by Robert Boren
“You kinda went to seed,” George said, chuckling.
“Yeah, well I wasn’t expecting to be in the middle of this crap again,” he said. “I should be lounging at my pool in Texas instead of playing soldier with the likes of these idiots.”
“He hasn’t changed much, has he?” George asked Ned. “How’d you manage to round him up?”
“Hell, he came looking for us, after Spence told him what was going on,” Ned said. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s loving this.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Wedgie said. “When do we get to kill us some more blue helmets?”
“Soon enough,” George said. “Ready to saddle up and head to the park?”
“Sure,” Ned said. “Met your partner on the road. We helped him out with a little UN problem.”
“Malcolm? Yeah, he’s on a trip to Boise with a few others, but he’ll be back in a week or so.”
“Hey, George, you notice Howard’s place is open?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” George said. “I can lead these guys back if you want to check it out.”
“Sounds good,” Charlie said. “We’ll catch up with you.”
“Okay,” George said. “Ready to go, guys?”
“We aren’t all guys,” a female voice said from the group.
“No way,” George said. “Stacey?”
“Hey, Georgie,” she said as she walked up. She was in her late forties, with a stocky but athletic build and hair dyed bright red. There were tattoos on both arms. “This your honey?”
“Yes, this is Heidi,” George said.
“A little young and pretty for you, ain’t she?” Stacey said. She cackled. “Just kidding, honey. We go way back. I can tell you some stories.”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” George said, laughing.
“Well, hopefully this beauty will treat you better than the last one did,” she said, cackling again.
“Okay, let’s go,” Ned said. “We can carry on with the greetings when we get there.”
George and Heidi rushed back to their Jeep and did a K-turn, heading towards the road. The Humvees fired up and followed in a long line.
“Who the hell was that woman?” Heidi asked, flashing a sidelong glance at George as he drove.
“Old friend,” he said. “She was quite a card.”
“Girlfriend?”
George laughed out loud. “No, she doesn’t swing that way.”
“Oh,” Heidi said, looking embarrassed. “That comment was about Sadie, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, I still talked to her pretty often when Sadie and I were dating,” George said. “We met together for drinks one night. Sadie and her seemed to hit it off, believe it or not.”
“How are these folks going to interact with the rest of the group? They seem a little aggressive.”
“Well, I only know Ned, Spence, Wedgie, and Stacey. They’re all okay. A little rough around the edges, maybe.”
***
Charlie and the Sheriff drove to Howard’s truck stop.
“I think I’ll gas up,” Charlie said. “Down to about half a tank.” He pulled next to a pump and got started. The Sheriff got out, checking the pistol in his holster.
“You worried?” Charlie asked as he pumped the gas.
“They got to be relations,” the Sheriff said. “Don’t trust that family one bit.”
“Should I take my gun?” Charlie asked quietly.
“No, they’ve got a camera,” the Sheriff said. “In the ceiling above you. They might see you put it in your belt.”
“You got one,” Charlie said.
“I’ve still got on my uniform, and still have my license,” the Sheriff said. “Doesn’t look so strange to everybody if I’m packing.”
“Okay, makes sense,” Charlie said, as he finished filling the car. He put back the pump handle and took his receipt. “Let’s park up front.”
Charlie parked in a stall in front of the store and they walked inside. Nobody else was in the store.
“Hello,” said a pretty young lady behind the counter. Long straight red hair, late twenties, with an innocent smile.
“Hi there,” Charlie said, picking up some candy from the shelf on his way to the counter. He put it down and the woman struggled with the barcode reader.
“New at this?” the Sheriff asked.
“Yeah, I hate this thing,” she said, an embarrassed look on her face.
“You just buy this place?” Charlie asked.
“No, my husband inherited it from his dad,” she said.
“Howard,” the Sheriff said.
“Did you know him?” she asked, her yes widening. “Danny won’t tell me much about what happened.”
“Danny is Howard’s son?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” she said, putting the candy bar in a bag. Charlie paid her. “Where’s Danny now?”
“They keep pulling him into the police station for questioning,” she said. “I understood it at first, but what they’re doing now borders on harassment.”
“Were they close?” the Sheriff asked.
“Danny and his dad? Yes, of course,” she said. “We loved him. I can’t believe they think he killed an FBI agent.”
“Did Howard and Danny talk much over the last month?” the Sheriff asked.
“Why would you ask me that?” she said, looking agitated. “Where are you Sheriff, anyway? They have a police department here, and I never seen you.”
“Utah,” the Sheriff said. “Sorry, not trying to give you a hard time. We knew Howard, that’s all. We’re as confounded about all of this as you are.”
“Howard had some mutual friends with our group,” Charlie said, “and he helped us out when we moved here. We best be going. Good luck with the truck stop.”
She watched silently as they walked away.
“Wow,” the Sheriff said. “This isn’t good.”
“She seemed okay to me,” Charlie said.
“She said her husband wouldn’t tell her about Howard. Don’t you think that sounds a little strange?”
“Okay, you’re right,” Charlie said. “That’s not all. Why would the local PD be harassing him?”
“There might be some things in his past,” the Sheriff said. “Wonder if there’s been any suspicious stuff going on where they live?”
“Shit,” Charlie said. “I think we ought to stay away from these folks, and hope they don’t know our connection to this mess.”
“Probably too late,” the Sheriff said as they left.
***
“Where are we stopping?” Jane asked as she drove.
“We can make Cheyenne if we don’t run into anymore problems,” Frank said. “It’s about an hour and a half from Denver, and we passed there about twenty minutes ago.”
“Sounds good,” Jane said. “We can get there before dark, then.”
“Yeah,” he said.
Jane’s phone rang. Frank answered it.
“Mom?”
“No, it’s dad,” he said. “Everything okay, sweet pea?” Jane glanced at Frank and he nodded.
“Yes, daddy, we’re fine,” Sarah said. “We got called by one of Hank’s friends. There are people looking for us in Boise. Strangers who say they’re friends of mine from Portland.”
“Oh, really,” Frank said. “You made sure to tell everybody not to say where you are, right?”
“We did better than that,” she said. “None of our friends in Boise know where we went.”
“What about the people that own the place you’re staying at?”
“They live in northern Idaho,” she said. “No mutual friends.”
“Where did you tell your friends you were going?” Frank asked.
“Vancouver. That was Hank’s idea. He thought screwing around with a border crossing might make things more difficult for them.”
“Good thinking,” Frank said.
“How are you gonna make it look like you’re in Boise?”
“Agent Williams had an i
dea,” Frank said. “He has a friend at the Idaho Statesman. They will do a piece on the resistance, and I’ll get interviewed. We’ll let it slip that I’m there to see you guys.”
“Be careful,” she said. “My friends said these guys were scary looking.”
“We will, don’t worry,” Frank said. “How’s Montana?”
“It’s so beautiful here,” she said. “Don’t know that I could take the winters, though. Heard some stories from the locals about being snowed in for days and days.”
“You feeling okay?” Frank asked. “Pregnancy going well?”
“Yes, daddy, I’m fine. It’s relaxing here. Mom driving?”
“Yeah,” Frank said. “She’s not afraid of driving this thing anymore. Does as well as I do.”
“Good for her,” Sarah said. “I’d better get off. Hank said not to stay on for long.”
“That’s smart,” Frank said. “Talk to you later, honey.” He ended the call.
“How’s she doing?” Jane asked.
“Well,” Frank said. “There’s been people in Boise looking for her.”
“Oh, no,” Jane said. “What if they say where she is?”
“None of them know,” Frank said. “They told everybody they were going to Vancouver for a vacation.”
“Good,” she said. “You think Agent Williams’s idea will work?”
“Yeah,” Frank said. “We’ll really have to watch ourselves after that piece hits the paper, though. I’m not just worried about Daan.”
“Islamists?” she asked. “Or militia?”
“Both,” Frank said. “I hope the talks go well between the militia and General Hogan. That would reduce the danger to our group quite a bit.”
“Still makes me nervous,” Jane said.
***
General Hogan came into the clubhouse with Clint. Hilda was there with Mary and Kurt.
“Just got a call from George,” General Hogan said. “They’re about five minutes away.”
“Good,” Kurt said. “I’ll call the folks on the roofs.”
“I’ll call my guys too,” Clint said. He went to the far end of the room, phone to his ear.
“Nervous?” Mary asked, watching Kurt’s face.
“Yeah,” he said. “Afraid they might have been followed.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Hilda said. “I heard from Charlie a little while ago. He’s behind them about ten minutes. Nobody’s following.”
“Why’s he behind them?” Kurt asked.
“One of Howard’s kids took over the truck stop,” Hilda said. “They talked to the wife of Howard’s son.”
“Oh, crap,” Mary said. “There’s more of them?”
“She didn’t know anything,” Hilda said. “Charlie doesn’t think she’s a danger.”
“Where was the son?” Mary asked.
“Police station,” Hilda said.
“That doesn’t make you nervous?” Kurt asked. “It makes me nervous.”
“Charlie didn’t seem too concerned,” Hilda said. “Hear that? They’re coming.” She rushed over to the porch and watched the caravan pulling through the gate, led by George and Heidi. Everybody but Kurt rushed next to her. Kurt remained at the TV screen, and called the roofs.
“Wow, I count ten Humvees,” Mary said.
The Humvees parked in the diagonal spots across the access road from the clubhouse. George and Heidi parked in their space and trotted back over, meeting Ned as he walked to the porch.
“Looks like eighteen people,” Hilda said as they approached.
“Ned, how are you?” General Hogan asked, a wide smile on his face. “So good to see you again.”
Ned shook hands with the General, and with Clint and the others. “Great to be here.”
“I’ll go get the coffee pot going,” Hilda said, turning and heading for the kitchen.
“That’s Charlie’s wife,” George said. “Kurt is over next to the monitor, watching the video feed from our drone. Mary here is his wife, and our doctor.”
“Wow, you guys have a doctor?” Ned asked. “That’s great!”
“Aw shucks,” Mary said, laughing.
“She’s saved more than one of us,” George said. “Even tried to save Saladin.”
“Nah, I just looked at him. Nothing I could do,” she said.
“He got burned up in the Capitol Reef battle, didn’t he?” Ned asked.
“Yes,” Mary said. “Half his skin was falling off, and his lungs were scorched. He lasted longer than I thought he would.”
George chuckled. “I liked when our guys were comparing his skin to pulled pork.”
Mary rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Come on in and sit,” General Hogan said. “We’ve got a bunch to talk about.”
“Sounds good,” Ned said. He came in with his group, and they took seats on one of the long tables towards the front. “Where’s the rest of your folks?”
“Scattered around,” General Hogan said. “Some of them are on guard duty, watching for any enemy folks who might have followed you. We’ll have a big meeting at dinner time and introduce you guys.”
“Trust me, nobody followed us,” Ned said. “We’ve gotten really good at handling that.”
“Yeah, those who follow us don’t survive,” Wedgie said. He followed the comment with a goofy laugh.
The two teams introduced themselves to each other, getting finished just as Charlie and the Sheriff walked through the door.
“You’ve already met Charlie and the Sheriff,” General Hogan said.
“Yeah,” Ned said.
“What’s up at Howard’s place?” Heidi asked.
“One of Howard’s sons inherited the joint,” Charlie said.
“You talked to him?” George asked.
“No, we talked to the wife,” the Sheriff said. “The son was at the police station being questioned for the umpteenth time.”
“Don’t like the sound of that,” Kurt said, turning from the screen. “Think he was part of the clan?”
“Good question,” the Sheriff said. “Don’t know the answer.”
Ned looked at him, not understanding.
“We’ll fill you in on that, Ned,” George said. “Hopefully that’s a closed chapter now.”
“You guys find out where our people are being held?” Charlie asked.
“They’re in New Mexico,” Ned said. “That much we know for sure.”
“Near Carlsbad Caverns?” George asked.
“No, Bloomfield, northwestern part of the state,” Ned said. “We know the facility but not the building.”
“I don’t know of any bases near there,” General Hogan said.
“It’s not an army base. They’re in an industrial park,” Ned said.
“Small enough to take the whole thing over?” George asked.
“Yeah, but they’d be killed before we found them,” Ned said. “My source thinks they’re about to move.”
“Move?” General Hogan asked.
“Yeah, guess where,” Ned said.
“Southeastern New Mexico,” George said. “Shit. They’ll be in the hive of the enemy. It’ll be hard to get them out of that.”
“Our best shot is to get them on the road,” Ned said. “We might not have much warning before they leave.”
“They got Islamists with them?” George asked.
“Yeah,” Ned said. “Chances are they’ll need some of those shielded vehicles you guys have been talking about.”
General Hogan’s phone rang. He walked away from the group and put it to his ear.
“Yeah,” he said.
“General Hogan? It’s Hopper.”
“Great, nice to talk with you again. How’d it go?”
“I’ve got them convinced,” he said. “It wasn’t easy.”
“I’m sure,” General Hogan said. “What’s next?”
“I’m gathering everybody together for a conference call in an hour. Can your team take part?”
�
�Yes,” General Hogan said. “Perfect timing, actually.”
“Good, then I’ll call you back at this number in about an hour.”
“Thanks, Field Marshal Hopper.”
“You don’t have to use the whole title, General,” he said.
“I like to show respect to our allies,” General Hogan said. “I’ll prep our people before the call.”
“Good. Talk to you soon.” The general ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket. George gave him a look as he walked over, and got an affirmative nod.
“Here’s the first order of business,” General Hogan said, standing in front of the group. “A conference call, in one hour. We need to talk first.”
“Conference call with who?” Ned asked.
“Field Marshal Hopper,” General Hogan said.
“What?” Ned asked. “We know that guy. Militia. He’s a snake.”
“Yes, he is,” General Hogan said. “We’ve been having talks with him after we captured two his men. They broke from the Islamists, and have been staging clandestine attacks on the UN forces.”
Ned sat down, looking like he was in a daze. “Shit, I heard rumors that the militia was attacking the UN, but I didn’t believe it. As far as I know, they’re still with the Islamists, and the Islamists are with the UN.”
“The militia is going to great lengths to make the Islamists and Daan Mertins think they’re still allies,” General Hogan said. “In reality, they will not embrace a Globalist government takeover of this country. The reason they got into the battle in the first place was to prevent the Federal Government from doing the same kind of thing.”
“They stood by and watched while the Islamists beheaded innocents,” Stacey said. “We ought to kill them all.”
“We’ve killed each other wholesale,” General Hogan said. “There is gonna be a lot for us to forgive and forget if we join forces. It’s still worth talking about.”
“I don’t want any part of this,” Wedgie said.
“Me neither,” Spence said.
Ned sat quietly, thinking for over a minute while the others watched. He looked at George. “What do you think, brother?”
“If the UN forces join with the Islamists, we’ll have a huge battle on our hands,” George said. “One that we might not be able to win. At this point the militia is still our enemy, but we have common goals, when you think about it.”