America: The Eagle has Fallen

by Gordon Ballantyne

  “Freeze!” I yelled. “Let me see your hands!”

  The man was yelling for mercy and kept his hands up. I went over and tossed his rifle away and used a pair of zip ties that I carry on my load vest to bind his hands behind his back. The man was dressed in hunter camo gear, was very dirty and smelled terrible. I was surprised the dogs could not smell him coming but noticed they were downwind of the house and there was a pretty stiff breeze blowing in the night air. He had been hit in the shoulder by Marcus before the lights came on.

  “How many of you are there?” I demanded, shoving my rifle inches from his face.

  “Six,” he said crying in pain.

  “What were you trying to do?” I asked.

  “We heard you guys had a lot of food up here and we wanted to trade,” the attacker replied in a whimpering voice.

  “One more lie and you are food for my dogs,” I growled. “Where are you guys from and what was your mission?”

  “We are from the grange and the tolls are not what they used to be. We heard you were the ringleader of this group and we were coming to take over this area,” he said.

  “Who did you hear that from and how many are at the grange?” I asked.

  “Fifty including us,” was his reply. “Just let me go. Some guy named Jones said you were up here and where you lived. We won’t bother you again, I promise.”

  ‘No you won’t,” I answered as I shot him in the head. Adam and some of his guards came running to the gate.

  “Everything OK?” he asked hurriedly. “We heard the shots and came running.”

  “Randy has been hit. I haven’t checked any of the other bodies yet to make sure they are dead but I know we hit them all. I figured we’d wait around ten minutes to let any fakers bleed out,” I replied angrily. It looks like I need a new front door. I looked behind Adam and thought “OH NO, Amy.” Adam and I ran up to her house and were pounding on the door. “AMY, it’s James!” My heart was in my throat until I saw a flashlight coming down the stairs and I identified Amy.

  We checked the other bodies by first putting a 9mm in each of their heads to make sure they were dead. We gathered up the six bodies and laid them out at the foot of the driveway, searched them and took any usable weapons. They were pretty well outfitted and the one that I shot first had good equipment and night vision gear. He must have been the one that led the infiltration and got his fire team past my trip wires. Randy had been hit in the calf with a through and through from what looked like a .22. Fortunately it had missed the bone and any arteries. The bleeding had already stopped but we would send him to our nurse that had relocated to Mr. Jones’ house on the Cul-de-sac to make sure there was no foreign material embedded in the wound. Cindy had her arm around Jacob who was standing with his head bowed and tears streaming down his downy cheeks. I went up to Jacob and offered him my hand. “Thank you Jacob.” It is a sad day when a twelve-year-old has to take a life, even in self-defense. “I know that it is a terrible thing but it was him or you. He gave you no choice. I hope you never have to do it again but never hesitate.”

  “No sir,” he replied forlornly. “It seems like such a waste. I knew I had to pull the trigger but had no idea how wrong it would feel after.”

  “I feel the exact same way Jacob,” I said giving him a hug. “We do what we have to do to survive.”

  The family went to bed while I replaced Randy on the roof thinking what a crappy world we now live in and the price young men like Jacob would have to pay with their lost innocence. The rent was just too damn high. The cruel world had just invaded our home and I knew the fighting was just beginning.

  CHAPTER 4

  The next morning we buried the six bodies away from water over by my septic field, reinforced the front door until a replacement could be scrounged or a permanent fix installed and prepared for our excursion to see Mr. Stutz. We had a hearty breakfast and left Randy and his “bee sting” as we were now referring to it to watch the homestead. I took Marcus, Adam and Jacob with me in an effort to keep Jacob’s mind off last evening’s attack. I went over the hand signals we would be using on the trail so we could move as silently as possible. We practiced in the woods next to our house with me on point, Adam on second, Jacob third and Marcus at the rear. I pulled out my hunter’s ear sound magnifier and we set out with our three day packs and the four bulletproof vests we had accumulated. I knew Mr. Stutz wanted to meet at the Artondale Elementary School based on his rudimentary “Little ‘uns AE” code he had given us. I wanted to get eyes on the school prior to our meeting time so we would scout the location and set up good observation posts around the school. We did not have radios so everything would have to be line of sight but any intelligence is better than walking in blind. We dropped off Mr. Black’s daily payment on the way and proceeded the two miles to the school, managing to stay in the woods the entire way. I was using a compass and a map of the area that I had used for permitting my property in the past. I also brought a Gig Harbor map out of an old Thomas guide my wife had used from her real estate days prior to the advent of GPS. I managed to bypass many houses using smell from wood smoke and my hunter’s ear. We arrived on station at the school at 9AM and set everyone up at hidden observation posts. The school was quiet but there was trash at some of the exits and the doors had been left open. We each had canteens and energy bars and watched our assigned sectors of the school and likely approaches. There were a few dogs at the edge of the playground but we were down wind. Jacob gave me the high sign so I circled back through the woods to his location.

  “Sir,” he said at a whisper. “There is some movement at the rear door of the school.”

  I looked through my binoculars at the open rear door of the school and saw a rope tied to the door handle. One of the dogs had been sniffing around the area and when it entered the door, the door slammed shut and a quick yelp was heard inside.

  “It looks like we have some dog catchers holed up at the school,” I whispered to Jacob. “Keep an eye out and let me know if you see any of our trappers.” Just then the door with the rope attached swung open to reset the trap again but I did not see any people.

  At noon Mr. Stutz and a group of twelve armed men came down the street on horses and entered the playground. His men fanned out to secure the front porte-cochere of the school. His men were well disciplined and soon had the area secure with good cover and fields of fire. I stood with my arms up, motioned to my squad and walked out of the tree line hoping Mr. Stutz’s crew had good trigger discipline.

  “How are you Robertson?” asked Mr. Stutz after he had identified me as we walked up and I shook his tree bark hands.

  “Not too bad,” I replied. “We got hit last night by the group at the toll booth and one of my guys took a .22 to the leg but other than that we are in good shape. Looks like there is a group holed up in the school barbequing dogs. And you?”

  “’Bout the same. Jedd, take three men and sweep the school,” he replied, turning to one of his men armed with an AR-15. “A bunch in the neighborhood thought they were entitled to my crop and livestock but a few object lessons taught them otherwise. We built a set of stocks at the Arletta store and put any looters or thieves in there for the day. We banish anyone else for more serious crimes like rustling and only had to shoot a couple of rapists. I am keeping everyone fed who wants to work but there isn’t much trade except for some entrepreneurial crews out scrounging materials and the old coots fishing off Fox Island.”

  “We are about the same,” I said. “We have lost three. I have heard about a pack of feral dogs, the women’s prisoners up at Kopachuck and the toll crew at the Artondale Grange.”

  “I talked to the women’s group,” said Mr. Stutz nodding his head. “They are at my backdoor. They were let go when the guards started shooting all the violent criminals in their cells; a nasty bit of work. The non-violent ones were marked and shown the door while the guards locked themselves in the prison using the walls to keep people out rather than in.”


  “Marked?” I asked, confused.

  “They were branded on the backs of their left hands, it looks like a star,” said Mr. Stutz. “A little barbaric but they were given a choice, the brand and be set free or a bullet. If they ever came back they would be shot on sight. They are fishing and growing the seed they were sent with up in the State Park and just want to be left alone. There were a few fellows that had the idea of setting up a brothel using the prisoners as the product but the amazons sent them running with a few marks and brands of their own. We need to do something about this toll group. They are right on the road between you, me, the fishermen on Fox Island and downtown. Now don’t get me wrong, I am glad those clowns downtown can’t get near us, especially after they commandeered my store for the “Greater good” but they are starting to raid and pillage their way into our neighborhoods so we are going to have to flush out this viper nest. They are pretty dug in and have watchtowers and lights on a generator so a frontal assault would be costly. What do you think?”

  “Yeah,” I replied forcibly. “Six of those fucktards raided my house last night trying to expand their territory. They are pushing up daisies next to my septic drain field.”

  Jedd came out of the school leading an adult and twelve small children.

  “This is Mr. Stewart,” said Jedd to the both of us. “He is the science teacher and stayed with twelve of the little ones when their parents didn’t come pick them up. They have been living off the food in the cafeteria and vending machines and trapping feral dogs to eat.”

  “You are a saint Mr. Stewart,” said Mr. Stutz, clasping the man’s hand and patting his shoulder warmly. “Thank you for taking care of these little ones. How about you lot come stay near my house where we have a small school going.”

  Mr. Stewart just about fainted in gratitude and quickly had the kids in a line following Jedd and a couple of horse guards towards Arletta.

  “I think a quiet flank and rear infiltration would work but we’ll need a frontal diversionary attack to distract them before our attack. There is a ridge above their watchtowers by the old water mill that should work for our needs. If you can make enough noise or lob some ordinance their way then we can take out their towers, drop a little fire and send the snakes scurrying,” I said, drawing a plan in the dirt with my knife.

  “Sounds good. Shall we say three nights from today? Radio call, operation “open road is a go? Over,” said Mr. Stutz with a smile.

  “They are keeping the City bottled up from us, do you really want to deal with that dumpster fire right now?” I asked.

  “Oh, I think we can deal with those carpet baggers if we need to,” said Mr. Stutz with a wicked grin.

  “Sounds good to me,” I said. “Need anything?”

  “Some cigars would be nice and a decent bottle of scotch but other than that we are in good shape,” he said. “You folks doing OK?”

  “We could use some piglets, a few dairy heads and some cracked corn if you have it,” I said.

  “Done,” said Mr. Stutz. “You feed and fatten them then I’ll split the take 50/50 with you on the swine. I’ll give you two piglets and you only have to return one hog in exchange for two new piglets. You keep the dairy from the cows but I get the meat and any calves. The corn I’ll trade for a bottle of 12-year-old scotch and I’ll toss in six sheep or three goats for a case of cigars. Fair?”

  “Done,” I said with a smile. “But the take from the toll rats goes to my side since you are doing the distracting while my folks are doing the fighting. Deal?”

  We shook hands. “You drive a hard bargain Robertson,” said Mr. Stutz with a smile. “You still owe me $500 from the store.”

  “No problem Mr. Stutz,” I said with a grin. “I always pay my bills. Say, what will you do with the paper?”

  “Fuck you,” he said with a smile. “Take good care of my girl over there.”

  “I will,” I said. “Take good care of yourself, keep your old ass down and stay out of trouble. I’ll see you in three days.”

  “Bye, over,” he said while getting up on his horse with practiced ease and following his mounted men back toward Arletta.

  I sent Adam and Jacob back to the homestead while Marcus and I looped around to reconnoiter the grange and the toll taker set up. I knew based on our numbers that we would need a good plan to take on fifty dug in defenders with only fifteen attackers. It would turn into a disaster if we did not have good intelligence and surprise on our side. Marcus and I cautiously approached the military horizon of the hill overlooking the grange. We moved an inch at a time. I managed to find and disable three trip wires and noisemakers during our approach. I knew I would have to completely scour the entire hillside and hope the toll folks did not have a roving patrol. The grange defenses were a three sided bulwark with Wollocet Bay making the fourth side. The grange was in one of the corners of their box and it had to be their barracks. All four corners were equipped with wooden watch tower platforms with a bored looking rifleman perched in each. There were four guards at each of the three gates who were the toll takers for any passing caravans or people. Sixteen total guards without anyone seen outside “the wire.” I quickly sketched a layout of the compound and guard composition in my small notebook I always kept handy. I left Marcus to keep watch and slithered down the hill and headed home. I went through the woods to avoid Adam’s roadblock and went to my shop to set up a miniature mockup of the compound using my daughter’s Lego set and a piece of plywood. I spent the rest of the evening coming up with a plan to overwhelm the nest, running possible scenarios through my mind. I was not a military planner and had no training on how to assault a fortified position so I opted for the simplest plan I could devise to maximize surprise and minimize collateral damage.

  The next morning I sent Adam up to relieve Marcus, giving him the infiltration route I had used the previous day and the call sign counter sign Marcus and I had agreed to. I split each of our people into teams of two and explained each of their parts in the mission showing them on the sand table, where they would approach, what they were going to do and when they were going to do it. Each member of the pair had to learn both of their responsibilities in case something bad happened. We did not have radios so the plan either went exactly correct or we would withdraw and have to try a different plan at a later date against a more on guard target. We had snipers, throwers and a back door Trojan horse crew. We drilled constantly for two days and prepared our ordinance for battle. I was optimistic our plan would work but also realistic to know that the best plan only will last for about thirty seconds during combat. The radio sputtered to life around dinner time.

  “This is door knocker calling savvybuilder, Over.”

  “I read you loud and clear door knocker. Over,” I replied.

  “Condition Alpha,” he said. I looked at our code words that we had exchanged at our school meeting. A) Locked and loaded.

  “Roger. Time X-ray,” I replied. X) Dawn attack.

  We left Randy behind to guard the homestead and kids and convened at Adam’s roadblock. We knew from Marcus and Adam’s intelligence that the guards changed at noon and midnight. We were approaching from the East so I would have the dawn sun at our backs and in the guard’s eyes. We sent the scroungers with their old handcarts around the back way through the old mill property so they could approach from the South knowing Mr. Stutz would be coming from the North. The rest of our team cautiously approached the top of the hill. I saw the four scroungers making their way down the street to approach the South barricade gates. The watchtower crew whistled to the gate keepers as the scroungers neared the barricade who opened the gate and stepped forward to inspect the carts and collect their tax. Cindy, Jacob, Adam and I rose quietly from the ridge and fired shots at the four watchtowers taking out the four guards who tumbled to the floors of their watchtowers. The scroungers each took out a concealed suppressed pistol and shot one of the guards who had turned to look up at the noise of the watchtower guards collapsing on the floor and
quickly retreated toward the Bay. Just then we heard a huge bang as a head sized rock hit the car barricade from the North. Stutz and his crew had built a trebuchet and had lofted a head sized rock at the wood and abandoned car barricade. His crew adjusted aim and threw the next one right into the barricade gates shattering them from their hinges. An alarm went up from the grange and men with rifles came pouring out of the entrances turning to the north and the source of the loud booms the two rocks had created. Some tried to get to the top of the watchtowers but were cut down by our suppressed snipers and Stutz’s fire teams that had infiltrated the woods on either side of the road approaching the north barricade. Stutz’s crew kept up a steady stream of fire towards the barricade to keep the defenders’ heads down and their focus on the north. I then gave the signal and our “tossers” started throwing mason jars filled with a mixture of gasoline and as much dish soap as we could scrounge in the community. A lit arrow soon arched into the air and set the broken jars’ homemade naphtha contents aflame. The wall of fire pinned the defenders between the barricade and the broken gate. The defenders tried to rally and escape through the west side of their box toward the bay but were cut down from the scroungers, the hill above and Stutz’s crew to their flank. The fight was over in about ten minutes. The only casualties were two wounded from Stutz’s crew who had been hit from a spray and pray from the barricade crew.