by W. R. Benton
Then the three tanks began to have secondary explosions as the fuel, ammo, and other combustibles went up in flames. The dug in soldiers were firing into the woods now, their bullets clipping small limbs and leaves from the trees. At times a bullet would strike a rock, causing a loud p-zing as it ricocheted off into space.
Jerry was good on the M-60, firing in short spurts and careful not to burn the barrel out. James made his way around the burning tanks, which were sending thick black oily smoke into the air. The earlier light had diminished, but thanks to the burning tanks, enough light remained for him to man the other machine-gun. As he moved behind the powerful gun, he could clearly see the silhouettes of the troops against the burning tanks.
Dick was his ammo man, and his job was to make sure the bullets fed into the gun without twisting or jamming.
James pulled the trigger, smiled at the familiar recoil, and then began looking for targets. They were killing now on both sides of the tanks, and it was bloody work. One man, a grenade in hand, stood and ran for Jerry.
“I got 'em.” Ben said, and then sent a bullet to pierce the man's head, hitting him almost between the eyes. His skull flew apart, gore splattering behind him. He struck the ground hard, and seconds later the grenade exploded.
A man with a radio in his hand sat up as he placed a call requesting air support, then took three rounds in the middle of his chest, all striking him within split seconds of each other. He crumbled to the bottom of his hole, where he felt the cool soil against his face. Then his vision went from light, to gray and finally faded into black. He gave a long sigh and then died.
Over time, the gunfire from the foxholes slowed and then stopped.
“Stay in position until daylight, then we'll check them. There still may still be some of them alive, so stay smart and safe.” James yelled as he took his forefinger off the machine-gun trigger. A white tinge of smoke lifted from the barrel of his weapon to the skies. The smell of burnt flesh was so strong, Nancy turned her head to the left and puked until she began to dry-heave. The sound of the others retching was heard in the woods.
Glancing at the only dead man James could see clearly, it was the man who'd burned to death and his body was in a fetal position, with his hands pulled close to his chest and his fingers curled. Smoke still rose from his blackened form.
Right at dawn, James called out, “Move forward slowly and if you have movement, shoot.”
On his side of the tank, a young trooper suddenly stood and made a run for the trees. He almost made it, but Ben's sniper rifle fired, and his scream was loud as the bullet punched a hole through his back and out his chest. A long finger of blood followed the bullet out the front of his chest. The man fell to his side and began kicking at the grasses as his fingers clawed the soil. Less than a minute later, he gave a loud sigh and died.
Two more shots were heard and then James saw a trooper aiming a pistol at him, probably an officer, and then Frank's rifle popped. The man fell unnaturally to land half in and half out his hole.
“Gather all the gear; boots, rifles, knives, ammo, helmets, all of it. Toss it all in the truck and let's get the hell out of here. Let's move, people, the army will send someone to look for these men when they don't call in this morning.”
Dick was removing the boots off the feet of a young man, when he suddenly felt a hard blow, and he was knocked on his ass. He heard someone yell for a medic, but he knew Nancy was all they had. Seconds later he heard two shots and then the face of Nancy appeared.
“H . . . he shot . . . me.” Dick managed to get out, because the pain was getting stronger now.
“I'm going to give you some morphine to stop your pain, okay?”
An hour later, as the small convoy moved down the dirt and gravel back roads of the Ozarks, James and Nancy, in the truck, were talking.
Between them on the seat, was the captured radio, which would, hopefully, help them avoid roadblocks or check points the US may have established. They were driving parallel to the big Piney River, maybe 100 feet from the riverbanks, close to Fort Leonard Wood, and Devil’s Elbow. The countryside was surrounded by high bluffs and just a mile or so further, on their right, was a huge cave James was moving toward, to use as a temporary base camp. They would drive to the end of the bluff, take the next dirt road to the right and then cut across country. They'd eventually come to the top of the cave, leave the vehicles camouflaged there, and then live in the cave. Since they'd leave most of the supplies in the truck and cars, they'd need a guard on top to keep an eye on things.
Thanks to the dead men around the tanks, they now had M4'ss and plenty of ammo. They'd also taken mines, a flamethrower, and other gear from the foxholes. Each man was carrying 10 of the Meals Ready to Eat, MREs, and Nancy had picked up a field surgical first aid kit.
“How far can we see from the top of this cave?”
“On clear days, for miles and miles, but it all depends on the weather. Today looks like rain, so I'm sure later this afternoon when the rains come, we'll not see as far. We'll be able to watch the river and the road below us. You can reach the cave by walking on the loose shale and sandstone rocks, but they'll slide down and make a hell of a racket. No one can gain access to the cave without us knowing they're coming.”
“Is there a way out of the place?”
“You can come in the front door or out the back, but the back way takes some crawling and time. You'll come out near where we'll park.”
“How much further?”
“Half a mile maybe.”
Suddenly the radio came alive, “Base this is Gray Wolf, over.”
“Uh, go Gray Wolf.”
“Be advised that all three tanks are destroyed, and infantry as well. I count 39 bodies, with one man missing. I repeat 3 . . . 9 . . . KIA. No Charlie Sierra Able bodies found. Add the tank crews as well, because they've been blown to bits. That will change our KIA count to 48, over.”
“Roger, our KIA is 48.”
“Wait one.”
The base, or headquarters radioman, gave the general the KIA count and the man went insane with anger.
“Uh, base, Gray Wolf, and we have found the missing man. The platoon Sergeant claims a group of about a dozen partisans struck the tanks first, then caught the men guarding in a cross-fire, killing them. I'd let you speak with him, but he has a sucking chest wound and is being treated.”
“Gray Wolf, this is Base Actual. Can you tell what in the hell happened out there?” the General asked.
“It appears the tank crews were all asleep and most likely the infantry too, sir. I don't think they expected to be hit. From what I've seen, the partisans had one man injured.”
“So you're telling me 48 of my people were killed by about a dozen of the enemy, and it might have cost them one life?”
“That's about the size of it, from what I see here, sir.”
Long minutes passed.
“Gray Wolf, Base. The old man was as mad as a wet hen when he left for his office. I'd hate to be an officer at the afternoon staff meeting.”
“Roger that. Tell our ride home we need a pick up, but it will take some time with 48 body bags, over.”
“I copy, and they're on their way. I'll have the chopper flight leader contact you when they near. Out.”
Nancy and James both grinned, but he said, “There will be some serious ass chewing at the staff meeting, and our odds of ever catching a whole tank crew asleep again will be low after today.”
“Dick was alive a bit ago, but he was hit hard. I don't think he'll make it, not really.”
“We need to park here in these trees and then check the cave out closely. We're home.”
“Sir, the newspapers in Germany report the death of the man and woman who lived at the address where you sent the photographs, except intelligence states one coffin was empty —the man's. The papers say a criminal shot the man we called the Boss, who in turn shot the robber, and they both died. It seems two criminals and both of the others were killed
. One reporter claims the discovery of a stack of photographs, which were compromising for the gentleman, sir. There is a big legal battle over the estate by the children, because a great deal of wealth is involved. The woman was definitely killed and the man is suspected by our intelligence of being flown to the United Kingdom for treatment. They discovered a man who looks like him in a British hospital and he's being kept under watch by an agent that works as a nurse.”
“Excellent; so perhaps I forced the Boss to retire, then.”
“I have no idea, but I will have our intelligence report the condition of his health. If he is healthy, do you want him eliminated?”
The President thought for a moment and then said, “Yes, but it must look like either an accident or not be traceable to us.”
“I'll see to this immediately, sir.”
Ten minutes later, in the UK a cellphone rang, “Hello.”
“Eliminate the German Air Force General.”
“It shall be done by morning.” She heard the line go dead.
Silvia Ball was a nurse working the same floor as General Paul Runkle. She was to go on shift in about fifteen minutes. She removed a plastic container from her locker, as well as a syringe. She placed them both in her lab coat pocket.
She signed in, got her briefing from the nurse she was replacing and went over the patient charts, seeing the General was improving, but sleeping a lot. She moved down the hallway checking each patient as she always did when coming on every morning shift.
When she entered the General's room he was sleeping, so she moved to his IV and inserted the syringe, dispensing venom from the brown recluse spider. She had a 35 ml Monoject Syringe filled with the poison, so slightly over an ounce entered the bag. She then placed a dead brown recluse spider from the plastic container she carried, in bed with him. She'd killed the spider in the locker room and brought it here for just this reason. She walked from the room.
Near an hour later, as she was adjusting the drip on an IV of another patient she heard the speaker system announce, “We have a code blue in room 103. I repeat a code blue in room 103.”
As a member of the code blue team, she moved to the General's room to assist in trying to save his life. The doctor ran in, jerked the blanket off, and the spider seemed to jump in the air.
“Spider!” the doctor exclaimed, and took a leap back.
The nurse ran to the brown recluse stepped on it, and then moved to the General. Glancing at a wall of machines monitoring him she yelled, “Heart attack! Get the paddles now!”
The doctor, over his initial fear of the spider now, moved forward and took control.
The venom injected was more than enough, because the paddles did no good and his heartbeat remained a steady unmoving line on the monitor.
After 45 minutes, the doctor brought it all to an end when he said, “Since the spider was in his bed, I want an autopsy performed on this man. George, I want you to gather the spider's remains in a urine specimen bottle and have them looked over closely. I hope there is no correlation between the spider and this man's death, but there may be. For the sake of the hospital let's hope they are unrelated, because the last thing we need is for the word to get out we have spiders in our healthcare facility.”
“Yes, sir.”
The nurse went about her normal shift work, knowing in some way she'd just assisted the CSA in removing a dangerous man.
Once her shift was finished, as she returned home walking in the rain, she didn't see the man walking half a block behind her. She entered her apartment, changed and then dialed a number. The man behind her had simply followed her to her door by the dripped water on the brown carpet in the hallway. He listened by the door.
“Mother Hen here, and the problem is gone.”
“Great, do you think anyone suspects you? If so, I can bring you here.”
“No reason to suspect me, but of course I'll eventually be questioned by the police.”
The man outside the door slowly turned her doorknob and discovered the door was locked. Taking his lock picking tools from his coat pocket, he turned the deadbolt. He turned the door handle once more and it opened. Pulling a 9 mm with a silencer, he carefully stepped inside. He heard her still talking.
He walked toward the bedroom, heard her voice growing louder and suspected she was changing or something. At the door, he stopped to listen.
“I promise you, any danger to me and I'll call you for a ride home.”
“You'll call no one!” the man with the pistol said as he stepped into her room.
“W . . . who are you and why —”
There were two muffled gunshots, followed by a short scream. His bullets pierced her chest with one blowing a hole in her heart, while the other struck her lungs. She lay on the floor quivering when the killer heard a voice on the phone yelling.
“Hello.” the killer answered, a big smile on his lips.
“Who are you, and what have you done to her?”
“She's dead. See, I'm an enforcer for the New World Order and I've just killed my first CSA agent. Tell your Mister President his killing of our man in the hospital was a very serious mistake. I've been instructed to inform you that as of this moment, a state of war exists between the NWO and the CSA. I hope to meet you professionally one day, John, after all, I have your address. Say hello to your wife and three kids for me.” The killer then threw the phone on the bed and shot the phone. The killer was unaware his bullet went through the phone, bed, and the floor, to strike a newborn child's head in the apartment below.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, dialed a number, and said, “Silent Night.”
“Sehr gut. Kommen Sie jetzt nach Hause.”
CHAPTER 22
The President of the Conservative States of America was in his war room listening to the battle currently going on between his aircraft and the UN's. His aide entered, leaned to his ear, and then whispered of the telephone call with Mother Hen, and her killer. He stood waiting.
Standing, the President said, “Go get your family and bring them here. They can live here and keep my wife company.” He placed his left hand on his aide and guided him into an empty room.
“Sir, I can't do that.”
“Is there someplace you can send them that's safe?”
“I don't know.”
“Are you sure he said we were at war with the New World Order?”
“I'm positive, sir, and when he said it I got the chills. Those people are rich and ruthless.”
“You're correct. John, fetch your family and bring them here. I think this is the last safe place for them in the world.”
“You very well may be right, but I can't make a decision like this without speaking with my wife, sir.”
“I understand. Go and then let me know your decision, because you're like family.”
“Thank you, sir.” John said as he walked from the room.
James and his small group were now attacking UN forces where they found them. Over the last few weeks they'd ambushed small groups, and their arsenal of collected weapons had grown. They were still working out of the cave, and while Dick had little strength, he was alive and getting better with each new day. At the moment, they were seated in the cave listening to Ben explain how to take out a chopper using a LAW. As he spoke, everyone listened to his words closely.
Frank, who was sitting in the front of the cave guarding, said, “Company comin' to visit and they're not our side.”
“How many?”
“Platoon size, is my guess.”
Ben smiled and said, “Looks like we need to move to a new home. At least this one had a grand view.”
“Gather up your individual gear and leave some grenades with the pins pulled under some stuff, because we might get lucky and kill a couple. Ben, I want you and Frank to cover us with your sniper rifles as we shag ass out of our area of operations (AO).”
“We can do that.”
Five minutes later, the group was leaving the cave and F
rank fired his first round. Since he had a silencer, he started killing from the back of the group and worked his way forward. He killed five men before the platoon Sergeant realized he had dead men.
As the platoon started withdrawing, the two snipers ran up the trail and then Ben fired, having removed his silencer, and a soldier screamed and grabbed his face. He wanted the enemy in the cave now, so he let them see him leaving. Maybe they'd kill a few more with the two mines and grenades they'd left.
At the top of the bluff, as they were loading, two loud explosions were heard, followed by screams. As they drove away, James spotted some of the men climbing over the edge of the bluff. In seconds they were lost to sight.
James led as he moved to another cave he knew of further north.
The President of the CSA had his security team find a place for John and his family. The house used for the White House was huge and there were rooms in the place the President hadn't even visited yet. But he was usually busy and while his war was currently going well, he knew it could all change in a matter of a few short days. The troops at Fort Leonard Wood had pushed the UN troops back across the Big Piney River and they were dug in at that spot. There, reports of pretty blue helmets with bullet holes in them were coming in from all over the state of Missouri.
He poured himself a double bourbon, telling his bartender to sit and watch television with him, as the First Lady helped John and his family get settled. Sitting in an overstuffed recliner, he turned the TV on.
The news was on and a cameraman was panning the trees, near Rolla, Missouri, where UN paratroopers had been caught by locals hanging in trees by their parachutes. Some good ole boys from the small town were shooting them to pieces using everything from BB guns to 30.06's.
The reporter then said, “the footage you just saw is the killing of some of the UN troops that invaded our country approximately three weeks back. While the footage is a bit old, it shows the determination of our citizens. Currently we have thousands of refugees flooding into the state to avoid having the micro-chip implanted. Since they are Americans, they are screened by our security teams and those with arrest warrants or a history of criminal behavior are sent back. If they pass that stage, then they must take an oath of allegiance to the CSA. Able bodied men and women then have a two year military service obligation before they are legally real citizens. If parents, one parent will stay with their children as the other does his or her compulsory service. This is Daniel Williams reporting for WXXC, Jefferson City.”