Obstacles

by David Wilson

  Feeling better after a few minutes, he started to step away from the tree when he heard another damn vehicle. It didn’t sound like a car or truck from what Talon could tell at this distance. What the hell, he thought, does everyone but our group have vehicles. This one was on this side of the river and sounded as if it just pulled up into the ferry parking lot. Moving slowly, Talon eased his way to the edge of the tree line just north of the parking lot.

  Peering around a tree, Talon could now see the vehicle was an old Massey Ferguson farm tractor. He couldn’t begin to guess how old the tractor was, but he would have been surprised if it was younger than the man driving it. The guy driving the tractor was at least in his 60’s but stilled moved pretty well, judging by the way he hopped down off the tractor. Talon watched to see what the guy was going to do when he saw all of the bodies of the terrorist hit team. Whatever Talon was expecting, he ended up disappointed. The guy just calmly walked over to the dead Iranians and squatted down and carefully examined the scene as if it was a common everyday occurrence.

  However, what the old guy did next really piqued Talon’s interest. The older man moved from body to body, taking his time to examine each of the dead terrorist’s hands and then taking a boot off of each of them and examining something to do with each body’s foot. Next, the guy pulled out a small flashlight and went from body to body and carefully examined inside each of the dead terrorist mouths. After reviewing each of the dead terrorists, the man stood and walked back to the old tractor. Retrieving a set of binoculars the man walked back over to the riverbank, and using the binoculars, he appeared to exam the burned-out ferry building and the river for several minutes.

  Making up his mind, Talon stepped out of the tree line and began walking across the open field towards the older man. Talon’s movement immediately was spotted by the older man, but if he was surprised, his outward reactions didn’t show it. Even before the events of the past few days, most people spotting a heavily armed man coming towards them from out of the woods would more than likely cause them at least some concern, but this guy just calmly stood his ground and waited for Talon to approach.

  Talon approached to within about 15 feet before saying, “Morning.”

  The man, a well-aged, tanned, and cleanly shaven man that could have been anywhere from his early 60s to early 70s stood calmly and examined Talon and his gear. The man replied, “Morning stranger, just drove up to see what’s been going on up here, heard all the shooting last night, and found a couple of bodies downriver by my place this morning. Don’t reckon you had anything to do with that, did you?”

  Talon smiled, “Well, Sir, it really depends on who is asking, but I will say we are living in unusual times right now.”

  The man raised his eyebrows and smiled back, “OH, that is definitely one way of putting it. My name is Jake, I’m just wondering why a bunch of Middle Eastern men were just laying around and floating down the river with several newly acquired holes in their bodies.”

  Talon looked at the man with a questioning look, “And what makes you think these guys are Middle Eastern, Mr. Steel?”

  Jake looked back at Talon and laughed, “Not Steel, Mr. Jake Roberts, is the name, but that’s clever. And you are?”

  “Just a concerned citizen, woefully lost and a long way from home,” replied Talon. The man glanced down and made note that Talon had never removed his hand from the pistol grip of his M-4.

  Nodding his head to indicate Talon’s weapon, Jake observed, “Quite a bit of firepower you are carrying for just a walk home.”

  Talon grinned back at the observation, “Well, as of late, I keep running into quite a few unfriendly types in this area. And I haven’t quite made up my mind on which type you are, or should I say which type you both are.”

  “Ahhh, well, you can never be too certain in this day and age like you said we are living in unusual times. It’s true we found a couple of bodies washed up by our place this morning and I don’t think you can blame us for using some caution while we check out what is going on in our own backyard,” the man intoned, “I was wondering if you had positioned yourself with me in between like that on purpose.”

  “Not at first, but I did pick up on your signal to your backup when you walked back over to the tractor to get your binoculars,” Talon explained.

  Jake replied with a slight smile, “I must be slipping in my old age, so young man, I take it all of this on this side of the river is your handy work, can I assume that across the river is yours also? The folks that ran this ferry have been friends of mine for the past 20 years or so. Might I ask their current fate?”

  Talon grimaced but said, “They were dead before we ever came on the scene yesterday, the original Iranian team had killed them and taken over the ferry building as a convenient site to regroup and wait for their next orders. My little group came into contact with them yesterday afternoon when they killed one of my group as we arrived in the area. After we took out the first team, the second group of them showed up and took offense to what we had done to their friends, so we dealt with them also. Last, we knew more were on their way looking for us, so we decided to lay low for a couple of days in an attempt to throw them off our trail. We got all of the first team, but one might have gotten away from the second team. I’m not sure, but if he did, it was by surviving during their attempt to cross the river.”

  Jake just stood there and took everything in as if they were discussing the weather before answering, “You’re correct that one did get away from you. But he ran straight into a bunch of locals last night while driving a local truck that had been taken from a small neighborhood about two miles from the ferry building over there. From the news I received on the CB, I’m guessing this was the bunch that hit that neighborhood and killed a bunch of local folks. Anyway, I take it this guy attempted to pull a gun and was dealt with in like-kind.”

  Talon asked, “Was this guy older, late 30’s, early 40’s, short hair, maybe six feet in height, close-cropped hair in a pair of white coveralls? Carried himself like a senior NCO.”

  Jake nodded and turned and raised his arm is an assemble here motion before turning back to Talon, “She is really an ICU Nurse, but don’t for a second think that means she is not a crack shot with that Remington .270 of hers.”

  Talon watched and waited as a woman stepped out of the woods dressed in a camouflage jacket and blue jeans. She was carrying a scoped deer rifle and had a pistol strapped to her right side. Talon stepped forward and extended his hand as she walked up, “Ma’am, my name is Talon, and your husband was just warning me that not only would you shoot me, but you could also patch me back together after you do.”

  Maggie took the offered hand and shook it with a firm handshake, glancing around as she did, she spotted the bodies of the terrorist team. She looked from Talon back to Jake, and he nodded his head, “Yup, they are sure enough Middle Eastern, Iranians, from what he says. He also says there are more of them headed this way. He was about to tell me why they are so mad at him and his little group.”

  “It might be best if the two of you come on over to our camp for a cup of coffee and meet everyone, and we can fill you in on what we know, how we know, and who we are. It is only by chance that we crossed swords with the Iranians, but the fact is we now have a bunch of them looking for us for revenge.”

  “Sounds good to me,” said Jake as Maggie nodded her agreement, “Go ahead and jump on back and I’ll at least drive over to the tree line.”

  Firing up the old tractor, Jake waited for Maggie to climb up beside him and for Talon to step up on the back support of the trailer hitch bar before he let out the clutch, and the old tractor jerked into motion. Talon pointed in the general direction of the camp and flexed his knees to take the shock of the small drop-off at the edge of the parking lot pavement. Upon reaching the tree line, Jake slowed down and edged the tractor into the trees for about twenty feet before stopping and shutting down.

  Glancing back at Talon, Jake said, “Do
n’t want to make your people nervous by driving right up to your camp. Figured you might want to give them a heads up before we just walk in.”

  Talon gave a short laugh and pulled out his radio. Speaking briefing with Mat, Talon passed the word to stand down and that he was bringing in a couple of visitors. Of course, either Mat or Ben would stay out of sight until Talon was utterly confident that Jake and Maggie were who they claimed to be. Trust but verify, what was it General Mattis used to say, ‘Be polite, Be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone that you meet.’

  The small group was gathered around a young doe hung in a tree on the edge of the campsite when Talon and his guests walked into the campsite. Don was just finishing up with cleaning out the chest cavity of the lungs and heart. Both he and Beth were grinning and laughing as they were describing in detail to Mat how Beth had taken the young deer with her bow. Everyone turned as Talon walked up, and the conversation came to a stop when they saw the serious look on his face.

  “Sorry to rain on your parade, but the local game warden is here, and he is not happy about you taking a deer out of season,” quipped Talon with a serious tone. The look of horror on Beth’s face was apparent and priceless, and Talon could not hold a straight face for any longer. Talon burst out laughing along with both Jake and Maggie. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” Talon said.

  Beth’s look of horror faded to be replaced by anger, “You are such an ass,” she said as she turned to walk away.

  “Oh come on, the look on your face was priceless, now get over here and tell us what happens. Obviously, you were successful this morning, and I, for one, am looking forward to some venison for tonight’s supper,” said Talon.

  Pouting, Beth turned back to the group and looked at the newcomers. Talon thought the only thing she was missing was her stomping her feet to show her frustration. But Talon had to give her credit, she came back over and extended her hand and greeted Jake and Maggie warmly, and ignored him completely.

  Jake broke the awkward silence by introducing Maggie and himself to the small group. Beth, in turn, pointed out and introduced both Mat and Don, then herself. Jake complimented her on her kill, and she smiled prettily and said, “Don and I went out about an hour ago. The morning fog was just lifting when we got into place next to a small clearing about 200 yards to our west. It was amazing. I have never seen so many deer at one time; there must have been close to 40 deer feeding on that small field. Don said it was because it was planted in corn earlier this year and had been harvested within the last couple of weeks. Anyway, we sat there watching them until this young doe walked over to within about 15 yards of us when Don told me to go for it. We were lucky, and the set up could not have been more perfect. She walked towards us and then turned sideways to me. Good thing, I had not ever shot that bow until then.” Finally, stopping to take a breath, Don jumped in.

  “It was closer to 20 yards, and there might have been 20 deer in the field. But I have to agree with Beth the setup could not have been more perfect. She drilled it cleanly though the lights, both lungs and nicked the heart, and it didn’t run for 30 or 40 feet before collapsing. But you will have to pardon me, but I need to get the tenderloin cut out of this thing, that’s what we will have tonight. Talon, did you want us to keep any of the internals?” asked Don.

  “Yes keep the heart, we will fry that up for lunch, I know most of the crew won’t want to, but they need to try it so they know if push comes to shove they can eat the heart. I’ll sauté it and add it to some ramen noodles and see how they like it. Also, we will keep some of the liver for fish bait. While you are still bloody, go ahead and cut up a small handful of that and put it in a Ziploc. Also, nice takedown, Beth, I know you said you knew what you were doing with a bow, but seeing it is another thing entirely. Thank you.”

  The praise seemed to relax Beth a little, and she began to engage Maggie. Jake came over to where Don was still cleaning up the kill. “Are you guys doing ok on supplies?” asked Jake.

  Don looked at him and pondered the question for a few seconds, “Right now we are ok, in fact, we are better off than a lot of people. We are short in a couple of areas, such as cooking oil or lard, toilet paper, and basic meds, especially antibiotics. We had been hoping to get a chance to pick up a few supplies before we headed up into the mountains to our cabin up by the West Virginia border. But if we can’t pick up a few things, then it is going to be tight this winter. I have it stocked for two people for about four months, but with the additional mouths to feed, we will be lucky to make it to January. If Beth or the boys can bag us a couple of deer over the winter months or we have a good trapping season, then we should be ok, but it will be tight. Why do you ask?”

  Jake just took it all in and then asked another probing question, “How about ammo? From what we heard last night and yesterday afternoon, it sounded like you guys spent a bunch of ammo on these guys. Are you all carrying the M-4/AR-15 type rifles?”

  Talon stepped back over nearer to Don and Jake as he saw the expression on Don’s face and was able to catch the last question Jake asked. “Getting a little personal, I see,” said Talon, “And why would you need to ask about our ammo situation? I can understand asking about the food, but asking about our ammo is a little strange.”

  Jake just smiled a slight smile and came back with, “Well, actually, I might be able to help you out, not with everything, and maybe not with much that you actually need. So when you joked about my name earlier, and I said you were off base, well you were, but not by much. I just went on my 90 days of terminal leave last month from the Army Active Reserve. So actually I’m still, LtCol Roberts, Commanding Officer, 429th Support Battalion, stationed in Winchester, Virginia right up the road here.”

  “Well, Sir, there is a shortwave message put out by the government you might want to listen to; in it, the government appears to be recalling everyone back to active duty. But I’ll let you know right up front, I’m not reporting in up here, I have to get back down to Texas to make sure my family is safe and taken care of,” stated Talon.

  “I agree and wouldn’t expect anything less. Duty is important, but you have to take care of your family first,” Jake responded to Talon, “But someone promised me a cup of coffee, do I need to chop some wood or kiss someone’s butt to get one, whatever it is let’s get on with it so I can get a cup.”

  Chapter Eleven

  After getting Jake and Maggie their coffee and everyone got seated around the fire pit, Talon looked over at Jake and asked him, “So do you want to go first or do you want me to?”

  Jake gestured to Talon and answered, “I have to admit I’m curious as hell as to who you are to have a bunch of Iranian terrorists after you and how you managed to wipe them out like they were nothing. I know for a fact that they would not have sent a bunch of half-trained ass bags over here to carry out these operations. So yes, why don’t you go first?”

  “If you don’t mind, I’m going to give you the condensed version. A lot has gone on over the last couple of days,” Talon replied, “I’ll start out with I’m a retired Marine, or as my kids say, a Marine dropout, spent my whole adult life either in the grunts or as a Counterintelligence Officer. I started out as enlisted and went from Private to Gunnery Sergeant before picking up Warrant Officer. I ended up spending ten years enlisted and ten as an officer. Retired and tried to leave it all behind, but it’s all I know, and I’m pretty good at it. Since I retired, I have over three years in Iraq and over five in Afghanistan. Mostly with three-letter agencies. Anyway, I was up in Maryland working with the Defense Security Service when it all went to hell. I needed some gear, so I dropped into the Bass Pro up there, and that is where I met Don.”

  Don snorted and laughed, “You mean where I attempted to put a bullet in your brain housing group.”

  Talon also laughed, “Well that was just a misunderstanding, anyway, after teaming up with Don, Mat, who, by the way, is Don’s grandson, showed up with his friends and we loaded up with what gear we
could carry and got the hell out of there.”

  Don again injected, “Jake, Talon is really leaving a lot of the story out, we had a bunch of gang bangers that attempted to use some of our group as hostages. They were trying to get us to hand over the entire store to them, but he made short work of them, much the same as he did with the Iranian’s. Then there were the bikers, and don’t forget those town people.”

  Talon held out his hand at Don with the palm in a stop signal, looking slightly embarrassed, picked back up with his story, “Ok, let’s not admit to any more indiscretions then we have to at this point. Needless to say, we have had a few run in’s with unsavory types that we have had to deal with.” Don started to say something but clamped his mouth shut and raised his hands in surrender after Talon gave him a hard look.

  “Our first run-in with the Iranian’s was back at the water treatment plant just downriver from here over on the Maryland side of the river. They had hit the plant destroying all the control computers and slaughtering the engineers and workers there before coming up to the ferry crossing,” continued Talon, but hesitated when Beth made a strangled sound.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us that when we were there. How in the world did you let us sleep down there knowing all those poor workers were laying there dead not 100 yards from us,” hissed Beth.

  “Beth, this is exactly why I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want everyone worrying about it when there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it. Anyway, after we left the water plant and came up the canal pathway, our point team came under attack from the Iranian’s holed up in the ferry building. They managed to kill one of our team members and take one member of our team hostage. To make a long story shorter, we were able to successfully recover our kidnapped team member and to wipe out the Iranian’s, but as it turned out, not before they could call for reinforcements. Unfortunately, the owners of the ferry had already been tortured, raped, and murdered before we arrived on the scene. Shortly after we finished off the terrorists, we were able to use the ferry to cross the river. A few hours later, we heard gunfire from a nearby neighborhood, and I came down here to check to see want was going on. So it appears the Iranian reinforcements ran into a problem crossing though a local neighborhood before they got here. It was just by luck I survived as the commander of the Iranian’s had tasked a four-man team to cross the river and flank us if we were still in the area. As I said, I got lucky and was able to take out the advance team and then take out the rest of their team as they were attempting to cross the river in canoes,” finished Talon.