“But we’re so close to Oklahoma, how do we know they didn’t stash her in another state in this FEMA district?”
“Because of the Governor’s assassination of the district lead. I guess they’re keeping people as close to home as possible. Until a new guy is appointed, they have slowed down grabbing folks.”
“So, you’re pretty sure about this? Because if we’re wrong, we might be unleashing hell on the wrong people.”
“I’m having a hard time figuring out who the good guys are any more. Howdy,” Dante said to Daniels, holding his hand out.
“Hiya. Yeah, I hear you. I was being flippant when I berated those Homeland and USDA agents, but it looks like things are about to get crazy. With the governor gone, the state police are getting their orders from the Lt. Governor, and he’s a yes man, getting his orders from somebody else.”
“I don’t know what scares me more; the fact that a policeman can’t figure out who the bad guys are, or that this collapse happened so fast that everybody is a potential bad guy,” Leah mused.
“Collapse?” Daniels asked Leah.
“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re going through a slow burn economic collapse. Mix that with the civil unrest and an election year between the president and some guy who can’t remember to zip his fly… things are collapsing around us. Inflation has gone through the roof since the stock market crashed—”
“They are calling it an extended banking holiday,” Daniels interrupted.
They paused the conversation as a few customers purchased eggs before Daniels stepped closer to Dante again.
“You know that isn’t it,” Dante told him. “If they let trading open right now, do you think the prices would go up or down? I’m betting down, and when the stock market collapses the rest of the economy is going too.”
“You’re not wrong about that, but as a country? You think we’re that close to a whole breakdown?”
“I do,” Leah told him, and Dante nodded in agreement.
“So, will you get the word to Rob?” he asked, suddenly feeling that the group was ahead of everyone.
“We will, and hey, do you know anybody who wants some temporary work?”
“What kind of work?” a customer asked from behind Daniels.
“Putting up the harvest,” Leah told him. “I’m guessing we’re going to need between ten and a dozen extra sets of hands.”
“I can ask around,” Daniels assured them.
“Can I sign up?” the customer asked. “Things are getting tight, and I’m out of work for the rest of the fall with the lockdowns.”
“Sure thing!”
“If you’re looking for extra hands…”
It happened within a few moments. Leah’s question to Jeff had been overheard, and the farm now had a dozen or more wanting to sign up. Leah grinned to Dante, who backed off so he could watch things while she sold eggs and took down names. The group and Jeff Daniels knew that Rob would be leaving soon to go after Angel, but they would have needed the extra help to ensure the harvest all got put up. The feed bags and dozens of pallets had been just the start.
Rob and Anna were in her workshop, in the hidden rooms of the larger basement. She was assembling the lower receiver of an AR10 she’d milled out. Rob could have helped her, knowing the platform intimately, but she’d built more than he had, and he was focused on his task.
He was hand loading .308 subsonic ammunition with precision and care.
“I almost feel like I should be packing in something bigger,” Rob told her.
“I know that feeling. I love the big bores,” Anna agreed. “But I think with as much supplies as you’re taking…”
“I know. I just wish I knew where she was.”
Anna finished the lower and mated it up with the upper. She pulled the bolt back a few times, then took the upper receiver back off. Rob watched for a second as she pulled the bolt carrier group out, and started disassembling it.
“We will find her,” she said simply.
“I know, but I’m sort of running out of time. I just…”
“Listen Rob,” Anna said, putting the tools down and turning to him. “You’re going to get her back. Trust us. If we could all go, we all would.”
“And we have to keep things here as normal as possible in case they are watching. Do we have a plan in place yet, for when they think they are going to take things over here?”
“Not yet. We figured that might be a moot point if we find Angel sooner.”
Her hands worked quickly as she lubed the components and put the group back together. “I’m sending you spare BCGs and firing pins.”
“Thank you,” Rob said, using the press, another hand load carefully placed on the work bench in front of him.
“Leah and Dante are going to enlist some local help,” Anna said, hoping to distract him. “We’re going to finish the harvest in the next few days.”
“Dante can run the equipment for both the soybeans and corn now.”
“I know. This place might be more crowded when you and Angelica come back. Here,” she said, wiping her hands on a rag, and then handing the newly finished gun to him.
Rob took the gun and worked the bolt a few times. He adjusted the stock all the way out and then shouldered it. He grunted in surprise. He knew this was going to be heavy, but with the barrel and suppressor, it was a long gun.
“What goodies do you want on it?” Anna asked him, taking the hand loaded rounds, and starting to load magazines as Rob broke the upper receiver open, inspecting the lower.
“A bipod, some glass to go on top. I’ll have the rest on the one—”
“Slow down, remember, I get free stuff, or I make it. In this case, we don’t want any way for them to track you back if you have to leave equipment behind. In this case, I have scopes and bipods I got from some modeling work. It’s
