THE TOCABAGA CHRONICLES: (BOX SET PART III - BOOKS #9-10)

by Thomas H. Ward

  I told them that I didn’t think he’d outgrow his crazy ideas. They were beaten into him. He’s been mentally damaged. I suggested we have to keep Adam busy all the time so he can’t dwell on being a Templar Knight. We need to teach him fishing, farming, hunting, and even start him on guard duty training. These activities, along with his schooling, might help him. I asked my family to tell their wives about Adam and to keep a close eye on him.

  I sat alone on the patio having a smoke while writing a work schedule for Adam. I’ll keep him very busy like the other kids. The only difference is he’ll be closely monitored.

  God hasn’t spoken to me yet. Until he does, I’ll do what I think is best for Adam and Tocabaga.

  Maybe, I’ll pray a little more.

  SEPTEMBER 10, 2025

  I’ve been slowly bonding with Adam. He hasn’t spoken again about the Templar Treasure. Adam was going to pray and ask God for direction, ever since I told him he couldn’t terminate all nonbelievers. So far he hasn’t mentioned if God has spoken to him.

  Adam has been very busy with school, working on the farm, learning how to fish, and pulling kitchen duty. He seems to be getting along well with the other children. Johnny started to teach him how to play baseball. Adam is coming around, but it’s going to take some time.

  While working in the kitchen he met Rahim, the only Muslim man living on Tocabaga. Months ago Rahim moved here with his family for protection after almost being killed by al-Qaida. Rahim is a gentle giant who believes in non- violence. They seem to be getting along fine. Maybe working with Rahim will change his thinking about Muslims. Adam may come to realize most are peaceful honest people.

  Adam needs to keep his strong faith in God, but also needs to believe in the idiom, ‘live and let live.’ Keeping that in mind, he shouldn’t forget ‘an eye for an eye.’ If someone does you wrong, then justice needs to be served.

  It was 2 pm and I was on guard duty at the bridge. We observed an old pick-up truck coming down the road. It pulled up to the fence and stopped. Two men jumped out and yelled my name, “Jack Gunn! Is Jack Gunn here?”

  Adolf was sitting at my side. He could sense these people were strangers and let out a growl. I tightly held his leash as he stood up and tugged at it.

  I carefully observed the strangers. They didn’t have rifles, but carried side-arms. Four of my guards at the fence turned and looked back at me, waiting for my response. Picking up my M4, I slowly walked down to the fence to see what these guys wanted.

  My mind was racing because they knew my name and I didn’t know who they were. Approaching the ten-foot high chain link fence, I noticed these men seemed nervous. They kept scanning around the area and then would look back at their truck.

  Standing a few feet away from them, looking through the chain links, they appeared to be your standard Free Roamers. Free Roamers who would kill you for a nickel. Both men had a dirty unkempt appearance.

  They had on dirty jeans and T-shirts that had holes because they were so old. One had on a cap that had a Seal Trident on it. The other man had on a black leather jacket and a boonie hat with long brown hair hanging down. They were weathered tough looking dudes. Both wore wrap-around sun glasses.

  I said, “I’m Jack Gunn. What’s up?”

  The one with the Seal hat replied, “Someone told us you were in charge here. We got something for you.”

  Gazing at their faces, I pulled out a pack of smokes, lit up a butt, and took a drag while trying to seem unconcerned. “Who told you my name?”

  The guy in the Seal cap replied, “It doesn’t matter who told me.”

  “What do you have?” I took a deep drag and blew the smoke in their direction.

  “I’ll tell you, but first I need your agreement to help us out.”

  “Tell me what you want. Then I decide if I’ll help you.”

  “We want guns for what we’re gonna give you.”

  “Step closer to the fence and take off those sun glasses,” I told them. They moved up to the fence and removed their glasses. “Chris, take their temperature.” Chris pulled out his thermo scanner and aimed it at each man.

  “Hey, what’s that?” Boonie hat man asked.

  “It’s a thermometer. We’re checking you for Ebola,” Chris said. “They check out OK, Jack.”

  Unlocking the gate, I went out with Adolf by my side. My men followed me to meet these guys face to face. Stepping up to the man with the Seal cap on, I coldly peered into his bloodshot eyes. “Ok, dork. Tell me what you have and I’ll decide whether to help you or not.”

  The guy said, “My name is Reed Gurra.” He stuck out his hand for me to shake with a little smirk on his face.

  Adolf let out a growl. Glancing at his hand I noticed a Seal ring on his finger. I could tell they were junkies by their red eyes. I didn’t stick my hand out, ignoring his offer to shake. After a second he withdrew it. This guy was no Navy Seal and I wondered how he came by the ring.

  Reed said, “Do we have your word that you’ll help us out?”

  “You have my word.” I didn’t mind lying to a dirt bag wearing a Seal ring that he didn’t earn. “Where’d you get that ring and hat from?”

  “I was a Navy Seal,” Reed replied.

  “Mister, you’re no Navy Seal. You’re a fucking liar.”

  “Nobody calls me a liar.” Reed slowly moved his hand towards his pistol.

  Adolf lunged at him bearing his teeth while barking. I held him back as I flicked off my safety and pointed the M4 at Reed’s belly. “You draw that gun and you’re dead, shithead.” My men immediately raised their weapons pointing them at both jerks.

  Raising his hands a little Reed replied, “Ok, you’re right. So what, I’m not a Seal.” He had that smirk on his face again.

  “Both of you, keep your hands up.” I motioned to Chris. “Take their guns.” Chris frisked them both and collected their weapons. Each had two cheap handguns that weren’t worth a shit, and a knife.

  Reaching down, I grabbed Reed’s hand. “Give me that ring or I’ll cut off your finger.” Of course he gave it to me. I snatched the Seal cap off his head.

  “Ok, asshole, what do you want?”

  “We know where your buddy Rico is,” Reed said.

  “You better talk fast, Mister. Where is he?”

  Reed pointed at my M4. “First, give us fifty of those guns, along with some ammo. Then I’ll tell you where you can find him.”

  I stepped up to him and in one swift movement whacked him in the throat with the side of my hand. Reed fell to his knees gasping for breath while holding his neck. “Tell me where Rico is or you’re gonna feel a lot more pain.”

  Gasping for air he said, “Hey … a deal … is a … deal.”

  I kicked him hard as I could in the face. “I don’t honor deals with dirt bags.” Reed was knocked out.

  Stepping over to the other shithead I asked, “What’s your name boy?”

  He looked at his friend lying on the ground with blood running from his broken nose. “Freddy Hammon.”

  “Freddy, where’s Rico?”

  He looked down again at his buddy. “I can’t tell you. He’ll kill me if I do.”

  “Freddy, don’t worry about him killing you. I’m gonna kill you right now if you don’t talk.”

  Pulling out my double edged Black Bear, I waved the shiny Bowie blade in front of his face. Holding it up to his throat, I pressed it into his skin until he could feel the sharpness. Blood started to trickle down his neck.

  “Freddy, have you ever seen a man bleed to death?” I could feel his whole body tremble. “It isn’t a pretty sight to watch. I want you to have a lot of pain.”

  Freddy said, “Look … in the truck. There’s a message and a knife you need to see.”

  I decided to stop picking on him and removed the blade. “I hope you’re not wasting my fucking time.” I looked at Chris. “Check their truck. See what you can find.”

  Chris went to the truck and a few minutes later he brought
me a Black Bear knife. I’ve only seen two Black Bears in my life, mine, and Rico’s. It was Rico’s alright, his name was on it.

  Chris handed me a piece of paper. “Jack, you better read this note.”

  It read:

  ‘If you kill my men your buddy is good as dead. You give us the guns and we give you Rico. If my men don’t return by 6 pm kiss his ass good-bye. Come to the address below after six to find your buddy.’

  The note was signed by Dirty Dan who was the 22nd Avenue gang leader. Dirty Dan had a reputation of being a cold blooded killer. He was a bully and ruled his gang by pure force. The two men here must be his trusted lieutenants.

  I told Chris, “Tie them up.”

  As they were tying up Freddy he put up a little struggle. “Hey, what are you gonna do to us?”

  I didn’t reply.

  Gazing at the note again, I couldn’t believe the address that was on it. It was my father’s old house. It’s located deep in gang territory. The good thing, however, I knew that house like the back of my hand. My brother and son also knew the neighborhood. If Rico was there we could rescue him. I needed a plan.

  Reed woke up. “If you kill us your buddy is dead.” He had another smirk on his face. I wanted to hurt him real bad by smashing in his ugly face. I kicked Reed a couple of times in the face to shut him up.

  Approaching Freddy I hit him hard in the gut. He doubled over gasping. I asked him, “Where are you taking the guns?”

  Freddy hesitated for a minute. “To a safe house … on 23rd Avenue.”

  “How many men are guarding Rico?”

  “I don’t know for sure.”

  “Chris, blindfold them and take them inside the high and dry for a while.”

  By this time all my key men had arrived at the bridge watching what was going on. After passing around the note for everyone to read, I asked, “Anyone got any ideas how to save Rico without giving away our guns?”

  Tommy said, “You know it could be a trap, but I got an idea. For this operation I suggest we flank them. We’ll have two Hummers come in from the south. I don’t think they’ll expect an attack from the south because the streets are almost impassable. The attack will be a distraction.”

  Mike asked, “A distraction from what?”

  “While the Hummers attack the house, from the south side, Jack and two men will rescue Rico.” Everyone gazed at Tommy like he was nuts.

  “Go ahead,” I said.

  “The Hummers will leave now and move into position before 6 pm. We’ll load up a gun box with rocks on the bottom and a layer of broken guns on top. We’ll remove the bolts. They won’t notice the difference.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” I said.

  “Yeah, we’ll let them see the guns in the box as they’re loaded into their truck. When they leave, Jack and two men will leave right behind them, keeping out of sight.

  “Jack, you take the F-250 we lined with armor plate.”

  The plan was hatched. As soon as my pickup rolled up to the house the Hummers would open fire with the fifty caliber guns creating confusion. We hoped the machine gun fire would draw whatever men were guarding Rico to the back yard. In the meant time, Mike and I would enter the front door, while Chris guarded our get-away vehicle.

  It was the best plan we could muster in a short time. Time was running out so we had to hurry.

  Glancing at my watch it was 4:30 pm. We needed to load up. The Hummers would leave 30 minutes before us to get into position. The dirt bags would leave at 5:30 pm.

  Along with Adolf, I walked over to the high and dry. I told Reed and Freddy that we were going to supply the guns they wanted. Standing next to Freddy, I asked him, “What does Dirty Dan look like?”

  “Don’t tell him nothing, Freddy,” Reed said, while spitting blood out of his mouth.

  I yelled, “Shut the fuck up or I’ll cut out your tongue! Well, Freddy, what’s he look like?”

  “Dan always wears a green Army beret. He has a gray beard and he’s big.”

  “What do you mean big?”

  “Dirty Dan is six foot three and weighs over 400 pounds. You can’t miss him.”

  “Will he be at the house?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Ok dorks, my men are getting the guns ready now. We’ll let you leave at 5:30.”

  Grabbing both men by the front of the shirt, I pulled them up close to my face. I hissed, “If anything happens to Rico, I’ll be coming after you and Dirty Dan. You can tell him that.”

  Our battle ready Hummers left for the house while I was talking to the dirtbags. Once our Humvees were out of sight, Chris dragged them back to their truck. It was almost 5:30 when my men brought out the box of guns.

  While loading them into the truck, I swung open the lid. “Reed, go ahead, look inside.”

  Reed peeked in the box and said, “Looks, OK to me.” I closed the lid and put a lock on it.

  I put a lock on the box so Reed couldn’t tamper with the goods and it would take them a little time to open it.

  I cut their zip ties and said, “Get the hell out of here.”

  Reed replied, “What about our pistols?”

  “They’re ours now. Leave before I change my mind.”

  Adolf snarled at them as the hair on his back rose up. He wanted a piece of these guys. Reed and Freddy quickly jumped in the old truck and drove away. After five minutes Chris, Mike, and I followed behind them at a safe distance. We saw them exit at 22nd Avenue and watched them turn south to 23rd Avenue.

  Chris floored our F-250 as we went straight down 22nd Avenue. I got on the radio to Tommy when we were ten blocks away from the house. “Open fire we’re ten blocks out.” Approaching the house, I could hear our machine guns firing. We came to a screeching halt at the front door.

  Mike and I jumped out while Chris took cover next to the vehicle, providing a rear guard. We ran to the front door which was wide open. I stuck my head inside and peeked around, but no one was there. Our fifty rounds were punching some holes in the backside of the house. I radioed, “Tommy, cease fire. We’re going in.” I was a little concerned that one of our rounds could hit Rico if he was there.

  Scanning around the rooms, we didn’t find a single person. I went to the back door and found Tommy standing there. “We didn’t see anyone. Did you?” he asked.

  “No, there’s no one here,” I said.

  Tommy came inside and swung open the door to the secret room located behind the fireplace. I followed him in. “Well, there’s no Rico. Damn it anyhow,” he said. Much to our dismay the room was empty.

  I took off my hat to wipe the sweat off my head and tried to think what the hell was going on. “Look around for any clues.” Searching through the house we found a lot of old papers and junk. It was clear someone had been here. Then I saw it. There was a note tacked over the fire place. I read it out loud. ‘Thanks for the guns. They helped your buddy.’ It was signed by Dirty Dan. “What does he mean, they helped your buddy?”

  Tom replied, “Maybe … Rico’s dead.”

  “Yeah, maybe, but let’s leave before Mr. Dirty finds out he only got a few junk guns and some rocks.”

  Chris yelled, “Hey, some cars are coming.”

  We mounted up and made a fast escape taking the winding back streets to 54th Avenue and then to Tocabaga. The Dirty Dan gang was hot on our heels.

  We had no sooner pulled over the Tocabaga Bridge when Mike shouted, “They’re still coming!”

  Tommy and Mike turned the Hummer fifties on them and started to blast away. Dirty Dan’s convoy came to a dead stop as fifty rounds slammed into their cars 400 yards away. They turned around and left, leaving one burning car in the street. I guess Mr. Dirty didn’t wanna fight after all.

  We went to the Green Room for a much needed night cap. I pulled the Seal ring out of my pocket and carefully looked at it. Engraved on the inside was a name. I slipped it on my finger. I’ll wear Rico’s ring until I find him.

  I made my mind up,
right then and there, that somehow I’ll get Dirty Dan. Someday I’ll find out what happened to Rico. Mr. Dirt Bag will pay dearly for this.

  SEPTEMBER 13, 2025

  A few days have passed since our run in with the Dirty Dan gang. We’ve had many discussions about how to capture him and make him talk. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know exactly what. The rest of my warriors weren’t so keen on risking another life to find out what happed to Rico. I can’t say that I blame them. It’s been a while since his disappearance.

  If I was going to do anything, it would have to be on my own. I knew Tommy and Mike would come with me but it would be a dangerous mission. I had to think about this for a while.

  It was a bright sunny day. So far the Arctic Vortex has had very little effect on our weather. It’s a few degrees cooler but nothing serious.

  I was sitting on my patio talking to my wife about Rico. She said, “I don’t want you risking your life anymore to find out what happened to Rico. You have to face it, he’s dead. You need to take care of your family; the hell with that eye for an eye bullshit.”

  “Your right honey. The problem is, I don’t know if he’s alive or not. It haunts me every day.”

  “Forget it, Jack. Don’t you dare go searching for him. Every time you leave the island I don’t know if you’re coming back or not. I’m sick of it. You could be the next one to get killed.”

  As she stormed out of the room I replied, “You’re right honey.” There’s no sense in arguing, since she’s always right.

  Sitting by myself, I was thinking about what Hemmi just told me. It must be hell for her every time I leave Tocabaga. I can see the worry lines on her face. It’s starting to age her. As for myself, I never think about dying. If you do, then you’re a dead man.

  My radio came on, startling me. “Jack, you better come to the main bridge. I think we got trouble.”

  I grabbed my M4 and Adolf by the leash. Jumping in the truck I beat a path to the bridge. When I saw who was there I just about shit my pants.