The Siege of New Hampshire

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 S...

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 informat...

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 mis...

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...

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 les...

The people of Brattleboro listen to a speech by their new regional director, Jamal Baylem. He extols the virtues of the new America the leaders in Washington are making. The new America gets a new flag -- a rainbow flag. The new America also gets a new currency -- Shares. Barter becomes illegal. The old flags and old dollars are illegal. The changes promise to make life all the more difficult.   E...

Meanwhile, back in Vermont, Susan takes Erin out to hunt woodchucks with their hunting sticks. They get one, but also overhear the arrival of a new government leader for the region. Everyone in the area is ordered into Brattleboro for a meeting. Susan worries that her venture to the border has been found out and it's all a trap to arrest her.   Become a supporter of the Siege of New Hampshire stor...

In this conclusion to Chapter 6, some of the men of Cheshire watch through the night to see if a fire-bomber will seek out the radio beacon that the Xs carried. They have people watching the little box in the middle of the post office's parking lot and telltales to signal if someone attempts to sneak between any of the nearby buildings. They get their answer but it is not at all what they expected...

The confrontation with the hoodlums hiding in the hollow turned into a shootout. It looked like they were all killed, but one was faking it. He grabbed Andy as a hostage to cover his escape. Mara, however, ends his attempt. This solidified Andy's theory of them being sole mates. The hoodlums had a mysterious little gray box which, upon examination, appeared to be a low-power transmitter -- a locat...

The action returns to New Hampshire. The Simmons house is getting a radio upgrade with Walter's help. He also delivers the message that Susan sent from Doug's mountain. Martin is relieved that she's okay. Andy suggests that Susan is Martin's soulmate, just as Mara is his. While pulling stumps in Martin's back acre, Mara arrives with news of four mysterious men that snuck up along the river overnig...

Susan and Paul meet up with Shivley, the sketchy scrounger, to arrange a deal to provide Byron's group with antibiotics. The negotiations dance around, finally settling on four boxes of ammo for the two bottles of pills. The meeting takes place on an island in the middle of the frozen Connecticut River.  Bryon and Owen show up and close the deal.  Susan suddenly realizes that she's on the border....

The story shifts to Vermont. Susan and Paul travel to the house of a man with a ham radio. They listen to disturbing news from Detroit, a likely Fed trap, and a desperate plea for help from Byron Davis, lead of the group that sheltered Susan during her quest for her bridge.   Podcast News: The Free Trial option is still open at Mic's Patreon page . You can check out the membership perks for seven...

The criminal-inhabitants of Baddaz hear the terms of their surrender. They can join the march to Portsmouth for trial and likely internment aboard an improvised prison ship in the harbor. Or, they can stay in Baddaz and grow their own food. The catch being that those who stay must accept a tattooed X on their foreheads. Anyone with an X caught outside of Baddaz could be shot on sight. Martin arran...

The quick defeat of the hoodlum compound -- Baddaz -- was completed. What remained was conducting the surrender. It did not go entirely peacefully. While chipping up more wood fuel for Tin Man, Martin spots Trish in the crowd of prisoners. She tells of a very harsh life after leaving Cheshire, betrayal by her husband, Adam and abuse by fellow 'comfort women' of the Baddaz leader. The return of Ada...

Book Five Begins! An armed contingent of people from Cheshire begin an assault on the compound of the group that attacked Cheshire (in the last chapters of Book 3). Despite detailed planning, things do not go as smoothly as hoped.   >> Consider supporting this podcast by buying Mic a cup of coffee. Only $2. That's not so much, right? Check out Mic's Buy Me A Coffee page at BuyMeACoffee.com/microla...

Following up on last week's Q & A about the Siege Stories, this week features an interview of Mic Roland by Brian Hawkins of NextStepSurvival.com. Brian had several questions of his own about the Siege stories, so he and Mic discussed things like writing techniques, whether the characters are based on real people and a bit of background Mic's professional history as a writer.   Brian's blog can be...

Here are the results of the survey question: Which characters you'd like to hear more of in the stories AND, answers to the questions listeners submitted about the Siege stories in general.   Book 5 will begin soon. If you'd like to get a preview of what's in Book 6, consider becoming a Patron on Patreon , or a member at bmc.link/microland.

Some author notes about the making of Book 4 and about the process that led to the "need" for a Book 4. A bit, too, about Susan's new home outside of Brattleboro, Vermont.   Help keep the Siege story podcasts coming. Buy Mic a coffee at BuyMeACoffee.com/microland Or become a patron at Patreon.com /mic_roland.

Susan settles into the daily routines of the extended family living a Five Corners. She figures out that Paul had been secretly part of Operation Longbow. Connecting some clues, she guesses that he is still part of some underground resistance network. As much as she has been fixated on getting back to Cheshire, she realizes that it would not be as blissful as her imagination paints it. Staying in...

Susan's plan to run across the bridge to New Hampshire is interrupted by a stranger. His intervention saves her group from likely being shot by overzealous federal soldiers. Susan and Heather cautiously agree to accept his help with some temporary housing while Susan tries to figure out another way across the river. They are introduced to an extended (and somewhat curmudgeonly) family living at a...

En route to Brattleboro, Susan's group is joined by a chatty old woman. She is an inadvertent source of much useful information.  Within Brattleboro are many more housing options and support systems that could take care of Heather and her kids. However, the conditions turn out to be austere and the environment grim. Heather and her family decide they want to go to New Hampshire with Susan. She was...

Susan, Heather and family continue traveling north over hilly terrain toward Vernon, VT. Finding the hydroelectric plant busily occupied by soldiers. They join a general migration of people toward Brattleboro. A chatty old woman joins them. She provides useful information about what lies ahead and some cover for entering the Canton. Your support helps make this podcast possible. Help keep Mic goin...

Susan emerges from the ravine, leaving Kirk behind to face his fate. She orders her ad hoc group to break camp while she checks out the junkyard garage. There, she discovers that Kirk lived in relative squalor and with medieval paraphernalia. She salvages useful items and food and fashions a makeshift sled to carry it all. Susan and the family resume their trek over rough and hilly country toward...

Baron Kirk's generosity suddenly drops away and his true intentions become obvious. He draws a gun on Susan before she can respond. She manages to free herself from the zip-ties and attacks Kirk. He's fighting to ensure he gets his 'rent,' from Heather. Susan is fighting for her life.   Thanks for supporting my work on this story via BuyMeACoffee.com/microland Or at Patreon.com /mic_roland.

The eccentric stranger that came upon Susan's camp settles in as if it were a social call. He distributes some snack bars and offers packs of oatmeal for Heather's family to have for breakfast. Susan remains suspicious of the stranger but his effusive politeness has Heather relaxing and accepting his help. Kirk even offers to find a house for Heather's family to live in. Susan tries to advise caut...