The Blackout Series (Book 6): Devil's Homecoming

by Bobby Akart

  “What pay?” growled Junior, still sore about Rollie’s lack of cooperation. “Money ain’t worth nothin’ now.”

  “It’s accruin’,” Rollie snapped back. “We’re told the government’s gonna change the greenback to be like the old days. You know, the gold standard.”

  “They gonna pay y’all in gold?” asked Junior.

  “No, but the money is gonna be worth its value in gold or something like that,” replied Rollie. “I don’t know, Junior. But it don’t make a difference. I gotta job to do. If I don’t, they’ll find somebody that will.”

  Here we go again, Junior thought to himself. “How ’bout the job you committed to doing down here for your family? Huh? You gonna just kick us to the curb. I’ve got no men for security. Heck, they cleaned out the arsenal, which means all those guns are out there, pointing at me and Ma.”

  “Rollie, Junior’s got a point,” interjected Ma. “Sit down with me, boys. Both of you, please.”

  The guys put away their differences for a moment and sat down on the stoop next to their mother. Regardless of age and stature, your mother always deserved your respect, if only to hear her out.

  “Our first order of business was to clean out the bad apples from our town,” Ma began as she holstered her pistol and snapped the clasp shut on the leather strap. She adjusted her dress to hide the weapon she’d carried for years. “Rollie moved them to the camps in Jackson. Junior, even you agreed that some of the men allowed to stay were trainable, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

  “Okay, so you pick ’em and train ’em to run security around town,” said Ma. “This will free up more of Rollie’s men. Now, Rollie, how many men did you use when you took over the list of farms I gave you on the northwest side of the county?”

  “About sixteen to take over the farms and another eight to move the livestock to the slaughterhouse in Jackson.”

  “Did you meet a lot of resistance during the process?” asked Ma.

  “Yeah, but my boys took care of it. If they didn’t respond to a proper beat down, then we just put ’em in the ground. They’re gonna die anyway after we cleaned them out.”

  “Well deserved, in my opinion,” said Junior. All three of the Durhams chuckled.

  Ma continued rocking as the sun began to set over the ridge. The days were getting shorter and fall was rapidly turning into winter.

  “I was prepared to send them south beginning tomorrow,” said Rollie. “But the colonel’s breathing down my neck and I gotta make an appearance.”

  Ma was in deep thought and Junior’s wheels were spinning in his head. In just a few days’ time, Rollie could steamroll Stubby and those folks from Nashville. The job could be easier if he whipped up a bunch of Wanted Dead or Alive posters like in the old days. He could offer a reward of that worthless money he’d found in the TBI’s safe.

  “How about this, Rollie,” started Ma. “Send your crew down south tomorrow like you said. Let them have a couple of days to get the lay of the land, and then add more men from Savannah if you need them. Junior, you recruit as many new deputies as you can tomorrow to guard the checkpoints and the major supply stores like Lowe’s, Kroger’s, and Walmart.”

  “But, Ma, what about Jackson?” asked Rollie.

  “Go up there and spend a couple of days,” she replied. “Make sure everyone sees you and call that colonel every dang hour if you have to. Let him know that you’re on top of it and then get back here to finish the job we started. Once we’ve cleaned them all out, you can return to Jackson and run FEMA.”

  Both men looked at each other and conducted internal debates. This worked for Junior because the sooner he got rid of Rollie, the better. He wanted to run things his way again, and if it meant a few days’ delay in getting even, it was worth it.

  “Sounds like a plan,” said Rollie.

  “Yup. I’ll do my part,” added Junior.

  Chapter 26

  Early Morning, November 29

  Shiloh Ranch

  The great cattle drives began in the mid-nineteenth century because ranchers of the Midwest had a product the folks back east wanted—beef. From the conclusion of the Civil War through the end of the century, nearly twenty million cattle were herded from points in Texas and Arkansas to the railheads of Kansas City. The mighty locomotives carried the beef in cattle cars to the stockyards of Chicago and elsewhere east of the Mississippi.

  Drivin’ cattle was no easy task and it became even more complicated by the invention of barbed wire. For decades, the great cattlemen of the eighteen hundreds like Jesse Chisholm could cross from one ranch to another unimpeded until barb-wire fencing came into use to identify boundaries. The construction of railroads led to more stockyards like the one in Fort Worth, and the epic cattle drives seen in Western movies became a thing of the past.

  When Stubby suggested they take the morning and attempt to remove the cattle from Shiloh Ranch to the protection of a small farm near Childer’s Hill, Jake and Colton laughed themselves silly. Both men had Texas roots and immediately had visions of Billy Crystal and friends in the City Slickers movie.

  After their initial guffawing abated and they realized Stubby was serious, they began to weigh the merits. It was a given that Rollie and Junior intended to direct their FEMA troops in the direction of Shiloh Ranch. Stubby and the rest of the group were surprised it hadn’t happened already.

  The dairy cows at Shiloh Ranch were one of their most valuable resources. Plus, there was an additional problem—they had to be milked. These cows had been producing large quantities of milk daily through the efforts of Javy’s men. If the cows were milked a few hours late, it could be painful. Cows had been known to squall, stomp their feet, and carry on to express their discomfort. In some of the worst cases, they could get mastitis, an infection of the udder, which could kill them.

  They agreed that they needed to move the herd and it would be all hands on deck to hand-milk them. It was worth the risk of losing a few cows along the way, or even a stampede, to keep the animals out of the hands of FEMA.

  “Guys, I have no illusions of our ability to succeed at this,” said Stubby. “The purpose of a cattle drive is universal, regardless of the type of animal you’re moving. We move them from point A to point B without losing the herd in whole or in part.”

  “Does anybody have experience at this?” asked Colton.

  “Normally, you’ve got expert wranglers and excellent horsemen to chase down stragglers while keeping the herd on the move,” replied Stubby. “Depending on how cooperative they are, we may have to stop to drink fresh water and graze. Two of Javy’s men worked as vaqueros before they came to America. They’ll act as our wranglers.”

  After more conversations about logistics, they picked their helpers. Chase was ready to saddle up, over the protests of his mother. Alex thought Snowflake would enjoy the adventure. Coach Carey and his boys stayed behind to work security because a lot of Javy’s men, who were excellent horsemen, were needed on the drive.

  They identified a route that was entirely on the back roads between Shiloh Ranch and Childer’s Hill. The abandoned farm had a cross-fenced field near the sod farm that would work for the herd temporarily.

  “Saddle up!” shouted Jake as he adjusted his cowboy hat and started down the driveway. Colton and Alex followed close behind. Stubby, Chase, and Javy brought up the rear as the sixteen riders headed back to Shiloh Ranch.

  After they arrived, the ranch hands quickly milked the forty-six head they managed to corral easily. Everyone else went through the house, giving one last look for any valuables left behind from packing. Virtually all the food, weapons, and supplies had been moved to Childer’s Hill. The main house looked like it had just been abandoned by a bunch of rowdy vacationers.

  “If they do take the ranch,” said Stubby, “they won’t get much with it. Hopefully they’ll move on to greener pastures, pardon the pun.”

  “Yeah, I hope so,” said Jake as he ran his hands down t
he hand-carved banister. He had retrieved a blanket that Emily asked for.

  Javy entered the house and announced that they were ready. As the group mounted their horses, Stubby reviewed some of the tips that he’d garnered from Javy’s two vaqueros.

  “As we get moving, don’t try to look at this as a herd of cattle, but rather forty-six individual head. It only takes a second for one cow to make a run for it and then all of them will follow the leader. Be on guard and focus on keeping them together.”

  “What are some of the things we should avoid?” asked Alex.

  “Remember to keep this low stress,” answered Stubby. “There is no need to yell or shout at the cows. If you need to encourage them to move along, ride up on their hip. They’ll instinctively pick up the pace.”

  Colton asked from the rear as the herd began to move toward the front gate, “Speaking of pace, how fast should we push them?”

  “Let them decide, but keep ’em moving,” replied Stubby. “If you push them too fast, they’ll overreact and scatter. We’ll be chasing them down through the woods for hours.”

  The herd began moving at a methodical pace and the ranch hands began to squeeze them together so they would fit through the gate. Everyone was instructed to walk their horses along the shoulders of the narrow country roads with the herd walking down the center line.

  It was five miles from Shiloh Ranch to the sod farm, a long way for an inexperienced bunch of buckaroos. They slowly made their way without incident. Stubby slipped to the rear to join Chase, Colton, and Alex.

  Over the sounds of the cows’ voicing complaint at having to walk on asphalt and the chatter of the ranch hands encouraging the herd along, Colton heard the roar of trucks.

  “Did you guys hear that?” asked Colton.

  All four riders stopped in the middle of the road. The rumble of the diesel engines grew louder.

  “Vehicles are coming towards us,” said Alex.

  “We’ll lose the herd if we don’t stop them,” said Stubby. “Colton, ride ahead and tell Jake to keep movin’. I’m gonna take Alex and Chase to see what’s going on.”

  “I’m on it,” said Colton. “I love you, Allie-Cat. Be careful!”

  “Of course, Daddy!”

  Chase led the way because he knew this area on horseback better than anyone. “Follow me,” he said. “We’ll cut across the fields and head them off at the entrance to the ranch.”

  Chapter 27

  Late Afternoon, November 29

  Shiloh Ranch

  Chase positioned Stubby and Alex on the outside perimeter of the ranch behind stacks of cut firewood. The cords of wood provided excellent cover for them, leaving them close enough to the barn to provide fire support in the event Chase was seen racing across the field.

  The trio waited for the military vehicles to drive past the entry to Shiloh Ranch and continue down Federal Road in the direction of the cattle drive. When the three Humvees turned into the long driveway and blasted through the locked gate, Chase and his companions were relieved, but concerned about the fate of the ranch.

  It was getting dark as Chase suggested that he slip into the barn. As a kid, he had developed a number of hiding places within the barn and the areas surrounding the main house. His plan was to get as close to the soldiers as possible to determine their intentions. After he was safely in the barn, Stubby and Alex would rejoin the group at Childer’s Hill and prepare to defend their new home.

  Stubby instructed Chase to be vigilant, but not to risk getting caught, or worse. If it appeared that FEMA was heading south in their direction, Chase assured Stubby that he had trails through the woods and fields that could easily beat the convoy to Childer’s Hill. If it appeared that the soldiers planned to set out daily on an established search grid, Chase would monitor their activity and report back to Stubby as he could.

  Chase crossed the two-hundred-yard clearing in less than a minute, using piles of hay provided for the cows as cover. When he reached the barn, he gave Alex and Stubby a final wave and slipped inside unnoticed. After an uneventful few hours of watching and stalking the perimeter of the main house, he settled in the hayloft and fell asleep.

  *****

  A rooster, which was left behind during the evacuation, announced that it was just about daybreak. Chase jolted himself out of a heavy sleep and quickly gathered his wits. He grabbed his weapon and descended the ladder leading to the loft. Just as he reached the window facing the house, he heard voices.

  Two of the FEMA soldiers came out of the house to urinate in the front yard. Bessie would’ve beat them with a broom as they did, Chase thought to himself. He considered shooting them right then and there while their hands were full, but knew that he’d have to deal with the four men inside. Remaining disciplined, he waited and listened.

  “Man, I’m tellin’ ya,” said a short, stocky soldier wearing only his britches and a white tee shirt despite the chilly temperatures. “That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in weeks.”

  “You ain’t kiddin’, brother,” said his lanky, rail-thin partner. “I can live like this forever. But where’s the food? I thought these rich farmers had stockpiles of food.”

  “Maybe they’ve been looted? The place was picked dry.”

  “It looked to me like they left in a hurry,” stocky replied. The two finished up their business and wandered through the yard toward their Humvees. They opened the rear hatch of one and removed a case of MREs.

  They loitered for a moment, which allowed Chase to hear them more clearly.

  The stocky soldier spoke first. “The CO wants us to do sweeps of all the homes in the area, lookin’ for these people the sheriff’s got his panties in a wad over. Between you and me, I don’t give a crap about his manhunt. I’m kinda lookin’ for a place to settle down. You know, find a wifey and hunker down for the long haul.”

  “I get it,” added lanky. “The government is paying us in IOUs. What the heck are we supposed to buy with that? Also, the food we’re getting now is nothing but these crap MREs. They promised us hot meals, meat and taters and all. I’m sick of this Vietnam War tastin’ crap. Listen, I’ll take a place like this one, plant some crops, marry me a farmer’s daughter …”

  His partner began laughing. “Yeah, if you can find one.”

  The lanky soldier replied, “Oh, I’ll find me one, don’t you worry about that. This is what I wanted to talk with you about. I don’t care about this wild-goose chase either. I say that while we’re on our patrol, let’s start gathering food, supplies, and farmer’s daughters. I think it’s high time that we start looking out for us two numero unos.”

  “Agreed,” replied stocky. “Guys are defecting right and left. This new CO handpicked us without having a clue what we’re capable of. He promised the sweet spoils of victory, but so far, all I’ve seen is cattle getting loaded on trucks and headed for Jackson. That ain’t gonna fill my belly down here.”

  The lanky soldier slammed the door shut and took one of the cases of MREs toward the house. “So what’s the plan for today?”

  “We’re supposed to head west with each of us taking a handful of roads and houses to search. Tomorrow we work our way south.”

  “Ain’t we supposed to get some home help?” asked lanky.

  “Yup, another half-dozen men will be here tomorrow as we push south. The CO needs to get this over with. By the way, did you hear about the new rules of engagement?”

  “Nah,” lanky stumbled over a tree root as he approached the porch. “What are they?”

  “Let ’er rip. Don’t waste time asking questions.”

  “Sweet.”

  Chapter 28

  Early Morning, November 30

  Childer’s Hill

  Both Chase and his horse were out of breath as he finished his ride up the long winding driveway to the Wolven home on Childer’s Hill. Jake, Colton, and Stubby greeted him with a hot cup of coffee.

  “How’re ya doin’, son,” asked Jake as he pulled straw out of Ch
ase’s jacket collar and pockets. “What’ve ya got for us?”

  Chase took a long sip of the strong, black brew and allowed it to soak in. It was getting colder and the clouds building above portended rain.

  “Okay, first off, they’re not coming here today, but they will be coming down this way tomorrow with a force twice as large as we watched roll into the ranch yesterday. They have three two-man teams, who will divide up the area west of Shiloh Ranch and continue the manhunt as they call it. Tomorrow, they’re expecting another six men and plan on moving south.”

  “That’s not good,” said Jake.

  Chase finished his coffee and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. The group made their way inside, where the fire immediately warmed their bones. Emily greeted Chase with a hug and helped remove his jacket. Bessie emerged from Char’s kitchen with the campfire coffee pot and refilled his mug.

  “There’s more, kinda on the bright side, I guess,” said Chase.

  “Go ahead,” said Stubby as he motioned for the men to join him at the dining table. Chase grabbed a corn pone out of the basket and wolfed it down.

  “I was able to listen in on a long conversation between two of the men,” Chase continued. “These guys don’t have their heart in it. They talked about defections in their ranks. They complained about the money they’re being paid as worthless with no purchasing power. In my opinion, their goal is to find an abandoned home and move into it. And, find a wife, of course.”

  “Really?” Jake laughed. “A wife? Do they think women are sitting around on their front porch swings, looking for a soldier to swoop them off their feet?”

  “I guess, Dad. Specifically, they want to find a farmer’s daughter.”

  Stubby finished off his mug of coffee and shook his head. “We might be able to use this to our advantage.”