299 Days: The 17th Irregulars

Chapter 177 The “Ted Project”

Grant and Lisa slept soundly until the sun came into their room. When they woke, they didn’t even remember getting into bed the night before after the Grange meeting. Given the angles of the windows, the sun didn’t come into the window until mid-morning this time of year. Grant noticed this and realized it must be late, like 8:00 a.m. or something crazy like that.

It was 8:16 a.m., to be exact. He knew Lisa needed to get up to go to the clinic so he woke her up by hugging her softly. She slowly woke up to him holding her, which she had always loved, but now it felt even better, more significant. She had often taken these quiet moments in bed for granted, but not anymore.

Grant, being a typical guy with typical appetites, was getting a little charged up from the hug, which wasn’t his intention. He just wanted to wake her up and let her know how much he loved her. His lower brain functions took over and then he wanted to take the hug farther.

That wasn’t going to happen. Grant didn’t want to blow the cool points he was getting for a no-strings-attached hug. Besides, he could hear the kids were up, and so were her parents. Not exactly a good ambiance. He decided to fight the urge and just kissed her on the forehead.

“Good morning, dear,” Grant said. “Your husband loves you.”

Lisa had a big smile on her face. That smile of hers meant everything to him. It was what he lived for. Grant forced himself to get out of bed before he tried to take the hug further and then went out to say good morning to the kids and Drew and Eileen. He hadn’t seen them in quite some time.

They were starting up some pancakes, of course. Grant had purchased over 100 pounds of pancake mix before the Collapse. It seemed crazy at the time; not anymore. The Morrells and Colsons (except Tammy) were coming over. Gideon would also be there as he ended his night guard shift by coming over to Grant’s cabin and having breakfast with everyone.

Gideon could eat at the Grange, but it was usually hard to get a ride up there and back in time to let him sleep during the day. Besides, it took him hours to get out of the Grange because everyone came up to him and thanked him for the semi-truck of food. He didn’t mind their kind words; it was just that after a night of guard duty, making small talk with people was the last thing he wanted to do.

Chip came over for breakfast, too. He was just stopping in to say good morning before he and the Team went to the Grange. Mark would take the Team, Drew, Grant, and Lisa up to the Grange where they would eat breakfast. They usually tried to be up there around 8:00 a.m. and they were running a little behind this morning.

“You still got gas?” Grant asked Mark, to which Chip laughed at the unintended double meaning.

“Yep,” Mark said. “I actually don’t drive much; just taking you guys around in the morning and getting you at night. Once in a while, I go out hunting. Tammy keeps my tank full with gas from work.”

“How is she doing?” Eileen asked. “That horrible attack she suffered through. Have they caught the people who did that?”

Mark, who had not been told what really happened, said, “Nope. They must have taken off. There’s been nothing like that around the power company. They all travel now in pairs and are well armed. Tammy insists on driving herself to work alone. I tried to talk her out of it, but she just thinks she’s OK. She seems very confident it won’t happen again.”

They all talked about what they would be doing that day. John and Mark would be setting some crab pots when the tide got right, which was in about an hour, and then they would go deer hunting until dinner. Mary Anne and Eileen would be working in the garden and making some strawberry jam with the ripening berries. Manda and Cole would play with all the neighborhood kids. Lisa would be at the clinic all day. Chip was running the day shift of the Grange guards. He was done overseeing the Crew; they were on their own now and were integrating very nicely with the Team. Drew was keeping track of people’s contributions to the community and overseeing the meal cards. He was also compiling a secret Patriot/Loyalist list for Grant.

As they got into the truck, Grant said his predictable “This never gets old.” There was that armed serenity feeling again; riding in the back of the truck, AR on a sling, with his guys.

“Beats the shit out of selling insurance,” Pow added, just as predictably. That always reminded them how lucky they were to be out here doing what they were doing. It was a good mental framework to begin a day of hard, potentially dangerous, work. During the ride up to the Grange, the Team talked about their girlfriends. Time dedicated to discussing tactical preparations was non-existent. Instead, they meticulously planned who would have the rooms with a door that closed and when they would rotate. That consumed their planning energies. Grant and Chip looked at each and both sighed and smiled. They’d been young once, too.

Mark dropped them off at the Grange and took off. They all went in and started to eat a breakfast of biscuits, deer meat, and fresh raspberries. Lots of other people from the community were there, engaged in several conversations about a variety of topics.

Grant saw Rich and Dan talking and went up to them.

“Good mornin’,” Dan greeted him. “I’m surprised your guys can walk after what they’ve been doing the past few nights,” he said with a smile. Word travels fast.

“Hey, guys,” Grant said, disregarding that comment about the Team Chicks and getting down to critical business, “I need to talk to both of you about something pretty important. Don’t worry, it’s good news.” Grant wanted to put a positive spin on the topic of the Ted project. He was always amazed at how much more receptive people were when someone prefaced the topic with “this is good news.”

“This is something,” Grant continued, “that we need to concentrate on and I’ll need your planning help. It’s top secret so we can’t talk about it just anywhere. You guys got some time?”

“Sure,” Rich said, wondering what Grant was talking about. “How about now? We can go outside.”

Grant would have preferred to talk to Rich and Dan over some whiskey, but he couldn’t wait until later that night for the conversation. He didn’t want them to hear about it from someone else, like the Chief, Paul, Gideon, or Chip, all of whom knew about Special Forces Ted.

Grant nodded and walked outside, with Rich and Dan following him. They went outside, toward a corner of the gravel parking lot that was out of everyone’s earshot. It was becoming obvious that this was going to be an important discussion.

When Rich and Dan got to the corner of the lot, Grant looked them right in the eye and grinned his biggest grin. “Well,” he said, “we have some help coming.” He paused and said, “Quite a bit, actually.”

Rich and Dan both had an inkling of what kind of help was coming, as well as the dangers that came with it.

“What sort of help?” Dan asked.

“Special Forces,” Grant said, still grinning. “Patriot Special Forces will be training up a unit out here.” Grant nodded his head as if to say, “See, I told you that would be cool.”

Rich and Dan weren’t smiling. To them, this wasn’t good at all.

“What?” Rich said loudly. “What the hell do we need Special Forces for out here?”

“Yeah,” Dan said, “we’re not trying to be some military unit. We’re trying to protect our people so they can survive this.” He was pissed. “I’ve seen enough combat,” he said, “I’m not looking for any more fights. I want to protect my people and get through this. Wars aren’t good survival plans.”

Grant was surprised that Dan didn’t realize how awesome it was to have Special Forces Ted out here. But, if Dan’s focus was surviving, then Grant would tailor his arguments to address that concern.

“Guys, winter is coming,” Grant said. “We can’t just sit around trying to survive. We need to do what it takes to reverse this whole situation. To fix things.”

“By drawing attention to our little area?” Rich asked. Dan was nodding.

“These guys train covertly,” Grant said. “You know how SF operates. We’ll have a secret place out here. We’ll come up with a cover. Besides, I know the lead SF guy, Ted. I’ve been friends with him for years. He trained the Team. That’s why they’re so good. We’ll get lots of trainers and equipment. They’re based…nearby,” Grant said, not wanting to give away their location in Boston Harbor. He trusted Rich and Dan with his life, but saw no need to tell people more information than they needed to know.

Rich and Dan were still silent, thinking about the whole situation. The fact that the SF unit was led by this Ted guy that they’d heard about from the Team’s stories, and the fact that Grant had known Ted for years, was something to ponder. This meant this wasn’t some harebrained scheme with some Patriot stranger.

Grant sensed this was the time to present his best argument.

“You guys are Oath Keepers,” he said, looking them in the eyes. “You get why this is necessary. You’ve seen this coming for years. Don’t deny it. You knew that eventually it would come to this. This is our moment, gentlemen. We’ve been called on to do what’s necessary, just like the Founding Fathers’ generation. It’s our turn. It’s a huge honor to be given this opportunity. A huge honor.” Grant kept staring them in the eyes, waiting for that to sink in.

Rich and Dan were still silent. They were thinking. Something like this couldn’t just be agreed upon on the fly. This was serious stuff, with many implications. And it was a game changer for Pierce Point. This would mean the Limas would be gunning for Pierce Point if the existence of the Patriot unit was discovered, as it probably would be. That meant fighting regular Lima forces, which could easily overpower the gate guards. It also meant dozens or even hundreds of well-armed strangers in their midst. Rich and Dan had heard the stories about defecting military units turning into gangs. And now Grant wanted to invite them into Pierce Point?

Dan was the first to speak. “Grant, I hate war. I’ve been in it. I’ve seen horrible things. People’s heads blown off. Legs blown off. Ever seen a guy who gets blinded and comes running at you, screaming that he can’t see? Ever talk to his wife?”

Grant was silent.

“A rocket attack on the Bagram Airfield,” Dan said, staring out into the surrounding area. “Explosions everywhere. Shrapnel everywhere. You ever seen what shrapnel does to human beings?”

More silence. Grant was unqualified to disagree.

“You know,” Dan said, “that the other side will have rockets, mortars—God I hate mortars—and probably air cover. You know what a 500 pound aerial bomb does to a few dozen of your closest friends? Or your neighbors? Kids and all. Or what a helicopter gun ship can do? That shit ain’t fair. It ain’t the rifles and pistols we use out here, where you basically know who you’re killing. The shit they’ll have is indiscriminate and lethal. And maiming.”

Dan straightened up his posture, as if to deliver something he didn’t want to say.

“With all due respect, Grant,” he said, looking Grant straight in the eyes, “you have no idea what you’re getting into.”

For the first time out here, Grant was scared and wondered what he had gotten himself into. He worried that he’d made a wrong decision, a huge miscalculation.

Rich finally spoke, interrupting Grant’s worrying mind.

“What can the Patriots do for us if we provide sanctuary, fighters, and a training facility?” Rich asked. He was thinking of this as a business transaction; not a greedy transaction, but a prudent one.

“Protection,” Grant said quickly. He had thought of the answer to this question in advance of asking them for their blessing. “A shit load of extremely well trained and well-armed troops. It beats the crap out of anything around here. The Blue Ribbon Boys against Special Forces? Please.” He sighed.

“Intelligence,” Grant added. “That’s another thing we’ll get. We’ll know way in advance of what’s coming into our area and across the state. We’ll be days ahead of the curve of other communities. That alone could save all of us.”

“Oh,” Grant said with a big smile. “Supplies. Food for the fighters and equipment. We’ll be in the Patriot system. The support system. If we need resources from the wider area, we’ll have them.”

Grant had no idea if that was true. Sometimes a leader has to do or say those sorts of things on a whim, and then has to figure out how to make the promises come true. Grant figured this was a safe promise and that Pierce Point would get supplies from being the Patriot system. Probably. Hopefully.

“It’s the beach I’m worried about,” Rich said, switching the topic and keeping the conversation going, which was a good sign.

“And the skies,” Dan said. “Air cover is a bitch. Grant, you need to quit thinking about this as a small-arms, police-type situation. What you’re suggesting is a full-on military situation. Bombs. Rockets, helicopters. Massive civilian deaths. Maybe even your own family.”

That stung. Grant realized he had never thought of any of this affecting his family. He had been thinking of himself: any impact on his family would be from him being gone for a while. In fact, Grant had only thought about the impact on his family as being that his wife would be pissed at him. Not that a bomb would demolish his cabin and those around it. Or level the Grange and everyone in it. Grant was terrified. He had not considered what a real military fight was all about.

You will win. Faith.

Grant got goose bumps. Actual bumps on his arms followed by that unexplainable calm feeling. Was it really the outside thought or was Grant just trying to comfort himself? There was no way to explain the calm. It was not a human thing. Grant relaxed and became confident again.

“We will win,” Grant said, not really sure what he was going to say next. The words were just flowing like he had no control over what was coming out of his mouth.

“Look at how weak the government is,” Grant said so persuasively that he surprised himself. “We’re finishing them off. They can’t mount offensive operations. Maybe in Seattle or DC or wherever, but not out here in the sticks. They don’t give a shit about Frederickson, let alone Pierce Point. They’ve left this territory to hacks, like Winters. He’s just a corrupt politician running some rackets, with a couple dozen Blue Ribbon Boys who are not exactly top-notch fighters. Rich, you saw them.”

Rich nodded slightly.

“If the government was so strong,” Grant said, once again wondering what would come out of his mouth next, “why haven’t they attacked us yet? If they had any strength, they should have stormed in here and looked for that semi of food. You know what that thing is worth?”

Grant pointed in the direction of the gate, which was a few miles away. “What did they do to go get their extremely valuable semi-truck full of food? They sent two cops and Rich bribed them with a bottle of booze. That’s all they got. Two cops who can be easily bribed. That’s what we are supposed to be afraid of?”

Grant looked at Dan and, wanting to puff up his ego a bit, asked, “Why didn’t the authorities come into Pierce Point, Dan? Your guards and those dogs. Did you see the look on Bennington’s face when he saw the dogs? We have a unique position here, guys. We have an extremely defensible position. And assets. Dogs, guards, snipers, beach patrol. We’re not some typical subdivision of unarmed and scared suburbanites—those are the only people the government has the strength to push around.”

Grant shook his head. “That ain’t us, gentlemen. We have a functioning system out here. We’re feeding our people; they’re standing in lines for sacks of flour back in town. It’s a natural fit for us to work with these SF guys and get things back.”

Returning to a time of decency was his best argument, so Grant pressed it.

“You like things the way they are?” He asked Dan and Rich. “You like having to guard your community full time? How long can we keep that up? A year? A decade? Are you kidding me? You know, and I know, that in a few months or a year, tops, the super gangs will be roaming.” He said, referencing when separate gangs united and started massive raping, pillaging, and killing sprees. “They’ll come out here,” Grant said. “You know what that means.”

Dan and Rich started to acknowledge to themselves that the current situation could not last. Something long term needed to be done. If the Loyalists won, they would roll into places that had food and resources and pick the place clean. Places just like Pierce Point. Or maybe the super gangs would get there before the Loyalists did. Pierce Point had no choice.

“I’m an Oath Keeper,” Dan said after a long pause. “I will honor my oath. And that means doing whatever I can to stop what’s happening and fix things.” Dan dreaded saying that, because he knew exactly how painful that would be. He’d seen it at Bagram.

“Me, too,” Rich said. “I don’t want to do this. But what are the options? You and the Team will just leave to join the Patriots. Then we’re screwed.”

Grant had never even thought about leaving Pierce Point in order to join up with Ted. He would never leave his family and friends, but if Rich thought Grant was threatening to leave with the Team, and that would be a reason for Rich to agree to let Ted come in, then Grant would roll with it.

“I have no intention of leaving,” Grant said, which was true, “but I can’t control my guys, who definitely want to join up with Ted. They already have.” Grant let that sink in.

He decided to switch from mildly threatening Dan and Rich to focusing on the positive aspects of them getting behind the Ted project. “We’re in a much stronger position,” Grant said, “with a bunch of well-trained, well-equipped, well-led fighters who are tapped into a much larger network than our little community.”

He looked Rich and Dan in the eye again and said, “In the situation we’re in out here, more is better. More fighters, more guns, more supplies. We will get that with the Patriots. Or, by doing nothing, we will get slow attrition and eventual death.”

Rich and Dan just stared at Grant. They were thinking.

Then Rich started nodding slightly.

“Ask yourselves this,” Grant said, suddenly thinking of a great argument. “Which would Winters and the gangs rather see: Pierce Point having a big and well-trained fighting unit or just guarding the gate and beach with volunteers?”

That sealed the deal. Rich and Dan both were nodding solidly now.

“OK,” Rich said, “I agree that we should explore a relationship with this Ted guy and the Patriots.”

Rich turned to Dan and said, “Dan, what you think?”

“I don’t want to do it,” Dan said, shaking his head.

Grant’s heart sank.

Dan looked at Grant and said, “However, I can see how we might be better off. But I have some questions. Like, about air cover and what kind of assets the Loyalists can throw at us. I also want to know how many other places will be like Pierce Point. Are we the only place training fighters or are we one of a hundred in this part of the state? That would have a huge impact on the odds of some F-15s flying overhead or some helicopters coming to call.”

Dan pointed his finger at Grant and said, “I’m serious, Grant. I want answers before I’m OK with this. If I am ever OK with this. I want a military plan presented to me. A detailed and professional military plan.”

Then Dan’s demeanor softened up and he said, “I’m open to hearing the facts, but they need to be facts and not hopes.”

Grant couldn’t ask for more than that.

“Sure,” Grant said. “I’ll arrange for Ted to talk to you guys. He just pops by whenever.” Actually, Sap left a radio with Scotty so they could get a hold of them, but Rich and Dan didn’t need to know that. Grant felt bad keeping secrets from his friends, even little ones like the radio.

“Hey, Grant,” Dan said, realizing he’d been a little too negative about this Special Forces thing, “I’m not on you about this. I am grateful that you know people like this Ted guy. I’m glad you’re doing all you can to change things. I just have some experiences that mean I question all this war talk. It ain’t all fun and games. I used to think so. If I get satisfactory answers, I’m all in. I’m a Patriot. I just don’t want to get my people killed for no reason.”

“Fair enough,” Grant said. “No offense taken, Dan. I want guys like you who know more about this topic to help us make the best decisions.”

“Well, time to go to work,” Rich said, switching gears. The meeting was over abruptly. They walked silently back into the Grange as if they had just had a discussion about…treason. They had. At least treason to the former government.

Grant went to Linda, the dispatcher, and asked her to get Scotty on the radio. He knew the Grange radio was not secure, so he chose his words carefully. He didn’t want to give too many details, even in code speak, but he wanted Scotty to be able to tell Ted and Sap that there was a valid reason to come out. Grant realized that they should have come up with some code words for many situations like this one.

After a few minutes, Scotty came on the radio. “What’s up, man?” he asked in the disciplined military protocol the Team was known for. Yet another sign that they weren’t taking themselves too seriously or being mall ninjas, Grant thought.

“Ted project, dude.” Grant said. “Get them out here tonight for cocktails after dinner. It’s a dog and pony show for Fred 1 and Badger 9.” No one had used those cheesy code names they came up with in so long that Grant had trouble remembering Rich’s and Dan’s handles. He wasn’t sure he got the numbers right, but “Fred” and “Badger” were close enough to tell Scotty that the meeting guests of Rich and Dan were important enough for Ted and Sap to come see.

“RT,” Scotty said, which was their term for “roger that.” It was an acronym they came up with before the Collapse when they would text each other about when a shooting session would be. Besides, Grant felt stupid saying “Roger that” when they weren’t really military or law enforcement. He also thought “RT” might throw off anyone who could be listening.

“Let me know tonight at dinner that you’ve made the arrangements,” Grant said.

“RT,” Scotty said again.

Grant handed the radio back to Linda who had absolutely no idea what he had just been talking about.