“I’m with Dave,” said Cruze. “There’s no guarantee we won’t run into Sunray if we leave, and I just couldn’t live with myself knowing that we could have done something to save them.”
Kenny Howard raised a hand. “It’s what Dawson would have wanted,” he said quietly. “She’d have been the first person to volunteer.”
I looked at Sid. “It’s your choice now. It’s a team decision. What do you say?”
He lit another cigarette and said, “I’m not stupid enough to believe that Sunray isn’t already out there looking for us and when he does find us, we’re going to be facing off. I’d rather face off on our terms, so yeah, let’s fucking do this. What about the chick, though?”
“The name is Dawn-Marie, asshole,” she snapped.
I glanced at her. “Not everybody gets to go with us. Someone has to stay back with Jo.”
My little sister glared at me. “But I want to go, David! I want to fight.”
I dropped to one knee and gave her hand a small squeeze. “I know you want to fight, kiddo – but I’m going to need you back here putting together first-aid stuff. Dawn-Marie will be back here, too.”
“Whoa!” Sid barked. “You can’t leave the kid alone with her.”
I stood up and said, “I’m not. We need a driver to stay back too – we might need the vehicle for anyone who gets wounded. I’m not going to pick someone – it’s either Kenny or Doug.”
“I’m a way better shot than Kenny and he’s the best driver we’ve got,” said Doug. “You cool with staying back, bud?”
Kenny shrugged. “I guess so. It’s going to be a freaking small fighting patrol, though, with just the five of you going. What’s your plan?”
I trudged back to Ark One, climbed inside and reappeared moments later with the 60 millimeter mortar tube in one hand and a bomb in the other.
“We’re going to drop mortars on these bastards,” I rumbled. “And they won’t see it coming.”
Journal Entry: 18 NOVEMBER 17:58 HRS ZULU
We’ve just completed rehearsals for the patrol and everyone has been briefed. We made the best representation of the bridge and river that we could, back in the tent – I just hope it’ll live up to the real thing.
I can’t afford a single mistake. Sid is bringing the receiver group for the GPMG. Mel and Doug will make up fire team one, carrying the 60 mm mortar along with a case of rounds. Cruze is taking the second mortar and I’ll be hauling what’s left of the bombs from Ark One – a dozen rounds. I’ll also haul the tripod for the machine gun. I’ve had Kenny scanning frequencies on the radio to see if we might be able to pick up something, but no luck – I imagine they’ve got their radio communications scrambled. As for us, we’ll bring along one radio set.
We’re going to hit them from three locations. From the northeast, Doug and Mel will take out the sentry on the bridge, along with the pair of Cougars. They’ve only got one M72 each, so they’ll engage their armor only if their crews mount up. I’ll be helping Sid set up a base of fire on the bridge and the modular tent. Cruze and I will cross the bridge and do the same thing on the opposite bank while we wait for Doug and Mel to haul ass over to their secondary position. From there, the plan is to use fire and movement up to the compound – at which time we’ll shoot the creeps and free the people inside. I’ll fire off a red pen flare to signal that the area is secure and the civilians are free, then we’ll take one of Sunray’s vehicles and double back to get our two APC’s. We’ll re-org down in the coulee and decide where to go from there.
I can’t imagine how we’re going to get through this without taking some casualties. I think we’re all trying to push that out of our minds. I have to trust that if I end up getting killed the survivors will take care of Jo. I was going to have a sit-down with her and explain I might not come back, but she’s not stupid. She knows the risks – we all do. She’s always told me she loves me and believes in me. I’d like to believe in me, too, but I’m scared to death.
And I think if we survive what is to come, we have to accept that we’re fighting a war with two fronts now: the creeps, and Sunray, or those like him.
I’ll close off this journal for now. I don’t know if I’ll
be
around for another entry. I don’t know if any of us will be
.
***
We left the hide on a northeast bearing, keeping a good 10 paces between each person. Once again, we were relying on Mel to get us there in one piece, and Doug provided rear security as we trudged through ankle-deep snow. The temperature plummeted once darkness set in – according to Mel’s wristwatch thermometer it was below minus 20.
After about 40 minutes of walking, we made it to the snowdrift-covered highway. We crept into the ditch on the western edge, and everyone dropped down onto one knee to have a listen. I doubled up to Mel and peered out over the empty expanse with my night vision scope.
“How far?” I whispered, focusing on the tree line that bordered the edge of the coulee.
“Another 1500m or so,” she said. “It’d be faster if we just high tailed it up the road.”
“When has anything been easy since we left the armory? Wait a minute.”
“What is it?”
I adjusted the focus on the night scope and panned from my left to my right. I could see a glimmer of white light amid the soft green glow of the landscape. White light meant a concentrated source of light, from either a fire or a man-made source. It disappeared into the tree line.
I stuffed the scope back into its case. “They’re either expecting us or I just spotted a foot sentry, or possibly a patrol.”
Mel gulped. “Shit – do you think they saw us?”
I shook my head. “I doubt it – but we’re going to have to be extra cautious going in. The route we planned is wide of the highway. They probably have the road covered by an anti-tank gun. If we add another 1000m or so and sweep wide to the right, we can probably get in unnoticed.”
“That’s going to add time to our patrol,” she said grimly. “But I don’t see that we have a choice. Let everyone know and give me a minute to reroute.”
I patted her on the shoulder. “Will do. Hang in there, Mel.”
I scrambled back to my position on the rear, filling each team member in on what I’d seen. In 15 minutes we were tracking across another open field, crouching low to reduce our silhouette. We’d increased the gap between each person to 20 paces, just in time for the wind to change direction. The elements were conspiring against us – the icy breeze was blowing full into our faces, and every few minutes we had to brush away the frost as it collected around the eyeholes on our balaclavas. Snow had been falling straight since midday, drifting across the field and blanketing the scattered corpses of frozen cattle. This was a more physically demanding patrol than the last – each of us was weighed down with heavy weapons and ammunition. After more than an hour of trudging across the open landscape, we cut across to the edge of the woods, stopping every few minutes to have a listen. The air was tinged with the smell of smoke, so we knew we were close to our objective.
I took over the patrol just short of the wood line, leading the team through a thicket of diamond willow until we were well into the copse of trees. The uneven ground was filled with ruts and deep trenches that offered excellent concealment. I selected a point between two enormous boulders as our ORV. The team dropped into all round defense, each person keeping a sharp eye on their arcs of fire. The next thing I had to do was to lead each fire team to their positions without being seen.
After a quick moment to orientate our position to the map, we broke into our groups and I started out down the steep forward slope of the coulee. Behind me was Mel’s team, followed by Sid and Cruze, watching our backs. We still couldn’t see our objectives at this point, but we were close – the smell of wood smoke was getting stronger. The trees offered a blessed reprieve from the relentless wind, and I think we were all glad to be out of the open land, even if it meant we’d soon be in the middle of a fire fight.
We slowly trudged through ankle-deep snow, each of us being extra careful not to make a sound. We hadn’t run into the patrol I’d spotted earlier, but we could see the highway ahead, winding down the face of the coulee. The area for Mel and Kenny to set up their mortar came into view – an opening in the trees, surrounded by waist-high grass that bobbed and swayed with each gust of the cold wind. I dropped to one knee and held up my hand. We ducked into a depression and once more gathered into an all-around defense.
“Okay, Mel – this is your spot,” I whispered. “Set up the 60 mm mortar just above us, and, once you hear our rounds land, take out whoever is on the bridge.”
She nodded. “What about that foot patrol? They’ll be able to spot us from the sound.”
“Trust me -they’ll come crashing through the bush once the shooting starts. At that point, it won’t matter if you open fire on them with your personal weapons – and once Sid starts firing, they’ll be looking for the muzzle flash from our machine gun, not you.”
“Let them come,” Sid rumbled.
I glanced at Sid and almost felt sorry for that patrol if they decided to try and take him out.
“All right,” I whispered. “I want rounds in the air within thirty seconds of hearing the first blast from our mortar. You’ll cross the bridge only after I send up a green flare.”
“And if you don’t make it?” said Doug. “What then?”
“If you don’t get the signal you’ll gather at the ORV, just like we rehearsed, and hustle your asses back to the hide. The next move will be up to you. But that won’t happen. It simply can’t.”
I tried to put some conviction in my voice, for effect – everyone needed to believe our raid would be successful. I was counting on the confusion a series of well placed explosions would bring about. We had excellent concealment – our fire teams were portable and could shift their firing positions to avoid detection.
This
had
to work.
“Good luck, guys,” I said, motioning for Sid and Cruze to follow me out of the depression and on to the next firing position. I didn’t bother looking back, although I knew full well this might be the last time any of us saw each other. Strangely, I felt a wave of peace wash over me. I don’t know why it happened – I should have felt terrified, but I didn’t. It might have been because I knew what each person in the group was capable of when push came to shove – or possibly it was just a sense of relief at finally confronting Sunray’s people. The prospect of a direct encounter had been hanging over us like a death sentence from the moment we set foot in Eden.
After a few minutes of walking, we rounded a series of boulders. Below us, near a modular tent in a thicket of poplar trees, I could see the glow from a large bonfire. We ducked down underneath a pair of logs that had fallen onto each other, forming a near-perfect A – beneath them was flat, snow-covered earth. I held out my hand and spread my fingers wide as I looked down into the coulee. This was as good a spot as any for Sid to set up the gun. I carefully opened the tripod and the giant Newfoundlander inserted the receiver group. He handed me the five belts of linked ammunition and I quickly laid them in neat rows with the projectile ends pointing down range.
Sid dropped onto his belly and opened the receiver group as I handed him the first belt. He placed the rounds inside, and then quietly closed the receiver.
“Ready,” he said firmly, gazing down at the compound. “I’ve got a wide arc of fire here – I can cover the bridge, all the way to past the modular tent.”
I pointed to the razor wire compound and the civilians as I handed him the night vision scope. There were all huddled, again, around a small fire. Behind them were the trio of creeps. “This is what we’re up against,” I whispered. “I wish I had someone to feed you belts of ammo, but you’re on your own, Sid. I’m sorry about that.”
He peered through the aperture. “
Jesus
… what kind of place is this?”
“I don’t know, man,” I answered. “Maybe it’s some kind of twisted new world order or maybe Sunray is just plain freaking insane. But you know what to do when the shit hits the fan. You understand now why we need to save those people?”
He flicked off the switch on the scope and handed it back to me. “Yeah – I get it. Don’t worry – I’ll make sure the covering fireworks.”
I nodded. “Good. You’re the anchor for this action, Sid. Tell me I can count on you.”
He cocked the gun. “You can count on me, Dave. And look … I’m sorry about how I’ve been the past couple of days. I’m sorry about everything … I truly am.”
I was about to say something to make peace with Sid but there wasn’t time. Instead, I gave him a pat on the shoulder and motioned for Cruze to follow me. We ducked under the pair of logs and trudged on, being careful not to silhouette ourselves. We were going into the belly of the beast. Our firing position would be the closest of all three. After about 10 minutes of sneaking through the thick undergrowth, I spotted the main roadway as it snaked down the coulee, 300m to our left. It leveled out into an S-shape surrounded on either side by waist-high grass. Ahead, I could see the bridge, with a pair of sentries walking around the perimeter of the razor-wire gate, so we doubled into the grass and leopard-crawled up to the edge of the river. The rushing water helped muffle any sounds we made as we set up the mortar. I carefully laid out a dozen 60 mm rounds on the ground next to the base plate and prepped them for fire as Cruze lined up the aiming line with our targets. She quietly dug the base plate into the ground as I peered out, using the night vision, to estimate the distance, then adjusted the increment charges on each bomb’s tailfin assembly.
The entire compound was in front of us, with the light tanks smack dab in the middle. I watched in silence as half a dozen soldiers warmed themselves around the huge bonfire next to the modular tent. One of the Coyote light reconnaissance vehicles was missing. I peered up the road leading to the eastern edge of the coulee in search of tire tracks or movement, but there was nothing.
“They’re down a recce vehicle since this morning,” I whispered as I handed the scope to Cruze. She peered into the aperture.
“Six guys by the fire. Two on the bridge acting as sentry. I don’t see anyone that looks like they might be you-know-who.”
I nodded. “We hit them hard and hit them fast. First rounds right onto that bonfire – if we’re lucky, we can take out all six of them with a couple of shots. That’ll get the guys on the bridge moving, but Sid can take them out. Once they’re down, we’ll double across the bridge and secure the other side. I’ll send up the flare and we’ll try and use fire and movement down that track to the compound. You ready for this?”
Cruze gripped the mortar tube tightly and clenched her jaw. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Eight soldiers were about to die. I didn’t care – half a dozen civilians were trapped in a pen full of creeps. Sunray was nowhere to be seen, and we had the tactical advantage.
It was time to avenge Kate.