Revenge in the Homeland (18 page)

Beth gasped and replied, “You said when, not if the dogs attack.”

“Sorry, but they are just out of sight beyond that small rise behind us. They caught up and have been following us for hours looking for a weak person to lag behind. We have to quickly build an igloo and fortify it against their attack before dark. Imelda, Beth and I’ll start building an igloo; Joe, go get whatever passes for firewood out here. Janet, pull guard duty. I stopped here because we can use the side of that ravine to shelter us from the wind. Joe, when you bring the wood back look for some about spear size to make some pongee sticks for our guests tonight. I want to be able to show them a good time when they drop in uninvited.”

John started by removing the snow from the ground and then made the base out of big balls of snow just as you build a snowman. Beth and Imelda kept busy rolling the large snowballs into shape. John started stacking them up in a circle about eight feet across. He made an arched opening on the least windy side and kept adding smaller basketball size snow blocks to the inwardly slanting walls. He had the girls hand pack snow into all crevices. He kept adding to the igloo until it was about five feet tall and totally enclosed on top. He then had the others start taking all food and supplies into the igloo while he made a hole in the roof to vent the smoke from their fire. He left a two foot wide snowball by the opening to act as a door.

“John, where the hell did you learn how to make an igloo?”

“I watched a guy on TV build one on one of those prepper shows. Kinda felt stupid living in Mobile at the time.”

“I’m glad you saw that show.”

“Imelda, build a small fire in the middle of the floor and watch for drips and water flowing. Try to channel any water to that side of the igloo. I left a small opening for a drain. Then start melting some snow so I can spray some armor on top of our fort. The water will freeze and armor plate the outside walls. Then I’ll throw some more snow on top of it.”

John added a wall about three feet from the opening to serve as a windbreak. Joe poked sharpened sticks in the snow all around the igloo and a few sticking out of the top. John and Joe took turns splashing water on top of the igloo and watched the water freeze before it could flow to the ground. There was a solid inch of ice covering the entire structure when they were done. They drug some brush in to sleep on. While not comfortable, it at least would keep them dry. They finished just as the sun sank below the horizon. The ladies warmed up some of the soup and sliced up some canned meat for supper.

Janet asked, “What about our toilet? I don’t see one.”

“Pee in that low spot over there and you had better go do number two outside before we close up for the night. Take a guard with you and pack your gun."

They settled down and talked for a while. The igloo got so warm they had to take off their coats. They were all dog tired so they fell asleep in a short while.

John looked around and said, “We only have to spend one night in this place so I don’t want a bunch of whining. I’ll stand guard duty first.”

The only answer was snoring.

***

“Papaw, do you think we’ll ever see those people again? There must be two feet of snow out there.”

“Closer to three feet. No, they mean well, but they have already frozen to death. We’ll find their bodies this spring and bury them. I liked what they said, but winter has claimed them and I pray to God for their souls. Let’s eat some of that rabbit.”

***

“Jerry, we found Tubby’s and Jakes bodies over at the old Miller place. They were shot and someone tried to hide them. Red and Rover found their bodies. The tracks headed east on 14. The damn snow is too deep to follow them now, but they can’t get too far.”

“Shit. We’ll borrow some horses from that rancher and go after their sorry asses. I want that girl for myself. I wonder who helped them escape. No matter, I’ll burn their sorry asses alive.

***

John’s tour of guard duty went without any issues. He heard the dogs scratching at the walls and barking, but nothing else. He woke Joe up to take over, snuggled up against Beth and went to sleep.

“Wake up; the dogs are trying to get in.”

John was half asleep, but grabbed his gun and moved towards Imelda who was watching a paw scratching its way around the big snowball that blocked the entrance. John pulled his knife and stabbed the paw pinning it to the ground. The dog pulled it free yelping in pain. Another dog started digging at the door and got the same treatment. This time John grabbed the paw and cut the foot off.

“I hate anyone who mistreats a dog, but those aren’t house pets anymore.”

They heard barking and fighting and then it got quiet. John checked his watch and saw that it was 5:00 a.m.

“Rise and shine everyone. We have to get on the trail in an hour.”

Joe said, “Daddy, can we sleep just another hour? My feet hurt.”

“Sorry kids, but we’re burning daylight! Get your asses out of bed and get moving!”

Joe had to chip the ball of snow away from the opening because it had partially melted due to the fire. He was very careful and stuck his rifle out in front of him as he exited the igloo.

“The coast is clear. Come on out to see a beautiful morning.”

Janet came out next and said, “You are a perverse bastard if this is a beautiful morning. Hey, I see the pack over behind that low ridge.”

The wind was howling and snow was pouring down.

John took aim and shot six of the two dozen before they knew what hit them.

“Those dogs won’t bother us for a while.”

They all came out bringing gear with them. They loaded up and started the trek to the Shelton’s house. The group walked for a little over two hours when they entered a forest of short pine trees.

“We are getting close. Eric told me that we would be about half an hour away when we saw the forest. He said there would be a creek with running water about a hundred yards in and to head north when we get to the creek.”

They walked along the creek bed for a short while when they saw a shallow spot and John told them they had to cross here. They picked up the sled with Steve on it, carried it across and then brought the equipment sled across.

“Their house should be about 250 yards ahead. We should see a clearing and then their house will be on the far side.”

They continued their journey and shortly saw the clearing.

John said, “Hold up. I don’t want to walk into a trap. Let Janet and me approach the house while y’all stay here. If all is well, we will signal the rest of you to join us.”

John used his field glasses to survey the area around the house and didn’t see any danger. Janet and he walked slowly towards the house, watching for any movement.

They arrived at the front of the house and John yelled, “Eric! Billy! Eric! Billy!”

The door opened and Eric came out with a shotgun in his hand. He recognized them, placed the shotgun against the wall and came over to greet them.

“I’m so sorry. Billy said you would make it here and I told her that no one could make it through this storm.”

“Well we made it and wanted to make sure all is okay before the main group came into the house. We’ll go back and get them.”

John and Janet went back and brought the group to the house. They helped Steve into the house and placed their gear in Eric’s garage.

Billy hugged everyone and the dog, Callie, was happy to have new friends to play with.

John filled them in on the trip over and both were surprised that John’s group had fought off wild dogs and built an igloo while walking eight miles in a blizzard.

Beth responded with, “And the legend of John Harris continues.”

Eric and Billy stared at her and Billy said, “Sorry, but I don’t think it’s nice to make fun of the man who saved all of us. I would vote for him for president.”

The whole team started laughing at the same time.

Steve replied, “We’re sorry, but we are all a big family and John is our friend, father figure, brother and husband to Beth. We love him, but have to give him a hard time or his head won’t fit through a doorway. John for president is stretching it a bit.’

“Well I think he would make a better one that the SOB in the White House.”

***

“Have you confirmed this information?”

“Mr. President, it’s from our best source in the ISA. There is no way to confirm that Harris died in the plane crash. There is an ongoing investigation, but the search for survivors has ended. Harris has not been seen in Mobile since leaving for the west coast.”

“Keep me up to date on any new info. I’m not calling for a national holiday, but I like what I'm hearing.”

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Chapter 22

There was a knock at the door, which woke Jenn and she did not want to get up at all. She was lying naked in Josh’s arms and didn’t want to move. The damn knocking continued until Jenn quietly crawled off the hospital bed and started getting dressed.

She yelled, “Just a minute.”

She flushed the toilet and then answered the door to see her Mom standing there.

“Can’t a girl use the bathroom without someone beating the door down?”

“Yes dear, but that’s not what you were doing. I think you were doing Josh. Your blouse is one button off, you have bed head and you are glowing like you just got laid.”

“Well Mom, I can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

“Nope, been there and done that, even in a hospital bed. Your father has a habit of getting shot and banged up. How is my future son-in- law doing? He better make an honest woman of you.”

“Mom, honestly he was so drugged up that I doubt he’ll remember anything.”

They heard Josh roll over as he said, “I remember every wonderful minute and if she’ll have me, I’ll marry her. I love your daughter.”

“I know you lust after her, but you’ll have to prove you love her.”

“Beth, I mean no disrespect, but I took a bullet for her and I’ve never done that to get in a woman’s pants before.”

"Josh, shut up while you're ahead. Mom packs a gun and she will shoot you.”

“No, Jenn, I like this one. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind. I’ll just break a leg if he gets too sassy.”

"I need to tell him about the time we were kidnapped and our plane crashed in Wyoming during the worst blizzard in a hundred years. Everyone was wounded during the fight or hurt in the crash, but we pulled together and fought our way through as usual. John built an igloo and led us through eight miles of deep snow in a blinding blizzard."

Beth went on to tell Josh the whole story about the trip to the west coast and the disastrous trip back.

Josh asked, “Beth, what were you thinking when the decision was made to retaliate after the Cabras and USA nuked the fleet and tried to kill the leaders of the USA?"

“I thought we should nuke their asses, but John talked some sense into me. Remember they almost killed my daughter Kristie, Jenn and me in one of the attacks. It took Kristie months to recover from her wounds. I hate the USA. I would kill all of their politicians if it were up to me."

“Beth that helps a lot to have your perspective.”

“Son, were y’all using protection?”

“Mom!!!”

Josh turned red and said, “Plain spoken and to the point. Now what about Wyoming; you were stranded there for months.”

“While the rest of us were worried about how to get home John started making forays into the country on search and kill missions. He wanted to get rid of all of those thugs himself while we stayed at the Shelton’s house giving military training to everyone we could find. I made him take Joe with him most of the time and they never failed to come back without killing at least a couple of thugs. John made a couple of homemade silencers and they stood out about 300 yards and picked the bad guys off day after day. Pretty soon we had an army and no bad guys to kill.”

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Chapter 23

The blizzard of ’22 was the worst on record for the northwest; there were nice sunny days in the 50s and then another blizzard roared down from the Artic. Just as most of the snow would melt, another one to two feet would fall. They passed the time playing board games and swapping tall tales when they couldn’t go kill bad guys or hunt. They had brought the guard’s weapons and ammo with them and shared both with the Sheltons. They couldn’t shoot much due to saving the 5.56 and 9mm rounds for their defense. Eric and Billy were proficient marksmen with deer rifles and a Ruger Single Six pistol that Eric had, but had never shot an AR or an automatic pistol. They were trained and dry fired every day. They were only allowed to shoot a few rounds, but they hit their targets.

On the "better" or "no blizzard" days, they traveled away from the safety of the house to gather firewood, check out other houses for supplies and recon for thugs. It had been a month since the crash and everyone was healing very well and most were able to handle their workload except for Steve who hobbled around with a cane. Joe found several cans of fiberglass mix and some repair cloth that Eric had planned to use to repair his canoe. Joe wrapped Steve’s leg with some socks and the bottom of some long johns and covered them with wax paper. He then coated the leg in the liquid polyester and wrapped a layer of the repair fiberglass on top. He repeated several times until he had made a good walking cast.

John gathered the group and said, “It’s not too bad out there so tomorrow morning I want Eric and Imelda to go with me to scout out that large ranch house just this side of Bellfield that Eric mentioned awhile back. We need more ammo and I want to take a look at Bellfield to see if there are any good people hunkered down around the town. Joe will stay here and watch for bad guys. We only have three pair of waders and I want to walk in creeks as much as possible to cover our tracks. It’s been warm for a few days and the water is flowing.”

“Aren’t you worried about thugs following our tracks back to my house?”

“Eric, in my experience the thugs don’t venture out in bad weather and I think fresh snow will fall and cover our tracks. I also plan to kill any that we find. This is also a search and destroy mission. I want to clean all of the thugs out before they get active in the spring. Besides, Joe, Beth and Steve are more than a match for any thugs in this area. With you two helping, they can easily defend your house from any attack.”

They pulled out an hour before dawn and as John said, they walked to the creek northeast of the cabin and followed it for a mile before having to turn east and travel another half mile to the next creek that took them closer to Bellfield and the ranch house.

“The ranch is only about a half mile ahead and we will have to walk past it and then go to it from the west if we want to stay in the woods for cover.”

“Good thinking. Let’s go.”

As they got closer to the ranch, they could see several buildings and a large barn through the trees. John had them stop so he could check the ranch out for any people. John peered through the field glasses for a few minutes and passed them to Imelda.

“Tell me what you see and then tell me what we need to do. Look at the ranch house first.”

“Damn, there are several people on the porch and one looks like he is whipping someone. A person is tied to the porch railing and is getting the shit whipped out of them. Shit, it’s a woman whipping a man. Oh God, she just pulled a pistol out and….”

There was a gunshot and the man tied to the railing slumped and hung from his bindings.

“I only saw about five, not counting the man being whipped. What do you see?”

“John, there are more men that just came out of the house and are forcing two women off the porch. There are about eight and I think two or three of the women are prisoners.”

“Now the big question. Who are the bad guys?”

“John, I have learned a lot from you and one thing I learned is not to jump to conclusions and to gather more facts.”

“Good answer. What if we charge in shooting and kill the wrong people?”

Eric interrupted and said, “It’s obvious that the woman doing the whipping and the men shoving the women off the porch are the bad guys.”

“No, it isn’t. What if the man being whipped and the women are pedophiles and just got caught? We’d beat them and kill them on the spot.”

“I didn’t think about that.”

“That’s why we are very deliberate and get the facts before shooting. My gut says that you are right, but let’s watch for a while longer as we get closer.”

They continued their march to get closer to the house without exposing themselves and were finally about 50 yards from a shed beside the house. Since everyone had gone back into the house, John asked Eric and Imelda to cover him while he ran to the shed and then covered them as they joined him. They snuck into the shed and found it to be half full of hay along with saddles and other equipment. They had a good view of the house and rested while keeping an eye on the house.

Shortly two men came out the back door and lit some cigarettes. They were talking, but not very loud. John could make out most of the conversation.

“That sure is one mean bitch. She killed Jill and now she shot Ralph. I know that she stole some bread, but she was my woman. I caught her and Peggy That’s not fair. I have to go catch another and there aren’t many around. I think I’ll find a good warm day and trek down to Billy Shelton’s house, shoot her old man and bring her back here.”

“You know Mom hates the Sheltons.”

The men went back into the house.

Eric spoke up, “That’s two of the damn Hill brothers. Their family was making and selling meth before the lights went out. I thought that the boys were all in jail. The Mom and Dad are worse than the boys are. Their Dad killed a black guy and tortured him. He got caught and was killed in prison. We have to do something about these people. They are just down right evil.”

“Now we have something to work with. Imelda, take notes and let’s make sure that we know how many are here before we go charging in and get killed ourselves. I’m going back in the woods and watch the front of the house. At 10:00, I’ll come back and compare notes. Then we will decide how to get rid of this scum.”

They watched people come and go from the house to the barn and take several smoke breaks. There were no other new people sighted. John returned and compared notes with Imelda and Eric.

“Okay, so there are three women that are captives and one much older woman that is the ring leader. There are three men who apparently are the ringleader’s sons and all four are criminals. Imelda, go back into the woods and Eric will wave to you when I tell him. I want you to sneak closer to the house and hide. Perhaps you can hide in the culvert by the driveway. Get ready to shoot any of the bad guys who come out of the house. I want you to scream for help, make sure they see you and fall down. When they approach, shoot the bastards. I will tell Eric to wave at you when I kill the two that are taking regular smoke breaks. I’ll slit their throats so the two left in the house won’t be alarmed. Let’s do it.”

Everyone got in place and waited for the next smoke break. John saw the two walk out the back door. He took his M7 and made a small cut on his forehead that delivered a small stream of blood running down between his eyes.

He walked around the side of the shed and said, “Help me. I’ve been attacked.”

He had one arm in a sling and the other helping hold his bad arm up. The thugs laughed and walked over to him.

“Where did you come from old man? Do you know where any women are?”

One started to raise his rifle to hit John, when suddenly John stuck the knife into his gut and ripped upward. The man got a shocked look on his face and fell. John quickly pivoted and lashed out with the knife and caught the other man across the face as the man ducked. The man was raising his pistol to fire when John slashed his throat. Both were dying without uttering a sound. Eric waved at Imelda and she started walking towards the cabin screaming for help. She hid her M4 behind her as she walked. The door flung open and a woman and a man come out the door. The woman went back in and the man came towards Imelda.

Imelda fell down as instructed and took a bead on the thug approaching her. She waited as long as she could, but the woman didn’t show her face again. Imelda squeezed the trigger and shot the man between the eyes. He dropped like a sack full of hammers. Imelda heard a scream from the house and suddenly shots rang out and she was being strafed by full auto machinegun fire. The bullets hit all around her while she dropped back into the culvert for safety. The fire was nonstop for several minutes, then there was dead silence.

John heard the shooting coming from the front of the house and he and Eric charged in the back door. John slipped on a rug and hit his head on the way down. Eric didn’t see John fall and burst into the front room and saw the old lady with an M16 shooting wildly out the window. Eric yelled at the lady to surrender, but she turned the weapon on him. He shot her in the chest twice before the bullet stream came around to him.

Eric collapsed on the couch, waved his pistol at the three women and said, “I won’t harm you, but stay seated until my friend get here. I never shot anyone before.”

John and Imelda burst into the room from different directions and saw Eric puking while keeping guard on the three captives.

“Ladies, are there any more of these thugs around here?

“Please don’t hurt us; we’ll do whatever you want.”

“Ladies, we won’t hurt you. When we finish talking with you in a minute, you will be free to go.”

The oldest of the three spoke up, “There are a lot more of these assholes in Bellfield and Enfield. We were traded to this scum by a bunch of bikers in Enfield. What are you going to do with us?”

“Nothing, as I said you are free now. I would like to know more about the thugs, their weapons and supplies.”

“So, are we really free and this isn’t a trick?”

“You are free. You can join us or walk away, but first the information.”

The girls took turns filling John in on what they knew about the gangs that controlled the two cities. They were long established criminal gangs who sold meth, other drugs and guns all over the northwest. Bellfield was their headquarters, they kept the drugs and illegal endeavors away from here until the lights went out. There were about 15 thugs in each city and they run roughshod over the town’s citizens. The cities were a shadow of their former selves. There were about a hundred people in Bellfield and half that in Enfield. They had military type weapons, explosives and a large amount of weapons.

“Are you sure that these thugs aren’t one of those racist groups like the skinheads?

“They did have swastikas and hated Jews and Blacks.”

“Thanks, now what do y’all want to do?”

“What are our choices?

“You can leave and go on your own way or join us. We are from a group stretching from Georgia to Arizona that have started a new country to bring law and order to what remains of our country. If you join, you will have jobs and will serve in our military. Everyone helps protect our country and fellow countrymen.”

“So our choice is to starve or join the Army?”

Imelda replied, “I am a Sargent in the ISA Rangers. I was like you a couple of years ago and John took me under his wing and trained me. We have decent food, a warm place to sleep and no one bothers us. We are free and there are no thugs to rape and torture women. I have killed hundreds of them over the years and will help kill all of those here.”

“One of the thugs has a radio and we hear about the ISA and its president John Harris. He was a good man and if you are with him then I want to join you. The thugs are afraid that the ISA will eventually come into Wyoming.”

Eric punched John on the arm and said, “I’m starting to like that Harris guy myself. Wait a minute. You said John Harris was a good man.”

“Yes, the other day the ISA said that his plane crashed in the Gulf killing all aboard.”

John started to speak up, but kept his mouth closed.

"John, you look a mess with blood leaking from two places on your head. Let’s clean you up and figure out what we are doing next.

***

George looked around the table at all of the glum faces and remembered the many fights and scrapes that he and John had lived through over the past two years. They were there to create a statement to the country explaining that John’s plane had crashed into the Gulf and all aboard were killed instantly.

“Ladies and gentlemen, before we start I want Scott to give us an update on his findings from the west coast.”

“Mr. Vice president and fellow committee members, we found three major issues:

1. The PSA and San Diego Naval base have been infiltrated by a group known as the Chosen People. This group is well organized and has 50 to 100 thousand members. They appear to be a racist group founded in the 70’s that was able to fly under the radar. They are preppers, have weapons and people trained to use them. They are our enemies and have strongholds right under our noses.
   
2. They kidnapped John Harris and his team. They left a bogus trail incriminating the USA. My Dad did not crash into the ocean, but we do believe his actual plane went down around Colorado. We have searched to no avail and will keep serching.
   
3. Our leadership has probably been infiltrated right here in Mobile. We eliminated all of the known threats on the west coast after intensive interrogation of the suspects. We need to do the same here in Mobile. We know who some of them are.