by James Rosone
Sergeant Mack continued to peer through his scope and saw that the enemy soldiers had set up a high-powered optical lens on the top of the building. One of the hostiles was looking through the lens while another soldier nearby wrote something down on a clipboard. If Mack had to guess, these guys were range-finding certain terrain features and possible routes for an attacker to use.
Speaking barely above a whisper to Tapper, Mack ordered, “Hit the guy with the clipboard first. He looks like he may be an officer.”
Taking a deep breath, Tapper slowly let it out and then pulled the trigger.
Bang.
Mack saw the soldier with the clipboard flop to the ground like a broken doll. Tapper worked the bolt quickly, ejecting the spent casing and slamming a fresh round into the chamber. In a fraction of a second, he had the rifle aimed at the soldier looking through the spotting scope and pulled the trigger a second time.
Bang.
Sergeant Mack witnessed the second soldier being thrown backward from the force of the bullet as it hit his head. As bloody mist and chunks of brain matter splattered on the other soldiers on the roof, they dove for cover.
Staying calm, Tapper moved his reticle down to the ground floor, where two other soldiers were standing guard. Sergeant Mack had noticed that those men had moved inside the building; however, one of them was looking through a window, trying to see if he could spot what was going on. Mack watched in suspense as his squad’s best shooter sent another round across the US-Mexican border, taking the man out.
“Damn good shot, Tapper,” Mack praised.
Private First Class Tapper was still somewhat new to his squad. He hailed from Wyoming and was an avid elk hunter. Clearly, shooting long-range game had helped him become an excellent shot.
“The guys on the roof have come out to play again,” called out Lance Corporal Pyro, who had continued to watch the building with the spotter scope.
Tapper shifted his aim.
I hope he can take ’em out before they call an artillery strike on us, thought Sergeant Mack.
Bang.
The round flew flat and true, slamming right into the spotting lens and into the face of the enemy soldier who’d been looking through it.
“Hot damn! That was a good shot, Private!” exclaimed one of the Marines in their squad.
Before any of them could say anything else, a machine gun opened fire further down the line. Turning to look at what was going on a few hundred meters to their left, Mack saw one of the fireteams was exchanging gunfire with at least a squad-sized element of enemy soldiers on the opposite side of the border.
A minute later, the small skirmish had already escalated into a much larger clash. A platoon-sized element was closing in on the lone Marine machine-gun position.
At least the fireteam is positioned in a good spot overlooking the border, thought Sergeant Mack. If an enemy unit was going to cross, they’d have to pass under heavy fire from that position.
As the shooting continued to escalate, Mack heard a call for a fire mission come through over the radio. The higher-ups must not have wanted to tip off the enemy that they had a battery of 155mm Howitzers not too far away because they opted to hit the enemy with mortars from their heavy weapons platoon.
Soon the telltale whistling flew overhead toward the enemy. The first mortar slammed into a building the enemy soldiers were using for cover. A column of smoke and debris climbed into the sky. A few more mortar rounds landed in the area, damaging other nearby structures. Shortly after the dust settled, the shooting ended.
*******
From the Daily Mail:
The world stands aghast at China’s use of nuclear bombs and electromagnetic pulse weapons. Yesterday, the Chinese government detonated two separate EMP devices. One, which was released just north of San Diego, California, has disabled the power for much of Southern California and has destroyed most electronic devices and equipment in the vicinity. The second EMP device was detonated over Oahu and is thought to have been targeting the American military bases around Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
In addition, six additional nuclear weapons were detonated by Chinese forces against the US. One nuclear device targeted the Arizona city of Yuma along the American Southwest border. Another hit a critical munitions factory on the northeast side of the state of Oklahoma. Two nuclear devices destroyed the USS Reagan carrier strike group, and two additional nuclear weapons destroyed the island territory and American forward military bases on Guam.
During this unprecedented nuclear and EMP attack by the Chinese, the Australian city of Alice Springs was also hit by a high-altitude EMP device, causing a blackout across much of the Australian Northwest Territory. It is believed the Chinese were targeting the joint Australian-US electronic spy base at Pine Gap.
The US government has confirmed that the Chinese attempted to detonate a total of 36 nuclear weapons against US forces and American cities. Most of these warheads were successfully intercepted by the US Army’s THAAD missile defense system.
Thirty-two minutes into the nuclear attack by the Chinese, President Jonathan Sachs ordered a nuclear response on the People’s Republic of China. The US hit various Chinese nuclear missile bases, storage facilities, and other military bases associated with China’s nuclear weapons program. American nuclear missiles also hit more than a dozen People’s Liberation Army military headquarters and other command and control centers. In addition, the Americans also used two tactical nuclear weapons on Chinese military formations in Mexico. It is unclear how many casualties the Chinese or Mexicans have sustained during the nuclear counterattack.
President Sachs further ordered a nuclear attack on the Three Gorges Dam in China as a part of the American retaliation. When the dam collapsed, it released 22 cubic kilometers of water into the Yangtze River and valley below. A wall of water as high as 100 meters raced down the valley toward the Chinese cities of Yichang, Jingzhou, Changsha, and Wuhan. It is unclear how many people may have died in the ensuing flood, or what the damage has been to these cities. It is expected that destruction is going to be severe, and the loss of life will probably be in the tens of millions, if not more.
United Nations Secretary-General Johann Behr has pleaded with both sides to refrain from further use of nuclear weapons and has decried their use by both nations.
*******
Ramona, California
“Do you think the power will come back on soon?” Julie asked her husband, Bill.
Their six-year-old daughter donned her most convincing pouty face and exclaimed, “I want to watch Masha and the Bear!”
Bill looked at his daughter, trying his best to be brave for her. “Molly-bear, remember when Daddy said the power may not come back on for a while?” he asked.
His daughter looked up at him and nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I don’t know when it’ll come back on, honey,” Bill said, gently hugging her. “But tomorrow we’re going to go on a little hike. We’re going to go stay with Auntie Jessy. Remember?”
“Yeah. Can I bring my Momma Bear with me?” she asked. Her face showed genuine concern at the possibility of leaving her giant stuffy behind.
“We’ll see. I need to go outside and work on the truck, OK? Stay in here and help your mother.” She nodded and grabbed her mama’s hand.
Bill put his shoes on and headed into the garage. He opened the large door so the natural light could flood in. He still had a few things he needed to fix on the old 1973 Ford F-100 XLT. It had been a hobby of his since he was a teenager, fixing up old cars.
Bill’s dad had been a Vietnam vet and an alcoholic. Their relationship had been pretty volatile growing up, but when his dad had quit drinking his freshman year in high school, things had changed for the better. To help make up for lost time, his dad had bought an old Ford pickup truck. Despite being an alcoholic, his father had maintained a job as an ASC master tech mechanic; it was the one thing he had always been good at, aside from drinking. When he had given
up alcohol, he’d sought to rebuild his relationship with his son by teaching him how to work on trucks.
During that freshman year of high school, they’d rebuilt that truck and then sold it during the summer. His dad had let him keep the money from the sale, and Bill had bought two more old trucks—one to fix up and use to drive himself to school, and the other to sell and make some money. Fixing up cars and trucks became a bonding experience for them. When Bill had turned eighteen, he had gone to a technical school and learned how to become an even better mechanic.
What Bill liked most was working on the cars built before 1977, before the automakers began to introduce computer chips into them. Vehicles continued to get more complicated and harder to work on with each passing decade. When Bill had found this 1973 F-100 truck on Facebook Marketplace four months ago, he’d swiftly snatched it up. He’d just gotten the last major set of parts he needed to make it run two weeks ago. Judging by what was going on in the world, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Bill glanced up and saw his neighbor from down the road approaching his driveway. “Hey, John. How are things going?” asked Bill.
John smiled as he walked up toward the garage. “They’re going all right. I thought I’d come over here and check in on you guys.”
Bill wiped some grease off his hands as he walked up to John. The two shook hands. “I was listening to that little AM radio you gave me yesterday,” Bill said. “They say all of Southern California is without power.”
John nodded. “I was talking with a guy on the HAM radio earlier this morning. He lives over in Utah. He was telling me the Chinese detonated an EMP over Southern California—hit Arizona and Oklahoma with a nuke as well.”
Bill let out a low whistle. They’d heard bits and pieces of what had happened a couple of days ago, but nothing definitive. One of their other neighbors a few houses down the road was a retired Marine. He’d said the Chinese were probably going to invade California soon. He also had an older car that still worked. He’d packed up his wife and some of their belongings and they’d left a day ago. He told them they should work on getting out of the area as soon as they could.
“You think you’re going to have it running today?” asked John as he leaned up against the workbench.
“I think so. I just need to put a few finishing touches on it.”
“What are you doing for fuel?” John asked.
“I siphoned the gas out of our other cars. Got enough for a full tank on this thing and a couple of five-gallon cans to bring along with us. Are you and Jill going to come with us?” Bill inquired. He’d offered to give them a ride out of the area if they wanted.
Smiling, John nodded. “We will. I’ve got a pistol and a deer rifle I’ll bring with us. I don’t have a lot of ammo, but hopefully we won’t need it.”
Bill grabbed a wrench and tightened something before he replied. “That’s good, John. I hate to say this, but I don’t even own a gun. I’ll be glad to have you bring yours. Just make sure you get your stuff over here tonight. We’re going to leave at dawn tomorrow. I don’t want to be on the road at night if possible.”
“Makes sense to me. It’s starting to get crazy at night. I heard a few gunshots last night. I think things are starting to fall apart the longer we go without power.”
Bill shook his head in disgust and set his wrench down on his tool chest. “This is crazy, John. Everything that’s going on right now…I don’t understand it. I don’t understand how it’s all come to this. I mean, I walked down to Main Street yesterday afternoon to see if the pharmacy was possibly open. I wanted to see if I’d somehow be able to get a refill of Julie’s thyroid medication, but the entire place had been looted. I mean, who loots a CVS when the power’s been out for two days?”
“People are freaking out. What I’d like to know is when these CDF or National Guard soldiers are going to start helping out. The governor keeps telling us help is on the way, but I’ve yet to see a single National Guard vehicle or anyone else come to Ramona.”
“Yeah. I’m not counting on help to arrive anytime soon,” Bill replied. “I’m just glad my wife’s built up a six-month supply of Julie’s medicine. She’d be dead in a couple of weeks without it. I just hope when we get to Las Vegas, things will be better.” He used a rachet to tighten down a bolt.
John rubbed the back of his neck. “Hey, Bill, if you don’t mind, we’re going to spend the night at your place. I think we all might be safer if we stay together. Also, don’t start the truck. I know you’ll want to make sure she runs, but it’s best to wait and do that tomorrow when we’re ready to leave. If you start it now, people will hear it. That could attract some attention we don’t need or want.”
“Wow, I hadn’t even thought about that, John. Good call. Why don’t you and Jill start getting your stuff brought over here now then? I want to get this thing loaded up as soon as I get this last thing here finished.”
John agreed and left to go back to his house. An hour later, he and his wife came over with two rolling suitcases. They went back to their house and came back with a second load of stuff, only this time they had a small garden cart full. It was packed with five flats of water and a lot of freeze-dried food.
The three of them went to work, loading the bed of the truck with the essentials they’d need for the trip to Vegas. It was roughly a 350-mile journey, and God only knew what they’d encounter along the way. If they were able to use the interstate and there wasn’t much traffic, the drive would normally take around six hours, but Bill doubted that would be an option.
Once they had the truck loaded up, they looked over an old AAA road atlas John had and started mapping out their path. Their plan was to travel along the backroads as much as possible, trying to avoid any major cities or towns along the way.
The following morning, just before dawn, everyone loaded up in the pickup. John and Bill were going to sit in the front with their wives and Bill’s daughter would sit in the back of the bay right behind the cab. They did their best to keep their supplies below the lip of the bed so as to not attract more attention than they wanted.
When John raised the garage door up, Bill placed the key in the ignition. He was pretty confident it would start. He turned the key and hoped for the best. An instant later, the truck roared to life. Bill put the truck into gear and drove out of the garage. John closed the door and locked it—not that they’d be coming back to their house anytime soon, but still, it felt good to leave it locked.
John climbed in and they started driving out of the neighborhood. Fortunately, the sun had just come up and most people were still sleeping. They made it a few miles down the road before they saw the first signs of life. A couple of people were sitting on their front porch. They nodded toward them as they drove on by, as if they hadn’t a care in the world.
For the next hour, they managed to avoid nearly every major city and town along the way, although they knew they’d eventually have to drive along the frontage road of I-10 as they headed to Desert Center. There was a small state road, Highway 177, that would lead them to Highway 62. From there, they’d continue on until they reached Vidal Junction. Then they’d turn onto Highway 95 and stay on that road until they reached Las Vegas.
The scariest moment of the trip was when they reached the frontage road along I-10. The highway was littered with dead vehicles. Cars, trucks, semitrucks…all stopped right where their electronics had fried. They saw some people among the abandoned cars. A few of them tried to flag them down for help, but John insisted they not stop.
“I hate to say it, but chances are, they’d try to rob us and steal the truck,” he insisted.
The entire drive along I-10 was nerve-racking. When they eventually made it onto the less-traveled state road, they all breathed a sigh of relief. With such slow going, they did ultimately have to stop for the night. When they did, Bill used the two five-gallon jerry cans and topped off their tank. They had burned through most of their gas having to take all the detours.<
br />
It was a long, frigid evening. The next morning, they got back on the road just as the sun started to crest into the sky. It took them another hour until they reached a small town called Searchlight, roughly fifty-two miles south of Vegas.
As they approached the town, they spotted a couple of military vehicles blocking the highway. Bill slowed the truck down as they neared the roadblock. Several soldiers walked out from around the vehicles and held their arms up, signaling for them to stop.
One of the soldiers walked up to them with his rifle at the low ready; the other soldiers had their rifles raised slightly as they covered their friend.
“Morning. Where are you folks headed?” asked the soldier as he eyed them and their vehicle suspiciously.
Bill smiled as he replied, “My sister lives over in Henderson. That’s where we’re trying to go.”
The soldier nodded. “Where did you guys come from?” he asked.
“Ramona. It’s a small town in East San Diego County. We’ve been out of power for a few days now. I needed to try and get my wife and daughter to a safer place. I hope you can understand,” Bill replied.
God, I hope this isn’t going to be a problem, he wished, eyeing the soldiers’ weapons with trepidation.
The soldier’s demeanor seemed to soften a bit. “I understand. Word has it the Chinese are going to invade California soon. You probably got out at the right time.”
The man stretched as he eyed the contents of the back of the truck. Finally, he announced, “So here is what I’m going to do. I’m going to allow you to pass through and head to Henderson—but nowhere else. We’ll write up a travel pass. You’ll need to present this to any other checkpoints you come across. We’re trying to limit the number of people crossing over into the Las Vegas area right now, especially those coming from California. So what I need you to do is pull over to that parking lane over there. We’ll do a quick search of your vehicle, give you ten gallons of gas, and have you on your way, all right?”
Bill nodded, relieved that they’d be allowed to pass through. He followed the other soldiers’ directions, and they pulled into one of the vehicle lanes and got out. The soldiers spent a few minutes searching through their meager belongings while a couple of other soldiers questioned them about what they had seen on their way up here. They asked a lot of questions about California CDF units and any signs of Chinese soldiers. Fortunately, Bill and his family hadn’t come across any of those two groups.