San Diego Slaughter

by Robert Boren

  ***

  Ivan and Jules were sitting in one of the storage rooms, both of them sending texts, trying to coordinate the citizen armada’s rendezvous with the Lemon Grove team.

  “The Navy agreed to clear out the wharfs north of the Sweetwater River,” Ivan said. “They’ll help load, too. They even said they can provide more ammo for the M60s and M240s if we’re running low.”

  “That good, boss,” Jules said. “One of the Lemon Grove team served at the Navy base and knew where to enter, so our guys are already arriving there.”

  “Perfect,” Ivan said. “Which road are they going in on?”

  “On west side of I-5, road called Bay Marina Drive.”

  “Good,” Ivan said, punching a text onto his phone. “I just told the Navy to meet them on that road and help them to the pickup points.”

  “This help us, but if enemy sees, they may land sooner.”

  “The column of Marines is making good time,” Ivan said. “Just talked to somebody named Conrad who’s been leading parts of that group.”

  “He Marine?”

  “No, National Guard, but ex-Marine. At their current speed, most of the group will get there just about the time we expect the enemy armada to arrive.”

  “How they solve crater problem?”

  “They brought in semis from Tecate,” Ivan said. “Picked up infantry on west side of the craters. It was a pain in the neck, but now they’re moving at about seventy-five miles per hour. The stragglers are the Bradley Fighting Vehicles. They aren’t that fast.”

  “What is this Conrad man in?”

  “L-ATV,” Ivan said.

  “Oh, good. Those go over sixty miles per hour.”

  Ivan put his phone back in his pocket. “We’ve done what we can. What do you think about the meeting earlier?”

  “I understand. Okay with.”

  Ivan chuckled. “I know you are, old friend. What kind of read did you get off the others?”

  “Oh. Sam and Erica not happy. Worried about leaving Mia.”

  “I picked that up too. We might have to help them hide someplace. How about the others?”

  “Karen scared but stoic. She’ll be okay. Rest seem fine to me. Robbie ask me if he can tell father what he’s really been doing.”

  Ivan chuckled. “He’s still got his parents thinking he’s in the army? I’m surprised.”

  “Robbie good kid. Cautious, smart. Knows father has much on mind, big dangerous job.”

  “He should tell them after the Carlsbad Caverns operation is over. Won’t be long now.”

  “Good, that’s what I thinking, but wanted to run by you.”

  “How about the others?” Ivan asked.

  “All solid. You really think it be bad?”

  Ivan was silent for a moment, then he sighed. “I think there’s a good chance that some of us won’t survive.”

  “I have better feeling than that.”

  “How’s Shelly taking it?”

  Jules smiled. “She’s a strong woman, but she’s pregnant.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No. Too early to show. Don’t spread around please.”

  “I won’t,” Ivan said. “Congratulations. It does make things more difficult for you. You know that, right?”

  “Yes, I know. Is what is. Wasn’t thinking we’d be hunted afterwards. My bad.”

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself. I didn’t really think it through either.”

  “Would have stopped you? I don’t think so, Ivan.”

  “You’re right, I still would’ve jumped into this with both feet regardless. Maybe I would’ve targeted some of these folks earlier, though.”

  “Can’t,” Jules said. “We must expose first, or we get grabbed for murder.”

  “The feds already know,” Ivan said. “They tipped off General Hogan.”

  There were cheers down the hall, and fresh air flowed towards them. Jules grinned. “Mine shaft open again. Shall we go look?”

  “Yes, time to stretch my legs anyway. Let’s go.”

  The two walked out of the storage room and into the main shaft, joining the others who were coming out to see.

  ***

  “All loaded up,” Jenkins said, coming out the back door of the BFV. They were parked at the makeshift depot in Tecate. It was a sandy mess, vehicles lined up, men rushing back and forth, locals straining against the chain-link fence to catch a glimpse.

  “Did we get more willie peter?” Jenkins asked.

  “Some, but they’re running a little low now. We’ve got more mortar rounds than we’ll use, though, I suspect.”

  “All right, guys, let’s move it,” Gonzalez said, walking up with Jorge and Doug, all of them holding street tacos.

  “We’re ready, chief,” Sessions said. “Where’d you get those tacos?”

  “There’s a whole bag of them in the back,” Jorge said. “I’m eating now because it takes too hands to drive this sucker.”

  “And I couldn’t resist the smell,” Gonzalez said. “These things are frigging amazing.”

  “Seriously,” Doug said, almost finished with his.

  They got into the vehicle, Jorge stuffing the rest of his taco into his mouth before he settled into the driver’s seat. “Everybody ready to go?”

  “Yeah, we’re ready,” Jenkins said.

  “Proceed, dude,” Gonzalez said.

  Jorge started the engine and drove back towards Highway 2D.

  “Remember to switch to Highway 2 going southwest when we get to the interchange,” Doug said.

  “Got it,” Jorge replied.

  Gonzalez’s phone dinged with a text. He read it and cracked up.

  “What’s going on?” Doug asked.

  “You heard about the civilian armada coming down the California coast, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Those special forces dudes and the Teamsters are meeting them in San Diego Harbor. They’re getting on the boats with their M60s and other toys.”

  “Excellent, dude,” Jorge said.

  Doug nodded. “Yeah, that’ll help, if they can get to the enemy armada before they beach.”

  “The enemy might beach early because of them,” Gonzalez said.

  “Now that the infantry is going full speed, they’ll arrive in time with the L-ATVs, won’t they?” Doug asked.

  “Probably,” Gonzalez said. “This enemy is tricky. They might have something else up their sleeve.”

  Doug’s phone rang. He looked. “Conrad, I’ll put it on speaker.”

  “Hey, Doug, you guys get your re-supply yet?”

  “Yeah, Conrad, just left the depot. Where are you guys?”

  “We’re on Highway 201, about half way between the Highway 2 interchange and the coast.”

  “Holy shit, you guys are flying.”

  “Nobody’s messed with the roads here, but I’m watching carefully. We knew Highway 2D would be fine because we were using it to load up for the big battle. None of the US forces have been on Highway 201 that we know of. Might run into some IEDs.”

  Doug chuckled. “Better you than these BFVs. You’ll probably survive.”

  “This is true,” Conrad said. “Hear about the citizen armada?”

  “Yeah, I think that’s great.”

  “Hey, is that Conrad?” Jorge shouted.

  “Yeah,” Doug said. “Sorry, little noisy for you to hear.”

  “Tell him hi, dude,” Jorge said.

  “Jorge says hi,” Doug said.

  “How’s he doing behind the wheel?”

  “He’s a frigging natural,” Doug said.

  “You can say that again,” Gonzalez said. “He’s as good as anybody I’ve been with.”

  “Not so loud, it’ll swell his head,” Conrad quipped.

  “Think you guys will beat the enemy armada to the beach?” Gonzalez asked.

  “Crap shoot,” Conrad said. “Might be the flaw with the citizen armada operation. If the enemy can see them, they’re liable
to go for broke and land right away. That means they’ll be scattered all over the damn place, and harder than hell to root out.”

  “I’m worried about that too,” Doug said, “but it will ensure that they can’t float up past the border.”

  “If there is an engagement on the water, it’ll be bloody,” Gonzalez said. “Fiberglass sporting craft against metal fishing boats? Gonna be tough.”

  “We’ll have a speed advantage with a lot of the boats,” Doug said.

  There was an explosion in the background on Conrad’s side.

  “Oh crap, what was that?” Gonzalez asked.

  “IED,” Conrad said. “Gotta go. Don’t worry, it didn’t work. The L-ATV that rolled over it didn’t get damaged, from the look of it.”

  “Take care,” Doug said.

  “You too, man.”

  The call ended.

  “Now I’m glad we’re behind those guys,” Gonzalez said. “Any IEDs that are on the road should be tripped by vehicles that won’t be destroyed by them.”

  “Hopefully,” Doug said. “How’d the enemy know to do that? It had to have been done recently. Maybe there’s some enemy infantry on the side of the road waiting for us.”

  “Shit, you’re right,” Gonzalez said, pulling his phone out.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m gonna text the CO and bring that up. They need to be careful with those semis full of troops. Hate to see all of them blown away before they can get out and fight.”

  ***

  Robbie was watching drone video of the Marine convoy, and saw the first several vehicles hit IEDs on the road.

  “Uh oh, problems in Mexico,” he said.

  “What?” Morgan asked.

  “L-ATV tripped off an IED. Shit, there’s another one.”

  “Did it kill them?” Seth asked.

  “Nah, those are designed to roll over IEDs and not be destroyed,” Robbie said. “They’ve got a hull underneath that directs the blast away from the vehicle. We perfected that technology during the Iraq war. Lost a lot of Humvees and BFVs before they came up with the design.”

  “There’s more than L-ATVs in that column, though, right?” Morgan asked.

  Robbie nodded. “True, but the L-ATVs are way ahead of the other vehicles. It’ll be okay.”

  “Uh oh,” Kaitlyn said.

  “What?” Seth asked, looking at her screen.

  “That enemy armada isn’t stopping at Rosarito Beach, from the look of it.”

  “They aren’t?” Robbie asked, coming over to look. “Wonder why?”

  “Maybe they know the convoy of Marines is on the way,” Morgan said.

  “I’m not surprised,” Seth said. “How are they gonna get across the border without being cut to ribbons?”

  “Wonder if they see the citizen armada yet?” Morgan asked.

  “I’d be shocked if they don’t,” Robbie said. “Somehow they knew to put IEDs on Highway 201. I doubt if they did that too far in advance. They’ve got forces there. We need to keep our eyes peeled and warn them if anybody’s around.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Kaitlyn said. “About half of the boats are north of Rosarito Beach now. None of them are stopping so far.”

  “There’s gonna be a battle at San Diego Bay,” Seth said. “The first wave of citizen boats arrived there a few minutes ago.”

  “I’m texting Ivan and Jules,” Robbie said.

  “Yeah, do that,” Seth said.

  Ivan and Jules showed up a few moments later.

  “They passing Rosarito Beach? I surprised.”

  “Yeah, Jules, I was surprised too,” Kaitlyn said. “Seth said he wasn’t. They aren’t all past it, either. Maybe some will stay down there.”

  “Why isn’t Seth surprised?” Ivan asked.

  “How are they gonna get across the border on land? You know we’ve got that heavily manned and fortified.”

  Ivan nodded. “I assumed they would scatter and come across all over the place, but you have a good point. Our coverage of the border may be too dense to allow that now.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Robbie said. “Our convoy ran into some IEDs on Highway 201 a few minutes ago.”

  “Dammit,” Ivan said. “We lose anybody?”

  “The L-ATVs are in front,” Robbie said. “Rolled right past them. Built to take it.”

  “Good,” Ivan said. “Jules, let’s go chat with the Navy. Maybe they’ve got some artillery they can roll up to the west side of San Diego Bay.”

  “Thanks, guys,” Jules said as they left the room.

  “Something doesn’t smell right,” Kaitlyn said. “Every scenario I can think of for the enemy armada seems like too much of a long-shot to me.”

  Seth sat quietly for a moment, thinking. “We should get satellite shots further out. Might be some EU Navy ships lurking about.”

  “Wouldn’t the Navy see those?” Robbie asked.

  “Good question,” Kaitlyn said.

  “I’ll do a little research on that,” Ben said.

  “Yeah, you do that,” Robbie said. “This is starting to make me nervous.”

  Morgan shot him a worried glance. “I know, me too, sweetie.”

  They worked their PCs for a while, watching the convoy in Mexico, which continued to run into IEDs on Highway 201, and the enemy armada, which was entirely past Rosarito Beach now.

  Ben backed away from his PC. “Done with my research. We can see surface ships. The EU Navy can’t just sneak in here. We’d see them and dispatch them with cruise missiles long before they get close enough to do damage.”

  “That’s good,” Robbie said.

  “We do have to worry about submarines.”

  Seth groaned. “That’s what I was afraid of. What if they only have old diesel models?”

  “Those are more detectable, of course,” Ben said.

  “Which countries have nuclear subs?” Seth asked.

  “This is where I get worried a little,” Ben said. “Other than us and Russia, we’ve got China, India, The UK, and France.”

  “Everybody except France is probably on our side,” Robbie said.

  “There are elements in the UK that are with the Globalists,” Ben said. “Even some pockets of the military, although the Brits seem to be getting control now.”

  “Yeah, same thing with France,” Seth said. “The French people have had enough of the EU, and they’re pushing to get out now, but the government is still filled with globalists.”

  “We should talk to Ivan and Jules about this,” Morgan said.

  “I just sent them a text,” Ben said. His phone dinged. “They’ll be here in a second.”

  Ivan led the way in, Jules behind him, with Shelly by his side.

  “What do you have for us?” Ivan asked.

  “The entire enemy armada has passed Rosarito Beach,” Ben said. “They’re going past the border,”

  “Dammit,” Jules said. “Hoping at least some land south of border.”

  “There’s something else going on,” Ivan said, his brow furrowed. “Doesn’t make sense for them to do a suicide run up north. We’re ready for them. I can’t believe they don’t know. It’s not like we can hide the citizen armada.”

  “That’s why we wanted you in here,” Ben said. “What about submarines?”

  Jules shot Ivan a glance. “See, I tell you, boss.”

  “You guys have already thought of that?” Ben asked.

  “We were just having conversation,” Ivan said. “Old diesel subs won’t get close without being heard. Which countries have nuclear subs, other than the USA, Russia, and China?”

  “India, Great Britain, and France,” Ben said.

  “Shit, France,” Jules said.

  “There are still some problems in the British military, from what I heard yesterday,” Ivan said. “Either could be an issue.”

  “What about India?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “They’re on our side,” Ivan said. “Sadly, I trust them more than the European
s at this point.”

  “Even the UK?” Shelly asked.

  “There’s been some infiltration in the UK. Not as bad as the US armed forces, though, and I don’t know of any that’s been in the Navy. Their surface ships have been fighting with us.”

  “So what do we do?” Jules asked. “Warn Navy?”

  “I need to get General Hogan on the horn,” Ivan said. He pulled his phone out, hit a contact, and put it on speaker, setting it on the table between Robbie and Ben’s laptops.

  “Ivan? We’re kinda busy right now,” General Hogan said.

  “I’ll just put a bug in your ear, then. Do we think the EU countries or even Britain might use nuclear submarines against us in San Diego.”

  There was silence on the line for a moment. “Shit, what do you see?”

  “That enemy armada isn’t stopping where we thought they would. They’re heading north of the border. Seems like too much of a suicide mission with no good options. I’m not buying it. They need more firepower, and we know they can’t get surface ships anywhere near us.”

  “I’ll pass that up the chain. Got to go.”

  “Thanks, General, talk to you soon. Good luck with whatever you’re doing.”

  “Thanks. Bye.”

  Ivan picked up his phone.

  “What was his problem?” Shelly asked.

  “If I had to guess, I’d say that the Carlsbad Caverns operation is starting. I’m gonna go chat with the Navy again.”

  ***

  Quincy watched from his fly bridge as the armed men climbed aboard the deck below. There were civilian fishing boats all around the wharfs, a multitude of men getting on with M60s and M240s. Most of his friends got off the boat to make room. The men who appeared to be the leaders climbed up the ladder.

  “Hello, I’m Jesse, and this is Sax.”

  “Sax, huh? Interesting name. I’m Quincy. I own this beauty.”

  “Well, she is a beauty,” Sax said. “How fast is she?”

  “She’ll do over thirty knots all day if conditions are right. You guys all special forces?”

  “I am,” Jesse said, “Along with most of my men down there.”

  “I’m one of the Teamsters, but we’ve had battle experience.”