Nathan Jones - Shortage

Chauncey hesitated, then shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. According to my friend they’ve got real military vehicles and equipment, including a nasty looking .50 cal mounted on one of the trucks. Ferris and his men were already well armed with military issue weapons and crowd control measures last fall, and who knows what they’ve picked up since then. They’ve probably got grenades, and maybe even missile launchers or rocket-propelled grenades of some sort.”

Matt felt a sinking in his gut. This was Razor and his men all over again, but even worse. Razor had caught them by surprise, but he’d been poorly equipped and most of the weapons had been in the storehouse when the people of Aspen Hill reclaimed it. Now the shoe would be on the other foot, and they might be lucky to get the same kind of ratio when it came to deaths that Razor’s people had suffered.

“We might not be able to win,” he said, “but the more important question is, do we try?”

Uncomfortable looks were exchanged around the group. “Let’s meet him at Roadblock 1,” Catherine finally suggested. “Maybe we can scare him away with a show of force. I’ll gather up as many people as possible while you prepare our defenses.”

Matt nodded as the Mayor hurried off with her husband. “Chauncey, organize men with radios to set up observation posts way out along the roads leading to Roadblocks 2 and 3, just in case Ferris doesn’t take the direct route.” The older man nodded and hurried off, gathering a few men. Matt turned to the others. “I want everyone from our hunting parties and the patrols organized. The Mayor will get her show of force at the roadblock, but I also want snipers at every single concealed position within 100 yards.”

“I like the sound of that,” Tam said, her husband nodding his agreement as well. “But what if Ferris punches right through the roadblock? That would leave most of our best people scattered and struggling to catch up while he tears through town blowing holes in things. It would be Razor and the storehouse all over again.”

Matt grit his teeth. “We need to make sure any townspeople not involved in the fighting have been taken to a safe location and are well guarded. Tam, Carl, Ben, can you take care of that?”

The three exchanged looks. “Easier said than done,” Ben finally replied. “Where did you have in mind?”

That was a good question. Matt hadn’t really considered what to do if they needed to evacuate the town. “Keep a radio and be ready to take them up Aspen Hill Canyon if things start looking bad,” he finally said. “See if you can find a way to block the road to keep any vehicles from following. And take some people with you who are good shots.”

As the three set off to undertake the daunting task of securing Aspen Hill block by block to make sure each house had been evacuated, Matt turned to look at everyone who remained. “Lewis, can you take care of positioning the snipers? And Jane’s still out on patrol, right?” Lewis nodded. “Good, have her and anyone still out there with her find good vantage points to watch the back roads into town. We need early warning of any sneak attack.”

With Lewis’s help Matt quickly assigned him most of the people in the crowd, then motioned for those who remained to come with him to Roadblock 1. As he hurried up the street Trev fell into step beside him. “Guess I’m on roadblock duty again,” he said wryly.

The situation was too tense for Matt to appreciate the attempt at humor. “Yeah, I need your strong back. Ready to do some heavy lifting?”

Over the next half hour more and more people trickled to the roadblock, sent there by Catherine as promised. She must’ve emptied the storehouse of weapons because just about everyone there was armed.

As soon as people came Matt put them to work alongside those already busy shoving mass behind the cars positioned across the streets. The cinderblocks were something, but Matt could imagine one of those big FETF trucks putting their bumpers right to the other side of the roadblock and then shoving it all aside. He had people filling sacks with sand, piling rocks, gathering any heavy bits of junk close at hand, and even pushing more cars down the road on flat tires to push against the back of the pile of furniture along the sides of the road in case Ferris tried to break through there.

Matt helped where he could, but mostly he trusted Trev to coordinate the effort while he stayed busy on the radio, getting progress reports from everyone he’d sent out.

Given a week or even a day to prepare they probably could’ve thrown up barricades on all the side streets and back roads and organized better ambush spots. As it was Chauncey’s dire warning of Ferris’s convoy of raiders moving out of Helper had him expecting to hear engines roaring down the road towards them at any moment.

The roadblock was looking much more solid when the Mayor arrived with half a dozen people, lugging wagons full of extra magazines and ammunition to hand out. “The storehouse is empty,” she said grimly. “Chauncey’s been warning me for weeks that our supply of ammo isn’t limitless, but it always seemed like there was still plenty. Let’s hope this doesn’t become an extended firefight.”

Matt nodded. “We’ll make sure everyone makes their shots count. If it comes to that.” She responded with a grimace as she handed him an extra magazine each for his AR-15 and Glock and a 50 round box each of .223 and .40. Matt backed away so the others could also get ammo.

Trev looked a bit disappointed there wasn’t another magazine for his .45, also a Glock. He’d accepted 3 from the storehouse as part of his payment for the cache, and that was apparently all that had been available. As for his Mini-14, he didn’t need any extra magazines since he already had plenty, and ammo for both his guns.

Within ten minutes they had everyone at the roadblock as ready as possible, and Catherine had sent runners with extra ammo for the snipers Lewis had set up. Matt radioed Chauncey at the storehouse to see if he had any more news of Ferris’s whereabouts.

Unfortunately it was the same news. “Nothing since my friend up in Helper watched them roll out a while ago. They could be hear any minute, or they could be crashing through Carbonville.” The retired teacher made an annoyed sound. “I’ll let you know the moment I hear anything.”

The bustle of activity around the roadblock slowed as all the most urgent tasks got completed. Matt felt the tension building as the minutes ticked by with nothing to do but wait, and he knew everyone else felt the same. Catherine began outlining a plan for the people behind the roadblock to scatter into the nearby yards and side streets in case Ferris tore through the solid barricade they’d made, but Matt had a feeling it was mostly to keep people’s minds occupied.

If over 50 men with automatic weapons and heavy vehicles managed to break through the barricade, the people here might not even have time to run.

It was a relief to know Lewis and his snipers were in the buildings nearest the roadblock, as well as behind fences and trees and lying prone on any high spot of ground nearby. Lewis himself was up on a rooftop that could conveniently be reached by a tree in a backyard, using his binoculars to keep a close eye on the road.

But it was Tom Harding, out in one of the farthest sniper positions in a barn loft a 100 yards down the road and 50 or so feet back from it, that gave the news they’d all been dreading for nearly an hour.

“Vehicles coming down the road towards us,” he said, excited voice nearly lost in a burst of feedback. “Six of them. It’s Ferris!”

“Roger. I’ll update Helper and Price on the convoy’s movements and then I’m on my way,” Chauncey said, and Matt didn’t object: If Ferris was here then there was no reason to listen on the radio for news of him, and they could use everyone they could find to defend the roadblock.