We Go On (THE DELL) (6 page)

"You got it. Do you want one of the trucks to drive you
back?"

I was already deep in thought. "No, I'll walk." I
turned and started across the parking lot toward the building. If I was going
to come up with a peaceful solution to this situation I needed to talk to Kat.
Dave was brute force. Jim Holley was the organizer. Kat was the diplomat. A
good leader doesn't have to know all the answers; he just needs to know where
to go to get them. Her counsel got me through a lot of rough times over the
last five years. If I could find a way to keep the bullets from flying, it
would be with her help.

Jim must have been watching out one of the windows and saw
me walking back, because he caught me as soon as I opened the door.
"What’s going on? Are they leaving? What’re you going to do?" he
rapid fired at me as I stepped inside.

"Jim, relax. We’re going to meet in the planning room
at midnight. Till then just keep everybody in the bunkers and quiet. If they
need stuff, let them go a few at a time and come right back. Be upstairs at 12.
We'll talk about it then." I could see he didn't like those answers but he
said okay and I headed for the Aid Station.

Kat was in the Aid Station. She sat in a chair talking with
Doc Groves and one of the nurses, a lady named Laurie Silversmith. They saw me
walk in. "How goes the war?" Doc asked.

"We're winning," I replied. "Doc, I need to
borrow part of your staff for a few minutes."

"Well, I think we can do without her for a bit. Just
make sure you feed her before you bring her back."

I smiled. "Will do, Doc." I held my hand out to
Kat and she stood, placing her hand in mine. I led her out of the Aid Station
and up the stairs to our room.

As soon as the door was shut she asked what was wrong. I
explained the situation, told her about the gang’s demands and the deadline. I
told her I wanted to end this without bloodshed. I said I needed to come up
with a plan by midnight as that’s the time I had set to brief the others on
whatever we were going to do. I also explained that I'd pulled her out of the
Aid Station because I wanted her help coming up with something.

She walked over and sat at the desk. I could tell she was
considering all the options. I knew how her mind worked. She would look at all
the factors, weigh all options, and then develop a couple of different courses
of action. Then she would look at the pros and cons of both courses and choose
the best one. I'd seen this dozens of times. While she considered, I walked to
the desk and picked up my note book and a pen. Kat’s a detail person and would
insist on me writing down her thoughts.

Finally she looked up at me. "You have to kill
them." I had been concentrating so hard on being prepared to write down
her detailed ideas it took a moment for what she said to sink in.

"Huh?" was all I could get out. I know I need to
work on my vocabulary one of these days.

My wife gets an exasperated look when she's talking and she
thinks I'm not listening. She had that look now. "I said, you have to kill
them."

"Kat, I heard what you said."

"Then why did you say huh?" she asked.

I was still in shock. "Because I'm in shock. I came to
you for advice on how to end this peacefully and you tell me I've got to kill
them! Pardon me but,
huh
?"

Occasionally she will take pity on me and describe in detail
a concept that I'm too thick to understand. This was one of those times.
"Scotty, sit down and I'll explain," she said.

I pulled a chair close and sat so we were knee to knee. She
looked me in the eye. "We know they’re willing to commit atrocities by
what they did to Nancy, right?" she said. I nodded. She continued, "They
know where we live now. Maybe they have for a while. They know we send groups
out to forage for food and supplies. Even if you succeed in forcing a peaceful
resolution to this situation, it's only postponing the inevitable. They will be
back. Next time they might want some of our supplies or some of the women. Or
they could just wait and ambush the foraging parties as they go out or come
back in. The bottom line is they won't stop. You have to kill them."

I let her words sink in for a few moments. "All of
them?" I asked. I know, I was being dense but hearing her explain in cold
hard facts that I needed to just face up to it and kill them had screwed me up.

She took it in stride, though. She patted me on the knee. "Yes
Scotty, all of them or at least most of them."

"Wow. Not what I expected form you, sweetie."

"You’re the one always going on about second and third
order effects. How if we do this, then this will happen and then that will
happen. I'm just pointing out what's going to happen if you let them walk away
from here in the morning. You know I'm right."

The more I thought about it the more I knew she was right.
She had neatly packaged her idea and then tied the bow on it by saying,
"This way we have the advantage. A time and place of your choosing. The
other way, they can hit us anytime, anyplace. They have the initiative."

"You're right. The only way to ensure we’re safe is to
eliminate the threat. We do it with the Stinkies every time we go out. This
crew is no different. I guess I'd better get busy and come up with a
plan."

Kat stood up, then leaned over and kissed me. When she
straightened up, she said, "good boy," and patted me on the head. 

She started toward the door. "Where are you off
to?" I asked.

"I'm going back to the Aid Station. You have planning
to do and Doc’s going to need me."

I did have a lot to get ready by midnight and I thought she
might be right about Doc needing her. My plan had better be good or Doc would
be very busy tomorrow.

I spent the next four hours studying a map and making notes.
I forgot about eating and only paused for a couple of bathroom breaks. I
stopped by the kitchen area downstairs on my return from the toilet and picked
up some coffee the ladies had prepared. It would be a long night for all of us
and they were keeping the pots going.

As I planned, I took into account our weapons and the level
of training we had been able to give the security people. I tried to keep the
plan as simple as possible and still accomplish the goal. I wanted to hurt the
gang as badly as we could and risk our people the least.

By midnight, I was ready. In the planning room, I had
already set up the map and had drawn some of the detailed plan on a white board
hanging on the wall. I had my notes and everything in order when Dave and Jim
came in.

First order of business was to get updates from my two
section heads. I let Jim go first and he went on in detail about where people
were stationed and what they were doing. He even gave me a run down on what
supplies and food stuff had been used during the alert so far. He ended with
what he considered to be shortages and added if we didn't resolve the situation
soon, we would be out of some seriously needed items. Another excellent reason
to end this as soon as possible.

Dave spoke next and described how he had our defense set up
and the rotation schedule so everyone got some sleep. He then told us what had
been happening across the road. It seems that our friends had decided to have a
little party. Dave said they had built a couple of fires and most of them were
sitting around the fire drinking and whopping it up. This was good news and fit
right into my plan.

With the updates finished, I went right into my plan and
started by telling them we were going to attack the gang at first light in the
morning. Jim immediately started to protest. His argument was my plan put our
people at undue risk. I pointed out he hadn't even heard my plan yet. Then,
it’s wrong of us to attack first without giving the other side a chance to
negotiate. I started to get tired of having to argue with Jim about every
decision that concerned security.

"Jim, I'm not asking your permission. I'm telling you
this is what we’re going to do. Now shut up and listen,” I said.

Jim crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, obviously
angry but quiet.

Dave had wisely kept his mouth shut, his eyes on the white
board. I could tell he had been trying to figure out my plan. With Jim's
moaning stopped, at least temporarily, I started to brief them on how I wanted
to conduct the attack.

For the next hour and a half I went over the plan with them.
I covered as much as I could quickly, saving the majority of the time
concentrating on Dave's part. He and I shared the tactical portion of the plan
and I wanted to make sure there were no questions about what he was supposed to
do. He would be leading the force that would conduct the assault of the Gangs
position. I could tell from the big smile that spread across his face he was
pleased with this responsibility. Our security forces are divided into two
platoons and Dave would take the entire second platoon on the assault. His
assistant for the operation would be the actual platoon leader, Jenny Moss. She
was tough and capable. First platoon would stay in the compound and provide support
from their covered positions under my command with their platoon leader, Darryl
Aikens, as my assistant.

The plan’s basically a flanking maneuver. Dave's unit would
go over the compound fence in back of the warehouse then make their way around
to the right. That would put them in a position to hit the Gangs left flank. My
unit would provide fire support with the heavy machine guns from the front of
the compound. The plan called for a sniper team on the roof of the warehouse
and they would fire the initiating shot. It was about a six-hundred yard shot
and a former Air Force security specialist named Chad Bennett was our shooter.
I wanted him to find and kill Man-bear with the first shot. That would be the
signal for the assault to begin.

Sun up was around 5 a.m. and I wanted to give Dave an hour
and a half to get into position. His unit would have to go over the fence at
3:30 a.m. and that left him two hours to brief both platoon leaders and then
for them to brief their respective platoons. As soon as I was sure Dave had all
the detail and understood our signal plan, I told him to take off and start his
briefs. That left me with Jim.

He started the second Dave was out the door. Actually,
begging me to reconsider. I’d finally had enough. I reminded him of the
conversation we had yesterday afternoon and stressed the point about supporting
my decisions. He quieted down so I could explain his part. His part was
relatively simple. As soon as we broke from the meeting, he would pass the word
inside the warehouse to go to red alert. He also had to make sure everyone got
to their assigned positions and were prepared to handle their jobs once the
shooting started. Between now and then, he had to make sure that the
non-combatants had everything they needed to stay in the safe areas until the
operation was over.

At 4 a.m., I wanted everyone in their assigned safe areas
one hour before the assault kicked off. I hoped this gave us enough time for
any last minute emergencies. I asked him if he understood his part of the plan
and he nodded his head in the affirmative. I asked him if he had any questions
and he shook his head in the negative. He still didn't look happy but at least
he wasn't arguing. The last thing I said to him was, "Okay Jim, make it
happen."

"You got it," he replied as he got up and left the
room.

Alone in the planning room, I mentally wrestled with myself.
Had I made the right decision? Was my plan sound? I'd know the answers to those
questions in about four hours.

As I sat alone in the planning room, I was reminded of
"Murphy's Laws of Combat." Murphy stated that no military plan
survived first contact and Murphy had been a constant companion to me since the
Event. If old Murph was around this morning, we were screwed. We didn't have a
QRF, Quick Reaction Force, in case something went horribly wrong and we needed
to rescue Dave's group. There were a thousand things that could go wrong and
you can't think of everything. I had contingency plans for everything I could
think of but what had I missed? My mistakes would cost people their lives. If
we won, we got to survive a few more days, maybe to die slowly from starvation.
If we lost, well, then the struggle was over. I wasn't a quitter and I never
give up but these were the thoughts that plagued me in that quiet room, alone
in the small hours of the morning.

I got up off my ass and headed out the door. Instead of
sitting there worrying, I needed to supervise the preparations for the
operation. I walked through the upstairs area and it appeared to be deserted. I
then headed down stairs to the main floor.

The main floor looked like the inner workings of a bee hive.
There was movement everywhere. I could see that Jim had passed the word about
the red alert. No one stood still. People were moving supplies and ammo to
various areas. I could see men and women herding the children toward one of the
bunkers. Food had been moved to the kitchen area so the cooks wouldn't have to
leave to go to a storage room.

We had two six-wheeled ATVs and the crews had litters
strapped to the back ready to transport wounded to the Aid Station. I could see
weapons being passed out of our make shift arms room and men and women were
loading magazines. There was no screaming or wailing or gnashing of teeth.
Everyone seemed to be going about their jobs in an orderly and efficient
manner. I knew they had to be nervous, I know I was, but they weren't showing
it.

Five years of constant fear had somewhat blunted all of our
emotions. A few people with guns just didn't have the same impact as surviving
having a loved one ripped from your arms and devoured in front of you. These
people were tougher now. The same way soldiers were after having survived
combat. Like the pioneers of old that endured privation and Indian attacks to
settle the west.

That last thought had my mind running off on a tangent. I
filed it away to think about later when I had time. Now, I had to get back to
the business at hand. I saw Jim and he paused to look back at me. I waved my
hand around to indicate all the activity, and then gave him a thumbs up. He
smiled and waved; I waved back and then went to find Dave.

Dave had fixed his own little area up in a corner of the
warehouse. It wasn't a room but he had hung curtains on two sides to provide much
needed privacy. I had tried to talk him into using one of the rooms upstairs,
but he refused. He said they should be for couples and families as he was
single and his little corner was all he needed. I pulled the edge of a curtain
back and poked my head in.

Five people sat or stood in his living space and Dave used a
white board to draw and explain the plan. In the room were Jenny Moss, 2nd
platoon leader; Darryl Aikens, 1st platoon leader; Chad Bennett, our sniper;
and his spotter, Steve Wooten, along with Dave. Dave stopped talking and all
heads turned in my direction. I apologized for interrupting and asked if they
needed anything. They all replied in the negative and I asked if they had any
questions that I could help with. Again, I got the head shakes so I excused
myself and left. The last place I wanted to check in on was the Aid Station so
I headed in that direction.

Doc, his nurse Laurie, and a couple of other people,
including my wife, were quietly arranging the Aid Station to accept a large
volume of patients. They had set up a triage area and had signs taped to the
wall to indicate seriousness of injuries. Behind a curtained off area Doc had
four make shift operating tables set up. I could see Kat placing surgical tools
beside one of the tables as I walked in. Doc had his back to me and I didn't
think he had seen me until I heard his voice say, "Everything is sterile.
Don't touch anything."

I looked over at him and he still had his back to me so I
wasn't sure if he was talking to me. Until he turned around. "Yes, I'm
talking to you. God knows when the last time you washed your hands was,"
he said.

I tried to look hurt but he wasn't buying it. "We've
got everything under control here. Kiss your wife and get out. Go do something
useful."

 I started to lean over the table to kiss Kat but Doc cut in
with a loud, "Don't touch anything."

"Yes Sir," I replied, and I stepped around the
table and gave my wife a peck on the cheek.

We looked at each other for a second and I heard behind me,
"Now will you get out?" I rolled my eyes at Kat and she laughed and I
turned and started to leave. As I went out the door I heard Doc say, "I
saw that." I had to laugh. He tries so hard to be a grumpy old bastard but
I liked him. So did Kat.

There wasn't anything left for me to do. Everyone knew their
job and seemed to be doing it. I also wasn't ready to be alone with my thoughts
again so I headed over to the kitchen and got another cup of coffee. I spoke to
a few people as I crossed the big open floor. An encouraging word here, a pat
on the back there, then took my coffee and headed outside. Fresh air was what I
needed right now.

It was dark, of course. Not the dark we were used to before
the Event. Back then, there was always ambient light and even on the darkest
nights you could still see. Now it is really dark, inside a cave dark at night.
No street lights, no malls, nothing to light up the night sky except the stars
and they were glorious. I loved coming outside at night and just looking at the
sky. I never knew there were so many stars. It reminded me of the sky's I'd
seen at sea.

A few years before the Event, Kat and I had gone on a cruise
in the Caribbean. I remember sitting out at night and being amazed at how
beautiful the sky was. This had to be what it was like out on the prairie at
night a hundred and fifty years ago. There was that thought about the pioneers
again. I knew I needed to spend some time thinking about this, but later. Right
now I needed to be focused on the upcoming assault.

I don't know how long I stood there but when I glanced at my
watch I could see it was close to 3 a.m. Dave's crew would be going over the
fence in thirty minutes. I needed to get back in and see if everything was
ready. I took a sip of my coffee and it was cold. Evidently, I had been
standing there longer than I thought. I did feel better though. I poured the
rest of the cup out and headed back inside.

The activity that had been going on when I left had dwindled
down to nothing now. Just a few people scurried here or there on last minute
errands. Most were already in the bunkers and quiet. I walked toward the back
where Dave's room was and found the back empty. I poked my head through Dave's
curtain but he wasn't there. I figured he had to be outside with his unit
getting ready to head out. I still had to go upstairs and get my gear so I
turned toward the steps. I'd finish getting dressed then go out and find Dave.

The upstairs was still deserted and I could hear my
footsteps as I made my way to my room. It was the quietest I'd ever heard this
area. I hoped it was only temporary. I opened our door, went in, and gathered
my gear. I always wore my pistol belt with my .45 attached. I never went
anywhere without it. I slid on my body armor and chest rig letting the weight
settle on my shoulders.

The body armor wasn't too uncomfortable though it was
heavier than I was used to from my cop days. The chest rig was a long strip of
heavy material with pouches for extra magazines and other goodies and attaches
to the front of the body armor. We had found hundreds of the plate carrier
style body armor lying around during our searches of military bases. They
weren't much good against the Stinkies but they still served a purpose against
more traditional bad guys.

It’s basically like regular body armor but designed to be
worn over the clothing instead of underneath. And instead of just Kevlar panels
to stop pistol bullets, these things had thick ceramic plates in front and back
capable of stopping rifle rounds. Dave said he had seen guys hit point blank with
AK 47 rounds in Afghanistan and walk away with just bruises. According to him,
they were the shit. I hoped I wouldn't find out this morning.

It was a quarter after three when I got back outside. The 2nd
platoon had lined up next to the building and Dave and Jenny were checking the
people to make sure they were ready. We had a few rifles and pistols fitted
with suppressors and I'd told Dave to make sure his unit took all of them. If
they encountered sentries or Stinkies while they were moving into position, I
wanted them to be able to take care of them without alerting everyone else. One
shot fired before we were all in position and ready would make the plan fall
apart. Stealth was the key.

Dave and Jenny finished their inspection and Dave came over
to where I stood. I asked if he was ready and he replied affirmative. The grin
across his face told me as much as his words. He was primed and ready. He asked
if I wanted to say anything before they left.

I'm not a speech maker but I could have come up with something
motivating about how what they were doing was for the good of the entire group.
How they were ensuring our continued survival. Instead, I walked out in front
of them and gave them a simple good luck and good hunting. We were trying to be
quiet so there wasn't any cheering. Just several smiles and a few whispered see
you when we get back. Dave looked at Jenny and after receiving a nod he
motioned for the rest to follow him and they all headed toward the back of the
compound.

I had confidence in Dave and 2nd platoon. I knew if there
was anybody that could pull this off, it was them. As they disappeared around
the corner of the warehouse, I whispered another good luck, then turned and
headed for the front gate.

I found Darryl standing beside the truck with the 50 cal
mounted on it. I asked him if 1st platoon was ready and he said ‘yes.’ He had
all the augmenters and had put them with experienced guys so there wouldn’t be
an entire group of newbie’s by themselves. I told him that was good and asked
about his radios.

The plan called for a person with a radio to be with each
machine gun and with each squad. When the assault started the support unit, 1st
platoon, would have to shift their fire to the left, toward the Gangs right
flank and expected direction of escape, to avoid hitting 2nd platoon as they
maneuvered on the left flank. I wanted to make sure that the shift happened
immediately so I wanted someone with a radio at each position to make sure the
word was passed. Darryl said he had checked them personally and they all knew
what to do. That was it then; all we had to do now was wait…

And wait and wait. I nervously checked my watch every
fifteen seconds; 4:30 a.m. finally arrived. The time I had set for Dave to be
in position and prepared to make the assault. He was supposed to click the push
to talk button on his radio twice as soon as he was in position. At 4:35 a.m.,
I still hadn't gotten the clicks over the radio and I was starting to get
worried. I could see a definite lightning of the sky to the east. It wasn't
going to be much longer before dawn. I called Steve, the spotter for our sniper
and asked if he could see the Assault element moving. He told me to stand by
and he'd try to find them.

Steve came back on the radio about a minute later and told
me that the last of Dave's platoon had just crossed the road to the Gangs side.
That was not good news. I don't know what had happened but we were way behind
schedule now and the plan was in jeopardy. I guess Mr. Murphy was with us after
all.

I knew it would take Dave about twenty minutes to work his
way up to the tree line that was designated as his start point for the assault.
That put him just getting into position at 5 a.m. The spotter called back a few
minutes later and advised me that he could see movement from the bad guy's
across the road. I asked if they had spotted Man-bear yet and he replied
negative. This wasn’t good and my stress level sky rocketed. I told Steve as
soon as they spotted their primary target to let me know. He said okay and signed
off. I turned to Darryl and told him to pass the word to 1st platoon to stand
by. He nodded and moved off to pass the word. The sniper team hadn't located
Man-bear, Dave's unit wasn't in position and it was definitely getting light
now.

I kept silently repeating ‘come on’ to myself, hoping it
would help move things along. We were behind schedule now and there was no way
to make it up. All I could do at this point was wait and hope. Then someone
across the road fired a shot. Well, that's it, I thought. I immediately keyed
my radio. "All units, open fire."

The reaction was instantaneous. All the weapons from our
side of the road started pouring a steady stream of fire toward the Gangs camp.
I had the radio pressed to my ear so I could hear above the din. I was barely
able to make out Dave's voice when he said, "In position, moving to
assault." I acknowledged him and stared across the road at the imaginary
line I had drawn in my mind. When Dave's unit reached that imaginary line that
would be my signal to pass the word to 1st platoon to shift their fire.

I concentrated on trying to find Dave's people but I hadn't
seen any of them yet. I could see some of the Gang firing in the direction of
Dave's tree line but I couldn't see his people. Why weren't they moving? I
caught a glimpse out of the corner of my left eye and turned to see a large
woman in overalls climb into the bed of a pickup and swing the heavy machine
gun mounted there toward 2nd platoon. I started to key my radio, to tell 1st
platoon to knock that gun out when I saw her head rock back and she dropped
straight down to the floor of the truck bed. It appeared our sniper was at
work. I let out a sigh of relief and turned back to where Dave was stuck in the
trees.