Once settled in at the mouth of the cavern Joey and Cindy volunteered to go out to find some firewood. Mark smiled knowing they wanted some make-out time but that was fine with him, he wanted some make-out time with Kara as well. She had two meals set aside, one that didn’t need cooking and one that would rehydrate with boiling water. If they got the fire going they would have that meal, if not it was MRE time!
Joey and Cindy returned about half an hour later with some sad sticks and twigs
and a pair of shit eating grins. Mark shook his head and asked if they could do less screwing around and more gathering this time. They both acted offended but were clearly embarrassed for being busted. They headed back out of the cave while Mark tried to arrange what they did gather to start a fire.
Within the hour they had a pretty good blaze going. Kara had a pot of water boiling for the food and had already made everyone a cup of coffee. They were warming up nicely and watching the blizzard rage outside. Mark had an uneasy feeling but tried to dismiss it, he hoped there wasn’t a bear sleeping in the cave somewhere, which is what kept popping into his head.
Dinner was delicious; it was some kind of south-western chicken with rice and corn. Everyone ate it up and Kara made a powdered dessert after as well. It was quite the feast for a cave in the wilderness during a blizzard. Mark had brought a container full of snow in and they continuously melted some over the fire for fresh water. It was a pretty cozy affair and everyone was getting comfortable in preparation for bed. Nobody knew when the storm was going to blow over but they all hoped it would be clear in the morning so they could get on with their trip, now two days behind. Soon the cartels in Atlanta would figure out that they were not coming and alert the company. The shit-storm from that would be extreme and Mark really wanted to be in the safety of the cache by then.
They all lay down for the night, Mark and Kara zipped their bags together to keep each other warm. Joey and Cindy saw that they zipped theirs together too. They tried to look innocent and asked “What, we can’t be warm too?” Mark and Kara both said “
Suuurrrre” and left the two alone. They had accelerated their relationship significantly since Mark gave Cindy the go-ahead. He didn’t mind and it didn’t seem like Kara did either. He would rather the boy find some happiness in this world than not.
Kara looked at Mark with worry in her eyes. “I can’t get over this feeling” she whispered to him.
Mark cursed to himself, he knew he should’ve listened to that nagging feeling he had. “Damint, I have had it all night” he admitted. “Should we have a look around?” She asked.
“There’s no need for that” a voice said from behind them. “Shit.” Mark replied, “Shit shit
shit.” The voice turned on his flashlight and illuminated the family. Joey got an annoyed look on his face and started to swear when he saw that it wasn’t his mom or dad with the light. “Shit” was all he could muster as well. The stranger laughed and said “Well aren’t you just a charming bunch?”
The gang lit the cavern up and relieved the family of their weapons
. Their leader stoked the fire and invited them to have a seat around it. They complied; for some reason a dozen AK-47s pointed at you from all directions will make you a compliant person. Their leader was on the tall side and had a scruffy greying beard. Mark couldn’t help but think he looked familiar but he couldn’t place it for the life of him. Either way, this bunch didn’t seem too awful but they had the family hemmed up pretty good.
The man dismissed all but 4 of his guards and sat down across from Mark and Kara. “Is that better?” he asked. “More or less even” he continued as if he was giving them a chance if they desired to take it. Mark nodded “Thanks” he said semi-sarcastically. The man ignored his snub and
introduced himself. “My name is Vincent and I am the commander of the Mountain Guard.” He then stood and extended his hand to Mark who stood and shook the man’s hand. “I’m Mark, this is Kara, Joey, and Cindy” he told Vincent. “Are you guys company?” he asked. “I saw that slick ride of yours out there.” Mark wasn’t sure how to play this card so he told a half truth. “We’re independent” he said. Vincent laughed, “They’re gonna be pissed when they hear that son.”
Vincent told the family that he and his Army patrolled the mountain and tried to help keep Asheville and points east safe from marauding bands. Mark asked if they had conscripted them to do so and Vincent just shook his head. “
Naw,” he explained, “We’re just not assholes. We lived up here and we hated to see all these idiots coming across the mountains trying to mess with the people down there.” Mark soon realized that this guy was no enemy at all. Vincent seemed to feel the same way and within a couple hours of their chatting their weapons had been returned.
Vincent stood and stretched, it was getting quite late. He told Mark that he wanted him along for a mission tomorrow and the family would be free to go afterwards. Mark agreed and Vincent and his guards retired for the night. Kara wasn’t too pleased about Mark having to go out on his own but Mark reminded her they had little choice.
Vincent sent a guard to wake Mark before the sun came up. He shimmied out of the sleeping bag as gingerly as he could to keep Kara from waking up. She grunted and shifted a bit but never opened her eyes, he was quite pleased. He gave her a kiss on the forehead, gathered his M4 and P220 and followed the guard.
The cavern was enormous beyond the initial opening. It constricted back to a hallway of sorts for about 100 feet and then opened up into a grand cavern about the size of a supermarket. Vincent’s army had electricity wired up down here. They had big industrial lights hanging from the ceiling of the cavern. In one corner were several rows of bunks, in another a kitchen. Another corner had an armory with all sorts of personal weaponry. Mark estimated by their set-up that Vincent had nearly 250 guys under his command. He nodded approvingly and smiled.
Vincent snuck up behind him again and patted him on the back. “Like what you see?” he asked as he handed Mark a steaming cup of coffee. Mark nodded “Very impressive” he said and gave Vincent a thumbs up for both his army and the coffee. “You really haven’t seen
nothin’ yet.” Vincent informed him. “You’re gonna shit when you see it.” He said as he patted his back again as a signal to follow him.
Vincent took him out a side entrance to the cavern and into a parking lot that housed all sorts of military and convert
ed vehicles. He had 5 Bradley IFVs, 6 original Hummers, 4 H2s that had some jury-rigged armor and half a dozen deuce and a half’s, three of them with machine guns. “Very impressive” Mark said, “But why did you think I would shit?” he asked. Vincent laughed as his men pulled the tarp from the front of the parking area.
The Armadillo sat no more than 10 feet from his army’s vehicles. Mark had to laugh; they had parked next to this arsenal without any clue. “I really
gotta up my situational awareness game” Mark said. Vincent shook his head yes and motioned him into one of the Hummers.
Vincent took the wheel and Mark got in next to him. “These are the newest
armored models” he told Mark. “They can take AK rounds like strippers take dollars.” Mark smiled at the analogy and gave Vincent the thumbs up. “What’s the plan?” he asked. Vincent gave him the hold on signal and cued up the radio, he was going to tell everyone at once.
“We’ve been informed that a gang of about
14 guys crossed the mountain on snow-machine last night. They took over one of the little town’s convenience stores and are holed up there. The town’s folk had them pinned down but as the sun came up the gang’s superior firepower was unleashed and several towns’ folk have been injured. We’re going to go in and take care of these pests.” Vincent announced to the raiding party which consisted of 1 Bradley and 4 Hummers with a deuce and a half on standby.
The blizzard had let up but some flurries still came and went as they rode to the destination. The storm had dumped nearly two feet of snow onto the mountain. Mark suddenly had a twinge of panic set in, how the hell were they going to traverse the snow? Vincent seemed to read his mind and told him “I’ve got a
plow working the road right now, it’s another thing that we do.” Mark smiled and thanked Vincent for the services he performed for the people of his region.
Mark took the opportunity to tell Vincent that he looked awful familiar. Vincent shrugged and said “Hmmm.” He then put his index finger in the air and said “Unless.....” and looked at Mark
who raised his eyebrows in question. “I have a brother” Vincent told Mark, “I’m not sure where he is though.” Mark knew right away, he smiled big and told Vincent “His name is Timothy and he’s in Connecticut, New London to be exact.”
Vincent lit up like a little kid on Christmas. “Really? No shit, really?” he asked. Mark shook his head and laughed “Really, I wouldn’t lie to you. He saved my ass a couple times up there”
Mark told him the story of how Timothy ran a barge that transported people safely across the bay. Vincent hit the steering wheel with joy and said “Yup, that’s Timmy. He went down the Mississippi about a year and a half ago. I can’t believe he ended up in Connecticut, and saving your ass!” Mark also told him how he helped Simone and Vincent was convinced Mark had the right man. “He’s always had a soft-spot for redheads. If she let him touch her she’s probably already pregnant” Vincent said laughing.
The family stories were cut short as they approached the store.
“What’s the plan?” Mark asked. Vincent wrinkled his nose “I’d really like to go in guns blazing but damnit, Lucy owns that store and she’s a widow and its all she’s got.” Mark thought about the situation and worked out a plan. Vincent said “No, I can’t ask you to do that, it’s too much risk.” Mark waved it off and said “Put some guys up on that ridge; they can light up the joint if shit goes sour, if not we run ‘em out proper and without any damage.” Vincent reluctantly agreed and gave Mark a salute as he departed the vehicle.
Mark pulled his suppressed model 84 out and headed for the cabin-store. He wore an all-white
snow camouflage that Vincent had supplied. He moved swiftly but stealthily and was soon at the back fence which was a low stone wall. He slid in behind the wall and slowly raised himself up to look inside. He could see 3 heads in the back window, it looked like they were sitting at a table playing cards. They probably thought they had run all resistance off with the earlier fire-fight.
Mark took aim with the little Cheetah and squeezed off a round at the farthest guy. The glass shattering was louder than the shot and the guy slumped forward with a perfect hole in his forehead. As the other two turned in shock Mark fired at them. He got one in the ear and missed the third, who hit the deck as the bullet whistled by his head.
Mark’s plan worked and the men piled out of the cabin to engage him. Vincent’s men on the ridge made short work of them as they came out of the cabin single-file due to the door’s size. Another half dozen men tried to sneak out the front and flank Mark but they were taken out by snipers out front.
Within 5 minutes the remaining three guys surrendered and came out with their hands up. Vincent cuffed them and turned them over to the town’s Sheriff to do what he wished with them.
Mark met Vincent out front and Vincent gave him a big hug and thanked him for coming along. Mark answered “Did I have a choice in the matter?” to which Vincent shrugged “I wouldn’t have shot you or anything if you refused but it would’ve been a bitch leaving in that little car on an unplowed road.” Mark laughed and patted Vincent on the back, he was really going to miss the guy when they moved on.
Back at the cavern the family had an hour or so to spare before the feast Vincent promised them was ready. Mark asked Kara if she would like to go for a walk and she happily agreed. When they
got far enough away from the compound he told her what was on his mind.
“I want Vincent in on the cache.” He said. Kara was shocked for a moment and then got a puzzled look. “Why?” She asked, legitimately not understanding. “Several reasons” Mark began “1) He has an army, we can make short work of obstacles in our path with an army. 2) He is Timothy’s brother and is very much like Timothy, a very good man. 3) We need an army when the cartel and the company find out about our defection.” Kara listened to Mark’s reasoning and started coming around to his line of thinking. She did have a counterpoint to his first point “You know an army will slow us down considerably” she pointed out. “That will make us even more vulnerable to the cartel and company because they will catch us faster”
she reasoned. Mark agreed but argued what good was a military cache if they didn’t have an army to man the weapons?
The two returned from their walk just as lunch was being put on the tables. Joey and Cindy were already seated on one side of Vincent and there were two chairs open on the other side. They made their way through the crowd and quickly sat down. Vincent jokingly looked at his watch and said “What happened to you can call me anything but late for dinner?” Mark laughed and held up his hands in surrender.
The meal consisted of venison and feral pig along with vegetables from Statesville. Mark stood for a toast and announced “I almost feel guilty for eating this well lately” he paused, “Almost, but not quite!” everyone laughed at the joke and he waited to continue “I want to thank everyone and Vincent especially for your hospitality, it is not common to find out here but I have found it in Vincent and in his brother Timothy before him. They are amazing folks and we appreciate them greatly.” The table said “Hear hear” in unison and everyone drank their wine or beer accordingly.
After the delicious meal Mark asked Vincent to talk somewhere private. Vincent tried to say that anything Mark had to say to him he could say to his crew but Mark politely declined and asked him to please step out for a bit.
He eventually got Vincent outside where he told them the whole story of how they got to where they were now. Vincent listened intently and interjected here and there with encouragement or disappointment as appropriate. When he told Vincent about the cache his eyes lit up. “Vincent, buddy, we could start our own country. We could build something good” Mark said. Vincent waved that off and said “You don’t even know what is in there man, how can you dream so big?” Mark explained that there had to be nearly 250 million dollars in diamonds in that case. With the power associated with diamonds currently that came out to nearly 250 billion in payment. It had to be big, it had to be huge.
Vincent clapped his and declared “I’m in!” and then he held up his gloved hand and said “In fact, I’ll send a crew today to go find Tim and bring his ass back.” Mark really liked that idea and he and Vincent found a set of coordinates close to the quarry for his guys to report to. Nobody but the family and Vincent would know the exact coordinates for security reasons.
When they returned everyone was still gathered at the table for the most part. “Gather up your stuff boys and girls, we’re gonna follow this man on a grand adventure!” Vincent announced. A gasp shot through the crowd and he continued “We will leave 50 men and a couple vehicles to continue patrolling the area. Don’t worry guys; we’ll come back for ya. Everyone else, we roll in two hours, get a move on!” The crew snapped into action immediately and began milling about and packing things up. Mark turned to Kara and suggested they do the same.
Exactly two hours later the convoy rolled out
. The Armadillo led the way with 4 Bradleys, 6 Hummers, 2 H2s, all 6 deuce and a half’s and two deuce and a half tanker trucks following behind. Vincent brought 182 soldiers on the trip and left the 50 plus auxiliaries at home. Mark had no doubt their firepower would be needed and greatly appreciated on their journey.