“Relax,” Gerald said, walking up.
“You could’ve given a hint that we were stopping for Nancy to kill the tracking stuff,” Nelson said, looking around. “Why did we have to stop on the fucking highway and not on one of the tiny dirt roads hiding behind trees?”
“We want them to think we stayed on the highway,” Gerald said, turning to see Nancy climbing under the Cougar. “We’ll be moving in less than ten minutes.”
Nelson turned and saw Nancy digging under the hood of the Cougar. “How the hell did her little ass open that hood?”
“I did it for her,” Gerald said, pulling the balaclava off his face and adjusting his goggles.
Nancy ran back to them and climbed under the FLYER, shining the flashlight, and part of the beam hit Nelson’s goggles, shutting them down. “Damn it,” he mumbled, lifting them and blinking.
“You can take your balaclava off now,” Gerald said as Nancy ran to the back of his FLYER, opening the back.
“No, I have no side windows. I’ve convoyed on dirt roads before; I’ll keep it on,” Nelson said as Nancy crawled under the second FLYER.
“Nice choice, Nelson. The FLYER is an excellent vehicle, and these have the full SOCOM load out,” she said, crawling out and jogging to the back and opened the compartment.
Nelson looked inside and saw the screens and stuff. “Yeah, but can I use it, or should I say, can you teach me what the hell all of it is? I only got to ride in the test vehicle for the FLYER 60 but liked it. I’ve read about these.”
“I can give you the manual when we get home,” she said as she closed the compartment. “Let’s boogie,” she said, jogging to her Suburban.
“I’ll lead,” Gerald said. “The sight of that monster should deter someone.”
“Yeah, that’s what I don’t like,” Nelson said, climbing in.
“I have a remote fire system; they won’t be telling anyone,” Gerald laughed as he jogged to his Cougar.
They were five miles from the turn on their road when one of the tires on the trailer Michelle was hauling popped. “Babe, my trailer is acting really wild,” she said over the radio.
“You have a flat on your left side,” he said and saw the second tire on the left side pop in his night vision goggles. “Make that two.”
“We don’t have spares.”
“Just drag the damn thing home. We don’t care about the truck or trailer, just the cargo,” he said then amended, “You most of all.”
“Aw,” she said as both tires on the right blew out.
“Front, you need to slow; she is pulling a trailer with four flats,” Nelson called out.
“Will do, at our road,” Gerald said, slowing and swinging the giant Cougar wide as he made the right turn. “Only six miles now.”
Nelson watched Nancy take the turn, and Michelle started to swing wide, starting the turn when Nelson watched one tire and rim snap off the left side and roll on down the road. As Michelle turned on the road, the trailer buckled as the second left tire shot off into the ditch.
“What the hell was that?” Michelle called out.
“Sheared the rims off the left side, and I think you broke an axle,” Nelson said as a loud pop sounded, and the trailer dropped down on the road. “If you didn’t, you have now,” Nelson said, watching both tires on the right side roll off in the ditch.
“I’m in low gear almost red lining and can only go twelve miles an hour,” Michelle called back.
“Michelle, are you okay?” Nellie called over the radio.
“Yes, Nellie, I’m breaking the truck,” Michelle huffed.
“Nellie, is Bernard awake?” Gerald called over the radio.
Several seconds went by before Bernard snapped, “You should know better than that.”
“Bernard, get the goggles Nellie used when we drove out here, and bring a tractor with some chain to us. We are three miles from the bridge, and I don’t know if the bumper is going to hold over the bridge,” Gerald said. “Please hurry; we are in shit we don’t want anyone to see.”
“Bumper my ass,” Nelson said, seeing the rear of the Suburban almost touching the road. “The tongue or the ball won’t last the three miles after going over the bridge.”
A loud pop sounded, and the trailer jumped up as an axle rolled out the back. “Shit,” Nelson shouted, turning the steering wheel toward the ditch. “Matt, axle in the road!” he shouted as the FLYER hit the ditch, dodging the broken axle in the road.
Nelson fought the steering wheel, trying to get the FLYER back on the road, but another and much louder pop with a ting split the night air. Nelson watched the back of the Suburban jump, and the back tires jumped a foot off the ground. Then Nelson thought about all the weight that the Suburban was carrying. “That would’ve flipped a regular Suburban,” he said as the back landed, bouncing, as the Suburban settled back on the road.
The FLYER pulled back on the road and threw dirt up until the one it was pulling was out of the ditch, and Nelson stopped on the road. Seeing Gerald stopping, he keyed his radio. “Gerald, don’t stop, or Michelle won’t get her ride moving. Matt and I will wait on Bernard.”
“I can tow it,” Gerald called back but was slowly pulling away.
“Gerald, the Suburban is sitting cockeyed. I think one of the springs is broke, and a ton of fluid is coming out the bottom. Matt and I are big boys; just get this shit out of sight.”
“Copy,” Gerald said. “Michelle, tell me how fast you can go?”
“Hold at twenty because the SUV is making noises I’ve never heard before.”
“That is a good thing you never have,” Gerald called back.
“They are getting louder? What should I do about them?” Michelle asked.
Nelson keyed his radio. “Turn up the music so you can’t hear them, and get home,” he said, getting out of the FLYER.
He turned to see Matt standing in front of the Bronco, waving at him. Grabbing his AR, Nelson turned to see the three vehicles disappear around a curve. Spinning around, he jogged around the busted trailer over to Matt.
As he got closer, he saw the axle stuck under the front of the Bronco. “I couldn’t turn or stop fast enough,” Matt said, shaking his head.
Nelson looked around and saw the other two houses that were on this road, but both were dark. “Matt, I know those people were there three days ago. Gavin and I rode out here one night and saw their lights on, and we still have four days until the government cuts off power,” Nelson said, looking around.
“We can check on them later; I’m worried Gerald is going to shoot me for wrecking his Bronco.”
“It’s a piece of crap Ford. Hell, it only has an axle stuck under it. Notice the Chevy is still going after the trailer broke and it hauled way over its limit.”
“Dude,” Matt sighed.
“Alright,” Nelson said and got down on the ground. “Matt, it’s only stuck under the bumper; just back up.”
“If it breaks, I’m blaming you,” he said, climbing in. He slowly backed up, and the axle gave a snap as the Bronco backed off it, and Matt stopped and turned off the Bronco. Off in the distance, they could hear the tractor.
“I don’t hear that big ass Cougar,” Nelson said as Matt bent down, grabbing the axle. He stopped, seeing a shiny plate, and moved his goggles closer to read it.
“Nelson, this axle is rated at 3,500 pounds,” Matt said, picking it up. Nelson was bending over, about to help, when Matt gave a grunt, picking the axle up, and tossed it in the ditch.
“Hulk,” Nelson said, grabbing Matt’s shoulder. “Each of those pallets of ammunition that we loaded weigh one ton each.”
As his jaw hit his chest, Matt slowly turned to look at the broken trailer. “We loaded a trailer rated for seven thousand pounds with fourteen tons?”
“Fourteen and a half. We couldn’t get but half of the last one on,” Nelson said. “I’m surprised Gerald’s trailer didn’t break as well. He is carrying seven tons, but I’m sure it’s closer to eight.”
“I’ll push you in the barn, Michelle. Kill the engine,” Gerald said on the radio.
“Bullshit. Move, and I’ll drive in. If you push, we can’t open the back and get this shit out!” she shouted over the radio.
“Michelle, you’re smoking, and you’re way over the red line,” Gerald called back, and even over the approaching tractor, way off in the distance, they heard the high pitch of an engine being maxed.
“It’s not mine, now move your fucking ass!”
Matt laughed, looking around at the houses Nelson was talking about. “You think they left?” he said as he nodded his head at them.
“Beats me, but if they did, we need to see if they have anything we need.”
“Nelson, we have more shit than we can deal with now, and you want more?”
“Matt, when we use it, it’s gone. We can’t go to the store for more without getting shot at. We need to secure more fuel for one thing,” Nelson said.
“We have over a thousand gallons of gas and twenty-five hundred gallons of diesel, and we can make more of that,” Matt said, still staring at the houses.
“Yeah, but we can’t make gas, and we still have stuff that runs off gas we need. Bernard has used some diesel with that excavator, and we used a lot with all the other equipment. We don’t have twenty-five hundred gallons anymore. We can’t plant soybeans till next year because Bernard said we missed the planting date, and we would make too much noise tending crops now.”
“Nelson, we are six miles from the farm, and we heard the tractor. Noise is always going to be a factor.”
“Yeah, but next year, there won’t be as many people to hear it,” Nelson said, making Matt jump. Nelson gave a sigh. “Palmer said typhoid and cholera are running rampant in the camps, and food is in very short supply now. He said the entire planet is in an economic collapse. Europe is having hell controlling masses, but they are still sending troops here because we supply a lot of their food and want us settled down.”
Matt turned and walked away, stopping beside the side of the Bronco. “How many in America do you think will die?” he asked in a low voice.
“Matt, most people don’t even know where food comes from other than a grocery store. They can’t hunt or fish,” Nelson said as the tractor noise started getting louder.
Turning around, Matt asked, “How many?”
“Palmer said their projections were half to three quarters of the population won’t survive this. People aren’t only starving and dying of disease; they are being murdered, and the war hasn’t really started. I’m guessing when this is over, there will be less than seventy million left in America.”
“Jesus,” Matt mumbled and looked up to see the tractor coming around the curve. “I think Bernard is going to like the night vision goggles. The world is almost John Deere green,” Matt said with a weak smile.
“Yeah,” Nelson mumbled.
Bernard drove the tractor in the ditch and backed up as he turned it around toward the trailer. “If a hundred horse John Deere doesn’t pull this trailer, we leave it,” Matt said with a forced chuckle.
“Bullshit, Bernard has that monster hundred-fifty horse John Deere. That thing doesn’t move; it beats the Earth into submission and makes it turn as it stands still, giving the illusion the tractor is moving,” Nelson laughed as Bernard turned off the tractor and climbed out of the cab.
Jumping to the ground, Bernard stopped looking at the pathetic-looking broken trailer in his night vision goggles as they walked up. “Boys, you do realize you way overloaded this poor thing.”
“It’s not ours, so we didn’t care,” Nelson said. “Matt doesn’t think your tractor can pull it home.”
Bernard jerked his head up. “Boy, that tractor can pull that trailer, and you can connect the Bronco and pull the other way, and I would still drag both of you to the farm.”
“I was just saying,” Matt shrugged and hit Nelson with his elbow.
Pointing at the back of the tractor, Bernard said, “Get one of those heavy chains and a binder. Strap it around the back because those little straps you have won’t hold when I lift the trailer up.”
They moved over, grabbing the chain, and wound it across the back then hooked the binder up and ratcheted the chain tight. Then, they moved to help Bernard, but he already had a chain around the base of the tongue and wrapped around his three-point lift. “I’m only going to lift it a few inches,” he said and looked at Matt. “Not because I can’t pull it across the ground, but I want to see if I can keep the other axle from being torn off.”
“I’m sorry I said that about your tractor,” Matt said, stepping back.
“It’s a Deere, son, not some cheap knock off,” Bernard said, moving to the tractor. “Nelson, you go on to the barn, and if we need you, I’ll call. Matt, stay behind me in case we start to lose the load.”
As Bernard climbed in the tractor, they ran to their vehicles. Nelson jumped in and started the FLYER and took off. In his goggles, the fluid Michelle leaked down the middle of the road looked like blood. “We killed an armored SUV,” Nelson laughed. “The mini gun is still mine.”
Driving around the overturned truck and trailer, Nelson thought he saw a broken drive belt. Pulling on the road, he sped up until he turned, heading to the back of the barn, and the smell of a blown engine filled the air. “Yep, it’s dead.”
Seeing light spilling out behind the barn, he took off his goggles before he rounded the corner. He laughed, seeing the back of the busted SUV sitting on the ground, smoke still coming from under the hood and the rear axle pushed out in the field. “She got it in,” he laughed, pulling in the barn. He saw everyone standing in the corner with Olivia in Michelle’s arms and Ashley holding Brittney. Nancy and Gerald had Mike and Devin as always.
He turned off the FLYER and saw the boys walking around the Cougar then run over to him. “Whoa, Dad, what is this?” Gavin said, looking at the FLYER with Alex and Adam beside him, all of them in awe.
“Our new war wagons,” Nelson said, getting out and looking at his watch. “It’s almost dawn; what are you doing up?”
Gavin let out a moan as he whined, “Dad, y’all were on a mission. We couldn’t go to sleep until you were back safe.”
“Good man,” Nelson said, rubbing Gavin’s head then looked at Alex and Adam and rubbed their heads.
“Dad, did you see what Mom did to the new truck?” Gavin said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
“Well, son, to be honest, it wasn’t her fault. It was mine and Gerald’s fault—more mine. We way overloaded it, but because Mom is so awesome, she was still able to get it home,” Nelson grinned.
Michelle walked over. “Oh, you so get the slave costume for that,” she smiled and kissed him.
“I’m tired. You ready for bed?” he asked hopefully.
“It’s almost dawn; we need to feed the kids and discuss what to do with the tons of explosives we brought back. When Gerald told the boys what was in the Cougar, they were dying to see inside.”
Nelson looked down at the boys. “Boys, that shit will kill you and blow up this barn, leaving nothing but a big hole in the ground if you’re not careful with it. I’m not playing even a little bit. There wouldn’t be enough of you to put in a thimble.”
The boys looked over their shoulders at the Cougar then moved behind Nelson. “Subtle but effective,” Michelle laughed.
Nelson looked over at the workbench and saw the empty chairs. “Where did they go?” he asked, startled, looking around and grabbing his AR out of the FLYER.
Nellie came trotting over. “Nelson, I’m sorry, but they irritated us. I hope you were done,” she said with a long face. “We read some of what you wrote down and know the others were there with the sheriff. They’re scattered around the chicken yard and pig pen.”
“I’m surprised you got Palmer off the table with all the screws I put in him,” Nelson said.
“Bernard used the front-end loader and pulled him off after wrapping
some chains around him.”
“Saves me from cleaning up.” Nelson grinned, hearing the tractor getting closer.
“I’m going to start breakfast,” Nellie said. “Give me Olivia so she can supervise.”
“I’ll carry her, Nellie.” Michelle smiled, and Nellie gave Michelle a stern look. “Sorry,” Michelle said in a meek voice, handing Olivia over.
Nellie smiled as she took Olivia and walked around the vehicles as Nelson keyed his radio. “Bernard, you can just drag that trailer into the yard, and Matt, you can park Gerald’s ride by his cabin. Nellie is starting breakfast.”
“Will do,” Bernard replied.
As Nelson and Gerald closed the big doors, the others walked through the barn and out the front. When Nelson and Gerald walked on the porch, Bernard was dragging the trailer in. “The other axle came off,” Nelson laughed, seeing the underside of the trailer was now flat.
“I’m going to Hank’s after breakfast,” Gerald said with a grim face. “Nellie showed me your notebook. That fucker tried to sell us out.”
“Yep, and his own brother.”
“If he hasn’t killed him, I am.”
Nelson turned to look at Gerald. “You sure about this? Like I told Bernard, it’s family, and Hank may fight to protect Steven.”
“Then they will all die,” Gerald said with a face of stone. “We can’t have people that close who are willing to sell out when it hasn’t even gotten tough yet. Better to be done with them now before they can do real damage to us.”
“I know,” Nelson said, turning away. “I was just hoping you would poke holes in my theory.”
“Nope,” Gerald said as Matt drove around the tractor to the back of the house. Bernard shut the tractor down, and Nelson backed up to the swing. He unbuckled his vest and let it drop on the porch and sat on the swing. Seeing that, Gerald took off his vest and sat down in one of the rocking chairs.
Bernard came up and saw them sitting on the porch. He took off his goggles and turned them off. “Have to say, these things are right nice,” he said, sitting down in a rocking chair next to Gerald. “You boys made a nice haul. Shame about the truck and trailer.”
Forgotten Forbidden America:: Patriots Reborn Page 12
