“I may have a rock, left shoulder,” she said.
David pushed her M-16 aside. Her shoulder was oozing blood, but much less than the leg.
“I am… losing it, ” Karen said.
“Last clip for the rifle, two clips left for the 9,” she said. Her hand trembled, her head swayed when she reached out to David for another clip. He saw her bite her lip, trying to stay conscious.
“You will be fine. We got both shooters. I will carry you back to base camp,” David said, trying to sound confident.
David laid his M16 down, and lifted Karen’s waist over his shoulder. Her head and arms suddenly fell limp. She was out. He grabbed her knees tightly with his left hand. His hand kept slipping in her blood. He finally grabbed hold of his rifle sling that he had wrapped around her wound. He then gripped and aimed his 9mm with his right hand, and slung both M-16s around his chest, pointing down. He ran down the side of the overpass, back to where the fire had been.
“Karen’s shot. I need flashlights and the backpack!” David screamed.
Liu immediately got the backpack and dumped out everything. David took out his knife and cut open her right blue jeans leg.
“Flashlight her leg,” David ordered Liu. “Put a headlamp on my head, then back to shoot.”
“Zeke, you go reinforce Doron and Ashley. Set up on both sides of the overpass. Be sure each of you can see the others. Check your ammo!” David commanded.
Doron ran up, struggling to breathe. “The bullet passed through, it didn’t hit her artery,” Doron said, as he probed with his hand.
“We need to loosen up the tourniquet, get ready to apply direct pressure. We need whatever are the cleanest clothes we have for a bandage.”
David released the pressure of his rifle sling. The blood seeped, but no longer gushed. He took the poncho and cut a two foot square and wrapped it around her leg. Doron rammed his palm against her wound, but his hand kept slipping in her blood that pulsed. Doron and David were splattered with Karen’s blood.
“Here!” Liu threw David a large white washcloth from the backpack. David removed the poncho, then wrapped the washcloth around her leg. Doron cut some parachute cord and tied the washcloth tight, careful not to cut off the blood flow. He wrapped the poncho over the washcloth, and secured it again with more parachute cord.
“Check her toes,” Doron said. Liu shined her flashlight on Karen’s toes. “Are the toes getting blood, or are they all they blue?”
“The toes are normal, not blue,” David said.
“Now we need to move to her shoulder,” Doron said.
Liu shined the light on Karen’s shoulder.
“Liu, find the place in the green book about bleeding and shock, read it to us,” Doron said.
“It’s in Chapter 3,” Doron said as he and David cut off Karen’s left shirt around her shoulder. Ashley began to read:
Control bleeding
1. Apply direct pressure and elevate
If this doesn’t work apply a tighter dressing over the first one.
2. Use pressure points to control bleeding
3. Use a tourniquet only after every other alternate method has been attempted.
“Shock, read me the checklist on shock, she has been shot twice,” Doron demanded. Ashley fumbled but found it and began reading:
Shock treat for all injuries:
1. Treat injury
2. Prevent loss of body heat
3.Elevate the lower extremities if the injury will not be aggravated, and if there are no abdominal or head injuries.
4.Do not give liquid to unconscious victim.
“That’s it,” Liu said.
“The bullet passed through her left shoulder. She was shot from behind and below.”
David could see the entrance wound was a little smaller than a dime. The exit hole in front was nasty.
“Don’t you have some whiskey or alcohol?” Doron asked. His hands started to shake just as they were finishing with the shoulder bandage. They were using backpack straps to secure the bandage.
“I am going into shock,” Doron said, strangely calm. “I can’t think straight.”
“David, she has to be checked from head to toe to be sure there are no other injuries, broken bones etc. Then wrap her in both wool blankets, put the wool socks on her.” Doron said.
“David,” Doron said, “she’s going to make it.”
Doron was shaking as he moved slowly towards to the dying fire. He sat down slowly, then suddenly vomited all over himself. Then he passed out.
“Wipe out his mouth, then wrap Doron in one of the blankets. Turn him on his side, like a baby. Wrap Karen in the other blanket and drag them both near the fire but only behind the boulders,” David said as he grabbed the guns.
Liu threw David his pants she had retrieved from the bag, and looked away.
David realized for the first time he had left his tent wearing only his underwear, t-shirt, and boots. He looked for a place to dress in private, realizing it was foolish, he had been running around half dressed for a long time.
But he turned away, put on his pants, then returned and laced up his boots. He certainly felt better now that he had his pants on. Hard to be taken seriously as commander in your underwear, he thought. Maybe that’s where the desire to “die with his boots on” came from, he thought.
Zeke crawled up, “Are we moving out? They have us zeroed in here.”
“No, they can’t be moved. Get your clips together, gather your ammo, keep alert, we stay here,” David said.
“Zeke, try to get their weapons and ammo. Let’s drag the bodies to the top of the overpass. Hang them with parachute cord by the neck, so their friends can see them, and maybe change their mind,” David said.
“Liu, teach Ashley how to shoot the 12 gauge,” David ordered. “I want her how to actually shoot before daylight.”
Liu nodded and asked, “What do you think will happen?”
“They will attack just before daylight from the east,” David said, as he pointed.
“Between the overpass and the debris pile. I think Karen hit another two. Keep your eyes open for more bodies, and if you can, get their guns and ammo,” David said.
30.
Zeke realized he was excited, and actually looking forward to the attack.
Game on.
He raced down the hill and lifted the shirt carefully with Karen’s M-16 barrel, looking for any wires or bulges, then kicked the body over. Doron had warned everyone on the tunnel about suicide terrorists with explosive vests. Two shots in the chest, not much blood, one head shot. Not much head left, he thought.
The attacker wore beige painter pants with large pockets, running shoes, and a long sleeve, white, loose fit t-shirt covered by a dark green long sleeve shirt. Zeke checked the pants pockets and found a small green book with foreign writing, and a map marked in red. He flipped through the pages, it was all in a squiggly foreign language. Zeke threw the book and the map in his backpack. He would let Doron check it out.
There was no food in any of the pockets. He was hoping for a chocolate bar. The shooter had three fully loaded clips, and the AK 47 was well cleaned and oiled. The shoes were too big. Zeke unwrapped his parachute cord, made a sling, and slung the AK over his shoulder.
Zeke dragged the body feet first up the overpass after Jorge waved him up. Ashley was visibly freaked, “What are you doing?”
“Going to hang him from the overpass with parachute cord,” Zeke explained, in the same tone weeks ago he would have answered a question about homework.
It was clear Zeke was not joking as he wrapped the cord around the neck, pulling it tight under the jaw.
“Why?” screamed Ashley.
“It’s a sign for his posse, who will probably attack us at daylight. The sign says “Attack someone else, we enjoy this’”, Zeke smiled. Ashley threw up as the cord cut the skin of the corpse.
“How’s your leg?” Zeke asked Jorge, as he deftly moved around Ashley’s vomit.<
br />
“It seems to be healing, this brace lets me move without crutches. I can’t jump or run though,” Jorge said.
“David says we will probably be attacked just before daylight, he is going to move us around, be sure you are in on the move,” Zeke said as he dragged the corpse to the overhang. He tied a knot in the noose, and then lowered the legs over the edge and let out about three feet as the corpse swayed slightly. He tied the cord to some rebar sticking out of the rubble, and it held fast.
Parachute cord was scarce, three feet was plenty. He handed Jorge the AK 47 slung around his shoulder and two clips.
“It’s more simple than the M-16,” Zeke said as he cleared the chamber and inserted another clip.
“Keep it ready. I am going to get the other body, over there” Zeke said, pointing.
The other body was also wearing a green shirt and had the same small green book in his pocket. Zeke found the AK 47 and a small revolver about three feet down the ravine. There was only one clip. This corpse only had one gunshot, in the head.
Zeke was amazed.
Karen had been the only one to get a hit, he realized. Out of all the bullets they fired. And Zeke was sure he had hit this guy.
Karen could shoot, he thought. Be nice if she makes it, he thought idly. She had lost a lot of blood, though, maybe not. Who would have thought she would be one of their best in combat?
After Zeke hung the second corpse, he returned to David.
“Great job,” David said. “Let’s build a fire later behind them, which will backlight them.”
“They are going to come for us just before daylight. I don’t know how many,” David said.
“Yeah,” said Zeke.
“You don’t have to stay,” David said.
“What do you mean?” asked Zeke.
“ This is going to be a straight up firefight, and half our people have never shot a gun until tonight. Karen is out, and Doron is in shock, Jorge can’t move,” David paused.
“Zeke….it’s not looking so good,” David said.
Zeke thought about it for a few seconds, but said nothing.
Then David continued, “Zeke, you can grab a bike and ride. We could provide cover fire and start a gas fire for you to ride out,” David explained.
“What about you?” Zeke asked.
“No. Karen can’t be moved until we get a truck, and Doron is in shock,” David paused but Zeke said nothing.
“No….this is my Alamo, I hold this, or die,” David said.
“But you don’t need to, Zeke,” David said.
“There is no need for everyone to die. Make a run for it,” David urged Zeke.
“No. They are probably just waiting to ambush me. Besides, I owe Karen two headshots,” he said.
David just nodded.
Zeke was very pleased David seemed very relieved he was staying. It was quiet as they sat back to back both scanning the perimeter, looking for any movement.
“David, I am going to go look around the blind side behind where all the semis piled up when the overpass collapsed. I should be back in about thirty minutes,” Zeke said.
“ Why are you going out?” asked David.
“The best defense is a good offense, I don’t want to sit here waiting for them to get their attack planned,” Zeke said.
David didn’t say anything, and it was quiet for a few moments.
“Zeke, we can’t afford to lose you, ” David said.
“And you won’t. I don’t plan on getting shot. Can I hold your K-Bar?” Zeke asked.
David handed Zeke the K-Bar combat knife. “Be sure Jorge and Ashley know which way you will return.”
Zeke handed David Karen’s M16.
“You want to take the M-16?” David asked.
“No, I am taking the shotgun and the 9,” Zeke answered. “and I have that 38 I found today for my last stand defense.”
“If we get attacked before you get back, shoot and scoot. Take a couple of shots, maybe blow your whistle. The Chinese did that in North Korean War attacks. Especially if you blow it from different spots as you run. They won’t know how many you are. Then move to more cover. Either get a motorcycle, or just hide,” David said.
“Don’t come back if we are under attack,” David emphasized. “That’s not brave, that’s suicide. We will be shooting everything that moves.” He bumped his fist into Zeke’s fist.
“How is Karen?”
“She lost a lot of blood, but Doron said she should make it.”
“You know she hit both shooters with head shots, she got the only hits, with me and three others shooting less than ten yards away,” Zeke said.
David just stared quietly at the overpass as he threw Zeke two of the three chocolate bars.
“This is tomorrow’s ration,” David smiled.
“Don’t come back if we are under attack,” David repeated.
Zeke paused, checked his K-Bar knife, then slipped out into the night.
31.
The moon was now visible, and provided a faintly visible silhouette. Zeke could use that, but he had to be sure he was not horizoned, like the green book warned the pilots about.
He moved carefully from one pile of smashed cars to the next. These cars just ran off the overpass, one after another, into huge piles that had tipped over.
He paused, and then slowly dropped to the ground, like preparing for a push up.
He heard it again. A muffled sound.
The fallout ash was several inches deep, and the dirty white color reflected the moonlight. He didn’t see anyone moving. His pulse was racing so fast that he could feel the sound of his blood slushing through his heart. His mouth was bone dry, but his hands were so sweaty they slipped on the shotgun.
He suddenly recognized the muffled sound. It was the sound of someone walking carefully, in boots, through fallout dust. Karen’s boots had made that exact sound.
The sound stopped.
Zeke wondered if he was breathing loudly. He couldn’t judge the distance, or direction of the sound. His arms began to burn as he held himself up out of the ash so he could breathe.
He sensed, rather than saw, movement to his left. The sound was getting closer. Then he saw small clouds of dust between the cracks of the smashed cars directly to his left. Legs were moving on the other side of the car, less than four feet away. He stayed on the ground, but raised his shotgun through a crack, and pulled the trigger.
Immediately a full clip of bullets ripped into the smashed cars above his head. Then he heard a thump, and dust splatter as the shooter fell.
The shooter wasn’t dead yet, but his chest looked like hamburger meat. The shotgun was brutal at three feet. The shooter reached for his AK 47, as Zeke kicked it away. Zeke quickly slit his throat with the K-bar. He still hoped that no one had been able to get a fix on his location in the dark, and he didn’t want to fire again.
The hardest thing to do after a firefight is nothing, Doron had told him from some combat history book. Zeke hid under an open space from the cab of a semi-truck.
He heard shouting from at least three voices in a foreign language. The voices came closer then moved to his right. He could see three silhouettes very close together. They shouted like they were calling for the shooter.
The dust! Zeke shouted to himself. When they found the body, it would be easy to follow his tracks. He now wished he had the M-16. He had already chambered another shell in the shotgun, and had two more in the pump. He would have to take two out on the first blast, or he was done. He decided to fire the shotgun with his right hand, and shoot the 9 with his left hand. He knew, without knowing how he knew, that when they found the body they would bunch close around it, and then he would attack.
So he waited.
More screaming. They had found the body, and gathered around the corpse. Zeke ran straight at them, screaming, and as they turned, fired both the shotgun and the 9 at shoulder level.
The shotgun hit all three of them in the face. Their AK 47s ri
ddled the ground, and each other, as they fell. Zeke missed all three with the 9. Zeke dropped the shotgun, then grabbed the 9 with his right hand, shooting each one in the head.
Zeke never gave his next action any conscious thought. He realized he was running towards the overpass. His hands were shaking, he had soiled himself. But his legs flew over the dust and debris. He tried to remember not to run in a straight line, but to zig zag.
He could hear David say “Its Zeke!” and blow his whistle.
Zeke held his shotgun above his head with both hands pointing sideways, the agreed return to camp signal, and ran back to camp.
“Are you hurt?” David said.
Zeke tried to answer, but could not talk. His mouth was chalk dry. David handed him his canteen. Zeke drank it all, spilling precious water as his hands shook. David took the canteen, and poured water into Zeke’s mouth.
“I am fine,” Zeke said trying to control his voice.
“I got in a firefight with the greens, killed four. Didn’t see any one else waiting to attack us from the pancaked cars,” Zeke said.
“I got the green book they carry, and a map.”
32.
Zeke watched David scan the map quickly to see if they were targeted on the map, but only the interstate and the railroad tracks were marked in see through yellow marker.
“The greens probably just heard us, and followed us until we camped. They thought we were an easy target, or maybe the women just looked fine,” David said.
There was handwriting in ink on the front cover, also in a foreign language. Zeke checked his watch again, they had less than two hours until dawn.
David patrolled the perimeter, alone. Karen was still unconscious. He checked her forehead, she had a fever. Doron just lay still, quietly staring at the stars. Liu was sitting next to Karen.
“The gas can is ready when you give the signal,” Liu said.
“Great. In about thirty minutes we are going to move Karen and Doron to the other side, but leave the fire burning. We will probably be attacked just before daylight,” David said.
Liu nodded.
“We picked up several AK 47s. Here’s one for you and a couple of clips,” David said. Liu checked the chamber, then pulled the hammer chambering a round and propping the AK 47 up.
Nuclear War Club: Seven high school students are in detention when Nuclear War explodes.Game on, they are on their own. Page 12