“Holy hell, you hit the jackpot here. Real sugar and creamer?”
“Yes, and more. Look, I’m sorry I’ve kept you in the dark so long. I’ve been pretty busy lately.”
Erin smiled after sipping the coffee, “Really good. It’s okay, we understand.”
“Good, have a seat. We have a lot to discuss and our time is running out before we’re going to leave here.”
Jon looked around watching people packing up the Colonel’s office around them. Erin touched his arm before saying, “Colonel, we’re very sorry for your loses. Is there anything we can do?”
“Thank you. I have some good and some bad news for you. The good is your family will be coming with us, the bad, we don’t have a vehicle for you. You’ll have to travel in one of military vehicles with the soldiers. I can’t spend the time sending a squad out to locate you a working vehicle.”
Jon nodded, “We understand. Have you discovered a way around the crater?”
“I sent a few squads to search for a detour which they have found. It’s a very roundabout way, but we’re going to continue our trip to our next base. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, we’re going to have to drive through a bunch of small surface streets which haven’t been plowed in a real long time. Some may not have been plowed in years. The tanks will go first to plow the streets.”
Erin nodded and asked, “Do you think there are some survivors in the small towns?”
“There might be. One of the squads reported seeing smoke which would imply there are survivors. We’ll find out when we arrive in the subdivision. I need you to follow the orders given to you by the sergeants and officers in the same way our soldiers do. I won’t have time to explain anything.”
Jon and Erin nodded, Erin asked, “Based on the packing, I assume we’re leaving soon?”
“Three hours. You will be in vehicle number thirteen. Here’s you new ID cards and access pass to the vehicle. The supply depot will give you new uniforms and toilet kits. You should report to the depot now and your vehicle in two hours.”
Jon nodded, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We’re far from the next base and, as you’ve seen, there are many unexpected dangers out here, and that smoke bothers me. Remember, follow every order as if your lives depend on it, because they do.”
@@@@@
There were a number of caves and old mines thirty miles from where the Coats family was. It had taken a long time, but six families had worked around the clock when the announcement of the asteroid was first made to expand the caves and to connect some of the mines and caves. Due to their locations, dug into mountains, the temperature inside of them was above freezing, they also had vents which exhausted smoke from cooking and heating fires. The families had stockpiled wood and charcoal. When the locals began leaving the area, the families went house to house and visited every hardware store where they took every propane tank they could locate and pallets of charcoal. They also took hundreds of pallets of cases of canned food. The families had also hunted for fresh meat and had built a safe location which they thought they’d only have to stay in for a couple of years. They didn’t believe the story of a new ice age which would cover the area under ice and snow. They thought they’d have to stay inside their caves for up to two years. Afterwards, they believed the weather could change and they’d be able to exit and own everything around them. Hence, they also loaded their subterranean homes with all of the weapons they took from the local areas.
As the days turned into weeks and weeks into months and months into years, the families realized they may have made a mistake. They focused their hatred on the government because they thought they’d been lied to. They knew the American military still operated in their area. They’d seen the tracked vehicles and sometimes the soldiers. The oldest of the group, Jason Bear, was an angry, old man of 71 who hated the government. He blamed the government for all of his problems. He lost his business, the government ruined it. He was sued by the IRS; they picked on him and took all of his assets forcing him to move in with his son and family. Social Security didn’t pay enough to live on, Medicare didn’t cover all of his medical expenses, it was all the government’s fault.
Jason’s oldest son, “Moose” told his father, “I saw a number of soldiers at the truck stop ‘bout twenty miles from here. The fools slid down the ramp and created a massive pile up and started a large fire that consumed a number of their trucks.”
“Where are they going?”
“Don’t know, but they can’t go south on 81, there’s that huge hole in the old freeway.”
Jason smiled, “They have to detour around the hole, bring me the map, I’ll show you where I think they’re going. We’ll hit them and take everything they have. Go get your brothers and the other families. We’ve got an ambush to plan. Did you make those mine things you told me about?”
“Do you mean the IEDs?”
“Whatever, did you make them?”
“Of course, want me to load them in the snow cats?”
“First, go get the others. Damn boy, use your brains and do what I tell you.”
Jason showed the others which roads he wanted blocked and where to set up the ambush. He laughed about giving the soldier boys what they deserve. “A quick trip to hell.”
Three repaired tanks with the plows mounted on their front armor
