Chapter 13

 

 

 

“What’s the deal with all these houses in the National Forest?  I thought these areas were federally owned and free from houses.”

“I really don’t know.  I am surprised also.  I did not expect to see houses in the National Forests either.  It’s certainly less than in the private areas but we still see quite a few.”

“Most of them seem to be either vacation homes or summer homes.  They don’t look to be permanent homes that people live in year ‘round.”

“I noticed that many look like no one lives there, at least right now.”

“If we are here when winter hits then maybe we will have to commandeer one of those empty houses for the winter.”

“It would certainly be better than trying to camp outside in the winter.”

“I was thinking maybe we should try to go south far enough so there is not much winter.  New Mexico or Arizona or California would maybe work.”

“It would certainly be warmer but there could be other problems.”

“Like what would be different than here?”

“With the United States becoming lawless I could see a horde coming up from Mexico just to loot and pillage up here. There is a lot of stuff that could be stolen from the southern our states and sold down in Mexico.”

“I guess your right.  Maybe if the US falls apart they might just come up from Mexico and try to take over those southern states.”

“We could still go south and just find an out of the way spot to spend the winter.  It would be an option.  And be a warmer option.”

“My pickup is not four wheel drive and if we are in a spot that gets just a foot or more of snow we will be trapped until it melts.  I really don’t like the thought of not being mobile for the whole winter.”

“How cash strapped the local governments are now I don’t think they will have enough money to keep any but maybe the most major highways open and then just for movement of supplies like food and fuel.  I see what you mean about being trapped in the winter.”

“That’s why I was thinking of going south.”

“If we found a good place to stay up here in the mountains the snow would also keep us safe if there was little or no travel.”

“I guess that’s true.  But I still would rather be mobile so I have more options.”

We looked again at the road atlas and decided to continue on the highway we were following for awhile longer.  Basically we were just putting off making a decision on where to go.  So we packed up and got back on the highway and continued driving now going southwest at least for awhile according to the map.

There was almost no traffic on the highway.  Then we met someone and they flashed their headlights repeatedly at us.  When they stopped I first grabbed my pistol then slowed and stopped next to them.

“Don’t try to go any farther.  Some guys have the road blocked up ahead and I think they are just killing anyone who stopped at it.  There was a car ahead of us and when they stopped I saw a man walk up to their car like he was going to talk to them and then he just shot the driver in cold blood.  That’s all I saw before I made a quick U-turn and tore out of there.”

“How far up ahead?”

“About four miles or so.  Don’t try it, they are killers.”

With that the man rolled up his window and took off again.  I turned to Jan.

“I won’t just let someone kill innocent people.  I have to try to put a stop to it.”

“Count me in too.”

I just looked at the odometer and started forward again.  After three miles of driving I slowed way down and told Jan to keep an eye out.  Almost two miles farther we saw the road block way ahead of us.  They had set it up on a curve so those coming from the other direction would have no chance to see them ahead of time.  From this direction if you knew what to look for you could see them about a half mile ahead.  I stopped and turned around and when I was well out of their sight I found a side road where I drove up a ways and stopped well out of sight of the highway.  We both got out and I started to get my rifle and some gear together.

“I am going to hike back there through the trees and sneak up on the road block.  If it is what that guy said I will try to put a stop to it.”

“I’ll take the other AR rifle and go with you.”

“No.”

“Yes I will go with you.  You have no idea how many guys are there.  Obviously there is way more than just one.  You will need me to help shoot.”

“I was trained for this.  I will not take any chances.  If necessary I will just snipe and run.  I need you to take the other rifle and get back in these trees a little way and guard this truck.  If we lose this truck and all of these supplies we will be in big trouble.  It is imperative that this truck has to be guarded.”

“And if there is too many you will not take any chances?”

“I do not have a death wish.  I will try to stop them but I am just one man and I know my limitations.  If I am successful I will honk three long blasts on a vehicle horn.  You can likely hear that from here.  If you hear the horn signal you can drive on up there.  I will take my time and it might take me well over an hour or better just to check things out.  If it looks too bad I will just come back here and we will go back the way we came.  Even if you hear a lot of shooting just stay here and wait either for the horn signal or for my return.  If I am not back in four hours go back to our last campsite and stay there for a day or two.  If I do not show by then you are on your own.”

“I don’t like this at all.  You better be careful and not get hurt.”

Then she surprised me when she stepped over to me and hugged me for awhile before finally stepping back.  I got my rifle and gear ready and took off through the woods.  Jan had the other AR rifle with a little gear and went the other direction to find a hidden spot from which to watch the truck.

I stayed close enough to just see the highway off to the side.  When I guessed I was getting close to the roadblock I went deeper into the woods some.  After more walking I snuck back toward the highway.  I could see the road block almost right in front of me.  There was a meadow on the other side of the road here and that was apparently where they were parking the vehicles they were stopping.

I watched for awhile trying to see how many guys were here.  There were three at the road block itself that I could see from here.  I watched a little longer then faded back into the woods and so I could come up at a different spot. 

When I again could see the highway area I saw from this spot another man with what looked like a shotgun.  It appeared like he was guarding four women.  He had them sitting on the ground and he would occasionally walk around them in a circle.  From this spot I could only see one of the men at the road block.  I again faded back into the trees farther so I could make a different approach. 

This time I came up to a spot and I could easily see the three at the road block and could see the other guard also but he could easily get out of my sight by just lying down or even just ducking down.  I was counting on him not knowing that fact.

I had crawled up to this spot so I was already lying down.  I pulled another loaded rifle magazine out and laid it just in front of me but I doubted that I would need it.  I had a thirty rounder in the gun and did not think it would take more than that to finish this one way or another.

I was just getting ready to make my move when another car came around the curve from the other direction.  They hit their brakes when they saw the road was blocked.  When the car stopped one of the men walked out from the road block to approach the stopped car.  He had no rifle but had a pistol shoved in his waistband behind his back so those in the car could not see it. 

I could not let the man just shoot those in the car but I would have to be careful not to hit the occupants myself if I started shooting.  When the man got closer to the car I saw the driver’s window go down so they could talk.  I had to act now or never.

I drew a bead on one of those behind the road block and shot him then shot the one standing right next to him.  They did not know I was there and they expected no one behind them.  When I swung on the man next to the car he had turned to look at where the shots had come from as from his position he could not see his two buddies lying on the ground.  I think he maybe thought they had done the shooting.

When he turned back to the car and pulled his pistol and started to bring it to bear on those inside I aimed carefully and shot him in the head just as he had the pistol pointed at the driver.

The guy guarding the four women had apparently started running up to see what all the shooting was about.  As soon as he got up on the shoulder of the highway and I was sure I would not hit any of the women prisoners I put two bullets into his torso and he went down hard. 

I did not move and waited to see if any other men were around that I had not seen earlier.  The stopped car did not wait around and was backing up the way it had come from at an impressive speed.  The driver actually was able to spin the car around to face the opposite direction just like in the movies and I saw no more of him.

When I saw no more movement I got up changed magazines and walked slowly toward the dead looking men I had shot.  I was still scanning around looking for any more men hidden in the forest but if any were there they did not show themselves. 

I checked all four men I had shot and they were all quite dead so I walked to the nearest vehicle, reached inside, and did three long honks on the horn.