Jernigan's War (6 page)

The next morning they loaded up the trailer with the supplies and tools Porter would need to make the journey. In addition to Porter’s pack and gear, Big John gave him a tool kit with everything he could possibly need to work on the motorcycle. He included an extra spark plug, fuel filters, air filters, and several quarts of motor oil. He gave him a bag of the pickled goat, extra water in a five gallon jug, a tarp, a length of rope, several LED flashlights, and a roll of duct tape.

They set up targets and with ammo that Big John had stored, Porter learned how to shoot the AK47. He found that the rifle was very inaccurate on full auto; but, he was very proficient firing it in its semi automatic configuration. He also had a shovel, machete, and an old axe. The final item Big John gave him was a bolt cutter. Big John told Porter, “As you remember when we were studying the map, I recommend that you take as many back roads and trails as you can find. It will take you a lot longer, but until you start crossing the desert you will be in constant danger of attack. Use these bolt cutters to cut through fences or to open
locked gates. If you run across a deer or any game it might be a good idea to make a kill. That food in the backpack and jar isn’t going to last you very long. You saw how I gutted the goat and skinned him. Just clean any animal the same way. Take that motorcycle and pull your kill out of sight up a trail where you can take your time.”

Big John stood in the door and watched as Porter drove away. He almost turned the bike over when he looked back to wave. Big John chuckled and wondered if he had done the right thing sending the boy on his way. He had lied when he told Porter that the pacemaker would last another few months. He was already having trouble breathing and when he glanced at his fingernails he noticed they were a deeper purple than normal. Big John walked down into his shelter and locked the door. He poured himself a glass of wine and opened up a favorite old book. He peacefully fell asleep in his chair where he would spend eternity.

CHAPTER 8

SAVING THE GIRL

A
ccording to the shortwave it was a total “Road Warrior” scenario in America. Untold millions were dying from starvation, murder, and disease. The smell of death was everywhere. Mankind, the most dangerous animal on the planet, was on the hunt and on the move.

Night time was now the most dangerous time at the house. People were starting to use the cover of darkness to encroach on them. With no lights, and no yard dogs, the lights had to stay out in order to preserve their night vision. The mattresses were no longer on beds but on the floor. The walls in the bedrooms and wherever else they could be barricaded were piled high with sandbags, bricks, and anything else they could find that was heavy and relatively bullet proof. Most of the window panes had been shot out and had been replaced with clear plastic.

The next night Jake and Dix made another run. The advantage of driving at night was that it would be hard for someone to spot and shoot at them. This time they made a thirty mile run up
to Jake’s old girlfriend’s home in the country. Jake knew that her family had a secure location, but had not heard from them in two weeks. Once again they left after midnight and again both were armed with AR-15’s and Browning High Power automatics. They carried what had become a standard battle pack. This included six 30 round mags for each of the AR-15’s and two extra 9mm mags for the Brownings. Each had a folding knife in his pocket and a Kbar on his belt. They had just enough gas to make the round trip, and 6 MRE’s for food. They took an old 4X4 Ford pickup so they could haul back supplies if they found any.

About half way to their destination the truck came to the top of a large hill. Down below they spotted a barricade on the highway. It was illuminated by an open fire with some men around it. The night was cold so the men probably had the fire for warmth. “We’ve got two options, we can try and find a way around, or we can do something unexpected.”

Jake shook his head, “We don’t have the fuel to go around.”

“Ok son, you get up on that hill about 200 yards from them. Take your radio but walk slowly and carefully because they may have someone up there. When you’re in position radio me and I’ll slowly drive up and see if they’ll let me pass. If they let me through, I’ll stop about a half mile up the road and you can work your way to me. If they decide to take me, I’ll turn on the headlights which will be your signal to kill everyone you see. I’ll be firing from the truck and then from the ditch on the left. We’ll have to talk by radio when the shooting stops or slows down. Hopefully they won’t expect anything this late at night.”

Jake disappeared into the darkness and called back over the radio after about 30 minutes. “There are five of them that I can see around the fire. It’s a good thing its cold or they might be scattered around.”

Dix pulled the truck up to the barricade and rolled down his window. Gunfire blew out the front glass. “It was a good thing I leaned out the driver’s window to get a better look” he mused, as the bullet missed him and also shattered the back glass. He flipped on the lights and rolled out the door onto the ground. He couldn’t see what was going on but he heard gunfire and yelling. He rolled into the ditch, shouldered his rifle, and was able to finish off one of the attackers trying to get up. He called on the radio and Jake answered, “Are you hit?”

“No, Dix replied, “did you get them all? I finished off one that was getting up.”

“They’re all taken care of; I double tapped all of them from up here after I had them all down.”

“Meet me as planned. We’ve probably woke up the entire country, so hurry. I’ve got the barricade open and I want to get away from the light.”

Dix killed the lights and drove slowly down the road. He knocked the shattered glass out of his window and waited for Jake. Jake soon showed up and they proceeded on their way. Jake reloaded the empty magazines from an ammo can stored in the truck, while they drove in silence. The temperature was in the low 40’s and the wind was cold as hell. The heater in the truck was on high, but did little to protect them as the wind rushed through the truck. It had begun to rain in a fine, chilling mist.

Dix slowed the truck as they made their way to the driveway leading up to the small farm. The drive was barricaded, so they parked the truck on the shoulder and geared up. They could expect to be confronted, but by whom they didn’t know. They decided to wait until dawn so that they would be recognized. Under the cover of their oil coats and hats they remained out of sight but where they could see their truck. The rest of the night was quiet, cold, and miserable. The dawn came and all
was quiet. Dix noted that the woods and trees were noticeably quiet, no squirrels and few birds. The country around them was unusually quiet; no sounds of traffic, airplanes or anything. They made their way up the driveway until they were within sight of the house. The house was dark. There was no smoke from the chimney, no dogs, nothing. Jake called out, “Anyone home?” There was no answer. This time he shouted, “Its Jake! Heather, are you in there?” Again they were answered by silence.

“We’re going to have to go in,”Dix said. There’s no need for both of us getting shot. You cover me from the wood pile on the side.”

“Dad, you can’t keep taking all the chances.”

Aggravated, Dix answered, “If I rescue Heather, and you’re dead, what the hell am I going to do with her? I am expendable, I’m getting old, and my job is to keep this family together as long as I can. You’ll understand if you live long enough.”

Jake started to argue but Dix stopped him, “This is not up for debate, son, I can’t shoot as good as you, I’m slow, and I don’t look like a threat. A gray haired middle age man walking up isn’t as threatening as a young buck. Besides, I’m in charge until I go down.”

As soon as Jake was in place, Dix hid his rifle under his coat. He reached through the flap in the pocket of his coat and put his hand on the pistol grip of the rifle. The safety was off. He reached the house without incident. He banged on the door with his left hand, keeping his right hand tight on the grip of the rifle. Again there was no answer so he tried the lock. It was broken and the door swung open. He pulled out his radio and called Jake, “Stay put I’m going in.” The light was dim in the house so he flipped on the green LED light on the brim of his hat. He found the badly decayed body of a man in the front room. Animals had obviously been at work on him. He found another body in the kitchen, again in the same state of decay. They had no weapons.
Dix called Jake and told him, “I’m coming down. There’s nothing but two dead men in the house.”

Jake radioed back, “I’m coming up.”

“Not yet,” Dix replied, “let’s get the truck up the hill and out of sight. We can’t take a chance on losing it because it’s at least a day’s walk back home.” They moved the barricade, pulled the truck up around the house, and re-barricaded the driveway. They went into the house and Jake identified Heather’s father from the boots he was wearing, a pair of broken glasses, and steel plate on his skull. It was an injury from an explosion in Vietnam. Jake said, “I can’t identify the one in the kitchen. We’ve got to go to their bugout position.”

“How far away is it?”

“It’s about a quarter of a mile down through the woods on the back of the property. They have an old hay barn that they fortified and stocked.”

They made their way down to the woods and onto a light zigzagging trail. Jake raised his hand upward in a fist, “Stop! They probably have a booby trap set somewhere along here. Her dad was using some of the traps he had come across in Vietnam.” He scrutinized the ground along the path “Look, there’s one now.” A hole with bloody metal spikes lay open ahead. Jake took a long stick and probed the ground as he went. He found three more traps without disturbing them. About halfway down the hill they heard gunfire just out of sight ahead. Jake said, “It sounds like it’s coming from the area of the barn.”

They heard a man yell out, “We know you’re in there! Y’all come on out so we can visit. We promise not to hurt you.” They were answered by gunfire.

Jake and Dix spread out and slowly crept down through the woods until they were overlooking the barn, the fenced in yard
around it, and the fields beyond. A small amount of smoke was coming from a stove pipe sticking out of the back wall. On the far side, directly across from the big double doors in the front, a man with a lever action rifle was crouched behind a pile of stacked wood. Another was crouched behind an old abandoned tractor. They would wave their hats every so often to distract the people in the barn while two others were sneaking around the side. Jake whispered, “I’ll take the two sneaking around, you take the two in the front.” Dix whispered back, “I’ll wait until you shoot before I open up. It’ll take a second for them to realize they are being hit.”

Jake disappeared further down the side of the ridge. Dix took aim at the farthest one. Dix aimed the red dot on the man’s chest so that the bullet would travel diagonally through his chest cavity. Jake began to shoot and a half heart beat later, Dix put his first round through the man behind the tractor. Not waiting to see the effect, he turned his attention to the man at the wood pile. The man was moving, so Dix fired as the holographic circle and dot covered his torso. He kept squeezing off rounds until the man was down. He then turned back to the one at the tractor who was trying to crawl away. A second round through his chest caused him to collapse on the ground. Looking back at the other man who showed no movement, Dix popped him through the head just as a precaution.

Jake came back up, “All clear from my end.”

“Same here,” Dix reported. “I assume you didn’t recognize any of those guys.”

“I’ve never seen them before in my life. I just hope it was Heather and her mother we rescued.”

Jake called out, “Heather, are you in there?”

“Jake is that you?”

“Yes! Is it clear for me to come in?”

“Yes, but hurry, I need help!”

Dix looked at Jake, “I’ll stay here. We’ve made a lot of noise and will have attracted a lot of attention. Call back if you need help. Otherwise I’ll stand watch up here until you need me.”

Jake bolted down the hill and into the barn. He found Heather cradling her mother as he came in. “Is she hit?” Heather looked up at him,

“No, it’s her heart. We ran out her medicine last week when the house was overrun. We’ve been hiding out here, Dad’s dead, and we were afraid to try and bury him. She collapsed when they started shooting at us. I fired back and when I looked back she was clutching her chest.”

Jake gently reached for her, “Let’s get her warmed up and see if we can make her more comfortable.”

At that moment she opened her eyes “I told you Jake would come.” She sighed and again closed her eyes. They moved her to a pallet next to the stove. Her breathing was labored and she clutched Heather’s arm. Heather broke down in sobs. There was nothing Jake could say that would take away the feeling of grief that overwhelmed her. They could only watch as her mother’s breaths grew weaker and then ended. It was though a candle had burned down to its last spark and faded away.