by Robert Boren
“Oh, shit,” Brianna said.
Haley looked closer at her phone. “They’re on Mount Diablo Scenic Boulevard. Take Clubhouse Road to Alameda Diablo. Then go right on Cll Los Callados. It runs right into Mount Diablo. Make a right there, and the school will be on the left.”
Ted got behind the wheel and they drove out of the Country Club, onto the street. Gunfire was ramping up, and more explosions.
“Who else is coming?” Brianna asked.
“Tex and Karen, Jules and Shelly with Sparky and Dana, and Robbie and Morgan,” Ted said.
“We’d better bring more,” Haley said. “I see a line of Islamists heading for the area.”
“Where?” Bryan asked, sitting in front of the gun console.
“Blackhawk Road, heading in from the southeast,” Haley said. “I’m sending a text to Jules, just in case he hasn’t noticed.” She sent the text. Her phone dinged after a moment.
“Well?” Brianna asked.
“They see it. The rest of the rigs are on the way, but some are further away than others.”
“These are tight roads,” Ted said as he drove down Cll Los Callados.
“Maybe I ought to get out the M60s and let one of the women take the console,” Bryan said.
“Yeah, good idea,” Ted said. “Send Haley up here. She’s got experience.”
Bryan nodded and left the passenger seat, Haley taking his spot. “Seeing any enemy vehicles yet?”
“Nope,” Ted said. “We’ll be on site in a couple of minutes.”
***
Sanchez was hunkered down, returning fire at the school, a line of UN Peacekeepers and Islamists shooting at them from the roof of the main building.
“We bit off more than we can chew, dude,” he said. “Wish we brought more dynamite and more ammo.”
A young man with long blonde hair looked at him. “I just sent a message out on 4Chan. We know Ivan watches that. We’ll probably get help.”
“Hope so, Kerry, because otherwise we’ll be dead,” Sanchez said, wiping sweat off his forehead. He put the rifle to his shoulder and fired, hitting an Islamist who was trying to sneak forward. That brought a barrage of fire from the roof, and then there were explosions on the far side of the school.
Kerry smiled. “That’s Johnson. He’s still got some explosives left.”
“Look, the main building is on fire,” Sanchez said. “Those creeps on the roof will have to find someplace else. We might not be pinned down for much longer.”
“Well, let’s keep at them,” Kerry said. “Watch the ground-floor of the building. We can see three of the doors.”
“Here they come, dude,” Sanchez said, waiting for a few men to rush out. He and Kerry opened fire with their rifles, Sanchez working the lever furiously on his Marlin, Kerry firing with his Ruger Mini-14. They dropped several men, the others racing back into the building.
“Wonder if there are doors on the other side of the building?” Kerry asked.
“If so, Jones and Curtain will nail their asses,” Sanchez said.
“If they’re still alive,” Kerry said. “Haven’t heard from either for a while. Most of the others are still sending texts.”
Suddenly a large group ran out from behind the building, racing for cover behind cars in the parking lot.
“Dammit,” Sanchez shouted. “Hit those guys.”
“On it,” Kerry said, firing at them, hitting a couple, the survivors returning fire with AK-47s.
“We’re out gunned, man,” Sanchez said, struggling to reload his Marlin. “We should’ve brought more than twenty guys.”
“This isn’t the only battle,” Kerry said. “And twenty is all we had trained well enough.”
The men behind the cars rushed out, Sanchez stopping his reload and firing, hitting two of the six, Kerry hitting three more. The last one got to cover closer to them and opened fire, forcing their heads down.
“I have to reload the Mini-14 in a sec,” Kerry said. “You ready?”
Sanchez stuffed the last couple of rounds into the side gate of his Marlin and aimed. “I’m ready. Only have seven shots, though, so hurry.”
Kerry nodded as he reloaded. “I’m almost out of ammo, man. This magazine and another half magazine and I’m out.”
“Maybe we ought to be looking for an escape, then,” Sanchez said. “There’s one.” He fired, hitting a running Islamist in the side, and then another hail of bullets flew at them, forcing them down.
“This is almost over, man,” Kerry said. “Nice fighting with you.”
“Don’t you dare give up,” Sanchez said. Then there was a shot from behind them, hitting one of the tree trunks nearby.
“Dammit, they’re behind us now,” Kerry said.
“Son of a bitch.” Sanchez turned and fired, hitting two running UN Peacekeepers, but an Islamist got off a shot, hitting him in the shoulder.
“Sanchez!” Kerry cried, firing fast, hitting the Islamist and several others who were rushing forward. Then there was gunfire from the other side again, one of the bullets splitting Sanchez’s head wide open.
Kerry looked at him in horror, and opened fire, killing a couple more UN Peacekeepers, the fire returned from several spots in front of him. He could see people sneaking forward, going from car to car in the lot, too fast for him to hit. He was almost out of ammo, firing wildly, running out, struggling to reload. Then a large group rose, rushing him like a football defense line. Kerry said his prayers, but then the running men were cut down, some of them nearly in half, as automatic fire flew at them. The survivors broke and ran, and then there was automatic fire from the other side of the building, causing Islamists and UN Peacekeepers to flee right towards Kerry again, only to be hit with more automatic fire. There were light sounding pops, and several grenades went off around the building and the parking lot.
“Holy crap,” Kerry said, watching in amazement, reloading what was left of his ammo and joining in, crying out with glee as he watched the enemy cut to ribbons. Then he saw it. A massive bus-like vehicle with a mini-gun mounted at the rear and a grenade launcher mounted near the front. Islamists from another building peppered it with gunfire, all of which bounced off as the mini-gun moved on its turret, sweeping fire on the roof, dropping about half of the Islamists. Then grenades hit the roof from three directions, blowing half the building up. Kerry’s phone dinged. He read the text. It’s Ivan’s folks!
Automatic fire and grenade explosions continued after Kerry shot his last round, and then he heard explosions and automatic fire to the southeast.
“Hey,” somebody yelled, rushing up with a military weapon, gun belt dangling under it. “See anymore?”
“Who are you?” Kerry asked.
“Bryan,” he said, crouching next to him. “You’re out of ammo. What’s that take?”
“It takes .223,” Kerry said.
Bryan pulled a box out of the lower pocket in his cargo pants and slid it to him.
“Wow, thanks,” Kerry said, hurrying to reload. “You with Ivan?”
“Yep,” Bryan said. Ted ran up behind him with his M60.
“He a friendly?” Ted asked.
“Yeah, and I just gave him more ammo,” Bryan said.
“How do you know he’s not an enemy fighter?”
“Look at his gun, man. That’s a Mini-14. The enemy is carrying AKs, mostly.”
“Okay,” Ted said, looking at Kerry. “You know about the girls?”
“What girls?” Kerry asked.
“We were gonna hit this place and liberate women the enemy has been holding here as sex slaves,” Bryan said. “You guys beat us to the punch.”
“Son of a bitch,” Kerry said. “We just hit it because we knew it was a UN base. We didn’t expect to see Islamists here.”
“They’re all over the place,” Ted said. “I think Jules and Tex took out the ones coming up here on Blackhawk road.”
“There were more coming?” Kerry asked.
“Yep,” Bryan said. The
re were more explosions and automatic fire to the south east. “Speak of the devil.”
“I think we killed most of the enemy at the campus,” Ted said. “We’d better go take a look.”
“Want company?” Kerry asked.
“Are you military?” Ted asked.
“Nope,” Kerry said, “but I’m a good shot.”
“Hang out here and cover us, then,” Ted said. He took off in a crouch with Bryan. The sound of choppers approached.
“Crap, look out,” Kerry yelled.
“It’s TV choppers,” Ted yelled back. “Don’t fire on them. Ivan will need the footage.”
There was the sound of approaching vehicles, and then two UN Vans came into view.
“Look out!” Kerry shouted, firing on the lead van. Then grenades hit them from one of the battle wagons, blowing them both up.
“This isn’t over,” Ted shouted. “C’mon, let’s get into those buildings.”
They rushed forward, going into the closest building to the main one, which was now fully engulfed in fire. Ted kicked the door in and they entered, shooting two UN Peacekeepers who were hiding inside. The building was like a small warehouse, stuffed to the rafters with ammo, rifles, and other weaponry.
“Wow, the mother lode,” Bryan said. “Maybe we ought to give this to the resistance team.”
Ted stuck his head out the door, and motioned to Kerry, who trotted over, his eyes wide as he saw everything. “Does your organization need some firepower?”
“Hell yes,” Kerry said. “I’ll text the others to come over.”
“You ever fired one of these?” Bryan asked.
“Nope,” Kerry said as he sent the text.
“I’ll show you guys after the others get here,” Bryan said. “How many folks did you bring?”
“Twenty total,” Kerry said as he sent the text.
“You guys decided to take this place on with twenty guys?” Bryan asked. “You’re brave.”
“Yeah, that’s biting off a lot,” Ted said. “These guys are well equipped, and the Islamists fight pretty well. You’re gonna have to be more careful in the future.”
“We only had twenty through our training,” Kerry said. Others started to slip into the building, a rag-tag group of late teens and early twenty-somethings, all of them looking tired and scared.
“Crap, we’ve only got seven other survivors?” Kerry asked, eyes tearing up.
“We’re lucky that any of us survived,” said a large man with red hair and a full beard. “These battle wagons got here just in time. You part of that?”
Ted and Bryan nodded. “You’ve got military training?” Ted asked,
“Yeah,” the man said. “I’m Red.”
“Big surprise,” Bryan said, smiling. “You know how to work AK-47s?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll teach the others.” He looked around the room. “Crap, look at the mortars and the RPGs. Mines? What the hell were these folks planning on doing?”
“Fighting you,” Ted said. “Subduing the population.”
Sparky and Jules rushed in the door.
“Whoa, weapons stash,” Jules said. “They were planning something big, no?”
“Who’s he?” Red asked, eyeing him. “He sounds French.”
Sparky chuckled. “Watch that. He’s Belgian. They don’t like being called French.”
Jules chuckled. “No offence taken. You resistance?”
“Damn straight,” Red said, still eyeing him suspiciously.
“Lighten up, Red,” Ted said. “This is Ivan’s second in command for this region.”
“Oh, wow,” Kerry said, smiling. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Jules said. “Where women?”
“They didn’t know they were here,” Ted said. “They just knew this was a UN base.”
“They tried to take this place with twenty guys,” Bryan said.
Jules chuckled. “Men like this win war. Let’s find girls. Rescue.”
“You know there’s a good chance they’re all dead,” Sparky said. “Happened before.”
“Yes, so we hurry. Maybe some wounded but still alive.”
“I leave you to the weapons, then,” Ted said to Red. “Give your guys a crash course on these, and dump the hunting crap.”
“Good advice, thanks,” Red said, shaking his hand. “We’ll be ready to go in a few minutes.”
Jules led the others out of the building, rushing towards the next building that was still standing, Red watching them until they were out of sight.
“We’re gonna win,” Kerry said.
“Not if we can’t do better than we did tonight,” Red said, picking up an AK-47. “We lost twelve out of twenty men. Gather around and listen up. Pay attention.”
His men gathered around him.
***
“Jules, slow down a tad,” Sparky said. “There’s still enemy around.”
“We need to get in, get out,” Jules said. “Look at apps. Two hundred Islamists on way. Robbie and Tex waiting for convoy after smashing first group with me, but I don’t want to take on big group. Get women and get out.”
“Okay, then maybe we should split up,” Bryan said.
“No, stay together,” Jules said. “Two men with M60s and two with M-16s about right. Let’s go.”
They rushed to the first building, Sparky kicking the door in. It was filled with rations and other supplies, but no people.
“Next,” Jules said, and they rushed out the door towards a large one-story building. As they approached, rifle fire came at them.
“Watch out,” Ted shouted as they all dove for cover behind some cement block benches. Ted eyed the windows where the shots came from, and then nodded to Bryan, who lifted his M60. “That’s a frame building, Bryan. Shoot under the windows.”
He nodded, and both opened fire, the bullets cutting through the wood and plasterboard, screams in Arabic coming from inside. Then Sparky and Jules were on their feet, rushing up, firing through the windows at the few Islamists who survived. Jules kicked the door in and all four men rushed inside, looking at the dead enemy fighters.
“Look, a couple were UN,” Bryan said.
“Yep,” Ted said. “What’s behind that door?” He rushed to it and tried the knob. It was locked, and there was blood coming from under the door jamb on the hinge side. He shot a worried glance to Jules, who nodded to go ahead. Ted stood back and shot the lock, then kicked the door in and froze. The floor was littered with beheaded women’s bodies, blood a quarter inch thick on the floor. “Oh God.” Ted backed away, tears filling his eyes.
“Those bastards,” Bryan said, starting to cry as he looked at the carnage.
“Take pictures,” Jules said. “Now. Many. Be men.” He reached inside and turned on the light switch, several banks of fluorescents coming on.
“Some of these girls are no older than fifteen,” Bryan said, shaking his head, taking pictures with his phone as the others joined in.
“Send pictures to Ivan right away,” Jules said. “In case we don’t make it out alive.”
“Think they’ll make it here before we finish?” Bryan asked.
“Yes, might,” Jules said. “We have other battle wagons coming, but they won’t make it in time. I’m telling Tex and Robbie to leave before the large group shows up.”
“There were mines in that building over there,” Ted said. “Maybe we ought to provide our guests with a special welcome.”
“Yes, you go do,” Jules said. “Get help from Red’s guys, then tell them to split. Good idea, no?”
“I love it,” Bryan said. He sent his pictures, then took off with Ted.
“That kid gets better after each battle,” Sparky said as he and Jules finished taking pictures and sending them off.
“Yes, does,” Jules said. “We have top notch team. Let’s back up. Show doorway, then back up and show building. Can’t hide that this was UN facility that way.”
Sparky nodded and they finished up thei
r shots, then took a few more of the dead Islamists lying side by side with UN Peacekeepers, sending them all off to Ivan.
“What now?” Sparky asked.
“Go back to rigs. Take off. I text new spot to regroup. For now, go north on 680 towards Concord.”
Sparky nodded, and they took off, getting to their rig in seconds.
“Take out of siege mode,” Jules said as they rushed in. “We leave now. Sparky, drive while I send messages.”
Sparky got behind the wheel as Shelly continued at the console and Dana held her M60 near the gun slits. They were soon on the road, leaving the area.
“Okay, texts away,” Jules said.
“How about Ted and Bryan?” Shelly asked.
Jules smiled at her. “They just mine all entrances to school with ordinance we find in their storage shed. They getting on road now. Tex and Robbie leave too. They ahead of us by few miles on 680.”
“There’s the on-ramp,” Shelly said.
“Yep,” Sparky said, taking the ramp and speeding up.
“They killed all the women, didn’t they?” Dana asked softly.
“Yes, did,” Jules said. “We document with photos and send to Ivan. It on news soon. I suggest you not watch.”
“It was bad, wasn’t it?” Dana asked, watching the tears stream down Sparky’s cheeks.
“I’m glad you didn’t see it,” he said, turning to her.
Jules’s phone rang. He answered it. “Ivan.”
“Jules,” he said. “Those bastards are gonna regret this. Nice job on the documentation. Especially the shots outside the door, leaving no doubt where this happened.”
“Hope helps,” Jules said.
“How was the resistance there?”
“Green, but possibilities. We gave weapons stash to them. Lots of AK-47, plus ammo, mortars, and other toys.”
“You told them you were with my organization?”
“Yes,” Jules said.
“Good,” Ivan said. “We’ll meet in Concord. There’s a safe base waiting for you. We’ll do the TV show there with your women, if they’re still willing.”
“Understand, boss. When do pictures come out?”
“Tonight,” he said. “Last show from this location.”
“What about the other rescues?” Jules asked.