by Warren Ray
“There’s a water tower to your south.”
Winters looked up but couldn’t see anything through the thick trees.
“Where’s the tower?”
“Keep going south, you’ll run right into it. We can be there in no time.”
“Captain, Scar here. Is that your smoke we see?”
“That would be us.”
“We can come in from the east.”
Winters gave it some thought. He wasn’t sure how many Jijis would be coming to join this manhunt. He also liked the idea of having Scar in reserve just in case the Jijis surrounded them. He told him to get close but not too close. The woods started to get a little easier as Reese led them to the west. She thought it a good idea to see what was on the road and if they would be able to cross it. She and Meeks had done that last night and it sounded like a good plan. It took them about ten minutes before they crept up to the road. Winters was surprised to see Jijis parked literally up and down both sides of the road. It was going to be a long afternoon. They couldn’t cross the road and he figured they also had Jijis coming in behind them. At some point, probably sooner than later, they were going to get into a firefight.
Chapter 91
Alexandria Virginia
Green decided to leave the office early after his meeting with the useless bureaucrats, where he had amused himself by bringing up Mordulfah’s name. The look on their faces was priceless, but the indignation of the State Department hack, Jackie, was the icing on the cake. Green wondered if she was ignorant of what Mordulfah was doing, or went along with it out of some blind ideology. Either way, she and many more like her were useful idiots for the current administration. Green himself had once been blinded by ignorance, following orders on good faith, which in effect made him partly responsible for the killing of thousands of American volunteers. He cringed at the thought and hoped God would forgive him. Now that he knew the truth, it was his responsibility to do whatever it took to bring down Gerald Perozzi and his cronies.
Green pulled onto the Eisenhower and headed home to Alexandria, to get an early dinner and then go meet with Jacob Gibbs and the others in their secret group. The group had only met one other time and it had been something of an introductory meeting, with everyone wanting to see if they could trust the others. Thankfully, his mother knew all the players, and that had helped break the ice. The most interesting person had been the former Assistant Director of the FBI, Jacob Gibbs because he knew a lot of people who were still in the government and not at all happy with the status quo. This meant he had access to a lot of inside information about what was happening and more importantly, what had already been done and who had done it. Their last meeting had been brief and the man had acted extremely nervous, which had struck Green odd for someone of his caliber. He must have uncovered, as he had, who was behind the bombings. What else could he discover? Besides their ties with Mordulfah, they knew Perozzi and Reed orchestrated the overthrow of the Presidency and tried to make an end run for gun control by killing the gun owners. They more than likely organized the collapse of the economy, which would have been child’s play for someone like Perozzi, and now he knew they orchestrated the bombings.
Green reached his home and walked inside to yet another great smelling meal his mom had prepared. She was in the kitchen dressed in gray slacks and a matching jacket over a fuchsia blouse. He was glad to see her ready to go because he wanted to talk to her, but because of their fear of listening devices, they would do that in the car.
“Got beef stew in the crock pot and it’s ready when you are,” she said smiling at her son.
“Smells delicious,” he said giving her a concerned glance.
Sarah knew the look and started dishing up their meal.
They sat down and ate, holding yet another contrived conversation. They had started a game to see who could come up with the most boring topics. Sarah usually went with some gardening tips while he talked about his workout routine. Both patronized each other with over the top enthusiasm.
Green finished his meal thinking he needed to ask Gibbs to sweep the house so they could stop with the nonsense. He took a quick shower and they walked out to his car. He backed out of the driveway and let out a big sigh.
“What’s on your mind, John?” asked Sarah.
He gave her the whole story on Cara and how she had ambushed him in the parking garage. Sarah thought it was an odd meeting and wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“How did she know who you were?”
“She said she has a friend here in town who knows a lot of people.”
“Did she give you a name? I might know this person.”
“No, she didn’t. She wasn’t very trusting, in fact, she wouldn’t even come inside.”
“Can’t say I blame her, but still, she was trusting enough to come to you in the first place. What exactly does she want?”
“Not sure, other than to clear her father’s name.”
“That can’t be all she wants. Did she say anything about finding her dad?”
“No, she didn’t, but then I didn’t have a lot of time to talk to her. I was late as it was and had to cut her off. She gave me a number to reach her.”
“Are you going to?”
“I have to. I have to do something with her. Either help her get out of town or report her to Reed?”
“Reed. Why?” she asked in a firm voice.
“If he finds out she came to me and I didn’t tell him.”
“I see what you mean.”
“I feel bad for her and if there’s some way of helping her then…”
“Was she genuine?” Sarah asked cutting him off.
Green considered this for a moment. “Yeah, I think she was.”
“Just make sure before you tell her something we’ll both regret.”
“I know, believe me, I know.”
They took the scenic route out into the country enjoying the ride before their meeting in Manassas, at the former Senator, Abby Seeley’s home. Her house sat on twenty acres of woods, tucked away from prying eyes and ears. They were the last ones to arrive and their greeting was subdued. The atmosphere was tense and Green knew something was wrong.
Chapter 92
Jackson Michigan
Earlier in the day, Nate and Amber had gone to help Mayor Simpson organized the citizens to defend their town. Nate was impressed with the number of people who were willing to stand up to the threat. He also had to give Nordell some credit in that effort. The old Marine had heard about the Jijis’ movements and had expedited his effort to gather everyone together for the impending fight. When Nordell approached Nate and Amber, she whispered to him to be the bigger man. Nate didn’t think this would be easy to do but decided to take her advice. Nordell walked up to him, and much to Nate’s surprise, he acted as if nothing had happened. He didn’t argue and actually offered some good advice on the defense of the town. Later, Nordell’s friend, John Hollis, told him nobody had ever been able to put Nordell on the ground before, and that he respected Nate for being the first one.
They were still downtown talking to some of the citizens when they received the distress call from Winters. Nate didn’t know the area Winters was referring to and turned to the crowd for help. A citizen, named Posey, was able to fill him in on the details. He told Nate that Winters was talking about a small wooded area by Highway 60 and it had a water tower sitting in the middle of it.
Nordell drove them up to McCain Road where there was a bridge over 60. They’d be able to see the water tower from there and get a good idea of how many bad guys were waiting below them. They pulled up to the overpass and without having to get out of their SUV, could see the Jijis lined up on the road below.
“Tell your friends to skip the water tower,” said Nordell. “Tell them there’s a neighborhood to the northeast, might be better to find a house to hide in.”
Nate picked up the radio. “Captain, Nate here.”
“Nate.”
“We’
re up on an overpass south of the water tower and you’ve got Jijis all up and down 60.”
“Yep, we’re looking at them, too.”
“There’s a neighborhood to the east where you might be able to find refuge.”
Nate turned to Nordell. “Get us up there.”
Nordell nodded.
“Captain, we’re on our way up there, too.”
“Copy that, we’re headed in that direction now.”
Nordell put the SUV in reverse and backed up. He found a spot to turn, swung it around, and made a left on Robinson Road. He hadn’t gone a hundred yards when he spotted multiple vehicles coming their way. He yanked the steering wheel to the right and drove behind an L shaped strip mall. They all got out and hustled around the corner to watch twenty vehicles full of Jijis drive by. They stopped at the intersection and half of them veered off toward the overpass they had just vacated.
“Got out of there just in time,” said Nate.
“They’re setting up a perimeter to find your friends,” said Nordell.
“Seems like overkill to me,” said Nate.
“Does seem like a lot of effort for so few,” said Nordell.
Nate looked around behind them and saw they could drive through a small grassy area into a neighborhood. “Let’s head over there.”
They navigated across a backyard onto a circular drive, which led them to West Morrell Street. Nate wanted to know how many Jijis were on Robinson Road, so they got out and used the woods as cover to walk over to it. Once there, he saw Jijis lined up and down the street.
“We need to get out of this area before we’re trapped,” said Nordell.
Nate looked at Amber who had cringed at what she just heard. “That’s not going to happen. I can’t leave ‘em.”
“Look, I get it, you don’t want to abandon your friends, but if we get trapped here, then we’re not going to be much help.”
“Then I suggest you get going, cause Amber and I are staying.”
Nordell turned to Hollis and shook his head. “Suit yourselves, but I need to get back to rally the troops.”
Nate was pissed off that Nordell wanted to take off, but not enough that he was going to beg him to stay. He knew Nordell didn’t give a damn about Winters and figured, with his ego, he would rather be seen a hero in the eyes of his friends. After some thought, Nate realized he’d be better off without him, cause if push came to shove, would the man jeopardize his life for Winters? It was a rhetorical question, and Nate knew the answer.
They all headed back to the SUV where Nate took all the ammo, the radio, two pairs of infrared goggles and a map of Jackson. Nordell seemed surprised Nate offered to let him take the SUV, but Nate informed him there wasn’t a car he couldn’t hotwire and there were plenty lined up on Robinson Road.
“Jackass,” said Nate as they watched Nordell drive away.
“To hell with him, he wasn’t committed anyway,” said Amber.
Nate looked surprised. She was thinking the same thing he was. He watched her do a weapons check on the M4 and then put on a vest, which was designed to carry numerous magazines. He thought back to last night, when they led the girls through the woods, and how she had asked if they should go back and look for Meeks and Reese. His initial thoughts were to keep women out of harm’s way. However, he was starting to think his old school beliefs had been wrong because he could see she was fully committed. The way she handled her first kill had impressed him and now he was seeing her in a different light. A radio call from Scar interrupted his thoughts.
“Nate, where you at?”
“I’m up on Robinson Road just off of McCain.”
“How’s it looking?”
“They’re pouring in. All up and down the street.”
“Where’s Nordell?”
“He headed back downtown.”
Winters responded. “Nate, you should have gone with them.”
“C’mon Captain, you know me better than that.”
“Yes, I do. Guys, it looks like they’re starting their assault. This is not how I envisioned we’d take them on. Scar, I want you to back away, and see how they’ve set themselves up before you move in on them. Nate, you and Amber keep your heads down till it gets dark, we’ll do the same here. As soon as it gets dark, we’ll come out and play.”
“What about Bassett and Burns?”
“I’ll keep trying to contact them,” said Winters.
“Copy that,” said Scar. “Keep your heads down, guys.”
Nate pulled the radio away from his mouth when he saw a couple of Jijis coming out of the woods toward them.
Nick Posey got back in his car and headed back to Jackson. He was working undercover and spying on the citizens of Jackson. He was in his fifties and fit right in. He used to live in Parma, a small town west of Jackson and knew the area well. He moved to Detroit to become a cop. Over the years, he’d gotten into trouble for using excessive force and using his position to intimidate his neighbors.
The undercover cop had just given a full report on what he knew about the town’s defenses. More importantly, he gave the location of Cole Winters.
Chapter 93
Winters looked out into the distance after getting off the radio with Nate. Because of circumstances beyond his control, he had divided his team leadership up to do different tasks. Bassett and Burns were to the north and out of radio range. Nate and Amber were probably just blocks away but might as well be miles away. Scar and Meeks would have to contend with passing out any extra weapons they had to volunteers from Jackson. Winters let out a sigh at their failed mission of retrieving the Jijis’ weapons, which were now going up in flames.
On the bright side, he had plenty of ammo and supplies, and Elliott and Reese’s spirits were high, which made things a lot better than they could have been. Since the team leaders were separated, they could use that to their tactical advantage. Bassett and his team could wreak havoc with the Jijis on the interstate. Scar had over two hundred men at his disposal, and his Marine training would come in handy. Nordell, despite his lack of respect for him, could be counted on to lead his fellow neighbors to defend their city. As for Nate and Amber, as soon as it got dark they’d be able to use the infrared goggles to find them. They’d then be a five-man team and even though they’d be surrounded, having the darkness as your friend would be a distinct advantage. One they’d put to good use. Winters knew it was going to be a bloody night.
“Cole, which way do you want to go?” asked Reese.
Winters didn’t know how to answer. They had given up on the water tower and had started east toward Robinson Road, but after hearing from Nate, he was at a loss.
A tree branch snapped behind them.
All three froze and then fell to the ground. Winters raised his head and saw four Jijis coming toward them. Winters motioned them to move. They crawled on all fours eastward and hid behind trees. Reese was to his right and Elliott to his left. Gunfire echoed, which made the Jijis stop. Winters knew the Jijis had started their attack on the neighborhood behind them. More shots rang out. Winters peered around the tree. He could see their faces while they talked amongst themselves as if trying to decide what to do. He hoped they would keep moving past them. Winters could hear his heart racing as it pumped adrenaline through his body. He didn’t want to alert any other Jijis in the area by firing on them. The four Jijis changed direction and started heading right toward them. “Damn it,” thought Winters.
He shot Elliott a terse look. He raised four fingers and motioned they were coming their way. He motioned to Reese to sweep to her right and Elliott to his left. They both nodded. Reese raised her AK to her shoulder as she got off her knees and onto her feet, squatting to stay low. Winters pushed his back against the tree and waited for them to get closer as he gripped his AK tighter. They were close. He could hear the rustling of their clothing. Winters didn’t want them too close. He didn’t want Elliott and Reese firing at each other. He flicked the safety off and spun around the tree.
The Jijis froze as Winters pulled the trigger. Bullets ripped through the first man as he fell to the ground. The next one in line didn’t have time to raise his weapon and took the rest of Winters’ magazine. The last two peeled off in different directions. Reese rolled around the tree firing on full auto taking down the third Jiji. Elliott followed up by eliminating the last one.
Winters ran toward the dead. He did a quick check and looked around to see if they had anyone else with them. Reese and Elliott joined him. All were breathing heavily as they stood silently scanning the woods. Winters was just about to let out a sigh of relief when he spotted more Jijis cautiously jogging toward them.
Chapter 94
Nate had just gotten off the radio with Winters and Scar when he spotted two Jijis emerging from the woods and heading in their direction. He grabbed Amber’s arm and pulled her through a wooden gate and closed it. He looked over the fence and saw them coming up the driveway. He thought about what he should do. Running hadn’t even entered his mind. What he wondered was, how was he going to kill them? They were right behind Robinson Road and he didn’t want to arouse any more attention, so he opted for a more personal kill. He pulled out two ten-inch blades and flicked his thick eyebrows at Amber.
“C’mon, cover me.”
They ran around the back of the house and stopped close to the driveway. He peered around the corner and saw them approaching the garage, looking to see if there were any cars in it. Nate removed his vest and gently put it on the ground with his M4 rifle. He slipped around the corner. Amber followed closely keeping her rifle to her shoulder. Nate saw the two Jijis, with their backs to him, walking toward the fence. He sprinted after them and with his right hand swung the blade into the side of one while simultaneously plunging the other knife into the back of the second Jiji. Both yelled out as Nate withdrew the knives and stabbed them both repeatedly. Amber alertly scanned the area for anymore.
“Not as fancy as Bassett,” said Nate.