Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

They turned in at the marina. Haliday looked around. It wasn’t a very big place, but he had to move quickly. He searched up and down near the boat hoists. There it was. A small cruiser, maybe 30 feet in length. Older, but looked like it was well cared for. The winterizing plastic had been ripped open. They left the ladder near by it too. This was the boat.

He looked around and found a place to hide the bikes. He prepped Blake as well as he could. He gave him a couple Snickers bars. “Eat them fast, you’ll need the sugar rush. If you can’t hang, just drop your weapon and hit the ground and lay there. Use the radio and tell the group what happened and what’s going on. Make sure you flip to the right freq. first. Just push that button right there.”

“I’ll be here Mr. Haliday, don’t worry.” Haliday had his doubts. Kid just learned to shoot a few days ago and hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. Not even to practice. He just hoped the kid didn’t get himself killed. They found some hiding spots and Haliday briefed him on fields of fire.

“You start firing as soon as you hear the first shot or if they are pointing a gun at me and ready to shoot. You make sure they are dead, you hear me. If they go down you put a bullet in their head. You hesitate you die.

“One more thing Blake, see how I’m dressed?”

“Yes.”

“Remember that when you pull the trigger. They have the commie camo on.” Haliday heard the noise, the militia had brought one of the deuce and a halves. He bolted for his cover as quick as he could. The good thing about a deuce was you heard it long time before you saw it. His adrenaline was coursing through his veins.

The deuce pulled in and paused. The driver looking at a piece of paper that must be a hand drawn map. He put the deuce in gear and pulled up close to the hoist. Two guys from the back jumped out and stood there as the deuce worked its way back and forth so they were backed in as close as they could get. It would make it easier to unload the boat when they got back. They had either taken the top off or didn’t have one. Didn’t matter but it allowed Haliday to count the number of militia.

The driver and passenger got out. They walked around to the back as well. They had pistols strapped on but no rifles. The guys from the back had the standard AR’s this group has been carrying. One handheld ham, one ham mounted on the truck. Haliday knew who his first target would be if it came down to that.

The group walked over to the boat and opened a lock and chain around a wheel gear and started cranking it to lower the boat into the water. It was in the water now and they started to take the plastic winterizing completely off. Haliday raised himself up slowly, aimed and called out “Halt or I shoot”. The two riflemen spun in his direction and started to raise their rifles. The driver reached down for his ham. Haliday fired once and the bullet shredded the guy’s hand and the radio.

Haliday spun toward one of the riflemen and fired a quick burst into his chest before he dove back for cover. He heard a splash in the water. Blake hadn’t fired yet. Damn it, he froze, Haliday thought. Haliday heard the radio guy screaming in pain. He heard some pistol shots and heard rounds hitting around him. He was behind a metal dock box filled with rubber bumpers and ropes and saw holes appearing through the metal. He hit the ground as low as he could get.

He looked under the dock box sideways because he only had about four inches of clearance. He fired at the feet of the only guy he could see. One round hit its mark and the guy dropped to his knees. Haliday could hear more rounds hit the dock box. He saw the knee of the guy and fired another round. He watched the guy’s knee cap explode out the side of his pants causing the man to fall prone. The guy was now firing randomly at Haliday.

Haliday couldn’t get a good line of sight on the guy and kept his head low. The shots from the rifle were keeping him down and they were trying to hold their own cover. He tried to keep it near the bottom and edge where the metal was thicker. He heard the pistol shots, but didn’t hear the rounds strike the box, just items close by. The AR went silent and he could hear the guy moaning in pain. He heard him struggling with a magazine change.

Next he heard the AR cycle through a couple more rounds and then stop. He grabbed a quick peek; the man had managed to sit up. He cleared his rifle and fired at Haliday again. His rifle stopped firing; it had jammed on him again. He was trying to clear it. Haliday couldn’t risk exposing himself for the shot yet. He looked around to see if he could crawl somewhere else, but he was stuck where he was.

“It jammed on you, good for you, you f’ing prick.” Haliday grabbed a quick peek and jerked his head back up when he heard the AR fire. He heard more shots. “Damn, I gotta get this guy.” He peeked again, “Hell ya, way to go kid.” When Haliday grabbed his quick look the second time, he liked what he saw. The rifleman was laying there with his forehead missing and frontal lobe half gone. Welcome to the game, Blake.

Blake yelled over at Haliday, “I can’t see them; I can’t see where they are. I can’t really see the other two.” They had two men left, both with pistols. One only had one hand but that was all he needed. Haliday grabbed another quick peek. Both of these guys were ducking down now at the back of the boat. All Haliday could see was the slightest profile of one, his ass and his back. Haliday fired another burst causing the man to fall backwards into the water.

“Rick, help me. I can’t move my legs., Help me Rick.” Haliday could hear the guy splashing around in the water. He heard Blake firing on them but couldn’t see any hits. “Rick man, help me. It’s cold. Come on man, I need your help. You gotta help me, Rick.”

“Hold on man, I’m coming for you. Hang on Gary.” Haliday was watching the back of the boat. He saw an arm extend toward the water and heard Blake fire.

The guy pulled his arm back in and was screaming. “Rick, I can’t stay in here. It’s cold. It’s cold Rick. I need help. I’m hit bad.” The sounds of the splashing became less and less.

“I’m sorry, Gary, I’m sorry. I can’t get to you.”

“Rick, it’s cold in here. Get me out.” Gary reached out once more and the boards on the dock shredded from rifle fire as he pulled it back. The sounds from the water had almost stopped now.

“You sons of bitches, I’ll kill you all. You guys ain’t got the right to come up here and do this. You hear me, you sons of bitches.” The splashes from the water had stopped now. “Gary, you still there? Gary, come on man, tell me you’re still there.” There was no answer. “God damn you sons of bitches, God damn you, what gives you the right to come up here. Who the hell do you think you are?”

Haliday actually answered him back. “I’ll tell you. I was born and raised in this state. This state is part of this country. I worked my ass off and paid taxes like everyone else. I bought my land up here just like the rest of you, with my own damn money. I have every right to be here, you self-righteous prick. What gives you guys the right to rule this place?”

“There ain’t any law now, asshole. It’s survival of the fittest now. If we don’t control the people around here, they’re gonna drag us down too. We are the law around here now. It’s up to us to decide who can help us rebuild our community. It’s our choice, you hear me you f’ing bastard. It’s our choice.”

Haliday responded, “And what choice do the people have?”

“If they don’t like it, they can leave if they want.”

“And you take their food, their weapons and you beat and torture them?” Haliday was up and moving toward the dock now. Rifle slung on his back, pistol drawn. “Answer me asshole. I said answer me.” The guy behind the boat stood up and looked at Haliday. Haliday kept walking toward him.