by Ira Tabankin
Ricky screams.
“This is a kangaroo court. I’m not going to waste everyone’s valuable time being part of this scam. I’m taking my family and leaving this place. Just give us what’s ours and we’ll be gone.”
Lacy stands shaking her head.
“Jay wouldn’t want his daughter and granddaughter placed in a position of risk. He invited you here to save you. You repaid his kindness by trying to kill him? As far as I’m concerned, you can leave and take the car you drove here with you. You can have a full tank of fuel and that’s it.”
“What about the one hundred thousand Jay promised me?”
Lacy shakes her head.
“As far as I’m concerned, Jay promised the money to his daughter. You’re not getting any of his money. You tried to kill him.”
Ricky points at Lacy screaming,
“You don’t understand. I had no choice! He and most of you are wrong. All we had to do was share the supplies we have with those who had nothing. We wouldn’t have to fight all of the time. We wouldn’t have needed to live down here like moles. This place sucks, it smells like a high school gym locker room, the rooms are too small, no one has any privacy. I don’t agree with the books being used to teach my daughter. All of you are power mad. Using your guns so many times has corrupted your minds. The gunpowder must have altered your ability to see right and wrong. Killing isn’t right, not for any reason. I was trying to help guide this community into the light, into acting with mercy and compassion, instead of the violence you all seem to thrive on. I thought eliminating Jay would solve the problem. His death would be the shock to your systems that would open your eyes. You’d see I was right. Do you want me to admit I did it? Is that what you want? If that’s what you want. I’ll admit I did it. There, I said it. I tried to get rid of Jay, which would have made all of our lives better. Once Jay was gone, you would be open to new ideas; my ideas of how our world would be so much better without the violence you all feed off. We would be more in tune with sharing and we could help save the climate. I think many of you forgot what is right and wrong because you’ve spent too much time underground. You see Jay as your savior. You’ve been kept against your will without sunlight, out of your natural environment. People aren’t meant to live underground. It has warped your minds and sense of equality. If Jay is out of the picture, we would be living in our homes. We’d be happy working the fields, growing food we could share with those who have nothing. I did all of you a favor. I did what most of you wanted to be done and didn’t have the guts to do yourself.”
Randy stands, shaking his fist at Ricky,
“You are crazy! We don't want Jay out of the picture. Jay’s our leader, he has protected us, he has saved us. He’s also our friend. You admitted you tried to kill him. You should be dealt with in the same manner as you tried to do to Jay.”
Fred shakes his head.
“You’re insane! Tony, get him out of here before one of us takes him out.”
Ricky stands defiantly in front of the group.
“I’ll gladly go. Before I do, I demand the money Jay offered my family, I want it in gold, once we have what’s ours, we’ll leave in the morning. We’ll go home, away from all of you.”
Tony shakes his head, he points to Ricky,
“No, your family is staying here with us. You will leave tonight, without any money. You can take one side arm and three magazines, plus five days of MREs and water.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. Your sentencing me to a sure death. Why would I leave without what’s been promised to me?”
“Your fate is now one hundred percent in your own hands. You’ll decide if you live or die. You’ll have a chance to see if your theories work in the real world, share your MRE’s with those outside, see how well that works out for you. As Lacy said, you’re not getting a single dollar of Jay’s money. Does anyone have any objections?”
The room is filled with people talking over each other.
Tony holds up his hands.
“Let’s do this by a show of hands, all those in favor of banishing Ricky? You all heard him admit his crime, raise your right hand.”
Tony looks around the room, every hand, but two are raised.
A couple stands saying,
“Our arms are down because we think he should be killed right now, or sent outside with nothing. We’re not in favor of giving him a weapon. He’s always said guns aren’t the answer, he told us we should not use our guns against our attackers, why should we arm him if he’s always been against owning a gun. Why should he get one now? We think he should live his last days as he’s preached to us so many times.”
“Does anyone else feel the same way?”
The majority agrees not to give Ricky a side arm.
“Ricky, you never liked guns, your jury has decided not to arm you. You will be escorted to the escape tunnel and kicked out of the shelter after having ten minutes to say goodbye to your family.”
Sammi and Linda cry for their husband and daddy.
Sammi hugs Ricky saying.
“I’m sure my dad will wake soon when he does he’ll send a search team for you. Why don’t you wait in the castle for them to come escort you back here to us?”
Ricky shakes his head, he hugs his wife,
“Because I don’t want to live down here or anywhere near your father anymore. I’ve had enough of your father being the king, I’ve had enough of none of us having any say in how the shelter is run. Communities should be democracies, not dictatorships. I’ll start towards our home. I’ll find a car or truck and find my way home. When your dad wakes, tell him you want to go home. He’ll send someone with you. I’ll see you at home in a few days.”
“Ricky, are you sure you’ll make it all the way home? It’s over 700 miles.”
“I’ll take one of the horses. If I take the car, I’m not sure I’ll be able to find or buy gas for it. I’ll have food. I’ll take my time. Even if it takes me two weeks, I'll be fine. I’ll show everyone that people are coming together to help each other. Your father’s way of doing things is wrong. I’m going to prove him wrong. When he finds out we made it home safe and sound, through help from others, he’ll see he’s been wrong.”
Sammi hugs Ricky, “I love you. I’ll see you soon.”
“Sam, I love you too. I’ll be fine. We’ll be together in our home soon enough.”
“Okay, promise me, you’ll be careful out there. Try to give the horse plenty of rest and drink plenty of water.”
“See you in a few weeks. I told you we should never have come here.”
“My dad saved our lives.”
“That’s your view, it’s not mine.”
Tony stands behind them saying.
“Let’s go, Ricky, it’s time for you to finally get your wish and leave the shelter.”
“Good. I’m glad I’ll be getting out of this sewer. Mark my words, the time is coming when you’ll see I was right. Jay is your problem, not your salvation. You’re going to miss me.”
“Yeah, like I miss having oral surgery.”
Chapter 4
Five hundred members of the Tennessee Freedom Militia who lived between Nashville, Tennessee, and Ashville, North Carolina arrive across the street from the farm. Their leader, Militia Major, Ron Walker meets with his scouts who give him some surprising news.
Ron listens to the reports, having trouble believing what he’s up against.
“You’re telling me the hill to our west has four hundred armed ISIS fighters and the one on to our south has three hundred Cartel soldiers and, let me get this right, they have four bulldozers getting ready to move towards the farm.”
“Yes, sir. We saw them position the bulldozers on a dirt road leading down the hillside towards the coordinates we were given for the shelter.”
“I wonder why it’s taking them so long to move against the shelter.”
Laughing his chief scout said,
“Sir, they were learning how to drive th
e bulldozers on the fly. We watched them crash two of them. I think it’s taking them time to learn how to operate them. They’re not very good driving them. There’s a good chance they might roll one or two coming down the hill.”
“Why bulldozers?”
They’re getting ready to try using the bulldozers in an attempt to break open the shelter’s front door. We heard them talking to each other.”
“Did you locate the shelter? Does it look like the dozers will be able to break open the door?”
“We located the shelter’s front door, their camouflage is torn away, we’re not sure a bulldozer will be ab le to break in. The door appears to be a solid steel, blast proof door. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is another door inside the first. Sort of like a nuclear bomb shelter. We think the shelter is going to be a much harder nut to crack than they think. We think each side is waiting for the other to break into the shelter. Once they do the other group will come running up behind the first, taking them out and keeping the spoils inside the shelter for themselves.”
“That’s good. I think we should keep the Cartel occupied while we wipe out ISIS first. I hate towel head terrorists invading our country. Are the two groups exchanging information?”
“Not that we could determine.”
“That’s good news for us.”
The scouts continue,
“The Arabs are sitting around fires trying to figure out how to break into the shelter, and trying to stay warm in our southern weather. They talk too fast for our Arab language guys to catch everything they’re saying. Gary figured out they lost over two hundred in their previous attempts to break into the shelter. Most of them were cut down by landmines and traps. All we could understand of their plans is they’re going let the Cartel take the brunt of the shelter’s fire, they’ll going to let the Cartel try to break open the front door. If they succeed, they’ll wipe out the Cartel and everyone inside the shelter. If the Cartel fails, they’ll be wiped out. Looking at all of the bodies around the farm, it’s a good thing that Sergeant Johnson warned us about the traps so we didn’t suffer the same fate as they did.”
“Do you think there’s any way we can get the two groups to fight each other before the Cartel attacks the shelter? Let them kill each other while we sit back and watch?”
“Maybe if we plant some people close to each group, they fire at the opposite camp. It will look like the fire came from the others’ camp, causing them to react. We could use a few RPGs to get their attention.”
“I like it; see how you can pull it off. I’m going to contact the Sergeant Johnson. I want him to know we’re here and what we discovered. Position the troops, half to hold the Arabs and the other half to take out the druggies. What a great night. It’s not often we get to kill a bunch of Cartel and ISIS thugs. I’m going to owe the Sergeant a beer after tonight. We’ll start the party by trying to get each group to attack the other, while they’re confused we’ll hit them with our mortars. Tell the mortar troops to split their fire between the two groups. Use a combination of smoke and WP, the combination ought to confuse the shit out of them. Once they start running, hit them with antipersonnel rounds set to explode twenty feet over them. Keep the firing up so they can’t breathe. When the dozers begin moving, tell the RPG crews to make sure they aim for the cabs, not the dozer blade which might deflect the warhead blasts. I want those dozers taken out before they reach the shelter.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll get everyone ready.”
“Gary, make sure everyone’s eaten and had a couple of canteens of water. Does everyone have a full ammo load?”
“Yes, sir. Everyone has 10 full magazines and four grenades. The machine gun teams each have six cases of ammo.”
“Good, it looks like the party will start soon.”
“Yeah, the Cartel is smoking up their courage and the ISIS thugs are praying.”
“You said they’re praying?”
“They were a few minutes ago, butts up, heads down on their prayer rugs.”
“Change of orders, tell all of the mortars to hit them now, change the mix to alternate WP and antipersonnel rounds. Tell them to quick-fire five rounds from each tube ASAP. Maybe we can catch them unprepared. Tell the snipers to look for their leaders, if we can hit them hard enough and take out their leaders, we might be able to break their backs and finish them off at our leisure. Do you know where their radio center is?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Give the location to the mortar team, I want it taken out in the first salvo.”
“Yes, sir. Will do.”
Two minutes later, fourteen 81mm shells are on the way to the top of the hill where the ISIS fighters are praying for guidance. The fourteen shells arc up from across the street of the hill the ISIS fighters are on. Six shells are The WP is designed to create terror by setting their camp and anyone the WP fragments touch on fire. WP is highly flammable, it sticks to the skin and its burning isn’t put out with water. It can burn through a body until it runs out of oxygen. The smoke given off when it burns is very toxic, it will burn the lungs and eyes. The other eight rounds are high explosive rounds set to explode twenty feet above the ground. These explosions will shower those caught below the explosions with steel fragments.
The mortar rounds completely catch the praying ISIS troops by surprise. The exploding WP rounds spread smoke and burning pieces of WP among the troops. They are surprised and filled with panic as they get up to run; the incoming HP rounds arrive a moment after the WP rounds cut them down. The fourteen mortars each fire three rounds before they pause for a sitrep from the scouts watching the ISIS camp.
“Mortar lead, scout one, shift fire two degrees right and up five. Fire for effect.”
“On the way.”
Fourteen additional HP rounds strike the confusion filled camp. Tents are destroyed, one shell strikes their small arms storage site destroying their rifles and hundreds of thousands of rounds, causing an awesome fireworks show. Another round strikes their makeshift kitchen, exploding their stored propane tanks which explode adding their destruction to the mortar rounds. The ISIS troops are confused, most are wounded or rolling on the ground trying to put out the burning WP, which has embedded into them. Before the ISIS troops can shift their attention, one hundred TFM soldiers arrive in their camp, each firing three round bursts, killing everyone they see. The hundred militia soldiers walk in a line through the camp shooting everyone they see. They give no mercy; they ignore the cries for mercy, knowing the terrorists would grant no one mercy had they been on the winning side. The militia walked through the camp firing; they smiled as they walked through the camp.
Twenty minutes after the battle began, it’s over. They leave seven survivors who are being held by the militia for questioning. Afterward they tell the militia everything they know, they will be killed. Most ISIS troops turn out to be cowards when they are tortured. The militia knows how to break ISIS’s spirit.
The scouts call Ron, urgently telling him the Cartel is making their move towards the shelter. The scouts assume they heard the mortar attack on the ISIS site, thinking ISIS is occupied, they rushed their attack. Ron orders his RPG and mortar teams to take the Cartel under fire. The Cartel assumed the people in the shelter found a way to sneak out and attack the ISIS troops. Hence, they thought this would be a perfect time to launch their attack against the shelter when many of their people were out of their shelter. They hoped to catch them in the clear. They thought there wouldn’t be any defenders remaining in the shelter. The Cartel began their attack smiling, thinking they were going to easily smash into the shelter, take the riches inside of it and use the women they knew had to be there.
The exploding mortar rounds surprise the shit out of the Cartel. The exploding rounds are spreading death and horrible burning wounds to those caught by the fragments. They try to take cover by the bulldozers when the militia’s RPG rockets strike the sides of the dozers killing the drivers. Follow up missiles destroy the tracks causing the bulldoze
rs to stop where they are. Not knowing where the attack is coming from, the Cartel soldiers don’t know where the firing is coming from. They return fire in all directions, hoping they hit someone. The TFM responds with machine gun fire and additional mortar rounds. The surviving Cartel warriors try to surrender to their unknown assailants. The militia leaves five alive to question, the rest are killed. All of the usable weapon and ammo are collected for other militias and backup for the TFM.
Unknown to the TFM, twelve Cartel soldiers managed to slip away in the smoke and confusion. They ran from tree to tree as quickly as possible to report to El Chapo'sson, who is in transit to the battle scene. El Chapo's son is coming to take over the attack and set up the Southeast regional headquarters in the shelter.
Ron asks his lieutenants,
