The Fall of America: Enemy Within (Book 3) (13 page)

“Have you located your target?” Colonel Dubow asked after a few seconds.

“Yes, sir.  The target is a large one.”

After reading off the coordinates, Rusak asked for a confirmation of the location, and added, “We are located on the hill, approximately 200 meters from the target. We will remain in place and correct the attack as needed. The Americans are sleeping, so make your attack an hour before dawn.  Yes, I will do that. Out.” He handed the radio back to his radio man.

“Well?” Bluska asked.

“Fast movers will hit the place with napalm in about two hours.”

The Sergeant nodded and then broke into a grin.

An hour before dawn, the loud whine of a diving jet aircraft was heard, it's black shape seen against the clouds, and something tumbled from it.  

“Lower your heads, now!” Rusak said.

The canister hit just before the wooded area the Americans were camped in, but a wave of flames a hundred yards long shot from the impact point. Screams were heard before the fire landed on anyone, because the enemy knew they were under attack.  A second aircraft dropped another canister and the whole wooded area was now burning brightly. Figures in flames ran from the woods, but only to fall just outside the fireball, still burning. Dozens of men were seen inside the fire, their deaths assured.

Rusak took the handset and said, “Use guns on your next pass, on the outside edges of the fire.”

“Copy.” a pilot replied.

The two aircraft lined up in wingtip to wingtip formation, with a straight approach and machine-gun and cannon fire was heard. At the bottom of their dive they broke off, with one going left and the other going right.

“Badger 1, we will circle above you while you assess the damage.”

“Copy.”

“Did any large groups of Americans escape that you saw?” Rusak asked.

“None.” Sergeant Bluska said, “God, what a horrible way to die.”

“All ways to die are bad.” a Private said.

“Look at those flames and tell me some ways are not more painful than others. What a terrible smell, too.  Most of those that escaped the flames will suffocate, because the immense fire removes the air around it while burning.”

“I cannot do a body count, due to the flames, but my conservative estimate is 200 dead Yankees.  I repeat, my body count estimate is 200 souls.” Rusak said into the handset.

“Copy, 200 dead, and the Colonel will be pleased. Base wants you to move to your pick up point. You will be brought out at first light, copy?”

“Copy, we are moving to our pick up point now. Out.”

“Let us move.” Rusak said as he stood and it was then he spotted movement coming toward them.

T
he Colonel first smelled smoke and walking toward it, he saw a small fire burning. It was about an hour before dawn and the weather was chilly, with few clouds overhead.  He knew better than to just move toward the camp and called out, “I'm looking for American patriots!”

“Who are you?” a voice asked.

“I am a Colonel, a prior partisan, who was captured about a year ago by the Russians.”

“Move toward me, until I tell you to stop.”

The Colonel moved and then stopped when told to do so.

Two partisans neared and one moved behind him. The Colonel knew the man behind him had a gun pointed at him.

“Move to the fire. Once there, stop and we'll check you for arms.”

“Son, you can check me, but I'm clean. I just escaped from the gulag at Edwards.”

“So you say.”

The Colonel smiled, enjoying the conversation and knowing the men he'd encountered were security smart. He found himself smiling because he was back among friends, only they didn't know it yet. He was frisked and the man said, “Sandra, come over here and check this guy out. He has a bullet wound and he's lost a lot of blood. He's clean.”

Sandra moved to the Colonel's side and a man with a big dog joined her.  

“Can you remove your shirt?”

“I don't think so, because I can hardly move my left arm.”

She looked at the man with the dog and said, “Get a spare shirt of yours for this man. I'm going to have to cut the shirt off.” She then pulled a knife.

Slicing the shirt up the back and unbuttoning the front, she pulled the two pieces of material down each arm. Seeing his upper torso, Sandra said, “My God, he's malnourished! Didn't they feed you at the gulag?”

“Two cups of watered down soup a day and that was it.”

“That's hardly enough to keep a person alive. They must know that's a starvation diet.”

The Colonel met her eyes, shook his head and said, “Like they give a shit. They don't care and we were only there as bodies to shoot for reprisals. Listen a few days back, I sent three people out by tunnel. There was a Mark, Lewis, and a woman named May. Have you ran into them, by chance?”

Mark stepped from the shadows and said, “How are you doing, sir?”

“Oh, Mark, I'm so glad to see you, son; did the other two make it as well?”

“Yes, all three of us are safe and with this bunch. I think George was killed coming out of the tunnel.” Then looking at the others near the fire, Mark said, “The Colonel was the senior man at the gulag and the brains behind our escape.  He's a good man and I vouch for him.”

“George was killed and the damned Russians hung him up by his heels as a warning to all of us who might want to escape.  He was shot to ribbons.”

“I'd hoped he'd live, but suspected they'd shoot him dead.”

“They did, and where are the other two?”

“Resting; we've been moving a great deal lately.”

“Here,” Sandra said, “eat this as I fix your wound. Now, there isn't much there, but if I give you too much too quickly, it might kill you.  I'll feed you off and on all day. Tomorrow you can start on three meals a day.”

Smelling the stew from an MRE, the Colonel said, “It smells heavenly to me, but I've had nothing this rich in over six months.”

Sandra replied, “You wouldn't have lasted another six months. I think you would have starved to death within a month, two at the most.”

“Looking thin, Colonel.” Tom said from beside the fire.

She handed him the MRE entree and watched as he took the first bite. He smiled and said, “This food even feels good in my mouth. So many things involved with eating that we don't consider. The scent, texture of the food, and even the juices come to mind. I've almost forgotten what real food tastes like.”

John said, “Hell, I guess so. Did I hear you say you were called Colonel?”

“I am retired Army, thirty years, full Colonel, and have command experience. My real name is Larry W. Tate, but just call me Colonel.”

Willy stepped forward, offered his hand and said, “I'm Colonel Willy Williams, John and Tom are both Captains, as well as Sandra, the woman working on you. She's the closest thing we have to a doctor. The ugly black man by the fire is Top and as you may guess, he'd my top enlisted Sergeant.  Welcome to our group. Eventually, you'll be the second in command, but right now, I want you to eat, rest and try to recov—”.

The loud whine of a jet engine in a dive was heard and then a huge fireball erupted just north of Willy's group. It was followed almost immediately by a second fireball.

“Grant's group was just hit with Napalm!” Top yelled as he stood.

“Either they've a traitor with them or the Russians have a team on the ground. I've heard no choppers moving in the area, so no infrared images were taken. Top, get our people up and ready to move.” Willy said as he watched the big fireball roll into its self.  Black smoke was rising to the sky as the second jet hit. The aircraft then came back around and shot up the ground, a short distance from the sides of the flames, to kill anyone attempting to escape.

As Top moved among the partisans, questions were being asked, but he had no answers.  The top Sergeant suspected the Russians had a group on the ground, only he wasn't sure, and without real knowledge, he'd learned years ago to say nothing.

“How large a group did Grant have?” the Colonel asked.

“Close to 250 people would be my guess. Usually we aren't bunched up like we are now, but we'd planned to strike the gulag in a day or two. Now I'm not sure what to do.” Willy replied.

“I'd suggest you break your people into small cells and disperse them for a few days. In the meantime, you can try to determine how badly Grant was hit.”

Turning to John, Willy said, “Release our people into their protective cells. Six days from today we'll meet back at the old junk yard where you took on the tank that day, remember? Take Mollie with you and once safely away, see justice is served. She is to die for spying for the Russians and betraying her country.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember the junk yard. As for Mollie, I'll see it's done.”

“Colonel, you go with John and his cell. While we're gone, I want you to think a lot about the gulag. Try to remember the strong and weak points, security wise, about the prison. Think of anything that may help us attack the place. I will not sit on my ass and allow Americans to die of starvation.”

“I'll do my best.” the Colonel replied.

Minutes later, as the groups dispersing, John returned and said, “While you're the second in command, sir, I run this cell.  While you are in my cell, I give the orders and you will obey them. Any questions?”

“No, that's typical. You'll have no trouble with me, Captain.”

“Saddle up, we're leaving.” John said, and then added, “Bring Mollie with us. Once out of danger, we're to see justice is served, by order of Colonel Willy Williams. Tom, take the point and Margie, you bring up our rear.”

Unknowingly, they moved straight toward Master Sergeant Rusak and his men. Just as Rusak was about to detonate a series of mines, John said, “Tom, swing to the north and I'll tell you when to head west again.”

Tom waved in understanding, but didn't reply.

Master Sergeant Rusak gave a loud sigh a few minutes after Margie brought up the rear. Ten minutes later, Rusak said, “Gather the mines and gear, and lets get to the pickup point.”

A mile from Rusak, John stopped and called Tom to him. Once they were together, John said, “Did you see those Russians back there?”

“I saw two, but unsure how many were there. I was one happy bastard when you told me to move west. They had a team on the ground and if one had not been wearing a silver watchband, I'd have not seen them. The morning sun gave the man's position away.”

“I'm sure they had defenses in position, so I wanted to avoid a fight.” Pulling a map from his shirt pocket, John said, “I expect them to be picked up either here or here, since both are wide open areas.”

Tom studied the map and then said, “The first place is more likely, due to poor hiding places for an ambush. If you notice it's on flat land and trees are a good quarter of a mile off. I suggest we get in the center of the field and see what happens.”

“Lead the way and watch your ass, because there's a good chance we'll run into the Russian team that's on the ground.”

As John and his team moved for the field, Rusak was having radio problems. Each time he attempted to discuss his pick up with base, static would fill the radio, and he'd have to break off the conversation.  Finally, he looked at his watch, estimated a good pick up time and said, “Ten hundred.”

Base, obviously having the same problem said, “Copy.”

“It is the atmosphere.” the radio man said and then added, “At times it happens everywhere, but not usually this bad.”

“They will be here in less than an hour. Let us move to the first field and get ready for pick up.”