by David Nees
Finally, she spoke up. “What you did, stopping by before and now, shooting those men, has torn up our lives.”
Everyone stopped to look at her. “I know you meant no harm and figured you were saving me, or the rest of us, but it has serious consequences.”
Jason looked at her in confusion.
“It looked to me like you were going to get killed…or hauled off somewhere. We just rescued our friends from getting captured for no reason. This Chairman doesn’t seem to respect people’s rights.”
“I understand that,” Emilia said, “but killing these men now puts us in a dangerous situation.” She leaned forward towards Jason. “Do you think no one knew they were coming here? How do we explain where they went? What do we tell them, even if they don’t find the Jeep and bodies?”
“I’m sorry, Emilia. I thought you all were in grave danger.”
“Don’t be sorry. What’s done is done. You didn’t know. But now we have to figure out what to do.”
“In Jason’s defense,” Joshua said, “things were looking pretty bad for us. You know Sam Floyd doesn’t like us. He sent those men. He’s been wanting to find an excuse to take our trucks and use them for himself. With his authority as an Area Administrator, who knows what accusation he could have come up with.”
George nodded his agreement and said, “Sam’s a snake, you know that, Emilia.”
“I know it, but it still don’t change what we’re dealing with.”
“What do you think we do about all this?” Joshua asked. “You saying we can’t just keep on doing what we’ve been doing?”
“And how do we explain to Sam and others about these men disappearing?” Emilia asked. “We just say they came to talk to us and then left? And we don’t know what the hell happened after that?”
Emilia gave out a disdainful harrumph. “That won’t get us too far. People know Jason stopped here. Sam knows it and probably others. I reckon Sam planned to bring us in. Maybe take us to Knoxville to interrogation…or something.”
“He wouldn’t dare,” George said jumping into the conversation.
“Wouldn’t he?” Emilia asked. You said yourself he was a snake and had eyes on our trucks. He’d use this as an opportunity to get us out of the way and take what we got.”
Jason jumped back into the conversation. “I don’t want to be rude, but it sounds like I maybe did the right thing. This incident wasn’t going to end well.”
Emilia turned to him. Her worn face, lined with years of hard work in and out of the sun, still hadn’t lost its strength and vigor. She would not be called an attractive woman, but her proud visage captured one’s attention.
“You’re probably right. We’ve been living on borrowed time. I’ve felt it,” she turned to her husband, “and Joshua’s felt it. More rules, more evidence of intimidation, pressure from the Chairman, we get the sense people are not to be allowed to make their own way.”
“We had that, and worse in Hillsboro,” Jason said.
Jason could see Emilia come to a decision. She sighed and looked at her husband.
“Joshua. It’s time to go.”
He looked back at her. Their eyes locked for a long time. He nodded. Jason could see the bond between them. They had faced adversity all their lives. Faced it together and had overcome and carried on. They were survivors. They might never have become successful and rich in the previous world, but their survival instincts and grit would give them success in this new world.
“What are you going to do, ma’am?” Rodney asked.
“We go back into the mountains. We have an old family place that’s far away from the Chairman. No one will find us. We bring our animals and plants we’ll do just fine. We got family there.”
Clayton nodded. He understood family, clans and retreating into the mountains. “How we got along for years. Until this man,” he pointed to Jason, “talked us into going to the flatland farms, one’s that had been abandoned.”
“How’d that work?” Joshua asked.
“Worked fine, once we got rid of the gangster running things. That’s what the people here got to do.”
“Let the people of Knoxville do it,” Emilia said with a sharp voice. “I got no truck with city folk. They let this man run their lives, but he now wants to run our lives,” she swept her hand around, “and the lives of everyone around these parts. We’ll go where he ain’t.”
“You sad to go, Em?” Joshua asked.
Emilia looked at her husband. She smiled. “Not when I’m going with you. We faced harder than this before. Right after the power went out. We defended what we had, defended our lives. This’ll be like going home. If I never hear about Knoxville and the Chairman again, I’ll be a happy woman.”
“Do we have to leave?” Enoch asked.
“Yes. We’re decided,” Emilia answered. “Can’t stay here.”
“When will you go?” Jason asked.
“Soon as we can. Maybe tomorrow. You stay the night. Maybe you can help us pack up since you helped make this move happen,” Emilia answered.
“We can’t get caught by the Chairman’s men…” Jason paused as Emilia gave him a sharp look. “But you can’t either.” Jason looked over at Clayton and Rodney. “We can help. Then we’ll have to move out ourselves.”
“Faster we all get going, the better it be,” Clayton said.
Emilia cleared the table and the men talked about what they needed to take and what could be left behind. The Jeep, being serviceable was going to go with the Nutters. They would pack up their chickens, load up their cow, dig out their garden plants, pack tools, seeds, and household items. It would all be loaded into one of Joshua’s trucks to haul into the mountain retreat.
When they were done, Emilia grabbed her son.
“Enoch, you help me pack up the house for the trip. The men will get the rest loaded into the trucks.”
“That’s woman’s work,” he complained.
“Well I’m the only woman around here and I ain’t doin’ it myself, so you’ll just have to give me a hand. Besides, there’s no one gonna know you helped your mother and make you embarrassed.”
She turned away. “Damn foolishness.”
Chapter 25
___________________________________
L ater that night, Jason went out on the porch. The moon was coming over the ridge to the east. The night’s pale light grew stronger. Faint shadows showed on the ground. The crickets chirped away. In the distance he heard the occasional hoot of an owl.
Clayton and Rodney came out a few minutes later.
“You two couldn’t sleep either?”
“Lots to think about,” Clayton replied.
The men sat quietly for some time, savoring the peace of the night. In the distance there rose the distinct howl of a wolf.
“Been expecting that,” Clayton said. “Deer increasing. Wolves got a ready source of food for themselves.”
“Never heard that before,” Rodney said. “I guess there were wolves here a long time ago.”
“Yep. Hunted out hundreds of years ago.”
“I understand there were buffalo here in the east as well,” Jason said. He shifted in his chair to face the two men sitting next to him. “But you two didn’t come out here to discuss the resurgence of wildlife in the Appalachian Mountains.”
“We got to decide what we do next, how we travel,” Clayton said. “We lost some time today. If the Chairman’s men headed this way, the interstate is an easy route south towards Hillsboro, they’ll be catching up to us. They could be here by tomorrow.”
Jason sat back in his chair. “We don’t want to fend them off here. Tough spot to defend.”
“They can’t take all the trucks, we could use one of them,” Rodney said.
“Not enough room in the cab,” Jason said. “They’re big, but they only seat two.”
“The forest still be the best choice,” Clayton said. “They’ll stick to the roads until they get too jammed up. We just hike the woods
. They won’t find us.”
“What are we, three days out from Hillsboro?” Jason asked.
“Three or four’s my guess,” Clayton said.
“Well we have to expect some of the pursuit will come this way. They only had two choices at Gatlinburg, south, or east, over to I40, which brings them our way,” Rodney said.
“Agreed,” Jason replied. “Much as Emilia thinks I may have made things worse, we helped them. But now they have to leave and we have to get back into the woods.”
“We help them off and get out of here. Hopefully before noon,” Rodney said.
Jason stood up. The night’s peace was now lost with the thoughts of the pursuit and the danger that it brought. “We better get some rest. I imagine Emilia will get things going very early.”
The next morning Emilia roused everyone before the sun came up. After re-bandaging her husband’s wound, she had started a huge breakfast and now would tolerate no one sleeping in. The men came into the kitchen in various states of wakefulness.
“You all get some food in you. I’m cleaning out the larder. Then we got to load our gear and get on the road.” She turned to Jason, “I expect the Chairman is pursuing you?”
“We talked about that late last night. They had a choice at Gatlinburg, go south or head this way. We figure they split up.”
“How many of them are there?” George asked.
Jason shook his head. “Don’t know. Maybe fifty?”
“So maybe twenty-five headed our way?” Emilia said.
“That’s a good guess. It wouldn’t be good to be caught here with that many armed men coming for us.”
“We fended off lots of the rabble and gangs after the power went out. But not that many at once and they weren’t trained or well-armed,” Joshua said.
“Well, eat up and let’s get this show on the road,” Emilia said. “Enoch and me will pack up the house things, you men get the rest packed.”
“I’m going to bring my tools,” George said.
“Bring whatever you want, but let’s get moving,” Emilia said.
“We’d like to be going by noon,” Jason offered.
“After you eat, Joshua, you and George pack your clothes into a trunk or suitcase and then get outside. Enoch and I will handle the rest.”
The men dug into the food and then set about getting the outside gear packed while Emilia and Enoch started putting household items in cloth bags.
After he was dropped off the Chairman sat impatiently, waiting for his men to arrive. He had no doubt they were following. It was just a matter of how far back they were and how long he’d have to wait.
Twenty minutes later General McKenzie showed up with a convoy of vehicles and sixty men.
“What took you so long?” Tom asked as they cut him free.
“Didn’t want to risk getting you hurt so I kept back. I didn’t know how fast they’d move.”
“Well now you go get them. Bring them back dead or alive. They can’t get away with this. It makes us look bad. Where’s Cordell?”
“He’s talking to everyone back in town. He wants to keep a lid on what happened.”
“Fat chance. The best thing is to bring them back, like I said. I need to get back, but you keep going. They’re a half hour ahead of you. At Gatlinburg they could only go two ways, so split your men and follow both routes. Push hard. They’ll probably stay on the roads since it’s faster. You should travel night and day.”
“You think it will take days?”
“It’s three days to Hillsboro at best from here. So, yes it might. The faster you move, the faster you catch up to them and get back to Knoxville.”
After giving the Chairman a Humvee and driver, the general set off with his men towards Gatlinburg. There he split the team, choosing to go with the group that headed towards I40. They drove late into the night and only stopped when they came to a severely obstructed section of the road. Cars were interlocked, along with a jackknifed tractor-trailer that complicated efforts to clear the blockage.
“Could they have gotten past this?” one of McKenzie’s men asked.
“In the Humvee, they could work their way around off the pavement, on the side slope. The troop truck won’t handle that grade, so we’ll have to wait for the morning to clear a way.”
With daylight McKenzie was able to use his men to unlock the bumpers of cars. They used the truck to push them off the pavement. Then the truck was strapped to the trailer and pulled it straight, opening a lane through which they could pass. They were on their way again.
Chapter 26
___________________________________
R odney collected the weapons and ammunition from the three men that had been shot. He assembled them in the dirt yard.
“You should take these,” he said to Joshua.
“We got our own rifles,” the man replied.
“These are better for defense.”
“And hunting as well?”
Rodney shook his head. “Not so much. Your 30.06 rifles are better, but these shoot faster and will stop a man. Take them in case you get attacked.”
Just then Enoch came out. “We keeping the guns?” He asked his father.
“Rodney says we should.”
“How do they operate?” Enoch asked as he picked up one of the M16s.
“I can show you, but I better check with your mother,” Rodney replied. He remembered Emilia had commandeered her son to help pack up the house.
“Mom won’t mind,” Enoch said.
“Just the same, we better ask.” Rodney had no desire to get on Emilia’s bad side. He turned and walked up to the house.
After getting Emilia’s approval, Rodney went back out into the yard. He showed Enoch the parts of the rifle, demonstrating how to switch the firing from semi-auto mode to three-burst, auto mode. Then he began to show him how to break down the weapon and reassemble it. While he was busy taking the rifle apart, Joshua and George gathered around him.
Suddenly Emilia came out of the front door. “The day ain’t getting any younger,” she called out. “You men get back to your packing. Let Rodney show Enoch. We can’t all just sit around.”
With that she went back into the house and slammed the door.
“You got the basics,” Rodney said to the men. “I think you can figure the rest out on your own.” He counted the magazines. “You’ve got full mags in the three rifles and six extra mags. If you save these for defense, not hunting, you’ll have a good amount of firepower if you’re attacked.” He looked up at Joshua. “But we better get back to work.”
“You right about that,” Joshua said with a chuckle.
By 12:30 pm the packing was all completed. Everyone gathered in the house. Emilia had laid out all the food that wouldn’t be taken.
“Let’s eat up, quickly,” she said. This won’t travel and we should grab a bite before we set out.”
They began to eat standing in the kitchen.
“Just like the Israelites in the old testament,” Rodney said.
“What do you mean?” Emilia asked.
“Nowadays they eat the Passover meal standing in remembrance of when they had to eat and run to get out of Egypt. Kind of like we’re doing now.”
“Didn’t know you were a Bible scholar,” Emilia said.
“I’m not, but I was raised in church.”
“Good for you. We don’t see much going on with the churches nowadays. Bit disappointing to me. We could use more Christian charity in the world now.”
“Seems like the bad ones rise up when law and order collapses,” Jason said.
“Damn straight about that,” Joshua said.
“Don’t swear,” Emilia said. “Things bad enough without swearing about them.”
They all heard it at once. The sound of an engine, coming from the north. Jason, Rodney, Clayton and Billy reacted at once. They dropped their food, grabbed their weapons, and went to the windows.
“Is it the militia?” Joshua asked.
/> “Sound like just one vehicle,” Jason said. “You three stay in the house. We’ll go outside and see what’s going on.”
Jason and the others slipped out of the back door and went around to the corner of the house. They watched as an older car drove into the dirt yard. A man got out. He slipped a rifle over his shoulder and yelled to the house.
“Joshua, Emilia. You in there?”
There was no answer from the house.
“He knows them,” Clayton whispered to Jason.
The door to the farm house opened and Joshua stepped out.
“What do you want, Sam?” He called out.
“We’re looking for the three men that I sent here. They were to ask you about some strangers that might have come through here. Heard they kidnapped the Chairman.”
“Don’t know nothing about that. Haven’t seen them. Your men ain’t exactly welcome around here.”
“What happened to your arm? How’d you hurt it?”
“None of your business, but hurt it yesterday working around the trucks.”
“And you say you didn’t see them?”
Just then Emilia stepped out beside her husband.
“Sam, if Joshua says he didn’t see them, then he didn’t see them. You calling him a liar?”
“No Emilia. I ain’t. It just seems odd, them never showing up.”
“Well you can ask them about that when you see ‘em. How’d you hear about something in Knoxville anyway?
“The radio. I get information about what’s going on, what to watch for.”
“You get instructions about how you’re supposed to bother people who just want to be left alone? Acting like a busybody, you know that.”
Sam started to answer, but Emilia cut him off. “And I know you have it in for Joshua. You’d like to take over our business. You can’t be trusted. Why don’t you leave us alone?”
“Emilia, I don’t have time to discuss all that with you.”
