by King, Ryan
Groups of civilians and carefully watched WTR prisoners had been organized into bucket lines from the river to help as many houses as possible, but most of downtown was too large to save. Brazen thought it was ironic that only a few weeks ago he had actually threatened to do this very deed. Good thing it smells of rain, he thought.
Brazen noticed that Lancourt was nearby. The man was tireless in organizing the evacuation, taking care of setting up first-aid stations and shelter at numerous locations, and getting them back here efficiently. He also organized the fire parties, food and water distribution, and gathering clothing and found homes for those who were burned out. Even Brazen's gang members did what Pastor Lancourt asked of them. His greatest value though, was probably his ability to keep everyone calm.
When word spread that a West Tennessee army was preparing to land in their city, far to the north where they had thought they were safe, waves of panic and impending doom spread. Lancourt was able to exude calm, peace, and hope wherever he went.
Brazen was amazed when he visited one of the food centers to see that Lancourt had established a sort of day care center for the children so their parents could help put out the fires. He witnessed Lancourt telling the rapt children story after story and several who had dried tears on their faces, who were now totally absorbed in the yarns he was spinning.
“Heck of a mess, isn’t it?” Brazen asked him during a slow moment.
“Actually, no,” said Lancourt. “The city itself is in shambles, but the people are fine and better than fine. This has caused them to draw together and see themselves as one unified community. Where once there was suspicion and infighting, now they are together helping each other.”
“Some against their will,” said Brazen.
“Just as well,” said Lancourt with a wave of his hand. “Action and habit precede changes in attitude. This is good for their souls, even if done under duress. A year from now, they’ll be proudly telling of the eager work they did. They’ll convince themselves. Everyone wants to be better than they are; sometimes they just need a little encouragement. It's good for their souls.”
“Their souls?” Brazen mused. “You think all this death and destruction is good for anyone.”
“Yes.” Lancourt turned to face him. “It is. Death is a certainty to all, it is what we do until then that defines our character. Adversity brings out the best in us…or the worst. We also frequently only seek God’s will and support when we are without hope or are facing destruction. I’m not saying this is God’s will, but He does work in ways we cannot comprehend. Let’s take you for example,” Lancourt poked him with a finger. “Do you really think for a minute that you’re ready for the power that is coming your way?”
“What do you mean?” asked Brazen.
“I’ve told you before, God has a plan for you, and He’s calling you back to Him,” Lancourt put his hand on Brazen’s shoulder. “You are the lost sheep and God is fanatical and relentless in pursuing those who are His. You can run as hard and as long as you want, but in the end, you will just be caught tired and with regrets about what could have been.”
Brazen was silent for a moment and then said, “No, I’m not ready. Heck I’m not ready for this,” indicating all the destruction around him.
Lancourt smiled and turned back to him. “That is the beginning of wisdom and understanding. None of us is able alone to handle the magnificent plans God has for our lives. Without Him, we are lost, petty, selfish, and broken. With Him, we are royalty, capable of literally anything. You can accept that and move on with your life, or keep half-stepping like you have been. I suggest you quit playing around and fooling yourself before you get a bunch of people killed. This is no time for self-delusion.”
Lancourt said the last with a stern stare and then walked back toward the food line leaving Brazen to his thoughts in the smoldering ruins of his city.
I never liked this city anyway, he thought.
Chapter 8 – Death on the Camp
David looked at his watch. It was almost time. He mentally went over everything again and decided they were ready. They had lain quietly and patiently in their positions since midnight and it was almost noon of the next day. With any luck they would achieve total surprise.
Captain Green and his company were several miles to the north preparing to make a similar attack on the main WTR force south of Fulton. David and his platoon had the task of assaulting and securing the WTR Army rear camp, which hopefully would be largely deserted at this time of day with almost everyone at the main force positions up north.
David’s soldiers would take out all the support troops and those tending the camp. They would also set up a blocking position to the north of the camp to intercept anyone fleeing from Captain Green’s forces.
Joshua’s recon platoon was given the task of screening for the entire JP force to the south. If anyone approached from that direction their job was to stop them, and if they were too large to stop, then at least slow them long enough to give everyone time to prepare. It was a solid plan.
Their coordination with the JP forces to the north was limited at best. Everyone had a specific time when the show was supposed to kick off, but the individual forces were not able to rehearse together, or even to meet beforehand. Captain Green was seriously concerned about the possibility of friendly fire incidents which is why everyone tied a white ribbon or band around their left arms beforehand. Captain Green also sent a runner north to try to pass this information to General Anderson, but no one knew if the message had gotten through. This was a legitimate concern since both sides of the conflict were wearing the same U.S. Army uniforms.
David looked at his watch again and saw he only had a few minutes. At his far left he saw the support teams in place. He would lead the smaller assault team. They had difficulty deciding how to signal the initiation of the attack without radios or other devices. David wanted to be able to give the signal himself, but he needed the support teams and their superior firepower to start the firing, in order to kill as many WTR troops as quickly as possible. He also wanted to protect the secrecy of the assault team’s position until the last minute. One of his privates came up with a practical solution.
They ran a length of twine from the rear of the support team leader position over to the rear of the assault team and then to David. It was a long length of twine in low tree limbs. David hoped it didn’t break.
He looked at his watch again and saw it was time. He was about to pull the twine when he heard several large muffled explosions to the north of them. Captain Green’s main assault had evidently begun. David saw members of the WTR camp come out of their tents and look to the north and others ran to get their weapons. It was now or never. David began tugging on the twine.
Nothing happened. David began tugging harder and harder, cursing under his breath till he heard both the M240 machine guns to his left open up at the same time. A moment later the rest of the support team began firing with their rifles and squad automatic weapons. The bigger M240 machine guns settled into a good rhythm where one would fire for several seconds and stop, then the next one would fire for several seconds, alternating back and forth. This was necessary to prevent the barrels from overheating. Training taught him that when done properly, it sounded as if they were talking to each other and right now they had a very good dialogue going on.
David looked back at his watch. They had thirty seconds to go and he saw that the camp was in pandemonium with dead and wounded lying among the tents. Several men in the camp were attempting to fight back, but not many. Most hiding or fleeing.
“Get ready,” David said to the men on his left and right who passed the word down the line. He waited until the designated time, stood up and began running toward the camp. He didn’t check to see if anyone was following him but felt confident that he had a line of troops on both his left and right.
About twenty yards from the edge of the camp he blew a whistle as he ran. This was the signal for the support team
to lift and shift its fire to the far edge of the camp so they did not shoot anyone in the assault team. It also meant that a nearly solid wall of bullets awaited anyone from the camp fleeing away from David’s team. He looked for signs that the fire had shifted. David no longer saw bullet impacts in the camp. They were clear to assault through the objective.
Speed and ferocity were paramount. They were likely still outnumbered, and temporarily had the advantage of surprise. That would pass quickly. David hoped his men didn’t flinch from the plan which was to shoot anything that moved, and to keep going. He also told them to stay in a line and take out everything in their path. Enemy surrender was not possible. Everyone depended on everyone else to do his job, otherwise they would assault through only to have enemy soldiers at their exposed rear.
David stopped thinking as he saw a soldier come out of a tent right in front of him. The soldier’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of David and his men so close. He attempted to pull his rifle up to shoot, but he didn’t have a chance. David put two rounds into the man and kept moving. He was aware of other similar shots on either side of him which was reassuring.
Coming to the middle of the camp he saw two men trying to get a heavy machine gun loaded. David ran towards them just in time to see them look up in panic and fear. He could tell they knew they were out of time and were going to die. David felt bad for the men but shot them both anyway and kept moving.
Before he knew it, he was at the other end of the camp. He knelt on a knee and turned back to see the rest of the assault team come to the same location. David pulled out his whistle and began blowing on it again. The firing from the support teams sputtered and stopped. His soldiers moved to establish a perimeter around the camp facing out preparing for any sort of counter attack. At the same time members of the assault team paired up and began going back through the camp looking for survivors to finish off. They also searched bodies for information or useful equipment.
David received a report from both the assault and support teams. He was relieved that not a single one of his soldiers was even wounded. He continued to hear isolated shots and pops as his men killed the worst of the wounded and tried not to think about right or wrong. They were in enemy territory and heavily outnumbered. They couldn’t take prisoners or risk survivors revealing their existence, David told himself. It's a cruel war in a cruel world.
He began studying the north side of the camp and its approaches. David was torn between setting up a linear blocking position or a classic ambush along the main approach from the north. He decided that since survivors would be coming individually and in small groups, and considering they might not even use the normal paths, he would focus on spreading his men out in a line along the north edge. But he placed his machine guns along the main path since the majority of the survivors would likely come by that way. As he finished this thought, he saw a man out of breath frantically stumble down the path and nearly bump into David before going around him and through the camp.
No white armband.
David turned quickly and shot him twice in the back.
He yelled for his men to hustle to their new positions, leaving only a few to provide security to their rear. As his men began moving, David could already see enemy survivors coming down the path through the woods. His men were shooting them as they raced to their positions, but there were just too many. Several got through and David decided to drop back at the edge of the camp and shoot anyone who got past the line of his men.
The flood of survivors eventually slowed to a trickle and then stopped as the woods became silent. David ordered his men to remain in position and stay quiet for now. A few minutes later they heard a larger group coming down the path. David moved up along the path. His men were getting ready to let loose on the machine guns. David recognized the glint of white through the trees.
“Hold your fire, hold you fire, friendly coming in!” David shouted.
The men came running around the curve and stopped in surprise at all the dead bodies on the path, then saw the soldiers in the woods with their smoking weapons. David started to introduce himself, but he heard one of his machine gunners say, “What kept you boys.”
They all smiled in relief in that place of death...relief that it wasn’t death for them.
Chapter 9 – Betrayal
General Sampson could not understand what was happening. He was getting conflicting reports from every direction and everyone seemed to have lost their minds. He could hear fighting to his front and it was clear that either someone had initiated his attack early or, unbelievably, the JP had actually attacked him! What didn’t make sense was the sound of fighting that was coming from their rear. Sampson sent one aide after another to find out what was going on, but so far none of them had returned.
In disgust, Sampson threw down his glasses and stormed out of the tent to assess the situation himself. He saw men running in every direction. Sampson began grabbing soldiers at random as they passed. Most did not even know what they were running from, but Sampson’s harsh insistence that they get themselves under control seemed to calm them considerably.
Where are the officers of these men? asked Sampson to himself. This only proves that I'm being undermined from within. Not even my own officers can be trusted.
Sampson saw one panicky man running towards him. Unlike the others, he looked to have seen action as he was covered in dust and blood. Sampson grabbed the man by the shirt as he passed and used the soldier’s forward momentum to fling him to the ground. The man looked up in shock and some sort of sanity appeared to reassert itself.
“What do you think you’re doing, soldier?” asked Sampson gruffly.
“Sir,” said the man still out of breath as he swallowed with difficulty, “the enemy, they’re everywhere and those tanks are just rolling over everything!”
“Tanks?” asked Sampson. “How many? Where?”
“Three sir, cutting through everything!” the man said before getting up and running on again. Sampson didn’t notice. My tanks! I want them back.
Sampson saw one of his commanders packing up to leave and ordered him to plan an immediate counteroffensive with the goal of recovering the tanks. The officer looked at Sampson like he thought the general had lost his mind; but Sampson didn’t notice the look. He went on talking about crushing the JP now that they had made the mistake of standing and fighting.
This is my chance, what it has all been leading to, thought Sampson. My greatest victory was at hand.
He noticed that the men at least seemed to be running now back towards the front. But they looked just as panicked as they had been while previously running away from it. Something wasn’t right here. He started to stop another soldier when one of his aides finally returned and grabbed Sampson by the arm. Sampson promptly slapped it off furiously.
“Lieutenant, how dare you!” Sampson was outraged. “You touch me again and you’ll regret it!”
“I’m sorry, sir,” said the man suitably cowed, “but it isn’t safe for you here, we have to get you to safety!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Sampson suspiciously.
“Sir, we’re caught between forces. A large force has somehow come up behind us,” said the lieutenant breathlessly. “They are already breaking through our lines and we haven’t much time.”
“We’ve been betrayed!” said Sampson. “How else could they get in behind us?”
“Quite possibly,” admitted the man. “But please, general, we have to get you out of here. The WTR cannot risk you being caught, or heaven forbid, killed. If you are lost, all is lost for us,” the man pleaded.
This last entreaty seemed to penetrate Sampson. “Well, we can build further armies, ones that aren’t so cowardly and do not betray me. What is your plan of escape?”
“Sir,” said the lieutenant with obvious relief. “I have a squad that will take us to a car hidden on a trail over that hill there. So far, none of the enemy has come from that direction and I believ
e we can escape undetected, but only if we leave now.”
“Okay,” said Sampson convinced. “I approve your plan. Proceed.”
“Thank you, sir.” The lieutenant yelled at several soldiers nearby. They formed a circle around Sampson and the aide. They all set off at a fast walk to the west of the fighting. They proceeded for perhaps ten minutes steadily downhill through dense woods and foliage. At a clearing, the lieutenant stopped the group suddenly. The sounds of fighting were dull and distant now.
“Where is the car?” asked Sampson. “Why are we stopping?”
The lieutenant turned to face him. “It’s up ahead, but I’m afraid you’ve run out of time.”
“What do you mean?” yelled Sampson, clearly angry and frustrated. “Explain yourself!”
The lieutenant seemed totally calm and composed, the distinct opposite of his earlier behavior. Sampson had the faintest sense of unease. He looked around and saw the squad of soldiers in a circle around them facing outwards with their weapons.
The lieutenant stood looking at him silently for several seconds and Sampson was about to repeat his demand when the lieutenant spoke.
“Ethan said to tell you it wasn’t personal.”
Sampson opened his mouth to yell at the man when he raised his arm and shot Sampson in the head with his pistol. Sampson fell to the ground, gasping for air, wondering what had happened.
The lieutenant walked over and stood studying him silently, expressionlessly, before firing three quick rounds into his chest. He then gave the men a quick order and they continued on their way.
General Jeb Sampson lay in the grass dying and already forgotten.
Chapter 10 – Victory
General Anderson had to get control of the situation. He had not anticipated that the enemy would crumble so completely and so quickly. They were defeated, but the killing went on and threatened to disintegrate into mass murder. He saw that discipline and cohesion had broken down in the euphoria of victory following their earlier intense fear. The further he walked into the battlefield, the more he saw signs of executions and looting of bodies. He continued to hear the disquieting sounds of individual shots that could only mean one thing.
