Ben suddenly stood and hugged Nate. Nate was stunned and slowly put his arm around him to hug him back.
It had been ten minutes since Nate left Ben in the woods alone. He sat off at a slow jog down the mountain through the woods wearing only his favorite Browning hunting t-shirt and jeans with his hunting boots. They were easy to run in and had a good bite into the earth for traction. He reached the road and started running now again with his rifle in hand. Over his back was a small expedition sling bag with the extra ammo and a knife along with one bottle of water. The road was soft packed dirt, and he could see other tracks some that looked very fresh resembling other ATV type vehicles. Nate had a bad feeling. He tried to shake the feeling but could not. For now, he ignored it and focused on the road and sounds that grew louder ahead. Beyond the next turn in the road, he would be at the party and now had to hike the mountain nearest the camp to gain a better view. This would take the time to reach a point that he could see down into the smoky area. These people were taking big chances on such a massive fire. He had not seen much rain since arriving in Colorado, and this area like most of Colorado was a tinder box. It took Nate 25 minutes to reach a valid spot to see down below.
He counted about seven tents in total with one primary tent near the central bonfire. He could see the source of the music. It came from one large tall black speaker much like you would find at a rock concert. It blasted out something, some head banging crap but was so distorted that the words were unrecognizable. The tune was easier to recognize it was AC/DC’s Shoot To Thrill. Apparently, it was the only song right now played. The speaker sat on top of a flatbed semi-trailer. The trailer's wheels were flat. The semi was gone. Nate figured the driver was trying to ditch some weight and left the trailer and whatever it was hauling behind. The trailer also had one large generator and other smaller items that looked like tents and tarp poles. Nate’s impression was this trailer was hauling someone’s band setup or party equipment when things hit bottom.
The people now using the equipment seemed to have taken it over making a small town out of the supplies. The road where Nate would have ridden up to had one small ATV blocking the path with one man with some rifle. Several cars had been parked up and down the road some of the roads and flipped over. Nate noticed then the actual road had huge dug out sections. This was apparently an ambush type setup. Pure speculation but all the pieces fit. Just a lot more in your face, and why not, there wasn’t any law enforcement to stop them. Nate did notice near the generator about ten gas cans, yet no running cars. The loud music muffled the work of the generator.
Nate watched from his perch on the mountain as his Ranger and Ben with another man drove up followed by two other smaller ATV’s. Nate’s heart sank, and for the very first time in his life, he felt helpless. The depression swarmed over him like bees trying to protect their hive. He silently watched as Ben seemed to stare into the darkness head scanning all around but looking up into the woods. It was then that Nate realized Ben was looking for him. Nate wanted to rush down open fire and take Ben back, but he needed to wait just a little longer to see what was going on, what were these people doing and see where they took all of his gear. So far Nate had counted only ten men and four women. There were no children. The women did not look like they belonged to the group. Nate worked his way down closer to watch Ben and see things easier. So far, Ben appeared to be unharmed. He was still sitting in the Ranger. Nate’s pack was on top of the ATV behind Ben and seemed to be gone through. Nate was growing more pissed by the second. Not every man Nate had seen carried a weapon. This wasn’t as strange as some might think because, during a time when guns and ammo were harder to find, not everyone could have equal shares of protection. Nate crawled down to a spot on a huge boulder and could easily hear and see the movements below.
The women Nate could see were busy tending small pots over open fires. Each one stirred and tasted the steps they made. The men were busy going over their catches in the woods. Each ATV rider came to the Bonfire with the day's hunt. Some carried small game while one dragged over a huge elk with his ATV. These guys were not locals, however; each one had what Nate could only say was a New Jersey accent. Somehow these flat footers had managed to kill some animals and just figured they would rough it out taking others belongings to survive. Ben sat looking straight up at Nate. Nate hadn’t seen him looking yet, but somehow, maybe in the firelight and sun going down, Ben had spotted Nate.
Nate’s gaze looked down to see Ben smiling at him. Nate was stunned and smiled back with a slight wave and motion to be silent with the finger to the mouth. Ben didn’t move. Nate was relieved now some that Ben at least knew he was there and watching
Nate looked up to the nearest tent to see women moving slowly towards the small pot that hung over the small fire. She dragged her foot along. She was chained to the ground like a dog. Nate looked at each woman and found them all but one to be the same. Nate looked up the road, his way through and out this mess. He could see many more cars and one small church bus. It was a Pentecostal church bus. Then Nate realized as he looked back to each of the women wearing long skirts what was going on.
Nate was assuming these women were captured and turned into these men’s slaves in many ways. This was much like Nate’s thoughts earlier about tyrants but on a more primitive and barbaric way. Slavery was often imposed by tyrants to control the population. It didn’t matter if it was based on race or economic conditions, slavery was wrong, and this was slavery, based on both current conditions and power of the women. None of the women smiled, all had long locks of hair that needed to be combed badly. Nate wondered if up the road at Cripple Creek they had any idea this was taking place. How could there be so many people back there living in harmony yet the fourteenth century living here? It was a question that would never be answered or addressed directly. The only thing that men like this understood was a force.
The sun was nearly set enough that everything appeared to be darker. The ghostly dance of the reddish flames lit up the narrow canyon walls as embers slowly drifted higher twirling in the breeze and down drafts from the nearby mountains cooling temperatures. Nate was still surprised these idiots hadn’t started a fire. Nate’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone being smacked. He looked over to see a tall, slender man wearing a sports jacket of all things slapping one of the women. She ran into the tent near her and disappeared. The man’s jacket was torn in the back and looked very dirty. He didn’t fit the area either, his boots looked too big for his feet, and Nate assumed he took them from someone who tried to pass through here within the past month. The man stood over the small fire pit and still tasted whatever it was the woman had cooked. He spits it out. Disgusted, he walked back to the group of men. The men started laughing as he walked up. In total, he counted seven men and four women. He looked back at Ben, who was trying not to look up at Nate. Nate couldn’t tell, but he assumed Ben’s hands were tied. He wasn’t able to just get up. His priority was to get to Ben, putting him in a safer area. This would not be easy. The area was tight since the road was narrow with abandoned cars and tents in the little makeshift village. This did present some opportunities, though, for, close quarter combat and areas to conceal to a degree.
Nate waited for Ben to gaze up at him one more time. Then he tried to use hand signals to indicate some aspect of his time to come down. He pointed at the sun and made a motion of it going down behind his other hand. Then he pointed at himself and made finger walking motions walking down then pointed at Ben. He seemed a little confused at first then Nate repeated it all. Almost like a light coming on, Ben’s expression changed as if he understood. He smiled at Nate, stood and climbed out of the Ranger and began to walk hands tied up the road in the direction they needed to go. Nate’s heart skipped a beat and spun to look at the men. So far none of them had noticed their prisoner walking away. Nate trained his rifle scope on them and watched. Each one was taking turns on a bottle of liquor. Nate turned to see Ben still walking as if he was
going to school or something straight up the road. The sun was going down to the point that it was easy to see the crepuscular ray’s shining above the tree line but they provided hardly any light.
Nate could not believe his eyes. He had never planned for Ben to get up or move until he got to him. The kid seemed to have no fear which scared Nate. He had to do the right thing now and get to his Ranger, but what about the women? They were apparent slaves, more than likely sex slaves. He had seen this in other countries, but they were forbidden to do anything about it, even though they did at times. Nate looked one last time to see Ben still walking then run over behind one of the abandoned cars near the church bus that was also off in the ditch.
Ok, at least he is out of view now. Nate thought. Nate headed down the slope of the boulder facing in on the mountain. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and finally made it to the bottom of the tree line, staying in the blindside view provided by the huge fire. Anyone knows that when you stand too close to fire, you become blinded to what lies just past the light cast from the flames. Nate knew this and didn’t think these men had a clue. He pulled his Glock and slowly walked up to the point that the men still couldn’t see him. He was careful about how he walked, making every effort to not make any sounds. From the looks of the kills on the four ATV’S, they had become good hunters, but now they were the hunted. Nate stepped aside to the nearest tent just as a woman stepped out. She gasped but went silent as Nate put his finger to his mouth to indicate silence. She slowly nodded. In an instant, he removed his knife and sliced off the four zip ties that held her to the dog chain. Nate spoke softly.
“Do not run now. Wait until you hear nothing after any shooting. I will come for each of you. Stay in your tent. Grab a pot here and use it as a weapon if I don’t return.” She nodded.
She was a beautiful woman in her late 40’s Nate thought. She had long dirty blond hair, big green eyes. Her face was swollen though he was sure he knew how that happened. Nate asked her one question.
“How many men are here? Is this all of them?” he asked, wanting to be certain. She nodded that this was all of them. She reached down and picked up a rusted old cast iron skillet and hid back in the tent like Nate asked, waiting. Nate scuttled in the dark, keeping the men in sight but still relying on their impaired vision. The next tent, he found one lady sleeping and decided, for now, to let her sleep. If he woke her she might scream. In the next two tents, he found several women in each. He released them all, the same as the first. Some argued to leave right then, but Nate convinced them to wait. He had to reveal to them that he was in law enforcement and commanded them both to wait it was safer and the men were taken into custody. He tried to make it all sound real authoritative. Each of the women had enough chains on them to prevent them from running away. The zip ties were used to help secure the chains around the ankles. The hands and arms were more loosely bound so the women could cook and do other things.
The women were secured for now. It was time to convince these men to lay down their weapons.
As Nate approached, he saw one man look back towards where Ben had been and then took a double take, realizing he was gone. He yelled.
“Damn, where did that kid go? Don, I thought he tied him to that cart.” He said headed down towards the ATV. Nate watched just for a second as the other men didn’t seem too worried or even scared. They went back to the bottle. Nate made his move and paralleled the man back to the ranger. He came up and from the side wrapping his large arms around the man’s neck and brought him swiftly to the ground and dragged him to the side. The man was gasping for breath as his feet flickered away at the air. Nate punched him square in the jaw, knocking him out. He looked around and saw some of the same dog chains they had been using on the women. He rolled the man over and bound him like a cop would with cuffs. Nate opened his small sling bag and quickly removed about the 8-foot shank of paracord to tie the man’s feet up and pulled them back to his hands. Nate stood looking down at the man calf. Living on a ranch, you learned how to do this pretty fast.
Now there were just six men, and three of them had rifles. The others didn’t have any firearms that he could see. It was completely dark, and Nate used this to his advantage. He wanted to end this now. It was getting late, and he had a plan.
Nate moved in as close as he could without being seen. He looked around and saw one of the men was holding his 45-70 rifle. Nate became irritated as the man kept twirling it and running the lever action like he was in a western.
“Ok, enough of this shit” Nate said under his breath. He fired one round into the ground at the feet of the men. They nearly came out of their skins and before they could move to react another round found its place even closer. Nate shouted.
“The next one will find its mark, trust me. Put down the guns NOW. I will only give you this warning here and now. If you try to shoot or move, I will put you down where you stand.” Nate commanded.
“Who are you?” one brave soul spoke. Nate could tell he must be the leader. Nate could kill him to make his point. No, Nate had other plans for the man in the suit, Mr. Jersey Shore. Nate loaded his bag of snake shot in his Glock. Then he took careful aim knowing the spread of the shot. He fired. The man dropped Nate’s rifle and dropped to the ground screaming.
“He freaking shot me” The others quickly dropped their rifles.
“Now, each one of you lay where you stand, on the ground, hands behind your back.” Nate walked over, rifle slung across his back and Glock in hand. Each of the men on the ground looked up to see one very large man coming their way.
“You guys made a lot of mistakes. Mistake number one is hurting women.” Nate yelled for the women to come out. Slowly, they all came out, even the one sleeping, who slept through the gunfire. Depression will do that to you, Nate thought. He had a few of the women use the chains that were on them and tie each of the men up. About this time Nate saw Ben walking up still hands tied. The woman looked surprised to see the boy.
“Where did you come from?” the oldest lady stepped forward to ask him.
“He is with me. That’s my son,” Nate replied firmly, as he removed his knife to cut the rope from Ben’s hands. Ben stepped into Nate and hugged him like a father.
Nate helped the woman secure all the men well. Nate spoke to them all and addressed their medical issues with his first aid kit that was still on his ATV. Ben helped the women find all of their supplies that they had arrived with. Nate was right; the bus was theirs. The entire events that lead up to all of this were due to the crash of the economy and some bad men who happened to be broke down. They convinced people driving through the canyon by their looks to stop. These men were far from good people. It turned out each one of them belonged to a crime syndicate back in New York. They all had ID’s and were not afraid to make threats to Nate about their boss was going to do to him. Nate walked right up to the loud mouth.
“You have a big mouth for such a little man. Do you think I care about some so-called punk boss you have? Listen, I have seen the movies, and I know how that all works, but this isn’t the movies, tough guy. We have an apocalyptic failure of government and markets around the world. Let me explain what's happened in all the big cities to you. Try to follow me if you can.” Nate walked around him describing everything to them all, even the women. They clearly had no real ideas of what happened.
“You will likely never see New York again. The way of life you knew is GONE. But you are about to learn a new way of life, one that’s over a hundred years old, a type of justice system we should have never gotten rid of all those years ago.” Nate said.
“Man, what are you talking about?” Nate smiled. You are all going to walk back to the north to the small town of Cripple Creek. It’s a nice town people wave and smile. But I did see an old style jail there that will fit all of you just fine. I could have dispensed the justice myself; I know what went on here. I am sure these women will be happy to testify back in that town.” Nate said.
“How a
re we going to walk that far,” he asked. Nate smiled as he walked over to one of the women to talk to her.
“I frankly don’t care if you walk or are dragged all the way there. I suggest you walk though and keep up.” Nate replied. Nate discussed his ideas with the woman, and they all happily and eagerly agreed. Originally they headed to Cripple Creek anyway. Nate prepared the ATVs making sure they all had gas enough to make it to the town about 10 miles up the road. With three ATV’s, each woman could double up, and one could carry their belongings. He gave the ones riding along each a rifle.
Nate discussed with them the use of the rifles and discovered all of them grew up with rifles and knew well how to use them. They all seemed to be in good physical health, but their mental well-being would take time. He asked the women if they had any paper anywhere. They did. Surprisingly, they had found most of their belongings still in the church bus. Nate had taken the time to inspect it but a stray bullet had ruptured a cylinder. The plan was simple the men would have to be all chained together with long limbs Nate had fashioned to ensure they could not escape. It was an old technique he learned overseas. He spaced two men out and secured a tree branch between the next two and so on. The front walker had to carry the large branch which was secured to his wrists. His waist was also secured to the branch, escaping by running would not happen without dragging the dead weight of everyone behind you. Nate spent a few hours securing them all finally rigging them about fifty feet behind the ATV that would be pulling them along. If one person fell to bad, they would just be dragged to the town. It was a small price to pay for being alive.
The oldest lady in the group of women walked up to Nate, with the others coming up behind her.
“We wanted to say thank you for helping us. Things were horrible here, and I’m not sure how long any of us would have hung on.” She said reaching out to hug Nate. As she did the others, each came forward doing the same.
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