Living for War: The Collin War Chronicles

by W. C. Hoffman

  Collin and Tiny pulled the electronic front doors apart with some effort. They made a horrific grinding noise that made everyone wince. The hospital was dark inside. A faint musty odor filled their noses and their shoes left tracks in the dust on the floor.

  “Obviously no one has been here for quite some time,” Tiny said.

  “Anyone remember to bring a flashlight?” Brady asked.

  Motes of dust floated in the air, caught in slivers of light cutting through the grime on the windows. Other than their breathing and footsteps, the hospital was silent. Collin thought that if they were watching a horror movie, this would be where someone would see a hint of a ghost.

  Julie stopped at a tall display that held a multi-level map of the hospital. A large red dot with an arrow marked their spot, declaring, “You are here.” The entrance area behind the map display was like a massive octagon with several hallways branching off the central structure that reached up several floors. A small fountain in the center featured dead foliage and a murky pond.

  “Where do they keep the stuff you need?” Collin asked, looking at the map to get familiar with the layout.

  “The labs. We could also find some useful supplies in the emergency room, unless it’s already been looted,” Julie said. She glanced over the map and pointed at a couple of locations. The two locations were on the same side of the hospital, but unfortunately, the labs and ER were down opposite hallways.

  “Look, this hallway here connects the two branches. So we don’t have to backtrack all the way,” Collin said, tracing the route for Julie. “Where do we start?”

  “The centrifuge is the most critical piece for the serum. Thank goodness we have Tiny with us,” she said, looking at the tall man. “You can probably carry it by yourself while the rest of us collect other critical supplies.”

  “Do you think this place has electricity?” Brady asked. He started toward a bank of light switches on a pillar next to the vacant information desk.

  Collin gave him a skeptical look. “It’s probably best to leave it alone. We don’t need –”

  Brady threw the switch. Nothing happened. He looked at Collin and shrugged.

  “Stop fooling around with stuff,” Collin said.

  Brady rolled his eyes as he rejoined the group.

  “We’ll start with the labs,” Julie said, walking away.

  The rest of them followed her into the darkened bowels of the hospital.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Tiny emerged from the hospital with his rifle slung over his shoulder and a large centrifuge cradled in his arms. Collin, Brady, Hannah and Julie followed behind him carrying an assortment of bandages, instruments, beakers wrapped in white sheets, and various other pieces of equipment Julie required.

  Since the power was out, and the hospital was out of service for so long, none of the medication was still good. Everything was well past its expiration date. Thinking about it gave Collin pause.

  “How do you think HAGS is getting fuel for their helicopters? After this long, gas and diesel is just as expired as the medication in the pharmacy back there,” Collin said, jerking his head back at the hospital.

  “There’s been debate about that. We figured they must have some basic infrastructure still running. I mean, if Goshen is still powered by an old dam and a few people who can barely keep it running, then surely a mega-corporation like HAGS can stay fueled,” Brady said. “Right, Tiny?”

  “Yes, that is my assessment exactly. I didn’t realize you’d paid such close attention to what I said.” Tiny grinned. With a grunt, he hefted the centrifuge over the sideboard of the cart and set it gently inside. Brady hopped up and set his haul in the corner, then reached down to relieve Julie and Collin from their supplies.

  An air raid siren blared, nearly causing Brady to topple out of the cart. The horse jerked forward and tossed its mane with a startling neigh.

  “It’s okay, boy,” Collin said. His heart raced as he grabbed the reins and stroked the horse’s neck to reassure it. “What the hell was that?”

  “Sounds like old air raid sirens,” Brady said. “That can’t be good.”

  “What is it, Hannah?” Collin asked.

  Hannah looked as surprised as the others. She shook her bandaged head and shrugged.

  Brady looked up at the soldiers on the top floor of the parking garage. They shook their heads, indicating they didn’t see any threats. The undulating scream of the sirens echoed up and down the street, bouncing off of the buildings. Brady waved at the two soldiers to come down.

  “Time to move!” he shouted up at them.

  “Julie, get up on the cart,” Collin said, taking her elbow and hustling her along.

  Tiny ran to the other horses in the garage while the soldiers emerged and took up positions in the street. A few moments later, Tiny and a pair of soldiers brought out the horses.

  “Do we have everyone?” Tiny asked, glancing around.

  Collin took stock of the people around him. Julie in the cart, Brady climbing onto his horse, Hannah quietly petting her horse, Tiny counting heads, and eight soldiers. “We need two more. Where are the guys from the roof?”

  “Right here,” said one of the soldiers.

  Collin turned and saw them rush out from the parking garage to their horses.

  “Good. We’re all set!” Collin shouted. “Back the way we came.”

  Horseshoes clomped against the pavement as their horses picked up speed. Collin stayed next to the horse cart to cover Julie. Once again, he pulled out his rifle and held it across his lap.

  Despite the threat of danger, the wind rushing through Collin’s unkempt hair and the pounding of fifteen horses on the pavement was exhilarating. His horse’s mane brushed against his fingers gripping the saddle horn as they raced through Missoula.

  Collin saw the look of exhilaration on Julie’s face as well. She must have felt him staring at her because she turned to smile at him. Collin wasn’t confident enough to let go of the horn to give Julie a salute, so he just nodded at her.

  Hannah led them out of town a different way than they came in. When they heard the faint whoomp-whoomp of helicopter rotors, she turned and led them up the side of a hill to a park.

  “Get under the trees,” Hannah shouted, waving them off the road. “Hurry!”

  “Oh man, it’s HAGS. Why did they follow us here?” Collin asked her as he rode up beside the former agent of their enemy.

  Hannah shook her head. “I don’t know. Get under the trees. We need to tie up the horses and take cover in case they’re coming for us.”

  “Who else would they be here for?” Julie asked.

  “Not now,” Hannah said.

  A dense cluster of trees, both pine and deciduous, provided cover for them. Collin handed off his horse and turned to watch for the choppers. From their position they actually had a great view of town.

  “What’s that?” Tiny asked, pointing off to their left.

  Collin squinted, but couldn’t see anything in detail. “Where are those binoculars?”

  Brady ran over to them and held up the lenses. He followed Tiny’s finger and then brought them up. Collin watched as he adjusted the focus and looked around.

  “Wow,” he said softly.

  “What do you see?” Collin asked.

  “Look for yourself.” Brady handed him the binoculars.

  Collin lifted the lenses, made some minor adjustments to the focus, and sucked in a breath. There were dozens of people in the town. Most were scurrying out of buildings and houses to manholes in the roads. People were rushing to hide underground.

  “Makes you wonder how many of them were watching us,” Collin said, lowering the lenses and passing them to Tiny. “Where are the helicopters coming from?”

  Before anyone could answer, the noise grew and leaves rustled as the helicopters raced by, nearly overhead. Instinct forced Collin to duck down and hide behind a tree.

  Each of them watched as the aircraft aggressively ap
proached the town. This was not the gentle hover they used each time to approach Goshen. HAGS was on what seemed to be a strafing run.

  Tiny took a knee behind some bushes, but continued to watch the area where they’d spotted people running for cover.

  “They have fighters. Some are staying in the buildings. This could get interesting,” Tiny said uneasily. “I don’t think they’re looking for conversation.”

  “I have a feeling this is a raid,” Hannah said, crossing her arms as she nibbled on a fingernail.

  “A raid?” Collin asked, looking hard at Hannah.

  She ignored him and stared intently as the helicopters swept into town. They zipped along maybe fifty feet above the buildings. Collin unslung his rifle and gripped it tightly. He let out a small sigh of relief that their group wasn’t being followed, but he didn’t like the idea of sitting here while survivors in Missoula were attacked.

  Suddenly, there was an explosion. One of the helicopters burst into flames and began to rotate wildly out of control. It slid sideways through the air as it spun and crashed into the top edge of a brick building, bounced off, and fell to the ground like a rock, sending a plume of thick black smoke skyward.

  “Whoa,” Collin said slowly. Apparently the survivors here were no pushovers. It reminded him of the time he watched the Eagles firing rockets at the Vipers as they advanced in their turtle shell structure.

  “RPG from the roof. Looks like there are more of them too,” Tiny said. He had no great affinity for HAGS after losing his family to the disease. “The helicopters are opening fire.”

  A second or two later they heard the buzz of machine guns. A pair of rockets flashed out from one of the helicopters and blew up a building. The helicopter formation changed. They split into two groups. Two began to circle the area while three headed toward open ground.

  “They must be landing troops,” Hannah said.

  “Since when do they have troops?” Brady asked.

  “Since always. They usually stay in their helicopters because they don’t like to engage in ground battles. Helicopters instill more fear. I could be wrong; this might not be a raid. This could be an extraction,” Hannah said.

  “Like what they threatened us with?” Collin asked, furrowing his brow.

  Hannah looked at him and nodded silently.

  “We should help them fight off HAGS,” Brady said.

  “No. We only have fifteen lightly armed people in terrain we don’t know.” Collin shook his head.

  Julie stepped up. “We should use all the commotion as cover to escape. Not to mention Koby is waiting for me, and I need to get started on the serum.”

  Collin let out a heavy sigh. Brady crossed his arms over his chest and frowned, but it was clear he knew that was the smart choice.

  Tiny nodded. “I’m with the doctor on this one.”

  “Do you know how to get us out of here under cover?” Collin asked Hannah.

  “I’m not a human GPS. If we stay in the forest, away from the road, we’re going to get lost. But we can stay off the main roads and stick close to the buildings, ride single file on the sidewalk until it’s safe to get out on the road,” Hannah said. She looked over at Julie. “Of course, Julie has the cart so she has to stay in the road. I’ll do what I can to keep us out of sight.”

  “Great. Let’s mount up and ride out,” Collin said.

  Gunfire and explosions sounded behind them. Collin glanced back at the battle unfolding below. In a few more days, the same fight would play out in Goshen. He just hoped they would be ready for it.

  When Collin turned around, he was surprised to see a dozen men rush out of the forest and surround them with rifles raised. Brady, Tiny, and the soldiers cursed and fumbled for their weapons, but the ambush was quick and the surprise was total.

  “Freeze!” shouted a young man.

  “Hands up! Don’t move!” yelled another man, unwittingly pointing his weapon at the President of the United States.

  Collin knew right away these were not HAGS soldiers. It was a small comfort, but in a way it also made them more unpredictable.

  “Hands up and don’t try anything stupid. We don’t want to hurt you, but we will,” said a grizzled older man in camouflaged coveralls with a brown and gray beard and a black beanie. He reminded Collin of an Alaskan mountain man. The kind of man who would have chosen to live off the grid before the end of the world forced his hand. He looked at Collin. “Hands up, mister.”

  Collin obliged, slowly raised his hands.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Sergeant Gibbs patiently explained the details of a fighting position to a small group of civilians. They stood at the corner of an intersection roughly two blocks from the bridge. He described to them the basics of a two-man fighting position. When he finished with the instructions, he moved on to the next group.

  As Gibbs strode down the road, he watched half a dozen people who were filling sandbags and loading them into wheelbarrows. Several people were doing a relay with the wheelbarrows to distribute the sandbags where they were needed.

  “Good job, you guys,” Sergeant Gibbs said. The two shoveling dirt into the bags looked up and waved.

  Gibbs made his way through town where booby-traps and fighting positions were being built all over the place. Lumber was being moved in horse carts to construct overhead cover for the fighting positions. Out in the farmland, people were building dead falls, berms, and other obstructions to harass the helicopters and whoever was dumb enough to hop out and assault the town.

  It was impressive, seeing Goshen come together like this. With the specter of Mac no longer hanging over them, even though it was replaced with HAGS, the mood felt positive, confident, and hopeful. People had a purpose and manageable tasks they could focus on. Whether the citizens of Goshen were militarizing themselves in an attempt at revenge or to try to survive, it didn’t matter to Gibbs. The threat was known to the citizens, and they felt like they would be ready. Sergeant Gibbs just hoped that was true.

  On his way to the hospital, he thought about the plans Koby had passed to him. He’d shown them to Collin and received the go ahead. Now he just had to get some questions answered before he implemented Koby’s plan.

  No one interrupted Gibbs en route to the hospital. He raced up the steps and entered the ER where Koby was set up with a record player, music, food, water, and a pair of nurses to watch over him, change his bandages, and whatever else they did.

  “Gibbsy! You’re back so soon,” Koby said.

  The Sergeant ignored the new nickname Koby had just bestowed upon him. “I had some questions about your design. How are we powering this? Do you know where I can find the components?”

  “We’ll have to use car batteries or generators, or if absolutely necessary, a pair of long ass extension cords strung together,” Koby said. “You see, the infrared motion detectors need to be powered, but that’s it. Once they detect the helicopters, instead of activating a light or alarm, they will detonate the claymores.”

  Sergeant Gibbs smiled. He loved Koby’s design and knew that a claymore’s blast range was more than enough to take out any of the birds HAGS attempted to land near the town. He just wanted to make sure he put it together correctly because they’d only have one shot, so to speak. “Are there any points of failure I need to double check? I know it’s critical things work when the time comes.”

  “Did Specialist Bohannon give you the switches I made?”

  “Yes. They’re sitting safely in my office at headquarters,” Gibbs said.

  “Great. As long as the IR sensors have power, most of the work is done. Simply connect the cord to the switch and the switch to the claymore’s blasting cap properly, and we’re all good. Helicopters come, say hi, and go boom,” Koby said, balling his hands up and then spreading them in a mock explosion. He even added sound effects. “I just wish I could be out there to watch.”

  “Was there anything left to do with the dr –?”

  “Special project!�
� Koby snapped. “I want it to be a surprise. No one can know, just in case those bastards at HAGS have another spy here.”

  “Right, sorry,” Sergeant Gibbs said, glancing around. No one was in the room with them. “I’ll mentally mark it as Top Secret. Only me, you, and Specialist Bohannon know about it.”

  “Good. Now, is there anything else you needed?”

  Gibbs thought for a minute.

  “Don’t hurt yourself,” Koby said sarcastically.

  “I think that’s it, sir.” Sergeant Gibbs stood at attention.

  “Oh please. You don’t have to sir me, Gibbsy. Save that shit for Collin and Brady,” Koby said with a smile.

  “Very well.”

  “Any word on the expedition?”

  “Not yet, but it’s only been two days. We probably won’t see them for a few more,” Gibbs said. “How are you? Do you need anything?”

  “If you can heal stumpy here, I’ll give you a million bucks. I’m ready to get out of this depressing room.”

  “Want me to see if the nurses will let you go home? At least there it’d be more comfortable and less ...” Sergeant Gibbs looked around the room. It was all tile floor, aged white walls, and sterile looking equipment. “Foreboding. Much less foreboding.”

  Koby shrugged noncommittally.

  “I can ask when I leave.”

  “Hospitals freak you out?” Koby asked, watching him closely.

  Gibbs looked at the floor for a second before looking at Koby. “My grandmother died from an infection she contracted while in the hospital for a relatively minor injury.”

  “I don’t know how to follow that up,” Koby said, shifting uncomfortably.

  “No problem. I guess I should get going. Lots of preparation left to do,” Sergeant Gibbs said.

  “Okay, well don’t forget. Top Secret. No joke.”

  A smile cracked Gibbs face. “I got it. See ya soon.”

  Sergeant Gibbs turned and walked out of the room. He spoke to the nurse in the waiting room about letting Koby recover at home, but she was adamant that Dr. Horner said to keep him in the hospital.

  He may have lost that battle, but Gibbs wouldn’t let Goshen lose the coming battle with HAGS. Not on his watch.