The Guardians (7 page)

"Roger that," responded Nate complying with his request. 

They then met up with Shock and Chop, who had just parked behind them on the street and proceeded to the entrance.  The facility was heavily defended with two SAW machine guns set up behind make shift bunkers at ground level, and what appeared to be several marksmen on the roof with scoped M-14's.  Sargent Wilson exchanged some paperwork with the sentry that appeared to be in charge, and then Nate and the others were led inside.

"Shock, you two go and find our supply guys and I'll get Nate here suited up in some of our gear," said Sargent Wilson as they walked across the warehouse floor.  "Follow me and we'll get you some proper threads," he told Nate. 

Nate followed him through a door in the back of the facility, down a dark hallway, and then into a dingy room.  The only light in the room was from the skylights in the ceiling overhead.  "What's your size Hoskins?" asked Sargent Wilson. 

"Large/regular," replied Nate. 

Sargent Wilson dug around in a box for a minute and then tossed him a pair of BDU multi-cam pants and blouse and said, "They ain't new, but they'll work. Hat size?"

"Seven and a half," again replied Nate.

Sargent Wilson tossed him a multi-cam boonie hat and then asked, "Boots?"

"Ten and a half," replied Nate.

Sargent Wilson tossed him pair of desert tan boots and said, "Eleven is the best we can do, wear extra socks.  There is a trash bag full of socks over in the corner.  Find yourself some with some life left in them and get dressed and meet us out in the staging area on the warehouse floor."

Nate said, "Roger that," as Sargent Wilson turned and walked out of the room.  He could not help but think of how crude and to the point these guys were compared to Colonel Tucker and Mike Collins back at Post 19.  I guess these guys, being out in the suck of it all, had been hardened a bit, he thought to himself.  Being former military police, Nate had never experienced combat directly; although he had several friends that had been in sustained combat operations, and he had seen similar traits begin to shown in them.  In retrospect, he could see that he himself had changed a lot over the past year since the collapse.  He had seen and done some dark things in order to survive.  We've all changed a lot I guess, he thought.

He snapped himself back to reality and got dressed.  He folded his old clothes and put them back in the corner of the room out of the way, just in case he came back to the warehouse so that he could retrieve them.  He then backtracked his way down the dark hallway to meet back up with Sargent Wilson and the guys.

"There's our squid!" said Shock from across the warehouse floor.  Shock, Chop, Sargent Wilson, and two other men were standing around a loaded Humvee going over a map.  Sargent Wilson folded the map up and put it into his pocket as Nate approached.

"Hoskins, this is Specialist's Parker and Clarke.  They'll be driving the supply truck positioned between us in the convoy during tonight's run," Sargent Wilson said.

One of the men reached out his hand and said, "John Parker, pleased to meet you."

Nate returned the handshake with a nod and a smile as the other man said, "Howdy, I'm Will Clarke," as he reached out to shake Nate's hand as well.

"OK ladies, now that we all know who we are workin' with, let's go over some ground rules," Sargent Wilson said as he began to go over the standard protocols and procedures for tonight's run.  After he finished he said, "Any questions, comments, additions, or concerns?"

"Can we stop for a beer along the way?" asked Shockly.

"Shut up Shock," Sargent Wilson said dismissing the comment.  "Anyone else?  No?  Good.  Now let's break up and meet back here at nineteen hundred.  Get in a nap if you can, it'll be a long night."

****

Two days after Evan and Jason's last visit with Ollie and Mildred, the two men were once again on their way to the Thomas farm, as they had agreed to accompany Ollie to visit Isaac Murphy.  Griff had volunteered once again to stay back at the Homefront to provide security while Evan and Jason was away.  Although it was his turn to go into rotation for a run off of the property, he felt that since Evan and Jason were both already involved with the situation, it would be best for them to see it through.

As was now routine, Evan and Jason rode their mountain bikes to the Thomas farm and approached with their standard operating procedure of Evan approaching the house from a random direction while Jason provided over-watch with his Remington 700.  They found everything to be secure at the home, and as was always a warm welcome, were ushered into the home with Mildred putting on a fresh pot of coffee. 

As they sat down to enjoy their coffee, Mildred said, "Ollie will be in any minute.  He's in the barn getting the tractor ready so you can all ride on it and leave your bikes behind."  As she pulled up a chair and sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee herself, she looked both men in the eyes and said, "Please take care of my dear Ollie.  He's not what he used to be, but in his head, he is still ten feet tall and bulletproof.  He is my entire world.  I can't live without him.  Please bring him back to me."

Evan reached out and took her hand, looked her in the eye and said, "Ma'am, I promise you we will use every precaution and will fight tooth and nail if it comes to it to make sure we bring him home safe to you.  Just say a prayer or two for our safe return and we will do everything we can on our part.  I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Well, I have faith in you boys," she said welling up with a tear.  "You're like family to us now.  It was very scary and lonely around here over the past year until you two and Griff began coming around to check up on us.  It sure has made a difference in our outlook on the world and our future."

"Ma'am, the pleasure and the honor has been all ours," Jason said.

The back door opened and they heard Ollie's familiar knock.  He walked into the room, hung his hat up on the hook on the wall, and said, "Well boys, our ride is ready."

"So what's our ride?" asked Evan.

"We're gonna take that old Massey Ferguson tractor I've been tinkering on.  I had an old six foot Bush Hog mower deck that was junk.  I pulled the blades, PTO shaft, and everything else that was no longer needed and tossed it.  I tack welded a foot high rail around it, added a sheet of half inch plywood to make it not so rough to sit on and basically made a flat pickup bed out of it.  I'll hook the three point hitch up to it, lift it up off of the ground with the hydraulics and you guys can ride back there in style.  Heck, I can even throw a hay bail on it if you guys want something a little more cushy.  It being a diesel, it just sips fuel putting along like that, and being open cab and you guys being in the open, if we run into trouble we can just bail off of the thing and run.  Most importantly though, I've had that ol' tractor for forty years and Isaac should recognize it from a distance and know it's me.  Maybe that will calm that ill temper you fellers had the pleasure of experiencing," Ollie said as he sat down at the table and joined them.

Evan and Jason just looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Sounds good."

"Well, drink your coffee and let's get a move on.  It'll take a little while to get over there and I've got to find out what's goin on with Isaac or it's gonna drive me nuts."

"Yes Sir," Jason said as he sat his empty coffee cup on the table.  "Thank you Ma'am for the outstanding coffee as usual," he said to Mildred as he stood up from the table.

"Well boys, enjoy it while you can.  We are getting down to our last bit we had stored, and since I didn't hear coffee on your list of barter items, I imagine we will be running out soon," Mildred said.

"Well, stop wasting it on us then," replied Evan.  "We don't want to eat into your stores like that."

"Oh nonsense," she said.  "If you can't be a good host then what's the point of this world anyway?" she said.

"C'mon boys, she'll talk your ear off all day if you let her," Ollie said as he leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"She grabbed him and gave him a big hug and kiss and said, "Now you come back to me you ol' coot.  I can't work these cows alone!"

"Yes Ma'am," he said with a smile.

With that, Ollie, Evan, and Jason all walked out of the house and went around to the barn to get the tractor.  "I see you are wearing the pistol I gave you.  Good!" said Evan pointing at the .45 on Ollie's hip.

"Yea, well, I didn't want to get any lip from you so it's just to shut you up," Ollie said in reply.

Evan just chuckled and said, "Whatever it takes."

"Well boys, climb on," Ollie said as he climbed up on the old red tractor and fired it up, belching diesel smoke into the air.  Evan and Jason hopped on the old Bush Hog and sat down, rifles in hand.  Ollie lifted the old mower deck up off of the ground with the three-point hitch and slipped the tractor into gear.  With a jerk, they were on their way.

Most of the journey went uneventful.  The tractor settled in to a comfortable cruise down the old back roads.  It was a bumpy ride for Evan and Jason with the sloppy linkage of the three-point hitch letting the old mower deck shift side to side with every bump, but it was easier than peddling their bikes. 

The old road had many twists and turns and had tree's and foliage beginning to overtake the pavement.  The road had not been maintained in over a year now, and it was beginning to show.  Add that the lack of vehicle traffic and the kudzu vines that plagued the area were making the road seem narrower by the day.  The road was surrounded by tall hills that constantly kept it in the shadows, limiting visibility for those traveling on the road as well.  It was the perfect road for an ambush from virtually any position, Jason thought to himself.

As they rounded a corner, Ollie slammed on the brakes jarring Evan and Jason against the rear fenders.  They turned around to see Ollie pointing ahead and to the left. 

"What's up?" asked Jason.

"A horse just left the road and entered the woods right there," Ollie whispered as he pointed.

Evan and Jason's first thought was to split up and take cover on each side of the road, but they could not leave Ollie out there on that tractor exposed and alone.  Evan hopped down and walked around alongside Ollie with his VZ at the ready.  Jason took a kneeling position on the Bush Hog deck and scanned the area where Ollie had seen the horse with is scope.  A few moments passed and they neither saw nor heard anything more.

Evan said to Jason, "Cover me.  I'm gonna sneak up there and see what I can see."

"Roger Roger!" replied Jason as he shouldered his Remington. 

Evan crept up the side of the road near the ditch line.  He had to step over and around the vegetation that was taking over the road, slowing his progress.  The only clear path was in the center of the road, and that would leave him too vulnerable and in the open.  As he approached the area where Ollie said he saw the horse, Evan heard a horse snort.  He pulled his VZ up to a high ready position scanning the woods and then heard, "Evan, is that you?"

"Who's askin'?" he replied.

"It's Daryl Moses.  Put that thing away, I'm coming on out," the man said as a large bearded fellow on a brown horse came into view, picking his way through the woods.  "I came around the corner and saw that tractor and took off into the woods until I figured out who it was.  I didn't want to find myself stumbling across any looters or anything all alone."

"You sure walk the walk and talk the talk.  You look like you are straight out of Grizzly Adams or something," Evan said to Daryl commenting on his frontiersman attire.

"Well, there ain't no better camo than the original camo.  The frontiersman of the past didn't need all of those fancy digital camo patters and stuff, they simply wore what nature provided and it works to this day." 

In addition to his buckskin clothing and brown boots, Daryl was wearing an 1875 Remington on his side and had a Winchester model 1886 lever action rifle attached to his saddle in a homemade leather scabbard.

"Are those things real?" Evan asked.

"The guns?" Daryl replied.  "Well, the pistol is a Uberti reproduction of a '75 chambered in .45 Colt.  I wouldn't be able to afford a real one.  The rifle is a true Winchester '86 in .45-70.  It's old like me, but it still thumps hard and puts meat on the table.  What are you fella's up to?  Are you on a supply run?"

"No, not today.  We are headin' up to the Murphy place to try to make contact with him.  The last time Jason and I went up there we were shot at.  This time Ollie is going with us to see if we can get him to talk," Evan replied.

"Oh hell, is that Oliver Thomas?" Daryl said as he squinted to see down the road.  "Well, it is ain't it?  I haven't seen ol' Ollie in quite some time."

Evan waved Jason and Ollie forward and Ollie fired the tractor up and they drove on up to where Daryl and Evan were standing on the side of the road. 

"Good to see you old man!" Daryl said to Ollie with a big smile on his face shining through his beard.

"Same to you mountain man!" said Ollie returning the smile.  "We've all been so holed up since everything went to hell that we've damn near lost touch with everybody around these parts."