The Fall of America: Enemy Within (Book 3) (21 page)

“Come on, Margie.” Tom said as he stood and slowly walked to the men, his finger on his trigger.

No resistance was offered and all four were soon hog tied and lying on the highway. Sandra neared and said, “We have two dead, one of which is Colonel Williams. The other is a man from Willy's cell named Benson. Both were killed instantly. We have two flesh wounds and neither are serious.”

“Tom, take care of the prisoners and we'll take them to the spot Willy had prepared.”

“I hear you.” Tom replied.

“Margie on point and Esom, you bring up our rear.”

At the arranged spot for the crucifixions of the Russians, all was prepared, except they had two more crosses than needed. More than once John had thought of stopping and shooting the men in the back of their heads, but he felt he owed this final act to Willy and his memory. After all, Willy had ordered this done.

“Who will nail these men to the crosses?” Sandra asked, detesting the whole idea.

“I'm in charge,” John said, “so I'll do the nailing. However, Tom, I want you to tie each man securely to his cross before I lift a hammer. I want you to tie their wrists, forearms, chest, knees and ankles securely around the cross. I suspect the screams from the nails entering a hand will make the others hard to control.”

“Hell, I'd guess so. I know you'd have a hard time with my ass if you had me as a prisoner.  Esom, bring the Russians to me one at a time. Let me gag each of them before you start or they'll raise holy hell screaming.”

Each man was tied to a cross and then John picked up the hammer and moved to the first man.  Turning his head he said, “Esom hold his arm tightly as I drive a nail through his palm.  We'll do this hand first and then the other.”

The Russians eyes were huge when he realized what John had in mind and he kept trying to speak as he shook his head violently. Ignoring the man, the first blow of the hammer drove the nail through the man's hand and into the wood.  It only took one more hard strike to make the nail head flush with his victims palm. The other hand was more work, because the Russian kept balling his hand into a fist, but a quick blow with the hammer stopped all hand movement. A muffled scream was heard as the second hand was nailed in place. His feet were crossed and a single long nail, driven through both feet, secured him.

“A crucifixion will take days to kill, so how do we speed up the process?” Tom asked.  “I mean, if the Russians rescue them in a day or so, all our work is wasted.”

“We'll open their bellies. Just slice through the skin and leave the inner organs alone. I think drying out and the resulting septic poisoning will kill these men.” John said.

“Damn, John, that's cold!” Sandra said from his side.

“As much as I dislike doing this, I'm following orders.”

“Bullshit, because you're in charge now, and
you
decide what is done.” She almost yelled at him, obviously pissed.

“Okay, I'm in charge, so Esom do as I ordered. This is being done in Willy's honor, like it or not, Sandra.”

She turned and walked away.

The four Russians were soon opened up like Christmas turkeys, with rolls of intestines hanging loosely from their bellies, as John squatted at the ground beneath them, praying for forgiveness. What he'd told Sandra was true, but with the death of Colonel Williams, John discovered a deep hatred for his enemy. He would no longer treat any Russian as human, but as vermin that deserved the most horrific deaths. When Willy died, John lost more than a leader, he'd lost a good friend.

They walked to the hanging Russians and placed a sign on the man on the end. Willy had written in Russian, “For every way an American dies, Russians will die the exact same way. For every American that dies, ten Russians will die. God Bless America!”

Standing, John said, “Okay, Tom take point and get us back to the garage. It looks like the Colonel back at camp is now in charge. Margie, bring up our rear.”

Back at the garage, the Colonel listened closely as John explained what had happened, and the old man didn't speak or interrupt. When John finished, the Colonel said, “While I disagree with torture, I think it has a place in our current battle against the Russians. They are a vicious enemy and we must meet force with force and torture with torture. It may be the only way to stop them from torturing more of our people, until we can break them free.”

Sandra, who'd been quiet on the walk back, now spoke, “Colonel, I disagree with you and John, about the torture, even though I can understand your thinking. In the future, Russian soldiers will fight to the death, rather than be taken prisoner. If they know they'll be tortured to death and not shot, what have they got to lose?”

“That may be true, my dear, and personally, I don't give a damn what the soldiers do.” the Colonel said and then looked at his top Sergeant.

Top shook his head and said, “I dislike torture too, but it has it's place at times, like when you need information to save lives, when you may be facing a serious threat, or in a case like this, where the enemy started it.”

“Top,” Sandra said, “you sound like a little boy. He started it is a childish response.”

“Sandra,” Top said, “I'll let your comment go for right now, except to say we must meet our enemy head to head no matter what the Russian bear does next. As Willy said often enough, 'Russians are animals in war. They are brutal and sadistic,' and I agree with him.”

“To win this war, we must be more vicious than our enemy.” the Colonel added.

“I left Esom positioned in the woods with a Russian sniper rifle to watch who comes for the Russians we crucified.  Since the spot is clearly seen from the highway, the next convoy that passes will see the men. He's to kill the senior man that responds and then melt into the trees.”

The Colonel laughed and said, “Well, someone is about to have a really bad day. Gentlemen and ladies, I have been looking at the map of the Edwards airfield and I have an idea that might ruin the day for many Russians.”

“Oh?” Tom asked with arched eyebrows.

“The Russians have their main fuel tanks on a slight hill. If we can get a man or two to the tanks, open the petcocks, the fuel will flow downhill. Downhill from the tanks is the main camp at Edwards, the flight line, hospital, and all repair hangers.”

“Kind of stupid to put the tank of a hill, right?” Sandra asked.

“I know little of petroleum, oils and liquid storage, or POL for short, but suspect they use gravity to speed up the refueling process. Now, the tanks are puncture proof, but they can be punctured, except what it really means is they have a low chance of fire. The term is used meaning if the tanks take a tracer round, they'll not explode. However, if our men cannot access the petcocks for one reason or the other, they're to blow the tanks with some C-4 explosive.”

“They're likely to keep the petcocks padlocked, Colonel.” Tom said, and then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“We have one pair of bolt cutters and that's it. They'll make short work of the padlocks, if there are any, so don't worry about them. My biggest concern is guards and if they have any security positions near the fuel tanks.”

 John said, “By God, I'd not want to be placed as a guard anywhere near a damned fuel tank.  During an attack you know they'd blow.”

The Colonel laughed and after he sobered said, “I don't think the guards have much say about where they guard. However, we may have to take the guards out before we can do anything to the tanks. I want the petcocks opened and left open, then the C-4 placed with a ten minute timer. Within ten minutes the whole camp will have fuel covering it.”

Margie said, “The resulting explosion will be something to see, don't you think?”

“It will,” John said, but quickly added, “but the important thing is we'll be teaching the Russians that no place is safe for them.”

“Exactly,” the Colonel said and then quickly added, “and our goal is mainly a psychological one. Make them feel unsafe, even when they are in fact very safe. However, if we can take out an aircraft or two, they'll be an added bonus.”

“The only problem with this idea, and I like it, is the simple fact the Russians have doubled the number of guards around the base.”

The Colonel grinned and then said, “We'll fake an attack in three areas before we hit the base.  Tonight we'll hit their main supply depot, which is located about a half a mile from the base. After that, in a day or two, we'll strike their trains again. Then, a week from now, we'll hit the gulag and we'll hit it hard. My intentions during the prison strike is to actually free some of the prisoners, if we can. I want them thinking we're really after more supplies and wanting to free Americans. They'll, or so I hope, move some men from the gulag to provide additional security to all three areas.”

“The key question is, do they have enough men to guard all locations securely?” John asked.

“That's an interesting question and right now, well, I have no answer.”

C
olonel Popoff was notified by a helicopter that four crucified naked people were on a slight hill near the highway to Jackson. He'd quickly called Sokol and confirmed that no Americans had been killed near the roadway.  

Strange,
he thought as he placed a call to Colonel Dubow.  

“Just a moment, Colonel, and I will let him know you wish to speak with him, sir.” a female Sergeant said.

A few moments later, “Good morning, Popoff. What can I do for you?”

“Boris, we have a problem. One of my Ka-60's reported four crosses with bodies hanging from them a mile or so from where our convoy was ambushed. We suffered six missing and two of those were in the fuel tanker, so we know what happened to them.”

“Did you check with Sokol to see if he had done the job?”

“He has killed plenty of them, but none near the main highway.  He concerns me, because with his heavy drinking, I am not sure he is able to remember much.”

“Take a couple of squads with you and check the area out. Keep a Black Shark near and use it if you run into any trouble. Let me know what you find.”

“Yes, sir,  goodbye.”

“Goodbye, and call me if you need my help.”

Calling Major Falin, Popoff said, “Meet me at my staff car in ten minutes. I have a strange hunch that four of the six men missing from the partisan attack on our convoy have been found.”

Within thirty minutes, two deuce and a half trucks, holding two squads of men and their gear were nearing the site of the crosses. Popoff and Falin were riding in a staff car, between the much larger trucks. Two motorcycles, one in front of the larger vehicles and one at the rear, were providing extra security.

Stopping on the main roadway, Popoff exited his car and stood in the warm morning sun. Falin, as the Junior Officer, was barking orders to the Russian infantry as they lined up for movement toward the hill.

Popoff pulled his pistol from his holster and then said, “Come to me, Major, so we can discuss this after looking it over with binoculars first. We can expect mines and booby-traps, if those are not Americans on the crosses. Be sure to wa—”

As Major Falin was looking at Popoff, a perfectly round circle appeared slightly above the Colonel's right eye and then the back of his head exploded. Bone, blood, brain and gore flew from his head to land on the nearby staff car. Falin attempted to move, but before he'd even realized Popoff had been shot, he felt a hard blow to his back. Falling to the ground, face down, he looked at the early morning dew on individual blades of grass and smiled, because he felt no pain. His world slowly faded from full light to darkness and then Major Falin died.

Sergeant Shubin, the senior man now alive yelled, “Sniper!”

After the men were hidden, one Private asked, “What do we do now, Sergeant?”

“Radio man, come to me.” Shubin said, ignoring the man's question.

A man ran to Shubin and fell to the grasses beside him. Taking the handset offered by the man, the Sergeant said, “Black Shark One, this is Camp Three, I have a sniper in the trees approximately two hundred meters west of my position.”

“Copy, Camp Three, a sniper in tree line approximately two hundred meters from your position.  Get your heads down, I am rolling in hot now.”