by David Nees
When they drew near to Gatlinburg, Jason called for a halt. “Someone get some cloth for a blindfold for the Chairman. It’s time to unload him and continue on our own.”
“Why blindfold me?” Tom asked.
“So you can’t see where we go from here. You’ll be all right. I expect it won’t be too long before the militia comes along to pick you up. But we’ve got options from here on, so you won’t know exactly which one we’ve chosen.”
They stopped the Humvee. Jason and the Chairman got out slowly.
“Be careful. Don’t want to ruin everything at this point,” Jason said.
Clayton cut the tape away; Jason let out a sigh and massaged his right hand.
“That’s a relief.”
After the shotgun was removed from Tom’s neck, he sighed as well and moved his neck to loosen it up.
“I suggest you consider what I’ve said before initiating any action against Hillsboro,” Jason said. “We don’t threaten you and we don’t want to get into your fight with Nashville. You leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone.”
“Until the Feds come,” Tom said. “Then which side will you be on? And if the Feds decide to make me the regional authority, what will you do then? I won’t look kindly on all the crap you were spouting on about back there. You won’t have a friend who will now have the federal government behind him.”
“You can hope for that, but that’s playing a long shot, from what I see. We’ll leave you to your experiment. History is not on your side in the long run.”
The men sat Tom down on the roadside and got in the Humvee and drove off.
Chapter 22
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H ead east towards I40. We may have to go on foot soon,” Jason said.
“We just dump the Humvee?” Rodney asked?
“Let’s put some miles between us and the Chairman. Then if we have to ditch it, we’ll hide it so no one will know we’re on foot.”
“You think we’ll be better off in the woods?” Rodney continued.
“The Humvee presents a target,” Jason said.
“But we move faster with it,” Rodney replied.
“We better off in the woods,” Clayton said. “They don’t know the woods like we do.”
“I’m happy to go in the woods,” Billy said. “Better’n staying on the interstate. Too open there.”
“We get in the woods, no one will find us. They won’t be able to track us. It be slower but we’ll get back without any more trouble,” Clayton said.
Rodney sighed. “Looks like I’m out-voted.”
“You’re in the company of woodsmen,” Jason said. “You’ll see. The Knoxville militia will be out of their element if they follow us into the forest.”
Twenty minutes later, Jason directed Rodney to pull off on a side road, no more than a two-track trail. It wound south into the hills. They started up the trail, then stopped. Clayton and Billy got out and cut some branches to sweep the tracks away. When they were done, you couldn’t see from the paved road that any vehicle had used the trail.
They proceeded in the Humvee deeper into the mountains. Forty minutes later, they pulled off, unloaded their gear, and pulled on their backpacks.
“Shank’s mare from here,” Clayton said with a smile.
Rodney looked at him, then Jason.
“Old joke,” Jason said and headed into the woods going east from the trail.
When it got dark, they stopped and made a cold camp.
“No sense stumbling around in the dark,” Clayton said. “We can go when the moon gets up.”
“Did you really set up a Swiss-type citizen’s militia already?” Rodney asked.
“I exaggerated a bit, but we’re working on it. I’m hoping it will give the Chairman some concern about attacking us.”
“And the special defenses?”
“I made that up. It’s better he imagines how good our defenses are than to see how little we’ve prepared for any attack.”
“Clever,” Rodney replied.
“Let’s hope it works.”
There would be a three-quarter moon that night. If the sky remained clear, it would provide good light for the group to cover more precious miles. Everyone lay down in their blankets and ground cloths. On the far hillside they could hear the bark of a coyote which was answered by others, setting up a small chorus. In between, the night’s stillness pressed down. For those accustomed to the forest the quiet was a comfort; for Rodney it still was a bit unnerving.
He got up and walked off to sit on a log. Jason stirred and saw him. He unwrapped himself from his gear and sat down next to the sergeant.
“You doing all right?” Jason asked.
“Yeah. Couldn’t sleep. Maybe it’s too quiet. Not used to the woods.”
“You move through it okay.”
“Army training. Didn’t get that so much from Iraq or Afghanistan, more from Fort Benning. Lots of woods down there.”
The two men sat for some time listening to the night, the soft breeze of rustling through the pine needles and oak leaves.
“Thank you for coming for us,” Rodney said. “But why didn’t you just send them the ransom? Be a whole lot less dangerous.”
“The courier was unhelpful…pissed me off.” He paused for a moment. “And I figured they’d just see it as a sign of weakness, that we’d rather pay than fight. I guessed they’d be back for more and more, so better to try to end it now.”
“Still, took a lot of balls to walk into that hornet’s nest. Did you know how you’d get out?”
“Not in detail. I knew I had to set up a mutually deadly scenario, one that was fail-safe. The idea crystalized in my mind as we got close to the target. As I expected it wasn’t all that hard to get in. Getting out was going to be the problem.”
“Well, thanks for that. We may not have made it back yet, but I’m feeling pretty hopeful now.” Rodney patted Jason on the shoulder.
“You still want to go to Missouri? Going to start that trip all over again?”
Rodney sat quietly, staring out into the darkness.
“Yeah. It’s still in my mind. ‘Course I’ve got to adjust my timing. Not sure if Billy will still want to go now.”
“Family. It’s a strong draw. But Hillsboro is becoming family, or clan, maybe. That’s what I’m hoping for anyway. We’ll need that bond if we’re going to survive.”
“You got your family there, mixed in with the town. Mine are all in Missouri and I don’t know what’s become of them. I only have this sense that I can help…that I should help.” He took a deep breath. “Wouldn’t be right if I stayed, not knowing if they need me. So many are struggling…”
“Let’s get ourselves back, then you can wrestle over it. We’re still not out of the woods yet.”
“Literally as well as figuratively,” Rodney said.
“Smart ass,” Jason said. “I’m going to get another hour of rest in. You should to. The moon will soon be up and we can start hiking again.” He got up and went back to his blanket and ground cloth.
An hour later, Clayton was jostling everyone awake.
“Time to go.”
The men rolled up their gear, packed it away, and set out. They walked for the next four hours until the sky turned from black to blue with the light creeping over the mountains to the east.
The birds began to call out, claiming their territories. The men stopped, ate some rations, and drank some of the water.
“We’ll have to refill our water supplies soon,” Clayton said.
“Going to have to add to our food as well,” Jason said.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Clayton asked.
“Stop at the Nutters?” Jason said.
“Yep. Quick stop’ll get us some water and maybe some food for the trip. Later we can set snares again and maybe get some rabbits.”
“Can we risk a fire?” Rodney asked as they walked along.
“Get far enough into the hill
s. Set up in a hollow. Yeah we can do that,” Clayton said.
Chapter 23
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I t was afternoon when the group came to a ridge. Below them was the Pigeon River and Interstate 40, which followed the river as it cut through the mountains. To their right and south the valley opened up. In the wider area, between the river and the ridges on each side stood a farm house and out buildings along with a dirt lot in which road tractors were parked along with some trailers.
“Looks like the Nutter place,” Clayton said.
Jason nodded. Let’s hike south on the ridge. We can cross the river when we get down to them. They look to be a couple of miles away.”
The group backed away from the dense cover at the ridge. In the woods the hiking was easier. They set off to the south. A half-hour later they worked their way back to the ridge line and checked out the compound from the brush cover. The house and front dirt lot stood below them about 500 feet and about a half mile south of their position.
They could see multiple figures out in the yard. Jason got out his M110 and use the scope to better see what was going on. Clayton took out the spotter scope.
“Looks like some military types down there. Wonder what they up to,” Clayton said.
“Probably asking about us. The Chairman might have radio communication with his administrators. He may have them out looking for signs of us passing through.”
Suddenly Jason and Clayton could see rifles leveled at the Nutters. The boy, Enoch, started towards one of the men and was clubbed over the head. He collapsed to the ground. The two men started forward, but stopped as rifles were pointed at them.
“Uh oh. Something’s going on. Don’t look good,” Clayton said.
“Are they arresting them?” Rodney asked. He couldn’t see the details as well as Jason or Clayton.
“Don’t know,” Clayton replied.
“How far are they?” Jason asked.
“Twenty-nine hundred, forty feet. You going to take a shot?”
“Just want to be ready,” Jason said.
He reached up and turned the elevation dial on his scope to set for the distance and drop.
Just then Emilia came storming out of the house with a shotgun in her hand. One of the men swung his rifle towards her. She was aiming the shotgun with her right hand while waving her left arm.
“She giving them hell, looks like,” Clayton said.
“Things could get bad quick here,” Jason said.
There were three men in the yard. Two of them were covering Joshua and George, the third had his weapon pointed at Emilia.
“It’s a stand-off Clayton said.
The man pointing his rifle at Emilia finally turned and stuck his barrel against Enoch’s head. Emilia paused and then laid down her shotgun. Now the man pulled Enoch’s arms behind him and cuffed him. He stood up and motioned Emilia to come forward. The other two watched the men, keeping their rifles trained on them.
When Emilia approached the man, he swung his arm and hit her in the side of the head. She fell to the ground. Joshua started forward and the man covering him fired, hitting him in the shoulder and throwing him to the ground.
Jason flipped off his safety.
“What’re you doing?” Clayton asked when he heard the metallic click. “You’ll get them killed.”
“Can you take them all out?” Rodney asked.
Jason didn’t answer. He had already gone into sniper mode, slowing his breathing and heart rate. The scope settled on the head of the man who had cuffed Emilia. Jason felt the connection between him and the target, an old, familiar feeling. He caressed the trigger.
The rifle barked and the man’s head exploded. The other two men looked across the river, startled by what had just happened. Without looking, Jason slid the rifle to the next man and squeezed off a second round. The man flew back as the bullet slammed into his chest. The next shot hit the third man as he was turning to find cover. The bullet hit him in his side, chest high, and threw him to the ground.
It was over in just under three seconds. Joshua ran to his wife and George jumped to Enoch. Both men tried to cover the two on the ground, but no more shots came from the ridge.
“Holy crap!” Billy exclaimed. “That’s some shooting.”
“What I was trained for,” Jason replied. He stood up and waved his arms. The men noticed him on the ridge and pointed.
“We may as well go down and cross the river. No sense being stealthy now,” Jason said.
“You took quite a chance there,” Clayton remarked as they made their way down from the ridge. “Coulda’ got them all killed.”
“I knew what I was doing.”
“Why’d you shoot? Why not let it play out?”
Jason turned to Clayton. They had reached the bank of the river.
“Didn’t look like it was going to get any better. They club the boy, knock Emilia down, shoot Joshua. They weren’t going to start acting nice after that. Maybe they kill them, maybe they take them away, in cuffs, like the boy. It wasn’t going to get better for them.”
Clayton only shook his head. He had fought with Jason to free Hillsboro and respected his abilities, but he had never seen his sniper skills up close.
The men found a shallow section and waded across the river. As they approached the compound, George came up to greet them.
“Did you do that?” He asked Jason.
Jason nodded. “Everyone okay?”
“They’re all right. Shook up. We all are. Joshua’s hurt. The bullet went through his shoulder.”
“What’d they want?” Clayton asked.
“Wanted to know about you two. I guess it’s because of these men?” George responded looking over at Rodney and Billy.
“Our friends. The ones we came to find.”
“Well you sure stirred up a hornet’s nest of trouble with whatever you did. Come on.” He turned and led them back into the yard.
Emilia was up as was Enoch.
“That was some shooting,” Joshua said. Enoch just stood there with his eyes opened wide. He had awoken on the ground and saw the man’s head explode and the other two fall from the rapid shots that followed. It had all happened with no indication of who did the shooting; as if the bullets came flying out of nowhere.
“Well, you come back at the right time,” Emilia said. She was looking at her husband’s wound. “You make quite an entrance. Not sure if I want you coming around too often.”
Jason just stood there. His face must have had a confused look on it. Emilia smiled.
“Thanks for that,” she said.
“Man, I don’t know how to thank you,” Joshua said. “I don’t know what they were going to do, but it didn’t look good. Then they hit my wife…” his face got dark.
“I’m glad you weren’t killed,” Emilia said. “Now we’re all alive…and they’re dead. Thanks to Jason. Hell, that man didn’t hurt me. I’ve been head butted by a horse harder than that.”
“Emilia, Joshua, these are our friends, Rodney and Billy,” Jason said pointing to the two men. “This is Emilia, her husband, Joshua, son Enoch, and brother George.”
Billy nodded.
“Glad to meet you,” Rodney said. He stuck out his hand and, after a moment’s hesitation, Emilia took it. Rodney turned towards the bodies and the Jeep Wrangler the men drove up in. “We should hide the Jeep and the bodies before anyone else comes along.
Emilia gave him a hard look. Jason knew she was the one who gave the orders around their compound.
“He’s right,” she said. “Enoch, find the keys and drive the Jeep into the shed. George, you and these men take the bodies around behind the barn. We can bury them later.”
“I’ll help you tend to Joshua’s wound,” Jason said. “I have some familiarity with bullet wounds.
Emilia nodded. “Let’s go inside.” She turned to the other men, “Wash your hands before you come in. I don’t want any stink from those low life’s in my hou
se.” She took her husband’s arm and walked back to the farm house, stooping to pick up her shotgun. Jason followed.
Rodney and Billy looked at George. “Let’s do what she says,” George told them. They got to work cleaning up the yard.
Chapter 24
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A fter putting the Jeep away and digging shallow graves, the men washed up at the back-yard pump and came into the house. Emilia and Jason had bandaged Joshua’s shoulder and put his arm in a sling. She was now setting out some tea, biscuits, and ham along with some glasses of water and some clear liquid in a large bottle.
The men sat down around the kitchen table.
“Pour yourselves a drink,” she said pointing to the glass jug. “It’s local brew and not too bad. Seems like we could all use a drink.”
The men poured the moonshine into smaller glasses, Enoch included, and raised their glasses.
“To saving the day,” Joshua said. The men nodded and took swallows. Enoch and Billy both coughed from the strong liquor.
“You don’t like moonshine?” Joshua asked.
“Enjoy makin’ it, but don’t really like to drink it,” Billy responded.
“You make moonshine?” Emilia asked.
“Yes ma’am. With my father ‘fore he died.
“What’s your name boy?”
“Billy Turner.”
“You from Clayton’s neck of the woods?”
“No ma’am. South of him, closer to Hillsboro.”
“Billy and his family have lived for generations in a place called Hidden Valley,” Jason said. “I got to know them when I met my wife who lived there. It’s near Hillsboro.”
Emilia nodded. Jason could see she like placing things and people in context, getting everything in its proper place.
“Everyone eat something. We got a lot to talk about and probably not much time to do it,” Emilia said. The men filled their plates while Emilia looked on with a concerned face. She nibbled at a biscuit with butter and honey on it and sat quietly, waiting for the others to eat.
