THE TOCABAGA CHRONICLES: (BOX SET - PART I - BOOKS #1-5)

by Thomas H. Ward

  As we were driving to the farm I asked Tommy, “What did you find at the Dali?”

  “We couldn’t get close enough to see inside because of all the guards. It seems that they’re still making BOTs because workers were loading something into a big truck. I think they’re taking them to fight SOCOM. Willis also thinks that Sessions will order an air strike to blow up the Dali and stop the production of the BOTs. Some innocent people may be killed but that happens in war.”

  We drove past the Army check point into no-mans-land where our farm was located. Our farm covers twenty acres. We grow all types of beans, corn, berries, basically anything green. We have forty people who do the picking and tending of the crops. Maggie is in charge of farming and receives help from Farmer John and Victor Elway, our two old-time farmers.

  We saw Maggie driving the tractor down the road and upon seeing us she stopped. I asked her, “Where’s Scotty at?”

  “He’s over there by the fence picking berries. Come on, I’ll show you. It’s a short walk. By the way what do you want him for?”

  “I think he shot Rick last night and I want to check his gun.”

  “Why would he shoot Rick? Is Rick ok?”

  “Yep, Rick is ok. We think Scotty is a Fed spy.”

  “You mean a spy like Guy and his friends who you killed yesterday? You know Jack everyone is saying you over stepped your bounds. The rumor is you killed them in cold blood. You just gunned them down in the street.”

  “Thanks for telling me what people are saying. We’re going to call a meeting to explain what happened. We couldn’t tell everyone on Tocabaga what was going on. Trying to find out who’s a spy had to be kept a secret.”

  “Wow, I would have never expected that from Scotty. He pretty much keeps to himself but come to think of it he does bitch a lot about how things are run on Tocabaga.”

  “There you go, he’s a shoe-in.”

  “Jack, are you going to kill him?”

  “If he puts up a fight we’ll have to kill him.”

  “Jack, let me arrest him. I hate spies and I trusted him all along. I’d love to get him back. He’s been getting pretty bossy lately. He thinks he owns me for some reason and is always following me around. He gives me the creeps and I thought about killing him myself.”

  I had long suspected that Scotty was trying to get in good with Maggie ever since her husband Robbie was killed in a battle against the Feds. Scotty was assigned to the fishing crew but changed to become a farmer after Robbie’s death. He was always around Maggie asking if she needed anything fixed. He followed her around like a dog in heat and it was obvious he was trying to make it with her. I knew Maggie and that would never happen because Robbie never liked Scotty.

  Tommy and I looked at each other and he said, “Why not let her arrest him. We can cover her and he won’t expect her to pull a gun on him. When he sees us he might start shooting or try to run.”

  Scotty is not a dummy or a little guy. Put it this way; I would think twice before fighting him. You never know what he is thinking and he has that kind of crazy-looking face. His head looks like a box. It’s almost square in shape and is probably hard as a rock. He has some facial scars which means he’s been in a few fights. He moved here six years ago from north Florida and other than that I know nothing about him. He has no wife or kids. I heard a rumor he had a dishonorable discharge from the Navy. I classify him as a dangerous person.

  “Maggie, we’ll back you up. Walk up to him and immediately draw your gun and we’ll run in and grab him. Don’t stand close to him. Stand about ten feet away when you pull your gun. If he reaches in his pocket or waist band shoot him three times. You got that?”

  Maggie always carries a subcompact 9 mm Glock 26 on her hip. She is never without a gun.

  “Ok Jack … you wait by the edge of the corn field about 50 yards away and when I draw my gun you guys come running.”

  Hiding on the edge of the corn field we watched Maggie walk up to Scotty. Tommy had his M4 aimed at Scotty’s back and would shoot him if he made a move for a weapon.

  Maggie and Scotty started talking to each other when suddenly Maggie drew her pistol and shot him three times.

  I asked Tommy, “Did he go for his gun?”

  “I couldn’t tell exactly from here.”

  Tommy and I ran over to her. She was standing over Scotty still pointing the gun at him but he was dead meat. Three bullet holes were in his body. There was one in the head and two in the chest. She did a triple tap just like I taught her to do years ago when learning how to shoot.

  Years ago when I sensed the country was changing for the worst, I started training women how to shoot and fight so they could defend themselves against any evil-doers. I started training Amy, my daughter first, and then Maggie and Trini wanted to be trained. Slowly but surely other women became interested in self-defense. Now we have a select group of twenty women warriors who can shoot with the best. They train every week at the farm. I call them the Amazon Warriors and believe me you don’t want to mess with any of them. They would cut your balls off and hand them to you on a plate.

  The legendary Amazon Warriors are believed to have lived in a part of modern day Turkey. There they formed an independent all-woman kingdom ruled by a Queen. They were also called the Androktones or killers of men. No men were permitted to reside in Amazon country. Once a year to prevent their race from dying out, they would visit a neighboring tribe. Any male children who were born from these visits were killed or sent back to their fathers. The girls were brought up by their mothers and trained in the art of war. When they went to war men would be taken as slaves or killed. When they grew tired of a man he would be killed or forced to leave their country.

  I told her, “Maggie, you can put your gun away; now he’s dead. What happen, why did you shoot him?”

  “I had no choice, Jack, he called me a fucking bitch when I told him he was a fucking spy. I don’t take that from anybody.” Maggie wasn’t supposed to tell him she knew he was a spy.

  “Did he go for his gun?”

  “I think he did.”

  “Don’t say that. You know he went for his gun. Ok Maggie you saved us the trouble.” I bent down took the 380 Colt Mustang out of Scotty’s pocket.

  I stood up and put my arm around Maggie giving her a hug. She returned the hug, patted me on the chest, and said, “Thanks for the hug, Jack, but I’m ok.”

  Tommy ran over and got his truck. He tied a rope around Scotty’s legs and dragged the body thru the weeds to the beach about 200 feet away. Tommy rolled the body into the water so it would never to be seen again as the current would wash it out to sea.

  As I got in the truck to leave, I told Maggie, “It was self-defense just remember that. We both saw him go for his gun. Stop over at the house some time if you want to talk. You’re welcome at our place anytime.”

  “Ok Jack, maybe we can have a drink sometime. See y’all later. Hey be careful out there!” I waved as we drove away to obtain the bullet from Rick for ballistics analysis.

  We pulled up to Rick’s house and he came outside when he saw our truck. I told him, “Scotty is dead and here’s his gun. Maggie shot him in self-defense when we tried to arrest him. By the way, did you look around for the spent shell casing?”

  Rick replied, “I hope the bullets match his gun, otherwise Maggie shot the wrong guy.”

  “I told you it was self-defense. He went for his gun. We saw the whole thing.”

  “Ok, Jack, if you say so. By the way what will the shell casing tell you?”

  “Every gun makes a firing pin mark on the casing so if we can find it we’ll fire this gun and compare the two casings. It’ll save us a lot of ballistics work.”

  “He shot me from the front yard so it’s gotta be around here somewhere.”

  I’ve always been lucky at finding something that was lost in the sand or weeds. We walked around searching for about 45 minutes. It was a hot day so I stopped and took off my hat to wipe the sweat from
my head. While wiping off my face I closed my eyes and a picture popped into my head. It was a picture of the casing in the dirt next to my shoe. I opened my eyes as I looked down and there it was right next to my shoe. That’s not the first time I’ve had visions. I get these visions or pictures in my head when I close my eyes while searching for something. They just pop up showing the missing object’s location. I know it sounds weird but it’s true.

  I yelled, “Holy shit here’s the shell right next to my foot! Let’s fire a round now and compare them.” I chambered a round and fired it into the ground. The spent shell ejected out and Tommy caught it in mid air before it even hit the ground. He has great reflexes.

  We huddled together as I held both shells up next to each other. It was clear they were a match. There was no doubt that this gun was used to shoot Rick. Rick commented, “That sure looks like a match to me. Good work guys.”

  Tommy replied, “No doubt Scotty was the guy that shot you.”

  I advised Rick, “We need to have a general meeting and tell the people what has been going on. Maggie told me that a lot of people are upset because we killed GA and his buddies the other day. The problem is no one knows they were spies and now we need to bring it out in the open. No one knows we shot them in self-defense.

  “If there are more spies here we’ll make it clear we are searching for them and justice will be swift. Maybe that will scare them into submission and they’ll cease any more spy activity.”

  “I agree, Jack, and I’ll set up a meeting for tonight at the fire circle at 6 pm. You’ll do all the talking.”

  “Ok with me. I’ll see you later.”

  As Tommy and I left my phone rang, it was Sessions. “Jack, I just finished going over the recon data with Willis and Hammer. We are planning to attack the Dome tonight and I’ve asked SOCOM to bomb the Dali. We’ll depart here at 2300 hours. SOCOM will bomb the factory at midnight at the same time we attack the Dome. Do you have the spy situation under control?”

  “We killed another spy today. He shot Rick in the arm last night and he had to be terminated. So far we’ve killed 5 spies and I still think there are a few more. I think Johnny is a spy but I don’t have any proof. We’re going to have a general meeting tonight at 6 pm to tell everyone what’s going on. Once the cat is out of the bag I think any remaining spies will cease their activities, leave Tocabaga, or if we find out who they are they’ll go on trial.”

  “Well, I’m going to need all my men to raid the Dome and rescue my Rangers. I require your assistance to guard the Fort while we’re gone. You’ll need to keep alert since we are taking both BVFs’ but I will leave the Iron Maiden here guarding the main bridge. I want you to post ten men at the Fort HQ and two at the entrance until we come back.”

  BFV means Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The Bradley M3 Fighting Vehicle, named after General Omar Bradley from WWII, has a three-member crew. It weighs in at 27 tons, and is fully armored. It fires a 25mm chain gun which can destroy most tanks and has a 7.62 M240 machine gun to mow down ground troops if needed.

  “Captain, that’s not a problem I’ll assign my Amazon Warriors to that duty.”

  “Amazon Warriors, who are they?”

  “It’s a long story but I trained a group of women years ago who can shoot with the best and they’re tough as nails. They would really like to pull guard duty. I trust them with my life. You’ve probably seen them training near the farm every weekend.”

  “Yes I have seen them but I just thought they were a bunch of women working out. You know trying to stay in shape.” I laughed at that comment.

  “Have your Amazon Warriors report for duty at 2100 hours. Willis and Hammer will fill them in on the details.”

  “Yes sir, at 2100 hours sharp. See you then, Captain.”

  My Amazon Warriors have not seen any action so far. They want to be on the front line and do their share. This guard duty will really give them a boost in morale because they’re doing something important. I’ll call Maggie, Amy, and Trini and ask them to have their squad assembled for the meeting tonight. I want to show them off and use them for added security patrols on Tocabaga to prevent any more assassination attempts by the so-called spies.

  Maggie was the wife of my buddy Robbie who was killed by the Feds. Maggie is 38 years old and works out all the time. She once killed an ex-con years ago, who broke into their house. She is one tough cookie and an excellent shot. Maggie is in charge of all the farming that supports our community.

  Trini is a married woman who works for Maggie on the farm. She’s in great shape and can out run most men. She likes knife fighting and is always begging me to give her more lessons. She has good eye - hand coordination and is excellent in hand-to-hand combat because of her fast reflexes.

  My daughter Amy has trained with me since she was 7 years old. She started shooting when she was 10 years old. She has a black belt in judo and has studied Jeet Kune Do for over 10 years. Amy is 5’11” tall and is a lean mean fighting machine. All of the Amazon women are beautiful and shapely but they’re also deadly.

  My warriors wear Army digital camouflage uniforms with black combat boots and bullet proof vests but no hats. Instead of a hat they wear a black bandana head band. Each one is assigned an M4 carbine that has a 4x ACOG or Advanced Combat Optical Gun Sight. The three commanders also carry a 9 mm Glock 26 subcompact handgun on their tactical combat vests. All of them carry one unique item to set them apart which is an 18 inch long Barong-style machete in a black scabbard hanging from their waist like a sword.

  The M4 carbine was derived from earlier versions of the M16 rifle, which was in turn a copy the original AR15 rifle. The M4 is shorter and lighter than the M16A2 assault rifle. It is a gas operated magazine-fed, shoulder fired weapon with a telescoping stock and 14.5 in barrel. It fires the .223 caliber, or 5.56mm NATO round.

  Barong Machetes are known for their thick leaf-shaped blade which is sharp on both sides. It was the traditional weapon of certain tribes in the Philippines. The Barong was feared by European colonizers because it was so deadly. The shape allows one to slash or stab. The blade is so sharp and strong it can cut your arm off with one swing. The Barong is one scary weapon.

  I’m going to have the Warriors march into the meeting in formation and stand there watching over the whole proceedings. I want the traitors to know that we have a new group of warriors they will have to contend with. I am trying to scare them into submission. The Amazon women will be the protectors of Tocabaga, much like a police force. They’ll watch our homes and help us find out who else may be a traitor.

  I told my three commanders, Amy, Trini, and Maggie, to assemble the group behind the bank at 5:50 pm. They would march out to the fire ring when the meeting starts at 6 pm and line up directly behind me. The only people who know about the Amazon Warriors are the Board members and my security team leaders. It was going to be a sight to behold.

  Six o’clock came around and there were an estimated 100 people in attendance for the meeting. That attendance is slightly more than normal.

  Rick stood up and said, “I hereby call this meeting to order. Jack is going to advise everyone on our current situation. First we’ll say the Pledge of Allegiance.” We say the Pledge at every meeting so we don’t forget who we are and we teach it to our children.

  Everyone stood up putting their right hand over their heart, looked at the flag waving in the breeze, and repeated in unison, “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

  Every time we do this as a group it sends chills down my spine. I glanced around to see who was repeating the pledge and noticed that the suspected spies were not saying the pledge. To me that’s a big clue as to who isn’t a Patriot.

  Shortly after the Pledge you could hear the sound of the Amazon Warriors marching in lock step. You could hear their boots making one unified noise. Everyone turned around to observe the women
warriors march in with M4 carbines slung over their shoulders on a 3 point Specter tactical sling, and Barong machetes hanging from their belts. All of them in matching uniforms, marching in perfect formation.

  They marched up right behind me and the Board members.

  Amy yelled, “Squad halt! … Squad at ease!”

  I stood up and advised the crowd, “These are the Amazon Warriors. You know these women. They are part of our community. They have been training very hard and are now ready to do their part in providing security for Tocabaga. These women will be patrolling the streets of Tocabaga day and night. They have full authority to stop and detain anyone whom they deem suspicious.”

  Most people started to clap, some even whistled, and cheered, but some I could tell were not happy. I proceeded with my speech. “We have spies and traitors on Tocabaga. That is why Guy Allen and his buddies were killed the other day. We found out they were sending messages to the Feds and when we confronted them a gun battle broke out. They went for their guns and we had no choice but to defend ourselves. Last night Scotty shot Rick in the arm trying to kill him at his house. Scotty is no longer with us either.”

  Someone yelled, “Jack, you killed 5 people in two days. What gives you the right to do that?” The voice was Troy’s and standing near him was Chase and Johnny. These are the people I suspected of being spies.

  Looking Troy in the eyes I continued in a loud voice, “I don’t know if there are more traitors living here or not but if there is … make no mistake we will find you. You will pay for committing treason.

  “You ask me what gives me the right to shoot someone. It’s called the Stand Your Ground Law. If someone draws a gun, or points one at me, or if I deem them a threat to my life, I can use deadly force. You got any other stupid questions, Troy?” Troy and his buddies were silent.