The Resolution (18 page)

Chapter Thirty-One: The Escalating Threat

Over the next several days, the residents of the homesteads began to prepare for a potential bug out from their homes. Lloyd made good on his offer to transport Evan’s weapons and ammunition to the old mine, while the residents of the homefront relocated their livestock to aid in hiding them from the overhead surveillance that led to the destruction of Mildred’s herd.

Utilizing their existing materials, they took down hundreds of feet of metal woven-wire field fence and relocated it deep into the woods under the canopy provided by the treetops above. Although there was lots of vegetation in the animals’ new temporary home, there simply wasn’t enough grass forage to maintain the sheep for long. With that in mind, they supplemented by leaving several five-by-six foot round hay bales that they had produced from their own land the previous year in various places in the animals’ new enclosure.

With Mildred’s entire cattle herd having been decimated, all of the residents of the confederacy of homesteads knew it was critical that every animal survive what may come in their near future, in order to see them through the next winter. Evan was concerned about the threat of predators in the animals’ new and out-of-the-way environment, but considered losses to predators acceptable in comparison to losses from an aerial slaughter.

While those with animals were getting them prepared the best they could, the other homesteaders contributed by stocking and preparing the mine with provisions, should an extended stay become necessary. Some had more to give than others did, but everyone contributed. Though they stood as individuals in their daily lives, in crisis, they stood as one.

~~~~

As the late afternoon sun shone down through the trees, Evan looked at his sheep. “Well, ladies, and you, too, Rambo,” he added, referring to their breeding ram, “you all be careful tonight. I’m sorry we won’t be around to lend a hand if the coyotes come. Take care.” He said this as if they could understand him.

As he turned to walk out of the woods toward the house, his handheld radio transmitted, “Ev... you there?”

“Yep. Go,” he replied.

“The dogs are loose.”

“I’ll be right there,” he said in reply.
The dogs are loose, huh? That can’t be good,
he thought, referring to Jason’s choice of words. Although “turn the dogs loose” was used to signal those at the house to set up the guard and go into lockdown, he knew that was the case. Clearly, Jason had a threat to mention that he couldn’t talk about over the air.

Evan picked up his pace and hurried back to the house. As he stepped out into the pasture with the house off in the distance, he saw Jason heading his way.

“It must be bad if you couldn’t wait for me,” Evan said, anxious to hear the news.

“Yeah. It is. Q passed on some disturbing info. He said their sources have confirmed that the UN troops are moving in a convoy on Highway 70 in the direction of Hot Springs and then on to Del Rio. They expect a house-to-house sweep. They’ve already hit a few of the other small towns along the way.”

“What do you mean—hit?”

“Door kickers. They’ve gone from house to house confiscating all weapons and taking some men into custody. They seem to have a list of people associated with the militias, but all weapons and ammunition are to be taken.”

“What’s the plan? With Q and the Blue Ridge Militia, that is.”

“There’s an all-hands-on-deck meeting at midnight tonight.”

“Where?”

“He gave me the digits. I’ve still got to plot it out.”

“Hmmm,” Evan said with his hands on his hips, staring at the ground. “So what are you thinking?”

“We need to go. You and I can borrow a couple of Mildred’s horses to make it easier on you in your condition.”

“Ah, man. I’m really starting to feel okay. The infection is gone and the wound is healing up just fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“No offense, but I’ve heard that before,” Jason said with his crooked smile.

“Either way, yes, let’s borrow some horses. As a matter of fact, I think we should go get them fairly soon. We can make our rounds through the homesteads this evening, giving them the heads up in person. Especially knowing they’re headed this way, we need to stay off of our radios as much as possible. I seriously doubt they would head out on a roundup without advanced signals intelligence in the area.”

“Agreed,” Jason replied. “Well, let’s get on with it.”

~~~~

After explaining the situation to their families and the others at the Homefront, Evan and Jason paid a surprise visit to the Thomas farm. Mildred graciously accommodated their request and fitted them out with two horses and saddles for their journey throughout the homesteads and on toward Del Rio for their meeting.

They visited the Blanchard and Smith homes, then made their way to Linda Cox’s place to brief her on the situation. As they approached her home, they stopped to scan the area from a safe distance with their binoculars.

“Well, surprise, surprise,” Jason said, scanning the area.

“What?” asked Evan impatiently.

“Looks like Daryl is paying her a visit as well.”

“Well, good,” Evan replied. “They’re both wonderful people and alone. They’d make a beautiful couple.”

“Absolutely. It’s only funny because of how socially awkward Daryl is anytime someone jokes or asks him about it.”

“I hate to crash their party, but we’re running low on time. Let’s get to it,” Evan said as he nudged his horse forward.

Jason grinned and followed along.

As they approached the house, Linda’s donkey, Jack, immediately began his dreadfully loud
he-haw
as if to sound the alarm. Evan pulled back on the reins of his horse, bringing him to a stop, and motioned for Jason to stop as well.

“Daryl’s liable to want to shoot us just for interrupting. Let’s not give him an excuse. Let’s wait till he waves us in,” said Evan as Jason rode up alongside him and came to a stop.

“That, sir, would be the prudent course of action,” replied Jason.

After a moment of patiently waiting, Evan and Jason saw Daryl step out onto Linda’s front porch. He waved to them to proceed, making it known that they were recognized.

“I hope this doesn’t get too awkward. We don’t get much social drama around here these days.”

“Well, at least he doesn’t have to worry about us making a social media post about it. His personal life is safe with us.”

With that, the two shared a chuckle and continued toward the house. Arriving at Linda’s front porch, Evan and Jason dismounted as Daryl anxiously rushed out to meet them and help them tie up their horses. “Good evening, gents. I was just stopping by for a few to see how Linda was doing. It’s not safe around here for a woman to live alone these days, you know.”

“Yes, Daryl; that’s mighty neighborly of you,” Evan replied. “I’m sure she appreciates it.”

“So what brings you fellas out here?” Daryl asked. “I’m glad to see you, but these days it half worries me to get a visitor.”

“We know what you mean. No news is good news these days,” replied Evan. “I’ll let Jason explain.”

“Do you mind if we head inside? We would like to explain this to Linda as well,” asked Jason.

“Oh, yes, of course. Where are my manners? Come on in, fellas,” Daryl replied, fumbling over himself as if he was nervous or embarrassed. Evan and Jason shared a smile and followed him onto the porch and into the house.

“Evan, Jason, it’s so nice to see you,” Linda said as she gave each one of them a hug.

“Likewise, ma’am,” Evan replied while taking off his hat.

“Oh, don’t say ‘ma’am.’ You’re starting to make me feel old,” she replied, swatting her hand in the air at Evan.

“‘Ma’am’ has nothing to do with age; it’s simply a gentleman showing respect to a lady.”

Daryl looked at Evan and shook his head. “Don’t waste your time, Evan. I’ve explained that till I’m blue in the face. Just save yourself the trouble and call her Linda.”

Evan chuckled and said with a smile, “Anything the lady wants.”

“So, anyway,” Linda said, giving Daryl an awkward look, “what brings you two by this late in the evening?”

Jason spoke up. “You know how I’ve been keeping in touch with the militia about the goings on in the area via a secure radio network, right?”

“Yes. Daryl explained the gist of it to me.”

“Well, we received some troubling news this evening that a UN convoy is on its way to Hot Springs. So far, their intentions have been to sweep entire neighborhoods, going door to door, confiscating weapons and ammunition, as well as arresting some individuals on sight, as if they have reason to believe they are involved with one of the area militias. The Blue Ridge Militia has reason to believe they are planning to make their way toward the Del Rio area after Hot Springs.”

Daryl and Linda shared a look of concern. “Oh, my goodness,” she said. “So what is going to happen here?”

“Evan and I are going to ride to a rally point later tonight to meet up with the local militia guys to get more information. Regardless of what they say, we can assume that things are going to change around here, and soon. No longer can we consider ourselves safely off the beaten path and living on our own terms. The extent of that, we have yet to find out, but we may as well start getting our minds wrapped fully around our contingency plans.”

“I’ll go with you,” Daryl said. “Is it only you two going?”

“That’s what we had planned, so far. We didn’t want to take too much manpower away from the homesteads just for the meeting.”

“That leaves plenty. I’m going,” Daryl said forcefully.

“Roger that,” Jason replied. “Grab your stuff and you can make the last few rounds with us; we’ll head out from there. We’ve still got to find the place, so we planned on getting on the road fairly soon after we let everyone know to be prepared for what’s coming our way.”

“Okay, I’ll be right out if you guys want to be getting your horses,” Daryl said, as if he was trying to get a moment alone with Linda before they left.

“Roger that. We’ll see you out front,” Jason replied.

Evan and Jason both nodded goodbye to Linda and stepped out onto the porch and into the front yard. As they started untying their horses, Evan quietly said, “That’s a couple if I’ve ever seen one.”

“I know,” chuckled Jason. “Did you see the iron stare he got when he said he was going?”

“Yep. That was a little obvious,” Evan replied.

“Okay, guys, let’s get going,” Daryl said, stepping out onto the porch, rifle in hand.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Rally Point

As Evan, Jason, and Daryl rode through the darkness of the cloudy night—occasionally getting a break in the sky for the moonlight to shine through—they stopped periodically for Jason to check his map and his coordinates. Q had transmitted the location to him in code, and he deciphered it the best he could with the information he had. He was, however, unsure if he had gotten it right.

“Guys, I hope I’m not leading us on a wild goose chase, causing us to miss the meeting.”

“Why did he have to make it so complicated?” asked Daryl.

“Just remember, the occupiers have stepped up their game. Keep in mind what they did to Mildred’s cattle. Imagine if they caught wind of our meeting and knew where it was going to be. Our entire local militia force could be wiped out in one strike.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Daryl replied. “So how much further do you think it is?”

“From what I’ve worked up, it should be just a half mile more due east from our current position. It looks like it’s gonna take us alongside the river. It’s about a half mile or more outside of Del Rio to the west, around the river’s bend.”

“That would make sense. They would probably want the ease of travel down in the valley. The river is the lowest point in the bottom and there is lots of good tree cover along the banks. Not to mention the railroad tracks and Old River Road for folks to get in and out on,” added Evan.

“There are a few old houses along the river, too,” said Daryl as he thought about the area. “Some of which weren’t really occupied even before the collapse. I know of a few fishermen who kept up old, run-down houses or shacks along the riverbank to keep their boats and fishing supplies in. Sort of a deer camp for fishermen. They weren’t fit to live in, but were suitable for their intended purpose. They could slip their little johnboats into the river directly behind the house and wouldn’t even have to worry about hauling them anywhere. One of those places would be perfect. Most of them were hidden well into the trees, as they didn’t keep up a lawn or anything.”

“That makes sense.” Jason studied the map. “Let’s keep going this way just a bit further,” he said, comparing his compass to their estimated position on the map.”

They proceeded down a thickly forested hillside, using caution and taking it slow, as visibility was poor, to say the least. As they reached the bottom of the hill, Daryl said, “That’s the river up ahead. We just have to cross this clearing, the railroad tracks, and then the clearing on the other side that goes up to the edge of Old River Road. Right on the other side of Old River Road is the tree line. If we’re assuming it’s gonna be in a wooded area, it’ll be over there.”

“That’s got to be it,” Jason said. “Unless, of course, I got it all wrong.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Evan said as he nudged his horse forward, with Jason and Daryl following closely behind.

As they crossed the first clearing, Daryl said softly, “I’m sure glad it’s a cloudy night. The moon would light us up out here, otherwise.”

“Yeah, I just hope it doesn’t rain,” Evan replied. “It would be a long ride back in those dark woods in the middle of a rain storm. It’s kind of lookin’ like it might just do that,” he said, looking up at the sky while holding his hand out in search of raindrops.

As they crossed the tracks and approached the tree line that followed the contour of the river, a voice in the darkness said, “Identify,” in a firm manner, followed by the sound of a metallic click.

“We’re here to see a friend,” Jason quickly replied.

“Who’s your friend?” the voice then asked.

“Ignatius Johnson,” Jason replied.

“What?” Evan asked.

“Hey, I told you before; I don’t make this stuff up. They do.”

“You’ll find him just up ahead. Good to see you guys,” the voice said in a much more welcoming tone.

“Same to you, brother,” Jason replied as they continued into the woods.

Just up ahead, they came upon an old run-down house hidden amidst the trees and brush, just as Daryl had described, with several men standing around chatting. “Well, hello, there,” one of them said. “I’m Sam Jones. Nice to meet you.”

“Hello, Sam,” Evan answered as he, Daryl, and Jason dismounted their horses. “I’m Evan Baird,” he said as he reached out to shake Sam’s hand. “And these two gentlemen are Daryl Moses and Jason Jones. We heard our presence was requested.”

Before Sam could answer, they heard a familiar voice call out, “Thank God, you boys made it!”

“Quentin!” Evan said, giving him a hug as he walked up to them. “Man, we sure were glad to hear you made it out of the cave that day. What about Carl? Is he...”

“Carl’s fine,” Q answered quickly. “He’s inside, actually. A few of the gentlemen out here are gonna stand watch while we have our meeting. We’ve also got a few fellas posted a mile in each direction for early warning. They're watching the roads and the skies.”

As the men began to walk inside the house, Evan said, “Oh, and, by the way, this is Daryl Moses. He’s one of our fellow homesteaders, and to be honest, none of us would be alive without him.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Daryl said out of modesty.

“I know it to be a fact,” added Jason. “On more than one occasion, to boot.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Daryl,” Q said, reaching out his hand. “Please, call me Q.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Daryl responded, returning Quentin’s handshake.

“Come on in, gentlemen. We’re just about to get started,” Quentin said as he led them inside.

Entering the room, Evan looked around to see at least twenty other men, representing every age group, from their early twenties to their late sixties. He recognized several of them as the guards to the entrance to town; Evan’s group had been temporarily stopped by them on their way to see Pastor Wallace during their failed supply run. Then across the room, he saw Tyrone Gibbs. Tyrone’s face lit up when he saw Evan and Jason, and he hurried across the room to meet them.

Evan reached out his hand, but Tyrone smacked it away and gave him a hug, lifting him off the ground. He then grabbed Jason in the same manner, and said, “I thought I would never see you guys again. Thank you. Thank you so much for everything you did. We had no idea you would actually go after and rescue Sabrina like you did. That was... well, I have no words. You guys...” He paused to wipe the tears from his eyes.

“I feel like I’m missing out on one hell of a story here,” Quentin said.

“Yes, sir. You are,” Tyrone replied, regaining his composure.

“It’s nothing, really,” Evan said, trying to downplay the situation.

“That’s nonsense. You guys risked your lives for a total stranger. I owe you more than I will ever be able to repay. Where are the others? Where are Ed and Nate?”

“A lot more happened after you saw Charlie and Jimmy, when they dropped off Sabrina at the church. We had a run-in with the UN troops and were separated. We’ve not seen them since. Every day we wake up hoping to hear any news to give us something to go on. But if we can make it back, they can too, so we haven’t lost faith.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Tyrone replied in a defeated tone. “I’ll keep them in my prayers. So far, or at least lately, God has been good to me. Maybe he’ll grant me one more favor.”

“Where’s Pastor Wallace?” asked Jason.

“He’s back at the church standing watch. He’s one of our early warning posts for the meeting. He has a radio to let us know if trouble rolls into town while we’re all here,” Tyrone explained.

“Time to get down to business, I guess,” said Quentin as he walked to the front of the room. “Gentlemen, I’d like to thank you all for coming. If any one of your trusted friends or family members couldn’t make it here tonight, please pass along the basics of the meeting, but not the specifics of any particular plan or idea unless they are going to be involved personally. Is that understood by everyone? We can’t risk compromising the rest of the group if someone who stays behind is taken and interrogated.” Pausing for a moment, Quentin looked around the room to see that everyone was in agreement, and then continued.

“As you already know from the JADAM we sent out, UN forces are moving up Highway 70, towards Hot Springs. Our intelligence folks tell us they aim to continue on to Del Rio once they’ve secured Hot Springs and its outlying areas. They appear to be in possession of some sort of intelligence as to who may be affiliated with a militia group, as several of our own were taken from their homes, a few of whom were killed when they attempted to resist. Needless to say, if you’re taken, don’t expect your wives and children to be treated in a respectable manner. Several of us around here can already attest to what can be expected after a run-in with them,” he said as he looked at Carl. Carl nodded in affirmation of what he had said.

“How they got this information, we don’t know, but each and every one of us here tonight has to play it safe and assume we’re on the list, which means you and your families are not safe. You may have already noticed an increased level of airborne surveillance in the area, as well.”

One of the men in the back of the room stood up and said, “Damn straight! They buzzed my place just yesterday with two big helicopters. It took everything I had in me not to try and shoot them out of the sky.”

“I would highly recommend against that,” Quentin replied. “None of us would stand a chance against a Hind. As tempting as it may be, you had better have respect for the capabilities of those things, or you’ll find out the hard way.”

Evan raised his hand and added, “For those of you who don’t already know, Mildred Thomas’s farm was attacked by the very same Hinds. They flew over the farm in formation and then split up, one seeming to provide cover for the other while it did its dirty business. The lead helicopter opened fire with its machine gun on her herd of cattle, completely wiping it out. It was a total slaughter. Not one cow that was in the pasture was spared. Luckily for her, she had several milk cows in the milking parlor, but they are now all she has left. Those cattle were feeding a lot more than her household, and those bastards knew it. They intentionally hit our food supply, and hit it hard, to shut down our independent way of life. Don’t think for one moment that will be the last time such a thing happens, either.”

After a moment of distress-filled conversation in the room, Quentin regained control of the meeting and said, “Gentlemen, that’s exactly what we are here to talk about. Since the attacks that brought our country to its knees first occurred, most of us, and rightly so, have hidden ourselves away in the hills to provide for and protect our families, only coming out to hunt or fish to get what we need, but mostly, we’ve kept to ourselves.

“We can’t do that anymore. We can’t just hide out and wait for them to pass. It’s not going to simply pass. The Blue Ridge Militia, along with the other militia groups that make up the Southern States Defensive Alliance don’t intend on allowing our way of life to be steamrolled by the UN, or any government or organization that thinks we are ripe for the picking. Militia groups and guard units in the constitutionally loyal states have been stepping up their resistance. There have been several major operations in Texas, Arizona, Idaho, and Kansas that have knocked the occupying forces on their butts.”

“Unfortunately,” he continued after a few cheers went through the room, “this isn’t something that’s going to be won with one decisive battle or one grand achievement. They have the upper hand in equipment and organizational might, but we have what the soldiers who fought under Washington had; we have the fire in our hearts, and souls of men who were born free and for damn sure aren’t going to just roll over and let that freedom be taken away.

“The soldiers they bring with them are nothing more than mercenaries working for a paycheck. We, however, are fighting for our homes, our families, our country, and our American way of life, which has been the shining beacon of hope for so many people since the nation’s inception. We will out-will them. We will out-fight them. We will out-smart them. We will wear them down, we will beat them, and we push them into the ocean if we have to, in order to get them off of our lands.”

Looking around the room, seeing the fire in the eyes of the men who were present, Quentin said, “This is going to be dirty and ugly. Many of us, if not all of us, will lose everything that we have, including our lives. There’s never been a war, no matter how just, where the good and the innocent didn’t suffer. Many, if not most, of the original patriots who fought to secure our independence during the Revolution, lost their lives or nearly everything they had for the cause.

“But my friends, my brothers, this isn’t just a political cause. This isn’t a national cause. If we stand up and fight to keep the tyranny that is sweeping the nation from taking over, we are fighting for our children’s future. I, for one, don’t want my grandkids to look back on this time in history as the time that America—once the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave—simply gave in to the powers that be.

“I want them to look at this time in our history as the time that we reaffirmed our place in this world as a country of free men and women, who no matter what your race, ethnicity, or background, stood together, and not only said no, but shouted ‘HELL NO!’ to the tyranny of big government collectivism, and stood up for the freedoms and liberty of our unalienable, God-given, individual rights.