh.
She handed me the paddles. “Now scoot!”
• • •
I walked back to the river’s edge and laid a paddle in each boat. “You ready?” I asked Jeff.
He answered by quickly hopping into one of the boats and looking over his shoulder. “Push me out.”
I shook my head. “Lazy prick,” I said as I shoved the boat out into the current.
I got into my boat, laying my carbine alongside my right leg, and pushed myself into the slow-moving river. Planting my paddle into the soft mud of the river bottom, I swiveled the boat to face upstream. The kayak I was using was an Old Town Predator, a sit-inside with a huge cockpit. One of the things I really like about it is that it’s one of the few sit-ins you can actually stand up in, very handy for what we were about to be doing.
“Let’s go upriver, there’s a couple places up there that seemed like they could be good spots for some veggies.”
Jeff was flailing the water with his paddle, cussing.
“You ever been in one of these before?” I asked with a smile, enjoying the spectacle before me.
“No, how’d you guess? And hey, I thought we were going to find some food.”