Fire From the Sky: Firestorm

by N. C. Reed

  Two observation emplacements, one at each end of the settlement, were carefully situated in lightly wooded areas with moderate underbrush to help hide their locations, and covered with leaves, small branches and even pine saplings which would grow quickly, assuming they got the chance. Clear fields of fire were carefully constructed around each one to allow the best compromise between being hard to spot and being useful in defense of the farm.

  Around the homes and buildings themselves, larger emplacements were constructed to provide a more powerful position from which to defend the critical areas of the farm. These larger positions would support heavier equipment if needed and designed to be emplacements that would be manned in any and all emergencies. The first, known as Sentry One, was to the east of the Troy house and would the extreme flank of the defensive line. The second was located in front of Building Two, forward of the concrete pad and paved drive. The third was placed closer to the road, lying in front of the Sanders' collective home sites.

  A fourth emplacement was east of the cabins, across the road from the farm, with the final strong point to the west of the cabin site.

  Two more strong points were placed behind the Sanders homes and the buildings at the Troy farm, to cover any attempt to attack the farm houses from the rear.

  The bunker itself consisted of one semi-trailer under an earth covered log ceiling, sided with a log lined living area that would accommodate all of the noncombatants of the farm in reasonably comfortable conditions. A similar bunker, absent the trailer and munitions, was built actually inside the small square of cabins in the cabin area. That had required some careful work with the backhoe and a lot of work had to be done by hand to prevent damaging any of the work already done. The final result was a good, strong cellar to provide protection from an attack or a tornado if necessary.

  While no one was completely satisfied with how things turned out, no one was completely unhappy with them, either. As in any compromise, there were a few things everyone liked, and a few that no one liked. But with the constraints they operated under, the end result was far better than most anyone had expected.

  The next step was harder.

  -

  “We need force multipliers and enhancers,” Clay told the crew assembled before him, which included all of the military trained people, Greg Holloway included, the Duo and their Minions, Jake Sidell, Ronny Tillman and Abigail Sanders. They were the people doing most of the actual work on shoring up the defenses.

  “The easiest way is to plant mines, but that's a problem,” Clay said.

  “Too many kids,” Jose stated and Clay nodded.

  “Got it in one,” he agreed. “Plus, now we have dogs that are going to roam and want to investigate everything and we may get the occasional escaped livestock. Bottom line is for all these reasons and more, things like the M18s are out except for command detonation, and even that will require them be strung up in trees or something similar and the wires run back to an emplacement or maybe some central location. Meanwhile, what can we do?”

  “Why can't you just use a remote detonator?” Jonathon asked. “We used them on Airsoft Claymores when I was playing back in Dallas.”

  “Really?” Deuce asked, eyebrows raised. “Awesome!”

  “We brought s-” Jonathon started to say.

  “This isn't Airsoft, and we aren't playing,” Clay brought their attention back to the problem at hand. “And remote detonation is tricky, not to mention it isn't something the real thing is designed for. On top of that we have far too many radios working around here to risk trying something like that.”

  “What are you using them for?” Leanne asked.

  “I just said 'force multipliers and enhancers',” Clay's tone was just short of being sharp.

  “Well, duh,” Leanne shot back. “I mean, what are you going to do with them? Where will you be using them and under what circumstances? Knowing that would help us figure a way to place them so that you could set them off on command, even by wire. If nothing else we make a chart of where each mine is, assign it a number, and then it can be activated from a central location. People in the field can call in a request for a mine to be blown, or we can place them with cameras and people on watch can detonate them if a threat appears. Assuming it can be done,” she qualified. She didn't really know anything about mines, after all.

  “Oh,” Clay tried to hide his discomfort at being one-upped by his youngest niece. “That could work,” he admitted. “But that's going to use a lot of wire,” he pointed out.

  “That would be our only weakness,” Leanne agreed.

  “We're wasting a lot of daylight here,” Jose Juarez stood up. “Boss, let them,” he pointed to the Duo and Minions, “figure out how to get this to work while we start placing cameras and running wires. We've also got more holes to dig and line as soon as we've got more logs. We can always talk this over when the sun goes down.”

  “Right,” Clay nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s get to work. And guys,” he looked at his niece and nephew, “don't bunch up on this one problem. If you come up with anything for the cameras, early warning or anything else, one of you can rough that idea out while the others stay on this. Right?”

  “Right,” the two nodded in unison.

  “Then let’s get at it.”

  -

  “Don't you have work to do?”

  “I am working,” Gordy told Samantha with a grin.

  “So, I'm work now?” a blond eyebrow rose in what he hoped was mock annoyance. He felt reasonably sure that it was fake, anyway. Gordy and Samantha had spent a great deal of time together in the last week, though their time together for the past three days had been sharply curtailed. As soon as work had slowed, however, Gordy had taken the opportunity to do something that, in his opinion, badly needed doing.

  Samantha Walters needed to learn to use a handgun.

  The truth was that she was an outstanding rifle shot, a better than average skeet shooter and could even handle a bow with a goodly amount of skill. But had never bothered to so much as touch a handgun in her life. Before the lights went out she had led a very busy life and used her rare free time for other hobbies. While she hunted with her father and had taken her share of game, she had done that without seeing a need for a pistol. Now, she could see it.

  “You are a ton of work,” Gordy nodded seriously. “But you're worth it,” he added with a grin that made the small blonde flush. Impulsively she stood on her tip toes and kissed him briefly on the lips, gone again before he could react.

  “Now that's less like work,” he laughed and she joined him before the two turned serious again.

  “This is a Springfield XD-S, chambered for nine millimeter,” he told her. “It's on the small side, made for concealed carry. That's not really an issue anymore, but it's still a good choice for someone with cute little hands like yours,” he winked, and was rewarded with another blush.

  “Seriously, your hands are smaller and this should suit you better than the larger model,” he patted the XD(M) on his own belt. “Still fires the same round but allows better control for smaller hands. Also, since you are less likely to need it other than for close in self-defense, it reduces the weight you have to carry around. The single stack extended grip magazine carried nine rounds, and I've got you two more to go with it,” he nodded to the small table he had set up at the range.

  “This is a nylon holster and a magazine carrier that will fit on your belt or a larger gear belt if you want,” he moved to the next item. “And this carrier has a pouch behind it,” he demonstrated, “that can hold a fixed blade knife or other tool, and another pouch on the front that can carry a folding knife or a multi-tool like your Leatherman tool.”

  “Sweet,” Samantha nodded.

  “Okay, not all of this will be new to you, but I’ll start from the beginning just to cover all the bases. Take a mag-”

  -

  “. . .and squeeze,” Gordy almost whispered. Samantha did as instructed and was r
ewarded with a metallic ping as the round struck the small target.

  “Now, reload with two rounds,” Gordy told her, already loading an empty magazine with just two rounds.

  “Isn't this a little slow?” she asked even as she complied.

  “You’ll see,” he promised. “Okay, back on the line. . .”

  -

  “Fire!”

  Samantha's hand dropped to her handgun and pulled it free of the holster in one fluid move, firing one round even as she raised the small handgun to eye level. She immediately fired another round at the same target before switching to another. Two more rounds and she move to another and so on until the slide locked back.

  Without hesitation she dropped the magazine from the well even as he left hand drew a fresh one from her belt. Slamming the loaded magazine home, she dropped the slide and resumed firing, this time at different targets. Behind her, Gordy nodded in approval and she continued until she had exhausted all three magazines.

  “Not bad at all,” he nodded encouragingly. “Let’s go take a look.” The two ventured to the target line and began counting holes. All but one round had found a seven-ring or better.

  “One flier,” Gordy told her, pointing to the first target she had engaged.

  “Probably my first shot,” Samantha sighed. “I doubt I’ll ever get that down.”

  “This was just your first time, Sam,” Gordy pointed out. “Don't forget that. You’ll get better with time and practice. But I think for today we've had enough. Let me show you how to take your pistol down and clean it. Once you can do the disassembly and reassembly you are good to go!”

  “I really appreciate this, Gordy,” Samantha said quietly. “If I had done this earlier, and then gotten a permit I might not have been in trouble.”

  “Everything happens for a reason,” Gordy shrugged. “That's what my grandmother says, anyway. Sometimes I'd like to choke her when she says it, but that's just usually when I didn't want something to happen,” he chuckled.

  “I've been known to say that myself,” she nodded. “But I'm not going to let that happen again.”

  “I promise you it won't,” Gordy told her solidly. “Ever.”

  “Ever is a long time,” Sam reminded him.

  “Well, I'm young, so I've got time,” he grinned and she laughed in spite of herself.

  “Come on, we're wasting good daylight and others need the range this afternoon,” Gordy told her, holding out his arm. She fell under it at once, allowing him to wrap her small frame in his arm and guide her back to continue her learning.

  She would not be a victim again.

  -

  “You don't want to be a victim, then you had better get this down and pat,” Nate Caudell said to the assembly standing before him at the range. “You know what all has happened since this began. There's no reason to think it won't get worse. If nothing else, that bunch the other day has friends that will come calling soon enough, looking for their buddies. And don't think for an instant that they won't look at all we've built here and start licking their lips. You want to protect your homes and families, this is where it starts.”

  His 'students' nodded grimly at that. Good. They understood what was at risk. That was a good start.

  “All right. Team One will be defense this go around and Team Two will attack. Get to your places. Team leaders have ten minutes to work out your strategies and then I will sound the horn,” he gestured with the PA horn he was carrying. “Move!”

  –

  “Everywhere you felt a pellet hit you would have been a bullet wound!” Caudell yelled to the reassembled group thirty minutes later. “We chose these 'toys' as I heard one of you call them because they're as realistic as we can get without using the real thing. The only thing wrong with it is that failure doesn't hurt! Real failure hurts, people!”

  “Do it again! This time Team Two defends! Team Leaders have ten minutes! Move!”

  –

  “None of you want to live, do you?” Caudell's voice was biting as he once more looked at the assembled trainees. “All that work during the winter and this is the best you can manage? Out of thirty, I see five, maybe six that wouldn't be dead in the first five minutes against even the most basically trained people if they used good discipline.” He shook his head as he sat the bullhorn down and sat down on the folding chair in front of them.

  “We're not soldiers you know,” one of the Webb boys said. He wasn't surly or even angry, just making a point.

  “No, and I'm not working you like soldiers, either,” Nate agreed. “All of this,” he waved his arms to encompass the training area, “is meant to do only one thing, and that's to make sure you guys can take care of yourselves and each other. To protect your homes, and your families.”

  “You guys have been doing that pretty well so far,” Marcy George shrugged.

  “And what happens if we aren't here?” Nate seized on that. “Sometimes we have to leave to do things off the farm. We try to limit it, but we still have to go sometimes. What happens when another bunch like the last rolls in here to shake the farm down while we're gone?”

  The teen didn't have a reply to that and no one else did either.

  “This is nothing you haven't been told before,” Nate reminded them. “And it's not like you haven't been taught the basics. You should be able to fight from a fortification and do fine, but so far you can't even defeat each other, let alone an actual attacking force with even the slightest training.”

  “How realistic is this, though?” Abby asked, keeping her voice as neutral as possible. She had only just been allowed to rejoin things like this and she was careful not to make waves. “I mean, you guys are pros. How likely is it that we're going to have to face someone as good as you guys are in numbers like this?” she waved to the group.

  “Numbers?” Nate looked aghast. “You think numbers wins anything? In a war like this? Numbers are nothing. Nothing!” he emphasized. “I could use Gordy and the others and take down all of you in less than ten minutes. Fifteen at most!”

  Seeing the doubt on the assembled faces, Nate reached for his radio.

  –

  “You guys embarrass me and I'll kill you,” Nate warned as Gordy and his friends geared up with the Airsoft gear that Nate and the others had brought with them for training sessions like this one.

  “We'll protect your virtue, ma'am,” Titus smirked, then ducked as Nate took a swing at his head.

  “Take this seriously,” Nate warned. “This bunch are sliding through all of this like it's just another chore they have to do around here. That will end up getting them killed sooner or later. I need them to focus. I need them to buckle down and see how bad things can be.”

  “All right, all right,” Gordy nodded. “You guys steady up. This is serious. Besides, we can't let ourselves be embarrassed here.”

  A chorus of agreements met him. He looked at Nate.

  “We're ready.”

  –

  “You have to defend this bunker, the barn, and those two outbuildings,” Nate pointed to the structures in question. “If you lose even one, you lose the engagement. Lose them all, and you can consider yourselves dead. You have five minutes from the sound of the siren to make your plans and take your places. After that, we let loose the dogs.”

  Abigail looked around at the rest.

  “We have to win if we want to be taken seriously,” she warned. “Right now, they're laughing at us. We outnumber Gordy and the others five to one. We have to be able to do this.”

  “What do you think we should do, then?” Micah Webb asked as the siren sounded.

  “We have to have someone at each building,” Abby noted. “The barn actually lies in the middle and can cover the rest. We use it as a strong point and to provide support for the other positions. Five people at each of the other buildings, the rest centered on the barn, with at least five of those in the loft. I'd suggest it being our best shots.”

  They barely managed to get their plan t
ogether when the siren sounds again, signifying the start of the scenario.

  –

  “Looks like Abby took a hand in planning this,” Gordy mused, observing the layout through a small pair of binoculars. “Okay, it looks like they've made the barn their strong point. We can save it for last or take it first. Suggestions?”

  “Taking out the barn makes sense, but it's going to be hard to get to with the other positions intact,” Kade mentioned, still looking.

  “Bunker's a hard point, man,” Titus Terry said softly. “Hard to get to, and harder to get inside. All we have to do to win is take one building, so the question really is do we want to just win, or do we want to overpower them completely.”

  “Nate wants us to overpower them,” Gordy said. “He's counting on us being able to take it all, to wake them up to what they may be facing.”

  “They do have a point, though,” Zach said. “What are the odds that they end up facing someone like your uncle and the others?”

  “What were the odds that the sun would sneeze on us and destroy the world?” Corey asked.

  “Okay, I give you that,” Zach nodded. “So, what's the plan, Boss?” he looked at Gordy.

  “Look at this. . . .”

  –

  Abby scanned the area behind the barn again with her binoculars. She was determined not to be taken by surprise. She might lose, but it wouldn't be because she wasn't loo-

  She looked down as she felt something hit her chest and saw a small red ball bouncing off the floor of the loft.

  “Son-of-a-bitch,” she swore bitterly as she realized she'd just been eliminated. She stepped to one side and laid down, all she could do under the rules. They would have to notice she was down rather than her announce it.

  She hated her life sometimes.

  –

  Gordy had waited for twenty minutes before beginning his attack. While Nate had said that Gordy and his 'crew' could undo the others in fifteen minutes, no time limit had been set for this particular exercise and taking their time would make their 'enemy' antsy and anxious. Once they had begun, he had Heath start things off.