Survivors (35 page)

I rolled my eyes at Paul who just ignored
me. “Of course all of you know Jessie and Jim,
some more so than others, but I’m certain each of
them has at least introduced themselves to each of
you. Now you may think they’re just acting like
politicians, you know pressing the flesh and all
those sorts of things; but for those of us who know
them well, we all have a special place in our hearts
for both of them.

“Look around this community my friends.
The good life we all now share didn’t happen by
accident. These two individuals, who are getting
married here today, more so than any of the rest of
us, made this all possible.

“Yes, it’s true we all helped make it happen,
but we couldn’t have done it without the two of
them guiding us along the way. Collectively we owe
them much. Hunter and Jasmine did a wonderful
job helping to plan this service, and I will always
remember the sacred fire ceremony. It was beautiful and full of meaning.

“And so by the power vested in me, and
with all my prayers and good wishes, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Jim, you may kiss
the bride.”

It was finally over. I kissed Jessie to the
cheers of the crowd and our little wedding party
walked back to our apartment. In the privacy of
our apartment Jessie and I hugged the kids and
told them how proud we were of what they had
done. They both seemed really happy with the way
things worked out.

Beth and Paul left us alone after we both
thanked them for their help, and the four of us
shared some champagne to celebrate. It was the
first time the kids had any alcohol, and they both
liked the bubbly taste. I kissed Jessie and the kids
both laughed. We waited a half hour and then
walked out to the dining area where our community was waiting to honor us. The four of us formed a
receiving line and it took over an hour for everyone
to pass by and give the bride a kiss and congratulate the kids and me. Everyone seemed to love the
fire ceremony, and I could tell the kids were proud
to share their heritage with our community.

Beth and her people had outdone themselves. There were a half dozen carving stations
and several kiosks were set up with a variety of
fresh fruit and vegetables. I served myself a little
bit of everything. There were countless toasts but
the best was from Margaret who was sitting at our
table. She was a crowd favorite, and when she
ended the toast with l’ chaim, everyone repeated
the toast and then cheered.

Beth arrived with the wedding cake. It was
fabulous. It was replica of the campus, down to the
last detail. Even the tent housing our dining area
was there. Jessie and I kissed Beth, and then Jessie, Hunter, Jasmine, and I cut the cake.

The band began playing and Jessie and I
had the first dance. Then I danced with Jasmine
and Jessie danced with Hunter. Next I danced with
Beth and Manny took Jessie for a twirl. It was after
midnight by the time the celebration was over. At
the end of the evening, Captain Sanchez sat down
at our table and thanked us for everything. His
words were quite simple. “It feels good to be with
nice people again. I thought a lot about my wife
and two children tonight. It was sad and good all at
the same time if you know what I mean.”

We arose early and those of us in Team Alpha, that was the name of our assault team, drove
a school bus up to MacDill. It took us just over
three hours. A dozen jeeps had been modified to
include fifty caliber machine guns mounted where
the back seats used to be located. The gunner
needed to kneel down in the front seat facing the
back, but the design modification would probably
work just fine.

Arnie met us on the tarmac. “I think it’s going to happen tonight. The satellite images show all
of their equipment is prepped and there’re no more
people arriving. I think the head guy is wearing a
black cowboy hat. The whole thing reminds me of
that Vietnam War movie
Apocalypse Now
and the
character played by Robert Duvall. What was his
famous line?
There’s nothing like the smell of Napalm in the morning.”

“They’ve probably got a twelve hour drive,
so I think they’ll move out late in the afternoon;
that is if they want to strike just before dawn. Let’s
plan on getting all of the groups assembled tonight
after dinner. We’ll know by then if they’re on the
move.”

Lieutenant Monroe arrived, and he explained each jeep would carry a gunner and driver,
and we should follow him to the shooting range
where we would practice using our machine guns.
Vince explained how to load the high-tech machine
guns and we then took turns shooting off multiple
rounds at targets 500 yards down range.

Vince had one Predator hand-held tank
killer in his hand, and he was going to demonstrate the finer points of shooting off one of these
beasts. He picked out a shack about a quarter mile
away on the edge of the woods and pulled the trigger. There was a loud whooshing sound as the
missile burst out of its protective shroud, rose into
the air, and intercepted the shack. After the explosion, the shack had disappeared.

“That shot was at the maximum range of
the missile. Once we’re in position waiting to attack the enemy, I’ll give our team final instructions
on our rules of engagement. Each jeep will carry
four Predators, so we need to use them judiciously.
Each system is equipped with its own night vision
optical system, so you’ll have no problems engaging the enemy at night. Just remember, we will
have the element of surprise, and that alone will
more than compensate for their superior numbers.”

With no further questions, Vince issued
each of us short range communications systems,
and we drove in a single-file convoy back to the
campus.

We parked our jeeps in the main parking
lot. Lieutenant Monroe’s soldiers were busy instructing new recruits in the use of their newly issued M16 combat rifles. Thirty trucks had been
collected to transport our people and they were also lined up in the parking lot. Our Alpha team met
in the dining area and began reviewing aerial views
of Bayshore Road. Vince had identified over twenty
defensive positions we would use as we fell back
toward Big Hickory Island. Each offered protection
and good visibility.

Vince laughed, “I can always count on you
to ask the key question. If they move their M2s to
lead their attack against us, they won’t be restricted to the use of the roads because they have
tracks, not wheels. They could spread out and
move across open fields. Our jeeps may not be able
to be as effective off road. That move will decrease
our advantage, but they’ll only do it if they have
good leadership, someone who understands tank
warfare. Let’s hope they don’t have such a person
leading them.”

“We’ll also spread out, and then we retreat,
staying just out of range of their M2 guns. That’s
what we’ll do; strike and retreat, strike and retreat.
We have to make them think we have a much larger force than we actually have, but remember, it
will be dark and there will be the fog of battle,
there always is. We’ll be okay if we stick to our
plan.”

I think Lieutenant Monroe was used to
commanding young soldiers who actually might
believe we had the upper hand in this battle, but
as I looked around the room the average age of my
cohorts was at least fifty, and we had heard many
military leaders talk about the easy battle ahead.
This was not going to be an easy fight, and I expected many would die as we defended our community and way of life.

Major Connors showed up about two
o’clock. There had been a sudden increase in activity at Fort Gordon, and he was certain they were
getting ready to pull out. I rang the bell alerting
everyone to an important meeting and Major Connors addressed everyone and asked everyone to
report to their muster areas at 1900 hours.

Arnie handed Captain Sanchez a listing of
key GPS coordinates on Big Hickory Island. Ed
immediately called his men together, and they left
for their submarine. He was going to move his ship
about forty miles west of Big Hickory Island, and
he was planning on being in position just after
midnight.

Doctor Fleming stayed behind and would be
assisting Mary, Paul, and Phyllis in our makeshift
hospital. Jessie and I looked in on Jasmine and
Hunter, and we all decided to have an early dinner.
Many of the residents had similar thoughts because the place was packed. Some of our closer
friends came over to our table and congratulated
us and commented on how beautiful our service
was. Both kids were very happy, and their smiles
were contagious.

Arnie arrived and sat down. “Private Duncan just called. A convoy of troops left Fort Gordon
twenty minutes ago, and they’re headed this way.
He’ll have another report in thirty-eight minutes
when the next satellite flies overhead. We’ll be
launching drones from here about two hours before they arrive at the bridge. That will give us
plenty of time to assess their strength and get a
feel for how they will attack.”

Lieutenant Monroe walked up to the microphone in the dining area and announced that the
Alpha Team should meet up at the jeeps in twenty
minutes. Jessie and I kissed the kids goodbye.
They were both trying not to cry and it didn’t make
for an easy departure.

As soon as the team was fully assembled,
we left the campus and headed up Interstate 75 to
our assault position just north of the Caloosahatchee River Bridge.

We crossed the Caloosahatchee River
Bridge where some of Major Connor’s soldiers were
setting charges to blow up the bridge. They saluted
us as we crossed the river.

We arrived at the Bayshore Road Exit on Interstate 75 at dusk. As expected, the place was deserted. We took up positions in a wooded area just
west of the interchange. Vince rearranged some of
the jeeps to ensure we were hidden from the approaching convoy. Then we dressed in our combat
gear and checked out our communications system.
We would all be using Channel 1, and everything
seemed to be working fine.

Vince Monroe gathered us all around his
jeep. We reviewed our strategy over and over, and
nobody complained about the repetitious planning.
We all knew our lives would depend on precise execution. We checked out our weapons, and Vince
and Sergeant Gomez checked all of our systems
personally. They were leaving nothing to chance.

And then it was just sit and wait time.
Vince was getting constant updates from Private
Duncan and Major Connors, who now had his entire team positioned just south of Big Hickory Island. He confirmed his soldiers had finished rigging all of the bridges with explosives, and small
teams were now located at each of the bridges to
ensure the explosives went off as planned.

I had a thought. What if our jeep was destroyed? Both Jessie and I might be killed, and
then what about the kids? Who would take care of
them? I explained my concern to Jessie, and we
decided to split up and ride separate jeeps into the
battle. Bruce Crenshaw was my new driver. He was
about thirty and looked scared to death. He looked
at me almost ashamed, “I was in the last battle. I
wasn’t scared until the shooting started. Now, I’m
battle hardened and I know what to expect. We’re
going to be in deep shit, aren’t we?”

I looked at his moonlit face and said,
“Bruce, this isn’t going to be a walk in the park,
but everyone is counting on us; we’ve got to be
successful. Vince called us over for a final pep talk.
“I just got an update from Major Connors; the USS
Jimmy Carter is in position, and Captain Sanchez
says they’re ready to launch. Ami, Blaine, and
Sammy are waiting at the end of the main runway
at MacDill and will launch in a few minutes. Everyone’s good to go.

“The drone has been launched from the
campus and is now tracking the convoy. It is just
south of Tampa and should arrive just after 0300
hours.”

Vince showed us a real-time infrared video
of the convoy downlinked from the drone. I could
see twelve Bradley M2 Fighting Vehicles leading
the two-mile long procession, followed by a mixture
of troop-carrying trucks and the trucks with the
machine guns mounted in the rear.

Vince said, “I’m guessing the convoy will
stop as soon as the bridge is blown. We’re close
enough to the highway so the end of the convoy
should stop just to our east. If they do, then we
will fire our machine guns from here and try to
eliminate the trucks within range. Taking out their
machine guns is our highest initial priority. There’ll
be confusion initially, and then if we’re lucky,
they’ll move their M2s to engage us. We will not fire
any Predators until we fall back to our first defensive position behind the wall at the Walgreens
parking lot.”

Our final lecture was over, and we returned
to our jeeps and waited for the battle to begin. An
hour passed, and then Lieutenant Monroe yelled
that the convoy was ten minutes out from our position, and our air force had taken off from MacDill.
We started our engines, and I did a final check of
my machine gun, and then I heard the distant
rumbling of the approaching enemy. The noise of
the M2 tracks against the cement pavement made
a high pitched rattling sound unlike anything I had
ever heard before.

With my night vision equipment, I could see
the convoy roll past our position. They were moving
at a steady thirty-five miles per hour. A few
minutes later the night sky turned a brilliant yellow-white as the bridge over the Caloosahatchee
River was blown up. As Vince predicted, the convoy
stopped, and I could hear the distant shouting of
men trying to get feedback from their commanders
who were probably at the front of the column.