* * * *
Beatrice kept Veronica and Suzie at her home for the night, so the wedding couple could have the night to themselves.
It is not the honeymoon most newlyweds would agree to in the old world, but it is still better than most folks now have it, thought David.
* * * *
It took more than an hour, but Joy got hold of our old friends, giving them instructions to call from atop Raton Pass when they arrived.
Joy and I took some time. She and I explained to our boys what the next few days may look like. We tried not to scare them but wanted them to realize things could change quickly, and they needed to do what we or any other adult here says, and quickly.
The camp was quiet tonight, even with the new addition of Nate’s group.
Coyotes howled in the distance, still perking the ears of Mini and Ringo, even though they had heard them nearly every night of the trip.
“You’re lucky,” I told Mini, patting her head, “that Jax spotted you on the road or you would have been those coyotes’ dinner!” She sighed, laying her head on Ringo’s outstretched paws.
“I love you, Joy,” I said.
“Ditto,” she replied, reminding me of that old movie with Demi Moore and the guy from those two classics, Roadhouse and Red Dawn. I think it was called Ghost.
* * * *
The morning was bustling with people, even before sunup. Today was the last day for final plans.
The first group, led by Baker, camped south of Raton last night, according to Jim.
“They will probably get bogged down a little going through town, looking for supplies and adding members,” I said.
“Nothing to report this morning,” said Mark. “Jim and I took shifts with Steve, so we could monitor the radio 24/7 these past few days. They are packing up now, we hear, so they should head out in about an hour.”
The last day, I thought. Should I take my family for a nice hike in the woods or maybe just take the afternoon to hang out by the lake, telling stories of old vacations gone by? I wished it were that easy and secretly prayed it would all work out somehow in the end.
“It’s the last day, Joy,” I said. “What should we do?”
“We prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” she said.
“It will take a few hours, at least, to get the gear and provisions set in each defense location,” I responded. “But after that, I want a few hours with just us, our family, even if it’s right here in the tent.”
“Me too, Honey. I’m scared for us…all of us.”
“We have our faith, determination, and lastly, the man with the big-ass helicopter,” I joked inappropriately for the situation at hand. “We can do this. We must do this,” I added.
* * * *
David tasked Mark with getting hold of whoever was in charge of the town of Weston, since he was unable to locate James VanFleet.
“Let me do the talking if you get anyone on the line,” he added, not wanting to divulge too much about this location.
Lonnie gathered the adults from all three groups.
“It looks like we have 18 men who will defend this land, starting sometime tomorrow,” he started. “Each foxhole along the river will be supplied with weapons and ammo, a radio, food, water, rain gear, binoculars, flashlights, and tactical gear. We may be there for a day, or even a few days. Each location will have a urine jar so we can hunker down if needed.”
“What if we have to go number two?” asked one of Nate’s guys.
“This is it,” said Lonnie, anticipating the question apparently, as he held up a garden trowel and a box of mechanic shop rags.
“Mel will set up the fireworks at strategic locations, with only a few men to set them off if needed. Mel has three M60 machine guns with 3,000 belt rounds for each. These guns can fire over 500 rounds per minute and will require a feeder, so those foxholes will house two men. These are only to be used if all hell breaks loose. Once all of the rounds are fired, there are no more. The hand grenades will be kept by myself, Mel and Jake, since there are only six of them.”
“What about the anti-tank rockets?” asked Tom.
“Forget he mentioned them,” said Lonnie. “If it comes to that, we’ve already lost the battle.”
“In case you’re wondering why it is so important that we keep that group away at any cost,” added Jake, “you can ask any one of these men here,” pointing to Nate’s group, “what those guys do to the women.”
The silence was awkward. Everyone had already heard the horror stories, and most of Nate’s men had seen it firsthand with their wives and girlfriends.
“The most important thing,” I said, looking for a quick change of subject… Let me rephrase that… The only thing that matters for us all will be the women and children up at Beatrice’s house. They will be stepping over my body to get beyond the river.”
“Mine, too,” said Jake. Everyone agreed.
“Mike, where will you be during all this?” I asked.
“Me?” he replied with a shrug… “I’ll just be a floater, I guess.”
“What does that mean?” asked one of Nate’s men sarcastically. “He’s not going to help?”
I looked at Mike, hoping he wouldn’t kill this man in front of the rest of us for questioning his contribution.
“I can assure you,” I told the man, “that Mike here will alone be a better weapon than all of ours combined.”
“Don’t kill him, okay Mike?” asked Lonnie, half joking.
