by Robert Boren
“Yes,” Erica said. “Thanks so much for letting us spend the night here.”
“It’s our pleasure. Coffee? It just finished brewing.”
“Thought you’d never ask,” Sam said.
“Where’s Garrett?” Erica asked.
Anna got down three cups and filled them. “He’s out checking on the livestock. He’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Sam took a sip of the coffee. “Perfect, thanks. Do you know if the battle wagons got back here?”
“They pulled in about eleven last night,” Anna said.
“Thank God,” Erica said. “We didn’t lose anybody, I hope.”
“Haven’t heard for sure,” Anna said, going to the kitchen table. “I’m sure we would’ve been told by now. Have a seat.”
They all sat at the table.
“This coffee tastes so good,” Erica said.
“It does,” Anna said. “How’s Mia doing? I’ll bet she was glad to see you guys.”
“She was,” Erica said.
“I hope this war is over soon. It was hard on her having you gone. She worried the whole time.”
Erica felt tears building up and forced them back. “She’s had a rough time, losing her family. I hope it doesn’t cause her too many problems later in life.”
“We can’t worry about that, honey,” Sam said. “It’ll drive us crazy, and she’ll feel it.”
“I know, it’s just hard.”
“It’s amazing how quickly she bonded to you two,” Anna said.
The door opened, Garrett strolling in. “That coffee smells good.”
“It’s nice and fresh,” Anna said.
“How are you guys doing?” Garrett asked, taking his coat off and hanging it over a chair.
“Great,” Sam said. “Thanks for putting us up. We didn’t even know where our rig was last night.”
Garrett chuckled. “We moved it to the mine, needed the generator. One of the three crapped out about noon yesterday.”
“You wouldn’t have wanted to sleep in it last night, with that thing running,” Anna said.
“We’ll move into the hotel until they get that situation fixed,” Erica said.
“You’re welcome to stay here for a few days,” Garrett said. “They’ll likely need your rig for that long. Depends on how fast they can get the opening cleared. Heard from Elmer that they’re getting close now.”
“Why does that matter with the generators?” Sam asked.
“We’ve bought three more generators, but we can’t get them down that access hole. They got the plumbing for the exhaust finished, though, and the generator that was already down there is up and running.”
“What about the main power plant?” Erica asked. “We’re gonna need the hookups for our battle wagons again, or we’ll be burning a lot of diesel just to keep the refrigerators running.”
“We’re waiting for parts,” Garrett said. “Gonna take at least another week.”
Mia came down the stairs.
“Up already, sweetie?” Erica asked.
“Couldn’t get back to sleep, mommy. I’m hungry.”
Anna got up from her chair. “Want to help me make pancakes?”
Mia smiled, nodding her head yes. She followed Anna over to the counter.
Garrett’s phone dinged with a text. He pulled it out and read it. “Ivan. He’s asking if we can have a breakout meeting here in the early afternoon. You okay with that?”
“What’s a breakout meeting?” Anna asked.
“Subset of the team,” Garrett said.
“Dammit, that probably means there’s another mission coming up,” Erica said under her breath. Sam reached out for her hand, shooting her a glance, then nodding at Mia, who was trying to listen.
“You don’t have to check with me on using this house for meetings,” Anna said.
“This is your home too,” Garrett said. “You know that.”
“You’re such a sweetheart. I’ve got no problem with a meeting here.”
Garrett returned the text, sending it and getting a reply a few seconds later.
“Who’s coming to this meeting?” Sam whispered.
“Ivan just said he’d get with the attendees in the next hour or two.”
***
Elmer’s pickup truck drove back into Dodge City, after their shopping trip in Dulzura. It was nearly ten in the morning.
“These fans aren’t quite as good as the ones we’ve got,” Clem said from the passenger seat.
“They’ll do,” Elmer said, driving towards the mine. “Wonder if Tyler is already at it?”
“Probably. He’s a hard worker, that one.”
Elmer nodded as he backed the truck up to the mine opening. “He is. Great to have him on the team.” The two men got out, picking up the new fans and carrying them into the mine. They could hear the bulldozer and the other fans as they approached.
“Wow, you’ve made a lot of progress,” Clem said.
“Yeah, nice job. Maybe we didn’t need to bother with the extra fans.”
Tyler shut down the bulldozer and climbed off. “I’m glad you got them. The further back I go, the worse it is with the exhaust. Let’s get these set up.”
The men had the new fans running within a few minutes. Tyler got back onto the bulldozer and started it up again. Several of his warriors were there with him, probing the area he was digging with shovels and pick axes.
“We’re gonna get out of here,” Elmer said.
“Yeah, you don’t need to be breathing this,” Tyler said. “Thanks.”
Elmer nodded, then turned and walked outside with Clem.
“What now?” Clem asked.
“Maybe I’ll see if Susanne will give me another bath.”
Clem cracked up. “You’re something. How do you two keep from killing each other?”
“She’s a lot different behind closed doors, trust me. Keeps me coming back for more.”
“Well that’s all that counts. Maybe we should prep those generators. There are a few things we can do before we move them inside.”
“Let’s do it,” Elmer said.
***
Tex woke up to the sound of Karen puttering in the kitchen of their battle wagon. He reached for his phone, sitting up quickly when he saw it was eleven in the morning. He dressed in a hurry and went into the salon.
“Sorry, must have forgot to set the alarm on my phone or something.”
Karen turned to him, her red hair swaying. “I turned off your alarm. Thought catching up on sleep would be good for you.”
He shot her a sheepish grin. “Always looking out for me.”
“Coffee?”
“Love some,” Tex said as he sat in the dinette. “Hopefully you got plenty of sleep.”
“I slept till about nine-thirty,” she said. “I’m good. Wasn’t as tired as you. I slept some at the shopping center parking lot, remember? You refused to.”
“I knew we were in a dangerous spot. Wish the siege-mode windshield armor was made out of plate glass or Lexan. Might have seen the bad guys sneak in overnight.”
Karen brought Tex a cup of coffee, then grabbed hers and slid into the dinette bench across the table from him.
“What’s Lexan?”
“Polycarbonate,” he said.
“Oh, like what they make glasses out of now?”
Tex nodded, then took a sip of coffee. “This tastes great.”
“Right out of the Keurig,” she quipped, smiling. “Takes tons of skill.”
“Wonder how they’re coming with the mine shaft?”
“I heard them working it this morning,” Karen said. “Haven’t gotten any messages yet this morning.”
“If we’re lucky, we’ll be left alone for a day or two.”
Karen nodded. “Yes, we need some us time. Or should I say us time without having to defend ourselves.”
Tex chuckled. “Wonder if we’ll get bored after this is over?”
“I doubt I’ll ever be bored with you, darling.”<
br />
“That sounded a tad sarcastic,” Tex said.
“You knew how I was when you pursued me, remember? I’ve got a nasty wit sometimes. Maybe you’ll be sorry eventually.”
Tex laughed. “I wouldn’t want you any other way.”
She studied his eyes for a moment. “Still glad you got me?”
“You’re the love of my life,” Tex said, his eyes getting misty. “Can’t you tell?”
“I can, but it’s nice to hear. What are we gonna do after this?”
“Go on adventures together,” Tex said. “Or in other words, whatever we want to do.”
“You don’t have to work?”
“I’ve got enough resources built up so we won’t ever have to worry about where the next meal is coming from, if that’s what you mean. We probably should sit down and go over finances one of these days.”
“I’ll inherit a fair amount from my parents,” she said, a faraway look in her eyes. “The business won’t be worth much now, but they had a lot of investments and a lot of California property.”
“What do you want to do today?”
Karen took another sip of coffee, thinking. “Wonder if there are any decent clothing stores in Dulzura? We both need to replace some things.”
Tex laughed. “Yeah, most of my stuff is torn or stained beyond repair.”
“Exactly, and I hardly have anything. Just what I’ve bought after you rescued me.”
“Well, I’m up for going into town with you. Maybe this afternoon?”
“Perfect,” she said, getting up with her empty coffee cup. “Want another?”
“Sure, why not.” He slid his empty cup towards her, and then both their phones dinged. “Aw crap.”
Karen chuckled. “Uh oh. Here it starts.” She looked at her phone. “Dammit. I don’t like the sound of this.”
“Meeting with Ivan. You and me, don’t tell the entire team. Garrett’s ranch house.”
“I hope they aren’t planning to send us on another mission already.”
“Well, the war is almost over, but there are loose ends to take care of, I suspect.”
Karen nodded. “I guess our shopping trip will have to wait.”
“Hopefully the meeting won’t take long, and we can go afterwards.”
“We’ll see. Don’t worry about it. I won’t be mad if we put it off.”
“Come here,” he said, getting out of the dinette. They embraced and kissed.
***
Robbie was staring at his screen, his brow furrowed. Morgan noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think that armada is gonna dump it’s payload long before our forces get to the coast,” he said.
“Really? They were making good time last time I looked.”
“Enemy artillery broke a big crater in Highway 2D last night.”
“What’s that you say?” Seth asked, turning from his screen.
“The enemy used artillery on Highway 2D,” Morgan said.
“Shit. How bad?”
“We got that drone over them now, honey,” Kaitlyn said. “I’ll take a look.” She opened a window and input the IP address.
Robbie got behind her, looking at her screen. “Wow, look at the back-up. That’s a big hole in the ground.”
Seth and Kaitlyn took a look too. “The military vehicles are all past it,” Kaitlyn said, “but what’s in those semis?”
“Infantry,” Seth said. “The enemy knew right where to do this. No easy place for the trucks to get around it.”
Morgan shook her head. “If the armada beats our guys to the beaches, they’ll be really hard to take out. They’ll scatter all over the damn place.”
“Yeah, I know,” Robbie said, going back to his desk. “I’ll take a look at them.” He opened the window on his laptop that showed the drone feed. “They’re still south of Highway 201, but they’ll beat our guys there.”
Seth got back on his laptop and looked at the GPS maps of the Baja coast. “There are patches of beach between where they are and Rosarito Beach. What’s to stop them from pulling up and dumping them early?”
“They won’t have to dump early,” Kaitlyn said. “Look at the position of our convoy. They’re a long ways off.”
“It’s worse than that,” Robbie said. “Our guys are stopping in Tecate to replenish their ammo and supplies. You know that’s gonna take time. Maybe as much as half a day.”
“Uh oh,” Kaitlyn said.
“What?” Seth asked, looking at her screen.
“Have you seen the latest satellite shot of the Baja Coast?”
“No, why?” Robbie asked.
“It’s a few hours old, but it shows a line of semis coming north on Highway 1D.”
“They’ll probably meet the boats and give them weapons and ammo, or worse,” Seth said, his brow furrowed as he looked at the picture.
{ 14 }
Hunting Plans
J ules, Shelly, Ben, and Ivan got into one of the Jeeps and drove towards Garrett’s ranch house, trying not to attract too much attention. Jules was behind the wheel.
“We’ll be there about twenty minutes early,” Shelly said.
“That’s a good thing, not a bad thing,” Ivan said. “I want to patch in Mr. White and Mr. Black.”
“You need to display anything on a big screen?” Shelly asked.
“Nope, this is just a talk,” Ivan said. “Remember what I said. Nobody tells the other team members without my permission. Got it?”
“Yeah, we get,” Jules said. “Not understand, but I get. I thought you trust team.”
“This is to protect the team,” Ivan said. “You’ll understand when we talk.”
“It’s about after the war, isn’t it?” Ben asked.
“You’ll find out in the meeting,” Ivan said.
Jules shot a nervous glance at Shelly, and decided to change the subject. “I bet mine shaft open by time we get back. Tyler say he close.”
“That will certainly make things nicer,” Shelly said.
“It’ll be good to get those other generators on line,” Ben said.
Jules nodded. “I’ll be happier when the main generator is back up. We need hookups working again for battle wagons.”
“What’s taking so long?” Ben asked.
“Parts on backorder.”
They got past the livery stable, rolling onto the dirt road past the town.
“It’s pretty out here,” Shelly said. “More cattle around than I expected.”
“Any of you been out there yet?” Ivan asked.
“I once, briefly,” Jules said.
“Sam and Erica stayed out there last night,” Shelly said. “We’re using their rig for power generation, remember?”
“Doesn’t bother Ji-Ho,” Ben said.
“He’s not invited to this, is he?” Shelly asked.
“No,” Ivan said.
Shelly looked like she wanted to ask why, but Jules shot her a glance, so she didn’t say anything.
“Is that it?” Ben asked, looking at the mansion ahead of them, three-rail fence around it. Horses grazed here and there.
“Yes, that it,” Jules said. “He here before they build town. Originally his land, but he bought more with others in his original group.”
“Wow, that’s beautiful,” Shelly said.
Jules drove through the gate, and up the long drive to the front of the house, with it’s massive veranda. He drove around the far side of the structure, so the Jeep wouldn’t be visible from the road.
“There Sam’s Jeep,” Jules said as he parked. They got out and walked to the veranda, going up the wide steps.
Sam opened the front door, standing there with Erica and Mia. “Hey, guys, how are you?”
“Nice to be above ground for a while,” Ben said.
“You got that right,” Jules said. They entered through the massive double doors, Sam closing them behind the group.
“The others ought to be here in about ten minutes,” Ivan sa
id.
Garrett and Anna came out into the entryway to greet them.
“Beautiful place,” Ivan said.
“Thanks, Ivan,” Garrett said. “Nice to see you.”
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Sure, let’s go in my study,” Garrett said. He turned to the others for a moment. “Make yourselves at home. There’s some soft drinks and lemonade in the fridge-the kitchen is through here. He pointed it out, then led Ivan through the door on the right of the entryway.
“Do you want me in here?” Anna asked.
“Please, but this is a confidential discussion, if you don’t mind,” Ivan said.
“No problem,” Anna said.
“We can use the meeting table,” Garrett said.
Ivan looked around the room, with it’s rich wood paneling and old-west décor. “This is nicer than any office I ever had.”
“I went a little overboard, but what the hell,” Garrett said. “What’s on your mind?”
“General Hogan contacted me, and warned of possible repercussions against some of our people after the war, specifically those in the community.”
“What community?” Anna asked.
“Special forces, CIA, NSA, FBI, and other government agencies,” Ivan said. “There’s a good chance that we’ll be targeted by elements of the California government and other organizations.”
“Oh,” Garrett said. “What about the rest of us, those not in the community?”
“We think you’ll be safe if you’re not with us,” Ivan said.
“Shit, you’re going to disappear, aren’t you?” Anna asked.
“That’s likely, at least for a while,” Ivan said.
“Geez, our team is like our family,” Garrett said, his brow furrowed. “This is gonna be tough.”
“That’s why I’m not bringing everybody in on this.”
“What are you gonna do? Hide someplace? Go into witness protection or something?” Anna asked.
Ivan smiled. “No, we’re gonna hunt these folks down and kill them all.”
“That’s what I figured,” Garrett said. “We’ve all killed the enemy wholesale. Why aren’t we targets?”
“General Hogan didn’t fill me in on all of the details, but I can make an educated guess.”
“Can you tell us?” Garrett asked.