by W. R. Benton
"I'm takin' my dog for a walk."
He laughed, spat a glob of chewing tobacco from his mouth and replied, "Bullshit. Yer wearin' all that green crap on yer face. I'm smarter than I look."
You have to be, I thought, but said, "I'm the point man for a larger group and we're to meet some friends near here."
"Well, I ain't hear'd tell of no point man, so I ain't sure what in the hell ya be, but I reckon we mighten be that group of friends yer looking fer." He gave the call of an owl, which made me almost laugh, since it was still daylight and owls only come out at night. I was surprised to hear an owl answer him.
"What now?" I asked.
"Sit yer ass in the dirt and keep that dawg of your'n on a short leash. Now, we wait."
A few minutes later a man walked from the woods, smiled and said, "Good job, Bubba Lee. Who are you, sir?" Before I answered, I looked the man over. He wore a Green Beret at a cocky angle, his shirt was an old BDU, and his pants were jeans. In his hands he carried an AK47, and beyond a doubt, he knew how to use it. I hoped he was one of us, if not, I could kiss my ass goodbye.
I explained that I was here to meet some friends and we were all going to attend a party.
I heard movement behind me and when I turned, Willy stood in the clearing. Smiling, he said, "Jacobs? Frank Jacobs?"
"Willy, you old sonofabitch! How ya been, buddy?"
"I'm fine. Listen we're part of the group you're expecting and John here, with his dog, is our point man."
Frank motioned for me to stand, moved forward and shook my hand. He had a solid grip and I like that in a man. He said, "Sorry about Bubba Lee, but he did what was expected of him. He don't look like much, but he's a real bad ass in a fight. Dumb as a box of horseshit, but loyal to America and those he calls friend."
Willy waved the rest of our folks forward as Top pulled the radio and alerted the colonel.
*****
During the next few days, men and women arrived from all over the state and gathered in the woods around us. I prayed the Russians didn't send any choppers up or we were toast. Many of the people were motivated and dedicated to the dead American dream, but few knew how to fight. I wondered how many of them would be alive next week. The commanders and leaders of the various groups spent a great deal of time making their people camp under the trees and not out in the open.
Finally, I heard Colonel Parker say, "We'll strike at first light tomorrow. Willy, I want you and your group to take out the towers and guards on the inside of the double fences. Once that is completed, hang back and wait for us to breech the fences. Once we're inside, I need you to support the hotspots."
Willy said, "We'll do our best, sir."
"Since we will strike early, I want your people in position just after midnight tonight. Move in close and at 0500 start taking out the targets on the this side of the base. I'm depending on you to silence the night guards."
Good God, it sounds like we take out the guards, then they attack as one huge pissed off mob, I thought. It might work, but I'm glad as hell I'm not in the first few ranks of the mob, because most of them will die come morning.
"This side will be silenced first, then we'll go completely around the base and take out as many as we can. We'll do our jobs."
"I'm sure you will, Willy, and good luck."
*****
It's a little after midnight, and I'm watching a couple of men in a tower sleep. The guards that walked the fence line were not seen and hadn't been since I'd arrived. Perhaps they've grown confident and lazy since they've Russian support, I thought and glanced at Willy. He grinned and then winked.
Over the next almost five hours, I watched the base but saw nothing moving and that worried me. Were the guards in the towers really asleep or just pretending? Could this be a plan to massacre our attacking forces? I didn't think so, but it concerned me.
Finally, at 0500, Willy touched my shoulder and I moved to Kate's side. I spotted for her as her sniper rifle with the homemade silencer sent two low thuds into the night air. When I looked at the tower, both men were gone. It was then I saw the guard with his dog walking the fence line.
I touched her shoulder and pointed.
Her first shot killed the dog instantly, because I saw it's head explode as the bullet struck. Her second shot hit the dog handler in the center of the chest and he fell without making a sound. We moved to the next tower.
The next four towers were easy kills for Kate and I must admit, she's one deadly shot. Unlike the military, we didn't document her kills, but she was good. As we neared the final tower she slipped and fell and her rifle struck a tree trunk. She retrieved it, glanced at me, and said, "My scope has been knocked out of alignment, so you'll have to use the bow on this one." She then shrugged.
This tower looked no different the others, except the guards were now awake with the rising of the sun. I watched as one opened a thermos and poured something hot into the plastic cup. I notched an arrow and then pulled the string back. Lining my arrow up on the guards back, I released and saw the arrow take him in the middle of the shoulders. He didn't scream, but I watched him turn in my direction and then look down at the arrowhead. His hand came up to feel it and at that point he collapsed. The other guard turned and scanned the area, his weapon at the ready, so I grinned when my arrow hit him in the center of his chest. However, he gave a loud scream just before he fell from the tower, and landed not ten feet from me.
I heard a loud explosion, followed a few seconds later by a second, and then hundreds of loud screams. I suspected the fences had blown up. The attack was happening. A machine gun began to spit death, but I had no idea who owned the gun. We were on the opposite side of the camp and instead of going around the fence, Willy placed a grenade on the first fence. Once it blew we did the same with the second. We were inside the base within seconds. It would have taken too long to run around the fence to help the others.
I took Dolly's leash from Sandra as we began to move forward at a run. A man ran from the open space between what looked to be aircraft hangers. My AK47 spat flame, and he fell screaming. Willy ran to the first hanger, looked inside and smiled, just before he pulled a grenade from his vest and pulled the pin. Tossing it, he screamed, "Fire in the hole!"
The grenade exploded, followed by a much larger blast, and two figures ran from a side door engulfed in flames.
"Move!" Willy yelled as he ran toward the second hanger. Just like the first, he tossed in a grenade, yelled for us to move on and two explosion were heard. However, the first hanger suddenly blew to bits, with parts of aircraft, the structure and people flying high into the air. A loud 'boom' filled the morning air. Knocked to my ass by the concussion and landing beside Willy, I screamed to be heard, "What in the hell was in there?"
As we gained our feet, Willy replied, "Fuel truck!"
Flames rolled into themselves high in the sky, and black smoke poured from the building as we moved forward to continue our battle and to escape the heat of our destruction. A squad of men ran from a small white building and we opened up on them. AK47's fired, along with M16's, and I heard a few loud booms from shotguns. The squad was torn to rag dolls as our bullets and buckshot struck them. Screams were heard as the men fell.
A bullet zipped by my ear, missing my head by less than an inch, but I suspected it was a stray round. I heard a scream behind me and knew someone had been hit, only I couldn't stop to find out. We had to keep moving. Willy moved toward the small white house and as a group we followed him. When I moved to his side, he yelled, "Throw in a grenade! I'll kick the door open!"
I removed a grenade from my BDU shirt cargo pocket, removed the tape over the pin, and held it firmly. Glancing at Willy, he nodded. I pulled the pin, watched the handle fly into the air, and heard the hiss. Knowing I held a live grenade, Willy kicked the door, but it didn't move an inch. There were four small panes of glass at the top of the door, so using the butt of his rifle, Willy knocked them out.
I tossed the grenade into
the room and fell to the ground. I heard screams and confusion inside the building, only not for long. The grenade exploded, knocking the door from its hinges and our people rushed inside. The firefight lasted just a few seconds and then it grew quiet.
Willy, who'd been one of the first to enter, exited with two men with their hands over their heads. Both were Russians.
"Kate and Sandra! Keep an eye on our friends and watch them closely. Both are clean, but we need to move forward. Stay here and if they move, kill 'em." He then spoke to the Russians, who nodded in understanding, and said to me, "High ranking officers, a colonel and general."
"What now?" I asked. I suddenly heard a series of loud blasts and when I turned, five huge fireballs were climbing to the sky. Damn, looks like the colonel got himself a few aircraft of some kind, I thought.
"Link up with the colonel!" Willy shouted, and we moved toward the crazy mass approaching us. Before we'd attacked, each of us had placed a two inch strip of yellow or orange material around our left arms. This was to aid us in identifying each other in the heat of battle. Our uniforms, or our lack of uniforms, made it difficult to tell us from the bad guys. The only enemy I was sure of wore a Russian uniform. Another hint was we all wore camouflage face paint.
We weren't halfway to them when I saw fingers of red and green tracers cut through the group. Screams of pain and dying filled me with shock, but Willy was already moving toward one of the sources. To our left the loud tat-tat-tat of a machine gun was heard. One of the bad guys lay near me with a Rocket Propelled Grenade and I picked it up and fired. The machine gun flew high into the air with the explosion, and smoke and dust was all that remained.
The other gun would be harder to silence and we were out of grenades.
"Flank the thing! Go around and come in from the back!" Willy yelled at me. I tapped Tom on the shoulder and off we ran. We'd not gotten far when a large group of Russians ran toward us and we knelt as we fired in a controlled manner, one well placed shot at a time. Finally, I realized they were going to overrun us, so I fired on fully automatic as Tom did at almost the same time. Bullets struck the concrete in front of me, sending bullets in all directions. Tom gave a loud grunt and when I glanced in his direction, he was down. I didn't have time to check him, or I'd soon join him, so I kept firing. Dolly growled and barked, but stayed by my side. My gun snapped on empty, so I change magazines and slowed my shots down. I reached down and released Dolly's leash from her collar. Perhaps she'd survive, because it didn't look good for Tom or me. I cursed loudly, because I didn't have enough ammo to keep my weapon on fully automatic for long.
Most of the surviving Russians went to ground, but two ran right for me. The one in front I sent to hell with a bullet in his head. I lined up my sights on the last man, took a deep breath and as I released it, I squeezed the trigger nothing! I heard Dolly give a series of loud warning barks!
Shit! I thought and then saw the bayonet on the end of his Russian SKS rifle. I prepared to meet the man head to head, when I heard a shot and down the Russian went. Glancing at Tom, he smiled.
I started to move toward Tom when someone struck me from behind, knocking us both to the ground. As my luck would have it, I was on the bottom and the wounded Russian had a pistol in his right hand. I grabbed his wrist and held tightly, because to let go would mean my death. Blood spattered on me from the man's chest wound, but he was still as strong as an ox. I watched the pistol turn toward me then heard a loud shot.
I felt no pain and felt the man fall to the left. I opened my eyes, which I'd closed to avoid powder burns, and saw Tom standing over me, still grinning. He held his rifle in both hands. Dolly was tearing at the Russians throat and I called her to my side. Her teeth and mouth dripped warm blood.
"Come on, we still have a machine gun to blow up!"
"How bad are you hit?"
"Bullet grazed my right arm and knocked me on my ass! Let's move, folks are dying."
Putting Dolly back on her leash, I ran after Tom. Tracers filled the air and bullets bit deeply into the concrete as we ran, throwing fragments high into the air. We neared the machine gun, and I saw a man covering their rear, rifle at the ready. I fired once, and saw him fall against the gunner, who turned and looked behind him. From less than fifty feet, I saw his eyes grow huge as he realized he'd been flanked.
Please, Lord, don't allow any of Parker's people to shoot this way, or it'll get rough! I prayed as I ejected my clip and inserted a fresh one.
The gunner attempted to turn the gun, but he and I knew he didn't have the time. His ammo man, who'd been the last to see us, pulled his pistol and fired. Bullets zipped by the side of my head, but none struck home. The gunner, now frightened, ran from his sandbagged position, so I released Dolly from her leash.
Tom fired once and the ammo man fell, but he raised from the sandbags a second later with a grenade in hand. I instantly flipped my weapon to automatic and stitched him the length of his body with lead thread, starting at his crotch. He fell back, as Tom and I went to ground. A hollow boom sounded and when I glanced up, smoke fill the air over the position.
A deathly silence filled the early morning air. Not a sound, except the moans of the wounded and cries of the dying were heard. I heard no gunshots, no explosions, and it surprised me.
It was then that Tom nudged me and pointed behind us, as he said, "Damn!" A group of maybe a thousand people were running toward us and all were armed.
CHAPTER 24
Shaking my head and hoping Sandra knew I loved her, I prepared mentally to take as many with me as possible when I died. Just as I was about to release a stream of lead into the crowd, I saw armbands on them, and I realized they were our troops! Dolly suddenly appeared by my side and I heard her low warning growl. I reached down and scratched her bloody head.
I looked behind us, and Colonel Parker and what remained of his group were moving forward. I wasn't sure of the cost of this place in lives, but the surrounding area had many down and most were not moving.
Parker reached us first, congratulated us on wiping out the machine gun and then said, "This group nearing us is from up north, around the Tennessee line. Good people."
Suddenly the two groups blended into one, and folks were laughing and shouting to the point I grew concerned about the noise. I was about to turn away and start helping the injured, when Parker approached with another man and said, "John and Tom, meet Colonel Frank Hanks. He's the commander of this group."
Hanks smiled and said, "Sorry about our holdup, but we ran into two tanks and it took some work to take 'em out. They were just inside the fence line, behind the hangers."
"Top!" Parker yelled.
"Sir!"
"Form details and search for our wounded. Have other details remove everything from this place we can use, and I mean anything."
"What of the enemy wounded, sir?
"These assholes left no wounded of ours when they started this mess, so no prisoners."
"I'm sorry sir, but that doesn't answer my question."
"Kill 'em! By God, is that plain enough, Top Sergeant?"
"Yes sir, as you ordered."
"Sir, do you have other need of Tom or myself?" I asked, worried about our group at the small white house. During the battle we'd separated and I was concerned about Sandra. While I'd left them with the Russian POW's, that didn't reduce my fear level by much.
"No, that'll be all. Gather your group and move back to our base camp. Make sure it's secure, and then have one of the men I left there return to let me know."
"Yes, sir." I replied, and then began to look for my wife.
The battlefield was cluttered with dropped weapons, bodies of both sides, blood, and damage to almost everything standing. I neared the small white building, or what remained of it, and found the two women sitting on the ground. The two officers were still there, but the General had a new bullet hole in his left arm. Willy, who I lost somehow in all the confusion, was squatted beside the Russian colonel and talk
ing with him.
Sandra ran to me and threw her arms around my neck. She kissed my dirty cheek and said, "So much noise and confusion, I thought you'd been killed."
"Close a couple of times, but I'm safe. When you get a chance look Tom over, he got burned by a bullet."
"I love you." She said, and then moved toward Tom.
Dolly, who was sitting beside me gave a warning growl and when I looked at the prisoners, the general was removing something from his pocket.
"Stop!" I yelled, and his hand froze in place. My shotgun was ready to fire.
"Willy, tell him to remove his hand slowly and when I see it, it'd better be empty or he's a dead sonofabitch!"
An exchange of words took place and then Willy said, "He was getting a cigarette and lighter. He will remove his hand when you nod."
"I want his hand empty, understand?"
"I told him that much. He knows the rules."
I nodded and he removed his hand empty.
"Willy, Colonel Parker said no prisoners." Tom said as he moved toward me.
"He'll want to keep these two, I promise. The general is in charge of all Russian troops in the United States and the other is his executive officer, or so he claims. Personally, I think the colonel is the base commander here."
Tom grinned and said, "Well, it's your ass, but don't be surprised if Parker shoots 'em both when you take 'em to the base camp."
Pulling some plastic ties from his pocket, Willy tossed them to Tom and said, "Secure their hands behind their backs."
"Parker also ordered us to return to the base camp and send one of his men back if all was secure," I said.
"Saddle up, we've a walk to take. Tom, you stay with the prisoners and Kate, you pull drag. John, I want you walking point. Sandra, if one of these Russians makes a break for it, use your shotgun and blow 'em in two. See, I suspect they both speak English, but neither will admit they can."
I saw both Russians blink rapidly, and knew they understood Willy's orders.
As Kate walked by me, she smiled and then winked. Only this time, I simply grinned back. I was happy to be alive, my wife had survived and my last dog was still healthy. I was on top of the world.