by A. American
“What the hell is this bullshit?”
Mel shook me really hard, “Morgan, wake up!”
I was groggy. My head felt sloppy as I tried to wake up, “What?”
“Do you hear that?”
Sitting up, I asked, “Hear what?” Then I heard it.
“The shooting; do you hear it?”
I was suddenly completely awake, “Yeah, I hear it.” I grabbed my gear and put it on. I was trying to remember where I had left my carbine when there was banging on the front door.
Mel let out a little yelp, “Who is that?”
Drawing my pistol, I said, “I don’t know; get your gun.”
Heading out to the living room, the banging grew in intensity. Taylor came out of her room holding her H&K, “What’s going on?”
I pointed at her, “I don’t know; go stay with your sisters.” She disappeared into her sisters’ bedroom.
Taking the flashlight from my vest, I lit up the door. I could see Mike on the porch, “Come on!” He shouted.
I quickly opened the door, “What the hell is going on?”
“Firefight at the barricade and there’s a helicopter on its way to pick you and Sarge up.”
“Helicopter? For what?”
“The Colonel wants to see you and the old man; but come on, we got to get to the barricade,” Mike said in rapid fire. He could hardly stand still.
Mel came out wrapping a robe around herself. “What’s going on; where are you going?”
“I don’t know, just stay here and keep your guns handy.”
“But—” Mel started to protest; but I grabbed my rifle from beside the door and ran out behind Mike.
We ran to Danny’s and jumped on one of the ATVs. The sounds of the battle just up the road were echoing through the night. Danny came out of his house. “Come on!” I shouted as Mike took off.
We passed Fred, Aric and Jess as we raced down the road. They were running towards the barricade as well. Mike weaved all over the road as rounds snapped past us; the air seemed to be alive with incoming. He went off the road; cutting through yards in an attempt to get away from the incoming fire.
Mike slammed on the brakes without warning, nearly throwing me off. Jumping from the machine, he shouted, “Follow me!”
I ran behind him and we slid in beside Sarge as he was shouting to Ted, “Pop another flare!”
Ted was fumbling with his vest, trying to get a 20MM out of it. I looked around and could see Dalton and Ted both firing up the road. Thad was in the bushes off to our left shooting as well. I looked at Ted, “Where’s Jeff?” He shook his head as he dropped a round into the tube, “I don’t know!” He shouldered the weapon and fired it with a thunk. I felt the concussion of the weapon in my chest as much as I heard it. The round arched up into the night sky and popped, casting a brilliant white light. It was then I could see the armored truck sitting across the road spitting fire from a weapon mounted on top of it.
Sarge’s radio crackled to life, “Swamp Rat, Swamp Rat, Dark Horse is ten mics out.”
Sarge fumbled for his mic, “Dark Horse the LZ is compromised, the LZ is hot! I repeat the LZ is hot!”
“Copy that Swamp Rat, hot LZ.”
Another voice came over the radio, “Swamp Rat Bronco three.”
“Go Bronco Three!” Sarge shouted back over the din of the fight.
Mike slapped me in the back. I looked back and he pointed, “Shoot!” I raised my rifle and started firing at the armored truck where I thought a gunner would be in the turret. The noise was hellish. Ted was still dropping 203 rounds on the truck, hitting it with one on the rear with no effect.
“Swamp Rat, can you mark the friendlies? We’ll engage the bad guys if you can mark your position.”
Sarge looked at Mike, “You got an IR strobe?”
Mike shook his head, “No. But I’ve got some IR chem lights.”
“Get ‘em out on the road in front of us,” Sarge shouted. Then he keyed the radio; “Bronco Three, we’re marking our position with two IR chem lights. Bad guys are west and southwest of there.” Mike cracked the lights and threw them into the road, about ten feet apart.
“Ah, roger that Swamp Rat, I’ve got your chem lights and see your bad guys. Put your heads down; we’re coming in from the north.”
“Get down! Gunship inbound!” Sarge shouted.
We all tried to get flat; but I couldn’t help myself, and looked in the direction of the truck. For an instant, I saw a flash. It was moving so fast; and suddenly the truck erupted in a huge explosion that lifted it from the ground. It landed in a flaming heap. Then I heard the gun on the helicopter open up. I couldn’t see the other truck clearly; but I could see the sparks and fire flying from it and the ground around it as the rounds impacted. There was a thunderous explosion and the Hummer was destroyed.
We could hear the helos circling overhead. After a few moments, Sarge’s radio crackled again.
“Swamp Rat; it looks like the target is destroyed. Can you verify for Dark Horse?”
“Roger that, Bronco Three; standby,” Sarge replied. He stood up, “Mike, Ted; let’s go check it out. Dalton, can you move up and cover us?” Dalton nodded and moved up to the barricade. “The rest of you keep your eyes open,” Sarge said as they moved out.
I moved up beside Thad as Danny slid beside me. “What the hell happened?” I asked.
“They just rolled up and started shooting. We thought it was the guys from Eustis. I’d just told Jeff we needed to get out of the road when they started shooting.”
“Where is he?”
Thad shrugged, “I don’t know. I grabbed his arm just before they started shooting. We were in the middle of the road.” He looked at me and shook his head. “I had to run.”
“We’ll find him,” I said.
Sarge and the guys moved out across the field and looked around the burning truck. I could see them in the flames; the truck was a pyre. They moved towards the other truck, and after a few minutes I heard Sarge shout, “It’s clear!”
As we were getting to our feet, Jess ran up. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know; let’s go see,” I replied.
As a group, we walked out to the road. In the flickering light of the two fires, I could Sarge and the guys standing in the road in a half circle. My stomach sank, they were looking down at a form on the ground. Doc, who’d appeared from nowhere it seemed, knelt down and pulled something from his pack. He opened it and flapped out a Mylar blanket, covering the body. Jess ran ahead and Mike stopped her before she got to the body.
He wrapped his arms around her, “You don’t want to see it.”
“Who is it?” She asked, looking over his shoulder.
As I passed, I said, “It’s Jeff.”
Doc stood up, “There’s nothing I could have done.”
I nodded at him and looked down. We formed a circle around our fallen friend. We stood in silence as the light from the fires flickered around us. Thick black smoke billowing from the destruction hung low to the ground because of the dew beginning to descend. As we stood quietly, Sarge’s radio once again crackled to life.
“Swamp Rat, Dark Horse is inbound.”
Wearily, Sarge keyed the mic, “Roger.” He looked at me. “Morgan; you need to come with me.”
As he spoke, the Blackhawk thundered in low over the field where the truck was burning. We all looked up as the rotor wash caused the smoke to swirl.
“What’s going on; where are you going?” Jess asked.
“We’re going to meet some folks.” Sarge replied. He looked back at Mike, “You guys stay here. You need to keep a lid on things today. Keep everyone close. Pull this position back to the bunker. If anything happens, call us on the Monster.”
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nbsp; “We’ll take care of this. Go get us some support,” Ted replied.
“We got this, boss,” Mike said.
Sarge jerked his head, “Come on Morgan; we got a bird to catch.”
I looked at Danny, “Keep an eye on Mel and the girls for me.”
He nodded, “Don’t worry; we’ll take care of them.”
I followed Sarge as he ran out to the now-waiting bird. I copied his movement, ducking as we approached the open door where the crew chief waited. As we got to him, I heard the crew chief ask Sarge in a shout, “Sir, is that weapon secure?” He had on a flight helmet and his face was shrouded in a mask; he was an intimidating figure.
Sarge turned to me, “Drop your mag and clear the chamber; then put the mag back in.”
I nodded and did as he said. I picked up the ejected round and put it back in the mag before slapping the mag back into the weapon. The crew chief gave me a thumbs up, and we climbed in.
The big helicopter suddenly surged with power and we were drifting up from the ground. In no time we were up above the trees, moving quickly away and still climbing. Looking out the open door, I could now see the coming dawn peaking over the horizon, somewhere over the Atlantic. We were only about fifty miles from the coast; and had it been full daylight, I would probably have been able to see the beach.
Sarge tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a headset that I put on, “You okay?” He asked once I had it in place.
I nodded, “Where the hell are we going?”
“Camp Riley up near Eglin.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“Colonel wants to see us; told me to bring your ass too.”
I shook my head, “Bring me for what? What the hell do they want me for?”
Sarge shrugged, “Hell if I know. He told me to bring my civilian counterpart.”
“Your what? I’m not your civilian counterpart. I’m not in any leadership position around here!”
Sarge replied curtly, “You are now.” He leaned back against the firewall of the helicopter, folded his arms, and closed his eyes.
I sat there for a moment staring at him, but it was apparent as far as he was concerned the conversation was over, so I turned my attention back to the view. Up as high as we were, the dawn came a lot faster than I would have expected. I watched the world below drift by, making note of the many small wisps of smoke I saw rising lazily into the sky. Nearly everyone cooked with fire now; and as their day began, the ritual of sparking a flame was once again the norm. A skill nearly lost to the incessant march of technology. It made me wonder how many people around the country died for want of fire.
Standing in stark contrast to those small wisps of smoke, were the billowing columns of smoke from several very large forest fires. I counted three, and they reminded me of what we’d just experienced. It made me start to think of the rest of the country. Out west, California in particular, suffered from severe fires in the summer. It was a safe bet that millions upon millions of acres were burning at the moment. Without man interfering to stop them, the natural cycle would take over once again. Fire was a necessity for nature and an inconvenience for man. This time, nature would win.
It was also very cool as high up as we were, which was nice. I looked the crew over; there was a gunner on either side of the ship. Both of them constantly scanned the landscape below. The machine appeared to be in very good repair. It was clean, and seemed unaffected by current events, unlike most complicated machines. Even the crew’s weapons were spotless. The feed chutes were filled with gleaming brass. It was like being in a different world, as if the recent past events had never happened. I settled in for the flight, having no idea how long it would last.
We flew for quite some time. I had no way of knowing how long because I didn’t have my watch on. But after what certainly felt like hours, a large complex came into view. As we turned to make our approach I saw two Apache gunships above and behind us. I’m sure they must have been there the whole time, and were responsible for ending the fight earlier. The Blackhawk continued its turn, eventually lining up on a runway. The pilot, in demonstration of sheer skill, set the bird down without even a bump. The pitch in the turbine changed and the crew started to exit.
A Hummer pulled up and I followed Sarge, climbing into the backseat. The driver didn’t say anything as he made his way through the base. It was kind of funny to stop at stop signs and traffic lights. Actual working traffic lights! I leaned forward and asked the driver, “You guys have power?”
He nodded, “Yeah, we got it back on about a week ago.”
“How?”
“Our engineers got it back up somehow. I don’t know what they did; I’m just glad to be able to take a hot shower now.”
“Is there a power plant here on the base?” I wanted to know how they did it, what fuel it used, and where they were getting it from. I had questions, and wanted answers.
“Like I said, the engineers did it. I’m not an engineer.” I wasn’t going to get my answers from him.
The Hummer pulled up in front of a brick building and stopped. Sarge got out and I followed him inside. Here too, it was like a different world. A young man in a crisp uniform sat at a desk shuffling through papers. As we came in, he looked up, “You First Sargent Mitchell?” Sarge nodded. The young soldier pointed to a door, “The General is expecting you.”
Sarge didn’t say a word and headed through the door. Once I came in and closed the door, Sarge boomed, “General! They just giving stars away now?”
The man behind the desk stood up, “The selection pool is shallow now.” He stepped around the desk and shook Sarge’s hand. “Good to see you again, Linus. Looks like you guys have been stirring the shit with a big stick.”
Sarge crossed his arms and rocked on his heels. “We’re doing what we can, but we need a bigger stick.” He looked back at me. “Colonel,” catching himself he looked back, “General, this is Morgan Carter, the local Sheriff.”
The man stepped up to me. “Sheriff, I’m General Fawcett; pleased to meet you.”
“Good to meet you, General. But if I may ask, what in the hell am I doing here? I’m not really even a Sheriff.”
“Yeah he is,” Sarge quickly retorted.
Fawcett smiled and gripped my shoulder, “Have a seat Sheriff.”
Sarge and I both took a seat, and Fawcett sat down on his side. Sarge looked around the room, “Nothing good ever comes from me sitting across one of these.”
Fawcett smiled, “Let this be a first then. You guys probably aren’t aware of the current situation, so let me fill you in. We’ve made considerable strides in securing the country. Assets that were outside CONUS were recalled, despite a lot of maneuvering from Washington. They’d hoped to keep those assets tied up and thus out of our reach. They seemed to forget we take care of our own.
“With the additional men and material, we’ve got the DHS on the ropes. I don’t know what they were thinking to begin with, trying to stand toe to toe. It’s been wholesale slaughter in places. As a result, they’ve moved into an insurgent posture. There are still a lot of them out there, and they are causing considerable trouble. Attacks on soft targets is on the rise.”
“We just had our first,” Sarge replied. “They hit a local market and killed a bunch of folks.”
Fawcett picked a paper up from his desk and put on a pair of glasses. “The joys of growing old,” he said, looking over the top of them. “You guys managed to take the camp down in Pine Castle and shipped the prisoners to Frostproof. But they never made it there.” Taking off the glasses, he dropped the paper back on his desk.
Sarge nodded, “Correct; and it looks like they’ve got some new friends now because they brought some heavy hardware in. Had it not been for your Apache this morning, I don’t know what we would have done.”
“What do you need?”
Sarge rubbed the stubble on his chin, “I need something that can take out the MRAPs when they show up. Ammo, lots more ammo. I have a small shopping list.” Sarge pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it across the desk. Fawcett looked it over. I can do most of this for you; maybe not the quantities you want for everything, but I think we can square you away.
Sarge smiled, “I appreciate anything you can do.”
Fawcett looked at me, “How’s the civilian situation?”
“We need medical supplies, lots of them. We have nothing left in the area. We also have a suspected TB outbreak and could use antibiotics.”
Fawcett’s brow furrowed, “TB? How many?”
I shrugged, “I’ve got one family quarantined right now, but I know others that are infected have passed through. The source was actually a group passing through. We were pretty sure they were sick, but had no way to quarantine them.”
The general noted, “We’re seeing major outbreaks of TB, Cholera and other diseases we haven’t seen in years, decades. Cholera is burning up the east coast and most major cities. California is a cesspool of disease. I can get you some antibiotics and some other equipment.”
“We need more than that,” I said shaking my head.
Fawcett picked up some papers from his desk, “You and everyone else. You’re not the only ones in a world of shit these days.”
“I know; I’m not blaming you. But I’ve got a bunch of people that were shot to shit by guys dressed up like your people.” I pointed at Sarge, “When the Guard showed up after the massacre, the crowd assumed they were the bad guys returning, and started throwing things at them. We had to take one guy to the ground that was about to shoot one of the Guard. If you can do something to show them you’re on our side, I think it would make a huge difference.”
Fawcett drummed his fingers on the desk. Picking up a clipboard, he flipped through the papers. “I can get you a field hospital with surgical capability.”