West Border Mayhem

by Robert Boren

  “This didn’t take as long as I expected,” Carrie said.

  “Nope, we made good time,” Jason said. “I’m surprised we didn’t see any enemy vehicles coming north.”

  “I’ve been watching with the apps. Nothing anywhere near us. The closest ones are still just north of our targets.”

  “It’ll be interesting to see if they split after the AC-130s start their run,” Jason said.

  “Let’s go chat with the others.”

  “Mommy, can I go?” Chelsea asked.

  “Yes, sweetie,” Carrie said.

  They left the coach together, walking towards a group of people who were standing by the tanks.

  “Hey, pencil neck,” Curt said, standing with his arm around Amanda. “Hear from the leadership team yet?”

  “Nope,” Jason said. “Ought to be any minute, though.”

  “I doubt they’ll all just take off,” Amanda said.

  “My prediction is that only some of them take off,” Kim said, leaning against the Bronco next to Eric.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking too,” Eric said. “If half of them take off, that improves our situation quite a bit, though.”

  “I wish those AC-130s could help us here,” Chance said.

  “Seriously,” Cindy said, standing next to Dirk. “Anything on the social media team?”

  “Don and Sydney are on it now,” Amanda said. “They’re with the kids over by Francis’s trailer.”

  “Good,” Jason said. “We’ll need help if most of the bad guys don’t take off.”

  “Might as well get the tanks off the trailers while we’re waiting,” Moe said.

  “Yeah, let’s go help.” Clancy motioned for Moe, and they left.

  Jason’s phone dinged. He looked at it. “The AC-130s have started their attack.”

  “Excellent,” Curt said. “So that will give them pause, at least, if they tended not to believe the phony story we sent them.”

  Eric was watching his phone app, refreshing it every couple seconds. “They’re moving.”

  “Really?” Kim asked, getting close to look at his screen.

  “Yep,” Eric said. “Slowly, but there are some driving south.”

  One of the tank engines started behind them.

  “The enemy on this side of the bridges doing anything yet?” Amanda shouted over the noise.

  “Nope, just the ones on the south side, so far.”

  They heard a creaking sound behind them, turning to see the first tank driving off the flatbed.

  “There goes the first one,” shouted Curt.

  “Mommy, that scares me,” Chelsea said. Carrie pulled her close.

  “Don’t worry, honey, they’re on our side. They’re good guys.”

  Don trotted over to the group with Sydney.

  “You have any luck?” Jason asked.

  “We got some folks to commit,” Sydney said. “Several hundred total.”

  “Really? From where?” Jason asked

  “Most from Las Cruces,” Don said. “Some from Truth or Consequences, but there aren’t many able-bodied people left here. They’ve had people disappear, just like everywhere else. Especially young women and girls. The people who could leave are gone. Split to the north or to the west, since Texas has it’s border closed.”

  “Pigs,” Amanda said. “Kidnapping young girls.” Carrie shot her and Don a glance, and nodded towards Chelsea.

  “Oh, sorry,” Amanda said.

  “Yeah, sorry,” Sydney said.

  “So how long until we attack?” Curt asked.

  The second tank fired up. They all turned to watch it backing off the trailer.

  “How about when the tanks are ready to go?” Eric asked.

  Others nodded in agreement.

  “More enemy icons moving south,” Kim said, looking at her phone. “This time there are some from the north side of the bridges.”

  “How many we talking?” Jason asked.

  “Looks like about half.”

  “We should take off now,” Curt said. “If they find out we aren’t really in Las Cruces, they’ll turn around in a hurry.”

  “If the Las Cruces people blow bridges there, they’ll have no place to go but back here,” Eric said. “We probably have a pretty small window to get this done.

  “I’m gonna go back out my Barracuda,” Curt said.

  Others in the group headed back to their vehicles as the third tank fired up.

  “You’re taking the Jeep?” Carrie asked.

  “You want me to stay here?” Jason asked.

  “No, I want this to succeed, and they might need leadership if things go badly. Just be careful, okay?”

  “Okay,” Jason said. “Get into the back of Curt’s toy hauler at the first sign of trouble.”

  “Will do,” she said. Jason went to his rig to unhitch the Jeep.

  “Hey, bro, ready for this?” Kyle asked, walking back to his rig with Kate.

  “Yep,” Jason said. “Hope there’s no surprises. I think Curt is right. The enemy is liable to turn around in a hurry if they figure out that we played them.”

  “The good news is that the AC-130s are doing real damage,” Kate said. “Wish we really had somebody working the bridges in Las Cruces.”

  “Wonder if Don and Sydney have been talking to some folks who could do that?” Jason asked. He pulled out his phone and sent a text. “We’ll find out.”

  Curt rolled away from the toy hauler ramp on his Barracuda, then got out and loaded his guns.

  “Ready to go, eh?” Kyle asked.

  “Hell yes,” Curt said. “Just checked the app. We’re down to only about a third of the icons we had around those bridges, and they’re still leaving.”

  Jason’s phone dinged. “Probably Don.” He read it.

  “Well?” Kyle asked.

  “Las Cruces. There’s a small group who said they’d go plant some charges on the freeway bridges just north of town. They aren’t confident that they have enough to blow it, but it’ll look like somebody’s trying.”

  Jason replied.

  “What are you telling him?” Kyle asked.

  “I’m asking when they’re starting,” Jason said.

  His phone dinged a second later. “Wow, they’re at the site now.”

  “We’d better get a warning to them that the bad guys are headed their way,” Curt said.

  “Don already has. They’ve got their eyes open.”

  Jason got to his rig and un-hitched the Jeep, then backed it away and loaded the guns. Francis came over. “Need company again?”

  “Sure,” Jason said. “Be ready to go in a second.”

  “The tanks just took off, the bikers leading them to the area. There are still enemy fighters near the bridges, though. Looks like they’re keeping some folks there for a little insurance.”

  “They might change their mind on that,” Jason said. “Don just told me there’s a team in Las Cruces doing what we pretended we were gonna do.”

  Junior rolled up with Rachel in their off-roader. “We ready to go?” he asked.

  “You really taking Rachel?” Jason asked.

  “You’re acting as if he has a choice,” Rachel said. “Don’t worry, I’m not the nervous type. I love this shit.”

  “Okay, your call,” Jason said.

  Junior chuckled. “See you there.”

  Amanda rolled up in her bobtail. “I’m not sure how close I should get.”

  “We’ll let you know. You got everything?”

  “Mortars, explosive charges, and ammo,” she said. “Moe and Clancy grabbed a couple of mortars, though, to take to the front.”

  “Stay back pretty far,” Curt said. “Seriously.”

  “I know, just not sure what’s far enough, that’s all.”

  “Okay, sorry,” Curt said. “I’m moving out. The tanks have a pretty good head start. They’re gonna need support.”

  “I’ll follow,” Junior said. They took off.

  Jason
and Francis got into the Jeep and drove off after them, followed by Eric and Kim in the Bronco.

  “Looks like we have so many,” Francis said.

  “Keep on the app,” Jason said. “This makes me nervous as hell.”

  His phone dinged. “Here, take a look at this.” He fished his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it, then handed it to Francis.

  “Bitchen,” Francis said. “The northbound bridge outside of Las Cruces has been blown, and others showed up to help, so they’re working the southbound bridge now.”

  “Yes!” Jason said. “You know this might shorten our window, though, right? The enemy won’t be able to move that way. They’ll only be able to come back here.” He made the turn onto the I-25 on-ramp.

  “We’re taking the interstate to get there?” Francis asked.

  “It’s about twenty minutes to where the bridges are,” Jason said. “And now we won’t get any traffic from the south.”

  “Except what’s already north of Las Cruces.”

  “Yeah, and we can see them,” Jason said. “Where are they now?”

  “Still heading south,” Francis said. “There’s at least a hundred still around the target bridges, though.”

  “Hope our tanks can get close enough to take them out,” Jason said.

  “You and me both. I can see the tanks up there now. We slowing down behind them?”

  “We’re going around them to get a look,” Jason said. “See, Eric just passed them in his Bronco.”

  “And Curt,” Francis said, pointing. “He can’t go much faster in that off-roader of his, though.”

  “True,” Jason said. He heard his phone ding. Francis handed it to him so he could put in the pass code. Jason entered it and handed it back. “What does it say?”

  “Moe is suggesting that we do a test on the way to I-25.”

  “What?”

  “There’s a bridge for Highway 187 that goes over I-25. He’s suggesting that we blow that. It could be used for an alternate route.”

  “Look at it on the map,” Jason said, “and check for enemy fighters there too.”

  “On it.” Francis moved his fingers around on the screen, then snickered. “Why didn’t we think of this set of bridges first?” It is a second way north.”

  “Any enemy fighters around?”

  “Not that I can see,” he said.

  “Good,” Jason said. “Then let’s do it.”

  Francis sent the reply. “You know the remaining bad guys at the Rio Grande bridges are gonna hear it, right?”

  “How many are left there now?”

  He looked at the phone again. “Hell, they’re down to about fifty now, but they are north of the bridges. We’ll have to deal with them.”

  “Wish we could pinpoint them exactly. It’d be nice to know if we’re dealing with snipers on ridges or men dug in on the ground.”

  “Seriously,” Francis said.

  “How far is this bridge for Highway 187?”

  “It’s past town a few miles. Right by the entrance to Caballo Lake State Park. We’ll be there in less than ten minutes at this speed. It’ll take the tanks a tad longer.”

  They rode silently for a few minutes, Francis watching the apps, looking backwards every so often at the rest of the convoy. Then he could see the Highway 187 bridges in the distance.

  “There they are,” Francis said. “We need to get everybody past this before we blow those bridges, if we want them to continue on I-25. We’ll be blocking the road.”

  “Yep,” Jason said. “Send a broadcast text. Once the tanks get past the bridges, they start firing, but not too many rounds. The I-25 bridges are more important.”

  “Got it,” Francis said. He typed out the text and sent it. “It’s away.”

  “Good. Here we go.” They passed under the bridges and drove down another quarter mile, parking on the side of the road along with the rest of the convoy. The tanks came into view, moving past the bridges, their turrets turning to the rear.

  Jason picked up his phone and sent another broadcast text.

  “What?” Francis asked.

  “I told them not to be too close to those things when they fire,” Jason said. “Probably stupid to worry about, but I’d hate to have them covered with rubble.”

  “That’s not stupid at all,” Francis said.

  They got out of the Jeep and walked out to meet some of the others. Moe was in the center, his cellphone out to direct the tanks.

  “You’re a hundred yards past them?” Moe asked.

  He listened. “Okay, let’s give it a shot.”

  “No pun intended,” Junior said.

  “Shut up, pencil neck,” Curt said, punctuated by the cannon blast. Chips and dust flew out around the bridge strut, raining concrete all around below, already blocking half of the northbound I-25.

  “Hit it again,” Moe said. “Hit the other side too.”

  There was another cannon shot, this time knocking the support completely out, but the bridge over the road still stood. A second shot damaged the southbound side.

  “Hey, have them hit the strut on the other side of the northbound bridge,” Eric said. “Should be all it’ll take.”

  Moe nodded and put the phone to his ear. “Hit the far side of the north-bound bridge. No, the strut.”

  The cannon on one of the tanks adjusted and fired, hitting the far strut. The cement bridge teetered and fell with a crash almost as loud as the cannon shot.

  “Holy shit!” Clancy yelled, sticking his fists in the air. The others cheered, and then a second shot at the southbound side knocked that bridge down.

  “Well, that tells me the tanks can do the job,” Eric said.

  “The I-25 bridge is gonna be a little thicker,” Curt said. “Might take more shots.”

  Jason’s phone dinged. He read the text.

  “What?” Francis asked.

  “The Las Cruces bridges are down,” he yelled. “Before the enemy got there.”

  More people cheered.

  “Hey, we’d better get going now,” Kim shouted. “The enemy forces have changed direction. They’re coming back towards the Rio Grande bridges.”

  “You heard her,” Jason yelled. “Saddle up. Let’s go!”

  The convoy took off again, racing down the road.

  Chapter 32 – Pacing

  Maria rushed to the console, accepting the call from Wallis and Gallagher as Nelson and Ramsey rushed in, followed by Dr. Schultz.

  “Kip coming?” Maria asked.

  “Yeah, he’s coming,” Dr. Schultz said.

  “I’m here,” Hendrix said, sitting next to Maria.

  Wallis and Gallagher’s faces came up. They both looked worried.

  “What happened?” Nelson asked. “I don’t like the looks on your faces.”

  “Mostly good news,” Wallis said. “The bridges north of El Paso are toast. The enemy base near Playa Bagdad is toast too. Wiped them out completely with those AC-130s. The enemy took the bait, most of them going south. They left a skeleton crew to watch the Rio Grande bridges.”

  “Good, that’ll slow down the enemy no matter what else we do,” Ramsey said.

  “So what’s wrong?” Hendrix asked.

  “Somebody blew up the bridges north of Las Cruces. They went before the enemy was able to get south of there.”

  “Shit, so they’re going right back to Truth or Consequences,” Ramsey said. “Our people.”

  “There’s more,” Wallis said. “There’s a huge convoy of vehicles heading west on Highway 70, through the southern portion of the White Sands Missile Range.”

  “How’d you get that info?” Nelson asked. “Did somebody look at the apps for you?”

  “It showed up in the drone video, plus the AC-130 pilots mentioned it too.”

  “So we don’t know if it’s good guys or bad guys, then,” Ramsey said.

  “Could be that Indian tribe,” Hendrix said. “They pledged a couple thousand warriors, according to Jason, remember?�
��

  “How many enemy fighters were at the Truth or Consequences bridge before they left?” Nelson asked.

  “Several hundred,” Gallagher said.

  “Dammit,” Nelson said. “Who’s going to get to our folks first? Do we even know that?”

  “We’ll get some drone video in about five minutes,” Wallis said.

  “Call Jason,” Ramsey said.

  “Yeah, I think we’d better,” Gallagher said.

  “I’ll try him,” Maria said. “It’s ringing. They might be busy. He usually picks up fast.”

  “Shit,” Nelson said, getting up to pace. “Who the hell knocked out those bridges?”

  “Hey, try Don,” Ramsey said. “The social media guy. He’s probably still north of Truth or Consequences with the rest of the group.”

  “Yeah, I’ll call him,” Wallis said, “on my cell.” He left the screen for a second, phone at his ear.

  The console beeped as Wallis came back onto the screen.

  “It’s Don,” Maria said, patching him in.

  “What’s up?” Don asked, sounding worried.

  “You know anything about the demolition of the bridges north of Las Cruces?”

  “Yeah, some folks who were following us on social media volunteered to do that,” Don said. “Is it a problem?”

  “Maybe,” Gallagher said. “The bridges got blown before the enemy could get south of them.”

  “No,” Don said. “Dammit, we should’ve thought about that.”

  “Could you check the app and see where they are now?” Hendrix asked.

  “Sure, I’ll get Sydney over here.” He was quiet for a moment, then there was murmuring. “Okay, we got it. The enemy does appear to be going back up north. They’re not real close, though. They were almost to Las Cruces, from the look of it. There’s still a few stragglers back there.”

  “You see anybody on Highway 70?” Gallagher asked. “Large group? About two thousand men?”

  “What?” Sydney’s horrified voice said.

  “No, there’s nobody there, except for at the air force base, and they haven’t moved for a while. I think it’s possible that they’re dead.”

  “Well what the hell?” Gallagher asked. Then Don started laughing.