Amos came back. “We need to do something about this guy.” He and Slime went to check on him, and get him some water and food to help ward off hypothermia. He was wearing a dry jacket next to his skin now, and a couple of the other guys were pressed around him for warmth.
“We’ve got to find shelter,” I told Tim.
“There are a bunch of climbers round here,” he replied. “There might be some rock ledges.”
Slime and Amos had rejoined us. We spread the map out on the ground, opened a poncho over us, and turned on the red light.
“This is where we are. The picnic tables are here. You see how steep this is?” said Tim as he pointed to the map. “There might be some rock ledges around here.”
Amos spoke up. “You say there are cops all up and down this road?”
“Yeah, they’ve set up a command post here, got their sheriff’s command post bus set up and cops are everywhere. They’ve told everyone to shelter in place, and they are stopping and searching all cars.”
“I imagine they are searching people’s houses without warrants,” interjected Slime.
“Probably, they’ve stopped all movement and are searching with everything they can dredge up,” replied Tim.
“They’ll bring out the infrared on the helicopters as soon as it’s light,” speculated Amos.
“Hey, we heard gunfire earlier,” I interjected.
“One of the groups from the last bus got hit. They managed to fight their way out, but we had several people killed.”
“Who,” I asked.
“Two prisoners were killed and one pretty badly shot up. One of our guys got it too.”
“What about the rest of the escapees?”
“The others got away clean and are now spread throughout the city. We are trying to make contact with you and one other group, but I haven’t heard anything since I was dropped off.”
“How are you going to let them know you found us? You didn’t bring your cell phone with you did you?”
“Heck no; I’ll hike out and meet Ricki at a diner back down here,” he said pointing.
“That’s where the command post is set up,” said Slime. “Okay, you guys know what you’re doing. We’ve got to get moving. We’ll head down to this area. If we find a place to shelter, we will set up camp. If not, we’ll keep moving.”
“I wonder if this road is as far as their search area goes at this time,” I added.
“I’ll find out what I can,” said Tim. “The next possible rendezvous point is here. There is a picnic area with a shelter, but it’s four and a half more miles after you cross under the road.”
“I don’t think sheltering on this side is a good idea,” said Amos. “Come morning they’ll be all over us. We need to cross that road.”
“Other than that one guy, how are the rest holding up,” asked Slime.
“They’re not happy campers, but they seem okay,” responded Amos.
“Tim, can you and Ricki pick him up at the bridge then take to the goat trails?” asked Slime indicating the man who was suffering from hypothermia.
“We can try; we’re getting pretty good it.”
“Okay, let’s move out,” ordered Slime.
Tim led us down over the ridge and we worked our way around numerous outcrops in the dark using Tim’s red light sparingly. The going was rough and we fell, cursed, and got up again. Cut up and bleeding, we worked our way down to the stream.
Finally, Tim said, “There, that looks like a good spot.”
It wasn’t a cave but a good rock overhang. I got busy digging a fire pit. “Amos, you think you and a couple of guys can find some wood that will burn?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“I’m going to check in on the hypothermia case,” said Slime.
“Slime, I need to get going to find Ricki. I should be back in about an hour, two tops. It’s only about five hundred yards to the bridge. If you can get him down there, we might be able to get him out.”
“Okay Tim, thanks.”
“See you.”
With that, Tim headed around the edge of the creek toward the highway. Soon we had a fire going, and everyone managed to gather around. Some even dozed off to sleep. We still had about four hours till daybreak.
Maybe I was just making it up in my head, but I had a nagging feeling that if we didn’t get past that road before daylight we would be caught. I moved over to where Slime was talking to Amos.
“Slime, I think we need to get under that bridge before daylight.”
“I was thinking the same thing. However, this overhang will give us some protection in case they start looking for us with IR.”
“Maybe so, but I think the faster we move the better chance we have of slipping thought their net.”
“We really need to get some grub in these guys. Getting them up and moving again isn’t going to be easy,” observed Slime.
Amos spoke up, “Isn’t it about time to move Chuck down to the bridge?”
“Yeah,” responded Slime.
“You think you can get him to move?”
“I’ll do what I can.”
Amos moved over to Chuck who was asleep between two other guys. “Hey man,” he said shaking him.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“It’s about time to get you down to the bridge to see if we can get you picked up.”
“I don’t know if I can move man.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m stiff and sore. I think I may have busted something last time I fell. Sorry to be such a hindrance.”
“Don’t worry about it. It just as easily could have been me or any one of us. Come on, let’s go.”
“Give me a hand.” Chuck managed to get to his feet with Amos helping him. He and Slime led him down toward the bridge.
“Hey where are they going?” It was the complainer again.
“They are going to see if Tim and Ricki can pick up Chuck.”
“Hey I want to get picked up too.”
“It’s dicey even trying to get him picked up. There’s a chance they will be stopped and all three could wind up in jail. You want to risk that?” I asked.
He didn’t answer. “Let’s settle in and make ourselves as comfortable as possible. We got us a wait.”
I must have dozed off, didn’t know I could sleep under these conditions sitting up on hard rock. Someone was saying. “I’m staying here.”
“Oh boy, why?” asked another.
“I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I’m miserable. At least I’m warm.”
“The fire is going to go out,” I said starting to come around.
“We got wood.” It was one of the others.
“We didn’t ask you to get us out.”
“Maybe we should have left you!” It was Slime.
“Did you get Chuck off?”
“No, it’s been over two hours, and we haven’t seen or heard anything. We’ve got less than two hours till first light; we’ve got to get moving.”
Later, I learned that command thought the pick-up was too risky. We still had to work on our communications.
“I ain’t going nowhere.”
“Me neither.”
“I thought you guys were supposed to be tough guys.”
“Just leave us here.”
“We can’t do that. When the cops find you, they will have a pretty good idea where to look for us. You are going to get us all caught. Pacho, put out the fire.”
“Leave the fire alone!” one of the men yelled.
I started kicking dirt in the fire and he jumped me. I twisted right, flung him against the wall of the overhang, and went back to work.
“Now let’s go,” said Slime.
They followed him groaning and complaining while I tried to hide all indications that we had ever been there in the first place. When we got to the bridge, there was a patrol car driving slowly across it. As soon as the car crossed, it accelerated away.
“Come on,” instruct
ed Slime.
Amos and Chuck fell in behind him, and the others followed. I brought up the rear as usual. We had to wade in the stream in order to get across.
“Take off your shoes and socks,” instructed Slime.
The water was colder than anything I could remember. I almost fell when stepping on sharp rocks, but we quickly got to the other side. Everyone sat down and rubbed their feet till they were fairly dry though not warm.
We walked on in silence for a long while. We followed what looked like an animal trail along the creek. About first light we came upon a logging trail. We saw no sign of recent traffic and the GPS showed it went for about a mile in the direction we wanted to go before crossing the creek. The road was well packed, so it might not leave tracks.
“Follow me single file and hurry,” instructed Slime.
We followed; nobody was doing much talking. As long as we kept moving, we could stay warm, but we were hungry. Where we left the road, we stopped and I filled the water containers. I put in the tablets, but we could not drink the water for 30 minutes.
“If we go up around this hill, we can catch another logging road. It will take us to within three miles of our goal. Come on.”
Everyone got up and followed Slime. I just hoped we had people at the shelter where we were headed. I didn’t know if I could go on much farther. I doubted if the prisoners could either. Though, if we got out of this in one piece, we would all be a lot stronger.
We heard a chopper in the distance, but it didn’t keep coming. It turned away. “It must have been flying a search pattern,” I said to no one in particular.
“Maybe your man Slime outfoxed them,” said Louie who had fallen back with me.
“Yeah, he’s pretty cagey.” We moved on quickly and quietly. After bushwhacking it in the dark, this was easy.
“Man can we rest?” one of the exhausted men asked.
“We leave the road in one mile; we can rest then,” Slime called back over his shoulder.
“I’m tired.”
“We’re all tired,” said Amos. “Only a little further and we just might get out of this.”
“How? How are we going to get out, and who the hell made you the boss?” With that he charged Amos knocking him to the ground and holding a gun on him.
“I’m tired of this! Leave me alone!”
I put the barrel of my rifle to the back of his head right where the skull meets the neck vertebra. “Don’t get stupid now; we’re almost out.”
Amos got up and took the weapon from him. He drew back to deck the guy, but I intervened. “We need to save what strength we have. We’ve still got the police state looking for us. Come on, we’ve got to move.”
Slime started off again, but we knew our little band was nearing its limits. Please let our people be there, I thought to myself.
Coming down a narrow trail, I got the first look at what might have been the prettiest sight I’ve ever seen. There in the clearing by the shelters were two of our big delivery trucks. Ricki was there with Rico, and there was food and warm clothing. We had made it.
Chapter 7 – The Search Begins
The network news anchor was doing her best to look as concerned and frightened as possible. “Today Russia challenged the Syrian no fly zone. While there was no shooting, the flight of four Russian MIGs was escorted out of Syrian airspace. Both sides have made it clear that they will not back down.
“US troops crossed over into Syria from Jordan this morning and are headed for Damascus. The tip of the spear has met little resistance, but there are reports that support vehicles are being targeted with IEDs and rocket fire. This has slowed the advance as getting fuel to the armor has become problematic. At this time some fuel is being delivered by air.
“However, there appear to be a number of small shoulder fired antiaircraft missiles being used against them. This was unexpected as there are no government troops in the region. Local commanders are blaming it on Iranian Revolutionary Guards who might have infiltrated the rebel units.”
“Probably the ones taken from Benghazi,” interrupted Red.
“Reports are that rebel units are helping the allied force by supplying intelligence. However, there are conflicting reports that some rebel groups are firing on the Americans. We will now go to our reporter at the Pentagon, Johnny Smudlap, who has been speaking with a senior army official. Johnny, are you there?”
“Yes, Bridgette, I’m here with Colonel Luis Blackhead who is a public information officer. Colonel, what do you make of these reports that some of the rebels are firing on Americans?”
“Happy to be with you Johnny. These reports are completely unfounded. Everything I’ve seen indicates the rebels are welcoming our troops with open arms. I put no credence in such reports.”
“Thank you Colonel.”
“Colonel, I’d like to get a question in here.”
“Hello Bridgette, good to talk to you again.”
“Good to talk to you again as well Colonel.”
“Are there any plans to put boots on the ground in Iran?”
“No. There are no such plans. We only intend to stop a humanitarian disaster in Syria.”
“Are the troops on the bases surrounding Iran on alert?”
“Oh yes, but only to be prepared if the Iranians try something.”
“What sort of something?” Bridgette asked.
“Well, they may try to attack the bases or something like that.”
“Okay, thank you Colonel and thank you Johnny.”
The television cut back to Bridgette. “In other news the inmates from the mass prison escape have so far eluded police. Of several hundred dangerous felons who were broken out by domestic terrorists two days ago, only three have been caught. They are being interviewed by the FBI.
“As we reported several escaped prisoners along with one domestic terrorist have been killed. Police tried to get them to surrender, but using weapons from the murdered prison guards, they attempted to shoot their way out of the police encirclement. It appears that …”
Red picked up the remote and shut the set off. “There was no effort to get anybody to surrender. They just started shooting. I’ve spoken to some of the guys who got out.”
She set down the remote and put her head on my shoulder. “Yeah, Raymond got it. Too bad. He was a good guy,” I said.
“Your unit was the first to launch an independent operation. Everyone was pretty impressed.”
“It was a rather small operation. I think Rico used it to make an impression or see if we were tough enough to fight.”
“You’re pretty tough now. You’ve changed a lot since we first met. You’re still the squarest boyfriend I’ve ever had.”
“That’s funny because my ex said one of the reasons she broke up with me was that I was too freaky.”
“You’re no freak,” she said laughing. “You don’t even have any tats or piercings. I can set you up if you like.”
“No. I’ll pass, besides it makes it easier for me to infiltrate if I’m not marked up.”
“Rico’s a good commander. He’ll have you doing something like that before long.”
“Maybe so, but right now, keeping the prisoners hidden and getting them trained and integrated into the different units has got everything else on hold.”
The doorbell rang; we both rolled out of bed and grabbed weapons. I grabbed my trusty AK-47 with the folding stock while she favored her 9 mm. The computer screen was facing away from the bed. While she got it out of sleep mode, I got down behind the door with a clear shot at the front.
“Hold your fire; it’s Ricki, and she seems to be alone. She slipped on her jeans and the doorbell rang again.”
“I’ll get dressed after you let her in and secure the door.”
“Right,” she said pulling a Tee over her head and tucking her automatic into the back of her jeans.
She opened the door. “Hi Ricki.”
“Hi. What took you so long?”
Then she
saw me. “Oh that’s what took so long. Hi Pacho.”
Red closed and bolted the door. I went to get dressed, and they were still embracing when I came out.
“What brings you out so early?” I asked trying to sound chipper.
“Tim and I are spreading the word. Zombies are everywhere. They’ve already blasted their way into several homes, shot people’s dogs, and killed a couple of civilians.”
“Looking for us and the escapees?”
“Yeah, the head guy wants everybody up and on guard from midnight to daylight.”
“Let’s go to the kitchen; I’ll put on some coffee,” offered Red.
“They’ve got roadblocks everywhere. Entire neighborhoods are being ordered to shelter in place. They are trying to convince people that we let out the worst bunch of cutthroats the planet has ever seen.”
I thought on that for a moment as the coffeemaker came to life. “Let them keep that up and recruiting will improve.”
“Yeah, but they’re bound to get lucky,” added Red.
“Everyone is to stay glued to the local news stations for propaganda, because Rico and everyone else think so too. If they do, the zombies will descend on them. The commanders want us to be able to respond.”
“Respond?” asked Red.
“I asked the same question. It basically means grab your rifle and run to the sounds of the guns.”
“How are you doing personally?” asked Red.
“I’m okay; Tim is helping me get over the rape. He’s really a great guy, even if a little square.”
Red glanced at me. “I can relate. Do you mind?” Red asked Ricki.
“No, go ahead; tell him.”
“Her and her boyfriend were smoking some weed in a park when the cops showed up. They told him to get on the ground. A couple of them started feeling her up and decided, what the hell, why not get a little piece.
“Her boyfriend got excited and when he tried to get up, they shot him. The police investigation turned up no wrong doing, which is no surprise. Ricki spent three days locked in a cell. Then they just let her go.”
“I’m sorry man.”
“Yeah, I was pretty messed up for a while. Then Rico came looking for recruits, people who had been brutalized by the cops. I signed up. Never even shot a gun before; I didn’t believe in them. Now I’m making the bastards pay.”
World War III - Home Front: A Novel of the Next American Revolution - Book One – As Day turns to Night Page 8
