“Understood,” Curtis said, taking his ghillie top off. Putting his top down, Curtis put a hand over his right ear, covering his earbud to his radio. Grabbing the radio, “Copy,” Curtis said and turned to everyone.
“We have four people walking down the road,” he said.
Giving a grunt of disgust, Nelson tossed down the box he was unloading. “I know I told every person we met not to walk down roads!” he shouted.
“We didn’t,” Curtis said. “What can we do to help?”
Pointing at the clipboards, “Put a few sheets of paper on each clipboard,” Nelson said. “We don’t want to know what people have, but we need to know what people can do.”
Grabbing a ream of paper, Curtis and the man with him moved over to the clipboards. “Can I ask what you mean?” Curtis asked, opening the paper.
“Like is anyone a dentist? Can someone work on engines or weld? Any task or job that someone can do in case someone needs it, they can barter for the service,” Nelson said, pulling out a projector.
“That would be good to know,” Curtis said. “I’m an accountant, but my wife is a dentist.”
“Well, I worked in retail but my wife is a nurse, so don’t feel bad,” Nelson chuckled.
Putting paper on the clipboards, “That’s not all you did,” Curtis said.
“No, I served in the Army and was labeled for immediate detention,” Nelson said.
“Nelson,” Matt said softly over the radio and Nelson froze, grabbing the PTT box on his chest.
“Here,” Nelson called back.
“Ashley and I are set up and see four coming and neither of us knows them,” Matt said. “It’s possible they were at some of the locations, but I’m sure we would know one.”
“Copy,” Nelson said and looked around at everyone. “Fan out. Matt and Ashley haven’t seen the four coming, here before.”
Everyone grabbed weapons, except Nelson and spread out. Moving to a table, Nelson sat down and looked at the road. “What are you doing?” Michelle asked on the radio.
“Babe, we have over a dozen weapons on them, so chill. They need to know where to go and I want to talk to them,” Nelson told her.
“I swear, if they so much as twitch, I’m opening up and we are going home,” Michelle growled.
Laughing, Nelson pressed his push-to-talk (PTT), “And you say I’m moody.”
Sitting on the table, Nelson soon saw the four walking. They soon spotted the line of four-wheelers and UTVs, then spotted Nelson. The four took their hands off their weapons as they approached. “Well, you get points for brains,” Nelson mumbled and then saw that one in the group was carrying a SAW.
When they were twenty yards away, “You can put your hands down unless you came to play,” Nelson said.
“Um, no,” a young woman said, stepping forward. “We heard a group was meeting to talk about what was going on.”
“True, but nobody that went out recognizes any of you,” Nelson said.
An older man stepped up beside the young woman. “No, sir. Mr. Kinard told us about the meeting. He was coming and was going to ask if we could join,” the man said with a cringe.
“Hold on,” Nelson said, pressing his radio. “That name, Kinard sound familiar?”
“Yes, his house is five miles due west of the farm,” Michelle called back.
Dropping his hand off his radio, “Okay, the name Kinard checks out, so why isn’t he here to ask?” Nelson asked.
“He’s dead,” the young girl said whimpering. The man beside her put an arm around her.
“Bobby was her father,” the man said.
“That’s his first name,” Michelle called over the radio. “Ask them where his daughter lived?”
“If you’re his daughter, where did you live?” Nelson asked.
“Mountain View, off Highway 60,” she said.
“That’s the information he gave us,” Michelle said.
“Okay. Michelle, come in, but everyone else stay down,” Nelson said over the radio. When Michelle stood up out of the tall grass, the four jumped. “She’s with me and was one of the ones that set up this meeting, I’m just the muscle.”
Walking up under the pavilion, Michelle walked over and punched Nelson in the arm. “This was your fucking idea and you’re just going to dump it in my lap?” she snapped.
Taking a deep breath, Michelle turned to the four. She saw an older man and woman and a younger couple. “Come on up, so we can get to the bottom of this fast,” she said and the four walked up, keeping their hands off their weapons. “Have to say, I’m impressed that you haven’t touched your weapons.”
The young woman shook her head. “Dad said you knew what you were doing and that’s why he wouldn’t bring us.”
“Well, on weapons I’m impressed, but you don’t walk down roads,” Michelle said.
“Sorry, but I knew if you saw some people you didn’t know walking up in the woods, I was afraid you would shoot first,” the man said.
Nodding, “I take that back,” Michelle said. “So, what are you here for?”
“The same reason you told daddy,” the young woman said. “To help each other get through this.”
“Fair enough, I’m Michelle.”
“I’m Ginger, and this is my fiancé, Eric, and his mom and dad, Sherry and Victor.”
Michelle turned to Nelson, “Tell the others to come in. Bobby told me about her and showed me pictures,” she said.
As Nelson waved the others in, Michelle turned back to the four. “This is just the first meeting so can I ask, do you still live in Mountain View?”
“Yes,” Victor said. “Bobby came over three days ago, and told us about the meeting. Several in Mountain View have heard of it from others, but didn’t know the location because nobody would tell. Many wanted to come when they found out I was coming, but I told them I wasn’t taking them. I told them I would ask if they could come to the next one.”
“I told Bobby to call over the CB if he was attacked and we would come and help,” Michelle said, stepping up to Ginger.
Victor looked at Michelle. “He never had a chance. Someone shot him as he went to feed his chickens. His neighbor heard loud motorcycles that morning. We checked on him yesterday, since we couldn’t reach him by radio anymore,” Victor told her.
“Please tell me no one has talked about this meeting on the radio,” Michelle said.
“None that I know of,” Victor said. “We’ve heard that gangs are listening.”
“They are,” Michelle said, hugging Ginger. “I think that’s how they found Bobby. I told him not to use the CB much.”
As Ginger cried in her chest, Michelle glanced back at Nelson. “These gangs are getting on my fucking nerves,” she growled.
“Tell me about it,” Eric said. “When we attacked the military group, we had a Republic unit show up in a dune buggy made by Satan himself. I wish they would use that buggy and wipe off some of these gangs or just tell us where they are.”
Trying not to smile, Michelle nodded. “Yes, we heard,” she said.
“Well, they rode in, calling in air support and blew up that armored car the troops were using, along with the Humvees. Then they rode over to us, yelling at everyone to grab the stuff and scatter before drones dropped missiles on us,” Eric continued.
Nodding, Victor spoke up. “We are very grateful for their help, but we can’t count on it,” he said. “That’s why we’re here. Bobby said the people that contacted him knew how to fight.”
Getting up off the table, “Oh, we know how to fight,” Nelson said. “But everyone is going to have to fight in their zone and around it. It takes numbers to fight unless you stay on the move.”
Lifting her head up, Ginger looked at Michelle, “That’s why we’re here, to learn how to fight,” she said in a breaking voice.
Looking over at Gerald, Nelson bobbed his head. “Told you that this would come up,” Nelson popped off.
“Hey, I came up with a plan to do it,”
Gerald snapped.
“Yeah, that’s your job. Teaching people to make a bomb with a stick of chewing gum, a toothpick, and a tic tac. I just kill people,” Nelson said.
“Hank’s group is crossing the river,” Sean called over the radio.
“Copy,” Nelson said. “Matt, you and Ashley pull back and keep an overwatch.”
Curtis stood up. “My guy on the hilltop behind us says we have two groups coming, one with six and another with four.
Letting Ginger go, Michelle waved her toward a table. “Why don’t you sit down?” Michelle said and moved over to Nelson.
“I’m not giving your little speech, so forget it,” Michelle grumbled.
“I think it would come better from a woman,” Nelson said.
Putting her hands on her hips, “I don’t give a shit if it would sound better from a woman or Chewbacca!” Michelle shouted. “This is your fucking idea, so you do it.”
Sighing with regret, Nelson nodded. “Fine, I’ll do it,” he finally said.
Turning away, “I knew you would see it my way,” Michelle said, walking off. “The man may be the head of the house, but the woman is the neck and controls the head.”
In small groups, people started showing up and Ginger and her group weren’t the only ones who showed up uninvited. The others did come with one that was invited. At the time of the meeting, there were over a hundred people there.
Moving to the front, Nelson stopped as his radio went off. “Have a group of nine crossing the river,” Sean called out. “I know two of them, but I don’t know if they were invited.”
“They trouble?” Nelson asked over the radio and the murmuring under the pavilion stopped.
“Not unless we take their moonshine,” Sean called back and Bernard broke in.
“Sean, it’s Bernard. Is it Tillman?”
“Yes, sir and his brother-in-law,” Sean told him.
“We invited them, Nelson,” Bernard said and Nelson nodded, pressing his PTT.
“I’m starting, they will have to catch up,” Nelson said, turning to the group. “Have some stragglers, but I’m not waiting. I don’t like being away from home unless I get to shoot something,” he told them and many laughed, but a few looked at Nelson with fear.
“Now, is this a meeting to form a committee to suck each other off?” Nelson said, raising his voice. “No, we are here to talk about how to keep our little area of the world safe. Anyone wanting handouts for free, you’re fucked.”
When he’d finished, everyone stood up clapping. “What the fuck!” Nelson cried out at the people and they almost stopped at once. “That wasn’t a speech, that was matter of fact,” he said, looking around.
“Chill, babe,” Michelle said, passing out clipboards.
Looking around at the group, Nelson nodded. “Since this has started, I’ve killed. My wife, my friends, and even my kids have killed to keep us safe. Am I happy? Hell, no! I want to be home watching college football, but the feds rob me and then try to kill me. I called this meeting, so we can set up ways to come to help each other if attacked.”
“That’s good enough for me,” a man yelled from the back.
Holding his arm out to the voice, “Thank you, someone who just wants to watch college football but doesn’t mind killing,” Nelson said. “Now, when I told my group I wanted to do this, Several,” Nelson said tensely, staring hard at Michelle.
“Several told me to come up with an idea, so the area could help each other. When I didn’t, they did,” Nelson said, looking away from Michelle as several in the crowd snickered. “Now, some of this, I do like. One is; what can everyone do? It doesn’t make sense for someone to leave for a detention center if their tractor breaks and someone here can fix it,” Nelson said and many nodded.
“But I want to get something clear right now. The first motherfucker that gives shit away because they feel sorry for someone who won’t work, I’ll cap your ass the day I find out,” Nelson said, looking around. “Anyone that does that is doing nothing but bringing trouble on all of us. Give to one and more will show up. They want food, they work for it, but I just tell people to haul ass. I don’t want anyone near my house.”
He looked around and saw people writing. Walking over to one person writing, Nelson leaned over and saw the young man was making notes of what Nelson was saying. “Are you shitting me? You’re making notes?” Nelson asked, looking at the young man.
Looking up, the young man swallowed hard. “Yes, sir. It’s good advice,” he said very nervously.
“Is that what the rest of you are writing?” he asked and they all nodded. Spinning around and walking out from under the pavilion, Nelson bent over, breathing hard and putting his hands on his knees.
“He okay?” Dianna asked Michelle.
“Depends,” Michelle sighed. “If anyone has questions, write them down and pass them to me,” Michelle said so the others could hear. “Because if your question is stupid, Nelson will spin off. I will read them and phrase them, so he won’t spin off.”
“What’s wrong?” Dianna whispered.
“He’s being put in charge,” Michelle said. “When people follow what you say, that’s being in charge, and being in combat, that’s what Nelson hates with a passion.”
Standing up, Nelson squared his shoulders back and headed back to the pavilion. “Okay, where was I?” he asked.
“You don’t want people near your house,” someone yelled out.
“Right,” Nelson sighed. “Be cautious of who you let near your house and especially in your house. You noticed when those in my group met with you, we didn’t want to get near your property and never went into anyone’s home. We didn’t do this because we were afraid, I was hoping we were setting an example.”
Nelson looked around and saw more than ninety percent of the group writing now. Glancing at Michelle with a snarl, Nelson grinned when she flipped him off. “Now, I know someone wants to ask, ‘who can I let on my property?’. The answer, anyone you trust with your life because that’s what you are giving them access to.”
Seeing a note passed through the crowd, Nelson followed it and saw Michelle take it. “You’re passing notes in class?” Nelson asked.
“Bitch, I’m getting a headache, so don’t push,” Michelle said, opening the note. Thinking for a few seconds before she spoke, “How can you judge a person like that without putting your life in their hands? How can a person prove they are trustworthy?” she asked, looking up.
“I’m going to be sick,” Nelson mumbled, turning away from the group. Taking his AR off, many in the crowd got nervous until he set it down on a table at the front.
“If they help you fight, they have earned your trust,” Nelson said, turning back around. “If they are willing to help you fix something and only want an equal payment, then they have earned your trust. But always remember, if a person can break their word once, they will again. So, if someone lies to someone else, don’t trust them. But on the same account, don’t believe everything. Find out the story and anyone that spreads false rumors are the deadliest people alive. I will shoot those on sight. Liars are the thieves of hope and truth.”
Many nodded as they wrote and Nelson continued. “If a person lies, they are hiding the truth and should never be trusted or helped. Now, always remember, it is your call on who you should trust. Should you trust me? Hell, no. With the exception of those in my group, you don’t know me,” Nelson said, looking around.
“But you called us together to help each other,” someone said.
“True, but that just means I’ve met one criteria of trust; mutual benefit,” Nelson said.
Curtis stood up, looking at Nelson. “If I would’ve called you on the radio saying I was being attacked, would you’ve come?” he asked.
“Yes, we gave our word,” Nelson said. “But I expect the same. We gave our word, only if you returned the guarantee.”
“How do we do that when we aren’t supposed to tell people where we are?” Curtis asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Nelson said and Curtis looked down at his notes. “I said I don’t want people near me. Many here know where I’m at, but come uninvited and you won’t leave unless you have a good reason. I can guarantee you won’t get near us before we stop you. More than likely you’ll die, because we have hundreds and hundreds of traps around the property,” Nelson said, and then added, “Lethal traps. You want to talk to us? When you get close, get on the road or you’ll hit the traps.”
“We have to know where each other is at, but if you ever see anyone marking the locations of who they know, be very cautious of them,” Nelson said, knowing they were doing it but for reasons of their own. “Did we? Yes, but we are the ones who’s going to come running if you’re attacked. What I mean is, if you see someone moving around marking locations, shit is about to go down. Be wary of strangers, but not outright hostile. If someone is sneaking up through the woods, smoke their ass. Now, if they are casually walking through the woods toward your house with hands off weapons, stop them and see what they want.”
Writing, Curtis nodded while sitting back down and a man leaned over, whispering in his ear. Curtis looked toward the front at Michelle. “Okay,” Nelson said, feeling tired. “This is how you set up your property.”
***
Four hours later, Gerald finished up and Nelson was sitting at the front table with his head resting on his crossed arms. Lifting his head, Nelson saw Michelle collecting clipboards and talking to people. Looking around, he saw Dallas and Bernard talking to separate groups.
Gerald walked over, sitting down across from Nelson. “That went better than I expected,” Gerald said.
“Why didn’t you do this shit?” Nelson snapped.
Grinning, Gerald leaned over the table. “Believe it or not, you come across better than I do,” he said.
“I’m talking to Michelle about having your Devin privileges cut back,” Nelson said, laying his head back down.
“Go ahead and we will fight,” Gerald snapped.
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