Storm Front

by Thomas A. Watson

  Looking up with a weary face, “They have over a hundred women and kids tied up in the classrooms,” Nelson said.

  Leaning over, Gerald turned Nelson’s notebook toward him to study the layout. “How accurate do you think the layout of the rooms are?” Gerald asked, seeing rooms labeled with hostages, sleeping quarters, storage, and other things.

  “Each one gave me the same layout,” Nelson said, flipping the pages to show the same drawing repeatedly. “Though on the one that had his face broke, I had to point at the room and say what it was so the man could nod because I couldn’t understand him.”

  Everyone turned to Sean. “I’m sorry I inconvenienced Nelson. Not for breaking the man’s face,” Sean said, lifting his chin proudly.

  Dallas patted Sean’s back. “I’m proud of ya,” Dallas grinned.

  Flipping the pages back and forth, Gerald studied each drawing. “So, we have some that sit around a bonfire outside?” he asked, pointing at the drawing. Nelson nodded as the others leaned over to look at the drawing. ‘Nighttime bonfire party spot’ was labeled in the parking lot.

  “Plus, four on the roof,” Nelson said, pointing at the drawing.

  Grabbing the aerial photo, Gerald shook his head. “We will have to cover two hundred yards of open ground to attack them if we attack from the closest tree line,” Gerald said, pointing at the southwest corner of the photo.

  “No, that’s a small hill and there are two guards at the top with radios and cellphones,” Nelson said.

  Giving a groan, Gerald started to pull out his map only to have Nancy pull another photo out of the folder that had topographic lines overlaid on the photo. Taking the photo, Gerald nodded. “Damn, that’s a nice lookout,” Gerald moaned.

  Putting the photo down, “Nelson, we need longer to plan if you want to take them out,” Gerald said, looking up.

  “Gerald, we wounded them and these assholes will lash out at anyone. I’m not in the mood for a protracted battle with them, especially when you figure how many civilians they will kill, trying to extract vengeance from us,” Nelson said.

  Giving a sigh, Gerald looked back down at the photos and drawing, “Nelson, we will need at least twenty to attack,” Gerald said, shaking his head.

  “From us, we need everyone except Nellie, Nancy, Dianna and the kids. With Sean’s kids here, there are more than enough to hold off an attack until we can return. That’s me, you, Michelle, Matt, Ashley, Ronald, Sean, and Bernard…” Nelson stopped as Gerald glared hard at him.

  “Ashley can hang back,” Gerald snapped and Ashley gasped.

  “Gerald, Ashley knows how to clear rooms in close quarters,” Nelson shouted.

  “You’re hanging a lot of our asses out there!” Gerald shouted. “If we take too many losses there, we are back in the same fucking boat of not enough guns to defend the homestead!”

  “I…” Ashley started and Nelson held up his hand, stopping her.

  “Ashley,” Nelson said, staring at Gerald. “You can’t send people into CQB who have never done it.”

  “CQB?” Dallas asked, leaning over to Sean.

  “Close quarter battle,” Sean whispered.

  Nodding, Dallas looked at Nelson. “I have to agree with Gerald, you’re pulling a lot of your people,” Dallas said.

  Nelson turned to Dallas. “We need seven from your group,” Nelson said with a sigh.

  “Oh,” Dallas said with a slight nod, turning to Gerald. “I agree with Nelson now.”

  “Nelson, if we get hit hard, look at what we are losing,” Gerald cried out. “I’m not saying we don’t hit them, but let’s just launch some Javelins and blow the damn building up and hose the parking lot down with the Flyers.”

  “I want every man from Hank’s, including Hank and then I want Curtis and his group,” Nelson said, crossing his arms.

  “Hank?” Gerald cried out. “He’s as worthless as tits on a bull.”

  Nodding, “True, but he’s got to get out and attack. We can put him on rear guard,” Nelson said.

  Taking several deep breaths trying to calm down, “Why Curtis?” Gerald asked.

  “He’s a long-range shooter with a freaking fifty caliber cannon,” Nelson said. “When he hunts, Curtis doesn’t shoot anything under five hundred yards. And he shoots long range competition.”

  “This isn’t a competition,” Gerald growled.

  “Bitch, I want to know who we can count on,” Nelson snapped and Michelle stepped up, putting a hand on his arm.

  “Babe, take a deep breath,” she said softly and then turned to Gerald. “I don’t like it that many from here or Dallas’s are going either, Gerald, but we can’t let a group that big stay around. If they find us here, they could hurt us.”

  “That’s why we just blow up the damn building and mow them down. I’m sorry about the ones they are holding, but look at what we can lose,” Gerald said. “They aren’t part of our group. We don’t owe them the risk.”

  Nodding, Nelson relaxed. “True, but Gerald, this war is a propaganda war. Some of those hostages will survive. What will they tell others? People, patriots, attacked them, killing indiscriminately? It won’t take too many instances like that to drive people to fight for the feds,” Nelson said gravely.

  “I have to say, I agree with Nelson, but we need to worry about the noise we make,” Matt said. “We know they have drones up and we don’t need them to launch a Hellfire here.”

  Clearing her throat, everyone turned to Nancy. “Unless they see the military equipment here, they won’t waste ordnance,” she said. “You have to realize, there aren’t any more missiles being made here right now, so the feds are being very stringent with what they have.”

  “The UN is here in force now,” Matt said and everyone nodded.

  “Yes, and that’s hurt the feds cause more than anything else,” Nancy said, opening her folder. “Desertion rates of US forces, under the feds are now reaching critical numbers. I think the only reason the majority haven’t all left is because the feds are holding their families hostage. Last night, over a hundred Air Force pilots defected with their aircraft. Before they defected, they took out a lot of UN aircraft,” Nancy said, looking up with watery eyes. “It seems the families tried to escape, but most didn’t make it.”

  “So, we don’t have to worry about an air strike?” Matt asked and Nancy shook her head.

  “No, if they see that Cougar 6x6 and the Flyers, I’m sure they will launch a bombing run and not a single missile strike,” Nancy said.

  “I think we should try to save the hostages,” Dallas said and everyone nodded.

  “Gerald, Nelson has a point,” Ronald said. “If you would’ve just come and mowed down the group I was in, I would’ve rejoined the army.”

  Gerald nodded reluctantly, “Yeah, I just don’t like so many from these two groups being committed,” he sighed. “So, you want Hank, Josh, and Kevin?”

  “And Tim, Hank’s oldest,” Nelson said. “With four from Curtis, that will put us at twenty-three.”

  “What’s your plan?” Gerald asked, looking at the table.

  Pointing at the photo with the topo lines, “This hill to the southwest is four hundred yards. We put snipers here and the hill to the southeast,” Nelson said, pointing at the other hill two hundred yards from the building. Moving his finger over to the northwest corner to a house with trees around it, “We put another group here to have all sides covered. “Take out the roof sentries, then two teams will move from the southwest hill across this field to assault the school. I doubt we can clear the building quietly but when the shooting starts, call out and all the teams take out any bad guys outside.”

  Raising his eyebrows, “I like it. Simple,” Gerald nodded. “Only problem I see, is the snipers might get a little happy with teams inside the kill zone.”

  “That’s why Dallas will be here over this team,” Nelson said, pointing to the southwest hill and then moved his finger to the southeast hill. “And Scott will be in charge here. I
know they can identify targets and can call out if one of the teams have to move outside.”

  Shaking his head, Ronald leaned back in his chair, “I’m not worried about that. Dallas’s family shoots people in the foot from three hundred yards.”

  “What about the sentries at the southeast hill?” Matt asked.

  Nelson turned to Matt with a wry grin. “If Sean can break a man’s face with one jab, I don’t want to know what Scott’s big ass can do if he attacks them,” Nelson said and everyone gave a nervous chuckle.

  “Nelson, they will have to take them out by hand. Even with suppressors, they would hear it at the school,” Gerald said, moving his eyes back to the photos and drawing.

  “I’ll take Jacob with me,” Scott said confidently.

  “It’s harder than you think to kill a man quietly,” Gerald said, not looking away from the photos.

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Scott stood up to his full seven-foot-seven-inches. “Gerald, if they make a noise, it will only be the gates of hell opening up to let them in,” Scott declared.

  “Where do you want me?” Bernard asked in a challenging voice, daring Nelson to say ‘guarding something’.

  Pointing at the house to the north, “Here, with this fire team so you can keep them under control, in case the teams inside have to leave that way,” Nelson said and Bernard nodded, satisfied.

  Putting her hands on the table, Michelle leaned over it and looked around. “Everyone that was out last night, go get some sleep now,” she commanded, narrowing her eyes. “Ronald, Ashley, Dianna and myself will go out and gather the others.”

  “Michelle, Gerald and I need to go over the building assault,” Nelson said, but stepped back as Michelle turned her gaze upon him. “Ah, we can work on that after a nap,” he added quickly.

  Giving a curt nod, Michelle turned to Bernard, softening her gaze. “Bernard, get the boys and load the Flyers down with ammo and a crate of flash bangs and hand grenades,” Michelle said and he nodded. Turning to Nellie, “Nellie, I’ll send Wilma over to help you with supper because we need to get this attack force fed. I’ll help when we get back.”

  “You most certainly will not,” Nellie snapped. “You get ready for this. I can take care of this with the girls and Wilma.”

  Seeing the glint in Nellie’s eye, Michelle nodded and looked to Dallas and his boys. “Find a spot to take a nap or I’ll give you something,” she said, pushing off the table and standing up.

  Sean took off running for the back door. Pressing his thumb on the scanner, he yanked the door open, hitting his head on the top of the door frame. As he ran inside, Dallas turned to Nelson, “You have a spot for me?” he said, cutting his eyes toward Michelle.

  “Yep, get your boys and come on,” Nelson said, running off the deck. Dallas, Scott, Tony, and Jacob followed.

  Michelle turned to see Gerald leap off the deck, running to his cabin. “I want to be you when I grow up,” Nancy chuckled.

  “You forget, I was a sergeant over a platoon of men before Nelson was and I learned, if you don’t get nasty, boys tend to argue,” Michelle said, turning to Ashley, Dianna, and Ronald. “Meet you out front in ten.”

  Chapter 15

  “Dad,” Nelson heard as a small hand shook his shoulder. Cracking his eyes open, Nelson saw Gavin beside the bed.

  “Hey, sport,” Nelson yawned, sitting up. Looking at the clock, Nelson saw it was 1600. “Damn, I feel like I slept ten hours,” he mumbled, turning back to Gavin. “Momma said it was time to get up, huh?”

  “Yes, sir,” Gavin chuckled.

  Standing up, Nelson grabbed his gear off the floor. “You wake the others up?” Nelson asked, pulling his vest on.

  The cheer left Gavin’s face as he shook his head, “Uh-uh,” Gavin grunted. “You can do it.”

  “Big, aren’t they?” Nelson chuckled.

  “Dad, they can’t even lay in our beds or the couch, so they all slept on the floor,” Gavin exclaimed. “And they take up the whole floor!”

  Rubbing Gavin’s head, Nelson grabbed his AR and headed into Gavin’s room and found Scott asleep on the floor. “Damn, he does take up the whole floor,” Nelson mumbled, tapping Scott’s leg with his foot.

  Scott sat up, rubbing his eyes. “I’m up,” he yawned.

  Moving to Olivia’s room, Nelson woke up Jacob and then woke up Dallas and Tony on the living room floor. Seeing the four grabbing their gear, Nelson headed for the door. When he walked outside, Nelson stopped and looked at the ground behind the deck.

  “Like it?” Gavin asked excitedly.

  A scale model replica of the school made of blocks and the surrounding area was laid out. Two mounds of sand represented the two hills. “You did this?” Nelson asked, walking over to look at the scale model.

  “Yes, sir, with Adam. Papaw let us when the other boys helped him load. Nancy told us how far everything needed to be from each other,” Gavin said beaming.

  The school was laid out like his drawings without a roof and blocks formed the walls, hallways, and rooms. Any structure within three hundred yards of the building was represented. On the north side was the house Bernard would set up near, and to the west was another house near the southwest hill.

  Looking at that house, Nelson saw it had much more detail than the other buildings, with the exception of the school. “Son, why did you put so much detail into that house?” Nelson asked, pointing.

  The smile left Gavin’s face. “There are bad guys there,” he said in a low voice.

  “You’re sure?” Nelson asked and Gavin nodded.

  “Nancy flew the drone out a few hours ago, and Mom had us make changes.”

  “That’s over ten miles away,” Nelson gasped. “That’s a long way to fly the drone.”

  “Just over fifteen,” Gavin nodded.

  “We don’t have an antenna that powerful,” Nelson said, turning to Gavin.

  A grin filled Gavin’s face. “Oh, we didn’t need one. Nancy programmed a flight path in the plane. It took off, flew out, and came back home,” Gavin said proudly.

  Thinking that was a huge risk, Nelson kept his mouth shut and turned back to the model. “Dad, can I come?” Gavin asked in a small voice.

  Turning to Gavin, Nelson dropped down on one knee, putting his hands on Gavin’s shoulders. “Son, not this time,” Nelson said with a very serious tone. “It’s up to you and the other-,” Nelson stopped before he said kids and he felt his heart tearing in half. “It’s up to you and the other young adults to protect the farm. If someone attacks, it will take us a half an hour at least, to get back here.”

  Poking his chest out, “We can do it,” Gavin said proudly.

  Looking at his nine-year-old son standing with tactical gear and his AR, Nelson felt nauseous that he even had to leave his son in that situation. “I know, son. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked,” Nelson said, wanting to wake up from this nightmare.

  Standing up, he heard the back door open and Michelle walked out. “I guess Gavin told you,” she said, walking down the steps.

  Slowly, Nelson nodded, turning back to the model. Seeing the gloom on Nelson’s face, Michelle turned to Gavin. “Baby, will you go get the laptop from Nancy, so I can show daddy the video the drone took?” she asked and Gavin took off running.

  When Gavin was inside, Michelle turned to Nelson. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  Letting out a mournful sigh, “I just asked my nine-year-old son to defend the homestead with deadly force and he accepted it without batting an eye,” Nelson said. “The fact I had to ask him, kills me.”

  Wrapping her arms around Nelson, “I know, baby,” Michelle said. “That’s why we will go out and kill any motherfucker close, so he can just stand guard.”

  Hugging Michelle back, “You got that shit right,” Nelson growled as Dallas and his boys walked out of the cabin.

  “Wow, who made that?” Jacob asked, walking over while putting his gear on.

  Letting Michelle go, Nelson waved at
the model with smugness. “My son and Adam made it for us,” he said filled with pride.

  “Man, that looks just like the elementary school,” Jacob nodded, shouldering his rifle and Nelson looked over at him in shock. “What? My kids went there,” he said, answering the question on Nelson’s face.

  Michelle stepped over the house near the southwest hill and pointed. “Have you been near this house?” she asked.

  Nodding, “Yeah, my little girl Kira went to a birthday party there last year,” Jacob said, staring at the model. “It’s a nice house. A bit big for my taste, but still nice.”

  Nelson closed his eyes, trying to replay the enormous Holmes family and remember Jacob’s kids. “Jacob, I thought your youngest was like twelve,” Nelson said.

  “Yes, my youngest is twelve, but Kira is thirteen and goes to school with the girl who lived there,” Jacob said, shrugging his shoulders. “Sorry, but I can’t remember her name. I found out girls change friends as often as they change shoes.”

  “Think you can draw out the floor plan?” Nelson asked and Jacob nodded. “Good, because seems some of the gang is holding up there.”

  “No, the top dog ‘Nuke’ stays there with two of the top lieutenants, along with some female hostages,” Michelle said and Nelson turned to her. “What? I went and asked the prisoners,” Michelle shrugged.

  “Those little bitches,” Nelson snapped turning to walk off, but Michelle grabbed his arm.

  “Babe, in their defense, you didn’t ask,” Michelle said and Nelson stopped, thinking about that. “I looked at your notes after I took a sledgehammer and broke their legs when Nancy showed me the footage.”

  “You beat them with a sledgehammer?” Dallas chuckled.

  “Yeah, I thought they lied to Nelson, so I just started hitting them. They all cried out that Nelson never asked and I stopped hitting them,” Michelle said.

  Dallas patted Nelson’s back. “Don’t piss her off,” he laughed.