Chapter 7

Year Two: Day Thirty: Tuesday

It was after midnight when Jan ventured out to find out what had happened. It had taken some time for her to convince Karen and Judy that it would be better if she went out alone. Over the past several weeks she had become proficient in moving about without being detected. She realized that part of the reason she had remained undetected was luck, but there was also a certain amount of skill involved in driving down darkened streets with no headlights and knowing when and where to quietly sit by the side of the road.

She laughed when she thought of the times the bikers had passed by her truck parked along side the road without so much as a glance. The beat up pick-up looked to be just one more junker and certainly wasn't the type of vehicle they were interested in. Her mind went back over those close calls as she maneuvered through the back streets across town towards the biker's headquarters. Although she was thinking about the past her mind was actively engaged, using all of her skills to remain undetected. She planned to reconnoiter the area near the stadium and hopefully find the source of the explosions and gunfire they had heard that afternoon. She was hoping to once more climb up to her old observation post without anyone noticing.

Jan was about six blocks from her objective when she first heard and then saw a camouflaged Hummer moving slowly along a parallel street a block over. She was lucky it was headed in the same direction and slightly ahead of her. She immediately pulled to the curb and shut down her engine. As she crouched low in the cab of her truck she had to strain to see the Hummer that was moving forward quietly and with only minimal lights. At first she thought it was one of the biker's Hummers but the longer she looked at it the more convinced she became that it belonged to someone else. She could see what appeared to be soldiers spread out in a rough skirmish line to each side of the it. Her heart raced at the thought of others that she might have to contend with.

After deciding to follow the new threat at a distance she heard the distinct engine sounds of a second one. Peeking over the back of the seat she saw it slowly moving towards her, traveling at the same measured pace as the other vehicle. Making an intuitive leap she decided that this must be at least part of the force responsible for the explosions and gunfire she had heard earlier in the day. Jan realized that if this second Hummer had a skirmish line following it there would be little chance of her remaining hidden in the cab of her small truck.

Larry Preston was alert as they moved forward down the dark street. The twenty-one year old former Coast Guard Gunners Mate had been out on patrol in the Gulf during the time of the collapse. He was now a part of the militia and, at the moment, manning the 50 caliber machine gun mounted on the top of the Hummer. The action was a bit different from the mounts on the patrol boats he had used before the collapse, but he was sure he had taken out at least one of the attacking party earlier in the day. It had been a long day, seeing that they had started work right after dawn that morning and had been ambushed not long after that.

Looking ahead he saw another abandoned pick-up parked along the side of the road. Trained eyes accustomed to examine passing boats for the small details that differentiated the pleasure boater from the smuggler gave the truck a good close look. Something was different here. The wheels were straight. The truck appeared to be parked rather than run off the road and there was nothing next to it except a vacant lot. Larry automatically moved the barrel of the gun to cover the truck, at the same time saying, "Hey Toby, hold up for a minute."

Toby Smithers was another Coastie who had joined the defense force. He had been a Machinist's Mate on the same small patrol boat as Larry at the time of the collapse. After the crew joined the group at Eglin and later merged with the survivors at Whiting, Larry, his best friend, had talked him into joining the group's defense force. Toby stopped the hummer and looking back asked, "What's up, bud?"

Larry, with his eyes riveted to the pick-up, said, "Something's not right about that truck."

Toby, who had learned to respect Larry's hunches, said, "Think I should call it in?"

Larry thought for a moment and said, "No need in worrying Bill about it yet. Just shine the spot behind it so I can see if there are any tire tracks."

The spot did reveal tire tracks in the soft dirt. This truck hadn't been sitting here since the collapse. Larry motioned the group to spread out around the car and the directed the spot into the cab. It was hard to see from that angle, so he had Toby edge the Hummer closer. He could see that there was someone or something in the cab of the old F-150.

Pointing the barrel of the 50 cal. at the cab he hollered, "You in the truck. You're surrounded. Get out now and keep your hands where we can see them."

Jan had heard the Hummer slow down and knew from the moment she saw the reflection of the spotlight on the dash that she was had. Choices flickered through her mind as her own experience quickly rejected each one. Bottom line was that she knew she wouldn't stand a chance against that big gun mounted on the Hummer. It would take more than the thin metal of the old truck body to protect her from that. Her only alternative was to do as directed and hope for the best.

Bill Jenkins was in the command Hummer moving forward toward the area of activity that had been spotted using the FLIR (forward looking infra-red) sensors in the A-10 Thunderbolt. Those thermal images showed a beehive of activity coming from 15 to 20 people moving about a barracks-like structure. The images also showed two large vehicles, possibly more Patton tanks, manned, in front of that compound. From this data Bill surmised that this was the remnant of the group that had attacked them earlier in the day. He knew that he had to suppress this group before they could safely continue with any activity in the area.

Bill knew that surprise would aid his attack. His plan was to take out the compound at first light. The signal for the attack would be a freshly refueled and rearmed Thunderbolt taking out what his forward reconnaissance had verified was the two tanks. Presently his forces were moving towards their assigned positions. These positions had been carefully placed to allow all units to fire upon the compound and minimize incidents of friendly fire. The route of the advance was also mapped out to find and neutralize any forward observation posts that the enemy might have. He was surprised that he had found no trace of any of these so far. He had just received sitreps (situation reports) from all eight of the advancing units and noted their positions on his map. Everyone was on schedule and everything was proceeding as planned. They were lucky to have the four additional Hummers and thirty additional security people that Steve had ferried over in the C-130 to assist in the attack. He chuckled when he thought that Jim would have to eat a bit of crow considering all of his earlier fussing about the original size of the security detachment.

While he was directing the driver towards their next checkpoint he heard the radio operator speak. Looking behind him he asked, "What is it, George?"

George Preston was the youngest full-time member of the security force. Having just turned 17 he had just graduated high school earlier in the year. Six months before the collapse George's dad had been killed in a lightly armored Hummer while on patrol in Iraq. George, who had always idolized his dad, had already decided that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps into the military. His mother had used every argument she could to dissuade him, but ultimately, reluctantly, agreed with his decision. He had begun his military training while in high school as a member of the Hurlburt Town militia. He had finally completed all of his advanced training over the past six months and was allowed to accompany the expedition as a combined radio operator and aide-de-camp to the expedition's military leader.

George answered, "Sir that was Larry Preston. Group six just captured a woman. He said she claims she's not a renegade. He believes her and is waiting for instructions."