Homefront: A Story of the Future Collapse

by Matthew Gilman

  Xing hollered out for the men to surrender. Hands were raised and weapons tossed over the handrails.

  Down in the alley it was easy to see who was in charge. The tall blonde man that ordered the others had a command presence that Xing thought only he had. This man knew how to lead. Only minutes before he was in a horrible position and somehow, whether through fate or dumb luck this American came out on top of a superior force.

  The balaclava was removed from Xing’s face and he looked into the eyes of the man that had bested him.

  Chapter 54

  Kelly rode on the back of the last ATV providing cover for the retreating group. The majority of the people were on foot. One of the ATVs would scout ahead making sure the path was clear. Kelly winced every few seconds feeling the pain surge in his leg from being bounced around. He focused on the area behind him, waiting to see troops in pursuit. Hours passed and the group took up a position on a ridge overlooking the roads below them. They could continue but decided to take roll call and inventory of the supplies they captured. Kelly continued as lookout.

  A belt was tied around Kelly’s thigh to prevent bleeding out. He had to loosen the belt every few minutes to allow blood through or risk losing the leg. The others made sure he stayed hydrated. Kelly wondered how long he could keep things up before he would need a blood transfusion. Kelly created some bandages from his torn pant leg and moved the belt down to the two holes in his legs. He applied pressure and hoped the patch job would hold so he could move around.

  Several people were missing from the roster, either dead or labeled as missing. The news hit hard, considering that the mission overall was a success. It was difficult to celebrate knowing that all involved would not be with them.

  Kelly spotted diesel exhaust on one of the roads and the hum of motors approaching. The truck was really miles away on the winding roads. Even if the truck was two hundred yards directly below them it would have to drive several miles to reach their position. When the truck drove through a clearing Kelly learned that it wasn’t alone, but the start of a convoy sent after them.

  “Shit,” Kelly said. “We have company.”

  The Koreans came over to take in the situation.

  “We have been here before,” one of the men said to Kelly. “We have the high ground. We should use it.”

  “Where is Kong?” Kelly asked, wondering where the leader of the Koreans was.

  “He’s dead,” a woman replied. “Bled out on the way here.”

  Kelly hopped off the back of the trailer and started to examine their position. Overall, the situation wasn’t bad and he had to agree with the Koreans that standing their ground was the best option. He did worry about an airstrike, but thought the gamble was worth it. The trucks moved up the dirt roads and became louder as they climbed the side of the hill, shifting gears to work against the incline.

  The Koreans set up mortar positions. Greg and Will from the Canadian forces helped sight in the mortar equipment and would work as spotters. Kelly grabbed an RPG, excited to finally be firing one at an enemy for once. Just as the trucks were about to come into view, they stopped.

  “What’s going on?” Greg asked. Kelly tried to get a view of the convoy, but it was silent. Then it popped through the trees and came into full view. Kelly trained the RPG on the lead truck. The seconds felt like minutes and then he fired.

  The RPG rotated in the air, spinning in a spiral formation. The RPG hit and detonated a few feet in front of the truck. It wasn’t the target, but the truck stopped anyway and the battle was on. Mortars started to drop around the location and the Canadians adjusted the mortars for the attack. Kelly reloaded the RPG and took a second shot at the truck. He needed to block their advance and box in the Chinese climbing the hill. The Canadians hit the end of the convoy with mortars. The convoy dispersed into the brush and trees, trying to return fire as the machine gun mounts fired rounds up into the hill. The ambush had turned into an all-out assault.

  From a Humvee in the middle of the convoy a Chinese soldier read off the coordinates for an airstrike. Two minutes turned into five and five minutes was turning into ten when the sound of a jet was heard overhead. The Americans started to pack their gear when they saw the strangest thing. The jet approaching them lost its thrust and started a descent. It’s wasn’t a descent, instead it was falling. Missiles still attached under the wings and the pilot in the cockpit. The jet disappeared into the forest followed by an explosion. With the air support gone the Chinese ran to their vehicles but none of the motors turned over.

  The Americans stopped loading their gear. Kelly watched as the Chinese started to panic. One soldier sat in a Humvee screaming over the radio then slamming the handle against the dashboard. The hoods of the vehicles were opened and bewildered men looked over motors that didn’t respond to anything.

  “They are stranded,” Kelly said to himself. “Continue the attack. They are on their own.”

  Greg and Will went to Kelly to see the same thing for themselves.

  “We didn’t shoot the MiG down,” Kelly pointed out.

  “You think they detonated another EMP?” Greg asked.

  “Does it matter? They are sitting ducks,” Kelly said.

  The mortars were set back up and the attack continued. Just as Kelly thought, the Chinese were unable to retreat. The Koreans started to move down the hill overtaking the position the Chinese held. The battle took the majority of the evening and the next morning the Americans and Koreans moved down the hill in search of prisoners and the injured.

  Greg and Will discovered the electronics of the vehicles were fried and then realized that the ATVs were probably useless as well. To their surprise one of the older models still functioned, but that meant several trips would have to be made in order to move the supplies. Regardless, the fight was now in their favor and the group started to move back to the city in an effort to take advantage of their crippled enemy.

  Chapter 55

  With communications down and the central command gone, the Chinese forces in the city didn’t know what to do other than hold their positions as they were last ordered. This left their military scattered around and easy to pick off without the risk of backup or air support to level the battlefield. The organized capture of the city took over two weeks. The difficulty in the last days was hunting down soldiers that eventually left their post with no food or water being delivered to them. Many surrendered with the hope they would receive a meal from their captures. The hope was short lived as the POWs were taken to the harbor. It was still unknown what would happen to the prisoners of the invading force. The numbers of the Americans swelled as the people who stayed in hiding came out to join the winning force.

  Executions took place by trigger happy people set on revenge. In the end, for the better of the prisoners, most of them were placed on ships to attempt sailing back home. The decision was obvious with the threat of execution or taking their chance on the ocean with the hope of being picked up by their people. Artillery was moved from the armory to the harbor and shoreline to discourage any of the ships from returning.

  Xing and the rest of the anti-terrorist task force was placed on their own boat as a professional courtesy. The men were stripped of their gear long ago, adding to the spoils of the battle.

  “Tell your command that if they come back here it will be the last mistake they ever make,” Dallas said, standing on the dock. He cut the rope to the boat and it started to leave the dock.

  “You know we won’t make it back home,” Xing hollered from the deck.

  “It’s more of a chance than you gave us.” The words stuck with Dallas the rest of the day. From his estimates less than ten percent of the population of Seattle was left. The Chinese had decimated the population with a weapon that could not be seen or heard. Maybe they didn’t destroy D.C. but they were responsible for the lives lost afterwards. The road to recovery would be a long one. Whether or not the fight was over they would not know for years. He could only watch, wai
t, and hope.

  Chapter 56

  The colors of the morning sun, all their rainbows and pastels, reflected off of the hull of the ship beached on shore. The hull rose above several stories, making it a serious endeavor for anyone that wanted to explore the vessel stranded before them. Crowds came and went on the beach, afraid that gunshots might be heard off the deck into the beach. They could tell from the markings on the stern that it was Chinese in origin. Ships from China had not been seen at the docks in months and for one to show up unexpected spread fear that the onslaught was about to start again.

  By the afternoon, a group of young men became curious about the vessel that didn’t show any signs of life.

  “We could climb up there,” a young dark haired athletic man said.

  “You climb up there. I’m not going,” another young man added.

  “I’ll go,” a third young man said.

  The conversation turned into dares and challenges. A few minutes later the whole group was going except for the one adamant about not going. He was to stay behind in case the group didn’t come back.

  The three guys that were looking to explore the vessel took turns throwing grappling hooks up to the handrail, but failed every time. One had the idea to aim for a ladder that was on the side for small boats to dock with the ship. After a few tries the hook caught on the bottom step and they started to climb one after another.

  Brad, the athletic man with the dark hair, was the first to board the ship. He looked around and found the deck empty then returned to help his friends up. When all three were on board they stayed together and explored the upper decks and cabin. It looked like a ghost ship.

  The control room was empty. They looked around and found a map that none of them could read. A spot was marked with an X, but there was nothing else.

  “Where did everyone go?”

  “Maybe they’re below deck and don’t know they came on shore.”

  The young men left the control room and found a door with stairs that traveled below deck.

  “Tyler, stay here. Make sure we don’t get locked in.” Brad said to his blond haired friend.

  Brad and Sid went down the stairs and realized they needed light to go any further. Both of them took out lighters and flicked them on. The light didn’t travel far but they were able to see their surroundings enough to explore the ship.

  Leading the way, Brad took small steps down the hall, steel surrounding him on both sides. He slid his hands across the painted metal in case the light went out or he lost his balance. Sid stayed close behind, afraid of being left behind even with his friend moving so slow. At one point Sid grabbed Brad’s shirt and moved forward with him. On any other occasion Brad would have turned around and told him to stop with some sort of snide remark. Instead they ventured further. They passed closed doors and glanced into empty cabins for a few seconds.

  A cut on Brad’s hand brought his attention to the metal pushed out and torn at the tips. Tiny volcanoes stood out from the flat surface. Brad pulled his hand back, only to make a small tear in his skin.

  “Ow,” he said looking at his hand in the light of the Bic lighter.

  “What is it?” Sid asked.

  Shining the light on the wall, Brad looked at over a dozen holes in the steel wall.

  “What do you think that is?” Sid asked.

  “Bullet holes,” Brad answered.

  A steel door remained closed to his right and they thought about it for a half second.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Brad said.

  The trip back to the stairs was quicker than their journey inside. The sunlight beaming down the stairwell gave them a focus point to travel to.

  “What did you find?” Tyler asked as the two young men rushed up the stairs.

  “Looks like the crew didn’t get along.” Sid answered after he realized Brad wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Well you guys might want to see this.”

  Tyler took his two friends to the bow of the ship. In the middle were two doors with one side opened. Looking down into the cargo compartment the trio could see wooden crates resting only a few feet below them.

  “Does that say what I think it says?” Brad asked his friends.

  “I don’t know the Chinese writing, but the other numbers say AK-47,” Sid replied.

  “Over there I see some Russian writing and PG-15v-Sk painted along with it,” Tyler said, pointing to a separate stack.

  “Jackpot,” Brad said his mind already racing with what he could do with his newfound power. “RPGs. Let’s get the rest of the guys.”

  The trio found the rope they climbed up on and took turns climbing over the rail to descend to the beach. When they reached the bottom, Brad turned around to find his friends standing with their hands up, surrounded by a group of men with painted faces and camouflage clothes. Their weapons told Brad they were Americans; high powered AR platforms with larger magazines fitting most likely .308 bullets. Silencers rested on the ends of their barrels. Brad raised his hands in the air.

  “Dude, I can’t believe we have a whole ship filled with AKs, this is fucking aweso….” Sid never finished the line once he leaped from the rope and turned around to discover their newfound friends.

  “AKs huh?” one of the camouflaged men said, tapping his hands on his rifle.

  “Nice,” Brad said to Sid.

  “Oh, like you knew these guys were down here,” Sid said, raising his hands in the air.

  All of the young men were tied up and left sitting by the trees with a guard. They spent the day watching their haul of AK-47s, RPGs, and other items they never knew about vanish into the woods.

  The leader of the group, a tall and muscular man, approached the young men. His eyes made him look like a ghost, the pale white contrasting with the face paint. Some of the men were afraid he was going to kill them for knowing about the boat.

  “I want to thank you boys,” the man said.

  “Oh Jesus, he’s going to kill us,” Sid whimpered.

  “Shut up will you?” Brad said, trying to take the role of leader for his group.

  “Like I was saying, on behalf of the United States Army Rangers I would like to thank you for your find here today. I can assure you that these goods will aid us in continuing to fight the Chinese and reclaim our homeland.”

  “You mean you’re not going to kill us?” Sid replied.

  “No, you are free to go,” the ghost figure said. He turned around to walk away and then stopped. The whole group stopped for a second, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

  “But, if you talk about these weapons to anybody, or about us, we will have to kill you.”

  “Oh Jesus,” Sid whimpered again.

  “Hey Sarge, we have everything, but with this amount of firepower I have to ask, who is going to use it?” Budd asked, walking up to Dallas.

  “Guess we will need some new recruits,” Dallas replied.

  “What about these guys? We watched them climb to the deck of the ship. Shit, we waited for them to come back just so we didn’t have to search the damn thing ourselves.”

  “I was afraid they booby-trapped it,” Dallas said, with a creepy white-toothed smile.

  “Should we at least ask them?”

  “You ask them. I’m going to round up the troops.”

  The Ranger walked up to the newly freed young men. At first the boys didn’t know if he was a different guy or not until they noticed he was shorter and smaller than the previous man that spoke to them.

  “We are taking volunteers if anyone here is interested,” the Ranger said.

  “Do we get to kill Chinese?” Tyler asked.

  “As many as you want.”

  Tyler, Brad, and Sid left the group and helped carry the remains of items being hauled back with the Rangers. As the trio approached the tree line they watched a pair of Rangers holding putty in their hands. Tyler was the only one that knew what he was seeing.

  “Wait guys this is going to be go
od.” Tyler said, putting his boxes down in the sand.

  The Rangers went into the water towards the back of the boat and placed the putty on the hull. They connected some wires and a little box to it then walked out of the water. The Rangers looked at wind-up watches and laughed as they walked past the boys.

  “Is it going to blow?” Tyler asked.

  “In about five seconds,” one of the men said. Everyone turned around to watch.

  A few seconds later the concussion of the blast moved through their bodies and their ears were ringing. The two Rangers gave themselves a high five.

  “But the ship didn’t explode,” Brad pointed out.

  “No, but the hull is breached and the seawater will fill the engine compartment, taking care of everything for us. That boat will never sail again.”

  Brad thought about what was said for the rest of the walk back to the camp. That was the moment he realized that the movies he grew up with were lies. The massive explosions with fireballs and craters left in the ground were a myth. The military didn’t care about selling movie tickets; they were concerned about creating the most damage effectively using the least amount of resources.

  On the tree line a figure blended in with the background. A head bobbed out trying to catch a glimpse of the men that were hauling supplies off the beach. One of the Rangers noticed the figure and raised his weapon, gaining the notice of the rest of the group. A feminine squeal joined the rustling of the leaves and branches as the figure tried to back away into the woods.

  “No, that’s Kate. She’s with us,” Brad hollered as the Rangers approached the mystery person.