Free The Last of the Freemen by Carl Trotz

contract that conveniently places them at the top of everything!”
    “Wow.  I did get you going.”
    “Sorry if I got worked up.  Maybe I've spent too much time around Harm. Once upon a time I was a farmer who minded my own business.”
    “Do you think he'll be here soon?”
    “I don't know, exactly. He intended to erase any trace of us, anything that could lead authorities to our families, that much I know.  But what he meant by ‘other business’, he didn’t say. Likely he wants to pass off the merchandise - some of it’s quite valuable - to someone who can use it, rather than just destroy it. And he had gathered a heap of medicinal herbs this morning, before you came over, he was planning to deliver them today to some renegade healer woman I think he's a little sweet on. Wouldn't surprise me if he tried to get those to her.”
    “Sounds risky. They’ve been throwing those people in jail, haven't they?”
    “The ones who don't get shot during the initial raids.”
    “But there is some danger in using herbal medicine, wouldn't you say?  Some are poison, if you take too much, and some probably don't do any good at all.”
    “Even so, how is it a government’s job to tell free people what they can do to themselves?”
    “Good point. But I still don't see the point of risking everything for a pile of herbs.”
    “He’s weighed his risks out pretty well over the years. And he has friends, you know... I wouldn't trust anyone outside of our own people, but there’s a strange kind of loyalty sometimes, in the underworld.  Or so he tells me. I know he has people, in unlikely places, who would risk a great deal for him, and he’s done the same for them.  I've seen it.”
    “One of the police officers knew him, and called him Wolf.”
    “Ha!  That old alias. Probably the less we know, the better.”
    “And he seemed to sense there would be trouble downtown this morning.”
    “He does have a sense for these things. Maybe because he's seen so much trouble in his life.” He frowned and went to the door with his gun to listen. “Someone's coming, let's hope it's him.”
    Erin could hear an engine in the distance as Bern went outside and closed the door behind him; she listened tensely as it came closer and shut off. Several long minutes passed before she heard someone approach; Bern opened the door, holding a case of baby formula under his arm.
    “All’s well,” he said. “Harm is here.”

Chapter 14
    Harm – now wearing a long sleeved, charcoal work shirt – held Mangler on a short leash as he approached; when Bern came inside, Harm tethered Mangler to a tree, took a deep breath, and scratched his head as he looked around.
    “Harm,” Bern said over his shoulder,  “we have soup.  Come and eat.”
    “Ich hab’ keine Hunger,” Harm answered.
    Once inside Bern placed the box of powdered baby formula on the table.
    “Wow!” Erin happily exclaimed.  “Thank you so much!”
    “Hughie should be set for a while now,” Bern said, and returned to eating.
    “How did you manage it?” she called out the door to Harm.
    He reluctantly came to the door.
    “I traded for it.”  He squinted as he peered in at her.  “How’s your lip?”
    “Oh, it’s fine, thank you.  Just a little swollen.”
    “What did you trade?” Bern asked.
    “Most of the selective-fire conversion kits.”
    “Those were worth thousands!”
    “Yeah, but I had to dump them. And Hector was taking a big chance, coming to meet me.  He earned the difference.”
    Bern shook his head. “That militia group was ready to pay for those in gold.”
    “I know,” Harm answered tiredly. “But it didn't feel right.  I think they've been infiltrated, like so many of those groups.”
    “But couldn't we have-”
    “Es macht nichts.  Es ist schon getan,” Harm said sharply. “Besides,” he continued in a milder tone, “Hector has a family to feed. He’s been one of the only English I’ve been able to trust for the last few