Liberty or Tyranny

by John Grit

  Brian patted Samantha on the head. “Don’t you worry. This trip will be easy compared to what we went through coming out here. There won’t be any mean men chasing us this time.”

  Nate raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

  Deni gave Samantha a hug in an effort to calm her fears. “There won’t be any big rush this time either. You’ll probably be able to walk most of the way, unless you get tired. We’ve all been so busy we haven’t had time to give you the attention we should have. But we all think a lot of you.”

  Nate looked around to make sure they hadn’t left anything. Closing the door to the cabin he said, “Let’s go. Keep five-yard spacing with Deni in the rear. Stay alert.”

  As the day progressed and the miles passed under their feet, Nate worried that the others were being a little too lax. He had to admit to himself, though, that the woods did seem less menacing than they had since all the way back to the day Brian was shot in the leg almost two years before. Long ago, fighting some needless jungle war some politician had sent Americans to fight, Nate had developed the ability to tell when he was being hunted. He didn’t have that feeling on this day. Nevertheless, he refused to let his guard down and took every precaution.

  Despite Nate’s precautions, they made good time and found themselves less than a half a mile from the MacKay farm two days later.

  “You know the routine,” Nate said. “Deni and I’ll check out the farm, and if everything’s okay we’ll come back to get you.”

  Deni and Nate had not gone 200 yards when movement in the woods ahead sent them ducking behind trees for cover. They shouldered their rifles and clicked the safety off, ready for trouble. They both flinched when a rifle shot boomed. A terrified squealing wild hog crashed through the brush and into a small clearing, where it turned a tight circle and then fell over dead, blood pouring from his chest.

  A teenage boy crept along, following the blood trail and torn up soil that the fleeing hog had left behind. He carried a lever action 30/30 in his hands.

  Nate and Deni smiled at each other.

  “Hey, Pedro,” Nate yelled. He waved at the teenage boy.

  Pedro froze in his tracks for a second, but then recognized Nate’s voice even before he saw him. He walked on up to the hog and waved when he finally saw Nate step out from behind a tree.

  Nate walked up and shook Pedro’s hand. “Good shooting. You’ve got a lot of pork there.” Nate motioned with his head towards the farm. “How are things? Is it safe for us to come on in?”

  Pedro nodded and smiled. “Yes everything is fine. No trouble lately. You are welcome to come there with me. Everyone will be happy to see you.”

  Nate spoke to Deni, “Why don’t you go get the others while I help Pedro field dress the hog?”

  She nodded and disappeared into the woods.

  ~~~

  A man ran into the house and informed Mrs. MacKay of the arrival of Nate and company. A crowd of more than 20 smiling men, women, and children met them. Pedro and Nate had tied the gutted hog to a pole and were carrying it between them, with the pole on their shoulders. Nate noticed the crowd was in a good mood. Everyone laughed and joked. Some of the children said hello to Samantha and told her they missed her.

  MacKay approached them with a smile on her face. She looked them over, perhaps for injuries or signs of illness. “I’m so happy to see all of you alive and well. Dinner will be served just before sundown. I hope you’ll join us.”

  Caroline hugged several of the women and children. “I was so worried. We heard explosions and feared they had bombed the farm.”

  “Can you tell us anything about what’s going on?” Nate asked. “We’ve been in the dark for days.”

  MacKay raised her brows, wrinkling her forehead. “The short answer is things seem to be getting better at the moment. So far the military has been doing exactly what they promised they would do. And it does look like we’ll have national elections soon. As for the long answer, we’ll talk it over on the porch where it’s cooler.”

  Most of the crowd left to go back to work, but a few stayed to listen. MacKay settled into a chair and invited her visitors to find a chair also. “I’m afraid what I’m about to say will turn your stomach and make you angry. Evidently things are coming to light about the source of the plague.”

  Nate and the others glanced at each other, but remained quiet, waiting to hear what she had to say.

  A look of total repugnance darkened her face. “It appears there was a group of wealthy, powerful, and soulless men and women, including scientists, who took it upon themselves to design a terrible disease. They planned to release it after they had inoculated parts of the human race they, in their infinite wisdom and egos, had decided were not useless eaters and therefore were necessary to carry on the human race.” She gave them a strange look of repulsion. “Mind you, most of those they deemed fit to live were just common working people. I guess even elitists understand that all societies need people who do all the work. But most of the third world and the less affluent areas of the developed world, well, they just had no use for them. So their plan was to inoculate those they wanted to live and kill off the rest.” She held her stomach and took several seconds to regain her composure before she went on. “Something happened before they had a chance to inoculate very many people. Even most of the elite, the first on their list to be protected, hadn’t been inoculated when someone at one of their disease production centers made a mistake and Pandora’s Box was opened before they were ready.” She closed her eyes. Tears ran down her face. “You know the results.”

  Caroline commented, “I’m sure the leaders of the scheme were all men.”

  Ignoring her, Nate said, “We discovered some of what you just told us ourselves. A prisoner Tyrone and his men took to town told the part he was willing to admit to knowing. Of course he claimed he started working for Capinos after the plague had done its work and had nothing to do with murdering over 90% of the human population.”

  Deni leaned forward in her chair. “I guess he’s the one the military got the rest of the story from.”

  MacKay wiped her face. “No. They have another witness. They won’t say who he is or where he is. Evidently the National Guard has him.”

  Brian froze for a second, his mind racing. “You don’t suppose Kramer made it out of that swamp and lived, do you?”

  “Now that’s an idea,” Deni said. “But it could be anyone.”

  “Oh yes.” MacKay seemed to remember something. “Your friend Mel was here yesterday looking for you. He had flown over your farm in a helicopter and saw you had been burned out. Anyway, he said to tell you he was formulating a plan to help you get another home built. I guess his friends in the Guard were offering to help. He also said to tell you he had met a friend of yours and to tell you that Henry had lost his left arm but had recovered and was talking like a canary.” She shook her head. “I have no idea what he meant by all that. He was being very obscure about it.”

  Brian laughed. “I have no idea what he was trying to say.”

  “Neither do I,” Deni said, a smile on her face.

  Caroline quipped, “Ignorance is much safer for all concerned. I don’t know nothin’.”

  MacKay leaned back in her chair, a twinkle in her eye. “Now that you’ve jogged my memory with your coyness, I seem to remember a Henry.” She rubbed the scars on her arm. “But let’s change the subject.”

  Chapter 26

  Nate and the others stayed at the horse farm that night. The next morning, Nate sat on the front porch and talked with Deni and Brian about going into town with a truck borrowed from MacKay to look for building materials. They had to build something to live in out on the farm, even if it was just temporary.

  While they were talking, a Black Hawk flew by, following the dirt road.

  “Now what?” Brian wondered.

  As dozens of people gathered in the front yard to watch, a second helicopter circled the farm and then landed in the road near the
gate.

  “Should we run into the woods?” a man standing nearby asked.

  Three soldiers appeared, walking down the drive and escorted by one of the men guarding the gate. Nate grabbed his binoculars from his pack. He smiled. “It’s Mel!”

  “Great!” Brian put his rifle down.

  “Do you recognize who is with him?” Deni asked.

  “Col. Greene,” Nate answered. “I don’t recognize the other soldier.”

  Caroline had come out of the house with Samantha. “Mel and Greene are two of the dozen men in the world I have respect for. He made sure I was taken care of when I lost my leg. Him and Mel both.”

  Deni gave her a sideways glance. “Most men wouldn’t think of hurting you. Way too many would, but most wouldn’t.”

  Caroline came back with, “You can’t tell until you get to know them.”

  “Let’s discuss the darker side of men some other time,” Nate said. “Something’s up or they wouldn’t be here.” He raised his right hand and waved.

  Col. Greene approached them. He got straight to the point. “We’re delivering two prebuilt sheds to your farm. Not exactly comparable to this place, but they’ll do for now. Trucks will be going by sometime within the hour with the sheds on trailers. The road’s kind of rough and it’s slow going, but they’ll be here.”

  “Huh?” Nate asked. “What’re you talking about?”

  Greene looked around at the gathering crowd and noticed that not all of them seemed pleased to see him. “Don’t worry, ladies and gentlemen, this is a friendly visit.”

  “Yeah,” Mel added, “Colonels don’t walk around in hostile country with just two sergeants for security. We thought we would be welcome here, especially since we’re bearing gifts and good news.”

  Nate tilted his head. “Why are you giving us those sheds?”

  Greene rested his left hand on his pistol belt, hooking it with his thumb, and rested his right hand on the butt of his pistol. “It was Capinos who ordered the air strike on your home. The way I see it, that makes the U.S. Government responsible for the damages. The sheds are just for you to use until we can get enough men over there to start work on a new home and barn.”

  “I expect the well and hand pump are gone too,” Brian said. “Probably even the septic system got blown up.”

  Greene pulled a notepad out of a pocket and scribbled on it. “Mel, you should’ve told me about the well. You’ve been to the farm.”

  “Sorry, sir.” Mel winked at Nate. “If you want, I’ll make a list.”

  “You do that,” Greene said.

  A shadow of anger fell on Nate’s face. “Was it Capinos who authorized the air strike on my family and friends while his private army was hunting us in the woods?”

  Greene looked back at him. “I understand how you feel, but Capinos is dead. No need to waste time hating the bastard. Yes, he authorized the air strikes, but the one in the woods happened after he was dead. His killers who were hunting you had the plug pulled on them soon after that and lost all support. I guess they continued to hunt you anyway, not knowing what else to do. We didn’t know anything about much of this until later. Since then, we’ve found witnesses who’ve helped authorities make arrests all over the world. Got about three dozen locked up here in the U.S.” He cleared his throat. “We made the mistake of naming a few people in the less civilized countries. Well, they didn’t bother with a trial. Some of the poor bastards died slow, even a few women.”

  “Maybe they’re not as uncivilized as you think,” Caroline offered. “Maybe we could learn from them.”

  Greene gave her a strange but understanding smile. “Well, I guess our ways are different from theirs.”

  Something caught Deni’s attention.

  Greene noticed and turned to look up the driveway to see a Humvee coming. “That’ll be your ride.” He turned back to those on the porch. “That is, if you’re ready to go home. We need you to tell us where to put the sheds. I’m sure you’ll want them out of the way of the area where you want the new home built.”

  “Well,” Nate said, “we were thinking of going into town to scrounge up building materials. But I guess we could go on to the farm first.”

  “Don’t worry about building materials.” Greene checked his watch. “I’ve got to get back to the base. Mel can go with you in the Humvee.”

  Deni shook Col. Greene’s hand. “Thanks for helping us out.”

  Greene smiled. “We haven’t started yet. This country owes you more than we could ever repay.”

  Mel spread his arms. “Well, grab your stuff if you’re going.”

  Samantha pulled at Caroline’s arm. She bent down and listened as the little girl spoke in her ear. Caroline stood. “I guess Samantha and I’ll stay here for a while. I would like to help you with the house, but Samantha wants to stay where she feels safer and there are children her age.”

  Deni hugged them both. “Probably the best for her. You’re both welcome anytime. Visit or stay forever. You’re part of the family.”

  Nate held Caroline and patted Samantha on the head. “Deni’s right. You’re both part of the family.”

  “Yep,” Brian added, “we’ve been through too much together not to be friends for life.”

  After saying quick good-byes to Mrs. MacKay and the others, they grabbed their packs and rifles and jumped into the Humvee.

  Colonel Greene got out at the road and transferred to the waiting Black Hawk. Mel took his place on the passenger side in the front to make more room for the others, and the driver started for Nate’s farm.

  Halfway there, they rounded a curve in the pothole-filled dirt road. The driver had to slam on the brakes when a 12-year-old boy ran out of the woods. He was bleeding from the nose and mouth and had obviously been beaten. His eyes were wild with terror as he scrambled to the driver side of the Humvee, yelling something unintelligible and pointing into the woods. Mel jumped out with his rifle at the same time Nate did. Deni and Brian were not far behind. The driver remained seated behind the wheel in case they had to leave in a hurry.

  “He’s one of Mrs. MacKay’s people.” Brian said to the boy, “Slow down. We can’t understand you.”

  The boy pointed. “Down that Jeep trial. Men are hurting my mother.” He caught his breath. “They killed my father.”

  A woman screamed in the distance.

  Deni took several steps on the run, her M4 in both hands.

  “Hold on!” Nate caught up with her. “We can’t rush into this.”

  Mel pointed down the road. “That looks like the turnoff to the Jeep trail.” He looked at Nate. “How do you want to do this?”

  “We sure won’t use the trail. Could be an ambush.” Nate looked at the boy. “If it is, he’s a damn good actor. No matter, we’ll come in careful.”

  The driver grabbed the boy and threw him in the Humvee, then backed down the road 100 yards and waited.

  The woman continued to scream.

  “Let’s go,” Deni said. “Damn it.”

  Nate led them into the woods. They paralleled the Jeep trail 30 yards back, using the woman’s screaming as a beacon. They found two vehicles on the trail, a flatbed truck mired in sand and a four-wheel-drive pickup stopped just behind it. All of the doors on the vehicles were open. It appeared the occupants exited in a hurry.

  The scene they came to next was something Nate wished Brian wasn’t there to witness. Before he knew it, Deni had killed two of the men, putting a bullet in their heads. The third one ran into the woods, obviously unarmed, since he had no pants on. Nate yelled, “Stay here and stay alert.” He took off after the man, but not in a direct way. Instead, he circled around the scene of carnage and didn’t go near the screaming woman.

  The woman seemed to be too dazed to do anything but stare at her dead husband and cry.

  Brian held his rifle with sweaty hands. “It’s been forever. Why didn’t he let us go with him?”

  “Five minutes or so,” Mel corrected him. “Just enough ti
me for Nate to break every bone in his body.” He looked around again, trying to penetrate the wall of green and search out any danger, seeing no sign of anyone. “I’ll go, but I expect to find little left of that SOB, just a bloody mud puddle.”

  “Oh, forget what Nate said.” Deni started across the trail. “Stay here my ass. He’s always going off to fight alone.” She stopped when Nate appeared, dragging the bloody and unconscious man by the feet.

  Nate stopped in the middle of the trail. “I think he tripped on a root and hurt himself.”

  Deni barely looked at the rapist, looking instead at the crying woman. “Yep. That’s what happened. He must’ve fallen down about 20 times. I’ll go help her. You better put some pants on that asshole before I shoot him.” She ran down the trail.

  Mel and Brian walked up. Looking down at the prone rapist, Mel said, “I’m not giving him my pants, only have what I’m wearing. Why don’t you just let Deni shoot him?”

  Nate half-smiled, still catching his breath. “So you heard that, did you?”

  “Why didn’t you shoot him?” Brian asked. “He deserves it.”

  “I thought I would hand him over to the Guard and see what the new official brand of justice looks like. We’ve had plenty of unofficial street justice lately.” Nate kicked the rapist over on his stomach. “Anyone have something to tie him up with?”

  Mel produced handcuffs. “This should work.”

  Nate put them on the man’s wrists. “I wonder what Col. Greene would say we should do with him.”

  Mel laughed. “He would’ve shot him before he got into the woods.”

  “Hmm,” Nate said, “I guess official justice isn’t much different from the do-it-yourself kind.”

  Mel laughed. “He calls it apocalypse law. We get back to the Humvee, I’ll radio it in and get the victims some help and this asshole off our hands.” He grinned. “Then we’ll see about building you a home. I think things are going to get better now. After the election, we’ll have a real government in Washington, and in time, we’ll have local and state government back and civilian law enforcement. The military will still be needed for awhile, but over time, we’ll pull back and let the civilian government take over like it should be.”