Storm Front

by Thomas A. Watson

  “This room doesn’t have holes in the wall,” Gerald said, pulling Nelson inside.

  “What the fuck?” Nelson groaned and then realized he was moving. Throwing his arms out, Nelson caught the doorframe.

  “Damn it, Nelson, let go! You’re heavy as hell already!” Gerald shouted pulling harder, but Nelson wasn’t letting go.

  Michelle bent over and grabbed Nelson’s hands, prying them off the door. “Nelson, let go!” she screamed in his face as Sean opened fire up the hall.

  “I can’t see!” Nelson bellowed in panic.

  Reaching over, Michelle flipped his monocular down and Nelson let go of the doorframe. Gerald almost fell down as Nelson’s weight came free. Jerking Nelson into the room, Gerald let him go as Michelle moved beside Nelson.

  “You need me?” Gerald asked from the doorway.

  Pulling out a flashlight, “Don’t know yet,” Michelle said with trepidation. Flipping her monocular up, “Turning on white light,” she said, pushing the button.

  “Thank you for the warning,” Nelson said, struggling to sit up.

  Putting her hand on his head, “Nelson, let me see what’s broke,” Michelle snapped and then let out a gasp at seeing Nelson’s blood-caked face. Dropping her eyes, she saw his vest was torn and ripped apart. In places, she could see the trauma plate.

  “Holy shit,” Gerald said, looking over from the door.

  “You know, if I was really hurt, you two would really bum me out,” Nelson said, flipping his monocular up and looked down at his body. “Oh,” Nelson said, seeing his battered body. “It’s not that bad.”

  “Nelson,” Michelle snapped as she moved her hand under his vest and felt his shirt was soaked with blood. “I need this vest off,” she said, pulling her hand out. Gerald moved to help as Michelle started to undo the sides.

  “I take this vest off, we are having sex!” Nelson declared loudly. Gerald froze and slowly looked over at Michelle.

  “Nelson, you’re soaked in blood!” Michelle cried out, trying to take the vest off.

  “Yeah, some asshole shot me in the neck! I have blood in the crack of my ass!” Nelson shouted, fighting her hands to keep her from taking his vest off.

  Stopping her fight, Michelle looked at him with watery eyes. “Babe, please let me see,” she pleaded softly.

  Reaching out, Nelson grabbed her hand. “Baby, if I take this vest off, it’s not going back on. It’s torn to shit and I don’t want to be out here in the shit, naked,” he said softly. “The vest worked, but will you check my legs? My left thigh. I put Quik Clot on and it’s still burning like fire. I know I was hit again, but I can’t tell how bad.”

  Nodding, Michelle leaned over shining the light and found a six-inch gash bleeding hard on the inside of Nelson’s thigh. Opening her med bag, Michelle went to work.

  “How many times were you hit in the vest?” Gerald asked, moving to the door.

  “Stopped counting at four,” Nelson grimaced as Michelle cleaned the gash. Seeing Michelle grab a pouch of the Quik Clot, “Oh fuck,” Nelson moaned as she ripped it open.

  “Suck it up,” Michelle said, pouring it over the gash and Nelson let out a howl.

  “You motherfuckers will all die slow!”

  “Gerald, I need your Quik Clot,” Michelle said, bandaging Nelson’s leg.

  “More?!” Nelson screamed.

  Nodding as she took the pouch from Gerald, “You have a hole in your right thigh,” Michelle said, ripping his pants apart. Grabbing a long hemostat, Michelle pried the wound open and saw where the blood was coming from. Opening the hemostats, Michelle clamped them on the bleeder and sighed when the bleeding slowed dramatically.

  Rolling Nelson on his side, Michelle saw where the bullet had blown out a chunk of meat. Seeing another bleeder, she grabbed another hemostat. When she clamped it down locking the handles, Nelson grunted.

  Opening the pouch, “Be tough, babe,” she said, shaking half the pack on the back of his leg and the rest on the front.

  “I’m going to rip out your fucking hearts and eat them while you die, slimy cunt wipes!” Nelson screamed.

  Hearing unsuppressed gunfire, Michelle dove over Nelson and looked toward the door to see Gerald shooting up the hall. “Come in here, so I can suck your asshole out of your eye sockets!” Nelson bellowed out, blinking tears from his eyes.

  When the gunfire stopped, Michelle lifted off Nelson but kept him on his side, inspecting his back. She saw four dimples in the rear trauma plate and knew those had been aimed at her back. Seeing where they’d struck and knowing she was shorter, Michelle knew the top two rounds would’ve hit at the base of her neck above her vest and the base of her skull below her helmet.

  Looking over the rest of Nelson, she saw a few small gashes, but they were clotted off and she only had one bandage left. Rolling Nelson on his back as he panted in sharp puffs, Michelle wrapped his right thigh, leaving the hemostats in place.

  “Med bag is empty,” she called out. Every one of the members of the breach teams had been hit multiple times.

  “Shit,” Nelson panted, grabbing his PTT. “Hill two, this is breach team,” he called out and Michelle didn’t hear him over her earbud. Nelson pressed his PTT several times and didn’t hear any radio squelch in his earbud.

  Reaching back over his left shoulder, Nelson felt his radio was shattered. Dropping his hand, Nelson looked up at the ceiling. “It’s days like this that make a person pissed off at the world,” he declared.

  Smiling as she turned off the flashlight, Michelle leaned over and kissed him. “Today, I will agree with that,” she said and then stood up.

  As Nelson moved to get up, she leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Babe, will you stay here?” she begged.

  “No fucking way. I’m clearing this building, then killing every fucker I find breathing with the handle of a butter knife,” he said, getting to his feet. Flipping his monocular down, Nelson looked down at Michelle’s vest. Reaching over and pulling a frag grenade off, “I need this,” Nelson said, hobbling to the door.

  Moving across the hall with Michelle following, Nelson entered the room where he’d blocked the hole off. There was a four-inch gap that the filing cabinets didn’t block off. Yanking the pin, Nelson tossed the grenade in the gap.

  Screams sounded in the next room as Michelle yelled out, “Grenade!”

  Turning away from the blocked hole, Nelson grinned as a thunderous boom sounded in the next room. “Told ya,” Nelson mumbled and hobbled back to the door.

  Seeing Nelson leaving, Michelle followed him out into the hall. Nelson walked up the hall to the door of the next room. As he reached for the door, Michelle stopped him. “Let me,” she said, yanking a flash bang off her vest.

  “Damn, you’re sexy,” Nelson chuckled, hobbling back. Michelle put her back to the wall and opened the door, tossing the flashbang in.

  “Grenade!” she shouted, turning away from the door. When the grenade went off, she rounded the corner and kicked the door open. Seeing movement in the dust filled room, she started shooting. Before Nelson could follow, Ronald and Gerald moved in behind Michelle.

  “It was my idea!” Nelson shouted, then turned and aimed up the hall. Seeing the room on the right side across the hall had a sliding bolt in place. Nelson turned to the last door on the left. “To those inside, just want you to know you are about to die!” he yelled at the door as suppressed gunfire died behind him.

  “If we surrender, will you let us go?” a voice hollered back.

  “Fuck, no!” Nelson shouted and heard screams in the room as Gerald yelled.

  “Grenade!”

  Turning away from the door, Nelson tensed up as the building shook twice from two explosions. Looking at the door, Nelson saw it was buckled out. “Damn, and I thought I was a hard ass,” he said, moving to the door and Sean passed by him.

  Raising his boot, Sean kicked at the door and it flipped open and Sean moved inside with Nelson following. Nelson heard Sean’
s suppressed shots, then a loud boom as he rounded the corner. He saw Sean fall back hard as he entered.

  Swinging his AR up, Nelson saw a man holding his stomach and holding a shotgun as Nelson cut loose. The man danced as the bullets stitched across his body. As the man fell, Nelson looked around, shooting two more. Seeing the rest of the bodies were dead, Nelson moved back to Sean and saw a black halo spreading under Sean’s head.

  “Sean!” Nelson shouted, dropping down to his knees. Letting his AR go, Nelson looked Sean’s face over and didn’t see a bullet hole. Taking his gloves off, Nelson ran his fingers on each side of Sean’s scalp. Reaching the back, he felt a gash where Sean’s head had met the floor.

  Letting out a sigh of relief, Nelson ran his hands over Sean’s body and jerked his hand back feeling something hot on Sean’s vest. Looking at the spot, he saw a mushroomed chunk of lead at the edge of the trauma plate. “We need to find you bigger plates,” Nelson said, grabbing his left shirt sleeve and ripping it off.

  A gash under the plate was bleeding and Nelson shoved his sleeve over the gash. Grabbing his right sleeve, Nelson ripped it off and made a dressing for Sean’s head. Tying it off, he looked at the door, wondering where everyone was at and then realized as he heard a torrent of suppressed shots.

  Glancing around the room, Nelson turned to Sean. “Can’t stay here,” Nelson said, letting his AR go. Grabbing Sean’s arms, Nelson sat him up, rolling Sean’s body onto his shoulder into a fireman’s carry. “Fuck me!” Nelson grunted, struggling to stand under the weight.

  Hobbling to the door, Nelson struggled to stay upright and headed down the hall. Ahead, he saw everyone at the junction, shooting outside. Sean let out a moan and started moving. “Bitch! You’re heavy enough as it is, stop moving!” Nelson screamed and the others turned and saw Nelson hobbling down the hall with Sean’s massive form over his shoulder.

  Ronald ran over. “What happened?” he asked, helping Nelson stand.

  “Sean’s okay, but I couldn’t leave him,” Nelson said as Sean continued to move. “Sean, I mean it, stop moving! It’s hard enough for me to walk carrying your big ass!”

  Gerald glanced over. “Need me to carry him?”

  “He will squash you,” Nelson snapped, feeling his legs tremble. “Matt could carry him, but not with a big hole in one leg. Are we staying here?”

  When Gerald nodded, Nelson glanced at Ronald. “Help me set him down,” he said, trying to bend his knee and sit Sean down, but Nelson’s body was done listening and his knee buckled. Stepping up, Ronald caught both, fighting to slow the forward fall.

  Falling into Ronald, Nelson let out a thankful prayer that his face wouldn’t meet the concrete floor. As Sean rolled off Nelson and onto Ronald, Ronald felt the air leave his lungs as Sean’s body came to rest on top of him.

  Coming up on his hands and right knee because he couldn’t bend his left knee without serious pain, Nelson looked up to see Ronald roll Sean off. Sitting up, Ronald leaned over as Sean opened his eyes. “What happened?” Sean moaned.

  Gerald stood over them, shooting up the hall when a man stumbled out of the last room. Michelle moved to Sean’s other side and started checking him out. “Where do you hurt?” she asked, patting his body.

  “My head,” Sean groaned, reaching up to feel the dressing. “I get shot in the head?”

  “No, you busted your head open when the man shot you in the chest,” Nelson said, struggling to his feet. “Gerald, what’s going on out there?” Nelson asked, moving past him and looking outside.

  “They are mopping up,” Gerald said and Nelson saw a figure running east across the massive field beside the school. Knowing the figure was over three hundred yards from him, Nelson just watched the figure get away.

  When the torso vanished, Nelson grinned. “Curtis and his damn cannon,” he chuckled. As Sean sat up, Nelson leaned over and took Sean’s radio. Grabbing his own radio, Nelson pulled his plug out and tossed the busted radio down. Plugging his earbud and PTT in, Nelson pressed the PTT.

  “Hill two, this is breach. What’s it like outside?” Nelson called out.

  “Just a few stragglers,” Scott called back.

  “Can you send anyone down here?”

  “How many do you need?” Scott asked.

  “Two, and all the medical supplies you have. We’re out,” Nelson called back.

  “How many are wounded?” Scott shouted back and Nelson could tell he was moving.

  “Everyone,” Nelson said, looking around.

  “Two moving to you!” Scott shouted over the radio, running down the hillside with Larry.

  “Hill one. Friendlies coming down from hill two, cover them because we need those supplies,” Nelson called out.

  “Breach, we are covering, do you need anything else?” Dallas asked, almost hyperventilating.

  “Ask Curtis if his boys can provide cover from the roof here while you make sure everyone is dead or gone. Breach team is combat ineffective,” Nelson said, moving to the wall and leaning back hard.

  After a few seconds, Dallas came over the radio. “Curtis said they could cover from there easy.”

  Sliding down the wall, Nelson sat on the floor and pressed the PTT. “See you in a few,” he said as Scott ducked down, running through the door and carrying two backpacks.

  Scott froze, seeing the bloody group as Nelson dropped his hand in his lap. “You are carrying your brother this time,” Nelson said with a sigh.

  Chapter 20

  Dallas turned, hearing a bus crank up. “Want me to bring them out?” Scott asked.

  “No, let Grant get the other one cranked up first,” Dallas said and turned to see Sean walk out of the school. Giving a sigh, Dallas watched Sean walk over to Nelson, who was staring at a massive stereo laying on the ground beside a generator that had been hit.

  Walking up, Sean pulled Nelson’s pistol out of his vest. “You left this,” Sean said, holding it out.

  Not looking away from the stereo, Nelson took the pistol. “Thanks,” he said, staring at the stereo like it was Satan himself. Lifting his AR up, Nelson flipped to full auto and pressed the trigger, dumping a magazine into the stereo.

  Everyone outside dove to the ground on hearing the suppressed chatter. They saw Nelson shooting the stereo and when his gun ran dry, Sean pulled his M14 off his shoulder and shot what was left. When Sean’s magazine ran dry, Ronald limped over and emptied his rifle into the pieces.

  Nelson lifted his left leg and spun around. “I know there is wounded. Where the fuck are they at?” Nelson growled.

  “Amber is talking to them,” Ronald said and Sean laughed.

  “Figures. Her last two years in, she transferred to military intelligence, “Sean said.

  Looking over at Ronald, “Where?” Nelson asked and he pointed to the south end of the school. Not saying a word, Nelson hobbled away to the south while changing magazines.

  Ronald turned to see Michelle with Zeus and Ashley leading the women and kids from the house to the bus that was running. “It was worth it,” Ronald said, then moved off.

  “Except for the damn music,” Sean said, looking down at the small chunks of the stereo.

  Hearing another bus crank up, Dallas nodded at Scott. Scott took off, running back into the school as Dallas moved over beside Sean. “You okay, son?” he asked.

  “Yeah, Paw,” Sean nodded, looking out over the mass of bodies. “If this is only a hundred and fifty, I’ll kiss someone’s ass.”

  “There’s two hundred out here alone,” Dallas nodded.

  Motioning to the school, “And I’ll bet there’s a hundred in there,” Sean said. They both just stared over the field of dead bodies as Scott led a line of men, women, and children out of the school.

  Michelle looked over at the school, seeing the line heading toward them. She turned back to the woman still holding her daughter. “You head south and don’t stop until you reach Arkansas,” Michelle said, shoving a sheet of paper in the woman’s hand. “Follow
these instructions. These are backroads so don’t go fast, but don’t stop for shit.”

  “Can’t we stay with you?” the woman pleaded and then glanced down, looking at Zeus who was looking around and panting. From nose to tail, he was covered in dried blood and none of it was his.

  Shaking her head, “I’m sorry, but we won’t be leaving anytime soon. We have to make sure the others that we didn’t get don’t follow you,” Michelle said and the woman started trembling.

  “If you want to help others like you, reach the Republic and learn to fight and you can help us,” Michelle said, reaching out and rubbing the woman’s shoulder. “When I tell you to, drive out of here because we don’t have long.”

  Nodding, the woman watched the others load up on the bus. “I can never thank you enough,” she said.

  “Get these people out of here before the rest of the gang gets here and I’ll count that as a thanks,” Michelle said, dropping her arm. “Tell them what I told you and get them loaded.”

  The woman nodded and moved up on her bus. Patting her leg for Zeus to follow, Michelle took off in a jog to the field of the dead. Seeing Dallas and Sean, she jogged over to them. “How much longer till they can leave?” she asked.

  “Grant is leading the last of them out now,” Dallas said as everyone froze.

  “Away team, you have two dozen hostiles coming in from the east,” Nancy called over the radio.

  “We got ‘em,” Bernard called out over the radio.

  Sean looked over at Michelle. “Think Bernard has bitten off more than he can chew?” Sean asked.

  “No, he sounded very confident,” Michelle said as Grant ran out of the school, leading the last of the captives.

  “Grant, hurry up! We have more of the gang coming!” Dallas shouted and the captives let out cries and followed Grant as he broke into a dead run. “You want to load up and head home?” Dallas asked Michelle.

  “Let me talk to Nelson and Gerald,” she said, watching the buses pull out.

  Reaching over, Dallas grabbed her arm. “I’m asking you because we can make them,” he said and from the firelight, Michelle could see he meant it.