by Liscom, Sean
“It gets worse, Major. Let me play the distress call
from Austin again,” Todd pushed the play button again. He played through the whole call but none of us were able to pick anything out again. Todd rewound the tape to the beginning of the call and increased the tape speed by 50%. It was as plain as day after he did that. “Everyone hear that high pitched whine?” he asked.
“Abrams tank,” Dennis said flatly.
“Correct, sir,” the young man answered. Dennis stood silently for a few moments while the rest of us let that sink in.
“FUCK!” he finally shouted and slammed his fist on the desk. Everyone in the room jumped and looked at each other.
“Talk to me, Dennis,” Mayor Calvert finally said. Dennis stood upright and took a deep breath.
“Here's the right between the eyes version, Jim. If they know how to use an Abrams tank and a Blackhawk, we got some serious problems.....”
“If it's just a tank and a chopper, we can figure out how to take them out. They've got weaknesses just like everything else, right?” Jim asked.
“It's never just one tank or one chopper. If they have their shit together, and it sounds like they do, they are operating in packs. That's the only way to
decimate a small town so fast. That tank, with a competent crew, could lay out five or eight miles and shell this city with impunity. They can take out any, and I do mean ANY of our armored vehicles and never break a sweat,”
“But..... Well.... we don't know if they have all of that firepower. All we heard was one helicopter and what might be a tank.” Jim stammered.
“Jim, I know that you've never seen these things in action and let me tell you something. I've always said thank God that I wasn't on the receiving end of what they were dealing out. The Abrams tank has one job. You wanna know what that job is?” he asked. Jim just stared at him.
“They kill shit, Jim. I don't just mean the bang, you're dead kinda dead. I mean they will kill your soul, Jim. Yes, we could take one out but I can tell you right now that you ain't gonna want to pay the price to make that happen!” Jim sat silently for a full minute.
“What do we do if they come here?” Sheriff Watson asked, breaking the silence.
“If they give you the chance, you surrender,” Major Jackson replied coldly.
“But....”
“No! Unless you want to get a lot of people killed in a hurry, you surrender. You live to fight another day, Darren. Listen to me, people. Whoever it is pulling off these attacks has the will and the means to deal out a lot of destruction in a very short amount of time. Jason, Jill, I know you have a lot of firepower at the ranch and we are sending more back with you today. Stash it away where nobody will find it. Darren, Jim, you need to do the same thing here,” he said as he began to pace around the office.
“Hide as many of your weapons as you can. Get
groups of your best men together, three to five man teams, get them out of here. The only way that you could defeat this kind of adversary is to do it up close and personal.....”
“What makes you think that they will even let us surrender?” Jill asked from beside me. Dennis stopped his pacing.
“Sorry, my mind is racing right now to put all of the pieces together. The towns of Parump and Beatty, they called us a few days ago, hours apart, and told us that they had elected new officials, new leadership. I thought it was weird but everything sounded on the up and up. I did find it odd that both towns invited us to come down and look things over. I had to decline the invitation, we had too much going on around here,” he finished.
“How does that fit in here?” Jill asked with confusion.
“You got a map? A state map, anybody?” he asked. Melissa, who had been standing behind me, immediately pulled one from the chest pouch of her plate carrier and handed it over. He took it and laid it out on Jim's desk.
“Look, both of them are in the southwestern part of the state. A week ago we lost contact with the town of Caliente. They had been having problems with their radio and I figured that's what the issue was. Eureka was blown off the map and now Austin has been
attacked. I'd bet real money right now that if you called Ely and Tonopah, they either wouldn't answer or
there would be somebody new manning the radio. I'd bet it's the same for nearly everything south of highway 50,” he said as he drew a line across the map with his finger. Jim looked at Sheriff Watson and there was some unspoken communication between the two. Darren excused himself and left the room.
“Correct me if I'm wrong, Major,” Melissa said as she moved toward the map. “Wouldn't this indicate that we are dealing with a much larger force than we first thought?” she asked.
“No, you're not wrong. For them to secure so much territory so quickly, they would need a lot of manpower and equipment. Best guess is that they have been consolidating everything down in Las Vegas and they have begun to push north now,” he replied.
“And we pulled all of our eyes and ears back here,” I said.
“Yeah, we did,” Dennis said, standing upright again.
“Sorry, Dennis. It seemed like the right move at the time.”
“At the time, Jason, it was the right move. These guys just got out ahead of us a lot faster than we could anticipate,” he reassured me. He was about to say something else when Sheriff Watson came back in the room. He cleared his throat to get every ones attention.
“Major Jackson was right. I called Tonopah, Ely and Middlegate, they all answered but all of them have new radio people. I tried Caliente but there is still no
response,” he said.
“Thanks, Darren. Alright, we need to get moving and soon. If they've made it to highway 50, they could be here within a few hours. Jason, Jill, you guys need to get back to the ranch and do as I said. Jim, Darren, you need to get things rolling too. I don't know when, or even if they will come. I don't know how it will go down, but all of you need to be ready,” Major Jackson said.
“What about you, Dennis? Where are you going to be?” Jill asked.
“I'm taking my men and five Hummers. We're going to go get some eyes of these bastards.”
CHAPTER 11
Monday, August 14th, 2017
To say that the mood was heavy when we left the Mayor’s office would be an understatement. I'd been in a good mood all morning because I was back on the job. Now, my mood had shifted to something darker. Being back in the saddle had its drawbacks.
By the time our convoy reached the ranch, I'd started to formulate a plan in my head but I needed to talk to my leadership team. It stuck in my head when Major Jackson told us to surrender, to fight another day. That's exactly what I planned to do. Once all of the MRAP's had been parked, I directed the five-tons and the Hummers to park back by the warehouse and wait for further instructions. I saw Jill emerge from her MRAP and I met her halfway across the parking lot.
“Hey, I think I have a plan. Could you get the senior leadership together in the security shack in say, 15 minutes?” I asked.
“Yeah, I can do that. What are we going to do with all of the equipment that we brought back from Elko? Want me to get a crew to unload it?”
“No. Hold off on that. I told them to park and wait.”
“Okay,” she replied and started off.
“Hey,” I called to her back. She turned toward me. “I love you. We've beaten shitty odds before and we'll do it again, I promise,” I told her. I could see her jaw
clench and the determination in her eyes.
“I love you too, Jason,” she simply said and walked off to gather the people that I needed.
“One way or the other, we'll beat this too,” I muttered to myself and began walking to the security shack. Melissa fell in beside me and I could see her looking at me.
“Something on your mind, Melissa?”
“Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Of course.”
“Sir, I was given a very specific mission to keep you out of har
m’s way and to keep you out of trouble. That has proven to be a near impossible task. Begging your pardon, but you're a shit magnet, sir,” she stopped walking and talking when I started laughing at her comment. That just seemed to make her mad.
“Melissa, you have done your job with a tenacity that I never expected. When you were chosen for the job as my personal guardian angel, they couldn’t have chosen a better person. That being said, and you know what I'm about to say, you signed up for this. Even if you had been assigned to do recon and first contact up in Idaho, You'd still be in the middle of everything that could possibly go sideways.”
“I know that, sir. The thing is..... I can't keep you safe. I can't keep you out of harm’s way. It's almost like this shit is attracted to you, to the ranch,” she said.
“Here’s the thing, Melissa. There are a million ways to die in this crazy world. You can’t protect me from that. Every day that we get out of bed, we run the
risk of getting our ticket punched. No, you can’t stop that from happening. When my number is up, it’s up. What you can do, what I need you to do, is be an extra set of eyes and ears for me. I need to know that you have my back no matter what. Can you do that?” I asked.
“Yes, I can do that,” she said sullenly.
“I won’t try to put us in a bad spot, but in this day and age, shit happens and it seems to happen a lot.”
“Yes, sir, it does seem to happen a lot. Can I ask you a personal question?” she asked as we started walking again.
“Sure.”
“Were you ever in the military or a police officer?”
“No, I wasn’t. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that…. Well, every time things go sideways, you seem to want to be in the middle of it…..” her voice trailed off. It was my turn to stop walking. I had to think about that one for a second.
“I may have never served this country in a uniform, but I was that guy who would stop for a stranded vehicle. I would help my employees when they needed it. I guess it’s just in my nature to try and help people out,” I said. She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.
“I can understand that, but gunfire and explosions? Most people run away from that kind of thing.”
“Part of that comes from my training here, at the
ranch. I guess it’s just a mindset. People need help and it doesn’t really matter the circumstances, if I can help, I will. Well, that and the fact that I don't really take to it when people try to bully us around or take what we've worked so hard for,” I told her and started walking again. That answer seemed to satisfy her curiosity and we finished walking to the shack in silence.
I went through the door after asking Melissa to wait outside. This was going to be a senior staff meeting only. I found Dan sitting at the desk, he looked up at me when I walked in. I guess the look on my face pretty much said it all.
“Trouble?” he asked.
“Lots. Jill is rounding everyone else up for a staff meeting.”
“Great,” he replied, the sarcasm in his voice wasn't lost on me. I turned and started looking out the window. The ranch was fairly quiet today.
“Dan, you did a couple of tours over in the sandbox, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Why do you ask?”
“Did you ever have to fall back, retreat?”
“We called it a tactical regrouping.”
“You ever lose ground that you paid dearly for?”
“Of course, but we always retook it. What's with the questions?” he asked.
“You can find out at the same time everyone else does. Just do me one favor.....”
“Anything.”
“If I'm wrong with my plans, please say so,” I said looking over my shoulder at him. He nodded and I turned to look out the window again. I could see Jill walking with Braden, Jake Fields, Mike Taylor, Jeff Owens, Doc, both of her brothers, Mark and Dale. With the entire senior staff walking toward the shack, they got quite a few looks. People knew that it couldn't be a good thing.
They filed into the shack, some sat in the chairs, and others remained standing. By the looks of confusion on their faces, I knew that Jill had told them nothing. I spent the next few minutes filling them in on what we had learned at the Mayor’s office. When I got to the helicopter and tank information, concern flashed through the room. The advice that Major Jackson had given us, surrender, did not go over well, at all.
“What's your plan?” Dan asked after the commotion died down.
“If they show up here, if they give us a chance to surrender, we will,” I stated bluntly. There was an immediate uproar from everyone except Dan and Jill. Dan stuck both pinky fingers in the corners and let out an earsplitting whistle. That shut everyone up in a hurry.
“I mean beyond that, Jason. I know you and I know that you would not go down that easily. Again, what's your plan?” he repeated the question.
“Thank you, Dan. Since we don't know when or even if this attack will come, I'd like to put a few measures in place until the threat has diminished. First,
I'd like to get all three Teams out of here. Second, I want to move all non-combatants out of the ranch. Third, I want to move enough weapons off of the ranch property that, at a later time, we could stage an insurrection with something other than forks and rocks. We need to be in a position to retake the ranch and the city if we need to,” I finished. Everyone started speaking at the same time again.
“So let me get this straight,” Braden began. “You want to move the majority of the defensive capability of this ranch away from here. Without the Teams and the heavier weapons, we are easy pickings for these assholes!”
“Braden, that's kind of the idea. We make this place easy to take and they relax a little. Once they have disarmed us, the threat to them will diminish. We will keep enough of our capabilities hidden here and when the time is right, we hit them blindside.”
“Yeah? What if they decide to come in here and shoot everyone? What then?” he asked, heatedly.
“Then I guess it won't really fucking matter! If they have the kind of firepower that we think they do, we're screwed. They could burn this place to the ground in just a couple of minutes!” I fired back. Dan stood from behind the desk and moved to the middle of the room.
“Listen, Jason is right. We need to figure out what gives us the best odds and run with it!” he paused to look at Braden. “If we try to stand and fight toe to toe, we're done! All of us will be dead!” he said loudly.
There were a couple of nods from the group. “We need to take Jason's plan, tweak it a little, and then make it happen.”
“You were ready to stand and fight last night, now you want to give up and fold like a wet paper towel? I don't get it! You brought back enough weapons to either start or end a war in a small country, what gives?” Braden demanded.
“You wanna know what's up? Tanks, choppers and fucking mini-guns that can fire 3,000 rounds per minute. We CAN'T stand against that! No way in hell that we could win in a head-to-head fight with that!” I nearly yelled.
“So, what? We throw our hands in the air and beg for mercy? Is that what you're saying here? If that's the case, I'm out! I may not have been here the night that the ranch was attacked, you said it yourself, and you weren't in that FEMA camp either. I will never, EVER, let anyone hold that kind of power over me again!” Braden yelled back.
“Don't you dare....” I began but was cut off when Jill yelled over the top of me.
“HEY!” she yelled as she moved to stand between me and my brother. “KNOCK IT OFF! Both of you! Braden, I'm not happy about this either! This has been my home for a long time and the thought of giving it up is like a knife in my heart!” she said to Braden. Then she turned to look at me. “You are the love of my life, Jason. I know you know that. You also know how much this place means to me. If this ranch dies, I'd better be
dead right along with it. You get what I'm saying?” she asked. I looked from Braden to my wi
fe and took a long, deep breath.
“Jill, I swore to protect this ranch and the people that live here with my life. That was a pledge that I followed through on, with my life. I died once to protect this ranch, to protect you and everyone else. If it came to it, I would do it again,” I said locking eyes with her. “Since that night, I've come to realize one thing. I can't protect anything or anyone if I'm dead. You cannot save this ranch if you're dead.” I said quietly. She broke her gaze and looked at the floor.
“Braden, If you feel that you need to get your family out of here, I won't stop you,” I locked eyes with my brother then began to look at everyone else in the room. “If any of you want to make a break for it and get your loved ones out of here, I can't and won't hold that against you,” I finished. No one made a move to leave, no one said a word for a full minute. Dan finally reached over and put his hand on my shoulder.
“I think you have your answer, Jason.” he said. I took another deep breath and blew it out slowly.
“Okay. Let me be clear about one thing before I continue. If we surrender this ranch, if we stand down and let the enemy through our gate, it will only be because that will give us the chance to take the fuckers out. They may be standing on our soil but we will still be in control. Am I clear?” I asked. I was met with yes nods from everyone in the room. Jill was the only one to speak.
“What's the plan?” she said, barely loud enough to hear.
“Okay, Jeff, Mike and Jake, I want each of you to assume command of one of the Teams. Leave me squad 3-2 and take the rest. I want you to load out like you were going to go fight a small war and I want you to take as much fuel with you as you can. I don't know when you'll be able to refuel. Head out tonight and find a place to hide out. Mark, I want you to take Alex, Dale and Samantha into the underground with Bill. Lock it down. You're going to be eyes and ears on everything. Dan and Braden, I want you to leave tonight with all of the non-combatants, women and children. Get them up to the caves and hide out there until you hear otherwise. As long as you stay hidden and camouflage the entrance to the cave, they will never find you in there. Take the defense force guys with you to provide security,” I finished.