Chapter 15

In the morning, we gathered our family and left for Hardee's meeting eight loads of people in various vehicles there. As was habit, everyone was armed. We traveled in convoy to Calhoun.

Charles' funeral wasn't fancy but the statements made were heartfelt including mine. I think Dad said it best. "Charles was my friend as he was to many. He was a good father, a good husband, a good friend, and a good neighbor. He was a good man and that's as good as can be said for any man." We buried him in the family plot in the Baptist cemetery. Karen was the only one of his children still known to be living but there were some grandchildren and many cousins. We broke bread together and then left for our homes.

It was on our way home that it happened. We were crossing I-75 when shots rang out. Our lead vehicle rolled to a stop while the rest of us took cover. We saw the shooters at the far side of the bridge behind some cars and homemade barricades. We were all low in the monster. I rolled down the window and shouted, "Who are you? Why are you shooting at us?"

"We're the Kings from Chattanooga! We're taking over this area!"

Quietly, I said, "I don't think so." I grimaced and then said, "I think we need to back up and talk about how to take them out. Also, what can we do for Marie and Bill?"

Dad said, "I don't think we can do anything for them until we smoke those bastards out. I just hope it isn't too late." I nodded and reversed the monster. I backed up a couple of football fields worth and close to a building. The other five vehicles in our group joined us.

We carefully exited our monster and were joined by the rest. Chuck was wounded in the arm. I could see that his truck had received a few shots in the windshield. He said, "I'm not sure about Marie but Bill is probably dead. They waited until he was close before shooting. I don't think he had a chance and his truck just rolled to a stop against the rail."

I nodded slowly. "I think we must take them out. Someone needs to go back to Karen's and let them know what has happened. I want to draw a little fire while we try to circle around behind them. This was an ambush, pure and simple. They didn't intend to take prisoners so we won't either. I suspect this group will be all male with their women hidden somewhere."

Everyone nodded. Chuck said, "Betty can go back. I can be part of the diversion after Heather finishes patching me up." Betty didn't look happy but nodded. "Thanks, dear. I'll be careful. Go now and bring some help." She nodded and left.

We gathered around. None of our vehicles was overly fast. They had been picked for fuel and carrying capacity. Dad was at the back of the monster with rifles and ammo. I said, "Dad and I are going to sneak behind them. They need to be attacked to keep their heads down and to maybe whack a few." Everyone nodded. Linda and Tom were our least practiced shooters. Tom would drive while Pat and Heather would shoot. Linda's job was to shoot and stay down. Chuck and two other men would approach the bridge on foot from the left. We would swing way around from the exit and try to approach them from the north. One truck was assigned to watch the south and to watch for Karen and anyone coming from Calhoun. It wasn't much of a plan but we were in a hurry.

We split up and began our counter-attack. It didn't take long for the shooting to begin. Dad and I stayed out of sight from across the bridge until we could barely see it. We stayed low as we ran across the road. Thankfully, no one shot at us. We moved back from the interstate and started moving south as fast as reasonable. We could hear shooting from our side while the others were not shooting back that much. I'm not sure what that meant but guessed we would find out.

We approached the exit area staying well back and hidden. We used our scopes to find the bad guys. They were all gathered behind a barricade talking while a few were watching the bridge. It seemed that they were waiting for something. I felt that was sinister and told Dad what I felt. He agreed. We started shooting though the range was distant. It took them a long moment to figure out that we were behind them. When they did, they turned and fired on us. I said, "Dad, watch our backs. They are expecting help and I don't want to be surprised." He nodded and began to watch the road behind us from behind his cover from the ones we could see. I heard motor noises but they weren't from the road behind me. They were from the north on the interstate!

I detected four different motors and all were from big engines! "Dad, they're coming from the north and it's some big vehicles. We stayed low and looked up the road with our scopes. There were armored vehicles coming down the interstate! The first one had a machine gun that was tracking toward our quickly retreating vehicles. Even my monster SUV didn't have a thick enough skin to stop those bullets. All of our vehicles turned tail and ran. Quickly, the only people left were the bad guys and the two of us. Two of the bad guys came out of their cover to check on Marie and Bill. They were both dead. As they returned, we each took one of them and shot them dead. That got our position chewed up by the bullets of that machine gun. The gunner used up a belt on us while we hunkered down. He had to reload and we shot at him and his gun's mechanism. I don't know if our bullets could damage it but that gun was going to be dangerous if we couldn't stop it. Dad got the gunner and I pinged a number of shots off the gun.

Karen's people came from Calhoun and added to our numbers. The "Kings" retreated up I-75 leaving their dead. We came out and checked everywhere. Marie and Bill were dead, killed in the initial ambush. We searched for any women but never found where they were hidden if any actually were. It was a disappointing ending to the day. We took Marie and Bill's bodies back to the Baptist church and buried them there. I had to admit to myself that I didn't know them well but they were always cheerful and ready to help out.

We went to our homes. I called a special meeting for next Wednesday having told everyone to spread the word. This was the first time our general area had been invaded in years. That evening, we talked about what to do. Dad suggested that we go to the National Guard armory and determine what we can find and still use. He said, "I think they have discovered automatic weapons and heavier weapons. We have to be ready."