They pushed the screaming church leader out of the Bradley. They did him a favor by cutting the zip ties which held his wrists together. “Enjoy!”
The MPs then drove away leaving the begging naked man standing in the snow. He began digging into a snowbank to build an igloo hoping the shelter would save his life. He didn’t know how long he’d have. He knew he couldn’t survive without arctic clothing. He also knew he needed protection from the weather and a vehicle if he was going to survive.
The Colonel’s next problem was figuring out what to do with the base. He decided to have everything of any value packed and taken with them.
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A group of nine modified Jeeps that had tracks installed in place of the front and rear wheels so they could move through the deepest snow pulled into the now deserted FOB in Buffalo. The people in the Jeeps were confused. They’d been told there was a US Military base there to assist those who needed help moving south. The small group was confused and questioned what to do. Their leader, Franklin Bedford sat in what had been Colonel Spivey’s office. “I think our only option is to continue south on Interstate 81 until we locate the military or we end up below the freeze line. Do you think they’ll accept us when we locate them?”
“We’ll take what we need in order to survive. The damn government didn’t give us enough time to prepare to move. They waited until the damn rock hit before telling those of us who lived way up north in Canada we have to leave. Then the assholes stopped deliveries of food and fuel. If we hadn’t been prepared for a bad winter we’d have died. It’s taken us a hell of a long time to reach the States and what do we find? They’re gone. I lost my family from that bear attack three months ago. It wouldn’t have happened if the Prime Minister, shit, the Prime asshole had been honest with us. I want my revenge. Each of you have lost children or spouses. Are you with me?”
All nodded. “Clean and make sure your weapons are well oiled so they don’t freeze when we need them the most. They left some fuel behind, fill every fuel container we have and take the ones they left behind. We don’t know when we’ll find good fuel again so make sure we don’t leave any behind. We’ll check out the local area before we continue south. Thanks to what they left behind we now have enough fuel and freeze-dried food to last us a while. We’ll find these assholes and make them pay for our losses. The PM and his buddies left the country before they warned us to leave. They only cared about saving their own skin. If I could get my hands on them, I’d skin them alive. Tell everyone to use the bathrooms then we’ll mount up and continue.”
His group smiled and went to follow his instructions. They were used to the cold and snow, but an ice age was another story. They wanted to see the sun and feel its warmth again. Their anger fueled their bodies in the pursuit of revenge.
Chapter 26
Jon decided that he’d accept Frank and, if Trinity and Frank were serious, he’d have a chat with them. Erin suggested she have a chat with Trinity first to judge the level of her attraction to Frank. Was it puppy love, lust or real love? If it was real love, they’d discuss the situation with Frank in order to learn his intentions.
An hour later Erin told Jon, “She’s head over heels in love with him. All she thinks about is him. It might be puppy love, her first real boyfriend, but I can see it in her eyes and body language when she talks about him. I think it’s time you have a little chat with Frank.”
Jon returned to meet Erin in the mess hall, “Okay, he feels she’s his soulmate. What do we do now?”
“Now we have to decide if we’re okay our little girl is getting serious…”
Jon smiled, “Honey, she’s not getting serious, she is and he is, you know what comes next.”
“Ha, there’s no privacy here…”
“There will be when we reach Tennessee. What then?”
Erin smiled, “If they still feel the same way then, I guess we’ll have to deal with it.”
“Oh my God, I didn’t think I’d have to deal with this for years.”
Erin smiled and kissed Jon’s cheek, “Honey, no one knows how long we have. We might as well let them enjoy their time together.”
“If you’re okay with this, then I guess I am, or I’ll learn to be okay with it over time.”
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They were interrupted by a general announcement by the Colonel, “May I have your attention, may I have your attention? We are going to continue our journey south. The next FOB isn’t far. It’s located just outside of Scranton. My problem is we have more vehicles then we do drivers. If you have a valid driver’s license for a truck or know how to drive an armored vehicle please see Sergeant Mills who is in the Motor Pool. This applies to our civilians too. My intention is to leave tomorrow morning and hopefully arrive at our next base for dinner. Thank you.”
Jon, Erin, and Frank went to the motor pool. Each was assigned an updated MRAP to drive. Jon was going to drive alone; Frank with Trinity and Erin would have Ariden for her passenger. The convoy was now comprised of seventy-three vehicles, most of them armored and equipped with top mounted .50 caliber heavy machines or automatic grenade launchers. The Bradley’s were armed with machine guns, a 20mm auto cannon and two TOW anti-tank missiles. The LAVs were armed with either 30mm
