by Ryan King
"Our electricity," said Ethan looking pointedly at the lanterns.
"Indeed," answered Evan. "We have observed them planting explosives along the bridges leading into New Harvest. They would likely blow their bridges before allowing us to drive across them."
"No shit," said Vincent.
"The southern boundary," continued Evan, "is the most exposed avenue of attack. They have heavily fortified that boundary, but a focused large scale assault could probably punch through. An amphibious assault is judged unlikely to succeed based on the ability of the rebels to gather forces at the point of landing as we make our way across the open water."
"Why not in the north?" asked Vincent. "It would also give us the dam and deprive them of electricity."
"The dam is very heavily fortified," explained Evan. "And besides, their allies have been massing in that area."
"Allies?" asked Ethan. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"They've been trading electricity for military support and food," said Vincent. "Yobos to the west. Possibly some military experience but I judge mostly civilians with hunting rifles."
"Yes," answered Evan pointing at the map again. "Another issue is we cannot get to their northern flank without crossing the Tennessee River. The primary route is the I-24 bridge, but that is heavily guarded and rigged to blow. We could cross in boats further up, but that route is complicated by Brazen's forces at Paducah and along the river."
"So what are you saying?" asked Vincent.
Evan took a breath. "Sir, I recommend that we assault New Harvest in a concentrated attack from the south. Drive up and seize the dam and its electricity. Once that area is secured, we can then deal with Brazen and Paducah at our leisure or simply surround it and starve them out."
Vincent stared at Evan hard for several long seconds before turning to Ethan. "I like it. Good plan."
"No," said Ethan quietly.
"No, what?" asked Vincent.
"We'll deal with Brazen first," said Ethan.
"Mister President," said Evan. "I must advise against that. Unlike Brazen's forces, those of New Harvest are capable of offensive action. They could attack the flanks of any force we concentrate at Paducah. Besides, New Harvest with its electricity, growing allies to the west, and military power is the greater threat."
"New Harvest will be taken care of," said Ethan. "It's already in the works."
Vincent stared suspiciously at Ethan. "What the hell do you mean by that?"
Ethan smiled for the first time. "They will get what they deserve. No need to attack them." He stood slowly and walked with a limp to the map jabbing at the red circle around Paducah. "I want us to make an example of these people. Wipe Paducah, Brazen, and all his followers off of this map. Do you understand?"
Vincent didn't answer for a long time. Finally he stood staring at Ethan. "Yes, sir." He turned to the room and yelled at them. "You heard him. Start getting ready. Planning for the attack on Paducah begins in this room in two hours. You better show up prepared."
The officers and aides fled from the room.
Ethan slowly walked out of the room, his hand held to his head.
Vincent turned to Evan and shook his head. "It was a good plan Major."
Evan opened his mouth to thank the General.
"No need to speak," said Vincent. "Just get to work with operations. You all need to come up with another good plan or it may be your head on a stake."
Evan nodded as Vincent left the room. He wondered if the General's comment implied that they could end up like Frank Simm's men.
Or if that would be Evan's punishment for failing General Vincent Lacert.
Evan turned back to the map and got to work.
Chapter 3 - Tracking
Alexandra knew that if the men she trailed didn't stop for the night soon, she would have to let them go. The military squad's point man wore night vision goggles, whereas she was forced to follow the game trail by sense and memory. Worst case, if they lost her, she would race to the main road and raise the alarm among the LBL folks, but part of her wanted to track them. Maybe the most dangerous prey she had ever stalked, she thought, and her heart beat faster.
She stopped to listen, trying to gauge how far in front of her they were. Checking one more time to make sure there was a bolt loaded into her crossbow, Alexandra pulled out her canteen and silently eased the lid off and slowly drank water.
A twig snapped to her left.
Alexandra dropped the canteen and whirled with her crossbow ready to fire, but she was too late. A dark figure stepped out of the brush where he had been waiting. He slammed his rifle across her forearms, forcing her to drop the crossbow with a cry of pain. Before she could recover he slammed the butt of the rifle into her stomach. She doubled over and he pushed her to the snow covered ground while pinning an arm painfully up under her shoulder blade.
She cried out in pain.
"A woman," he whispered into her ear. "We might just find a use for you," he said while pressing his pelvis against her buttocks.
Gritting her teeth in frustration she looked up as she heard another man approach down the trail.
"I knew we were being trailed," the man said smiling down at her in the faint light.
Alexandra made herself stop struggling and look at them with fear in her eyes. "Please, don't hurt me. Just let me go."
"Whether or not we hurt you is going to be up to you," grunted the man on top of her biting at her earlobe.
Working her free hand down toward her boot, Alexandra was able to get her fingertips on the handle of the hunting knife she kept there.
"I'll go tell the lieutenant what we found," said the second man.
"You do that, Lenny," said the other man as he pressed down on her back. "Do me a favor and take your time. Me and the little lady are going to get to know each other."
Lenny looked nervous. "Kyle, I don't think the lieutenant would like that."
"You can go tell him or you can stand there and watch," said Kyle. "Hell, I'll even give you a turn when I'm done if you want."
Lenny turned and walked away.
"Just you and me now," Kyle said reaching around to unbuckle her pants.
Alexandra leaned the other way as if trying to avoid his groping fingers and then grasped the knife firmly in her fist.
"Uh uh," Kyle said pressing down on her again. "There's no getting away."
She stabbed the knife savagely into his thigh, feeling the tip scrape along the femur.
The man's scream in the quiet night seemed almost obscene. He jerked away from her as she stabbed into his leg again and again until he finally let go of her and rolled over on his back.
Blood was spurting from his leg in rhythmic bursts.Must have hit the femoral artery, she thought.
Kyle reached for his rifle, but it was slung across his back and was now pinned to the ground.
Alexandra slashed at him and cut a gash across his bicep.
"Help!" he screamed.
"Shut up!" she hissed, kicked out at his face and missed.
He yanked a pistol out of his belt and swung it in her direction, firing wildly, but she danced away to the side and circled behind him. Twisting around to see her, the man brought the gun up over his head, but Alexandra buried the knife in the side of his neck and twisted.
The automatic pistol fired two more times as the man convulsed, but Alexandra held on tightly to his head until he lay still. She looked down the trail, but her night vision was now ruined by the flashes of the pistol. Forcing herself to lay still she listened and heard running feet. Lots of them.
Alexandra jumped up and grabbed his backpack and her crossbow. After a brief hesitation she rolled Kyle onto his stomach in order to strip off the assault rifle and ammunition bandolier. She started to run back down the trail she had come from, then hesitated.
They'll follow me, she thought.At least one of them has night vision goggles.
Slinging all her equipment over her shoulders and ac
ross her back, she looked around until she saw what she was looking for. Quickly pulling the sheaths off the lineman's spikes on her boots, she began climbing up a large straight pine tree.
The approaching men were coming closer and she could hear voices and see beams from flashlights.Evidently the gunshots made them realize all secrecy was gone. They're not trying to hide now, she thought.
She froze as beams of light illuminated the snow-covered trail below. Alexandra was only about fifteen feet off the ground, but didn't dare move now. Any sound would give her away. If any of them looked up, they couldn't help but see her. Hell, if they just carefully studied the mess of footprints in the snow, they would see her trail to the pine.
Eight men in camouflage uniforms gathered around the dead body of Kyle.
"Form a perimeter," said the man she had previously seen wearing the night goggles and looking at the map. "Not you Lenny. You tell me what happened."
"I don't know sir," he answered. "Kyle and I were waiting along the edge of the trail like you said in case someone was trailing us."
"And someone was," said the lieutenant.
"Yes sir. A girl. Kyle had her pinned down to the ground, I was coming to get you at the camp we'd set up for the night."
"A girl?" asked the lieutenant looking closely at the man's body. "One girl killed Kyle? You sure it didn't take a group of girls? Maybe even a whole girl scout troop?"
"I don't know what happen," insisted Lenny. "He was on top of her and told me to either go or watch..."
"Watch what?"
Lenny looked away from the man's gaze.
The lieutenant slapped him across the face loudly. "Don't make me ask again, sergeant."
"I reckon he was going to rape her," Lenny finally said rubbing his face.
Nodding, the lieutenant turned toward the perimeter. "Let this be a lesson to you men. Your dumb dicks will get you killed quicker than any bullet. If Kyle had simply subdued his captive, he would still be alive."
He turned back to Lenny. "So where did she go?"
"I don't know," he stammered. "Back down the trail I guess."
The lieutenant rubbed his face thoughtfully. "Johnson. Rodriguez. Get up here."
Two soldiers slipped in from the perimeter and stood before him.
He pulled the night vision goggles out of a bag at his belt and handed them to one of the men. "You two go down that trail and try to catch her. She's likely running for help and we can't have her comprising the mission. Don't get fancy. Kill her and hide the body. If you don't find her in one hour, come back."
"Yes, sir," said the two men turning to leave.
"And be careful," the lieutenant added. "She has Kyle's rifle and bandolier."
"She also had a crossbow," added Lenny.
The lieutenant looked surprised. "A crossbow?"
"Yep," nodded Lenny.
The lieutenant turned back to the two men. "Go on and remember what I said. We'll meet you at the base camp. You better be there by dawn or we leave without you."
The two men turned and began walking south, the man in front wearing night vision goggles.
"Conley. Keene," two more men from the perimeter answered the lieutenant's call. "You two go hide Peterson's body. Doesn't have to be fancy, just stick him under some snow or a fallen log."
"Yes, sir," they said moving to pick up the body.
"Everyone else," ordered the lieutenant, "come with me. We've left the package unguarded and that makes me very edgy. Grab your gear and get back to the camp. We need to get what sleep we can. We may be pushing hard the rest of the way."
The men grumbled, but stood and followed the lieutenant as he walked north. Conley and Keene returned from dragging Kyle into the woods and walked north behind their comrades.
It was suddenly dark and quiet again and Alexandra realized her thighs were shaking with strain and adrenaline. Slowly she eased herself back down to the ground and her knees nearly buckled.
What now? Alexandra was confident that she could hide from the men. She would simply walk off the trail into the woods and bed down for the night. In the day she could camouflage a blind like she did for hunting and there was no way they'd see her.
But the men would get away.
So what? If I report it, they'll find the men...eventually.
Alexandra looked around and sighed. Yes, those men would probably be found, but maybe not. The Land Between the Lakes forest was hundreds of acres of woods and the men might evade capture. Besides, they were on some important mission and meant harm to her home and friends.
She suddenly felt alone and wished Joshua were here. Hell, even the infuriating David would be preferable to being by herself.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself, she thought.You have to keep an eye on these men until you can get help. That's all there is to it. Shouldn't be much harder than tracking deer.
Alexandra checked her crossbow again before carefully walking into the woods to bed down for the night.
Chapter 4 - Razor's Edge
"Is this right?" General Butch Matthews asked holding up a piece of paper.
Harold Buchanan laughed humorlessly. "Unfortunately, yes. People are flooding in from the rest of the JP. We could turn them away, but they'd likely find some way in regardless."
"We've conscripted many of them," said Major Luke Carter. "Some were even part of the previous JP Regiments. They bring guns and experience."
"They also bring empty bellies," said Matthews. "And families."
"We're working on that," said Major Beau Myers quickly. "The trade deal of electricity for food has been successful."
"But not if we have to feed all these additional people," said Harold.
The room was silent as the men looked down at the table covered with maps and reports.
"We could always raid for food," said Luke.
"Who?" asked Harold. "Who would we raid?"
"Why, the enemy, of course," answered Luke. "It is standard military strategy to deny your enemy sustenance while meeting your own needs."
Harold shook his head. "I just can't look at them that way. Those are JP people we're talking about. We know lots of them. Some are family of the people here."
"Yet," said Luke slowly, "Ethan Schweitzer and that madman Vincent Lacert are mobilizing against us and have crushed any internal opposition. Only us and Paducah still stand."
Everyone's eyes moved north and west to a circle of blue surrounded by squares of red.
Butch cleared his voice. "Seems like they have decided to concentrate their forces against Paducah while holding us in place."
"That doesn't make any sense," said Beau suddenly.
"Why not?" asked Butch.
Beau stared at the map hard before replying. "We're obviously the greater threat. We control electricity. We have a military force and growing allies to the east who protect our northern flank. Why not simply surround Paducah, let it starve, and concentrate on us."
"Maybe they think Paducah will fall quickly and then they can focus on us," answered Luke.
"How much longer can they hold out?" asked Harold.
Butch ran his fingers through hiss thinning hair. "A week, maybe ten days. They're already on half rations and short ammo. They had lots of early success raiding and stealing supplies, but the enemy's gotten smarter. Not trying for the knockout blow. They've closed off any escape and are slowly constricting the perimeter."
"What about here?" asked Harold pointing at the area of the city adjacent to the Ohio River.
"Our informers tell us it's still open," answered Luke. "Some boats from Tennessee tried to make several landings, but were fought off each time by makeshift shore batteries."
"My tanks," said Beau with longing.
"Indeed," answered Butch. "Running low on fuel, Brazen did the smart thing and moved them to protect his shoreline. They're likely immobile but still dangerous because of their guns."
"How much have we been able to help them?" asked Harold.
> "Some," answered Butch. "We ship in what food and supplies we can and take out their young and old."
"That's why we have so many kids and greybeards around here all the sudden if you haven't noticed," said Luke. "I know it's hard, but we can't keep taking them in, we're already not sure howwe'll make it through the winter."
"What are we supposed to do with them?" asked Harold. "Push them out to starve?"
Luke held his hands out to his sides. "Sir, I don't have an easy answer. We're going to be short food and won't have enough for everyone."
"I won't turn anyone away," said Harold with a far off voice.
"Sir," said Luke with exasperation. "Like I said –"
"LikeI said," answered Harold glaring at Luke with his one good eye, "I won't turn anyone away. That's final. We'll just have to find a way."
Beau was studying the map intently and not paying attention to the other three men. He looked up suddenly. "What if we can help them break out?"
"Break out to where?" asked Butch. "If they get past the perimeter, the WTR or JP forces loyal to Schweitzer will just hunt them down. And with all due respect to Harold, New Harvest really cannot take that many people."
"What about here?" asked Beau pointing at southern Illinois. "Across the I-24 bridge."
"Too late for that," said Butch. "The enemy perimeter has already shrunk down too far. They control that bridge."
"For now they do," said Beau with a slight smile.
"Damn it, Major," said Butch. "Why don't you just tell us what the hell you're thinking?"
Beau looked at them all, but the smile didn't leave. "With my tanks, I could bust through to the west and open up the bridge. I could then drive south, wreaking havoc and creating a distraction, giving Brazen's forces time to evacuate everyone. Then they can blow the bridge."
"And be stuck in Illinois," said Luke.
"Better than where they are now," said Harold. "It's risky, but it's the only actual plan I've heard anyone come up with. There's just one problem. Those tanks don't have fuel."
"Ah, yes," said Beau. "I figure each tank holds three hundred gallons of JP8 fuel and there's five tanks, so I'll need fifteen hundred gallons. We can load it all on one of the next relief barges with me and what's left of my tank crews."