Storm Front

by Thomas A. Watson

  “It’s a good lookout spot, isn’t it?” Nelson said and Justin nodded. “A real good spot, isn’t it?” Nelson added, raising his eyebrows.

  Letting out a groan, “Yeah,” Justin said, dropping the map in his lap. “Someone would be there.”

  “Maybe, maybe not, but they could have teams watching it just for that reason. I chose this hill because there are six other ones that are better and they can’t cover them all,” Nelson said, looking from one to the other and found Curtis writing again.

  “If it was just you and Sean, would you scout that hill Justin wanted?” Kenny asked.

  “Not the hill itself,” Nelson said, getting comfortable on his knees. “Even a moronic second lieutenant would entrench troops on that hill. But I would move around to the other hills to see just what was on it.”

  “Wouldn’t you?” Kenny asked.

  “I wouldn’t put troops on it, not in a war like this because it’s just too much of an artillery magnet. When or if this kicks off here, that hill will get hit by rockets, bombs, or artillery. Hell, maybe all of them. I would only have a small OP, just to watch the valley to the state line,” Nelson told him. “If something looks too good, always be hesitant and look for the next best thing.”

  “Can we start?” Curtis asked, unstrapping his M107 and Nelson nodded. Sean and Nelson watched the three gather their gear, threading their suppressors on and grabbing their backpacks. When they moved off, Nelson moved back to a tree and leaned back against it.

  Moving to another tree, Sean leaned back. “Just to let you know, I would’ve gone to that other hill. I’ve been on it and it does offer some nice views,” Sean said.

  “Like Gerald says; been there, done that, and got the t-shirt,” Nelson said. “I lost some good troops for that mistake and I won’t make it again.”

  Hearing a helicopter to the west, Sean glanced over and stared at Nelson for several minutes. “You had an officer with you?” he asked.

  “Always,” Nelson chuckled. “I voiced my opinion and was overruled. Six hours later, I was loading eight wounded on a chopper and the next chopper, I loaded four dead,” Nelson said with all joy leaving his face. “Someone has to be in charge in war, that’s a given or you have chaos, losing more of your troops from each other than the enemy. I’ve only seen a few that understood the basic fact of war.”

  Sean watched Nelson turn away, looking around as Sean racked his brain trying to figure out the basic fact of war. After waiting for twenty minutes and realizing Nelson was done. Sean cleared his throat, “Is it to kill?” he asked.

  “Nope,” Nelson said, turning to look at Sean. “Cherish and guard each troop’s life like it was a precious sip of water in a parched desert. Equipment can be replaced and ground retaken, but it takes a long time to train troops and a lifetime for another to take its place. Always make sure the goal is worth the risk of losing your fighters because you can’t bring them back from the dead.”

  Nelson turned away as Sean scanned around, thinking about that. It was a half hour later before he spoke. “That’s why you won’t join,” he said. “You know what you’re willing to die for and don’t want someone deciding that for you.”

  “Basically,” Nelson said as a chopper flew to the north. “I’ll die for my family and team. I’ll fight for my country. I’m proud of my service, but not the fact that Washington cares more for voting in their next pay raise or what some PAC group can give them, than they do for the troops that are fighting. I’ve always looked at the military as a rabid dog you keep locked up in the backyard. You don’t tell that dog to guard. You don’t tell the dog to walk around and be nice. You unleash that dog to kill. Destroy any and all that stands in its way with no restrictions. When the dog is done, you chain it up in the backyard again until it’s needed.”

  Nodding, Sean turned to the north hearing another chopper. “That’s why everyone follows you,” Sean said.

  “I don’t want anyone to follow me,” Nelson grunted.

  Sean turned and looked at Nelson. “Like you said, someone has to be in charge.”

  Sitting against the trees and scanning the woods, the two sat for another hour. When a jet roared overhead just a few hundred feet above them heading south, Nelson glanced up. “Let’s gather the kids,” Nelson said, pushing off the tree.

  Creeping over the ridge they moved down and found the four peering through scopes at the town and valley. Justin had his map out beside him. Nelson could see numbers written over the town and valley. “Time to pack up, guys,” Nelson said, glancing down at the town.

  “Nelson, there is a general down there. Can I shoot him?” Curtis asked.

  Thinking for several minutes, “No, not worth the risk and we are too far from our rides. They could flood these hills with troops,” he said. “Besides, it might be a decoy.”

  “I think it’s the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Curtis said.

  Dropping down, Nelson moved Justin aside and put his eye on the spotting scope. “Where?” Nelson asked.

  “Southwest, sixteen hundred and twelve meters. See that line of MRAPs? Move south till you see a pavilion next to those cannons,” Curtis said and Nelson moved the scope and zoomed in.

  “Okay, I see a group of men,” Nelson said and his jaw fell open at all the brass he was looking at. He could see generals of nine different countries.

  “Third one to the left, talking to that general wearing a turban,” Curtis said.

  Centering on the figure, Nelson moved the focus, zooming in and sucked in a breath. “Holy shit,” he mumbled.

  “That’s him, isn’t it?” Curtis said cheerfully.

  “Don’t know, but the one with the turban is the Prime Minister of Indonesia,” Nelson said, thinking hard about it. “No, it’s not worth the risk. Pack up, something is going on here.”

  Rolling away from the spotting scope, Nelson looked down at the town, shaking his head. “This is the worst place to fight a war and Northern Arkansas is that much worse,” Nelson said, then three more jets screamed overhead and Nelson glanced up to see them heading south. “Men, we are leaving,” Nelson said as they packed their gear.

  “What kind of planes were those?” Sean asked.

  “Su-34 fighter bombers,” Nelson said, looking down and seeing the four almost ready.

  Shaking his head, “Soviet planes on US soil really pisses me off,” Sean said.

  “Wonder where they are heading?” Kenny asked.

  “On that heading, they would be heading for Fayetteville. Home of a shitload of Warthogs,” Nelson said.

  “We are leaving,” Sean said, grabbing Curtis and Kenny and dragging them up the hill.

  “Let me get my pack on,” Curtis said.

  Sean let Curtis go and saw Nelson and the others moving up the rise when everyone heard rockets launching and Sean lifted his eyes, seeing rockets streaking up in the air. He saw several explosions in the air and then the entire town of Thayer erupted in small explosions.

  “MLRS, let’s move!” Nelson barked and Sean turned to see the others already at the ridge, going over it. Pushing his legs hard, Sean soon caught up and Nelson ran straight down the hill as more explosions sounded behind them.

  Reaching the bottom of the hill, Nelson forgot stealth and wanted speed and led the group in a dead run, staying off any hilltop. Hearing explosions close, Sean glanced back and saw the hill they’d been on get riddled with small explosions. “Someone besides Nelson liked that hill,” Sean panted, turning back around.

  Fifteen minutes after they’d started running, Nelson stopped them at the highway, well inside the trees. The others formed a circle, dropping to their knees and panting hard. In the distance, they heard hundreds of explosions this time, further north.

  “That hit that small airstrip,” Justin panted. “Are we going to cross soon?”

  “You don’t hear that?” Nelson said, pointing up.

  Calming his breathing, Justin concentrated and slowly heard the thump of chopper
s. “Oh,” he said, looking up.

  “They are coming from there,” Nelson said, pointing northeast. Behind them, the sound of cannons opened up and the screech of several MLRSs. “That’s counter battery fire, don’t know what took them so long, but the boys who shot those volleys have moved miles.”

  Hearing the rotor thump getting louder, the group glanced to the northeast. Suddenly, eight giant helicopters with stubby wings with two wicked-looking rocket pods on each wing flew just over the tree tops and lowered as they reached the field. Before reaching the other side, the choppers lifted up, seeming to barely clear the treetops in front of them across the highway.

  “I’ve seen those before on TV,” Justin said.

  “Hind,” Nelson said. “You leave those fuckers alone and let another aircraft kill them.”

  “Now, those scare me,” Sean said, watching the way the coppers flew.

  “Keep close,” Nelson said and broke into a run to cross the road and the others followed. It had taken them two hours to move from the four-wheelers to the hilltop. They were climbing on the four-wheelers thirty six minutes after leaving the hilltop.

  Driving faster than he liked, Nelson heard more explosions behind him and pressed the throttle just a little harder. Avoiding fields like they were a plague, Nelson slowed when they were ten miles north. Behind them, they didn’t hear any more explosions, but that did little to calm anyone.

  Slowing to a stop, Nelson looked at the field in front of him as the last rays of sunlight were fading fast.

  “Nelson, what were bigwigs doing back there?” Sean asked, looking up at the sky and expecting planes to start descending.

  Pulling out his monocular, “Don’t know, and they wouldn’t come out unless there were a lot of troops nearby,” Nelson said, clipping it to his helmet.

  “We counted over a thousand,” Justin said.

  Glancing back, Nelson saw everyone clipping on NVGs. “I wouldn’t expect to see people like that without ten thousand troops nearby and I can tell you, there wasn’t that many back there,” Nelson said, patting Zeus. “So, either they already moved past Thayer or they are moving them there.”

  “What do we do?” Curtis asked.

  Turning around and grabbing the handle bars, “Hope Gavin hasn’t lost his touch driving those R/Cs,” Nelson said and sped across the field.

  Chapter 26

  Pulling up to the house, Nelson chuckled at seeing the front porch full. When they stopped, everyone ran off the porch. “Daddy!” Olivia cried out, running at Nelson as he climbed off.

  Nelson picked her up. “Hey, pumpkin. Isn’t it past your bedtime?” he laughed and nuzzled her neck.

  “Momma said I could wait up,” Olivia said as Gavin ran over and hugged him.

  Looking down, Nelson saw Gavin was happy but scared. “What’s wrong, big man?” Nelson asked as Michelle walked over, wrapping an arm around Nelson’s waist.

  “What happened down there? We saw planes and helicopters on the radar and even heard thundering like bombs,” Gavin said with wide eyes.

  “Don’t know what started it, but we saw the planes and helicopters for real,” Nelson said as Gerald walked up, carrying Devin. “We got out of the OP just in time before an MLRS used our hilltop for target practice.”

  “How long till you can give us the rundown?” Gerald asked.

  “Let me talk to the four horsemen,” Nelson said and everyone became quiet. “I’d go anywhere with them.”

  “Who are the four horsemen?” Kenny asked.

  Laughing, Michelle walked over and touched each one in the chest. “One, two, three, four,” she said and their eyes got wide.

  “Curtis, I dub you, Death,” Nelson said and turned to Kenny. “Kenny, I dub you, Conquest. Justin, I dub you, Famine, and Rick, I dub you, War.”

  “That’s the coolest shit ever,” Curtis said in disbelief.

  Jana popped his arm. “Curtis, the kids are here,” she said softly and Curtis looked over at Nelson.

  “Don’t look at me. In the field, we live and act like animals. Here, don’t piss momma off,” Nelson said and Michelle laughed, putting her arm back around him.

  “Oh, you have grown much, young Jedi,” Michelle said smiling.

  With a serious face, “Babe, don’t do that,” Nelson said.

  “We saved y’all some food, come on,” Michelle said, leading Nelson to the house.

  The six stripped off gear and Jana looked at Curtis. “Baby, you need to shower. You’ve got mud all over you,” she said.

  Holding his chin high, “I am an apex predator out there and that’s how they survive, getting dirty,” Curtis said proudly and Nelson fought not to laugh as Jana’s mouth fell open.

  “We ate stew with our fingers,” Kenny grinned as Rick held up his fist and Kenny bumped it.

  Watching the four, Gerald sat down holding Devin and Lucy came over and just took him. “I had him,” Gerald cried out.

  Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Lucy sat Devin on her hip. “It’s my turn,” she said, bobbing her head side to side.

  “I’ll spank your tail,” Gerald threatened and Lucy continued bobbing her head side to side.

  “Uh-uh, Michelle would beat you down before you got a chance,” Lucy said, then spun around and walked out. Gerald turned to Nelson in shock.

  “Gerald, if you would let me hold my son every once in a while, I might take your side. But, no,” Nelson said.

  “Fine,” Gerald snapped. “Devin is spending the night at my house.”

  Walking over, Michelle set a plate down for Nelson. “Babe, let Gerald play with Devin so he doesn’t try to dress Vance up like a baby. Wilma’s kids love him, but I think that would push a sixteen-year-old boy just a little too far,” Michelle said.

  “I didn’t think about that,” Gerald said, turning to the den where all the kids were standing. “Vance, come here and let me see what size diaper I need to find,” Gerald said and the color on Vance’s face drained. He spun around and pushed through the kids and dashed out the front door. “Emily?” Gerald said, turning to her, and Emily dashed out with her brother.

  “All right, Gerald,” Nelson sighed. “Let Lucy have her turn and Devin can spend the night.”

  “Thank you,” Gerald smiled as more plates were laid out. “You have an idea on troop strength?”

  “Over a thousand,” Nelson said and the room quieted down.

  “Hey, babe, can you get my laptop?” Justin asked his wife, Leah.

  As Leah left, Nelson looked over at Justin. “You going to type up the report?” Nelson chuckled.

  “No,” Justin laughed. “Want to download the pictures we took.”

  Hearing that, the chuckle stopped instantly, “Come again?” Nelson croaked.

  “Pictures. Their scopes and my spotting scope take pictures,” Justin explained slowly.

  Pushing his plate away, Nelson looked across the table at the four. “Let’s get this out in the open,” he said, leaning back and motioning back and forth with his hand. “You need to tell me what your capabilities are. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have asked you to make sketches.”

  Letting out a gasp, Rick dropped his fork on his plate with a clank and Nikki rushed over. “Honey, I’ll take those sketches, you draw beautifully,” she said, kissing his cheeks.

  “You can have the sketches after me,” Nelson snapped and Nikki jumped. “I asked for them, so I’ll use them.”

  Leah came running in and felt the tension in the room and stopped. “I ran as fast as I could,” she said, looking around. Justin reached out, taking the laptop as Nelson looked at each of them.

  “Keep me informed of your capabilities, horsemen,” Nelson said and then leaned over to pull his plate back.

  Gerald smirked, leaning back in his chair. “What’s your best guess so far?” Gerald asked.

  Pausing between bites, “To be honest, I don’t know. It looked like a forward base, but we saw a bunch of destroyed armor in a convoy. Launching an at
tack with armor into Northern Arkansas would be suicide. Hell, the Republic wouldn’t even have to send armor to fight them. Just arm some troops with ground missiles and it would be a meat grinder,” Nelson said and then continued eating.

  “You run across any signs of sabotage?” Gerald asked and Nelson shook his head. “Nancy’s been keeping a record of reported attacks around here after our little party at the checkpoint. Now, most are just some of these good ole boys crawling out and taking a shot at one of the fed troops, but it seems the casualties are adding up. This week alone, we are talking like two hundred, just here in Southern Missouri.”

  Finishing his plate off, “Now that doesn’t make sense,” Nelson said. “I saw with my own eyes the Prime Minister of Indonesia in Thayer, along with some other bigwigs. Why would they have them here if the locals are poking holes in their troops?”

  Leaning forward, “You saw who?” Gerald gasped.

  “Curtis is positive the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was there,” Nelson said as Michelle took his plate.

  “You want some more, babe?” she asked.

  “More tea if there is any. I’m about watered out,” Nelson smiled and Michelle headed for the sink. Turning to Gerald, Nelson rested his arms on the table. “I just don’t think they would pull bigwigs here, if the population was that hostile.”

  “Yes, they would,” Nancy said, walking up from the basement. “Sorry, Adam called me back down to show me something.”

  “And just why would they do that?” Nelson asked.

  “Because southern Missouri was quiet until they started moving troops in. It seems the feds are trying to convince other nations to provide more troops here. What better way to show they are winning, than bring bigwigs out to an area that is empty and claim it has been pacified? Radio transmissions to the south of us have dropped dramatically in the last two weeks,” Nancy said, sitting down with several folders.

  “Hah, told you,” Kenny said, turning to Nelson.

  “This is what you’re basing your idea on?” Nelson asked.