He wasn’t thinking of her as an attractive woman, but as someone else who carried a grudge against Jeff Chambers and his black-hearted Recovery Committee. If DHS stormtroopers did murder her parents, then Luke had little doubt she would also want her own piece of them.
Gone was the nervous child, the bumbling youth of just a few months ago. On one hand, Luke knew there were better trained and experienced soldiers out there, but he also knew he was capable of making a difference here. He’d endured the hell of the road and the hopelessness of the refugee camps, and now he carried a hatred so pure and wrathful, he almost felt frightened of what he might do next.
At his heart, Luke knew he wasn’t a soldier or a lawman. He was a killer, simple as that. When confronted by his enemies, he felt no conscience and no remorse. Luke wouldn’t flinch from whatever needed to be done next, and in one small corner of his heart, Luke prayed Amy could eventually forgive him for the sins he had already committed, and was about to commit again.
CHAPTER 41
Sergeant Hernandez didn’t know what to think or how to react, when Luke and Private Silcott finally returned from their scouting mission. Finally, at a loss for words, the sergeant dispatched the duo to report in with Lieutenant Fisher.
The sergeant knew something must have happened at the Commie camp. He’d been up for an hour and was walking the line shortly before dawn, when the dull rumble and the flash of fire in the distance first made him think they were about to receive an artillery barrage. Hernandez ordered Beatty and Castillo into the trench and then called out for the other squads to do likewise, but other than a few more booming echoes in the distance, nothing else happened that morning. Eventually, the call came for the men to stand down, and the platoon manning this section of the perimeter went back to work, strengthening their walls and barricades.
By that afternoon, Sergeant Hernandez began to worry about his two missing scouts, but the mission plan, thin though it might have been on details, provided for the two soldiers to stay outside if their trip lasted longer than expected. Neither soldier carried one of the precious PRC-77 radios, and Hernandez figured, correctly as it turned out, the two young men were taking turns sleeping in the woods. Night would come, and Hernandez had faith his men would turn up. Especially Messner. The older sergeant remained convinced the kid must be possessed by a demon of some sort.
Two hours after nightfall, the sentries caught the signal flashes, and the filthy and damp scouts walked back into camp.
“What happened?” Hernandez demanded, his voice filled with ill-disguised concern as the two soldiers exchanged glances. Luke, sensing Dwayne’s reticence, spoke for them both.
“We infiltrated through the rear of the enemy lines as planned and found the areas Lieutenant Fisher and Captain Jefferson wanted us to inspect. We managed to get into the camp without being detected and after surveying the motor pool and artillery park, I suggested we should take advantage of the situation and remove these assets. Dwayne agreed, and we rigged both the fuel stores and the ammunition stores for detonation. I guess you saw the resulting explosion, Sergeant.”
“Yeah,” Hernandez allowed, “I thought we were about to receive an artillery barrage, Private.”
Luke grimaced, but continued, “We hadn’t thought about that. Sorry. The opportunity was too good to pass up, Sergeant. They might not have even known it was us.”
“How you figure that?”
“We didn’t leave any calling cards,” Dwayne Silcott explained, feeling the need to justify their actions, since he thought the sergeant seemed a bit pissed. He wasn’t, really. Just surprised at their audacity. “No decapitated guards or anything like that. Plus, the explosions were staggered and might look like one set off the other.”
“Go find the LT. He should still be at the bunker,” Hernandez ordered, his voice finally showing a little emotion, but neither of the young men could read the exasperation in his tone.
“You got it, boss,” Dwayne replied. “Can we drop our gear here? Not sure where the squad is bedding down tonight.”
“Here’s fine,” Hernandez agreed. “Now get going.”
The two scouts wasted no time obeying that order.
Lieutenant Fisher listened while Dwayne, who already had some experience in the Army giving a briefing to his superiors, laid out the intel in the manner in which he’d been taught. Luke also listened when Dwayne recited the list of vehicles and artillery field pieces identified, and how the two of them rigged up the improvised explosives to destroy not only the equipment, but also the men assigned to the two areas. Luke filed away the methodology for when it would be his turn later to recite the facts and answer the inevitable questions.
“So, you were unable to determine the unit for the artillerymen occupying the barracks adjacent to the artillery emplacement?”
“Yes, sir. I saw a symbol on the side of a tent, but no name or unit designation I could identify.”
When Private Silcott briefly sketched out the cross with a circle around it, Lieutenant Fisher grunted. Luke wanted to ask what this meant but kept his peace. Fisher seemed impressed, and Luke wanted to appeal to that good will, if his half-baked plan had any chance of succeeding. Scouting missions were vital to the Army National Guard’s continuing existence, but Luke knew they needed more, if the Allied States wanted to break the backs of the Committee forces committed here.
“What made you decide to take the risk? Why sneak around in the dark to set these charges?” Lieutenant Fisher asked, the challenge evident in his voice.
Dwayne resisted the urge to shrug when he replied.
“Sir, we were already taking the risk, and other than a few sleepy guards, we didn’t see anyone who represented a danger. Heck, my old militia team pulled off harder missions than this.”
“Do you agree, Private Messner?”
Luke cleared his throat before replying.
“Sir, I completely agree. When Dwayne explained what his old group did, well, with the NVGs, I knew we could make this work.”
“You have night vision?” Lieutenant Fisher queried, his pitch raised. Then he explained, “We didn’t have much to start with and lost most of what we had with the Pulse.”
“Yes, sir. I brought two sets with me when I left home.” Luke paused, rolling back his memory. “Got these off dead stormtroopers that attacked our house, I think.”
“Jeez, Messner, you been in so many fights with the Commies you have to think about it?” Lieutenant Fisher mused. “Knolls said you’ve got training and experience, but I wasn’t sure how much.”
Luke shrugged, then apologized for what he took to be a breach of military etiquette. “Sorry, sir. For nearly the last ten months or so, about all I’ve done is fight. Slavers, cannibals, bandits, DHS troops, and anybody else who pointed a gun at me. Private Silcott here has experienced pretty much the same thing, I’d imagine. He’s really good at moving around in the dark, even without the night vision.”
When the lieutenant shifted his gaze to the slender African American soldier, the private responded.
“Yes, sir. My father trained me, probably like Luke’s father did with him. That’s why I was happy to get assigned to a scouting role, since I did a bit of that back home.”
“Men, I don’t know if you realize the magnitude of what you’ve managed to pull off. I don’t know where they get it, but the enemy seems to have access to a lot of hardware. Still, their sources are not without limit and this represents a large chunk of their armored vehicles and usable artillery.”
“They pre-positioned much of their otherwise vulnerable electronics in underground bunkers,” Luke replied. “Also, with his advanced warning, Director Chambers alerted his most loyal subordinates while bringing the DHS, Coast Guard, and Border Patrol agencies up to their highest level of readiness.”
“How did they know? And how do you know this?” Lieutenant Fisher nearly demanded, his face turning red.
“Sir, the federal government, through NASA and the
various other agencies tasked with studying solar weather, I mean, the sun, knew about the pulse one to three days before it hit the Earth. That’s why all the nuclear power plants were safely off-line here in the U.S. when we lost everything else. I’m sure their controls are fried, like most everything else, but they were shut down by order of the Department of Energy before the event.”
Fisher sputtered a bit at this revelation, then collected himself before continuing.
“Is this speculation on your part, Private?”
“No, sir. I found out about the nuclear power plants from Nick Keller. I’m not sure if you know him, sir.”
“Related to Major Scott Keller, by any chance?” Lt. Fisher asked, now sounding more intrigued.
“Ah, I didn’t know Scott, I mean, Major Keller, was a major now. Yes, sir. Nick is Scott’s nephew, and last I heard, Nick was running security for just about all of the Kellerville area. Nick got word before the event from one of his old comrades, who was working as a security contractor out west. At one of the nuclear power plants, but I don’t recall which one at the moment, sir.”
“So, why didn’t anybody warn us?” Fisher asked softly.
“Believe me, sir, several members of the Arkansas National Guard asked that themselves, and Nick, the same question. I know Colonel Hotchkins didn’t have any advanced warning, either.”
“And how? Oh, I remember Master Sergeant Knolls mentioned you did some contracting work for General Hotchkins, back before his promotion,” Lieutenant Fisher said, answering his own question. “I didn’t realize you were a confidant of the General.”
“I wouldn’t say that, sir,” Luke protested politely. “The subject did come up, though. As for how I know about the other agencies, I really shouldn’t get into that. Sir.”
Fisher, already hit with more information than he’d expected, just gave Luke a ‘give it to me’ motion with his right hand.
“Well, Chambers and his cronies have access to a hardened satellite system, and he uses it to communicate with his regional directors. Or mini-warlords. I was present when one of these guys was captured, and rigorous interrogation ensued. Let’s just leave it at that,” Luke said, taking care with his words. He remembered crushing McCorkle’s toe and grimaced. Traitor or not, the man had been a U.S. Congressman. “I really shouldn’t say more, sir. Anyway, some people in the government knew about the Coronal Mass Ejection and took action, while others either ignored the warnings or underestimated the danger. I know for certain, somebody blocked access to the civilian monitoring systems. Didn’t want to upset the public, I’d say at a guess.”
Fisher nodded, then rubbed his face with his back of his hand.
“How did you know access was blocked, Corporal?”
Luke didn’t catch the reference at first, and simply answered.
“I had an app on my phone, sir,” Luke replied, and then his voice turned bitter. “If the NSA or DHS or somebody hadn’t shut down the site, I would have probably been home when the pulse knocked everything out. Not stranded in a hotel room next to O’Hare, watching the planes crash into Chicago.”
Private Silcott, almost ignored up to this point, let out a low whistle at Luke’s statement. “That must have sucked,” he continued, then his dark skin flushed a bit when he remembered his platoon commander’s presence. “Uh, sorry, sir.”
“No problem, Private. I’m sure it did suck,” Fisher agreed, then continued wryly. “And before we get any deeper into things I probably want to know but lack the proper clearance, I think we need to get back on point. Corporal Messner, I believe you were about to pitch me with some kind of proposal.”
This time, Luke caught the ‘corporal’ and looked up, catching the officer’s eye.
“Sir?”
“You squad needs a corporal, and I think you’ll do. Now, you were saying?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. We have talent here, sir, with what Dwayne, I mean, Private Silcott can bring to the squad. However, he mentioned he had three friends from Denton who all enlisted at the same time, who are equally skilled at sneaking around at night. In fact, I think Private Silcott’s father trained them to be night fighters, and I think they would be of great help to us if you wanted to expand the squad.”
“Expand? For what purpose, Corporal?”
“Sir, you heard what I said to the Captain. I’ve got a powerful hate for these Committee bums, and I would like to start taking the fight to them. What we did last night, I’ll agree that was a fluke. They’ll put more guards out now, but we can still hurt them.”
“What are you thinking, Luke?”
“We kill their scouts, ambush their supply convoys, and assassinate their officers,” Luke announced, like he was reading from his mom’s grocery list. That thought brought back dark memories, and he grimaced in a way that made the lieutenant want to take a step back. “We bleed them, sir. We bleed them and terrorize them until these volunteers, their cannon fodder, fears us more than they fear their masters. We become the monsters in the night, and if we do it right, they will revolt against their masters.”
“Sounds like you’ve put some thought into this plan of yours,” Lieutenant Fisher observed. “I’d like you and Private Silcott to brief the Captain, and he’ll have final say, but I can start the ball rolling with expanding your squad into two fireteams. Four men in each fireteam. Will that be enough to start?”
“Yes, sir. If you can arrange for the transfer of Private Silcott’s former compatriots in, so much the better,” Luke replied respectfully. “I’d imagine they will need little if any training.”
“That sounds smart,” Lt. Fisher agreed, then he turned his attention to Private Silcott. “Private, please go round up Master Sergeant Knolls and have him report to the Captain’s lair in ten minutes.”
“Yes, sir,” the private responded, and took off down the narrow, poorly lit trench passage. He hurried off to the southernmost redoubt in their section of the fortified line where he knew the senior sergeant maintained his watch over the operation of the platoon and beyond.
Turning back to the newly-promoted corporal, Lt. Fisher picked back up on their conversation.
“You plan on getting them equipped with NVGs, that could be a tall order. About the only ones using them on our side are the Special Forces boys, and they are out busy chasing down reports of drone attacks.” Lt. Fisher paused looking hard at Luke, aware of the younger man’s deep hatred of the Predators and their operators. “They’ve got those mobile command trailers they can use, and that is their weak link. Twenty miles is at the extreme edge of their effectiveness without the satellites, and they usually operate closer than that to prevent the loss of their vehicles.”
“We’ll get more night vision, sir. We just ambush them in the daylight. Then we’ll post their heads as a warning for more of their kind.”
“Damn, Luke, you are bloodthirsty,” Lt. Fisher replied, then he continued with an attempt at humor. “After getting Sergeant Hernandez’s report, I’m surprised you didn’t crucify those first five you killed, or do like Dracula and impale their bodies.”
Giving his superior officer a serious look, Luke shook his head. “No, sir. Do you have any idea how long it takes to crucify somebody? Like half an hour per body, and that’s with help. Now, I’ve never gone the impalement route, but I would think it would be a lot of trouble to stuff that long of a stake through their body, and then lift it up to plant it in the posthole.”
“So, you’ve…Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“No, sir, you don’t, but if we catch any prisoners from one of those drone operations, I’ll see about building a platform for that whole impalement thing.” Again, Luke’s voice betrayed no emotional strain, but he was deadly serious in his delivery.
“Luke, son, we’ve all lost people, but you can’t let your need for revenge eat you alive,” Lieutenant Fisher cautioned. “At some point, you have to give it up to God.”
“I remember reading in the Bible that ‘V
engeance is mine, sayeth the Lord’, but I haven’t seen God doing much avenging here lately,” Luke replied. “I thought for a while that God had a use for me, a reason for bringing me home through all that misery and death. Some plan.”
The teenager paused, and his voice suddenly sounded like it belonged to an old man, worn down by the world. “But now, I’ve come to believe he’s just fucking with me, like he did Job. Taking everything from me I care about, and I can’t sit around and wait for the next attack to claim my fiancé, or my little sister. So, I decided to take my fight to the enemy. They can’t hurt my family and my friends, if I kill all of them first.”
“Can’t argue with that logic,” Fisher replied, and waved for Luke to precede him into the passageway. “But I meant what I said. At some point, you need to let the hate go, or it will destroy you and everything you love.”
If Luke heard the words, he gave no response. Fisher knew there were thousands of young men out there just like this kid, and he despaired of the violence ever ending. The cycle, once started, might not be something that could be stopped by anything short of the grave.
CHAPTER 42
After retelling the tale of their wildly successful scouting and impromptu raid for the captain’s benefit, Luke and Dwayne rejoined their squad without much comment. Sergeant Hernandez kept a close watch on the pair, especially the demon boy, but showed no other outward reaction. He did have a private word with the lieutenant about promoting the kid when Beatty and Silcott, not only had more time in, but were also graduates of the two-week orientation course. Fisher, not feeling the need to explain his decision, simply said Messner had already proven his worth. Hernandez took the hint and left the kid alone.
For the next five days, the four junior members of the squad found themselves occupied from dawn to dusk with a variety of duties designed to beef up their defensive works. From digging new trenches to laying fresh rolls of barbed wire in seemingly random patterns, the four men managed to work up a sweat in the often-freezing air. They managed one brief and chilled shower during that period, and Luke thought his teeth would never stop chattering.
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