by Nathan Jones
“In a manner of speaking,” Harmon spat. “Those monsters are going to leave them up there to die of thirst or their injuries, whichever comes first. All to send a message to us.”
“What message?” Abrams demanded, clenching his hands around his rifle. “That they're merciless SOBs who deserve to be gut shot and left to die? We already know that.”
A bitter silence fell. “What do we do?” Trev asked quietly. He and Jane were standing with Lewis and their squad mates near the wounded Marines.
Davis looked away, jaw clenched in helpless rage. “We can't go after them and they know it,” he snarled. “The way they're set up, we could send every fighter we had against that rise with barely a chance of taking it. Even if we somehow won they'd kill Williams, Peterson, and Anders just to spite us. Our people are dead no matter what, they're just going to force us to watch them suffer first.”
Harmon jammed the binoculars back to his face and scoped the hill again, cursing under his breath. After about a minute Lewis cleared his throat awkwardly. “So we just watch? There's nothing we can do?”
“No, there's something,” Davis snapped, whirling to face him. “How many missiles you got left, Halsson?”
Lewis blinked in surprise, and took a moment to find the answer. “Seven.”
“Well if you don't mind I'd like to borrow them, and your launcher.”
“You're going to bombard the rise?” Trev demanded.
The sergeant looked over at him with a frightening gleam in his eyes. “They're sending us a message with this stunt,” he said quietly. “They expect us to just sit and watch our people die because we know we can't do anything. Well Williams and the others are going to die over there, but when they do we'll give them a proper sendoff. However long we have to wait.”
Lewis nodded and motioned for the Aspen Hill volunteers to get ready to move. “I'll get them to you as fast as I can.”
“Do that.” Davis turned back to watching the rise. By that point Lewis's people were ready, and he led the way down the back of the hill and started up the southern slope.
Trev and Jane walked beside him, with the implied suggestion that they could support him if he needed it. “So we just do nothing?” Trev asked. “The blockheads are going to torture those guys to death right in front of us, and our response will be to blow some of them up afterwards?”
“Trying to rescue them would be suicide,” Lewis said quietly. “But that doesn't mean we do nothing.”
Jane gave him a sharp look. “Tonight?” she asked.
Lewis nodded, glancing up at the sky. Still a few hours to dark. “Everyone's attention is down here, and will be for however long Williams and the others can hold out. Now's the perfect time to hit the depot armory. We'll circle around north instead of south, that alternate route you mapped out. The armory's on the north end of the camp anyway, so even if it's more dangerous it's also more direct.”
Trev frowned doubtfully. “Won't all this going on with Williams mean that they'll really be on guard right now?”
“In a way.” Lewis grimaced slightly as vertigo made him stumble. “They're provoking us, so they expect a certain type of response. Like Davis with the missiles, or some sort of full scale attack. What they won't be expecting is a small team sneaking into their camp and blowing up their munitions.”
“You hope,” Trent said from behind.
Lewis didn't even try to turn his head enough to look over his shoulder. He was fine, not fit as a fiddle. “I hope,” he agreed. “But don't you think they'll be just as on guard a week from now, if not more? Everyone knows revenge is a dish best served cold, and that's when they'll be expecting the sneaky sorts of retribution. Now's as good a time as any.”
“I'm in,” Jane said. “Let's get our team together.”
Trev sighed. “It seems a bit messed up to not help Williams and the others, but it's better than doing nothing. I'm in. Rick told me this morning he thinks he's in good enough shape to hold a gun, so he's in too. And Gutierrez has been chomping at the bit since you suggested this four days ago.”
“And me,” Trent said, sounding a bit miffed. Now Lewis did turn to look at him, and the man hunched his shoulders slightly. “Hey, even if it's more dangerous I'm still going.”
Lewis shrugged. “That should do it, then. We'll have the other volunteers sneak as close to the perimeter as we can get them, standing by in case something goes wrong. Let's get ready.”
* * * * *
Williams died an hour after full dark.
It wasn't unexpected, given the severity of his wounds. Actually it was a tribute to his determination that he'd held on so long, hanging from his bound wrists on a hilltop being randomly pelted by rocks from bored blockheads.
That also happened to be the time when Trev joined Lewis and the other volunteers setting out on their raid. It helped that in response to the corporal's death Davis and his Marines began making minor incursions towards the rise to pick off blockhead patrols, trying to bunch the enemy up in preparation for the missile barrage following the deaths of the other two Marines. Trev just hoped it would provide a distraction to the south.
Lewis's revised plan called for them to circle north around Huntington and approach the depot from the northeast. It meant they'd have to hike twice as far, but it took them well away from the rise and the action happening there. More importantly, going on Trev's earlier observations while patrolling the area north of Cedar Creek Canyon, the blockhead patrols were less vigilant east of the town.
“We've all had experience with this,” Lewis whispered before the team of six set out. “We go slow, we watch in all directions, and we be ready to seek cover or even just freeze where we are if there's even a hint of attention in our direction.”
Trev nodded with the others, then followed his cousin as he set off.
Behind them the squad of volunteers went a different direction. Lewis's plan was for his raiding team to get in and out by the same route circling north of town, but just in case something went wrong the volunteers would be waiting due west of the depot, close enough that they could take out the sentries and patrols and provide an avenue of escape for the team.
That would mean shooting their way out of a camp with hundreds of enemies, which didn't say much for their chances of success, but the option was better than nothing in case things went wrong. But since it put the volunteer squad far out in enemy territory, where discovery would quickly lead to being chased down by enemy vehicles, they were instructed to only reveal themselves if specifically ordered to do so.
Trev was content to let Lewis and Jane lead the way once they struck out into the valley east of Cedar Creek Canyon. The two had more experience sneaking around at night like this, which meant he could leave deciding a route and checking the landscape around them for enemies to them, and focus more on following them exactly and moving carefully and without sound. He did keep his eyes and ears open to possible danger, of course, but it was a lower priority than being sure he was hard to detect.
Trent and Gutierrez made up the rearguard. The two men were also uncanny good at stealth, and their presence at his back was comforting. It also gave Trev an opportunity to keep an eye on Rick, moving along beside him.
His friend had mostly recovered from his shoulder wound, and had demonstrated so by rotating it through every motion without the slightest hint of favoring it. Although from his strained expression there was still a bit of pain. That was good enough for Trev, considering Lewis wasn't fully recovered either.
Besides, an injured Rick would still be more of an asset than just about any of the other volunteers, and on top of that just about everyone in the raiding party was used to working with him. Even Trent had spent some time with the younger man while he was healing up, swapping stories and sharing laughs.
It took them a few hours to circle around northeast of the depot. Just as Trev had seen, east of town the patrols weren't quite as vigilant and they were able to move faster, keeping cover bet
ween them and any camps or patrols they saw.
They only had a few scares, usually with a truck driving by, where they had to stop and hide. Trev wasn't actually too worried about the chance of being caught in any of those situations, but the consequences if they were kept him extremely cautious.
When they finally neared the depot they slowed down again. They were getting back to an area where sentries and patrols were far heavier, and the cover wasn't always great. During his and Jane's scouting they'd selected a few possible routes to the camp, places where they thought the cover was good enough to safely approach.
This one was in a ditch alongside a gravel road, which connected to Highway 10 near the north end of camp and went right past the shed. The plan was to use the ditch to get in between the tents, then leave the road behind and go through the camp itself to avoid notice.
It seemed crazy to try to get in along a road, but Lewis was confident that the sentries along it would mostly be keeping an eye out for vehicles. There were just as many sentries watching the camp in all directions, and away from the road those sentries would be vigilant for people trying to sneak in on foot.
Even having found the best spot to approach the camp, they still spent almost a half hour watching the sentries and patrols to find openings. They were sticking with the two-man teams going in and while in the camp itself, since two people at a time had an easier time than six. They'd stay within view of each other, and try to follow the same route, but each team would be responsible for watching for danger and making sure they weren't spotted.
Finally, with the next opening, Lewis and Jane picked their way along the ditch as if they were part of the night, nearly moving with the grass and leaves as they were blown by the breeze. Trev barely saw them even though he was watching them the entire time, and the sentries didn't even pause in their routine. He couldn't help but admire the display of skill.
The two made it safely to the first tents and left the road and ditch behind, disappearing off to the left between two tents. Then it was time to wait for his and Rick's turn. The sentry off to the left had a habit of wandering away close enough to chat with the next sentry along the line, although he always came back after a minute or so. They just had to wait for him to do it again, at the same time as the sentry on the right's back was turned.
It seemed to take forever for the few minutes before the next opening. Then, senses alert to his breathing and the location and movement of his limbs, Trev checked his 1911 in its holster at his hip and his M16 slung on his back one last time, then slipped along the ditch towards camp.
He tried to mimic his cousins' ease, but he still felt clumsy and obvious in spite of the fact that he made so little noise he could barely hear himself. Behind him Rick was just as quiet, and a glance back showed his friend moving slowly but surely. He still expected to hear a warning shout, followed immediately after by gunfire, with every step he took.
Then they were in the camp. Trev poked his head above the side of the ditch and looked around to make sure the coast was clear, then with a curt gesture climbed out and broke left into the tents, trying to be stealthy and appear casual at the same time. Behind him he heard Rick grunt softly in pain at having to use his injured shoulder to pull himself out, but it was quiet enough Trev didn't feel any alarm. Still as the camp was with everyone sleeping, there was still enough noise to cover minor slip ups.
Lewis and Jane crouched behind some tents ten feet ahead, and when the redheaded woman saw them she nudged her husband and the two broke away to move farther down the row of tents. Trev and Rick followed until they'd reached his cousin's former hiding spot and used it themselves, waiting tensely for what seemed like forever until Gutierrez and Trent appeared.
Everyone had made it in without drawing notice. Now they just had to pick their way a hundred yards to the shed, between tents full of sleeping enemy soldiers with patrols regularly moving through the area.
Lewis and Jane led the way, still keeping ten feet ahead. Trev and Rick followed at their signal, and ten feet behind them Gutierrez and Trent brought up the rear. They used a pattern of hiding behind cover to see if the coast was clear, then hurrying down the lane to duck between the next two tents and look around.
Sticking to that pattern the hundred yards between the edge of camp and the armory shed was whittled down to fifty, and everything seemed to be going well. A few patrols passed, flashlights sweeping the night, but they were easy to avoid and didn't seem to be too vigilant. Unless something went wrong they'd never know anyone was in camp, right up to the moment Lewis's team had safely gotten out and the armory went up.
So of course something did.
There was no warning as a shirtless blockhead stumbled through the flaps of the tent to Lewis and Jane's left, yawning hugely and scratching at the side of his head. He nearly walked right into Jane, and for an eternal moment the two stood frozen gaping at each other.
Then Lewis lunged forward around his wife, closing his hands around the enemy soldier's throat not quite in time to choke off a surprised shout. They both dropped to the ground, struggling. Jane recovered almost as quickly, yanking out the knife sheathed at her hip and dropping to a crouch to plunge it into the blockhead's eye. A moment later the man's struggles ceased, and Lewis pulled himself into a crouch with a sigh of relief.
Just in time to hear another shout from down the row of tents behind them. A flashlight beam swung their way, blinking through the tents as it moved in their direction.
“Get to the armory!” Lewis hissed back at Trev and Rick, grabbing the dead soldier. With Jane's help he started dragging the man back into the tent.
Trev wasted no time darting into a gap between the tents, just as the light panned along the row behind him. Gutierrez and Trent had already bolted the other way between two more tents ten feet back.
“Fantastic,” Rick muttered as he followed Trev down the narrow alley, then across another lane to get between two more tents. They both ducked a bit lower as a light shone through the tent next to them, revealing the silhouettes of sleeping soldiers inside. “We're all going to die because some idiot had to take a piss.”
“Just come on,” Trev hissed back. They were almost to the armory, so they could figure out what to do once they got there.
Of course, at the moment the flashlights were herding them away from the shed, in the direction of the barn. There was also the fact that even though Lewis had split them into pairs in case some of them got caught, his cousin was the one with the detonator.
Sure, if they got into the armory Trev could probably figure out some way to make things go boom. But there'd be no countdown timer, so whatever they did would probably start the fireworks while they were still in camp. Getting out then would be a delight.
Gutierrez's voice whispered in his earbuds. “Whoever's headed for the barn, that patrol we spooked is on your tail.”
That drew a curse from Rick. Trev toggled his mic. “Gotcha. We'll try to lose them, or if not we'll lead them on a merry chase to buy you guys some breathing room.”
“Be careful,” Lewis said. “Me and Jane are almost to the shed. If you do get pinned down maybe you can wait out the timer, and the explosion will buy you the distraction you need to slip away.”
“What a mess,” Rick muttered. “Gone wrong before we made it fifty yards into the camp.”
Trev ducked between tents to reach another row, just as flashlight beams tracked along the row where they'd been. Their pursuit was still shouting to each other, but they sounded more confused than anything. With any luck the blockheads might not even be sure they were chasing anything. Maybe they'd give up soon, or start searching another direction.
Gutierrez again. “Hey Lewis, me and Trent are close to the motor pool and it seems unguarded. Do you need us at the shed? If not we could be useful here slashing tires and cutting fuel lines.”
“Yeah, that might help us get away if the patrol decides to sound the alarm. Although we're close enough to Hunt
ington that they'd probably just send trucks down from there. Do it anyway, though. That's the sort of damage we're looking to do here.”
Trev and Rick had made it to within thirty feet of the barn. To his relief the patrol seemed to be sticking to the lane they'd just abandoned, the lights shining down it as they searched between tents. He slowed to let Rick catch up. “Let's get to the barn and circle around it,” he whispered. “That should take us far enough out of the way that we can make for the shed again.”
His friend nodded, and Trev motioned for him to lead the way so he could hang back and keep an eye on the patrol.
The shouts and waving flashlights hadn't drawn as much interest as he'd feared, but a few soldiers did stumble out of their tents to see what the commotion was. Most immediately dismissed it and headed back to their cots, but he saw one or two start poking around their tents. Rick led the way to yet another lane to avoid them, although they had to wait a while for two blockheads chatting in front of a tent to duck back inside.
Finally they reached the barn, following the row of tents that ran parallel to its reassuring bulk off to their left. At the corner Rick checked the wider lane between their hiding spot and the building, then gave Trev the all clear sign and started across.
Halfway across, at the worst possible time, shouts off to their left indicated that the patrol that'd been chasing them, or maybe a different one, had finally chosen to search this lane.
Trev bit back a curse as flashlights swung his way. His first impulse was to freeze, since movement would almost definitely draw attention. But if he just stood around in the open they'd see him anyway. Ahead of him Rick was already the rest of the way to safety around the corner, and Trev barely had time to follow before the light passed near them. He ducked behind the barn, holding his breath as he fell into a crouch.
Less than a second later the beam of light shone directly on the wall around the corner, and men yelled to alert everyone. Rick swore, but Trev didn't waste time doing even that. He was already bolting hard along the south wall of the barn, headed for the tents on the other side and possible safety.