The Shadow Patriots Box Set 2

by Warren Ray

  “Tomorrow night and we’ll be heading to Michigan. You guys can help me drive some trucks there.”

  “With supplies and such.”

  “Yeah, food, medicine, some weapons.”

  “That sounds great.”

  “Are your friends around?”

  “Oh, they’re off somewhere, I’m not sure where. I can go find ‘em if you want.”

  “No, that’s alright, I’ll catch up with them later.”

  “It’s ah, a real honor to meetcha.”

  Winters shook his hand and was pleased to see he had three new guys who were in their early forties, which was a good thing because they typically had a lot more energy than a lot of his guys. The younger the men they had on their team, the better.

  Winters headed to the infirmary to visit with Finley. He hadn’t had the chance to see her yet and wanted to find out what she and her mother’s plans were. Did they want to stay in Canada or head back home? He also needed to get with Laney and Collette to find out the same thing.

  Winters found Finley’s room and gave a gentle knock as he pushed the door open.

  “I was wondering when you were going to come visit me,” said Finley.

  “Just saving the best for last is all,” smiled Winters as he bent down to give her a light hug. “How ya doing?”

  “Still hurts some, but, like, my fever and headache are gone.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  “Thanks for bringing me here.”

  “Please. You deserve it after what you did. I couldn’t have done it without you girls.”

  Finley’s face lit up hearing the compliment.

  “I’m sorry for not thinking they’d be waiting for you at your place.”

  “It’s alright. They would have, like, taken my mom and sister anyway, so I’m glad I was there with them.”

  “Well, it all worked out, and now you’ll have a couple of badass scars to remember it all with.”

  “Right. Now I’m gonna have some street-cred.”

  Winters sat on the edge of the bed.

  “I met Sadie.”

  Winters smiled.

  “She is just the sweetest. I absolutely love her. She came right in, and like, took my sister under her wing and cheered her up.”

  “She’s very good at that.”

  “She told me you and her, and another girl were, like, taken hostage, and she was supposed to marry some prince.”

  Winters nodded his head.

  “And that you were rescued, but then you had to, like, fight your way out.”

  “That pretty much sums it up.”

  “Wow! It sounds like a good plotline for a book.”

  “It does, doesn’t it,” said Winters with a curious look.

  Tears started to run down her face. “I’m so glad you came home.”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Winters, as he grabbed her hand.

  “Laney told me why you, like, came back home. I’m so sorry, Cole.”

  More tears streamed down her face, and Cole gave her a comforting hug telling her it was okay.

  “But if it hadn’t been for your daughter, then we’d be, like, still having to…” cried Finley not wanting to finish her sentence.

  The whole ordeal was finally hitting her and the realization that her good fortune came at the cost of another’s life. It was a hard truth. How do you celebrate with something like that in mind? The only thing you can do is not forget the sacrifice someone else made.

  Winters began to wish he hadn’t told anyone because it would be easier for the girls to be grateful for their rescue. They had already paid a high enough price as it was. They would have to accept what they did for food and be okay with it. This wouldn’t be an easy thing to do, and it would be something they’d think about it for the rest of their lives. Now they had an additional string attached to it. Perhaps down the road, it would give it more meaning in a spiritual sense.

  Winters continued to hug her for a few more moments. “Hey, hey, don’t think that way, okay. It was an honor to help you girls, and it gives Cara’s death meaning to me. It helps me deal with my sorrow.”

  “But.”

  Winters leaned away. “No. No buts.”

  Finley nodded and used her hands to wipe away her tears. “Okay, but still, it just sucks for you.”

  “Hey, everything happens for a reason, alright?”

  “I guess.”

  Winters wanted to change the subject and asked if she knew if her mother wanted to stay in Canada.

  “I think so. She was, like, hoping to talk to someone about that.”

  “I’ll mention it to the right people. Where is everybody?”

  “Oh, they went to get something to eat so I could get some sleep.”

  “Then I’ll leave you to it. I’ll come back by in the morning.”

  Winters gave her another hug and then headed to the smaller cafeteria. He found Finley’s mom and sister sitting with Laney, Collette and Sadie. Everyone turned their heads when he walked in.

  “Cole,” said Sadie scooting over to make room for him.

  Winters sat down between Sadie and Laney, greeted everyone, and told them he just came from seeing Finley.

  “She’s on the mend thanks to you,” said Finley’s mom, Debbie.

  “Just glad we had somewhere to take her.”

  “Sadie has been regaling us with some of your adventures,” said Debbie.

  Winters turned to Sadie. “Has she now?”

  “Of course I have,” said Sadie, “how can I not brag about you? You’ve saved so many lives, like, Amber and Reese.”

  “Reese?” asked Laney. “Your girlfriend, Reese?”

  Sadie’s mouth dropped open and turned back to Winters. “Reese is your girlfriend?”

  Winters nodded unsure how she’d feel about that.

  Sadie grabbed his arm. “Oh. My. Gosh. That is so sweet. My big sister deserves someone nice like you.”

  Winters let out a sigh of relief.

  “I’m going to have to write her a letter.”

  “That’s a lot of cards you need to get done. You’d better hurry.”

  “Why? When are you leaving?”

  “Tomorrow night. It’s one of the things I wanted to discuss with you guys,” said Winters as he turned to Debbie.

  “Can we stay here?” she asked.

  “Absolutely. If that’s what you want. I can get with General Standish, and he’ll have someone work out the details with you.”

  Debbie turned to her daughter Kayley. “You think you’d like to stay here for awhile?”

  Kayley was about the same age as Sadie and nodded her head excessively. “Yes. Yes. As long as Sadie is here.”

  “Heck yeah, I’ll be here. Ahh, I’m so excited I’ve got a new friend.”

  “Tired of all the grownups, eh?” asked Winters in humorous tone.

  “No. It’s just that I need a girlfriend.”

  Winters turned to Collette. “What about your mom?”

  “She wants to stay here too,” grumbled Collette.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t stay here with her. I’d rather go back home than stay here.”

  Winters nodded having witnessed the friction between them. She had been looking forward to going to college and getting away. Winters turned to Laney assuming she wanted to get back home to her mom and sister but asked anyway.

  “Yes. Of course.”

  “Alright then, we’ll be leaving tomorrow night. I have some new volunteers who will help drive the trucks back to Jackson. We can drop you guys off on the way.”

  “Cool,” said Collette.

  “Tomorrow if you want, I can have some instructors give you a crash course in weapons training. This way in case you need to defend yourselves again, you’ll be ready.”

  “Oh yes, I love it,” said a wide-eyed Laney. “Will you give us some guns to keep?”

  “Remember what I said? We go everywhere armed.”

  Both Laney
and Collette shook their closed fits in front of them.

  Winters liked the idea of arming these girls in case there was any more trouble back home. No need to have all his work go to waste by having a power vacuum filled with more criminals.

  Satisfied with the plans, Winters excused himself and headed to back General Standish’s office to use his phone. He needed to contact Major Green tonight and give him an update.

  Chapter 18

  Chelsea Michigan

  After taking out one of the cars that were pursuing them, Reese had swung the truck out of the field and onto Sylvan Road. There was still a car behind her, and she was headed toward a roadblock. The Jijis were about to box her in, and she had few options.

  One of the things Reese learned over the past few months was never panic. There was always a few seconds to figure out what to do and when there’s adrenaline pumping through you, a few seconds was all you needed.

  She let off the gas while looking in the mirror to see their tail was about hundred feet back. Small hills bordered both sides of the road so swinging back into a field wasn’t an option. They could try and ram the blockade while shooting their way through, but she had no idea how many cars would be there. Coming up on the left was a house with a dirt road in front of it. Taking a left was appealing, but they were too close to Manchester Road, which was the Jiji border. She was running out of options when suddenly the hill to her right leveled out. It was what she was hoping for—another option.

  “Hang on,” she said as she swerved to the right through a small opening between the trees, which broke out onto another field.

  The engine raced as the front-end rose up off the ground before diving back down. The pickup bounced violently rocking them on the bench seat. Reese fought to control the steering wheel and was able to wrestle the truck to avoid hitting an evergreen tree. They crossed through over-grown lawns and two driveways before reaching Heim Road. She took a quick look to her left and was surprised to see at least six cars at the intersection.

  “You see ‘em all?” asked Reese.

  “Looks like they got a party going on,” grunted Nate.

  “You all right?” asked Reese noticing Nate’s painful expression.

  “Yeah, I’m good. Again, nice driving.”

  Reese broke out a smile at the compliment. She always ate up accolades from Nate because he so rarely gave them. He wasn’t an emotional guy and had little patience for stupidity.

  Nate took another look at the map and told her to take a right when the road ended. The last Jiji broke off the chase at they got closer to Jackson. Nate kept calling on the radio and wasn’t able to reach anyone. He threw it up on the dash having grown frustrated with its limited range.

  It took fifteen minutes before Reese pulled into the emergency room entrance.

  She opened the door and looked in the back surprised her crutch was still there. She reached for it and rushed inside with Nate. It took a few minutes before they found Scar down in the cafeteria with Taylor and Amber.

  “Are they together?” asked Scar after getting their report.

  “No. Nordell and Burns are on the south end,” answered Nate pointing on the map. “We came out here on Sylvan Road. They had a blockade of five or six cars down here.”

  “Cops?” asked Taylor. “Any cops?”

  “Can’t say for sure,” said Nate.

  “They might not be invited to the party yet,” said Taylor.

  Scar studied the map and thought about their limited options. The north end of the Proving Grounds was the interstate, and the east side was Manchester Road, which was the Jiji border, so neither of those sides were an option. It was either come in from the south or the west, with the latter looking more appealing. It was a much larger area and had more places to enter unnoticed. Scar glanced at his watch, which read five o’clock. They had four more hours of daylight. Using their night-vision advantage would be preferable, but if their friends couldn’t hold on, then they’d have no choice but to come in guns blazing.

  “Badger, alert all the guard post to be ready for an attack. Get Eddie down here with some of his men. Oh, and get Nordell’s friend Hollis. We might need a sniper.” Scar turned to Reese and Nate with an apologetic look because neither of them would be coming.

  Reese recognized the look. “It’s okay. I’ve had my fill of action.”

  “I’m pretty banged up from her driving anyway,” smirked Nate.

  “I thought you liked it rough,” said Reese with a twinkle in her eye.

  Nate scoffed. “Touché.”

  “Oookay,” said Scar, “I’m leaving on that one. Amber you joining us?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” she replied.

  “Then let’s go,” said Scar.

  Scar didn’t have any particular plan in mind and wouldn’t until he got a lay of the land. He needed to know where the Jijis were posted and if the cops were involved. More important was to get an update from Bassett and Nordell, which meant they needed to get in close enough for the radios. If their positions were secure, then they’d wait until it got dark before attempting any rescue. It was always the best option because they owned the night and that was always their main advantage over the enemy’s superior numbers.

  Chapter 19

  Talking with some of the locals about the area by the Proving Grounds, gave Scar an idea on where they could set up to get within radio range of Bassett. He sent Eddie and his men to the south to scope out the Jiji force, while he would lead a squad of ten to the west side. He kept another fifty men a couple of miles away with orders to stand ready and the rest of their men back in Jackson to leave at a moments notice.

  Scar didn’t necessarily want to engage the Jijis if he didn’t have too. Mostly because he still wanted to raid their supply lines. If there was a battle, then he might have to put it on hold. Getting supplies was his top priority because without them the town would soon starve.

  Taylor stopped the SUV when he came to Hoppe Road. Hollis had given them directions to a trail, which would take them through the fields to keep hidden while they got in radio range. The SUV rocked from side to side as Taylor drove through the tall grass and small bushes that had started to grow in the fields.

  Scar grabbed the radio and tried to raise Bassett. It took a few tries before he finally reached them.

  “What’s your status?”

  “We’ve been able to avoid any contact for the last hour.”

  “What about you Nordell?”

  “Same here,” responded Nordell over the radio. “We’re hanging out in a car that we jacked.”

  “Can everyone hang on till it gets dark?”

  “Roger that,” said Bassett.

  “Same here,” confirmed Nordell. “Once it gets dark, we’ll take the car and head towards Bassett’s position.”

  Scar turned to Taylor with a dubious look before replying to Nordell. “You sure?”

  “There’s tint on these windows. They’ll never recognize us.”

  Scar considered Nordell’s suggestion but told him to hold off until he scoped out Sylvan Road. If they could get across without being seen, then they could bring Bassett and Meeks out while Nordell and Burns just drove out. If anything, they could always create a diversion if needed.

  “Let’s recon Sylvan Road,” said Scar as he turned to face Amber who was sitting in the backseat. “You up for a hike?”

  She nodded, and they exited the SUV. Scar walked to the truck behind him that Hadley was driving and told him to hang back while they did a recon. Scar then took off through the trees with Taylor and Amber behind him. The trip to Sylvan road was a short one, and they were about to break out of the woods behind three houses when Scar noticed movement in one of the windows. He lifted his binoculars and saw men through the windows.

  “Got Jijis in that house.”

  “What the hell are they doing?” asked Taylor.

  “I think they’re looting the place.”

  Taylor shook his head.
>
  “They probably haven’t been down here before,” said Amber.

  “Probably not,” said Scar.

  They moved away to look for another entrance to the road but weren’t able to find one that wasn’t open ground. So they hustled back to the safety of the woods to wait for the thieves to leave. It took nearly an hour for what looked like ten of them to go through all three houses before heading down road. Each carried a sack full of booty, and all were laughing as they left.

  “Glad to see they’re enjoying themselves,” grunted Taylor.

  “C’mon,” said Scar as he got up and started across the back lawn. They crept to the side of the house and discovered the Jijis looked to be having a party on the road. They were at least a hundred armed men milling around the streets, but they seemed more interested in chatting with each other than standing guard.

  “Them boys aren’t paying too much attention,” whispered Taylor.

  Scar nodded.

  “Yeah but there sure are a lot of them,” said Amber.

  Scar nodded. If these guys were still here when it got dark, then they would not be able to cross the road. He’d have no choice but to create a diversion to draw these men away. While he didn’t want to engage them, push come to shove, he wouldn’t hesitate.

  Scar studied the map and figured the best place for a diversion was on the corner of Sylvan and Lehman Roads. It would draw the enemy down the road giving them access to the Proving Grounds. That would keep the Jijis busy while allowing Scar enough time to get his guys out of there.

  Chapter 20

  Washington D.C.

  Green put the phone back in its cradle after receiving a coded message informing him he had a call coming in tonight from Cole Winters. He was anxious to talk to him and get an update. He would wait to see if he mentioned his daughter Cara before deciding what to say to him about what she tried doing to him.

  More importantly, he needed to give him an update on what they were doing here in the district. It couldn’t be easy for Winters and his men not knowing if this “war” was ever going to end. They needed some reassurances things were happening in the Capital and that they were not fighting a lost cause.