the properties. We’ll be
remembered.
“We should have
a quarantine building with a couple weeks’ supplies at the far edge of the
property, too. If someone lasts 10 days without showing symptoms, they’re
clean. I’m not looking to bring in people, but there may come a time that we
need to, or we may need to quarantine one of ours.”
Rob answered,
“We’ll do those things, but I won’t endanger the mission. It’s too important
and we really don’t have a plan B, or even any kind of real timeline. It could
be two years before we get a vaccine, then we’d need every bit of food we have
for ourselves.
JANUARY 10 th
Jim’s radio
woke him in the early morning hours. Julio’s voice came across, “We have a
single intruder on property. We have a single intruder on the north side.”
Rob’s voice
answered, “Watch’s call.”
“Affirmative.”
Susan woke to
Jim dressing in the dark. He told her, “We have an intruder. The watch is
going to deal with him if need be. Get dressed and stay down.
Jim shouldered
his crossbow, picked up his Beretta CX4 nine millimeter rifle and put his matching
Beretta nine millimeter pistol in its holster on his right hip. He plugged the
ear piece and microphone to the radio and broadcast, “Jim is up and out,” before
stepping out into the night. He heard the click as Susan locked the RV behind
him.
There was the
faint sound of a shot through a silencer, and Julio’s voice whispered in his
ear piece, “The intruder is down.”
Jim answered,
“Roger that. Are we clear?”
Ann and Matt
both answered affirmative. I’d forgotten Matt was on morning watch, Jim
thought, grimacing. He hoped Matt wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger.
By this time,
all of the adults were up, dressed in woodland camouflage, and heavily armed.
They were all at their emergency stations.
Jim put on his
facemask and started up the tractor with the smaller back hoe. He located the
body, dug a six foot hole, and pushed the body into the hole with the bulldozer
blade on the front of the tractor. He pushed all of the blood soaked dirt into
the hole first, then filled in the rest of the grave and leveled the area.
Rob kept
everyone up and watching for the next few hours, telling Jim, “I don’t expect
any more issues right now, but it’s a good chance to practice, and I don’t want
to waste it.”
“It’s not like
anyone is going back to sleep anyway,” said Jim.
“One thing, we
know people are getting hungry about now. That won’t be the last body we bury
out there.”
“There's just
something about killing other Americans that feels very wrong to me.”
Rob looked him
over and said, "Don't worry about it, Jim. It gets a lot easier. And
don't think for a second that anybody slipping into camp armed to the teeth in
the middle of the night is going to hesitate to put a bullet between your
eyes."
"I know, I
know. But I don't have to like it."
JANUARY 17 th
This isn’t
as much fun as it used to be, thought Luke as they progressed from basic
marksmanship to combat shooting and tactics. They were going after people
sized targets with paint balls in the woods, but the instructors were there
shooting at them when they screwed up. Luke took a paint ball in the arm when
he failed to look up when clearing an area. He had yet to hit any of the
instructors. It’s creepy.
Classes with
Uncle Jim were cool, but they were much more serious now. He got bruises from
most the classes. Not that anyone was getting hurt, but some of the stuff sure
did hurt. Uncle Jim talked about how your pain tolerance increases very
quickly. Yeah, right! Good pain, my ass!
The classes
would start with hand to hand, then knives and guns using the same concepts.
He felt like he was training to be a SEAL or something. When he said that, his
dad just laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world and told
remembered.
“We should have
a quarantine building with a couple weeks’ supplies at the far edge of the
property, too. If someone lasts 10 days without showing symptoms, they’re
clean. I’m not looking to bring in people, but there may come a time that we
need to, or we may need to quarantine one of ours.”
Rob answered,
“We’ll do those things, but I won’t endanger the mission. It’s too important
and we really don’t have a plan B, or even any kind of real timeline. It could
be two years before we get a vaccine, then we’d need every bit of food we have
for ourselves.
JANUARY 10 th
Jim’s radio
woke him in the early morning hours. Julio’s voice came across, “We have a
single intruder on property. We have a single intruder on the north side.”
Rob’s voice
answered, “Watch’s call.”
“Affirmative.”
Susan woke to
Jim dressing in the dark. He told her, “We have an intruder. The watch is
going to deal with him if need be. Get dressed and stay down.
Jim shouldered
his crossbow, picked up his Beretta CX4 nine millimeter rifle and put his matching
Beretta nine millimeter pistol in its holster on his right hip. He plugged the
ear piece and microphone to the radio and broadcast, “Jim is up and out,” before
stepping out into the night. He heard the click as Susan locked the RV behind
him.
There was the
faint sound of a shot through a silencer, and Julio’s voice whispered in his
ear piece, “The intruder is down.”
Jim answered,
“Roger that. Are we clear?”
Ann and Matt
both answered affirmative. I’d forgotten Matt was on morning watch, Jim
thought, grimacing. He hoped Matt wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger.
By this time,
all of the adults were up, dressed in woodland camouflage, and heavily armed.
They were all at their emergency stations.
Jim put on his
facemask and started up the tractor with the smaller back hoe. He located the
body, dug a six foot hole, and pushed the body into the hole with the bulldozer
blade on the front of the tractor. He pushed all of the blood soaked dirt into
the hole first, then filled in the rest of the grave and leveled the area.
Rob kept
everyone up and watching for the next few hours, telling Jim, “I don’t expect
any more issues right now, but it’s a good chance to practice, and I don’t want
to waste it.”
“It’s not like
anyone is going back to sleep anyway,” said Jim.
“One thing, we
know people are getting hungry about now. That won’t be the last body we bury
out there.”
“There's just
something about killing other Americans that feels very wrong to me.”
Rob looked him
over and said, "Don't worry about it, Jim. It gets a lot easier. And
don't think for a second that anybody slipping into camp armed to the teeth in
the middle of the night is going to hesitate to put a bullet between your
eyes."
"I know, I
know. But I don't have to like it."
JANUARY 17 th
This isn’t
as much fun as it used to be, thought Luke as they progressed from basic
marksmanship to combat shooting and tactics. They were going after people
sized targets with paint balls in the woods, but the instructors were there
shooting at them when they screwed up. Luke took a paint ball in the arm when
he failed to look up when clearing an area. He had yet to hit any of the
instructors. It’s creepy.
Classes with
Uncle Jim were cool, but they were much more serious now. He got bruises from
most the classes. Not that anyone was getting hurt, but some of the stuff sure
did hurt. Uncle Jim talked about how your pain tolerance increases very
quickly. Yeah, right! Good pain, my ass!
The classes
would start with hand to hand, then knives and guns using the same concepts.
He felt like he was training to be a SEAL or something. When he said that, his
dad just laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world and told
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