by W. R. Benton
He realized the men looking for him earlier must have warned others that a motorcycle was near. Ben lowered his NVG's and turned his headlight off and moved into the woods, where they continued moving, but at a slower speed. After just a few minutes the firing stopped completely.
After running into the overgrown yard of a once very nice house, they moved back to the road and were again zooming along at a fair speed for the main gate of Fort Leonard Wood. An occasional shot was heard, but it's hard to hit a man running or on a motorcycle cruising at fifty miles an hour, which was the top speed with two of them on the bike. As they moved on the road that led to the gate, Ben noticed pawn shops, strip joints, bars, and tattoo shops. He wondered if any of them were still open, and knew even if they were closed whore houses were around, except they didn't have a big neon sign out front.
When he spotted lights off in the near distance from the main gate, he slowed to about fifteen miles an hour and raised the goggles. He then turned on his headlight. As he neared, he spotted a couple of machine-guns surrounded by sandbags, on each side of the road. He slowed the bike to just a crawl. A huge black man wearing a helmet marked MP extended his arm palm out and said, “Stop.”
When they stopped, the MP (Military Police) asked, “And, both of your names are?”
Ben gave their names and said, “You should be expecting us. Captain Cook is an A-10 pilot for the Air Force and we sort of rescued him after he had to get out and walk.” He noticed the policeman was an E-5, Sergeant.
The Sergeant snapped to attention and saluted Cook, and then replied, “We were told to expect both of you. Sir, you'll be taken on post to the hospital first, given a physical exam, and then taken to the officers quarters where you will be given a room. You'll find the chow hall open to cook for you, and I'm sure transportation will be provided. Does your wound hurt you now?”
“My pain level is low enough for right now.”
Then turning to Ben, the big man continued, “I was asked to tell you, Ben, that you are to return as quickly as possible.”
“Any word on why?”
“No, sir, I just told you all I know.”
Cook and Ben shook hands and when the pilot moved to the gate, the partisan pulled his motorcycle around, and said, “Take care, Sergeant.”
“You too, sir, and keep an eye out for UN personnel. They like to move in close to us and set up road blocks. I think if you use the NVG's and drive like a bat out of hell, then you'll move past them just fine.”
Starting the bike and lowering his goggles, Ben left with a wave.
Glancing at his watch, he realized it had taken him three hours to get Cook to the Army, but he should be able to cut that time in half on the way back. He soon discovered that without a passenger's weight, the bike hit the top speed of almost seventy miles an hour. He was soon zooming down Route 66. When he went over the hill where the men had looked for him, he saw one man standing near some sandbags, which he suspected had a machine-gun. He leaned forward, goosed the bike and with the help of the down hill slope, he hit 82 MPH and in a flash was past the road block. A few shots were fired by the lone guard, but with his lights out and the moon behind some clouds, the bullets never came near him.
He slowed once out of rifle range and kept his speed at 50 MPH, which would have him home in less than an hour. Of course, he'd have to slow down on the back roads, because most were dirt.
When he pulled into camp, everyone was loading up supplies and gear, and he wondered what was going on.
James neared and, when Ben turned the motorcycle off, he asked, “Cook get to the Army okay?”
“Yep, but we ran into a UN roadblock and had to move around it, which took time. What's going on, are we moving?”
“Yep, Gator and I investigated the bunch near us and they're a rough looking collection of locals. Hell, they make more noise than a high school marching band, too. We're moving near the low water bridge at Cold Springs.”
“They armed?”
“Now, when have you ever seen a redneck in the woods without a gun? Yep, they have everything from a crossbow to UN machine-guns. I didn't approach them, but decided it would just be easier if we left.”
“When do we leave?”
“An hour after sunrise. They had a huge fire burning, and I don't like the idea of them calling attention to this part of the woods, not with us in it.”
John Grant's cell phone rang and when he answered, General Adams said, “Our intelligence has just informed us that there is a very real possibility that some of the protesters tonight will be armed. We discovered two locations where we suspect arms were dropped. One was most likely a LAPES drop and we found the remains of three pallets in a field less than eight miles from the city. We believe that drop was made last night and while we found little except the empty pallets and some quickly buried parachutes, I can't imagine them risking aircraft to drop anything but weapons and munitions.”
“What of the other site?”
“It looked to be a personnel drop, but one of our men on the inside with the protesters claims the drop brought two people who will oversee the riots this evening. He also said they'd brought in a few guns and ammo. I'm concerned, sir, that they have weapons and ammunition now.”
“Meet force with force. Get anything that can fly on standby and issue live ammunition to all tanks, personnel, and have every aircraft loaded with what you think you'll need. I think the game has just turned to hardball.”
“Finally, the riots last night resulted in 300 protesters killed, four personnel in tanks were burned, but none badly, and we lost one chopper with crew when they flew into a building.”
“Good, so we are slowly teaching them that we will not tolerate their violating the law.”
“Keep up the good work, General, and I'll soon be pinning your third star on you, sir.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I'll call you in the morning to see how your night goes. Use any force shy of nuclear weapons on those criminals, and by my order. Goodbye.”
General Adams had been standing, sipping coffee as he spoke, but now he sat in his overstuffed office chair and placed his coffee cup on a coaster. His desktop was filled with intelligence information and some of the collection was current, but most was bullshit. He ran his hand through his short hair, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. He thought, I don't like the idea of them finding three personnel chutes, but only two people got in the truck. The driver got out, his footprints showed that much, but where is the third person? Where did that person go? We found no blood or any indications that person died, but they may have covered his or her body well. Also, who was driving the truck? I'm positive it was the protesters, and suspect the people dropped were sent to oversee or lead the riots.
A Sergeant knocked and stuck his head in the door and said, “The Commander of the air wing is on the phone for you sir, line two.”
“Thank you, George.” the General said and then, lifting the phone, said, “General Adams.”
“Tom, this is Isaac. We have a total of twenty-four aircraft available for your use tonight if the rioters turn to using arms. Most, fifteen, are attack helicopters, but the rest are fast movers —jets. My question is how you want the fast movers armed. Now, the choppers will be armed with mini-guns, missiles, and machine-guns.”
“Load your jet aircraft with MK-82, 500 pound bombs and napalm.”
“Uh, you sure you want to use fire on protesters?”
“By God, I do if they attack us armed with weapons. I want to maim and kill as many of them as possible and still keep my losses, and yours, to the minimum. Napalm is nasty stuff, but if you have any, drop some cluster mines too.”
“I have them in three colors, black, white or green.”
“Since they only protest at night, drop the black ones. Look, Isaac, I just got off the phone with the President and he's watching us closely. He flat came right out and told me I'd get my next star if the protesters were smashed. I'm sure st
opping the riots will mean a promotion for all of us, but a promotion is no reason to waste our manpower or equipment. I want, as I said earlier, to cause the most damage to them, while keeping our losses low.”
“Okay, I'll see the birds are all loaded with the munitions you want, but Tom, the media will have a field day if this turns super bloody and we use napalm.”
“The media can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. I have a direct order from the President to stop these damned riots by the use of anything except nuclear weapons, and I'll do that job to the best of my ability. I expect you to do as I request and without question. Do you understand?”
Giving a light chuckle, Isaac asked, “How long have we known each other, twenty years?”
“About that; we were still young Captains when we met.”
“We've taken turns outranking each other, but over the years, we've always followed orders, right?”
“Yes, we have.” Adams took a sip of his now cold coffee.
“I will do what you've asked, but all I was doing was warning you and, as a man who works for you, I have a responsibility to make you aware of any negative aspect of your orders. I'll have your aircraft ready and a few choppers overhead when the rioters start to gather this evening.”
“Thanks, Isaac. I'm under a lot of stress right now, and I despise the killing I'm forced to do. Maybe tonight will be quiet for a change.”
“No chance, G.I., and if they got their hands on guns, they'll use them this evening, too. Watch your ass out there tonight.”
“I will. Listen, I need to get back to my paperwork, so we'll talk tomorrow on how this evening goes.”
“Yes, sir.”
When the line went dead, Adams pushed a number and when Sergeant George answered he said, “I want a staff meeting here and in one hour. No excuses are acceptable, unless in the hospital, for not being here and tell them that, too.”
An hour later, General Adams briefed what he knew, suspected would happen this evening, and then asked, “Any questions?”
Major Mark Turner, acting chief of the security police asked, “So do we just let them shoot us to hell and back, sir?”
“No, Mark, I intend to use cluster bombs, Mk-82 bombs, napalm, and missiles on them, as well as Gatling guns and machine-guns if they turn violent. However, with this being said, they must be the ones to start the violence. We will be the ones to end it.”
“If a battle starts, are we to attack them or remain in place?” his intelligence officer asked, and then added, “they may have SAMs and anti-tank weapons, too.”
“The rough spots like that will be where the napalm and cluster bombs will be used.”
“Now, I need all of you to return to your units and prepare for this evening. Oh, before we leave, weather, what is it to be like this evening?”
A young major stood and said, “Cool, in the mid seventies, with a light wind from the lakes moving at about five miles an hour. There is a twenty percent chance for rain, partly cloudy and we suspect it will remain dry.”
“I want all your troops and commanders in place by 1700 hours. That's all, gentlemen.”
“Teeennn Huuuttt.” a Command Sergeant Major said from the pit of his stomach as General Adams left the room.
James and the rest were in bed early, the vehicles packed to the max with their gear, supplies and equipment. The guards were all aware they were to wake everyone at 0400 hours and they'd leave.
Frank was on guard a little after 0200 when he heard the noise of helicopters, so he woke James. James listened for a few moments and said, “Wake everyone and warn them to move under the truck and the larger vehicles. I think those choppers are going to attack the redneck camp. If they're equipped with infrared radar, they'll see us too if they fly overhead.”
“Will the trucks hide us?” Frank asked.
“Hell, I don't know, but I'm hoping they'll block our body heat. Now, get them all up.”
No sooner had Frank moved than a loud explosion was heard off in the distance. James knew then the rednecks were being attacked by choppers using missiles.
“Hurry!” James yelled, “Get under a vehicle now!”
Right at that moment a chopper flew low overhead but didn't change course, so it was likely they didn't see them on the screen or they were not equipped with infrared radar.
In less than five minutes, everyone was under a truck or SUV, and the attack on the nearby camp grew louder with the cool night air filled with explosions.
I hope they don't land troops near us or they may just find us too, James thought as he realized there was nothing he could do, no matter what happened. If they tried to drive out now, the infrared screens on the choppers, those that had them, would show a nice red line of dots of their convoy. They'd be massacred in minutes.
Choppers began to land, probably to unload troops, but they were using the large field just on the other side of the doomed camp. Scattered gunshots were heard, explosions, and screams of the wounded and dying. James and his group sat still.
Three hours later the choppers and troops were gone. Crawling out from under the truck Gator owned, James said, “At daylight we'll check the place out. I don't expect to find much, but we'll look anyway.”
“Who goes with you?”
“I'll take Joda, and that's it. For all I know, they may have left some troops behind, and for just this reason.”
Chapter 15
Adolpha helped Noah pull Thomas' body from the truck and roll him over a wooden fence near the hogs. Within minutes the big nasty looking beasts were moving for the dead man. Thomas was stripped of all clothing and as naked as the day he was born. She quickly moved back to the passengers seat of the truck.
Once the truck was started and moving down the country road again, Noah said, “I'll take you both to a safe house. Now, since you're here, I'll tell ya we had a shitload of arms delivered by airplane yesterday. They dropped it using pallets and we got three pallets with rifles, bullets, grenades and all kinds of nasty stuff. Most we don't know how to use, but I 'spect you'll know what it is and can put it to good use. Molly, our leader, wants to use some of it tonight, when we riot again.”
“That is pretty fast, and I do not know if we can train all of you in that short of a period.” The Boss said.
“Not all of us, but maybe a few. We want to fight back this time and knock a few of them out of business. Each time we've protested, they've killed as many of us as they can find. We have a grudge or feud to fight.”
“We will do our best.” Adolpha said, and then met the eyes of The Boss, each knowing the training would not be adequate for the force they were facing.
Noah drove to the south side of Chicago and drove the truck into an underground garage. He called a number on his phone and said, “Treats.”
He closed his phone and said, “Help will be right down.”
The Boss didn't like where they were at, and he realized it was due to his rich upbringing. He was obviously in a poor part of town.
As they waited, Noah pulled out two house keys and said, “These are to your places.”
“Is mine near here?” Adolpha asked, praying it wasn't even close.
Laughing, Noah said, “No, y'all live in a much nicer part of town. No one lives here, not really, but I pay the rent. This is a rough part of town, so don't go wandering around because your white faces will just draw trouble. Understood?”
The Boss nodded, while she said, “Uh-huh.”
A few minutes more and a group of about ten black males showed, and all smiled and laughed as they pulled the weapons out of the gear bags. Asking, The Boss discovered a little more than half, six of them, had served in the armed forces.
“Bring the guns and bags to the meetin' house, and now.” Noah said, and then began walking.
Inside, the apartment smelled strongly of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana smoke. Empty whiskey bottles were thrown around on the floor along with beer cans, which made Adolpha wonder if they took the revol
t and riots seriously, or if they were just here to party.
Of the six with prior military experience, three were Marines who knew the weapons blindfolded. Of the rest, two were ex-Army, infantry, and the remaining man had been a United States Air Force Security Policeman, so all knew the weapons well.
She checked each man's ability to use the guns and munitions safely, then said, “The six of you will be our instructors for the use of the rifles, 9 mm pistols, and hand grenades. I expect each of you to conduct this training as professionally as you can. These are not toys and if I see you playing around with them, they will be taken from you and given to someone more responsible.”
Near noon, Noah appeared and said, “I need to take both of you to your homes, so you'll able to get some rest before tonight. Now, in each garage is a vehicle that your job would allow you to afford. Paul, you have an SUV, two years old, but in great condition. Adolpha, you have a new BMW, and you'll both find the keys to your transportation on your kitchen tables. Meet us at the downtown Chicago public library at 1900, and be armed and ready to start some shit.”
“And,” The Boss asked, “where do we go following the riot?”
“Home if you can; if not, the cell phones you're to carry have a saved contact listed as “my doctor,” but if I'm dead, call, “my mother,” and you'll get someone in this house. Oh, and thank you for the money. It will go toward paying informants, helping some of our poor members eat, and give the leaders a little motivation.” Noah said, and grabbed his keys from a nail on the wall.
He drove them to Paul's home first, and it was located in an upper middle class area within a gated community. Noah stopped at the gate and punched 1295 in the security system and a few seconds later the gates swung open. He waited until The Boss entered his home before he moved on to take Adolpha to her new home.