The Blue Ridge Resistance (2 page)

Chapter 2: The New Life

Life on the Thomas farm had been bustling with activity as of late. Nate and Lucas were busy making repairs to the home from the deterioration it suffered from its temporary vacancy, in addition to their constant duties tending to the herd of cattle and Mildred’s other farm animals.

Rachel had set up a small medical office in the basement so that an exterior exit could be used to see patients from the nearby homesteads, if need be. Using the basement entrance not only added to patient privacy, but the sick would not have to pass through the main living quarters to see her, reducing the chances of spreading a communicable disease.

With all of the bustling activity, Mildred was happier than she had been in a long time. Ollie’s untimely death had forever altered the course of her life, but now with a new family that she loved dearly, and with young Haley in her care, she felt a renewed sense of purpose. On top of the day-to-day chores involved with running a household via mostly primitive means, Mildred and Judith were getting their things in order to plant their spring vegetable garden. They were excited to be using the opportunity to teach both Haley and Rachel the valuable life skills of growing their own food. Neither of the two had any previous exposure to self-sufficient food production, and Mildred insisted that everyone participate in order to pass those critical skills along to the younger generations.

As the evening drew near, Nate and Luke returned to the house after having spent a long, hard day mending fences and tending to the livestock. As they approached the house, they passed by the garden, where the ladies were hard at work, marking off the plots and planning where each of the vegetables would be planted, when Mildred shouted to them, “Come on over here, boys.”

Nate and Luke altered their course and joined them at the garden as Nate said, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Nate, do you think you boys would be able to plow and disc the garden for us tomorrow?” she asked. “We would like to get our early vegetables in the ground as soon as possible. It seems as if the threat of frost is past us now and turning the soil is all we are waiting on.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nate replied. “Well, after I get back from the meeting at the Murphy place, that is. I would put Luke on it while I’m gone, but he’s never worked as a sod buster before so he needs to do it with me the first time,” Nate said, shooting his brother a crooked smile.

“Oh yes, that’s right,” she replied. “Well, if you could just put that at the top of your to-do list, I would be grateful. What’s that meeting about, anyway?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “Judith got a call from the Homefront about it, and all they said was one of us needed to go, so I volunteered. You’ll be in good hands with Luke while I’m away. If he gets bored, just put him to work doing laundry or something,” Nate said, taking another stab at his brother.

“Ha,” Luke replied sarcastically. “I’ve still got the roof work to do tomorrow, so I won’t get bored. Don’t you worry about that, brother. There probably isn’t really a meeting, anyway; it’s probably just an excuse to get out of work to sneak off and see Peggy for the day,” he said in jest.

Rachel grinned at Luke. She loved the way the two picked at each other. She had noticed a big change in Luke’s behavior, now that he was reunited with his family. Back in Texas, he was all business, only occasionally letting his true emotions shine through. Now that he was back with his mother and brother, he was lighthearted and carefree, taking each day as it came and simply enjoying every minute.

“I wish you were right,” replied Nate. “That’s surely where I would rather be right now.”

Nate’s mother, Judith, just smiled and asked, “So how are things going between the two of you, anyway? You keep too much to yourself, just like your father. I always had to pry something out of him if I wanted to know anything,” she said, beaming with affection.

“It’s all great, Mom,” Nate replied. “I was actually going to ask Mildred if it would be okay if Peggy and Zack came over for a few days each week. They could stay in my room and I’ll take the couch. We need more time together, and little Zack needs more than just an occasional visit from me if we are ever going to get any closer. The poor kid is so distant, it takes the first day for him to warm up to me; at that point, I’m usually leaving to head back over here.”

“Absolutely!” Mildred replied. “This is your home now, too, so treat it as such. Just honor that girl in my house the way God wants, and she can spend all the time here that she needs, day or night.”

Nate smiled at Mildred’s response and said, “Thank you, ma’am, and I will.”

Judith beamed with pride. She had grown to love Peggy as a daughter, even before Nate was in the picture. The thought of her possibly, someday, being her daughter-in-law was a dream come true. How could a world so screwed up work out so perfectly, she often wondered.

Later that day, Mildred took her evening walk up on the hill and sat underneath her and Ollie’s favorite magnolia tree, next to his grave. She had been visiting him there every evening since her return to their farm. As she watched the beautiful Tennessee sunset, she smiled and said aloud, “Ollie, you would be so happy to see how things have worked out. Our home is, once again, full of love and happiness. Little Haley is a godsend to what was my aching heart, and the love that the Hoskins family brings to our home fills it with warmth and happiness. I only wish you were here to feel it with me, but somehow, I know you are. Unless you or God gives me other guidance, I believe I will leave the farm and the care of Haley to the Hoskins family when I finally join you. I can’t think of better hands for it to be in, and I know they will treat it with the love and respect that we always have.”

She sat there for a few more minutes, enjoying the cool spring breeze as it flowed through the hills and said, “Well, my love, it’s getting dark. I will talk to you again tomorrow. I love you.” With a smile on her face, Mildred stood up and walked back down the hill towards her home. She could hear laughter from inside the house as she approached the back porch, and was so happy to once again be living in a world surrounded by love everywhere she looked.

Chapter 3: Meeting of the Minds

Early the next morning, Evan and Jason prepared their daypacks, as had been their routine for each and every outing. Although the relative peace in the area gave them hope that, someday soon, they may be able to stop preparing for the worst at all times, for now, they felt it was still the prudent thing to do. With the reduced threat levels in the area, Jason had been leaving his Remington at home and, like Evan, carried a VZ58 carbine with the stock folded when off the property to cover most situations that may arise. In addition to their VZs and sidearms, they still carried their handheld radios, first aid kits, and flashlights as a minimum level of gear, even though it seemed to merely be extra weight to carry around, lately. After all they had been through, however, they just could not bring themselves to completely lower their guard.

After breakfast, they said their goodbyes, climbed aboard their bikes, and headed out for the Thomas farm to join up with Nate. As the two men rode down the road towards the farm, Jason said, “Man, do you think we are going be riding bikes for the rest of our lives?”

“I would be okay with that,” replied Evan. “So long as we have peace and quiet around here, I can live just fine without gas stations, traffic, and all the other crap that I’ve learned not to miss about our formerly civilized world.”

“Yeah, good point,” Jason replied. “We’re gonna need some more fuel soon, though. Either we find some, or we put together a moonshine still and start cooking up some alcohol to burn. Either way, without gas and diesel, we will be plowing with a donkey in no time and the sheep will have to be our lawn mowers.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Evan replied. “We may have to venture out beyond the local area for supplies, as I doubt they will simply come to us.”

Jason replied with a nod in silence as both men pedaled up the last hill leading to the Thomas farm. As they reached the top, Jason was looking down at the ground while catching his breath, when he noticed some footprints that stood out to him in the dirt covering the road. “Ev…” he said as he stopped his bike and dismounted.

“What is it?” Evan said as he brought his bike to a halt alongside.

“Look at these tracks,” Jason said, pointing at the ground as he knelt to get a closer look. “There are at least five or six different patterns of shoe soles here. There isn’t anyone around here that walks in a group that large down this road. Everyone around here is pretty much on a bike, horse, or tractor when traveling this road.”

“Well, let’s get going,” Evan replied. “The meeting that Daryl has called may have something to do with observed activity in the area.”

“Roger Roger,” Jason replied as he got back on his bike.

As they rode on in to the Thomas farm, they found Nate ready and waiting. He had the Bushmaster AR-15 he recovered from the Muncie gang’s attack on the Homefront last fall, as well as his old, faithful Beretta M9 he retrieved shortly thereafter. Nate was starting to look more like a farm boy than the grizzled road-worn soldier image he wore when he first arrived. His hair was getting shaggy and curled out from underneath his hat, and instead of government-issued camouflage pants, he wore old, brown Carhartt work pants and a green, hooded sweatshirt over a thermal underwear top.

“Good morning, fellas,” he said as Evan and Jason climbed off their bikes.

“Nate, you are starting to look and sound more like a good ol’ Tennessee boy every day,” Evan said with a laugh.

“Well, I’ll take that as a compliment, sir,” replied Nate as he tipped his hat. “I’ve never met people I’ve felt more comfortable with in my life, so I might as well assimilate because, as far as I am concerned, this place is home.”

“Damn straight!” Jason said. “I’m a transplant, myself, and I hear ya on that one.”

“So what’s this meeting about, Ev?” asked Nate.

“You know as much as I do,” he replied. “Daryl didn’t give any specifics over the radio, but that’s to be expected considering COMSEC and all. Are you about ready to go?”

“Yes, sir, I’ve got that old mare Mildred traded the two cows for all saddled up. I figured I would get her out and stretch her legs. I kind of miss workin’ horses from my days on the Peterson farm back in New Mexico. I might have only been there a few months, but that way of life sure sunk its teeth into me.”

“Well, that’s real livin’ so that’s understandable,” Evan replied.

Jason added, “I have a feeling that’s what the average person’s lifestyle is gonna evolve back into in the future if this mess doesn’t get sorted out soon. Once the hordes of the desperate, the looters, and the dependent die off or change, the self-sufficient will be all that’s left.”

Evan nodded and said, “We already get closer to that every day. That’s one of the reasons this government hates the self-sufficient type. Those who are dependent on government are, by their very nature, under the government’s control. We, on the other hand, resist that same control and just want to be left alone. If I were the president, I would prefer a country of self-sufficient citizens. They would be a piece of cake to govern. They would basically take care of themselves and leave me alone. But then again, those who seek such an office are seeking control in the first place, so I guess me, or someone like me, wouldn’t be in such a position to begin with.”

“Well, guys, let’s get going,” Jason said as he threw his leg over his bike. “I’m anxious to see what’s going on.”

“I’ll get saddled up and meet you fellas out on the road,” Nate said as he donned his pack and walked around behind the house to mount his horse.

With that, Evan and Jason peddled their bikes out to the main road. Jason came to a stop to wait on Nate, with Evan stopping alongside. Jason looked at Evan and in a very to-the-point manner he said, “We need horses.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Evan replied. “If things remain the way they are, we may even need to plow with one before long, once all the available liquid fuels dry up.”

“That or find an old turn of the century steam tractor,” Jason said with a chuckle.

“You laugh, but that would actually be a good thing to have. You would never run out of fuel as long as you had water and combustible material,” replied Evan.

They heard the
clip-clop
of Nate’s horse and turned to see him ride up alongside them. Nate pulled back on the reigns, bringing his horse to a stop, and said, “All set?”

Evan put his foot up on his bike’s pedal and said, “Yep, let’s get going.” He pushed forward, getting the journey underway.

~~~~

After an uneventful ride out to the Murphy place, Evan, Jason, and Nate arrived to find that most of the other homestead representatives had already made it. Daryl walked down off the front porch to meet them as they came up the driveway. Daryl, wearing his typical frontiersman attire, reached out and shook Evan and Jason’s hands as Nate dismounted his horse. Daryl then tipped his hat to Nate as he was tying his horse to the railing. “Gentleman, glad you made it. Everyone is here now, so we might as well get started.”

Evan, Jason, and Nate accompanied Daryl to the house, where everyone had gathered in the living room. Daryl had arrived early and opened all of the doors and windows to let the house air out, as it was a bit dusty and damp from being uninhabited for so long.

Daryl stood in front of the group and said, “Thank you all for coming. It’s good to see everyone gathered together; we really need to make sure that happens more often. The reason I called this meeting is that we have been receiving word from over the airwaves, as well as word of mouth from folks down in Del Rio, that things aren’t going so well out there. Many reports are coming in saying that the use of drones in our own skies has been increasing dramatically, and that the intel they collect is being used to develop a containment strategy to begin to put the squeeze on those that have not been living according to the president’s edicts.”

“There is also talk that the UN’s so-called ‘peacekeepers’ have been arriving in large numbers and staging near the major population centers. Some folks have even reported that there have been drone and conventional airstrikes inside our own borders, but none of that has been confirmed. Jack Rouse of the Blue Ridge Militia says he believes that once they have their UN and other forces in place, they will begin to push out into the more rural areas to present an exhibition of force to those who may consider themselves to be living by their own terms. This, of course, will all be in the name of peace, stability, and the safety of the general public, as we’ve seen time and time again throughout history.”

Evan raised his hand, spoke up, and said, “We have noticed that some of the HAM operators we used to get regular updates from have been off the air. If the administration is starting to tighten its grip, that would explain their silence.”

“Good point,” Daryl replied. “We’ve noticed the same thing.”

“Those HAM operators have either figured out they had better lie low, or they’ve been silenced. Either way, something is up,” added Jason.

Everyone spoke amongst themselves for a few moments and then Daryl continued, “In addition to that news, now that spring has arrived, there seems to be a renewed wave of human migration taking place. People who survived the winter hunkered down, are now on the move again in search of food and shelter. Most of the packaged foods will have been consumed or have gone bad by now; this leaves fresh foods, such as what we all raise and grow, as the only available resources. I fear that people, who will naturally head for the more rural areas like ours to avoid the horrors of the cities, will be looking at our resources and wanting them. We’ve had several sightings of groups of anywhere between five to ten people making their way through this area.”

Jason interrupted. “That explains the tracks we saw back on the main road near the Homefront.”

Daryl nodded and replied, “Most of the groups that have been observed passed through during the night. I guess even the average person is starting to think tactically.”

“That, or those who don’t, have been thinned from the herd by now,” said Charlie Blanchard.

There were a few under-the-breath chuckles and comments from within the group as Daryl got back on point saying, “Either way, we think the lull of the winter may be over. This house, as well as the Muncie place, is ripe for the picking by squatters and vagrants. We only check on them from time to time, and even if you don’t consider the threat of outsiders taking up residence here, they are deteriorating quickly from neglect and will be lost to the community if we don’t do something.”

“What do you propose?” Evan asked.

Daryl replied, “Well, we wanted to discuss it before we mentioned it to Jason and Griff, and we have already come to a unanimous consensus. We would like Jason and his family to take one of the homes, and Griff and his family to take the other. We would have more eyes on the area that way, and we would be ensuring who our neighbors are going to be, instead of having to deal with squatters. Besides, with all they have already done for the rest of us, they more than deserve to be permanent residents with their own homesteads.”

Evan looked at Jason, who seemed a bit taken back by the gesture, and said, “We would sure miss you at the Homefront, but he’s right. That and your family deserves a place of their very own. I think it’s a great idea.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say,” replied Jason, who was caught off guard by the offer.

Daryl then said, “Just go back home and think it over, talk to Griff, and if you guys decide to take us up on the idea, you two work out who will be where and just let us know. We will all pitch in to help you make all of the repairs and cleanup necessary to get you moved in.”

After a few more minutes of chatter and general discussion, the official side of the meeting began to draw to a close. The residents all shared stories of their recent projects and endeavors. They always learned a lot from each other, as the homesteading lifestyle without outside goods and services was still relatively new to most of them. Ever since Ollie’s tragic death had united them as more than just trading partners, they gained wisdom and support from one another’s failures and accomplishments, helping them to thrive in this new world they lived in, rather than merely surviving.