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.