The Blue Ridge Resistance (15 page)

As Nate flipped through the pages, at a loss for words, a photograph of Jimmy’s young wife, Beth, fell to the ground. Jimmy quickly grabbed the picture, kissed it, and held it close to his heart, realizing that he had almost been taken from her in an instant. 

Nate simply said, “She saved you, man,” noticing that the picture had also been pierced by the bullet as it came to rest in the pages of the Bible.

~~~~

In the back of the house, after dispatching their immediate threat, Evan said to Jason, “Stay with the girl; I’ll try to take out the machine gun.”

Jason nodded and fell back to the bedroom, where the girl was restrained to the bed. The young girl was terrified as Jason approached. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and held both hands in the air as he approached her, saying softly, “Shhhhh, it’s okay. The Gibbs family sent us for you. Are you Sabrina?”

The young girl nodded yes and began to cry uncontrollably as she realized her ordeal might be coming to an end. The horrors she faced had caused her to hold back much of her emotions until this very minute. Jason looked around the room for something he could use to cover the girl. The sheets and blankets on the floor were all bloodstained and filthy, so he removed his gear and took off his own jacket, placing it over her. He then looked for something he could use to break the thin metal tubing of the headboard to free the girl. They could worry about getting the cuffs off later, but for now, he needed to get her mobile.

His search was to no avail. Her captors had already cleared the room of everything that was usable as a weapon. In his desperation to get the girl free, he remembered the small chain-type survival saw he kept in his pack. He removed his pack and quickly dug around until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a chain-type saw with a nylon loop for a handle on each end. He wrapped the chain around the metal tubing of the headboard that was there for mostly for decorative reasons, and quickly sawed through it, freeing the girl from the bed. He pulled the bed away from the wall a few feet and said, “Get down here in the floor with me. We’ll wait here until Evan gets back.” Propping his rifle up on the bed and using it for cover, he kept his aim on the doorway in the event Evan did not achieve his objective.

As the man in the front of the house focused on Nate, Jimmy, and Charlie, Evan crept up the hallway leading towards the living room and kitchen area. Unsure if there were any other assailants in the house, he proceeded slowly towards the sounds of the gunfire, scanning for threats as he went.

Upon approaching the living room, he saw a large man firing an M249 SAW out of the front windows of the house. With all of the glass blown from the windows, he had the SAW propped up on the back of a loveseat and was laying down a barrage of fire towards the pickup truck. Evan slipped into the kitchen that was just to the right of the living room, popped up from behind the bar, and fired three rounds into the man’s back, ending the fight.

Outside in the woods, as the barrage of bullets ceased, Charlie and Nate took advantage of the lull to refocus on the front of the house and assess the situation for continuing threats. “Is he out of ammo?” asked Charlie.

“That or the guys got him,” replied Nate. “Let’s lie low for now. He could be waiting to tear into us as soon as he sees movement.”

As Jimmy regained his composure, he took up a defensive position to cover their rear in the event some of the other men from inside of the house were trying to maneuver against them. Nate then yelled to Ed’s position, “Ed… report!”

“I’ve got nothin’ from here!” he yelled in reply.

After a few minutes of silence, they heard a familiar voice over the handheld radio say, “Clear!”

Nate asked in response, “Evan?”

“Yes, clear in here! How about out front?”

“Two down that we can verify, including the machine gunner,” said Nate.

“I think that’s it then. We got the rest inside. I’ll cover you from here while you make a move for the house, just in case,” said Evan as they saw him move into position in the front window.

One at a time, the three men made a move for the house, covering each other as they went. First Charlie and Ed proceeded out of their hunkered down positions to the house, followed by Nate, and then Jimmy. Once they were all inside the living room and Evan advised him that the house was secure, Jason brought the young girl out of the bedroom. His jacket, oversized for her, covered her torso but left her bruised and battered legs exposed in the cold night air. “We’ve gotta find a way to get these cuffs off,” said Jason, looking around the room for ideas.

Nate dug around in his pocket for a second and then pulled out a Tool Logic SLP4 multi-use knife. “How about a key?” Nate said with a grin. “I was military police in the Navy, remember? I’ve got cuff keys stashed all over me.”

Jason, not believing something could actually work out so easily in their predicament, took the key from Nate with a look of relief and freed the young girl’s wrists from the pain of the handcuffs. Her wrists were raw and bruised from days of struggle while wearing them and she was thankful to have them off.

“Thanks, man,” he said, handing him back the key. “Okay, guys, let’s get ourselves together here. Is anyone hurt?”

Nate and Charlie looked at Jimmy as Jimmy said, “My arm, but we can worry about that later.”

“Nonsense,” Evan replied. “Let’s get that wrapped up, at a minimum, for now. Nate, if you can help him with that.”

Nate nodded in the affirmative, led Jimmy over to the sofa, and sat him down; he had him remove his load-bearing vest, jacket, and shirt so they could get a good look at the extent of his wound. While they were dealing with Jimmy’s injuries, Charlie said, “Where’s Roxanne?”

He immediately realized the full extent of the situation when the girl looked down and broke into tears once again. Ed then realized his fears and knew exactly whom he had stumbled across in the woods earlier. Their moment of glee from having defeated the predators, quickly turned dark once again as they let the full extent of the situation, as well as what the young girl and her mother had gone through, sink in.

“Let’s get her out of here,” Jason said, interrupting the somber mood.

“Jimmy’s not in a position to hustle on foot at the moment. Ed, how about you and Charlie go get the ATVs,” Evan said to get the ball rolling once again. “We’ll get her back to the trailer on one of them and get her some clean clothes. They won’t fit, but they’ll be warm and clean. We can use the other ATV to transport her mother somewhere so we can give her the respect she deserves. We can’t leave her here, not after what she went through in this place.”

Everyone nodded in agreement as Charlie looked at Ed and said, “Let’s get moving.”

“Roger that!” he replied.

Jason sat Sabrina down on the sofa and offered her some venison jerky and a drink of water. She was desperately hungry and tried to eat but was so distraught she got nauseated after only a few bites. She took a few drinks of water and with a mere whisper from her sore, dry throat, said, “Thank you,” as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Evan sat down next to her and said, “The Gibbs family is on their way to somewhere safe. A place where women are girls are sheltered and protected from atrocities such as this. We will get you there to them. I’m sure they would love to have you with them. They were very worried about you and were devastated about what happened to you.”

“Did they pay you to come?” she asked.

“Pay us? What do you mean?” he asked in reply.

“Why did you come for me? Why did you risk your lives and get hurt to save me? You didn’t even know me.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” he said softly. “I know you’ve seen and gone through a lot of horrible things since this all started happening, but I promise, there are still some good people in the world. The Gibbs family are good people, and we just want to get you back to them.”

She tried to smile in appreciation for what he said but simply harbored too much pain. She laid her head on the arm of the sofa and closed her eyes, falling asleep for the first time in days, knowing that she had her own guardian angels keeping her safe.

Chapter 23: Intensive Care

He could hear muffled voices, but the relentless pain made him unable to focus on the words being said. The light in his eyes blurred his vision; he squinted, trying to see. A blinding light in his right eye sent shooting pain through his already pounding head, and then it moved to the left. “Griff… Griff…” he heard from a voice behind light.

He tried to speak, but merely moving the muscles in his face to make his jaw work caused blinding pain. Struggling to open his eyes, he saw a figure standing over him. “Honey, it’s me. Are you in there?” said the voice of his wife, Judy, as he felt a woman’s touch on his forehead, gently dabbing a cold, damp cloth to ease his pain. “I think he’s awake,” she said as others crowded around him.

“He’s still in a lot of pain. I don’t think he’s ready,” another voice said. He then felt a stinging in his arm followed by the voice saying, “This will help him sleep. He’ll come out of it in time…” as he faded into darkness.

~~~~

Opening his eyes once again, he saw that the room was now dark, which was pleasing to his pounding head. He struggled to figure out where he was, but it hurt too much to move his head to look around. His neck was sore and stiff and his head throbbed with pain. “Griff?” he heard again as a female’s soft touch caressed his arm.

“Baby,” he quietly mumbled.

“Yes, yes, honey, it’s me,” sobbed Judy as she kissed him on the forehead. “Oh, thank the Lord you are awake. I’ve been so scared I was going to lose you.”

“Where… Where is Daryl? Beth… Where is Beth?” he struggled to ask.

“Daryl is fine,” she said as she stroked his hair and gazed at him with watery eyes. “He’s out on patrol with some of the others, keeping us safe.”

“Where’s Beth?” he asked through the pain.

“She didn’t make it. There was nothing you could do.”

He just lay there, soaking in what she said as he realized it wasn’t just a bad dream. It had all really happened, although he had no memory of how he had gotten where he was now, or what had happened to him. 

Just then, Rachel entered the room and said, “Oh, thank goodness he’s awake.” She checked his pulse, listened to his chest with a stethoscope, and said, “How are you doing, Griff? Are you feeling any pain?”

“Yes, all over, but especially my head, my chest, and my shoulder,” he sluggishly answered.

“That’s to be expected,” she replied as she took his temperature. “You took a nasty fall off of your horse and got banged up pretty bad. We were worried about you for a while.”

“I need to help Daryl. I need to get back out there and help Daryl,” he said.

“Daryl and the others have everything under control. They’ll be fine. You’re in no condition to even get up, much less go running off again. You hit your head pretty hard. You also collapsed a lung and possibly broke a few ribs. How do your arms and legs feel? Do you have any pain anywhere else?”

“My neck and shoulders ache, but my right shoulder really hurts,” he replied.

“You may have torn something in your shoulder. Without any real diagnostic equipment, it’s hard for me to tell. We will work with you as you begin to get up and about to see if we can tell the extent of the damage and try to figure out how we can best rehabilitate you, but for now, we have to focus on the more important stuff.”

She then began to check his pupils and basic eye function to assess the extent of his head injuries. After completing his exam, she gave him an anti-inflammatory and said, “This should help a little. I’ll leave you to your family now.” Rachel turned to Judy and said, “Just give us a yell if you need anything. I’ll bring you something to eat when Mildred serves dinner later so you don’t have to leave his side.”

“Thank you so much, Rachel. You’re a godsend,” Judy replied.

As Rachel left her basement office and joined the others upstairs, she gave them the good news that Griff was awake and responsive and updated them all on his continually improving condition. She turned to Luke and said, “If you hear anything from Daryl, please let him know Griff is doing much better and is on the road to recovery. I know he’s been worried sick about him.”

“Of course,” Luke replied. “The last time he checked in with us, he said he was riding back out to Jimmy’s place to see what he could do with Beth’s remains. He wants to make sure she is well taken care of until Jimmy gets home. We really need to get her buried soon, but Daryl doesn’t want to take the moment away from Jimmy. He doesn’t just want him coming home to a gravestone.”

“What did he have in mind?” she asked. 

“He said something about wrapping her in some industrial type shrink wrap. The stuff that comes in a large roll. I guess he wants to wrap her up nice and tight to keep the air and pests out. He wanted to start working on a grave for her, but he decided that Jimmy may want a say in where she’s laid to rest.”

“Thanks for that, Luke,” Judith said as Mildred and Rachel nodded in agreement. “Daryl means well, but he’s not thinking straight right now. He blames himself for letting this all happen and is trying a little too hard to carry the entire burden.”

“We are blessed to have a man like Daryl Moses as a part of our community,” Mildred added, taking a break from cooking. “Ollie always thought highly of him, and every man didn’t automatically get his respect; it had to be earned the old-fashioned way, but he sure loved Daryl.”