“You mean the way you and your grandpa would do out there, when you were poaching deer?” Grandma asked with a smile.
“Yeah, I never thought that being a lawbreaker would be a perfect survival skill later on in life…” I grinned at her. “But apparently being able to sneak through the bushes and being quiet isn’t a normal thing.”
“Just for the Flagg men,” she said. “So what you got there?” Grandma asked, pointing at the green bottle in my hands.
“Linda wants to use this as an antiseptic for cleaning tools and the guy’s leg.”
“Did he get hurt?” Grandma asked me.
“Yeah, when I saw someone trying to be a ninja and sneak up close here with a rifle, I put one or two rounds into him. I thought I had him center mass with the first shot, but I don’t think I did. Either that or I popped him right in his plate carrier. The second shot was kind of hurried, and I got him in the calf. It was nearly a through and through. It’ll slow him down, but unless he gets infection he will be fine. Hey, I gotta run this out. Are you guys okay?”
“We are good in here,” Grandma said, “aren’t we, Miss Mary?”
Mary had been silent through all of this, and the little girl looked up at me with a quivering mouth. She was stuck between a smile and some sort of anxious expression. I couldn’t tell, but she met my eyes. They both knew I’d gone out this morning to see if anyone had been watching the homestead. I hadn’t expected anyone to be, but you never knew unless you had someone out there posted, looking.
My worry about having people posted in a static location was that they would become easy targets for people coming from a long ways off who had time to scope them out ahead of time. The KGR had proven very effective at taking out our static sentries at our lookout locations. When they had first started attacking the farm with trucks and men, it had made more sense, and it had been easier to defend. Now that they’d brought armor into the situation, along with sappers and special forces, I wasn’t so sure. We no longer had the manpower to keep everything staffed the way we once had. There had been a lot of holes dug in the Northeast corner of the property.
“I was a little bit scared,” Mary said, “so I came inside for Grandma to read to me and help me with my spelling. I was worried you were going to get hurt, but you look like you’re okay.” The last part almost sounded like a question, but I just nodded at her. She seemed to get it; she was a good kid.
“Yeah, I’m okay. The dogs are okay too.”
“Good! I really love having the doggies around,” the little girl said simply. “Mom and Dad always said I could get a dog when I got older, but I love that you and Miss Jessica let me borrow yours.”
“Mary, you haven’t figured it out yet. You’re kind of too little, but I’m gonna tell you a secret.” The little girl leaned in closer. “You don’t own a dog. The dog owns you, and that’s the way it’s always been. People think that they’ve been in charge, but we merely exist for the puppies to let us know what they want, and how they can help us and guide us.”
“You’re so silly!” Mary said with a giggle. “Dogs can’t own people.”
I walked past her and flicked her nose with my finger gently, and then kissed her on the head.
I took the bottle of shine outside, seeing Raider sitting in front of the barn door, seemingly waiting for me. I thought about what I had told Mary, and realized I believed just about all of it. No matter how immature and puppy-like Raider acted, he also seemed to have a hidden insight to know where he was needed. Diesel and Yaeger did much of the same, and when we’d needed a dog to come for Emily and pin her in place gently, she’d used the big dog for comfort. But I thought about that, Jessica had given them the command, but he’d gone a step beyond and just laid there, with his big head on her, on the other side of her lap. Granted that beast was the next best thing close to 200 pounds, but he only looked mean and scary, he was really a big baby.
Jessica walked out into the sunlight, her rifle slung over her shoulder. The wind picked up for half a moment, as little children went running and playing in front of her; she paused, moving my way, to watch them. She rubbed her stomach absentmindedly, and then looked back up at me. Despite everything that had gone on, the kids didn’t feel the tension the way the grown-ups did. They just looked at this as a big extended holiday and camping trip. They weren’t even complaining about the schooling we were making them go to, which surprised the heck out of me.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked Jessica.
“You’re not gonna believe this,” Jessica said simply closing the distance between us and putting her hands on my shoulders, “but this guy is the real deal, and it looks like help is coming.”
Raider brushed up against my leg, and I petted him as I sat and listened to McKinney tell his tale. His team had been dispatched ahead of a larger company of men to scout out the area. They’d heard of a lot of gunfire further down the road, and when they’d seen evidence of the torn grass leading back to the barn, and the freshly tilled earth, he’d figured they were pretty close to the folks holding slaves.
“And whoever was fighting them,” McKinney told me.
“That was originally two groups. The State Police and our group, which includes the sheriff,” I said, hooking a thumb over my shoulder, pointing at Jackson.
“Mr. Flagg, I don’t mean no disrespect, but if these guys are as good as you claim, why didn’t they wipe you out already?”
“Westley, Wes to my friends. I’m truly sorry about your leg, I thought you were them—”
“Don’t apologize again,” he said, holding a hand up, his leg propped on a camp chair, his butt on the stool near the communications gear, “and you can call me Pete. I’d been setting up in position almost all day to watch you guys, and bam, you scared the bejeebus out of me.”
“Sorry about that. Using the dogs was deliberate. Most folks were going to follow them. Plenty of healthy fear out there of our four-footed friends,” I said, sitting on the ground cross legged .
Raider scooted closer and put his upper body across my lap and rolled, so his back was to me. I obliged the move by scratching his belly with one hand, his head with my other.
“As far as how we’ve survived… I guess we’ve got the right mixture of skill,” I pointed to Linda, Jessica, Sheriff Jackson and the cops and deputies who were in the semi-circle, “and a little bit of luck.” I tapped my chest.
“Luck my ass,” Pete said, “you would have had a head shot on me except you killed part of an old stump in front of my face. Your follow up shot might have been hurried, but you had me before the dogs did.”
“They were already scenting you,” Jessica said. “I was slowing them down so Jay could give covering fire if somebody popped up to shoot at them or me. We were the obvious targets used to draw you out, force you to move.”
“I held still until Wes there took that first shot…” His radio crackled, and he turned it up and spoke into it, “McKinney here, over.”
“ETA five minutes. Please let your hosts know we’re coming in. They’re to disarm before our arrival. You copy?”
McKinney rolled his eyes. “Not damned likely, over.”
“You do not copy, or they will not comply? Over.”
I held my hand out for the radio. Linda was whispering to many of the assembled men. Jay was standing close by, she tapped him on the shoulder. All men hustled as I held up the radio to my lips.
“Listen Sgt. Slaughter, or whoever you are. Wes Flagg here. We winged your soldier thinking he was a bad guy. We want no trouble with you, but the best way to get dead around here is to walk around unarmed. We will not disarm. Over.”
“Having a gun in hand will get you dead when we show up. Do you copy that civilian Wes Flagg? Over.”
Jessica’s eyes flashed and she reached for the radio, “Identify yourself, soldier. Over.”
“Tech Sargent Young. Over. Who is this? Over?”
“Master Sargent Jessica Carpenter. Unless you have so
mebody there who outranks me, sit the fuck down and shut your worthless fucking piehole about us disarming. If you do by chance have somebody who outranks me, I can hand the phone off to somebody who’s a Lt. Col. Do you copy?”
There was a long pause. “Yes ma’am. Over.”
“I work for a living, asshole.” Jessica was red in the face, and I was looking around at who the Lt. Col. was, then I turned my gaze slowly to Linda who put a finger up to her lips, shaking her head. “You come in straight down the middle of the road. Do not make any hostile moves. We have the road trapped, mined, and with people and ordinance ready to take out anything from a few men walking, up to armor. Do you copy?”
Another long pause, “Yes ma’am. Young out.”
Jessica tossed the radio to McKinney who was just shaking his head, his eyes wide. “You really do, don’t you?”
“You’re damned right he does.” Linda pointed. “It’s his show here and we’re not to be fucked with anymore. We’re the good guys dammit.”
I just wished I believed that. Instead of saying more, I seethed at Young’s demands and threat. There was a lot to do, but Raider wasn’t moving, and Linda made a motion for me to stay put.
“For your team’s sake, you better hope you were telling the truth. If more than five men walk or drive down that road, we’re sending them to Valhalla,” Linda said to McKinney.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and she didn’t correct him.
“So, you really were military?” I asked her.
“Shut up,” Linda snapped.
I couldn’t help it but snicker. “So a Lt. Col. is like a rank above a Major, right?” I asked Pete.
He nodded.
“So, my mother-in-law is more than a major pain in the ass?”
“I’ll end you,” Linda snapped.
Raider let out a wheezing sound. I swear he was laughing too. Jessica sat down across from me. She whispered a command to Yaeger, and he stood up suddenly, nipping at Diesel. She gave them a command, and both ran outside, out of sight.
“They’re going to stay close to the barn where the kids are,” she said.
“You going to teach me how to get Raider to do that sort of stuff?” I asked her.
“He’s already learning it, but he realized you need him more right now. Otherwise he probably would have followed the others out,” she said softly.
5
“This is Angry Princess, is Silent Hunter, ‘Lil Momma, or Girl Scout there? Over?”
I’d been standing in the barn door when my portable radio went off. I plugged in my earpiece and keyed up. “Silent Hunter here. Dammit. Where are you?”
“Can’t talk long. Possible hostiles moving your direction. Afraid they are going to try to find me if I transmit too long. Just be ready Silent, I’d hate to have anything happen to you guys. Keep my girl safe.”
“Ang … Emily!”
I was shouting at the end, just as the radios crackled again. Frantically I pushed the headset against my ear. Raider was standing between Jessica and I, making a low groaning sound, and Jessica was holding her rifle at the low and ready. Curt and Margie were up near the road, near one of the blown-out fortifications.
“This is Jaybird. My team has eyes on five men, walking slowly. All guns are hanging, hands are up at shoulder level, palms out. Over.”
“Let them pass. Watch for followers, over,” Linda’s voice said in the earpiece.
“Five is how many I saw headed your way, Silent.” Emily’s voice came on the radio again.
“Angry Princess, your presence is requested as soon as humanely possible at the homestead.” My words were dripping with fury.
“Not yet. I’m looking for something. I’ll be in contact when it’s safe.”
“Forward two reports nothing half a mile back. They passed us ten minutes ago. Over.” A voice came out of the radio, sounding a lot like Sheriff Jackson, interrupting the reply I was about to speak.
“That has to be them,” Jessica said aloud. “Everybody be ready!” Then into the headset, “Forward two, bring it in, Jaybird. Give your team the two-minute head start and fall in behind them. Be obvious. They make a threatening move, light them up. Do you copy?”
“Loud and clear, Girl Scout. Over,” Jay said back.
My arms broke out into gooseflesh. She had thought Pete was the real deal, but had just ordered the deaths of his team if that seemed necessary. I pulled my M4 off my back and flipped it to single PEW, suddenly liking the way the camo looked on the gun. Its long barrel and suppressor made it look as evil as the progressive arm of the liberals of the world thought them to be.
Raider let out a loud bark and started lurching forward suddenly.
“Stay,” I growled, looking at him.
He was a ball of tension. I looked to the road, and seeing nothing, looked back to my dog.
“Is it a trap?” I asked him.
In the corner of my eye I could see Grandma and Mary in the doorway of the house, watching. The yard was surprisingly clear of the kids and young adults who were usually working in the garden, the ladies tending to the cooking, and the men resting from pulling all-night watch. The homestead was silent, except for the crackling of a fire that had been laid under the kettle of never-ending stew. Raider growled again, making my arms break out into goose bumps.
“Raider, with me, heel,” I said, and started walking.
Jessica took two quick steps, catching up with me, pulling on my left arm. I paused and turned to look at her.
“I should be going,” Jessica said.
“I guess I’m kinda in charge around here,” I told her with a grin when her eyes flashed. “Besides, you’re my secret weapon, Master Sargent.”
“Secret weapon?” she questioned, her facial features fighting a war between wanting to smile and wanting to smack me.
“Yeah, I’m just a dumb hillbilly. If they give me shit, we’ve got Jay’s group behind them, and you behind me. All I have to do is drop in the dirt and let y’all do what you do best.”
She grinned.
“Plus, I don’t want our baby boy hurt.”
“How do you know it’s not going to be a girl?” she asked.
I leaned in, kissing her hard, then pushed back before my head swam. “Pregnancy hormones.”
She snickered, and I took off up the hill as fast as my sore ankle would let me. Raider wanted to rush ahead, but kept pace at my left side. He’d quit vocalizing, but he was starting to walk stiffly. I had a moment to wonder where the other two dogs were, when a flash of fur over my right shoulder had me turn to see that Yaeger was circling the barn, about twenty yards away from it in the weeds. Diesel had to be close, but the big beast was nowhere in sight.
I reached the somewhat hard packed dirt road about the same time I saw the five men walk into sight. They paused for a moment as I took a spot in the middle of the road, my rifle pointed at the ground with one hand in a non-threatening manner. I’d left my hat and mask back at the barn, but I was still wearing Grandpa’s old ghillie suit. After a moment, they started walking again.
“Easy, boy,” I told Raider, my left hand dropping near him.
He licked my hand, but didn’t move beyond that. My body felt like his looked; coiled in tension and readiness. We were making big fat targets where we were standing and, if it was an ambush, we’d be the first ones shot and killed, but judging by Jessica’s lack of arguing with me coming up here, she didn’t think it was as risky, or she’d have beat my ass senseless and sat on me. I was a tall, lanky guy, stronger than I looked, but there was something about her. I hadn’t seen her in action myself, but Jay had told me what she’d done.
“Silent Hunter, we’re in position behind a five-man team. Forward two is trailing us by a quarter mile.”
“Good,” I said into the mic. “I’m playing decoy in case they try to do something stupid.”
“We’re monitoring your radio frequencies, dumbass,” a man’s voice said as I noted one of the five figures’ hand
had moved to his chest.
That was when somebody let off some powder. See, it wasn’t merely dynamite out here in the hollers. Dynamite was what folks who didn’t use it called it. It was always powder, and it was measured out by strengths of nitro compared to the black powder equivalents, or at least that was what Grandpa had told me. Grandpa taught me just enough about it to get me hooked on chemistry as a kid, when he wouldn’t let me go fishing with it. Two charges, set off almost at the same time, blew. The sound was enormous, and dirt, dust, and wood went flying in all directions. Two large trees went down almost at the same time.
I took off running, and a short whistle had Raider running slightly ahead of me and to the left as we left the road and into the thin brush. My ankle cried out in pain. I hadn’t moved this fast since I’d kicked the Kegger in the face, but I kept going, gritting my teeth. I must have covered almost a hundred yards when the wind picked up gently, blowing the smoke and dust south, toward the homestead. I slowed and pulled my rifle up, finding five prone figures on the road. Jay had four men with him, each pinning one of the five men to the ground, disarming them and cable tying their wrists together.
“Report.” Linda’s voice came in over the radio.
“Forward one got the surprise on the guard. Disarming them now,” I said into the mic. “Don’t know if they were trying to pull something cute. Used emergency barricade charges. Over.”
“Good, we needed firewood anyway.” Jessica’s voice came over the radio. “Any injuries?”
“Too far to tell.” I looked through the scope. “Not ours at least.”
“Good.”
One of the trucks was dispatched from the homestead as soon as Sheriff Jackson’s heavily panting team caught up with us and the five-man guard team. They were thrown unceremoniously into the bed. They’d been bound at their ankles, their hands behind their back. Their gear was thrown on top of them, their weapons on the passenger seat next to a grinning Lester.
“You want to ride back with them, keep an eye on them?” Sheriff Jackson asked me.
Still Surviving (Book 5): Dark Secrets: Page 3