Chapter 36

We got off the Interstate and found some indications that our choice to stop for the evening had been the site of the marauders we heard of on the radio. I thought that we might have bumped into them just earlier.

We would use the big box store in the middle along with a couple of others. We would place sentries for the evening with the possibility of trouble. Inside, we found signs of a hasty departure and of considerable usage over a period of time. We cleaned up some of the mess and set up planning for a couple of days at this location.

At four in the morning, I woke to gun fire as we came under attack. The response was loud and harsh since Joe had set up a plan with machine guns and mortars. We hadn’t used either much but I cringed mentally for those in the targeted areas. Joe didn’t spare any effort using two squads in addition to the sentry group. We had equipped four squads with heavy weapons and there was an eagerness to put them to use.

I was up and listening to my radio as most of us who had been asleep. I heard Joe’s voice saying, “Stand down. Cease fire. Sentries, be alert and report.”

After a few seconds, I heard, “This is Eddie. I have two separate raised hands. What should I do?”

Joe replied, “Eddie, this is Joe. Tell them to come forward with hands raised and no guns. Don’t accept anything else. Anyone with a gun of any kind, even holstered, gets shot. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. I will shout to them while Carolyn holds the radio.”

Joe said, “Roger.”

We heard, “Come out with your hands up and no weapons even in a holster!”

It was quiet for a long minute and then Carolyn came on saying, “All is good. We have over ten here and will need some help to handle the prisoners.”

Joe said, “I understand. We’re sending you help. Have your prisoners sit down.”

“O-okay. I’ll tell Eddie.”

Joe saw me and said, “Eddie and Carolyn are new and young. They’re learning, perhaps faster than I would like, but are okay so far.”

I nodded and listened as Joe directed his platoons and squads to handle things well and fairly easily. It quieted down after that one incident and we rested until after daybreak.

We woke up and moved toward breakfast. Joe and Nancy joined us. Joe said, “We’ve questioned our prisoners initially. It looks like we ended the problems in this area. We have the underlings who are all that’s left. I think they can be okay with good leadership.” He smiled. “We can provide that.”

I smiled. “If they’re willing to join, spread them through our ranks.” We had been following our noses and located breakfast. We ate thanking the cooks for good food.

Joe and Nancy left to take care of our new recruits. I went over to Alex’s radios and personnel to find out what they might be hearing.

“Hello, Bosses,” Alex said. “We’ve been hearing from more people all over the world. The folks we heard in Chattanooga have been listening to our local efforts. They appreciate what we did and are looking forward to farming quietly again.”

I said, “What are you hearing outside our area?”

“We have picked up transmissions from Australia and Japan though weren’t able to make a connection. Others did and everyone is finding the aliens are gone. We’ve talked to much of Europe and England with the same results.

“That moves me to the US. We’re hearing no reports of aliens anywhere. However, we have two more reports of internal troubles. It seems that our radio folk are not organized to fight off bullies. Just like here, it’s not a matter of two different political views but someone finding that they can use force to get what they want.”

Sheila asked, “Where are these trouble spots?”

‘One is close to Nashville and the other is in Oregon. That last one may be a little further than we can reach. Sheila, we are hearing more people getting on the air as they find that the aliens are gone. Our transmissions share that information as part of our policy to all we contact.”

“I hope you give a caveat on that. We’re pretty sure but we don’t know for sure.”

“Yeah, we’re careful to include that information and request anyone gather more information as they can.”

“Okay. I’m not sure what we will consider confirmation or be sure why they left. I sure would like to know. A little additional project, Alex, would be to determine a way to look for other invasions though I’m not sure what good that information would or will be.”

“Riley, that’s true but it might give us time to at least duck.”

“Yeah, but now we know ‘they are out there’ and aren’t friendly. We don’t need to shoot first but at least make some effort to protect ourselves.”

Sheila asked, “Riley, do you think aliens might return?”

“I don’t know, Hun. We didn’t expect them when they showed up. We don’t know why they left and that worries me. If there is them and us, there should be more. Will they be friendly or try to wipe us out? We just don’t know but now know to be prepared for visitations as we try to put our country back together.”

Sheila smirked, “At least, you don’t think small.”

“I just try to look ahead. It looks like we should head for Nashville. I don’t know what to do about Oregon.”

Joe said, “We need about a day to clean up here. Then, we can leave for Nashville.”

I said, “Well, we’ll have to make things work while you do what it takes to cure any problems here.”

Joe said, “We should be okay if we left now but I agree with your method, ‘Finish the job before going on to the next.’” He started to walk off.

I said, “Okay. Alex, is there anything I can do to help you today?”

“Actually, there is.” Alex replied. “Listen on this radio for Joe and his folk. Also, help Janey with her listening for folks in the US who might be talking.”

The radio Alex handed me had an earplug which I pushed into my ear. We went over to Janey who was listening on a larger radio. She nodded at us. “I’m listening on forty meters. It’s good for all of the US and we might hear more.”