Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

A woman asked him, “You mean what’s best for you or what’s best for all of us?”

Someone in the crowd threw some rocks at the militia. The commander ordered them to leave. The crowd threw some more rocks. Two members of the militia approached the gate with what looked like flame throwers, but they were not flame throwers. They sprayed the crowd with pepper spray from these tanks.

Some of the crowd started running away. A lot of the people were, coughing and tears and snot were running down their faces. The commander ordered them to disperse once again. They crossed the street but were still yelling. People continued to throw rocks, bottles, or whatever they could find. Someone threw a Molotov cocktail.

The militia fired toward the crowd to scare them. One man went down and others helped him up. He had been hit in the leg by accident. The crowd started running away now through the houses across the street and down back toward the feed store. The militia fired only sporadically.

Blake fired first. The round arced over toward the crowd and exploded in the air, lighting up the scene. It was a simple fireworks cartridge from the 37mm. The militia had been caught off guard. Everyone looked up. Haliday squeezed the trigger on his M24 and dropped the commander. The shot tore through his upper shoulder near his neck. They grabbed him and rushed him into the command center.

The militia didn’t know whether or not to fire on the crowd. Some of the crowd ran and some lay down on the ground. Haliday placed his next shot into the open hangar where they were working on the planes. He fired a shot into what looked like a small fuel caddy and it started to leak. He fired just one more shot into it.

He handed the rifle to Blake and told him to put it away. Blake stuffed it in the case and used some bungee cords to secure it to Haliday’s bike. He wrapped a couple quick pieces of hundred mile and hour tape on it. This rifle was too important to lose. Blake grabbed his AR and fired at the compound and kept an eye out for patrols.

The militia sent a couple guys to the fence line closest to Haliday and Blake. They fired a few shots at them. Haliday and Blake returned fire. Blake emptied a magazine and loaded another into the rifle. Haliday crawled over to a tree and rose up behind it. He aimed the 37mm and launched a flare toward the hangar.

The flare fell short. Haliday loaded another one and fired again at the hangar. This one hit the tarmac in front of the hangar and bounced in. Someone came running out. Haliday watched as a group of guys ran toward the motor pool hangar. Haliday loaded one more cartridge into the launcher and fired it toward the hangar. Blake continued to fire at the men near the fence line; he had gone through three magazines and just loaded his fourth.

The fireworks cartridge landed near the open door of the hangar and exploded sending colorful sparks everywhere. One landed in the puddle of fuel and sent up a wall flames. A couple guys grabbed some small extinguishers and tried to put it out. The flames grew in size. Haliday was disappointed there was no explosion. “A little 4 thof July celebration for ya Wright brothers. Fly this.”

“Ok Blake, cover me while I get into the woods.” Haliday crawled about 30 yards into the woods. He took up position and told Blake to low crawl in while he used suppressing fire to cover him. He went through three magazines himself. “Go get ready, Blake.” Blake went a little deeper into the woods. Haliday continued to fire although he wasn’t hitting anything other than the four wheeler. A Jeep came out of the compound and pulled up close to the intersection. They fired blindly into the woods.

Haliday and Blake had a path between the two wooded areas that they were going to use. They crawled their way back there. The Jeep moved up slowly and started heading down the path. Haliday and Blake fired at them. The Jeep backed off. Haliday heard the guys shouting out instructions. “I think it’s a trap,” said one of the guys, “just hold on, it’s coming.”

Back at the airport one of the militia had managed to wheel a large extinguisher to the hangar where she released the chemical into the hangar and on the two piper cubs. Her efforts paid off, the flames were put out. The condition of the planes was unknown, but hopefully they wouldn’t fly any time soon.

The motor pool hangar door opened and the M113 rolled out. It went out the main gate and made its way toward the wooded area where Haliday and Blake were. The Jeep had backed out of the woods and the guys got out and jumped in the back of the track. They raised the back door ramp and started heading toward Blake and Haliday.

The militia had five people in the track. Two were actually women. Haliday had actually done a good job of ruffling their ranks over the past few days. He hoped that using the women meant that their ranks were not numbered as high as he originally thought. The option was very angry wives out for payback. Still, they had enough to accomplish what they wanted to in the area. His count would later prove to be wrong.

With the promise of food and shelter they would be able to recruit some additional people as well. They had to have been promising the gas station owners something. Why else would they be restricting the gas? Who knew what else they were promising people or would promise them. With the country in the crapper and people getting cold, tired and hungry they’d jump on board in a minute to protect themselves and family.

The store/barter idea would have allowed the militia to selectively recruit people, preferably singles or couples with no kids. As they came in to trade for food and supplies, they could screen everyone. In actuality, it wasn’t a bad idea. That plan may have been disrupted. If they started recruiting, they would win this game.

The track turned its lights on. It moved forward slowly but effortlessly at a walking pace. The path here was wide enough to drive a truck through and fairly level. Just some bushes and undergrowth in most spots. The issue was the trees on both sides. Lot of places for people to hide, but the gun ports on each side provided cover and a sense of safety.

The upper turret was manned with one guy and what looked like a .308 of some sorts. Most likely it was an AR configuration. The track was accompanied by two people bringing up the rear. They were determined to find these guys and even the score. They searched the area thoroughly as they moved along.

The track reached a pinch point in the path where the trees narrowed. This narrow point left barely a few inches on each side of the track. The driver was checking his alignment and let it creep forward. As it crept through the trees two booby trap simulators went off, which startled everyone.

The guys in the rear dove for cover and the guy in the turret ducked down as the driver stopped. They were braced and ready to take fire. The guys in the rear scanned the area and did not see anyone. The turret gunner stood back up, but kept nice and low behind the armored cover.

Overhead there came some light popping sounds. They looked up and didn’t see anything, but felt the fluid dropping all over the track. The gunner and the driver felt themselves getting wet. The driver tried to scramble to get out of the driver’s compartment and knocked the gunner down. The floor had become slippery. In a matter of moments, flares hit the track and ignited it.

The track burst into flames. The driver and gunner were flailing around inside screaming as the flames engulfed them. The people inside the back of the track were trying to get out and couldn’t locate the hatch control. Everything started to ignite inside the track with everyone moving around and spreading the fuel and flames.

The gunner climbed up out of the turret hatch and over the side of the track where he fell to the ground. The driver was rolling around the floor of the track trying to smother the flames, but it was fruitless as there was gas burning on the floor as well. One more person made it through the gunner’s hatch. The driver, a man and a woman didn’t make it out of the track. The flames had licked higher and burst the rest of the balloons that had not popped, dumping more gas on everyone.