Desert Heat

by T J Reeder

  Capt. Harry has said he changed his name more often then his skivvies so names mean nothing but he was a product of the inner city gang areas. Even though he had served in the military and wasn’t stupid and also had never trusted Harry but was afraid to try to do anything about for the moment, he figured by sending Harry off to chase me down he would likely get killed so didn’t object when Harry offered to go.

  This whole mess was more then I really wanted to deal with but it was there and dealing is what a good leader does.

  I asked Harry to see if the base print shop could run off about a hundred thousand fliers telling people what was coming and to get them out asap.

  He got right on it. I took time to check on all of our people plus the Rangers and making sure them and the Marines were playing well together.

  I figured I’d end up having to break up some problems but not at all! They were working their asses off getting ready to go to war. It was funny that all these trained warriors with the rare exception had less combat time then my civilian army. I might need to make sure they had some of my folks sprinkled thru their ranks.

  Now we just had to get the C-130 here and get this show on the road, Harry had gotten the airport cleaned up and lights working so the C-130 was coming in tomorrow morning early. It was time to check that everything was loaded and ready to go.

  My staff and I spent the rest of day checking and rechecking that we had everything we could think of plus stuff we hadn’t thought of but others had.

  As soon as the big bird was on the ground the chopper was going to do the flier drop.

  I was giving them 24 hours’ notice and then the roof was gonna cave in.

  Morning found us at the airport watching a small speck getting bigger by the moment until the 130 seemed to fill the sky, it had been so long since we had seen anything bigger then our small plane in the air that we were just blown away, everybody was yelling and cheering, most of the town had turned out for the event which more then anything seemed to point to better days, some day.

  After the pilot shut down the engines and the crew came down the ramp we headed for the plane.

  The Lt. Col flying the bird looked around before asking where the commanding officer was.

  I had to smile knowing he and I weren’t gonna get along at all.

  Sandy of course spoke up with “He’s standing in front of you, you stiff necked prick!” I swear he puffed up like a toad!

  He looked at me then Sandy and said to his crew, “Load up we’re leaving right now!” Before he could turn away I said, “Colonel, you are free to leave anytime you want, but the plane stays, we have people who have more hours in a 130 then you do!” (A lie but fk him!) That stopped him and he marched right at me like he was gonna run me over, but he stopped when he saw three 45 muzzles right in his face.

  Even Beth was ready to splatter this asshole all over the ground. His people were scattering from behind him in case. Well he stood there sputtering until I said, “Colonel, really sir, get the stick out of your ass and follow me over to the shade.

  I was walking away and he hadn’t moved so I stopped and quietly said Colonel that was not a request. Now move it you pompous ass!” Well that got him moving and when we were alone I told him one more outburst and he was walking home so please tell me what his main problem was.

  Well he went thru the my plane this and my plane that until I said, “Colonel it’s my plane and has been since the people in Texas agreed to it so you’re out of line.”

  He wouldn’t listen to me at all and wouldn’t shut up so I made a motion to the Ranger LT and held up three fingers and made the double time arm pump and he pointed out three Rangers and ran to me.

  I said, “LT, the Colonel is under arrest, please take him to the BOQ ( Bachelor Officers Quarters) and place him under house arrest, if he says one word out of line take him to the brig.” After sputtering a bit he said, “Wait can’t we talk about this?” I said, “No, I offered to be reasonable and you weren’t willing to play so here it is.”

  He said he would toe the line but I just smiled and said until you’re off the ground and heading back to Texas right?

  I had him, he turned red as a beet and I told him to never play poker with Marines.

  The LT took him away and I returned to the air crew and looked at them then said, “Ok! Who else can fly this pile of beer cans?” Well that got some laughs from even the airmen and a Major said, “Well sir I spect ahm your huckleberry,” with a beautiful drawl. I smiled and said, “Sounds like home.” He said, “Yep, raised around East Texas not far from your family compound!” I said, “Then you heard of us?” He said, “Yep and I tried to tell that asshole but he just won’t ever listen so now what?”

  I asked if he could fly without a co-pilot and he said, “Yeah but it was nice to have somebody who knew how to wind up the rubber bands,” I was liking this guy! I told him I had a chopper pilot with a lot of fixed wing time but not big stuff.

  He said that was fine, just somebody to drive when he went to piss and get a cup of coffee. He said something to one of the air crew who took off at a run back up the ramp and returned with the most beat up dirty Stetson I ever saw, after he put it on he stuck out his hand and said, “Major Arnold Minor” sir!” While we all smiled at that he said his lady friend back at the base was a Capt. Mary Bumps who had a real nice set and when she made Major she would be “Major Bumps” now we were all laughing our asses off, if this guy could fly half as good as he could talk he was an asset Texas might not get back.

  I noticed the girls heading for the ramp and I yelled, “NO!! Damn it NO! They flipped me off and trotted up the ramp.

  I asked Arnie as he said to call him if he had left the keys in the ignition, he laughed and said, “Nope I heard about them two long before I knowed we was comin here. And there ain’t a thing in there they can walk off with!”

  He said Harry had warned him before they left and also told him to be prepared to fly the mission because he figured the Col was heading for a problem. He asked about the girls pulling the pistols and if it was a show, I said, “Your buddy the Col was a ounce of trigger pull from being splattered all over the runway.”

  He said, “Yep Harry said they was cute as a bug and as deadly as a pit full of rattlers.” He was watching Beth heading for the plane, he said Harry had told him about Beth and how she had just joined the family and was already kind of in control of the “rabid badgers” as Harry put it. I said I didn’t have the full story yet but I knew enough to know the girls had watched her for a long time and got to know her and really liked her before asking her if she was interested. I said I had little to do with any of it I just went along with it mostly but that I had drawn the line at the three of them. They were happy, so I was happy and I think they had planned to use Beth to keep me distracted while they run rampant but it worked out that Beth was calming them down to a degree and they were dragging her along with them to a degree.

  I heard the sounds of the chopper coming back and we watched Ralph coming in pretty fast, the props were still spinning when he bailed out and started running around the bird, we joined him and found him looking at a couple of damn big holes in the left door, the man who went along to kick out the fliers was still white looking, the rounds must had fanned him as they passed. Ralph said the bastards had some fifty cals in there that must have come from the base here and they almost fried his ass except the gunner was untrained and opened up too soon but still got two hits, he said they were at the far end of their loop and had dumped the last of the fliers when it happened. Luck, pure and simple.

  Ralph looked at the 130 and said, “Sweet!” I asked if he ever flew one but he laughed and said, “No but I’d give my left one to try it.” I smiled and said, “Well good because you’re the co-pilot!” I thought he was gonna kiss me! I did the intros between the two and they walked off hands waving and diving and talking a strange language.

  Pilots and tankers are very weird ducks but we need em, so…
I saw Beth herding the girls down the ramp where they stopped to say hi to Ralph who must have said something about getting shot at because Sandy was yelling at him for getting “Her” Chopper shot to pieces, Ralph looked at me, I shrugged and smiled. He flipped me off. Beth saved him by heading for the chopper where “they” joined her, Sandy was heard to say, “That?? That’s almost getting shot down?? What a pussy!! God..” One second you’re damned if you do and the next you’re damned if ya don’t. I’ve never seen one like her, May might be close but she ain’t there yet. Given her way I think Sandy would become a War Lord but on the side of good. (HA! Already am!) Stop it! (Looks again..) I need a nap.

  I got my nap and for a while didn’t have to share the bed, then all three trooped in and that was the end of sleep, they piled on the bed and turned it into a pajama party. I finally rolled over on my belly and Beth rubbed my shoulders and back and then I did sleep.

  I woke up in a pile, they were sprawled all over me and the bed. Beth was beside me and laying with my arm around her, I went back to sleep, we were gonna need it as we had learned in Vegas.

  Morning came and I couldn’t move, they were still sleeping so I started easing out of the tangle and made it to the bathroom before I peed the floor then I got in the shower and steamed the place up, Beth joined me then May and shortly Sandy squeezed in, it was crowded but kind of nice. Slippery is good.

  I got out followed by Beth giving them more room and bitching about running out of hot water. I got dressed kissed Beth and ran out the door before they could jump me all wet and fussing over cold water. I smiled all the way to the mess hall where I found the entire staff, I should have felt guilty but I didn’t. I’m old! I don’t have to care.

  Everything is done, the 130 is loaded and ready to roll as soon as we call, with nothing left we rolled out within the hour heading south, we circled around on secondary roads to the west to avoid the piled up freeways. Here it was so different then out in the heartland, millions of cars that just stopped dead in their tracks. And the remains of the beginning of the crazy times following the event, sometimes it looks like people just got out of their vehicles and started killing each other.

  It is sad that the people with more then any nation on earth could revert to savagery in the blink of an eye, I’ll never understand it.

  As loaded down as we were we took two days to get there, stopping for nothing, we bypassed small settlements who’s people either ran for cover of stood and cheered us on. I have to admit I was surprised to find these settlements this close to the cities but even murdering assholes need food so killing off the food growers don’t make much sense, I expect these folks had to pay a hefty tax to be left alone. Well I hoped this trip would end that shit.

  On the evening of the second long day we made it to the sprawling edges of the city and it looked like Dresden after the Air Force fire bombed it, desolate didn’t cover it, wasteland may come close to it. With a big wrecker with a plow on the front to move cars and make a road we rolled forward, as we went some people started coming out and they looked like they had been freed from a Nazi death camp, we could become bogged down here so I ordered the troops to start tossing MRE’s away from the road, the people fell on them like a pack of wild dogs.

  Bottles of water were added to the menu. I was amazed that so many could still be living here and it put a heavy weight on my shoulders. I asked the medical team to pick out a few of them and question them about what was ahead, they took in three men who after eating a bit were able to say they had been further inside the city when the fliers came and they at last took the chance to run for it, they said the main city center was all gangland and that any non-gang bangers had either left or died long ago.

  After learning all they could the med team left the three with a huge pile of MRE’s and water that I hoped they doled out to others. We couldn’t spare the time or people to do it.

  I had never really been to LA but had been close enough to know I never wanted to visit. We drove on until we could see the center of the city. I would have liked to spread the guns out over a very wide front but security wouldn’t allow it so we did the best we could by spreading their front so one gun was firing into its own sector.

  We had decided Ralph was needed more as a spotter for the fight so we took him and his chopper with us and one of the planes officers flew as co-pilot.

  Ralph and a spotter were up in the chopper well above ground fire and worked as fire control center. The gun crews were set up and ready so with nothing to gain by waiting I gave the order to open fire. The crash of the guns sounded like the gates of hell slamming shut. Ralph could see the shell fall of each gun and the idea was to fire and move the next shell fall to the right about 50 yards, we started with Willy Peter and the fires started roaring. Cars with fuel remaining and who knows what but there were explosions in the mess, they fired until the barrels needed cooling down then changed elevation and started again, it went on all day with my people replacing the gun crews where they could, Ralph said it was hell in there, I asked him to land and pick me up which he did but of course I wasn’t allowed to go alone, so the four of us got on the chopper after it was refueled and once we were over the city I could see it was an inferno, we went higher and flew over the city and I could see the rats running, cars bikes whatever they could find, on foot if nothing else. They were doing just what we wanted, running right into the coming blast, there were hundreds then thousands, hell they were even fighting each other as they ran, fine with me! We were well ahead of the shells and could see the line of explosions slowly walking at us.

  We flew higher and further south and could see the mass of trash piling up as they got bottle necked. I called Big Bird and said, “Come to Papa.” Ralph gave the coordinates and got us out away from the area, we would see the effects of the drop.

  About half an hour later Big Bird called to say they were going to make a pass from west to east and make their drop at half mile intervals, but I said to save the last one for the mass of rats in the bottle neck.

  We saw the plane and saw the first package slide out and the chutes open, it was interesting, the plane flew on dropping the load behind, Ralph said it looked like it was taking a dump which got the girls laughing.

  The first package was still in the air about 500 yards above the city when it turned into a small sun, the shock wave even shook the chopper causing Ralph to haul ass away from the next one. They went off like they were supposed to and left a raging fire storm behind them. The last load was right over the packed bottle neck of gang members when it went off and when the smoke cleared there was nothing moving, just flattened everything for a long ways, Big Bird flew away for the next load and we headed back to the guns.

  I called ahead to tell them to cease fire and we landed in a quiet like we had never heard. It was just silent, the sounds of the guns cooling were the loudest sound.

  I got with the leaders and told them what we had seen and offered any of them the chance to go up with Ralph for the next run. Joe and Willy both said they would go but nobody else seemed inclined to and I couldn’t blame them.

  We moved the guns to a new area and started it all over again; I was already tired of it all but it had to be done. Beth had a sad look on her face so I asked her if she felt bad for them, she said “Hell no I feel bad about all the beautiful museums and the libraries that will be lost forever, all the knowledge of the ages lost.” I told her we had saved as much as we could store and that I hated it too.

  I asked her what the best museum was in the city and she told me, I asked Ralph if he could find it, he said, “Sure,” I said, “Ok, we will take in shooters for security and see if the assholes left anything to save.”

  She said it was too dangerous but the girls were up for it so I said I was going in the first load with all the shooters we could lift off with and the girls could come in the third load. I stopped the fight before it started and for once they didn’t push it. We loaded up and took off and true to his wo
rd Ralph flew right to it, he admitted he had been there several times and was glad we were trying to save some of it.

  We circled the Natural Museum of History and decided to land on the roof, we bailed out and Ralph was gone, we checked out the area and did over watch for the next load, we had come in really heavy on fire power, plenty of SAW’s with everybody slinging a 16 across their back and loaded with Mags. Water and one MRE.

  Ralph returned and of course the first ones out were the girls, two smiling and one just shaking her head, Ralph was shaking his also. I figured they would pull this because they went for the third wave stuff to easy. Ralph took off and returned two more times until we had 20 shooters with us. Ralph left the blades turning and stayed with the chopper with two shooters for security. We started down thru the fire door, we all had gun lights but it reminded me of that movie about Raccoon City and the crap that got loose, it was flat scary and I shit you not I didn’t fight too hard when I was pushed back while a pair of Rangers took the point.

  We made it to the top floor and I could see this was going to be an impossible task for just a few people but even though we could see some signs of plain vandalism it wasn’t as bad as I expected, we did a fast walk thru ready for most anything that might be there and my imagination was working over time, we moved down another floor and it was the same. All the way down thru the dark we expected to be hit any second by Zombies or god knows what but nothing jumped out. We finally made it to the ground floor and looked out into complete hell, it was a combat zone.