The Hunters

by T J Reeder

  Some small pleasures of the moment are nice but the later payment can be high. I figured it would be worth it since making up is usually nice.

  We walked into the camp and were handed cups of coffee and mine was doctored just the way I liked it right down to a small taste of JW. These people knew a lot about me it seemed.

  The woman stood up and said Hello John, Sandy so good to see you two again. Well I was pretty sure I never seen her in my life but Sandy kind cocked her head over a bit and then nodded and said

  “ Idaho, your hair was longer and you were about 20 pounds heavier right” She smiled and said “your right but it’s closer to 30 pounds but thank you.”

  I was still lost so Sandy said “ When we got that disk in Idaho she was one of the people in the room but was never introduced and was wearing a white smock. I just shook my head and said I’m sorry but no I don’t remember. She said “ Well at the time I was hanging back and letting the big boys lead the way so there is no reason why you would notice me.”

  She then stuck out her hand to Sandy and said May Clark, after they shook she offered me her hand. So now we were all playing nice and the two cats weren’t circling each other I assumed we were gonna be friends and said so.

  May asked how I knew that and I enjoyed the look on her face when I said “well Wyatt here ain’t killed you yet so I assume her mysterious instincts are saying either you’re ok or she’s still deciding. That look on her face was great.

  All around us her troops were going about their business and paying no attention to us so I asked about the lack of weapons. She said they had plenty but they were left in the tents or in the vehicles because she knew we would be coming and didn’t want there to be any accidental issues that could ruin the meeting.

  We sat there sipping our coffee and looking at each other for a while until she had gathered her thoughts and started to speak when I stopped her. I said “ Lets all go to our camp because when I do or plan anything I do it in full view of my people who are as much a part of the decision making as I am“.

  She smiled and said I know, and we are prepared to do that and with only a few words from her and her people had camp broken down, the fire out…dead out, and were ready to go. They followed in the middle of our convoy and we made good time and hit camp in time for lunch.

  I had a feeling there was going to be something good and not so good come out of this meeting and said so to Sandy and Charley who both agreed.

  When it came time to hear her out I asked our entire group to gather around while the commo team rigged up a transmitter so all our people could hear it real time meaning the ones back at the rest stop and the ones getting closer from down south.

  After we were seated under an awning I told our people who she was and where we had met her and most of our people had been around long enough to have at least heard about the folks in Idaho and their part in the EMP.

  May took over and after pausing a moment said “ I was sent here to warn you and to explain some things and to help ensure the safety of a lot of our countrymen.

  She then told us a story that almost sounded like bullshit but at the same time was very believable. The upshot of it was that when one faction of the Idaho folks were working with the political element who was behind this whole world wide disaster others were planning a way to head off some of the deeper plans.

  In a nut shell while the weapons that were used in the EMP were being designed and built in secret others were building a series of small weapons that were to be used when the second phase of the plan was engaged which was right now.

  They knew the plan of the Leftist was to create chaos on a world wide scale and after the shit settled out they were going to crawl out of their plush hidey holes and institute their master plan which was to rule the world under a form of communism mixed with imperialism.

  They were the imperials and the rest of us were to be the worker bees grateful for our daily bread. How this shit ever got off the ground May couldn’t say except that some people always want to be the kings and Queens or maybe Slave masters was a better word. The astounding part was they actually pulled off the first part a bit too well because the far reaching effects of the EMP had wiped out a major part of the human race!

  Or more properly We did ourselves in afterward.

  Which brings us to now, today and she said we needed to know that going into the North East wasn’t a good idea and why. The why was that the extra weapons had been planted in the are that had been set up to be the seat of the new Government which was none other then good old Chicago! Them ol boys just couldn’t stay away from their nest. And when the lights went out Chicago was under total black out and military controlled martial law.

  Meaning there was no riots there because the power never went out there, the entire city lived on as if nothing had happened and when people did get out of line they were quickly crushed. So folks there just settled down and enjoyed a better life then the rest of the country was.

  How they pulled this off was beyond me and I knew I would never understand it. But what I really wanted to know was how this effected us?

  May said that the new Government had waited until outsiders could be brought in that would obey orders to kill everybody who couldn’t be controlled and to disarm everybody. Enforced total control just like in the old Communist block.

  But the hook was that in two weeks the weapons pre planted were going to be used because there was going to be a meeting of all the players in this whole mess and they were flying in from all over the world for it.

  The temporary seat of the New World Order was Chicago and they were holding their first summit there and would then decide where the final seat of the World Government would be.

  We all sat there kind of stunned and finely Sandy said “ So, to paraphrase this in plain talk in two weeks y’all are gonna wipe out the bastards who caused all this death and destruction?

  May just nodded, Sandy said well ok then how about the folks in that area who are innocent? May said the master plan had been in progress there almost from day one and everybody still there had bought into the whole cradle to grave nanny plan lock, stock and barrel.

  The weapons to be used were small and the effect was going to be contained in a two mile radius, more or less. I guess if you’re standing there at the 2.5 mark that won’t make a lot of difference.

  The biggest downer was that even more innocent people were going to suffer and there wasn’t a thing to be done about it if this group was to be wiped out during the only time they would all be together. It was the only way to stop it dead in it’s tracks and had been worked at from every side and this was the only way. But if it didn’t happen the death and suffering was just starting all over again.

  May said that the main think tank in Idaho had figured if me and mine were in the area when it went up then it was fine with them. But she and a few others didn’t agree and just left one night. Their plan was to catch up with us and warn us and try to warn any we could without tipping off the enemy.

  I asked why her faction cared one way or the other? She said they had always been aware of our actions and it was agreed that we were a force for good and were going to be needed when this mess in the east was resolved.

  So the upshot was that in two weeks a two mile area in Chicago was gonna just disappear into smoke and nobody could do a thing about it or for that matter wanted to do anything.

  The past couple of years had been harsh for so many, and so many people had died for what now seemed to be nothing but a power grab. I hated to think of the ones who didn’t even know the clock was ticking down on them but I could see what would happen if this plan was allowed to continue.

  I asked May why we should believe her and her reply pretty said it all. She said “ Why should you? We’ve all been lied to for so long by so many people we trusted to lead us that we have come to doubt everything which is maybe not a bad way to go.

  But the upshot of it was that when the bombs
went off we would know the truth or at least the truth as she had told it. And she had no reason to risk her own life to warn us to not go further.

  I just sat there thinking and felt like I was one move away from check to check mate. Finally I looked around at out people and asked if anybody had any thoughts or questions? It was quiet for a bit and at last one of the women asked if this all happened as May had said it was going to how did it change our lives as things were now?

  And that was a really good question which started folks to talking among themselves which lead to another question that hit home.

  How was any of this going to change out lives and what we were doing or going to do in the future? We were already just surviving and as one person put it maybe it was time to stop surviving and start building. That really got folks to talking.

  I told everybody to go hash it out in small groups and later we could meet again and see what was what. I already knew what I wanted to do and that was get Buck and the gang and get back to the high country to let my soul come to a rest.

  After they all wondered off I asked may what she and her group were going to do now? If going back was an option, she said that none of them wanted to return to Idaho and all were wanting to find a place to settle and start building something better and that in truth her group was bigger then the ones we met, these people were just security for the mission the main group numbered close to 200 and all were well educated and had abilities that would be needed in the rebuilding of the country but they were not interested in remaining in Idaho.

  I told her about the Prison we had found and that with it as a base for developing the area there a lot of our folks were going to stay there and build around it. Sandy talked about the idea of settlements around Lake Powell if the dam could be cared for which really interested May.

  She said she had people who could run that dam the way it was meant to be and produce power for the entire area whereas before it was sent out of state and sold and most of the power transmission lines were still in place.

  That was something that I could see as a real nation builder having the availability or power already in place. It just took folks who could make it work.

  I could see the future sitting right here in this group and for the first time I felt like the world would make it’s comeback. If only we didn’t screw it up again, which I figured we would but I wouldn’t be here to see it.

  I wondered also about the foreign troops here when their bosses got vaporized. May said as far as they could tell there wasn’t that many since the program had just started.

  I feel one is too many but as Sandy said it won’t take long for the locals to sort them out since most don’t speak English and most are not shooters.

  I have to realize that the entire recovery of America isn’t resting on my / our shoulders and I need to stop feeling guilty about things I can’t change.

  We did pass on all the info we had to our network and used Ralph and his plane to drop warnings to the folks closest to the blast zone, He was able to drop a message to the closest Southern outpost with his radio frequencies which led to contact with them.

  He also dropped a written detailed report of what was coming and the word that it was going to be a command detonation and wouldn’t happen until the wind was blowing hard to the East and out to sea. The folks down wind that might still be surviving were on their own. A hard thing but we did all we could.

  We sent a heavy scout team as close as we could with fuel for Ralph so he could land on the highway and worse come to worse he could bail out and use his portable radio to maintain contact with the scout team.

  I was worried that we might be on short time and thought on loading up and heading West post haste. May did laugh at us because she knew a great deal about the weapons being used since her group had built them.

  We got back to the rest area camp and settled in to await the blast, in the mean time the big convoy was stopped where they were. The time came and went and nothing.

  May said the person who was detonating the weapons would wait for favorable winds or until the last minute but regardless it was going to happen while all these traitors were in one place.

  On day 13 which also happened to be a Friday if anybody still used a calendar at about 1000 hours the event happened. We didn’t know it because it was so far away but May said it did and the forward units of the Southern army said they felt it a bit. No huge mushroom clouds, in fact it was a non event for us if not for the poor bastards caught up in it.

  I felt sick in my hart for all those folks who survived the EMP thru hard work but died because of this mess. And I said as much to May who looked at me kind of weird and said John, this whole strike was designed to take out the worst of the bastards who killed our world.

  It wasn’t the kind of weapons that were launched on rockets. These were small units with little radiation fall out.

  Did some good folks die yes just as the folks shot in that ditch were good folks, shit happens but we can’t stop stomping on the cockroaches just because an innocent might fall victim too. If we do we will fail. And that is not an option if we are to have a future chance to live in a better place.

  I just looked at her and tried to work up an argument but Sandy leaned her head against me and said “ John, she’s right and we all know it and we all know how you feel because we feel the same.

  I looked around at our people and saw the same look on all of their faces. Even the “People” who are usually as readable as a table full of card sharks were showing emotion. I could only shake my head and sigh.

  May had one more thing to say. “Just so you all know, these weapons had to be detonated from very close and we all drew straws to see who was going to be the one, I drew that short straw. The man who took my place came to me and said he had cancer and was dying anyway and to please let him do one good thing for the country before he died.“ She had tears running down her cheek but her voice never faltered, She said this was why she was here as close as she could be, because the man who took her place was her brother.

  Well folks that’s a show stopper if I ever seen one. Sandy went to her and hugged her close and whispered in her ear and they walked away together.

  I took a deep breath and said OK! We need to have a big come to Jesus meeting and I guess the best way would be to get the other convoy moving on to here since it’s a good place to be as any. The word went out to the main convoy to move up and they were rolling.

  I doubt there is an army anywhere these days as good as these people.

  Within a few hours the front wave of the convoy began rolling in and we were ready, the cooks had planed a feast going, the showers were ready.

  It was great meeting up with these folks since most of us hadn’t seen then since we broke up our little army back when.

  Now it wasn’t such a little army, in fact it was probably the largest armed force left in the country.

  Using my authority as Supreme bullshiter and leader of this motley band of misfits I declared a two day R&R in camp and opened the saloon so to speak. Charley said he and his scouts would handle security since they didn’t drink hardly at all. Charley’s rules.

  Charley had sent out some of his men and they brought back Deer and Beef. They could have taken Antelope but anybody who has ever eaten “lope” that’s been living on sage can attest that it’s not all that good! I for one can say that as fact.

  Anyway the cooks got their asses in gear and soon the whole camp had watery mouths. The party went on thru half the night and everybody slept late then got it going again.

  The second night even the hard corps party hounds crashed early and with much groaning aroused to the smell of coffee and hot cakes and sausage ( yep reconstituted military rations) and soon were all so stuffed they waddled back to their racks and crashed until after noon.

  While it was quiet I found a low hill and walked up on it and sat thinking, it was pleasant in the early fall sun and I laid back to watch the clouds
and think with my eyes closed for about an hour until I heard a snuffling sound and my face got a sloppy lick! Damn Walker! I hate it when he does that. I jerked awake to find Sandy and her new bestest friend May sitting watching me. Both laughing out loud as I opened my eyes. I now had two of them to hate.

  I hadn’t seen a lot of them for the last two days but it looked like May was over her grieving and I noticed she was wearing the same BDU’s we wear and had on a gun belt with a very nice familiar looking 1911 in a nice custom looking holster.

  I raised an eyebrow and Sandy blushed and said “we adopted her.” Now May blushed and Sandy said Charley will make it official. She grinned.

  One think I’ve learned in my many long years of being around more women then any man should be is that there is a time to shut up and this was it. What I needed to know would be provided when I needed to know it.

  I just shook my head and said “May, welcome to the family, we should make a big hit in Utah! And they both blushed again.

  I told them I wanted to have a staff meeting and after that I was going to have a general meeting. So I asked one of them to run down and get the rest of the staff and bring them back up here. Sandy jumped up and left May sitting quietly with me, she finally spoke up and said are you ok with this John? I smiled at her and said well May you’ve been hanging with Sandy ever since you met up with us so do you see me having a lot of choice in it?