Price of Freedom: Interlude: A walk in the woods
Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:30 pm
Approximately 2:36 PM, Sunday, June 14th, 1987; Somewhere in the Modoc National Forest, California near the Oregon Border
Yojiro 'Yo' Akiyama was NOT having one of his better days. He pressed his back into the big rock he was squatting behind and subconsciously flinched away as a bullet ricocheted near his head, sending stone chips flying every which way, but luckily none hitting him. He clutched his Mini-14 to his chest and let go a sigh....
He had been hiking through the woods with no real destination in mind when he had spotted the pool of freshwater, fed from a spring that trickled down from a 100 or so foot high, steep hill and lined with boulders that had tumbled from the same hill over the years all around it. It was a nice spot to fill his canteen, but almost as soon as he had done so, he suddenly heard foot-steps from up above and when he looked up, he suddenly noticed a trio of Soviet soldiers crouching there and pointing at him while yelling in Russian. Before he had a chance to do or say anything, they saw his weapons and they immediately went for their AKs. Yo had dived behind a boulder, shots were fired and now his perfectly fine day was ruined and hot lead was flying his way....
Billy's old pickup seemed to groan under the weight of the combined gear and presence of 5 freedom fighters as it made its way through a dirt road somewhere in what Barstowe sincerely hoped was the Modoc forest in the North-Eastern corner of the state of California. Jenny and Raph were cramped in the front cabin with him, both of them drifting in and out of sleep and Saul and Deacon were in the back with the gear, probably doing the same. Billy's bladder was screaming, so when he saw a nice little clearing right off the dirt-road, he pulled over and announced; "Pee break"....
Billy and company had spent the past 6 weeks slowly figuring out this whole 'Freedom Fighter' business they found themselves in thanks to the Soviet take over of the U.S. of A. The Russians had moved in swiftly and were quickly spreading throughout the massive nation; with the massive riots and resistance of the first couple of weeks rapidly crushed and now leaving only scattered bands of resistance, usually in the more remote areas of the country. After several shoot-outs with some Soviet patrols and a couple of 'every-man-for-himself' bands of American bandits; the group had retreated into North-central California and Billy had visited his Dad at his remote cabin. There, the older Barstowe had shown then his old ham radio and the group had heard the dulcet tones of one Antonia 'Tony' Hawkins and her 'Radio Free America' network.
From this network, they learned the truth behind the lies blasted by the Soviet-taken over media; of how most of the military and political leaders of the country had capitulated and how the Soviets were quickly cracking down on any resistance members. Massive reprisals were the order of the day if they learned the identity of any freedom fighters; but there was still a significant, if unorganized resistance movement. Radio Free America was clearly being broadcast on a homemade radio and soon other ham operators were doing the same and a resistance movement was being forged. The group of 5 from Oakland soon made contact with a few such groups and had been given the radio code name of 'Raider Company'. While everyone had enjoyed that, the day to day life of a freedom fighter had been a tough pill to swallow for all of them....well, except maybe for Saul....
Jenny had kept them all in good health and was in better spirits than those first tough days after burying Lisa and rolling out of the Bay Area. She managed to scrounge medical supplies anywhere she could and was quickly becoming more and more adept at combat and living in the great outdoors...
Saul was his typical indomitable, unflappable self; guiding the team more than leading it and proving to be the bedrock of the company in more ways than one.
Deacon looked weary most of the time, but was as courageous and dependable a teammate as anyone could ever hope for. He had personally saved all of them, more than once and never balked from doing whatever was needed to keep the group on its feet and moving. He had been a little angry and moody after his beloved Oldsmobile gave up the ghost a couple of weeks back having been through several fire-fights and cross-country trips; but he was bouncing back nicely lately...
Raph had probably had the hardest time adapting to this life on the run in mostly rural areas. The street-raised kid felt out of his element most of the time and all this green and trees and open spaces was just so.....UNNATURAL....but he was a tough and adaptable guy, so he was making do.
As everyone finished up their business, they suddenly heard shots, that they recognized as coming from Soviet AK assault rifles echoing from the woods off to their right. Everyone quickly rushed to grab their weapons; but it was rapidly apparent wherever the gunfire was coming from, it was NOT being directed at them. Saul quietly said; "I count no more than 3, maybe 4 AKs.....let's check this out"; and in the blink of an eye was stealthily moving into the woods with his M-16 at the ready.
The others cursed, but being a team, they quickly followed suit; Deacon clutching his M-16 as well; Raph his aquired AK-74, Jenny her captured AKSU carbine and Billy with his scoped Winchester Deer Rifle. Moving quietly through the woods, they soon came to a clearing that showed 3 Soviet soldiers shooting down at a man crouching behind a boulder on a perpendicular angle to them. The Soviets were about 50 yards away from them, the crouching man perhaps 75 yards away and they were in the cover of the tree-line. The Russian soldiers did not seem aware of them in the least....
Yojiro 'Yo' Akiyama was NOT having one of his better days. He pressed his back into the big rock he was squatting behind and subconsciously flinched away as a bullet ricocheted near his head, sending stone chips flying every which way, but luckily none hitting him. He clutched his Mini-14 to his chest and let go a sigh....
He had been hiking through the woods with no real destination in mind when he had spotted the pool of freshwater, fed from a spring that trickled down from a 100 or so foot high, steep hill and lined with boulders that had tumbled from the same hill over the years all around it. It was a nice spot to fill his canteen, but almost as soon as he had done so, he suddenly heard foot-steps from up above and when he looked up, he suddenly noticed a trio of Soviet soldiers crouching there and pointing at him while yelling in Russian. Before he had a chance to do or say anything, they saw his weapons and they immediately went for their AKs. Yo had dived behind a boulder, shots were fired and now his perfectly fine day was ruined and hot lead was flying his way....
Billy's old pickup seemed to groan under the weight of the combined gear and presence of 5 freedom fighters as it made its way through a dirt road somewhere in what Barstowe sincerely hoped was the Modoc forest in the North-Eastern corner of the state of California. Jenny and Raph were cramped in the front cabin with him, both of them drifting in and out of sleep and Saul and Deacon were in the back with the gear, probably doing the same. Billy's bladder was screaming, so when he saw a nice little clearing right off the dirt-road, he pulled over and announced; "Pee break"....
Billy and company had spent the past 6 weeks slowly figuring out this whole 'Freedom Fighter' business they found themselves in thanks to the Soviet take over of the U.S. of A. The Russians had moved in swiftly and were quickly spreading throughout the massive nation; with the massive riots and resistance of the first couple of weeks rapidly crushed and now leaving only scattered bands of resistance, usually in the more remote areas of the country. After several shoot-outs with some Soviet patrols and a couple of 'every-man-for-himself' bands of American bandits; the group had retreated into North-central California and Billy had visited his Dad at his remote cabin. There, the older Barstowe had shown then his old ham radio and the group had heard the dulcet tones of one Antonia 'Tony' Hawkins and her 'Radio Free America' network.
From this network, they learned the truth behind the lies blasted by the Soviet-taken over media; of how most of the military and political leaders of the country had capitulated and how the Soviets were quickly cracking down on any resistance members. Massive reprisals were the order of the day if they learned the identity of any freedom fighters; but there was still a significant, if unorganized resistance movement. Radio Free America was clearly being broadcast on a homemade radio and soon other ham operators were doing the same and a resistance movement was being forged. The group of 5 from Oakland soon made contact with a few such groups and had been given the radio code name of 'Raider Company'. While everyone had enjoyed that, the day to day life of a freedom fighter had been a tough pill to swallow for all of them....well, except maybe for Saul....
Jenny had kept them all in good health and was in better spirits than those first tough days after burying Lisa and rolling out of the Bay Area. She managed to scrounge medical supplies anywhere she could and was quickly becoming more and more adept at combat and living in the great outdoors...
Saul was his typical indomitable, unflappable self; guiding the team more than leading it and proving to be the bedrock of the company in more ways than one.
Deacon looked weary most of the time, but was as courageous and dependable a teammate as anyone could ever hope for. He had personally saved all of them, more than once and never balked from doing whatever was needed to keep the group on its feet and moving. He had been a little angry and moody after his beloved Oldsmobile gave up the ghost a couple of weeks back having been through several fire-fights and cross-country trips; but he was bouncing back nicely lately...
Raph had probably had the hardest time adapting to this life on the run in mostly rural areas. The street-raised kid felt out of his element most of the time and all this green and trees and open spaces was just so.....UNNATURAL....but he was a tough and adaptable guy, so he was making do.
As everyone finished up their business, they suddenly heard shots, that they recognized as coming from Soviet AK assault rifles echoing from the woods off to their right. Everyone quickly rushed to grab their weapons; but it was rapidly apparent wherever the gunfire was coming from, it was NOT being directed at them. Saul quietly said; "I count no more than 3, maybe 4 AKs.....let's check this out"; and in the blink of an eye was stealthily moving into the woods with his M-16 at the ready.
The others cursed, but being a team, they quickly followed suit; Deacon clutching his M-16 as well; Raph his aquired AK-74, Jenny her captured AKSU carbine and Billy with his scoped Winchester Deer Rifle. Moving quietly through the woods, they soon came to a clearing that showed 3 Soviet soldiers shooting down at a man crouching behind a boulder on a perpendicular angle to them. The Soviets were about 50 yards away from them, the crouching man perhaps 75 yards away and they were in the cover of the tree-line. The Russian soldiers did not seem aware of them in the least....