Lethal Strike Page 11

  “Yeah? What kind of hardware you got?”

  “Small arms, and a few dozen who can use ‘em.”

  Travers began to laugh.

  “This ain’t some small skirmish. This is all-out war. They come for you by air; you’d better be able to shoot those birds down. They come at you with armour, you better be able to punch a hole through whatever it is coming your way. We aren’t fighting to survive here. We’re fighting to win.”

  “I like your thinking, I really do. But you stay out on the road like this, and you’re gonna get hit hard.”

  “We’ve been getting hit hard every few days since the beginning. But we’re still here. And we ain’t hiding and hoping someone else will fight this war for us.”

  “We ain’t hiding!” Ortiz protested.

  Ross shrugged, as he had to admit they were, and that made Travers want to know more. He didn’t say it, but it was obvious that’s what he was waiting for. Any other time Ross would not have entertained the idea, but this was the closest thing they’d seen to an army since the town descended into chaos. So he scrambled to give an explanation.

  “I came here with a team of six. Not to fight a war, a simple investigation into suspicious activity. We weren’t equipped for an all-out fight, that’s for sure. We gained people along the way. Stayed in the fight, but at a pretty high cost.”

  “Maybe you didn’t come to fight a war, but that’s what we have here.”

  Ross took a deep breath, wondering what to do. He didn’t much like their tone, but they were too valuable a resource to simply turn away.

  “No doubt. We’re in this together. Man against…whatever the hell they are. Can we offer you a meal and put our heads together? More than anything we want information and answers to so many questions.”

  “You got hot chow?”

  Ross looked out across the convoy. In all the time in his career it would have seemed like any other day, but this was different. The scale was something he’d only dreamt of since the fighting began.

  “Why don’t you stay the night? I’m sure we can rustle something up. It’s good to see friendly faces. Most other humans we come across these days are dead in the dirt.”

  “Got yourself a deal, Sergeant.”

  * * *

  The sun was low in the sky as laughter and conversion echoed out among the trees. Foot and drink flowed freely. Plenty of which Traver’s people had brought with them. A dozen different fires lit up the area with groups huddled around. It was the most people Ross had seen in one place for a month. He took a seat down on a fallen log beside Travers. It was the first chance he’d had to get him alone since they arrived. He was curious to know his story, but wary of him, too. Travers wasn’t just confident and a little cocky, he seemed eager to be in charge.

  “You and your boys, you have some serious hardware, where’d you get it?”

  “Most of it we been building for the last few years.”

  “So, you’re a militia.”

  “We never really called ourselves that, but I guess you could say so; a few buddies who came together, seeing the trouble that could come our way. Just didn’t think it would be extra-terrestrial life we’d be facing.”

  “Those buddies serve together?”

  “Some of us, some were still in when it all went down.”

  “And you?”

  “Two tours, Iraq.”

  “Why’d you leave?”

  “Because that ain’t my war. I saw good men get shot up and blown up, and over what? I don’t give a high hell what happens over there. It’s not our fight. I’m not gonna fight and die out there.”

  Ross nodded in agreement. It was a sentiment he shared even though he’d kept serving. He didn’t believe in a lot of the wars he’d fought in, but he trusted those above him were doing it for the best reasons.

  “And you, Master Sergeant, how long have you been with the teams?”

  “Longer than I can remember.”

  “You could be a valuable asset to the Minutemen.”

  Ross looked confused.

  “That’s what we are. The Minutemen. Civilians called to arms to fight the enemy on our home soil. We aren’t paid to be here. We’re doing this for us, for each other.”

  “And you think you’re making a difference?”

  “I know we are. We’ve hit a dozen enemy targets in the past few weeks. We hit them hard and fast, and any that come after us, we take them down, too.”

  “I have to say, a convoy like yours, is about the last thing I expected to see today.”

  “People are scared. They want to fight back, but they don’t know how. Most of the folk you see here, we picked them up along the way. They want to fight, and we’re giving them the tools and the chance to do it.”

  “And the rest of the country? We lost contact when all this began. What we have seen of the outlying area isn’t good.”

  “No idea. All I know is what I’ve seen and what I’ve done. Nobody’s coming to help us. We have to help ourselves.”

  “But you think others like us are still out there, fighting?”

  “I sure hope so. Whatever hit us, they hit hard and fast.”

  “Right? We should have seen the deployment of ground forces against them by now, but we’ve seen nothing. Besides us, the only ones fighting back have been the locals.”

  “Far as I can see, we’re on our own here. If others are fighting back, they’re like us. Fighting for themselves in their own lands. That’s no concern of ours.”

  “Not right now, but we can't go on like this forever. We need to make contact with others."

  "Why? What they’re doing is their responsibility. They can sort out their own territory, same as us."

  "If this is as bad as it seems, we're gonna need support. Food, ammunition, all sorts of supplies."

  There's plenty for the taking, and we’ve got a few farms we work out of. We can reload ammunition. We can handle things ourselves."

  "So this is it? You're gonna keep going out there and fight?"

  "Sure, what else is there to do? It’s not like this is a war with borders. This enemy we’re fighting, they’re strong and advanced. But they never come in great numbers. I guess that's why they hit us the way they did. No warning. No coastal assault or chance for us to gather our forces. They divided us. Divide and conquer."

  "That's why we need to make contact with others, across state lines. Across the country."

  "They can't help us now. We’ll help people to help themselves. Local people, and anyone who was here when this whole shitstorm began."

  "Woo!" Lee tumbled in and squeezed between them. He had a can of beer in his hand.

  "Where the hell did you get that?" Ross demanded.

  "Perks of the job. You'd be amazed what you can find on the road. Most of the country is as it was the day the Skinnies arrived."

  "Skinnies?"

  "Yeah, those skinny goddamn robots we’ve been fighting."

  "You've not seen the ones that come at night?" Lee asked.

  "What things?"

  "You've not seen those huge bastards?"

  A look of real concern came over his face.

  "You're not kidding around?"

  He looked to Ross for confirmation. Travers leapt up and yelled out, "Marks, Williams! Get over here! Come on!"

  Ross leaned over Lee's shoulder and whispered.

  "Better keep the one in the basement between us, you got that?"

  Lee recoiled and looked confused, but Ross looked deadly serious, and he dared not question him as Travers sat back down.

  "Tell us about these things you've encountered. The things you fought at night. The boys ain't seen anything but Skinnies yet."

  "If you've not encountered them, count yourself lucky. They're strong and tough, like nothing I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty," replied Ross.

  "And they only ever come at night?"

  The night was drawing in quickly. The darkness had been terrifying for them all sin
ce they encountered the things they called Mastiffs, but none more so than to Donny. His first encounter with them still haunted him. He was ever watchful as Ross continued to tell the tale.

  Chapter 4

  Ross awoke and groaned. His head was pounding, and an empty unlabelled bottle lay beside the bed he had made in a shelter not far from the building housing their prisoner. He lifted the bottle and sniffed inside, but gagged as it reminded him of the night before.

  "Jesus, what the hell is that?"

  "That's rocket fuel, cooked up by the local farmers." Donny was sitting outside the shelter.

  He kicked himself for falling for that a second time.

  "You know a good rule of life? Don't drink anything without a label."

  "You kidding me? That's half the fun." Lee had just arrived. He looked perky and fresh, but also surprisingly happy.

  Ross wondered if he ever managed to get through hangovers that well when he was younger, but it was too far back for him to tell.

  "These guys, they're the real deal, just like you," said Lee excitedly.

  Ross groaned as he sat up and looked out. They were busy at work, dozens in view. It was the most activity he'd seen for a long time. But more than that, they looked organised. He didn't trust a Militia to be worth anything much at all. More than anything, he would bet on them being volatile, but he had to hand it to them. They had made it this far and were doing a whole lot better than his team was.

  Lee seemed to have stars in his eyes and was smiling like an idiot. Donny wasn’t far behind him. The excitement and enthusiasm were infectious. Ross was sceptical, but he couldn’t help but feel a little of what the rest of them were.

  “They’re making a real difference, Ross. I know this has been your show since you arrived, but maybe it’s time to let others take the reins? These boys are on the warpath.”

  Ross nodded along with Donny. He didn’t much like the idea, but he didn’t like being responsible for them all either. That was never his job. In his eyes they were mostly civilians, a liability on the battlefield. He’d worked to protect many civilians in his days, but rarely fought beside them, and it made him anxious.

  “They’re talking about hitting a target in a few hours. At this rate we could clear out the Skinnies from the whole county in no time. Hell, we could clear out the state,” Lee added.

  Ross sighed. “Skinnies?”

  “It’s not like we had a name for ‘em.”

  “You know what that was used for though, right?

  “Of course he does, he’s seen enough movies.”

  “Shut up, Donny!”

  “They want to hit a target, I say we hit it with them. We’ve been hiding in the shadows while these guys have been kicking ass,” said Donny.

  That grated on Ross, but now was not the time to argue.

  “What do you say?”

  “Hell if I know anymore, Donny. It’s not like there’s any procedure for what we’re going through.”

  “Procedure? What else would there be than to fight?”

  “Being a soldier is about more than just heading towards the enemy and fighting till one side is dead, Lee,” replied Ross incredulously.

  “What else would you do in this situation?”

  “Honestly? Get the fuck out. This is hostile territory now. We don’t have the resources, backup, or intel to stay in the fight.”

  “That is what the book says?”

  “Damn right it does. I’ve been in a situation not unlike this plenty of times in my career. But there was always a border to cross. A safe place to return to, people that would have our back, an Air Force protecting the skies for us. What do we have now? We’re perpetually in enemy territory. Because be under no illusion, that’s what this is now, all of it. We’re not fighting a war. We’re fighting an insurgency. We are the resistance. None of us are soldiers anymore.”

  “I beg to differ. I see an army when I look around. All of these men and women are ready to fight as one, an army.”

  “You can see whatever you want, but that don’t make it true,” snarled Ross.

  “An army fights on its own terms on home soil, isn’t that what these Minutemen are doing?” Donny asked.

  Ross gritted his teeth as he was forced to concede.

  “Right now, they’re doing good. No doubt about that. Count me impressed, because I am. But they haven’t met a Mastiff yet. They haven’t seen how bad things can get.”

  A loud whistle rang out, and all eyes were drawn to Travers.

  “Gather round, gather round!”

  Near everyone did as he asked. Even Ross cautiously approached the circle that had formed. He didn’t trust Travers, but he was a resource he couldn’t afford to lose. Ramos looked as concerned as he was, and surprised he was going along with Travers taking the lead. But Ross shrugged, and Ramos could see exactly what he was thinking.

  “You think it’s worth giving them a chance?” Ramos whispered.

  “Right now, anything has to be worth a chance. We aren’t exactly doing great on the course we’re running.”

  They gathered around to hear Travers out. On the ground he’d made a crude map from rocks and held a stick in his hand to use as a pointer.

  “We came across your path because we were heading for somewhere. A target we’ve wanted to hit for over a week.”

  “Another one of their prisons?” Lee asked excitedly.

  “No, we’re gonna hit them right in the heart of their operations. Just fifty kilometres away, at Longridge, is one of their bases of operations. It’s some kind of airfield by the looks. They come and go from there every day. Our scouts have been keeping an eye on it since we discovered the facility. It has to be important to them. We’re talking a few dozen craft at any one time.”

  “Skinnies?” another asked.

  As many as a couple of hundred.”

  Donny gasped.

  “That’s right, son. This isn’t gonna be some small skirmish. This is a battle.”

  “How do you intend to take on that many?” Ramos asked.

  “With the element of surprise and overwhelming firepower. We go in with everything we’ve got, nail them before they had any idea what was coming.”

  “That’s your plan? That’s it?”

  “No need for a complex operation. Complex is messy. Messy plan falls apart the moment things change. The unexpected hits you. A simple plan allows for the situation to evolve. We’ve got a lot of firepower. Fixed weapons on the Deuces will ramp that up further. With our forces combined, we can go in there like a wrecking ball. Take their operation apart. This is an important facility to them. A staging point for everything they’re doing, one of several we know about.”

  “And you’ve hit one before?”

  “This’ll be the first. We’ve been building up to an operation on this scale. If successful, we have a line on several more like it, and bigger, too.”

  “If?”

  “I’m not saying we’re rolling the dice here, but I won’t make promises I can’t keep. I can’t guarantee what the enemy is gonna do, but I can guarantee what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna roll into that place and kick some ass.”

  Cheers rang out, drowning out any voices of protest until Travers calmed them down. He was more like a rock star than a military leader, and that rubbed Ross up entirely the wrong way. Travers could see this discomfort. It wasn’t well hidden.

  “You don’t like the plan?”

  All eyes were on Ross, with an accusatory stare. They wanted to go and fight, and clearly didn’t want to hear anything to the contrary.

  “I’m all for hitting the enemy. I’ve led strikes against them from the start. But we can’t afford to barrel into these things without the best intel and plan we can muster. There are too few of us left to take those kinds of risks.”

  Travers paced around the space between the group encircling them. Most of them watched every move he made and hung onto his every word. They were loyal. Ross could appreciate that. But h
e also knew how dangerous such blind loyalty could be. He had to get more words in before Travers took over and riled up the troops further.

  “If you go in there on a front assault, with no plan other than filling them with as much lead as you can, there are going to be casualties, more than a few.”

  “And if we stay out here? Being hunted in our own lands? We’re dying whatever we do. At least this way we get some chance of taking them down before we’re all finished!”

  The crowd cheered, but Ross could see there were enough doubts among them that he still had a chance. He desperately tried to find the words that might sway them. Not to bolster his ego, but because he didn’t want to see so many of them die in such a poorly thought out operation. He couldn’t find the words to explain it, or at least in a way that wouldn’t come across as condescending and aggressive. Finally, a thought came to him, his last chance to stop the madness. He opened his mouth to speak, but before any words came out a loud siren rang out.

  “Incoming!” Travers shouted.

  They could hear engines roar as the group scattered. Some ran for cover. Others went for their weapons. Donny was looking at the sky for some sign of the enemy as Ross readied his weapon.

  “What’s he doing?” Ortiz yelled.

  Donny and Ross’ gaze were drawn to the flash of movement that was Buddy Travers. He was running towards their vehicles, empty-handed.

  “He’s gonna get himself killed. They must have spotted the parked trucks. They’ll be the first targets!” Ramos yelled.

  The engine sounds roared louder but were drowned out by the deafening noise of quad .50 calibre machine guns rattling away. Explosions burst out in the sky as the first enemy craft came into view. It was on fire and plunging towards the ground.

  “Move it!” Ross yelled as the burning wreck was coming their way, and they scattered. Fortunately, the craft veered off a little more and ploughed into the ground, digging a trench, and ripping a dozen trees from the ground before coming to a halt.

  “Owned,” said Lee as he spat mud out and smiled at the burning debris.

  Ross wanted to remind him they’d done just the same, but now wasn’t the time. The ground lit up as a strafing run landing all around them. Ross didn’t need to say a word as they leapt into action. Explosions erupted at their backs before they reached a chunk of the hull that had been torn off the crashed ship. They leapt over it. Ross, Donny, Ramos, and Lee. They crashed to the ground on the other side as shots smashed into the wreckage. Ross took aim and fired a burst as the craft flashed overhead. But the shots seemed to do little at all.