Pillars of Glass

by Michael Polaski

  “You aren’t fallin asleep back there are ya wheel man?” Elijah’s voice came through the CB Radio loud and clear.

  Aaron reached for the microphone but was interrupted by another familiar voice, it was Raymond. “Don’t worry about him. He won’t let your bacon fall out the back of the truck, and let me run it over.” The bitter tone definitely was noticeable over the laughter. “Just don’t give one of us a flat tire by taking this ass backwards way to the highway; you never know what else is out in the woods.”

  “Are we still bitter? It’s only food ya know.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Aaron cut in before any hostile words were exchanged back and forth. “I use to drive our families truck through some pretty rocky terrain out in the desert. We had to take supplies and equipment to the farms and the smaller villages that were fairly remote. This here is pretty much a cake walk for me.”

  “See,” Raymond spoke. “The kid is fine, just make sure you don’t run us off the road or into a tree or something.”

  “You honestly believe that I have a road that I am following? I’m taking my best guess from what I saw earlier with the map. All I know is that we are heading southwest and hoping for the best.” Elijah knew he was getting under his friends skin, but he couldn’t help enjoying it.

  Walters turned and gave a look to Aaron. He could tell in his Sergeants eyes that as much as he disapproved of their banter over the open radio channel the smirk on his face let him know that Walters was indeed relieved to be a part of something not as serious and structured as the military has been the last few months. These strangers had definitely breathed a new life and hope into the dullness that had suffocated him.

  Taking the receiver from Aaron, Walters spoke into the mic. “Well boy’s as much as I’ve enjoyed listening to you all bitch at one another, if you don’t mind, we should wrap it up and have radio silence the moment we hit the main highway. I have no idea where troop movements have been in the last twelve hours, and I wouldn’t want us to give away our cover.”

  “He’s right boy’s. When we get to the FOB the two of you can continue your bickering. But until then, let’s get this over with. We are making the turn onto the main road and out of the woods in approximately a half-kilometer, so be ready. From there unit two will overtake our position as lead.” The voice was unmistakable; the leader of this rag-tag unit of chaos, One made it clear radio silence was necessary. Just before they made the turn a final jab was thrown over the airway.

  “Yeah, so shut-it Raymond.” The first transport careened left onto pavement, and Aaron saw his way out of the woods. Aaron made his turn and saw the transport behind him make theirs as well. Slowly, Ehlinger crept up to and began passing the first transport. As they moved slowly along the right side of the vehicle, Aaron tried to finally get a glimpse of his protector, but not the least bit surprised, he had already put a hood up over his head and only glanced slightly to acknowledge Ehlinger passing by him with a simple nod.

  The diesel engine roared as Aaron pushed the gas pedal deeper into the floor and the transport jerked forward defiantly. He positioned himself about twenty five yards in front of the leader and let up on the accelerator. Keeping the formation tight would make it easier for them to move through the checkpoint he thought. It would be easy for them to see what they have the first transport and ignore the other vehicles, and hopefully not dig through them too much to find the weapons. If they found those, it wouldn’t take long to detain them.

  Aaron could see the crude barricade and trucks on the horizon closing off the rest of the highway and impeding any further movement south. Down shifting. Aaron put on his caution lights to signal to the others that they had finally arrived at their first stop. Coming closer, Aaron saw at least three armed men standing in the middle of the road with their hands up to bring him to a stop. On each truck, there was a turret with their weapons pointed at the convoy should the need arise. A few other men stood behind the barricade hands on their weapons, but did not have them in a firing position.

  “Keep it cool Ehlinger, let me do all the talking and we should be fine.” The ‘Should be’ resounded heavily in the cab. Two men moved forward splitting to be on both sides of the transport while they questioned the weary travelers.

  “Where are you coming from?” The first guard barked at Ehlinger as soon as he started to roll down the window.

  “We are part of the NVC, My name is Staff Sergeant Walters and this is Corporal Aaron Ehlinger.” Walters shouted across the cab. “We were on a mission yesterday to go into Anderhill and secure medical supplies and possibly set up a radio outpost. We were over ran by enemy forces moving across the bridge. We split the patrol into two groups and I along with Ehlinger and one other member of my unit, found a group of refugees attempting to flee the city during our escape. We offered our assistance in exchange for their help in moving the supplies to the FOB. We stopped overnight near the mountains in case we were being followed and not give away our position.”

  “What are in the transports?” The second guard asked.

  “Medical supplies, food, tents and other provisions that we and the refugees were able to acquire.” Walters said confidently.

  “You said these people are refugees, what kind of refugees are they?” The first guard questioned.

  “Nomads, Religious folk, who we are obligated to bring to and sequester at the FOB for any information they may have in connection with this conflict, they’ve come peacefully.” As much as Aaron may not have enjoyed his company, the Sergeant knew his protocol very well.

  “They from across the bridge then?” The second guard asked.

  “It doesn’t quite matter where they are from. We all believe certain things in spite of where we are born. So even if they are nationals to us, they can still believe philosophically whatever their religion may dictate is important to them and their leaders. And if it is a religious faction starting this war, they would know the motives either way.” Apparently he knew philosophy well too, something Aaron had only picked up from discussions with his older brother.

  “We’re going to radio ahead and have them inspect your cargo at the next check point. However, we are going to send two jeeps to escort you there as well. Just as a precaution to insure that these refugees don’t get any crazy ideas.”

  “Sounds good. We’ll start up the engine and wait for your signal to proceed.”

  “You can proceed when the men on the turrets wave you through.” The second guard said backing away from the side of the transport.

  Aaron turned over the engine and put his transport in gear once again. He could hear the other engines kicking over and knew that everyone else clearly got the message. Aaron put the transport in gear and crept towards the gate and the guards waved him through. Looking out his side mirrors, he noticed that the lead jeep drove slowly while the second one waited until the fifth transport passed him before pulling alongside of the convoy. Walters scanned the radio frequencies one channel at a time till he could hear the communications between the two jeeps.

  “I’m still unsure about these guys. Make sure that we have a full extraction and inspection team up at the next checkpoint just in case. I want every single one of their transports emptied and inspected. If they have any explosives or weapons I want them detained immediately and the Staff Sargent and the other members of the NVC placed under arrest.”

  “Well, looks like this plan will work well now wont it.” Aaron said to his commander.

  “The question is Corporal, is can we warn them without our escort learning?”

  A few clicks came over the radio. Someone was attempting to communicate. Aaron could only believe one person was smart enough to communicate that way. It reminded him of how his older brother and himself use to eves drop on their parents and other relatives on the phone just by slowly and methodically clicking the receiver.

  “I think they heard sir.”

  “Well no matter what the decide to do Ehlinger, do not act
in conjunction with them, not unless we come under fire from enemy troops.”

  “But sir, they saved our lives. We owe them whatever help we can give to-”

  “Do not act.” Walters interjected. “Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

  “And what of Ortega?”

  His question was met with silence. “Hopefully he will keep his head down.”

  The response did not sit well with Aaron and he let his expression show. Should a situation arise, he was worried for his friend and those who were willing to give their lives for his safety. They were not assets that were expendable, they were friends, and should be taken care of as such.

  The transports rounded a bend in the road and the next checkpoint could be seen a thousand yards in front of them. Aaron gave a glance to his commander who stirred nervously in his chair. Hastily, Aaron grabbed the mic for the radio and spoke.

  “Prepare for comprehensive search of all transports. Take the men of the NVC from the transports first then escort the refugees carefully. The more respectful we are towards them the better chance we have in extracting all information from them, confirm.”

  “What the hell are you doing corporal?” Walters barked as soon as Aaron had dropped the mic.

  “They won’t know who gave the order if we are all using the same frequency and will at least buy us a little time.”

  “How do you know that they-”

  “Copy, sir. Extraction crew will move in first and followed by the inspection crew, once we establish communication and tell them our intentions. If they are religious, they may have some sort of relic in one of the transports that we wouldn’t want to damage.”

  Aaron looked at the Sergeant who still had a disapproving look upon his face. “Ehlinger, you best square yourself away and remember that shit roles downhill. If you just screwed us, I’ll hang you myself.”

  “Copy, sir.” The transport slowed as men came from two small structures to great them. As the transport came to a halt, the main escort turned and parked in a favorable firing position on all the transports should the need arise. A splinter of the men broke off for the first transport while the others moved in pairs to secure the others. The first splinter came to Aaron’s door and motioned for them to come out of the transport.

  Shutting off the engine, Ehlinger opened the door slowly, and stepped down. He gazed behind the truck to see everyone being taken out of the vehicles and ushered to various locations. Aaron noticed Ortega, who blatantly showed he obviously had no idea what was going on, being brought towards the Staff Sergeant, now standing next to him.

  “What the hell is going on?” Ortega said, with his arms up in the air. The guard walking him towards them made sure to give him a little assistance in his steps with the butt of his rifle.

  “Square yourself away Ortega.” Walters rebutted as he approached where “These men are following orders, just like you should and not say anything more.”

  Watching closely, Aaron saw the troops at the check point start to toss a few of the transports as others kept a close eye on the suspected refugees who were now corralled like sheep in a pen.

  “What happens when they find the heavy weaponry in there Sarge?” Aaron asked insistently.

  Walters’ face twitched at the question as he thought of what to say, it was obvious he was nervous and had no good answer. “I guess we’ll wait and see what these boys do and react accordingly.”

  A faint static came over the radio in their transport. Ehlinger glanced around to see if anyone else heard the noise. No movement suggested so. A few moments later, static once again came over the transistor, again no one else moved to the contrary yet Aaron could have sworn he heard a faint cry for help.

  “Sir, listen to th-” He was cut off by the faintness once again. This time however he could tell he wasn’t the only one to hear it.

  “I hear it, but I can’t quite figure out what they are saying.” Walters said with his attention being paid to the soldiers still removing equipment from the transports, tossing some of it gently into a pile.

  Ortega, clueless as normal, asked his teammates what they were talking about. “Hear what? They are just taking stuff out of the transports; it’s only a matter of time before they find-”

  “Command this is a code red. There are enough weapons and munitions for a small army in this transport.” This time it was a much stronger voice on the radio, due to the source of the transmission.

  “Detain all of the passengers including in the NVC members for questioning. We’ll radio to the boys up the road from you to double back and secure your check point while we rotate you back this way.’

  “Copy, sir.”

  After the quick exchange, there was a moment of silence on the radio until the faint noise grew even louder still. Ehlinger and Walters looked at one another and mouthed two simple words at the same time as they were the only things they could hear clearly. The bewilderment quickly gave way to shock, for as soon as they mouthed ‘under attack’ a barrage of gun fire could be heard clearly, and a vehicle drifted wide of the bend from where the refugees had come.

  Blaring the horn as loud and as quickly as they could, the vehicle did everything to show they were in drastic need of assistance. Not too far behind another vehicle made the wide turn, it was slower and more bulky. The quick and high pitch sound beat the louder thud of the machine guns to the area around the checkpoint.

  “Secure the Refugees!” One guard ran franticly up to the three members of the NVC. “What is going on, who are they?”

  All three members tried yelling out at the same time and only angered their prosecutor. Aaron watched over the man’s shoulder and saw the men that saved him from death having guns pointed at them and thrown to the ground. In the distance, with an escort of gunfire, a larger caravan could be seen rounding the corner. There were more than fifty men getting ready to assault the check point, probably sent south from Anderhill yesterday to attempt and secure some of the main highways from the city.

  The first vehicle continued to sound its horn as they raced up to the guard questioning Walters unit. Aaron recognized the troops in the vehicle from the first checkpoint. He could see it in their eyes, this was a life and death matter, and this was their first encounter. Aaron thought back to the first day of the war, and tried to remember his emotions as the bullets flew by him, while others killed his classmate’s close by. How had he acted? Was he that afraid? The men jumped out of the topless truck and started yelling at the guard in front of Aaron.

  “We are under attack; a full regiment of men opened fire on us and killed the radio transmitter. We tried radioing in but no one received us until we were closer. I’m going to radio out FOB and ask for assistance.” The man took off towards one of the out buildings thirty yards away from their current position.

  “Start talking did you all lure them here? Are you transmitting your location to them?”

  Walter took the question. “No. They must have tracked the splinter of our unit after yesterday, there is no possible way they could have followed us here. We stayed overnight in the mountains completely off the grid. They had to have tracked the larger part of our unit through the aqueduct and then followed them south and regrouped.”

  “At this point it won’t matter, because in less than five minutes their entire battalion is going to descend upon this location and kill everyone who doesn’t shoot back at them.” Aaron barked.

  The guard took a long pause before he spoke. Too long Aaron thought, if he were to take any longer-

  “You boys have seen combat yes?”

  Aaron and Ortega nodded in affirmation.

  “Good, because it won’t matter anyways, they’d kill you just the same.” He pointed to the other group that was part of the convoy. “If we arm them, will they fight with us?”

  “They helped us escape under gunfire from Anderhill, they can help here too.” Ortega said with conviction.

  “Square them away Staff Sargent and get them ready.”


  Walters nodded and ran over to where Elijah and the other men were standing.

  “You boys ready for a fight?” Ortega asked before the Staff Sargent could inform them of the situation.

  Elijah lowered his hood and spoke “Do we really have a choice?”

  Raymond ran to the transport that carried the majority of the weaponry and started tossing out automatic rifles to the men in his unit. There was one person that did not receive an automatic rifle like the rest of his unit; Raymond tossed him a much larger rifle with a scope on the top of it.

  “Listen up men,” It was One, “I want you to find a spot on the left side of the road to help with suppressing fire as the convoy makes it way towards us. Do not be clumped together and stay away from the out buildings, that’s the first thing they will start to target to limit our communications with the FOB. Elijah and I will go behind the check point and up onto the rocks, do not wait for us to open fire. When you get into position I want you to turn your walkies on and be on channel zero. Tell me what you can see.” He then turned to Walters, Ortega, and Ehlinger. “You three, get a rifle and stay close to Raymond and the others. The NVA boys here won’t be able to keep you alive. We are all family out here today, we will keep the NVA and you three alive, do I make myself clear? No one in this unit is to die today.”

  In unison, the men from a ghost unit that was only rumored to exist, barked back “Yes, Sir.”

  “Happy hunting.”

  It didn’t take long for the men to find their positions and Aaron found cover next to Raymond. Ortega and Walters were with a few of the other men not too far away. They took a minimal amount of fire while getting into position, like One had anticipated, they were more focused on disabling the out buildings then they were on the troops themselves. In that way they would limit the communications and number of forces they would have to fight. It was starting to become clear that the MLM, or at least this unit was more organized than they had been in the past. They had been coached on what to do in urban assault and siege, there is no other reason they would attempt an elimination of communications right away, it wasn’t dumb luck, it was strategy. What they did not take into account however, was the fact that the gruella group that had been a thorn in their side was pricking them at the same time their enemy was.