by Robert Boren
She sat, breaking into tears as Karen stood, walking to where she was.
“I was taken from my father’s place of business, after they murdered him and my mother in front of me,” she began.
All the women had their say. Some who were standing behind found courage from the others and told their stories as well.
{8}
Bloody Exit
T ex sprinted out the door to his battle wagon, climbing in, pulling down the main sight. He broadcast a text to the other men in the battle wagons around him, saying he was ready to go. Return texts came from the others. He smiled, checking the time. The women’s testifying had just started, Tex leaving after Karen said her piece. He’d thought about staying inside, but the hackles on his neck were up. Somebody was coming. He looked at the roof with his sight, glad to see several men with M60s standing, looking out. Mr. Black showed himself for a moment, setting up a tripod at the corner nearest the main access point. He sent him a text, asking what he was setting up. The reply said TOW missile launcher. His phone rang. Ted. He put it on speaker.
“Tex, think they need me out there?”
“Bryan’s in your coach, right?” Tex asked. “That’ll probably do it. I’d keep up the pressure to get finished quickly in there.”
“You see anybody?”
“No, but the hackles on my neck are going nuts,” Tex said. “Mr. Black just put a TOW missile launcher on the roof. Does he know something?”
“He’s cautious,” Ted said. “I’ll make sure they move it along. We’ll have to distribute the women amongst the coaches.”
“I know, not a problem. These puppies are rated for a lot of weight.”
“They are, but they’ve also got a lot of heavy hardware on them, so we’ve got to distribute carefully,” Ted said. “I’m out. Keep me informed.”
“Will do.” Tex ended the call, then checked the apps. He got hits on the short-range app when he refreshed, but they were all inside the Ford dealership and the surrounding parking lot. Dead. His phone rang again. It was Sparky.
“Tex, you set?” Sparky asked.
“Yeah. You?”
“Yep,” Sparky said.
“How’d it go inside?”
“I left after Karen said her piece,” he said. “Ted’s staying in there, since we got Bryan in his rig.”
“Wish we had more than one person per rig, though,” Sparky said. “Nobody here to work the gun slits if we get attacked.
“Lots of M60s on the roof,” Tex said, “and Mr. Black just set up a TOW missile launcher.
“Good,” Sparky said. “Dana holding up okay?”
“No worse than the others, from what I could tell.”
“Okay,” Sparky said. “Talk to you later.”
The call ended, and Tex went back to the apps, checking the long range. There were hits in the surrounding towns, but none were on the road. His mind was on the UN Peacekeepers with no RFID. He had the grips of the sight in his sweaty hands, and wiped them on his pants, trying to calm himself down. Suddenly there was mini gun fire, from the coach at the opening of the driveway.
“Dammit,” Tex said, moving his sight in that direction, watching a Gaz Tigr burning, rolling slowly to the side of the road. Machine gun fire came from the far side of the compound, from a road separated from the parking lot by a dirt strip to the west. He swung his weapon over, seeing a group of UN Peacekeepers trying to get a good position to fire from. Tex fired, sending a salvo of grenades from the M19, several other coaches joining in as M60s on the roof of the building opened up. The gunfire stopped, but then there was squeaking. Tank.
He sent a quick text, keeping his eyes in the sight as much as he could, warning of the sound, and then he heard the whoosh of a TOW missile racing from the roof, its dual wires unfurling behind it. An M-60 tank on Laguna Grove Drive blew up, pieces of armor flying all over the place. More machine gun fire came at the coaches, bouncing off the armor, fire being returned from the mini guns and M19s. Conserve mini gun ammo.
There was a cannon shot from the far side of the building, off Elk Grove Boulevard, clipping the Ford dealership. Mr. Black fired another Tow missile, blowing the tank up where it sat, pieces now blocking that road. UN vans got stuck behind it, several of the coaches on that side of the parking lot firing their M-19s, blowing the vehicles up. Tex picked up his phone and called Jules, putting his phone on speaker as he got his eyes back onto the targeting system.
“We hear,” Jules said. “Done. Road clear?”
“Yeah, but there’s been two tanks so far.”
“M-1?” Jules asked.
“No, just old M-60s, thank God. TOW missiles blew them both up. We knocked out at least one Gaz Tigr too, but getting out of here is gonna be crazy.”
“We have secret weapons in underground parking lot and service bays,” Jules said.
“What secret weapons?”
“Texas team designed M19 and machine gun mounts for off-roaders and Jeeps. We got design, make on 3D printers. Commando team getting to them now. Don’t shoot them. We flood area.”
“Holy crap,” Tex said. “When were you gonna tell us about that?”
Jules snickered on the line. “I send broadcast text. Battle wagons queue up by north and south sides of building on our mark. Pull up close, we get out of building, take battle wagons to Golden State Freeway, go north. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” Tex said. “We’ll need people re-loading the guns in these coaches.”
“Understand,” Jules said. “I go. Be ready. Broadcast text coming out.”
The call ended, and Tex scanned the area with his sight. The gunfire had stopped, and there were broken vehicles and dead men littering the area. He looked at the access roads. There was enough space to get past the busted tank on Laguna Grove Drive, but barely. The main exit was Auto Center Drive to Elk Grove Boulevard, and the eastbound lanes to the Golden State Freeway ramp were clear so far. More gunfire started up, again from the west side of the building. He whirled his guns around and opened fire with grenades, firing off several shots, other coaches joining in. Then there was a pop from the roof, and the patch of dirt along Laguna Springs Drive exploded into flames. He swung his sight around in time to see another mortar round fly, hitting the area just north of the first impact, the whoosh of the willie pete sounding to the west. The text came in to queue at the doors of the facility, and he took his battle wagon out of siege mode, watching out the front windshield after the armor retracted, just in time to see a bunch of Jeeps and off-roaders flying out of the underground parking, heading towards the roads.
“Now I know how B-17 crews felt when P-51 Mustangs showed up,” he quipped to himself as he drove to the south side of the building. He opened his coach door and Karen rushed in with several other women.
“You see all those new vehicles?” Karen asked.
“Yeah,” Tex said. “Get ready to reload the main guns. Show the others how.” He shut the door and drove forward, the four women who were with Karen grabbing onto anything they could to avoid falling.
“C’mon,” Karen shouted, leading the women into the back, showing them how to reload the mini gun. “You’re not out yet, you know.”
“I know, but this ain’t over, little lady,” Tex shouted back. “Show them how to reload the M19 too, then get up here. I need you on the forward and rear machine guns.”
“Okay, sweetie,” she shouted back.
“Hold on, we’re going up the curb to get past that busted tank.”
The women grabbed hold as the coach climbed, then crashed back down, the body of the rig creaking as it settled onto Auto Center Drive. Tex checked his rear-view camera. Two more coaches were behind him, a multitude of off-roaders and Jeeps cruising around, guarding the rigs who were still loading. He got onto Elk Grove Boulevard just as Karen got up to the front.
“Wait on the M19,” Tex said. “Get the machine gun console out. Look up ahead. Line of UN vans coming against traffic. Blast them.”
She nodded, rushing to the passenger seat as the other women watched, pulling the tray out, getting onto the target reticle, hands on the joystick and the trigger. Fire spewed from the front of the coach, stopping the UN vans, some of them trying to turn around behind the ruined vehicles in the front row. Tex fired off half a dozen grenades and made the left turn onto the Golden State Freeway on-ramp, hitting the accelerator hard, blasting onto the deserted road. Karen took a last look at the sight video in front and back, then got out of her seat and showed the women how to load the M19.
“How are we gonna get away?” one of the women asked. “They’ll track us, won’t they?”
“They’ll try,” Karen said. “They’d better bring something big if they want to take us out.”
Several of the heavily armed Jeeps roared out in front of them, and more came up along both sides.
“We got an escort!” Tex shouted, smiling.
“The other coaches all out?” Karen asked.
Tex looked in his gun sight. “Yeah, looks like all of them made it out. Geez, how many of those new vehicles did Ivan cook up? I swear it looks like a hundred of those things back there. Reminds me of frigging Sturgis.”
“Know where we’re going?” one of the women asked.
“Folsom,” Karen said.
***
Sam was tired, eyes still on the target reticle. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. Erica was asleep in the passenger seat. There was a soft rap on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Sid said, getting off the couch in the salon. He opened the door, Garrett walking in with a large basket.
“That smells good,” Sam said. Erica stretched as she woke up, then turned to see Garrett put the picnic basket on the kitchen counter.
“The rest of the cavalry get back?” she asked.
“Yep,” Garrett said. “They’re still asleep. I’ll wake them at about three in the afternoon.”
Yvonne got up to help hand out the food, which consisted of pulled-pork sandwiches and potato salad. Clem helped, getting paper plates out of the cupboard above the sink.
“Everything still okay at the Williams place?” Erica asked.
“Yep,” Garrett said. “We’ll be going back in a few hours. Ed asked that we take the seventy-five folks in vehicles along, in case we run into problems on the road back.”
“That’s a good idea,” Sam said. “You coming with us?”
“If I don’t, Anna will skin me alive,” he said. Erica chuckled.
“This is good,” Sid said, taking a bite of the pulled pork.
“It sure is,” Yvonne said.
Sam’s phone rang. He looked at it. “Ji-Ho. I’ll put it on speaker.” He set his phone down on the center console, and everybody gathered around. Sam and Erica slipped out of their seats to grab some food. “Go ahead, Ji-Ho,” Sam said as they walked away. “You’re on speaker.”
“Very good,” he said. “Everybody safe?”
“Yep,” Garrett said. “I just delivered some food. We’re taking Ed up on his suggestion, and using the cowboys in vehicles to escort us back.”
“Glad,” Ji-Ho said. “Everything quiet here. No enemy activity.”
“Good,” Sam said, getting back into his seat with a plate of food. “You calling to check on us?”
“Yes, also give news. Ivan’s team in north take out UN base, rescue women, successfully fight way out of area.”
“Good,” Erica said as she sat down in the passenger seat. She took a bite of her pulled pork, pausing to chew for a moment. “How’s Mia?”
“She worry, but fine,” Ji-Ho said. “I spoil with pancakes and games. I Uncle Ji-Ho now.”
Sam and Erica both laughed. “Great.” Sam said, “wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“I’m gonna go make food deliveries to the other coaches,” Garrett said, getting up. “See you soon.”
He left the coach, as the others went back to eating.
“How he holding up?” Ji-Ho asked.
“Garrett?” Sam asked. “Fine, from what I can tell. He lost a few men last night. Barely mentioned it so far.”
“I noticed,” Sid said. “There was a sadness in his eyes that I usually don’t see.”
“What’s next for us?” Erica asked.
“Can’t speak now,” Ji-Ho said. “Still working issues, and Ivan too busy with new TV show. We talk later.”
“Oh, he’s going on with the hostages?” Clem asked. “Already?”
“Yes,” Ji-Ho said. “Next battle be difficult there, too.”
“What is it?” Yvonne asked.
“We cover that when you get home,” Ji-Ho said. “I let you go for now. Be home soon. Be safe.”
The call ended.
“He sounds more than a little bit nervous,” Clem said.
“Yeah, I picked up on that too,” Sam said. “This war is wearing on all of us.”
“At least we appear to be winning at the moment,” Sid said.
“Things change fast,” Yvonne said. “We’ve got to keep our focus and stay sharp.”
“Yes,” Sam said, glancing at Erica, who was deep in thought, her brow furrowed. “What is it?”
“The enemy knows where we are, but we’re too strong for them to take us out,” Erica said. “We can’t wait around for them to become stronger. We need to actively work the strategy for beating them, and carry it out before they can get strong enough to kill us.
{9}
Home Fires
J ules drove the battle wagon into the outskirts of Sacramento, Shelly beside him in the passenger seat. Sparky and Dana were in the salon with several of the women they’d rescued.
“It’s gonna be light soon,” Shelly said. “Where are we stopping?”
“Shingle Springs, but we’ll be on road for while,” Jules said. “Facility there. Well protected and staffed.”
“Where’s Shingle Springs? Never heard of it.”
“East on Highway 50,” Jules said. “We go up in hills.”
“How can we hide?” Shelly asked. “We’ve got a big caravan of RVs going there, and with all these small, heavily armed vehicles too. People are gonna notice.”
“Video systems down, and they have no access to satellite or drone video now. Enemy crumbles before us. Social media team start to work. Citizens help us. Wait and see.”
“You sound more confident than I feel,” Shelly said. “What about the hostages?”
“They stay at facility until we can take where they want to go,” Jules said. “They okay?”
“I think they’re terrified,” Shelly said. “Except that blonde that spoke in the show. She’s ready to fight. Asked me if she can join.”
“Ivan make decision on that. What’s name again?”
“Samantha,” Shelly said. “She’s not with us. She’s in Tex and Karen’s rig.”
“You know women in this rig?”
“Only Kelly,” Shelly said. “The small black-haired woman. She’s interested in joining too.”
“There’s Highway 50,” Jules said, getting into the right lane. He took the ramp onto the smaller road, following several battle wagons, more rigs behind him with the small fighter vehicles.
Sparky came up to the front. “It’s too quiet. Where are the enemy fighters? We’re right in the middle of the state capitol. They ought to be attacking by now.”
“Ivan had other actions going while we pull job at auto mall,” Jules said. “Enemy have hands full. Many UN thugs die tonight.”
“What happened to the Islamists?” Sparky asked. “I don’t see many hits anymore.”
“They were moving south, but Daan and Saladin need to bring some back,” Jules said. “See, thin out fast on this road. Now only residential. Soon country road.”
“How’s Dana doing?” Shelly asked.
“She’s a bundle of nerves,” Sparky said. “I’m worried about her, but she says she’s better after talking on the TV show. We’ll see.”
“Night terrors still?” Jules asked
.
Sparky shook his head yes. “Where’s Ivan? He in one of the battle wagons?”
“He’s with Mr. White and Mr. Black,” Jules said. “Going to alternate location. We won’t see for while.”
“Is the kid with him?” Sparky asked.
“Kid? Oh, you mean Ben Dover, no?”
“Yes,” Sparky said.
“He with Ivan, but not for long,” Jules said. “He head social media team. They work from remote facility. Ivan not say where.”
“UN vans, up ahead,” Shelly said. “See them?”
“I see, onramp by Target store,” Jules said. “We’d better kill them.”
“You mean this we?” Sparky said. “We’ll be past them in a second.”
“Look, off roaders pull on dirt by highway and open fire,” Jules said. They could hear explosions behind them, followed by machine gun fire.
“They called in our location, ten to one,” Sparky said.
“And if they send people, we blast,” Jules said. “Ivan had thirty of the small fighting vehicles stay behind couple miles.”
“Those aren’t armored,” Sparky said.
Jules nodded. “They fast and well-armed, though.”
“There’s the sun,” Shelly said, nodding at the eastern horizon. “Gonna be hard to hide now.”
Dana came up to the front. “Are we going into battle again?”
“The small fighter vehicles took care of it,” Sparky said. “Nothing to worry about.”
Dana looked at him, then at Shelly, who shrugged at her.
“You’re not scared, Shelly?” Dana watched as Shelly formulated her reply.
“Yes, I’m scared, but the odds are in our favor,” she said.
“You and Jules are on the same page, aren’t you?” Dana asked.
Shelly stared at her for a moment and shook her head yes.
“Okay, dearie, that’s good enough for now,” Dana said. “I’m with you guys come hell or high water. No sense in getting too worried.”
“That’s right, honey,” Sparky said.
