Zach tries to make arrangements to have a few of his people escort the Amish over the mountain and on towards Springs, which has a large Amish population, but the Amish decline. They tell Zach that they are from the Lancaster area, but have moved out because of the chaos. Many of their brethren stayed, but the situation was bad when they left.
Less than an hour after Zach’s crew rolled up on a tense situation, a workable solution has been implemented. Sheriff Owens, who had been standing back, walks to the forefront. Inwardly, he is pissed. He wants martial law, that would make him king of the county. Outwardly he shakes Zach’s hand and thanks him for helping to make things right. ‘Who are these people coming over the mountain and disturbing his chance at being king?’ he thinks.
But word of an army moving in and helping establish order has already started to spread. In the town of Bedford, city leaders, those still alive, start to meet and make plans. An envoy from them reaches Zach before they move back to their rally point near the Shoup farm. A meeting is arranged for the next day at the historic Jean Bonnet Tavern.
* * *
Two farm trucks show up at the eastern entrance to the free trade zone in Donegal. They clear the roadblock, and the two scouts lead them to Julia’s compound. She is surprised to see Jake return from the day before. The meat, potatoes and cabbage are unloaded and Julia is overwhelmed with joy.
As Jake hugs Julia, he whispers in her ear, “There is safety over the mountain. You and your followers will be welcomed there. We need strong leaders like you.” He gives her some instructions if she wishes to come join them before he leaves to scout further west.
Chapter 19, Betrayed
East of White Mountain
10/03
The Shoup farm is just east of White Mountain in the headwaters of the broad Juniata river valley. Farms, orchards, tourist shops, and small manufacturing shops fill the gently rolling landscape. For the most part, this valley has been unaffected by the hordes of people in desperate states from the EMP. They are too far from any large city to see wide spread chaos. With Sheriff Owens instituting a martial law regimen after the initial few days of confusion, the valley has been relatively peaceful. But they have not been without their problems, like, security, food distribution and a high mortality rate among the sick and elderly.
That has changed over the past week as people fleeing from eastern Pennsylvania have started to filter in, and a gang from Altoona has been encroaching from the north. Additionally, the people have started to see that Sheriff Owens’ heavy handed tactics are not working well. His promises of help coming have not panned out, and his martial law has squashed innovations that people have tried to implement, like barter bazars, and the city council has been disbanded.
Zach’s patrol showing up has caused a movement that Sheriff Owens can’t let continue. He had been contacted early on by a colonel from Fort Indiantown Gap and told that he would see a strong patrol come into Bedford County from the east. He was expected to maintain martial law in his county and they would reward him highly when they arrived. That was three weeks ago. A week ago he received word that they were heading his way but they were stilled bogged down in the Harrisburg area. He had sent a large shipment of food back to this unknown army, much to the protest of the local farmers and citizenry.
Now, this rag tag group shows up from the west. They have to be dealt with if he is to maintain his martial law and appease the real army that will soon be heading his way. Since he implemented his version of martial law, he has established a strong corps of supporters, most of whom believe they are following the dictates of what remains of the government. Some local vets, police, and reservists have formed a loose knit posse that answer to him obediently. His main opposition has been a group that has defected from him, realizing that Sheriff Owens has tossed away any form of civilian control and that his dictates are hampering any realistic attempts to recover from the catastrophe.
* * *
At four in the morning, unknown to Captain Zach White and his forty soldiers, Sheriff Owens’ loyalists have surrounded his position with over one-hundred men. Zach’s patrol, though tired, has established a good security regimen. Some splashing in a nearby creek brings a team member to full alert. She wakes her partner and they hear more movement, more than just a few deer in the night. He pulls on a string that is run to the next position in line, to alert them that something is wrong. Two quick jerks indicate that the signal was received and is being relayed. Within a few minutes Zach’s entire crew has been put on high alert.
Zach, alert to some threat, does not want a heavy fight ten miles from any relief. He thinks through his options. He has forty experienced soldiers with him. They have more firepower than anyone in the region. He decides that letting whoever is out there know that they are ready for them is the best way to stop a battle before it begins; let the enemy know their ambush has been sniffed out. He pops a parachute incendiary that lights up the whole valley.
One-hundred and fifty people can now see the looming battlefield. Zach’s people are dug in and ready. Sheriff Owens’ people are walking and exposed, concentrated on the east side of the perimeter. A single shot rings out from one of Zach’s positions as the enemy is only ten yards from their position. That shot brings on a firestorm. The SAW lays down heavy fire as the intruders seek cover, returning fire as they can.
Just then, a raw screaming is heard from the south side of the position as twenty men rush the least protected side of the perimeter. Zach’s men fire ceaselessly at the intruders, hand to hand combat breaks out as two of Zach’s positions are overrun. Over a dozen invaders break the line and rush towards the knob where the SAW and Zach’s command post is located. By this time, the illumination flare has fallen and the battle field is dark again, illuminated only by the firing coming from both sides of the battle.
Zach rolls to his left and begins firing towards where he thinks the intrusion has come from. Realizing he is firing blindly, he starts to search his cargo pants for another flare. Finding one he quickly smashes the bottom on the ground, sending the flare high into the air.
The faint dim light from the red signal flare briefly shows the mayhem around him. Two dozen men and woman are engaged in close contact. He sees one of his sergeants club a man with her spent rifle before pulling her forty five and firing point blank on another man bearing down on her. As the brief dim light fades he sees the sergeant fall; blood from her wound splatters his face. He races towards his fallen comrade firing his weapon at another man bearing down on both him and the sergeant.
Knowing that the chaotic fight will result in friendly fire casualties, he reaches into his cargo pocket and using the palm of his hand he fires another flare. This one is an illumination flare which lights up the battle field once again. His SAW gunner, now able to see his targets, engages the enemy again. The main push from the east begins to fall back under the heavy fire from Zach’s platoon. The men still inside the perimeter, seeing that the rest of their attack has failed, try to turn and flee. Several are wrestled to the ground and subdued, the rest end up dead or manage to flee.
The battle lasted only a few minutes, but all involved are dead tired from the energy that was spent. Zach’s sergeants, still running on adrenaline, do what they know needs done, check on their soldiers and reestablish security while sending a runner back to Zach. His team has three dead and six injured. But the sergeant in the middle of the melee is still down. Two medics are tending to her, Zach makes the rounds of her people. They were covering the south flank. One is dead and two are severely injured.
Zach gets on the CB and raises the communications relay position on top of the mountain. He had reported his earlier progress, so he knows the relay system works.
“R4 to mountain, come in, over”
“Mountain here, R4,” is the immediate response. “We just heard a battle in your area, are you okay?” the untrained but alert civilian continues.
“Position secure, at least twelve casua
lties. At least four KIA. Send immediate heavy relief convoy, confirm immediate heavy relief convoy, over.”
“Send heavy relief convoy confirmed, will relay now, over,” the civilian responds.
“We are sending two trucks with the seriously wounded now. Alert the clinic that six seriously wounded will be arriving within an hour, over”
“Roger, R4. Will respond when message has been sent, over.”
Zach places the CB back in its holder. He wants to break down and cry but he knows he must push on. He asks the Lord for strength as he begins to take a measured account of his team and their position.
He checks in with his medics first. He only has two and they have done the best they can. Four soldiers have been bandaged up and should be okay. Two more have more serious wounds but should survive, including the female E-6, who will probably lose her arm. Two more, a civilian woodsman and an E-4 reservist have internal bleeding; their outlook is bleak. He lets them all know that the clinic and the doctors there have been put on alert that they will be coming in.
Before heading on to check his security, he makes sure that two trucks are unloaded and prepped to transport the wounded. It takes him twenty minutes to check in with his three remaining leaders. They all tighten things up and dig in deeper, waiting for the sun to rise, waiting for relief to come.
The sky is brightening to the east as his two trucks with their wounded leave. With the guard truck, that leaves only two trucks and twenty six soldiers to man their outpost in this now hostile territory. Zach is back at his command vehicle, the old suburban, with a few more bullets holes. Taking a look at it, he decides he needs to see about getting a bit of up armor, maybe some strategically placed steel plates.
As he surveys his position, a tear starts to roll down his cheek. He looks over the lush farmland and forests, now starting to turn the brilliant orange and red of fall. This is not the sand box. Over there, he was thousands of miles from home. It hurt him when civilians died. He lost a few comrades there, and that hurt even more. But here, he is fighting in a valley where two months ago he took his kids fishing. People he probably bought bait from, or who served him lunch, they now are fighting him. He falls to his knees. ‘God! What are you doing? What are you putting us through? Why are we fighting each other? Yesterday, God, you helped me to find peace, now we are surrounded by war, why God? Why?”
“Help me to find that road back to peace, God. Help us all find that road back to peace.” He feels a sense of warming come across him. He opens his eyes and realizes that he must have dozed off for a few minutes as the sun has crested the horizon to the east and the strong rays have begun to warm his chilled body.
His communications man and driver gives him a shake. “Hey Captain, we got some developments,” he says as he hands him a warm canteen cup of instant coffee. “The relief trucks should be here in a few minutes. We got six prisoners too, and they are starting to talk.”
Zach sips the coffee and stiffens his back as he readies himself for the new day, his prayers already said. He walks over to where the five men and one woman sit dejected, arms and legs zip tied, and a length of rope around each of their necks binding them all together. What he sees is not out of protocol, but he does not like it. He has the neck binds removed. Next he makes sure they all receive water, and medical attention.
By this time, three relief trucks have shown up with twenty four more troops, an M60 and another SAW. They also bring hot chow. Scrambled eggs, corn bread and sliced apples with maple sugar. Zach makes sure his captives are well fed too.
* * *
The sun fully risen, his people well fed, and his position well-fortified, Zach begins to reevaluate his mission. Something is seriously wrong here. They started to help them quash the chaos, then they got attacked. There is no sense in that. Time for some prisoner interrogation. He heads over to where the prisoners are held.
“Separate them all, now,” he states. “We should have done that earlier. Make a note of that Sergeant.” He looks at one of them, now that he has been cleaned up he recognizes the man. He points at him. “I want to talk with that one first, over at the front of the suburban”
Once there, Zach turns and looks at the man for several minutes, lingering as he tries to decide what to say, what to do. He ran convoys, never did interrogations. This is new to him.
“I am Captain Zach White, of the Laurel Highlands Militia. Have we met before?” He asks.
The man stares back at him defiantly. “Never saw you before in my life punk. Piss off.”
Zach smacks the man across the face with the butt of his rifle. “I hate liars. You were part of Sheriff Owens’ security detail yesterday. What, you think I am stupid?”
The man glares back at him. “You’re a backwater jackass with no business in our county. Leave us be, we can take care of ourselves,” the man replies.
“Well, if you had told us that yesterday, instead of asking us to settle a petty dispute, instead of attacking us last night, maybe things would be different right now. But it is good to hear some truth from you. Four of my people died last night. Two more will probably die today. How many of your people died last night, hero? Why? Why did all these people die needlessly?”
“Because, like I said, we don’t need your help,” the man responds.
“You could have told us that. But instead you attacked us. That don’t add up shithead. What’s Sheriff Owens got going on that he don’t want us knowing about?”
“Nothing! We just don’t want no outsiders coming in.”
“Outsiders!” Zach responds incredulously. “My home is ten miles from here. Five weeks ago, coming here was a day trip, a getaway. And now we’re outsiders? The people we met yesterday received us as the neighbors we are.”
A tap on his shoulder draws Zach away from the belligerent man. One of his sergeants tells him that a group of soldiers under a white flag are crossing the creek in the valley below their position. Zach has his entire position go on high alert as he heads over to see what his people have reported.
What he sees amazes him. People are pouring across the small stream, led by a woman with a white flag held high. The people following her are all armed, but they carry their weapons one handed, high above their heads. Shouts of “we come to join you,” echo across the valley.
The woman and the lead people in her group are less than a hundred yards away. One of Zach’s sergeants alertly hollers for them to stop. Most do but a few continue to move forward until their leaders get them all to stop. Zach relays to his sergeant to have them take a knee and lay down their weapons. Looking up at the serious firepower aimed their way, they comply. Realizing the possibility of a ruse, Zach sends word around the perimeter to stay sharp. Then he has his sergeant call for their leader to come up.
Shorty, a fit middle aged woman in woodland fatigues approaches the perimeter with a younger man, also in woodland BDU’s. She stops ten yards short of the defended position. “I am Lieutenant Colonel Adkins formerly of the Pennsylvania National Guard, 28th division headquarters. This is Staff Sergeant Merkle. We wish to speak with the commander of this unit,” she states boldly.
“Bring her up Charlie,” Zack hollers.
Zach stand as she approaches the small command and communications center. “Welcome to the eastern outpost of the Laurel Highlands Militia. I am Captain Zach White, formerly of the 528th engineer’s battalion. You managed to dig up some old BDU’s; the look is impressive. Have a seat, tell me what you know Colonel, formerly of the 28th division headquarters.”
“I have over a hundred people with me Captain, We have been harassed and hunted for two weeks, can I bring them in?”
Zach looks at the woman and thinks a bit. “Have them set up a perimeter where they are. We will call for more food and send our medical people down. Let’s talk a bit before we get too cozy,” Zach responds.
The Colonel agrees and sends her sergeant back to her people. Zach issues orders and has his communications man relay this new
information back to General Mays and his staff. He knows this will bring a pretty swift response, maybe even his dad, the General, will show up.
The Colonel will accept nothing more than an apple, a cup of coffee and some water. A two truck team is sent back to the Shoup farm to see if some food can be rustled up for the Colonel’s people.
After all these logistics are taken care of, the woman begins to tell her story. She is part of the G3 of the 28th division, which is the group of people that plan missions for the whole division. She was at her home in Bedford when the attack happened. She tried to find a way to get to Fort Indiantown Gap, but gave up after a few days. She started to rally some of the local guardsmen and reservist around her, but they had no way to arm themselves so that first effort fell apart.
Then the order came out for martial law. The sheriff approached her, knowing of her rank, and at first she started to help. Then a full Colonel with a five truck security contingent showed up.
“The sheriff and I, along with several community leaders including the mayor, a state representative and two county councilmen, met with the Colonel. The Colonel talked some happy bullshit about how the National Guard was going to help reestablish order, and then he dismissed the civilian leaders.
“At that time he put the press on. The National Guard was going to take over. His position was that the civilians had no clue as to what to do. A hard crackdown of martial law was being implemented, not just here, but across the state, across the country. Any civilian leadership that opposed was to be arrested and locked up. The local National Guard leaders were to team up with the local police officials to bring back law and order.
“I was flabbergasted! I helped draw up the plans for something like this. Believe me, this did not come out of the blue. Our leaders knew we could be rocked by and EMP, a cyber hack or even an infectious outbreak. It has all been game planned. And the game plan on paper was for the National Guard to rely on the local governments, report to and take orders from the local governments, realizing that the state and federal government would most likely be ineffectual.
Righteous Sacrifice Page 13