Vigilante_No Quarter

by Cliff Deane

  You should go with them to Jackson to keep everything organized, and I’ll return to the convoy and ride on down with them,” said Levi.

  Gus countered with, “Why don’t we both go to Jackson and put Lt. Colonel Guyardo in charge of the convoy. I also think we need to promote him to full Colonel.”

  “Done,” said Levi, “I like it.”

  Levi then, somewhat nervously asked about the Marine Corps Flag and the Major General’s flag. These two items were given to Levi as a parting gift from the last Marine Commander of Camp Lejeune. Levi had promised to place them in some future museum.

  The Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune had been instrumental in helping make the ROA secure; before they were finally disbanded because there was simply no way to provide the two hundred tons of food needed each day, just to feed the Marines, and the Corps would never abandon the dependents and civilians; nor would they steal their food supplies, which would probably last for only one meal anyway.

  Adan told Levi that the two flags had been placed in the hands of the ROA Historian and that they were safe with her.

  Levi saw her smile while giving a thumbs-up gesture.

  As the meeting was being adjourned, the unmistakable sound of helicopters was heard. Levi and Gus went out to meet them.

  Six Huey 1Js landed, spilling the last survivors from Lejeune. Lt. Colonel Guyardo saw Levi and ran up to him. He saluted and said, “General, I don’t know what’s going on, but the Atlantic Ocean is rising, and rapidly. If it continues, by this time tomorrow, the shoreline will be at the Base Exchange.”

  “What? Why? Mike, do you have any idea why this is happening?”

  “No, sir, not a clue, but we’d better get the convoy moving faster; if that is at all possible.”

  “Oh, shit,” said Levi, who rarely used such language, “they’re on the road now, so no commo.

  Major Turner, who had also come to welcome the flight in, said, “Sir, I can lift off in ten minutes. I’ll fly to the convoy and tell them to kick the tires and light the fires. Do you know how far out they are?”

  “Yes, Major, good idea, and they should be about eighty-five miles from Defiance. If they kick it, they may be able to make it sometime tonight. Go ahead, and tell them to get a move on.”

  Gus called for one of the Huey drivers to get it topped off and ready for a recon flight to check the ocean levels.

  Gus pulled Levi away from the crowd and moved to where they could speak privately. “Levi, I think I may know what’s happening. I remember reading a book several years back called, “The Coming Global Superstorm.” It was a predicated on historical evidence that about every sixty thousand years there has been a global storm that has either kicked the Earth in a mini or a full blown Ice Age, depending on the time of year it started.

  The book predicted a cooling of temperatures, caused by the collapse of the North Sea Current. In the short term, the oceans will deliver a tsunami the size of the Statue of Liberty. In New York, the water will freeze before it can ebb back out to sea. It will probably be snowing in DC by next week.

  Buddy, if this is what’s happening, then we can expect Arkansas to have the climate of Central Canada, and a glacier possibly as far south as Charlotte, North Carolina. Again, if this is that super storm, then everyone north of an east-west line from Charlotte is going to die within a matter of a few weeks.

  We need to think about moving all the way to Southern Texas or possibly Central Mexico if we’re even going to have a fair chance to start again. Let’s work on Mexico as a backup plan.”

  “Gus, was that a SciFi book?”

  Gus just said, “No, it was not.”

  Levi’s eyes took on the steel gray of his anger before he said, “Just for a second there I had almost decided just to give up and slip off into the sunset; until I remembered the promise I just made to the entire 1st Brigade, that I would not stop trying until I died. Okay, screw the fates, we are going to be successful, we are not giving up, Gus; we can’t quit, we won’t quit, we will die first. Roger that?”

  Gus managed a hard smile and said, “Of course, I got nuthin’ planned for the rest of my life; and you’re right, Levi, we can do this; fuckin’ A we can do this!”

  “Atta’ boy, Gus.”

  Gus took a deep breath and said, “Oh, crap, Levi, we’ve placed six, forty-man outposts in areas that are about to become death traps. We have to rescue them and warn those communities that they need to leave.

  I wish we could do the same for the survivors in Findley, Ohio, but I fear that the only thing we could do is to warn them, and recommend that they join up with us along the Gulf States, assuming they have the time to make it, of course. There are near a thousand souls there; I don’t much like their odds.”

  “Yes,” agreed Levi, “I’m afraid you’re right.”

  Levi then shouted for his Sgt. Major.

  “Yes sir, what’cha need?

  “Send a runner to round up Colonel Smith and Major Turner. We need to see them immediately.”

  “Yes sir, on the way. Jonesy!”

  Turning back to Gus, Levi said, “Gus, you did it again; you saved me from failing to get our people back from the outposts and to warn Captain Smith in Findley.

  May I presume that you have already made the preps for both of these missions?”

  Gus chuckled and said, “No sir, may I proceed?”

  Levi said, “Gus, don’t be a smartass, get ‘er done; skosh!”

  “Yes sir, and the two people I need to get moving are now on the way over here. Thank you, pard.”

  When Ben and Susan arrived the four began planning the movement. With twelve Hueys in the Brigade it was decided to send six Hueys to each of the Outposts. The troopers would depart with only their personal gear. All personal weapons and ammo would be distributed to the locals, along with the noncombat vehicles. Combat vehicles would be disabled, along with their weapons systems.

  The Outposts were notified by the Sgt. Major to be ready to evacuate within twenty-four hours.

  These Fort Apaches were, in fact, evacuated in less than eighteen hours. The local communities were pleased to have the trucks, but two of the small inland farming communities did not believe the situation would get as bad as they were told; two weeks later, they froze in their homes.

  Immediately following the Outpost evacuations, the civilians began their trek to Fort Jackson.

  Three days later the convoy was one-third of the way to Ft. Jackson, when a committee asked to see the General about changing the name from 1st Armored Brigade, to Levi’s Legion.

  His response was, “My friends, I am honored beyond my ability to express, but I must deny your request. This small change of just two words could put us on a road to my becoming a Caesar. Gentlemen, I am no Caesar, and to become such would be anathema to everything I believe. Thank you, so very much, but I must say no to your request.”

  Put in those terms, the committee had to agree with Levi, but among the troopers of his command, they would, from that day forward be, unofficially, Levi’s Legion.

  Levi had made it clear that he would never agree to make it official, but he could not stop the spread.

  Gus and Levi were discussing the future when Gus asked, “Levi, I have a few concerns that I think we should address.”

  “Just a few? Offhand I would say we have way too many concerns, but, go ahead, what’s on your mind?”

  Gus sighed deeply and said, “Okay, here goes; Levi, I am afraid the troopers are elevating you to a godlike stature, and this worries me.”

  Now, it was Levi’s turn to sigh before he said, “I know, Gus, but I don’t know how to fight it, other than to fuck up so much that they drop that nonsense. Of course, if I do that then the Brigade will fall apart.

  I hate to say it, my friend, but I have thought of doing that exact thing; then just walk away and let you take over. Hell, Gus, you know that godlike crap is not something I want, and yes, just like you, it scares the hell out of me.

&n
bsp; I am certainly open to suggestions; you got any?”

  “Maybe, just one,” said Gus.

  Levi smiled and said, “Please tell me, and like Ross Perot, I am all ears.”

  “Okay, I think you should hold another mass formation, and you have to lay it out on the line. Tell them that you have such a rapport with them because you were enlisted for twenty plus years, so you understand how they feel, and know what they go through.

  Remind them that this Army survives and thrives because we are so well trained; because this new world demands one simple thing; survive or die.

  Tell them that you are not the soul of the ROA, but are just an ordinary man, in an extraordinary time, with a given set of skills that are of use in the here and now.”

  Levi liked these ideas and readily agreed to them, before saying, “All right, what else?”

  “Okay, here goes; Levi, please help me understand why you have become so beloved?”

  “Humility out the window, huh? Yeah, okay, I guess I am, and I think this has evolved around several things. Firstly, I think it goes back to the enlisted thing. Then, I have surrounded myself with leaders who are smarter than I am, and I listen to them. I don’t think I have such an ego that makes me inflexible.

  We also must take into consideration the fact that I seem to have received the credit for our many victories, with only a modicum of casualties.

  I insert myself into the trooper’s lives by showing appreciation for jobs well done, and learning their names, well, as much as I can.

  OH! I also delegate well, as you should know. I don’t present you with plans etched on stone tablets. I give you guidance and allow you to flesh that guidance into a viable plan.

  And lastly, I hope that I demonstrate that we must all accept responsibility for our actions. If I screw up; Cleveland as a case in point, I admit it, rather than try to hide my errors. I thank my mother for that.

  I know that most Troopers have a love/hate relationship with their Commander, but there are also Generals of note that were also beloved by their troops; General G. Washington, General R. E. Lee, General Omar Bradley, the G.I. General, and,” smiling now Levi added, and Braveheart. Now don’t misunderstand me, I am not elevating myself to any of these great generals, I am just demonstrating that there have been those leaders who were universally loved by their command.

  Now, having said all that, I think that it all boils down to success, and no one can deny that we have been hugely successful; luck or leadership, carrot or stick, take your pick.”

  Gus looked at Levi and said, “Well put, but I would argue that you do fit in well with the generals you mentioned.”

  Levi then turned back to the business at hand and said, “Gus, as soon as we have everyone together at Ft. Jackson, I’ll hold that mass formation and try to turn this god thing around. Mind you, I don’t mind being beloved, but I never, ever want to be thought of as godlike. We good?”

  “Of course we are, and I like the plan.”

  When Ben and Susan arrived, Ben laid out his plan for aerial retrieval of the outposts, and a warning to Findley. Gus knew the resources in flyable choppers to get the troops out was tight, but by disabling and abandoning the vehicles and heavy weapons the task was doable. Susan, a ground crew, and a small security team would fly to Findley to warn of the coming cold.

  Following the meeting, Levi and Gus walked to the Mess Tent for a sandwich and coffee. Their conversation turned to the coming cold. Neither Gus nor Levi wanted to use the term Ice Age.

  Levi asked for Gus’ thoughts on what was coming if the Global Super storm became a reality.

  “Gus, is this cold going to be a long or short term event?”

  “Damned good question,” answered Gus, “this is only a guess, of course, but because the weather downturn seems to have occurred in late spring, the sun will, hopefully, prevent major snowfalls that cannot be melted before more piles up in the winter. If I’m right, and I’m not saying I am, the cold will only last for maybe three or four years, because the summer sun will melt much of the winter’s accumulation of snow.

  But, if the sun cannot melt the accumulations in sufficient quantities, then this could be a major event lasting for tens of thousands of years. If that happens, we are off to the equator.

  The weather, at least for the next few years will become very dry, and the seas will withdraw from our coastlines as more and more of the water is turned to ice.

  Bottom line, my friend, the future looks very bleak.”

  “Wow, that is a crap sandwich. I guess we’ll just wander until we find our promised land, huh?

  Gus laughed and said, “Yeah, you’ll become a modern Moses.”

  “Oh hell no!” said Levi, “Oh hell no.”

  Gus was mostly right in his assessment of what lay in store for the world. The North Sea Current, in fact, ease its way to a slow stop, a stop that was fortunately short lived, in that the stoppage lasted for only three months. Still, this mitigation of the North Sea Current was enough to destroy crops and did cover the land for a year with deep snows. When the melting came, another 90% of Europeans were gone. The survivors, early on, moved to the Mediterranean Coastal Region, which remained snow free due to the warm waters of the Med, and the mountains that stood tall just beyond the coast line.

  For North America, the cold did bring a winter that lasted through the summer of year aught two A.C. (After Collapse). This calamity took out nearly another fifteen million Americans.

  The northern half of America did not have a period of glaciations, south of the northern Canadian Provinces. The seas did recede nearly one-half of a mile beyond their old shore lines and remained so for the next thousand years.

  Sadly, none of this information was available to the ROA as they began their migration south to I-10, and west to Texas.

  Thank you for your interest in my works. May God Bless.