by Reed, N. C.
“Define shaky,” Titus demanded.
“Don't lean on the railing and watch where you put your feet,” Mitchell replied. “Keep going,” he put a hand to Titus' back as the teen started to turn around.
“I do not want to do this,” Titus repeated.
“That's on the record for all to see, now keep moving,” Mitchell ordered. “I don't want to do it either. And you can bet your ass that the next shit detail that comes along, the three of us better be exempt, I don't care what it is.”
“Wait, really?” Titus looked more interested. “So, this is gonna be like a marker to get out of something bad later on?”
“You bet it is,” Mitchell promised. “So, keep going and watch where you step. We grab this shit and then we are gone. I don't want to be here either.”
-
“How in the hell are we supposed to know what to get?” Kade asked as the three of them looked at the various boxes and cables, not to mention antennas.
“If we can get it loose, we take it with us,” Mitchell said simply. “And we're burning daylight so let’s get to it. And be careful. Don't make any sudden moves and plan every step you make. Understand?”
“Got it,” both teens nodded.
-
“If I haven't made it clear at this point, let me take this opportunity to say how much I hate you,” Titus Terry said as he clung to the tower for dear life. “Both of you.”
“We heard you the first dozen times, man,” Kade assured him.
“This is it. Hand me that wrench,” Mitchell ordered. “And if you don't have something constructive to say, save it for when we're down.”
“I’ll still hate you on the ground,” Titus whispered, trying not to look down at the ground since it made his head swim every time he did it.
“And still be a wuss,” Kade snickered.
“Shut up!” Mitchell snapped. “Take this shit seriously before one of us ends up making the trip down way too fast.”
-
“Let me have the meter,” Mitchell ordered. Kade passed the tool over, moving slowly and carefully. Mitchell applied the meter to the battery.
“Dead,” he said softly. He removed the battery and let it slide down the tin roof to the edge where the gutter caught it. Next, he moved the contacts to the small solar panel.
“And the panel is at zero,” he sighed. “First is the battery. Hand it here, Titus.”
Titus Terry very slowly hauled a deep cycle marine battery from the bag on his back and passed it over. Mitchell quickly dropped the new battery into the box and attached the leads.
“Solar panel next, Kade,” Mitchell said. Kade was carrying one of the small but powerful solar panels that were used to power lights and others electronics in areas where electricity was hit or miss, or else not available at all. Mitchell took the panel and placed it where the old one had been, needing two extra clamps and three stainless steel cable ties. Once finished he applied the meter again, watching the small gauge move across the face of the meter.
“I’ll be damned,” he muttered. “Son-of-a-bitch still works. How about that?”
“Great! Let’s go,” Titus said at once.
“We still have to get the other one,” Kade rolled his eyes. “Come on man.”
“Shit,” Titus muttered. “Fine.”
-
“How do we know this is the right one?” Titus whined.
“Because it says 'Property of Tri-County Amateur Radio Association',” Mitchell replied. “Dammit, Titus, shut the hell up and concentrate! I don't want to be up here a second longer than I have to be and you're extending that time! Give me that screwdriver!”
“Wow,” Titus handed over the required tool. “Touchy.”
“I swear I'm gonna throw your ass off this tower,” Mitchell growled. He worked as quickly as possible to retrieve the box-like repeater.
“Do we need that antenna?” Kade asked.
“I don't think so but they wanted it, and it is small,” Mitchell replied. “Take this and put it in your bag,” he handed the repeater to Titus. “Kaden, I need that wrench again, and I’ll need you to hold the antenna as I unhook it.”
“Right.”
-
“Careful now,” Mitchell warned as he lowered the top part of the antenna down.
“Preaching to the choir, man,” Kade promised as he took the antenna and lowered it slowly down to the catwalk. “And that's it.”
“Great, let’s go,” Titus said at once. “Last one down is buying.”
“Wait a minute,” Mitchell ordered as he carefully lowered himself off the edge of the tower and down to the catwalk. “We have to take this antenna down with us, remember?”
“I got the box, man,” Titus pointed to his back pack. “I'm doing my part, so I’ll see you guys on the ground. Y'all be careful now!”
“Titus, get your dumb ass over here and take part of this frigging antenna before I slap you cross-eyed,” Kade demanded. “I can't carry more than one section, and there are three. And we're carrying all the tools, so you carrying that box evens things out. Here,” he thrust the top section of the antenna into his friend's reluctantly outstretched hand.
“Harsh,” Titus said as he grasped the metal pole. “Now can we go?”
“Yes,” Mitchell and Kade said together.
“Finally!”
-
“Man, you cry more than a baby kitten, you know that?” Kade teased as they climbed into the MRAP.
“What happened?” Zach asked, dropping down from the turret where he had been keeping watch.
“Oh, I'm so scared,” Kade said in a shrill voice, his hands shaking near his face.
“Laugh all you want, man,” Titus sniffed disdainfully. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a healthy respect for imminent death by falling from the top of the world.”
“Man, I climbed that thing when I was like eleven,” Zach snorted.
“Were the steps caving in and the catwalk falling apart?” Titus demanded.
“Yeah,” Zach nodded. “That's why it was closed. I couldn't have climbed it otherwise.”
“All that proves is how stupid you are,” Titus refused to be intimidated now that he was back on the ground. “My IQ is obviously significantly higher than yours.”
“Oh, of course,” Zach tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably.
“Both of you suck as friends,” Titus turned to look out one of the windows. “And I ha -, DOWN!” he yelled suddenly right in the middle of his tirade, showing both of them to the floor even as he yelled.
Just as a shotgun blast peppered the side of the MRAP. The buckshot hit the side of the rig with authority but did absolutely no damage to a vehicle designed to withstand a mine. Titus immediately grabbed his rifle and thrust it through a firing port to his front, emptying the magazine at the three men he could see still firing at the vehicle. Zach clambered off the floor and back into the turret, pulling the M2 around without exposing himself to fire before rising up into the turret to open fire.
There were five total attackers visible, none of who appeared to be armed with anything more threatening than a shotgun. A shotgun was plenty threatening to a man on the ground, but to a man in a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle with a fifty-caliber machine gun mounted on it, a shotgun just wasn't a good weapon choice.
“What the fuck, man!” Zach yelled as he walked fire from the big Browning down the entire group, blowing them apart in spectacular fashion. “Where the hell did they come from?”
“Report!” Mitchell yelled from behind the wheel. “Check in!”
“T-Square is good!” Titus called, inserting a fresh magazine in his rifle.
“Ram is good!” Kade was up and looking out the back of the Cougar, rifle in hand.
“Gunner is pissed!” Zach yelled. “Otherwise I'm good. You good Thug?”
“I'm good,” the older man reported. “Do we see anything else out there?” he asked.
“Neg
ative, but this bunch didn't show themselves until now,” Zach reported, surveying around them from the turret. “And I mean there was nothing down here just one minute ago!”
“This is why you save that grab-ass shit for times on base,” Mitchell told them, pulling his rifle from the rack where he had stored it for the drive back. “Gunner, maintain the watch. Tee, Ram, stack on me at the back door. Ready up!”
“Ready,” Titus declared.
“Ready,” Kade followed.
“We're moving,” Mitchell said and popped the door. As soon as he did a rifle round pinged off the armor. Before anyone could speak the M2 was hammering again as Zach saw the shooter.
“Shooter down!” he called. “Eleven o'clock, edge of the building!”
“Out and down,” Mitchell ordered over his shoulder as he hit the ground, prone and rifle at the ready. His teen squad mates followed, Titus taking aim at their six while Kade faced the road. Everyone froze in place, waiting for more gunfire, but none appeared.
“First order of business is to clear this area,” Mitchell ordered. “This crowd is too close to Home Plate and are definitely a threat. Secure the door,” he ordered, and Kade quickly was up and slammed the Cougar rear hatch.
“Pyramid, on me,” Mitchell ordered next and Titus fell in on Mitchell's left with Kade on the right, both slightly behind him.
“Moving,” Mitchell said quietly and started for the Forestry building. Zach watched around them for signs of another threat. The threat on their front had been chewed to pieces by the big Browning.
“Five meters,” Mitchell ordered and his teammates instantly separated, opening the distance between them. Mitchell worked his way left until he could see a body crumpled at the corner of the building.
“Tango down,” he said into his radio. “Moving forward.”
“Copy that,” Zach replied. “Clear.”
“Watch the building,” Mitchell ordered Kade, who just nodded and trained his rifle on the doorway to the office.
“Woods,” Mitchell next ordered Titus, who was already oriented but turned a bit more to cover their left. Mitchell himself eased forward to check the body.
A BMG round rarely left anything intact and this case was no exception. Zach was called 'Gunner' for a reason. He was very good with the Browning and had just proved it once again to no one's surprise. What was surprising was the body.
“It's a girl,” Mitchell said softly. “Can't be more than. . .sixteen, maybe?” he reached in and pulled the rifle from her dead hands. A bolt action. He safed it and pulled the sling over his shoulder.
“Don't know her,” Titus said after a brief glance at her face. “Kade?”
“Me neither, man,” Kade replied after a similar hurried glance. “Never seen her.”
“Fall back on the Cougar,” Mitchell ordered after taking a picture of the girl's face with the phone he was carrying. The three returned to the vehicle, where Mitchell deposited the rifle into the back.
“Clear them,” he pointed to the bodies near the Cougar. Titus and Kade removed weapons, ammunition and any usable gear from what was left of the four men and one woman who had attacked them, placing it all in the Cougar. Mitchell carefully took facial pictures of all but one body. That one had caught a round from the fifty square in the head and there as literally nothing left to photograph. He did photograph a noticeable tattoo on one arm in case someone might know it.
“Zach, we're going to clear the building,” Mitchell said softly into the radio. “We can't afford to leave any of this outfit unchecked. Head on a swivel.”
“Roger that,” Zach replied.
“Pyramid to the door, then stack up,” Mitchell ordered. The three moved quickly to the door where they fell into line, Mitchell at the front.
“Entering,” he called to Zach and then stepped inside.
“Jesus,” he said at once as he, Kade and Titus walked into a slaughter house.
“This wasn't like this when we were here before,” Kade said. “We found bodies out back, but this building was clean. Me and Pancho cleared it ourselves. Nothing but empty MRE packages. This is recent.” Kade had been on the run to claim the fire plow, as had Zach. Zach however had been on watch while Kade and Corey had helped Jose clear the building.
“Looks like they just weren't home when you were here before,” Mitchell said. “And the heat has not been kind to this place with it in this shape.”
“No shit,” Titus was watching out the door behind them. “Where did you find the bodies before, Kade?”
“Names,” Mitchell warned, reminding Titus to use team names while they were out in the open.
“Out back,” Kade replied. “Just into the tree line. I can't even say why I went out there to look, other than just making sure no one was sneaking up on us.”
“Looks like that was a good policy, too,” Mitchell nodded. “Alright, stack up. We clear the rest and we're out.” He moved through the building as quickly as he thought safe to do so, finding more body parts but no one alive. Some of the body parts were very small.
“This is just. . .sick,” Kade whispered. “I mean, I knew what had happened here before, but...”
“Nothing like seeing it up front and personal,” Mitchell nodded. “Back to the ride. Ram takes point. Tee covers rear left, I've got rear right. Slow and steady. Move.”
The three moved as one back to the Cougar, halting at the door.
“What do we do about them?” Kade asked. “About all that?” he motioned toward the building.
“We should burn it, but there's been no rain of late and the last thing I want to do is fight another forest fire,” Mitchell said. “We’ll kick this one upstairs and let the Boss deal. If he wants it burned we can do it, but not until it's threatening rain probably. Let’s stack the bodies inside, then mount up. I want out of here as soon as possible.”
Ten minutes later, a much-subdued group was on their way home.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
-
Clay sat stone faced through the report, he and Jose having been summoned as soon as the Cougar had returned.
“Any idea how many victims there were?” Clay asked.
“No way to tell,” Mitchell admitted. “None. But some of them were. . .young.”
“You cleared the area?” Jose asked.
“We cleared the building,” Mitchell corrected. “There were six Tangos and all of them were put down. I've got pictures of all but one, and I took a shot of a tattoo that one had on his arm. He caught a round from Ma Deuce in the pumpkin.”
“That will definitely leave a mark,” Jose nodded. Clay took the phone and examined the faces, none of whom were familiar to him.
“I’ll show these to Greg and see if knows them,” Clay said. “You guys get cleaned up and get chow. Good job.”
“There's one more thing we need to do,” Mitchell said, looking at his three young assistants.
-
“This is bullshit,” Zach complained as he, Kade and Titus ran the two-mile track around the hay field behind the buildings of the Troy farm. “I wasn't even part of that shit!”
“I was just afraid of falling and here I am, being punished for it,” Titus tried to complain.
“Shut the hell up!” Kade told him. “All that whining and shit up on that tower and you got the nerve to say that's all you did?”
“I still say there's nothing wrong with a healthy fear of falling twenty stories to my death!” Titus retorted.
“It's not twenty stories you pansy!” Zach called to him over his shoulder. “It's like. . .eight or something.”
“After three or four stories, death from the sudden impact of hitting the ground is pretty much assured, so it doesn't matter,” Titus informed him. “I still would have died.”
“Whining all the way down,” Kade nodded.
“I was not whining!” Titus whined.
“Sounds like whining to me!” Zach called.
“I hate both of you,” Titus muttered.
“I heard that!”
-
“Why were you having to run?” Vicki asked, a smirk on her face.
“Because Titus and Kade are morons,” Zach replied.
“I heard you guys had some action at the Forestry Station,” she nodded.
“Oh yeah?” Zach asked, still toweling off after a lukewarm shower. She could smell the soap on him.
“What happened?”
“The family from Deliverance was there, using the station as their personal slaughter house,” Zach told her as he got dressed in fresh clothing. “I think eating Soylent Green had rotted their brain.”
“Soyl. . .oh,” she stopped as she got the movie reference. “Really?”
“Really,” Zach nodded. “I didn't go inside since I was on the gun, but Kade and Titus both said it was bad.”
“Damn,” she sat down beside him. “You okay?” she asked.
“I'm always okay, Vee,” Zach promised.
“Who took out the family, if that's what they were?” she asked.
“I did,” he told her, pulling his boots on. “Titus might have hit one from a firing port, but I stitched them up with the M2 once I got into the turret. Then I got the girl when she opened fire on them as they dismounted.”
“Girl?”
“Probably fifteen or sixteen they guessed,” Zach shrugged. “Probably the youngest of them, but I don't know that for sure. Anyway, I did,” he answered her question again.
“Are you sure you're okay?” she asked. Zach stopped what he was doing and looked at her.
“I'm sure,” he replied after counting to five. “I didn't do anything I haven't done before. They were shooting at us and eating people. Probably meant to eat us, I guess. Like I said, eating other people was rotting their brain, maybe. Why else do you attack an armored vehicle with shotguns and deer rifles?”
“True,” she nodded. While she was concerned about him she could tell that her questioning him was getting on his nerves, so she left it.
“What are you doing this afternoon?” she asked.
“Got ground watch in about one hour,” he told her. “Just enough time, I hope, to get something to eat. Assuming I can get anything to eat,” he chuckled.