A Private War (7 page)

"Guess what Sally gave me before we left?" Kate asked as she opened the bag, "she said it was something you like."

"Beats me, what is it?"

"Give me a kiss and I'll tell you," she wheedled, "you'll like it."

After he did so, Kate slowly unwrapped the package and displayed four pieces of fried chicken that she had kept warm under her coat all day. Sally's chicken was famous all over town and with the shortage of live chickens after the war, very few had been able to have even the smallest taste. Gaylon ate his half of the chicken and the stew with a hardy appetite after all the miles they have traveled that day and then reaching outside the tent, washed the dishes out with snow. Looking out through a small opening in the trees, Gaylon could see that over a foot of snow was already on the ground and the winds were blowing at near blizzard level. Gaylon hoped that it would stop by the time they had to leave in the morning. As thick as the snow was outside, Gaylon decided the pirates would be holed up in their camps that night and told Kate to get some sleep as she would need all her strength for the next day. Then he sat by the light of a 100 hour burning candle (said to burn continuously for 100 hours) and worked with his Gerber Mark II, cutting and shaping branches for two pair of snowshoes for Kate and himself. Using pieces of tough nylon cord he tied the ends of two branches together and cutting a small notch on the inside of both of them, fitted a small spacer between them and tied it down very tightly. Then he tied the other two ends together and looked at his work. The spacer between the two branches gave the snowshoes their classic shape and using several long pieces of nylon, began weaving a supporting lace work between the two sides of the shoe. The snowshoes would not be as good as the former manufactured ones, but Gaylon thought that they would last till they could get to Austin. Finishing the last one, Gaylon placed it with the others and pulling one of the Kimber CQP II's from its holster, placed it near at hand in case of trouble. Then blowing out the candle, he lay in the darkness and listened to the wind as the snow blew against the side of the tent. Early in the morning hours, he slept.

Kate slowly stirred as the sun peaked above the tops of the trees. Rising the tent flap, Kate looked upon the white drifts of snow and slipping on her boots and coat, she stepped out into the completely white world. At least two feet of snow had fallen and there were drifts more then five feet high at the edge of the tree line. Kate turned and looked back at the tent. All she could see was a mound of snow and her tracks leading to it. Suddenly Gaylon's head and shoulders appeared at the center of it and he slowly crawled out and stood up right. Thick streamers of mist were coming from his nose and mouth. Kate laughed as he brushed against a tree branch and a huge pile of fresh snow fell on his head. Grabbing a handful of snow Gaylon tried to make a snowball, but the snow was too dry to stick together so as he threw it at Kate, he watched it blow away in the wind. Kate laughed harder.

"You may think it's funny, but I'm the one with the with the snow down his neck, Smart Ass!  How about some breakfast and then we hit the trail. We still have a long way to go and we slept half the day away already. Think you can do anything with those damn powdered eggs to make them eatable."

"I'll do my best, but I can't do much with them either. How about we just make some coffee and munch on some of the jerky in my pack?"

"Well, it would be quicker, you make the coffee and I'll start taking down the tent. Don't forget next time to bring your gun with you as the pirates could be out and about too."

"Yes, boss!"

Gaylon crawled back into the tent and began to repack the sleeping bags and the placed the snowshoes he made outside where they would be handy when they were ready to leave. Finished packing, Gaylon dragged the packs out of the tent and placed them on top of a snow drift. Then he cleared the branches off the tent and began breaking it down. Brushing snow off the tent, he folded it back up and placed it, and the rain fly, back in it's carrying case and secured it to his pack frame. And putting the branches on top of the others, he covered them with snow to try and cover up any sign of their being there. Kate hummed a tune to herself as she sat near the small pack stove and watched the snow as it slowly melted and then added more. They say it take ten inches of snow to make an inch of water, she believed it. When there was finally enough, she poured the hot water into two cups and added instant coffee and sugar. A lot of sugar! They would need all the energy they could get for the trip ahead. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out some jerky and two candy bars that Sally had placed there. Handing the hot coffee to Gaylon, she unwrapped a candy bar, took a bite, and then passed it to Gaylon too. Gaylon looked up, smiled, and took a bite himself. In silence they enjoyed the sweet candy and they both wondered if they would ever taste such a beautiful thing again. Kate finished her coffee and taking Gaylon's empty cup, washed them out with snow and put them in her pack and the cooled pack stove back in Gaylon's. Then Gaylon helped Kate with her snow shoes and pack and reaching down tied on his own. Then with a little help, get on his own heavy pack frame. Checking the action on his M-4, as Kate checked her own, Gaylon started back on the trail to Austin. Reaching into her coat pocket, Kate pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. The glare off the fresh snow was blinding and even with the sunglasses, Kate and Gaylon could hardly see and Gaylon was having an even harder time of it. Then Kate laughed as Gaylon pulled out a pair of clip-on sunglasses and put them on over his other pair. Leave it to Gaylon to think of that! But she was thankful as he pulled out another pair and handed them to Kate. A beautiful winter wonderland was revealed and every where she looked, it shone with a bright light and she knew that she would always remember this day.

Four long days later, Gaylon studied the layout of the town of Austin through his glasses. Numerous watchtowers and machine gun emplacements ran around the side of the town that he could see. Whoever had set up the defense of the town had known what they were doing. He hoped that they would listen to what he had to say.. Touching Kate on the shoulder, he pointed to the patrol that was making it's way around the base of the hill. Standing up, he waved toward the men to get their attention without getting shot, then helped Kate to her feet. Reaching the bottom of the hill, Gaylon laid his gun near his feet and held his arms in the air and Kate did the same. The town's people would be uneasy seeing two strangers approach and Gaylon wasn't about to get shot by the very ones they had come to see. As the patrol got nearer, the team leader had some of his men check the back trail to see if there was anyone else around as he kept the two of them under his gun.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the team leader asked, "and if you are looking for food, we can't help you."

"I'm Gaylon Masters and this is Kate Johnson. We're from Redway and we're here to talk to your town leaders. There is something we need to show them. Also I have a letter from Captain Samuels of the Paramilitary for a guy named "Sgt John Peters", is that you?" Gaylon asked.

"That's right, you said Samuels, small guy so tall?"

"Well, he is smaller then King Kong, but not by much!"

The smile said it all, "that's him all right, and how is the old bastard these days? It's been a long time since I saw him, since before… you know." He said as he pointed his gun down to the ground. Peters and his men were all dressed in white coveralls that blended into the snow covered landscape perfectly. They looked well trained.

"He's doing ok, but he's had better days."

"Yeah, I know how it goes so grab your guns and I'll take you into town to see the boss. But I'll tell you ahead of time that it's a waste of time, better to squeeze blood out of a rock. People have been pouring in since the war and we just don't have the resources to feed them all. The standing order is to turn everyone away, except some doctors and the like. But we don't have too many of those, we've had to fight the pirates more times then I care to think about. And we'll be hard pressed if they really attack in force."

Then Peters signaled to his men and the party made it's way across an open field at the edge of town and uncovered a concealed field telephone. Peters gave a coded password and then told the towers they were coming back in with two extra then put the phone back under cover. Gaylon was impressed with all the security and told Kate that was something they should set up at Redway. Looking up at the watchtower as they passed beside it, Gaylon could see it was well sand bagged and mounted a search light.

"I like the way you set this up. Did you have much trouble from the war? I heard they dropped one not too far from here."

"They hit the National Guard base about fifteen miles from here. The blast wasn't too bad, but we did take some fallout. Mostly from the west, the missile fields in the next state must being glowing in the dark. The pirates attacked not long after that. You'll see the damage when we get nearer to the center of town. But, they haven't been back for weeks now," Peters answered as they approached the town hall. Gaylon could see looted building and signs of fires and small explosions around many of the shops. Across the street he saw that the local police station was burned and gutted. Peters pointed out more damage as they walked up the steps into the Town Hall. Gaylon pushed open the doors and they headed inside and down the hall to the Mayor's office. After Peters stopped them outside a door marked Private, he walked in to talk to the Mayor and inform him about Gaylon and Kate’s official visit. Then opening the door, he motioned for them to come inside. Mayor Denton rose from his desk as Gaylon and Kate entered his office. The Mayor was short and pale, and he was dressed in a soiled business suit that didn't fit him anymore.  His hair was thin and was combed over the bald spot on the top of his head.  Sticking out his hand he smiled at Gaylon and Kate and asked them to take off their packs and to be seated.

"Well, Mr. Masters, what can we do for you and the town of Redway?"

"Mayor, it's what we can do for each other that is important.  We've come here to make a deal with you and to help you with the pirates.  Something I think we both want to do something about.  What we want to propose is an exchange, we need men to help us defend our town and you need something that can destroy the pirates without endangering your people.  I can show you how to do that."

"Mr. Masters, I can't leave this town defenseless on just your word!  The pirates have been massing just outside the town right this minute and we need every man that can carry a gun to fight them off.  I'm sorry but the answer is no, I just can't take the chance that whatever you may have in mind will fail and the people that depend on us to protect them will be killed by those animals out there."

"Can you at least listen to what I have to say.  It won't cost you anything and you may change your mind.  This town can't afford not to."  Gaylon stated and getting up from his chair, walked over to this pack and pulled out a small red gas bottle. "We have a small technical college in Redway as you may have heard.  Well, they came up with this, it's a form of gas that kills instantly, all that you have to do is breath it and you're dead.  It breaks down in air after about three hours so you move your people back in after a few hours with no danger.  Fill grenades and rockets with it and you can easily cover a large area in a matter of minutes.  We have a large supply of the gas and gas masks to go with it which are ready to be moved from Redway to Austin.  You help us, we help you.  It's that simple."

Later Kate walked down the main street of Austin and looked into the stores and shops that were still open even after the war.  Several people were standing near one and looking at a butcher cutting up a side of beef.  Kate didn't think anything of it until she noticed an armed guard standing just inside the door of the shop.  She thought to herself, those people are hungry, they must be outsiders."  And as if to confirm her guess the guard stepped out into the open air and pointed his gun at the people and motioned them away from the window.  Turning her back Kate ran down the street toward the hotel where Peters had directed them after talking to the Mayor.  Heavy tears ran down her face and deep sobs escaped from her lips.  Even after all the killing and murder that she had seen, the open look of starvation on those peoples faces had touched her very soul and she cried out in rage that anyone could do such a thing.  Stopping dead in her tracks Kate grabbed the HK hanging from her shoulder and walked back toward the butcher shop.  As she neared it she could hear the people begging for food and the voice of the guard as he ordered them way before he fired on them.  Kate pulled back the bolt on the HK MP5SK and popped off the safety as the guard turned toward the sound.

"Drop the gun or I'll cut you in half, I mean it!" Kate shouted.

"Lady, you can be shot for doing this, these people are from outside and the mayor has told them we can't afford to feed them.  They have to move on." The guard stated as he laid his gun on the sidewalk and stepped back from it.

"Tell the butcher to cut enough for these people for three days or he's dead meat too."

Turning to the leader of the group, she told them to take the meat and to leave town for Redway and that the people there would take care of them.  Watching the people run down the street after taking the food Kate turned back toward the guard and told him to go back inside the shop.  Then reaching down pulled the magazine out of the weapon and put it in her pocket and resting the gun on her hip, ejected the round in the chamber, then placed the gun carefully back on the sidewalk. The guard looked Kate in the eye and winked, then picked up his gun and walked back into the shop.  Kate carefully lowered the bolt on her HK MP5SK and put the safety back on, then with a little shake in her hip she walked back to the hotel with a smile on her lips. Gaylon sat in their hotel room, a soft drink in his hand, and talked to Peters about the war and what had been going on afterwards.  Peters’ story was like so many others that he had talked to, home on leave the night of the bombing he had helped his family survive through the fallout and the first attacks of the pirates. But, on one his trips into town to get supplies, the pirates had attacked his father's farm, and burned it to the ground.  Since that time Peters had made killing pirates his life work and he was very good at it.  Gaylon smiled at Kate as she walked in the door and offered her a drink.  Placing her guns in easy reach she took the drink and sat on the only spot left, Gaylon's lap.