by A J Newman
John ordered a cease-fire when there was no return fire for five minutes. He sent the Humvees in to check for survivors and found all but three dead and they were all wounded. Scott took a team to make sure the dead were actually dead. A shot rang out a couple of times.
Scott yelled, “The SOBs were playing possum.”
Beth and Alice came over to the wounded men and tried to start first aid, but John asked them to leave.
Beth protested and John took her to the side and said, “These guys won’t need first aid. We will interrogate them, then try them and execute them.”
Beth said, “A hard man for hard times. Baby, can you live with your actions?”
John replied, “Yes, when these thugs were going to ambush us and kill everyone. Darling, I am not a cold-blooded killer, but I can do what is needed for us to be safe and survive.”
Scott forced one of the DHS guys, the Sergeant, to stand up and walk to the front of one of the Humvees and tied him to the front and facing away from the grill. Bill and a couple of the guys made the other two sit down to watch the interrogation. John came up to the Sergeant and saw that he had been shot in the right arm and right side. He asked when he would get a doctor to fix his wounds.
John said, “I am going to shoot you in the other arm with this .22 if you don’t answer my questions.”
He pulled the Ruger out of his belt and put it against the guy’s left arm.
The Sergeant replied, “You know I only have to give you my name, rank and serial number.”
John smiled at him and pulled the trigger. The report of the gun surprised the rest of the team and caused one of the other prisoners to soil his pants. John had the other two moved out of range and asked again and this time he spilled his guts.
The other two had much the same story, but did not know as much about the headquarters in Mobile.
John learned that there was a major complex in Mobile that was the state headquarters and manned by over 2,000 men. The Sergeant told him that the complex had bomb shelters, food and water to cover the army for six months. He added that there were numerous armored vehicles and helicopters readied for battle. There also was an internment camp with tents and a ten-foot high fence around the perimeter. The camp would hold ten thousand people until they were resettled. All three told John about how the DHS was forcing people to relocate to the camp even if they were doing okay. They told him that the mandate was to relocate everyone to the numerous camps around the country and to use the people as labor to get factories and state-run farms back up into operation.
John quickly dispatched the three DHS scumbags.
Before John could speak, Bill said, “Come on people, you know the drill, bury the dead and grab anything useful to the team!”
John patted Bill on the back and helped salvage weapons, ammo and food. They were getting efficient at burying the dead and picking over the remains. It only took an hour to accomplish the task and get on the road. They were only able to salvage 20 M4s, 26 9mm, a bunch of ammo, assorted backpacks and 40 cases of MREs. Several of the M4s had grenade launchers mounted below the barrel and they found 2 cases of grenades with 24 grenades each. The vehicles and .50 cal. MGs were shot to hell. They only saved a couple of spare barrels for the .50 cal. and a cleaning kit.
They drove south on Hwy 65 south for about 15 miles and decided to camp just north of Athens. It was about an hour before sun set and John did not want to go through Athens and Decatur. He wanted to avoid all cities if possible and they would get up early and try to get past Athens and Decatur before most people were up for the day. They pulled off the highway and set up camp by a creek in a stand of trees. They dined on MREs for supper and except for the guards, everyone went to bed early since they knew they had to get up before daylight in the morning.
John and Beth snuck out of the camp and went about a hundred yards into the woods. John pulled a plastic sheet out of his back pocket and spread it out on the ground. They talked and cuddled for a while before Beth asked John if he had protection.
He drew his .45 Colt and she laughed and said, “I guess we just take our chances one time and I’ll be checking out the next gas station or pharmacy.”
Their chances ended up conceiving a beautiful daughter.
Beth lay in John’s arms for several hours while they talked about the future.
Beth asked, “John isn’t Ann staying at the bunker?”
John thought, “Oh shit,” and replied, “Yes, she is, but I don’t think that will be an issue. She doesn’t care for me or me for her. We have been friends, but that’s all since the divorce.”
Beth said, “That sounds good, but if she even looks at you, I’ll scratch the bitch's eyes out.”
John had arranged for Beth and him to have the last watch of the night, but Scott still caught that they came to guard duty from the bushes and not from camp.
He said, “Y’all find that room?”
Beth walked up to him and smiled while she grabbed him by the cheek and twisted.
She said, “Next time, I’ll spank you son.”
Scott replied, “So you found a room and a preacher, Mom?”
She kicked him and left with John doubled over laughing.
Scott, Bill and Alice were taking bets on which of John’s women would win the first showdown.
Scott ended the discussion by saying, “I think Beth is one hell of a woman, but I know my Mom and she can be a real bitch and can get real nasty.”
Just as he finished, Bill and Alice broke out laughing.
Scott felt a hand on his shoulder and Beth gave him a ten-dollar bill and said, “That’s ten dollars on me, Sonny Boy.”
She kissed him on the cheek and walked away, like a woman on a mission.
They were all up and ready to travel by 4:00 a.m. John and Beth were yawning during the morning meeting with Scott making fun of them behind their backs. John told the team that they would drive slowly with no lights until they got past Decatur, which was a total of 20 miles driving in the dark. He asked Scott and Bill to take two pickups with six heavily armed men and stay about 100 yards ahead of the main body. He also had another pickup trail the main body by 100 yards.
John told them, “I don’t know what is waiting for us around Athens, but we cross Lake Wheeler just outside of Decatur and I would have a roadblock there if I wanted to block entry into the area. We need to remember that there are a lot of good people out there that don’t want just anybody travelling through their towns and property.”
They got just about five miles below Athens when Scott radioed back for the group to stop. He said he thought there were friendly people on the road. He had seen a van on the side of the road with a man, three women and four kids just getting up for the morning. Scott and several of the men walked up to within 30 yards of the van and Scott went ahead so as to not scare the people. He stood behind a stalled car and hailed the camp. The people ducked behind the van and told him to leave them alone. Scott told them that he and his people were just trying to head south on highway 65 and meant them no harm. He even asked if they needed any supplies. Scott talked with the group long enough to know that these were just people caught on the road and meant no harm to anyone, but he also knew that a cornered man was a dangerous man. He radioed back to his dad and told him the situation. John told him that he would come up and talk with the people.
John arrived in about five minutes with Beth by his side. They walked up to Scott and hid behind the car while Scott gave them an update and pointed out where the people were. John told him that Beth and he were going to talk with these people and then walk up to them and see if they could stop this impasse so there would be enough time to get past Decatur before dawn. Beth called out to the group and told them that they needed to hurry up and get on past Decatur before daylight.
A woman spoke up and said, “Why should we trust you? You might just kill or rape us.”
Beth replied, “If we wanted you dead, you would be. We have over 30-armed
people in our team, machine guns and Humvees. We also have food and supplies. We don’t want to hurt you”
Two of the Humvees with the dual .50 MGs pulled up and turned their lights on. This scared the shit out of these folks and shook them to the bone.
Beth said again, “As you can see if we wanted to hurt you it would have already happened. Come on over and let’s talk.”
The others huddled for a minute, walked out from behind their van and laid their guns on the ground.
The man said, “Please don’t hurt the children. Do what you want with us, but don’t hurt our kids.”
John, Scott and Beth went up to meet with them and shook their hands and introduced themselves.
John said, “We really do have to get on across the river before daylight, but we can give you food if you need it.”
The man replied, “We certainly could use some food, but I wouldn’t get in a hurry to try and cross the river. There are about a hundred bikers and escapees from the prison just on the other side. They are making people pay tolls to cross the bridge into Decatur and when they do get across, they kill the men and kids and take the women. Also the I-65 bridges are totally blocked by several burned out tractor and trailers and you have to go through Decatur.”
John said, “How do you know this?”
The man’s wife, Pat, replied, “We originally had 15 adults and 13 kids in our group. We paid the toll in old silver coins and half our guns and ammunition. When we crossed the bridge, they ran a bus across the road in front of our column and tried to block the backend, but that bus stalled and would not start. Two cars and our van turned around and ran back up Hwy 65. They chased us and ran the two cars off the road. We were in the lead and got away. As we pulled away, we saw them shooting everyone in the cars. While we are ashamed that we left them, we would have been killed also.”
John told them, “In those circumstances, I would have done the same. You saved your kids.”
The rest of the main body joined them and since they weren’t going on to Decatur, they stopped and fixed a big breakfast. John and Beth introduced the new people to the team and then filled the others in on their story, but kept the bunker out of the conversation.
Pat’s husband, Mark Taylor, her 2 sisters and their kids had left Columbia, TN a week ago heading for the gulf coast. Looting and a riot had just about burned the whole town down and they had all lost their homes. Pat’s brother-in-law was murdered trying to find food for his kids. Two days into the trip, their leader snuck out before dawn with most of their supplies and their best truck.
Chapter 4
The Road Home
North of Decatur
June 2, 2020
John did not want to walk into a trap, so he sent scouts out in several directions to make sure there were no surprises besides the one across the bridge at Decatur. He sent one group to make sure that Mark was accurate about the bridge at I-65 being impassable. Mark was correct; it would take a week with a dozer to clear the wrecks off the bridge.
The other scouts were gone for two days and brought back a wealth of information. The area north of Decatur was safe and had law and order. The people were mainly farmers and were well armed and kept the trash from Decatur on their side of the lake. They had plenty of food and a lake for water. They had seen DHS vehicles and choppers, but had not been bothered by them so far.
The Decatur side of Lake Wheeler was a different story. When the power went out most of the guards left to go home to their families. The warden tried to get help, but with no electricity, little water and food running out he let the nonviolent prisoners go to be able to keep the most violent behind bars. The plan was working until one day a biker gang showed up and overwhelmed the guards. These were Aryan Nation thugs and they killed all guards and most of the minority prisoners. They put five of the prisoners, a live guard and a knife in a cell and left them to starve to death or eat the guard for supper.
The scum then rode into Decatur, killed all of the police that they could find and started killing or raping all blacks and Mexicans in the town. Most escaped during the first day, but some tried to fight back and were killed. They captured over a hundred women and young girls and had them locked up in a hotel to be used and abused. All girls younger than ten were killed or run out of town. Local farmers had picked up a few, but they also found piles of dead men, women and children. They buried more than a thousand people during the first two days of the gang’s siege of the city.
Scott had found a game warden that had some topographical maps of the area that had excellent detail. They spread the maps out and started making a plan of attack, but John quickly knew he had to get eyes on the gang to determine their strengths and weaknesses. He sent a team out to find a boat so they could go across the lake and infiltrate the city. The team quickly found a canoe with oars. John and Bill rowed across the lake above Decatur, to get a close up view of the enemy. They went across at night to make sure they weren’t spotted.
The streets of Decatur were empty at 5:00 a.m. There were a couple of rough looking men standing outside of a Value Inn and six more on the Decatur side of the bridge. They were armed with M16s and 12 gauge shotguns. They all had biker jackets, no hair and multiple tattoos on their arms and faces. These were the night shift and the six at the bridge were passing a pipe and a bottle of whiskey around. They were obviously drunk and overconfident. John and Bill were under the back end of a truck in a parking lot on the northwest side of the road from the bridge going into town. To the west was the Value Inn with the two guards and due east were the six guards standing behind some cars that were making up a barricade in the middle of the divided highway. John and Bill had been up all night learning as much about the town as possible. They had been watching these animals for several days and found out quite a bit about where they slept and what they were doing. They observed their schedules and made notes on routines and activities.
There were about three hundred of the vilest SOBs occupying the town that John had ever seen. Most stayed at the Executive Hotel at the corner of Highways 67 and 41. They stored their captive women at the Holiday Inn by the bridge and had about thirty guards at all times spread about the town. It was a very large brothel for these degenerates. The leader charged the men for every “date.”
The gang was systematically looting the town one-bank or jewelry store at a time. There was an explosion about every two hours as the thugs broke into another bank, jewelry store, police station and liquor store or gun shop. They were amassing a fortune.
Bill said, “You know, John, we could blow up the hotel with them in it and take all of the stuff that they have been stealing."
John laughed and replied, “What about the good citizens who this stuff belongs to?”
Bill said, “Oops, I got greedy.”
***
“I want everyone ready to roll in two days. We’ll hit Cullman, Birmingham and Montgomery on the way down to Mobile.”
The men were afraid of Jerry for good reason. He killed just for the fun of it. He didn’t need a reason and no one wanted to give him one. He had a Bowie knife and machete hanging from his belt. He liked to torture men and women who pissed him off. He made a sport of trying to cut their heads off with one blow from the machete.
“We will check out the cities for women and drugs, but I want to join up with the DHS by next Friday. Deke Jones will let us do our thing as long as we bring prisoners to him. We can keep the loot and best looking women, young girls and a few young boys for you perverts.”
The men cheered and patted Jerry on the back, while praising him for their success.
“Snake, go fetch my women. I need some loving before we start packing up."
***
John and Bill walked back into the camp and gathered the senior team together. Scott, Tom, Beth, Alice and Sam joined John and Bill in planning the assault on Decatur.
Bill hung to his plan to blow up the hotel while the bikers were sleeping and to his surprise, no
one disagreed with this brutal uncivilized planned massacre.
Beth said to Bill, “Hard times make for hard decisions. Those bastards have raped or killed just about everyone in that pitiful city. Let’s help them meet with God and let him sort them out.”
Everyone laughed. They worked on the plan for over six hours, but at the end had a plan that would succeed with as few losses on their side as possible. The keys were a before dawn attack while the guards were both tired or drunk, blowing up the hotel the gang stayed in and snipers picking off the guards. They all agreed that the entire gang was to be executed down to the last man.
The advanced team, led by Bill, brought five cases of dynamite taken from a mining company, 50 one-gallon milk jugs filled with gas, and chains to lock the doors on the Executive Hotel. Team Two, led by Scott, was to infiltrate the Value Inn and liberate the poor women who had been sex slaves for the bikers. Team Three, led by John, was to kill all of the guards and mop up any gang members who escaped.
Bill and his team slowly crawled between cars to get close to the hotel. Bill walked right up to the two thugs guarding the front of the Hotel and asked where the head biker was. The two thugs laughed, but were then grabbed from behind. Bill’s accomplices quickly slit the thug’s throats and let them drop to the ground. The same tactics were being used successfully at the side and back doors. The thugs were drunk or stoned as expected. No one had challenged them since the massacre at the prison and they were complacent.
Next, they threw the gas jugs into the hallways from the rooms to the outside entrances. Bill placed dynamite with short fuses in the lobby and threw dynamite into the hotel while another poured gas from one end of the hotel to the opposite end. They then chained the doors shut and pushed cars against the doorways. They finally placed dynamite all around the hotel with two-minute fuses and lit the fuses. They radioed the other teams and said go! They then backed off and waited for the thugs to try to break windows to escape.
