by AJ Newman
“Huh? She told me she gave them directions and instructions to make the move if she didn’t return from the last operation. How did you hear that?”
“Lucy just told me, and she clearly thought they’d just moved in the last few days.”
Tom’s head shook. “How did she communicate with them? Is she lying or lying about lying to us? It seems like most of what she says is to cover up other lies.”
Kate bit her lip and rubbed her hands together. “Perhaps we need to write a timeline that has everything we know about her. I’m wondering if she’s on our side or her ex-lover, Carlos.”
Tom said, “I’m sending for Granny, Bill, and Greta. We need their input.”
***
Tom had filled everyone in on the situation with Sam and her dishonesty. About half of the people didn’t know Sam very well, and some had never seen her until she came back. The consensus was no one wanted to trust her and that she had to be supervised while staying with them.
Tom didn’t like what he heard, but the evidence supported the lack of trust. “I agree, and I’ll make assignments. What’s your opinion about bringing her people into the Community? I don’t want them to know about the cave or ranch.”
Bill said, “We need to place them at the cabin by the cave. They don’t know about the Community, and Sam will probably tell them about the cave.”
Granny B said, “Sam was gone when we started going to the cave. Lucy has never been to the cave. Sam would only be guessing its location, and even then, she probably couldn’t find it without one of us taking them there.”
Tom agreed with his grandmother. “She’s right. It can’t be the cave. It has to be our location of last resort. What doesn’t make sense is why Sam wants to move her people so far from her target, Carlos? I think we set them up somewhere besides our existing camps.”
Everyone agreed, and that made Bill happy. He caught Tom and said, “We have some great people at the Community. I’d hate to see them hurt by something stupid that Sam and her people do.”
Tom replied, “I’ll talk with Sam and see why those people are this far from Ashland.”
Granny B stepped up to Tom. “Rick called over the walkie-talkie. He reported that the lazy group had gone home.”
“Great, they only pretended to search for survivors. I hope Carlos doesn’t find out.”
Granny B said, “Tom, I can spit farther than I’d trust Sam or Lucy.”
***
“Sam, bringing these people up here in the hills doesn’t make sense if you plan to attack Ashland. Besides, I’ll not allow attacks to originate from our home base. Come clean now. What’s your plan?”
Sam didn’t immediately answer and then said, “These aren’t the fighters. They’re a mixture of wounded, old, women, and children. I’d hoped you would take them into the ranch, just like you’ve done with others.”
“Sam, why didn’t you ask before bringing them up here? Do any of them know the location of the ranch?”
Sam looked up. “No. I just told them directions to the area where they had camped. I would never expose our people to any danger.”
“And yet, the gang could have followed them up here.”
“I told them to be careful and not come if anyone followed them.”
Tom was frustrated because he didn’t think he was hearing the truth or maybe all of the facts. “So, these people near us would never have contact with the fighters?”
Sam shifted on the bed. “Yes, they’d come back and forth. They need to rest at a safe place away from the war in Ashland and to see their families.”
Tom said, “That can’t happen. Eventually, someone would follow them or see their tracks. You’re going to help us get them moved to a safe place away from here.”
“I promised them a safe place to hide.”
“Then you’d better get your butt in gear and help find a place for them to hide. It will not be here. Do you understand me?”
Tears came flooding down her cheeks, and she sobbed something unintelligible. Then she said, “Tom, I still love you and want you to want me again.”
“Sam, I’m married to the woman of my dreams, and that will never happen. Now stop the tears and get ready to travel tomorrow morning. I have a team scouting the area east of Ashland for a suitable place for your people. I hope you know that if you didn’t plan to continue the attacks, we might have been able to take your people in. But the safety of my people is my primary goal.”
The tears stopped. “We’ll stop the attacks if you’ll take them into the ranch.”
“Sam, Sam! You’re to the point of lying to me to get what you want! No! That won’t work! I don’t trust them to stop and become a part of our group.”
***
Tom played the recording of his conversation with Sam to Kate, Granny B, Jackie, and Rick. Granny B laughed, “I’m surprised she didn’t try to take her clothes off and …”
Kate interrupted. “I’ve heard enough to throw her butt into the pit at the cave. The lying bitch will say or do anything to get what she wants.”
Tom placed his arm over Kate’s shoulder, being careful not to touch her ribs. “I agree. She’ll do anything to get that group up here with us. Her explanation didn’t hold water. What the hell is her motive?”
Jackie said, “She knew where the ranch is and could have betrayed us at any time. I know she had a relationship with Carlos, but this is something else. I think we need a team to go to their camp and see what her so-called people have to say. We might learn something useful.”
“That’s a great idea. Kate and Jackie will use the drones today to scout the area east of Ashland to find a likely hiding spot for Sam’s group. Perhaps Jackie, Greta, and June need to be the talkers while Jack and Rick go along for muscle. Sam will introduce them, and then go with Jerry and me on down to the area east of Ashland.”
*
Chapter 27
The Ranch and the vigilante’s camp.
Kate and Tom kept both drones in the air for several hours. They only brought a drone back to change batteries or let Jerry try fitting the gun cradle or bomb rack on one of the twin drones. Sam had given them the current location of the vigilante fighters, and they used that as a starting point for finding a safe home base for the rest of Sam’s group.
After several hours of searching, they found a good site for Sam’s group. It was about five miles up Dead Indian Road and then another three miles west on the curvy Shale City Road. There were several abandoned houses and a couple of barns within a couple hundred yards of each other. Tom asked Jack to set up a couple of the farm trucks to haul them to the location.
Tom looked at his wife, who had her eyes glued to her drone’s monitor. “We found a good site for Sam’s people. Now, let’s fly the drones back to the vigilantes and see what they’re doing.”
The vigilantes operated out of an abandoned ranch about a mile north of Ashland and another half mile east off Dead Indian Road. Tom was surprised the gang’s raiding party hadn’t found them already. “They’re too close to Ashland to have that much movement during daylight hours.”
Kate said, “That looks more like a mansion than a farmhouse, but there are tractors, barns, and farm implements in the sheds. Crap! Look at the women and children sunning themselves around the pool. It’s too damn cold to swim, but they act like they’re on vacation.”
Tom’s drone was circling the area in a wide arc around the place. “Oh! Shit! A small convoy just turned off Dead Indian Road heading their way. How can we warn them?”
“We can warn them, but we risk losing a drone. I’ll fly down to them, land, and use the speaker to tell them of the attack.”
Tom frowned and flexed his fingers. “They might shoot the drone. Give it a try. I’ll move closer to see what they do.”
Kate swooped down to treetop level a hundred yards from the house and then moved closer until the drone was spotted. She landed the drone and began speaking. “The gang is coming! Get away fast. Go!
”
The men looked at the drone, and one raised his rifle. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes! Sam sent me! Getaway now. Three truckloads of men are only a mile away. Go! Now!”
That caught their attention, and several trucks and Jeeps came pouring out of the barn. People dropped everything and jumped into the vehicles and left. The vehicles headed up the hills into the forest. About ten men stayed behind to give the others time to get away.
Kate took the drone back up to a thousand feet, in time to see an explosion throw the gang’s lead vehicle up into the air in a huge fireball. The other two tried to go around the explosion when Tom saw the trucks lurch to a stop as they were ripped apart by heavy machine gunfire. The windows shattered, and chunks of metal flew through the air.
Tom watched closely and saw the men fire RPGs toward the remaining trucks. The other two exploded similarly, with bodies and flaming fuel spread around the area. Several men survived, but were covered in burning gasoline. They dropped after a few steps when a machine gun cut them down.
The vigilantes waved their weapons in the air and danced around in celebration.
Tom called out to Kate. “These vigilantes just wiped out thirty to forty gang members in less than a minute. They have SAWs, RPGs, and at least one heavy machine gun. I’m landing and going to tell them where their new camp is located.”
Tom lowered the drone down beside the ongoing celebration. The men abruptly stopped and stared at the drone. He cut the engines and spoke over the speaker. “I’m Tom, and Sam asked me to scout for a new base camp for your group. We’re moving the rest of your party there later this week. Speak, and I can hear you.”
“Why should we trust you?”
Tom chuckled. “I could not have warned you and let them kill or capture you.”
The same man spoke. “You didn’t do squat. We set a trap for Mendoza’s men and left bread crumbs so they could find us. You arrived just as we were springing the trap. I had a spotter down at Dead Indian Road with a walkie-talkie. He told us they were coming just as you landed the first time.”
Tom said, “Good for you. I’m glad your group is much better organized than you appeared to be. Now, back to business. We have drones covering the entire area. We know where you are and can easily follow you at a safe distance. Sam asked us to find a new base camp for you. We can just as easily leave you alone. Your choice, but your leader, Sam, might be pissed.”
The man growled. “Sam isn’t our leader. I’m the leader of the group. She abandoned us.”
Tom raised his voice. “Sam was shot during her last assignment, and we’ve been helping her recover. I can let her speak to you in about fifteen minutes.”
The man said, “Sam told us that her other group would take our old, sick, and wounded in and care for them. What have you done with them?”
“Nothing, and we don’t plan to take in your problems, so you can run around the country stirring up shit. We’re moving them to your new base camp and leaving them with the medical supplies we can afford to lose. We are trying to survive ourselves. I’ll talk with Sam and see where she got that crazy notion,” Tom said.
“Yes, we need to speak with Sam!”
Tom said, “Go to Shale City Road, and go until one of our drones signals for you to stop.”
***
Sam’s crimson cheeks, her glare, and balled up fists told Tom that she might have been a bit upset. He didn’t give a crap. “Sam, let’s get this straight. I’m in charge of this group, and I call the shots. You are a team member and will follow orders. I didn’t need your permission to contact the vigilantes. You had no authority to tell them that we’d take in all their problem children and elderly. Now, put your boots and jacket on. You’re going to tell your friends to travel to their new base camp. Then we’re going to transport the sick and elderly over to that camp. Then we’re all done with them.”
“Tom, you and your family are such good people. I was sure you’d take these needy people into your hearts.”
“Sam, stop the crap! We can’t feed and take care of these people! We need people to join us who can work and help grow food and hunt! This is over twenty people, not a couple of women and children!” Tom shouted.
Sam came out of her room and followed Tom to where Kate watched the vigilantes on her monitor. They had stopped only a mile south of their new home. Tom showed Sam how to speak into the drone’s microphone and motioned for her to talk.
“Greg, this is me, Sam. I’m glad everyone survived the attack. Did you booby-trap the home, barn, and equipment as I instructed?”
“Yes, there should be several explosions that can be heard for ten miles any time now. We know Mendoza’s leaders monitor the gang’s walkie-talkie transmissions. We gave the last couple of trucks time to report the attack. Why are you coming back?”
Sam said, “Great! Good job on the ambush! Greg, the people voted me to be their leader. Until I hear different. I’m still their leader.”
Greg mumbled something under his breath. “If you come back here, you’ll be just a follower and not a leader. No one trusts you now that you’re with this new group. How do we know that you’re not working for Mendoza? Goodbye, and tell your drone buddies that we’ll start shooting them down in five minutes.”
The drone’s motors whirred and the drone shot up to a thousand feet in less than a minute. Tom looked at Sam and saw tears forming in her eyes. He thought these were real tears, but didn’t know for sure.
Sam raged on, cursing and kicking her chair. “They throw me out? After all, I did for them! The bastards just used me to take care of their sick and wounded. I hate them!”
The crying and rage stopped. Sam looked from Kate to Tom. “I guess you’re stuck with me, and I learned a good lesson today.”
Kate kept the drone watching the vehicles below. “What do we do with the vigilantes’ people that are five miles from here?”
Tom gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve. “Nothing! Not a damn thing. They were abandoned by their group because their leaders would rather attack Mendoza than take care of their own wounded, grandmothers, and grandfathers. We can’t help everyone and certainly won’t help those who won’t take care of their own. Kate, keep them under surveillance. Sam, go back to your room!”
Tom waited until Sam disappeared and fetched a box from the barn. He attached the metal carriage below the drone and tried the servo actuation button. “It works!”
A few minutes later, Tom’s drone was high above the vigilantes who’d found their new base camp. Tom used the camera to aim and touched the servo activation button. The can dropped, and the red streamer unfurled behind it. The can hit the roof of the home and rattled to the ground. Tom saw a man run out of the house and pick the can up from the ground. He twisted the top off and read the note, which said, ‘If you shoot a drone, the next things we’ll drop will be bombs. Go fetch your own people and take them with you. We won’t feed or care for them.’
The man looked up and shook his fist at the sky. Tom moved the drone a short distance from over the man and released over fifty large, sharpened nails that had fins glued to their ends. The nails spread out and peppered the ground in front of the man. The man turned so quickly, he fell. He crawled a bit, then jumped up, running into the home, and didn’t come back out. Kate and Tom took turns buzzing the house while the other watched from above the home. A door opened, and two men walked out and spread a sheet on the ground. The writing on the sheet read, ‘We agree, just leave us alone.’
Tom and Kate watched over the area until they were confident the group had no plans to try to attack the ranch. The group who was camped a few miles from the ranch walked away the next day. Tom taught Jerry and Doris how to fly the drones, and they helped Kate and Tom keep an eye on the area for threats. Tom cut back the flights after two days to keep from killing the batteries too soon. He knew the drones were now a big part of their survival plan.
Tom worked with Jerry and Granny B to develop bomb
s and attach a couple of .22 caliber semi-automatic pistols to the drones. It took practice, but Tom and several others could drop a bomb from five-hundred feet and hit a twenty-foot circle ninety percent of the time. They’d also attached a bomb rack to the huge police drone. The RMS Police LEO 2200s could lift fifty pounds, but lost half of their flight time. They were formidable weapons, even with the crude bombs.
Jerry had a dozen bombs made the next day. He only had a couple dozen sticks of dynamite that Granny B had scrounged from her stash at the cave. He decided to save them and made the bombs with gunpowder. He cut the nipples from several empty CO2 metal cases and left a hole just the right size to insert an empty unfired .22 shell. The rim kept the shell from sliding into the CO2 casing. Then, he devised a method to have a nail become the hammer to set the bomb off on impact.
A bunch of small nails and some duct tape were applied to the CO2 cartridge, and Jerry now had some small bombs. “Tom, take a look at these. They only weigh about two pounds, but will cause a lot of misery. I didn’t build them to kill, but they’ll wound anyone within fifty feet and maybe further. I’ll make up some using the dynamite sticks that will take out anyone within fifty to a hundred feet. Now, those will weigh three to five pounds.”
Tom looked at the bombs and then back at Jerry. “Go ahead and make ten of the larger bombs. I need one of each tomorrow morning. I plan to test them on a target. I don’t want to get into a fight and find out they don’t work.”
Jerry laughed, “Watch this.”
He picked up a bomb from under the workbench and tossed it up in the air.
Tom yelled, “bomb!” and hit the dirt. Granny B was walking past the barn and dove for the ground. Unfortunately, she landed in a pile of horse apples. The bomb hit the ground, and the explosion was underwhelming. There was only a weak pop.
