by Liscom, Sean
a lot of time talking to Doc about the loss of Rex. I'm
pretty sure it's really going to affect her in the next day or two.”
“I don't remember him getting into the fight..... What happened?”
He didn't have his seat belt on and was ejected. The Jeep rolled over him and crushed him. Doc said that it was so fast he probably never knew what happened,” she said.
“Damn,” was all I could say.
“You should probably get some more rest. Sheriff Watson, Mayor Calvert and Major Jackson will be here at 8am to talk to you and Melissa. After that, Doc is going to kick you out of here and send you home.”
“What are they coming out here for?” I asked.
“Sheriff Watson and Major Jackson want to get a statement from the two of you and Jim, well, he’s as mad as a wet hen that this happened on his watch. As soon as he got the news, he came to the ambush site as fast as that old Jeep of theirs would get him there,”
she paused when there was a quiet knock at the door. Jessica opened it slightly and peeked in.
“Sorry to interrupt, Jill, Amanda is on the radio from the hospital. She wants to speak to you,” she said.
“Thanks, Jess. I’ll be there in a minute,” Jill replied, Jessica closed the door again. Jill gave me a kiss on the forehead before standing fully upright again. “I gotta take this. You going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Go do what you gotta do,” I told her. She gave me that smile of hers and then she slipped out of the room. I laid there for the longest
time, staring at the ceiling and listening to the ticking of the wall clock. Every time I tried to close my eyes, the ambush would begin to replay itself in my head. The thing that really struck me was the fact that, at the time, everything seemed really foggy to me. Each time it replayed in my mind, I got clearer and clearer.
What I really think it was, was my mind actually slowing everything down. The actual incident lasted about five minutes from the time of the explosion to the arrival of the teams from Elko and the ranch. I realized that I never did lose consciousness in the rollover, it all just happened so damn fast that I missed most of it. Between hitting my head during the second roll and all of the dust and dirt that had hit me in the face, I had missed a lot. The explosion had actually deafened me for a few minutes and the ensuing, close proximity gunfire didn’t help matters.
The first man that I had seen, the one with the rifle pointed at me, had been clean shaven and he was wearing a uniform much like ours. All of our attackers looked to be clean and dressed in the same attire that we were wearing. I guess it was rather fortunate that they didn’t have the body armor or training that we did. Otherwise, it could have turned out very different. When I got to the part where the three men were running for the car, I could remember dropping one guy halfway between the two cars.
I had fired a half second before Melissa and I had hit him in the back. Her round had struck him in the side of the head. The one that was hit in the leg
belonged to her, I was aiming at the would-be driver. When he had jumped into the seat and slammed the door, He paused just long enough to look back at us before he floored the gas pedal and roared away.
I was startled from my thoughts when there was a soft knock at the door. Doc came into the room, tucked under one arm was a fresh set of clothes. He spent the next 45 minutes helping me get dressed. It was an ordeal to say the least. As soon as I sat up in bed, the whole room began to spin around me. It started to slow down just before I almost threw up. Doc left me sitting on the edge of the bed and went to the medicine locker on the far wall. He returned with something for the nausea. After about 10 minutes, I didn’t feel like I was going to lose my cookies anymore.
Once I was dressed, he again put my left arm in a sling to help support its weight. I had never had a dislocated shoulder so this was all new to me. Even though he had popped it back in, it still hurt like hell. He explained to me that the tissue in and around the joint was inflamed but the pain should subside in the next few days. With his assistance, we walked into the waiting room of the clinic and he had me sit in the chair behind his desk.
“I don’t know if I’ve said it yet Doc, so I will say it now. Thanks for taking care of me. I owe you one,” I said before he could leave the room again.
“If anyone is counting, you owe me two now,” he said with a grin and then walked back down the hallway. It was about 30 minutes later when he
returned with Melissa. He had her sit in the chair behind Susan’s desk. “You two sit tight and don’t try to go anywhere. I’m going to go get you some breakfast before everyone shows up,” he said making eye contact with both of us. Once he was satisfied that we had gotten the message, he walked out the front door.
“You going to be okay, Mr. Sterling?” Melissa asked, looking over at me.
“Yes, Melissa. Thanks to you, I’m going to be just fine. What about you?”
“I'll be fine..... I just can't believe we lost Rex.....” her voice faded out.
“I know. There is nothing I can say to make it hurt any less. I'm sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, sir. That means a lot coming from you. Doc says that I'm grounded for a week,” she said sullenly.
“You and me both. Seriously though, Melissa. If it hadn’t been for your quick reaction, both of us would probably be dead. Thank you for what you did,” I told her. “Now you know what it means to be in the right place at the right time.”
“Mrs. Sterling always told us that very same thing during our training. She never did tell us what it meant. She said that we probably wouldn’t even know when it had happened, but that it would. We all figured that there was a story behind that saying….” I smiled at her and she stopped talking. She cocked her head to one side.
“Melissa, there are a lot of stories behind that
saying. Not just stories from Jill and me, but stories from everyone here at the ranch. Anyone who runs the gauntlet to try and do the right thing, to try and help others, has a story to tell. We hold the line everyday against evil forces that are bent on destroying everything good that people are trying to do,” I paused as my brother came through the door. He was followed be Megan who was carrying a tray full of food. “You now have a story of being in the right place at the right time,” I finished. She looked at me thoughtfully and nodded her head.
Braden and Megan served us our breakfast and stayed while we ate. I learned from Braden that Jill and Dan had taken squad 5 into town to interview the man
that had survived our counter-attack. He also told me that Major Jackson, Sheriff Watson and Mayor Calvert were going to be late getting here. They wanted to be in on the interview too.
After breakfast, we were kicked out of Doc’s clinic and told to go home and get some rest. Braden and Megan escorted us out of the clinic and the first thing I saw was a five-ton parked in the parking lot. Behind it was a flatbed trailer carrying the destroyed Jeep. The sight stopped me in my tracks. The Jeep was upright but the front of it was sitting on the frame. The entire front axle had been torn from the vehicle. Both rear tires were flat, the windshield frame had been pushed in and down between the forward portion of the roll cage.
The fiberglass roof and all of the equipment that
had been on top of it were laying in the bed of the five-ton. I let out a soft whistle and slowly circled the trailer, taking in all of the damage. The passenger door sheet metal had been pushed inward and you could see the outline of the AR500 plate that was inside of it. There were puddles of engine oil mixing with the transmission oil on the deck of the trailer. My guess was that both oil pans had soaked up more than a few bullets from the bad guys.
Mike Taylor and Mark Butler came walking up from the direction of the warehouse. Mark was pulling a cart with an oxyacetylene torch on it. Mike explained that they needed to cut the windshield frame off. It was pinning the AR-15 rifles in the rack.
“Is there anything worth salvaging?” I asked.
/>
“The Jeep is a total loss. Some of the interior parts might be okay but the drive-train is wasted. The two AR’s that were in the back seat were thrown clear, I think these two are okay, just stuck,” Mike said as he pointed to the rifle rack. “Most of the stuff in the rear survived, we already pulled it out,” all I could do was shake my head. I couldn’t believe that any of us had survived that crash.
Megan had already taken Melissa back to the barracks and Braden was urging me to head home too. I finally relented and he escorted me all the way to the couch in the living room. He gave me the speech about not trying to go anywhere or doing anything stupid. He also told me that he would come get me when Jill and
the others got back. He left me a full glass of water
and a handheld radio.
I must have dozed off because I was woke up by Jill’s soft voice. She was gently shaking my booted foot that was hanging off the end of the couch. When I opened my eyes, she moved closer and sat on the table.
“Hey, did you get a good nap?” she asked in that same quiet voice.
“I guess I did,” came my groggy reply. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“It’s okay, babe. The interrogation took a lot longer than we thought it would. I’m glad you got some rest,” she said as she moved in for a kiss. While my entire body was sore and stiff, the warmth of her
lips against mine seemed to soothe everything all at once. The kiss lasted for a few seconds before she pulled back. She smiled at me and stood up. She reached out and I took her offered hand. She helped me up off the couch and steadied me for a moment to let the room stop spinning.
We slowly made our way to the dining room where I was greeted by Major Jackson, Sheriff Watson and Mayor Calvert. As Jill helped me into my seat, Melissa came through the front door, escorted by Dan and Braden. They were followed by Bill, Dale and Mark Butler, Alex, Mike Taylor, Jeff Owens and Jake Fields brought up the rear. Jake closed the door behind him and they all took seats at the table.
It was 12:30 in the afternoon when the meeting was officially underway. It started with questions
directed at both Melissa and myself. Both of us were asked to recount the entire event while those around the table listened intently. There were no interruptions as we told our stories. Once that was done, the meeting was turned over to the Sheriff.
Darren told us that his investigation was still ongoing, but the incident at the trading post and the ambush on the road were related. The survivor from the ambush had told them that there had been a bounty put on mine and Jill's heads. As of a week ago, the price had reached 500 ounces of gold for proof of death of both of us. He told us that he knew about the ambush because he saw a man leaving the radio room
that he didn’t recognize. The man ran and Darren gave pursuit on foot. He and his deputies caught him several blocks away and began to question him. He refused to give any information as to why he was in the radio room but Darren figured it all out when he played back the tape. All communications were recorded on voice activated tape machines that very few people knew about.
The color drained from Jill’s face and I felt a little sick to my stomach again. From what Darren had said, we weren't the only ones on that hit list. Several other leaders from across the state had been placed on it too. Three of which had been confirmed dead in the last 24 hours. The bounty had been placed by the warlord down in Las Vegas. Nobody seemed to know why though.
When I asked about the other assailants of the
ambush, Sheriff Watson became quite angry. He told us that four of the people that we had left dead on the roadside were current residents of Elko. One of those had been a member of his department up until about a month ago. He had been let go for being too aggressive and abusing his power. The other three had connections to Marvin and his gang of reds. The Sheriff had his deputies out scouring the city for anyone else who may have had the same connections.
There was a definite reason for a vendetta and why not get paid a king’s ransom in the process. Five hundred ounces of gold could set a person up pretty good these days. Sheriff Watson made a request that
we keep ourselves confined to the ranch as much as possible. He figured that we would be the safest here and he was probably right.
CHAPTER 8
Friday, August 4th, 2017
While Major Jackson had nothing to add to the investigation side of this meeting, his report was, by far, the most disturbing. At 5am this morning, Team 1 had received a distress call from the small town of Eureka, Nevada. They reported that they were under heavy attack from ground troops and armored vehicles and the sounds of heavy fighting could be heard in the background. Team 1 was camped about 70 miles from there and they responded as fast as they could. They arrived 68 minutes after the distress call was issued.
What they found was horrific. Bodies littered the streets, many of whom appeared to have been executed. Men, women and children all suffered the same fate. Even animals had been slaughtered. Nearly every building in town had been blown apart by heavy weapons. Those that weren’t, were set ablaze along with the fields that were used for farming north of town. They didn’t find a single survivor in the town of 198 people. Whoever had attacked them had not been interested in looting or stealing either.
The team had found functional rifles and handguns just lying in the street. The two Hummers that Major Jackson had given them were still armed, still had ammunition, and were left running in ditches with their dead crews still inside. Once their search for
survivors had concluded, Team 1 had moved out of the
town and found high ground from which they could see a full 3600 for miles around them.
They didn't want to be caught in the dead town should the attackers return. They also wanted to have a good vantage point so they could see any would-be attack coming their direction. Major Jackson had given them orders to keep on the move after nightfall and report anything out of the ordinary. They were, under no circumstances, to return to Eureka. As the Major wrapped up his report, I could feel my face flushing from anger. I was the first one to speak when he was done.
“Are you telling us that the entire population of Eureka was wiped out in a matter of 60 minutes?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. My guys didn’t count bodies but they sure as hell didn’t find anyone alive either.”
“How big of a force would be needed to do something like that?”
“There are a lot of different variables but I would have to say the attacking force would have to have a numbers advantage of at least two to one.”
“So, a 400 person force rolled in, smashed the town and vanished? Where the hell did they go and where the hell are they headed?” I asked.
“Like I said, Jason. There are a lot of different things that could have happened. If it was a very well trained and disciplined force, it could have been 100 guys that did this. We have no idea how the attack
went down. As to where they went, again, no clue. Team 1 came up from the south and they didn’t run into them. They could have headed west or they could have taken any one of two dozen dirt roads between here and there. I don’t know,” Dennis Jackson said defensively.
“Could this be the ghost crew that you have been hunting?” I asked.
“Possible? Sure, but we've seen no evidence that they have the manpower to pull this kind of thing off. We haven't seen any signs of aggression from them either.”
“You need to find them, Dennis. You need to find who did this and put an end to it.”
“No shit!” he fired back. “Since the first report that we got, I've had Teams 1 and 2 scouring the desert trying to sniff these guys out and they have come up with nothing! NOTHING!” he said hotly. I instantly felt bad for my comment. I knew how much time he had devoted to the search for the ghost crew.
“I know you've been busting your balls trying to find them, Dennis. If there is anything, and I do mean anything, that we can do to h
elp, please let us know,” I looked from him to Mayor Calvert. I could see the spooked look in his eyes.
“Mayor, may I offer some suggestions?” I asked him. He sat up in his chair and cleared his throat.
“Please do. This has me a little more than worried.”
“First, find any and all of Marvin’s sympathizers
and round them up. Anyone who would side with them once is likely to side with someone like that again. Second, beef up your perimeter defenses and double your roaming patrols. Third, everyone in your city needs to be made aware of what happened in Eureka. They need to know the stakes,” I said. He nodded at me and looked at Darren.
“You heard the man, Sheriff. Start making things happen,” he ordered. Darren nodded and stood from the table.
“Permission to use your radio, Jason?” he asked.
“You know where it is,” I said. He quickly left the house, headed for the security shack.
“Major, far be it for me to tell you how to run your operations, and I apologize for my comment, it was out of line,” I said looking back at Major Jackson. “May I make a suggestion though?”
“Jason, you’ve never done me wrong. I’m always open to whatever you have on your mind,” Major Jackson said.
“Get Team 1 out of there, don’t wait for nightfall. Tell them to go back the way that they came before turning north. I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever did this, didn’t go too far from the scene of the crime. Keep all of your teams and squads that are in the field mobile and bring them closer to home. Next, get the word out that there is a hostile force out there and they mean business,” I said. He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.
“Why do you want them closer to home?” he
asked.
“Well, if they come under attack, they will be closer to help. If there is an attack here or in Elko, they will be closer to respond.”