by Robert Boren
“Then let’s get our butts in gear,” Kelly said.
“How we getting there?” Eric asked. “Just in case we get separated.”
“Take 967 until you get to 1626, then go south,” Curt said. “Easy peasy.”
They got into their vehicles and got back on the road.
“Jason looks a lot like you,” Kim said.
“That’s what everybody tells me, but I don’t see it that much,” Eric said. “He looks more like mom’s side of the family than I do.”
Kim chuckled. “There is a resemblance. I would have guessed you were related if I didn’t know.”
Eric chuckled as he struggled to keep up with the others on the dark road.
“Did you know Kelly and Junior before?” Kim asked.
“No, but I heard about them, mostly from Curt,” Eric said.
“Kelly’s kind of scary looking.”
“I’ve heard he’s good in a fight, and has a heart of gold,” Eric said.
“These guys drive fast back here,” Kim said, clutching the sides of her seat.
“Don’t worry, I’m following them fine. Easier when I can see somebody in front of me.”
They drove silently for a while, getting to route 1626 and making the right turn, heading south.
“How big is Mountain City?” Kim asked.
“Not very,” Eric said. “Remember going there a few times when I was younger. It’s a bedroom community for Austin, mainly.”
“Hope they didn’t kill off most of the population,” Kim said.
“There are some remote parts of that area,” Eric said. “Good for ATV riding. Hopefully everybody got out the back way when the enemy came in.”
Eric’s phone rang. He put it to his ear. “Yeah, Jason?”
“Their supply depot is next to Onion Creek,” Jason said.
“Is there a good way to approach?”
“Probably not with vehicles,” he said. “How many grenades do you have?”
“About thirty,” Eric said. “Think we ought to go in on foot first? I’ve got my bow in the back of the Bronco.”
“Yeah, we might want to soften them up with the grenades, and then drive in the big guns to finish them off.”
“The fuel is gonna be the most important part, right?” Eric asked.
“Yeah, that’ll insure that they can’t operate their tanks in Austin for long. There might be a lot of men at their depot, though, so we’ve got to be careful. I heard there was another eighty thousand troops that were on their way into Austin but then disappeared. They might be around here.”
“Dammit,” Eric said. “Maybe they’re trying to make it to Dallas.”
“Maybe,” Jason said. “We’ve only got a couple more miles. They might have sentries posted pretty far out, so stay sharp. Keep your eyes open.”
“Roger that,” Eric said. He ended the call.
“Getting close?” Kim asked.
“Really close. We’ll probably go in on foot to check things out, maybe blow up their fuel before we hit them with our mobile assets.”
Kim snickered. “Mobile assets? You mean that jury-rigged off roader and the pickup truck with the machine gun on it?”
“Yeah,” Eric said. “I recognized the gun on that off-roader. Don’t know where the hell Curt got it.”
“What is it?”
“Mark 19 automatic grenade launcher,” Eric said. “Those things will fire grenades as fast as you can pull the trigger.”
“Geez,” Kim said. “So why are we going in on foot?”
“To make sure that they can’t protect the fuel,” Eric said. “They might hear us coming in the vehicles in time to block us from it, especially if there are any tanks around. Remember, the fuel is job one.”
“They’re slowing down,” Kim said. “Look.”
“See it.”
“Glad we brought Paco,” Kim said.
“I’m worried about the homestead,” Eric said. “Almost decided to leave him. He’s a good early warning system. The Islamists would love to get their paws on Alyssa and Chloe.”
“Oh, God, I don’t even want to think about that,” Kim said.
“Here we go,” Eric said, following Jason and the others onto the bumpy dirt road. “Hope they don’t hear us coming.”
“How much faith do you have in Curt’s tracking ability?”
Eric glanced at her. “Total. The guy’s a genius.”
“Hope you’re right. They’re pulling over ahead.”
Eric slowed and parked next to Jason’s Jeep.
“Keep quiet!” Jason whispered as the others gathered around. “If they’ve got sentries placed, they might be pretty close.”
“I’ll get my bow,” Eric whispered. “Let’s distribute some grenades. Meet me in back of the Bronco.”
He walked to the tailgate with Kim and opened it as quietly as he could, then carefully removed the top of the wooden crate.
“Let’s see, two a piece?” Eric whispered.
“Wait a minute,” Curt said. “Got an idea. Instead of all of us sneaking in on foot, how about if Kyle and I wait here with the Barracuda and the pickup? When we hear you guys blowing things up, we’ll come on over and give them a real bad day.”
“I’m game,” Kyle said. “I’ll help you unhitch the Barracuda while they take off.”
“Not a bad idea,” Jason whispered. “Just keep an eye out so you don’t get jumped.”
Eric handed out the grenades. They all checked their guns, and then started into the trees along Onion Creek. The eastern sky was just starting to show a glow as the sun rose.
“Hear that?” Jason whispered.
“Yeah, sounds like an electric pump,” Eric whispered.
“They might be filling some tanks,” Junior whispered. “Be a good time to surprise them.”
“Yeah,” Kelly whispered. “We know they aren’t asleep, so be quiet.”
Eric stopped, staring. “Sentry, see? In that tree. Dozing.”
“Think you can hit him with the bow?” Kim whispered.
“Yeah, if I get a tad closer. You guys stay here.”
Eric nocked an arrow and walked quietly forward, eyes darting around. The sentry woke for a moment, shaking his head, but not looking in Eric’s direction.
“Get ready,” Junior whispered. They watched Eric creep closer, then aim is bow. He let an arrow fly, hitting the sentry in the chest, dropping him silently.
“Nice,” Kelly said. “Look, he sees somebody else. He just nocked another arrow.”
Eric crept forward to a ring of rocks overlooking a bend in the creek, and poked his head up. The fuel tanks were about fifty yards ahead of him. Two M-1 tanks were parked next to them, hoses running into each. He could smell kerosene. Another sentry stood thirty yards in that direction, with his back to Eric, watching the tanks. Eric got a little closer and aimed his bow. The arrow flew, hitting the sentry in the back. He gasped as he fell. One of the men fueling the nearest tank whirled around, but saw nothing and turned back to his job. Eric turned back towards Jason and gave him a thumbs up. They all crept up behind as Eric continued.
“You no move!” shouted a man with a heavy Arabic accent, standing to the right of Eric. He froze, bringing up his hands, one of them hiding a grenade. “Turn towards me now!”
Eric looked at the man, heart pounding, hand sweating around the grenade. Don’t see it.
Jason aimed his BAR at the Islamist, not sure what to do. Then there was a double shotgun blast from behind the Islamist, nearly cutting him in half. Jason squinted through the dust. Gray’s men were there with sawed-off shotguns.
There was yelling in Arabic in the camp. Eric threw his grenade, landing it right next to the fuel tanks. It blew up, starting a fire along the hoses into the tanks, engulfing the closest one in flames as the Islamists opened fire in their direction, shooting wildly in a panic.
Eric tossed his second grenade, hitting the side of the fuel tank and rupturing it, spreading a sea of flame around
the area. The far tank was trying to drive away. Dirk, Chance, Kelly, Kim, and Junior ran up, all of them throwing their grenades, blowing up the tank servicing area, sending the Islamists fleeing for their lives. Jason opened up with the BAR, hitting as many as he could.
“Look, they’re running towards those transport trucks!” Junior yelled.
Suddenly there was a roar behind them, as Curt flew onto the scene with his Barracuda, firing grenades into the camp, blowing up both of the trucks before the Islamists could escape. Grays men ran in, blasting their shotguns at anybody who moved as Kyle pulled up on the perimeter. He opened up with the .50 cal, making a mess of everything, killing the remaining Islamists in minutes. Then there was silence. Kim rushed over to Eric.
“You okay?” she asked
“Yeah, you?”
“I’m good,” she said. “I don’t think any of our people got hit.”
Gray rushed over with his men. “We ruined their party, didn’t we?”
“You must be the bikers,” Eric said, shaking hands. “I’m Eric, Jason’s brother. Thanks for saving my ass.”
“Don’t mention it,” Gray said. “Good to meet you.”
The group rushed into the camp as Kyle and Curt kept watch above in their vehicles.
“Look, there’s a tank that didn’t get blown up,” Gray said. “Wonder if there’s anybody in it?”
He rushed down with his people. There were several men next to the tank, dead among the rubble. Gray cautiously opened the hatch.
“Toss a grenade in there,” Jason shouted.
“No way,” Gray said. “There’s nobody in here, and we know how to run these things now, remember?”
“It’s probably out of fuel,” Curt shouted. “It was next in line. We ruined the gas station.”
Kelly and Junior laughed.
There was sound approaching. Engine noise and the squeaking of tank treads.
“Hear that?” Jason asked. “There’s more tanks coming in. They have to know something happened. Look at all the smoke.”
“And the flames,” Dirk said. “Hey, maybe we ought to aim the cannon in that last tank at them. Part their hair.”
“I heard that,” Gray said. He rushed over to his men, and several of them climbed into the tank. There was a whir of motors as the tank’s turret turned towards the incoming road.
“This is gonna be a mess,” Kim said. “Maybe we ought to get back.”
“Hey, there’s two troop transports and a mobile artillery unit behind that M-1,” Curt said in a loud whisper. “I can take on everything but that tank. We got to disable it with the first shot.”
“That’s the plan,” Gray said, half his body sticking out of the turret.
“Here it comes,” Kim said, fear in her eyes as she glanced at Eric. Suddenly there was a loud boom, the approaching tank blew up, pieces of the turret flying off.
“Let’s get ‘em,” Curt yelled, driving the Barracuda closer and firing grenades at the trucks and the mobile artillery unit. Kyle joined in, sweeping the area with .50 cal fire as the enemy fighters ran in a panic. Then Gray’s men fired the tank again, blowing up the enemy tank, flames and shrapnel flying in every direction.
“Get down!” Jason yelled. Everybody hit the dirt as debris fell around them.
Gray popped his head out of the tank. “There’s several more tanks coming down the road. I can’t get them all before they return fire. We’d better split.”
“I’m gonna hit those three buildings over there before we go,” Curt yelled. “Probably ammo.”
He drove the Barracuda closer to them and opened fire, the buildings shuddering and then blowing sky high as the ammo inside exploded.
“Yes!” Junior yelled, laughing and jumping up and down.
“Contain yourself,” Kelly said, shaking his head.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Jason yelled. “Before those tanks start lobbing shells at us.”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Curt yelled. He drove the Barracuda back to the other vehicles. Kyle pulled up next to the others on foot.
“Hop in,” he said. Jason, Eric, Kim, Dirk, and Chance all piled into the bed. Gray’s men ran to their bikes, which were a couple hundred yards away, getting on them and roaring away as the enemy approached.
“They’re really screwed,” Eric said. “They’re gonna run out of gas in a hurry. They won’t be able to chase us.”
“They couldn’t catch us anyway,” Jason said. “Let’s go to dad’s spread.”
“Yeah,” Eric said. “Should be pretty safe there.”
“I need to call Chief Ramsey,” Jason said. “Let him know that we took out their fuel and ammo supply. They need to make it rough on those tanks, force them to move.”
Everybody got back to the vehicles. Curt already was halfway done hitching the Barracuda to Jason’s Jeep.
“Damn, buddy, that Barracuda is awesome,” Dirk said. “Wish we would’ve had that at the Deadwood battle.”
“Yeah, it’s a nice little toy,” Curt said. “I got several more of those M-19s at my place in San Antonio. It’s not that far from here. Once we’re settled I’m gonna go get them. We have several more vehicles we could put them on.”
“Hell yeah!” Chance said.
Junior laughed. “We’re back on the enemy’s shit list again. We’ll need all the firepower we can get.”
“By the way, we damaged a GAZ Tigr back on the road,” Eric said. “It was with that convoy that I told you about. There was a grenade launcher and a machine gun in the storage compartments in back.
Curt froze and looked over at him, a grin washing over his face. “Oh, really now? You hide it?”
“As best we could,” Eric said. “We have to be careful. It’s obvious that we tried to hide it. If the enemy found it, they know we’ll probably be back. We could walk right into a trap.”
“Sounds risky,” Kelly said, “but it might be worth it.”
“C’mon, let’s get the hell out of here,” Jason said. “Before something arrives that can catch us.”
“I’m ready,” Curt said. “Let’s go.”
Everybody got into their vehicles and took off towards Fredericksburg.
Chapter 6 – Change of Route
“Finally,” Richardson said. “I-69E.”
“Looks okay,” Lita said.
“Yeah, everything looks okay,” Juan Carlos said. “Until it’s not.”
Brendan laughed. Madison and Hannah shot each other a worried glance, then looked at Lita.
“Look, there’s a gas station,” Richardson said. “Let’s go pick up a burner phone.”
“Only one?” Madison asked.
“For now, yeah,” Richardson said as he pulled into a parking stall in front of the store. He rushed inside, leaving the others in the car.
“We’re sticking out like a sore thumb,” Juan Carlos said. “Maybe we should’ve parked in the back.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Lita said. “He’s already coming out.”
“Got it,” Richardson said as he got back in. “What a piece of crap. I’m gonna send a text to Jefferson so he knows the number.” He focused on the phone for a moment, put it in his pocket, then drove back onto I-69E.
“I wouldn’t worry about this road. You sure they really want us on Route 2? That runs right along the border, you know. Right by Falcon Lake, or what’s left of it.”
“Jefferson told us to go to Laredo,” Richardson said. “That’s the fastest way to get there.”
“There’s a safer way,” Lita said. “Take route 77 north. This road turns into it eventually. Then use route 285 to go west.”
“That’s way out of the way,” Richardson said.
“We got plenty of drivers,” Lita said. “We can drive straight through.”
“I’ll have to check with Jefferson,” he said.
“Why do they want us in Laredo, anyway?” Brendan asked. “The lake is gone. Patrolling the river is easier to do with ground assets. You know t
hat, right?”
“Might just be a good place to meet with Gallagher and Landry,” Richardson said. “They’ll probably call pretty soon. I’ll go along with the northern route for now. Lita has a good point. Don’t want our women in danger.”
“Our women?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah,” Brendan said, pulling her close. She rolled her eyes, but he stared, causing her to take in a breath.
“Don’t look at me that way,” she whispered.
“Why not?” Brendan whispered back.
“It makes me feel uncomfortable,” she said. “Out of control.”
Madison giggled. “Now it’s our turn to tease you guys.”
“Shut up,” Hannah said. “At least I’m not telling Brendan that I love him already.”
“You guys watching our back?” Richardson asked. He glanced over at Lita and grinned.
“Yes, sir,” Juan Carlos said.
Richardson’s burner phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and handed it to Lita. “Put it on speaker, okay?”
“Sure,” Lita said. She held the phone to her ear. “Putting you on speaker.” Then she set the phone on the center console.
“You hear us okay?” Richardson asked.
“Yeah,” Jefferson said. “Change of plans. We want you guys up at Riviera Beach. You didn’t get to route two yet, did you?”
“No, we decided it wasn’t safe. We’re gonna go up route 77 and then go west to Laredo.”
“Perfect,” Jefferson said. “We’re getting ready to mount an assault on South Padre Island from the north. There’s other boats already operating there, and the new ones were delivered last night. One of them has your name on it. It’s more capable than your last one.”
“How much time do we have?” Richardson asked.
Lita was looking at her phone. “It’s just over an hour from here, honey.”
“Good,” Jefferson said. “Check in at the base. You can’t miss it. Take route 771 from route 77. Then take route 1155 to the end. We’re using the docks that used to belong to a seafood outfit.”
“Okay, we’ll be there soon. You going to be there?”
“Yeah, along with Gallagher and Landry.”
“Where’s General Walker?”
“That’s classified,” Jefferson said.
“Roger that,” Richardson said. “Talk to you later.”