“Fuck this,” Nelson said, pulling out his map.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Michelle asked, still holding Gavin.
“Going to see what the fuck they did in Van Buren.”
“Like hell,” Michelle said, letting Gavin go. “Those jet jockeys see something on the ground moving in a target area, they shoot first.”
“Ah, away team,” Nancy broke in over the radio. “You really need to head back.”
They all froze as Gerald grabbed his radio. “What is it?”
“Fighting everywhere is being talked about over the radio. Texas invaded Oklahoma, and Canada invaded Montana and North Dakota. Too much to talk about, but I’m picking up a lot of aircraft to the north,” Nancy said as Nellie talked in the background. “I think we might need you here soon. Like real soon.”
Everyone grabbed their gear and ran for the vehicles. “I’m in the lead!” Gerald bellowed. “FLYERs behind me, and Nelson brings up the rear!”
Gavin ran over and jumped on Nelson’s ATV, putting his helmet on. Nelson climbed on behind him and started up the ATV. “Zeus,” Nelson yelled, putting his helmet on. Zeus jumped up behind him as Gerald pulled out on the road and took off. Grabbing the handlebar with his right hand, Nelson watched the others pull out and speed off after Gerald. “Gavin, hold onto my arm,” he said, wrapping his left arm around Gavin.
Tired and scared, Gavin nodded and held his dad’s arm, and Nelson gunned the ATV out onto the dirt road, following the dust the others kicked up. Giving up on trying to see and too tired to be scared enough to stay awake, Gavin’s head leaned back on Nelson’s chest, and he was soon asleep.
Nelson patted Gavin’s chest as he looked down at the speedometer. “Fifty is kind of fast on these dirt logging roads,” Nelson mumbled, keeping Ronald in sight. Staying twenty yards behind him wasn’t an option. The dust kicked up was enough to cut down his vision, not to mention ability to breathe. They were over fifty miles from the farm, but unlike the ride out, they were now hauling ass.
“Home, is attack imminent?” Gerald called over the radio, and everyone’s hearts sped up.
“Don’t know yet, but a farm was attacked by a gang ten miles from here. Nellie heard the woman call out for help on the CB. She and Bernard know them,” Nancy called back.
“Do you see a threat before we come hauling ass in?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t getting ready on our perimeter or road,” Nancy said.
“Buggy one and two, pass us by, and clear the way,” Gerald called out on the radio. “Get to base as fast as you can. We’ll follow as fast as we can as a group.” Nelson was too far back to see Bernard pass Gerald with Michelle sitting behind the mini gun. Matt and Ashley followed them and were soon out of sight.
“Can we go with them?” Josh called out on the radio.
“Negative. They can go faster than you, and you would get left behind,” Gerald called back. “Alone, you’re just an easy target.”
Only slowing to take turns, the ATVs drove hard, and when they were over halfway home, Nancy called out, “Buggy one and two here.”
“I’m the one that wanted the FLYERs, and I’m not even in the damn things,” Nelson mumbled with the dust getting thicker. Taking his left hand off Gavin, Nelson pulled his shemagh off and wrapped it around Gavin’s face, covering his open mouth as he slept. Wrapping his arm back around Gavin, Nelson slowed for a turn.
When Nelson got back to fifty, Gerald came over the radio. “Did buggy one or two report trouble?”
A pause that seemed to last forever filled the radio. When Nancy’s voice came on, the group tensed. “The home the combine came from was on fire.”
Shocked to say the least, Nelson let off the thumb throttle, slowing down as Gerald called back, “They have visual on hostiles?”
“Negative. I have an eye out and haven’t seen anything yet but can only get it out so far before I have to bring it back.”
Shaking his head, Nelson pressed the throttle, speeding back up hearing Nancy refer to the quad copter. With his left arm still holding Gavin to his chest, Nelson reached up to his radio with his left hand and pressed it. “Gerald, the dust is too thick, and we are spread too far apart. We need to slow down some so we can keep a visual on each other.”
“Copy, back down to thirty, but keep twenty yards apart,” Gerald called back.
Not liking it but knowing someone could pick them off one at a time, Nelson and the group slowed. They smelled the fire long before they reached Highway 60. Pulling on the highway, Gerald called out. “Paved road, fifty. When we hit dirt, back to regular speed.”
Pulling out on the highway, Nelson saw the dark column of smoke rising in the air to the east and off in the distance saw a dozen more all along the valley floor the highway followed to Van Buren. Passing the Kimple farm, Nelson sucked in a breath when he saw the house, barn, and the other outbuilding on fire. “Yeah, hard for an accident to start fires in multiple buildings and separate locations,” he said.
Speeding past the fire, Nelson looked ahead and saw Gerald turning off the highway onto the dirt road, heading home. Slowing down, Nelson glanced over his shoulder looking west and saw several more columns of smoke rising in the air. Looking down, he saw Zeus holding his head off the side of the ATV with his mouth open, letting his tongue flap in the wind.
“The simple pleasures of a dog.” Nelson smiled and looked ahead to see Josh turn the quad UTV he was driving with Kevin turn on the road heading to the farm. Slowing more so he wouldn’t close in and bunch up with Ronald and present a group target, Nelson swiveled his head around and got an idea.
Taking his hand off the throttle, Nelson pulled his goggles off his vest. Using his thumb, he turned the thermal setting all the way up and covered the top lens the infrared tube used with its cap. He clamped the goggle to his helmet as his four wheeler coasted to a stop. Flipping the goggle down, Nelson grabbed the throttle and sped up.
He looked at the world in black and white, scanning around as Ronald turned on the road. Looking at the pastures beside the Kimple farm, Nelson saw the warm bodies of dozens of dead cows lying in the pasture. Shaking his head, Nelson turned off the road and followed the others home. “This doesn’t make sense,” he mumbled, scanning around.
They passed the first house that was on the road leading to the farm where they had gathered stuff from, and it seemed untouched. Nelson coasted to a stop and looked over his shoulder. He couldn’t see the highway behind him and guessed it wasn’t even a mile away.
Turning around, he hit the throttle and caught back up to Ronald. When they reached the bridge, Nelson saw someone standing on it. Flipping the goggles up as he got closer, he saw it was Hank’s boys Tim and Mark. They had pulled back a roll of razor wire to let the group pass.
As Nelson passed them, the boys dragged the wire back across the road and ran back across the bridge and up to the hidden bunker that overlooked the bridge. “Josh and Kevin, head home. When we find out what’s going on, I’ll let you know.”
“Copy,” Kevin called out as Gerald took the Y, heading home. Nelson watched the two speed off the other way as Ronald sped up, closing the gap from Gerald.
When Nelson reached the farm, he followed Ronald and Gerald to the back of the house to see everyone waiting on them except Nancy. Pulling up beside Gerald, Nelson noticed he was wearing his goggles. When Nelson turned off his ATV, Gerald flipped his goggles up. “Glad to see I wasn’t the only one looking for thermal signatures,” Gerald said, climbing off his ATV.
“I didn’t get mine on till I reached the highway,” Nelson said, trying to figure out how to get off without letting Gavin hit the ground. “My son is passed out, so I had to do it with one hand and drive.”
Michelle ran over. “I’ll get him,” she said, reaching for Gavin, and Nelson stopped her.
“Babe, he weighs almost as much as you do, plus he has on tactical and bulletproof vests,” Nelson told her, still trying to
figure out how to get off. He really didn’t want to wake Gavin and had his doubts Gavin would even wake up coherently enough to get off.
Bernard strolled over, brushing past Michelle. “I got him,” he said, picking Gavin up and pulling the comatose form to his chest.
“You need to get down to the basement,” Michelle said, following Bernard to their cabin. “It’s hit the fan big time.”
Nelson climbed off and stretched out and heard Devin giggling. He spun around to see Gerald holding Devin up in the air, chewing on his belly. “Damn, that man is fast,” Nelson said, dropping his arms as Olivia ran over to him.
“Daddy!” she cried, jumping up at him. Jerking his arms up, Nelson caught Olivia before her airborne leap crashed into him. It wouldn’t have hurt him, but with all his gear on, it would’ve hurt her. It never entered into Olivia’s mind that Daddy wouldn’t catch her.
“Hey, stinker,” he said, pulling her to his chest.
She kissed his cheek and leaned back. “Is Gavin okay?”
“Yes, he’s just tired,” Nelson said, heading inside. “Nellie, is there anything to eat that didn’t come out of an MRE ready?”
Nellie smiled as she swatted his arm. “That stuff from those bags doesn’t really count as food,” she said, following him inside. “I’ll bring you something down in the basement.”
“I can wait,” Nelson said. He stopped inside and put Olivia down then took off his gear and hung it up.
“No, you and Gerald need to go see Nancy in the basement,” Nellie said as Nelson reached to pick up Olivia again. “No, let her help me get some food ready,” Nellie told him with a catch in her voice as she grabbed his arm.
Nodding slightly, Nelson looked down at Olivia. “Will you help Nana fix me some food?”
Olivia hugged his leg. “I’ll help Nana,” she said, letting go.
Nelson headed downstairs, and Gerald followed, still holding Devin and talking to him. They found Nancy at the desk looking at computer screens, listening to the radio, watching TV, and looking at the security cameras. “Damn, talk about multi-tasking,” Nelson said, stopping behind her.
“It’s come to a head really fast,” Nancy said in a distracted voice, gliding her cursor over screens and clicking.
“Are you on the fucking web!?” Gerald shouted.
“I heard that, Gerald!” Nellie shouted from upstairs. “I’m getting my belt.”
“I have one ass whoopin’ coming, so another doesn’t mean shit right now!” Gerald yelled over his shoulder, and Devin laughed, patting Gerald’s cheek. “So is that the internet?” Gerald asked in a lower voice.
“Yes, Gerald,” Nancy sighed, shaking her head. “I know what I’m doing, so don’t start.”
“You are—” Gerald started, and Nancy spun around in her chair, holding up her hand.
“I know what I’m doing. I would explain how I’m doing it to you, but you wouldn’t understand any of it.”
Nelson snorted, looking at Nancy. A headset with an ear muff over one ear and a voice mic plus black reading glasses finished the nerd look. She looked up at him with a scowl. “You think you would understand?”
“Hell no,” Nelson said, dropping the grin. “Just like watching you kick him down.”
“My brother’s understanding of computers is limited to turning them on and off.”
Shrugging, Nelson looked past her at the screens. “My understanding doesn’t go much further than that.”
Taking a deep breath, Gerald stepped around her, looking at the screens. “So what is going on?”
“The Free States launched attacks this morning against strong points in all border states, mainly checkpoints and holding areas. No sooner than they started doing that, the radio started blowing up with reports of gangs and military units guarding those sites, taking over occupied civilian sites around them. They are using the civilians as human shields. A family Nellie and Bernard know from church called out on the CB that they were being attacked by a bunch of guys on motorcycles,” Nancy said, spinning back around in her chair to look at the screens. “They didn’t call out long, maybe five minutes.”
“Where were they at?” Gerald asked, moving Devin to the crook of his arm.
“Just outside Delaware,” Nancy said in a low voice.
Nelson looked at the map on the wall, shaking his head. “That’s kind of close.”
“Nelson, eight miles is in your backyard,” Gerald said, looking at a screen showing a man talking, but the volume was muted. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the screen.
“Patriot News from the Free States,” Nancy said, clicking her mouse.
“Well, what’s he saying? You have the volume muted.”
“No I don’t. I can hear him through my headset,” Nancy snapped.
“Well, we can’t!”
“Hold on,” Nancy sighed, clicking her mouse. “Pull up a chair, you two.”
They both grabbed chairs and sat down on either side of her. “Okay, we’re sitting,” Gerald said. “Have there been any other reports of gangs nearby?”
“Yes, but they are staying close to the main roads. Everyone in the countryside now is shooting first and asking questions later,” Nancy said and clicked open a screen with large, bold print across the top: U.S. Patriot States Navy, Sink French Carrier Group in the Atlantic.
“Holy shit,” Nelson mumbled.
“Yeah,” Nancy scoffed.
“I thought only one carrier battle group came over to the Patriots?” Gerald mumbled.
Shaking her head, Nancy opened another screen. “No, it seems there was large-scale mutiny at sea in the carrier battle groups. Junior officers and some higher ranking officers purged those loyal to the federal government. Seven of the ten battle groups are now with the Free States. Over forty percent of the rest of the Navy is now part of the Free States. It was reported the feds threatened the families of those that mutinied, but a statement was sent that if the families were hurt, nuclear retaliation would be used.”
“Any reports on our little adventure?” Gerald asked, staring blankly at the screen.
“Oh yes,” Nancy said, clicking open another screen. “It was reported that Patriot rebels in the occupied state of Missouri attacked and destroyed a military strong point, and the Free States Air Force assisted.”
“Damn air jockey trying to take all the glory,” Gerald growled.
“Dude, they can have it as long as they shoot at shit wanting to fuck up our day,” Nelson snapped and felt a hand slap the back of his head.
“Nelson,” Michelle said, stepping around him and sitting in his lap.
“You pop me then just sit in my lap?”
“Yes,” Michelle said with a grave face.
Seeing the “look,” Nelson swallowed nervously. “As you should,” he gasped.
“Any other trouble close?” Gerald asked, trying not to laugh.
“All detention centers in the border states are being relocated further east,” Nancy said.
“You know the Nazis did the same thing, moving concentration camps so they couldn’t be liberated,” Nelson said.
“See how well that worked for them,” Michelle said, grabbing Nelson’s hand as she read the stories on the screens.
“You said something about invading Oklahoma?” Nelson said, squeezing Michelle’s hand.
“Yes, Texas did before sunrise, and only the northeast corner is under federal control right now. The area around Tulsa,” Nancy told him as she clicked on another screen. “I would be surprised if they don’t have control of the entire state by tomorrow.”
“What about Canada?” Gerald asked, moving Devin to his chest, seeing he was asleep.
“I have no idea what possessed them to invade Montana and North Dakota, but they are getting the shit kicked out of them, and they have armor,” Nancy said, pulling up the screen. “The population isn’t fighting the armor; they wait till they pass and destroy the supply lines. Every man, woman, and child, it seems, is making a
game of shooting Canucks.”
Clicking open another screen, Nancy pointed. “Idaho fighters pushed into Washington State last night. The western half of the state along the coast is where most of the idiots live that back the federal government. The eastern half has joined in with Idaho to push them out.”
“Makes sense,” Gerald said, leaning back and patting Devin on the back softly. “They need a naval base on the west coast. But I don’t see the feds just letting them take it.”
“Well last night, Alaska and Arkansas announced they were withdrawing from the union, joining the Free States. Seems the good ole boys in Arkansas have been shooting anything that even resembles a fed. The federal government announced for all personnel to evacuate to Tennessee. They are going to use the Mississippi River as a boundary.”
Nelson sighed and leaned back, pulling Michelle to his chest. “You know that is all well and good, but what about around us? I like the big picture, but I need to know the small area around us.”
“A lot of military units are pouring into the state,” Nancy sighed. “I’m guessing, but I think they want to stop the advance of the Free States at Oklahoma.”
“Yep,” Gerald said. “If we take Oklahoma and Washington, that is only eleven against thirty-nine, and they have the numbers. Hell, they have the biggest food-producing and manufacturing states.”
“Yeah, but we got the oil,” Nancy said, leaning back in her chair. “I had Hank man the bunker after the report of a gang attack just eight miles away. I was worried that they have been cataloging possible holdouts in the area and would send them here.”
“You did the right thing,” Gerald said, patting her arm. “We need to stay close and see which way the wind is going to blow before striking again.”
Nelson rolled his head back and looked around Nancy at Gerald. “Gerald, I will forgo your ass beating if I get to sleep first.” Hearing that, Nancy and Michelle both jumped.
“Deal,” Gerald said, getting up and cradling Devin to his chest.
“I take it that’s where your swollen face came from?” Nancy asked, looking up at Gerald.
Forgotten Forbidden America:: Patriots Reborn Page 31
