A long Lonely Road Box Set 3

by T J Reeder

  I was worried about the weight factor with a full load of ammo and two men, but they seemed to think it was not an issue. I will admit I had some second and third thoughts when they strapped me into the harness and gave me a crash course on how the whole thing was going to go.

  And we were gone! Blain was flying and I was glued to the floor by a major pucker factor! I heard his voice thru the headset in my helmet telling me we were heading to the range where some old vehicles were parked for targets. We made a couple of runs over it to give me an idea how it was going to be, and then we did it for real. And it was a rodeo! It was like being on a bucking horse! With a machinegun! He flew one slow pass and I trashed the vehicles, then the little bastard spun the damn bird like a top and shouted to shoot! The next few minutes were filled with that bird dancing thru the air like a crazy-assed hummingbird. And me on the gun, half in and half out of the damn thing.

  Had the control cage not been in place I would have shot us down. In short order the ammo was gone, and we returned to the landing zone. When I was able to stand, I headed for a pile of boulders where I tried to decide if I needed to puke or crap. I settled for wetting down the boulder and returned to see them reloading the gun. Blain asked if I was up for a very dangerous mission. One look at his dancing eyes and I knew what it was, and I was laughing out loud.

  The ground crew said to give them time to get in place, so we sat for a half hour then Blain fired the bird up and we headed home. He circled out over the lake so we could come in over the Rock Pile and from behind the range where the girls were working out with their guns.

  We flew over with the left side showing to the folks on the ground. I was out of sight as we disappeared, and when we had everybody’s attention we came in and I opened up on boulder-covered hill we used for a back stop. It was awesome! Blain had the bird dancing along and I was eating up the hillside. It was wild, and then the gun was spinning empty. Blain headed for the truck park nearby and landed. Before we could get out ‘they’ arrived- steam shooting out their ears, faces red and blood in the eye. It was a beautiful moment; dangerous, but beautiful nonetheless.

  Before they could say a word or swing a fist I said, “Well, flip a coin to see who gets to go next” and that stopped them dead in their tracks. It took them several seconds to realize nobody carried coins anymore. They were truly flummoxed! They had nothing to say. If I could, I’d have bronzed the moment to hang on the wall. Then they started doing the scissor/rock/ paper thing. As usual Sandy did the rock thing and May did the scissor thing and Kid did the paper thing. Kid won, which started Sandy demanding best two out of three and May telling her to go piss up a rope. They were so into their usual thing they didn’t see Kid climbing into the bird to fly back over to reload.

  Watching my wives in action is a thing of beauty, whether it’s shooting some asshole or trying to intimidate Jackson the gun thug, they give it 100 % and the chopper was off the ground before they quit fighting over their damn game. They both stood there for a second- mouths open, before they grabbed Ralph and said, “Take us to that chopper or else!” Poor Ralph. They took off in a rush for the motor pool and were gone in a cloud of dust. I felt arms around me and knew Beth was there. She stepped in front of me, shook her head and said, “John? You’re a bigger baby than they are, but damn! That was a good one!” then she busted out laughing.

  She said they had been fine until the gun started running, and they went ape shit. She said even she didn’t know some of the cuss words they were shouting, and she was worried for a second they were going to shoot at the chopper. We headed home; it was naptime…or whatever, and it was a good day.

  That night at supper they were all babbling at the same time, Kid included. Blain joined Beth and I watching them going on about it. I never saw them so excited. It’s not like they haven’t shot everything under the sun- hell, they have their own 105! Not many women have their own artillery piece. Or Hummer. With guns all over it.

  It’s a new toy and soon they will get bored with it, but then what’s next? A small tactical nuke? God, I hope not. If we ever found any they would be hell-bent to shoot one off.

  We settled into our usual routine; sleep, chase the kids down before they try the zip line (which in the summer is very popular with the older kids) and JC is really watching what’s going on with that, too much so.

  I swear his mother is Sandy; he has no fear, or maybe no sense- it’s a toss-up, but then, when she’s around he hangs close to her so maybe he’s picking up vibes. After JC made his great escape attempt the construction guys showed up one morning and by sunset there was a chain link fence around the place to keep him from jumping off the cliff like the other monkeys. I for one, didn’t like the fence and vowed as soon as we had no little ones to worry about it was coming down. Considering that Beth is now growing another one, that will be a while.

  We got a call from the fort to send a chopper over for something they had found that they felt I should see. It wasn’t heavy, so Sandy and one of the Texas guys went after it. I spent the day with Charley while Beth, Old Woman and May were in a huddle over something. Kid was in the radio shack filling in. Blain was off doing something with the other birdmen when Kid called on the five watt. She said, “John! Get here NOW!” I was out the door like a bullet. This had to be something really off the wall for her to use that voice. I raced to the communications shack to find a crowd there. It was a quiet bunch all worried-looking and sending looks at me. I knew in my heart this was bad and involved Sandy.

  Kid was on the radio and had a headset on, meaning nobody could hear anything; she wasn’t talking but was writing a mile a minute. She acknowledged the message and removed her head set, She took a deep breath and walked to the door- she had tears in her eyes.

  She looked at me and said, “John? The fort called to say they heard Sandy on the chopper radio giving out a mayday call, all they got was “ Mayday! Mayday! Going down! West of the fort, Mayday!’ and then the radio went dead.”

  I was already running toward the airstrip. Before I got there, I heard the sound of one of the big birds warming up then a second. I got there to see one had Doc and three of his people and all their ‘Go gear’, the other bird had Fox, JJ and three scouts all loaded down with what they called their ‘Oh shit!’ gear. I didn’t even wonder how it was they were all ready to go.

  I had my pistol and that was it. But I also knew there would be more on the way behind us.

  We didn’t take off- we launched like a rocket, and in about 10 seconds we were flat out screaming just feet above the ground as the bird climbed hard. We never got much higher than the highest thing ahead of us. I looked at Fox and JJ whose faces were carved from granite. Nobody was talking: We would know what we would know when we knew it and not before.

  We flew over the fort and saw a string of golf carts parked in an arrow pointing to the west and a tad bit south. I waved at the crowd on the ground. We could see dust from the fort vehicles on the ground heading in the direction we were headed. They had a head start, but we would catch them soon. I poked the pilot and pointed up. He nodded and headed up. With the gain in altitude we could see smoke if there was any…there wasn’t. That was both good and bad. Bad meant we would have to search, and good meant they weren’t burning…yet.

  I had my heart locked down and my mind pinned on one thing; find my Sandy and bring her home one way or the other. It was getting dark and when I knew we couldn’t see anything, I told the pilot to set us down. We would stay here overnight and be up at first light. It would be the longest night of my life. After two ice ages the sky seemed to lighten a bit and we were up making coffee. We had two choppers here and I knew more would be coming soon. When the pilots had the birds warmed up we headed out, but split up and followed a search pattern we had agreed on last night.

  Around mid-morning two of the little birds showed up and reported a fuel tanker from the fort was heading our way, and we needed it. We headed back to meet the tanker and found it real cl
ose. They had driven all night on scattered goat paths, but they were here and I loved them for it. While they filled the birds one of the drivers handed me a pack and a rifle with battle rattle (ammo carrier with other needful items) and we were in the air within 45 minutes.

  We were just past the spot where we headed back when we got a call that the bird was found. The pilot got the location and we headed there at top speed. The pilot asked for smoke and got it, we came in and (forgetting I wasn’t a 23 year old Marine) I jumped while we were still ten feet up. My whole team leaped out the door behind me and then picked me up while I tried to get my lungs to working while being pounded on the back.

  Fox said, “Slow down boss, you’ll kill yourself.” JJ said, “Marines are pussies.” I wanted to laugh but almost cried. We headed for the two people we saw on a small hill. We got there to see them with worried looks, but not sympathy looks. The one said, “John? Sandy ain’t in the bird.” The other one said, “The pilot is dead and the chopper is full of bullet holes,” That stopped me in my tracks.

  Fox, JJ and the scouts headed right down into the gully where the bird had hit. I held back to give the scouts a chance to see the tracks before we all messed it up. I was feeling better, but somebody was going to die for damn sure- who, I had no idea. The scouts did their thing then headed back to Fox and JJ. They talked a bit, did some pointing, and then the three scouts took off at a trot. Fox headed up to where we stood. He didn’t pause or bullshit. He said the bird had been hit by heavy rifle fire- likely a 50. The pilot was hit but Sandy had managed to get control and from the looks of it, set in down in the gully intentionally.

  He said her tracks showed she was limping a bit but moving OK and was carrying a heavy load. Her ‘bounce bag’ was missing, as was her rifle, also the pilot’s bag and weapon was missing. He believed she got out, took the pilot’s gear and split down the gully, which headed into rough country and deeper canyons.

  I told him she always packed a little food, lots of water and an overload of ammo. I also knew she had taken her 300 Blackout with her because it made a shorter package and fit in her pack.

  He said the scouts would follow and send up smoke if their radio wouldn’t transmit in the canyons. They were running light; weapons, ammo, two smoke grenades each, and some water and scout rations we make.

  I was biting my tongue to keep from trying to take charge; this is what Fox and his merry band of cutthroats get the big bucks for (if they got paid, which they didn’t). I finally got my emotions under control and said, “Let’s deal with our pilot”. He nodded and we headed down with a body bag. I hated this shit; he was a nice kid in his prime and was seeing one of the girls at home. He had taken the big round right thru the chest and likely never knew what hit him. We got him out and into the bag. I made my goodbyes because he would be buried long before I got home if this was going where I felt it was.

  Doc and his crew took charge after we got him up to the top of the gully. They would take him home and return to the fort to await our call if we needed them.

  The two scouts called in and rattled off their report. Fox listened and got an even harder look on his face. He replied and said, “OK, here’s what we know. Sandy hit the ground running. She got a mile away and stripped the pilot’s bag- taking what she needed. From the looks of it, mostly water and food. The pilot’s weapon was an M-16 and his magazines were gone. She was now lighter-loaded; still pretty heavy for her size but was moving better. The scouts found a wrapper off of an ace bandage, so she had wrapped whatever it was that got hurt.”

  Fox and JJ were getting their gear ready to bail out when the scouts called next. Fox listened and replied and made a ‘wind it up’ signal to the pilot. We all piled into the bird and were soon heading up. With the headset on Fox told them where to head- by air it wasn’t far but on foot it was a long ways. The scouts were really hauling ass.

  We spotted smoke, and within a few minutes were landing. The scouts were standing in a gully or dry creek bed looking at two dead bodies. I slammed on the brakes until I saw it wasn’t Sandy. We slid down into the gully and headed to where the scouts were. It was easy to see the dead guys were Mexicans and from the tats were some of the same people we had tangled with before.

  The scouts spoke English for which I was grateful. The older one did the talking. He said that about a mile back they found a lot of tracks coming out of a side canyon and dropping in behind Sandy. The scout said it looked like she knew they were following so she kept going up the draw until it made a turn. There she climbed out, doubled back and set up an ambush. She killed these two and wounded at least two more before they made it back out of sight around a curve. They then tried shooting to draw her out but she never fell for it. They patched the wounded men and then headed out of the draw and circled around the ambush point.

  The scout had a small smile when he said as soon as they were out of sight Sandy had come out and headed back this way walking on rocks and headed up the canyon these men had come out of.

  He then smiled bigger and said, “John, she ain’t running. She’s pissed off and she’s hunting.” JJ said, “Somebody made a very bad mistake. They really fucked up bad.” I couldn’t help smiling, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile. Now we were hunting. I asked Fox if we could split up and send somebody after the ones that were still out there trying to find her, while the rest of us followed her trail. He looked at the three scouts who simply nodded and took off at a trot; he said, “OK, John. Let’s go find Wyatt before she kills them all.” I must have looked at him funny because he said Sandy was backtracking these jokers looking for their base and their boss. I saw his point and I wanted to talk to the bastard before she gutted him.

  I grabbed my pack out of the chopper and prepared to follow Fox and JJ, until Fox took me off to the side and said, “John? I love you like a brother, but I’m asking you to let me and JJ run her trail. You stay with the chopper, please.” He was nice about it, but I knew he was saying I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he was right.

  I had to face the fact that I wasn’t 25 anymore, and all I would do was slow them down. As he pointed out, if I was in chopper I could bring in all kinds of hell if it were needed. I had the sour taste in my mouth I always got when I was on the ground and some chickenshit Bird was up in the command and control chopper trying to micro manage the Op without getting his boots dusty.

  I had to set my ego aside and let these men run Sandy’s trail, but I was for damn sure going to be where I could swoop in like the angel of death when the time came. I did suggest they let us fly them up the canyon she headed up, and they agreed, so we did that. Several miles in it became necessary to drop them off and head back for fuel.

  When we arrived at the fuel point I found Beth, May and Kid all decked out for war. I hit the ground and took a breath, but was told to shut up before I got a word out- and it was Beth who said it.

  I did what any man would do. I shut the hell up. I then told them what we knew and what we thought. May and Kid never said a word, they just walked away. I was holding Beth when the sounds of the little bird starting up reached me. It was Kid and May, and they were up and gone before I could even think about stopping them.

  The big bird was fueled up but there was no sense in wasting fuel, so I stayed there pacing until Beth made me sit in the shade of some boulders and drink some water. It dawned on me that Charley wasn’t here. Beth finally told me Charley had gotten a report from the scouts with Fox before I got to Sandy’s ambush site. Charley had taken a chopper-load of his scouts and flew off into the area where it seemed Sandy was heading.

  I told my pilot to get it running because we were going to wherever Charley was- I’d bet anything he was going to be the blocking force when these bastards made their run south and I was by God gonna be with him when they showed up.

  I kissed Beth and asked her to head home; our kids were there and she was (as Sandy put it), ‘knocked up’. She just looked at me and
said, “John, you bring her home. Alive if you can, but either way please bring her home.” I just nodded and left on the run for the bird

  It took us about an hour to get to where Charley was waiting. We landed and he met me as I stepped out. He hugged me and said with a smile that he heard ‘somebody had really fucked up’, which was a word he seldom used.

  I had to smile back and said, “Yeah, she’s pissed and running right at them.” He said to not worry because Old Woman told him she was going to be OK…and she told him this before he even knew about the ambush.

  We made it to some shade where a small fire was going and coffee was just about done cooking. He said he knew I’d be showing up pretty soon so he made it for me. After we were settled and had a cup, he said he had a thought. I waited (it might take some time), and at last he said, “John? How did they know to set up an ambush in that area to shoot our chopper down?”

  I hadn’t even thought of that. How did they? He said he thought they weren’t after Sandy- they were after anything that would pull me out of our canyon area. He thought the whole thing was to get to me, but they had just got lucky and scored on Sandy’s chopper. I said I thought by now they knew they had really screwed the pooch. He smiled and said he had come here hoping to catch the leader of this bunch when he tried to run so we could have a nice quiet talk with him. I liked the way Charley was thinking.