EMP [Collateral Darkness] | Book 4

by Tony Mastrolacasa

  “That is good news.” Stu said.

  Terrell pealed back Stu’s dressings and took another quick look at the entry and exit holes in his left shoulder.

  “Stu… you realize this is the exact same spot that Brody…”

  “…I’m aware.” Stu said, cutting him off.

  “Oh, that’s right… Sorry.” Terrell said.

  During the defense of George’s cabin, Stu’s nine year old son had an unexpectedly played a pivotal role in ending the fight. Unfortunately, inexperience and a minor lapse in trigger discipline had resulted in Stu catching one of Brody’s bullets in the same shoulder. Insisting on Terrell’s absolute silence on the subject, Stu had simply told everyone that he had snagged his shoulder on a branch. He had no interest in making his son feel guilty after the brave boy had just saved his life. He only wished that the man inside the house today had been firing a .22 calibre rifle as well.

  “Where are the others?” Stu asked as he pressed the bandage back into place with a wince.

  “They’re all in one of the trucks warming up.” Terrell replied. “The medics are giving everyone the once over, checking for malnutrition and such.”

  The sound of a massive assault erupted by the cabins startling them all. It wasn’t just the regular small arms fire either. This was the big stuff that the LAV IIIs brought to the party.

  ◆◆◆

  “Tom, please just let me go.” Stacey said. “There’s no way the Army is gunna let us just drive out of here. Do as they say and give up… Let them arrest you.”

  “Ha! I don’t fuckin’ think so, bitch.” Tom said. “I didn’t finally get you back only to watch you run off with some other guy. If that’s him out there he’ll see your corpse thrown out of the damn window before that happens. Then I’ll knock his fuckin’ head off when he comes to cry over your dead body.”

  Taking Tom’s words as a clear indication that he intended to kill them both, regardless of the consequences, Stacey decided to make her move. As Tom went to the window to take another look outside, she quietly picked up the bottle of Jack Daniel’s and heaved it the three metres to his head. It ricocheted off the back of his thick skull with a dull thud and shattered against the wall. The blow caught him by surprise, but only staggered him slightly.

  Before Tom could regain his balance, Stacey rushed in and went to work. Approaching from his right, she leapt forward and slammed the sole of her right boot into the side of Tom’s right knee. Then, as he screamed out in pain, Stacey used his awkwardly bent leg to launch into a spinning back kick. Her left boot struck Tom’s gun hand squarely and sent his pistol tumbling to the floor. To top it all off, she followed through with a fist to his nose.

  The lightning fast combination left Tom disarmed and on the verge of toppling over. The big man was hurt… badly, but somehow he stubbornly refused to fall. The ligaments in Tom’s knee were torn, two of his fingers were pointed in sickly directions and his nose was flattened over to the side. If Tom thought his reflection was hard to look at before he should take a look at himself now.

  As Tom bent over, trying desperately to retrieve his gun, Stacey knew it was now or never. She needed to slice this pig’s throat before he regained control of his weapon. She went for her karambit, but was shocked to discover her sheath empty. Without hesitation, she picked up a kitchen chair and swung it in a wide 360 degree arc that ended on the back of Tom’s head. The solid oak chair splintered upon meeting a much harder object.

  This time Tom did go down falling face first directly onto his pistol. He could now add a few missing front teeth to his new ‘rough and tumble’ make over.

  He was only down for two seconds before Stacey saw him trying to get back up. Tom’s vision was blurred and his mind was clouded, but he wasn’t out of the fight yet. Flailing blindly on the floor, he found his pistol and grasped it firmly. Tom shrieked as he remembered too late that his ring and middle fingers were currently pointing east and west. His trigger finger was alright, though and right now that was all he needed.

  Corey threw his shoulder into the door at the exact moment that Tom found Stacey’s fuzzy silhouette. It was then that Corey discovered Hal’s decision to equip his cabins with solid wooden doors.. He may have failed in his attempt to force open the door, but Corey’s timing was impeccable nonetheless. He had at least succeeded in drawing Tom’s attention away from Stacey. Her execution would be postponed only as long as it took Tom to empty a mag into the door and the man on the other side.

  “Get away from the door!” Stacey shouted.

  From the seated position, Tom pulled the trigger repeatedly causing small beams of sunlight to appear across the wooden slab. Upon exiting the cabin, the vast majority of his bullets flew harmlessly out over the lake, but a few found their mark. Corey was struck first in the left arm, then the left collar bone and finally the right foot. His pistol fell from his left hand as he frantically tried to scoot away from the door.

  The instant Tom’s magazine ran dry, Stacey rushed forward and slammed her boot laces into his face. As she ran for the door, Tom desperately lunged at her. He caught one of her feet and sent her flying face first to the floor. With her head now swimming too, Stacey inched towards the door on her stomach. Tom, equally stunned, dug through his pockets trying to locate his spare magazine.

  The door suddenly slammed open. Looking up, Stacey saw Corey standing there with an ice auger in his hands. Knowing he had no time to waste, he flung the heavy steal corkscrew at Tom. Then, using his one good arm, he yanked Stacey to her feet.

  Despite having to deflect the auger with his forearms, taking several deep cuts in the process, Tom managed to reload his pistol just as Corey and Stacey leapt from the deck.

  “Fuck you, bitch!” Tom shouted as he took aim.

  “Fire!” Corey shouted as he and Stacey were still midair.

  The chain driven M242 Bushmaster autocannon aboard each LAV III immediately sprung to life. They pounded 25mm shell after 25mm shell into the side of the cabin at a rate of 200 rounds per minute. Combined, their main guns alone were dropping nearly a kilo of ammunition on the cabin every second. The C6 coaxial machine guns aboard each vehicle also disposed of 7.62mm bullets at a rate of 1100 rounds per minute. The secondary gunners didn’t really need to participate, but it did add tremendously to the spectacle.

  Seeing the walls disintegrate and the roof collapse finally convinced Warrant Officer Blackwell to call a ceasefire. It had taken the weapons on board the LAV IIIs a total of 15 seconds to reduce Tom’s cabin to a pile of rubble. Tom himself had been turned to mist 14 seconds earlier.

  Breathing a sign of relief, Stacey stood up and brushed herself off. She then turned to Corey to offer him a hand. She was concerned to see Corey looking back at her with a pale face and a strained smile. Concern quickly turned to panic when she noticed the thin jet of blood pulsated from a wound in his neck.

  “Help!”

  Chapter 27

  “What’s the hell’s going on back there, doc?” Stu asked as Terrell hurried over. “Nobody’s telling us shit and they won’t even let us get close. We had to beg them just to let Stacey stand outside the surgical truck.”

  “Calm down, Stu.” Terrell said. “Corey’s in good hands, but he’s gunna be in there for a while yet.”

  “You’re gunna have to do better than that, Terrell.” George said.

  “The hole in Corey’s arm was a simple flesh wound, so it was easy to take care of. Somehow, the fool managed to lose a couple of toes out of the deal too. The wound to his collar bone is a little more complicated though. The bullet fractured his left clavicle and they figure a bone fragment nicked his left carotid artery.”

  “Damn.” Stu said as they listened intently.

  “He’s lost a lot of blood, so they’ve asked me to check all of our blood types.” Terrell continued. “He’s A-negative which is fairly rare and incompatible with most other types. Colonel Bennet has several of his soldiers rolling up their sleeves, but I fi
gured you guys would probably want to donate too.”

  “Hell yes, we want to donate.” George said.

  “I think Leo’s…” Stu cut himself off and shouted over to his wife. “Hey, Syd, is Leo A-negative?”

  “Yeah, you are too, Stu.” Sydney shouted back.

  “Well, that’s a good start.” Terrell said. “I’ll test you, but you’ve lost a good amount of blood yourself, homie. We’ll keep you on stand by until we need you. When Leo gets here, though, I’ll test him and send him straight over.”

  “Alright, let’s get started then.” Stu said.

  “How’s your shoulder doing anyway?” Terrell asked.

  “It’s sore as hell, but it hasn’t bled any since the last time you checked.” Stu replied.

  “I wish I close those wounds up for you, Stu, but things are a little hectic right now.” Terrell said.

  “No rush, doc.” Stu said. “Just don’t forget about me.”

  “You hear anything else while you were back there?” George asked as Terrell pricked Stu’s finger.

  “I did actually.” Terrel replied. “When I was speaking to Colonel Bennet, he referred to Corey as ‘Captain Fletcher.’ Were you guys aware that Corey was an officer?”

  “Oh, you have got to be kidding me… I had no idea.” Stu said, looking over at an equally surprised George. “I knew he was a career soldier, but he doesn’t really talk about his time in the Army a whole lot.”

  “Well, Bennet received a radio transmission while Corey and Stacey were still down at the cabins.” Terrell continued. “Corey was honourably discharged with the rank of captain. Bennet told me he was actually considering reinstating his commission before he got wounded.”

  “They don’t have much use for eight toed officers in the Army, I guess.” Stu said.

  “Ha! I guess not.” Terrell said. “Regardless, Bennet has all of his soldiers calling him ‘Captain’ now.”

  “Unreal. I can’t wait to tell Brian when he gets back with Fran.” Stu said.

  “Captain Weirdo, I can hear him already.” George said.

  “Ha! Yeah, that sounds about right.” Terrell said.

  ◆◆◆

  “Mrs. Fletcher?” Colonel Bennet asked, walking up from behind.

  “Not yet.” Stacey replied as she turned around. “I’m still Miss Jones for a while longer.”

  “My apologies.” Bennet said. “I saw the ring and foolishly assumed.”

  Seeing Colonel Bennet walking towards Stacey, Sydney jogged over and took her hand.

  “Do you have an update for us, Colonel?” Sydney asked.

  “No, Major Tremblay will handle communications with the family.” Bennet replied. “He’s Captain Fletcher’s surgeon.”

  “Oh… okay.” Stacey said.

  Hearing Corey referred to as Captain still sounded very strange to Stacey. Up until 20 minutes ago, she didn’t really know anything about Corey’s time in the Army. Stacey only knew that it was a source of tremendous pain for him and his daughter. Corey and Jenny had never brought it up and she had respected them enough to never ask.

  “I’m here on a completely separate matter, one that concerns me personally.” Bennet added.

  He opened one of his breast pockets and pulled out a name patch. Stacey and Sydney could see that it was the same size, colour and design as the patches that all of Bennet’s soldiers wore on their chests. This one, however, had a peculiar name sewn onto it, one that was well known to the colonel.

  ‘TUPP’

  “When my men were going over the uniform that Captain Fletcher was wearing, they noticed that the name patch was missing from his jacket. They found that it had been torn off and stuffed into one of his pockets. When they brought him in earlier, I noticed that his jacket also had a sergeant’s insignia sewn to its sleeves. I served with a Sergeant Ron Tupp years ago. His younger brother, Corporal Mark Tupp, is actually part of my regiment.

  “I already planned to question your fiancé about the service weapon he was carrying, but now I’m curious about his clothing as well. I need to know how Captain Fletcher came into possession of the uniform of an active duty member of the Canadian military.

  “Now, before you say anything, let me first tell you that I’ve been informed of Captain Fletcher’s service record. I know he’s an honourable man and I don’t suspect him of anything nefarious here. I simply need to know how he acquired Sergeant Tupp’s uniform and service weapon.”

  “Colonel, I don’t think Stacey is in any position to…”

  “…I got this, Syd.” Stacey said with a reassuring smile. “Corey cared a great deal for those soldiers and I think the colonel deserves to know what happened to them.”

  “You have information about more than just Sergeant Tupp?” Colonel Bennet asked.

  “I do.” Stacey replied. “Five Canadian soldiers were shot and killed in the parking lot of the Monroe SaveCor back in the fall. They were guarding the store when a gang attacked them. None of the people here were present other than Corey and myself. We weren’t responsible for their deaths, though, Colonel.

  “When Corey noticed that the gang members were stripping the soldiers’ bodies, he was furious. He was almost killed trying to put a stop to it. In the end, we wound up shooting the gang members before they shot us. When a second gang came into the parking lot, we hopped in their truck and took off. Those jerks had already thrown a uniform and rifle in there, so Corey decided to keep them.”

  “Busy place… this Monroe SaveCor.” Bennet said.

  “It was the only store left with any food or supplies.” Stacey said. “We were just hoping to negotiate for some stuff when that gang attacked. My sister and I actually barely even knew Corey at the time, but we could tell he was a good man. My sister died that day as well.”

  “I’m sorry to hear of your loss, Miss Jones.”

  “Thank you, Colonel.”

  “Did you get the names of the other four soldiers?” Bennet asked.

  “No, but Corey has their dog tags at home.” Stacey replied. “He insisted on collecting them before we left.”

  “Knowing Corey, he probably has their names memorized.” Sydney added.

  “Yeah, probably.” Stacey said.

  “Captain Fletcher would corroborate this story, were I to ask him?” Bennet asked.

  “That’s what happened, Colonel.” Stacey said without even blinking. “Corey’s not the only honourable one in this group.”

  “Good, I won’t question him about it then.” Bennet said. “I’d like those names though.”

  “You’ll have them, Colonel, even if I have to drive home to get those dog tags myself.” Stacey said.

  “Thank you, ladies.” Bennet said as he turned to leave. Stopping, he turned back and added, “I have a chaplain… if you’d like to utilize his services.”

  “Oh, we’re not getting married without our children present, Colonel.” Stacey said.

  “Good to know, but I thought you may want to say a prayer for your fiancé.”

  “Please… send him over.”

  ◆◆◆

  After a quick consultation with Sydney, Terrell had finally built up enough courage to tell George and Grace what had really happened to Cole. Any mention of Cole’s foolish mistake was wisely omitted from Terrell’s description of events. He had simply told them that Cole had been shot when one of the men had unexpectedly survived the initial assault. Cole managed to shoot and kill the man, but not before being mortally wounded himself. In effect, Terrell had told them that Cole had died a hero and that was how he should be remembered. The last thing he mentioned was how his body was being care for by the group that awaited them up the road.

  Grace and George thanked Terrell and then walked off together to be alone. Nobody would hear more than a few words from them again until they got back home.

  With the military convoy at a complete stand still, the soldiers were busy setting up tents on the Weyr property and filling in the craters at its entrance
. Colonel Bennet hadn’t intended for this little pit stop to be an all day affair, but Corey’s surgery and several other curiosities had forced his hand. They would remain here the rest of the day and move out at first light. Of course, Bennet’s command tent had been the first to be erected, but they had already gotten a good start on a couple of mess halls.

  Stu’s group had been left to wait out their friend’s surgery on the road. They had been permitted to move about freely, even warm up in the back of a truck, but none of them were allowed to leave. Even when asked if just a few of them could head home, Bennet had replied with a decisive ‘negative.’ Why they were being held, he didn’t say, but it was obvious that he was conducting a fairly extensive investigation. Apparently, Bennet didn’t want half of his witnesses/suspects wandering off.

  Colonel Bennet did permit Hal and Nora to go back into the resort to deal with their damaged boiler system though. They needed to close the water valves leading to their burned out home, shattered greenhouse and leveled cabin. The boiler piping had lost a lot of its hot water, but the inclusion of several auto closing emergency valves had prevented the system from running completely dry. If Hal and Nora were going to have any hope of saving the vegetable plants in the three remaining greenhouses they needed to restore the flow of hot water from the boiler system. Stu and Brian offered to come along and do some of the heavy lifting for them.

  While Stu pedaled away on the stationary bike/water pump, Brian slowly poured bucket loads of lake water into the boiler’s draw tank. Finally having Hal and Nora alone, Brian finally offered the apology that they both felt Hal and Nora were owed.

  “Hal, Nora, I can’t begin to tell you how sorry we are about Rob.” Brian said. “Your brother, the others, your house, this place, it’s just terrible the way this whole thing went down. You have to believe me when I tell you that we had no intention of causing this much damage to your family or to your home.”