The Siege (21 page)

     “
Bryan, this is John. He’s out of camera range, and we don’t know where he’s at. Maintain your position. If you move now, and if he’s already on the turbine, he’ll have a clean shot at you. Just stand by until we see what their next move is gonna be.”

     “10-4, John. Standing by.”

     Gomez was a small man, quick and agile. He’d grown up in Lubbock, in west Texas, climbing all the elm trees in his neighborhood. His mom used to say he was part monkey, the way he scampered up and down those trees with ease.

     Even now, as a grow
n man, he could scale trees faster than a chimpanzee.

     And wind turbines too.

     The turbine had wrought iron ladder rungs welded into its side so workers could climb up to do maintenance. Gomez was too short to easily reach the first rung and had to stand on the seat of his wheeler to grab it.

     But then he was off to the races, climbing sixty feet in less than a minute.

     Once he was high enough, he turned and looked over the compound.

     And he liked what he saw.

     He got on his radio.

     “Holy crap,
man. It’s like a farm on the inside. There’s all kinds of stuff growing in there, like fields. I see what looks like corn, and other stuff too. There’s several buildings and… holy shit. I see cows and pigs too.”

     Sabol smiled.

     He had his confirmation. This was indeed the place Smitty had told him about. And whether Smitty and Alvarez and the rest of their bunch now owned it, or the original occupants were still there, it didn’t matter to Sabol.

     It would soon he his.

     “Come on back here, Gomez. We’re all going in together.”

Chapter 4
3

     Four minutes later Gomez was once again in the camera’s view, driving his four wheeler back to the front of the compound.

     John was back on the radio.

     “Okay, Bryan. He’s headed back to the rest of his gang. We have to assume he was able to climb the tower and see what’s in the compound. Move back to the other blind and wait there.”

     “10-4.”

     As Bryan moved back to join Brad at the other blind, John and Mark watched Gomez link back up with the man they called Grizzly Adams. They wondered about the two men who’d gone off into the woods, but weren’t overly concerned. The perimeter cameras on all sides of the fence would pick them up if they came out of the woods at a different place and approached the compound.

     They worked to formulate their own plan.

     John said, “Okay. So we have to assume they know what we have now, and that an attack is imminent. Once the other two come back out of the woods, let’s you and I get out there.”

     Sami suddenly got a look of horror on her face.

     “Dad, you can’t be serious. You’re safe in here with us. Why in the world do you need to go out there?”

     “Because once the shooting starts, they may turn tail and run. We need to get them in a cross fire so they don’t get away.”

     John looked at Mark to see if there would be any comment or dissent to his plan.

     Mark merely shrugged and reached for one of the AR-15s in the gun rack.

     “Ready when you are, John.”

     John got on the radio again.

     “Joe, this is John. Can you make your way to the control center?”

     “Be right there, John.”

     Joe hadn’t been watching the monitors as the others had. He had no idea where the threat was. So he took no chances, low crawling through the building’s lobby toward the security console. It wasn’t until he saw the others standing together, watching the monitors, that he straightened up and walked normally.

     “Whatcha need, John?”

     “Joe, Mark and I are going to leave the compound in a few minutes and make our way into the woods. We need you to open the small gate and let us out.”

     “No problem. You want me to hang out there to let you back in?”

     “No. Once the bullets start flying they could go anywhere. A lucky stray bullet might find you there, and the fence wouldn’t do much to protect you. Come back in after you let us out, and we’ll let you guys know when we’re ready to come back.

     “And when we do come back, don’t just open the gate because yo
u hear Mark or me telling you to from the other side. Wait until Sami makes sure we’re not under duress, and she’ll give you the all clear.”

     “What do you mean, under duress?”

     “They may try to capture one of us alive, so they can use us to get into the gate. Don’t open it back up until Sami verifies that we’re alone and tells you to.”

     “Okay. Got it.”

     John picked out his AR-15 and stuffed two extra magazines into his leg pockets.

     He looked up at the monitors, just in time to see Bandera and Murrow dragging a long dead tree out of the woods.

     “Yep. They’re going to scale the wall. Sami, once you get my word, give us the play by play. Update us constantly, but pause every ten seconds or so in case one of us needs to reply.”

     “Be careful out there, Dad. I don’t want to lose you.”

     He kissed her on the forehead and said, “You won’t, sweetheart. I promise.”

     Then John turned to Mark and Joe and said, “Let’s roll.”

     Just under a minute later, John called back in on the radio.

     “Sami, is it clear outside the gate?”

     “Yes, sir. All clear.”

     “Okay. Start with the play by play.”

     Hannah was with the others, and suddenly realized that Sami was now alone in the control center.

     That just wouldn’t do. She needed to be with her friend to provide moral support
, and to back her up if something bad happened. She made her way to the console and winked at her friend. It was a nonverbal statement that said, “You can do this. I’m right here with you.”

     “Okay, all four of them are on the center of the fence. They’re leaning a dea
d tree against the fence. One of the men is climbing up the tree. Now he’s looking over the top of the fence. He appears to be looking at the ladder that’s leaning up against the fence on the inside of the compound.”

     She paused for a few seconds, then continued.

     “He’s back off the tree now. He’s talking to the guy with the beard. Okay, now they’re moving the tree in the direction of the ladder.”

     She paused for a few seconds and John jumped on the radio.

     “Okay, we’re in the woods now, working our way around to that side. You guys on the roof, try to wait until we’re in place before you fire. If there’s a chance they’ll make it to the cover of the pig barn, though, don’t wait. Go ahead, Sami.”

     “Okay, they’ve moved the dead tree to the new position. The smaller guy is climbing up it again. He’s looking over the top of the fence, and talking to the men below. They appear to be arguing about something.”

     She paused again and John got on the radio.

     “Okay, we’re in position now, probably eighty yards away from them. We’ve got a clear line of sight. You guys on the roof, wait until two of them are on the ground inside, and the third one is on the ladder on the inside. Then take all
three of them out. But take the ladder guy out first so he doesn’t scramble back over.”

    
Bryan keyed his mike and said, “10-4, John.”

     “Okay, Sami. You’re doing great. Just keep it up.”

     “Thank you, Dad.”

     While Sami continued the play by play, John turned and spoke to Mark.

     “You’re a better shot than I am. You aim for the last man’s head, and I’ll aim for his torso. Once the third guy goes over the fence, he belongs to Bryan and Brad. When our man is all alone, we’ll fire on my count. If one of us happens to miss, he’ll still go down and can’t run away in the woods. The three in the compound don’t have anywhere to go, so they can’t get away.”

     Mark smiled and said, “You mean if
you
miss.”

     “Whatever…”

     Everyone, including those listening in the compound’s safe room, grew more tense as Sami continued.

     “Okay. The first man is on the ground inside the compound now. He’s not moving away from the fence. It appears he’s waiting for the others. The second man is moving from the tree on the outside of the fence to the ladder on the inside.
The third man is waiting at the bottom of the dead tree, waiting for the other guy to clear the fence and get out of his way.”

     She paused for a few seconds, but heard nothing but silence from the others.

     John had the fourth man, the one they called Grizzly Adams, in his crosshairs. His sights were centered squarely in the center of the big man’s chest.

     He asked Mark, “Are you ready?”

     Mark, his sights aimed at Sabol’s head, said “yep.”

     Sami continued.

     “Okay, the second man is off the ladder and on the ground inside the compound. The third man is at the top of the fence, getting ready to move over to the ladder… okay, now he’s on the ladder and starting to climb down. The last man is climbing up the tree now.”

     John never took his eye off the target, and calmly said, “On my go… three… two… one… fire.”

     Two shots rang out in perfect harmony, and both bullets found their marks. Sabol tumbled from the dead tree and into the gravel below the fence. He was dead before he hit the ground, his head having fairly exploded and a gaping hole being ripped through his heart and out his back.

     A split second later, as Sabol was falling, more shots rang out from the roof of the big house.

     The small guy, Gomez, was the first to fall. The little monkey had climbed his last tree. Bandera and Murrow panicked, running in two different directions.

     Bandera tried the ladder. He decided this was someplace he didn’t want to be after all. He was on the third rung when Brad’s bullet tore through his upper back
, went through the upper left lung, and passed through to go through the fence and lodge into the ground outside the compound. Bandera held tightly onto the ladder as he leaned back, and fell crashing down beside Gomez.

     The ladder fell on top of him and pinned him to the ground. He couldn’t move, but he wasn’t dead yet.  He looked to his right in a wild panic, to see Gomez’ glassy eyes staring him in the face from mere inches away.

     It was the last thing Bandera would ever see. His head exploded a fraction of a second later.

     Murrow tried a different tactic. He
lowered his AK-47 and fired four shots blindly in the direction of the big house, although he didn’t hit anything. Then he ran full bore toward the pig barn, hoping to find cover there.

     He only made it halfway, before he was cut down by a clean through and through shot in the abdomen. It didn’t kill him, but it brought him to a stop. The second shot, through the right side of his heart, killed him.

     Sami, to her credit, described every shot, every action, through moistening eyes. Her voice cracked a little as she not only witnessed the grizzly deaths of four men, but described them to the others as well.

     Finally, as Murrow’s face fell into the
dirt, she stopped. Hannah held her head in her arms and took over.

     “It’s all over. All four of them are dead.”

     John said, “Bryan, Brad, you okay?”

     “We’re fine, John. How about you guys?”

     “We’re okay. We’re going to drag that dead tree back into the woods and clean up out here. Hannah, is Sami okay?”

     Sami got back on.

     “I’m fine, Dad.”

     “You did great, sweetheart. I’m proud of you. I’m proud of all of you. Let’s hope this is the last time we have to do this.”

     Sami burst into tears, but John never heard them. Hannah continued to hold her.

     “Hannah, have Joe standing by to let us
back in, but don’t give him the all clear until we’re at the gate. Also, watch those monitors in case the gunshots attracted any more bad guys.”

     “Okay, John.”

     John and Mark shouldered their weapons and worked together to drag the dead tree back into the forest. Then they drove two of the quad runners to the walk-thru gate.

     “Think they’ll fit through the gate?”

     “It’ll be close, but I think they’ll make it with an inch or two to spare.”

     They walked back to the front of the compound, dragged Sabol’s lifeless body across the rack on one of the two remaining wheelers, and drove them back to the gate.