Randy looked at Brody and shrugged, “I’m fine with it if you are.”
“I don’t really have a problem with it, but most of the supplies aren’t mine, either,” Brody agreed.
“I’ll take it up with Damian when we get up there,” Sean offered.
“Don’t worry about it. Between Emily and me, Brody, you and Maria, we’ve got the numbers to vote her in,” Randy said reassuringly.
“Thank you guys so much,” Samuel said, shaking both their hands. “I can never repay you for what you’ve done for us. You have brought her mother and me some peace of mind in this crazy world.”
“Don’t mention it, Mr. Marlin. You took me in to your hunting camp like family the last few years and shared your years of experience with me,” Randy said with a smile.
“I’m going to go tell her to get packing. I’ll catch up with you in a little bit.”
“That sounds good, Dad. Let everyone know we will be leaving in an hour so if everyone could meet at the farm house for good-byes, that would be great. We’ll swing by and say good-bye to anyone on watch.”
“I’ll let them know and make sure everyone is there,” he promised.
The next hour flew by as Sean walked the farm’s perimeter and got Brody’s opinion on security. Brody and Kenneth hit it off immediately and talked strategy the whole time. After stopping by both watches and saying good-bye to Jackson and his brother-in-law Tyler, they made their way back to Nathan’s house and loaded their supplies in the bed of the truck before heading over to the farmhouse for good-byes.
The next half hour was really hard with all the crying and hugging, especially for Sean’s mother. Kenneth made a donation, giving Allison her own AR-15 and tactical vest with eight thirty-round magazines and a Glock 19 with a paddle holster. He had offered extra ammunition to the departing group, but Randy and Brody assured him that they had a large stockpile at the retreat. Sean had pulled his dad aside at one point and given him his own copy of the map to their retreat. He made sure his father understood that if they lost the farm to looters or if things got really bad, to make the trip and they would figure out the details later. He also promised to try and make a trip down to check up on them as soon as the road got safer. He told his dad that it probably wouldn’t be within the next year though. Just before they left, his father led the family in prayer asking that the family members encircle the departing group and lay hands on them as he prayed. Sean watched as some of his relatives seemed uncomfortable with his family’s more charismatic application of prayer, but everyone joined in. His father prayed for safety during their trip and in the years to follow, followed by his mother praying for discernment and wisdom for their group. Sean’s brother also said a short prayer over them.
They said their last good-byes to their relatives and made their way out to the truck. Sean tried to put on a brave face but when his mother and father hugged him from both sides, he couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. “Take care of your sister and wife, son,” his father whispered in his ear and Sean promised he would. It broke Sean’s heart to see his wife clinging to his mother and the two of them crying together. Sean climbed in the back of the truck with Brody while Maria and Allison sat up front with Randy. The old truck roared to life and Sean started to second guess his decision as he saw the looks on the faces of his family as they drove down the driveway. The truck came to a stop.
“Contact left!” Randy yelled from the cab, bringing Sean back to reality. Both Sean and Brody slid over to that side of the truck and rested their weapons over the ballistic steel plates. Sean immediately recognized Steven walking down the road towards them with a woman at his side. They must have been on their way for the promised supplies but had stopped in the middle of the road a hundred yards away. Sean could tell Steven was really unsure of what to do and seemed really nervous about the truck before him. They probably didn’t recognize him all bundled up with a balaclava over his head for the cold ride north in the back of a pickup.
“Hold your fire!” he hollered back to Randy. He wasn’t sure if he should stay and speak with the woman and didn’t know what he could even say to ease her pain. He convinced himself that she probably didn’t want to speak with him, so he made the decision that he would let his dad and Kenneth handle it. He stood up in the bed of the truck and whistled loudly back towards his family members. He made the signal for two people approaching from the west. His dad waved back in acknowledgement and everyone scrambled for positions. He turned back towards Steven and waved him forward before pounding on the roof of the truck. “Let’s go!” he yelled to Randy.
“You sure?” Randy hollered back.
“Yeah, we know who they are. My family will handle it,” Sean said reassuringly.
“Alright, here we go.” Sean sat down and placed his back to the cab of the truck as Brody handed him an extra wool blanket. Following Brody’s lead, he wrapped himself up like a cocoon. Randy made a right turn out of the driveway and in the opposite direction of the two lonely-looking figures walking down the road towards the farm. Sean watched his childhood home grow smaller and smaller until they rounded the first hill and it was out of site. He pulled the blanket up over his head hoping Brody would think he was trying to stay warm. Sean’s cheeks were soon covered in tears and he wondered if he would ever see his family again.
Chapter 16
Sean couldn’t remember ever being so cold. He remembered his SERE training in the mountains of Washington State in January. He knew that he had probably been this cold before, but he had forgotten about the pain that came along with it. His fingers had swollen in his gloves and his toes throbbed. No amount of wiggling his toes or stretching his fingers seemed to help. The pickup bumped along slowly as they made their way around the numerous abandoned cars on the road. Sean had no idea where they were or what route they were taking as Randy retraced the back roads they took on their journey to the farm.
Sean lost all track of time and had a hard time not focusing solely on his frozen fingers. The monotony of the drive was interrupted by a sudden stop. Sean pulled the blanket off him and came up to a kneeling position even though every muscle in his body cried out in stiffness. Brody was promptly up next to him and they made a quick three hundred sixty degree scan of their surroundings looking for any immediate threats. They both focused in on two cars that were blocking the road about a hundred yards in front of them.
“Those cars weren’t there earlier today,” Brody whispered.
Sean stood up and started to climb over the driver’s side of the truck rails to discuss it with Randy when Brody grabbed him by the collar and roughly pulled him back down. “What are you thinking, idiot! What have I told you before about staying behind cover? For all you know, there are a couple good ol’ boys up there with their rifles pointed at us. We need to get the hell out of dodge right now—this smells like a trap!”
Sean leaned his head around the side of the truck and hollered out to Randy, “Get us outta here Randy-we’re sittin’ ducks!” Sean felt the lurch of the transmission as the truck leapt backwards. Sean dropped his rifle to his side to dangle off his Wolf Hook and grabbed onto the side rails for balance. He turned to look behind them just as a car came rolling down the steep driveway to their left about forty yards away. It crashed to a stop into a disabled car on the other side of the road, effectively blocking their escape.
“Stop!” Sean and Brody yelled in unison. Randy hit the brakes hard nearly sending them flying into the tailgate. Once stopped, Sean let go of the side rails and knelt behind one of the ballistic plates mounted to the tailgate looking for movement.
Randy rolled down the window. “What’s going on?” he hollered back at them, not seeing what just happened.
“We’re being ambushed!” Brody hollered back, just as a voice from behind the two wrecked cars hollered out.
“We don’t want to kill you guys! We just want the truck!” they heard the guy yell. “Throw down your guns and we’ll let you just walk away!”
&nb
sp; “No frickin’ way am I laying down my rifle for anyone,” Brody whispered to Sean. “Throw our packs over the left side there and tell Randy to give us thirty seconds, then chuck that smoke grenade up the road as far as he can. Tell him they need to grab the packs and make for the woods on the left. As soon as they get to the trees, have them give us cover fire so we can meet up with them. I’ll cover our rear; you just focus on those cars up the road. Last thing: throw that pack of yours on. We are probably going to need that rifle of yours if we intend to take the truck back.”
“I’m not going to wait all day for an answer!” the man from behind the vehicles hollered. Just then, Sean watched two other men sprint the short distance from the trees near the driveway to take position behind the two wrecked cars. They must have been the men who pushed the car down in the first place. Sean noticed that both took position over the roof of the car perpendicular to them.
“Idiots...,” Brody mentioned. “They don’t even know the difference between cover and concealment.” Sean had noticed the same thing. Both guys were standing up behind nothing but a couple windows and the thin car door panels, which stood no chance of stopping the rounds from their assault rifles. If they had been smart, they would have positioned themselves behind the front wheels, which would have put the car’s engine block in their way. “New plan: After you fill Randy in and throw your pack on, come back and dump a mag on that guy on the right. I will take the one on the left. After you empty a mag, go back and put some cover fire on those cars up the road.”
“This is your last chance!” they heard the mystery man yell. Sean hustled over and quickly told Randy the plan from the bed of the truck. Sean pulled on his Alice pack and then unceremoniously tossed the other packs to the side of the road.
“Okay, we’re leaving the truck for you! Don’t shoot!” Sean yelled back at the man.
“Make sure you grab the packs on the way,” he hollered to Randy who gave him a “thumbs up” out the window. Sean took position next to Brody, keeping their heads down below the ballistic plates. Brody moved away from the tailgate and shouldered his AUG in the direction of the men behind them and Sean followed his lead.
“Ok, when we pop up, make sure you only come up high enough to get your barrel over the ballistic plate. Don’t give them any extra body mass to shoot at. I estimate them to be around thirty yards away. We will have a distinct advantage with our red dots. They are going to have a tough time getting us lined up in their scopes, so get that first round off as soon as possible. And follow up with steady fire. Don’t give them a chance to put us in the crosshairs,” Brody smiled at him. “You know what to do, buddy. As soon as you hear that smoke grenade get tossed, it’s time to do work!”
It seemed like an eternity before Sean heard the hissing of the grenade as Randy threw it out the window. Sean and Brody rose up simultaneously and opened fire. Sean’s first shot was aimed at the man’s head. He wasn’t sure if he hit him or not as the man suddenly disappeared from view. Sean focused his next twenty rounds on the windows and door the man had been standing behind. Lastly, he quickly emptied the rest of the mag under the car, hoping to skip the rounds off the pavement if the man had lain down. At worst the guy would be getting some nice bullet fragments in his ankles. Without hesitation, Sean dropped down behind the cover of the ballistic plate and made a seamless mag change. He stuffed the empty mag in his cargo pocket as he shuffled himself over to the cab. Sean was a fraction of a second slower than Brody, who had already popped back up and was putting more .223 rounds down range.
Sean lifted himself up over the cab and started to shoot at the cars blocking the road about a hundred yards away. He suddenly heard Randy’s AR open up to his left, and through Sean’s peripheral sight he could see Randy shooting from a prone position as the girls scrambled out of the truck and headed for the packs. Sean couldn’t see anyone ahead of them through the billowing smoke; he was just concentrating on peppering the cars from front to back to try and dissuade anyone from lifting their heads up. All of a sudden he saw a flash under the back bumper of the right car and almost simultaneously felt the concussion wave as a round flew by his ear. He aimed in that direction, but two rounds later he was empty again. He dropped down into the bed of the truck scrambling for a fresh mag out of his vest. It was almost second nature now after multiple table drills with Brody and practicing in his living room for proficiency.
“Randy! Aim under the back bumper of the right car!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Right bumper of the car on the right!” he screamed a second time as he was already coming back up. He emptied another magazine at the same location as Randy reloaded. Then it was Randy’s turn as Sean reloaded. Sean stole a glance to his left just as the girls were entering the woods. He popped up once more and started shooting again. “Randy! Move to cover!” he yelled out, but Randy was already on the move. Just as he finished his third mag, he heard Randy and the two girls as they joined in. “Time to move!” Brody yelled as he propelled himself over the side rails of the truck in one fluid motion, landing on his feet like a cat with his rifle in the ready position. It was the precision only gained from years of practice and true battle experience. Sean had been halfway through a mag change and just dropped the empty mag instead of stuffing it in his cargo pocket while inserting a fresh one.
Sean’s exit was all kinds of awkward as his heavy pack forced him to shimmy down over the side rails of the truck with only one arm as his other hand held his SU-16. Once solid ground was achieved, he quickly chambered a round and started firing again at the two distant cars as he shuffled to the tree line. Once in the woods, they formed a line with the two girls in the center and quickly made their way away from the danger zone. They huddled up about two hundred yards into the cut, with their backs together and each member covering their own sector. The girls caught on with no need for instructions and backed their way into the tight circle.
“What the hell!” Randy vented to no one in particular.
“What now?” Maria asked, panting.
“We get our freakin’ truck back. That’s what’s now!” Sean answered. “Brody, what’s the plan?”
“That depends. I’m almost positive that I took out the guy I was shooting at and I never saw your target after the initial barrage. The third guy that did all the talking never joined in to help his buddies out, the big chicken. We have to assume he is still over there. What about on your end? I heard you yelling to Randy.”
“Yeah, I only saw the one flash and he’s a shooter... damn round just missed me over my head.”
“No, it didn’t,” Brody chimed in. “It went just over your shoulder. Check the shoulder strap on your pack.”
Sean looked down and saw the strap had a long gash through it with bits of white foam poking out. “Holy cow! That was a close one!” He never even felt it hit his shoulder.
“Do you think you guys got him?” Allison asked.
“I sure hope so. We sure put enough rounds in his direction. But he could have also been just laying low. What do you think Sean?” Randy asked him.
“I don’t know. I never got a good look at him, just the muzzle flash. It was too far with no scope looking through smoke.”
“Alright, we are going to assume he is still out there and possibly a friend or two. We need to respect that guy’s ability going forward,” Brody said as a matter of fact. “Here’s my thought: I’ll take Randy on a wide circle and we’ll come from behind on those three I was shooting at. Take that rifle of yours and work your way through the woods and sneak up to the edge of the road. Try and get a scope on him and take him out if you get a shot. Have Allison go with you in case you need cover fire so you can relocate. Her AR will reach out better than the 9mm carbine your wife is carrying. Stack the packs up about fifteen yards away from the tree line and have Maria keep watch on our backside. For all we know they could already have some guys circling our position. Sound good?”
Everyone nodded in agreement and they moved off
in separate directions, scanning the woods before them for any movement. Sean’s group didn’t go too far as he didn’t want to get too close to the shooter and too far away from the truck. They dropped their packs and Sean quickly rummaged through Maria’s Alice pack until he found the ghillie parka he had acquired from Kenneth. He pulled his Tikka out of its scabbard on his pack and slid his SU-16 in its place. He grabbed the two extra rifle mags out of his vest and stuffed them in his front pants pocket before throwing the Ghillie parka over his head.
“Allison, stay behind me and don’t expose yourself unless I tell you to provide cover. In that case, make sure you keep as much of your body behind a tree as possible. Dump one mag at the threat, which should allow time for me to crawl back away from the wood line, and then quickly retreat back here to the packs. You understand?”
Allison nodded her head in agreement but Sean could tell she was really nervous. “Maria, try and conceal yourself as best as possible in the immediate area and keep a look out.”
“I got it,” she said confidently. Sean spent a minute or two weaving some of the native grass into his ghillie hood before slowly working his way closer to the road. When he was about ten yards out, he motioned for Allison to stay put. Sean lay on his belly and very slowly dragged himself closer to the road at a snail’s pace stopping every few feet to lift his head and look around. Years of camouflage and evasion experience came back to him instantly. Hopefully their adversaries would think they ran away and wouldn’t return as quickly as they had. As he neared the edge of the trees, he heard the familiar sound of Brody’s short barrel AUG down the road. It was perfect timing as he was just trying to figure out how to move the last few feet into the tall grass along the road without being seen. The shooting down the street provided the distraction needed, and Sean dragged himself out further until he could see the original two cars that blocked the road. He slowly scanned the vehicles and finally saw the man’s barrel protruding from under where the two front bumpers of the cars met. There was a bright flash in his scope as the rifle went off in the direction of his two close friends. Sean couldn’t physically see the man’s body lying prone between the vehicles, so he estimated where his body would be and fired a round under the car just in front of the wheel.
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