by Steven Bird
“Holy crap, man! You scared the shit out of me,” joked Luke as he greeted Daryl with one hand on his chest as his heart pounded from the scare. “I stopped by your house and it looked like you hadn’t been around in a while. Is everything okay?”
“I’ve been here,” he said, looking exhausted.
“Doing what?”
“Keeping an eye on the place mostly. As well as tending to Jimmy’s animals,” Daryl replied as he stared off towards the woods.
“You don’t have to do this all yourself. You’ve got animals and chores to tend to yourself. Speaking of which, I watered and fed your goats and pigs, so they should be good for today,” Luke said as he tried to peek inside the house. He could see that Daryl had a bed made on the sofa, looking as if he had spent the night there.
In a somber, yet defiant voice, Daryl replied, “Jimmy has already lost enough. I’ll be damned if he loses so much as one more animal or item from his home. This all happened on my watch and I’ll not let it happen again.”
“I understand how you feel, Daryl; just please let us help. If you want to stay here and keep an eye on this place, fine, but let the rest of us chip in and help. If not here, then at your own home. The guys on the supply run are there for all of us, and those of us back here all have an obligation to each other in their absence. You’re not in it alone.”
Daryl looked at the ground for a moment and said, “Thanks, Luke. That means a lot.” He then changed the subject by saying, “We need to bury Beth. At first, I thought it proper for her husband to be here to make the decisions, but this time of year, with it getting warmer and all… it just needs to be done. We can’t let Jimmy’s last memory of Beth be one of horror.”
Luke nodded in agreement and said, “So what do you propose?”
“There is a beautiful spot on the hill just beyond his pond. It’s close enough to visit, yet far enough away to not have it always in his face, reminding him every day of his loss. I think we should do it there. We can wait to have the ceremony, getting everyone together to pay our respects properly when he is home.”
Luke put his hand on Daryl’s shoulder, looked him in the eye, and said, “You’re a damn fine man and a damn fine friend to everyone here. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Chapter 27: The Encounter
After the small ceremony for Sabrina’s mother, Evan explained in detail their plan to have Charlie and Jimmy escort her to Del Rio to meet up with the Gibbs family at the church. She was relieved to be rejoining her family friends after all the suffering and loss she had gone through in recent days. They were, after all, the closest thing to a family she had left in this world.
Evan and Jason each wrote a letter to their wives back home, letting them know they were okay and they loved and missed them dearly. Nate wrote two letters, one for his love, Peggy, and one for his mother, Judith. They bundled the letters together and gave them to Charlie for delivery when he and Jimmy reached home. Taking the letters and putting them in his cargo vest, Charlie said, “We hate to leave you guys out here. If you need us, just send word and we’ll come running like the cavalry.”
Evan reached out and shook Charlie’s hand, saying, “Thank you, sir, and please take good care of this young lady.”
“Will do, Ev, will do,” he replied.
“Are you up for the trip with that arm there?” Evan asked, pointing at Jimmy’s wound.
“It’s not gonna get better on its own. It’s throbbing pretty good right now, but I can deal with it until I see Doc Rachel back home,” he replied. “But at least it’s not my shootin’ arm,” he replied jokingly to lighten the mood.
Jason yelled down from the top of the trailer, where he was using the vantage point to scan the area with his powerful riflescope, and said, “It looks clear, as far as I can see from here. Do you want me to hike out ahead of you to clear the area before you leave?”
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Charlie replied. “Jimmy’s gonna ride out in front of Sabrina and me to clear the way as we go. Besides, we’ll make good time on the four-wheelers without you guys slowing us down with that slow, old tractor.”
“Did you top off your tanks?” Evan asked.
“Yep, and Jimmy is gonna haul one of the gas cans on his rear cargo rack, just in case.”
Sabrina then ran over to Evan, sensing the time for departure growing near, and gave him a hug and whispered, “Thank you, thank you so much,” as she began to cry. “Be careful out here; your families may need you like I did, some day.”
Wiping the tears away, she turned and waved to Jason, as he was still on top of the livestock trailer, then turned to Nate and hugged him as well. Charlie took her by the hand and helped her mount the ATV. With a wave, they started their engines and rode away. Evan, Nate, Jason, and Ed all watched silently as they rode off out of sight.
“Okay, ladies,” Jason said as he climbed down from the top of the trailer. “Let’s get a move on. All this time on the road, and all we’ve got so far is coffee. It’s gonna be dark soon and we need to get to our stash at the house on the hill and get back to making progress.”
“Roger that!” replied Evan. “Okay, guys, you heard the man; let’s break down camp and roll on.”
Once everything was packed up and put away, the men checked the readiness of their weapons and got underway, driving the tractor out of the wooded dirt road back to Highway 70. Once on Highway 70, they made good time back to the stash of weapons they had taken from Sabrina’s kidnappers and rummaged the house one last time, throwing anything of use into the trailer. With most of the items in the house considered tainted, they mostly looked outside for items to scavenge. Not finding much of value, other than a few tools and hardware items in the shed, Ed looked up at the top of the shed at the sheet metal roof and asked, “Don’t we need roofing?”
“Sometimes you just can’t see the forest for the trees,” replied Jason. “Let’s find a ladder and use the hammers we brought along to pop it loose.”
“I’ve got your ladder and hammers right here,” Evan replied with a sly grin as he climbed up on the tractor, fired it up, and switched on the lights, illuminating the shed brightly in the fading light of the day. He then yelled over the noise of the engine, “If we’re not gonna use this thing, we might as well have brought a pickup truck.” He then raised the loader bucket to the level of the roof and positioned the arms just shy of the building. With an upward flip of the bucket, he peeled the metal sheets from their rafters with ease. He repeated this around the shed until the roofing was completely loose. He then lowered the bucket and drove straight through the side of the shed, collapsing it to the ground like a house of cards. The men smiled, as they could now simply pick up the sheets of roofing from the ground with ease.
“Since it’s in large sheets, let’s strap it to the top of the trailer,” Evan said as he shut the engine off and climbed down. “It won’t take up any space inside the trailer at all that way.”
“Roger Roger,” replied Jason as he took out a roll of scavenged rope to secure it to the trailer. After they lifted all of the sheets to the top, Nate and Ed held them in place while Jason and Evan lashed them on securely with the rope.
Standing back, admiring their handy work, and with the other items now loaded in the trailer, Evan said, “That’ll do it. Let’s roll,” and with that, they were off.
Once back down on Highway 70, Jason said, “The next bridge crossing is just up ahead.”
“What do you think?” Evan asked.
“I say Ed, Nate, and I quickly move on foot to secure it and then you just blast right across. The cover of darkness can be a blessing or a curse in a choke point like a bridge; we just need to hope it’s a blessing tonight.”
“Sounds good to me,” Evan replied.
As they drove past the abandoned semi-trailers and shipping containers, Jason said, “I can’t help but think about the horrors that began for young Sabrina and her family there, and how many others there may have been.”
“Yeah, I know,” Evan replied in a somber voice. “But at least those perpetrators are no longer in the picture. Think of how many won’t have to go through that now.” Jason nodded in agreement as he looked off in the distance, trying to forget about it and move on with the task at hand.
Upon reaching the bridge, Evan pulled the tractor to a stop, shut off the lights, and killed the engine. Jason climbed down from the trailer and briefed Ed and Nate on the task of clearing the bridge ahead. He said, “I’ll take point and cross the bridge while you cover me, Ed. Nate, you ride shotgun with Evan as he drives across, then I’ll cover Ed as he joins back up with us on the other side.”
With no objections to the plan, Jason moved quietly across the bridge in what was now the complete darkness of the night. He stayed low, using the concrete and steel railing as cover, pausing on occasion to look and listen for potential threats. Once in position on the other side, Jason signaled with a double click of his handheld radio mic for Evan to cross.
Evan fired up the tractor, and while leaving the lights off for stealth, began a slow drive across the bridge. After about twenty yards, he thought, Screw it. It’s too damn dark to drive across this bridge with the lights off tonight. The last thing I need is to go over the side. With that in mind, he flicked the lights back on and proceeded across.
Everything seemed to be going well, until at about halfway across the bridge, when a helicopter came out of nowhere, shining a spotlight down on Evan and Nate on the tractor. Ed and Jason watched in horror, as they were still hidden in the darkness of the night. Both Jason and Ed held their aim on the helicopter, prepared to retaliate if any hostile actions were taken. After a few moments of hovering, the helicopter extinguished its lights and, once again, slipped off into the darkness, flying over the ridge and out of sight.
With his heart pounding in his chest, Evan accelerated the tractor and raced across the bridge to the other side. Breaking from the plan of using Jason for cover, Ed ran across the bridge behind them, as all bets were now off. Once they met up on the south side of the river, Ed and Nate climbed back into the trailer without saying a word, and Jason rejoined Evan in the cab.
“What the ever living fuck was that about?” exclaimed Jason.
“Don’t know, but I’d feel better if we got some distance between us and that bridge before we shut down again.”
“I second that!” Jason replied.
“I couldn’t make anything out. I was blinded by the spotlight. Who the hell was that? Feds? State? Civilian?”
“I couldn’t make anything out. It was all blacked out. Nothing but the spotlight. Not even NAV lights,” Jason said in a stressed voice.
For the next few miles, the men were silent as Evan drove the tractor while Jason scanned the skies for any further signs of the helicopter. The visibility, however, was rapidly deteriorating, as a rainstorm seemed to be building. The terrain on the south side of the bridge was getting very mountainous and the twists and turns of Highway 70 limited forward visibility. It soon began to rain and Jason broke the silence saying, “On the bright side, with this weather and terrain, it’s becoming a not-so-helicopter-friendly kind of night.”
Evan just responded with a nod as they came around a blind corner at nearly the tractor’s full speed. Catching a glimpse of something blocking the full width of the road just in front of them, he quickly slammed on the brakes, sending the tractor into a skid on the slick pavement, nearly jackknifing the trailer behind them as they slid to a stop.
“Ag tires suck on wet pavement!” he shouted.
“What the hell?” Jason responded.
Ed and Nate quickly egressed the trailer as Evan and Jason climbed down from the tractor. Both men had their rifles at the ready, not knowing what brought the tractor to such an abrupt and dramatic halt.
Evan pointed in front of the tractor into the darkness of the increasingly dreary night, and said, “There’s a damned tree in the road.”
“Trap?” Nate queried.
“I don’t think so,” Evan replied as he walked closer to the tree to get a better look. “It hasn’t been cut; it looks like it fell over from its roots. Probably during a storm, and there just isn’t anyone to clear it out of the way anymore.”
“I guess that’s us,” added Ed.
“Yep, I guess so,” replied Evan as he walked back towards the trailer. “Jason, help me grab the saw and tow strap. Ed and Nate, if you two could cover us while we work, just in case, I would appreciate it.”
“Roger that,” replied Ed. “I’ll take this side of the tree; Nate, you get the other side.”
“Will do,” Nate replied as he moved into position.
Using the headlights of the tractor, Evan illuminated the downed tree as the deteriorating weather conditions and the darkness made it increasingly difficult to work. As Jason started the chainsaw, Evan yelled over the noise of the rain and the saw’s engine, “If you section it up, I’ll use the loader and the strap to lift and drag the sections out of the way.”
“Roger that!” replied Jason as he got to work on the large tree. He found it difficult to run the saw in the heavy rain. The water slinging from the chain, mixed with the wood particles, made it difficult to see with no safety goggles. He squinted his eyes, occasionally peeking to check his progress.
While he cut the tree into sections, Evan lifted them out of the road with the loader, placing them off to the side. As Jason made his final cut, Evan motioned for him to move out of the way. Once clear, Evan lowered the loader and drove straight through the remaining debris, pushing it out of the way. Jason then gave the signal for Ed and Nate to join back up with them, and they once again got underway.
“I can hardly see anything in this rain,” Evan said as he struggled to see out of the cab of the tractor in the blinding rain. “We need to find a place to hunker down for the night.”
“Looking at the map, we’re approaching the North Carolina border,” Jason said as he struggled to read with his penlight in the dark. “We’re in the hilliest terrain we’re gonna encounter tonight. Anyone would have a hard time landing or maneuvering a helicopter close to the ground in this area, especially in this weather. There are some small country roads off to the right up ahead. I suggest we pull into one and try to find a defendable position to hunker down until this blows over.”
“I agree. Let’s do it.”
After another mile navigating the dark and twisty mountain road, Evan said, “Looks like a road off to the right just up ahead.”
“Yeah, I see that on here. Give it look,” Jason said, confirming their position on the map.
As they approached the road, Evan slowed the tractor to an idle and stopped just shy of entering. Just as he began to speak, lightening crashed nearby and the storm intensified. “I don’t know how much scouting we could actually get done tonight. You can barely see a few feet ahead. I think we should just chance it and head up this road until we find a place to pull over and call it a night. I doubt many others would be out prowling around in this, either. We’re probably safe riding the storm out in the trailer tonight.”
“Agreed,” Jason replied simply.
Evan turned up the small gravel road, which was bordered by thick woods and brush on both sides. After traveling a little more than half a mile, he found a pull-off where they could stop for the night. They felt the thick vegetation, trees, and mountainous terrain provided ample cover for the big, green tractor and its trailer in the event of a random flyover by another helicopter.
As the men settled in for the night, Nate said aloud, “I wonder how Charlie and Jimmy are doing with Sabrina.”
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Evan replied. “They should have made good time on those ATVs. If they pressed on, they should be nearing Del Rio by now. With luck, Sabrina will wake up warm and dry with the Gibbs family, where she can begin to put all of this behind her and begin her recovery.”
“Speaking of putting things behind… let’s hit the sack and
put this day behind us,” Jason said as he pulled his hat down over his eyes and lay back on his pack.
“Roger Roger,” replied Evan with a chuckle from Nate and Ed.
Jason peeked from underneath his hat, tipping it up with one finger and said, “Keep it up, funny man, keep it up.”
Chapter 28: Rude Awakenings
Evan lay awake, unable to sleep. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 4am—still several hours before the sun would be fully up. The rain had slowed to a trickle; just enough to provide a background noise as the raindrops impacted the sheet metal roofing strapped to the top of the trailer. The others seemed to be sound asleep as the snores and labored breathing told him all he needed to hear. At this point, Evan realized that for the first time he could remember, they had broken their cardinal rule about keeping a rotating watch while everyone else slept. I guess it’s good I can’t sleep, he thought.
Needing to relieve himself, Evan slipped quietly past the others, trying hard not to make any noises to wake them. It’s been a long day and these filthy bastards need some sleep, he joked to himself.
As he opened the trailer door and stepped outside, he heard a gruff voice say in a slow, deliberate cadence, “Don’t… move.”
Although his Kimber 1911 was on his hip, he knew he didn’t have a change to deploy it before being cut to pieces by whomever had gotten the drop on him. He slowly raised his hands and said, “Good morning. What can I do for you?”
“You can start by explaining who you are and what you’re doing here,” the voice said calmly.
“I’m Evan Baird, and the other fellows in the trailer are my neighbors. We are on a supply run, hoping to do some scavenging and bartering. We’re headed to Hot Springs, North Carolina. We’ve heard they have swap meets and barter markets there from time to time. Now, if you don’t mind me asking, to whom do I have the honor of speaking?”