When we arrived, we pulled the ATVs and motorcycle into Charlie’s shed and hid the jeep and trailer behind it. We split into three teams, One to cover the north side of the trail, and one to cover the south side. We angled the position of both teams to create a tremendous crossfire and where there wasn’t much chance of any friendly fire.
The third team was made up of the Crumby’s with their bows and Wit and Mo. It was their jobs to take out the two that would arrive first that had planned on killing Charlie and Martha.
Now for the hard part, the wait. We were in position by 3:30 a.m. which was about three hours early. But we had to make sure that we were in position before they arrived. I just prayed that no one fell asleep.
At 6:20 a.m., we could hear what sounded like a couple of ATVs or cycles off to the east. At some point, they shut them down, and it was still at a distance. Obviously, they were smart enough to park far enough away that even if Charlie or Martha had been home and awake, they probably wouldn’t have heard them from inside the house.
At approximately 6:45, two subjects appeared walking slowly down the trail. As soon as they passed Mo and Wit, we could hear the sound of the bow strings. The arrows hit both male subjects right in the heart area. Dean and Tammy showed how skillful they were with their bows. Before they hit the ground, Mo was on one and Wit was on the other, both grabbing the subjects from behind and covering their mouth while cutting their throat at the same time. Then once they stopped squirming, they pulled them off into the deeper woods and covered them where they’d be out of sight.
Once again, it was time to wait. At approximately 7:10 we could hear several ATVs approaching from the east, again down the trail. Everyone had orders not to fire until they heard the SAW firing, which was being manned by Mike. Very quickly the column of ATVs and two motorcycles passed Mo and Wit at a pretty good pace. The trick was to allow the column to almost get to the western end of the trail. As soon as they did, Mike opened up with the SAW and simultaneously, the rest of us opened up.
The sound had to be deafening, but I doubt anyone of us really noticed. We wiped out most of them right after we opened up. Everyone had hit their targets. There were a few that jumped off the ATVs and took position and others ran to either the north or south side of the trail but that only bought them a few more moments as soon; they were all dead.
Five of us started checking all the bodies. There was twenty in all, each armed with either an M-4 or AK-47. Some were fully automatic, and some weren’t, but they were all heavily armed, carrying their main weapon,two spare magazines, a handgun, and a knife; just as Brian told us they always do.
I was now a little worried about the Crumby’s, Mia and Kim’s mental state as they looked over the dead bodies. Dean Crumby vomited earlier shortly after watching Mo and Wit cut the throats of the two men that him and his wife initially shot. Mia also started to vomit when she looked at one of the girls that she knew she killed. The girl had to be around twenty. Kim handled it better than I expected, even though she seems a little shocked afterward. Jake didn’t seem to have much of a problem at all as he knew that if we didn’t eliminate them, many more people in the area would end up dead someday. Ben was hard to read as he’s normally quiet. He wasn’t a happy camper, but something told me that Jake had prepared him mentally.
Not to sound cold blooded but I had to look at everything in a different way. We now had several automatic weapons, ATVs, and a few motorcycles. A couple were shot up pretty well, but both Jake and Red stated that if they couldn’t be fixed, they’d work great for extra parts.
After all the bodies were secured and placed in a row for later burial, we loaded up and headed back to the farm, all except Mike, Red, Robert, and John. Mike insisted that he wanted to patrol for a while to make sure everything was clear in the area. I thought it was odd but Mike was in charge of security, so I didn’t question it and just told him to take a small team with him. Everyone grabbed an ATV and the ones that knew how rode the motorcycles and we headed home.
When we all got back, I had a long talk with everyone but mainly the Crumby’s, Mia, Kim, Jake, and Ben, telling them what to expect. I told them that there might be times where they’ll think about what they just did and let them know it was completely normal. I then reminded them what Pauley’s group had in mind and how Charlie and Martha would’ve been dead if we didn’t do this. They seemed to have a grip on it, but I wanted to let them know there was always a chance this would stay with them a while, especially when they’re trying to go to sleep.
It was about two hours later when I really started to worry that Mike and his crew weren’t back yet. I immediately started calling on the radio with failed attempts. We were just about to gear up and start searching when after one more attempt, Mike answered but speaking very quietly.
“Are you guys alright? Where the hell are you?”
Again, in a quiet tone, he said, “We’re all fine. I can’t talk now, but we’re safe. I’ll call you shortly. Please don’t call back for a while, or you’ll compromise us.”
“I don’t know what you’re up to, but I want a call in an hour at the latest. Do you copy?”
After a long hesitation, Mike replied, “10-4.”
“What the hell are those guys up to?” Mo asked.
“I don’t know, but it would’ve been nice if they would’ve advised us,” I replied with concern.
“They’re probably up to something that they knew you would say no to.” Tag stated.
I thought for a few moments, and then I asked, “You don’t think they went after Pauley, do you?”
Mo looked startled, “No, surely not.”
Wit jumped in, “Well think about it. Mike and Red are both leaving, and they both feel guilty about it. They know since we wiped out his crew, the only threat from them is Pauley himself and then Robert and John goes also, Mike’s buddies. You know what, I bet they did.”
“Son of a bitch!” I yelled.
Mo asked, “Do you want to go after them?”
After thinking for several moments, I replied, “No! We’ll give them an hour to report in. If we don’t hear from them, then we’ll go. But if we go now, we may put them in more danger.”
About forty-five minutes later, Mike called on the radio in a normal voice, “Dad, are you there?”
“Go ahead.”
“We’ve accomplished our mission. The group we confronted this morning has been completely eliminated, and we found a treasure chest of items we can use. We’re on our way back, and we’ll fill you in on the details upon arrival.”
“I’m anxious to hear your report,” I remarked, with relief but still a little bit of anger.
When they arrived, they acted as proud as peacocks. After a short ass chewing, they explained how they weren’t going to leave until they eliminated the threat from Pauley. They said that they couldn’t have left knowing that they were leaving us with an active threat.
They explained that Mike and John took up sniper positions that Mike spotted when we were reconning the place during the rescue of Jana and Tracy. So Mike and Red talked to John and Robert, and Red and Robert acted as their spotters.
Mike stated that they were waiting for Pauley to show himself plainly but he never would, and then when I called, they knew they were running out of time. So, knowing that Pauley would be waiting for his crew to return, he had Red and Robert both start the ATVs and make a lot of noise with them as if his crew were coming back. When Pauley stood in front of the window looking for the ATVs, that’s when they got him.
“Afterwards, we secured the building and of course checked for booby traps. You won’t believe the gun parts and reloading equipment they had. Trust me; it’s going to come in handy for you guys.” Red said with a guilty smile.
I was still angry, but their mission was a success, and in a way, I’d never admit, I understood what Mike and Red were feeling, so I eventually gave in, and we started giving them the praise they deserved, to a certain extent. How co
uld I say too much? I did the same thing with Orville, so I couldn’t go off on them too hard.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Even though what Mike, Red, John, and Robert had done was very risky, their success eliminated a very likely threat. No telling what would have been in our future if Pauley would’ve survived.
It is kind of sad in one way to be happy about eliminating a man and slaughtering twenty young men and women, but this is a different time and way of life. Not only did we eliminate a direct threat to ourselves but probably to several that were in the surrounding areas that we were not aware of.
Another benefit from this carnage was we now had several ATVs and motorcycles, enough that every family that helped in the ambush now had a form of transportation and we also obtained plenty of automatic weapons for our protection in the future.
At first, the use of the AK-47’s would be limited as the only ammo we had for them was the ammo that each of Pauley’s group had on him or her at their demise but the next day would do away with that concern.
Monday was a busy day. Several of us joined Jake and his tractor, to dig a mass grave for those of the Pauley group. We also pulled the ATVs back that were damaged by gunfire during the ambush.
Later we drove to Pauley’s and buried him. As Mike reported, we found several guns parts, ATV and motorcycle salvage parts, and several components for reloading ammunition, including powder, casings, additional primers and bullets. Between what we already had, plus Pauley’s, we now had the components to reload ammo for the M-4’s and AK-47’s for some time. We did find five grenades but they turned out to be smoke grenades and not fragmentation.
Jim was unable to call on Sunday evening due to a mission, but on Monday evening he called on the ham radio to check on the welfare of everyone. Being able to report that there were no casualties and that even Pauley himself had been eliminated was a relief to him, as well as to all of us.
He did have some news about the arrival of Brandy’s father. He stated that they’d be arriving at 0800 hours or 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and to expect additional personnel to show up, which would consist of her father’s security team and due to the influence that her father apparently has with someone in the military, General Winstead, Jim’s Commanding General, and best friend, would also be coming.
Finally, he advised me that silver was currently worth $1040.00 in the Australian currency which is AUD or Australian Dollar.
I then hit Jim up with one more request. I told him that this might be tougher for him to swing than the previous items he obtained for us. I told him about Brandy and Mike wanting to get married before leaving and asked if it’d be possible to get someone from the Chaplain’s office with authority to do so, to come out and perform the ceremony, along with some type of paperwork that would show that they had been married. The days of going to the county clerk’s office to obtain a marriage license were over, but I was sure the Chaplain’s office would have something that could be used.
When I completed the request, Jim went silent for several moments, then commented, “Oh hell, everyone else seems to be going so I can probably swing something…..Is there going to be a party?”
I told him I’m sure there would be, and of course, we wanted all of the crews to attend that had previously been here.
I also asked Jim what the extended forecast was for Saturday and after a pause of several minutes, he said that the forecast was Sunny with light and variable winds with a high around 60, but he reminded me that this was from the base’s meteorologist and under the current circumstances, they had limited forecast abilities.
Hearing that, all I could do was hope, but if they were right, this would be great weather for whatever was planned.
I noticed that during and after dinner, everyone had high spirits. The jokes and jabs that kept our morale high were back in full swing. With another threat being eliminated, everyone was happy. Reality has taught us that we never know what tomorrow will bring, but for now, even with the hell going on throughout our country, we were as happy as we could be under the circumstances. I decided to fill everyone in on the change in the schedule of the arrival of Brandy’s dad and spring my little surprise to Brandy and Mike.
Mia, Paul, Brandy, and Mike were playing the game, “Compatibility,” that Mia had found stuck away in their closet. It’s a couple’s game where the couples compete against one another based on similar beliefs. The couple that answers more questions alike wins the game. It has various categories such as home life, goals, politics, money, and even sex and some of the questions can be quite provocative.
All the guys were sitting around listening to their answers and making the typical comments that you would expect from us. No need to say Wit and Red were having quite a good time giving all of them a hard time.
Finally, Brandy and Mike ended up winning the game. It was pretty well tied until the political questions came up. Mike and Brandy pretty well had the same views, but Mia still showed that the left had brainwashed her quite a bit with certain issues.
“Brandy, Mike, do you still want to get married before you leave?”
“Of course.” Brandy answered.
Mike asked, “Yes but how are we going to go about it? Since the minister at East Lynne has been killed, what do we do?”
Mia spoke up, “I think Vince ought to marry you,” which brought an outburst of laughter from the guys. “I’m serious. Since we don’t have a minister, Vince has more knowledge about the Bible than anyone else I know, and with him being our leader, it’d be like a captain of a ship marrying a couple.”
I could see she was completely serious and Brandy had a look like it was a great idea so I spoke up, “Well, that’s a nice idea but I think a minister is a better idea and I’m about as far from being a minister as a person can be. My life hasn’t been what too many people would consider even being close to righteous.”
Tag started laughing, “Ain’t that the truth.”
Mia immediately responded, “Well, these are different times. It’s not like they can run to the local church and ask to be married, anyway, it would be their oath and God’s blessing that would really make them married. You know, in the old days, a couple's declaration of love and commitment and a prayer is all it took for two to be considered married.”
When Brandy started nodding her head yes like she liked the idea, I exclaimed, “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I’ve hopefully made arrangements for something better.
First of all, Brandy, when I talked to Jim today, he advised me that they’re going to arrive with your dad at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning. They’ll also have a security team with them and Mike you’re not going to believe this, but Jim’s Commanding General is also coming.”
With a shocked look, he asked, “A General?.... Wow!... But what’s that got to do with us getting married?”
“Well, I asked Jim to try and bring someone from the Chaplain's office that would have the authority to marry you two, along with any paperwork that may come in handy to prove you’re married. Now, if he’s able to swing it and you know Jim, you can get married when they arrive.”
Mia proclaimed excitedly, “That means your dad will be here for it.”
Brandy formed a huge smile, “I know my mom will be with him. I’m sure he’ll tell her that she can’t come for safety reasons but I know my mom, she’ll come anyway.”
Kim, who had been in the kitchen, overheard the conversation and came in all excited, “That means we can have a real wedding for you guys. You know all of our friends and those in the community will show up for it. Is that something you would like Brandy?”
“Like? I’d love it. Wouldn’t that be great, Mike?” as she reached over and gave him a big hug.
“Yeah.”
“Girls, come on. We have some planning to do.” Kim said with true joy, as all the women went into the back room to discuss the wedding.
Just about that time, Mo broke out with his famous laugh that we hadn’t heard for some time. Soon Tag
was laughing so hard; he almost fell off the couch.
“What are you guys laughing at?” I asked while starting to laugh at their laughter.
“Looks at Mike’s face.”
He had a deer in the headlight type look. When we all noticed it, the laughter increased.
Angela looked through the doorway and asked, “What’s so funny?”
Mo replied, “Oh, we’re just telling some of our old war stories,” trying to keep Mike out of any trouble.
“Oh my gosh, don’t you guys ever run out of those?” and she left the doorway and went back to the other ladies that were talking non-stop.
Wit, still laughing, asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong Mike? You do want to marry her don’t you?”
Mike, still with a little bit of a stunned look replied, “What? Oh, of course, I do. But…well... I guess hearing dad saying that he got a Chaplain and we could get married this weekend, the reality just hit me. I’m actually getting married.”
Still, with laughter, Tag said, “Yep, your life is over as you know it. Now, you’ll have a new commander.”
“Yeah, Brandy!” Paul added while almost falling over in his chair from laughing so hard.
Mike came out of his trance and responded, “Paul, if that’s true, then you better start getting used to Mia being your commander as the way you two are going, I see that in your future.”
Paul held up his hands as though he was indicating slow down, “Well, we aren’t there, yet. We’re just at what you’d call the dating stage,” but then he came right back at Mike, “ But even if that comes true someday, I won’t be receiving my orders quite as early as you’ll be. You know, like this coming Saturday. Just think, by this time, Saturday, you’ll be hooked for life.”
That took Mike back to the edge of being in shock, as we continued with our jabs.
Into the Apocalypse Page 42