The Shadow Patriots Box Set

by Warren Ray

  Then Winters watched in horror as a bullet ripped through her arm.

  She screamed out in pain and dropped her AK.

  Winters bounded over to her as she dropped to the ground.

  “Oh, it friggin burns,” she cried out.

  “Let me look.”

  Winters yanked her jacket off and saw that it winged her taking off a chunk of flesh. The wound bled profusely down her arm. Johnny-Boy had given him the same kind of wound back at the train station. He knew the pain she was experiencing.

  He pulled off his jacket and shirt leaving him in a white t-shirt. He tore off a strip of cloth, wrapped it tightly around her arm and tied it off in a knot. Then he heard a barrage of shots coming from behind them. He turned to see Jijis coming in hot and heavy.

  He yelled at her. “Can you fight?”

  She looked up at him puzzled.

  “I need you to fight, Reese. Are you squared away?”

  She nodded and clenched her teeth.

  “Then grab that weapon and fire it. Elliott get over here.”

  Reese struggled to level the AK but managed to pull the trigger.

  Elliott heaved his big body over to them.

  “She’s hit, but she’s good,” he said taking his goggles off and giving them to Elliott. “You see ‘em?”

  “They’re bunched in together, we can sneak around on their left.”

  Winters grabbed the radio. “Nate, you guys good?”

  “So far, so good. These bastards didn’t take long did they?”

  “They’re bunched up. We’re going west to flank them.”

  “We’ll go east,” replied Nate.

  “Captain,” said Bassett, over the radio.

  “Bassett, where are you?”

  “In front of you, we took some of your rounds. We killed these last ones. We’re coming in, confirm that.”

  “Copy that,” responded Winters as he let out a short sigh of relief before more bullets hit the surrounding trees. He grabbed Reese, pulled her around the other side of the tree, and then emptied a magazine wildly in the Jijis direction. Reese crouched down to reload, rose up and kept firing. Elliott took his time picking out targets through the goggles.

  Moments later, Bassett showed up with six others.

  “Burns is getting Attila and Amber. We need to consolidate, Captain.”

  Bassett noticed Reese and the makeshift bandage around her arm. “You good?”

  She nodded.

  “That’s my girl.” He turned to Winters. “We can go north, we’ve cleared the way,”

  “Can you cover our exit?” Winters asked Bassett.

  “Affirmative.”

  “Elliott, grab Reese and let’s move out,” ordered Winters, as he threw his jacket on and zipped it up, covering his white t-shirt.

  Bassett and three others covered the retreat by letting loose a constant barrage. Then, Bassett, had them retreat with each covering for one another and backing up as they fired.

  When the whole group was finally together, they hurried through the woods. Elliott kept a close eye on Reese as he helped her along. Bassett satisfied the pursuing Jijis were far enough back, came forward to scout their retreat. He was twenty yards ahead when he noticed the white glow of warm bodies coming in from the west. He came back to report to Winters.

  “They’re coming in from the highway.”

  Winters’ heart sank. He knew it was only a matter of time before a full on assault would confront them. “Let’s find a defensive position.”

  Chapter 108

  Manassas Virginia

  Major Green and his mother, Sarah, left Manassas after the distressing meeting with his new compatriots, which made concentrating on driving difficult. They had just learned Perozzi had made a deal with China to trade them the State of California in lieu of the trillions the US owed. The depth of this information boggled the mind. Never, in all of history, had Green ever heard of such treachery. Here was a man willing to kill hundreds of thousands of fellow Americans all for the sake of power. He was literally dividing the United States into three separate countries. No telling what other deals he had made. Perhaps he was going to concede the whole southwest to Mexico. It wouldn’t surprise him at this point. Nothing would ever surprise him again. Perozzi was looking to enslave all of America and he would obviously stop at nothing. Green laughed to himself when he realized the saddest part was, even if he had the ability to get the information out, very few would believe him. Who would believe such a thing? Everyone would label him a conspiratorial kook. He knew he and his fellow compatriots would have to take Perozzi, Reed and Mordulfah down themselves. Hopefully, Winters would be able to eliminate Mordulfah, which would save them the trouble. He wondered how Winters was doing. He decided to call Vatter in the morning to find out what had happened. He didn’t think he’d get much sleep tonight.

  Before they left Senator Seeley’s home, Green had introduced the idea of creating a rift between Perozzi and Reed. John Osborne came up with the idea of sending Reed something that would make him nervous. They knocked the idea around trying to decide what to send. He knew exactly what to send him. He told the group what he and Sam had gotten from Alison O’Connor. After hearing about the recording, they unanimously agreed it would be the perfect. The recording would throw Reed off his game and force him to change his strategy. It was a start, but they would have to follow it up with something else. He didn’t know what but was confident they would come up with something.

  Green glanced over at his mother, who was staring out the window seemingly lost in her own world. “You alright, Mother?”

  “Yes, I’m just trying to get over the sadness so I can start getting pissed off.”

  Green had never before heard her utter those words. “We’re going to get them.”

  “I know we are. I’m just wondering how long it’s going to take and who’s going to die in the process.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Make no mistake, John, if we back Reed into a corner, he’ll come out fighting. He’s already a paranoid SOB, this will only make him worse. He’ll kill whomever he thinks is involved, and he won’t think twice about the consequences. It won’t matter to him because he’ll think it’s worth the price.”

  Green thought about what she had just said. She was right, of course. A man like Reed would not go down quietly and he’d kill without hesitation.

  She turned to him. “Innocent people will die, John.”

  Green didn’t respond.

  “It’ll be worth the price though.”

  Her last comment threw Green off. Never had he heard his mother be so blunt or so matter of fact. He was going to have to get used to this new side of her, and they both were going to have to show more resolve than ever before.

  Chapter 109

  Jackson Michigan

  The Jijis had come in from two different sides and were closing in on Winters and his team. He wanted to find some kind of a defensive position and the only one he felt good about was a small clearing free of trees where they could at least see the enemy approaching from one side. It was not ideal but it would have to do. They were only thirteen strong against God only knew how many, but Winters figured it would be at least a hundred and probably more. He thought he could use this position until they found a weakness in the Jijis lines. The pitch black was an asset and a liability. Once they were on the move again, it would be easy for a member of their group to get lost. The advantage was their night-vision optics, which was the only thing they had going for them.

  Through his goggles, Winters saw Amber crouching down with the wounded Reese. Both kept their focus ahead. Reese was breathing hard but seemed determined. Nate and Elliott were behind them watching for any movement from the east. Burns was on the far side guarding the north end.

  Winters needed to call Scar and see if he could get up there. He pulled out his radio and whispered into the mic. “Scar, come in, Scar.”

  “Here, Captain.”


  “We’re in trouble. They’ve got us surrounded. There’s got to be at least a hundred Jijis, maybe more. Bassett’s here with his men as is Nate.”

  “Copy that. Approximately, where are you?”

  “A little ways north of the tower.”

  “We’re on our way.”

  “Which way you coming in?”

  “Not sure yet. I’ll figure something out.”

  Winters put the radio back in his jacket and crawled over to Bassett, who was scanning the field with his thermal goggles.

  Bassett pointed across the field. “Got about twenty crawling across over there and another twenty or so closing in from the north.”

  Winters checked those observations. “I see ‘em.”

  Bassett turned to the east. “There’s a bunch more behind us. The ones from the south must be licking their wounds cause they don’t seem to be in any hurry.”

  Winters turned back toward the field and saw a flash shoot up into the sky. A Jiji fired off a parachute flare and then another, going straight up. The woods lit up like high noon exposing their positions and the Jijis started firing. As incoming rounds snapped and whistled around them as the Shadow Patriots began to return fire.

  Winters aimed at the crawling Jijis. He took out one and then another. A couple of them were stupid enough to stand up. After eliminating them, he aimed at another, but Bassett beat him to it as the target fell backward, dead. A few more popped up and tried to run at them, but only made it a few feet before they went down. Then Winters heard shots from behind him. He turned to see a few of the enemy coming in fast. The light from the flare was fading as it neared the ground. He emptied his magazine on them killing one. He threw in another full mag and took aim, but saw Nate and Elliott finishing them off. Winters scanned the area for more targets. He turned back west and saw a Jiji pulling out another flare. He let off a three-shot burst and prevented another light show.

  Gunfire from the south alerted Winters to the pursuing Jijis starting to move in. He turned to see what looked like a small army and yelled out to Bassett.

  Bassett turned his head. “They’ve got reinforcements.” He spun around looking for the best option. “We need to peel east.”

  Winters emptied another mag on the approaching Jijis and before hustling to the others. “Let’s go, we’re going right.”

  Everyone started to move out when a round hit Nate.

  He fell to the ground cussing.

  Elliott grabbed him by the arm and manhandled him forward.

  “Those friggin bastards,” yelled Nate.

  Winters and Bassett each took cover behind a tree and swung around trying to stop the Jijis approaching from the south. They sprayed round after round, but the Jijis used the trees for cover. A bullet came from the side and Winters turned to see his ranks caving fast as the Jijis smelled blood and attempted to take advantage of the fleeing Shadow Patriots.

  Chapter 110

  Scar thought fast about his plan to rescue his friends. He knew he had to come in hard with as many men as possible. They were fighting Jijis south on Robinson Road just past McCain Road. They had come down there to give Nate and Amber a chance to get to Winters. At first, they encountered heavy resistance, but after a while, they were beating them back. Just before the distress call came from Winters, he noticed the Jijis had been falling back and now he knew why. They were leaving to help chase Winters. The Jijis made his decision easier, knowing what they were doing, and even easier when he spotted the parachute flares.

  “Look over there,” yelled Meeks who was driving a pickup truck.

  “A friggin flare,” said Scar.

  “Thanks, dumb-assess, for helping us out.”

  Meeks led the convoy of a hundred and fifty men up Robinson Road. After passing Kirkwood Street, Scar told him to take the next left onto Westchester Blvd. Meeks screeched the tires while taking a hard left. He jammed on the breaks when he saw Jijis up ahead.

  “Take this right,” yelled Scar.

  Meeks floored the pedal, yanked the steering wheel to the right and headed down Rutledge Road then veered left on Dorset Drive.

  “Up ahead,” said Meeks.

  More Jijis were at the end of the road.

  “This is their staging area,” stated Scar as he grabbed his radio and ordered everyone to park in the yards and form into fighting positions. “We’re going to make a stand here and work our way towards those woods.”

  “What about our six?”

  “Good thinking.” He picked the radio back up and called out to Nordell.

  “Nordell here.”

  “Gunny, I need some help up here on Robinson Road.”

  “No offense, but I’ve got my men guarding the downtown.”

  “Are you taking any fire?”

  “Not at this time.”

  “That’s because the fight is up here. Now if you want to sit on your ass and pretend you’re doing something that’s fine, but if you want to get into this then this is where the party is at.”

  There was no response.

  “Think he’ll come?”

  “Hell, if I know.”

  Nordell came back. “Where do you want us?”

  Scar reported the situation and Nordell responded that he’d bring his men in behind them.

  They got out of the pickup, put on their infrared goggles and scanned the neighborhood. It was obvious the Jijis had already come through as most of the windows were broken out and some of the houses had been riddled with bullets.

  The Jijis at the end of the street began firing at them and Scar ordered groups on both sides of the streets to advance. He then ordered snipers up on the rooftops to cover their flanks. The snipers drove vehicles right up beside the houses and used them to climb on the roofs where they immediately began using their night-vision scopes to facilitate accurate fire on the Jijis approaching from the parallel streets.

  “Meeks, let’s grab our rifles.”

  Scar and Meeks pulled out their Remington 700 sniper rifles, which were equipped with thermal imaging scopes. They used the doors on the pickup for protection and the door jambs as gun rests. They were approximately three hundred yards away from their targets.

  “Hell, there’s a lot of them down there,” said Meeks. “We keeping score?”

  “Of course we are,” said Scar who fired the first shot. “Got my first.”

  Meeks picked a target and pulled the trigger. “Boom.”

  Scar threw the bolt back and lined up another shot. “That’s two.”

  “Look at them just standing there. These jackasses don’t even know they’re sitting ducks.”

  For the next minute, Scar and Meeks picked off man after man before the enemy took better cover by hiding behind parked cars. When their immediate targets became inaccessible, they started picking off Jijis in the woods behind them. Their white glowing figures gave them nowhere to hide.

  “Scar,” yelled a sniper from the rooftop to his right.

  “What’s up?”

  “We’ve got a crap load coming in behind us.”

  Scar turned to Meeks. “Looks like the party’s just heating up.”

  He turned around and saw Jijis blocking the end of the street and two black Mercedes barreling towards them.

  “Get the SAW,” yelled Scar.

  Meeks reached into the bed of the truck and pulled out the belt driven M249, which fired 725 rounds a minute. He ran to the center of the street, yanked the lever back and held tight as he pulled the trigger. The rounds ripped through the first car smashing out the headlights and windshield. The dead driver fell forward depressing the accelerator and the car rocketed across the lawn where it crashed into a house. Meeks began methodically destroying the second car now only four hundred feet away. Rounds shot through the window taking out the driver and flattening the tires. He kept firing as it slowly rolled closer. To his surprise, the car exploded creating a firebomb and throwing shrapnel in all directions. The shockwave knocked Meeks to the ground.
>
  Chapter 111

  Winters saw their position caving and had to go east, which would take them closer to Robinson Road, but at that moment, it was the best option. He rushed over to Nate who had taken a round in the left shoulder, which exited through the front. Nate was madder than hell and cussed up a storm as he continued to fire his AK into the woods.

  Amber and Reese scrambled past Nate and Elliott darting between trees and firing wildly at unknown targets. Two more flares lit up the woods, so Winters pulled his goggles off and crouched behind a tree. More Jijis rushed in from the south, where he then concentrated his fire. The light from the flares lit everyone up including the enemy. Firing without the goggles was easier and he took advantage of it. He stood up and emptied another magazine. When he grabbed another, he realized he was running low. As he reloaded, a Jiji came rushing in knocking him over. Winters lost his grip on the rifle. He looked up to see the Jijis taking aim at him. He reached for Sadie’s Ruger, which he kept in an ankle holster. He yanked it out and emptied the mag. The Jiji fell forward as Winters rolled out of the way. He then rifled through the man’s pockets grabbing his ammo.

  Bassett ran up to him. “We gotta go north. Now!”

  “North?”

  “Affirmative. I’ve got Badger hauling ass in.”

  Winters nodded and looked around to see if they had everyone. He could see a couple more wounded and others helping them to keep moving. Tree branches caught the flares keeping them high as they burned. The team kept close together pushing north.

  “We need to spread out,” yelled Bassett. “We need real estate.”

  They both ran to the group and Bassett ordered Burns west. Then, he took a few men east. Winters ran into Nate and Elliott. He could see Nate grimacing in pain.

  “Nate, are you good to go?”

  “Damn right I’m good,” said Nate, contorting his face.

  Winters saw his goggles hanging down on his chest.