Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

Rob looked over at Brad. “Brad, we need to get into this compound. We need to get through that fence.”

Brad said, “I agree, but it’s not like we can just plow our way in there.”

“Actually we can,” said Rob, “over by the brick and block company is an old front loader, let’s go see if it runs.” They took off to check it out.

The militia had them outgunned as far as type of rifle, but neither had an edge. The townspeople would fire a shot or two from their rifles and the militia response was usually 2 or 3 rounds or a short burst if they had a full auto rifle. Few more than half had converted their rifles to full auto. For a group that was breaking many laws, it was surprising they didn’t all have full autos.

Word had spread that the sniper had been taken out and some of the guys now sought higher ground. A few used tree stands, but had them on the back sides of the trees in order to use the tree as cover. A couple hit the closer rooftops in hopes of being able to get a better line of sight.

A few of the guys got bored and they commenced to shoot out every piece of glass they could on the admin building, regardless of the windows being boarded up. The upper windows weren’t boarded up and they shot these out as well. Heat rises and they would either get colder or use more of their energy heating the place.

Rob and Brad made it to the brick company. They climbed up on the old front loader and climbed up in the cab. They searched for a key but couldn’t find it. Rob went over to the office and tried the door, but it was locked. He went around and tried the back door, but it too was locked. Brad said, “Now what?” Rob picked up a brick and broke the window out of the back door. They went inside to look for the key.

Hanging on a wall by the shop door was a bunch of keys. Rob looked at the tags and found one that said loader. He grabbed it and they went back outside to the front loader. He climbed back up into the cab and put the key in the ignition and turned the switch. The engine cranked, but very slowly.

Brad called up to him and told him the batteries must be low. They went back into the shop and looked around. They couldn’t find any jumper cables or anything. Brad grabbed a fire ax and walked over to a piece of conduit and chopped at it. He followed it along the base of the wall about 10 feet and then swung again. He had Rob hold the pipe and he pulled the wire out. Homemade jumper cables.

They connected them to the battery of the four wheeler and then the batteries on the front loader. Rob climbed up into the cab once again and tried. The motor turned over, but still didn’t start. Brad revved the engine on the four wheeler and Rob tried to start it. The engine finally caught and a plume of black smoke came out of the muffler. Brad gave Rob a thumbs up and then took the wires off the batteries.

Over toward the southwest corner of the airport, one of the militia called for a status check. He was told everyone was in position defending the compound. He asked how the other group was doing and he was told that they didn’t know yet. The only information they had exchanged so far was that they were engaged in firefights.

This was a younger man in his early twenties. His parents had volunteered to go on the assault mission and he was asked to stay. Now he was wondering if he should have gone on the mission too. He started to get antsy and moved back and forth. It had been a few hours now and his mind wandered. The HQ asked if anyone needed any ammo. One guy asked for something to drink and HQ told them critical runs only would be made.

Brad and Rob didn’t know if the fuel gauge worked or not so they found a can and transferred some diesel from the large 500 gallon fuel tank to the loader. When they had it filled, Rob went over and picked up a pallet of bricks. The company had taken the bucket off and had been using large pallet forks. Brad placed a loose board on top of the forks behind the pallet of bricks.

Rob headed for the south end of the airport. When they got toward the fence line he paused and Brad ducked over to the woods, where two more guys were waiting. He asked them if they were ok with taking a ride and entering the compound. Both agreed and they all ran back toward the loader. Rob plowed over the fence where it was hanging low from being clipped. He got as close as he could.

The militia was firing on the loader. Rob knew that as soon as he put the pallet of bricks down he would have to take off. Brad jumped up next to the cab and he lowered the pallet and backed off. The two guys behind the pallet and Brad all fired as Rob retreated. A few rounds hit the cab but no one got hit. The two guys that stayed with the bricks started hollowing out a small area of the pallet. They piled up the ones they removed and placed them on the sides of the pallet to widen their protection.

Rob and Brad went to the brick company and picked up another pallet of bricks. Rob told Brad to meet him near the west side of the airport with the four wheeler. Rob drove the bricks through the gap in the fence again and headed toward the west fence. As soon as he dropped the load he drove toward the west fence line. Even with cover fire, the loader was taking hits. It started to slow down and Rob headed straight for the west fence.

The loader stalled out as he rammed through one of the poles and barely made it across the fence. It had overheated and shut down. The cooling system was toasted. They had two men inside the perimeter, two positions of cover and two breaches of the fence now. They would need to get more people in. If they could control at least the south side, they could start chipping away at them more heavily.

At the southwest corner was the younger militia guy. He had helped provide fire toward Rob. The breaches got him to thinking some more. This was serious and they had run into some real opposition. He kept wondering about his parents. He asked the HQ to call for an update. He was told no, there was too much going on. He was thinking something was wrong. Fifteen minutes later, he called for ammunition and told them he was low and used a lot during the last breach.

Rob had made it to Brad and they met up with a few guys in the woods who had taken out the gunner earlier. They sat there and watched the deuce come creeping up. The deuce stopped by the guy who had called in for ammo. Rob and the guys watched closely. The deuc’es armored side was facing them. They spread out and tried to get a better look.

The guy was arguing with the driver, he wanted to go back to the admin building and was told that he could not. He pushed his way past the driver and told the driver to stay there in his place. The driver reached out and grabbed him trying to tell him he had to stay. The guy pushed him off and he stumbled from behind the deuce where he was met with multiple rounds.

The guy watched the driver die and he panicked himself. He got behind the wheel of the deuce and tried to take off. He wasn’t used to the clutch and it was hard for him. The townspeople opened up on the back of the deuce. The guy jammed it in gear and took off. He drove right over to the admin building and climbed out. He took several rounds from Rob’s men across the street. In his haste he left the area between the deuce and the admin building wide open and that’s where he was. Rob’s group had now started taking a toll, but not fast enough.

Rob called Haliday. Haliday told him he was busy, he needed a few minutes. He would have to call him back. He told him to hold on for a few minutes if possible. Rob let it go at that, he knew Haliday was deep in a fight. Haliday waited where he was. Just a few more moments was all he needed. Just a few more moments.

Haliday was watching carefully. He heard the militia’s radio crackle again. He just laid there and watched. The two approaching men stopped and dropped. Haliday knew it was their sniper they were calling and the lack of an answer a second time clued them in to a problem. They were at a loss as to what to do. They thought they were moving toward safety.