Dark Days Rough Roads (29 page)

“Ya, I’ll
be ready to go.”

“Good,
now tonight is going to be tense as well. I’m going to cover a few more basics
on the rifle with you. We can’t live fire or we’ll attract attention, but
you’ll do fine.” He spent about an hour covering a few marksmanship skills and
safety points with him.

“This is
Roger, you there Kaybear?”

“Ya Dad,
I’ve been waiting.”

“Ok, let
me know what the latest news is.”

“Ok, you
ready?”

“I’m
going on memory Kayla; I don’t have the resources for notes.”

“Ahhhh,
alrighty then. How’s Blake?”

“Kayla,
he’s fine. If you want him to stay that way, spit it out.” It’s starting
already, he thought.

“Ok, they
talked on the net about contacting the Bay City group and how Bay City
themselves had big trouble and could not send help. It sounds like they are
running the four patrols and now two response unit’s 24 hours a day now. I did
notice they seemed to be concentrating on the northern areas a bit more. That’s
the plan right?”

“Yes it
is kiddo. Anything else?”

“Oh ya,
lots more.

“They
have been talking about people traveling and how they have been disarming them.
They even mentioned seizing a truck. Sounds like their own version of martial
law. They also said they were posting signs: looters would be shot on sight.
They set out signs for curfew as well. No one is to be out from dusk until
dawn. Now for information on you.

“They
think there are six motorcycles and about a half dozen trucks. They said your
manpower would be at least 24 to 30 or more. They figure you guys to be
operating in the northern sector somewhere. Sounds like they are going to
concentrate patrols there. They are trying to find your base camp. One last
thing Dad, they’ll shoot you first before they try to stop and ask you
questions. Be careful, love you, Dad.”

“Love you
too, kiddo.”

“Roger,
you want us to stay on schedule?” It was David now.

“Yes I
do. Promptly. You’ll have to get the horses moving quickly. If it becomes an
issue they are going to have to leave them. Be firm about it. You might want to
give them an hour head start actually. You only have about 12 miles to go. Get
them there, ok brother?”

“Ok, be
safe.”

“You
too.”

Haliday
and Blake were getting ready to go. It was noon and they wanted to be in place
by dusk. They wanted these guys to be tired and pissed off. If they started
around 1800hrs that would put the fresh shift on duty. The others would not be
in bed yet. Chances are they would all want to play cowboy and show up for the
festivities. When morning came, around half would still be tired from the night
before and the other half ready to go home.

They took
off and followed a small river toward Oliver Township. They barely crept along
to avoid overly loud engine noises. Haliday remembered people always talking
about what vehicle you should have for this. What you should have for that, and
it drove him nuts. Pretty much anything running was a gem these days. What
really drove him crazy were the guys who swore by two strokes. Way too loud─
way too easy to find.

It seemed
like it took forever. Once they reached a secure location, they got off the bikes.
They dug into a couple MRE’s before they got going again. They would be walking
for the next couple of miles. They camouflaged the bikes and took some mental
notes of the area.

Haliday
pulled out some small reflectors and pushed them up high onto some trees. With
any luck the moon would catch them and make it easier to find the bikes in a
hurry. He explained this to Blake. If anything happens to me, get the hell out
of here. By now he had studied the maps and would know where to go.

Haliday
set to work on the distractions. He pulled out four small wind-up clocks and
wound them up. He set the times on each so they were all set to the same time.
He had ripped off the plastic face covers and attached some metal connectors to
the minute and hour hands. These would set off a small igniter which would then
light a piece of fuse.

He packed
these into some small containers with gun powder in it that would create a
small explosion. Next to these he would place a few bags of various chemicals
mixed together, liquid drain cleaner, diesel and Styrofoam pellets which would
ignite and stick to surrounding objects. He read this on the internet. These he
would place next to some old abandoned buildings or vehicles. He placed another
igniter system nearby to ignite the gel. The explosion, mostly just noise, and
the accompanying fire would make a great distraction. The gel was to make sure
the fire spread rapidly throughout the area.

These
would go off about 15 minutes apart and should draw quite a crowd. They waited
until it was nice and dark out. The clouds were covering the moonlight as they
passed through the sky now, so Haliday told Blake how important it was to
remember where the bikes were. It would, however, help provide better cover for
them. They were well camouflaged; Rambo face paint included.

They took
off for their destination. First up was a small sugar beet storage plant. They
approached from the side and didn’t see anyone. They went up to a small
maintenance shed which they found unlocked. It looked like it hadn’t been used
in quite a while. He placed the box on the work bench. They left and followed
some train tracks down to a golf course.

Here he
found the storage barn for the golf carts. They were all gone. So were the
charging stations and parts for them. Someone had these and his guess was
confiscation by the militia. He set up the device and they moved on. They were
close to the center of town now and he looked for another target. Haliday heard
a vehicle approach and they ducked behind an old trailer. The vehicle passed
by, but Haliday couldn’t see inside well enough to make out who it was.

They
waited a few minutes and then they came across a few cars and old tow truck
parked in an auto shop. Blake placed a device on the back of the tow truck. He said,
“One left, Mr. Haliday.”

“Call me
Roger, ok Blake.”

“Um, ok
Roger.” It sounded odd. They looked down the street, too many candles glowing
in windows, which meant too many people down there.

Haliday
looked around. Blake said “look,” and pointed across the street. There outside
another repair garage were six golf carts. Haliday said, “Go over there and put
it on one of the carts.” Blake looked around and then darted across the street.
He had just placed the box on the back of one of the carts when another vehicle
approached. Blake ducked down low.

The
vehicle pulled into the lot. They swept the area with a spotlight. Haliday got
his rifle ready. Someone jumped out from the vehicle. It looked like an old
Blazer. Haliday was praying Blake was well hidden. The guy who jumped out
walked up to the door and peered inside. He then walked back to the Blazer and
climbed in. They sat there for a minute.

Haliday
kept watch, but reached down and hit a button on his ham and changed
frequencies. All he heard was the end of a sentence. “It’s all secured at this
time.” He changed the frequency back. The Blazer pulled out of the lot and took
off. Haliday told Blake to wait a few minutes.

“You
expect them to come back?”

“No, I
want the aroma to clear out from you crapping your pants.”

Blake
waited just a couple minutes, then bolted back across the street. “No, I didn’t
crap my pants, almost, but I didn’t.”

“Let’s
get the hell out of here now.” They worked their way back toward the river.
Once they got there, they started the trek back to the bikes. It was almost
nine now. They took another half an hour to make it back to the bikes.

They were
about 50 yards away when they saw a flashlight. They dropped down low
immediately. The light came nearer and nearer and they heard voices.

“We’re
going to be in trouble.”

“No we’re
not, only if they catch us.”

“It’s way
past curfew and plus Mom will be mad.”

“We had
to go, she won’t mind.” They went back and forth.

“They
aren’t the police anyway. I don’t know who put them in charge.”

“Well
they are in charge and whether we like it or not that’s how it is. If they
catch us with food they’ll shoot us.”

“We
didn’t steal it, we left a note. It’s our aunt’s house and they aren’t home. I
don’t think they would care.” The kids were maybe 14 or 15, and sounded like
brothers. They walked right by Blake and Haliday, but didn’t see them.

After
about another 15 minutes they got up and finished heading back to the bikes.
Blake asked if he thought they would really shoot those kids. “I don’t doubt it
a bit. I hope they make it home. They have about 20 minutes before the
fireworks start.” They sat down and waited. They heard a decent explosion. Now
it had started.

They got
up and secured their gear and got on the bikes. They pushed them to the river
bank and waited again. The second device exploded and they started the bikes
and headed along the river toward town. They put the bikes down and watched the
activity. They saw two vehicles near the fires and a third coming down the
road.

The third
device detonated and now it looked like the Keystone Kops were in action. These
guys didn’t know what to do. They were running around their vehicles and
talking into their radios. Haliday couldn’t make sense of what they were
saying. Everyone was trying to talk at once.

They were
pointing in every direction and barking orders at each other. The fourth device
detonated and two vehicles shot toward there. A fourth truck showed up and went
down to the garage where the golf carts were. They tried to use fire extinguishers,
but that didn’t help. The ham was blaring away.

“These
pricks blew up the repair garage. The golf carts are all on fire. We can’t put
them out. We saw some of them head north. We’re going to send a couple patrols
after them.” Haliday was amused. Who the hell saw what, he thought, but then
again the moonlight, flames and the dark night made for some great optical
illusions. If they thought they saw something, more power to them.

All of a
sudden everyone ran away from the repair shop. In just a matter of about two
more minutes, there was a big explosion and flames were everywhere. One of
their trucks had caught fire from this explosion as well. Blake and Haliday
just looked at each other and wondered what the hell happened. Blake hadn’t
noticed the 100 gallon portable tank sitting there.

“Those
sons of bitches blew up a fuel tank. Damn near blew up all of our trucks too.
Looks like Jim’s Blazer is toast. We need to find these sons of bitches now.
I’ll be damned if they think they’re going to run around in my region and pull
this terrorist shit on us. Don’t let me find out people are helping them or
I’ll shoot them too.”

Haliday
looked at Blake; they hit the road and took off. Coincidentally they were
heading to Port Austin, where the family from the tornado shelter was from.
Haliday had a few fond memories of this area. He had taken Kayla camping there
a couple times as a small girl, old fashioned tent, hotdogs, sitting around the
fire eating smores.

Another
time David, Rich and one of David’s friends and he had chartered a fishing boat
and spent the day catching lake trout. The water had been rough, but they
insisted on going out and had a great day on the lake. Those were good times.
Life was simple then, he thought, and before he knew it they were there.

They
pulled in behind a large billboard. Haliday climbed up to the platform which
actually wasn’t very high and pulled out a roll of hundred mile an hour tape.
He wished he had spray paint for this but it was never really on his list of
preps except for some basic colors of rustoleum to keep at the house. It took
him about 15 minutes, but he finished it and it would have to do.

After
climbing down he looked at Blake, “You get the next one.”

“That
hard of a climb, old man?” Haliday figured it was time to shake him up a bit
and keep him focused.

“No, too
easy of a target up there.” Blake’s smirk disappeared instantly. They went down
the road about half a mile. Haliday found a stalled out car. Old Chevy station
wagon. He was surprised it was still on the road, so he didn’t feel bad about
what he was going to do.

Haliday
opened the fuel door. He dropped a model rocket engine down inside about six
inches. The igniter was attached to one of his last two alarm clocks, complete
with nine volt battery. The alarm would hit, the rocket would shoot down into
the tank and another nice little fire would occur. They took off and found
another billboard. Blake grabbed the tape and asked Haliday what he wanted him
to put up there.

Haliday
chuckled. He was thinking of
Red Dawn
. “Put ‘Wolverines’ up there,” he
said. “That ought to make their day.”

“Ok,”
Blake said; he climbed up and went to work. As soon as he was done, they moved
a little ways down the road and found another stalled out vehicle. This one was
a conversion van. This thing would burn like a champ with all that plywood and
upholstery inside. He opened one of the back doors to make sure the flames
reached inside. Haliday rigged this one up too.