Ryan turned around and said, “Speak your minds.”
One spoke up, “Preventing just one death is worth dying for, Sir. Perhaps I can rest in peace if I can just do that.”
Ryan stared at the eleven men and took a deep breath; he released it slowly and turned to Chase, “We will teach you how to defend yourselves. We will stay as long as you are in danger.”
Chase smiled, “And if the day ever arrives where the danger is gone, all of you will be accepted into our community as full citizens.”
Ryan shook his head, “I doubt any of us desire to live that long.”
Chase looked down at Margarette and said, “Let us pray that you do.”
Ryan turned to his men, “Gather your weapons and let’s see what they have to use against an attack.” They gathered their weapons and followed Chase through the walls. Year two of the Suppression ended with something missing before…hope.
• • •
Year five of the Suppression started with Ryan standing on top of the completed wall staring down at the archers teaching the civilians how to use a bow. The wood shop had taken his bow and duplicated its dimensions, but they had done a better job on their product. It was laminated and Ryan had to admit it was better than the one he gave them to copy. They had been working with the civilians for three years and their accuracy was impressive. The machine shop had built enough bows for every able-bodied civilian along with enough aluminum arrows. Even the teenagers were deadly accurate. He glanced at the huge open door in the wall and smiled. It had originally been built to be a helicopter pad until someone pointed out that if this was supposed to be a secret base in the mountains, what would a helicopter pad be doing in the middle of nowhere. The idea was dropped, and the giant piece of armored metal was put aside. Until Major West suggested using it for a door in the walls. It only took a year to cut it into a double layered door that was incredibly strong. The engineers balanced it on its frame such that two people could open or close it.
The city was ready. He was surprised that none of the bands of killers had shown up. Small groups of soldiers would stumble on the valley occasionally and they would be given food and sent on their way. Ryan sighed; in a different time, they would have been killed to prevent knowledge of the valley from leaking out. But the city would not kill except in self-defense. He knew it was only a matter of time until the bands began showing up in large numbers.
One of the things brought in by a flatbed before the path into the valley was closed was a pallet of long distant electric drones. They were pretty much ignored by scavengers because no one had electric power to use them. But they relieved the Archers from having to go out scouting for possible danger. The drones had a range of twenty miles and the cameras on them were excellent from high altitude. One was always in place above the highway that ran outside the community. If danger came, it would come from that road.
Two tunnels were cut under the valley floor through the rock out into the tree line. Their exits were hidden and cleverly camouflaged. The archers under his command had also grown in number. Soldiers like them would arrive and some of them were talked into joining in the defense of the city. More than a hundred were now training the citizens and they had also improved their talents to an incredible level.
Chase and the other leaders had eventually turned over the responsibility of the city’s defenses to Ryan and if they were attacked, his orders were final. Thankfully, that hadn’t happened…yet. But the satellite communicator at the dam reported stories of large bands of Killers moving west and most of them were using old interstate 90. The trees planted in the former road cut out into the valley were still shorter than those around them and that could pose a huge problem. Finally, it did.
• • •
Ryan stood on top of the wall and notched an arrow. He stared at the target 250 yards away and watched the grass blowing under it. He pulled the bow back and smoothly released the arrow. It flew and hit the target in the outer ring. He shook his head and saw Margarette standing next to him, “You misjudged the wind.” Ryan’s eyes narrowed and Margarette pointed out at the stream, “The cold water causes the wind to blow harder left to right.”
Ryan stared at the grass growing next to the stream and saw it was bending more than the grass at the target; Margarette was right. “You’re getting better every day.”
Margarette smiled and said, “Dad wants to see you in the drone hut.” Margarette sprinted down the steps and Ryan wondered where she got all her energy. He followed her down and walked to the hut. He walked in and Chase turned to him, “I think we have an issue.”
“What is that?”
“There’s a large number of trucks moving west on 90. The drones picked them up twenty miles out and they started slowing down eight miles later.”
Ryan leaned in and stared at the long line of trucks. “Jake, what’s on those flatbeds? Can you move the view in closer?” Jake nodded and the view zoomed in on one of the trucks. Ryan blew out a breath; the flatbed was covered in men dressed in soldier uniforms.
“They’ve slowed some more,” Jake remarked.
“Move the view to the front of the convoy.”
The drone flew forward and moved toward the front of the convoy. There was a pickup truck in front and Ryan stared at it as it slowed some more. Chase turned to him, “What do you think is going on?”
“They’re looking for something,” Ryan answered. Chase stared at the display and Ryan added, “And the only thing around here is us.” Ryan turned to Jake, “Move the view in on that pickup and if it stops, give me a view of who gets out.” The view zoomed in on the pickup and Jake nodded toward the second display, “I have another drone holding position above the area we cut out a road a few years back.”
Both displays showed the pickup truck stopping at the former road. Two men got out of the pickup as the long line of trucks stopped behind it. Ryan shook his head, “The man that got out of the passenger door was here three months ago. We gave him some food and sent him on his way.”
Jake nodded, “Well, it looks like he’s back and he brought company with him.”
Chase turned to Ryan with a fearful expression and Ryan turned back to Jake, “Use both drones to image that convoy. I want to know how many soldiers they have as well as the makeup of the trucks they brought.”
Jake nodded and said as he worked the cameras on the drones, “I already know there are forty flatbeds with a hundred and fifty soldiers on each. There are four boxed freight trucks in the middle and two tankers following up in the rear.”
“What’s in the freight trucks?”
Ryan turned to Chase, “Probably slaves they’ve picked up along the way along with their remaining food stores.” A drone moved in high above the freight trucks and they saw women and children being herded out of three of them. Ryan shook his head, “It appears they only have one truck with food on it. With that many soldiers, they need a lot more than just one truck. I suspect they are at the end of their food supplies.”
“Are they here to take ours?” Chase asked. Ryan nodded.
“The soldiers are forming up and moving into the forest,” Jake announced.
“Chase send out an announcement for everyone to meet on the first level immediately!”
Chase nodded and he ran into the opening in the mountain. Ryan lifted a small device and said, “All Archers, form up at the door now.” Ryan met the archers and ordered, “I want all the archery targets moved inside the walls! I don’t want it known that we’ve been training archers.” The Archers rushed out of the door and Ryan turned toward the first level in the mountain.
• • •
Ryan walked in the first level and Chase handed him a microphone, “You’re in command now.”
Ryan took the microphone and said, “May I have everyone’s attention.” The thousands present became silent and Ryan said somberly, “We knew it would happen one day and it appears today is the day. A force of approximately six thousand killers are m
oving from the highway into the forest toward our location. Before any of you start panicking, we’ve trained for this for more than three years. Just stick to your training and we will survive this issue. All ‘A’ rated archers will gather their bows and a full supply of arrows and move to the wall at the conclusion of this meeting. If you are not one of the archers participating in the defense, you will move to the lowest level and remain there until this is over. That includes all women and children and make sure you take enough food and water with you; this could take some time. Once everyone is in the lowest level, shutdown the elevators and seal the shafts. Don’t forget to do this; all of our food stores are on the three levels above you and we must prevent it falling into an enemy’s hands.”
“What if they break through our defenses?” Caroline Napier asked.
“We’ve determined they don’t have much food and you’ll be safe in the lower levels. You can survive for several years and they will be forced to leave or starve.” Ryan paused and said, “However, if we follow our training, we should be able to hold them off. Everyone get moving and remain calm.”
• • •
Ryan moved outside to the walls and saw the huge group of people coming out of the mountain with their bows and quivers of arrows. He looked up at the wall and said, “Everyone go to your assigned number!” The archers ran up the steps scattered along the wall and knelt next to a number painted on the wall. Ryan saw every spot was filled and knew there were four thousand citizens that were ranked at the top of the bow accuracy list. There were more than a thousand other archers capable of carrying out the task but only the top four thousand would be on the wall. Ryan waited until everyone was in place and he lifted the microphone off a table. “They say curiosity killed the cat and that is a true statement. If any of you are curious about what’s happening over the wall and stick your head up to take a look; you’ll probably have an arrow in it when you take it down. The archers that are coming to attack us are good and if they see you, they will kill you! Cuddle up next to the wall and you’ll be safe from volleys of arrows they fire over the wall. You’ll remain in your places unless ordered otherwise. So get comfortable and do your stretching exercises. Remember that the worst enemies of an archer are tension and stress! Breathe and meditate; don’t allow your fear to take you.” Ryan glanced up at the wall and saw Margarette sitting next to Jeff Malone. Ryan chuckled, Jeff was seventeen and Margarette had just turned fifteen; she had a huge crush on Jeff. What she didn’t know was that Jeff thought she was really sweet as well. Both of them were in the top twenty archers in the city. Ryan went back to the drone hut and he watched the killers moving up the long slope from the road.
• • •
The women and children were herded up the slope carrying the killer’s remaining food supplies. Several women fell and couldn’t get up. They were killed on the spot and left behind. Most of the women and children were weak; they had been living on a starvation diet for more than three weeks and many of them wouldn’t last much longer. They were finally stopped and forced to huddle together in the trees surrounded by guards that looked forward to another kill.
• • •
The Leader of the Band arrived at the edge of the tree line and took binoculars out of a case. There was a young blonde-haired woman carrying a baby girl and holding a young boys hand behind the leader. He nodded for them to stay where they were, and he stepped forward. A short humpbacked man followed him and squatted next to him. His hair was frizzy and hung down to the small of his back. He also sported a long frizzy beard as well. Everyone called him the Woolly Man and his skills with a blade, along with his savagery and viciousness were renown among the killers. He looked up at the Leader and said, “Boss, you might want to step back; they can see you from there.”
The Leader stared through the binoculars and remarked, “They already know we’re here.” Woolley’s eyes narrowed and he handed the binoculars to him. Woolley looked at the walls around the city and saw at least ten men staring directly at him with binoculars.
He held out the binoculars to the Leader and asked, “How did they know we’re here?”
“I’m sure they had scouts out and they saw us moving into the woods; they came back to report us. Oh they know we’re here alright.”
The Leader stared at the walls and then looked to the north end of the valley. He swept the view around to the south end of the valley and said, “They’ve been farming the land here and from the evidence, they had a huge harvest.” He turned back to the wall and said, “The wall is about ten meters high and composed of huge blocks of stone. Without explosives, it will not be breeched. The only way to get at them is over that wall.”
“The men have done it numerous times. This wall is shorter than some of those we’ve gone over,” the Woolly man commented.
The Leader lowered the binoculars, “That wall isn’t a square; it curves out from the mountain behind it. That makes it easier to defend. The corners are the weak points in going over a wall. The Leader turned and said, “Johnathan, come here!” The little boy standing with the woman ran over to the Leader. The Leader took off his sword, removed his quiver, and put his bow on top of them.
“What are you doing Boss?”
“I’m going to have a talk with them and see if we can’t get what we want without a fight.”
“Why you takin’ the kid?”
The Leader smiled, “I think the risk of them firing an arrow at me will be reduced with a child beside me.”
The woman said, “NO JOHN!”
The Woolly’s man’s dagger was out of its sheath and in his hand in an instant, “Shut-up woman!” The woman stepped back and knew another word would be her last. She stared at John as he took the little boy’s hand and walked out of the tree line.
The little boy looked up at the leader and asked, “Where are we going Daddy?”
The Leader smiled, “We’re going to have a talk with someone.” The little boy smiled and skipped beside his father.
• • •
Jake looked up from the display, “It looks like someone is moving down the slope. He’s unarmed and has a little boy walking beside him.”
Ryan huffed out a breath and shook his head, “They have no morals.”
Chase turned to him, “Ryan, send someone else. The city is depending on you to lead us!”
Ryan shook his head, “We covered this the day we met Chase; one of us would always go out to meet any enemy first. Since I’m the Archer’s leader it is my place to do this.”
“I made a mistake asking for that.”
Ryan smiled, “Don’t beat yourself up; I’d be doing this even if you hadn’t ordered it.” Chase rolled his eyes as Ryan headed toward the door in the wall.
Chapter Three
John saw the huge door open and even from a distance he could see that it opened out from the wall instead of inside it. Once it was open, he saw the two massive stone braces extending from the wall on each side of the door along with the four large metal cylinders that would be pushed into holes in the stone wall behind it. That door was not going to be pushed in and pulling it out was far more difficult than pushing it in. That door told him a lot about what he was facing. He saw a man walk out of the door and start walking toward him; good! He may be able to stay outside of arrow range.
John stared at the man and saw that he moved with an economy of motion and was tall…at least six feet five or more. He didn’t look as large from a distance because his body proportions matched his height. The man arrived at the small stream ahead of him and stopped. John continued walking toward the stream.
Ryan stared at the man walking toward him and looked at the little boy beside him. The kid had the man’s eyes and chin; he was probably the man’s son. He shook his head, what father would take their son into a warzone?!
John arrived at the stream and stopped. The man on the other side asked, “Are the two of you related; he looks a lot like you?”
John looked down
and said, “This is Johnathan and he’s my son; my name is John.”
“My name is Ryan, and do you think it’s a good idea to bring him with you?”
That question told John volumes. It meant that he was in danger where he was standing. He glanced at the city and estimated it was over two hundred yards away. It would take a very good archer to hit him from that range. The man said, “State what you have to say.”
John smiled slightly, “You do get right to the point.”
Ryan smiled, “Oh, excuse me. Isn’t it a beautiful day; state what you have to say.”
John’s smile disappeared and he replied, “I think you know why I’m here.”
“I’m sure I do but just to make sure there’s no confusion, why don’t you tell me.”
John stared at Ryan and didn’t see any nervousness or stress. “We come here because we are low on food and we intend to take yours. I’m offering you an option.”
“What is that?” Ryan asked.
“Give us all your food and no one will get hurt.”
“And the other option?”
“If won’t be pretty if we’re forced to take it from you.”
Ryan pursed his lips and said, “You’re probably right about it not being pretty but not the way you envision it. You want to leave us with no food and end up starving. I don’t see that as a very good option John.”
“It’s far better than dying. I don’t think you know what you’re up against.”
Ryan waved a hand at him, “We were watching you long before you arrived. We know a little more than six thousand killers left your trucks and moved into the forest. I think we know what we’re up against. The real question is do you know what you’re up against John?”
All of the pieces began coming together and John asked, “Where did you serve?”
Ryan hesitated and answered, “I was a colonel in the Hundred and First Airborne; I commanded a regiment. What about you?”
“I was a captain in the Green Berets.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed, “Back in the day, I worked with numerous Green Berets and every one of them were proud, brave, and honorable. I’ve never met one that wasn’t until this moment. What you are would bring shame on them.” Ryan saw his comment hit a nerve; he saw it in the man’s eyes.
The Watcher II: The Time of Suppression Page 3
