Nathan Jones - First Winter

And that was unacceptable.

Lewis left under the cover of darkness, using his night vision gear to easily avoid the camp guards and the few scattered campsites, one of them large enough to hold at least fifty men, as he sought out Trent’s group who’d been tailing the refugees. He wanted to avoid using his radio unless he had to, so he wouldn’t draw attention from the camp. Luckily it only took a bit of searching to find the Aspen Hill group making their way home, well off the road.

After briefly sharing reports they made for the road and, with Lewis in the lead guiding them through the darkness, started east at a jog. In spite of weariness and lack of ideal traveling conditions they all agreed that they wanted to get home that night if they could, rather than having to set up camp again.

Lewis was reasonably satisfied with his information gathering. His phone carried dozens of pictures and a few snippets of video and conversations relevant to what was going on. Enough to support his findings and possibly even strong enough to be presented as evidence; although most of the audio was hearsay, the video of the soldiers turning away the returning refugees was hard to dispute.

Assuming they managed to find someone willing and able to do something before the whole area collapsed into chaos.

Ed Larson jumped off his cot as a large man wearing sergeant’s stripes, flanked by two enlisted soldiers holding rifles, stormed into the barrack tent and made a beeline for him.

“Is there some—” Ed started to ask.

“Where’s the rest of your group?” the sergeant snarled.

The tone combined with the aggressive approach and armed escort threw Ed off, and it took him several seconds to stammer out an answer. “Th-they’re out in camp.”

“Get them!” the big man roared. “You have five minutes.” Rather than storming off, he motioned to his soldiers to take up a position at the tent’s entrance and plopped down on a nearby cot glowering at Ed, clearly waiting for him to comply.

Ed retrieved his radio with a shaking hand. It was tuned to one of the civilian frequencies approved by the military, of which they had their pick since very few other people had working radios to communicate with aside from the military and those working for them, who also used their own frequencies. It was likely someone was listening in on all radio communication, but that didn’t matter since they only used them to check in on each other.

“Aspen Hill delegation,” he said, aware of how stilted and formal his voice sounded, “we’ve been called in to speak to—” he hesitated, taking his thumb off the transmit button as he glanced at the sergeant. “Colonel Grimes?”

“Right,” the man growled.

Ed pressed the button again. “—to Colonel Grimes. He wants to see us immediately.”

Lucas’s voice came over the radio loud and clear. “Copy that. Me and Carrie are on our way.” Moments later Scott and Ben confirmed they would be there soon as well.

Although they’d agreed to take shifts Ed was usually the one who found himself here in camp. He wasn’t sure what the others had got up to in the six days they’d been cooling their heels waiting for Grimes to call them in, but from the sounds of it they’d been reasonably productive in negotiating trades, making friends, and gathering news.

As for the situation in Aspen Hill, they’d heard some chatter over the radio yesterday that might’ve been about their town, but hadn’t been able to get in touch with Chauncey or anyone else from Aspen Hill to find out what was happening.

If this irate sergeant and the abrupt summons from Grimes was any indication, Ed wasn’t expecting to get any good news about home.

It took closer to ten minutes for everyone to get back to the barrack, and the sergeant was clearly irritated at that. He’d apparently meant his five minute deadline, unreasonable as it was. As soon as Lucas and Carrie showed up the noncom and his two enlisted escorts hurried them all to the headquarters building and inside. Once inside he rushed them through rooms full of curious people and through the waiting room directly into the colonel’s office, barely even pausing to announce their arrival.

Grimes was waiting for them, expression grim. “Gentlemen, ma’am,” he said, rising from his seat to stand behind his desk. “Please, have a seat.”

Somehow the fact that he was inviting them to sit this time, when he’d had them stand during their first visit when he was more kindly disposed towards them, seemed like a bad sign. Ed nervously joined the others in taking seats. After a short, tense silence Lucas opened his mouth, at which point the colonel talked over him.

“It seems as if it’s not only soldiers attempting to carry out their duty that your town likes pointing guns at. They also enjoy menacing unarmed refugees.”

The silence took on a more blank, confused air. “Beg pardon, Colonel?” Scott finally said.

Grimes turned his glare on the man, who hunched slightly. “Yesterday,” the senior officer snapped. “A mob of thugs from Aspen Hill numbering in the hundreds, all heavily armed and geared for a fight, waylaid a refugee convoy on the road.”

Another bewildered silence. “That seems… unlikely,” Lucas said carefully.

“As in you think if it came from Major Rogers it’s a lie?” The colonel was visibly trying to control his anger. “I have reports from two different patrols as well, who intercepted scattered groups of refugees all attesting to being turned back from coming near Aspen Hill as if they were common criminals. An action your town does not have the authority to take.”

Ed frowned, from more than just surprise and dismay. Something was definitely going on, and obviously his town was involved. But a lot of facts were also being left off the table, either because Grimes wasn’t aware of them or for some other reason.

“If I could ask,” he said into the silence. “Would you say this is now justification for personally taking a closer look at the situation, or at least sending someone who will?”

It was his turn to take the brunt of the colonel’s glare. “The situation seems pretty clear to me. At best you people are paranoid nutjobs using excessive force in situations that don’t warrant it, and you seem to be engaged in suspicious activities as well. This mess with the refugees crosses too far over the line. My job is to keep the roads safe for travelers and allow free passage through all areas in this territory. Anyone getting in the way of that is going to have a problem with me.”

“I can assure you, Colonel, there’s a reasonable explanation for what happened,” Lucas said stiffly.

Grimes whirled on him. “Oh? Have you been in contact with your town and heard their side of it, then?”

Lucas hesitated. “Well no,” he admitted. “But this isn’t the way our people behave.”

The senior officer slammed his hands down on the table in disgust. “You’re going to have to do better than that, Mr. Halsson. We’ve got a serious situation that seems to be spiraling out of control, and your town is at the center of it. Now I’m going to give you enough fuel to get home, and I suggest you take it and go get your house in order. My people will be along soon to make sure you are.”

There was an uncomfortable silence as they all stared at him in helpless frustration. “With all due respect,” Ben finally said, “maybe you should take your own advice when it comes to Major Rogers.”

Grimes abruptly stood and loomed over his desk, expression darkening. “I don’t need you to tell me how to do my job. You better believe the next time I hear word of your town restricting the right of travel of US citizens, I’ll send a battalion in to level the place. Now get out.”