Chapter 19

Overall it felt a little weird to spend a night away from the compound. It was nice to know we had at least the basics here for a bug out location. While the cabins weren’t as big as the cabin it gave the advantage of being able to spread out. A couple of the RVs even had a good layout. There was a suggestion from Brandi that if we were going to use RVs seriously we should go to the dealership and just take a couple that were new and better suited for our specific needs. That was an idea that we decided to shelf for now though: it wasn’t anything critical, after all.

What we did do was head back to post to pick up more weapons. We were driving the Amazon truck and the armored pickup to also keep options open in case things went quick and we decided to make an ammo run as well, which Gonzo was advocating for as a way of securing a large amount before someone else thought about the Ammo Supply Point on base.

The trip ended up being fairly quick, adding to our assault rifles, machine guns, pistols, as well as ammunition for each weapon system we had ranging from 9mm up to .50 caliber single shot and linked. 5.56mm or the 7.62mm would work well for sniper rifles on personnel but there may come a time we would have to be targeting vehicle engine blocks and would want something that could punch through the engine like the 50 calibers could.

As luck would have it we had finished loading up the Amazon truck and were on our way back to the compound when my sat phone rang, almost startling me as it was unexpected with the four of us altogether. A quick glance was exchanged between Lindsey and I before I answered the phone, a nervous voice on the other end. “Ryan we’ve got trouble, this is Brian. Part of Michael’s group. Christine and Michael are talking with some of the thugs from the Prez’s group about paying taxes by way of food and medical supplies. There’s five of them and they’ve each got assault rifles.”

While he had been speaking I flipped the hazards on to let Gonzo and Brandi know something was up. Brian’s voice had carried enough through the phone Lindsey could hear and was now on the radio with Brandi, filling her in. I turned off the main road and started towards their apartment. “We’re on the way, Brian. We were already driving so we should be there in about five minutes. We’re going to approach from the south, park a little away from you and move in on foot. Gonzo and I will be coming in if you can let your group know. Stall them, maybe argue about the amount of tax you have to pay. We’ll be there soon.”

I hung up the phone to the sound of Lindsey explaining what I had said, then I added my bit. “Five of the Prez’s goons against Michael’s crew to collect taxes. We’re going to park about a quarter mile away. Should be far enough they don’t hear our vehicles. Gonzo and I will move in to cover each other. We need speed on this but also need to keep our stuff secure. So, Lindsey and Brandi, stay on top of things once we park. If anyone approaches that you don’t recognize, fire a warning shot and then engage if they don’t back off. Keep your eyes open, stay together and watch each other’s backs.”

Things were serious here so I wanted the two untested people in a backup role rather than immediately into the fray. Plus Gonzo and I had fought and fought together, so we had a practiced familiarity and experience. We each took a quick moment to put plate carriers on so we had chest body armor and the extra magazines on before moving out with a quickness.

As we got closer, we picked our way along steadily but bounding from cover to cover. There were still enough vehicles that we could move in turn once voices could be heard yelling. Each of us waited for the other to get to a covered position before starting our own movement, essentially a game of leap frog where one person was ready to lay down at least suppressive fire while the other was in motion. It was an old and tested combat maneuver that we fell into without even a thought as the best way to move.

“ ... don’t have enough food to pay the taxes you want. So you may as well go tell that Prez of yours he’s going to have to send you out to get it on your own.” That was Michael’s voice carrying at a shout. Hopefully meaning the other men were still at a distance to him, but also possibly giving us a chance to know where his people were. Gonzo and I didn’t respond for now, we were going to get as close as we could effectively without until the time was right.

“That’s not how this works. The taxes the government puts out aren’t negotiable. Thirty percent of what you have each week. For that you get our protection.” The voice was closer to us than Michael’s was. It was also not one I recognized from the little interactions I’d had with these goons. At that moment Gonzo was on point and gestured to his front first to indicate the direction of the voice, then a chopping motion to his right.

I gave a quick nod and cut to the right. From what we could tell from the voices, Michael was off to our right and the goons were straight ahead so going right would angle us toward Michael while moving at an angle to the goons. In this way we would each have a firing angle that could intersect on the Prez’ men while not putting any of us in the crossfire of Michael’s people. But the Pres’ men would be taking fire from two separate positions once we engaged them, cutting off any real cover they could use while letting us both engage them.

We had finally closed to within 100 yards of the two groups and took a moment to observe. Gonzo and I held a quick and quiet discussion. There wasn’t going to be a warning if things went threatening. Once we had sight of the goons making an actual threat of harm they would be put down. “I got right, you’ve got left. We’ll meet in the middle. One more bound to separate us and we’ll have a line of sight from there.” My words got a nod of understanding from Gonzo. It wasn’t a direction of movement, it was an assignment of targets. This way we both wouldn’t waste bullets on the same target leaving someone standing for longer than was absolutely needed.

Our last movements gave us a sight line on both Michael’s crew and those against them. The thugs had formed an arc with each focused on Michael’s group, for his part they were somewhat under cover, with his vehicle placed between them and the Pres’ guys. The seemingly lead thug spoke up then. “You’ll just have to scrounge better then. Wouldn’t want to let your President down, would you? It takes a lot of effort to feed and supply his Secret Service and Army. So what’s It going to be, you come forward with your thirty percent, or do we just kill you and take it all?”