After The Fall (Book 4): Undercover

by Nees, David

  Then the car misfired. It was only one miss, a hiccup that might not be noticed by anyone else. But it made Jason’s hair stand on end.

  “You got a flashlight,” he said to Ernie. “Cover it with most of your hand and let a sliver of light shine on the gauges.”

  Ernie did as Jason told him. The gas gauge was reading empty. They were going to splutter to a halt in a few more miles.

  “We’ve got no more than five or ten miles left in the tank. We’re going to be on foot shortly.”

  “Oh my God,” Ruth said.

  They were on a part of Route 16 that angled west away from Lake Norman. The area consisted of abandoned farms and crossroad communities of six to ten houses. Many of the fields had overgrown with volunteer plants, all hardier than the hybrid crops that had been left on their own. The open ground was slowly turning back into woodland.

  The surrounding land didn’t offer the same possibilities for defense as did the more mountainous terrain to the west. It would be easier to move large numbers of men, even the Humvees and any other vehicles the militia might bring, through the fields in a chase.

  “Last chance to bail,” Jason said. “You can stay off the road and out of sight and keep going no matter what happens to me.”

  Before Ernie could answer, Jack spoke up from the back seat. “I’m sticking with you,”

  “Me too,” said Bobby.

  “You should help Ernie and Ruth. Ernie helped you escape,” Jason said.

  “We should all stick with you,” Jack said.

  “We’ll go with you,” Ernie said. “I think it’s our best chance. We’re crippled and can’t move or defend ourselves much.” He paused. “But do you want the burden of us? You could get away if you were alone.”

  “Maybe. But I won’t abandon you if you want to come with me.”

  “We’re coming with you,” Ernie said.

  “You’re going to have to move fast, even with Ruth.” He looked over his shoulder at Ernie’s wife. “You’re going to have to push yourself hard. It’ll be painful, even with help.”

  “I’ll do what’s necessary. I don’t want to hold anyone up.”

  “It’s settled then,” Jason said. He wracked his mind to think of how to find an advantage in this easier terrain. He couldn’t see any strong defensive positions to take. And to dig in would only mean getting surrounded. That would lead to starving the group out, or overwhelming them if their pursuers had little patience to wait.

  “There is one thing,” Jason said. “Somewhere along this road is the monastery I told you about.”

  “I saw the sign for it back a ways,” Ernie said. “At least I think it was. Couldn’t see that well in the dark.”

  “We’ll head there. It’s our best option for now.”

  A few more miles and the car began to stutter and misfire more frequently.

  “Ride’s over,” Jason said.

  He slowed the car and nudged it against another stalled one as if it were part of a pile-up.

  “This might throw them off, if they don’t recognize the car at night.”

  Everyone climbed out. Jack helped Ernie with Ruth. Tom put on a backpack, along with Jennifer. Jason shouldered his pack with the M110 strapped to it. The group pushed through the overgrown field towards a line of trees. Jason stopped just inside their cover.

  “The monastery is to the northwest.” Jason pointed in a direction parallel to the road. He took Ernie’s flashlight and shone it in the sky aiming at the north star.

  “That’s your guide. The north star. Keep heading just left of it and you’ll be going in the right direction.”

  “You’re not coming?” Ernie asked.

  “I’m going to wait for the militia. If they pass by, we’re pretty safe. If they stop where we did, I’ll try to pin them down from the cover of the woods. In any case I’ll be able to catch up with you. I want to give you a head start.”

  “Do you want help?” Jack asked.

  “No. you help Ruth. It’s important for the group to keep moving. No more talk now. Get going.”

  The group set out in the direction Jason had pointed. They disappeared into the dark. Jason could hear their crashing through the underbrush.

  He took off his backpack, assembled his M110, and settled down to wait.

  Chapter 45

  ___________________________________

  V incent was sitting in the lead Humvee along with Roper. He had seen some other mob members going with the militia. They were in three Humvees. It was their fight after all. Jason had killed some of their own.

  “I want him taken alive,” Vincent said to Roper.

  “If we can, but we get him, dead or alive,” Roper responded.

  Vincent turned to the man that the mob had put into power. He could barely see his face in the dark cabin of the vehicle.

  “He belongs to us, to the organization. He killed three of our men.”

  “Yeah, but he helped drive me out of Hillsboro, so I owe him a big payback.”

  “You don’t get a choice on this. He’s ours to do with as we want. You can be sure it won’t be pleasant.”

  Roper stared at Vincent who didn’t flinch. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Just remember who you work for, who put you in power. We take him alive.”

  They drove along, headlights illuminating the stalled vehicles on the highway. Progress was made easier by the fact that Jason had opened the blockages to get his car through. That allowed the Humvees to push through with little loss of time.

  “We’ll catch him,” Roper said. “He’s got to open the areas that are blocked. Even though we’re wider, we can push through them faster.”

  “When we get within range, just shoot at the car. Aim for the tires.”

  The lead Humvee had a .50 caliber machine gun on its top that could obliterate the car and its occupants. Vincent wanted to be sure Jason would not be killed. They had enough men to overpower him and take him alive. Bringing the man back, could elevate his status enough to make him the new Don of the family.

  The engines came closer. Jason adjusted his position. He held his M110 with the M4 nearby. The distance was no more than a hundred yards but he would need the larger caliber M110 to stop the Humvees if they came into the field. Now headlights flashed from farther back on the road. The three Humvees came past without stopping. They didn’t notice the car.

  His enthusiasm was short lived, however. Fifty yards up the road the group stopped. The lead Humvee turned around and drove back. Some figures got out and went over to the car Jason had abandoned. He could hear voices and shortly the other two vehicles turned around.

  The lead Humvee turned pointed its headlights off the highway. They illuminated the ditch and field. They’ll see where we walked. The tramped down grass. Within a moment it started forward and drove through the ditch along the edge of the road. The other two followed. If they were up-armored, they would be hard to stop. Jason aimed for the grill of the lead machine and fired three shots. It swerved but kept coming. He then shot at the windshield. The vehicle still kept coming. Got to be hard to see, even if I’m not penetrating the glass.

  After six rounds aimed at the windshield, the Humvee slowed to almost a stop. Jason turned his attention to the other two. He emptied his magazine into their windshields which stopped them. Jason ejected the mag and shoved another one into the rifle.

  Men scrambled out of the stalled vehicles. They spread out taking cover in the field. Jason was able to hit two of the men before they could disappear in the overgrown brush.

  Now it’ll be a slow advance. If they’re organized. He expected rounds of intense fire followed by the men running forward to drop out of sight again in the tall growth of the pasture. The problem for the militia was that they would have trouble pinpointing him. His suppressor also hid most of his muzzle flash. Even if they located him, he could slide to one side or another and start again.

  The field erupted in a flurry of shooting, most of it scatte
red across a wide swath of woods. Jason watched and waited. When it was over, the men got up and started forward. Jason returned fire, taking down three who charged before the shooting from the field shut him down. They’ll get to me eventually, even if it costs them a lot of casualties. He knew he would have to retreat before they got too close.

  After the next charge and Jason’s returned fire, he backed away and, grabbing his pack and two rifles, started running through the woods in the direction of the others. He stopped when he reached a slight rise, giving him ten feet of elevation. Not high enough, but I’ll take what I can get. He lay down behind a fallen oak and watched.

  In the dark of the woods, Jason could only see vague shapes as they began to close in. He was using his M4 now, lighter and more agile. He fired some rounds at the shapes and saw them drop to the ground. Almost at once, shots were returned zinging overhead with that deadly snapping whistle sound. Some rounds thudded into the trunk of the fallen tree. Jason sent a few more rounds at the muzzle flashes he saw and then slid back. When he had more trees between him and the militia, he got up and began jogging through the woods.

  In the dark, he almost ran into a barbed wire fence at the edge of a field. He climbed over it and sprinted across the open ground. He set up in the cover of the trees on the other side of the field.

  He could hear his pursuers approaching. They stopped at the fence, seemingly unsure whether or not to go out into the field. They all won’t come straight forward. They may try to flank me. He scanned left and right, searching for a flanking move.

  He could hear the rustle of brush across the field, but saw no bodies. To his left he saw some shadows, crouching and moving through the tall grass. Jason got off two shots and the figures dropped out of sight. He didn’t think he had hit them but couldn’t be sure. The ones directly in front now opened fire, having seen his muzzle flash. Jason hunkered down as the bullets flew past.

  If they keep crawling, I can’t see them in the dark. They’ll be on me before I can take them out. He got up and started through the woods away from the field. Crawling through the field, slowed them down and allowed Jason to extend his separation. When he had retreated twenty yards into the woods, he began to run.

  After crossing a small creek, Jason took up a position on the far side. Something like a creek would slow the advance of those chasing him and allow him to get off some lethal shots. The stream lay in a shallow depression with trees close to its sides. Jason lay thirty yards away and about twenty feet higher. He could see the shadows of his pursuers on the far side. They were moving carefully now, after experiencing Jason’s ambushes. His effective shooting had forced them to move more carefully, lessening the possibility of catching and overrunning him.

  They stopped short of the creek. Jason couldn’t get a firm count of his pursuers but it looked like the number of militia had increased. Called in more to join the hunt? The number didn’t matter. His actions were providing Ernie and the others the space they needed to reach the monastery.

  Suddenly the woods erupted in intense shooting. Jason could only stay behind cover while bullets screamed past or slammed into trees with a muffled thunk. They were shooting at the slight ridge where he was positioned. They’ll cross under this cover fire. There was no way he could hold them off. Just raising his head to shoot could be fatal with so many rounds flying through the air.

  He crawled back from his position and turned to run again. It was beginning to get light. The cold night would soon give way to a cold, grey day. Jason flew through the woods, the added light helping him move faster, hopefully faster than the group chasing him.

  After a half hour of running he came to a fence and a field. This one was different. It had the look of being tilled. Crops had been harvested and the field now seemed to be waiting, idle through the winter, for spring and the planting of new crops. The ground sloped upwards and beyond the field, and beyond the woods on the far side, he saw smoke rising in the cold air. The monastery? It must be. Behind him he heard the pursuit, the crashing through the woods. The sound of engines to his right, far away on the road he had abandoned, indicated that the pursuit had grown.

  He took off, running as fast as he could over the half-frozen ground. If they cut him off from the monastery, he would have nowhere to go. There were no mountains where he would have the upper hand and could have held off the militia as long as his ammunition held out. Or simply disappeared. He knew the forest after having absorbed many painful lessons. He was a man of the woods as much as anything now. When he reached the trees on the far side, he didn’t stop. This time he kept running, slightly up slope towards the smoke he’d seen.

  With his lungs searing from the cold air, he came out of the woods onto the grounds of the monastery. There was a solid, ten-foot high wall of brick and block. A long gravel drive led to a heavy iron gate which was closed. He could see the roofs of different buildings inside showing over the wall. The surrounding grounds were arranged in garden plots. There were a couple of outbuildings, greenhouses for wintering plants. In between the gardens and buildings, the grass grew high. There were paths worn from people going to and fro between the interior of the compound and the gardens and outbuildings. Behind the walls, he could see tall conifers reaching up higher than all the structures.

  Jason ran up to the gate, both rifles in his hands. He shouted through the bars for someone to let him in. Nothing stirred inside. He put the weapons on the ground and shouted out again.

  A man came out of a nearby building and approached him. He wore a cloak over rough pants and shoes with a watch cap on to protect his shaven head from the cold. He stared at Jason with a wary look.

  “What do you want? This is a private space.”

  “People are chasing me, trying to kill me, let me in.”

  “We have nothing to do with the outside world, this is a monastery. You need to go on your way.”

  Jason paused for a moment.

  “I’m asking for sanctuary. Let me in before I’m killed at your door.” He looked around, now more frantic. The pursuers would be emerging from the woods very soon. He hadn’t expected to be turned away.

  Chapter 46

  ___________________________________

  D id you let in a man and woman and four kids? I rescued them, and those pursuing me want to kill me and them. Let me in before they get here.”

  Another monk came up, dressed as the first. They huddled in conversation which Jason couldn’t hear. When they were done, the first one unlocked the smaller man-door built into the large gate and swung it open. Jason stepped through it.

  “You better lock it behind me. The ones coming won’t be so polite.”

  “You can’t be armed in here,” the second monk said. “I have to take your weapons.”

  Jason hesitated. This was the price to pay; he didn’t have any options now. He handed over both rifles and his handgun.

  “Come with me,” the man said. He walked into the compound. In the middle was a large, but simple church with a cross on top. Two buildings were attached to either side of the church. Separated from this center structure were two other buildings. The larger one looked like a dormitory and the other looked like it held offices. To one side of the office building was a large dining room with a kitchen attached. This was where the smoke came from that Jason had observed. Behind these buildings were other structures, one of which looked like a barn.

  The monk led Jason into the office building. He carried Jason’s weapons with him. They came to a door with a cross on it. The monk knocked quietly and waited until the voice inside said to enter. He opened the door and indicated for Jason to go inside.

  A tall monk with white hair sat at a solid, simple wooden desk. He was dressed the same as the other two Jason had seen, a brown cassock and rough pants. Hung around his neck and centered over his chest was a large, ornate cross. This object seemed to be the only differentiation from the dress of the other monks.

  “Father, this man came to our
gate asking for sanctuary. He says he freed the people we took in a short while ago.”

  “What are you doing with those weapons?” the Abbot asked.

  “He was carrying them. I took them from him before bringing him to see you.”

  “Put them in the corner.” He pointed to the far corner of the room.

  “What is your name, son?”

  “Jason. Jason Richards.”

  “And you freed the people who just came to us?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “How are you connected to them?”

  “I met them on the road. They were…are, refugees. They’re a family, but they have two boys, in addition to their own children, that were part of a prison gang scavenging coal near Charlotte. The father of the family, Ernie, wanted me to help them as well when I came to free him from the camp.”

  The Abbot had bright, blue eyes that burned into you when they centered on you. He was of an indeterminate age, not young but with that mid-life strength that some men possess. Jason began to tell his story but caught himself.

  “Before I go into the whole story, you should know that there’s a group after me, and possibly the family. They’re from Charlotte and are made up of militia members—military types—and mafia gang members.”

  “They are coming here to our monastery?”

  Jason nodded his head. “And they won’t be very polite about protocol.”

  “So, you’ve put the monastery in danger?” The Abbot’s eyebrows rose.

  “Not intentionally. I directed the family to head here because the woman was injured. They were moving too slow and would be caught. I delayed the pursuers and then had to seek my own shelter.”

  The Abbot turned to the waiting monk.

  “Brother Thomas, go assemble the brothers in the courtyard immediately. Don’t ring the alarm bell, but just spread the word. And tell them to bring their staffs.”