by Ira Tabankin
“Sparks, send my confirmation, issue a recall and assembly in five minutes.” Turning to the MPs he says, “Set Threatcon Delta, I want everyone in full battle rattle, armed and loaded. NOW!”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
An alarm sounds throughout the farm, soldiers pause whatever they're doing; they drop their tools, grab their body armor and their M4’s, which they load. They put their helmets on as they run towards their assembly area which happens to be in front of Jay’s large garages.
The families hear the alarm, fearing more unwanted trouble and wondering what’s going on. John looks at Todd in the security room saying,
“This is bad. That’s an emergency alarm, something serious is happening, the army boys and girls are arming themselves and running towards their assembly area.”
“Should I sound our alarm?”
“Yes, I don’t know what spooked the army, whatever it is could impact us too, sound the alarm.”
A second alarm, an air raid siren sounds on the farm. The families stop mid-word, they too grab their weapons and body armor, they run towards the fighting trench. Captain Black hears the air raid siren, he smiles seeing the families run out of their homes with their rifles and bags of magazines. He turns to his aide,
“Looks like our alarm spooked them.”
“Sir, their reaction time is very good.”
“Yes, it is. I’m impressed. They’ve learned from their previous battles.”
“Sir, are we going to give them the heavy machine guns we planned to install in their trench?”
“How many can we spare?”
Sir, we have four extra which we earmarked for them.”
“Take a team to quickly install them and give them a quick run through on how to operate the guns, we have to be out of here in one hour.”
“Yes, sir. How much ammo should we give them?”
“Whatever was in the op-plan. I don’t know when we’ll be returning here.”
“Yes, sir.”
John uses the video system to watch the army, he’s thinking, shit, just what Jay was afraid of, they're preparing to leave. The Army removed many of our mines leaving our rear almost defenseless. We lost both previous battles due to attacks on our rear. Jay was right again, they’re from the government here to help us, we should bend over and take it up the ass. We can’t depend on them to defend us.
Captain Black jogs to the castle to tell Jay what’s going on. “Jay?”
“I’m in the kitchen.”
The Captain enters finding Jay loading M4 magazines. Lacy’s holding an Uzi. Black stops short,
“Whoa! It’s me. Don’t aim that thing at me.”
Jay looks into the Captain’s eyes, “So, you’re leaving us, just as I suspected. You’ve come to tell me not to worry.”
“Jay, I’m sorry, an urgent situation has developed. I’ve been ordered to respond.”
“Which is what I said would happen. Captain, you were making us promises you knew damn well you couldn’t keep. Your mouth overran your ass. If you happen to return, be careful where you walk, we’ll be quickly laying a new mine field and adding traps in new areas in case anyone was watching where you dug ours up.”
“Jay, I’m sorry, I didn’t think I was going to be called into action until we were reinforced which would have allowed me to always have at least one platoon here.”
“Captain, here’s a lesson for you to ponder, don’t promise anything you can’t deliver and remember, shit always happens when you’re least prepared for it.”
“Jay…”
“What are you giving us for our defense since you’re taking all of your people?”
“Some heavy machine guns for your fighting trench.”
“How about a few cases of claymores?”
“I’ll see what we have.”
“Where did you store our mines and traps?”
“Supply tent. I’ll have someone show one of your people.”
“Thanks.”
Jay holds out his hand, “Captain, thanks for cleaning up the Russians and taking care of the Sheriff. I don’t know if we’ll see each other again. I hope you return, there are things we haven’t discussed yet. I wish you good luck.”
“Jay, good luck to you too. I hope to return ASAP.”
“Hope doesn’t win battles. Good luck in your upcoming battle in Louisiana.”
“How do you know where we’re going?”
“Captain, we’re not dumb, we scan radio and ham frequencies, we heard what was going on. Crush them so they don’t get any ideas about coming here.”
“Jay, I’ll miss you.”
“Captain, fight well to fight another day.”
Captain Black steps back and salutes Jay, who nods. Lacy watches him leave,
“Do you think the battle will spill over here?”
“Most likely. I don’t think the Army has enough units in the area to stop the druggies. They’re going to be a real problem.”
“What are we going to do?”
“While we have time, we’ll replace our mine fields, we’ll restock the shelter and place as many cameras as we can spare around the approaches to the farm to give us as much advance notice as possible. We’re also going to look into what other weapons we can fashion. I think we have enough stored fuel to build a couple of large flame throwers. We’re going to need as many force multipliers as we can develop. We have a little time, we should use it to enhance our defenses. I’m going out to address everyone. Most will be concerned watching the Army pull out.”
“I’ll help you out.”
“Thanks.”
The families watch the army vehicles quickly leave the farm. Jay sits in his driveway watching them leave, he’s surrounded by his neighbors and friends. He looks at them, Smiling he says,
“You know what they say about easy come, easy go? The Captain got called to a situation in Louisiana. He doesn't know when or if he’ll return. We’re on our own again.”
Tony stands saying, “We’ve had each other’s back since the current mess started. We’re in a much better place now than we’ve ever been. The army improved our fighting trench and left us some machine guns. They also gave us extra ammo and grenades. They repaired our homes so we won’t have to worry about defense and rebuilding. I agree with Jay, we’re in a much stronger position that we were before.”
“Tony, thanks. I want us to restock and make any repairs and upgrades the shelter needs in case we need it again. We should also replace the mines and traps in our rear fields. I have some ideas how to build some new weapons which I’ll discuss with you soon. We’ll be fine, we are, after all, a farm.”
Everyone laughs.
Ricky stands to ask,
“Why do we need to build new weapons? Why don’t we send an offering to the town and see what we can do to help those trapped and possibly starving in Nashville? We have so much, the right thing to do is share with those who have nothing. If we share with them, they will become our friends. We won’t have to worry about anyone attacking us.”
Tony shakes his head, “Ricky, how many times do we need to discuss this? We’ve given to those who are worthy. If we give everything we have to those in the city, we won’t have anything left for us. What will we be eating when our reserves are gone?”
Ricky avoided the food question, just like a scumbag politician. “We won’t have to fight anyone if we’re all equal.”
Jay waves his right arm, “Ricky, for the last time; bullshit! If we give everyone everything for free, they won’t do anything for themselves. Recall the Bible story; teach a man to fish so he can contribute to the welfare of his family rather than giving them a one fish meal? I have committed to helping the local communities, once the area is pacified. The very fact the Army was here and just left to fight in Louisiana shows the country isn’t stable. It isn’t safe for us to send small teams into the large cities. We don’t have enough people as it is. Why would we risk the few people we have in an unknown area? First
we strengthen our defenses for our mutual protection. Second we make the farms as productive as possible so there is food. Once the area is stable, I want to open trade with all of the local communities.”
“Jay, I’ll agree to disagree with you. This is your farm so I guess I have to follow what you want. I don’t agree with you, I think you’re making a mistake which will end up costing us our lives.”
“Ricky, we’ve survived two major attacks. The shelter is our trump card.”
“Jay, that’s only if it’s not found.”
“You know that once our camouflage screen is dropped, it’s very hard to locate the door. Even if someone locates the door, getting in is going to be very difficult. Why are we even going over this again?”
“Because I disagree with you.”
“That’s your right. However, once a decision is made, we all agree with it.”
“You mean, once you decide what’s good for us.”
“I’m tired of debating the same bullshit with you. Sit down and shut up unless you have something new and constructive to add.”
Ricky sits thinking, very soon old man you’ll be buried in your beloved shelter.
Chapter 25
Captain Black’s troops come under attack when they arrive within one hundred miles of Memphis. The scouts are allowed to pass through the ambush site, Al Afi’s troops wait for the main body to enter the kill box. As soon as all of the American vehicles are in position, the Islamic troops open fire. They fire RPGs and AK74s. Captain Black, not expecting anything out of the ordinary and without a heads up from his scouts is surprised when he spots the firing RPGs, he yells,
“AMBUSH! We’re under attack!”
The Americans lose four cargo trucks in one minute. The saving grace is most of their vehicles came from the Middle-East war zone. They are all covered in anti-RPG mesh wire which causes the warheads to detonate before they strike the body of the vehicles. The people in the vehicles are protected from the RPGs. The Americans are well trained, it takes them only a few moments to overcome their initial shock, they begin returning fire and positioning for a counter attack which surprises the Islamic attackers who aren’t used to fighting a regular army. Captain Black quickly thinks, who’s attacking us? Where did they come from? Is this part of the group that’s causing all of the problems in Louisiana? If so we have more problems than they told us. Time to kick ass and take names.
Captain Black nods his head to his Master Sergeant to commence the counter attack. The Americans move to flank their attackers who are surprised and for the first time scared. The counter attack lasts fifteen minutes. The surviving Islamic fighters quickly realize they are outclassed and outgunned. They quickly surrender hoping they won’t be killed, they are disarmed and led to the freeway to face the Captain.
“Sir, we have ten survivors, all the rest are KIA (killed in action). We collected all of their weapons and ammo.”
“Very good, turn them over to the 2. Let’s see if he can get any information from them, if not, take them into the woods and shoot them.”
The ranking Islamic warrior is stunned, “Sir, No, please wait. Don’t kill us. I’ll talk, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Sarge, see how easy that was, take them to the 2, send out platoons to check the local area, see if there are any citizens who need help. We can’t hang around too long, we’re needed in Louisiana.”
“Yes, sir.”
@@@@@
“Everyone, let’s keep ten armed people on alert, we now have machine guns for our protection, John will begin to teach us how to use them. Everyone else take inventory of your homes and the fields. If you need us, Lacy and I will be settling our family into our new home.”
Fred smiles, “Home? Hell that’s a medieval castle, are we your knights?”
“I have to find a nice round table for us to meet around.”
Randy adds, “Don’t forget the armor and metal polish. I like the idea of having a squire to handle all of my shit tasks.”
Everyone laughs and nods in agreement. Jay continues, “Why don’t we meet back here in four hours?”
Everyone agrees, they turn toward their homes or to patrol in the trench.
Lacy shows the kids and grandkids their rooms, Ricky asks, “I found our rooms, isn’t there any better furniture?”
“Sorry, we all have to make do with what we have. We have air mattresses and sleeping bags. Once we get settled in and ensure our protection, we’ll scout out new furniture.”
“Bet you and Jay have a real bed to sleep in.”
“Ricky, we’ll discuss this later.”
Ricky leans against the wall smiling to himself. Sammi leaves to check on the kids, he inspects the Ziploc bag of potassium thinking, I don’t know how much will be enough, I’ll use half of it and hope it’s enough. Since he already has a heart problem, this should be enough to push his heart over the edge. Ha, the joke that he really doesn’t have a heart is going to come true. Soon, Lacy will be happy if I even let her stay upstairs in these low-rent rooms, Sammi and I will take over their suite downstairs, then I’ll find what’s he got hidden in the basement. All I need is an opportunity where I’m alone so I can pour this crap into a bottle of his water or tea. All the crap I’ve had to put up with is coming to an end. If the dumbass Captain ever returns, he’ll have to deal with me. Yes, it’s going to be ‘Good to be the king.’ When I’m king, I’m going to settle the score with the assholes who always sided with Jay.
John walks over to Tony, who is standing next to Nancy, both are looking in awe at their repaired home. John knocks on the open door,
“Tony, got a minute?”
“Sure. Nance, I’ll be right back.”
Tony hugs his wife before walking out of his repaired house that still smells of fresh paint.
“John, what’s wrong.”
“How do you know something is wrong?”
“You wouldn’t be here if something wasn’t wrong? Is it Jay? Has he taken a turn for the worse?”
“No, it’s not Jay. I’m concerned about Ricky. He’s been spending a lot of time with most of the families, he’s up to something. I can’t figure out what it is.”
“It’s as easy to see as the nose on my face. He’s trying to build support against Jay. I bet he’s twisting every word against Jay.”
“What does he hope to gain from it? Surely the families aren't going to support him over Jay. He’s nothing but mouth. He places himself above everyone. It’s time to talk with Jay and see what he wants to do about Ricky.”
“I think we should take care of Ricky for Jay. I can make him disappear, no one will know what happened. One moment he’ll be here, the next missing. It will probably take everyone a few days to realize he’s missing. At the same time, we’ll spread rumors that he walked off the farm due to his disagreements with Jay. Everyone will believe us.”
“I want to think about it. He is Jay’s son-in-law. No matter how big a pain the ass he is, I don’t want to ruin our friendship with Jay over Ricky, he’s not worth it.”
“What if you don’t know about it? Maybe he’ll have an accident. Accidents often happen on farms, maybe he took a nap and the tractor or combine ran him over, accidents happen. Farms are dangerous places, isn’t that why the Fed’s didn’t want kids working on them?”
“John, please don’t get caught doing anything stupid. Jay trusts us if we divide the community over Ricky’s disappearance it might destroy everything everyone’s worked so hard to build. If they think we can’t be trusted, the community will break apart. If we get attacked during the disagreement, we’ll lose the battle and most likely die. I don’t want us finding ourselves locked out of the shelter if we need it. I want you to figure out what Ricky’s up to before we decide what to do about him. I trust him about as far as I can throw him. We can be sure whatever his little mind is planning isn’t going to be good for us. He hates us almost as much as he hates Jay.”
“I don’t understand hi
s hate for Jay. He’s treated Ricky as a son. Ricky dug his own hole and covered himself in shit.”
“Yeah, I know. Have you ever met any progressive that didn’t blame someone else for the problems they caused? Look at the current administration.”
“How do we show everyone else he’s up to no good?”
“I’ll start with Fred, being the oldest, he’s respected by everyone. I’ll see what he suggests. He knows the other families the best. I can handle our people, they came with me, they all owe me. John, while we’re sorting this out, don’t do anything to Ricky. I mean it.”
“You always stop me from having any fun,” John said sarcastically.