by Eric Vall
The two men made their way to the truck, and I tried to get a shot, but they were quick, and all I managed to do was put a hole in the vehicle.
They were getting closer to Bailey and Rolly, but it looked like the old man almost had the .50 cal reloaded, until he was forced to take cover as the guards opened fire once more.
“We’re gonna have to move in,” I told Anna.
“Okay,” she said through a clenched jaw. “Let’s get these fucks.”
“We’re going to make our way to the pile of un-chopped wood the soldiers were just behind,” I told her. “Stay low and use the shadows to remain out of sight.”
“Right,” she said as she moved into a crouched position.
“Follow me,” I said and then started to make my way toward the wood.
“Wooo-hooo,” one of the soldiers yelled out from behind the truck.
“Are you all going to give up or do I need to kill your friends in the tower up there?”
I knew he was bluffing because if he had a clear shot on Bailey or Rolly he would have taken it by now. They wanted the .50 cals and killing a couple of us to get them wouldn’t be an issue for these assholes.
“Fuck off!” I heard Paige yell from her position behind the tree.
Anna and I made our way to the wood without being seen, and I pulled her down to me.
“Oh, they’re feisty,” I heard the other soldier yell in response to Paige. “Let’s see how feisty you are with a bullet in your face!”
He let out a spray of gunfire toward the main building.
“Dude!” the first guy yelled.
“What?” the second asked.
“The Colonel is in that building, you dumbass,” the first guy whispered loud enough for us to hear. “Just focus on covering me.”
“Whatever,” the second guy responded.
“We don’t want them to know we’re here,” I whispered to Anna.
“What do we do now?” she asked as she lowered herself even further.
I heard a loud rifle shot and realized that Bailey must have got a round off. The shot was followed by a loud ping, and I assumed the bullet hit the truck.
“What the fuck man!” one of the soldiers screamed.
“What?” the other one snapped.
“She fuckin shot me in the foot!” he hollered, and I thought I could hear him jumping up and down.
“She shot you?” the other guy asked.
“Yeah, that fuckin blonde bitch up there shot me in the fuckin foot!” he screamed.
“Calm down man,” the first told him. “At least it wasn’t your head.”
“I’m sorry, Howder,” the shot guy said with a sarcastic tone. “You must not have heard me. I’ve been fucking shot! In the fucking foot!”
Anna put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the man’s outrage.
I knew at that point that these assholes had probably never seen real action. In a stationary position a shot to the foot was a signal to keep going, and it only really became an issue when you needed to run.
I looked over the wood pile but couldn’t see the men, they must have been crouched behind the truck.
“Fuck off Richardson,” Howder spat. “I’ll let you take her down. Will that make you feel better?”
“Uh, yeah,” Richardson said. “Fuck that little bitch. I’m gonna do a lot more than just shoot her.”
With that comment Anna moved to stand, but I steadied her with my arm.
“We need to wait for our moment,” I told her.
“Can’t we get a shot now?” she asked.
“No,” I told her as I looked over the wood pile again. “They’re crouched behind the truck.”
“What about Tara?” Anna whispered.
“We have to trust that she’s in position,” I told her.
Anna nodded and lifted her head next to mine, and then we watched as one of the soldiers stood and let off a few rounds at Bailey’s tower.
“I’m going to try to talk to them,” I said.
“What?” Anna hissed, and her eyes narrowed.
“I won’t be able to talk them down,” I stated. “But maybe they’ll move into your line of sight. Get ready, and when you have the shot take it.”
“Okay,” she said, and she lined up Rolly’s rifle.
“Just try to take out both of them quickly,” I whispered.
“On it,” she said with a curt nod.
“Hey,” I called out to the guards. “Let’s make a deal.”
“Did you give us the chance to make a deal when you attacked our camp, you dick?” Richardson asked.
“Nope,” I said. “But all we wanted was the civilians freed.”
“Fuck you man,” Howder shouted. “We’re not keeping them hostage. We’re keeping those assholes fed.”
“You’re rapists,” Bailey called out from behind the dead man in the tower.
“The fuck we are,” Howder shouted. “We’re just taking what’s owed to us.”
“Look boys,” I called out; I was getting more pissed with these idiots by the second. “Let’s make a deal. Nobody else needs to die here.”
“Why the fuck should we make a deal with you?” Richardson called back.
“Because we can help you,” I said. “We have plenty of supplies and even a shower at our compound.”
“We have supplies here you asshole,” Richardson said.
“Maybe so,” I called back. “But not enough considering you all were stealing from farmers.”
“Fuck you,” Howder shouted. “We have our orders.”
“From who?” I called back. “From that douchebag Colonel you all are blindly following? Just look at the shit show he led you guys get into.”
“You got us into this,” Howder hollered. “And now half our fucking team is dead, and Richardson is shot in the foot.”
“They aren’t moving,” Anna whispered to me, I thought maybe if I stalled long enough Bailey could get another shot off.
“You got yourselves into this boys,” I said. “You know what you’re doing is wrong.”
“And who made you the god of right and wrong?” Richardson called out.
“Yeah, I bet--” Howder’s words were cut short, and I heard Richardson curse from behind the truck, then everything went quiet for a moment.
“Okay,” I heard Tara call out. “It’s all clear.”
“Paige,” I hollered. “How you doin over there?”
“No signs of movement,” she called back.
“Anna, Tara, come on,” I yelled out, we needed to make this quick, I didn’t want anyone else sneaking past us. “Bailey, scan the sides of the buildings and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“Right,” she called out. “I’m sorry, Tav.”
“Shit happens,” I said. “It’s not your fault. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m okay,” she called down.
“Rolly?” I asked.
“I’m good,” he said as he worked to finish reloading the .50 cal.
“Okay,” I said. “Anna, Tara, let’s make our way back to Paige. Stay low and stay hidden.”
“I think I can manage,” Tara said with a smug smile.
“You did good,” I told her. “But don’t get a big head. I need you on your game.”
“Shit,” she said. “Sorry.”
“Let’s go,” I said, and I started to creep toward the tree where Paige had taken cover.
“Don’t shoot,” I said when we were almost to Paige’s position.
“We’re coming to get you.”
“Oh, thank god,” she muttered. “It was getting kinda boring over here.”
“Well we’re about to breach this building,” I told her. “So get ready for some action.”
“I’ve been ready,” she grinned and pushed up her glasses.
The four of us headed to the front doors of the main building, but I stopped just outside the front doors. This was the first time we had gone into a place where we knew for c
ertain there were armed enemies, and I wanted to remind my team of how dangerous this was.
“We’re going into enemy territory,” I told them, and I could see in their eyes that they were worried, but I knew they were trying their best to be brave. “We’ll do exactly like we practiced and clear the building.”
“We’re ready,” Anna said with a nod.
“I don’t doubt it,” I said. “But what are our rules?”
“Stick to your zone,” Paige said, and her messy brunette bun bobbed as she nodded.
“Right,” Tara chimed in. “And never sweep your friend.”
“There should only be soldiers in there now,” I said. “But in case there are civilians make sure that you don’t shoot anyone out of uniform unless they are armed.”
“Couldn’t a civilian be armed?” Paige asked.
“Unlikely,” I shook my head. “Even in a time like this they wouldn’t want to give a civilian a gun.”
“Probably because they know they’d just shoot them,” Tara said as she looked from side to side.
“There shouldn’t be any civilians in there,” I repeated. “But just in case, I want you to be on guard.”
“What’s our order?” Paige asked.
“We’ll use the same order as the gym,” I told her. “Everybody remember their places?”
“Yup,” Anna said.
“I was third,” Tara added.
“Second,” Paige said.
“Right,” I confirmed. “Now, there should be a hallway that leads left and right in here. I’ll flank down to the hallway opening and scan my side.”
“And I’ll do the right side,” Paige said.
“Tara and I will cover the office to the left and the classroom to the right,” Anna said, her voice all authority.
“Yes,” I told her. “When you’re clear make your way to Paige and me, we’ll go down each hallway in two-man teams and clear the rooms.”
“Got it,” Anna nodded.
“Let’s go kill these fucks,” Tara grinned.
“Alright,” I said. “Do it just like we practiced, and you’ll be fine. Just remember this place is hot.”
“Not as hot as you,” Tara said with a wink.
“Jesus,” Anna groaned. “Now, really?”
“What,” Tara said. “You can’t set me up like that.”
“I mean it was pretty easy,” Paige laughed.
“Alright,” I said. “We had our laugh, now it’s time to focus up.”
“Right,” Anna said. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
My girls and I raised our weapons, then I opened the door and flanked up and to the left.
Chapter 12
The darkness of the room made it almost impossible to tell where the hallway was. I heard Paige follow me in and flank to the right, and I felt along the wall as I made my way to the split at the top and scanned for soldiers.
“Clear?” I whispered once the door shut and no shots had been fired.
“Clear here,” Paige said.
“Me too,” Tara added.
“And me,” Anna chimed in.
“Okay,” I started. “We have to move fast. The Colonel should be in the teachers’ lounge. It’s at the end of the left hallway.”
“It’s so hard to see in here,” Tara huffed.
“Yeah,” Paige agreed. “How are we going to clear all the classrooms?”
“We’ll do it together,” I told her, but the girls were right, this darkness was dangerous. The room was pitch black, and even my eyes were having trouble with the light adjustment.
“Can’t we use flashlights?” Anna asked.
“No,” I said. “We don’t want to give them a beacon to our location if they decide to attack.”
“So we clear each room together?” Tara asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Let’s start with the hallway to the right where Paige is.”
I didn’t like this plan, it was going to take up far too much time and a million things could go wrong, but it seemed we didn’t have any other choice. Men could be hiding in any of these rooms, and if one of my girls went in there alone, there was a chance they wouldn’t make it out. We were safer in a group.
“Let’s do a three-man group,” I whispered. “Paige, hold your position and make sure no one comes out from any of the other rooms.”
“I’m on it,” she said.
“If you come under fire, you get into the nearest classroom quick,” I told her.
“Okay,” she nodded.
“Anna, Tara, you’re with me,” I started. “We’re going to clear the classrooms in Paige’s hallway.”
“But aren’t the guards in the teachers’ lounge?” Tara asked. “Why do we need to clear these classrooms?”
“We can’t be sure that all of them are back there,” Anna explained. “If we run in there headfirst, and they are in the classrooms, then we’re essentially trapping ourselves.”
I smiled at Anna. She was picking this stuff up quick.
“She’s right,” I said. “We need to figure out where the enemy is before we attack.”
“What if we find someone?” Tara asked.
“We take them out,” I responded.
“Should we try to keep anyone alive for intel?” Anna asked.
“No,” I said. “That’s probably too risky. We don’t want to give them the opportunity to do something stupid.”
“Pretty sure that ship has sailed,” Paige muttered.
“True,” I responded. “But I meant something like shoot one of us.”
“Good point,” Anna said.
“Let’s do this then,” Tara added.
“Alright,” I said. “We’ll start at the farthest room. I go first and to the right corner, Tara goes second and to the left corner, Anna, you come up in the middle.”
“Got it,” Anna responded.
“Yup,” Tara said. “Come on.”
“We can’t rush this,” I said. “We need to be careful.”
“You’re right,” Tara sighed. “Sorry. I just really want to take these fuckers out.”
“We all do,” I told her with a smile. “Just keep your wits about you. Now, let’s go.”
We held onto the wall and crept down the dark hallway.
“You know your positions?” I asked them after we made it to the last classroom in the hallway.
“Yes,” they said in unison.
I didn’t respond, I simply opened the door and flanked to the right corner. I saw Tara come in and go left and Anna stay in the middle.
“Clear?” I asked.
“I think so,” Tara said.
“I’m going to turn my flashlight on,” I told them, “just to do a final scan. Make sure you’re ready to shoot.”
It was risky to turn the flashlight on, and the classroom was lit up by a window, but I wanted to make sure there was no one in there so I clicked the button on my flashlight and scanned the room.
“Okay,” I said and switched off my flashlight. “This room is clear.”
We cleared the other five classrooms in that hallway but didn’t run into anyone, so we made our way back to Paige’s position.
“I don’t like this,” Anna whispered.
“Yeah,” Tara added. “Like, where is everyone?”
“I don’t like it either,” I said. “My guess is that they’re all somewhere in the left hallway.”
“But if they’re in those classrooms, why haven’t they come out shooting yet?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know,” I told her. “But if The Colonel is in the teachers’ lounge, his men are probably near him.”
“But we still have to clear these classrooms, right?” Anna asked.
“Yes,” I whispered. “But not seeing anyone on the right side means we’re probably going to see them on the left.”
My eyes had become better adjusted to the blackness, and in the darkness I could see Paige biting her lip.
“We’ll be fine,” I told them all. “Just re
member your training. You did good in those other classrooms.”
“Thanks,” Tara said. “I’m still kinda nervous though.”
“Me too,” Paige added, and I could see she was mildly hyper-ventilating.
“We can do this,” Anna encouraged. “We’re badasses, remember?”
“That you are,” I said. “Now, let’s clear these rooms.”
“Do you want me to stay here?” Paige asked.
“Move to the other side of the hallway,” I told her. “Just keep an eye in each direction.”
“Okay,” she said and she bit her lip once more.
“You’ll do great,” I told her as I put my hand on her shoulder. “You always do.”
“I know,” she said. “I just wish we would find these assholes already.”
“Soon,” I told her, and then I turned to Anna and Tara. “Let’s go.”
We went into the first classroom on the left-hand side and followed the same protocol. I went first, Tara second, and Anna third. I had just clicked on my flashlight to do our final sweep when gunfire erupted from the hallway.
I heard Paige’s shotgun fire, and I knew she was in trouble. From the sounds of the gunfire they had all their men out there, and Paige was caught in the mix. I moved to the doorway with my rifle raised and I could see that Paige had switched to her pistol and was leaning out into the hallway while firing blindly.
I tried to get a shot on these guys but I couldn’t see anything from my position in the doorway.
“What do we do?” Anna asked, and I could hear the panic in her voice.
“Yeah,” Tara pushed. “Paige is out there!”
“I know,” I said, but I knew I needed to come up with a plan and I needed to do it quick. Where the hell had these assholes come from? We had cleared the first hallway, so they shouldn’t have been able to get behind us. “I’m going to get Paige.”
“Let’s get out there and kick some ass,” Tara chimed in.
“No,” I shook my head. “It sounds like they have at least fifteen guys out there firing. We don’t stand a chance with the angle they’re attacking from.”
“So, what, we’re going to just hide in here?” Anna asked.
“Oh no,” I said. “We’re going to get these fucks, but I have to get Paige now.”
“We’ll cover you,” Tara said.
