Grid Down Perceptions of Reality

by Bruce Buckshot Hemming

  And Jane said with a smug smile, “Well, make sure you tell everybody who figured the combination out.”

  Joe smiled and said, “I’m sure you’ll be glad to fill everybody in with those details.”

  Chapter 19

  Praying for Reinforcement

  While there's life, there's hope.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  The fire on the porch was gaining a hold and Preston ran over to the wall and unhooking the fire extinguisher he pulled the safety pin and put the plastic funnel outside, spraying almost straight down onto the fire. He managed to quickly extinguish it.

  The other side was shooting but only managed to put some holes through the fire extinguishers plastic funnel. Preston called out to Barry, “How long before the next patrol comes through?”

  Barry responded, “I believe they’ll be here tomorrow. They might come looking for me tonight, when they discover I haven’t returned.”

  Preston shouted over the noise, “Let’s hope so. How is your wound Barry?”

  “It hurts like hell, but I am okay to fight. What do you think they’re going to do next?”

  After a short pause to return fire, Preston said, “If they use standard SWAT team tactics, they are going to wait for darkness. They probably have 12 gauge breaching loads and will sneak up to shoot off the hinges of the door, kick it in and do a mad rush en masse.” He continued, “Who knows, they might have teargas or even flash bang grenades, but we thought of those possibilities when we built this place. See those L brackets on the door?” Preston walked over and picked up a 2 x 6, placing it across the door and into the brackets, securing the door from being pushed in. He continued, “The shutters on this cabin are built to keep bears out. I think we can hold them off until the patrol comes.”

  The shooting stopped and it was quiet. Preston thought that either they are running low on ammunition, or were strategizing their next move.

  He turned to Amy and asked, “Amy, did you hit the guy you shot at?”

  She responded, “I think so. I saw him flinch.”

  “I sure hope you did because that means we evening the odds up pretty quickly. Five against four now. That means we have a real good chance of surviving this.” He then added, “Unless of course he has more reinforcements coming, as he said, but I do believe that was just a bluff.”

  Amy asked, “How did they find us?”

  Preston replied, “They must’ve followed us. I bet they had a patrol out and just followed us straight back here.”

  Amy, with a worried look on her face, said, “But how did they know I was in here?”

  “I’m sure that was just a guess. They probably figured we headed in this direction when we escaped. Now they’re guessing that we are the same people. They really never got a good look at any of us, but you.”

  He turned to Michael, “How good are you a crawling?

  Michael replied, “Good, I guess. Why?”

  “Well, if he’s down to five men, chances are he can’t surround this place. Even if he tried, a small boy crawling at night would be almost impossible to see. You know these woods well enough, so if you could sneak past them, go down about a quarter of a mile in the woods, then sneak out to the road, making sure it’s safe, and run like heck to the next place down. Then they could get the word out quickly. If we can get reinforcements, this will be over fast.”

  Michael was excited to prove himself and said, “Okay. That sounds good. I can do it.”

  Amy protested, “No you’re not.” Turning to Preston she said, “You’re not sending a child out to do this. I’ll go.”

  Preston shook his head. “Amy think for a minute. They’re here for you. So if you get caught they can just take off and we won’t know anything until morning. No, you’re staying right here.”

  Michael looked at Amy with a hurt look. “Don’t you think I’m good enough to do this do you?”

  Amy walked over and gave him a hug. “No,” she whispered, “I just don’t want to put you in any danger.”

  Barry walked into the room and said quietly, “I agree. I say the boy goes. It’s only logical we send the smallest. I’m injured and we need Preston here to help defend, plus Amy is the prize for them, we shouldn’t deliver her to them on a silver platter.”

  Amy hugged Michael tighter as she whispered, “You be quiet and move slowly. Don’t take any chances. Okay?”

  Michael brightened up, pulled back and looked up at her. “I will. Please stop worrying so much, you’re not my mother.”

  Amy moved back and was hurt by the comment, but she let it go.

  She looked over at Preston and said, “Okay. How can we get him outside without being seen?”

  Preston said, “ In the root cellar there is a crawlspace, all of the way to the back of the house, where there’s a small door, I think it’s like 24” x 18”, and when he gets to that point I’ll shoot a couple shots off so he can open the door. I’ll keep shooting until they start shooting back. Their concentration and firepower will be up here, on the front. Michael can then go back a good hundred yards into the woods, then slowly and quietly work his way around them to the road.”

  He directed his words to Michael “Don’t get in a rush. It’s dark out and you don’t want to be tripping breaking branches, making all kinds of noise. There’s no rush. If it takes you an hour to get around them, who cares. You see what I mean?”

  “Yes, I understand. I’m not a greenhorn anymore. I can do this.”

  “Good. I will take you down and show you where the door is, and then in about an hour it should be dark enough for you to leave. We have some face camouflage and light Camouflage gloves. With all your Camouflage on, you should be able to crawl right through without being seen.”

  Preston took him down in the root cellar, shining his flashlight to the back of the crawl space, he showed him where the door was.

  “Let me show you how you crawl with a rifle.” He laid down on the dirt floor and with his arms out in front of him, he place the rifle across his elbows. “Stay low and use your forearms to keep the rifle close to your elbows. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really easy. You crawl out until you reach the trees, and then you can do what is called a low crawl. That’s where you just bend over at the waist staying low moving through the brush. Once you’re back into the woods about 100 yards, you should be able to stand up and carefully walk around them and out to the road. Once you hit the road, don’t stop running until you reach somebody.”

  “Okay I got it. I’m not dumb you know.”

  “Listen Michael, I’m treating you like I would any other soldier. Accept that and knock off the remarks. Got it?”

  Michael smiled. “I’m a real soldier now?”

  Preston chuckled. “You sure are.”

  They waited for full darkness. Amy followed Michael into the root cellar. Amy was going to be the relay, once Michael reached the door, Amy was to let Preston know.

  Preston was watching the cellar door and saw Amy’s hand stick up with the thumbs up, indicating he could start firing now.

  He quickly fired a few shots towards where he had last seen somebody. He waited for muzzle flash or some type of target, so he could do some aimed shots in reply. He saw three muzzle flashes and heard the bullets hitting the wood above his head. He quickly fired off 9 more rounds. Three shots for each target. Then he ducked down.

  Amy’s job now was to crawl over and lock the door behind Michael. Barry was trying to watch out the back, but it was so dark he couldn’t tell where Michael was.

  Preston called out, “Hey Mr. SWAT team guy, how’s it going out there? Where are all those reinforcements you were bragging about?”

  He was met with silence. He heard something hit the door and fall to the porch, and then he saw the flash. He heard the explosion and teargas started coming in through his shooting port. He quickly picked up the board and sealed the shooting port. He heard the footsteps running up and a shotgun blast where the hinges should be and then
a solid kick to the door, which shook the little cabin. The door held fast and he fired several shots, right through the wall, guessing where they should be standing.

  He was laying on the floor as they started shooting above his head at waist level, tearing up the walls.

  He heard one scream out in pain, and then he heard scraping and the sound of boots as someone ran away.

  By then, Amy had crawled back out of the root cellar and over to him, asking if he was hit.

  He smiled, “Nope, but another one of them was.”

  She whispered, “I saw Michael make it to the woods. I think he’s fine.”

  He whispered back, “Good. Now if we can hold out for a few more hours, then help should arrive.”

  Staying low, she crawled on her hands and knees, back to where Barry was. He was straining his eyes, trying to see movement in the dark. She whispered to him, “I saw him make it to the woods. Could you see him after that?”

  Barry shook his head and whispered back, “I didn’t even see him make it that far. The plan looks like it’s working, so far.”

  “How’s your arm? Do you need anything?”

  She could see the pain in his face, as he said, “Some water and the strongest pain medication that you have.”

  Amy nodded and crawled off, and returned with his requested items.

  Barry took them from her and swallowed the pills, saying, “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” Adding, “I’m sorry that you got hurt helping us.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. I was just getting ready to head home. You didn’t do anything.”

  “You know what I mean.” Amy replied. “If we had never come here, this wouldn’t be happening now.”

  “You don’t know that. They could have been coming up here to do raids. They might’ve been trying to grab my wife. The way I look at it this was a fight coming one way or the other.”

  Amy squeezed his good arm. “Thank you for saying that. You’re really great guy. I’m going back up to my post now, but if you need anything, just call out okay.”

  He nodded and said, “Sounds good.”

  An hour later they tried their next breach. This time they had two guys climb on the roof and start shooting down as they walked across the top. At the same time, two more again tried to breach the door with the shotgun.

  They had already walked past where Barry was sitting. He could hear them walking up there and saw the bullets coming through, tearing up the bed. Using the SKS rifle he was given, he started shooting up where he thought they were. He continued shooting back and forth between where he guessed each of the men were.

  His breach locked open and he fumbled in the dark, trying to find the stripper clips he had been given.

  They were still shooting down and it was obvious that he hadn’t hit anybody. He heard a magazine bounce off the metal roof as he shoved the 10 rounds into the SKS. He tossed the stripper clip and yanked back on the bolt, letting it fly, loading a fresh round in the chamber.

  Amy was also firing up into the ceiling with her .22 250. The muzzle flash and high-intensity sound of each shot was killing her eardrums. The smell of cordite was thick in the little cabin. She could still hear Preston’s AR singing out the front.

  The men trying to breech the front door shot two more shells where they thought the hinges were, and started kicking on the door again. One of the shells hit a hinge and it shattered off, but the other one held tight, having been missed by an inch. The 2 x 6 was not allowing them any access, no matter what they tried.

  Preston had fired close to 10 rounds where they should have been standing. When two at the door ran off, the two on the roof were firing down into the cabin and working their way to the back. Preston got up walking along shooting up, guessing where they should be. Amy and Barry were also firing. And then there was silence, as everybody paused to reload.

  If their hearing hadn’t been impaired from all the inside shooting, they would have heard the two guys jump off the roof. After that, they all reloaded their rifles, and they waited while still pointing at the ceiling.

  Amy started yelling, due to her temporary deafness, “Did we get any?”

  Preston replied, “I don’t know. Let’s get back in positions everybody, they will be coming back.”

  They both replied yes. They had lit one small kerosene lantern, which gave them just enough light to see without tripping over things.

  Preston turned back toward the front and there was gun smoke and pieces of insulation floating in the air. With the glow of the lamp, it had a surreal feel to it.

  They waited while Preston inspected the door. They had managed to shoot off the handle and one of the hinges. Only one hinge and the 2 x 6 kept the door in place. One more attempt like that, and they would be in. He was worried about Michael, hoping he had made it. They desperately needed reinforcements.

  ——————————————————————————————————-

  Michael had no problem sneaking around them. Once he hit the dirt road he took off running. After about a half mile he slowed down to catch his breath. He was almost to the main road when he heard a horse, he quickly hid in the woods. Alone in the starlight, the figure looked familiar. He took a chance and called out. “Scott?”

  The horse stopped and he heard somebody bringing a rifle up. It had to be Scott, Michael thought. He took a chance. “Scott, it’s me Michael.”

  “Michael. Is that really you?”

  Michael breathed a sigh of relief and stepped up to the horse. “It’s me. Quick we have to go get reinforcements. Amy, Preston, and Barry are in trouble. There are some SWAT team guys that have the house surrounded.

  Scott stuck out his hand and said, “Come here and I’ll give you a ride. Get on behind me.”

  Scott quickly pulled Michael up to the back of the horse. He turned the horse around and galloped off to get the men.

  ——————————————————————————————————

  Preston thought, “This is it. The door is not going to take another assault. Once they breach the door, and toss in the teargas grenades, it’s going to be over.”

  He crawled over to Amy. Their ears were still ringing. He tried to say it is quietly as he could, “We have to leave. We’ll crawl out the same way Michael did. I’ll cover you two so go grab Barry and tell him the plan. I’ll give you a few minutes to crawl over and get out. I’ll give you some cover fire up front, and then I’ll be right behind you.”

  She nodded and crawled over to Barry to tell him what they were going to do.

  Barry and Amy went into the root cellar and had crawled over and were waiting by the door. They heard Preston start shooting so they open the hatch and started crawling for the woods. Once they safely reach the woods, they took cover behind a tree, turning around and ready to give Preston covering fire, if needed.

  Preston was almost to the open hatch when he heard the assault. He heard the 12 gauge blast, the door being kicked open and the tear gas grenades going off inside. He could see the light flash through the cracks of the floor, and he heard footsteps as men came running in. Multiple shots were fired all around the cabin.

  Chapter 20

  Asked to Leave

  A warrior is only welcome until the end of the war.

  Unknown

  Within an hour the wagons were pulling into the yard to finish loading up the supplies at the millionaire’s house.

  Philip walked down the hallway and seeing the safe door open, quickly ran over and looking inside, screamed, “Yahoo. You did it. You did it.” His eyes got as big as silver dollars as he looked in the armory. “Wow, this was worth it. What a goldmine!”

  Joe laughed, “Well you can thank Mrs. Brainiac here,” pointing to Jane, “she figured it out.”

  “Really? Jane tell me how you figured it out. What was the secret?”

  Jane laughed and said, “This girl never tells secrets, but I will te
ll you this, we tried everything, working late into the night without any luck. Then I woke up early and the solution hit me. So we came down and tried it, and it worked.”

  Philip walked over and picked up one of the ARs saying, “It really doesn’t matter how you did it, it’s the fact that we are in. That’s all that counts. So what’s the plan? How do we distribute the guns, and to who.”

  Joe said, “I’m not sure, but one thing is certain, we should hold some training and teach the people that are going to have them, how to clean, maintain, and fire them. I would suggest that we take five guns, with ammo and magazines, and bury them as a backup cache, but that’s totally up to you people. All I want for sure is two of these space age shotguns and one more AR-15, along with some magazines and ammo.”

  More people were gathering and walking into the room. People started grabbing rifles and handguns.

  Philip was almost shouting as he said, “Now hold on. Everybody get out. Put the guns down and leave everything. We’re going to fairly distribute these among everybody. We’ll have a meeting at my house tonight where we can all decide. Until then, all of you stay out of here.”

  There was some grumbling and complaining but the guns were put back in place and the people left.

  Philip looked at Jane, “You have the combo, right? Then we can lock this up and you can open it tomorrow.” Jane nodded yes and Philip closed the vault door, turning the handle up to lock it.

  That evening, a couple hours before dark, Philip’s house looked like rush hour, as well over 100 people, not counting all the children playing around in the yard, were there.

  As the group began to discuss the weapons, the arguing and bickering was getting out of control. It was getting too intense and Joe walked outside for some fresh air.

  The women were setting up an outdoor table, doing a large barbecue. The children were racing around and playing. It almost looked like a normal life at a large family gathering.

  Joe walked out to the road to think. He was never very good as a politician and these people have to figure out how they want to run their community on their own. They could hammer out the details among themselves. He told them his only request, and since Jane was the one who figured out how to open the safe, it was only fair that they should get their request.