by A. American
We didn’t talk as I ate, she just rubbed my foot and calf and I enjoyed the biscuit. I was afraid to say anything because I didn’t want to have to go into what we’d done. I wasn’t sure how Mel would take to the thought of executing the wounded. But she never asked anything. Never said a word. When I finished the snack, Mel took the plate and said, “Go to bed for a while. You want me to wake you up later?”
I stretched. “No, let me sleep until the crack of when-the-fuck ever.”
CHAPTER 3
The old man sat tapping his foot on the floor, radio mic in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He stared at the radio, willing it to issue a sound. He was impatient and getting more irritated by the minute. Bone One should be on station now and he wasn’t hearing anything. Just as he was raising the mic to his mouth, the speaker crackled. A calm, cool voice came over the speaker. Air Force pilots always impressed the old man with how laid back and at ease they were, no matter what was happening.
Bone One, Swamp Rat one.
“Go for Swamp Rat.”
Swamp Rat, we’re about three minutes out. Are your people out of the target area?
“Roger that Bone. They’re ready to laze the target.”
Swamp Rat, have them light it up.
“Swamp Rat Two, paint the target. Bone is in-bound.”
We copy, Swamp Rat One. Target is lit.
Swamp Rat Two, get small. Get in a hole if you got one. Weapons are loose, ten seconds.
Instinctively, the old man looked at his watch. For their part, Ted whispered the weapons were on their way and they had ten seconds. Mike was holding the laser on the target and asked, “Why are we doing this? They can fly those things through an open window. Why the hell are we lying our here in weeds?”
“The GPS system has been compromised. There are gaps in coverage and we don’t want one of those gaps to appear when we have JDAMs on their way in. This is foolproof.” Ted thought about what he said and added, “Even with you running the thing.”
There came a sudden tearing sound, followed immediately by several intense explosions. The auto auction disappeared in a massive cloud of dust, smoke and flame. All six of the weapons impacted within a fraction of a second of one another.
Bone One, all weapons on target.
Roger that, Swamp Rat.
“Holy shit,” Dalton said absent mindedly.
Ted looked over and asked, “You never seen one before?”
“No. First time. And that shockwave, it compressed my chest and popped my ears.”
“Yeah, shoulda told you to keep your mouth open. You might get some dirt in it, but it beats that pressure squeezing your head.”
The plan was simple. Bone One would drop its payload. When the target came back into view, Ted would do a damage assessment. If the strike wasn’t one hundred percent successful, Bone Two would come in and finish off whatever was left. Ted was watching the dust settle, waiting for the visibility to improve. After several minutes, the dust settled enough that Ted could make out some figures moving in the target area.
Picking up the radio, he keyed the mic. Bone Two, we still have hostiles at the target site.
Roger that, Swamp Rat. We’ll be in position in about seven minutes.
Roger, Bone. Bring the hate.
Meanwhile, Dalton was watching the target location through the scope of the M1A. As visibility improved, he was able to make out individuals moving about the carnage created by the strike. That is until the rifle barked, scaring Ted.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ted practically shouted.
Without moving the weapon from his head, Dalton replied. “He said it was open season on anyone left standing after the strike.”
“There’s another strike inbound. You need to stop that shit.”
The rifle barked again, and Dalton replied, “This is just confusing them even more. They’re already more befuddled than a twelve-year-old boy in a whore house. They can’t tell where the shots are coming from.”
Swamp Rat, weapons inbound. You’ve got about twelve seconds.
Roger that, Bone. Thank you.
The Russian and Cuban troops that survived the initial strike were trying to get their shit together. They hadn’t yet wrapped their heads around just what happened and, as a result, were out in the open trying to aid the wounded and recover equipment. Because of this, when the next flight of weapons streaked in, there was nothing they could do, and they fell like blades of grass before the scythe.
Good bombs, Bone Two. Good bombs.
Copy that, Swamp Rat. Good luck.
Swamp Rat Two, Swamp Rat one. Maintain your current position. We’re coming in with the green machine to clean up.
Copy that. Standing by.
Mel sat on the edge of the bed and woke me up. I rolled over and looked at her. “Sorry to wake you up, but Linus is here and wants to talk to you.”
Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and tried to get my head together. I was groggy. “How long have I been asleep?”
“You slept all night. I was going to let you sleep until you woke up as you had requested, but he just showed up.”
Swinging my legs out of the bed, I pulled on a pair of pants, not bothering to put on any drawers. Pulling a shirt on as I walked out of the bedroom, I found Sarge standing in the living room.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“We need to roll. The bombers hit the commies. We’re going to take our tank down there and make sure there’s no one left alive.” The old man looked at Mel when he made the last statement.
“How’d it go?” I asked.
“Looks like we smoked their asses. But we need to go in on the ground and make sure. The guys are still there. Dalton is plinking at a couple he’s seen moving around. But we’ll go in with the big green machine and wipe out what’s left.”
I nodded. “Alright Let me get my boots on and grab my kit.”
I picked up my boots and sat on the couch. Mel came out of the bedroom and handed me a pair of socks. “Thanks, babe.” After getting dressed and collecting my gear, I took Mel’s hand.
“I’ll be back when we’re done. This shouldn’t be a big deal. The bombers have already smashed them.”
She leaned in and kissed me. “If this is what we have to do to live peacefully, then go do it. Just be careful.”
“I won’t let him get hurt, Mel.” Sarge said.
The look on her face said she didn’t believe him. But neither of them said anything about it. As I headed for the door, Little Bit ran up and handed me a large travel mug. “Here, daddy; here’s some tea for you.”
Taking the cup, I rubbed her head and said, “Thank you, sweetie; this is just what I needed.”
The tank wasn’t parked in the yard. It was too big to get through the gate and sat on the street out front idling. Behind it sat an MRAP and I could see Thad behind the wheel.
“Who’s driving that thing?” I asked, pointing at the tank.
“Jamie. She has to drive everything, or she gets pissed. Ian’s in there too and I’ll be on the gun. You’re going to ride with Thad and man the turret in the truck. Perez and Aric are there as well. We’re going to set up on the overpass where we can look down onto the target. Anything that moves will get hit. You look for personnel and I’ll handle vehicles.”
“Works for me,” I replied as I broke away to head to the truck.
I went to the back and climbed in. Thad turned and looked back at me, that typical smile spread across his face. “Mornin’, Sheriff.”
“You ready to go mop these assholes up?” I asked.
The smile faded, “Let’s get it over with.” As he spoke, the tank in front of us lurched and began to roll. Thad turned and put the big truck in gear and we followed it out onto highway nineteen.
Jamie had the pedal to the metal and it was all the truck could do to keep up with her. I was surprised at just how fast the big green machine could go.
“Damn, Thad. She’s going to leave us in
the dust.”
Thad was coaxing every bit he could manage out of the big truck. “Naw, she ain’t getting away.”
We flew past the market in Altoona and were soon approaching the one in Umatilla. Unlike Altoona, I actually had a chance to look out here and saw quite a crowd. The people stopped what they were doing and pointed as we passed them at nearly sixty miles an hour.
Ted’s voice crackled over the radio. Swamp Rat one, there are a couple pieces of armor starting to move around. We’ve stopped taking pot shots at them until you arrive.
Roger that, Sarge replied. Just stay out of sight until we get there. Tell Dalton to lay off that Springfield for now. He’ll get plenty of chances later.
“You ready for this?” Aric asked.
With a shrug, I replied, “It needs to be done. I want to be able to sleep at night.”
Dalton had already laid the rifle aside. He knew what was coming and didn’t want their position discovered before the real firepower arrived. In the meantime, he busied himself by sharpening his kukri. Mike was lying beside him and lowered the binoculars he was looking through.
“What the hell are you going to do with that?” Mike asked.
Dalton shrugged, “No sense in wasting ammo.”
Mike looked at the blade, then back at Dalton, “You just gonna chop their heads off?”
“Whatever it takes to get the job done.” Mike shook his head and returned his attention to the binoculars.
“When the old man gets here and starts tossing HE rounds into them, we’ll move in. Him blasting shit with that gun will distract their attention,” Ted said.
“This is bullshit. He did this on purpose,” Mike grumbled.
“Did what?” Ted asked.
Mike waved his hand around. “This. Got me out here lying in the fucking weeds while he drives my tank up and starts blasting shit with it. Bullshit I tell you.”
We followed the old man down 441, both vehicles were being pushed to their max. I sat in the back for a long time, then decided to climb up into the turret. The truck we were in had a mark nineteen grenade launcher on it. I liked the weapon and took a few minutes to make sure it was ready to go. I was struck by the situation, sitting in the top of this truck with a weapon like this in my hands. The world was certainly getting stranger. I watched the thick column of smoke that was rising in the sky ahead of us. It made me feel good to know it was communist equipment burning this time.
The tank didn’t go up the on-ramp to the toll road. Instead, it passed under it and went up the off-ramp. In this way, we’d be on the same side of the road as the auto auction. I slapped the top cover closed on the weapon; it was ready to go, and I dipped down inside the truck. Grabbing a helmet, I pulled it on my head and strapped it to my chin. There was a good possibility of taking fire and I wanted all the protection I could get.
As we bounced down the road, my pulse began to quicken. I hated this part, the waiting for shit to start. The anticipation was always nerve racking; and in a way, I just wanted to get on with it. While at the same time, I just wanted to go home. But this had to be done and I wanted some revenge as well. I was already thinking of walking through the area and putting wounded Russian and Cuban soldiers down. Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy. They weren’t just going to lie there and let me shoot ‘em.
Two minutes, Sarge said over the radio.
Leaning down, I looked at Aric. “Wake Perez up. The show’s about to start.”
“I’m awake. You can’t sleep for shit in these things,” he replied.
I looked forward and saw the turret on the tank start to swing to the left as it slowed. Thad slowed as well and soon we were just creeping along. I couldn’t see the area fully when the tank fired the first time. The blast surprised me, and I jumped as the spent casing was ejected out the rear of the gun, landing on the road with a clang.
Poking my head back up, I looked out and could now see the compound. There was an odd tracked vehicle with flames spewing from the top of it down there. I assumed it was the target of the shell just fired.
Thad, Sarge called, pull around us so Morgan can get that grenade launcher into action.
The truck jerked, and we rolled around the tank. Now, I could see the entire facility. There were people moving around down there and I swung the weapon around and fired a shot. It fell short and I adjusted and fired another. It landed close to a group of three men and they all went down. Having their range, I fired three more and watched as the grenades impacted around them, tossing them around like rags.
I was scanning for targets, looking for anyone moving and turning the mark nineteen on them. The weapon was amazing and would spit grenades with surprising speed and accuracy. We started taking some small arms fire; I could hear the rounds as they passed overhead. The cracking and popping was like that of an angry insect and I ignored it.
Aric and Thad were calling out targets for us as well. If they saw anyone move, they’d let me know. Perez was sitting in the back by the door, his carbine resting between his legs. He was smoking the short butt of a cigarette. A very short butt.
“You out of those things?” Aric asked him.
Perez looked at the stub in his fingers and nodded. Then he smiled, “But Russians like to smoke.”
Aric smiled and shook his head, “That’s why you’re here.”
“Just a side benefit,” Perez replied with a shrug.
Another armored vehicle rounded a corner. The rear doors on it swung wildly as the driver maneuvered the bulky machine. The tank thundered again, and the round missed, impacting a car. But the old man wasn’t waiting and immediately fired another. This one found its mark and blasted the turret from the machine. It rolled forward as flames shot out of every opening on it.
I saw a puff in the distance and immediately turned the weapon on it. The RPG fired from the position whistled past the tank. The gunner wouldn’t get another chance as I dropped four grenades on him.
“Aric! I need ammo!” I called down.
Aric, having cans ready with their lids removed and waiting, handed one up. I slid it into the tray and opened the top cover and got the weapon reloaded. As I was doing so, Sarge called on the radio and told us to make our way down to the compound. Aric prepared several more cans for me before moving to the rear of the truck. As we began to make our way down to the lot, he and Perez sat by the door, their carbines ready.
It took us a little maneuvering to get down into the lot. The auto auction is on a large piece of open land. This is good in that it doesn’t provide a lot of cover. Bad, in that this lot is full of cars which do offer the surviving commies some concealment. But the bombs Bone One and Two dropped had set most of the cars ablaze. It was kind of odd to watch the fire as it moved across the acres of parked cars, like some kind of surreal forest fire. Only instead of a forest of trees, it was a lot full of cars.
Periodically, the big gun would fire. It’s hard to describe what a gun of that caliber going off is like. There’s the noise of course. An ear shattering boom that is followed by a concussive wave that takes the air from your lungs. It compresses your ears and you can feel it in your lungs. Dust is kicked up from every surface for a large area around the gun. It just jumps into the air. Then the round impacts its target. There’s a flash and another bang, and debris is flung into the air. Sometimes, stuff was set on fire as the old man was firing HE rounds at general targets. I witnessed him hit two more pieces of armor. For these, he fired AP rounds, causing hunks of armor to fly into the air and fountains of flame to erupt from the stricken vehicles.
On more than one, I saw wounded men roll out of the armor. They were either in flames or their clothes were smoking. All of them were severely wounded. I took no pity on them and added a couple of the forty-millimeter grenades to insure they were eliminated. The entire time, I envisioned the carnage left behind in Eustis. Every one of these men here was getting what they deserved.
Throughout the smoke and flames, I could occasional
ly see figures moving, running. These men weren’t interested in mounting an organized defense. They were trying to get the hell out of the target area. Whenever I saw movement, I would fire at it. And I got really good at it in short order and would see bodies cartwheeling through the air. Others would simply collapse where they stood. And it felt good. I got a rush every time I saw them fall.
After a while, the radio crackled. It was Sarge. Teddy, start moving in from your side. We’re going to work in from our side. I don’t want a single one of these bastards to make it out.
Roger that, Top. We’re moving.
Thad, start working your way through the lot. Morgan, you kill anyone you see.
“With pleasure,” I replied.
“You ready to move?” Thad asked over his shoulder.
“Let’s get this over with,” I replied.
Thad put the truck in gear and began to move through the shattered remains of the auto auction. I ducked down and grabbed my carbine to have it in the turret with me. The mark nineteen was a fantastic weapon but wasn’t much good for close-in work. And I fully anticipated having to engage some close targets.
Dalton, Ted and Mike emerged from their hide and started to move towards the auction. The three men spread out, keeping about ten meters between them and rifles at the ready. They entered the east side of the compound and immediately encountered a group of four Cuban soldiers running for their lives. They’d dropped their rifles and gear and were simply trying to get out of Dodge. As soon as Dalton saw them, he started firing his AK. Mike and Ted quickly joined in, and the four men were cut down. They were the first of many to follow.
While the airstrike had done an amazing job, there were still people alive, though only a couple dozen. But we had to exterminate them. That’s right, exterminate. What else can you do to people that commit such crimes as shelling a town full of civilians?