Chapter 7 – Meet the Militia
Boone and Delilah walked through the Expo Center in Salt Lake City as if they were normal sightseers. They stopped at a few booths, listened to a few hawkers and picked up a few brochures. Then they found their way to the booth operated by the would-be survivalists. They stood towards the back of the crowd listening to the tandem speech well prepared and recited by the operators of the camp. After the crowd had disbursed, Boone pulled Delilah to the front.
“You teach this stuff?” Boone asked while waving his hand towards the electronic displays in the booth.
“Yepper,” the first man answered. “I am James Pitman,” he added extending his hand.
“We are Angel and Boone Wolfe. We just got married a few months back,” Boone stated as an introduction. “We met at a garden show in St. Louis. It was love, at first sight.”
Pitman raised his brows when he heard the words garden show.
“I have been trying to pretty much live off the land; gardening, raising livestock, you name it. We are doing it chemical free. It is why I went to the garden show. But my wife here is from the city, and she needs a crash course in making it on her own. I would do it, but the way the country is these days, the place could go to hell in a hen basket by the end of the week.” Boone pulled Delilah close to him and smiled at her lovingly.
“So true. Everyone needs to know who to survive without creature comforts. It is why we have this school. Two weeks living off what God has supplied for us,” Pitman’s partner stated as an explanation.
“You teach hunting and firearms too?” Boone asked looking at the name tag on the second man, Brad Hopkins.
“Sure do. Hunting, fishing, gathering, cooking over an open fire, the works,” Hopkins smiled. “But you will not find any ghost stories around the campfire or any cocoa and marshmallows.”
“Your spiel sounds mighty interesting,” Boone nodded. “What’s the cost?”
“It ain’t cheap,” Hopkins chuckled.
“It is a thousand dollars a day per person. But for couples we give a discount, fifteen hundred a day,” Pitman replied.
“Damn. Twenty-one thousand dollars,” Boone replied quickly doing the math. “But I am sure it is worth it.”
Delilah pouted like a small girl. “No Boone, it is our honeymoon money. You promised. You promised me a weekend on the beach.” The expression on her face was perfect. The ruse was going exactly as planned.
“Sorry baby,” Boone cooed as he tucked a wayward strand of Delilah’s hair behind her ear. “This is important. If anything ever happened to me, I need to know you can make it on your own.”
Delilah acted as if she was going to cry. She dropped her shoulders and slouched to make herself look as small as possible. Without looking up and pretending to acquiesce compliantly, she replied, “Okay.”
The two men smiled at Boone as if the dominant male had won. Boone smirked and nodded in return. Good job Angel.
Pitman handed Boone a tablet and Boone quickly entered the email address for the fictitious Wolfe identity. “We will send you the forms. If you like what you see, just render payment, and we will save you and the little lady two slots for the spring course. We fill up fast, so do not dawdle.”
Boone looked to Delilah, who was still frowning. “Come on Angel, it will be fun,” Boone chuckled and put his arm back around her tiny waist.
“Sure baby,” she pouted.
Boone shook hands with both Pitman and Hopkins. He took Delilah’s hand and led her away from the booth. They stopped at a few more booths and then left the Expo Center, heading home to Red Mountain.
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