by Steven Bird
As his thoughts continued to drift, he heard footsteps approaching behind him. Reaching for his VZ58, he heard a familiar voice say, “Relax, Evan. It’s just me, Terry.”
“Oh, hey, Terry. Any word?”
“Yes, actually. Just as our intel suggested, the convoy reached Hot Springs right on schedule. Most of the town was evacuated and safely in their bug-out retreats, so in that regard, it has been relatively uneventful. The disturbing bit of news we’ve received from our eyes and ears on the ground, however, is that they seem to truly have a list of individuals associated with the militia and any sort of resistance. The homes of many of our key players in the area have been burned and destroyed while all the others were left virtually untouched. I’m not sure how they got their intel on us, but they, without a doubt, have a list and they’re checking it twice.”
“That’s disturbing news,” Evan said.
“We’ve got to stop these guys. If not, they’ll burn us all out and keep us on the run, picking us off one by one. And as long as all of the region-wide hits over the next several days go as planned, they’ll be spread way too thin to hit back on any one group. On a brighter note, Q said we’ve received word from out west.”
“Really, what’s that?”
“The occupiers out that way, mostly Chinese troops flying the UN Peacekeeper flag, have been trounced pretty hard, and they’ve got them on the run. The Northwestern Defensive Coalition has declared that Idaho is now free of any occupying forces.”
“Where did the Chinese go?”
“We didn’t get all of the details. We assume west towards Seattle, which was their initial staging area. The important thing, however, is that those guys out there in the mountains of Idaho have proven to us, and to the occupiers, that when Americans stand up to tyranny, we can overcome anything.”
As the thunder off in the distance reminded Terry of one of the main reasons he was out making his rounds, he began to dig around in the large camouflaged pack he was carrying. He pulled out several items and said, “Here, from the sound of things, you’ll need this. It’s a camo tarp and a concealment net. Get yourself set up for a wet and rainy night. It appears thunderstorms may be on their way.”
“Thanks, man,” Evan said, taking the items. “Oh, and do me a favor. Send my regards to Jason when you’re down his way. I assume you already visited Daryl?”
“I will, and speaking of that, Daryl says hey.”
As Terry slipped off into the darkness to make his way to Jason’s position, Evan once again heard thunder off in the distance. He looked up at the dark cloudy sky and thought, Just great. That’s exactly what we need, sitting on this steep hillside.
~~~~
Back at the old abandoned mine, as Griff and Greg stood watch at the entrance, Judy walked up behind them with two extra blankets and said, “Here, it’s getting cold in here.”
“Oh, thanks, baby,” Griff said. “How is everyone doing? How are the kids handling it?”
“Other than cold, fine. Well, poor little Zack isn’t doing so well. He had another one of his panic attacks about a half hour ago. Peggy has him calmed down for now. Being confined in a dark space is probably the opposite of what he needs emotionally, considering what happened at his grandparents’ home and all.”
“Yes, I can hardly imagine,” replied Griff.
“Why is it so cold in here? You’d think these thick rock walls could keep us warm,” she asked.
“Caves and mines generally stay very cool. The terrain surrounding them is too thick for any of the sun's daytime radiation to warm the air inside. If it was sealed off, I imagine it would be even colder with none of the warmer air getting in from the outside.”
“Is everyone else still awake?” asked Griff.
“Sarah and the Jones boys are asleep. Mildred is telling old-fashioned bedtime stories to the others. She’s such a jewel of a lady.”
“Yes, she is indeed.”
“Everyone else is snuggled together in groups under all of the blankets to stay warm. Oh, and Lloyd volunteered to stay up tonight to keep his lantern going on its lowest setting to give some background light. Most of the kids have probably never been anywhere this dark before. It’s crazy. You can’t even see your hand in front of your face without some sort of lantern or flashlight.”
“That’s why most cave critters, like bats, don’t use their eyes, or have lost their eyesight over time.”
“Damn it, Griff,” she said, punching him in the arm jokingly. “Don’t get me thinking about bats and cave critters. I’ll never sleep now!”
He and Greg both shared a chuckle. “Okay, okay, sorry. Anyway, Greg and I should be relieved in about an hour and a half. As soon as we get off we’ll come join you in a snuggle pile.”
“Okay, then,” she said as she kissed Griff softly on the lips. She then turned and gave Greg a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be waiting up for you. See you soon.”
Griff smiled, then turned his attentions back to the darkness of the night outside. As he heard thunder off in the distance, he said, “I wonder if Evan, Jason, and Daryl have a roof over their heads tonight.”
~~~~
As the rain came pouring down on Evan’s tarp, with thunder seemingly booming all around him, he was thankful for the delivery that Terry had made earlier in the night. Before the rains started, he laid the tarp out flat with the long end going up the hill behind him. He then sat down on the tarp, gathered all of his gear on it as well, and pulled it back overtop of himself. This meant the fold was uphill behind him, preventing water from running underneath him and his equipment. He had also strung his camouflaged concealment net above the tarp, from some branches directly overhead, in order to hide the visible signature of the tarp from above, as Terry had instructed.
As the heavy rain impacted the plastic tarp, the sound was deafening, drowning out all of the natural sounds around him. He could see streams of water flowing to his left and to his right around the tarp. That entire convoy could roll right in front of us on the road below and take Del Rio, and I’d never even know they went by! he thought to himself. I can’t see or hear a thing!
Convinced that staring downhill at the road was a useless endeavor at that point, Evan curled up on the dry portion of his tarp shelter the best he could and returned to his thoughts of his beautiful wife and children in the mine back home. He wished he was cuddled up with them all at that very moment.
~~~~
Early the next morning, Evan was awakened by the sound of birds chirping all around him. The sun was peeking over the hills and mountains to the east. As he yawned and stretched, he pulled the tarp back to reveal a beautiful sunrise moving its way above the horizon. As he gazed at the beautiful sight, he saw something dark coming out of those very same morning rays of light, followed by the sound of several helicopter main rotors, traveling in a westerly direction right toward him.
Holy crap! he thought as the realization surged through his body, rapidly accelerating his heartbeat. Giving his M2 machine gun a quick once over to make sure it was still ready to go, he swung the barrel around to face the threat, knowing that taking on a Russian Mi-24 Hind with a mere machine gun, even if it was a .50 BMG, was suicide.
As the approaching helicopters grew nearer, he could tell they were flying directly up the valley, over the Wolf Creek Bridge and up Highway 9 in the direction of Del Rio. As they flew past, they were at his eye level from his position perched high on the hillside. The two Hinds were an ominous sight as they flew up the valley, seemingly unaware of the men’s positions on the hillside as well as along the riverbank down below.
~~~~
As Tyrone walked around the outside of the church, making his morning security sweep, he heard the sound of the helicopters approaching from a distance. Ducking back behind the large heating oil tank, he watched as they flew directly over the church, and then followed the contour of the terrain, peeling off from the valley and heading into the hills to the southwest.
Runn
ing for the front door of the church, he saw that Pastor Wallace was already standing outside, watching the helicopters disappear over the hills in the distance. “What do you think they're up to?” he asked.
“They seem to be heading in the direction of the homesteads where Evan Baird and the others live,” the pastor replied with a look of concern on his face. “They must have an interest in the place, considering they already wiped out Mrs. Thomas’s entire herd of cattle.”
“Let’s hope and pray they’re just doing more recon,” Tyrone replied.
“Yes, that we will do. I guess that’s all we can do for now,” said Pastor Wallace as the two men turned to walk back inside the church.
~~~~
As the morning sun began to shine its way through the entrance of the mine, cast through the tree branches outside like a thousand individual rays of light, Will Bailey and Linda Cox had taken the first watch of the day and were admiring the beauty of nature’s magical light show. “It doesn’t look like such a screwed-up world from here, does it?” Will said.
“No, no, it doesn’t. But of course, the only part of this world that is screwed up is the human side. The animals, nature, the earth itself, they’re all fine. I’m sure they’d be much better off without us, too.”
Will started to reply, but they both went silent when they heard the rhythm of the helicopter rotors as the flight of two Mi-24 Hinds flew up the valley, closely following the contours of the terrain. “Oh, my God, they’re back!” she exclaimed.
“Go tell the others,” Will said. “I’ll keep my eye on them to see where they go.”
Linda nodded in agreement and ran back into the mine as Will watched closely with his binoculars.
After only a moment, Griff, Charlie, and Lloyd came out of the depths of the mine with Linda to get a look for themselves. “What’s going on?” asked Griff.
“They went over that hill toward—” Before Will could finish his sentence, they heard a deep thump off in the distance, followed by billowing clouds of smoke.
“Oh, my God,” Linda exclaimed. “Did they crash?”
Her statement was immediately followed by another deep thump and another plume of black smoke.
“No...” answered Griff. “They’re hitting something. I would venture to guess it’s our homes.”
They all stood speechless as they came to terms with what might be happening to their homes and their livelihoods. After two more explosions and the resulting billowing black clouds of smoke, the helicopters reappeared over the opposing ridgeline and swooped back down into the valley before them.
“Just be thankful no one was home today,” Griff said as he watched the helicopters and tried to guess their next move.
To his horror, as he watched them from a distance through the riflescope on an AR-10 he had brought from the house, he saw one of the helicopters land while the other circled overhead. “Ah, crap!” he said.
“What? What is it?” asked Charlie.
“One of the Hinds just touched down. There’s only one reason they would do that.”
“What?”
“The Mi-24 Hind is a sizable helicopter. It’s not only an attack helicopter; it also has an eight-person troop transport compartment in the back. My guess would be they’re putting boots on the ground to sweep the area for people who may have fled the homes.”
A sinking feeling went through them all as they watched from afar. Charlie turned to Griff and said, “We need to go on lockdown. We need to get everyone else as deep in the mine as we can. We also need to get some guns up here to fight them off, if it comes to that. We can’t just die cowering in the bottom of this stinkin’ hole in the ground without at least putting up a fight.”
Chapter Thirty-Five: The Snake
Not long after the Hinds passed over the Wolf Creek Bridge, Evan and the others could hear the rumble of the convoy’s diesel engines approaching from the distance. The militiamen’s hearts all began to race as they were preparing to take on a well-armed and well-trained professional military force. Having never fired a Browning M2 machine gun before, Evan went over everything in his head. How to reload. How to address malfunctions. How to accurately predict point of aim versus point of impact with the iron sights of the M2. The machine gunner’s belts were not pre-loaded with tracers, in order to avoid being seen, and being inexperienced with the gun, Evan couldn’t help but have all of those questions and more racing through his mind.
Evan gripped the spade-style handles of the gun, with his thumbs hovering lightly above the butterfly triggers. As the convoy snaked around the corner and onto the bridge, Evan couldn’t help but think of how it resembled a serpent winding its way down the road, on a hunt for food. From what he could see, the convoy consisted of five Humvees, obviously sourced from the U.S. military, as well as three DHS-marked MRAP light-armored vehicles, and two U.S. built medium-duty utility trucks in the personnel/cargo configuration. The two lead vehicles were both MRAPs, as was the vehicle bringing up the rear, with the Humvees and utility trucks filling in as the body of the snake. They could bring their own helicopters, but couldn’t bring their own trucks, he thought as he watched them work their way across the bridge.
As the last MRAP reached the end of the Wolf Creek Bridge, Evan was startled as the first AT-4 was fired, immediately disabling the MRAP, sending flames and debris flying in all directions, blocking the bridge. This explosion was followed by a cacophony of deafening thuds as several more AT-4s were fired, as well as the detonation of the IEDs placed along the south side of the road, just over the edge toward the river.
Evan opened fire immediately, startled by the power of the big .50 caliber Ma Deuce. At first, the scene was chaotic, with smoke and flames engulfing the convoy, and a deafening barrage of gunfire from the hillside, as the vehicles below were peppered with the heavy rounds from the .50 caliber M2 machine guns, as well as the Barrett M107 precision rifles.
In what seemed like minutes, but in reality was merely seconds, small arms fire from the vehicles on the road erupted, as well as the heavy machine gun fire from one of the MRAP’s roof-mounted machine gun turrets that had remained intact from the indirect hit which had disabled, but had not destroyed, the vehicle.
Evan focused his fire on the machine gun down below until his ammo belt ran dry and he was forced to make his first combat reload of the big M2. Struggling at first, but quickly getting a grip on the situation, Evan loaded the belt, cycled the rifle, and re-engaged the target. He could hear bullets ripping through the trees all around him as the UN-flagged soldiers on the road below concentrated their fire on the muzzle flashes of the machine gun operators, as they were the most visible targets to acquire.
One of the machine guns to his left fell silent. Assuming the operator had to reload such as he did, he expected it to resume firing at any moment. Its continued silence, however, gave him a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that one of his fellow militiamen had already fallen.
As the return fire from the UN convoy began to lessen in intensity, Evan looked up and was horrified to see one of the Mi-24 Hinds streaking up the valley toward its comrades under fire below. As the Hind neared the convoy, it began a turning climb towards the hillside where the militiamen were positioned, opening fire with its 12.7mm machine gun when one of the remaining AT-4s, held in reserve, fired its anti-tank rocket directly into the flight path of the approaching Hind, clipping its tail rotor, sending it spinning and crashing violently into the hillside, where it erupted into an inferno of burning jet fuel.
As the second Hind made its approach, it made an abrupt turn to its right, avoiding the billowing cloud of black smoke from its smoldering comrade, and fired its S-8 rockets into the hillside, causing massive explosions, sending bits of debris and shrapnel flying high into the air, forcing Evan to dive down onto the ground to avoid being hit while the debris fell all around him. The helicopter then immediately pulled into a steep climb, barely clearing the top of the ridge. It flew directly over Evan’s
head, disappearing over the ridge and down into the next valley.
~~~~
Tyrone and Pastor Wallace were observing the towering clouds of black smoke from both the direction of the Wolf Creek Bridge, as well as the Homefront and its neighboring homesteads.
“Pastor...” Tyrone said, wishing to ask him a question.
“Yes, Tyrone?”
“At what point should we evacuate the women. I mean... if we wait until we see a threat, a threat can see us as well. And I would venture to guess that any potential threat can outmaneuver and outrun a group of women and children.”
“I know; I was thinking the same thing just now. I think we should...” before Pastor Wallace could finish his sentence, a black Ford pickup truck came down the road from the west with several men in the back. “Maybe we’re too late,” he said. “Let the others know we’ve got company.”
As Tyrone turned to warn the others in the church, one of the men in the back of the truck began waving his arms frantically. Tyrone stopped, and looking closely, recognized Ed and Nate from his encounter in the woods that fateful night when he met them, along with Evan, Jason, Charlie, and Jimmy.
“Wait,” he said as Pastor Wallace cycled the action on the pump shotgun he was carrying. “That’s them. Those are the men who sent us here. The men who helped save Sabrina.”
“What? Oh, my Lord. Thank you, Lord. It’s the Hoskins boy and that fellow from up north,” Pastor Wallace exclaimed.
Tyrone ran to the truck to greet them as they pulled into the parking lot. “You made it back! Hot damn, you made it back! Evan and Jason told us about what happened. We’ve been praying every day, long and hard, for your safe return.”