by Zack Finley
We talked over my plan, and no one else had a better one. We had eight smoke bombs and 12 tear gas canisters. By moving into the auto and garden centers, I expected to find some fireproof containers and some oily rags. From there we’d set a few smoky fires, announcing that we were willing to burn the place down unless they surrendered. We’d toss in smoke bombs and teargas canisters from various back doors to help them leave out the front.
Nobody liked the plan, but nobody had a better one. The fallback was always clearing the building row by row.
Scott and Mike were assigned to the Humvee with the Ma Deuce. Mike would man the turret and enforce the peace, with help from Craig and Joel. We had three men watching the back walls and one man monitoring the two fire doors between the garden and auto centers. The rest were split into the auto and the garden teams.
I wanted to secure those areas hard and fast. Then we’d find something to burn.
Rules of engagement: shoot anyone who doesn’t have their hands in the air above their head.
As expected, the car repair bays were empty of squatters. We assigned one man to monitor the inoperative sliding glass doors into the main building, even though nothing showed up on the thermal scan. The rest gathered flammable oily debris guaranteed to create a lot of smoke and hopefully little flame. The shop had several oily waste containers, but they were plastic.
The fenced-in outdoor garden area was empty of threats. We found a variety of ceramic pots and galvanized buckets for fireproof smoke pots. I suspected no one visited this section since the power went out. The sliding glass doors into the main building were closed. The thermal scan showed no one lurking around the area.
We tested the concept in the parking lot for each type of container. A galvanized bucket worked the best. The pots were heavy and bulky but worked fine, otherwise.
We made up an oily waste burner for nearly every door, except the two main front entrances. We had to use a roll of burlap mulch to supply enough wicking material. The auto area had plenty of used motor oil for the task.
Getting the containers in place beside each door in the back and sides took nearly an hour.
When we were ready, Mike and Scott would pull the Humvee into the back edge of the front parking lot making a lot of noise by revving the engine. We had enough firepower in place we didn’t need the BMG, so their approach would serve as a distraction. We were going to start with five smoke pots. Two placed inside fire doors on the auto and garden center side and three on the east side. My attack on the building had the fire doors barely holding together, but each would need persuasion to open. Crowbars and various tools from the auto center would help with that leverage.
We got ready to light them up.
We could hear the Humvee roar up to the front of the Walmart and prepared to pry open the doors. Then Joel and Ben fired mini-bursts from their M4s into the main entrances. That was our signal to pry open the doors. It took us longer than expected to pry them open, but Joel and Ben kept up the barrage until we sent the final all clear.
Mike got on the Humvee loudspeaker and informed those inside that they should leave now. Someone inside responded by firing on the Humvee. That didn’t last long with Craig on overwatch. The crack of a sniper rifle was followed immediately by silence from those inside.
Mike’s next spiel was designed to give us time to put our smoke bombs inside the building and light them off. I had Joel toss a tear gas grenade in through the food mart doors.
This was the signal for Mike to wrap up his spiel. “We are prepared to burn down the Walmart with you inside it. Or you can come out with your hand’s up. We will give you a few minutes to consider your options.”
Most of our smoke was going into the building. But it was a huge area.
We were ready for phase two. The guys started banging on many of the doors on the north and east sides of the building. We had three more of the buckets ready to go into the front fire doors. Again, we underestimated the door mangling the BMG caused, but the crowbars prevailed. Opening one of the doors drew shots from deep in the building. They were firing blind, but I saw no reason to allow them to continue taking potshots. Instead of smoke buckets, the guys tossed in smoke bombs to mask their activities.
At the two doors not under fire, the men pushed their fire buckets into the building and lit them off. When they still drew no fire, they tossed tear gas grenades deep into the dark store.
In the back, the guys alternated between pounding on the doors and prying them partially open.
It was about 04:00 when those inside began to crack.
“Some of our people want to surrender,” came a shout from inside.
Mike responded immediately, “Have them come out, unarmed, and with their hands over their heads through the main door. If we see anyone with a weapon, they will all be shot.”
We sent our Humvees to make a show of force in the parking lot.
The people coming out were coughing and struggling to keep their hands up. Most were women with a few children along with several older men. We frisked them and put them on the school bus. Buzzer was assigned to get as much intel from them as possible while Matt kept watch. We had 16 on the bus. Everyone inside Walmart was now considered an armed combatant.
The first of our smoky containers began sputtering out.
“Looks like about 30 people are left in the building,” radioed Buzzer. “Some are too scared to leave, but some are just angry. Everyone left is armed, about half have automatic rifles of some sort. A few people have NVGs. Four people were killed, two in the first series of shots and two others later. I suspect Craig got the last two. It caused them to break up into smaller groups. I think this group was sent out to see if we would just kill anyone who surrendered.”
“We can drive the Humvees through the glass in front of the building,” Scott suggested. “Then we can give them another chance to surrender or start shooting. Nothing will stop the Ma Deuce.”
We already knew they had grenades, but this plan could end the action quickly. One of the other Humvees had an M249 in its turret.
I called a quick radio conference to gather input. There was strong support for this plan. Several suggestions strengthened it, including the liberal use of flashbangs to precede the smash in.
Buzzer lost the bet and was forced to stay with the prisoners. We left three guys to monitor the back perimeter. The rest would either man the Humvees or enter through the garden center. The two armed Humvees were assigned a driver and turret operator each.
The two unarmed Humvees only had a driver with two men on the ground, using them as cover. Craig announced he’d get on top of a Humvee once it got inside to provide overwatch.
Less and less smoke was billowing out the front. It was time.
Mike aimed the Ma Deuce at the base of the middle bollard blocking the door into the building. After two shots he targeted the one blocking the grocery entrance. The compromised bollards couldn’t stop the attacking Humvees from driving straight through.
The Humvees without turrets were sent in first, through the doors. They needed to finish off the middle bollards and take most of the door frames with them to avoid leaving anything substantial enough to damage our turret-mounted weapons. The men with the flashbangs would come in behind them. The flashbangs would be the signal for the rest of us to pour in.
The Humvees would provide a jumping off place for the groups gathered behind them, and some heavy-duty firepower if it was needed. We doubted anything the ex-cops had could provide blocking cover against either weapon.
Both Humvee drivers took the entrance with sufficient speed to blast through the bollard, and through the mangled remnants of the sliding glass doors. Frames and all. The sounds of rending metal and crashing glass made an impressive entrance. From the noise they made, I greatly underestimated the amount of unbroken glass the Ma Deuce left behind.
There was no more time to speculate on the plan, it was time to execute. The three flashbangs went off as ex
pected. Once the flash passed, we slipped through the garden entrance. Those with thermal sights were in the lead.
The arrival of the third and fourth Humvee into the building front was surprisingly muffled in the enclosed building.
The M249 on the Humvee just in near the grocery section let loose with controlled bursts aimed deep into the Walmart. A few wild shots rang out, but two quick shots from Craig silenced the enemy.
“Mike tell them to come out, or we’ll play target practice,” I said over the radio.
“Raise your hands and surrender, or we begin target practice,” Mike said over his loudspeaker.
“Boss, they may not be able to hear anything, yet,” said Tom.
I’d forgotten the impact of flashbangs on unprotected ears.
With little need for silence, the large group entering through the garden center began our sweep. The store was gigantic. The shelves were tall and oriented to make any sweep very challenging.
I seriously underestimated how large this place was. Even with night vision gear, I’d over-estimated our ability to spot a tango before he spotted us. The Humvees on overwatch were difficult to see, even though I knew where to look.
We verified no one was in the restrooms or other nooks and crannies along the southern wall. Then began our move forward, as equally spaced as we could get.
The team that came in through the main entrance reported that someone looted the pharmacy, but it was clear. They joined up with our sweep from the south, allowing us to tighten up spacing.
We had enough line of sight. I was sure we’d spot the enemy before they saw us, especially using our thermal vision.
The acrid smell of the smoke was slowly being overwhelmed by the smell of rotting food. That alone underscored the selfishness of this group. They’d rather waste the food than share it with their neighbors.
This was taking too long. I counted on disorienting the defenders with our flashbangs when we came in. With only a smattering of shots then, we had accomplished that part of the mission. Now we were giving them too much time to recover and regroup.
“Overwatch, we need another distraction, hold the Ma Deuce,” I radioed. “No more than thirty seconds then I send in a recon squad. Watch your shots.”
“Roger, hold the Ma Deuce,” Scott radioed. “Roger, stop after 30,” came the other shooters.
The diversion was comprised of a series of three shot bursts. I wasn’t sure where they shot and didn’t care.
A three-man recon team left the ranks. They had thermal sights and were charged with finding the enemy.
Our main line still had to enter and search the offices and employee areas at the back of the store with fewer available to cover or maintain a perimeter.
The scouts spotted their first emplacement, then retreated. There was a nest comprised of piled up shelving. They estimated five or six people, all armed. At least one wore NVGs, but they didn’t think they were spotted.
We formed an assault squad with three fireteams. The group clearing the east wall remained in place to monitor the unchecked areas. Craig now had a location.
The plan was simple, we would sneak up and kill them while Craig kept them occupied. I doubted the flimsy shelving would provide much cover. Their flashes would give them away while our suppressed M4s should keep us hidden, long enough to remove the threat.
My eyes were tearing from the remnants of the acrid smoke and tear gas. Since the group we were attacking had been in it longer, I hoped they could barely see. Especially the guy with the NVGs.
He was our first target.
We told Craig to hold up for a moment. Three Tangoes were dumb enough to have their heads looking out over their cover. I called right, two men to my left called the other two targets. Our shots thumped out as nearly a single pop. Barely noticeable to my noise weary ears. I asked Craig to fire. His shot sounded like an explosion in comparison.
One of the stupid people inside the blind then poked his head out, one of the guys to my left popped him. Four down.
I asked Mike to offer whoever remained a chance to live. The last man started waving his hands in the air, shouting “I surrender, don’t hurt me!”
Mike told him to walk toward the front. We relaxed as soon as Craig said he had him in his sights. The driver of the Humvee that Craig was lying on patted the man down and secured him to one of the bollards left in front of the store.
A quick search of the blind verified four kills.
If we didn’t get a move on it would be light soon and much of our night vision advantage would be lost. I pulled everyone off the Humvees except Scott and Mike on the two turrets. I even pulled one of the guys from the back.
Craig left his sniper rifle and joined us. Those with thermal sights spread out again on a recon mission. The found the small nest Craig and the M249 shot up earlier, four more wouldn’t be causing trouble.
I felt for the guys clearing the staff areas behind the meat and deli areas. The stench when they opened the first door was nearly unbearable. I doubted anyone would willingly hang out there, but we needed to search anyway.
I feared we were going recklessly fast, especially in the central area of the store but we just didn’t have time to dick around.
“We are getting very strung out,” Ben said. “Verify any target before you shoot.”
I expected the main group to be holed up in the staff area along the back wall. Even hurrying it took 20 minutes to verify the main store was now clear.
All we had left to do was locate the specific area they were hiding in. When we were down to only three more doors to go, I changed tactics.
With no innocents and few supplies to worry about there was no reason not to shoot through the walls.
Most everyone pulled back leaving five of us to stitch a line of fire at about knee height across the three remaining rooms.
Screams from inside the men’s locker room told us we hit pay dirt. Or at least one of the ex-cops.
“Mike give them the surrender message again, they may be inclined to listen this time,” I sent, not budging from my spot on the floor near the room in question.
“Alright maggots, this is your last chance to surrender, or we’ll keep shooting at you until we have a big enough hole in the wall to toss a grenade in. Drop your weapons, raise your hands above your head and come out. Or stay there and die, your choice. Less trouble if you die though, if you ask me,” Mike said over the loudspeaker.
“Mike,” I radioed to cut him off. “Do it properly.”
“Okay, okay, the boss says I have to offer you one last chance to surrender. Do it or die,” Mike said dramatically on the loudspeaker.
“Don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” was the muffled shout from inside the perforated room. “We are coming out.”
Someone inside the room opened the door for the first man. He came through the door with his hands up above his head. “We have wounded,” the man said.
“Not your problem,” I replied. “Walk to the closest Humvee and someone will take you into custody. Do anything to make us nervous, and you won’t live to apologize.”
One at a time, men came through the door.
Number 18 had already reached the Humvee when it dawned on me, he might be the last one left who wasn’t wounded.
“Talk to that last guy,” I radioed “Find out who’s left.”
“He says the only ones left are the wounded and the dead.”
I cautiously approached the door, and an explosion of light and sound stabbed through my brain followed nearly immediately by a mule kick to the chest.
I was blind. My brains were scrambled. I couldn’t breathe. The room felt like it was spinning and spinning. I couldn’t breathe. My legs collapsed, and I went down hard. Still blind. Still deaf. I couldn’t breathe, and I was falling, falling.
My ears were ringing. My chest throbbed and each breath felt like the bone was grating on bone. But at least I was breathing again. My eyes still burned and a bright afterimage was presen
t even with my eyes closed. Someone was stripping off my vest. The pain that caused sent me down the drain again for a brief time.
When I resurfaced my ears hurt but I could hear muffled conversations going on around me. I just couldn’t understand any of the words. The bright blotches I saw with or without my eyes closed were fading. I could see Tom hovering over me, and my chest was bare. Breathing still hurt but that was so much better than not breathing.
I wanted to ask whether anyone else was hurt. Whether we got the bad guy. What was wrong with me. But while my thoughts were starting to straighten out, I was still disoriented.
The pain in my chest woke me up. I was lying on something and being put into the back of a Humvee. I started to sit up, but the pain made me change my mind. My mind was still reeling, and my ears were ringing.
