The Fall of America: Premonition of Death (9 page)

CHAPTER 9

T
he next morning dawned cold, with clouds so low it looked like I could reach up and touch them, but they were dark and that concerned me. I walked into the woods, did my morning toilet, and made my way to the fire.

"Looks like snow," I said sitting on my heels.

Tom laughed and then asked, "When was the last time you saw snow around here?"

I chuckled and replied, "Okay, even if it does snow, it'll not amount to much. I don't know the temperature, but guess it's below freezing."

"I agree. Listen, we need to do a little scouting."

I picked up my cup and poured some coffee as I replied, "You and I are thinking alike. We've been a here a while, and I'd like to know if we've been spotted or if anyone else is in the area."

"Finish your coffee and we'll run a recon. I think the women will be safe enough, don't you? I mean there are six of 'em and I'll leave Dolly with 'em."

"I'll speak with Sandra before we leave and make sure she's got a handle on it. Do you want to take any of the daughters with us? It might help to give one of 'em some experience."

After a dry chuckle, Tom said, "The only one out of the whole group that has any grit that I trust is Vickie. We can take her if you want."

"Okay, Vickie it is. While I talk to Sandra, you give our new troop a briefing of why we are going and what's expected of her. Make damned sure she understands when to shoot and when not to shoot."

"I'll brief her, so don't worry about it."

*****

An hour later we were walking an ever enlarging circle, moving slowly as we looked for any sign of others. So far we'd found nothing, but then Tom stopped and motioned for us to get down. I fell in the grass and saw Vickie do the same. She'd not been a problem yet, at least after I'd told her we were not to talk as we walked. At first I think she thought we'd just stroll down the road talking, picking flowers, and scratching our asses. I'd broke that illusion for her with just the tone of my voice. On a more positive note, the temperature was going up and the threat of snow was gone.

Tom, turned his head and indicated he'd seen movement. I knew we were close to an old timber road that ran parallel to the fence line, but I saw no movement.

Long minutes passed and then I heard a loud curse followed by a laugh. An unknown voice suddenly ordered, "Cut the chatter and laughing! You two keep playing grab ass and I'll see your whiskey ration cut tonight."

"Chill, man, there ain't nobody around but us and we're the meanest bunch of bastards in the state."

"I said shut your damned mouth, Thomas, and I mean now."

I glanced toward the road and saw a long file of men moving away from our position, heading north. Some were wearing parts of military uniforms, but most wore jeans and civilian jackets. I looked at Tom and he motioned his open palm toward me and then motion downward with his hand, indicating he wanted me to wait and not move. Five minutes after the main group passed, a single man passed. I knew right then I was dealing with a prior military unit.

Twenty minutes after the drag man passed, we move to a huge pine tree about two hundred yards away. It worried me that such a large group was operating in the area.

"I must have seen the point man's movement, but I never saw him clearly." Tom said just above a whisper as he shook his head.

"I counted fifteen and you?" I asked.

"Sixteen counting the drag."

"Who were those men?" Vickie asked, keeping her voice low.

"I have no idea." I answered honestly and then continued, "But, we'll treat them like the enemy until we learn different."

"Most were armed with shotguns, crossbows and arrows, and one man even had a compound bow." Tom stretched his legs out in front of him.

"I saw five long guns," I replied.

"Long guns?" Vickie asked.

"Rifles or shotguns."

She gave a sheepish grin and said, "I counted five of them too, but I didn't see any pistols except on two or three."

"What now?" Tom asked, but he knew the answer.

"We hang back and follow them. No need to get close enough to see 'em, we'll stay in the woods and follow their tracks. That many men will be easy to follow."

Vickie started to speak, but didn't, so maybe she was learning. Nonetheless, I knew what she was thinking, only it would have to wait until we found out more about these men.

We moved parallel to their tracks for over five miles, when I noticed about four thin fingers of smoke rising in the distance. Tom must have noticed it as well, because he raised his balled fist to stop us. Then he pointed at himself, motioned the direction of the house, and finally pointed to his eyes.
He's going to scout the house out and wants us to wait,
so I nodded in understanding. He moved forward.

Vickie was kneeling on the ground and not once did she move that I could see. She'd picked up the routine quickly, so all my worry had been for nothing.

A few minutes later, Tom returned and pointed back down our trail. I took point and covered about a half mile before I angled into the woods to our right and finally stopped under a large post oak tree. We all knelt.

"What did you find?" I asked.

"Huge compound, with a lot of men and women, and even guard towers. It's not a place I'd want to try to get into or out of. I even saw a few machine guns, old M-60's, mounted on two of the towers and one sandbagged bunker near the gate. One joker was walking around with what looked to be a flamethrower, so I backed off."

I thought for a few minutes and then said, "It could be an old reserve or guard unit that stuck together for safety after the fall. If so, the leader is likely a full colonel with a lot of experience in commanding a combat unit in the field. I don't like this, not at all." I scratched the side of my face and then asked, "Did you see a flag flying?" Hoping the unit still supported 'Old Glory.'

"Not that I saw, but to be honest I didn't stay there gawking at the place very long. What now?"

"I'm not sure, so let me think about this on the way back to camp." I was concerned, but not overly shocked. I just never suspected someone had a base camp this close to us, and I felt strongly inclined to move our current camp.

As we moved the wind picked up and a light rain began to fall. Tom and I pulled out ponchos, but Vickie didn't move.

Tom asked as he turned to her, "Don't you have rain gear?"

"No, not a thing. Hell, I didn't have anything where we were living, but I'm okay."

Tom handed his poncho to her and said, "Here, use mine." Vickie hesitated, so he added, "I'll be alright, because I have my hoodie."

As soon as she took the garment, Tom reached into his pack and pulled out a dark green wool hoodie, that would not just keep him dry, it would also keep him warm. Wool insulates even when wet, so we both carried one in our pack.

One thing about Tom, he was a true Southern gentleman most of the time, unless he was mad about something; then he was a different man. I'd once attended an awards program where he'd been presented a silver star for some heroic act he'd performed in Iraq during a combat tour and when I later asked him about it, he'd simply replied, "Those Iraqi's made me mad."

Lightning filled the air and thunder cracked sharply as we cautiously made our way back to camp. The temperature dropped a bit and I could see each breath I took. I glanced at the other two, looking for symptoms of hypothermia, only they looked fine. Vickie was tired, of course, but not one complaint from her.
You'll do and I'm glad to have you as part of our team,
I thought and then my mind moved to the group we'd just seen.
We need to move camp and do it quickly.

*****

Once back at camp, I pulled the women near as Tom pulled guard. I explained what we'd found on the recon and that we needed to move out of the area. The only problem that concerned me was where were we to go? So, I asked the women and waited.

"We want to stay in the woods, if we can." Sandra added, as soon as I'd finished speaking.

Carol frowned and said, "My old place is in the woods, but I'm not sure how safe it is."

Sue suddenly grinned and said, "How about Jackson?"

Alisa shook her head and said brusquely, "Sue, do you know how stupid what you just said sounds? Jackson? Do you really want to live in Jackson with no police? Hell, I wouldn't live there with the police."

Sue lowered her head. "I'm tired of living like an animal in the woods. We can make peace with people and stop the killing. I think it'd work."

"If we moved to Jackson, you wouldn't have to worry about living anywhere for very long." I said, and then quickly asked, "Any other ideas?"

"Maybe those men you saw were friendly." Sue said as she raised her head and smiled.

"And," Vicki said, he eyes narrowed in anger, "maybe you're a damned fool! I saw those guys and they were hard looking men. I have no doubt in my mind they're killers, just by the way they moved. They'd kill John and Tom, and then use us for sport! I think we "

To defuse the situation I said, "That's enough! We can't risk contact with them and it's not likely they're friendly anyway. Since things ended we've been alone, and I want to stay that way if we can. Small groups can move, hide, and be fed easier than large groups."

Sue crossed her legs and arms, glared at Vicki, so I added, "Look, I don't care if all of you like each other or not. However, I suggest very strongly that each of you try to avoid arguments in future, because we must be able to depend on each other or survival isn't possible. And the first serious problem I have, both parties will be banished, understood?"

Sue stood, and in the heat of anger asked, "You'd banish people over an argument? I thought we had the
right
to argue! This
is
America, right? I
know
my rights!"

Dolly, not liking the tone of Sue's voice, growled.

I gave a light smile at her stupidity, because this woman needed to wake up and smell the horse apples scattered all around us. "No, this is
not
America, or at least as we remember our country! We have
no
government, so
you
have
no
rights." I felt my anger growing so I continued, "
I am the leader
and what I say goes, or you can leave right this minute."

I knew if she left, Tom would go with her, so I was as surprised as her at my words. I didn't care if Sue left, and took her liberal attitude with her, but Tom I needed. But, I'd already spoken, so I waited.

After many long minutes she sat in the dirt and lowered her head.

I wasn't sure what to say next, so I did like I had in the military, I issued an order. "Let's get all our gear packed, horses ready to go, and get some food in us. We're leaving today."

*****

Five hours of hard riding placed us a little over ten miles. While the trip had been rough, we'd not moved as quickly as I'd have liked due to the shortage of horses.
Starting tomorrow, the horses will carry our loads and all of us will walk,
I thought while dismounting in a light drizzle. Turning to Tom, I said, "Circle this place and let me know what you find. We'll hold off on a fire or food until you get back."

"I'm cold now." Sue said, and glared at me.

"Honey," Tom said, "John is right. We can't have a fire, until I make sure this place is safe. So take your pretty little butt and sit under a tree until I get back."

Tom pulled his horse to the left and disappeared into the drizzle, while Sue stomped off in the direction of a huge oak tree. I had a silent chuckle and then pulled the saddle from my horse.

Ten minutes later, Tom returned, shook his head and said, "Not good. I spotted movement and followed trail for a bit. About a half a mile north is a house with a group of men moving in and out. I have no idea how many are there, but more than we can handle."

I turned to the women, all of which were now under the oak with Sue and said, "Two hour break for the horses, then we'll load our supplies and start moving, only this time we'll walk."

"Walk? Why do we need to walk when we have horses?" Sue asked as she stood with her hands on her hips.

Annoyed by her question, I managed to answer with an even tone, "Because we can't keep riding double on the horses. If we walk we'll be able to cover more ground and right now we need more distance from our last camp."

It was then I saw movement from the corner of my left eye and when I turned I was able to see a man moving in the brush. I bent down, as to pick up my saddle, and in just above a whisper I said to Tom, "Movement."

Tom walked toward the women and didn't appear to have heard my warning, but I knew he had. He was moving to a better firing position. As he approached, Sue turned and started moving away from the tree. I wanted to warn her not to move, but there was nothing I could do.

From the brush behind me there sounded a rifle shot and Sue collapsed in the mud at her feet, unmoving. I swung around and fired my shotgun, heard a scream from the brush and then rushed into the trees. The area was suddenly alive with rounds ricocheting from rocks and trees, as the air filled with the loud booms of shotguns, sharp cracks of rifles, and lesser pops of pistols. I heard screams of pain and yells as orders were given from the brush. And then, it grew quiet.

I guess the whole thing had lasted less than five minutes, but combat was like that at times, and it was usually after a battle that fear struck me hard. Knowing the women would be scared and unsure what to do next, I swallowed my fear and yelled, "Stay where you are until I check things out."

I quickly circled our temporary camp and saw bloody tracks of two men moving away from us, four bodies in the brush and one man yet alive. He'd taken a round about seven inches above his belly button, so he wasn't a threat. I disarmed him and then moved to the oak where I'd last seen the women. Tom was on his knees beside Sue, crying hard, so I knew she'd been killed. I spotted Marty's body near the tree and didn't bother to check her pulse, she'd taken a round in the center of her face. I waited a second for my nerves to settle and then called out, "Everyone come to the oak where you were when the shooting started."