Storm Front

by Thomas A. Watson

  “I’m wearing a hockey mask from now on,” Nelson said, grabbing a towel to wipe up the spilled tea. Bending down, Michelle helped him clean up the tea. “It could’ve been a hundred other things,” he mumbled.

  “True,” Michelle said. “But that’s the only thing that fit. You were way too calm for doing any other outlandish acts, and Gerald was just a little too quick to cut you and Matt off.”

  Throwing the soaked towel in the sink, Nelson grabbed a wet rag. “That’s so unfair,” he sighed and started wiping the floor down.

  “You can kiss my ass,” Michelle snapped and he jerked, looking up at her. “Every year since we’ve been married, you’ve known what I got you for your birthday and Christmas. I still haven’t figured out how you do that.”

  Shrugging his shoulders, Nelson went back to cleaning the floor. “I don’t know,” he said. “And yeah, you’re right. It was my idea. I snuck up and scouted the battle after we’d heard it and saw that the Stryker was giving them hell, and the people there had already taken out two.”

  Reaching over, Michelle grabbed his shoulder. “Babe, if you thought it was worth it, there’s nothing to be sorry for or even trying to hide it,” she said and he visibly relaxed. “I was only irritated that none of you even called back to let us know.”

  Sitting up on his heels, Nelson nodded. “Yeah, that was a brain fart,” he admitted. “So, you’re not mad?”

  “About attacking? No, I’m not. About not calling? I’m irritated, but I wasn’t there so I’ll have to live with it,” Michelle said.

  “I won’t make that mistake again,” Nelson smiled.

  “Good,” Michelle nodded. “I hope you are planning to go scout that town out pretty soon. That is too close for a group of troops.”

  “Yeah,” Nelson nodded. “We need to have a meeting with the groups we’ve talked to.”

  Standing on her knees, Michelle fell back on her heels. “I hope you’re not suggesting we bring them here to have this meeting,” she said in dismay.

  “Hell, no,” he snapped. “Until we know these people are trustworthy, I don’t want anyone to come here.”

  A grin split her face. “You never said anything about the Holmes’ not coming here,” she said.

  “Shhhiiiittt,” Nelson strung out. “If they are loyal to the feds, we are screwed. Besides, I like having giants on my side.”

  Grabbing the rag, Michelle wiped a spot Nelson had missed. “What are you wanting to talk to everyone about?” she asked.

  “One thing; patrols,” he said. “We need to be going out ten miles regularly; like every day. Then twice a week, do long range patrols out to thirty miles.”

  “What else?” she asked getting up.

  Grunting as he stood up, “Well, we need to make sure everyone we talked to actually has a CB to call for help. Several said they were going to find one. Then, we need to set up rally points to meet up when someone is attacked, so we can strike as a group,” he said, staring off thinking.

  “Hey,” Michelle said, grabbing his arm and breaking his concentration. “Why don’t you sit down and write this out? Because you’re right, we need for every group to send a person or two to sit down and talk.”

  Giving a sigh, “Can’t,” Nelson said. “I have to start making some suppressors this evening. I’ll be working late.”

  “Okay, take your notebook to the machine shop and make notes when you have a break. I’ll bring you supper,” Michelle said and then kissed his cheek. “Just to put your mind at ease, if you hadn’t attacked that group at that time, I would’ve been pissed. That was a great opportunity.”

  Giving a startle, Nelson jerked his eyes up to look at Michelle. “Nelson, our babies are here and we can’t let anything get that close,” Michelle said. “Olivia can’t survive in a tent with her asthma. Summer is almost over and in the fall, she gets bad as you know.”

  “Papa bear will do his best,” Nelson said softly.

  Michelle hugged him tight. “That’s why momma bear loves him.”

  Chapter 6

  Grabbing a notebook, Nelson headed out of the cabin and stopped outside to look at the back deck as Ronald worked on the back door. Not able to help it, Nelson walked over and saw Ronald putting a large electronic pad and a new lock on the door. “I was getting to that,” Nelson said, but was so thankful for Ronald. Nelson really hated electricity.

  “Hey, I’m all over electricity, ‘Mr. I don’t want to piss off the gods’,” Ronald chuckled, mounting the pad beside the door. The pad had a small display, a numeric keypad, and a fingertip scanner. “Where did Nancy get this stuff?”

  “Ronald, I don’t think you would believe me if I told you,” Nelson sighed. “Hell, I know and it’s still hard for me to believe.”

  Driving the last screw in the keypad, Ronald turned to look at Nelson. “Oh, we are so sitting down and talking about it then,” Ronald grinned.

  “How are the kids doing in training?” Nelson asked.

  Opening the back door, Ronald started taking the deadbolt and handle off. “Nelson, they’ve only shot paintball and BB guns before this but damn, I’m impressed,” Ronald said. “I learned to shoot when I was a kid, but I really couldn’t teach my kids, living on base.”

  “Yeah, seems funny the government doesn’t like their troops armed until they give the say-so,” Nelson said. “The people entrusted to protect the country weren’t allowed to protect themselves.”

  “Shit,” Ronald chortled. “After the first two base shootings, I started carrying a pistol. I would rather be judged by twelve than carried by six.”

  Nodding and hearing voices, then a nail gun, Nelson turned and saw Bernard and Matt building the new chicken coop inside the berm in the far west corner. “I’m starting to think we needed to enclose more than ten acres in the berm,” he mumbled, watching them build the chicken coop several hundred yards away from the cabins.

  “I feel bad that I wasn’t here to help,” Ronald said, working on the door.

  Turning back to Ronald, “I’ll have yours and the kids’ suppressors done by tomorrow,” Nelson said.

  “Thank you. Ariel has already told me she likes shooting the gun when it doesn’t hurt her ears,” Ronald said grinning.

  Patting Ronald on the back, Nelson walked off the deck and around the house. Walking down the ramp to the sunken machine shop, Nelson opened the two large doors to let some fresh air inside. “Feel like I’m Maxwell Smart,” he chuckled, walking in and turning on the lights.

  Moving over to the CNC lathe, Nelson set up a piece of round steel stock in the jaws. Since he already had the program, when he was done setting the metal, Nelson just had to push a button and close the cover. As jets of oil coolant washed over the spinning metal, Nelson sat down as the bit started cutting away at the metal.

  Pulling the notebook over, Nelson started going over what they needed to talk about with the other groups. When the CNC stopped, Nelson removed the shiny cylinder that had been cut from the solid bar and put another piece of metal in the jaws.

  Turning the CNC on again, Nelson sat back down at his notebook. “Hey, baby,” Michelle said, walking up behind him. “Need anything before I help Nellie start supper?”

  “Nah,” Nelson said, looking up.

  “Oh, Wilma called to say she was coming over,” Michelle said, stopping beside him and reading his notes.

  “Glad we put in that field telephone over at Hank’s,” he said. “Wish we would’ve picked up a few more from the surplus store.”

  “There is a lot I wish we had picked up,” Michelle said, reading his notes. “You need to make sure everyone is drinking clean water, babe.”

  He looked up at her as Michelle kept reading. “Nelson, contaminated water is a bigger risk than bullets,” she said. “You also need to ask who else besides me has medical training.”

  “How about after I’m done, you add stuff?” Nelson said, watching her read his notes intensely.

  “I’m just saying,” Michelle
said, finally looking up. “We don’t have enough medications stocked to treat something that’s preventable.”

  “Like I said, I’ll let you add that stuff,” Nelson chuckled.

  “Am I interrupting?” a voice said and they turned to see Wilma standing at the bottom of the ramp with her two kids.

  “No,” Michelle said, turning to face them. “Glad to see you have your weapons.”

  “We don’t go anywhere without them,” Vance said proudly.

  “Something wrong?” Michelle asked.

  Wilma gave a startle, “Oh, no, nothing’s wrong. Why?”

  Giving a shrug as she walked over to the three, “Just wondered if this was a visit or business,” Michelle said.

  “Oh, if we’re interrupting, we can head back,” Wilma said, grabbing the kids’ hands and Michelle stepped closer, grabbing Wilma’s arm.

  “No, Wilma, you’re not interrupting. I was just wondering if I needed to get you something before I go help Nellie,” Michelle said.

  “Um, well….,” Wilma stammered. “I promised the kids if they worked hard, we could come and visit and ask Gerald if he would continue to teach us.”

  Fighting not to grin, Michelle turned around and saw Nelson writing in the notebook. “Nelson, will you take Wilma to Gerald? He’s behind his cabin with Devin,” Michelle called out.

  Giving a groan, Nelson laid his pen down and looked over at Michelle and saw her fighting not to grin. “Okay,” Nelson said, wondering what he had done that was funny.

  Getting up, Nelson checked the CNC and then headed to the ramp as Michelle told Wilma and the kids ‘bye’. Wilma followed Nelson around the house, looking around in awe. When she saw the three cabins, “My, those are nice,” she said.

  “Yeah, I like my cabin more than my old house,” Nelson said, walking around the first cabin to the back. He stopped, hearing Olivia and Brittany giggling. Walking around the house, he saw Gerald blowing bubbles across the yard and the girls were chasing them, popping them before they hit the ground. Hearing a squeal, Nelson looked down beside Gerald and saw Devin reaching out and popping bubbles that were floating down.

  Nelson stood in shock as Wilma stepped up. “Hi Gerald,” she said beaming.

  Almost jumping out of the chair and dropping the bottle of bubbles, Gerald turned around holding a large bubble wand in his hand. “Hey, Wilma,” he grinned. “Just teaching the kids that your enemy can come at you from anywhere.”

  The smile fell off Wilma’s face as she tried to interpret what Gerald meant. “Gerald, why didn’t you come and get me?” Nelson whined.

  “You said you have to make several dozen suppressors,” Gerald said.

  “Uncle Gerald,” Olivia cried out, “more bubbles!”

  “Sorry,” Gerald said, dipping the wand back into the bottle and blowing a stream of bubbles across the yard, then down at Devin.

  Getting over her shock, Wilma stepped closer to Gerald. “Gerald, you said if the kids and I wanted to learn more you would teach us,” Wilma said in a low voice. “I was wondering if we could set something up?”

  “Sure, I can make some time tomorrow,” Gerald said, dipping the wand again.

  “Thank you,” Wilma said with relief.

  After he blew another stream of bubbles, Gerald turned to her. “Why don’t you and the kids sit with us while the kids battle the evil bubbles,” he said chuckling.

  Looking at her kids, “Thank you,” Wilma said and they all moved over and sat down with Gerald.

  Spinning on his heel, Nelson stomped off. When he rounded the front of Gerald’s cabin, “I’m the one that taught them bubble wars,” he growled, storming around the house.

  Walking back in the machine shop and seeing that the CNC was done, Nelson grabbed another bar, throwing the cover open and tossing the cylinder on the table beside the other one. Hearing a whine, Nelson looked down and saw Zeus and Hera looking up at him. “Yeah, daddy’s pissed,” he mumbled and then dropped down, petting both.

  Rubbing their massive heads, Nelson started feeling better. He reloaded the CNC and went back to writing. Only stopping to change out the metal stock, Nelson let time slip by. When a plate sat on the table next to his notebook, Nelson looked over to see Michelle looking at the line of eight-inch-long cylinders. “I want you to wear a bell inside the berm,” Nelson declared as the CNC beeped.

  “Hey, I wear Star Wars for you, but don’t push your luck,” Michelle said, laughing as Nelson got up and changed out the metal.

  “Did you know what Gerald was doing?” Nelson asked, closing the door to the CNC.

  “Doing what?”

  Slowly, Nelson turned around. “He was blowing bubbles on his back porch,” he declared, almost scowling.

  “Pfft,” Michelle razzed. “He’s been doing that for the last three days. I bet he searched six houses until he finally found a bottle.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?” Nelson said, putting his hands on his hips and squaring off with Michelle.

  Seeing the tension, Michelle sighed. “Baby, I promise, if this has slowed down any by spring, I’m stopping my workouts and we are having more kids.”

  Throwing up his hands, “I never thought about blowing bubbles and letting the kids chase them around the yard,” Nelson cried out.

  Not knowing how to respond, Michelle did the next best thing. Walking over, she grabbed Nelson. “Nellie is giving the kids a bath. Close the doors and let’s get freaky,” she said grinning.

  Nelson dashed over and slammed the doors, locking them and spun around, stripping as he ran back over. Michelle just stared in awe at how fast he moved. Unbuckling his pants, Nelson stopped and noticed Michelle wasn’t moving. “You said, get freaky,” Nelson said.

  Stepping close, Michelle kissed him. When she broke the kiss, Michelle looked into Nelson’s eyes. “You never cease to make me feel sexy,” she smiled.

  “Well, duh,” Nelson huffed. “I want to stare at you naked all the time. It’s not my fault you’re so hot. What do you expect me to do?”

  Stepping back, Michelle started unbuttoning her shirt. “Oh, buddy. You are going to get it now,” she said with a mischievous grin.

  Chapter 7

  Two days later, Nelson was easing through the woods and driving the hybrid buggy with Zeus behind him in the backseat. Glancing to the passenger seat, he saw Michelle gripping her AR, scanning the forest. They had left before sunrise to scout north along the Jack Fork River in a hybrid buggy. With no roads and few trails it was slow going, easing between trees.

  Following the river north till they reached State Road 106, almost ten miles from the farm, they set up on a hilltop overlooking the hamlet of Alley Spring. Seeing a few houses below them occupied, Michelle scanned the houses with binoculars while sitting next to Nelson. “Don’t see anything,” Michelle said softly and Nelson turned southeast, heading back into the National Forest.

  After moving a few miles, they both smelled smoke. Not speaking, they both looked at each other and nodded. Stopping, they hid the buggy using a camouflaged net and then set off in search of what was burning. Creeping over one hill, Nelson saw the valley below him was covered in trees. “Let’s go back and pull the buggy up to here,” he said, pulling his drinking tube out.

  Looking out over the valley and hilltops, Michelle shook her head. “It can’t be that far. Why don’t we see it?”

  Drinking from his tube, Nelson twisted his face till he could tell the wind was coming out of the southeast. “The wind is coming from there,” he said, pointing southeast. “So, whatever was burning has to be that way.”

  Pulling out her binoculars, Michelle scanned around as Nelson put his drinking tube up. “Got it,” she said and he glanced over at her to see where she was looking. “It’s behind that hilltop to the southeast.”

  Glancing at the valley, Nelson groaned and pulled out his map. “That’s over two miles away,” he said, then looked up. “Give me your tablet.”

  Taking her backpack off, Michelle
pulled out her tablet and turned it on before passing it over. “I can’t believe we could smell it three miles away,” she said, putting her binoculars back up.

  “I can,” Nelson said, turning on the downloaded satellite photos. After finding where they were, Nelson moved over beside Michelle and pointed at the screen. “There’s only one farm over that hilltop.”

  “Doesn’t look good,” Michelle said, taking the tablet and turning it off. “How close are you wanting to move to it?”

  “Till we can see it,” Nelson said. “Let’s go get the buggy and park it below the hill and creep over and see what’s going on.”

  Putting her backpack on, Michelle patted her tactical plate carrier vest. “I only have four hundred rounds, so I really don’t want to get into a slugfest unless we have to.”

  Patting his leg for Zeus to follow, Nelson turned around. “No, if that’s the case, we call in backup because I only have a thousand rounds.”

  Following Nelson, Michelle chuckled, “Only a thousand, I’m shocked.”

  “Hey, he who has the most bullets can shoot the most and they usually win. Anyone who kills me will have to dig my body out of a pile of empty brass.”

  Not going to argue, Michelle just smiled as she followed Nelson back to the hybrid buggy. After reaching the buggy, they drove southeast till they reached the base of the hill. Hiding the buggy again, they eased up the hillside to the ridgeline.

  The smell of smoke was now very powerful as they eased along the ridgeline slowly and quietly. Coming to a stop, Nelson overlooked the valley below and saw the remains of a house, barn, and several buildings smoldering. “That happened last night,” he said, softly getting on one knee.

  Looking around as Nelson pulled out his binoculars, Michelle leaned close to him. “Dallas said a gang hit a farm near Delaware a few weeks ago. What are they doing back here? Delaware is only a mile or so away,” Michelle said softly.

  Zooming in on the scene, Nelson saw several nude bodies sprawled in the yard of the smoldering house. In a large tree, three bodies were hanging by their necks, swinging in the wind. “My guess? Scare people into leaving,” Nelson said.