by A J Newman
I removed my bulletproof vest and gave her my shirt and said, “Ask for Geena and Sally when you get there; they will take good care of you.”
The girl headed towards the Armory, and we looked at each other and Davi said, “Disasters bring out the best and the worst in people,” as she kissed me on the forehead.
“What did I do right? I want to know so I can do more of it.”
“You were a gentleman to that poor thing, and you promised to avenge her honor. You must be a Knight.”
“I’m no Knight, but I always try to do the right thing. Sometimes my timing is off a bit, but I keep plugging away.”
“I was also proud of you for not staring at her tits and giving her something to cover up with.”
“Damn, you must have a low opinion of me or maybe all men.”
“Right on both counts! Get your ass in gear. We need to get across the street and see what’s going on. I also want to find a position to watch them after the sun come up. We need to know how many there are and what kind of weapons they have.”
She led the way across the highway, and we worked our way around the warehouse with ease. There were three guards with two being drunk and passed out, and the other was stoned and sitting in a lawn chair gazing at the stars. We checked the warehouse out and then snuck over to the hotel. The situation was much different there. The two guards were alert and manning their posts at opposite ends of the hotel parking lot. We easily slipped by them and surveilled the hotel before finding a place to watch them in the morning. There had been a nice stand of trees in front of the hotel with flowers and concrete planters. It was a pile of broken limbs and flowers. We settled in for a long night when the winds picked up, and another storm came through soaking us before we could cover up with our ponchos. The lightning flashed all around, and the rain poured down on us. We were both shivering when Davi got close to me and then pulled my poncho up and wrapped her arms around me.
“Look, dude, we can share some body heat, but that’s all. Don’t take this as a come on and put your hands where they don’t belong. I’ll break them off if you do.”
“Hey, you’re the one who crawled under my poncho. I will be a gentleman as long as you act like a proper lady. Besides, you’re not my type.”
“I thought your type was warm and breathing.”
“Very funny. I have high standards.”
“And friends in low places.”
We hid in the tangled up mess taking turns sleeping until the thugs started moving around. Sharing the poncho made the cold of the night bearable although Davi snored and wiggled all night. Yes, I kept my hands to myself, and none had to be broken.
The first thing we saw at sun up was two men rolling out motorcycles from the lobby of the hotel. We counted 34 motorcycles and 2 old VW vans at the hotel that appeared to be used by the gang and another 5 at the warehouse from last night. That amounted to at least 40 to 50 gang members plus 15 to 20 hostages, and lord knows how many biker bitches they brought with them. Two bikers took one of the old vans to the liquor warehouse and came back with a load of alcohol shortly afterward. Three men took the other van and disappeared for several hours. They came back with a load of food and several weapons. Most of the men wore a pistol on their hips while only a few had automatic rifles with them.
“They don’t appear to come out of the hotel for a large gathering. How are we going to trap them in the open if they don’t come out to play?”
“We have to think of something that will draw them all out at the same time. Now, what would entice men to leave their hotel and come outside?”
I got a big grin on my face and heard Davi say, “Shut up stupid.”
“Wait a minute. I was thinking about a barbecue.”
“Bullshit. You were thinking about naked ladies.”
“Nope, a barbecue. We find a cow. Bring it over here before daybreak tomorrow and wait for them to come out and figure out how to have a big assed Barbeque. That’s what redneck Americans would do.”
“Damn, I’m proud of you. You do think with the big head every now and then.”
I was very proud of myself until it dawned on me that she had slammed me again. We watched the gang until dark and quietly slid out of the area and traveled back to the Armory where we were challenged by a guard and passed on inside.
“Davi and Zack, tell me all about your visit to the thug’s stronghold. Oh, by the way, we have gained a wealth of information from that poor abused girl that you sent back to us.”
“Hi dad, we have the information we need and even have an idea how to get them together for our sendoff party for them.”
“Great, please fill me in on what you saw and this idea.”
He ushered them to a secluded spot to discuss their surveillance results and filled them in on the events at the Armory for the day.
He had conducted several classes on the Humvees and how to use them in battle, but could not shoot the SAWs for fear of alerting the enemy. He seized the opportunity to live fire when the storms blew in last night. Each crew shot the weapons on full automatic several times during the lightning storm.
Davi told her father about my idea to entice the gang into gathering in one place, and he liked it.
“Zack that is a great idea! These guys haven’t seen a steak or barbecue in weeks. They will be all over that cow. Now we have to find a cow that hasn’t been eaten by the locals. I will go make arrangements while you two get some sleep. Oh, by the way, were you caught out in the storm last night? It must have been cold judging from Davi’s lipstick on your neck. You damn well better clean it off before Geena sees it.”
I wiped at my neck until Davi nodded and said, “Dad, we just shared a poncho. Nothing else.”
I quickly turned to leave and ran right into Sally and Geena who both ran over and gave me a big hug. We walked over to our corner, and I prepared to get in my sleeping bag.
“I’ll hold up a sheet while you change out of those damp clothes. It must have been horrible to share a poncho with that bitch from hell. I know how much you hated that.”
“Look Geena, it was raining cats and dogs and was damn cold last night. Sure, I shared a poncho with Davi, and we both stayed warm, but nothing happened.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“Well, I don’t like her.”
“You don’t have to like her. We just have to get along to survive. This isn’t high school with kids fighting over who is dating who. Yes, I like women, but I’ve told you I’m not settling down with anyone until I know my daughter is safe. Case closed.”
Geena walked away still upset, and since I was never good at calming down pissed off women, I let her go.
Sally saw her leave and quickly said, “You can sleep next to me to stay warm.”
I threw my wet socks at, her, pulled my sleeping bag over my head and went to sleep.
••••
Aaron and the Sheriff took a brief tour of the east side of Vincennes and found most of the area was intact. There was damage due to the high winds, but the tornado had stayed on the west side of town, which spared most of their homes and supplies.
"Aaron, why don’t you guys stay here with us? You can have your pick of a home, and you would fit right in with us. We need your knowledge, and you need stability.”
“That sounds very tempting, but we have family in Alabama and must get to them as quickly as possible. They may be in danger, and I’d hate to be comfortable up here if they are in danger. Sorry, but we’ll be moving on after we clean out the criminals.”
“Well, I had to make the offer.”
“And I thank you for it, but no thanks.”
The Sheriff asked several local farmers to find a cow but did not tell them why. This intrigued Aaron.
“Why didn’t you mention why we needed the cow to the farmers?”
“I think we have a leak in our group. Those bikers know more about my business than I know myself. I will root the SOB out one day,
but that’s our problem. Now how will you sneak up on the gang with these noisy Humvees?”
“Damn good question. They’re a bit heavy to push a mile to the bad guys.”
••••
I woke up kind of groggy and felt horrible. Then I heard Sally say, “He must have hated snuggling up to Davi in the rain all night.”
“Yeah, that must have been agony for a man who doesn’t want to think about women until his daughter is safe.”
“I’ll bet he doesn’t have a daughter or a girlfriend. I can’t wait to meet his buddy, Mike. He sounds like a real man.”
“Women, I can hear every word you are saying. I’m trying to sleep.”
“It’s 3:00 p.m. and Aaron said to wake your ass up. He needs you.”
“I’m up, I’m up.”
Davi had walked up during the conversation and said, “Ladies, Zack was the perfect gentleman. He was warm and kept his hands to himself. All a freezing woman could want on a cold night. Zack, get your ass up. Saying you’re awake and being awake are two different things. I’m counting to 10, and at 10 I’m pitching this bucket of cold water on your sorry ass. 1…2…3…4..5”
I jumped up and out of the sleeping bag with just my underwear on, grabbed my pants and headed out to the latrine.
“Davi, can we help with the assault on the gang?”
“Yes, dad wants both of you to become snipers and pick off as many as you can while being on the lookout for anyone trying to escape. Can you two shoot a man running away from you?”
“Hell yes, we can shoot a murdering rapist. We were both shot and almost raped several times. Zack saved us twice. We both have killed scum like this before.”
“Hard times make a hard woman.”
“Especially when a hard man isn’t easy to find.”
Davi and Sally broke out laughing when they caught the double meaning of what Geena had said. It took a few seconds for Geena to figure it out and she turned bright red.
“Well, ya’ll know what I meant.”
They both laughed, and Davi replied, “Yes we know exactly what you meant and judging from that hay in your underwear the other night, you found a hard man.”
They both laughed as Geena turned a darker shade of red.
“We didn’t do anything. Nothing happened.”
“Yeah, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus broke up the party before it got started.”
It didn’t matter how much Geena protested, they had a biting reply.
“Come on girls, let’s go get ready to kill some assholes.”
They walked up to Aaron and Zack who had just ended a training session on the Claymores with the Sheriff and his Deputy.
Zack saw the girls and said, “Geena, are you okay? You look like you are coming down with something.”
The other two broke out laughing, and Geena hit Sally on the shoulder, but Davi ducked and bobbed causing Geena to miss.
“Damn, you three are acting like a bunch of school girls. Get serious. NOW,” said Aaron.
All three snapped to attention and saluted Aaron, which pissed him off even more if that was possible. He finally began going over the plans for the attack on the gang utilizing the Humvees. He gave detail on how the town’s people would push the Humvees the mile to the warehouse before the engines were started.
“Aaron, a barbecue will be out in the open with people coming and going. Won’t they see us coming in those big vehicles?”
“Yes they could, but it’s our best plan.”
“The only reason you want the Humvees is for the firepower. Why not have several of the SAWs carried to the area and shoot them at the bad guys without the Humvees. Then have the rest of the Humvees come crashing in after you have them pinned down to finish them off.”
We all turned towards Geena and stared for a minute before Aaron slapped his forehead and said, “Geena, I could kiss you. That’s what we should have planned all along. Thank you.”
Geena blushed some more and replied, “Just trying to help. My brothers and I played a lot of war games online, and I always beat them and most of the guys.”
We quickly changed our plans and started preparing for implementing the attack tomorrow morning. We spent most of the day cleaning weapons and revisiting the attack plans. The most difficult part of the plan was to get the cow to go to the gang’s area and stay long enough to be caught. Again Geena came up with a brilliant plan.
“Aaron, let’s tie a long rope around the neck of the cow and take it over to the hotel in the middle of the night. Then we tangle the end of the rope in some debris so they will think that the cow escaped and got tangled up in the debris. You two snuck in on them and wandered around for hours without getting caught. Just take the cow with you this time.”
Aaron thought for a minute and replied, “Zack, you and Davi have a cow to deliver at approximately 3:00 a.m. Get to bed early tonight. I have to go check on Sharon. She’s much better and trying to do too much.”
••••
The Deputy was on watch at 2:00 a.m. and woke Davi. She woke me up and handed me a cup of steaming black coffee with just enough sugar.
“Thanks, how’d you know how I like my coffee?”
“I didn’t. That’s how I like mine, and I would have drunk it if you didn’t.”
“You’re a hard woman.”
“Don’t get that started.”
“What started?”
“You’re a dumb ass and wouldn’t understand.”
“Thank you. I’ll take that as a badge of honor.”
“Would you two get a room and shut up, we’re trying to sleep,” someone yelled from across the room.
“Let’s get out of here.”
I heard Geena say, “Zack, be careful and come back.”
I whispered, “I will.”
I got dressed and met Davi, and the Deputy were outside. Thankfully, it was cloudy, and the moon was nowhere to be seen. I heard a moo, turned around and saw our partner in crime for this mission. Then I remembered the cow was giving its life to help us kill the gang. I blocked that out of my mind and checked my M4 and my 9mm before following Davi away from the Armory.
“How will we keep this cow from mooing and waking up the gang?”
“Use your manly charms to keep her speechless.”
“I need a serious answer.”
“See that small bale of hay. Grab it and keep her mouth full as we walk over to the hotel. I could have taken the cow myself. I needed someone to keep the cow quiet. That’s your job.”
“Is this a promotion? I want more pay,” I replied as I rubbed the cow’s ears.
“Come on cow, we have a date with a barbecue.”
The trip over to the hotel was slow but uneventful, the area was pitch black, and they had to watch for trip hazards everywhere. The cow kept chewing on the grass and was happy to follow them without needing to be prodded. The gang had several fires burning in barrels and a couple of torches burning that actually helped us spot their guards long before they could see us approach. We strung the rope around a light pole with a branch tied to its end.
“Look, they’re stoned and drunk again. We could have driven a semi right in the middle of the hotel, dropped the cow off and driven away without waking up any of these bastards up.”
“Don’t get cocky until we get the heck out of here. You Americans think you’re invincible.”
We showed the Deputy where he should hide and left him to watch and report to Aaron. We decided to sneak away down the side of the hotel when I pointed and whispered for her to be quiet. I saw the door in front of us open on the side of the building. The door opened to a small platform with stairs coming down to the ground. We ducked up against the concrete platform and hugged its wall praying that the thug didn’t look down. He stretched and walked over to the side where we were hiding and unzipped his pants. I knew what was coming and pointed my 9mm at him just in case he looked down at us. The thug finished, closed the door and disappeared.
“Don’t you say a word to anyone or I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”
“Damn, I would never say anything that would embarrass you. I hope that I didn’t make you mad, but then I’d rather be pissed off than pissed on.”
“Screw you, asshole.”
“What’s wrong, did someone rain on your parade?”
She didn’t say another word to me the rest of that day.
The trip back to the Armory was uneventful, and Davi stormed off as soon as we entered the gate. I tried to catch her to apologize, but she ignored me and headed to the restroom where we had jury rigged some showers. I went on to find Aaron and report in on our excursion.
“Zack, where is Davi?”
“She had to run to the restroom to take a shower. Don’t worry, she is alright. They were stoned or drunk as before, so there was no one on guard duty. We dropped the cow off and left the Deputy in the tree line with the walkie talkie as planned.
••••
Aaron and Davi were the brains behind the operation. I watched them coordinate every detail of the attack. As expected, the dirt bags found the cow, butchered it and quickly built a grill out of some cinder blocks and some fencing. As they prepared to eat brisket, we slowly surrounded them at the hotel and placed some men at the warehouse to take out the thugs staying there to guard their precious liquor. Aaron told the team to be ready to begin the operation when the team at the barbecue began shooting. He wanted as many of the gang outside in line for beef as possible before the shooting began.
Davi and I had the front of the hotel covered with two SAWs while the Deputy and some of the town’s folk had the backside guarded. Aaron and his team would drive the Humvees into the fray when the battle began. Two Humvees would concentrate on the hotel with one assisting at the warehouse. The Sheriff and his men had the warehouse operation. Geena and Sally were behind the hotel on top of a small garage about 50 yards behind the hotel. They had an unobstructed view of the whole area behind the hotel. They both had .308 caliber sniper rifles and shouldn’t miss at such a close range.
