Lost Shadows
Page 21
“Two magazines each,” ordered Scar not wanting to waste ammo.
They started firing all at once, and the smoke floated around them as brass shell casings hit the grass. Across the interstate, tree branches snapped free, and leaves flew up in the air. A few Jijis began tumbling down through the thick foliage and screams could be heard through the non-stop staccato fire of the shooting.
It took just under a minute before everyone finished emptying their two magazines. Bassett and Burns moved down the embankment to the interstate and hopped over the median barrier to finish off a few lying on the ground. Satisfied they had the bridge under their control, they ran back up and joined the rest of the team.
Scar grabbed the binoculars, looked down the interstate on both sides, but didn’t see any more Jijis. He let out a frustrated sigh. The enemy left no one else on the interstate, which meant their main assault, as far as he could tell, was from the north and east. He got a status report from the guards on the west who were starting to be passed by Jijis going around their positions. The southern border reported no movement from the cops.
Scar looked at Bassett as the SITREP came across the radio and was thinking the same thing as he was.
“They’re gonna push everyone south,” said Bassett.
Scar gave him a firm nod. With the Jiji’s overwhelming numbers, they could direct the flow of the battle. All they had to do was start burning the town and make a big show of it, which wouldn’t be too difficult. Scar had only so many people in too few places. Not being everywhere today would be problematic.
The thought forced him to face reality that they could very well lose the town today. This presented two problems. Besides the obvious one of taking out the enemy as best they could, he needed to evacuate as many people as possible. This was going to be difficult, to say the least, and he knew they were going to lose a lot of them today.
He let out another sigh of frustration. If he was lucky, he’d get half of them to safety. Another quarter or so would be able to hide somewhere, and the remaining quarter would either be shot or captured while on the run.
He had no doubt they were on the hunt for young girls, of which there were still plenty in town. If he was right about forcing everyone south, then the cops were in perfect position to scoop them up. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
Still, the southern border might be their best option. If the Jijis were trying to force everyone to the south, the town’s people would put up less resistance, that is until they ran into the cops.
The geography made better sense for refugees to go south. It was wide open country and didn’t have any major roads to cross until they hit US 12, but by then it was spread out even more.
“Corporal, you think you could sneak us down to US 12 in your cruiser?”
“Don’t see why not. What do you have in mind?”
“I want to come in from behind the cops and take some out.”
Eddie gave him a concerned look.
“We need to open up an escape route. We’ve still got close to nine hundred people in town. Half of them are going to be running scared, right into the cop’s arms.”
“What about our guys?” protested Burns.
“They’re going to need an exit too.”
Amber put a hand on Scar’s arm. “Are we going to lose the town?”
“We have to assume that’s a real possibility,” said Scar with a grimaced look.
Chapter 57
All of Nordell’s spotters reported that the coast was still clear. He wasn’t expecting the enemy to be marching down from the north or the west anytime soon. He agreed with Scar that they would be driving the population to the south. He’d just gotten off the radio with him asking for a SITREP.
A lot of his fellow citizens were starting to head that way in vans and the beds of pick-ups. He had just instructed his Block Captains to barricade themselves in the old Jackson College down on Browns Lake Road. The facility consisted of a half dozen buildings with a couple of them tall enough to facilitate spotters on the roofs. If the Jijis wanted to drive them south, then they would oblige them.
With the exception of the hospital, all the other gunfire was still in the distance and Nordell was thinking he needed to change his strategy. He hadn’t considered the Jijis would take their time corralling everyone in one particular area, which he now thought was an interesting strategy.
If the enemy created chaos by shooting into the first few houses they came to and setting them on fire, everyone would have enough advanced warning to hightail it. By doing so, they’d have fewer people holed up in houses making it easier to assemble them in one area. This would save time by eliminating the need to go house by house.
Nordell wasn’t foolish enough to think this was the only thing they would be doing. If the Jijis saw anyone on the streets, they would shoot at them without hesitation. He entertained the thought of leaving this area to engage the enemy on the west side of town. If they were moving slowly, then they could take pot shots at them and harass them as they continued across town. The majority of their citizens were behind him and not in front of him.
He was growing anxious to get into this fight and had to fight off the temptation. There was fighting six blocks away at the hospital, and surely the Jijis would eventually realize they had a sharpshooter plucking off their men. Hollis had been at it now for close to twenty minutes with great success. If these guys were real fighters, then they would know and would be planning something to stop it.
This notion gave Nordell pause. What would he do in their situation? He’d assign a team to sneak in to take them by surprise. Try to infiltrate the building and go up the stairs. This wouldn’t work though, because he had ground forces all over the place keeping an eye out for this very scenario. They were in pairs and in constant radio contact with those up top, who were keeping an eye on the ebb and flow of the situation. It wasn’t like in the movies where you could just sneak in. Then what would they do?
A flash of sweat popped up on his forehead. It is precisely what he would do, and it made sense. They would fire an RPG. He pulled his radio out just as all hell broke loose.
He watched in horror as a rocket raced across the sky and exploded right where Hollis was shooting. Nordell grabbed his binoculars to see if there were any survivors but there was too much smoke to see what was left of the sniper’s nest. He called out to them on the radio. “Hollis, come in, come in.” Nothing. “Can anyone see anything? Where did it come from?”
His old friend Bobby answered. “I see ‘em, Nick. They’re up the street on top of the building across from the train station.”
Nordell knew the building. It was four stories high with a direct line of sight to where Hollis was positioned. “Take ‘em out, Bobby. Take ‘em out.”
Gunfire erupted across the street from a building that was blocking Nordell’s view of the Jijis. Nordell had to control his temper at Bobby and his squad because it was only six hundred yards away and they should have seen them. He then remembered the building had two levels allowing them to not only come in unseen but also be shielded from gunfire. These guys were smart picking this building and could now aim for Bobby’s position with little worry.
“Bobby get out of there. I repeat, get out of there,” yelled Nordell into the radio. His rapid pulse was going to give him a heart attack. Then Bobby called back.
“We’re out. We can’t get at ‘em anyway.”
“Get out of that building and fall back.”
“Ten-four.”
Nordell ran down the stairs two steps at a time. He needed to take care of this personally. He ran out onto the street just as another RPG exploded. It was Bobby’s location, which was a good sign because he had at least a ten-second head start. He reached for his radio. “You still with me, Bobby?”
“We’re good.”
“Everyone?”
“Yep.”
“Meet me around back. I’m coming in. We need to take these guys out.”
“I’m here, Nick,” said Hollis. “Saw ‘em just in time.”
Nordell let out a sigh of relief. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Just a little shaken up is all. Their shot was off, which helped.”
“Are you still up top?”
“Yep.”
“Get out of there then. Go to hide two.”
“Copy that.” Nordell entered the parking lot and saw Bobby’s team. They jumped in the back of his vehicle, and he headed toward the train station. It was right across the street, and he would drop off half of Bobby’s team. Nordell wanted to keep the enemy busy while he flanked them.
After dropping them off on Hupp Avenue, he raced back around the Jijis before coming in from behind on North Park Avenue. He kept his foot on the brake, as he got closer to the intersection. He grabbed his binoculars and looked down the block. There was a van parked next to the building, which allowed them easy access to the roof. A couple of Jijis stood by the van keeping watch. Another two were still up on the roof. They wore fatigues, which meant these were the real fighters. He’d find out just how good they were.
He picked up the handheld radio called out to Bobby across the street. “Bobby, light ‘em up and keep ‘em busy.”
He waited for the shooting to begin before letting off the brake. He ordered the men in the back not to fire until he signaled. He didn’t want these guys to escape, and if they could surprise them, then they might be able to get their hands on an RPG.
The two Jijis keeping guard heard the gunfire across the street and began to return fire at Bobby’s men. Nordell sneered at their stupidity for not checking their six.
He rolled the truck until he was a hundred feet away and then yelled at his men to open fire. He threw the gearshift in park as the boys in the back laid waste to the two on the ground. Empty shells tinkled in the bed of the truck as Nordell came around the front. He aimed at the two exposed Jijis up top. Nordell emptied a magazine and dropped them both before they could return fire.
He ran toward the dead Jijis and looked inside the van to see three RPG’s sitting in the back. All he needed was a launcher. He climbed on top of the van and navigated his way onto the roof where the other two Jijis lay dead. Nordell smirked when he saw the launcher and another grenade next to them.
Bobby called in on the radio just as he reached down for it. “They’re coming in, Nick, get out of there.”
Chapter 58
Bassett drove the cruiser while wearing a police hat as they drove down the center of town. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he passed by the Jiji line, which was spread out across a few streets on either side. They were setting houses on fire as they marched through the neighborhood. Pillars of smoke were billowing up into the air and spreading a nauseating smell through the town.
It didn’t matter too much up here because Mayor Simpson had followed Winters’ recommendation that everyone evacuate the north side of town.
“Look at ‘em,” said Burns who was sitting up front next to Bassett. “They seem to be enjoying themselves.”
“Yeah, for now, they are,” said Meeks in the back. “Wait till they hit our lines.”
Meeks turned to Amber who was squashed between him and Scar. Between them their rifles and backpacks, there wasn’t much room left in the backseat. “Anything?” referring to her attempts at raising Reese or Nate.
She shook her head.
“They’ll be alright. I’m sure Reese is watching over them,” stated Scar. He had too many people to worry about and orders to give to concentrate on just one person. He was worried for sure, but his mind was on the bigger picture.
He had an escape route to open. Opening it wouldn’t be much of a problem, the trick would be holding it open. He didn’t know how many cops they had down there or if they were reinforced by the Jijis.
They continued south while listening to the radio chatter. The boys at the hospital were still defending it from all sides. They hadn’t given up and had even regained control of the back wing. The enemy had ceased firing RPG’s into the building, which could mean they had only so many of them.
“Scar, come in,” said Taylor over the radio.
Scar had been trying to locate him for a while. “Badger, where the hell are you?”
“I’m over at the garage. I got young Hadley with me. Soon as I heard what was going down, I hightailed it over here.”
Scar let out a breath of relief. “Tell me you got the SAW.”
“The what?”
Scar was about to scream into radio but was cut off by Taylor.
“Why do you think I came way the hell over here?”
“Of course, Badger. Foolish me.”
“Yeah, I’m just giving ya shit, Scar, thought you could use a little Badger humor.”
Scar shook his head while looking at Amber and Meeks. Usually, he was full of smart-ass responses but not today.
“I thought it was funny,” said Meeks.
Amber shot him a “now is not the time,” glare.
“Can you sneak across US 12?”
“Sure as hell can. I’ve got a few boys that can come along with me.”
A load just lifted from Scar’s shoulders hearing Badger’s voice, especially, since he had the SAW. They needed all the firepower they could get if they were going to take on these cops on. There were too many of them and too few Patriots.
Bassett stopped the cruiser on Emerald Drive, two hundred yards away from US 12 where the cops were guarding the border. Burns peered through the binoculars and saw they had the intersection blocked. They also had cars lined up every hundred yards or so making it impossible for them to go across unnoticed, even in the cruiser. The cops were aware they had confiscated a few of their cars and would be watching for them. Strangely, the cop’s radios were completely silent. Vatter must have given verbal instructions to his men beforehand.
Bassett made a right and cut across the flat fields to the Jiji line on the western front. His passengers kept their heads low while he boldly approached the Pulaski Road border with his emergency lights flashing. He acknowledged the Jijis with a wave as they parted the way for him. None of them wore fatigues, which meant the hired guns weren’t in the area.
As soon as he was across, he pushed the pedal to the metal and tore down Route 99 toward the town of Jonesville. The small town had been abandoned a couple of months ago, with some of the residents coming to Jackson.
After blowing through the town, he took a left and covered the fifteen miles back to US 127 in record time. As he hit the road, Scar keyed up the radio and called out to Taylor to check on his progress.
“I’m already here. Been waiting for ya. What the hell took you so long?”
Scar jerked his head back. “How did you beat us?”
“Over by the Michigan Speedway. Those idiots think the whole thing is fenced off, but it ain’t.”
Taylor had a knack for finding an alternate way of doing things. He never was one to tow the company line. He liked to do things his way, and he was right more often than not.
Scar put the radio down and thought for a moment on a plan of action. It was essential to clear out a path for citizens to come down but he couldn’t wait for a specific time to get them all across at once. Besides, to do that, they needed transportation, which would be hard to come by. Those without rides would have to make a run for it and hope for the best. All he could do for now was to open up an exit.
“I need a map,” ordered Scar.”
Meeks unfolded a map out and placed it on Amber’s lap.
“Where’s that college, everyone is going to?”
Amber pointed
it out.
Scar didn’t like what he was looking at. Other than 127, there wasn’t a single road that ran straight down and across US 12. You had to take a right or left on US 12 to pick up another road in order to continue south. This meant they had a wider area to control and more cops to take out.
He ran his finger down South Jackson Road and like the others, it ended at US 12, but it was the most direct route from the college. Just to the west of it was a neighborhood where Waldron Road teed into US 12 but resumed heading south a couple hundred yards to the east.
Scar began nodding his head. It was the smallest area he could find, and it was their best option because this country road ran straight south to the Ohio border. You could get to it by taking a left off Jackson Road before you hit US 12. Perfect. If they could take out enough of the cops, then this would be the ideal place to open up an escape route for the fleeing citizens.
Scar looked up at Bassett who was waiting for orders. “You say the cops are set up every hundred yards?”
“Affirmative. What do you have in mind?”
“There’s a country road about a half mile west of Jackson Road in Somerset.”
“I know that road.”
Of course, Bassett knew where it was. The man made it a point to remember every nook and cranny of the area, and it had served them well over the last couple of weeks.
Scar keyed the radio and ordered Taylor to their location. With a cushion, it would be approximately six hundred yards. This meant there five cop cars to take out before they could establish a stable hole in their lines. It was doable, but how long could they hold this position? That was the more significant question.
Chapter 59
Having just taken out the four Jijis who had fired a rocket grenade at his friend Hollis, Nordell bent down to pick up the RPG launcher just as Bobby screamed a warning across the radio. The Jijis were racing up Michigan Ave toward his position. He turned to see two vehicles coming at them guns blazing from the back.
The retired Marine calmly reached over the corpse of the man he had just killed and grabbed the PG-7VL grenade lying next to him. The High-Explosive, Anti-Tank grenade could penetrate an armored vehicle and would have no problem taking out a pickup truck.