THE TOCABAGA CHRONICLES: (BOX SET PART III - BOOKS #9-10)

by Thomas H. Ward

  It seems we can trust the Knights to keep their word, so I arranged for them to move into some empty condos near the bridge. After discussions with Mike, Tom, Rick, and Chris, we all felt it would be best if they became our roving police force. They could leave Tocabaga, enforce the laws, and help the needy. They could help find poor little kids running around out there with no food. Most importantly, they could cleanse our area of al-Qaida, ISIS fighters, gangs, and Free Roamers who may still be lurking around.

  My plan was to introduce them to the community at the fire circle tonight. The community needed to know who these men were and what they were doing here. The problem was, I really didn’t know exactly what to tell our community. Most people don’t want any more strangers coming here to live because it drains our resources.

  One benefit was we had a lot more fire power with the four additional Humvees. These men are very experienced warriors. They’ve seen everything and were battle hardened.

  Tradition has it that we light the fire circle downtown at dusk. Most people go there to meet friends and exchange daily news. Of course, most of the news is gossip and not necessarily true. People can air their grievances and complaints, more or less, getting things off their chests.

  It was almost dark as we arrived with the Templars at the meeting. One of the first people we meant was Maggie. She walked over to us with her shepherd, named Freda, on a leash. She shook each man’s hand and let the dog smell them.

  Maggie’s husband was killed by the Fed’s during one of our many encounters. She had been living by herself and hadn’t dated anyone on the island. Maggie is a good friend and an excellent Amazon Warrior. I can trust her with my life and have done so many times.

  I introduced her to Captain George Baldwin, the last man in line. “Maggie, this is Captain George Baldwin.”

  She replied, “Hello, Captain. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Maggie was gazing into his eyes.

  “Please call me, George.”

  I saw a smile come across her face. “Ok George, you can call me Miss Maggie.”

  They both laughed. “Ok, Miss Maggie.”

  “I’ll let you call me Maggie after we get to know each other better.” They both chuckled again. “I get off duty in two hours. How about we have a drink together?”

  “That sounds good, Miss Maggie.”

  I was standing there thinking, Maggie is finally gonna have a date. She let it be known that she was single by using the word Miss.

  “Ok, Captain, meet me at the Green Room. I’ll be there by ten.”

  “Alright, I’ll be there.”

  I butted in. “Ok, you guys. We got a lot of people to meet. Maggie, you gotta finish your patrol.”

  As we walked away, George and Maggie gazed back at each other. She had a stupid smile on her face and was putting on a sway. George said, “Jack, she’s beautiful. Tell me about her.”

  “She’s as deadly as she is beautiful. Maggie is one of my best fighters. She’s a captain in my Amazon Warrior clan.”

  “What are Amazon Warriors?”

  People were walking up, introducing themselves to the Templars as George and I tried to carry on a conversation.

  “The Amazon Warriors are a group of twenty women who I trained as fighters. They’re more or less the police force here on the island.”

  “I noticed she carried a sword on her hip.”

  “That’s not a sword, it’s a machete. She knows how to use it. I was with her when she cut the head off a dirtbag.”

  “Wow, she cut a guy’s head off?”

  “Yep. She’s one tough cookie. We went to this gang house to rescue a friend’s wife. The gang leader was holding her there against her will. Anyway, to make a long story short, the dirt bag, named Buck, tried to grab Maggie and she cut off his hand. He dropped to the ground to pick up his hand and she wacked his head off in one blow.

  “I‘ll finish the story later. It’s time for me to say a few words to the people here.” There was a crowd of about one hundred people present.

  I introduced the Knights Templar warriors to the crowd. Adam was standing there with us. “Friends, I’d like to introduce you to the Templar Warriors. These men are here to help us. Adam is the new Grand Master of the Templars in case you haven’t heard. These men will help provide us added security.”

  Jace, one of our trusted men, yelled, “Is it true that Adam killed one of them?”

  I responded, “It was God’s will. He was a traitor who killed Adam’s father. That’s all I have to say about it.” The crowd was whispering back and forth to each other.

  I spoke up right away, trying to change the subject, but a man named Malcolm interrupted. “We heard Adam used a sword and cut the guys head off. He killed him in cold blood.”

  Malcolm is one of our farmers. He’s a little out spoken, but he means no harm. I replied, “Look, you weren’t there. It was an act of God. A bright light came out of the sky and blinded everyone for a second. When we regained our vision his head was cut off. As weird as it sounds, Adam says he didn’t kill Christian.”

  “If Adam didn’t kill him; then who did?”

  “Malcolm, do you believe in God?”

  Malcolm hesitated for a moment. “No, not really.”

  “Then you can’t understand what happened. It was one of God’s Angels that killed him. He took control of the sword and did the deed.”

  “Oh come on, Jack. You expect us to believe that crap. You’re just protecting the kid.”

  “Malcolm, I don’t care what you believe. If you don’t believe in God then you’ll never understand what happened. So kindly sit down and let me finish the meeting.”

  Jace said, “Yeah Malcolm, sit down.” Malcolm stormed out of the meeting along with a couple of other non-believers. Jace and Malcolm are always arguing about something, but they’re still buddies. Jace works in the kitchen along with Rahim and Steve.

  I continued, “The Templars are going to be our roving police force outside of Tocabaga. These men will be our eyes and ears to the outside world. My goal is to rid the area of junkies and Free Roamers. With daily patrols, we can clean up the area step by step. We’ll be a lot safer.”

  Jace shouted, “Sounds good to me, Jack.”

  “I realize having these additional men here will present a little extra burden on our resources. We’ll need to boost up food production to cover an additional twenty-four more men. Believe me; it’s going to be well worth it.”

  I ended the meeting by advising the Templars would be roaming around the crowd to introduce themselves to everyone. Some people clapped and some just walked away. You can’t please everyone.

  Baldwin commented to me. “Thanks for the introduction. How many people live here?”

  “There’s a little over six hundred. We have about 120 who work security. The rest do what needs to be done to keep this place functioning. They fish, hunt, farm, and cook. We have garbage details, lawn cutting, general clean up, and so forth. Everyone chips in and does the normal maintenance work that’s required.”

  Captain Baldwin pointing south towards No Man’s Land asked, “What’s on that other island?”

  “Oh, that’s where our farm is. Maggie is in charge of that along with two old farmers we rescued from the Feds a while back. It’s also an Army Ranger base called Fort Desoto.”

  “Are there any Rangers there now?”

  “No, not now. They’re on a mission down south. Hey, it’s getting late so Adam and I are going home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Ok Jack, see you tomorrow. Thanks for making us feel at home here.”

  “No problem. Maggie will be getting off duty soon so just wait here for her.”

  Captain Baldwin bowed to Adam and they shook hands. As we walked home, I glanced around and saw the rest of the Templars were mixing in the crowd getting to know their new friends.

  I felt bad for the people who didn’t believe what happened to Christian was an act of God. I knew there was no way Adam could s
wing that sword hard enough to cut off a man’s head.

  Adam said, “The meeting went pretty good.”

  “Yeah, except for Malcolm butting in,” I replied. I put my arm around his shoulder as we walked home. “You gotta remember not everyone believes in God, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad people. Malcolm is a good guy who would help just about anyone.”

  “I know, he’s taught me a lot working out on the farm. Now I know why God chose you to watch over us.”

  “Oh, why’s that?”

  “You’re teaching me how to be tolerant of others.”

  I nodded. “Maybe you’re right. Let’s go take a look at that map again.”

  We studied that stupid map until Adam fell asleep.

  SEPTEMBER 17, 2025

  Today we would make a plan or directive for the Knights to follow. Mike and I would go out on patrol with them on the first day to show them the area.

  They would operate, more or less, like a police force. Many of the poor people living in the condo ruins had no other place to go. They were just trying to stay alive. It was the junkies and Free Roamers who were dangerous. They needed to be removed or terminated for our safety and the safety of any harmless people living there.

  My goal was to help these people by giving them a secure place to live. I also wanted to provide them supplies and food. If they had their own seeds, they could grow food. If they had fishing gear, they could harvest fish. We needed to rebuild the area from the ground up. The key was to establish law and order first. This was right job for the Templars.

  At least half of the condos had been destroyed over the past couple of years. There are approximately 120 buildings that will have to be searched one by one. It’s a big job, but the Knight Warriors had the necessary experience.

  In discussion with Captain Baldwin and his men, we decided to set up four five man squads. Each squad would have a Humvee with a fifty caliber, and two M249 machine guns. Everyone else would carry the M4 along with four M67 hand grenades.

  The plan was to start clearing the buildings nearest the road on the south side. One squad would precede east and one squad west, clearing units one by one. Since the condo complex is on a circular island, the squads would meet on the north side. I estimated it would take about a week to secure the area.

  The other two squads would provide security at east and west bridges, thereby closing the roads leading onto the island. They would stop any undesirables, but allow those to enter who seemed like normal families. Of course, these people would be interviewed.

  To keep unwanted dirtbags from coming back at night, the Templars would block access around the clock. The remaining four warriors would be assigned to patrol the area at night. We also hoped that the people whom we helped would be our eyes and tell us if any undesirables did move back in.

  My goal was to protect the decent law abiding people. I wanted them to become our friends. I wanted them to be self-sufficient. To do this, we’d have to build a good rapport with the locals. It would be necessary to provide them food, tools, and knowledge.

  Captain Baldwin and I thought the plan was a good one. Of course, if the Templars ran into any over whelming forces, our Tocabaga security would provide back-up for them.

  By the time we finished making our plans, it was almost noon. After a bite to eat, we proceeded with our mission. While driving to the condos, Captain Baldwin asked, “How did these buildings get destroyed?”

  “We’ve had a few battles here with the Feds, gangs, and al-Qaida. The Army had no choice but to blow the hell out of the buildings to kill the bad guys.”

  We stopped at the first building and I pointed. “You see the high grass and bushes here. You can’t tell it now, but this used to be a nice golf course. Hidden in that jungle are a few small fresh water lakes. You gotta be careful in there. If you fall into one of those lakes you could become gator food.”

  Baldwin laughed a little. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No, it’s not a joke.”

  Baldwin looked at me with a serious expression on his face. “I’ve never seen a gator close up.”

  We continued the tour around the condo island. When we finished, Baldwin ordered his men to set up security on the two bridges as planned. The other two squads started clearing buildings.

  Mike and I watched them from our truck. The Templars were a well-oiled machine. Each man knew what to do. They cleared the first building in an hour, but found no people. If anyone resisted, they would be removed by force. If someone shot at us, then we’d have to use deadly force.

  People who were co-operative would be taken aside and interviewed. The interview was to determine who these people really were and determine how we could help them. We were trying to improve their lives.

  While sitting in the truck, I realized that even if we made this area safe, it would never be the same. It would take years to rebuild these condos and a lot of equipment that we didn’t have. It was almost a hopeless cause. It was a fact that more and more people were moving here from the north. Local residents were moving back to their homes from the green zones. Soon we’d have a lot of people to deal with.

  That could be good or bad. That’s why it was necessary to establish law and order now. We couldn’t wait for the Rangers to return.

  Baldwin came out of the second building. He was carrying a woman in his arms. As he walked up to us, Mike and I jumped out of the truck to help him. She was an old woman who looked undernourished and sickly, perhaps she was in her eighties. Her clothes reeked of urine and feces.

  George said, “I found this old lady lying in a bed next to her dead husband. Her name is Mrs. Jackson.” I opened the Hummer rear door and Baldwin laid her in the back.

  Mrs. Jackson cried, “They killed my husband. I can’t live without him. I just wanna die.”

  I said, “Mrs. Jackson, we’re gonna take care of you. We’ll get you some food and medical help.”

  I took out a bottle of water and placed the rim to her lips while Mike held her up to take a drink. She took a couple of sips and I withdrew the bottle when she started to cough. It seems she had been without water for a few days. We were just in time to save her life.

  “Can you bury my husband for me?”

  “Yes, we’ll take care of him, don’t worry. Tell me who killed him?”

  She could barely speak. “It was al-Qaida. When he tried to stop them from taking our food, they shot him.”

  “Where are these men now?” Mike asked.

  “I think they live over in the main building. You know, the old club house.”

  I told her. “Mrs. Jackson, we’re gonna take you to the clinic now.” She laid her head back, closing her eyes, and didn’t speak anymore. I wondered if she would make it. I wondered if she even had the will to live.

  Mike took her to Doc. Scott, at our clinic, while I talked to Captain Baldwin. “We have to terminate these guys. I didn’t know al-Qaida was living here.”

  The Captain replied, “Killing jihadists is what we do best.”

  George called over one of his men. “Pete, take Jeff and go over to the main building. Scout it out. See if you can locate these guys and find out how many are there. Be careful because they probably know we’re here. Report back, ASAP.”

  “Roger that, boss,” Pete replied. We watched Pete and Jeff jog away.

  Pete and Jeff were Baldwin’s go-to men. They were the most experienced of the group. You could tell the other Templars respected them and followed every order to the letter. Pete is a normal looking lanky guy, standing almost six feet tall. Jeff is stocky, with a thick neck and a large head. He moves like a cat.

  George said, “As soon as they report back, we’ll take care of these bad boys. It’s pretty disgusting killing an old man for some food.”

  Baldwin pulled out his sword and ran his thumb down the blade. “It’s sharp enough.”

  “Sharp enough for what?” I asked.

  “Sharp enough to cut off a few heads.”

>   “Are you really gonna do that?”

  “Hell yeah. Jihadists are scared shitless to have their heads cut off. If they don’t have a head they can’t enjoy the virgins in heaven. No head is bad juju for them.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Yeah, it’s true. If we take anyone alive, I’ll cut all their heads off except for one. I’ll let that man go free so he can go tell his friends what we did. They won’t dare come around here anymore.”

  After scratching my head I said, “Or … maybe it’ll piss them off and more of them will come here.”

  Baldwin shrugged his shoulders. “They’re all cowards. But if they do come back, we’ll kill them all. Don’t worry; I know what I’m doing. I’ve been fighting these guys for years.”

  I sensed some tension between us. “I’m not worried, Captain.”

  “Good. I have to get back to my men and clear these buildings. You wanna come along?”

  “Ok, let’s go.”

  We arrived at the fifth condo building, which had five stories with four units on each floor. “Jack, watch what we do. You’ll be the last one in line behind me. Your job is to watch our backs.”

  “Roger that. I stay by the door and cover our backs.”

  “Affirmative.”

  We cleared the fifth building and found two middle-aged men hidden on the top floor. They were armed when the Knights bashed in the door to their unit, but dropped their guns when they heard, ‘U.S. Marines, drop your guns!’ They obeyed the command and raised their hands.

  Baldwin had told me ahead of time he was going to identify our group as U.S. Marines. I asked why and he told me, because it sends fear into the enemy. I couldn’t argue with that comment. Who the hell wants to fight the Marines? After all, who’s going to be afraid if we yell, ‘Tocabaga Security’?

  I took the two men outside at gunpoint to conduct an interview. I told them who I was and asked them to sit down. I kept my carbine pointed at them and started to ask them questions. “Who are you guys?” They were brothers, Bill and Ted Cramer. “Why are you guys living here?”