Hannah kept her eyes on the bank of monitors, and gave a report every thirty seconds. Sometimes more often, if there was any movement.
“Okay, two men still at the gate. One on the south side of the roof. One in the dining room, and the others are in their rooms.”
Mark dutifully passed the information. “Two men at the gate. One on the south side of the roof. One in the dining room, the others in their rooms.”
Thirty seconds passed.
Hannah reported, “No change.”
Mark relayed, “No change.”
Finally, John and Bryan made it to their destination. Directly ahead of them, and about fifty yards away, was the west wall of the compound. They were still in heavy brush, and could just barely make out the wall, and only because the late afternoon sun was at their backs and shone its dying beams upon it.
John turned the Gator completely around, so that it was pointing back toward the way they’d come. They’d need every second they could to make a fast getaway.
“Okay, we’re in position.”
“They’re in position, Hannah.”
“Okay. No change. Still two on the gate. Looks like they’re doing shift change. One is on the south side of the roof, one in the dining room and two in their rooms.”
Mark relayed the information, then added, “It’s a go whenever you’re ready.”
John and Bryan waited another five minutes, until they were sure they’d have the setting sun at their backs.
Then they carried the extension ladders across the clearing to the face of the wall, extended them, and leaned them against the wall four feet apart.
They climbed up the ladders until they could peek over the wall. They knew the sun directly behind them would hide them from anyone looking their way. However, they thought it prudent to maintain a low profile anyway.
From their position, they had an unobstructed view of the two guards a hundred and twenty yards away, on the opposite side of the compound.
They took their AR-15 rifles and propped them upon the rungs of their ladders to steady them. Then they sighted in their targets.
“I’ve got the one on the left.”
“Okay, I’ve got the right.”
“Let me know when you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.”
“Okay, three… two… one… fire.”
Both rifle shots went off simultaneously. Both of their targets fell to the ground.
John and Bryan dismounted the ladders and laid them down. They had served their purpose for now, so there was no need in trying to take them back.
Within seconds they were back on the Gator and hauling ass back to the entrance of the mine, while listening to Mark’s words in their ears.
Hannah said, “One appears to be dead. He was shot right between the shoulder blades and hasn’t moved. The other was shot in the upper chest. He’s on the ground, convulsing but still alive.”
She paused long enough for Mark to relay the play by play to the shooters.
Then she went on.
“The one in the dining room has moved to the hallway and is looking out the window toward the gate. He appears to be afraid to go outside. The one on the roof is still there. Two others came out of their rooms and are now out in the hallway with the other one. I think the second man at the gate has died. He’s not moving anymore.”
Mark passed the info onto the shooters.
John responded, “10-4. We’re about five minutes away.”
“10-4, John. Hannah, let me know if anything changes. John, I’ll open the door as soon as I have you in sight.”
A few minutes later the Gator came out of the woods and Mark opened up the mine’s overhead door. David and Brad stood by with weapons at the ready during the thirty seconds the door was open. Mark reclosed it immediately after John and Bryan came speeding in and screeched to a halt.
Mark called back to Hannah and said, “All secure. Everyone accounted for.”
Then he gave his brother and John each a high five.
“Two more down. Nice going, guys.”
The two men on the Gator had each just taken a human life. But they weren’t bothered by it. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. Instead of remorse or guilt, they each felt a sense of accomplishment.
It turned out that despite their initial reservations, guerrilla warfare suited them quite nicely.
Chapter 17
Mark looked over at Hannah. She was sound asleep. He’d always said she looked like an angel when she slept. Early in their relationship, he set his alarm clock ten minutes before he had to get up in the morning, just so he could watch her in peaceful slumber.
He carefully drew the covers to one side, with the intention of crawling stealthily out of bed without waking her.
It didn’t work.
As soon as he drew his body away from hers, she placed her arm around him.
She said, “Uh-uh.”
“Uh-uh what?”
“Don’t leave me. You’re nice and warm.”
“But I told John I’d meet with him and the security people this morning.”
“You didn’t ask me first.”
“I didn’t know I had to.”
“Of course you have to. I’m the boss of us. Have you forgotten that?”
He chuckled.
“Apparently I didn’t get the memo. When did that happen?”
“The day you said you did.”
“The day I said I did what?”
“The day you said ‘I do,’ silly. It’s in the ownership papers.”
“I don’t think I ever said, ‘I do, silly.’ And I’m pretty sure I never signed any ownership papers.”
“The marriage license, silly. It was in the fine print. It said the husband would do whatever the wife wanted him to do forever and ever and always, amen. You mean you didn’t read it?”
“I guess I overlooked that part.”
“Trust me, it was in there. You do believe me, don’t you?”
“Uh… sure.”
“It also said it applied especially when you had an early morning meeting with John and the security people…”
Mark smiled and started to get out of bed.
Hannah continued, “…and your wife wants to make love to you instead.”
Mark stopped.
“You want to make love to me?”
“Over and over again.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?”
“It was more fun to drag it out.”
“Is there really any fine print on the marriage license?”
“Oh, Mark… just shut up and kiss me.”
Sometime later Mark walked over to the security console, where John was watching the monitors and cleaning two of the AR-15 rifles.
“Sorry I missed the meeting, John. Anything good?”
“No, not really. We just had a debate on when we wanted to do our next move.”
“What did we decide?”
“WE decided to do it tonight, if there’s no moon. If there’s a moon, we’ll go the first night there isn’t one.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be ready at midnight.”
Mark walked over to the kitchen area and grabbed three MREs. He took them to Bay 8, where Hannah and little Markie were snuggling on a couch watching Hannibal and the Little Princess.
“Hey, you two. Spaghetti and meatballs, pork patty or beef stew?”
Little Markie said, “Daddy, shush. I’m trying to hear.”
Mark sat on the other side of Hannah and put the MREs in her lap. She looked at him with a mild look of amusement, and whispered, “Yes. Shush. This is the best part.”
Mark just shook his head. But he did indeed shush as they watched a seven year old boy on the screen turn beet red as a seven year old girl kissed him on the cheek and said she loved him.
Markie announced loudly to both of them, “Okay. You can talk now.”
Hannah laughed and said, “Well, thank you, little sailor.
Why was that part of the movie so special that we couldn’t talk?”
“Oh, Mommy. That’s when my girlfriend says she loves me. Well, she doesn’t say it to me. But she will someday.”
“Pamela what's-her-name is your girlfriend?”
“Mason, Mom! Pamela Mason!”
Little Markie grew exasperated.
“And she’s not my girlfriend yet. But she will be when we meet, but before we get married. I told you that.”
Mark gave Hannah an inquisitive look. Hannah just shrugged and said, “Well, okay then.”
Mark asked, “Son, why do you want this girl to be your girlfriend?”
“Because she’s pretty, just like Mommy. And I’ll bet she’s soft and smells good, just like Mommy. And her hair is never messed up and I’m old enough to have a girlfriend, aren’t I?”
“I guess. But I think this movie was made in Hollywood.”
“What’s Hollywood?”
“It’s a city far, far away.”
“Is it farther than the ocean?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, it’s right by an ocean.”
“Good. Is there a beach at the ocean? You said you’d try to take me to the beach and to the ocean.”
Neither Hannah or Mark knew where he was going with this.
“Well, yes, there are some very nice beaches right next to Hollywood. Why?”
“Because you guys said you would try to take me to the ocean and to the beach someday. So we can just call Pamela and she can meet us there and then we can be married. On the beach. And she can kiss me and tell me she loves me, just like she did to Hannibal in the movie.”
“But what if she already loves Hannibal in the movie?”
“Oh, she really doesn’t.”
“But how do you know?”
“Because she’s my girlfriend. She has to love me.”
Markie’s cousins, Robin and Sandy, came by and asked if he wanted to go to the playground to play. He said, “Sure!” and was off like a shot.
“Mark, I’m worried about him sometimes. Should we talk to him seriously about his crush on Pamela Mason?”
“Why?”
“Because she’d probably dead. And even if she isn’t, she’s in her twenties now. This movie is fifteen years old. And I never promised him we’d take him to the ocean. I said we would try. And I was thinking somewhere way closer than Hollywood. Like maybe Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“It’s just a harmless crush. Don’t burst his bubble.”
“Are you sure? He’s watched this movie a hundred times. And every single time he seems to love her more.”
“I’m sure. He’ll have crushes on a hundred other girls by the time he’s grown. We could tell him she’s probably dead, or at least way too old for him. But it would break his heart and serve no real purpose. He’s too young to understand the realities of what the world has become.
“Let’s let him be a boy a little bit longer.”
“Okay. I hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right.”
“Um… sure. What did John say?”
“We’re going tonight. I’m going to go to bed early, and set my alarm for just before midnight. We’ll be back before you wake up.”
“Promise me you’ll be careful. Markie and I would be lost without you.”
“Honey, Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’ll be around to serve you breakfast in bed on your seventy fifth birthday. That’s a promise.”
Chapter 18
The situation in the compound had rapidly descended into chaos after Martinez and Douglas were shot. Hance suddenly had a near-riot on his hands. Davis refused to go outside at all. Bennett only went out to care for the livestock and produce at the point of a gun. And the promise that Hance would beat him to death if he didn’t.
The bodies of Martinez and Douglas were left where they fell, four days earlier. They were starting to rot, and the smell began to be pulled into the building through the ventilation system’s air intakes.
Since there were only four of them now, security had became a major problem. And it would prove to be their downfall, eventually.
Smarter men would have abandoned their mission and left. They could have snuck back to Eden and tried to regroup and make new plans.
But finding new reinforcements wasn’t an option. Most of the convicts in Eden lit out for other places when the temperatures finally warmed. There were rumors that federal troops were going to come around and round them up, so they could put them behind prison walls again.
Hance figured they were false rumors, started by the citizenry of Eden in the hopes it would scare the cons away. And if that was the intent, it worked to some degree. Most of them were gone now.
The ones that were left couldn’t be trusted. Hance was a hated man in the joint, because he took no crap from anybody. In fact, he was regarded as a bully, and one who would kill even his friends if they betrayed him.
The problem with being a tough guy is that somebody is always wanting to take you down to enhance their own reputation.
So sending someone for reinforcements wasn’t an option.
Neither was abandoning the compound. Now that Hance had a taste for what was there, he wasn’t giving it up. Not even if it cost him his life.
Since Davis refused to go outside, Hance posted him at the corridor door on the east side of the building. He could see the gate through the door’s window, and was far less likely to be taken out by sniper fire.
“You’ll work night shift. You’ll also bunk in the first room, right there at that same end of the hallway, so you’ll be close by if they charge the gate during the day.”
He turned to Bennett.
“You’ll man this door during the daytime. I still want you to go out twice a day to feed the livestock and water the plants in the greenhouse. Whenever you’re out doing that stuff I’ll see you. And while you’re away from this side of the building I’ll hang out directly above us. I can see the gate from the roof, and will try to cover the gate and the rest of the compound until you return. Don’t worry about cooking everybody grub anymore. We’ll fix our own and eat when we’re off duty. Any questions?”
“What if they don’t come through the gate? What if they shoot us from the fence, like before?”
“They won’t shoot you, Bennett. For one, you’re a waste of a bullet. For two, I’m guessing they’re smart enough to know that you’re the only thing keeping their chickens and livestock from dying. Davis, you’re indoors now where they can’t see you. If they come after anybody it’ll be me. But it’s a lot harder shooting from fence level upwards, toward a three story building’s roof, than shooting directly across the compound. Besides, I can see the fence line from the center of the roof. I’ll stay away from the edges, so they can’t have a full body shot. The only part of me they’ll see is my head. And they’d better be a hell of a shot if they’re gonna hit my head at a hundred fifty yards or more.”
Hance wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. He thought that being atop a three story building would give him the advantage of the high ground.
He was also wrong about the size of the target he’d be presenting to his adversaries.
Chapter 19
This time they left the Gator behind, and instead made their way by foot through the woods. They moved slowly. It was just after one a.m. and time was on their side. They had several hours of darkness ahead of them and only one shot to make. Two if the opportunity presented itself. So there was plenty of time to do it right.
This time it was the brothers, Mark and Bryan. Bryan because he was the best shot in the group, and Mark because it was his turn to go. He’d wanted to go on the previous mission. He felt his was his duty to protect his family and the rest of the group. After all, setting up the compound was his idea, and he oversaw the construction. It was, in a way, his baby. He felt it only fair that he should help in getting it back.
The only reason he hadn’t gone on the first mis
sion was because John also insisted on going. And because Mark lost the coin toss.
This was a different type of mission entirely. They only had one target this time: the man on the roof. And to get him, they’d have to take the high ground. Even higher than the three story roof which Hance thought gave him the advantage.
First, they had to visit the west side of the compound to retrieve one of the ladders they’d left behind on the previous mission. It had made no sense to drag it back. It would have slowed their getaway. Plus, they thought that the ladders might come in handy for future missions.
Like this one, for example.
Both men wore night vision goggles, which enabled them to see through an eerie green glow. But at least they could see. It was almost pitch black outside, and Hance was reduced to watching for signs of movement in the darkness.
Bryan and Mark were also equipped with radios and ear pieces. But they wouldn’t do any talking. Talking on such a still and quiet night might give them away.
They reached the ladder on the west side of the wall and gingerly picked it up. Then they skirted the wall with it, all the way around the compound and to its opposite side, on the east, not far from the damaged gate.
They could easily smell the putrid and decaying bodies of the two men they’d shot on their previous mission. The bodies were still heaped on the inside of the fence, covered with maggots and beetles. It almost turned Mark’s stomach.
Slowly, carefully, they leaned the ladder against the wall, just twenty feet or so from the gate. When he climbed atop the ladder, Mark would command a view of the east side of the big house, where they knew a man would be standing guard.
Once the ladder was up, the two paused to catch their breath.
Mark reached for his radio and placed his thumb on the microphone. Then he pressed it two times in quick succession.
Two keys of the mike. Two brief bursts of static coming across the previously silent airway. And everyone on the team, both inside and outside the mine, knew what it meant.
“They’re at the wall,” John muttered to a group of seven people assembled at the control center. “So far, so good.”
The Siege Page 6
