John realized that this man was dangerous with a capital D. He looked down at his son and said, “Go and bring your mother and sister back with you.” The little boy nodded and ran back up the slope toward the tree line. Ryan’s eyes narrowed and John turned to him, “Do you know the problem with commanding large numbers of killers?” Ryan shook his head. “It’s like holding on to a tiger’s tail…if you let go, you’re dead along with everyone close to you. There’s something you should know.”
“What is that?”
“The reason we fled Kansas is because a new band of killers are attacking all the other bands. Their leader has decided that he is going to become a king and rule the plains. He has more than twenty thousand soldiers and he’s conquered every community in the four-state area. He’s moving this way and will arrive here within a year. He’s planning to eventually attack Billings and make it his capital. But first he will remove all the other bands. I’m also sure that the location of this city is known by him.” John smiled slightly, “This city has developed a reputation of having a never-ending supply of food.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I ask you to take my family with you into the city.”
“What?”
“I ask you to take them into the city and make sure they’re safe and cared for. Will you do me this small honor…please.”
Ryan stared into John’s eyes and saw his own eyes when he came to the city five years earlier. He also saw something else. “I will.”
The woman and two children walked up to John and Loree asked, “What’s going on John?!”
John put his hands on her shoulders, “Loree, take the children and go with this man.” Loree started shaking her head and John stared intently into her eyes, “It’s the only way I can prevent you and them from being killed. It’s the only way you can be safe.”
The woman was still shaking her head when Ryan ran across the stream, put Johnathan on his shoulders, and took the baby from the woman’s arms, turned, and walked across the stream. Loree watched him walk away and John said, “GO!”
Loree saw the strange man walking away with her children and she turned, ran through the stream, and sprinted after him. John closed his eyes and blew out a long breath.
Loree caught up with Ryan and demanded, “What are you doing?!”
“What John asked me to do. He asked me to take you to the city and insure that you and his children are safe and well cared for.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because his heart is heavy with all he’s been forced to do to keep you alive.”
“What do you mean?”
“John would have left the band long ago, but he was watched closely and if he didn’t do his job, you and his children would have died. I could see it in his eyes.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“My eyes were just like his once. He’s sacrificing himself to insure your survival.”
• • •
The Woolly Man saw the woman and children walking toward the city with the man John had spoken with and he jumped to his feet and ran down the slope. He arrived at the stream and looked up at John, “What’s going on Boss?”
John kept his eyes on Loree as she walked through the gate with the tall man. “I convinced them to give us all of their food stores.” He turned to Woolly, “They demanded that I send my family in with them as hostages to insure we don’t start killing them.”
Woolly smiled, “That is an outstanding plan! Of course we won’t be keeping that promise.”
John turned back to the city, “I know.”
• • •
Ryan handed the little girl to a woman and said, “Caroline, take the children to the hospital and have them checked out. Have someone take them some food as well.” The woman nodded and Ryan turned to Loree, “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To witness an act of love; John deserves you to see it.” Ryan rushed up the steps to the top of the wall and looked out at the stream where John was standing next to the Woolly Man.
Loree followed him up the steps and said, “What are you talking about?! You’re not making sense.”
Ryan blew out a breath and yelled, “Jose, close the door!”
Loree looked at the archers sitting under the top of the wall and Ryan said, “LOOK AT HIM!” Loree turned and saw John staring at her.
The Woolly Man saw the door closing and he knew that John hadn’t been honest. His dagger came out and he stabbed John in the heart. Loree’s hand went to her throat as John collapsed to his knees and held out his hand toward her before he fell forward into the dirt. The Woolly Man drew his sword, raised it over his head, and slashed John’s head off. He then turned and sprinted back up the slope toward the tree line.
Loree turned to Ryan, “Why…?”
“Because they knew he was over all the killing and they were pressuring him to continue leading them. John wanted to die but he couldn’t do it until he knew you and the children would be safe.”
“HE FORCED ME TO LIVE WITH HIM!!”
“Did he ever hit you, abuse you orforce you to do things against your will?” Loree stared into Ryan’s eyes in silence and Ryan blew out a breath and shook his head, “In this evil time we live, love is seldom seen and often times, it’s not recognized when it’s around us. John sacrificed himself because he loved you. If you can’t understand that then you’re simply blind to it. Come on; I’ll take you to your children.”
“He forced me to stay with him,” Loree said softly.
“Would you have been better off if he didn’t?” Loree stared at Ryan and remembered the slave pens. She was silent all the way to the hospital.
• • •
Woolly arrived at the tree line and one of the Commanders stood there waiting for him to arrive. Woolly ran up and the Commander glared at him, “Care to explain why you killed John?”
“He betrayed us.”
“In what way?”
“You know we’ve suspected he’s lost his nerve.” The Commander continued to glare at Wooly but nodded. “He told me a lie. He said the city agreed to give us their food and that they demanded his family as hostages. As soon as they entered the city, they slammed the door shut.”
“Why would he have sent his family there if we’re about to attack the city?” The question startled Woolly; it did seem like a dumb thing to do. “What did he tell you about the city’s defenses before you killed him?”
“I didn’t ask him.” The Commander glared at him and Woolly put his hand on his dagger.
The Commander smiled, “You don’t frighten me in the slightest, so if you want to die, keep your hand on that blade!” Woolly knew the Commander was dangerous with a sword and Woolly judged he’d have it out before he could pull the dagger.
Woolly removed his hand and raised his hands, “You know John tried to escape a year back, right?” The Commander nodded. “He sent his family in to the city to remove them as a threat to him; he knew we’d kill them if he didn’t do his job. Do you think he would have told me the truth about that city with his family inside it?”
The Commander thought about it and then replied, “No, probably not. But that has to mean he believed they would be safe against us.”
“I think he sent them in and planned to get them to give us some of their food if we would just leave. He’d try to convince us to do just that. This city is just like all the others we’ve taken; it’s filled with soft city people. Why take some of their food when we could have it all?”
The Commander glanced at the city in the distance and turned back to Woolly, “You’ve held up your end of the bargain keeping an eye on him; you are now the War Commander. Hopefully you’ve picked up enough of John’s knowledge to do a good job. How do you want to handle the attack?”
“Get the men formed up. We’ll attack them now.”
The Commander looked to the west and said, “The sun is going to move behind that mountain in l
ess than an hour; it will be dark in less than two hours. Do you want to start an attack that ends in the dark?”
Woolly looked to the west and said, “Form them up and we’ll move in after it’s dark. They won’t see us coming.”
“And our archers won’t be able to see any of their forces on top of the wall.”
“That will be a tradeoff. But if we get in close without being detected, our men will be over the walls quickly,” Woolly replied.
The Commander raised a shoulder and said, “I’ll get the men ready.”
• • •
The thousands of killers were formed up ready to move into the dark valley two hours later when suddenly the entire valley was bathed in brilliant white light. Woolly held up his hand to shield his eyes and saw huge search lights had illuminated over the city’s walls. The Commander turned to Woolly, “Those lights are in front of their walls and our archers won’t be able to see the walls. If they have archers, those lights make attacking now extremely dangerous and there’s no doubt they will see us coming.”
Woolly nodded, “You’re right. Call off the attack until tomorrow morning. Have the men eat a meal and get some rest. They’ll eat the remainder of our food tomorrow morning; make sure they know if they want to eat again, they’ll have to take that city in the morning.”
The Commander nodded and walked away. Woolly looked back at the city and realized they had electricity; most of the others they attacked didn’t. He suddenly thought that it might have been a bad idea to kill John without asking him about what he saw in that city. But it was too late now, and he certainly wasn’t going to admit it. But John sent his family there; was this a mistake? It really didn’t matter if it was, they were out of food and had no choice but to attack.
• • •
Ryan stood behind Jake and stared at the display. He saw the bright red images just inside the tree line and suddenly, they started moving. Jake was more familiar with the data sent from the night drones and he said, “They’re breaking up the lines and they’re moving back into the forest. Looks like they’re calling off the attack.”
Ryan patted him on the shoulder and stepped out of the hut, “Benny, dismiss the archers; tell them to get something to eat and get some sleep. We’ll wake them before sunrise, so they have time to stretch and get ready.” Benny was standing on top of the wall in the center and he passed the order down the line to the left and right. The thousands of archers began moving down the steps and headed toward the opening in the mountain.
• • •
The archers were up early and gathered below the walls. Ryan stood on top of the wall and said loudly, “You’ve trained on this; just follow the plan. Keep your eyes on the leaders and pay attention to the flags! Otherwise, hug the wall until ordered otherwise. Move to your positions at first light. Until then, do your stretching exercises and prepare yourselves.” Ryan walked off the walls and shouted, “Flag Masters, gather up!” Twenty of his archers ran up and Ryan turned to them, “I know you want to be with us, but I can’t depend on anyone else to do the job you’ve been assigned.” Ryan turned to Kyle, “You will make the critical decisions on when to act. I’m counting on you.”
“I’ll keep them safe Sir.” Ryan looked at them with obvious affection, then turned and ran toward the end of the wall to the south. He joined forty Archers and climbed down into the tunnel. As soon as the archers moved away, a huge fan moved over the cover and was turned on pulling air through the tunnel from the far end across the valley. At the north end of the wall, forty more Archers entered the tunnel and began moving forward.
• • •
The sun rose above the forest and thousands of soldiers in the trees ate a meal and were told it was the last of their food stores. They knew that taking this city was critical to their survival and they steeled their nerves for the coming fight. There would be no survivors in the city. They would load up in their trucks and leave for the far west trying to stay ahead of the huge army moving their way. An hour later, fifteen hundred archers marched out of the tree line and formed up into a long line half a mile long. They began marching forward as more than four thousand killers moved out behind them and formed up. They were carrying long wooden climbing poles they would use to scale the walls. They spread out behind the archers and started marching forward behind them. They were heavily armed with long swords, shields slung over their backs, and bows over their shoulders. They marched forward in perfect precision and it was easy to see these warriors were highly trained and professional.
Jake watched them on the display as they marched out of the trees and began moving toward the city. The city wall was a half a mile long and they had spaced themselves perfectly to cover every inch of the wall with their archers. He shook his head and hoped they were ready.
• • •
The archers moved through the stream and the Commander ordered them to stop a hundred and fifty yards from the wall and shouted, “Raise bows; hit anything that appears above that wall.” Every archer in the city huddling behind the top of the wall heard his command and looked at each other.
• • •
Margarette looked at Jeff and saw him take off his floppy hat and put it on a piece of wood. “What are you doing?”
Jeff smiled, “Just want to see if they’re as good as Ryan says they are.” Jeff raised the stick until the hat barely appeared above the top of the wall. It was immediately hit by an arrow and the hat flew out into the ground below the walls.
Jeff looked at the stick and saw it was six inches shorter. He stared at it and Margarette said, “It appears they’re better.”
Jeff nodded. He turned to Margarette, “Do not put yourself in danger. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”
Margarette’s smile was huge, “You do the same Jeff!”
• • •
The Commander stared at the walls and shouted, “CLIMBERS…FORWARD!!”
The thousands of killers marched through the long line of archers toward the city wall. Jake stared at the display and blew out a breath…now it was on.
• • •
Kyle raised a white flag and the other flagmen raised a white flag along the city walls. The archers moved away from the wall and gripped a large metal hood behind them. They pulled the large metal covers up and they pivoted over the front of the wall. They extended seven feet in front of the wall and the arrows fired at them by the killers hit and bounced off harmlessly. Kyle raised a red flag and the four thousand archers stood up and raised their bows as the climbers moved under the hoods. The first men in the killer’s line were hit by numerous arrows and the line backed away from the wall. The Commander shouted over the loud screams, “ARCHERS MOVE FORWARD UNTIL YOU CAN FIRE UNDER THOSE METAL COVERS!” The archers sprinted forward until they could see the top of the wall under the metal covers. The moment the archers on the walls saw the archers appear, they immediately crouched behind the wall. Twenty archers were slow and paid for it. The Commander ordered, “CLIMBERS FORWARD!!”
• • •
Kyle held up a yellow flag and two men began turning a wheel on top of a metal cover. The large pumps fired up filling the city with their roar. The high-pressure hoses attached inside the hoods began spraying down into the thousands of killers starting to move up their climbing poles douching them. Kyle lowered the yellow flag and the men turned the wheel shutting off the pumps. Kyle raised a red flag and every archer took the paraffin ball next to them and pulled a tab on them. The balls immediately ignited, and Kyle lowered the red flag. Every archer tossed the paraffin balls over the wall.
There was a moment of silence and then a deafening WHUMP filled the air as the gasoline exploded into a horrific flame incinerating every killer at the base of the wall. Kyle raised a white flag and the archers pivoted the hoods away from the wall and grabbed their bows.
The killer archers were too close to the wall and the flames exploded toward them. They turned and fled toward the stream with m
any of them on fire. The archers on the walls picked their targets carefully and not one of the fifteen hundred archers made it to the stream. Many had been hit by multiple arrows and the hunting arrow heads cut through them. In less than ten minutes, all of the killers lay dead on the ground.
Chapter Four
Ryan waited at the end of the tunnel listening carefully and heard the explosion from the city walls echo through the forest overhead. He pulled the lever releasing the fake tree trunk and pushed it up and away from the tunnels opening. He lept out and the forty archers followed him.
• • •
The Woolly Man sat at the edge of the tree line watching the attack and suddenly saw huge flames erupt from the city wall. A moment later he heard the loud whump and saw all of his men were on fire. He stood up and watched the archers being killed and knew that things had gone bad…very, very bad. He saw something out of the corner of his eye, and he jerked his head to the right. He glimpsed a man dressed in green disappear in the trees. They were moving toward him! He turned and sprinted into the tree line. He started running down the steep slope toward the road and ran through the camp at his best speed. The guards surrounding the slaves watched him run by them and wondered what was going on.
After a moment, the senior guard figured out that things must have gone wrong. He looked at the other guards and pulled his sword, “KILL THEM ALL!” The women and children started screaming as he took a step forward. Suddenly he stopped, looked down, and saw an arrowhead protruding out of his chest. An instant later, another one hit him in the back of his head, and he fell forward.
The women stopped screaming and saw eighty men dressed in green camouflage uniforms surrounding them. Ryan walked up and saw the Woolly Man running down the slope. He pulled an arrow out of the quiver and sighted in on him. After a moment, he released the tension on his bow and put the arrow back in his quiver. Arie was standing next to him and he remarked, “You could have hit him.”
The Watcher II: The Time of Suppression Page 4
