by Davis, James
"They're doing fine for now. Any word from Hank?" she asked hopefully, starving for any news on her husband.
Dub shook his head, his long grey beard swaying with each movement. "There won't be, not til it's done." he said.
"Okay." Karen replied quietly.
"It will get done. Them boys ain't the brightest, but they're good with guns. They'll be alright." He reassured her, noticing the concern on her face.
"I hope so." she said quietly, pulling Toby close and kissing the top of his head.
Dub grinned. "I don't reckon they've used up their nine lives just yet. Don't you worry about them, when the shootin’ starts, you just keep your head down and keep them babies close, you hear?"
Karen nodded.
"Here's the truck." Danny said, raising his rifle and aiming at the tower guard. "On your count."
William raised his own rifle and moved his crosshairs onto his tower guard. "One...two...three." he said, squeezing the trigger.
"He's down." Danny said, peering through his scope at the approaching truck.
"Shit!" William said, slamming the bolt forward and taking aim for a second shot. Danny turned around in time to be showered in blood as the guard's bullet punched through William's skull. His head exploded into a red mist as his lifeless body toppled to the ground.
Danny wiped the blood from his eyes with the front of his shirt before lifting his own rifle and taking aim at the guard in the tower. He squeezed the trigger and watched as the bullet tore through the guard's face and he slumped to the floor of the tower. He looked down at the unrecognizable face of his best friend, shaking his head. He stared for a long moment before lifting his rifle and looking towards the barn.
Eighteen men stood in a group against the back of the barn, rifles in hand. He spun around and looked toward the truck, now turned around and backing up toward the front gate.
"Right on schedule." Johnny said, reaching into his bag on the seat and pulling out a large glass jar of clear liquid. He unscrewed the cap and took a long sip as turned the wheel, backing up toward the gate. He held the jar out to Bear, and he cautiously sniffed the jar.
"Shit, what is that, paint thinner?" he said, jerking his head away quickly.
"Best shine you'll find for five hundred miles. Wasn't cheap, but if it's gonna be my last drink, might as well make it a good one." he said, still holding the jar out.
"I'm good, need to stay sharp, bring that jar back out after we're done here though." Bear replied with a grin.
Johnny shrugged, as he took another long drink from the jar and replaced the cap. He tucked the jar back into his bag and shifted the truck into park, waiting for the two guards to push the gate open. He looked in his side mirror and watched as the guards opened the gate and started walking toward them. He glanced up at the evening sky, an ominous mixture of dark oranges and reds held his attention as he said a quick prayer for the upcoming battle.
“Time to go to work!” Johnny said, as he leaned over and pulled the pistol from its holster. Bear did the same just as the guards got to the window and motioned for them to roll their windows down. They lowered the windows and brought up their pistols. Everything seemed to switch to slow motion then, as Bear and Johnny fired their pistols. The shots echoed inside the cab of the truck causing both men to wince as their ears began to ring. Both guards had a look of surprise on their faces as the bullets tore through their chests, destroying critical organs inside their bodies. Bear watched as his man coughed up a thick frothy mouthful of blood before dropping to his knees and then falling to his face in the dirt.
The calm quiet evening suddenly turned into a chaotic war zone as Clay and Hank led their group out of the truck and through the gates, firing at any and all persons wearing the blue hat uniform. They sprinted deeper into the farm and took cover behind one of the U.N. trucks parked in the front yard of the house. Bullets peppered the side of the truck as they both tore off the white shirt and blue helmet they had been wearing when they pulled up to the gate to fool the guards stationed at the gate. Clay poked his head up over the hood of the truck for a quick look around and noticed that one of the tower guards had not been taken out.
“Son of a bitch! They didn’t get the last tower guard!” Clay shouted as he dropped back to the ground next to Hank. The air seemed to buzz with the constant barrage of gunfire as they sat there trying to figure out how to kill that tower guard without getting killed themselves.
Bear and Johnny jumped out of the truck and ran for cover behind a small shed that sat off to the side of the house. Bear leaned out and watched as dozens of blue hats darted in and out of cover. He took aim at a guard that was standing at the corner of the house and fired a short burst. The bullets punched holes into the corner of the house missing the guard completely. The guard fell back behind the house out of sight before Bear could take another shot. Johnny was firing non-stop at the running guards and groups of their own men were moving from cover to cover, taking out guards as they ran.
The battle seemed to turn up a notch as the guards began pushing back hard. Explosions sounded all around the farm as each side engaged in battle even harder than before.
The loud report of a sniper rifle boomed, and Clay watched one of his men blow apart when the large round struck him in the chest.
That bastard has a fifty! Clay thought as he looked at the gruesome aftermath of the large round hitting the human body. Hank fell back and ripped the empty mag from his rifle before slamming in a new one. He looked over at Clay and nodded once before going back to his position. He fired a few times and then let out a pained scream as the return fire struck him.
“Come on, get over here! I’ll cover you!” Clay shouted before raising his rifle and unloading on the enemy.
Bear sprinted toward the barn and dove into cover as bullets slammed into the ground behind him. He rolled out of the dive and quickly made his way to the other side of the barn. As he rounded the corner, he spotted the other group of men waiting to mow down the blue hats’ retreat when it finally came. He barely slowed to acknowledge the men as he ran past them and out of the cut fence.
Johnny darted behind another truck and took up a position behind the engine. He leaned out and took aim at a guard that was following Bear behind the barn. The bullets stitched up the man’s back dropping him instantly.
All around the farm the blue hats were dropping like flies. The tower guard continued to take shots with the fifty, leaving mangled bodies lying all over the battlefield.
“You’re mine, fucker!” Bear growled as he made his way through the woods behind the tower. He watched the guard taking shots from every side but the guard never seemed to notice his advance on the tower. Bear stopped behind a tree and ripped a length of his shirt off and then opened his pack and pulled out the jar of moonshine he had snatched from Johnny. He popped the lid and soaked the strip of shirt in the clear liquid, then left about four or five inches of the strip hanging out of the jar as he twisted the lid back on.
The tower was roughly twenty feet tall, overlooking the entire front part of the farm. He pulled a lighter from his pocket after setting his rifle and pack down against the tree. He had to do this fast. The bastard was killing way too many of his people with that damn fifty and they still had at least half of the blue hats to kill still. Bear sat on the side of the hill behind the tower and watched the battle continue below in the fading sunlight. It seemed to go back and forth until the tower guard started firing his massive rifle. Bear flicked the lighter and touched the flame to the strip of shirt. The strip of shirt lit immediately with a whoosh and Bear stuck the lighter back in his pocket and then sprinted down the hill. The tower guard finally noticed him as he sprinted out of the edge of the forest. A barrage of bullets tore up the ground all around Bear as he ran. The tower guard was spinning around with the rifle to take aim at Bear, but it was too late. Bear launched the flaming jar like a quarterback throwing a hail mary. The jar sailed through the air on a collision course fo
r the tower. Bear heard the jar shatter after it sailed over the railing that surrounded the top of the tower, past the guard and smashed into the floor. An audible wompf sounded from inside the tower as a huge ball of flame shot out from each side of the tower lighting up the darkening night sky. The guard’s terrified screams filled the air as the flames engulfed his body. Bear watched as the guard’s flaming body tipped over the safety rail and fell to the ground with a satisfying thud. He turned to run back into the forest to get his rifle and pack when a bullet smashed into him, knocking him to the ground.
“Fuck me, that burns!” Hank growled as Clay pulled the first aid kit from his pack. Clay twisted the cap off of a bottle of alcohol and poured it into the wound. Hank screamed in pain as the alcohol set the wound on fire.
“Stop being a damn Nancy!” Clay said as he started wrapping the wound with gauze.
“Let me shoot you in the arm and then pour that shit in the hole and we’ll see if you think it feels like a goddamn day at the spa, asshole!” Hank shot back. Clay chuckled as he finished wrapping his arm and smacked the wound a couple times, just for good measure.
“You’ll be fine.”
“You son of a bitch!” Hank shouted as the smack shot waves of pain up his arm. Clay quickly moved away from his brother.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Clay said as Hank followed behind him.
“Come here you little prick!” he said as he stalked Clay around the truck. Bullets peppered the truck, shattering glass all over them.
“Move jackass, before you get us both killed!” Hank shouted as they both got up and took off toward the barn where the rest of their people were waiting.
Johnny watched the tower explode in a massive fireball. He let out a cheer when the guard fell over the rail on fire. He popped up from behind the truck and fired at several more guards, dropping at least two more before ducking back into cover. The fight seemed to draw to a close as more and more of the guards were taken out. He leaned out and spotted a group of guards as they took off toward the barn. He looked around trying to see if there were any more hiding but couldn’t see any. Just as the guards closed in on the barn the men hiding back there stepped out, guns drawn. The guards stopped and tried to turn around, but more people came out behind them before they could run.
“Put your weapons down now!” Johnny shouted as he came walking down toward the guards.
Danny fired shots where he could, during the biggest part of the battle he didn’t really have that many clear shots. He watched as Bear got the final tower guard. He took off down the hill leaving his rifle so he could make it to Bear faster. He had taken a round to the side and no one knew where he was at. Danny dropped down next to Bear and could see the man was still alive. It looked like the bullet went all the way through and it wasn’t spurting out blood, so he wasn’t bleeding to death. He threw Bear’s arm around his neck and pulled him up to his feet. Bear screamed in pain as he got to his feet.
“I’m sorry man, but you need to walk with me.” Danny said. Bear didn’t respond. He just started to limp his way toward the fence with Danny holding him up. Danny spotted their group surrounding the guard and shouted for one of them to come help him. Clay turned around and ran toward the fence, meeting Danny and Bear around the same time.
“Set him down right here until we can get one of the women that know what they’re doing out here to look at him.” Clay said quickly, as they lowered him to the ground against the barn.
Chapter Eighteen
“Get them sumbitches in the barn and tie ‘em up!” Dub said, pointing at the group of U.N. soldiers.
“We got some talkin’ to do with those bastards!” he added. Jeff and Randy stood behind the group with their rifles trained on them.
“Someone come pat these assholes down for weapons before we tie them up. Wouldn’t want them to get away before we can question them.” Randy said, as he nudged one of the soldiers forward with the barrel of his rifle.
Clay and Danny helped Bear down to the bunker after it had been cleared. The place was a complete mess from the soldiers going through everything and living out of it. They helped him into the kitchen and knocked all of the dirty dishes off of the table so they could lay him down. Johnny walked in and took a knee next to Bear.
“Don’t you dare die on me man! You hold on long enough for me to get Bailey here. She’s our town nurse and cook, and seein’ as you two have been giving each other the googly eyes since you met, she ought to take real good care of you. I sent Gene after her. Should be here within the hour.” Bear let out a deep breath, and winced with the effort.
“I’ll be alright. Bullet went all the way through. If it would’ve hit something important I’m pretty sure I’d be dead already.” Bear replied. Johnny smiled.
“Well like I said, just hang on and Bailey will have you fixed right up.” Clay came back in the room holding a red duffle bag. He set it down and pulled a package of gauze out and handed it to Danny to place on the two wounds in Bear’s side. Johnny took a step back to give Clay and Danny room to work and said.
“I’ll be back in a little bit, I’m gonna go see if anyone needs my help up top.” Bear waved him a thumbs up as he gritted his teeth from the pain. Johnny turned and headed for the exit. Dub walked in shortly after Johnny had left. He walked over to the table and looked down at Bear, as Clay and Danny worked to clean up the wound so Bailey could get right to stitching him up when she got there.
“Just wanted to thank you for helping us. Johnny too. You guys are the only reason we’re free now. You both are welcome to stay here as long as you want.” Dub said, giving Bear’s leg a quick pat before stepping back away from the bloody table.
“Not a problem.” Bear said, through gritted teeth as Danny wiped the bloody wound with an alcohol-soaked gauze pad. Dub turned to leave and gazed over the sheer mess the U.N. soldiers had made in his bunker. He would have to clean this up first thing in the morning.
“Can you handle this from here?” Clay asked Danny as he wiped the blood from his hands. Danny nodded.
“Yeah man, I got this. Go handle your business.” Clay tossed the rag on the table and quickly left the bunker. He stepped out into the cool night air and just stood there watching as people moved around from place to place. He took off in a slow jog toward the women and children’s tent. His little girl was there, and he was more than ready to see her.
“Emma, Toby, come with me kiddos. We need to go find your daddies.” Karen said, holding her hands out for both kids to hold. They walked out of the tent and spotted Clay as he ran toward them from the bunker.
“There’s your daddy, Emma!” Karen said, pointing at Clay.
“DADDY!” Emma shouted before she took off running toward him. Clay scooped her up and squeezed her tight as he spun around. They both giggled and laughed, enjoying the emotional reunion as they spun around in circles. Clay stopped and held her up high above his head.
“I missed you baby doll!” Clay said, bringing her back down into his arms. She giggled again and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Bear hug!” she shouted and started to rock back and forth as she pretended to growl like a grizzly bear. Clay growled with her and they both rocked back and forth.
“How you been monkey butt?” Clay asked as he set her down.
“Daddy, where is Mommy?” Emma asked. Tears began to well up in Clay’s eyes as the memories of Ashley's death slammed into his mind's eye like a ton of bricks. He knelt down in front of her and grabbed both of her hands in his.
“That’s something I need to talk to you about, sweetie.” Clay said, choking the words out as he sobbed.
“Don’t cry Daddy. It will be ok.” Emma said, smiling from ear to ear. Clay put on a weak smile.
“Well baby, Mommy got hurt and Daddy wasn’t able to save her.” Clay started, but Emma interrupted him.
“Mommy is with Jesus, now isn’t she?” Clay choked down another sob.
“Who told you that, baby
?” he asked. The little girl was super smart for only being close to three years old.
“Aunt Karen said that Mommy went to be with Jesus, and that we will see her again one day when we go home to Jesus.” Emma said, in her small matter of fact voice. Clay smiled weakly, and nodded his head.
“That’s exactly right sweetie. Aunt Karen is right. Mommy is with Jesus and we will see her again one day. We have to be strong until then. Can you do that for me?” Clay asked. Emma nodded emphatically and Clay scooped her up and squeezed her tight as he quietly sobbed. He stood there hugging his daughter for a long minute, and felt two more sets of arms wrap around them. He opened his eyes and saw Hank and Karen on either side of them, hugging them both tightly.
“We will get through this Clay.” Karen said through a choked sob of her own. She was holding Toby in one arm and hugging Clay with the other. They all stood there in a family embrace and Clay started feeling pats on his back. When the embrace finally broke, Clay sat Emma down next to Toby and glanced around at the group of people standing around them.
“We’re here for you guys, whatever you need.” Dub said as he stepped forward from the group.
“You guys have done plenty for my family and now we are going to return the favor.” Randy said.
“Hell, we’re all family here now.” Jeff added. Clay thanked them all and turned back to Emma. He picked her up and said.
“How about we go get some real food and then get to bed.” Clay said. Emma yawned and said.