Defending Home

by Jeffrey Miller

  “You may be right, Kyle. We need to take a closer look. I’m sure that cabin has windows around back. If she is in there, she might be tied up or otherwise physically unable to get out,” Nate said trying to keep things calm, knowing he was talking about Kyle’s cousin.

  “It will take me time, but I will work my way around to the other side. You have the high ground. Do what you snipers do best; just be prepared to move and take cover. They have the GM-94 grenade launchers. I could see them hanging from the deployed air dropped troops a few weeks ago. I think you are out of their range, but don’t get too close,” Nate reminded Kyle.

  “I have seen them before; I will drop whoever pulls one up,” Kyle said without hesitation.

  Nate was starting to feel more relaxed working with Kyle. He had worked with many snipers before, and he always got the good feel or bad feel about them within an hour. Kyle was confident, and it showed so far. Anyone who made it through the courses he had completed must be a better shot than himself.

  Nate took off, keeping low and out of view. Kyle watched as Nate quickly found a good path to take him down toward the tree line that ended in an open field. He lost track of Nate a few times, only to see him pop up here and there far across the wide expanse. After forty more minutes from his view and knowing where Nate told him he would be, Kyle saw Nate. He was now directly behind the cabin about two hundred yards.

  Nate looked through the binoculars at the rear of the cabin. He could see three small-screened windows and a door that, for obvious reasons, was closed. The windows were too small for the soldiers to climb through. Nate didn’t have a clue as to Audrey’s size. It would be risky to go up and start tapping on a window. He didn’t know if she was truly inside or not. Not to mention that she wouldn’t know him from the others, and would probably be combative or in shock. Nate said a fast prayer for her, hoping they had not violated her. He had hope for her because when he found Nicole, the men had not been successful at trying to have their way with her. If Audrey was a fighter, she might be winning.

  Nate hoped that Kyle would stay on target. He was a little concerned, but had no choice but to let Kyle come with him. The day before they left, Ray had told him that Kyle was down about Audrey being abducted because at the time of the abduction, he and Kyle were gone hunting. Ray felt that if he had been at camp when it occurred, then maybe he could have taken down the people who took his cousin. The truth was, he didn’t have a rifle or night vision equipment, so that may not have occurred anyway. The gun he was using for hunting was a shotgun. The rifles available were with Ray and Dillon; by the time he would have been able to retrieve one, it would have been too late.

  Nate knew his next move would have to be well considered. He had said he would recon and then return to create a plan that involved everyone helping. It seemed he had no choice at this point but to keep his word. Nate started to back out of his hiding spot when he saw a man walk around the side of the cabin carrying a small curved bar. The man rounded the cabin and headed right for the door. Nate dropped down to watch what was taking place. The man struggled at first, then suddenly the door flung open. He walked inside, and after a few seconds, Nate heard a scream echoing across the snow. It was a scream from a female.

  Nate picked up his rifle and looked through the scope to see the man dragging the woman out of the cabin. She was dressed in men’s coveralls and boots. She swung hard; barely missing the man’s face. He was a very large man, towering well above her smaller frame; but that didn’t stop her from kicking at him. Her blond hair was slashing at the wind that blew it about. She looked a lot like her mother. The man was having trouble gaining control of her, and knelt to carry her off like a caveman. Nate couldn’t just sit still any longer. He had to trust that his next moves would be covered by his eye in the sky.

  Audrey was feeling herself being lifted onto the soldier’s wide shoulders. She struck at him hard with her elbows. A strike she had learned in karate. It only fazed the man slightly as he laughed. He was speaking to her in his native language, but she still didn’t understand him. So, she struck him again…only this time across the head and temple area. He released her, dropping her to the ground. Audrey hit the one inch of snow hard. It knocked the wind out of her. She was surprised the other men had not found out what he was doing, but most of them slept late into the day. She looked up to see a very large pissed off Russian holding the side of his head and peering down at her with hate. She was trying to get her wind back as he reached down at her feet. She gave him one to the side of the head. He fell backwards this time. Audrey got on her feet, and took off running in the opposite direction from the cabin.

  Nate had decided to shoot the man as he was bending over to grab Audrey. Then he saw her roundhouse him in the head and paused. His pause helped when he couldn’t believe his eyes. Audrey was now up on her feet and running right toward him.

  Nate watched as Audrey made her way across the field. The man on the ground slowly got up and looked around to see her running. He slowly took off after her. She was getting closer now, not knowing that Nate was soon to be in sight. Nate had to time everything just right so as not to be seen by the man coming for her. He removed his coat and placed his rifle on the ground; doing all of this while laying down. He then looked back up and saw her closing in. He had to wait till she entered the tree-lined area.

  Audrey saw the tree line and figured if she could make it into the woods, she might have a chance to hide from the man. The snow was a little deeper in spots due to drifting. She slowed up some as she came into the woods. She made it, she thought to herself. Suddenly, she felt a massive pull on her and once again she was on the snow. Something had pulled her down.

  “Audrey, I’m friends with your father, Dillon. Don’t fight, I will get you out of here. Don’t move, please.”

  “Who are you?” she managed to say as Nate released her some so that she could look up at him. She was still out of breath and becoming cold. Nate could see her lips already changing color. She was a young lady; maybe nineteen or twenty, with big brown eyes. She saw Nate looking up and over out toward the soldier who was running slowly through the area. He then looked back down at her.

  “My name is Nate. Your cousin Kyle is up on the mountain. He is here to help also,” he replied.

  “Kyle is here?” she said, trying to sit up.

  Nate held her. “Audrey, please stay down. We can’t leave just yet. We will leave tracks for him to follow, so I have to stop him when he gets up to us,” Nate explained.

  Audrey relaxed and didn’t move.

  “While I deal with him, I want you to remain hidden right here. Ok?” Nate said.

  “Ok.” Audrey seemed very tired to Nate. She didn’t look like she had gotten much rest, and she was slightly malnourished. She really appeared to be sick. Nate knew they needed to get her back as fast as possible.

  The soldier was nearly to the tree line and slowed up trying to see her tracks. He was walking now, getting closer to the tracks. He entered the forest.

  Nate was behind a large Douglas fir. The man walked right by him. Nate stepped up behind the man and with one move, he slid his knife between the man’s ribs into his back. The man died instantly. Audrey was near, but she didn’t see what happened.

  Nate spoke in a normal voice. He was out of sight of the cabin. “Audrey, you can get up now. Let’s go.”

  She slowly stood, only seeing the man lying on his stomach with the snow turning red. She didn’t hear a sound coming from the man.

  “Is he dead?” she asked slowly.

  Nate had already cleaned off his knife and put it back in his pocket. “Yes, it was fast. We didn’t have a choice,” he replied.

  Audrey had a smirk on her face.

  “I couldn’t understand him, but from his tone and body language, I know he was going to rape me. I think they are mad that their leader kept me inside, away from them. The leader spoke good English and told me he was sorry that they had brought me to the cabin.
Apparently, a group set out on their own looking for supplies when they found us. They brought me back also, but they were stopped by the leader. He protected me,” she explained as Nate covered her with his coat and they began walking.

  “What do you mean ‘protected you?’ He didn’t do anything to you?” Nate asked.

  She smiled.

  “No, he was a man of the cloth; a priest, I guess. The other men obeyed him. I’m sure if he wasn’t there, things would have been different,” she said.

  Nate was grateful to the commander for at least trying to protect her.

  “Where did the leader go? We saw him leave on a four-wheeler,” Nate asked.

  Audrey smiled again.

  “He said he was headed to a small house that was abandoned. He said there were items in it that we could use. He also promised me that he would return me to my family as soon as he could get us away from the others.”

  “Well, I hope he stays away. I’m sure he may have good intentions; but nevertheless, he came here with an invasion force,” Nate replied.

  Nate and Audrey started moving away from the area, staying deeper in the tree line and out of visual sight from the cabin. Nate realized it was only a matter of time before someone found the back door open, or the commander returned to find her missing. The tracks in the snow would lead them to a dead body. He knew the commander would likely think about it, and be forced to go after her and whoever the other set of tracks belonged to.

  Audrey was tired. She had survived on some strange Russian soup and crackers that the soldiers carried. They did not have many rations, and she had become so hungry that she would have eaten anything they provided. The past few days were worse; she had nothing to eat for the past two days. She stopped and tuned to Nate.

  “Do you have anything to eat? I’m so hungry,” she said, barely able to stand.

  Nate felt bad for not having offered her anything; not even water. Where were his manners? He ridiculed himself later. He reached over and removed his pack. Inside were some of the biscuits with jerky. Audrey’s eyes opened wide when Nate opened the bag and let her reach in. She quickly scarfed down two biscuits; nearly choking. Nate had never seen a person eat so fast. He removed a small water bottle they had reused and filled with well water, and handed it to her. Audrey drank and gasped. She then slowly tore into the jerky; groaning as she chewed, and letting the flavors stimulate her taste buds.

  “They didn’t feed you much, did they?” Nate asked.

  She didn’t hear him, or maybe she wasn’t paying attention as she swallowed the food. The water even tasted better.

  “You ok?” he asked.

  “Yes. Sorry…I didn’t hear what you said.”

  Nate smiled. “It’s ok, we need to get moving if that’s ok,” he said, putting his pack back on and picking up his rifle.

  Audrey was still reaching for another biscuit.

  “Audrey, slow down. You will make yourself very sick. You must let your body readjust. Keep drinking the water though,” he stated.

  She pulled her hand out slowly from the bag like she had just gotten busted in a cookie jar. Audrey managed a weak smile. Nate led her down the makeshift trail onwards to Kyle’s position. They made good time as they pushed through the dense forest with snow accumulations varying.

  Kyle watched from his viewpoint and only saw the man briefly before he disappeared into the wood line. He had been focused – after spotting Nate earlier – on the men at the front of the ranger station. Now, he saw the commander returning to the site on the four-wheeler. He drove the vehicle to the rear of the cabin and spotted the door wide open. Kyle lost sight of him.

  The commander jumped off of the four-wheeler and ran inside, only to reappear and run to the front of the camp area yelling. Several men came out of their tents and stood as the commander barked orders at them. About this same time, Kyle heard someone coming from down below, the same way Nate had left before. Kyle’s eyes opened wide as he saw Nate with Audrey in tow and growing weaker.

  “Oh my God, Audrey! I’m so glad to see you!” he said, dropping his rifle and hugging her while trying to stay silent. She hugged him back and could hardly speak, she was so tired.

  “Nate, how did you…”

  Nate cut Kyle off as he pointed down below. The soldiers were spreading out at the rear of the cabin and coming into view as they quickly made their way to the tree line. Soon they would discover their comrade in a pool of blood at the base of a tree.

  “Will explain later…but we have to get moving. They will be on our tracks fast, Kyle.” Nate was already moving with Kyle guiding Audrey between them.

  “How is mom and dad?” Audrey asked, trying to keep up with Nate’s long stride.

  “They are ok, but worried sick. We looked everywhere for you. We had no idea you were up so high,” Kyle informed.

  Audrey couldn’t imagine how her parents must have worried. It was by pure chance that she stepped out from the cabin when she did, right into the arms of a Russian soldier. She had screamed and tried to fight, but it did no good; the man was too big and strong.

  “Who is this man?” she whispered to Kyle.

  Nate heard her. He knew she was talking about him, but he didn’t say a word.

  “It’s a long story; but he is now a good friend, Audrey…and a fellow Army man,” Kyle replied.

  Nate smiled as he led them down and away from the area that would soon meet the tracks leading to the coming soldiers. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the soldiers caught up to them. These men trained in conditions just like this all the time. This might as well be their backyard, with Nate and company as the invaders. However, this wasn’t Nate’s first time in the snow either.

  “We need to do something, Kyle,” Nate said, not stopping when he spoke.

  Kyle looked up toward Nate. “What is that?” he asked.

  Nate stopped and turned to them both. “We need to split up.”

  Chapter 7

  Splitting Up is Hard to Do

  “Are you crazy?” Kyle asked. “We need to stick together and just get downhill,” he continued.

  Nate looked at him with a look that asked, seriously?

  “Listen…you know I’m right. Besides that, they know where she lives. You need to get her to a point that you can direct her home. Then stand your ground if anyone makes it by me. If you don’t hear anything after a while, have my dad come after me. I will try to stop them from here. We can’t all just go back and wait. We have to fight and end this now,” Nate stated.

  “Alright. I don’t agree, but I trust you. I will get her back as close as possible and then return,” Kyle stated.

  Kyle wasn’t too keen on the idea of splitting up. It went against everything that he was trained to do, but getting Audrey back home was important. Kyle always wondered – the day she was taken – why the soldiers didn’t come in force and overrun the ranger station. Perhaps that day there were only a few of them, and when they meet resistance, they fled with Audrey. It was dark, and no one knew exactly how many there were that night.

  “Go, I need to get to a position that has some cover,” Nate said.

  Audrey stepped toward Nate and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for coming after me, whoever you are,” she said, then turned and took off running at a faster pace, having a new reason to move knowing that the Russians were trying to find her.

  Nate turned and ran through the snow back in the direction from which he came. After about five minutes, he took a position up a steep slope that overlooked the trail with their tracks below. Off in the distance, he could hear the distinct sound of men’s voices.

  *****

  Back at Gene’s property

  Sammie was sitting on the porch with Ben and Nicole. Samson was roaming the expansive yard with his nose to the ground; every so often, he would look up. His attention seemed focused on something far off. Ben noticed the dog’s actions.

  “I can’t figure out Samson today. He is acting weird,�
� Ben said, trying to get Samson’s attention. Sammie was talking to Nicole about how long it took her to get through nursing school years earlier, when she heard Ben’s comments. She wondered if maybe the dog knew Nate was approaching home, but she didn’t want to get Ben’s hope up. Nate and Kyle had been gone for over twenty-four hours, and truth be known, she was also a little worried. She put on her strong face for the both of them.

  Nate’s mom was also worried for good reason. Henry was with him and she wasn’t used to him being gone. She was inside with Mattie doing some canning. A few hours earlier, Sammie spoke to her brother about the situation. Randy had promised he would go after Nate and Henry if they did not return within two days. Randy had quickly become a good student of Nate’s. He had learned many tactics very fast with the Russian incident, also now having many more full-auto firearms to use. Before Nate left, Randy had approached Nate with several of the hand grenades they had removed from the bodies of the Russians. Nate tucked them away in his pack; thanking Randy. Nate had forgotten somehow about the items, and was grateful Randy had remembered to pack them. In many ways, Nate was trying to get out of the military mindset and become a normal civilian again. However, the times would not allow for that just yet.

  “Sammie, do you see yourself marrying Nate someday?” Nicole asked.

  Sammie was shocked. The question gave her reason to pause. She wondered now if Nicole was interested in Nate…but she was so young. Sammie had to address this carefully.

  “I’m not sure. Why do you ask?” she asked, hoping to get some sense for the reason Nicole was asking.

  Nicole smiled and looked away. “Honestly, I think you two would make a great couple. Nate deserves to be happy. He has done so much for me, I just want him to be happy,” she replied.

  Sammie breathed a sigh of relief. She was worried about Nate having romantic feelings for Nicole, but she didn’t want to see Nicole get hurt.

  “Time will tell Nicole; but I do also want to see Nate happy. I would love to be that person in his life no matter what the times throw our way,” Sammie replied.