The Guardians (30 page)

"Warning?" queried Evan.

"We sat the bodies up in some old lawn chairs in the front yard in plain sight.  Jason then got the idea to leave a message for anyone who comes looking for them or to join in on their party at Linda's.  He put a sign around their necks that said, "We were hiding, but The Guardians found us."

"We went with that theme all day," added Jason.  "At the Mildred's place, we wrote a large warning on the ground with ground marker paint, and then at every other home in the confederacy
, we left a warning for any trespassers about The Guardians.  That's three more of their group since Ollie was killed, five total counting that day.  I'm not sure how many of them there are, but they should start feeling unwelcome in the area pretty soon."

"That was a good idea," said Daryl.  "To make the predator feel like the pray that is.  That may reduce their willingness to get out and about while we get ourselves together to deal with them.  Speaking of which, I brought my toys.  What's the plan?" he asked.

Griff said, "Everyone who volunteered to be in on the first harassment raid is meeting tomorrow at noon at Mildred's farm.  We will hammer out a plan and deal with our friend in the basement then."

"Excellent!" Daryl said.  "Evan
, if you don't mind, I'd like to spend the night in your barn or something tonight.  I'd rather not do any extra traveling with the black powder, and then I'll just go to farm with you in the morning from here," Daryl asked.

"Hell no you ain't sleeping in my barn," Evan said.  "No friend of mine will have to put up with that.  You can put your bed roll down somewhere in the house with the rest of us.  It's crowded, but it's warm and dry."

"You just gave me a flash back of Charlie in Delaware," Jason said with a smile.  "You sounded just like him just now."

"I'll take that as
a compliment," Evan said returning the smile.

****

Chapter 31:  Back on the Road

Back in Mississippi, Lt. Colonel Jackson followed through with his promise and sourced three mountain bikes for Nate, Rachel, and Luke's journey.  He also bent the rules of the Mississippi Guard by allocating a pickup truck to give them a ride to the Mississippi/Alabama state
line.  During the drive, he shared with them what he knew about the state of the country and the world.  He explained to them that most free markets around the world had collapsed in the wake of the downfall of the U.S. financial system.  The global economy that was so touted by some as a good thing, simply meant that the financial house of cards was spread over a much larger part of the world.  China and Russia, and their smaller alliance states seemed to be the only winners.  China and Russia had been strong handed in securing a competitive and secure position, while other nations were distracted by engineered social issues and political agendas disguised as good causes, and simply let their countries slide into a position of weakness that simply could not overcome the downturn felt worldwide.  He explained that his biggest fear would be that China and Russia would eventually begin to call in our debts, and that our current administration, that has proven itself to be either completely inept or complicit, could not be trusted to not simply cash us out in such a situation.

As they neared the state line, in a secluded and remote part of both states, Lt. Colonel Jackson pulled off to the side of the road and said, "This is as far as I can go.  I've broken too many rules and burned too much fuel already getting you this far.  If I crossed over into Alabama and anything happened, my job with the Guard, which is all I have in this world now, would be gone.  We are on Mississippi Highway 70, as soon as you cross the state line into Alabama it becomes Alabama 96.  Make sure you locate that on your map to get your bearings," he said as he stepped out of the truck to help them unload their bags and bikes from the back of the truck.

"Thank you so much for the help," Rachel said.  "You could have simply escorted us off of the airport property when we arrived in Tupelo and been done with us."

"Like I said,"
replied Lt. Colonel Jackson, "Just pay it forward and we are even.  If I keep doing the same, maybe someday God will bless my daughters with the same treatment, so that they can find their way home to me."

"We will.  We promise we will," she said as she gave him a hug.

Nate then shook his hand and said, "Thanks again Sir, your kindness may have made the difference between our success and our failure."

"God bless you Sir," said Luke as he shook his hand.

"Watch out for trouble at all times, it's everywhere these days," Lt. Colonel Jackson said as he climbed back into the truck.  With a wave goodbye, he turned the truck around and began his drive back to Tupelo.

"I hope he makes it back OK," said Rachel. 

"Being in a marked Guard truck will probably help him as people will assume he is armed," replied Luke.

"Was he armed?" asked Nate.

"Come to think of it, I'm not sure," replied Luke.

"He must truly be on a mission from God if he is gonna just drive around these days unarmed," added Nate.  "Well, back to the business at hand," he said changing the subject.  "According to the map, Alabama 96 will take us to Alabama 90.  It's mostly rural green space, which for us is a good thing.  I learned fast during my solo trip from California to Texas that the
fewer people the better.  If not for the bikes I would just want to hike straight across the country through the woods, but that would take forever.  As it stands with the bikes, not accounting for sleeping, eating, resting, and possible hostile threat avoidance, we are looking at a day and a half of solid pedaling to get there.  That means best-case scenario we could do it in two days, but considering the state of things, I think three days, maybe four, are more than likely what we can expect.

"Then we should plan on four days," said Luke.

"Yea, you're probably right," Nate replied.  "So how much food do we have between us?" 

"We have six MRE's for each of us, so if we ate two meals per day we are good for three days before food becomes a problem."

"That's good," Rachel said.  "That gets us most of the way there."

"I guess first things first," said Nate as he knelt down and began to open his pack.  "It's time to put together our toys."  He opened his pack, unwrapped the two AR-15 uppers and lowers, and reassembled them.  He then function checked them both and handed one to Luke.  "I ass
ume you are familiar with an AR?" he asked Luke.

"Yea, I've had to use them a time or two over the past year with the TSG," Luke replied.

"Good," said Nate.  "Now Rachel, are you familiar with handguns at all?" he asked.

"No, sorry,
I've managed to avoid it so far," she said sheepishly.

"Well, it's time to learn," Nate said as he pulled out his Berretta M-9 service pistol with its holster and a double magazine pouch.  "Help her put that on," Nate said to Luke.

They spent the next half hour explaining every detail of the M-9 pistol to Rachel.  Nate had her load it and unload it repeatedly until she felt comfortable with the basic mechanics.  He simulated each type of malfunction that she may get in a gunfight, and showed her the proper way to clear each of them.  He went over basic marksmanship fundamentals as well as basic emergency tactics to help prepare her for potential situations they may face during the trip. 

Once they felt that she was as prepared as she was going to be without actual live fire practice, Nate said, "OK then, here we go, our first leg of the journey with no outside support.  Are you two ready?"

"As ready as ever," said Luke.

"Yes, let's get this over with," added Rachel.

****

Chapter 32:  Guerrilla Warfare

Early the next morning on the Homefront, Evan, Jason and Griff all decided that although Jason was a key component in the tactical abilities of the group, his injuries would put him at a disadvantage if he were to attempt to join in on the first raid on the Muncie property.  With that in mind, he volunteered to stay behind and handle security at home, while Evan and Griff, accompanied by Daryl who had spent the night, traveled to the Thomas Farm to meet up with the other locals for the first wave of attacks.  Their goal was to burn the name The Guardians deep into the minds of everyone at the Muncie property.

Upon arrival at the Thomas Farm, Evan and Griff went to the basement to check on their prisoner.  Just Jason and Griff said, Evan found the conditions to be deplorable, but the was still alive.  "Don't worry, you won't have to put up with this much longer," Evan said to the ma
n as they walked back outside.

In attendance from the Homefront was Evan and Griff.  Evan with his single shot .50 BMG, which made him the sledgehammer of the group.
There would not be much at the Muncie place that could withstand the big fifty for long.  Griff brought along Evan's Egyptian made Maadi AKM that had been fitted with bump fire stock to replicate fully automatic fire.  Griff's job would be suppressing fire.  The sound of a fully automatic AK-47 type rifle would be enough to keep some of the enemy's heads down alone.  Daryl, who accompanied Evan and Griff, brought his Savage long-range precision rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, in addition to his flint bombs.

From the other homesteads, Jimmy Lewis brought along his Winchester Model 70 chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum.  Charlie Blanchard brought along his .308 Winchester chambered Armalite AR-10, and Billy Skidmore brought a bolt action hunting rifle also chambered in .308 Winchester.

When it became clear that all who were going to show up had arrived, Evan stepped up and got everyone's attention.  "Well gentlemen, that makes six of us," he said.  "I would have hoped a few of the others would have showed up today, but for some folks this is a lot to swallow.  What we do here today, we don't do for vengeance, we do for the safety and the futures of our loved ones, and those others out there who would fall victim to this group of rapists, thieves and murderers, should we not act.  Griff here is a former marine, and has a pretty good handle on this sort of thing.  He's been putting together a basic strategy for tonight's hit and run attack.  I'll let him explain it to you, and then we will get down to the business at hand."

Griff stepped forward and had the full attention of everyone there.  He started off by saying, "As of today, we may be good citizens and militiamen at heart, but we will conduct ourselves as guerrilla fighters.  As we have seen all too often in the recent past, you cannot fight an evil force that follows no rules, by following the rules of civilized conflict yourself.  If we want to win this, and secure the safety of our own people without fear of retaliation or reprisal, we have to not only win, but we have to scare the living shit out of any scumbag out there that may have intentions of entering this area for unjust reasons.  Now that we have taken on the name of The Guardians, the composition of that group must remain completely anonymous.  We want The Guardians to remain a nameless, faceless, group of men who will annihilate anyone who dares mess with the families that we protect.  The definition of guerrilla warfare is a group of armed civilians or irregulars that use military tactics, including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit and run tactics, stealth and mobility to fight a larger less mobile force.  That's what we must be.  If we take on these criminals or the ones that follow them face to face, we risk
taking losses to our own, either in battle or in retaliation.  Those losses would destroy the ability of some of our families to be able to provide for themselves.  That to me is completely unacceptable.  It's easy to avoid, if you don't want these sort of tactics employed against you, stay the hell off of our lands with criminal intentions.  Is everyone here on board with this?  If not, nothing will be held against you.  We will still fight to protect your families."

Everyone just stood around and looked at each other for a moment and then Billy said, "I'm in for the long haul."

"Me too," said Charlie.  "We can never let what happened to Isaac and Ollie happen again."

"Hell yea, let's do it!" shouted Jimmy.

"Great, here's the plan as I see it," Griff said as he began to go over in detail the plan for tonight's hit and run attack. 

After discussing everything in detail and ensuring no questions went unanswered, Evan said, "OK guys, let's get a bite to eat and then hit the trail."

There was still some canned goods left in Mildred's pantry, so Evan decided it would be best to fuel up on that, rather than to tap into what everyone had brought along in their packs.  "A man never knows how many days his daypack will have to last him," Evan said.  "Don't start burning those precious resources before you have to."

Evan made the group a poor man's stew by mixing several different types of canned beans and vegetables together with some water,
and adding what spice he could find in the almost bare cupboards.  After they all had their fill, they said a prayer asking for the safety of their families.  They didn't pray for their own victory, as they felt it was not appropriate to ask for success at the expense of another man's life, no matter how retched it may be.