Chapter 18

For a while, nothing happened. Then we saw Alpha exit a SUV. He gave directions and two groups moved off. One was on the main drag with a SUV following them as they spread out covering more than just the street. The other group started to move toward us. However, they were only about two houses in and not too spread out. We were four back. We waited some more. I warned Shirley by radio that they were walking along the main road on watch. She acknowledged.

Ted and I watched them move beyond us. Ted motioned to me to stay put and he moved to the front of the house where he could continue to track them. I was watching the SUV which was still in place. "Jack, they are continuing toward the next road. Let me know what the SUV is doing."

"Okay."

We waited some more. The SUV cranked and pulled into a drive. Then, it backed out and went to the main road and headed toward the road closer to the complex. I told Ted. Later, he said, "They have met the SUV and are going on."

"Okay, I'm going to your end of the house."

"Okay."

Shirley said, "Why don't you guys leave?"

Ted answered, "Why should we? We will be going where they have searched. They won't even look for us. Shirley, stay put tonight. We don't want to crank a car if we can avoid it. Also, tonight, be very careful about lights. Even though they won't find us, that doesn't mean that they won't listen and be looking for a mistake."

"Okay, Ted. I don't like it."

I reached Ted as she said that. "I'm glad you told her and not me."

Ted chuckled. "It's tough to be married to an independent woman."

"Yes, but entertaining." He chuckled some more. We watched the Blaster search party move closer to their complex. We waited for an hour after the SUV left before we moved. We had counted heads but that SUV could come back. We skittered along keeping under all available cover. Shirley announced during one of our movements that the search party had reentered their complex apparently giving up the search.

Ted responded, "Don't believe it. They will still be alert. Be very careful. There may be extra watchers in some windows. Shirley, keep Mike with you and show him how to stay under cover while you watch them."

"Okay, Ted."

Ted looked at me, "With that girl, you will always have to tell her why unless it's an emergency. In that case, she will let you explain later. She wants to understand everything."

"Yeah, I know. It's what makes good engineers."

He chuckled some more at my discomfort.

"You watch for a while. I'm going to raid the kitchen and pantry. We may be here all day and night plus all day tomorrow." Ted told me. I nodded thinking he was probably right. Without night vision goggles, it would be tough to get around even at night assuming the Blasters weren't watching for a foolish misstep on our part, even if they didn't know who "we" were.

I watched as they left off one person as a side sentry. When Ted returned, I told him.

"Well, they aren't too stupid, just evil. We will have to be careful. It does tell us one thing which is that they don't have side sentries. A more quiet approach should work for the side teams. We didn't think about the motor noise enough."

"What about wheels?"

"Let's wait until we are ready to go and walk a few miles further away. They will be alert for engine sounds so we will have to be careful even more than before."

"Base, this is Jack." I said over the radio.

"Go ahead, Jack. This is Janice at base."

"No noises. Ted and I decided that they heard our engine. They found and shot our Mustang. We must be silent. Keep your hillside watch until late. Watch out for lights even in front. We will not be in tonight nor will Shirley and Mike. Understand?"

"I understand. I will respond to the net tonight. By the way, Jeff is on his way in. He has talked to Linda twice."

"Good. He's early."

"She is going to greet him. She has Robert and Anne over to be her high cover in case there is a problem."

"Does she expect one?"

"No, but she told me that you can't be too careful either. Lives are worth too much."

"Okay, works for me. Jack out."

About two hours later, Janice called me, "Linda just reported in on Jeff's arrival. All is well. She gave me the correct safe word."

"Good. I'm glad that went well. We are here for the night. Shirley is staying at her post tonight, also. I hate it but it's not worth the risk. We will work our way back next evening and get well back even to do that. Your night time spotters can give Shirley the word when everyone is asleep. Remind her to be very quiet as she leaves. Sound carries."

"I heard you, Jack, and I understand. We will be late but careful. Once we get back, let's get out of here."

"Depends upon what time it is. Our trucks are noisier than the cars. We'll see. First, we have to get back."

"Okay. Shirley out."

"Janice out."

Ted and I started back in the afternoon. We went beyond our shot Mustang and continued on for a long way. We came to the corner where Shirley and Mike would eventually pass. I called, "Shirl, this is Jack. We are at an intersection where you will pass and waiting. What's your situation?"

"Mike and I are at the house and ready to go. We have raised the garage door and are about to get in the car."

"Okay, wait one. Who's watching the back?"

"This is Janice. Bennie and I are watching the back."

"Okay, Shirley is about to crank up. Please watch for reactions."

"Okay, Jack. Shirley, go ahead. We are standing by."

"Cranking"

"Shirley, a couple of heads turned so take it easy."

"Okay, we are moving forward and closing the garage door."

"Shirley, Janice. Move out. They are alert."

"I understand."

"Shirl, Jack. Don't pick us up! Don't head for the base house. Head northeast and keep going to I-85. We will let you know what we hear."

"Okay, Jack. We're on the way. Get out yourselves."

Ted and I looked at each other. He said, "If they use those big SUV's, she can easily outdistance them. We could have a little fun if we can find a big truck!" We ran for the next street. There we found a dump truck. The keys were in it and it cranked. Ted said, "I've got this. Move down half a block toward them and let me know what's coming. I'll give them a surprise and we can shoot them up before they know what's happening."

"This is Janice. It looks like they are going to head out. They heard and still hear the Mustang. I can hear it, too. Go, Shirley, go!"

I was running down through yards. I saw lights as the SUV's pulled out. "Ted, here they come!"

"I'm ready. Count down the distance to the corner."

"Okay. They have just turned on the main road and are coming this way. They are moving fast. It's two SUV's"

"Good. I will try for the second one."

"Okay."

"They're three blocks out. Two blocks out." I unslung my rifle and released the safety. "One block. First car coming ... now." I saw a black mass come out of the side road and slam into the second SUV. It swung around and then flipped a couple of times. The lead SUV kept going as they hadn't seen what happened. I ran up there looking for someone to shoot. I watched the overturned SUV and saw one person start out. I shot him. No one else came out. I put a couple of bullets into it. Ted came out of the dump truck. "You okay?" I asked.

"Yes, but it was more bang that I had thought," he replied.

"Let's get ready for that lead SUV. They will figure out something happened any moment."

"Yeah, but we need to shoot up the other one first."

He went over with his pistol out. He looked in and shot four times. "The one you shot was dead. The others are, too, now." He said.

"Okay, get out of the street and about a hundred feet up on that side. I will take this side and we will have them in a crossfire." I said.

"Right." We ran into position. The other SUV had swung around and was coming toward us at a rapid rate.

"Tires!" I shouted. We shot out the front tires and the SUV came to a halt skidding toward the dump truck. When it stopped, men poured out and we fired. They had no cover and didn't expect an ambush with a kill zone. They didn't have a chance and we didn't give them one. We shot them all. Ted went over to make sure. I called in, "Shirl, hold up. The pursuit has stopped. Janice, is anything else happening?"

"Jack, Janice. They are milling around. No movement yet."

"Jack, Shirley. I'm coming back for you and Ted."

"No, Shirl. Go to the house and wait. We will pick up transport and meet you. Stay away from the main road."

"Okay, Jack. We'll talk later." That didn't bode well for later. I had other fish to fry.

Ted came over to me and said, "They're all dead, too. It sounds like your bride is not too happy with you." He chuckled. He was having much too much fun at my expense.

"Do we want to get away or try another ambush?"

"Let's get away. They will figure we're the only car, picked up another and wiped them. They won't want another shoot-out if they don't have to."

"Jack, this is Janice. Two things. They aren't going after you. Second, Cindy handled the net tonight and all went well."

"Okay, Janice. Good job. I think it's time you and Bennie got back to the house."

"Okay, Jack. We will leave in another minute. We want to make sure they are really going to stay put."

"Okay, be careful. Shirl, where are you?"

"Parking lights on. We're coming on the main road toward you."

"Ted, let's start walking toward them." He chuckled some more and we moved out.

We had made two blocks when we saw the Mustang. Shirley stopped it and jumped out and into my arms. She held me tightly. "You had me worried, Jack. I can't lose you." I comforted her. After a moment, we moved back to the car. Ted and Mike got in back. I drove us and took an easy, circuitous route back to our temporary headquarters. Shirley called in and told Janice what was happening. We all met back at our temporary house.

I said, "We will leave in the morning. Ted and I will be up the hill and will take the Mustang. The rest of you will take the trucks. Shirl, you drive my truck."

"Yes, Jack," was all she said.

We all went to bed for the night. In the morning, I had everyone police the place to remove any signs of our presence. Ted and I went to over-watch while the rest began to move out. They were as quiet as possible. A couple of people seemed to notice but made no effort to say anything to anyone. I had the keys to the Mustang. Shirley reported that they were all well away. Ted and I went down and cranked up and left. He spent most of his time looking behind us just as I watched the rear view mirror though neither of us saw anything.

We had an uneventful trip back to our home. Once there, we prepared to talk with my dad. I had Janice download and print out maps with plans for our attack. Shirley was not happy when I had her leading the backup group and sniping. However, she admitted that she knew where the house was located and could shoot as well as anyone.

Shirley, Janice, and I met with my dad and my mom and Uncle Jack. They liked my plans and went over with Shirley and I what we had found and our experiences while there. Finally, Jack said, "It's a good plan. We will need about a week to make it happen." Janice started to say something but he raised his hand. "I know that there is going to be more misery there until we stop it and some poor person may die. However, we know the people here. We can't lose any so we will do this right, finish it the first time, and minimize casualties. Janice, have you thought about Shirley or Jack being killed?"

"No," she looked distraught, "I just see those poor people and feel so sorry for them."

"I do, too. I don't think the Blasters would ever threaten us, so this is as much about saving those folk as it about terminating a threat. Now, the two assault teams will need full body armor which we can obtain from an army base. The backup group should have them, too. Vests at a minimum. The back group will be okay with vests in case they have to come down. The assault groups also need silenced pistols. This is supposed to be stealthy. Rifle shots aren't quiet."

Shirley said, "We can get some more sniper rifles, body armor, and vests from one of the bases. Where will we get silencers?"

When we returned home, Shirley and Janice went online to check out the army bases and national guard armories near us. I went outside and caught up on chores and checked out my generator water wheel. All was well and I cleaned up a few things.

Jeff came over for lunch at Linda's invitation and I got to meet him in person. He was younger than most of the hams we had met thus far being in his early thirties. He admitted that his dad had been a ham and given him the bug. He and Linda seemed to get along well. Perhaps, a romance was beginning there. I would ask Shirley later what she thought. Janice reported on their online findings at lunch. They had found a good base which, strongly suggested by the groups headquartered there, would have the items we needed. We would go there tomorrow.

Talking with Shirley later that night in bed verified my thinking. She said that Linda was interested, but cautious.

We went to the base the next day. Janice's research was spot on. We retrieved plenty of body armor, more sniper rifles, and even found some silencers for .45 pistols along with a number of the pistols. We also grabbed plenty of ammo for both the rifles and the pistols. We found some manuals for both which we took, also.

We gathered our groups together and prepared as best we could. Ted would lead from one side and I would take the other. Shirley had the backup group and Ben would be in charge of the back side snipers. Janice would go with Ben and coordinate communications just in case. Michael and Mike would be with Shirley. Everyone had earphones and throat mikes. We had worked out a series of signals for each part of the attack. We would go up tomorrow morning and attack that night to utilize the cover of dark. We thought about cutting the power but decided that there would be a warning in that. We did have a separate two man team who would cut the power on command. We had the goggles and they didn't so, if the alarm was raised, the power team could cut power on their own or at the request of a team leader. We were as ready as we could think to be.