by Mark Goodwin
Adam poured the bottle all over the kitchen cabinets, curtains and wooden door frames. He lit a match and tossed it into the puddle of spilt whiskey.
He walked back into the living room and felt Susan’s pulse. She was already gone. “Okay, Milt.”
“No, please!” Milton said.
Adam put the gun to his head and squeezed the trigger. Milton’s body fell limp onto the floor. Adam took another match and lit one of the curtains that Gary had sprayed with gasoline. The room was engulfed with flames by the time he closed the door.
The three men drove the vehicles back to Gary’s. When they arrived, Michael’s truck and Milton’s beat up Camaro were parked inside of Gary’s old barn.
Adam asked Justin, “Do you have those coins?”
Justin handed the 6 one-ounce gold coins to Adam.
Adam handed one back to Justin, one to Gary and dropped the others in his pocket. “I’m going to hang on to one of these, and the others can go to the widow’s fund if that’s all right with you boys.”
Gary said, “They can all go to the fund, that’d be fine by me.”
Adam said, “Stick it in a coffee can and bury it. Make sure you tell your wife where it is. This war ain’t over, yet. It still might be a widow’s fund. You do the same, Justin.”
Justin nodded that he understood what Adam was saying. They had all seen enough killing and dying in the past weeks to come to terms with their own mortality.
Justin and Adam jumped in Adam’s truck and headed home.
During the drive, Adam said, “Make sure you don’t say anything to Karen about the work camp. For one thing, we don’t even know if he’ll be there. The other issue is we only have three days to prepare for the hit on Joe’s place. We have to get through that before we can even start looking for Matt.”
Justin said, “What if I went across the river and scouted out the camp? At least if I could locate it, we’d be that much closer to knowing where it is and what we’re up against.”
Adam said, “You can’t do it by yourself, and there is no way I can go with you. Franklin is going to be counting on me to help plan the counter-attack at Lt. Joe’s.”
Justin said, “I know that area. Rene and I used to deer hunt by Cabwaylingo State Forest.”
“How far is that from Williamson?” Adam asked.
“Ten or fifteen miles,” Justin answered.
Adam thought for a second. “You just can’t. There are too many variables, and you can’t cross over into enemy territory on your own. You need at least two pairs of eyes for a recon mission like that.”
“Then I’ll take Rene,” Justin said.
Adam shook his head in disagreement.
Justin stated his case, “Rene and I had nowhere to go and Matt took us in. We owe it to him to do what we can if there is even a chance that we can get him back. Rene is a good shot. She knows how to move silently through the woods and she is better trained than a lot of the guys in London Company. We used to play paintball with the other militia guys and their wives in Huntington.”
Adam knew he was right. Matt was his cousin, he felt it was his responsibility to go get him, but he also had a responsibility to London Company and planning the defense for the communications hub at Lt. Joe’s. “I guess I have no choice but to delegate this. I don’t feel right about Rene going, but I don’t know who else I’d send with you. I’ll need Gary for planning the operation at Joe’s. You’re authorized for recon only. Find the camp, observe their movements and report back. Do not engage unless you come under fire. Do you understand?”
“Roger that,” Justin had an ear-to-ear grin as he answered.
Adam added, “And not a word of this is to be spoken around Karen. If she gets a whiff of this, she’ll never let up. Is that clear?”
Justin said, “Crystal.”
Adam dropped Justin off and headed home.
CHAPTER 17
“A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.”
-Thomas Jefferson
Justin walked into the house and closed the door. Karen and Rene were sitting at the table.
“You two are still up?” Justin asked.
Rene said, “Yeah, we had an eventful night.”
“Why? What happened?” Justin quizzed.
Rene told Justin every detail of the robbery and how they had just finished burying the bodies and getting cleaned up.
Justin hugged his wife tightly, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. Are you all right? Why didn’t you just go back to Adam’s and wait for us to come home? You could have been killed.”
Rene said, “Justin, you’re freaking out. I’m okay and the bad guys are worm food. Relax. Everything is fine. Besides, they didn’t get our food or our stuff.”
Justin was still upset, “It’s just stuff. It’s replaceable. You’re not.”
Rene countered, “That’s very sweet, but the stuff isn’t replaceable. That’s the only reason we fought it out. Society collapsed and I don’t think Walmart is going to be back in business next week. That stuff is the difference between life and death for us.”
Miss Mae ventured into the kitchen were everyone was congregated. It was the first time she’d come out from under the bed since the shootout. Karen got up, put a scoop of food in the bowl and said, “I was also afraid that they might hurt my cat. That might not sound like a good enough reason to kill someone, but with Matt gone.…”
Karen choked up and a single tear streamed down her face. Rene came over and gave her a hug.
“They came in your house, you two had every right to do what you did, Karen,” Justin said. Even with Karen getting a little choked up, he was surprised by how well the girls were dealing with the situation. He was still shook up about the way Adam had killed Michael’s crew. That was a little more up close and personal, but still, taking a life is never a small incident.
Karen asked, “Did you find out anything about Matt from the guy?”
Justin looked down and started unlacing his shoes so he wouldn’t have to look at her when he answered. “Nothing solid.”
Karen pressed harder, “But something? Did you get some clues?”
“Not really,” Justin said. “I shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up. I’m sorry about that.”
“I pried it out of you. You don’t have to apologize,” Karen replied sadly.
Justin went to get cleaned up and left the girls in the kitchen. As he was getting in the shower, Rene stuck her head in the bathroom, “I totally spaced out. I bet you’re starving. What do you want to eat?”
“You’ve been in battle and burying bandits all night. I can fix something for myself,” he replied.
Rene said, “I’m going to warm up those rabbit dumplings. Actually, I’m starving. Karen’s probably hungry, too. I didn’t even think about food ‘til now.”
“Okay, I’ll have a bowl of dumplings,” Justin said.
After he finished cleaning up, Justin rejoined the girls in the kitchen. They were already eating. The warm rabbit dumpling stew was just the thing to calm his nerves so he could sleep. Justin had set several snares around the garden to catch rabbits. He had caught several over the past couple of days. Those that didn’t injure themselves in the snare were put in cages to breed. Those that were hurt trying to escape from the snare or looked a little too old went into the stewpot. The recipe for the stew was simple. The rabbit was stewed with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. The meat was removed from the bones and the remaining stock was used for the dumplings. The dumplings were made of biscuit dough rolled very thin, cut into pieces and dropped into the boiling broth. Once the fresh carrots, celery, onions and garlic were available from the garden, the broth wou
ld be even better. Although the ingredients were sparse, the rabbit made a nice broth.
After they finished eating, Justin said, “We should be getting to bed.”
Rene said, “I don’t think I can sleep yet. I’m still a little freaked out.”
Justin asked, “Can you just come lay beside me for a while so I can sleep?”
Rene smiled, “Yes, I can do that. Are you going to be okay tonight, Karen.”
Karen nodded, “Miss Mae will be with me.”
Justin and Rene went to their room and got ready for bed.
Justin said, “I couldn’t say anything, but we might have a lead on where Matt’s being held.”
Rene punched him in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell her?”
“Adam made me promise. It’s nearby, in what we think is a labor camp. The guy told Adam that DHS takes the hostages over there to mine coal,” Justin said.
Rene asked, “Are you guys going to get him?”
Justin said, “We have to find him first. The guy said there’s an attack coming on the communications hub early Sunday. Adam has to plan the defense for that. I volunteered to try to find the location of the camp and see if I can identify Matt.”
“By yourself?” Rene asked.
“I volunteered you, too.” Justin gave himself some space. He was unsure of her reaction.
Rene didn’t get upset. “Okay, I’m up for that.”
Justin grabbed his wife and kissed her. “We’re going to be spies.”
Rene snarked, “Yeah, that’ll be fun, if we don’t get executed.”
The next morning Justin got things going around the farm. He had a cup of coffee, then fed all of the animals. He collected the eggs from the chicken coup, then started breakfast. There was plenty of flour and the chickens were laying regularly, so biscuits and eggs were the usual breakfast. None of the Bairs raised hogs, so ham, bacon and sausage were rare. Adam tried making a batch of venison sausage, but it had some room for improvement.
Karen came out of her room, “I really appreciate all that you and Rene do around here.”
Justin shook his head. “Where would we be if you hadn’t given us a place to stay?”
Karen poured herself a cup of coffee. “Still, I really appreciate it. You’re such a big help. I couldn’t do it by myself. Just having the company is really helpful in this tough situation of Matt not being here.”
“How did you sleep?” Justin asked.
She sipped her coffee. “I didn’t. Every time I closed my eyes, I started dreaming and relived that whole event from last night. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but I can tell it’s going to haunt me for a while.”
Justin said, “I’m sure that’s normal. Well, not normal; nothing about this entire situation is normal, but you know what I mean. I’m sure everybody has those types of dreams when they go through stuff like that.”
Rene finally appeared through the bedroom doorway. She wore an old but comfortable house coat that Karen had handed down to her. She always wore her pink bunny slippers that Karen gave her. Her eyes were still squinting as they adjusted to the light. She smiled at Justin, then at Karen, and sat at the table.
“Did you get any sleep?” Karen asked.
Rene raised her hand and dipped it from side to side to signal not much.
Justin said, “Rene and I are going to look for wild mushrooms. We might be gone for a couple days.”
Karen said, “Cool, can I tag along?”
Justin replied, “I forgot to tell you last night, Adam said Janice is canning some venison today and would love your help. He’s planning to slaughter a cow next week and is trying to make some room in the freezer. Any other time, we’d love to have you go with us, but we need a few days of alone time.”
Karen replied, “Oh, yeah. That was rude of me to impose.”
Justin hated lying to Karen. “You weren’t imposing at all. We’ll all go mushroom hunting together someday soon.”
After breakfast, Karen cleaned up the dishes. Justin and Rene packed their bags.
“You’re taking a tent?” Karen inquired. “How far are you going to look? Is it safe to be out for days at a time?”
Rene stepped in, “They’re easiest to find right before dark and right after sunrise, so we want to be positioned near our spot. Besides, we want to get a lot of them. You can dry them you know. Later, you soak them in water and they’re ready to eat.”
They all walked over to Adam’s after breakfast. Justin and Rene borrowed Wesley’s truck and headed toward the river valley.
Rene asked, “So, Adam thinks the camp is between Williamson and Cabwaylingo?”
“That’s what Milton told him,” Justin answered.
“How do you know they guy was telling the truth?” she asked.
“Adam was…pretty persuasive.” Justin had no desire to get into the details of the interrogation.
“We’re not driving through Pikeville are we?” she asked.
Justin replied, “No way. We’re going to take a detour. We’ll pass Pikeville and slip between there and Prestonsburg. Then we can take Route 3 to the river.”
“That’s the scenic route,” Rene said.
“That’s the stay-alive route,” Justin commented.
Justin drove all the way to the militia border outpost in Warfield. There was no bridge, and no one was likely to cross from West Virginia into Warfield, Kentucky. It was more of an observation outpost than a checkpoint, but it was run the same way as the checkpoints.
Justin introduced himself to Jonas Lee, the commanding officer, and explained his mission. The officer called into the communications hub at Lt. Joe’s to verify Justin’s mission.
Jonas said, “We can drive you down River Front Road a ways. The old Nolan Toll Bridge is about six miles south from here. It’s a little one-lane bridge. They don’t have anyone watching it, but patrols drive up and down US 52 all the time because it’s so close to Williamson. Williamson is a Yankee stronghold you know. That’s why we don’t have a checkpoint at the bridge. You can run across on foot and no one will ever see you. Be sure to stay off the roads and out of sight once you cross. We can slow down just enough for you to bail out. You’ll have to be careful. Ya’ll recruitin’ ladies down in London these days?”
“Most of our team was killed or captured in an ambush near Pikeville,” Justin answered.
Jonas replied, “Oh, that was you boys. I’m sorry about that. I sure didn’t mean any offense.”
“None taken,” Justin replied.
“And I didn’t mean to offend you either, ma’am,” Jonas said to Rene. “You look like you can give them Yankees heck.”
Rene laughed at the comment. “No problem.”
“Y’all aint bringin’ no rifles?” Jonas asked.
“Just our pistols tucked away.” Justin raised his shirt and exposed the handle of his .45. “We hope to avoid any shootouts. But if worst comes to worst, we’ll take a few with us.”
Jonas Lee chuckled. “Good for you. I wish y’all the best.”
Justin left his truck at the outpost and the man dropped them down the road near the bridge. The truck came almost to a complete stop and the two-person recon team bailed out and slipped into the bushes. They crept up to the bridge so they could see across the river.
“It looks clear,” Justin said. “I’ll take point and you follow me after I cross and find cover.”
Rene nodded and Justin took off across the bridge. He motioned for Rene to cross after him. The slender bridge came out onto a side road rather than directly onto US 52. There were a couple of houses on the side road, so they tried to stay out of sight. More than likely, the residents would be friendly to the resistance, but one could never be sure.
“Should we start north or south?” Rene asked.
Justin surveyed the lay of the land. “Let’s start heading north. We’re only about three miles north of Williamson, and Milton said the camp was well north of there. I want to follow the river around unt
il there is a good spot to get across US 52. At this location, the other side of the highway is a rock wall where they cut the road through the mountain. We could scale it, but we’d be completely exposed while we made our way up the hillside.”
Rene said, “You lead, I’ll follow.”
Justin started walking, “The railroad tracks follow the river as well. We can walk the tracks where it gets too steep to walk the bank. They dip below the level of the highway, so we’ll be concealed from any patrols.”
The two walked several hundred feet around the river bank and alongside of the railroad tracks.
Justin said, “I’m going to climb up the side and look across the road to see what we’ve got.”
Rene stayed put while Justin crawled up the hill and peered across the road. Justin came scurrying back down the hill. “There’s a patrol coming. Two Humvees.”
“Did they see you?” Rene was concerned.
Justin replied, “I’m sure they didn’t, but let’s get down by the river in those bushes to be safe.”
The two hid out until they heard the vehicles pass right by. They climbed back to the tracks and continued their mission. Several hundred feet later, Justin went back up the hill for another look.
“Be careful this time. Don’t stick your head out of the shrubs,” Rene advised.
Justin came back down the hill. “It looks like the tracks snake under the road right around this next turn. That would allow us to cross under the road. The only problem is we don’t know what’s over there.”