“Good, I’m Renee, and this is Brendan. So… what exactly in the fuck is going on?” Renee said with her hands on her hips, as if this is all Ian’s fault.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just a security specialist who is rolling with the punches as best as I can.”
“So you’re not military?”
“Nope, haven’t been for many years.” Ian hoped he could turn this conversation in the direction he needed it to go.
“Then what are you doing here picking a fight with an army?” Brendan asked.
“Well, I’m an American. As an American, I don’t think some dictator should own my ass simply because he can kill all my family and friends,” Ian said and watched their reactions. Neither moved, but there was something behind their inaction that said they agreed.
“I want these bastards to know that the worst thing they could have ever decided to do, is fuck with me and mine,” Ian continued. “I left Phoenix three days ago ago. The North Koreans have already moved into the airport and claimed it as their own. They found little resistance and have brought in major military equipment and personnel with the intent of killing the rest of those who survived the initial infection, and now they are here.”
“So it’s true then? Phoenix is under attack?” Brendan asked.
“It is true. Have you heard the broadcasts or seen any emails?”
“Broadcasts through ham operators. I don’t know anything about any emails,” Brendan replied.
Ian waited as Renee looked as if she had something to say.
“We heard about some emails from an operator down south. Something about a map?”
“Yup, this map right here.” Ian handed them a copy that he had. “It looks like you have three marks on it in this area. Where we are is a major weapons and air supply depot, and this one we know to be fuel and nonperishables. What this spot is, we don’t know yet.
“Now, I have two others with me, and we are prepared to fight to the death to keep them from this facility. And if that isn’t enough, we will destroy it completely before we die.”
“Dedicated, aren’t you?” Brendan said.
“What else is there? Everything we have ever owned, worked for, loved or possessed in any way was stolen from us by these bastards. I couldn’t live with myself if I were to just roll over and let it happen without a fight. I have literally seen millions of people murdered in the last few weeks… someone has to pay. They have millions of pounds of flesh that belongs to me, and I aim to get it.”
“I agree, someone has to stop them and make them pay. You mentioned something about scientists?”
“Yeah, this will blow you away. We caught some back in Phoenix and extracted some intel. They had been planning this for so long that they even have a plan as to how they can shut down our nuke plants and refineries so they don’t damage their new homestead.” Ian paused to let it settle a bit. “However, the problem is, we have to let them do it.”
“Are you insane? I am not letting any of these bastards go,” Renee said, heated, but Brendan looked as if he was contemplating it a bit more.
“If we don’t let them shut down facilities, we will lose half the country to radiation and billowing smoke from untended refineries. I don’t even know how they have survived this long without major damage.”
“How do you know so much about them?” Brendan asked with more than a little concern.
Ian stared at him, stunned by this comment that bordered on accusation. “What? Didn’t you just hear me say that we caught some of them back in Phoenix and interrogated them?”
“We’ve heard a lot of things, but nothing we can prove or that we consider reliable,” Renee replied.
“Until today. We have about an hour until the scheduled meeting, so let me fill you in with everything I know, and we’ll go from there, all right?”
Ian proceeded to spend the next half hour relaying the details of his journey so far and how he acquired the list, as well as his journey through Phoenix, until they finally made it to Albuquerque as they make their way to Washington D.C. They stopped at the facility only to re-supply and possibly establish contact with survivors and lead them to the base.
“Then you bring an army right to our doorstep,” Brendan said.
“Me? I didn’t bring them. This shit is completely out of my hands, and all I can do is react to whatever happens.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” Renee asked.
“I don’t know that either. It’s not my home, and I am not with the military. Me and my people will die before we let them get to their supplies, but that is regardless of what you choose. I want to kill every one of those fuckers coming my way,” Ian said and waited for them to say something.
He watched as military vehicles started to fill up the open area below the hill where they were meeting. He had nothing more to say, other than to wait for the Iranian commander to come up the hill so he can tell him to fuck off.
The two locals looked at him for a long time, not knowing what to do or say. Ian understood their position. They were civilians who were used to having an army or the police take care of their fighting for them. They weren’t soldiers and probably hadn’t spent all that much time with a gun of any kind, let alone face off against trained soldiers.
It was at that moment that Ian realized they didn’t have a chance. The North Koreans or Iranians had already won the war, and all they had to do was swoop in and pick up the pieces.
“How many people do you have?” Ian asked, seeing the defeat upon their faces.
They knew there was too much coming down on them, and they didn’t have the numbers or preparation to fight it. What would they do against regular army? They all watched as two tanks fell into formation with the other vehicles.
Despair furrowed Renee’s brow. “We can’t fight that.”
Ian repeated his question, not allowing himself to be discouraged from the objective. “How many?”
He had no desire to go down in a blaze of glory. He wasn’t a hero or even much of a warrior. He was a planner; he worked strategies and planned out security packages for clients and let the others do most of the fighting. At least that had been the plan. The point being that suicidal missions were no thrill for him, but he couldn’t allow this group of foreign invaders take his country without a fight.
“Fourteen, but only eight who are in the field, six of which could be considered fighters… but not really, with the exception of Cliff. Cliff is a gun nut and an excellent shot, but still… we just can’t fight this many on top of all of the infected,” Brendan said.
“It would be suicide,” Renee added.
“So, let me get this straight; you think that you can escape death… even now?” Ian’s temper was adding sarcasm to his tone.
“We know of other groups and are trying to contact them, but I doubt they will show up, even if they get the message. We don’t know much about them other than they are there, and they leave us alone… for now,” Brendan said.
“Everybody is trying to lay low, you know. Things got bad here… real bad.”
“Things got real bad everywhere. You should have seen the cluster fuck that El Paso became after all of the refugees flocked there,” Ian said.
“Yeah? We almost went there, but then the radio went silent, and we haven’t heard squat from them since. Did anyone survive?”
“We don’t know. Once our business was done, we ran like hell. We didn’t see anything that could be saved, but we were only on the west edges of the city.”
“And you ran?” Renee said in an accusing tone.
“We ran like hell and took as many healthy people around us as we could, one of whom was even diagnosed as immune. There was no continuity or battle plan, hell, even their aircraft was second-rate. There is more fire power right down there in those steel huts than all of El Paso.
“Like I said, I wasn’t on the front line, but I didn’t see any type of battle plan or tanks or any of that. I heard a lot of things going boom, but I h
ave no idea what they were, so yeah, I ran, and me and all my people are still alive because of it.”
Ian didn’t know why he felt so defensive by her tone, but he did. Certainly, what we did in running wasn’t cowardice… it was self-preservation, right?
“We really can’t judge you, to be honest,” Brendan placated, feeling the tension starting to build. “Hell, we have done so much running in the last month that I’m surprised we still have feet.”
“It looks to me like there might be more running in your near future; check out our six,” Ian said while looking behind them.
Twin plumes of dust marked two armored vehicles coming up on them fast. He looked down and saw three more coming up at them from below. They had called for a parlay, but why? They had already won the war, so what was there to talk about? Nothing. All they wanted was to get them out of the way, and what better way to do that than line them up on a hill and start shooting? Anyone who can kill millions of people with an infection certainly doesn’t give a fuck about negotiation etiquette.
“Coming out here was a mistake. I hope you brought rounds for your rifles,” Ian said and readied his M4.
“They’re just coming to talk, aren’t they?” Renee asked.
“You don’t come in hot to a parlay. Get low and follow me.”
As sand from machine gun fire started to pepper their bodies, Ian didn’t wait to see if they followed but instead made his way toward the compound. He remembered a slight dip in the sand and knew it wouldn’t be enough, but maybe he could buy just enough time to get the other two inside.
“Here!” he shouted and dove into the depression in the sandy soil. He had come fully loaded with grenade rounds for his launcher. Not enough for a full-scale battle but hopefully enough to get them to slow down and take notice.
The hill was shaped like a long berm with Ian and crew on the narrow side. He could lean left and see the vehicle coming from the main group or he could lean right and see the two that had tried to take them from behind.
He leaned right and waited for the grill to come fully into view.
He fired, but the driver saw it coming and swerved out of the grenade’s path. The following vehicle didn’t, though, and took it right between the right front tire and the body, stopping it in place. Four men with rifles hopped out and started shooting on their position.
Ian returned fire instantly, seeing that they wore armor, which made Ian and his group as good as dead. He saw Brendan rise and shoot before he grunted and rolled onto his back.
“Brendan!” Renee screamed and started searching for a wound.
“NO, it’ll wait. Shoot, Renee, shoot!” Ian screamed into her face, and she picked up her lever-action, which looked to be a thirty-caliber and started shooting.
Ian saw she was a good shot when one of the soldiers flew backward and onto the ground. He rolled out of view, having been saved by his plating. She shot at two more, possibly hitting one, but her third shot was too hurried for Ian to believe it to have much success. He was watching the other vehicle that he had initially missed as it flanked them just out of range.
“Oh fuck, they’re bringing up a tank,” Brendan said in pained gasps.
“We gotta surrender,” Renee said, as if the rules of the Geneva Convention had any sway over these people.
“Surrender? They don’t want prisoners, Renee. Prisoners are also witnesses. They’re going to kill us right here, right now no matter what we do.” Ian looked at her and saw that this revelation may have been too much for her. She had been running and gunning for over a month, aware that any minute could be her last, but in some strange way, she had more control over that. Now, it was out of her hands. There wasn’t one damn thing she could do to get another day on this planet.
She looked at him wide eyed. No blame and only a hint of fear. It was simply a look that said fuck… me.
“Renee, use that Remington you have there on the driver of that vehicle trying to get behind us. He at least should die before we do,” Ian said almost casually.
Suddenly, she was free. Her mind had jumped away from the catatonic state it had been slipping into, and she leveled her rifle on the driver of the Jeep-style truck and squeezed the trigger.
“Done,” she said with a grim satisfaction.
“I heard his buddies calling you fat.”
Both Brendan and Renee let out a little chuckle as she lined up her rifle again, and Ian stared at the massive tank coming at them. He didn’t know if it planned on blowing them up or running them over, but either way, they were dead. There was no way three rifles and a grenade launcher could go up against what appeared to be a Russian T14.
Well, fuck me, Ian thought as he pointed his launcher at the link belt on the tracks, hoping to at least slow it down. He waited for twenty seconds as the behemoth came to within thirty yards, hearing Renee take five more shots and Brendan managing a few one-armed pulls with his pistol. Ian let fly and pulled his head up slightly to see what kind of damage he did.
It was like throwing dried clods of dirt at the side of a brick wall. The only effect it had was to cause the turret to lock in on his position.
“God damn, I wish I had an RPG,” Ian said as he rolled onto his back, hoping there was enough dirt between them and the beast that was poised to blow them up. Large-caliber rounds started to pepper the dirt between them, causing all three to wonder if they were trying to shave the topsoil off to get a clean shot at them.
Then the air filled with a roar that caused them all to curl into a fetal position, and cannon rounds started to explode just beyond their heads. Then he realized that it wasn’t tank cannon rounds he was hearing. It was bombs.
Ian knew that sound. Ian remembered it from many years ago, and it wasn’t a sound that Americans should ever fear. It was the sound of power combined with overwhelming will and determination; it was the sound of freedom.
“Warthogs,” he said and grabbed Brendan’s good arm, then pulled it away to cover up when the tank in front of him exploded. Debris started to fall all around them, acting like giant shrapnel. Renee screamed in pain when part of a machine gun came down on her leg, sounding a pop so loud that Ian swore the bone must have broken in two.
Ian’s radio crackled to life.
“Ian, can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear, Kinsey.”
“We have new intel from Phoenix. Seems the boys have been busy there.”
“Running out of time here, Kins, spit it out,” Ian said as he watched a group of four more trucks and the other tank start to move toward them.
“I don’t fucking know, Ian. I don’t speak Army. Some Air Force colonel said ‘stand down, and cover your ass.’ Over.”
“Roger. Out,” Ian said.
“What are they?” Brendan asked as he looked toward the western sky.
“A10 Thunderbolts. The best fixed-wing ground support ever built. We have to try and get inside before all hell breaks loose!” Ian shouted back.
He heard rifles kicking up the dirt around them while Warthogs flew low, causing the roar of jet engines to shake the ground as they targeted the other tank. The forty-ton T14 sounded more like a hollow thump during its demise than a massive explosion, still drowning out the sounds of other trucks racing to and fro.
Ian took a knee and started to fire at oncoming vehicles, providing cover for Renee and Brendan to get to their feet. Two Apache gunships dropped out of the sky with M60s blazing between the three, and Ian hooked Renee’s arm around his shoulder, knowing that chunk of steel had to have broken her shin.
“Pilots want you out of there and undercover ASAP, Ian. Move it!” Kinsey’s voice rang through his helmet.
“What do you think I am trying to do here, for fuck’s sake?” Ian screamed back.
“A fuck, I don’t give. Just get inside,” Kinsey prompted, relieved that they had rotary wings to give them some cover.
Ian half-carried, half-dragged Renee to the fence line, still having to slow enough to keep
Brendan with them. Bullets sprayed up dirt and sod around them, but the shooters were far out of range and being chased by Warthogs and a Blackhawk helicopters. They were behind the fence line, and their peaceful parlay had turned out to be exactly what Ian should have figured it to be: A trap. He felt stupid and will feel stupid every time he looks at Renee’s leg or Brendan’s shoulder and arm.
Chapter Fifteen
Albuquerque New Mexico, May 8th
He led the way to the communications room, where Kinsey and Toby watched the screens, which provided better perimeter optics than a man on the roof could ever accomplish.
“Way to go, boss. Toby and I nearly died watching you trying to un-fuck yourself out there,” Kinsey said in a tone that implied he should not have pushed them that far.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Kins. It was awful rude of me to leave you here in an air-conditioned, self-sustaining structure while I go and get shot at. Why don’t you two see if you can help them out with their wounds, would ya? And fill me in on the rest of what the colonel said.”
“It seems there are some remnants of the military making it back. They heard nothing of the virus in its early stages. Their deployments were too close to the source, so they were never subjected to the infected. They were attacked and harassed, but some made it out and are working their way back home.”
“How many?” Renee asked hopefully.
“No one knows. This group was at Osan Air Force Base near Jeokbong, South Korea, and managed to hijack a freighter when the North invaded. They kept it afloat almost to Japan before they were attacked by planes and sank off the coast of Japan. Luckily, it was Japan who pulled them out of the water when they realized who they were, and somehow they got back here sometime in the last forty-eight hours.”
Kinsey took a breath after her huge information dump, then added, “He says that they’re after Kirtland Air Force Base.”
“Sounds plausible; good to know Japan is still with us. Why do they think they’re after Kirtland?”
Brendan spoke up. “Nukes.”
For Which We Stand: Ian's road (A Five Roads To Texas Novel Book 3) Page 18
