The McClane Apocalypse Book 4 (41 page)

Simon is riding in the bed of Doc’s
pick-up truck with Kelly while Derek and John ride up front in the
cab. The night air is frigid, but he barely feels anything. His
adrenaline is high, pumping him full of a vibrant metabolic heat.
He doesn’t think about the family. He doesn’t worry about his
sister. His mind does not wander to Sam, as it so often does. The
only thing he thinks about is the mission. He’s reviewing the plans
over and over in his mind until they are melted into his
brain.

John’s voice comes across his ear
piece, “Five minutes out.”

“Wish the Death Stalker was here,”
Simon comments about Cory.

Kelly’s eyes meet
his,
and he
replies, “I know, brother. He’s a good fighter.”

Simon nods solemnly and tries to get
his head back in the game.

“Sound check,” Derek says into his
throat mic.

Simon repeats him, as does
Kelly and Wayne. Nobody else except Condo Paul has a headset.
Everyone has night vision gear, though, or they wouldn’t be on this
mission. They can’t afford to go haphazardly swinging a flashlight
around and alerting the enemy to their location. The men from their
small town have gear raided from Fort Campbell Army base. He, John
and Kelly had gone up there about three years
ago,
but the place had been
deserted. The men had been hoping to connect with others from the
Army. Not a soul was in sight. A few of them had left notes
explaining why they abandoned their posts. They’d all left for
their hometowns or to find their loved ones. Simon could hardly
blame them. If it hadn’t been for the promise of someday finding
Paige, he never would’ve come this direction so far east of his
hometown. Being a
sixteen-year-old
boy on his own in
Arizona hadn’t seemed like too brilliant of an idea, either.
He’d
initially
hoped
that his father would
make it home
to
Phoenix. That hadn’t happened, and instead he’d lost his
mother, too. He’s quite sure that his father is in the same place
as his mother. He’d been in England when the shit hit. It wasn’t
like he could catch a flight out.
Great Britain
had been nuked.

They’d found a few
provisions at the fort but not much. A couple thousand rounds of
.223 ammo, the night vision gear for their comrades in arms, some
disgusting MRE’s- which they’d promptly stored in a crate in the
basement for emergencies only- and a Hummer were the more relevant
items they’d found. The Hummer had actually started, and Simon got
to drive it back. They don’t use it too often,
though
because it’s a bit of a
gas hog, not as efficient as the old pick-up truck of
Doc’s.

John pulls the truck into
an alley and puts it in park, cuts the engine as the other two
vehicles do the same. They know the layout of this town fairly
well. They’ve been here a few
times
but not recently. Doc and Sue had
filled them in on
information
about areas of which they
weren’t yet familiar so they could make an escape plan if it comes
to that. Simon jumps over the side of the bed, landing on the balls
of his feet. Everyone meets up at the corner of Doc’s
truck.

“Everyone clear on what to do?” Derek
asks.

He gets nods of ascent or verbal
replies to the affirmative.

“Tonight we ring the bell of justice
on these fuckers,” Kelly asserts and gets a lot of “hell yeah’s” in
return.

“We’re about three blocks from there.
Let’s move out,” John states.

“Hooah,” Simon,
Kelly
and Derek
call out softly.

Kelly and the four men from
Pleasant View are moving in their own group. John and Simon are
leading the men from the condo units, minus Paul. The Johnsons and
Reynolds will work as a four man team. They do this frequently on
their own, so it’s not a good idea to split them up. And Condo Paul
and Derek are on their own. Their positions will be taken up at
higher elevations for sniping at
first,
and then they’ll join the
skirmish. For communication purposes, Paul has been given the
headset and throat mic that Reagan had worn years ago to help out
on the raid of the neighbors when they’d
been
overrun.

They move out, some in one
direction, some in the other. Paul and Derek will be taking up
spotting positions for the time being, watching the front and back
exits of the building. About a block from the store, Simon’s group
pauses to scout for a rooftop sniper or movement. None is
discovered. Derek and Paul will be watching their
sixes
now so that
they can accomplish phase one of the mission. They slow jog to the
back of the Target where John and Simon split away from their
group, leaving them to wait
behind
the cover of a
building
and two
knocked over dumpsters. The four men fan out so as to provide cover
fire if needed.

“No security detail on the roof. All
clear,” Paul says through his throat mic.

“Roger that,” Kelly returns for the
rest of them.

When Simon and John get to
the back entrance of the retailer, they ignore the closed
garage-style
doors. John reaches for the handle of the
man
door,
but there
are
a chain and lock covering it. Simon
quickly whips out a set of bolt cutters from his pack. He crimps
down on the lock and snaps through the tough steel. John pulls the
chain away and lays it quietly on the cement. Surprisingly the door
pops open
easily
enough with a gentle tug as nothing else on the
other side is keeping it from being opened. They creep inside,
sweeping left and right and spreading out.

“Clear,” John whispers.

Simon muzzle sweeps his own area and
repeats, “Clear.”

This storage room is much
bigger than Simon would’ve thought. Shelving units are knocked on
their sides, some in a domino effect lying against others. There is
literally nothing left of the retail giant’s overstock. Every
available area is cleaned out, which makes it easier to do a quick
sweep. Also, no people reside in the rear part of the store, which
makes phase one easier. He meets back up with John at the swinging
doors that lead to the
store
floor. Simon places two rubber
doorstops
under the threshold
of each door so that it cannot be opened. They do this so that
their enemies will not be able to get away from them after this
starts.

A whoosh and a solid thump sound
behind them outside of the building.

“Target down, rear entrance still
secure,” Derek comes across their headsets.

John’s brother is set up at
an angle near the back
entrance
with his silencer-equipped
rifle, but far enough away that he won’t be in danger of being
shot. He and Paul will watch both
entrances
until John has this one
secured. Then Derek will move forward toward the front, providing
cover fire in the same manner he’s just done.

“Roger that,” Simon whispers back to
Derek through his throat mic.

He and John exit through
the
man
door again where they are met by two of the men from their
group. This is a damn near impossible task they are up against.
It’s not like clearing a single house or a building occupied by one
family. This is a full-on military assault on a crowded retail
store full of possibly more than fifty men with hostages. This
could potentially turn chaotic and hectic very quickly.

“Got it?” John whispers.

“Yep,” Roy replies.

He’s a good man who has a
family and lives within Pleasant View’s city limits. He
has
no military
experience but used to hunt, never missing an opportunity. He is
broad-shouldered and built like a bull.

The big man hands John a
piece of heavy steel pipe that he was left to scout around for in
the alley by the dumpster. John slips the thick
pipe
through the handle,
further preventing the rear exit of a hasty, panic-ridden freak.
Now the only way out is
through
the front where Condo Paul
should already be in
position
.

Simon
hand signals to the group to move forward. He and
John lead the way. Everyone in their group wears body armor, care
of the Fort Campbell supplies. It’s not full-proof. A few years
ago, they’d lost a trusted friend from town, a former sheriff’s
deputy, who’d been killed on a supply run that he’d taken,
a run
that John
and Derek had warned him not to do. He’d gone anyway and
been killed
.
He’d
been
wearing similar body armor.

They jog quietly to the front of the
building, passing a dead man on the ground. Simon lithely hops over
him and continues on. This is probably Condo Paul’s handiwork. He’s
a great shot and a deadly sniper.

Two men come
at
them from their
left, and he and John take aim and quickly disable them. However,
one of them has gotten off
a
round
. It wasn’t silenced, so it could
likely alert the rest of the fifty men inside to their presence. It
sounded like a 9 mill, and Simon notices the fallen man’s
semi-automatic pistol on the ground near him. It was loud enough to
awaken people. No time to lose, they pick up the pace. A softer
ping tells him that Paul has taken someone else down, followed by
two more
pings
and the dull thuds of bodies slumping to the concrete. He’s
not one to miss, so Simon’s confident that three more men are dead.
They reach the front of the store, stay low to the knee wall and
climb inside over the broken glass of
a huge window
. The whole team moves in.
Kelly’s group mimics them from the other side.

Simon spots two men off to his right
near the restroom sign and speedily takes them out, head-shots to
both. Inside the building, the sound is louder than he’d care for.
It’s too late now. The fight is on. There is light, either from a
campfire or a torch of some kind coming from the far right corner
of his vision. Shadows dart around back there.

One of the men from Kelly’s
group shoots another freak, hitting him in the shoulder. They
spread out, moving in two-
man
groups. That is everyone but
Kelly,
who will
remain near the entrance for a few extra minutes, giving Derek
enough time to come in and take up
position
. Simon and John move forward,
leading their team into the right half of the store. Kelly’s team
will work
to
their direct
left,
and everyone will hopefully meet in the back
middle, successful with clearing their sections.

They are immediately met
with gunfire, so Kelly gives a little back, laying down about fifty
rounds from the S.A.W. The red tracer rounds popping out every
fifth round cause the freaks to lose their nerve and start
scattering like rats. A woman starts screaming. Another follows her
lead. The
freaks
begin shouting to one another.

He and John and their small
group are in the women’s clothing department with little to no
cover, so they push forward. One of their
group
takes a bullet, but they
don’t completely stop. Kelly is still laying down the hate at the
front of the store, and apparently he’s having some success because
at least two men are shouting for help, shouting from pain. John
fires to their left, hitting another thug. Simon swings right,
covering them as their group helps their wounded comrade behind a
display case that used to house jewelry.

“Fuck!” Roy says through gritted
teeth. “Winged my leg.”

“Tie it off,” John orders hastily.
“Move it.”

They both squat beside Roy while the
others cover them with suppressive fire.

Simon whips a strip of material from
his cargo pocket and ties it tightly around Roy’s calf muscle. It
is Simon’s job to act as the field medic when they are on a
raid.

“I’ll cover you guys from here,” Roy
demands. “Leave me here.”

“Move out,” John commands to Simon and
the others.

Their group half rises and
shuffles forward. Simon signals to their
left
and the men spread out
slightly and move as one through women’s accessories. The S.A.W. is
silent, but Simon can pick up on other guns being fired. Derek’s
loud 30.06 is barking steadily, as well, without the silencer on
anymore. He’s in the building with them and should be set up over
in the far west front corner near the Starbucks. He’s not there for
a
latte
,
though. He’s picking off perps who are trying to either flank them
or sneak out the front doors or through the broken windows also at
the front.