The Fall of America: Fatal Encounters (Book 2) (10 page)

A rough night was spent by John, Joshua and Aaron as the storm battered them to the point they had to crawl under trees to keep from being injured by hailstones. Joshua had an extra poncho he'd taken from the convoy ambush and gave it to the boy.  When dawn arrived, water dripped from limbs and leaves, and the ground was muddy.  After a quick breakfast, where the three of them shared a Russian Ration, they began moving toward the main group.

Rain fell, off and on, most of the early morning but near 10 hundred, Joshua suddenly stopped, just as a voice called out, “It took you two long enough.”

“Sandra,” John said, “the Russians were all over the place. No choppers were heard, but they were on the road in large numbers.”

“Come with me, my dear, Tom is about to have a conniption fit worried about you two.  Who is the new man?”

“Aaron, and the Russians murdered his family. They had a farm a few miles from here and I saw it burning last night.”

“Well, unless they unassed the area by foot, they're still at the farm.  We had a twister last night and scared the hell out of all of us.  It missed us, but by less than a mile, but that was as close as I ever want to see one.”

Entering the camp, John said, “We're back, did ya miss us?”

Tom chuckled and said, “By God, I did. I thought the Russians caught you.”

Shrugging he replied, “No, but it grew dark early and we had to dodge a convoy of twenty trucks.  Our new man is Aaron and while he's young, he's tough enough.  Let me explain how we ended up with the young man.”

When John finished, Tom said, “It's likely the Russians are still there.”

“Aaron said he saw about twenty men, give or take a few.”

Tom asked, “Aaron, did your farm have a barn or other out buildings on it?”

“We have a big barn, but it's old with an old rusted tin roof and it was made by my grandpa, or so my daddy said.”

“Any animals?”  Tom asked hoping for horses.

“We ate 'em a couple of years back and our pets, too.”

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”  John asked with a grin.

“Uh-huh. Aaron, if we got you back to where you met John, could you find your way home from there?”

Confused, the young man replied, “I know where I am right now and know a shortcut.”

“We'll plan our attack once we see the place.” John said and then added, “Saddle up, we're moving.”

The walk to the farm was short, just under two hours.  As Kate glassed the area, John did the same with his Russian binoculars.  He said, “Looks like the tornado hit the place and I can see where the barn used to be, but it's gone.  Most of the rubble from the fire is gone as well.  I count ten men.”  He then handed the binoculars to Tom and added, “Take a close look.”

The Russians, were all in a group near a fire and eating.  Kate counted ten men and two were pulling guard.

Tom noticed the area around the barn, except on the south side, was bare of any cover, so they'd have to take 'em out there. One man, who he recognized as an officer, was strutting around like a big rooster and yelling orders.  The man's left arm was in a sling.  A man walked to him, wearing a radio on his back, and handed him a headset.  He couldn't near the conversation, but that didn't matter, because Tom couldn't speak Russian anyway.

“I count seven bodies wrapped in ponchos and three more walking wounded.  I'll bet they're waiting for an evacuation chopper.”

John glanced at the dark sky and said, “It won't be anytime soon, because more rain is on the way.  We need to move to the South and enter the woods.  We'll try to take the group out by the fire with a Claymore, and Kate, you take out the guards.  Once the Claymore fires, move in among them shooting. Then, if we get lucky, maybe we can snag a chopper later.  Let's do this job first and see what happens.”

It took them almost an hour to loop around and approach from the woods.  All the while they kept listening for a chopper and John knew if a window in the weather opened, a bird would show.  He leaned close to Kate and said, “If things turn to hell and a chopper appears, wait until it almost touches the ground and then take out both pilots.”

She didn't reply, but gave him a big grin.  He knew the idea of downing a chopper appealed to her.

The Russians, when John parted some bushes to see, were still gathered around the fire.  Tom positioned the Claymore and the soldiers were less that fifty feet away.  He looked at John and nodded.   Taking once last look around, he check the positions of his people, saw they were spread out well and then looked at Tom.  He then pointed at the man and nodded.

The explosion was loud and quickly followed by two sharp rifle shots.  John knew Kate had taken the guards out as expected.  They rose from the wet grasses and charged the downed Russians.  Many of the downed men were dead, but three were screaming in pain.  Margie ran to a major and the long sharp blade of her bayonet entered the man's soft stomach.  A scream erupted, so she stabbed him again, but this time in the chest. The knife stuck, either in the ribs or the major's back, which she quickly fixed by firing a round from her rifle.  His screaming instantly stopped.  She pulled the bloody blade from his body, looked around and saw the other soldiers were dead.

“Tom, you and Margie check the guards.  I'm sure Kate killed them, but make sure.”

“You bet.” Tom said as he walked toward the downed men with his rifle held at the ready.

Kate walked to him and said, “They're dead; both were head shots.  I saw movement in the woods off your left side, but never found out what it was.”

“It might have been a deer or rabbit.”  John replied.

“I don't know, because right after that, the Claymore exploded and I dropped the two men.”

John walked around, looking at the dead Russians and pulled an Ace of Spades from his pocket.  He squatted beside Major Abdulov and placed the card in this open mouth. He started to close the man's eyes, but then remembered the killing of Aaron's family and stood instead.  Aaron had stayed back in the grasses and John figured the boy had seen enough blood in his young life anyway.  There was no need to expose him to more.

Tom approached and said, “Both are dead, now what?”

“We move back in the trees and see if we can catch us a chopper.  The first shot you fire, Kate, has to put the door-gunner out, or we're all dead.  Then, pop pop, take out the pilot and copilot.  Do you think you can do the job?”  John asked.

“Honestly?”

“Uh-huh, honestly.”

Kate nodded and replied, “Yes, I can fire three shots in the time it takes your heart to beat three times.  Is that fast enough?”

He grinned and said, “Everyone back to the trees.”

“What about the radio?”

“Take it.  None of us speak the language, but we'll know when the chopper gets close, if nothing else by the background noise.”

Tom stripped the radio from the back of the dead man and carrying it by the straps, moved for the trees and brush.  As he waited, John shared part of his rations with Sandra.

Lieutenant Ivanov and Master Sergeant Belonev had both gone into the woods to answer the call of nature.  Neither man knew of John and his group until the Claymore exploded.  The wise old sergeant shook his head as he thought,
I warned the Major the men should be spread out and in holes, not sitting on their asses by a fire eating.  He has paid for not listening to his senior NCO with his life and the lives of our men.

“Did you hear that?”  Ivanov whispered.

“Yes.  Follow me, sir.”

Moving away from the farm and toward a road he knew was south of the farm, the same road where the ambush had happened, he knew there were no survivors.  His expert ears had heard the two shots immediately following the exploding mine and knew the two guards were dead.
If we can make it safely to the road, all we have to do is wait for a convoy.

Glancing behind him, he noticed the lieutenant was too close, so he whispered, “We have to take it slowly, sir.”

“Let me lead.  Usually around noon a convoy drives the road and if we get there before then, we can ride home.”

“Go slowly or we will never get there.”

“Off to the left is a narrow trail, we can move faster on it.”

“Sir, I think—”

“You heard my decision, so move to the trail.”

All went well until they'd covered most of the distance and then the lieutenant walked into a tripwire John had stretched across the trail as they moved away from the ambush.  There came an explosion and the young officer was blown into thousands of small pieces in the blink of an eye.  Pellets were heard hitting the trees on the other side of the dead man and all that lingered in the air was a cherry-red mist.  His boots were all that remained and they still contained parts of his legs and feet.

The Sergeant was too terrified to take another step forward, deep in his mind he knew the officer had moved too quickly and foolishly.  He glanced in the direction he had to cover to the road and estimated it was less than a hundred meters.  Slowly, he gathered his courage and moved forward, constantly searching the trail for any sign of mines.

J
ohn listened to the Russian radio, but heard nothing. Finally, he sent Margie and Joshua out to collect weapons, ammo, other needed items. He should have done that earlier, but he was tired and not thinking clearly. They were to drag the dead into the rubble of the burned house.  He wanted little seen if the Russians sent a chopper to the scene, which he suspected they would.

Joshua was the first to return to the brush and then Margie, who looked preoccupied to John.  He neared her and asked, “What's on your mind?”

“As I was moving the Russian bodies, I had a thought. Why don't we put their clothing over ours, lure the chopper in and destroy it?  I mean, if one of us can get close enough to the door of the bird, we can toss a grenade inside.”

Tom met John's eyes, grinned and said, “I do like the thought.  But, if they capture one of us in a Russian uniform, they'll kill us.”

John laughed and replied, “Hell, if they catch us period, they'll kill us, so how we're dressed doesn't come into play here.”

“Well?”  He asked.

“What of the radio?  If they call and we don't answer, they'll know something is wrong, right?”

“Look, we both know radios go out; either the batteries die or they just go kaput.  We stand out in the open, let the chopper see us and when they near, I'll send a sign that the radio is out.  If we're dressed as Russians, they'll have no reason to doubt us.  We've both had it happen enough in the past.  You guide the chopper to the ground and the rest of us will act.”

John turned to Kate and said, “Hold off on your shot, until one of us get's close to the door before you take the gunner out. If we can get a grenade or two in the bird, we'll do some serious damage.”

She nodded.

“Sandra, Joshua and Margie, I need the three of you to strip the dead Russians. Some of us need to stay in the trees in case the bad guys show.  Then, try to hide the bodies so they can't been seen from the air.  Be sure to get their boots, too.”

John grew apprehensive as the small group moved forward, knowing from the air their actions would be clearly seen.  The idea was sound, but he knew from past battles something could go wrong and if it did, folks would die.

“Be sure to leave the card in the Major's mouth.  I want them to know who was behind this today.”  John yelled.

Less than an hour later, they were dressed as Russians and standing around the fire.  

Tom said, “It looks to me as if the twister hit this place dead on and blew it to hell and back.  Many of the bodies out there under ponchos were killed by flying debris.”  He threw another log on the flames.

John said, “A tornado will do that and we both have seen the damage they can do.  I don't know of anything as—”

“Quiet.  Do you hear that?”  Tom asked.

The radio suddenly came alive with Russian chatter. None of them spoke the language and John wished Willy Williams was with them, because he spoke the language fluently.

Joshua said, “I have a chopper at the three o'clock position and it looks to be some sort of gunship.  Slightly to the left, is a second bird.”

“Ignore the second aircraft, but Sandra, since you're wearing the radio, come to me and I'll act as if I am talking. Maybe, if we work this right, all will go well.” Tom said, and he was dressed in the dead major's uniform.  He then turned the radio off.

Pointing to the north, Margie said, “The other chopper is now at our twelve o'clock position.  We'll be hearing it in a few seconds.”

Seconds later the
wop-wop
sound of blades beating the air to death were heard and Tom said, “John, you move into the wind and prepare to lower the chopper with your rifle. The rest of you line up beside me. Look sharp and keep your eyes open.  Any movement by the door gunner and Kate will smoke his ass.  Margie, since this idea is yours, you have the honor of tossing the first grenade.  Joshua, you'll be next, so toss a grenade, too.  Now, don't put too much muscle behind the toss or the damned thing will go out the other side, if both doors are open or removed.  Once the grenades are tossed, move your asses, because when they explode I suspect the whole bird will go up.”