by AJ Newman
Tom started to walk away as he thought about the wedding and abruptly spun around. “Bill, come here, please.”
Bill ambled over. “Yes, boss.”
Tom said, “I’m taking Deidre and her grandma with me to the other end to stay. Could you find a replacement for Paul? He’s getting married.”
Bill punched Paul on the shoulder. “You are a lucky man. Y’all go. I’ll take care of things over here. Please send Lou to replace Paul.”
***
Tom and Rick drove the ATVs back to the main living area leaving the rest to settle into their new home for the next month. He gave Deidre and her grandmother a tour of the living quarters and showed them their rooms.
Deidre’s grandmother exclaimed. “I dreaded living here when we first entered the cave, but I see you’ve done a great job making the place livable. I want you to know that I might be old, but I can still cook, clean, and work a fair day’s work to earn my keep.”
Tom gasped when he thought about Granny B sharing her kitchen with another granny. “I’ll turn you over to my grandmother, who is in charge of housekeeping and cooking. Oh, do you know anything about edible wild plants?”
She replied, “Yes, of course, I do. I was raised on a farm down in Alabama, and we had to supplement our diet with rabbits and weeds, as my daughter always told me.”
Tom grinned. “Granny B and you will get along just fine.”
Krista and Tom met later that night to discuss how to use her soldiers. Krista said, “While I’d like my girls to learn more about the drones, I think we need to be used to improve security. We have more firepower with our M4s but need more ammo. We’re only two firefights from no ammo.”
Tom replied, “We have a couple thousand rounds of .223 that will work in your M4s. We need to scavenge for more, but weapons and ammunition were scooped up by the gang from the entire area.”
Krista said, “One of my girls knows where a large supply of weapons and ammunition is located.”
Tom said, “That would be a good place to scavenge.”
Krista said, “We’d need some metal cutting tools and probably a torch.”
*
Chapter 25
The Aryan Son’s compound
The skinhead walked into the room and said. “Sir, the rumors are flying around Ashland that we’ll soon be attacking the Mendoza cartel.”
The man was tall and lean. He chewed on a pencil as he listened and then raised his arm, which was covered in NAZI swastikas, daggers, and snakes. The room was silent.
The leader spoke. “Do we know who is spreading the rumors and, more importantly, why?”
The skinhead replied, “No, we don’t know either one. My spies in Ashland say the gang is certain that we will attack them very soon and that they should attack us first.”
The leader looked around the room at his men. “Jacob, have there been any attacks on our group here or back in Klamath Falls?”
Jacob replied, “Yes, but nothing big. Several hit and run attacks on our scouts and outer defenses. They take potshots at our guys and then disappear. We had our radio direction finer team follow them several times and keep losing them. The bastards are like ghosts.”
The leader asked, “Do they speak English or Spanish?”
The man answered, “Mostly Spanish. Fluent Spanish.”
***
Carlos pounded on the tabletop. “This is bullshit! Someone is killing my men.” He flung the little arrows to the ground and said. “No one has a clue who is doing this. I’m surrounded by idiots!”
One of his men dared to stand. “These Aryans are like ghosts! They sneak in at night and kill silently. They set bombs and disappear. We’ve followed their vehicles several times, and they always lose us or blow up our chase vehicles. It’s like attacking the wind.”
Carlos drew his pistol and shot the man in the heart. The man clutched his chest and slumped to the floor. “This man didn’t deliver results. Can any of you find and kill these ghosts?”
Every one of the men said yes, but only one stood up. He said, “Sir, I will attack their outposts and rid our land of the vermin. Give me the soldiers, and I will get the job done.”
Carlos pointed at the dead man. “Take his men and kill all the Aryans.”
***
The Cave
Kate yelled, “Tom, get your butt out here, now!”
Jackie watched the monitor as her drone hovered above the ongoing battle. Tom joined them, and Jackie said, “The gang has attacked the Aryan’s outpost in the hills south of Ashland. The fighting is fierce.”
Tom watched and saw the Aryans were using their machine guns to pin the much larger group down. This negated their superior numbers and allowed the Aryan snipers to pick off anyone who reared their heads up to take a look. The battle was raging, but bullets weren’t decimating either enemy fast enough for Tom. Even though Tom was eight miles away and safe by the cave, he swore he could smell the cordite.
Tom felt the Aryans might win even though they were outnumbered three to one, thanks to their two machine guns. “Drop some bombs on the Aryan’s machine gun emplacement.”
Kate sent for Kendra and Greta before Jackie dropped her drone’s bombs. Kate’s drone arrived a few minutes later, and those bombs were used to destroy all the Aryan’s vehicles. The fight continued with approximately ten of the Aryans losing ground to forty of Mendoza’s gang members. Tom said, “Kendra, drop your bombs on the gang’s group that’s charging up the hill from Highway 5.”
Jackie and Kate gave him a confused look. Tom said, “I want the Aryans to lose, but the gang needs to be pared down. I never thought they’d field this many men. Keep bombing both until there are no Aryans and a handful of gang members. Make it look good. I want the Aryans pissed and ready to tackle Mendoza.”
Tom watched the battle as he switched from monitor to monitor. The gang member’s advance had slowed to a crawl because they thought the bombs were landmines and booby traps. Tom cringed at the devastation but cheered every time a bomb took out more of the thugs on both sides.
An hour later, the fight was over when Kendra dropped a bomb and killed the last two Aryans, and Jackie and Kate had dropped multiple bombs on the gang. A handful of gang members searched what was left of the Aryan’s outpost and found everything destroyed. The fight was over. The gang members inspected the machine guns and then tossed them aside. They gathered the small arms and ammunition before heading back to Ashland.
Tom rubbed Kate’s neck as he watched her drone monitor. “Honey, you and the others did a great job. These fools don’t have a clue they’re being played.”
Jackie heard the comments. “We need to be a bit more careful if we’re going to let thugs live after bombing them. One of them might see a bomb fall and report it back to their leader."
***
Tom had given a great deal of thought to eliminating the Aryans and Mendoza and his gang. He gave Jerry a small team to build bombs. Tom then asked Jerry to develop a more powerful bomb that could wipe out more thugs per bomb. He’d just finished talking with Jerry as Granny B and Kate waited for him. Jerry walked away, and Kate said. “Here we are trying to survive day to day but have to spend energy in developing weapons of mass destruction. It’s just like the USA and Russia in the old days trying to figure out how to more efficiently kill each other.”
Tom was surprised by Kate’s comments. “Darling, we could just ignore them or move away only to find more gangs and skinheads.”
Granny B said, “Kate’s right, but I don’t have a better solution than to kill all the cockroaches.”
Tom scratched his head and wrinkled his mouth as he thought. “Imagine what we could accomplish if we only worked on improving our lives instead of working so hard to end other people’s lives.”
Granny B said, “In hindsight, your grandpa and I should have started ranching fifty miles from the nearest city. We’re just too close to Ashland and Highway 5. The highway will be used to transport drugs, sl
aves, and armies for years before any meaningful recovery begins.”
Tom asked, “Do we need to start a focus group to determine how to rehabilitate these little angels instead of killing them?”
Kate laughed. “I know it was only wishful thinking. Kill all the criminals, drug pushers, and slavers. Kill everyone we encounter without one bit of remorse.”
***
The following week was spent watching the Aryans and Cartel exchange small attacks and getting the new people assimilated into the original team. Sam’s people were now Tom’s people, and the new crop received training in survival, gun safety, hand-to-hand combat, and a couple learned how to fly the drones.
One day the temperature rose to the seventies, and Granny B said, “This early spring weather means we need to get the fields ready to plant. Jerry and Alan have the tractors and plows ready. Could you assign a few folks to drive them?”
Tom thought for a minute. “Yes, I’ll do that. Doesn’t that mean we need to move some people back to the bunker? That’s the best place to farm.”
Granny B said, “Yes, but we also need to raise a large garden here at this cabin and put in several acres of crops at the other cabin. I don’t want to have to scrape by next winter. That reminds me, we need more canning supplies.”
Tom said, “I’ll task Jerry with watching over the plowing and Rick with scavenging more canning supplies. Anything else on your wish list?”
Granny B chuffed, “That’s all for now, sonny boy.”
Jerry walked up as Granny left Tom. “I think I have what you wanted. This gallon glass jug is filled with gasoline with Styrofoam mixed into the gas, making a poor man’s Napalm. The jug has a small explosive charge inside. My tests demonstrate that we can drop the jugs from a predetermined height and have them explode above our target, raining fire down on those below. The only negative is the detonator is actuated by the drone paying out fishing line until the bomb runs out of line. That pulls the pin to explode the bomb. A servo then releases the line. This means we’re leaving evidence behind.”
Tom thought about the new weapon. “Make a dozen or so, but can’t you use one of the radio controls to have a servo ignite the explosion?”
Jerry said, “Yes, but then we lose the servo, and it could be found. I would only use one like that if we dropped a handful of jugs with just gas to light the gas.”
Tom suddenly smiled. “What about having a servo light an emergency flare attached to a gallon of gas?”
Jerry scratched his ear. “It will work, but again the flare could be seen on the way down.”
Tom suggested, “Get with Bill, Rick, and the others to see if they have better ideas.”
*
Chapter 26
The Ranch
Tom moved half his group to the ranch to begin farming and to take care of the cattle. He’d turned the cattle over to Rick, Colt, and his brother, George. Sam gave them a couple of her group to help with the ongoing ranching duties. Rick planned to turn the work over to Colt and pushed him hard to learn all he could.
Jerry took charge of the farming while Granny B and Deidre’s grandmother took control of the gardens. Time flew quickly, since everyone worked hard to get the crops in and tend to the cattle, goats, and rabbits.
Jerry quickly trained the older kids to drive the tractor, and they thought plowing was fun for about a day or two. Jerry kept them working despite their boredom. This freed up the adults to plant the crops and perform work that is more skilled or dangerous. Quite a few trees had to be cut down to open up some fields. Jerry also taught them farm safety and equipment safety. He also trained all of them on how to drive and maintain the ATVs and golf carts.
Drones flew above the workers and scouted the area to make sure no one was watching them or about to attack. The range and flight times were steadily dropping as the batteries lost the ability to take a full charge. Tom added scavenging for drone batteries and other batteries to their list of things needed. They’d picked Ashland clean and needed to expand their search to Talent, Phoenix, and Medford.
Kate caught Tom to discuss the drone batteries. “I know you’ve noticed the drones can’t go out for as long as they did at first. We need some new batteries. I failed to mention we have to be careful when disposing of these batteries. If the case is ruptured, they can catch on fire or even explode.”
Tom listened as Kate covered the batteries but perked up when he heard they could explode or start fires. “Babe, can we use them to make bombs or start fires?”
Kate giggled. “Hmmm, sex and blowing crap up always gets your attention.”
He said, “So, what’s your point?”
Kate answered, “Yes, they could be bombs, but they’d make better detonators for large napalm or gasoline bombs. They kinda explode, but it’s more like a pile of gunpowder flashing when lit. I don’t know what would happen if you contained the lithium polyvinyl when it’s exposed to air. Anyway, I’ll save the bad ones for you.”
Tom said, “Thanks. I guess the short story is you need some new batteries.”
***
Jackie’s eyes were tired from watching the screen and turned the monitor over to Kendra. “Your turn. A small group of gang members patrolled each of the cities, but only Ashland has the full complement of guards and patrols. No one has noticed our band of merry scavengers.”
Jackie then called Tom, “All clear.”
The night was cooler than it had been earlier in the week, and Tom could see his breath. He had been scanning the area before crossing the street in Medford. The RC and Drone - Hobby and Professional Shop was across the road and was their first target. Tom heard the radio and answered, “We’re good.”
Tom took Colt, Greta, Krista, Paul, and George on the scavenging trip to the cities north of Ashland. They’d asked everyone if they knew of anyone who sold or used drones and came up with an extensive list of hobby shops, survey companies, law enforcement, and inspection companies. The hobby shop was first on the list. The second was a company that used drones to inspect crops, powerlines and pipelines, and storm damage for its customers.
Instead of leading the way, Tom said, “Colt, use your training to cross the street, check the building, and signal for us to join you or be ready for a fight. Greta and Kendra will hold back and provide cover fire for our exfiltration if needed.”
Colt checked his weapons and magazines. “I’m ready.”
He ran across the street while looking in all directions and then ducked into the shop’s entrance. He peered through the door for a few minutes and then signaled for the others to join him. George pulled their collapsible cart as Tom and Krista walked behind him, watching for any danger.
Colt used the glasscutter to cut a hole in the door’s glass and unlocked the door. He used his knife to separate the sliding glass doors and then pushed them apart. Tom held one door, and Colt had the other as George pulled the cart into the building.
Obviously, someone had broken into the building using the back door, but the place was relatively untouched. Most of the inventory was the smaller, cheaper drones and RC planes, cars, and boats. However, several professional drones and large, expensive aircraft, helicopters, and professional drones were displayed.
Tom used the camera and audio system from one of their smaller drones to show Kate and Jackie the different items. They wanted all the drones, helicopters, and airplanes plus every Ni-Cad and lithium polyvinyl battery in the shop.
Tom said, “Whoa, slow down a bit! We’ll need a farm truck to haul all this stuff away. The pickup and trailer are too small. We’ll haul this to our camp and load as much as possible in the pickup. Your driver can take it back while we load the farm truck. I’m grabbing some of the better RC cars for a pet project.”
Kate said, “Now, just concentrate on the large drones and batteries. We can use a lot of smaller batteries to power emergency lights and other small electrical equipment. Remember to find some of the rechargeable batteries for our flashlights, red do
t scopes, and other equipment.”
Tom signaled George to join them to help carry the booty back to their camp. They carefully stacked the two large drones on the cart after filling the bottom with drone and RC battery boxes. Then they secured several kits to build a half dozen medium-sized drones. After filling the cart, they loaded their empty backpacks with as many batteries as they could fit in the bags. A quick check with Kendra and Greta before crossing the street, and they were on their way back to their camp on the southeast side of Medford at an abandoned farmhouse.
They were only a half-mile from the camp when Krista whispered to Tom. “Someone’s following us. I saw a shadow cross that last road just after we did. I thought it was a dog at first, but it was a woman.”
Tom started to speak, but Krista said, “I’ll peel off when we go past the corner of the building up ahead and come in behind them. You peel off and block their way. We’ll ambush them.”
Tom said, “I know they’ve been following us for a couple of blocks. Kate radioed and told me.”
Krista faded into the dark. She ran down a block and came in behind the one’s trailing them. Tom ducked into an open door and saw the small group approaching him. They were too noisy, and he was surprised they’d not heard them sooner. Before he could react, three shadowy figures leaped out from the darkness, and the four gang members laid on the street, dead.
Tom wanted to disappear into the night and leave these people alone when he heard Krista’s voice. “Gil, is that you? This is Krista.”
The three men whirled around toward the voice. One of them said, “I’m Gil. I thought you were dead.”
Krista stepped out into the weak moonlight. “I’m alive. I was saved by a man from a group of survivors.”
