Beginnings

[The Stig]

Beginnings

Copyright 2010: No reproduction without my consent.


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"Shit" thought John. Hauling six-gallon containers of water out to the shed had suddenly gotten very old. He was on his fourth trip and the luster of adding to the water stocks had worn off.

"Oh well, at least this part of the chores are done", he muttered under his breath as the last load were put into place. It had been a long summer of rebuilding stocks after a relocation to the area. Some supplies had been used in the process of moving, while a couple of cases of MRE's turned up missing when the moving truck arrived.

Walking back towards the house John decided it was time to take a break. Pouring a cold soda and making a sandwich his thoughts drifted off to all that had happened in the past year. The promotion, the move to the south, buying a dream piece of land. It seemed that everything was falling in place for John and his young family.

Christy, his wife and Ava his daughter had gone into town to do some shopping. Ten years of marriage had brought the small family closer together and things really started clicking in their lives. Now they had twenty acres in a rural area complete with a shed, a barn, a creek and plenty of woods. Lots and lots of woods.

The transition from the north had gone pretty smoothly. Other than the missing MRE's the moving company did a suitable job and the people of the town warmly welcomed them despite being Yankees. It didn't hurt that John out-shot the good-old boys at an impromptu shooting competition and then sprang for a couple cases of Coors to celebrate. He still took ribbing but people grasped he knew how to handle himself.

Finishing up his meager lunch John decided to take a walk out into the woods. Looking around for his boots he noticed the dog wasn't following his every move. "That's odd" he thought chalking it up to a hardy nap. Coco wasn't a young pup anymore. Grabbing his Jumbo Versapack from Maxpedition he took up a brisk pace and headed off in a direction away from the house. Stepping over felled trees and bending under branches within 10 minutes he had made his way back to an as yet explored portion of the land.

Sitting atop a stump sipping some water the deafening roar of the A-10 startled him. He barely caught a glimpse of it through the trees. It was low, no more than 200 feet above the deck and the lead aircraft was followed by another in close trail formation.

Something wasn't right. The country had been in turmoil for months after the impeachment of President Crutchfield. His administration had promised a new hope and in 6 years had only delivered a deeply divided country. Tensions grew as the economy crumbled and different regions of the country started pointing fingers. Nobody knew where things were headed. Then there was the sex scandal and the lies during the deposition. The country had excused that once before but the acrimony wouldn't allow it a second time.

As the downward spiral of the country tightened, different factions started popping up. Crutchfield supporters, the new president Alan supporters, different regions of the country, different economic classes. Seemingly everybody and their brother was touting their new group and cause.

John and Christy had moved south to both get away from the turmoil and be in a better position to cope if something did happen.

His walk back to the house transitioned into a trot as he picked up the rumbling in the distance. By the time he broke into the clearing and could see the house he was sprinting. Coco was at the backdoor barking like mad.

Crashing through the back door his thoughts were already hurriedly but clearly doing a mental inventory of where all the vital supplies were located. He swore again as his sweaty hands flew off the doorknob to his office. As Coco panted in the corner of the office John's internet browser wouldn't load. "Dammit" he swore. After trying to refresh it three times he glanced at the modem. The service light off.

Suddenly the police scanner in the kitchen went off. He couldn't make out the announcement but the part he caught, the part that chilled the blood in his veins, was something about "cutting off the district".

He looked at Coco who stared back at him as if to say, "now what cowboy".

Gathering his thoughts and doing some square-breathing he moved towards the gun cabinets and other supplies. He knew this whole thing just wasn't right. And the rumbling in the distance hadn't gone anywhere. He moved quickly but without hesitation.

As he was slamming home a mag full of M855 into his AR15 it hit him. And it hit him with the force of a two-by-four to the solar plexus.

Christy and Ava had gone to the coast, 30 miles away, and he had no idea where they were.

[The Stig]

At 5' 8" and 190 pounds Dink Roberts didn't instill a lot of fear into people, but the minute someone judged him on his physical stature they had lost the battle. With his black hair cut high & tight and tan skin some folks took him for ex-military. What he was, however, was pure backwoods good ole boy. His friends trusted him with their lives, his enemies never knew what hit them.

Life had taken some strange twists and Dink found himself a Deputy Sheriff. Sometimes he'd look at the badge and laugh that hillbilly like him would don a uniform of the law. Life hadn't always been fair to Dink, but the job was good pay and he had access to some fun equipment.

As he swung the wheel of the Suburban to take a corner he whistled out loud. "Damn boy, you is up a creek now". The wheels of the Subruban clung to the road as he expertly wove across the Madacam road. His mind drifted back to the events of the previous two days.

Sheriff Ketch was an unabashed Crutchfield supporter. Dink wasn't a big fan of either. After the impeachment it was an open secret that Ketch had traveled to Boston to meet with some of Crutchfield's people and perhaps the man himself. Nobody knew why such a low level players was heading north but everbody had their guesses. Ketch was the sort of Sheriff that had wormed his way into local politics and like a lingering cold just wouldn't quite go away. And after Crutchfields fall, public opinion of Ketch stayed guarded although few actually trusted him.

It didn't hurt that Senator Miles Donovan, supported and protected Ketch. Donovan, the auto dealer with ties to all sorts of "creative" businesses, had also inserted himself into the local scene. His fans were few, but they were vocal and had the money to be obnoxious and throw their weight around.

What John Miller didn't know was that the previous day in the Midwest part of the country a riot had broken out when Crutchfield supporters clashed with local police. The Midwest was President Alan's territory, but Crutchfields supporters from the North East had staged a political march and then attacked police when they responded to the scene. To make matters worse, North Eastern politicians, most loyal to Crutchfield, started calling for sanctions against Midwestern states. Those politicians not calling for outright sanctions against a fellow state of the union still oozed their normal North Eastern arrogence. In the period of hours rhetoric boiled over into threats which lead to action. A host of fistfights, riots and several shootings broke out in border areas. President Alan, uncharacteristically, responded in the worst ways imaginable and only served to make the situation worse.

Old scores needed settled, lingering regional bias surfaced, the simmering rage exploded and suddenly angry speeches turned into battle cries. In a mere 36 hours the situation that had brewed for 25 years had gone super-critical.

Down south, people were also divided but not along such clear lines. Things were much more reminiscent Yugoslavia in World War II than a clear cut "us versus them". People had shifting loyalties, other motives and generally weren't beholden to a "Yankee problem". Sheriff Ketch and Donovan had different ideas however. They saw a chance to consolidate power, and like Donovan's relatives in County Mayo used to do, they took it with brutal force.

When Dink reported to work that morning orders had already gone out mobilizing the State National Guard. Those State troops that did respond locally were augmented by contracted security forces paid for by, none other, than Senator Donovan. The Governor of the neighboring state, Delacroix, already a Donovan fan, had allied with him. The Governor of Donovan's state was missing thanks to Donovan's handywork which meant Donovan was running the show in a large area. Several other neighboring states were teetering on the edge of allying with Donovan, due to his promises and mostly his pressure. Thanks to the problems up North, Donovan was able to make his moves unmolested.

Sheriff Ketch was smart enough to know which of his men he could trust and which he couldn't. Dink, and several others deputies were tasked with rounding up some locals the Sheriff didn't care for. It was more of a test for his men than anything. Dink saw right through the ploy and to buy himself time he agreed, signed out a department Suburban and headed out to the rural areas.

His first stop was his apartment. He knew he'd likely be tracked via the GPS unit in the Suburban so he made a pretense to Ketch of forgetting his cellphone and how he needed it to trick the person he was picking up into going with him. It was a thin ruse at best but it worked. Entering his apartment he swiftly went to the closet where he kept several backpacks of important gear stored behind some old boxes. Grabbing those he also grabbed his rifle and another handgun out of the gun safe. Moving quickly and with purpose he used a chair to reach into a cut out at the back of the closet that was hidden behind a false panel. Out of it came a large cloth sack filled with cash money.

As he made his way to the door, he turned and looked around the apartment he called home the past 10 years. Seeing the picture of his wife and daughter he walked over and kissed it. "Sorry girl, I have to go". He patted the sack, knowing it held the $20,000 settlement from the insurance company after the accident. Then he laughed out loud at how maudlin he was being. "Like a bad movie boy" he muttered as he closed the door to the apartment he'd never see again.

His first stop was the Thompson Ranch. He knew Fred ever since Fred had broken up Dink's first fistfight 25 years ago. Dink had looked up to and in on Fred ever sense. Working quickly they loaded up Fred's truck. "Look Fred, you have to drive North and drive like the wind". "They are tracking my truck by GPS so if I'm here much longer they are going to get nervous. If I leave now I can trick them into thinking I talked you into coming with me. Get in that truck and get to your family in Ohio." Fred looked Dink in the eye but no words needed to be exchanged. Fred was in his F150 and spinning out of the driveway before Dink got back to the Suburban.

"Base this is 232". "Go ahead 232" came back the static laden radio call. "Yea, base, I got Fred and me and hoss are coming back in". "232, base. Copy. See you in 45". Dink tossed down the radio mike and spun out of the driveway. The cows looked at him as if they knew something he didn't.

The route back to base conveniently took him past John Millers place. Dink's hastily conceived plan was to make tracks to Millers, disable the GPS unit, get John and the girls and get the hell out of dodge. "Dink, boy you is up a creek now".

Stopping the Suburban and hopping out Dink laughed when he though about how he got the GPS sales rep to tell him where the unit was hidden on the suburban during a long night of whiskey and cards. It was one of the many nuggets of information that Dink had filed away over the years. Looking under the back of the truck he reached under the bumper and quickly felt the box in a recessed area. Using his knife he quickly cut the wires.

Now he figured he'd have about 40 minutes before Ketch's men showed up if he was lucky. Less if they happened to have "contractors" in the area. As he made the turn into Millers driveway he could see John's figure moving between the shed and the house with Coco loyally following. Before John could do anything rash Dink used the PA, "Miller. It's Dink. We have to move!".

[The Stig]

"What the hell are you talking about Dink?" John asked emphatically as they trotted into the house. Dink gave him the 20 second overview and John just laughed. "That explains the A-10's and all the noise then. Once I heard those I knew something was up. Well, I guess we moved from the frying pan into the fryer, didn't we". "John", Dink said with false earnestness "we didn't invite you Yankees down here, you moved here your damn selves...enough of this, get the girls and lets go".

Johns eyes told the story. "Where?" asked Dink. " Don't know", John replied, "somewhere along the coast. I tried the cell phone but the cells are overloaded". As they were getting back in the truck to go John looked at the house, the land and Coco who stood on the porch tail down and motionless. "Well, I guess it was too good to last".

As the truck lurched back down the road, headed for the coast, they began crafting a plan for how they'd find the girls.

****
John marveled at the clear blue sky as the Suburban flew down back roads aimed at the coast.

"Boy, we've stepped in this one big time. I reckon Ketch will put two and two together pretty quickly and have his folks looking for me shortly." Dink tossed out after a few minutes of silence.

"Yea, the second the GPS unit went off-line they knew you were off the reservation. Won't be long before they swing by my place too I'd guess" replied Miller, stirred from his thoughts.

Dink continued, "Ketch is a pompous jackhole but ain't no dummy. And we're not exactly flying low profile here" alluding to the Sheriffs Department truck in which they rode.

Miller outlined his plan. "I agree, I figure once we get to the coast we can blend for a short while since we're in a different jurisdiction. He can't search everywhere. If we run into other LEO's however, we might have problems because I'm sure they'll come up with a pretext for a BOLO on this truck. Christy should recognize that shits falling apart and if I know her she'll make it to one of two places we've always talked about as rally points. We can use our LEO vehicle to get through any crowds, pick her and Ava up, and then haul ass out to the boonies until dark".

Dink rubbed his chin as he eased the Suburban into a sharp turn. "Miller, that's a pretty thin plan".

Miller chuckled. "Got any better ideas?"

"No. I reckon not" was the reply.

Miller continued on, "If we can get them we can circle back via the west and park out until dark. Then we can get back to my place, grab some supplies".

Dink eyed his friend. "You realize they'll probably take up at your place for a while right?"

Miller continued on ignoring the interruption, "...once we get some supplies we can get the hell out of here. You heard from Webb?"

Webb was an interesting character. He was young and came from money but he never acknowledged that he did. Those that didn't know him stayed clear of him as he was quiet and reserved. People weren't even really sure what he did for a living. Those that did know him liked him immensely, knew that he meant business and didn't mess around. He was dependable and skilled in the ways of putting a hurt on people. All in all, he was a good man to have with you rather than against you.

"Nah" replied Dink, "he texted me once the news broke of all the problems up north, and again when it was clear the military was being mobilized down here but in all the excitement this morning I had sorta forgotten about him".

"Ok. We'll figure out how to get in contact with him later. For now lets focus on getting the girls, getting supplies at the house without getting nabbed and then we'll find him"

Dink laughed, "with any luck he'll be sitting on the porch with a cold one waiting on us".

Miller wanted to laugh but he knew his plan had two major flaws. It depended on Christy recognizing that something was amiss, and more importantly, that she chose the right rally point. They just weren't going to have enough time to hang out in several places all day before word spread to the local LEO's that Unit 232 was "to be reported for officer dereliction of duty".

[The Stig]

Edgewater Mall along the coast had all the charm and originality of any other shopping mall in the states. That is to say, none. Surrounded by a sea of parking spaces and lost in an ocean of SUV's and soccer moms there was nothing to differentiate this mall from the identical ones elsewhere.

As news was breaking of the problems in the North and Senator Donovan's announcement that he was mobilizing the State Guard as a "safety measure" to protect the people most folks continued on with life as if nothing new was happening. They pressed on with their routines and self absorbed lives. As such the mall was running as busy as normal with only minor disruptions. Most people didn't notice the greatly increased LEO presence as they focused on buying their next useless item.

One person who did see the news on a TV screen in a local electronics store and notice the troops moving through the area from Camp Shelby was Christy Miller. She also knew something was wrong when helicopter and aircraft traffic increased significantly throughout the morning. By that afternoon she was trying to make a call back to John. The first call went through but he didn't answer. All subsequent calls were blocked.

Now she had a decision to make. Get in her car and drive home or go to those rally points John had always told her about. Being a good country girl Christy was no wilting flower. She could cook and shoot and loved to camp. She had mostly accepted John's direction when it came to "being prepared" as she agreed with it. At times she thought he could be a little paranoid but she also appreciated that he cared enough about her and Ava to protect them.

Her instincts were to get in the car and make tracks back to the house but then she saw the confusing news reports about "accidents" and "highway closures" on the TV at the restaurant where they ate lunch. She was glad Ava was blissfully unaware but her suspicions were sent into overdrive when a local sheriff deputy being interviewed on TV said the highway was closed "for a while...just for the protection of people in the area". He also muttered something about how cell service was "overloaded" and wouldn't work. It was at that moment she decided to go to one of the rally points John had told her about. Something just wasn't right.

Her next problem was determining which one to go to. She reasoned that because she was to the east side of the stretch of cities she should go to the east one. She prayed she was making the right decision.

****

As she slipped into the back table of the bookstore cafe she could see Edgewater Mall across the street. She ordered a soda and ice cream for Ava and sat down to wait. She figured that between eating at the cafe, window shopping for books and sitting through a couple kids plays in the childrens area she could kill several hours without sticking out and while remaining fairly public. It was exactly as John had intended.

After the icecream came she looked at the waitress. "You know, I'm hungry too. Why don't you bring me a sandwich and a coffee. Just surprise me with something". The waitress was older and used to such requests. "No problem hun" and she twirled off. Christy sat back and decided to relax as best she could.

***********

What Christy noticed as she ate her meal was the increasing leo presence across the street. It seemed like more and more police officers and guys who looked like police officers were moving into the area. As she downed some really good bacon sandwiches with some coffee the thought crossed her mind that maybe it was some sort of security procedure.

What Christy didn't know was that Senator Donovan had ordered the local sheriff to seal off the mall and have everyone searched on the way out. The people would be questioned and any weapons would be removed and would all be done under the guise of safety. People who were on a list of names would be asked to accompany the officers to a special area for some questioning. That "questioning" would be performed by some of Donovan's contractors, and it would be performed far away from the mall.

It was all a trial run as Donovan wanted to see what he could get away with. He figured worst case it would be a major disturbance and he'd play it off as a one time stunt pulled by an overzealous local Sheriff. If it went the way he thought it would go people would unwittingly approve the idea of random checks and searches and at the same time he'd get rid of some potential problems and start a crack down on firearms. His bet was that this end of the state was so far away from the problems up North that people would just accept the "safety" changes without a fuss.

What neither Christy or John Miller knew was that both of their names were on Donovan's list thanks to their friend Sheriff Ketch.

[The Stig]

After finishing her sandwiches, Chirsty and Ava strolled the isles looking at books. An hour or so had passed and so far things were looking good. She didn't really know how long she was going to wait or what she'd do if John didn't arrive. She figured if she over-reacted she'd slink back home and have a good laugh over the whole thing.

It didn't take long for her to realize she hadn't over-reacted when she saw that the police had taken up positions at several entrances to the mall and the parking-lot was closed off so nobody could leave. She couldn't believe the number of black SUV's filled with guys in dress pants, polo shirts and sunglasses that were suddenly nearly everywhere.

Not being a fool she moved to an isle that had a good view of the window towards the mall and the front door. Ava was distracted by the sea of books and her Mommy's suddenly willingness to let her look at every one. The minutes crept by for what seemed like an eternity. Everything seemed to be going well until a couple of the guys wearing sunglasses and polo shirts came in the front door. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she tried to quickly look away without looking like she was quickly looking away.

She watched as they began going up to people to speak with them.

*********

Dink backed the Suburban into a parking space at the back of the bookstore parking lot between two large vans to help hide from view. He turned off the motor and looked at his friend John Miller. "Well Tex, suppose we ought to go look at a picture book?" he said with an exaggerated draw.

The route the took to the store allowed them to see the mall. It didn't take long to grasp the situation and that it was bad. Running into other LEO's was exactly what they didn't want. They gave each other knowing glances as they both understood that this might not go so easy.

Miller broke the silence. "Ok Dink. I guess our only option is to stroll into the store and pray Christy is there. I didn't see her car but that doesn't mean much.".

"Partner, I didn't see her car but I did see a bigass black SUV out front. That can't be a good thing" replied Dink as he scanned what he could see of the parking lot. "Why don't we split up? If they happen to have memorized my name and recognize me from my name-badge you don't want to get hung up. Go in, get the girls and get back to the truck". Dink handed him a spare set of keys just in case.

They eased out of the Subruban and made their way up the opposite side of the building. They scanned their surroundings as they moved towards the front door and John breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Christy's car.

*****

The contractors sent to check out the store were just about to turn the corner down Christy's isle as John entered the big store. Christy had already moved as many isles as she could without being obvious. As they turned the corner and made eye contact with her her heart sank. She didn't know what was going on but she knew this was bad.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the waitress from the cafe appeared. "Oh darling" she said with a sweet southern draw "I think your daughter has made a dirty diaper and it's leaking" as she stared back the contractors. Christy, playing along started to fuss over Ava. "Oh goodness, it's everywhere" she blurted out with mock surprise as she prayed Ava would play along. "Come on sweetie" said the waitress as she took Christy by the arm and guided her towards the bathroom. "lets get you cleaned up".

The contractors looked at each other with bewilderment and not quite knowing what to do they basically did nothing as Christy and the waitress disappeared into the bathroom. At that moment Dink and Miller were entering the store. It didn't take long for them to all notice each other.

Dink, still in uniform, strode directly towards the contractors with purpose. "Hello there boys. I need to talk to you for a minute about these orders I've been given" as he motioned to a piece of paper in his hand. Miller used the distraction to make a beeline for the bathrooms where he saw Christy a few second earlier with a waitress.

******

"Daddy!" exclaimed Ava as Miller strode into the bathroom. Christy looked up with a huge sigh of relief. Before she could say anything John cut her off. "We need to leave, and leave now" He queried the waitress, "I don't suppose this is like the movies and there is a convenient window in here?" The waitress smiled back "Sugar, I'll do you one better. The back door is unlocked and the alarm is off". She looked at Christy "the manager likes to sneak out back for a smoke and disables the alarm" as an explanation.

Swooping up Ava in his arms, he followed the waitress out of the bathroom and quickly down the back hall. He glanced around before they turned the corner and saw Dink walking through the front door with the contractors. They got to the back door and Christy turned to the waitress. Before she could say anything the waitress, with big tears in her eyes, said, "sweetie, my parents lived in Budapest after the war. I knew what was going on from the minute I saw all the police at the mall. Go. Be safe."

Miller, still obviously in charge, didn't have time for a Lifetime Movie scene. "Mamm, I don't know your situation. But if you need a ride out of town I can get you out of here. But you need to come with us right now". The waitress didn't hesitate "what the hell, I don't have anything to live for here other than pissing off my manager. And with that they left the building.

******

As Dink eased the Suburban out of the parking spot and along a side street Miller kept an eye on the SUV at the front of the building. The contractors sat in the front seat but appeared motionless.

He turned to Dink "something you need to explain buddy?"

Dink looked at him with a twinkle in his eye. "You know how I always accused you of cheating that first time we shot together? Well, the fact is, I've been known to play dirty too".

From the back seat the waitress piped up. "My name is Patsy, by the way".

[The Stig]

Sheriff Ketch was an obese, ill-shaven and ill-mannered man. He was little liked other than by those with equally unpleasant character traits. Ketch was arrogant to a fault and just not a likable man. However, he was also a political animal and he knew how to get along with others just enough to get his way so guys like Dink Roberts worked for him too. He found his way into county politics years back and never let go as he climbed the ladder.

Little was known about him prior to getting work in the department. Rumor had it he washed out of a military branch as a young adult and carried the chip ever sense. He started as a deputy and within a few years was running for Sheriff. When pictures of his opponent, another deputy who was the favorite of the retiring Sheriff, in bed with a known prostitute found their way to the internet it didn't take a fan of detective movies to figure out who was behind them. Nonetheless, it was just the margin Ketch needed to get elected.

Somewhere along the way he and Miles Donovan met. While Ketch was still bit player in Donovan's plans he recognized Ketch's utility right away. Through the years money and favors seemed to show up from the state Capital just in the nick of time to help Ketch. For his part, Ketch had survived by keeping just enough people in his camp and hoping a large number of other folks just didn't pay attention. So far, they hadn't.

But this was different. Now he was having people brought in on the filmiest of pretenses. Despite the problems in the North and Donovan's actions with the military, Ketch knew he had to be careful. If he started playing local dictator people would resist. If, however, he could keep riding Donovan's coattails under the guise of "safety" and not being overt he may be able to tighten his grasp on the county without drawing undue attention. That is, until it was too late.

So far nobody in town had complained. A couple of the trouble makers and deputies he didn't trust had already been rounded up and sent off with the contractors to lord knows where. They were few enough in number that people didn't notice them missing. It was early enough in the situation that he was able to placate people with the "we're following the advice given too us by the State Capitol" line.

His trump card was Donovan's contractors. While they looked the part in their crisply creased BDU pants and polo shirts the fact was they were a bunch of rogues and thugs spoiling to take advantage of the situation. There were many good military contractors organizations in the country staffed with honorable men. Donovan's wasn't one of them.

Ketch was smart enough to sweat the details. One of those details was Dink Roberts. He had been sent out to Fred Thompsons place several hours back. Dink and Thompson both subsequently vanished. A car load of contractors swept John Millers place and he was also nowhere to be found. It didn't take a rocket scientist to add it all up since Roberts and Miller were good friends. He played the safe bet and put out a BOLO for Dink's vehicle and otherwise sat back. Dink Roberts was too well liked for Ketch to make an overt move just yet. For good measure he dispatched some contractors to Millers place although, recognizing the situation, he had them wait for nightfall before heading out.

Ketch sat back in his chair and studied the situation. Roberts and Miller were but several issues on his mind in a county full of issues. But they were the problems that kept pushing into his train of thought.

"Deputy!" Ketch bellowed out to the desk Sargent.

"Yes Sheriff" came the reply from Ketch's man.

"Tell those contractors to swing by Fred Thompson's place again for good measure before going to Millers place"

"Yes sir"

********

It took several hours to drive back up from the coast taking a circuitous route on back roads. They found a wooded spot outside of town and pulled deep into the brush.They all dozed lightly and then Patsy and Christy tended to Ava while Miller and Dink discussed another in a string of the days hastily conceived plans.

Dink, changed out of his uniform, ate a power bar he retrieved from his bag as they leaned across the hood of the Suburban. "Skip, you sure you need to go back to your place?" he asked his friend.

Miller glanced back. "We're going to have to cover a lot of ground before morning to have any hope of getting out of here. Then after that we'll have to drive for lord knows how long since the situation in the North is unresolved. While I appreciate your granola bars, I think we might want to add a few more supplies to the mix. That, and I don't think you want to be changing Ava when we start using roadmaps as diapers".

A smile flashed across Dink's face. "Well, you do make a good point. What do you have in mind for getting into your place without having to dance with the devil?"

John took a bite his own granola bar as he laid his plan. "We drive the back way into Fred Thompson's place. We park and leave the girls. There's a foot trail that starts out near his house and goes several miles through the woods to my place. Most people don't know about it, and it can't been seen by air. We make our way to my place to see if we've got visitors. If we do we'll deal with them. If we don't, you run back for the truck and pull it around quick as you can. We load up all our gear in our truck and hit the road".

"Why do I have to run back for the truck?" protested Dink jokingly.

"Because even you, my friend, don't know where all the toys are hidden in my place" shot back Miller.

****

Night had fallen and they made their way to the back part of Fred Thompson's land. They pulled the truck into the brush and instructed the girls to not make a sound. Thankfully, Ava had fallen asleep making their chore that much easier.

They left Dink's suppressed AR15, the semiautomatic commercial version of the military 16" barreled M16, with Christy in the event they were discovered. Christy had shot it before on various occasions. Patsy had eyed the weapon as Dink reminded Christy about the location of the safety and magazine release but didn't say a word. She seemed more interested in tending to Ava.

It only took 10 or so minutes to make their way across the wooded lot towards Fred Thompsons house. The beginning of the trail to Millers place started near the house. They swiftly and quietly negotiated the wooded area by moonlight and did so without words. This was a world both men were comfortable in so they soon neared the beginning of the trail.

Dink saw it first. The lights were on inside Fred's house. That wasn't good.

"John" Dink whispered motioning towards the house. "The lights were off when I left there this morning".

Miller didn't need to respond for Dink to take the lead and start carefully making his way towards the house. After ten minutes of maneuvering around the edge of the wooded lot it became clear they were alone. Miller maneuvered around the front of the house to ensure it was clear while Dink moved up to the house and peered into a window, eyes adjusting to the bright light.

He caught himself from gasping out loud when he saw Fred's body. He was sprawled out across the floor, gunshots clearly viable in his back. The carpet was stained with blood that had already darkened.

"Dammit Fred, you were supposed to listen to me better than I ever listened to you" he thought sadly.

[The Stig]

It was clear that Fred had, indeed, not listened and come back for something. Luck was not on his side and he came back just before the contractors dispatched by Ketch had arrived. Their youth and brutality won out over his age and declined skills.

It was also clear that the situation had elevated from merely bad to very dangerous. Contact with Ketch or his men risked being detained and sent who knows where for who knows what for who knows how long. Contact with a group of contractors would have far less pleasant outcomes.

They quickly moved back into the shadows of the woods and double timed it to Millers house. It didn't take long to cover the several mile trek despite the darkness and uneven path. They slowed and collected their breath as they moved towards the clearing around the house, shed and barns.

"Let's work the perimeter as much as we can" whispered Miller "to clear as much as possible".

It didn't take long to spot the big SUV parked out front and see the contractor leaning against it on a smoke break. A little more maneuvering soon revealed the other contractor walking around inside the house.

******

Back at the truck Patsy looked at Christy with a look of worry.

"Don't worry" Christy said reassuringly "they can handle themselves".

Patsy smiled back a forced smile. " Darling, I figured as much or else I wouldn't have come along on this adventure" she whispered. "I just hope Mr. Murphy doesn't come knocking tonight".

Christy smiled back but didn't reply. Inside she was thinking the exact same thing.

*****

Dink maneuvered as close to the shed as he could get without walking into the moonlight drenched opening. He aimed to make a noise to lure the contractors out and into the open. Since they foolishly left the departments shotgun back in the truck, and they didn't want to make more noise than was needed, they hoped to draw them both into a position where Miller could get the drop on them.

The rock crashing through the shed window was all the noise that was needed to draw out the contractors. Miller smiled as he realized his friend had come up with a practical, if not sophisticated solution. The contractor at the SUV spun around and started trotting towards the shed. Within seconds the back door to the house flung open and the other contractor appeared. They moved cautiously to approach the shed from different angles.

Once they had gotten close enough to the shed, Miller and Dink both popped out of the shadows, pistols drawn. Dink couldn't resist, "drop your toys boys" he blurted out. The contractors both knew they had been had and did as instructed. As they dropped to their knees Dink approached them from the rear and told them to toss their handcuffs behind them. Miller hung back and covered them.

Within seconds the contractors were hand and leg cuffed. Dink had taken a few steps back and spoke first. "So boys" he said in a low draw "what brings you to this part of town?"

"You know exactly why, Roberts" one of them spat back.

Before Dink could utter his next witty reply, there was a slight motion behind them. Miller knew right away they had made a mistake and cursed himself for it. It could prove a very costly error.

The third contractor appeared, almost as if by magic and had the drop on both Miller and Dink. Miller dropped his weapon as did Dink. The contractor remained half hidden in the shadows so neither Miller or Dink could read his movements. He ordered them to to release his companions and Dink sheepishly did so.

"Looks like we allowed ourselves to get hogtied" Dink said with forced enthusiasim.

"Yea, you two were much easier to get then we thought you'd be. Pitty" replied back the contractors ringleader.

Soon they were being marched back to the truck around front. As they walked Dink and Miller both looked for an opening but none presented itself. As they approached the truck one contractor lead each captured man to a different side of the truck to help them, however forcefully, into the back seats. The ringleader took up a position directly behind the truck but far enough back that he could cover both sides.

Miller glanced at Dink as they were separated and pushed to either side of the truck. Both men knew they had been had and they'd have to get very luck to get out of this scrape.

*****

Fortunatley Ava slept and Patsy dozed as well. Christy keep peering into the darkness awaiting any sign that her men had returned to get her. She had utmost faith in John but she knew things can, and do, go wrong.

"Please John" she said to herself. "Be safe".

****

As the SUV door was being opened and Miller was being shoved inside, he heard the dull "thump" noise. Half of the ringleaders head vaporized in a mist as he slumped forward. One second he was covering two wanted men, the next he was a twitching lump on the ground.

The contractor that had Dink groaned out a surprised "oh!" as he turned to look back at his boss. In doing so, Dink was able to shove him and begin moving away. A fraction of a second later two rounds crashed into the contractors chest, a mere few inches apart. He crumpled over and fell to the ground.

The third contractor, slow to realize anything bad was happening now knew he was in grave danger. He immediate let go of Miller and begin trying to run. All that he accomplished was that he died tired. Another "thump" noise shot through the air and the third contract crumpled into a heap much like the others.

Miller and Dink made their way around the front of the truck out of instinct as much as anything. It took a couple of seconds before they picked up the slight movement. Then, from a hundred yards away came a shape out of the darkness. It took a moment for them to begin to recognize the shape as it approached but soon the fancy AR with night vision scopes and helmets with mounted thermal glasses left little doubt as to the identity of their savior.

Dink said it first. "Webb. Dammit you sure made us work for that one".

The smile that went across Webb's face was clear even in the darkness.

[The Stig]

Dink was still giving Webb a hard time when they got back from bringing the girls in from the truck.

"You sonofbitch. You know, you could have taken them out a lot sooner than that" razzed Dink.

Webb just smiled back. "Would you prefer that I had waited a bit longer?" he kidded back.

Miller cut off the banter with a wave of the hand. "Ok, we need to load up and get out of dodge. My guess is those contractors had to check in on some schedule so who knows how long we have. Webb, what's the situation".

Webb genuinely looked horrified that the entire room turned towards him. Shooting people from 100 yards away, at night and near friendlies was his comfort zone. Public speaking was another story. But he dove in with both feet....

"Well," he started off nervously "The governor is missing. The state government has rolled over and Senator Donovan has taken control of the state and mobilized the National Guard and any Federal military units in the area. Only about three quarters of the men reported for duty. Another quarter left when they realized what Donovan was up to. So he's got some troops to play with but mostly national guard units and whatever happened to not be on rotation. No complete units.

Webb continued, "Donovan has cloaked sealing off the state in terms of "providing security for the area while the North sorts out its issues". I read it more as a power play and he'll saddle up with whoever comes out on top up north".

"Which I'm sure he's hoping is Crutchfield" suggested Dink.

Webb concurred and continued, "Donovan has encouraged people to continue life as normal but truck traffic at highway border crossings is being searched and people are being encouraged to not leave the state. They don't have enough troops to completely seal off the area so there's some pretty big gaps. Governor Delacroix next door has sided with Donovan so that gives more troops to play with."

Miller interrupted, "whats the local scene like?"

"Ketch is playing it safe" Webb replied. "There's been more LEO activity and as Dink told us he's moving quietly to remove opposition in the county. His supporters have been seen going in and out of town hall all day. There's been no signs of him making a full scale play to declare martial law or anything but I'm sure it's on his to-do list. My sources tell me the activity Christy saw at the Mall was a trial run by Donovan to see what people would put up with. I wouldn't be surprised to see the same here on some level. There's been no effect on the infrastructure as yet so basically it's life as normal for those he hasn't moved against until Ketch decides what to do next."

Miller took it all in and made a decision promptly. Dink and Webb didn't have to do a damn thing he said but they trusted him as much as he trusted them. Everybody agreed getting the ladies to safety was priority one.

Webb piped up again. "Listen Miller. I have someone coming into the county airfield at 3:00am. That gives us a couple hours to get over to the airport. I have land in Wyoming. The western states are laying low waiting to see what plays out in the North/Midwest. California and Oregon are making noises about joining with Crutchfield but nobody cares about them. It's a two day flight based on flying low and taking a more 'scenic' route according to my pilot. Problem: we can't all fit in one load. I had anticipated you, Christy and Ava flying out first and Dink and I following later on". Obviously the addition of Patsy to the mix had thrown all that off. She quickly grasped that.

"Listen yall. I'm the party crasher. John, you said you could get me out of town and you did. As far as I'm concerned we are square. If you could just give me some food I'll get out of your hair...."

Miller quickly cut her off. "Patsy, people here are going to wonder why you suddenly showed up. You have no car and no reasonable explanation for how you got here in the middle of the night. If you go back home you might be able to blend back in but there's going to be a lot of questions at the bookstore for you to answer. Especially after they discovered Dink's handiwork. And the coast appears to be Donovan's testing ground for social engineering anyway."

"But, I don't want to burden..." she said in her defense.

"You will be nothing of the sort" Miller replied. "You are welcome to join our group. You girls can all fly out on the first flight. We'll stay low until the second and then join you later. All I ask is that you continue to look after Christy and Ava. Deal?".

After a small pause she responded "deal". She sounded a bit dazed.

"Alright" he announced. "Lets get the ladies to the airport ricky-tick. They'll be first out thanks to Mr. Webb's generosity. Us boys will camp out for a few days and catch the return flight. Then we can lay low in Wyoming until this thing blows over". He paused for a few seconds for the objections he knew he'd never get.

[The Stig]

They quickly loaded up the Millers truck with as much gear as they thought they'd need to send with the girls and then use to hide out for four days. Miller sent Webb with the girls and Coco in the truck. Coco, who was just happy to have her people back, wagged her tail and guarded Ava and Patsy. They headed out first.

Miller and Dink quickly consolidated several bags worth of gear into two each. They also broke out Miller's supply of war-belts and chest rigs in the event they ran into trouble. He added his own suppressed AR to the one Dink had reacquired from his truck. They also grabbed radios and other interesting gadgets that might come in handy at night.

While Miller topped off the gas in the ATV's Dink drove his truck into the barn and covered it with a tarp. It wouldn't fool anybody looking for it but at least passersby wouldn't spot it. They figured to use the ATV's to cover as much ground as possible between here and the airport. They'd have to hoof the last mile or two to avoid detection as it was guaranteed that Ketch would have men at the airfield. Once they dealt with them the truck could be moved into position.

Once they rounded up what they needed, they went back around front and hauled the now cool bodies of the contractors off as far as possible into the weeds and tossed them into a small ravine. Their SUV was also driven into the bush to conceal it. It was a hasty job, one that wouldn't fool anybody looking closely, but was enough to avoid immediate detection. Dink grabbed one of their radios before turning off the SUV.

With that they extinguished the lights of the house, each mounted an ATV and they made their way down the driveway. For the second time in as many days, Miller looked back and thought "I knew this was too good to last".

****

Ketch knew something was up. The contractors at Millers place were 30 minutes overdue from checking in and the radio protocol for checking in after the allotted time frame was not being followed. Wasting only a couple of minutes he picked up the phone and called Smythe.

Smythe was the leader of the contractors assigned to assist Ketch. Technically Ketch was in charge and Donovan was glad to allow that allusion to stand for now. Smythe, however, was Donovan's eyes and ears in the area. Smythe was as hard as they came. He was skilled, no pushover and had a ruthless streak that would have fit in well in African tribal warfare. Tall, lean and bald and always in an impeccably clean outfit he played the role of hired gun to the tee.

He had purposely let Ketch run the show and allow his men to report in to the Sheriff in the beginning. If Ketch performed well so much the better and Smythe could focus on operations elsewhere. If Ketch failed, it opened the door for Smythe to retake charge of the operation and swallow up Ketch's organization, men and equipment in the process.

"Smythe?" Kretch asked when the connection was made.

"Yes Sheriff, what can I do for you?" inquired an almost friendly voice.

"Listen, unit 5 was sent out to Millers place earlier tonight. They blew a check-in time and aren't following the subsequent blown cover calls" Ketch let the statement hang in the air.

"Yes, Sheriff..." answered back Smythe who preferred to let the other person ask the favor instead of volunteering any assistance.

"Well " Ketch continued "I'm getting ready to send a couple of my boys out there. Do you have any men you'd like to send along?"

There was a brief pause from the other end before Smythe answered. "Yes Sheriff. I'm sending you 3 men to go along with your deputies. Wait for them to arrive and send them in together. If Miller and anybody else is there in ambush you'll need the extra firepower. If they are gone the 10 minutes you have to wait now won't mean anything anyway".

Ketch thanked him and hung up the phone. He paused for a minute trying to think through what Smythe might have been up to. While he admired Smythe's efficiency he didn't trust the man. After a few seconds he bellowed out to his desk Sargent. "Patty! tell Junior to get in here".

****

At five minutes past three in the morning they heard the sound of a plane flying low. It continued to get closer and closer until almost the last impossible second it flipped on it's landing lights. The field was a small country airport so there was nobody in the control tower.

Webb had taken care of the two guys Ketch had stationed in the small terminal area. So unless anybody else showed up they should be able to make the hand off unmolested.

The airplane touched down just past the end of the runway. Webb had been talking to the pilot on a handheld and told him to simply land, back taxi and be ready to go as soon as they loaded up. As soon as the planes wheels chirped Webb, Miller and the girls drove the truck through a hole in the fence and headed right at the airplane. Dink hung back to provide cover in the event it was needed.

They pulled along side the idling twin engine airplane. The pilot wisely left the engines running and hopped out of the plane. Webb and pilot spoke briefly while Miller escorted the ladies and dog to the plane. After loading in Coco , he helped Patsy and Christy into the plane and then handed up Ava after giving her a big kiss on the forehead. She looked back at him groggily.

"I love you girl. I'll see you in a few days" he said over the roar of the engines while handing her to Christy. Patsy helped get Ava settled in while Miller and Christy started grabbing the bags out of the back of the truck. They loaded up the four that Webb allowed them to avoid overloading the plane.

Christy gave Miller a huge hug. "Are you sure about this?" she asked him holding him tightly.

"Sweetheart" he said with mock seriousness "I'm not sure about much since this morning. I'll see you before the end of the week". They kissed and then she climbed into the plane and Miller shut to door. He gave a thumbs up to the pilot and he and Webb drove off in the truck.

Before they got back to the fence the pilot had rammed the throttles forward and was moving down the runway. Soon he rotated and he pulled up the wheels. He kept the plane low and zoomed off into the night after extinguishing his lights. The truck hadn't made it back to Dink before the sound faded in the distance.

Miller turned to Webb. "You sure this pilot friend of yours is square?".

"I hope so" Webb replied "he's my brother".

[The Stig]

As morning broke over the county much had changed. Up North the situation deteriorated further and some skirmishes between troops had started to break out. Everybody realized they were sitting on a powder-keg and the drunken neighbor had some fireworks. President Alan, normally very good in these situations seemed to have a tin ear to the problems facing him which only gave Crutchfields supporters more reason to keep gearing up for a fight. Things would get worse before they got better.

In the state capitol, Senator Donovan had convinced his other neighboring state to join in under his "protective umbrella". With three states worth of national guard troops, as mixed and matched as they were, he had enough forces to do what he wanted. That morning at 6:00am he issued an order of martial law in the area which included a curfew, random safety checks and the beginnings of gun confiscation. What Miles Donovan wanted was to exert his grasp on this new area under his temporary control and make it his for the longer term. He planned to use the uncertainty of the North as justification and by the time the dust settled Donovan's rule would be too tight for things to ever go back to normal. He wanted the control, he wanted the land, he wanted the natural resources of the area, he wanted the power. In short, he wanted it all.

Being the consummate politician he released statements to all the news outlets assuring the people of the area that this move was "temporary" and "for their safety". He reassured the people that telephone service, both cell and hardwire, would only be shut down temporarily. The systems had mostly crashed under heavy volume anyway but he used technology designed for national emergencies to make sure they were shut down for good. The same went for internet access. And with a big smile he told people not to worry when they saw Humvee's loaded with troops going down their streets as they were there for protection against looters as the local television reporters dutifully nodded in agreement.

Smythe realized that all might not be well in Ketch's county. Five of his men were missing due to unknown forces although everything pointed in the direction of this Miller and his group. Ketch seemed to have things in hand, and Smythe was willing to give him a little more rope but the idea was for Ketch to loose his men, not Smythe's. Smythe decided he'd make a surprise visit to the good Sheriff later that morning.

At the town hall it was becoming equally obvious to Sheriff Ketch that Miller's group was a problem. Thus far Ketch had kept the few citizens who voiced concerns at bay and the vast majority remained in their coma like states anyway. He could have rolled tanks down Main Street and most of those people would not have noticed. But Miller poised a problem on several fronts. First, people liked him and there was always a risk of him starting some sort of resistance to Ketch's plans. Ketch still had to play things carefully since there wasn't any immediate danger in the county. Further, if things did get ugly Miller, Dink and presumably others knew how to fight as they had already demonstrated. But right now the big problem was not knowing what Miller was up to. Had he just left the area as one of his deputies surmised when they found the hole in the fence and the tire tracks leading into the airport grounds? Or was he laying low waiting to act? As is often the case, not knowing was the hardest part.

Senator Donovan's move to declare martial law wasn't going to help matters either. For now he had most of the county going through the motions after the uncertainty of the past few days. Just the mention of curfews and gun confiscations would stir up a lot of activity in the area. He was sure to get a lot more visitors today.

****

At the impromptu campsite Miller realized they weren't in a much better position either. They had to stay on the run for four days before Webb's brother returned. And the plain fact was they weren't going to get away with another middle-of-the-night escapade at the airport as Ketch would have it, and any other known airstrip in the county on lock-down from now on. Also, bodies were laying around that Ketch could easily use as leverage against them whether the killings were justified or not.

They had not yet learned of Donovan's actions so the choice to just start driving and hope to contact Webb's brother while en-route was the most likely option. But that was not without risk. They had to avoid detection, travel by truck as far as possible and then go overland when fuel ran out. Chances were good Ketch would have the contractors and possibly the military join in the search for them. And then they still had to contact Webb's brother somehow. Webb was able to make the original flight arrangements with ease at the first sign of trouble up north. Now, they were dependent on the handheld radios to link up. The last thing they wanted to was to cover a distance in four days and have Webb's brother land back in the town where they started.

The stark reality was that they were in a very precarious position.

****

The men quickly and quietly cleaned up their small campsite as the early morning mist filtered through the woods where they had made camp the previous night. They only had a few hours to sleep so they took turns one hour on, one hour off to maintain a guard but get some rest.

As Miller squirted some extra lube into the gas ring ports on the bolt of his AR he broke the silence. "Hey Webb, if we get to a Ham radio in the next twelve hours can we get a message to your brother so he'll have it when he lands?"

Webb nodded the affirmative.

"Ok", Miller continued, "We can't get back to any of our places as they will be too hot. It's going to be risky but I think we can make it to Jason Klepper's place on the outskirts of town. I know for sure he has Ham equipment with the signal strength to reach out a ways. He's friendly to all of us so I think we can slip in, get word out to Webb's brother and move out again. And he's close enough to town that anybody listening for a broadcast might not be looking so close to home. My thought is we then hoof it thirty miles over to Lumberton. There's a long stretch of route 15 that is straight enough to land a plane but isn't so obvious that it will attract much attention. The terrain and cover is pretty good on the way over to Lumberton so we can stay low profile. I don't think it's going to be long before they put birds in the air" obviously referring to helicopters or other aircraft.

Dink chimed in. "That sounds about right to me. It don't hurt that I have some extra supplies squired away at a little shed about half way to Lumberton".

"Outstanding" Miller replied. "I figure we have to kill four days. Two for the plane to get to Wyoming and then two more to return back here. Longer if Webb's brother needs a nap or gets delayed. We'll burn a day today waiting for night so we can sneak into town to see Klepper. We'll soak up another two days getting to Lumberton by taking a nice nature walk. We'll have some extra time in the schedule in the event we are derailed en route and then we can just lay low for a bit until our taxi swoops out of the sky to get us." Miller looked at the other men to solicit suggestions or complaints. As usual they offered none.

"Alright then," Miller concluded. "Lets ruck up and cover the ground to get near town. Then we can hole up and get some shuteye until nightfall."

****

As Sheriff Ketch poured himself another cup of dreadful police station coffee he realized he only had one card to play regarding Miller and his men. He didn't want to play it since they were popular in town and people were likely to not believe the claims being made. But he was counting on one of his sycophants coming through and turning over the men or information that would lead to them.

He would release orders to apprehend John Miller, Dink Roberts and anybody else with them on the charges of suspicion of murder of the 5 missing contractors. He could use his contractors more openly to help in the search and the military force that was being sent to town to help "keep order" could maybe join in the fun too. The ruse of a manhunt would help distract townspeople from remembering that soldiers with weapons were walking the streets.

After downing another gulp of the hideous coffee and making a grimace he issued the orders that Miller and his men were to be apprehended and should considered very dangerous. "Who knows, maybe an angry contractor will take them out and get the whole mess out of my hair" he thought to himself.

[The Stig]

As the lead Humvee pulled into the main town square and squeaked to a stop, Captain Mike DeMetrie hopped out and stretched. It had been a long overnight drive from the marshaling area on the coast. The convoy of Humvee's and open topped six wheeled trucks full of troops slowly ground to a halt. The townspeople that were out in the early morning stood in shock at the sight of armed troops hopping out of vehicles and starting to martial up.

"Sargent!" he called out. As the lean Sargent appeared he issued out several orders covering a number of topics. His first mission was to find the local Sheriff to update him and coordinate their activities. DeMetrie's group of a hundred and fifty or so men would be enforcing the curfew in both this town and the others throughout the county. DeMetrie had spent the night studying maps of the country and decided to marshal most of his forces in town since it was near the center of the county and then distribute forces as needed through the other smaller areas. Roving patrols would also be set up.

DeMetrie had joined the service out of high school because most the men in his family had done the same. He had served well in various places in the Middle East and had seen combat along the way. He was well liked by his troops and had been very effective in leading them. The decision to join the National Guard after rotating out of the regular army was easy because he genuinely liked serving his country. Besides, what was he going to do, sell insurance?

He really wasn't sure why they were doing on this mission. He had received his orders as the tensions built in the past few months and was mobilized shortly after the outbreak of the problems up North. All he knew was that he had to enforce a temporary marshal law in the county for the peoples safety. Something didn't really add up about the orders but he was a solider. He wasn't used to questioning orders.

****

Ketch and DeMetrie rubbed each other the wrong way from the get go. Ketch didn't like the intrusion into his turf and DeMetrie didn't like Ketch's arrogance. But they quickly worked through the details of how the operation would be run. DeMetrie was amused when Ketch tried to give him direction on how to arrange patrols. He made it clear he fully intended on doing things his way by utterly ignoring the advice.

"Captain" Ketch barked out, "you can set your men up in the high school as a base of operations.". He dispatched one of his deputies who left with one of DeMetrie's men to get into the school building and start setting up operations.

"Sheriff, how many contractors are working in the area?" DeMetrie asked. He despised the contractors he had met so far this past week. He knew plenty of good honest men who had taken up high paying jobs as contractors post military service. There were a lot of good ones out there, some of who had served by DeMetrie's side in the sandbox of Iraq. But lately he'd run into far more scum than honest men.

"Well Captain, as you know, our friends in the capitol have sent out quite a few to help augment local law enforcement" Ketch replied obviously not answering the question.

"So how many?" came the straight forward reply.

Ketch was fuming to be addressed in such a way by someone like this but he bit his tongue. "Right now there are about twenty working across the county. Most of them are attached to units with my men."

"Right, well then. Be sure they understand we are in the area, and will be operating with live weapons. I'm sure they won't mistake men in ACU's and helmets as curfew breakers but you need to remind them just in case" the Captain said with obvious disdain.

Ketch merely grunted in response.

As Captain DeMetrie spun and begin to walk out of the Sheriff's office Ketch threw out one last bit of information. "Captain, we are also in the middle of a manhunt for some fugitives wanted for murder"

DeMetrie didn't even turn back around, "get pictures to my Sargent's and they will distribute them. If we see anyone matching the description we'll pass along the information". With that he rounded the corner and left Ketch to glare at his coffee mug.

****

The men took several hours to cover the ground between their overnight campsite and town. They held up in some woods a mile outside of town and took up a protected position just at the top of a small wooded rise.

Webb volunteered to take the first watch so Miller and Dink padded down under some thick bushes and a felled tree. In the event of trouble they kept their AR15’s at the ready, loaded and ready for business.

As they drifted off Dink asked aloud to nobody in particular, “Did I get drunk, pass out and wake up in crazy town?”

****

Smythe strode into Sheriff Ketch’s office in the late afternoon. Ketch was having a particularly bad day as the phone was ringing off the hook and people kept stopping by trying to get more information about the martial law proclamation. He had been able to keep people calm by playing up how it was temporary and that Senator Donovan had to enact it all over the state to be fair to everyone. For whatever reason the mention of “fairness” seemed to make most people happy.

Still it was tiresome and didn’t address the real problems he was facing. The Miller situation was lingering and so far the day’s search had turned up nothing. More ominously nobody had called with information, which Ketch was counting on happening.

The other issue bothering him was word from Lumberton that some of the good-ole-boys in the area weren’t too happy about the martial law proclamation. Worse yet they were quick to say so. Ketch knew Donovan’s actions wouldn’t sit well with most folks and now he was going to have to clean up the mess. Worse yet, he’d have to work with Captain DeMetrie and that didn’t thrill him at all. For now he’d let DeMetrie worry about the martial law and mad redneck situation in Lumberton.

He considered walking over to the Diner for something to eat, and to get out of his office, when Smythe came around the corner. “Shit” Ketch thought to himself. The last thing he wanted to do was play mental sparing games with Smythe.

[The Stig]

Ketch laid out the situation in the county, updated Smythe on the obvious arrival of the National Guard troops and gave him a status on the contractors working in the area. They conferred over some organizational and operational details before Smythe brought up the subject Ketch was clearly avoiding.

“Sheriff” said the overtly polite Smythe “what is going on with this Miller situation and my five missing men”. The emphasis on “my” was pronounced.

Ketch glared at Smythe. Sheriff Ketch’s glares didn’t seem to have much effect with the likes of Smythe and Captain DeMetrie and he didn’t like it.

“Well Mr Smythe” he responded back with poorly hidden irritation “I’ve issued orders that they be brought in on charges related to the missing men. I’ve had a couple reserve deputies spreading the word around town while most of my men and your contractors have been conducting sweeps of the outlying areas”.

Smythe remained quiet for an uncomfortable period of time. Ketch suddenly felt like he had been called in front of the principal. “Have you sent men back to their homes and last known positions?”

“Well Mr. Smythe, no I hadn’t” replied the Sheriff. “The men I sent over last night after your men originally went missing did a quick sweep and then returned back here.” Again Smythe let the silence hang in the air and again Sheriff Ketch didn’t care for it.

“In that case Sheriff” Smythe continued the questioning, “did you seal off the airstrips in the area after finding the hole in the fence and clear evidence of tire tracks?”

Smythe didn’t need to wait long when Ketch’s reply was a blank stare.

“Sheriff Ketch, I do believe I will be staying with you for a while” pronounced the leader of the contractors. Inside Sheriff Ketch boiled with rage.


****

So far Captain DeMetrie’s job had gone smoothly. His troops quickly set up a command center in the High School and troops were distributed through out the county. Most of them stayed in town while another large group were sent over Lumberton. Small groups were then sent to the smaller towns and villages across the county. The troops in town were arranged into roving patrols and shifts were created to ensure good coverage.

DeMetrie sipped a cup of coffee as he stared across the open park area at City Hall. He wondered what problems Sheriff Ketch was going to cause for him.

A corporal from the communications section interrupted him.

“Sir, Baker-2 group reports they have arrived in Lumberton and set up operations. They got some taunting from some locals but overall they are good to go”

“Excellent. Tell them to set up patrols and be careful with the locals. Also, send word to Baker-3 that I’m going to rotate them and Baker-4 around a fair amount between those 5 small bergs they need to cover so don’t get too comfy” replied back the Captain.

He didn’t hear the corporal respond with a crisp “sir” before he turned and scurried off to send the messages.

“Sergeant Lowry!” he called out. The same lean Sergeant who had appeared when they first pulled into town suddenly appeared again. Despite overseeing several things at once and having a to-do list a mile long Sergeant Lowry always seemed to be around when his captain needed him.

“Listen Lowry, I don’t know what this Sheriff Ketch is up to. Keep an eye on him. If you pick up any scuttlebutt I want to know about it” instructed the captain.

“You want me to spend a little extra time at City Hall to make sure I get all the details right on tonight’s patrol rotations?” replied the wiseass Sergeant that had been through thick and thin with Captain DeMetrie.

“I think that is an outstanding idea that shows initiative and a desire to get the job done” replied back the Captain who had genuine affection for his Sergeant.

[The Stig]

Smythe was furious. The first group of men sent back to Miller’s place found the dead contractors right off the bat. Further, two more men were found stuffed in a closet at the airport. One of his contacts in the FAA ran back the radar tapes and saw where a low flying plane had come out of the north west, dipped below radar coverage and then reappeared a short while later on the same return course.

While the airplane wasn’t shocking (there was a big hole in the fence and two dead guys at the airport) it clearly demonstrated that it was a small plane and that it was unlikely all of Miller’s group had left the area.

But mostly he was mad at the loss of his men. Not because he cared for his men or their families. But these men represented income potential and projection of power. He would be dammed if some local-yokle was going to cut into his bottom line.

Within minutes of hearing the news Smythe called in a helicopter with FLIR cameras for air support. It wouldn’t arrive until the morning but it would greatly increase their searching abilities.

Further he took over operations from Sheriff Ketch. The Sheriff protested meekly as Smythe rattled off orders and tried to stay in control of the situation but power had clearly passed to the head of the contractors.

In the short term before the helicopter arrived Smythe recalled all of his contractors from around the county along with all the Deputy Sheriffs. He began working with his second in command to organize a search that would begin at town hall and originate out. Ketch tried to interject that they didn’t know if Miller was even in town, Smythe shot him a dirty look that effectively shut up the obese Sheriff.

“Look Bobby” he said to his assistant “I want every inch of this town searched to ensure they aren’t here. Let’s at least establish that. We’ll start radiating out from town in the morning once the chopper arrives. I want every airstrip in the county shut down and take a look at the maps for any stretch of road that might be used to land a plane.”

Bobby nodded and turned to leave the room. “Oh and Bobby….have Miller’s house burnt to the ground and tell the teams they should shoot first and let me worry about the questions later. They owe me for five men and I expect to collect”.

After Bobby left Smythe turned to the Sheriff “Sheriff, you will man the communications center for now. Later on I expect you will be on one of the search teams. Bobby will let you know which one”

Whether Sheriff Ketch realized it or not, he had lost his entire command.

Shortly after Smythe stormed out of Ketch’s office, Sergeant Lowry returned back to the High School to fill in the Captain on what he overheard while reviewing information with a cute office worker at town hall.

****

Jason Klepper lived on the very outskirts of town in a small house he took over when his mother died. It was a small, rather non-descript home on one of the last streets in town. He had a couple of neighbors, mostly nosey older folks who never seemed to leave him alone.

Jason Klepper was a bit of a loner and never really fit in. He had made friends with John Miller years back and they had an ongoing, if rather casual relationship. They’d shoot together on occasion, and John would pass along leads for Jason’s small cleaning business.

The location of Klepper’s home suited Miller’s needs. His house backed up to the woods which provided excellent cover. Miller figured they could sneak up to the house, make contact with Klepper, have him work his magic on the radio and be on their way ricky-tick. He didn’t want to expose Jason to any more harm than he had to, especially from the contractors who clearly had no restraint.

As the three men snuck into the backyard of Klepper’s home they worked quickly and quietly to traverse the open back yard. The moon was fairly bright and they didn’t want to stay exposed any more than they had to.

“Dink” Miller whispered “you go over towards that small shed and keep an eye on things.”

Dink nodded and moved off. After a few steps, however, he accidentally knocked into a trashcan and the lid nosily fell to the ground. Everybody froze for a few seconds until it appeared nobody was going to respond.

One thing Miller knew from his relationship with Klepper was that he never locked his doors. He and Webb quickly entered the back door and went into the kitchen.

****

At city hall Smythe paced the floors of Sheriff Ketch’s office. The search had been underway for several hours. They had covered about 60% of the city in what proved to be a very time consuming search. He planned on having the city mostly secured by morning so when the helicopter arrived they could wrap things up and begin moving into the countryside.

He decided to go by the communications center to check on things and make sure Ketch was playing nice. Smythe had absorbed other LEO’s commands before and knew that the key was marginalizing the Sheriff as quickly as possible. Usually the deputies would fall in line and within six months most of them would be on his payroll. With the changes Donovan was hoping to enact every last man Smythe could employ would represent that much more money in billings.

“Status?” he asked as he entered the room.

Sheriff Ketch clearly didn’t like taking orders but at this point he really had no choice. Smythe wasn’t going to allow any contact with Senator Donovan and without his support a pissing match with Smythe would prove very costly. Ketch knew what those contractors were capable of and where people ended up who crossed their paths. For now, he’d have to bide his time.

“About 65% of the city has been searched. Thus far no signs of Miller and his men. Coordination with the military has gone smoothly. They are just running patrols to enforce the curfews while the men perform the door-to-door search for Miller. No real reports of anything out of the ordinary other than a slight disturbance out on K Street” reported Ketch.

“My men. You said the men, when they are my men” Smythe corrected. “Is this disturbance odd?”

“Well” responded Ketch who ignored the lecture, “on a normal night I’d say no. But with the curfew nobody is out roaming around which generates our normal complaint calls because of accidents, noise, drunkenness, kids doing dumb things or whatever. Normally, a single report of strange noises from the neighbors would be filed away but since there’s no other normal reports coming in this one sticks out”.

Smythe pondered for a moment. “What’s the closest search team?”

Ketch referred to some papers but Bobby beat him to the punch. “We have men about three streets over. Could be there right away, or in about 15 to 20 if they continue searching”.

Again Smythe pondered. “Alright, keep them searching. Don’t want to get all willy-nilly with the pattern. But tell them to complete their searches without delay and get over to K street as soon as they can.”

[The Stig]

“Miller you guys are in big trouble” Klepper protested as they headed into the basement and the radio room. “Sheriff Ketch says you are wanted for murder and there’s been teams of contractors and deputies going door to door for the past few hours. What the hell have you done?”

“Nothing to worry about Jason, just a simple misunderstanding. Look, just let us use your radio and we’ll get out of here before anybody is wiser. I don’t want you to get in trouble”, replied Miller as Klepper settled into his chair.

Klepper started to turn dials and flip switches but stopped to turn around. “Man, I don’t want any heat. I don’t know what’s going on with this martial law business or this Senator Donovan. Things have just gone all sorts of wacky”. Klepper was a good man but he spoke very quickly and sometimes his words all ran together.

“Martial law?” asked Miller.

“Yea man, Senator Donovan is in charge of a couple states that grouped together to deal with any blowback from up North. He laid down the martial law order this morning. Curfew tonight at dark. Army guys showed up in town earlier today. They’ve been walking around all day and then started roving patrols once it got dark and the curfew started. They have M4’s, Humvee’s and everything” Klepper spat out.

Webb and Miller just looked at each other as they took in the news.

Klepper didn’t stop. “I’m telling you its bad news. Anybody with firearms is supposed to report to the county seat the day after tomorrow for “safety checks”. That can’t be good. Todd at the gunstore told me that all the background check forms were pulled by Sheriff Ketch.”

Webb glanced at Miller, “If they pulled the 4473’s you know they aren’t checking for clean guns and magazine catches that work”.

Miller tried to get them all back on track. “Ok. Thanks for the news, man. You two get to work. I’ll be upstairs.

****

As Klepper and Webb worked their radios Captain DeMetrie was trying to figure out the game Smythe was playing. It was bad enough when he had to worry about Sheriff Ketch, but when he got word that Smythe was in the picture he knew trouble was brewing.

DeMetrie didn’t know Smythe at all, but he knew about bad groups of contractors and he didn’t care for them one bit. It was one thing to use your skill sets to help your country and make a buck after your service had ended. It was quite another to rape, pillage and murder under some sick protective shield.

As he poured over maps of the area and the disposition of his men the corporal from the communication section came in.

“Capt, we’ve picked up some sort of radio activity from town. It’s been all quiet most of the day but then we started getting this single sideband frequency. It’s close. Maybe two miles away”.

DeMetrie looked up from his maps. “Was their any sort of civilian prohibition on ham radio types of communications?”

“Don’t think so sir”.

“Ok”. DeMetrie thought for a second. “Ok. Try to narrow down the location and then have a patrol swing by the area. Unless there is a curfew violation don’t get involved in any disturbances. But keep an eye out for any suspicious activities and report back in.”

“Oh, especially any sort of suspicious contractor activity” he added for good measure.

“Ok Jenkins” he said to sergeant looking at the maps with him. “Let’s look over that Lumberton area again”.

****

“You get your message out?” asked Miller as Webb and Klepper came back up from the basement.

“Yep” replied Webb. “He’ll get it when he lands. Got him the grid and GPS coordinates you gave me along with the frequencies to use when he gets within range. Also told him when we’d be there and that we’d come back to the same area at one hour later each night for the next three nights if he got delayed and then gave the alternate site if he was delayed beyond that”.

Klepper couldn’t contain himself. “Ok guys. I’m glad to help you but you have to go now. I mean, sorry man. I know we’re buds and all but I don’t want any heat”.

“I understand. We’re gone and you never saw us” replied Miller.

“Oh, here” said Webb as he handed Klepper an envelope. “This is a gift from Dink Roberts”.

“Yea. Thanks. Ok. Bye guys” as he shooed them out the door.

After they had disappeared into the night he thought to look in the envelope. In it was two thousand dollars in cash.

It had been several minutes after they left so he couldn’t track them down. At least he had some compensation for his troubles.

As he started to walk back to the basement to shut down the radios there was a knock at the door.

[The Stig]

“Mr. Klepper” Deputy Johnson asked as he looked down at a clipboard.

“Sir, may we come in?”

“Red, what are you doing. We’ve bowled together before…” fired back a confused Jason Klepper. They weren’t the best of friends but they did know each other, certainly well enough to dispense with the formal ‘Mr. Klepper’.

Before Jason could say or do anything else two large contractors barged into his house.

“Hey!” yelled out the surprised Klepper.

One of the contractors pushed him down onto the couch while relieving him of the envelope full of cash.

“Well, what do we have here?” asked the contractor.

“Nothing man” stammered a confused and now scared Klepper. “It’s money my mom left me when she died. I got it out today to count it”.

“That’s lame shitstain” fired back the contractor. “You better come up with something better than that.”

The other contractor came up the stairs from the basement and back into the room. “What the hell were you doing on the radios? They are still on and warm. What the fuck were you doing?”

“Uh…I was trying to find out news about the situation in the…the..north” was all he could stammer out.

The first contractor slapped him. “You’re lying shitbreath. You better fess up our you’re going to be in big trouble”.

“Nuuthin. I swear”. Before he could finish his meek protest the contractors had picked him up off the couch and started hauling him out the door. “Let’s go have a talk with Mr. Smythe you shitface, then you can go to camp…..” Both contractors chuckled as they hauled a clearly terrified Jason Klepper off the front porch and down the street towards the truck parked a few houses down.

Sheriffs Deputy Johnson wanted to say something but was too scared to say anything. He just stood by and watched his friend get hauled down the street by two goons.

****

Miller, Dink and Webb didn’t stop moving until they were a good mile away from Kleppers house.

“Ok boys” said Miller as they took a breather. “Let’s haul ass back to the truck at the back of Fred Thompson’s lot, grab some gear and then get trucking over towards Lumberton. If we hump it hard all night I think we can cover a lot of ground”.

“I always loved night hikes”, said Dink sarcastically.

“Ok, I’m just going to keep moving unless someone needs a break. Otherwise, stay quiet, stay moving and do it triple time”.

With that Miller spun and took off into the darkness.

****

DeMetrie didn’t know what to think when the radio call came in that some of his men had caught some contractors hauling a civilian down the street. While technically that was a civilian matter the poor guy was hysterical and showed signs of having been assaulted.

Further, contractors were involved. That didn’t sit well at all. DeMetrie didn’t know what was going on, but he aimed to find out.

“Jenkins! He called out. Lets go for a ride”.

****

When DeMetrie arrived on scene it was tense. A couple of contractors were yelling with a couple of his men. While the contractors had side-arms, his men had the advantage of M4’s, body armor and ACH helmets. The Humvee with the M2 .50 cal machine gun blocking in the contractors pickup didn’t hurt either.

”Quiet the fuck down!” he announced as he walked up.

“Corporal, sitrep?” he demanded of the African-American soldier that looked oddly like Cuba Gooding Junior.

“Sir, these men were hauling this civi down the street kicking and screaming. We came around the corner and they tried to double-time it. Gave us nothing but attitude when we tried to investigate” came back the report.

The larger contractor chimed in. “Captain, this is a civilian matter. We’re taking this person of interest back to the Sheriff’s office for questioning. He’s just a little restless is all”.

Captain DeMetrie leaned in and shone a light on Klepper’s face. “So, what is this giant red mark on the civilians face?” he inquired of the contractors.

“He bumped his face on the door jam as we tried to help him out”.

“Fuck off!” came the suddenly emboldened Klepper. “You fucking hit me”, he protested.

A small argument broke out between Klepper and the contractor who still held him by the arm.

“Enough!” shouted the irritated Captain. “The civilian will ride in my Humvee back to City Hall”. He cut the contractors off before they could protest. “This is a civilian matter and you’ll get to deal with it. But technically you are all breaking my curfew and I’ve not seen your identification to make sure you’re really acting in an official capacity. So he rides with me back to your station house and you can deal with him from there”.

Captain DeMetrie nodded at the corporal who then took charge of Klepper from the contractor who was clearly not pleased. The contractor tried to stare down the Captain who in turn ignored him.

As they got into the Humvee Captain DeMetrie told the driver to go slow. He turned around and addressed Klepper. “Ok son, you’ve got about 5 minutes till we get back to City Hall. I want to know exactly what is going on and I want to know it right now”.

Jason Klepper told him everything he knew about John Miller and the events of the past few days. The socially awkward outcast knew a surprising amount of information, all of which he gave to the Captain.

[The Stig]

Smythe exploded with rage when the contractors raced into the station house and told him what had transpired. The contractors had radioed back as soon as DeMetrie’s men released them and then raced to City Hall to fill in the details.

“That fucking twat!” screamed Smythe as he pounded the table. People in the outer offices jumped as items bounced off the desk. He quickly collected himself and turned to Bobby. “Bobby, be a good lad and see the Captain in when he arrives”.

“Captain” said the barely contained Smythe as they addressed each other for the first time. “I hear we’ve had a bit of a confrontation. I trust we have no problems”. Smythe put on his best air of authority. It was one that combined with his height, impeccable dress and general demeanor usually worked to put people off balance.

“Yes sir. We have. Some of your contractors appear to have assaulted a civilian in the course of their duties. My men intercepted them and here we are”, reported the clearly unimpressed Captain.

“I see. We do have a problem them. I would suggest you and I have a talk with my men while this Mister Klepper receives medical treatment” offered Smythe.

DeMetrie was no dummy. He knew the second Klepper was taken out of his sight he’d likely be hauled off to some camp or at the very least would be held until DeMetrie’s unit was ordered out of the area.

“Well sir” said the Captain “the men who stayed behind at Mr. Klepper’s house also found radio equipment, weapons, cash and several other suspicious items. There’s a good chance he’s starting some sort of insurgency unit. At the very least, his home is a safety hazard. I’m taking him back with me to my headquarters until my intelligence guys can get up here from the coast in the morning to interrogate him.”

Smythe about spit out his coffee. Even the normally level-headed Sergeant Jenkins was taken aback by the captains bluff.

“I’d hardly say this gentleman is a terrorist and he’s involved with some men wanted for murder. That makes it clearly a civilian matter” paired Smythe.

“Sorry sir. This is a matter of National Security and no matter how unclear things are in the United States right now, the fact is we’re still one country and Homeland Security trumps civilian matters” fired back the Captain.

There was a clear moment of tension in the air and for a brief second DeMetrie thought one of the contractors might be dumb enough to try something. Then again, M4’s, body armor and ACH helmets go a long way to keep people from doing dumb things.

DeMetrie, Jenkins, the other soldiers and Klepper walked out of the station and drove back to the High School.

****

Miller and his friends kept moving all night long. Smythe, normally a professional, had so lost his cool over the incident with Captain DeMetrie and Jason Klepper that he essentially spent the night plotting how to kidnap Klepper. After several hours it was determined that trying to storm a military compound was not a great idea no matter how skilled Smythe's men were. It was loss of focus that was uncharacteristic but it gave Miller, Dink and Webb the time they needed to get out of town and out into the countryside.

As the night sky was starting to lighten a bit Miller's group took a rest break to eat quickly, reorganize and change modes from night movement to day. Their mission would get more difficult with daybreak. Obviously they would be more exposed to being sighted and it would drastically cut down on their overland travel speed.

They had made it three quarters of the way to the small shed on the way to Lumberton where Dink had stashed some supplies. The men figured they could reach the shed, replenish, lay low and again wait for nightfall to complete the trip to Lumberton. Miller wanted to reach the outskirts of Lumberton before the morning of their third day so they'd have plenty of time to scout out their proposed landing site, set up ambushes, and generally make a good plan. They got lucky the first time the airplane swooped in, they weren't likely to be as lucky this time.

As they policed their trash Webb asked, "think they'll have a bird up today?"

Dink replied, "I figured those boys would have had one up tonight. I think they might have been asleep at the switch."

Miller agreed, "We got lucky boys. Things are only going to get harder from here."

All of the men knew things were probably about to get ugly.

[The Stig]

Sheriff Ketch coordinated the landing of the helo in the small park next to city hall. As the Bell UH-1H landed it kicked up dust and debris forcing the sheriff to hold on to his Smokey the Bear hat. The pilot trotted over, bent at the waist in the classic "running under helicopter blades" position.

Ketch escorted the pilot into Smythe's office where he met with Bobby, the second in command. Smythe had taken a phone call from Senator Donovan.

"Ok, listen" said Bobby dispensing with any formalities "we've put together a search pattern and we're starting it right now. We'll do what we can until you are bingo fuel. We'll hit the county airport to refuel and then resume the pattern. Myself and two of my men will be joining you as a quick reaction force in the event we make contact. I'll fill you in on the details once we get airborne."

"I'm ready whenever you are Bobby" replied the pilot. "Let me hit the head and we'll get on with it".

"I'll meet you at the chopper" he said back with a smile.

While Smythe and all the men called him Bobby, and he kept an outward appearance of being a nice guy, the plain fact was Bobby as a sadistic son of a bitch. The fact was he personally carried out the orders to burn Miller's house to the ground and he carried them out with glee. His history was one of random moments of brutality thinly hidden behind a wide smile and a childlike name.

****

"Listen Smythe, I've got most of the counties falling in line and only sporadic trouble makers. What's the friction down your way?" asked Senator Donovan of one of his main contractors.

"Senator, we've got the situation well in hand. There is some local rabble rousing in a small town west of here and a couple of towns folks who may be playing hero, otherwise everything is running smoothly" Smythe stretched the truth a fair amount to avoid any confrontations.

"Bullshit Smythe!" fired back Donovan. "I'm fully aware that you've lost five men, your "hero's" are fully capable of attracting a lot of attention, the rednecks are getting fired up in Lumberton and your local military contingent is being run by Dudley Do-Right. You've got brewing problems down there and I want them taken care of. This martial law business is a risky move and my plans will not be derailed by one jerkwater county. Get your house in order."

Miles Donovan was not one to mince words.

"Senator, we've already got a helo in the air to deal with the hero's and while the local military commander is a dreamer I'm confident we can convince him to deal with the folks in Lumberton. You will not get any problems from my end Sir" said a controlled but clearly uncomfortable Smythe.

It took Smthye several seconds to realize the Senator had already hung up the phone.

He went back to his now empty office and sat back in his chair. Donovan was good, very good, at what he did. He didn't assume command of three states without attracting much nationwide attention by accident. But it didn't leave much to the imagination to determine how Donovan knew what he knew.

****

DeMetrie stared at his morning coffee as he Jenkins and Lowry ran over the morning details. They worked out the continuing search rotations and crafted a plan for dealing with the brewing trouble in Lumberton.

"Listen Jenk" started off the tired Captain, "send a squad and reinforce Baker-2 in Lumberton. That's a bad situation over there. We don't want any drunk fools causing shit and force a tough situation into a really bad one. I figure it will be a quiet morning. Take advantage of it to get men over there, try to find someone with a level of authority in the town and get them to help calm things down. Close down the bars and stores that sell booze. That will piss people off but it may help keep people from getting blitzed."

"Roger that Cap".

After Jenkins left to organize and dispatch the men the Captain ran his hands through his hair and turned to Lowry. "Now we have to track this Miller guy down and get to him before Smythe does. I don't know his story, and don't really care but I'll be dammed if we let a good guy get ramrodded by one of those scumballs".

"I hear you Captain. They have a bird in the air" replied back the Sargent.

"Yea, I heard it this morning. I don't suppose that was brought in to deliver water to the orphans" the Captain said sardonically.

"No, probably not Cap. I have a small squad of guys on standby as a quick reaction force. I figure whether the bird finds Miller, or the bird responds to someone on the ground who found Miller, that wherever that bird takes up residence Miller will be nearby. I can't imagine Miller's too much farther than this after last night", Lowry outlined an arc on the map. "If they find him today we'll be able to respond from here. If it gets too far out that a Humvee can't respond quickly enough I'll have units set up to respond further out".

"Sargent Lowry. You truly are an army of one".

"Captain, I know these contractors are fucksticks but is this a fight we want?" asked Lowry.

"Lowry, I have no idea. All I know is that it's our job to enforce martial law for the safety of the people of the county. I can't imagine any less safe situation than being hunted down by these contractor types."

"Well Sir" said the Sargent "That is why you have bars and I have rockers".

****
Bobby came trotting back into City Hall as the Huey lifted off in a cloud of dust and noise. Smythe had recalled him just as they were getting ready to leave.

"Oh good Bobby, I'm glad I caught you in time." He turned his attention to Sheriff Ketch. "Sheriff, I've gotten a lead that John Miller and his group may have been seen in the area around his house." Bobby and the Sheriff looked at each other somewhat quizzically. Miller was too smart to spend time in an area he knew was likely to be watched, not to mention his home and barns had been burnt to the ground.

Smythe read the confusion on his men's faces. "Listen, I think the report is thin too, but this is important. I want the people to know we're responding to their concerns. Now Sheriff, take Bobby and another one of my men with you. Put together a plan of how you'll search the area and what you will do in the event you do encounter Miller. This operation is important to me".

Ketch was irritated that he we being lectured on how to run an operation but this was the opening he needed to get back in the game with Smythe. He definitely liked being in charge of Bobby, this was the way things were supposed to be.

"While you are at it Sheriff, go check out that Thompsons place to make sure my men cleaned it properly. Then go over to the airport. The chopper can pick you back up there when it refuels." commanded Smythe. "I'll make sure the communications and search team's are covered until you get back" he added for good measure.

"Oh Bobby" called out Smythe as he and the Sheriff were departing. "Come here a second. I need to go over the search details with you to make sure I don't muck them up".

"I'll meet you in the truck Bobby" declared Sheriff Ketch. "And pick out a man who's good with a rifle" he added.

It was as if new life had been pumped into the Sheriff. While he continued to find Smythe insufferable, this was the opportunity he needed to regain control of his department.

[The Stig]

John Miller couldn't help day dreaming as they walked through the wooded land. The visions of little Ava playing in the backyard of her new house for the first time flooded his mind. The time she laughed and squealed as she played on a swing was as vivid as the day it happened. He figured that if all went well the plane carrying her would be landing in Wyoming later that night. If all went well...that was a big qualifier.

Webb's brother had to fly his plane low, across thousands of miles of land, while avoiding detection from radar or military aircraft. He was lucky that he was mostly flying though areas that were currently uncontested in the dispute between the forces of Crutchfield and Alan. But ultimately, he still had to pull off a long stressful trip to get Miller's family to Wyoming safely. Then he had to make the same trip two more times to come get Miller and his friends.

He wasn't sure how things had spiraled out of control so quickly.

He was slammed back into reality by the sound of a helicopter flying low. Because of the low altitude, the chopper was able to get relatively close to the men's position before they heard it. Instinctively they all dropped to the ground and froze immediately. As the sound grew closer and closer Miller's heart started to pound. Had they been tracked somehow? It's not like they had days to plan a stealthy track. They were basically making a straight line to Lumberton. While Sheriff Ketch and Smythe had to search an entire county it only made sense to keep an eye on the next biggest town in the area.

The distinctive thump thump thump noise of the rotor-blades passed several hundred yards to the left of their position and then faded off into the distance.

Dink, as usual, was first to speak up. "Well boys, I doubt that was a traffic chopper".

"I think we may want to step to and get to this shed" advised Miller.

****

Captain DeMetrie poked into the science classroom that served as Jason Klepper's temporary home. Klepper amused himself by reading textbooks and playing with Bunsen burners. So far he had only managed to burn himself once.

"Captain, thank you for what you are doing for me" expressed Klepper to the man who has essentially saved his life.

"Don't thank me yet. You aren't in the clear. I just wanted to check in to make sure you are taken care of. I don't know how this thing is going to play out but I think you'd be well advised to continue to be our guest for a while." The Captain appeared to inspect the bed, small locker and supply of food Klepper was given.

"No, this is great. Really. I'm fine and am glad to stay. Those contractors are assholes"

Before DeMetrie could respond a corporal for the communications section came running into the room.

"Sir, you need to hear this!" he declared. That, of course, served to get the attention of Klepper, DeMetrie and the guard standing just inside the door.

"Cap we picked up increased radio traffic on a band that's been used before by these contractors. It's scrambled so we can't make out info but there was a definite increase in radio activity just a few minutes ago" spelled out the Corporal.

DeMetrie thought for a minute as he began walking back towards his command room. His communications man naturally followed him and they talked as they walked.

"Do we know the position of the chopper when the traffic spiked?"

"Yes Captain. I already have it plotted for you on the board". DeMetrie had set up a separate easel with a map dedicated to the search for Miller. There was already a sea of maps spread out on tables with various soldiers working on various tasks. The "Miller Map" stood prominently at the front of the class room. "here it is here, Sir".

His commands flowed quickly and suddenly.

"Goldberg" he addressed the communications Corporal, "continue to track the radio traffic and work with the guys in here to plot out when and where the spikes occur. Be ready for Sargent Lowry's group that will be leaving. I want their comms to be 5 by 5. Make sure this group, including me, is on the right freqs"

To another soldier standing close by, "Go get Sargent Lowry on the double".

"Sir!" came the quick reply as the young soldier ran out of the room.

"The rest of you guys I want a fire team assembled and on standby. They aren't going anywhere yet, but things could get interesting with our friends across town square. Keep them out of view for now. Just make sure they have vehicles at the ready."

"Fritz" he called out to a solider. "Your sole job is to know where Smythe is at all times until I tell you otherwise."

"Sir" came the crisp reply.

By this time Sargent Lowry came in the room. "Walk with me Sargent" the Captain instructed.

"Ok, Lowry" the Captain continued as they walked back out towards the two Humvee's just outside the school building. "Looks like your hunch paid off. Radio traffic on freqs the contractors used spiked. You'll get the coordinates on your comm system in the Humvee. No idea if they have found Miller but you better get your team and go".

"Roger that Captain" replied the erstwhile Sargent.

"Now listen Lowry" the Captain said. "I have no idea what these contractors are up to, or capable of. We're on thin ice here since our mission didn't include starting a turf war. Use your judgment out there. Do what you can to avoid starting something, but if you or your men are threatened you are cleared to engage."

"You got it Captain" responded the Sargent who hopped in the passenger side of the lead Humvee.

Captain DeMetrie watched them fire up and drive off down the road. The drivers, obviously aware they were likely being watched by the contractors across the square, drove slowly and were sure to do nothing that would raise suspicions.

As they turned the corner and disappeared from view Mike DeMetrie hoped he was doing the right thing.

****

Ketch's truck pulled up to the still smoldering remains of John and Christy Miller's house. He made Smythe's man drive and he sat in the back as if he was being chauffeured. Bobby and his counterpart got out of the truck and began searching the property as Ketch had instructed them.

They took ten minutes to determine there was nobody in the immediate area of the house. "I could have told you that" snorted the obese and sweaty Sheriff.

The men continued to poke around until Smythe's man yelled out "Sheriff, over here, something you have to see". He motioned down into what appeared to be the basement area. "Over in the corner there" he pointed at something "it almost looks like a body".

Instinctively, both men leaned over slightly as they tried to discern the shape in the midst of charred debris.

Bobby's suppressed Glock 23 barked it's distinctive "thuuump" sound at the same time the round crashed into the back of Sheriff Ketch's knee. The Sheriff screamed out in agony as he collapsed and pitched forward down into the basement. There was a loud crash and cloud of ash stirred up by the bulk of the Sheriffs body slamming down. Blood poured from the mangled mess of shattered bone and ripped flesh as the Sheriff tried to stem the flow of blood and he writhed in agony.

"What the....what.....holy hell" was all he could spit out.

Bobby proceeded to place another round into the Sheriffs upper thigh. The process of screaming, grasping at shattered bone and flesh and swearing repeated itself.

As the shock set into the Sheriff's system Bobby hopped down into the pit that was soon to be the Sheriff's crypt. His eyes glazed over with what could simply be described as lunatic ecstasy. "Looks like you picked the wrong man to rat out fatso. Your stunt passing info to Donovan was a really, really bad idea".

"Please...please no" protested the Sheriff as he writhed in a crumpled mess of ash, blood and flesh. The metallic click of Bobby's automatic knife cut through the still air of the burnt out basement.

Terror filled the Sheriffs eyes. "No...god no...please..."

Bobby knelt down next to the heap that had become of Sheriff Ketch. "Now Sheriff, what do you suppose God has to do with any of this?".

The last sounds of Sheriff Ketch's life were whimpering and crying as Bobby remorselessly carved him to pieces.

[The Stig]

As President Allan's motorcade left the Plaza Hotel the country had already panned his latest speech aimed at quelling the growing tensions between the North East and his support base. He and his advisers had basically ignored the Southern and Western portions of the country and focused on avoiding the brewing conflict. Thus far they had failed. It didn't help that the fiery politicians in the North East were stirring up trouble in every speech, meeting and interview they gave. The media dutifully reported every word.

Crutchfield was in a tough spot. He had an entire geographic region of ardent supporters, billions of dollars of operating funds and at least a couple of military commanders who secretly met with him to express their support. They were, clearly, committing treason but that was the sort of man Crutchfield was. He inspired loyalty as he drove his people over a cliff.

But despite all his power, he couldn't openly encourage a rebellion let alone try to stage a military attack. His only option was to orchestrate a situation wherein he could launch a coup with a thin veneer of justification.

Because he couldn't openly throw around military forces, unlike the President, he had to do things a little more subtly. That was why he instigated the riot several days before. At the same time the President's speech was flopping, Crutchfield supporters, bolstered by some contractors and "civilian militia groups" staged a march in Youngstown, Ohio. Before it was over there was a full blown firefight and military forces were called in to assist the police. Over 30 people were killed and the country was in shock. Accusations and counter accusations flew and the North Eastern politicians whipped their constituents into a frenzy. It was a modern day Heymarket Riot.

Before night fell the media almost universally painted the incident as an effort by the President to crush people exercising their First Amendment rights. Crutchfield gave a televised address calling for impeachment proceedings and offering to help guide the country back on course. Before morning would break the following day military commanders who cast their lot with Crutchfield would be mobilizing their troops.

The country was headed to war with itself at a breakneck pace.

****

As he climbed out of the basement of John Miller's house Bobby turned to his man, "take what's left of him and make it look like Miller tried to hide a body in a house fire".

The man, a thug in his own right, was clearly stunned by the brutality of Bobby's attack. He could barely stammer out, "uh...while you were....well....base called on the radio. Um....the chopper thinks they found something. They had to return to the airport to refuel...".

"Ok, I'm taking the truck." he said brusquely.

As Bobby was burning rubber and kicking up a dust cloud the contractor simply stared at the bloody heap of flesh that once was a man. It took him a couple of minutes to will himself to radio base for a lift and get to work.

****

At the same time as President Alan's speech, Miller's group was busily stuffing more food and other supplies into their packs at Dink's hunting cabin and resupply point. The cabin had all the charm of a truckstop bathroom but it had what the men needed. A place to catch a 10 minute cat nap, eat some chow and reorganize their gear. They knew they had a couple days to kill in the countryside and they would have to avoid contact at all costs.

The cabin was typical of many hunting cabins in the area. It was in a somewhat small, lightly wooded area that provided some cover but still allowed 25 to 50 yards of visibility as the trees were mature and there weren't many branches below 25 or 30 feet. The cabin was nestled in between several large rocks at the top of a small hill which wasn't by accident. It was only about 600 yards in most any direction from the cabin to wide open low lying areas that surrounded it.

"Dink...it's a shame your interior decorator had to kill himself after they got done working on this place" declared Webb.

"Boy, you live in the Bat-Cave. Choke on it" fired back Dink in good fun.

****

Lowry's two Humvee's took a cautious and circuitous route on the 14 mile journey to where the Captain had suspected the chopper located Miller. They didn't want to draw attention to the fact they were onto Smythe's men by racing directly to the spot. As such it took much longer to get to the area.

Lowry had already briefed his squad on Miller and the situation at hand. While none of them knew Miller they all understood his predicament. Good guy, likely falsely accused if the Captains information was correct, on the run from contractors who really had no reason for restraint. While the country was in turmoil and Donovan was running the show they were above the law.

"Listen up" he said as they started a course that would get them near the suspected site. "First off the grid we were given appears to be in a wooded area. Also, Miller likely kept moving after they were spotted so we're already going to behind the power curve when we finally do get to the site. We're going to get as close as we can to the area and then start a search pattern from there"

And for good measure he threw in, "you men are cleared to defend yourself. A contractor makes a move on you, open it up. If we get in a tight spot the Cap has a fire-team that can be here ricky-tick. Clear?".

The other three men in his Humvee responded affirmatively.

[The Stig]

The chopper set down Bobby and his two men in a small clearing about 1000 yards away from where the heat signatures were picked up. When the chopper found them earlier the pilot noted where they were but didn't break course and circle to give away to the men on the ground they had been spotted. Since they'd have to land so far away they would have already lost the element of surprise. And without Bobby there were only two of them to deal with three men who would have likely been dug into some sort of defensive position. That the chopper was getting close to fumes didn't help either.

By returning to get Bobby and refuel the chopper could be on station should the men need an extract. They also added to their firepower and it allowed Smythe time to send out a squad of men to reinforce them. While they'd have to reacquire Miller, tactically, it made more sense.

The men dropped from the skids before the choppers set down fully in the tall grass. It was not unlike their fathers had done 40 years earlier in South-East Asia. They scurried off and began tracking towards the site where the men were spotted as the chopper lifted off and took up a station just out of the distance.

Within thirty minutes they had reached the site.

"They didn't head back to town and odds are they are trying to get to Lumberton. Fan out and we'll work our way west towards those fields we saw as we came in" instructed Bobby.

"Oh" he added ominously "We don't need to worry about the Sheriff anymore. We'll be taking care of this issue from here on out".

The other two contractors looked at each other and began moving out.

****

Maggie Bond grew up with a hard life. Her mom died young and her father, Wallace, was a hard drinking and abusive man. They lived far outside of Lumberton in a small, run down trailer. During the 1960's and '70's Lumberton was one of a million thriving small towns across the country thanks to the pickle and lumber plants. After the pickle plant left town and the lumber industry jobs dried up the town withered.

As she hung the laundry on the line outside the trailer her mind drifted off to the many things she used to occupy her mind. She was an intelligent and strangely streetwise child of 16 who loved art. She'd spend hours drawing or painting something with the art set she was given by some church ladies who recognized her talents. Of course her father, never one who received much kindness, made it a target of his ridicule.

Income in the house was sporadic at best. Wallace would work occasional odd jobs for people and make just enough money to eek by. Maggie supplemented their income by selling her artwork at fairs and festivals. It was yet another way Wallace was threatened by his daughter. But her art gave her an escape and a hope that someday she wouldn't live in squalor and shame.

As she whistled a sad tune and continued to hang the laundry she couldn't help but think about the next painting she'd tackle. Maybe this time she'd try a landscape of some sort. She'd mostly done animals, buildings and people but never really done any work in nature. She decided that tomorrow, after Wallace had passed out, she'd go for a walk in the woods with her sketch pad and give it a try.

She finished hanging the last pair of pants on the clothes line and walked back to the trailer buoyed by the thought that tomorrow she'd be able to escape for a few hours.

[The Stig]

Bobby and his men had covered a fair amount of ground and were just entering the woods that led to Dink's cabin. The men were walking side by side and spread out by 50 yards or so between them. This gave them a decent spread to cover more ground but allowed them to reinforce each other should they encounter Miller's group.

Bobby was no fool. That idiot Ketch underestimated Miller and his men but Bobby didn't. He recognized men who knew how to handle themselves when he ran into them. As such all of the men had automatic and sound suppressed rifles and plenty of ammo. While he would make a token effort to return the men to Smythe he wouldn't hesitate to use force if given the slightest provocation.

"Jones" he said quietly into his radio mic, "you're lagging behind, keep up with the line".

The plan was to make contact with Miller's group. Should they summarily surrender, which was unlikely, they'd be hauled back to town, Smythe and certain transport to areas holding troublemakers. Should Miller or his men engage them, Bobby's intention was to hold them down long enough for the couple of pickup loads of other men Smythe had sent to show up. It had taken a while to get them rounded up and there was no direct way to get off the road to the woods where the men were originally spotted let alone further to the point where Bobby was currently. They'd be along in no more than an hour. With the additional men it would be all over but the shouting for Miller and whomever was with him.

Again Bobby whispered into his radio mic, "Keep an eye out as we start to work our way up this hill. Lots of little places to hide. We'll give it another 30 minutes of searching. When the other men show up we'll spread out, call the chopper back in with the infrared and go after them full bore. Until then, stay sharp."

****

At that exact same time, about 600 yards away Miller and his friends were leaving the shed. After catching a second wind, resupplying and grabbing a quick nap all the men felt refreshed. Really they only had to hump over to the outskirts of Lumberton before they could set up camp and relax for a bit.

As they discussed before they left the cabin, they were going to backtrack a bit to ensure they weren't being tailed. They hadn't run into any indications they were being followed but they also had been mostly on the move since they left Klepper's house last night. And the incident with the helicopter unnerved them too. It was time they started pay attention to such details.

They headed back down the gentle hill mostly single file and spread out by 15 yards. They took their time to minimize the noise they made.

Dink, the usual joker in the group whispered out loudly, "shouldn't we leave a trail of popcorn so we can find our way back?"

****
Lowry was pissed. One of his Humvees had crapped out. He squeezed two of those men in with his can pressed on. He still had 6 men but more is always better than less in these sorts of situations. It wasn't the first time in his long military carer where things didn't go the way they were planned.

They had forced their Humvee through the woods to the point were they suspected the chopper first made contact with Miller. After dismounting and clearing the area they had pressed on. Within a few minutes they would be near the wide open fields indicated on the map.

He was trying to balance speed with surprise. He knew the contractors had a big jump on him so he wanted to cover ground as quickly as possible. At the same time if he came crashing through the woods Miller was likely to just scatter or hide out until they passed.

He needed to make contact with Miller and convince him they were on the same team. His plan for that was crude but, hopefully, effective. His men were just going to yell out "we're here to help you". They'd use the PA on the Humvee if it was available. Sometimes in the heat of the moment simpler was better.

"Come on Ramirez" he admonished the driver, "keep us moving".

[The Stig]

It was the man on Bobby's right that first saw Miller. He had immediately dropped and clicked his throat mic three times as a signal he'd made contact. He had the good fortune to be behind a fallen tree when he dropped to one knee. That would provide him some form of cover.

They had gotten lucky, Miller hadn't spotted him right off. As soon they heard the radio clicks, Bobby and his other man began moving to their right. It would take less than a minute for Bobby to cover the distance. Bobby went into a crouched stance as he moved as quickly and quietly as he could. Fortunatley for Miller, that was hard to do on a forest floor covered with sticks and other debris.

Miller hadn't seen Bobby's man at first but his sixth sense told him something wasn't right. He had dropped like a sack of potatoes and crawled a yard or so to a large stump that afforded some cover. In turn Webb and Dink did the same.

Miller's senses were going into overdrive as he strained to hear or see something that would indicate where the threat came from. He only cautiously peeked around the stump by a few degrees so he couldn't see Bobby's man even if he hand been standing up. As the seconds ticked by, and the sweat began to pour Miller forced himself to breath steady.

It didn't take long to hear Bobby moving through the woods. Another second or two passed before Miller could make out a shape moving behind the trees. Dink had crawled to within 10 yards of Miller and to his right to provide some sort of covering fire if it became needed. Webb was trying to do the same on the left but stayed back a bit to try to use the height to some advantage.

"Listen Miller!" called out Bobby as he continued to move towards them. "Surrender right now and we'll take you back to town safe and sound. But you have about five seconds to do it". Bobby counted to three in his mind and then dove in a small ditch that afforded him cover.

The seconds clicked by in what seemed to be an hour. Miller was surprised at how many birds and other animals he could suddenly hear frolicking in the woods, unaware about what was about to happen. He had no intentions of surrendering although he would like to avoid a fight that could get one of his friends hurt.

Before Miller could tighten his hand on the grip of his AR-15 and slip the safety to "fire" the first shots from Bobbie's rifle impacted about 10 yards to his right. Dirt and twigs kicked up as the rounds thumped into the dirt. The contractors did not use subsonic ammunition in the suppressed rifles so Miller could clearly hear the crack of the bullet as it broke the sound barrier. This gave him no indication where the fire was coming from but he already had a general idea.

A hail of bullets from Bobby and the man on his right impacted all around the general area where Miller was hunkered behind the stump. Dirt flew through the air, some of it landing on Miller. He was able to get a little bit of angle and fire off a 5 round burst towards where he heard the voice call out to him.

Dink joined in the fray as did Webb. Webb had the best vantage point, being higher and 15 yards behind and to the left of Miller. He had a good angle on the man firing beneath the fallen tree almost directly in-front of and 50 yards beyond Miller. Unless the man exposed himself Webb didn't have a clear shot but at least he could send rounds that way to keep his head down.

The man who had been to Bobby's left, Jones, when this started finally joined the fray. He had worked his way several yards further up the hill than Bobby but hadn't gotten close enough before he decided to drop and craw the rest of the way. As such he was finally able to put some cover fire in Dink's general area. Bits of wood and bark flew off the trees as rounds impacted the tree trunks.

Miller continued to send short bursts of fire in the direction off to the right of his stump. His mind was racing but very clear. They had to do something or else they'd be pinned down until these guys ran them out of ammo or got in a lucky shot.

"Miller! I doesn't have to end like this" yelled the voice that had called out earlier. "Stop firing, and surrender now".

This only served to get Bobby another burst of shots crashing in around him. He cursed as dirt kicked up into his face.

It was Dink who saved the day. There was a crisp "pop" just before the metallic canister flew through the air, bounced off a tree, and landed about a third of the way to Bobby's men. Another one followed shortly after more to the left of the original one. Within seconds a thick cloud of white smoke poured from the canisters. Webb, seeing what was happening, stopped firing long enough to toss one as far as he could in front of Miller. Again the blanket of smoke began to pour out.

Miller didn't need an invitation, as soon as the smoke grew what he hoped was thick enough to conceal him he scrambled back up the hill. The contractors, quickly realizing what was happening began to fire repeatedly into the smoke cloud while Dink and Webb poured down covering fire.

As the rounds fell in between himself and Bobby, the man to Bobby's left decided to charge into the smoke. It was a strange decision, but sometimes in the heat of the moment people do strange things. It was Dink, who had already retreated 10 yards further up the hill who saw him first. The man had just started to emerge though the smoke. Dink quickly brought his AR-15 to bear and coolly placed a 5 round burst of M855 rounds into the man's chest. The man yelled out as he crashed to the ground and rolled into a heap.

Miller had retreated far enough that he lobbed a couple more smoke grenades into the area. As the thick haze intensified all three of the men were able to continue pulling back until they had broken contact. At this point they made tracks, packs and all, as fast as they could back past the cabin. They put as much distance as they could between them and the other men. As the crack of rifle fire receded into the distance they turned sharply south and followed a small ridge-line that afforded them some cover. Within 10 minutes they were gone.

Back at the scene of the firefight, Bobby's man writhed on the ground from the 3 rounds that had impacted his chest. As soon as he heard Jones yell out he knew what had happened. He instructed the man on his right, the one behind the fallen tree that had first seen Miller, to hold fast. There was no sense charging after them after already sustaining a casualty.

As it became clear their adversaries had eluded them they approached Jones. The other man tried to offer him assistance but it was clear the man was severally injured. Bobby didn't hesitate to inspect the man and instead called base.

"Base, Viper-1, over". He thought briefly about how silly these code names were.

"Go ahead Viper-1". Came the digitized voice.

"Base, made contact with the subject. Need the chopper to return to our area with the infrared unit. Men have broken contact and are heading westerly." Bobby gave them the grid coordinates of his position and awaited confirmation that the chopper would come in to help the search.

"Negative Viper-1. Bird is down with mechanical issues. It returned to the airport One Five ago. Suggest holding out until ground support arrives. Estimated two zero minutes out from your position. Over".

"Goddammit!" yelled Bobby as he kicked a tree. The scream startled the man attending to Jones. As much as he wanted to give chase, he knew what a bad idea it was and by the time the support group arrived it would be to late.

"Bobby, Jones is hurt bad. We have to do something." the man implored his boss. His hands were covered in Jone's blood from his efforts to apply compression bandages to the wound.

Bobby walked over, and without hesitation placed a round directly in Jones's head. The man assisting him recoiled but was still covered in blood and brains.

"There" said Bobby. "I just did something. Fucker cost me catching Miller anyway." With that he turned and starting walking back down the hill through the fading cloud of smoke.

His man sat in stunned silence for a minute before placing a small towel over what was left of Jones's head and beginning the same trek himself.

[The Stig]

Sargent Lowry's men made it to the scene of the firefight 20 minutes after it happened. Bobby and his man spotted Lowry's troops working their way across an open field and evaded them by going southward and then cutting back east. They walked for over and hour and eventually linked up with the men Smythe had sent to reinforce him. Bobby had radioed back waiving off the force after the failed attempt to capture Miller and made arrangements for the meet up.

As Lowry's troops surveyed the scene it, there was no hiding the fact a gun battle had taken place. Spent casings, holes in trees, bark blown off stumps, and the occasional mangled slug. As they sifted through the haze of the dissipating smoke clouds they eventually found Jone's body. It was clear he was a contractor and it was equally clear that some of his wounds were from a foe shooting from some distance, while the shattered shell and stem of his head was a wound inflicted from very close range. From what the Captain had indicated, this Miller character wasn't the sort to execute someone. Maybe they had been wrong about this guy.

"Sarge!" called out one of his troops. "Found several smoke grenade canisters. They seem closer to the line of brass at the bottom of the hill. I'm guessing Miller was coming down the hill, the contractors going up and they collided".

Lowry surveyed the scene. If that assumption was true, it wouldn't make sense for Miller's men to pop smoke, then come down the hill to finish off a wounded contractor, then head back off to evade the rest of the group. They would have thrown the smoke to provide cover to scoot. Something didn't add up.

"Do a perimeter search up to 50 yards out from any sign of activity" he instructed the men.

****

Miller, Dink and Webb didn't stop moving for almost two hours. They had run full steam to break contact and keep moving as fast as they could go for the first twenty to thirty minutes. Slowly they trailed off to a fast pace but there was no stopping or looking back. The sky had begun to fade into darkness as the sun fell behind the ridge-line and they stumbled upon an abandoned mine.

They only stopped because exhaustion took over. They had been moving nearly non-stop since the night before and had nearly been wiped out in a firefight. All three men had been through tough situations before so they knew how to deal with the adrenaline dump and subsequent crash. But the events of the two days were catching up with them.

All three men moved as far back as they could into the tunnel, about 20 yards. There was a slight bend in the tunnel which afforded them some concealment. They were so tired that flashlights were only used to ensure they weren't crashing out on a fireant hill or snake nest. After that was confirmed they sat in the dark stale air of the tunnel.

"Holy shit boys" mumbled Dink. "What the hell was that?"

Webb mumbled something unintelligible at the same time Miller responded. "Beats me. I expected they'd try to apprehend us, maybe fire a shot or two. But a full on firefight? Damn." Miller didn't get taken off guard often, but he had to be honest that the encounter with Bobby took him by surprise.

"I guess we shoulda figured that bird that buzzed us had FLIR or something" Dink chuckled. "It's the only way they coulda tracked us".

"Yea, we gotta step it up. These contractors are sharp and have a hardon for us". Replied Miller. "Let's get some shuteye. Being underground will deal with any more helicopter antics. You want me to take first watch?"

A few seconds passed. "Dink?" he asked aloud.

Dink and Webb were both out like a light. Miller settled back and fully intended to take the first watch. He had just gotten done pontificating about being more alert but within two minutes he was fast asleep.

[The Stig]

"Cap, it was weird". Sargent Lowry offered as he debriefed Captain DeMetrie. "Miller, or one of his men, may have wounded the contractor but I think one of their own finished him off."

Lowry had given his Captain a blow by blow description of the events of the day including the broken down Humvee, the trek through the woods and coming across the scene of the firefight.

"You think Miller or any of his men were injured?" inquired the Captain.

"No sir. Did a full search out to fifty yards from any sign of a trail and never saw a drop of blood"

"Ok, get some shut eye. Gonna be a long day tomorrow. Plan on reinforcing your group and resuming the search tomorrow. We're going to get ahead of those contractors instead of trying to trail them" declared the Captain. "I sorted out a mess with Bravo 4 and 5 this afternoon, but we're going to put our heads together and work something out tomorrow. I may even have Jenkins take a small squad from Lumberton and work his way back towards you. We'll see. I'm open to ideas".

"In the morning, that is" he added.

As Lowry walked away DeMetrie looked at the maps he had already committed to memory. He wasn't sure why it suddenly became so important to find this Miller but now it was critical they found them before the contractors did.

****

Smythe and Bobby were not as understanding.

"I want that sonofabitch dead" declared Bobby.

"All in due time, Bobby. I want the same thing" Smythe replied.

"I don't suppose the choppers fixed?" inquired Bobby.

Smythe just gave him a dirty look. One that told Bobby that not only was the bird down, it was down for a while.

Smythe poured over maps that were almost identical to the ones Captain DeMetrie was pouring over a couple blocks away. "No sense going out in the dark without the bird. We'll waste a lot of time and energy and maybe never find them."

Bobby interjected, "and if we do they'll likely pick us off, NVG or no".

"Agreed. It's clear they are trying to move to Lumberton for some reason. Either they have other friends in the area or they have transport arranged to meet them there" deduced Smythe. Take the men you had today and start at Lumberton in the morning. Work your way back towards the site of your little tiff today. Meet me here at 0400 and we'll work out a search pattern. I doubt they are going straight line and they may well be headed south or north of town itself. Either way, we'll work something out in the morning."

"Copy that boss". said Bobby as he collected his gear.

"Bobby. Full gear tomorrow. No mucking about. You find these guys and you finish them" ordered Smythe.

[The Stig]

In the North things had spiraled out of control. The couple of Generals who were throwing their hat in the ring with Crutchfield had been able to cobble together enough contractors, National Guard Troops and regular Army folks to form a few fighting forces. Their goal was to win a battle of some significance over the regular Army so that others would join them. While committing treason, these Generals actually felt in their core they were defending the integrity of the constitution and protecting the country they loved. But the cold reality was this patina of patriotism disguised their true intent: getting a share of the power pie.

They had been led astray by Crutchfield's manipulations. With the help of the media, he had been successful in painting the disaster in Youngstown as the effort of President Alan to crush a group of innocents who were trying to express their voice. Somehow, he twisted the event to be more like Tienanmen and less like The Gulf of Tonkin. It was a masterful stroke.

His cronies had whipped the North Easterners into a frenzy and played on their latent resentment that the rest of the country had rejected Crutchfield. Always an arrogant lot, many in the North East felt the rest of the country just didn't grasp the nuances of running a country nor were "lowly citizens" able to have a say in how things were ran. Of course, they left out the part about how they were more than "lowly citizens" and who have a say in the direction of the country. All of this fueled the situation.

Crutchfield stayed above the fray and continued to position himself as a peacemaker, all the while pulling the strings behind the scene. But with the advent of the battle it was time to go all in. He had to announce his intentions and make public the fact he was the defacto leader of the Liberal forces.

The first battle between the US Military and Crutchfields forces was in a small town in the middle of Pennsylvania, which has suddenly become a "border state" between the Liberals in the North East and the rest of the country. President Alan still felt he held grasp over the remainder of the country without realizing that Senator Donovan's efforts in the South effectively reduced The Presidents realms to the Midwest for now. As it stood, Pennsylvania stood to see a disproportionate share of carnage in the coming battles.

The battle was fought with all the grace and organization as a drunken prize fighter, roller-skating over marbles with a blindfold on. Both sides had rushed forces to the area piecemeal. Many of the combat ready divisions of the military were on deployment in the Middle East fighting the wars Crutchfield helped start but was too cowardly to finish. Crutchfields forces were a hodgepodge of fighting groups. As such men who had spent their carers in supply were suddenly trust into combat. The small smattering of actual infantry and armor units were woefully undermanned. Truck drivers became infantry men while cooks manned mortars. In short, it was a mess.

There was a wild melee of Abram's tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, some Stryker all wheeled units, the occasional M113 tracked APC and horde of Humvees. Some fielded M2 .50 machine guns, some had TOW anti-tank missiles, some did nothing other than haul troops to the scene of the battle. Neither side could muster many aircraft so the few F16's and Huey Cobra's that were fielded turned out to be ineffective.

Mostly it was a running gun battle where the on-scene commanders did what they could to avoid being over run and take advantage of whatever opportunity was offered to them. Tanks firing SABOT anti-tank rounds across the wide valley that was the battlefield punctuated the small arms, mortars and SAW light machine guns.

When all was said and done, hundreds laid dead or dying. Thousands more were injured and the burnt out hulks of armored vehicles littered the countryside. There was no clear winner in a military sense but Crutchfield came out the political winner. He took the airwaves, announced a clear victory over US forces and was able to prompt an enlistment that bolstered his ranks. Also, it served to buy him time to organize his forces to be more effective.

He realized that his biggest enemy right now was time. If President Alan could react swiftly with a combined and organized military response he would overwhelm Crutchfields meager and scattered forces. But with every hour and day that crept by he could bolster his groups and maneuver himself into a position of strength.

Now that he had gone all in, Crutchfield was more confident than ever of his abilities. The country would soon experience his wrath for not grasping his brilliance.

[The Stig]

As day broke Maggie Bond was cheerful. She didn't have much to be cheerful about but today she'd be able to get off into the woods and do some artwork. It was an escape that helped her forget about her current situation.

She tripped over the beer bottles Wallace had left strewn about the floor. He was, as usual, passed out in his room laying gracefully on top of his bedsheets still wearing last nights clothes. She spent an hour or so cleaning up his mess and straightening up their home. She then began preparations for that night's meal. They lived on a shoestring budget so meals were simple and light and required her to cook from scratch. She prepared a couple of ingredients ahead of time and got the rest of the items she needed organized so she'd be ready to cook later that day.

By late morning she was headed down the path, away from her depressing home and off into the woods she loved. With her art supplies tucked under her arm she briskly walked deeper and deeper into the woods. She was on the way to a small clearing where she and her Mother would go. It was her favorite place to commune with nature and was the perfect spot for her to make her first sketches of that subject.

A short time later she broke into the clearing. In a deep woods that blocked out the sun, the clearing was surprisingly sunny. She felt close to her mother, a woman she didn't have much time to know, but clung to for hope.

"Hello momma" she said aloud as the sun warmed her face. She took up a spot on a felled tree and began sketching. Within minutes she was lost in her artwork.

****

Miller awoke with a start. He had just closed his eyes for a second and now it was obviously much later and sunlight filtered its way back into the tunnel. He quickly awoke his friends and they began hurriedly preparing to move out again. Webb passed around high energy bars for them to eat while they humped.

"Well, I feel refreshed and ready to face the world" Dink said sarcastically.

Within two minutes of waking up they had cautiously left the tunnel and ensured they weren't being followed. They had gotten lucky a second night in a row as Smythe had given up the chase and had to resume it again. And this time he wouldn't have the advantage of a helicopter.

Miller said softly to his men, "let's turn East and make our way towards Lumberton. Once we get near the area we'll cut back north to get to where we want to be. No sense returning to course because that's the likely place they'll start looking. It doesn't take a genius to figure out where we're headed". They had gotten way off course after cutting south to escape the gunfight of the previous day.

They were still very good on time. Webb's brother wasn't scheduled to return for another full day and wouldn't be until the middle of the night then anyway. They had a lot of time to kill. Miller even considered drifting further south as they walked and only make the dash to the landing zone at the last minute. Still, he felt they needed some time to ensure the strip of state highway hadn't been torn up or trees along the edges were too close to prevent a landing.

"Webb, how good of a pilot is your brother?" he asked of his quiet friend.

Webb thought for a minute. "He was landing in dirt fields before he got his solo pilot ticket punched. He'll be fine. I do wonder if he'll head straight back or take a rest break once he lands. They should have landed at the ranch last night. If he refuels and comes back without resting he'll be flying non-stop for 6 days by the time he gets here night after tonight. He's good, but everybody is human."

"Hell" Dink snorted "I can barely function without my afternoon nap".

"Oh, so that was what you were doing all those times you were allegedly running radar out on the highway" shot back Webb. "Napping".

Dink smiled and gave him the middle finger.

"Webb you've gone way out of your way here. Once we get to Wyoming we don't want to be a burden" stated Miller.

The other guys couldn't see it because they were all walking but Webb looked hurt by the comment. The fact was his parents ran a family business and were filthy rich. Webb liked Miller and Dink because they didn't give a hoot about his money and treated him with respect. He and his brother had built this compound in secret so they could surprise and care for their friends in a time like this. At worse, it would be a nice vacation getaway spot. Because they didn't care about his money he was happy to spend some of it for the benefit of all of them.

"Trust me" he said with a smile "you guys are going to like what you see".

The men walked on, spread ten yards apart and staggered from each other. They remained alert with their weapons at the ready, rounds chambered and safeties off. All three men had donned their ACH helmets that had bought surplus. Miller and Dink wore their BCM03 harnesses and warbelts as they preferred to travel light. Webb wore something similar but over-top his SAPPI ceramic armor plates.

They were going to do everything they could to avoid another situation like yesterday

[The Stig]

Miller, Dink and Roberts pressed on into the mid afternoon on the quest to make it to Lumberton. It was a pleasant day with moderate temperatures and only mild humidity. It wasn't like the dead of summer when 90 degree temperatures and 90 percent humidity conspired to make life miserable.

They made good time and rarely stopped more than for a few minutes. All three kept their heads on a swivel as they rapidly but quietly made their way through the woods. Miller knew that the contractors had made a big mistake by not continuing the search last night. They may have been able to catch Miller's group had they kept up the chase.

This was an environment that was not foreign to these men. All three had spent their lives, in their own ways, learning to be a part of the deep woods. As such they knew where and how to step to avoid making undue noise. They knew what patterns of shapes and colors to look for to make out the confusing detail of a forest. All in all, they were in their element.

Miller was equally glad that they didn't hear a chopper today. The contractors would be able to bore in on them pretty quickly by using various electronic scanning devices. If the contractors chose or were forced to use a old fashioned foot search Miller stood a good chance of pulling this caper off.

It seemed like as they crossed each hurdle it became obvious the next one would be higher and this was no different. They had to kill the rest of today and tomorrow without being found. Webb's brother had to make it back without crashing or being shot down. They had to meet the plane at a fixed time and location they still hadn't scouted to ensure it could even be used. Then they had to contact Webb's brother, guide him in, have him land, hop on the plane and get out of there without crashing or being noticed.

And they still had two more days to kill.

He just kept putting one foot in front of the other and trusted that it would all work out. It had to. There was no way Ava was growing up without a father.

****

Maggie had completed several sketches of the trees which she evaluated and was mostly happy with. She sat back and soaked in the warm rays of the sun. Some days she wondered what it would be like if Momma hadn't have died. Her mom did a great job of keeping Wallace in line. In fact, it was the classic story of good woman calming down wild man when they met.

They had met by chance, at an event in the town square and the attraction was immediate. Within two years Wallace had cut his hair, held down a job and saved up a enough money to purchase a modest but attractive engagement ring. Within three they were expecting Maggie. It was the first time in his life he had tired to "play the game by the rules" and everything was going well.

The first six years were the happiest time in his life. He loved Maggie's momma with all his heart and doted on Maggie every chance he got. Then the last big lumber mill in town had financial troubles and experienced waves of layoffs. Wallace survived most of them but the second to last one resulted in him walking into the house with a pink slip in his hand.

Even then he was able to stay focused and on track. But a couple years later when Momma died from cancer it was more than he could stand. He felt as if the rug had been pulled out from underneath him and he reverted back to his old ways. Soon drink and foul moods replaced the happy and warm man that had started to emerge all those years ago.

Over the years Maggie somehow became the focus of her fathers rage. Mostly it was verbal but occasionally it was physical too. She tried to hide the marks with makeup and excuses but sometimes it was harder to hide than others. One time a lady from the YMCA on the coast came to the trailer to offer Maggie some art lessons and discuss a scholarship to an art camp. They had met through a church friend. Wallace was so enraged that he shoved Maggie into the wall and screamed like a raving lunatic until the woman left.

Maggie yearned to be out of their house and away from her father. She had been secretly saving up money from her arts and crafts to fund a bus ticket. She didn't have quiet enough so it'd likely be another year before she was able to make her escape. In the meantime she did what she could to avoid angering Wallace.

Maggie walked deeper into the woods, making her way down to a small stream where she liked to go. The family used to go there on hikes during the happier times. There was a bend in the stream that was surrounded by small hills on either side. They were forty to fifty feet high. The sides of the hills were steep enough that you could walk up them but it required holding on to trees and a lot of effort. But they were not impassable. After the bend was a small straight section of the stream where you could walk the exposed rocks and was even a small beech.

She sat on a big rock and again drifted off into her art work. The thoughts of a family picnic long ago tried to invade her mind but they faded as soon as her pencil danced across her sketch pad.

[The Stig]

Miller, Dink and Webb decided it was time to take a breather, eat and get recharged. There was no sense in running themselves into the ground. Especially when there was a good chance they'd need the energy to evade or fight later on.

They found themselves at the top of a wooded hill overlooking a stream. They took up a small station just below the summit on the side facing the stream. Packs were carefully arranged so they could be picked up in a hurry if need-be. Rifles remained within arms reach. Webb unloosened his boot laces a bit, but didn't take them off. Within a few minutes power bars and small packets of chicken were being consumed. Had they not been running for their lives or all the craziness up North happening it would be an enjoyable hike in the woods.

****

Maggie continued to sketch for going on an hour. She had intended to finish up this sketch and then start making her way back. She'd need to start working on dinner soon or Wallace would be mad. If he was awake yet, that was.

She was using a charcoal pencil to shade in some areas when Wallace's booming voice rang out.

"GIRL" he screamed. It startled her to the point she knocked her pencil case into the creek.

He closed the distance to her quickly. Grabbing her by the arm he yelled "I knew I'd find you here wasting time. The damn cat got into the food you left out and ate my dinner". The spittle flew from his lips as he nearly spat the words out.

"Daddy" Maggie said meekly "I'm sorry. Don't worry, I'll have your dinner ready. I was just...."

He cut her off. "You are coming home now! You are wasting too much time on that crap" referring to her art. Out of spite he grabbed the sketch book out of the terrified girls hands and threw it into the creek. "Now comeon!" he barked out.

"DADDY!" she yelled out heartbroken that her sketchbook was likely ruined. She tired to twist to catch the book in mid-air as it flew by her. At that exact same time Wallace was trying to grab her arm to drag her home. The end result was that he lost his balance on a wet rock, slipped and fell backward into about the only pool of water in 20 feet.

Maggie stood transfixed. She didn't dare utter a peep or move a muscle as she stared at him wide eyed.

Wallace sprung to his feet arms flailing and sputtering as he tried to spit out words.

The first slap landed hard on Maggie's face. It immediately turned red and started to swell. Maggie recoiled as she screamed out "Daddy!". The terror was clear.

As she started backing up he continued to scream obscenities and gibberish at her. His second slap landed nearly on top of the other one resulting in another scream as she turned away to protect herself.

"Girl, I'll teach you not laugh at me again" he uttered as he raised his hand a third time.

"Daddy no!" she yelled out as she turned and pulled her arms inwards in a reflexive action to protect herself.

BANG!

The shot rang out in a defining roar as the sound bounced off the sides of the steep hills.

Dink stood rock still, in a perfect isosceles shooting stance, Glock bearing down on the middle of Wallace's chest. Wallace, wasn't a total idiot and immediately froze.

"Mister" he said calmly "the next round isn't going into the dirt. So there ain't going to be a third slap is there?"

Wallace's face, already red with anger, turned nearly purple. While he was filled with rage he knew there wasn't much he was going to be able to do. He started to turn slightly towards Dink and say something.

"Tut tut. That's a very bad idea" Dink warned him while continuing to focused on his front sight and Wallace's chest.

Wallace really didn't know what to think when two more men came sliding down the hill with rifles. One of them walked between him and Maggie and pulled her out of Wallace's reach.

His eyes narrow like a snakes, face flush with anger, Wallace managed to spit out "you...you're sticking your nose where it don't belong boy".

Dink's eyes narrowed as he calmly stared back at Wallace. "Mister, you've got three seconds to turn and get out of here before I shoot you dead".

Wallace was many things. A drunk. An abuser. A failure. He wasn't a complete idiot. He knew when he'd been had.

"Girl, don't even bother coming home" he tossed out as a parting shot as he slowly backed away to the other side of the stream and then eventually turned to scramble out of sight.

****

Miller and the boys had been camped above the creek site for a few minutes before they even noticed the small girl fifty feet below them. She was sitting on a rock and appeared to be drawing something.

By communication of the eyes they decided to lay low until she moved on.

When Wallace made his appearance Dink couldn't help but react. He had jumped up and made his way down the hill so fast Miller or Webb didn't have time to grab him. They just dove in the deep end of the pool along side their friend.

[The Stig]

Dink picked up Maggie and hugged her as she cried. He went from ice cold to warm and loving in seconds. In a weird way Maggie felt safer in the arms of a stranger than she had in ten years.

Miller didn't know what to think. He backed Dink's play and wanted to kill the guy too when he hit the girl but now they were compromised. And what was this girl going to do? Webb just silently took up a guard position 10 yards up the side of the hill in the event Wallace returned.

Dink could read Miller's mind. "Listen, that was my call. If you two want to move forward as we planned I'll take the girl somewhere safe and then make my own way out of there".

Miller replied "It's not that Dink, I just don't know if we're going to be able to do what we need to do while keeping her safe".

Dink lowered himself to one knee. "Sweetheart, I know this is weird. But you need to be safe. Do you have anywhere we can take you?"

She sniffled, brown hair matted with tears and water from Wallace's hand. "No sir" she said as she trembled.

"Anywhere at all. An aunt's? Someone from church?" Dink pressed on.

She told him about her mother and the situation she was in. It was clear she had nowhere to go.

Miller quickly sized up the situation. "Listen, no matter where we take you we need to get moving and do it right now. He's either going to come back armed or go get help. Either way we don't want to be here and you certainly don't either. Webb, stay on guard in case he decides to come back for more. Come up the hill when I give you the signal. I'll go up and get the gear. Dink, calm her down and start helping her up the hill. We'll figure this one out as we go".

As Miller began scrambling back up the hill Dink continued to comfort the frightened and hurting girl.

"Listen, you don't know us at all. But I'm a Sheriff's deputy and those are good men" he said pointing at his friends and showing her his badge. "You don't want to go home to him right now. Why don't you come with us for a short while until we can figure this out. We can get you to a safer place and then sort out the details. I know this is strange but you are going to have to trust us".

She just looked up at him, sobbing, and nodded.

He had no idea that she trusted him more now than she had any man she had ever met.

Webb thought to himself, "well, this can't possibly go wrong".

[The Stig]

Sargent Jenkins sat in his Humvee in the middle of the main street of Lumberton. In his military career this was the weirdest situation he'd found himself in yet. He'd done two tours of the Middle East and enforcing marshal law on drunken rednecks while racing evil military contractors to find a wrongly accused man took the cake.

At the end of the day he trusted Captain DeMetrie and he was a solider. He'd do what he was ordered to do. He and the Captain had been through a lot. The entire unit had. Deaths, moments of sheer terror, incredible acts of bravery and suicidal zealotry. The Captain had led them well. He was the sort of leader that didn't mind getting his hands dirty and didn't give his men tasks he wasn't willing to do himself. It wasn't uncommon to find the Captain helping out the in motor-pool or burning off latrine dumps if he had some spare time.

And then there was the time where the Captain led a small group of men up a crowded street in Najaf. Some of his men were pinned down in a small store with a wounded solider. There wasn't time to put together a proper relief force. So the Captain grabbed the men who were available and just started moving up the street. Like a scene out of a movie they moved from doorway to house corner, in the middle of a hail of gunfire, and got to the trapped men without taking a scratch.

From there the Captain had organized airstrikes while the additional men he brought helped reinforce the troops and fight off several waves of AK-47 toting insurgents. The wounded man survived, the rest of the troops survived and the Captain was awarded some hardware.

So when the Captain dispatched Jenkins to this godforsaken dump of a town he organized a squad and gladly headed over. He reinforced Baker-2 who had been sent in earlier. The area was so economically depressed that people felt no inhibitions about taunting the soldiers, fluting the curfew and throwing rocks.

They had just about gotten the small town area settled down when the call came down to dispatch a small group to work eastward in search of this Miller. Jenkins dutifully sent men out in the early morning but so far with no results.

Jenkins mind worked back to the advent of nightfall in several hours and wondered what sort of drunken idiocy they'd have to deal with tonight.

****

Miller and his group moved out and continued to push westward. He wanted to get a few more miles towards Lumberton at which point they'd hole up until nighttime. Then he and Webb would go scout out the landing site while Dink talked to the girl and figured out that little problem.

Dink had given Maggie one of his shirts and helped her along through the woods. Obviously she didn't have very good footwear with her so she stumbled along as best she could. But she was small and quiet so not really a burden. Webb had given her one of his seemingly never ending supply of powerbars and she nibbled on it as they walked.

Dink took total responsibility for Maggie and stayed within arms reach of her at all times. He really wasn't sure what he'd do if a firefight broke out but he figured he'd deal with it if the time came.

"Damn boy. You is up a creek now" he thought to himself. He knew he had done the right thing back at the creek but felt awful for putting his friends at risk and adding the burden of this girl. Maybe once they got to a place where they could sit they'd be able to hash out some sort of plan. He'd stay behind to ensure she got to a safe place and then make his way to Wyoming if he had to.

[The Stig]

"Dammit" yelled Bobby as he threw his clipboard against the wall. The metallic noise startling people around him. He was pissed. Furious actually. They had searched all day and come up with nothing. Once they got past the cabin at the top of the hill by the firefight the trail just went cold. They were trying to do a grid search as best they could but had limited manpower and had to cover a huge area.

"Listen people" he shouted "we've been searching since 0800 and haven't found shit. We're going to have to keep doing this the hard way since the bird is busted up. We're going to keep searching all night long if we have to."

The small group of support people and Sheriff's Deputies didn't really know what Bobby wanted them to do. They were stuck in Town Hall. Mostly, they kept their heads down and tried to look busy.

As Bobby stewed, and Smythe was working the phones trying to arrange for another chopper while avoiding Senator Donovan, an aide came running into the room.

"Sir" he announced to get everybody's attention. "Got a call from Lumberton. A man reports seeing three guys with guns and cammo fatigues. Said they kidnapped his daughter at gunpoint. Wasn't sure what direction they were headed but gave me a pretty good idea where he saw them!"

The room came alive with activity as maps were consulted and people sprang to action.

Smythe fired back, "how reliable is this?"

"Guy sounded drunk sir, but generally had his facts straight and didn't sound like he was making it up".

He turned to Bobby. "Ok, Bob, take every man you can from the area. Get with that guy, get the details and then get to work."

Bobby, in turn told the aide, "radio the field units. Tell them to link up in Lumberton. I'll be there in 25".

"Remember Bobby" called out Smythe "take care of this problem".

Bobby didn't even break stride.

****

Jenkins noticed the first truckload of contractors that showed up. They were sitting in the back of the pickup bed like African tribe members in pictures from the never ending wars. "Fucking turds" he thought to himself. Like most of the troops, he had contractors that he held in high regard. Some of them he actually trusted with his life. But these were scum.

When the third pickup pulled in he got on the horn to the Captain.

"Base this is Baker 2 Alpha, over" he called into the radio.

The digitized reply came back immediately. "Go ahead Baker 2 Alpha".

"Tell the Captain there's increased turd activity in town. Two zero men in three trucks, over".

After a minute the reply came back, "Baker 2, Alpha, this is base. Standby". It was obvious they were trying to get the Captain. "Oh great" Jenkins thought. "Poor guys probably in the head".

Before the base responded Jenkins watched as a fourth truck, an SUV showed up with more men. It came screaming down the road, almost side-swiping several cars. It stopped briefly by the lead pickup before taking off again at a high rate of speed. The contractors all quickly jumped into their trucks and were soon following the SUV out of town.

At that same time the radio crackled to life again, "Bravo 2 Alpha, base. Continue to observe. Over".

"Base, I need the Captain, ASAP"

Within seconds the Captains voice came over the radio "Ya, Jenk. What's up". DeMetrie was experienced enough to know Jenkins didn't ask for him so they could discuss cooking recipes.

"Cap, an SUV just came into town like a bat outa hell and three pickup loads of guys all zoomed out after it. Somethings up. Not sure what but something's definitely up" radioed Jenkins.

"Ok Jenk, get your squad together and head out after them. I'll radio back with where to go specifically. Be careful. These turds are trigger happy. Bravo 2 will have to handle the town tonight" instructed the Captain.

"Base, copy that, will move out and standby for further. Bravo 2 Alpha out".

Jenkins barked out a few orders and his men began to mount up to move out. They were good men who could go from busting balls and playing cards to go-status in a second flat.

Back at base Captain DeMetrie called for Sargent Lowry. Hopefully that cute clerk he'd been chatting up could get him the info on where these contractors were headed. Otherwise Jenkins was going to be playing catchup all night.

[The Stig]

"Dammit boy, I'm telling you three guys dressed up like GI Joe kidnapped my daughter" screamed a drunken Wallace Bond. Between the booze and the anger he nearly covered Bobby's man in spit as he yelled.

"I get that" responded the frustrated contractor "but where did it happen and where did those men go?"

"I gotta do your job too?" Wallace continued to yell as he drunkenly careened off contractors and furniture. Even in the short time available to him Wallace had made sure to imbibe before anything else. "Listen, I ain't gonna let you on my land or give you squat. How do I know you won't go telling my business all over town or put me in a database. Go find my daughter and get on with it!" he ordered.

"Sir, you are not giving us much help". The contractor glanced at Bobby clearly signaling he was out of options.

Bobby stood up and walked up to Wallace. He had been laying low and letting his men handle the situation but he'd had enough of the fun and games.

Wallace eyed up Bobby and tried to stare him down as he swayed gently back and forth. "What, you gonna play good cop bad cop? I'm not afraid of you."

Bobby flashed a smile that could have been mistaken as humor to those unaware of Bobby's enthusiasm for inflicting misery on others. For those who knew him, however, that smile and the certain gleam in his eyes often caused them to shudder in fear. Wallace was too stupid to be afraid.

"Your name is Wallace right?"

"Yea, what's it to you?" fired back Wallace.

"Wallace, you want us to find your daughter right?" said Bobby as he stared holes in Wallace's head.

"Would you just get the fuck on with it".

"Wallace, here's what we're going to do. We're reasonable men and we want to help you find your daughter. So I'm giving you two choices. You can either tell us what I want to know or I will have you sent to a detainment center down on the Gulf Coast. You clearly have threatened the security Senator Donovan is trying to build. You will be held there for an indeterminate length of time until it can be decided how badly you've effected the security of this area. With all the problems up north a worthless tub like you could have to wait years before his case rolls around. Then, I will personally make sure that you are assigned to the worst possible facility for incarceration for the remainder of your pitiful life."

Again Wallace was too stupid or worn down by life to be afraid. "You can't do shit you rent-a-cop".

Bobby moved a fraction closer to Wallace. "I can and I will. There's also a really good chance you get lost in a swamp before you even make it to a camp. Bodies never turn up once the gators get to them. Now, you've got three seconds to spit it out".

Wallace tried to stare Bobby down but was fighting a loosing battle. Just as Bobby was counting three Wallace broke and told them where the men had stopped his attack on Maggie and the direction he think they headed.

"Thank you, now was that so hard?" Bobby's smile got even larger and more ominous.

Bobby left his men inside with Wallace and returned to the SUV and the other trucks full of men. One of his lieutenants dutifully followed him ready to put Bobby's directions into motion. Bobby and several of his men consulted a map of the area for a few minutes. After a short bit he circled several places on a map.

Speaking to the squad leaders two of the trucks he said "You two follow my SUV to the grid I've given. It's a mile or two further down their likely path than where they abducted the girl and saves us from having close the distance on foot. Risky move, but if we start where they took the girl we'll never catch them before dark. Gonna be close now as is. Once we get there we'll split into elements and begin sweeping Westward."

Continuing on he turned to his lieutenant. "Once you are done here, take your squad to the other grid I marked and start backtracking towards us. We'll try to catch them in between. Once it gets dark we'll have to stay in close comms, use the night vision and the GPS to avoid crashing into each other. Ok everybody, make it happen. We don't stop until we find them".

As Bobby turned to walk to his SUV, and the other men started piling back into the trucks, his assistant interjected "what did you mean by when we are done here?"

"Oh yes, I had forgotten. Kill him. Make it look like Miller's group added another body to their count. Then burn the place to the ground and destroy whatever you might find that has value".

The assistant scurried off to carry out the orders and Bobby turned to place a call to Smythe to update him. As the call was connected and he began updating Smythe he could hear Wallace screaming as two of his men manhandled him. His yelling was quickly ended by a loud gunshot.

After finishing the conversation with Smythe he sat for a second. Frowning, he trotted back inside the house. He walked over the lifeless corpse as if he was stepping over a footstool.

"Listen Joe" he called out to his assistant. Search the house top to bottom first. Based on the charm of Mr. Go-Getter here the girl might have decided to tag along instead of having been kidnapped. See if you can find something that might tell us where she'd go if she escaped Casa Del Shit".

[The Stig]

The group moved quickly and quietly through the woods for the first hour after the run in with Wallace. By the time the worthless life of Wallace was staining the carpet they had covered a decent amount of ground. Nobody spoke as the dodged low tree branches and stepped over rocks. Even the streetwise Maggie knew the situation was likely a bad one.

Miller knew the full scope of how the advantage had swung back towards their pursuers. Before the afternoon's events they had a significant head-start and had managed to keep the contractors mostly in the dark regarding their direction of travel. Miller had to assume Wallace didn't keep his mouth shut. This meant the contractors could cut a sizable distance off Miller's lead and get a general idea of the direction they were traveling.

They didn't have too many options for direction changes. They couldn't drift too much further north or risk getting to close to town and they certainly weren't going back east. They could turn south but that risked letting the contractors get between them and Lumberton.

Further complicating matters was the addition of Maggie to the picture. So far she hadn't been a problem but she likely couldn't maintain the pace she was on for long given her shoes. He also didn't want her getting caught in the middle of a gun battle. They'd be ok for food but the extra water they'd have to filter to keep her hydrated meant more time spent not moving.

All in all, it was bad.

They decided to take a breather to allow Maggie to get some water and rest. While she sat on a log the three men discussed what to do.

Dink didn't hesitate. "You guys follow the plan. I'll take her South to the coast. She can blend in there. Once I get her squared away I'll get out of dodge and meet you in Wyoming."

Miller and Webb both just stared at him. "No" Miller said "we will all make sure she is taken care of and then get out together. We still have the rest of tonight and all day tomorrow to figure something out".

Dink knew he was fighting a battle he'd never win. "Alright. Maybe she'll want to go to Wyoming?"

Miller was just going to ignore the comment, but Webb piped up.

"Sorry man, but between us three and some gear the plane's going to be close to full. We can try to squeeze her in and live without gear, but it'd be close. Plus we're not going to have much time for weight and balance calculations. You're asking a pilot that has flown nonstop for six days to attempt to coax an over-wight, out of balance plane into the air, off a roadway, at night. Not a solid plan".

"Damn boy" Dink countered. "Aren't you full of good news?"

Miller started to respond, but Maggie interjected. "Um...guys" she started. "There's a small art studio on the back of the civic center in Lumberton. It's at the back of the building and most people don't know about it. I could stay there for a few days and then figure something out from there".

All three men looked at each other. As was often the case, Dink spoke up "I guess we could have just asked you".

Miller then jumped in. "Maggie, we want you to be safe. If we got you to the art studio do you think you could hide without being noticed?"

"Sure!" she said with a smile. Had it been any other situation her smile would have been infectious. "It's partially underground and really only has one hallway that leads to it. You can't see it from the street and it has electricity, water and bathrooms. I used to go there for art lessons. Unless you know the room is there it's hard to know it exists."

Again Dink took responsibility. "Why don't I take her to the room and get her set up. You two go scout out the spot and we can link up tomorrow night?"

"That should work. If we can get to the outskirts of Lumberton and wait for it to get really dark, you can use Webb's night vision toys to get to the building and get Maggie set up. Webb and I will scout out what we need to see and then get back to the building before dawn. Then we can hide out there tomorrow. The contractors will likely think we're staying out in the woods so hiding in the middle of town might slip past them. Tomorrow night we clear out in time for what we need to do".

He stayed purposely vague in an effort to protect Maggie.

They quickly got moving again after the group crafted out their plan.

"I'm so sorry to have been such a problem" offered Maggie.

"Sweetheart, don't you be sorry for a thing" Dink replied. "The only problem we have is Webb's bad jokes".

She smiled inwardly when she didn't get yelled at like normal.

[The Stig]

Bobby's men pushed on through the growing darkness in their efforts to track Miller. They were taking the risk that Miller's men had veered off course but since they were stuck doing an old fashioned hard search the best bet was assuming they were continuing on in the general direction they had been headed. They'd start at the places Bobby chose to marshal and then push forward. By doing this they took out a big part of Miller's lead.

They sectioned the men off into groups of three. All of the groups spread out by fifty yards in a line abreast so in total they covered quite a bit of ground. They still faced a daunting task but were confident they'd flush Miller and his men out eventually.

While they were mostly disreputable and unsavory they were still efficient at their jobs. Even as the late afternoon turned to night they moved forward in near silence as they moved through the woods. Every 10 minutes the section leaders would report in on their progress. Bobby and a small group followed behind the main search line so they could react as needed. One of his assistants tracked their progress on a computerized topographical map of the area.

Should they encounter Miller and his men, the group that found them would engage and attempt to pin them in place. The groups to either side would then move forward and begin shifting to the point of contact. Bobby made sure each of the group leaders had a GPS unit so they could quickly send out a reference point and the support units and Bobby's force could race in.

For some time they moved on as the last bits of daylight faded. One person in the group of three was given night vision goggles so they could assist the group leader. While nowhere near as good as the chopper in searching they did penetrate the darkness and allow some sort vision to take place. All of the men realized that the stakes had been ratcheted upwards when Bobby's final instruction to them was to eliminate Miller completely.

By Bobby's mental calculations they had to be catching up to Miller's group. Between leapfrogging past the abduction site and being slowed down by a sixteen year old girl he figured they couldn't be more than a couple hundred yards away from catching them. He had no compunctions about eliminating all of them, girl and all. He was tired of being outfoxed and the days wasted activities.

Their general course took them forward from the interaction with Wallace to a point south of the town of Lumberton. Bobby's assumption was that if Miller's group made it that far they'd either set up camp in the area or begin cutting northward. He'd likely split his group and begin searching the immediate area and then pushing into Lumberton. If they didn't find them they'd have to start the process of a door to door. That wouldn't be pleasant.

Bobby was growing impatient and pushed his men harder but he also knew searches like this took time and some patience.

It would be worth it to end this whole diversion over the man named Miller once and for all.

****

At that exact moment Smythe was fielding a call from Senator Donovan. Smythe had been dodging the Senator all day and it resulted in a more irritated Donovan than normal.

"Smythe, I pay you a lot of money to make problems go away. Why am I hearing about 20 men searching for one man in one of my counties? I have three states to manage and run, a military situation to figure out and a lot of pissed off people to manage. Why the hell do I keep hearing about dead bodies and this Miller character?" demanded Donovan. He hadn't even greeted Smythe when he answered the phone.

For his part he couldn't figure out how the Senator had been getting his information. He thought that problem had been solved by getting rid of Sheriff Ketch. "Senator, I assure you everything in this county is running smoothly. My group is covering the entire southern half of the state, and with the exception of this incident all appears to be running smoothly".

"Bullshit Smythe. Houses are burned, people are dead and word is starting to spread that perhaps this temporary safety measure of martial law isn't such a good idea" fired back an angry Senator. "I've got most people towing the line right now Smythe and I'll be dammed if your little renegade is going to screw up what I'm doing. The last thing I need is some guy getting people stirred up".

Smythe wasn't easily intimidated. He was used to being the one doing the intimidation. "Sir, again, yes this is a problem but you don't have to worry about it. Miller will not become some sort of hero or stir up trouble much longer". As soon as he said "much" he knew he had made a mistake.

"Much longer!" screamed Donovan into the phone. "Much longer? Listen here Smythe. Your contract isn't written in stone and doesn't have to continue if I say boo. This shouldn't be a problem any longer and I want it gone before I have to step in and do something. You got it?" With that the irate Senator slammed down the phone.

For some odd reason he found it amusing that the Senator was on an old fashioned land line phone.

[The Stig]

"Yes, I understand sir" said Bobby quietly into the phone. "We're right behind them and I expect we'll be discussing the demise of Mr Miller over omelets in the morning"

Smythe paused for a second. "Bobby, you've got to finish this up. The Senator is getting nervous that Miller is going to stir up some sort of resistance, or that our methods are going to incite a complacent people. We can't have that. Take care of Miller, do it quiet and get on with it".

After he hung up the phone Bobby checked in with all his squad leaders. Still no signs of the fugitives.

****

It was fully night and Bobby's men were getting tired. They had been on alert as they moved through the woods for hours and it was starting to wear on them. Men can only stay on edge for so long before fatigue sets in. Some of them had asked for a break but word came back down to keep pushing.

It was the group nearly in the center of the line that started it. They had come upon a two lane road which the center group had just crossed. Some of the groups had crossed the asphalt surface while others hadn't. In their tiredness they had gotten sloppy. One of the men set off a trip flare that was arranged to launch several small flares almost horizontally and in different directions. In near unison the center group fell to the ground and the other groups started moving forward. As the men of the center group fell there were several loud bangs as flash bang grenades were set off adding weird lights and sounds to the confusion.

Within a series of seconds there were several loud gunshots which caused further confusion and started to panic the tired men. Most of them had seen combat and were used to being shot at. But they were tired and edgy and the lights and noises confused them. As they pushed forward several more flares were sent shooting off at weird angles only making the men more jumpy.

As Bobby heard the first flare going off he started demanding reports. He then pushed forward with his small group towards the center of the line. He had just gotten to the other side of the road from the center group when a thunderous explosion shook the area. A huge pecan tree exploded into a thousand different pieces and the massive trunk toppled to the ground. While nobody was harmed by the explosion it served to further confuse the men.

"Sitrep" he called into the radio and he listened one by one as each group reported back noises and lights but no men.

Then suddenly someone tripped something that set several shotgun shells off. The bangs were the final straw and someone opened up with his automatic rifle in the general direction of the noises. That was all it took before suddenly everyone was seeing wanted men and gunshots. Several men went as far as maneuvering to get into better positions before engaging their targets.

The shooting only lasted a minute or so but the damage was done. One man was killed outright by the fire and several were wounded. The man that tripped the shotgun shells would spend the next week picking birdshot out of his thigh and buttocks.

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire" Bobby yelled into the radios. The firing continued and it took several more calls before the men collected themselves and stopped firing.

He immediately started trying to sort out the mess, get aid to the wounded men and figure out how he would push forward. As the men moved around through the night they'd occasionally pop off another flare which only served to keep them on edge.

The search for Miller was effectively stopped in it's tracks.

[The Stig]

Just as Bobby's men were starting the process of trying to sort out what happened so they could push on Jenkin's men emerged from the woods behind them. They had been following the contractors all along and heard the gunfire and seen the eerie light from the flares as they pushed forward. Jenkins men pushed on as they attempted to discover the source of the commotion. Jenkins didn't want to charge headlong into a firefight but he also didn't want Miller to fight off the contractors alone.

As soon as they popped out of the treeline Jenkins realized they had made an error. The contractors were already skittish and tired and now more men were suddenly appearing in the darkness. That these men wore ACH helmets, ACU camouflage and interceptor vests didn't really registrar in the heat of the moment. Within seconds rifle rounds were being exchanged as Jenkins and Bobby both attempted to stop the firing. Within a full on firefight that lasted several minutes a solider and three more contractors were killed. Several more contractors were wounded.

****

Less than a mile away Miller, Dink, Webb and Maggie were nearing the outskirts of Lumberton. They had gotten extremely lucky that their pursuers had stumbled into their trap.

"Webb, I'm so glad you bought all those gadgets for us" Dink said as he patted his friend on the back.

"And you mocked them when the UPS man first showed up" replied back Webb.

Dink chuckled as he taunted his buddy "that's because I didn't know the country would go in the toilet and we'd be on the run from zombie contractors with guns".

Even Miller laughed.

****

The fallout from the firefight between the contractors and military units was swift and severe. Within hours Smythe and DeMetrie had been in a screaming match. Military channels were informed. In no time news of the debacle reached the ears of a less than pleased Senator Donovan. Smythe had received no fewer than three dressdowns by different members of Donovan's staff. Needless to say he was not in the mood when Donovan himself called to chew him out. The screaming tirade lasted a full ten minutes. Smythe wisely put up no resistance and apologized for the issue. Donovan made it clear in that in no uncertain terms that Miller had to be eliminated in the next twenty four hours or Smythe's company would lose their contract. More ominously, they'd also lose their protected status which opened them up to being placed in the same camps as many of the people they'd placed there the past few days.

For his part, DeMetrie was furious but word came down that the matter was "a misunderstanding" and needed to be put behind everybody. DeMetrie, while irate, was a good soldier who bit his tongue with his superiors. That didn't stop him from making sure the contractors would be repaid in kind for the solider they had killed. The dead man was a young solider that had survived the hellhole of Iraq and DeMetrie wasn't going to let his life go in vain because of some slimy military contractors.

"Suggestions gentleman" he asked of Sargent's Jenkins and Lowry.

"We suspect they are in Lumberton right?" asked Lowry. "Why not send a Humvee with a PA blaring an announcement that they will be given protection?"

The Captain vetoed the idea outright. "No, brass has decided we have to play nice with the contractors. If we flagrantly thumb our nose in their face it could set off a shit-storm. Besides, if Miller poked his head up, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those idiots blew it off."

For thirty minutes they brainstormed ideas of how they could reach out to Miller without raising too much attention. They really didn't have many good ideas.

"Ok, go get some rest. Be back here at 0500 and we'll hit things fresh. Be sure the boys are all tucked in tight" instructed the Captain. It was his his compassion for his men that endeared him to so many troops.

The Captain stared at the maps for another hour before finally heading for his bunk. He stopped by the communications section on the way and instructed them to wake him up if they intercepted any strange signals.

"Damn" the Captain thought as he laid on his cot. "and I thought seeing the world and finding adventure was exciting".

[The Stig]

The group made their way into Lumberton. Their luck held out as they were able make their way to the Civic Center by hugging the shadows. Getting into the center was no problem at all given Webbs toys and Dinks practical experience.

After getting into the art center, Miller and Webb took to reorganizing their supplies yet again. They had used a large amount of Webb's toys at the ambush site so they gathered as many remaining ones as they could. Within fifteen minutes they were on their way out of the room. They didn't have much time. They had to get to the landing site and inspect it in the remaining several hours of light. They wouldn't have enough time to get back so they'd have to hide out during the day and Dink would have to link up with them as soon as it got dark tomorrow night. In the meantime, he had to figure out something to do with Maggie.

They couldn't afford any more diversions at this point.

After checking their hand-held radios to make sure they were all on the same frequencies the men all gave each other knowing glances. They knew that time was not on their side and that too many things could go wrong in this phase of their escape. Without having to say it each man voted that they'd give it their best shot and let the chips fall.

Miller did speak up to make sure they avoided using the radios at all costs. Too many ears were listening. With that Dink Robert's two best friends disappeared into the night. It was the first time he had been scared in a long time.

****

As they settled into the art center, Dink used one of Webb's night vision goggles to get the lay of the room and set up some sort of defensive barrier against the door to the hall. Fortunately the art center wasn't in use so they didn't have to worry much about people coming in. But he wanted some sort of barrier in the event some contractors came calling.

He also used some fabric that was conveniently stacked on a table to cover the two small windows that peaked out at ground level. He made sure they were fully covered to block any light from escaping.

While he was working, Maggie wisely stacked some foam and fabric into a corner behind a bookshelf. It would be a tightly cramped area but at least they could lay down and potentially sleep.

After they got settled Dink made sure she ate a power-bar and a small package of chicken. She would need energy for whatever plan they concocted in the remaining hours of the night.

"Your friends know they are going into danger" she said with a wisdom beyond her years.

"Now what would ever make you think that" he responded with a forced laugh.

She thought for a second before replying "Just after leaving where....." she couldn't even say Wallace's name anymore. "where you found me and while you were setting up Webb's gadgets nobody spoke. They acted. Just now they gathered their items out of the packs and left without a lot of talking."

Dink was impressed. "Well, your momma didn't raise a dummy". He could tell by the silence he'd hit a nerve.

"It's ok" she said after noticing his discomfort. "momma died when I was young". She was smart enough to know not to belabor the point. She condensed the entire story into a few sentences.

Dink focused on eating his powerbar. He'd lost his wife and little girl and now this girl had lost her mom and dad. Life was funny sometimes.

"Why are you and your friends leaving" asked Maggie.

"Well sweetheart, some bad men are trying to take over town and we're going to Wyoming to live. Miller's family and Webb's brother are there now. We're just trying to get them home and somewhere safe." Despite her advanced grasp of life he didn't feel the need to get into the details of the situation.

She looked at him in the dim light of the glowstick. "And you, where are you going?" she asked tentatively. She couldn't identify why but she was attached to the only man in her life that had protected her.

"I was going with them I suppose"

She tried to hide the disappointment in her face but even in the darkness Dink could feel it.

"Hey now, lets not forget our homework assignment. What are we going to do with you?" he asked.

Maggie thought for a few minutes but didn't really have anywhere to go. Wallace had successfully cut her off from society. "I....uh..." she stammered. "I really don't know".

They talked for half an hour but ultimately it was clear she had nowhere to go.

"Lets try to get some shuteye. We'll get up early and try to plan from there" Dink suggested.

"Will that leave us enough time to do whatever we decide?" asked the streetwise sixteen year old.

Dink laughed. "Well, then. Do continue mam".

They continued to discuss various options, none of which pleased Dink. He had ripped her out of her home, albeit a horrible one. He felt a responsibility to this girl. She wasn't overly fond of any idea what didn't involve her new found benefactor.

"Why aren't you married?" she finally asked.

"Who me" he chuckled. "What makes you think a woman would want this mess?" he replied in an attempt to divert her.

Maggie pressed on. "really, where you married?"

Dink told her. He told her everything. It was the first time in a long long time he had told the story from start to finish. Of meeting his wife. The birth of their child. All the happy times. How his world revolved around his little girl. The car accident. The drunk driver that got off with just two and a half years in jail. How that man tried to attack Dink and how Dink killed him. His dismissal from the Sheriffs department and the trial. Being acquitted and how he was reinstated with back pay. It was that back pay that funded the bundle of cash that had been hidden in the top of Dink's closet.

He found it ironic that Sheriff Ketch was funding their escape from his county.

Maggie finally settled down against Dink's shoulder and dozed off. Dink couldn't sleep a wink. He just didn't know how he was going to get this girl to safety.

[The Stig]

Miller and Webb made it to the landing site with several hours before daylight. They both utilized night vision goggles to inspect the road and the surrounding areas. Although being a state highway it was rarely used and nearly perfect for what they intended. Over a mile of straight highway and desolate. Like many roads in the south, the highway had a narrow row of pine trees about 25 yards to either side of the highway. Beyond that on the east side was mostly firm, open land. The west side was more wooded but was also firm and dry.

They first walked the road and ensured that there were no major potholes or other unseen obstacles. Then they sketched out a defensive plan and brainstormed ideas. After a while they crafted the best plan they could. If their luck held out there would be a small amount of moonlight and the weather would stay calm and dry. The last thing they needed was the wind to kick up and make for trickier conditions for Webb's brother.

They placed the remaining gadgets of Webb's where they might be most effective. They had also gathered what remaining smoke grenades they had after the firefight at Dink's cabin so they could be employed as needed.

The first rays of daybreak were peering over the horizon as they finished up. They retreated to a more heavily wooded area and hunkered down in a sheltered area. Miller took the first watch.

As Webb dozed Miller prayed that their message got through to their pilot.

****

As day broke all the major players teetered on the edge of exhaustion. Webb's brother had been flying non-stop for nearly six days with only some cat naps and energy drinks to keep him going. Miller and his men had been on the run for four days with limited sleep and food. DeMetrie had his men scattered across a county enforcing martial law and several squads running around looking for one man. Even the contractors were worn out from the constant pressure of searching for Miller.

The morning was a crystal blue sky with wispy clouds high in the sky. It promised to be a mild and brightly sunny day. The picturesque beauty of the morning belied the ominous tension that had built to a crescendo in the search for a man named Miller.

****

"Listen Smythe, here's what I'm going to do. I'm tired of this crap" declared Bobby. "I'm sending out groups of men to systematically cover Lumberton and spread word that there is a cash reward for Miller's head. Here's the search grids and plans". He slid the map across the desk to Smythe.

After studying it for a bit he offered up "Looks good Bob. Make sure to hold a small group back as a reaction force. Don't hesitate to haul people off if they give you too much gruff. Anybody, and I mean anybody, who seems like they are holding back needs brought to your CP at once. We'll give them the work over there and see what sort of information we can pull out of them."

"We sir?" questioned Bobby.

"Yes. I'll be coming over there today and this Miller affair has to be hashed out. There can be no more cock ups Bobby. I've got another 10 men coming in from the coast area to augment what we are trying to do here. They'll be on hand as a support unit should we need to bring in more firepower"

"Wish we had that damn chopper" complained Bobby.

"It's totally shot and getting parts has been a nightmare". Smythe rubbed his bald head to emphasize what a pain it had been for him. "Donovan has transferred all of the other companies birds up north to help patrol the border areas. I've tried to beg, borrow or steal one for days and nobody is giving up their bird for this. Sorry mate but we're going to wrap this up the old fashioned way."

"How much cash are we offering? Don't want to go too high or low" asked Bobby.

Again Smythe ran his hand over his head as he thought. They had a fair amount of money to play with. While they weren't the biggest contracting firm in the country they had been in business for quite some time and had a healthy war chest. "$50,000 for information that leads to capture, $100,000 if you bring me the man."

"Oh" he added "and the information needs to be verified and all that".

"Alright, well I'm going to get the men working the streets at 9:00am. They'll hit all the restaurants, businesses, offices and gas stations along with starting the door to door part. We have a lot of ground to cover and not enough men. So instead of an actual search, we'll use the guise of spreading the news of a reward as a quick search. As we're talking to people we'll either get info we need or someone will tip their hand. Not as effective as I'd like but without added manpower that's the best we have" stated Bobby in a clear effort to get more men.

"Bobby, I wish I could get them, but the other men are deployed along the coast" deferred Smythe. "We can't use the Sheriffs deputies because they are tied up with the start of gun confiscations and keeping the big town under wraps. Besides, this is going to get ugly and I'm not sure we want them mixed up in this."

Bobby had forgotten about the gun confiscations. He wasn't sure that was such a good idea but the word had come down from Donovan and that's what they'd do.

Smythe continued on, "I'll delay the gun thing here in Lumberton by a day or two. Nobody is giving us anything if we're taking away their hunting rifles. As soon as we nab Miller we can start them over here too".

They reviewed some other operational details and conferred about some minor details in other areas of the county. But both mens minds were occupied with Miller situation. They both knew that if they failed their would be a big price to pay from Donovan.

[The Stig]

While the morning dragged on and Smythe's men began canvasing Lumberton the situation up north continued to spiral. Senator Donovan, in a move reminiscent of 1939, assured the President that he could focus his attention solely on the situation in the North East. President Alan was more than happy to accept the gesture so that his southern flank was secured. What he, or anybody in the capital, failed to grasp was that Donovan was buying time to consolidate his own power.

In the short run, Donovan didn't need to worry about Crutchfield because of the geographic separation. He was more than happy to let the President and Crutchfield to beat each others brains out while he sat back and waited to see who would emerge victorious. His move to assure the President of his loyalty secured the time he needed to bring more Generals to his side. That he had several large military bases and groups stationed in his area only increased the resource pool. He knew that convincing Generals to commit treason would be a tough sell which meant a lot of discussions and time spent cajoling them along. Now he had it.


Crutchfield continued to masterfully whip his supporters in the North East into a frenzy. Since they generally had a predisposition to think they should be running the country anyway they were only to glad to repeat his rhetoric. He successfully framed the fight as distasteful but needed surgery to heal what was ailing the country. The liberal arrogance bought into the idea that the country needed radical surgery, and they were the only skilled surgeons lock, stock and barrel. He left nothing to chance and drew in references to the first Revolution to bolster his case.

In what became known as the Battle of Scranton, Crutchfields forces decimated those of the US Army. His Generals fought a masterful battle and clearly routed the Army forces in a manner reminiscent of Bull Run. This time it was SABOT rounds and Hellfire missiles instead of musket and grapeshot but the end result was the same. While Miller's group was rescuing Maggie from Wallace's attack, the Battle of Scranton raged.

As the country awoke, newspapers and websites alike trumpeted the coming of another civil war. There could be no doubt at this point. Liberal elites in the North East pontificated about the countries rejection of Crutchfield's version of change while young men began enlisting. The battle lines were clear: revert to the liberal policies and social engineering of the past thirty years and brought to a fever pitch during Cruthfield's six years or maintain the union as it was known. This would serve to reject liberalism and return the country to a course that more closely mirrored that of the founding fathers.

Much like the first Civil War, the western states stayed out of the fight and waited to see who would emerge victorious. California, Oregon and Washington State attempted to form a "defense pact" but all of the states were so riddled with debt from years of liberal policies they they held no real sway. People who disagreed with the liberal policies finally began fleeing the state in a mass exodus. There was talk of the states closing the border but nobody took the people who despised the military seriously.

While the country unraveled President Alan was at a near loss as how to respond. It seemed that every button he pushed the past few weeks was the wrong one. His staff melted away as closet liberals emerged and fled northward. He still was the President of The United States, but what that meant, or could come to mean, was very much up in the air.

He did fully mobilize what forces he had available in the states and began marshaling them in the Pennsylviana area. Ohio and West Virginia also received sudden deployments of troops in what the President described as a firebreak. His biggest problem was that the battle hardened and mostly loyal troops were deployed all over the middle east. US Soldiers had been there for decades dating back to President G.H.W. Bush and were thrust more deeply into conflict by Crutchfield. He needed these troops and equipment but the massive scale of bringing them home, in a manner that would allow them to fight once they got back, was an undertaking of mind boggling proportions.

The President was told by his Military advisers that he'd have to hold on for six weeks to two months before fighting formations were finally reassembled and ready for the fight at home. Even his aircraft couldn't be yanked out of the desert conflicts. They could easily be in the fight here in a couple of days but he couldn't afford to leave his combat troops overseas exposed.

The Presidents ace in the hole were the troops in Korea. He was willing to abandon the peninsula and the South Korean people in favor of saving his own country. Troops were already loading equipment aboard ships preparing to race back across the ocean to bolster the President's forces. The airforce was already shuttling men via air. They may be without equipment at first, but they'd be bodies that could plug holes. The air and sealift where unlike any other in recorded history. Any ship capable of carrying equipment was either in a Korean harbor or en route.

He'd simply have to make do with the forces at his disposal, the national guard troops that had been called up and the raw enlistments in the short term. While he had more men and material than Crutchfield, he also had a proportionally larger area of the country to defend. It was going to be like a big jigsaw puzzle being completed under a time limit. Except in this case instead of losing bragging rights large numbers of people would lose their lives.

[The Stig]

After all their attempts at clever plans Captain Mike DeMetrie decided to go about things the old fashioned way; he poured boots on the ground into Lumberton. They had picked up no odd radio signals, the trail for Miller seemed to die after the scene of the skirmish with the contractors and the contractors were clearly just as lost as he was. So he went with the age old military axiom of running to the sound of gunfire, or in this case, slimy military contractors.

By early afternoon Lumberton was crawling with contractors and military units. The inhabitants of town watched bemused as each group went about their jobs as if the other didn't exist.

Word also spread of a cash reward for information leading to the capture of some fugitives. Most people didn't want to have any dealings with the contractors, but when large sums of money are tossed around the scum rises to the surface. Little bits of information started filtering in but thus far none of it panned out. Bobby's men also hadn't found anybody that might have been involved with Miller.

****

Maggie and Dink slept much longer than they anticipated. Dink awoke and was instantly alert. His stirring brought Maggie out of her slumber.

"Did you sleep well" she asked.

He grinned. "Like a baby. On the run from evil goons, camped out in an abandoned building with a damsel in distress, life hanging in the balance. What else could we be doing that was this much fun?" he teased in hushed tones.

She giggled and looked at him in amazement. They were on the run, and their life was apparently in danger yet he felt confident enough to be funny and crack jokes. It was clear that Dink and his friends were serious men, capable of things she didn't really want to consider. He certainly didn't flinch from standing up to Wallace back at the creek. But he was was also able to laugh at life and himself. He was different than any other man she had met in her life.

Quietly Dink said, "Ok little lady. Looks like we have to kill a whole boatload of hours. I've got some cards and I think I saw some art magazines over on that desk".

She pretended to weigh the consequences. "Well, I don't know. I guess I'll give the magazines a try first before losing my allowance to the unknown man who claims to be a sheriff's deputy" she teased back.

They both used the small restroom, which while dirty and dank, worked. He broke out some MRE's and pouches of chicken for a brunch while Maggie gathered up the art magazines.

Dink studied the cover of one. "Pottery: A window to the soul. Now that sounds wonderful" he taunted.

"No way. It doesn't say that!" She grabbed for the magazine as he teasingly pulled it away.

"Can't help it that you chose poorly little girl".

She playfully stuck out her tongue at him and giggled. Despite hiding out from men who they presumed meant them great harm, they were actually enjoying their meager lunch and light reading.

****

As morning turned to afternoon to early evening the contractors efforts were producing no results. Smythe ended up questioning a couple of people who might have had involvement with Miller, but their stories were solid enough that he couldn't do much but release them. Bobby was getting more and more angry as the day went on.

Smythe nervously looked at his watch. He had another couple hours before nightfall and his next scheduled call to Donovan. He didn't want to call for the third time that day to report no news.

He stared at the map and said to nobody in particular "we need a blood-sucking leach to rat these people out in the worst way".

****

Miller and Webb had been hidden deep within their hiding spot all day. Neither had moved much other than to eat some powerbars and sip some water. Miller had grown sick of the high calorie snack cakes and longed for the days of Christy's cooking. He had the strange notion to wonder if the contractors were getting tired of whatever food they were eating.

Leaning over towards Webb's ear he whispered, "you sure you got the plan?"

"Yea" came back the reply. "I think we've ironed it out as best as we're going to get it"

Miller went back to his silent waiting. Another few hours and this would either all be over or a new hell would begin.

****

Dink awoke for the second time that day. He must have dozed off sometime after lunch and the dreadful art magazines. This time he awoke with a start and was immediately on guard. He smelled food cooking. It took a second to realize Maggie had used a small hotplate she had found to heat up some MRE's from his pack. The small window was slightly cracked open and the smell permeated the room.

"How long have you been cooking that?" he said sternly.

The smile on her face disappeared. She was obviously proud of herself if she didn't quite grasp the implications of her culinary exercise. She immediately felt dread inside as she awaited the inevitable screaming and beating. "I'm....uh...well....about twenty minutes". Her heart started to race and the smile turned to panic.

"Ok, stop what you are doing right now. That smells fantastic, and I appreciate the gesture, but we have to leave. Right now". Dink sprang to his feet and grabbed up their packs and other supplies. Normally he'd police their hide to obscure the fact that they had been there but there was no time for that.

"Uh....I'm sorry. I didn't mean......" she trailed off.

"Darling, you didn't do anything bad. I'm lucky to have you with me. But if it smells as good outside as it does in here, we're going to have company wanting to join us for dinner". He already had his pack slung and was in the process of scooping up his weapons.

For the first time in her ordeal Dink saw her crack and begin to cry. His heart broke that some man, or men, in her life had let her down so badly that she lived in fear.

"Sweetheart, I meant it. I'm not mad. But we have to go. You didn't do anything bad and you aren't in trouble" he said it with as much love as he could muster and the biggest smile he ever gave. For good measure he added "You aren't in trouble unless you don't make tracks right now".

She stopped crying, took a deep breath, and picked up one of the smaller packs. "Please sir, lead the way!" she said with a small smile.

"You really are wonderful" Dink replied as he carefully opened the door leading to the hallway.

[The Stig]

Smythe and Bobby were holding out home that some lowlife would sell out Miller for the money. They got luck and that lowlifes name was Diana Harrison. She was a meth-head, prostitute and small time hustler.

Even in her drug addled mind she was able to recognize the smell of cooking food coming from the small underground building attached to the back of the civic center. She had been lurking around to either score drugs or a john. She had heard of the reward for information earlier, and despite being human debris, she was streetwise enough to know that this information could be her ticket to $50,000.

Within minutes she was walking to the other side of town, less than 10 blocks, towards the place where the fancy looking men had been set up all day. She knew they were some sort of military contractors from the tricks she'd turned with some of them.

As she stumbled up the stairs into the buildings, some of the contractors noticed her and stopped her from going further. It only took a couple of exchanges before she was being taken to Smythe and Bobby.

"I'm telling you man, I smelled food cooking in the back of the civic center. That building has been closed for weeks while they painted it and people haven't used the room in back for years" she stammered out as she teetered in front of them.

Smythe and Bobby glanced at each other. Cooking smells from a junkie wasn't much to go on, but it was more than they had had all day.

"And nobody is using this building?" Smythe pressed.

"No man, that's what I'm telling you. I take some of my dates in there sometimes and it's been empty until now" she protested.

"Show me where" Bobby ordered.

"Go 10 blocks straight down this road out front man" she chattered. "civic centers right there"

Before she got done talking and returned to picking at the scabs on her arm Bobby was running out of the building.

"Hey man! Where's my money" she demanded.

Smythe poured on the charm. "Why don't we get you something to eat. If your information checks out we'll get you the cash tonight". He had no intentions whatsoever of paying that amount of money to a degenerate like Diana but he'd at least go through the motions for now.

****

Smythe hadn't even escorted the hooker turncoat to a truck to get some food before Bobby and his men were screaming down the road in trucks. Word of this made it back to Sargent Jenkins and the Captain before they even made it to the Civic Center and within minutes they too we starting to converge on the area.

For his part, Dink had gathered up Maggie and made it out of the Civic Center. They were behind some dumpsters just down the street when Bobby's men driving up and crashing to a stop on the front lawn of the civic center. Dink could hear Bobby barking out orders and knew they were in big trouble. It was still light out and would stick out like a sore thumb. He watched the men enter the building, while others moved into a position to surround it.

Dink had been in tough spots before and come out of them. He worked to control his breathing to maintain a good oxygen supply to his brain. They had the good fortune to be behind a dumpster on the side of a restaurant. There was a small sidewalk between the dumpster and the building. It ultimately lead behind the building as it was used for deliveries. The blessing for Dink and Maggie was that the sidewalk quickly went down in elevation as it led to a basement level opening behind the building.

Checking to see that nobody was looking their way, he grabbed Maggie and pulled her along as they took a couple of steps between the dumpster and the start of the walkway. If anybody had been looking their way, they'd be seen and the game would be over. A man with a backpack and a long package wrapped in a jacket along with a young girl stood out.

They moved quickly down the stairs which afforded them cover. Soon they were behind the building which kept them from view of the contractors just a block or two down and across the street. Their luck continued to hold when there was a small cooler at the end of the narrow walkway. It was just tall enough that they could use it to climb out of the sunken walkway but still have the building between them and the Civic Center.

Hoisting her up onto the cooler she gingerly peered over the edge of the walk. Excitedly she whispered "there's a small parking that is fenced in and a couple cars".

Dink soon joined her on the cooler and then helped her up and over the edge. She pulled the jacked wrapped rifle over the edge as he slung up his pack. Soon he hopped over the wall back onto ground level and they made their way to a small sedan.

Maggie watched in amazement as within seconds Dink had the door opened with some small metal shafts that looked like screw drivers. "Don't watch this. I'm a horrible example" he said with a grin.

All the humor then drained from his face. "Now, get in the back seat and lay across the floorboard. There's a blanket in the back seat and I'm going to cover you with it. I'll lay the rifle on top of you under the blanket and the pack on top. If the car comes to a stop you must lay perfectly still and not make a peep." Maggie could tell from his expression that he was deadly serious. She dutifully climbed into the floor in the back and laid still as Dink carefully laid the blanket, rifle and pack on her.

"If you hear a gunshot do your best not to scream" Dink further instructed as he gingerly started the car and backed out of the spot. All those years as a Deputy Sheriff were paying off as he had it running in no time. He eased out of the parking lot and sighed in relief when he realized it opened on a street that kept the restaurant building between them and the civic center.

"Maggie, I'm going to drive normal and not talk to you for a bit. If I suddenly jam on the accelerator don't be scared. Don't worry, we're going to be fine" he called out.

A hushed but confident reply came from the backseat "beats those art magazines huh?"

He smiled as he began driving away from the area. He wanted to put as many blocks between him and the contractors as possible. They'd start a cordon search soon and if they weren't out of there they might get caught up in the net.

Dink drove several blocks as casually as he could. If anybody paid any real attention to him they'd know something was wrong. He was wearing camouflage clothes and a chest rig with rifle ammo which of course screamed "fugitive" to anybody with a lick of sense. So he drove slow, but not too slow. Within a few minutes he was turning off the street onto other side streets. He hoped to make his way out of town via the back streets and avoid the main one like the plague. Fortunately he had patrolled in Lumberton many times so he knew the area.

As he got closer to the edge of town, he failed to notice the Humvee parked off to the side a block away. The black corporal that looked a bit like Cuba Gooding Junior was soon on the radio to base.

[The Stig]

They had torn the place apart and within minutes found the small room at the back. The hotplate was still on and the food had just started to burn. Bobby kicked over a couple of boxes as the contractors found the bedding and magazines in quick succession. It didn't take a genius to figure out someone had been hiding out here.

"Fan out" he said quickly "Go out four blocks in all directions and set up a perimeter." As contractors scurried back to their trucks Bobby was on the radio back to Smythe. "Oh yea, they were here. Food's still cooking so they aren't far. Send the extra men now so we can set up a perimeter and hem them in".

He strode back out to the front steps of the Civic Center. As he stood, hands on hips, he scanned the horizon. Other than a car pulling off a couple of streets over nothing looked out of the ordinary.


****

Smythe, Bobby and their men continued the search for what they thought was Miller's group. As time wore on it became more and more obvious they had eluded the contractors yet again. Bobby's temper was at a boiling point and he was determined that someone, anyone, would pay. Smythe remained cool headed however he felt the very real pressure of Senator Donovan's earlier threat.

As afternoon wore into evening the search widened and increased in intensity. Suddenly people were grabbed off the street and questioned in impromptu interrogations. Homes were searched. Property was trespassed. All in a search for the fugitives that had evaded them for days.

"Smythe, this is getting insane." complained Bobby.

Smythe looked at his second in command with an odd mixture of amusement and disdain. "The only thing insane is that four bumpkins eluded you for this long".

Bobby glared at Smythe.

"Listen Bobby, none of this is going to matter if we don't catch Miller. Donovan is going to yank our ticket and then who knows what the hell will happen to the company. We've got to focus and wrap this up" admonished Smythe.

Bobby collected himself and decided he'd deal with Smythe later.

****

Dink drove as far outside of town as he could get before he ditched the car and started traveling on foot. Every so often he'd stop to consult his map. They walked along side several roads before making their way overland. It had gotten dark, which would slow their progress, but they were only a mile or two from the rendezvous site. They should get there with a little time to spare before Webb's brother arrived. If he arrived.

"So what's going to happen to me" asked Maggie. She dreaded the answer to the question.

Dink walked a bit in silence before answering. He had closed off his heart ever since the accident but somehow this random encounter in the middle of a strange situation had opened a small crack in it. "How do you feel about living in Wyoming with us?"

Her eyes widened. "I....I...think I'd be ok with that".

"You clearly need guidance in your life" he said teasingly. After she got done faking a pout he continued on. "I yanked you out of your home without giving you a vote. I'm sorry to have done that. I jumped the gun and didn't consider what you might want. I was wrong".

Maggie was taken aback. She had never once heard a man in an authority role apologize. It did nothing but make her respect him more.

"But you can't go back home now, I don't reckon. And we don't have enough time to take you anywhere now. So hitch a ride with us. Miller's daughter will love to have a big sister".

Maggie was starting to tear up but she did her best to try to hide them. "Dink, that....I'd love that."

Dink couldn't have been more happy. "Good. Now all you have to do is help Webb's brother fly a plane for two days. Think you are up for that?"

They walked on in the darkness. Dink was glad that he had found a solution so that Maggie would be taken care of. She could be the big sister to Ava and knew that she'd be just fine on whatever amusement park Webb had built for them.

After several hours Dink stopped to consult the map. He was pretty sure they were on course but wanted to make sure. He knelt beside the road and used his flashlight to illuminate the map. After a minute or two he had reoriented himself.

"Come on. Miller and Webb should be just ahead" he encouraged his new companion on.

****

Miller had chosen the stretch of road for a couple of reasons. Primarily, it was perfect to land a light aircraft; long and straight with no hills or big dips. Further, the treeline on either side of the road left just enough room to clear both wingtips and have some safety margin. There'd be plenty of room for the plane to land and then continue on to take off.

There was a small treeline on either side of the road. Neither line was very deep but they lined the road down its length for miles on end. They would provide a small amount of concealment and offered some limited cover should they be compromised. The ground around them was dry which Miller liked so they had maximum flexibility to run should it come to that eventuality.

Kevin Webb was running on less than empty as he'd been flying for six straight days. He'd stopped on occasion to take a brief nap. His twin engine plane had been upgraded to handle dirt airstrips and off-runway activities. It came in handy as he could set down in a small field, tuck the plane into a hide and take a quick nap. It was risky but he had no choice.

Kevin was older than his baby brother and had always looked out for him. He lovingly oversaw the construction of the compound in Wyoming and was glad to be on standby in the unlikely event his brother needed to be hauled across country. While he didn't know Miller all that well he'd met him a few times and held him in high regard. And if his brother vouched for them that was good for him.

The first flight with the girls and dog went mostly uneventfully. The situation up north hadn't deteriorated too badly and he was able to get back to Wyoming without any issue. Ava had behaved herself and other than a distended bladder, Coco did fine too. The trip back was a bit more harrowing. He fueled up at the compound which got him most of the way down to Miller's area. He and Webb had wisely purchased two small farms en route. They had other people manage the farm but always kept a small airstrip and fuel supply on hand. It had come in handy on this adventure.

After his first refueling stop and a quick thirty minute nap he had just gotten airborne when some army helicopters buzzed him and attempted to make contact. He was able to spin a tale about being on a mission of mercy to deliver an organ for transplant and clear out of the area before they could verify their story. He had to dodge some other military aircraft along the way. Despite all of these detours he was actually making pretty good time. Now, however, he was undertaking the hardest part of the mission.

He rubbed his bloodshot and dry eyes as he squinted into the darkness. There were night vision goggles but he would wait to put those on until nearer the landing site. Kevin was no fool. He recognized the dangers of what he was about to attempt. He was exhausted, had slowed reflexes and was going to try to land on a country road, in the dark, and then take off again without stalling the aircraft. There was also a very real chance of people shooting at them. Bullets and airplane engines generally don't mix.

He glanced down at the glass cockpit they had installed several years earlier. That technology had saved him. By reducing his workload he could at least rest a bit on some legs of the flight. There was always an alarm set nearby, however, to ensure he didn't fall into a deep slumber. According to the GPS readout, he was about 30 minutes away.

Things were about to get interesting.

[The Stig]

Dink and Maggie pressed on. There were only a couple hundred yards from the rendezvous point. He didn't want to let onto Maggie, but he had a sixth sense they were being followed for the past several hundred yards. He'd casually stop for a second or two to try to catch the tell tale sounds of men walking in the grass and trees but couldn't catch any.

They were approaching the roadside from the west, through the trees and tall grass. This provided them some cover. After a short while his eyes could make out the more dense trees nearer the road.

He never discussed exactly how they'd link up with Miller so he wasn't sure what sort of reception his friend had in store for him. They had planned out a rendezvous point which was fairly near where the plane was scheduled to roll out after landing. The idea would be they'd hop on board and zoom off to safety without having the maneuver the plane or have it on the ground any longer than need be.

"Listen Maggie. Whatever happens here you need to trust me" Dink said earnestly.

Maggie, not quite catching the seriousness of Dinks tone cheerfully said "no problem".

"No listen" he said to get her attention. "I mean it. Things could happen here that a young lady shouldn't have to see. Whatever happens stay close to me and stay as low to the ground as possible."

Maggie understood that Dink was giving her specific directions for a reason. He continued on. "If those people who were chasing us show up again there might be a gunfight. People can get hurt. It's very important that you do exactly as I say. No matter what I tell you, you must do it." There was no mistaking that he was deadly serious.

"Ok Dink" she replied. "I'll do exactly as you say".

They pressed on into the darkness as the trees thickened nearer the road and the moonlight was blocked out. He got to the spot where they were supposed to link up but there was no signs of Miller. They were nearly on the road, hunkered down in a thicket of sorts. Most of the treeline adjoining the road stood between them and the trees and grass to the west of the road. They could go no further east without crossing the road.

Dink Roberts had no choice. He had to sit and wait on his friend. He didn't know what Miller was up to, but he trusted that it was something good.

****

The first shot rang out and it startled Maggie to the point she yelled out loud. Dink instinctively pulled her to the ground and placed himself nearly over top of her. It only took a few seconds before he had his suppressed AR ready for action. He had wisely removed it from the jacket wrapped around it, and placed it in a ready position against a small fallen tree. They had a moderate amount of cover but in the heat of a gun battle you can never have enough cover.

Within seconds a hail of gunfire crashed down around their position. It seemed that nearly every contractor at Bobby's disposal was starting to form a semi circle around Dink's position. He immediately recognized this and knew that if Miller didn't arrive shortly they wouldn't have to worry about whether Maggie and Ava would get along. They were still around one hundred yards away but were starting to close the distance.

Dink calmly reminded Maggie to stay low. He then proceeded to begin searching for targets in the darkness. As the rounds whizzed by and kicked up small explosions of dirt and bark fragments Dink began firing back with rapid but extremely controlled shots. Since it was very dark it was hard to get hits but within a minute three contractors laid dead by his hand.

As the firing continued and Dink was making his first mag change he overheard the sound of screaming car engines. He glanced to his right just in time to see truck lights coming up the highway. Within seconds a truck load of contractors screeched to a halt around 75 yards away. The men quickly piled out of the tuck, while several took up positions behind the engine block.

Dink placed a quick succession of five shots into the truck in an effort to keep their heads down.

"Dammit Miller! Where the hell are you" he said aloud as his situation was going from bad to worse.

[The Stig]

Bobby was pleased. They had picked up the trail of two of Miller's men thanks to another tip. The man was sloppy and they were able to use night vision equipment and his flashlight while he read a map to trail him. They stayed just out of range. Bobby had made it clear that if any man gave away their positions he'd get an all expenses paid trip to a camp on the coast.

He was confident these two would lead to Miller and the others. They trailed him and waited while he sat for seemingly twenty minutes in one spot. Bobby reasoned that either Miller was near by or would come to rescue his friend. That's why he instructed several of his men to remove the suppressors from their rifles.

Bobby coaxed his men forward but was careful to to rush too far, too fast. He wanted Miller to fall into his trap, not the other way round.

****

As many of Bobby's men closed within fifty yards of Dink and Maggies position, Dink knew they were in deep trouble. They had no direction to run other than across the open road and the enemy was slowly closing in. He had nailed a couple more contractors but there were just too many to have any hope of out shooting them.

Dink was never one to give up. He quickly yelled to Maggie to be ready to run across the road and keep running until Miller found her. Once he gave her the signal he'd run a different direction to draw fire away from her. Chances were almost a certainty that he'd be killed but it was her best chance for survival. For a macabre second he savored the irony of him dying so this strange girl could cross the road, when his wife and daughter died on a similar road at the hands of a stranger. Life was cruel.

"Whatever you do, stay low and keep running. Don't stop" he called out.

He was just about to give the signal to the terrified girl when a string of mighty explosions ripped though the woods. Several large trees were felled, one nearly crushing a contractor. At the same time the last of Webb's flares and other toys when off with a whooshing roar and dancing light show. Flares shot off and bounced in all sorts of directions. Like the previous ambush the lights served to distract the contractors.

As the contractors hesitated Webb and Miller began pouring rapid, accurate shots into the contractors. Their night vision goggles leveled the playing field. While the contractors had some, not every man had them. Within a few seconds four more contractors laid dead or dying. The body count was starting to rack up and the advance of the contractors was stopped.

It was also equally clear that while Miller's group would take a lot of contractors with them, a war of attrition was not going to turn out favorably for them. Miller's men, however, were not ones to give up lightly.

Back at Dink's hide he yanked Maggie back down and continued the fight. He racked up another kill but was starting to get low on ammo. He only had three more mags left on his harness. He had several more in his pack but he'd have to relinquish control of the battlefield for seconds while he reached over to get them. In a gunfight seconds can be the difference between life and death.

If nothing changed, Miller's group would be overrun.

****

Bobby could taste the blood in the water. He'd been in similar situations before and had the fighters instinct to go for the kill. Watching other men hesitate at crucial moments in battles taught him to show no mercy and not let up until the end.

He maneuvered his units in small groups. Their advance had stalled out at fifty yards from Dink's position but they still had a numerical superiority. Also, another truckload of contractors was mere minutes away. This was the last of the reserve force but by throwing them into the fight it should be just enough to tip the scales in his favor.

Bobby was just about to yell out his next commands when suddenly a hail of gunfire erupted to his left. The three contractors that jumped out of the pickup earlier simply ceased to exist after the barrage of bullets tore through them. Two of the other truck mounted contractors attempted to withdraw across the road and were summarily picked off by a combination of fire from Miller and the other men.

Diving to the ground Bobby had to control his panicked mind. Who the hell was shooting at them?

****

The who was Sargent Jenkins and his men.

What Bobby didn't know was that after being spotted driving by the corporal in town, Captain DeMetrie had intercepted Dink and Maggie. Making Dink as one of the men on the run had been easy. Between Dink, the Captain and his Sargents they crafted the plan where Dink would lead them into a what seemed like an easy ambush. While the contractors followed Dink, DeMetrie's men followed the contractors. Dink's frequent map consultations with his flashlight were merely to ensure the contractors had an easy time following him. It was a risky plan that could have gone wrong in a hundred different ways. But it was their best bet, and provided the Captain the pretext he needed to engage the contractors head on.

Miller and Webb just so happened to have set a little trap of their own by allowing the contractors to think Dink and Maggie were just sitting all alone. This drew them in closer to where the last of Webb's toys could be used to maximum effect.

As Jenkin's men pressed forward more contractors fell before them. While the contractors were proficient, the military men were honed by combat and had the advantages of squad tactics, night vision goggles, helmets and body armor.

Soon two humvees came tearing up the road, one crashing headlong into the contractors pickup to fully disable it. The other drove nearly to Dinks position before stopping. The contractors attempted to shoot it but quickly realized it had been armored so rounds bounced off it like peanuts hitting a brick wall. The humvee that totaled the road bound pickup soon opened up with it's turret mounted fifty caliber machine gun. The M2 machine gun made it's distinctive chunk chunk chunk chunk sound as heavy rounds tore through underbrush, trees and contractors.

[The Stig]

Bobby knew his cause was lost but didn't want to give up the fight. He pulled several of the men near him along as he began maneuvering against the army troops that had flanked him on the left. He effectively abandoned the men further ahead as he shifted all his attention to the army troops.

As rounds whizzed around him and hit the ground with their distinctive thud sounds he began getting a better angle on his enemy. Seeing a trooper slightly exposed as he crouched behind a tree Bobby shot a four round burst at the man. He psychotically laughed as the army trooper slumped to the ground.

After a few minutes and a few more exchanges he decided that falling back might be the better course of action. What he didn't realize was that most of his men up front were quickly wiped out by a combination of DeMetrie's troops and Miller and his men. Soon the army troops were flanking his right while pressing forward in his face.

At this moment he made the worst choice of his life. Standing up unexpectedly, he tried to pivot to run to the rear and gain distance over his enemy. As he rose a round neatly crashed into the back of his neck and skull. The effect was instantaneous and his body crashed to the ground as his central nervous system turned off in a nano-second. He simply crumpled into a heap.

Nobody would ever know which rifle shot the round that killed Bobby. It didn't really matter. In a few hours the coyotes would be hauling his carcass off for dinner like any other roadkill.

With that the firefight at the roadside was effectively over. Bobby's force had faced their Little Bighorn and fared no better than General Custer.


****

For the first time John Miller and Captain Mike DeMetrie stood face to face.

"Thought I'd never find you" declared the Captain as the men gathered themselves up after the intense firefight.

"Well" thought Miller "I didn't really know you were looking for us".

The Captain issued orders for the men to collect themselves up, sweep the area for any lurking contractors and prepare to return back to town.

Dink couldn't resist himself and had to tease his old pals. "Listen boys, I appreciate you letting me sit around and play the hero and all, but a little support would have been nice".

The Captain interjected. "Those contractors aren't going to be happy that we tore up their men. My guess is they are going to come looking for some payback. Do you guys need a lift out of here?"

Miller looked at the Captain for a brief second before Dink interjected. "Miller, I explained the entire situation and between what Jason Klepper and I told him he's satisfied that we are in the clear."

Miller look relieved. "Well Sir, we have some air transport that should be within range any minute now. In fact, this is where we had planned to rendezvous. Figured this was as good as airstrip as any."

Sargent Jenkins reported in. "one dead, three wounded sir"

The Captain looked heart broken. He'd dealt with casualties before but it was never pleasant. "Who?" he asked gingerly.

"Rose, sir" Jenkins said with a pain in his face.

Rose had been with the unit for a long time. He'd survived all sort of scrapes in various hellholes around the world. To have his end be this way seemed like a slap in the face.

"Ok Sargent. Have the men load him in the Humvee. Make preperations to get the wounded cared for and transported back to town. The rest of the men go back to Lumberton. Once you Lumberton squared away. bring your group back to the CP in the event the rest of the contractors want to get a little pissy". As always, Jenkins smartly turned and began carrying out his Captains orders.

"Ok Mr. Miller. How can we help you?" asked the Captain.

While Dink tended to a clearly terrified Maggie, Webb and Miller used the captains radios to contact Webb's brother. Normally they'd have used their own hand-helds but the Captain insisted on using theirs so the transmissions were more secure.

One of the humvees took the dead and several wounded soldiers back to the command post at the high school. The captain place another wounded man in his and prepared to leave also. Jenkins and all the other soldiers policed the scene of the battle and gathered whatever information they felt was important. Within ten minutes the Captain was preparing to leave.

"Captain" said Miller "what the hell is going on up North?"

"Mr. Miller, we are in the opening stages of the Second Civil War. I'm not joking. Forces in the North East are at war with President Alan. From what I gathered, several states in the south formed a defense alliance with Senator Donovan at the head. Basically, we're in the opening stages of a shitstorm."

"What are you going to do Captain?" asked Miller. His implication was clear. DeMetrie seemed like a good man and not one to throw his lot in with evil men.

"Honestly Mr. Miller. I don't know. I'm a solider. It's all I know. But lately I've had a harder time following orders."

DeMetrie gave him a thirty second overview of Senator Donovan's actions and how he had manipulated the situation in the North for his own personal gains. Even just the overview made Miller's blood boil.

"Ok Miller. You and your men stay safe. Jenkins will see you off. I need to get back to the command post because I'm sure this will party will make all sorts of headlines. Good luck". The two men shook hands. In a different time and a different place, they might have become good friends.

"Thank you Sir" was all Miller needed to say.

[The Stig]

As Kevin Webb was preparing to land his aircraft he saw the second of two humvee's pulling out of the area where he was to pick up his brother. He'd already spoken with his brother and was aware of why the humvee's were there.

He could feel the exhaustion in his legs and arms as he worked the rudder pedals and yoke. He could make out the IR markers the soldiers had laid out for him as a reference aid. Suddenly having the right friends made life a lot easier.

Being careful to keep his airspeed up he carefully lowered his flaps and landing gear. As a precaution he kept his landing light off but would use it at the last second just in case. Dipping the nose of his aircraft he started his turn to final landing. If all went well he'd be on the ground in a minute.

****

Miller, Dink, Webb, Maggie, Jenkins and a couple of men stood off to the east side of the road watching the inky shape of Webb's aircraft as it lined up with the roadway. Like observers at the local airport they watched as the shape got lower and lower relative to the horizon. Even without the fear of contractors shooting him out of the sky, the landing was going to be somewhat tricky.

"Twenty bucks says he stops the plane within five feet of where I'm standing" declared Dink.

Jenkins turned "Double or nothing says he has a hot stewardess on board"

He hadn't even finished making his quip when rifle fire from the trees further down the road erupted.

****

The last truck load of contractors, the ones Bobby was counting on to rush Miller's men had arrived. They wisely chosen to enter the area quietly. They also approached the scene from the opposite direction. With the distraction of cleaning up from the firefight and coordinating with Webb they were easily able to sneak in closely to Miller's position.

Jenkins crumpled to the ground as a round impacted him. Sometimes life is cruel. The round hit him in the side just between two plates of armor. Had the round been a centimeter left or right it would have left him with a terrible bruise and a story. Within a faction of a second the blood had pooled in his chest cavity and the cold grip of death started to come over him. The man had survived countless firefights and ambushes in Iraq only to die nearly alone on a roadway at the hands of dishonorable men. He attempted to move his legs but nothing happened.

Meanwhile Dink forcefully pulled Maggie into a ditch to the side of the road while Webb took whatever cover he could find to begin to return fire. Miller and a couple of soldiers pulled Jenkins into the modicum of cover the ditch and trees provided. One of the men started tending to his wound but everybody, Jenkins included, knew how the story ended.

As the solders hurriedly attempted to care for him, and blood seeped onto their clothing and the ground Jenkins locked eyes with Miller. "Get those fuckers. Help the Captain but get these fuckers". He coughed several times spraying small amounts of blood over his chin. His men yelled at him to hang on and fight but this was a battle Sargent Jenkins wouldn't win.

****

Up in the air Webb's brother was busy fighting a battle of his own. He was monitoring his sink rate to ensure he didn't pancake into the road when tracers and rife fire erupted ahead of him. Practicing missed approach procedures modified by a strong desire for self-preservation he rammed the throttles forward to their stops and firmly began raising the nose. As the plane clawed into the air he raised the landing gear fully and flaps to their takeoff position to minimize drag.

He would have liked to perform some fancy evasive maneuver but he was already too low, it was too dark and he was too tired. In a snap decision he decided to climb out straight ahead over the heads of the men firing at his friends. He just hoped he could gain enough altitude and airspeed to prevent them from shooting his plane full of holes.

The plane, immaculately cared for and the recipient of several upgrades, responded like a champion racehorse and by the time he was climbing over the head of the contractors he was already at one hundred feet and one hundred and thirty knots. Although a couple of contractors tried, not a single round impacted the plane.

After he had gotten high enough to preform maneuvers he rolled to the east and began to head out to circle and figure out what to do next.

[The Stig]

Back on the ground the firefight raged. DeMetries men had regained their composure and were beginning to press home the fight. But the contractors were not giving up ground. They knew enough to not engage the troops as close quarters as they'd be torn to pieces. But by hanging back they could pour fire in their positions and maintain moderate cover.

Webb and Miller returned fire as best they could with their low ammunition situation. Dink fired off a few rounds but was soon down to his last magazine. His pack had fallen in the middle of the road. It might as well have been on mars.

Maggie, already exhausted from the escape from Wallace, being on the run and the previous firefight did her best to bore into the ground and get as low as physics would allow.

"Take the girl through those trees" Miller yelled at Dink while pointing off to the east.

Dink just looked at his friend.

"Do it" Miller yelled over the noise of the gunfight. "We'll cover you as best we can. Get on the other side of those trees and out of the line of fire". Dink had known Miller long enough to know he wouldn't change his friends mind.

"Webb" Miller continued the directions. "Tell your brother to set it down in the grass east of the treeline. Have him roll out to your position and then he can take off straight ahead". Webb didn't hesitate and used his hand-held to communicate the plan to his brother. At this point nobody cared if the message was transmitted in the clear.

Miller and the soldiers around him returned coverfire while a couple of soldiers lobbed grenades. After the death of several of their own, they held no remorse for the contractors on the receiving end. Miller shoved Dink who in turned carried Maggie along as he pulled her through the trees with all his might. He covered the twenty yards in what seemed like two big steps thanks to his adrenaline, which was fully pumping.

He found a small depression where he again deposited Maggie. They weren't out of danger but were in a much better position than their previous location.

Miller used the brief respite to instruct the soldiers as to his intentions. He fully intended for Webb's brother to put the plane down in the open field of short grass to the east of the road and it's treeline. He hoped it would provide enough cover that they could takeoff and climb out of the area. He and Webb had checked the field earlier that morning for fence posts or big rocks but found none.

He hoped he hadn't missed any in the pre-dawn darkness.

****

Within a small eternity Kevin's Webb's plane was circling around to land. As he was making his second turn to final that night Webb and Miller both made the mad dash to the relative safety of the other side of the treeline. The soldiers back at the fight were fully focused on destroying this second band of contractors and were only too happy to begin pressing home the fight to cover Miller and Webb.

They all began dropping as much weight as they could. Harnesses, packs, water, radios, night vision goggles, all of it. Anything and everything they could do to lighten the overload situation that adding Maggie to the passenger list would likely create.

Everybody was dropping gear like mad. Everybody except John Miller. Dink looked at his friend and knew something was wrong. "Miller, what are you up to?" he demanded.

Miller looked him dead in the eyes. "Take the girl out of here. She needs a father"

"So does Ava" countered Dink as he figured out exactly what Miller was about to do.

"Yes, and you and Webb will be great Uncles until I get back up there".

Webb just looked at his friend while Dink pressed on. "Listen Miller. The planes on final approach. There's no time to argue this. Get your shit off and get ready to get out of here". A stray bullet sailed close by as if to emphasis Dink's point.

As the planes landing light flipped on to illuminate the landscape, Miller was resolute. "Webb needs to help his brother fly and knows the way back. You need to care for Maggie and help with Ava. Between all of you, Christy and Patsy you will be fine. Besides, someone needs to do something about these contractors and this Donovan character"

Dink was about to tell his friend he was acting foolishly when the sound of the airplanes wheels hitting the ground interrupted the conversation. It was a bouncy landing that almost dislodged the goggles from Kevin's face. The soldiers hearing the plane continued to close the distance with the contractors and pour heavier fire back at them.

The twenty dollar bet would have been Dink's as Kevin expertly rolled the plane out within a few feet of where Miller and the group were standing. Nobody hesitated and soon they were hoisting Maggie into the plane. Webb scrambled aboard next and made his way to the cockpit to assist his near exhausted brother. As Dink climbed into the plane he turned back to his friend, John Miller.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing boy?" he challenged.

Without hesitation, "yea, I'm just trying to imitate you" he shot back.

Dink didn't know what to say. In a second he felt all sorts of emotion. His friend was sacrificing so they'd have a greater chance of making it to safety yet he was doing something very foolish. Instead of saying something sappy, he tossed a small cloth bag into Millers hands.

"Here you go carpetbagger. You'll need it" was all he could muster.

Webb's brother was already moving the throttles forward forcing Miller to duck to avoid being hit by the tailplane. Miller watched as Dink heaved the small door shut. Within seconds the engines were revving at full RPM's and Kevin released the breaks. Even in the darkness Miller could see the plane lurch forward as it gathered speed. A couple of the contractors, who had started on the east side of the road, realized what was happening but couldn't do much as DeMetries men were nearly on top of them.

Webb's plane roared into the air and desperately clawed the air to climb out. Webb wasn't sure the plane was fully off the ground before his brother retracted the gear. Collectively Webb and his brother exhaled a sigh of relief as he cleared a small plot of trees at the edge of the field by fifty feet. As soon as the climb was stabilized Webb took over control of the aircraft and his brother nearly collapsed behind the yoke.

In the back seat Maggie asked "what just happened?" regarding Miller staying behind.

"Sweetheart". Dink opined. "That was either the bravest thing I've ever seen or the dumbest. I'm not sure yet".

In the inky darkness the plane droned on as it began heading north westerly and towards a new future in Wyoming.

[The Stig]

Miller returned to high-school with the soldiers and Jenkins's body. He felt the anguish of the troopers over the loss of a friend and the inner rage that Captain DeMetrie did his best to hide. Losing good men is never easy. Losing good men at the hand of evil men only made the pill more bitter. After doing what he could to help DeMetrie's men he found an empty cot and laid down. Miller got his first good nights sleep in some time. Despite the uncertainty regarding his family he knew there was a higher calling to do his part to ensure the Donovans and Crutchfields of the world didn't jeopardize Ava's future.

Miller awoke late in the morning feeling rested and refreshed. Despite his harrowing adventure he felt a new purpose lay ahead of him.

"So, regretting your decision?" inquired the Captain

Miller thought for a bit before replying. He wished he had more time to warn and prepare Christy. But deep down he knew she'd understand. Providence and circumstance had provided her a support structure at least for now. "No sir, I don't". DeMetrie saw something in Miller's eyes. It was something that told him that Miller had a plan and was ready to enact it.

"Captain" asked Miller "how's this going to play out for you?" There would be repercussions for the firefight with the contractors. Despite being in the military command structure Senator Donovan's reach was long. Finding a home in the rapidly growing camps was not out of the question for the Captain. At the very least he could rest assured his military career was over.

"That's a good question. About as uncertain as yours I suppose".

Silence fell over the room as the men contemplated their futures.

****

The future wasn't so uncertain for Smythe. Shortly after dawn he was yanked screaming from City Hall by contractors from a different company. Despite his best efforts they effectively controlled him as they unceremoniously dumped him in the back of a truck. Donovan had little tolerance for failure. Smythe would soon find himself a guest of a camp somewhere in a less than pleasant part of the bayou. The assets and remaining men in his company, of which there were quite a few, were being absorbed into a competing contractors company. Donovan employed many different companies in an effort to boost his firepower. That he could play them against each other when needed was an added bonus.

****

As the morning wore on the orders came down. DeMetrie's unit was being redeployed elsewhere and he was to report to the state capital for reassignment. Soldiers were scurrying about as they rounded up their gear and prepared to load up and move out. Sargent Lowry, always at the ready, was carrying out various tasks for the Captain along with his normal duties. There was a pall in the air after the death of Jenkins. Losing Rose hurt too but Jenkins was part of the core of the outfit. It was as if some of the life was sucked out of all of them too.

Miller was sitting with his friend Jason Klepper describing the events of the past few days when he noticed the Captain walking through the open area between the high-school and City Hall. Miller excused himself and trotted over to the Captain.

"That didn't take long" he offered.

The Captain, looking a bit forlorn replied, "nope. I thought we might get a day or two but word travels fast" They walked for a bit in silence before the Captain suddenly exclaimed "dammit!" and emphasized it by stomping his boot into the hard ground. "I've given my life to this uniform. I've washed the blood of my men off this uniform. And some crook is going to take it from me? That bozo is going to piss all over it? I don't think so." The Captain was as surprised by the outburst as Miller was. Mike DeMetrie was not one for outbursts.

Miller stopped and addressed the Captain head on. "Sir, have you heard of Francis Marion?"

[The Stig]

Epilogue:

A few days later Miller, DeMetrie, Lowry and a couple of other soldiers, including the one that looked oddly like Cuba Gooding Junior were moving through the bush on their way towards Lumberton. They were loaded down with as much equipment they could steal from the military before they left. They walked on quietly through the woods, taking a circuitous route many miles out of the way to the North of Lumberton.

Miller was lost in the thoughts of his wife, Daughter and friends. He hoped he had chosen wisely and they'd understand. They had used Kleppers radio to transmit a message up to Wyoming but had to turn it off before finding out if it got through. In his gut he knew they were doing the right thing. With the little bit of equipment they could heist and the bag of money Dink had given them, they had a fighting chance at doing what they hoped to do.

As they trudged on hour after hour Miller was startled when his cellphone suddenly made the chirping sound indicating a text message had come in. He'd almost forgotten the cellphone since service had been cut at the start of countrywide meltdown.

Either by chance fluke or divine intervention an SMS text message somehow found it's way through the cell towers and airwaves to his phone.

The Captain looked at Miller quizzically. "Were you expecting a call?"

Miller finally dug out his phone and peered at the message: ALL WELL. C UNDERSTANDS. STAY SAFE. JUST SO YOU KNOW: I STILL THINK YOU CHEATED THE FIRST TIME WE WE SHOT TOGETHER.

Miller laughed out loud as the troops gave an odd glance and continued to push forward.

"Bastard probably expects his money back with interest too".

-------------------

THE END