by Robert Boren
“Have a seat, folks,” said Major Darcy. Everybody sat down at the long table, except Major Darcy, who stayed up to address the group. He had a grim look on his face.
“What we’re about to tell you isn’t top secret. I could tell the rest of your folks, but I want it to come from you guys. And I’m technically not supposed to talk about this with civilians. Things have changed, though. We are heading into some rough times, and the larger group needs to look on you folks as leaders.”
“No problem,” Frank said. “We don’t really have a leadership, but if we have to we’ll put one into place.”
“Why no leadership?” asked Major Darcy.
“We didn’t want a mini-government here,” Frank said. “We’re all private citizens. We didn’t want some of us to become more ‘equal’ than others.”
“That would be nice, if we had the luxury to go on like that,” Major Hobbs said.
“What’s the situation?” asked Jerry.
“You’ve been watching the news….so you all know that we were attacked by a wide coalition of enemies,” Major Hobbs said. The people in the group nodded. He went on.
“Our country was infiltrated by agents from south of the border, mostly from south of Mexico, although there were radical Mexican Nationalist folks involved too. They engaged in low level terror attacks, looting, and general mayhem on our side of the border. At the same time, similar actions were happening on a larger scale inside Mexico, which brought their government down. Venezuela was the main source of this action, but there were other countries involved. That was step one.”
“Yes, that’s why we left California,” Frank said. Major Hobbs nodded.
“Then we had Islamist fighters and radicals from Mexico and South America coming up over the border as a fighting force, near San Diego at first, but eventually along the entire border. That was step two.”
“And I suspect the nuclear attacks were step three,” Jerry said.
“Yes, that and the quick rise of radical jihad all over the Middle East, as well as in Europe. North Korea supplied the nuclear devices.”
“News reports make it sound like we’ve got a good handle on the first three issues,” Jane said.
“We wish that were the case,” Major Darcy said.
“What else is going on?” Jeb asked.
“Well, you’re already aware that radical militias are trying to take territory away from the United States. That’s what we are seeing here, but we’re also seeing it in other places.”
“Is that ‘step four’?” asked Jerry.
“Well, partly, but that isn’t all.”
“Uh Oh,” Jane said.
“You have heard that there is a confederation now between the US and Mexico, and we are down there helping eradicate the radicals and Islamists, correct?”
“Yes, we’ve heard about that,” Frank said.
“The enemy has drawn our military down there to keep them busy, as a new force of Islamist fighters starts coming over the border from Canada. It’s a much larger force than we saw coming up from the southern border. We think this was always planned to be the largest part of their operation.”
“Why doesn’t the Canadian government do something about it?” asked Jerry.
“Canada has most of the same problems with radical Islam that the EU is having,” Major Darcy said. “Infiltration into their country, even their local governments, at an alarming level. Canada is on the verge of civil war. The Canadians will win this war, we believe, but they aren’t stopping the bad guys from leaving their country at this point.”
“And our armed forces are spread too thin,” Frank said.
“Yes, and there’s a component that nobody expected,” Major Hobbs said. “You know how we’ve been giving legal status to new immigrants if they sign up for a stint in the service?”
“Yes, of course,” Jane said.
“Many of the people who took advantage of that program are enemy plants. They are firing on our troops during battles. There have been several very bad incidents.”
“Oh, shit,” Frank said. “So not only is the military spread thin, but the military we have is in a lot of disarray.”
Major Darcy nodded.
“So what you are telling us, Major, is that the American citizens are going to have to stand up and fight,” said Jeb.
“Yes, that’s what I’ve been leading up to,” Major Darcy said. “And by the way, you didn’t hear the last part from me.”
“I think I understand why you want us to tell the rest of the folks about this, instead of you telling them” Jeb said.
“This is horrible,” Jane said. “We thought the war was almost over.”
“It’s going to be another civil war,” Hilda said, frowning.
“Wait a minute…..don’t make that comparison,” Major Hobbs said. “That isn’t what this is. We don’t have one huge force of Americans squaring off against another huge force of Americans. We have Americans squaring off against a group of foreign enemies. Plain and simple.”
“Yeah, and these idiots don’t understand the American character,” Frank said.
“They have no idea how many armed citizens there are in this country, either,” Jeb said. “We are going to tear these creeps to shreds.”
“Yes, we are, Jeb,” Major Hobbs said. “And they have found that out, to a degree. We’ve already taken California back now due to armed private citizens. But we have to be smart. Tactics and intelligence and organization matter. We aren’t fighting a bunch of un-educated gang bangers. We are fighting an organized and well supplied force of Islamist fighters, and they won’t be easy on people they capture.”
“We are going to have to rebuild the army,” Jerry said.
“Yes,” Major Hobbs said. “Major Darcy is going to find out where the Islamists are in this area. You folks are going to have to participate to take them out, and you have to do it openly. You are going to be an example to spur on others. You must become feared.”
“Excuse me, but we are just a bunch of retired folks,” Jane said. She was on the verge of tears.
“Speak for yourself,” Jeb said. “I’ve been watching antics of these lowlifes for long enough. I’ve already taken out a few of them, and I’ll make sure I take out a lot more before this is over.”
“You can’t even run at this point, Jeb,” Hilda said.
“I can shoot, though,” he said. “And I’ll heal up in a week or so. Trust me.”
“How much of the army can we count on?” Frank said.
“That is unclear at this point,” Major Darcy said. “There are many very good immigrant men in all branches of the service. Some of them are the enemy. Most of them are good, loyal, brave Americans. We aren’t finding out who the bad guys are until the heat of battle. Luckily they haven’t been able to turn the tides on any major action yet.”
“What about air power?” asked Jerry.
“Tough nut to crack, there,” Major Hobbs said. “Washington isn’t going to risk hitting Americans. We have kept the enemy forces from using air power, though. Something goes up, and we waste it pretty quick.”
“They’re going to get into cities and use human shields,” Jane said.
Major Darcy looked at her and smiled.
“They thought they were going to do that in San Diego and LA,” he said. “Doesn’t work so well when the human shields shoot you.”
“Yeah, New York and Chicago might need to relax their gun laws a little bit,” Frank said with a grin.
“They already have,” Major Darcy said.
“Do you have any more bad news, or was that it?” Jane asked.
“That was it,” Major Hobbs said. “Sorry, I know this wasn’t what you folks wanted to hear.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Hilda said.
“What’s next?” Frank asked.
“For us? Help you guys find the enemy nearby, and help you take them out,” Major Darcy said. “Then we go on and get the next group motivated.”
<
br /> “There are other groups like us?” asked Jerry.
“Many.”
“Good,” Jerry said.
“Alright, we’ll leave you folks to discuss your options. C’mon, Major Hobbs, let’s go check on that intelligence. We can’t spend all day here.”
The two of them walked out of the Clubhouse and over to their men.
“Can this be real?” asked Jane. She was on the verge of tears.
“Oh, it’s real alright,” Jeb said.
“We need to get the security system up in a hurry,” Frank said. Jerry looked at him and nodded.
Charlie, Earl and Jackson walked up.
“Found a perfect place to cover the parking area,” Charlie said. Hilda rushed over to him and hugged him tightly. She had tears in her eyes. “What’d I miss?”
“We had a briefing with the two Majors,” Frank said. “We’ll let you know everything they said, and then we need to get a meeting with the larger group set up.”
The three men had concerned looks on their faces.
“We need to kick this security job into high gear,” Jerry said. “Let’s get pictures of the map and start walking the perimeter.”
“Yeah, and we’ll brief these guys when we’re out there,” Frank said. “Hey, honey, do you have the iPAD out here?”
“Yes, it’s in my purse, back by the kitchen.”
Frank walked back there with her. When they got around the corner, Jane stopped.
“Can you hold me for a minute?” she asked.
Frank pulled her close and hugged her tightly as she sobbed.
“This is worse than I expected,” Jane said. “This mess is going to consume the rest of our lives.”
“Well, it might, but we don’t know that for sure,” Frank said. “We’ll do what we have to do, and we’ll get through it.”
There was a gunshot, coming from the outside.
“Get down, everybody,” Frank yelled, as he pulled Jane to the floor. He crawled up to the window and looked out. Then there were a two more shots.
He looked out the window. Major Hobbs was holding his arm, and looking down on the grass next to the roadway. Cynthia was laying there. About half of her head was gone. There was a dead soldier lying a few feet away from her.
Chapter 10 – Heat of Battle
“Who got shot?” Jerry shouted.
“Looks like one of soldiers took out Cynthia, and then Major Hobbs took him out,” Frank shouted back. “Hilda, call the doc, OK?”
“Already on the phone with him, hon,” Hilda said.
“Is Major Hobbs hit?” asked Jane.
“Can’t tell,” Frank said. He slid open the window. “Is it over, Major Hobbs?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“We called the doctor,” Frank shouted.
“Well, the only person who needs him is me, and it’s not an emergency.”
“What happened?” Frank asked.
“Oh, I just cut myself on the Humvee when I dived into shooting position,” Major Hobbs said. “Stupid, but it hurts like hell.”
“Can I come out?”
“Yes, don’t see why not. It’s over.”
Frank turned to Jane.
“I’m going out there to talk with him. Be back in a minute.” He pulled her head to him and kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry.”
“Alright. I’ll keep the dog in here,” Jane said.
Frank walked towards the door, and was met by Charlie and Earl and Jerry and Jackson. They walked out next to Major Hobbs and Major Darcy.
“This was one of those plants you were talking about, wasn’t it?” Frank asked.
“Yes, it was,” Major Darcy said. “Rodriguez. He fooled me good. I even liked the guy.”
“Plants?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” Frank said. “That was part of what we were going to tell you guys about when we were out walking the perimeter, Charlie.”
“So the enemy has plants in our military?” Earl said. “Crap.”
“Yes, it’s not a good situation at all,” Major Hobbs said.
“We were hoping to get some good info out of Cynthia,” Major Darcy said. “This is a shame.”
“Do you think this private knew her value?” asked Jerry.
“Could be,” Major Hobbs said. “Or maybe he just guessed. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
“No,” Jerry said, “but if these plants are in easy communication with the enemy, we need to find out how. You guys just pulled in here a little while ago, so he just found out about Cynthia. If it was just a guess, that means he’s willing to end his life on something that tentative. Doesn’t make sense to me.”
“He has a point, Major Hobbs,” said Major Darcy. “We need to figure this out. We might find ourselves set up for another ambush. We might have another plant in this platoon, too. Maybe more than one.”
“I take it privates aren’t allowed to have cellphones,” Frank said.
“Affirmative,” Major Darcy said. “We don’t allow that. They would have a hard time using the radio, too. It’s pretty locked down unless you know what you’re doing.”
“So we need to assume that they have gotten to a phone that belongs to somebody in the park,” Frank said.
“Are there any pay phones around here?” asked Major Hobbs.
“Nope,” Charlie said. “Pay phones are pretty much a thing of the past. I got mine torn out a couple of years ago back at my park. Everybody uses cellphones now.”
“How about a private land line….in an office or something?” Frank asked.
“I’d have to ask Hilda about that,” Charlie said.
A car and a paramedic vehicle pulled up to the gate. Hilda went running over to the gate and opened it. The vehicles pulled next to the store. The doctor got out and trotted over to them.
“Somebody hurt here?” he asked.
“Yeah, doc, I got a good tear on my upper arm,” Major Hobbs said.
“Alright, let’s get you inside so I can take a look.”
The doctor and Major Hobbs walked into the clubhouse. Hilda came over and stood next to Charlie.
“Hilda, we had a question for you,” Charlie said. “Do you have any land lines around the park that somebody might have used to call out?”
“Well, the payphones are all gone now,” Hilda said. “I’ve got a land line in the office that is off of the clubhouse, and a land line in the store office, too.”
“Are they locked?” asked Major Darcy.
“Yes, I keep the doors locked when I’m not in there.”
“Maybe we should take a look,” Charlie said. Hilda nodded.
“I’ll take you to them right now.”
Charlie, Hilda, Jerry, and Frank walked over to the store.
“The office is up here, by the front.” She walked up there, and then stopped in her tracks. She put her hand to her mouth.
“Look, that door’s been forced,” Charlie said.
“Holy crap,” Jerry said, looking at it.
Hilda cautiously pushed the door open. She looked over at the phone. It was sitting on the desk, but the phone wire was pulled out of the wall.
“We might have company coming here,” Jerry said. “I’m going to run over to Major Darcy and tell him what happened.” He sprinted out the door.
“They have to know that everybody and their brother here has a cellphone,” Frank said.
“They could take out cell towers around here,” Charlie said.
“I just called the doc with my cell. It wasn’t a problem,” Hilda said.
Frank pulled his phone out of his pocket. He took a double take.
“No service,” Frank said. “Crap. We need to get men to the back and to the front of the park now. We’re about to get hit.” He cocked his Winchester nervously.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Charlie said. He looked over at Hilda. “Go see if the phone in the clubhouse has been taken out, and then stay there. Keep people away from the windows.”
&nb
sp; Hilda nodded, and left quickly.
“The Sheriff,” Frank said. “We can’t even call him on the phone at this point. We need to get people out there now.”
“Yep,” Charlie said. “I’ll run up to the roof and give Jeb a heads up.”
“Good,” Frank said. “Anybody coming into the parking lot is going to get their hair parted.”
Charlie nodded and smiled. “Maybe I ought to stay up there with him. My hunting rifle is still up there from earlier.”
“Not a bad idea,” Frank said. “I heard that you’re a hell of a shot too.”
Frank left the store, and ran out to where Major Darcy was. Jerry was already talking to him. Jane was out there too, with Jackson and Earl.
“Major Darcy, the cell tower is down. We’re about to get hit,” he shouted as he was running towards them.
“Oh no,” Jane said.
“Get into the clubhouse and stay there, Jane,” Frank told her. “I’ll take Lucy.”
“Alright,” she said, and hurried into the clubhouse.
“Major, we need to put troops in the front and the back of the park. I’m worried about the Sheriff and the Deputy that are out in the blind behind the park. That’s where we’ve been hit every other time, and I can’t call him with the cell towers down.”
“Roger that, Frank,” the Major said. Then they both saw Major Hobbs trotting out. He had a bandage around his upper left arm, but looked good other than that.
“Somebody cut the phone line in the Clubhouse office, and my cellphone ain’t connecting,” Major Hobbs said. “We’re about to get hit.”
“So I’ve heard,” Major Darcy said. “Frank here is suggesting putting some of our men in the back and some up here.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Major Hobbs said. “I’ve been in the back. We’ll probably get hit from that direction. The front is too exposed.”
“We’ve got two world class snipers on the roof of the store,” Frank said. “We’ll know pretty quickly if anything comes towards the front.”
“What are they packing up there?” Major Darcy said.
“A .270 bold action and a 30-06 bolt action. Not high speed, but these guys are good out to about 400 yards, from what I’ve heard.”
“Good,” Major Darcy said. “How’s the arm, Hobbs?”
