by Cooper, DJ
-William Shakespeare
Map on the office desk and a red marker left behind offered insights into the efforts of the militia. Sam was driven and vowed to find George and Matt. Each tip was scouted and then marked off on the map. They knew the general area where they were but pinpointing it took patience and a methodical search.
Sam was on a mission and wouldn’t stop until they were dead. He told himself. “No mercy!” and he meant it! It had been four weeks since Tawny died, and he was getting frustrated. They were always one step ahead of him. There had to be a mole, but he couldn’t figure out who.
He went to the farm to talk to Ryan and get his thoughts on things. He’d not been back since and the moment he set foot in the yard emotions overtook him and he had to stop a moment to regain his composure. Splashing his face from the rain barrel he walked into the barn. There stood everyone he’d grown to love. Dez ran to him and threw her arms around him! “Oh Sam, how are things? Care for some coffee? Have a seat.” She ushered him to the seating area.
Ryan came over shaking his hand. “How’s it going?”
“It’s not, that’s the problem. Every time I get close they change locations.”
“A mole?”
“That’s what I was thinking, but I can’t figure who it could be.”
“How about a little help?”
“That’s why I’m here.”
Dez came over with some coffees and sat down, sipping her own she looked at the two of them. “Whatcha got in mind.”
Sam took a long drink of his coffee. Setting it down with an ahhhh. He wiped his mouth and reached into his pocket for the map. “See these X’s? We’ve been to all these farms that we’d scouted, and they’re there. But before we can return in force they move on.”
Ryan sipped his own cup and shook his head. “Mmmm, I can see the problem. How about if we do the scouting and you don’t communicate with your men at all about it. As a matter of fact, tell them a different location.”
“Do you think we could pull that off?”
“Well have you disclosed the next location to anyone yet?”
“No, I haven’t even been able to go over the notes and figure out where to start scouting again.”
“Well, what do ya say we do that now.”
“Ok.” Pointing to a spot on the map that had already been marked with an X. “Here is a place they’ve returned to before.” Pointing to another, he looked up. “And here.”
Ryan reached for a pencil and began circling the areas they’d returned to as Sam pointed them out. Any that were scouted but never actually found more than a few things that were left behind were crossed out. Soon the map became a mess of pencil marks and Ryan became irritated. “I can’t get a full picture with all of these marks on it.”
Dez got up and went to the trunk. “Why don’t we just start over?” Reaching in she pulled out a new map.
“Right, I’d forgotten about these.” Ryan took the map and spread it out. Marking the places that were a positive hit with a circle. A pattern began to emerge, not just a pattern but a circle. There was a circumference of about fifty miles. At the center was the quarry, a limestone quarry with tunnels into the mountains. Ryan knew the area and the quarry. Slapping the map palm down. “It’s the quarry! That’s their central location and why you haven’t been able to locate them. These other places are stopping areas for raiding.”
“Wow, you’re right. No wonder.”
“Still, I’m sure there’s someone feeding them information, or you’d have caught some of them by now.”
“I agree. You got any thoughts on finding out who?”
“Yea, you need to pick a location the way you would normally. Change nothing.” Looking to Dez. “Do you have another map? We need to recreate the one with the red X’s for Sam to take back.”
“Sure thing.” She reached into the trunk and produced another. “We only have three left after this.”
They nodded to her and began to put the X’s on the map for him to take back with him. “Once you’re close to figuring out where, radio us to check on status of Blackridge barter day and one of us will come within the hour to get the location and we’ll send a watch team to watch and see who comes and goes.”
They shook hands and he hugged Dez before leaving. He chose not to see Dylan because he didn’t want to upset him. He’d been so angry since his mother’s death it was hard to watch him get upset whenever he saw him.
He was settling in with John and Amy, they had stepped up and took Dylan and Kaleigh. No one had heard from Dickie and feared the worst, but Kayleigh was nearly a year and needed parents. Dylan was hard to handle and only Dez could control his outbursts. She explained to John and Amy that he’d been a problem child since birth and needed a firm grip on his temper and behaviour. He was mean to the other kids sometimes and would pinch Kayleigh when no one was looking. Dez caught him one time and dragged him outside. No one knew, or dared ask what she did but he came in a whole different child and apologized to the toddler.
A few days passed before Sam radioed asking about Blackridge. He responded with barter day and sent Janice and Rich to town for some supplies. Once in town Rich went over to the sheriff’s office to visit with Sam. He’d brought some honey mead and made a comment about it needing to be shared. It made Sam sad as Tawny’s honey mead was what first made him notice how talented she was. This was a great cover to get the others out of the office. He made like he was upset about the loss of his wife, which he was but it served to give them a few moments.
Sam shared the location with Rich. After their chat they went out of the office where Rich made a comment about being sorry. “I didn’t think about it. I just knew how much you liked it and thought I’d bring you some.”
“Thank you, my friend, I was always partial to her mead.”
Shaking hands, they parted, and Sam retreated to his office to have some of that honey mead and regain his composure.
Loel, Mark and Laurie were already set to go when Rich returned with the location. They made their way to the location and were set up before nightfall. They watched the area and indeed a gang came and spent the night. It was very clear that it was simply a stopover, and this was why they never stayed long. For the next two days various members would ride out and return with their bounty.
On the third day an unfamiliar truck arrived. Laurie tapped Loel on the head partially tapping his eye, not taking her eyes from the binoculars she said to him. “Have a look, something new.”
He brushed her hand away and turned in the blind to grab his own pair and began peering out into the yard. “Holy Shit!” He exclaimed. “Do you see who that is?”
“I’m not sure, I don’t think I recognize them.”
“Oh right, I don’t think you’ve met them yet.” Turning to wake Mark he looked back and said. “We’ve gotta get back ASAP. Dez and Ryan are gonna wanna hear this one.”
Turning to begin packing his gear he was mumbling to himself, “shit! I can’t believe this. Dez is gonna be pissed.”
Grabbing his arm Laurie looked at him, shrugging her shoulders with her palms up silently asking him what he knew. “Care to enlighten us?”
He huddled with them to give them the short version. “I’ll tell you all about them on the way back, but they were friends before everything went to hell. Afterwards they came to the house before we moved. Dez knows them well, they were part of the same group.” He was careful not to say that they were friends of Matt’s because he didn’t want to upset Mark.
They packed up and made their way to the jeep that was covered by some brush on the other side of the hill. It was about a two-mile hike to get to it and then another two hours back to the farm down dark country roads. They wanted to get there as soon as they could because the roads were sometimes dangerous at night. There were other gangs roving the country side that were just as bad as George’s.
Twice they had to go a different route due to road obstructions which usually meant a
mbush. The information was too valuable to wait but the two-hour trek took them three and a half hours before they made it to their last turn before the farm and relative safety.
There, sitting and waiting, was none other than Roger and Ray. Waving them over they jumped on the back of the jeep and rode back to the farm. Laurie pestered them for answers. “What were you doing out here?”
“When we get to the farm, we’ll go over it all.”
“Yea, but why were you sitting there?”
Roger looked at her slightly irritated. “What were you doing out there?”
She sighed and sat back. “Fair enough, we’ll all go over it when we get there. Loel here, still ain’t told us what he saw.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Yea? Then why don’t we know who it was?”
“Who was what?” Roger asked.
Loel sighed, “can we just get there?”
In ten minutes time they were pulling into the entrance to the farm. Roger and Ray hopped off the back before it even stopped, walking off to the side of them. Following the others climbed out grabbing their gear and heading for the barn. Roger stopped them and sent Laurie in to get Dez and Ryan to meet them outside. “It’s the middle of the night. Let’s not wake everyone just yet.”
They sat down at the picnic table and waited. Loel began to light the lantern and Roger reached out and stopped him. “Best we leave it for now.”
“What is up with you two?”
“There are eyes on us. Unfriendly eyes.”
“What?”
“Shhh keep your voice down. We know where they are but we need to talk to Dez for a few minutes. Each of you will need to pay close attention.”
They sat quietly waiting for the others. When Dez saw them, she hurried to hug them. “Where have you been?”
“Busy, real busy. Let’s chat.”
They sat around the table to hear what Roger and Ray had to tell them. Loel pulled Ryan aside before they could begin and asked Ray to join them for a few moments. “I saw who it was.”
“The mole?”
“Yea.”
“Well?”
“You’re not gonna believe it. But as we waited nothing happened for days. They just kept going out in raiding parties and returning. Then last night a truck came in. Laurie actually spotted them and neither her nor Mark know them so no one but me knows who it is at this point and I thought it best we kept it that way.”
“Ok, well… Let’s have it.”
“It was…” Looking down and off to the side, he could barely believe what he saw. “It was Gary. I saw him plain as day and I think it was Kimber with him. I could tell it was a woman and it looked like her, but she was more in the shadows.” Looking up at Ryan who shook his head side to side in disbelief. “You know they were Matt’s friends, right?”
Realization struck like thunder. Ryan’s eyes wide. “Matt… That’s where they went. They hooked up with George and now they’re raiding the community. We thought as much but we weren’t really sure about anything. When they attacked in town and Tawny was killed, I wondered if it was Matt that put the bounty on Dez or if it was just George’s doing. I swear…” He trailed off when Loel nudged him shaking his head and looking towards Mark. Quieting his voice, he continued. “I wonder how long they’ve been feeding them information.”
“I’d say a while and now nothing is secure.”
Ray just stood and said nothing until Ryan asked him what his thoughts were. “Some of the things we’ve been dealing with make more sense now. There have been times when our efforts have seemed futile. Roger and I said we were headed back to Texas a little over a week ago because we couldn’t figure out some of this. C’mon over and let’s chat with Roger, but I think you’re right to leave Matt out of the equation for the moment. I’ll let Roger know after.”
Loel paused, “Let’s not tell Dez quite yet. She already has an idea it’s him and has for a while now, we all did, but she’s really gonna be pissed.”
“That’s not fair to her and I’ll not do it. She has done so much for this community, and if she wants to lose her cool, then I say let her. She needs this anger to bring her back to her old self.”
“Okay… but I’ve seen her pissed, and no one wants to see that.”
They laughed a brief moment and Ryan whispered. “I do… Just not at me.”
They sat around the picnic table in the dark discussing things, and as Loel predicted, Dez was full of rage. Roger grabbed her arm, “Put away the rabid mama bear for a hot minute. You’ll get your chance, but you’re not going off half-cocked and get yourself killed.”
Dez was fit to be tied and Ryan threatened to do so before she finally calmed and agreed. “I know, you’re right. Let’s take care of these animals once and for all. We can’t take any chances and we’ve waited too long to get George. Matt will get his due and so will Morgan, all in good time.”
Ryan held her hand and smiled at her. She knew they were right but felt pure rage inside. Nodding to herself listening to the reports and information, she barely shrugged when they said the mole was Gary and likely Kimber. Ryan nudged her to see if she was listening. She looked up at the expectant faces. “What?”
“You didn’t even flinch when we told you it was Gary and Kimber.”
“Yea, I know. See, some people are constantly into the drama of the minute. They were always like that, one-minute someone’s best friend and then the next. You know like the changing of the wind they were in another direction. I didn’t want to believe it but it doesn’t surprise me. As a matter of fact, I’m relieved.”
“Relieved?”
“Yea, now we don’t have to worry about them or that it’s another. And besides, they were Matt’s friends more than mine, I could never suffer through Kimber’s incessant rants about someone. I always wondered if she’d talk about friends that way to me, then what was she saying about me? It’s one way I judge a person’s character and frankly I pushed them to join the militia.” Looking to Ryan, “sorry, I didn’t mean to make it a militia problem. I just figured that it would give them constant drama to keep their minds working because while Gary was lazy he would at least try and Kimber… Well, I’ll just leave that out there.” Again, looking up and around the table. “Although I didn’t really care for them, I never thought they’d do something like this.”
The sun was rising and Dez suggested they go inside. It was time for the others to start working and they would have the barn to themselves. Inside they found Janice already had the coffee going expecting them. Dez put a hand on her shoulder as they passed her and nodded to her. There was no one at the farm that Dez didn’t trust implicitly. Even Mark and Rita were not a question in her eyes.
Roger whispered to her. “Are you absolutely sure of everyone?”
“Yes, I am.”
Squeezing her shoulder he went to the table and helped himself to some of the coffee Janice had set out for them. Sipping it he looked surprised. “This is real coffee!”
Beaming with pride Janice smiled before she returned to the kitchen area. Raising it to Dez, she just nodded to him. Asking Jeremy, John and Amy to join them she sent the others outside to begin the day’s chores. If they were being watched it had to look like a normal day. Connor and Rebecca went to the lookout posts sending Rich and Toni to the meeting in the barn.
Toni was one of their best snipers and Roger wanted to know if she could handle what they would need her to do. “Sure, after all that I’ve seen thus far, not much phases me anymore.”
I am going to give you the locations of the two scouts watching this place. We need them taken out before the others get here. Ray will go with you to help you find them, but you must be sure. We can’t tip them that we know they’re there. Ray is a good shot and will take one while you take the other. Can you do it?”
“Just show me where.”
She kissed Jeremy as she and Ray moved through the opening that the mortars had made. They left it on the outside but adde
d a door to the inside as an escape.
Laurie had already been sent to bring Sam while Julie went after Aaron and soon they would be arriving. The meeting had to be secret there was much to be done and all of it behind the scenes, some of the local farmers were colluding with them. Not because they wanted to but out of fear and this made trust an issue. This effort to rid the area of these predators had to be precise or they would come back again and again.
Once Sam and Aaron arrived the map was opened, and they began to share the information each had gathered. The initial speculation about their whereabouts had turned out to be correct. Sam had sent Eric and Jona to scout the quarry. They’d returned with not only drawings of the area, fortifications and locations of things like munitions but also confirmation on Matt and Morgan. More than that they’d found the half-burned office trailer and inside discovered a map of the tunnels. This one had been like the one in Louisville where they were as wide as they could go and were now mining laterally. There were three air shafts and one other exit to the mine. Inside there was a large cavern with a number of side tunnels. All in all it was not yet even close to the size of the Louisville one. At least it was manageable, if it were too big they could simply hide out in there or use other exits. This one only had the one other exit which would be used to their advantage.
Dez sat shaking her head. “George never was all that smart, but I would have expected Matt to have thought of the tunnel maps.” Looking up to Sam and shifting her eyes in thought back and forth, an idea. “Where did they get this map?”
“They said it was in a frame that was screwed to the wall.”
“Ok, Ok…hummm.” She sat looking at it thinking.
“What’s up?”
“I’m thinking this is either an old map and the tunnels are more extensive, or a concept map and not all of them are actually there.” She kept looking at the map, flipping it and trying to peer at the corners.
Ryan asked her what she was doing but before she could answer she hurried off to her area. A few moments later she returned with a magnifying glass.