Vigilante: The Pale Horse: Post Apocalyptic Justice

by Cliff Deane

  Gus’ face grew sad and somber as he said, “Yeah, knowing it can happen is one thing; happening is another.”

  ◎

  21 April 1230

  Ambush site E of UPS

  Windsor Blvd.

  The crew pulled up in all four vehicles and quickly had them hidden among the trees, and secured from stray bullets. The four were a bit surprised that the reinforcements had not come through, yet.

  Gus told them that it probably took some time to sober up enough men to send to Windsor, and hopefully, they would still be hung over when they entered the ambush kill zone.

  Levi called a quick meeting to lay out the plan for a staggered claymore setup for a three-vehicle convoy, and crossfire.

  The claymores were quickly set; Levi, Kevin, and Kate took the south side of the highway and Gus, Tim, and Darren the north side. Then came the hard part; waiting.

  By 1400 Levi and Gus were beginning to think they were wrong, and that there would be no reinforcements when they heard the sounds of motor transport coming their way.

  As the vehicles drew closer, the tension mounted along with the nor-adrenalin that began coursing through their bodies. First, comes the adrenalin, which is fight or flight. This is followed by nor-adrenalin which is straight-up “let’s fight. Nor-adrenalin doesn’t happen to all soldiers, but most professionals know it well; many even crave it.”

  Levi was pleased to see that the transportation consisted of two pickup trucks, and not military grade, heavy five tons. This was beginning to look more and more like a lead pipe cinch.

  Darren and Kate were given the claymore clackers, and as the trucks entered the kill zone, they clicked the clackers two times, detonating the claymore mines. The seven hundred 1/8” soft steel ball bearings morphed into the shape of a .22 caliber long rifle. The optimum effective range is out to fifty meters.

  The steel balls tore into the pickup trucks and shredded the driver and those riding on the left side of the truck beds. The passenger in the cab received only relatively light injuries, as did a lucky few who were directly behind someone hit by the approaching steel balls. In both trucks, there were only four combat effectives remaining, four dead, and four seriously wounded.

  The viable hostile forces immediately leaped out of the still moving trucks and made for the drainage ditch and wood line. Two made it to the ditch, and none made it to the woods.

  The remaining two hostiles began ineffectual return fire. The crew hunkered down until the enemy ran out of ammo, and began calling out to surrender.

  “Toss your weapons onto the roadway; stand up with your hands over your head. Walk to the center line on the road, then lay down on your stomach with your hands and feet spread out.

  If you have any weapons, your will be immediately shot. Follow those instructions, now.”

  Two AK’s and two pistols were tossed onto the road before the men stood and followed Levi’s instructions.

  The wounded were dispatched with a knife to the heart.

  The two men were then searched, bound, and raised to their knees.

  Gus began asking the questions; names, hometown, and the final questions were about their activities.

  “How many men are in your mob?” asked Gus.

  The obvious senior member of the two said, “We want a lawyer.”

  Gus smiled and said, “People in Hell want ice water. Answer my question.”

  The tough guy said, “Fuck you, we ain’t tellin’ you shit.”

  Without saying another word, Gus drew his service pistol and shot the man in the head. Gus then looked at the remaining man and asked, “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

  “Yes, sir, “said the man, what would you like to know?”

  “Answer the question I asked stupid, here.”

  “Oh, yeah, well, there’s like two hundred or so counting everybody. We have detachments in most of the small towns around Suffolk. There’s maybe fifty inside of Suffolk.”

  “How many civilians are still alive?”

  “Well, let’s see, there’s like maybe two hundred or so, more or less.”

  “Why do you make them go around in their underwear?”

  The man smiled and said, “Oh, that’s an easy one; they can’t hide any weapons, and it takes away their pride. It’s amazing how it just breaks them down when they can’t wear clothes.

  And the girls, well, that’s obvious, right?”

  One more question, “The name of the big boss.”

  “I, I don’t know his real name, but he goes by the name of Bull Elmore.”

  Gus turned to a disgusted Levi and asked, “Sir, anything else you want me to ask him?”

  “Nope, just put a sign on him before he gets strung up. Oh, have him strip down to his underpants.”

  “Yes, sir, right away.”

  The man began to beg, saying, “Wait, no please, you can’t do this, why it’ll be murder. Please, just let me go, and you will never see me again.”

  Gus said, “The one thing I am sure of is that after we hang, you we’ll never see you again, anyway. Now strip down to your tidy whities, or I will shoot you in the foot.

  “But, I’m not wearing any underwear.”

  Gus shot him in the foot. While crying and screaming in pain, he stripped butt naked and was hung, just as he was born.

  As this murderer hung by his neck, his body gently swayed in the late afternoon sun. The sign around his neck read:

  I murdered and stole for

  Bull Elmore.

  Bull, they are coming for you!

  **************************************

  That’s right, Bull,

  We are coming for you

  and all of your murdering followers.

  Bull Elmore and all who follow him

  Will soon be dead!

  We intend to shoot or hang you.

  We are justice!

  We are

  The Vigilantes

  And we ride

  The Pale Horse

  Tim asked Gus what the plan was for the trucks. They had a few holes but were otherwise still serviceable.

  Gus discussed the trucks with Levi who said to punch a hole in the gas tank, throw the bodies into the bed and light ‘em up.

  ◎◎◎

  Chapter 5

  Guerilla War

  21 April 1530

  Bull’s Headquarters

  Suffolk, VA

  Dogg burst into Bull’s office and said, “Bull, come on out here, you need to see this.”

  Bull followed Dogg outside and saw a large column of black smoke rising high into the sky. He asked Dogg if he had any idea what might be the cause.

  Dogg had no idea, so Bull ordered him to take one of the bikes and ride out there for a look-see.

  Dogg was on the outskirts of Windsor when he came upon the burned vehicles and skeletal remains of the ten men sent to Windsor as reinforcements.

  He also saw the body hanging from a tree near the road, and read the sign. A cold chill ran down his spine as he grabbed his pistol and began a visual search of the immediate area.

  Whoever had done this was not long gone, so Dogg rode back to Suffolk to report to Bull.

  ◎

  21 April 1530

  Crew Camp

  NW of Suffolk

  The crew selected a campsite and immediately began securing the immediate area as they had done two nights before. By dark, the camp was set up, and everyone began heating their MREs for the evening meal.

  At 1900 hours, Levi called a meeting to discuss the plan of attack.

  Once everyone was seated Levi said, “Well, we’re in it now, and Gus and I are pretty sure each of us intends to see this through. Our thought is that this is the way it will be from now on. We hit and run, flatten tires, snipe one or two when the situation allows.

  We hit two of their scattered outposts each day. To avoid creating a pattern which would give Bull a hint to our next target I have decided to begin by writing the names of
the six surrounding communities, plus Bull’s Headquarters, on a piece of paper. Each night one of us will draw two names from a hat. We will attack those two outposts as the next mission.

  This way we will have no idea where we attack next, and neither will Bull. Using this method, if one of us is captured, that person will not be able to give away a scheduled attack. If a team is compromised, before an attack, the mission will be scrubbed. If you are captured, we will make every effort to get you back, and if it is possible, we will.

  Once a team of three arrives at a target site, we will determine if we can shoot and scoot without putting any of us in unnecessary danger.

  Gus and I have decided that we will form two teams of three. Gus will be 6, and I will be Wolverine 6. Team Badger will consist of Gus, Tim, and Darren. Team Wolverine will be me, Kevin, and Kate.

  Does anyone have any questions?” No one did.

  “Good,” said Gus, because we have no idea how long this will take, but it will take all we’ve got, and maybe just a little bit more.”

  “Tomorrow, we rest, clean weapons and kick this thing into gear on the following day by drawing target names. Teams, remember that you must always, always do an immediate area recon before you take any action. I know these guys are morons, but all it takes is one to be prior service, and he will suggest OPs. So, a no exception rule is recon, each time, every time.”

  “Nest 6: Path 6: Commo Check; Over.”

  “Path 6: Nest 1: five by five: Over.”

  “Nest, is six around?: Over.”

  “Negative, six, how are things? Over.”

  “One, we’ve got ourselves a little Dodge City thing going on in Suffolk, and will need resupply: Over.”

  “Roger 6, understand a Dodge City; need combat resupply: Over.”

  “Roger 1, an unknown portion of Suffolk and surrounding communities under War Lord; name’s King Bull: Over.”

  “Six: One, do you need personnel assistance? Over”

  “One: Six, just resupply right now, please send five thousand rounds of 7.62 loose, two thousand belted, one case grenades, and one hundred claymores: Over.”

  “Roger six, are you able to receive resupply at checkpoint Deep Creek? Over”

  “Good plan, One; how about delivery 1200 hours, 25 April, checkpoint Deep Creek? Over”

  “Six, are you going to be picking fights with War Lords all over the country? Over.”

  “That’s a big 10-4 old friend. That’s why we’re out here, ain’t it? Out.”

  Gus was standing close by and said, “25 April 1200 hours, Deep Creek, easy peasy, nice and easy. I’ll see to it, Boss.”

  ◎

  21 April 1630

  Bull’s HQ

  Suffolk

  The day began to grow visibly darker as clouds, heavy with ocean moisture moved toward Suffolk. Lightning flashed far out at sea. It would rain heavily in the coming hours.

  Dogg rode into the parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter, dismounted and ran into Bull’s office shouting for the Boss Man.

  Bull was in a meeting about expanding their turf further into Suffolk. He was not happy at Dogg’s interruption.

  “Dogg, you idiot, what the fuck makes you think you can just barge into my office?”

  “Bull, they’re all dead, and Little Sammy was hung with a sign around his neck. The smoke we was seein’ was them two pickups burnin’.”

  Bull’s anger at Dogg quickly changed to concern as he asked if Dogg had gotten the sign.

  “Yeah, Boss, I got it. It was a long drop for poor Sammy since I had to cut him down to get it, but here it is.”

  A sudden bolt of lightning flashed just overhead, causing an immediate blast of loud, rumbling thunder accompanying the sign just as it was placed in Bull’s hand.

  Everyone in the room jumped from the flash of light and the thunderous noise caused by the approaching storm. Bull was startled and dropped the sign;

  Dogg retrieved it from the ground and again handed it to Bull, who read the sign, which caused his cheeks to redden from rapidly rising blood pressure.

  “Dogg, take twenty men, find ‘em and kill ‘em hard! Find ‘em Dogg, bring their hearts back here to me.

  Dogg, you get this done, and you become one my lieutenants.”

  Dogg liked the idea of a promotion to one of Bull’s trusted lieutenants, but he wasn’t all that anxious to end up like the eight men sent to reinforce Windsor. Still, he looked Bull in the eye and said, “They’re dead, Bull, I’ll get ‘em.”

  Bull looked hard at Dogg, and said, “Good boy, Dogg, now go get ‘em.”

  The irony of Bull speaking to Dogg, like a dog was totally lost; to both of them.

  Before the CME, Suffolk had been a mid-sized city of around ninety-thousand people; now one year later the town was nearly deserted as the few thousand survivors wandered off to that Hopeful Somewhere when the food began to run out and the crazies took over. Now, the population numbered perhaps a thousand. Of those thousand there were roughly six-hundred surviving outside of Bull’s kingdom.

  As things had become a bit more settled, a few former Soldiers and Marines who grew up in Suffolk returned to discover the madness and mayhem brought on by Bull and his band of sociopaths.

  These men and women formed a loose affiliation and fought back creating an uneasy stalemate that neither side had crossed, so far.

  Both sides would soon learn of The Vigilantes…”

  Susan Turner and Adam Ward had seen the thick billows of smoke as it began arching into the sky. They decided to investigate the source of the fire and, with luck they might even discover some of Bull’s soldiers, preferably dead.

  The distance to the fire was only two miles away; just a hop, skip, and a jump in this post-EMP world.

  Susan and Adam arrived at the ambush site before Bull’s men, and they were thrilled to see the sign around Little Sammy’s neck, along with the rope holding him high above the ground.

  Susan suggested they make tracks outta there before more of Bull’s killers arrived to investigate.

  As they made their way back home, they discussed the sign and the results of an obvious ambush.

  Susan was a former Army Captain flying Apache Attack Helicopters. She found herself without a job shortly after the CME. At twenty-seven years of age, and 5’7” she was tall for a pilot. Though she had lost weight over the last year, she still maintained the physique of a warrior.

  Adam had been an Army Staff Sergeant; a straight leg grunt with four deployments to Berkeristan. He had been an Infantryman with twelve years of service, out of Fort Benning, Georgia. When the Army was disbanded, and having nowhere else to go, they both had just drifted back to Suffolk.

  He had also been too dumb to duck twice, and been awarded two Purple Hearts. He bore the scars proudly, though one explosion left a bit of a ragged scar just in front of his right ear, and another 3/8” circular depression in his back from a faulty AK 47 round.

  Adam believed that round had probably been the last of a lot run and did not receive the full allotted grains of black powder. The bullet had lodged against a rib, just short of piercing his right lung.

  His biggest regret about that day and the faulty AK round was that he was unable to buy any lottery tickets.

  Both Susan and Adam led small groups that monitored and protected their borders with Bull, and both longed for the day when the Resistance would be strong enough to take the fight to Bull and his maniacs.

  They both knew that day might now be just around the corner.

  ◎

  21 April 2230

  Crew Camp

  NW of Suffolk

  Everyone was nestled in their tents as the lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled as a torrential rain deluged the entire coastal region of Virginia.

  As the clouds began to gather Levi’s crew dug wide, deep trenches around the tents allowing the rain to run off the small hillock housing their camp. Their gear in the trucks and trailers were religiously secured in
side waterproof tarps. Seeing the promise of copious amounts of rain, Levi was very pleased with his mother’s teaching that an ounce of prevention saves a pound of trouble.

  This thought reminded him of how much he still missed Sarah, and his mood changed to a deep depression. In an instant. Katie sensed the change of mood in the tent and said, “Dad, would you mind if I snuggled up with you? The Thunder has me a little scared.”

  Levi said, “Sure, sweetie, come on.” Levi knew that Sarah and his mother were both smiling down at him. Katie was asleep in a matter of moments, and once he felt her body enter REM sleep, Levi gently untangled himself and eased over to her sleeping bag, where he too fell quickly into a comfortable slumber.

  Kevin said to Tim, “I surely hope we draw Windsor for tomorrow. I do not want that slimy bastard, Scarface to get away from justice, and just you remember that he is mine.”

  Tim, who had been nearly asleep, muttered, “Yeah, yeah, he’s yours, now go to sleep.”

  Gus and Kevin were also talking in low tones as Gus asked, “Darren, I know that in your heart, you are really a gentle giant and not prone to take on this task. I’m sorry, but I have to ask, are you sure about this? I swear on your mother’s name that I will understand and support you should you decide to return to Defiance.”

  “Dad, yeah, you’re right, I’m not cut out for this, but unless I can personally hand out some justice for mom and the girls, at least once, I know I will never be able to live with myself.

  I want you to know how much I appreciate what you just said, and my answer, to be perfectly honest is, when this mission is over, and we have killed every one of those bastards, then, yes, I think I will return to Defiance. Maybe I can earn my keep teaching marksmanship, sniping, and spotting.