by John Grit
The look on Deni’s face changed. “The food in the warehouses.”
Nate sat up straight. “You mean your mission is to take that food from these people?”
“Well.” Deni hesitated when she saw the face of everyone around her.
“Well what?” Nate asked.
“Taking control of the food supplies is part of our mission to stabilize the area. Higher-ups are concerned people may be hoarding it and keeping others from it.”
Several people snorted. A few muttered something profane.
Brian stepped closer to explain, since his father was still not fully functioning. “The gang was keeping one warehouse to themselves, but the food in the one the townspeople had control of was being handed out and not hoarded. The gang is gone now, so we don’t need the Army telling us how to take care of people. What we need is more food and medicine and fresh gas.”
Deni nodded. “I know, Brian. People at the top often don’t understand what’s happening on the ground.” She hesitated. “And of course they always know what’s best for the little people who don’t have brains enough to decide for themselves. As soon as I’ve had a chance to appraise the situation here, I’ll file a report. But I’m just a sergeant.”
“The military also tends to have a heavy hand,” Nate said. “It’s best to stay out of their way and not butt heads with them. I’ve seen indigenous people in other countries make that mistake and it’s not pretty.” He stood and tried to hide his unsteadiness. “I hate to leave you so soon, Deni, but I’m getting Brian and Kendell out of your area of operations before this turns bad.”
Deni put her hands on Nate’s shoulders to steady him. “You’re in no condition to travel, and I promise it’s not like that. I have yet to see any atrocities committed by any soldier I serve with.”
“I hear you, but this country boy has had enough of big city life and is heading back to the farm.” Nate took a step and grew dizzy. “Damn it.” He sat down. “Brian, go get my pack and sleeping bag. I guess we’ll have to stay here another day.” A few minutes later, Nate was asleep on the floor.
Chapter 3
The next morning, Nate woke and saw Brian and Kendell sleeping on the floor next to him. He had slept all afternoon and night. He sat up. His head hurt. The room spun slowly. He considered that an improvement over the way he felt before his long sleep and decided it was time to suck it up and go on with life, so he grabbed his boots. After tying them, he woke Brian and Kendell up. The church was full of sleeping people with only one person awake to watch over the wounded. He whispered, “Keep it down and let’s get out of here.”
The two boys did as he said, putting on their boots and rolling up their sleeping equipment. In less than four minutes, they were in the parking lot and heading for the truck. All four stopped in their tracks.
“Someone’s gone through our stuff.” Brian shouldered his carbine and swept the area with his eyes, looking for danger.
Nate walked up to the truck and looked at the items scattered all around, items that had been on the truck. “Near as I can tell, they took our food, but everything else is still there.”
Kendell’s forehead wrinkled. “It’s our fault. One of us should have kept watch. Now all the food we have is what little we have in our packs.”
“Yeah,” Nate said. “I’ve been of no use lately. We need to get this stuff loaded and head back to Mrs. MacKay’s farm. Enough of this town already. Ramiro and his friends are probably worried, and I don’t want them to come looking for us.”
“I wanted to take you back with them, but the doctor said not to move you ‘cause you might be hurt worse than she thought.” Brian collected a few items and put them in the truck. “Can’t we at least say goodbye to Deni first?”
“If we see her before we leave town.” Nate wanted to talk to her again as much as Brian but did not admit it.
The three of them hastily threw everything on the flat bed of the truck, leaving a small space for someone to stand behind the cab. Nate stepped up onto the front pumper and onto the hood. Dizzy again and worried he might fall, he crawled across the hood, slid over the top, and stood just behind the cab, bracing himself against it. “Kendell, you drive. Both of you keep your guns ready but out of sight. Do not give any soldiers an excuse to kill you.”
Kendell and Brian got in. This time the engine did not hesitate to crank, and they were on their way.
After driving three miles, they joined two overloaded trucks heading south to the lake. Nate felt safer with company, but did not relax his vigil.
A HUMVEE raced towards the convoy from the opposite direction, its horn blaring and lights flashing. The driver stopped in the road and got out. It was Deni. She held her carbine over her head.
The trucks stopped and the lead driver yelled out his window. “What’s wrong?”
“You can’t go this way,” Deni yelled back. “There’s a roadblock ahead, and my soldiers have orders to disarm all civilians.” She ran to the pickup Nate and the others were in. “Did you hear me? You have to leave town another way. Take a back road.”
“This is a back road,” Nate said. “We might be able to use dirt roads and Jeep trails, but those big trucks of theirs won’t make it.” He looked at her, wanting to jump down to talk face-to-face, but he knew it would take him forever to get back up there with his head spinning. “Is it your crazy colonel?”
Deni nodded. “Col. Jamar Hewitt. He’s ordered us to take all weapons from civilians.” She watched the drivers and passengers from the trucks gather around. “He also has decided the townspeople are to stay in town and not move to the lake.”
“You have to follow orders,” Nate said. “If your colonel is crazy, he’s likely to start ordering people executed. Thanks for warning us, but don’t stick your neck out any farther. Go back to your post before you get into trouble.”
She tilted her head and looked up at him. “Trying to get rid of me, are you?”
“I’m trying to keep you out of trouble,” Nate said, “and you know it.”
A man in his thirties, wearing torn coveralls and a bandage on his left arm broke in. “Good thing you warned us. There would have been trouble. I’m not giving up my guns. They’ve saved my family from harm too many times this last year of hell. They might as well kill me as disarm me.”
Another man spoke. “We have a right to travel. No military officer has the power to tell us where we can go.” He rubbed his whiskers. “Hell, where were they when we really needed them? Now they come and pull this? It doesn’t appear they’re here to help, just order us around. If you want to help, why didn’t you soldiers bring food?”
Nate noticed the sudden change in the man’s expression, as he glared at Deni. He was already seeing her as the enemy. He looked at the other men and saw the same thing on their faces.
“They’re planning to ship supplies to the town,” Deni said. “That’s why they don’t want the people moving away. The town is where the food will be.”
“Bull. They can just as easily bring the food to us at the lake,” the man in coveralls said. “We can’t rely on the government for supplies. The last year taught us that. We have to start farming, and we need water, so we’re moving to the lake.”
“Yeah, she’s lying,” another man said, staring her down. “She’s one of them.”
Brian clicked the safety off his carbine and stepped back.
Nate noticed it but kept his eyes on the men. “I know Deni and trust her with my life. You’re walking on thin ice here. And you don’t want to go up against the Army. Keep your head working and maybe we’ll work this out. The last thing you want to do is escalate things.”
“Look, you don’t have all day,” Deni said. “It’s true that I’m standing between the Army and your people.” She looked at the men, trying to judge whether she was getting through to them. “But I’m not lying to you. I’m trying to help you. Now get off this road before a patrol comes along and escorts you back into town at gunpoint. If you
want to get to the lake, you’re going to have to go a back way and hurry up about it.”
The man in coveralls rasped his whiskered face with his knuckles. “I know a back way, but these big trucks are bound to get stuck. We’ll probably have to abandon them.”
“You think this smaller truck can make it?” Nate asked.
Two of the men nodded.
“Then if you get stuck, we’ll take you the rest of the way and you can come back with a four-wheel-drive to pull the trucks through the muddy or sandy spots later.”
The man in coveralls nodded. “Let’s get out of here.” Before walking away, he said, “We’ll give you a little time to say goodbye to her.” The men climbed into their trucks.
The expression on Deni’s face changed. She gave Brian a hug. “I miss you guys.” She looked at Kendell. “You never introduced me to your friend.”
“Oh, this is Kendell. We met him sometime back.”
“He’s a good kid,” Nate added. “A lot of orphans are alive because of him.”
“Any friend of these guys is a friend of mine,” Deni said.
Kendell nodded. “Brian talks about you all the time.”
“Oh?” Deni smiled. “That’s why my ears are burning.”
Brian gave Kendell a hard look. “I don’t talk about her all the time.”
Deni suddenly directed her attention down the road, in the direction of town. “Damn it! Col. Hewitt’s motorcade. Go on. Get out of here.”
Nate turned and watched the military vehicles coming fast. “It’s too late. They’ll see us leaving and you’ll be left to explain why you let us go.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just get out of here.”
Nate shook his head. “If they really want us, they’ll catch us anyway. We can’t outrun them.” He handed Brian his rifle. “Here. You and Kendell put your guns in the truck. Hide them behind the seat. Then get over here with me and don’t make the soldiers nervous.”
“You still have your .45,” Brian said.
Nate pulled his shirt over the pistol at his side while Brian and Kendell put the guns away.
Three HUMVEEs came to a sudden halt in the road and soldiers rushed out, their boots scraping on asphalt. Every man held their carbines at ready, looking over the sights. A sergeant screamed for everyone to lie on the ground.
“Do what he says,” Nate told Kendell and Brian. He got down from the truck as fast as he could without falling on his face.
Kendell got down on all fours, but took time to look around before lying on his stomach. A soldier in his early twenties and so thin he looked emaciated, stepped forward, kicking him in the ribs. “On your belly!” he screamed, his eyes wild. Nate recognized the look of a young man who had seen too much and should be in a hospital, not carrying an automatic carbine.
Deni’s protest was drowned out by Nate’s. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
Deni got between the soldier and Kendell. “I had the situation under control before you showed up, Private. There’s no danger here. I know these people.”
The soldier pointed his M4 at Nate, who still lay prone on the asphalt. “Shut up!”
Deni rushed between them. “Get your finger off the trigger and point your weapon in a safe direction!”
The soldier did what she ordered only after some hesitation.
“Step back over there.” Deni pointed to the shoulder of the road. “Don’t kick anyone or point your weapon at anyone.”
Kendell still had not caught his breath. He lay on his side and held his stomach, his face rigid in a futile attempt to mask his pain. Brian looked around at the surrounding soldiers, his eyes wide, his arms spread out on the asphalt as he lay on his stomach. Nate worried Kendell’s ribs might have been broken. He glared at the private. “There was no need for that.”
Deni knelt by Kendell and spoke without looking up at the man who kicked him. “What is your name soldier? I’m reporting this.” She stood and snapped to attention when she saw an officer walk up.
Col. Jamar Hewitt gave her a strange smile. “Don’t waste your time on a report, Sergeant. I would have kicked the boy’s head off. Civilians around here must learn who’s in charge now. They seem to think we’re here just to serve them and pass out food.”
“Colonel, there is no problem here,” Deni said. “These people are not a threat to us or anyone else.”
She was interrupted by a commotion at the two larger trucks. One soldier yelled, “Guns!” Soldiers yanked four townsmen out onto the road and began beating them.
A soldier walked up with a rifle and shotgun, displaying them to the Colonel. His demeanor foretold serious consequences, as if he had just found evidence of a murder. The four townsmen were on their bellies and bleeding from the result of rifle butts being applied to their heads. The Colonel motioned with a swagger stick. “Oh? No threat huh?”
One of the townsmen tried to protest. “My gun was just sitting on the seat. I never made any move to use it. Why would I?” He was kicked in the face, knocking him senseless. He collapsed onto the asphalt and lay motionless for a few seconds before coming to and spitting blood.
His friend protested, “Damn you! You’re a coward and a bully! That uniform you’re wearing has gone to your head.”
Nate was worried. I can’t believe an officer would be carrying a swagger stick. Those things went out generations ago. Damn, this guy must have an ego.
“Hell, sir, everyone’s armed in this state, even during normal times.” Deni looked at the Colonel for a second, thinking. “There has been no law for over a year. They need their guns for protection.”
He raised his swagger stick, as if to say he’d heard enough. “We’re here now, and the law came with us. A few executions will persuade the belligerent. We’re moving in on that gang the indigenous personnel ran out of town. When we catch them, we’ll hang two or three in front of the church. It’ll be a sign to all these rednecks around here that the lawlessness has ended and they don’t need their guns anymore.”
Deni flinched but managed to keep her composure.
The Colonel gave the bleeding men on the asphalt a casual glance. “After the ten-day grace period, anyone caught with a firearm will be arrested.”
A change came over Deni’s face. Nate noticed it and thought his own reaction was probably the same as hers. Disarming us is a death sentence in this world without rule of law. Even if the Army is here to stay, they can’t protect us…unless…
“So we’re going to guarantee their safety?” Deni asked.
“Of course,” Hewitt said, “after we get them all rounded up and concentrated in the downtown area.”
Deni’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly. “I see.”
“It’s the best way to see that they’re fed and protected. These men caught with weapons will be taken into town.” Hewitt barked orders to his men. “We’re moving out!” He glanced down at Nate as he lay on the asphalt and then gave Deni a strange smile. “I’ll let you decide what to do with your friends.” He turned and headed for a HUMVEE, taking rapid, yard-eating steps. “Carry on, Sergeant.”
The townsmen were marched at gun point toward a HUMVEE. The man who had watched helplessly as his friend was kicked in the face took a quick look around, turned his wide-eyed face to the woods, and bolted. Hewitt barked, “Stop him!”
A soldier snapped his M4 to his shoulder and fired two rounds into the man’s back, dropping him in his tracks.
“Good work, soldier,” the Colonel said, and got into a HUMVEE. He barked orders out of the window. “Drag his body into the woods and leave it. We’ve wasted enough time here.”
One of the ashen-faced townsmen had been speechless, looking on in disbelief. He recovered from the shock enough to scream, “Oh God, no! You murdered him!”
Deni stood there watching them disappear around a curve in the road, her face turning more white by the second.
Nate rushed to Kendell. “Lie on your back.” He felt Kendell’s ribs, but could
n’t tell if any were broken or not. He lifted Kendell by his shoulders. “See if you can sit up.”
Kendell moaned, but managed. “Help me to the truck. Let’s get out of here.”
Brian helped Nate with Kendell. Once he was in the truck, Nate told Brian to get in beside him. “Both of you stay here. We’ll be leaving in a minute.” He found Deni standing near the HUMVEE, still not believing what she’d just seen.
Deni came out of her retrospection when he approached. “Things are turning bad fast. Kendell is right. You guys need to get out of here.”
Nate put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You know that colonel of yours is playing with you. He expects you to let us go and then charge you for violating his earlier orders. He may even have you shot.”
“I, I…can’t desert my fellow soldiers.” Deni looked inside herself. “I know he’s acting strange, but –” She focused her eyes on Nate. “If he pulls something like that, there’ll be an investigation, a trial.”
“I wouldn’t bet my life on it. Didn’t you see the murder that just took place?” Nate pulled her to him, holding her. “I’ve seen that look in a crazy man’s eyes before. And he has surrounded himself with soldiers who don’t mind using unnecessary force. The mess the world’s in, a crazy officer, soldiers who’ve seen too much – and lost too much. Probably their entire family. It all adds up to the shit hitting the fan around here in a way that may make our past troubles seem trivial.”
“I didn’t think you were the kind to run from your troubles.” Deni looked away. Regret for her words on her face.
“There’s no fighting the U.S. Army,” Nate said. “They’ll flatten us. You’ve got two boys and a farmer for a resistance force.” He held her tighter. “If you go back, I can’t help you, no matter what happens. And I’m telling you he’s playing with you. He didn’t really give you permission to let us go. You have two choices: Either take us into town to be put in his concentration camp, or –”
