by Mark Goodwin
A man at a desk asked Matt, “Shoe size?”
“Eight,” Matt said.
“Tens.” The man handed Matt a pair of oversized work boots.
Matt was uncuffed long enough to put on the work boots and jumpsuit and hastily taken back to the central chain outside. As he waited for the others to be outfitted, he drank in the beauty of the surrounding forest and the light. He had been suffocated by darkness for nearly three days now and forgot how beautiful it was to see light and color. Another guard walked up the line handing out some type of food ration bar. Matt knew not to expect much from the taste, but he was so hungry, he didn’t care. When his bar arrived, he opened it and began eating. It had the texture of dry cardboard and the taste of wallpaper paste. But it was filling the gaping space in his stomach and he was grateful for that.
Everyone was herded to a school bus while still attached to their single common chain. Matt looked out the window as they drove to the mine to look for any distinguishing landmarks. There were power lines running into the prison camp, it had to be within a reasonable distance of a town. One guard stood watch over them, so he and Doc dared not even whisper to each other while on the bus.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the mine which was inside of a fenced-in area similar to their prison camp.
The men were herded off the bus, uncuffed, and sent down the mine shaft elevator, six at a time. Matt made a mental note of the number of guards. There were four guards on the bus plus four more inside of a guard house at the entrance of the fence, all armed with M-4 rifles and side arms. Down inside of the mine, there were four guards, also armed with M-4 rifles and side arms.
Two fellow prisoners acted as foremen and trained the new prisoners on the different tools inside of the mine. They worked for ten hours, were given two more nutrition bars during the day, and returned to the prison camp.
Once they returned to the shipping container, they were fed porridge again and fresh water was brought around by a fellow prisoner. Matt gave himself a cat bath with the fresh water from the day before. The light in the crack of the door faded which meant the day was over. He and Doc whispered about the events of the day and Matt asked him what he thought of the possibility to escape.
“I’m willing to die trying,” Doc said. “This is no way to live.”
Matt agreed and repeated everything Adam had taught him about escape and evasion. “I think we should study these guys for a couple days, watch the schedule, and devise a plan. This seems to be the only safe time to talk. The rest of the day we’re being watched like a hawk.”
Doc agreed. The work in the mine released all of Matt’s nervous energy and he slept much more soundly that night.
The next day, the same schedule was repeated.
CHAPTER 10
“That the people have a Right to mass and to bear arms; that a well-regulated militia composed of the Body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper natural and safe defense of a free State....”
-George Mason- Father of the Bill of Rights
Early Tuesday morning, Adam pulled into Matt and Karen’s drive and parked his truck. Justin was in the garden with Rene. Adam walked over, “Hey guys.”
“Hey,” Justin said.
Rene was bent down putting some of the seedlings in the dirt. She shielded her eyes from the morning sun as she looked up at Adam. “Hi.”
“Still no word from Matt?” Adam asked.
“No,” Justin replied.
“Where’s Karen?” Adam inquired.
“Still in bed,” Rene answered.
“She doin’ alright?” Adam quizzed.
“Nope,” Justin responded. “She was only out of bed for about two hours yesterday. She hardly ate and never got out of her robe.”
“We’re doing everything we know to do,” Rene commented. “I tried to get her to eat, but I don’t want to push her. I don’t really know what to do.”
“You guys are a big help, just taking care of the animals and the garden and such,” Adam complimented. “I’ll go in and see if I can get her to come around.”
Adam let himself in the house and put on a pot of coffee. Once it brewed, he made a cup for himself and one for Karen. He also made two pieces of toast and put butter and jelly on it. He carried it to Karen’s room and knocked on the door. “Karen, can I come in?”
“Yeah,” she said weakly.
He sat the toast and coffee on the night stand. He walked over to the window and opened the curtains. Adam sat in the rocking chair near the bed and picked up his coffee. “This is good coffee, you should have some.”
Karen sat up and took the cup. She sipped it slowly.
“This is a tough time for everybody,” Adam said. “Shelly is really having a hard time, too. So am I. And so are the girls. We really need to stick together. If you isolate, it is going to be even harder on the rest of us. Shelly and the girls really need you to be there. We’re going to have a little memorial service tomorrow morning for Wesley, I think you should come.”
“Okay,” Karen said.
“Eat your toast,” Adam said.
“It’s just so hard to eat,” she said. “If I only knew that he was alive or dead, it would be so much easier.”
“Justin said he didn’t hear any gunshots after they were separated,” Adam affirmed.
“That doesn’t mean anything. They could have captured him and executed him at the camp,” Karen argued.
“That’s not consistent with military strategy,” Adam explained. “If you’re going to take the risk of detaining a prisoner, you’re not going to take them back to camp and kill them. There is much less risk if you kill them when you find them.”
“I just wish I knew. If I only knew he was alive.” Karen picked up the toast and took a bite.
“I know.” Adam patted her hand.
“I’m so sorry about Wesley,” Karen said. “I’ll come by later today to see Shelly. How is she?”
Adam replied, “She’s in about the same shape you’re in. You may not be able to make each other feel better, but you can comfort one another through the sorrow.”
Adam patted Karen on the hand again, offered a smile, and left her alone to get dressed. He returned to the garden. “Justin, did you get some rest yesterday?”
“He didn’t get out of bed at all yesterday,” Rene commented.
“Good, we need to run over to Gary’s real quick.” Adam stated.
Rene lost her chipper tone. “No, please don’t leave.” The tears began to well up in her eyes.
Adam cut her off before she could get herself worked up. “Rene, I promise I’ll have him back before sundown. I need you to be strong. I need you to look after Karen. If she sees you falling apart, she is going to get more depressed. You have to get her up and moving around. Walk her over to my place to see the girls and Shelly.”
Rene wiped her tears and shook her head. “Alright, I will.”
Adam knew it was a lot to ask after she had waited for three days for her husband to return. And of the four wives, only two husbands had returned. Not wanting to alarm her further, he said to Justin, “Grab your rifle so we can give it a good cleaning when we get to Gary’s.”
Justin washed up and grabbed his rifle. The two men jumped in the truck and drove off.
“Are we really going to Gary’s?” Justin asked.
“Yep,” Adam said.
“But not to clean rifles,” Justin guessed.
“Nope,” Adam declared.
Seconds later, Adam began to fill Justin in on the mission at hand. “I think the ambush at Pikeville was a trap. The person who gave us the information conveniently had the flu on the day of the operation. I thought we’d stop by Michael’s and see if he’s feeling any better. You and Gary can go to the front door to check on him. I think he’ll be surprised that any of us survived the counter ambush. If he’s guilty, he’ll make a run for it. If he rabbits, I’ll be in the woods behind his house with the .308.”
“Sou
nds like a plan,” Justin said.
Adam continued, “His wife’s brother works for DHS. He was a total dependent of the welfare state before the meltdown. Like most of the new DHS recruits, he only took the job because Howe cut off all of his benefits. The brother was the one that supposedly sold the information on the convoy. It’s my guess that there was some serious monetary gain on Michael’s part for furnishing the information on our locations. DHS knew exactly where everyone of us were. I also believe Michael’s wife is complicit in their operation. That makes her a traitor. She may draw down on you. Can you shoot a woman if you have to?”
Justin’s eyes opened widely and he blew out a big puff of air. “I can shoot anyone who threatens me or my team members.”
Adam wanted to be sure. “You have to know that before you walk into this situation. We already have one widow, possibly two.”
“I’m sure,” Justin said.
“I’m going to have to interrogate them. We need to get some information from them before we administer their punishment for treason. Can you handle that?” Adam asked.
“I’ll do whatever you need me to do. This is war, I never expected it to be pretty,” Justin replied.
“Good,” Adam said. “That’s what I wanted to hear.” Adam was impressed with the answer. Justin spoke and carried himself like a much older man. He was very mature for his age. Or, this conflict had forced him to grow up fast. Adam heard a lot of young men talk a big game in Iraq and Afghanistan, but after the bullets started flying, it was a different story. It was refreshing to see a young man Justin’s age speak about battle with sobriety and respect.
When the two arrived at Gary’s, Adam filled him in on the mission. He agreed that it sounded like a solid plan.
“Is it just us?” Gary asked.
“Just us,” Adam replied.
Adam put on his ghillie suit and camo face paint before they left Gary’s. “I’ll lay in the back and bail out right before you reach Michael’s drive. Don’t even stop, just slow down to about ten miles an hour.”
Justin and Gary acknowledged that they understood. Gary drove his truck so Adam’s truck wouldn’t set off any alarms.
Gary slowed the truck down, right before Michael’s drive. Adam bailed out and ran for the tree line. He found a quick sniper nest, deployed his tripod and removed the covers from his scope. He thumbed off the safety of the AR-10 and laid perfectly motionless. Adam watched as Gary and Justin walked to the door to knock. Less than a minute later, Michael was coming out the back door with a bug out bag on his back. He ran directly for the very tree line Adam was sitting in.
“Oh, this is too easy,” Adam said to himself. He waited for Michael to get about halfway to his position, then took the shot.
POP! The .308 hollow point round hit in the center of Michael’s knee and his leg almost folded in half, backwards. Michael screamed in agony as he grabbed his leg which was gushing blood.
Adam stood up from his cover and walked down to Michael’s location. He kept the sight trained on Michael. “Roll over!” Adam commanded.
“I can’t,” Michael cried in pain.
POP! Adam put another round in Michael’s shoulder. “I said, roll over.”
As much pain as he was in, Michael complied. Adam quickly put zip-tie restraints on Michael’s hands and removed all of the contents of his pockets. Adam grabbed him by the back of his bug out bag and started dragging him back to the house. “I should have dropped you at the door. I would have saved myself some work.”
When they arrived at the house, Justin helped Adam get Michael inside while Gary held Michael’s wife, Susan, at gun point. Adam quickly put restraints on her hands and feet as well. Next, he opened his first-aid kit and took out two Quickclot sponges and two Israeli Battle Dressings. He stuck a Quickclot sponge in each of Michael’s wounds and secured them with a bandage.
Next he opened Michael’s bug out bag to inspect the contents. He soon found several rolls of silver coins and a small pouch with five ounces of gold. “Is this the ransom you got for my brother’s life?” Adam quizzed.
“There is more in the bedroom dresser,” Susan cried out. “Just take it and leave us alone.”
“Shut up!” Michael yelled.
Adam looked at Susan. “Do you think we’re here to rob you?”
He grabbed Susan by the arm and dragged her into the bedroom. “Let’s keep them split up for now.” He closed the door and zip tied her feet to her hands so she was completely immobilized. “Which drawer is the rest of the bounty in?”
“Are you going to let us go?” she pleaded.
Adam drew his side arm, bent down and pressed it to her ankle. “Which drawer?”
“Top left,” she muttered.
Adam opened the drawer and found five more tubes of one-ounce silver eagle coins and five more one-ounce gold coins. “Where’s your brother?” he asked as he counted the loot.
“Somewhere in West Virginia, I don’t know,” Susan replied.
“Do you have his number? Can you call him?” Adam asked.
“No, he calls me if he needs to talk to me,” Susan said.
“Even if your life depended on it, you couldn’t get hold of him?” Adam asked.
“No,” Susan began to cry.
Adam grabbed the woman by the face and squeezed. “Is Michael going to give me the same answer when I ask him that question? Because if you lie to me, I can promise you will die a very painful death.”
“I can call him,” she relented.
Adam dropped her face. “Good. Let’s get you straightened up and make that call.”
“Can I have a drink?” she asked.
“Sure, what do you want, water?” Adam offered.
“Whiskey,” she pleaded.
Adam thought for a moment and said, “Okay, one drink. Where is it?”
“In the kitchen, over the sink,” she said.
Adam walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him. He went to the kitchen and found the whiskey. Justin and Gary looked at him as he walked back through the living room with the whiskey in his hand.
“What are you doing to my wife?” Michael asked.
“I’ll be back with you in a minute.” Adam winked at Michael and gave him a nod to let him know he wouldn’t forget about him.
Adam walked back into the bedroom and shut the door. He opened the bottle and put it to the woman’s lips. She tried to chug the liquor, but Adam pulled it away after a small drink. “We can’t have you slurring when you call your brother. I’ll be right back.” He placed the bottle on the dresser where Susan could look at it. The carrot-and-stick approach was going to be very effective with this one.
Adam returned to the living room and sat down in the chair near Michael.
Michael said, “The Quickclot is starting to burn. Can you take it out? I’m sure the bleeding has stopped.”
Adam looked at him and ignored the request. “Whose idea was it to take the payment to set us up?”
Michael pleaded, “DHS already knew about us. It was only a matter of time until they caught up with us anyway. Susan’s brother told us they would be coming for the militia.”
Adam continued the interrogation. “How did Susan’s brother know you were in the militia?”
“She may have mentioned it in casual conversation,” Michael replied. “Are you going to let us go? If not, I’m not telling you anything else.”
Adam said, “Justin, go look in the kitchen and tell me what cleaning supplies you can find.” Adam unhooked the bandage on Michael’s knee. He unwrapped it and removed the Quickclot sponge.
Justin called out from the kitchen, “Bleach, Pine-Sol, Comet, dishwashing detergent.…”
“Bring me the Pine-Sol,” Adam replied.
“Okay, wait! What do you want to know?” Michael pleaded.
Adam disregarded Michael’s request. He opened his knife, stuck it in the wound channel of the knee and pulled it to the side to open it up even further.
Michael screamed like a banshee as Adam poured the cleaner into the gaping wound.
Justin and Gary looked on in horror.
“You guys can walk around outside and make sure no one is coming by to see what all of the commotion is about.” Adam could see his methods of interrogation were getting to them.
When Michael finally stropped screaming Adam said, “I don’t have a lot of time to negotiate with you. I have to get Justin home to his wife before sundown. I promised I would because she was distraught by the thought of him being out of her sight again. He was wandering around in the woods for two days and she had no idea where he was. You know why? Because you set him up. Does that make sense?”
Michael nodded in fear.
Adam said, “Now I’m going to ask you, Susan, and your brother-in-law how all of this was set up. If the stories don’t line up perfectly, it’s going to get very painful for everybody.”
Adam wiped the blood and bone fragments off of his knife on Michael’s cheek. “Well, not me, of course, but for you guys.”
Michael stuttered in fear and pain as he explained the details of the set-up. “Susan’s brother, Milton, said they were on to us, and that I should distance myself from the militia.”
“They were on to us because she told him about the militia after he took the job at DHS?” Adam wanted clarification.
“More or less,” Michael said.
Adam said, “I understand that you don’t want to get your wife in trouble, but from now on, let’s use “yes” and “no.” If I hear ‘more or less’ again, I’m going to get angry. Is that fair?”
Adam pulled out another Quickclot sponge from his IFAK. Michael’s knee was bleeding profusely. “And how did you get to the point of accepting money to sell us out?”
Michael winced as Adam stuck the sponge in the wound. “Milton told Susan that DHS would pay a lot of money for information.”
Adam finished for him. “And you said okay.”
Michael pleaded, “Adam, you’ve got to believe me. They were on to us. The militia was going to get hit whether I took the money or not. Please, Adam.”
“What other action is being taken against the militia in this area?” Adam asked.
