A Private War (18 page)

Time passed quickly as Gaylon, Kate, and the others got re-adjusted to living in Redway. And they worked hard building stronger walls, defenses, and additional watch towers overlooking both Redway and also sites where a wide view of the surrounding areas so as to made a longer warning time should it be needed in case of attack. Kate was not allowed to work in the deep cold for fear of hurting the baby. So, she worked either in the kitchen with Sally or on the radios relaying messages to other towns, construction crews, farms, and the few Army or Paramilitary units still in operation. Those contacts were getting fewer and fewer as more groups attacked food warehouses and support camps. The cold had driven most of the Pirates deeper south but a few still found themselves near a juicy food warehouse or grain silo that was not protected enough to withstand the massed guns of determined raiders. Samuels was saddened to hear that the steamboat that was their salvation had been run aground and burned by riverboat Pirates near Nashville after delivering badly needed supplies to the surrounding towns. It seems that the saying that “no good deed goes unpunished” was truer then he cared to think about. He only hoped that as more and more people banded together to restart civilization that they could rebuild the steamboat lines of the past. As many river towns along the Mississippi River around Wabasha, MN and others were founded during the steamboat days and they helped to expand the ideas of trade and exploration across the upper Midwest. The same ideas could make the future a better place too. Samuels reached into his desk and re-read the report that Kate had placed on his desk a short while ago. Spotters had reported that a large column of trucks and snowmobiles were seen moving up the frozen river and seemed headed toward points north. As the only town still surviving within 100 miles he knew that Murdock must be back. He walked over to the radio station and asked Kate to give a call to Gaylon and John and have them return to base.

Gaylon and John Peters lay in the deep snow and watched the movement on the ice from their high viewpoint on the bluffs overlooking the frozen Mississippi River below Kellogg, MN. Peters used a high power spotting scope to watch as teams of men moved across the ice to insure it was thick enough for the heavier trucks and sleds.

“Gaylon, that ice is just what they need to move this high up the river. And I don’t see any way we can slow them down too much. Best we can do is some long range sniper work to make life terrible for anyone seen moving around. But, that will only delay them for a few hours at best as they will just move after dark when we can’t see them. Samuels could move a couple of the 105 Howitzers atop Bloody Hill and drop some HE on them and the ice. Might kill a few that way but that ice was measured at 32 inches thick last week when some guys were out ice fishing on it I was told. Must be even thicker now as we are even colder than this time last week. Even a 105 can only do so much and we may need those shells soon to slow them down once they land.”

“Yes, I agree. Let’s get back to base and let Samuels and the others know what we are seeing. And we’ll let the backup team take over watching from here.” Gaylon said as he waved two other men after they had moved out of sight of the river.” Josh, you and Bill stay here and keep an eye on that they are doing down there. Your radios are set so that only a correct tone will key the receiver, same as the transmitter, so we should be ok but in any case keep it short and do not say what your position is as they could be listening too. Good luck!!”

Gaylon and Peters rode back on only one snowmobile so that the two spotters would always have a backup machine in case the one they rode in on didn’t start. Peters also had left a number of self heating heater packs and some chemical hand warmers that he had kept in his coat. It was -20 degrees below zero and the spotters needed all the help they could get to stay warm.

Kate handed Gaylon and John a cup of hot soup to help them warm up as they came in from the cold. Ice had frozen on both Gaylon and John Peters facemasks while long icicles hung from the area around their mouths. Taking off their gear, they both moved over to the woodstove to get some warmth into their bones as well. Snowmobiling at -20 below caused what is called “wind chill” as the wind sucked any heat away from the body and they could die even quicker than if they had just been walking. Something every Minnesotan knew from the day they were born and was one of the proud facts when they met others from warmer climates. UFF DA, Minnesota!!

“You too didn’t leave anything frozen in the snow, did ya?” Kate asked.

“Well, why don’t you check for yourself as my hands are just too darn cold to know if my dick fell off or not” Gaylon popped out with, “let me know what ya find!”

“Oh, I think you are just fine for now but ask me again later and I’ll double check!”

“Get a room,” Samuels said under his breath, then broke in, “Let’s hear the bad news first, as we could sure use some good news on top of this disaster.”

“Yeah, it’s has to be Murdock. He is the only one we know of who can get together that much men and machines. The bad news is that we can’t really stop him from landing at Kellogg and that area. The landings at Sand Prairie and up the river are available for them to come ashore but do not support the need for them to move heavy trucks and sleds. They may land at Wabasha as the area is on the highway and they could use that to make up for the loss of time by landing around Kellogg and then right up Bloody Hill and right into our front door on Hwy 42.” Gaylon stated, “We may get lucky in that they may sack what is left of Wabasha looking for additional supplies before then heading out. And we have already stripped that town bare and moved all the survivors up here just because of that fact. So, we may have a few days to setup ambush sites and drop some trees to slow them down, and finally mine the approaches with everything we have. Peters will take his team out tonight and get as close as he can to see if he can get any intell and also to leave as many surprises as possible. We’ll meet up with them at a later date.”

“John , are you and your men ready for something this bad? The temperatures are still dropping and that will make everything painful and dangerous to the max. Local weather guys are saying that the Dew Point readings are showing possible temps of -34 below zero tonight and clear skies. So make sure you guys have the best cold weather gear we have and get the rations and heat tabs that will give you the most energy,” Samuels explained, “and stay warm!”

“Yes, we know what to do and I already have gotten the team the best cold weather boots etc we have. We’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, right…”was all Kate said.

The cold icy wind cut right through the winter coat that Alex had found along the way as they traveled north up the frozen Mississippi. He had lost most of the feelings in his hands and feet over the long forced march and there had been little warm food to keep him from freezing all together. Even Murdock was not enjoying the cold as he roared back and forth on his snowmobile. This trip may not have been the best idea he had had but he planned to follow through with it.

“Come on, get moving! We have to make 5 more miles tonight so either get moving or I’ll shoot you right here!” he screamed as he shot past on his way to the front of the column. And as he reached a 4 wheel drive Van he slowed and the driver rolled down the window. “What are the conditions up ahead?”

“Team 1 has reached Wabasha and they report no movement sighted. Team 2 and 3 are scouting the landings right now but no problems have been noted. It looks like they are giving us a clear and uncontested landing. Team 4 does say that the area by the bridge is free of ice and there is no possible way to move farther north by that route. He saw a lot of Eagles flying around and he thought that was pretty cool.”

“How sweet, tell him to get his ass moving up to Highway 61 and report on the road conditions. Send in two more teams and see if they can get some of the county snowplows running to clear the highway back to Highway 42. So, we can start moving up that damn hill (i.e. Bloody Hill).”

“Yes, sir!!” Murdock looked toward the river bluff and continued moving his men forward.

John Peters could see the exchange from his perch on the Wabasha Bridge and he cussed the bitter cold as it fogged up his spotting scope eyepiece. He had made up a little heater rig using batteries and some electronic resisters that wrapped around the eyepiece barrel. But the intense cold was discharging the batteries faster than the resisters could warm it. As just the heat from his eyes could cause water to condense that then froze on any glass or metal parts. But, it worked long enough for the two new patrols to break off from the main group and roll up a small boat landing and head farther into town. John clicked his radio twice to let his men know that two more teams were headed towards their position. Then he used a lens cleaning rag to clear the ice off the spotting scope and watch for further movement of the long snaking column.

It didn’t take long for Team 5 and 6 to find the County Maintenance yard and as they checked to see if there was any addition fuel available for the diesel trucks, they walked right past a small black package taped to the side of a 5 gallon gasoline can sitting in a corner. And from that a thin black thread ran to the front wheel of the second truck and when broken by a team member as they walked past, a small timer started running down on the black package. The first truck had just started when a massive blast tore off the big roll up doors and threw pieces of metal and bloody rags into the street. Within seconds the trucks and the entire building were burning. No one was going to use any equipment today.

Peters smiled when he saw the massive fireball light up the afternoon skies over Wabasha. The shock wave ran through him and it echoed back and forth over the river from river bluff to river bluff. He just loved it when a plan came together. As he turned back toward the truck column he could see someone jumping up and down and waving his arms.

“I guess Murdock is a little pissed off! I wonder why?”