by Robert Boren
“No, I’m not telling you naughty stories while our daughter is right there.”
“She’s asleep,” Jason said.
“Yeah, until she isn’t,” Carrie said.
“Which friend was it?”
“You didn’t know her,” Carrie said. “Her name was Lacy.”
“Did she live in Santa Fe, or was this a destination wedding?”
“Oh, she lived there,” Carrie said. “She was working at the Georgia O’Keefe museum.”
“Oh, the artist,” Jason said.
“You know about her?” Carrie asked, looking surprised.
“What, you think I care nothing about culture?”
Carrie chuckled. “Not really.”
“I’m offended,” Jason said. “You heard from Lacy recently?”
“We drifted apart over the years. The marriage didn’t last. She worked her way up in the museum.”
“Santa Fe has a big enemy base,” Jason said.
“She might not have made it,” Carrie said. “I’ve got more than one friend who was in a bad place when this damn war started.”
“We were in a bad place, remember? We almost got killed in Dripping Springs.”
“More than once,” Carrie said. “When this is over, we’re going to find out about a lot of friends who didn’t make it.”
“True, but we’ve gained too,” Jason said.
“We’ve gained?”
“Our friends. I’ll be life-long friends with Kelly and Junior, for example. We’ll end up at Texas Mary’s for family gatherings. We’ll know Dirk and Francis and Sherry, and Don and Sydney for the rest of our lives too. I didn’t know any of those folks before this started, except for Sydney.”
“And Kate,” Carrie said, watching out the windshield.
“Yeah, she’s great. Perfect for my best friend,” Jason said. “So it isn’t all bad.”
“No, it isn’t,” Carrie said. “I should check the apps again.”
Jason glanced at her as she looked at her phone, moving her fingers around.
“Okay?”
“Nobody close by here,” she said. “Hell, the hits that I was seeing up on I-40 have moved. They’re going west.”
“West?”
“Yep, and some of them are into Arizona, going south on 191.”
“They’re taking the bait,” Jason said. “They think we’re going in that direction.”
“Something’s going on in that town where the VFW attack happened,” she said. “I think we have enemy fighters fleeing into the hills.”
“Oh, really?” Jason asked. “Maybe our recruits are taking the battle to the enemy.”
“Well they’d better get ready for this group coming off I-40.”
“And we’d better get our jobs done quickly, before they get wise and come back up there. This could be really good for us.”
“Don’t count your chickens,” Carrie said. “There’s still bad guys coming up 191 from southern Arizona.”
“How many?”
“Hard to estimate, because they’re so spaced out. Maybe ten thousand.”
“And how many coming down from I-40?” Jason asked.
“Less than a thousand. Maybe five hundred. There’s still a bunch up by Albuquerque.”
“How about Santa Fe?” Jason asked.
“Just a sec,” she said, doing a pinch motion to zoom out. “Still where the bulk of them are. Wasn’t the US Airforce going to attack?”
“Wallis said they were,” Jason said. “We’ve cut off their route. They might be trying to dominate 191 and I-40 to get more supplies and men up to that area.”
“Yeah,” Carrie said. “We have to get I-40 shut down, and we’ve got to do it quick.”
Chapter 25 – The Gym
Tank crept up to the Junior High gym, M60 in his hand. He listened, hearing Arabic speaking, and a slap, then a woman screaming, stopping abruptly. The hackles on the back of his neck stood up. He turned and motioned to the others, who rushed up behind him, all armed with M60s or M-16s.
“They’re in the gym?” Ray whispered.
“They’ve got women in there,” Tank whispered. “We need to be careful when we go in.”
“There’s another group heading to the school,” Jerry whispered, holding his phone in front of the others.
“Only ten,” Tank said. “And two dozen inside the building. Where’s Frank and Jesse?”
“On the other side of the gym,” Ray said. “We might want to attack before the other group gets here.”
“No,” Jerry said. “Wait for them to show up.”
There was another scream from inside the building, and laughter from several men.
“God Dammit,” Tank said. “I’m gonna splatter those assholes.”
“Down, boy,” Ray said. “Let’s get into the bushes over there. That new group will see us if we stay here.”
They rushed away and got onto the ground behind shrubs as more people approached the gym.
“That’s a lot more than ten people,” Tank whispered, seeing only their feet. “Wait, they’ve got a bunch more women with them.”
“Good thing we waited,” Ray said.
“See the girls now,” Jerry said. “I recognize some of them. My boss’s daughter. She’s only sixteen.”
“Bastards,” Tank said. He pulled out his phone and sent a text.
“What?” Ray asked.
“We need more men here,” Tank said. “There’s a bunch over at the high school.”
“What if there’s something going on there too?” Ray asked.
“There isn’t,” Jerry said. “Just got a text from the lead. Tank’s right, we need them over here. They’re on their way.”
“Do we wait?” Ray asked.
“I’m gonna say no,” Jerry said. “We’ve got the two entrances on this side covered. Frank and Jesse have the other two entrances covered on their side. I’ll text them, see what’s up over there.”
Jerry typed the text and sent it.
“We’ve only got fifteen guys on this side,” Tank said.
“Frank just replied,” Jerry said. “They’ve got twenty men over there. They saw the girls pushed in the door just now. They’re hearing a lot more on that side with the door ajar. Sounds bad. We need to shut it down. They’re gang-raping the girls.”
“That means most of the enemy won’t have guns in their hands,” Tank said. “Let’s go now.”
“What if the doors on this side are locked?” Ray asked.
“We shoot the locks and open them,” Jerry said. “C’mon. Half at one door, half at the other.”
They got up and rushed to the brick wall of the gym, splitting up and queuing at both doors. Tank’s hand was on one door’s handle, Ray’s hand on the other. They nodded to each other, then pulled them open, letting the others in.
The scene was crazy. Wrestling mats laid out on the wooden gym floor, huddles of Islamists, some with their pants off, watching. A few noticed the patriots flooding in, shouting while they scrambled for their weapons. Tank opened fire, the others joining in, firing at every Islamist they could see.
“Get those bastards,” yelled Frank from the other side as he fired, killing most of the panicked Islamists as they scurried towards their weapons. Jesse and Ray rushed in that direction, spewing lead with their M60s, mowing down the Islamists before they could get to their guns. Then shots rang out from the far side of the gym, Jesse crumpling onto the floor in a pool of blood. Tank saw the man and leveled his M60, cutting him down and running towards the area, shooting others who were coming out from under the bleachers on that side, killing most of them before they knew what happened.
The shots stopped. Two Islamists came out from behind the bleachers with their hands up.
“Screw you,” Ray said, shooting both dead as the girls whimpered on the floor, trying to cover themselves.
“Ray!” shouted one of the girls when she recognized him. She rushed over, hugging him tight while she sobbed.
“Daddy’s dead. They killed him when they took me.”
“Oh, God no,” Ray said. The other men helped the women get up and cover themselves. Every once in a while an Islamist would moan on the floor, drawing fire from several men.
“They’re all dead,” Tank said. “How bad is Jesse?”
Frank looked up from kneeling position next to him, shaking his head no.
“Oh shit,” Tank said.
Frank looked him in the eye. “He’s a hero. Some of us are going to be killed. We’ll always remember the fallen.”
“Crap, these are all high school girls,” Jerry said, looking at the group of women as they huddled together next to the patriots. “These cretins are gonna pay.”
“We need to leave now,” Tank said, looking at his phone. “A larger group is on their way.”
“Where’s the group from the high school?” Frank asked.
“Just about here,” Ray said. “We don’t want to get caught in this building. C’mon, girls, let’s get you out of here.”
“Got any more guns?” one of the girls asked.
“We got the hunting guns we brought before we got the military weapons,” Jerry said. “They’re in the parking lot. C’mon. Let’s move. Now!”
The crowd ran from all four exits, making for the parking lot. Suddenly automatic fire came at them, pelting the side of the building.
“Keep going!” shouted Tank as he hit the dirt, opening up with the M60, lead chewing into the approaching group of Islamists, causing them to scatter. Ray got next to him and fired, hitting several before the main group got behind cover. The two groups fired at each other, all of them pinned down.
The girls made it to the parking lot with Jerry, and he handed out hunting rifles and shotguns from the back of his truck. “Don’t join the battle. Hide out and protect yourselves with these, in case we get overrun.”
“No way,” one of the older girls said. “I’m gonna nail those creeps.”
Jerry got a text message from Ray. Pinned down. Try to get behind them. Back by the tennis courts. Ray eyed the girls. “You girls really want to fight? Follow me. Our guys are pinned down. We’ll get the enemy in a cross fire. Let’s go to the far side of the tennis courts, but keep quiet.”
The girls followed Jerry as he ran, barely seeing the enemy fighters in position through the canvas-draped chain link around the courts. He rounded the back and dropped behind a cement bench, the girls finding cover as the Islamists and the patriots traded gunfire. Then Jerry popped up and unloaded his M60, killing about half the enemy fighters with the first sweep, causing the others to bolt off towards the right. Tank and Ray saw that and led their force after them, firing as they ran, the Islamists trying to make it to the back parking lot, scrambling into their troop transport trucks.
“Shoot the trucks!” Tank shouted.
About twenty pickup trucks flew into the parking lot, armed patriots in the back holding on tight as they bounced over the speed bumps past the entrance. Patriots jumped out of the trucks and opened fire, catching the Islamists by surprise. Automatic fire ramped up, men running from one truck to another, spewing lead into the backs as the Islamists screamed and tried to fight back, most of them trapped with nowhere to go. The battle was over in a few minutes.
Ray and Jerry rushed around in a crouch, checking every truck and all of the surrounding cover.
“They’re all dead,” Ray shouted.
“Thank God,” one of the girls said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Good job, girls,” Jerry shouted. “You helped turn the tide.”
“How many did we lose?” Tank asked.
“Two here, and Jesse back in the gym,” Jerry said, walking up with Ray. “We were lucky.”
“And smart,” Tank said.
“And brave,” one of the girls said.
“How many of you girls have parents to go back to?” Jerry asked.
“They killed my parents,” one girl said.
“Mine too,” another said.
“Mine weren’t home,” a third said. “I don’t know where they are.”
“We need a place to regroup,” Tank said. “You say nobody was at the high school, right?”
One of the men who came from that site nodded. “Deserted. We still have a lot of Islamists in the homes surrounding town, though, and a decent-sized group coming from I-40 to the 191 north of here.”
“We need to blow the road or barricade it or something,” Tank said. “That’s what the Fort Stockton group was asking us to help with. We can do it ourselves.”
“I know where there’s a whole bunch of dynamite,” one of the girls said. “My dad has it at his warehouse. He sells it to prospectors.”
“Where?” Ray asked.
“I’ll show you,” she said. “I’m Leigh.”
“We’d better go do that before we settle down somewhere,” Tank said. “We need to split up though, and clean up the rest of the cretins in town.”
“Who knows demolition?” Ray asked.
Two men raised their hands, along with Ray. “Okay, you and a few other men to help are all we’re gonna need. The rest of you start cleaning out the bad guys. Girls, find someplace safe to hide until this is over.”
“No way,” said another of the girls. “I’m fighting. I’ve got a gun.”
“Some of these girls are good shots,” Jerry said. “I say we let them help.”
“Okay, whoever wants to should, then,” Tank said.
“Yeah,” Ray said. “C’mon, Leigh, let’s go to your dad’s business.”
The group dispersed.
Chapter 26 – Resort Living
“Wow, look at this place,” Brendan said.
Hannah looked around, then back at him. “Park there. See?”
“Beside that brick wall,” Brendan said. “Looks like you’re developing a good head for cover.”
They got out of their truck and walked over to where Juan Carlos and Richardson parked, nearer the front door.
“That’s a better place to park,” Richardson said.
“I don’t think it’ll make any difference,” Lita said, looking around as they walked towards the big double doors, a huge structure shading the empty valet station. “Is this place even open?”
“It is for us,” Richardson said. They stepped before the big double doors, which opened. There was a lone person behind the huge check-in desk.
“You Richardson?” the man asked.
“Yeah,” he said, walking up to the counter with Lita by his side. “Looks like I didn’t need reservations.”
The man chuckled. “We’re trying to make the place look like it’s not a good target,” the man said. “We’re over half full. I’m Skip, by the way.”
“You’re kidding. Half full?” Lita asked.
“Lots of people have been displaced,” Skip said. “This is a good place to land for a while if you’ve got the cash.”
“Everything running?” Juan Carlos asked.
“Everything except late night kitchen service and the valet service,” Skip said.
“Excellent,” Brendan said. “Where’s the bar.”
“No,” Hannah said. “We don’t need to be tying one on here.”
“I was kidding,” Brendan said. “Well, kinda kidding.”
Richardson shook his head as he filled out the paperwork for their rooms, giving the man his DPS code.
“Oh, you should’ve said you were DPS,” Skip said.
“We don’t like to advertise it,” Lita said.
“Been pursued a little, huh?” Skip asked. “How about those guys who were running the boats in downtown San Antonio a while back.”
Juan Carlos and Brendan glanced at each other and snickered.
“No way, that was you guys?”
“Let’s not spread that around,” Richardson said, his eyes darting around the lobby.
&n
bsp; “Mum’s the word,” Skip said, passing three card keys. “You’re up on the top floor in this building. Is that okay?”
“It’s what I was going to request,” Richardson said. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Skip said. “Enjoy. Charge room service and drinks to your room and we can add them onto your DPS tab.”
Richardson nodded, and the group headed towards the elevators. There were two elderly couples waiting there, trying not to make eye contact with them. When the elevator came, they stood aside and let Richardson and the others take it for themselves.
“They’re scared to death,” Lita said as the elevator traveled up.
“Hope they haven’t been seeing enemy personnel around here,” Madison said.
“Seriously,” Hannah said.
“We’re as safe here as we are anywhere,” Juan Carlos said. “We need to sneak our long guns up here, though.”
“Yep,” Brendan said.
“I know, I was just thinking about that,” Richardson said. “Your M60 is out of sight, right Juan Carlos?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Would’ve been worse if we were forced into using valet.”
Brendan laughed. “Pay no attention to the machine gun in the back.”
“Seriously,” Juan Carlos said. “That was how it worked when I was here before. Everything for the main buildings was valet. Twenty bucks a night.”
“When were you here before, man?” Brendan asked. “This looks a little high class for your taste.”
“That wasn’t nice,” Juan Carlos said. He looked at Brendan and they cracked up.
“No, really, why were you here?” Hannah asked.
“Wedding,” Juan Carlos said. “This place is way cool. Wait till you see the pool and spa.”
“Well, I need some private down time,” Madison said. “I won’t be hitting the pool today. Maybe tomorrow.”
Lita chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve got plans for Richardson, at least until the morning.”
“Really, now?” Richardson asked.
Hannah rolled her eyes, pulling Brendan closer to her. The doors of the elevator opened and they went onto the long walkway, on the outside of the building.
“Geez, the view is nice,” Hannah said.
“Look how many different structures there are here,” Madison said. “There’s more like this building, and then some that look like normal Holiday Inn buildings.”
