by Warren Ray
Cara’s thoughts wandered to her boyfriend, Jay, who she’d left back in Florida. They had run off together at her insistence. Jay worshiped her and did whatever she wanted. He had come from a broken home and didn’t hesitate to go with her. They made their way to Florida where Jay had friends who took them in. Six people shared a three-bedroom apartment not far from the beach. When they first got there, it was all fun and games. They partied every night with their new friends and would go to the beach during the day. When their money ran low, one of the roommates got them both jobs at a restaurant where he worked.
When she saw the news maligning her father, her friends at first sided with her, but eventually, they started to argue with her about whether or not the media was telling the truth. Her roommates didn’t trust anyone of authority and especially loathed anything coming from governmental sources. Even Jay took her father’s side, saying he didn’t think he would do anything like that. They tried to convince her, but she wouldn’t have any of it. This was making things more than a little awkward and soon they started to give her the cold shoulder. She knew then that it was time to go.
She shut off the shower, put on a bathrobe and found her food waiting for her in the adjoining room. She snickered to herself knowing Jay was probably eating stale cereal right about now. She looked around knowing she deserved this. The government was treating her right. She had something they wanted and she would deliver it and reap the benefits.
Cara heard a knock on the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw Lieutenant Wagner standing in the hallway. He had been the one who first met her in the parking garage. She opened the door.
“Good Morning, Cara, I hope you slept well?”
She smiled. “I did, thank you.”
When she invited him in, she noticed he was carrying a shopping bag.
“I brought some things for you,” he said dropping the bag on a table.
She let out an excited giggle and opened the bag to find new clothes.
“I hope these are your size and to your liking.”
She pulled out a pair of jeans and held them to her waist. “Oh, they’re perfect.” She reached in and grabbed a royal blue pull over shirt, which had lace in the same color on the front top. The three-button shirt had rolled up sleeves.
“Later this afternoon, I have someone coming to do your hair, but first you’ll be meeting with Commandant Melnick and Mr. Reed. Then later tonight, you’ll meet someone I’ve contacted to take you under her wing.”
Cara nodded.
“So, as soon as you’re dressed, come down to the lobby.”
Chapter 30
Jackson Michigan
Winters woke up early and walked outside of the abandoned big box store they had camped in. The rain had stopped and the sun was coming up to dry the wet ground. Considering yesterday’s events, he had gotten a decent night sleep. He was quite satisfied stumbling onto Jackson. He thought perhaps that divine intervention had led him here. He wasn’t much of a churchgoer, but he did believe and believed the man upstairs had his back. Many of the things they had accomplished seemed to be more than just plain dumb luck. However, he had made many mistakes over the past couple of months. He had learned from these mistakes, even though some of them were unforgivable to his mind because they had cost lives.
He heard someone behind him and saw it was Amber. She and Reese had insisted on coming with them and he was actually glad they did. It was interesting to get a woman’s perspective on things and she was easy on the eyes too.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all.”
They started walking across the parking lot. She had taken to wearing a ball cap and had her long brown hair in a ponytail.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m good. What about you?”
“I don’t know. After what happened yesterday, I’m worried.”
Winters gave her a questioning look.
“It just seems odd that the cops would come in so brazenly.”
Winters had considered himself lucky they had stumbled onto it and then he had been so preoccupied with Nordell he hadn’t really given it much thought. “What do you mean?”
“It’s just that when they came into my town, the cops pretended to be helping us and we all did as we were told. We were grateful they were looking out for us. Now I know there’s been an instance or two where they were more aggressive, but for the most part, that’s not how they did things. Now all of a sudden, they come in shooting up the place without even trying to hide who they are. It just seems odd to me.”
Winters stopped walking and turned to her. “Maybe they know their secret is out.”
“Maybe. But, they pick a town right off the interstate, an interstate that goes right into Detroit. He had to think you’d find out. It just seems a bit too convenient to me.”
Winters gave it some thought. “You think Mordulfah is trying to set us up?”
“Maybe, I mean think about it, Cole. We raided his compound and took away his harem. The guy has to be pretty pissed off.”
Winters was really glad she had joined them. There was a lot of validity in what she was saying. Up until then, he had been thinking he had a leg up on Mordulfah. All he could think about was being able to ambush his large army in one fell swoop. He even fantasized about it before falling asleep. If what she was saying was true then Mordulfah had other plans.
“Amber, you’ve given me something to think about.”
She gave him a big smile.
Winters caught himself wanting to reach out and hug her. Then he remembered he was almost twice her age and thought better about it.
They walked back to the entrance of the store and went their separate ways. Winters saw Scar and Meeks chatting together. He looked around, saw Bassett and Burns, and called them all together. He relayed what Amber had said and that it had given him pause to consider its value.
“She might be onto something,” said Bassett.
“I had thought we’d go and scout out a good ambush site today and now I’m not so sure.”
“We should still do that, Captain,” said Scar. “We might just be over thinking this.”
“Yeah, it seems a bit much that Mordulfah planned for us to stumble onto this,” said Meeks. “He couldn’t be sure we’d find out.”
Bassett looked at Burns. “What about the two guards we took out. They’ve probably found them. If so, he knows we’re watching him and that we know the strength of his army.”
Burns nodded. “And, that we’re close by. You see, right now we’re the invisible ones, so we can keep our forces concentrated, while Mordulfah must divide his up in order to find us. So, what better way than to let us think we have the upper hand? He knows we can’t attack head on, but if he can appear to be at a disadvantage, then yeah we’d probably take the bait.”
“Damn, Burns,” said an impressed Meeks. “How did you come up with that?”
“I’m a history buff. It is classic Sun Tzu.”
“Got any other Sun Tzu gems?”
Burns gave him a smile and quoted Sun Tzu. “By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march, then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him.”
Meeks shook his head. “Me thinks I need to read some Sun Tzu.”
Winters wasn’t laughing. He took what Burns was saying seriously. Whether Amber was right or not, he hadn’t thought this through and had even fantasized about an easy victory.
“So, what do you want to do, Captain?” asked Scar.
Winters looked at Bassett and Burns. “You guys up for another recon?”
Chapter 31
Gunnery Sergeant Nordell’s patience was wearing thin as he attended yet another mass funeral for the dead in Jackson. The death toll was six hundred and forty-three and because there would simply be too many holes to dig, they opted to bring in backhoes and dig several large pits where they placed the dead in rows. It took all Sunday afternoon and most of Monday morning to bury
them. Headstones were impossible so the cemetery workers diagrammed where they buried everyone.
Nordell and Hollis left their wives at home to attend a town meeting that afternoon. They drove the short distance to Jackson High School, which was located just west of the downtown area. Nordell had no idea how many people would show up and was surprised when he walked in and saw several hundred crowded into the gymnasium. He knew some people were already packed and starting to leave town.
The mood in the gym was intense. Some of the people stood in small groups talking in angry tones. Others stood stoned faced waiting for the meeting to start. A group of teenage boys, most of whose fathers were out west fighting, stood off to the side showing each other the weapons they had brought with them.
A stage had been set up and Mayor Simpson was getting ready to speak. The town had appointed him mayor when his predecessor had resigned to go join the fight against the Chinese. Mayor Simpson was in his mid-seventies and had been mayor of Jackson twenty years ago. He was the only one left in town with any experience in running what was left of their town.
Mayor Simpson held up a bullhorn and called for order. The crowd settled down and waited for him to begin. An eerie silence fell in the gym.
“I think it would be appropriate if we had a moment of silence for our fallen friends and relatives.”
Everyone bowed their heads.
The mayor’s horn cracked a minute later. “As we have all heard by now, the National Police are responsible for the murder of our loved ones. Why they did it is beyond my comprehension, but I’ve no doubt they want us out of here and they’ll be back to kill more of us if we don’t all leave.”
“We’ll kill ‘em,” yelled one of the teens.
Several shouted out in agreement.
“We can’t take them on,” said Mayor Simpson.
“We need to go after them,” yelled someone close to where Nordell stood.
Mayor Simpson lost control of the crowd as the gym erupted into shouting matches. He tried to get the gym back to order.
Nordell had heard enough and walked to the stage. He jumped up and grabbed the bullhorn from the mayor. When they saw this, the crowd began to fall silent.
“Listen up everybody. The mayor is right about a couple of things. Those cops will be back here and we do need to start moving to safety. Now, most of you know who I am. I spent thirty years in the Marine Corps and I’m not one to run from a fight. With that said, I’m all for handing those cops some retribution for what they did, and we will.”
The crowd listened to what he was saying.
“Now, I’m willing to lead anyone of you who wants to stay and fight, but before any of you do that, you need to go home and get your families out of here first. Mark my words, they will be back.”
Nordell watched people go back to talking amongst themselves, only this time it wasn’t in shouting tones.
Nordell raised the bullhorn one more time. “Anyone who’s going to fight with me, meet me back here tonight, and we’ll talk about what we’re going to do.”
He got off the stage and walked through the crowd. Some patted him on the back as he walked outside. Hollis and a few others joined him.
“Why didn’t you mention the pansies?” asked Hollis.
“No sense in getting them even more incensed. They need to think clearly about getting the weak out of here. If I had mentioned those guys, it would have only enraged them more.”
“So, what’s the plan?” asked Hollis.
“We need to go and pay those pansies a little visit.”
Chapter 32
Winters sent Bassett and Burns out on a daytime recon mission. He didn’t particularly want them to go into Detroit during the day because he felt it was too dangerous to be anywhere near the city. However, he needed to know what Mordulfah’s next move was going to be. Were they going to storm Jackson? Or, were they trying to set up the Shadow Patriots? Because their SUV’s might attract too much attention, Winters thought it would be better if they took the squad car they had appropriated from yesterday’s assault on Jackson.
This time Bassett and Burns weren’t alone as Nate and the young Texan, Don Hadley, joined them. Hadley had unofficially joined the Shadow Patriots when he let Bassett out of jail and rode with him to South Bend to warn them of the imminent attack on the campus. His action had saved the Shadow Patriots.
Bassett drove the squad car. The back windows were tinted and kept the two passengers, Nate and Burns, hidden from view. Both were older and would stick out if they passed by any other cops. Hadley told them it shouldn’t be much of a concern since the cops didn’t do much patrolling because of a limited fuel supply.
Nate joined them because he was getting bored. He always liked to be active and had little patience waiting for something to happen. This came in handy when they had something unpleasant to do, like interrogating prisoners. He was effective because his impatience was so obvious they truly believed he would kill them.
At Nate’s insistence, they drove through Jackson so they could get on US 12 to check out the party house in Saline. He wanted to make sure the cops hadn’t restocked the place with girls. This was something Nate vowed never to let happen again.
They drove into the parking lot and found the place still abandoned, so they pulled out of town and back to US 12.
As they left Saline, the police radio came alive.
“Hey Tannenbaum, it's Ryker, where the hell are you?”
“I’m on 275 now, getting ready to hit 94. Where’re you guys at? ”
“We just got on 12, so hurry your sorry asses up here.”
Hadley turned to Bassett. “Get us off this road, they’re coming right at us.”
Bassett jammed on the brakes and turned into a driveway bordered by a thick tree line. An abandoned house sat at the end of the driveway. He pulled up to the garage, which was out of sight from the road.
They sat in silence and continued to listen to the radio chatter.
“Hey, Carter, you out there?” asked Tannenbaum.
“Yeah, what do ya want?” asked Carter.
“We making any wagers today?”
“Damn right we are.”
“How about the team with the most girls under eighteen gets first dibs,” said Tannenbaum.
“And, losers get duty watch for the first week?” said Carter.
“How’s that sound Ryker?” asked Tannenbaum
“We need a handicap, cuz there’ll be a lot more coming down Route127 than Route 124,” said Ryker.
“We’ll spot you ten, Tannenbaum.”
“Make it fifteen and you got yourselves a bet,” said Ryker.
“Fine, but we’ll only go till Midnight, then we’ll do an official count in Saline,” said Tannenbaum.
“Well, alrighty then, we got ourselves a bet, boys. Happy hunting,” said Carter.
Nate leaned forward in his seat. “Yes indeed boys, happy hunting, cause we’re friggin coming for ya.”
“Let’s go see how many we’re talking about,” suggested Burns.
They all got out of the squad car and hustled down the driveway staying to the trees. They moved to the edge and crouched down waiting for the cops to pass by them. They only had to wait a few minutes before squad car after squad car blew by them. It took a full five minutes for a convoy of a hundred vehicles to pass by. Afterward, they ran back to their car and pulled out a map.
“Captain was right, they’ve set a trap for those poor bastards in Jackson,” said Burns.
“Looks like they’re going to lie in wait on these two roads,” said Bassett pointing at the map.
“Think we should go back and tell the Captain?” asked Hadley.
“No, we’re too close to Detroit,” said Nate. “We still need to see what Mordulfah is up to. Besides, I can’t imagine many leaving before they bury their dead.”
“Then, let’s get a move on,” said Bassett.
Bassett tore out of the driveway and headed east on US 127.
He stomped on the gas and had them in Detroit in less than twenty minutes. They passed through the city and saw a few people out walking or riding bicycles.
“Hey Don,” Nate leaned forward. “How come no one looks at us?”
“They don’t want any trouble,” said Hadley.
“From the cops?”
“Yep. The cops don’t have the best reputation here. They’ve been known to hassle people at the slightest hint of trouble.”
Nate shook his head.
“Sounds like a wet dream for a bunch of bullies,” said Burns. “They get to do whatever the hell they want.”
“Yeah, including raping little girls,” said Nate. “Well, karma has a nasty way of catching up to people and I don’t mind being on the right side of karma.”
Burns held out a fist to Nate for a fist bump. Nate had gotten to know Burns better when they drove the wounded up to Canada after the battle in the sandpit, which had been the death of many of the rescued girls from the party house. During the long journey, they bonded while seeing to the comfort and safety of the wounded.
They continued driving to Grosse Pointe to Mordulfah’s compound. Because they were in a squad car, they decided to just drive right on Lakeshore Dr and pass by the place.
As they approached the bend in Lakeshore, the first thing Bassett noticed different about the grassy field on the right was there were no vehicles parked there and no one was standing outside the rows of tents like he and Burns had seen last night.