Avalon: The Retreat (37 page)

They swung south first to make a wide swath and then they planned to swing toward the northeast and then northwest. They wanted to take out anyone on the perimeters in the northern sector of the camp to demoralize the whole bunch of them and scare them into making stupid mistakes. As they swung south, Mike saw them first and Sam stopped dead in his tracks; he saw them too. It looked like a woman with some kids and they were packing a load of boxes and other things. Sam went left and Mike went right. When they passed by, Mike stood up and said,

“Stop and don’t do anything stupid or you’re dead.”

He could feel the frantic vibes as they froze in their tracks. Sam popped up behind them and said,

“It would behoove you to listen to the man. We don’t want to hurt you, but we will if we have to.”

“Drop what you have in your hands,” it was Gregg, “And make sure all those weapons go into the dirt as well. I want to see all your hands up on top of your heads, and lock your fingers together. Do it now!”

Feeling surrounded and completely caught off guard, the small group complied. Boxes went to the ground and so did the weapons.

“Who’s in charge?” Mike asked.

“I am,” Beth responded.

“And who might you be?”

“I’m Beth Kelly, Special Agent Beth Kelly of the FBI.”

“Well kiss my ass…”

“Cut it out, Sam!” Mike interrupted. They were exposed, and this was no time for jokes. “You have anything to prove that, ma’am?”

“In my pocket.”

“Do it slow, lady. I don’t want to kill you, but I will if you do anything stupid; believe it!”

She carefully took out her I.D., handed it to him, and stepped back. He read the I.D. card inside the badge case and saw that she was who she said she was. He handed it back and said,

“Relax guys, she’s legit. You can lower your hands Miss… Kelly. I’m Mike Reynolds, the smart mouth over there is our resident comedian, Sam, and that’s Gregg. What’re you doing out here? Don’t you know there’s a large camp of Slavers right over there?”

“You boys are pretty smooth,” Beth ignored the question. “Are you ex-military?”

“Mike here’s one of the Navy’s finest,” Sam never missed a chance to brag, “an ex-SEAL. I’m ex-Green Beret, and Gregg over there is an ex-Marine Sniper. We’re going to work on those fellows over there a little and we’re going to make sure they stop what they are doing here and now. When the rest of our people get here, we’re going to wipe them out, every last breathing one of ‘em.”

“You have re-enforcements?” she asked, somewhat incredulously.

“We have a few,” Sam smiled. He was looking at her chest. “How many do you have besides these boys?”

“Mister, don’t underestimate these boys.” She said it a bit protectively. “That little one over there is our Sniper and he’s good. These two boys are my lieutenants, and they aren’t afraid of anything. We’ve come a long way together and I have bet my life on them more than once.”

“No disrespect, ma’am,” Sam smiled at her. “I was just making an observation. They are boys, but I believe it if you say they’re good soldiers.”

He turned and addressed them directly. “Sorry, boys, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

The boys just smiled. They weren’t insulted in any way, only Beth.

Mike’s curiosity got the best of him, “Where were you headed with all those boxes?”

“Over that way another mile,” Beth replied. “Want to go for a walk?”

“Any minute now they’re going to find out we off’ed a bunch of their troopers,” Mike summarized, “And they’ll be out in force looking for us; let’s go with them, Sam.”

He turned to Beth,

“Lead the way ma’am and we’ll cover your backs.”

The Slavers were camped out on the west side of Fitch. They rode in strong and took the town by surprise. It was easy, and the pickings were like taking apples off a tree. As they came into town, people stared at them from the sidewalks and store windows. Nobody suspected what was to come, but they found out in short order.

One of the local Sheriff’s Deputies was standing next to his cruiser when they hit town. They came in an endless stream, riding their bikes up on the sidewalks and into stores. The roar of three hundred plus was deafening. The motorcycle fumes had people choking and coughing.

Randy watched them come riding into town. He stood there and stared as they passed one after another, and there was nothing he could do but watch. Using the radio was useless because no one could hear over the roar of that many motorcycles coming into town. The ground literally shook as they passed by.

One man stopped next to him, a giant of a man. Sitting on his motorcycle, he was even taller than Randy. He had big arms and was wearing a leather jacket that turned into a vest when the sleeves were removed. He said something to Randy, but Randy couldn’t hear above the roar. The motorcyclist smiled at Randy and showed yellow teeth.

Randy saw they were all heavily armed with shotguns and rifles. Almost all of them had pistols on their waists and sported large daggers. Some of the blades were strapped to their waists while others were strapped to their calves, and many of them had what appeared to be full auto sub-machine guns. There were short guns and long guns, such as AK-47’s, in addition to smaller carbines. There wasn’t much he could do at the moment, so he did the prudent thing… nothing. He just stood there and watched them come from the east out toward Bishop. The big man sped away and Randy felt better about that. He watched as they just kept coming.

In fifteen minutes they passed through and appeared to be headed toward the park on the edge of town. When he could finally use the radio, he called the office,

“Unit five calling the Sheriff.”

Static crackled as he waited. He thought Marci, the dispatcher, was probably using the bathroom. He waited some more. When he heard a shot fired off down the street, he keyed the button again,

“Unit five, I just heard a shot fired down in the direction of Flynn’s Firestone Store.”

Static…

He tried again,

“Is there anyone listening?”

Static…

Randy was thirty one and engaged to marry Janet Rawlins in another month. She was pregnant, but no one mentioned it and she wasn’t showing just yet. They were high school sweethearts and had been going together for years. They split up while he was serving in Bosnia, but when he returned home, they got back together again. The Sheriff offered him a job and he accepted. Being a deputy and a Marine were the only two jobs he ever had, unless you counted the time he was a bag boy at Phillip’s grocery store during high school. He tried the radio again,

Static…

Randy took his night stick off and laid it on the seat next to him, got in, and started the car. He switched on the emergency lights, put it in gear, backed away from the curb, and headed toward the Firestone Store. As he drove down the street, a motorcycle raced by, passing in front of his car. He had to slam on his brakes to keep from hitting the man and the motorcycle was gone in an instant. Randy put the car in park, got out, and looked around.

There was a commotion further down the road and he saw people forming a crowd on the sidewalk, spilling out into the street. It was then that he heard more gunfire. He took the mike from the cradle and said,

“Marci, there’s a major disturbance down by the Firestone Store; send back up now!”

Static…

Just then, three bikers jumped him from behind and another came around the car and started beating him with wooden bats. The first blow broke his collar bone and the second broke his neck. Randy no longer felt anything or was aware of anything, but the beating continued until there was scarcely anything recognizable of what once was a young man. He was a piece of raw bloody meat dressed in a Deputy Sheriff’s uniform, laying in the gutter next to the open door of his cruiser. That was the beginning of things to come in the town of Fitch. His radio came to life and Marci said,

“Randy, can you repeat that message?”

Static…

Bob Waters had been the Sheriff in Fitch for fifteen years. He had lived there all his life and was from a pioneer family, which was a status symbol in town these days. So many people had moved to the small town in such a short time that it was now a town full of strangers. Those who knew each other from childhood were in control of everything and they jealously guarded their pecking order.

The Mayor was an old classmate of Bob’s from Kindergarten on, and he depended on the Sheriff for nearly everything. In fact there were those who said Bob Waters was, in reality, the Mayor. But when Bob heard those rumors, he just scoffed at them. He was perfectly satisfied being Sheriff because it allowed him everything he ever needed or wanted in life.

Being Mayor wasn’t part of what he needed or wanted. Speaking of the Sheriff’s position, now that was something; and he liked it. If anything happened in Fitch, he always heard about it. Everyone who was anyone came to him first. He always had a new pickup and the best of everything, including Marci.

He was attending a conference in Sacramento when the Bikers rolled into Fitch. His Chief Deputy, the Under Sheriff Kjell Svenson, was in charge. Kjell, pronounced “chell,” was at a shooting meet at the range behind the Armory the day they charged into town. There was talk all over the state about what some were calling insurrection and lawlessness, but few believed or thought it would happen in Fitch… until the town was taken over, that is. By then it was too late to do anything about it. Seventy five of the townspeople went to the Randall Brothers’ Wholesale Store and holed up inside.

There were several reasons they holed up there… first, it had TV cameras everywhere on the inside and the outside of the building; second, it was made out of cement, which made it almost fireproof. Third, people could go to the roof from inside the building and defend themselves from the raiders with high powered rifles. The fourth reason was the abundant supply of brand new rifles and ammo in the sporting goods department.

This was a big hunting area and the store always stocked lots of bullets for the upcoming season. They had enough food to feed every one of them for many months and, most importantly, the building had its own diesel generator on the roof . There was a diesel tank buried in the ground that was full with over five thousand gallons of fuel, which would last quite some time if used sparingly.

When the bikers raided the town, the Randalls were on vacation doing a European swing that started in the Greek Islands. They planned to visit the entire coastal areas from there through Spain, Italy, and France, and finally ending in Copenhagen before returning home, but the war caught them in mid-stride. The store manager was running things and opened it up to the townspeople when the bikers showed up and settled in.

Most of them stayed in the book section or over in the furniture department where the plush furniture was on display. Others watched videos from the hundreds of selections available in electronics. They had hot and cold running water and ample bathroom facilities, with hundreds of boxes of real toilet paper. They didn’t know it, but they would be the envy of everyone around the area later.

The bikers made a couple of attempts to get to the people inside, but they gave up after awhile; it cost them nearly fifty men in the process. They tried raiding the Armory, which was also a losing adventure. Several men and women made it to the Armory and were inside the big building with all the firepower necessary to defend themselves, but not much food. They gave up on raiding that place also.

Slowly one or two men left the Armory late at night and were able to get over to Randall’s, where they traded food for high powered machine guns and ammo. These two places were the only safe places in all of Fitch. When the Sheriff came back to town, he was met by Kjell and escorted over to Randall’s.

Mike, Sam, Gregg, and Beth made it back to the children, who were waiting in the small clearing at the edge of the thick woods just south of Fitch. The children were excited to see Beth but when they saw Mike and his people, they were scared and ran behind her for protection. She reassured them it was okay and announced,

“Anybody hungry?”

They shouted and screamed like excited children do, and there was no subduing them. Everyone crowded up toward the front and there was fortunately enough food for all of them. Mike and his men ate some as well and then said,

“We have to head back now; some of our people are coming toward Fitch and we need to make sure they run into us and not that hornet’s nest over there. I’m sure by now that gang knows they were hit. You stay put, and we’ll come for you later.”

She started to protest, and he said in a gentle voice,

“You’ve done a remarkable job getting this far with all those kids, and I know they will love Avalon once they get there…”