TOCABAGA (Revised Edition) (Book #1 of The Tocabaga Chronicles) (5 page)

APRIL 1
9, 2025

It was dawn when Mike’s radio call came in.

O
n the radio to Mike, I asked, “How many are you fighting?”

He replied,
“About ten men and they came by boat and flanked us. We are between the four cars blocking the bridge. They are behind us in the toll booth and on the west side of the bridge. This is a serious situation and we could all be killed, you have to act fast.”

Getting back on the radio
, I told the other guards, “Watch for any boats; if they come within shooting range, shoot to kill. Mike, we are on the way. Everyone else be alert, at the ready, in case we need help.”

Tommy, Eddy,
Robbie and I were set to go. I asked Amy, “Please sit this one out.”

She got out of the truck and we all jumped in.
I could see Amy was disappointed not to get in the action, she is pretty much fearless.

As we were leaving
Tommy told Rick, “Keep an eye on this bridge in case they try to attack here again.”

Good point
, this could be a two-pronged attack so we would be fighting on two fronts at once, which was not good.

Tommy
shouted, “Everyone ready? Here we go!”

Tom
my punched the gas and the 5.7 liter Tundra burned rubber for a few feet, as the truck sped forward.

Our island has two bridges, one on each end. The island is about
one mile wide and two miles long. The main bridge in is an old-fashioned Bascule double-leaf drawbridge that can open and close by rising in the middle. This is the only way onto the island from the mainland, unless you come by boat.

The other bridge goes to
No Man’s Land, which use to be a county park with beaches. It is also an island and has no connection to the mainland. No one lives there except a few homeless people who have a trailer and want to be off the grid. There are five of them who help us tend the crops we grow there. In turn, we give them part of what we grow and also provide other foodstuffs. These people are harmless and have no weapons but will tell us if someone lands there by boat. We patrol NO MAN’S LAND everyday because we also hunt rabbits and fish there.

Speeding down the road
, I told everyone in the truck, “Listen up. Mike and his three guys are trapped between the four cars on the bridge. The bad boys are at the toll booth and on the west side of the road. I suggest we stop and approach on foot from about 200 yards away so they don’t see us.”

Tommy replied,
“Sounds good to me.”

“Me too,” agreed
Robbie.

No comment c
ame from Eddy. Eddy didn’t like to fight and he needed more experience but he was willing to do his part.

I
advised, “When we stop Ed, you stay behind and act as the rear guard, staying near the truck but watch for bad guys and don’t shoot us. I repeat, do not shoot in our direction. If you see anyone let me know right away, ok?”

Eddy
, trying to sound military replied, “Roger that, boss.”

Tommy
drove off the road close to the undergrowth as we pulled up to within 200 yards.

We jumped out of the truck and I pointed to some bushes on the side of the road and
instructed, “Ed this is a good place for you to stay. Robbie and I will stay on the west side and take out the toll booth. Tommy you secure the east side and provide a flanking move, also attacking the toll booth. After we clear it we will find more dopers on the west side of the road near the bridge.”

Tommy
answered, “Yes sir sounds like a good plan to me.”

In the now
strong daylight we walked toward the toll booth on the edge of the mangroves. Tommy was on the east side of the road in the shadow of the trees caused by the rising sun. We could clearly see the enemy shooting at Mike’s team.

I radioed Mike, “We are here and are going to take the to
ll booth first and then go after the others.”

Mike replied,
“Hurry up! Big Dan is hit bad.”

Tommy radioed, “Dad
, I can see five guys and have a shot at all of them. Permission to fire?”

I respon
ded, “If you got a clear shot, take it; kill them all if you can. Robbie and I will try to draw their fire.”

From where Tommy was he could see three sides, east, north and south of the booth
, while we could see the west and north side. So no matter what wall they hid behind we could shoot them. Robbie and I found a small drainage ditch to hunker down in for cover and waited for Tommy to shoot. We heard two rapid shots and two guys fell. We started to fire at the three remaining men and they fired back at us, bullets slamming into the ground all around us and zipping overhead.

At this point t
hey didn’t know Tommy was shooting at them. I heard another two shots from the 308 and Tommy called me, the radio hissing, “Dad, two more dead, that’s four now. The last man is running for the water.”

Bam
! I heard his gun fire again. “I am coming over now, the last man got away!” Tommy shouted.

Mike
overheard us when we talked on the radio. He keyed in, “Good shooting guys but I got bad news. Big Dan is dead and Sammy is wounded but not seriously. The remaining men are now under the bridge. I don’t know if there are four or five of them. I think they are trying to take off in their boat.”

W
e hurried to the bridge where Mike was shooting at the boat with four men in it trying to escape. He got one but the boat was fast and moved in a zigzag pattern to avoid being hit. Tommy rested his rifle on the bridge railing and fired three shots, making three more dead. The boat kept going for a while until at about 600 yards, when Tommy shot the motor and it ignited. We just let it burn and float away.

I
radioed Eddy, “Bring up the truck fast, we got wounded here.”

Eddy came zooming up and almost ran us over
. Jumping out of the truck, he ran over to see who was hurt and started to sob when he saw Big Dan dead. He asked, “What happened?”

Only Mike
knew what happened and he did not reply. Sammy was in pain and shock and didn’t speak one word. He was going to pass out from the loss of blood. Eddy tied a rope around his arm right above the wound to stop the blood flow. 

We loaded Sammy and Big Dan
’s body into the back of the truck. It was a sad day, the first time anyone in our compound had been killed.

I asked
Mike, “What the hell happened? How did those guys sneak up on you?”

Mike
answered, “I have no excuse. We were playing cards and were tired. Dan had a bottle of whiskey and we all had a few drinks. We were listening to music. You know how boring it is doing guard duty.”

I gave h
im a disgusted look and radioed to our HQ, “We are on the way back. Sammy is wounded with a bullet through the arm and Dan is dead. Have Doc and Amy ready to treat Sammy.”

A long time ago
Big Dan was married but his wife died in a car accident. They had no kids so Dan had no one to call family but us, his friends. He moved here from Ohio where he sold cars. We would honor him for his sacrifice.

Mike wanted to
resign as a team leader and leave security altogether.

He
told me, “I need to step down. I feel so bad about Dan.”

I
said, “Mike, listen to me, you are a good man; you made a mistake but it was not all your fault. I believe that when your time’s up, it’s up. We need your skill and leadership, it’s imperative to our security. You are a key man and I think you will be more careful in the future. This is life and death here, just like being in a war. Hell, you could get killed from a snake bite. I don’t need to preach to you, a 20-year Army vet. I just ask that you handle Big Dan’s funeral and bury him at sea. First, get back to work by picking two replacement men then get back to the bridge asap because as we have no guards there now. Also dump the scumbags’ bodies into shark channel.”

The shark channel is what we call the water that flows between the two islands because if you try to swim across it most likely Bull sharks will attack you. Bull sharks are the most aggressive sharks around, they’re even worse than Mako and Great Whites. I know of at least three people that have died swimming in that water.

S
peaking of snakes, we had rattlesnakes and rats everywhere. Sometimes if we saw a snake we’d kill it, skin it, gut it and eat it. You have to be careful when cutting off the head not to let the fangs touch you or it could mean death. You need to take the head and throw it in the deep water or bury it so no one else comes in contact with this demon. It tastes like chicken. Yummy! Snakes are good to have around as they eat the rats and mice, so we don’t kill many.

A while back I killed
two snakes that somehow got onto my patio. We have little Pigmy rattlesnakes, which have no rattle and are about 12 inches long but resemble a big rattlesnake. When I first saw the snakes they looked like sticks lying there and were not moving. I looked closer and they coiled up and struck at me. Only poisonous snakes do that. So I took my flat-bladed shovel, cut off their heads and threw them in the water. I worry about my wife and little dogs. The dogs do go after snakes when they see them but not close enough to get bit.

Big Dan had a short funeral with a 21-gun salute the same day. We need to get rid of bodies fast here, with the oppressive heat, as we don’t have freezers big enough to store bodies. Mike started out the funeral talking about Dan; they had been friends for 20 years, like most of us living here. Then others stood and told their own, sometimes funny stories of times they had spent with Dan. Dan was covered with an American flag as he was a true American patriot. Everyone was there except for the sixteen people who were on guard duty. Most of us cried as we put his body on the boat to be buried at sea, as was his wish. Robbie and Eddy took him out to sea about a mile, weighted down the body with concrete blocks,  and slid him overboard with a prayer.

Everyone is buried at sea here because we have no room for a cemetery and don’t want dead bodies buried near us. The coyotes will dig them up and eat them. Coyotes pose a danger. They came here in the year 2000. They are fast, smart and eat anything, even people, but they usually try to make easy kills of rabbits, cats and dogs. We try to shoot them on sight but they are elusive and roam mainly at night. One ran down the middle of the street in broad daylight the other day and it went by so fast most people didn’t see it.

Tommy, Robbie, and I went back to the main bridge after the funeral. It was about 2 pm and so hot you could cook an egg on the blacktop road. You always sweat here; there is little relief from the heat and sun. Your clothes stick to you and are drenched in sweat. You find some shade and try to stay cool. The slightest breeze is a welcome relief.

To my surprise Rick was not there
but Bill was, with nine security people. Bill is the Association’s Secretary and not much of a fighter because he is too clumsy. He used to be a computer programmer. He even has trouble loading a gun, but he can shoot one fairly well. He has a good eye.

I asked Bill,
“Where is Rick?”

“Rick
went home. He did not feel well and ask me to take over. Nothing has happened here, all is quiet,” Bill replied.

I said,
“Thank God. Have you seen any gang members?”

Bill answered,
“Yes, a few came down the road in a car but did not challenge us; they stopped about 300 yards down the road and then drove away. Maybe they decided to leave this area altogether.”

“I have only slept
one hour in the past two days. I am tired, hungry, and need a garden hose shower. If anything happens, radio me,” I told Bill.

“Tommy and
Robbie, you coming with me?”

Tommy
said, “Yeah, Dad, we need to discuss our next action plan.”

I replied, “
After I eat, shower and have one of Eddie’s beers.”

Robbie
said, “How about we come over around 6 pm? I’ll go tell the rest of the Board to meet at 6:30 pm in the bar.”

“
Ok with me,” Tommy said.

I replied, “
Ditto.”

I went back to my home and my wife
, Hemmi, cooked up some fried fish and made a salad with fruit, and green beans, all grown right here. I ate four fish fillets and drank four beers. Even warm beer tastes good. You get use to it.

Hemmi is an excellent cook and also a great shot. She shoots her Ruger 22 caliber
flat slab stainless steel, six-inch barrel target pistol, with a red dot scope. She can hit a golf ball almost every time at 50 yards.

Hemmi asked, “
Everything ok now? I was worried about you not eating and being gone so long. What I am going to do if you get killed like Dan?”

“Honey
don’t worry, I am not going to get killed if I can help it,” I replied, in an effort to put her at ease.