by Robert Boren
“Good, then maybe we should go over there,” Curt said.
“Meet us just outside of town,” Jason said. “No need to make a big show. At least not yet.”
“We shouldn’t underestimate the people of New Mexico,” Junior said. “They might be just as helpful as the people of Texas. Maybe we ought to put Don and Sydney on it.”
“That’s actually a good idea,” Eric said.
“I know,” Jason said. “We’ll probably get to that, but before anything else, we need to stop the traffic on I-25. There’s a bridge south of Truth or Consequences, where the road crosses the Rio Grande. If we blow that we screw them good.”
“That sounds like fun,” Curt said. “So we pick up I-25 at San Antonio, New Mexico, and take it south. You know we might run into some friends along the way, right?”
“Yeah,” Jason said. “That’s what we have your weapons for.”
“Damn straight,” Junior said. “If we’re gonna meet you past Carrizozo, we’d better get our butts moving.”
“We can meet them at Scott Springs,” Kim said, looking at her phone, “but you’re right, Junior, we’d better get moving.”
“Okay, talk to you guys later,” Jason said.
The call ended.
“I’ll call Dirk and let him know where we’re going,” Eric said. “Then we’ll take off.”
“Sounds good,” Curt said.
“Let’s go,” Junior said.
They took off for their vehicles. Eric started the Bronco.
“This sounds too good to be true,” Kim said.
“The advantage is on our side,” Eric said. “It always was. You know that, right?”
“Doesn’t seem like it sometimes,” Kim said.
“This is OUR land. These are OUR people. We fight amongst ourselves a lot here. That’s the nature of freedom. When some third-world cretins decide to come over here and attack us, we know what to do.”
“Some people want globalists to take over. They think things will be like Star Trek if we do that. A one-world government that takes care of everybody.”
“It’ll be more like Nazi Germany or the USSR,” Eric said.
“I know that, but I also know a lot of people who don’t get it.”
“They haven’t felt the boot of oppression yet. That’s what’s happening in California right now, from what I’ve been reading. The UN and their Islamist muscle holding the people down.”
“Might work in California.”
“No it won’t,” Eric said, “but I’m glad we’re in Texas instead of there. They never had a chance to take Texas. We know how to react.”
“That we do,” Kim said.
Chapter 25 – Barricade
Don was driving Curt’s toy hauler, pulling the trailer alone. Sydney was driving their rig. He missed her. His mind went over their whirlwind courtship, and now their marriage. It gave him a warm, happy feeling, but worried him as well. They were fighting a war that might get the entire group killed eventually.
His phone rang. He struggled to get it out of his pocket as he was driving the big rig, answering it without having time to check the number.
“Don?”
“Jason,” Don said. “What’s up?”
“Just got off the phone with the recon team. One of them had a good suggestion.”
“What’s that?”
“A social media campaign in New Mexico, like what you guys did in Texas. Feel up to that?”
“Sydney and I were already talking about that, this morning,” Don said. “When do you want us to start?”
“After our first operation,” Jason said.
“What’s that?”
“The bridge, a little south of Truth or Consequences.”
“Bridge, huh? What’s it over?.”
“The Rio Grande,” Jason said. “It’s perfect. There’s no way around it, and it’ll be hard to fix.”
“Sounds good. I’ll talk to Sydney. Once we pick up the recon team, we can work it on the road. Kinda hard now with both of us driving.”
“But don’t engage people yet, okay?”
“There’s some research to do before we can start up anyway. We have to find out the best forums to use.”
“Oh,” Jason said. “That makes sense.”
“All right. I’ll chat with Sydney. How soon until we pick up the others?”
“Ten minutes,” Jason said. “Scott Springs.”
“Great, I can hardly wait to see them,” Don said.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Jason said. The call ended.
“Good,” Don said to himself. “Exactly the focus we’ll need.” He had the urge to call Sydney, but it was too close to when they’d be picking up the recon team. They were just pulling into Carrizozo. Highway 380 had been deserted, but there were cars driving on the city roads. Locked into town? Maybe they were just too scared to venture out.
The vehicles ahead of him slowed down after they crossed Highway 54. Don couldn’t see what was causing it. Maybe the convoy was so long that the first vehicles were already up to the rendezvous point. People ahead of them pulled over to the side of the road, and he did the same. His phone dinged. Text message from Sydney. He hit her contact and put the phone to his ear.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey yourself. Do you know what’s going on?”
“Nope,” he said. “People are getting out and walking over. I’ll wait for you by Curt’s toy hauler.”
“Okay,” she said, ending the call. Sydney was there by the time he got next to the road, on the driver’s side of the rig.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Sydney said.
“Likewise,” Don said as they embraced. “Hope nothing bad is going on.”
“I checked the apps. No Islamists anywhere near here.”
“Hmmm,” Don said, not wanting to let her go.
“C’mon, let’s go down there,” she said.
He nodded, and they walked up the street, past the parked vehicles.
A police siren blipped behind them, a squad car rolling past slowly. A growing bunch of people were standing down the street about fifty yards, looking at a barricade.
“Holy crap, who put that there?” Sydney asked as they walked.
“Good question,” Don said. “We’ll probably find out in a minute.”
When they arrived, Jason was just walking up to the police officers, who were getting out of their cruiser. They were both in their late 30s, one Hispanic with a dashing look about him, the other white, with a shaved head and a muscular upper body.
“How are you folks?” the Hispanic officer asked. “I’m Officer Salazar. This is officer Vincent.”
“Hello,” Jason said, extending his hand. “I’m Jason Finley of Austin PD, and this is my partner Kyle Wilson.”
“Now what would Austin cops be doing in New Mexico, I wonder?” asked Officer Vincent, eyeing them. “You two look familiar.”
“What are you doing here?” Officer Salazar asked, trying to be more polite than Officer Vincent.
“We’re on a mission for General Hogan,” Jason said.
“Shit, I know who these guys are,” Officer Vincent said, a smile washing over his face. “Dripping Springs attack. Austin battle. Fort Stockton. Saw you guys on TV. That’s why you looked familiar.” He came closer and held out his hand, shaking with Kyle and Jason.
“I’m still not getting this,” Officer Salazar said. “What are you doing for General Hogan, exactly?”
“Enemy fighters have been streaming up I-25 into Colorado, trying to defeat General Hogan’s forces. He asked us to damage the route and destroy as many enemy bases as we can.”
“Well, as you can see, this route has been blocked up a tad,” Officer Vincent said.
“Who did it?” Kyle asked.
“Those Jihadists,” Officer Salazar said, a look of disgust on his face. “Said if we took it down, they’d be back to kill us.”
“They’re at the old air force base near
White Sands,” Officer Vincent said.
“We know,” Jason said. “We sent a team there to attack their supplies. We’re meeting the team in Scott Springs. Looks like we’ll be a little late.”
“Is there a good way past this on surface streets?” Kyle asked.
“Just dirt, not good enough for these RVs,” Officer Salazar said. “They blocked every road west that they could.”
Jason and Kyle looked at each other. “They don’t want anybody messing with I-25,” Jason said.
“Kinda looks like it,” Kyle said.
“If you hit their base, you’re liable to have a whole lot of those creeps heading this way,” Officer Vincent said.
“They went to the Mescalero Reservation,” Jason said.
“Those guys,” Officer Salazar said. “Traitors.”
“The tribe has seen the error in their ways,” Kyle said. “They’re going to join us. Oh, and they slaughtered the force of Islamists that tried to attack them, after we tipped them off about it.”
“Who have you been talking to over there?” Officer Salazar asked.
“Stanton Hunt,” Jason said. Salazar looked relieved.
“You talked to the right person,” Officer Vincent said. “He almost left the tribe with about half of the warriors after they struck a deal with the heathens.”
“What are we gonna do now?” Don asked.
“I’ll send some of the bikers to pick up the recon team and bring them back here,” Kyle said. “They’ll find a good way that the off-roaders can handle.”
“Good idea,” Jason said. “Wonder how that barricade will handle a few shots from a 120 mm cannon?”
Don laughed. “You mean fire the tank guns at them?”
“To soften up the mess, then we use the tanks to pull the debris out of the way. We’ve still got all that chain, remember.”
“You think we should let them do that, Vincent?” Officer Salazar asked.
“What, are you kidding?” Vincent asked. “Call Jesse and have him bring his dozers over here. Pronto.”
Salazar sighed. “Okay. Hope we’re doing the right thing.” He walked back to the cruiser and made the call.
“You have a lot of able-bodied folks in town?” Don asked.
“Yeah,” Vincent said, “and they’re chomping at the bit to go after the heathens. We’ve had to hold them back.”
“Why would you do that?” Kyle asked.
“They had numbers, and weapons that we couldn’t handle,” Vincent said. “That situation appears to have changed.”
Salazar trotted back over. “Okay, Jesse’s getting his guys and coming over.”
“Figured he would,” Vincent said. “He’s one of the guys we’ve had to hold back.”
“I’ll go talk to the tank crews,” Jason said, walking towards them.
“Sounds like a plan,” Kyle said. “I’ll go with you.”
Vincent and Salazar watched them walk away, then turned back to Don and Sydney.
“Where did you guys get all the gun turrets?” Vincent asked.
“Curt,” Don said. “He’s got a 3D printer set up.”
“We’ve still got some hardware,” Sydney said. “Maybe we could set these guys up.”
Salazar smiled. “No way.”
“We were supplied by Governor Nelson of Texas,” Don said.
“How are you tracking the enemy?” Salazar asked.
“I need to talk to the others before we tell you that,” Don said.
“Holding back already?” Salazar asked.
“We had an agreement with General Hogan,” Don said. “I think they’ll let us bring you in, though. We just need to chat about it.”
“Give them a break,” Vincent said. “These folks are the real deal. You know what they’ve done.”
“Okay, okay,” Salazar replied. “We have a responsibility to protect our folks. I mean no disrespect.”
“I understand completely,” Don said.
Vincent grinned, looking past him. “Hey, I recognize that guy too, from the story on the first Austin attack.”
Kelly walked up with Brenda.
“What’s going on?” Kelly asked.
“We’re gonna clear some debris up there,” Don said.
“Saw that. Must have taken the cretins a while to put that together. Parts of it are welded together. How are we gonna take it down?”
“Tanks,” Don said.
“That’ll do it,” Kelly said, smiling. “Hear from Junior?”
“Cindy sent the bikers off to get them,” Don said. “This is Officers Vincent and Salazar.”
“I’ve seen you on TV,” Vincent said. “It’s an honor.”
Kelly shook hands with him, then with Salazar. “And this is Brenda.”
“Hi,” she said. “Have you guys had it rough here?”
“The Islamists have mostly left us alone,” Salazar said. “We’ve had some people disappear, but they might have left on their own.”
“How many?” Kelly asked.
“Reported to us? Just under a hundred.”
Kelly looked over at Don for a moment, then back at Salazar. “Any of them women or girls?”
“Yeah,” Salazar said. “Why.”
“They take females and use them for sex slaves,” Brenda said. “We’ve seen that all over Texas. All the way down to pre-teen, too. It’s really bad.”
Salazar and Vincent looked at each other, brows furrowed.
“Dammit, we should’ve thought of that,” Vincent said.
“Not all of the missing people are women,” Salazar said.
“They usually kill the men,” Kelly said. “Hopefully most of the people just split.”
“We should organize your people and use them to take back the air force base,” Don said. “If they’re holding your people, that’s probably where they’ll be.”
“Hope we didn’t hit any of them when we blew the depots,” Brenda said.
“Shit,” Salazar said.
“We’ll debrief the recon team when they get back,” Don said. “From what we’ve heard so far, there were residences on the east side of the base. They didn’t hit those. Only hangars and Quonset huts on the west side of the main runway.”
“I hear the bikers coming back,” Don said.
“That was fast,” Sydney said.
“Hope there’s nothing wrong,” Brenda said.
“How far is Scott Springs from here?” Kelly asked.
“Five minutes, even on the dirt,” Salazar said.
“Good, then they should be fine,” Brenda said.
“How much trouble are we in?” Vincent asked. “With the war, that is?”
“We’ll win,” Don said, “but it’s going to take the help of citizens to do it. A lot of people will be killed before it’s over.”
“That sounds better than what we were thinking,” Vincent said. “There aren’t any authorities around here from the state or the feds. It’s pretty much the wild west.”
“We were in Ruidoso before coming here,” Kelly said. “The entire town was deserted.”
“Yeah, when the Islamists first arrived they set up in that town. Started pushing people around. Some of the people went east into Texas. Some came here. Damn shame.”
“How are you guys getting supplies?” Don asked. “Food and stuff?”
“We have a brave group of truckers who make the trek up to Midland or Odessa. Lately it’s been tough on the west end of Texas, though, so they’ve been taking Highway 54 up to Wichita. Long drive, but Kansas is still pretty safe.”
“That takes money, though, right?”
“It does,” Salazar said. “We’ve got a barter system going here, and we’ve diverted all of our taxation to local priorities.”
“Like the food and other essentials,” Vincent said. “We don’t pay any Federal or State taxes anymore. It’s far from perfect. We’ve lost several rigs and some people over the last six months. Now we run through New Mexico at night.”
“We can’t hold on this way forever,” Salazar said. “We need this war to be over.”
“Well, we’re working on that, and you guys can help,” Kelly said.
“How are things in Texas?” Salazar asked.
“Better than here,” Don said, “but we’re still getting attacked. There were a lot of sleeper cells, and we still have enemy fighters sneaking in from Mexico at a pretty good clip. Stopped them on the gulf coast, though.”
“How?” Vincent asked.
“The US Navy,” Kelly said.
“The Feds?” Vincent asked.
“The Feds no longer control the Navy or the Air Force,” Kelly said. “The Air Force is giving us drone coverage for this mission.”
“So that’s how you’re seeing the movements of the enemy?” Salazar asked.
“That’s part of it,” Don said.
“Here come the bikers,” Sydney said.
Amanda ran over. “Curt back yet?”
“Any minute,” Sydney said, nodding towards the bikers. Then Eric’s Bronco rolled into view, followed by Junior and Rachel in their off-roader, Curt right behind them in the Barracuda.
“Wow, look at that hardware,” Vincent said, smiling. “Nice.”
Clancy rolled up, followed by Dirk and Chance.
Amanda ran towards Curt as he got out of his Barracuda. They embraced, Amanda kissing him feverishly.
“Look at those two,” Sydney said. “They’re on fire for each other.”
“I know the feeling,” Don said, pulling her close.
“What’s with this barricade garbage?” asked Curt, walking hand in hand with Amanda.
“The enemy didn’t want these fine people getting to I-25,” Don said. “This is Officer Vincent and Officer Salazar. Officers, this is the guy who makes our weapons. Curt.”
“Good to meet you guys,” Curt said.
“Think you can go back into production and make these guys some gimbals?” Don asked.
“I’ve got some gimbals already made,” he said. “Three for Jeeps and a couple more for truck roll bars. Why, these guys want to join the fight?”
“Probably,” Vincent said. “Once we know more.”
Junior walked over. “Who the hell cooked up that barricade?”
“Yeah, that sucks,” Rachel said.
“Guess,” Kelly said. “Meet Officers Vincent and Salazar. Gentlemen, this is Junior and Rachel.”
