Avenging Home (25 page)

“Nothing is wrong. We just need everyone to come down to the bunker. Is Danny in there?” I asked, pointing at the house.

Bobby nodded and stood up. “I’ll go get him.”

“Get anyone in there,” I replied.

“What’s going on?” Mel asked.

“That General I met with before is in Eustis. They want to attack the Elk’s Camp to get them out of the way.”

Confused, Mel asked, “Out of the way of what?”

“It looks like the Russians and Chinese are reportedly sending troops here. We want to deal with the DHS guys before they show up. If they show up.”

“So what you heard on the radio is true?”

Nodding, I said, “It looks that way. But that doesn’t mean they’re coming here to Altoona. I would imagine they are going to be more interested in population centers or where there’s some sort of resource they want.”

“I hope they aren’t coming here.”

Danny came out of the house with Bobbie, Mary and my girls. Lee Ann asked what was going on. I told them all to follow me to the bunker and we would explain it. They were all full of questions, but I kept telling them to just wait until we got there. By the time we got back, everyone was there. It was quite the crowd, actually.

Sarge hopped up on top of the bunker. “Alright everyone, settle down. I know you’re full of questions, but listen to what I have to say before asking any. My friend General Fawcett flew in from SOCOM.” He noticed the quizzical looks he got from some. “SOCOM stands for Southern Command. He came to let us know the rumors we’ve been hearing of Russian and Chinese troops coming here are indeed true. They’re coming. Now it ain’t going to be easy for them. Our boys will give them hell. But they’ll probably make it here, and there very well could be some special forces types here already.”

Jess brushed hair from her face. “We already knew that. Well mostly.”

“That brings us to where we are now. Why we’re all standing here. As most of you know, the Elk’s Camp has been taken over by a group from the DHS and some of their lackeys. These are some of the same guys that were running the camp out at the range. We’ve been planning a raid on the camp. With the arrival of the general, we’ve moved things up. We’re hitting it tonight.”

“Really? Tonight?” Aric asked.

Sarge nodded. “Tonight. Teddy’s going to lay out a drawing of the camp and go over the plan. Our group will be acting as a blocking force. The Guard guys are going to take the hard job of assaulting the camp directly. We’re just going to be there to stop anyone trying to squirt out the back door.”

Ted stepped up and unrolled the drawing. “All right, everyone. Gather round so we can go over the plan.

As he said that, Doc pulled up in Sarge’s war wagon with Jamie. Jamie sat in the buggy and listened to the discussion. Ted and Mike were going over the plan, pointing out the positions we would occupy. As they were covering the plan, Jamie interrupted them.

“Who all is going?”

Ted looked at Sarge, who in turn looked at Doc. Doc replied with a subtle shake of his head. Sarge looked at Jamie. “I know you want to go.”

She swung her legs out of the buggy and replied, “I am going.”

Sarge walked over to her. “I know you want to. Hell, I want you to. But you don’t want to be a liability out there do you?”

Jamie huffed. “I’m not a liability!”

“You’re not a hundred percent either. You wouldn’t want one of us to get hurt trying to help you. If this thing goes south and we have to run for our lives, what are you going to do then?”

Jamie sat back in the seat. Giving up trying to get out of the buggy. She sighed and said, “You’re right. I know it. It just sucks.”

Sarge put his hand on her shoulder. “I know you’re a fighter. This doesn’t make you any less.” Jamie nodded but said nothing.

“So who is going and who is staying?” Ted asked.

I looked at Mel and Bobbie. “You guys want to go?”

Mel shook her head. “I don’t want you to go, much less me.”

“I’m going,” Lee Ann said sternly.

“What about me?” Taylor asked.

Shaking my head, I said, “Kiddo, you’re in the same boat as Jamie. You need more time to heal.” She didn’t reply, just looked at the ground and nodded.

“We need every person we can get, but we also have to keep some people here to watch over things,” Sarge said.

Pointing people out, I said, “I think Jamie, Mel, Bobbie, Taylor and Mary are going to stay. They should be able to keep an eye on things.”

Sarge looked at them and asked, “Are you ladies good with that?” They nodded in reply.

Sarge tapped the drawing. “Alright then. Let’s assign positions. Each position will have two people in it.”

The teams would be Jess and Thad, Aric and Fred, Lee Ann with me, Perez and Ian, Danny and Dalton, Ted, Doc and Sarge would be together with Mike manning the Gustav and taking out any trucks that tried to move.

Sarge looked at Mike and wagged a finger at him. “You only hit trucks that try to move. Don’t go blowing everything up. We’re going to need those trucks.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. I got it.”

“You damn well better!” Sarge barked. Then he looked at Ted. “You got those radios ready?”

“Let me go back to the house and get them. We’ll spread them out as best we can.”

“Chop chop!”

Doc stepped up on the bunker. “If anyone gets hit, call out. I’ll hang out in the center of our line so I can get to you. Do not try to come to me. I’ll come to you. There will be very little medicine during the fight.”

“Win the fight first,” Mike said.

Mel looked at me. I grabbed her hand and said, “Don’t worry.”

She squeezed my hand. “That’s going to be hard not to do.”

Leaning over and giving her kiss, I said, “I know.”

Sarge was glaring at me. “You two done? Can we continue now?”

Rocking on my heels, I looked around. “I guess you can continue.”

Sarge clasped his hands in front of him. “Oh, thank you so much!”

With the teams established, they were assigned locations. Once everyone was clear on where they were to be, Sarge told everyone to go get ready. The group broke up and I walked Mel and the girls back home. Little Bit was holding my hand as we walked and I could tell something was bothering her, eating at her. I gave her hand a little tug and asked what it was. She shrugged, so I tugged her hand again.

She looked up at me. Her eyes were red, no tears yet but they were clearly on the way. “I don’t want you to get shot.”

Pushing my carbine around to my back, I scooped her up in my arms. She was getting so big! This wasn’t as easy as it once was. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve already been shot once and that didn’t kill me!” I lifted the boonie hat on my head and turned it to the side so she could see the scar.

She reached up and touched it. “And that one was in your head too.”

I bounced her. “Exactly. I’ll be fine.” Looking at Lee Ann, I asked, “How many magazines do you have for that burp gun?”

She carried a little messenger bag with her all the time. I guess it was kind of like a purse, only this one was a little unusual in that it carried not only the usual things a teenage girl would normally, it also contained several 9mm magazines. Without looking, she said, “Six.”

“Alright. Just keep your ammo count in mind when this starts. You don’t want to run out.”

Once Mel and the girls were in the house I went to Danny’s. I wanted to poke around in the armory we’d developed, which was now substantial. I remembered seeing a Springfield M1, and wanted it. I found the rifle in the closet and managed to find half a dozen magazines for it as well. I also picked up a Mossberg 500. It had a pistol grip stock and extended tube on it. A few more minutes of digging turned up an ammo can full of assorted buckshot.

Taking the guns back to the house, I dumped the shells into my pack and gave the shotgun to Lee Ann. “I want you to carry this in tonight.”

She looked at the scattergun. “I can’t shoot this thing.”

Laughing, I said, “You won’t have to. I just need you to carry it. This is our last ditch defense if things get really hairy.”

In the kitchen, I filled the bladder in my pack from the Berkey filter and another two-quart canteen as well. Then I filled a travel mug with tea for the ride. Going into the bedroom, I went through my medical stuff and added two Israeli bandages to the pack and a tourniquet. God forbid I had to use them, but if I needed them, there would be no substitute.

Mel came in as I was putting stripper clips full of 5.56 ammo in the pack as well. She sat down on the bed. “What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m worried. This is really dangerous and it’s not just you. Lee Ann is going too.”

“She’ll be with me, babe. I’ll do my best to protect her. Hell, we may not even fire a shot. When those Apaches get done, there may not be anyone to stop.”

Mel crossed her arms and gave me a disbelieving look. “You really think that?”

I shrugged and half-smiled. “It could happen.”

“Don’t let her get hurt. We already have one daughter who’s recovering. You too. You both better come home in one piece.” She paused and closed her eyes. “I just couldn’t take it if something happened to one of you.”

Sitting down on the bed beside her, I said, “We will. I promise.” I hoped I wasn’t making a promise I couldn’t keep.

Going out, I sat on the couch beside Little Bit. She was combing the hair of a big plastic horse. Putting my hand on her head, I said, “We’re leaving, but we’ll be back later OK.”

She didn’t look up at me, replying only with, “Mmm hmm.”

I leaned over in front of her. “I’m serious. We’ll be back.”

She reached out and wrapped her arms around me. “You have to come back.”

Holding her tight, I replied, “I will, baby girl. I will.”

Standing up, I looked at Lee Ann. “You ready?”

She looked down at herself and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Alright then. Let’s go.”

She went over to her Mom and hugged her. Mel told her to be careful. “And listen to your Dad!”

Lee Ann smiled. “I will. I promise.”

Then she surprised both Mel and me by going over to Little Bit and giving her a hug as well. They never were very close in the Before, and had bickered often. But it seemed they were getting closer now. And it was incredible to witness.

We left the house and headed down the road towards the bunker. It was dark, but I could see figures in the road. We walked quietly together. I was struck by just how calm she was about the whole thing. Looking over at her, all I could see was her outline. I said, “You know this isn’t a game, kiddo. This is the real deal and will be very dangerous.”

She was very calm in her response. “I know what we’re about to do. People are going to die tonight.” In the dark, I saw her turn towards me. “We just have to kill more of them than they do of us.” It was a striking statement from her. She really did get it, and understood that we very well could lose people tonight. I put my arm around her as we walked the remaining short distance to the bunker.

We were still waiting on a few people, so I decided to turn on the little radio and see if I could catch the broadcast tonight. Ted and Mike were messing with a couple of SAWs. There were four of them lined up on top of the bunker. They would do most of the work for us tonight. Somehow they managed to come up with another one. Made me wonder if Sheffield was missing a machinegun.

I found static on the radio and checked my watch. The broadcast should start in about five minutes, so I set the radio down and went over to where the guys were working on the weapons. They both had headlamps on and were going through the machineguns.

“These things ready to rock?” I asked.

Mike looked up with a devilish grin. “Oh yeah. Ready to rain hate and mayhem.”

Nodding, I replied, “It’s going to be a long night of hate.”

Ted stretched. “These assholes have no idea what we’re about to drop on them.”

With a laugh, I said, “Do unto others before they do unto you.”

Sarge pulled up with Doc and Thad. Climbing out, Doc handed me a small strobe light. “Here, put this on the back of your vest. It’s an IR so the Apaches can see us.”

“Good, cause friendly fire isn’t!” I said.

Everyone arrived shortly after that. Danny looked nervous, and I asked if he was alright. He nodded. “Yeah. I just want to get this over.”

“And that’s just what we’re going to do tonight,” Sarge said. He looked around at the group. “This is going to be some scary shit, guys. Just keep your head, don’t panic. Do what we tell you to do and you’ll be fine.”

Ted held up a couple of radios. “These are set to talk to the Guard’s radios and the helicopters. Stay off them unless you see something we need to know about. Sarge’s call sign is Swamp Rat. The Guard is Eustis Six and the birds are Saber One-One and the General’s call sign is Jefe.” Ted handed out the radios. There wasn’t enough for one in every position, but he gave me one.

Sarge looked around again. “Any questions?” When nobody said anything, he added, “Don’t worry. You’ll all do fine. Let’s load up.”

As we were getting into the truck, the radio crackled to life with the nightly broadcast.

You’re listening to John Jacob Schmitt coming to you from the Radio Free Redoubt. Broadcasting to all patriots in occupied territory and those of you outside the wire. We have a mixed bag tonight, folks. On the good side, the Marines have pushed Federal forces from their positions around Atlanta. However, it came at a price. The once beautiful city of Atlanta is now in ruins. The attacking Marines were forced to use heavy artillery to dislodge the defenders. And out of pure spite, the Feds torched great swaths of the city. The fires are still burning as I speak.

Now, sadly, the bad news. We need to be vigilant, folks. We now know for a fact that advanced elements of both the Russian and Chinese forces are here. These advance units are lightly armed and have no support. If you see them, get a message out somehow. The more of them we can eliminate now, the better we’ll be. If your group has the means, take them out. These are invaders. I know that sounds weird. The kind of thing we here in the greatest country on Earth never imagined, but it’s here now.

A woman’s voice came over the radio.

Patriots, prepare for a message. The oak tree is on fire. The oak tree is on fire.

As soon as I heard that, I looked at Danny. “Hey man, write down the numbers she’s about to say.” Danny grabbed a piece of paper from the glovebox and got ready. Just in time too, because the numbers came quickly.

54342 54163 93366 67696 60395 95689 64805 72476 61595 63917 26705 74223 50388 68029 39765 38995 98247 88120 79699 18962 37562 92226 87579. Please share this information with anyone in the affected area.

I was following behind Sarge and the guys who were in his two buggies. We were driving blacked out, which was strange for me because I wasn’t used to driving with NVGs. I’d turned the radio off to concentrate. Plus, I was nervous as hell. We were heading down highway 42. The intent was to come at them from the back, approaching from the north where there were no roads that went directly to the camp.