299 Days: The Visitors

Chapter 164 “So, Who’s In?” (July 3)

“Killing them, Grant. Killing them is what should be easy,” Ted said. He was being gentle with Grant because he could tell that he was a decent guy who needed to come to the conclusion about killing these people on his own. Chip had told Ted about the looters, so he knew that Grant had it in him.

Chip had also told Ted that Grant had a calm head after the shooting in preparing for a counter attack and then bugging out before the cops got there. So, Grant could do these things; he just needed a little coaxing to do them in a…premeditated way. “Premeditated” was the wrong word. That sounded like murder. This wasn’t murder. It was war. Grant needed to get used it and make the mental shift.

The political animal in Grant was feeling that he was about to be marginalized and lose his ability to persuade the Team. He had been doing so well ever since they got out there. Extremely well, actually. Now he was stumbling. He was being shown to be weak and clinging to the old ways. Shit, he realized he had normalcy bias, which was the worst thing someone could have out there. Grant had to do something to show he wasn’t living in the past. He had to authorize the killing of the Loyalists.

“OK,” Grant said. “Snelling and Abbott can go. But I have one condition.” Grant quickly realized that he had no ability to require any conditions, but he had already said it, so he might as well roll with it.

“I want some evidence that they are actively out to kill us,” Grant said. “Not much evidence, just a little. Just…enough.”

Ted knew this was Grant’s bottom line. Ted needed Grant to have a huge role in the Pierce Point indigenous fighters. He decided to give in.

“OK, a little evidence,” Ted said. “Then we can kill them.”

“Deal,” Grant said. He realized that saying “Deal” was conspiracy to commit murder. Another crime under the old laws to be put on Grant’s long list of offenses. He was dead if the Loyalists held onto power. He had picked sides and there was no turning back. That had happened a long time ago. This was just reinforcing it.

“Back to what we hope to do out here,” Ted said. He wanted to turn to the tactical details.

“Recruit, train, supply, and lead 100 or so fighters from Pierce Point and ones we bring in,” Ted said. “That’s not what we hope to do,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to do,” he said confidently. Ted needed these guys to be confident. And Ted was genuinely confident. They had a great setup out there and a core group of guys, like the Team who Ted knew personally and had even helped train. Ted was in a much better situation there than in the various hell holes where he’d done this before.

“We’ll bring in fighters from elsewhere and also regular military too to get you up to 100,” Ted said. “The number of 100 is driven a lot by how many rifles we have. We’ll train you to do typical guerilla things like raids, harassing ambushes, demolitions. Well, demolitions if we have any explosives for you, which we don’t, at this time. But, we’ll be getting plenty soon.” That was a curious statement, Grant thought.

“The ultimate mission,” Ted said, “will be for the Pierce Point unit to help with the march on Olympia that’s being planned.” Every army wants to take the enemy’s capitol.

“Most of the Loyalists have fled to Seattle and that will be the last big battle up there,” Ted continued. “But we want the political legitimacy of having the capitol. Plus, there’s a significant chunk of the Loyalist forces in Olympia,” Ted said, using the terms “Loyalist” and “Lima” interchangeably.

“You guys,” Ted continued, “are a few miles away from Olympia. The spearhead will be from regular Patriot units, but we’ll use irregulars like you to fill in behind the regulars.”

“Irregular” units. Grant remembered that term from the Revolutionary War. It meant recruits with little training doing what they could to help the well trained regular units. Some of the irregular units did a magnificent job. In a civil war, irregulars made huge contributions.

“Irregulars like you,” Ted said, “will occupy the areas our regular troops liberate. You’ll guard facilities. Work on supply missions. Deal with the civilian populations we liberate. Find the remaining Loyalists and capture them or…kill them.”

Grant nodded when he heard that part about killing Loyalists. He wanted Ted to know that he was on board.

The Team sat there silently. They were playing out in their minds what they would be doing. Crap. This was a real war. They were in it.

Ted thought some more. “Hey, with all you’re doing out here with the Grange, feeding people, even a postal service, all that shit, we might use you guys for civil affairs in the newly liberated areas.”

How did Ted know about the postal service? Grant wondered. He looked over at Chip, who smiled and made the hand gesture of talking on a handheld radio. Chip must have radioed in a report to Ted on all the services that were coming to life out at Pierce Point. That explained Ted’s reference to a “civil affairs asset” being out at Pierce Point. Me, Grant thought.

Yes. Grant’s body broke out in goose bumps when the outside thought said that. Everything was clear to Grant.

The guys on the Team were thinking about all of this. Wes was the first to say something. “We’re not regular troops. We don’t enlist for four years or anything?”

“Nope,” Ted said. “You’re like the militias in the Revolutionary War. Not professional frontline troops, but not meant to be. Locals who come together, do a job, and then go back to their normal lives.”

“We’re soldiers until we don’t need to be anymore,” Wes said.

“Exactly,” said Ted.

It was quiet for a while. Finally Ted said something.

“So, you guys in?” he asked.

More silence. Then more. Oh crap, were these guys going to join or not?

“I’m in,” Pow said.

“Me too,” said Wes.

“Yep,” said Bobby.

“I’m in,” said Scotty.

“Need an old fart?” Chip asked.

“Ryan will be in,” Pow said. Ted asked who Ryan was. Pow explained and said he’d be back when he dropped the girls off.

“A Marine, huh?” Sap asked. “We could use him.”

“He’s on the Team with us. We let him in. We trust him,” Pow said.

It was Grant’s turn. He hadn’t said he was in. He could feel the eyes on him. They were waiting for him. This was it. Formal decision time. No more talking and nodding. It was time to commit. Or not.