Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

Haliday asked if it was ok to move on and asked Benson if there was anything else he needed. “Just your name on the log sheet if you don’t mind,” he answered.

“Sure thing Specialist Benson.” He wrote his info down and handed the clipboard back to him.

“Anything else?”

“Sir, do you know what happened by chance?”

Haliday remarked, “I wish I knew. All I do know is an EMP or something took out most of everything. I’m surprised your vehicles are running. We don’t know who, we don’t know why, all we know is it’s FUBAR. I got my orders through the radio and was assigned to the governor’s contingency. I wish I knew. I honestly do.

“Can I expect the same thing going through the other side,” Haliday asked?

“I’ll call them and tell them you will be coming through.”

Haliday said, “Thank you. If you don’t mind, specialist, I’ll wait here for my partner to drive through, not that I don’t trust you, but better safe than sorry. I gotta get those people home.” The specialist ordered the humvees’ to open the roadway and Haliday called Mike and told him to bring the Tahoe through. “Quickly Mike, go 45 to 50 mph.”

Haliday started the bike and waited. The Tahoe came through and with the dark-tinted windows and speed, it was hard to discern who was inside. Just a few figures is all it looked like. Haliday took off behind the Tahoe. He waved goodbye and then sped ahead of the Tahoe. He signaled Mike to follow him. They slowed a bit and worked their way through town. They approached the second roadblock, and as soon as they started the approach, the humvees’ moved aside and waved them through.

They drove for about 15 minutes and then Haliday pulled over and stopped. Mike pulled over as well. Haliday got off the bike and took the gear off. He was sweating like crazy. Mike said, “You’re not that hot are you?”

“Mike, go in that toolbox and get me a Phillips head.” Mike just looked at him and then went and got the screwdriver. “You got a screw loose?” he quipped.

Haliday said, “Worse than that, I have two on tight.” He walked to the back of the bike and unscrewed the Michigan license plate. He told Mike to put it in the toolbox.

Mike said, “Wow, that was pure luck.”

“No, it was stupidity, it almost got me killed on the way here and I should have fixed it then. I can explain not having a plate on it, but too hard to explain why it’s a civilian plate.” He then grabbed some dirt and kept tossing it on the bare spot where the plate had been. Mike asked him how he got a government plate for the Tahoe. “Well Mike, recruiters are all over the place and all it took was a minute to unscrew it with an electric screwdriver. Right now there’s no LEIN machines or MDC’s to run plates, so I’m not worried about it showing up stolen. I kept it hidden until now.”

He told everyone to grab a drink of water and stretch. After about 15 minutes of checking for anything else he might have missed, they loaded up the bike. Max yapped and they let him out to pee. Everyone loaded back into the truck and they started off again. “Hey, Mike, flip that binder open. I can’t afford any more military checkpoints, time to change the route. I’m not sure I could do that again and get away with it.” They were just west of Indianapolis, a major city with plenty of problems.

They would be coming up on a small town called Avon soon, but would head north just before they got there. This was still too close to Indy for comfort. They would work their way up to State Road 32, which was east of a small town called Gadsen and then move east from there. These small towns provided much more comfort than the big cities. Once back in the Detroit area, it would be a nightmare. So far everything was ok.

They made a quick stop and dumped the two cans of gas wedged between the KLR and Tahoe into the tank. That was only 10 gallons and they were just above a half of a tank right now. Getting more gas was a priority. Haliday figured Gadsen would be the ideal place to do so. Just about another half an hour and they’d be there. They’d break for lunch, grab some gas and get back on the road.

It was late afternoon and they were pulling into Gadsen, or at least what he thought was Gadsen. There was a sign and that was about it. Mike said, “What the hell is this?” Linda asked him what he meant. He said, “There isn’t anything here.”

Kayla said, “No kidding, is this what you mean by BFE Dad?”

Haliday said, “This is worse.” They just kept cruising through. Haliday spotted a sign up ahead for an airport. It was just a regional airport, but worth checking out. Next city was another 15 minutes down the road; he wanted to fuel up by then.

They pulled into an open gate and took a look around. Up by the main building there were a few BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus and other expensive cars. Maybe a couple dozen vehicles total. Then throughout the property, some service trucks, a couple tractors and of course a few planes. It was the Indy executive airport catering to the rich, who could afford private planes and the place to keep them. Midway down the runway was what was left of a small gulfstream scattered about. “Guess he picked a bad time to land,” Haliday said. Everyone just looked around; it was like a ghost town.

Haliday drove down between the hangars. There was an open hangar door and Haliday paused and looked inside. He drove the Tahoe into it and turned it around so it was facing the door. He went over to see if the door would close manually, and after disengaging a chain drive he was able to lower it. “Ok,” he said, “Mike and Kayla, you guys keep watch and I’ll make some food real quickly. Make sure you guys pay attention.”

He pulled out a butane stove and can of butane. Within seconds it was lit and ready. He grabbed a pouch of dehydrated veggies and opened it up, dumping the contents into a small pan with some water. He let it sit there a few minutes to rehydrate a bit. Next he dumped in a pouch of powdered egg and mixed it thoroughly.

This started to cook up and he grabbed a vacuum-packed pouch of cooked bacon crumbles and opened it up. “Ah, bacon,” he said. “Gotta love bacon.” Next he tossed in some powdered cheese and just scrambled it all. He walked over to the truck and pulled out some flour tortillas he had grabbed off his counter at home to take on the trip. He whipped up some big breakfast burritos, and although it was late afternoon, they did the job just fine. Quite tasty too.

He had thrown some Gatorade mix in some bottles of water. Kayla didn’t want any. “You don’t have a choice,” he said, “you need the electrolytes to keep your system balanced.” She reluctantly drank it. So did everyone else. “Ok, this is for the road,” he said. He grabbed a thermos, heated up some more water and filled it with instant coffee. A small luxury right now, but since everyone was out in their own little world it might help them stay focused. He grabbed a chunk of beef jerky and tossed it to the dog. “Don’t get used to that mutt,” he said.

After the stove cooled and he wiped out the pan, they packed everything up. They were ready to get on the road. He asked anyone if they needed to use the bathroom before they went to look for gas. They took turns watching out while everyone went to go do their thing. Haliday peeked out the door and ducked back in real quickly. He told everyone to grab their guns and find cover. There were three guys coming down the road between the hangars. He told everyone to just hang tight. It dawned on him that he hadn’t given Linda a weapon. “Just stay low,” he said. They weren’t sure what to expect.

He heard them as they approached. It seemed that they were looking in every hangar as they went down the row. He could hear them forcing doors open and anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes later they would move to the next hangar. As far as he could tell, they had only one more before they got to theirs. Everyone just sat there. Haliday held his finger to his mouth to tell everyone to keep quiet. He placed his hand out and motioned for them to get down.