Survivors

by Rich Goldhaber

  I picked out a truck near the back of the grouping and poured a full magazine of fifty caliber bullets into its front cab and the machine gun in the rear. Suddenly I heard the whoosh of the launched Predator and followed its flight. After launching, it moved vertically to a height of a few hundred feet and then headed straight for the lead M2. When it was directly above the M2, it changed course and plunged downward into the top of the Vehicle. The M2 exploded, and as the vehicle burned, a few surviving troops crawled out onto the road.

  Another of the M2s spotted where our fire was coming from and suddenly automated cannon fire from their 25 millimeter chain gun began destroying our concrete wall. One of the shells hit a jeep and it seemed to split into pieces. Vince yelled, “Fall back to the next defensive position.”

  He didn’t need to ask again as our remaining team sped further west. I could see Jessie driving the jeep in front of ours. I wasn’t sure which of our friends had been killed, but I was certain they were gone. We arrived at the junction of Route 41 and Bayshore Road and hid in the woods. Vince said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have success; they have moved all of their M2s up to the front of their column and their entire troop convoy is now following the M2s.”

  I could hear Vince talking to Major Connors. “Major, blow up the three bridges crossing the river around Route 41.”

  Thirty seconds later, I could see the flashes and hear the explosions of the three bridges crossing the river near our location. The enemy column came into view. They were moving three abreast and Vince said he would take the middle M2, Bobby should take out the one on the left, and I was given the M2 on the right. Vince said, “Get ready, and tell me when your targets are acquired. I turned my Predator on and found my target in the viewfinder. I pressed the acquire button and I heard a rapid beeping sound and then a continuous sound indicating the target was acquired. I told Vince, “I’ve got mine.”

  Bobby followed shortly afterward. Then Vince said, “Fire on my command. Ready, aim, fire!”

  My launch tube vibrated slightly as my missile was released with a loud whooshing sound. The three missiles rose into the air and a few seconds later three M2s were out of commission and burning.

  That’s when the shit hit the fan. It seemed every enemy weapon was trained on us, and Vince’s jeep suddenly exploded and was catapulted into the air. It appeared to have just disintegrated in front of my eyes. There was a prolonged moment of silence, and I then heard Sergeant Gomez say, “The Lieutenant is gone. I’m taking command. Everyone move quickly to Del Prado Blvd. I want them to see us head south on Del Prado. Does everyone understand?”

  I heard a chorus of yeses, and we quickly moved out of the woods and back onto Bayshore Road heading further west. The commander of the enemy force seemed to understand we would hold the advantage if we had time to get to a fixed position and fire our missiles, so their entire convoy followed us at the M2s top speed. We could easily outrun them, but our goal was to get them to follow us, and we needed to match their speed.

  I heard more bridges blow up as we moved forward, and now the only remaining bridge over the river was the Cape Coral Bridge. We turned south on Del Prado Blvd. with their entire column in pursuit. There was the sound of sporadic machine gun fire, but we stayed just out of range.

  We dashed along Del Prado Blvd. and eventually crossed over the Cape Coral Bridge. We turned south on Route 867, and I could see their entire column driving at full speed over the bridge in hot pursuit. We passed through Fort Myers Beach and moved onto Estero Island and then quickly drove past Lover’s Key State Park, and we finally raced across a bridge at full speed onto Big Hickory Island.

  We now tried to put as much distance between ourselves and the advancing enemy as possible. We were travelling at over sixty miles per hour when we cleared the bridge at the south end of Big Hickory, and to my relief, I saw a force of over two hundred of our troops waiting in defensive positions just south of the bridge.

  I heard the distant sound of the north end bridge blowing up and Bruce parked our jeep next to Arnie Connor’s command van at the back of our forces. I heard him scream, “Blow the last bridge, but nothing happened. What’s wrong Private?”

  Over the intercom I heard, “Sir the battery has malfunctioned. I need another battery.”

  Arnie replied, “Stay at your post Private. We’ll bring you another battery.”

  I asked, “What kind of battery?”

  “Any battery will do.”

  “Will this car battery work?” Arnie answered yes. Without thinking I jumped in a jeep and headed back toward the bridge at the south end of the island. The bad guys had already arrived, and our force was trying to stop their advance with a combination of Predator missiles and small arms fire. I could hear the sound of the A-10 Warthogs approaching from the west.

  As I neared the bridge, I could see one of Arnie’s soldiers waving at me. I changed directions, and under enemy machine gun fire, I headed for the soldier and slammed on the brakes as I skidded to a stop, almost running him over. He had removed the wires from his detonator system and was running toward me when he was hit in the back. He fell to the ground. I found the front hood release of my jeep and crawled over to the fallen soldier. He was still holding the two wires. I pulled the wires out of his hand and ran back to the front of the jeep.

  I forced open the front hood and looked for the jeep’s battery. Luckily it was within reach near the front of the hood. I reached into the hood and felt a sharp pain shooting down my spine.

  The force from several bullets had slammed me to the ground. I tried to get up, but my legs seemed frozen. I tried using my arms and was finally able to pull myself up and lean into the engine compartment.

  I touched the wires to the two battery terminals, and I was tossed to the ground from the impact of the explosion. I had done it. They were trapped now on the Island. Stunned from the explosion, I looked up and saw Sergeant Gomez and Jessie pulling me along the ground to the safety of our front line.

  Jessie was crying, and I looked down to see both my legs were missing a lot of flesh all the way down to the bone. It didn’t look good at all. Gomez and Jessie removed their belts and tied makeshift tourniquets around my legs to stop the bleeding.

  I heard Jessie scream, “I’m getting him back to the campus.” One of the jeeps was set up with a stretcher in the back, and Jessie and another soldier carried me onto the back of the jeep. Through my half-shut eyes I could see blood still running down my legs. I knew I wasn’t going to make it. Jessie sped off trying to bring me to safety, but I knew it was too late. I was feeling no pain, just woozy, and the last thing I remember before I shut my eyes for the last time was the horrific sound of Captain Sanchez’s Cruise missiles striking the island with great precision and creating complete devastation followed by the A-10 Warthogs screeching overhead. I was certain we had won.

  Epilogue

  It had been three months since Jessie had visited my grave. She wisely had me buried next to my wife and daughter. I could always count on Jessie to do the right thing. She looked somber as she sat on the small bench overlooking our graves.

  “Jim, It’s been a while since I was here, but I wanted to update you on some things. First, Mary said our baby’s a boy. I’m going to name him James. Don’t ask me why; it was a weak moment.

  “A group of us saw the USS Jimmy Carter off on the continuation of its tour of America. About half the crew decided to stay here, including Ray Fleming. He’s excited about starting up a medical school.

  “We just finished a second trip to Wichita, Kansas. We signed our first trading contract with their survivors. They’ll supply us with flour and corn, and we’ll restore their infrastructure and provide free college tuition for their students. It’s a win-win for both groups.

  “The governors and Arnie paid a visit to the group just outside of Boston. The results were similar to what we found in California. They’re using hydroelectric power from the Niagara Falls area. Arnie will send up some of
his people to help eliminate the usual suspects.

  “Margaret is fully recovered now, and has added news from the other survivor groups to our newspaper. Oh and by the way, Blaine and Ami are getting married.”

  Jessie looked down into my grave and I knew she was getting to the reason for her visit. “Jim, I’m afraid. Everyone wants me to run for another term as president, and I don’t know if I can deal with all the stress. They’re all insistent, so I guess I’ll agree. My goal for the next year would be to set up a loose confederation of all the surviving groups, and secure our gasoline supply. That’s probably enough for one year, don’t you think.

  “Hunter and Jasmine both miss you. They still talk about you every day. Hunter wants to become a doctor, and Ray has taken him under his wing.

  “The decisions are becoming more complicated. I don’t know if I can handle them all.” “Well that’s all for today. I’ll try to stop by in a few weeks.” As Jessie stood up and turned to leave I yelled, “Remember I gave you the owl feather on our wedding day. Use it to govern our community wisely.”

  I’m certain she heard me as she left, because she stopped and looked back at me with a smile on her face.