by Robert Boren
“The police just left us,” Nate said.
“They here to thank us for saving their asses?” Kelly asked.
“No, they wanted to take our guns,” Nate said. “I told them to shove it.”
“They didn’t fight back?” Kelly asked.
Nate got closer and lowered his voice. “The guy grinned at us and left happy as a clam.”
Nate and Kelly busted up laughing. “That means some idiot City Councilman probably told him he had to do it. Or maybe that blow-hard on the Police Commission who was in our town earlier. Like I said, there’s still some good cops on Austin PD.”
“What now?” Nate asked. “Why we hanging around?”
“Junior back yet?”
“No,” Nate said. “Where’d he go, anyway?”
“He got a hunch on where these cretins were staging from. Went to reconnoiter.”
“You still thinking about hitting them?” Nate asked.
“Damn straight, but we’ll have to pick a fight, get them to attack us.”
“Who’s that coming?” Nate asked, watching a man in a suit walk over.
“Excuse me,” the man said. “Can I have a word please?” He was smartly dressed and businesslike.
“And you are?” Kelly asked.
“I’m Ted Leary, assistant to Police Commissioner Holly,” he said.
“Oh, that asshole,” Nate said.
“Now be nice, Nate,” Kelly said. “What can we do for you?”
“We’re keeping tabs on the performance of our officers during this crisis. Did a group of officers come and request that you hand over your weapons?”
Kelly laughed. “The Governor signed the carry laws into effect a few years ago.”
“Yes, I know that,” Ted Leary said. “Sometimes our department will make requests to help remove tension from a situation.”
“I see,” Kelly said. “So you idiots disarm us, then the Islamists come back and shoot us. Is that your way to remove tension? ”
Leary shot Kelly a disgusted look. “Could you just answer the question, please?”
“Well, I wasn’t here when the officers walked over,” Kelly said.
“Who was?”
“I was,” Nate said, looking at him, on the verge of laughing.
“Well, did the officers deliver the request?”
“Yes they did, and quite politely, I might add,” Nate said.
“I see that you still have your weapons.”
“You’re very observant,” Nate said. “You can get your brownie points for today.”
“So you obviously refused the request.”
“This guy needs an organ grinder to keep him performing,” somebody said from the ranks.
“Now, now, Fritz, that’s not nice,” Kelly said. “Always be nice.”
“Ah, do I have to?” Fritz asked. He was an older man with a goofy smile and hair down to his belt. “Hey, Ted, want a peanut?”
Leary tried to ignore him, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “You do understand that your actions resulted in much more bloodshed than was necessary.”
“All right, fun and games with Mr. Rogers here is over,” Kelly said. “Yeah, Teddy, you idiots pressured a good, upstanding cop into asking for our guns. We politely refused, as is our right, and he very politely withdrew. You can go tell Holly that now. Don’t forget your knee pads when you chat with him.”
The men laughed as Leary stormed away.
“Here comes Junior,” Nate said, looking past Kelly, who turned around and saw him.
“Well? It pan out?” Kelly asked.
“Yeah,” Junior said quietly. “They’re getting ready to hit again. Bigger this time. There were more than a hundred men there.”
“Where?” Nate asked.
“The frigging sanitation department,” Junior said.
“You mean the dump?” Nate asked.
“Not the landfill. It’s the office complex and yard where you drop off recycle stuff. You know.”
“Yeah, I know where that is,” Kelly said. “Way down South Congress, then east on Woodward. It’s closer than the landfill.”
“Almost right,” Junior said. “In order to get there from the north you have to take E. Ben White Boulevard to Todd Lane. You can come up from the south via Woodward, but you have to go all the way south to St Elmo Road and then come back up Industrial Drive.”
“Okay, I remember now. Too many for us to take on?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I think we ought to hold our noses and talk to the cops.”
“I’m good with it,” Kelly said. “Nate, think you can find that cop you talked to earlier? He seems to be worth talking to.”
“Yeah, I still see him, over by the visitor’s center.” He trotted over and chatted with the officer for a moment. They both trotted to Kelly’s side.
“Gentlemen,” the cop said. “I’m Officer Reilly. Thank you for the information. We don’t have enough resources to handle it by ourselves, but we’ll join you guys if you’re gonna hit them.”
“Good,” Kelly said. “We’ve got plenty of ammo left. I could even drag a few more friends to the party.”
“You do that, but I didn’t say it. What time you moving against them?”
“We better do it in a hurry,” Junior said. “They’re gonna be on their way in a few minutes.”
“How come Austin PD wasn’t looking for this?” Nate asked.
“Because the city is being run by idiots,” Officer Reilly said. “Be right back. Oh, and you guys can call me Sam.”
“Thanks, Sam,” Kelly said. “We’ll start down there. You can join us on the way.”
Sam trotted back to the other police.
“Think they’re really gonna help?” Junior asked.
“Yeah,” Kelly said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He hit a contact and put the phone to his ear.
“Who you calling?” Nate asked.
“Texas Mary’s,” he said.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Brenda, it’s Kelly.”
“Wonderful. You ain’t gonna ask me out on a date, are you?”
“Later,” he said, grinning. “You been watching the news?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Saw you guys. Kudos.”
“We need more help over here. There’s about a hundred more enemy fighters on the way. Who’s at the bar?”
“Earl, Jasper, and about twenty other men.”
“How drunk are they?”
“Not very,” she said. “Want to talk to them?”
“Yeah, put Jasper on the line.”
“Okay,” she said. “Just a sec.”
Kelly leaned up against his truck as he waited for a moment, phone against his ear.
“Kelly?” Jasper asked.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Saw what you guys did on TV. Bitchen. Something wrong?”
“Yeah, we got about a hundred more getting ready to attack. We notified the police and we’re ready to join us, but we’re a little thin. Want a piece of this?”
“Hell yeah,” Jasper said. “I’ll round up more guys on the way. I think we can field about forty.”
“Just what I wanted to hear,” Kelly said. “We’re going down South Congress. You know the Department of Sanitation yard where you drop off recycle stuff?”
“Yeah. Be there in fifteen minutes, give or take.”
“Okay, if we change position I’ll call you. Put Brenda back on, okay?”
“Okay,” he said.
Kelly gave Nate and Junior a thumbs up sign as he waited for Brenda.
“Yeah?” Brenda asked.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Oh, brother,” she said.
“I mean it. I want to take you out.”
She laughed. “Tell you what. If you survive this today, show up here and we’ll talk.”
“Oh, yeah!” Kelly said. He ended the call.
“How many?” Junior asked.
“Between thirty and forty, from the sound of it.
”
“They ain’t too drunk?” Nate asked.
“Didn’t sound like it to me,” Kelly said. “Look, here comes the cops.”
“You men almost ready?” Sam asked, flanked by a dozen men in SWAT gear.
“Yeah,” Kelly said. “We got another thirty to forty men coming. They’re about twenty minutes out, if the traffic ain’t bad.”
“We can’t wait that long,” Junior said. “Those guys are probably five to ten minutes from saddling up.”
“No problema,” Kelly said. “I’ll call Jasper when we get there and give them the exact location. They’re good at showing up at a raging battle and turning the tables. They did that at the bar earlier.”
Sam chuckled. “Yep. I saw that video from Texas Mary’s. Let’s exchange phone numbers so we can coordinate.”
The two men did that.
“Excellent,” Kelly said. “Let’s go.”
Kelly’s men climbed into their trucks. The police got into several police cruisers and an armored personnel carrier, and they took off towards the southwestern suburbs.
“This is a good direction,” Kelly said. “Closer to Dripping Springs. Jasper and Earl will get here quick.”
“Yeah,” Junior said, sitting in the passenger seat. “How we set for ammo?”
“Look behind the seat,” Kelly said. Junior turned and looked. “Wow, you expected a lot of action, didn’t ya?”
“Yep,” Kelly said. “Nate’s got a lot of ammo too. He wanted to bring his BAR but I told him to save it.”
“Yeah, cops can’t let that one slide,” Junior said, chuckling. He rubbed his cheek.
“How’d you find those guys?” Kelly asked.
“Remembered a story about how members of the refugee community were getting jobs at the Sanitation Department, thanks to those geniuses on the City Council.”
“Figures,” Kelly said.
“Anyway, I was about half-way there when a bunch of them drove by me, licking their wounds from the battle up here. I’m lucky they didn’t recognize me.”
Kelly laughed. “They were too scared, I suspect. You look like one of us.”
“I suppose I should take that as a compliment,” Junior said. “This is a long-ass street. We might run into them on the way, ya know.”
They rode along silently for a few minutes, the street deserted due to the violence.
“There’s Woodward,” Junior said.
“See it.” Kelly made the left and kept going until he ran into East Ben White Boulevard.
“Getting close now,” Junior said. “Hang a right on Todd. About three blocks up.”
Kelly made the turn, and they crossed under Hwy 71.
“It’s right there,” Junior said, pointing.
“Where? That high fence up ahead?”
“Yeah,” Junior said.
Kelly grinned. “Let’s find a place to set up.” Then his phone rang. He answered it.
“Kelly here.”
“It’s Sam. You guys already there?”
“Yeah, we’re setting up about half a block to the north-east.”
“So they aren’t even watching the area?” Sam asked.
“Doesn’t look like it so far,” he said. “What do you want to do?”
“We’ll pull the cruisers on the north side of the facility. We’re thinking about driving the armored vehicle right in there from the south-east.”
“You don’t think they have anything stronger than small arms?” Kelly asked. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got an RPG or two. That’ll split your armor wide open.”
“You really think they could have something like that?”
“They got AK-47s and gobs of ammo. Last I heard you get that from the same kind of place that you get RPGs.”
“Shit, you may be right,” Sam said.
“Why don’t you ghost ride it in there?” Kelly asked.
“You mean stuff something against the accelerator and let it drive in empty?”
“Yeah,” Kelly said.
“That’s a good idea,” Sam said. “Might get me in trouble.”
“It’ll root out any more powerful hardware they have. I’ll put some men into position to blast anybody who tries to use something like that.”
“Okay, I’m convinced,” Sam said. “We’ll be there in a minute.”
Kelly ended the call and hit Jasper’s contact.
“Where you at, brother?” Kelly asked.
“We’re on 71, just about to cross I-35.”
“Perfect, you’re almost here,” Kelly said. “Get off at East Ben White, then hang a right on Todd. We’re right there.”
“Okay,” Jasper said.
Kelly ended the call and stuffed his phone back in his pocket.
“Cops just got here,” Nate said, walking up. Then there was a gunshot. Everybody hit the dirt as a few more rounds hit their trucks.
“They see us!” Kelly shouted.
The armored personnel carrier pulled up alongside, giving them some cover. The officers piled out, AR-15s pointed at the nearby rooftops.
“Hey, look, there’s one!” an officer said. He fired, and a man in white garb fell off the roof.
“More up there,” Kelly said, opening fire with his hunting rifle, dropping two more before they could get away.
“Nice shooting,” the officer said.
“Same to you. I’m Kelly.”
“Officer Brown,” the man said, smiling.
“Hey, guys, get up by that driveway and be ready to pour fire on them,” Kelly said. Nate and Junior nodded, taking a bunch of men in that direction.
“Ready to rig this personnel carrier?” Sam asked, running towards them in a crouch. Another shot rang out, and Sam dived behind the vehicle as Officer Brown and Kelly opened fire, dropping two more Islamists from the next roof over.
“Son of a bitch, they’re all over the damn place,” Sam said. “It’s almost like they knew where we’d be.”
“Yep,” Kelly said. “Got an idea.” He pulled his phone out and hit Jasper’s contact. “You close, Jasper?”
“Yeah. Almost there.”
“Don’t turn down Todd. It’s a shooting gallery. The buildings on the east side of the street are covered with knuckle-draggers. Stay on East Ben White until the next street, then try to get behind those buildings. Let’s get them in a good cross-fire.”
“Got it. Burleson Street. We just made the right. I see the buildings. There’s a bunch of them hiding behind, ready to get on the roofs.”
“Be careful.”
“Oh, this is beautiful, man. There’s a driveway off Burleson that’ll get us right next to them. We can drive in with guns blazing.”
“How many trucks to you have?”
“Twelve.”
“Hit them. We’ll be ready from this side when they try to escape. Nate and Junior have the front driveway of the facility bottled up in case the main group tries to come out.”
“Okay, here we go.”
Suddenly there was rapid gunfire coming from the east, along with whoops and hollers. Kelly and the others around him opened fire at the roof tops as the Islamists tried to flee in that direction. Then there was gunfire coming from the driveway into the waste facility, ramping up quickly.
“Let’s get this vehicle in there,” Sam said. “If nothing else it’ll prevent them from driving out of there.”
“Yeah, good idea,” Kelly said. “Cover us, guys.”
Officer Brown nodded, and they continued to pour fire at the roofs. Islamists were fleeing on the ground now, easily picked off as they appeared.
Sam put two sandbags on the accelerator pedal of the armored vehicle after putting it in gear, then leapt out of the way. It roared forward, right on target. There was panicked shouting in Arabic and Spanish coming from the waste facility, and gunfire peppered the vehicle.
“Wow, it’s gonna make it all the way through the gate!” Kelly shouted, grinning at Sam. The heavy vehicle went up the driveway, and th
en it exploded, pieces of it flying into the air.
“Told you,” Kelly said.
“They blew that thing up in their only escape route,” Sam said, a gleeful look on his face. “Let them have it.”
“Hell yeah,” Kelly shouted, running to join his guys by the driveway. About twenty enemy fighters flooded out, trying to make a run for it just as Jasper and Earl’s trucks flew around the corner, men in the back pouring fire on them. Kelly watched as Earl jumped out of the cab of the first truck with a large rifle, opening fire in full auto.
“Hell, that’s a BAR,” Sam said.
“Nate’s gonna be pissed if it’s his,” Kelly said. “You ain’t gonna confiscate it, are you?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sam said, as they got closer in, still firing. He glanced at Kelly, a sly smile on his face.
The battle went on for another five minutes, and then there was silence. A handful of Islamists and two men from Venezuela surrendered. The rest of the enemy fighters lay dead or badly wounded around the front of the waste facility.
Chapter 18 – Peace Offering
Kip Hendrix had a worried look as he watched the TV from behind his desk. His phone was ringing off the hook, his secretary screening calls, refusing access except for a small list Kip had given her. Jerry Sutton walked in, looking like he’d been up for days.
“What are we gonna do, boss?” he asked, sitting in a chair in front of the desk, turning it sideways so he could watch the mayhem on TV.
“What are we gonna do, boss?” Kip mocked sarcastically. “What am I paying you for, anyway?”
Sutton got up to leave, his face red with anger.
“Hold it,” Hendrix said. “Sorry. I’m a little tired. Sit.”
“All right,” he said, sweat breaking out on his brow. “Those damn rednecks are working with the police now.”
“The chief behind it?”
“No, this happened on the ground, during the battle. He was happy about it, but he didn’t plan it.”
“Holly sent officers to disarm those vigilantes,” Hendrix said. “They refused, of course.”
“So the cops backed off?” Jerry asked.
“Had to. Damn Governor and his carry laws. Can’t wait for the next election.”
“Governor Nelson is way ahead in the polls,” Sutton said. “Gonna be hard to defeat him, especially with all of this going on.”
