We Go On (THE DELL)

by Stephen Woods

  I don't know how long I stood there but when I glanced at my watch I could see it was close to 3 a.m. Dave's crew would be going over the fence in thirty minutes. I needed to get back in and see if everything was ready. I took a sip of my coffee and it was cold. Evidently, I had been standing there longer than I thought. I did feel better though. I poured the rest of the cup out and headed back inside.

  The activity that had been going on when I left had dwindled down to nothing now. Just a few people scurried here or there on last minute errands. Most were already in the bunkers and quiet. I walked toward the back where Dave's room was and found the back empty. I poked my head through Dave's curtain but he wasn't there. I figured he had to be outside with his unit getting ready to head out. I still had to go upstairs and get my gear so I turned toward the steps. I'd finish getting dressed then go out and find Dave.

  The upstairs was still deserted and I could hear my footsteps as I made my way to my room. It was the quietest I'd ever heard this area. I hoped it was only temporary. I opened our door, went in, and gathered my gear. I always wore my pistol belt with my .45 attached. I never went anywhere without it. I slid on my body armor and chest rig letting the weight settle on my shoulders.

  The body armor wasn't too uncomfortable though it was heavier than I was used to from my cop days. The chest rig was a long strip of heavy material with pouches for extra magazines and other goodies and attaches to the front of the body armor. We had found hundreds of the plate carrier style body armor lying around during our searches of military bases. They weren't much good against the Stinkies but they still served a purpose against more traditional bad guys.

  It’s basically like regular body armor but designed to be worn over the clothing instead of underneath. And instead of just Kevlar panels to stop pistol bullets, these things had thick ceramic plates in front and back capable of stopping rifle rounds. Dave said he had seen guys hit point blank with AK 47 rounds in Afghanistan and walk away with just bruises. According to him, they were the shit. I hoped I wouldn't find out this morning.

  It was a quarter after three when I got back outside. The 2nd platoon had lined up next to the building and Dave and Jenny were checking the people to make sure they were ready. We had a few rifles and pistols fitted with suppressors and I'd told Dave to make sure his unit took all of them. If they encountered sentries or Stinkies while they were moving into position, I wanted them to be able to take care of them without alerting everyone else. One shot fired before we were all in position and ready would make the plan fall apart. Stealth was the key.

  Dave and Jenny finished their inspection and Dave came over to where I stood. I asked if he was ready and he replied affirmative. The grin across his face told me as much as his words. He was primed and ready. He asked if I wanted to say anything before they left.

  I'm not a speech maker but I could have come up with something motivating about how what they were doing was for the good of the entire group. How they were ensuring our continued survival. Instead, I walked out in front of them and gave them a simple good luck and good hunting. We were trying to be quiet so there wasn't any cheering. Just several smiles and a few whispered see you when we get back. Dave looked at Jenny and after receiving a nod he motioned for the rest to follow him and they all headed toward the back of the compound.

  I had confidence in Dave and 2nd platoon. I knew if there was anybody that could pull this off, it was them. As they disappeared around the corner of the warehouse, I whispered another good luck, then turned and headed for the front gate.

  I found Darryl standing beside the truck with the 50 cal mounted on it. I asked him if 1st platoon was ready and he said ‘yes.’ He had all the augmenters and had put them with experienced guys so there wouldn’t be an entire group of newbie’s by themselves. I told him that was good and asked about his radios.

  The plan called for a person with a radio to be with each machine gun and with each squad. When the assault started the support unit, 1st platoon, would have to shift their fire to the left, toward the Gangs right flank and expected direction of escape, to avoid hitting 2nd platoon as they maneuvered on the left flank. I wanted to make sure that the shift happened immediately so I wanted someone with a radio at each position to make sure the word was passed. Darryl said he had checked them personally and they all knew what to do. That was it then; all we had to do now was wait…

  And wait and wait. I nervously checked my watch every fifteen seconds; 4:30 a.m. finally arrived. The time I had set for Dave to be in position and prepared to make the assault. He was supposed to click the push to talk button on his radio twice as soon as he was in position. At 4:35 a.m., I still hadn't gotten the clicks over the radio and I was starting to get worried. I could see a definite lightning of the sky to the east. It wasn't going to be much longer before dawn. I called Steve, the spotter for our sniper and asked if he could see the Assault element moving. He told me to stand by and he'd try to find them.

  Steve came back on the radio about a minute later and told me that the last of Dave's platoon had just crossed the road to the Gangs side. That was not good news. I don't know what had happened but we were way behind schedule now and the plan was in jeopardy. I guess Mr. Murphy was with us after all.

  I knew it would take Dave about twenty minutes to work his way up to the tree line that was designated as his start point for the assault. That put him just getting into position at 5 a.m. The spotter called back a few minutes later and advised me that he could see movement from the bad guy's across the road. I asked if they had spotted Man-bear yet and he replied negative. This wasn’t good and my stress level sky rocketed. I told Steve as soon as they spotted their primary target to let me know. He said okay and signed off. I turned to Darryl and told him to pass the word to 1st platoon to stand by. He nodded and moved off to pass the word. The sniper team hadn't located Man-bear, Dave's unit wasn't in position and it was definitely getting light now.

  I kept silently repeating ‘come on’ to myself, hoping it would help move things along. We were behind schedule now and there was no way to make it up. All I could do at this point was wait and hope. Then someone across the road fired a shot. Well, that's it, I thought. I immediately keyed my radio. "All units, open fire."

  The reaction was instantaneous. All the weapons from our side of the road started pouring a steady stream of fire toward the Gangs camp. I had the radio pressed to my ear so I could hear above the din. I was barely able to make out Dave's voice when he said, "In position, moving to assault." I acknowledged him and stared across the road at the imaginary line I had drawn in my mind. When Dave's unit reached that imaginary line that would be my signal to pass the word to 1st platoon to shift their fire.

  I concentrated on trying to find Dave's people but I hadn't seen any of them yet. I could see some of the Gang firing in the direction of Dave's tree line but I couldn't see his people. Why weren't they moving? I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my left eye and turned to see a large woman in overalls climb into the bed of a pickup and swing the heavy machine gun mounted there toward 2nd platoon. I started to key my radio, to tell 1st platoon to knock that gun out when I saw her head rock back and she dropped straight down to the floor of the truck bed. It appeared our sniper was at work. I let out a sigh of relief and turned back to where Dave was stuck in the trees.

  I tried to call Dave on the radio and, after three attempts, he finally answered me. I asked if he was on the move yet and he replied ‘no.’ He said the volume of fire coming at him was stronger than he would have ever thought. He said he already had three casualties, one fatal. My heart sank.

  The fire fight had been going on for about ten minutes at this point and Dave was pinned down, unable to move, and taking casualties. We needed to do something fast or it was possible that 2nd platoon would be lost. I called Darryl and told him we needed to increase the fire from 1st platoon. Take some of the heat off of 2nd and give them a chance to withdraw. He said he'd do his best.


  The noise level was tremendous now. You couldn't hear yourself think and I noticed another person climb into the back of the truck with the machine gun mounted in it. I brought my rifle up and started firing. The man stumbled and pitched over the side of the truck, landed on the ground, and was still. I immediately turned to the Humvee beside me and started to pound on the roof to get the gunners attention. After a few seconds, he looked over the edge of the turret at me. I yelled for him to take that pickup out. He nodded and went back to firing.

  Half inch diameter bullets started to chew the old pickup apart. Finally, it burst into flames and rapidly started to burn. The gunner peeked over the rim of the turret and I gave him a thumbs up. He smiled and went back to his deadly work. At least the Gang wouldn't get that gun into action.

  It appeared that the amount of gun fire across the road had started to dwindle. I called Dave and he answered immediately. I passed along my observation and he agreed. I told him he should try to withdraw. We would cover him the best we could. He cut me off with a negative.

  He said they were in position and could continue the assault. I asked about casualties and he stated he had five now, two dead. We were about fifteen minutes in to the fight at this point and I didn't want to risk more dead or wounded. Dave kept stressing they could do it and that they would run the same risk of casualties if they tried to withdraw. I finally relented. He was the commander on the ground and I didn't want to second guess him. I just hoped he was right.

  As I watched the volume of fire coming from Dave's tree line increased and I finally saw his people moving. I snatched the radio off my belt and sent the message to shift fire. The assault was finally underway. About two seconds later, Steve, the spotter, called on the radio. When I answered he told me that large groups of Stinkies were coming across the field toward us. I asked for an exact position and he said to our left and behind the Road Gangs position. They were about one hundred yards away.

  Ignoring the fire still coming from across the road, I jumped up onto the back of the Humvee to get a look. Steve was right, about a hundred, maybe more of the things were slowly moving toward the scene of the fight. A few of the Gang had noticed them and were now firing at them instead of us. As I watched, more and more of them poured out of the trees behind the Gangs position, drawn by the noise and the prospect of a meal. They completely ignored the bullets coming at them and continued to advance on the Gang. I got on the radio and told Dave to immediately withdraw. They couldn't fight the Gang and the Stinkies.

  "You've got to get out of there, Dave."

  "Roger that, we're moving. Get the gate open. We'll come straight in."

  I jumped down from the truck and headed for the gate. Still on the radio, I told Darryl to have 1st platoon cease fire. I got to the gate and unfastened it. As I pulled one side open I could see 2nd platoon running across the road dragging their wounded. I called Jim and told him to send the ATVs and the stretcher crews to the gate to pick up wounded and to alert the Aid Station that casualties were coming in. He said he would and I went back to trying to get 2nd platoon inside.

  The last of 2nd platoon passed inside and Dave was the last one. I asked if they were all in and he said yes, all except for the two dead. I nodded and closed the gate. As I re-secured it, I noticed that all the gun fire had shifted away from us toward the advancing line of Stinkies. The guns were silent on our side of the road. Our people watched the scene unfold in the Gangs camp.

  The Stinkies rolled over the Gang like a wave. The guns didn't faze them and their brains only had one thought on a continuous loop. Food. As we watched the Gang was completely overwhelmed. They went down fighting but they went down.

  Dave looked at me."How 'bout that? Stinkies to the rescue."

  It wasn't over but we could take a short break. We had time, time to get our wounded to the Aid Station, time to re-group. I knew we would have to fight the Stinkies as soon as they were finished across the road. The stretcher crews had left with the wounded and Darryl and Jenny were handling their platoons. I finally got to ask Dave what happened.

  "Shit dude. It was fucked as soon as we got over the fence. There's an old creek back there and I thought it would be great cover. You know, move down it out of sight until we were going to cross the road but there was bunches of old wire from fences and it was overgrown. In the dark, we had to fight our way down and the brush was just too thick to be able to climb out.”

  Dave shook his head. “We had to keep going till we found a break in the brush. By then we were late. As we were moving into the assault position, one of the bastards saw us and threw a shot at us. That's when all hell broke loose."

  I could tell he felt bad and he confirmed it by saying, "It was my fault. The 2nd platoon did everything I told them. I just picked the wrong route."

  I put my hand on his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up. We all did what we thought was right. I should have given you more time for the movement."

  Luckily there had been no casualties from 1st platoon. I can't remember who it was that suggested we turn the semi-trailers on their sides and push them up against the fence but they worked. There had been a hundred or more of the trailers parked in the lot of the warehouse. We flipped them onto their sides and pushed them up tight against the inside of the fence. We filled them with dirt, rocks, and anything else we thought might stop a bullet and they worked.

  The Stinkies couldn't push against them hard enough to move them and the trailers kept the fence from collapsing. They had also kept any bullets from getting through to 1st platoon. They made a great barrier. All we had to do now was secure the gate better and we'd be set.

  We had an old semi-tractor that we'd been able to get running. We used it to move the trailers around and for short supply runs. We pulled it up against the gate. This would keep the Stinkies from being able to force their way through. Now we just had to wait them out.

  I went back to the warehouse to check on the wounded. Organized chaos was the best way to describe the Aid Station. Doc and his staff were working to save one of the worst wounded. Another had died and her body was covered with a sheet and moved to the side.

  I knelt beside the stretcher and raised the sheet. A young girl, just out of her teens, lay peacefully on the stretcher. I knew her name, Heidi, but didn't know anything else about her. I pushed her head to the side and raised her hair. The puncture was already there at the base of the skull. I straightened her hair and turned her face back toward the ceiling. I told her I was sorry then pulled the cover back in place.

  As I stood and turned I saw Doc looking at me. We nodded to each other and I left the Aid Station. Back out on the main floor Jim already had people moving taking care of the issues for the day. He appeared to have it under control so I left the building and went back to the fence.

  The Road Gang was gone. What was left of them had joined the horde of Stinkies that now swarmed around the fence, trying to get in at us. I stood at the gate, just a few feet from them and we looked at each other through the chain link. They were pushing, reaching trying to get at me and I just stood there looking back. The decomposed faces, the moaning and, of course, the smell was horrid. Eventually, I noticed Dave standing beside me. I didn’t look at him. "Put people on top of the trailers with the suppressed weapons and get rid of these things,” I said.

  "Already on it," he replied. "What’re you going to do?"

  "I'm going back and check on the wounded again." I turned and started walking away before he could say anything else. I wasn't in a mood to talk. I knew there were two more or our people outside. I wouldn't get to tell them how sorry I was. They were most likely part of the crowd pushing against the front gate right now but I tried not to think about that.

  It took four days to clear the fence of the Stinkies. Two days of near continuous suppressed rifle fire to put them all down, then two more days to cleanup. There was no way we could leave that many bodies to decompose just outside our fence. It was hard enough just to get out of t
he gate. Thankfully, we had scavenged several boxes of Tyvek suits and heavy rubber gloves. Along with respirators and goggles, the Tyvek made it possible to haul away the bodies without getting contaminated. We took no chances with handling the bodies. It was bad enough to run the risk of a bite or scratch. I sure didn't want to send someone out to move the bodies and get them infected from doing the job.

  We used one of the pickups left by the Road Gang. We'd fill the bed with bodies and then haul them about a mile away to a low spot dug sometime in the past to handle rain runoff. It was more or less a pit and there was no drain so we couldn't further contaminate the streams around us. The bodies were dumped into the pit and burned. We couldn't accomplish complete cremation but we hoped it destroyed whatever was in them that caused the Plague and it kept the smell down to bearable levels. That’s one thing you had to get used to in this new world of ours—the ever present smell of death.

  Two of the five wounded in the attack survived. They would be laid up for a while but they were going to make it. By the time we finished with the cleanup we were nearing an emergency situation with supplies. We had not been able to send out foraging parties for almost a week and Jim had to start rationing our food and water. There’s starting to be some grumbling and not just in our bellies.

  We had a council meeting late in the afternoon after the last bodies were disposed of. The shortages in our supplies were talked about and I could see it would take several trips to get us back up to a level where we had something to fall back on in an emergency. I could only see one alternative. We had to send foragers out in the morning and we had to start restocking our supplies. I told Jim and Dave to organize it and, with recent events, I thought it best if they headed east out of Lebanon for the first few trips. I didn't want to run the risk of running into more Stinkies or worse any survivors of the Gang we had just fought. They agreed and it was decided to head east on I-40 for a few miles and see what they could find.