by C. A. Henry
Erin expected Julia to protest, but the old woman just smiled serenely. “He is an old man, but he is also a formidable warrior. If our friends need help, I would expect no less of him.”
Chapter 22
Late July
As soon as they got back to the lodge, Erin made sure that all the hand-held radios from the cache were charged. She used solar chargers and placed them on the deck, so they would get full sun for the rest of the day. There were enough for everyone, and she made it clear that everyone was to keep one clipped to a belt or pocket, or beside the bed, at all times.
Tanner took one that had a full charge and tried to contact Ken. He went outside and began climbing the mountain, trying to find a spot where he could get through. After several attempts, he found a place where he had adequate reception.
“Had any more trouble there?” Tanner inquired.
“Not much at our location, but a young woman was gang-raped yesterday on the other side of the park. They killed her, Tanner. We found her body less than an hour ago. And they beat up an old couple who lived behind the grocery store. The woman is with us now, but the man didn’t make it. He died on the way here. We’ve been trying to gather in as many people as we can, but finding that girl, and those old folks, has really brought home to me that we are in over our heads.”
Those punks are getting more brazen every day, like they think they own the whole town, and we don’t have enough weapons to defend ourselves if they come here.”
“You’re armed?”
“I am, and so are a few of the men who are still here. Most of the population has left already, but there are four able-bodied men here with us. They brought their families here for safety.”
Some folks have been critical of me for allowing guns in the church building and for carrying one myself, but I can’t stand by and let them hurt people. I don’t believe the Lord wants me to, either. I think he knows the difference between defense of the innocent and just killing someone. I can’t let those convicts hurt my family or my friends. The Lord is my judge, and I will face Him someday, able to hold my head up and say that I stood for the weak.”
He knows my heart, and He knows the hearts of those thugs. I will not kill except to protect others, but I will do what is necessary if they come here.”
“I understand, Ken. We’ve been talking about this. Keep gathering all the townspeople that will come, and tell those who won’t to stay inside their homes. I’ll get back to you, but I believe that help is on the way. I won’t say more than that on an open radio frequency, but I’ll be in touch.”
***
Tanner went in search of Erin, finding her on the deck, checking her plants. “We need to open the long canisters in the cavern. It looks like there’s a war about to start in town, and if I’m not mistaken, there are rifles in those canisters.”
Erin arched an eyebrow. “I believe you are right about the canisters. At least, that’s what the labels on them say. Let’s go open them up. Grab one of the guys, and we’ll unload what you think we will need. I don’t know why I haven’t opened them before, except that there was no urgent need, and in the canisters, they stay clean and dry.”
On the way to the pantry, they ran across Shane, and Tanner asked if he was busy,
“Nope, not at the moment. You need me?” Shane offered.
“Come on, we have a little chore to do that you might find interesting. Let me grab a couple of screwdrivers. I’ll meet you in the pantry.”
Erin led Shane through to the cavern, where Tanner joined them a few minutes later. Each canister had six screws holding the lid down tight, so Tanner and Shane got to work opening them. Tanner got his open first, and pulled out a Remington 700 BDL 270. There were three more just like it in the giant canister, wrapped in padding to keep them from banging against each other. Shane’s canister contained the same thing, and there were more canisters to open.
“There are some smaller canisters over here. They are full of Glock 21s, and there is ammo, enough to fight a small war. Those containers over there have the scopes for the rifles. They’ll have to be mounted and sighted in. Uncle Ernie had the money to buy what he thought we would need, and he didn’t skimp. I think the scopes are top-of-the-line Leupolds.” Erin looked around and found what she was looking for. “And these two canisters have Glock 9mm for those who can’t handle a .45, so Valerie and Frances might need those.”
“Valerie and Frances will need them, but not for the fight in town that’s coming. They will be staying here at the lodge.” Tanner held up one of the rifles. “These guns look brand new. They’ve been cleaned and packed away carefully, so they didn’t collect dust or moisture. They’ll be ready to go as soon as we can get the scopes on them. We’ll go to the spot where we’ve been teaching Valerie to shoot, and get them sighted in. Tomorrow morning, I want to have a meeting with all of our bunch, plus my grandfather, Will and John, the Fosters, Mac, and maybe Jimmy Gibbs. We are going to protect our friends in town, and that gang of convicts is going to find out that they do not own Kanichi Springs.”
***
Tanner used his radio to contact their neighbors and his grandfather. All of them agreed to meet at the lodge early the next morning.
As dawn painted the sky bright orange, peach, and dark blue, the neighbors began to arrive. Nolan’s older son, Paul, came with his dad. Jimmy brought his twenty-year-old twins, Hunter and Heather.
Charlie and Gus carried in chairs from the patio and the dining room, but even then, most of the group had to sit on the floor or the hearth. BJ, Frances, and Valerie volunteered to stand watch so the others could attend the meeting.
Tanner began by describing what they had witnessed in town, then told them what he had heard from Ken.
“These men are convicted criminals who have shown that they have no intention of trying to live like civilized people. They have looted and destroyed property, and now, they have raped and killed. They are animals, and it is up to us to stop them.”
Jimmy Gibbs asked, “So what do you plan to do, and when?”
“Kill them, as soon as we can,” Gus interjected.
Voices erupted throughout the room, expressing either agreement or concerns. Tanner gave Ian a look and a nod, which resulted in Ian giving a loud, shrill whistle. The silence was instantaneous. “Calm down, folks! When everyone talks, nobody is heard. Let’s discuss this calmly,” Ian urged.
Charlie spoke up before anyone else could say anything. “Most folks think I’m just an old hippie pothead, but I have some thoughts on this. First of all, let’s say we managed to take some of them scumbags alive, which is unlikely, because they’re gonna fight back hard. What can we do with ‘em?”
Give ‘em a talkin’ to and let ‘em go? Take ‘em outta town and dump ‘em? If we do that, they’ll either come back here lookin’ for revenge, or go hurt folks in some other town. So do we put ‘em in jail? Nobody has laid eyes on the town’s cops in several weeks. The jail here only has two cells, and who would guard ‘em? And we sure don’t want to have to feed ‘em forever. Food is in short supply as it is. They sure cain’t go back to the prison, because there’s nobody there to watch ‘em, either. No other town is gonna take ‘em off our hands, and we’ll get no help from that idiot Deputy Kline. Ain’t nobody seen him around lately, anyway.”
I say if we catch any alive, we have a trial, and if they’re found guilty, we execute ‘em. It’s the only way that makes any sense.”
Gus grinned. “Charlie, that’s the longest speech I ever heard from you in the sixty years I’ve known you.”
Tanner looked around at his friends and neighbors. Charlie’s little speech had them thinking, and the room was quiet.
Finally, Tanner broke the silence. “Does anyone have a viable alternative? Speak up now if you do.”
Vince was leaning against the railing of the spiral staircase, but straightened and stepped forward. “I worked Cell Block A at the prison. There was no inmate on that cell block who had not
committed a violent crime. Rape, assault, murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, and some of them could check ‘all of the above’ for those crimes. Those cells were filled with the worst of the worst, and I am ashamed to admit that most of the ones who escaped were from my cell block. It doesn’t matter that they escaped while we were shorthanded. I bear the responsibility because the guards I trained did not stand firm. If those inmates are now terrorizing your town, I say it’s time to put a permanent stop to it.”
Nolan stood up, a determined look on his face. “This state has the death penalty for those a jury says are guilty of premeditated murder. Since the prisons can’t take robbers, rapists, and looters anymore, those crimes might need to be punishable by death, too. Those convicts have committed all sorts of serious crimes. Like in the days of the Wild West, when stealing a man’s horse would get you hung from the nearest tree because it endangered the man’s life to be without a horse, stealing food and supplies endangers lives today.”
Government courts are not able to do the job right now, so that means that we citizens have to do it ourselves. I say Charlie’s right; we need to fight these men, because they have killed and raped in our town. If any survive, we have a trial, and like Charlie said, we execute those found guilty.”
Tanner quickly jumped in. “All in favor, raise your right hand.”
Several hands shot up immediately. Others were raised more slowly, but every hand went up.
“Okay,” Tanner asserted. “Now we need a plan. There’s work to do. Who knows how to mount a scope on a rifle? Who has military experience?”
“Charlie, Mac, John, Gus, Nolan, and I are veterans, but Nolan has the most experience with planning an operation like this. Vince knows those punks, so he should have input, too,” Talako answered. “How about the seven of us go sit on the porch and see what we can come up with?”
“Great. Ian, Shane, Will, Erin, and I will work on those scopes. Sarah, could you find some markers and paper? Get someone to help you, and draw us some targets? We’ll need a lot, since we need to sight these rifles in.”
“I can help with scopes, too,” Jen offered. “I’ve been hunting since I was nine, and Dad taught me to do whatever needed doing. He could help, too, if someone would relieve him. He’s on guard duty.”
“Richie!” Tanner called. “Can you handle a gun?”
“Yes. I’m not so good with a handgun, but I can shoot a squirrel in the head at a hundred yards with a rifle. Will that be good enough?”
“Yep, that’ll do it. Please relieve BJ so he can help mount scopes. He’s probably ready to sit down for a while, anyway. Jimmy, Hunter, Heather – help out wherever you can.”
The lodge grew quiet as they all settled in to work on their assigned tasks. Even Micah joined in, helping Sarah, Valerie, and Frances draw circles on sheets of paper. That job went quickly, so after making several targets each, Valerie and Frances went to the kitchen to make soup for lunch. They used meat from Tanner’s buck and veggies from Erin’s container garden on the deck, and soon the aroma filled the lodge.
By the time everyone else had finished a bowl of soup, most of the rifles had scopes, so Tanner’s group took a quick break to eat. Sarah had a stack of about 60 targets ready to go. The men who were discussing a plan for the coming battle were still working on strategy, so several of those who could shoot hiked to the valley where Tanner and Ian had been teaching Valerie. It took a while, but they got enough of the rifles sighted in for everyone in the group, then carried them carefully back to the lodge.
Talako and the other military men were waiting for them when they got back. The veterans had come up with a scheme to take back the town. They had chosen Nolan to be in command, since he had extensive experience and was also the most physically fit.
“Because of their inexperience with weapons, we have decided that Valerie and Frances will stay at the lodge. Angie will also be here, and those three will prepare to receive wounded. BJ, Richie, and Mac will stay behind to provide security for the lodge. We could sure use Mac in town, but he’s got a wife who is almost eight months pregnant, so he stays here. Micah, you’ll also stay here to help out, as will Paul.” Nolan glanced at his eldest. “Sorry, son, but we need you here. You can help your mother set up in case we have casualties.”
Now we all know that no plan survives contact with the enemy, but here’s one that has a real good chance of working. From what we can tell, that gang has looted just about all of the stores in town, so we figure they’ll start scavenging in homes next. Since there are three small neighborhoods where just about everyone in town lives, we will split into three squads to cover those neighborhoods. Each squad’s position will allow them to see not only their own area, but also to have good visuals on at least one other squad’s area.”
Squad leaders will be Gus, Talako, and John. Charlie was a sniper in Vietnam, so he is going to be up in the steeple of the church. That’s the highest spot in town, with a decent view of almost everything. Plus, he can help protect the people who have taken refuge there. The squad assigned to that part of town will also be larger than the other squads, because they not only have to watch that neighborhood, they have to guard the church. As far as we know, only a few of the men inside the church are armed, so keeping those people safe is a priority. Hopefully, the gang will come into town from the west, the end furthest from the church, and we can stop them before they get near the east end of town, but we can’t take that for granted.”
Every person will have a radio, and we will use code names for the squads and for Nolan and Charlie. Each of you will have both a rifle and a handgun, and each squad will have at least one person with binoculars. Now, we’ll break up into squads and let your leaders tell you the specifics of the plan.”
***
Before dawn the next morning, the three squads were in place. Talako’s squad was designated Gray Eagle, and was the larger squad assigned to the area around the church building. Charlie climbed up and through a trap door that gave access to the tiny observation platform in the steeple. It made a perfect spot for the old sniper to set up. His call sign was Hawkeye.
Shane’s code name was Lone Eagle, and he was in the middle of downtown on the ground level so he could stay mobile. His quickness in assessing threats paired with his fighting skills, both with guns and hand-to-hand, made him a valuable asset. His assignment was to shadow the gang from wherever they got out of their van, try to see if any went off in another direction, and take whatever action he deemed appropriate if they did.
The men who were already in the church building guarded the outside doors. Ken and Sarah guarded the stairway to the basement, where the women and children were, in case anyone got that far. Heather and Jimmy were in the classrooms upstairs, overlooking the street and parking lot. Talako took up his position in an empty house across the street, and Nolan, code named Blue Eagle, was in an upstairs window of a house across the parking lot from the church. They both had a clear view of the entire street, and Talako’s position allowed him to see most of downtown, as well as the small cluster of houses on the street behind Lydia’s shop.
Gus’s squad, Green Eagle, was assigned to the downtown area. From their spot on the roof of an abandoned store, Gus and Hunter could help Talako cover the homes behind Lydia’s, while Tanner and Erin were on the roof of Gus’s shop. Tanner watched the alley behind the shop and the homes on the next street. Erin had the front, and was expected to see the gang first if they came from the west, the direction they had gone when they left town. Erin’s position was designated Aerie One.
Red Eagle, John’s squad, had the southeast section of town, and were able to see the homes there, as well as monitor the road that led out of town to the south. Will and Vince could see the east end of Main Street and the intersection near the church. John and Ian were on the roof of the old feed store, the last building at that end of town, and their position was called Aerie Two.
Each squad had an assigned channel to communicate within t
he squad, and Nolan had his own channel as commander. He had instructed one of each pair of fighters to stay tuned to the squad channel, and the other to stay on his channel, to speed up communications. Charlie and Shane would monitor Nolan’s channel.
Everyone was ready to move if needed elsewhere, except those guarding the church. They had a lot innocent people there to protect, and they all considered that protection to be paramount. After all, keeping the townspeople safe was the ultimate goal, the main reason they were there, ready to fight.
***
The wait seemed interminable, and those who were on roofs began to feel the heat of the blazing sun soon after it rose. There was not even a wisp of a breeze. Erin wiped the perspiration from her forehead, and with the sun at her back, used her binoculars to scan to the west, past the buildings of town, down the two-lane highway that connected the town to the turnpike. She supposed that the bad guys were sleeping off a drunk, and would be late coming into town.
As time dragged on, everyone got sweaty and tense from the waiting, but Erin continued to watch the highway. Suddenly, she caught a tiny flash of light, a reflection from the sun on something shiny, then she heard the faint hum of an engine, just a split second before she saw the beat-up old van top a hill in the distance.
“Blue Eagle, Blue Eagle. This is Aerie One. We have a sighting and it’s the same van we saw before. Now approaching the west edge of town.” Erin raised the binoculars again, being careful to stay inconspicuous. “Slowing down. I can see faces now. Looks like the van has a full load of passengers, maybe eight or ten.”
“Aerie One, have they reached your position yet?”
“Rolling slowly past us . . . now. Still heading east, Blue Eagle.”
“Hold your position, Aerie One. All squads, remember: do not fire until there has been an illegal act committed. We are not murderers, but if any of them commits a crime, shoot to kill. Once the shooting starts, it is open season on buzzards.”