Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

It seemed like it took forever. Once they reached a secure location, they got off the bikes. They dug into a couple MRE’s before they got going again. They would be walking for the next couple of miles. They camouflaged the bikes and took some mental notes of the area.

Haliday pulled out some small reflectors and pushed them up high onto some trees. With any luck the moon would catch them and make it easier to find the bikes in a hurry. He explained this to Blake. If anything happens to me, get the hell out of here. By now he had studied the maps and would know where to go.

Haliday set to work on the distractions. He pulled out four small wind-up clocks and wound them up. He set the times on each so they were all set to the same time. He had ripped off the plastic face covers and attached some metal connectors to the minute and hour hands. These would set off a small igniter which would then light a piece of fuse.

He packed these into some small containers with gun powder in it that would create a small explosion. Next to these he would place a few bags of various chemicals mixed together, liquid drain cleaner, diesel and Styrofoam pellets which would ignite and stick to surrounding objects. He read this on the internet. These he would place next to some old abandoned buildings or vehicles. He placed another igniter system nearby to ignite the gel. The explosion, mostly just noise, and the accompanying fire would make a great distraction. The gel was to make sure the fire spread rapidly throughout the area.

These would go off about 15 minutes apart and should draw quite a crowd. They waited until it was nice and dark out. The clouds were covering the moonlight as they passed through the sky now, so Haliday told Blake how important it was to remember where the bikes were. It would, however, help provide better cover for them. They were well camouflaged; Rambo face paint included.

They took off for their destination. First up was a small sugar beet storage plant. They approached from the side and didn’t see anyone. They went up to a small maintenance shed which they found unlocked. It looked like it hadn’t been used in quite a while. He placed the box on the work bench. They left and followed some train tracks down to a golf course.

Here he found the storage barn for the golf carts. They were all gone. So were the charging stations and parts for them. Someone had these and his guess was confiscation by the militia. He set up the device and they moved on. They were close to the center of town now and he looked for another target. Haliday heard a vehicle approach and they ducked behind an old trailer. The vehicle passed by, but Haliday couldn’t see inside well enough to make out who it was.

They waited a few minutes and then they came across a few cars and old tow truck parked in an auto shop. Blake placed a device on the back of the tow truck. He said, “One left, Mr. Haliday.”

“Call me Roger, ok Blake.”

“Um, ok Roger.” It sounded odd. They looked down the street, too many candles glowing in windows, which meant too many people down there.

Haliday looked around. Blake said “look,” and pointed across the street. There outside another repair garage were six golf carts. Haliday said, “Go over there and put it on one of the carts.” Blake looked around and then darted across the street. He had just placed the box on the back of one of the carts when another vehicle approached. Blake ducked down low.

The vehicle pulled into the lot. They swept the area with a spotlight. Haliday got his rifle ready. Someone jumped out from the vehicle. It looked like an old Blazer. Haliday was praying Blake was well hidden. The guy who jumped out walked up to the door and peered inside. He then walked back to the Blazer and climbed in. They sat there for a minute.

Haliday kept watch, but reached down and hit a button on his ham and changed frequencies. All he heard was the end of a sentence. “It’s all secured at this time.” He changed the frequency back. The Blazer pulled out of the lot and took off. Haliday told Blake to wait a few minutes.

“You expect them to come back?”

“No, I want the aroma to clear out from you crapping your pants.”

Blake waited just a couple minutes, then bolted back across the street. “No, I didn’t crap my pants, almost, but I didn’t.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here now.” They worked their way back toward the river. Once they got there, they started the trek back to the bikes. It was almost nine now. They took another half an hour to make it back to the bikes.

They were about 50 yards away when they saw a flashlight. They dropped down low immediately. The light came nearer and nearer and they heard voices.

“We’re going to be in trouble.”

“No we’re not, only if they catch us.”

“It’s way past curfew and plus Mom will be mad.”

“We had to go, she won’t mind.” They went back and forth.

“They aren’t the police anyway. I don’t know who put them in charge.”

“Well they are in charge and whether we like it or not that’s how it is. If they catch us with food they’ll shoot us.”

“We didn’t steal it, we left a note. It’s our aunt’s house and they aren’t home. I don’t think they would care.” The kids were maybe 14 or 15, and sounded like brothers. They walked right by Blake and Haliday, but didn’t see them.

After about another 15 minutes they got up and finished heading back to the bikes. Blake asked if he thought they would really shoot those kids. “I don’t doubt it a bit. I hope they make it home. They have about 20 minutes before the fireworks start.” They sat down and waited. They heard a decent explosion. Now it had started.

They got up and secured their gear and got on the bikes. They pushed them to the river bank and waited again. The second device exploded and they started the bikes and headed along the river toward town. They put the bikes down and watched the activity. They saw two vehicles near the fires and a third coming down the road.

The third device detonated and now it looked like the Keystone Kops were in action. These guys didn’t know what to do. They were running around their vehicles and talking into their radios. Haliday couldn’t make sense of what they were saying. Everyone was trying to talk at once.

They were pointing in every direction and barking orders at each other. The fourth device detonated and two vehicles shot toward there. A fourth truck showed up and went down to the garage where the golf carts were. They tried to use fire extinguishers, but that didn’t help. The ham was blaring away.

“These pricks blew up the repair garage. The golf carts are all on fire. We can’t put them out. We saw some of them head north. We’re going to send a couple patrols after them.” Haliday was amused. Who the hell saw what, he thought, but then again the moonlight, flames and the dark night made for some great optical illusions. If they thought they saw something, more power to them.

All of a sudden everyone ran away from the repair shop. In just a matter of about two more minutes, there was a big explosion and flames were everywhere. One of their trucks had caught fire from this explosion as well. Blake and Haliday just looked at each other and wondered what the hell happened. Blake hadn’t noticed the 100 gallon portable tank sitting there.

“Those sons of bitches blew up a fuel tank. Damn near blew up all of our trucks too. Looks like Jim’s Blazer is toast. We need to find these sons of bitches now. I’ll be damned if they think they’re going to run around in my region and pull this terrorist shit on us. Don’t let me find out people are helping them or I’ll shoot them too.”

Haliday looked at Blake; they hit the road and took off. Coincidentally they were heading to Port Austin, where the family from the tornado shelter was from. Haliday had a few fond memories of this area. He had taken Kayla camping there a couple times as a small girl, old fashioned tent, hotdogs, sitting around the fire eating smores.