The Fall of America: Fatal Encounters (Book 2) (2 page)

The crew didn't land, and after about ten minutes they flew on. John stood, flipped the safety back on, and hung his weapon over his shoulder. “Kate,” he called out, “check the man and let me know his condition.”

She moved forward cautiously, as if she expected the chopper to return. Ten minutes later she neared and said with a flat voice, “He's dead. I stripped him of his weapon, ammo, and anything else he had on him of importance, which wasn't much.”

“Get us moving again and pick up the pace.  As you move, listen for aircraft.”  He turned to his dog, “Come, Dolly.”

As she turned Kate replied, “Will do.”

The remainder of the trip to the base camp was uneventful, yet stressful for all. They'd expected the chopper to return any minute, but the one attack was all they experienced.  John heard some gunfire off in the distance but let it go, because he had too many inexperienced folks with him to even think of attempting to help someone else.

Just a short distance from base camp, he stopped the group and sent Kate forward to check the place out.  John wanted to make sure it was safe, because they'd stirred up a complete hornets nest by returning the mutilated Russian officers, and revenge would be swift.  While he'd not agreed with Parker's decision to remove a body part each time Russian troops killed Americans, he'd been the commander and his decision was law.  John had hardened over the last few years and honestly couldn't say what he would've done in Parker's shoes.  

Kate quickly returned and said, “Looks fine.  Our guards are still in place, people are coming and going from the main building, so I think things are safe enough.”

“I'll enter alone, just to make sure.  If it's clear, I'll wave you in.  Willy wants us to break up into small numbers, no larger than ten people, because he's expecting the hunt to get hotter.  We'll wait here for him to return and then find out if he still wants to do that.”

“Okay, sounds good to me. I'll hold these people back and wait for you to wave.  What about the dog?”

“Dolly, stay with Kate.”  He commanded and the big German Shepherd sat, looking at Kate.

He moved forward slowly, searching for anything out of place. It was very possible the Russians may have taken the place over and then dressed their folks to look like part of the resistance.  He'd know as soon as he could speak with one.
There's a guard on the left, about fifty feet
, he thought, and slipped his safety off.

He neared the man and when he turned to see John, he smiled and asked, “Ya the last of the bunch? We have few of y'all already, but from the stories we heard, we lost a lot of folks.”

Obviously he'd seen the two inch yellow material still tied around John's sleeve.  He knew the guard was American by his Southern accent.  He was thin, like most of them, which was a good sign.  John still approached him carefully, because his trust in others wasn't what it once was.  It could be he was a redneck working for the Russians, so he'd take no chances until he checked the whole place and satisfied his concerns.

“Y'all have any problems while we were gone?” John asked.

“None, but did have a chopper fly over, oh, 'bout an hour ago.”

“Do you think the bird saw anything?”

“No, we were well hidden and if they'd seen anything, I think we'd have taken a few rockets from 'em, to tell ya the truth.”

“I need to enter, any problem with that?”

“None, have at 'er.  You'll find the same folks ya left here and nothin' has changed, but yer a cautious man and I respect that.”

He walked across the compound and into the building. Things were just as he'd last seen them and he recognized many faces. John walked back to the guard, waved his hand, and then said, “Small group coming in, so relax when you see them.”

“Yer an army man, because of the way ya checked this place out.  I'm James, but called Bubba, and spent a few years in the army myself, but it was a long time ago.”

“I was airborne.”

“Me too, until I got out.  I started to stay in, but got out and went to school on the G.I. Bill.”

John glanced at Bubba and guessed him on the high side of his fifties, lean, dressed in a mix of different kinds of clothing, and carrying a 12 gauge pump, with a 9 mm at his waist.  He looked to be an easy enough going man, but it remained to be seen if he had any sand in his craw.

The group followed Kate past Bubba and into the building, but Dolly walked to John's side.  

“Is Colonel Williams back yet?”

“Yep, but the last I saw he was calling some of the brass into a room for a meeting.  It's the same meeting room Colonel Parker used.”

“I need to get there, then.”

“Good luck in the coming days; it's goin' to turn ugly, real ugly.”

When he neared the room, a guard outside the door said, “Go on in, John, the meeting hasn't started yet.”

“Thanks, Fred.”

Dolly and John entered, he took a chair, while she laid beside him on the hardwood floor.

Willy was standing in front and when John entered, he'd nodded at him, and then waited.  Once seated the Colonel said, “Our mission was a success and our losses low; well, lower than expected. Since Colonel Parker was killed, I've taken command.  The Russian's will increase the tempo now and we can expect retribution to be brutal, fast, and with few prisoners taken.  We have embarrassed the great Russian bear and he's pissed.”

“Are we to still break into small squad sizes and move into the countryside?”  A man we all called Lew asked.  Lew was short for his given name, Lewis.

“Yep, but we're going to assign folks based on skills to individual units.  That means your current teams may be changed a great deal or maybe not at all.  I've made an effort to get a medic and sniper assigned to each group, but that may not be possible.”

“What about Tom and Sandra?”  John asked, and then continued, “Any word on them?”

Willy grinned and said, “The last word I had, which was on the trail moving this way, is both survived, but sustained injuries. Neither was injured severely, so relax. Over the next few days, we'll have more and more folks returning. Some are with injured folks, so they'll naturally move slowly, and others are making a few surprises for our Russian friends.”

Thank God she's safe
, John thought, and then smiled.

“Surprises?” Hudson asked. Hudson was a big man, well over six feet tall, 200 pounds, and wore his brown hair long, both on his face and head. John imagined during peaceful times he'd been well over 300 pounds, but food was scarce these days.

Willy smiled and replied, “Prior to the prisoner exchange some of our ammo folks removed the powder from some Russian bullets and replaced it with C-4, which will kill anyone who fires the round. I'm not sure how powerful a blast we'll get from one cartridge, but the brass was filled to the top.  If we happen to injure or kill more than the shooter, so much the better. Additionally, cases of Russian grenades had the delay settings changed.  Instead of the typical 3.8 second delay they use, they will now detonate instantly. This stuff has been placed on or near dead, and severely wounded Russians.”

John said, “So, you think they'll do like all military units and collect all the gear from the dead and wounded, that still looks serviceable, for future use, huh?”

“That's what we hope, because that was the idea behind the modified equipment.  It has to be rough for the Russians to support their combat units this far from home, so anything that can be picked up from a battlefield that looks good will likely be kept.

But, let me continue.  See, the special units that remained behind will do this and are to booby-trap areas outside the fighting area, too.  And in all directions, not just the direction we fled.  I'm hoping that'll confuse them a might when they try to figure out where we've moved.  That confusion will, maybe, give us some time to move.”

“What kind of traps?”  A small man John had seen often, but didn't know, asked.

“Toe-poppers
1
, pits with sharpened stakes smeared with human waste
2
, and some trip wires running across trails tied to grenades with zero delay fuses.  There are more, but that gives you an idea of the measures we've taken.”

“Shit,” Laura Jones said, “the folks we brought back here left a trail a blind man could follow.”

“Agreed, so we're moving the command center today, after we break into smaller groups. We will operate as small units, hundreds of small units, and hopefully frustrate the living hell out of the Russians.”

“Do these small units have any backup if shit hits the stump?”  John asked.

Shaking his head, Willy said, “No, John, you'll be on your own. We don't have a way to transport forces to a hot location in time to help anyone. We'll be scattered all over the place and it'd take too much time to gather response folks and then move to the location.”

“So, we're to booby-trap when we can, hit the enemy at every chance, and then run like hell, right?”  Laura asked.

“As much as possible, cause confusion, and inflict pain and death on them.”  Willy replied and then asked, “Any other questions?”

Silence.

“Okay, when you leave the compound today, make damned sure you pick up gas masks for each of your team members. We found a shit load of them when we attacked the base a while back, so they're Russian masks. Filters are limited to four per person.”

Lew blinked rapidly and then asked, “Do you honestly think the Russians will turn to using poison gas?”

Willy grimaced and said, “They already have, Lew.  G-2 reports poison gas being used in Newton, Mississippi, last week, with hundreds of deaths. I don't understand, not fully, why the attack occurred, but it did. Hell, there's nothing in Newton that would warrant the use of gas, unless the Russians wanted to simply run a test.”

“What kind of agent was used in Newton?”  Laura asked.

“Samples show a nerve agent of some type. We have some technicians working on it right now to break it down.  Keep your masks available at all times.”  Willy looked around the room and then asked, “Anything else?”

“When do you expect our injured to return?”  John asked, anxious to see Sandra and Tom.

“Our injured are expected here within the hour and your team can wait to leave if you want.”  He gave John a big smile, knowing he wanted to wait. He continued, “Reports indicate Tom and Sandra had injuries to their arms, but that's all I can tell you at this time, John. It was reported their wounds are minor, so relax a little.  Oh, and by the way, both of them will remain on your team. Since there are no more questions, all team leaders need to take a look on the wall just outside the door, to see if you'll lose or gain members.  Dismissed.”

Leaving the room, John noticed his team was unchanged, with the exception Kate was now officially his sniper.  Sandra was their medic, so they were good to go in his view, and they'd picked up two new people. He walked to the community bathroom and scrubbed the camouflage paint from his face, ears, and arms. He'd wait to shower or bathe once relocated. More than likely, he'd end up washing in a stream, but that was fine with him.

He sat in the sun and watched the teams leaving, wondering how many of them would be alive a month from now. Few, if any, would be taken prisoner, especially if the Russians suspected them of being involved in the prisoner exchange goat roping.  As Willy had pointed out months back, the Russians are brutal and vicious in war so we'd give no quarter and expect none in return.  He looked down at the gas masks and filters thinking,
I hope we never run into gas.  It's some nasty shit and it's very likely folks will start dropping
and dying before we even realize it's around us.

He heard a noise and glancing toward the sound, saw a group entering the compound packing a number of litters and injured.  He spotted Tom first and then Sandra, who were walking and looking exhausted, so he stood and called out to them. Sandra ran into his arms and after smothering him in kisses she said, “Took some shrapnel in the fleshy part of my upper left arm.”

“And, you?”  He asked looking at Tom.

“Bullet burned a line almost the whole length of my right arm. We lost the machine gun, but we're both here to talk about it, so all is well.” Tom said and extended his right hand.

As they shook,  John said, “We've broken into teams or cells. We keep Kate, and have two new members, John Carr and Margie Lawder.  John and Margie are getting us some supplies and ammo. I have a gas mask here for each of us and four filters. Seems the Russians gassed the town of Newton, so we can expect them to keep using the gas if they feel they can gain something using it.”

It was then he noticed Margie and John returning with their hands full of boxes, so he said, “We need to give them a hand.”

They soon had the boxes on the ground and Carr said, “Most of it's ammo, but we've a little of everything from C-4 to Claymore mines. The rations are mostly Russian, but there are a few MRE's in the box, too.”

“What did you do in the army?” John asked.

“Infantry for a while, then communications. Call me Jay, as I don't answer to John much these days.”

“Jay it is then.” John then introduced everyone.  

Margie said, “I was able to get my hands on some brass wire, a spool of parachute cord, and some fish hooks. I'm retired Air Force, E-6, and taught survival for a few years. I also have some chemical warfare suits, but they're all large sizes.”

At that point, Kate walked to the group with yet more boxes. Placing them on top of the others, she said, “One set of BDU's for each of us, all large sizes, and grenades. They're giving stuff out so they don't have to hide it later. I already have my ammo, so I'm ready to go when you are.”

“Okay, let's go through this stuff, divide it up and be on our way. For those of you who do not know her, this is Kate, our sniper.”  John said.

John saw Jay's right eyebrow raise in surprise.

Twenty minutes later, they were moving away from the compound with Kate on point and Tom on drag. The weather was clear, with a few cotton balls of clouds to the west, but nothing that concerned them. John noticed no wind and the temperature was warm, but wasn't hot.  Dolly walked at his side, as if on a casual stroll.