by Ryan King
"But, the southern part is where the civilians are," said Andrews.
Beau nodded. "But you're going to move fast through that area. You shouldn't hit any organized resistance. Leave a platoon to cover your rear, free prisoners, and mop up the guards. This way we can be assured we don't drive the soldiers south where they can take hostages. Once you move forward, don't leave any soldiers behind you."
"Where will the tanks be?" asked Andrews.
"We'll be moving against the house," said Beau. "We'll take it out first, and then turn north to form a line and drive up through most of the soldiers."
"And we'll come along behind and mop up," said Andrews.
"Right," said Beau. "Once we're clear of the camp to the north, I'll reassess. If things are under control, we can provide fire support and covering fire from there, or make another run through the camp if needed. There's one big thing we've got to be careful about."
"Shooting each other," said Billy with a laugh.
"Exactly," said Beau seriously. "I'm thinking we go in before first light when everyone is sleeping, and more importantly, the civilians are in one location. It's going to be dark and confusing. So, it's key everyone follow the plan exactly and communicate with discipline. We can't have everyone on the radio screaming. Use protocol."
"Sounds like a plan," said Billy.
Beau looked around at their faces. He saw more excitement than fear or worry. "Everyone, get your men ready. Check their gear. Get them some rest and food if you can. If there are any problems, I need to know about it now. We leave at midnight."
"Tonight?" asked First Sergeant Clemens.
Beau nodded. "We know where they are now. They could move at any time. We have the advantage of surprise, but that might not last long. It's hard to hide a bunch of soldiers with tanks up here near the bridge. It's only a matter of time before they realize why we're here."
"Roger, sir," said Andrews, saluting and leaving the tent. The other leaders followed suit, leaving Beau alone staring at the map.
"I hope this works," he said and then had another thought. "I wish General Anderson were here instead of me."
Chapter 18 - A Clear Sky
Tarl couldn't sleep. It had been five days since he met with Nathan Taylor and they were supposed to attempt their escape tonight. He had only one more day to try to find all the JP soldiers and let them know about the plan. So far, he'd only been able to talk to half of them.
He quietly stepped outside of his tent. The faintest glow of light shown on the eastern horizon. Above him was nothing but clear stars. Tarl had studied astronomy at Murray State and easily picked out familiar constellations. He thought it ironic now that most of the distracting manmade lights of the city had been turned off, making conditions perfect for astronomers, but there was no longer any need for astronomy.
Maybe I'll go back to Murray when this is all over, he thought. I would love to look through that twelve inch they've got there. It wasn't the biggest telescope by far, but much bigger than anything Tarl had ever laid his hands on. The first time he had gazed through it had been a near religious experience.
"Can't sleep either, huh?" said Edgar. The two of them were the only former JP soldiers to share this barracks tent.
"Too nervous I guess," said Tarl.
Edgar smiled. "Well, tonight's the night."
"Shiss," said Tarl, shaking his head.
Edgar looked around and not seeing anyone smiled shyly. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get back home. My little ones and the missus are probably worried near to death."
Tarl held up his hand, and Edgar, conditioned by recon training, instantly closed his mouth. Tarl tilted his head this way and that.
"What is it?" asked Edgar.
Tarl shook his head. "Not sure. Sounded like machinery."
"I don't hear any..." he trailed off, his eyes getting wide.
"Does the MA have tanks?" asked Tarl.
"No." Edgar smiled. "But the JP sure as hell does."
"Stay quiet," ordered Tarl. "Let's go."
"But...our stuff," said Edgar. "I haven't hidden my pack or anything. You mean go now?"
"We have to," said Tarl. "Come on."
They walked rapidly north toward the latrines. At this early in the morning, they only saw the occasional insomniac. Tarl walked faster as the unmistakable clinking and grinding sound of the tank treads grew louder. People were starting to stick their heads out of tents with bleary eyes.
Tarl looked toward the sound and now actually saw the dim silhouette of a tank in the early dawn light. It was just clearing overhanging trees, and the rising light of the sun was behind it. Three more followed closely behind to then fan out in a line as they cleared the confines of the road.
"Holy shit," said Edgar.
"Yeah, I see," said Tarl, but had barely gotten the words out of his mouth before he heard a large boom. Turning, he saw fire and smoke belch from the main gun of the first tank.
"What are they—"
A blast knocked them both off their feet. Debris rained down upon them. Tarl looked up to see a giant gaping hole in Vincent Lacert’s house, fire and smoke hung all around the old wood and brick structure. More blasts erupted from the other tanks.
"Run!" yelled Tarl, not looking to see if Edgar obeyed or not. More MA soldiers were now stumbling out of tents, many with rifles. Tarl wove his way through the growing thongs of men, ignoring those who tried to get him to go the other way. He didn't stop until he crossed the little plank over the latrines and then made it a few yards into the wood line on the other side. There, Tarl stopped to take a knee and look back.
His position was slightly elevated and gave him a perfect vantage point. MA men were forming to his right and shooting in the direction of the tanks. Dim man-shaped outlines were now protruding from the tops of the tanks and firing .50 caliber machine guns into the camp at the same time the tank turrets' coaxial machine guns mowed down swaths of men. Soon, the MA soldiers were running the other way. Fortunately, it was away from the tanks toward their left instead of the latrine.
Edgar finally stumbled up with two other JP men. "Saw these two," he said as a means of introduction.
Tarl reached out and shook their hands. He hadn't seen them since they were all captured. He looked at the scene in front of him again as he saw more small arms fire and spotted what looked like lines of JP soldiers making their way north from the other end of the camp.
"You think Nathan Taylor did all this?" asked Edgar.
Tarl shook his head. "I don't think so." He spotted several more of the men he had briefed making their way in his direction and waved them over through the smoke.
After about five minutes of waiting, they had collected eight JP soldiers, but the tanks had assaulted through the main part of the camp and executed a sharp left. The tanks were headed straight at them. Those soldiers who had not fled to the west were now being driven north toward their hiding spot.
"We got to get out of here," said Tarl, looking around. Most of the enemy were fleeing to the west, so on instinct, Tarl turned to the east. "Stay low and close to me," he ordered while taking off at a crouched run.
Smoke and noise made it difficult to see where they were going. The sun was at that point in its ascension where it cast dark shadows rather than illuminated the earth, and those shadows were darker than any night. Tarl was running to a stand of trees ahead when he saw flashes to their front a second before he heard the rifle shots. They all dropped to the ground as more shots rang out.
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" yelled out Tarl. "We're JP! We're friendlies."
Tarl heard indistinct yelling from the other side, and then the shooting slowly smattered off and stopped. Finally, there was silence between them.
"Bullshit," said a voice in front of them. "They ain't no JP. It's just a trick."
"No it's not," yelled out Tarl. "We're part of the recon force that got captured with Lieutenant Taylor a few weeks ago."
"Recon, you say," said a familiar voice. "Then you should know Rogers' Rangers Rules. Tell me number fifteen."
Tarl sighed. Even most of the recon men couldn't remember the rules, but thankfully, he had a good memory. "All hands shall be awake, alert, and ready for action before dawn. Dawn's when the French and Indians like to attack, and evidently, the JP also. Now, Billy, for the love of God, will you please let us come on in?"
"That you, Tarl?" Billy asked.
"Yes it is," said Tarl, suddenly exhausted.
"Let 'em in, boys," Billy yelled out to his men. "These are little wayward ducks come back home to mamma. Let's welcome 'em in."
Tarl stood with the rest of his men. They walked forward and shook hands and exchanged greetings. Counting the lean figures, Tarl realized he was missing someone. "Edgar?" he called out. "Edgar?"
"You missing someone?" asked Billy.
Tarl ignored him and walked back out into the field. A low cloud of smoke hung over the ground, but it parted to reveal a prone figure. He rushed over to find, Edgar laying there, a neat round hole in his forehead.
"He's dead," said Billy from nearby.
"Shot by your men," said Tarl angrily.
"It was an accident," said Billy. "Nothing more. Best not to tell the rest of the men. Come on now," Billy ordered. "Go fall in with the rest."
Tarl stood and faced Billy. "I'm an officer now and in command of your men. Send a few over here to pick up Corporal Edger O'Reilly. We're taking him home."
Billy looked into Tarl's face hesitating before saying, "Yes, sir," and turning to walk back toward the line.
"What the hell went wrong?" Tarl asked himself. "We were supposed to make a break for it tonight."
The sun broke free of the earth and light shone forth indiscriminately on the battlefield covered in living and dead.
*******
Vincent Lacert waited until the worst of the fighting was over before crawling out of the rubble of his house. He had made a quick foray earlier to drag back a wounded JP soldier. After cutting the man's throat, he had stripped off his own burned and torn clothing and replaced them with the JP uniform.
He stood and brushed himself off. A few passing soldiers looked at him curiously, but didn't say anything. Picking up a rifle and an ammo belt, he began walking west.
No one stopped him, and within an hour, he was on his own and free.
Chapter 19 - Escape
Joshua waited by the elevator nervously with Aaron.
"You sure about this?" asked Aaron for the third time.
"Quiet," said Joshua, looking around. A few people passed by, but only gave them cursory glances before moving on.
"Maybe we should do this another night or something," said Aaron.
Joshua was about to tell him to shut his mouth when he saw Henry coming their way.
"I couldn't find his keys," explained Henry. "Evidently he keeps them in his boots instead of his pants. Can you believe that?"
"Did anyone see you?" asked Joshua.
Henry shook his head.
"Okay," said Joshua, nodding toward the elevator, "let's do it."
"Guys," said Aaron.
"No more," said Joshua harshly to Aaron. "I know you're scared of getting caught and don't like this, but you're going to do it anyway, you got it?"
Aaron dropped his gaze and nodded.
Henry moved forward and after several false attempts found the correct key. He inserted it into the keyhole and turned. The familiar mechanical whine made its way up to them from below. After half a minute, the doors opened, and they boarded. Henry put another key in the wall and turned. The door closed.
"Now remember," said Joshua, "if we see anyone, just act normal, like we're on shift. Once we get to the tunnel, we have to move fast. No one sees us and we're down the tunnel." Not waiting for anyone to respond, Joshua pushed the button for the underground river.
The lift lowered slowly, and Joshua noticed that Aaron leaned against the back wall, his face in anguish. "Hey," he said, slapping Aaron on the shoulder. "Sorry I was so hard on you. It'll be fine, trust me."
Aaron looked up at him and opened his mouth to say something, but the lift settled and the doors opened.
Joshua turned to find Kenneth and Meryl standing there. They each held something in their hands that popped and shot out at them with wires connecting the leads to the devices they held. One struck Joshua and the other Henry.
Tasers, thought Joshua as every muscle in his body seized up at once. Shaking and convulsing, he tilted slowly to the side and slid down the wall to the floor. Once on the floor, he continued to bounce and shake, unable to control his limbs or even think. Henry was lying on top of him doing the same.
After what seemed an eternity, the electricity stopped. Kenneth stepped forward and rolled Henry on his back and bound his hands together with plastic ties. He then pulled him out into the hallway and detached the electrodes.
When he came for Joshua, he wanted to resist, but the connection between his brain and his body seemed to have been short-circuited. He thought he was raising his hand to grab Kenneth, but looking down, saw it hadn't moved off the floor.
Kenneth leaned him on his stomach, bound his hands like Henry's, and then rolled him back over to pull out the Taser leads.
Meryl stepped into his field of view. "I'm sorry it came to this," she said. "It's for the safety of all of us. You'll come to realize that in time."
Joshua's head lolled to the left, and he saw Aaron in the back of the elevator car. He looked at Joshua apologetically.
"Sorry, sir," he said. "I wasn't scared of getting caught. I just really like it here."
They dragged Joshua and Henry back into the elevator and took them upstairs.
Chapter 20 - Confusion
Nathan's head darted up. A vehicle was coming toward the barn. The escape attempt wasn't supposed to be until that night, and besides, the JP men would be on foot unless they could steal a car. There was no good reason for an approaching vehicle.
Checking his rifle, Nathan climbed up to a good vantage point in the loft, sighted down his rifle, and waited.
A small blue hatchback rolled into view; dust and gravel flew out behind the vehicle. It certainly didn't look like whoever was driving it was trying to save gas. It pulled up in front of the barn in a skid of dirt and rubber. Tarl popped out of the driver’s side, and another man in JP uniform who looked vaguely familiar stepped more slowly out of the passenger side.
"Nathan Taylor," Tarl called, walking toward the barn.
"Up here," yelled Nathan. "Be down in a second." Taking his rifle and his backpack, he made his way down the stairs to the bottom floor.
Tarl stood in front of him. "I came here ready to punch you in the mouth, sir, but on the way over, Billy managed to convince me they had nothing to do with your plan and presumably you had nothing to do with ours."
"What are you talking about?" asked Nathan. "And what are you doing here? Did something go wrong?"
"Depends on how you look at it," said Billy.
"Edgar's dead," said Tarl. "Five other JP soldiers in MA uniforms were killed in the confusion."
"How?" asked Nathan, looking back and forth between the two men.
"The JP launched a preemptive attack against MA," explained Billy. "The idea was to hit them before they could hit us. Scatter and maybe even change their mind about coming in our direction."
"Did it work?" asked Nathan.
Tarl nodded. "Yeah, it worked."
Nathan looked at Tarl. "Hey, it isn't your fault you know. Stuff happens when the bullets fly. Edgar just caught a bad break. Don't try to make sense of it, son, or you'll drive yourself crazy."
Conflicting emotions showed on the man's face. He looked equally on the verge of attacking Nathan and breaking down in tears. Finally, he turned his back and walked out of the barn.
"What's going on now?" Nathan asked Billy.
"Everyone's falling back to the JP," he answered. "No shortage
of vehicles with all those Leonard Wood Humvees, so they should all be there soon. Got lots of prisoners."
"What are you going to do with them?" asked Nathan.
"Not really sure," said Bobby, "but we had to get 'em out of there for their own safety. Once all those civilians were free, they started tearing the MA boys apart."
Nathan smiled at the justice of it all.
Billy looked toward Tarl who stood alone in the grass beside the barn. "Sir, did you really make him a lieutenant?"
"I did," said Nathan, holding up his branded hand, "although it's unlikely to stick. Seems like a good man though. You might want to tell Joshua to give it a moment's thought."
"Joshua?" asked Billy.
"Yeah, did he take part in the attack?" asked Nathan.
Billy looked at him strangely for a few seconds. "Sir, we haven't seen Lieutenant Taylor since he was taken prisoner by the MA."
Nathan's face tightened. "Wait a minute. He escaped from the MA camp; Tarl confirmed it."
"Told us the same," said Billy, "but he hasn't made it to us or the JP."
Rubbing his face, Nathan looked at the car and then grabbed up his rifle and gear. "Come on, let's get to rally point. Where is that?"
"Cairo," said Billy. "Right at the west end of the bridge."
"Okay," said Nathan, hopping behind the wheel of the vehicle. "Let's go."
Billy grabbed Tarl and dragged him over to the car and then pushed him into the back seat. The second Billy's butt hit the front passenger seat, Nathan spun the vehicle around and headed out toward the main road. Once there, he hung a hard right heading east.
They drove for almost an hour before passing into Illinois and hitting the outskirts of Cairo. Nathan could still see other vehicles straggling up from the west. He passed all of them, the blue hatchback losing paint in several cases. At the bridge, Nathan spotted the four giant tanks and pulled up to the large tent beside them and climbed out before the engine had stopped.
Running up to the tent, he was knocked to the ground by a guard he didn't see. He fell to the rear, striking the back of his head on the pavement. When the stars had cleared, he looked up to see Billy and Tarl talking to the guard who had knocked him over as well as three more who had converged on the commotion.