by Warren Ray
“I’m not certain, but I know there’s a small group that’s taken up with Nordell.”
Winters looked at Elliott.
“I know the two of you don’t get along,” said Simpson.
“Mayor, you’re being too much of a politician, the man doesn’t like us and thinks we don’t know what we’re doing. That’s on him, I just need him to be aware of what is going on and for him to let me know what his plans are. If he wants to go off on his own, that’s fine with us, we just need to know where he’ll be, so we don’t get in each other’s way.”
“I’ll get with him, Mr. Winters.”
“If you know of anyone still living on Andrews, or any of the area around there, you need to get them out. In fact, you should get everyone into the center of town for their own safety.”
“I could use some help with that,” pleaded Simpson.
Winters looked at Nate.
Nate nodded, as did Amber.
“Nate and Amber will bring some of our guys to help you coordinate that.”
“Thank you.”
“So, go with them, gather your people together and get with Nordell so we can plan a strategy for defending this town. Why don’t we meet back here in a couple of hours, can you do that?”
“Yes, of course, I’ll be back here, thank you again, Mr. Winters.”
Winters turned to Elliott after they left. “He seems a bit overwhelmed.”
“I just hope he makes it, he didn’t look too good.”
“No he didn’t. Hey, we need to take stock of our weapons. We got all those weapons from the Jijis we took out.”
“Yeah, about those, we left them in the store building with the cars.”
Winters shook his head realizing the building sat up on Jackson Crossing that the enemy now owned. “Of course, they are. We need those weapons, Elliott.”
“I guess we know what we’re doing for the next couple of hours.”
“What are we doing?” asked Reese as she came around the corner.
“Reese!” said Winters as he held out his arms. He grabbed her in a big bear hug. “How ya doing?”
She hugged him back. “Now that I’ve slept for half the day, I’m good.”
She moved over to give Elliott a hug.
“Meeks told us all about last night,” said Winters noticing the bruise and scratches on her face.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure he did. I can only imagine the tall tale he wove.”
“He did say how you got that bruise,” said Winters.
She laughed. “Yeah, me and Jason went at it.”
“Jason?” asked Elliott.
“That’s what I called him. He was a big grisly old man.”
“Well, no matter, have you eaten?” asked Winters.
“I did. A nice nurse brought me food and clean clothes.”
“Perfect. You up for a mission?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I’ll explain on the way,” said Winters.
Chapter 84
Leslie Michigan
As Eddie drove the red pick-up away, a round hit the tailgate. He stomped on the gas pedal and fishtailed out of the lawn and up Sherman Street. The girls screamed and held on for dear life. The Shadow Patriots took cover behind the Mercedes as ten Jijis came running up the street firing their AK’s and yelling, “Allah Akbar.”
Burns swept his M4 around and opened fire at the exposed bad guys. Following his lead, the rest of the men raised their weapons and fired. One, two and then five Jijis died in the middle of the street. The last five wised up and began to spread out to the sides. One took cover behind a tree. Two others went to the right around the side of a white one-story house, while the last two hightailed it behind Maggie’s house.
“I’ve got the two on the right,” yelled Bassett.
Burns acknowledged and took off to the left taking two men with him. He ran across Maggie’s lawn and stopped at the corner of the house. He peeked around and saw two Jijis creeping up from the back. Burns turned to his men and held up two fingers. He bolted around the corner and emptied his magazine. The two Jijis seemed surprised that their bodies were twisting around as the bullets ripped through them.
Bassett saw his targets hiding behind a porch. He let loose a three round burst to try to flush them out. One stood up just enough to return fire. Bassett yanked himself back behind the corner. He peeked around again and more rounds whizzed by as both Jijis now stood, trying to take command.
Burns heard the gunfire and knew Bassett was having a tough time of it. He ran behind Maggie’s house and slowly looked around the corner to see the Jiji hiding behind the tree. Burns took him out with a three shot volley. Then, ran across the street and came around the corner to see the two Jijis shooting at Bassett. He checked his ammo and threw in a fresh magazine. He looked around the corner again and saw his chance. He emptied his magazine into the unsuspecting men.
“We’re clear,” yelled Burns.
Bassett came around and gave him an approving nod. “That makes how many now?”
“I think this is about half,” answered Burns.
They grabbed the Jiji’s firearms and hustled back to their rides. Bassett reached for the radio. “Badger, how we doing up there?”
“Getting a little bored up here, Twinkle. It sounds like you guys are having all the fun.”
“Don’t see anything in that scope of yours?”
“Nothing. I’m hearing some action up on the north side though.”
“We’ll head up there next and see if we can’t do a cattle drive for ya.”
“Now, that’s more like it.”
“Anything to keep you awake, Badger,” chuckled Bassett.
“You’re sounding just like your mom, she always could keep me awake.”
Bassett shook his head knowing Badger bested him again.
Burns laughed as he walked to his car, started it up, spun the tires in Maggie’s yard and headed up Sherman Street with Bassett right on his tail. There was no movement as he took a right on Race Street. He continued down Race Street until he came to Pennsylvania Street. He looked up the street and noticed there was a group of Jijis just past the school. He picked up the radio. “Let’s do a drive-by.”
“Sounds good,” said Bassett.
Burns pushed the pedal down and picked up his speed. He flew past the school as his passengers rolled down the tinted windows and moved their weapons out the window. A gusty wind blew through the interior of the car. Burns saw the Jijis and figured there had to be at least twenty. A few were off to the side standing by empty pick-ups. He knew they were coming up short on young girls despite seeing a corpse here and there on the lawns. Perhaps the word had gotten out and parents had instructed their children to run into the fields and hide. He only hoped that was the case, either way, the pick-up beds were empty.
The Jijis moved out of the way, as they approached. A few got suspicious and raised their weapons, but they were too late as Burns’ men opened fire. The gunfire was loud as it reverberated inside the car. Burns focused on the road ahead and saw some Jijis run to their vehicles. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw the muzzle flashes come from Bassett’s car. Jijis tripped over each other trying to get out of the way and since they weren’t fast enough blood soaked their shirts as the bullets riddled their bodies.
Burns ran out of road and looked both ways before taking a right on Kimball Street and another right on Main Street. He didn’t see Bassett behind him. He picked up the radio. “You coming?”
“Hold on, I’m giving them one more second to bait them aaand here they come,” said Bassett. “Get ready Badger, I’m bringing them in.”
“How many you got coming?” asked Taylor.
Bassett looked in the mirror as he pulled onto Main Street and saw two pickups and a silver Mercedes. “Got three vehicles with a silver Merc bringing up the rear.”
Burns flew down Main Street, jammed on the brakes and took a right on Bellevue, while Bassett
pulled a hard left. They both stopped just twenty yards in and angled the cars to block the road again. Everyone jumped out weapons ready. Burns heard them coming and saw the first pick-up stop at the intersection. The driver could see Burns and Bassett and seemed to realize they were heading into a trap.
“Fire,” yelled Burns.
Gunfire rang out from all sides including up top. The lead pickup tried to back up but the other truck blocked him. Bullet holes appeared on the sides like splattered paint. The deadly fire continued to rain down on the trapped men. Dying Jijis yelled out.
“Burns,” yelled Taylor from the radio. “That silver Merc is backing up.”
Taylor dropped the radio and looked through the scope on his rifle. The silver car disappeared around the corner, so he aimed it at the driver of the second pick-up. The truck started to back up and Taylor followed it, squeezing off a shot. The round flew through the windshield splattering skull fragments all over the inside of the cab. The pick-up veered off to the right across a lawn and rammed into a house. The men in the back jumped out before the impact and took cover. Taylor zeroed in on a Jiji who was running away. He gave the crosshairs a small lead and pulled the trigger. The man fell over dead. He then aimed at another taking refuge behind a wooden fence. Taylor snickered and fired through the wood taking him out.
Burns wondered where the silver Merc was headed but didn’t have to wait long before he heard it coming down Pennsylvania Street behind them. He yelled to take cover just as the car came around the corner and stopped in the middle of the road, just four hundred feet away. Jijis poured out firing at Burns’ men. He looked up to see another car joining the Merc.
Chapter 85
Jackson Michigan
Elliott drove Winters and Reese up to Jackson Crossing in hopes of retrieving the weapons from the dead Jijis they’d killed last night. The results of the nighttime raids were two hundred Jijis. This meant there was a cache of weapons they had taken from the ambush sites and hid from Mordulfah. Winters wasn’t sure if this move had been effective in confusing the Saudi Prince, but he felt anything he could do to plant a seed of doubt, the better.
Before bringing the vehicles inside the big box store, they had removed the corpses and dumped them in the woods. Until the Jijis moved up on the interstate, they had expected to still be using the empty store. Not knowing if the Jijis were coming to attack, The Shadow Patriots who were patrolling in the area, chose the better part of valor and took off, leaving all the weapons there. Now, Winters needed those weapons to hand out to those willing to take up arms and defend their town. He just hoped enough citizens would be willing to fight because the Jijis outnumbered them by ten to one. These were not good odds and he didn’t like the situation. He couldn’t get everyone out of town and he couldn’t leave them to their own devices. His only hope was they would fight long enough to dishearten the invaders. This, however, would take many days of bloody fighting, which meant a lot of death. Most of the dead would be his men, who would be taking the lead.
As they got closer, Winters had Elliott stop. He grabbed the binoculars and scanned up ahead. He saw there were more Jijis in the area than earlier when they’d come to check it out. He had Elliott take a left on Argyle Street.
“Weave through these parking lots, they’re all open and connected together.”
It took a couple of minutes of driving through big parking lots, behind buildings and jumping one curb to get to their destination. They didn’t see anyone around and drove to the back of the building. Winters grabbed the chain to the garage door and started pulling on it just enough for Elliott to back the SUV in.
After pulling the garage door shut, Winters looked around at all of the bullet-riddled vehicles parked haphazardly with some butted right up to the backs of each other. He walked over to a couple, reached in, and turned the headlights on to illuminate the building. Elliott got out and pointed to the far wall, where they had stacked the weapons and ammo last night. He opened the back of the SUV while Winters and Reese hurried over.
“Stack them on my arms,” suggested Winters.
Reese still took care to grab the stock and place the barrels toward the wall. She loaded Winters and then Elliott’s arms with the guns. It went that way for the next five minutes as they hustled back and forth to the SUV, loading the back with the weapons including the magazines and handguns.
“What are you going to do with all these cars?” asked Reese.
Winters gave it some thought. “Leave ‘em here for now. If anything, there’s fuel to siphon.”
“Such a shame they’re all shot up, some of them are real nice,” said Reese, looking at the German cars.
“You like those, huh?” asked Winters.
“Oh, yeah,” smiled Reese.
“Perhaps we can get you one when this is all done,” said Winters.
“Think we can afford the insurance,” laughed Reese.
“Sure, it’s called no-fault insurance, you wreck it, and you just go find another one.”
“Sounds affordable to me,” said Reese.
The three of them froze when they heard the garage door rattle.
Chapter 86
Leslie Michigan
Burns and his men ran around to the other side of their car just as the Silver Mercedes came screeching around the corner where it was joined by another car. Burns figured they had, at most, eight Jijis to take out. He just hoped these were the last of them. Bullets ripped into their black Mercedes and flattened both tires on the drivers’ side. His men started to return fire, but the Jijis took cover behind their cars. He knew this would take all day if he didn’t get some of his guys behind them.
He grabbed the radio. “Taylor, how’s it looking from up there?”
“Still got a couple keeping us busy to the north. I don’t have a shot on your Jijis.”
“Just make sure no one else is trying to sneak up on us.”
“I’m your big brother up here, so don’t worry.”
Burns next radioed Bassett.
“Bassett, can you get behind these guys?”
“Give me a minute and I’ll…”
Bassett dropped the radio as gunfire came from behind him. Turning around, he saw a lone SUV sneak up behind them. Bassett emptied his magazine trying to create a cover for his guys who had taken cover with him in his, now exposed, position. He threw in another magazine as he shouted for everyone to take cover. He backed up to get behind the car. Bullets flew by his head. He dropped to the pavement and crawled around the front of the car. He then realized he’d left his radio behind.
Taylor heard the gunfire and hightailed to the other side of the roof. He looked through his scope and saw what was happening to Bassett.
“Harris, radio Bassett.”
Harris tried a couple of times. “He’s not responding.”
Taylor took another look and saw Bassett was without his radio.
He positioned his Savage on the ledge and saw the Jijis hiding behind the SUV doors about hundred yards away. A tree partially blocked his line of sight and hid the driver. He made an adjustment on the scope and then searched for his first victim. He was the front passenger who was resting his AK-47 on the doorjamb. Taylor lined up the crosshairs and took in a breath. He squeezed the trigger and watched the Jijis’ head explode. He then saw the other Jijis duck back inside the SUV.
“C’mon out you little bastards,” said Taylor. He grew impatient waiting and decided to try for the driver. He couldn’t see him through the tree but wanted to try it anyway. He lined up the front passenger side, estimated the width of the SUV and pulled the trigger. The round hit the truck, but Taylor wasn’t sure about the driver so he threw the bolt back and reloaded. He moved the rifle just a tad from its previous mark and fired again. He repeated two more times.
Taylor then moved the scope back over to Bassett. He saw the Corporal still returning fire.
Hadley was hiding in the woods behind Main Street keeping watch over the girls. He heard o
n the radio that Basset was coming under fire from behind. He heard the gunfire and knew he wasn’t that far away, so he decided to take a quick look to see if he could be of any help. He looked at the frightened girls and told them he’d be right back.
He gripped his rifle and dashed along the tree line. It was a little over a hundred yards and because of his bad knee, it took him longer than he would have liked. He came to the edge of the woods where the SUV was straight ahead of him. The driver and a Jiji behind him were firing AK-47’s. The shots echoed through the street. Hadley was breathing rapidly. He wanted to be behind them so he moved back into the bushes and weaved through the thick brush to the right toward the railroad tracks. He stormed out of the woods to a small thicket of trees located in a grassy area close to the road. He peered around the trees. Perfect location. He double-checked his Colt M-4, took a deep breath, and left the protection of the trees while firing at the SUV. One fell before he knew what had happened.
Hadley had one more to go so he kept his rifle aimed at the SUV as he approached. His senses were on high alert when he heard a round from a Savage high-powered rifle come from the roof of the building across the street and hit the SUV. Hadley froze. He then saw the last Jiji come around the back of the SUV. The Jiji held his AK in one hand. The other arm was useless because Taylor had blown a hole through his left arm. Blood soaked his shirt.
Hadley panicked and pulled the trigger before lining up his shot. His rounds penetrated the side of the SUV and then stopped. He realized he had emptied his magazine. The Jiji screamed in pain and tried to hold up his weapon to take a shot. He fired a burst wildly into the air. The close proximity of the gunfire made Hadley shake as he desperately pulled on the magazine. He looked up to see the Jiji just ten feet from him. He gave up on reloading his weapon and charged. He swung his rifle across the man’s face knocking him over. He took the butt of his rifle and swung it down like a sledgehammer. The Jiji screamed out in pain.