by Steven Kagey
Brenda reported that she heard someone calling for the group that had attacked them over the radios they’d recovered from the bodies. She was confused because other groups had been directed to start searching for them when there was no response, but they had been told to start searching on the other side of the county. Brian suspected the captain had sent the search teams on a wild goose chase and was indeed on their side.
That night everyone slept hard. It had been a long day and if not for being near exhaustion it would have been restless sleep from nightmares reliving the events of the day.
Brian took first watch at the LP/OP. He had a HAM radio and one of the captured radios with him to monitor the situations in the county and across the country. The news he was hearing was bleak. Larger cities were in total anarchy; the government appeared to have written them off, focusing on the suburbs and outlying areas. DHS manned FEMA camps all across the country were said to be confiscating weapons and detaining civilians against their will.
The only good news Brian heard was that most National Guard units that had initially been activated to assist DHS/FEMA were beginning to turn on the DHS troops due to the treatment and murder of innocent civilians. Active duty units and entire bases were said to have turned on any DHS troops operating near them and ran them out of the area. Active duty units were taking over local recovery and relief operations with the support of local governments.
Brian had three groups come by during his watch. Using the ENVG-IIIs he was able to detect them far down the road even without any moonlight for the goggles to amplify. All of the groups were armed, but seemed more intent on putting distance between them and town versus looking for food or shelter. Each group kept on moving with only a glance as they passed the house.
Craig came to relieve Brian, and when Brian’s head hit the pillow he was out. He didn’t even hear the rooster crow.
Chapter 24
Thursday, September 26th
Six Days Since the Power Went Out
Brian awoke at 10:00 a.m. to pitch blackness and gunshots. He jumped out of bed and stumbled to find his rifle and vest. With the windows boarded in plywood, he couldn’t see what was going on outside. Luckily the solar panels and bedside lamp had survived the fire fight. He grabbed his boots and ran downstairs. The women were in the kitchen, and not paying any attention to the gunshots, and Brian realized it must be David practicing.
“Is that David outside?” he asked. “Is that what I’m hearing?”
Evelyn came over and gave him a hug. “Yes, sorry he woke you,” she said. “Come sit down and eat.” Evelyn set a plate of eggs and beans in front of him.
While Brian was eating she told him that she and the other women had gone over the food stocks and they were going to run out soon. They estimated less than three or four weeks’ worth of food at the most.
“We’ll be getting some of our food back today or tomorrow. Sean and I have an errand to run today, then we’ll address the food situation.”
Brian stopped by the radio table where Carol was listening and taking notes. He squeezed her shoulder. “What are you hearing?”
“About the same as it’s been,” she replied. “More reports of DHS masquerading as FEMA seizing guns and food. Military troops that are loyal to the government are being sent in to assist in pacifying areas.”
“What about the search party looking for the group that came here?”
“The search party encountered resistance and took heavy casualties.”
Brian wondered if it was the Tennessee Volunteer Irregulars or if there was another group fighting in this area. Not wanting to bring up a painful subject but needing to express his remorse, he said gently, “Carol, I’m sorry about Daniel.”
“Don’t you apologize for that,” Carol said. “It was our decision to stay and fight. We’re better off now than we were. At least now we can protect ourselves. Daniel and I were on the same page, and if we hadn’t been here, we would more than likely be dead already. You have given our family a chance to live by being here, and he gave his life protecting me, his son, his grandkids, and everyone else. No one here is at fault for that.”
Brian leaned over and gave her a hug. “Thank you,” he said softly.
Carol patted his arm and heard something on the radios that got her attention. While she made a note of what she heard, Brian went back outside.
Sean and Craig were in the workshop with the garage doors open. It was strange seeing them standing there next to a military Hummer in his garage. They had some tables set up and were cleaning and inspecting the rifles they captured.
“Sorry, man,” Craig said when he saw Brian. “I should have had David wait to start shooting.”
“It’s alright. How’s he doing?”
Craig pointed at a metal jug with holes in it. “That was at 1200 yards. It took him four shots to get dialed in, but the next three were all hits.”
“Nice. He’ll be a sniper yet. We need him to get a hit on the first shot every time, and we need to get him shooting at night with the night vision to get some practice.”
“We found another few rifles that were damaged. I was able to salvage parts from one of the other damaged ones to fix them,” Sean said. “Are you ready to go see the sheriff? Craig’s going to stay at the homestead with David in the woods behind the house practicing and Brandon will be in the LP/OP watching the road.”
***
Brian and Sean drove Craig’s truck, armed with pistols and M4s, and wearing their body armor.
As they were leaving Craig said, “Hey, I need you to stop by the hardware store for me if it’s safe.”
“Seriously?” Sean said. “That place is going to have been looted bare if it’s even still standing.”
Craig said, “Nah, no one is going to take what I need.”
“What is that?” Brian asked.
“I need a brass tipped garden sprayer and some copper tubing that will fit in the tip of the sprayer.”
“Okay?” Brian said, expecting an explanation.
“Only stop if it’s safe. It will come in handy, but it’s not worth you getting hurt for. I will show you once you get back.”
“He better not be building a still,” Brian said with a chuckle as they rolled down the driveway.
***
On the way to the sheriff’s home, they noticed a lot of houses that were void of any activity.
“I wonder if these places are empty or people are inside ready to put up a fight,” Sean commented.
“I hope they are ready to fight if they’re in there. We’re going to need all hands to fight them,” Brian cautioned. “Especially if they get regular military re-enforcement in this area. We’re going to have to get these people their weapons back if we expect to win.”
Any time they came up to a blind corner or hill, Brian would get out and run up ahead to scope it out. They didn’t want to come around a corner and come face to face with the DHS or any military units.
Further down the road, Brian was looking at a map and told Sean to creep past the next house so they could get a good look. Brian had taken all the addresses from the deputies and guardsmen they had killed and plotted them all out on the map. They were coming up on one of the guardsmen’s houses. There didn’t appear to be any functioning vehicles in the driveway, only a newer model truck that was dusty from not being driven in a while.
Noticing smoke coming from the chimney, Brian said, “Someone’s home.”
Whoever was inside wasn’t trying to hide the fact, so they either knew they were safe, or they were well armed. Brian jotted down some notes, and they continued on.
They arrived at the sheriff’s house, surprised to see quite a few vehicles and lots of movement. Someone was chopping wood, a few people were in the garden, and women were hanging up clothes on a line behind the house.
Someone was looking at them from an upper window with binoculars, and then the rest of the folks noticed them. They scurried to find cover.
&
nbsp; When they got to the driveway, there was a barricade, two men with rifles standing behind it. Sean pulled up in front of the barricade, and the men behind it trained their rifles on Brian and Sean.
“Keep moving!” one of them shouted. “There’s nothing here for you! Go away!”
Leaving his rifle in the truck, Brian stepped down from the truck, his hands out to his sides.
“Get back in your truck and leave!”
Brian recognized the men as deputies from the sheriff’s department.
“We need to speak with Sheriff Perry,” Brian said.
“He’s not here. Get back in your truck and leave!”
The driver’s side door opened and Sean stepped out. “Chad, is that you?”
One of the guards squinted his eyes, looking at Sean. “Sean? Sean Williams? What the hell are you doing here?”
“Yeah it’s me. Damn, I almost didn’t recognize you with that beard,” Sean said. Sean looked over at Brian and said, “This is Deputy Chad Anderson.”
The men lowered their weapons. Chad glanced back at the house and made a circle motion with his arm, which Brian assumed was an all-clear signal. Chad stepped up to the barricade and he and Sean shook hands.
“How ya doing?” Sean said to the other man. “I’m Sean Williams, and this is my buddy Brian Stewart. I’ve seen you before, but I don’t think we’ve met.” Sean extended his hand towards the other guard.
The other guard shook their hands saying, “My name is Scott Powell. I transferred to the department two months ago.”
Sean asked, “You from around this area?”
“No,” Scott replied. “We moved here from Knoxville.”
“So what brings y’all to our neck of the woods?” Chad asked.
“We need to speak to Sheriff Perry,” Sean said. “We need to report a crime.”
Chad told them to pull their truck around and drive down to the house. When they did so, Sean and Brian saw a lot of familiar faces from the sheriff’s department. Sean got out and went around shaking all of their hands. Nearly all of them knew him, and he got along with everyone.
After a few minutes and an older gray-haired man walked out of the house. “Sean Williams, boy, it’s good to see you’re still alive. What the heck are y’all doing here?”
Sean’s face lit up. “Russell, it’s damn good to see you too. My buddy Brian and I are here to report a crime.”
Russell stepped over to Brian and extended his hand. “Russell Perry, nice to meet you.” He and Brian shook hands. “Well, fellas, I am sorry to say that I’m not the sheriff anymore. Those DHS boys in town wanted us to do some things that went against our beliefs.”
“Sir, that’s what we wanted to talk to you about,” Brian said. “A few days ago some men dressed as sheriff’s deputies, and some dressed as Army National Guard came out to our place and stole all our food and weapons.” The sheriff frowned as he listened. “Yesterday most of those same men came back out to our place.”
“Came back?” Russel echoed. “What the hell they come back for?”
Brian walked over to the truck and reached in the window. “Our guess is that they thought they had missed some food or weapons and came back to finish the job.” Brian pulled out a plastic bag and reached in, removing an object, then tossed the bag to Sheriff Perry. “This time it didn’t work out too good for them.”
Sheriff Perry looked in the bag, and his expression went blank. The bag contained all the deputy badges from the ones that they had killed.
Brian handed Sheriff Perry a badge that said, SHERIFF. “I believe this one belongs to you.”
Sheriff Perry stood speechless for a few moments, processing what he had been told.
“Now, if you and your folks want to hole up here and hunker down,” Brian continued, “that’s your prerogative, and no man could hold it against you for wanting to take care of you and your own. But we are here to tell you that the folks of this county will not stand for what those federal boys are doing and we would like you to help us fight. I will also tell you that you have a resistance movement from down in Dayton running operations here as well.”
Chad Anderson had walked down from the gate while Brian was speaking. Sheriff Perry handed him the bag of badges. Chad looked in the bag, and his eyes lit up. He rifled through the bag until he found his badge and pulled it out, passing the bag to the next man.
“Are they all dead?” Sheriff Perry asked. “If they took all your weapons how did you fight back?”
“They underestimated us. We have all of our weapons back. Well, replacements for them anyway, and we may or may not be in possession of two armored HUMVEEs and two fifty caliber machine guns.”
Sheriff Perry thought for a moment then said, “Well, boys, I hate to say it, but since they were used in the commission of a crime we are going to have to confiscate them Hummers and machine guns.”
Brian’s face went blank. Having known Russell Perry for a long time and being familiar with his sense of humor, Sean he was actually expecting that response. He chuckled.
Sheriff Perry looked around at his men, all of whom had gotten their badges out of the bag and pinned them to their shirts. A wide smile stretched across his face. “I’m just joshing ya,” he said, laughing with everyone else.
Brian’s face went red from embarrassment then a look of relief came over him.
Russell said, “You look like you were contemplating drawing down there for a moment.” He slapped Brian on the back, still laughing.
Brian shook his head. “Sheriff, you don’t want to know the thoughts that went through my head,” he said with a forced laugh.
Sheriff Perry paused and looked at all his men and their badges, then pinned his own badge on his chest. “We’re with you, gentlemen, but how do you suppose we take on the U.S. government?”
Brian told them about Captain Wilkerson, the National Guard officer who was an unwilling participant in what the DHS was doing. He then told the sheriff to stop by his house in a day or two and Brian would introduce them to the militia, who would have a better idea of where to start.
The sheriff’s deputies were back in the business of protecting the citizens of their county. They talked for a few more minutes, then Brian and Sean got in the truck and left.
“Gentlemen,” Sheriff Perry said to his men, “the next time this badge comes off my chest is because I am dead or the citizens elect someone else.”
There was a unanimous cheer of agreement from the assembled group.
***
Sean took a different route back to the homestead. He had spoken to some of the deputies about the men that were posing as the fake deputies, and they’d recognized one of them.
“They knew one was a criminal who had been arrested for theft and drug charges here in the county,” Sean told Brian. “He lives a few miles down the road. You feel like raiding a meth house?”
“I need to do something after the pucker factor I got back there at the sheriff’s place,” Brian cracked.
Sean laughed. “Yeah, I saw that look on your face. I was getting ready to say something before you shot someone and got us killed.”
“I tell you what. I had that same feeling of helplessness as when those sons of bitches raided us the first time.”
Sean nodded. He understood. As he got closer to the destination, his pulled off into the woods. “Let’s go through the woods and check it out.”
They silently walked through the woods until a trailer home came into view, and knelt down to observe the property.
“There is a dog chained up,” Brian said. “There goes our element of surprise.”
Sean said, “Yeah, but looks like he hasn’t eaten in a while.” After a moment, he noted, “It’s warmed up today, and all the windows are closed. They don’t have electricity, so if they are in there, they’re burning up.”
After a few more minutes of no activity, the men stood up and slowly approached the trailer. The dog stared at them. They got next to the traile
r and listened while attempting to look in the windows without being seen. They didn’t hear or see anything for ten minutes. Brian and Sean were on two corners of the house so they could see the front and back doors. Brian motioned that he was going to go knock on the door. Sean motioned that he was going to keep watch on the back and crouched down with his weapon raised.
Brian got to the porch and reached up through the railings and banged on the door. He quickly returned to the corner to watch the door and see Sean at the same time. After there was no movement in the house, the men crept around to the front of the house on either side of the doorway. Sean kept his weapon trained on the door and Brian reached up and turned the doorknob, flinging the door opened. He dropped down and brought his weapon up to bear.
Nothing happened. Sean stepped up and peered around the doorframe to look inside. His eyes started burning, and the smell of rotting flesh and ammonia hit him at the same time. He stumbled back coughing and fanning his hand in front of his face.
Brian remained with his weapon trained on the door. “Sean, you okay?” he whispered.
“Someone or something is dead in there, and it smells like they were cooking their product too.”
Brian moved around the opening so he could get a better view in the house and then he saw a bloated corpse lying on the couch. The corpse’s arm was hanging over the edge and on the floor was a drug pipe. “There’s your dead body. Looks like he may have overdosed too.” His eyes started burning from the chemical fumes coming out of the house. “Well shit. If any of our food is in there, it’s tainted now.”
Sean looked over his shoulder at the corpse. “We need to torch this place and move on. It’s a loss all the way around.”
“Dammit,” Brian spat. “I’ll go get the truck. See if you can find a gas can in the shed over there.”
