All eyes were upon her as the rest of the men manning the blockade stood waiting on the four to lead her down to where the vehicles were parked across the pavement. Megan knew that if she was going to get anywhere with these men, she was going to have to go along with their protocol and show them respect, whether she wanted to or not. Her dad had taught her enough that she knew what the game was all about, and they had literally made a game of it back in the days when she actually got to spend some time with him. Those were the years before her parents’ divorce, when her dad would be there sometimes for a few weeks between missions. She remembered going to the range with him and becoming proficient at shooting at an age when the other girls she went to school with had never even handled a firearm. Her dad had taught her many useful things when he was around, but she resented the fact that he always left again, usually for months, if not years. She had no idea where he was right now, or whether he was alive or dead, but if the fact that he was a former Navy SEAL could give her some leverage with these Army dudes, Megan was going to use it. She got her chance when she was taken before the sergeant in command of the roadblock.
Megan gave the man her full name, date of birth and home address. Then she explained that she was a student at the university in Boulder and that she’d left there to escape the riots and violence that had taken over the campus and the city.
“Why did you go into the mountains, if you weren’t mixed up with the troublemakers? There were shelters in place for students that needed a place to go.”
“We left because my roommate’s grandfather had a ranch way out in the mountains. We thought it would be safe to go there, but then we got separated and it was just me and my friend, Aaron. I was going with him to his family’s place in New Mexico when this happened.” Megan left out the details about going to the ranch and then leaving because of Gareth. She was focused instead on the immediate problem; the fact that she and Aaron had inadvertently wandered into an area taken over by a heavily-armed militia group, and that Aaron had been taken captive while protecting her. “I’m just looking for help, sir,” she said. “I knew the Army would be interested in knowing about those militia guys and where they are, so I came looking for the first outpost I could find. I figured you would be grateful to get first-hand intel from on the ground.”
The sergeant gave her a funny look at this statement. “Intel from on the ground, huh?”
“My dad told me a lot of stories about the missions he did. A big part of his job was observation behind enemy lines, setting up airstrikes and things like that. He said it was critical to get the details right, and I did. I know exactly where this place is.”
“Behind enemy lines, huh? So, your dad was in the service?”
“Yes, sir! The Navy. He was a SEAL team operator and he did all kinds of dangerous missions behind enemy lines.”
The sergeant was skeptical until Megan persisted, giving him some of the details Eric had told her until he no longer doubted that her father had indeed served. But that didn’t convince him that she had any worthwhile information as she claimed.
“I’m telling you, I saw it firsthand. This is not some little gang of looters hiding out up there. They’re gathering forces in those mountains, and they’re getting ready to do something big. I don’t know what that might be, but I know that there’s a lot of them and that they have all kinds of equipment. The kind of stuff they couldn’t have just bought before all this started.”
The more she told him, the more Megan could tell that she had the sergeant’s interest. Now they were sitting inside his field office in the portable building, and he’d said enough to indicate that the presence of this militia group in the nearby mountains was known to them and doing something about it was already on the agenda. That was one reason for the location of this particular checkpoint, as the road they were on was one of the few access points to the area. Megan’s timing in coming here with this information was good, so she was careful to give him as many details as she could remember, starting from the beginning:
“Aaron and I did our best to never get separated while we were on the trail,” Megan said, “but that afternoon we’d found the perfect place to camp under a rock overhang just far enough off the trail to be out of sight. The only problem was that the closest water was a little creek we could barely make out through the trees, about a quarter mile farther down the trail and several hundred feet lower. Aaron said there was no point in us both going, because I could start gathering wood for a fire. So, he left the saddles with me and went by himself to water the horses. I didn’t think much about it, because we hadn’t seen anybody in two days, but about fifteen minutes later, I heard shouting.
“It was more than one voice and none of them sounded like Aaron. I couldn’t see anything from where I was, so I started down there to see what was going on, but I didn’t want anyone to see me until I knew who was there. Aaron had the rifle with him, so I wasn’t really worried, but I grabbed the pistol we had too, just in case. We had been very careful to avoid other people as much as possible, and we never expected to have to use them, but we always kept the guns loaded and ready.
“Anyway, I made my way down there towards the creek as quietly as possible, not on the trail, but cutting through the woods so I wouldn’t be seen, and the closer I got, the more I realized something bad was going on. I saw the horses first, with two strangers holding the reins of each of them. Then, I saw that there were several more of them, all men, and that they were all carrying guns that looked like military rifles. At first, I thought they might be soldiers, but they weren’t in matching uniforms. Some of them were wearing green or tan clothing and some were in camouflage, but nothing that looked official. I finally saw Aaron when I moved a little closer, watching them from behind a big tree. Several of the men had him surrounded and were pointing their guns at him, and I counted a total of eleven of them. Aaron was on his knees and it looked like his hands were either tied or handcuffed behind his back.
“He was saying something to them and they seemed to be arguing back and forth with him and amongst themselves. I was terrified that they were going to shoot him, but then they pulled him up to his feet and made him go with them. I saw him turn and glance back up in the direction of the place where we were going to camp, and I know he was probably hoping that I was still up there, and that they wouldn’t find me. I wanted to do something to help him, but I knew if those men saw me that they would come after me and if they caught me, I’d never be able to do anything for Aaron. They were taking him and the two horses away, but they apparently thought he was alone and had no idea they were being watched.
“They headed south, along the main trail in the direction we had been going. I knew I had to follow them, and that there was no time to go back and get my backpack or any of my gear or food because they might turn off the trail and then I’d never find them. So that’s what I did, but I stayed way back, several hundred feet behind the two leading our horses, that were at the rear of the group. It was probably two miles and then we came to a road that crossed the trail. It was just gravel, like most of the roads up there, and I knew it was probably a forest service road. They turned right onto it and kept going, and I followed them, but I had to stay a lot farther back on the road than I did on the trail. They kept going even after it got dark, but within another hour or so, I could see campfires up ahead and I heard more voices. A lot more. I circled through the woods near the side of the road and tried to get a better look. There were lots of different campfires and a bunch of big tents. I couldn’t tell how many people were there, but I knew it was a lot. I didn’t know what they had done with Aaron, but I knew he was in that camp somewhere, and I wasn’t about to leave him there if I could figure out a way to get him out.
“It was freezing cold after dark though and I didn’t have my sleeping bag and of course, I couldn’t build a fire. I knew I had to do something to stay warm, so I moved farther back in the woods, away from the camp and found a big fallen log I
could get part of the way under. I piled spruce branches up against it to keep out the wind and crawled in there to wait until morning. I thought I was going to freeze to death, but as soon as it was daylight, I knew I had to sneak back there and try and see if I could spot Aaron.
“When it got lighter and I could see all of the camp, I saw that they had one big tent that was surrounded by razor wire like a prison and I knew that was probably where they’d put him. I found out I was right after I had been watching for a couple of hours and saw him and some other people walking around inside the wire. They had made Aaron a prisoner, but I had no idea why. All I knew was that these people weren’t with the military and they had no right to hold him like that. The more I watched them, the more I began to realize that they were up to something, and I knew that they were troublemakers or terrorists of some kind, and that they had set up their camp there because the area was remote and hard to get to. I realized they must have made Aaron and the others there either prisoners or hostages for some reason. Whatever they were going to do, I knew it was impossible for me to help Aaron alone. I hated to leave him there, but I knew he wouldn’t want me to get caught too, and I was afraid if I stayed close to that place for too long, I would be.
“So, I left and went back to where we’d left the saddles and the other gear. I put all the food I could carry in my backpack and then I studied the maps we had to try and find the nearest main road, which was this one. I knew if all the stories I’d heard were true, that I would find an official checkpoint on it somewhere, and when I saw your vehicles parked across it, I got as close as I could on the ridge up there and watched until I was sure you were really with the actual military.”
The sergeant listened to her entire story without interruption, but she couldn’t read his expressionless face, and when she was finished, she didn’t know whether he believed anything she’d just told him or not. “I can draw you a map of the exact spot where they are,” she said. “I made careful mental notes of all the turns I made on the way out after I gathered my stuff. It’s at the end of an actual road, so it’s not that hard to find, it’s just that it looks like it was a seldom-used road even before things turned out as they did.”
“We’re aware of a group of insurgents operating out of the backcountry up there,” the sergeant said. “We think they’re the same group that attacked and raided a national guard convoy several months ago. One reason we’re here is to control access to and from those mountain areas, but we haven’t been given authorization or the resources to actively hunt them down. Your information is interesting though, and I’ll pass it along to my commanding officer.”
“That’s it? What about Aaron and the other prisoners? Those people may kill them if something’s not done soon!”
“I understand your concern, miss. But I don’t get to make those kinds of decisions. All I can do is pass the information along, and yes, if you want to sketch out a map of what you know, I could use that too.”
“And then what? What am I supposed to do now? I can’t go back there alone.”
“No. You don’t need to be traveling anywhere alone. It’s not only dangerous, but unauthorized personnel entering restricted areas is forbidden. You did the right thing, coming directly to my post and explaining your situation, because if you’d been seen trying to go around the checkpoint, you would have been arrested or shot. Since you’ve provided me with some potentially useful intel though, I will see if I can pull some strings and keep you out of the nearest refugee center. Is there someplace you’d like to go instead, if I can arrange transportation?”
Fourteen
AARON SANTOS WOKE TO the roar of automatic gunfire and explosions, seemingly coming from all directions at once. He was already sleeping on the floor of the big tent, so there was nowhere to go that would get him any lower, but he rolled over on his belly anyway and flattened himself to the ground as much as possible. He had no idea what time it was, as he’d been asleep until it started, but he could tell it was still dark out despite the flashes from the explosions and the fires that were already burning in the encampment. Aaron heard screams too along with the gunfire, and the sound of men shouting in confusion and fear. It only took him a few seconds to realize that his captors were under attack, and that it was a major attack at that. How long that first fusillade lasted, he had no idea, as he lost all sense of time while he waited to see what was going to happen next. Like the others confined in the tent with him, there was little else Aaron could do. He had no weapons, and there was no escaping the razor-wire enclosure outside the tent, especially not with bullets flying everywhere, some of them striking his companions inside as well.
Aaron screamed at them to all stay down, but some didn’t listen. He crawled to the far end where the two girls were and called out to Colleen. She answered and said she was okay, but the other one, whose name was Pamela, had been hit. Colleen was bent over her, trying to stop the bleeding, but when Aaron felt his way to them in the dark, he soon found himself in a pool of blood. He reached to help Colleen stop the flow, but Pamela had taken a round through the chest and nothing was going to help her now.
“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” Colleen screamed.
Aaron didn’t try to dispute it. It certainly seemed that way as the screams and gunshots continued for several more intense minutes. But eventually the shooting seemed to taper off, and through the canvas walls of the tent, Aaron could see bright lights sweeping the area of the camp outside. He heard men barking orders, and now and then the occasional single rifle or pistol shot that he assumed meant survivors were being finished off as they were found. Were he and his fellow prisoners going to be next? Aaron felt sure that was likely but when several of the attackers entered the tent, they held their fire. He and Colleen and the handful of others that were unhurt were ordered outside. Aaron could now see dozens of heavily armed soldiers moving throughout the camp, many of them setting fires to the other tents as well as the vehicles and stacks of supplies.
Aaron was fairly certain that the men in this attacking force were regular government troops. They wore matching battle uniforms and were much more disciplined and methodical than the men who’d been holding them. That didn’t mean they were necessarily safe now though, and Aaron was certain that he and Colleen and the other survivors would be held, and then no doubt taken away to be processed into one of the detainment camps. There was no way Aaron could let that happen. Megan had been alone out there in the wilderness as far as he knew for the entire time he’d been here, which was going on two weeks now. She had apparently managed to stay out of sight when he was captured, but he had no idea what she’d done next, although he’d hoped that she would try to continue on south to his people’s land. She had the maps and he’d discussed the route with her at great length. If she did make it, there was no guarantee they would let an outsider in though, and that was why Aaron knew he had to escape and get on the trail for home as quickly as possible. He was thinking fast as he looked down at his blood-soaked clothes; blood that had sprayed on him and Colleen when he was trying to save Pamela. Aaron had wiped most of it off of his hands, but now he clutched at his side and grimaced in pain, telling the soldier nearest him that he’d been hit, and that he needed help.
“Can you walk?” The man asked, glancing at his bloody shirt.
“Yes. The bullet just went through my side. But it’s bleeding a lot. Is there a medic with you?”
“Yeah, follow me. We’ll find him.”
Aaron squeezed Colleen’s hand and gave her a smile before he left. He doubted he’d ever see her again unless he failed, but failure wasn’t an option. Megan was his priority and Colleen would probably survive whatever was in store for her with or without him. But Megan might not if he didn’t get out of this place fast. Aaron followed the soldier, relieved to see that the man trusted him enough to lead the way rather than force him at gunpoint like the militia guys had. That confirmed his assumption that he wasn’t their prisoner too, but he was also quite ce
rtain he wouldn’t be allowed to just walk away to wherever he wanted to go. The other good thing was that it was still dark, even though he knew it wouldn’t be for long. Aaron scanned the rest of the camp around him as he followed along, pretending to hold pressure on his non-existent wound in order to stop the bleeding. All the soldiers he could see were busy. They were checking the dead for weapons and gathering up whatever supplies were not going in the burn piles. Since the camp was practically already in the edge of the woods, Aaron knew he wouldn’t have to make it far to be out of sight and back in his element. He slowed his pace to create some distance between him and the man leading him, and then he turned and bolted as fast as he could run, aiming at the darkest shadows he could spot beyond the perimeter.
He heard someone else shout out an alarm and then an order for him to stop, but Aaron didn’t slow down and didn’t look back. If a bullet cut him down for his efforts, then so be it, but he wasn’t going to be taken away to some other camp by these soldiers. He flinched when he heard two gunshots in rapid succession but felt nothing and heard no whiz of bullets going past his ears, and seconds later, the dark forest had swallowed him up. Aaron didn’t know whether the soldiers would come after him or not since he wasn’t one of the enemy, but he was taking no chances by slowing down. If they did search for him, they had the advantage with their bright lights and probably night vision equipment as well. Aaron’s only chance was to put as much distance between himself and the camp as possible, but he was also aware of keeping his bearings too. He’d fled the camp heading west, which was nothing but roadless wilderness, but he knew he would have to circle back to the north and then east in order to return to the trail where he’d last seen Megan.
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