James Rawles - Liberators

Megan spent the first part of her shift in silent prayer. Her thoughts raced from the great blessing of getting the venison, to her memories of walking out of the NSA the day before the Crunch, to meeting Joshua for the first time. Would he risk going alone to find answers? Could she bear that unknown? She was lost in thought, and didn’t notice Malorie had walked up and sat down next to her.

“You have a friendly approaching.” Malorie smirked as she nudged her elder sister.

“Yeah, some vigilant guard I am, huh?” Malorie smiled back and waited for Megan to say what was on her mind. “Joshua wants to ask somebody, anybody about news out there on the outside. He thinks that if he had more facts to parse he’d be able to make a better decision about our situation. I know he isn’t arrogant enough to decide something unilaterally for our whole group, but we can’t afford to lose him to an ambush or abduction.”

“So my super-spook sister is asking me what I think about her fiancé going out for information about the state of our Union. Seems to me that the analyst in you would be chomping at the bit to get facts to parse, cross-examine, and assess.”

“We’re not talking about doing a Google search here, Mal.”

“If Joshua was able to find out anything about the towns to our west, we’d know more about the ground we have yet to cover. Just because it’s been quiet here in this little slice of the world doesn’t mean that everyone else is sanguine with the world’s lone superpower going offline. Heck, if you wanted to go with him, I’d hold down the fort here. You probably know how to ask more probing questions than I do.”

Malorie got up and went back to the boys, who were asking her to play tag with them. Joshua returned with a blanket to keep Megan warm in the chilly morning air. She looked up at him and said, “Okay, you and I can go. Malorie can cover my shift. Since we’re not stalking for game, we can move quickly and be back by dinner.”

Joshua said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, but I want to do this my way. If/when you see someone, you approach with your shotgun slung and your hands laced behind your head like when you went up to the West Hamlin checkpoint. I’ll cover you with the .270. Keep in mind where I am, so that you don’t get in the way of my shot if I need to neutralize a threat.”

“A Marine and her rifle, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Megan and Joshua packed up some cooked venison and some dried apple rings, left their plan with Malorie for what to do if they were late in returning, said a prayer together as a group, and headed out around 0830 toward Clear Creek Road. They covered the distance in an hour and a half, setting up on a hill overlooking a long stretch of the road. They scouted any- and everything that they could possibly see through the scope.

Megan took the rifle after Joshua did a preliminary scan and said, “Okay, you’re not going to believe this, but that same guy is just sitting there. He is really easy to miss, but look just to the left of that conifer with the twin top for a general bearing, and drop your view down to the roadside. You can just barely see him in the shadow. He is slouched up against a tree with some kind of cardboard sign and something flat on his lap.”

“No way, let me see.” Joshua took the rifle and saw the outline of a person, then looked at Megan and asked, “I’d say that it’s about a klick away from here. Okay, how do you want to do this?”

“You know that we’re showing our hand here, right?” Megan paused and Joshua nodded. “That being said, you won’t have any cover once you’re out in the open. So, if we set up so that I have clear line of sight and you stay to the left edge of the road, then I say that you proceed with caution.”

Joshua and Megan took their time getting to the road’s edge, always scanning their sector to make sure that they had accounted for all variables. Joshua spread out his poncho for Megan so that she would not get wet from staying for a prolonged time in the supported prone position. Without a rangefinder, it was up to Megan to judge the distance for elevation changes. “So, I can read what it says on his sign. It says, RELIGION?”

“This is getting weirder by the minute.”

Joshua kissed Megan and said, “I’ll be right back.” Joshua stepped out with his shotgun slung behind his back and his hands laced behind his head. The man had been looking in their general direction, but when he saw Joshua emerge unexpectedly from the wood line, he wasn’t startled or showing any signs of feeling threatened. He simply waved to Joshua, who proceeded forward with caution.

When Joshua was in shouting distance he said, “We mean you no harm, we’re only looking for information.”

The man sitting down said, “Come, sit, friend. I’m not armed, and I mean you no harm, either.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll just stand over here.”

“That is fine, friend. My name is Aaron Wetherspoon. I’m pleased to meet you. I was praying that I would get to talk to someone today, and here you are.”

“Indeed. You can say that we were praying for the same thing.” Joshua stood at an awkward distance by the standard of most social mores, but the man didn’t seem to mind. “My name is Joshua Kim. What can you tell us about current events? What is the state of the government? Do you know any information about towns to the west of here?”

“So you’re looking to head west, you say? When was the last time you got any news? Do you have any idea what is happening in our land?”

“No, Aaron, I don’t—we’ve been in hiding since the Crunch.”

“I suspect that you scouted this area pretty well and that part of your ‘we’ is likely pulling overwatch right now?” Joshua nodded. “Very prudent of you. What if we went somewhere of your choosing to talk that made you less uncomfortable? How about you lead and I’ll follow, and we can sit and parlay for a while—much has happened that you need to know about.”

“Okay, Aaron. Let me run that past my overwatch—if all is fine I’ll wave you over and we can find a place to sit and talk.”

“Okay, that sounds fair.”

As soon as Joshua was in speaking distance, Megan blurted out, “Did you find anything out?”

“Okay, so the guy’s name is Aaron Wetherspoon.”

Megan tried to be patient and said, “Okay, cool—you got the guy’s name.”

“He’s really sharp, Megan; he picked up that I was nervous being out in the open, so he offered to go to a place of our choosing—say two hundred meters back in the woods, to talk. I didn’t see any weapons and he said that he wasn’t armed. Evidently much has been happening while we were off the radar.” Megan checked the scope and confirmed that he had not moved. “You pick the place and we’ll set up our meeting.”

“Okay, wave him over. I’ll find a spot well back into the wood line, probably at the base of the hill—look for me there. I haven’t seen or heard anyone else out here, so we should be good. Who knows? This might be another divine appointment.”

“’Tis the season,” Joshua said as Megan sprang up and went to locate the meeting place. Joshua stepped out on the road to wave Aaron over to his location. Aaron was slow to get up, and he appeared to be unsteady on his feet as he crossed the three hundred or so meters to get to where Joshua was signaling.

“As a precaution, we’re moving two hundred meters into the woods. Please join us there, Aaron. Again, we mean you no harm. We’re simply looking for information.”

“Very well, it may take me a while, but I’ll get there, friend,” Aaron said—he seemed as if he was wheezing as he spoke. Joshua assisted Aaron in making the trip off the pavement through the snowy wood line to the place that Megan had found, a spot covered in dry pine needles. Megan had set up the poncho as the location for their meeting.