by Robert Boren
“You guys can’t win,” Frank said. “You have to know that. You’re going to have to fight millions of armed citizens.”
“Oh, the US Government is making that easier for us, believe me,” Simon said. “Look at the crap they’re pulling in California. The people there are so upset that they’ll join with us to gain their freedom back.”
“Yes, I’m sure they’ll be happy to see a bunch of Islamists telling them to convert or die,” Jackson said.
“Don’t you worry about that,” Simon said. “California isn’t one of the places that our allies will get. We’ve already divided things up.”
“Oh, really?” Frank said. “So what areas are they planning to take?”
“A bunch of Midwest crap holes, like South Dakota and Montana.”
Frank laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair.
“So you’re going to give the Bakken to these cretins,” he said. “That’s rich, or should I say they’ll be rich.”
Simon looked at Frank blankly.
“The Bakken Oil Fields,” Frank said. “You know, the place that’s got about as much oil as Saudi Arabia.”
“Oh, that,” Simon said. “Yeah, you have a point. They get a lot of oil, which they can’t get out of the ground themselves. Guess who’s going to help them? It’s all part of our agreement.”
“Well, that’s smarter than I expected you guys to be,” Frank said. “Kudos. Too bad you can’t win the fight.” He glanced over to the side. His Winchester was two tables over. No way could he get to it with all the AKs pointing at him.
“A lot of the rednecks that you’re counting on will join with us,” Simon said. “Trust me.”
“Check your radio,” the lead Islamist said. “We should have heard something by now.”
“Don’t get nervous,” Simon told him. “These guys may be sheep, but each one of them is worth about twenty of your Islamist ‘army’…..I’m sure they’re putting up a good fight.”
“Are you suggesting that they’ll win?” the Islamist asked, laughing.
“Naw, quantity has a quality all its own, as the hero of progressives used to say.”
“What are you going to do with us?” Mary asked.
“Saladin and Philip both want to talk to you guys, although I truly don’t understand why,” Simon said. “They especially want to talk to Frank here.”
“Why?” Frank asked.
“They think you have the ability to get into federal computer networks, for some reason,” Simon said. “You might get lucky. They might offer you a real good deal.”
“Yeah, like that’s going to happen,” Frank said, glaring at Simon.
“Oh, it just might, because we have something you want. She’s sitting right next to you.”
“What about the other one?” the Islamist asked.
“He’s not here,” Simon replied. “Pity. He’ll probably get killed in the ambush….but Frank is the real prize anyway. The other one is just his helper.”
“Check your radio,” the Islamist said.
“Alright, alright,” Simon said. “Keep a good eye on these folks.” He left the room.
Earl glanced over to his left. The pump shotgun was leaning against the table. Just a little too far to reach.
“You men want some coffee or anything?” Mary asked.
The lead Islamist just stared at her.
Simon walked in, putting the radio back on his belt.
“Well?” asked the Islamist.
“No answer,” Simon said. “They are probably in the middle of the fight. Timing would be about right if their team made it all the way to the canyon.”
“I don’t like it.”
Simon just rolled his eyes and sat down.
“So Frank, why didn’t you guys just join up with Hank and Lewis and the boys?”
“They lied to us,” Frank said, “and they were herding us. They would have just killed us for our supplies and vehicles.”
“You have that all wrong,” Simon said. “They were instructed to recruit you. They wouldn’t have just killed you and your friends.”
“They didn’t know anything about me,” Frank said. “Why would they have been interested in getting me to join?”
“Remember Sean?” Simon asked.
Frank’s jaw dropped open. “You guys have been on our tail since I met Sean? I haven’t seen that guy since we were in Quartzite. That was the day after we left Redondo Beach.”
Simon started laughing. “You just catching up, are you?”
“Where’s Sean now?” Frank asked.
“Oh, he’s in custody at the moment, but we’ll spring him soon enough. The US Government is a little pissed at him for blowing up the Capitol.”
“So it was him,” Jane said.
“Oh, so the little lady can talk,” Simon said. “What else is she good at, Frank?”
“You want me to join you guys, and you’re going to make comments like that?” Frank shot back at him.
“Oh, I don’t think there’s a snowballs chance in hell that you are going to join us, but Philip seems to think it’s possible.”
“Try the radio again,” the Islamist said.
“In a minute,” Simon said. “What do you think the end game is here, Frank?”
“I don’t know,” Frank said.
“Let’s say for a moment that you citizens and what’s left of the army take us out. What happens when your government expands their martial law from California and the East Coast?”
“Don’t underestimate the American character,” Earl said.
“Funny, Philip says that all the time, but he thinks the American ‘character’ conforms to us, not sheep like you guys.”
Suddenly there was large explosion in the distance, then another. Then a third, and there was a bright flash in the night sky.
“There it is!” Simon exclaimed with glee. He ran out to the door and looked out. Then there was a strange sound. Simon fell forward. Earl lunged for the shotgun, flew on his back and fired, hitting the lead Islamist in the face. Two shots came in from the door and window, taking out two of the other Islamists as Frank dived for his Winchester. He rolled, cocked it, and pointed it at the remaining Islamist, who froze and dropped his weapon.
“Don’t shoot me,” Jeb said from outside. He stepped in, holding his bow. Charlie followed him with his rifle.
“Sorry I couldn’t get the fourth guy there,” Charlie said.
“We’d better check Simon. He might not be dead, so we’d better frisk him.” Frank said.
Jackson picked up one of the AK-47s that the Islamists had and pointed it at the prisoner’s head. “Move and I’ll make your head into a canoe.”
“Oh, brother,” Jane said, rolling her eyes.
“I’ve always wanted to say that,” Jackson grinned.
Charlie walked over to Hilda and hugged her.
Frank, Jeb and Earl were kneeling next to Simon. Earl pointed the shotgun at his head while Frank and Jeb carefully rolled him over. He was still breathing, the arrow lodged just right of his heart.
“Crap, bad placement,” Jeb said.
“It might be a good idea to keep this one alive,” Frank said. “He’s really high up in the militia.”
Frank frisked him, finding a pistol in the top of his boot, and a switchblade in his pocket. Then they lifted him up and carried him to one of the tables.
“Mary, could you take a look at this guy?”
“Sure,” she said, rushing over with her black bag. She took out some scissors and cut his shirt away, turning her head. “Phew, wonder when this guy’s last shower was?”
“Seriously,” Jeb said.
Frank went out on the Veranda and called Lucy. She came running up from under the decking.
“Found a good place to hide, did you, girl?” he asked, petting her. “At least you tried to warn us.”
“She alright?” Jane asked, walking out.
“Yeah.” They walked back in.
“Je
b, I need help getting this arrow out,” Mary said.
“Can we push it out his back? Then I can unscrew the arrow head.”
“Yes. It’s nicked his lung, but I don’t think it will damage him anymore to push it through.”
Frank walked up to Charlie. “Where are the rest of the guys?” he asked.
“Oh, they’ll be along in a little while,” Charlie said. “We saw the ambush. What a joke. The rest of the folks went past it looking for their supplies and vehicles. They don’t know how to cover their tracks. I’m sure they did what we planned to do. You heard it, and saw that flash. Way too big for just that dynamite.”
“How did you and Jeb end up back here?”
Charlie started to reply, but was cut off by gunfire in the distance.
Chapter 08 – Into the Smokehouse
The distant gunfire intensified.
“Should we go over there?” Frank asked.
“Yeah, they weren’t going to engage the enemy with small arms,” Jeb said. “The plan was to blow things up and get out of there. Let’s go.”
“Right, let’s go,” Charlie said.
“I’m going too,” Jane said. She looked at Frank, and he nodded.
“Let’s take my Jeep,” Jeb said. “She’s already unhooked.”
“We’re with you guys,” Jackson and Earl said.
“Good,” Charlie said. “Girls, keep guns on these two. Don’t trust either of them. Anything happens, just shoot them. Don’t hesitate.”
“I’ve got some zip ties in my rig,” Earl said. He ran out to his coach and was back in just a few seconds. He walked up to the Islamist and turned him around, putting the zip tie on his wrists, behind him. He did the same with Simon Orr, even though he wasn’t conscious.
“Be careful with him,” Mary said. “He’s not in good shape.”
“I know, but I don’t care spit for this jerk, and if he wakes up, he’s liable to hurt you. I won’t have that.”
Mary nodded.
“We have room to throw a mortar in the back?” Frank asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Jeb said, “but hurry…..they’re in trouble.”
Frank took off running to the barn and came back with a mortar. Jane ran out to their coach and picked up Frank’s gun belt. Jackson and Earl fetched extra ammo out of their coaches. Hilda and Mary and Rosie watched them with terrified looks on their faces. Jeb ran off to his site, and was back with the Jeep in a few seconds.
“C’mon, folks, let’s saddle up,” Charlie yelled.
They all got in. Jane called Lucy and she ran over and bounded up into her lap, and they took off down the road.
“How did you figure out that the cretins came to the park?” asked Frank.
“These idiots made no attempt to cover their tracks at all,” Jeb said. “There were tracks at the beginning of the dirt road. I’m surprised we didn’t run into those idiots.”
“How did you know about the ambush?” Earl asked.
“Gabe gets the credit for that,” Jeb said. “He knows all the ridges, so he was watching. Didn’t take long…we had just gotten onto the dirt road when we saw it.”
“You must have seen it about the time that you and Charlie started back to the park.”
“Yes, we saw the tracks in the dirt when we stopped for a moment to get out the binoculars,” Charlie said. “The group went way behind the enemy, avoiding the canyon they wanted to channel us into.”
“I guess the explosions must have gotten their attention.”
“Probably,” Charlie said.
“Hey, look, headlights!” Jeb shouted. “Coming this way.”
“Lock and load, people,” Charlie said.
“Hold it, that’s Gabe’s Suburban,” Jeb said.
“Keep your weapons ready anyway. We don’t know who’s in the vehicle,” Earl said.
“They’re stopping,” Jeb said. “Gabe just got out and waved.”
“Yes!” Frank shouted. Jeb drove slowly up to them. By the time they got there, the rest of the team was out of the Suburban and walking towards them, big smiles on their faces.
“What was with the shooting?” Charlie asked.
“Those idiots,” Jerry said. “They knew how to get back to their burning vehicles by going back down into the canyon and following the creek bed. We saw them going down there, so we gave them a few minutes, and then took their old positions on the ridge. We creamed them.”
“How many were there?” Frank asked.
“Oh, about twenty five,” Kurt said, “give or take. I was a little disappointed, though.”
“Why?” Jane asked.
“Didn’t get to use my bow. Not even once.”
Jeb cracked up. “Don’t worry, I made up for it back at the park.”
“We’d better get back there,” Frank said. “The women are worried sick, and we also have those two prisoners there.”
“Prisoners, huh?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah, let’s get going,” Charlie said. They all got back in their vehicles and headed back to the park at a good clip. They parked right in front of the clubhouse. Kurt was the first through the door.
“Oh, thank God,” Mary said, rushing to him and hugging him.
The rest of them flooded through the door. Rosie grinned from ear to ear when she saw Jasmine and Jerry walking over to her, arm in arm. Charlie rushed over to Hilda and hugged her too.
“What happen?” Rosie asked. “You kill?”
“Yes, mom, we killed quite a few, and blew up their supplies and trucks,” Jasmine said.
“I’m glad that dynamite was still good,” Gabe said, laughing. “We still have a lot left, too, just in case.”
“We need to talk about that, people,” Charlie said, speaking loud enough to get everybody’s attention.”
“Charlie’s right,” Frank said. “Somebody on that team knew exactly where we were. We might have more visitors.”
“Well, I think we killed everybody in their attack squad,” the Sheriff said.
“Yes, but remember those tracks,” Jeb said. “The cretins that came here didn’t have to look around. They came right over. They knew exactly where the park was.”
A moan came from the table behind them. It was Simon Orr, waking up. Mary rushed over to him.
“Is that who I think it is?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah, it’s Simon Orr,” Frank said. “The other folks were all stupid Islamist cretins. He was the only one in the group with any brains.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Jeb said. “I see brains all over the room.”
The Sheriff cracked up. “Jeb, you’re one sick bastard.”
“Who the hell shot that arrow into me,” Simon said, trying to turn around to see who was in the room. “Untie me. Oh, God, that hurts.” He trembled with pain.
“Oh, stuff it, traitor,” Charlie said. “You’re lucky to be alive…and that’s something we could change in a hurry.”
“Oh, and by the way, I shot the arrow, traitor,” Jeb said. “Want another demonstration? Please say yes.”
“Should have figured. The famous Jeb,” he said, grimacing shaking. “Enjoy this while you can.”
“What are we going to do with these assholes?” Jerry asked. “We really don’t want to hold them….especially Simon Orr. He’ll be a magnet for the other cretins.”
“He’s about to go into shock,” Mary said. “I doubt he’ll last more than a day or two.”
“Hey, what about those radios that the army gave us?” Earl asked.
“Oh, shit, I forgot about those,” Jerry said. “They might have been trying to call us. I’ll go get one of them and bring it in here.” He ran out the door.
“I wouldn’t get too comfortable,” Simon said. “That ambush might not have worked, but you’ll have a lot of company soon.” The oozing blood was dripping off the table now, leaving a puddle on the floor.
Kurt laughed. “Oh, you mean those twenty five guys that you had on the ridges? They went to collect their virgi
ns.”
“Son of a bitch,” Simon said. He winced as he tried to turn his head towards them, and sweat was beading up on his forehead.
“Yeah,” the Sheriff said, “after we blew up their supplies and vehicles, they tried to get back to them the only way they knew how.down the river bed in the bottom of the canyon. We just took over their ambush positions and let them have it. The folks you’ve teamed up with aren’t that bright, Simon.”
“Tell me about it,” he sighed, getting sleepy now, trying to keep awake, trying to ignore the pain.
“Maybe Phil ain’t so bright either,” Jackson said, laughing. “Oh, sorry, Philip.”
“Laugh it up,” Simon said. “You’ve still got a giant target on your back.”
“How the hell did you guys find us, anyway?” Charlie asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Simon replied.
“Well, now,” Jeb said. “I think we might have to mishandle this prisoner a little bit to get that information.”
“You won’t torture me,” Simon said. “You don’t have the guts.” Sweat was dripping down into his eyes now, causing him to squint, and his breathing was getting more shallow.
Jeb laughed. “I don’t care one bit about you, traitor. I wasn’t trying to wound you with that arrow. It’s about an inch from your heart, jerkweed. You’re lucky I was having a bad night. I’m rarely off by that much.”
Jerry rushed back into the clubhouse with the radio. “They were trying to call us. They saw these bastards coming,” Jerry said.
“Any more around?” Frank asked.
“Don’t know. We’ll need to call them back.”
“They’ve got more surprises coming,” Simon wheezed.
“Can I kill this guy yet?” Earl asked. “Please?”
“Maybe we ought to see if the army wants him,” Jane said. “We don’t really want to keep him here, do we?”
“I’d rather kill him than give them back to the army,” Jeb said. “Remember what happened with Officer Simmons?”
“We need to chat with the Lieutenant,” Charlie said.
“Agreed,” Frank said. “Jerry, want to see if he’s interested in having a pow wow?”
“Yeah, I’ll call him. Maybe we shouldn’t discuss anything in front of the sub-humans here, though.”