From the journal of Nathan Sanchez, June 1

June 1, 2017

Well, it took a lot of talking and one bad incident, but we are all one group now with the band kids and we are all living on the ranch. Darren and I both told Consuela that she was dragging her feet and she just kept brushing us off while inciting the other older family members to say they need more time to think things through.

We met with the band kids at least five times between May 21st and the 28th. Then, when Fernando and our team went to check on them yesterday, we ran into an horrible and unexpected situation. They were still in the school they had taken over right after they lost the other bus and they school building they were in was surrounded by a group of men in all kinds of vehicles and they were being told to surrender and the men would be let go. Bullshit!
Fernando pulled us all back and we made a hasty plan to take out this new group before they hurt the band kids. Fernando turned on the radio we had given the kids one of and we let them know we were there. It took several minutes but Shiela finally came on and we gave her an quick and dirty outline of our plan. Then, we put the plan into action.
We worked quickly and quietly to surround them, right on the outside of the circle made by their vehicles. Stupidly, they were between the cars and the building, making them vulnerable. At the same time, the band kids moved quickly and quietly through the door at the back of the building and into the basement, out of the line of fire. Shiela gave us the agreed on signal of three clicks for all clear and then we sprung the trap. We let the men outside the building know we were there and then it all went haywire.
Time seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time. I saw everything so clearly it almost hurt my eyes. The men turned towards us and didn't even hesitate to bring their weapons to bear on us. Fernando gave the order and we opened fire. Bullets flew in all directions but we were safer because we were behind their cars while they were in the open. Their men started dropping down, either behind anything trying to find cover or because they'd been shot.
It was really only about five minutes before all that was left was the moaning of the injured and dying. We carefully made our way around the cars and began to check the bodies on the ground. Most of them were dead, one was starting to turn already, but a few of them were still alive and injured. We had already made the decision that none of them were going to live if it came down to the situation we found ourselves in. We took them out and made sure that none of them would turn, then we let Shiela know it was over.
Fernando sent a group of our people back to let people on the ranch know what had happened while the rest of us looked after the people who'd been hurt when the men first pulled up. They had caught several people outside and had beaten them and sent them back to the kids with a message telling them to surrender. Then, when they didn't get the immediate reaction they wanted, they shot a few 'warning' rounds into the building.
  The men sent back to the ranch were sent back to us with a message from Consuela to bring the whole group back to the ranch immediately. At least something good was going to come from this attack.

That was two days ago and we were still trying to get everyone situated and find places for everyone to sleep, as comfortably as possible. This is going to take some time and I think we are going to have to get more trailers or RV's.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.