Obstacles

by David Wilson

  About that time, Ben came out of the tree line leading two horses. Talon gestured him across and into the field. Diane and Billy quickly followed.

  Talon met James's eyes as he turned from seeing Diane and Billy. Knowledge spread across his face as he lifted the radio to sound the alarm. Regret surged through Talon as he lunged forward, pinning his left hand across James's mouth as at the same time pulling his Mercworx fighting knife from his gun belt. As his left hand made contact with James, Talon's right hand drove the combat knifes eight-inch blade upward into James’s throat just under his chin. Hot blood sprayed from the awful wound, but Talon's eyes never left James as he briefly struggled under Talon's hands. Talon held him there for several seconds until the life drained from James's eyes. Reaching up with his left hand, Talon closed James's eyes for the last time.

  Wrenching his knife from James, Talon came to his feet, cursing himself for being so stupid. Stooping back over, Talon attempted to wipe all of the blood off his gloves and knife onto James's pants legs. Ben walked over and handed Talon a bandana and held up a bottle of water, offering to pour for him. Talon nodded his thanks and let Ben pour as he tried to get most of the blood off.

  As Talon was finishing up, Ben asked softly, “What happened?”

  Talon glared at Ben for a second before his eyes softened and his shoulders slumped, “This happened because I was stupid. I should have blindfolded him. He was fine with us moving through like last time, but once he saw Diane and Billy, he put two plus two together and knew we were not part of DHS, but that we were the terrorists DHS are looking for. I saw the recognition in his eyes and also saw he was going to do something stupid. Damn it. Alright, we need to get moving. Less than one hour before this guy is missed. Let’s move.”

  Putting away his knife, Talon moved back over to James’s body and recovered the two gold coins. Seeing no gear that they needed, Talon did take the six magazines of 5.56 that were in James’s web gear.

  Talon turned and caught Diane’s eyes. Tears were running down both her cheeks. Talon walked over to where she sat her horse and taking her hand, he said, “Stop blaming yourself, this is the fault of those DHS guys for spreading the lies about us. Focus, we need you ready for this as Ben and I are going to need your help to pull this off. Now please get it together. We need to leave right now.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Turning the group north, they rode until they came to the small waterway and line of trees heading west. Dismounting, they led the horses to within 500 meters from the farmhouse. The horses knew they were almost home, but Billy was able to keep them calm by talking softly to them and petting them. They quickly put up a rope between two trees and got the horse hobbled and settled down. Billy already knew his job was to keep the horses quiet and to wait with them until the attack was finished at the farmhouse.

  The adults moved a short distance off from the horses and huddled together to get the details of the attack from Talon. Talon began with, “Alright, we don’t have much time. This group has been in contact with the locals, and the locals think they are here hunting down some terrorist group, meaning us. We need to hit them, kill them, and at the same time, prevent them from calling home. I will take care of that. Ben, you will take both claymores, one you will set up laying the claymore flat on the ground, facing up, under the machine gun nest in the barn, the other in the middle part for the guys sleeping up there. Daisy chain the mines like I showed you. You will have to take out the two or three guys in the lower part of the barn. Move around to the west end of the barn, and when we start the attack, take the guys in the lower part of the barn. Set up the claymores and set them off as soon as you are clear of the barn. Make sure you are at least fifty yards from the barn before you set those damn things off. Diane and I will take the farmhouse. We will kick off the attack with grenades through the windows. Diane, remember to use your knife to cut the window screen, real fast, drop in a grenade and move to the next window and do the same. You start at the far right end of the house and I’ll take the left. Ben, you ready for this,” Talon looked at the young man, “After you blow up the barn, get into a position to cover the front of the farmhouse. We need to make this happen and be out of here as fast as we can.”

  Both Diane and Ben nodded, and Talon stood up and said, “Remember why we are doing this. Not only us, but Billy and the rest of our people trapped in Winchester are counting on us. Don’t think, just do. Alright, Diane give Billy a kiss, and let’s go.”

  After letting Diane say goodbye to Billy. Talon said a few encouraging words to the boy, they picked up their gear and moved down the tree line to the deer stand. Ben turned and shook Talon's hand and then moved westward down the tree line.

  Pulling the thermal binoculars out of his vest, Talon inched up to the edge of the tree line facing the farmhouse. Scanning the area, he immediately spotted the sentry on the back porch. Backing away from the edge, Talon turned and motioned for Beth to follow him. Moving carefully, they moved west along the trees until they had the well house between them and the back porch. Moving back to the edge of the tree line, Talon again scanned the area for any activity. Seeing none, he whispered to Diane to stay close and moved from the tree line into the wide-open back yard. Careful to keep the well house between them and the back porch, they moved across the back yard and took a knee behind the well house.

  Diane touched Talon on the arm, and when he looked at her, she mimicked pinching her nose. Talon realized he had forgotten to tell her the idiots were using the side of the well house to screen their latrine.

  It wasn’t long before Talon and Diane heard the back door open. Someone muttered something to the sentry, and the sentry replied, “I’m going to go ahead and get the stove going and get some coffee on.” Again the back door opened and closed. Talon tensed when he realized the guy that had come outside had come out to use the latrine. He reached out and touched Diane and motioned for her to stay quiet. Talon reached down and pulled the quick releases on his sling to remove the rifle. Leaving it on the ground, he quietly got to his knees and then to his feet. Drawing the knife from his belt, Talon could still feel the tackiness of James’s blood on the hilt of the knife. Gripping the knife tightly, he waited for the man to arrive.

  Hearing the swishing of the man’s feet in the grass, Talon tensed his body into a coiled spring to move quickly. The man grunted as he sat down on the crude toilet seat made from a two by four. Talon stepped around the corner of the well house and, in one fluid movement, straddled the trench, reached out with his left hand clamping it around the man’s mouth and pulling him back off the two by four. As Talon pulled the man back, he rapidly plunged the knife twice into the man’s lower back where the man’s kidney should be, paralyzing the man’s body with pain. Blood again poured across Talon’s gloved hand from the deep wounds. Jerking the knife out of the second wound, Talon shifted the knife to an overhand hold and thrust the knife down between the man’s collar bone and the base of the neck, killing him instantly. Pulling the knife from the fatal wound, Talon caught the now dead and limp man under the armpits and dragged him off the makeshift toilet and around the corner of the well house. Wiping as much blood off his gloved hands as he could, Talon put away his knife and turned to Diane. She had a somewhat ghostly look to her in the night vision monocular, but she gave him a thumbs up to show she was ok. Reconnecting his sling to his rifle, Talon settled down to wait for Ben to get in place.

  The two clicks coming into his ear made him jump a little. Ben was in place and ready. Talon looked again at Diane and saw she had her eyes closed, but her lips were moving in what Talon took to be saying a prayer. He let her finish and then helped her to her feet. He softly said, “You ready for this?”

  Diane nodded and moved to the right side corner of the well house. Talon moved to the left corner and said into his mic, “Go, Go, Go.” Talon came around the corner with his rifle at the high ready, not spotting any immediate danger, he dropped the rifle to hand from its sling and p
ulled his Sharknado from its sheath. Running past one guideline to the antenna, he reached out and cut the line with the short sword, not slowing he crossed to the next guideline and did the same before moving to the base of the antenna and swinging the sword hard downward and severing the transmission cable. The antenna was still standing, but leaning far to one side, Talon ignored this as he had already cut the cable.

  Sprinting to the far left bedroom window, Talon swung the short sword across the screen covering the window, cutting an 18-inch long gap into the screen. Seeing a shadow move on the other side of the window, Talon thrust with the sword into the shadow. A scream shattered the nights quiet. Not hesitating, Talon pulled a grenade off his vest with his left hand and pulled the ring. Letting the spoon fly, he shoved the grenade into the cut screen and flicked it inside the room. Moving to the next window, he had just begun to cut the screen when the night was shattered by two explosions. Almost knocking him from his feet, he recovered and threw the second grenade into the second window. Taking a knee beside the brick wall of the farmhouse, he was braced for the second set of explosions. Once his NVG recovered from the bright flash, Talon moved to the back door.

  Glancing over, he saw Diane kneeling on the other side of the back door. Motioning for her to back up a little, she moved away from the door. Talon took a couple of steps away from the wall and put five rounds from his rifle into the back door lock and window. Pulling his last grenade out, he lobbed it into the kitchen and stepped back to the protection of the brick wall. As the grenade exploded, the windows of the kitchen shattered outward. Before all of the pieces of glass had hit the ground, Talon was up and moving into the shattered remains of the kitchen. Flipping his IR laser on as he went into the room, Talon saw movement at the hallway door leading off the kitchen, swing the laser around to the hallway Talon spotted a man struggling to get to his feet. Servicing the man with three rounds, the man dropped from the impact of the rounds. A quick scan showed no one else in the kitchen, Talon motioned for Diane to cover the other hallway and Talon moved to the hallway where he had shot the first man. Rounding the corner, Talon put one more round into the man’s head just to be sure. Dropping out the partially used magazine Talon slammed home a fresh magazine from his vest.

  Just then, a tremendous explosion came from the front of the house and Talon was thankful they had not been in the front rooms. After his Hunter’s ear had recovered, he heard a couple of unsuppressed gunshots come from the direction of the kitchen. Diane would just have to handle that for the moment. Moving down the hallway, he quickly cleared the rooms, finding no one alive, but making sure with one round for each body he came across. Counting the man outside and the bodies he had seen so far, he had a count of six.

  Moving back to the kitchen, he saw Diane, and she held up two fingers. Talon moved to her side and removed the last grenade from her belt. Her eyes went big and she moved back to near the back door of the kitchen. Talon leaned briefly around the corner and fired off four rounds towards the bedroom door on the left. Seeing a rifle barrel poke out of the doorway, Talon burst out from around the corner, dropping his rifle to its sling and drew his Glock from his leg holster. Talon reached the door before the individual with the rifle began to look around the corner. Stomping down on the rifle with his right foot, Talon swung around the corner and put two rounds into the top of the man’s head. A second man wearing an all-black uniform was standing behind the first and he dropped his rifle and raised his hands. Kicking the door all the way open, Talon saw one more body laying half off a bed and not moving. Keeping his gun on the standing man, he stepped over so he could see both the man on the bed and the man standing. Quickly lowering the pistol, Talon shot the man on the bed in the head and then returned the pistol to cover the DHS man.

  “Remove your shirt,” ordered Talon. When the man didn’t move, Talon fired one round that tore a notch off the toe of the man’s right boot. The man instantly complied with the request. Shit thought Talon, I must be tried. I meant to hit his foot. Just then, Talon’s radio came to life, “Five confirmed.”

  Talon turned and motioned the man to move out into the hallway. Talon called out to Diane, “I’m bringing one out.” Talon marched the man down the hallway and into the living room. “Cross your ankles and kneel down, keep your hands on head, Diane if he so much as winks, shoot him in the gut, that way he can still talk to us before he dies. I’m going out to check on Ben.”

  Turning and heading out the door, he paused before stepping out, pushing the button on his mic, “Coming out the front door.” Getting two clicks, Talon stepped out the front door and gasped. The entire center of the barn was gone. Ben was digging through the rubble, picking up magazines and equipment as he came across it. “Ben,” Talon called out, waving at him to come over once he had his attention. Ben stooped down and picked up a backpack and headed over to Talon. Once Ben was within talking distance Talon said, “Take Diane and go get Billy and the horses. We need to get out of here within the next 30 minutes. When you get back, do not let Billy come inside.” Ben nodded and headed into the house to get Diane, followed by Talon.

  Walking back into the living room, Talon nodded at Diane and motioned for her and Ben to go ahead and take off. Stripping off his helmet, Talon brushed off the debris from the easy chair facing the kneeling man and sat down with a sigh. “What is your mission here?” asked Talon in a normal voice.

  “Can I lower my hands?” asked the man.

  Talon moved so fast the man was unable to begin to comprehend what was going on, Talon lunged to his feet and kicked the man hard enough in the stomach to make him puke up stuff he had eaten last week. While the man was still gagging out what had been in his stomach, Talon expertly flipped flex cuffs on the wrists behind his back. Then tipping the man on his face into his own puke, Talon flex cuffed his crossed ankles together. Grabbing the man by the hair, Talon pulled the man back into his kneeling position. Talon returned to his chair, sat back down, and calmly ask the man again, “What is your mission here?”

  The man started to speak, but Talon held up his hand in a stopping motion, “Think carefully Mr. DHS, I do not have time to waste, and if you don’t just want me to kill you and leave or begin to cut away body parts to get my answers. Think before you speak.” Talon then gave the man a come on hand gesture.

  The bound man said, “We were sent here to arrest a group of terrorists that have been killing and robbing people.”

  “What are the names of these people you are hunting,” asked Talon.

  The man stammered, “I don’t remember all of them, there was a Talon Clark, their leader, and a kid named Ben, I believe, and there is a woman, I think her name is Roberts or something like that.” As Talon stood and drew his knife, the man said in a panicked voice, “All the names are on the warrants in my briefcase in the bedroom you found me in.”

  Talon stood again and picking up his rifle, he exited the living room and moved to the first bedroom on the left. Finding the briefcase, he picked it up and moved back to the living room. The man had not moved. “Anything I should know about this before I open it?” asked Talon. The man just shook his head no.

  Opening the briefcase, Talon shifted through the papers, stacking them all up in a neat pile. “Ok, from beginning to end, tell me the entire story. All of it, don’t leave out anything. If I have to stop you for details, you will lose something. Alright, I’m listening.”

  “My boss, Dale Taylor, is the DHS Senior Agent in Charge or SAC assigned to the Northwest District. We that is Taylor, myself, and two junior agents, I really don’t know their names, they are both new. The taller one’s first name is Phil, that’s all I know. We were at the Armory when the EMP’s hit. Taylor used the Patriot Act to take operational control of the armory when martial law was declared. Then last week, a young lady arrived at the armory and after talking with Taylor, she swore out charges against this guy named Talon. Then we found out he was going to try and find the old Armory commander's daughter and her
son. So Taylor sent us out here to arrest this Talon guy when he showed up at the farm. I was told to arrest him, dead or alive. Taylor wanted him alive to make an example of him. Then two days ago, we got word that this same guy blew up a bunch of buildings and broke out the Armory Commander’s daughter who was being held under arrest on several charges. Now she is wanted along with this Talon guy because they killed a bunch of DHS agents and soldiers escaping from that FEMA holding camp.”

  “How far spread is this news about this Talon and his group?” asked Talon.

  “We have passed the information to all the surrounding districts, and they, of course, will pass it to everyone they can. Not all of the districts have come up on the communications net and command might have to send out additional units to get everyone in place,” replied the agent.

  “How often do you check in with the Armory?” asked Talon.

  “At 0800, 1300, and 2100, each day,” answered the DHS agent.

  The sound of horses came in through the destroyed door and windows of the living room. The DHS agent began speaking without prompting, “Sir, I won’t say shit about this, I’m done with all of this confiscating weapons and arresting law-abiding citizens. Let me go, and you will never see or hear from me again.”

  “What are you so worried about, I already told you I wouldn’t kill you if you talked,” said Talon.

  “Thank you, Sir, may I ask what is your name?” asked the agent.

  “Sure, my name is Talon,” said Talon as he stood. The agent’s face drained of blood, and his mouth worked trying to think of something, anything to say that would save his life. Ben looked at Talon and nodded his head.

  The agent pleaded, “But you said.”

  Talon interrupted the man’s plea, “I lied.” As Talon raised his suppressed Tavor and fired three times, striking the agent in the chest twice and the third round striking the already dead man in the right eye.