Chapter 12: Sunday, November 18th, 2012 - 7:50 PM

Rob was awake and in the living room with the rest of them. Fortunately his leg wound wasn't as bad as they had thought. The bullet had gone through cleanly just above the knee and the knee, as the focal point of so many nerve endings, could cause a lot of pain. He had passed out due to shock from loss of blood. Now he was propped up on the couch with his leg elevated on Susan's lap. He couldn't put weight on it but could get around with help.

They had just listened to the evening news from both the AP and the Short Wave. The news was grim but at least it sounded like the situation was coming around. Resistance was being organized.

Bill was sitting in an old recliner and Cherie was in the only easy chair. Mary was sitting on the floor and leaning against her mom's leg while Jimmy had the love seat all to himself.

Bill's thoughts had wandered as he looked at the little group. Most modern living rooms were centered around and facing a television. They didn't have a television at the earthship so the living room was arranged so they were all facing each other. Bill thought the interaction between people with this arrangement was much better than the interaction with a TV. He decided if he ever got back to his own home and life returned to normal he would make some changes.

Bill had told about seeing the road block and people being pulled from cars to be raped or killed on I-17. His experience blasting through the roadblock west of Winslow Arizona had Jimmy on the edge of his seat. He didn't go into a lot of detail about the rescue of Cherie and Mary. They would have to decide how much of that detail came out. Bill could see an understanding in Rob's eyes when he glanced at the mother and daughter. A quick grateful smile from Cherie probably confirmed Rob's thoughts but that was OK. Mary just bowed her head and hugged her mom's leg while Bill gave the sketchy outline of the rescue. Susan glanced at them then at Jimmy, then back to Bill. Bill decided his daughter in law would be a very good poker player.

Bill's experiences didn't hold a candle to Rob, Susan's and Jimmy's adventures. Rob and Susan had started from when they lost cell coverage in Phoenix and continued with a detailed description of how they fought their way through the mobs and out of Phoenix, fought their way through roadblocks, the sanctuary in Young and finally the nerve wracking experience of being trapped in Heber.

Throughout the narration Mary's eyes grew larger and larger with constant glances towards Jimmy when his exploits were mentioned. During the conversation Rob asked for a glass of water and Mary had volunteered. When she sat back down she sat next to Jimmy. Granted it was at the other end of the love seat from Jimmy, but still next to him. Bill had to smile at the girls actions.

Both Bill's and Rob's faces grew grim when Susan told them what happened after Rob passed out. They could hear the bandit's headquarters calling the outpost for a radio check within minutes after Rob had passed out. Susan had grabbed Rob around the chest and under the arms and manhandled him between the seats trying to get him into the back seat. Jimmy had jumped out and straightened limbs and pushed until they got Rob into the back seat.

They heard a call on the radio for another post to check on the two that Rob had killed. The order of, "Shoot the ass holes if they are sleeping," sent chills down their spines.

"Drive," Susan had ordered. "Drive fast."

They were only a few miles down the road when they heard the radio traffic reporting the dead bandits. The radio dispatcher at the head quarters ordered one vehicle towards the south east road towards Payson and the other west toward Holbrook. Those were the only two paved roads available.

Jimmy had never driven on pavement before. His dad had let him drive on the dirt roads around the property so he knew a little bit about how to handle the big truck. That hadn't prepared him for the chase that followed.

Jimmy's face paled as his mom told the story. He shook his head when his mom praised how calm he had stayed throughout the ordeal. "I was scared silly," he said. "I knew I had to go faster, especially when you saw them way back there on that long straight stretch. I was afraid I would wreck us too because the road was so rough. I had to drive as fast as I could though. They could drive faster than we could because we had such a heavy load."

"Nothing wrong with fear Jimmy," Bill said reassuringly. "Bravery is being afraid and still doing what needs to be done and what you did was brave."

Jimmy's pale face flushed at the compliment but he shook his head again. "Maybe you are right Grandpa. I just know that I don't want to be afraid like that again. I didn't know if dad was going to live. I heard what those men said they were doing to the women and I was afraid they would catch mom," he said blushing even more as he glanced at Mary. "Then I almost wrecked us when I left the pavement to head north towards the property. I thought we were going to roll. I remembered what dad said about turning into a slide so I did and only one back wheel went into the ditch and right back out. I thought I was going to cry I was so afraid," the boy continued. His face was screwed up as if he wanted to cry again at just the memory of the ordeal.

"Son," Rob said gently. "Like your Grandpa said, there is nothing wrong with being afraid. There isn't anything wrong with crying either. It doesn't matter if you are crying because you are sad or afraid. There is nothing wrong with it. Think about this though. You were so scared you wanted to cry but you still did what you needed to do and you saved us. You saved your mom from those men and you saved me. Thank you."

Mary scooted towards the middle of the loveseat couch and reached out to touch Jimmy's arm. "I couldn't believe you went back out there with Bill," she said timidly. "I was so scared that he was going to take me out there I think I wet my pants."

That brought a slight smile to the adult's faces as they watched the two 13 year olds.

"I was afraid when I had to drive the truck too," Mary continued in the same unsure tones. "But at least I didn't think anyone was shooting at me. You knew there were men out there and knew they would shoot you if they could. I don't think I could have done that."

Jimmy's face flushed furiously and mumbled something about just doing what he needed to do.

Mary left her hand on his arm.

Bill had already told them what the bandit in the gulch had told him. "Now we need to decide what to do with the information," he said.

"You heard the news cast," Rob pointed out. "We need to get that information to the authorities. I think we should let the people in Young know that we made it and what they are doing with the woman captives in Heber too."

"The radio said they could home in on short wave broadcasts," Cherie said tentatively. "Bill explained they can't use the radio to find us if we only listen. Can they find us if we broadcast?"

"Only if we broadcast for a long period," Rob replied. "We would need to plan in advance what we are going to say to make it as quick as we can."

"If they have a direction finder in Heber they could at least know what direction we are," Susan pointed out. "That combined with the missing bandits could bring a bunch of them in this direction," she warned with a little tremor.

Bill and Rob's eyes locked for a moment before Rob gave a slight nod.

"We still need to let them know Susan," Bill said gently. "You are right though. It might put us in more danger but any intelligence the National Guard has could help bring this to an end."

"What is so important about them knowing the union organizers are running this," Susan asked angrily. "They already know that Weathermen are leading the militias. Is it really worth drawing attention to us? Is it worth letting those thugs know where we are?"

Bill took a deep breath and let it out. He knew this was up to him. It was OK if Susan got mad at him. He didn't want her mad at Rob, especially if something went wrong.

"Susan," he began calmly. "If they know how these guys are organized and where their centers of power are maybe they can put a stop to this quick. They will know what direction to look for us anyway when they find their dead friends. Not passing the information won't put us in much more danger and could help us."

Susan had tears in her eyes now and she looked at Rob for support. Finding only a sympathetic gaze she looked back to Bill and said, "But Dad, Rob's already been shot. I thought he was going to die. I thought all of us were going to die out there but we are safe now." Tears were streaming down her face now but she continued. "I don't want to feel like that again Dad. We are safe and I don't want to jeopardize that in any way."