The Resolution (15 page)

“Yes... yes, sir. It did,” Ed said as he de-cocked the pistol and slid it back into its holster.

“Take a cartridge out of your belt and top that cylinder off,” Henry said, pointing at the gun. “You never know when you’ll need all six.”

Chapter Twenty-Six: Link in the Chain

Walking into the kitchen for breakfast, Evan yawned and said, “That smells so good.” He walked up behind Molly, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Good morning, love,” she said, smiling and thankful to have him home. “How did you sleep?”

“Great.” He poured himself a cup of the ladies’ homemade herbal tea. “I’m feeling a lot better. I think it’s high time I drop the light-duty routine and start helping out around here again.”

Molly looked gave him a disapproving look. “In my professional opinion as a former nurse, I think it’s too soon... but I guess I have to be thankful you took it easy this long. Okay, you have my permission.”

Evan chuckled and gave her another kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Good morning, Sarah,” he said, taking a sip of tea as she walked into the room.

“Good morning,” she replied.

“Did Jason get off to an early start with his hunting trip this morning?” Evan asked.

“Yes, he did, and you don’t need to use code speak, Evan. I know what he’s really doing. I’m not happy about him being out there right now, but I understand it’s necessary.”

“I’m just sorry I’m not with him,” Evan replied.

“By the way,” she added. “Mildred and the others at the Thomas farm sent you a get-well-soon radio message this morning. They said they hope to see you soon.”

“Oh, how nice. Thank you. I would love to get over that way when conditions permit. I kind of feel like I owe Judith a personal explanation of why we came back without Nate,” he said, looking out the window and losing himself for a moment in his own thoughts. “God, I hope they make it home soon. I feel... ah, never mind.”

Understanding the internal conflicts Evan and Jason both felt about the situation, Sarah patted Evan on the back and got on with the business of helping Molly with breakfast.

“Where are the kids?” he asked.

“They are studying their school work with Peggy. She’s really stepped up with the homeschooling. It helps Zack associate with the other children that way, too. He’s starting to make progress toward coming out of his shell.”

“Does he still have nightmares?” Evan asked, taking another sip.

“Yes, but not like before. He wakes up crying for Peggy, but he’s not in a total panic like before. He asks about Nate a lot, too,” Sarah said. “He doesn’t understand the extent of Nate’s relationship with his mother. I think he just feels that Nate is filling a void in his life.”

Feeling the guilt of returning without Nate build in his heart, Evan quickly changed the subject. “I’m gonna go check on some things,” he said and quickly left the room.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Sarah said to Molly. “I didn’t mean to...”

“It’s okay,” Molly replied. “I know.”

~~~~

Sitting quietly on top of a ridge, providing overwatch for Charlie down below as he positioned and enabled the encrypted radio repeater, Jason scanned the skies around them, looking for signs of prying eyes from above. He brought with him an AR-10 in .308 Winchester from the Homefront’s arsenal, as his beloved Remington was no longer in his possession.

Once Charlie gave Jason the thumbs up, Jason returned the signal to let him know the coast was clear. Slipping off the ridge, Jason met back up with Charlie further down the trail, in the direction of home. “Is it online?” he asked.

“So far as I can tell,” Charlie replied. “There’s only one way to know though. How do you want to test it?”

“I’m not a communications expert, but from what I gathered from Q, when we transmit from one of the handheld units, the repeaters bounce the signal around in the network, making it difficult to DF the sender’s location. I imagine it’s possible, though, if someone is actively engaging in electronic intelligence and is close enough to pick up the signal directly from the handset.”

“But wouldn’t the relay from the repeaters throw it off?”

“Probably. Like I said, I’m no expert, but that makes sense. Unless, of course, the timing of the signals could be locked down in order to track the initial transmission, while ignoring the relays. I dunno,” Jason said, shrugging his shoulders. “There’s only one way to find out if it works, though, and that’s to give it a shot.”

Using the call sign given to him by Q that identified the Homefront to the Blue Ridge Militia radio operators, Jason switched on the handset, pressed the talk key, and said, “Fox Three Two,” and released the key.

Waiting a moment, Jason began to press the talk key again to transmit a second time when he heard, “Fox One Two, bravo.” Looking at Charlie with a smile on his face, Jason then said, “Kilo India Lima Lima Echo Romeo.”

“Killer?” Charlie asked with curiosity.

Jason shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t make up the verification codes; they did.”

A reply came over the radio saying, “Copy Fox Three Two. Fox Three sends regards.”

“Sweet,” Jason said to Charlie with excitement.

“What?” Charlie asked, not being privy to the lingo.

“Quentin must have made it out of the cave that day!” Jason said in an elated voice. “He is Fox Three.”

“You need to share this info with me and the others. What if you got—you know—if something happened to you? How would the rest of us use the radios?”

“You’re right, Charlie. I’ll brief you up on the walk home.”

“Excellent,” Jason replied over the radio. “Updates?”

“Light activity.”

“Copy. Fox Three Two out.”

Receiving a double click of carrier only, with no voice, Jason understood their reply and switched off his radio to conserve the battery.

“That was the shortest conversation I’ve ever heard,” said Charlie.

“That’s the idea. Short and sweet. The longer you key up, the more time they have to DF your location and smoke you from above.”

“Oh, yeah. I see that now. So you... or we, are Fox Three Two?”

“Yeah, each group gets a mutual call sign. It would be too complicated to try to assign each individual their own. Quentin, or Q as he likes to be called, is Fox Three because he is the area field commander for Area Three of the militia’s areas of operation. Fox is the term for those out in the field or away from any type of HQ position that the militia can consider an asset or an ally.”

“What exactly is his role as a field commander?” asked Charlie.

“The Blue Ridge Militia are big on keeping themselves separate from a governmental force in any sense. Being firm believers in the concept of individuals standing together, rather than a group simply following orders, they don’t use traditional rank structures.

“Also, they don’t have permanent ranks. For example, in their field components, they have team members, team leaders, strike leaders, and field commanders. A team member is just that, a member of the team. He or she is not subservient to the person above them in position; they are simply there as a voluntary member of the team.

“A team leader is the person assigned to call the shots and to be the point of contact for a specific movement or operation of a team. It’s not a permanent rank or appointment. You only carry the title while carrying out the movement.

“A strike leader is the same thing, but they are in charge of, or rather represent, more than one team working in coordination for the accomplishment of a common goal. Again, it’s not a permanent position; you only wear the title while fulfilling the role. A specific operation can last a long period of time; however, so you may be in that position for the duration, but you aren’t seen as a superior to any individual like you would be in a traditional military sense.

“The field commander is responsible for the ongoing operations of an area. That position is held for more than one movement or operation for the sake of continuity. Again, there is no superiority of one man over another man; it’s simply a role that’s being filled. No permanent rank appointments and no social hierarchy.

“The only position above the local field commander is the militia commander, which is an elected position chosen by all of the militia members. Every man or woman is just another link in the chain. Their organizational structure basically looks like a circle, where all links in the chain form the unbroken circle, unlike the straight-line structure of the governmental military units.”

“Are we militia members, then, since we have a call sign?” Charlie asked, confused about the depth of the situation.

“I think Evan and I pretty much are. We’ve pledged to help hold down the fort here on this end of Area Three as well as be the eyes and ears out this way. They know you guys are all a part of us, though—that we all stand together as one out here.”

“Damn straight about that,” Charlie replied. “Based on their organizational structure, I like the way those guys think. Everyone on the same team, voluntarily, with no man having power over the other. Leading by mutual interest alone and not based on a superiority established by law.”

“Yeah, that’s how Evan and I felt when they explained it all to us back at the cave where Carl took us to meet up with Q.”

“As much as I like to think of us being up here in our own little world—as self-reliant as we are—it sure is nice to know we aren’t alone in the grand scheme of things.”

Jason nodded in agreement. “Yep. As long as people band together to do wrong, other people will have to band together to do right. Even if it’s just in a time of emergency or extreme hardship. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to. But this world, as well as any society the world has ever known, has been far from perfect.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven: New Beginnings

As the night passed, Nate feared for the safety of his dear friend, Ed. “So, how long do these runs usually take?” he asked Meredith.

“Henry is usually not in any sort of hurry. He always says rushing gets you killed. He prefers to take things slow. I try not to sit up and worry while waiting for him, but it never gets any easier knowing he’s out there alone. I do feel better knowing your friend is out there with him tonight, though,” she said, placing her hand on Nate’s shoulder with a smile.

“Yes, ma’am. Ed’s made it through a lot. He’s got me through a lot. I’m sure the two of them will be just fine. If something happened to Ed, I would be all alone again. I had quite the solo trip in the not-too-distant past, trying to make my way to Tennessee, and that was hard enough with both legs.”

“You lost your leg after the collapse?” she asked with a confused look.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, how on Earth did you manage to survive that? I mean... without our healthcare system being intact? Lots of people have died from much less lately.”

“I was blessed to be with the right people,” he said. “My brother was a medical student and the first stop on my journey was to find him. He was dating a doctor and working with an outstanding group of patriots back in Texas. He was—” Nate stopped as they both heard the back door to the house above them open.

“That’s not them,” she whispered.

“What? How... how do you know that?” Nate asked in a soft voice.

“I just do. I’ve sat down here many a night, analyzing every little sound while Henry has been away on his runs. I know every move that man makes, and I know how he makes them.”

“Do you have any other guns down here with us?” Nate asked, trying to get himself prepared for a fight.

Shaking her head no, she whispered, “No. They took the only two. I usually have the pistol, but Henry wanted Ed to be armed. All we have is an old Civil War replica sword he found while on a run one night, and a bat.” She then slipped behind the curtain and returned with both items.

The footsteps grew louder as the intruders were now directly above them in the bedroom. She and Nate stopped to listen. Nate reached out, took the sword, and said, “They must be looking around for stuff to steal.”

“Everybody around here knows there isn’t anything left in these houses. I don’t know who they hell they are, but I don’t have a good feeling about this,” she said, visibly shaking from fear.

“Go. Hide behind the curtain with the bat. I’ll hack their damn feet off if they try to get down here,” Nate said as he got down on his hands and knee to quietly work his way to the stairs, hiding alongside the wall. He then motioned for her to turn out the light and go.

Doing as he asked, she extinguished the candle and disappeared into the total darkness of the room.

Nate waited silently as he strained to hear every footstep and sound from the room above. Clutching the sword, he tried to imagine exactly what he would do with it if such a thing came to pass. When the footsteps moved into the closet, Nate’s pulse raced as he prepared for what now seemed to be an inevitability; then he heard the boxes that Henry placed over the door being dragged out of the way.
Damn it to hell,
he thought.
Why... why... why did they have to leave?

Hearing some faint mumbling above, unable to make out what they were saying, Nate could tell that they had found something of interest in the closet. Just then, the trap door was pulled from above, being stopped by the sliding bolt Henry had installed for Meredith to lock when he was away. The sound of Nate’s pounding heartbeat, which was nearly drowning out the faint sounds from above, was interrupted by an explosion of wood debris as fully automatic fire erupted, nearly disintegrating the old wooden trapdoor. Ricocheting bullets and bits of wood and brick bounced all over the room as the gunfire from above deflected off the old brick wall at the base of the steps.

Nearly as soon as the gunfire began, it ended with the sounds of two bodies falling to the floor like sacks of potatoes. After a moment of silence, Nate heard the terrified screams from Henry as he called out, “Meredith! Meredith! Are you okay?” followed by the sound of footsteps racing down to the basement below.

“Yes. Yes. Oh, my God, yes,” she shouted with tears in her eyes, running to his open arms as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “What the hell is going on? What happened?” she asked him through the tears and panic in her voice.

“No time to explain. Get your bug-out bag,” he said as he began tossing the remaining canned food into a sack.

“Where’s Ed?” Nate asked, fearing for his friend.

“He’s keeping a lookout upstairs. Here,” Henry said, handing Nate a crutch. “Can you use this to get around?”

“Yeah. Yeah, no problem,” Nate replied, still confused, but understanding of the urgency of the situation and the need to simply comply and ask questions later.

As Meredith donned her backpack and handed Henry his, he took her by the hand. “Come on. We’ve got to get the hell out of here and right now,” he said as he nearly pulled her up the steps.

Nate struggled with the crutch to the top of the stairs, where Ed was waiting with a hand out, pulling him up the last few steps with one hard tug. Stepping over the bodies of two UN soldiers, Ed said, “This way. Follow him.” He handed Nate one of the downed soldier’s rifles while he carried the other over his shoulder via the sling. Nate slung the rifle on his back, positioned his crutch, and followed Ed’s direction.

Leading them out of the house, Henry looked around, listened, and then said, “This way. Let’s go this way to get the hell away from here.”

As they proceeded through the yard of the abandoned house next door, Nate looked back and noticed a UN-marked Humvee sitting in front of the home. “Hey, what about their truck?” he asked.

“No way, they’ll spot us too easily,” Henry replied.

“No... I mean how about we move it to another house. It may stall them while they look for their comrades inside the wrong house—giving us more time and distance.”

Looking back at Nate, Henry said,” Damn good idea.”

“I’m on it. Go with them, Nate. I’ll catch up,” Ed said as he ran back toward the Humvee. Climbing inside, Ed looked around for anything of use. He found a load-bearing magazine vest containing four fully loaded AK-74 magazines, a flashlight, and a handheld radio.
Outstanding,
he thought as he started the truck and began driving it across the street, behind the next block of houses. Grabbing the found items, Ed donned the vest, pocketed the light and magazines, and left the Hummer running with the lights on, pointing at the front door of one of the homes. He wanted whoever came looking for the two soldiers to find the Humvee right away, leading them into the decoy house.

Running back toward the location where he had last seen the others. Ed couldn’t help but frantically scan the sky as well as his surroundings on the ground, expecting more pursuers at any moment. “Ed,” he heard from behind an overgrown line of shrubbery on a neighboring street. He immediately altered his course for the sound and saw Nate stand, waving to him from around the side, near the ground.

Reaching the others, Ed ducked behind the shrubs and said, “I got us a few extra items.”

“Great. What?” asked Henry.

“Ammo, a light, and a radio.”

“Outstanding,” Henry replied. “Let’s get some more distance and then lie low. We can use the radio to listen in to any possible activity in the area. It would obviously pose a threat for us to transmit in any way, but if they are on the same frequency, we should be able to tell if they are getting close from the chatter and signal strength alone, even if we can’t tell what the Commies are saying. But for now, let’s just get the hell out of here.”

~~~~

After several hours of trekking through the suburban area in the dark, the group, now consisting of Henry, Meredith, Ed, and Nate, came to the edge of an old abandoned lawn mower dealership with an overgrown field on the other side of the road in front of them. “I hate to keep being the boat anchor, but I need a break,” Nate said, becoming sore from the use of the crutch to which he was not accustomed.

“Oh, it’s not just you, son. My old bones need to call it a night. I don’t think I can keep going, either,” added Meredith, agreeing with Nate.

“I think we’ve gotten far enough away for now,” said Henry as he looked around.

Ed noticed Henry attempting to look off into the brush of the field in the darkness. “I’ll go check it out. You all stay put,” he said as he slipped off into the night.

Returning after only about ten minutes, Ed said, “There is a tree line on the other side of this field. There is a small creek with a little bit of running water. It looks like this used to be farmed, and they left the trees around the creek. On the other side, there is maybe another ten feet of trees and then what appears to be what was once a farmer’s field. It looks clear to me. It’s a reasonable place to get some water and wash up, as well as take a nap. I’ll get the first watch while you all catch some rest.”

Agreeing with Ed’s suggestion, they all made their way across the field in the darkness. Reaching the other side, Ed flicked the flashlight on momentarily to show the others the terrain they would be working their way down to get to the creek below. After slipping into the trees, they had to creep down a slight incline to the creek. Henry started down, holding Meredith’s hand, leading her safely to the bottom. Ed stood watch while Nate started into the woods.

“Damn it!” Nate yelled as he hit the ground, having had his crutch slip out from underneath him on the slick grass-covered slope.

Ed shone the light to see what was wrong; Nate was on the ground, covering his eyes. “I’m fine. Turn it off,” said Nate in a frustrated voice.

“Oh, sorry, man,” Ed replied. He then went to Nate’s side and offered him a hand.

Brushing him away, Nate replied, “I’ve got it. I’m fine. I still can’t believe those bastards took my leg. I felt nearly one hundred percent with it. But now... back to being the boat anchor.”

“Oh, stop it,” Ed said, dismissing Nate’s negativity.

Once they all settled in at the side of the creek, they washed up and Ed and Nate both began to drink water directly from the small stream with the cupped palms of their hands.

Henry pulled two plastic tubes from his and Meredith’s packs, handed one to her, and they both leaned over and began to drink, sipping water through the tubes.

“What’s that?” asked Nate.

“LifeStraws,” Henry replied.

Ed and Nate both just looked at him, trying to get a better idea of what he had with the limited moonlight in the confines of the trees.

“It’s a water filter and a straw combined,” Henry explained. “They're really great. We tested them after we bought them, but this is the first time we’ve had to use them for real. Back at the house, we just used a filtration pitcher and purification tablets.”

“This is much better,” Meredith added. “Those tablets make the water taste horrible to me. Would you like to try?” she said, gesturing toward Ed and Nate with her LifeStraw.

“No, thanks,” Ed replied. “My body is accustomed to drinking straight out of the creek. It hasn’t killed me yet.”

“Yet,” Henry replied with a chuckle.

“By the way, Henry,” Ed said, removing the old cowboy holster and Colt Peacemaker. “Now that I’ve got this AK, I’ll give you this back before something happens to it. I’d hate for you to part with another heirloom.”

Reaching out to take it, Henry said, “Thanks. Yes... I imagine what few things we have are all we are gonna have from here on out. We can’t go back to the house now. They’ll be crawling all over that neighborhood.” Looking at Meredith, he said, “But at least I finally got her out of there. I don’t know where we will end up, but I was getting tired of the love of my life living like a rat in a hole.”

Meredith smiled. “I’d prefer to be referred to as a mouse, my dear. Besides, I was very thankful for that hole. It kept us alive. But the house was just a house. Nothing was ever going to be the same there again, anyway. I’m happy as long as I’m with you. This will just be our new beginning.”

They shared a sweet and gentle kiss, seeming to get lost in each other’s eyes, and in that moment. Ed took the opportunity to give them some privacy and began to work his way back to the edge of the field, facing the road for his watch. He looked up at the bright, full moon and wondered how everyone back at the Homefront was doing. Having no family of his own, they were all he had in the world. Nate had become like his brother, and getting Nate safely home to Peggy and Zack had become his number-one priority in what was now his life.

As Nate got comfortable, he looked at Henry and said, “Thanks for the crutch. I’d have had an impossible time without it. Where did you get it?”

“One of the other gentlemen in the neighborhood came across it a while back. We had put it back with some other healthcare items in the event one of us needed it someday. When Ed and I were on our way back, we picked it up.”

Meredith interrupted the casual conversation and steered them back toward a more serious note by saying, “So what happened out there tonight? And don’t give me your sugarcoated B.S. that you usually tell me. I’ve always wondered what was going on, and I have a feeling our visitors tonight weren’t random.”