by Robert Boren
“Nope,” Seth said, turning from his screen. “All of our units are in siege mode with their weapons out, but it’s nearly seven. Lots of people are gonna be around. I’m sure there’s been a lot of people there already.”
Ben laughed, looking over Seth’s shoulder at the screen. “Channel 8 arrived.”
“You’re shitting me,” Ivan quipped, coming closer to look.
“Not sure why this would be a surprise,” Morgan said. “I’ve been outside of the coaches when those mini guns go off. They’re loud. Everybody within a mile heard the action.”
Robbie chuckled. “They fired grenades at that building. Those are even louder.”
“This not laughing matter, team,” Jules said. “Where there few, there probably more. Anybody find their vehicle yet?”
“Nope, we think they walked in from someplace,” Seth said. “The meeting is up. Shall I put it on speaker so you can talk to the team?”
“Please,” Ivan said. “Does the microphone on your laptop feed into the meeting?”
“Yep,” Seth said. “We could use these laptops without the headsets if we wanted to, but it gets a little too confusing if there’s more than one meeting running.”
“Let’s chat with them,” Ivan said, getting closer.
Seth un-clicked the mute button on his laptop. “Hey, everybody, Ivan, Jules, and Ben are here with the rest of us. What’s the status?”
“Hey, partner,” Tex said. “So far we’ve only seen the three that we wasted. We’re drawing a lot of attention now, though. You see the TV van?”
“Yes, we see,” Jules said.
“Maybe we ought to talk to them,” Ivan said. “It’s another way to alert the locals that there might be danger.”
“Won’t it tip off the enemy about their location?” Shelly asked.
“They already know,” Ben said. “What’s going on at the country club?”
Robbie turned towards him. “They’re just holding there at the moment.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m seeing too,” Kaitlyn said.
“And the armada?” Ivan asked.
“Still coming, but it’s slow going for them,” Kaitlyn replied. “Watching them is like watching paint dry.”
“Except paint can’t shoot at you,” Morgan quipped.
“This is Ted. What should we do? Hang out here, or go to a new position?”
“Stay there, and get the attention of that TV van,” Ivan said.
Ted chuckled. “I had a feeling you were gonna say that. Bryan, when I get out in front of the rig, honk the horn, and I’ll motion that TV van over here.”
“You sure you should be going outside?” Haley asked.
“I won’t get more than a foot away from the rig.”
“I’ll cover you, boss,” Bryan said.
“Okay. You can start honking the horn now.”
The sound of a horn honking came over the speakers, Ivan and Jules shooting each other a worried glance.
“You in the van. Want an interview?” shouted Ted.
“Somebody came out the side door,” Bryan said.
“Ted, get back in here,” Haley shouted.
“They gave me a thumbs-up,” Ted said, followed by the sound of the door closing.
“The TV van just shut their side door,” Bryan said. “They’re driving over here.”
“Good,” Ted said. “Somebody on the intel team–get with Channel 8 to make sure that is a real news van.”
“Shit,” Brianna said. “We should’ve done that first.”
“I’m on it,” Ivan said.
Ted laughed. “Yeah, I’ll bet they talk to Ivan the Butcher. Hope they don’t send him a bill for air-time.”
“Be careful,” Jules said. “I not like. Somebody in your rig pull up Channel 8 Web Page–see if they have pictures of remote correspondents.”
“That’s a great idea, partner,” Tex said.
“I’m on that,” Haley said.
There was silence for a few moments, Seth’s screen showing the TV van rolling towards Ted’s battle wagon via drone video.
“No report of stolen TV vans or missing people,” Ivan said. “They’re trying to get in touch with that particular van.”
“Which of their reporters is in there?” Haley asked.
“Nancy Main.”
“Perfect,” Haley said. “Here she is. Pretty blonde. Looks about twenty-five.”
“Let me see that,” Ted said.
“Check her demeanor when she arrive,” Jules said. “If she look nervous, watch out. She be with cameraman. Probably no picture of them on web site.”
“You’re right about that,” Haley said. “There’s only on-air people on the web site.”
“They’re pulling up next to the rig,” Ted said. “That woman is getting out. I recognize her.”
Bryan picked up his M60 and opened the side slit. “Why don’t you get her in here alone first?”
“I’ll try,” Ted said.
“Don’t expose yourself if she refuses,” Ivan said.
“I’m sliding the passenger side window open a crack so I can talk. It’ll be difficult for them to hit me.”
“Hello?” the pretty blonde said, dressed in smart business attire.
“Can you come inside for a moment?” Ted asked out the crack.
“I’ll need my cameraman.”
“We need to chat with you first,” Ted said, watching her face.
Nancy Main’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“We can see your picture on the station’s web site,” Ted said. “Can’t see the cameraman.”
“How do I know who you are?”
“You’ve seen video of these rigs, I’m sure,” Ted said. “We’re with Ivan the Butcher. You know about the battle that happened to the east yesterday, right?”
She studied him for a minute, then glanced back at the van. “They want me to go in by myself first.”
The cameraman stuck his head out the side door. “I know who these guys are. Go ahead. Take the hand-held. You can set it on something and turn it on.”
“Won’t that give us poor quality?” she asked.
The cameraman chuckled. “Are you kidding? This will be pure gold. It’ll look like we’re on the battle front.” He held the camera out to her, and she reached over to grab it.
“Okay, I’ll let you in,” Ted said, nodding to Bryan, who opened the door. The woman rushed up the steps and entered, Bryan closing the door after her.
“Nancy Main, Channel 8,” she said. setting the camera down. “Thank you for letting me in.”
“Sorry for being so cautious,” Ted said. “We’re up against a very tricky enemy.”
“I understand,” she said.
“Hey, boss, want me to take off my headset and run it through the phone speaker?” Bryan asked.
“Boss?”
Ted chuckled. “Before this war started, he was an employee at my restaurant.”
“Really?” Nancy asked. “Maybe I can get a detailed story from you guys after this is over. I’ll bet it’s fascinating.”
“Hey, guys, I’ve got the meeting on speaker, which means Nancy Main can hear it,” Bryan said, setting his phone on the kitchen counter.
“Brilliant idea, Bryan,” Ivan said.
“Who’s that?” Nancy asked.
“Ivan the Butcher at your service.”
“Oh my God. Really?”
Ivan chuckled. “Wish it was in the flesh. I saw your lovely picture.”
“Where are you?” she asked, then paused. “Scratch that. Sorry.”
Ivan snickered, others laughing in the background. “I’ll just say this. We’re in our intel center, which is far away from there and underground.”
“I took some video journalism classes,” Brianna said. “Want me to man that camera for you?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind,” Nancy said. “It’s already running.”
“Great,” Brianna said, picking it up. “Shoot you when you’re askin
g questions, and the others when they’re answering, right?”
“That will be perfect, thanks.”
“Fire away,” Ted said.
“Sure you want to say that, boss?”
Ted laughed. “Maybe not.” Haley rolled her eyes.
“Why are you here?” Nancy asked.
“Want me to take that?” Ted asked.
“Please,” Ivan said.
“Yes, please,” Nancy said, staring intensely at him. Haley eyed her. Brianna elbowed Haley, and they shot each other a grin.
“We’re here to make sure that the UN Peacekeepers in Bonita don’t kill a bunch of citizens on their way further into National City,” Ted said.
“Oh, it’s the diversion because of the armada, right? We saw Ivan’s broadcast, of course, just like everybody else.”
“That’s exactly right,” Ted said. “The main reason we want to talk is to warn the local population. Members of the public who aren’t armed and able to fight should barricade themselves in their homes. Citizens who are armed and capable should help if we are attacked.”
“I see. You said the enemy fighters are in Bonita. Where? That’s not far from here.”
“Should I answer this?” Ted asked.
“Not a problem,” Ivan said, “but the public needs to understand that there are several thousand enemy fighters in that location with military weapons. It’s very dangerous there.”
“Hey, partner, Channel 10 just pulled into the parking lot,” Tex said. “They’re making a b-line for you guys.”
“Who’s that?” Nancy asked.
“One of our people, in a battle wagon across the street,” Ted said.
“Hey, boss, I don’t like the look of that van,” Bryan said, looking out the passenger side window. “It’s coming too fast!”
The oncoming van slammed on it’s brakes, screeching to a stop. UN Peacekeepers flooded out the side door, firing AK-47s into the battle wagon and the Channel 8 news van.
“Oh no!” cried Nancy.
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T ed jumped into the driver’s seat, pulling the sight in front of his eyes. “Get on the guns!”
Haley got on the front and rear guns, as Nancy Main looked on in horror.
Ted fired the mini gun at almost the same split second that Sparky, Angel, and Cody fired, shredding the Channel 10 van in seconds.
“Don’t overkill,” Jules said. “Robbie sees UN vans leaving the country club. Conserve ammo.”
“Shit, how many vans?” Haley asked.
“Lots,” Robbie said. “I’d move to a better position while you can.”
The rig was pinged with machine gun fire.
“Too late,” Ted shouted. “Where’s that coming from?”
“I see them,” Bryan said, stuffing the M60 out the driver’s side gun slit and opening fire, cutting down several UN Peacekeepers before they could make it to cover.
“Don’t come out of siege mode!” Jules said.
“I saw the teamsters and those special forces guys driving in your direction a few minutes ago,” Robbie said. “I’m sending a text to the contacts I’ve got.”
“Get them on the meeting,” Jules said. “How many semi trucks?”
“Looking now,” Robbie said.
“I see them,” Seth said. “Holy shit, there’s hundreds of semis on the way, and a lot of pickups and other vehicles following them.”
“Got Jesse,” Robbie said. “He was the main contact. He’s getting on the meeting and spreading the word.”
“Who are you talking about?” Nancy asked.
“The folks who won the Lemon Grove battle yesterday,” Brianna said, still filming with the hand-held camera. “Want me on an M60?”
“Keep filming,” Ivan said, “unless you’re in danger of being overrun.”
“Watch for anything big,” Ji-Ho said. “Don’t take chances.”
“Jesse here. We’re getting on the meeting now. I told most of the men not to id themselves as they come on. Too many of us.”
“Sax here too, with the Teamsters.”
“How many rigs are you bringing, partner?”
“Just under six hundred,” Sax said.
“Whoa,” Bryan said. “More guys setting up over there. They’re coming in on foot from the west side of the parking lot. They’ve got a mortar.”
“Blast them!” Jules said.
“Just what I had in mind,” Bryan said, firing his M60, knocking all of them down, trying to hit the mortar. “Dammit, fell behind that planter.”
“On it,” Ted said, firing a few grenades in that direction.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” Nancy cried.
“You’ll get killed if you do,” Brianna said. “These things are bullet-proof, and we’ve got a lot of help coming.”
“Here come the UN vans,” Tex said. “Should I start hitting them right off, or let them come into the kill zone?”
“Hit them right away,” Ji-Ho said.
“What if they turn around and go back to the country club?” Angel asked.
Robbie laughed. “Those six-hundred semis and the special forces guys are on that road, less than five minutes away. The enemy won’t do well going back in that direction. If anything we’ll be chasing them as they flee.”
“Don’t get over-confident,” Ted said. “How many UN vans?”
“Looks like 40 to 50,” Kaitlyn said.
“How are you guys seeing this?” Nancy asked.
“Drone video,” Brianna said.
“Geez, no wonder you’re wiping these guys out,” she said.
“Still filming?” Ivan asked.
“Yeah, I still have the camera,” Brianna said, “but if it gets too crazy I’ll have to fight.”
“Is that camera wireless?” Ivan asked.
“It is,” Nancy said, “feeding directly to the station.”
“Call your producers and tell them to put it on live,” Ivan said.
Nancy grinned. “That’s a great idea. Calling them now.”
She pulled out her cellphone, walking into the rear of the coach to make the call, returning in a second. “They’ve already been streaming it live.”
“Really?” Haley asked. “They’ll break in with this?”
“Are you kidding? We break in with car chases. I should’ve known.”
“Tex is getting ready to fire,” Ted said, his comment punctuated by mini gun fire from Tex and Trevor’s coaches.
“Here they come,” Haley said. “They’re trying to get away from the two battle wagons across the street by moving to this side, where there are four of us. Morons.”
Ted fired the mini gun in short bursts, hitting vans as they tried to get onto the parking lot, the others on that side of the street doing the same, switching to grenades quickly to conserve ammo.
“Look, they’re parking and getting out of those vans fast,” Haley said, opening fire with the front machine guns, dropping the first wave of Peacekeepers running for cover, more on their heels, the other coaches using their forward machine guns too. Bullets pinged the rear of the coach.
“They’re behind us,” Ted shouted.
“How’d they get back there?” Haley asked, switching to the rear view.
“They were probably setting up last night while we thought we were safe,” quipped Bryan.
“Come to mama,” Haley said, watching the running Peacekeepers get into range of her rear guns. She fired, laughing as she mowed them down.
“Damn, honey, getting to like this?” Ted asked, not taking his eyes away from his sight, firing several grenades into the middle of a large group of Peacekeepers trying to get out of their vehicles.
“More UN vans are leaving the country club,” Robbie said, “and we’re seeing some on foot now.”
“Dammit, we’ll run out of ammo if this keeps up too long,” Tex said. “Where the hell are those Teamsters?”
“We’re almost there,” Jesse said. “We’ve hit the ea
stern side of the country club already.”
“Good, sweep all those folks our way,” Trevor said. “We’re ready for them.”
“Here they come,” Tex said, his mini gun firing up again. “I’m surprised they aren’t getting out sooner. These folks aren’t too bright.”
“They’re desperate,” Ivan said. “Most of them know they ain’t gonna live through this.”
“If we keep hitting them there, it’ll block up the road, and that’ll force them out,” Sparky said. “Maybe we ought to be letting them in further.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ted said. “Those trucks will slam into them any second.”
“Yeah, keep hitting them on the road,” Robbie said.
“We can see them now,” Angel said, his coach firing, Cody’s joining in. “Wish we were a little closer.”
“You’re the back door,” Ted said. “Have somebody watching to the west. Some of these slugs might try to get around the back side of us.”
“They’re trying to figure out a way, but there isn’t a good one,” Seth said. “I’m watching a group of them now. Sweetwater is the only way in there. The golf course to the north keeps them from going west from north of Sweetwater, and Highway 54 plus the Sweetwater River have them stymied in the south. These folks are gonna get pushed into the kill zone by all of those folks coming from the east.”
“You got that right, brother,” Sax said. “They’re already figuring that out. We just ran several off the road that were trying to turn around.”
Suddenly the sound of sporting arms filled the air. Ted turned to Haley and smiled.
“What’s that?” Nancy asked. “Sounds different.”
“The citizens are joining the battle again,” Ted said. “God, I love these people.”
“Sweetwater is clogged with broken vans, partner,” Tex said. “I see a bunch of Peacekeepers bailing out with all kinds of hardware.”
“What hardware?”
“Mortars, light machine guns, RPGs. Better watch those RPGs, they might be strong enough to knock us out.”
“Maybe,” Sparky said. “Depends on what kind. If it’s that crap they’ve been using from China, they have to get a pretty lucky shot to break one of these rigs.”
“If you can’t kill whoever has one of those, get out of the rig fast,” Ji-Ho said.
“Yeah, he’s right,” Ted said. “Remember what happened before. Be smart, keep your eyes open.”