Chapter 8

There was no doubt that the Northern sector which was the scene of the concerted push to clear the coastal areas of Looters and rebellious survivors was moving along quite successfully. Still, the reports from the interior in the high mountain country and even down into the dry desert regions north of the southern border lands were far less encouraging. Major Mike read the detailed reports and statistics from the different sectors a second time still in disbelief and he could see the trend was definitely down in almost all the key areas. In fact, it looked like his sector was the only one in which the Military forces were able to keep their own areas clear and continue to push the enemy into smaller and smaller spaces of resistance.

Fortunately the global conflict was a virtual stalemate and there was little likelihood that either side was silly enough to carry the confrontation on any longer for fear of expanding the nuclear threshold. A truce of sorts had been established in the Treaty of Panama and the North Koreans had withdrawn all of their naval forces back from the Northern Hemisphere providing the American military began removing their occupying forces from the Korean Peninsula. There were rumors of Chinese warships patrolling the northern coastlines but it seemed unlikely they would try anything and make their country a target for the numerous intercontinental ballistic warheads that were poised to wipe North Korea from the global map. Any move by the Chinese at this critical point would aggravate the confrontation and possibly lead to "end of the world" scenarios involving huge arsenals of nuclear weapons. It really made what the local Military was tasked with in the incursion area seem insignificant in comparison and Major Mike felt frustrated that his nation's military forces had been reduced to almost a "stand-down" mode by the politicians in Washington, D.C.

The scouting unit sent a runner back to the rear to advise that the fleeing elements of the combined Looter and Survivor forces were beginning to break apart and become disorganized after being subjected to both sniper fire and encountering the mines that had been set to interdict their escape route.

Corporal Sandy dragged in a pair of the bedraggled female escapees who were handcuffed together and minus their footwear and all clothing below the waist. They made a pathetic sight of confusion and malnutrition but still retained a flashing look of defiance in their scornful glares. The Corporal forced them both to their knees just to remind them they were the losers in the game of "Cat and Mouse" out here in the boondocks away from all vestiges of civilization.

She grabbed the big one by her long dark hair and held her face up for the Major to look into her pretty but tear-stained and dirty face.

"Tell the Major what you told me, sweet cheeks."

The woman swallowed with a dry throat and tried to spit but didn't have enough liquid in her dehydrated mouth to muster any spittle.

"We lost our leader on the other side of the firebreak and they told us it was "Every man for himself". My partner Lizzie and I went to ground just before your snipers let loose and we were able to surrender since there didn't seem to be any point to fighting any longer. All of the remaining survivors will probably hang a move east back to the mountains since it is a lot harder for you folks to corner us up there."

The woman's words were seeped in truth reinforcing his personal assessment of the operation. Mike was convinced the northern campaign was basically a "mopping up" exercise now with a much more difficult task in the future of rooting out the infrastructure of the resistance in the wilderness of the mountains. He told Corporal Sandy to "fumigate" the two attractive detainees for his private interrogation later that evening. She tried to hide her delight because it was one of the best parts of her job and she loved preparing the subjects for their sessions. It was a hard job but somebody had to do it.

The sound of sporadic small arms fire made it difficult to sleep that night. Some of it was closer than he would have liked but most of it was off in the distance and never more than one or two rounds indicating that the well-trained troops were following his orders to conserve their ammo. The mopping up exercises had already begun with a vengeance and it looked like this campaign was in the final stages. Once or twice the light from an unexpected pop-up flare lit the moonless sky and cast shifting shadows in the deep brush making every tree look suspect. The Looters and the Survivors had learned the trick of not moving at those times for fear of being spotted and taken down like a hunted animal. He was just drifting off to a restless sleep when he heard the unmistakable sound of an exploding anti-personnel mine and then silence set in like a cloak of evil thrown over unseen chaos.

The next morning, the almost virgin forest looked innocent and unchanged.

The troops broke camp quickly wanting to get down to the flatland and the transportation that was certain to be waiting for them to take them to the next assignment. After reading the discouraging reports, Mike had been sapped of his determination to put all the hurt at his command on the enemy because he was beginning to doubt they were fighting the true enemy waiting for them to weaken in their resolve. They had allowed the entire country to be diluted beyond recognition for far too many changes of government to "bounce back" with their old resiliency. Still, he suspected their enemies were in far worse shape because their system was rotten to the core.

The "cattle cars" were lined up on the gravel and dirt road that paralleled the interstate highway which had been cleared by engineers and cleansing units that usually shot anything that moved and asked questions later. At least they would be assured the road was clear of improvised explosive devices and that they would not be ambushed from the nearby tree lines. The major route scouts were continuing to patrol the north-south roads to keep the lines of supply open for the northern sector operations considered the key to reclaiming the western lands for the government.