“No, it wouldn’t have. We would’ve left that shit,” Gerald said, stepping up beside him. He looked at the rack loaded with ten-foot-long, solid metal rods. At the bottom, the rods were three inches wide and got smaller with each shelf going to the top. There were twenty of these rods alone, and that shelf was the only one not packed. Seeing the trailer squat as Bernard set the rack down, Gerald knew that was tons of metal.
“Gerald, we need stuff like this to be viable when this ends,” Nelson said, waving his hand at the trailer.
Gerald shook his head. “Yeah I know, but Nelson, one of those three-inch rods weighs more than I do. Hell, I tried to pick one up last night and almost pulled a nut,” he whined. “We aren’t even going to talk about those one-inch steel sheets.”
“Dork, you don’t pick them up by yourself,” Nelson said, slapping his arm as Bernard came out with another rack of round stock, but this was stainless steel.
“If we would’ve had to load this by hand, it would’ve stayed here until we needed each piece.”
“And you want to bring those CNCs, vertical mill, band saws, grinder, lathe, and plasma cutter,” Nelson huffed. “I have most of that shit, and what I don’t have, I can work around it.”
“Dude, we have something to lift the shit with,” Gerald cried out. “When we set up that damn CNC in the barn, my back hurt for a month. This stuff is bigger than yours and has more handles and controls,” Gerald said.
“Gerald, I’m going to have to learn how to use those extra handles and controls. I like those machines, but I know mine.”
Seeing Matt roll out a large tool box that was taller than he was, Gerald shook his head. “Well, you said you were going to be the machinist and gunsmith for the group, so get to learning,” Gerald said, walking away.
“Eat me,” Nelson popped off, following him.
When Nelson walked in the shop, he found Nancy and Ashley fighting to lower large bottles of oxygen on a pallet. “You really don’t want to drop those hard,” he said, walking over to help them. Seeing a bottle trying to roll off, Nelson made them hold it as he found some boards then nailed two to each side so the bottles couldn’t fall.
Hearing a truck crank up, he looked out to see Bernard’s truck pulling away only carrying three racks. Looking back at the wall that was lined with those racks, Nelson counted nine more. “This is going to take fucking forever,” he moaned.
“Nelson, come over here, and unhook these damn things,” Matt called out, standing beside a CNC machine center.
Spinning around, Nelson saw Nancy and Ashley moving bottles of gasses to the pallet and Gerald moving another massive tool box. “Who the fuck was driving that truck?” Nelson snapped, pointing out the bay door as Matt’s truck pulled up.
“Adam drove Bernard’s, and Alex is driving mine,” Matt sighed. “Come unhook these damn wires.”
“Dude, the electricity is off; just take them off.”
“Nope, you do it,” Matt said, walking over to help Ashley and Nancy.
“I hope all of you realize this shit has to be stored inside, and this one building is going to fill a lot of that barn with these machines,” Nelson said, laying his AR on the table as Bernard drove in the shop, picking up another rack.
“We’ll deal with that later,” Gerald shouted when Bernard drove out.
Mumbling very unpleasant words, Nelson grabbed some tools and started unhooking the equipment. Seeing the electrical supply wall, Nelson walked over and unhooked a transformer and phase converter. “What are you doing?” Matt asked, walking up behind him.
“What the fuck does it look like?!” Nelson shouted, not bothering to turn around. “This shit uses more power than my shit, so I need some of this shit to make it work when I get it back with my shit!”
“What’s Nelson yelling about?” Michelle asked over the radio.
Matt pressed his transmit key as Nelson just continued to bitch. “Ah…shit. He’s yelling about shit.”
“Tell him to hold it down,” Michelle called back. With his back to Matt, Nelson raised up one hand with his middle finger extended.
“Ah, Michelle, that’s a negative on holding it down,” Matt called back and left a cussing Nelson.
When Nelson was done unhooking the electrical boxes, he turned to see most of the shop was empty. He looked outside and saw all the trucks but Bernard’s. “Where’s Bernard’s truck?” he shouted.
“Alex and Adam have been driving them back, and Nellie has been unloading them with the tractor,” Gerald shouted from across the room.
“And you just now tell me this change in plans?”
“Hey, the kids are asleep, and we are really moving along,” Gerald said as he stopped working and wiped sweat off his face. “Your wife and son are blocking the only route in, so it’s not like anyone can drive up to the house.”
With his eyes narrowed, Nelson growled, “Fine,” and pointed at a generator in the corner. “Load that up,” he said, putting the electrical boxes on a pallet.
“You mean we are going to need more power than we can produce to run these things?” Gerald shouted.
“No, but I think we will have to open up some of the reserve hydro generators,” Nelson snapped.
“We have generators at the farm. What do we need that one for then?”
Flying across the room, Nelson got up in Gerald’s face. “You wanted me to hook up power for Hank. That is an eight-thousand-watt generator. I take off the motor, hook it to a Pelton wheel, and if I can get the water pressure, they have power. I don’t need an inverter or anything else; it’s all right there,” he growled, pointing at the generator.
Stepping back with a nervous face, Gerald said with a forced smile, “Sure Nelson, I’ll get it loaded.”
Spinning around, Nelson stormed over and continued to load the electrical panels. When they were all loaded, he walked over and looked at a MIG welder, unplugged it from the wall, and rolled it to the door. “Nelson, you have a MIG,” Matt said, walking up.
“Well, since we are taking every fucking thing here no matter what the fuck I say, I thought you might want to load this! It has another gun on it that can weld aluminum!”
Matt nodded with a forced grin. “I’ll get it loaded,” he said, moving over and taking it from Nelson as Michelle ran up and caught the exchange.
After Bernard loaded the MIG, Matt walked over to Michelle, who was leaving. “Michelle, go say something to him,” Matt begged.
“Bullshit,” she said over her shoulder. “He’s pissed, and when he’s pissed, arguing with him is useless because he won’t shut up till he wins.”
Matt ran after her and walked beside her. “Well, just go ask him what’s wrong so we can fix it,” Matt suggested as he heard Nelson shouting at Bernard.
“I have to live with him; you don’t. You go ask his ass,” Michelle said, walking off as Matt stopped. “When he’s pissy, I don’t argue with him because even if he’s wrong, he doesn’t shut up. He will win the argument.”
Turning around, Matt jogged back. “Fuck it, I’ll just avoid his ass and do what he says,” Matt groaned. “The look in his eyes made my pee pee hurt.”
“Well, that would probably be a smart thing to do!” Michelle called over her shoulder.
When the shop was empty, they moved over to the barn and started loading trailers with bags of feed and seeds stacked on pallets. Nelson saw Adam and Alex standing in the door, watching Bernard load up the pallets.
“Adam, Alex, get those cages out of the back of my truck, and catch those chickens, and throw them in it,” Nelson said, pointing to his truck.
The boys took off as Nelson pressed his radio. “One, have you seen anything?”
“With the exception of a shit load of deer, no,” Michelle said, and Nelson heard Gavin in the background. “Oh, we saw a large pack of dogs to the west.”
“I’m sending Ashley and Nancy out to swap with you,” Nelson said.
“Thank you. This shit is boring,” Michell
e called back. Michelle and Gavin walked up to the barn and saw the group loading. Gavin saw Adam and Alex catching chickens with fishing nets and ran over to join them.
“Where’s Nelson?” Michelle asked, walking up.
“Not here because he already chewed all of our asses off,” Gerald said, throwing stuff on the trailer.
She looked around. “I swear if y’all lost my husband, I’ll show you pissed off! You know how hard it is to train one?” she shouted and keyed her radio. “Mobile One, where are you?”
“About to come out of the house,” Nelson called back.
Dropping off a load on the trailer, Bernard looked up. “I thought we weren’t going to mess with the houses.”
“By all means, you can tell him, Bernard,” Gerald said, walking back into the barn. “I don’t give a damn what he messes with as long as he’s not chewing my ass.”
Nodding, Bernard turned and followed. “I’m sure he has a good reason.”
Michelle laid her AR on the hood of the truck and turned to see Nelson walking over. “What has your ass chapped?” she asked.
“Don’t you even think of starting on me, damn it!” Nelson shouted, and Michelle turned and went in the barn to help. When Bernard came out and threw his load on the trailer, Nelson walked over and grabbed his arm. “I need you for a minute,” Nelson said, pulling him behind the barn.
“I was working. Why the hell do you want to take me behind the barn for?” Bernard shouted.
“Huh?” Nelson asked as he stopped. Bernard just stared at him, and Nelson pointed ahead. “Can that excavator over there pick those tanks up?” Nelson asked, pointing at two five-thousand-gallon metal tanks behind the barn.
Turning to look at the excavator, Bernard started, “Well…”
“Bernard, I love you, but I swear to God, if you say something about that being a Case, I’m going to spin off big time,” Nelson snapped.
“Nelson, if those tanks are full, that would be over twenty tons. Not even my Deere could pick that up,” Bernard said.
“One is empty, but the other is full, so that excavator could pick up the empty one?”
“Sure, but we don’t have a trailer to haul it on.”
Nelson turned to look at the tanks. “Then we will carry it with the excavator.”
“We have lights coming up behind us,” Nancy called over the radio.
“It’s Hank’s truck,” Nellie came over the radio. “I saw two people in the cab when they went over the bridge.”
“How fucking stupid do you have to be to drive around with fucking headlights when people are hunting anyone!” Nelson bellowed as he started walking toward the road.
Those working in the barn grabbed weapons and took off running for the road and reached the buggy just as Hank’s truck stopped, and everyone had to yank off their night vision goggles. “Turn your lights off,” Gerald shouted.
Opening his door, Hank stepped out. “What?”
“Turn your goddamn lights off!” Gerald screamed as he looked over his shoulder to see Nelson strolling around the barn with Bernard, and they were heading toward the road.
“You don’t have to be rude,” Hank said, reaching in to turn the truck off and kill the lights as Josh got out the other side. “What are y’all doing here at Butch’s house?”
Gerald looked at Hank then turned to Josh and was glad to see both were carrying their ARs and had on tactical vests. “Making sure no one gets his shit,” Gerald said, glancing over his shoulder, seeing Nelson walking up the driveway with something in his hand. “Oh shit,” he mumbled, seeing the shadow of a hammer in Nelson’s hand.
“You can’t do this; Butch will be back. He called the day those feds came by and said they were just going to report to Springfield, and since he had a farm, he would be back,” Hank said, noticing Gerald looking over his shoulder. “Is that Nelson with Bernard?”
Stepping close, Gerald put his face in Hank’s. “You have an ass chewing coming. Listen to it, and take it like a man,” Gerald whispered.
“I’m a grown man,” Hank snapped.
“A stupid ass grown man,” Michelle snapped.
“Now listen here—” Hank started.
“Shut the fuck up!” Nelson bellowed as he walked up and looked in the FLYER to see Nancy still watching the screen of the thermal camera. “Nancy, anything?”
“No, just deer.”
Seeing Nelson coming, Gerald stepped aside. “You better take it like a man and listen,” he warned Hank in a low voice.
Strolling past Hank, Nelson raised the hammer back and busted the passenger headlights. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Hank shouted as Nelson stepped over and busted the driver side headlights.
Dropping the hammer, he spun around and got in Hank’s face. “You fucking idiot! You ride around with fucking lights when motherfuckers are trying to kill us. Are you a fucking retard!” Nelson roared, spraying Hank’s face with spit. “I fucking gave you night vision, numb nuts, and showed you how to fucking work them! You forget?”
Hank stepped back and took a breath.
“I wouldn’t,” Gerald warned. “The ass chewing will turn into an ass whooping.”
Nelson stepped forward, back in Hank’s face. “If you want to fucking get killed, then fine, dick head, but you light my group up like a stupid ass cocksucker again, and I’ll skin you with a butter knife and dip you in alcohol!” Nelson bellowed
Startled and with his heart pounding in his chest, Hank looked at Gerald then looked back at Nelson. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t think,” Hank said in a low voice.
“If you wanted to know what was going on, you could’ve used the radio,” Nelson growled, and everyone was thankful he wasn’t bellowing anymore. “Don’t fucking endanger us like that again.”
Hank looked at the front of his truck and forced a grin. “Don’t think I will be able to do that again.”
“Think before you act,” Nelson said in a normal voice and stepped back, making everyone relax. “You said you had a semi with a trailer that could haul Bernard’s excavator.”
“Yes.”
Grabbing Hank, Nelson spun him to toward the barn. “Can it carry those tanks if they were empty?”
“Yeah, I’m the one that brought them here for Butch.”
Nelson spun Hank back around. “When we were at your farm, I didn’t see any animals. Where do you keep them?”
“I uh, sold all my cows last year and only grow hay now.”
“Chickens?” Nelson asked hopefully, and Hank shook his head. “Follow my instructions to the letter. Get in your truck, drive up to the barn, and you will see chickens in dog cages in the back of my truck. Put them in yours, drive home, take them out. Grab night vision and radios. Leave two adults there, and come back here with a trailer on this truck, go into that house, and load all the food inside on your truck and trailer. Carry it back to your house, unload it, then follow us to the next farm. Do I need to draw you pictures?”
“No,” Hank said, moving to his truck as Nelson turned around. “Matt’s trailer isn’t loaded. Let’s unhook it and hook up that fuel trailer and get this shit back to the farm.” After Hank drove past, everyone headed back to the barn.
Bernard fell in beside Nelson and pointed at the machine shop. “Nelson, that gray tank on that metal stand is unleaded fuel. It holds something like three hundred gallons. I can load it with that Bobcat on Matt’s trailer.”
“Michelle,” Nelson called out as she walked in front of him. “Can you ride back and bring back the hybrid buggy? And I want someone to bring my Blazer here and haul Matt’s trailer back.”
“Why do you want that buggy?” Michelle asked.
“It’s quiet, and I can move ahead of us.”
“No, that damn FLYER is quiet, and it packs a punch, so you can’t have your buggy,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I’ll dump a mag in that buggy if that Blazer rolls up here.”
Seeing Michelle caressing her AR, Nelson nodded. “Fi
ne, we’ll roll up and check the area then call the others since someone rode around with headlights,” Nelson said, walking around her.
“That’s why you brought Gavin, you asshole!” Michelle shouted. “You expected me to let you go ahead and me stay back with him!”
Started, Nelson stopped. “Damn, that would’ve been a good idea if I would’ve thought about that,” he mumbled.
Michelle jerked back. “That’s not why you brought him?”
“No, I want him to get used to moving around at night. It was only a year ago he was scared of the dark,” Nelson said as he started walking again.
“We taking that empty tank now?” Bernard asked.
“No, we will get it tomorrow. There’s several on the next few farms I want to check out.”
“Nelson, it’s the start of the season; most will be full of fuel. I’m sure the only reason Butch’s other tank is empty is this shit started and interrupted his delivery,” Bernard said as Hank’s truck pulled past.
“We’ll think of something,” Nelson said, looking at the barn. “What’s left?”
“A shit load of hay,” Matt said.
“Leave it. We have a hay farmer next door,” Nelson said. “Group one, back to our ride. Bernard, load up that other tank, and pull the Bobcat out to the road. We’ll load it on my trailer to use at the other farms.”
“There wasn’t a lot we were getting at the others,” Gerald said with a cringe.
“Well, since we have more help and Hank’s hay farm is empty, we have somewhere to store shit. That last farm where Bernard is going to get that combine from has a shit load of building supplies we need.”
“Casey Kimple’s farm,” Bernard said, walking to the Bobcat. “He was letting his son build a house on his property.”
“Well, we need that shit,” Nelson mocked as he bobbed his head.
When Nelson headed to the FLYER, everyone ran to vehicles. As his group climbed in, Nelson watched the line of loaded trucks head back to the farm. Lowering his goggles, Nelson climbed in the gunner’s seat. “Michelle, pull us up a hundred yards. We’re right in front of the driveway, and Hank hasn’t impressed me at all.”
Forgotten Forbidden America:: Patriots Reborn Page 18
