The Free Republic of Texas 2015

by Tj Reeder

  Able said he had no idea where the shooting came from just that he heard the hits, how I would never know because the plane was so loud, but then I ain’t the pilot who has to keep it up in the air…

  The unloading went as smooth as usual and Able said he thought maybe two more loads would do it, he also said a lot of survivors had been found and that Song was arming them and passing out food and other equipment with the thought that the local wanna be war lords were headed for a short rope and a long drop, the locals were happy to stay there as long as they could end the problem once and for all.

  When the plane was leaving Song and the security force were heading out to help end the problem and it looked to be a short fight…

  With that they all headed home to the ranch and Able to see his family and enjoy a couple of days off while the plane was checked from front to back…

  The work on the patrol vehicles was about done, a few of the duce and a half’s were up armored more then any of the other rigs and mounted with a pair of 50’s and a pair of mini guns, these were our “Tanks “and would lead the charge into any problem calling for more then the bugs and 1 ton units.. They were gonna ruin somebody’s day that was for sure…

  The next 2 weeks saw the last of the cargo flights and the full security unit returned in one trip... less one bug and it’s mini gun , when Jody raised an eyebrow Song told him he left it with a large group of good people who would put it to good use and that the clean up was going very well back there, he had checked out another smaller storage depot and was able to outfit a small army of folks who were pissed off and going to finish off the trash and good riddance !

  After several weeks of non stop work Jody called a halt and declared a feast which the Clan took over and really laid it on, this one started with the rise of the first full moon and didn’t stop until the last of the full phase… After it was over it turned out there was going to be a lot of weddings when we all got back, about half the security force was marrying into the clan which had a lot more girls then marriage aged young men .. Maybe that was what all the feasting was for, I asked Jade but she just laughed and dragged me off to bed.

  It was now time to roll out, all the packing was done, all the training was done, and the vehicles were as ready as they could be, this time the brothers Jonas were going along with their big rolling fort arguing that if anything broke they would be able to fix it… Jody didn’t have the heart to tell them no but Miss Ellie took both by the ear and told them that Jody was the boss period and that if one of them got killed she would go to their grave , dig them up and kick their ass!

  It was scary to see those two big men twisting their hats in their hands like small boys caught in the apple tree next door…

  So on a bright clear morning we rolled out 20 very heavily armed vehicles, two rolling field hospitals two fuel tankers , and a dozen bugs zipping back and forth like knats around a water Buffalo.. We would have air cover with one of the smaller planes able to land on about any flat surface to refuel. All told we had 100 well trained armed troopers and a 30 man scout unit in front and all around us… at that moment we were the biggest best armed and trained army in the entire country, or so we hoped!

  We had decided that to cover the most area the spotter plane would scout ahead and radio to the bug scouts when they saw anything to check out, the bugs were running in groups of three and ranging out on back roads, all pretty much headed in the same direction, the idea being that when a place was spotted the nearest bug team would ease in and check it out, if it was bad then several units would head there to assist in doing what needed doing.

  If it was decent folks working to stay alive then they would be given printed information about our purpose and invited to be a part of the outpost program, or left to their own devices their call…

  The main convoy would remain on the interstate highway and ease along keeping pace with the scout units, we didn’t start looking until we had past the area we had been thru before, we did have radio contact with the folks we had met before, all were doing fine and said they were willing to take in willing workers if any wished to move there for security.

  Two days out we were at the edge of our first trip and really went on alert, with the scout bugs out in force and the Bird Dog up and looking for whatever was out there in front of us.

  We didn’t have long to wait the bird dog spotted a settlement just a few miles ahead and south of our location, as he vectored in the closest bugs the main convoy eased forward.

  Within an hour the scout bugs were on the horn with the information that this was a good group so we rolled towards their location, one thing about Texas, it had more farm and county roads then one can believe, within an hour we too arrived to find a very nice well laid out farmstead being worked by about 50 people of all races and colors which was a very pleasant surprise after what the nation had been thru.

  Our approach in the very warlike vehicles did put these folks on edge for a bit but that changed quickly enough , They were made up of a the remains of a small farming community that was even smaller then Dog Trot if that was possible .

  In meeting with their leaders we found them to be well informed of their area and surprisingly they had little or no trouble mostly because they were so off the beaten path and because everybody knew everybody.

  They had all pulled together, pooled their resources and hunkered down; they had the sense to close down the roads into their area and in general keep out the problems.

  They were as well armed as most folks in Texas, had several veterans and were using their abilities to stay alive and prosper if that word could apply which it did seem to, after our visit with the leaders our medical unit offered to look at anybody needing medical care such as we could provide, most were in very good health, the sickly having died off when their meds ran out. There were a few problems for the dental crew but they were glad for the practice.

  They were happy where they were and while very happy for some better weapons and communications equipment and were happy to be a part of the outpost concept and after Jody explained the Free Republic of Texas plan were all for that too, after spending the night there we were up and rolling again with the bird dog who had landed on a flat grass area fired up and hit the blue.

  We were very pleased with the results so far but knew there would be many bad days as well.

  Later that day one of the scout teams hit a road block and took fire for whoever was manning it, the bug spun around and bailed out of there and made contact with the bird who flew over the area and spotted a farm house with signs of life around it but no signs that people were working at surviving, as he flew over several people opened fire on him but failed to even scratch the paint.

  The other scouts headed into the area and formed blocking forces on the road effectively bottling up whoever these unfriendly folks were, the Clan scouts bailed out and took to the woods and soon were chattering in their language, they were looking at about 20 to 25 what appeared to be outlaws hold up in an old house, with some old beater vehicles parked all around, other then firing on us they really hadn’t earned a full out introduction to who we were.. Yet.

  Unfortunately for them one of the clan found a body dump with what appeared to be a family of 5, all killed in the last few days, that changed thing for these folks, but we would still attempt to talk to them before deciding how to deal with them.

  Leaving the main convoy to follow slowly Jody and I along with several truck loads of troops headed towards the area, of course Doc and some of her med crew and Jade were right in the middle of it but Jody and I had come to the agreement that while they were our wives they were also well trained members of the combat teams and they would not stand for being pampered because they were married to the two leaders, this saved an on going war which we would lose regardless, but keeping them bottled up in the armored ambulance seemed to be working for the moment.

  After we arrived the word was given to the clan scouts to see if they could t
ake out the road blockers… quietly, this was simple, a bug eased forward until it was spotted and while the fools all watched the bug they all felt an AK muzzle at the back of their heads, all three dropped their weapons and were on their bellies by the time we got there.

  The bird was still flying over the old farm house and the fools were still popping a few rounds off at him, but the results were that they were all looking up at him and nobody wondered about the road blockers.

  They were as sorry a looking bunch as could be found, one look at the faces of the scouts all of whom now had a long very sharp blade in their hands and these people started talking fast…

  Two were typical biker trash, the other was a boy of about 15 , we separated them and questioned them from a list, all asked the same questions, after comparing their answers we were able to piece together a fairly good idea of what and who they were, none of it good, the boy was the son of one of the women in the bunch and seemed like he was tolerated more then accepted since his mother was shacked up with the leader, after checking we found his weapon had not been fired at the scouts so he was asked for more information, mostly he was there because of his Mom who was there because it was easier to sleep with the boss man then it was to scrabble for a living .

  He told us the gang had been together since the war started and at times was bigger or smaller depending on how many they lost in taking over the next place they came up on. They avoided any place that looked well defended , when asked how they gained entry to the smaller places he said his mom and a couple of the other women would drive up in an old car and ask for help when the folks there gathered around to talk to them the gang would hit them from hiding. He said also it was a standing order to not shoot the younger women.

  I could see Jody’s jaw working while he listened, any sympathy we might have had for the young man was dispelled when he was asked why they did these things, he replied with the answer that “Hey we gotta live too and it’s a dog eat dog world, the strong will win the weak are just cattle to be used. Sadly he seemed to believe this and saw nothing wrong with it…

  Jody at last said well enough of this and got up and walked away , he said something to the clan scouts who nodded and he headed back to his rig, fortunately the ambulance was parked around a curve , soon there was several quiet popping sounds as the scouts used silenced 22’s to clean up this part of the mess.

  After the body’s were removed from sight we rolled on up a ways and Jody called the Bird dog and told him to make a gun run over the place and see what it stirred up , this was the first real gun run for the bird dog but we all knew what it could do , shortly we heard the plane then the fools shooting at it for sport, then came the ripping sound of the mini gun , followed by the sound of vehicles starting up and heading right at us , before we ever saw them they were hit by the scout bug with the M-60 mounted on it and the clansmen in the woods finished the job when the BG’s bailed out to run for it. It was over fast and we moved in to the farm house, there was a few holding up in the old barn but a few rounds from a 50 brought them on the run with hands up…

  It never ceased to amaze me that these bastards who raped and murdered would start hollering for a lawyer the minute they were flushed out into the light of day.

  Jody had the scout who found the family’s bodies lead us to the spot, he called for the med crew to come up, when Doc Ellen and Jade and the med crew saw the Mother and Father laying there with their three young kids that solved the problem of how we handled this kind of trash in the future.

  Jody had 3 shovels brought up and ordered the bastards to start digging and when a grave big enough for the family was done the remains were gently placed in it and then covered up by several of our people.

  After heading back to the barn and a rough question and answering session and we knew all we were going to get, Jody ordered them hanged, they were still screaming about their lawyers and their rights when they finely stopped dancing at the end of the rope, the rest of the trash was piled into the barn and it was burned.. Doc Ellen watched the flames and turning away said “Good riddance to bad trash”… thus summing up the feeling of the entire group.

  It was hard for decent folks to imagine or understand how fast and badly so many people had slipped back to a time where there were no moral guidelines , how could it be that people who wouldn't steal a candy bar one day could resort to killing innocent people and selling young girls the next ? It’s very easy to blame the big city gangs but while there was many thousands in the bigger cities that couldn't account for the non gang members going rogue.

  We just figured that there was a very large part of the population that while having surface morals really couldn't wait to let the beast out… and unfortunately it seems women and girls were their target… but while we couldn't save the ones who were already victims we could do out best to stop the ones we found… and find them we were.

  We had decided it was best for now to avoid any of the larger and smaller cities. Rural towns seemed to be the place where things were held in check and we hoped that would continue to be the way of it… but we knew one day we would have to take care of the city issues once and for all. But for the moment we were just taking them as we found them…

  After the last shoot out ...if it could be called that , we decided to head due West ...more or less , we passed South of Dallas and East of Waco we were seeing lots of signs of the horrors of the aftermath of the collapse , after being out 10 days the Bird Dog spotted a small town starting to burn.. It was several miles due West and a bit south of our line of travel… the pilot flew over the place and radioed that there was a hell of a fire fight going on and the defenders were out numbered by what looked like the usual trash we had cleaned up to date..

  Jody told him to back off and observe for a ways out and we dropped the hammer...so to speak… between the bad roads and the heavily loaded vehicles we weren't moving all that fast... Jody and I both decided to jump into a couple of bugs and take a fast react team into the area... after consulting the maps and laying out a route we called the B Dog and told him to fly back our way over the road we would be using..

  In just a few minutes we heard then saw him , he said the way was clear as far as he could tell , he was told to fly ahead of us as slow as he could and as low as he thought safe.. He laughed and asked why he was trolling for? Jody told him Sharks! We all had a small laugh but knew he was hanging his ass out doing this… our hopes were that the BG's wouldn't have ambushes out .

  After a low slow pass Birddog called back and said he saw nothing but wasn't gonna say it was safe! Jody sent one of the fast Bugs up the road to play bait with a Gun Bug a short ways behind them... the Bait Bug called back excited saying they had blown thru a small ambush so fast that the BG's had to run out behind them to shoot. Meaning they ran right in front of the Gun Bug...bad Juju on them! They then reported that 4 BG's had been put down and the road was open we dropped the hammer and soon were within half a mile of the battle… the Birddog had flown back over the battle and reported the defenders were holding their own for the moment and that nobody seemed to have spotted him..

  We decided to ease in and have the scouts go in and grab a warm body to "talk" to... it took the Clan scouts just a few minutes to locate a spotter on a small hill watching the fight thru binocs .. He was alone with a cheap radio like one might buy at any outdoor store. Shortly he was wrapped up and back with us… he was the usual trashy looking weasel but was smart enough to know asking for a lawyer wasn't gonna do him any good, after a few minutes we knew his bunch was about 40 shooters and were freelance slavers and after scouting the small town they figured they could take it and take the females.. and any goods they had , except this bunch were more like wolves then sheep and the slavers were not doing well but they had a lot of ammo , their plan to burn the folks out had ended when the wind came up from the wrong way for their plans .

  About then the scouts on the up wind side called in and said they had just took out 3 BG's
with fire bombs trying to get in close enough to toss them.. After calling in more scouts who were observing and having them point out the lay of the land we drove up a lot closer on the road into the town, Jody sent the gun bugs off with a scout bug each to get into a good spot with a clear field of fire…

  Jody and I unassed the bugs and eased up to the observation spot the scouts had taken the spotter... the scene below was laid out right in front of us and the BG's were in sight from behind so Jody called in the snipers with their suppressed weapons, things went well until one of the BG's saw his buddies head explode out the front and knew they were under fire from behind... by then they were down to maybe 25 shooters who unwisely opened fire on the hillside where we were.. Jody simply said NOW in Clan speak and the "Saws" started running… it was over in a few seconds with about half the BG's tossing their weapons aside and raising their arms .

  Things work out better when you have all the big sticks , once again we had nobody hit , one of our guys took a tumble down a wash and split his head open which hurt far less then the crap he was getting from his buddy's .. He was hauled back to the Doc's who were pleased to have something to do… and happy to not have any real work.