by Nhys Glover
Michael held up a sock. I thought he was losing his mind. A sock? What was he going to do, put it on his hand and entertain the enemy with a sock-puppet show?
But Karl obviously got it, because he nodded. “Again, last resort. The enemy will have to be at close-quarters for a sock full of snooker balls to have an effect.”
Michael nodded, as if he agreed. Hilary turned wide eyes on me. Had my brother been having private lessons with our bodyguards? It sounded like it.
After watching Faith check her small pistol like a pro and slide the safety into place, I followed suit. Mine was larger than her gun, and felt alien in my hand. Yet as the cold metal began to warm, I felt my confidence rising. We could do this. The pastor’s reign of terror ended tonight.
I wondered why they were taking such a drastic stand. Surely, if they’d got wind of Cindy’s body being found and the investigation being underway they’d just sneak out of town and find some new place to start afresh. They had to know there’d be massive losses taking this route. Of course, if the pastor stayed out of it and let his people act as cannon fodder, then it made more sense. And they couldn’t know that we had been planning for this very thing for weeks. They probably thought they could sneak in while we slept and kill us in our beds.
Surely they’d know I had security. They’d have to have seen my bodyguards coming into town with us. But two men was not an army. They probably didn’t think they’d lose too many in the clash. And if they could kill Lauren and me, it would be worth it. Because I knew we were the ones they were after. Maybe Hilary, too. But I was the witch’s daughter. I was the Channing who had inherited this property. In their eyes I had become the devil’s handmaiden after my mother.
Next, Karl handed out tablets, which had the floor-plan of the house and grounds on them. Immediately I saw the blinking blue lights congregating in the living room that represented us, and another blue light moving around the house’s exterior. That would be Fred.
“Remember, the pinpoints of light are heat signatures. Red lights are the enemy’s unprotected signatures. Our equipment blocks enough of this signature to differentiate us from them. While you wear the earpieces,” he said as he handed out the small gadgets. “...you’ll show up as blue, as will Fred and me. The rest of the cavalry will also appear as blue lights. Everyone else is red. Got it? See a red light, know it’s the enemy. Questions?”
Nobody had one. We knew what we had to do. We even had our positions already allocated to us. Hilary and Faith were heading for the cellar. Flying bullets could take out a child, born or unborn, too easily, so they were to be protected at all costs. The cellar was made of concrete. Nothing short of a bomb would get through to them there.
Michael and Lauren had one side of the house each, while Fred and Karl had the back and front. My job was to ferry fresh ammo to anyone who needed it. I had a cache of the stuff in the hall closet, just waiting for me. I would shoot only if the house was breached, and only if a red light was coming my way.
Once we were all in position, we tried out our comms units. I was surprised to hear Jake’s voice loud and clear as we took our turns speaking on our designated channel.
“Pastor is a mile out. Ten vehicles in his convoy loaded down with bodies and weapons. Maybe fifty people in all,” Jake reported. “I have five deputies with me in two vehicles hanging back. Pete has men coming in from the other direction, still ten miles out.” Silence for a moment and then. “Correction, I have a vehicle with civilians on our tail. I think I have an idea who it is. I’ll need to get him set up. Don’t want any of us blowing a hole in a friendly.”
I had to wonder who it was. Could the neighborhood watch have sent a team to join us? The very idea of a bunch of senior citizens joining the fight made me snigger. Of course, some of those senior cits had fought in Vietnam, so I shouldn't discount them. Anyone could fire a gun, after all.
The next few minutes were some of the tensest in my life. I was terrified Michael would play Rambo and go in guns blazing. I worried Hilary would find herself facing a crazy coming at her and Faith in the cellar. My daughter had too much courage, and she wouldn’t think twice about putting herself in danger to protect Faith. What might it cost her, if she did?
Then there was Lauren. How would she handle a firefight against the people who had tortured her? Okay, maybe not the actual people who had done the crime, because those five were still behind bars waiting for the endless legal back and forth. But faces didn’t matter. It was intention that mattered. And everyone heading out to Channing intended to kill her. And though Lauren was older than her years, she was still only seventeen. Just about to turn seventeen.
Yet, I’d seen her expression as she learned how to use a shotgun with her cast. I’d seen the fire in her eyes whenever she talked about wanting a chance to fight back. Maybe this was something she needed, as horrible as it was. Sometimes a person needed to feel empowered again before they could feel whole once more.
I crouched down beside the open closet, my eyes glued to the tablet that showed me the situation. Right now the only lights on the small screen were ours, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.
Sure enough, almost as if I’d called them into being, I saw a line of large red dots, like a necklace of bloody pearls, threading its way toward us. Ten pearls. Ten vehicles chock-full of bad-guys. I felt suddenly very sick. This had gotten real, fast!
I watched as the vehicles came to a stop where the dead forest started. The red lights blinked around like angry hornets for a few minutes, as if they weren’t sure what to do. Then, one by one, they began to move out to form a circle around the house from two directions. There were so many of them! Too many! How were we supposed to win against so many crazies after our blood?
And almost as bad was the thought that I would likely have to kill someone tonight. I’d never thought that I’d ever have to do something like that. I was a pacifist. In my heart, I was a pacifist. But for the first time ever, I knew at a soul-deep level that, if it came to protecting the life of my children, I wouldn’t hesitate. I would kill!
My eyes were unable to leave the tablet. I also knew I needed the bathroom desperately. But there was no time for a pit-stop. And it was just fear talking. I could use the facilities and still want to go again five minutes later. If I was very lucky I might avoid wetting myself.
I saw the tiny beads of red forming an uneven circle around the house within the tree-line, a hundred strides out. Now more blue lights had appeared on the private road leading to the house. Jake and his men. Six blue dots. Not nearly enough! Not nearly enough!
A shocking blast of sound had me dropping the tablet. A megaphone crackled and screeched for a moment before a loud voice spoke through it. Jake, of course.
“Pastor, you and your people are on private property. The inhabitants of the house have the right to fire on you. Before this gets bloody, return to your vehicles and drive away. There will be no sneak attack possible. Every person in that house is armed and has been trained to shoot. People are going to die! Your people are going to die!”
I heard someone yell something back at him, but what was being said couldn’t be heard clearly from where I sat on the floor behind a solid wall. As the red lights didn’t move, I assumed it was the pastor telling Jake they were all happy to go to their deaths doing God’s work. Or something like that.
“Last chance!” Jake bellowed. “You don't have to follow this madman. He’s using you! He has no divinity training. He is not doing the will of God. He is more demon than any of the people inside that house. Leave now and save yourselves!”
None of the red lights moved. I hadn’t expected Jake to convince them. Anyone who’d condone torturing a child was not going to be put off so easily.
In the next instant, the red lights began to move quickly, converging on the house. I heard shotguns being prepped. In the next instant, the sound of loud explosions filled the air. My first reaction was to cover my ears and run. My second was to huddle dow
n close to the wall and ready the ammunition. From the amount of gunfire in the house I was sure my team would be running out of ammo soon enough. Fred and Karl had semi-automatics with more ammunition on them than my son and Lauren had. They could pepper the barren land more effectively than anyone.
Gunfire was coming from outside, and I knew it was the enemy returning fire as they ran. I bent my head and studied my tablet. A couple of red dots had stopped, but more were still coming. Gods, there were so many of them. The blue dots were racing up behind the reds, and their gunfire joined the cacophony.
New blue lights suddenly appeared coming in from the back of the property. This must be Pete’s reinforcements. I realized Jake’s announcements had served two purposes. He had done his duty by informing the enemy of their choices and our right to defend ourselves and our land. He had also stalled, giving us valuable minutes so the reinforcements had time to arrive.
Now we had more of a chance. Of course, we did have the advantage of cover, where the enemy was out in the open. But firing into the darkness was not like shooting fish in a barrel. Especially when the cloud-cover over the moon allowed for little light.
The red pin-pricks came on. The erratic but continuous blasts inside the house went on loudly.
I heard a shout from the side where Lauren had taken up position. I knew that meant she was almost out of ammo. I crawled on hands and knees with more ammo for her.
In what little light there was, I saw the savage pleasure on Lauren’s face as I approached. This was her revenge. She had been alone and defenseless, but now she was neither! She rested her cast on the window sill and the shotgun on top of it. The move was practiced and fluid, as she went through her ammo so fast it was startling.
Scooping up what I offered, she smiled at me gratefully. I nodded in return, before crawling back the way I’d come.
Far less of the red dots were now approaching from the front and back, which made sense. That was where the semi-automatics were peppering the field. They had to be taking out more than the shotguns could, even Lauren’s. I saw the blue dots moving quickly to intercept the red, coming in from the sides. They’d need to be careful or Lauren and Michael might shoot one of them by mistake.
No, they weren’t moving in. They’d taken up stationary positions to shoot from. Or maybe they’d been shot. It would be so much easier if a blinking light went out when someone was down. But that was for gamers, not real life. In real life you fought blindly, never knowing who the enemy was, or if the next barrage of bullets would take you out.
Only one or two people seemed to still be moving toward the front and back of the house, and they were zigzagging, trying to avoid being hit. Karl, who had been positioned at the front stained-glass window ran past me in Lauren’s direction.
“Anyone comes in the front door, shoot ‘em!” he yelled over the din.
My ears were ringing. I hoped I’d heard him right.
Then the earpiece crackled, and I heard Karl speak again. “Watch the door. If it opens, shoot!”
So I had heard him right.
But Michael was yelling now. He must be out of ammo, too. How could I go to him while I was watching the door?
I made my choice. I’d get to Michael fast and return before anyone could break down the door. Because the door was a solid oak obstacle, and it was locked. Nobody could just walk in.
Crawling on already painful knees, I scrambled to the entertainment room where Michael was shooting. I touched his leg, watched him jump, and almost wet myself thinking he’d turn his gun on me. He didn’t. He looked back, saw me and my stash, nodded, and went back to firing. I left my stash and began crawling quickly back to my position at the front door.
Once back, I looked at the red and the blue dots. One red was heading for the front door. Gods, I was going to have to shoot someone!
My throat was so dry, my head ached, and my vision was blurred with tears. How was I going to do this thing? But I couldn’t just let the aggressor in. My kids were in the house. Once the enemy was inside, things would get way more dangerous for them.
I didn’t have time to think. The front door exploded as the handle was blown away. Someone, a man, barged through what was left of the door. I raised my gun and fired.
Nothing happened!
Blankness replaced thought. I had no idea… Safety! I hadn’t released the safety!
As I fiddled with the safety, the man approached. I could see his white teeth as he smiled down at me. I raised my gun as he did the same. In the next instant, blood exploded out of the man’s chest. And it wasn’t me who fired!
I didn’t look. I couldn’t look! I grabbed up the tablet with shaky hands to see if anyone else was coming my way. No more red lights approached.
In fact, no red lights were moving at all now.
“Cease fire!” Jake’s voice called over the megaphone.
The sudden silence was deafening. I had heard that term many times, but this was the first time I knew what it meant. My ears rang so loud in the quiet I thought my hearing was permanently damaged. I thought sound was muffled after loud explosions, not that you heard ringing.
In my ear, I heard Pete calling for us to check in. I did quickly, then listened for my kids over the ringing in my ears. Fred and Karl were next, and then others I didn’t know. Was anyone missing? I was too confused to tell.
Karl hobbled into sight and turned on the outside floodlights. He’d installed motion detecting lights some time ago but had chosen not to use them for the fight for some reason. Now the yard in every direction was floodlit, so the carnage could clearly be seen.
“Why didn’t you turn those on before?” I asked.
“It would have interfered with the heat signatures. In the dark, we had an advantage over the enemy who couldn’t tell who was where. Also, they would have shot them out, which would have meant that when we needed to see the area, we couldn’t. We had the cover, all we had to do was blanket the area in gunfire. Now we can see what we’re up against.”
“But it's over!” I said plaintively.
He grunted. “It’s never over until every one of the enemy is dead, incapacitated, or unconscious. And it’s too easy to feign unconsciousness.”
I crawled into a seated position with my back against the wall. When had I ended up on my back? Oh, when I was waiting to be shot. Funny how you don’t pay attention to things like that in a crisis.
Michael staggered in from his position, his gaze looking for me. The light from outside made it easier to see.
“You okay, Mom?” he croaked, putting his shotgun and well-stocked sock down on the floor. I nodded mutely and turned back to the man who had been moments from killing me. If he hadn’t paused to gloat I’d be dead.
In the light, I could see his face clearly for the first time. Shock had me jerking back away from him. It was the pastor himself! Somehow, I’d expected him to play general and stay back out of range of the firefight. Yet wasn’t breaching a perimeter first the type of thing a power-hungry, insane leader with God on his side would do?
Lauren entered from the other direction, no weapons in her hands. She looked shaken but still fiery-eyed. When she looked down at the man lying in the doorway, a grin split her face.
“The man himself! I guess we don’t have to worry he’ll turn up again,” she croaked out.
Michael staggered her way and wrapped her in a tight hug. That was when Lauren turned from brave warrior into a broken child. She began crying in loud, anguished sobs. I was glad of it. The fierce redhead was too unnatural. The overwhelmed redhead was more like it.
A big man appeared in the doorway. I drew away in fear, until I saw a familiar, if unexpected face, looking down at me.
“Cleo! Are you hurt?” Dr. Luke Myers asked anxiously.
I shook my head again.
He held out a hand. I took it and let him draw me to my shaky legs. The bear hug that surrounded me was so welcome I felt tears of my own forming. What was it about safety that
gave us permission to be weak? For a long, long time I just rested there against his big, flannel-covered chest and sobbed out my relief that it was over.
Once I was calmer, Luke assisted me into the living room. The windows had been shot out and there was glass on the floor. But the sofa was far enough away that I could sit on it safely.
“Hilary and Faith!” I cried, trying to stand again.
“Stay put. I’ll get them,” Fred said.
Where had he come from?
A few numb minutes later and my family were arranged around me, staring into space.
Shock, we were all in shock.
We’d need blankets for warmth.
But I couldn’t find the strength to stand. I was so tired! All I could do was cuddle Hilary on one side and Faith on the other, while Lauren leaned in to Faith, tears still pouring down her dirty face. We looked like we’d come through a war.
We had!
EPILOGUE
A few days had passed since the firefight that had killed so many and caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to my home. Not that I cared about the last. Things didn’t matter. People did. Even bad people. And so many of those bad people had come to a bitter end here on my property, including the pastor himself.
As I wandered around the exterior of my home, cataloging in a general sense what repairs would be required, I wondered at how well we’d come through the battle. We were ten men, a teenage boy and girl, and a useless woman, against fifty. Yet, except for the severe wound to the thigh Karl had sustained, there were few injuries, and certainly no deaths, on our side.
I couldn’t say the same for the pastor and his flock. Twenty died either onsite or on the way to hospital. The rest were injured, either severely or at least enough to have incapacitated them by the end. It was a stunning victory, which the FBI was still in the process of investigating.