by Crane, J. J.
Jason grabbed one of the enemy’s shotguns. He checked it out for ammo and made sure the safety was off. He positioned Emma against the car facing the woods before handing her the weapon, placing a finger on the trigger. He made her look him in the eyes.
“Don’t die. I’m coming back for you,” he said, then leaned in and kissed her on the head.
Jason turned to the prisoners. “On your feet, scumbags or you’re fertilizer for the woods.”
The three of them took off with their prisoners. Curtis kept the barrel of his rifle pointed at the prisoner’s backs as they trotted along the roadside towards the neighborhood.
Jason tried warning someone about the next wave of intruders over the radio, but no one acknowledged the news.
Doc’s House
Katie, Linda, Steve, Doc, and his wife Belle sat and listened to all the unfolding gunfire. Doc wanted to leave and see if there were any wounded that needed attending. Belle refuted saying someone would have radioed for him if that was the case. It sounded to them, via the walkie-talkie, that Rob and the rest had the attack under control.
They each took turns checking out the perimeter of the yard then ducking behind one of the Jensen’s two cars in the driveway to assess the situation at the back end of the cul-de-sac.
On Katie’s turn to inspect the perimeter, she started in the front yard. When she turned the corner towards the backyard, gunfire erupted around her. She fell to the ground as bullets pinged off the side of the house.
Backing up via a belly crawl, she made her way into the house through the front door and locked it. She wasn’t three steps into the house when the sliding glass door in the living room shattered. She heard Belle screaming there were people in the backyard.
Making her way to the kitchen, she spotted Belle firing her rifle through a blown-out window. Katie saddled up next to her and began to fire into the backyard.
“There, there, over there,” Belle yelled, swinging the barrel of her rifle towards some bushes that had begun to bud along the back edge of her yard. “Two of them.”
“A couple others just ran into the woods from the road,” Doc yelled from the next room.
“Where are Steve and Linda?” Katie asked.
“Upstairs,” Doc shouted over the intermittent gunfire.
“I’m going up there… better angle, more room” Katie said.
“Hurry,” Belle replied as she fired another two rounds.
Katie ran up the stairs. As soon as she entered the nearest bedroom, she spotted Linda on her back, dead. Edging closer, she saw several holes in her chest, eyes open. She wondered if Steve knew. She could hear him shooting from the next room. Her thoughts didn’t linger as several bullets punched holes into the wall behind her, spraying more glass from an already shattered window. Crawling to the window, she peeked through to see several men trying to make their way through the woods. Immediately she pointed the rifle and began to fire. She noticed one man grab the back of his leg as he fell into the scrub of the woods.
The Road & Pam’s House
Jason, Curtis, Maya, and the prisoners arrived at the property line of Pam’s house. They heard the gunfire at the
Jensen’s, but could not see clearly, what was happening. Quickly, they moved towards the side of Pam’s house to take cover. One prisoner tripped, tumbling to the ground. Curtis, following right behind, fell over him, some of the weapons from the prisoners falling off his person. In an instant, Curtis popped back up and immediately pointed the barrel of his shotgun into the man’s face.
“If that was some kind of trick, I’ll litter this lawn with your face,” he snapped, his breathing heavy. The prisoner shook in fear. Curtis massaged the trigger. “Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, and you’re dead,” Curtis said, his weapon trained within inches of the man’s eyeballs.
More gunfire erupted from the Jensen’s. Jason surveyed
their yard and turned to Curtis and Maya, “Doc’s place! It falls, and the enemy can attack us from behind unguarded.”
“What about these guys?” Curtis said pointing to the prisoners.
“You have a rope?” Jason asked.
Curtis took off his pack and rummaged through pulling out a small length he used as a safety measure for ice fishing. It wasn’t enough to secure all of them.
“Their laces,” Maya exclaimed.
“Quickly then,” Jason said. He wanted to go but knew leaving might put the two youngsters at a huge disadvantage.
It took a couple of minutes to untie the men’s shoes. After pulling the laces off, they ordered the men onto their bellies and began to bind their feet and hands into the shrub’s thicker limbs that lined the side of Pam’s house.
“There isn’t quite enough to secure this guy,” Maya said, a worried expression etching itself across her face.
Jason scuttled back to look.
“See?” Maya showed that the laces to the men’s shoes weren’t in great condition, and she didn’t have enough to secure one of the prisoner’s hands.
“Yes, I see.” Jason looked at the man. “Can you promise not to leave?”
The man nodded.
“Too bad I don’t believe you,” and with a flash, used the butt of his rifle and smashed it into the man’s face knocking him out cold. “That’ll hold him there for a bit.” He looked over at the other men. “Move, and I’ll shoot your knees off.”
“Fuck you,” one of the brawnier men shouted.
Jason didn’t flinch, swinging the butt of the rifle square into the man’s kneecap. As the man leaned forward screaming, Jason swung the stock of his rifle across the man’s jaw and watched as teeth exited followed by a stream of blood. Jason then unlaced his own shoe and tied it around the knocked out man’s neck to the thickest part of the bush.
The other man looked on in horror. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
“Oh yeah, the guy who wants to see his wife and kids,” Jason said. “Guess what? That’s my wife lying dead on the road. I’m not going to see her again except when I get to bury her. You didn’t care about my wife,” and with a swing of his rifle, smashed the guy’s face, knocking him unconscious.
Maya and Curtis tried not to show their horror at Jason’s behavior, but could barely conceal it.
“This is war,” Jason said seeing their expressions. “You saw Jenny. She ain’t coming back. Emma’s dying. Who knows how many others we have lost? There ain’t no Geneva Convention here. There is only living and dying until this ends… got it?”
They both understood.
“Now, let’s see what’s going on at Doc’s.” Jason pointed to the two cars in Doc’s driveway. “We’re going there. Ready?” he asked noticing that the gunfire had dwindled, then took off in a full sprint.
Maya followed, with Curtis taking the rear. They quickly slammed up behind the cars and caught their breath.
“Now what?” Maya huffed.
The only view they had was looking into Max’s backyard. They saw no one at first until Maya spotted two men along the backyard boundary of Max’s. They wore camouflage gear and were moving slowly.
She pointed it out to Jason and Curtis. They watched the men duck into the thickets of shrubs Max planted along the border of his yard and the woods.
“There goes another,” Curtis said, not seeing the first two.
“They’re trying to secure the rear,” Jason said. His eyes twitched as he thought of a plan. “I got it. I’m gonna loop around these cars, cut across the front of Max’s and hopefully either get into Max’s home or go to the other side and cut off that angle.
“What do you have in ammo?” Curtis asked.
Jason looked in his fanny pack. “Shit!” he yelled and
punched the side of the car. “A magazine for the Glock, and whatever’s left in here,” he said pointing at his shotgun. “What’s left in those guns you have from the prisoners?”
“Not much,” Curtis said then smiled as if he won a prize at a carnival. “List
en, no one locks their doors during the day, so I’m sure you can get into Max’s house. He keeps an extra shotgun, rifle, and pistol in his upstairs hallway closet under a bunch of ratty old blankets.”
Maya and Jason looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Max was drunk one night and mentioned he had a secret stash for quick access,” Curtis said.
“Well, now we know liquor can have its plus side,” Jason quipped, never much of a drinker himself. “Okay, I’m going. Wait one minute, then open fire on their position, a few shots only. Hopefully, I’ll be in position to catch them by surprise. If you hear me fire… follow suit.”
As he took off, more gunfire unfolded from both fronts. When Jason made it to Max’s front door, they watched him disappear inside.
“Okay, if I know Superman, he’ll have those weapons in a minute and ready to go,” Curtis said. “Can you see anyone?” he asked Maya.
She looked about. “I see the same two, I think. They aren’t looking this way. One is open enough for a shot. Wait a minute! I just saw someone else duck into the shrubs.”
“Great,” Curtis said. “Are you bowhunting or using the rifle?”
“Bow first,” she replied.
“Fine,” line it up, let me know when you’re ready, cause I’m going to open fire, right after your shot.”
Maya set herself up from a kneeling position and took aim at a torso. “It’s going,” and she released the arrow. With movie-like precision, she hit the man right in the neck. The other men, caught off guard, scrambled to see what direction the shot came from. Curtis opened fire with his pistol. A few seconds later, they began to incur return fire.
Leaning against the car, they both heard what they knew was Jason firing five successive blasts with a shotgun. Jason’s vantage point was less than a hundred feet away from the enemy. When Curtis and Maya finally peered over the car, they could tell Jason had caught the attackers by surprise. Screams of pain followed as men scrambled for better cover.
“Maya, you stay here, I’m gonna head to the right side of the Jensen’s house,” pointing to the street side, “and see if I can catch these guys from a rear position. Try radioing someone in there that we are here to help.”
Maya nodded. Her mind swirled as she took in Curtis’ words. “Wait!” she yelled, then gave him a hug. “Be careful. I love you.”
Max & Doc’s House
Jason felt like he was shooting fish in a barrel. Catching the enemy by complete surprise, he unleashed six precise shotgun rounds into a tightly clustered group of men less than a hundred feet from his second-floor position. Jason stayed in the room long enough to watch several men scramble and scream before moving two rooms over. This time, using a rifle, he spotted a man kneeling behind some brush. The camo gear didn’t match the environment. Lining the man up in his scope, he centered the guy and fired. The man clutched his throat, falling to the ground. Jason jettisoned the shell and chambered another. The next guy turned to see his friend and left himself too open. Jason fired again, hitting the man in the back. He went to line up another shot when heavy fire exploded around him, glass shattering, the walls sounding with the thud of bullets and buckshot lodging into it. Falling to the floor, Jason did a quick belly crawl out of there.
By the time he ran downstairs, Jason noticed their gunfire had dropped considerably. Looking out a window, he saw three men running through the woods back towards the road. He bolted out the front door with a shotgun slung over his shoulder while checking his pistol and spare magazines.
Maya spotted Jason coming out of Max’s house. “The road, the road,” she shouted.
Maya ran, partly following Jason’s lead. When she arrived at the side of the Jensen’s house, she peeked around the corner and saw Curtis kneeling behind a stack of chairs. She immediately saw men running through the woods beyond the Jensen’s backyard.
“There,” she yelled as she came up behind Curtis pointing at the men.
“I know,” Curtis said. “I don’t have much ammo left.”
Jason was already on the shoulder of the road. “I need you
up here,” he said, waving for them to come up towards the road. Jason then turned and spotted Katie on the deck. “You guys keep firing into the woods.”
“Cover me,” Curtis said to Maya.
“I got your back. Run fast.”
Curtis broke for the shoulder of the road and reached Jason with no issue.
“I know you have some kind of plan mapped out,” Curtis said while lying on the ground just a few feet from Jason.
“I do. I’m going to the other side of the street. You’re going to lay down some covering fire, keep them in the woods, slow their pace. I’m going to get in as close as I can with this shotgun and fill all those fucks full of buckshot. When you see me cross the street towards them, come on down and support me.”
Curtis bit his lip. “I have five rounds left, and I left the other weapons back at the car. They were mostly spent of ammo anyway.”
Jason whistled for Maya, caught her attention, and waved his arms wildly for her to get over to them. Maya looked hesitant, but when she broke, she flew. She flopped on the ground a few feet short of them.
“What do you have left for ammo?” Jason asked.
“I have this pistol and two magazines, and my rifle” she answered.
“Perfect. Let me have them,” he ordered. She handed over the weapons with no issue. Jason checked them out. “Here you go kid,” he said as he handed them over to Curtis. “Cover me with these then follow up.” Jason handed Maya his pistol with one full magazine. “Now you’re set. You cover Curtis if needed.”
Before Curtis or Maya could acknowledge him, Jason took off. Curtis positioned himself in a kneeling position and fired three steady shots along the edge of the woods as Jason ran.
Cover fire from the Jensen’s continued with enough force to keep the enemy from making significant progress.
Jason ran down the far edge of the road when five men
suddenly cut out onto the street, forgoing the safety of cover. They didn’t notice Jason pursuing them.
Jason brought his shotgun up to chest level as he continued his mad run. An instant later he fired. Two went down. Jason unloaded another shot; this tumbled another man, but he bounced right back up. Jason fired another round, sending the man skidding face first into the hard road, his head smacking with a thud into the pavement, his body lifelessly rolling to a halt. The other two men stopped instantly, fell to their knees, and raised their hands to surrender.
Jason pointed his weapon at each man’s heads and told them to get up and walk. As soon as one man said he couldn’t get up, that his legs weren’t working, Jason asked for the handgun. Without thinking about it, Curtis tossed him the pistol. Jason aimed it at the man’s head and fired. Maya instantly threw up seeing the man’s head explode, bits of skull flying, and blood spraying out. The man’s body slumped to the ground, his blood spilling towards the shoulder of the road and into the legs of the lone kneeling man.
“Don’t look like that,” Jason said noticing her horrified
expression. “What were we going to do with him? Mend him back to health? Use what little antibiotics and medicines we have to patch him up? Two minutes ago, he would have killed you if he could.”
The other man pleaded for his life, soiling himself as he looked at his dead friend. Jason frisked the dead men and took away two handguns. “You come to fight, and now that it doesn’t look good, you beg for your life? I should shoot you for cowardice.”
Jason ordered the man to untie his shoes, while Maya and Curtis untied the dead men’s shoes. Jason then ordered the man to begin marching back towards the neighborhood. The
man winced in pain with each step. Jason told him if he
stopped, he would shoot him where he stood.
Pops’ Yard
Pops hoped Bo would understand what he needed. The intruders were moving closer to them, and it was important they get more ammun
ition. He took Bo by the shoulders and made sure the young man looked him in the eyes. “Bo, in my house, right through the sliding glass door to the right, you’ll see a tall, thin closet door. In there, are several boxes of .30-.30 and shotgun shells. Gather up as much as you can. Leave some on the patio table for Paul and Tony and bring the rest here.”
“Got it,” Bo said. He hesitated, looking out towards the woods where some of the enemy began to move to different positions.
“While there is a lull in the shooting, go!” Pops insisted.
Bo took off. He ran with grace and speed as if his old football skills came rushing back to him.
“You think he’ll be able to do what you asked?” Jean wondered aloud.
“If he comes back with a handful of straws, then no, but I
believe he’ll be fine,” Pops said, glancing towards the house while trying to keep an eye on the movements in the woods.
“The boys over at the patio must have a good angle,” Jean said. “They fire more than we do.”
“They’re moving again,” Pops said with surprise. “They are shifting this way, hon. Let’s fire.”
Without hesitating, they open fired, sending the moving men to the ground and shuffling for new cover.
“I think I got one,” Jean said.
“Keep it going, nice and steady,” Pops said while taking aim through a scope.
A minute later, Bo appeared with a shopping bag full of ammo. “I brought out as much as the bag would hold.”
Pops smiled. “Let’s lock and load and send these bastards back to wherever they came from.”
Knowles’ Yard
Another round of gunfire broke out from the intruders, though this time it was much more sporadic. Peering over the field of fire, Rob observed that it didn’t seem the enemy was sure what to do. A few men changed positions by some trees, but it didn’t amount to an advance.
“What do you think is going on?” Ted asked over the radio.
“I wish I knew,” I answered.
