by Jeremy Lock
“Captain Dickson please give us your report.” the man at the head of the table ordered.
“Sir, activities are fully consistent with all of our computer projections. We have wide spread violence and looting in all major cities. Without power nearly all police and National Guard units are unable to function and nearly all have left to take care of their own families. We have significant racial uprising in most cities and the religious groups are also getting in on the action. Smaller cities and most towns are still having some order but we expect the influx of people leaving the cities and the lack of food supplies will soon overrun any attempt to control the violence.” The captain reported.
“So what is the current timetable on activities?” one man asked receiving a glare from the chairman.
The timelines should have been well known to this man had he paid any attention to the meetings and documentation that they had all been provided.
“Sir, our next step will begin the propaganda part of the plan. In about a week the Vice President will begin to address the nation through strategically located ham radio operators we will have placed along with those few who may still have operating radios. Progress will be slow and by word of mouth. After that we will begin further operations…”
The captain was cut off by the chairman.
“Thank you captain, we all know the plan here and you have important work to do. We will hear from you again in one week.” The chairman concluded and then abruptly ended the meeting, his agitation clear.
He headed back to his suite. He needed a drink and maybe figure out how to tie up this loose end.
Chapter 35
Tim sat in the passenger seat of the truck headed north once again. He closed his eyes and held his AR across his chest.
“How did I end up in this mess?” he thought to himself as he headed north once again on the same small road.
Tim was now a Lieutenant in Money’s crew but it was not the easy job he thought it would be. He had joined up with Mike at the Jail break, and while he didn’t enjoy the killing and rape like some of the other men did, he certainly didn’t mind the alcohol and drugs that came along with the work. He was a simple man who just wanted an easy ride. His criminal career had started at age 16 when, after dropping out of school, was implicated in a strong armed robbery. That brought him 2 years of juvenile probation and a severe argument with his single mother, but he wouldn’t let her control him. She spent all her time away from home so clearly she didn’t care about him. Being a black teenager in a rural, mostly white, community had at first been difficult, but he learned that he easily fit in with the youthful rebellious teenagers of his generation and soon was no longer living at home. He continued to drink and drug his way into a couple jail and prison trips but always refused to join a gang. It just seemed like too much work and he was able to take care of himself physically. At 6’2” and 225lbs of solid muscle which only grew during times in prison where smoking and weight lifting were the only real activities. He had never enjoyed violence of any kind but he would defend himself if necessary. His personality endeared him to most people, including the prison staff, and most of his time was spent in relative safety. His mother had encouraged him to get a job once and he had, but he quickly learned that government benefits of Welfare and Medicaid paid better than his job stocking shelves, and once he included food stamps, he could live very well with zero effort. Life was now a full time party of booze and drugs. Now, however, he was under Money’s heel and the man had come unhinged. He was completely obsessed with finding the man who had shot him and now that’s all Tim was doing. But they weren’t just looking; they were under orders to torture and kill anyone who refused to help them. This was where Tim began to have problems. Killing and raping their way across the county was not Tim’s idea of fun, but he had already been reprimanded for not allowing a 12 year old girl to be executed and Mike had been clear, he would follow Money’s orders or be killed. So here he was heading north again with this crew of animals who were already drinking and smoking at 7am laughing about their exploits of the day before.
Chapter 36
7am came early at the house for Jeff and Jason, who only got 5 hours of sleep, before their run to Teddy’s house. Teddy, Jeff and Jason would go and the rest would stay and protect the house in case of trouble. By 715 they were on the road in Jason’s truck with cups of coffee in hand. When they arrived at the house Jeff immediately went inside to load up any useful items while Teddy and Jason hitched up the horse trailer and loaded the horses and goats. They wanted the trip to be as quick as possible to limit their exposure. Jeff loaded up boxes of dry goods, canned goods, and hygiene products into the back of the truck along with Teddy’s German shepherd mutt and several bags of dog food. Jason and Teddy loaded the horses and goats quickly and then focused on the tack and feed for the animals. The snowfall was early for the area but not unheard of. It spurred them to load quickly as the snowfall became heavier and heavier. By the time they headed home there was over an inch of snow on the road. The danger of the tire tracks crossed Jason’s mind briefly but the amount of snowfall coming down meant they would quickly be covered and by the time Jason began unloading the truck he had completely forgotten about them.
Chapter 37
Tim noticed the tire tracks first and the driver began to hit the brakes, but Tim ordered him to continue, no use in letting anyone who may be watching know they were on to them. He had the driver pull up the road half a mile and then they back tracked on foot. He entered the woods down the road from the property and headed up the small rise. The snow was the only reason he noticed the trip wire between the 2 trees and decided he would reconnoiter the rest by himself, ordering his men to stay put and stay quiet. The noise of a dog barking broke through the snow filled silence and Tim froze. Next he heard a female voice yelling at the dog to be quiet and the dog complied. Tim got a good look at the house and the property from the rise and that’s when he noticed the infamous pick-up truck that he had searched high and low for, for days on end. Tim slowly worked his way back to his men and walked all the way back to the truck before speaking with them. He ordered 2 of the men to head back to Mike while he and the other man would keep watch. There was some debate about the 4 of them attacking the house on their own but Tim quickly and efficiently continued with his plan despite being called a “pussy” and a “faggot” multiple times, along with a few racial slurs, but Tim didn’t back down. The snow would slow them down but Tim would keep an eye on the place until he received orders from Money.
Chapter 38
Exhaustion was definitely taking its hold of Jason and he thought Jeff was feeling it too. They were both working long hours of broken sleep and had already dealt with many stressful situations. They were burning both ends of the candle and would need some down time soon. They worked hard unloading the animals and supplies and were completed by 11 am. Jason decided he was going to bed, he asked Jessica to make sure the other chores got done and headed upstairs. Jeff was 5 minutes behind him and they both slept almost instantly. Sean was out of bed today and sat down to learn the security system along side Cassidy. Teddy took care of the animals and got her dog settled in the house. Allie taught Sean and Cassidy the computer while Mark and Jessica put away the other supplies and worked on making some lunch. Mark decided that in the afternoon he would head out to do a little hunting with his crossbow. They needed more fresh meat and the fresh snow would make tracking the deer very easy. At 230 pm Mark carefully made his way out of the house and quietly slipped into the woods with his crossbow. He brought his pistol with him but that was it. Any extra weapons would just make noise. The boys were woken up for dinner at 5 pm and they ate some beef stew and some instant macaroni and cheese. Sean was able to get up and down the stairs with relative ease and brought his dinner upstairs to keep watch while everyone else got to sit down for dinner and relax a bit.
Chapter 39
Tim was getting antsy. It had been hours since he had sent hi
s men back for Money and he hadn’t seen anyone come out of the house since just after he had arrived. Those he had seen were wearing full body armor and were heavily armed but they seemed to be staying inside. He got word from Money at 4pm and went about a mile down the road to meet him, leaving a man to continue observing. Tim reported what he had seen and drew Money a crude map of the property. Money wanted this guy very badly, that was clear, as he wanted to attack immediately. Almost anybody would know that was a foolish idea, these were people who were clearly prepared; surely they would have someone observing the area. After a few minutes of reasoning Money agreed to wait until sundown but that was it. He had brought 35 armed men with him in 4 vehicles so along with Tim and the other man with him a total of 37 men would try to take the house with 4-5 occupants. It should be a cake walk.
Chapter 40
The sun had gone down 10 minutes earlier and the target in his scope was just sitting there and waiting like an open invitation. The dusk was prime time for this and there was plenty of light in his scope. He exhaled slowly, as he had done many times before, and carefully squeezed the trigger allowing it to scare him just a little. The weapon was incredibly quiet and his shot hit home perfectly. Mark watched the deer run 10 yds. and then lay down. It was a perfect double lung shot and the 2” opening of the broad head had quickly and painlessly bled out the 6 point buck. It was no record buck but it would certainly put a good deal of meat on the table. Mark found his crossbow bolt in the grass of the field and found it was still in perfect shape so he put it back in his quiver and then went to the deer. After quick field dressing he would drag it back to the workshop and show off his handy work. The loud report of the rifle nearly caused him to soil his pants. The multitude of shots in response nearly gave him a heart attack.
Chapter 41
Sean had thought he had seen movement on the camera by the front entrance and was trying to track it down for the past several minutes but to no avail. Maybe it had just been a bird or something flying by he thought as he returned back to the other screens. His timing had been pure luck. Four armed men were clearly visible sneaking across the property to hide behind the workshop. Sean grabbed his rifle and yelled for Jason the instant he saw the men. Sean brought his scope up and had to think for half a second. He had not fired his rifle under 300yds in a long while and he had to think of the ballistics of his .338 lapua round. He held his scope to the center of the first man’s chest and fired. The round hit the man in the jaw and nearly decapitated him. Sean worked the smooth bolt of the custom-built sniper rifle while Jason and Jeff asked him for a report.
“Four men…” Sean started but was cut off by a hail of gunfire, Sean dropped to cover before getting off his second shot at the shocked, brain covered, men remaining.
“More then four men” Sean restated as he kept his head down as the shots continued to pour in.
Jason and Jeff both brought up their rifles and blindly returned fire rapidly pulling the trigger 5 times each, just to give the enemy something to think about. Several seconds passed before the gunfire slowed. Now was Jason’s time to step up. He wasn’t the best shooter, he wasn’t the best tactician but he was the best leader. He had learned years before that in a major emergency everything turns to chaos, great leaders are able to quickly and efficiently organize the chaos and Jason was very good at it.
“Sean stay here, Jeff goes to the other side” Jason said and then ran downstairs.
“Jessica secure the door, I need everyone upstairs now! Where’s Mark?” Jason asked.
“He was out hunting!” Jessica replied running upstairs with rifle in hand.
“Jessica, you’re with Jeff, Cassidy with Sean, Teddy your job is keeping everyone supplied with ammo. Allie you’re on the cameras, any questions?” Jason asked and there were none.
Allie was by far the fastest user of the camera and they had trained her in how to call out targets, everyone was now on a portable radio. Jeff and Sean continued to fire and the girls joined him. Jason would help whoever needed it and would coordinate things the best he could. Jason first went to Sean’s side and assisted him with cover fire and instructing Cassidy with what she needed do. For someone with limited experience she seemed to be handling the combat environment pretty well. Jason came up and fired several rounds over the balcony in an attempt to draw fire and give Sean a target. He fired and received at least 10 rounds in return; this was not working out as he had planned. There had to be over 30 guns firing back at them, Sean didn’t need any targets, he needed help taking out targets. Sean continued to work his bolt and with each shot a target would go down. Cassidy also fired and although she wasn’t hitting targets with every shot she did keep several heads down. Jason went back inside and checked on the other side. There weren’t as many men on this side of the house but they were well dug in and Jeff was having a hard time finding shots, neither he nor Jessica had expended a full magazine. Allie continued to call out targets but there were too many for Sean to handle. Jason exchanged his AR for his M1A and went to join the fight. Provided the targets were within 300 yds Jason was perfectly capable of taking the shot, his skill was quick target acquisition and close quarter combat, sniper firing was not his forte. Sean was on the left side of the balcony so Jason went right. He peered thru the ACOG scope looking for a target, the light was low and he had a hard time sighting, even with the quality optic. He pulled the night vision scope out of his tactical vest and clipped it to the picatinny rail in front of his scope. The darkness that the enemy wished to use to their advantage would now be there downfall. The kick of the 7.62x51mm round slightly surprised him as did the mist of bodily fluid that flew in the air behind his target.
Chapter 42
Mike was losing it. Not one thing was going to plan, not one fucking thing. His men were supposed to sneak up to the house and break in quietly. Then a group of 10 of his men, armed with shotguns, would go in to the house guns blazing and kill anyone inside. He also set up a perimeter so that if anyone escaped they too would be taken down, no prisoners. But his men weren’t even in place before the first shot had blown the head clear off his Lieutenant’s body who was leading the entry team. Now it was a free for all. He had no way to communicate with all his men and they were just blindly firing at the house and being taken out one by one with highly accurate fire. He needed to regroup and take control. He had one more card to play and sent his largest man back to the vehicles to retrieve the surprise. When he returned with the large item Money gave him his orders and sent him on his way.
Chapter 43
Sean and Cassidy continued taking down targets. Sean had switched to his FN Scar as there were just too many targets and the extra firepower and extra distance wasn’t necessary. He needed more rounds heading down range as quickly as possible. Jason went back to check on Jessica and Jeff who had taken out 2 targets, one each, and believed they had 5 other targets but none were sticking their heads up or firing. Sean’s yells for help got Jason moving back to the other side. Jason came out onto the balcony and quickly acquired multiple targets trying to rush the house. His M1A barked as did Sean’s FN and Cassidy’s AR and then the unthinkable happened and Sean new instantly that they were in trouble. The steady staccato of a M60 machine gun ripped through the night air and the rounds tore through the defensive steel and plywood that had protected them all so far. All three went down for cover but only two came up.
Chapter 44
Mark was trying to come up with a plan. It was only about 10 minutes after the gun fire had started but it felt like an eternity. He had scouted out the route back to the house but he was behind enemy lines and he was sure the house was locked up secure and he would never make it in without getting shot to pieces. He was only armed with a pistol with one extra magazine, a crossbow with 4 bolts and a sheath knife. He felt the best thing he could do would be to just sit tight. That was until he heard the machine gun fire followed by screams coming from the house. Before he even knew it his feet were under him and he
was moving. The machine gun fire came from his left and he quietly moved around and behind the big gun which was easy to see with the 3 foot muzzle flashes shining like a beacon in the night. When he was within 30 yds of the ear shattering noise he brought up his crossbow and tried to find the target. It was too dark for the inexpensive scope on the crossbow, only the muzzle flash was visible. He was behind the gunner and figured he had to try something. He tried to estimate where the gunners body would be, aligned his crossbow and fired the bolt. The bellowing scream from his target told Mark he had struck home and he quietly moved away from the area.
Chapter 45
The gunfire seamed as it would never end and Jason knew he had been hit with at least one round, maybe more. He was terrified. When the gunfire stopped he wasted no time. He felt the impact to his right lower leg when it had happened; it stung like a million beestings, now all he wanted was to get inside where he would have the additional 10 inches of protection from the thick walls. He began to pull himself up when he saw Cassidy laying on the ground with a small pool of blood under her head. She appeared dead but Jason didn’t care, with his adrenaline pumping he got on his feet and grabbed Cassidy by the arms and pulled her inside. Sean was stirring as well and covered their retreat. Jessica and Teddy met them almost the instant the entered the house and immediately checked on Cassidy.
