Vigilante: No Quarter: A Post Apocalyptic Battle for America

by Cliff Deane

  “Just as soon as you refuel and your wrench turners say you’re good to go. Oh, take a ground crew and a Fire Team with you on the Huey.”

  Susan looked to Gus with a look that said, turn around. He did, and Susan wrapped her arms around Levi’s neck as she whispered into his ear, “I love you Levi Levins; you’ll get us through this, I know you will.” She then kissed him before saluting and hurrying off to make things happen.

  Gus turned back to Levi and said, “When we get resettled, I gotta get me one of those.”

  Levi asked, “One of what?”

  “A girl.”

  ***

  Chapter 16

  Pick-Up Stix

  30 August 1530

  Lejeune

  Lt. Kate Levins flew her Cobra over the ruins of what had once been a Marine Base known as Camp Lejeune; following the EMP caused by a Coronal Mass Ejection, Lejeune had come under the ownership of the Army of the Republic of America. Now, Lejeune was a swampy, wasteland, with many hangers destroyed and planes tossed about the landscape.

  The only areas which seemed to appear normal were the armored vehicle motor pools. Not even a cat five could turn over a seventy-two-ton tank.

  Kate flew over the High School and saw several ROA Troopers frantically waving to her. She hovered above them before landing on the football field. As her skids touched the soft ground, she could feel them sinking into the dirt; adding lift, she brought the Cobra to a hover about one foot above the soft ground.

  Colonel Guy and the Senior Instructor Pilot ran up to Kate’s ride. She opened the canopy to be able to communicate. The Sr. IP told here that the parking lot only had about an inch of water on it, making it safe to land. Kate nodded her understanding, closed the canopy and lifted off to the parking lot which looked like a lake with the sheen of water over it. She landed her craft, named Daddy’s Girl, shut down the engine and exited the craft.

  Colonel Guyardo, who she called Uncle Mike, ran up to her and lifted her off the ground in a huge hug.

  “Please Uncle Mike, you’re crushing me.”

  He released her and said, “Sorry, hon, I’m just so happy to see you. Tell me; is the Brigade safe? How about Defiance? Is it okay?”

  Kate stepped back and said, “Easy, sir; in a nutshell, the 1st Brigade is fine. We have had no contact with the 2nd Brigade working the East Coast. Dad fears the worst.

  Defiance is gone, and so is the ROA; at least as we knew it. The crops are destroyed, and it appears that only about fifty people are alive in the whole area. The President is missing and feared lost.”

  The Colonel took on a worried expression as he asked, “Oh, no, the President is dead?”

  “We don’t know for sure, but it does seem to be the most likely thing.”

  “Kate, do you know if Melissa Carter is among the survivors?”

  Kate nodded her head and said, “Yes, all of the Medical Staff are alive and well.”

  Mike’s knees nearly buckled at the good news, and he fought back tears of joy. They had planned to be married at the end of the current training cycle.

  “Sir,” asked Kate, “did any aircraft survive; any pilots?”

  “No aircraft of any kind survived, but Scott Eldridge ordered me, and anyone working the choppers into a second-floor interior bathroom when the flood waters broke through some windows. We vacated the gym and went to the interior classrooms on the second floor.

  Scott remained with the others who did not get into any of the other interior rooms. I can only assume that the roof was ripped off by a tornado. There are only twelve survivors who managed to hold onto embedded piping. All the others were sucked into the tornado’s cone. Scott is one of the missing, presumed dead.

  Thanks to Scott’s quick thinking, all of the ground and flight crews, along with the IPs and student pilots were saved.

  He must have had a premonition about it, because when he ordered me into the bathroom, he said, “Whoever will be left are now yours; take good care of them. There are only fifty-seven left alive out of the six hundred and fifty-three that were here before the hurricane hit.”

  Quiet tears ran down Kate’s cheeks as she listened to her Uncle Mike’s words, and she could feel his pain. She also knew that he would forever suffer from survivor’s guilt over the loss of his closest friend.

  Regaining control of her emotions she asked if they had enough food and water to last for another three or four days.

  “Yes,” he said, “is there a plan, yet?”

  Kate told him that Susan was leading a flight with every spare pilot to Fort Jackson in hopes of finding flyable kites there. The focus was on Hueys to get the survivors rounded up; beyond that she had no idea of any further plans.

  “Sir; is it possible for me to take on fuel. I have enough to make it back to the convoy; barely? But what I’d like to do is top off my tanks and fly down to Jackson and tell them to get some Hueys back here to pick you guys up and drop everyone off in Defiance.”

  “Sure Kate, we can get that done and have you on the way in thirty minutes, but you will have to kick that Snake in the ass just to make sure you can find the Jackson Army Airfield before dark.”

  “Yes, sir, I guess we’d better get on the stick. Pick one of the IPs to sit the Gunner’s seat and maybe he’ll be able to bring back another Huey. We’re going to need them.”

  “Okay, just one other thing, is the Boss Man going to approve of you truckin’ down to Jackson, instead of flying back home?”

  Kate smiled a crooked little smile and said, “Nope, he won’t be happy at all, but he’ll be fine when I remind him about how he always tells us to be flexible. Come on, let’s go.”

  After topping off her tanks, Kate said, oh, one more thing, Uncle Mike, build a bonfire around midnight for me to home in on. Can do?”

  Lt. Colonel Guyardo promised to have the bonfire going by 2300 hours. He looked at Kate and watched as she climbed back into the Pilot’s seat and felt tremendous pride is his honorary niece, but he truly marveled at her courage and professional demeanor.

  After the Gunner’s seat was occupied, Daddy’s Girl lifted off for Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

  Fort Jackson

  30 August 1720

  Ft. Jackson, SC

  The IP flying with Kate had done several nap of the earth training exercises and proved to be a big help to Kate by guiding her straight to the airfield where Susan and her crews were busy.

  Kate approached Susan, saluted and filled her in on the Lejeune situation.

  Susan did the same and gave Kate a briefing to give to the General ASAP. Kate was busy making notes as Susan gave her the briefing bullet points:

  Discovered fifty plus National Guard Hueys, of which four are fully equipped Med-Evacs. They are secured in hangers.

  Will begin transport of Lejeune personnel, no later than (nlt) 1 September, or as quickly as Ground Crew certifies them as flyable.

  Jackson has large storage tanks of fuel

  Jackson is deserted, but there are signs that some level of combat took place near a mechanized battalion motor pool. I will try to investigate.

  Anticipate arrival Defiance, nlt 5 September.

  Susan then read Kate’s note to ensure accuracy, before asking if she was able to fly back to Lejeune, to tell Guy to be ready.

  Kate assured her that she felt fine, and after refueling, she flew back to Lejeune, arriving at 1840; no bonfire required.

  Again Kate took to the air and made the thirty-minute flight to Defiance, to meet with whoever was in charge. Adan had stepped into the leadership position and had just finished a late evening meal.

  Kate met with Adan and the Doctors Monroe to pass on the information she had from Lejeune and Jackson.

  Dr. Tom Monroe asked how she felt after being in the saddle for so long.

  “Well, Doc, I can’t say I’m feelin’ randy as a mare in heat, but I’m ok. It’s only another forty-five-minute flight back to the convoy. I’ll rest then. I’m fine, really, of c
ourse, I wouldn’t turn down a cup of your coffee.”

  Just then, Darren arrived and asked if he could join the meeting.

  Kate said, “Of course, silly,” and gave him a big friendly hug, “I wanted to see you anyway so I can tell your father that you are okay.”

  “Oh, sure, I’m fine, damned lucky though. Please tell Dad that I’m looking forward to seeing him, dang, but I miss all y’all.”

  As quickly as Kate finished her coffee, she leaped back into the saddle and flew back to the convoy.

  The Road

  30 August 1940 hours

  125 miles to Defiance

  Levi was rapidly becoming a nervous wreck. Pacing a circle around Gus, he said, “The Lejeune recon flight should have been back here hours ago. Something has gone wrong, I just know it.”

  “Easy, buddy,” said Gus, “anything might have just delayed the pilot’s return, and at this point I have to think he’s just being safe, laying over until the morning.”

  “Yeah, I hope you’re right, come on, let’s get some coffee.”

  “With ya’, boss.”

  As they began walking to the TOC for a warm cup of day old coffee, Levi stopped up short and said, “Listen, do you hear a chopper?”

  Gus smiled and said, “I sure do old buddy, come on, let’s go meet him.

  It was just getting dark as the pilot climbed out of the cockpit and lowered herself to the ground. Kate turned and saw Levi walking toward her. He stopped as soon as he recognized her, then ran to her, enveloping her in a hug. She hugged back, and after a few seconds began to pull back. She looked at Levi and said, “Dad, I’m really tired.”

  “Are you too tired to give me a briefing before you go to bed?”

  Kate smiled and said, “No, I’m not quite that tired.”

  “Good,” said Levi, “Come on with me to the TOC. Oh, by the way, do you have any news about Darren?”

  “He’s fine, and that is just about the only good news on personnel that I have.”

  By the time they arrived at the TOC, the Command Staff was already gathered. SSgt. Jones, had no muffins, but he did have the clerk make some fresh coffee...

  Following Kate’s briefing, she quickly retired to a bed and slept until Levi awoke her with the dawn of another beautiful day. The morning was, indeed beautiful, but the temperature seemed more like late September than the first week of August. Mother Nature was telegraphing a hard punch, by way of an early winter.

  Guevara

  Cuban Force Guevara

  Walmart,

  Williamston

  Coronel Guevara was pleased with the Walmart’s ability to withstand the hurricane’s power. He also felt the coolness of late fall, and as he did not wish to be trapped in winter’s grip, he decided to move back to the warmer climes of Florida.

  Epilog

  Levi and Gus realized the danger of inaction with regards to the coming winter. The two men had spent many an hour trying to understand why the seasons seemed to be changing. The only reasonable scenario they could come up with, considering they had no meteorologists or equipment, was that six billion 98.6 bodies were gone, and CO2 emissions were at historic human lows.

  Gus had also speculated that all of the concrete and the other things of man that absorbed heat were probably preventing winter from already being upon them.

  They had also begun considering new sites for rebuilding the ROA. After deciding against the cold north, the South's hurricanes, the heartland’ tornadoes, and the West's lack of water, they came to the conclusion that Arkansas offered the most promising place to begin again.

  Together, they decided to pack up whatever was salvageable and begin moving south, to spend the winter in Florida, before moving to Arkansas in the spring.

  Fate has quite a sense of humor; the impact on the Earth’s seasonal shake-up was, to a point impacted by the lack of 98.6 bodies and a decrease in CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Yes, somewhat of an impact, but the true culprit was the North Atlantic Current which carried warm southern waters along the east coast of America, east past Greenland’s Ice Sheet, and finally to the British Isles.

  This conveyor belt of warm waters is the principal factor in the mild climate of the UK. Few people realize that the England is on the same latitude as Siberia.

  The North Sea Current had been slowing dramatically over the past seventy years as Global Warming, from whatever cause, melted the Greenland Ice Sheet. This melting placed unfathomable amounts of very cold fresh water into the direct path of the warm water moving up the east coast of America. Since salt water is heavier than fresh water, the cold, lighter water pushed the warm salt water down until the current failed completely just seven months after Paris, the city of lights, went dark.

  This failure brought Siberian temperatures to Europe, pushing them into, hopefully, only a mini-Ice Age. As the snows in Europe continued to fall, the continent became blanketed in a layer of white that reflected the heat of the sun back into space.

  Man, however, was now inconsequential; and in, at least the short term the Earth was cooling.

  There are many “ifs” facing the future of man. Another Ice Age may befall the northern latitudes, and the biggest “if” of all centers on a refreezing of the Greenland Ice Sheet. This refreezing will halt the dumping of cold fresh water in the path of the North Sea Current and once again allow warm tropical waters to flow along the British Isles. A restart of the current would bring warm breezes to melt the snow blanketing Europe and create the conditions for a revival of life throughout the European Continent, which, now only clings to life along the Mediterranean Coastal regions.

  The end.

  I hope you enjoyed Vigilante: No Quarter.

  Book 5 in the series (no title yet) should be out in mid November(ish).

  WAIT, DON’T GO YET! THE NEXT PAGE HAS

  THE PRELUDE TO BOOK 5 IN THE VIGILANTE SERIES.

  ***

  Prelude

  31 August 0800

  Convoy Helicopter Pad

  100 Miles from Defiance

  Even a beautiful, yet cool, late summer day could not penetrate the depression that loomed over every member of, what was, only yesterday, the 1st Brigade of the Army of the Republic of America. Now, many were calling themselves the lost Battalion; and lost they were, too.

  Standing on the cab of an M-85 five-ton-truck, General Levi Levins and Colonel Gus Murtaugh held a mass formation, and using a megaphone, told the 1st Armored Brigade of the Republic of America to remain faithful to the principles of the ROA, for like the Phoenix of legend, the ROA will arise from the ashes and begin again. This was only a setback; an opportunity to excel.

  He told his troopers that, “Our losses have been severe, but our grit and determination to make this land safe, coupled with the will to create a new America must not die.

  I make you this promise; I will never quit until I am dead. This quest you have signed on for was never a guarantee of success. We have overcome incalculable odds and suffered losses, but we have also had many victories.

  We must now find another home, just as the Israelites did when they left a life of bondage in Egypt. We must have their faith, their courage, coupled to our own.

  Now that I have given you my rah-rah speech, which I truly believe, I also give you this option. If you no longer wish to continue on this epic journey toward a new Promised Land, where we can start yet again, then you have my release from your commitment. Should you decide to strike out on your own; then you may turn-in your uniforms, keep your individual weapon, a basic load of ammunition, and a one week supply of food.

  I will not beg you to stay, for this ploy might keep many of you, but I do not want those who are not totally committed to the rebirth of the ROA.

  Please take no more than 24 hours to make your decision. Simply pass the word through the chain of command, accompanied by a signed note to say that you will be leaving.”

  A lone voice shouted out, “I’m with ya’, Genrul, and to hell w
ith anyone who ain’t.” This lone voice quickly turned into a chorus of nearly one thousand troopers shouting, “WE’RE WITH YOU, ALL THE WAY!”

  Levi had not expected such an enthusiastic response; in fact, he had expected a quiet, reflective reaction. He was so moved that he became unable to speak as his throat closed and his eyes began to turn to glass.

  Gus, realizing how moved Levi was, stepped forward and taking the megaphone, said, “Men and women of the Army of the Republic of America; do you support the ROA?”

  The din grew deafening as the troopers shout, “YES!” and began stomping their feet. “ROA-ROA-ROA!”

  Gus shouted, “Do you support your General?”

  This time the response was indeed deafening, as shouts of YES and OOH-RAH” filled the air, and continued for a couple of minutes. This was an Army dedicated to an idea; a new nation based on the principles of the U.S. Founding Fathers; a new Republic of America.

  From one lone voice, came a roar shouting, “Levi’s Legion!-Levi’s Legion!-Levi’s Legion!”

  The formation was soon returned to the Sgt. Major, who smiled at Levi as he saluted and mouthed “You da man!” and then winked at Levi.

  Following the formation, Levi and Gus were flown to Defiance on an inspection tour, and a meeting with Adan Reyes, and his committee leaders. They also brought two HAM Radios.

  The troopers at Lejeune were being ferried to Defiance with the last lift scheduled for that afternoon

  In the meeting with Adan, the Skonk Works genius turned community leader, Levi learned that there was little to find, much less save. People were trying to salvage whatever was left, but it wasn’t much. Although on very important thing did survive; the Treasury of the ROA.