by AJ Newman
I caressed her face, kissed her, and said, “Maybe in a thousand years but not in my lifetime. I want Father John to marry us as soon as we get back to the church. I know we’re not Catholic, but I think he will bend the rules during these trying times.”
“That would make me the happiest woman on Earth.”
We went down to join Oscar and Oliva for breakfast a little before 8:00. They were sitting at a table by the pool dressed in swimsuits ready for a leisurely day at home. We also had our swimsuits on, and I planned to stay by the pool until we had to leave after supper that night.
Oscar smiled and greeted us, “Hello lovebirds. I hope you found your accommodations to meet your needs.”
“The room is perfect. Your home is wonderful. Matt and I lived in a truck for over a month and then in a cramped sailboat for months. This is heaven, and we can’t thank you enough for inviting us out to your place, Mary replied.”
Oliva took Mary by the hand and said, “I travel over to Quito every month or so to go shopping. They have recovered quickly and have many large shops open again. I plan to visit with you when you get settled.”
Oscar added, “Matt, I know most of the politicians from the old Ecuador and have met the top Israeli leaders once; perhaps I can help you make contacts and find temporary housing until you get back on your feet. I know that you might not join me, but we like you and want the best for you.”
“I will make up my mind after we get to Ecuador and look around. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I’ve been a Chemistry High School teacher most of my life and want to be careful how I decide to make my living in the future. I had quit my job, cashed in my inheritance from my parents and retired a year ago just before the shit hit the fan. I thought that I’d be hunting, fishing, and chasing Mary the rest of my life. I thought that I had given up work forever.”
“I’m not trying to rush you. The job will be open until you give me an answer. I just know good talent and leadership when I see it. You two are good people.”
Later that morning, I was deep in thought about this wonderful creature I was going to marry when there was a commotion at the front of the house, and then Oscar ran over to us in a hurry.
“I’m sorry my friend, but we must get you back over to the Church and get your big family on the road. Jack has found out who you are, he plans to raid the Church this evening, and after that, he plans to attack my house. You must be on your way before the attack. Get dressed, and Jose will fill you in on the way over.”
We quickly dressed and ran out to the porch with our meager belongings. There was a Humvee and a Jeep with machine guns mounted and manned by three men and Jose.
Olivia and Oscar gave us handshakes and hugs, and we were on our way to Arboletes as fast as the jungle roads would allow. Jose filled us in on the situation. Jack had learned the truth about Mary and me and that I was one of the ones who had killed his men and sunk his boats. He wanted vengeance and would get it later that day at a gathering in the park after supper. Even Jack wouldn’t attack the Church or Convent, so he was sending invitations from the city leaders to the townspeople for the annual celebration of the cities founding.
Well, we would get there by 11:00 am, warn Father John, load up the children, and get out of town before noon. The only sticky part was getting this done without Jack catching wind of our departure.
Oscar’s men took the truck, trailer, and supplies over the day before and hid them outside of town in an old barn. We just needed a diversion to allow us to sneak 13 children and 3 adults to the truck without being seen. Oscar was in charge of handling that part of the operation.
We arrived at the Convent and gathered the Nuns and Father John in the assembly hall for a meeting. I told them what was going to happen that evening and our plans to escape before the trap was set. Mary pleaded with the other Nuns and Father John to come with us to no avail.
Father John’s reply was, “We can’t desert our flock. They need us more than ever. We must stand up to this evil man.”
Jose responded, “If you mean that and can get your flock to fight we can provide guns and men to fight this dictator.”
“I can’t fight, but I know men in the parish who will fight to overthrow this tyrant. Bring the guns, and I’ll have the men at the church in an hour.”
“Father, be careful not to alert Jack’s men by bringing a large group of men. Only bring in a handful of leaders and let them handle the rest so you can keep your men from being discovered before you attack.”
“Good advice my son, thanks.”
“Jose, shouldn’t we stay and fight,” I asked?
“No, please go quickly to save your lives and the children. Jack wants to kill all of you to make an example to the village of what happens when someone messes with Jack.”
Most of our clothing and gear were already loaded in the trailer, so we only had to grab a few things and march the children the mile to the truck. Jose and three other men made up out security detail and had the Jeep and Humvee with machine guns to help guard us on the way.
Mary packed her new clothes in a small gym bag along with her makeup and other personal items while I gathered our guns and Bugout backpacks. We said goodbye to Father John and the Nuns and then ushered the children out the door and up the back streets to where the truck was waiting. The kids were great and obeyed every command as they each carried their little backpacks.
Bobby led a small group of older boys and girls who were armed with ARs and pistols. Brett and Mary had trained them during the boat trip, and they were now part of our small army. I felt bad that Billy had been killed protecting his friends, but that was the way the world was now. Kill or be killed was all too often the rule of the day. Even twelve-year-olds had to fight to defend themselves.
I prayed every day that we would eventually get back to normal.
Jose took the lead in the Humvee and manned the turret mounted M249 SAW. I drove the truck while Mary kept watch and had an AR and her shotgun ready if needed. The other two men brought up the rear in the Jeep. We headed east along the ocean but would soon turn south towards Medellin and Cali. We would skirt around the two most infamous cities in Colombia to avoid the cartels.
***
The men in Arboletes were shocked that Jack was going to attack the Church and this infuriated them more than anything the pirate had done to them in the past. None wanted to fight but knew they had to rid themselves of this monster even if they had to join Oscar Ramos to get it done.
Father John told the leaders, “You know the Church and God are against killing and war; however, this is a fight against a Godless monster who rapes and kills our people and loots the entire ocean around us. We must fight and win today!”
The men took the message and guns to everyone they trusted and soon had a small army of willing fighters.
Oscar brought a dozen of his men to lead the 112 men from Arboletes in the attack on Jack’s headquarters and warehouse. Their only chance was a surprise attack that killed Jack and wiped out most of his men.
The plan was to kill off as many of Jack’s thugs as possible before he knew he was under attack with ambushes, trickery, and deceit. They started by killing all of the men at the dock, the roadblock on the Pueto Rey Road and Jack’s small warehouse by the dock.
They used hunting bows, silenced .22 caliber rifles, and quietly killed over thirty of these men before Jack became suspicious.
***
“Manny, the men at the dock and the roadblock haven’t checked in and are ten minutes late. I wonder if our plans for tonight have leaked out. Send a squad over there to check on them. I also want you to send a squad over to the Convent and capture Jones and his woman before they catch wind of our plans for them later today. We can’t have our star guests, not show. The main event is in their honor.
Manny’s men showed up at the Convent 15 minutes later and asked for Matt Jones and his woman.
Sister Jenn replied, “There is no one by that name at th
e Convent or Church, why do you ask?”
“Where is that good looking Nun who arrived a couple of weeks ago with the children?”
“Oh, they left here a while back.”
The leader stepped toward the Nun, slapped her across the face, and knocked her down to the floor. His men were shocked to see a Nun treated so disrespectfully they held him back from hitting her again.”
“We don’t hit Nuns or Priests, and we won’t let you, or Jack hurt them either.”
The man knew he was outnumbered ten to one so he called back to headquarters, “Sir, they are not here. I’m waiting for instructions.”
“Go find them. They are probably on the way to way to Quito and the orphanage. Bring them back dead or alive.”
“Jack, this is Raoul, all of our men are dead at the dock, the dock warehouse, and the roadblock. I lost eight men fighting my way out. There are hundreds of armed men heading your way. Oh shit, they….”
The radio went dead as Jack heard gunfire at the same time the windows along the front of Jack’s headquarters were shattered by gunfire. Jack's men were greatly outnumbered and fought for an hour, and then the survivors deserted and blended into the surrounding jungle.
Oscar saw two of his men dragging an unconscious man towards him. The man was Gentleman Jack.
“Jorge, come here. Take this asshole to the warehouse and get him to tell us where all of his pirates are located. You might also want to question him about where his money, gold, and jewels are to be found.”
Father John, please tell everyone that I have rid them of Jack and they will now come under my protection. There will be no taxes, and I will share with them everything I own, grow, or seize on the high seas. Oh, also tell them that we will have a BBQ this Saturday to celebrate.”
“Please give my thanks to your men, and you will be in my prayers tonight. You are a good pirate.
The locals who overheard Oscar cheered and thanked him for overthrowing the monster.
***
We had driven a little over two hours without seeing any dangers and only a few farmers alongside the road. Then one of the men in the Jeep called us on a walkie-talkie and said that a truck was coming up fast behind us.
“Mary, tell Sister Angela to have the kids duck below the tailgate for cover.”
I knew the tailgate would only stop small arms fire, but it was better than no cover, and I added, “Tell her to pile up any bags or luggage between the kids and the tailgate for extra protection.”
I heard gunfire and saw there was a running battle between the occupants of the truck and our trailing Jeep.
“Mary, slide over the top of me and take the wheel. I need to get in the back, so I can return fire on Jack’s men.”
Mary took the wheel as she lifted her butt on top of me and I slid out from under her as she steered the truck.
She gave me a kiss on my cheek and said, “Please don’t make me a widow before we get married.”
I grabbed my M4, squirmed my way through the open turret ring on the cab of the truck, and worked my way to the canvas top over the truck bed. I held on to my rifle and kept from falling while cutting the canvas with my bayonet. Sister Angela and Bobby helped me down to the floor of the bed safely, and I hurried to the back of the truck to determine how I could best help our men in the Jeep.
Bobby joined me packing his AR15, and I told him to fire only when the Jeep was out of the line of fire, which wasn’t often. We both shot at the enemy truck every time we went around a curve where the Jeep was out of the way. We were too little and too late, for the Jeep lurched out into the jungle when the driver died from a head wound.
With the Jeep out of the way, we came under fire from the truck. Sister Angela radioed Mary and told her to weave as she drove. Now we were able to get a clear line of fire on the truck and hit it multiple times with little results while bullets hit all around us.
Then Mary swerved the truck around the Humvee, and the Humvee’s SAW opened up on the enemy truck chewing the windows, radiator, and cab to pieces. The radiator started smoking, and the truck slowed to a crawl and then disappeared. All of the attackers were dead.
The Humvee drove back to the Jeep to check on our guards and found one dead and one wounded. We buried the poor man, and Sister Angela tended to the wounded man who only had a deep flesh wound on his right arm.
We took off again on our journey along the jungle road and drove at a more reasonable pace since we felt safe that the danger from behind was over.
We pulled off the road about 20 miles north of Medellin, hid our vehicles, and made camp for the night. It was still early; however, Jose wanted to drive around Medellin during the early morning hours to avoid being delayed by one of the several drug cartels that operated out of the city. His plan was to go to bed early and get on the road before 3:00 am, which should be before most of the cities people were awake for the day.
“Jose, I checked the map and if we skirt around Medellin during the early morning that would put us at Cali before noon. Do you plan to stop outside and wait for dark again?”
“No, there are roads around Cali with very few people along them, and even if one wanted to report us, we would be a long ways down the road before the bad guys found out. Here, look at my map. We will veer off the main road just north of Buga and work our way down these dirt roads that I have marked on my map. It will be slow, but it beats waiting for 8 to 10 hours for dark.”
Jose went to the Humvee, came back with a pair of night vision goggles (NVG), fishing line to make trip wires, and a portable radio. He gave his men instructions to set the trip wires, and then start rotating through guard duty.
“How far will your radio reach?”
“I don’t know. I know I can reach out over 200 miles if I send the antenna up. See that box it has a balloon, and the line is an antenna. It is dark enough that no one will spot the balloon. I’m checking in with the boss.”
He attached the balloon to the antenna line, inflated the balloon, and let it drift upward. The balloon was about four feet in diameter and easily lifted the line.
“That’s 70 meters, and I should have no problem contacting my boss.”
He twisted some knobs, flipped a switch, and said, “Brown 232, this is Black 151. Get the Boss on the radio.”
We waited a minute and heard, “Black 151 the danger is over. Our enemy has been eliminated. Your situation?”
“One dead, one wounded. The package is unharmed. Enemy pursuing has been eliminated.”
“Proceed cautiously. Friends not as friendly on your route as previously thought. Use the schedule to contact base.”
“Roger.”
“Jose, did I understand that Gentleman Jack is dead?”
“That’s the way I heard it. The boss is a bit of a security freak when we talk in the open. I’d better get the balloon down.”
I pitched in and helped him bring the balloon and antenna down and store them.
“Guys, come and get it. Supper is ready,” Mary called out.
Sister Angela and several of the older girls had made some of our canned meat into a stew with some plants and wild vegetables they found in the jungle. Several of the new kids had been born in the area and were a wealth of help with their knowledge of the area, plants, and animals.
Supper was filing if not tasty, and we settled down for the night. Mary helped tuck the children in and then joined me for a private discussion.
“Darling, these guys have helped save our lives and are great people, but I think we need to keep watch along with them during the day as well as at night.”
“What is bothering you?”
“Oscar told Jose that their friends on our route are not as friendly as they had thought. The more I thought about what he said he could easily have meant the guys traveling with us as well as the drug cartels and bandits along the road.”
“Matt, I agree. We’ve already found several spies in Oscar’s group and the Church. We can take turns through the n
ight. Do you want to use Sister Angela to help watch?”
“No, I don’t know how she would react if the shit hits the fan.”
“It was just a thought. You are probably right. She might freeze at a bad time.”
“Ask Bobby to make sure his little band of soldiers keeps an eye out behind the truck when we get back on the road. We’ll miss that Jeep guarding our rear.”
The jungle was filled with noises as the birds, primates and the occasional bark of a wild dog filled our ears. The dense woods kinda’ smelled like a combination of a wet dog and a musty damp basement to our noses as we tried to sleep. I didn’t like the jungle because one couldn’t see more than ten feet ahead in any direction and death lurked around every corner.
Nothing happened that night, and I was so keyed up I didn’t wake Mary until 2:30 am so she could get ready to hit the road.
“Matt, I should kick your ass for not waking me up. I want to be your partner, not someone you always have to protect.”
“Babe, I was wide awake and would have just laid there with my eyeballs staring at the sky. I figured one of us should get some rest. Besides I got to watch, you sleep between keeping an eye on the jungle and our guards.”
“Please let me take my turn tonight.”
I gave her a kiss and answered, “I promise. Let’s let the kids sleep. They’re sleeping sound in the back of the truck.”
“Great idea,” Sister Angela replied.
The words hadn’t passed her lips before Bobby, and his friend Jamey joined us for a cup of coffee before heading out for the day. Jamey was a 13-year-old girl who had been one of Brett’s best students. Bobby and she both had ARs and Berettas as they drank their coffee.
“Mister Matt, we want to help protect the kids. We both know how to shoot and Brett taught us how to pull guard duty and what dangers to watch for.”
