Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

For a minute, he eyeballed the barn and started walking toward the door. “Timmy, don’t go in there, it’s dangerous,” the mother called out. He turned around and walked back toward her. “We need to get moving again, we have a long way to go.” They went down into the shelter and the father came out with a bike. He went down again and came back out with another one. One more trip and they now had three bikes.

He went down once again and brought up a small two wheeled cart like those you tow behind bikes with your dog in it. They retrieved some packs and things, then started getting everything loaded up. “Looks like they just stayed for the night.” They were about to pedal away when they heard a vehicle coming down the road.

The truck pulled in and right up to the family. A man and woman climbed out and walked up to them. Looked like they were wearing some kind of Russian camo pattern. The man spoke first. “Who are you guys?”

“We’re members of the Bad Axe Minute Men. Who are you?”

“My name is Steven and this is my wife Jill and son Tim.”

The Minute Man spoke, “You guys from the area?”

“Yes we are. We’re from Port Austin.”

The woman walked around the three of them and looked down the steps of the shelter. “Anyone else down there?”

“No, we were just staying the night and getting ready to leave.”

The woman went down into the shelter and re-emerged. “No one else down there.” She went and stood back next to the other guy. Haliday was shocked at how much risk they took.

“What about the barn,” she said.

“We looked in it last night, but it’s empty. We chose the tornado shelter because it had the old cots down there. There was too much rusty stuff to get hurt on in there and my son is curious.”

“Where you guys heading?”

“Imlay City to my parents house. We left yesterday and stopped here for the night. We hope to make it there some time in the next couple days before it gets much colder.”

The guy walked around and looked at their bikes and packs. “You have any weapons?” he asked.

The guy said, “No.”

“Mind if I check?”

“Yes I do. You’re not a cop. You don’t have the right.”

“Look bud, times are different. This area is under control of the Bad Axe Minute Men now. What we say goes. We have a no weapons policy for travelers.”

“You don’t have any right to search us.”

The woman walked up and grabbed the guy’s pack; he struggled but then got hit by the other man. The wife yelled at him to stop it and the little boy was crying and yelled for them to stop. The minute man laid one more punch in the guy’s face and knocked him down. Haliday was fighting the urge to fire. Blake just had this WTF look on his face, but Haliday signaled him to stay down.

The minute man picked up the bags and dumped everything out. He picked up a small pistol. “No guns, huh?” He kicked the guy while he was down. “You answer with the truth when asked a question. We’ll be keeping this. You’re damn lucky we ain’t taking your food too. Now get the hell out of here.” They were about to get in the truck when they heard a noise by the barn and stopped.

Everyone looked over at the barn. Haliday was ready. A big raccoon went scurrying out from one of the windows, down the side of the barn and across the field. The minute men lowered their rifles and got back in their truck. They told the family to get going. They took off down the road. Haliday heard them call the check in on the radio. That was a close one.

Blake said, “Let’s go see if they need help.”

Haliday said, “No, we can’t. If they get stopped again and they are afraid, they’ll rat us out in a heartbeat. They have two days tops to get to Imlay City, maybe three if they move slow, but they’ll make it. You go hit the sack for a little bit more and I’ll keep watch again, it’ll be a while before its safe to go.”

He watched the family gather themselves and head out. What the hell kind of militia was this? These guys should be helping these people not beating them and disarming them, especially when they are out on the road. That was total BS in his mind but he had to stay focused on his own group. Were these guys rogue from their own group. He kept wondering about them. He should have shot them and given the truck to the family, but that would have opened up a whole different can of worms.

After the family left and was well on their way, Haliday called his group. “Hey listen, if you are approached by a group of militia, or members of the militia be careful. They seem to have designated a Russian camo as their uniform which looks like the old U.S. woodland BDU pattern, only with finer detail and the colors are not as contrasting. Shoot the bastards on sight. Don’t mess around with them.” He relayed to them the story of the family.

He woke Blake up. “You feeling better?” he asked.

“Ya, I’ll be ready to go.”

“Good, now tonight is going to be tense as well. I’m going to cover a few more basics on the rifle with you. We can’t live fire or we’ll attract attention, but you’ll do fine.” He spent about an hour covering a few marksmanship skills and safety points with him.

“This is Roger, you there Kaybear?”

“Ya Dad, I’ve been waiting.”

“Ok, let me know what the latest news is.”

“Ok, you ready?”

“I’m going on memory Kayla; I don’t have the resources for notes.”

“Ahhhh, alrighty then. How’s Blake?”

“Kayla, he’s fine. If you want him to stay that way, spit it out.” It’s starting already, he thought.

“Ok, they talked on the net about contacting the Bay City group and how Bay City themselves had big trouble and could not send help. It sounds like they are running the four patrols and now two response unit’s 24 hours a day now. I did notice they seemed to be concentrating on the northern areas a bit more. That’s the plan right?”

“Yes it is kiddo. Anything else?”

“Oh ya, lots more.

“They have been talking about people traveling and how they have been disarming them. They even mentioned seizing a truck. Sounds like their own version of martial law. They also said they were posting signs: looters would be shot on sight. They set out signs for curfew as well. No one is to be out from dusk until dawn. Now for information on you.

“They think there are six motorcycles and about a half dozen trucks. They said your manpower would be at least 24 to 30 or more. They figure you guys to be operating in the northern sector somewhere. Sounds like they are going to concentrate patrols there. They are trying to find your base camp. One last thing Dad, they’ll shoot you first before they try to stop and ask you questions. Be careful, love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, kiddo.”

“Roger, you want us to stay on schedule?” It was David now.

“Yes I do. Promptly. You’ll have to get the horses moving quickly. If it becomes an issue they are going to have to leave them. Be firm about it. You might want to give them an hour head start actually. You only have about 12 miles to go. Get them there, ok brother?”

“Ok, be safe.”

“You too.”

Haliday and Blake were getting ready to go. It was noon and they wanted to be in place by dusk. They wanted these guys to be tired and pissed off. If they started around 1800hrs that would put the fresh shift on duty. The others would not be in bed yet. Chances are they would all want to play cowboy and show up for the festivities. When morning came, around half would still be tired from the night before and the other half ready to go home.

They took off and followed a small river toward Oliver Township. They barely crept along to avoid overly loud engine noises. Haliday remembered people always talking about what vehicle you should have for this. What you should have for that, and it drove him nuts. Pretty much anything running was a gem these days. What really drove him crazy were the guys who swore by two strokes. Way too loud─ way too easy to find.