by Robert Boren
“Could either of them fly a chopper?” asked Jerry.
“I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out,” Lieutenant James said.
“What’s on your mind, Major?” asked Frank. “You came over here to talk to us about something.”
“Yes, I’d like to have some of my men relieve your folks, in the blind and up on the roof of the store, and perhaps have some of them patrol the perimeter. I need to keep them busy and alert.”
“I was hoping you were going to offer,” Frank said. “Jerry and I were just talking about it. Jeb and the Sheriff have been at it all day long. They could really use a break.”
“Good,” he said. “Could you call the Sheriff and let him know?”
“Sure,” Frank said. “And I’ll walk over to the store and let Jeb know.”
“I’ll do that,” Jerry said. “You call the Sheriff.”
“Thanks, Jerry,” Frank said.
Major Hobbs looked over at the Lieutenant. “You may proceed,” he said.
“Yes sir,” the Lieutenant said. He nodded to Frank and Jerry, and left.
Frank pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the Sheriff.
“Sheriff?”
“Hi Frank, what’s up?”
“The Major is sending some of his men to relive you in the blind.”
“Good, I was hoping that was going to happen. Getting tired.”
“They are on their way now. We are also going to have a few men patrolling the park perimeter.”
“Good. You in the clubhouse?”
“Yes, we’re still here,” Frank said.
“Alright, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Frank put his phone back in his pocket.
“How’s the barn working out?” he asked.
“Perfect, thanks,” the Major said. “I saw that the Lieutenant moved those two militia vehicles into there as well.”
“Yes, we talked about it when we were back there scoping out camera sites.”
“Pretty nice digs in there. Especially those swamp coolers. We’ll use it as our command post, if that’s alright with you guys.”
Chester hobbled quickly into the Clubhouse.
“Hey, guys, turn on the TV. Big problems up in Canada. I was just watching it out in my rig.”
Jane walked over to the big screen and turned it on. The channel was already set on CNN. There was a picture of smoking ruins.
“Oh, no, those poor people,” Jane said, putting her hands up to her face. Frank rushed over and hugged her.
The commentator started talking.
“Vancouver was hit by a nuclear device about forty-five minutes ago. It appears to have been another pleasure craft attack, inside Vancouver Harbor. This is in the middle of a large population area. We are looking at casualties in the millions. This is second only to the attack in Paris.”
“This is part of their attack on us from the north,” Major Hobbs said, shaking his head. “That harbor has been bottled up since the nuclear attacks started. This device was sitting there for a long time, waiting. They waited until a perfect time to get Canada and the northern US states focused on something other than their fighters flooding over the border.”
An alert came onto the screen, and the video switched to a different city, also in flames.
“This video is coming from Montreal, Canada. It appears to have been hit with an attack similar to the incident in Vancouver. The center of the blast was the pleasure craft harbor.”
“How many devices do these cretins have?” Frank asked, tears running down his face. Jane put her hand on his as they sat glued to the TV.
“Has to be another sleeper,” Major Hobbs said. “We were briefed on that harbor too. It’s been totally shut down.”
Jeb and Jerry walked in and saw everybody sitting in front of the TV screen. Jasmine ran over to Jerry and hugged him. She was crying.
“Oh no, what happened now?” Jerry asked.
“Two more nuclear attacks, both in Canada. Vancouver and Montreal.”
“I thought the harbors had been bottled up,” Jeb said, putting down his rifle.
“Sleepers,” Jerry said. “I was afraid this was going to happen.”
The Sheriff and Deputy walked in.
“Oh, shit, what now?” the Sheriff asked.
“Attacks in Canada, Sheriff,” the Major said.
“I thought that garbage was over,” he said.
“If they hit Montreal, that means they might have more assets in the Great Lakes,” Jane said.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” the Major said.
“Look, another alert,” Frank said, pointing to the screen.
The video switched to Seattle. It wasn’t on fire, but you could hear artillery and gunfire.
“The outskirts of Seattle are currently under attack by a large force of Islamist fighters,” the commentator said. They are facing stiff resistance from the Army and citizens as well.”
“That’s just a diversion,” the Major said. “They know they can’t take Seattle. But they can get a lot of their fighters over the border east of there when we rush in to defend it.”
Jane looked at Frank.
“Sarah,” she said, tears flowing down her face. “Oh, Frank.”
“Hopefully she stayed in Idaho,” Frank said. “Why don’t you try to get her on the phone?”
Jane picked up her phone and dialed her number. All lines busy.
“We aren’t going to be able to get to her right now,” Jane said. “Circuits are locked.”
Suddenly Frank’s phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket. It was Robbie.
“Hi, son,” Frank said.
“Are you seeing this?” he asked. He sounded very upset.
“Yes, we are,” Frank said. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, we are fine here. LA is slowly getting back to normal, believe it or not. This has become a giant staging area for our military. What about Sarah?”
“Last time we talked to her, she was in Boise with a friend,” Frank said. “Your mother just tried to call her. We couldn’t get through. Lines were busy.”
“Same here, I just tried to call her.”
“You want to say hello to mom?” Frank asked.
“In a minute,” he said. “I wanted to let you know something.”
“What?” Frank asked.
“I just joined the Army. I report in three days,” he said. “How do you think mom will take it?”
“Badly, but I’m proud of you, son,” Frank said, wiping tears away from his eyes. “Here’s your mom. Take care, son. I love you.”
“Love you too, dad,” he said. Frank handed the phone Jane. She picked it up.
“Robbie? You alright, honey?” she asked.
“Yes, mom, how are you holding up?” he asked.
“Good. What’s going on there?”
The phone clicked. Jane looked at it.
“Frank, the phone says no service,” she said.
“Everybody, try your cellphones,” Frank said.
“Mine’s got no service,” Jerry said.
“Mine too,” Earl said.
“Yep,” Jackson said.
“We are about to get hit again,” the Major said, rising to his feet.
Chapter 4 – Willie Pete
“Everybody get to your weapons,” Frank shouted. “Keep your eyes open.”
“I’m going to the barn to get the troops ready,” Major Hobbs said. He ran out to the barn, looking in all directions as he went. He rushed through the door.
“Heads up, everybody,” he shouted. “The cell tower just went dead. We are going to get hit any minute. Get ready.”
“We have a patrol out right now,” Lieutenant James said. “Better call the Sergeant.”
“Yep, doing that now,” the Major said. He went into his Humvee and got on the radio.
“Sergeant?” he asked.
“Yes sir.”
“Somebody took the cell tower out again. W
e are about to get hit. Be ready.”
“Alright, we’ll be ready.”
The Major got off the radio, and went running up to the store. Charlie and Jeb had already gotten up there, and were looking out over the façade with their hunting rifles. The two soldiers were up there as well, looking around.
“Watch that road,” Major Hobbs said. “We have the dead trucks along the side. If they try to come down there, we’ll nail them and they won’t be able to turn around.”
“Damn straight,” Jeb replied.
“I’m going back to the clubhouse,” the Major said. He ran back down there. Frank, Jerry, Jackson, and Earl all had their guns ready to go. The Sheriff and the Deputy ran in with their guns, which they had just grabbed from the squad car. Jane and Jasmine and Rosie and Chester were in the back of the room, looking completely terrified.
“The troops are all ready and waiting,” Major Hobbs said. “We won’t get surprised.”
There was the loud sound of a big gun. It shook the ground.
“The tank,” Frank said. “Hopefully it was us.”
The men ran out to the veranda, and could see fire and smoke rising from the back of the park.
Then there was the pop pop pop from the front of the park, followed by shots from the big bore hunting rifles. Troops ran up from the barn to the front of the park and dived on the ground right behind the front gate. They saw several militia men and several Islamic fighters trying to run away from the fire pouring onto them from the roof of the store. The soldiers opened fire, sending them tumbling to the ground.
“Bring the mortar up there,” shouted Major Hobbs. One of the soldiers ran up with it, and was setting it up when he got hit by enemy fire. Then there was a shot from Jeb’s hunting rifle, and the enemy fire stopped. Another soldier ran up and got the mortar pointed at the trucks that were attempting to back up on the road. He dropped a mortar round into the barrel and turned away, holding his hands over his helmet. There was a blast, and then the truck exploded a split second later. The soldier adjusted the mortar out a little bit and fired again. Another blast, and an explosion right behind the first truck. That set off secondary explosions that brightly lit the night sky.
“Got them!” shouted Major Hobbs. “Lob a few more back there.”
Frank was still on the veranda with Jerry, the Sheriff, Earl, and Jackson.
“Where should we go?” Frank shouted.
“I don’t hear anything in the back,” Jerry said. “Maybe we’d better go take a look.
They took off towards the back of the park in a trot. Lucy ran up alongside Frank.
“Good, glad our eyes and ears are with us,” Jerry said, laughing.
“Let’s go kill us some heathens,” Jackson shouted as they went.
They got to the gate quickly, opened it, and ran through. They slowed as they got near the blind.
“Sergeant Jones!” Frank shouted.
“He’s in the tank,” shouted a voice from the blind. “Who goes there?”
“Frank and Jerry and Earl and Jackson and the Sheriff.”
“Come on through,” the voice said. “It’s Private Bates. Jerry, how are ‘ya?”
“Good. What happened?”
“The cretins tried to bring a truck into the parking area. We ruined their whole day.”
“Good,” Jerry said. “Any more back here?”
“Not so far,” Private Bates said. “We’ve got guys checking around back here with their night vision goggles. How’d it go up front?”
“We kinda ruined their day too,” Jerry said.
“Jerry?” asked a voice coming out of the woods. It was Sergeant Jones.
“Yeah, I’m here with Frank and the guys,” he said.
“Good. We blasted the hell out of two trucks.”
“Two?” Frank asked. “We only heard one shot from that big gun.”
“Yeah, those guys were stupid. They had the trucks tailgating each other in. We hit the first truck and the blast destroyed the second one as well,” Jones grinned.
“Were there any behind those two?” Jerry asked.
“Nope, we already were back there looking for tire tracks. Nada. The trucks weren’t full of men, either, so we’d better keep our eyes open.”
All of a sudden there was the sound of a small drone approaching.
“Heads up, drone,” Jerry shouted.
“Got it,” Earl said. He fired his rifle, and the drone blew apart and fell to the ground.
“This ain’t over yet,” Sergeant Jones said. “Those things have a short radio range. The pilot of that drone is no more than a few hundred yards away.”
“Maybe it’s time to go grab my drone and fly it over in that direction,” Jerry said. “If they see it coming they might even think it’s theirs for long enough.”
“Long enough for what?” asked Earl.
“Long enough for us to know where to fire the big gun,” the Sergeant said. “Go get it, Jerry.”
Jerry took off running to his coach.
“You lose anybody?” Frank asked.
“Not yet,” the Lieutenant said. “Up front?”
“One private got shot trying to get the mortar set up. Don’t know how bad.”
“These folks aren’t very well equipped,” the Lieutenant said.
“And we are?” asked Jackson.
“We have night vision,” the Lieutenant said. “It’s dark back here. They thought they could sneak trucks back here without us seeing them.”
“You saw ‘em with the goggles?” asked Earl.
“Naw, we used the FLIR night vision system in that tank. Very high quality picture.”
“Well, we did get that tank from them,” Jackson said. “That’s ‘well equiped’”
“Yeah, but they stole it from us,” the Lieutenant said. “Those cretins can’t even pump their own oil out of the ground. Any high tech stuff they had comes from somebody else.”
“Any word on if they have more tanks?” Frank asked. “Did they steal more than one from that base in New Mexico?”
“We don’t think they did,” the Lieutenant said. “That was a repair depot, not a storage depot. None of the tanks were completely ready to go.”
“What’s wrong with this one?” asked Frank.
“It was in for track maintenance. It has an alignment problem. Lieutenant James noticed it as soon as he got behind the wheel. They had to nurse it here. Probably took a while….I’m surprised one of our drones didn’t see it.”
“Oh, great,” Jackson said. “So we’ve got a busted tank?”
“No, we’ve got a hell of a good artillery piece, with night vision and protection for the gunner.”
Earl laughed.
“Damn, Jackson, you are a glass half empty kind of guy.” He shook his head.
“The good news is that this thing is full of ammo. It’s got a .50 cal on it too. We can move it forward and backwards in this parking lot just fine. As long as we don’t need to take it on a road trip, it’ll serve us well,” the Lieutenant added.
“We know that big gun works, anyway,” Frank said.
“And the night vision and the laser range finder too,” Private Bates said from the blind.
“You seeing anything out there, Bates?”
“No enemy movement, but here comes Jerry with that drone.”
Jerry came running up, out of breath.
“It’s ready to go,” he panted. He took off his backpack and put it on the ground, and set the drone down next to it. He got the motor going, and pulled the radio controller out of the backpack. It had a small screen on it, which glowed as he switched on the power. He picked up the running drone and stood, then let it go and picked up the controller.
“A little more to the left,” Private Bates said. Jerry nodded, and the drone lurched left, and continued on, picking up altitude and speed.
“Private Finch,” Sergeant Jones said.
“Yes sir.”
“Get that mortar pointed in the dir
ection of that drone, and get ready to take coordinates.”
“Yes sir,” he said. He ran over and started getting it aimed.
“Pay dirt,” Jerry said. “Looks to me like those trucks dropped the troops off. Look.”
The Sergeant looked at the screen. There were a couple dozen troops huddled there waiting.
“They are laying low, waiting for us to let our guard down.”
“They see the drone,” Frank said.
“How far out are you?”
“Almost 80 yards,” Jerry said. “Get that mortar ready. They are liable to take off running any second.”
“Set it for 80 yards,” the Sergeant said.
“What kind of ammo?” asked the Private.
“Huh?” asked the Sergeant. “We have something other than standard mortar rounds?”
“Yeah, there’s some Willie Pete here, Sarge. I think it was from that stash we captured earlier today.”
“Yeah, give them the Willie Pete,” Jerry said “They are out there with no cover. That stuff spreads enough to take them all out.”
“Alright, Willie Pete it is,” the Sergeant said. “Wouldn’t want to be them.”
“What’s Willie Pete?” asked Frank.
“White Phosphorus.”
“Oh, shit,” Frank said.
The mortar round was dropped down the tube, and it shot forward. The whole sky lit up as it went off.
“You took out all of them to the left side,” Jerry said, watching his screen. “The rest are running almost straight away from us. Make the range about 100 yards and let another one go.”
“You heard the man,” The Sergeant ordered. The private made a quick adjustment, and then dropped another shell into the tube. Then there was another bright flash.
“Bullseye!” Jerry shouted. “I’m moving the drone up and down the road. It can stay up for another fifteen minutes.”
“Does it have night vision?” asked the Sergeant.
“No, but it’s got a pretty high def camera that does decent in low light. A few flares back there would help, but if there’s anything big back there, I’ll probably see it without them.”
“Good, I don’t want to light things up too much back there, it will take our advantage away,” the Sergeant said. “Alright, let’s get back there with those goggles and take a look for survivors and more troops.”