The Shadow Patriots Box Set

by Warren Ray

  Chapter 99

  Manassas Virginia

  Major Green stood up to get another drink. He needed it after listening to the recording of Perozzi and the unidentified Chinese officials. It was chilling hearing him talk nonchalantly with them about casualty numbers, where they should house prisoners and how they should go about enslaving the citizens. Perozzi assured him that the US had neutered military leadership over the years and morale within the forces was at an all time low. He also spoke about how the new Government would encourage Americans to volunteer to fight in the war and how he expected tens of thousands would do so. Perozzi told him he wanted as many as possible to sign up, so they could get rid of them. The new government didn’t want to worry about a “bubba effect” down the road, where armed patriotic Americans would rise up against them. Perozzi wanted assurances that China would show signs of weakness to encourage as many people as possible to volunteer and to die. He also talked about how he’d forward information on troop strength and movements.

  Green poured a shot of bourbon in his glass, picked it up and drank it in one swig. He was numb to the point of not knowing if he should even sit back down. He had just heard evil speak and it scared him. He stared at the bottle of bourbon and without thinking, poured himself another one. He noticed a presence next to him and turned to see it was Sam. He moved the bottle over to fill his glass.

  “And I thought we had damning evidence,” said Sam referring to the recordings of Reed and O’Connor discussing the bombings.

  “Child’s play compared to this,” said Green thinking it was a stupid reply, but in light of what he just heard, he wasn’t so sure. How do you compare reprehensible acts? Did you prioritize the number of people killed or the vastness of the devastation? He was disappointed in himself for even thinking in those terms. Both acts were totally devious and, well, just plain dark and evil.

  “So, what are we going to do?” asked Sam.

  “I’m not sure, Sam.”

  Green looked around the room at his fellow conspirators and wondered if push came to shove, would these people stand tall and come out of the shadows to fight for what was right. He looked at his mother trying to compose herself. She had been the one to bring this group together and she had a lot of faith in them. Senator Seeley seemed solid, but she had given up the Senate on her own accord. Did she scare that easily and if so, would she able to see this through to the end? Green wasn’t so sure. Osborne was in his late sixties and had been around a long time. However, he spent his career in the State Department, a department that didn’t always see things the same way as the military. They were negotiators, not fighters, who used political deals to get things done. Still, he seemed genuine enough to want to help, and his contacts around the world could come in handy. Then there was the FBI man, Jacob Gibbs, who looked to be in his fifties. The lawman had steely eyes and projected confidence, but that confidence slipped the other day when they had met. He’d been extremely nervous and it had struck Green to be odd enough that it gave him pause about the man. Granted, none of them expected to hear the damning evidence of treachery at the highest level, but still, Green needed everyone to be focused and unafraid. He gave it more thought and decided he was just as shaken as the others and needed to cut Gibbs some slack.

  Green put his drink down and decided to focus on what was happening. There was something he was missing and he needed to stop thinking about what was on the recordings but why were there recordings in the first place. “Nobody trusts anyone,” quipped Green.

  The comment got everyone’s attention and they all turned to Green.

  Green looked over at Gibbs. “Jacob, these recordings came off of Pruitt’s laptop, correct?”

  Gibbs nodded.

  “So the question is, did Reed order these recordings or did Pruitt take it upon himself?”

  “It had to be Reed,” said Gibbs. “Pruitt would never have been able to bug that meeting without Reed’s help.”

  “What difference does it matter?” asked Sam.

  “I think it makes a big difference, Sam. We know Reed relied on Pruitt to do a lot of his dirty work. He blackmailed people and killed two of them, maybe more. But, Pruitt didn’t trust Reed because he recorded some of their conversations as well.”

  “Where are you going with this?” asked Sam.

  “Hear me out. If Reed ordered the recordings, then he doesn’t trust Perozzi, which means, we could use that fear to drive a wedge between them.”

  There was a noticeable silence in the room for a few moments as the realization of the mistrust the conspirators had of one another began to permeate their minds.

  “Major, I think you missed your calling,” said Osborne. “You should have worked in the State Department.”

  The comment made Green snicker to himself because he had come up with a political weapon immediately after making light of it. “Other than killing these two men out right, which wouldn’t be easy, we need something to stimulate the natural fear they have of each other’s loyalty, and I would include Mordulfah in this. It will take more than driving a wedge between them, but it’s a start, and if we can get them to fight with each other, it would divert their attention while we work on the coup de grâs.”

  “You really did miss your calling, Major,” said Osborne. “It’s a brilliant idea and it’s right up my alley. As a matter of fact, I think I know how we can begin.”

  Chapter 100

  Jackson Michigan

  After a long wait from the tops of the pine trees, Winters noticed the sun was finally starting to set. It had been frustrating knowing there was nothing to do until it got dark. Winters, Elliott and Reese had to endure watching Jijis move around in the distance going from house to house searching for them and anyone else who had happened to stay in the area. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be many left as only a few were gunned down. Each one was excruciating to watch though.

  During their wait, Scar had radioed that Mayor Simpson had gotten the word out for everyone to assemble downtown where they would set up defensive positions. Nordell took fifty men and began attacking over on the east side of town. That explained the gunfire Winters had heard coming from the east. Scar kept the Shadow Patriots busy attacking Jijis coming down from Jackson Crossing. He was trying to draw Jijis from Robinson Road to lighten the force that Winters and Nate would have to face.

  Reese interrupted his thoughts. “It’s getting dark and I’m getting anxious to go.”

  “You and me both, about another hour should do it.”

  “We should climb down before it gets too dark, don’t want to fall, you know.”

  “Again, right there with ya. Patience my dear.”

  “I’m out of patience, Cole,” she said playfully shaking his arm and gritting her teeth.

  Winters laughed at her. “Patience is not for the youth.”

  “No, it’s not, I want to go, now.”

  “Elliott, would you want to be young again?”

  “Hell no.”

  “Well, I don’t want to be old…not that you guys are old,” she said with a sly grin.

  “Look who’s the suck up now,” smiled Winters.

  “I’ve learned from the best,” she said leaning in and pointing a finger at him.

  “I am the best.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  Winters pulled out his radio. “Nate, come in.”

  “What’s up?”

  “How are you looking over there?”

  “Getting anxious.”

  Reese crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

  Winters shook his head. “Besides that?”

  “We’re good. We’ll head your way in about an hour, shouldn’t take too long.”

  Chapter 101

  Bassett and Burns led their men back toward Jackson staying on smaller country roads. They parked north of the interstate and found a safe place to hole up until it got dark. They decided to recon the area and left the other men to get some rest. They
drove down Doney Road, which soon turned into a dirt road where they parked their SUV and hiked up to the interstate.

  “Looks like they’ve got it pretty locked down,” said Burns.

  “Sure does,” said Bassett, looking through his binoculars.

  “We can look for a better advantage, but something tells me, it’s going to be the same everywhere we go,” said Burns.

  “Our only advantage is they won’t be expecting anyone coming in from behind them,” said Bassett handing Burns the binoculars. “Notice anything?”

  “Yep. I only see their backsides and no eyes.”

  “Let’s go see where their flank is and if they have any separation between their ranks.”

  They hustled back to the SUV, snaked their way up to County Farm Road and came down Industrial Drive, another dead-end road that ended by the interstate. They took off into the trees and hiked along the edge of the woods. They didn’t see any Jijis along the interstate west of their position and knew they had reached the flank with the entrance of Highway 60 to the south. They ventured back east along the woods and found what they were looking for.

  “Here it is,” said Bassett. “There’s not as many here and there’s more separation.”

  Burns nodded.

  Bassett pulled out the map and looked at the small airport across from them. “With our night-optics, we won’t have a problem.”

  Once they got back to their ride, Burns decided to check in with Winters. He picked up the radio and called him.

  “Captain, Burns here.”

  “Burns.”

  “Just wanted to let you know there’s a lot of Jijis up here.”

  “Copy that. I’ve been noticing that more seem to be moving into the area. Don’t think they’ve given up on us.”

  “Just hang in there, Captain. The Corporal and I have a way in, shouldn’t be too much work.”

  “Keep us informed.”

  Bassett started the SUV and put it in gear. His thoughts were on their impending battle. He knew it was going to be mostly up to him and Burns if they wanted to do it in stealth mode. They had only a few sets of night-vision goggles, one of which was thermal, which were ideal for their situation. Anything that glowed was the enemy. He wouldn’t know exactly how many Jijis there were until he put them on.

  Bassett tapped his hand on the steering wheel, as his thoughts drifted to how many men would die tonight. It was a morbid thought, but he knew they were headed for a real battle. With the exception of Hadley, all his men were older and he wondered how many were capable of a prolonged fight. He had no doubt they were all fighters and they had received some top-notch training in Canada, but some of them hadn’t seen battle yet and these were the ones he was most concerned about. He had no worries about Bill Taylor or Eddie Perlee. These grisly old guys had fought their way into Canada, saved him and Major Green in Detroit Lakes and fought their way in and out of Detroit. They were tough as nails and he felt lucky they were in his group. What worried him was the Shadow Patriots overall numbers were small. Granted, they had always fought larger forces and had enjoyed much success, but they had never come up against such a large force as this before. Tonight, his main concern was—did they have enough men?

  Chapter 102

  Nate finished eating the canned roast beef Amber had found. It had been buried in the basement of the house they had acquired. He wanted to get going, but she had insisted they eat again before they left. He knew she was right and decided to let her boss him around if only for the fun of it. He had gotten used to her company ever since last night when they were on the run with the kidnapped girls in tow. She would be somewhat limited in hand to hand fighting, but had no doubt she’d pull the trigger when needed. They would be wearing infrared goggles, which would make finding Jijis a lot easier. This was their biggest advantage and he would rely on it as much as possible.

  It was dark now and he insisted Amber get used to the goggles inside the house. She moved around cautiously at first, but she quickly got the hang of them. While she was getting used to them, Nate radioed Winters to let them know they were leaving. He looked out of the upstairs window and scanned the area for Jijis. Satisfied they had a good starting route, they scooted out the back door and into the woods. Gunfire was coming from several different directions. Some of it came from Robinson Road and they were right behind it.

  The green vision of the goggles lit the way as they trekked through the woods, taking it slowly and cautiously.

  Amber grabbed Nate’s arm and whispered. “Over there.”

  Nate turned and couldn’t believe he had missed two Jijis sitting twenty yards away. The Jijis looked around as if they heard something. One lifted his rifle and pulled the trigger. Nate yanked Amber down as bullets flew over their heads. He raised his head and saw the Jijis darting their heads around, obviously blind in the dark. Nate wanted to fire his Colt M4 but knew it sounded different from the AK. After killing these two, he’d grab their rifles so they could use them without raising an alarm.

  “I’m going to sneak up on them,” whispered Nate.

  “Shouldn’t we go around them?”

  “I want those AK’s.”

  Amber nodded approvingly.

  “I’ll come in slow and low. Keep your eyes peeled for anymore, but don’t fire unless you’re sure I’ve been spotted.”

  Nate dropped his rifle and chambered a round into his Mark 23 pistol just in case it got a little too dicey. He put it back in his holster and drew out both of his ten-inch blades. He repositioned the night-vision goggles and looked around before creeping toward his targets. He crawled on his hands and knees on the pine needle strewn ground. He could feel the ground was still damp from yesterday’s downpour. Every few yards, he stopped and looked around. The Jijis still darted their heads in fear. Nate chuckled to himself knowing he was their greatest nightmare. The boogieman was coming.

  Ten more yards now, he was almost there when he felt his knee come down on a small twig snapping it in half. He froze and raised his head. He could hear them speaking English.

  “Did you hear that?” asked one with a dark beard.

  “Your imagination is getting to you. It is some animal, perhaps a squirrel,” said a heavier set one.

  “That’s right suckers, I’m just a squirrel,” thought Nate.

  “Why can’t we be the ones raiding these houses?” asked the bearded one.

  “We do as we’re told, besides if we catch one of these stupid women running out the back, we could have her all to ourselves,” said the fat one patting his friend on the arm.

  They both laughed. Nate had heard enough. He used their loud laughter to cover his last few steps he needed to kill them. He sprung up and lunged toward them. He aimed for their midsections and plunged both knives simultaneously into their sides. He jerked the blades upwards as he pulled them out. He swung around thrusting the blade into the fat one’s neck with such force that it knocked him over. The bearded one dropped to his knees. Nate knelt down next to him. He grabbed his hair and whispered to him. “You were right, there was someone out there.” He then slit his throat and kicked him forward.

  Amber came rushing forward and handed him his M4. She bent down picking through their pockets for the spare AK magazines. She found six full ones, stuffed three in her vest and gave Nate the other three.

  “This will be a big help,” said Nate.

  They moved out of the woods and ran to the back of a house that sat on Robinson Road. They crept along the side and peeked around the corner. Jijis were up and down the road and across the street in a church parking lot. There were a lot more now than before and Nate wondered why. Because there were no streetlights, the Jijis had turned on the headlights of some of the cars. Nate saw a strip of woods bordering the parking lot and knew it was where he wanted to go. The Jijis in the parking lot were standing around in a large group. A few of them were coming down the street and Nate pushed Amber backward. As soon as they passed, Nate grabbed her arm and dashe
d across the street. They ran across the lawn and thought they were in the clear when he saw two Jijis guarding the back of the house.

  Chapter 103

  Winters enjoyed watching the sunset from his perch high up in the trees. He took pleasure in the small things whenever he could because they were a rarity these days. His thoughts drifted to their impending fight. His overall concern was the defense of the town and if there were enough people willing to defend it. He was frustrated because he was unable to help them get ready like he wanted to. Retrieving the weapons was a good idea and he knew it was going to be risky, but he never dreamed he’d be stuck up in a tree for hours and not be able to do anything.

  Once they met up with Nate and Amber, all five of them would head north to rendezvous with Bassett and Burns. The Jijis would still surround them, but now they would be twenty-one strong. This would be enough to do plenty of damage during the night.

  Winters looked at Elliott and Reese. “You guys ready?”

  They both nodded and then everyone started down the trees. Reese was the first one down as she was the most anxious to leave. In only a few minutes, they had all dropped from the last branch and hit the ground. After stretching their legs, they cautiously headed toward the water tower. It was the obvious place to meet with Nate and Amber, as it was the biggest thing out there.

  It was darker on the ground than it had been up in the trees. It made the going slower than Winters would have liked. He wished he had a pair of night-vision goggles to see through the thick foliage.

  Winters led the way as the three stayed close together. Reese grabbed his shoulder stopping him. He turned and saw her looking to their right. She moved closer to him.

  “I hear voices,” she whispered.

  Winters hadn’t heard them and realized her young ears were better than his.

  “They’re getting louder, I think they’re coming this way.”

  They crouched down and waited. It only took a few more moments before Winters heard them. It sounded like two men talking, maybe more. Branches cracked as they trampled through the trees. A flashlight beam penetrating the foliage. It was too late to move out of the way without the Jijis hearing them. Winters gripped his AK tighter. He would use it only as a last resort. If they fired, there was no telling how many would come running to the area. Not only would it endanger them, but it would also make it more difficult for Nate and Amber to reach them. The beam of light was coming right at them. Winters was pulling on Reese’s arm to move her out of the way when Elliott stood up.