Patriot Son

by T A Walters

  Patriot Son

  Battlefront America Book 2

  T.A Walters

  Copyright © 2018

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and character names are part of this book and do not reflect the lives of anyone living or dead. All situations and scenes in this book are also fiction and shall not be considered fact, but somewhat speculative fiction. This fiction story is protected by US Copyright office and must not be reproduced without written consent of the Author T.A. Walters.

  I wish to dedicate this book to those veterans of the Vietnam War and to those brave men and women of the armed forces currently serving and those in the past.

  Thank you for your dedication and service to the United States of America. Never forget the many that fought and died to keep communism and socialism from invading our great nation. Arlington is populated by those brave soldiers who fought and died to prevent communism and socialism from taking root in America. God bless them, and to those who serve and have served as well. To those brave souls, we carry the torch of freedom.

  GOD BLESS AMERICA

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 1

  ~Happy Daze Resort Campground~

  At 0700 Scuba Bill was the only one awake and up getting his morning’s fix of coffee and a toaster pastry. On a small table outside his BFV, he smoothed out his map and tacked the sheet down with a pair of magnets. Paul (the Ratchet) Monroe stopped to discuss a few things before setting out on the road. Paul assured Scuba Bill that the day’s trip might cover 300 kilometers or more. Beyond that, some time to clear the way might break that distance down to a few hundred kilometers. The third day would be a breeze according to Paul as he expected they would be at or very near their objective. At any rate, Paul and his group were ready to hit the road in one hour. Scuba Bill was confident he needed everyone prepared to go by that time. Trouble was Scuba Bill sensed something was not right with the troops.

  Seemed everyone was sluggish and off their ‘game.’ Penny appeared to be suffering from nausea, having staggered out of the JLTV to retch into a bush nearby. Now, as evident as it was to Scuba Bill, he needed to crack the whip and motivate everyone.

  Down one side and up the other, Scuba Bill wrapped the sides of the convoy vehicles with a stick. He shouted about getting the convoy on the road and dereliction of duty if he didn’t see some movement soon. They had 300 miles to cover before sundown and if he had to go from vehicle to vehicle and start them up, he would.

  To his surprise, Penny appeared, “It’s a ‘grab and go’ this morning,” he shouted, “You people grab up an MRE and let’s head out.”

  Scuba Bill turned and stopped a moment to stare at Penny, “You look like shit.”

  “Not feeling well this morning, thank you.”

  He waited for her to continue as she flew into a coughing fit and almost collapsed. “It’s Kat. She’s missing sir.”

  “Whatya mean she’s gone?”

  “She never came back from the restaurant last night.”

  Scuba Bill had a hard time believing his luck this morning. “If it ain’t one thing it’s another—are you sure about this?”

  “She’s not in her bunk or in the radio nest,” Penny’s expression turned sour and pointed a thumb over her shoulder toward the JLTV. “There are a lot of insects inside the nav station sir. I think they are cockroaches or Palmetto bugs. All made of rubber thank goodness.”

  Scuba Bill’s eyes lit bright as he rubbed his chin, “So Joe’s got a new fiancé does he?”

  Penny launched a puzzled expression, “Joe and Kat?”

  “I’ve been expecting this for a long time,” he told Penny. “My guess young lady is they never returned from the restaurant. Hmm, Kat did look lovely last night.”

  Scuba Bill caught the sight of a dimple form on the upper corner of Penny’s mouth as she pursed her lips and gave a weak smile to him. “Yes, she did. I did her hair and applied makeup to her myself.”

  He drew closer and looked down studying her face, “You could use a little help yourself.”

  “Huh?”

  “You’re a little green around the edges.”

  “I like your candor sir,” she murmured with a smile, “You say what’s on your mind and I like that. Anything else I should know?”

  “Yes, actually, there is. Shouldn’t you be preparing to bug out?”

  She gave Bill a brief smile, “Shouldn’t you be looking for your radio operator?”

  He assured her that Kat was in good hands at the moment. Bill turned and hiked back to the restaurant looking for Joe and Kat. As he approached the door of the restaurant, he spied Joe coming down from the other direction. Before he said anything, Joe yelled out, “Have you seen Kat?”

  Bill stopped to ponder a moment scratching his head, “I thought she was with you. When was the last time you seen her?”

  “I left the restaurant with you and Paul, remember?”

  “Kat was the last to leave here,” Bill recalled aloud. “She was cleaning up in the kitchen-but then, what about the rubber cockroaches?”

  Joe shook his head, “What? Oh yeah, the rubber cockroach thing. I dumped them in Kat’s radio nest after I left you and Paul. After that Karl Hennessy met up with me to look at a tire on his troop carrier.”

  A look of concern came across Bill’s face, “We’ve got a bad tire?”

  “We’ve gotta find Kat. We can’t leave without her,” Joe pleaded.

  “So now we gotta change out a tire?”

  Joe propped his foot up on a bench outside the door of the restaurant and cupped his face in his hands. He tried to rub away the worry. Trying his best to shield his concern over Kat’s disappearance he said, “No Bill, the tire’s fine. It was a big clump of dog shit stuck to it that matched the color of the tire is all.”

  It was vital that the convoy got back on the road right away. Joe’s insistence on having him help search for Kat would only make them late getting the convoy moving. Not to say Kat was less important to Bill. He knew of no one on this convoy better qualified to do what she does.

  “Joe, I’m leaving you in charge of finding her. Take a BFV and stay behind, and anything else you think you may need to find her.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Joe replied shaking Bill’s hand.

  “Likewise; I’m counting on you to find her and bring her back.”

  “I’ll find her, even if I fall back a few days from the convoy.”

  “I’ll order Penny to task in Kat’s place; to have her listen up to the radio that is.”

  The sound of diesel engines starting up put a smile on Bill’s face. “That’s my cue. Good luck Joe.

  ~~~

  Joe took a moment to gather his thoughts and to look around for indications of foul play. After searching the entire truck stop facilities, Joe came to an open door in a nook right off the kitchen.

  From the kitchen, Joe followed through the open doorway to where he came upon a wooded area. His thoughts settled back on the idea that Kat was not back here. But as he turned to go back into the kitchen, another thought crossed his mind. It was the way the door closed. Joe opened and then closed the door a few times. It was the kind of door designed
for the outdoors and sturdy enough to hold a suitable lockset for security sake.

  Most importantly he noticed it open and closed well and without much effort. Joe stood pondering over a door left open to the wind would have most definitely slammed shut. In this case, Joe settled into the thought that the opened door had been recently left open.

  Joe’s curiosity once again led him outside. He studied the wooded area before him; looking for anything that might lend a clue that she had traveled into the forest. Being autumn of the year, a thick layer of dead leaves covered the ground. Joe saw a faint trail of leaves kicked aside by someone who had entered the forest. Had it been a windy evening, a trace of her path would have shifted into the surrounding leaves.

  Joe followed the trail into the woods. Some areas along the way confused him. Some areas appeared flattened as if she had rested or fallen and struggled to stand up. The idea of foul play entered his mind, and he began yelling out her name, but there was no response. He looked back to the restaurant building and realized he had trailed into the woods a reasonable distance. Where on earth, did she think she was going?

  Many thoughts passed through Joe’s mind. One of them was she was looking to escape to live out on her own? Other thoughts crossed his mind; ones of abduction and even rape and murder.

  Joe’s heart was pounding in his chest, “KAT ANSWER ME!”

  There was no reply, only a slight rustle of leaves. Joe stopped. He was sure he heard it. Might have been a sound of scampering creatures or chipmunks frightened by his shouting for Kat? Again, Joe yelled her name; and back came the noise of the stirring of leaves.

  The sound came from the base of a large oak tree. Joe walked toward this large oak tree; for whatever made the sound, was on the opposite side of this massive tree. To his surprise, between two large roots of the big tree, lying there on her side was Kat. She was shivering, her eyes open, and she looked over to Joe kneeling down alongside her, “Leave me, Joe,” her voice weak.

  Joe looked bewildered as he brushed away the hair covering her face, “Kat what’s wrong?”

  “I’m dying,” she replied in a feeble voice that at first scared Joe. He began to recall how hard it was for Scuba Bill to get everyone moving this morning. Kat had fallen sick like the rest of them in convoy.

  Joe leaned over her and fetched her up into his arms. He could feel every muscle in her body spasm in uncontrollable tremors. Kat was feverish. She began to cry, “Joe no. Leave me.”

  She was still crying when Joe carried her back through the kitchen and set her in a booth in the dining room. Joe disappeared returning with a bottle of sports drink from the kitchen. “Kat, you’re dehydrating.”

  Kat took a sip and then drank as if having returned from the Sahara Desert. She then looked around, her eyes full of wonder as she declared, “I can drink!” Kat threw her arms around Joe and kissed his cheek.

  It was confusing to Joe as he sat beside her. He picked up her bottle of sports drink to read the label, “Yeah, makes you wonder what they put in these things.”

  He turned his head to look at her. He felt drawn to her lips, and they embraced within the confines of the booth. “All the best ingredients,” Joe cooed before kissing her again.

  “What a way to die,” she moaned.

  “But you’re not dead yet,” Joe said.

  Face to face she smiled saying, “Call me irresponsible.”

  ~~~~

  It was noon when Kat and Joe finally tore themselves apart long enough to climb into the BFV. Joe didn’t think much about Kat’s slowness as she walked without her usual bounce. Even climbing into the BFV seemed a bit of a chore. “I’m still a little sore all over,” she confessed. Joe already knew why and assumed she did too. “I must have gotten the flu or something.”

  “Believe me, Kat, the whole convoy turned up sick, except Scuba Bill and me. Guess you’re right, though, it’s gotta be the flu.”

  She blew a sigh of relief, “I thought I had rabies; which is why I went off to die in the woods. I couldn’t bear to be around people to see me like that. And who knows, I could have gone crazy and bitten someone.”

  Joe laughed and raised his eyebrows to the thought, “Yeah, I can see that rabies could be a problem. Where would I be, finding you dead out there after I stayed behind with the hope of finding you alive?”

  “You really care about me?”

  “If I didn’t, you wouldn’t be here right now. Scuba Bill had the others to worry about, so he left me behind to find you and bring you back.”

  Kat got quiet and thought about that awhile. She sniffed. “I never had anyone to love me Joe and now,” Kat began to cry struggling to find the right words, “And now I’m sure I’ve given you the flu!”

  As Joe turned to gain access to the highway, he said, “Kat, look at me.”

  Kat looked up and glanced at Joe.

  “It’ll be the best flu I ever had,” Joe snorted with laughter in his voice. “I’m so glad I found you, Kat, I mean that.”

  “So no more pranks?”

  “Ha, I didn’t say that. We’re the best of friends, okay?”

  “Wait a minute Joe,” Kat chuckled, “We’re dating … sort of.”

  “Crazy as it sounds, yeah sort of. But then again we’ve managed to have some good times. That is, times being what they are of course.”

  Joe reached to turn on the VHF. “Radio the convoy and tell them you found me.”

  Kat did what Joe asked. She looked over and smiled at Joe, “Now that is the first time I heard the Commander laugh like that before. Do you think he’s drunk?”

  “No Kat,” Joe responded, “He loves and appreciates you, and the whole convoy loves you too.”

  Joe kept his eyes on the road, but when he heard sniffles, he said, “Oh no, I must have turned on the waterworks again.”

  Chapter 2

  It was a remarkable day for Scuba Bill. What started out to be a problematic ‘bug-out,’ ended shortly after sunset. The convoy bivouacked on the highway after traveling almost 500 miles. The convoy is only a dozen or so miles east of San Antonio now. Scuba Bill would give the convoy a good night’s rest before tackling some massive road blockage ahead.

  Scuba Bill knew Joe and Kat weren’t far behind now. They would make camp for the evening and catch up tomorrow sometime. Scuba Bill could hardly wait to hear from Joe. There had to be an interesting story behind this morning’s desertion of Kat.

  Small campfires dotted the roadside as Scuba Bill headed down to check on Mitchel. Bill entered the modified hospital troop carrier. Taking a peek inside, Bill found Mitchel sitting up, and so, he took the liberty of climbing aboard. He smiled seeing Bill, “Commander,” Mitchel greeted, “It’s good to see you, sir.”

  “They are treating you okay?”

  “Better than a three-legged pig, I reckon.”

  A volunteer nurse returned with an empty bucket. She grabbed a heap of bloody bandages and stuffed them into the bucket and then left.

  Mitchel’s eyes followed her, waiting until she was gone. “If I didn’t already have me a woman wandering around out there lost in the wilderness, I’d marry Jess.”

  Eyebrows raised and Bill turned his head back to face Mitchel, “You’ve got a wife somewhere?”

  “Naw,” Mitchel grinned, “but if I did have a woman, I’d ask her if I could keep Jess.”

  Bill’s eyes sparkled as he was on the verge of laughter but instead held it to a chuckle. “You were resting before we bugged out this morning, so I left you alone to sleep. Came here to let you know we’re heading to a place that promises additional military support. That is, in every way feasible; except naval that is.”

  “Kinda wondered what all the explosions were about earlier; noticed it all when the convoy slowed down, then picked up speed.”

  “What you heard was a new way of clearing the road ahead,” Bill said with a telltale hint of pride in his voice.

  “Those were howitzer shells?”

  “Abrams Tank,
yes.”

  Mitchel’s mood darkened. “I know my head is a little foggy from the morphine, and I’m sleeping so much, but I’m worried.

  The M-1 Abrams tank turret bearing takes a hell of a side load when firing a shell, Commander. Abrams Tanks needs maintenance inspections and grease, to name a few. Worse, the treads on those babies have a million moving parts which are metal sliding off each other. No grease for that sliding means metal to metal contact, which in turns creates heat and things begin to weld together or wear down and come apart. There are shafts and bushings with grease fittings crying for grease. Tensioners and idlers that keep the tread plates operating on center line all need care. Do you know what happens to tank treads that fail to remain in tension?”

  Scuba Bill felt as if he were being scolded, but Mitchel was right. His two Abrams put down a lot of miles today. “What the hell am I gonna do Commander? Those two fuckers need grease!”

  “And you need a hemoglobin count of at least 8 before you get out of that bed,” Mitchel’s nurse, Jess said.

  No one noticed her petite frame standing behind Scuba Bill.

  “Sorry about the cussing ma’am. Didn’t seeya there. I’m worried about the machinery is all.”

  “And I’m concerned about you,” she replied. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, and you’ll lose more if you start moving around getting excited and all.”

  “I can’t help it,” Mitchel moaned.

  “That’s no answer,” she told him. “I’ll slap some hot road tar in a hubcap and nail it to your stump you dumb bastard!”

  Scuba Bill’s jaw dropped. Mitchel assured him it was her way showing him she cared by shouting love talk to him all the time. Bill watched her grab up some empty IV bags, along with some spent needles and some loose paper garbage. Mitchel held his tongue waiting for her to head back out. “Don’t look shocked Commander. She’s a fine lady and an excellent nurse, but not my type.”

  “Not your type?”