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When Sean, Brody and Maria travelled back through Tionesta, they were surprised to find two MRAPs and two up-armored Humvees parked in front of the church. They parked the tiny-looking Bronco alongside one of the large MRAPs and headed inside to find Pastor Dan. His office was empty except for the fact that it was overflowing with boxes full of wedding decorations. Sean smiled at Brody, who had the “deer in the headlights” look and was swallowing repeatedly. They made their way into the sanctuary where they found Pastor Dan standing behind a Major who was giving a briefing to a group of around twenty soldiers. When they entered, the heavy oak doors creaked loudly, causing the major to stop speaking and every head turn to look at them.
“Can we help you?” the major asked politely.
“Sorry for the interruption, Major. We didn’t realize you were having a meeting,” Sean apologized. “We just wanted to have a brief word with the mayor.”
“We’ll be done in the next ten minutes or so if it can wait,” the major answered, looking for confirmation at Pastor Dan who nodded in agreement.
“No problem, we’ll just wait outside...sorry again for the interruption,” Sean offered. The Major just gave a half smile and nodded in a way that let them know the conversation was over. They filed back outside and found a shady spot on the west side of the church where they sat down in the grass and leaned back in the subtle warmth of the fading summer sun. They conversed about little things, including the upcoming wedding, and for a short time none of them felt the stress that the current environment had a tendency to impart upon a person. It was closer to fifteen minutes before the meeting adjourned and they heard the soldiers’ voices as they exited the church. Sean groaned as he lifted himself off the ground. He had lost the extra thirty pounds he had been carrying before the EMP and actually had to drill a new hole or two in his belt to keep his pants up. He helped his wife up and they made their way around to the front of the church where soldiers were heading back to their vehicles.
“Is that your rust bucket over there?” one of them asked Brody with a smirk.
“Yeah, that’s us,” Brody answered.
“Gonna have to ask you to move it so we can head out. In the future, we’d rather you not park so close to us,” the corporal stated in a matter-of-fact way, but not rudely.
“No problem, Corporal. I’ll move it right now,” Brody nodded respectfully.
“Alright,” the soldier responded before turning and heading for the lead MRAP.
Brody turned to Sean and rolled his eyes, “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” Sean said with a chuckle.
Pastor Dan exited the church last, speaking softly with the major. As they made it to the bottom of the steps, they stopped talking and Pastor Dan turned to Sean. “Hey, Sean. This is Major Samuelsson. He is Colonel Harris’s XO. He came down with the small contingent of soldiers that will be stationed here in town. He’s asked if he could speak with you all, as well.”
“Sure thing,” Sean agreed as he reached out and shook the major’s hand. “We’d be happy to. This is my wife, Maria.”
Major Samuelsson shook her hand warmly and said, “Hello, Ma’am.”
“Where’d Brody go?” Pastor Dan interrupted. “He run off to see Beth Ann again?” he asked with a grin.
“No,” Sean shook his head. “Apparently, we were parked too close to one of the MRAPs so he is moving the Bronco around front...here he comes now,” Sean said as he pointed to Brody pulling up to the front of the church steps in the rusty Ford.
Brody saw them looking his way so he quickly placed the vehicle in park and bounded up the concrete steps two at a time. “Major Samuelsson here is Colonel Harris’s XO and he’d like to have a word with us,” Sean said as the major stepped forward to greet Brody.
“Well, let’s get to it,” Brody smiled as they shook hands.
Before they filed back inside the sanctuary, the major whistled over to one of his men. “Tell the men to hold tight here ‘til I get done with this meeting.”
“Yes, Sir!” the soldier responded before turning and running off to deliver the message.
Pastor Dan led them through the sanctuary and up several steps to the large table on the dais. “Gentlemen, I’m glad we’ve had a chance to meet. Colonel Harris has spoken highly about the two of you.” Sean and Brody nodded their heads in thanks as the major continued. “We heard your transmission a few hours ago, just before we left the base. It sounds as if you have another retreat that you haven’t told us about.” Sean looked up at Pastor Dan who was still standing behind the major. Dan shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, conveying that he didn’t know what the major was talking about. Apparently, their transmission from East Homestead to North Homestead had been picked up all the way in Warren. ‘The military must have some seriously good technology where ham radios are concerned,’ Sean made a mental note to himself.
Noticing Sean’s glance to the mayor, Major Samuelsson continued, “I assure you that the mayor here hasn’t told me anything about the other retreat and I have not brought it up to him out of respect for your group. We weren’t sure how much he knew and felt it best for you to tell us as much as you felt comfortable sharing. Colonel Harris asked me to make some inquisitions into this other retreat location and into yours as well.” Brody started to protest, but the major stuck his hand up with a smile. “Brody, the colonel informed me that you two are a suspicious lot and I can’t say that I blame you in that. Believe me, I understand. Here is where the dilemma unfolds. You have requested that we aid you should your retreat be attacked. You have to understand that if that scenario ever comes to pass, we are going to be rolling in hot and heavy with some serious firepower. Now, on the one hand, that may be a good thing for your group. But that same situation could go terribly wrong if you aren’t forthcoming as to where your men may be located around the retreat.
“To put it bluntly gentlemen, the colonel doesn’t want to be responsible for coming to your rescue and killing innocent members of your party. This isn’t a battlefield where each army is wearing different colored uniforms. Our men aren’t going to be able to differentiate between friend and foe. Do you see where we are coming from here? Colonel Harris has every intention of holding up his end of the deal, but we need some more information about your retreat to prevent accidental deaths. Same goes for your other retreat. If you want us to come to their aid, we are going to need to know more details.” Major Samuelsson finished speaking and took a step back from the table waiting for their response.
Brody looked at Sean and then back to Major Samuelsson. “Thank you, Major, for your discretion, but you have to realize that you took us off guard. We don’t make these kinds of decisions for our group. We vote on serious items like this.”
“I understand, but I also need to give you two some more information about the men that were snooping around your retreat last night.” Brody looked at Sean, concerned at the major’s blunt response. “Last week, we arranged for a bombing run of the McKean Federal Penitentiary and flattened it to ruins. Unfortunately, we discovered afterwards that a large portion of their forces were actually outside of the compound at the time. You have to realize that there is most likely some serious animosity now between those survivors and our regiment up in Warren.
“The fact that there were six vehicles full of heavily armed men snooping around your retreat last night leads us to believe they are looking for another home base to work out of. I can’t stress this enough that neither of your retreats will stand a fighting chance against the size force I am talking about here. Now...Colonel Harris has made it a personal priority to wipe out this band of rabble and scum. Not just for the sake of the locals but because of what we discovered was going on at the prison, which I’m sure you’ve been made aware of. This group is likely living on the side of the road for now and desperate for a good hold-up spot until they can find something permanent. From what little I’ve heard, it sounds like your retreat might fit that bill.
“To be blunt, we feel your retreat is in considerable danger in the coming days. Again, when we get the call, we are going to be coming in hot and fast with an entire company of soldiers to fight a large gang of raiders. We need to work out a game plan today for how that will look and steps we can take to prevent casualties to your retreat members who are going to be caught in the crossfire. I am being honest here when I say that I don’t think you are going to want to risk taking a day or two to think this over and get a vote at your retreat. But who knows, I’m sure they have been scouring the area looking for food as well. Maybe they’ll pick somewhere else and you’ll never see them again. It’s your call.”
“Wow,” Sean said gravely, turning to look at Brody. He could also see serious concern in Maria’s eyes. “Major, you’ve really kind of dropped a bomb on us here.”
“If you don’t mind, Major,” Brody cut in, “would you please allow us a few minutes to discuss in private?” Sean was just getting ready to ask the same thing.
“No problem, Gentlemen. Take all the time you need. I’ll be outside when you’re ready.” Major Samuelsson smiled warmly and made his way outside.
Pastor Dan shifted his weight uncomfortably, not sure if he should go or stay. “Pastor Dan, please don’t be offended, but we should probably keep this particular conversation to ourselves,” Brody spoke out, taking Sean by surprise.
“Sure, Fellas. I totally understand.” He was already headed for the door. “I’ll just wait outside with Major Samuelsson.”
“Thank you, Dan,” Sean said warmly to Pastor Dan’s quickly retreating back.
When the oak doors to the sanctuary creaked shut, Brody spoke up. “I don’t know about this, Sean. This was the problem I saw from the beginning. I knew something like this would creep up. I really wanted to keep specific security details about our retreat to ourselves.”
“I know, Brody, but the major brings up some good points. Besides, with our LP/OP being down the street now, I don’t see any reason to tell them where that location is. It’s hidden well enough. If this situation comes to pass, we’ll just instruct the members of the LP/OP to keep their heads down and stay hidden when the Army trucks show up. Seriously, other than that, the Army boys will know better than to fire at the third floor of the retreat. All we need to be concerned about is whoever is on roaming patrol. That is just a matter of, ‘Hey, if a large force shows up, get your butt inside,’ right?”
Brody nodded his head and rubbed his chin, not really saying anything. He played with the edge of a map on the table, bending it one direction and then the next. Once he wrapped his mind around everything he added, “I also don’t want to tell them about the underground storage rooms or tunnels. For all they need to know, if we get attacked, we’ll send our women and children to the basement.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Sean said in agreement, while Maria nodded her head.
“What about the East Homestead?” Maria asked concerned.
“I don’t feel comfortable giving the military any information about their retreat without discussing it with them first. But at the same time, I think we need to discuss these new details with them in person,” Brody insisted.
“I agree,” Sean said immediately, nodding along. “I like the idea of having a fall-back location that the military doesn’t know about.”
“But what if they get attacked in the meantime?” Maria asked, concerned. “Major Samuelsson insinuated that they wouldn’t come to the rescue without further details.”
“I know, Babe, but they need to vote on it themselves. Up to this point Damian has made it clear that they want to stay under the radar. It’s not our decision to make. To be honest, it’s not our decision to make for the new homestead. But I’m willing to make it if you both agree that time is of the essence here. We don’t know if or when those men may come back. And if that looting group is as big as the major makes it out to be, I’d sure like to know an entire company of soldiers is on their way to save our bacon....” Sean looked over at Brody who didn’t say anything but just nodded again.
“Alright, let’s do it then.” Brody walked over to a window and looked out to find dusk was fast approaching. “We can provide a general layout of the North Homestead and put together a game plan with the major. From there, I’d like to head back to the East Homestead tonight and discuss everything with them. We can radio home that we won’t be back tonight.”
“What if they get attacked tonight?” Maria asked anxiously, knowing that their son was still there and possibly in harm’s way. “There’s no way for them to know what’s going on unless someone tells them the specifics of the plan you guys come up with, which I’m sure we don’t want to say over the radio.”
“That’s a really good point she’s bringing up, Brody,” Sean agreed as Maria beamed from his praise. “Besides, we don’t know how well James is taking the bottle this time, so I don’t think you should come with us overnight.”
Maria looked really confused. “What are you talking about?” she asked, confusion turning to anger.
Sean turned to Brody. “I wonder if the major would drop her off on the way back to base.”
“I’m sure he probably would,” Brody conceded, although he didn’t want to be brought into this part of the discussion.
Maria kicked Sean in the boot angrily. “Stop talking about me like I’m not standing right here!”
Sean realized his error. “I’m sorry, Babe. I didn’t mean it like that. I just think you should head back and be with our son.”
“I know what you meant. What I’m saying is that I want you to come with me...to be with us both in case something happens,” she insisted.
“Babe, I can’t....”
“Sean, she’s right,” Brody said, cutting him off. “You need to be with your wife and son. There is no need for you to come with me. Take the Bronco; I’ll radio for Damian to come get me.”
Sean felt as if he were abandoning his friend. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Brody insisted. “We need to radio North Homestead to let them know you’ll be back late and I need to radio East Homestead for a ride. Maria, would you mind grabbing the major and Pastor Dan?” She nodded and hurried outside to fetch the men. “We need to get an assault plan together quick or it’s going to be really dark on your drive home.”
Sean glanced down at his watch, but it was already too dim in the sanctuary for him to read the time. “Yeah, you’re right.”