by A. P. Texan
“Nick, where you at?” I ask.
“Almost there, give me a couple minutes and I’ll be in position.” He responds his voice chilling like ice, obviously in an operational mindset.
In a few short moments, his voice comes back over our earpieces. “Oh my God. Chase this isn’t good.”
“Whatcha got Nick?” I reply.
“The fires have spread to probably ten structures. Mostly residential except the three main businesses. Without the fire department this whole town is going to burn. However, I don’t think that’s the bad part. I count approximately a hundred bodies in the streets.”
“Any hostiles?” Charles asks.
“Negative, I don’t see anything.”
“Okay guys, let’s move in. Keep your eyes open, that gunfire wasn’t that long ago. They could still be around.” I say.
“I don’t think they are; those shots were almost an hour ago at this point and look at the structures, they have almost completely burned down.” Nick responds, “but I’ll keep my eyes open and keep you guys covered.”
Slowly the three of us slip around the cover of the hedge and with weapons high, ready we begin to move into the chaos. As we get closer, we begin to see the glint of brass laying on the pavement.
I slip my Carbine around to my back on its sling and bend down to pick up the spent bullet casing. I immediately recognize it as a 7.62mmx39. I bring it to my nose and smell the sweat smell of burnt gunpowder still strong. It hasn’t been here long. I then turn the round to see the stamp on it near the primer. But I am unable to make out the markings.
“7.62 and a lot of them” I say over the radio.
While I was investigating the brass Robert and Charles were checking the bodies.
“Multiple gunshot wounds, Tight pattern all center mass.” Robert says.
“One shot to the back of the head. Execution style” Charles speaks up next. “looks to be 9mm; I got one spent near the body.”
“This is freaking me out.” I say aloud. “What happened here and where did the killers come from?” I ask, more rhetorically than anything.
“Contact!” We hear just as the Springfield barks, unleashing one round of death towards some poor soul.
At the radio announcement from Nick, we started sprinting for cover. When he opened fire, it made all three of us move a little faster. But where we are located there is really nothing except the back end of an old Buick. With all three of us huddled behind the old car, I call Nick on the radio, “Talk to me Nick, what do you have?”
“One tango down at the river. I saw him coming up near the water crossing. Chase, I don’t like this at all. I knew he was a Tango as soon as I saw him.”
“Keep eyes on the area; we are going to check it out. Come on guys to let’s go. I’m in the middle, Charles left flank and rear, Robert right flank on three. 1,2,3 move.”
All three of us are up and moving simultaneously, rifles up and scanning our area of responsibility. Moving towards the water crossing on the west side of town, we move off the pavement onto a gravel road. Here things really start getting strange. Footprints; lots and lots of footprints all headed towards the low water crossing.
“Hold up, take a knee and keep scanning.” I command. I then take a knee and start investigating the prints.
Several years ago, in what seems another life, I spent three years working side by side with the US Border Patrol tracking aliens on the US, Mexico Border in South Texas. In that time, I learned the art of human tracking by some of the best professional trackers on the planet.
“These tracks, I count at least thirty different sets. Adult and juvenile. Last time I saw anything like these was a heavy traffic area in the RGV.” Standing back up, I bring my rifle back up to the ready. “Okay guys, let’s go check out the water.”
As we approach the water, we see a body lying face up in the water, his legs still up on the muddy bank.
“Well shit” I say aloud talking to no one in particular.
Before me lay a dark-skinned man wearing a woodland camouflage BDU top, brown colored pants bloused into tan combat boots. On his chest is a sand-colored chest rig stuffed with magazines for an AK-47 and on his face is a long jet-black beard and the entry wound from a high-powered rifle, the water flowing red from his blood.
“Dad, is this what I think this is?”
“If you think that looks like a middle eastern terrorist on American soil, then I would say yes, it is most likely what you think it is.” I reply.
“You called it Chase. Six months ago, on the way back from the school maintenance yard; you told me this was what was going to happen.” Bob says as he turns and looks at me.
“Sometimes I hate being right! Okay guys let’s see if we can find his rifle then grab his chest rig. Push him out in the water where the turtles and gar can feast on him, then let’s get out of here. Nick, meet us back at the truck.”
In no time we are back at the Humvee and headed back towards the farm.
“Guys I think we need to go on high alert until we get a better idea of what’s going on. All shooters always need side arm and rifle, non-shooters need sidearms, and they need to stay close to the cabin and barn. We need a watch at night, and we need all the vehicles fueled and ready to go.” I say on the drive back.
“I agree” Robert says from the back seat behind Charles, “but I would go as far as to say we need to move all the livestock up close to us in the upper pastures.”
“That’s a good idea”, Charles says” I’ll get the girls and one of the side by sides; I think we can get the cattle to follow us up.”
“How do we want to do watch; do we want a stationary sentry up high or do we want someone roving the property?” Robert asks, “What do you think Nick?”
“Nick, you okay buddy?” I ask as I turn in my seat to look at him.
He is stone faced and looking out the window of his door. His stare is spooky and unsettling. Seeing a hardened warrior this out of sorts has me more than a little unnerved.
Still staring out the thick glass of the Humvee door, he starts to speak. “They did it, the bastards actually managed to bring the fight to our soil. All the American blood spilled, all the lives lost in the sands and mountains of the middle east mean nothing, because the very thing we were fighting to prevent happened anyway. Rod died for nothing. Everything I told the kid’s grieving mother is now a lie. I told her he died fighting the good fight to keep the evil of terrorism and Islamic Jihad away from our shores and away from our homeland. All a lie. DAMNIT, Chase why did they do this to us, why?”
As he turned his face to look at me, I could see through his stone-faced façade. Inside this man were demons, nobody could understand. No human alive today could excise what was eating him inside. Only time could heal this warriors’ wounds and time was something we might not have in abundance.
“I don’t know man. I really don’t. That is a question no one could answer. Is it because we are a Christian nation, is it because we are a successful nation, is it because they want to bring down the biggest kid in the yard? I really don’t know. I doubt, if even the main planner knows anything. But your friends and your men didn’t die in vain, they didn’t die for nothing. They died for a cause for an ideal for the freedom to live in the greatest country, to ever exist on this planet. Just because a bunch of goat humpers decided to come over here and start a ruckus doesn’t mean they died for nothing, man. I know I can’t wash away your pain or heal your internal wounds. The only thing that can do that, is time. But know this, I’ve got your six, Charles has your six, and Bob here has your six. We are a family know and families take care of their own. We will make it through this.” I say, as I reach back and grab his forearm for extra emphasis.
Moments later I am jumping out of the truck as we are stopping in front of the barn.
“Family meeting, we need everybody out front” I yell, as I climb up on the hood of the truck so I can be heard by everyone.
When it looks li
ke everyone is there, I start talking, “Pilgrimage is gone. Burned out and destroyed.”
“What do you mean, what about all the residents?” Kerri interrupts.
Holding out my hand; I continue,” Please let me finish. The town is burned, as we were leaving at least fifteen buildings were gone or completely enveloped in flame and it was continuing to spread. All the residents are either gone or dead. Nick counted a hundred bodies in the streets, and we tracked another thirty maybe more to the water crossing. That’s not the bad news. The bad news is we think we know who is behind it and most likely behind all of this. When we were checking out the town investigating the bodies and the shooting; Nick was up on the water tower as over watch. He saw someone coming up from the water crossing and immediately took a shot and put the man down. We went to investigate and that’s when we saw all the tracks leading to the water. Well, the man he shot appeared to be middle eastern and was armed for combat.”
“He looked exactly like an insurgent or Taliban from my time in the sand box. I mean exactly like it, which is why I immediately took the shot.” Nick says from his spot by the hood of the truck.
“Chase, My Love, what exactly are you guys trying to say?” Sandy asks.
“Are you saying we have Islamic terrorists running around in North Texas shooting up and razing small towns?” Mom asks.
“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. It’s like I told Bob six months ago when this all started. Most likely it is a cabal of nations, with a terror group thrown in the mix. I might be wrong, but I think we are in the second phase of the overall plan. We are being invaded by a large land force with the one goal, taking over this country. If I were to guess, I would say the terror group will be supplying the soldiers for the first wave of the invasion. Why do I think this? Because it’s the way I would do it. If I was the leader of a nation, I wouldn’t send my own troops into an unknown such as this. I would use a willing patsy and the fanatics of a fundamentalist Islamic terror group would be just the right pawns for the job. After the pawns come in and wreak havoc on what's left of the population, bring in the professional soldiers to mop up and start to reestablish order under my rule. Bring in ships with the proper equipment to rebuild the infrastructure and in a year maybe two; you will have complete control over what used to be the most powerful country in the world.”
“We are going to need to go on high alert.” Robert says. “Everybody that can't shoot will need a sidearm at all times. Anybody that can needs to carry a rifle as well. We are going to be moving all the cattle up to the close pastures. We will need to build another pig pen up here, close by as well. We will have to run sentries at night. We still haven’t figured that part out exactly.”
“Roving patrols would be our best bet.” Nick speaks up.” Stationary sentries get bored and fall asleep a roving patrol of two people can keep each other awake. I will work on a schedule and get with everybody later today.”
“Girls you will have guard duties as well as the adults. However, we will team you up with an adult.” I say to my two younger kids. Cynthia is roger strong enough for guard duty; we really need all hands for this.”
“Yes, I think he will be up to it. But what about dad at the house. Do we move everybody up here? I don’t know how well he will handle the dust?”
“I think he and I will need to stay at the house, but we should be fine down there.” Mom interjects.
“I want a shooter or two down there with you. Cynthia, you and Roger head down and set up at the house. Charles, you too.” I say in response. “I also want you to have one of the trucks not side by sides. If something goes south, I want you to be able to get out of there quick.”
The next couple days are spent hardening the farm and getting it more secure. We put fighting positions up around the area using the tractor and some concrete foundation piers that Calvin uses for erosion control. We also put in a couple well camouflaged observation posts along the main road; as well as the gravel drive leading to the barn area. Down at the house, we boarded up the windows with scrap lumber from around the farm and stacked earthbags around the windows and doors inside the house; so that if the people inside need to defend the house, they will have a little better protection.
1500 Hours 14 March 2022
The Farm
Almost a week later we heard another outburst of gunfire and like the first time we loaded up and went to investigate. This time there was no fire for us to focus in on, so we just drove in the direction we thought it came from, but after three hours of driving and searching we found nothing. It has now been about two weeks now since the executions and razing of the community of Pilgrimage. At this point, other than the one outburst, we haven’t seen or heard anything else out of the ordinary. But we are still remaining vigilant because we know it could get bad at any time.
I’m sitting on the porch of the cabin looking out over the pasture in front of me and I hear Nick call me as he walks up.
“Hey Chase, I need to get out of here for a little bit; I’m going a little stir crazy stuck here at the farm knowing that the world is going to hell around us. I’m thinking about taking the bike and going into Boyd. Talk to the folks there see if they have any intel. Get away for a few hours and see what is going on in the world.” He says, as he walks up and sits down on the steps of the porch.
“I got a better idea. Let’s both go. We can head into Boyd and check on the folks there and then head into the city and see what is going on. I’m really curious as to what’s happening in the outside world around us.” I say in reply.
“Sounds good, when do we want to go?”
“Why don’t we plan for early tomorrow morning, gives us all day to go look around.” I respond.
“I’ll meet you at the Ford at 0600.” He says; he stands up and heads back towards the barn. Then he turns around and comes back. “Almost forgot. We think Barb may be pregnant, Chase I may be a dad!”
“Dude, that’s incredible!” I exclaim “Congratulations brother.”
“I know but here is my dilemma. Do we want to bring a child into this world right now with everything that’s going on? The fact that we are in a world changing apocalyptic scenario is bad enough, but throw terrorists and invading countries in and we have a class five shit hurricane going on.”
“Nick, I have four kids and I can tell you from experience, there is no good time to bring a kid into this world. There is always crap going on that makes you question your decision. But I promise you it will be the greatest experience of your life. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks Chase, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Standing up from my perch in the rocking chair; I stretch and head inside the cabin where I see my beautiful bride stretched out on a make shift couch made of 2x4 and plywood lumber covered with sheets and blanket sewn into sacks and then filled with hay. Not a perfect couch by any means, but it is reasonably comfortable.
“My love, I have some news you’re not going to like.” I say, as I sit and place her legs in my lap.
“I heard. You and Nick are not the quietest people on the planet,” She says in response. “and you’re right, I don’t like it. It is stupid and dangerous and does nothing but satisfy your male egos and need for adventure.”
“Easy there, killer. Hear me out. We need intelligence. We need to know what is going on in the outside world and the only way to know that is to go see for ourselves. Maybe we were totally wrong about the guy Nick shot. We haven’t seen or heard anything in weeks.” I respond in explanation. “If we are over-reacting, we can scale things back here, maybe shut down the roving guards at night.”
“That is true everyone is starting…” Before she could finish, shots ring out.
The crack of a shot from what sounds like a high-powered rifle followed up by three shots fired in rapid succession; the report sounding higher pitched than a smaller caliber. Most likely an AR. Those shots are quickly followed up by a couple of more shots from the first rifle.
> “Dad!” Charles voice comes through the radio on my belt. “Intruders in the South pasture. One is down; I count three fleeing towards the road.”
“Copy, I’m on my way! Nick, Robert, meet me there!” I say into the radio; I grab my AR from its spot next to the door and head for the Kubota side by side parked right by the cabin.
In seconds, I am flying down the gravel road headed for the main road, to try to head off the fleeing intruders. “Nick, Robert, you guys head towards Charles; I’m going to try to intercept at the road. Charles what do they look like.”
“You got it Chase”, comes the reply from Robert.
“They aren’t our Middle Eastern friends, if that’s what you think. They look like starving refugees looking for some food. I only saw them because they were in the tree line and one took a shot at the cattle.” Charles explains over the radio.
As Charles is finishing his explanation, I get to the main road. This slows me down, as I must turn off the gravel and work my way through the trees. We dropped a couple of large Live Oaks across the road to act as a deterrent and then cut a narrow path through the trees for us to use to get in and out. For the side by sides there is plenty of room but for the pickups and Humvee it is really tight, we haven’t even attempted it with the big M1083 cargo truck. After I navigate the trail; I hit the main Farm to Market road and turn towards where the intruders should be coming out of the trees and accelerate to about 35 MPH, the top speed of the UTV.
I only make it about 100 yards when I see three men step out of the tree line about 50 yards further down the road, when they hear the whine of my engine and turn towards me one of them raises what appears to be a scoped deer rifle in my direction.
“Shit!” I say to myself as I swerve the UTV off the road trying to get to cover.
A shot from the rifle cracks followed by the ringing impact of the bullet striking the steel utility bed of the Kubota. That was too close for comfort, so I slam on the brakes and jump from the vehicle, just as it comes to a stop. Dropping down, I crawl on my hands and knees until I get to cover behind one of the tires. With the Kubota idling in the grass off the road about halfway between the trees of our property line and the road; I am pretty much stuck where I am. If I try to get a shot off, the guy with the rifle will have a perfect shot on me and at this range with magnified optics, he would have to be blind to miss and he has already proven that he can shoot.
