Breckinridge Valley: Surviving the Black--Book 1 of a Post-Apocalyptical series

by Zack Finley

  Steve offered to give me his holdings, but I declined, saying I needed to get some sleep. I kissed my girls and went upstairs. Craig woke when I entered the room but just rolled over and went back to sleep.

  I was exhausted and a little hungry, but years of deployments let me get to sleep.

  My watch woke me up. Craig was gone. Joe and Billy were sound asleep in their bunks.

  I picked up my clothes and armor and tiptoed out of the room. To come face to face with Ellie, who shrieked and ran into her room.

  I slipped into the bathroom, took care of business and got dressed.

  Mandy was standing in the hall, waiting for me.

  “Ellie says you were wandering around naked,” Mandy accused.

  “I was covered,” I answered. “I didn’t want to wake the boys, so I eased out of the room wearing my tee shirt and boxers. I wear less at the beach.”

  “Well, she has certainly seen her brothers and her dad in a lot less,” Mandy said. “But she is 13 years old and is going through this new awareness of her body. Besides all the worldwide stuff happening.”

  “We will need a lot of compromise going forward, we should all talk about that when we have more time,” I offered.

  “You’re right, I suspect she was hoping to pit the adults against one another, that seems her current teenage tactic,” Mandy said. “Sorry, I overreacted. Steve wasn’t willing to react. He just rolled over and went back to sleep, saying he’d deal with it in the morning.”

  “Sounds like the right approach to me,” I said tapping my watch. “I don’t want to be late for my guard shift.”

  Having two young girls in my household, I didn’t as a routine practice wander around in my underwear. But if I got up at 3 a.m. for a bathroom break, I seldom pulled on a pair of pants. Once we added another eight guys to the mix, we apparently needed ground rules.

  I trotted down to the guardhouse. The trucks and the armed Humvee left hours ago. We were expecting the Humvee to return at 4 a.m. Carmine was on guard duty with me, along with Craig and Zeke. Craig and Zeke were already scouting on the far side of the river looking for unwanted guests.

  Their orders were to observe but avoid a confrontation unless one was unavoidable.

  My dad spoke with the group who arrived last night. No one even suspected they were followed. Tonight, my dad was bringing the Humvee back by a different route. He didn’t think it was the deputies. They wouldn’t leave the jail anymore without an armored Humvee.

  Carmine was apprised about the current operation. I told her I intended to respond in the armed Humvee. I told her we might chase the bad guy, but needed to pick up my two Rangers first. If shots were fired, we’d sound the full alarm. A young man I didn’t recognize was assigned to us as a runner. He still needed to qualify as a marksman before he could join the security force.

  He was just one of many we needed to train up to expand the security force. Every adult in the valley except the Neufelds and Dr. Jerrod were required to serve in the security force. But that required us to ensure they were qualified. Making the time and ammo available for their training was one more thing that needed doing.

  A runner from the communications hub told us the Humvee was a mile out. I asked Carmine to get in our Humvee. I hid in the spot near our side of the bridge.

  We all heard the Humvee before we saw it. I flicked my eyes into the woods around where I expected them to emerge. I still couldn’t spot our scouts, but then I didn’t expect to see them unless they wanted to be seen.

  Those in the approaching Humvee knew friendlies were in the woods.

  The Humvee sent the expected signal. We already turned off the automatic spotlight.

  They stopped to open the gate. This time the Humvee provided better cover for the man opening the gate. The guy was still more vulnerable than I liked, but it was only for a short time. Once the Humvee arrived on our side of the bridge, it parked. The crew poured out of it, prepared to back us up.

  After half an hour, Craig or Zeke signaled with a flashlight that they were coming in. It was hard to see them even on the bridge expanse. The bright moon and muted aurora should have made them an easy target, but they used the available cover to their advantage.

  The extra crew didn’t disperse until Craig and Zeke were safely in the nest. I was happy they were safe, but part of me hoped to learn more about the boogie men.

  The next morning work continued on the new building but without me. I was at a command meeting.

  All the HAM radio contacts continued to reinforce the universal nature of the collapse. Sally finally connected with some of her prior connections in east Texas and Missouri. They offered few details other than to confirm the electrical grid went down hard. Official communications were absent since that first and only presidential address.

  My dad considered visiting Major Thomas personally but decided it wasn’t worth the fuel. While we wanted to know what conditions were like elsewhere, that was more curiosity than need-to-know. The violence in Oneida told us not everyone was coping well.

  By now many people in industrialized countries would be hungry, and most would be drinking questionable water. In third-world countries, I wondered if they even noticed the collapse. For most of them, this would just be another typical day.

  The effort to assimilate the new group into the valley fell disproportionately on my mom. I knew we were still adding the materials they brought into our storage database. Nothing they brought was a game changer. They did bring a lot of canned and bulk foods, pots and pans, camping and hunting gear, tools, and typical household items. They brought their solar and batteries.

  My mom encouraged them to bring everything, even old toasters and water heaters. They weren’t quite that thorough, so mom thought we might need to return at some point. Nothing they left would be of immediate use to anyone, so she expected the places to be left alone. I hoped she was right.

  I agreed to assign someone immediately to check out the new people who said they were hunters. If they qualified, we’d give them a marksman qualification and add them to the security forces. The rest would need training on firearms, and that took time.

  Some of the new people were assigned to my construction team, others were added to the cooking squad, and the rest were on various livestock duties. One of the new ladies was a nurse, and she now worked for Dr. Jerrod.

  Dad wasn’t comfortable assigning anyone except original allies to guard duties. He didn’t want to risk it. I knew he was worried someone in the new bunch told the mystery group about us. He’d be suspicious until we neutralized the mystery group or the new bunch proved themselves. I wasn’t going to predict how many years that might take.

  For now, I approved of his directive. I knew I could count on the people currently on guard duty. Once we got our whole team back from Huntsville, I’d be even happier. You could never have too many Rangers.

  Once everyone was tucked safely into the valley, I wanted to know what was happening in the rest of the county. I wanted to send foot patrol to get the lay of the land.

  I also needed to begin training the eight German Shephard puppies we acquired as protection dogs. I’d talk with my Rangers and find out who was interested in helping. I was surprised Melissa hadn’t adopted them. I suspected the only reason was that she hadn’t met them, yet. I was sure they weren’t being kept near either the goats nor the chickens. I needed to ask George about them.

  I stayed after the meeting and helped my mom update The Plan to add the new people. I assigned Zeke to verify the hunters’ qualifications tomorrow morning. My mom pulled me off the building detail, reminding me of my command responsibilities.

  We were getting an influx of people in tonight, and I wanted to be ready if they were followed. This time four men were assigned to block any escape. A runner notified all my guys of the change in plan for tonight. We met over supper, so everyone knew what was expected.

  At about 9 p.m. one armed and one unarmed Humvee left to escort the n
ext convoy into the valley. Four Rangers slipped off the second Humvee and into the woods along the road. If our convoy were followed, they’d drop a tree to prevent the shadowing vehicle from escaping. They’d then make the tangoes dismount or be killed. An operation Rangers were all too familiar with in many far-flung parts of the planet. Just not something they thought they’d be doing in Tennessee.

  We didn’t know if someone would come, but we were ready. The ninja bikes and the armed Humvee were prepared if we needed to support them. While the locked gate would slow our response, I wasn’t willing to leave it open.

  The convoy was expected to leave at 10:45 p.m. with a travel time of 15 minutes. For the first two miles there were numerous route options but the last two miles there was only the single road in.

  Just before 11 p.m., we heard the distinctive sound of a .50 caliber machine gun accompanied by a cacophony of shots. I sounded the valley siren, not knowing what was wrong, but wanting as much firepower on the line as possible.

  I knew our scouts heard both the shooting and the valley alarm. I was kicking myself that I still hadn’t passed out radios.

  A runner arrived from Sally with a note. “The convoy was fired on. No casualties. On our way.”

  As people arrived to help with defense, we manned the bunkers, but only Force Beta was trained on the SAW. I assigned four men to the Humvee, intending to jump in to operate the .50-caliber if we needed it.

  A second runner arrived with a note. “Coming in hot. Open the gate. Prepare to repel attackers.”

  That made it easy. Craig was already on top of our defense platform with his rifle. I directed the security force to deploy behind the concrete barrier but to hold their fire until all the good guys were behind them.

  I stopped myself from getting into the Hummer. I sent Zeke with the Ma Deuce, and I stayed with our security team. With so many people in a combat situation for the first time in their lives, I was concerned about friendly fire casualties. My mom sent me two guys my dad’s age who were qualified on the SAW. I sent them into the bunkers.

  The person unlocking the gate was out and back in quickly. Zeke pushed the gate open with the Humvee.

  The Humvee moved into a position which allowed the convoy to get by but would allow the Ma Deuce to intercept anyone following them. The Humvee flashed its lights, to make sure our scouts knew they were there.

  It took only a moment for a scout to approach. I didn’t see the signal, but I was sure they sent one. The scout then faded into the woods on the river side of the road.

  The sounds of approaching vehicles broke the silence. The first vehicle was the unarmed Humvee. They pulled to the side of the road opposite the armed Humvee. The rental truck was next and there followed a bevy of different cars, vans, and trucks.

  As the last of the vehicles got on the bridge, my anxiety increased. “Where was my dad?”

  Seconds later the earth-shattering sound of .50 caliber love taps answered the question. A few minutes late his armed Humvee arrived at the gate area, kicking up gravel as it whipped around to face the roadway. I imagined a whiff of hot metal, gun oil, and burnt gunpowder drifting on the breeze.

  We waited like that for half an hour before everyone was told to stand down. Only after the Humvees were back on our side of the river did my scout team emerge from the woods and return to base.

  We faced an unknown new enemy audacious enough to engage with an armed Humvee.

  My dad’s team tore down his Ma Deuce and topped off the load so it would be ready if needed later tonight.

  My scouts told me they never saw anyone, but they left a tree ready to block the road if needed.

  We released the security force and issued an all clear. I ran to my dad’s house to learn what happened.

  “There you are Jeremy, let’s get started,” my dad announced, motioning for us all to sit down.

  “I think they hit us earlier than they wanted to,” my dad said. “Everything was ready to go and the convoy left at 10:45 p.m. on the dot. When they started shooting, I peeled off to engage the shooters. The convoy took off. I don’t know whether we killed any of them, but none of their trucks is operational. They brought more firepower than I like, mostly AR 15s. I didn’t stick around. We rejoined the convoy when they cleared the neighborhood. The other Humvee took the lead, and we headed home. With only one road in, I was worried we might get ambushed there. The convoy made a slight detour so I could arrive first at the expected ambush site. Sure enough, a pickup and an SUV were hidden in some trees. I didn’t wait for them to fire and put a few 50 cal. bullets into their engines. I told the convoy to head for home and was sure you’d be there to support them.”

  My mom handed him a glass of water. He chugged it.

  “I want to know who these fuckers are,” my dad said looking directly at me.

  I started to stand up, but he waved me to sit back down. “I don’t want to send anyone outside the wire tonight. Plan to go at first light. See if you can find some clues about these guys. They are a lot better armed than the cops. They aren’t National Guard, or they’d have Humvees. They have some type of organization and clearly believe we have assets they can take at gunpoint.”

  “Something doesn’t add up,” said Leon, the driver of the second Humvee. “It was as if they never expected the .50 cal. to actually shoot. Either that or the asset they expected to neutralize it with hadn’t arrived yet.”

  “You think they have a LAW or something similar?” I asked.

  “I’m afraid they might; otherwise they came in awful stupid,” said Leon.

  I now wished it was harder to get M72 LAWs. Buying them over the internet was easy. I purchased several for our arsenal, so I knew they were pricy but not tricky. Anti-armor weapons added an element of risk to our operations, I really hadn’t considered seriously.

  Our Humvees were armored, but not well enough to shake off a LAW rocket. We should assume these new opponents were armed with something unpleasant.

  We needed two more trips to shift our last allies and assets from Huntsville into the valley. We could do it in one trip if we abandoned everything that wasn’t food, weapons, or ammo. I didn’t suggest it because human nature told me that it was a bad idea.

  “What if we move up the time for moving the next group,” I suggested. “Let’s move in the afternoon. I’ll take one of the armed Humvees and four Rangers. We’ll see what we can learn from the ambush sites, then pick up the next convoy and bring them home. I’ll send the two Rangers now at the site of the next convoy on a recon patrol. If these new players have scouts in the area, we’ll find them. We need to take a few risks to mitigate this new threat.”

  I was also concerned about a potential preemptive strike. Leaving the Humvees within easy range of a rocket fired across the river from the woods was a bad idea. We needed to pull them back, behind cover. While it was unlikely someone could get close enough for a kill shot without being spotted, there was no need to take the risk.

  We wouldn’t be leaving without our combat radios again.

  I picked the three men coming with me. Craig was going to man the defensive tower with his sniper rifle. Zeke would coordinate the valley’s defense. One of my dad’s guys volunteered to spot for Craig.

  I talked to my two Rangers in the neighborhood being evacuated next. The cryptic discussion was over the open CB channel. It took only seconds for them to confirm their recon assignment. Unless those listening on the channel were Rangers, I doubt they deciphered the interchange.

  There were still a few hours until dawn. I went back to bed, setting my watch, planning to leave before my girls got up.

  A light rain rolled in while I slept. That was going to complicate Craig’s sniper position. I suspected they’d rig up something to keep the rain off.

  My crew were already at the guardhouse when I arrived, fully armed and wearing their wet weather parkas. I was glad to see everyone with radios. Zeke handed me mine. I secured it in my rack and threaded my headset in p
lace. It almost felt like old times.

  A quick radio check and we piled into the Humvee.

  It was still dark when we approached the closest ambush site. We didn’t spot anyone there with our NVGs. The two men in the back slipped through the woods and confirmed it was quiet.

  We left the Humvee out of direct view from the crossroad and checked the abandoned vehicles for clues.

  The engines were toast. There was some blood on the front seat and door of the SUV but not enough to suggest a severe injury. If one of the .50 cal. bullets struck someone, there would be lots of blood and other stuff. I surmised the damage was caused by flying glass from the shattered windshield.