Avenging Home (26 page)

The Guard was also on the move. A convoy of trucks stretched down highway 19 coming out of Eustis headed north to Umatilla. There, they would take 450 to the west and approach the main gate of the camp. During their recon, Mike and Ted noted the lack of any sort of roadblock at the entrance. There were defensive positions on either side, but the road was wide open. The Guard would take advantage of this fact.

On a dark stretch of highway 42, Sarge stopped. I pulled up beside him. He pointed off to the south. “Here’s where we go in. Get your truck off the road and get everyone out. We’ve got to distribute the load and head for the rally point.”

I pulled the truck off the road and parked it under some large oak trees where everyone got out. The buggies would be driven a little closer, but even they would be abandoned shortly. We put as many people on them as we could, but Thad, Danny, Aric and I ended up walking. It wasn’t hard to keep up though, because they were going slow in the brush. Not to mention, we had to cut a couple of fences. It was not the stealthiest approach; but after tonight, it wouldn’t matter one way or the other. Either they’d be gone, or we would.

At the point the buggies were to be abandoned, we distributed the load. There was the mortar and its ammunition, and the SAWs and their ammo. Mike had the Goose as well. There was a lot of hardware, and it was impressive to know we had that sort of weaponry. I was carrying my carbine and the M1. Lee Ann had her H&K and the shotgun. But we all had to carry more. I was saddled with one of the SAWs and thought about leaving the carbine. But it wasn’t far to our positions and I wanted every gun I could get my hands on. Were we walking farther I certainly wouldn’t hump all this shit.

Once everything was sorted out, Sarge turned to the group. “Alright guys, shit’s about to get real. Absolutely no talking from here on. Move quietly and try not to make any noise. Our positions are on the edge of the camp, so we’ll be kind of far away; but we don’t want to give them any warning.”

Ian and Ted led the way. Ian carried a SAW as well. They would range ahead and make sure we didn’t walk into an ambush. I took up position at the rear of the column, keeping Lee Ann with me. From my position, I could see all the IR strobes that were with each team. They flashed randomly providing fleeting glimpses of the canopy of trees we were walking under. These quickly gave way to a large marsh. Thankfully, it’d been pretty dry lately, so we weren’t wading through muck to get there.

At the edge of the marsh, we paused, everyone taking a knee. Sarge would come get one team at a time and take them to their position, then return to get another. Eventually, he got to me and Lee Ann and led us to our position. It was in a small depression with a slight rise in front of it. From where we were though, I could see most of the backside of the camp. It was a good spot.

Sarge knelt down beside me. “Alright, Morgan. When the show starts, it’s open season. We want to prevent any of them getting out this side of the camp. So anyone you see out there is a target.”

“Roger that,” I replied as I set my pack on the ground. He patted my back and disappeared. I looked down along the edge of the marsh and could see strobes flashing. I really hope these guys don’t have any NVGs. I pulled the two-quart canteen out and laid it between Lee Ann and me. “Here’s some water if you need it,” I whispered. She nodded, and I said, “Your weapon is for close work. Don’t waste it trying to shoot across this field. I’ll try and stop them farther out. But if anyone tries to make a break for it and crosses that field, you take them out.”

In a quiet whisper, she replied, “Okay.”

I checked my watch. It was three AM. It’d taken some time to get everyone in place. The show would start soon. We were waiting for the appearance of the Apaches to start the party. I took the time to observe the camp. There was very little movement. I saw a couple of pairs of what had to be security walking around. That meant everyone else was more than likely asleep, which was good. If those Apaches could take out the cabins with them in still inside, it would make our life a lot easier.

“When is this going to start?” Lee Ann whispered.

“I don’t know. You tired?”

“A little. I was excited walking in here. Now I’m getting tired.”

I patted her back. “That’s the way it works, kiddo. Go ahead and sleep while you can. I’ll wake you up when it’s time.”

She pushed her weapon out of the way and laid her head on her hands. “Okay. Wake me up.”

Whispering, I replied, “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

I sat quiet for a long time. So long, I started questioning if this were going to happen or not. I’m not a patient person, and sitting like this was killing me. Not to mention, your ears play tricks on you, and I was forever looking behind me for guy I knew was sneaking up on me, only to see nothing. Then there was the unmistakable sound of something coming through the brush. There was no mistaking it this time.

I tapped Lee Ann on the shoulder. When she opened her eyes I held a finger to my lips and pointed to the thin line of brush behind us. I crawled around so I was facing the sound and searched the bush for any movement. The sound was getting louder, crunching and scraping. I picked up the Mossberg and trained the sight out in front of me. Then, as if materializing out of thin air, a damn armadillo wandered out of the brush just ten feet from me. I hate armadillos, and kill every one of them I find…..usually!

Lee Ann smiled, and I said, “It’s your lucky day, bud.”

Lee Ann cupped her mouth to keep from laughing. I held my finger to my lips again and pointed for her to turn around. With the radios came a small ear bud. As I picked up the M1 again it crackled.

Jefe to all units. Put your heads down. Saber is inbound.

I couldn’t hear the helicopters and wondered how far away they were. I should be able to hear them. Then came a faint thumping. They sounded really far. The radio crackled again.

Saber one one. Swamp Rat, we’ve marked your strobes. Gun runs will be from the north to the south and west to east. Make yourselves small, people.

I still could only hear a faint thumping. How far can the optics on one of those things see? The question was answered when I saw a small flash speeding towards the camp. It hit one of the cabins and erupted into a massive explosion. I looked at my watch, it was 4:12 AM.

“Oh my God!” Lee Ann said, a little too loud.

I shushed her and tried to push myself a little farther into the hole. What followed was a rocket coming in every few minutes. The camp was now fully awake and people were running around. With a target-rich environment in front of me, I started to aim at the figures running around in front of the flames. I would save the machinegun ammo for when they were running towards me. For now, they were backlit by the numerous fires beginning to burn around the camp. Then the Apaches opened up with their cannons. It was a mesmerizing display as the large rounds slammed into the ground. Lying on my stomach as I was I could feel the impacts.

I took aim on a figure and pulled the trigger, and was stunned when the shadow exploded before my eyes. Several more 30mm rounds slammed into the ground around the now disintegrated body. No matter, I just picked another one. The helicopters continued their work, and then the sound of a large number of small arms entered the fight.

Eustis is through the gate.
The radio crackled. It was now fully on. I glanced down the line and saw sporadic fire coming from some of our positions. Red tracers would race out from our line in short bursts. Then off to my right front, there was another large explosion. I could see men falling out the back of a burning truck. After a moment, there was a large bright yellow flash. Thick flames shot high into the sky, and even in the darkness I could see the intensely thick inky black could of smoke rising into the predawn sky.

The camp’s occupants were caught completely off guard and were obviously not prepared for what happened. As the Guard pushed farther into the camp, the camp occupants started to panic and run. And they ran straight towards us. I dropped the M1 and got behind the saw. We were the last ones on our line, so it was important for me to keep anyone from getting around. Snugging the weapon to my shoulder, I squeezed the trigger.

I fired seven or eight-round bursts at the figures running towards me. They fell like grass before a scythe. All down our line now everyone was firing. Now it was a continuous steady stream of red tracers. The sound was intense. It was so damn loud. But when the radio crackled again, I heard the call.

Saber One One is Winchester.

Saber One Two is Winchester.

Jefe, Swamp Rat.

Go for Swamp Rat.
Sarge’s voice came over the radio with the sound of heavy automatic weapon fire in the background.

Swamp Rat you’ve got Tangos maneuvering to the east. We’ll come over and hit them with the door guns.

Roger that, Jefe. Morgan, you see them?”

I pulled the NVGs back down over my eyes and looked to my right. There were about a dozen people running from the attack. I don’t think I’d call it maneuvering, but they were certainly moving. I moved Lee Ann out of the way and shifted the weapon, opening up on them. Then I heard the Blackhawk come in and a gunner up there turned a Minigun lose on them as well. It was hellish. We cut all of them down. The sound of the Minigun and stream of tracers made me think of some heavenly demon opening his mouth and vomiting fire and death down onto those below. The sound, the sight, it was truly terrible. The last one to fall, hit the ground and tried to get back up. I stopped that with a burst to his chest. With that, my end of the line went quiet. I saw no other figures.

The radio crackled again with a terrifying message.
We’re being overrun!

It was Dalton. And while he was certainly excited, he was calm and spoke clearly.

With only four teams on the line, our positions were a couple hundred yards apart. Plenty of room for people to sneak through. Keying my radio, I said, “Our end is quiet. We’re moving to support Danny and Dalton!”

I took a minute to add the last belt of ammo to the one trailing out of the SAW. Then I told Lee Ann to follow me. We ran along the marsh looking for Danny and Dalton. I heard them before I saw them. I could hear Dalton shouting, screaming at the top of his lungs. Then their position came into sight. It was above us on the crest of a small hill. I could clearly see Dalton standing up and firing. Coming up to the top of the hill, I was shocked to see so many people rushing towards them.

I told Lee Ann to shoot and dropped to the ground to get the SAW into the fight. Something must have happened to theirs as it was quiet. We started on the back of the group and made short work of them. The front part of the group made it to their position and quickly devolved into hand to hand fighting. I was trying to cover them, but couldn’t fire because they were mixed up. I told Lee Ann to stay put and grabbed the shotgun and took off running.

Dalton was swinging his AK like a club, holding it by the barrel. Danny was on his back firing his pistol point blank into them. Dalton hit a man in the head and snapped the stock off his weapon. He didn’t miss a beat, pulling his Kukri from its sheath and snatching the tomahawk from where it was tucked into his belt. The first poor soul to encounter him was hacked up immediately. Dalton used the hawk to hook the man’s arm and pull it out of the way and force him off balance. He then smashed the head of the hawk into his face and drove the Kukri up under his ribs and into his chest. The man was done.

Kicking the body off his blade, Dalton hoisted the edged weapons over his head and screamed, “Men and lads! Wet your edges on me!” Like some sort of psycho. He then charged headlong into them. I was running towards him, firing the shotgun as fast as I could. Danny was now back on his feet and had his carbine working. I was reloading the Mossberg when a body slammed into me, sending both of us crashing to the ground.

I looked up to see a wild-eyed bearded man scrambling for the shotgun. He would get to it before I did. Then, as the sky was beginning to lighten to the coming dawn, I recognized him. It was Billy. I went to draw my pistol and it wasn’t there. I groped at the empty holster and looked at it in disbelief. Then I remembered the hawk Dalton gave me. Snatching it from my vest I crawled after Billy. He was about two feet from the Mossberg when I slammed the head of the hawk into his calf.

He howled in pain. But his screaming reached a new level when I took a double-handed grip on the hickory handle of the hawk and pulled him back towards me. But I didn’t think that out all the way, and he smashed a bare foot into my nose, breaking it. I lost my grip on the hawk as my head spun and my eyes watered. Rolling onto my back, I looked over to see Billy trying to get to his feet. He was close to me, so I pulled the ESEE from its sheath and slammed it into the top of his foot. He howled again as he fell, knocking the hawk free.

Picking it up with my free hand, I sank the knife into his thigh and used it for a grip to drag myself over to him. He was screaming in pain and flailing at me. I swung the hawk at his hands. It hit his right hand between the third and fourth finger, nearly cleaving it in half. He screamed again as he held the mangled appendage up before him.

I climbed on top of him, straddling him. Looking down at him, blood ran from my nose and onto his face. He took a swing at me with his left that I easily dodged. Not wanting to give him another chance, I screamed as I brought the hawk back over my head. “I told you I’d fucking kill you!”

Billy’s eyes went wide as the piece of forged iron arched down towards him, slamming into his forehead. I wrenched it free and hit him again and again. I was covered in blood, mine and his. Breathing heavily, I pulled the hawk from his destroyed head. A pair of boots came into view and I looked up to see Dalton with a garish smile on his face, tomahawk in one hand and Kukri in the other. Both dripping blood. He wiped blood from his face with the back of his hand and said, “Fun ain’t it?”