Firestorm: Walking in the Rain Book 5

by M. C. Allen

  “Kofi, I’m about to pop up and give you a wave so you can see where I am. This is the only time I’ll expose myself, so remember where I am when the shooting starts. There is no way you can hit me unless I stick my head up.”

  I stood up and waved my hands above my head for a few seconds. I was a little nervous standing there, knowing a fourteen-year-old kid was pointing a rifle at me as he looked for me in the thermal sight.

  “I can see you clearly. Now get down and stay quiet. They are getting close to you.”

  “Remember, I’ll give the signal to start taking them out. If they bring machine guns, take them out first then move on to the next best target. Don’t bother using the subsonic ammunition; it’s going to be loud enough to cover you.”

  “I got this, Mr. Metcalf. Keep quiet and keep your blood on the inside of your skin.” My brand of humor must be contagious.

  In addition to staying alive and trying not to shoot me or my kids, Joseph’s people had an important role to play and knew what to do. They had built the fire inside the ring of cars up higher than normal, but nothing that noticeable. My job was to be quiet and stop making noise. Think about what a pile of leaves in the shadows looks like. Be the leaves. The hardest part for me was the waiting. Great, I needed to pee.

  CHAPTER

  TEN

  As I expected, they were using the embankment for cover. They quietly got into position and waited for the sun to lighten the camp enough for them to start killing my friends. The fire was still burning brightly, and I could see the light from it on the trees on the other side of the creek. The raiders were standing and looking right at the fire. Idiots. They were like moths drawn to a flame. People were drawn to fire, and the raiders were ruining their night vision. One look at a bright light source spoiled your ability to see in the dark. Joseph and Angel were both near that fire. I needed someone to make this look believable, and Angel had volunteered to help. I didn’t want Joseph in there, but he had the other radio. Ashley, Pamela, and Jordan took up positions far to the south. They were there in case the enemy decided to swing around and attack from the west. So far, everything was going to plan.

  That means something was going to go wrong. I knew something was going to go sideways. One of the raiders spoke quietly into a radio microphone.

  “We are in position. Move up and take your positions.”

  Here comes the unknown. Please let this be something we can handle. Kofi spoke in my ear. “There is another team coming in. They are moving up to where you are, Mr. Metcalf.”

  Of course they are. Where else would they go? This was going to get hairy. I was just going to let Kofi snipe them from his position and I would take out the ones who tried to hide in the zone where he couldn’t reach. The four men who threw themselves down almost on top of me were wearing vests and helmets. They were professional and didn’t look into the flames. Instead, they were looking right at me sprawled on the ground.

  Well, shit! I keyed the radio twice with my right hand and took my rifle off of safe with my left index finger. I suddenly didn’t need to pee anymore.

  Without aiming, I started poking my rifle in the direction of the four newcomers and fired into where their faces should be. The first two dropped instantly, and with my third shot, I removed most of the lower jaw and cervical spinal column of the third newcomer. The fourth form moved fast, but still took a round to the protective vest. The impact pushed him back, so my fifth shot entered his upper chest and exited near the top of his head. The helmet wouldn’t be salvageable, but I hoped the vest was still useful. They looked a lot lighter than mine. Fancy.

  Kofi dropped one of the raiders to my immediate front. I was in a crouch still in the shadows, so I was essentially invisible to the six that were still alive. Someone touched off a long string of shots.

  Joseph was supposed to take cover behind the engine block of the largest vehicle in the ring of cars. Instead, he ripped off an entire magazine from one of the M4s. He didn’t really do much, but it did get someone’s attention.

  One of the machine guns opened up. The rhythmic sound was slower and deeper than an M4. This was Kofi’s next target. Within three seconds, the machine gun was again quiet. The rest of the kids held their fire and waited for targets to expose themselves.

  I started shifting forward, looking for my next target. Shadowy forms were hunched over near the embankment and hiding. I scurried closer and shot one from the side. The bullet entered the right side of the ribcage and blew out the opposite side, destroying the lungs along the way. No vests for the rest of the bunch.

  My magazine held twenty rounds of .308, and even though I had more than half left, I changed to a full one. The spent magazine went into the pouch. They didn’t make these anymore, and I really couldn’t afford to order more online. Joseph broke in at that point.

  “Kofi, how many more are out there?” He sounded calm.

  “I think there are three or four left. They are all hiding, and I can’t get a shot at them until they pop back up.”

  “David, are you still alive over there?” Joseph asked.

  I clicked my radio twice and crawled further along the creek. They had to be just around the bend ahead. I leaned around to the left and saw four shadows trying to get the machine gun back in operation. When Kofi had shot the gunner, he fell and tangled the belt. Now these four were frantically trying to figure it out in the dark while people were trying to kill them. Morons—they had perfectly working rifles, and that gun was more trouble than it was worth in the situation.

  I stayed where I was and started killing them from left to right. I reserved one shot for each, then went back to make sure they were really dead. Mostly dead guys can still be a problem. I wanted them completely dead, so it paid to be thorough. I stayed behind my cover and backed up slightly, scanning around looking for anyone else Kofi may have missed.

  I broke the silence with a call over the radio. “Everyone hold your position. There could be more out there waiting for us to come out. I’m going to stay right here until we get better visibility.”

  As battles went, this one was easy for us. Dale, Regina, and Alex didn’t even have to fire their weapons, and they could just stay where they were in their soft little holes in the ground. No running in fear through barbed wire fences, or screams of our friends being beaten to death with pipes and bricks. This time the good guys got a win. We may also have some nice loot to go through. That’s always a positive.

  The four well-equipped newcomers had been a shock. What if the mystery black SUV had come back in the last week and was offering better training and advisors as well as material support? William had been here for weeks, and things could have changed back at his base that he was not privy to. I hoped the hogs found him before he lost consciousness.

  Kofi never did see any extra movement from the woods. When we finally announced the all clear, we moved the campers back in from the forest. Joseph sent out Angel and Ashley to scout the trail of our attackers, and we got volunteers to help move the bodies to the burial field. The loot was substantial. We ended up with four slightly used plate carriers with ceramic plates and after a lot of washing, some helmets. Each of the four had little radios for them to talk to each other. They were short ranged and handier than our current radios. In the mix, we added the radio from William’s tent and two extras carried by the attackers. These were longer ranged, but we didn’t want to use them for fear the rest of the raiders would hear us.

  When Angel and Ashley returned from their mission, they had four well-stocked combat packs. The weapons were welcome additions, even if they were dirty. I later spent several hours cleaning and inspecting weapons. We even found, not just canned food, but military rations that were higher in caloric content. We really needed some extra calories, and we made sure to share with the rest of the campers. Joseph looked at the food and wondered why Mr. Pogozelski had turned cannibal if they had canned food.

  “According to William, he was forced to eat the h
uman flesh or he would have been killed himself and thrown into the pot. It was a way to control the men. Once you break the taboo and eat another human, you are forever doomed. At least that was the thought behind the leader over there. I think we should go visit their base and let their leader tell us. I’m also curious about these guys with the vests and fancy gear.”

  A vest does no good if someone shoots you in the head at close range. I still felt bad that I damaged that helmet. The guys in vests wore a camouflage pattern that was unfamiliar to me. Great, more mysteries to figure out.

  Barbara waved to us from the picnic area. “Come on and eat. For once, we have plenty for all.” She smiled as we came over.

  I smiled back and hung my head in shame. “I’m sorry about getting into a fight at dinner last night. I try to teach the kids about proper dining etiquette, but I am a poor example for them.”

  “We should have done that weeks ago. He came into the camp raising hell. Now that we know he was behind some of the deaths here, we all welcome you with open arms. Some of William’s buddies in camp are lying low, afraid you’ll beat them for supporting him.”

  “Hey, I’m sure you thought I was crazy last night, and that was the point. William didn’t waste any time calling his buddies and setting up that raid as soon as we left the campground. They marched five miles through the woods at night, and I think they were looking to wipe you out.”

  Doris joined in. “Do you think they will try it again? We took out twelve of them last night; there can’t be many more.”

  “We need to clear them out. That’s for sure. They have more people than we were originally told. They may be getting more people in or turning them like they did William. What happened today cannot happen again. We need to take the fight to them. I’m leaving soon to scout them out. First though, I’m really hungry.”

  We sat in the dirt and ate a more substantial meal than we had before. It was a little strange. They just dumped some random cans in the simmering pot. Beef ravioli, green beans, corn, and beans joined the cast from last night’s supper, but at that point, I didn’t care.

  Then I remembered something.

  “I may know where to find some blackberries. I cut through a patch of them last night while dragging Mr. Pogozelski out there for him to tell me his secrets.”

  “How big was the patch?”

  “I really couldn’t tell, but it was thick.”

  Nobody batted an eye about the torture and murder of Mr. Pogozelski. Finding food and surviving was more important than the care of a traitor. Before the lights went out, I would have been arrested and faced the death penalty, but that day, we pushed it aside and shared recipes for blackberry cobbler.

  CHAPTER

  ELEVEN

  The rest of that day was used to consolidate all of the new gear. I took my entire team and Joseph’s crew out into the woods to zero our new rifles. We could all share the same type of ammunition, so our worries about having enough bullets was relieved slightly. We didn’t blast away at the woods, but I did show them proper techniques for firing from the prone, kneeling, and standing positions. I also taught them how to control the muzzle rise when firing bursts. Joseph agreed that blazing away at the attackers that morning was not effective. After the first three rounds, he was no longer pointing at his target.

  We all expended one complete magazine with our new individual weapons. It was not a shock to discover that the serial numbers of these weapons were in the same series as the first three. The 240B was fun, but at over twenty-seven pounds, everyone became shy when I mentioned carrying it. We didn’t even mention the weight of the ammunition belts. It was not something starving child soldiers would be comfortable dragging through the scorching forests and fields of Texas. I needed to find out what we were facing to the north. And I needed a platform for moving that heavy beast. A truck would be nice.

  Weapons cleaning was done quickly, and we settled down to rest. I needed sleep and a chance to recover. The kids were about as tired as I was. I asked Joseph if his team could stand watch so we could sleep, and he agreed readily. We had helped save his people from being slaughtered. That one short burst from the machine gun had ripped through one of the cars. What it would have done to a human body didn’t bear thinking about.

  “Can you have someone come by and wake me up in about four hours? It’s going to be a hot day, but I can’t think straight enough right now to make any plans.” Joseph nodded and said he would send someone over so I didn’t sleep the day away. I wanted to say something sarcastic, but I didn’t have the energy.

  I found a comfortable spot under the shade tree and was immediately out of it.

  The nightmare this time was one I hadn’t experienced in a while. I was teaching a class, but my kids kept catching on fire. They would just burst into flames and fall to the floor screaming in agony. I could smell the burning hair and the cooked flesh. The lesson on how the rotation of the Earth caused air circulation patterns that eventually led to prevailing winds continued until they were all dead or dying on the floor. The room filled with smoke, and I began to choke and gasp. I tried to break the windows with my fists, then with chairs, but I was too weak. I fell down to the floor sweating and crying.

  Dale was kicking the bottom of my boots to wake me up. When I had a bad one, they knew to stay away from my flailing arms. I sometimes pull my knife and try to carve up bad guys in my sleep. We were not the cuddling family. When we slept, it was wise to be careful waking us up. Alex had bloodied my nose in the past. Dale was the most peaceful; he mostly whimpered quietly.

  “I’m awake. What’s wrong?” I looked around for a second, then I put my knife back on the scabbard on my belt. “Sorry about that. Was I getting loud?”

  “We figured you wanted to wake up anyway,” Dale drawled. “Which nightmare was that one? Kofi bet it was the snake one.” They all knew I had different nightmares. I talk to them about it.

  “Not snakes. The fire in the classroom.” It was one of my most disturbing dreams. I knew what it was trying to tell me. I felt guilty for not being able to save my students.

  I was teaching a class when the lights went out. I checked the phone on my desk and saw that it was dead. My cell phone would not turn on at all. I got my flashlight out of my bag in the storage locker of my office. By that time, the kids had gone from cheerful, to panicked. None of their phones were working. The office didn’t send out an announcement, and the emergency bell system hadn’t sounded. The skies were clear, so not a storm.

  The building was getting out of control. Teachers started taking kids outside to the grassy area where we stood for fire drills. We all heard it.

  It was an explosion, and in just a few seconds, we heard a second blast. This continued for over a minute. We lost count. The ground shook when a blast was closer.

  My expensive watch had stopped working too. Oh, shit. This was either a man-made electromagnetic pulse or a naturally occurring coronal mass ejection. In plain terms, either someone set off a high-altitude nuclear device, or the sun lit a fart and bathed our planet with supercharged energy. An EMP will affect a large area, but a powerful CME could destroy electronic devices on a global scale. The power grid and telecommunication networks would be crippled. One way to find out was to get to my truck.

  The remote keyless entry didn’t work. I used my key to open the door manually. When I turned the key, I didn’t even get a click. My coworker Justin tried the same with his truck. We had talked about what to do in different circumstances, and we even had a plan. Get to our homes and get out of the Dallas–Fort Worth metro area. His favored location was a ranch west of Fort Worth, and he had food already in a cache with the owners.

  We dropped our tailgates and started getting our bags ready for a long walk. He lived closer, but I needed to start loading my truck in the garage back home. Kate knew that if something like this happened, she was to drop everything and get home. That was our plan. We would load up and get out. I had an open invitation to go to
a friend who had a spot located away from major population zones, and they had an operating farm. We just needed to get there. I had been there helping with wild hog eradication the summer before. Night hunting with a thermal scope and a suppressed .308 was good training.

  My gear was simple. In the messenger bag, I stuffed some granola bars, four bottles of water, some rain gear, a machete, a small first aid kit, and a length of metal pipe. As a public school teacher, I could not bring certain items into the parking lot. I would be fired if the administration found out I had a weapon in my truck. Not a big deal. I had plenty at my house in my safe. I just needed to walk ten miles south to my home. The hospital where my wife worked was closer, so even if I really pushed it she would beat me home.

  My concern was the growing clouds of smoke. Those explosions from earlier were airliners taking off or landing at DFW Airport. Each blast represented the loss of lives. Some large airliners had over a hundred people on those jets. The larger ones that were taking off were loaded with fuel. As I walked back toward the school building, a few of my students came up to me and saw my slung messenger bag.

  “What’s going on? You must know something.”

  “I do. You all need to get home and fill all of your tubs with water. The power is out and may not come back for a long time. Drinking water is going to be in short supply quickly.” I raised my voice so more of the kids could hear me. “Every jet that was taking off from or landing at the airport must have crashed. Planes that were cruising at thirty thousand feet are also coming down. Where they hit, there is going to be a fire. The wind is blowing from the west, so the fires will go toward Dallas in some cases. You need to be prepared for this being something that we might not come back from.” One of my students waved to me before I could leave. They were no longer my responsibility. My mind was focused on surviving at that point.

  “What are we going to do? My parents are out of town, and my aunt is supposed to pick me up. She works on the other side of Dallas.” He was desperate. I couldn’t really do anything to help, but I could give him some hope. I noticed that he had his backpack.