One Man's War

by Thomas J. Wolfenden

  “Good idea,” Izzy said. “What does that tell us?”

  “It tells us that there might be a president back in DC, and he’s probably pissed that I’ve been running around saying I’m him.”

  “That could very well be the case. It also tells me that first, they don’t know exactly where we are, and secondly, that they don’t have a working airplane or anyone to fly it. That could work to our advantage,” the old doctor asserted.

  They hear Jimenez’ truck pull up in front of the house and Robyn went outside and greet him, leaving Tim and Izzy alone in the kitchen with their thoughts.

  Tim let out a long breath. “I told Holly just a few minutes ago that Walter raised the stakes, and he did, by a thousand. And you know what? The more I think about it, the angrier I become.”

  “What do you mean?” Izzy asked

  “When everything first happened, the Event, I mean, I thought I was completely alone. For a while I was okay with that. No more responsibilities except to keep my own sorry ass fed and warm. Then I came across Robyn.”

  “And that made you change your perspective,” Izzy commented knowingly.

  “I knew I had to protect her, no matter what. Turned out we wound up taking care of each other. Then we meet Dawn Redeagle, who told us of this place. We were comfortable here for quite a while, then you and Holly came along, and the stakes were raised again.”

  Izzy nodded and returned to his coffee, which was cold when he went to take a sip. He poured himself another cup, topped off Tim’s cup with the pot, and sat back down.

  “It’s hard to explain,” Tim said, picking up his thoughts. “There was no country left, no laws. We had to make it up as we went along. I did try to make sure we did the right thing every step of the way.”

  “How does this explain your anger?”

  “I’m getting to that. We found the Football, the codes for the missiles... I never thought I’d use them, but our backs were against the wall on Volivoli. Shit, Iz. I’ve called in artillery on the enemy, even an air strike or two in the past. But order a launch for an intercontinental ballistic missile? Fuck. That was some serious shit.”

  “So I’ve been told. You did it to give the rest a chance to escape, because you knew that crazy captain would have never stopped after he got the codes. You launched that missile with full knowledge that you would be vaporized along with that ship. You were going to sacrifice yourself to save the ones you love. Tim, if that isn’t an expression of true love, I don’t know what is. You have no idea the respect I have for you for doing that.

  Tim said nothing, so Izzy continued with a question, “So now what is getting you so angry?”

  Tim let out a breath as if he’d been punched in the gut. “Iz, it’s like this. All any of us ever wanted was to be left alone, to build back civilization if you will, the way we saw fit for ourselves. Now here comes someone again, who doesn’t know us at all, and wants to take something away from us. What that is I don’t know, but like that crazy captain, someone else just won’t leave us the fuck alone!”

  “I see,” Izzy stated flatly.

  “Do you? I mean every step of the goddamn way there’s been someone that wants to take away what we’ve got. The first few months after the Event, I met up with the first person I’d seen since it happened. A guy named Paul. Before I could get him moved to my place, a group of fucking animals killed him. Before they did, they tortured and sodomized him for hours. Then right before we found the Football, two other assholes kidnapped Robyn. I had to do things, terrible things, just to get her back in one piece.”

  “You’ve told me. Holly and I had gone into hiding a few times when we were still in Colorado because of people like that.”

  “Then there was that captain, terrorizing the whole Pacific Ocean for fuck sake. Where does it all end, Iz?”

  “I see your frustration, Tim, and I agree. The question I have for you now is, what do you plan to do?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m beginning to regret coming back here to Arizona. We should have just stayed in Hawaii. There we’d have a whole ocean around us,” he replied.

  “We’re here now, and this is our home.”

  “I know, goddamn it! We’ve all been through so much, and it infuriates me that again, some fucking asshole is going to try to take it away from us!” Tim said hotly, face turning red. “I knew nothing good would happen by us bandying around that I was president. Now there’s probably a real president back east, and I’m guilty of violating all kinds of laws, and the fucking Constitution of all things. Something I had always swore to ‘uphold and defend’.”

  “So what if there is? I think the time for all of that has passed,” Izzy said. “If there is someone back east who says they’re president, I say to hell with them! Listen to me now. I’ll make this perfectly clear. I too took that oath myself so many years ago. Six years ago, in the blink of an eye, all of that went up in smoke. Yes, we want to follow that same constitution, and that’s a splendid idea. But to what end? Washington had become a cesspool of corruption years before the Event, and if there is someone back there who is a successor to our last president, what makes you think he or she will be any different? With you as our leader, things will be honest. You here and Jerry back on Oahu. You two have what we used to call in the Navy ‘all of your shit in one sack’, so to speak,” he said, and sat back on the stool, crossed his arms across his chest, letting what he just said sink in.

  Tim knew deep down what Izzy had said was true, but he’d never thought in his wildest dreams he would ever be put in this position. He looked up into Izzy’s eyes. “So, you’re saying I just say ‘fuck them’, and commit treason?”

  “In a nutshell, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. The old laws are gone. It’s up to us to decide what’s right for us, not some politician back in DC.”

  “Do you know that Robyn and Taco are thinking about starting a family?” Tim asked.

  “Yes. They’ve talked to me about it,” Izzy said. “You’ve got your son, Holly, Robyn, and Juan to protect, along with the rest of us. It’s a big decision to make.”

  “I know. I feel the weight of the world is resting on my shoulders.”

  “In some ways it is, Tim. I don’t envy you.”

  “Now that that decision has been made,” Tim said with a resigned sigh, “how do a handful of us fight off an ‘armed force’?”

  “Sergeant Major, have you forgotten all of your lessons from your time in the Army?”

  “No,” Tim stated.

  “We learned a long time ago how a small, irregular force can defeat a large regular army, Tim. And I’m not talking about the Revolutionary War. I’m talking about the Viet Cong.”

  “Okay, I’m following you now,” Tim said, and Izzy could almost see the wheels spinning behind Tim’s eyes.

  “There’s the old Tim we all know and love coming back,” he said, a grin splitting his face. “We have the advantage of knowing our territory. It’s our home field advantage. You and Robyn have lived here for over five years. You know every contour on the map by memory for miles around. I know this old salt was a sailor, but I do know some tactics.”

  “Can we beat them?”

  “We don’t need to beat them, we’ve just got to stop them. Make it too expensive for them to keep coming back.”

  “We can try. It would help if we knew more,” he said, warming to the idea.

  “That’s true. Like how many are in this force, how they’re armed, and where they’re coming from,” Izzy listed.

  “We know they’re coming from the east.”

  “There’s only a few ways in and out of here, and from what I’m told of your adventure on Volivoli, you know how to set up one hell of an ambush.”

  “Are you sure you’re a doctor? You sound like a soldier now, Iz,” Tim told the man.

  “At times like this, in my mind, I’m back on my PBR on the Mekong River. I only know from what I’ve been told, but I’ve heard you and Jerry did pretty muc
h the same thing on Volivoli.”

  “Yeah, but we had two squads of soldiers to do it, not a handful of civilians.” “Hopefully time will be on our side. Let’s get together tonight after dinner and we’ll come up with a plan.”

  Tim agreed as Jimenez and Robyn came into the kitchen. Tim turned to Jimenez. “Taco, I’ve got a job for you.”

  “Shoot, Sar’ Major.”

  “I want you to divvy up the MREs to everyone evenly. While you’re doing that, I want you to tell Ian to come down here, say, around 1900 hours.”

  “Sure thing, Sar’ Major, any reason?”

  “OPSEC, Taco. Robyn, you go with him and give him a hand, and you can give debrief him on what you told me earlier.”

  “Okay, Dad. You haven’t told Holly, have you?”

  “No, and don’t tell anyone else here. I’m going to need you to get on the secure SATCOM when you get back and message Jerry. He can’t do anything from where he is, but I’d like his opinion, and maybe some ideas.”

  “I’ll do it as soon as we get back from the rounds, Dad.”

  “What’s going on?” Jimenez asked.

  “Robyn will let you know, Taco. And we’ll talk about it at length tonight after supper.”

  “You don’t want me to tell Ian?” Robyn asked.

  “No, just tell him I need to talk to him tonight. I’ll let him know when he gets here.” “Let’s go, Taco. I want to get this done fast, so I can come back and see my new baby brother!” she exclaimed, taking Jimenez by the arm and steering him out of the house.

  “Kids,” Tim said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Do you think she understands the gravity of it?” Izzy asked.

  “Yeah, she’s just excited about the baby is all. She’ll have her war face on tonight at the meeting.”

  “Speaking of the baby, when are you going to tell Holly?”

  “I haven’t decided yet, though I can’t keep it from her long.” Tim said, looking at his coffee cup. “I hate keeping things from her, but I don’t want her worried right now.”

  Izzy looked at his watch. “I’ll go up and check on her and the baby.” “Thanks for setting me straight, Iz.”

  “You didn’t need me to do that. You knew all along. I just helped you find your thoughts.” Izzy got up, placed his coffee cup in the sink, and left Tim alone in the kitchen.

  Tim sat there for another minute or two, and then stood, placing his cup in the sink along with Izzy’s, and went to the basement door. He plodded down the steps and made his way to what he called his ‘arms room’, a cinderblock-walled room with a heavy, solid steel door on well-oiled hinges, secured with a padlock.

  It was originally designed to be a fallout/storm shelter by the contractors who built the place, but now it was where he kept all of his military hardware, ammunition, weapons, and emergency supplies, and where he’d squirreled away that notebook he had copied over all the launch codes into so many years ago.

  Taking his key ring off of his belt, he found the one that fit the padlock, unlocked it, and opened the hasp. Reaching inside, he found the light switch, and walked into the now brightly lit room. He stood in the center, hands on his hips, and surveyed what he’d amassed, nodding in satisfaction.

  A metal shelf unit covered the whole far wall, containing cases and cases of MREs, medical supplies, and other incidentals. He reached in between two boxes of gauze bandages, and pulled out the dog-eared notebook, staring at it for a long time. He flipped through the pages, seeing his neat, block letter printing on each page, and satisfied it was all still there, he put it back silently.

  “I’m of the mind to take that up and toss it into the fireplace tonight,” he said aloud to the empty room. However, he knew he wouldn’t. He sighed and retraced his steps, pocketing his pipe and tobacco pouch that he’d left there earlier and headed back through the steel door, securing the padlock, and headed back up to the kitchen.

  Once there, he glanced at his watch, and seeing that it was almost dinner time, decided to start throwing something together. He got a few cans of chicken soup together to heat on the stovetop, and made some ham sandwiches with the homemade bread he had perfected baking over trial and error over the last few years. When he had finished, and had the table set, everyone appeared as if by magic. Even Holly came down, along with the baby. She placed him in a tiny bassinet that Robyn had secured from somewhere, and they all sat around, ate, and made small talk until their appetites were sated.

  Tim carried Walter back upstairs with Holly, and placed him in a crib next to the bed, then helped Holly get under the covers.

  “Thanks, love. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

  “And I don’t know what I’d do without you, babe,” he replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed, taking her hand and then looking over at the wrapped bundle a few inches away. “He’s sleeping soundly.”

  “Aye, for now. If he’s anything like the way he was when he was still inside me, he’ll be a restless little bugger.”

  “He’s beautiful,” Tim said.

  “That he is, so innocent.”

  “We’ve got a monumental job ahead of us,” Tim said, almost in a whisper. “He’s an empty vessel, and you and I have the job of filling it up.”

  “And we have to make sure what we fill him will all the right things,” Holly said, taking his hand and holding it tightly. Tim kissed her lips gently. “I love you, Holly.”

  “I love you too, Timothy.”

  “I’m going to head down now; I’ll be up in a while.”

  “Please don’t be long, honey. I need to hold you tonight.”

  “I won’t, babe. I promise,” he said. “Get some sleep, I’ll be up in a while.”

  He turned the bedside lamp off, and walked out of the room, closing the door silently. He went out onto the porch, where Robyn, Jimenez, and Izzy were waiting for him.

  “How is she?” Izzy asked.

  “She’s lying down. She’s still plenty tired,” Tim said, pulling out his pipe and sitting down on the porch steps. The sun was low in the trees to the west, and it would soon be twilight. He filled the bowl of his pipe, lighting it with a wooden match, and puffing a few times until it was lit.

  “Did you tell Ian?” he asked Robyn.

  “Yeah, Dad, he said he’d be here.”

  Just then Ian, carrying a case of beer, rounded the corner of the house. He walked up and presented the carton to Tim. “Congratulations, mate!” he said with a toothy grin.

  “Thanks, Ian. The baby isn’t why I asked you over tonight though,” Tim said, puffing away on his pipe. “You might want to sit down.”

  Tim then told everyone all he knew up to that point, and when he was done, Ian let out a long whistle, reached for the case of beer, and pulled out a cold bottle of Miller. He twisted the top and downed a huge gulp, wiping his mouth.

  “Fair dinkum?” he asked, and Tim nodded. Jimenez, feeling a little cheeky, reached into the case and pulled out two more bottles, handing one to Robyn. Tim got one for himself.

  “Yeah, Ian, as far as we know, it’s fair dinkum.”

  “Fuck me dead,” Ian said, sitting down on the steps, took another pull of his beer. “That’s why I called you all together,” Tim said. “Robyn, were you able to get hold of Jerry?”

  “Yeah, he said to put together a plan, and then float it by him and he’ll go over it to see if there’s any holes in it.”

  “I should have a rough plan together, with all of your help, tonight. Taco, do you still have a list of everything at Camp Navajo?”

  “Yes, Sar’ Major,” he said, tapping his forehead. “I’ve got most of it right up here.”

  “What about explosives?”

  “There’s shitloads of it. TNT, C-4, det-cord, not to mention a shitpot of artillery rounds, 105mm, 155mm, and the 8-inch shells. There’s even a bunch of mortar rounds. 40mm, 81mm, and 4.2 inch shit, along with about a trillion rounds of small arms ammo.” />
  “Ah, the mortar. That’s what I trained on in the reserves,” Ian said.

  “Is that so?” Tim asked. “I’ve got something to show you, then. So there’s plenty of stuff that goes boom?” he asked Jimenez.

  “There’s shitloads of it,” Jimenez confirmed, finishing his beer, and grabbing another.

  Tim had to smile; this was the first time he’d had a battle planning session over a case of beer. If they had that much explosives, they could… His grin widened, and then he quieted everyone down. When he had everyone’s attention, he told them of his plan.

  When he was finished, they all agreed it was a sound plan, and they chimed in with ideas, improving on Tim’s original idea, going over it time and time again. Tim asked Jimenez one last question, after he finished his fifth beer of the evening.

  “Taco, is there any commo stuff, field phones and shit?” “Yeah, but not in the bunkers, it’s over in the building next to the motor pool. There’s plenty of it, field phones, pack radios, all kinds of shit like that.”

  “I’m going to make out a grocery list tomorrow morning, and then you and I are going on a little shopping trip.”

  “Sounds like a plan, Sar’ Major!”

  “Goddamn right it’s a plan, Taco. Now I’ll leave all of you and I need to go cuddle with a sexy Scot,” Tim said, standing a little uneasily. It’d been a while since he’d been this drunk, and it showed.

  “You were going to show me something?” Ian asked in the darkness.

  “Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Come with me,” he replied, waving Ian to follow him. Tim went around to the back of the house to a large barn. He fumbled a little with his keys, then got the door open and lights on.

  Tim and Ian stepped into the barn, lit by a few fluorescent lights in the rafters. Inside was a Hum-Vee with a .50 M2 Browning machine gun mounted on a ring mount, and behind it, an olive green Army tarp covering something.