Forgotten Forbidden America: Rise of Tyranny (27 page)

“Bernard, this evening, how about you and I go and set up that truck and trailer on the road?” Gerald asked.

“I’d like to at least go and check on Hank before we block off the road,” Bernard told him.

Gerald nodded. “Not a bad idea, but don’t tell him we are blocking off the road. Just tell him the truck flipped over.”

“I don’t think Hank will be a problem,” Bernard quickly said.

“I trust your judgment, but what if a cop or someone goes to his house and ‘asks’ Hank really hard why that truck and trailer are lying across the road? You want them to say we turned it over to block the road?” Gerald asked.

Slowly, Bernard set down his utensils. “If someone does, I’m going to help Hank,” Bernard stated flatly. “We’ve been there for each other for three decades helping each other.”

Gerald held up his hands. “Bernard, I’m not saying we won’t help, but you never give out details of your obstacles.”

“Fair enough,” Bernard said and started eating.

The group was soon done and headed out. Nelson and Matt jumped in the UTV and headed to the stand of trees directly in front of the house. The tree line was just over a hundred yards away, but Nelson and Gerald agreed it needed to be thinned of all big trees another fifty to hundred yards further back.

Nelson stopped the UTV and climbed out. He and Matt would start on the front edge and drop trees, working their way back. The trees were nice-sized, some hickory, oak, and pine spaced out from each other.

Putting his chaps on, Nelson took off his vest and rifle, putting them in the UTV. “Hey, Nelson,” Matt said as Nelson put his rifle up. “How about we take turns cutting while the other keeps an eye out?”

“That’s probably a good idea since someone can hear this chainsaw much further than they can the tractors,” Nelson said, putting on his hard hat and lowering the ear muffs.

Matt could look down the drive and see all the way to the turn in the trees. “Well, if you wouldn’t have bought a monster Husky, they probably wouldn’t be able to hear it back in Springfield,” Matt mumbled as Nelson fired up the saw.

Grabbing his small axe and wedges, Nelson carried the saw over to his first tree. Tossing the axe and wedges down, Nelson looked up at the big oak. “I hate cutting down hardwoods,” he mumbled then eased up to the tree. Soon, wood chips were flying as Nelson wedged the tree. A few minutes later, the tree hit the ground.

Limbing the tree out, Nelson moved over to the next one as Bernard pulled up with the big tractor. Using the forks on the front bucket, Bernard scooped up the tree and carried it to the barn. As Nelson attacked the trees, Matt watched Nellie drive the little tractor from the house, and as soon as she was across the moat, she drove beside the driveway.

On the back of the tractor was a four-foot blade shoved two feet into the earth, plowing a three-inch-wide trench. Nancy drove out, following Nellie in a UTV with Gavin sitting in the back bed, feeding out cable into the small trench.

As soon as Nelson had a tree down and ready, Bernard was back with the tractor to pick it up. Seeing the limb situation starting to get out of hand, Matt started piling the smaller ones up. The larger limbs they could cut into firewood since all the cabins and the house had wood-burning stoves.

Several hours later, Nellie pulled up to the house on the tractor followed by Nancy in the UTV. Then, Nancy turned around and drove back out with Gavin laying more cable. Feeling the ground shake as Nelson dropped another tree, Matt went back to piling the limbs.

It wasn’t long until Michelle walked over and joined him. “Nelson hasn’t let you cut yet?” she asked, grabbing a limb.

“Between you and me, he can keep doing it,” Matt informed her. “That saw of his scares the shit out of me.”

At noon, Matt stopped Nelson, and they climbed in the UTV. Matt drove around to the barn to tell Gerald and Ashley it was time for lunch. They stopped as Ashley pulled the lever on the sawmill. A small engine that ran four saw blades ran down a twenty-foot track, cutting a board out of a log that was sitting on it.

Each time the engine ran down, a board was kicked out and grabbed by Gerald. He carried it over, stacking it on a trailer. The blades formed a box, and just adjusting the width and height of the blades, you dialed what lumber the blades cut.

Nelson looked at the rather large stack of lumber and all the scrap slabs lying around. “I haven’t cut down that many trees,” Nelson declared.

“The hell you haven’t, Paul Bunion,” Matt shot back, getting out. “I know you’ve cut down at least twenty.”

As Matt walked over to get Gerald and Ashley, Nelson looked over at Michelle. “Doesn’t seem like it,” he confided.

“Baby,” she laughed, “I always told you; you were meant to be a farmer.”

“Well, just look at all the cool stuff you do,” he said.

After the mill was turned off, they headed for the house. Parking by the back door, Gerald looked over at Nelson as he climbed out of his UTV. “Nelson, I’m glad you’re leaving the smaller trees,” he said.

“I’m only taking fourteen inch or bigger,” Nelson replied, getting out and grabbing his rifle. “I really want people to hide behind the skinny ones. That leaves me something to aim at.”

Everyone laughed at his remark as they headed inside. Bernard was already at the table, feeding Devin at one end, and Nellie was at the other, feeding Mike. The girls were sitting in the middle, chatting away as the others sat down.

“We’ll have enough lumber to finish the moat with another five trees,” Bernard said, wiping Devin’s mouth.

“Let’s just keep going until four,” Gerald said. “We will need the lumber in other places, so as long as we’re cutting, let’s just do it.”

Nodding, Bernard took Devin out of the highchair and put him in his lap. “I’ll run over to Hank’s then,” he said, picking up his fork. Devin slapped the table to let Bernard know he was still hungry.

“I’ll take him, Bernard,” Michelle said, getting up.

He snapped his head up. “You sit and eat, or I’ll spank your bottom,” Bernard warned. “I have him. He was just hungrier than I thought.” Nelson laughed as Michelle dropped back in her chair and started eating.

“You mind if I go with you to Hank’s?” Gerald asked.

“Nah,” Bernard said, picking up his spoon and feeding Devin, who seemed to be enjoying this new position.

“You two get your cable laid?” Nelson asked, looking across the table at Gavin sitting next to Nancy.

“Yes,” Nancy said, looking up. “The ones to the east and south are up; we just have to wire them in. Tomorrow, we’ll put up the ones to the north and west.”

“How’s your helper doing?” Nelson asked, looking at Gavin.

“He’s doing great,” Nancy replied. “I’ve never seen anyone that could climb a tree like Gavin can.”

Seeing how proud that made Gavin, Michelle smiled. “He’s part squirrel.”

When lunch was finished, everyone headed back to work. At four o’clock, Nelson quit cutting trees down, which he didn’t like. Then, Nelson, Matt, and their wives loaded lumber up to finish the moat as Gerald and Bernard loaded up in Bernard’s truck.

As the two drove out, they grinned, seeing how far back Nelson had cut down the bigger trees. “That boy should’ve been a lumberjack,” Bernard chuckled.

“Hey, next time, you can work with Ashley on the sawmill,” Gerald replied. “That woman ran me like a dog.”

“That’s the way of a woman,” Bernard told him.

Nodding, Gerald checked his weapons. “Hank have many guns?” he asked.

Seeing Gerald checking his weapons, Bernard slowed down. “He won’t be taking shots at us,” Bernard said. “You need to relax.”

“When you relax, you take a dirt nap because someone else isn’t,” Gerald told him. “I asked because if he doesn’t, we need to give him some.”

Feeling better after that answer, Bernard sped up. “He hunts but only has deer rifles and shotguns,” Bernard said.

“Hank know how to use a military rifle?”

“He was in the service,” Bernard said, slowing at the Y. Turning down the road toward Hank’s, he continued, “He was an Air Force MP before he took over the family farm after his dad died.”

“How about his brother?” Gerald asked.

“Steven is worthless,” Bernard spat, not even trying to hide his contempt.

As they slowly pulled down the road, they could see the farm and several people out on the porch. “No one is carrying a gun,” Gerald observed.

“I wouldn’t be if I hadn’t met all of you,” Bernard admitted, pulling up to the house.

When Bernard reached to open the door, Gerald grabbed his arm. “Take your rifle—not to show them we are afraid but that they need to realize danger is close,” Gerald told him.

Bernard nodded, and as he got out, he grabbed his M-14. Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, Bernard waved as a man and woman in their late fifties walked off the porch. “How’s it going, Hank?” Bernard said, holding out his hand. Then, Bernard smiled at the woman. “Judy, pretty as ever.”

“You old dog,” Judy said as Hank shook Bernard’s hand. When he let go, Judy hugged Bernard.

Hank looked at the rifle on Bernard’s shoulder and the 1911 on his hip. “You have trouble?”

“Trouble’s everywhere and spreading; just want to be ready when it gets here,” Bernard replied as Gerald walked around the truck. If Hank looked Bernard over, he and Judy rubbernecked upon seeing Gerald wearing a tactical vest and carrying his AR. “Guys, this is Gerald,” Bernard said.

With a little uncertainty, Hank held out his hand. “I’ve met you once before when I came over,” he said as Gerald shook his hand. Judy just moved closer to Hank.

“I remember,” Gerald said, letting his hand go.

“You goin’ to war?” Hank asked.

“If need be,” Gerald said. “Had some trouble getting here, so if trouble comes, I want to be prepared.”

“What kind of trouble? You know people aren’t supposed to have weapons out of their residence,” Hank reminded him.

“That’s what I mean,” Gerald told him, nodding. “They want to make sure you can’t defend yourself against government agents or criminals.” Seeing the shock on their faces, Gerald cautiously continued. “We saw some cops at a road block from a distance taking people’s money and weapons for themselves and locking them in FEMA camps.”

“Well, those people shouldn’t have had weapons,” Judy pointed out.

“Last time I checked, this was America,” Gerald said politely but with an edge. “You can fall down and lick their boots when they take your kids away to teach them in a school they approve of and take your food and weapons because others don’t want to work.”

“They won’t take our food,” Judy snapped, tensing up.

“Ah, yes ma’am, they will,” Gerald replied, nodding. “They declared they don’t need a warrant to check your residence to make sure you aren’t hoarding food or gold. The government needs it for people who won’t work.”

Getting scared, Judy looked at her husband. “Hank,” she said in a worried voice.

With a calm smile, Hank patted her arm. “We won’t let them,” he assured her. “When Bernard leaves, we’ll get out a few smoke poles and place them around the house.”

“You have any rifles with a large-capacity magazine?” Gerald asked.

Shaking his head, Hank replied, “No, I’ve got four or five deer rifles, about that many shotguns, and some twenty-twos.”

“Bernard said you were in the service,” Gerald said, and Hank nodded. “Then I’ll bring a few ARs over later, and you can show your family how to use them.”

Shocked, Hank blinked. “Gerald, I don’t have any money to give you for them. I tried to get some from the bank in town, but only banks in cities with a population over a hundred thousand are opening.”

“Then just think of them as a gift.” Gerald smiled. “How about pistols—you have any?”

“A thirty-eight and a couple of twenty-two revolvers,” Hank answered.

“Were you trained on the 1911 or Beretta M9?” Gerald asked.

“Both,” Hank answered. “We changed over while I was in.”

“I’ll bring a couple of those as well,” Gerald said as two teen boys walked up.

Hank turned. “Gerald, these are my boys: Tim and Mark,” he introduced them as they walked up. “I’ll be indebted to you, Gerald, for that stuff.”

“May I talk bluntly?” Gerald asked, stepping closer. Slowly, Hank nodded. “You’re going to need them sooner or later. I’m really afraid it’s going to be sooner.”

“It was bad in town but not that bad,” Judy blurted out.

“When were you there?” Bernard asked.

“We drove down to West Plains yesterday to see if we could get some groceries, but the stores were empty. We got stopped twice by state troopers, but since we didn’t have weapons, they let us go,” Hank told them.

“You need food?” Bernard asked, shocked.

Judy smiled. “No, we have the basement and storm cellar full of canned and jarred food. We just needed some salt and sugar. I buy enough for several months, but this was the month I was going to buy some,” she explained.

“I’ll bring some over when Gerald brings those guns,” Bernard said, seeing a boy and girl in their teens walk out of the house. Both looked bored and miserable. “I take it those are Steven’s?” he asked, lifting his chin toward the house.