on everyone.”
As Nelson pulled through the area they were cutting down, Matt looked over at him. “How long you think we got before they come here?”
“Matt, we are on a farm in the middle of nowhere. We stand a good chance of them never coming here. Contrary to popular belief, America is a big place.”
Stopping near the area they were going to cut, Nelson turned off the UTV. Matt said, “We were listening to the HAM radio last night, and riots are widespread. Food is starting to run short in major cities, and Wyoming joined with Texas, Montana, and the other states in withdrawing from the Union. It’s rumored that Missouri was going to announce it, but the governor was called to Washington, and his plane crashed.”
“Funny how that happens,” Nelson said, putting his chaps on, “that someone who wanted to follow the people’s wishes ends up dead.”
“A guy outside St. Louis reported that Homeland has thousands of military contractors there.”
“Missouri is vital ground. We are in the middle of the country north to south and east to west. Those southern boys in Louisiana and Arkansas are going to freeze traffic on the southern routes. Iowa doesn’t have the population to make a massive stand, but there aren’t a lot of cities, so the government might be able to move traffic east to west, but Iowa gets snow. They need Missouri to remain with them or at least neutral.”
“That’s what I mean; everyone that I’ve heard on the radio is talking about all the government people moving around the state. The only other states that are reporting more than us are Ohio and Mississippi.”
Buttoning up his cutting jacket and putting on his helmet, Nelson said, “Ohio because of location, and it’s got some good farmland. Mississippi because it is farmland.”
“So if one does show up, what do we do?”
Nelson grabbed his chainsaw. “Kill ‘em,” he said, lowering his ear muffs.
Matt sighed. “Dude, what I’m trying to say is, what if they come in force? Shouldn’t we run?”
Looking up with a hard expression, Nelson said, “Matt, if we have to run, our lives become instantly a thousand times more challenging. We have little kids. They can’t hike far or fast, so running for them is almost impossible and most likely a death sentence for them and us. I’m of the mind of come for me and my family, I’m going to kill you and find your family. When I find your family, I’m going to make them scream as I kill them to let others know: Fuck with me and my family, I’m killing yours.” Nelson put the chainsaw on the ground. Pulling the choke, he grabbed the cord and yanked it.
As the chainsaw roared to life, Matt stared wide-eyed at Nelson as he moved over to a tree. “Shit, that pretty much separates who we kill,” Matt mumbled. Hearing a motor moving behind him, Matt turned to see Nancy, Michelle, and Gavin driving out of the house on a UTV with Gavin in the back, spooling out cable in the trench Nellie had plowed.
Setting down his gear, Matt put on the leather chaps and other gear and grabbed the smaller chainsaw. Groaning as he put on the hardhat and lowered the ear muffs, Matt flipped the choke and yanked the cord. “I hate these damn things.”
When they had three trees down and limbed out, Bernard pulled around with the tractor and scooped them up with the front-end loader. Feeling the ground tremble, Matt turned to see Nelson dropping another tree. He looked at the area they had cleared, and only trees that a person couldn’t hide behind were left. The area still had many trees but none bigger than twelve inches around.
Refilling his chainsaw, Matt stood up and yanked the cord as Nelson moved to another tree. Waiting for the tree to hit the ground, Matt moved up and started cutting the limbs off. The only thing they stopped for was to refill the chainsaws with fuel and oil.
When Matt felt a hand tap his back, he jumped and turned to see Bernard stepping back and holding up his
Under the Cover of the Moon (Cobblestone)