Dark Days Rough Roads dd-1

by Matthew D. Mark

  Haliday looked at everyone. “It’s not that high. Grab some pallets, quickly. Take the stuff off of them if you have to. We need five or six.” The first three were ready and Haliday stood them on edge and formed a triangle. He laid one on top to form a platform. They piled up two more and he moved the stairs over and got up on the platform. “You guys keep it steady, “ Haliday said.

  He pried the louvers of this vent open as far as he could. “This will work,” he said, “someone else get up here quick. You guys keep this steady.” Chuck was on the stairs and they were both ready. Haliday clicked his mic, “Now Rob.” Rob and a couple others fired out the door and Haliday and Chuck fired on their targets. After emptying a complete magazine, Haliday scrambled and got down. Chuck followed not even a second later.

  Sure enough the walls around the vents opened up with a few holes. One second longer for either of them and they would have been hit. They immediately cleared the west wall of the hangar building as it took a few more rounds. Haliday called over to Rob, “How’d we do?” Rob said he would check. He wasn’t sure.

  Rob got down low and took a quick peek. It looked like the position was neutralized. “Wait a second,” Rob said. There came another volley of fire. A man in the position Haliday fired into ran toward the buildings into another position as others laid down cover fire. Rob came back on. “Looks like the two guys close to us are dead and the other position was vacated, but someone left in it is either dead or injured.”

  Mark and Brad were studying the north end now. Still the same problem. They got a few people closer, but not enough. The only thing they could do would be to keep more people from going in and to keep the militia from coming out. Rob called Haliday and told him the situation. Haliday acknowledged and told him to get some guys over on the south end to get the casualties out.

  Mark sent the four wheeler with their makeshift medic team over there, along with two more guys. He settled down and continued to watch the area. Brad threw out some different ideas, but nothing made sense. “We wait it out,” said Mark. Mark reached in his pocket and pulled out a small bag of jerky and gave Brad a piece and chewed on one himself.

  Rob sent two guys over to the militia position. As soon as they got there the first man into the position was shot with a pistol four times. The second of Rob’s guys fired his rifle into the militia man who had been laying there waiting. The man yelled over to Rob and told him it was secure now, but they lost Kenny. Rob sent one more guy over to the position.

  The four wheeler made it in and they evacuated the wounded and the dead using the two four wheelers. The injured were taken next door to the police station and the dead were placed next door to that for the time being. The medical staff got busy working on everyone.

  The group had managed to take full control of the south end of the airport and some key buildings. They also controlled the main gate entrance now as far as anyone being able to get in that way. The next push would be even harder. Haliday went into one of the buildings and came back out with a case of water. He opened a bottle and drank it down. Most of the other guys did the same.

  He had a few cases of water taken out and a bunch of granola bars and snacks. It had been a long time already, almost six hours. They started around 0800 and they only had about four hours of daylight left now. Haliday sat down and cracked open a fruit roll up.

  During the lull in activity Mark had a couple of people get the prisoners and take them to the jail. They had rigged up a wood stove courtesy of the tractor supply store and it was nice and warm in there. Mark asked Haliday for more food and Haliday agreed. They loaded up a bunch and took it over to the police station as well.

  Haliday was drinking some more water when he stopped and dropped the bottle. He held his hand up and listened. He called Mark on the radio. “We have a deuce inbound. It sounds like it’s coming from the south.” Haliday started shouting out orders. Everyone started running in different directions. “Mark, get over here quick. Everyone, heads up, inbound bad guys from the south.”

  The deuce was barreling down the road. Everything was quiet and as he was standing there he heard the shifting of the engine. He was kneeling down behind one of the militia emplacements they had taken when he saw it approach. It was a small three vehicle convoy. The deuce along with a pickup and an older van.

  The three vehicles entered the south fence line breach and spread out. Haliday had militia north in the buildings and south. He called Mark. “Mark, where you at buddy, any idea what’s going on.”

  Mark told him to wait a minute as he was checking them out. Mark called him, “Ok, I have the info. We have problems.”

  Mark gave him the rundown of what was going on. “The deuce is in the middle and the other vehicles are left and right of it about 20 yards and it looks like a makeshift spearhead formation. The vehicles look like the drivers are armored up. They make the approach with any foot troops and you’re screwed.”

  “The deuce has an upper turret. The pickup truck has an armored portal on the back of it as well. I count six people in the van, two in the pickup and eight in the deuce. All Russian camo and all carrying AR’s except for the deuce and pickup turrets. They have 7.62’s for sure. Roger, they have a ton of ammo with them. The deuce has armor on the sides of the bed. Maybe 36 inches tall.”

  Haliday said, “That’s wonderful. The guys in the woods can’t take shots until they get closer and once that happens they are close enough to run us out. We’re going to lose the ground we have taken and a lot more lives. Mark, coordinate what you can. Do what you can. Let me know. Make sure the north holds their positions and keeps them busy.”

  Haliday told them that anybody on the east and west that could take shots at these guys should do it. “Go for the tires, go for the gunners and concentrate on the rest after that.” The snipers had to hit the gunners and drivers. They had to stop the vehicles.

  Mark came on the radio again. “Roger, they are finalizing their plans and gear.” Haliday looked at his watch. It had been about 40 minutes from the time he heard the deuce until now. They were toward the end of the runway and had about ¾ of a mile to reach them.

  The vehicles started moving slowly forward. The deuce was leading with the others about 35 feet behind and off to the sides. The pickup had a driver and two gunners in it. The deuce had a driver, gunner and four men in the back. The van just had a driver and one man who had slid the side door open. The other five men moved on foot. Mark called and told everyone they were moving

  The pace was slow and the suspense was getting on everyone’s nerves. The guys in the tree line started to take some shots at the vehicles but they were still a little too far away. The militia accompanying the vehicles was keeping a sharp lookout to the sides and behind them. The anticipation was growing.

  They were much closer now and the tree line on both sides erupted with fire. The first vehicle to take a hit was on one of the back tires of the deuce, but that was like a scratch and didn’t phase it. The deuce paused and one of the guys on foot dropped the tailgate and the rest climbed in the back. They continued to move toward Haliday.

  The gunners in the deuce lit up the tree line where they spotted a sniper. The man was hit and started to fall out of the tree, but just dangled from his tree stand harness. He was wounded and trying to free himself as he continued to take fire from the militia. After just a few more moments he went limp after sustaining more hits.

  The man who had been using the front loader as cover was in a bind, he was exposed no matter where he went. He looked around for a way to get to safety rather than stay in place and stay safe. He made a run for another position, but the pickup truck gunner took aim and hit the man twice. The man tumbled forward and fell. The gunner put another round into him.

  The men in the tree line fired again and hit the van’s front tire. The tire deflated and the rim dug into the grass and dirt slowing it down. The rear tires started to spin as they lost traction trying to propel the vehicle forward. The van
only made it another 25 feet before it wouldn’t move anymore. It was now stuck where it was. The militia men inside readied themselves to make a run for it.

  The deuce paused so the men from the van could get in. The driver leapt out and ran for the deuce and the man at the side door of the van jumped down. His feet had barely hit the ground when Mark fired half of a magazine into the guy. The militia returned fire on Mark, who was lying prone behind one of the metal portals the shop had built. He could hear the rounds strike the plate and the woods around him.

  Mark called out some instructions so they would keep him covered. He would have to wait it out for a little bit before he would be able to get to a safer position. The assault from the front and now the rear caught them off guard and they were reforming their plans to adjust for the increase in militia members fighting them.

  The deuce and pickup started to move forward again. The pickup now moved in a bit closer to the deuce so they could cover each other’s vehicle. This was an amateur move and could put the militia in greater danger. Concentrating troops in a small area like this could make it easier to take out more at once.

  They could gun it and rush Haliday’s positions and then all jump out near the emplacements, but that was suicide. Mark was waiting, but he was still pinned down and we stayed still because it was his only option. He still had to wait for a better opportunity before he could move out. He called Haliday and told him.

  Haliday was only able to grab a quick peek once in a while. The gunners were a threat and were keeping Haliday and his men down low and unable to fire back. The pickup and deuce made it to about 200 yards away from Haliday and slowed again. Haliday literally didn’t know what to do. He had to think quickly.

  They could try and bail over to the buildings and fight inside but that wasn’t any better. They would simply be pinned inside with no way out. Haliday was ticked off that they didn’t have a better grip on their own rear position, especially since this was how they got in themselves. He heard a voice on the radio.

  “We’re coming up from the rear, ‘you copy?’ we have two bikes and the Jeep. Do not fire on us.” Haliday told everyone on the radio to pass the word. Do not fire on the vehicles behind the trucks, they are good guys. Concentrate your fire on the sides. The tree line lit up again on the militia and the militia fired back.

  Straight up behind them roared two motorcycles and the Jeep. Blake was on his bike and Alan on the KLR. They both went for the cover of the van and took up their positions and fired toward the advancing militia from the rear. The first two people to go down were the two guys in the back of the pickup truck.

  The driver didn’t know where the rounds had come from. He gunned it and took off for one of the emplacements. His goal now was to get out of the open and into the emplacements occupied by Haliday’s group. They didn’t want to remain targeted any longer. The truck bounced violently across the open field as it increased speed.

  He plowed into the emplacement crushing one of the men underneath the pickup and the sand bags. The other man had jumped out of the way. The driver got out and fired on the man. Rob was one position over and saw what happened. Rob fired and dropped the man and then got back down. They were taking heavy fire from the deuce now.

  One of the militia in the deuce looked back and his eyes widened with horror. There was this Jeep right behind them with two guys at the roll bar firing into the back of the deuce. The Jeep was only 50 yards behind them. Mike was driving and Kevin and Randy had AR’s blazing away. They went through three magazines each in a matter of about a minute.

  Mike hit the brakes and swung left, then stopped. They now had Alan and Blake by the van and Mike, Randy and Kevin by the Jeep, and both groups were behind the militia deuce. The fire was concentrated on the deuce. The deuce slowed and the driver gunned the engine trying to get it to move faster. The two front tires and a couple of the rear tires were flat.

  One of the men jumped down and raised the tailgate up. They wanted to protect the men in the back from more fire and they were basically like fish in a barrel. Blake took aim as the man was climbing up and hit the man three times in the back. One of the guys in the back of the deuce had tried to help lift the guy in and one of the snipers took him out with a head shot. The man just hung over the tailgate of the deuce with the other man lying on the ground.

  Mark got up and headed along the east side and stopped. He popped some tear gas into the 37mm launcher and put three rounds close to the deuce. The men inside were scrambling to put on gas masks. Mark fired into the tank of the deuce multiple times and watched the fuel drain out. He was about to launch a flare when he saw a couple of white flags waving.

  He called Haliday on the radio. “I punctured the tank after I fired some tear gas over there, I was about to launch some flares when I saw two white flags. They want to surrender. What do you think?”

  Haliday said, “Let them.” Haliday called out a ceasefire. It took about 15 minutes but eventually all of the firing stopped.

  Haliday called over to Mike. “How far away from them are you?” he asked.

  Mike said, “About 50 or 60 yards. What do you want me to do?”

  Haliday asked him, “Can you hear them. Can you talk to them?”

  “Hold on,” Mike said, “I’ll check.” Mike yelled over to the deuce. “Can you hear me?”

  Someone answered back, “Ya, we can hear you. We want to surrender.”

  Mike told Haliday and asked him what to do next. Haliday told him to repeat what he was saying. Mike did just that. “You are fully surrounded with snipers and gunmen. Do as you are told and no harm will come to you. If you fire we will fire back on everyone. Do you understand?” The reply was yes.

  Mike continued. “Driver, get out first and walk to the rear of the truck. Keep your hands held high.” The driver got out and did as he was told. “Gunner, you’re next.” The gunner complied as well. “Now open the tailgate of the truck.” The driver and gunner opened the tailgate. Inside was a mix of dead, wounded, and men who had given up on the fight.

  Haliday told Mark, Blake, Alan, Randy and Kevin to keep their weapons trained on them. Mike spoke again. “One by one exit the back of the truck. You must remove everyone including the dead and injured. We want you 50 feet from the back of the truck.” The militia carried out the orders.

  Haliday and Chuck moved in from behind slowly with rifles ready. They approached the deuce and checked the cab with a mirror, then moved toward the back and checked the bed, which was empty except for some weapons and gear. Haliday took over from here. “I want all of you not injured to move forward 10 yards and stop.”

  The men moved forward and Haliday called Blake and Mike over. Haliday told them to check the dead and injured for any weapons of any type. “Take everything off them.” After they did this, they tossed everything in the back of the deuce. Haliday told the other men to spread out 10 feet, lay down, cross their legs, and place their hands on the backs of their heads.

  Each one was searched and all of their gear was removed from them. Haliday had them all bound up. He called and asked if any of the nurses or doctors was available. One of the doctors came by and had another man with him. “Who’s that?” Haliday asked.

  The doctor answered, “He’s from the fire department. He’s a paramedic.”

  Haliday told them both thank you. “Can you take a look and let me know how the rest are?”

  “Sure thing,” they said. They did a quick triage of the men.

  Sixteen militia members had assaulted them. Five were still alive, seven were dead and four wounded. The doctor said that of the wounded, two more would die within hours. The other two were taken to the makeshift hospital under guard. Haliday asked the militia who was in charge. One of the men said he was.

  Haliday walked over to him, “It’s time to end this thing now. You have women and children in there. You have women and children waiting for you guys out there, and many of them are not going to see their family members alive again.
If we continue, it’s going to be a lot more. You ready to help end this?”

  The man looked around at his fellow militia, the dead on the ground and the two dying men. “Yes, let’s end it.”

  Chapter 35

  Haliday called Blake over to him. Blake walked up and they stepped aside. Haliday looked at him, “Who’s idea was that?”

  Blake hesitated a bit. “Well, we heard how things were going and we got our stuff ready, we headed this way and hung out about halfway between here and the house. When I heard you call in the deuce I told them we needed to go now and we all headed this way.”

  Haliday said, “Good job kid. You saved a lot of lives here. That made all the difference.”

  They walked over to the militia men and Haliday called a few guys in to transport the prisoners. He looked over the leader and said, “Pick one more man to negotiate and then call in to the compound and tell them to send out two people. They’ll be safe, and if it doesn’t work out I’ll return them.” He cut the man’s hands loose and looked around. “Brad, you stay with me.” He then called in and spoke to the HQ.

  Haliday listened to the conversation. “You guys in there don’t understand. These people just handed us our asses. We have 5 out 16 of us left, you hear that? Five of us. Our wives and kids aren’t coming anywhere near this place. Hell, if they are smart they left already. You understand what’s happening out here? Do you guys understand what will happen in there?”

  The man continued, “Listen, they control the south end of the compound and that includes the food. You can’t get anyone in or out of the main gate because they have that under their control as well. It’s just a matter of time before they continue to march forward and then push everyone into the HQ building, where they’ll probably burn it down. Negotiating a ceasefire is the best we can get.”

  The HQ replied to him. “They can bring their group in and we can talk in here.” Haliday looked at the guy and shook his head no.