Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

The crow’s nest started to take more suppressing fire and Alan dropped down to the loft floor. He ran over to the middle of the cabin. Earlier he had removed a Velcro cover and piece of insulation. This revealed a one foot by one foot tin roof vent that he raised up. He would be able to avoid the shots at the crow’s nest, but still help fire along this side of the house to help out. He picked up an AR resting there.

Out past the woman, two rifles had started the barrage in order to provide cover for this Jeep. It was coming in completely dark, not a single light on. Mike was over on this side of the house and he launched a flare into the sky above the road. The smoke was illuminated and looked eerie. The Jeep laid on the brakes momentarily, then it continued on. NVG’s, Haliday thought, the flare ruined it. The driver had to stop and take them off.

The suppressing fire continued. They fired between the crow’s nest and Mike’s fighting position. Mike couldn’t get his head up to take any shots. Suddenly the wood line on the other side of the house erupted in gunfire. Mark ordered them all to return fire. Shots were being fired from both Haliday’s group and the militia regularly now.

Across from the neighbor’s house came even more fire. Kevin, Dawn and Diana returned fire striking the house and surrounding landscaping. Kevin swept the shrubs and trees from side to side anywhere from six inches to a foot off the ground. Dawn swept the areas from 2 to 3 feet off the ground and Diana sprayed the house and took aim at areas she saw muzzle flashes.

Haliday was ready to go and sought out the targets. He had taken over the hide after the militia sniper had fired in order to utilize it against the aggressors. None of them really knew what happened and with all the action they thought their own man was still over there covering their movement. Haliday put an occasional shot into a safe zone for just that effect.

The woman reached the motor pool area and ran inside. She opened the door and started the deuce that they had armored the side of. She moved it out and her first stop was by the downed militia member who had given her cover. The other militia man ducked beside the deuce and it inched its way toward the admin building as he dragged the downed man over there.

He laid the body along the side of the admin building. A few more people came out of the admin center. They climbed up into the back of the deuce and hunkered down low behind the plate metal. The deuce headed off toward the other buildings. It would pause and someone would get down and into a defensive position.

The positions the militia had set up had included sand bag emplacements, some short metal walls angled at 45 degree angles and placed near the corner of buildings and some cinder blocks that had been stacked two deep and filled with sand. They used whatever was found at the airport prior to the EMP strike.

The deuce made another trip and loaded up some more people. The townspeople could only take an occasional pot shot, but didn’t hit anyone. The group here at the airport was definitely the safest. The townspeople would have to regroup and figure out another plan of attack. The deuce delivered more militia to their positions.

They had twenty people dedicated to fighting positions around the buildings. The sniper on the roof would help extend their reach. The outlying areas of the airport they would have to leave alone for now. It was all open space and runway, so there were no buildings or supplies to defend. The rest of the militia was there to respond where needed and to help coordinate.

Rob was talking with Brad. They had to get this under control much faster. Right now it was simply a standstill with both sides waiting for the other to make a move. Rob asked Brad what he thought. “We’re screwed with that man on top of that admin building. We have to flush him out somehow. The distance we’re at is killing us.”

One of Rob’s group had positioned himself up on the feed store’s roof where he had seen Haliday fire from a couple of days earlier. He took aim at the militia sniper’s position and fired a shot. The shot dropped far too low. The man’s rifle was underpowered. He raised his rifle to adjust the aiming point and fired again to try and flush the man out.

The militia sniper was aware of this position and dialed in his scope. He had invested in an ATN gen three scope and looking at the man on the feed store roof was not a problem at all. He fired his round and struck the man on the feed store roof in the top of the shoulder. The round travelled through his upper body cavity. The man tumbled down off the roof and fell to the pavement.

Brad asked Rob who the best shot was. Rob told him it was Tom. The guy had a knack for hunting. Go get him. Rob jumped in the four wheeler and went and got Tom. When he got back, Brad pointed to the map. He said, “Tom, you think you can climb a tree over in this clump here and get the bastard on the roof of their HQ?”

Tom looked over the map and looked at the scale. “It’ll be hard. I won’t lie, but I might be able to do it.”

Brad looked at Rob, “Can we get him there?”

Rob said, “Sure, give us about 20 minutes.”

“Ok, you get there, and then get Tom up in that tree.” He told Tom to wait for the signal.

“What is the signal going to be?” he responded.

“It’s going to be like the Fourth of July. When the fireworks start, you try and get that guy.”

“Rob, after you take Tom there, go around and get these guys ready. Tell them to launch on my signal. I’ll pop a flare, and once they start, it’s Toms ball game. Anyone else who can get a shot in should take it.” Rob and Tom got back on the four wheeler. Rob drove down a ways and cut back up through the same path Haliday used to ambush the track.

They came across the track and both Rob and Tom just looked at it. It gave them shivers to think about the people sitting in that thing burning. The stench of burnt rotting flesh was pungent. The militia had not been able to get the bodies out of the track. They both looked at each other then looked up toward the trees in panic, but nothing was there.

Rob had to back up the four wheeler and find another route. The track blocked the path and he couldn’t get past the trees in the woods. They hurried up, and they were cutting it close. They had to make sure Brad didn’t start early. Rob skirted the woods and passed along a brick and block company. Those would have been useful to build some blockades, he thought.

He turned the lights off on the four wheeler and they crossed the road. They parked and got out and headed toward the clump of trees. As they passed the house, Rob saw people looking out the windows. He told them to get in the basement. The people just watched. Rob told Tom, “Some people think this is a game, and they just want to watch. Like it’s a giant Xbox or Playstation.”

Rob gave Tom a boost and he started climbing the tree. He kept looking over at the roof, half expecting to get hit. He climbed as high as he could get and braced himself. He could barely make out the militia sniper. He watched and waited for movement. This was not going to be easy.

The militia was talking back and forth as they tried to identify where the aggressors were. The flare went off and arced over the airport building then came down without incident. In a matter of minutes, several large fireworks started going. Michigan had just come around to allowing the good stuff to be sold, and as with any state that sells them, they were abundant in tourist traps.

As the fireworks were dancing in the sky several more flares were launched toward the buildings and mainly toward the admin building. Numerous fire work tubes were aimed at the buildings as well. The militia almost laughed at the attack; however, the admin building was getting pelted consistently. One lucky shot made it into the militia snipers position and he moved to avoid it.