What no one noticed was that one of attackers had left the group. Bud had his camouflage ghillie suit on which allowed him to blend into the tall grass at the back of the battle area. He slowly crawled towards a depression in the grass, where he hoped he would be protected from the fire coming from the house. He was scared silly by the ferocity of the battle and quickly realized that he was better off playing the sniper role or, better yet, just hiding. On reaching the low area he lay flat and still. He was afraid to risk crawling further. Shooting would expose his position but not doing so might lead to the gang’s defeat. If the gang realized he hadn’t taken part in the battle, they would kill him. So he took some shots at the rooftop position. They were accurate, but he didn’t have an exposed target to aim at. He could keep a shooter pinned down if he fired enough rounds, but that risked drawing counter fire from the rest of the house. He took only a few shots so he wouldn’t expose his position.
Finally the attackers worked themselves up for a charge on the house. The ones still in the fight realized that they couldn’t surround it and they were going to get picked off one by one if they stayed pinned down in their present positions. They were not able to shut down the firing from either the rooftop or the house.
They increased the intensity of their shooting to suppress the return fire. Jason and the girls just hunkered down to wait out the onslaught of bullets smashing through the walls. Then, with shouts the gang charged.
When the charge began, Jason and the girls could finally shoot back. They opened up relentlessly, ignoring the now wilder shots coming from the attackers as they ran forward. They could not let the gang reach the house. The deadly fire took its toll and the attack stalled at the fence. Seven men had charged; four were cut down and the remaining three turned and ran, dodging around to the cover of the trucks. They crawled into the cab of the remaining truck and let it roll down hill until they got behind the tree line. At that point, they started it, backed wildly down the drive, and headed off in a roar towards the village.
Jason watched to make sure they all had left. Then he joined the family on the second floor. He found Anne and Catherine bent over Sarah. She was gasping for breath. Blood was pouring all over her face and down her front.
“Sarah,” Anne said, “Speak to me.” Looking up at Jason, she said, “Jason, help her, she’s been shot. She’s hurt.”
He looked closely at Sarah, “Get me a rag to wipe the blood.” Catherine brought him a rag wetted from her water bottle. He gently wiped Sarah’s face and head. “She’s been hit with wood shrapnel, not shot. There’s a lot of bleeding but it’s not life threatening.”
“Will she be all right?” Catherine asked.
“Yes. Anne, take her down to the kitchen and get some cold, wet cloths to clean her. Don’t wipe, the wounds may be deep and we don’t want to tear them.” Turning to Catherine he said, “We have to secure the battle field. Go up to the roof and spot for me. They may have left someone behind or some of the wounded could still be dangerous.”
Catherine grabbed her rifle, checked the clip and turned to leave.
“If you see someone, give out a shout and point me in the right direction.”
“Be careful,” Catherine called back to him as she headed to the attic.
Wounded men were groaning in the front yard, lying alongside of the dead. Jason grabbed his rifle and went out the back door. He dropped into a crawl as he worked himself through the tall grass. Reaching the edge of the orchard, he turned and worked his way towards the front, using the trees as additional cover
Chapter 6
Bud was now alone; the pickup had left. He was frozen, afraid to move, not knowing what was going on in the house. He had no illusions about what could happen to him.
In his last encounter with Jason, he knew what the outcome for his buddies had been when he ran away. He had heard the shots. That would be his fate unless he could do something. Very slowly he raised his head. He could barely see through the grass, but that was good. It would be hard for anyone to see him. As he studied the house, he saw the grass move on the uphill side. Someone was crawling towards the orchard. It was like the last time. He watched and then glimpsed briefly someone rising and disappearing behind a tree. That someone was headed Bud’s way. It was too late to run. He would have to fight. He had flattened himself to the ground during the last round of intense fire from the house. Now his rifle was laying there, not shouldered and ready to fire. He had to move his body to get into a firing position. He had to get up on his elbows with his left hand under the barrel and his right hand on the trigger with the stock pulled tightly into his right shoulder, all without being seen. It took a minute of careful movement to get his rifle to the ready. As he began to tuck it into his shoulder, his elbow slipped and the barrel tipped up in the air. He quickly lowered it just below the level of the grass and froze.
Catherine carefully scanned the grass. She was looking for something out of the ordinary. Many lectures by Jason had reinforced that there were no straight lines or perfect circles in nature. When she saw something straight and rod-like in the grass, she knew. It was there for a moment and then disappeared into the grass. She could not see anything else. She stared and didn’t blink or turn her gaze away for a moment. She knew that if she did, she would never find that spot again. Finally she could discern parts of a solid, straight shaft, horizontal in the grass. She could only see a couple of segments of it but it didn’t look natural.
Deciding that it was a rifle barrel, she carefully calculated where the body of the shooter would be in relation to it. Catherine then took aim at the spot she had chosen and sent six shots in a tight pattern along the length of where she thought the shooter might be.
The second shot hit Bud in the shoulder, flipping him on his side and the third hit him in his abdomen, turning him on his back. He cried out in pain as the bullets tore into him, throwing him back on his rifle. His shoulder was torn by the first shot and bleeding profusely. The shot to the abdomen tore through part of his stomach, destroyed his liver, and nicked a kidney before exiting out of his lower back. Numerous blood vessels were torn and bleeding inside Bud, bleeding that would not be stopped by external compression.
“What is it?” shouted Jason.
“A sniper…to your right, towards the fence. I hit him. He’s lying on his back,” Catherine called back.
Jason crouched and ran towards the position Catherine indicated. He quickly found Bud. He pulled the rifle away as Bud stared up at him.
“Don’t shoot me, please,” Bud said in a weak voice.
Jason stared back at him. There was no need to shoot him; there was an entrance wound in his abdomen with probably a larger exit wound in his back. Internal injuries were not something he could help, even if he wanted to.
Bud continued, “I’m hurt bad, please don’t leave me.”
Jason squatted down next to him. “Tell me about your gang.”
“Should I come out there?” Catherine called out.
“No!” he shouted back. “Keep watch for anyone else.”
“I should never have come back here,” Bud said.
“What do you mean?” Jason responded.
“I was with the guys you ambushed months ago; I got away.”
“What about this gang?” Jason asked.
“It’s run by a scary guy named Big Jacks.” Bud paused, grimaced in pain. “Can you help me? I don’t want to die.”
“I’ll try, if you help me. How many are in your gang?”
“Fifty, seventy, didn’t count them. I didn’t want to…to…eat people. That’s what they do.” His words were becoming more difficult to form, but he wanted to get them out. “They kill people and…and eat them…they take the women…I didn’t want to do things like that. I just wanted to survive.”
Jason’s stomach turned and he fought to control the revulsion rising inside.
“They’ll be back,” Bud continued laboriously. “Big Jacks can’t have someone beat him�
�and you got his machine gun. He’s coming back.”
A plan was forming in Jason’s mind, even as he heard Bud’s warning. He looked closely at Bud’s rifle; it was an M110 sniper/assault rifle. The weapon was similar to the AR15/16 but shot a larger 7.62mm round. It was set up for sniping with a variable power scope, a bipod and a 20 round clip. This would be a more powerful, more lethal weapon than his .223. “Do you have any more ammunition for this?” he asked.
“In the truck, the machine gun truck,” Bud responded more weakly. “Please don’t leave me. Am I going to hell?” he asked plaintively.
“I don’t know about heaven or hell,” Jason responded, “but I do know that you’ll find out soon enough. ‘Course you won’t be able to tell anyone so we’ll never know.”
“I’m sorry for attacking you.”
I’ll bet you are. And now you are worried about it since you’re dying.
Still, Jason felt the urge to comfort this scrawny kid who had attacked him twice and was now paying the price. “I’ll stay with you.”
As he waited with Bud a dark, black resolve grew inside of Jason. It almost frightened him. He knew he was going on a killing spree. He was going to take this gang apart. It was the only way. He couldn’t wait for them. His resolve drove out fear. It left him focused on how to most efficiently kill these savages. The label was accurate. They had become predators, and they needed to be eradicated. He was determined to get the rest of the valley involved. They had to come together now.
Bud lapsed into unconsciousness. Jason went to the pickup and found the ammunition for the M110. Then he quickly dispatched the rest of the wounded and went back into the house.
The family was huddled in the kitchen around Sarah. The windows were shot out with glass everywhere. Jason went over to Sarah.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
She looked at him. She had a clean cloth wrapped around her forehead and others draped along the side of her face. “Am I going to be all right?” she asked.
Jason gently took the cloths from her face. He remained passive as he surveyed her injuries. She had multiple cuts across her face, one even on her eyelid. There were two that he could see would require stitching. One across her left forehead, just above her eyebrow and one down the side of her left cheek, thankfully back towards her hair line. She would be scarred but, he hoped, the scars would not damage her beauty.
“Yes, you're going to be all right. You’re lucky that no splinters entered your eyes.”
“I did what you said, not move around, but when I got up to shoot I got hit in the face.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. You were a good fighter. This could have happened to anyone in the room. I’m glad it wasn’t worse.”
Jason laid the cloths back on Sarah’s face to control the bleeding. He motioned Anne to follow him out of the kitchen. “We’ll have to sew two of those wounds.”
“I know. This will be hard without anesthesia. I’m afraid it’ll be harder for her than the battle.”
“There’s something more. I got some information from one of the gang.”
Anne looked at him with concern.
“The main body is in Clifton Furnace. This group was just a raiding party. Some of them escaped and they’ll head back to the village. I think the main part of the gang is going to return.”
“Oh my God,” Anne exclaimed. “Why would they want to return?”
“We beat them…and we have their machine gun—the gun on the truck. They’ll be back for the gun and to defeat us. I don’t think whoever is leading the gang can allow himself to lose this battle.”
“But that’s insane. There will be more killing. We may be killed. What do they get out of that?”
“I can’t think like them, but they probably expect to get food and weapons if they can defeat us. It’s motivation enough for barbarians like them.” He held Anne by her shoulders. “Anne, they are cannibals as well. It’s one of the ways they have survived.”
She pulled back in shock. “That can’t be true.”
“I can’t just dismiss what I was told. I don’t want to tell the girls. I’m telling you only to reinforce how desperate our situation is. These people are beyond the bounds of civilized behavior. We have to expect anything.”
“Well, what must we do? We have to tend to Sarah. What else can we do?”
“You’re right. We have to stabilize her wounds. But Catherine and I have to go to the other farms in the valley, quickly. We’ve got to get their help. The next battle is for the survival of the whole valley.”
Anne looked at him long and hard. “When will they be back?”
“I don’t know. I hope we have a day at least. They may need time to organize and pack up for their raid. But there is no time to lose. I have to prepare for a battle and you must tend to Sarah. We can stitch her wounds later.”
“It scares me to have you leave this house.”
“I know. But it’s necessary for me to do so. I’ll be quick…I must be quick.”
They went back into the kitchen.
Anne said, “Sarah, Jason has to contact the rest of the farms in the valley right away. We have to get their help in case any gang members come back.”
“Why would they come back?” Catherine asked. “We beat them, didn’t we?” She turned to Jason.
“Yes, but some got away and I learned there are more in the village. They may or may not return, but we have to get the others to help in case they do,” he said.
“What about Sarah? She needs help,” Catherine persisted.
“I’ll take care of Sarah’s wounds for now. She’ll be alright.” Anne stroked Sarah’s hair. Turning to Catherine, “You must go with Jason. You know everyone better than him. It will help if you’re there.”
“Am I going to need stitches?” Sarah asked with some dread.
“Possibly,” Jason replied. “We can’t do it now. The wait will give us time to see if the wounds close well enough by themselves.” He wanted to downplay the need for stitches at the moment.
“I don’t want you to leave. We need you. I need you,” Sarah said.
“Your mom will be here. I don’t want to leave either, but this has to be done. Our lives may depend on getting extra help if this gang comes back.”
“Why? We beat them once. We can do it again,” Sarah said.
“I like your confidence, but now you’re injured and we won’t have the element of surprise on our side. If they come back, we’ll need help.”
Chapter 7
Catherine and Jason went out into the yard. Both avoided looking at the dead. He retrieved a come-along and some rope from the barn.
“We have to take the truck, it’ll be faster than walking,” Jason said.
“Won’t everyone freak out with that machine gun on top?” Catherine asked.
“We’ll take that chance. Speed is critical,” he replied.
With a rope, he attached the come-along to a tree, then hooked the other end to the cab of the overturned pickup and winched it upright. It had a flat front tire. After changing the tire they rolled the truck down the hill to jump start it and drove up the valley road. They were dirty, their clothes torn, hair matted with sweat, cuts and scratches on their arms and faces. Shortly they encountered Tom Walsh trotting on the road towards them and stopped.
“What happened?” Tom asked. “I heard the shooting.” He looked in the cab in amazement, “You two look a mess!”
“We were attacked by a gang—a raiding party.” Jason responded.
“Did anyone get hurt? How are Anne and Sarah?”
“Sarah got cut up from flying splinters but she’ll be okay. Mom is okay,” Catherine responded. “You remember Jason, he’s staying with us?”
Tom nodded to Jason. “Of course. Is this their truck?”
“Yeah. They were part of a larger gang and I think they may be coming back.”
“Where’d they come from?”
“Clifton Furnace. I
think they killed the remaining people in town then they set out to raid this valley,” Jason said.
“So you think they’re coming back?”
Jason nodded, “For food, supplies…and I have their machine gun. They’ll be back. We need your help to round up everyone in the valley. We don’t have much time.”
“How soon?”
“If we’re lucky not till tomorrow or the next day. There’s no time to lose.”
“Okay. What can I do?”
“We need to get everyone together. I’m going to skip the Turner farm. I don’t think the old man will talk to me,” Jason said. “Can you get him to come?”
“Yeah, I think so. He’d likely try to shoot you, especially driving up in this truck. He fusses at me, but I don’t take his crap. I think he respects me. Where do you want to meet?”
“I don’t know where.”
“Let’s meet at my house. Drive me up to the Turners and drop me off. You and Catherine go to the others and bring them back to my place. It’ll take a while for me to convince the old man, but I’ll get him to the meeting.” Tom climbed in the cab. “That’s an M60 on the roof. These guys were well armed.”
“You must have been in the military,” Jason said.
“Vietnam. We used them over there.”
They dropped Tom off at the Turner’s farm and drove on up the valley in silence. Jason felt the press of time. He didn’t know how soon the gang might return and the worst scenario would be Anne and Sarah caught alone when they did. He shuddered at the thought.
Catherine seemed to sense his tension. “Having Mr. Walsh talk to Mr. Turner will help. The others will be easier to talk to.”
They drove in silence. Then Jason said, “Catherine, you showed a lot of ability in the fight today. You not only shot well, you showed good judgment and you kept calm. Not many can do that in such an intense situation.” Catherine looked at him as Jason continued, “I’d like to confide in you, but I don’t want to frighten you.”
After the Fall (Book 1): Jason's Tale Page 16
