“I guess it’s time we organize our own militia.”

“I agree and I think we certainly have enough guns in the town,” Darlene chuckled, and then got serious again. “But do we have enough ammo?”

“I guess our shooters will just have to make every round count!” Mentally I calculated what I had for our weapons, thankful I stocked up before the government controls went into effect. And I hoped others had done the same.  The government knew they couldn’t take our guns, so they just took the ammo instead.

“Why would Sherriff Lacey warn us but not help us?  That’s still confusing to me,” Darlene rested her chin in one hand, her manicure long gone.

“Darlene, they want everyone in Marquette.  They don’t want us rogue communities functioning; that’s why our power was shut off.  It’s a matter of control.  Control the power, control the people; control the food, the gas, everything, and you control the people.” She just stared in disbelief at me.  “Look, have you had any communication with other officials?” She nodded.  “I’m going to bet, that in spite of the surface helpfulness, they really haven’t done anything,” she nodded again.  “But I’ll venture that they suggested getting everyone to come to Marquette, where they will be taken care of, and don’t forget to bring any food you have and all your guns.”

“How did you know?”  She was sitting up straight now.

“It’s just a guess, Darlene, but I would also guess that as soon as someone did that, their guns would be taken away… for the good of the community …. And any food they brought would be assimilated … for the good of the community.  If they really wanted us to function, they would have found a way to leave our power on.”  I had been thinking this, but had never really found the words for it.

I let that sink in for a bit.  “In fact, how did this 4-wheeler gang get past the National Guard roadblocks?  And why didn’t Lacey stop them long before they got organized?  I don’t like the way this is shaping up.  Not at all…” I was really starting to feel like we had our backs up against a wall, in a box, with no way out.  “But that’s not the issue at the moment.  Right now we need shooters, and organization.”  We had to do something and we weren’t going to be caught by surprise!  I looked at the enlarged map of the township.

“If they get past the roadblock here,” pointing to the area the Big Guppy crossed 695, “the next spot to hit is only a few miles north: Midway.  We know, and maybe they know, there’s little there, so they might keep going.  But… if we position shooters here, and here” I said stabbing my finger at the map, “and here, all staggered, so there’s no cross fire, using the houses in Midway for concealment, good shooters can take quite a few.  What do think, Donna?”  Bringing her back into the discussion.

“I think you have a devious mind, Deborah,” Donna grinned.  “And if we can get everyone in place quickly enough, the surprise factor is to our advantage.  It could work!”

“So now we need to round up our Militia.  That will be your job, Donna.”  I scowled for a moment.  “The next step is what if they get thru that trap?  There are a lot of homes still occupied between there and here.  Including mine.”

Looking back on it, I still think it was a good plan, maybe the only plan that was possible on such short notice.  We didn’t know we only had two days.