Escaping Home

by Jeffrey Miller

  “Now you will have ammo for hunting rabbit or squirrel. You will figure out how to do it. Just be careful when you go to clean them,” Nate said.

  “That I know how to do, I grew up in a butcher shop,” Don said smiling.

  Nate smiled at Don for the first time. He did seem different, more relaxed, and not so much East Coast attitude. Nate served with many like him…from Jersey even. It didn’t take long before they would straighten up.

  “Good, because you will need it,” Nate said, unwrapping a new deer rifle. It was a 30-06 that neither he nor his father liked. They got a good deal on the Remington, but preferred the .270 Winchester.

  “This will get you some deer and help with protection. Just don’t be using this for bad things…bad people, ok? You get my drift?” Nate said, handing him the unloaded rifle. Don slowly took the shiny gun. He started to tear up as he held the gun. Nate handed him another box of full of rounds for the rifle. Nate knew he was taking a big chance giving this man all of the guns and ammo, but his gut said it was the right thing to do. They were many miles from any one and would soon be isolated by snow from most people even on foot. They needed guns to survive.

  “I have a small thing of seeds with written instructions in the can for you guys to start a winter garden and a spring/summer one as well,” Nate said, handing Debra the small box. Nate had accumulated many varieties of seeds over the years, and made it his side hobby to label and know the best growing times. It wasn’t a hobby he spoke about much, but it did keep him busy when he was home on leave.

  “Don, I hope you and Debra will thrive here; it seems to be a good place, and you have plenty of water and fish aside from this stuff that you can live on. Don’t screw this up,” Nate said.

  Don extended his hand for the first time to Nate. Nate took it slowly and shook it back. He actually had a strong grip. That told Nate he was much stronger than he appeared.

  “Nate, don’t forget about the other item!” Henry yelled from behind him. Both turned to look up at Henry.

  “Oh yeah, wait one second. Nate opened the back door and removed a long cloth zippered gun sheath. He unzipped it and handed it to Don with the barrel opened. It was the gun Nate took from the bad men he and Ben encountered in Black Hawk. It was the Browning Superposed gold inlaid double barrel shotgun. Nate handed him two boxes of twelve rounds each dove load. There was plenty of that around here. Nate appreciated the gun, but didn’t care for the fancy inlaid. Don seemed to love the artwork.

  “Nate, I can’t thank you all enough. I don’t deserve any of this, but will take care of it. I guarantee you,” Don said.

  “Nate, thank you. We really do appreciate it all. I hope when things get back to normal you all will come visit us and the baby. I don’t think we will be going anywhere from here,” Debra said.

  Nate smiled.

  “I hope someday we can. We better get going for now,” Nate said as Don and Debra juggled everything he gave them and walked back toward the small path that led to the small home. Nate got inside his truck and waved at them as he drove back onto the road. Henry honked the massive horn on his trunk as he also drove up to the road. Don and Debra stood watching them disappear up the road headed north.

  “Don, I hope you have faith now and know that you are lucky,” Debra said, looking up at his face.

  “Oh, I’m lucky alright to have you,” he said as they walked slowly back to the Big Sky Cabin.

  Chapter 14

  Lost

  The next twenty-three miles were uneventful, but spectacular in beauty. The roads twisted and tuned all the way to the next town of Conifer, Colorado. Pulling into Conifer, they could see the pinkish rock sign that read Welcome to Conifer. They didn’t see anyone. The population sign read 19,300, but so far, not a soul in sight. It was such a beautiful picturesque town. Nicole commented on how she wished she had her camera because she loved taking scenery photos. She explained she lost it in the crash.

  On the other side of the U.S. 285, Nate started to see some traffic. It was only the occasional RV and a small car, but they saw people. Most of the businesses and homes seem to be off the highways, and this was great as they easily made their way through town and headed north on Highway 73 headed for another town that Nate knew well – Black Hawk, Colorado.

  “Ok, let’s keep this going. We are making great time,” Nate said into the CB radio. Nate looked down at his own gas gauge and knew that with what they had left, it was going to be close. If needed, they would siphon off the fuel for the Ranger, but Nate hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He knew the last bit of fuel for the semi was in the truck now, and these mountains would work hard to reduce the fuel. It was a gamble everyone knew.

  Black Hawk was coming into view. The last time he was here, he acquired the shotgun he gave to Don. This time, things looked far different. Before there were many people milling about. So far, they didn’t see anyone. This would be odd during normal times because Black Hawk had seventeen casinos in town; more than Atlantic City, New Jersey. Looking down one street as they drove through town, they could see some people riding bikes, but there was no one anywhere along the beautiful main street with all the restored historic buildings.

  “Didn’t you say this place was all gambling once?” Henry asked.

  Nate picked up the CB mic.

  “Yes, at one time it was, but it looks like everyone made their way out, or are just laid up,” Nate replied as they made their way out of town.

  Nicole was waking up from her nap in the back seat with Samson by her side. Nate heard her sitting up and deiced it was a good time to talk to her about things. Ben was looking at some outdoorsman magazine his father had given to him.

  “Nicole, can I ask you a few questions about your life schooling and stuff?” Nate was trying to get to know her better and Nicole wanted to know more about him as well.

  “Fire away,” she replied. Nicole sat back with her head held high trying to see Nate’s eyes when he asked the questions in the rearview mirror.

  “Ok, great. First, I assume you already graduated high school?” Nate thought that might be a good icebreaker.

  “Yep. Last year, sir,” she replied.

  In time, Nate would ask her to just call him Nate until and when the time came that she might ever refer to him in any other way.

  “That’s good. Were you going to go to college?” Nate asked. It was a dumb question now, but no one knew when this would all be over, and if she was interested, he wanted to know.

  “I wanted to, yes. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, and the only thing I really enjoyed was the outdoors and taking pictures, so maybe something along those lines,” she replied.

  “Photography is good. I know, or knew, people who did that for a living,” Nate said. “You have any family anywhere else?” Nate asked.

  “I have some back in New York, but no one I’m close to. Besides that, New York was already a war zone before I left. Sir, they had so much military going into the city. It didn’t matter, they couldn’t stop what happened,” she said with sadness in her voice.

  Nate assumed she meant the National Guard. He knew they went in to attempt to stop the rioters early on. He was watching the road ahead when he saw the sign for Nederland, Colorado. Once again, there was no one visible except for one car that passed them on the opposite side of the road. It was a small electric car with four huge solar panels modified to the roof. Nate smiled and thought at least ingenuity wasn’t gone.

  “Yeah, I heard the National Guard went in,” Nate replied.

  She changed her facial expression. “Yes, they did; but these were regular troops. I actually saw the convoys of U.S. Army and U.S. Marines. It was not a whole lot, but it was U.S. troops, sir,” she replied without hesitation.

  Nate felt a pit develop in his stomach. That only meant one thing. The President, or government, had declared Emergency Authority to get control of states that could no longer protected the rights and safety of its citizens. It wasn’t clear h
ow many U.S. troops would be used during this time, but likely it would be in most large cities. What occurred after the two EMP blasts was another concern to Nate. What condition were the troops in now as far as mobility. The U.S. government had implemented in the past few years, some hardening of their equipment. But to what degree?

  “I see. Nicole, do me a favor, and from now on just call me Nate. Sir isn’t needed,” Nate said with a laugh so she would understand he wasn’t upset. He looked at her in the rearview mirror. She smiled as though she understood.

  “No problem, Nate,” she said with a cheesy grin.

  Nate found her to be very intelligent as they talked further.

  Nate thought he travelled through Nederland once before, but couldn’t remember for certain. There was no way around the town like so many other places. The road curved and meandered right into town. Henry followed close as they found many people on the streets. Some waved as Nate drove by, while others tried to step out in front to stop them. Nate didn’t slow down, but he held up his pistol and that said enough. So far, they did not see any authority figures. Nate did see a few burnt out shells of what were once police cars. Coming to a non-functioning stop light, Nate saw what appeared to be roughly constructed barriers made from wood to stop traffic and detour vehicles down a different route. That trusted feeling came over Nate and he slowly plowed through the makeshift barrier, and with the semi behind him, made his way north, staying on the route they needed.

  The brush guard on his truck made easy work of the wood, snapping it in many places. He looked in the rearview mirror and watched Henry ran over the pieces. Then Nate could see some men emerge from behind some parked cars. One of them carried a rifle, and was already aiming toward the semi as Nate snapped up the CB to warn his dad.

  “Heads down; rifle on you from your six!” Nate yelled. Henry had already seen the man, and had Betty down while he gave the truck more gas as he and Nate climbed higher up into the mountains. The man fired the rifle quickly about ten times before giving up. Henry could hear several shots hit the truck, but they seemed safe as the distance increased between them.

  “Everyone ok back there?” Nate asked. Ben and Nicole were pulling themselves back up from the floorboards of Nate’s truck as he heard Henry.

  “We are good. The truck was hit, but I don’t think it was anything bad,” Henry replied.

  Nate hated not being able to respond to being shot at. It wasn’t in his nature. Those men were likely setting up roadblocks to capture what or whoever they could for goods or more. They would live another day to try again, Nate thought. Things were different now. He had a son. He also had Nicole. Did this mean she would more or less become his daughter? It was different with Ben, he was a minor by law and in need. Nicole was older. By law she was an adult and could decide everything for herself. Nate brushed aside those thoughts to keep his mind on the journey.

  Earlier in the day, Nate looked over the map and knew they were still only maybe half way to Sheridan, Wyoming, which was close to their final destination. Luck had been on their side for some time. He had enough gas cans to make it more than all the way, but that would also depend on the route. He hoped for familiar assistance along the way, but didn’t wish to count on help. Things had changed a lot since the time of his return home. The ease of this trip made it apparent that many areas once populated, even in rural areas, were void of people. Nate realized this could be due to many factors. These factors included lack of food, clean water, medical care, and sanitation; and with all of these, would bring massive spread of disease. The average person took for granted all these things and never prepared in the slightest for the eventuality that came with the total worldwide economic collapse. Nate wasn’t totally innocent of this, having slacked off in recent years in his preps. He still had far more than most, but he didn’t have much compared to his parents.

  “Nate, we have a problem,” Henry said across the radio. Nate knew by the sound of his father’s voice that their luck may have just ran out.

  Henry found a safe area to pull over and shut the rig down. Nate parked and told Ben and Nicole to wait in the truck. The day was getting cooler as the sun started going down, and Nate wondered what his father meant by we have a problem.

  Henry climbed down and headed to the front.

  “Think we may have a few flat tires. The sensors went off a few miles from town, and the trailer started handling rough,” Henry said as they walked to the rear. Sure enough, they could see more than two tires were nearly flat, and another was leaking air audibly.

  “Crap! Well, having one spare won’t help in this. I guess we don’t have a choice but to ditch the trailer,” Nate said.

  “I’m afraid so, but it did save us from direct fire, so I think we can be happy for that,” Henry said, pointing out the positive aspects. Nate smiled. His father always could find the positive side to any major issue.

  “That is true. Well, I guess it will help with what fuel you have left also. Pulling this trailer through the mountains has to be sucking that down fast,” Nate replied as they walked to the back of the trailer. The other tire was now nearly flat.

  “Dad, it is possible they were aiming for the wheels hoping this would happen. If that’s the case, we need to get a move on with the unloading because they might be trying to catch up to us.” Nate said.

  Henry had not considered that scenario. If Nate was correct, they might have thirty minutes depending on how fast the shooters were able to regroup in a vehicle.

  “Well, looks like the back door was shoot up also,” Nate said as he unlatched the trailer doors. As he opened the doors, he saw a few of the chickens were dead with feathers blown everywhere. The others were ok.

  “Not much left of those hens, dad; best we just toss them. Maybe we should get everyone out to help get this done faster,” Nate said.

  Henry nodded as he opened the chicken coop to remove the two dead birds. They had to do a lot of work in quickly deciding what to stuff inside the cab of the rig and in the Tundra Nate drove. The UTV would go in the back of the Tundra. Nate would use the slope of the road and the ramps to guide it in. All of the tubs of food supplies and water would go around the UTV, and some inside the cab of the semi. Once everything else was situated, they would decide what to leave, and then detach the trailer from the semi.

  Ben and Nicole helped move the food to the semi’s passenger side so it could be loaded by Henry. Betty was in the cab trying to figure out where to place everything. Nate drove his truck to the rear of the trailer and placed the ramps at an angle to drive the Ranger onto the bed of the truck. It was a tight fit as before, but it would work. Nate would ratchet it down with several straps. The tailgate would remain down, and it looked strange, but it would hold. The one thing he hated was placing all the fuel cans in the top storage bin of the UTV. They were exposed, and Nate saw that as a sign that said, hey, we have fuel, but he really had no choice.

  The remaining diesel fuel would be strapped to the rear of the cab on the steel decking that covered some of that space over the wheel area. Henry continued to load up the semi while Nate had an idea for his mother. He wasn’t sure it would work, but thought it was worth a try.

  “Mom, I think I can secure the coop to that platform behind the semi. The wind will be off of them, and I can strap down a tarp over it to help.” Nate said as she stood next to the passenger side door handing small boxes of family photos up to Henry. Nicole and Ben were placing water jogs wherever they could find room in the back of Nate’s truck.

  “Nate, that would be great. I really wanted to give this to the Hartfords to say thank you for what they are doing,” Betty said.

  Nate could see her looking down at the less crowded chicken coop.

  “I will find a way,” Nate said as he picked up the coop. He carried it to the small platform and hoisted it easily, setting it down on top. He stood for a moment trying to figure out how he would situate it with the several plastic fuel containers of diesel. He kne
w he would have more room very soon when his dad would top off the tanks with what remained, which wasn’t very much fuel. The deck plating would hold the coop in the center with the fuel around both sides. Once the fuel was used, he could turn the coop in a different direction allowing for it to be closer to the cab wall. Nate grabbed some straps and ratchets and began work on the bird project. The chickens were quickly tied down and covered well with a dark green tarp. Betty stood watching with great admiration for her son’s ingenuity. She was prepared to bring them inside the semi, but knew Henry wouldn’t have that. Nate didn’t realize how big the decking behind the cab was until he was on top. If he had the time and proper tools, they could use the ramps he loaded the ranger with and fashion a small truck bed, but time and parts were still needed. This would have to do the job.

  Getting everything done took about forty-five minutes with no sign of anyone coming from down the hill. Nate already took notice that they would have the high ground in a fight if it came. They would not fare well with Henry and his sniper rifle. The last thing to do was find some space for a few of the many batteries they would need to leave behind. Nate took a few and placed them on the floorboard of the Ranger. Henry hoisted up two to go inside the cab. It was just temporary, and he felt it was safe enough for now.

  Nate left the trailer doors open and helped his father get the trailer detached. Minutes went by, and they were all ready to get back on the road for at least another hour, putting some distance between them and the trailer if someone did show up. Nate felt it was a shame to leave the beautiful black trailer, but without spare tires, they had no choice. Nate got in his truck and started it up the hill; even loaded down now with the Ranger and the extra weight, the truck had enough power. He checked his rearview mirror and saw his father right on him now.

  The two trucks were now headed north again, twisting and turning up and down the mountainous valleys that made up beautiful central Colorado. They could easily see many homes here and there that sparsely populated the area. However, they didn’t see anyone outside, or any cars on the roads. Ben was looking at the map carefully studying the signs and their current location. He was becoming a great navigator. He was even teaching Nicole now.