“Hey, tell Don to come see the police chief next time he’s in town. I know the chief wants to see him.”
“Will do.” Cory walked back to the Jeep and waited for the others to conclude their purchases. As they approached, Cory noted they had managed to buy ammo and the grain grinder, but not the canning jars.
“The jars were gone when we went back,” Julie said, anticipating his question.
“How much did they charge for the ammo and what did you get?” Cory asked Bud.
“I paid 1,200 dollars for 300 rounds of .223 and 150 of the .308. But I also got 50 rounds for the Mossberg thrown in the deal.
Cory whistled softly and said, “that is about four times the pre-EMP price for the ammo.” He paused, and then added, “I suppose we should head back to the ranch. But, let’s go buy some food for appearance sake. I want to see if we can find any bacon. I haven’t had a BLT since this whole thing started.”
After buying six pounds of bacon, they started back to the ranch. It was a beautiful end-of-summer afternoon, with clear skies and a bright, cheerful sun. Although none of them was anxious to return to the ranch, they didn’t want the rest of the group to worry about them. Everyone was feeling quite relaxed after the trip to town; discovering that order had been restored in town was heartening.
As they crossed Pioneer Parkway and started their last leg on the trip back to the ranch, gunfire rang out to the west of their position. A long exchange of at least two calibers of gunshots followed, and slowly tapered off before dying entirely. Although it seemed to be far in the distance, it startled them and provided a sobering reminder that while the town was peaceful, the countryside remained a dangerous and violent place. The remainder of the journey was made in silence.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Don and Bud finished their three-mile run before eating breakfast with the rest of the group. It was Don’s turn to go into town to shop for supplies, and Kate, Ed, and Ann were going along. Ben decided to stay on the ranch and look after two of the cows who were about to give birth. Cory had told Don of the police chief’s desire to see him and thank him for his rescue of the officer two weeks prior. Don was not particularly anxious to receive the praise, but didn’t want to miss a chance to talk to the one person who might be able to shed some light on the whereabouts of the remaining convicts and brief him on other potential threats.
“I guess we better gear up and head into town,” Don said, after finishing his coffee.
“Lord, that bacon was good.” Cory moaned.
“Second that,” Bud said.
“Okay, let’s get over the bacon and get moving,” Kate joked. “But, that was a good buy.”
As they rode into town with Ed behind the wheel, Don was thinking about the coming meeting with the police chief. He had met him two years earlier at a first responders fund raising event, and Don remembered him as a taciturn man: humorless and soft-spoken. They turned on Marina Street and parked in front of the station, a large brick structure built in the style of so many institutional buildings, and contrasting starkly with the historic buildings that surrounded it. A single police officer stood in front of the building, tactical shotgun in hand. The officer eyed the group warily, as if trying to decide if they represented a threat or not. Don approached without his AR, which he left in the Jeep, and said, “my name is Don. I understand the chief wants to see me.”
“He’s not here,” he replied tersely.
“You know where he is?”
“Last I heard, he was headed to the hospital.”
“Can you radio him and ask him where he wants to meet?”
The officer pulled his microphone off a tab on his shirt, spoke briefly, and said, “he wants to know if you can meet him at the hospital, room 113.”
“Sure. Thanks.” The officer just nodded and Don got in the Jeep. They drove to the hospital six blocks away and parked.
“Why don’t you guys wait here?” Don asked. “I don’t want to carry the rifles around here, but I don’t want to leave them unattended in the Jeep either.”
“Sure thing,” Ed replied.
Don got out of the Jeep and passed through the unguarded entrance of the hospital, wandered down hallways until he found the room and passed through the open door. The police officer he rescued, Norm, lay in a bed, awake and reading a magazine. Two drip tubes were connected to his right arm. The chief, Fred, sat in a chair next to the bed.
“I’m Don,” he said, approaching the chief and extending a hand.
“I remember you from the fundraiser,” Fred replied. “Have a seat.” He nodded toward a second empty chair.
“Is this the guy who brought me here?” Norm asked Fred.
“Yes,” Don replied. “I’m glad to see you made it.”
“I want to thank you. My wife and kids also wanted me to thank you for saving me. I’ve never heard of a civilian doing such a thing.”
“I’m former military and, to tell the truth, my training kicked in and I didn’t really think about it. If I had, I would have run the other way. My wife provided the covering fire that allowed me to get you out of there.”
“Well, thanks anyway.”
“Where is everyone?” Don asked. “I didn’t see a guard outside and there’s no medical staff here.”
“The doctors and nurses are sleeping. We’re down to two doctors and three nurses. They had a long night last night and are bunked out in other rooms. A motorcycle gang, we think it’s Los Lobos out of Phoenix, attacked a ranch in Prescott Valley last night, and we captured one of their wounded. He’s handcuffed to a bed next door. Too bad, but they were able to save him. So, we just have to execute him later. Seems like a waste of time, but there you are.”
“The family?”
“Dead. Four of them, including a small girl.”
“I could shoot him for you now and save you the trouble of a trial,” Don offered.
“Tempting, but no. You already shot the place up once, and we try to discourage that kind of behavior,” the chief smirked. “Give me a second, and then I want to talk some business with you.” He plucked a radio from his belt and spoke briefly with another officer. When he finished, he turned back to Don and said, “let’s go down to the lobby and chat.” Don shook hands with Norm, who patted the back of Don’s hand twice.
They walked to the lobby and sat on a couch in the waiting room. Don said, “I have people waiting outside. Is it okay if they come in? They are armed, but I can vouch for them.” The chief nodded and Don left the room and returned, accompanied by the rest of the group. Don did the introductions and handshakes were exchanged all around. They all sat on another couch, facing Don and the chief. A few seconds later, Paul, the police officer on guard at the hospital when Don brought Norm in, entered and greeted Don warmly.
“All right, let’s get down to business,” the chief said. “The reason I want to talk to you, aside from thanking you for helping us out, is I want to let you know what is going on and ask you for some help. The attack in Prescott Valley last night was just the tip of the spear. We have been talking to the Phoenix PD for the last ten days by radio. They have an informant inside a motorcycle gang that also controls a lot of heroin distribution in the valley. He’s in with Los Lobos. The guy we captured was a part of a four-man advance group to find a place for them to base out of here. Last week, they overran the National Guard installation at Papago Park, in Phoenix, and are armed with M16s, SAWs, and maybe even some crew served weapons. And, they are headed our way.”
“How do we know that?” Don asked.
“The informant,” the chief replied. “They just overran Black Canyon City and are now headed toward us. If they stop along the way to ransack other towns, we may have a day or two. The informant says the plan is to take over Prescott, sell heroin to the addicts here, and force the farmers and ranchers to feed them. Apparently, the valley is out of food and water. He has been communicating with Phoenix by radio, but is now out of range so we don’t have any more in
fo coming in from him. In short, we’re blind.”
“Do we know how many of them are coming?” Ed asked.
“Around two hundred. But, they are getting larger as they get closer. More people are joining up with them to get the food and drugs they have.”
“How many men do we have?” Don asked.
“I have fourteen officers. Sheriff Bear has twelve, and we have sixteen national guardsmen. The only automatic weapons we have are with the Guard.”
“So, what do you want from me?”
“I want two things. First, I want you to assume command of that National Guard. They have no officers in their ranks. I will take command of all law enforcement. Second, I want to form a militia and I want you to command it. What we’re facing here is going to be a battle, and law enforcement has no training for this kind of thing. We are good at what we do, but a pitched gun battle against automatic weapons is outside of our skill set.”
Don glanced at Kate, who was shaking her head. “You’ve fought your battles, Don. Remember when you first got back and couldn’t sleep because of the nightmares? Remember the hair-trigger temper, and the counseling we went through? I’m not going to watch that again. You do this, and you need to move off the ranch.” She rose and stalked outside, visibly seething.
“Sometimes, I wish she would stop dancing around stuff and just say what she means,” Ed commented wryly.
“Who will form the militia?” Don asked.
“We have twenty-four firemen and EMTs who have volunteered to join up and help.”
“Are there any more M16s in the Guard armory?”
“Six that we can find. Others were taken by deserters.”
“I don’t know that I would call them deserters. They’re probably home trying to protect their families, like the rest of us.”
“Call them what you want, the point is we are missing weapons. I don’t mind so much that they didn’t report for duty, but they shouldn’t have taken their weapons with them.”
“That’s probably true,” Don allowed. He paused for a second, then asked, “Why me?”
“Because you’re the only officer I can find who has substantial combat experience. When the paper ran the article on you, right after you moved here, it said you had four combat tours, a Purple Heart, and a Bronze Star. There just isn’t anyone else we can find.”
“Can we recruit more men? That’s a fairly small force to face down what’s coming at us.”
“I can’t do that. I don’t mind using people that swore an oath to protect, but I can’t involve townspeople with no training. To be honest, I don’t know that many of them would have the discipline to stand and fight. I just don’t think we can count on them. And, I’m not sure any would agree to join up if they knew what we’re facing. It sounds like suicide on the surface of it.”
“It will be if we can’t find an advantage,” Don replied grimly. He already knew there was no choice. The ranch could not possibly fend off two hundred aggressors armed with automatic weapons. He also knew that he might lose Kate. But, he thought, better to lose her than to lose everyone forever. He cursed under his breath, wondering why he always seemed to be faced with impossible choices. Don had sworn an oath and, as a technical matter, he could not be bound to it. But, the oath wasn’t a technical matter to him. His country needed him once again, and he couldn’t look the other way, even if the ranch was safe.
“I have to get these people home, gear up, and come back,” Don finally said.
“The sheriff has two deputies watching the freeway exit at Highway 69. That will give us about forty minutes notice. So, hurry back and I’ll round up everybody I can, get them armed, and we’ll meet you back here in an hour.”
“You know anyone who handles explosives? Maybe someone from a road construction crew, or something?”
“I know the county does some blasting to clear rock formations on cliffs over roads. The guy who handles the blasting is named David and he lives near the Dells.”
“You have a piece of paper and a pen?”
“Sure.” The chief scrambled to locate a yellow legal pad. Don sat down, drew a hasty sketch, and then handed it to the chief.
“Get him, and have him make at least three of these. The more the better, but three is the minimum.” The chief stared at the drawing and comprehension crossed his expression.
“These are hand grenades,” he said.
“Yes, we used to find these in Iraq. The dynamite is at the center of the cylinder, surrounded by nails, screws, broken glass, and anything else that can cut. The top is soldered shut with the fuse sticking out. You light the fuse and toss the cylinder. Tell your guy we need three second fuses. If he has to, he can put filler in the bottom to raise the fuse height to keep the fuses short.”
Paul finally spoke, saying, “I’ll get David, the dynamite and shrapnel, and be back here ASAP.”
“Thanks,” the chief replied.
“One last thing,” Don said. “Two actually: first, make sure we have enough transportation to move everyone around quickly. Second, get a city map and get it on the wall of the conference room. We need to have a meeting the moment I get back.” Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left.
The ride to the ranch was the most unpleasant that any of the four had ever experienced. Kate sat in stony silence, staring straight ahead, with Don glancing over every few seconds to see if she would make eye contact. Ed and Ann sat in the back seat, neither daring to utter a word. As he drove, Don thought about what Kate had said, and although he wished she hadn’t done it in front of other people, there was no question she was right. His adjustment to civilian life had been a long and painful process. Haunted by nightmares, he had not been able to sleep well and spent many nights reading or pacing around the house. The lack of sleep made him prickly, and he snapped several times, only to have to apologize to Kate for things he said when not in control of himself. Kate’s repeated requests for him to get counseling were ignored, as he felt he just needed time. Finally, while thrashing in his sleep, he accidently struck Kate. He had blackened her eye. He went reluctantly into a VA program, and slowly made progress. He remembered how difficult it had been. The only time in their marriage that Don felt as though he might lose Kate was that night, and his deciding to enter counseling was a direct result of that evening.
Don glanced over yet again, but Kate still refused to make eye contact. He regretted what he had done to Kate during the time he made the difficult adjustment back to civilian life. He regretted even more what he was about to do, but when presented with two terrible alternatives, the only choice was to pick the best of the two. When the Jeep stopped, Kate walked to the house, then back to their bedroom and shut the door without a word.
Cory looked at Don with a confused expression.
Ed shook his head in the negative, telling Cory to ask no questions.
“Get everyone together here, please,” Don said to Cory, who noticed an element of command in Don’s voice he had never heard before.
“I’m on it.” Five minutes later the group, absent Kate, sat on the picnic table in the ops center waiting for Don to speak. He started by explaining his meeting with the police chief, outlined his rationale for accepting the job, and then explained why everyone but Bud needed to stay at the ranch.
“No way,” Cory said. “I’m going, and that’s final.”
“Me too,” Ed added.
“Count me in,” Ben said.
“No, this is not negotiable. If they get by us, you need to have enough firepower to repel them. I know we can whittle them down before they get this far, but I am not giving up everything I have and losing all the people I love, and that is final. The chief would just arrest you anyway. He prohibited anyone joining who is not police or fire. He won’t budge on it either.” The men looked at each other, shocked at the tone of his voice. “Cory,” Don said. “I need a word in private,” and walked out the front door.
Cory followed him out and closed the door beh
ind him. Don turned to face Cory and continued, “there are only two warriors in that room and you are the other one, and you know it.”
“Don, we’re in this together.”
“No, we’re not. I am leaving you in charge here because you are the only other person who will remain cool under fire. I’ve seen it before and as much as I love everyone in that room, you are the only one I can trust to keep their act together.”
“Ben and Ed have both proven themselves under fire.”
Don sighed, clearly growing exasperated. “If this house is attacked by automatic weapons, it will look like Swiss cheese and everyone in it will be terrified. I guarantee you that people will panic. I’m the only one here who has been on the wrong end of an AK, and I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty, that there will be a complete panic. We have the fighting positions, but trust me some rounds will get through. I need somebody here who will be able to direct the fight. That’s you. There is nobody else.”
“What about the Ross house?”
“We ambushed them. That wasn’t battle. Look, I need you to stay here and protect every person in the world that I love. I need your support on this. And I need it now.” Cory looked away, clearly agonizing over his decision. Waves of emotion crossed his face until he calmed himself with a visible breath.
“Okay Don, I’ll do it. After what you did for us, I don’t see how I can say no, even if it kills me to let you go off by yourself on this mission. I got to tell you, it really hurts.”
“I know it does. But you can suck it up and do what I need you to do here just this one time, right?”
“Right.”
“Good. Let’s go back in.” As they entered the room, the remainder of the group, still absent Kate, was engaged in a heated argument.
“We don’t have time for this,” Don shouted, and the group fell silent. “I have to leave now, and I am putting Cory in charge of security. Please do as he orders in the event of an attack.”
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