by Reed, N. C.
“Poncho this is Scope, how copy?” Jose’s radio blared to life just then.
“Go for Poncho,” Jose replied, sitting up on his bedroll.
“We have thirty-three, that is three, three, tangos. Eleven are WIA, the rest are KIA. They were on horseback, but there are thirty-seven horses. Repeat, thirty-seven. We’re missing four.”
“We have a count of four, here,” Jose told him. “All certainly KIA.”
“That makes the body count and the horse count match up, then,” Nate replied. “We’re going to glean the field and see what we can learn. I suggest we claim everything over here, especially the horses and gear. If we have to, some of us can herd them toward the farm until a trailer can come get them.”
“Understood. I concur. We’ll consider it payment for services rendered. What support do you need?
“I don’t want to have to haul all these bodies out of here, even on horseback,” Nate replied. “Far as I’m concerned, they can come and get them if they want them. Most of the wounded need medical attention, but I wouldn’t waste it on them myself. Adcock can make that call. We left them for him to question if he’s of a mind to. Let me read you a map reference, and you can get him headed this way with trucks and labor.”
“Roger that,” Jose grabbed his own map and a red light. Nate quickly read off the coordinates and Jose located it on his own map.
“I’ve got it. I’ll head down now and roust him out. There’s not much telling how long it might take, however.”
“I figured,” Nate acknowledged. “Should give us time to get done. We’re…checking for information,” he added cryptically.
“Also understood,” Jose smiled faintly at the delicate turn of phrase. “Anything else?”
“Just get us out of here,” Nate replied tiredly. “We’re ready to go home.” The entire operation had been laid on too fast and there had been very little sleep.
“Roger that.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Already? All of them?”
Adcock had been asleep on a couch in the Lewiston City Hall when Poncho arrived. He was sitting now, surprise evident both in his voice and on his face.
“As far as we can tell, yes,” Jose nodded. “We accounted for four earlier today with long-range rifle fire. That appears to have driven them back for the day, possibly to reassess. Which led them straight to our field teams. They waited until the group was in camp and then eliminated them. The body count matches the horses they had as well as other indicators such as bedding.”
“Thirty-seven,” Adcock shook his head slowly. “All that damage by thirty-seven men. What did they want?”
“No idea,” Jose admitted. “There are eleven wounded, however, so assuming you can get to these coordinates with trucks and men to load them, you may be able to get answers from them. I’m sure my people are discussing that very thing with them now, but they’re also busy doing other business. Just so there’s no misunderstanding, we intend to claim the horses, gear and equipment for ourselves.”
“If those horses were stolen-,” Adcock began, but Jose stopped him.
“If those horses were stolen locally, then you know as well as I do that the owners are long dead,” he said flatly. “It remains to be seen if they are local, though. More reason to hurry and get them, I suppose. According to my map there should be a trail of some kind nearby. I suspect either a fire trail or a log road. Either way, you can make it almost the entire way. Those of us who will help with the horses will accompany you while our ride moves out to wait for us near the interstate.”
“You’re heading back this morning?” Adcock asked.
“As soon as we can, yes,” Jose affirmed. “We did what we came here to do. The rest is up to you. I have to start making our own arrangements. How long do you estimate before you’re ready to go?”
“Probably thirty minutes, at least,” Adcock estimated. “Still be dark, so it will take us a bit longer to get there.”
“There is a fire in the camp, so I’ll tell the others to keep it burning,” Jose nodded. “Should lead us right to them. It will be your responsibility to make sure the fire is out,” he added.
“Yeah, okay,” Adcock was still trying to get awake. Standing, he stretched, yawning as he did so.
“That couch isn’t as bad as the ground, but it’s not a queen mattress, either.”
“I was on the floor myself,” Jose agreed. “Those of us going with you will meet you out front in half-an-hour.”
-
“No. Just…no,” Mitchell Nolan’s voice easily conveyed how dumbfounded he was at the information they had learned.
“Afraid so,” Zach shrugged as he cleaned his knife before sheathing it. “All of ‘em said the same thing.”
“This can’t actually be the real deal,” Mitchell shook his head. “A damn prison? A crooked warden and a crooked chaplain? All this time we thought it was some zealot kook with an army of fanatics and it turns out to be a bunch of prison guards? And trustees?”
“Let’s not be too hasty in dismissing the fanatic part,” said Xavier, still seated on the log by the fire. “Remember the prophet or whatever he was that killed himself rather than be taken. This distorted message has no doubt reached and convinced more than a few people. I recall that Adcock mentioned they found a town with perhaps three hundred people remaining, all of whom were preaching the same thing. The fact that this entire thing was intended as a farce does not mean it isn’t a threat.”
“That is unfortunately very true,” Nate sighed. He looked around him for a minute, his mind working.
“Is it just me or has all this been way too easy?” he asked finally, looking at the others.
“You just had to say it, didn’t you?” Kevin Bodee groaned. “Couldn’t leave well enough alone.”
“I don’t mean to be arrogant, but…these guys were nothing,” Nate almost complained as he swept his arm over the group on the ground. “It was ridiculous. How did a bunch like this put Adcock and his men on the run?”
“They caught them alone,” Gordy answered, having been mostly silent until now. “I heard Uncle Clay talking to Adcock about it. His men were out working in twos and threes for the most part. Essentially just beating the bushes, looking for a lone shooter. We’re talking about thirty-seven well-armed prison guards and convicts against at most a single fire-team of National Guard troops that don’t normally find themselves out doing beater work like this. Easy to get separated in unfamiliar country. They may not have even known what hit them,” he shrugged.
“This group sought to intimidate them,” Xavier added. “The nature of the attack on the soldiers, as well as those who were actually taken from the town, was all designed to create fear, which it did.”
“Speaking of people taken from town, weren’t there other people still missing?” Zach asked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
“What?” he shrugged, hands out to his side. “I’m just remembering what Adcock said. There were other people missing. So, where are they?”
“I am loathe to suggest it,” Xavier said quietly, “but if they were not here with this crowd, then I suspect they will be found somewhere in or around the town in the next day or so. Quite probably killed in a hideous fashion. Again, all to create fear and force the town to turn over their food supplies and other resources.” He paused for a moment before continuing.
“Abhorrent behavior aside, you almost have to admire the plan this warden fellow put together,” he continued finally. “Think about it. His ‘Worthy’, walking the region as if they are preachers of old, while in actuality being used as spies without them even knowing it. When they can take prisoners, they take and use them as labor on their farm, or worse. They steal resources from outside their own area to appease the people around them, keeping the peace and securing their own safety, regardless of the cost to others.”
“Their ‘message’ draws people like flies. Desperate people will clutch at any straw th
ey can, as you all well know,” Xavier looked here at his former teammates. “Those people either become proselytizers or if not, then are perhaps simply added to the labor pool. Waste not, want not.”
“As to this being easy, consider the source,” he pointed to the men on the ground. “Prison guards, perhaps a few officers from other services, and trustees from a prison? Some possibly with military experience, but not necessarily combat. They pick their targets carefully and have probably never faced a real threat. Their victory here over a handful of soldiers merely made them even more careless. They simply could not envision themselves as anything but conquerors with no need to fear anyone else.”
“That is as likely a scenario as anything else,” Nate sighed. “I still can’t believe this shit. All this time, recording that dumbass, worrying about what he was doing and where, and it turns out to be a colossal scam.”
“Again, and not to beat a dead horse, here,” Xavier spoke up again, “let’s not rule out the possibility that this message, false though it may be, could quite possibly have created a great many followers, as could these Worthy preachers. I rather dislike using that word as it seems to cheapen a term that should be applied only to a real holy man,” he frowned slightly. “But the point remains. We may have eliminated this group, but we already know there are more where they came from, thanks to our new friends, here,” he smiled down at the nearest wounded man, who cringed and tried to draw away.
“So, we may be facing a dual threat from the same crooked ass prison warden,” Kevin Bodee looked as if he’d bitten a sour apple. “We get more of these assholes,” he kicked the nearest body for reference, “and we have to worry about nutty converts, too?”
“I’m afraid that is a distinct possibility, yes,” Xavier confirmed. “I hope that I am wrong about the zealots. They would literally be people who followed out of hope for survival or for something similar. Their sincerity would make them feel their cause, whatever this Uttermost tells them it is, was a righteous one, and thus they could do no wrong in accomplishing it. I would much rather simply face the prison guards and inmates. Or perhaps allow the young women to do so,” he grinned slightly. “They would be more than a match for a group such as this one.”
“We can’t assume all their groups are this incompetent,” Mitchell warned.
“A true statement, assuredly,” Xavier agreed. “And the next group could be much larger than this one, or potentially better armed than this lot were.”
“I think we’ve missed a point here,” Zach spoke up, once more attracting the attention of everyone there.
“What would that be?” Gordy asked.
“We’re talking like this prison outfit is our problem,” Zach shrugged. “They ain’t. First, they’re a long way from here. That one,” he pointed to one of the wounded who had been particularly talkative, “already said that they were operating much further north than normal. That the guy who was here shouldn’t have been, and that they only made the trip because that idiot told them the harvest was good. That’s also a biblical term, you know. The moron could have meant that he thought there were plenty of people here he could convert. Who knows?”
“Second, if they do come this way again, they’re going to be Adcock’s problem and not ours. We did this, one time, because we knew one of the victims. I don’t intend to do this for them again. I only did this for Susie Latimer. Whichever one of these bastards that killed her is either dead or soon will be. Far as I’m concerned, that’s it for me.”
“And finally, don’t forget that they all said that these kinds of jobs were to help appease the people around them. Providing food to the towns around them so that the people there leave them be. If this is enough to make them miss a payment or two, then they may have bigger problems than missing this one bunch of morons.”
Xavier looked as Zach with something akin to pride as he reviewed the teen’s statements.
“Those are very cogent points, Zachary,” Xavier smiled. “All accurate and well delivered. And he does cover one aspect of this that we had completely overlooked,” he turned to face the others.
“This isn’t our problem.”
-
Dawn was just beginning to light the eastern sky when Adcock and his men arrived. Tandi walked in long enough to order Xavier to the Cougar so he could check him, the two departing almost immediately.
Samantha and Kurtis both accompanied Jose to help Gordy with the horse herd they had acquired. Sam went to Gordy and hugged him, but she noticed that the return embrace was not nearly so strong as it might have been. Had she done that much damage to their relationship?
“You four,” Poncho indicated Gordy, Zach, Sam and Kurtis, “get those horses moving. Kevin, you’re probably the best horseman of the three of you still here, so you go with them. Start moving for the interstate and then toward home. As soon as I can contact the farm, I’ll have transport on the way to pick you up. Once we clear this area, we’ll be behind you all the way, just in case.”
“Got it,” Kevin replied as the others nodded and moved to collect mounts for themselves. It took only five minutes or so for the five of them to gather the horses and move out, heading through the woods to the trail that would lead them back to the road.
With them gone, Jose turned to view the scene before him. Adcock was looking at some of the wounded with a frown.
“Doesn’t look as if any first-aid was administered here at all,” he noted.
“No, it wasn’t,” Jose agreed. “We don’t waste valuable supplies on vermin, Captain.” His voice was somewhat cold for all that he spoke matter-of-factly.
“Some rules of society still apply, Mister Juarez,” Adcock frowned.
“You mean like sniping at a town in order to make them pay tribute?” Jose asked calmly. “Killing children to incite fear and panic? You came to us because you had a problem you couldn’t solve. We solved it. If you wanted it done differently, perhaps you should have done it yourself. They weren’t carrying any first-aid gear of their own, and we damn sure aren’t going to use our own for murdering scum. You can if you like, of course. They’re yours to use as you see fit, left alive for that very purpose. Were it me, I’d have my men digging a large hole about now. As a rule, we do not leave live enemies behind us. They aren’t worth the effort.”
“I need information,” Adcock insisted.
“Here ya go,” Nate said, handing over a written report of everything they had learned. “And this is all their stuff. Identification, personal crap and the like,” he offered Adcock a sleeping bag cover. “We took their guns and other weapons, along with their ammunition.”
“Where are their horses?” Adcock asked, looking around. “I thought I heard them earlier.”
“Already on their way to the farm,” Jose replied. “Spoils of war, Captain. Fairly won on the battlefield. And you do have…how many live prisoners?” he asked Nate.
“Ten, now,” Nate informed him. “One died, tragically. The others should last long enough to hang, I guess. Ain’t worth a bullet to end their suffering.”
“Was there anything about those who are still missing?” Adcock asked, though not hopeful.
“Sorry,” Nate shook his head. “We did check this area, and we asked them, too,” he indicated the wounded. “Look for them in town. None of this bunch knew where they were, or said they didn’t, but they were apparently killed and left in town for you to find. Trying to scare the town.”
“I hate to interrupt this strategy meeting, but can we head home now?” Mitchell Nolan asked. “It’s been a long couple o’ days and I’d like to get something to eat that wasn’t heated in a plastic bag, and maybe sleep in a bed. I’ve done got spoiled living the easy life at the farm.”
Nate and Jose both chuckled at that. There had been very few easy days at the farm since the Storm had hit.
“So that’s it then?” Adcock broke back into the conversation. “You just ride in here, kill them all, or most of them, take their stuff and go?�
�
“What else do you want, man?” Nate demanded before Jose could do so. “You had a problem that you and your entire company of soldiers couldn’t deal with. Six of us walked out here and took care of it for you, while four more protected the town. This threat at least is eliminated. They already told us who they are, where they were from, and how many of them there were. We’ve accounted for every one of them, so we’re done.”
“So, like I said, what else is it you want?” Nate finished, the look on his face beginning to look mildly hostile.
“This is what we do, Captain,” Jose said quietly before Adcock could speak again. “We told you that when you came to us for help. You said you had received intelligence reports from teams like ours in the past? Well, how do you think they got that information? There was a very good reason that the initiative was a black operation.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” Adcock raised his hands in supplication. “I mean it. I wasn’t and I’m not now. It…it just blows my mind how you guys rode in here and did this in one day. Just a handful of you, and some of them kids.”
“As you said yourself, Captain, this is the difference between your training and experience, and our own. This is what we know. I can’t drive a tank or operate a cannon. I doubt Nate or Mitch could either. But this,” he motioned to the bodies on the ground, “this we can do. But we won’t be doing this again. We did this time because it was personal to the boys. The Latimer girl’s death hit them hard and they wanted payback. They got it tonight.”
“In spades,” Adcock agreed. “Well, I don’t have any reason to complain. I’d like to have had those horses, though,” he sighed. “It might have helped us out.”
“We’ll be using them to help your troopers learn to ride this winter,” Jose reminded him. “And who knows? You may come up with something we would trade the horses for. Life is full of little surprises like that,” he smiled, and genuine smile this time.
“What would that take?” Adcock asked, curious.
“Oh, I don’t make decisions like that,” Jose shook his head at once. “You would have to talk to Bossman, and he would talk to the others. But keep this in mind going forward, Captain. We are in no way opposed to trading with you, with Lewiston, or with anyone else. We may or may not have anything we can or will spare, and you may or may not have anything we want or need, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to work out a deal of some kind the next time. We genuinely want to be friends, Captain. Another reason we did this,” he waved again to the bodies on the ground. “The reason we agreed to host a small garrison over the winter, to teach you to ride and care for horses, all of this is because we want to be friends. We did the same kind of thing for Jordan in fact. That, sadly, did not go so well for us, but that wasn’t out fault. We did our part and a little more.”
