Jack smiled. “I’ve been holding out on you guys; because frankly, I thought we had no use for it. Mitch, take Jake and Sarah with you. Hog-tie our guests together in the shed. Put the Coleman heater in there, and make them nice and comfy. After you get them settled in, one of us will come by every ten minutes and check on them. In between times, I’ll be listening. The shed is bare. We seem too low tech for them to think we’re bugging them anyway.”
“The shed is bugged?” Paul asked confusedly.
“Better. I’ll show you when we get back to the cabin. Mitch, how would your kids like to get off mess duty, and transport those trucks up to where we are? Think they can handle it?”
“They’re pretty sullen about not going today. They claim we should take them on more ambush raids. They’ll be happy to do it.”
“They didn’t go today because they have base duty same as Sarah and Jake had last week. If this happened on their patrol day, they would have gone. Paul, you are so lucky Nick's only thirteen. These other four whine about having duty, and then they whine about not having duty. After almost three years, you would think they would be crazy by now, or used to the routine. Anyway, do you think they can get the trucks up to us, and camouflaged, without wrecking the transmissions?”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll tell them as soon as we get back.” Mitch turned and headed back to the prisoners. He told Jake to retie the prisoner they had interrogated, and after a short conference with his niece and nephew, the soldiers were prodded stumbling towards camp.
“I’m happy I don’t have Nick jumping me about going on patrol,” Paul admitted. “I hope this ends long before he does. He grew up out here with us. I’d like to see him get some time as a kid.”
“Well bro, that’s what we’re here for. Come on, I got something to show you back at camp.”
Chapter 2
The Attack
The three brothers huddled around an open case, with a very sophisticated electronic device inside. Jack knelt and pulled out the piece, which looked like a metal finder with a sound boom.
“You have the kids watching them in the shed, right Mitch? I don’t want them talking before I get ready to listen.”
“I have Wolf in there too,” Mitch replied. “They are very uncomfortable. Is this some kind of sound boom?”
“You got it. When this boom gets pointed in a certain direction, you can hear right through the walls at even a whisper. They will not be expecting us to have this. Paul, do you have the cord from the generator hooked, because this will blow our regular line.”
“Step this way” Paul motioned. Outside the cabin, Paul brought them a few paces to the side of the building, where they had an open shot at the shed. Jack handed the listening device to Paul, and headed over to the shed. He walked inside the dimly lit shed, where his two kids watched the four men nervously, with their weapons raised. Wolf lay quietly in front of the man they had nicknamed Abdul, because of his obvious Middle Eastern origins. Each time one of the men moved even slightly, the dog issued a low, frightening growl. The four men watched the dog intently. Jack walked over, petted the dog, and motioned for the two teenagers to take the Wolf and leave. They did so without a word, closing the door behind them. Jack walked over to the four trussed up prisoners, reached down, and roughly checked their bonds. After checking them thoroughly, Jack walked out the door, and straight over to his brothers. He strapped on the device with Paul's help, and turned the switch on, after making sure the volume level on all the knobs was down. He put on the earphones, and pointed the boom at the center of the shed. He slowly worked the controls until he could hear the men’s breathing inside, and then he took a digital recorder out of his coat pocket and set it on voice activation.
“I have to listen to these guys, and you two should check on them every fifteen minutes, so they get used to the schedule. You and Mitch can take an hour on, and an hour off. If they have anything to say, it will be in the first couple of hours. Get Sarah to make some coffee, and bring me out a chair. I’ll need a mummy bag so I don’t freeze my ass off too. Remember to do this real matter-of-factly, so they’ll get comfortable.”
“Do you think you can follow them that well, Jack?” Mitch asked.
“See hombre,” Jack answered. “Necessito cafe con leche e ah suca. Rapido. Comprende!
“Fuck you smartass. I ain't your maid,” Mitch retorted.
“You finally started listening to my language tapes, huh? I’m impressed. I’d get Paul to do it too, but we’d have to teach him proper English first.”
Paul smacked the back of Jack’s head. “I hope your balls freeze and drop right down your pants leg, you prick. Can you listen and talk into that digital recorder at the same time?”
“No, I plug it into our pick-up here - then if I want to make any comments on it, I just talk into the mike.”
“Good luck.” Paul looked down at his watch. “Time to stir them up. I’ll go first. Get some sleep, Mitch. I’ll wake you in an hour.”
An hour and a half later, Jack sipped his coffee, and watched Mitch go in the shed to check on the occupants. A couple of minutes later he exited the shed, and waved at his brother. Jack heard a groan and some shifting of clothing or bodies. A minute later, he heard the first whispered Spanish.
“You should not have talked to the gringos. They are pussies. They would not have let the dog eat you. It was a bluff.”
“In a couple of more hours, when the search team tracks our signal, they will all be ours. My team will then question these bastards. I will have my revenge.”
“Why did your men not accompany us? Perhaps none of this would have been necessary.”
“Because we have shipments moving all over. We could not risk all on one shipment. Their gun-ships have wrecked many of our plans already. As long as they have air superiority, it does not matter what we do on the ground. That will end once we get the antidote to our people. This next biological bomb will wipe them out.”
“How will the Chinese bring the virus in, and what will keep it from spreading where we do not want it.”
“Even now the antidote is being distributed throughout your country and armed forces. You three received yours before we left. You were told it was to guard against the last sickness, but it prevents the new one. We have the antidote in the trucks and also a homing device. These pigs will not be around to ask any more questions soon. We are transporting the virus into this country even now. The bases we have hidden all these years will be our distribution points. They still allow flights from Hawaii to the mainland, and that will be our main point into the mainland. Other shipments will come in over their borders from all directions. The vials will be taken to all the West Coast reservoirs. The same will be done on the East Coast. Once activated, the disease will spread like wildfire.”
“They are due in to check on us. Let us be quiet.”
Jack dropped the boom into the snow. In spite of the cold, sweat dripped over his forehead. Mitch exited the cabin, and walked toward the shed as Jack ran up to him.
“I fucked up Mitch. We got a code red. Remember your gun emplacements, and where to position the kids. They must be fully armed, even Nick, just like the drill. We may have minutes, or we may have an hour. Dress warm and haul ass.”
Mitch nodded as both men ran into the cabin, and started to work. Jack grabbed his brother Paul by the arm. “Keep Nick with you, Sarah and Jake go with me, Debbie and Luke go with Mitch just like we drilled. One change - take the rocket launcher with you. Get into position. I’ll get my kids stationed, and then get back over to you. I have a plan.”
Paul nodded, and continued dressing without question. When they were all out in front of the cabin, Jack motioned them to stay where they were. He walked over to the shed, entered, turned on the light, and shot the three Mexican soldiers in the head, killing them instantly.
“Murderer!” The Muslim screamed, as Jack approached him. Jack bent down over him, and taking a roll of duct tape from his coat pock
et, he quickly silenced the man.
“I will do you personally after they take every shred of information out of you. For now, I’ll let Wolf guard you in the cabin until we take care of your friends.” Jack grabbed him up off the floor like a child, and slung him over his shoulder. He walked outside with him, past his stunned family, dumping the man inside the cabin, and calling Wolf next to him. He locked the door, and faced the rest of his band.
“Fun and games are over now. We have big problems. Time enough to talk if we survive. We picked this spot because we can only be approached from the eastern slope. Once they clear the forest and are approaching, take off your night vision glasses. This will all go cleanly, if they believe we don’t know they’re coming. They will have night vision goggles on. Mitch, you will fire the magnesium flares directly into their midst. Once we have most of them blinded in the first seconds, Paul will follow with rocket fire. Everyone opens up after that, with small arms and grenades. I will say when to ceasefire. No one approaches the bodies. There can be no surrender, and no mercy. We have survived these last few years by lying low, and picking our spots. These are not truck drivers. They are trained assassins. Mitch, you fire the flares when I hit you with a flashlight beam. For God's sake, do not hesitate. These guys will be armed with everything under the sun, and they will not hesitate. No radio, I repeat, no radio. Any questions?”
Grim silence answered his query. Jack smiled and nodded. “I’ll see you on the other side. Get going.”
After seeing his kids into position, and going over the whole thing with them again, Jack kissed and hugged both of them roughly. He hurried towards Paul’s position. He flashed his light three times in succession, and got an answering flash before approaching. He saw Nick first, with the AK-47 in his small hands. He smiled when he saw his uncle, and faced the clearing again. Paul had the rocket launcher positioned and ready. Paul looked up at him with a grin.
“Do you have a second to tell me what got into you. You must have heard more than you wanted.”
“I hope enough to save our lives for now. They have a tracker in one of the trucks, and the bad guys are on their way.” Jack quickly went over what he had learned.
Paul whistled softly and shook his head. “I guess we stepped into it this time, brother. If we get through this, what do you have planned?”
“We pull up stakes, head for the base full tilt, armed with everything we can carry with us. We’ll code a message to base telling them we’re all coming in and why. The prep and the plan will be up to them. Forget about later, Paul. These guys coming tonight will be pros. If they smell a trap, or a couple of them get into the woods, we’re fucked. We must spot them, and how many get beyond our ambush, if we can. After the first hit, we have to get between them and the kids. With Wolf, we have a chance, but not much.”
“In the last three years, I never saw you so spooked before.”
“If any of them get into the woods on the two sides, before we get them all, this will get ugly. We’ve been blooded in this damn guerrilla action here in the mountains, but these folks coming now are trained killers. The only reason rocket fire ain’t falling on the camp right now, means they believe they can get their men, the antidote, and kill us. We’ll give them a nice big shit sandwich instead. Your first rockets can make the difference. You are the best of any of us with the launcher, Paul. Send ‘em to hell, bro.”
Paul looked over at his son and nodded grimly. “Count on it.”
Jack left to check on Mitch next. He beamed a narrow beam into the darkness, where their position lay, and received one back in return. As he approached the position, his niece Debbie greeted him breathlessly, with a shaking gun barrel stuck into his face. Jack stopped dead in his tracks. Jack could see his niece was pumped. Luke stayed where he was, next to Mitch.
“You wouldn’t blow your old Uncle Jack’s face off, would you Deb?”
Mitch approached his daughter, covering the grip Debbie had on the trigger section. He whispered in her ear, and she visibly relaxed her grip. Mitch eased the gun away, and handed it to Luke. Debbie scrambled back, squinting at her Uncle, as if for the first time. She smiled crookedly, and waved weakly. “Sorry Uncle Jack, you sounded weird in the dark.”
“Forget it honey, I shouldn’t have come in so fast after signaling. Are you okay?”
“As well as I can be. I’m scared.”
Jack nodded. “Me too. Concentrate on only your job, and we’ll be fine. Do you have the flare loads ready, Mitch? Remember, the first two in their midst, and then the rest in the air over them. Try not to light us all up too, if you can help it.”
Mitch nodded. He gestured in come along fashion for Jack to walk with him. When they were out of earshot, Mitch turned to address his brother. “Are we done for Jack? I want to know.”
“Our camp maybe; but with luck, we walk out tonight.” Jack repeated his concerns to Mitch, and went over his warning to notice if any of the force gets into the trees. You have to mark their entrance in your mind, because we have to get them or they will get us.”
“You’ll check on us just in case I get it, and help the kids, right?”
“I can’t afford for you to get it. Debbie will blow my brains out if I come back here tonight, and you ain’t here to stop her.”
“Get here just the same, bro. I’ll check on yours if it works out differently.”
“You got it, Mitch. Look for the beam to get this party started. Paul lets loose as soon as the flares hit. We’ll check on each other by radio when they’re all down. If any of them make it into the woods, stay in place with your backs to the barricade. Shoot anything that moves. No one will try to approach your position except the bad guys. I’ll be on the radio to you as soon as the noise dies down. I hate to bring the Lord into a kill zone, but I hope he’s with us tonight, Mitch.”
Mitch looked at his brother for a moment longer, and then stuck out his hand. Jack gripped it fiercely for a second, and then headed for where he had left his kids.
__
“Dad killed those soldiers in cold blood while they were tied up, Sarah stated calmly to her brother as they scanned the target area. He’s a killer Jake… a real killer… not a movie type.”
“We’re all killers, Sis. What do you think we’ve been doing? We kill, and we bury the bodies too.”
“We may be killers Jake, but not like Dad. Sarah shivered. I never saw him so cold. I wish…”
An arm looped around her neck tightly in the darkness. Sarah saw a gleaming stiletto like blade streak for her neck. Sarah closed her eyes to the blow, and waited for the death stroke. Instead she heard a wet sucking thud sound. She opened her eyes. The knife hand hung suspended in the grip of another, and the fingers had released their hold on the knife. As it fell from the now nerveless fingers, Sarah felt the arm at her throat fall away. She turned quickly to look into the lifeless eyes of her attacker. A knife handle protruded grotesquely from the man’s head at the temple. The hand on the knife handle jerked it out powerfully, with a whisper of wetness Sarah never forgot as long as she lived. The body fell away to the ground between Sarah and his killer. A flashlight beam from Jake’s direction shakily illuminated her Father’s now squinting face.
“Turn that fucking light off, you ijit. Get your night goggles off. I’m hitting Mitch with the beam. This guy’s a scout… at least I hope he is. Get down.”
Jack stuck his knife un-cleaned into its sheath, and pulled the long handled flashlight from its casing. Pointing it in Mitch’s direction, he clicked off a steady stream of short flashes.
The first flare exploded in the clearing, catching a group of at least thirty white clad soldiers strung out across the approach. Jack said a grateful prayer, as he saw the soldiers’ night glasses in place. As the flares blossomed in front of them, they tore at their goggles, and then the rocket rounds slammed into them. The resulting explosions were hideous to behold, and deadly accurate, as Paul continued to space his shots. The small arms fire and grenades hit
with devastating effect. Sarah and Jake were alternately firing and tossing grenades. Jack reached out and caught Sarah’s wrist. When she twisted jerkily towards him, Jack made a cut off gesture, and his daughter repeated it to her brother. Jack beamed his flash light in his brothers’ two directions, The weapons chatter cut off abruptly, leaving a massive silence, which gave way to a pitiful shriek, which wailed unimaginable pain from what remained of the soldiers. Jack pulled the pin on a grenade, and tossed it at the sound. The resulting explosion left the clearing silent. Jack grabbed up his field radio and whispered urgently.
“Get your night goggles on now, and stay put. Guard to all sides. I did for one scout. There are probably others in the woods. Call in now.”
Paul's voice crackled over the line first. “Nick splashed two more behind us while I was firing the launcher. We're okay... copy.”
“Nothing showing here, Jack,” Mitch added, “but we’re ready.”
“Stay on it. If the flares affected their eyes, they will be out of action for a while longer. I’m getting Wolf and hunting for any survivors or scouts. I will not approach your positions. Fire at will. Remember… stay quiet. They have grenades I’m sure, and probably rocket launchers too. If Wolf comes charging through your nests, please don’t shoot the bugger. I need him alive real bad. These guys are pros, and his nose is all we have.”
“Copy that,” Paul acknowledged.
“Ditto,” Mitch added quickly.
Jack hugged his two goggled kids. “You two did great. Stay awake, and cover each other’s field of vision. Remember how we double check. I have to go. I love you two.”
Jack plunged into the darkness, heading for the shack as he wrestled his night goggles into place. He hurried as quietly as he could, wishing he had Wolf with him now. He imagined every form of terror engulfing him from cover. The shack came into view; and he crouched quietly, waiting until he had scanned the area slowly with his goggles in place. Jack quietly approached the cabin, grinning at the low, barely audible growl, which greeted his approach. Jack opened the door quickly, stepped in, and closed the door behind him.
American Survival (DeLeo's Action Thriller Singles Book 5) Page 2