Islamic States of America (Soldier Up Book 2)

by Unknown

  He also ordered the Garrisons in Dearborn, Madison, Peoria, Springfield, Cleveland, Toronto, Erie, South Bend and Dayton to move north to confront the infidels in the north. Allah was on their side they were sure they would be victorious how could they not be.

  The movement north for all of those units was not going to be easy there were several logistic problems they needed to overcome. For instance, most of those units had never traveled any further than fifty miles from their home base. Now they were going to have to travel in some cases a hundred to two hundred miles and then be prepared to fight.

  They decided that some of the units would hold in place until other units that were heading north could link up with them and then they would all move forward in force. This would allow the fuel tankers to focus on all of the vehicles in a single column than attempting to have multiple columns heading north and not being able to handle all of the fuel logistics for so many forces. General Harb didn’t want divide his forces anyway.

  The other big concern that General Harb had was that his forces as a whole had never fought together as a unit and their training was poor if any at all. He felt good about the Garrison at Lansing he had made sure they got through the new training he had implemented. He then decided that the other units would stop near Dearborn where he had a new training area built which would help integrate the units and teach them to fight together. They would also learn some basic Soldiering skills in the two weeks they were there granted it wasn’t as much as a US Soldier or Marine went through.

  All of the Commanders agreed this was a good plan not that they could really disagree with him. It was agreed that it would take a month and a half to two months for all of the units to be ready to assault Camp Grayling. No one discussed the status of US forces while they were getting ready; they believed that the Garrison from Lansing would be able to take care of all of that.

  It’s a hundred-forty-six miles from Lansing to Camp Graying it was a straight shot down the 127 to the 75 if you drove the entire way. The Garrison in Lansing had 3,500 Soldiers stationed there but not all of them were combat Soldiers but could be if needed. Like any other Army most of the Soldiers were there to support the ones that did the fighting. The actual number of Soldiers who would go into battle was closer to 2000 the rest were cooks, supply, maintenance and transportation, everything that kept an Army in the field moving. General Harb knew that that 2000 Soldiers would be spread thin across a vast array of land, he also knew that winter was coming and his Soldiers were not prepared to fight in such a cold harsh environment, they had neither the dress nor the training to fight in a Michigan winter. On the other hand he knew the United States military did and they constantly trained to fight in such weather. The General hoped that Allah would give them good weather and allow him to get his troops trained prior to the US getting more involved than already were.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The two A-Teams had already been inserted into their respective areas the one in Lansing didn’t find it hard to locate the Garrison. They already had full grown beards and dressed in the proper outfits it wasn’t hard to fit in and ask some questions. Once in position they could see that there was quite a bit of activity at the Garrison they suspected that they were getting ready to pull out. Odds are they were getting ready to head north to take on Camp Grayling, boy were they in for a surprise. They were in a good oversight position they could see the number of vehicle types, weapons and number of men. They had no weapon systems to speak of outside of light weapons which included some SAWs and M-249’s which odds are they pilfered from some police stations.

  One of the things the A-Team Soldiers had noticed was that there wasn’t a lot of out-of-the-box thinking by the leadership. For instance, there were museums filled with World War two, Korea and Vietnam War military artifacts that with a bit of work could be used. How many of those museums had old Sherman’s or M-60 Battle Tanks as well as M-113’s and other military vehicles.

  It hadn’t occurred to them to find aircraft that could fly but like their predecessors in Iraq and Afghanistan they were real good at taking an old light truck and mount a machine gun in the back of it. On the third day in there over-watch position around midnight the vehicles loaded up departed the Garrison and yes heading north on the 127. The team scrambled to follow them and to find parallel roads that ran along the 127 where they could observe. Then it occurred to Captain Wantabee and his XO they didn’t really have to work too hard to keep up. There were almost two hundred vehicles in the convoy all heading up the 127 clear as day or night in this case.

  The convoy got seventy-five miles north on the 127 and came under heavy mortar fire which caused a bit of panic and chaos. The Officers finally got all of the vehicles off the road and into the cover under the trees, this was as far as they were going at least for now. They unloaded the Soldiers from the vehicles and started setting up their perimeters.

  They set up the TOC a couple of miles back hoping it was far enough away from the line that no one at least here would get hurt. A runner was sent back to notify the Supreme Commander of the current situation and await his orders. In the meantime they sent out patrols to try to determine enemy strength.

  The A-Team was watching this all unfold mapping out where the TOC was and where the positons in the lines had been set up. The team had a pretty good idea where the US forces were. They watched as they set up patrols and sent them out they couldn’t believe that’s the only defensive measures they were undertaking, what the hell was going on with them.

  ***

  The second A-Team had jumped into the outskirts of Chicago there were no reports that the ISA had taken any action against the city. The rumors were that after the event Chicago became a bastion for gangs and the reported brutality equaled that of the ISA. The ISA for what it was isolated Chicago from the rest of the area they didn’t want to waste the man-power cleaning up the city. They figured if isolated and with the Great Lakes at their back it would eventually consume itself or the gangs would have to move out to confront them as supplies dwindled. That’s when the ISA would confront them and then they would have the city.

  Captain Truhill and his team moved carefully toward the city so far there had no sign of life most everything had been overgrown or was in the process. If there were people around they expected to see some foot paths showing that they had traveled this way, to be sure there were game paths from small critters such as rabbits and ground squirrels. Then just as Captain Truhill was thinking about the game trails Sergeant First Class Eric Zolf stopped, kneeled and looked around, “There’s a lot of game in this area and I mean a lot. If there were people around they would have killed it and eaten what’s here, right?”

  “That’s a great observation Sergeant I was thinking there was a lot of game too. I agree if there were people around they probably would have hunted everything insight but there’s too much. It’s like there was an explosion in rabbits, rats and squirrels there’s nothing hunting them.”

  “You would think that after a year even city folk that survived would have learned how to hunt game.” said the Chief.

  “Unless the people are gone.” replied Sergeant Zolf.

  “Chicago’s a big town maybe this area might have be abandoned and they relocated to a different part of the city. We do it, when we secure a town we do our best to get the population to relocate closer to areas where we can make sure they are safe.” said Sergeant Delarosa.

  “Yeah maybe.” said Captain Truhill. “Let’s keep moving.”

  The team pushed slowly further and further into the city two hours into it they still hadn’t seen a living soul. There were plenty of decomposed bodies, bones actually, men, women and children, and yes you could see that many of them died violently. The team kept pushing forward block by block towards sun down they were a few miles from downtown. Captain Truhill called it a day since he didn’t know what came out at night he decided they would hold up in a police station they had come across. They entered it
and cleared the station with no problems they secured the front door by barricading it tables, chairs and filing cabinets.

  They moved to the second floor taking the high ground in the event someone was able to breach, they were not taking any chances. Just because they hadn’t found anyone all day didn’t mean they weren’t there they could have been hiding in any number of buildings watching them. They secured the second floor then sent tables and chairs down the stairway to make it difficult for an assault force to climb them. They then set up additional barriers for anyone trying to gain access, they also built defensive positions. In addition, they covered all of the windows to make sure that there was no light from the fire they were going to build that would get out.

  After everything was done they built a small fire to cook some dinner it was rabbit a few of them actually. Local cuisine which they had captured and killed on their way in no point in eating their MRE’s just know. They had no idea how long they were going to be out granted they were ordered to be here for a week and then head back to Camp Grayling. To get back to the Camp they were going to take a play out of the other Teams book and head to the closest airfield and try to fly back. Sergeant Delarosa was fix and rotary wing qualified he was their ticket out of here and back to the world.

  The night passed without incident other than the station was rat infested they spent a good part of the night killing rats they decided they wouldn’t eat them. They were up before sunrise Sergeant Delarosa was peeking through one of windows by pulling part of the curtain back as he was turning away he caught a glimpse of something moving down the street at a rapid pace. It was a car heading west toward the water. Sergeant Delarosa ordered everyone up and moving he told Captain Truhill he had seen a car moving driving quickly heading toward downtown toward the water.

  Everyone was up and out of the station quickly taking up security positions as they moved down the street. It might have been a trap to draw them out they were careful and moved to the corner down the street Delarosa peered around the corner carefully but he didn’t see the car or anything else for that matter.

  The moved down the street half the team taking one side and the other half on the opposite side. They moved using hand signals they were entering downtown with all of the skyscrapers all of them were nervous. So many places for someone or a group of people to hide still there was a lot of over growth and the only paths they saw were from game. There Sergeant Delarosa pointed, it was the car he saw earlier parked in front of a grocery store and the engine was still running. They moved slowly, weapons up and ready, they approached the car, Sergeant Delarosa and Sergeant Allison (the communications Sergeant) moved to the car, there was no one in it.

  They didn’t think they were seen and why keep the engine running. Captain Truhill signaled that they were entering the grocery store; they stacked and entered quickly weapons moving back and forth looking for potential targets. They moved perpendicular to each aisle looking for the occupants from the car. They didn’t see anyone they moved to the rear of the store where there were double doors that lead to the storage area. Sergeant Delarosa glanced through the one of the oval windows; he saw a man and woman rummaging through boxes looking for something.

  Again the men stacked and quickly moved through the doors yelling for the man and woman to freeze and get down on the ground. The two people were frightened and terrified at the same time these were strong men who looked healthy and well fed. They did as they were told and got down on the ground. They were quickly searched by two of the teams NCOs who found no weapons. Once that was done they were allowed to get up and take a seat on two chairs that were brought over.

  The man and the woman were scared the man asked, “Who are you, what do you want?”

  Captain Truhill responded, “Don’t worry we aren’t going to hurt you.”

  “Then what do you want?” asked the woman.

  “Information.” said Captain Truhill.

  “Ok, what are you wanting to know?” asked the man.

  “Well first.” said Captain Truhill. “What are your names?”

  The man and woman looked at each other and the man shrugged, “I’m Aron and this is Shana.” replied Aron.

  “Great, it’s nice to meet you Aron and Shana; I’m Captain Truhill, United States Army.”

  The couple was floored at hearing this, “I’m sorry.” said Shana. “Did you say the Army?”

  Captain Truhill nodded yes, “Is there a problem with that?”

  “No, no.” said Shana. “We just thought – well that there was no more United States.”

  “Well I can assure you there still is, granted it’s not much right now but we’re working on it.” said the Captain.

  Aron asked, “What do you mean working on it?”

  “Right now the United States consists of most of California, Arizona, parts of Nevada, Oregon and Northern Michigan. There might be other places but that’s all we know for sure, we are working on it like I said.” answered Captain Truhill.

  “I don’t understand?” said Shana.

  Captain Truhill waived his hand to stop the current conversation, “Later I’ll tell you later, for now we need to know where everyone is. We’ve been here for a couple of days roaming the city and you’re the first people we’ve seen.”

  “It’s unlikely you will find anyone in town. Most anyone who was left alive after the gang wars seven months ago left.” said Aron.

  “What are the gang wars?” asked Sergeant Delarosa.

  Shana answered, “After everything went dark it wasn’t long for the gangs to take over the town. They looted and killed anyone who didn’t want to become a gang member, it didn’t matter who, women and children, it was open season on them. Well eventually there was no one else left except for the gangs then the gangs started to fight each other essentially until there wasn’t anyone left who wanted to fight. After that there was nothing left in town to stay for, there was an exodus out of the area and those who left ran into the crazy Islamist who were waiting.”

  “Yeah we know about the Islamists that’s one of the reasons why we’re here. “Said Sergeant Hart (Medical Sergeant).

  “Well those of us that survived them sent up communes in areas that we were able to secure ourselves. Many of our members are former military at least they say they are. We’re mostly farmers now growing our own food, raising cattle and sheep. No one seems interested in bothering us, the Islamists left the area.” said Aron.

  “What brought you to town then?” asked the Chief.

  “We came into town looking for seeds and were trapped by a pride of lions, we ended up having to spend the night and came here looking for something to eat.” said Aron.

  “Lions?” said Captain Truhill.

  “Yeah Lions, one of the reasons why not many people come to the city anymore. Lions, tigers, bears oh my!” Shana said laughing. “After a while the enclosures at the zoo broke down and the animals got out, they’ve thrived here and the number has grown. More people are hurt or killed by the animals here then they are by people.”

  “Do you know anything about the oil refineries?” asked the Captain.

  Aron answered, “We know that early on there was a lot of interest in them but keep in mind these were gang members who didn’t have a clue what to do with them. They certainly fought over them but like everything else they were eventually abandoned. But no one that I know has been out to them in months so that’s all we really know.”

  “Ok, thanks for the information we appreciate it. You’re free to leave.” said the Captain.

  Aron and Shana looked at each other, “Really? That’s it…”

  “Yeah pretty much, like I said we were looking for information, you answered all of our questions, so yeah that’s it.”

  Both Shana and Aron stood not quite sure how to take it they thought for sure they were dead. Obviously that wasn’t the case, Captain Truhill asked, “Were you able to find something to eat?”

  They shook their head no; Ca
ptain Truhill fished a couple of MRE’s out of his backpack and handed them over to them with a bottle of water, “Enjoy he said.” With that he and the team left them to themselves as they headed out of the grocery store.

  Aron and Shana followed the Soldiers out of the store, “You really are Soldiers?” asked Shana.

  “Yes mam.” said Sergeant Delarosa.

  “Will there be more Soldiers coming?” asked Aron.

  “It’s possible.” said the Captain. “Maybe not to Chicago but definitely the refineries they will be secured and repaired if needed. Then what’s left there will be used for civilian and military purposes to get the country back on track.”

  “What about all of the ships?” asked Aron.

  Captain Truhill looked at Aron a bit confused, “What ships?”

  “All of the oil tankers that are sitting in the harbor and the ones off shore there’s like fifty of them.” said Aron.

  “That’s news to us and we will certainly pass that information back to our chain-of-command. I’m sure they will do something about it but what I can’t say.” said the Captain.

  “What about the President and Congress?” asked Shana.

  Almost every Soldier shrugged, the Chief jumped in, “No one has heard anything from the East Coast so we don’t know. We are operating under the Commander of US Forces – General Watkins. Right now there is no civilian leadership outside of the towns and cities.”

  “So there is no civilian oversight of the military?” asked Aron.

  “Nope, none. Remember the military is Federal. Who do you suggest have oversight?” asked the Chief.

  “Well there’s got to be somebody right?” asked Shana.

  “Well for now the General’s senior staff is working along with the civilian leadership for the areas that have been secured and civilian leadership has been set up.” said the Chief.