The Last Gallon Read online

  Tom Clarkson commanded a squad of twenty men and women. They were the first group to feel the wrath of the Zetas. Tom had his squad hunkered behind a truck when 2 of the cars came squealing around the corner with men hanging out the windows firing their weapons. Two of his men took hits from the wildly inaccurate attack but they were too slow to react and return fire.

  “Split up, 4 groups of 5” Tom commanded. He reasoned that smaller groups would be harder to hit and they would have to concentrate on one group which would allow the other 3 to attack. Everyone had their safeties off and were ready to get on the trigger as soon as the gang reappeared.

  A lone car came around the corner next and the fire team closest took the brunt of the attack. Tom saw Karen Wiseman go down and two of the men with her took hits. The other three groups peppered the car with accurate fire and everyone on the left side took rounds including the driver who veered off and crashed into a hangar building.

  Tom rushed over to Karen to see if she was ok. She was on the ground bleeding pretty heavy but the hits were not critical. She had a smile on her face and was demanding they bandage her up so she could get back out and “level the bastards”. Tom tapped on her leg and gave her a thumbs up while he discreetly called for a medic to get her off the battle field.

  All the groups who split into fire teams fared well. The few who did not were nearly devastated. One of those groups was run by David Simmons. He didn’t even have time to organize. His group was pinned down by four cars. They formed a crescent around his group and their cover and opened fire. All occupants got in on it because the gangsters on the right side got out and used the cars as cover.

  David’s group was annihilated in about a minute. One of the Bradley operators caught the end of the slaughter and fired his chain gun into the cars taking out most of the attackers but the damage had already been done and 16 friendly lives were claimed.

  One of the Bradleys took an RPG to the tread and was disabled. It still stood its ground and fired on the attackers but it was immobile for the rest of the fight. Vincent soon realized that staying put was turning very costly and ordered the Humvees and remaining Bradleys into action.

  Tonya Roberts was Bradley #3’s commander. She ordered the vehicle to charge headlong into the wave of cars that approached. “Let’s play chicken with the bastards” she said and patted her driver on the helmet. The light tank lunged forward and picked up speed surprisingly well for its size and girth.

  A string of about 12 cars was barrelling down the runway at the convoy when the Bradley fired its massive engine to life. It was coming as they were going and the distance between them was being evaporated at an astonishing rate. The lead driver got squeamish first and cut the wheel hard right, the driver behind him chose left. The one in the middle didn’t get a chance to choose as the Bradley slammed into it.

  Tonya and her crew slammed against the interior of the machine as her IFV climbed up and over the car while crushing it to bits. Her gunner opened up with the machine gun and took pot shots at the other cars as they split the carnage in front of them caused by the collision. The Humvees behind Tonya took these targets of opportunity and laid round after round of 7.62mm armor piercing rounds into the engine blocks of the cars which rendered them useless.

  The battle raged on for about 45 minutes. When the Zetas were reduced to 10 cars they decided they had enough and sped away. Vincent considered giving chase but there was no use, they wouldn’t have enough fuel to get back if they did that.

  Mark and Joey were hauling ass down US-63 when they saw several battered cars fleeing down Dan Avenue. Joey hopped into the turret and fired 5 successive grenades which demolished half of the remaining cars. He tried to get another shot off but the cars were lost in the fire and smoke of their destroyed comrades.

  When they pulled into the airport it was a gruesome scene. Several fires still raged and the dead were being put into two piles, one for Zeta and one for Vincent’s men. The only bright side to the situation was the Zeta pile was several times bigger but that did nothing to minimize the devastation of Vincent’s once proud convoy.

  Two Bradleys remained in working condition, 4 Humvees, and 3 deuce and a halfs. A once powerful convoy of 21 vehicles including the Armadillo had been reduced to 10. Worst off was the cost in personnel. Vincent had lost 80 of his 187 soldiers and another 30 were wounded. For all intents and purposes he was down to about 75 fighting personnel and he was none too happy about it.

  Chapter 26- Reunited

  As soon as the Armadillo pulled up Vincent stormed over to the car and slammed his fist on the hood. As Mark got out of the car Vincent slammed him up against the door pillar and started swearing and screaming about his crew being slaughtered while his family screwed around in safety. Mark was shocked but after seeing the site of the battle he really couldn’t blame Vincent for being so pissed.

  Mark tried to talk some sense into Vincent but he was not going to listen. He just kept ranting while slamming Mark against the side of the car. Karen Wiseman finally hobbled over and grabbed Vincent’s arm as he was about to punch Mark in the face. “Vincent, calm down” she said while Vincent tried to lunge at Mark. “VINCENT CALM THE FUCK DOWN” she demanded and twisted his arm around his back.

  Vincent’s anger switch was switched off by Karen’s actions and a calm look returned to his face. Karen let go of his arm and patted him on the shoulder. She began to explain why Vincent was wrong. “If he had not left maybe he would’ve been killed in the attack. Then none of us would have found that cache, we would have just died by Zeta hands for no goddamn reason Vincent. He had to go, he HAD to go.” She explained.

  Mark stayed quiet even though he had plenty of opportunity to interject. He didn’t want to set Vincent off again and would calmly wait until he had completely returned to a sane state of mind before opening his mouth. Karen worked on him for a few more minutes and he finally nodded and began to weep. The pain of losing so many friends had finally sunk in and he could no longer hold back. Mark grabbed him into his arms and tried to comfort him. Vincent did not resist and Mark let him cry in his arms for several minutes.

  When Vincent regained composure he was a different person. He was back to being that charismatic leader that people would follow even if it meant certain death. He started organizing the survivors, ordering mechanics to make repairs necessary to get the equipment on the road, ordering corpsmen to tend to the minor wounds so those people could make the trip. It was amazing to see and Mark was proud to be the man’s friend. He really was one of the most dynamic, powerful and compassionate men he had ever met.

  Once all the orders were given Vincent turned back to Mark and smiled. “I am really sorry about that” he said sheepishly as if he was afraid Mark would hate him. Mark smiled and patted him on the shoulder “Buddy, I deserved it, I understand why you were upset and I would be too. It’s all water under the bridge. Let’s get on with the next chapter in our lives. I think you will like it.” Vincent gave Mark a curious look and Mark confirmed his suspicions. “It is all we hoped for and more” he told his friend.

  A few hours later the convoy was ready to move with the help of several people from the town and militia from the guard facility. Mark offered some of the militia folk to come move into the cache and several seemed like they would be interested to do so in the near future. Mark told them how to get in touch with him when they decided to come out.

  Mark led the battered convoy out of town. Several of the people who helped out lined the streets to wave and cheer them on. A woman up ahead suddenly stepped out in the middle of the road to halt them and Mark told Joey to be on the ready in case something happened. Something did happen but it wasn’t at all what they expected.

  The woman’s son came out of their house with a beaten, tattered, and torn American flag. It was the first one Mark had seen in years and it instantly brought a tear to his eye. The boy approached the car to hand the flag over to Mark but he motioned back in the convoy a bit.
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  The boy approached Vincent’s Humvee and presented the flag to him. Vincent, also with a tear in his eye, exited the vehicle and fastened the flag to his antenna. He and the boy then saluted the flag while the crowd cheered. Near the back of the crowd a deep bellowing voice started singing “Ohhhh say can you seeee” and the entire convoy shut down and sang the anthem alongside him. Mark couldn’t contain the tears of pride and joy that welled up inside him after hearing the national anthem for the first time in years. He decided right then and there that Athena was right and he would do everything in his power to return his nation to its former glory.

  The convoy rolled to life with a renewed sense of purpose. Once they were out of town Mark got on the mic and talked on an open channel about the cache and what they had discovered. He could hear several gasps of surprise and excitement as he described the firepower they had on hand. He could also hear the excitement they displayed when he told about the library and museum.

  What had started out as a horrible and horrifying day had turned into a joyous and prideful night. When the convoy rolled in Mark had called Kara to make sure dinner would be ready and there would be access to the parking garage immediately. She delivered with the accuracy that only a Kara could provide. As they made their final approach to the cache the giant bay door rolled open and the convoy rolled right in and parked in the few empty bays that were available inside.

  The chow hall smelled of a hearty beef stew and another artisan bread recipe that Kara had baked via the recipe books on hand. Vincent’s battered army ate up every bit of the 55 gallons Kara had prepared in the industrial kitchen. Once dinner was complete they showed everyone to their bunks. Several were quite giddy to be sleeping on a mattress and not the cold floor of their vehicles or the hard floor of the earth.

  Vincent stayed up with the family and Mark gave him the grand tour. When they were just about to pack it up for the night Vincent’s radio crackled to life. “Viper one this is Cobra niner over” the voice said. Vincent’s eyes lit up as he responded. He gave them coordinates and within minutes the security system alerted them to the perimeter being breeched. Vincent had the bay doors lifted again and a Bradley drove down the ramp and parked in the last empty spot.

  Mark and the family stood by Vincent in eager anticipation waiting to see who their visitor was. When Timothy and Simone stepped from the back doors of the vehicle the entire group ran to greet them. Vincent, Mark, and Kara showered Timothy with hugs and kisses while Joey did the same with Simone. Cindy looked a little perturbed until Joey introduced her as his girlfriend. Simone smiled a big smile and was truly pleased to meet the young girl.

  The group retired to one of the private suites and cracked open a case of beer to enjoy the reunion and catch up on the adventures of Timothy and Simone. Apparently their rescue party came at the perfect time; in fact, almost immediately upon their arrival Timothy’s barge was attacked by missile and destroyed. He and Simone had swum to shore and were about to hoof it until the Bradley driver waved them over.

  Outside, along the road outside the quarry the boys on the motorcycle gave each other high-fives. “We are going to get so many whores for this mi Amigo” the younger one said to the older one. He just smiled the biggest grin you can imagine as he kicked the old junker to life and they rode off into the night towards Little Rock.

  Chapter 27- The new Alamo

  Over the next few weeks word of the cache and what the crew was trying to create was spread throughout the area. Vincent’s remaining forces arrived along with droves from the neighboring cities. There were already over 3,000 people living in the cache and close to 2,000 of those were combat ready.

  Vanessa took control of their new air wing and piloted a Little Bird regularly on patrol. She was afraid to step up to the bigger aircraft until she felt she was proficient again. She was training a couple other would-be pilots and felt confident that she could get four helicopters in the air if need-be.

  Timothy and Simone had taken charge of defensive systems for the facility. They placed 4 MLRS loaded with MGM-140B guided missiles atop the quarry. They could strike over 100 miles away. They also placed a pair of M109 artillery units for short range attack. Multiple machine gun and mini-gun nests rounded out the top of quarry defense system.

  Vincent refitted his crew with M1A2 tanks and new Bradleys. He currently had 6 Abrams crews and 6 Bradley crews ready to go at any given moment. Another four of each were in reserve along with a complement of nearly 300 soldiers from his and various volunteer outfits.

  A phenomenon that had been occurring was the locals coming to the cache and asking for their protection in return for fighting men or farming land. Mark was always happy to accept new recruits but he continuously made it clear that they would not be conscripting soldiers; their army would be completely voluntary. This made the number of recruits go even higher as young men finally had the means to protect their families.

  It did not take long until the group had a nearly 50 mile circular radius they had sworn to defend. It seemed to grow daily but Mark didn’t see it as a problem. They had such sophisticated weapons and the command center had eyes everywhere once they had deployed the mobile radar nests that were contained within the cache.

  Vincent had returned to Jonesboro only a day after the battle so he could properly bury his dead in a friendly place. He created the first new national cemetery on the property of the cache. They had a moving ceremony and everyone in the facility plus some officials from West Plains attended. Mark truly appreciated the care and concern Vincent displayed for his men both living and dead. This act also seemed to attract many a new follower. They knew if they laid their lives down that it would be done for a reason and a purpose, not for an immediate need or a random whim.

  While the group fortified their location and expanded their reach the Zetas were mobilizing the biggest force they had ever brought to bear on anyone since the wars. Their star spies had located the cache when they followed Timothy’s Bradley and had informed El Jefe of the exact location. The leadership did not trust him to pull off the mission after the Jonesboro debacle but they were using his land and resources to build the strike force that was going to assault the cache.

  Their equipment consisted mostly of confiscated Mexican Army units. Panhard VCR APCs were the biggest part of the force. They were armed with a single 50cal machine gun and could carry 12 soldiers. They also had a dozen French ERC-90 fighting vehicles. The 90mm cannon could do some serious damage to all but the heaviest of tanks. They rounded out their arsenal with a couple dozen BMP-1 APCs. The Russian work-horse had seen many a battle and some of the equipment on-hand looked like it may have participated in a good number of them.

  All in all they had nearly 60 armored vehicles. They also had a couple dozen troop trucks that could put several hundred soldiers in action as needed. It was going to be a tough force to fight for most of the current groups’ active in the country. The Zetas had no idea the level of equipment and technology the group had at its disposal.

  Zeta General Allessandro “Santa Anna’ Dominguez was in charge of the assault. He was known throughout the southeast as a ruthless commander. His units spread terror from Texas to Miami as the cartel claimed its land and resources after the collapse of America. His newest task would help spread Zeta influence in the middle of the war torn country. Their plans would extend their reach all the way to the Socialist Republic of Canada and drive a wedge between New China and the corporate owned lands of the northeast.

  Simone and Karen were standing watch in the command center on a quiet Sunday when the south quadrant radar started going crazy. Karen sat staring at the radar and repeated “dot, dot, dot ,dot” over and over as the contacts appeared on their scope. “95 vehicles approaching at approximately 40mph, range 115 miles” she informed Simone who stood as watch captain. Simone dialled Mark’s suite immediately.

  Minutes later Mark stood looking at the scope. Simone asked “Should we fire? We can hit them from her
e with the MLRS.” Mark wrinkled his nose, what if it was friendly? It’s a long shot but stranger things had happened throughout their journeys. Mark shook his head no, “Get Vanessa airborne to identify the targets, we can make a decision once we have visual. Make sure her Little Birds have Hellfires” he ordered. Simone nodded and called Vanessa and told her to scramble 2 birds.

  15 minutes later Vanessa and Larry Partridge from the former Missouri Air National Guard were in the air heading south. The Little Birds quickly reached a cruising speed of 150mph. They would be over their targets in about half an hour. The little gunships were equipped with twin 50cal machine guns and a pair of Hellfire missiles each; they packed a hell of a punch for such a tiny chopper.

  About 20 minutes into the flight Vanessa got her first visual. It was quite obvious that they were not friendlies. “Baby Eagle to Raptor’s Nest, we’ve got Zetas approaching. Light to medium armor plus several hundred infantry. Request to engage.” She didn’t even need to wait for an answer because the column below started firing their 50 calibre machine guns at her. The group had a strict self defense doctrine and she was now obligated to return fire at them.

  Vanessa and Larry split up, Larry would work from the back and she would work from the front. They would approach from the same side to avoid any chance of colliding with each other. Vanessa quickly dispatched the lead vehicles with Hellfires and Larry focused on troop transports with his twin machine guns. It was like shooting fish in a barrel but he had no issues doing so after previously witnessing the brutality of the men below.

  The damage to the column caused a traffic jam and all the other vehicles had to stop and fan out to avoid collisions with the others. “Raptor’s Nest to Baby Eagle: Engage at will” Simone’s voice ordered. Vanessa laughed and responded “BE confirms contact” immediately. She continued “We’ve got them stopped, recommend loading in some unguided MGM-140s into the MLRS.” Vanessa heard Simone chatting with Mark and responded “Negative, guided versions are loaded and will be on their way shortly, we recommend bugging out.” Vanessa responded in the affirmative and she and Larry turned west to circle at a safe distance to witness the destruction of the highly lethal cluster munitions laced missiles.