The Revolution Begins (Molon Labe) (14 page)

“That explosion probably left a lot of people hurt or worse in
side.  Our whole base is in that mine.  We need to get in there and help them”, I said.

“Think about it boss
”, Justin said.  I knew where to look because I have seen you coming and going.  They don’t know where your door is.  That means they only have a general idea. That Intel probably came from a satellite or a drone.  You can’t go rushing in there until we do something about the guys at the door, and the guys in the front.  How much of your force is outside the mines?”

He was right. Going i
n the door right now would only leave us exposed. We no choice but to take care of the threat outside.  I sent Chad back to a higher point and had him send a message to the hunter teams in town:

“ALL-FORCES-RETURN-TO-BASE-ASAP-RALLY-AT-DISMOUNT-POINT-2-BASE-UNDER-ATTACK-RETRUN-ASAP–REAPER-1.

Chapter 51

Whiteman Air Force Base

“Sir, we have a five man squad identified on the southern slope of the mountain.  They seem to be holding and observing the adv
isor unit”, Airman Amy reported to the Watch Officer.”

“Load their coordinates for a P
redator strike and wait for my command”, ordered the officer.

Reluctantly,
Airman Amy complied.

Chapter 52

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

-Abraham Lincoln

My new ally and I went to scout the front of the mine while Neil, Kyle, and Chad kept tabs on the Asian force assembling near our entrance. I looked up and studied the sky until I saw what we had been fearing.  I spotted a drone that looked to me like a Predator, or Reaper.  It was circling overhead, probably relaying our coordinates to the command element that was attacking our base. 

When we got close enough to see what the base was up against, my gut tightened.  The entire force
that had departed from Camp Dawkins had assembled at the front of the mine.  Several tanks were at the entrance and multiple tracked troop carriers were staged with what looked to be approximately two hundred soldiers assembled to attack. This was the force on force situation that Captain John and I had spoken of.  It was a nightmare situation for us.  Our small arms were no match for the armor.  The numbers of troops made even a guerilla style attack a suicide mission. Our only saving grace was the AT-4 rockets that we had brought back from Camp Dawkins.  I chuckled in my head at the thoughts of this group returning to base to find out what we had done.  Then I realized that I could never let that happen.  We had to find a way to destroy them. If they were able to return to base, it would be because they had defeated us.  With this epiphany in mind, Justin and I crept back slowly to retrieve the AT-4’s.

Chapter 53

Psalm 144:1  Praise be the LORD my Rock,
who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

Vincent had carried more than ten soldiers out of the training area and was returning to get a few more when the roof of the training area completely collapsed. His heart sank. There were at least five more guys that needed help out of there.  They were now gone.  He could feel the heat from a fire not far off, and the smoke gathering in his current location was getting thicker.  The lights were flickering and his flashlight wasn’t doing much good.  Satisfied that he had done all he could, he moved on to help others near the hospital.

Captain John had heard back from only one of his units.
That unit reported that there was major structural damage to the mines and areas had already begun collapsing.  The large explosion at the mouth of the mine had started a fire that was spreading into the seam of the coal and would likely spread throughout the mine.  The situation was dire.  He had to get everyone out and fast.  There were at least thirty dead, and another twenty were unaccounted for.  The hospital had received major damage and medical supplies were cut off at the moment.  No word had reached him yet on the outside situation.

Allison woke to the sounds of a child crying.
She could hear the child, but not see him.  Her world was dark.  She could see fuzzy images and lying where she was, she was aware of pressure on her legs, but no pain.  As the fuzziness started to wear off, she realized there was smoke in the air and the lights were dim and flickering. She could still hear the muffled cries from another room, and then remembered that she was in the shaft outside of the hospital.  Who could be crying? She remembered Tanner.  He and his mother Marcie had gone to the hospital to get his insulin. 

“Marcie
, Are you OK?” Allison cried out.  There was no answer, only the soft cries from Tanner.  She tried to call out again, only to realize that her voice was nearly silent against the noise of falling debris.  She felt her way down her body with her hands to find that a beam had fallen and pinned her legs to the ground. She couldn’t move from where she was, and it was starting to worry her that she couldn’t get to Tanner and Marcie to help them.  What she couldn’t see was that the entrance to the hospital was blocked by a massive pile of rock that had fallen from the ceiling.

Chapter 54

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace.  We ask not your counsels or your arms.  Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you, and may your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” – John Adams

From his vantage point, Neil could see
seven of the twelve enemy soldiers that were prepared to ambush anyone coming or going from our entrance.  They didn’t know it, but they were only twenty five yards away from the hidden shaft and facing the entrance from above.  The four hunter teams had arrived from Queenwood and two had joined Neil and his team. Neil assigned targets carefully and waited for the right moment to strike.  I had gotten word back to Neil about the drones and they all were wary of a potential strike from above at any moment. 

Neil was looking skyward when the hidden door to the shaft opened slowly and a head slowly looked around to survey the area.  Before Neil could order the strike, an enemy shot rang out and the body
of our fellow patriot fell lifeless to the ground blocking the doorway leaving it opened.  Neil began firing with his team and seven of the Asian troops were immediately taken out of the fight. Of the five remaining, one used his radio to call for help while the others returned fire and maneuvered to get close to the shaft opening.

Chapter 55

Whiteman Air Force Base

“Sir, there is a firefight between the two factions.
The advisor unit is taking heavy casualties. Your orders?” asked Airman Amy.

“Prepare to fire on the terrorists
on my mark”, replied the Watch Officer.

“Sir, there are also two fast moving vehicles approachin
g the main body of the UN Force”, said Airman Amy.

“Se
nd Predator Two to interdict”, replied the officer.

Airman
Amy keyed in the targeting instructions for the second drone.  Her face clearly betrayed the guilt and anguish at the task she was performing. Her heart was crying out and praying for a miracle.

Chapter 56

“In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated, and scorned.  When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.” 

-Mark Twain

Justin and I were joined by two hunter teams and we took up positions on the right flank of the assault element. We had taken our time and between the three of our teams, we were able to bring two of the AT-4 rockets with us. The two tanks would be our targets.   I watched as the tanks were being directed by the Chinese commander to take aim on the main opening of the mineshaft.  We had to stop them before they fired at the base again.

Justin and I were zeroing in on the Commander and another officer who seemed to be directing the actions of the assault element.  I was preparing to fire when I heard vehicles approaching.  I looked to the road and was quite surprised to see two busses driving side by side at a high rate of speed.  They were travelling downhill and were on a crash course with the rear of the assault element.  The
front of the buses was crisscrossed with what looked like duct-tape.  I could only make out one of the drivers.  It was Thomas, one of Jimmy’s crew from in town. 

Chapter 57

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

The bus was awkward and hard to steer on the rocky dirt road leading to the mines.  Thomas looked over at his younger brother Timothy and the fear on his face turned to a bright smile. He always knew how to ease his brother’s fears and the cocky smile he flashed always did the trick.  Timothy would be fine. He just had to jump clear of the bus in time.  Ahead, Thomas could see the rear of the UN assault element.  There were two troop carriers and nearly twenty soldiers milling about.  The milling about changed as soon as they noticed his oncoming bus. 

Thomas motioned for Tim
othy to bail out now. Timothy did and it gave Thomas some peace.  He knew Timothy would be ok.  Had Timothy known Thomas’s plan, he would never have gone along with it.  Thomas grabbed the detonator that was attached to the claymore mines taped to both of the bus’s front grilles. He never felt the bullets that were striking his body as he smiled and detonated the mines at the last second.

Chapter 58

The blast was huge and blew two of the troop carriers over. The two buses rammed the overturned carriers at fifty miles an hour and caused them to level nearly fifty yards of troops and equipment.  Justin and I rushed forward with our AT-4-s and aimed in at the tracks of the tanks. The armor on the M1 tanks would easily withstand the rockets, but the tracks would disintegrate and an immobilized tank is easier to deal with than one (or two) that can get around..  We fired together. Justin’s rocket hit the tracks of his tank and caused them to become dislodged at a strange angle.  The rocket I fired impacted the tank’s tracks at the same time the tank had fired another round into the mouth of the mine.

Mark Jones had his trusty M1 Garand ready and sighted in on the Asian leader when the busses impacted the rear of the enemy element.
  At that precise moment he put all of his military training that most would have assumed he had forgotten, into practice.  “Aim; hold; let half a breath out; squeeze the trigger; recoil.”  The Chinese Commander felt the impact and looked down at his chest and marveled at the strange warm feeling he had around his belly.  The look on his face went from wonder to terror as he realized a second too late that he had been mortally wounded.  “Squeeze.” One more round for security. That round went straight through the commander’s heart and dropped him to his knees, and then to his face. 

Mark had given a quick class to those around him on squad movements and individual infantry tactics.  For the most part it went like this: Shoot, communicate, move.  That’s it.  Those who listened
to him had taken the advice to heart.  As soon as Mark had shot his target, he yelled ‘Cover me”, and moved to a new position. 

Mark’
s squad consisted of seven of his neighbors.  All of them had either their own hunting rifles, or military grade rifles that had been confiscated from the soldiers they had eliminated in town.  They had heard about the call from Chris and could no longer stand by to let the militia do all the work.  At first it had been Mark who grabbed his rifle and started to get into his truck.  Then several of his neighbors emboldened by the acts of the day joined him.  When a convoy of thirty cars and trucks had gathered, Mark came up with a plan. 

They
took the busses left behind by Chris and his team and loaded them up.  They used the claymore mines left behind and taped them to the front grille of each bus.  Thomas and Timothy volunteered to drive and assured the rest that they could get free before the busses hit.  Every man and woman loaded up with ammo and rifles. All of the military and law enforcement trained women who had been rescued by Chris and his team volunteered to join the impromptu mission. 

Jimmie and G
erome grabbed as many grenades as they could hold and each grabbed several handguns and loaded up. The pair led the assault by rushing from cover the way they had seen their video game characters move. They had learned well from Modern Warfare.  They threw grenades from cover and advanced to the wreckage of the buses while taking out enemies along the way.  Several squads followed their lead and before long a large group had assembled using the wreckage as cover.

I could see Jimmie, G
erome, and nearly twenty more people gathered at the buses and wondering where to go.  The enemy was starting to advance on them with one Hummer training its top mounted machine gun on the wreckage.  Justin and I turned our attention from the tanks to the soldiers firing on the now stalled citizens.  We started picking off soldiers with well-aimed fire. Justin was truly a great shot.  I was aiming for the soldier in the Hummer when I heard a strange new noise on the battlefield and realized it was a drone diving in.