by Patrick Shea
Ben heard him say, “That’s quite a gun you have there, I want you to lay it down very carefully and then raise the barrel and hand it back over your left shoulder. Be very careful to keep the barrel up but away from me.”
As Ben moved to do what he said, Heather started whimpering and said, “Ben, help me, do something, he’s going to shoot us, Ben help.”
As she talked she continued to roll onto her right side, away from Ben, and she looked up and back at the gunman.
He said, “My god it’s a kid and a girl at that. What are you doing here?”
Heather fired four shots from her 9mm through the sleeping bag and the gunman went down and rolled down the hill about ten yards where he was stopped by another large rock.
Ben looked at her and said, “Holy cow that was really good.”
Heather grimaced and said, “Yeah, that whimpering act gets them every time.”
They looked back at the other hillside and Heather said, “The guy from the frontage road is climbing onto the interstate, take a look at him in your scope.”
Ben said, “Ah hell, that’s Noah. What’s Noah doing out there? I could have shot him.”
Noah started walking up the interstate towards Danny’s RV and thought again, this infantryman stuff is for the birds. I really feel like a sitting duck out here.
He could see the other two still had their weapons trained on the hillside, and he was sure Ben was still looking, but he knew if someone wanted to shoot him, he was in trouble.
He also realized Danny had been shot and he knew they didn’t have any time to waste. At least he hoped they didn’t, so he’d decided to move now instead of later.
Jack looked at Shelly and said, “Go help Sam, I’ll keep watching but I think it’s over now. Noah will be with me in a couple of seconds.”
Shelly didn’t say anything but went directly to the RV.
Noah walked up to Jack and said, “I’m Noah Yellowbird, I’m glad you’re with us Jack. Do you know how bad Danny is?”
“No, but it didn’t look good to me.”
“Okay, we’ll have to get him to the doc as quickly as we can and hope for the best.”
As Jack looked east on I-90 Noah said, “Don’t worry, that noise is our guys coming to help. We held them back maybe too far.”
“Who is the sniper you have south of us. He did a hell of a job from there.”
“That’s Ben, he’s a sixteen year old kid and his life won’t be the same after today. Your Heather is spotting for him. She’s quite something isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she is. I feel guilty about what she’s been through and what I’ve taught her, I just hope it hasn’t done her harm. Is Ben your protégé?”
“No, he’s more of a friend or a nephew. His grandfather taught him everything he knows. He must have been quite a man himself.”
Two trucks joined them and four men walked up to them.
Noah said, “Jack, this is our backup team. Their all irritated that they were chosen to come here with us. Men, this is Jack Sweeney.”
The men all grunted a hello and Noah walked to the front of the RV and waved Ben and Heather in.
One of the men looked at Noah and said, “Did Shelly make it?”
“Yeah, Shelly made it, but Danny was shot and it looks bad. I’m going to check on him now. I’d like the four of you to go back to the vehicles and clear a lane for the RV, we have to get Danny to the doc now.”
As the men drove the truck away, Ben and Heather rode up on the snowmobile. They left it on the side of the freeway, climbed over the barrier with their weapons, and joined Jack.
“With a scared look on his face Ben said, “How’s Danny.”
Jack said, “Noah’s checking now, but he was hit pretty bad. Now that you two are here were going to move out. The doc is still two hours from here.”
While he was talking Jack had watched three of the women from the convoy walk up the slope to them.
The middle blonde said, “What about us? Half of us don’t even have coats, we warmed up the trucks first and we ran out and drove up here. Bob said we would just have to sit in the trucks for five or ten minutes and then we’d drive back to the club. Now somebody’s shot up all of the trucks and it’s too cold to walk anywhere.”
“With a great deal of scorn Jack looked at the three of them and said, “You made your own decisions about helping Turner kill people this morning. As far as I’m concerned you have to live with the consequences of those decisions.”
The woman on the left said, “Come on Lootie, we ain’t going to get any help here. We’ve got coats; we’ll walk back and get a couple of RVs for the others.”
Noah, who had joined them while Jack was talking, said, “Ladies, to celebrate the great job Turner has done as a leader, I burned your saloon a little earlier. If you’ll look behind you can see that a good deal of the town is burning as well. Oh, by the way, I also blew up all of your RVs. So you can walk wherever you want, but I don’t know if you’re going to be able to find something to drive, or even any place to stay warm.”
The one they called Lootie said, “Come on girls, Bob will be back later, we’ll stay in the pickups until he comes for us.”
Ben spoke up and said, “Turner and the group that he took to the park were captured earlier, they won’t be coming to help you. In fact they’ll be lucky to get through this alive.”
Now all three women looked scared and the one who had not yet spoken said, “That’s kind of like a death sentence for us you know. You think you can really do that?”
Now Heather said, “We didn’t do anything, you made the decision. The only thing that’s happening now is that you get to live with it. Which gives you a better chance to live than you gave us when you put the snipers on the hill. It’s time for all of you to get your buns out of here, and you need to start now.”
Heather had her M-16 resting on her hip and the barrel pointing upwards. She pulled the trigger and emptied the magazine. All three ladies screamed and starting scurrying back towards their trucks.
Heather looked at the others and said, “Let’s get Danny to the doctor.”
As they passed through the vehicles that had been waiting behind them Jack said, “You must have had twenty five or thirty drivers here earlier, how did they get back to the park?”
Noah said, “We brought a bus out here. Danny was sure that Turner didn’t care about him as much as he did the camp at the park. He set this up to look like our entire militia had gathered here for the exchange, and then sent almost all of the men back to help Ted Green spring a trap.”
“We won’t know what’s actually happened until we get to West Yellowstone. Danny and Ted agreed that the best place for an ambush was at the west entrance to the park. The goal was to capture them, but for that we need their cooperation.”
Sam was driving and Shelly was doing what she could to keep Danny alive for the trip home. The group was quiet during the drive.
Chapter Forty One: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
11:05 a.m. West Yellowstone, Montana
Sam pulled into town and found the medical RV and team waiting for them. They had put a mattress under Danny for the drive, but he was still unconscious, although it looked like the bleeding had stopped.
The doc said, “Let me look at him before we move him to the gurney and the operating room, which is my RV. Everyone not on my team needs to leave now and give us some room. I’ll talk to you as soon as I can.”
The group gathered around Ted Green, who had been waiting with the doc and Ted said, “As I told you on the radio, Turner and his group of hooligans came into town at about six o’clock, just as Danny said they would. There are about fifty men with Turner in fifteen vehicles. Six of the vehicles are snow cats, eight are tracked vehicles which were used for showing the park to tourists in the winter, and one is a snow plow.
“They used Canyon Street and Yellowstone Ave and then made the right turn towards the park’s west entrance. Our nightl
y blockade was in place, twenty yards before the entrance station. We had three rows of vehicles parked across the road and staggered so there was no easy way for Turner to break through. We also had five men in the trees on either side of the barricade, all heavily armed.
“Twenty yards short of the barricade Turner and the rest of his group parked in a straight line. Ten men dismounted and walked up to the lead vehicle, the snow plow. They talked for a minute and then the snow plow started forward, accelerating quickly. He was obviously going to try to break through.
“I gave the order to fire as soon as he started moving. My men intentionally shot out all the tires and then lit up the cab. The plow stopped. As the other men scrambled back to their own vehicles we killed or wounded six of the ten. Those bodies are still out there.
“As we were shooting, we had five of our snow plows park from ditch to ditch across the back of Turner’s convoy. We dropped the blades, kept the transmissions in gear and made sure the parking brakes were engaged. The goal was to have the five drivers stay in the trucks until I told Turner what to do. The three drivers in the inside plows would have to climb out the windows to exit, so there was no room for either men or machine to get by the blockade.
“We then turned on the klieg lights so that both sides of their vehicles were lit up. I used the bullhorn to tell Turner that he was surrounded and had multiple weapons pointed at him. I told him if he did what I said he and his men might live through the morning.
“I then told the group to turn off their engines and stay in their vehicles; we would not fire on them as long as they stayed where they were parked.
“Turner had outdoor speakers on the roof of his vehicle and immediately started to give his men orders. My men shot up his speakers but we didn’t fire on the occupants.
“As soon as our snow plow drivers started moving forward the doors in the last vehicle opened and men started to get out. They were all armed and they were moving quickly. We shot two of them outside of the vehicle and you’ll see them still lying there. One man started firing through the back window of the rear vehicle; he was either very good or very lucky because his first shot killed one of our drivers.
“I ordered Danny’s light machine gun to fire on that vehicle and it was decimated. I’m not sure how many men were involved, but I am sure they’re dead. The vehicle smoldered for hours.
“After we stopped firing I used the bullhorn to talk one more time. I told the men that Turner was no longer in charge, that I was, and they were going to sit there quietly until you returned from the exchange. Lastly I told them that what happened to them would be based in part on what had occurred at the exchange this morning.
Noah asked, “Ted, any movement since then?”
“Yeah, every fifteen minutes I’ve had our heavy weapons shoot up the engine of a different vehicle. I haven’t explained anything to Turner, and I don’t intend to.
“Then fifteen or twenty minutes ago two shots were fired from inside one of the vehicles, but all of the windows are closed and they are all frosted over, but no rounds exited any vehicle that we could see. I’m not sure what happened, but we’ll find out in due course.”
Jack looked up and said, “What’s next?”
Ted answered, “We need to talk about that. I have some recommendations but Danny wanted to wait until you arrived back here before we took the next step.”
As they talked the medical team put Danny on a gurney and moved him to the medical RV. Sam had stayed with the team and now walked up to the group and said, “Danny was shot twice. Once in the chest and once in the shoulder. He was wearing a bullet proof vest but the bullet punched through it. The doc doesn’t know if he’ll live or not, he said it looks real iffy right now.”
Shelly said, “Colonel, I’d like to talk to Turner for just a minute. I’m pretty sure that nothing we say will get him to give up easily but I think hearing me talk will convince some of his men it’s time to walk away from this.”
Ted said, “Good idea. If we can get them to surrender we’ll all be better off.”
Minutes later the group was standing in the bed of the center snowplow looking at the back of Turner’s convoy.
Shelly used the bullhorn to say, “Hey Turner, it’s me again. You didn’t think those losers you left at the exchange point were really going to be able to hurt anyone did you? Speaking of losers, we heard some shots earlier and I’m guessing one of your chumps finally shot you. That couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
“But in case I’m wrong I want you to know that I’m looking forward to meeting with you after this is over. Just you and me, alone at last. We’ll be able to talk about old times and about the nice men you had visit me last night. Won’t that be neat?
“By the way did I mention that after we killed all of the men you left behind we burned your town and all of your RVs? I think it was great of you to leave that tanker in the parking lot, we really appreciated that.
“Oh, and your women are still sitting on the Interstate wondering how to survive this. Most of them are without winter gear, and of course we shot up all of the engines on the pickups. We didn’t want to make life too easy for them but we did let them live.
“Like we’ll do for your men, at least for now. All you have to do is put down the windows on your vehicle and wave a white cloth at us. You then dismount slowly and walk with your hands over your head back to the center snow plow. One at a time, when we tell you to do so, you’ll climb over the hood of the snow plow and onto the cab. You’ll have rifles trained on you the entire time so any quick move on your part will prove deadly to you.
“Make sure you have no weapons with you. If we find a gun or knife when we search you’ll pay dearly. You men are thieves and murderers and we’re going to treat you as such. You’ll receive a trial by a court that we establish. You have only one other choice, and that’s to fight your way out of here. That would also be called suicide.”
By the time Shelly was done speaking the first window was down and the first white flag was waving.
Shelly handed the bullhorn to Ted Green who said, “Third vehicle from the rear, come out slowly without weapons and your hands in the air. I have men in the trees on either side of you so move slowly.
“If anyone in another vehicle puts down the window or shoots a weapon I’ll light up that vehicle with the machine gun. It’s in the best interest of everyone in each vehicle to keep your friends quiet.”
Ninety minutes later all but two of the vehicles had been emptied and the men had been searched, cuffed and locked in an RV with guards posted at each corner. Turner had not yet made an appearance and all of the snow cats were now empty.
Noah looked at Ted and asked, “What’s your thought on the remaining men?”
“I think the cold will get to them within hours. We don’t really need to kill them since time will solve the problem, although killing them is still an option.”
Shelly said, “Turner has a mental problem you know, he won’t react like a sane person. But what bothers me is the second vehicle. Why haven’t they surrendered?
Noah said, “I don’t know the answer but I feel like it has something to do with the shots that were fired earlier. But whatever it is, I think following Ted’s advice and waiting for the weather to force them out is a decent plan for now. I’m concerned with how late it’s getting to be though. We only have about three hours of daylight left. Whatever happens I think should be while it’s still daylight.”
Ted said, “I agree, let’s wait until four o’clock and if there isn’t any progress by then we’ll force the issue. That gives us two and a half hours to decide how to proceed. Just so you know, my first choice will be to fire on them. They aren’t worth losing any more men over.”
Col Green was rotating his militia every half hour to make sure they didn’t freeze. All of Sam’s team volunteered to take their turn but Ted told them they had done enough, there were others willing to finish this up.
The snow start
ed about three o’clock and quickly changed from a light fluffy snow to a heavy blowing snow.
3:05 pm. Inside Turner’s vehicle
Turner looked at the men around him and said, “I told you luck was on our side. This is what we need but we’ll have to move fast, and keep moving. If we can get out of here we can hide in the town until we get a vehicle we can use.”
He continued, “Brian, call Dog and tell him we’ll leave in exactly five minutes.”
All of the men started stamping there feet and rubbing there hands. One of Turner’s men had found a case of hand warmers and he had thrown them in this truck without a second thought. Right now he thought he might have saved all of their lives. He didn’t know how Dog and his group kept from freezing.
The tracked vans they rode in had been made locally from minivans or panel trucks. The wheels and axles had been removed and the vans were placed on top of tank tracks that would move them through any weather. Turner wasn’t sure how they managed to find a transmission that would connect to both the engine and the tracks, but they did. This left the vehicles high off the ground and difficult to enter and exit.
When Turner realized he had driven into a trap he searched his vehicle and asked the others to do the same. His van and one other carried tool kits. The others were completely bare of any extras. From that point on Turner talked only with Dog, who was in the other van with a tool box.
The underside of the van stood three feet off the ground. Turner had torn and cut up the floor until he found the best place for an escape hatch. There were solid metal cross pieces welded across the underside that kept them from making an opening wide enough to drop through. It took two shots from his .45 to weaken the brace enough so his men could break through and then bend the two pieces downward.
Dog and his crew had been able to find a section large enough for them to escape without reverting to firearms.
They had been waiting for hours for the right time to try to escape. Turner was worried that his captors wouldn’t wait until dark, and if he tried to escape in broad daylight it would take a giant stroke of luck to get away. The snow storm was like a godsend for him.
