Dark Days Rough Roads

by Matthew D. Mark

  “Anything else?” Kayla asked.

  “Ya, they don’t take too kindly to outsiders. People who don’t live here, and have not lived here for a while, they really don’t care for. I think they mean to take over the area and run it as their own small state. If that’s the case you guys might have issues depending on where you’re going.”

  Kayla said, “Thank you sir.”

  “No problem, take care, your mom says hugs and kisses,” Bill replied.

  Kayla looked around. Everyone except Kevin and Blake, who were on watch, was sitting there listening in. “How’s this change things?” Bev asked.

  “Well, we have a couple choices here. I’m not sure any of them will be acceptable to these people if they have that attitude. Here are the options we have so far.

  “One, I can make arrangements to meet with them, see what they are up to, and if we can go about our business. They might see us as a threat and say no and then tighten their security and look for us to try to move in. They may even want payment or outright take what we want and kick us out. Could get ugly.”

  “Two, we can try to sneak in, take hold on our land, and then let them approach us when they discover us. We can feel them out then, show them we are just there to mind our own business and see how that works out; but we could end up defending ourselves. The Michigan Alamo. Same results, it could be bad.”

  “Third, we could hunker down somewhere, go on the hunt and try to shake up their ranks. But we’re talking about guerrilla warfare. We are talking about a long, drawn out campaign with some pretty good chances of losing some of the ranks here. I’m not really advising this. So far they just tried to kill me if that’s what it was, not really show they are a threat to all of us. I probably appeared to be a threat to them.”

  “Fourth, I could go it alone, take out whomever I can for a while and see how that works out. There’s enough stuff here to get you through for quite some time. Then we could move onto our land. Or you could head back to Bill and Linda’s. The longer we wait to get there, the better the odds are they might find something and we lose it all. This would really piss them off.”

  They all sat around talking about it for a while. Some different ideas were thrown out, but not much really made sense. It really came down to one thing. How could they get all their people to the house and stay there as long as possible with the least amount of trouble. That would be one hell of a trick.

  They set up another 10X10 and joined the two together. They put the heater in the middle. It was still close quarters, but better than nothing. Everyone had their own little area and was warm. With any luck, it wouldn’t be like this much longer. They would be at the land and in the house.

  There were fourteen of them in the group. Only twelve were able to pull watch. Elizabeth and Bobby were too young. Kayla had figured out a schedule. Two on at a time would be ok. Hour and a half shifts would help keep them awake, although the cool weather would do that too. They had set up some traps like Haliday instructed.

  Haliday had them set up some booby trap simulators to alert the group if people got too close. Those were purchased from a surplus store. He also had them set up what he called trigger hooks. They were 3X3 foot square fish line nets with fish hooks scattered around them. These were placed face high. Once they snagged anything, any attempt to take them off snagged even more. Clothing, hair or skin. Man’s natural reaction to brush something away allowed them to work. The barbed hooks dug in deep.

  It was an uneventful night; however a few of them did not sleep. They tossed and turned trying to figure out how to reach the house, what to expect the next couple days, what had happened the past few days, but mostly what was happening to family members. They didn’t have any idea what was happening to any of them. Being together tonight reminded them that there were those who were missing.

  Morning came as usual. Everyone got up and started warming up around the heater. Bev put some pots of water on for oatmeal and coffee, hot cocoa for the kids. They packed up any non-essential items and ate breakfast when it was done. Haliday called a quick meeting. “Time to vote,” he said. The rumbling started immediately. No one wanted to decide. They deferred the decision to Haliday.

  “Ok, this is what we are going to do,” he said. “Like it or not, since there was no decision, it’s my ball game. We are going to pack everything up. I’ll be on one bike and Blake on his. We’ll be riding along well in front of the ranger, with the horses behind it followed by the trucks. If we spot trouble we’ll hit the sides of the road and take cover. The rest of you will be expected to do the same.

  The ranger will go left, horses will go right, Cherokee left as well and Tahoe to the right. That will even things out on both sides of the road. We’ll work out vehicle assignments. Do not bunch together, stay within earshot of each other and keep your eyes open to all sides and front and rear. If we have to fire, make sure you do not cross fire and do not fire up by us. You will have to watch my signals.” Haliday covered some brief hand signals.

  “I’ve altered the route a bit, but it will take us two days if everything goes smoothly. Make sure the vehicles are gassed up. We’ll stop once for lunch and that’s all. When we stop for dinner, we’ll also make camp for the night. I’m not going to try to contact the militia at all. We are going to try to sneak in there.

  “If we encounter a problem I’ll raise them on the radio and set something up as far as a meeting goes. I have a couple ideas of how to do that. In the meantime, let’s get ready to move out. Blake, get your bike and bring it here. We have a quick modification to make.” Blake rolled his bike over to where Haliday was.

  Haliday took a long pipe that had an elbow on the end and held it up against the fork of Blake’s bike. He used a few heavy round clamps and secured it in place. Haliday walked over to his bike and slipped a similar pipe into a sleeve he already had attached to the fork, and used a big cotter pin to secure it in place.

  “What’s that for?” Blake asked.

  “It’s so we can keep our heads on. If these guys are looking for me on a bike, there’s no telling whether or not they set up any traps. The most common is a wire strung between trees or poles. It catches you at neck level and it’s all over. The pipe will catch the wire. I doubt it’ll snap the wire, but the pressure will knock the bike down and you with it. Much better alternative.

  “Here’s a multi-tool.”

  “What for?”

  “To clip the wire Blake. Just in case, that’s all, got it? We don’t need wire getting caught in any wheels or anything.” Blake didn’t like this idea, but he was the most experienced rider next to Haliday. “Blake, get your head in the game, listen to me and you’ll do fine.”

  Haliday was listening to the minute men frequency. “Papa 4 is out at Delta 13.”

  “Almost sounds like cops.” He waited about 7-8 minutes before he heard them again.

  “Papa 4 is back on patrol. Parties at Delta 13 said they haven’t seen anything unusual.” Haliday figured Kayla hit the nail on the head. These were locations of houses and they were checking them regularly.

  He listened in a bit more. “Papa 2 is out at Bravo 7.” He waved everyone off and motioned for them to sit. Kayla came by with her notebook. She was taking notes. After about 25 more minutes they had a pattern figured out. Papa was obviously a patrol number, and they noted each patrol had an area assigned to them. One was Alpha, two was Bravo, three was Charlie and four was Delta. That made sense.

  What didn’t make sense was they could not possibly have numbered every house or building in the area. Rich said, “They have a neighborhood watch set up. They probably have people in key locations and they check in with those people. Intersections, ends of roads, wherever they have a vantage point.” Good catch Dad.

  Haliday had to figure out two things. How did they convince these extra eyes to play along and what area were they in. Make that three things, what area were they trying to get too as well. He studied the map to see if he could figure
out the areas. He noted everyone else getting anxious. “I learned this in the army folks. It’s called hurry up and wait.”

  Haliday studied the map some more. He had lost himself in it when he heard Kayla say bingo.

  “Bingo what Kayla?”

  “Dad, you didn’t hear that?”

  “All I heard was cantonment.” Damn, he got it. They wanted Papa 3 which was the Charlie sector to stay in their cantonment area. He had used cantonment areas, or rather districts, down at Ft. Stewart as an MP.

  Haliday divided the map up in equal sections now. They were covering roughly 40X40 miles. The yahoos he ran across had gone out of their area and were cautioned to stay in their area today. These would be the Papa 3 units with Charlie sector. At night he figured the two units covered north and south. Someone had military training or read a lot of field manuals.

  This posed another problem. The Bay City Minute Men most likely bordered the Bad Axe areas. If they had a mutual aid pact, that increased the odds of trouble. They would definitely have more firepower. Haliday was going to have to completely rethink this situation.

  He called everyone over. “Time to change the plan. We are going to make a very short move to this location here. This will put us just inside the edge of their patrol area. We’ll set up camp and you’ll stay there tonight and through tomorrow as well. Early the next morning you’ll move out and head straight to the house.

  “I’m going to head up over here and stir the pot. I’ll stir it enough to draw them away from you guys. Once you get there, you fortify the hell out of it. There’s instructions, diagrams, notes, everything you will need right there in the house. Kayla knows how to get to everything. I’ll work my way back and we’ll go from there.

  “What if we’re spotted?” David asked.

  “They have the patrols calling in the checks from their spotters, so I doubt they have a way of communicating. They’ll be too busy with me to do the normal checks. Like I said, I’ll buy you the time to get there. I do need a volunteer to go with me. Blake, it’s your bike and you know how to ride. It’s going to be you. Let’s move.”

  In about two hours they reached the camp site. Haliday and Blake made their preparations while the rest of the group set up camp, placed the booby traps out and got settled in. They covered a few more informational items, wished each other luck and said their goodbyes. Haliday and Blake headed out.

  Chapter 17

  Haliday and Blake rode out and used a lot of the back roads. They avoided the main roads, even though they seemed to be clear. The reason behind this was that Haliday figured this was where most of the spotters were located, almost like border patrol outposts. The militia would know when their little border had been breached. It was this particular reason that Haliday laid out the plan the way he did.

  They were as careful as they possibly could be while in area Charlie, the area they would settle into for the long haul. Once they reached the other sector, however, they made themselves plain as day. They made it a point to be seen by whom they suspected were most likely spotters. This was the beginning of the plan.

  After another hour they stopped and pulled over into the woods. Haliday and Blake had the portable hams so they could keep in touch. Haliday told Blake to cut back through the woods, change over and come back through the area that they just came from. Blake cut through the woods, stopped, and made some quick changes.

  Blake changed his outer jacket cover that Haliday had given him. He had a couple of these. They were just shells of various camo patterns and not full jackets. He also altered the looks of his bike. He took some black hundred mile an hour tape and made some large stripes on the yellow tank and fenders. He placed one across his helmet as well. He took off and headed to where they had originally stopped.

  Haliday in the meantime had taken some black and brown tape and put squares on his bike to give it a quasi digital camo look. He simply took his helmet off and put on a boonie cap to go along with his own jacket change. The difference was good enough that most people would think it was someone else.

  About half a mile before Blake reached the woods, he stopped right in the middle of the road in front of a small farmhouse on a corner lot by a small intersection. There was a lady standing there on the porch. Blake looked down the main road and raised his arm and gave a quick wave. Haliday came up behind him and they both took off. As far as the lady on the porch knew, there had been two pairs of bikes that went through. A multiplication of manpower through deception.

  Next up, they caused a little trouble. They rode up close to a small town called Pigeon. Haliday scoped out a small gas station with only a few people near it. They rode up slowly and pulled in. A guy in his mid-twenties was standing there with a pistol stuffed in a thigh rig. Blake was facing this guy and Haliday made it a point to face the direction they came in from.

  “You guys don’t look too familiar, how can I help you.” Blake looked around. Haliday looked around as well and then the ruse began. Haliday clicked his mic and said, “There are four bodies here, all armed. Hold your twenty.” The guy looked up the street and then back at Blake.

  “Any chance we can buy some gas?”

  “How much you need?”

  Blake said, “We need to fill six bikes and six ‘two’ gallon cans.”

  “Is that all?”

  “For now, we might need to fill our trucks in a couple hours.”

  “That’s going to be a problem for sure. Where you guys from anyway?”

  Blake was good at this. “Just around,” he answered.

  The moment was getting a little tense. Haliday clicked the mic again, “No, hold your twenty. Doesn’t look like they want to play nice with us.” Haliday glanced over at the guy who was standing there now. “Well? We get gas or not?”

  The guy said, “No, we’re under orders not to sell it to anybody that doesn’t have a gas card.”

  “Where do we get a gas card?”

  “You can’t, the militia gave them out.”

  “You mean the military gave them out?”

  “No, the militia.”

  Haliday looked at the guy. “So let me understand this. You guys are taking orders from a group of yahoos who think they run the country now? You guys have a say in that decision of how they would distribute what’s yours?” The guy didn’t answer. Haliday said, “Lets go, these people are suffering HUA.”

  The guy asked Haliday what HUA meant.

  “Head up ass.”

  Haliday clicked his mic once more; “We’re coming back out. Have Dave in truck five fill up a couple gas cans for the bikes and meet us at…,” Haliday then stopped, looked at the guy, and said, “I’ll call you back with that info. Thanks for nothing partner. We’ll go find our gas elsewhere.” They high tailed it out of that area quickly.

  Of course there hadn’t been any transmissions or any truck number five, but appearances counted here, not the facts. They found themselves a little place to hide. They sat it out for about two hours trying to listen to see what was going on. Haliday grinned when he heard the first message pertaining to them.

  “Papa 1 is out at Alpha 10 with information. Stand by.” A few minutes passed. “Alpha 10 reports that there were at least four men on motorcycles who passed by a couple hours ago. They report there might have been more, but definitely saw four. We have a direction and will head out and see what other info we can find.”

  About half an hour later came another transmission. “Papa 1 is out at Foxtrot Delta 3.” Haliday thought about that one, ok, fuel depot, these guys really wanted to play army. Good for them. Haliday openly laughed at the next transmission.

  “Papa 1 to HQ we have reports that confirm six motorcycles and possible trucks in the area. Maybe up to five or more, but makes and models are unknown. There is an unknown number of hostiles. Seems they wanted gas and were denied. We understand the guys were some sort of wannabe Special Forces jerks with attitudes based on the way they acted.” Haliday got a kick out of this.


  “Oh boy, these people are hilarious,” he said.

  They pushed their bikes further into the woods and covered them up. Haliday broke out a small camp stove and some water. “Mac and cheese this evening, Blake, is that ok with you?”

  “Sounds ok to me.”

  “You want coffee or cocoa?”

  “No, can I have something else?”

  “Water, Kool-Aid, Arnold Palmer or Tang?”

  “I’ll have some Kool-Aid.”

  They finished their quick dinner and then checked in with the group. “Everything is going fine,” he said. “Tonight I want you to monitor the militia freq. and take notes. Do not worry about what you hear about us. I want you to concentrate on what they are doing. Have a couple people listen in to make sure you get as much info as possible.

  “Ok Blake, you ready to go?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Alright, then let’s get busy.” Haliday double-checked to make sure the lights on the bikes were taped off. He rigged up the headlights so that you could pull a strip of tape off and it would uncover the light in case they needed to see. The moon was fairly bright and provided enough light to see at the speeds they were moving. They moved slowly using back woods trails.

  They were coming up on a small road and turned the bikes off. They walked up to a stalled car and punctured the tank and filled their smaller gas cans. They went back and filled the bikes. They went back and topped off the gas cans. Haliday let the gas flow out of the tank though instead of plugging it like he had the other tanks.

  Haliday grabbed a cigarette out of a pack in his pocket; he didn’t smoke, just used them for projects. He grabbed a wooden match and poked it through the cigarette near the filter. He grabbed a paper clip and bent it into shape. He placed this down by the gas on the ground. Looked like a little cannon pointing toward the sky. The cigarette would burn down, ignite the match which was close enough to the gas, and that would set it all ablaze.