The Guardians, page 23
"It must take a lot a food to feed all of those people," added Griff.
"Hence the stolen cattle," replied Evan. "One cow goes a long way."
"True...Well, let's get back to the guys and get everything together. We need the cover of darkness to set up," replied Griff.
Evan and Griff returned to the group and they gave a final briefing as to what everyone's job was and what to expect. Evan explained, "Daryl will be the closest to the house to operate his contraption, so Griff will be with him with the bump fire AK to give him a suppressive fire to initiate a retreat if need be. If their fall back is successful after the blast, Daryl will set up with his Savage model 12 and join in on the long range harassing fire with the rest. I'll be on the lower west corner of the tree line, Daryl will move to the lower east corner, Jimmy you take the upper west, and Charlie you take the upper east end, and Billy, you be a floater."
"A floater?" Billy inquired.
"Yea, basically don't be tied down to one position." Evan clarified. "Move around and direct fire where it seems needed the most, then move around some more. The four corners will keep them pinned down from all directions, keeping them confused at size and strength, and the floater will only magnify that. They won't know it's the same guy moving around. Also, Griff will do the same once Daryl is in his secondary position. A little full auto AK fire will rattle their cages and definitely make them second-guess our force strength. One more thing, being on the move, Griff will be the commander of the operation. He's got a flare gun with two different colors. If he pops green, it's time to pull out and rally at the Farm for a head count and debrief. If he pops red, it's an emergency mission abort. If you see a red flare, bug out and split up. In either case, don't go home. You don't want to be followed back to your family. Rally at the Farm on green, and every man for himself on red. Just make sure you if things go red to give it a few days before you go home, and make sure you aren't being followed if that is the case."
"Any questions?" asked Griff.
"What are our targets exactly?" Asked Charlie. "Are we shooting to kill?" he asked in a nervous manner.
"Unfortunately, yes," Griff responded. "There is no civil way to play this out. Think of your families, and think of Ollie, Isaac, and all of those you are saving by getting rid of this problem."
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm just having a hard time believing this is all real," replied Charlie. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Well guys," Griff said wrapping things up, "If there are no more questions, Evan, Daryl, and I will deal with our friend. You all get into position, and when the sun comes up, you will get your signal to open fire."
With that they all did as instructed. Evan, Daryl, and Griff untied the prisoner from the tree and Griff said, "OK, time to get you back to your buddies, but one peep or one sketchy move from you on the way there and I'll slit your throat, do you understand?" Griff asked with his hand on his knife.
The man nodded in the affirmative and off they went. While the others proceeded to their assigned positions, Evan, Daryl, and Griff took the prisoner, the chair, and Daryl's flint bomb to the center of the property, at the bottom of a long and sloping hill that served as a large front yard. It was approximately one hundred and fifty yards of cleared area to the tree line with a gravel driveway running up the center of the property to the house. As the party seemed to die down and the Muncie gang began to settle in for the night, Evan and Daryl snuck up the driveway with the man, covered by the darkness of the pre-dawn morning. At about half way, approximately seventy five yards from the house, they unfolded the chair and sat the man down on it, tying his legs to the chair legs and tying his neck, via the noose, to his hands around the back of the chair. The man was secure and was unable to get up and run away. While Griff and Evan were tying him in place, Daryl placed his flint bomb inside a small backpack and hung it over the man's shoulders and over the back of the chair. The man started to squirm trying to figure out what the pack was all about, but Evan quickly ended his curiosity with a knife to the throat saying quietly, "One more move and all they will find is a bled out corpse in the morning."
As the final step, Daryl rigged a pieced of fishing line to the flint lock mechanism main trigger, cocked the hammer, and tied the other end to the man's belt. There was only a few inches of slack from the line to the pack, as was Daryl's design. Griff hung a sign around the man's neck, visible from the front that read, "A peace offering from The Guardians."
As they began to walk away, Evan turned to the man and whispered in his ear, "Move before they come out to get you and we will shoot you dead where you sit. There will be several sets of crosshairs on you at all times. While you sit here waiting for your friends to rescue you, I recommend you look back over your worthless life, remember all of those you have harmed, and beg God for forgiveness."
Evan then went to his corner, and Daryl and Griff set up in the middle directly behind the chair, just over a hill behind some bushes. This position was chosen as a back up to the trigger mechanism. Daryl had strung out a fishing line to this location from which he could activate the trigger if the primary triggering mechanism did not present the opportunity.
As the sunrise began to appear over the hills from the east, Evan could not help but think about just how beautiful life was. Just how wonderful everything that God had given us could be, yet our fellow humans keep messing it up, over and over again. He resented that he had to take this action. He resented that bad people force good people into these sort of situations, bringing them somewhat down to their level. Oh well he thought, what must be done, must be done.
As the sunlight reached the prisoner in the chair, the man who was on duty to watch the front of the property began to yell for the others. "Frank, get Frank! It's that dumb ass Pete we sent to watch the rancher!"
Several other men appeared with an assortment of weaponry, all pointing their rifles in random directions as if they felt they were being watched by whoever left their cohort tied up in the chair in the dead center of the lawn. When Frank Muncie Jr. appeared, it looked as if he was giving orders to a few of the other men, there was some argument, and then two of them, both armed with shotguns, began to work their way out to the prisoner.
"Well, I guess we know our prisoner's name now," said Daryl. "I personally would have rather not known that. It makes it a little more personal now."
Griff just patted him on the back and turned his attention back to the two men approaching the chair. As they got a little closer, they read the sign around his neck. One of them chuckled, and removed the sign while the other started removing the gag from Pete's mouth. As he worked to untie the gag, the man said, "Pete, you sorry piece of shit you've always been a liability. You had to go and get yourself caught and led them right to us didn't you. Frank's gonna have fun teaching you a lesson. You're screwed."
As the gag came off Pete said, "No, we are screwed," as Daryl pulled the line, dropping the flint lock hammer against the frizzen, igniting the charge sending Pete and the other two men straight to hell in a devastating explosion that shook the entire home. Nothing but a crater remained in the yard, as bits of debris and body parts came falling down to the ground.
Before Frank Jr. even knew what had happened, The Guardians opened fire on the house. Griff laid down a suppressing fire with the AK, while Daryl fell back to his secondary position. The sound of fully automatic fire from the bump fire AK sent the men at the house scurrying in all directions. Evan began firing the big fifty at the front door of the house. He wanted to take it off of its hinges to make them feel vulnerable that they no longer had the simple ability to even shut the door. One shot to the upper hinge, reload, and a second shot to the lower hinge, and the door fell violently off of its frame. He then turned his attention to the structure of the home itself. He felt if he could get some of the large bullets through the wooden walls, the feeling of safety behind cover would be a thing of the past for them. As his shot's hit the walls, the air inside of the home was filled with splinters and shards of wood as the walls just seemed to rip themselves apart. The other three, with much less firepower, focused on soft targets. Two of the Muncie gang were cut down before they got inside. One took a gut shot on the front porch and laid in plain view shivering and convulsing with pain, as he died a slow and painful death. Another was shot in the back from Jimmy's position, while Charlie focused on the back door, shredding it into jagged pieces with the rapid fire of his AR-10.
Once the remaining Muncie gang members had all retreated into the house, The Guardians focused their fire on non-human soft targets such as windows, rainwater barrels, ATV's, vehicles, and anything else that looked to be of use to them, including the stereo they were using the previous night. After a few moments, return fire began coming from the house. It seemed random and sporadic, as if they had no idea where the incoming shots were coming from. The Guardians then returned their focus to the windows. They were not sure if they hit anyone inside the home, but they did notice that the rate of return fire was reduced dramatically.
Wanting to end the fight from the position of dominance, Griff popped the green flare and began his withdrawal. Evan and the others saw the flare and began their withdrawal as well.
When Evan arrived back at the Thomas Farm, he found Griff and Daryl already there. Charlie Blanchard showed up a few minutes later, with Billy Skidmore close behind. Nervousness sat in while they waited for Jimmy, as he was the only remaining member of the raiding party yet to arrive. After another fifteen minutes, he finally appeared out of the woods. After the initial euphoria that they had all survived, an awkwardness filled the air. Several of the men had never been involved in the taking of another life, and although their actions were justified, and it had been a complete success, it was a lot to take in.
Charlie Blanchard seemed to be in the worst shape. He was pale and sick looking. Evan asked, "Are you OK Charlie?"
"Yes, I'll be fine," he replied. "I almost went into shock when I saw those men explode right in front of me. I have seen stuff like that on movies, and had pictured what we were going to do in my head over and over again, but there is nothing like it actually happening in front of you. Nothing could have prepared me for that. I vomited right there on the spot before I could even start shooting. I'm not sure I hit anyone, as a matter of fact I know I probably didn't, but I gave the back of the house hell."
"You did great Charlie," Griff said. "You all did. What we did today was knock those bastards off of their high horse. We took away their element of security. We took away some of their strength, and we showed them that their actions have lethal consequences. Best of all, they have no idea who The Guardians are and what their composition and force strength could be. All they know is that a beat down awaits them and anyone like them."
"OK guys," Evan said. "We know we put a dent in them today, but we aren't sure how bad. So when you get home, batten down the hatches and keep a vigilant watch on your families and loved ones. If anyone runs into trouble, call for help on the CB right away. Now get back to your families and keep them safe. We will be in touch."
****
Chapter 33: Advice from a Stranger
Nate, Luke, and Rachel had been riding non-stop throughout the night since Lt. Colonel Jackson had dropped them off. The trip had been mostly uneventful so far and the clear sky and bright moon light was a godsend for this part of the journey. The ideal conditions allowed them to press on long after nightfall. Lt. Colonel Jackson had started them off on a good route. Highway 90 through Alabama was a sparsely populated rural farming area where most of the inhabitants had the ability to remain self-sufficient after the collapse. Early on, people migrating out of cities such as Tupelo, Decatur, and Huntsville swarmed the area. However, the local population banded together, and ensured the looting and squatting were kept to a minimum. Eventually, most of the migrating masses moved on due to the vigilance of the local militia that formed just after the collapse.
They had not encountered very many people so far during the ride. They did however have several armed individuals on some of the farms in the area take on an unfriendly and aggressive posture as they rode by. It was a clear message that migrant travelers were not welcome. This unfriendly behavior was understood and respected by Nate, having worked on a farm during his journey. He understood the plight of a subsistence farm in today's world, and just how vulnerable they were to theft and looting. Many people who had grown up in the cities and were indoctrinated with the entitlement mentality, had been conditioned to look at farms as public servants, as a place where the public's food is grown, rather than the private property of a hard working family. This detachment from reality led to many a conflict between farmers and the hungry refugees from the cities. The farmers, who otherwise would have been generous and helpful people, did not take kindly to having people make demands the fruits of their labor.
Highway 90 eventually merged into Alabama 21, and after following that road for quite some time, the group decided to stay with the rural routes and connected with Alabama 424 and then on to Alabama 524. This route paralleled Highway 24, which was a major arterial route, keeping them moving in the right direction, while avoiding other travelers and those who would make their living in this new world preying on them.
When passing through the town of Russellville, Alabama earlier that day, they found that a majority of the residential neighborhoods that were not abandoned and in a state of total neglect, had barricades constructed at their entrances. They assumed people were still living in those neighborhoods, and also assumed they were being watched, so they just kept on moving. Towns like this had now become eerily quiet. There were no sounds of vehicles, no dogs barking in the background, no children playing. It was just like watching a post-apocalyptic movie, except there was no viral outbreak, nuclear war, or zombie horde; it was simply humanity tearing itself apart. As they entered the center of town, they came across a man standing on a street corner handing out hand written flyers. He welcomed them to town and asked them to please take one. Nate had cautiously approached the man and accepted a flyer, while Luke stood prepared to act in the event it was a trap.
The man was handing out flyers for a church revival he was helping to organize for that next Sunday. Nate was polite with the man and struck up and conversation, explaining that they had to keep pressing on, otherwise they would have been honored to attend. After a quick but pleasant conversation, the man warned them not to go through Huntsville. He had said, "What's not ruled by the man is ruled by the bad man there." Which confused Nate at first. He then went on to explain, "The Federals have a heavy presence there because of the Redstone Arsenal. Redstone was home to many DoD assets before the collapse, and still is. It's home to the Army's Missile Command, NASA has a presence there, and more. That's where they developed a lot of the counter insurgency technology used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and will now use on us if we were to ever start fighting back against their heavy handedness."
"How do you know so much about the place?" asked Nate, trying to figure out if the man's statements were legitimate.
"I used to work there a DoD contractor. I worked for an electronics company that had a contract to build components for those systems. So trust me when I tell you, if any Federals see you armed as you are, they will more than likely take you into custody on sight, if they don't engage you that is. To the government these days, an armed citizen is a potential insurgent. Besides just having that threat to worry about, Huntsville is full people who were simple street thugs, criminals, and drug dealer types before the collapse, but are now the kings of that place. You wouldn't last five minutes with a pretty girl like that in your company," he said as he looked to Rachel, tipping his hat to her.
"But if there is such a large government presence, how do the street thugs get away with all of that?" asked Nate.
"The Feds only care about what goes on inside the fences of Redstone,” the man said. "Outside of that, we are all irrelevant to them. It's not like they have to win our votes anymore. They do patrols outside of the perimeter and through town occasionally, which is how you could bump into them, but it's not to maintain order, they patrol for their own security."
After speaking with the stranger for a while, the group pressed on. Nate had thought about that conversation all night as they pedaled on through the darkness, guided only by the moon. As the sun came up, they were all exhausted and sleep deprived. Nate decided it was time for a break. His prosthesis was beginning to irritate him and he knew the others must be nearing that point as well. "Let's find a place to make camp and get some sleep," he said.
"Oh thank goodness, I need a break so bad," replied Rachel.
They were now just outside of Decatur, which was just across the river from Huntsville. Nate said, "Let's carry our bikes into that thick vegetation over there behind that fallen tree to hide them, then we can hike back into the woods a bit to set up a quick camp."
"Sounds like a plan!" said Luke enthusiastically.
Nate and Luke carefully carried their bikes over their heads and hid them where Nate suggested. Rachel, being of small stature, simply didn't have the energy left to carry both her bike and her pack, so Luke went back and got hers and hid it behind the bushes as well. They hiked back into the woods and found a bed of pine needles beneath a cluster of pine trees that would make the perfect camp. Being evergreens, they still had their cover, whereas many of the deciduous trees had begun to turn color for the fall and lose their leaves. They each unrolled the bedding they had packed, and made a place to lay down for their nap.
"I'll take the first watch," said Nate.
