by Mark Goodwin
Doc looked around. “Some of these guys are getting close to that point right now. It’s different for everybody. If they don’t up our calories, you and I probably have about two weeks left at full steam.”
Matt replied, “Then we need to start thinking up a plan. I don’t think our golden opportunity is going to present itself.”
Doc whispered, “What do you have in mind?”
Matt said, “Everyone seems to be on board with pulling something. We’ll just have to pop our cuffs and jump the guards. Some guys are going to get shot. We won’t all make it if we have to overpower them with our bare hands. I suppose we’ll have to draw straws. If we do nothing, we’ll all be dead within a couple of months. The shipping containers they keep us in have no ventilation. They stink now, but they’ll be ovens once the heat of summer really gets started.”
Doc said, “Yeah, that will kill folks as quick as starvation. Let’s start getting an escape plan together for next week. We’ll plan it for a morning on the way to the mine. Everyone will be fresh and have the most energy.”
Matt agreed. “Okay, next week then. There are twenty of us on each bus. That’s forty of us against eight of them. At least some of us will make it. We’ve got no other choice.”
Matt continued his task before he drew attention for not working. Soon the day was over and they were returned to the surface and loaded into the bus.
On the way back to camp, Matt looked at the trees and the beautiful sky. He cherished the bus rides to and from the mine. They were the only time he got a chance to look at the magnificence of God’s creation. His days were spent underground in the mine, and his evenings were spent locked up in the dark shipping container which was used for his prison.
Matt’s bus was in the rear, so he couldn’t tell why the bus in front had come to a stop. Two of the guards got off the bus. Matt saw the opportunity. He quickly pulled the wire out of his mouth and popped his handcuffs open. He looked at Doc who was doing the same thing. There were two guards still on the bus. The driver and one other gunman.
A low murmur was growing among the other prisoners.
The gunman turned toward the back of the bus, raised his rifle and said, “Everyone shut up. We’ll be back on the road in a second.”
Matt heard a pop from outside and saw blood begin to spurt out of the gunman’s neck. Matt and Doc jumped up and hopped over the chain that kept the other prisoners connected. Matt could see the others fighting to get their cuffs off. Before he reached the rifle of the gunman, the driver was up and had his pistol leveled at Matt’s head. Doc grabbed the man’s pistol and pointed it toward the roof. Matt spun the driver around, put his arm around the man’s neck and placed him in a sleeper hold. Before the man went out, he grabbed his knife and thrust it backwards into Matt’s leg. The pain shot through his body, but he willed himself to keep squeezing until the driver fell unconscious.
Matt was focused on his own conflict with the driver, but all the while, he could hear gunfire coming from the trees around the two buses. The man fell unconscious and Doc wrestled the pistol from his hand.
Matt fell to the floor from the pain of the knife still lodged in his upper thigh. “Shoot him!” he yelled.
Doc put the pistol to the unconscious guard’s head. His hand shook as he tried to put pressure on the trigger.
Matt said, “Doc, he’s just out for the moment. When he comes around, we’ll have to fight him again. We’ve got other guards out there we still have to fight. Shoot him now!”
Doc focused but was unable to fire the pistol. He shook his head and said, “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Give me the gun!” Matt yelled.
Doc handed him the weapon and Matt stuck it against the driver’s temple and pulled the trigger. The close range shot made a mess all over the floor of the bus. Matt dropped the pistol and grabbed the knife to pull it out of his leg.
“No!” Doc yelled. “If the blade severed an artery, that knife might be the only thing keeping you alive. We have to cut off the blood flow before we pull it out.”
Matt understood what Doc was saying and left the knife in his leg despite the debilitating pain. By now, the other prisoners were out of their chains and off the bus. The first one grabbed the rifle of the guard and the second grabbed his side arm. Another asked Doc if he could pass him the driver’s pistol lying on the floor of the bus by Matt’s leg. Doc handed it to the man who wiped the blood off of the weapon and ran out the door of the bus.
The gunfire soon dropped to only a couple of exchanges, then all was silent. As the adrenaline wore off, the pain in Matt’s leg grew more severe. Matt could feel his head getting light. Doc took off his shirt and rolled it up under Matt’s neck. He pulled the belt off of the dead driver and put it around Matt’s thigh and pulled it tight to cut off the circulation. Even with the knife still in his leg, Matt was bleeding badly. Matt felt his body getting cool. Someone else was coming up the stairs of the bus. Was it more guards? They had done all they could do. If he were to die, he would die knowing he had done his best. Matt was barely conscious when he saw the face of the man who had just boarded the bus. Justin? It couldn’t be. Everything went black.
CHAPTER 26
“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”
-Psalm 40:2
Justin put two rounds into the guard that was running into the woods in his direction. He looked at Gary, “I think that was the last one. The prisoners have a couple of weapons. Looks like they’ve done a pretty good job at cleaning up. I’m going in, cover me.”
Gary said, “Identify yourself to the prisoners. They’re a little shook up. You don’t want to get shot by the people you’re rescuing.”
“Good point,” Justin said.
Justin yelled out, “Hold your fire. I’m a friendly. I’m with the militia and we’re here to take you boys home.”
He walked out from his cover with his hands up and his rifle hanging by the single-point sling in front of his chest. The prisoners lowered the weapons they had captured from the guards.
Justin asked, “Does anyone know Matt Bair?”
One of the prisoners pointed at the bus in the rear. Justin began walking towards that direction. Adam came out of the woods and began briefing the prisoners on the evacuation plan.
Justin walked up the stairs of the bus and saw a man helping Matt, who had a knife in his leg. Matt’s eyes were barely open, then they closed completely.
The man helping Matt asked, “Do you have a med kit?”
Justin dropped his pack on the seat of the bus and ripped off the IFAK pouch. “Are you a doctor?”
“Yes,” the man said. “Do you have a tourniquet in your kit?”
Justin answered, “Yes, but take this one on my arm. It’s better than the one in the kit.”
The man took the C-A-T and wrapped it around Matt’s leg. He spun the rod to tighten and locked it into the clip. He removed the belt that was on Matt’s leg and started looking at the supplies he had to work with in the first aid kit.
He took out the EMT shears and cut the leg out of Matt’s pants. He used the hand sanitizer to sanitize the hemostats and his own hands, then slowly removed the knife. He probed the wound and said, “It’s not the artery.”
Justin asked, “Then why did he pass out?”
The man answered, “They feed us almost nothing, then work us like animals. None of us are in very good shape to begin with. The amount of blood Matt lost was just enough to knock him out, I guess. I’m sure the pain was pretty intense, also. He was coming off a pretty big adrenaline dump on top of everything else. I’m Doc, by the way. Matt is in the cell next to mine.”
Doc opened a packet of Quikclot and pressed it to the wound.
Justin said, “I’m Justin. I was with Matt when he was captured.”
Doc replied, “Matt told me all about you. It’s nice to meet you. I’d shake your hand but.…”
“It’s okay. You keep working,” Justin said.
Adam and Gary climbed on the bus and looked down at Matt.
“Is he going to be alright?” Adam inquired.
Doc said, “He’ll be fine, he’s just weak.”
Adam asked, “Can we move him to the back of the bus? We need to get loaded up and get out of here. We still have a ways to go before we’re home free.”
Doc answered, “Sure.” He quickly put the Israeli Battle Dressing around Matt’s leg, then he and Justin moved Matt to the rear of the bus.
Everyone was soon loaded on the bus and they were on the way back to the mine. Sam and his guys manned the front bus and Adam and his crew took the rear bus. Of course, once turned around, Adam’s bus was now in the lead.
Shelly listened in on a radio that she took off of one of the guards. “They don’t seem to know what’s going on yet. They know something happened and they’re sending guys from camp, but I don’t think they’ll be looking for us when we pass the mine.”
Adam replied, “That helps a lot. Keep listening and keep me updated. Get ready to kill any guards you can hit when we roll by the mine.”
“Roger that,” Shelly said.
Matt finally came around. Justin offered him some water from his canteen. Matt took a sip. “Who’s here?”
Justin replied, “Gary, me, Adam, and Shelly’s here, too.”
“How is Karen?” Matt inquired.
“She misses you.” Justin smiled as he held the water for his friend to take another sip.
“Is Wes here?” Matt asked.
Justin said, “He was shot at Pikeville. He didn’t make it.”
Matt winced with sorrow.
Justin pulled out the bag of leftover pancakes. “You hungry?”
Matt said, “Yes, please.”
Justin offered one to Doc as well.
Doc tore into it. “You have no idea how good this is. The slop we’ve been eating for the past two weeks is miserable.”
Gary asked Doc, “Is Matt going to be able to walk?”
Doc answered, “In a week or two, sure, he should be fine.”
Gary said, “I meant right now. We’re dumping the buses about three quarters of a mile away from our pickup point.”
Doc said, “We’ll have to figure a way to carry him. We could have a guy on each side and let him hop on one leg, but I don’t think that is a very good way to travel that long of a distance.”
Justin said, “I’ve got some paracord. I can lash together a few saplings to make a quick stretcher. I’ll make it like an Indian stretcher. They’d lash two poles together, put their load on it and let the back end drag on the ground.”
Gary asked, “Could we put a crossbar on the top so two of us could pull it at the same time? It’d be sort of like a team of mules.”
Justin joked, “Or a mule and a thoroughbred.”
“I walked right into that one,” Gary said.
Adam yelled out from the front of the bus, “Justin, Gary, look alive, we’re rolling up on the mine.”
“Roger that,” Justin called back.
As they approached the mine, they could see only one guard standing out front. Shelly had the volume all the way up on the commandeered radio. The voice over the radio said, “Here come the buses. It looks like they’re alright. I don’t know why they’d be coming back to the mine.”
Shelly lined up the shot and took out the guard by the mine. Two other guards came running out of the guard house as they passed. Someone from the bus in the rear shot one of the guards, but the other guard took cover.
“They know what’s happening now,” Adam declared.
They drove as fast as they could on the winding gravel roads. They soon reached the underpass and ditched the buses. Justin and Gary quickly found some saplings and cut them down. Sam and his team started moving the rest of the freed prisoners ahead and Adam’s team worked together to get Matt mobilized. They quickly loaded him onto the make-shift stretcher and took turns pulling it along. Adam’s team worked their way along the river bank and reached the bridge without incident. Once over the bridge, the militiamen from Warfield ferried everyone back to the outpost.
Adam said to the freed prisoners and the rest of the rescue team, “We’ve got to keep an eye open to see if they are going to hit us tonight. If they are, this is as good of a place as any to make a stand.”
The militia worked to get the prisoners something decent to eat. They were all very appreciative. As the sun set and evening came, it appeared they were not going to be pursued back across the river.
Matt asked Justin, “So who else died at Pikeville?”
Justin told him the details of Pikeville, then filled him in on how they had taken care of Michael and extracted Matt’s location from Michael’s brother-in-law.
After Doc finished the huge meal the Warfield militia had provided, he worked on making Matt a rudimentary set of crutches. He stitched up Matt’s leg and changed out his bandages.
Adam came around and sat with Matt for a while. “It’s really good to see you alive.”
“I’m so sorry to hear about Wes,” Matt said.
“We’ll miss him,” Adam said. “Somebody’s been missing you.” I’m going to have Shelly and Justin take you back tonight. I just wanted to make sure we weren’t going to get hit during the retreat.”
Matt said, “Thanks. I’ve been going crazy wondering if Karen was okay. And my cat. I miss my cat. And you and the girls, of course.”
Adam joked, “But you missed the cat more than me.”
Matt was weak but he still had his wit. “You’re not as petable. Bring Doc back with you when you come. I’ll make a place for him at my house. He’s from West Virginia. He won’t have anywhere to go home to.”
Adam nodded.
The militia men loaded some spare blankets in the back of the truck to make Matt’s ride home as comfortable as possible and they headed home.
Matt breathed in the fresh air and looked up at the uncovered night sky. Out in the country, the stars were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. He thought what it would be like to be home and sleeping in his own bed next to his wife and to have his cat curled up on the pillow above Karen. Matt said a prayer to thank God for sending Adam and the others to rescue him. Only hours ago, he had wondered if he would ever see Karen again. Now she would be in his arms in a couple of hours.
They finally arrived home and Karen ran out to meet them. Rene stood on the porch.
“Is he okay?” Karen asked Justin as they pulled up.
Justin motioned toward the bed of the truck, “He’s fine. He has a bum leg, but he’ll be just fine in a few days.”
They got Matt into the house and Karen asked, “You lost so much weight. What do you want to eat?”
Matt answered, “The militia fed us before we left. That was about three hours ago, but I could probably have a little snack.”
Matt got cleaned up and put on some fresh clothes. After dinner, they all sat around and got caught up on what had happened since Matt was captured. Rene told the story of the burglary. Shelly told Matt how beautiful Wesley’s memorial service had been. Karen and Matt held each other tight the whole time. Miss Mae sat in Matt’s lap. She seemed especially glad to see him.
Shelly said, “I need to get home and let Janice know that everything turned out well. I’m sure she and the girls will want to come say hello to Matt in the morning. We’ll let you get some sleep tonight.”
Everyone said good-bye to Shelly. Matt thanked her for her part in the rescue.
Rene gave Justin a stern look. “I thought this mission was no girls allowed.”
Justin replied, “That’s Adam’s department, you’ll have to take that up with him.”
Matt jumped in, “Justin tells me that you headed up the recon mission to locate me. Thank you very much, Rene.”
Rene said, “You and Karen have been so good to us, I wish I could have done more.”
Everyone got rea
dy for bed, said their good nights and turned in.
CHAPTER 27
“Sir, I trust I have long since made my peace with the King of kings. No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my Country. Tell Governor Gage it is the advice of Samuel Adams to him no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated people.”
-Samuel Adams
Paul Randall returned from his morning walk Friday morning. While his security detail requested that he stay on the ranch, he could at least walk around his own property to get some fresh air and exercise. He would often take yet another walk in the early evenings with his wife, Kimberly, but he reserved the mornings for clearing his head and prayer.
Sonny met him at the door. “Sir, Governor Simmons of Kentucky is really pushing for Coalition assistance in getting DHS out of Pikeville. He says he’ll do it alone if he has to, but he really wants the Coalition to help out.”
“Thanks, Sonny,” Paul replied. “Can you set up a conference between Simmons, the other Southern Coalition governors and myself?”
“For what time?” Sonny asked.
Randall answered, “As soon as possible. Jefferson should be in the conference also.”
Sonny replied, “I’ll see if everyone can meet at eleven if that works for you.”
“Eleven is great,” Paul went upstairs to get a quick shower. He hadn’t worked up much of a sweat on his walk, but he liked to start the day fresh. Once the day started, it was hard to say when it would end. Reviving a lost republic was no small task. Once dressed, he headed straight for his office. He settled into his chair and began checking his email.
There was a light rap on his office door, then it opened. “Dad!” Ryan stuck his head in the door.
“Ryan, what a surprise!” Paul jumped up and embraced his son. “Does your mom know you’re here?”
“Not yet,” he replied. “I just snuck in. I brought her flowers. I want to put them in a vase before she sees me.”