by Dennis Elder
“Damn,” whispered Jake.
Jake looked around and noticed there was a back door to the building that said employees only. He wondered if they have might a softer version of his favorite candy bar back there. So he moved to the door and tried the handle. But it was locked. So, the ex-army ranger stood back for a second and then heaved his weighted foot and kicked in the door. The doorjamb broke into several pieces and the door flew open. It was dark in there. No windows. Jake put his hand on this pistol and stepped forward. Suddenly, out of the room charged three HBs. Each took hold of a piece of Jake’s clothing. All four bodies stumbled back ward and crashed into the candy bar counter.
“A little help here!” shouted Jake, as wrestled with the three HBs. With considerable effort he successfully kicked out hard and sent one of the HBs flying back to the linoleum floor.
Jake swung the butt of his pistol viciously and bashed one of the HBs in the head. But the blow didn’t even faze the guy. He resisted the temptation to shoot because the noise might alert the two men they were following. The second HB finally found open flesh and bit down hard on Jake’s left arm. Jake screamed out in pain.
Jacob heard the cry and rushed into the convenience store with his rifle pointed at the one HB not clinging to Jake.
“Don’t use the gun,” shouted Jake. “The noise,” he shouted as the HB dug his teeth a little deeper into Jakes arm. “Arghhhh!” shouted Jake.
Jake couldn’t see much. The combined weight of both HBs had him pinned to the ground and he couldn’t get any leverage to free himself. The HB he kicked off a second ago was now pulling on one of his legs. The pain in his arm was intense.
Suddenly the HB biting his arm slumped off him. Then a second later other guy did the same. When he pushed the two HBs off his body he was looking up as Jacob. The kid was standing over him with his chest heaving, struggling for air. He had the store cash register in his hands, still held high above his head, still looking for targets. All three HBs were on the ground with their heads smashed flat. There was a lot of blood on the floor.
Jake looked around and then back at Jacob.
“OK, Jacob,” said Jake. “You can put down the cash register now. I think you got ‘um.”
Jacob was still flowing with adrenalin. Slowly he lowered the cash register to waist level. After a few more breaths he tossed the heavy metal box to the side. The register door popped open and change flew everywhere. There was blood on Jacob’s shirt and face. Then Jacob noticed that Jake’s arm was bleeding.
“Hey, they bit you,” shrieked Jacob, as he knelt down by Jake’s side. “How bad is it?”
“It’s nothing,” offered Jake as he tried to sit up with his one good arm.
Jacob looked at Jake’s arm. The bite looked nasty. Jacob wasn’t sure what to do. Jake could see the kid wanted to help.
“It’s going to be OK,” said Jake. “First, let’s get me outside away from these things. Then we can see how bad the damage is.”
Chapter 99: Just Report
The sun was still high in the cool December sky. The temperature was significantly colder today. Major Mark Harris and the rest of the main body were all sitting on the side of I-15, at the Nipton road turn off. They’d made good time, with only two flat tires since morning. The group had been resting for about 30 minutes. He looked down at his watch. Twelve o’clock noon on the money - time to check in with Jake and Jacob. He turned on the power switch and depressed the send button.
“Main body calling Forward One, over,” said Mark.
Mark waited a full 10 seconds.
“Main body calling Forward One,” repeated Mark. “Come back, over.”
There were a few seconds of hiss. Then the radio barked.
“Main body, this is Forward One, over,” replied Jacob.
“What is your position, over” asked Mark.
“We’re in the Town of Primm, just across the Nevada border, over,” responded Jacob.
“Understood,” replied Mark. “We are on your six, at Nipton turn off. What’s your situation, over?”
“Targets left Primm approximately one hour ago,” said Jacob. “We are ready to pursue now. Suggest main body stay in Primm tonight. Plenty of beds in Casino. Convenience store loaded with water and some food.”
“Sounds like good advice,” said Mark. We will check out on arrival. Anything else?”
“Yea, one thing,” said Jacob with a little reserve in his voice. “We ran into a few HBs in one of the convenience stores. They got the jump on Jake and took a bit out of his left arm. They’ve been eliminated and we haven’t seen any other HBs since, over.”
Mark thought for a moment before replying.
“What is Jake’s condition, over?” asked Mark.
“We cleaned the wound, stitched up the cut, Jake says he doesn’t think there is any muscle or tendon damage. He says he can ride and still shoot at 90%, over,” answered Jacob.
“OK,” answered Mark. “But what is your opinion, Jacob?”
Jacob wasn’t sure what Mark was asking. He looked over at Jake for advice. Both were straddling their loaded bikes. Jake was resting his body on his elbows, leaning on his bike’s handlebars. A white bandage was taped firmly over the bite on his left arm.
“He’s asking for your honest opinion,” suggested Jake. “Commanding officers need honest evaluations, even if you’re feelings tell you something else. Just tell him what you’ve seen. Be objective”
Jacob pressed the send button again.
“The bite was deep,” began Jake. “We stopped the bleeding quickly and applied hydrogen peroxide to the wound. Used needle and thread to stitch the wound closed, over” said Jake.
“Do you think Jake can still ride and act as lead scout?” asked Mark.
The question took Jacob off guard. He didn’t want to say anything against Jake.
Jake noticed Jacob’s hesitancy.
“Remember,” Jake whispered. “Be objective and tell him what you’ve seen. Tell him your opinion, and then let him decide. And don’t worry about my feelings or the feelings of others. Just report.”
Jacob nodded his head in understanding and depressed the send button again.
“Jake was able to load his bike with water and top off his tire pressure without my help,” began Jacob. “While I believe the physical strength in his left arm is less than perfect, he can still ride and shoot effectively, over,” finished Jake.
There were a few seconds of hiss as the two scouts waited on Mark’s reply.
“10-4,” said Mark, suddenly. “Continue following targets as planned. Let’s assume they will probably stop overnight in the town of Jean,” added Mark as he looked down at his map. “Will contact you again at 1700 hours, over and out.”
The kid turned off the radio and stuffed it into a secure pouch. Jake smiled at Jacob.
“Nice job,” offered Jake.
“Thanks,” replied Jacob.
“Ready to go?” asked Jake.
Ready,” said Jacob.
The men turned their bikes North.
“Oh” said Jacob suddenly and halting their start. “I forgot something,” stammered Jacob, as he started searching his jacket pockets.
Jake watched open mouthed as the kid frantically searched his pockets. Then the young boy found what he was looking for. Jacob pulled out a large sized Musketeer bar and tossed it to his partner.
Jake’s eyes got as big as saucers.
“Yes!” exclaimed Jake, as he ripped off the wrapper and took a big bite. The center was soft and the taste was off the charts good.
“Where’d you find it?” asked Jake as he chewed through the bar.
“Other convenience store,” said Jacob, throwing his leg over his bike.
“Want a bite?” asked Jake, handing out the half-eaten bar back to Jacob.
“Already ate mine,” said Jacob.
“You find any more?” asked Jake, hopefully.
The kid reached down and patted one of the bike’s l
arge storage compartments.
“Ten more,” said Jake with a grin.
The two men started out North on I-15. Jake strained a bit to steer his bike with his injured left arm. But the Musketeer bar made the pain much easier to manage.
Chapter 100: Jean
Ralphy stopped his bike at the Jean’s main off ramp. He looked up at the sky. The sun was getting low on the horizon. The two convicts could certainly continue traveling a couple more hours, but it would be dark by then and they would be forced to sleep out in the open.
“We’ll stay here tonight,” said Ralphy.
Squeaky had hoped they would. He missed his bed back in Vegas. Missed the food too.
“Let’s look for a couple empty rooms in the old motel. Then we can look around for some chow,” continued Ralphy.
Both men pointed their bikes toward the old roadside motel and started pedaling.
Chapter 101: Super Stealth Mode
Jake and Jacob were hidden behind a hill about two miles behind Ralphy and Squeaky. Jake had the binoculars and watched the two men park their bikes outside the Silver Strike hotel in the small town of Jean. After a few minutes, he watched one of the men drag a body out of a hotel room, wrapped in a blanket.
“What are they doing?” asked Jacob.
“Looks like they’re stopping early today,” replied Jake. “Gonna hole up in the local hotel.”
“Good,” said Jacob. “I could use a little extra shut-eye.”
“Your turn,” said Jake.
Jacob was already setting up their camp tent. The long days and nights on guard were catching up with him.
“How many hours before it’s my turn on guard?” asked the young man as he pulled his sleeping pad out of its storage sack.
Jake dropped the binoculars and looked at his watch.
“It’s 16:30 [4:30pm] hours now,” began Jake. “I’ll wake you for chow at say… 20:00 hours [8pm].”
“Roger that,” said Jacob.
Jake kept the big binoculars focused on the two men, but he kept his head on a swivel. He was growing wary now that they were getting closer to Las Vegas. The lives of their entire group depended on getting through sin city undetected.
Ten minutes later Jake looked back at the tent. He could just see Jacob’s head through the open and slightly fluttering flap. The kid looked dead to the world.
“Well he earned it,” thought Jake to himself.
Five minutes later the two convicts pedaled away from the motel and headed for the local convenience store. Twenty minutes later the two men were back in their hotel rooms.
At 1700 hours Jake crept back to the bikes and pulled out the radio. He crawled back to the dune rise and lay down behind some dried out weeds. He doubled checked that the men were still in their rooms. When satisfied, he dropped the binoculars, rolled over on his back and pulled the radio close.
“Main body, Main body,” said Jake, into the radio. “Main body, this is Forward One. “You there, over?”
Immediately Major Mark’s voice cracked.
“Forward one. This is main body,” said Mark. “What’s your situation, over?”
Jake momentarily collected his thoughts before speaking.
“We’re approximately two miles behind targets,” began Jake. “As hoped, they stopped in Jean, staying the Silver Strike hotel. They’ve foraged for dinner and have been back in their rooms for over thirty minutes. No additional activity, over.”
“Roger that,” said Mark as he looked up from his own map and stared out from the dark hotel room he sat in. “Don’t need to say it but I will,” continued Mark. “Until we get through and past Vegas city limit we must exercise extreme caution, over.”
“Understood,” replied Jake. “Plan on super stealth mode from here out, over.”
Mark looked down again at his own map in the fading light. He could hear two of the girl’s giggling softly in the motel room next door to his. Always two people to a room was the rule, for security sake.
“I estimate Jean is approximately 18 miles from our projected turn off, then another 55-60 miles through back roads around Vegas until we can swing back to I-15 again, over.” said Mark.
Jake was looking at his map as well. They’d discussed the back-road route several times.
“Roger that,” said Jake. That 60-mile leg is going to really test our stamina, over.”
Mark did not respond immediately. He too was worried about how well the group would perform when it came time for them all to ride hard through the night.”
“It will be tough,” said Mark. “But as a team, l think we’ll do fine, over.”
There was a little silence. Both men had talked at length about the potential dangers of traveling through a big city like Las Vegas. Then Jake broke the silence.
“Who knows,” offered Jake with a semi smile. “Maybe the only people in Vegas will be our two rat friends and a few girl scouts, over.”
“Hope so,” said Mark.
“10-4,” replied Jake.
“OK, for tomorrow then…” began Mark. “We’ll catch up with you in Jean. Wait for us there at the hotel. We’ll take two days off to make sure our two boys have time to tell their bosses about our diversion group traveling up Highway 127. If we see evidence of any serious bad guys, then we’ll divert and do our back roads dash, over.”
“Sounds good, Major, over,” said Jake.
“Sleep well, added Major Mark Harris. “And let’s plan a final radio check tonight at 1200 hours. Should see you tomorrow by mid-afternoon, over and out.”
Jake reached for the radio’s power switch and turned it off. Then he rolled back over on to his chest and raised his binoculars to his eyes again. There was still some sunlight left and he could see the two men’s bikes still resting outside their two hotel room doors. He’d keep watch on those doors until it was pitch black.
Chapter 102: Gravy ride
Mark and everyone in the main body were up and humming by 6:30 am. By 800 hours they’d eaten their breakfast and had nearly finished packing their bikes. On the downside it had gotten pretty cold during the night. The temperature had dropped a good 15 degrees from the day before. Last night, by 3 am, nearly everyone had pulled out their sleeping bags as added warmth to their hotel beds. The weather had been clear for over a week now, but you could see clouds forming up North.
The group was gathering together in the Primm hotel main lobby. Every so often the sound of a bike pump would hiss. Small conversations started and stopped. Mark sat in a hotel chair with his bike next to him. He was facing several large open windows and thinking about the days ahead – trying to anticipate best and worst case scenarios.
Mark stood and turned to the group. Most everyone noticed and stopped talking.
“Today will be a gravy ride,” said Mark.
That got a few smiles and catcalls from the group. Mark looked in to the faces of their entire team. People were getting tan faces and everyone had grown stronger on their bikes. They were looking and acting more and more professional each day. That was good, because they were going to need it.
“We’ve got about 19 miles ahead of us today, mostly flat terrain. Tonight and tomorrow night we should be sleeping in beds again,” added Mark.
That too got a few positive remarks from the group, especially from the women. They did not like passing the night laying on hard ground in a sleeping bag.
You need to enjoy those two nights of rest, because the next day we ride hard for about sixty miles straight.
That did not get any smiles from the group.
“Sixty straight miles,” questioned Connie.
Connie was the group’s slowest rider. But it wasn’t for lack of trying. The girl just didn’t seem to have the muscle mass to keep up. Mark had been thinking about putting her with a stronger rider for days now.
“I know,” said Mark, trying to calm the objections. “But if there are any real bad guys in Vegas, we are going to need to move around them, not through th
em. That means the long way around, and a night time ride.
“Night time,” objected William, another of the group’s younger members. “You’ve always told us night time riding is too dangerous.”