Beginnings

[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.