Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

Blake looked over at Haliday. “A care package?”

“Ya, Blake, we have to avoid drawing any attention to the group right now. We have to give it a few days to settle down if we can. But, we’ll need a few more things in order to make it. Food for one, few more toys too. Kayla, write this down, then I’ll tell you guys when and where meet us. Couple of you will have to leave the house for about an hour or so.”

Haliday gave her a complete list of resupply items. He would be swapping out his AR for one with a 37mm launcher attached to it. He’d also be picking up his M24 Remmy. Some more rounds, food of course, and a couple of other things along with some fresh under clothing. They’d make the exchange and then get back to business.

It would be easier to just head in and try and hold the fort, but with the plane or planes bound to take flight eventually, the tracked vehicle and the way they were running the area like they owned it all, he couldn’t let things happen like that. They would have to even out the odds a bit more. Not just for them, but this community as well.

If they got a tighter grip on the whole community even more than they had now, this whole area would be a wasteland. They had too much invested in their house and land to have to move. If they did try and move again who knows what would happen. It was just getting worse out there day by day. Haliday wondered how he got tied up in this mess.

As they were sitting there they heard a vehicle pull in by the house and stop. They heard a couple of voices. Militia again. They waited and listened. Same old cursory check but this one didn’t last long. He heard one guy say it was a waste checking a house located right off the road. “Better safe than sorry,” the other man replied. They checked quickly and then drove off.

After about 15 minutes Haliday looked at his watch, called the group and asked them if they were ready. The Cherokee from the group was heading out. They would wait about another 15 minutes and then leave themselves. It was a long wait. They dug the bikes out and headed to the meeting place.

As they pulled up, they saw the Cherokee off to the side of the road. They saw Kayla and David out there pacing back and forth. The signal was that if there was a trap, they would just be standing still next to the car. They pulled up by the Cherokee and got off the bikes. A quick round of hugs and some frantic hand off of the resupply equipment. They didn’t want to be seen. This spot was blocked by trees and no one could see them unless they were on the road and close by.

Last but not least, fresh batteries for the radios, three for each of them. David handed them each a cup of hot coffee. Blake looked at it and said “What the hell, I’ll drink it, not a coffee fan though.”

Kayla said, “I added sugar and French vanilla creamer to yours, Blake, so it tastes better.”

Haliday said, “Gee, thanks for looking out for me.”

Kayla said, “Dad, I made yours the same way.”

David brought over a couple of five gallon gas cans and topped off their tanks and cans. Roger asked, “You hearing anything about troops or feds.”

“Nothing Dad, people are complaining about being left out to dry. They say they see activity at bases, but not much and nothing off base.”

“Ok, thank you sweetie. Keep listening for anything important. Here’s a list of what to do and when to do it.” Another quick hug and it was goodbye.

They all took off. David and Kayla went back to the house and Haliday and Blake down the road and into a small farm by some round hay bales. Haliday wished he had the map memorized. He actually did, except for the areas where they could easily hide. It was mid-morning and they needed a place to go study the map and come up with some plans. “Screw it,” he said, “this is today’s plan.”

They headed out and went east back to the old school. They hid the bikes and walked inside. Haliday took a bunch of rags and soaked them with a little gas. He laid a bunch of debris around the area as well. Blake went into the house and did the same thing. Both used the cigarette ignition with paper clip, lit them and left. So much for the house and old schoolhouse. It was another screw you to the Militia.

Next up was a visit to a familiar face. They went back to try and connect with the guy who had been out hunting. Haliday stayed out in the woods while Blake snuck out to the street and just walked up the guy’s house. He had changed real quickly, and had on blue jean pants and a grey hoodie pulled up. Normal kid off the street. He walked up and knocked on the door.

The guy came to the door and said, “Can I help you?”

Blake lowered his hoodie and said, “It’s me from the woods; I need to talk to you.” The guy opened the door right away and let Blake in.

“What’s going on?” the guy asked. “We need some help. We can help you guys, but we need some help too.”

The guy said, “Sure, no problem. Where’s your dad?”

“Oh, he’s not my dad; he’s my friend’s dad. He’s out in the wood line.”

“Well, ok, but go tell him I’ll open the back door of the pole barn, you can hide your bikes there. Then we can talk.”

Blake said, “Ok, wait until seven though so it’s dark.” Blake went back to meet Haliday.

Seven came around and they pushed the bikes through the dirt field and into the back of the pole barn. Haliday went back out and fluffed up the foliage and dragged the rows of the field they used to bring the bikes in. He walked back into the pole barn. “My name is Rob, we weren’t formally introduced.”

“I’m Roger and that’s Blake, can you turn the flashlight off please?”

“Oh sure, sorry,” Rob said.

Haliday asked, “Anywhere in here we can turn on a light and not be seen from the outside?”

Rob said, “I have a small room I keep things locked up in over in the corner. Let’s go over there.” They made their way over there and went inside. Haliday turned on a small led lamp with red lights.

“Rob, thank you very much. Listen, I’m not going to beat around the bush, we can help you, but we are doing so because it will help us too. You game?”

“Yes I am. Let’s hear what you have.”

Roger said, “First things first. What’s the latest you’ve heard?”

Rob pretty much told him what Haliday already knew, but with a different twist. The militia made them out to be terrorists killing people in cold blood for no reason at all. They were going to come in and take over the community, robbing people, raping women and stuff like that. Haliday chuckled at that and asked, “What do the other people think?”

Rob answered, “They don’t know what to think. Some believe them, but a bunch know what the militia is really doing. The rest are just kind of here. They don’t seem to care.”

“Rob, I won’t lie to you. Here’s how everything went down.” Haliday told him exactly what happened, minus a few small details in order to avoid looking like cold-blooded killers. He wasn’t sure Rob would understand the justification to kill. “Now, Rob, if you are still ok, this is what we have planned.” He covered a few details and looked at Rob.

Rob said, “That sounds fairly dangerous.”

“Well Rob, it does, but with safety in numbers it’ll be ok.” Rob then thought for a moment and agreed.

They would take the night off and use the whole day tomorrow to prepare. Right now they imagined the militia was running around again completely upset because they torched the house and the old school. These were areas they knew the militia was checking. They really just wanted to let them know they were still in the area.

The radio was abuzz with the school and house burning. They didn’t quite send as many patrols as they thought they would, but that was ok. They heard a transmission on the radio. “Hey, is anybody there? Anybody out there?”