Don examined the scene below and first noticed that four ATVs and three Harleys were parked in a neat row. It seemed odd for a group of convicts to be so precise.
“Don, can you see the bodies by the garage?” Ben asked. Don looked to his right and saw five bodies stacked on the side of the garage in a pile.
“Is that them?” Don felt his blood grow cold and his temper flaring. He fought the anger down and took a deep breath.
“Yes it is. Murdering bastards. They even killed the kids,” Ben replied with a note of anger in his voice. The door to the house opened, and four large, heavily tattooed men wearing jeans and boots urinated off the side of the porch. The largest of them looked to weigh around three hundred pounds and a spider-web tattoo covered his face. They all had slabs of muscle from time spent in the prison weight room.
One of them went in the house and returned with a six-pack of beer. The four sat on the porch and drank from the cans. After a few minutes, Don counted twelve men on the porch and by the vehicles. Most wore side arms, but only one had an AK nearby.
“Change of plan,” he whispered into his mic. “On my shot, we take out as many of them as we can, and then hit the vehicles. I’ll move from left to right. You two move right to left.” He swung his .308 toward the one man who had a long gun, settled the cross hairs on the man’s chest, and fired. Shots erupted as Ben and Cory began firing. Don’s world focused down to the left side of the group and he fired methodically, moving from target to target without checking the previous one. When his magazine was empty, he slid a new mag in without looking at the rifle and again began shooting from left to right, hitting radiators and engines on each of the vehicles below. When he finished, he looked down and counted eight bodies. “Time to go,” he said into his mic, and began backing down the slope of the knoll toward the ATV, as gunfire erupted from the house. A few slugs whizzed over Don’s head, but he was already behind cover.
When they got to the ATV, Ben sat in the driver’s seat reloading mags from a box of shells. He immediately started the vehicle when he spotted Don and Cory running toward him. They both jumped in, breathing hard. Ben gunned it as he passed the newly loaded mags to Don, who sat next to him. Don handed one to Cory, who sat in the back seat, and they both dropped their expended clips and inserted the new ones. They heard another intense volley of gunfire, probably coming from the house, as they started back to the ranch.
“Cory, watch our six,” Don said. “If anyone follows us we keep heading north into the forest and away from the ranch.” They moved directly away from the knoll, using it to stay concealed from the bad guys, and entered the tree line, where Ben slowed the ATV down to a manageable speed. They rode in silence for a half hour until they were well away from the house and Don said, “anybody get a count of the casualties?”
“I counted eight down hard, and two wounded,” Cory replied.
“Me too,” Ben answered.
“I didn’t see the wounded. They must have been on the right side.”
“Yep,” Cory answered. “Two of them made it back into the house.”
“I think we disabled all the vehicles,” Don said. “I know I got solid shots on all of them.”
The men rode in silence for the rest of the ride home. Don noted that Ben wore a worried expression, but when he looked at Cory, he smiled back like they were going home from a good football game that the home team won. Don briefly wondered if he had ice water in his veins, or just didn’t understand they were lucky to be alive.
“Glad we got those bastards,” Ben said. “I wouldn’t call it a fair fight though.”
“I try not to get into fair fights,” Don replied. “A fair fight means I lost men. I preferred to let the other side die for their country. This is a war just like any other. The object is to get your brothers home in one piece, and I will take any advantage I can get to keep me and mine safe. I don’t feel any differently about you guys.”
The remainder of the ride to the ranch was silent. When they were five minutes from the gate, Don keyed his mic, saying, “op center?”
“Status?” Came Kate’s reply.
“All friendlies fine.”
“The gate will be open.”
“Roger. Out.” Don turned to Ben and said, “let’s stop for a second.” Ben pulled over and Don continued, “what we just did was illegal. If things ever get back to normal, we could all be charged with murder. So, we either have to agree to not talk about this, or we have to invent a scenario that would justify a self-defense argument. What do you guys think?” He turned in his seat so he could see Cory as well.
“I think we took a ride over there to investigate the gunfire from last night and discovered all those bodies. We might be smart to report it to the sheriff,” Cory said. “And you should know he’s my brother-in-law.”
“Bear is your brother-in-law?” Don asked.
“Yeah, he’s my first wife’s brother. And we are very close. He’s also my best friend.”
“Is that going to be a problem? I mean not telling him the truth.”
“Well, it’s not something I like. But, I don’t want to put him in a position of having to decide to enforce the law, or let me get away with something. It’s not fair to him.”
“Ben?”
“Works for me, but I don’t think we can keep it from the others. We have to tell them the threat is gone. As far as the sheriff, well that’s between Cory and him. Personally, I don’t like lying to law enforcement either. But, it’s the smart thing to do until we see how this mess ends up. I don’t fancy the idea of being prosecuted for killing that scum any more than I like the idea of that scum killing me. It was a lose-lose situation.”
“I agree,” Don replied. “But, that threat is not gone. It’s diminished for now. They can always get more vehicles and shooters. All we did is buy some breathing room.”
“Yeah,” Cory said. “Maybe we should go back tomorrow and finish the job.”
“Don’t go all Rambo on me,” Don replied. “Nobody is going to be stupid enough to stay there and wait for us to come back. If they were that dumb, they would know exactly where we would be. There’s no other cover anywhere close to the house. We have to be patient. If we have them on foot now, we can spot them with the drone and take them out over a period of time.”
“True,” Cory said, looking a little disappointed. “Just a thought.”
Ben started the ATV and five minutes later Bud waved them into the compound. Parking in front of the house, the three men stripped off their vests and piled the gear on the picnic table where the others waited for the briefing. Kate and Julie each hugged their man, and then hugged Ben in turn. Ben and Don sat at the table, suddenly exhausted as the adrenaline rush subsided.
“What happened?” Julie asked.
“We think we got around ten of them and disabled the vehicles,” Cory replied.
“Got?”
“Killed or wounded,” Cory replied slowly, wanting to keep the ugliness of what happened away from her, but knowing that was impossible. Her face first registered shock, then confusion. “They murdered a couple and their three kids,” Cory added. “We saw the bodies stacked up by the garage. They didn’t even bury them. I’m not waiting around for them to come here and do the same to us. There was no choice. I explained that to you last night.” Her confusion turning to fear, she thought it over, then hugged Cory fiercely.
“I’m sorry you had to do it. But, if it helps keep the kids safe, it has to be done,” she said.
“Yes it did,” Kate agreed. “That gang wiped out two families and was two miles from here. It was a question of time, not if, they would find us. I’m glad they are dead and only wish you had gotten all of them. How many are left?”
“We think about ten,” Don replied wearily. “Some of us haven’t slept for a couple of days,” he added. “Ed and Bud have had the most sleep, so can you guys handle security and give the rest of us at least six hours of sleep?”
“Sure,” Ed r
eplied. “Go get some rest.” Don and Ben got to their feet. Ben groaned as he rose, saying, “I am too old for this crap.”
“We all are,” Don sighed, and left the room.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The day after the raid on the gang, life began to slowly return to normal. Ben busied himself with installing the telescoping antenna for the ham radio and then connecting the two. He spent the better part of the day studying the manual and twisting dials. By the time he was through, he hoped they could begin monitoring radio transmissions, as well as use the radios as a police scanner. The radio itself was compact and could be easily moved in the event of an emergency.
Ed stayed busy in the garden the entire day, assisted by Tommy and Angie, who followed behind him planting seeds and covering them with dirt after he created the hole for each individual seed. After three hours of helping, the kids became bored and wandered off to follow Ben around as he cared for the animals. Thankfully, the children remained unaware of what was happening outside the boundaries of the ranch, and oftentimes played in the yard until they fell into their beds exhausted. While the children were occupied, Julie and Cory moved back into the bunkhouse to regain the privacy they enjoyed before the threat of the gang arose.
The security situation reverted to normal, with one person manning the ops center at all times, and everyone now kept their ARs nearby as they worked.
Don and Bud busied themselves with getting Don’s old Jeep up and running. After replacing the coil, condenser, and points, it started immediately. They exchanged a high five and decided to let the Jeep run for an hour to ensure the battery was fully charged.
It was getting close to the time when they would again venture into town to see what sort of supplies they could still manage to buy with their remaining dollars and gold coins. While the ATVs were handy, the Jeep would haul more and Don felt that it might be wise to get everything they could before things got worse.
Don had returned to the ops center to check on the status of all the sensors and cameras when he saw an ATV parked at the gate on the monitor. He grabbed his AR, walked to the porch, and recognized the sheriff, Cory’s brother-in-law, sitting in his ATV, staring back at him. He stuck his head in the doorway and asked Kate to take over the ops center, and again emerged from the house and walked to the gate.
After greeting Bear with a nod of his head, he opened the gate, paused as Bear drove through, and closed it again. Bear parked the ATV in front of Don’s porch and waited for Don to walk back. As he approached, Bear extended his hand and they exchanged a handshake. Don had known Bear for years and had a high opinion of his work as sheriff.
“Deputy Baxter told me he met someone here two days ago named Cory. Is that true?” Bear asked.
“Yes it is. I understand he’s your brother-in-law.”
“Yeah, and I’ve been trying to find him and the kids. I went over to Prescott Valley, but his house had been abandoned.”
“Let me get him for you.”
Don asked Kate to find Cory and bring him to the porch. A few minutes later, as Don sat chatting with Bear, Cory emerged from the house and embraced the sheriff in a fierce hug.
“Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?”
“Because I didn’t know myself, and I had no way of getting ahold of you.” Cory explained how he had met the group on the forest trail and they had arranged to meet him a few days later in the forest.
“You came here without even knowing the people you’re going to be living with?”
“Well, I knew four of them from the trail. But, things are working out fine. We have power, water, and food. It’s gotta be better than trying to live in town.”
“You got lucky. Don’s good people. You got a nice set-up here and I’m happy for you. I was going to ask you to come live with me, but the whole department is now living in our offices with our families. No other way to keep them safe. It’s not real pleasant living in what is basically a dorm room. The kids would be better off here. But, I got some business with Don I have to do, so I can come back later and we can chat. I’d love to see the kids. It’s been too long.”
“Sure,” Cory replied, not taking the hint to give Bear some privacy. The sheriff shrugged.
“Did you hear the gunfire last night and this morning?” he asked.
“Hard to miss. I’ve been on the wrong side of AKs doing business, and there must have been close to twenty of them firing last night. Sounded like it was coming from the Ross place.”
“I just came from there and the place is a mess. The entire family was executed.” His face twisted in disgust.
“That’s awful. I didn’t know them well, but they seemed like nice folks.”
“They were. But, there is something else. Somebody ambushed the attackers from the top of a hillside. I found over a hundred of these.” He pulled a shell casing from his pocket.
“Looks like a .308.”
“It is. I know you shoot them in competition. You wouldn’t have anything you want to tell me, would you?” Don looked at Cory, whose face remained as bland as porridge.
“Not a thing.”
“Whoever killed those gang members was pretty damn good. It was an ambush, plain and simple. One of the neighbors told me the gunfire this morning lasted about a minute. I found over a hundred casing at the shooter’s site. That’s some pretty damn good shooting. Seems almost like a military operation to me.”
“Sounds like someone knew what they were doing.”
“Another thing: the shooters got there in an ATV. I see you have some here.”
“Everybody in this town has one. Are you accusing me of something?”
“Not yet.”
“Good. Because if you are, I’m going to have a problem with that.”
The sheriff ignored the comment and asked, “Baxter tells me you’re the guy who got into the shootout at the Walgreens and took the cop to the hospital?”
“Saving a cop is now a crime?”
“Shooting in town is. But, it’s not my jurisdiction.”
“Well, I guess both that cop and I are lucky then.” Don was quickly tiring of the questioning. “Just out of curiosity,” he said. “What do you suppose would have happened if your boys tried to arrest those guys? They were convicts, according to Baxter. You think they would surrender when you knocked on the door and yelled ‘come out with your hands up’?”
“I doubt that.”
“So, how would you have arrested them?”
“Surround the place and wait them out.”
“How many days would you be willing to ignore everything else going on to keep them penned in? Two days? A week?”
“Well, no. I don’t think that would work.”
“So, I guess you would just leave them there and hope they go away? Here is the reality. If you tried to take those guys out using conventional police methods, you would have lost a lot of men. That’s the hard, cold fact and you know it. There were close to twenty fully automatic weapons in that group and you would have been mowed down before you finished asking for surrender. If I were you, I would thank God that somebody did you a favor and send them a thank-you note. Finally, if you want to visit Cory and the family, that is fine with me. What I won’t do is allow you to conduct an illegal investigation under the ruse of visiting Cory. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.”
“Bear,” Cory said. “These people took my family in, and have fed and protected us without asking anything in return. They are good people. Please leave them alone and drop this. Don is right. Whoever did this did you a favor. The old rules don’t apply anymore and people have to defend themselves. Baxter said it himself. You don’t have the capability to get to problems before folks get killed. What do you expect people to do? Die willingly rather than break laws that don’t work anymore?”
“In fact,” Bear replied, “we now have four ATV’s running and have a rapid reaction force that can get to trouble spots faster.”
“Where were
they last night and this morning?” Don asked.
“At another site, responding to an attack on a truck stop.”
“Didn’t do the Ross family any good.” Bear looked away, glanced at Cory, then looked back at Don.
“I’m giving you one of our radios. The next time you hear gunfire, I expect you to call it in. Do not respond on your own. The world may be falling apart, but we can’t resort to vigilante justice yet. Help is on the way, and we can and will restore order.”
“Give it to Cory. I am done with this discussion,” Don replied. “If you want to visit the kids and chat with Cory, go ahead. But, any questions about the Ross place you address to me and me alone.”
“Fair enough. Before you leave, I should tell you that I saw tracks leaving from the house. Two ATVs by the look of it. So, some of them are still out there.”
“Thanks,” he replied. “That’s good to know.” Don shook Bear’s hand again, less warmly then before, and disappeared into the ops center. He explained the missing ATVs to Bud and Ed and asked Bud to fly the drone around the perimeter of the ranch every night before sunset. “They must form up while it’s still light, case the house, and then attack when people are sleeping. Nothing else makes sense,” Don explained.
“I’m on it,” Bud replied, looking grim. “If they’re there, I will find them.”
Cory and Bear continued their chat as they left the porch. “We’re living in the bunkhouse,” Cory said, nodding toward the structure. “Let’s go see the kids. They’re in class right now, but we can interrupt them for a bit.”
“Class?”
“They attend school half days here. We have a teacher in our group and she has set up a schedule for them.” Bear shook his head in wonder.
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