A Private War (9 page)

"Kate, don't shoot! It's Peters!"

"Peters, do you have a death wish or something, you're damn lucky I didn't waste you when you did that," Kate shouted, "Jesus Christ!"

"Sorry, but there wasn't time," Peters explained, "The pirates in town are on their way here, right now! We need to be ready. I have men in building on both sides of the street with M-60's and a few homemade claymores, but I don't know how long they can last without help. Most of my men are at the food warehouse, taking care of that problem."

"Ok, what do you need me to do?"

"Find anyone with a gun who will fight and send them here to the wire. We have to drive the pirates out, building by building, if we have to." Peters stated, "I have fifty men sweeping this way right now, but we need more if we are going to hold the wire."

While Peters was talking, Kate changed the magazines in her HK and then the Ruger, replacing it in its holster and snapped it down. After doing the same with the HK under her snow suit, she unslung her M4 from across her back and checked it. Then signaling Peters with a nod of her head, made her way to the door and out into the darkness. A quarter mile away outside of town Gaylon changed magazines on his M-4 and made his way farther down the ravine so that he could cover the fence line better. He could see more fires in the town and the sound of gunfire coming from the buildings all along the wire fence. More explosions split the night as Peters men set off more of the mines, but Gaylon could see men climbing over the fence in more then a dozen places. Firing a long burst with the M-4, he raked it up and down the fence, trying to kill as many as he could before he had to move again.

Kate stepped into a doorway as a group of pirates made their way down the street in front of her. And as they passed, she stepped out behind them and emptied the M4 into their backs. Ejecting the spent magazine, Kate smiled to herself and rammed home a new one. Looking back up the street, she started toward the center of town, hoping to meet up with some of Peters’ men. Passing an alleyway, Kate heard the sound of crying and men laughing and as she made her way farther down the alley she could see the reason. Four pirates held a young girl down on a pile of trash while another was raping her. Getting up, the man moved away as one dropped on top of her and another moved towards her head with his penis in his hand. Kate reached down and drew the Ruger from its holster as the man forced the girl's mouth open. Taking careful aim Kate fired, hitting him in the temple and quickly shifting aim, shot the other man in the back of the head. The first man fell to the snow as if pole axed and the second sprayed the girl with his blood as he fell across the girl's body. Dropping the Ruger, Kate grabbed the M4 and fired three short bursts into the other men before they could react. Picking up her Ruger, Kate walked over the girl and helped her roll the dead body off to the side so the girl could get free. Then talking softly, Kate washed the girl's face with a handful of snow and helped her to stand.

"Get into one of the buildings and stay there until this is over," Kate told the girl and gave her a push to get her started. Running back to the street entrance, Kate scanned up and down both sides of the road and seeing nothing, continued toward the center of town.

Gaylon's breathing was loud in his ears as he laid against the side of the ravine after his last run. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out two grenades and pulled the pins, then quickly standing back, threw one in front of him and the other to the right. A bright flash and screams flooded the air. Smiling, Gaylon ran down the ravine back towards town. Kate peered around the corner of a building and watched a group of pirates and town's people in a firefight on both side of the street. Sliding the M4 behind her back, Kate pulled the Ruger and fired at a pirate across from her position. The Ruger jumped in her hand and the man fell to the ground. Changing aim, Kate shot twice more at two pirates just as they rushed for a doorway. The first round took the first pirate behind the right ear and his right eye exploded from it's socket as he fell to the ground, but the second shot missed. On seeing the other fall, the second pirate turned and fired a blast with a 12 gauge pump. Kate had quickly ducked back and the lead pellets blasted brick shards from the building where her face had been only a second before. Quickly Kate grabbed the M4 and stuck it around the corner and fired a blast back, hitting the pirate in the chest and neck with a spray of blood. Smoke and steam poured off the barrel of the M4 as Kate changed magazines and fired another burst toward the other pirates across the street. Then running back the way she came, Kate stopped at a doorway and using her elbow, broke the glass in the door. Reaching inside she unlocked the door and she pushed it open with her foot before stepping inside. Kate held her M4 close to her body as she stepped into the darkness of an unlit hallway. Reaching into her fatigue coat she pulled out a small flashlight and pointed it down the hall. Seeing what she wanted, she ran to a stairway and up the stairs two at a time. Stopping on the second floor, Kate moved to the front of the building and picked a corner room. Finding it locked, Kate kicked open the door and stepped aside just as a shotgun blew out a corner of the door frame.

"Get the hell out of here, you fuckers or I'll cut you in two!" shouted a woman's voice. "I mean it."

"Don't shoot, you fool or you'll get us both killed!" Kate shouted back, "Look, I'm coming in, hold your fire. I'm on your side!"

"Ok, come ahead, real slow," the voice said as Kate walked slowly into the room. The glass in both windows was patched with tape and pieces of plastic wrap and the walls were covered with book shelves. Any warmth came from a small metal fireplace with the smoke going through an insulated pipe that had been pushed through a rugged hole in the wall.  And there in the darkness was the girl that Kate saved from the not long before.

"It's you," she said, "I'm sorry I didn't know".

"That's ok, you did the right thing and it could have been anyone."  Kate said," plus I didn't exactly knock." With that the girl stared to laugh, a bright, clear sound that mixed with the gun fire outside.

"Look, I don't have a lot of time, there are a lot of lives at stake. I need your room as a firing point into the street below to kill the pirates out there," she said as she pointed towards the window.

Gaylon moved silently through the night as he crawled to the wire surrounding the town.  The white snow suit was dirty, torn, and the right side was covered with blood.  He stopped, took a handful of snow, and pressed it against his side to try and stop the bleeding.  The last few minutes had been rough even for him.  After he had thrown the two grenades, he made his way further up the ravine toward the town when out of the darkness a form leaped for him, knife flashing.  Gaylon's M-4 flew from his hands and landed several feet away in the snow. A huge pressure hit his right side as Gaylon rolled on his back, his hands wrestling with a mashed form. One of Gaylon's hand broke free and he ripped the Gerber MARK II survival knife from its sheath and slashed it across the arm holding him down.  A muttered curse reached Gaylon's ears as he drove the point of the knife into the upper arm and twisted the blade. The serrated teeth ripped a bloody wound in the attackers' biceps and the blood dripped onto the lens pieces of Gaylon's gas mask. The attacker screamed and leaped away, reaching for a gun under his left armpit. Gaylon rolled to his feet and reaching behind his head, pulled the great sword free of its' sheath. The attacker, a man wearing a mask like Gaylon's, pulled his gun and raised it toward Gaylon as the Great Sword flashed in the light of the burning town. Metal rang against metal and the gun disappeared into the night. The man looked at Gaylon for an instant and ran down the ravine toward the darkness. Reaching down with left hand, Gaylon pulled a knife out his right side, a US Air Force Pilot Survival knife. The serrated teeth on the back of the knife had jammed on the material of Gaylon's web belt and had only punctured only a few inches along his ribs, but it hurt like hell. The blood was warm as it ran down the side of his chest and was sticking his shirt to his body. Taking a dressing out his first-aid kit, he quickly put pressure to the wound and using one hand, and his teeth, ripped off some tape and taped the bandage to his chest. It was the best he could do for now. Slowly Gaylon picked up the great sword and after a bow over it, replaced it in it's sheath. The Gerber went back into the sheath taped upside down on his chest. And walking over, picked up his M-4 and continued on. The attacker was someone he knew and hated, Murdock.

Kate peered out the window and down into the street below. The pirates were grouped around a barricade of old cars and firing toward the ruins of a Walgreen's Drug store across from her position. The town's people had picked a good position, the building sat on a corner lot and overlooked the entire city block, but they could not attack without crossing the open street. Kate looked into the girls eyes and nodded her head toward the door.

"No, I want to help you if I can," the girl stated and walking over to her bed, picked up a rifle, a Ruger Mini-14 with scope. "This used to belong to my husband before he was killed fighting the pirates when they came here before. He showed me how to use it, and I'm pretty good, too!"

Kate thought to herself for a moment and then with a smile said, "Ok, I'm Kate Johnson”, and stuck out her hand. The girl took it and said," I'm Jill Carstairs, at your service." Both women smiled. Taking a knife, Kate cut the plastic from the windows and taking three magazines of subsonic ammunition, placed two on the floor beside her and placed the third in the magazine well of her HK MP5SK. Giving her suppressor a final twist, Kate pulled back the shoulder stock and bolt, and placing the weapon quickly to her shoulder, sighted down on the pirates below. The HK MP5SK spat like an angry cat, again, and again, and again. Yells and confusion could be heard as one pirate and then another fell. One of the pirates looked around him, trying to find out where the shots were coming from. Again and again, the HK MP5SK spat down upon them, until a pirate saw her and pointed towards her position, his rifle swinging up to fire. Kate sighted and fired twice, the full metal jacketed bullet hit the pirate high in the face and he pitched against a wrecked car. Another man fired a long burst and pieces of the window glass and brick work cut into Kate's face.

"Shit, they've seen us, let'em have it!" Kate yelled and switching to full auto, cut loose with the rest of the magazine. Jill sighted through the 8X scope on the Mini-14 and fired. The .223 round hit the pirate just to the right of his nose and exited behind his left ear. The back of his skull exploded in a mass of blood and gray matter, spraying the man next to him. Then moving to another window, Jill sighted and fired again. A pirate put his hands to his chest and fell face toward to the ground. Kate thought for a second and the said to Jill, "Do you have anything that will burn, like gasoline or something?"

"Yes, I have some kerosene for the lamps I use, and I've got some old pop bottles," Jill stated, getting the idea, and after firing twice more laid her rifle on the bed and crawled to a small closet. After a few moments she returned with a gallon of kerosene and half a dozen empty Coke bottles. Using one of her shirts, she tore it into short strips and after filling a Coke bottle, jammed one of the rags into the mouth of each bottle and handed three to Kate. Then lighting two candles in the fireplace, Jill smiled and handed one to Kate.

"Time for them to die" she said. And crawling back over to her window, she waited for Kate to give the signal.

"On the count of three throw them, and try to space them out to cover the area," Kate stated, "One..Two..” Kate lit the rag, "Three!"

The two fire bombs arched across the night sky and fell amidst the pirates’ barricade. Flames raced across the concrete and reached for the sky. The second bombs fell farther out and started the wrecked cars burning. The third completed the circle and the screams filled the night air as men ran out into the darkness, their hair and clothing like torches. Gunfire from the town's people stilled the screams. Then the flames died down, the gunfire stopped and cheers filled the silence. But off in the distance the battle continued.

Gaylon moved through the darkened streets with Peters and every man that Peters could spare from the battle at the wire. After cutting through the wire, Gaylon had run into Peters having a good time in a neat little firefight. The pirates had counter-attacked along the wire that bordered the camp.

"Don't like the gas, I guess," Gaylon thought to himself," can't say I would either."

The pirate camp had been decimated, bodies covered the red snow, arms and legs jetting into the air, blood steaming in the freezing snow, death incarnate on a vast scale. Reaching the front of City Hall, Gaylon crouched against the stone steps and listened for any sounds from inside, and hearing none, motioned Peters’ men into covering positions. Hitting the M-4's magazine ejector, Gaylon let a half empty magazine fall into his palm, and reaching across his chest, pulled out a fresh one and rammed it home and pulled back the bolt. Darkness reined over the hallways and offices of the building as Gaylon lead Peters’ fire team in a room by room search of City Hall. Blood lay in pools by the bodies of two of the Mayor's bodyguards as Gaylon reached the Mayor's office. Kicking at the door lock with a steel-toed combat boot, Gaylon crashed into the office and rolled across the ragged carpet, gun ready. Peters and his men rushed inside just as Gaylon was getting to his feet. Still in his dirty business suit, the Mayor lay against the back of his chair, a lone bullet hole between his eyes. "Shit!", was all Peters would say as he walked back out of the room.

Jill and Kate moved down an alleyway a block west of City Hall. After the firefight, Kate told Jill to barricade her door and to keep her head down, but Jill would have nothing to do with it.

"Look, you saved my life back there and this is my home. I want to help," Jill stated as she poured some water over the fire in the fireplace. "If you can try to help my people then I can too!" Then taking a heavy coat and gloves out of her closet, Jill filled her pockets with some boxes of .223 rounds for her Ruger Mini-14 and two full magazines. Slinging the Ruger across her back, Jill reached down by the foot of the bed and picked up the shotgun that she had used to fire at Kate.