by Steven Kagey
The deputies began moving weapons away from bodies and double checking to make sure no DHS were alive and hiding. Sheriff Perry came out of the barn and ran around to check on all his men. The department medical personnel were bandaging up a few non-life threating gunshot wounds. They had lost two men; both appeared to be victims of the machine gun fire. The sheriff bent down and silently thanked both men for their sacrifice and service to the department
“Wrap their bodies before their families come back and see them,” he ordered.
Sheriff Perry made his way towards the Hummer where Brian and his guys were still sitting. When they saw him approaching, they deemed it safe to get out.
“Sean, you don’t know how glad we are to see you,” the sheriff said. “Are you and your men alright?”
“We’re fine,” Sean replied.
The sheriff moved around the vehicle shaking Brian and Mike’s hand. “Glad to see you boys too.”
Craig was still sitting in the back seat, wishing that the throbbing in his head would go away and contemplating his near death experience. The sheriff saw that Craig was pale, wincing in pain.
“Son, you look like shit,” Sheriff Perry said. “Are you alright?”
“Getting shot in the head will do that to a man,” Craig fired back. “But yes, I’m going to be fine.”
“We apologize for the mishap. Thank you all for what you did.”
Then the sheriff asked, “How the hell are you here with them? How did you get so close?”
“We were responding to an attack on one of the other locations,” Sean said, “and when these assholes passed by us they didn’t realize we weren’t one of them. We just fell in behind them and followed them here.”
The sheriff and his men stood speechless upon hearing Sean’s explanation.
“Thank God for incompetence I guess,” The sheriff said.
Deputy Collins ordered that all the gear and clothing to be stripped from the dead DHS, fake deputies, and National Guard bodies, and requested some trucks be brought up to load the gear. A defensive perimeter around the convoy was established in case the DHS had requested reinforcements.
Chapter 31
The group returned from the sheriff’s house after a stressful day. Sean, Craig, and Mike were in the Hummer, and Brian was driving one of the DHS Suburbans. While the deputies were cleaning up after the battle, the sheriff asked if Brian’s group needed any of the gear they were recovering. Brian asked for five more M4s so that everyone at the homestead would be carrying the same weapons. They asked for the fifty caliber ammo used from the Hummer to be replenished from the other National Guard HUMVEE, and finally they asked for one of the Suburbans.
All the mechanically inclined men studied the vehicles, located the LoJack type devices, and removed them so DHS couldn’t track those vehicles, though they might not even have that capability anyway if the satellites were taken out.
Craig was still hurting but was interested in seeing how the DHS kept the newer model vehicles running. Upon inspection they found a copper shroud over the engine. It was part Faraday cage and part heat sink. Craig suspected that the vehicles would be harder to spot with thermal imaging than a normal vehicle as well. Under the copper shielding, Craig found two huge capacitors which were wired to absorb any electrical current that might flow through the body of the vehicle. Finally, each vehicle had a steel mesh grounding strip running from the rear axle to the ground to allow any electrical energy to dissipate.
On the way back to the homestead the militia command post reported that their lookouts in town were not reporting any other movement of DHS troops and there were no more patrols out either.
When they pulled up in the driveway, Craig said, “Let’s not tell Lillian I got shot in the head, please. We will say I bumped my head getting in the truck to explain the headache.”
Everyone laughed.
Brian went to find Doc and privately let him know what happened to Craig and to see if he had anything for the pain.
Todd and Thomas were headed over to pay respects to the deputies that had lost their lives at the sheriff’s house and stopped by to check on Craig on their way.
“We need to have a group meeting with the Sheriff,” Todd said. “We want to plan a strike on the DHS leadership before they can regroup.”
“Can you come by tomorrow morning to go over the plan?” Thomas asked.
***
Shortly before nightfall, Evelyn radioed in that fourteen military vehicles had pulled along the road and stopped at the gate. A mad scramble ensued as everyone donned their body armor and ran to their positions. Brian was so angry that they had to deal with this again, this time they wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“David, maneuver around the workshop so you can get a shot on the Tannerite bucket that still hasn’t been detonated.”
Evelyn then reported that she was getting ready to unload with the fifty when someone got out waving a white flag. “None of the Hummers have weapons mounted on their turrets. There’s one person standing at the gate, and everyone else is standing beside the vehicles. No one is armed.”
Confused at what the National Guard could be up to, Brian peered around the house through his rifle scope, scanning for hidden snipers, but saw none. He saw Captain Wilkerson standing alone at the gate with a piece of white cloth in his hand.
“Stand fast,” he said into the radio, “but keep alert for any signs of hostility. If I run from the gate, unload with everything you have.”
Brian started off down the driveway. He was nervous about walking into a group of forty plus National Guardsmen, especially after the skirmish they had with some of them this morning.
“Captain,” Brian said when he was within speaking distance, “how can I help you?”
“Mr. Stewart, we mean you no harm,” Wilkerson responded. “We were on our way out of town, and I wanted to let someone know that could make good use of that information.”
Brian finally reached the gate across from where Captain Wilkerson stood. “What do you mean you’re on your way out of town?”
“Our commanding officer disappeared yesterday. His assistant said that he grabbed some supplies and said he was heading to help some family in Mississippi. Then the DHS were leading a group of our men this morning on an operation, and every single person was killed.”
A staff sergeant standing back next to one of the HUMVEEs puffed his chest up and yelled, “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?”
The men standing next to him had to grab his arms to calm him down.
“At ease, Sergeant!” Wilkerson said. “Calm down.”
Brian stepped back from the gate. He was getting two different signals from the group of men standing before him.
“May I come in so we can speak more privately?” Wilkerson asked.
Brian opened the gate, ushered the captain inside, and secured the gate behind him.
They walked a few yards up towards the house.
“I apologize for that,” Wilkerson said, motioning back at the sergeant that had the outburst. “His best friend was killed with the DHS this morning. I assume there’s a Ma Deuce ready to cut us in half as we speak?”
Brian nodded. “That would be a safe assumption.”
“I had assigned those men to come out here as you requested. Right before they left the weapons got delivered, and they insisted on equipping their vehicles before they came out. I’m glad to see you came out on top.”
Ignoring Wilkerson’s apology, he said, “Captain, I still don’t understand what you’re doing out here right now.”
“Since the commanding officer left and the men were lost this morning with the DHS, I was able to show the rest of my troops that the DHS didn’t have anyone’s best interest as a priority and were unfit to be leading them into any battle. I convinced my men to pull out of town while we make contact with our higher command to verify our orders and responsibilities. We’re falling back to the ranger statio
n up in the Catoosa until they do so.
“Most of the men and women remaining are beginning to understand that the DHS was in direct violation of the Constitution, which is what they all swore to defend. Now their leaders are telling them to violate and kill their fellow countrymen. Most of the ones left are the ones that understood that in the first place.
“I wanted to let you know that we were leaving for the time being. If you happen to know anyone in the area who is opposing the DHS, you can pass it on that the National Guard is no longer their enemy.”
“Thank you for stopping by, Captain. And I’m glad to see that the Guard will hopefully soon be defending those that the DHS are trying to control illegally.”
After the Guardsmen mounted up and left, Brian was bombarded with questions about what was going on. Brian relayed everything the captain had told him. No one was quite sure what to think about the situation. The captain may have been the only one keeping the DHS from running unchecked in the first place.
Sleep that night came slowly. After an intense battle, sleep was an illusion. The events of the day were replaying over and over in everyone’s mind; some were second-guessing their own decisions, others were stuck with the graphic images of blood and death.
Brian was contemplating what impact the National Guard leaving could have, and Sean’s mind was racing about the events of the day.
Craig was the only one to get rest, thanks solely to the painkillers Doc had given him. Before he passed out he was thinking about how his family would survive if he had died out there.
***
Monday, September 30th
10 Days Since the Power Went Out
Brian woke to Evelyn shaking him. She was saying something to him, but he couldn’t open his eyes. Fighting against sleep’s grip over his body, he heard her say Todd was at the gate. He was finally able to open his eyes and his mind started firing again. He got dressed, grabbed his gear, and headed downstairs.
Sean and Craig were in the kitchen.
“You two look like refried shit,” Craig said. “I’m the one that got shot, I should be the one that looks bad.”
Lillian overheard Craig’s comment from the dining room and stuck her head around the corner screeching, “What? What do you mean you got shot?”
She let loose on Craig for not telling her, and for getting shot in the first place.
Brian simply lowered his head and mumbled, “Busted.”
Carol had fixed a bag lunch for the guys to take with them and had thermoses of coffee since they suspected a long, cold morning.
David had gone out to meet Todd and came walking in the kitchen.
“Do you want some hot cocoa to take along, David?” Carol asked.
He had just walked past Crystal standing in the doorway and turned beet red. In his calmest adult voice, he said, “Grandmother, coffee will be fine thank you.”
Carol looked confused. “When did you start drink—”
“Mom!” Sean said.
“Fine, coffee it is,” Carol said, still not understanding what happened.
David was left fidgeting at the counter. Sean, Brian, and Craig all turned their heads away to hide their grins. Crystal blushed and walked back into the dining room with Brenda.
The men gathered their things and headed over to Todd’s house to meet with the militia. When they arrived, they saw another HUMVEE with a fifty mounted on top. Brian recognized the bullet holes. Inside the barn, they found Sheriff Perry and five of his men, including deputies Collins and Anderson.
Mike asked Craig how his head was doing.
“Still throbbing a bit, but I’m good.”
Brian and his guys took a seat at the table, and Todd launched his presentation.
“We would like to thank you all for coming together to assist in this operation,” Todd began. “If all is successful, this should be a pivotal blow against the government that forgot its role in this country.”
Deputy Anderson raised his hand. “Do we know if the DHS and National Guard are operating under orders from a legitimate federal government?”
A murmur rose as everyone voiced their opinions.
Todd raised his hands to quiet everyone down. “I don’t see how these could be orders from a legitimate government, they effectively threw the Constitution out the window. They should have been scrambling to get information out to the public and preparing to start bringing supplies into areas that could not support themselves. Instead they jumped over martial law and went straight to totalitarian rule.”
“This area is so far better off than the reports we are hearing from other locations around the state and country. The refugees from the interstate are at least being fed in the FEMA camp at the high school thanks to an abundance of semis carrying food that were stranded on the interstate.
“Our observers have reported that there have not been any executions in the past few days at the high school and very few scuffles have broken out from people trying to escape. The National Guard seems to be absent since last night, with all posts being manned by DHS, city police, and the few remaining fake deputies.”
Brian spoke up and said, “They actually stopped by our place last night on the way out of town.”
Everyone shot up in their chairs. Quite a few said, “What?”
“The captain wanted to let someone know that they were falling back while they verified what and whose orders they should be following. He said they going to make camp up in the Catoosa.”
Thomas looked pleased. “Then this is the perfect time to carry out the plan we are proposing.”
“We found the DHS headquarters,” Todd said, “and it’s time to strike before they recover from their losses and tighten security. The DHS Regional Director and staff in charge of the county are being housed in a farmhouse on the other side of town.”
Todd pulled out a very detailed hand drawn map and placed it on the table. “Unfortunately for the militia, the house is a very good place for the DHS to have set up shop. It’s on a hill, allowing them to have a 360-degree view around the property, and they have good defensive positions surrounding the house. They have two fortified positions on the front road and three additional ones; one on both sides and one in the back.
“They also have up to a four man roaming patrol, and we have seen a single sniper position in the barn. DHS has night vision, but the idiots are using their infrared illuminators, and through our own night vision we can see their men patrolling the farmhouse. They look like they have flashlights strapped to their heads.”
Deputy Collins said, “That is a good thing right? We can see them and engage them from a distance.”
“It is a good thing, yes,” Thomas said, “but we also think they have some thermal capacities too.”
Brian thought about the ENVGs they recovered and said, “I can almost guarantee it.”
“We have a three-man team that has been slowly creeping towards the house, and last night one of the men was peeking over the hill,” Thomas said. “Someone took a shot at him. He said he was barely exposed and about 400 yards away. They wouldn’t have been able to see him with normal night vision, and they never sounded an alarm. Our man assumed they thought they were shooting at a small animal.”
“So how are we supposed to attack them without being seen?” Craig asked.
“The best plan so far is to have twenty or more long range shooters set up and at a predetermined time everyone will shoot,” Thomas said. “One problem we’re facing is how spread out the patrols and guard posts are, and with all their men scanning the area they may even be able to see our men get into position even at long distance. We need a distraction that will get their attention but not put them on alert.”
Deputy Anderson asked, “Why can’t we just pull the Hummers up and light them up with the fifties?”
“Now that we live in a world without mechanical things it’s super quiet at night,” Todd said. “From their position on the hill, they can hear a vehicle approaching f
rom about two miles away. They have a machine gun nest too. By the time we get there, they’ll have every swinging dick ready to return fire.
“The optimal time to attack would be early morning. We were thinking around 6:00 a.m., which is twenty minutes before sunrise. Hopefully, all the guards will be sleepy and not as attentive.”
Brian started giggling, which soon turned into straight out laughter. The entire table turned to look at him, even the men manning the radio across the room. Brian was mumbling to himself and swishing his hand around.
“Are you okay?” Todd asked.
When Brian kept laughing Mike stood up, concerned he was having a mental breakdown.
Finally, Sean yelled, “Brian!”
Brian snapped out of it and looked around the table. He was receiving quite a few curious stares and some dirty looks. He sat up straight. “I have a plan. It’s pretty crazy, but hear me out. Why don’t we attack at 5:31 a.m.? At 5:30 there will be a distraction on the front porch.” Brian laughed again. “We’ll have everyone hidden out of sight and give every person a heat shield made out of aluminum foil or emergency space blankets to push up in front of them as they get into position, assuming we all will be shooting from the prone position.”
He paused while everyone pictured their own version of the heat shield he had described.
Collins asked, “What is the distraction going to be?”
Brian laughed again like he was the funniest person he knew. Realizing what Brian was about to suggest Sean said, “You are full of shit.”
“You don’t think it will work?” Brian asked.
Sean chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it would work. He’s been like clockwork these past two weeks. Go ahead and tell them, but these boys are going to think you’re crazy and kick us out of the clubhouse.”
“I … have … a chicken,” Brian said. “Well, actually, it’s a rooster. Every night he escapes from the chicken coop no matter what I do to stop him. He jumps up on the front porch railing and crows every morning at exactly 5:30 a.m. If we release him at the farmhouse, he should go to the porch and crow. Once those guys hear him, they’ll come to see what’s going on. While they’re focused on the porch, we can slip into position and a minute later everyone fires at the same time. We can have the Hummers standing by with the fifties, and once they hear the shots, they can race forward to engage all the folks that wake up and come outside.”
