Lamp Black: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 2) (57 page)

He dialed in the range and looked for signs to calculate the wind direction and speed. There was nothing noticeable for wind, so he made no further corrections. Pete took aim at the chest of the looter guard, and the tactical reticle quartered the man’s upper body. He released the safety, let out a small breath, held the rest, and slowly pulled in the remaining tension of the match-grade trigger assembly. The heavy rifle barked once, clear and sharp, the report sending shock waves of ash off the truck.

Pete decided to use full-metal-jacket ammunition. It wasn’t the best for big game hunting, but the heavy tactical round could penetrate a car door, class three body armor, or both, if needed. He didn’t know if the highwaymen were wearing body armor, he forgot to ask
Collins about it, but the round did the trick. The man slumped to the ground as if he merely fainted. Only the sound of the rifle revealed the truth about the man’s fate.

With his eye fixed to the sight, Pete began to scan the area for additional enemy targets. He heard several shots in the distance, off to his left, and knew they came from his pistol. Collins was active. Reacting to the gunfire, one of the unarmed car looters bent down to pick up the guard’s fallen weapon. Pete didn’t have time to consider the ramifications of the new threat, but because the man reached for the rifle, Pete’s only option was to eliminate him. The dead looter fell across the rifle, landing face down on the road next to the dead guard. Pete smacked the top of the truck loudly, and Fisher exited the back with an enthusiastic, “Hooah.”

Pete spotted the second looter going for the rifle and was about to shoot him when Fisher beat him to it. The last looter toppled over backward, and Fisher stepped over him and assumed a defensive position behind the hood of a small car at the top of the overpass. Pete heard screams from the people around the violence, but he ignored everything but the potential threats. At that same moment, Hester sprinted past Fisher and took up position on the south side of the overpass.

On the north side, Collins began firing down the embankment. He was also yelling for everyone to get down. Pete was impressed with the sergeant’s controlled and disciplined firing. He was obviously seasoned and experienced. Pete continued to search for threats. He regretted not having line-of-sight for anything under the overpass, which meant he couldn’t help Collins, but he didn’t have long to wait for targets of his own.

Through his scope, Pete saw three armed men running down the on-coming lane across the overpass. Fisher didn’t see them yet, probably because of the ash in the air, so Pete took careful aim and fired. The highwaymen were running in near perfect single file, so Pete aimed at the base of the throat of the lead man. As predicted, two men fell with one shot. The second man caught the pass-through shot
in his chest, which was exactly what Pete hoped would happen. The third man tripped over the nearest dead man, briefly caught himself, but then tripped again and fell face-first into the ash pile in the middle of the road. The man’s fall allowed him to miss Pete’s second shot at the trio, but Pete quickly recovered and shot the guy in the head as he pushed himself up out of the ash.

Pete scanned the far side of the overpass and spotted a man taking aim at a target moving under the overpass. Pete quickly snapped off a shot and caught the man in the shoulder. It spun the man around and sent his rifle flying, but he was able to seek cover before Pete could get off a second shot. He tracked the man to a nearby horse trailer, and found him squatting behind the trailer’s open door. Pete adjusted magnification on the scope and saw the man’s feet and rear end just below the bottom edge of the door. He took an educated guess on where he thought the man’s torso was, and fired. The bullet passed through the thin metal covering of the horse trailer door, and hit the man. He was sent sprawling to the ground beyond the concealment of the trailer door, and when he tried to stand Pete shot him again, for a third and final time. Satisfied the resilient man was finally down, Pete scanned for additional targets on the far side of the overpass. He saw an armed man running north along the east side of the embankment, but he couldn’t take a safe shot because of the civilians in his line of sight. A single shot was heard and Pete saw the man fall. A moment later, Sergeant Collins appeared on the northeast side of the overpass.

Hester and Fisher did the same on the south side, they climbed the far embankment and linked up with Sergeant Collins at the top of the overpass. Pete was pleased to see his boys alive and well, and that they continued to take all necessary precautions to remain that way. He continued to scan for targets, and watched with admiration as Collins had the guys clear up the last remaining threats. Pete really wanted to join them, but he was committed to his position until the mission was complete, until Collins signaled him that everything was clear.

Finally, after what seemed like hours to Pete, Collins approached the edge of the overpass and signaled the all-clear. Pete quickly cleared his rifle and stuffed it back into the padded bag. He then shouldered his tactical pack and climbed off the truck to join the guys across the overpass. Scared and nervous civilians peeked up at him from behind their dashboards and car doors, but Pete ignored them as he walked over to the dead looter who tried to pick up the guard’s assault rifle. He rolled the body aside and grabbed what he thought was a standard AR-15, but after closer inspection Pete saw that it was a Rock River Arms LAR-8; a rifle similar to the popular AR-15, but one that fired the bigger .308 round, which just happened to be Pete’s favorite caliber of ammunition. He quickly stripped the looter guard of his three remaining magazines and made his way across the overpass to link up with his commandos.

Sergeant Collins was standing by the guardrail, waving frantically for Pete to approach. He held two water bottles in his hand and handed one to Pete as soon as he arrived. Pete downed the bottle and asked, “Do you have any more of these?”

“There’s more, but I need you to see something first . . . something you’re not going to like,” replied Collins, as he led Pete over to the horse trailer.

Pete followed, and when he realized where Collins was going he feared one of his shots accidently killed a civilian. But what he saw inside the horse trailer was far worse than anything he imagined. A woman, naked and obviously unconscious, was bent over the padded center stall divider, her hands bound to her ankles with thick, white, nylon rope. On the floor, at the far end of the trailer, sat two more women. They were huddled together, their hands and feet bound with the same white nylon rope.

One woman, defiant despite a split lip and bruised cheek, stared coldly at Pete as if wishing him instantly dead. But her demeanor quickly changed to tears when she heard Pete turn to Collins and ask, “Why haven’t you release her?” Pete was instantly furious, unable to suppress his anger, but Collins wasn’t offended by his sentiment.

“I need a knife, Sergeant Major,” Collins calmly replied, “but you also needed to see this for yourself . . . it’s why we had to stop these men.”

“You’re right,” said Pete. “My apologies.”

“Not necessary. It pissed me off, too,” said Collins

Pete turned to look at the women once again. He felt deeply embarrassed and ashamed for all men, knowing that when they exerted their physical advantage over women in such a way that it was absolute evil. He wished he could kill the highwaymen all over again; line them up and shoot them again, but this time not so quickly, not so cleanly. Thinking of the highwaymen prompted Pete to ask, “Is the area clear?”

“Yes,” replied Collins.

“I’ll free her. Go see if you can find me a first aid kit, and some blankets and water . . . we also need to get the traffic moving again . . . and the sooner the better,” said Pete.

“Got it, Sergeant Major. I’ll get right on it,” replied Collins.

Collins took off at a jog and Pete hollered after him, “Good job clearing the area. I’m glad you’re all OK.” Collins offered Pete a casual salute and left to perform his task.

Pete entered the horse trailer, quickly freed the woman hanging over the center divider, and laid her gently on the floor. A moaning woman caught Pete’s attention, but the defiant woman began to soothe her with comforting words. Pete stood and walked to the trailer door, looking for Collins’ return. He turned to the defiant woman and said, “I’ll get you more help, just know that you’re safe now. I won’t let anyone else hurt you guys.”

“Thank you,” she replied.

“What’s your name?” asked Pete.

“Lana,” said the petite woman. Her short dark hair and green eyes shone brightly despite the bruise on her cheek, and the corrupt feeling the lingered in the trailer. “And you are?” she asked.

“I’m Pete. Can you care for these women until I get return with supplies?”

“I’ll do my best . . . and thanks . . . Pete, for what you and your men did for us today.” Tears began to slip down her cheek, but she held on to her strength with poise and bearing. Pete was momentarily mesmerized by Lana’s strength and angelic beauty, and he forced himself to look away.

“I’ll be right outside the trailer,” said Pete. “We’re gathering supplies for you now, but let me know if there’s anything you need.” Lana nodded once and went to the unconscious woman. Pete took that as a sign to step out of the trailer and make a call to Bonnie. He was long overdue for a radio check and was immediately bombarded with a thousand questions.

Bonnie informed Pete that she heard all the shooting, and was convinced Pete was laying somewhere wounded, dying, and that she would never see him again. He spent the next couple of minutes trying to calm her down, and then asked if she could meet him at the overpass. “I don’t think I can get the sliding door open, Pete,” said Bonnie. “I watched you try to open it and you could barely budge it.”

“You can do it. All you have to do is move the bags. Just give it a shot, and if you can’t I’ll think of something else. It’s just that I have my hands full right now and can’t come to you, but I could sure use your help up here,” said Pete.

“Why, what’s going on?” asked Bonnie.

“Let’s just say we had a little fire fight with some bad guys. We won, but now we have to set a few things right. I have at least two women who were sexually abused, and there’s only four of us up here to do the work of twenty.”

“OK, I’ll see if I can open the door, and I’ll call you back in a few minutes. I love you, Pete. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“I love you too,” said Pete, and he ended the radio transmission.

He saw Fisher approach with blankets and a first aid kit. “Here you go, Sergeant Major.”

“Thanks Fisher. I need you to do something ASAP. Go below the overpass and get those people out of the way. I’ll want to cut down the hanging bodies.”

“Wilco, Sergeant Major,” replied Fisher, as he took off at an easy run.

Pete delivered the supplies to Lana and said, “I’ve got a bit of work to do yet. I’ll bring you some water as soon as I find it. Will you be OK for a couple of minutes?”

“We are now,” said Lana, and she immediately got to work on the most injured woman.

Pete jogged to where the three bodies hung from nylon ropes tied to the overpass guardrail. He looked over the side, and when Fisher signaled the area below was clear, Pete cut the ropes with his Gerber. He was impressed to see that Fisher enlisted the help of several civilians to quickly move the bodies off to the side of the interstate.

Hester had the vehicle traffic moving on the west end of the overpass. He also enlisted the help of several civilians, and had them distributing the captured food and water to the most needy of people as they passed. To his right, on the east side, Sergeant Collins was doing the same, and had traffic moving along without delay.

Pete grabbed water bottles from Hester’s recruits and headed back to the horse trailer to deliver them to Lana. Then he approached Collins and asked, “Do you have everything up here? I want to take a look down below.”

“I got it, Sergeant Major. You want to ground your gear here? I can watch it for you. Oh, and here’s your pistol. I’ve got one of my own now.”

Pete accepted his pistol and slid it into his thigh holster. “You guys did really well down there,” said Pete.

“Us?” replied Collins. “You took out more than half the active shooters by yourself. That was really nice shooting.”

Pete nodded to the complement and handed his rifle bag to Collins. “Guard this with your life. I’ll be right back.”

Pete walked across the overpass to talk with Hester. “Good work here, Hester, but let’s close the doors on the truck for the time being.
I think we should move the dismounts up onto the access road, and the cars back onto the interstate. What do you think?”

“I think that’s a great idea, Sergeant Major . . . mixing the two has made things a mess,” replied Hester. Pete was discussing how to accomplish that plan when his radio squawked. “Go ahead, Bonnie,” he opened.

“I managed to get the sliding door open, but you relocked the gate. How am I supposed to get through it? You know I can’t use your bolt cutters.”

“I know. Are you parked by the gate?”

“Yes.”

“OK, face the gate. Let’s see, go to the pole on your left, just below the lock and chain, and feel for the key under the ash. It’s lying on the concrete footer at the base of the pole.”

“Found it,” she said. “I see the traffic is moving again. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

“OK. Oh, and Bon, I’ve got three Soldiers with me. We’re the only ones armed, so don’t worry, but if you don’t see me when you arrive just ask for Sergeant Collins, or you can radio me again. You’ll see a blue horse trailer on the shoulder, on the north side of the intersection. Park the truck near it and I’ll join you as soon as I can. OK?”

“OK. I’ll see you soon. I love you, Peter.”

“I love you too.” With the threat eliminated their radio protocols had been thrown out the window, but Pete didn’t care. He was just glad the action went off without a hitch. No one was hurt, and Bonnie was on her way.

After finishing up with Hester, Pete walked down the embankment to inspect the results of the gun battle he couldn’t see. He found Fisher sitting on the chest of a highwayman. “Are you comfortable, Fisher?” asked Pete, with a polished grin and squinted eyes.