accomplish whatever objective they have, they will just behead all of those militia folks. Idiot.”
“Tell us more about Cynthia,” asked Charlie.
“She comes off all meek most of the time,” Earl said. “She was always nice to me, but she also always made me a little nervous. I wasn’t thrilled when she was coming with us.”
“Did she really have a son in South Korea?”
“Yes, that part is true,” Jackson said. “I actually know him. I think he joined the service to get away from his mom and Franklin.”
“Franklin isn’t the dad?” asked Jerry.
“No, she probably doesn’t even know who his dad was,” Earl said. “She was quite a looker back in the day. Wild gal. Real disco queen. Must have been hell to deal with as a mom. She can still pretty herself up enough to catch the attention of men, though. Worked on Franklin. Hell, I’ve even given her a second look myself.”
“She just looked like an older mom to me,” Frank said.
“She doesn’t dress up that often,” Jackson snorted. “Usually only when she wants something from somebody. She can be a good actress.”
“I wish you guys would have mentioned this before now,” Jerry said. “How come you weren’t at Happy Hour last night?”
“We both had to quit drinking,” Jackson said. “I’ll bet you guys thought that Earl and I did in Arthur.”
“Well, it did cross our minds,” Frank said.
“Can’t blame you for that, I guess,” Earl said. “We’ll take off if you don’t trust us.”
“No, don’t do that,” Frank said. “We’re cool. We know who did it now. We could use able-bodied men at this point too, and you guys know more about the militia than anyone else here.”
“Good, we’d like to stay,” Jackson said. “Too many bad people out on the road.”
“That brings us to the main thing we need to talk about. Do we make a stand here, or do we hi-tail it,” Jerry said. “I don’t think we’ll know for sure what to do until the Major gets back here.”
“If he gets back here,” Frank said.
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “This place does have some advantages for defense, but it could also turn into the Alamo.”
“I still think you would be a lot less safe on the road,” the Sheriff said. “You were going to go north. You might have gone up the same road the Major and his troops went up. Somebody was lighting off grenades up there. Could have been the Major, but it also could have been the bad guys.”
“There’s definitely some truth in what you are saying,” Frank said. “This place is of no real strategic value that I can think of.”
“Franklin J. Hornady is not a strategic thinker,” Jackson said. “If he’s coming here, it’s to find the folks who killed Hank and Ken.”
“Didn’t Lewis just get arrested, not killed?” Frank asked. “What if he’s out now and he rejoins the militia?”
“That wouldn’t be good,” Earl said. “But I’d be surprised if he’s out. If he was, I doubt that the Williams Militia would be teaming up with Islamists. He’d know better.”
“Yeah, I’d have to agree with Earl on that,” Jackson said.
“How many people are left in the militia?” asked the Sheriff.
“Good question,” Earl said. “There were a lot of ‘casual’ members who wouldn’t have gone along with crap like this. At the peak, there were about sixty people in that group. I’d be a little surprised if they had half that now.”
“I’m not sure I agree, Earl,” Jackson said. “Things are crazy now, and Franklin might have many of them convinced that going it alone is more dangerous than staying with the group, even if they aren’t on board with all of the decision making.”
“Wonder if Officer Simmons is still in this mix?” asked Jane.
“If we’re lucky the Islamists have already taken him out,” Charlie said. He looked down at Hilda, then back at the group. “Bottom line here, in my way of thinking, is that we need to be able to carefully compare the
“Tell us more about Cynthia,” asked Charlie.
“She comes off all meek most of the time,” Earl said. “She was always nice to me, but she also always made me a little nervous. I wasn’t thrilled when she was coming with us.”
“Did she really have a son in South Korea?”
“Yes, that part is true,” Jackson said. “I actually know him. I think he joined the service to get away from his mom and Franklin.”
“Franklin isn’t the dad?” asked Jerry.
“No, she probably doesn’t even know who his dad was,” Earl said. “She was quite a looker back in the day. Wild gal. Real disco queen. Must have been hell to deal with as a mom. She can still pretty herself up enough to catch the attention of men, though. Worked on Franklin. Hell, I’ve even given her a second look myself.”
“She just looked like an older mom to me,” Frank said.
“She doesn’t dress up that often,” Jackson snorted. “Usually only when she wants something from somebody. She can be a good actress.”
“I wish you guys would have mentioned this before now,” Jerry said. “How come you weren’t at Happy Hour last night?”
“We both had to quit drinking,” Jackson said. “I’ll bet you guys thought that Earl and I did in Arthur.”
“Well, it did cross our minds,” Frank said.
“Can’t blame you for that, I guess,” Earl said. “We’ll take off if you don’t trust us.”
“No, don’t do that,” Frank said. “We’re cool. We know who did it now. We could use able-bodied men at this point too, and you guys know more about the militia than anyone else here.”
“Good, we’d like to stay,” Jackson said. “Too many bad people out on the road.”
“That brings us to the main thing we need to talk about. Do we make a stand here, or do we hi-tail it,” Jerry said. “I don’t think we’ll know for sure what to do until the Major gets back here.”
“If he gets back here,” Frank said.
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “This place does have some advantages for defense, but it could also turn into the Alamo.”
“I still think you would be a lot less safe on the road,” the Sheriff said. “You were going to go north. You might have gone up the same road the Major and his troops went up. Somebody was lighting off grenades up there. Could have been the Major, but it also could have been the bad guys.”
“There’s definitely some truth in what you are saying,” Frank said. “This place is of no real strategic value that I can think of.”
“Franklin J. Hornady is not a strategic thinker,” Jackson said. “If he’s coming here, it’s to find the folks who killed Hank and Ken.”
“Didn’t Lewis just get arrested, not killed?” Frank asked. “What if he’s out now and he rejoins the militia?”
“That wouldn’t be good,” Earl said. “But I’d be surprised if he’s out. If he was, I doubt that the Williams Militia would be teaming up with Islamists. He’d know better.”
“Yeah, I’d have to agree with Earl on that,” Jackson said.
“How many people are left in the militia?” asked the Sheriff.
“Good question,” Earl said. “There were a lot of ‘casual’ members who wouldn’t have gone along with crap like this. At the peak, there were about sixty people in that group. I’d be a little surprised if they had half that now.”
“I’m not sure I agree, Earl,” Jackson said. “Things are crazy now, and Franklin might have many of them convinced that going it alone is more dangerous than staying with the group, even if they aren’t on board with all of the decision making.”
“Wonder if Officer Simmons is still in this mix?” asked Jane.
“If we’re lucky the Islamists have already taken him out,” Charlie said. He looked down at Hilda, then back at the group. “Bottom line here, in my way of thinking, is that we need to be able to carefully compare the
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