“Gerald, with Sean and Matt in here, there is no room,” Nelson hissed. “Sean is bigger than two men and Matt has arms bigger than my thighs.”
“This gang isn’t the only ones tracking radios,” Gerald said, looking up. “Nancy’s passive radar picked up a UAV fifty miles to our north. She found the gang’s base an hour after you left this morning.”
“So?” Nelson said.
Taking his helmet off, Gerald wiped the sweat off his head. “Nelson, the feds told them about the transmissions we made from here on the CBs,” Gerald said, closing his eyes. “I was there with Nancy when the feds relayed your positions to them.”
“They aren’t using encrypted radios?” Nelson asked in shock.
Putting his helmet back on, Gerald shook his head. “Oh, they aren’t using radios. They are using satellite and cellphones.”
For several seconds, Nelson just blinked at Gerald. “You mean, Nancy has hacked into cellphone service?” Nelson finally said.
Staring at Nelson like he was simple, Gerald took a deep breath. “Nelson, what the fuck do you think she used to do?” Gerald asked.
“You can’t just listen in on cellphones,” Nelson said. “I can see the NSA doing it because they were tied into the grid.”
“Okay, Nelson,” Gerald said slowly, using his hands. “A cellphone is basically a fancy two-way radio. If you have a receiver monitoring UHF and the call isn’t encrypted, which most aren’t, you can listen to what is being said.”
“Is that why the company attorneys always had me call them on landlines?” Nelson gasped.
Smiling, Gerald nodded. “Yep, to tap a phone line requires a warrant,” Gerald said and then the smile fell off. “Well, they used to have to obtain a warrant.”
Groaning, Nelson looked over at Matt, “Did you know this?” Nelson asked.
“Yeah,” Matt nodded. “The DA always told us to watch our mouth when using a cellphone.”
Mumbling, Nelson pulled up to sit on the lip of the left side of the foxhole, making sure he was still under the roof. “So, this drone is finding broadcasts?” he asked.
“Yes,” Gerald said, leaning against the back wall and petting Duke and Zeus. “Since all troops in this area have been run off, the feds are using drones now to locate broadcasts. Then, they relay those to the groups on the ground.”
“By ‘groups on the ground’, you mean gangs?” Sean asked with his face turning purple.
“Well, the feds call them social assets,” Gerald said, then let out a long sigh. “But yes, they are to hit small groups to force people to come into the camps. From what I gathered listening, the feds think people around here are supporting Republic forward observers and they want to stop that.”
“So, Nancy’s radar picked up this UAV? And just how does she know it’s a UAV?” Nelson asked.
“Nelson, she said it was and could tell by the return. If you want to know more than that, you ask her,” Gerald snapped. “I saw lines and blips on a screen.”
Giving a snort, “She chewed Gerald’s ass when he asked that,” Matt said, grinning and sitting on the right lip of the foxhole.
“Well, thank you, Gerald because now I won’t ask,” Nelson said. “So, what else did she find out?”
“You’re welcome,” Gerald said. “I asked Nancy if she would fly the big drone up there to Summersville and she said no. It seems the feds have tracked one of her broadcast points to fly it.”
Giving a groan, “Please tell me it’s not the radio site they set up?” Nelson whined.
“No, it’s one of the sites she uses a mile from there via microwave. But she’s not sure if they haven’t triangulated that site yet,” Gerald said.
“Can this UAV see us?” Sean asked, leaning over and looking up at the sky from under the roof.
Shaking his head, “It was north of Ellington at fifty thousand feet so no, but it wouldn’t have to come much further south to pick us up,” Gerald said, glancing at his watch. “I wanted us under here because Nancy said a satellite will be passing overhead in ten minutes.”
“This sucks ass,” Nelson snapped, looking away down at the house.
“I hope you got word to Paw,” Sean said, still looking up at the sky.
“Yeah, we met up with Tony and Jacob on the way here and filled them in,” Matt said, seeing Sean visibly relax.
“What about this ordnance?” Sean asked.
Casting a glance at Nelson, Matt turned back to Sean. “They have military grade weapons. Javelins and Stingers,” Matt said.
Slowly, Nelson turned back to Gerald. “Do you have reason to believe the feds are using photo reconnaissance?” he asked, feeling a chill grip his chest.
With a grave look, Gerald slowly nodded. “Yeah, they gave the coordinates to the Holmes farm as a location for the gang to have a look at,” Gerald said.
Moving to the back of the foxhole and grabbing his backpack, “We have to go,” Sean said.
“Sean,” Matt said, grabbing his arm. “The group that’s going to hit these two houses are the ones who are going to check.”
Almost panting, Sean stared at Matt, blinking rapidly. “Sean, if we thought they were going to hit your family, we wouldn’t be here,” Matt said, letting Sean’s arm go.
Letting his backpack go, “Do we have an idea when they are coming here?” Sean asked, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice.
“After dark,” Gerald answered and Sean gave a curt nod, stepping back to the other side of the foxhole.
Glancing over, Gerald saw Nelson pinching his bottom lip in deep thought. Not wanting to interrupt, Gerald sat up on the back lip with the dogs. For over an hour, no one said anything. When Nelson spoke, everyone jumped.
“Sean, how long until Dallas and them can harvest that garden?” Nelson asked, still pinching his bottom lip and staring off.
“That garden will keep producing until the first freeze,” Sean said, turning to Nelson. Slowly, Nelson bobbed his head.
The other three watched Nelson in deep thought for another fifteen minutes, then an evil grin split Nelson’s face. When he looked up and let his lip go, Nelson was surprised the others were looking at him. “It’s simple. We just have to make the feds believe that the Holmes farm has been abandoned,” he said with the grin turning malicious. “We make the feds think they were attacked.”
Chapter 13
At 1700, with Nancy never calling to tell them the UAV was close, Gerald and Nelson slipped out of the foxhole and moved halfway down the hill toward the house. Setting up behind two large trees, Gerald and Nelson could cover the far side of the house that Matt and Sean couldn’t.
Grabbing rocks and other forest debris, Nelson built a small wall on each side of the tree he was behind. Pulling out his folding shovel, Nelson went to work digging. “You can’t dig another foxhole,” Gerald said.
“I’ll be happy with a depression,” Nelson said, tossing the dirt on the wall he’d made. “You going to ask Nancy about that jet that flew over us an hour ago?”
“Nope, if it concerned us, she would’ve told us,” Gerald said, watching Nelson. Taking his pack off, Gerald pulled out his folding shovel and started digging.
Hearing Gerald digging, Nelson grinned as he continued glancing over at the dogs. Seeing both were relaxed, he continued throwing dirt on his wall as he dug down. “I just want to know if it was a Republic or fed,” Nelson said.
“Either way, it doesn’t concern us,” Gerald said. “I would be just as happy if all planes stayed away from us.”
Pausing his digging and looking over at Gerald. “Gerald, that jet was flying nap of the earth. Hell, it couldn’t have been more than five hundred feet off the deck,” Nelson said, then pulled his forearm across his face to wipe the sweat off.
Glancing over as he dug rapidly, “It was north of us, so I don’t care,” Gerald said, letting his eyes return to his task. “I didn’t hear explosions, so they didn’t take out the gang.”
In an hour, Nelson stop
ped looking at his four-foot-deep foxhole with a grin. Folding his shovel back up, Nelson grabbed his ghillie tarp off his backpack. Using sticks, Nelson fashioned a roof and looked over at Gerald doing the same. “Thought you said we couldn’t do it in time?” Nelson said.
“Hey, I’m glad, but I was basing it on all the times I’ve tried to dig a hole in Missouri. I actually hit fewer big rocks here than back at the farm,” Gerald said, then dug inside his backpack. Pulling out three magazines, Gerald tossed them over to Nelson.
Picking up the magazines, Nelson looked at the bullets stacked on top. “Where in the hell did you get black-tipped ammunition?” Nelson gasped.
“Don’t ask,” Gerald grinned, “I dug them out a few nights ago.”
Ejecting his magazine, Nelson slipped in one that Gerald had given him. “Hope you have more,” Nelson said. “I’ve tried really hard to get some of these.”
Giving a snort, the grin fell off Gerald’s face. “Before I left this morning, I showed them to ‘your’ wife,” he almost spat. “I told her I was sharing some with you and Matt and she informed me that we’d brought in thousands of blacktipped rounds from that safe house.”
“Damn, I never looked,” Nelson mumbled.
“Neither did I,” Gerald huffed. “I was only able to get a thousand rounds, API so I’m not bitching.”
Glancing up the hill, “If these guys have body armor, you think the 7.62 that Sean and the others are using will penetrate?” Nelson asked, taking magazines off the carrier mounted to the front of his vest.
“They will now. I gave them some AP,” Gerald said, shaking his head. “Tony and Jacob looked at me like I was crazy for giving them armor piercing ammo. Tony looks at me and goes, ‘If you shoot them in the face, it don’t matter’.”
Putting the magazines Gerald had given him in his carrier, Nelson stopped and looked up at Gerald. “I’m sure he was kidding. Hitting targets in the face consistently from three hundred yards is more luck,” Nelson said.
Just staring back at Nelson, Gerald shook his head again. “Bernard was there in the yard when I gave them the AP rounds and I said the same thing. Bernard dared me to put up a dollar as he pulled his wallet out taking a hundred dollar bill out and said if most of their targets didn’t get hit in the face, I could have the hundred,” Gerald said in a flat voice.
Shoving the rest of the magazines in, “I want a few alive,” Nelson said. “Hell, we need at least two.”
Holding up his hands, “I told Tim,” Gerald snapped, then dropped his hands. With no expression on his face, “Tony said they would shoot a few in the knees,” Gerald said in a flat voice.
Grabbing his PTT for the short-range radio, “Sean, I need some alive,” Nelson called out.
A few seconds passed before Sean answered. “Yeah, Matt told me. I’ll hit a few in the legs.”
Gesturing his hand up the hill, “See? It’s the whole family,” Gerald cried out.
“I’m aiming center mass,” Nelson said, putting the magazines he’d pulled off into his backpack. “I’m not Daniel Boone.”
Clipping his thermal on his AR, “And I’m not Sgt. York,” Gerald grumbled. They both called the dogs over into the foxholes, settling down and getting comfortable. “I’m taking a nap,” Gerald said, leaning back on his backpack.
Attaching his monocular to his helmet and thermal to his AR, Nelson looked down at the house, now just a hundred yards away. When he heard the CB, Nelson grabbed the microphone. “Hey, Bill, is Rodney still going scouting tomorrow?” Dallas called out, using the name Gene used when it was his shift.
“Yeah, he’s heading east to check some farms before daylight. Hey, Chad, you and the missus still coming down tomorrow?” Nelson asked. They had almost left the CB with Matt and Sean, but neither had talked during the charade and they didn’t want to scare the gang off. Only Nelson and Gerald had talked here, and Dallas and Tony at the other site. They wanted the gang to think only two men and one woman was in each house.
“If you don’t mind. Andy said he wants to go with Rodney,” Dallas called back using Tim’s radio name.
“Rodney said sure, just get here before daylight,” Nelson answered and the two spoke for half an hour. When he signed off, Nelson glanced over to see Gerald breathing regularly with his eyes closed.
As static squeaked in his ear, Nelson jumped as Nancy’s voice came over his earbud. “The party heard you,” she said and Nelson was glad to see Gerald jump also when Nancy spoke. “They called back to Summersville, telling them they would hit both houses at the same time at midnight.”
Watching Gerald close his eyes again mumbling with a scowl, Nelson’s hand froze over the PTT waiting for Nancy to ask if he copied. When she didn’t, Nelson called out, “Copy,” and got comfortable again. As darkness descended, Nelson turned on his monocular and thermal.
It was after 2100 when Nelson felt Zeus move. Glancing back, he saw Zeus looking back up the mountain. “Engines from the north,” Matt called over the radio.
Straining, Nelson reached up to turn the volume of his hunter’s ear up, but only heard the insects around him. “Nelson, they are at the top of the hill, so they can hear what’s on the other side,” Gerald said softly.
“You know how much I paid for this damn thing?” Nelson asked.
“Yeah, because I bought one,” Gerald chuckled. “And I have to say, I love it.”
After a few minutes and very faintly, Nelson heard the rattle of pipes off in the distance. “Not very covert,” he mumbled.
“Not complaining,” Gerald said. “Why anyone would want exhaust pipes before this that are that loud is beyond me. Now, advertising before your arrival will likely get you shot.”
Concentrating on his hearing, Nelson heard the roar of pipes off behind them, moving down the road a mile back. When the noise stopped, Nelson sat up and saw Gerald do the same. “Gerald, I swear if those fuckers go cross-country, I’m going to be pissed,” Nelson announced as Matt came over the radio.
“Guys, they just shut down,” Matt called out.
Seeing Gerald grab his PTT, Nelson glanced around. “How far down the road?” Gerald asked.
“Halfway between position one and two,” Matt answered.
“Group is on foot, do you copy?” Nancy called over the radio.
“Position two, copy. Are they staying on road?” Gerald called back.
“Affirmative,” Nancy answered and they both sighed as Dallas called out that he copied.
Looking over at Nelson with his monocular, “Next time, we make a plan for the enemy to approach like we would,” Gerald said, seeing Nelson in the green glow of NVG.
“No shit. Sooner or later the other side will realize the road equals death,” Nelson replied with a shiver.
“Oh, they do, but they are on the side that kills those on the road,” Gerald said. “When they see two can play that game, it will get interesting.”
Pulling his ghillie blanket down to cover his body, “You do have a thermal blanket on your ghillie blanket, don’t you?” Nelson asked.
“Duh,” Gerald droned, glancing over to see Nelson looking through the thermal on his rifle. “Wait for my signal.”
“Unless they start shooting first,” Nelson breathed out as both peered out of the foxholes, waiting.
Fighting a cramp in his leg, Nelson pulled his eye from the scope as he flexed his foot and glanced at his watch to see they had been waiting an hour. Wondering what was taking so long, Nelson put his eye back on the scope and looked down the road.
Ten minutes later, “Party has arrived,” Dallas breathed over the radio. “Two, you have fourteen crashers heading to you.”
“About time,” Nelson muttered under his breath.
“Copy one,” Gerald called over the radio.
Half an hour later, Nelson felt his heart speed up, seeing white hot shapes walking along the side of the road. The only way Nelson could think they were moving was a gaggle. They weren’t in single file and were bunched
up, walking down the middle of the dirt road that ended at the house below him.
“What the fuck?” Nelson heard Gerald mumble.
“Yeah, it looks like they are just walking to another bar,” Nelson said quietly.
“How can these numb nuts sneak up on anyone?” Gerald asked.
“Easy, if you don’t have lookouts,” Nelson replied. “How many at that meeting asked if they should have people outside on guard duty?”
Looking at the group five hundred yards away and closing, Gerald moved his crosshairs from one form to another. Freezing on a form, Gerald zoomed in. “Left side, near the back. I see one with an M60,” Gerald said softly.
“Got him,” Nelson answered. “One on the other side is carrying something large across his back.”
Moving his crosshairs, Gerald found the form. When the group was two hundred yards from the house, they moved to the far side of the road near the trees. He watched one lift something to his eyes, looking at the house. “I want that one,” Nelson said as the man lowered what he was looking through and motioned the others forward. “He’s a big fish.”
Forming a line, the group eased toward the house as the man with something on his back moved next to the leader of the attack. “It’s a Stinger,” Gerald said softly, watching the man pull a long tube off his back.
At a hundred yards from the house the group laid down and Nelson’s jaw dropped, watching the leader pull something from his jacket and tap it repeatedly. “No fucking way,” Nelson mumbled as the man lifted the object to his ear.
Reaching down, Gerald grabbed his PTT. “Sean, there are two at the back. Can you wound them?” Gerald called out.
“The one using a cellphone?” Sean asked.
“Yeah, and his friend with the Stinger,” Gerald answered.
“Sure,” Sean said nonchalantly.
“We have one on a cellphone. You want him wounded?” Dallas called over the radio.
“Oh, yeah,” Gerald replied. “How close are they to your house?”
“About sixty yards, just inside the trees,” Dallas answered.
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