Lone Star Odyssey: Decisions, page 15
His men stumbled to a halt, still not realizing what was going on. Confused by their leader's orders, one of the men continued to draw the concealed pistol at his waist. Five rifles spoke their message of death and all four men went down without ever knowing what had killed them.
Luci walked back around the corner of the building holding his shotgun in his hands. Danielle had never taken her eyes from the young man. He had turned at the sound of the rifle shots and watched as his men crumbled to the ground. His face was pale and his hands were trembling as he raised them over his head. Luci kept his shotgun pointed at the man's belt buckle. The man's eyes grew large as Luci walked over to him and stuck the muzzle of the shotgun into the man's groin. Luci reached out and snagged the pistol out of the man's waist band and stepped back.
Danielle stepped up beside Luci and asked the man, “What were you planning on doing here this morning?”
The man, so confident and in control five minutes ago, was in shock from the sudden change of events. He just stood there, mouth agape. Danielle turned away and said to Luci, “If he doesn’t answer in five seconds, just shoot him. I have things to do today and we have already wasted too much time on this asshole to begin with.”
Luci didn’t bat an eye, he just started to count down from five, “Five, four, three….” He stopped when the young man shouted, “Wait, I’ll talk.”
Danielle turned back to the man, who wasn’t looking quite so young at this moment. He blurted out, “We were supposed to take you prisoner. Then we would have used you to force your people to turn over all your food and weapons to us. The Professor said it would be easy. Crystal had already told us everything we needed to know, like where your food was stored and how the guards worked. Everything, she and Sam had been meeting us every few days and we were just waiting until you got everything planted. The Professor said why should we do the work when we could just sit back and let you guys do it for us.”
“How many are in this group of yours?” asked Danielle.
“I’m not for sure,” responded the man as he looked down at his feet.
“Luci, cut off his left ear the next time he lies to us,” said Danielle casually.
“Who are you people?” demanded the man. “Wait!” squawked the man as Luci drew a large bladed knife from a sheath on his belt. “There are about forty of us that work directly for the Professor. I’m not sure how many followers he has, but it has to be at least a couple of hundred.”
“Clarify your relationship with this Professor, and what is the difference between you and these so-called followers?” asked Danielle.
“We are his muscle that keep all the workers, his followers in line,” answered the man.
“You mean his slaves. That's what they are, isn’t it?” demanded Danielle. The man started to answer, but Danielle cut him off. “That was a rhetorical question, you idiot. Where is his headquarters? Oh, screw this. Luci, secure this asshole and let’s get back to our place to finish this talk. This place makes me feel vulnerable.”
Luci smirked at the man, “How good of shape are you in? Don’t bother to answer, that was rhetorical too. But it is about five miles back to our place, so I sure hope you can run in those shoes.”
An hour later, the small group stopped at the entrance to their community. Dismounting their bicycles, they pushed them through the obstacles. Once they had cleared the gate area, Danielle asked Luci to take the prisoner to the medical clinic to get him patched up. He had taken several bad falls on the way back, most of them to remind him to keep moving at a reasonable rate. Shit like that happens when someone’s hands are bound behind their back. Psychologically, this makes a person very vulnerable when you take away their ability to defend themselves. Between that and the stress of running all the way back, the man was begging for forgiveness and was willing to tell them everything they wanted. Danielle would check on the kids, then Luci and she could have a very serious talk with this man.
Later that night, Luci and Danielle were sitting at a table sipping their coffee while the man they had captured earlier told his story. Danielle was patient and she didn’t interrupt the man, she just listened and made notes. It boggled her mind that smart, educated people could fall so far, so fast. But the power of hunger was so powerful, especially when kids were involved. She knew she would do anything to protect her kids. There was nothing stopping any of these college kids from organizing and doing exactly what this so-called Professor was doing. And without being slaves to the whim of a delusional tyrant.
The man, whose name turned out to be John, was originally from Pittsburg. He had revealed the location of the Professor’s evil lair. This so-called-professor had taken over the Commons Building on campus as his headquarters.
Danielle was having a hard time accepting that her world had been reduced to some post-apocalyptic book, complete with its own evil bad guy. But she knew that in times of severe stress people would turn to whomever could improve their lives. The really sad thing was this wasn’t some professor on a power trip, this guy wasn’t or hadn’t ever been a professor. The only lab this guy had ever seen the inside of was an illegal drug lab.
John claimed to be one of this Professor’s lieutenants. He was responsible for helping keep the “followers” in line and to collect up new people to join the group. Before the power went out, the Professor had been one of the main suppliers of party drugs on the campus. Immediately after the power had gone out and the vehicles had stopped, everyone was partying as if there was no tomorrow. With no classes and not much law enforcement around to stop the parties. The parties had gotten bigger and bigger and more violent, until it became commonplace, with the strong doing whatever they wanted. The female students sought out protection and the Professor promised to provide that. Before long, most of them found themselves forced into slavery to be used by the Professor or his minions as they pleased.
She just about pulled out her Sig and shot this asshole when he began describing how the women were being treated. Of course, he claimed he was only doing it to survive. He claimed all of the downtown area was a war zone and nobody went there anymore. Many of the neighborhoods were closed off, just like their community was. But the Professor had plans to take over the whole area after the crops were all harvested. He had sent out teams to infiltrate the various different groups to find out their strengths and weaknesses.
John had gone on to describe how Crystal had really screwed up when she got herself and Sam kicked out of her community. The Professor had turned her over to his troops to play with when she failed her mission.
Danielle finally had enough and left the rest of the debrief/interrogation to Luci. John had begged her to stay as he was terrified of Luci. But he was so wrong. At the end of the day, John would be wise to hope Luci was dealing with him, at least then it would be quick. If she had her way, he would pay for all the pain and agony he had helped create. Yes, she thought, very slow and painful.
As Danielle walked towards her house, she thought to herself, we are going to have to do something about this Professor. Her next thought was, Talon please hurry up and get home.
Chapter 23
Talon climbed into the cab of the lead 5-ton truck. He reached for the safety belt, but realized that it probably would not reach around his plate carrier and combat rig. As the driver started the truck forward Talon waved one more time at Jake, Maggie, Diane, and Billy. Jake had been his usual stoic self, but Maggie had almost made a scene. Jake had finally pulled her off of Talon, gentle but firmly. Diane was her normal cold self, not that Talon could blame her after what she had been through. He had hoped that she would give Ben a chance but once they arrived at the Armory, she had withdrawn within herself. Talon prayed that at some point she would thaw a little and live her life as best as she could. Billy was Billy, he had begged both Talon and his mother to let him go along with the three men. When he couldn’t convince his mother, he had offered up his dog to go with and protect Talon on his trip. Talon had to explain to him that dogs do not work like that. The bond between a man and his dog was a lifetime commitment. Billy had accepted this explanation with grave sincerity. Talon always hated good-byes and this one was a little more permanent than most in his past. The chances they would ever meet up again was very slim.
The S-3 had suggested they use the 5-ton and livestock trailer last night. Jake and Talon had agreed. They didn’t want to take any chances, but even if they could get a ride out of town it would save them most of a day and get them across and out of the city. Jake had ordered the 5-ton and the one armored HUMMER with a .50 caliber M3 machine gun, to transport them one hour from the Compound. Jake had first offered to take them further but Talon had refused, knowing that he would be putting the men in those vehicles at risk. Those two working vehicles were worth their weight in gold and that wasn’t even counting the fire power they represented.
Talon quickly fell into the old habit of scanning for threats. While none of the Compound vehicle’s working out in town had been hit with anything bigger than a rifle round, there was always a first time. So he passed the time by scanning for threats from the 10 o’clock position to the 3 o’clock position, with the front center of the hood being 12 o’clock.
Sixty days. That was what they were planning for. Three legs, 20 days for each leg. With a little luck they would be at his house for Thanksgiving. While he was attempting to concentrate on the trip details, he kept getting pulled back to reality. Something was wrong, he just could put his finger on it, then it came to him. The streets they were traveling on were completely deserted. A chill ran through him as it reminded him of the old movie, “Omega Man”, with Charlton Heston. He sat a little straighter and intensified his scans of the area.
Ben took the passenger side of the truck bed and Mat took the driver’s side. They were both keyed up, although
Ben didn’t know if it was from excitement or from the two cans of Rip It power drink that he had this morning. Talon had inadvertently turned Mat and himself on to the power drinks. He had mentioned how the Stryker soldiers would always drink a couple before going out on patrol in Bagdad. He had also said that any chance they got they would buy all the cases they could when they traveled to different FOBs. Talon had mentioned this as an example of how not to draw fire when you didn’t need to. The Stryker soldiers would strap the cases to the external racks of their Stryker and the Iraqi Insurgents just couldn’t resist trying to shoot up their enemies' drinks.
Ben was glad that Mat had decided to travel with them. Not only had they been running buddies since Middle School, but he had been really worried about Mat’s mental state after his Grandfather had been killed in the fighting to take back the Armory from rogue DHS agents. The big plus was it got old really quick with just two guys, with one always having to be awake. That made for some really long days in the saddle. Ben turned his head and looked over at Mat. Mat had a huge grin on his face and gave Ben a thumbs up before returning to scan for any dangers on his side of the vehicle.
The ride turned out to be uneventful, but significant. It saved the group a full day of riding and a considerable amount of hills. The plan had been to stop at the Virginia border but the lack of movement on the road and the very few sightings of anyone, compelled the Staff Sergeant in charge of the convoy to press on. The convoy finally pulled over at an abandoned tavern about two miles east of Capon Bridge. There was a large wooded area just to the west of the tavern which was where the group would begin following Mill Creek.
The offload of the horses went smoothly and the vehicles didn’t waste any time in turning around and heading back the way they had come. Talon stood and watched the vehicles until they were out of sight.
Getting the pack horses rigged and lined out didn’t take long. They had been working with the horses every day for the last two weeks. At first the pack horses did not like being tied together, but after rigging them up and riding around the golf course several times, they quickly settled into their task. Diane and Billy had rode with them several times and Billy had protested the first time he had seen Talon lashing the pack animals together by using their tails. Talon smiled at the memory, he had been concerned it hurt the horses, but Talon assured him that it didn’t.
Turning around he faced Mat and Ben. “Well I guess we should get out of this open area. Check and make sure the pack saddles didn’t shift out of position during the drive and we will get out of here. I’ll take point, Ben you take tail end charlie, that way if we spot anything Mat can support with the long range rifle if we need it. Keep about ten yards between each of us. Any questions?”
Both of the young men grinned and shook their heads no, then they all began checking over the horses to make sure everything was riding correctly. After finishing their check of the pack saddles, Talon swung up into his saddle and made sure his lead line to the pack horses was tied securely. Keying the transmit button on his throat mic, “Comms check.” A few seconds later, he received, “One check,” followed by, “Two check.” Pushing transmit again, he asked, “Everyone locked and loaded?” as he conducted press checks on his rifle and pistol. He also checked that his TAC-13 was loaded and on safe before stuffing the shorty into the saddle scabbard mounted just in front of right leg. Turning to check, he received thumbs up from Mat and Ben. Talon turned his horse to the west and nudged him into a walk.
The group had gone less than two hundred yards before Talon led the group off the road and down the road embankment. Everyone knew what to do, as they had drilled the procedure for fence crossings many times over the past several days. Mat moved forward, dismounted and handed his reins to Talon. Moving quickly, Mat snipped the woven wire fence in a series of practiced movements before cutting the top two strands of barbed wire. The strands of barbed wire had enough tension in them to snap back out of the way as Mat cut them. The woven wire he just pulled out of the way and walked back and retook his reins from Talon.
Talon rode through the break in the fence and continued on for about 25 yards before pulling to a stop under a large oak tree. Scanning the area, Talon didn’t observe anything that stood out as a danger. He only had to wait a couple of minutes before he heard a double click in his ear piece, indicating that Mat was back in the saddle. As Mat had been designated the fence cutter, he had made several dozen lengths of wire that allowed him to field repair any cuts they had to make in fences.
Kicking his horse into movement, Talon led the way down the shallow creek bank and across to the west side of the creek. They rode slowly, allowing the horses to get used to being back on the trail. Plus Talon wanted to time their arrival at the bridge crossing to right before nightfall. This was just in case they had to evade any local forces that disagreed with their presence. He had established two rally points on the east side of the river and two on the west side. But he would make that decision if they were going to attempt to use the bridge or ride south along the river and swim the horses across once they scouted out the situation in town.
After walking the horses for about twenty minutes, Talon pulled up at the edge of a field. Up until that time they had been slowly weaving their horses through the trees. Talon swung down from the saddle and motioned for Mat and Ben to join him. As they came up, Talon asked, “How is everything riding?”
Ben spoke first, “Not bad, that new roan was a little hesitant at first but she settled down pretty well after about 15 minutes. She has been fine since then.”
Mat nodded along, then spoke, “My packs were fine, but my right hand is going to fall off. It’s already cramping from holding the lead rope. Any suggestion would be helpful.”
Ben sniggered, and Mat gave him a death glare. Ben couldn’t resist, “Maybe you should work out with your right hand instead of using your left all the time.”
Mat began to respond, but Talon cut him off. “When the terrain isn’t too rough, it's ok to take a half turn around your saddle horn and just kind of let it hang. Don’t tie it off, ever, because if shooting starts and that lead rope is tied off, bad things can happen very quickly. Everything from getting dragged out of your saddle to getting trapped between that rope and your saddle. Like I said, bad things.”
“Alright, let's get the horses watered and let them blow for a few minutes. Make sure your NODs are handy. It will get dark quickly tonight with no moon. We will be turning away from this creek and onto that powerline right of way at the end of this field. Remember, once we cross that bridge, we are taking the first left. We will be exposed for less than 1000 meters, so don’t screw around. I’m hoping there won’t be a bunch of people around. If a pack horse goes down, cut it loose and keep going. We can always pick up more equipment and supplies. Got it?”
Both Mat and Ben nodded and began leading their horses down to the water. After all the horses were watered, the group skirted the western edge of the field until they ran into the powerlines. The closer they got to town, the more nervous Talon became. The sun was almost touching the western horizon.
It didn’t take them long to cover the distance from Mill Creek to where the power lines intersected with Highway 50. Talon scanned the road from the edge of the tree line with his binoculars. There was still enough light for him to see the bridge at the far end of what passed for a main street for the village. There were several single and double-story buildings spaced out along the road. Dim light could be seen coming from a couple of the buildings. Talon didn’t like the setup at all. Talk about a deadly funnel. Was it worth the risk?
As he was thinking this, he heard a door slam. Turning his binoculars to the south, he saw a group of men coming out of a fairly good-sized building. Talon was able to count six people. All of them were armed with at least a long gun of some type. Most of them sat down on the front porch of the building while two of them began to build a fire inside a circle of cinder blocks.
Not worth it, thought Talon. Even if it takes us a couple of days to find a crossing, it’s still not worth the risk. Too many unknowns, too many guns, and these are not a bunch of punks that don’t know how to use what they have. And it didn’t matter if they were good guys protecting their town or if they were bad people out to rob any travelers. Bullets do not discriminate.
