Moosehill Militia (Book 1): INFECTED (35 page)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Day +11

Day +11

Mike was meeting with Mac and his company commanders this morning. As the company commanders filed into the conference room, he had an idea of what he wanted to say and how he wanted to start this mission.

Somethings been on his mind for a while now. He realized early on that with the level of growth he couldn't just make decisions arbitrarily. Mike and Mac were meeting to plan these operations and that was it. He now felt with the size and complexity that the Moosehill Militia was growing at he needed a staff and should be including his higher level officers and department heads on a regular basis. "Good morning everybody, tomorrow's a big operation, everyone remembers those trains we talked about outside the Smith & Wesson plant. We need to bring those trains in with the equipment on them before some other rogue group takes them and uses them against us or other surviving enclaves.

With that in mind I plan on taking three Moosehill Company’s and the two U.S. Marine Company’s. The whole outfit basically a battalion will be acting as Air Mobile infantry for this operation so we'll be using most of our air assets. Along with the soldiers we will be accompanied by a contingent of mechanics and anyone else with the experience to move those trains, also machine operators for the Smith & Wesson plant to identify what we need to take with us. It’ll be the job of the mechanics and electronic specialist to get those three trains up and running. Bravo Delta and Echo Company’s will be going for the Moose Hill contingent. All the U.S. Marines will be going. That leaves Mac with Jack Majors in Alpha Company, Sean with Charlie Company, and the two new company’s Golf and Foxtrot here, where they will continue with local clearing operations and base security.

They won't be sitting on their asses, Mac will leave one company here for security and the other three will be conducting sweeps through Paxton all the way down Route 31 past the Abby into the west side of Spencer down toward the Spencer Fair Grounds and the Big Y Discount Supermarket that they already cleaned out, to make that section more secure for the Abbey Base.

I’m letting you know with the addition of those two trains with the mechanized armor we will be able to expand the MH Militia into at least two or three full mechanized battalion or maybe two mechanized and one air mobile battalion, with more in the future depending on manning levels. That will essentially secure our safety and allow us to expand our clearing attempts and hopefully bring in more survivors that are still alive out there. After that we can concentrate on securing the towns immediately around us I'd like to secure the Worcester Airport, and start a regular air service between the surviving groups that we know of. We will probably find more out there as we go, this is all about preserving our way of life. I’d really like to find out who's responsible for this infection situation because this is not natural, somebody out there knows something and I'd like to find them.

Changing the subject briefly, everybody knows that we had a few suicides on the base. The truth is we had more than a few, to date we've had thirty four, these people have been so depressed and despondent over losing loved ones that they decided that they had to take their own life. We need to keep everyone active and busy getting engaged in the community that we are building, so any ideas that you can come up with along those lines, let me or Mac know. Next on the list is a need to come up with an Advisory Council. Its exactly what it sounds like, a council to advise me on running this organization. I will be staying in command for the foreseeable future with Mac as my executive officer.

Once we get to the point of having separate battalion’s Jack Majors will be commanding one Battalion and Dave Maddox will be commanding the other and then we'll see where we go from there. We have more volunteers than we have vehicles to put them in at this point. We've been planning to have some air mobile companies but now with the amount of air assets we have, we could increase from company size to a battalion. These are all thoughts, I’d like everyone’s opinions in the near future."

"Any questions you guys have?" Mike asked.

"Mike what are going to do about paying the Troops, or for that matter anybody who's working for us now and in the future?" Jack Majors asked.

"Good question Jack, I don't know if everyone here knows, but I won one and a half billion dollars. I spend close to a billion on everything we've done here the other half a billion is sitting in a unspecified location in this complex with 500 million dollars’ worth of silver and gold coin in different denominations. I propose we start hitting Banks as we move along for any coins in their vaults in safety deposit that we can add to that total. That will be our gold and silver reserve that we will base our currency on.

Right now we're all working to survive and at some level between groups we will be bartering supplies and information and services and then once we get past that we're going to need a monetary value system. At some point in the future I will propose that a monetary system be based on hard currency and not paper money. That should keep any inflation down and avoid some of the problems we've had for last fifty years here in the United States and around the world, quite simply we won't be spending money we don't have.

“Okay back to the Trains, if we can get these trains moving, those tracks lead right into Spencer right behind Klem’s Department store, where there is a big train depot that brought train loads of new motor vehicles for all the car dealerships in Central Mass. When we get those trains there, it'll be just a matter of unloading and driving those armored vehicles back to base. Most of the Troops can ride back on the train, we may need the protection. That leaves the helicopters which have a lot of lift capability, they can be rigged up with netting so they can move any other supplies we find directly back to Moosehill.

“I'm sorry Mac, I knew your left holding the fort here but that's a perk of being the commanding officer.” Mike told Mac with a grin.

“ Yeah, yeah, you just like going out and having fun and leaving old Mac here to take care of the home base I get it, that's my job.” He winked at everyone else.

“I wonder what's going on in the rest of the world maybe we can find out from Admiral Rin at some point. They must have some contacts with the greater world. I wonder if it's as bad elsewhere as it has been here or even worse. Let's go to the airport and make sure all the equipment is ready for tomorrow I’ll be leaving at first light.” Mike said as he drove to the airfield.

***

Mike was at the Moosehill Airport at five a.m. after kissing Mary goodbye while she slept in her bed. Charly came over to stay with her while he were gone.

Around five thirty a.m. Mikes Moosehill Troopers and the U.S. Marines started showing up. One of the hangers was cleared and being used as a staging area. The main runway was shut down for use, other than the thirty eight Huey’s and nine Chinooks sitting on the tarmac waiting to fire up there engines for the coming mission. He could see pilots walking around their birds conducting last minute checks. Additionally two Chinooks and two Blackhawk’s were being prepared for the civilian specialist coming on this mission. There are electronics specialist along with mechanical engineers and every other hard science including some heavy equipment operators, who have been studying how to move trains. Luckily we found some books at the local Library on train engineers.

One Moosehill Company and one U.S. Marine Company will be going to Smith & Wesson first. The U.S. Marines to secure the parking area and perimeter while the Moosehill Company goes into the building to clear it for the civilians. The other two Moosehill and one U.S. Marine Company will arrive ten minutes later giving them time to organize a little.

Those three company's after organizing will move west along the track that are about a quarter mile down the track’s from the Smith & Wesson factory.

Then the Civilians will fly in, some being escorted to the train and the others entering the building to see what can be relocated. Hopefully we find lots of supplies at Smith and Wesson and we can take back some Gun smithing and repairing machines. He also hopes to find a large inventory, but who knows they might have had a big shipment leave the day before the event. Mike contemplated.

He walked out of the Control tower and over to the staging area. Mike was dressed like all the Moosehill Troopers with a general purpose BDU, combat boots, helmet, M-4 Assault rifle, load bearing Mollie vest with a thigh draw 45 Caliber Glock 21 today. He had two knifes that he usually wore secreted on his person and his SPAX survival Axe. In his pack he carried three days of MRE’s extra socks and underwear, a compact survival blanket and built into the pack a camel water bladder. Mike also carried a short range, within five miles, radio for tactical communications. His radio man carried a longer range radio that required some antenna set up.

Colonel Mohan’s personnel retinue was Jake as his aid, a radio man called Sparks, go figure, and two security Troopers that provided, you guess it security. Mike thought with a chuckle. Between the Troops, Marines, and civilian specialist and the pilots, there were around a little over seven hundred on this mission, by far the biggest mission to date for Mike and his crew.

He walked into the hanger and watched each company sitting on the ground around their CO’s who were explaining again, each company's roll in the coming mission.

“Good morning Mac, up early today?” Mike voiced.

“Well, you know, have to make sure you amateur’s get off on time.” Mac bantered. They both watched the five company's going through last minute instructions. Mike could hear the helicopters starting their engines outside getting warmed up.

The five company commanders trotted over to Mike and Mac.

“Gentlemen.” Mike nodded as they came up and gathered around him and Mac. “Today’s and important mission. It’ll go a long way in determining our future security and prosperity. Think about this, New England had a population of around fifteen million people. We know or estimate around one hundred thousand that we know of that have survived. That’s a scary thought how many Infected are out there. Five million, ten million. I’m figuring closer to ten million or even a little over. This mission if successful, is what I call a force multiplier. Those vehicle will help us tremendously. So go out there kick ass. If it’s Infected and moves kill it. We find any survivors we rescue them. That’s our secondary mission at all times. I’ll be right there with you. Let’s do it. Move them out.”

The five Company Commanders moved out to get their men on their feet and moving toward their assigned choppers. First the two Company’s going directly to Smith and Wesson, Moosehill Company Bravo, Dave Maddox commanding with U.S. Marine Company Alpha with Dylan Deneke commanding. Mac was impressed with him when they were clearing south Spencer center of town and after on Route 9. Those two company’s moved toward their Birds a mix of Huey and Chinooks. Mike couldn’t believe he commanded a force of over one hundred military helicopters, and was going for the mother lode of three Trains loaded with military vehicles and equipment.

Soon the Fifteen Huey’s and four Chinooks were lifting off and heading west. Mike watched them with the fifteen Huey’s in formation in front and the four Chinooks bring up the rear in the center. After a minute or so they were out of sight and hearing.

“Okay men.” Mike said over his shoulder. “Time to mount up.” He turned and watched the remaining three companies lead by Sean Thornton’s Delta Company, a Rock for a commander as far as Mike was concerned, and Paul Epps and Echo and the U.S. Marine Company led by Dong Yee who Mike thought highly of from their mission to the Kahr Arms factory on Goddard Memorial drive where they were almost over run with Infected. With Yee went there Battalion Commander Major Antonio DiCaprio who was also on the Kahr Arms mission and a good man in tight spaces. Mike and his retinue boarded what has been duped his personal Blackhawk by most. His rank and name were stenciled on the pilot’s side door. Mike took the main controls from the co-pilot, also there were two door gunners along with his four staff he boarded with.

Mike could see the three company's lifting off in twenty three Huey’s and five more Chinooks. He lifted off right behind them and plotted a course around them to gain the lead he wanted to arrive a few minutes before them to direct operation from the air after talking with Maddox who was in charge of the first wave.

Ten minutes after he left the civilians loaded up on two Blackhawk and two Chinooks and they disappeared into the night on a west bound course, following the rest.

Dave Maddox connected to the cockpit of the Huey pilots by radio was approaching the gun maker’s factory. “Let’s come in low just above the treetops, if the parking lots are mostly clear go right in for the landing, we all disembark and clear the immediate area. The less time the Helo's are in the area to be seen and heard the better so you clear out and find some country field to set down in no further than five minutes away, the less activity in the area the better, you flying away could lead them in a different direction then where we are.” Maddox said to the pilots. The lead chopper with Maddox in it cleared the treetops and the parking lot was clear except for a few cars.

“Put her down closest to the south east side of the parking lot. Alert the rest to land. The rest of the Huey's came over the trees into the parking lot. The rest of the two companies were out of the Helo’s in seconds. The pilots were getting very good Dave thought, they were already lifting even as the last Trooper was stepping off. Bravo Company knew their business. They were rushing the Smith & Wesson plant without being told what they had to do, they knew. The U.S. Marines already landed from the Chinook helicopters after the Huey's took off were spreading out around the grounds to provide security outside. The entry team hit the main door of the factory with a door knocker and blasted the doors open, they didn't even bother to check if it was unlocked and we're going for speed.