The Siege of New Hampshire

Book 5: Chapter 8 Recon & Exchange (part 1)

The Ames family drop Adele off at her house near Vernon, giving Susan an opportunity to check out the new border security measures and where she might hide a boat...if she could find one. When Susan and Paul return the next day to escort Adele to the currency exchange, Susan notices a row of motion sensors installed along the river. When a flock of ducks trigger the sensors, a drone arrives in less than a minute to check out the triggering. How can she get across without tripping the sensors?

 

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Book 5: Chapter 8 Recon & Exchange (part 2)

Paul and Susan travel by horse cart to Adele's house to give her a ride up to Brattleboro to exchange her dollars for the new currency -- Shares. Adele's small house triggers Susan's mental trauma. She's not "over it" after all. At the exchange, Adele finds out that her three thousand dollars gets her only twenty-five Shares. As if that weren't bad enough, the price of goods in the Co-op have gone up too.

 

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Book 5: Chapter 9 Raid on the Dairy

While Margaret is tending to the milk cows at the dairy, an alarm is sounded. Mysterious raiders rush in to kill the cattle. The panicked cows scatter. Two of them escaped to the woods. Martin, Andy, and a worker named Dan set off to find one of the cows. While searching, they come across the concealed camp of the raiders. Among their scant belongings is a cryptic piece of paper. They find the missing cow but then have try to herd the frightened animal back to the farm.

If you're liking the Siege story and wonder where it might go after Book 5, consider becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a member at Buy Me A Coffee, where you can read character sketches, novelettes, and chapters of Book 6 as I'm writing them. Of course, one-time cups of coffee are always welcome.

 

Book 5: Chapter 10 Fielding Plans

The Agriculture Committee of Cheshire meet to discuss plans to ensure enough food can be grown for winter. Their problem is that there isn't enough farmland to grow both crops and hay to feed the cattle and workhorses. Their meeting is interrupted with the prisoner, the captured raider. He tells what he knows of the raiding schemes. This provides some clues that suggest Quinn might be the information source used by the raiders.

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Book 5: Chapter 11 Storm the Stronghold

Martin, Dustin and Trevor accompany Sergeant McCutchin and his men. They prepare to sneak into the airport, that Quinn and his men have used as a fortified compound. Dustin uses his hacking skills to gain access to the compound's cameras. This lets Cutch and his men get in undetected, but it also lets Martin and the others watch as events unfold. Quinn manages to escape and drive away in his big SUV. Cutch and the others give chase.

If you're liking the Siege story and wonder where it might go after Book 5, consider becoming a Patron on Patreon, or a member at Buy Me A Coffee, where you can read character sketches, novelettes, and chapters of Book 6 as I'm writing them. Of course, cups of coffee are always welcome -- to keep things going.

Bonus: That Stubborn, Independent Spirit

A bonus episode, tracing the origins of New Hampshire's stubborn, self-sufficient, independent attitude. It is this cultural mindset that underpins the onset of the "siege" in Book 2, and animates much of the remaining stories. This week, Mic looks at the historical roots of that NH mindset and shares some of his personal experience with it too.

 

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Book 5: Chapter 12 Found and Losing

After the capture of Quinn's men, a military truck is found, its back full of corn. While everyone sees it as a windfall, Martin insists that it be returned to Clyde, the rightful owner. Clyde is cantankerous toward Martin, but accepts the return nonetheless. Once home, Martin discovers that his wife Margaret has fallen ill. She has a severe infection from the cut she suffered during the dairy raid. What antibiotics her caregivers could scrounge up have failed to stop the infection. Connie, the nurse, has little hope but does cite one long shot cure using three different antibiotics. Martin grasps at the straw.

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Book 5: Chapter 13: Mission to Manchester

In the search for the special antibiotics to treat Margaret's MRSA, Martin has to travel to Manchester on short notice. Connie told him to talk with a Dr. Rowlett at the Elliot hospital. Dr. Rowlett is kurt and dismissive. The only place with those antibiotics is the Catholic Medical Center on the west side -- which is tightly controlled by the Kings gang. When Martin snarks about taking a boat across at night to avoid the gang sentries, Dr. Rowlett suddenly becomes helpful. They then hatch their plans for sneaking across the river that night.

 

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Book 5: Chapter 14: Night Crossing

Martin and Dr. Rowlett head across the river in a small boat by night to land on the west side -- the Kings gang's territory. Martin is hopeful that a doctor on the west side will have some of the antibiotics needed to cure Margaret's MRSA. Dr. Rowlett wants to smuggled back something larger. That mystery cargo proves to be highly problematic.

 

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Book 5: Chapter 15: Almost Home

Martin wakes up on the riverbank and learns that his companions had saved him from the river, though he suffers from hypothermia. Since he had no extra (dry) pants and shirts, they dressed him in Chandra's extra dry clothes. They meet up with Davy Walsh and Robert who had been searching for them. Once home in Cheshire, Martin can't go back in the house. His hypothermia makes him vulnerable to infections -- especially MRSA. He delivers two of the three medicines Margaret needs. He wonders where (or if) he'll find the third.

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