by Warren Ray
“This way,” said Scar grabbing Amber’s jacket.
Meeks followed them around the corner toward the Jijis who kept firing at them. Scar laid down cover fire as he pushed Amber around the other side of the building. The rocket flew behind them and missed the building they were using as cover but hit the side entrance they had just exited. The explosion ruined any chance of using it again.
They were vulnerable and exposed, and the Jijis took advantage by cutting them off from getting between two buildings for cover.
Scar was losing patience with the situation, so he decided to waste another grenade on them. It was more to put the fear of God into the men who were gaining the confidence to charge them, and to force them to keep their heads down.
Scar aimed it at a group who were using a van for cover. The grenade hit it and the explosion gave Scar enough time to go back to where they were before. Upon their arrival, he immediately decided to vacate the area. There were too many to handle, and their position was becoming vulnerable. Whomever had fired the RPG would soon try again.
“This way guys,” said Scar as he headed through a small grassy area between some trees past the rear entrance which had been obliterated. Up ahead was the F150 pickup that Scar had been using and knew the keys were in it. As much as he wanted to get back in the hospital, it wasn’t going to happen. He would have to trust his men still in there to do their job. He needed to regroup and figure out a new strategy. If the Jijis were attacking the whole town, then there would be plenty of opportunities to engage them. He needed to know their numbers and where they were but it was more important to get he citizens to safety.
Scar got in the truck and started the engine as Amber scooted in the passenger side and Meeks slid in next to her. He threw it in drive and tore out of the parking lot as more Jijis poured into it. He took a left on Ellery Avenue and hit the gas pedal.
Scar took out his radio that was alive with chatter from all who had them. Reports crackled in from the hospital stating that it was crawling with Jijis. Scar glanced at Amber and Meeks, both of whom were staring at the radio in a cold silence. Neither wanted to bring up who might already be dead but only hoped the best for all of them.
Scar keyed the radio. “Break Break. This is Scar. I’m with Meeks and Amber. We took out a number of them from the north side parking lot. But there are still a large number coming in from that side. You should abandon the hospital and get to your stations. Boys, they have grenades and RPG’s. I repeat they have grenades and RPG’s. We managed to get a grenade launcher and ammo.”
“Bassett here.”
Scar’s eyes widened. He wasn’t expecting him anywhere near Jackson. “Where are you at, Corporal?”
“I’m up on Lansing Road on the other side of the interstate. Eddie is holding firm, but the bad guys seem to want this bridge. We’ve got them pinned down but could use those grenades.”
Amber turned to Scar. “They’re trying to cut off escape routes.”
“We better get up there then,” said Scar.
It wasn’t too far away, and if they could control the bridge, then they’d have an escape route if they needed one. He keyed the radio again. “Eddie, we’re coming in, I repeat, we’re coming in, confirm.”
“We hear ya. It’s getting dicey up here. Park at least a block away. They’re trying to flank us.”
Scar put the radio back in his jacket. “How much ammo you guys got?”
Meeks patted his chest rig counting the magazines. “I’ve only got four mags left.”
Amber had just loaded her bag last night. “I’ve got ten.”
“We’ll reload at Eddie’s,” stated Scar.
Eddie Perlee’s men had plenty of ammo. Guarding the Jijis made for excellent target practice, and he always made sure he was fully stocked.
Scar made a right onto Lansing Road squealing the tires. It reminded him of Reese doing the same thing. He let out a breath hoping she was okay.
The worst part of being under a surprise attack was that you didn’t know where everybody was or how they were doing. It also made it difficult to get everyone rallied to different spots. Everyone was assigned an area, but not all would be able to make it. They would do the next best thing and get to the nearest rallying point. Lansing Road was one of those places.
As they pulled in, they could see Eddie’s guys shooting into the foliage on the left side of the road. The thick foliage ran down an embankment to the interstate. The Jijis were climbing up the hill to flank them. At the entrance of the overpass, Eddie had parked a car sideways and was using it as cover from the Jijis on the other side who had done the same thing.
Scar pulled the F-150 into a lot behind a building. He grabbed the launcher and bag of grenades. “Alright guys, let’s go.”
They hopped out and ran toward Eddie. Gunfire was sporadic around the area. More of it sounded in the distance from all directions indicating the whole town was under assault.
“How we doing, Eddie?” asked Scar kneeling down.
“These bastards were smart but not smart enough. We didn’t suspect a thing because the ones on the interstate didn’t make a move. So, we had no idea they had a team trying to sneak around us. Had Bassett not warned us, then we’d be dead.”
Scar figured Bassett and Burns spotted the enemy coming down the interstate and hauled ass in.
“As soon as he gave us a heads up, I knew what they were gonna do. Hell, it’s what I would have done. I sent my men around our flanks, and sure enough, we caught them. Killed a bunch too but then all hell broke loose. We started firing down on the interstate, and that’s when the whole lot of them ran in from different directions to attack us.”
Scar tightened his jaw absorbing everything he was being told.
Eddie took a swig of water and spat on the ground. “We’re holding our flanks for now, but there’s just so damned many of them. I just sent more men down the street to guard our six.”
“We need ammo,” said Scar.
“Right there on the porch. Help yourselves.”
Scar and Meeks grabbed as many extra magazines as they could carry while Amber filled her backpack.
They moved over to look across the bridge. There was a whole nest of them waiting on the other side.
“We can clear them out,” said Scar. He dug into the bag and grabbed a grenade. He loaded it and then asked Meeks to warn Bassett.
Meeks pulled out his own radio. “Corporal, fire in the hole.”
“Roger that. We are good to go.”
Scar rose up and peeked over the hood. He lifted the launcher and fired it. Everyone dropped to the ground, and a couple of seconds later the grenade hit the target. The car the Jijis were using for cover exploded in a fireball throwing shrapnel in all directions.
Meeks patted Scar on the shoulder.
“That is one badass weapon,” said Eddie. “How’d you get it?”
Scar turned to Amber. “She got it.”
Eddie nodded and flashed her a thumbs-up
Bassett came over the radio. “One more should do it. A couple degrees to the east, there’s a group taking cover.”
Scar didn’t want to waste the grenades and decided to take a quick look. He asked for binoculars, which Eddie handed him. Hiding in the foliage was a group of twenty Jijis, a big enough group to justify using another grenade.
He loaded another one and aimed. The grenade shot up and landed on the group instantly killing everyone in a fifteen-foot radius.
“The coast is clear. The rest are running through the woods,” said Bassett over the radio.
Scar wanted to fire into those trees but didn’t risk it because he wasn’t sure how many Jijis were still in the woods on their side. It would be better if they drove across the bridge and then fired from that side.
“Let’s move this thing. Amber, go get the truck, we’ll get across and then drive them into the open.”
They pushed the car out of the way as Amber ran back to the truck. She again took off in a full sprint
and as soon as she reached it, five Jijis popped out of the woods and took aim at her.
Chapter 55
The rapid gunfire was a sound Gunnery Sergeant Nick Nordell had been anticipating for the last week. He knew it wouldn’t be too long before Mordulfah struck back. He had been outside talking to his friend John Hollis in his driveway when it happened.
Nordell had formulated a strategy with Winters and Bassett on where people should go, when, not if, this happened. It was a solid plan, but like all plans, they could go from a solid plan to a disaster in an instant.
The gunfire echoed from the direction of the hospital, which was smart on the enemy’s part. It was where the majority of the Shadow Patriots slept and the heartbeat of the town. By attacking the hospital, the Jijis would keep a significant portion of their enemy contained. Even if it took all day, it would allow their overwhelming numbers access to the rest of the town unimpeded.
Nordell had expected this and would now implement a plan to hopefully prevent it. Without saying a word to each other, both headed back inside their houses to get what they would need. Within a few minutes, they started throwing their armament and supplies into the back of Nordell’s pickup. He loaded up the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, affectionately known as the SAW. The Shadow Patriots had been using two of these with tremendous effect and still had plenty of ammo. Hollis gently laid his Knight’s Armament SR 25 rifle in the back along with a full steel box of ammo. This weapon had precision-fire on targets past a thousand yards, especially with the attached Schmidt & Bender scope.
Nordell’s plan was simple. He was going to put his friend, Hollis on top of the old Energy building that had a good line of sight to the hospital. The building was just under two hundred feet high and looked right down East Michigan Avenue to the hospital. It was easy pickings for a sharpshooter like Hollis. To protect him, Nordell would set up teams across the street and around the high buildings to fire at any approaching Jijis trying to take out the sniper.
As he was backing out of his driveway, a truckload of Nordell’s men pulled up. Ten guys were sitting in the bed of the truck armed with M4’s that Winters had provided.
Nordell backed out of his driveway and pulled up beside them. “We’re going downtown like we planned. Now let’s go.”
He stomped on the gas and looked at his friend. “It’s going to be a long day.”
“Yep. I got plenty of food and water.”
“Stick to the plan, and we’ll be good,” said Nordell trying to give his friend a confidence boost. Hollis had never served in the military and besides fighting out on Robinson Road, had never been in a firefight. It wasn’t an easy thing to acclimate yourself to and would test your mental readiness like nothing else in the world. Most of the guys with him were civilians as well or had served but had never seen action.
They reached the intersection of Frances and Michigan Avenues just as more of Nordell’s men showed up. He parked the truck in the middle of the street and got out to direct the vehicles.
The area had a natural border because of the Grand River. This narrow river was only thirty feet across but came from the north and ran right along the outer perimeter of downtown providing an ideal defensive border. He had already closed off the bridge on Mechanical Street last week by parking a tractor-trailer across the street and another on Business 94 effectively shutting down the whole intersection.
This left four other bridges to defend. There were others, but they were further south and were not an immediate concern. The ones the Jijis would use were right in front of them.
“I want those bridges blocked off and fortified. You know your stations now get to them.”
“Bobby, get your truck over here.”
Bobby was an old friend from high school and had been instrumental in getting everyone organized into different teams. He was a mechanic and had been helping Taylor with the maintenance of the vehicles.
Nordell wanted to clog up the area as much as possible to prevent the enemy easy access to the streets. He needed as much control as possible because it would be a primary route for the Jijis. There were eight tall buildings in a four-block radius, and he was sending his men to the tops of each one.
Nordell picked up enough chatter on the radio to know the enemy’s main assault was coming from the east and north. If they could control downtown, then it might be enough to prevent the Jijis from taking the whole town. The downside was the possibility of getting his men trapped in those buildings. However, since the enemy surrounded them anyway, it was a risk he was willing to take, as it was their best option.
Hollis grabbed his equipment and led a squad over to the Energy building. He would have spotters on all four sides to give him protection. Others took off to their assigned areas, and Nordell stood watching and giving last minute orders.
He grabbed his radio and called Scar. “Scar, come in.”
It took a few more tries before he answered.
“We’re all set up downtown and ready,” said Nordell.
“Gunny, they’ve got seasoned fighters with light armament.”
“Copy that. We’ll give ‘em hell.”
Nordell tucked the radio into his vest and picked up the SAW. He walked through the entrance of a five-story brick building on the corner of Francis Street and Michigan Avenue. It would be in the heart of the action and just the way he wanted it. He hurried up the flights of stairs to the rooftop. The air was starting to get humid, which meant it was going to be a hot one today. He looked down on the street and was satisfied with the placement of vehicles. Across the street was the Energy building and a spotter waved to him. He acknowledged him and drew out his radio.
“Hollis, you set up?”
“Just about ready, Nick. There’s a crap-load of them down there.”
“Should be easy pickings then.”
Hollis looked through the rifle’s scope toward the hospital. The enemy was scrambling around in different directions, with cars lined up on Michigan Avenue waiting to make a turn into the parking lot. Gunfire was coming out of the upper-level hospital windows as Shadow Patriots returned fire.
The hospital was just under a thousand yards, but the parking lot where the Jijis took position behind cars was right at seven hundred yards. He adjusted his scope before looking for his first target. His heart was racing from the twelve flights of stairs, so he took a couple of deep breaths to settle down. He pulled his ball cap down and took another breath. He decided to take out a driver in a van that was sitting on the street waiting to turn. Hollis lined up a shot and squeezed the trigger. The .308 round took two seconds to travel before it penetrated the window killing the driver.
Hollis allowed himself a slight smirk before lining up another. He aimed for a group hiding behind a Chevy Impala thinking they were protected. There were four of them, and Hollis started picking them off one by one. None of them suspected a sniper was bearing down on them.
Chapter 56
Amber raced to Scar’s F150 so they could drive it across the overpass. As she reached it, five Jijis broke out of the woods fifty yards away. They raised their rifles and fired on her. She had ducked down behind the front of the truck, while rounds hit the side, just as a group of Eddie’s men raced in to take them out.
The automatic fire forced the Jiji’s heads down, so Amber rose up and fired a volley taking one out as he tried to run back into the woods. She didn’t have time to worry about anymore and hopped into the truck praying it would start as it had taken some hits.
She turned the key and smacked the steering wheel with her fist when the truck came alive. She threw it into gear and took one last look at the remaining Jijis. They were in panic mode because Eddie’s guys had the advantage. She floored the gas and took off for the bridge stopping to pick up the guys.
Scar jumped in on the passenger side while Meeks and Eddie hopped into the bed. She punched it and shot across the bridge hoping the enemy wouldn’t take pot shots at them from the other side. She came upo
n the smoldering car Scar had just hit with the grenade.
“Push sideways on the rear and spin it around,” said Scar.
Amber hit the brake and let the truck coast into the backend of the car. She then pressed the gas and had a determined look on her face as the truck started pushing the car. The tires of the bombed out car started squealing. She then pressed the pickup harder, and the car slid forward before spinning to its side.
“Take it easy, Reese,” smirked Scar.
“I know, right, kinda fun.”
Up ahead Bassett and Burns waved them over, so she eased the truck over to them and parked it.
“Nice seeing you guys,” said Bassett. “We got here as fast as we could.”
“Where’d you see them?” asked Scar.
“On the interstate. We took out some before we had to get out of there.”
“How many you think they brought in?”
Bassett looked at Burns. “Good five hundred, maybe more?”
“Right around there,” confirmed Burns. “We had to have taken out fifty or so of them though.”
“These guys are the real deal,” said Bassett
Scar nodded. He already suspected it. If for no other reason the firepower they had brought was a good clue. In total, they had right around two thousand men attacking the city. Those were big numbers, and it meant they going to lose a lot of people today. They still had about nine hundred civilians in town, which included a lot of women and children. He was thankful they had moved a hundred of them out last night.
“Where’s the SAW?” asked Bassett.
“Nordell has one and Badger the other,” said Scar.
“We could use it here,” said Bassett pointing to Eddie’s side of the interstate. “We need to light up those woods.”
Scar turned to Eddie. “Tell your guys to keep their heads down.”
The six of them rushed back to the bridge and split off into two groups on each side of the entrance. They navigated through the brush to get to the clearing in order to see across the interstate below.