Dark Days Rough Roads

by Matthew D. Mark

  He laid the body along the side of the admin building. A few more people came out of the admin center. They climbed up into the back of the deuce and hunkered down low behind the plate metal. The deuce headed off toward the other buildings. It would pause and someone would get down and into a defensive position.

  The positions the militia had set up had included sand bag emplacements, some short metal walls angled at 45 degree angles and placed near the corner of buildings and some cinder blocks that had been stacked two deep and filled with sand. They used whatever was found at the airport prior to the EMP strike.

  The deuce made another trip and loaded up some more people. The townspeople could only take an occasional pot shot, but didn’t hit anyone. The group here at the airport was definitely the safest. The townspeople would have to regroup and figure out another plan of attack. The deuce delivered more militia to their positions.

  They had twenty people dedicated to fighting positions around the buildings. The sniper on the roof would help extend their reach. The outlying areas of the airport they would have to leave alone for now. It was all open space and runway, so there were no buildings or supplies to defend. The rest of the militia was there to respond where needed and to help coordinate.

  Rob was talking with Brad. They had to get this under control much faster. Right now it was simply a standstill with both sides waiting for the other to make a move. Rob asked Brad what he thought. “We’re screwed with that man on top of that admin building. We have to flush him out somehow. The distance we’re at is killing us.”

  One of Rob’s group had positioned himself up on the feed store’s roof where he had seen Haliday fire from a couple of days earlier. He took aim at the militia sniper’s position and fired a shot. The shot dropped far too low. The man’s rifle was underpowered. He raised his rifle to adjust the aiming point and fired again to try and flush the man out.

  The militia sniper was aware of this position and dialed in his scope. He had invested in an ATN gen three scope and looking at the man on the feed store roof was not a problem at all. He fired his round and struck the man on the feed store roof in the top of the shoulder. The round travelled through his upper body cavity. The man tumbled down off the roof and fell to the pavement.

  Brad asked Rob who the best shot was. Rob told him it was Tom. The guy had a knack for hunting. Go get him. Rob jumped in the four wheeler and went and got Tom. When he got back, Brad pointed to the map. He said, “Tom, you think you can climb a tree over in this clump here and get the bastard on the roof of their HQ?”

  Tom looked over the map and looked at the scale. “It’ll be hard. I won’t lie, but I might be able to do it.”

  Brad looked at Rob, “Can we get him there?”

  Rob said, “Sure, give us about 20 minutes.”

  “Ok, you get there, and then get Tom up in that tree.” He told Tom to wait for the signal.

  “What is the signal going to be?” he responded.

  “It’s going to be like the Fourth of July. When the fireworks start, you try and get that guy.”

  “Rob, after you take Tom there, go around and get these guys ready. Tell them to launch on my signal. I’ll pop a flare, and once they start, it’s Toms ball game. Anyone else who can get a shot in should take it.” Rob and Tom got back on the four wheeler. Rob drove down a ways and cut back up through the same path Haliday used to ambush the track.

  They came across the track and both Rob and Tom just looked at it. It gave them shivers to think about the people sitting in that thing burning. The stench of burnt rotting flesh was pungent. The militia had not been able to get the bodies out of the track. They both looked at each other then looked up toward the trees in panic, but nothing was there.

  Rob had to back up the four wheeler and find another route. The track blocked the path and he couldn’t get past the trees in the woods. They hurried up, and they were cutting it close. They had to make sure Brad didn’t start early. Rob skirted the woods and passed along a brick and block company. Those would have been useful to build some blockades, he thought.

  He turned the lights off on the four wheeler and they crossed the road. They parked and got out and headed toward the clump of trees. As they passed the house, Rob saw people looking out the windows. He told them to get in the basement. The people just watched. Rob told Tom, “Some people think this is a game, and they just want to watch. Like it’s a giant Xbox or Playstation.”

  Rob gave Tom a boost and he started climbing the tree. He kept looking over at the roof, half expecting to get hit. He climbed as high as he could get and braced himself. He could barely make out the militia sniper. He watched and waited for movement. This was not going to be easy.

  The militia was talking back and forth as they tried to identify where the aggressors were. The flare went off and arced over the airport building then came down without incident. In a matter of minutes, several large fireworks started going. Michigan had just come around to allowing the good stuff to be sold, and as with any state that sells them, they were abundant in tourist traps.

  As the fireworks were dancing in the sky several more flares were launched toward the buildings and mainly toward the admin building. Numerous fire work tubes were aimed at the buildings as well. The militia almost laughed at the attack; however, the admin building was getting pelted consistently. One lucky shot made it into the militia snipers position and he moved to avoid it.

  Tom took this opportunity along with two more townspeople and started firing. Fifteen shots had been fired rapidly toward the sniper. He laid up on the roof as blood ran down from the rooftop. The militia positions returned fire toward the riflemen but were taking hits themselves from almost 30 different people. The sniper threat had been removed but at the cost of one more of Rob’s group dead and two injured.

  Tom scrambled down the tree amidst the fire. He fell the last seven feet and came down on his ankle, snapping it. Two townspeople assigned to regular posts here provided enough fire so Rob could get Tom out of there. He took Tom back to the four wheeler and drove him over to the tooling shop they had started to use as their meeting area. They had a nurse there and she would do what she could. They were not able to convince any doctors to get involved yet.

  Rob went back and met with Brad again. With the sniper gone now, they would make some moves to get closer. They thought of every possible contingency. Getting into the compound would be vital to eliminating as many of the militia as they could. Rob wondered how Haliday was doing.

  Chapter 29

  The Jeep stopped about 10 feet from the woman. Two guys jumped out and ran over to her. They each grabbed a side of her and got her to her feet and were taking her to the Jeep. She couldn’t move well and they struggled moving her. She was insisting they take the man’s body with them. The man down turned out to be her husband.

  The driver of the Jeep was yelling at them to hurry. They had to get out of there quickly. The smoke was practically gone. He put it in reverse and continued to yell at them to rush. As he waited for them he fired his own rifle into the house and at the landscaping areas around it. He was panicking; this rescue was taking far too long.

  The driver was firing only toward the house now thinking people were at the windows. Blake, Mike and Kevin were returning fire along with Alan, who was firing from the second floor portal. There were Three more militia groups firing at the house from this side. The Jeep driver stopped firing and popped a can of smoke and tossed it in front of him hoping this would help continue to blind them.

  Alan was taking aim into the center of the smoke when a round came in grazing his cheek and splintered the wood next to him causing bits of wood to fly. He backed away and put the rifle down. He grabbed a pouch from his pocket and tore it open and held it to the massive gash which had gone almost gone completely through his cheek.

  He called downstairs for help. Bev came up the steps with a bag. She took the quick clot off his cheek and squeezed the gash together. She placed a few bu
tterfly band aids over it and then taped another bandage over it. Right now this was going to be the best that he was going to get.

  Haliday fired, striking the Jeeps’ driver in the back of his head. The round penetrated the windshield as well. The driver fell limp and the Jeep slowly rolled in reverse as the militia members were trying to get the woman into the side of the Jeep. They dropped down and crawled toward the vehicle in the ditch. They weren’t sure where the round came from.

  The woman started to crawl that way as well, but was having a hard time. She was pleading for help. There wasn’t going to be any. The men who attempted her rescue were concerned with getting out of the area and getting to a safer location, so they let her lie there. They actually considered whether or not to try to get in the Jeep.

  Across the street by an empty house Kayla saw some movement and called it out. Mark, David and Lisa along with Kayla kept an eye out over there. The angle was difficult for Kayla and she was trying to keep an eye on the woods. She yelled over to Mark and told him they needed help on the west side wood line.

  Mark called Alan, who went over to the other side of the house and opened that portal. His cheek was still stinging like crazy. He eyed the woods and looked for the militia. They had really started shooting down the strobes now. Only a couple of them had NVG’s but even that gave them an advantage. The depth perception and detail lacked severely because they were early generation one NVG’s so they were mostly for movement or observation.

  Mark called out more movement by the empty house Kayla had pointed out and confirmed it was militia. He fired single shots in that direction. Lisa and David waited as he did this. As soon as they saw the first flash they opened up on that location. They each fired around 15 rounds. Around 15 feet away from that area, another militia member returned fire, emptying a full clip toward them. There were at least two militia members by this house.

  The woods to the west was getting fairly full with militia members as they shifted people to this area. This was the most vulnerable side of the house. Kayla, Linda and Nancy had their work cut out for them. It was very dark and they couldn’t make out anybody. They saw an occasional muzzle flash, but nothing in the same spot twice. Alan couldn’t find anyone either. He called Roger and told him the problem.

  Karen had Elizabeth and Theresa down in the basement of the house along with the cats and mutant dog. Her job was strictly to keep them as safe as possible. She had a pistol and five magazines with her. If they called on her, she could respond if she needed to. She was also ready to usher them to a vehicle in case of a bug out situation..

  Rich had Matthew and Bobby ready to douse any fires in the house. Bev was ready with first aid supplies for whoever could make it back to the house. Trying to use the house as their sole cover wasn’t exactly tactically sound, but it had been set up for a strong defense. They did have a few more tricks ready though. When the time came, they could use them.

  The Jeep from the rescue had stalled out, and was now just sitting there in reverse in the ditch. The militia men decided to make their way toward their sniper. They called him so he could cover their retreat. Haliday heard the static and picked out a few words, hide, cover and retreat. He clicked the transmit button, but didn’t speak. All the militia men heard back was crackling.

  They headed out at a crawl toward Haliday. Haliday could not see them well, but knew they were heading his way. He shot over their heads and toward a safe zone. He fired almost 10 rounds providing “cover” for them. Randy, Sarah and Blake had returned fire toward him. Haliday called, “Mike, tell them to stop. It’s me. I’m not firing at them.” Mike called over to Blake and told him to pass the word. They couldn’t quite reach him but he didn’t care. Now that they stopped, it really appeared that he was safely covering the militia.

  They understood now, but they didn’t know any better when they had fired. They now focused on other militia firing toward them. The two men from the Jeep kept up their retreat. The men were about 150 yards away from Roger now. They just kept coming. Haliday watched them carefully. Come and get your cheese you rats, he was thinking.

  Lisa called over to Mark about the two people by the empty house, “I think they’re coming over the road.” Mark was scanning back and forth. Lisa told Mark, “By the ditch. By the ditch.” One of the militia got up and sprinted toward the ditch. He dove down into it under a hail of gunfire. He raised his rifle and fired while the other person ran to the ditch as well.

  There was one more militia at this house now who moved in to that location and who helped provide cover. He started to fire and the woods on the west side lit up at the same time. The two militia men were able to make it across the street into the ditch during the diversion. They were now closer to the house and a mere 100 feet from Lisa and Mark. The two militia lay in the ditch waiting to make their move.

  *****

  Rob looked over at Brad. “Brad, we need to get into this compound. We need to get through that fence.”

  Brad said, “I agree, but it’s not like we can just plow our way in there.”

  “Actually we can,” said Rob, “over by the brick and block company is an old front loader, let’s go see if it runs.” They took off to check it out.

  The militia had them outgunned as far as type of rifle, but neither had an edge. The townspeople would fire a shot or two from their rifles and the militia response was usually 2 or 3 rounds or a short burst if they had a full auto rifle. Few more than half had converted their rifles to full auto. For a group that was breaking many laws, it was surprising they didn’t all have full autos.

  Word had spread that the sniper had been taken out and some of the guys now sought higher ground. A few used tree stands, but had them on the back sides of the trees in order to use the tree as cover. A couple hit the closer rooftops in hopes of being able to get a better line of sight.

  A few of the guys got bored and they commenced to shoot out every piece of glass they could on the admin building, regardless of the windows being boarded up. The upper windows weren’t boarded up and they shot these out as well. Heat rises and they would either get colder or use more of their energy heating the place.

  Rob and Brad made it to the brick company. They climbed up on the old front loader and climbed up in the cab. They searched for a key but couldn’t find it. Rob went over to the office and tried the door, but it was locked. He went around and tried the back door, but it too was locked. Brad said, “Now what?” Rob picked up a brick and broke the window out of the back door. They went inside to look for the key.

  Hanging on a wall by the shop door was a bunch of keys. Rob looked at the tags and found one that said loader. He grabbed it and they went back outside to the front loader. He climbed back up into the cab and put the key in the ignition and turned the switch. The engine cranked, but very slowly.

  Brad called up to him and told him the batteries must be low. They went back into the shop and looked around. They couldn’t find any jumper cables or anything. Brad grabbed a fire ax and walked over to a piece of conduit and chopped at it. He followed it along the base of the wall about 10 feet and then swung again. He had Rob hold the pipe and he pulled the wire out. Homemade jumper cables.

  They connected them to the battery of the four wheeler and then the batteries on the front loader. Rob climbed up into the cab once again and tried. The motor turned over, but still didn’t start. Brad revved the engine on the four wheeler and Rob tried to start it. The engine finally caught and a plume of black smoke came out of the muffler. Brad gave Rob a thumbs up and then took the wires off the batteries.

  Over toward the southwest corner of the airport, one of the militia called for a status check. He was told everyone was in position defending the compound. He asked how the other group was doing and he was told that they didn’t know yet. The only information they had exchanged so far was that they were engaged in firefights.

  This was a younger man in his early twenties. His parents had volunteered to go on the ass
ault mission and he was asked to stay. Now he was wondering if he should have gone on the mission too. He started to get antsy and moved back and forth. It had been a few hours now and his mind wandered. The HQ asked if anyone needed any ammo. One guy asked for something to drink and HQ told them critical runs only would be made.

  Brad and Rob didn’t know if the fuel gauge worked or not so they found a can and transferred some diesel from the large 500 gallon fuel tank to the loader. When they had it filled, Rob went over and picked up a pallet of bricks. The company had taken the bucket off and had been using large pallet forks. Brad placed a loose board on top of the forks behind the pallet of bricks.

  Rob headed for the south end of the airport. When they got toward the fence line he paused and Brad ducked over to the woods, where two more guys were waiting. He asked them if they were ok with taking a ride and entering the compound. Both agreed and they all ran back toward the loader. Rob plowed over the fence where it was hanging low from being clipped. He got as close as he could.

  The militia was firing on the loader. Rob knew that as soon as he put the pallet of bricks down he would have to take off. Brad jumped up next to the cab and he lowered the pallet and backed off. The two guys behind the pallet and Brad all fired as Rob retreated. A few rounds hit the cab but no one got hit. The two guys that stayed with the bricks started hollowing out a small area of the pallet. They piled up the ones they removed and placed them on the sides of the pallet to widen their protection.

  Rob and Brad went to the brick company and picked up another pallet of bricks. Rob told Brad to meet him near the west side of the airport with the four wheeler. Rob drove the bricks through the gap in the fence again and headed toward the west fence. As soon as he dropped the load he drove toward the west fence line. Even with cover fire, the loader was taking hits. It started to slow down and Rob headed straight for the west fence.