by SD Tanner
‘I know,’ Hatch replied. ‘But I get to shoot the Hellfires right?’
Rolling his eyes at Hatch, Pax asked, ‘Why do ya always worry about the wrong thing?’
‘Cos the rest of the time I’m a goddamn taxi service. This is the only fun I get,’ Hatch replied sulkily.
‘Shame Mackenzie’s offline.’ Max said unhappily.
In all the trouble of the past forty-eight hours, he’d completely forgotten about Mackenzie, Chris and the super hunter they delivered to the CDC. He hadn’t even remembered Pax had delivered the Major to Farrington as a prisoner.
‘How is Mackenzie?’ He asked genuinely concerned.
‘Still out of it,’ Benny replied miserably. ‘I wish he hadn’t done that. I miss him. I mean I know we were arguing over Lucie, but I wish we hadn’t.’
‘You were both stupid,’ Max said bluntly. ‘Lucie is nice enough, but she’s not all that.’
‘How would you know?’ Captain Ted asked curiously. ‘Women never like other women.’
Max gave him a dirty look and said, ‘Don’t be stupid. I’m bi, so I know just as well as you do.’
Captain Ted appraised Max with interest and replied, ‘I stand corrected, Ma’am.’
Max screwed up her face and said tartly, ‘And don’t be gross either.’
He wasn’t listening. The past few days knocked the banter right out of him and he entirely lost his sense of humor. Right now, he was worried they wouldn’t get the convoys on road, on time and to specification. He also didn’t want to be this far from Ip, but he couldn’t be in two places doing two things at once. Without satellites for communication, he wouldn’t be able monitor the convoy once he and his brothers were in position a few miles from the Ranch. His head was going around in circles while he worried about the set up and he worried about Ip being trapped with their enemies.
Abruptly interrupting their chatter, he barked, ‘Get out and get it done!’
Everyone walked out to do their part of the mission while he stayed, sitting at the table and trying to disentangle his worrying into logical streams he could manage. Looking up, he saw Isaac was watching him.
Isaac said, ‘She says stop it.’
‘Stop what?’ He asked, but he knew what she meant.
Isaac smiled and said, ‘Worrying.’
‘Tell her I love her and I’m on my way,’ he said.
Isaac said happily, ‘She knows and she says she loves you too.’
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: When hell meets hell (Gears)
Flying low they spotted a now defunct electricity sub-station. It was a concrete bunker, fenced off and, no doubt, would have a huge transformer inside. Normally it would have been certain death to go near it, but since the world ended, so had electricity. It was just two and half miles from the Ranch and it would be safe from hunters. Hatch took them down and they stepped out of the bird and walked to the fence surrounding the bunker.
‘Whatdaya think?’ He asked.
Already cutting through the rusted fence, Pax said dourly, ‘It’ll do.’
They got the door to the bunker open by being crude and shooting the lock off. Inside the bunker was dusty and filled with spider webs. As he expected, there was a large, now silent, transformer, but he couldn’t make any sense of the design of the unit. It looked like a super-sized version of something they found inside an old valve style TV when he was a kid. Surrounding the transformer was a concrete floor and, as far as he was concerned, this would be home for the next two days. He, TL, Pax and Isaac unloaded their supplies into the bunker. Not wanting to be stranded once Hatch left, he went with Pax and Hatch to find a vehicle to drive back to the bunker. It took them another few hours, but they drove back in a Chrysler Minivan. By the time he and Pax returned, TL and Isaac had made themselves at home. Their bedding was rolled out, there was water and food stacked neatly and TL was making coffee from several opened MRE’s.
Sitting outside in the last of the daylight, Pax complained, ‘What the fuck are we gonna do for the next few days? Sing kumbaya?
TL chuckled and said, ‘Let’s not forget to hold hands while we do that.’
‘Ya ain’t holdin’ my hand under any circumstances,’ Pax told him bluntly. ‘Not even if I’m dyin’, asshole.’
He wasn’t listening to his brothers. In his mind he could see the convoy laid out. They should be well down the road by now. Ten assault vehicles, ten HUMVEEs, five trucks with food, ammo and heavy weapons, four large fuel tankers and eight coaches with forty shooters in each. They worked all night and most of the morning getting the convoy set up and ready to roll. As they’d flown out to set up their position at the bunker, they watched the convoy slowly heading in the direction of Texas. It would take two days of continuous driving to make it to Annona, Texas and they planned to rendezvous there about forty miles from the Ranch. Once there, they would remove the fuel tanks from the birds, fit them with the weapons and the shooters would move to the assault vehicles.
Like a mantra he had the entire assault plan in his head. Black Hawks will fly over to the Ranch to act as spotters. When they say go, the mortars can fire. At the same time the HUMVEEs can start firing the MK 19 grenade launchers. Black Hawks can fire the Hydra rockets. Scorched earth. Black Hawks tell the mortars and HUMVEEs when to cease-fire. Assault vehicles move to the Ranch. They fire their MK 19 grenades. Black Hawks can fire the Hellfire missiles. Assault vehicles go in as two columns of five. As they drive towards the Ranch, they can start firing the M2 .50-cal machine guns. Shooters can get out of the vehicles and assume defensive positions. They hold the perimeter. We land with Hatch and enter the house. We clear the house, get Ip and bug out. Everyone bugs out.
Isaac came over to him, sat down and said, ‘She says stop it. You’re spinning.’
He looked bleakly at Isaac and said, ‘Yeah, I am, but I dunno how to stop it.’
Isaac said, ‘She says it won’t change the outcome.’
Sighing, he said, ‘Tell her I’m sorry.’
‘Sorry for what?’ Isaac asked.
‘Sorry for not watchin’ out for her like I promised,’ he replied.
‘She says our enemy is an asshole,’ Isaac said solemnly.
He didn’t know Ip could curse and laughing, he said, ‘Her language center is improvin’.’
Isaac smiled and said, ‘She says it’s the bad company she keeps.’
Laughing again, he said, ‘Tell her that her bad company is close by. To call us if she needs us.’
Isaac said, ‘She says you should go argue with the noisy one. He distracts you.’
Once it was dark, they settled down to sleep in the bunker and Pax was fidgeting, tossing one direction and then the other. After a few minutes, Pax sat up and said, ‘We shoulda gone with the convoy.’
‘Why?’ He asked.
‘Because I’m bored,’ Pax complained.
‘Ya always bored, Pax,’ he remarked dourly. ‘Ya got somethin’ wrong with ya brain.’
TL snorted and said, ‘Like he hasn’t got one.’
‘Shaddup TL,’ Pax said rudely. ‘Havin’ a bigger brain ain’t done ya any good.’
Yawning, TL conceded, ‘That’s true.’
‘Ya know what they say, Pax,’ he commented. ‘Size don’t matter, it’s how ya use it.’
Pax chortled and said, ‘They doan mean ya brain when they say that, Gears.’ Lying back down on his makeshift bed, he put his hands under his head and asked, ‘Do ya remember when we all met? Ya know, when we was ten.’
‘Yeah,’ he replied. ‘I thought ya were a dumbass from the moment I met ya.’
‘Shaddup Gears,’ Pax retorted. ‘I’m bein’ serious. We’ve known one another for over thirty years. I can’t even date a woman for thirty days.’
Chuckling, TL said, ‘You mean you can’t afford one for thirty days. That kinda daily rate’s above your pay grade.’
Knowing Pax’s taste in women was notoriously cheap, he laughed and said, ‘I think he can afford two bucks
a day, TL.’
‘Ya both assholes,’ Pax declared. Persisting with his point he said, ‘Yer my brothers and if anythin’ happens to us, I want ya to know yer important to me.’
He heard what Pax was trying to say and he didn’t disagree, but he was surprised Pax would be the one to say it.
‘Is this ‘cos BD died and ya never told her how ya felt?’ He asked.
‘Yeah. Kinda. I guess,’ Pax said.
‘Aww, gee, Gears,’ TL remarked. ‘Out little guy’s finally growing up.’ TL half sat up, leaned on one elbow and said, ‘We know you care, Pax. It’s you that didn’t know it. Now, maybe you’ll quit dating cheap women and get yourself a real life.’
Pax rolled his eyes and said, ‘S’cuse me. I believe yer the head of dumpsville, TL. All ya girlfriends ditch ya. And, Gears, ya datin’ a woman who ain’t human. Neither of you two assholes are in any position to be givin’ me relationship advice.’
‘Shaddup Pax,’ he said amiably. ‘And yeah, we’re brothers and we love each other and all that shit. We get it. Now go to sleep.’
Aside from the endless bickering with Pax, the two days passed slowly. Through Isaac, they stayed in contact with Ip, but she didn’t tell them much. He did learn that Anna was at the Ranch, but Ip said she was acting oddly. Anna was always odd, he thought. As long as she didn’t hurt Ip, he didn’t care where Anna was. Ip also told them the hunter ruler, or Ruler as he called himself, was a very bad man. Ip said she couldn’t read his mind and that worried him. He didn’t understand what Ruler was, hunter or human or something altogether different. As it turned out Ip didn’t need them. For some reason, Ruler didn’t hurt her or kill her when he obviously could. It didn’t make any sense to him.
After two days Hatch picked them up from the bunker and they flew to Annona where they met up with Captain Ted, Nelson and over three hundred combat shooters. Looking around the field, now filled with HUMVEEs, assault vehicles, birds loaded with Hellfires, men and women geared up and ready for combat, they almost looked like a real army and he thought they’d come a long way in six months. He felt a twinge of pride, but suppressed it. Now was not the time and nor was he the type.
The Marine Corps assault vehicles are like armored turtles, when sealed they can’t be penetrated by anything less than armor-piercing heavy weapons. Combat shooters had slept in the assault vehicles. They were cramped and uncomfortable and everyone was grateful to be out in the fresh morning air. One of the noticeable changes since the world ended was the air quality. It hadn’t been obvious before, but the world stank of fumes, people, septic and manufacturing. It was only in the absence of mankind, they realized that people really did stink.
They spent the early morning making sure they were organized. Assault vehicles, birds and HUMVEEs were checked over and over, ensuring they were loaded as planned, people knew what they had to do and contingencies were understood. The combat shooters worked with one another trading equipment, checking one another’s gear and forming two and three person teams. There was the usual air of excitement overlaying the anxiety of combat. Despite the obvious danger, like everyone, he always looked forward to testing his training in real combat. It was combat that made the discipline of training worthwhile, otherwise the injuries, the pain and the drive was for nothing and true skill remained unproven.
He and Pax had worked hard to pull the teams and gear together, but this would be the first time they would use their full capabilities in anger. It would be a test of their design, planning, preparation, training and intent. Although today was to rescue Ip, in future this was the fighting force that would bring down the super hunters and hunters for good. If they failed today, they might fail forever and their mission didn’t stand a chance of success. He felt his own familiar underlying anxiety, not for today’s battle, but for their mission overall.
Captain Ted was leading the HUMVEES and assault vehicles and striding over purposefully, he said, ‘We’re good to go.’
‘We should get on road in the next thirty minutes,’ he replied.
They still had nearly forty miles to travel to the Ranch. The assault vehicles had tracks which made them slow and it would take an hour to drive to position. Nelson would set up the mortars three miles from the Ranch. He would be on the bird with Pax, TL, Max and Benny to both direct the battle and lead the attack on the house at the Ranch. He looked around for Nelson to check if he was ready to head out.
Through his radio mike, he asked, ‘Nelson what’s your status?’
‘Good to go, Gears,’ Nelson replied.
‘Okay,’ he replied. ‘Let’s get ‘em lined up to roll.’
Vehicles were lined up one behind the other. Drivers, gunners and combat shooters got into their vehicles and in position. He could hear people making final checks of their gear, their buddies and their plans. Stepping up to the lead bird being piloted by Hatch, he saw Pax was not on board.
‘Pax!’ He called. ‘Where the fuck are ya?’
‘I’m comin’,’ Pax puffed lightly. ‘Ya nag like a woman and ya doan have a woman’s assets to make it worth listenin’ to.’
Glaring around, he saw Pax in full armor loaded with ammo, wearing his helmet for once and carrying his M4A1 in one hand. He must have been wearing an additional 50 pounds on his stocky frame, but he was lightly jogging towards the bird without much effort. He stepped aside to let Pax aboard, shaking his head but said nothing. With one last look at the line of vehicles, he turned and grabbing hold of the door, hauled himself on board.
‘Time to go!’ He said loudly. ‘Got some asses to kick!’
Through his mike he heard a chorus of voices reply, ‘Roger that.’
Three miles from the Ranch, Nelsons team parked and set up a bank of ten M252 Mortars and four person crews assembled around the mortar tubes. Able to fire ten to fifteen mortar shells per minute, the crews were laying out clusters of 81mm shells for ease of access. Each shell was twenty inches long and weighed about ten pounds and the teams were setting out over a hundred shells for each mortar tube. Satisfied Nelson’s teams were ready to fire, he checked Captain Ted’s teams had the HUMVEEs and assault vehicles in position within a mile of the Ranch.
Stepping back onto the lead bird, it took off and from the air he checked the land around the Ranch. Working with Pax, they started directing the firing teams where to fire. The M252 Mortar had an effective range of four miles and Nelson’s teams were only three miles out. The high explosive shells had a blast radius of about fifty yards. One mile away from the Ranch, Captain Ted’s HUMVEE teams were using their MK 19 Grenade Launchers. They were firing 40mm belt-fed M430 impact grenades from boxes containing forty-eight grenades, and a box could be fired within one minute. The grenades had an effective range of about fifteen hundred yards and will kill or injure anything within fifteen yards. On each of the three birds, they had thirty-eight Hydra rockets plus eight Hellfire missiles. The Hydra rocket was an unguided missile with a one-mile range and a blast radius of ten yards, although the shrapnel could kill up to fifty yards away. The Hellfire missiles were laser-guided, the shooter, often the pilot, used a laser to target and the missile would lock on. With a five-mile range it obliterated anything within fifteen to twenty yards.
All of these weapons could be used with the limited training they could offer their teams. They ruled out using Howitzers and HIMARS due to complexity and dependency on the now defunct satellites for GPS targeting, but he and Pax agreed scorched earth was guaranteed with their current arsenal even without artillery.
Hoping to kill super hunters, they targeted any building or outside structure. Intending to thin the hordes of hunters, they targeted the larger groups of hunters. The land around the Ranch erupted into a series of continuous explosions and they rained hell down on earth. Buildings disintegrated. Hunters, there one moment, were gone the next. Dust, dirt and debris exploded into the air and as it slowly resettled, they could see limbs and body parts under the dust. Hunters with devastating injuries, missing li
mbs and torn apart, but with their brain stems intact, were dragging their beaten bodies across the earth, not trying to escape, but clearly confused. None of these visions of hell stopped their intent as he and Pax continued to direct the seemingly endless fire.
As the area around the Ranch cleared of almost all threats, living or undead, through his mike he called, ‘Cease fire! Cease fire! Assault vehicles move forward.’
The ten assault vehicles rumbled forward, each loaded with twenty combat shooters. From the safety of the assault vehicles, they cleared the path ahead by firing the MK 19 grenade launchers. The vehicles rumbled on, hunters continued to fall, profoundly injured and no longer capable of attack.
Not wanting to risk damaging the house, once the assault vehicles were within half a mile of the Ranch, he radioed, ‘Cease fire! Cease fire! Machine guns only!’
All assault vehicles had a turret and the gunner sat in a protected seat under it. Using the gunner periscope, the ten vehicles targeted hunters closer to them and fired relentlessly. From the bird he watched as hunters, caught in the rapid fire of the M2s, jerked wildly before being released from the forced movement of being repeatedly hit by .50-cal bullets. Hunters were falling and unable to get back on their feet, slowly crushed under the tracks of the moving assault vehicles. The vehicles were so heavy, he doubted the combat shooters were aware they were riding waves of hunter bodies, but from the air he watched bodies being crushed and the vehicles left a trail of black hunter fluids in their wake.
The hunter horde was considerably thinned and they were becoming increasingly disoriented. He was confident there were fewer super hunters left to direct the hunter army. Still not satisfied with the hell he rained, he ordered the birds to fire the Hellfire missiles at hunters closer to the Ranch. Hit with a Hellfire, there is no evidence left of any hunter within the kill zone and he grunted with satisfaction as clusters of hunters literally disappeared before his eyes.