Avenging Home

by Angery American

  Mike rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. I got it.”

  “You damn well better!” Sarge barked. Then he looked at Ted. “You got those radios ready?”

  “Let me go back to the house and get them. We’ll spread them out as best we can.”

  “Chop chop!”

  Doc stepped up on the bunker. “If anyone gets hit, call out. I’ll hang out in the center of our line so I can get to you. Do not try to come to me. I’ll come to you. There will be very little medicine during the fight.”

  “Win the fight first,” Mike said.

  Mel looked at me. I grabbed her hand and said, “Don’t worry.”

  She squeezed my hand. “That’s going to be hard not to do.”

  Leaning over and giving her kiss, I said, “I know.”

  Sarge was glaring at me. “You two done? Can we continue now?”

  Rocking on my heels, I looked around. “I guess you can continue.”

  Sarge clasped his hands in front of him. “Oh, thank you so much!”

  With the teams established, they were assigned locations. Once everyone was clear on where they were to be, Sarge told everyone to go get ready. The group broke up and I walked Mel and the girls back home. Little Bit was holding my hand as we walked and I could tell something was bothering her, eating at her. I gave her hand a little tug and asked what it was. She shrugged, so I tugged her hand again.

  She looked up at me. Her eyes were red, no tears yet but they were clearly on the way. “I don’t want you to get shot.”

  Pushing my carbine around to my back, I scooped her up in my arms. She was getting so big! This wasn’t as easy as it once was. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve already been shot once and that didn’t kill me!” I lifted the boonie hat on my head and turned it to the side so she could see the scar.

  She reached up and touched it. “And that one was in your head too.”

  I bounced her. “Exactly. I’ll be fine.” Looking at Lee Ann, I asked, “How many magazines do you have for that burp gun?”

  She carried a little messenger bag with her all the time. I guess it was kind of like a purse, only this one was a little unusual in that it carried not only the usual things a teenage girl would normally, it also contained several 9mm magazines. Without looking, she said, “Six.”

  “Alright. Just keep your ammo count in mind when this starts. You don’t want to run out.”

  Once Mel and the girls were in the house I went to Danny’s. I wanted to poke around in the armory we’d developed, which was now substantial. I remembered seeing a Springfield M1, and wanted it. I found the rifle in the closet and managed to find half a dozen magazines for it as well. I also picked up a Mossberg 500. It had a pistol grip stock and extended tube on it. A few more minutes of digging turned up an ammo can full of assorted buckshot.

  Taking the guns back to the house, I dumped the shells into my pack and gave the shotgun to Lee Ann. “I want you to carry this in tonight.”

  She looked at the scattergun. “I can’t shoot this thing.”

  Laughing, I said, “You won’t have to. I just need you to carry it. This is our last ditch defense if things get really hairy.”

  In the kitchen, I filled the bladder in my pack from the Berkey filter and another two-quart canteen as well. Then I filled a travel mug with tea for the ride. Going into the bedroom, I went through my medical stuff and added two Israeli bandages to the pack and a tourniquet. God forbid I had to use them, but if I needed them, there would be no substitute.

  Mel came in as I was putting stripper clips full of 5.56 ammo in the pack as well. She sat down on the bed. “What’s up?” I asked.

  “I’m worried. This is really dangerous and it’s not just you. Lee Ann is going too.”

  “She’ll be with me, babe. I’ll do my best to protect her. Hell, we may not even fire a shot. When those Apaches get done, there may not be anyone to stop.”

  Mel crossed her arms and gave me a disbelieving look. “You really think that?”

  I shrugged and half-smiled. “It could happen.”

  “Don’t let her get hurt. We already have one daughter who’s recovering. You too. You both better come home in one piece.” She paused and closed her eyes. “I just couldn’t take it if something happened to one of you.”

  Sitting down on the bed beside her, I said, “We will. I promise.” I hoped I wasn’t making a promise I couldn’t keep.

  Going out, I sat on the couch beside Little Bit. She was combing the hair of a big plastic horse. Putting my hand on her head, I said, “We’re leaving, but we’ll be back later OK.”

  She didn’t look up at me, replying only with, “Mmm hmm.”

  I leaned over in front of her. “I’m serious. We’ll be back.”

  She reached out and wrapped her arms around me. “You have to come back.”

  Holding her tight, I replied, “I will, baby girl. I will.”

  Standing up, I looked at Lee Ann. “You ready?”

  She looked down at herself and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Alright then. Let’s go.”

  She went over to her Mom and hugged her. Mel told her to be careful. “And listen to your Dad!”

  Lee Ann smiled. “I will. I promise.”

  Then she surprised both Mel and me by going over to Little Bit and giving her a hug as well. They never were very close in the Before, and had bickered often. But it seemed they were getting closer now. And it was incredible to witness.

  We left the house and headed down the road towards the bunker. It was dark, but I could see figures in the road. We walked quietly together. I was struck by just how calm she was about the whole thing. Looking over at her, all I could see was her outline. I said, “You know this isn’t a game, kiddo. This is the real deal and will be very dangerous.”

  She was very calm in her response. “I know what we’re about to do. People are going to die tonight.” In the dark, I saw her turn towards me. “We just have to kill more of them than they do of us.” It was a striking statement from her. She really did get it, and understood that we very well could lose people tonight. I put my arm around her as we walked the remaining short distance to the bunker.

  We were still waiting on a few people, so I decided to turn on the little radio and see if I could catch the broadcast tonight. Ted and Mike were messing with a couple of SAWs. There were four of them lined up on top of the bunker. They would do most of the work for us tonight. Somehow they managed to come up with another one. Made me wonder if Sheffield was missing a machinegun.

  I found static on the radio and checked my watch. The broadcast should start in about five minutes, so I set the radio down and went over to where the guys were working on the weapons. They both had headlamps on and were going through the machineguns.

  “These things ready to rock?” I asked.

  Mike looked up with a devilish grin. “Oh yeah. Ready to rain hate and mayhem.”

  Nodding, I replied, “It’s going to be a long night of hate.”

  Ted stretched. “These assholes have no idea what we’re about to drop on them.”

  With a laugh, I said, “Do unto others before they do unto you.”

  Sarge pulled up with Doc and Thad. Climbing out, Doc handed me a small strobe light. “Here, put this on the back of your vest. It’s an IR so the Apaches can see us.”

  “Good, cause friendly fire isn’t!” I said.

  Everyone arrived shortly after that. Danny looked nervous, and I asked if he was alright. He nodded. “Yeah. I just want to get this over.”

  “And that’s just what we’re going to do tonight,” Sarge said. He looked around at the group. “This is going to be some scary shit, guys. Just keep your head, don’t panic. Do what we tell you to do and you’ll be fine.”

&nbs
p; Ted held up a couple of radios. “These are set to talk to the Guard’s radios and the helicopters. Stay off them unless you see something we need to know about. Sarge’s call sign is Swamp Rat. The Guard is Eustis Six and the birds are Saber One-One and the General’s call sign is Jefe.” Ted handed out the radios. There wasn’t enough for one in every position, but he gave me one.

  Sarge looked around again. “Any questions?” When nobody said anything, he added, “Don’t worry. You’ll all do fine. Let’s load up.”

  As we were getting into the truck, the radio crackled to life with the nightly broadcast.

  You’re listening to John Jacob Schmitt coming to you from the Radio Free Redoubt. Broadcasting to all patriots in occupied territory and those of you outside the wire. We have a mixed bag tonight, folks. On the good side, the Marines have pushed Federal forces from their positions around Atlanta. However, it came at a price. The once beautiful city of Atlanta is now in ruins. The attacking Marines were forced to use heavy artillery to dislodge the defenders. And out of pure spite, the Feds torched great swaths of the city. The fires are still burning as I speak.

  Now, sadly, the bad news. We need to be vigilant, folks. We now know for a fact that advanced elements of both the Russian and Chinese forces are here. These advance units are lightly armed and have no support. If you see them, get a message out somehow. The more of them we can eliminate now, the better we’ll be. If your group has the means, take them out. These are invaders. I know that sounds weird. The kind of thing we here in the greatest country on Earth never imagined, but it’s here now.

  A woman’s voice came over the radio.

  Patriots, prepare for a message. The oak tree is on fire. The oak tree is on fire.

  As soon as I heard that, I looked at Danny. “Hey man, write down the numbers she’s about to say.” Danny grabbed a piece of paper from the glovebox and got ready. Just in time too, because the numbers came quickly.

  54342 54163 93366 67696 60395 95689 64805 72476 61595 63917 26705 74223 50388 68029 39765 38995 98247 88120 79699 18962 37562 92226 87579. Please share this information with anyone in the affected area.

  I was following behind Sarge and the guys who were in his two buggies. We were driving blacked out, which was strange for me because I wasn’t used to driving with NVGs. I’d turned the radio off to concentrate. Plus, I was nervous as hell. We were heading down highway 42. The intent was to come at them from the back, approaching from the north where there were no roads that went directly to the camp.

  The Guard was also on the move. A convoy of trucks stretched down highway 19 coming out of Eustis headed north to Umatilla. There, they would take 450 to the west and approach the main gate of the camp. During their recon, Mike and Ted noted the lack of any sort of roadblock at the entrance. There were defensive positions on either side, but the road was wide open. The Guard would take advantage of this fact.

  On a dark stretch of highway 42, Sarge stopped. I pulled up beside him. He pointed off to the south. “Here’s where we go in. Get your truck off the road and get everyone out. We’ve got to distribute the load and head for the rally point.”

  I pulled the truck off the road and parked it under some large oak trees where everyone got out. The buggies would be driven a little closer, but even they would be abandoned shortly. We put as many people on them as we could, but Thad, Danny, Aric and I ended up walking. It wasn’t hard to keep up though, because they were going slow in the brush. Not to mention, we had to cut a couple of fences. It was not the stealthiest approach; but after tonight, it wouldn’t matter one way or the other. Either they’d be gone, or we would.

  At the point the buggies were to be abandoned, we distributed the load. There was the mortar and its ammunition, and the SAWs and their ammo. Mike had the Goose as well. There was a lot of hardware, and it was impressive to know we had that sort of weaponry. I was carrying my carbine and the M1. Lee Ann had her H&K and the shotgun. But we all had to carry more. I was saddled with one of the SAWs and thought about leaving the carbine. But it wasn’t far to our positions and I wanted every gun I could get my hands on. Were we walking farther I certainly wouldn’t hump all this shit.

  Once everything was sorted out, Sarge turned to the group. “Alright guys, shit’s about to get real. Absolutely no talking from here on. Move quietly and try not to make any noise. Our positions are on the edge of the camp, so we’ll be kind of far away; but we don’t want to give them any warning.”

  Ian and Ted led the way. Ian carried a SAW as well. They would range ahead and make sure we didn’t walk into an ambush. I took up position at the rear of the column, keeping Lee Ann with me. From my position, I could see all the IR strobes that were with each team. They flashed randomly providing fleeting glimpses of the canopy of trees we were walking under. These quickly gave way to a large marsh. Thankfully, it’d been pretty dry lately, so we weren’t wading through muck to get there.

  At the edge of the marsh, we paused, everyone taking a knee. Sarge would come get one team at a time and take them to their position, then return to get another. Eventually, he got to me and Lee Ann and led us to our position. It was in a small depression with a slight rise in front of it. From where we were though, I could see most of the backside of the camp. It was a good spot.

  Sarge knelt down beside me. “Alright, Morgan. When the show starts, it’s open season. We want to prevent any of them getting out this side of the camp. So anyone you see out there is a target.”

  “Roger that,” I replied as I set my pack on the ground. He patted my back and disappeared. I looked down along the edge of the marsh and could see strobes flashing. I really hope these guys don’t have any NVGs. I pulled the two-quart canteen out and laid it between Lee Ann and me. “Here’s some water if you need it,” I whispered. She nodded, and I said, “Your weapon is for close work. Don’t waste it trying to shoot across this field. I’ll try and stop them farther out. But if anyone tries to make a break for it and crosses that field, you take them out.”

  In a quiet whisper, she replied, “Okay.”

  I checked my watch. It was three AM. It’d taken some time to get everyone in place. The show would start soon. We were waiting for the appearance of the Apaches to start the party. I took the time to observe the camp. There was very little movement. I saw a couple of pairs of what had to be security walking around. That meant everyone else was more than likely asleep, which was good. If those Apaches could take out the cabins with them in still inside, it would make our life a lot easier.

  “When is this going to start?” Lee Ann whispered.

  “I don’t know. You tired?”

  “A little. I was excited walking in here. Now I’m getting tired.”

  I patted her back. “That’s the way it works, kiddo. Go ahead and sleep while you can. I’ll wake you up when it’s time.”

  She pushed her weapon out of the way and laid her head on her hands. “Okay. Wake me up.”

  Whispering, I replied, “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

  I sat quiet for a long time. So long, I started questioning if this were going to happen or not. I’m not a patient person, and sitting like this was killing me. Not to mention, your ears play tricks on you, and I was forever looking behind me for guy I knew was sneaking up on me, only to see nothing. Then there was the unmistakable sound of something coming through the brush. There was no mistaking it this time.

  I tapped Lee Ann on the shoulder. When she opened her eyes I held a finger to my lips and pointed to the thin line of brush behind us. I crawled around so I was facing the sound and searched the bush for any movement. The sound was getting louder, crunching and scraping. I picked up the Mossberg and trained the sight out in front of me. Then, as if materializing out of thin air, a damn armadillo wandered out of the brush just ten feet from me. I hate armadillos, and kill every one of them I find…..usuall
y!

  Lee Ann smiled, and I said, “It’s your lucky day, bud.”

  Lee Ann cupped her mouth to keep from laughing. I held my finger to my lips again and pointed for her to turn around. With the radios came a small ear bud. As I picked up the M1 again it crackled.

  Jefe to all units. Put your heads down. Saber is inbound.

  I couldn’t hear the helicopters and wondered how far away they were. I should be able to hear them. Then came a faint thumping. They sounded really far. The radio crackled again.

  Saber one one. Swamp Rat, we’ve marked your strobes. Gun runs will be from the north to the south and west to east. Make yourselves small, people.

  I still could only hear a faint thumping. How far can the optics on one of those things see? The question was answered when I saw a small flash speeding towards the camp. It hit one of the cabins and erupted into a massive explosion. I looked at my watch, it was 4:12 AM.

  “Oh my God!” Lee Ann said, a little too loud.

  I shushed her and tried to push myself a little farther into the hole. What followed was a rocket coming in every few minutes. The camp was now fully awake and people were running around. With a target-rich environment in front of me, I started to aim at the figures running around in front of the flames. I would save the machinegun ammo for when they were running towards me. For now, they were backlit by the numerous fires beginning to burn around the camp. Then the Apaches opened up with their cannons. It was a mesmerizing display as the large rounds slammed into the ground. Lying on my stomach as I was I could feel the impacts.

  I took aim on a figure and pulled the trigger, and was stunned when the shadow exploded before my eyes. Several more 30mm rounds slammed into the ground around the now disintegrated body. No matter, I just picked another one. The helicopters continued their work, and then the sound of a large number of small arms entered the fight.