Mike and Ted found Sarge sitting with Doc in the cabin. Sarge was talking into the handset with someone.
“What’s up?” Mike asked Doc.
“He found a Guard unit out in the woods.”
“No shit! All we found was some crazy dude in the woods.”
Doc stared at him. “I don’t even want to know.”
“You get that water filter up and running, Doc?”
“Yeah, Morgan had it set up pretty good; it’s on the steps of his place. You guys get those tables?”
“Yeah, two of them.”
Sarge laid the handset down. “All right, ladies, we got work to do.”
“Good, I’m gettin’ bored,” Ted said, throwing his feet up on the table. “What’s up?”
“Doc told you we found a Guard unit. They’re in rough shape and need some help. I just got off the horn with the colonel, and it took some work, but he agreed to send out some goodies for them.” Sarge tossed a notepad to Ted. “Their call sign’s White Four Delta. Get ’em on the horn. Use the frequency I wrote under their call sign.”
“Are we getting anything out this?” Mike asked.
Sarge smiled. “Oh yeah, milk and cookies.” Mike shook his head.
“White Four Delta, Stump Knocker.” Ted repeated the call.
“Go, Stump Knocker.”
Ted handed Sarge the handset. “White Four Delta, you have an LZ prepped?”
There was a pause on the other end. “Negative, Stump Knocker, but we will, what’s the ETA on the bird?”
“Oh six hundred tomorrow.”
“Roger oh six hundred tomorrow. We’ll be ready for it.”
“We’re coming in at oh five hundred. See you then. Stump Knocker out.” Sarge laid the handset down, looking up at the men. “We’ve got ourselves a force now.”
“How many men they got?” Mike asked.
“Fifty odd, oh, and one marine.”
Ted laughed. “Well, shit, that’s as good as a hundred, then, ain’t it?”
“I wish we had a hundred marines; we could take over the state of Florida.”
“So they’re sending a bird in with some supplies, then what?”
“Once we get them settled they are going to accompany us on a little mission.”
“Which is?” Mike asked.
“Colonel wants us to seize the camp and hold it. They are hitting FEMA camps all over the country.”
“What’s the problem with the camps?” Doc asked.
Sarge rocked back in his chair. “They aren’t being run for the benefit of the people in them. Once you go in, you can’t leave them. They’re basically prison camps at this point. They use the people inside for labor and are going around the countryside near them taking anything they can find. And from what I was told, people that don’t go along with the program are executed. They’re also snatching people from their homes and forcing them to go.”
“Shit. What about Morgan and his folks here?” Ted asked.
“We need to have a talk with them, but we don’t need their help and I’d rather they stay out of this, personally. There’s enough of them here now that they can take care of themselves.”
“I agree.”
“Let’s go have a powwow with ’em.”
“Wait and do it around dinnertime; everyone will be together then,” Doc said.
“All right, that’s a better idea. In the meantime, I’m gonna take a nap. Mike, can you keep an eye on the radios for a while?”
“Sure, boss. I got it.”
Sarge went to his bunk and lay down fully dressed, leaning his rifle in the corner by his head. Mike settled in behind the radios, checking the settings and getting comfortable. Doc and Ted decided Sarge was on to something and stretched out as well.
Mike was thankful for the headset, otherwise the snoring would have driven him nuts. He occupied his time by thumbing through the HAM frequencies looking for civilian traffic. As he scanned through the bands, he picked up numerous conversations. What stuck him the most was how normal many of them were. He listened for a moment as a man in Kansas asked other farmers for tractor parts. Maybe things are getting back to normal, Mike thought.
On the small folding table were three different radios, the big military unit they brought with them and the two HAM sets Sarge had. They strung the antennas for the two HAM rigs in a big pine tree outside the cabin, as high as they could. The military radio used different technology altogether and didn’t require an antenna be placed outside. It was always kept on the same frequency used to talk back to the brass in north Florida.
While Mike was listening to the civilian chatter, another radio crackled to life. A thick Southern accent drifted out of the speaker. “Stump Knocker, you got your ears on?”
Mike picked up the handset. “Go ahead for Stump Knocker.”
“We met the other day at four thirty-nine, you remember?”
Mike spun around in the chair and kicked Sarge’s feet. The old man raised his hat and looked at him. “What?”
“Got someone on the radio that says he met you the other day.”
Sarge got up and came to the table. “What’d he say?”
“Said you met at four thirty-nine, asked if you remembered.”
Sarge keyed the mic. “I remember. What can I do for you?”
“We found something that might int’rest you. Can we meet up?”
Sarge thought for a moment. “Think it’s legit?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, it sounds like the old boy; we just got shit to do tomorrow.” Sarge keyed the mic. “How about day after tomorrow?”
“Works for us, you know where Wildcat Lake is?”
“I can find it.”
“On the east side of the lake is an antenna. Let’s meet there ’bout noon.”
“We’ll see you then.”
“Wonder what they got?” Mike asked.
“Dunno, I’m more curious why they called us. We talked for a minute or two but I damn sure didn’t tell them who we were or what we were up to.”
“Sounds like we’re going to have an early morning, then.”
“Bet your ass. We need to get out there before daylight and set up an’ wait for them. I don’t like surprises.”