by Leo Nix
“OK, time for a sneak-peek,” said Skip rising slowly to the level of the windows. He checked each window until he found one that would provide enough vision while also remaining unobserved from the inside. Just as he raised himself to look he heard a commotion from inside the building, it sounded like someone dropping to the floor.
Skip looked into the building just in time to see Obi-Wan slice through Chuko's neck. In stunned silence he watched the henchman's head fall to the floor.
“Fortune! Get up here and have a look. Obi-Wan's settled things for us.” Together the two peered into the building. All was safe to enter so Corporal Gary Fortune placed his hands together and lifted Skip high enough to push the window fully open and climb in.
“Hey bro, I see you've sorted things out for us,” Skip said brightly.
Skip quickly placed himself into a defensive position while Fortune wrapped a bandage around their friend's chest. They all drank more water and munched on a snack of slightly stale cheese and beetroot sandwiches, left-overs from their stay at Meekatharra.
Soldier of Fortune spoke to Skip as soon as his mouth was empty. “We're pretty much compromised. We may want revenge but Obi-Wan's going to be useless in a fire-fight.”
The Ranger had nothing left, his face was pale, his breathing laboured and he could barely raise his head. They'd given him food and water, which helped, but he'd used up every ounce of reserves in the fight.
“Skip, Fortune's right,” Obi-Wan grunted, he struggled to even speak. “Let's just get home, to Pine Gap.”
He gasped as he stood, then wavered, Skip leapt up to hold him upright. “One more thing, Skip, there's another psycho here. He's the second in command, Spiro, short guy. I haven't seen him since yesterday though.” Obi-Wan closed his eyes and breathed in slowly, settled then continued. “There's about fifty, maybe more armed men here. Fortune… you'd best set up some sort of incendiary in the vehicles… but watch it, they've got security cameras.” He had to stop, he was about to cough and that would hurt, he was in enough pain as it was.
Skip was thinking. “Fortune, what if you sort out our escape vehicle first, then light-up the one next to it. Then get yourself to the back of this building. I'll take Obi-Wan there. That's where you can pick us up. As we head out I'll open fire on the parked cars, hopefully, some will dribble enough fuel to catch fire. Not a great plan but it should work to distract them.”
“Yeah, we can do this. Pity we don't have any explosives.” Fortune quickly looked around the large room and noticed a pile of plastic sheeting. “Incendiary, plastic, perfect. OK, give me two minutes and I'll meet you out the back near their driveway.”
It still wasn't that easy. It was lunch time but there was now some activity - a group of men led by Spiro, were walking towards the warehouse a hundred metres away.
The open ground directly in front of the building held a half dozen vehicles. Fortune was certain the keys would still be in the ignition in at least one of them.
He was right, the first vehicle he came to, a comfortable Honda SUV, had its keys in the ignition. When he turned the key it showed a full tank of fuel. Fortune left the motor running while he packed plastic beneath three of the vehicles beside it, setting each alight as he did. Knowing that he was probably on their security Closed Circuit TV, he hoped that no-one bothered to watch their monitors. It was lunch-time and they would most probably be eating.
Gary Fortune slowly drove to the back of the administrative building and opened the side door. There was still activity around the warehouse but now some of Spiro's men started to walk towards the administrative building. It looked like they expected to see Khan. Instead they saw smoke, flames and someone stealing Khan's favourite SUV.
There came a crack as a rifle was fired, then another crack. Fortune heard raised voices and then a burst of automatic fire smacked into the side of the Honda. The Delta corporal didn't wait any longer, he leaned out of the window to fire on the three cars he'd already lit up. The bullets ripped into the fuel tanks of the first two and the cars burst into flame.
“Get the hell in!” he yelled, pulling in closer to the rear of the building where Skip and Obi-Wan waited. More bullets hit the SUV and he could see six or seven armed men running towards them. Some of them stopped to aim and fire. Another group veered off to move the remaining vehicles away so that they wouldn't be caught in the flames.
Skip helped his friend into the back seat, he chattered calmly, as though they were on a Sunday picnic.
“Come on, mate, get yer arse inside, away from those nasty bullets. Don't worry, I've got you covered, Obi,” Skip said cheerily.
Obi-Wan had just settled into the back seat when he heard a sharp cry from beside him. Skip slowly bent and collapsed into his best friend's lap.
“We're in, let's go!” cried Obi-Wan as he awkwardly grabbed at Skip's shirt to pull him fully into the SUV. The pain was too much, it flared and he collapsed. Obi-Wan closed his eyes for a few seconds then, leaning over his friend he pulled the door closed. Fortune spun the steering wheel and he raced along the winding driveway towards the main road. Their enemy had yet to do more than fire at their disappearing SUV. Some of them stopped firing to climb into two of their remaining vehicles.
“What's happening? Are you both all right?” asked Fortune pushing the accelerator to the floor, it spun the SUV's wheels leaving a cloud of dust. They were out of the compound but they were sure to have a convoy of angry gang members racing after them.
Fortune looked into his rear-vision mirror and sure enough there were now two vehicles racing to overtake them.
“We've got bandits on our tail,” called Fortune as he spun onto the dirt road heading towards their support only a few kilometres away. He expected to hear the sounds of firing but there was silence from the back seat.
“What's your status, Skip?” The silence continued, it worried him. “Skip? Obi-Wan, what's your status back there? Is Skip OK?”
Obi-Wan's voice was empty. “Skip's dead, Gary. He's gone.”
In a daze the tough, unforgiving Ranger staff sergeant, took up his newly acquired Steyr and began firing through the rear window. He had the back seat to lean against but every bump sent flames of pain shooting through his rib cage. Obi-Wan re-engaged his energy breathing to stop himself from blacking out. Deliberately clearing his mind he dropped his grief into a deep pit which allowed him to continue firing throughout the chase. But it didn't bring his friend back to life.
Hooky knew they were in trouble the moment he saw the enormous dust cloud approaching on the dirt road. He yelled to Danielle to arm up and prepare for a firefight as he steadied his good arm to hold the Heckler and Koch G36 resting it carefully on the roof of their four-wheel drive.
“Are we going to stay or should we join Obi-Wan and drive off with them?” called Danielle who was readying her automatic, copying Hooky.
“Damned if I know what Obi's got planned. Our orders were to wait and provide cover, so we wait… and provide cover.” He laughed when he realised how silly that sounded.
Danielle was still recovering from Burger's death and tried to keep her mind from wandering back to that special place she had found with him. It didn't work, in some ways, she wished she were dead too. She had caught herself fantasising about what it would be like to die. The dusky-skinned police constable forced herself to stop thinking about it as Fortune sped past them pursued by a loaded utility and a four-wheel drive. The two defenders opened fire but their target drove by so fast that they weren't sure if they'd hit anything.
“Bloody hell!” exclaimed Hooky emptying his magazine into the last vehicle, “did we even hit anything?” Their vehicle was camouflaged with bushes pulled up from the surrounding area fifty metres from the road. At that distance and the speed of the enemy's vehicles it was possible they'd missed with every bullet.
But sure enough, as they watched, the front vehicle careered off the dirt road and flipped over. It spun spectacularly into the air, bodies wer
e flung out of the ute tray and doors into the desert scrub. The other vehicle slowed and stopped, they drove back to check on their mates.
“Hooky! Hooky!” called Danielle loudly, “they'll see us, let's get moving, come on!” She grabbed his good shoulder and spun him around to look at her, “are you all right?”
Hooky nodded to clear his head. “Yeah, I just went somewhere then. Come on, let's get moving,” he sighed, his shoulder injury was hurting like hell now.
Danielle automatically jumped into the driver's seat. As he got in beside her Hooky looked in to see how Kerrie was doing, he noticed she was awake.
“Hey, Kerrie, how are you feeling? We're going to get some action and you'll be bumped around.” Hooky reached down and touched her face, it was hot and fevered. “Hold tight, darling.” Kerrie smiled then screwed up her face in pain as the vehicle took off at speed over bushes and sand dunes away from the road.
“Hooky, I don't think they're going to follow. Can you get back there and try to help Kerrie, please. This trip is going to be pretty damn tough for her,” suggested Danielle.
Fortune slowed when he saw that the race was over. A deep sense of grief hit him in the chest now that the adrenaline of the chase was over. He watched in his mirror as Obi-Wan settled into the seat and nursed Skip's head in his lap.
The quiet, tough Delta, took control of the situation, he needed to give his buddy time.
“Obi, I'll get us to that farmhouse we discussed, we've got a few hours. Take it easy, grab some sleep, I've got this.” Obi-Wan nodded but said nothing.
“I saw Danielle and Hooky, they're heading out too. We'll either meet them at the farm or at Pine Gap.” There wasn't much else to say so he stopped talking. He switched on the CB and set it to 'roam' listening to the chatter of the enemy at the drug lord's warehouse.
The news was that they'd found the bodies of Khan and his two henchmen. Their new leader, Spiro, immediately took control. Elements of the previous faction weren't too happy, they were now in the process of fighting for dominance. Over the course of the next hour Fortune listened to their arguing and eventually the compromised negotiations as the two groups sought to take control. When the signal faded it appeared that Spiro had positioned himself to take leadership of the gang. Clearly they weren't interested in their escaped prisoner, or the lost vehicles, it was all about gaining control of their drug empire.
When Fortune looked in on his buddy he saw that he was asleep, his head was resting on Skip's chest.
The two vehicles met at the farmhouse they had decided upon the day before. It was abandoned, empty of food and anything that might have helped Kerrie. It was too late for her anyway. The four survivors were exhausted but they wanted to keep a vigil by her side as the brave policewoman drifted into a coma.
As they sat at the kitchen table Danielle made them all something to eat and drink. She kept busy to manage her own grief.
Fortune and Danielle explored the house and out-sheds in the darkness looking for fuel. Everything had been taken so they drained the fuel from the farm equipment. There were tractors and a half dozen caterpillars and other heavy farm vehicles, one truck held eighty gallons of diesel. They had enough to fill their jerry-cans and vehicles to capacity. They were now good to go once they had grabbed some sleep.
“Guys, I'll stand watch for the rest of tonight. I've got all of tomorrow to sleep. Go on, I'll be fine,” ordered Hooky. He was tired but couldn't sleep anyway. He had a problem and this was a good time to wrestle with it. Outside in the mild evening air was too good an opportunity to pass up.
It was doubtful there would be unwanted visitors. From the CB chatter they'd heard it sounded like the gangs were still busy negotiating a peace. It sounded like they were quite happy to leave their escapees in peace.
Hooky's problem was that he liked Danielle, had for years. His other problem was that when he was single she had someone. Their timing was terrible. Being a year younger than Danielle meant that age shouldn't be a problem. But after silently courting her for the past few years he didn't know how to cross that line and ask her to go out with him. There were times he even doubted she knew he existed. Feeling like a school kid he decided that he should just ask, no harm in that, he thought.
It was just on sunrise when Fortune went outside to dig the double grave. Danielle brought out a blanket from the farmhouse and lay it over their friend's bodies. They each said a few words but it couldn't express their sadness or how they felt about these past weeks of fighting and running.
Danielle looked at her friends standing beside her, their heads bowed, she saw that they had all lost something precious. Obi-Wan was lifeless, he'd lost a mate, sure, but so had they all. Skip was different, he'd brought a vitality to their group that few people had the ability to do. His charm and charisma made the day to day challenges bearable. The red-headed soldier always had a nice thing to say and never a nasty word escaped from between his lips. It was hard for any of the group to speak, the emptiness of loss just enveloped them like a choking cloud.
Danielle had always thought fondly of her friend, Kerrie. They trained together as new police recruits and would sometimes meet for lunch right up until she was invited to join the anti-terrorist team, the Tactical Response Group. It was Kerrie's dream to be part of the action, to be the best - with the best. She remembered how proud Kerrie felt that day when she was called up to start her anti-terrorist training. It all seemed so long ago now, so pointless.
As she watched Fortune cover their friend's bodies she had plenty of time to think about her own situation. It gave her time to put her own journey of recovery into perspective. She realised that grief was a process, it went around and around until it gained enough momentum to reach the velocity it needed to escape its destructive orbit.
Over the past twenty-four hours driving across the desert towards Pine Gap, Danielle faced her demons of lost loves and the many betrayals. She was old enough to be married with kids yet each time someone looked like they were the 'one and only' something unexpected happened. It was time she took control of herself, and looking at the drawn, exhausted men around her, she decided to make a suggestion to bring them back to their task at hand.
The dusky beauty stepped in front of the three men. “I don't give a shit if you don't like it but I'm going to suggest some changes to our patrol. We need to get to Pine Gap and not by dragging our sorry arses like we are now.”
Hooky looked at her. Slowly, a smile crept onto his suntanned, lean face, he slowly nodded his agreement. Danielle noticed, she appreciated his acknowledgement. It showed that he believed in her, that she was now part of this group of elite professionals. She smiled and nodded back.
Danielle then looked at Obi-Wan and Fortune, she addressed the senior members of their group. “I think it best if Hooky travels with Fortune and Staff Sergeant Kennedy, maybe you might want to travel with me for a change.”
Obi-Wan nodded, he'd barely slept all night, wrestling with his grief and the pain of his cracked ribs. “Yeah, I'm fine with that. A change of scenery will do us good, besides, you're better looking than Gary.”
“Yeah, that's a go. I'll help Obi shift his gear over,” was all Corporal Gary Fortune could say. He was emotionally flat and drained. He and Skip had enjoyed playing games on their cerebrally-gifted mate, Obi-Wan. They often swapped stories of how they always lost to him. Now Fortune wasn't quite sure how he would relate to his Ranger friend, or anyone for that matter.
As he carried Obi-Wan's gear from his vehicle Fortune realised that Danielle's plan was simple but good, they needed to change something, and with change came opportunity.
“Danielle,” he called from his vehicle, “I'll lead.”
Chapter 13 – Escape from Danger
It was false dawn when Murphy pulled up under the sparse branches of a lonely tree in the arid landscape of Western Australia. It had been a rough night with dry creek beds and large ditches carved by the monsoonal rains and floods. The two SEALs ha
d decided to knock off for a few hours and get some sleep.
Emily was thrilled to be part of this rescue adventure and took it upon herself to mother the two handsome men. The boys said it wasn't an 'adventure' as such, rather it was just a job.
“Who in their right mind wants to drive for days on end, smelling like a pig, a sore butt from sitting in you're own sweat all that time, eating dried food, no decent coffee, no soft bed and these blasted pesky flies everywhere?” said Pipeline. Emily was fascinating by his voice and his manner, it was so foreign to the petite Perth girl.
“Well, Pipeline. I've got some eggs cooking, tea brewing, and there's toast waiting. Maisie gave me enough marmalade jam… no, you guys call it 'jelly' or something strange like that don't you? Well I've got enough marmalade jelly and that Aussie favourite, vegemite, to feed an army.” She smiled, none of the Americans that she knew could stomach the taste of vegemite. “And I sure get it about the flies. Holy cow, no wonder the Dutch sailors had no interest in settling here back in the 17th century.”
“I've given up pushing them away. If they crawl into my mouth I just eat them,” said Murphy, yawning. The flies were only now waking up with the coming sunrise and as he lay back in his camp chair he pulled his cloth cap down to cover his face and was soon fast asleep.
“Isn't it time to check in with Maverick and Bluey?” asked Emily. “I wonder how the townspeople got along last night with the terrorists.”
“Yeah, you're right. You dish out that food and I'll get onto the team.” Pipeline was tired too, fatigue seemed to be a given since the apocalypse.
“Maverick, this is Pipeline, do you copy?”
There was some static then a clear voice came on the air, “Pipeline, Maverick here, what's your situation? Over.”
