“Ben, we have to slowly get up and leave. Don’t move fast, just act normal. I think someone else is here.”
Ben tried not to turn his head, but he felt his eyes start to turn. As he did so, he saw one very large man slowly moving out of the bushes approaching from an angle Nate couldn’t see. He put his gaze back on Nate and slowly spoke.
“Dad, there is a very big man coming up out of the bushes, He has a rifle,” Ben said, starting to get a little scared.
Nate already had his hand on his pistol. It was hidden under the left side of his jacket and he pointed it away from Ben.
“I would put that pistol down, boy. You might get him, but you won’t get me,” a very loud and deep menacing voice said from a direction that only Nate could now see. A man, taller than Nate and wearing a ghillie suit, slowly stood with what appeared to be a scoped sniper type rifle aimed right at him or Ben, it was hard to tell.
Nate slowly removed his hand holding the pistol, and stood up, making himself the target over his son. The other man was upon them now, and he kept his distance from Nate.
“Both of you slowly stand and move away from your packs and weapons,” the ghillie suit man commanded. As he and Ben did as direct, the gunman stepped out from his bush that shielded him so well from Nate’s usually good sense of danger. Then the other man spoke. His voice sounded much like the others.
“Now move over there and lie flat on the ground,” he said, pointing his SKS motioning them to the ground.
Ben was starting to get nervous. Nate stepped forward in front of the man.
“If you think I am going to just lie down for you to kill us both like dogs, you are greatly mistaken,” Nate warned the man as he was preparing to take his chances against the speed of the man’s aim that was way too close to Nate.
“If I wanted you dead, you would have been dead as you walked up to the picnic table talking about how good it felt to get out in nature. Now get your assess on the ground, or I may rethink all of this,” ghillie suit stated.
Nate slowly turned and looked at the man who was now removing his head covering. He was older than Nate by a few years. His hair was cut high and tight like a military style. The man had a commanding nature about him. His movements as he came out of the brush and approached them suggested that he was highly trained. Nate motioned to Ben who was nearly in tears, to drop to his knees and not to worry. Nate also fell to his knees with his hands behind his head. This was his way of showing some defiance.
“I have them covered; search them and tie them up,” the ghillie suited man told the other has he kept his aim on Nate.
The other man quickly tied Nate’s wrists up behind his back with a zip tie. He tied Ben’s wrists up as well. Ben grimaced at the amount of pressure put on his wrists.
“Ouch!” Ben said really loud.
With that, Nate quickly jumped up and rammed the larger man to the ground, and using only his legs, he round housed the rifle from the man’s hands. The man was stunned as he tried to get his balance. The ghillie suit man did nothing but watch as the tied up man was doing a good job on his partner. A slight smile came across his face.
Nate didn’t waste a second, he jumped high up and kicked the man in the face. As the man went down, Nate jumped on top of him, legs straddling his chest; all with his hands still secured behind his back. Nate flexed hard at his wrists in a twisting motion and broke the zip ties. The man’s eyes opened wide as he turned back to look at his ghillie suit friend standing there laughing, still aiming the weapon. Nate began punching the man.
Boom!
The man fired one shot into the dirt near Nate.
“Ok, that’s enough. You made your point. The next one won’t hit the dirt,” he warned.
Nate stood hands free now. He looked down at the man’s bloody face.
“Hurt that kid again, and next time I’ll kill you,” Nate said as he looked back at the man holding aim on him. Nate didn’t say another word. The ghillie man stood for a second, studying Nate.
“We won’t hurt the kid again, but you will not break the next set of zip ties,” he said, removing a pair of handcuffs. He tossed them to the man on the ground.
The man slowly got up without saying a word, and pulled Nate’s hands together behind his back. Nate had never been in cuffs for anything but practice in removing them. Then the man he had beaten, punched Nate in the back of the head; forcing him to move forward. Nate spun around, staring into the eyes of the man who was a few inches taller than he was.
“Alright, let’s get moving. Ray, grab their gear. I will handle the weapons,” he said, throwing both Nate and Ben’s rifles over his shoulder, never taking his aim off Nate who watched his every move.
The two men pushed Nate and Ben further up a trail that led them both further into the forest. The elevation was going to get much higher soon, and the temperature would start to drop as nighttime brought with it the cold weather of the Bighorn Mountains.
Chapter 4
Training
The trail wasn’t much more than a game trail. The only thing missing was the game. Nate figured that whoever lived this high up in the area must have put a large dent in the local wildlife population by now. Nate walked ahead of Ben. About thirty minutes of hiking had taken place so far. Nate was fine but he worried about Ben. He looked back at him a few times every few minutes to check on him. The ghillie man walked just behind Nate, with Ben behind him, and the man Nate beat up bringing up the rear.
“Just keep moving, the boy is doing fine,” ghillie man said, looking at Nate.
“I will be the one who determines that,” Nate replied.
The older man chuckled aloud. “You are quite the character; you seem to be very sure of yourself,” he replied.
Nate didn’t say a word, but he what was really going on. He knew the man was right; if they wanted them dead, they would both be dead by now. Why this march to somewhere unknown? Where were they going, and who or what was waiting for them? The first thing that came to Nate’s mind were crazy ass people who reverted to eating people because they were so hungry. The thought was a normal one during times like these. However, the two men who had captured them did not look famished in anyway. Nate’s first impression was that they were angry about something. He didn’t know what, but that was his guess. The pace they kept was starting to wear Ben down. He was dragging more now. He wasn’t used to the elevations they were currently facing.
“Ben, control your breathing and try to pace yourself,” Nate said under his breath.
Ghillie suit man looked up toward Ben. He then looked at Nate. “A young man his age should be in better shape, I would have his ass running hard in my days with the service,” he said.
Nate had always kept the physical condition of his men in his mind while in the service, so he could relate to what ghillie suit man was saying.
Finally, their walk reached an open area – a plateau of sorts. Up a head, Nate could see a clearing that looked like an old forest ranger’s office. The main building was a typical looking cabin structure with one large chimney. There appeared to be a large propane tank above ground next to the facility. Several lights surrounded the cabin but none were on yet, even with nightfall coming. As they got closer, Nate could see several tents around the cabin. One large bonfire was sending small amounts of smoke up, probably just getting started. There were a few cars that appeared to be abandoned, and dead weeds had grown around them off the only road leading up to the ranger cabin. As they came closer, the ghillie man suddenly whistled a few chirps. He waited to hear the same signal back before going forward.
Nate could see two men and one woman approaching from behind what appeared to be a small outhouse. The woman smiled as she saw the ghillie man. She ran toward him.
“Dillon, I was getting worried. You’ve been gone way too long, and who are these people? Are they with that group? Did you see anything? Any signs?”
Dillon raised his hand to her mouth to silence her. Apparently, s
he had already said too much.
“Not sure,” Dillon said. He turned to the other two men who just stood looking over Nate and Ben. One man was maybe in his twenties, the second was near Nate’s age. Both men were dressed in thin jackets and seemed out of place. They only had small .22 caliber rifles with long curved banana style magazines in them. Each rifle was the clear kind that one could easily see the ammo through. Nate then realized the woman was looking at him.
“Dillon, I was here when they were taken. I don’t remember seeing either of these two before. Where did you find them?”
Dillon walked away with the woman to talk. Nate was trying to listen to what they discussed.
“I found them down in the foothills. I was trying to get us a deer when I heard them coming. I am not sure who they are, but I couldn’t take a chance, so I grabbed them up,” Dillon replied.
The woman placed her hand on his shoulder. She could see the anger in him and understood.
She turned to look at Nate and Ben. “Dillon, I don’t think that boy or that man are the ones. Let’s talk to them and see what they say.”
He nodded.
“Be careful, Becky; that man can fight like I haven’t seen since the service. He took down Ray with just his legs,” he said smiling.
Becky turned to see the marks on Ray’s face. Ray made a face back at her, and then he smiled.
Nate couldn’t hear much of the conversation, but he didn’t feel threatened by her or the ghillie man any longer. She approached him and stopped about five feet from Nate.
“What is your name?” she asked.
Nate looked at her for a moment. She was probably the same age as he was. She looked like she could be a teacher or some other sort of academic. She just had that aura about her.
“My name is Nate,” he said honestly.
She looked at Ben. “And you?” she asked Ben.
Ben raised up his tired face. “I’m his son, Ben,” he replied.
She looked at Dillon and then back at Nate. “Where are you from, and what were you doing down in the foothills?” she asked.
This is where Nate decided to be a little more direct.
“Why was I on my own land? Well, if you must know, I was out with my son training him on how to shoot, and to get some exercise. Why were you two on my land, and why are we here?”
Becky looked puzzled. She wasn’t expecting to be questioned, and she didn’t know that area belonged to anyone. She had assumed the entire area was part of the Big Horn.
“Your land? So where do you live?” she asked.
Nate snickered at her. “Listen, you have me in handcuffs and dragged my ass up here. Do you really think I’m going to tell you where I live? I think you are looking for someone, and it’s not us and you know it. So how about you let us go,” Nate asked.
“Take them to the shed and lock them in for now,” Dillon said, waving to Ray to move them.
Becky watched as Nate and Ben were escorted down the trail to a small woodshed. Ray opened the door, pushed them both in, and locked the door with a padlock.
“Dillon, they aren’t the ones, or even part of that group; you know that, right?” Becky asked, moving closer to Dillon. She held his hand in hers, trying to get his eyes to move from watching Ray, and to focus on what she said.
“Yes, I know that now. I thought for sure I had found some of them, and that they could tell us where the group is so we can get our daughter back.”
Becky moved her hand up to the stern looking face of the father of her missing daughter.
“We will find her, but it is wrong for us to hold them when we know they are innocent. There aren’t many of us, we don’t need more enemies,” she said, looking at the rifles slung on Dillon’s back.
“Are those their guns?” she asked.
Dillon removed the guns and held them out toward her. She looked them over.
“Well, this confirms it, the ones that took Kelly had military-looking rifles. What did you say they were?” Becky asked.
Dillon watched as Ray stood by the shed door waiting for him. “They were AR-15s and AK-47s,” he replied.
“You know what has to be done. I know it’s hard, but we have to just say we are sorry,” she said as Dillon looked down at the lady he married twenty-five years earlier up in North Dakota.
“I will go take care of it,” he said.
Becky smiled. “We will…together.”
Dillon and Becky walked down the trail to the shed that was near the main cabin. Ray stood by the flimsy doors. Inside Nate and Ben sat on the mostly dry floor. Nate was reassuring Ben that everything was all going to work out. While reassuring Ben, Nate was already at work, using a twig he had found on the floor, trying to remove his handcuffs. It wouldn’t take him much longer, and he knew that once night came, he could kick down the door.
The door opened, letting in light, and disrupting Nate’s talk with Ben.
“Go ahead and stand up and come out,” Dillon said. Nate stood easily, but Ben was having trouble with his balance until Becky stepped in and helped him up. Nate could see a different expression on her face now.
“Listen, I made a big mistake. Ray take their cuffs off. We will let you go, but I want to explain why I did what I did.”
Ray started to protest but Dillon stopped him from speaking by shaking his head no. That was enough instruction for Ray. He stepped behind Nate and removed his cuffs, then he stepped over to Ben and did the same. Nate pulled his hands up and massaged his wrists. Ben did the same.
“I don’t know who you two are or where you came from. When we heard you coming, we assumed – incorrectly -- that you were a part of a group that took our daughter. We have been searching for her ever since her abduction. You two were the first people we have seen since that occurred a few weeks ago,” Dillon said.
Nate moved closer to Ben, putting his arm around him and checking him over.
“Nate, we are very sorry. We don’t want trouble; we only wanted our daughter back. What would you have done if it were your son?” Becky asked.
Nate had already been in this same situation, and his actions had been somewhat the same – he went after the people who had taken Ben.
“Actually, I would have done the same thing with maybe just some of on-the-spot interrogation first; then if they were not the ones responsible, I would have let them go.” Nate replied.
Dillon looked away when he saw Nate starring at him. Nate suddenly realized he was now being an ass to people who had admitted their mistakes.
“Listen…I’m sorry someone took your daughter. I do understand that feeling more than you know. What happened?” Nate asked as Dillon handed Nate his rifle and unloaded pistol with the mags back. Dillon then handed Ben his rifle back. Dillon looked at Ben and spoke.
“I’m sorry, Ben. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Dillon said as he thought about everything that happened since they were taken prisoner.
Ben smiled. “It’s ok, I’ve been through worse,” Ben said, slinging the rifle over his shoulder.
Dillon eyebrows rose at Ben’s words. Nate saw the reaction.
“Ben is a trooper,” Nate said.
“We had to make this place our home since the collapse. We all were here on vacation in Colorado when it happened. We tried making it back to North Dakota and basically made many wrong turns trying to stay off the major highways. We ended up here. The park ranger that was here told us we could stay, but he left on horseback, never to be seen again. We have propane and a few cords of wood. The ranger had some food and we have well water. Everything was going ok until a few weeks ago. We heard a massive explosion off to the north. We went looking to see what it was, but never discovered the source. Then several men suddenly showed up one night, with the light we could see they were armed with military-style rifles. We took up defensive positions and held our ground. We didn’t know it at the time, but our daughter was in the outhouse when it started. As she came out, they scooped her up. They retreated up the
mountain and we gave chase. Honestly, we were outnumbered and outgunned. The strange thing was…when they did speak a few times, they spoke in another language.” Dillon stopped.
“Another language?” Nate asked. Up until now none of the story made any sense; he figured maybe the abductors were some hillbillies living up in the mountains who were just looking for trouble.
“Yes, it sounded like Russian. I recognized it from having spent some time in Germany when the walls came down,” Dillon recalled.
“Well, I can tell you partially what is going on,” Nate said slowly. He watched as Becky’s eyes widened and Dillon’s face focused on Nate now.
“What do you mean?” Becky asked. Others were walking over now.
“A few weeks ago, there was a Russian invasion force attempting something – what…I don’t know. However, they managed to airdrop in around 130 paratroopers over Sheridan area before the plane experienced mechanical issues and crashed into the mountains,” Nate explained.
Becky’s mouth was gapped open.
“How do you know this?” Ray asked, moving in closer. He had an aggressive stance now. Nate had the impression that Ray believed that Nate was part of the situation that he was describing.
“Because I witnessed it all over our land, and I fought off and killed several of the soldiers,” Nate said firmly in Ray’s face. Ray then stepped back.
“So, these men are Russians who took our daughter? Do you think they are still around here?” Becky asked.
Nate wanted to tell her that they were, but he didn’t know for sure. Nate was very worried for their daughter. He envisioned many bad things that could be happening to her, he didn’t even know her age.
“Yes, I am sure. How old is your daughter?” Nate asked.
“She is seventeen,” Becky replied.
Ben looked at Nate.
“Dad, she is my age. We need to go save her,” Ben said.
Dillon looked at Ben in amazement. This kid, who he had captured, didn’t know his daughter from a hole in the ground, but yet he wanted to go rescue her. Who the hell are these people, Dillon thought.
Defending Home Page 5