Free The Blue Ridge Resistance by Steven Bird Page B

livestock trailer, there were plenty of viewing and shooting positions, allowing them to spread out to cover all angles while they drove.
    While they were to be away, Griff and Daryl were planning on heading up security for all of the participating homesteads, as had been previously discussed. The two were to stay in regular communication with one another and were to make rounds to the homesteads that were left vulnerable by the absence of the men on the supply run. It was also understood by the other remaining homesteaders that they were to assist Griff and Daryl in the event they were called upon during an emergency or a security situation.
    Once they got underway, the first leg of the journey was planned to stop in Del Rio to visit Pastor Wallace of the Del Rio Baptist Church. Pastor Wallace had helped them out when Nate, Luke, and Rachel made their way to Tennessee to find Judith.
    As they drove away and lost sight of their family members, everyone was silent at first. The unknowns of what would happen to them, as well as their families back home were ever present on their minds. After several miles, Jimmy broke the conversational ice in the trailer by asking Nate, “So… how are things going with you and Peggy? Rumor around here is that we may be having a wedding sometime soon.”
    Nate just blushed, looked out the window, and said, “If I can be so blessed. Things are going great. Things have been so busy lately around the farm getting everything ready for spring calves and planting, we haven’t been able to spend as much time together as we would like. Once everything settles down a little though, I plan on making her and Zack my number one priority.”
    “She sure seems like a keeper to me,” said Charlie with a smile.
    Just then, the tractor slowed abruptly and over Nate’s handheld radio, the men heard Jason’s voice say, “Movement… left side… at least two went into the woods.”
    “Armed?” Nate asked in reply.
    “Unsure,” responded Jason.
    Nate signaled to Charlie and Jimmie to cover the rear and the opposite side, while he and Ed watched for Jason’s contacts and responded, “On it.”
    After a few hundred more yards, the tractor sped back up and things seemed to return to normal. “Negative contact,” added Jason noting that they had passed the potential threat.
    Once the tensions eased and the men in the trailer returned to their conversation, Nate said, “And speaking of me and Peggy, one of the things I’m hoping to come across out here is a ring. I want to propose, and I want to do it right—the traditional way, but it’s not like you can just run down to the local jewelry store these days. So if you guys could help me keep an eye out… I mean, I have no idea what we are going to encounter out here, but if we were to find a swap meet or something like that, I would be grateful if you let me know if you see something along those lines.”
    “Anything for love man, anything for love,” Jimmy replied with a teasing chuckle.
    As the men rolled into Del Rio on Route 107, they came across a roadblock, positioned in plain view, and guarded by several armed men. Evan stopped the tractor, giving Jason a chance to check the situation out from a distance with his magnified riflescope.
    “What do we have?” asked Evan.
    “It doesn’t look like a trap. They aren’t hiding a thing. It looks like possibly some town’s people controlling entrance to the town. One has a shotgun, another has a hunting rifle, and the third has some sort of black rifle, probably a CETME or a FAL. They are checking us out with binoculars too.”
    “Can we get through? If they will let us, that is,” asked Evan.
    “Probably. They just need to drag that flatbed trailer out of the way that they are using to block the road,” Jason replied.
    Evan looked at Jason as he lowered his rifle and asked, “What do you think?”
    “I don’t blame them for guarding the place. They’re probably okay guys, just doing