Moosehill Militia (Book 1): INFECTED (26 page)

Mac broke the spell by telling Mike the eight C-130 from Moosehill were on final approach. Great.

“Is the area secure Mac?” Mike asked.

“As far as we can tell. I’d like to get the Mechanics working on the first building first. We have enough pilots to move the Huey’s and the Kiowa’s. The rest will have to be a second trip.” Mac reckoned.

“I agree with you, so let’s get this moving. Mike yelled for someone to get those large overhead doors open.” He was told they needed the C-130 first. There were two generators to supply power to open those doors.

The Troops not out back on perimeter duty all watched the C-130 come in and land on the longest runway at 11,597 ft. They came in one by one with half a mile separation. At the end of the runway on the north side they taxied them down across the front of the building Mike and the soldiers stood in front of. The C-130’s then turned away so the rear ramps were facing the building about a hundred yards away.

The ramps came down and the other fifty or so soldiers came out and marched over to Mac. Who assigned them to perimeter duty, and some to go check out the far hangers where the C-5 Galaxies are parked. Also near the C-5 were eight Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. Too bad they couldn’t take any of these large aircraft. Spencer Airport was just too small to handle something that size. A hundred pilots also came down and went to help the thirty or so Aircraft Mechanics that Mike has had trained or scrounged from elsewhere.

Twenty minutes later Captain Fred Masters retired USAF, found Mike over by the control tower with a security team looking around that area.

“Colonel Mohan, I just spoke with the mechanics and the consensus is they can get the Huey’s and Kiowa’s ready for flight in around four hours. That’s just transport ready nothing else, they were kept in great condition here, but they all need a full workup back at the base. One thing we need fuel, everything else we need is right here in the hanger.” Master told Mike.

“OK Fred, I’ll get you the fuel. Get those birds in working order.” Mike ordered.

Mike already found the fuel depot and it had a million gallons of aviation fuel from what he could tell. Now he needed to find some fuel trucks, and get the whole thing working.

Four hours later, the four working fuel transports were taking on fuel from the underground fuel tanks, and transporting fuel to the Huey's, which were dragged out on sleds into the open.

“Mac send the helicopters out as soon as there ready, and send one transport back to bring the pilots back here after. We are not done by a long shot.” Mike told Mac.

Within the hour, sixty Huey helicopters and Ten Kiowa’s Scout Helicopters were in route back to Moosehill along with the C-130 to return them. The Mechanics and the rest of the pilots starting working on the C-130 Herc’s and the Chinooks.

By two in the afternoon Mike could hear the roar of the returning C-130’s engines as it came in low over the end of the runway and touched down then turned onto the taxi way and parked next to the other Herc’s. All seventy pilots came out the back and right back to work preparing the Chinooks and the C-130’s for transport. Mike thought he couldn’t be prouder of these men.

While Mike and some of the Troops were looking around they found several other finds. A warehouse full of Meals Ready to Eat or MRE’s. These were combat rations that came in one of twelve dishes with sides, they usually had a life of about five years. The dates on these cases indicated they still have four years left. Mike designated some of the Troops to start loading cases onto the birds.

The other find was an Armory for the base that was left open, who knows why. Inside was over two hundred M-4 rifles, forty Saw’s, sixty M60’s in door gunner configurations that must have come off those helicopters. Also several thousand rounds of ammunition for each and every weapon.

Mike had one whole C-130 dedicated to just the weapons and ammo. When the Moosehill C-130’s landed two of them carried two M113A2 for security. They had dispersed out with a squad on each around the perimeter. There has been no problems so far which he thought was unusual. Nothing ever goes this easy Mike thought. The thought was barely out there when he received a call on his radio that they have a problem at the front gate over by the C-5 Galaxy’s where one of the M113A2 was stationed guarding that area. Mike called for the other M113A2 in the area and a platoon of soldiers to head over to Eagle drive by the front gate. There is a large circle road called Ellipse Drive behind the gate. The APC calling for assistance was parked on that road behind the entrance gates to the base.

Mike, his aide Jake, and a two man security team hitched a ride on top of the M113A2 to the main gate. While they were driving over there he told Mac on the radio to spool up a Blackhawk and have it ready to intervene if necessary.

On arrival Mike and his crew jumped off. The two M113A2 were angled and parked with about fifty feet between them. The gate was around seventy feet in front of the APC’s. The Sergeant in charge of the six man squad from the first M113A2 came over.

“Colonel a Biker rode up to the gate and asked us what we were doing here. He told us to get out this was their territory. Then he roared off down the road. That was right before I asked for assistance. We’ve been hearing from that direction a lot of Harley Motor Cycle engines. I use to own one I know what they sound like. Whoever they are there gearing up to hit us.” He expressed to Mike.

“Okay, everyone listen up take cover behind the APC’s, gunners don’t shoot the 60’s until fired upon, then open up hell on them. Sergeant take you men behind our APC, I’ll be with the other. If they attack and if they fall back we advance behind the APC until the next intersection. Understood. Oh if this is what I think it is they won’t show any mercy. So don’t hesitate to put them down.” He told Sergeant Herb Ullirch.

Within a minute around one hundred motorcycles, mostly Harley’s came roaring down toward the gate and stopped at the last minute. Two bikers wearing leathers and some kind of rockers on the back. Mike didn’t care what gang they were in, they are predators taking advantage of the situation.

“Stop right there.” He called out from behind the front of the APC he rode up on.

“You have no business here so move on before you get hurt.” Mike yelled over to them. He could see that most of the bikers carried some kind of long guns. Some carried Ar’s some had shotguns and most carried semi-auto pistols.

One of the bikers at the Gate yelled. “I told you to leave, we gave you a chance now you’re going to have to pay. If you drop you weapons walk away from the tanks and anything else you have, you can live and walk away. Otherwise you’re dead.” The biker yelled.

The biker who spoke directed others to cut the gate and as soon as it opened they started moving forward on the bikes and on foot.

Shit Mike thought, there’s no way out of this. He fired one shot from his M-4 over their heads. The bikers unleashed a barrage of weapons fire back, most hitting the sides of the APC’s or missing. One round hit Private Jo Favorer in the left eye, she was looking around the back side of the APC that Mike was behind. He saw her spin around to the ground at that time but didn’t know the rest until later.

“Fire,” Mike yelled. The two M60 lit off firing a 7.62 x 51 mm NATO cartridge. The steady beat of the M60’s was joined by the lighter reports of the dozen or so M-4 shooting there 5.56 mm NATO rounds.

Mike watched his 5.56 rounds track into the body of the biker who was there spokesperson who went down. The bikers and motorcycles started to come apart as the heavier rounds from the M60’s started impacting them and their machines. The bikers at the back turned and started running away. Mike ran over and checked on the downed private. He saw that it was the female in the crew Jo Favorer and the back of her head was missing, blood was everywhere.

“Load up where chasing them. You stay with her until backup arrives.” Mike yelled out pointing to another private.

The two APC’s bust out the gate knocking part of it over and running right over dead and wounded bikers. The Troops were pissed just like Mike and didn’t give a shit.

The APC’s roared down James Street, the main road up to the gate passing three or four intersections. Several of the bikers actually turned their bikes around and rode out of there, they turned left on Johnson Road. The M60 gunners shot down at least seven or eight bikers on foot trying to run down the road.

The two APC’s stopped in the road and the Troops emptied out the back as the M60 gunners on top fired into the parking lot were the bikers ran too. There were thirty or forty vehicles and campers, Men were running all around and firing whatever weapons they had at Mike and his Troops.

“Get on Line.” Mike yelled at his soldiers. Once they were in some kind of line they started moving forward firing at any available target. Mike shot three other men and saw one of Sergeant Ulrich’s men go down, he didn’t know if he was alive or dead at that point.

He yelled several times. “Cease fire, cease fire as they reached the other side of the parking lot. With a trail of dead and wounded around and behind them.

“Sergeant Ullirch, see to your man who went down. Then we fall back to the APC’s until backup arrives.” Mike yelled out.

Backup arrived seconds later in the form of a Blackhawk helicopter with a door gunner hovering over the battle ground, and two more APC’s pulling up and disgorging another twelve soldiers or so, along with Sean Thornton, Charlie Company Commander.

Sean Looked at Mike and put his head next to his to be heard over the Blackhawk.

“She was dead before she hit the ground. Let me take over here you go back and make sure it’s worth it, get everything we came for.” Sean told me.

Mike nodded his head. “Okay, find out from anyone still alive who they are? Where they came from and how many?” He told Thornton.

Sean only nodded in return.

Mike hopped on one of the APC’s and had it take him back to the runway where the C-130 were parked. On the way back they picked up the body of Jo Favorer and her guard. Mike brought the body back and loaded it into a C-130 with dozens of witnesses, word spread quickly and everyone redoubled their efforts to get the job done.

Within hours fifteen Chinooks helicopters were lifting off full of more ammo and weapons taken from the Westover Armory, the C-130’s were loaded with every spare part they could move and every other conceivable supply including more MRE’s, a dozen Hummers that were on the base and around three hundred more civilians that made their way to the base, spaced out amongst all the aircraft that were left after the firefight between Moosehill Troops and the biker gang. Soon all the aircraft were ready to go. Including seven C-145A Sky Trucks and four Fairchild C-123. It is a testimony to the hard work and dedication of these men that every aircraft was going with them. At five p.m. Mike in his Blackhawk was the last to lift off.

All the aircraft were staggered and heading directly to Moosehill base. They were alerted and ready to receive them.

Mike called Fred Master in Blackhawk two with Sean Thornton in it.

“Blackhawk Actual to Blackhawk two.” Mike called into the radio.

“Go ahead Blackhawk Actual.” Fred responded.

“I’m taking a little detour south for a few miles by the Smith & Wesson Plant I’ll be right behind you.” He told them.

“Roger Blackhawk Actual.”

Mike, his co-pilot, Jake and four soldiers in the back veered off to the south. He had an idea about checking to see what kind of condition the Smith & Wesson factory is in. He was thinking they make the M-4 there and plenty of other weapons too.

As Mike was getting closer to the location of the Smith &Wesson factory, there is a main Rail line that goes right by the Factory, He noticed three trains in a row stopped on the tracks around a quarter mile before the Smith &Wesson Factory. He dropped the Blackhawk down to tree top level and flew east to west a few hundred feet above the Train.

Mike couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Each Train had three locomotives and at least a hundred and thirty cars, he lost count. The cars had what looked like military armored vehicles on the flatbed cars. It looked like MRAP’s APC’s and Bradley fighting vehicles. What the hell were they doing out here he thought to himself. The crew could see a few dozen Infected around the trains.

Mike could picture it now. The Solar Flare killed the engines electronics on the Locomotives, the trains came to a stop and by this time the Infected were already wreaking havoc. A city like Springfield and there large suburban city’s surrounding it would be chaos, the crews probably never had a chance. This was a huge opportunity, he grasped.

After the encounter with the bikers, they had to get these and not let them fall into the hands of some other gang or organization that was out for its own ends. Mike was really surprised that they didn’t run into more Infected, the bikers solved that mystery he thought.

***

The same morning that British and American Marines were landing in Portland Maine and Moosehill Militia were raiding Westover Air Force base. Mac took Alpha Company and Delta on a planned mission to Auburn to hit BJ’s Wholesale Warehouse and Home Depot which were right there across the parking lot from each other. Park and Shop and TJ Max are right down the road also. There is another Walmart close by on the Auburn, Oxford Line, with miscellaneous other small store in the area. With all the forging raiding they have done in the last week since the Solar Flare. Mac has had mechanics, when there not working on the birds by passing vehicles electronics, mostly diesels, and mainly trucks strait body or TT units much easier to work with vs gas engines which have become so dependent on electronics. They did have some pre-electronic trucks that Mike and he were so fond of working on.