To our surprise the robot started to speak in a deep metallic voice, “YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR SHOOTING A FEDERAL OFFICER; DROP YOUR WEAPONS NOW. BACK UP IS ON THE WAY. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.” That scared the crap out of us so we both jumped back.
I instantly unloaded a full mag. of 20 rounds into its eye hole. It still kept moving like it was in pain and was still repeating the same words over and over.
I said, “This dam thing is creepy.”
Willis pulling out his .357 magnum hand gun and said, “Die fucker,” as he aimed the revolver at the other eye and fired. The bullet bounced off the eye leaving a slight mark. It finally stopped moving but the BOT was still talking.
Willis said, “Cut off the antennas, there’s a wire cutter in the Hummer under the back seat.”
I ran to the truck and pulled out the big wire cutters. I cut off four antennas and the robot stopped talking. Ron and Jim pulled up with the trailer. We were standing there looking at it and SFC Dale yelled here they come. Then he opened up with fifty caliber machine gun. We all turned around and saw ten BOTs moving our direction.
I yelled, “Pick this thing up and put it on the trailer so we can get the hell out of here!” Six of us could barely lift it but we managed to drop it on the trailer. We didn’t have any time to tie it down.
I shouted to Ron and Jim as they took off with the captured dead BOT, “Pick up Tommy!”
Willis and I ran to our Humvee. Dale was firing at the droids knocking some of them down. Then we heard a bullet zip by, it was Tommy shooting and he knocked down another BOT hitting it in the eye. Another bullet zipped by and one more BOT hit the ground.
We were a good distance away when the robots stopped shooting at us, then I heard a loud explosion and Willis yelled, “A rocket just hit Smith’s Humvee. The robot fired a rocket!”
I slammed on the brakes and backed up about 50 feet to the burning truck. Tony and Smith were trapped inside. It was on fire and the rear end was destroyed. Willis and I pulled Tony and Smith out of the burning wreck. Tony was severely injured and had been knocked out from the explosion. Smith was on fire and his clothes were in flames. Willis put out the flames and tore off his clothes. Then we loaded Tony into the back of the Humvee.
Smith was standing in the road almost naked with burns over most of his body and yelled, “Be sure to get the rocket!”
Willis replied, “I got it.”
A naked wounded Smith screamed, “Let’s blow these bastards up!”
It was a perfect set up the droids where standing almost in a straight line. If we fire a rocket and one manages to dodge the rocket, it will hit the BOT behind it. Willis and Smith picked up the rocket launchers.
Taking aim Willis yelled, “Missile one away,” as he fired.
Smith replied, “Missile two away.”
We all watched the missiles fly to the targets, the first robot in line saw the missile and side stepped to the right but the second and third robots in line didn’t see them in time … KABOOM … KABOOM. Two robots were down which proves we can blow them up. They fell to the ground in a heap of twisted smoking metal.
Smith yelled, “Take them bastards to the junk yard!” Then he fell to the ground and passed out. He was in bad shape so we loaded him into our Hummer and covered him with a blanket.
Dale was still firing the fifty the whole time and he shouted, “I killed one, shot him right in the eye!” We had killed six BOTs proving that these things, these monsters are not invincible. We had a robot to take back for analysis which would help us figure our other methods to defeat them.
We sped away leaving behind the blown up smoking Humvee. The remaining four robots stopped at the wreckage and seemed to be checking if any people were inside.
Reaching the south check point we told the Rangers what had happen. They advised us that Ron had just left with the BOT on a trailer. He stopped long enough for the Rangers to see it. We told them how to kill the dam things.
I got on the radio to Ron asking, “Bro did you pickup Tommy?”
“No we thought you were going to pick him up.”
“Shit I told you to pick him up.”
“I couldn’t hear you over all the noise and gun fire.”
I didn’t say another word to Ron and told Willis, “Tommy was left behind. We have to go back and find him. I think he is near the spot where the Hummer got hit by the rocket, right around where the BOTs stopped.”
Willis asked a Ranger at the check point to take our truck and rush Smith and Tony back to Tocabaga for medical attention. He didn’t want to risk unloading Tony which could cause more damage if he had back injuries. Tony was still unconscious and he was bleeding from his wounds. There was no way to tell how serious he was wounded. Smith was now going into shock from his burns. He was shaking like crazy so I put another blanket over him.
Willis, Dale, and I borrowed a Humvee from the check point and headed back to find Tommy. As we approached, about 800 yards away, we could see the burning truck in the road and two BOTs were standing near to it. The other two were near the side of the road very close to Tommy’s sniper nest. They seemed to be scanning the area walking back and forth, stopping, scanning, turning their heads, they were looking for Tommy.
It appears that the robots can’t see us at 800 yards. Thinking back at the first contact we had the other day the robot didn’t start to chase us until it was within 400 yards. They didn’t fire at us until they were within 300 yards, if I recall correctly.
The problem now is we have to draw these robots away and still be able to rescue Tommy. We needed a plan right away so I asked Willis, “You got any ideas how we can draw them away from Tommy?”
“This sounds stupid but it may work. We drive right up to within 300 yards and Dale starts shooting each one in the head to get their attention. We speed by them and let them chase us back to the 301 exit. That will draw them away from Tommy.”
Dale commented, “You mean go back to robot town? We could get trapped.”
“Maybe, maybe not, we may have to shoot our way out … but my idea is to get off at the exit and go around under the bridge and get right back on Interstate 75. Then we race back and pickup Tommy. Maybe the BOTs aren’t that smart and won’t understand what we are doing. Maybe they will follow us.”
We all just sat there for a few minutes … our brains computing what Willis just told us. What are the chances of this working? What are the chances of this working without any of us getting killed?
Dale pointing down the road toward the BOTs said, “We better do something soon one robot is moving off the highway into the bushes very close to the sniper location.”
Without further thinking I ordered, “Let’s go kill some more robots.
“Willis do we still have any rockets?”
“Yes we have two, what do you want to do?”
“Here is the plan, I’ll drive, Dale on the fifty, Willis on the rocket. We will speed right by them firing the fifty the whole time. I’ll stop when we are about 400 yards past of them. When they begin to chase us Dale you try to knock one down and when he gets up, Willis will blow it up. I think it’ll work. Dale maybe you’ll get lucky and hit one in the eye again.”
Dale already proved the M2 machine gun could kill a BOT but the problem was aiming the dam thing. Once the fifty starts to rock and roll it is hard to control and precise targeting is all but impossible. Yes it is possible if you fire enough rounds you might get lucky and hit one in the eye.
Dale and Willis both agreed and I said, “Rangers Lead the Way,” they repeated the motto.
Into the face of death we drove, no fear, just determination to finish the mission and rescue a fellow warrior. No one ever gets left behind, dead or alive, that is the Ranger creed.
All of a sudden it hit me, how could the robot find Tommy? I looked at Dale and then at Willis they all had one thing in common the electronic dog tags. I told both, “I think these droids can track your dog tag signal. That’s why they are looking fo
r Tommy. Give me your tags and we’ll drop them on the side of road when we make the U turn under the bridge. That just might confuse them.”
Dale said, “That sounds like a good idea.”
I floored the Hummer and we were quickly approaching the robots so Dale started to fire. The droids watched us go past them and stop. Dale got their attention as 50 caliber rounds were hitting them in the head. Willis was ready to fire the rocket. The four BOTs were now coming towards us and finally Dale knocked one down at about 200 yards away. The other three started to fire at us.
I was looking to see if the robots had anymore rockets, and I didn’t see any, thank God. The knocked down metal man was getting up; Willis fired the rocket just as it stood up and … KABOOM, it was blown to shit. One more piece of junk was down.
I punched the pedal to the metal and speeding up to 35 mph just enough to stay ahead of the three stooges following us. Bullets were hitting our vehicle but had no affect due to the armor plating. The stooges were now about 200 yards behind us as we approached the 301 exit.
Driving down the exit ramp and making a left turn Willis yelled, “Shit more robots.” Standing in the road, under the bridge, three BOTs were blocking our way.
I yelled, “Dale shoot these guys. I am going to run them over!”
Willis replied, “Go for it.” I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but hitting a 1000 pound object at 35 mph was not a good idea. We had no choice but run them over or die trying.
I hit the gas and yelled, “Hold on tight,” as we slammed into the first BOT hitting him in the lower legs and he flew over the top of the truck. It jarred the hell out of us but the Army Hummer kept going. BAM another bone jarring hit and this one tumbled to the side of the road. The third BOT moved out of the way. Going under the bridge I threw the dog tags out of the window as far as I could.
We ran over two BOTs and I could tell that the left front tire was flat. Humvee’s have run flat tires but you can feel the difference with no air in tire. Steam started to come out of the radiator as we went up the interstate entrance ramp. The tin men were shooting everything they had at us; the bullets were hammering the back of the truck.
Dale started shooting again and he advised us, “The robots are going after the dog tags … most of them stopped chasing us.”
My foot was on the floor and our top speed was only 45 mph but we were pulling away from the tin men. Slowly but surely we reached the location Tommy was at located about one hundred yards from the still smoking Humvee.
I yelled, “Tommy we’re here!” There was no reply and to make matters worse our truck engine stopped running. I tried to restart it but the motor just turned over, it had over heated, it was dead.
“Well guys Tommy isn’t here. He must have escaped somehow.”
I tried to raise the hood to check out the motor but the front end was smashed in from hitting the tin men and I couldn’t open it.
I commented, “The truck is done for we better start humping it back. We have about 15 miles back to the check point.”
Willis said, “Hey try the cell phone.”
I pulled mine out but it wasn’t picking up a signal. I tried the radio and heard static. I told Willis, “They’re not working.”
Dale was just sitting in the truck gun turret not moving and Willis said, “Hey shit head does your phone work?” Dale didn’t reply.
Willis and I climbed into the truck and we saw red blood running down Dale’s arm. Dale was slumped over the machine gun. He had been shot in the neck. Willis felt for a pulse but there was none, he was dead. He must have bled out not knowing he was seriously wounded.
Willis laid his friend down in the back of the truck and we put him in a body bag. Willis said, “We’ll be back for you my friend. No one gets left behind.
“He was a great solider, a good man, a great person, and good friend.”
We both bowed our heads and said the Lord’s Prayer.
I said, “Willis I don’t think there was anything we could have done to save his life the bullet it his juggler vein. We’ll come back for him ASAP.”
We started jogging down Interstate 75 to the check point fifteen miles away. We had jogged about 3 miles and we stopped for a break to try the phone or radio. They were still not working. While sitting there I heard the faint sound of a motor and looked in the sky for a drone.
I yelled look, while pointing in the air, “There’s a drone.”
Willis said, “That’s not our drone, we don’t use that model.”
I put my ear to the ground, on the cement roadway, I could hear … THUMP … THUMP … THUMP, and the sound sent a chill down my spine. I told Willis, “They’re coming.”
Willis asked, “How far away do you think they are?”
“It’s hard to tell but I would guess about five miles behind us. That little drone gave away our location. Let’s shoot it down.” Willis and I both started shooting at the drone. One of us hit it and it tumbled from the sky.
“Jack let’s double time it to the check point.”
“I agree.” We started to run at a fast trot. About an hour later I was huffing and puffing.
I looked at my watch, the sun was going down, and it was already 8 pm. While gasping for air I told Willis, “We’re not going to make it … to the check point before dark. Let’s hide … under the bridge … up ahead where … 275 crosses 75. The concrete … and steel will help us … by blocking our heat signature.”
Willis just nodded and replied, “It’s about two more miles from here can you make it?”
I just nodded yes, because I was so out of breath.
Interstate 75 splits off into 275 which goes to St. Petersburg. Then 75 continues on to Tampa. Interstate 275 curves up and over 75 so there is a bridge there. If we hide out under the bridge the concrete and steel would provide us some cover from the all seeing metal men and the drones.
By the time we arrived at the bridge it was dark and we both crawled up under the bridge to hide our heat signature from the thermal scanners. We crawled up deep inside where the steel beams and the concrete road meet. We fell down exhausted and took a drink from our camel backs.
I asked Willis, “How much ammo do you have left?”
“Not that it matters since these guns do nothing to the robots but I have 6 mags.”
“I have six also and three mags of 9 mm.”
We laid there catching our breath and we could hear another drone flying over head. All was quiet except for the drone buzzing around searching for us. Then we heard THUMP and the THUMPING was becoming louder by the minute.
Within thirty minutes they were right on top of us walking on the bridge we were hiding under. The whole bridge was shaking when all of a sudden the marching stopped. The thumping stopped and Willis not saying a word signaled me he was going to take a peek. I was thinking that’s not a good idea.
Willis went to one end and I watched him pop up and do a fast, very fast look. He crawled back next to me and whispered, “They’re here. It looks like there’s a shit load of them.”
The robots have closed in on us. Willis and I looked at each other and shook hands without saying a word. We both knew this could be the end and we would fight these bastards to the death.
We kept waiting for a BOT to come under the bridge. Funny as it seems the metal heads were not smart enough to look under the bridge. They had no idea we were sitting right below them. Maybe we can try and get some rest. One man sleeps while the other watches in two hour shifts. Willis was first to rest because my adrenalin was too high. I laid there looking and listening for anything.
It was dark, very dark because there was no moon. I could here men talking and trucks running above us. They were doing the necessary maintenance to the walking death machines.
I hoped and prayed Tommy made it back ok. I also wondered why Ron had not returned for us with reinforcements. Using logic I guessed they would wait until daylight to come after us.
We only needed to hold out unti
l then, but if the metal men come for us I don’t know what we’re going to do. We need to make a plan. I can’t sleep with danger standing right over my head.
JUNE 24, 2025
I let Willis rest longer than two hours. I looked at my watch it was 3 am and dark as shit. It had started to rain. I was trying to think of a plan to escape in the dark. Now was the time to make a move as the robot handlers’ were probably sleeping, except for a few on guard duty.
Then I heard a noise, not a loud noise but so soft I could barely hear it. I woke Willis up whispering, “I think we got company.”
It could be an animal of some kind, it could be a person, or it could be a BOT. Willis and I laid there looking into the dark, down at the foot of the bridge where the noise was coming from. It sounded like bushes moving but due to the sound of the wind and rain falling I couldn’t tell.
Then I saw what looked like some kind of animal crawling on the ground. It was fairly large in size, as big as a human. I couldn’t make out the shape of it in the dark. Maybe it was a Black Bear. There are a lot of bears around here because no one hunts them. Back in the old days 270 bears were killed in one year from cars hitting them while crossing the road at night. Night time is when bears hunt.
I thought great, if we shoot this bear then the metal men will wake up and if we don’t kill it then we could be killed.
I looked at Willis he pulled out his small 4 inch knife and we sat there watching this thing moving towards us slowly but surely. I said to Willis, “That’s not a knife, this is a knife.” I pulled out my 8 inch double edge Cold Steel Black Bear fighting knife, thinking how ironic using a Black Bear knife to kill a bear. It was twenty feet away when I recognized what it was.
It was Tommy in his ghillie suit; he stood up and softly said, “Hi guys what’s up?”
I wanted to give him a big hug but I replied, “We were waiting for you. Did you think you could sneak up on us?” I didn’t want him to know I was worried. Man I was relieved and happy to see him, so happy I think a tear dropped from my eye.
THE TOCABAGA CHRONICLES: (BOX SET - PART I - BOOKS #1-5) Page 28