Reckoning ~ Indian Hill 2 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (21 page)

“Harry! Burt! Put down those weapons now! I won’t say it again. Or I’ll shoot you myself!” the leader shouted.

“Corporal Jackson! Get the troops out here and keep these men company. This fine gentlemen and I are going into the store to talk business,” Paul said as he put his arm around the leader and headed towards the front of the store.

Corporal Jackson turned back towards the woods they had departed only moments earlier. “Bravo platoon! Front and center!” he shouted. And, as if by magic, forty or so well-camouflaged and heavily armed men came out from their hiding spots. All of their weapons were fully trained on the slack-jawed Guardsmen. The leader looked up at the roof with disapproval flashing across his face, as if to say, how could you let this force sneak up unnoticed?

Harry and Burt quickly looked at their feet, as if they were the most important things on the planet. Dennis was in as much amazement as the conquered. He had walked mere paces away from the majority of them and hadn’t noticed a thing.

“Paul, how much training did you do up there in Vail?” Dennis asked as he ran to catch up to his leader. Dennis’ respect for Paul had just grown by leaps and bounds.

“Enough, Dennis, enough,” was Paul’s answer. “Corporal Jackson,” Paul said as he turned his head around.

“Sir,” came the quick reply.

“Safe the weapons and redistribute them back to their former owners.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

The leader was hoping that just maybe they would live to see another day. The three men rounded the corner to the front of the store as if they were longtime friends and not enemies that, only moments earlier, were about to blow each others’ heads off. The leader saw that Paul was not bluffing. There were well-armed and well-disciplined men standing guard over the huddled masses in the store. The people were frightened, but otherwise unharmed. The leader’s wife looked up from the boy she had huddled in her arms. His heart sank. If he had done anything wrong that would incur harm to his family, he doubted if he could ever forgive himself.

“Sir, I don’t even know your name,” Paul said as he moved a pace or so away. That broke the man's locked gaze with his wife.

“Dom… Major Domino of the 12
th
Brigade, Massachusetts National Guard,” the man said as he squared his shoulders to the new usurper.

Dennis was just now catching up, trying to process how in the hell Paul had pulled this little mission off. He knew about the rat-sniffer incident, but this was pure genius.

“As you can see, Major, we have no interest in harming any of you. If that had been our purpose, not one of you would be standing.”

“You don’t understand, Paul… Is it Paul?” the major stammered.

“I prefer ‘Colonel,’ Major. Colonel Ginson of the 1
st
United Earth Marine Corps.

“I’ve never heard of them, Colonel.” The major had a difficult time labeling this kid as a colonel, but he sure planted a whammy on him.

“Don’t worry, Major. You will,” Paul said as he surveyed the survivors who sought refuge in the supermarket. They were mostly old and young, but they all could still serve a purpose. He caught himself doing that more and more; everybody became a pawn in his game. How could he use this or that person to his utmost advantage? And as for sacrificing a pawn now and again, well, that was part of the game too, wasn’t it?

“Colonel, surely you are aware that if you take this store, we won't be able to survive?” The major thought he might be whining a bit and he despised himself for that; he was thinking of his family though, who depended on him for their safety.

“So, that pretty much leaves you with no options, does it not, Major?” Paul replied.

Anger began to flush up through the major’s collar, but before he could begin his outburst, Paul interjected, “So that’s why I am going to offer you an option, Major.”

“I’ve got a feeling that this really isn’t an option.”

“Sure it is. You have the option of leaving here like a band of gypsies and hoping that the next supermarket down the road opens its arms to strangers, much like you did for us.” Paul quickly gazed at the major’s eyes. Shame registered all over them. So much for Sunday school teachings, the major thought. “Or,” Paul hesitated to gauge the man’s reaction.

“Or? Don’t leave me like this. You know you have us over a barrel.”

“Or you join us,” Paul replied as the man snorted.

“Join you? And your band of merry men? That’s pretty funny.”

“Good enough,” Paul said without a hint of being bothered by the slight. “Your men and families are welcome to all the food you can carry, but no shopping carts.” Paul turned to his men. “Get them up! Help them get some food and get them out of here.”

His men began to help some of the older people up.

“Wait!” the major shouted, bringing the men to a halt.

“What is it, Major? You’ve made your choice,” Paul said as he turned.

“Ah wait; I may have been a little hasty in my reply.” Paul completely turned to face the major. “What are your terms, if we stay with you?”

“Every one of your men, you included, will be demoted one rank. I will assign an officer to take command of your squad. You will obey his every command as if I issued it directly. If you cannot abide by these terms, or you disobey any command, I will cut the lot of you, women and children included, from this place.”

“Do you mind if I consult with my men, Colonel?”

“Not at all, Major, but please make it quick. I don’t generally like to be out in the open for any extended amount of time. If any of your men do not like this new arrangement, they are free to go, with as much food as they can carry. You have fifteen minutes Major. Sergeant Bolito, please round up the supplies that I requested earlier.”

“Sir, right away, sir.” The sergeant and a couple of men peeled off from the main group and headed towards the pharmacy for medical supplies. Paul was inspecting the store like a conquering invader, surveying his spoils like from the days of yore, when the major came up behind him.

Paul kept his back to the major, as he inspected a can of Dole pineapple. He peered at it intensely, as though if he stared at it long enough, it might yield all the answers he sought. Paul was tense; a lot hinged on the major’s decision, but Paul did his best to maintain the cool façade he had adopted since the whole, bloody mess began. Without confronting the major, since he feared that by turning to face him, he might give away his true feelings, Paul asked, “Your decision, Major?”

“Well, I can’t say it was easy or unanimous, but call me ‘Captain’.” Paul let out a barely audible sigh of relief.

“And what of the split decision, Captain?”

The newly demoted captain almost rethought his decision. Demoted by this snot-nose, he thought. It was going to take a little time before he got used to it. He had to look out for his family and friends now though; pride be damned. “Uh, there are five of my men who do not wish to stay, Colonel.”

“Do they have families, Captain?” Paul still hadn’t turned to face him.

“Three of them do, sir. Two just have wives and one has two kids.” Paul’s face twisted in agony. Had the captain stepped to the side, he would have seen the pain that contorted his features.

“Very good, Captain. See that those departing personnel are allowed to take with them all that they can carry.”

“Very good, sir.” The captain began to turn to say goodbye to some of his men.

“Captain, one more thing.”

“Sir?” The captain said as he turned back around.

“Ask them one more time.” This time Paul couldn’t hide it; pain mingled into his words, nearly strangling him. The captain didn’t understand his concern but he vowed to follow all commands.

“Sir, They were pretty adamant in their decision. I don’t see any of them changing their minds.”

“Captain, please just ask again. Thank you.” Paul walked back down the aisle, effectively blocking any more conversation on the topic.

“Very well, sir.” The captain turned to obey his order. Alarms began to softly chirp in the back of his mind but the captain could not begin to understand why. He shrugged it off to nerves.

Twenty minutes later, the five men, two crying women and one screaming baby looked like a shoplifter’s dream. Cans of food jutted out of every pocket. They looked like walking convenience stores, Dennis wondered where the Slurpee machine was. Even a couple of the younger babies’ clothes had beef jerky poking out. One baby was gnawing on the other end. His mother quickly grabbed it, fearing if the baby dropped it, she would be unable to retrieve it without spilling half of the booty she was carrying. The men shook hands with their friends and saluted their major. The women were hugging and crying.

“Sergeant Bolito!” Paul yelled. It wasn’t necessary; the sergeant was less than ten feet away, but Paul’s emotions were close to the surface at the moment.

“Sir, yes, sir!” the sergeant said as he ran over to stand in front of the general.

“Sergeant, I want you to get a squad and escort these people to the town line.”

“Yes, sir.” The sergeant went to call his first squad.

One of the men from the departing party approached Paul. He was a wiry man called Red. Paul thought, he must have received his nickname years ago, because the man was as bald as a cue ball.

“Ah, Colonel.” This man had an even tougher time calling Paul by his title than the major did.

“Yes, Sergeant Major,” Paul said as he turned to face the man. Paul had respect for this man. He was a senior non-com; one of the men who truly ran the armed forces. Sure, the officers made the decisions, but the senior non-coms were the ones that got down into the muck and mud and blood, and did whatever it took to make sure the task was completed… And correctly. Here was a man who preferred to go out on his own rather than take orders from someone whom, he felt, didn’t deserve that respect.

“Sir, we don’t need an escort. Most of us have lived all of our lives in this vicinity. We know where the town line is.”

“Sergeant Major, if it’s all the same to you, the moment you leave this parking lot, you become unfriendlies. This is as much for your safety as it is for my men. If one of my patrols should see you, they could possibly engage you.”

“We don’t need an escort, Colonel, we can take care of ourselves.” The sergeant major’s voice began to rise but he caught it before it peaked.

“Like you did in the store, Sergeant Major?”

The sergeant major’s jaw closed shut. Anger was beginning to boil over but he had too much military bearing to let the little punk under his skin. At least he hoped so. The captain had been watching the conversation from the start and had to stop himself a couple of times from interjecting. The alarm sound in his head got a little louder and the captain worked a little harder to quell the noise.

“Very well, Sergeant Major,” Paul said as he turned to Sergeant Bolito. “Sergeant, I want you to take this group to the Norwood line where you will complete operation ‘Raven Claw’ and return back to base camp.”

The sergeant’s face faltered for a fraction of a second, the captain thought his head might explode from all the alarm-clanging. Paul looked over at the captain who seemed to be roiling on his feet.

“Captain, are you alright?” Paul asked with genuine concern.

“All of a sudden, I don’t f-f-feel so good,” the captain stuttered.

“Corporal Dewey, get this man into the store and tell a medic to take a look at him.”

Corporal Dewey helped the captain back into the store. Paul turned back to the sergeant major and extended his hand. “Good luck, Sergeant Major.” The sergeant major did not so much as glance in Paul’s direction.

“Let’s go people!” the sergeant major yelled. The eight castaways left, flanked by fifteen of Sergeant Bolito’s best men.

***

When the group passed out of sight, Dennis came up to Paul’s side. He leaned in close to Paul’s ear. “I can’t believe you let them go,” he whispered.

“I didn’t,” Paul replied as he walked towards the store entrance. Dennis stood there for a few moments, trying to decipher Paul’s words. When he finally came up with what he thought Paul meant, he just shook his head. Nah, he can’t mean that, he thought and tried his best to shrug it off.