by Robert Boren
“Well, if they do, we’ll know where they are,” Jerry replied. “Why don’t you get on the horn and ask the Sheriff to get out one of the mortars?”
“Good idea,” Earl said. He pulled out his phone.
“Sheriff?”
“Yeah, Earl, what’s up?”
“Jerry was thinking we should get out one of the mortars.”
“Ahh, so if he can find the cretins with his drone, we can give them a surprise. Good idea. I’ll go get one, and Terry and I’ll get it set up.”
“Good, thanks,” Earl said. He put his phone back in his pocket and nodded to Jerry as he released the drone. It flew down into the valley and over to the next ridge, which was shorter than the ridge they were standing on.
“See anything?” Jackson asked, trying to look over Jerry’s shoulder.
“No, not yet,” Jerry said. “I don’t think they’re behind this ridge.”
“Go over behind where you guys blew the road,” Earl said. “You can’t see it from here. That’s why we didn’t shoot the pajama boys by their truck earlier.”
Jerry nodded and flew the drone over there. There was a pickup truck on the far side of the blown part of the road. “There they are. Looks like another six assholes. They see the drone now. I’m backing it up.”
“Think we can hit it with the mortar?”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “Even if we don’t directly hit them, if we can hit that mountainside, it will bring down that stretch of road their truck is sitting on. We couldn’t believe how unstable it is there. I’m surprised we got the bobtail through.”
Earl got back on his phone to the Sheriff.
“You got the mortar set up, Sheriff?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I’m going to guess they’re about six hundred yards back. We saw them sitting on the road, on the other side of the blown up part. If you can hit them or the side of the hill above them, they’re definitely gonna have a bad day.”
“Got it, 600 yards it is.”
The noise of the mortar round leaving the barrel sounded. A couple seconds later, there was a big explosion. Dust and rocks flew into the air.
“Bring that drone back over,” Earl said.
Jerry nodded and flew back over. “The truck’s still there, but we just took out their escape route. Have him bring it in about 50 yards.”
“Sheriff, bring it in about 50 yards,” Earl said.
“Got it,” the Sheriff replied. He adjusted the distance, and let another round drop into the barrel. It flew out with a pop, and the blast came a couple of seconds later.
“Wow, that probably got them,” Jackson shouted.
“I’ll get the drone back over there,” Jerry said. He flew it back in. “The truck’s gone.”
“Did they get away?” Earl asked.
Jerry laughed. “No, the part of the road they were sitting on is gone too. I’ll go down closer and look for survivors.”
Suddenly there was a rifle shot. Jerry caught a glimpse of three men, hiding behind what was left of the truck. He moved the drone away again.
“Bring the mortar in about twenty yards, and move it slightly to the left,” Jerry said. Then he paused. “Hey, we got any Willie Pete left?”
Earl brought the phone up to his ear. “A little to the left, and in another twenty yards. We got any Willie Pete left?”
“Yeah,” the Sheriff said, after making the adjustments. “You sure?”
“You sure?” Earl asked Jerry.
“You want to go in and fight them close up?” he asked. Earl shook his head no.
“Yeah, give them the Willie Pete,” Earl said. “Otherwise we’ve got to go in there and fight them.”
“How many left?” the Sheriff asked.
“Three that we can see.”
“Crap. Okay. Give me a minute. It’s in the back storage compartment of my rig.”
“He’s getting it,” Earl said.
Jerry moved the drone back over them, and somebody fired at it again. He moved it back. Then they heard the mortar tube spit out the round. A second later there was a bright flash.
“Wow,” Jackson said. “That stuff is crazy.”
“I’ll go check for survivors,” Jerry said. “Then I’ll have to bring this thing in, or I’ll run out of battery.”
“Pew, what’s that smell?” Jackson asked.
“Burning flesh,” Jerry said. “What a mess. I see the three men. All dead. I don’t see any other bodies, but two are probably in the cab of that truck, and it’s fully engulfed, so they’re history. Oh, wait, there’s the fourth man…I can just make out a hand sticking out of that pile of rubble against the hill. He got buried.”
“Good,” Earl said.
“We’re still going to have to go back there, you know,” Jackson said. “Just to be sure, and to get the chips.”
“I’m bringing the drone back,” Jerry said. He flew it back up to the ridge that they were on, and landed it.
“Earl?” the Sheriff said over the phone. Earl put it to his ear.
“Sorry, forgot you were on. Looks like we can account for four bodies. We saw six there, but two were in the cab of the truck. If they’re still in there, they’re dead. The truck is on fire. We’ll need to send a few people in there to be sure, though.”
“Roger that,” the Sheriff said. “I’m going to leave this mortar set up.”
“Good idea,” Earl said. “I think Jackson and I will hang out here for a while.”
“You got water?”
“Yeah, we’re good,” Earl said. “Thanks, nice job.”
“Welcome,” the Sheriff said, as he put his phone back in his pocket and walked over to Jeb and Charlie.
“I’m going to go back down and get the drone on the charger,” Jerry said. “Then maybe Jeb and I and a couple others will go on back there and see what’s up.”
“We’ll cover you,” Jackson said.
Jerry climbed back down and took his drone into his coach. Then he walked back to where the Sheriff, Jeb, and Charlie were talking. Frank walked up with Jane and Jasmine, and Terry and Trish walked over.
“We think we killed them all,” Jerry said, “but we need to go back there and make sure. We also need to pull the chips”
“I’ll go,” Terry said.
“Yeah, me too,” Jeb said.
“And me,” the Sheriff said.
“I can go,” Frank said.
“No,” Jane said. “You’re too valuable. You stay here. If they need more people, I’ll go.”
“I’m going if Jerry’s going,” Jasmine said.
“I’ll tell you what,” Jeb said. “Jerry, Frank, and Jasmine are part of our long term strategy, and that’s what’ll get us out of this. Between me, Charlie, the Sheriff, and Terry, we can handle this job. You guys stay here.”
“Alright, then Frank and I can plan our road trip to test the chips,” Jerry said.
“Now you’re talking,” the Sheriff said.
“Okay, boys, let’s saddle up,” Jeb said. The men grabbed their guns and walked over towards Gabe, Dobie, and Jake. “Gabe, could you push the bridge into place? We need to go do some cleanup.”
“Sure,” Gabe said.
“Maybe I ought to tag along with one of the dogs,” Dobie said.
“Not a bad idea,” Jeb said. “C’mon.”
The five men and Duchess piled into Jeb’s jeep, as Gabe put the bridge into place.
“You come back here in one piece, Terry,” Trish yelled as they drove towards the moat. Hilda and Rosie looked on with concerned faces.
The jeep drove over the bridge, down through the couple of switchbacks and onto the dirt road leading back to the valley.
“You got the key to the gate?” Dobie asked.
“Yeah, I still have it,” Jeb said. They pulled up, and he got out and unlocked it. He pushed it to the side, and got back into the Jeep. They drove down the road, but stopped when the jeep was still out of sight from the creek bed and ridge over the r
oad.
“Alright, let’s go, boys,” Charlie said.
“Pew, that stinks. What did you guys use on them?” Dobie asked.
“Willie Pete,” Jeb said. “Know that smell anywhere.”
“What’s that?”
“White Phosphorus,” Jeb replied. “Nasty stuff.”
The men got down into the creek bed and walked in a crouch, trying to stay out of sight as best they could. They were up to the burned spot on the sand in a moment or two. Jeb stuck his head up and looked. No movement. He could see what was left of three bodies…looked like they had still been trying to hide behind the truck.
“These folks are all dead,” Jeb said.
“Be careful anyway,” Charlie whispered.
Jeb nodded and crawled up towards the bodies and the truck. He lifted himself up high enough to see into the cab. There were two burned up bodies inside. The truck was still smoking.
“Five dead,” Jeb whispered back to the group. Charlie and Terry crawled up next to him, and Dobie let the dog loose. She walked up and started sniffing around. Dobie followed, and got his pistol out of its holster as soon as he was standing up.
“Jerry said there was one body under the rubble where the road came down,” Jeb said. He walked over, and saw the hand sticking out. He touched the hand. It was still warm. He pulled the man out, and then noticed he was holding a pistol. “Look out!” he cried as he dived off to the side. Dobie hit the man with three bullets in the chest, and he staggered and fell.
“Whoa, that was close,” Charlie said. “How did that guy survive?”
“Good question,” Terry said, walking over and looking down at him. He pulled the body over by the others. “Think the fire was hot enough to kill those chips?”
“Yeah,” Jeb said. “We’ve already got smoke…let’s light this last one up, then we can just leave them here. That truck didn’t blow yet…the gas tank is still intact.” He walked over, stuck a knife in the gas tank, and let it flow onto the ground. “Drag that body over here.”
Terry pulled the body over so it was laying in the gasoline that was leaking onto the ground. The other men attempted to drag the other three bodies closer, but they were burned enough that their limbs wouldn’t hold.
There was a couple of canteens sitting next to the truck. Terry spotted them and filled them with some of the gasoline streaming from the hole in the tank. He poured it on the three men, and then ran a trail to the gas tank.
“Who’s got a match?” Terry asked, walking away as he tossed the canteens aside.
“I do,” Jeb said. “Get back.”
The men all backed away, and Jeb lit a match and tossed it on the leaking gas. The flames spread to all of the bodies as the men backed further away, and then it turned into an inferno.
“Maybe we should go check for tracks on the other side of where that truck was,” Charlie said.
“Was thinking the same thing,” Jeb said. They made a wide path around the fire and walked along the creek bed, past where the road was broken. There was a place not too far down where they could climb up. Terry and Dobie followed, with Duchess out in front of them.
“Well, here’s the tracks from the last truck,” Jeb said. “Single. Don’t see another vehicle.”
“Let’s follow it back and see if anybody got out before they parked up there,” Charlie said. Jeb nodded, and they walked backward up the road.
“Look, there’s the radio controller for their drone,” Terry said, pointing down the road.
“Interesting,” Jeb said. “They were flying forward before they drove up there. We were lucky that Earl and Jackson saw it.”
“Yes, we were,” Charlie said. “Guess they didn’t want to go around that single-wide curve there. Don’t blame them. I can’t believe Jake drove that bobtail through here.”
Terry laughed. “He wasn’t a happy camper. Felt like we were going over a time or two.”
“Well, I don’t see anything here. Let’s go back to the park,” Jeb said.
The men turned and walked back to the jeep. They were back to the park in a few minutes. After they drove over the bridge, Gabe pulled the bridge back again.
“Well?” Jake asked, walking up with Trish.
“All dead. No evidence of anybody else being with them,” Charlie said.
Gabe drove by them in the backhoe, on the way to the barn.
“What to help me unload the rest of my stuff?” Trish asked, looking at Terry.
“Sure,” he said. They walked off together. When they got on the other side of the truck, out of sight, Trish put her arms around Terry and hugged him tight, crying softly.
“Don’t worry, we’re okay,” he said.
“I was so scared, especially when those gunshots went off,” she said. “You must think I’m an idiot.”
“No, I don’t,” Terry said, pulling back from her and looking her in the face. She smiled at him.
“I do like you,” she said. “I’ll admit it. Just don’t rush me, okay?”
“Okay,” Terry said. They started picking through her boxes and carrying stuff inside the rental unit.
Jeb and Charlie walked into the clubhouse, over to the area where Jerry and Frank were sitting.
“Got some plans together?” Jeb asked.
“Yeah,” Frank said. “We’d like to be up early tomorrow, ready to take off.”
“Whose rig?” Charlie asked.
“Mine,” Jerry said. “It’s set up for some of the equipment already.”
“How about escort?” Jeb asked.
“Well, we think we need a few sharp shooters in a toad,” Frank said. “For two reasons…to protect us, and to check out any dirt roads that we might want to go down. We don’t need to drive a 42 foot diesel pusher into a place we can’t get out of.”
“Sounds like a job for my jeep,” Jeb said. “Who all is going?”
“Frank, Jane, Jasmine, and me to work in the coach. Perhaps you, Jeb, and the Sheriff, and Terry to ride shotgun?”
“I like it,” Jeb said. “That still leaves us Charlie, Earl, and Jackson here to take on anybody that might come along. And Dobie with his dogs, of course.”
“Too bad Kurt’s laid up,” Charlie said.
“Yeah,” Jeb said. “How’s he doing, anyway?”
“Sounds like he’s going to recover pretty fast,” Hilda said. “I was just in there with Mary and Rosie.
“Good, glad to hear that,” Jeb said.
“What about the rest of today?”
“Frank and I are going to pack up all the equipment we need. That won’t take long.”
“Maybe we ought to turn on the TV and see what’s going on in Denver,” Gabe said, walking up. “Remember, we had that hostage situation going on.”
“Oh, yeah,” Charlie said. “Forgot all about that.”
“I’ll turn it on,” Gabe said, walking over to the big screen.
Jake and Dobie walked into the clubhouse, chatting.
The TV screen showed the inside of the Denver city hall press room. There were bullet holes in the walls, and everything was a mess.
“Looks like something happened,” Jeb said.
The announcer came on.
“The Police Department is still trying to figure out how the Islamic leader known as Saladin was able to escape the building. When the rescue team got to this room, most of the hostages were already dead. Only low level people from the Islamic force were left behind, and they were taken out by the swat team quickly.”
“Shit,” Charlie said. “The head cretin got away clean, from the sound of it.
“I’m okay with that,” Jeb said. “I want to take him.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. Jerry grinned back at her. “Good to keep that fighting spirit going, Jasmine.”
“Most of the bodies have been identified. There are two notable people missing…the Mayor and the Police Chief. It appears that they have been taken by the enemy when they fled.”
“Oh, great,” Jane said.
“Is this incompetence, or plants helping them out?”
“Well, that’s the real question, I suppose,” Gabe said. “Hey Jake, got a question for you.”
“What?” Jake asked.
“You have any surveillance camera stuff in your truck, by any chance?”
“Sure do, why?”
“I’m thinking we ought to be putting some cameras up on that ridge where Jackson and Earl are.”
“Nobody can climb over that, can they?” Jane asked.
“Not easily, but they can do what we did today.”
“What’s that?” Jane asked.
“Lob mortar rounds over,” he replied.
“Shit, that’s a good point, Gabe,” Charlie said. “We ought to start working on that. Now.”
“No problem,” Jake said. “I know exactly where that stuff is. Let’s go.”
Charlie followed Jake out the door. The TV announcer came back on.
“In other news, there have been problems in some of the towns along I-70, west of Denver. Just today there were several attacks and vehicle hijackings in Eagle, former site of the army supply depot. There have also been problems further east, in Avon and Vail.”
“Really. Tell us something we don’t know,” Dobie said, laughing nervously.
“It bothers me that we had the second group hit us back in the valley,” Jeb said. “Do they know who we are? Or were they just trying to recover their lost soldiers from the first attack?”
“That’s a real good question,” Jerry said. “I’ve been thinking about that too. These were really low level people, from what I could tell. I think they were just looking for their missing comrades, and probably Jake’s bobtail.”
“True, we have no reason to believe that the cretins knew there was a connection between the group that went into town and the core group that was in Utah,” Frank said
“Unless they can tie Gabe to Kurt and Hilda, but that’d be a stretch,” Jeb said.
“This just in,” the announcer said. “Fighting has started up in Eagle, near the site of the former army depot along I-70. It appears that a large group of Islamist fighters was attempting to move towards Denver when local authorities caught them. This force is larger than the local authorities can handle, and help has been requested.”
“Oh, no, not again,” Jane said.
Suddenly there was the loud noise of jets overhead. Everybody ran out to the veranda to look. There were several F-22s and two B-1 Bombers flying towards town.