Jonathan went on to describe what they’d seen across Texas during the long drive with the C.R.I. convoy. While the route they had taken had avoided all the larger cities in the state, he said he saw plenty of smaller towns that had been emptied out, many of them mostly burned or destroyed. He didn’t know what to make of it and no one among their escort would tell them anything.
“I don’t know if they were involved in whatever happened there or if they came in later. All I know is that a lot of bad shit has been going down out there, just like everywhere else, apparently. I guess they had terrorist attacks there and either the military or those C.R.I. dudes came in later and wiped out whoever did it.”
“The word I got was that they were taking over as the acting law enforcement authority all over Texas,” Keith said, “and that they want to do the same in Louisiana and elsewhere in the Southeast. It’s martial law, in effect, but being subbed out to private organizations like C.R.I. in a lot of places. I’m skeptical that it’s a good solution though, because I don’t know what the long-term plan is.”
“It looks to me like the long-term plan is to control everything and everybody,” Jonathan said. “The only place we’ve been where things were normal was on that Indian reservation out in New Mexico. So far, they’ve been leaving the Jicarilla alone. We could have stayed there, and Aaron and his aunt and uncle wanted us to, but then we wouldn’t have been able to get word to you guys down here. And besides, Eric’s still dead set on getting Megan and Shauna out of the country on the boat.”
“And what about you and your new girlfriend, Vicky? Are you going too?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. Eric wants everybody to go, but now we’ve just about got too many for a 42-foot sailboat.”
“Well, everything about that plan depends on Eric, so until he gets back, we need to focus on taking care of things here. I’ll feel a lot better about that after we get Shauna, Megan and Vicky back to my place. Let’s just hope we don’t have any trouble doing that.”
Thirteen
SHAUNA HARTFIELD DREADED THE prospect of yet another long wait at some military outpost, but that was exactly what she feared they were facing when Mitchell Reyes, the man charged with getting them home said he couldn’t take them across the state line from Texas until further notice. When she’d said goodbye to Eric and they boarded that helicopter in New Mexico, she’d been under the impression that they would be flying all the way back, maybe in a series of shorter hops on different aircraft, but flying, nonetheless. But that hadn’t been the case at all. First, there had been a long wait at a small National Guard base south of Amarillo, and then they’d been shuttled by truck to another base and then to three different temporary posts run by the private military company, C.R.I., that seemed to have a bigger presence there than the real military. The wait time at each of those stops along the way had been less than 48 hours, but this time, when they were so close to their destination, she feared it would be much longer.
“We’re waiting for authorization before we can begin conducting operations in Louisiana,” Reyes had told her. “As soon as we have the go ahead and the manpower and equipment in place, we will be moving east along the I-10 corridor, which as you said, will put us in the middle of your brother-in-law’s jurisdiction. When we do that, we can take you there while he decides how he’s going to handle the transition, but eventually you’ll have to be relocated to one of the refugee centers anyway.”
Shauna knew better than to argue the latter point, and she certainly knew better than to mention the schooner or Eric’s ultimate plan. From what she’d been able to gather about these C.R.I. operators, their objectives seemed clear cut and she doubted it would do any good to suggest alternatives. Keith wasn’t going to be happy to find out what they had in mind, but Shauna didn’t see how she could warn him until Reyes made another suggestion that surprised her the day after they arrived at their last stop.
“We’re letting a small convoy of private transport trucks go through to Mississippi, but it will be unescorted and anyone traveling with it will be doing so at their own risk.”
“So, does that mean we can go? That’d be great! We don’t mind the risk.” Shauna said.
“No, not you and not your daughter, because I have orders from the top of my chain of command to keep watch over you two until I can deliver you personally to the custody of the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Department, which of course, means your brother-in-law, Keith Branson. If he were to get word and come here to pick you up, however, then you’d be free to go back with him for the time being, until, as I said, we move in there and begin evacuating the population. So, what I’m saying is that if the young man who’s traveling with you wants to catch a ride on that convoy, that’s okay with me. My orders are not as specific in regard to him and the other girl, but as I said, it’ll be at his own risk and he should be aware that anything could happen out there on the road.”
“Hell yeah, I’ll do it!” Jonathan said, when Shauna told him what Reyes had offered. “If it’ll get us back to the boat and back to the swamp, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“I’ll be worried about you, Jonathan. You’ll be unarmed and alone once they drop you off.”
“Yeah, but you know how close Vic’s place is to I-10. It’s just a short walk and then I’ll get Keith and we’ll come back for all of you. Nothing to it!”
Shauna didn’t try too hard to talk him out of it, because she knew Jonathan wanted to do it and she wanted to get all of them to Keith’s as soon as possible. Considering what Reyes had told her, it was imperative that they get there and start thinking about getting out of Louisiana for good on the boat. And for all she knew, Eric could already be there waiting for them. He could have completed his mission and gotten a direct flight if things went well and he achieved whatever secret objective Major Langley had in mind when he set this whole thing up. So, although she knew there was risk involved for Jonathan, it seemed worth it if it meant they’d all be reunited sooner. Even Vicky reluctantly agreed, although she would have preferred to go with him if Jonathan would have let her, but he would not.
“I’ll miss you,” he had told her, “but you’re better off staying here with Shauna and Megan.”
Shauna didn’t interfere, but she agreed with Jonathan. There was no need for more than one of them to go if they couldn’t all go together. The eastbound trucks were leaving Texas sometime after midnight, so Jonathan had to go to the checkpoint from which they would clear the C.R.I. controlled sector early the evening before, to be ready to join them. Shauna had slept little that night after he left and was on edge all of the next day, worried that something would go wrong and she and Megan and Vicky would be stuck there indefinitely. She felt like a prisoner again, even if Reyes insisted he was keeping them there for their own protection. She doubted this was what Eric had in mind when he’d worked out the deal with Major Langley that would guarantee them safe passage. Eric probably thought the same thing she did when the four of them boarded that helicopter in New Mexico—that they were going to be in the hands of either the National Guard or regular Army for the duration of the trip. Shauna didn’t like the attitude of these private contractors, and she didn’t like a lot of what she’d seen coming across Texas in their company. It seemed to her these men were more like a foreign occupation force than a security detail working to help restore order, especially now that she knew they intended to usurp any local police and sheriff’s departments still in operation.
As she thought about her situation, Shauna realized that if something went wrong and Jonathan didn’t come back with Keith, getting away from this bunch wasn’t going to be easy. But if they didn’t get out of here, she and Megan and Vicky would be moved to one of those camps, from which an escape would be even more difficult. The post they were on now was a former city hall building with a police station adjacent. It was guarded, but so far at least, they were allowed a private room in a converted office in which cots had been set up. Shauna was afrai
d if Reyes and his men thought they might try to leave without authorization, they would move them to one of the jail cells there, so she was careful not to voice too many objections that would give them that idea. But the question that bothered her as the day wore on, was how long should they wait? She was prepared for a day or two. That was reasonable, but how long was too long? Fortunately, Shauna didn’t have to find out. One of Reyes’ men knocked on the door late in the afternoon, the day after Jonathan left: “You can get your things together and come with me,” he said. “Your ride is here.”
* * *
Shauna had a nagging feeling that everything was coming together too smoothly, and that something was bound to go wrong again. It was hard to suppress those doubts after all of the obstacles and setbacks she’d overcome, but it was slowly dawning on her that she had accomplished her goal. She had gone to Colorado and gotten Megan, and now the two of them were back on Keith’s property, along with Keith and Bart, Jonathan and Vicky, and her husband and stepson. Only Eric was missing, and though Shauna had clung to a glimmer of hope that he might have somehow beaten them there, she knew that realistically, she should have expected he’d take longer getting back than they did. Keith and the others here hadn’t heard from him, of course, and Mitchell Reyes and the other C.R.I. men at the post where their journey with them ended weren’t privy to the details of Eric’s mission, nor were they in contact with Major Langley in New Mexico. Shauna didn’t know where the operation was going to take him, but considering that several of the Jicarilla security men were going with Eric, she assumed it was somewhere in the vicinity of the reservation.
“He’ll show up,” Bart said, “and just when you least expect it. I’ll bet you thought you’d seen a ghost when he stepped out from behind those rocks on that Colorado trail.”
It was true. Eric had gone missing in action on that other mission he’d done for Lieutenant Holton, and she and Jonathan had no idea if they would ever see him again when they went on to Boulder without him. It did seem as if he materialized out of the thin mountain air for a moment, but it wasn’t the first time he’d done such a thing after she’d given up hope for him. Shauna wanted to believe he’d do it again, and soon, because they didn’t have a lot of time if they were going to implement his plan—a plan that was dependent upon him being there to guide them.
Keith, Bart and Greg had listened as Mitchell Reyes spelled out what was going to happen. It wasn’t something any of them wanted to hear, of course, but like Jonathan had already told them, Shauna, Megan and Vicky confirmed what they’d seen on their journey across Texas. Keith had been hoping for outside help to eventually move in, but the kind of occupation that was taking place in Texas and would soon be headed east wasn’t what he had in mind. Reyes was vague and evasive when Keith tried to press him for answers in regard to what authority they were acting on, but what wasn’t vague was that he clearly had the manpower and resources to back up those actions. Shauna’s details from farther west confirmed it.
“There’s a lot of them. We saw their vehicles and their armed patrols in most of the little towns we passed through. It’s like they’ve recruited an army out there; either that, or they brought them in from somewhere else.”
“However they did it, it was fast!” Bart said. “And a lot more organized than I would have expected.”
“This is obviously a lot bigger than just that security company. Like I told you before you left, we were hearing rumors months ago about all the traffic coming across the border. The terrorists and the people funding them have been funneling in through Mexico from no telling where. I’d feel a whole lot better about this if those guys were regular military. As it is, I don’t trust them, especially not enough to hand over the reins to them when they come here.”
“You can’t stop them, Keith,” Shauna said. “What can you and Greg do against that? Reyes said they will relocate residents to those camps, and they’re going to keep building as many as they need to accommodate everyone.
“The people that are still out here in these parts aren’t going to go willingly, or they would have already left after the hurricane. I know them, Shauna.”
“I imagine there were a whole lot in Texas that felt the same way,” Bart said. “You gotta wonder what they did with them, because I know damned well there were plenty that weren’t gonna leave their homes and get herded off to someplace like that.”
“Of course not,” Keith said. “I hope Eric gets back and that he has some new intel we can use after his dealings with that major out there. From what you said of Lieutenant Holton and the Army units that helped you and Jonathan reach Colorado, I can’t imagine they’re fully aware of what’s going on down here, Shauna. Maybe Eric will have an idea. Maybe we need to figure out a way to make contact with those bases up north?”
“They have that post at Simmesport,” Jonathan said. “That’s not all that far. If we went up there, maybe we could get the Gulf Traveler back too.”
“Let’s give Eric a little more time before we do that. But yes, getting in contact with that post isn’t a bad idea if he’s not back soon.”
Shauna knew Keith’s focus remained on staying here, despite what he’d just seen across the state line. He wanted to cling to things the way they were, and she understood why, but she doubted there was anything any of them could do to prevent the changes that were coming. Eric had already reemphasized before they parted company in New Mexico that his plan was to get underway in the schooner as soon as possible when he returned. She knew from experience it would take a lot to change Eric’s mind once he made it up, and after all she’d seen going to get Megan, Shauna still believed leaving on the boat was the right thing for them to do too.
But if waiting for Eric was a test of her patience, it was nothing compared to what she was going through with Daniel Hartfield. Bart and Keith had warned her on the ride back to get ready, because the man had been pushing their limits for weeks. Shauna wasn’t surprised to hear it, but she’d hoped that by now he would have settled into the new reality and found a way to cope; at least for Andrew’s sake, if nothing else. Instead, he’d spiraled to new lows, and not surprisingly, was harboring plenty of resentment and jealousy that she felt the full brunt of as soon as they were alone together.
“The only way you’re going to prove to me that you’re still on my side and that we’re still a family is if you and Megan get your things together and we leave immediately with Andrew for that center in Texas,” he told her.
“I just came from Texas, Daniel, and believe me, you don’t want to go to one of those places. I’m certainly not going and neither is Megan. I didn’t go all the way to Colorado to bring her back here so I could subject her to that! I can’t imagine anything worse!”
“Oh really? Well why not, Shauna? You’ve seen far worse and you know it! You can’t imagine being chased across the Gulf by armed lunatics in shrimp boats bent on killing us all and taking our stuff? What about roving gangs of anarchists like the ones that nearly drowned Eric and then burned Keith’s house to the ground? Or thugs like those Jonathan said you shot right outside of Boulder? Can’t you see the truth here, Shauna? This situation is overwhelming! We can’t deal with it on our own—not here—and not on that boat out on the high seas. The authorities are finally making a dent in it and are doing their best to help. We need to do our part and cooperate with them. It’s our only chance, Shauna. Our only chance!”
Shauna knew that when Daniel said that, he meant it was their only chance too, as in their marriage. He would accept only one answer, but it wasn’t the one she was willing to give him, and when she told him, the bitter accusations followed, stinging her with the truth that she couldn’t deny.
“I knew when you left with that son-of-a-bitch that this was going to happen. It doesn’t surprise me, Shauna, because I’ve always known that you still cared about him. You said it was just for Megan, but that’s bullshit! Eric’s the kind of guy that can just pop in and out of your life whenever
he pleases like nothing ever happened. I thought that was over when you married me, but you’ve proven me wrong. I’ve been waiting here patiently, Shauna, because I didn’t want to believe it, but now when you tell me that you refuse to do the reasonable thing and go to a safe refuge as a family, I see that I have truly been taken for a fool.”
“You’ve been anything, but patient, Daniel! Keith and Bart have both told me how you’ve gotten worse by the day! You can’t grasp the fact that everything has changed and may never be the same again, and you’ve refused to try to adapt and deal with it. I know you haven’t been pulling your weight since I left, because Keith told me. I really thought you were doing better after we made it across the Gulf, but now I see that I was wrong! Look, I know you’re upset with me, but I didn’t go off with Eric because I wanted to be with Eric. I went because he was the only one I knew who could help me get to Megan, and he did it, just like he said he would! I would hope that you would do whatever it took to find Andrew if you were in that situation, but when I hear this talk of taking him to one of those shelters, I have my doubts, Daniel. We’ve got a way out of here, and it’s sitting right there, tied to that dock!” Shauna pointed to Dreamtime. “We can still all go together when Eric gets back. It’s the only sensible thing to do!”
“Right Shauna. And while we’re all out there on this little pleasure cruise to the islands on a 42-foot boat, I suppose I can pretend not to see or hear what’s going on with you and your ex-husband! I’m sure that’s the way you see it, but even if Eric comes back, which he probably won’t because he’s probably dead, it’s not going to happen. I’ll go to Texas by myself if I have to.”
“Eric’s not dead, Daniel! I’m sure you’d be happy if he was, but he’ll be back. You’ll see.”
Daniel was about to reply when he was cut off by a sudden and completely unexpected sound coming from the south. Shauna turned to see what it could be just as a twin-engine propeller-drive airplane roared overhead barely above treetop level. Keith and Bart, who’d been working on something down below aboard the Miss Anita, rushed up on deck just as it disappeared to the north.
Feral Nation Series (Book 7): Feral Nation [Sabotage] Page 13
