Revolution

by Mark Church

  As the leader of his community, Jake is elated with this new alliance. The road ahead suddenly seems less daunting, the path, much clearer. He has come to believe that New Town is their trump card, their hedge against future challenges.

  The New Town folks feel it too. They are equally encouraged and optimistic. They believe their new friendship strengthens their hand, whether it’s related to trade, knowledge sharing, or security against those that would do them harm.

  The positive vibes flowing through the groups are genuine. From their first meeting on Jake’s family farm in northern Missouri to their chance encounter yesterday, destiny can be a pretty vague concept, especially if you’re not spiritual. In this case, everyone in the room embraces the notion. To believe that something bigger than them is guiding their destiny is comforting, and it only serves to strengthen their resolve.

  The meeting’s conclusion is followed by a tour of New Town. The most impressive stop on the tour is their electricity producing water mill. Its most noticeable component is the cylindrical, metal-finned vents that are similar to what you would find on the rooftops of commercial buildings to vent their interiors.

  The on-edge, partially submerged vents have been welded to old truck alternators, which in turn, are wired to battery banks. The water flow from the spring spins the vents, which prompts the alternator to generate the electricity that flows into the batteries. The setup provides continuous energy as long as the spring continues to flow. It is a clever design and one that Jake hopes to reproduce at the Refuge.

  Another encouraging discovery is New Town’s robust communications capabilities, which included shortwave and handheld radios. Thrilled to have a shared means of communication, they established a protocol for general and emergency communications, which includes specified ‘safe’ frequencies and channels as well as security phrases.

  The conclusion of the tour takes them back to the church. The conversation wraps up with an offer from Jake to host the next meeting. The offer is graciously accepted though a specific date and time is not discussed.

  Handshakes and warm embraces are the final courtesy before Jake and the others board their truck for the long trip home. As John backs the truck out of the driveway and onto the main road, they wave one last time at their new found friends and allies before pulling away.

  ✽✽✽

  The loud crunching sounds generated by the tires rolling over the gravel road takes the place of conversation as Jake and the others retreat into their own thoughts quietly contemplating their good fortune.

  Like the gun cache they found yesterday, New Town is yet another unexpected discovery that buoys their spirits.

  By the time they reach the blacktop, the sun is disappearing behind the hills. Even though the daylight is fading, they still have thirty minutes or so of twilight remaining, which should see them most of the way home.

  The drive back to town will take another ten minutes, and then it will be another thirty from there. While they are anxious to share their good news with everyone back at the Refuge, caution is still paramount. They have a long way to go and they understand the dangers of traveling at night.

  John turns right onto the blacktop. The smoother surface allows him to comfortably increase his speed. They welcome the sound of the tires humming on asphalt instead of the racket caused by them grinding through gravel.

  As they near Arcadia, Jake cautions, “Slow down to a crawl and turn off the running lights. I’d like to sneak through town without drawing any unwanted attention.”

  “Yeah, we don’t know who may be prowling around here at night.” John turns off the head lights and shifts into a lower gear.

  ✽✽✽

  John slowly guides the truck through town. In spite of the cold temperatures, they roll down all of the windows so they can listen for unusual noises. As they coast down Main Street, they pause to look up and down each cross street before continuing.

  As they near the intersection of Pine Street, Kate urgently whispers, “Stop!”

  John hits the brakes quickly but is careful not to skid. “What is it?”

  “Military vehicles.” Kate whispers urgently while pointing to her left.

  Jake and John simultaneously see the two vehicles coming up Pine Street towards Main. They will be on top of the truck in seconds. John throws the truck into reverse and backs it to the curb. He puts the transmission in park and shuts off the engine so the vapor from the exhaust doesn’t give them away.

  They have just enough time to duck their heads before the two trucks pull into the intersection about forty feet away. The second truck pulls alongside the first.

  Jake, John, and Kate ready their weapons. They prefer to remain hidden but if push comes to shove, they’ll have no choice but to fight.

  A door opens on the military vehicle closest to them. A soldier steps out and begins relieving himself. He is so close they can hear his urine splashing on the asphalt. When he is done, the soldier stretches and glances around.

  Jake peeks over the dashboard and sees that the inquisitive soldier has taken a particular interest in their truck. He begins walking towards them and grows more wary with each step.

  Sure that the ticking sound from the truck’s cooling engine has given them away, Jake quickly rises in his seat and points his rifle out of the window at the advancing soldier before commanding firmly but quietly, “Stop right there!”

  Kate follows Jake’s lead and points her gun at the soldier while John readies his hand on the truck’s ignition.

  The surprised soldier freezes before taking a sideway glance back at the waiting vehicles. The soldiers inside are preoccupied and unaware of the drama playing out just forty feet away.

  Just above a whisper Jake says, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Jake isn’t sure of his next move and neither is the soldier.

  A loud whistle comes from the military vehicle’s open door, which briefly draws Jake and Kate’s attention. Using the distraction to his advantage, the soldier ends the stalemate by yelling ‘Rebels!’ as he goes for his sidearm.

  Jake and Kate turn their attention back to the soldier who has drawn his pistol. The soldier simultaneously fires off one round as Jake unleashes a three-round burst into the soldier’s chest. The soldier drops to the ground mortally wounded.

  John quickly turns the truck’s ignition. When the engine catches, he slams the truck into drive and punches the accelerator. The truck lurches forward as the alarmed soldiers spill out of their trucks with weapons in tow. John yanks the wheel to the left and fishtails the truck onto Pine Street.

  ✽✽✽

  The soldiers raise their rifles to fire at the fleeing truck but it disappears around the corner before they can get off a shot. Anxious to pursue their assailants, they begin running back to their vehicles before their lieutenant orders them to stand down. The confused soldiers look to their commanding officer for confirmation.

  “We are not going to follow them into an ambush,” snaps the lieutenant.” That may be their objective – they want to do to us what they did to that battalion back in St. Louis.”

  The platoon grudgingly accepts the lieutenant’s logic before turning their attention to their fallen comrade. As they gather around the injured man, their medic looks up at the lieutenant and says, “Private Neumann is gone.”

  “We gotta get revenge for Neumann!” exclaims one of the soldiers.

  The others begin to chime in with similar sentiment.

  Taking control of the situation, the lieutenant growls loudly, “Yes –yes we do, but you have to be patient. We’ll get our pound of flesh, but when the timing is right.”

  The soldiers grumble at delay when they are ready for the hunt, but they have been trained to follow orders and so offer no further challenges.

  ✽✽✽

  Jake turns to look out of the back window while John nervously scans the rearview mirror. So far, they are not being pursued. They reach Highway 21 and take a hard rig
ht past the Sporting Goods store. He pushes the truck to its limit as they race out of town towards the Refuge.

  After they have driven a few miles outside of town there’s still no sign that they are being followed. As Jake’s adrenaline begins to subside, he notices something odd about Kate. She is flushed and sweaty, and leaning her head back limply on the headrest. “Kate, are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” murmurs Kate in a faint voice. “I just need to rest.”

  It is then that Jake notices the blood, “John, pull over – Kate’s bleeding!”

  John skids to a stop on the shoulder of the road. Jumping from the truck, he yanks open the back door and climbs into the backseat with Kate. She is barely conscious. John rips open her coat to find that she has been shot in the upper-right chest. Kate moans before mumbling, “Don’t worry about me – just go.”

  They know the best thing to do at this point is to get Kate back to the Refuge and out of harm’s way. There they can safely assess her injury and give her proper medical care.

  ✽✽✽

  “I’ll drive,” declares Jake. “Stay back there with Kate and apply pressure to her wound.”

  Jake moves to the driver’s seat. As he’s about to pull away he thinks about their new friends. “We need to warn New Town.”

  “Right, right, but we need to hurry, she’s losing consciousness.” John is more concerned with maintaining pressure on Kate’s wound and getting her home where they can take care of her.

  Jake flips open the truck’s middle console and retrieves the handheld radio. He tosses it back to John. “Here – you contact them while I drive. It’ll save time.”

  Jake slings gravel from his fishtailing truck until its back tires are fully back onto the highway. Once on solid pavement, he presses the accelerator to the floor. They have no time to waste.

  John continues holding a rag to Kate’s wound with one hand while manipulating the radio with the other. After it’s powered up, he turns the dial to the agreed upon frequency before attempting to contact New Town. “New Town, come in New Town.” At first there is no response but then a voice on the other end says, “Heckle,” to which John responds, “Jeckle.”

  John’s response signals the correct security protocol to New Town, but John doesn’t wait for confirmation before saying, “This is John from the Refuge. Be aware – we had a hostile encounter with soldiers in Arcadia. I repeat, we had a hostile encounter with soldiers in Arcadia.”

  “Roger that,” the woman’s voice on the other end acknowledges. “How many soldiers?”

  “We saw two vehicles but were unable to confirm number. One soldier was neutralized before we disengaged.”

  “What is the status of your group?”

  “We have one casualty,” John takes a deep breathe before continuing, “Kate, but she’ll make it.”

  Kate looks at John and smiles. She knows that his proclamation is more wishful thinking than absolute knowledge.

  “Do you need assistance?”

  “Negative,” replies John. “We are currently enroute to the Refuge.”

  “Got it. Thank you for the warning, we’ll take appropriate security precautions on our end. And please provide an update when you can.”

  “Roger that. Refuge out.”

  John puts down the radio. He collects Kate in his arms and holds her tight. The pain in her chest is intense but John’s embrace comforts her anyway.

  The truck tires squeal in protest as Jake navigates the curvy highway at speeds most would consider too risky. The increasing darkness forces him to turn on his headlights. He can only hope they don’t have any more unfriendly encounters.

  Jake is going so fast when he reaches his turn off that he almost misses it. He turns onto the gravel road but is forced to slow down to prevent the truck from bouncing. Even small bumps cause Kate to moan in pain.

  At some point during the trip, Kate lost consciousness. The uneven terrain of the rugged trail has been especially hard on her. Blood loss is likely taking a toll.

  Worried that he is losing her, John barks, “Jake, we have to hurry.”

  Throwing caution to the wind, Jake floors it. He wonders if he is exceeding the limits of the old truck’s ability, but he knows at this point every second counts.

  ✽✽✽

  The young lieutenant assembles a detail to bury the private while ordering the remaining soldier to stand guard. He’s concerned that the rebels may return with reinforcements and, if they do, he wants to be ready.

  When the last shovel full of dirt is dropped on the grave, the lieutenant addresses his troops, “Private Neumann did not die in vain. The contact we made with the rebels tonight confirms my suspicions that this is rebel territory. Identifying enemy enclaves is our primary mission. Knowing rebel locations is necessary for the operation that is to come. The success of that mission will depend on…” The lieutenant’s remarks are cut short by the sound of a vehicle off in the distance. It sounds to be on Highway 21 and moving in their direction.

  The lieutenant orders his men to hide their vehicles, and to take defensive positions on the west side of the Main and Pine Street intersection. Listening intently, he directs his eyes down Pine Street towards the highway. From his vantage point, it’s the only place where the highways not obscured by trees and buildings.

  Headlights illuminating the shadowy landscape at the end of the street confirm the vehicle’s close proximity. The glare continues to brighten before a slowing sedan comes into view. It appears to be alone. After pausing at the intersection, it turns right onto Pine Street and slowly proceeds up the street towards the concealed soldiers.

  The headlights create a glare that make it impossible to see the sedan’s occupants. The lieutenant surmises that, either it’s a completely different vehicle from the one they encountered earlier, or these people are some ballsy sonsabitches.

  The sedan slows to a crawl as it reaches Main Street then pauses hesitantly in the middle of the intersection. The lieutenant can now see that it’s not the same vehicle from before.

  He quickly weighs his options. The risk of engagement does little to advance their objective, however, allowing his solders to vent some of their frustrations would give them a much-needed morale boost after losing one of their own.

  The lieutenant quickly makes up his mind as the vehicle begins a right turn onto Main Street, and shouts, “Fire!”

  The soldiers, eager to get their pound of flesh, don’t hesitate to unleash their wrath on the unsuspecting quarry. The resulting gunfire is deafening as the muzzle flashes light up the night.

  The initial volley of bullets shatters the vehicle’s windows. It immediately decelerates and veers towards the gutter, which seems to indicate that the driver has been incapacitated. The continuous shooting that follows begins transforming the vehicle into something more reminiscent of Swiss cheese as it jumps the curb and comes to rest against a large oak tree.

  The lieutenant orders his soldiers to hold their fire. When the last of the shooting finally stops, they pause to confirm the target’s occupants have been neutralized. Aside from the hissing sound coming from stricken vehicle’s punctured radiator, it’s eerily quiet.

  When it seems safe to do so, the lieutenant sends one of his soldiers to investigate the bullet-riddled vehicle.

  The soldier’s inspection confirms the lieutenant’s suspicion. Everyone inside the vehicle is deceased. After the lieutenant issues an ‘all clear’, the rest of the platoon emerges from their cover and approaches the wreckage.

  “What a mess,” declares the sergeant as he surveys the interior of the vehicle.

  “What’s the body count?”

  “Four. Two in front and two in the back, all male.”

  “Armed?”

  “To the teeth.”

  “Well – that’s four fewer that we’ll have to deal with in the spring,” nods the lieutenant with satisfaction.

  “What do we do with them?”

  The lieutenant thinks for
a minute before saying, “We’re going to send the rebels a strong message, one they won’t soon forget.”

  The lieutenant instructs his men to retrieve the bodies from the demolished vehicle. This proves to be a particularly unsavory task since the bodies look like they have had a least one pass through a meat grinder.

  Despite their poor condition, each body is successfully scooped into plastic sheeting and loaded into the waiting trucks.

  The lieutenant orders his platoon to mount up and instructs his sergeant to drive to the nearby train overpass spanning the highway. When they arrive, they begin unloading the plastic wrapped bodies as the lieutenant unveils his plan.

  The message that the lieutenant intends to send is clear. The government has no intentions of allowing usurpers to operate outside of the government, and the penalty for these treasonous activities is swift, violent and brutal.

  11 good graces

  It’s Friday afternoon and nearing the end of the school day. Hannah assigns homework to her students just before the bell rings. The last-minute assignment initiates a series of dramatic moans and incoherent grumbling by her students. They love Ms. Iglesia but they were hoping for a carefree weekend. Despite the hardship, they all wish her a good weekend as they file out the door.

  Hannah takes a few minutes to organize her classroom. It’s a routine she follows every evening after her students have left. She learned early on the benefits of starting each new day with a clean slate.

  Her mind drifts to Ken. It has been over a week since he has tried to contact her and she wonders if he has given up.

  As she is returning a stack of books to a bookshelf she is startled by a man’s voice, “Aren’t you the conscientious one.”

  Hannah turns toward the voice to find Ken leaning casually on the doorframe of her classroom. He’s sporting a ‘cat that caught the mouse’ expression.