Storm Front

by Thomas A. Watson

  “No shit,” Nelson popped off.

  “Nelson, I’m speaking from experience. Each of you keeps this up and some of us will die,” Gerald barked. “Not only are we teammates, we are family. Could you look at yourself if Michelle got killed because you want to wade in blood?”

  Nelson stumbled back as the color drained from his face. “See, you know you’re not thinking right,” Gerald said calmly. “Guys, I’ve been there and got the t-shirt, running on emotions, and lost teammates. That’s a guilt you never need to live with. If you’re thinking clearly and someone gets hurt, you will only doubt. Keep going like you are and you will know, it was your inability to keep a clear head.”

  Looking at his team, Gerald saw each one listening and taking deep breaths. “That’s right. Calm down or we can’t help these people here and more than likely we’ll die. I’m not kidding. If each of you can’t convince me you’re good to go, I’ll call an abort.”

  Lifting her head, Michelle wiped her tears off her face. “You’re right, I lost focus,” Michelle said.

  “Michelle, it wasn’t only you,” Gerald said, looking at the others.

  “How can you push it from your mind?” Ashley whimpered, refusing to look at the women and kids.

  Stepping over to Ashley, Gerald reached out and lifted her chin up. “Don’t make this personal. The enemy is only targets to knock down,” Gerald said softly.

  Nodding her head, “Okay, but I’m not helping any fucker I shoot,” Ashley said with a quivering lip.

  “I would spank your ass if you did,” Gerald chuckled. “Now, when this is over and we have this place secured, I’ll let you use my knife,” Gerald offered.

  Shaking her head, “No, when we are done, I want to go home,” Ashley said, folding her knife up and shoving it in her pocket.

  Patting Ashley’s cheek, Gerald looked at Nelson and Sean. “Are we good?” he asked.

  “Yeah, that was on me,” Nelson said.

  Ronald nodded, “I know better than that,” he said.

  Turning to Matt, Gerald couldn’t help but grin as Matt looked down at the floor like a schoolboy caught cheating. “Matt, you good to go?” Gerald asked.

  Slowly lifting his head, “Yeah, I’m good,” Matt mumbled.

  Turning to the women and kids, “Stay low in the hallway. Anyone but Michelle or Ashley comes through that door just shoot, but make sure it’s not them,” Gerald said and they all nodded. “I’m not kidding. You shoot them and I will shoot you, even after all we’ve gone through to save you.”

  The group nodded and Gerald looked back at his group. “Let’s get this show on the road,” he said, heading for the door. Pulling out his wolf tail, Gerald broke the chemlite, shaking it up and then pressed the two nine-volt batteries together. Letting it hang off his back, Gerald glanced back to see the others turning on their wolf tails as well.

  Chapter 18

  Stepping outside, Gerald turned his IR laser on his rifle on and waved it at the hill. Turning it off, he looked over his shoulder to see the others were fanned out in a perimeter defense. Satisfied they could continue the mission, Gerald turned back to the hill and saw a group emerging from the trees.

  “Nelson, I can’t believe you brought Zeus,” Gerald said, watching Zeus trot along beside Bernard.

  “Gavin threw a fit,” Nelson said, moving over to Gerald.

  Gerald thanked the stars and God that Nelson had left Zeus with Bernard so they could clear the house. There was little doubt in his mind, Zeus would’ve fed off those feelings of rage Nelson and Michelle were giving off and just attacked anyone, from the others to the women and kids.

  When Bernard stopped in front of them, Zeus moved over beside Nelson. “Can I have twenty minutes to check my area and set up?” Bernard asked, wiping his face off with a handkerchief.

  Looking at his watch to see it was after midnight, Gerald sighed and nodded. “In twenty minutes, we are moving,” he said softly.

  “I’ll be done,” Bernard grinned and took off in a jog with his team behind him.

  Crossing the road Bernard slowed, moving from house to house until he was in front of the school. “Josh, Kevin, come here,” Bernard whispered, pulling his backpack off as they came over. Reaching in, Bernard pulled out a spool of quarter-inch steel cable.

  Holding out the cable, Bernard looked at them and spoke in a low voice. “I want you two to jog a half mile down 106. You’ll see two houses across from each other and trees beside the road. I want you to string this across the road chest high to a motorcycle rider and tie it off on the biggest trees you can.”

  Josh and Kevin looked at each other with evil grins as Josh took the cable. They both took off as Bernard turned to Hank. “Hank, your job is to call out any targets we aren’t hitting, and watching our ass. If we get hit from behind, it’s on you because we will die tonight,” Bernard said and Hank nodded slowly.

  “Tim, set up here beside this porch. I’ll set up beside you and Hank, you stay behind us. When Josh and Kevin get back, I’ll have them set up at the house beside us,” Bernard said and watched Tim and Hank move off.

  Ten minutes later, Josh and Kevin returned and laid down, aiming at the school.

  ***

  Gerald looked at his watch and pressed his PTT. “Hill one, are you set?” Gerald called out.

  “Hill one, set and ready,” Scott called out.

  “Hill two, are you set?”

  “Hill two, set and ready,” Dallas reported.

  “Breaching teams moving,” Gerald said and turned around as Matt, Ashley, and Ronald lined up behind him. Looking over, he saw Michelle and Sean behind Nelson and Zeus. “Good luck, team,” Gerald said and broke into a jog.

  Rounding the house, Nelson felt naked jogging across the field. Glancing at the roof of the school, Nelson’s pace faltered, seeing all the guards standing together. He was a hundred yards from the school when two of the guard's upper torsos vanished and another looked like an Alien erupted from his back. The other three guards’ heads suddenly turned to mist. For a few seconds, three headless bodies remained standing and then collapsed.

  It was then that Nelson saw a man lying on the roof on top of someone. Nelson would never know if the man realized his friends were dead before his head popped like a grape.

  Reaching the side of the building, Nelson pulled his pistol out of his vest and then moved along the wall, ducking under the windows to the north end. Rounding the corner, Nelson’s hunter’s ear started shutting off from the blaring music. Stopping at the double door, Michelle and Sean formed up behind Nelson at the left door as Gerald moved to the right door.

  Both reached up, slowly easing the door open and light spilled out, shutting their NVGs down. Seeing three men in the hallway a few feet from the door, Nelson raised his pistol and squeezed the trigger rapidly as he moved from head to head. Spraying the walls red, Nelson watched the bodies drop to the floor.

  Aiming down the hall, Nelson reached up with his left hand to flip the monocular up. Stretching before him, the hall had doors on each side facing each other. Not seeing any more in the hall, Nelson eased in and heard his hunter’s ear shut off and stay off. He had never been at a rock concert that was this loud, feeling the soundwaves in his chest. With everyone completely deaf from the blaring music, they moved in and let the doors close.

  Moving down the hall on the left side, Nelson cast a quick glance over to see Gerald on the right side. Passing the first two doors, Nelson knelt down and aimed down the hall. Ahead, Nelson saw portable lights and extension cords running along the hallway. Behind him, Sean and Michelle moved into the first door on the left and on the right, Matt and Ronald cleared the first room.

  Michelle eased the door open and saw it was filled with supplies. Moving quickly around the room, she confirmed it was empty and stepped back out into the hall with Sean. Seeing Matt and Ronald done on the right, they moved up to the second door and again, found it stacked with supplies.

  Since any type of v
oice contact was out, Michelle eased up and squeezed Nelson’s shoulder. When Nelson stood up to move, Michelle patted Zeus and then her leg. With a very sad face, Zeus moved over beside her. “Yeah, this music is going to give me a migraine,” Michelle said, even though she could’ve screamed it and not been heard by her own team.

  The ones they’d captured had told them the next room would hold captives. So far, they had been right, telling Nelson the first four rooms held supplies. Moving to the door, Michelle saw a sliding bolt lock had been screwed onto it. Figuring no gang member would be locked in, Michelle looked up at Sean, shaking her head and pointing at the lock.

  Sean nodded and Michelle moved up behind Nelson. She turned and saw Matt and Ronald slip into their room. When they came out, Ronald closed the door and Michelle saw that door also had a bolt lock and Ronald slid it back in place.

  As Matt moved up to Gerald, Michelle squeezed Nelson’s shoulder as Matt did Gerald.

  Moving past the next door, Nelson gave a startle as a man stepped out of the next door in front of him. Squeezing the trigger, Nelson saw the man grab his chest and raised his sights up to the man’s head, squeezing the trigger again. The man dropped down and Nelson moved up to the next door, praying Michelle and the others had been watching and not opened their door.

  Peeking in the room, Nelson saw cots everywhere. “Fuck,” he barked and couldn’t even hear his own voice, dropping his pistol to the floor at seeing bodies lying on some of the cots. Raising his AR to his shoulder, Nelson rested the sights on the first body and squeezed the trigger twice.

  Watching the body jump, Nelson moved his aim to the next one, firing twice. Moving rapidly from cot to cot, Nelson squeezed off two shots. Moving to the eleventh bed, Nelson saw several sit up in the room. Knowing he would never get them all, Nelson moved to the closest one sitting up and pumped two shots in his chest.

  Seeing the others starting to move and wondering how the hell they knew he was there with the blaring music, Nelson moved his aim to the next one, squeezing the trigger as his brain screamed ‘Reload’. Moving his aim, Nelson shot a man diving to the floor. Knowing he was on his last two rounds, Nelson dropped his left hand down as he swung his aim to a man reaching for an M4. Squeezing the trigger, Nelson watched the man jerk and he felt his bolt lock back.

  Yanking a magazine out, Nelson ejected the empty magazine while seeing movement out of his peripheral vision. Slamming the fresh magazine in, Nelson felt a bullet slam into the door beside him, but barely heard the unsuppressed thunder of the gunshot in the room. Tapping the bolt release and chambering a round, he saw a man aiming at him.

  Moving his rifle, Nelson knew the man had him cold. Nelson jumped as the man’s head exploded. Movement above him caught his attention, but Nelson moved his aim to another man lifting an AK up. Squeezing the trigger, Nelson watched the man jerk as another man on the other side of the room jerked, dropping a pistol.

  Seeing two bodies on the cots he hadn’t shot, Nelson squeezed off two in each one and then glanced up. Nelson sighed, seeing the end of an M14 with a suppressor over his head. Glancing back, he saw Sean standing right behind him. Since he’d barely heard the unsuppressed gunshots, he wasn’t at all worried about his group's shots.

  Moving around and checking the bodies, “I love tall people today,” Nelson declared, but couldn’t even hear his voice echo in his skull. The ear bud in his right ear sealed it off and his left had a shutdown hunter’s ear. Someone could be screaming over the radio in his earbud and he would never hear it. Nelson had no idea how this group could even stand such loud music, much less sleep with it.

  Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Nelson turned to see Sean motioning him to the door rapidly. Following, Nelson saw Sean had a live .45 caliber bullet shoved in his left ear, acting as earplugs. Stepping out in the hall, Nelson saw Zeus attacking a man on the floor at the next set of doors.

  Lifting his rifle, Nelson squeezed the trigger to hit the man in the chest and Zeus looked up at him and then charged into an open door on the left side of the hall. Glancing back, he saw Ashley covering behind them, but nobody was covering the front.

  Jogging past the next door, Nelson saw Sean standing in the doorway, firing. Glancing right, he saw Gerald standing in the room across the hallway and firing. Dropping to his knee, Nelson aimed down the hallway, wishing he could hear if they needed help.

  Sensing movement to his right, Nelson glanced over to see Gerald changing magazines. Raising his rifle, Nelson aimed at the portable light in front of him. Squeezing the trigger, he saw one of the square bulbs go dark. Moving to the next one, Nelson squeezed the trigger and then moved his aim to the next.

  Seeing the portable light on the other side go dark, Nelson glanced over to see Gerald taking out the lights on his side. With both shooting, the hallway was soon plunged in darkness. “Now, if I could only find that fucking stereo,” Nelson yelled out but none heard him, not even himself, as he flipped his monocular down.

  Feeling a squeeze on his shoulder, Nelson was about to move, but the squeeze held him down. He looked over his shoulder and found Sean looking at him. Sean held up his hand, forming a fist and telling Nelson to hold.

  Looking behind Sean, Nelson saw Michelle putting a dressing on Matt’s right leg. Feeling his heart speed up, Nelson turned back up the hall. Ahead, a figure stepped out of a room, holding a rifle and reaching out in the dark. Lifting his rifle, Nelson watched the man grasp out, crossing the hall toward one of the lights Gerald had shot out.

  Nelson squeezed the trigger twice, hitting the man in the side of the chest. Watching the man drop to the floor while grasping his chest, Nelson moved his aim to the man’s head and squeezed the trigger. The man’s head jerked back and Nelson lowered his rifle. “Oh, you have to have the lights on to sleep, but can’t turn the damn music down!” Nelson finished in a bellow and barely heard it echo in his skull.

  Less than six feet from him, Gerald never heard Nelson.

  Seeing another figure in the hallway, Nelson raised his rifle only to watch the man drop, grabbing his chest as Gerald shot him. Leaning against the wall, Nelson glanced back again and saw Michelle still working on Matt. Suddenly, Ashley lifted her rifle to fire and Nelson watched a figure drop at the doors they had come in.

  Then, Nelson noticed all the bodies behind them, laying in the hall. Wondering where they’d come from, Nelson turned back around just in time to see another man step out of the room in front of him. The difference, was this man was turning toward him and raising a rifle.

  Squeezing the trigger, Nelson watched the man jerk and pumped three more rounds into the man before he collapsed. Ejecting his magazine, Nelson slammed in a new one, moving to the room before more flooded out into the hall.

  Easing around the doorway, Nelson saw a man aiming a gun at him and his NVG blinked out as a flash filled the room. All of a sudden, King Kong hit Nelson in the center of his chest with a sledgehammer. Collapsing to the floor, Nelson struggled to pull in air as his NVG turned back on and he saw the man looking around and then at the door, moving towards him.

  Raising his rifle like a pistol, Nelson pulled the trigger to watch the bullets tear through the man. Seeing more flashes in the room, Nelson felt the side of his neck start burning as he turned, seeing three men shooting at him with pistols.

  Flipping his selector one more time, Nelson held the trigger while moving the barrel around, hosing down the three men with full auto. Feeling his AR stop bucking, Nelson pulled his body out of the doorway and into the room, changing magazines.

  Seeing a man stand up on the other side of the room wearing NVGs, Nelson slapped the bolt release and lifted his AR, holding the trigger down again. He saw the man’s gun flash twice as the man dove to his right and Nelson just filled that area with bullets.

  Watching the man jerk from several hits, Nelson felt his bolt lock back and pulled his rifle back to his chest, ejecting the magazine. Slamming in a new one, Nelson flipped back to single shot and looked a
round the room. The north wall looked like it had measles in his NVG from all the bullet holes.

  Reaching up with his left hand, Nelson felt along his vest and felt a dimple. Then, he touched something hot that he could feel through his gloves. Glancing down, Nelson saw a lump of lead embedded in the center of his vest. “A slug,” he chuckled, but pain radiated through his chest.

  Glancing out into the hall, he saw Gerald shooting. Struggling to his feet, Nelson moved around the room to make sure everyone was dead and then moved to the door. When he reached the door, Nelson didn’t see Gerald in the hall shooting. Instead, he saw Zeus latched onto a man’s throat, pulling him out of the room and across the hall.

  Poking his head out quickly, Nelson saw Gerald at the next doorway shooting down the hall. Looking back, he saw Ashley kneeling off to the side and Michelle still working on Matt’s leg. “Must be bad,” Nelson mumbled and looked over to see Zeus charge back into the room across from him.

  Looking down, Nelson saw four bodies with their throats torn out laid out in the hall. “Where the hell are Sean and Ronald?” he moaned with a wince as pain shot through his chest.

  Reaching the other room, Nelson ignored the new pain signals his body was sending him. Easing his head in, Nelson saw Zeus latched onto another man’s neck. Nelson didn’t even raise his gun, seeing the man was already dead. Moving over, Nelson patted Zeus who let go and spun around with teeth bared. Seeing Nelson, Zeus relaxed and sat down.

  Feeling woozy, Nelson jerked away from Zeus and moved around the room. He found three bodies that had been shot, so he knew one of the others had cleared this room. Giving up where Zeus was finding his chew toys, Nelson headed for the door and Zeus jumped up leaving with him.

  A flash lit up the room and for a brief second, Nelson saw his shadow on the wall in front of him with his NVG. As pain shot from his left calf, Nelson dove to the side, trying to spin around in midair. Coming nowhere close, Nelson hit the floor face first and felt a sharp pain in his side. Rolling, Nelson lifted his AR and saw a man aiming a pistol at him and wearing NVGs.