Dark Days Rough Roads

by Matthew D. Mark

  Police everywhere started giving up. The only thing they could even attempt to do was try to keep people from killing each other. Most had left heir jobs and were worrying about there own families and themselves. There were very few places where people banded together and took actions to secure their communities. Most of all, it was the small towns in rural areas that would be safer, where travel by foot was impossible due to the distances.

  One guy up in Oregon was telling everyone to start hunting and gathering meat. He explained that hunting would be widespread. He went on to say that the animal population would be overhunted within a month. The animal population would be severely reduced and those left would be hard to find as they hid from hunters. Winter would make hunting very difficult. There were just no amenities to keep warm, move around easily, stay the night in camps, and bait the prey or anything.

  It was still puzzling that they did not hear anything about any government movements or assistance to anyone anywhere. No one could figure that out. People said that a lot of the military bases seemed locked down, but they also said they did not see the amount of troops that they normally saw. Some commented that there had been a lot of desertion from all rank and files. Little to no equipment was moving and surely none of it was moving off the bases.

  They couldn’t concern themselves with any of that. They would figure that out later. What they had to concern themselves with was getting where they needed to be and when they needed to be there. They had a great disadvantage right now, since there were only three of them and the pace they kept was that of which the horses moved. They almost wondered if maybe they should have left them.

  They were coming close to their first stop. They hadn’t noticed anyone following them and they headed down a small dirt road. Haliday had scouted this area many times before with them. They knew it was not used more than maybe eight times a year. They couldn’t even figure out why. Maybe kids getting busy after a hot date. They came across an opening in the woods and they headed down that way.

  Karen was having a hard time navigating the path. They had cut a few branches off some of the trees to make it more accessible, but had to leave enough so it did not look too obvious. They would be about a quarter mile away from the dirt road and well enough hidden to stay the night. They managed to reach the spot without too much more trouble.

  They tied the horses up and got them some water and grain. They planned to leave the saddles on in case they had to bug out quickly, but that would not be the case. They commenced to get the camp set up for the night. They opened the trailer so they could pull out the gear they needed.

  After pulling everything out they started to set up. The first thing they did was to string a few booby trap simulators up around the perimeter. This would alert them to anybody sneaking in. Haliday had Dawn buy these at one of the gun shows they had frequented. They just had to hope animals wouldn’t set them off, but they placed them two feet off the ground, so unless it was deer they were good to go.

  They set up a nice little four season tent. It wasn’t big, but big enough for two to sleep comfortably with some gear close by. They tossed in a couple sleeping bags that were zero degree rated, so it would be warm enough. The temperature was only going to dip down to about 35, but they wanted to stay warm in order to stay nimble and quick.

  They placed a light blanket over each horse. They pulled out a small camo net and covered the trailer. After some squabbling about who would pull guard duty first, they settled in for some food. They heated up some water on the small camp stove and made soup. They opened up a can of pears and split it.

  Dawn looked around. She had to use the bathroom. She grabbed a bucket with a potty lid on top and biodegradable trash bag in it and hauled it over behind a tree. Haliday taught them to use the blue RV chemical in it to keep the odor down and help degrade the mess. She finished her squat as Haliday called it and headed back to camp. She hated his crudeness at times.

  They made sure the camp stove was out, no food was left out, and hunkered down for the night. They figured on three hour shifts, which would give everyone six hours of sleep. Based on Haliday’s progress, they could nap a little longer if they needed to. They wouldn’t know until the morning though. They looked up at the stars. Without any lights, the stars were so bright now. There had been few places on earth you could experience total darkness.

  The night was uneventful. They all laughed about camping. Years ago, camping was a motor home in the parking lot of a hotel. That was as rough as it got. Now they’d learn to appreciate nature. They fed and watered the horses and then they whipped up some nine grain cereal using instant soy milk and made some Tang. They took some vitamins and started to break down the camp.

  The last thing was the morning bathroom break. Karen didn’t mind the bucket, but Diana had a fit. Dawn explained that there was no Four Seasons resort close by, so that’s what she got. After a few minutes of potty dancing, she gave up. The three of them then sat there looking at the bucket. What do we do with it, they wondered. None of them wanted to touch it.

  After a few minutes Dawn said, “You dig the hole. I’ll pull the bag and dump it.” They disposed of the mess and got ready to leave. Everything was taken down and they called Haliday. “We’re on our way to meet up with you.”

  Haliday said, “Sorry, I should have told you guys to leave a day earlier, we’re already here waiting. We’ll be here, call if you need us.”

  They started the ranger, climbed up on the horses and started back toward the road. They were only about 50 feet from the camp site when Karen got the trailer stuck. They tried for an hour and a half, but could not get it free. They couldn’t leave it there so they called Haliday to let him know.

  *****

  Haliday had told Dawn to head out and now they themselves were on the road after the tense morning incident. He’d be seeing Dawn sooner than he thought; he just didn’t know it yet. She would have a small problem he would have to deal with.

  He looked around. Nobody was saying anything. They were still in shock at the incident. Not only did they shoot this guy, but Haliday had left Phil and his family in quite a bind. Haliday didn’t care. They broke into his house, took what he needed to survive and were ready to stand there and let him get killed as well. Screw Phil, he thought. He didn’t expect them to be there in spring when he got back.

  Mike said, “Hang a right at the next road.” Another mile and they would be at Bill and Linda’s farm. Two Lindas. That would be weird, he could see it now, “Hey Linda,” and both come running. Linda said they usually answered based on who called them, so to him that made sense.

  They pulled up near the gate. Haliday noticed it was locked. He grabbed his binoculars and looked toward the house. Smoke from the fireplace was visible; he saw some cows out in the pasture and a couple horses as well. He couldn’t see anyone though. He wasn’t about to go walking up to the door either.

  “Well Mike, it’s your friend. You feel safe walking up there?”

  “I’m sure we’ll be ok,” he said.

  “We? There’s no we, it’s you, I’m not taking the chance. You go. Here, use this.” Haliday went and unscrewed the antenna for the stereo. Didn’t need it now anyway. He tied a white rag around the end. “Wave this as you approach.” Mike headed toward the door.

  He got about 50 feet from the house and the front door opened. “Hey Bill.”

  “Hey, Mike, are they with you?”

  “Yes, they are,” he said.

  “Ok, here’s the key.” He walked up and got it. “Please lock the gate behind you when you come back up.”

  “Thanks Bill.” He walked down back to the trucks and opened the gate. They rode up to the house.

  Bill had put on a percolator for coffee. He had this sitting on a wood stove near the kitchen. They all exchanged hellos when they went in. “Where’s Linda at?”

  “She’s taking a nap. She was up early tending the chickens and livestock. I heard you guys coming and kept a wa
tch out. I thought it was you getting out of that truck, so I didn’t bother to wake her. Hell of a mess we’re in huh?”

  “That’s for sure. The past few days have been pure hell Bill.”

  “I can see by that eye, did you win or lose?”

  “I lost that battle, too many of them, but I’m alive.” Bill asked who was up for coffee. Everyone almost in unison accepted.

  “Ok, I’ll pour this one and then I’ll get another batch ready.” Linda woke up and came out and greeted them. She had a concerned look on her face.

  Haliday said, “We’re not staying, just stopping by.” She looked a little relieved at that.

  She said, “I’m sorry, was it that evident?”

  “Don’t worry, I don’t blame you. These days you have to count your blessings and your beans. We understand completely. That brings me to the next question, Mike; it’s your ball now.”

  Mike didn’t get a word out of his mouth. Bill and Linda said they could stay. “We can put you in the middle bedroom and Kayla in the end bedroom.”

  “Oh, I’ll be going with my dad,” she said. “But thank you.”

  “No problem honey.”

  Haliday asked them what they have heard. “Anything going on or anything worth sharing?”

  Bill said he had talked to a neighbor who went into town. A few folks had set up a small blockade and seemed to be trying to control everything in town. He wasn’t sure if they meant to do good or meant to do harm, but he was avoiding town at all costs. He said most around here are just staying put to ride it out.

  “How are the people around here set for food?”

  “Well, most have soy, corn or wheat and a lot have some cows and poultry but other than that I don’t know. We can get through for a while, but it won’t be gourmet.”

  “How long is that?” Haliday asked.

  “I guess we can make it until planting season with no problems. We usually stock up for winter and we can slaughter a cow and that’ll give us a lot of meat. We should be ok.”

  “Water going to be an issue?”

  “Not at all, we have an old hand pump and rain barrels.”

  “You got a tarp by chance?”

  “I should have one around somewhere why?”

  “I’ll tell you how to make a rain catch, that way no contaminants from the roof get in it. Bird or goose crap mainly. It rains, you unfold and secure the tarp, and it catches in the barrel.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” he said.

  “Your tractor running?”

  “It is, but we’re saving the fuel for it, we only got about 250 gallons of diesel for it.”

  “Ok, save it then. Firewood and everything else?”

  “Plenty of that too.”

  “How about security?”

  “Well, now that we have two more, maybe we can get something set up. Hoping my son makes it here too.” Haliday spent the next two hours explaining how to secure the farm and house as much as possible.

  “Last but not least, firepower?”

  Bill smiled, “Oh, I got plenty of that.”

  “Let me see what you have.” Bill led him to the den. He opened up a safe and exposed a fairly impressive collection. 30-06, couple 12 gauges, little Marlin 22, but most noticeable was the two AR15s and couple of 9mm pistols.

  “Nice, you got ammo?”

  “I have about 1,000 rounds of 5.56, 500 9mm, couple thousand 22lr, and about 200 each for the rest. Got bows too,” he added. “Mike bring his?”

  “Yes, he did.”

  They walked back into the kitchen. “Bill, you mind if we stay in the barn tonight?”

  “I sure do, I’d prefer you to crash anywhere in here you guys can find a place.”

  “We appreciate it.” It was close to dinner time now. Haliday said dinner was on him. “Before I cook though, can we park the vehicles in the barn?”

  “Sure thing,” he said.

  Haliday had everyone get what they needed for sleeping tonight, had them bring in the cats and dog and then he walked in with a bucket of groceries. He went over to the kitchen and began cooking. He cooked up a hell of a dinner. He made some chicken alfredo, some corn, even made some naan and for desert they had some bananas and honey. He mixed up a couple pitchers of Arnold Palmer. There wasn’t anything left when they got done.

  They talked a bit longer before setting the watch schedule and heading to bed. Haliday went over a few more things with Mike and Bill. Bill, too, asked about the government. Haliday said, “Nothing from them at all. As far as I can tell they are nonexistent.” They headed off to bed. He checked with Dawn and heard they too were camping for the night. It looked like they were in the home stretch.

  The morning sun arose and they all got ready to go. “Kayla, can you load up the cats.”

  “Ok, I’ll grab them.”

  “Take your mutant dog too.” She called Max; he came prancing by and stepped on Haliday’s toes as he passed by. Before he walked into the cage, he took the time to look back at Haliday. Kayla grabbed Romeo and stuffed him in there with Max. Haliday really hated that mutt about now.

  Everyone said their goodbyes. Mike and Linda hugged Kayla and told her to be careful, listen to her dad and that they loved her. They were all relieved that right now everyone was safe. Everyone piled into the vehicles and Mike walked down and unlocked the gate. Haliday paused at the gate and called Mike over. “I have a gift for you.”

  He handed him a handheld ham. “You can recharge it with the small solar panel I left back in the barn. Directions are on it; it’s easy. You can flip it on every hour on the hour and if we need you, we’ll call then, and we’ll listen for you as well. You know the protocol, no last names and no locations. I left a couple other things in there as well. We’re only going to be about 50 miles away, but these days that’s a lot. Good luck old man.”

  Mike locked up the gate and then went into the barn. There were some buckets and boxes of food along with the little solar panel and frequency chart. He found a few notes on how to cook the food and what proportions to use. There was a lot of soup, rice, pasta, beans and some canned meats. This would help them get through the winter easily.

  He looked around at some bales of hay which he moved aside and hid everything. He went in and told Bill and the two Lindas what they had. They were all more relieved. He would go hunt for a deer to start them off before they got to the cows. The longer they could keep those, the better. Same for the chickens.

  Haliday’s group made it to the rendezvous point. He heard from Dawn and told her they would be waiting. They had two more places that could be trouble and they would need to go through together. He was making some instant coffee when the radio went off. “Roger, we’re stuck. The trailer is stuck and we can’t get it out. We’ve been trying for over an hour and a half.”

  Haliday said, “Hold tight; I’ll be there in a bit.” He had the guys unload the KLR and he got ready to go and help. They were about 20 miles away and he would go it alone. Everyone else would stay here and wait. They were out of sight, out of mind, and as long as they stayed that way and kept quiet, they would be fine. He kicked over the bike, turned his radio on and put his earpiece in and rode off.

  Haliday set out west to meet up with them and see what he could do. He should have asked them to be a bit more specific about how they got stuck, but then maybe someone would try to figure out their location. Who knew if there was anyone listening in on their frequency or not. He’ll see what’s going on when he gets there.

  He was cruising down the road when he passed an older Jeep that suddenly pulled onto the road coming the opposite way. At his speed, it caught him by surprise. He glanced in the mirror of the bike and noticed it was turning around. As far as he could see it had a couple guys in it. He couldn’t tell their age because they had the top off and looked like they were bundled up a bit. It was one of the coldest days yet.

  He hadn’t given the temperature much thought because he had slipped on some thermals under his pant
s and shirts because the ride on the bike would be cool anyway. He saw them coming up closer now. There didn’t seem to be any glass in the windshield which might be the reason they were bundled up. The closer they got the more detail he could see.

  He slowed down and took a right hand turn. The Jeep followed. Two guys only, wearing camo of some type and both had balaclavas on. Now he wasn’t sure they were both male or not. Judging by their size, he was pretty sure they were. It was that or they were big women, but he doubted that. He was wondering what happened to the glass in the windshield.

  The Jeep pulled up almost right on his rear fender now. He glanced back and saw the passenger waving to him to pull over. I don’t think so, Haliday thought. He throttled the KLR a bit more to put a bit more space between him and the Jeep. The Jeep started honking the horn and the passenger was waving again.

  Haliday gunned it a bit more and as he increased speed so did the Jeep. He glanced back and saw the passenger holding what looked like an AR. He rested what looked like a bipod on the hood. That explained the missing glass, but why didn’t they just flip the windshield down, he thought. Maybe they had broken it doing that.

  Haliday saw an access drive for the corn field next to him; he slowed and spun the KLR into the field. This field had been cleaned of the ears of corn, but the farmer hadn’t yet turned it under. The stalks were hitting him and hurt like hell. He felt like he was getting whipped across his shoulders, thank goodness for the hand guards and helmet.

  The Jeep had whipped in too. He heard a couple shots and hugged the bike as low as he could. He didn’t know if these were warning shots or if these were meant for him. All he did know was he didn’t care. He slammed on the brakes and cut across the rows. It was bumpy as hell and the Jeep would be bouncing like crazy. That would make it harder to target him.

  He whipped back around once more and headed back to the road. He cut through the ditch and bounced up onto the pavement. The Jeep had a tougher time navigating this and Haliday increased the distance between him and the Jeep. He needed this distance. He would have to slow down a bit for a brief few seconds.