Chapter 31: Die Monster

"What do you think Joe?" Jonas asked quietly in his mind. The sun was nearly touching the top of the trees in the distance.

"I think you have put together an excellent plan," Joe replied. "I think it was especially smart of you to warn everyone what to expect. I know that many of the men with you don't believe the demon description but at least they won't be completely surprised when Carlos Cruz shows up."

Earlier in the afternoon, Joe told Jonas about another innocent being killed by Carlos. He also let Jonas see the images the girl had died with when her consciousness returned to his garden. The shape was of a man but the grey scales and elongated head denied his humanity. The malevolence that burned from the red, slits of eyes denied any trace of human sanity. Jonas accepted the disbelief from the men when he described what Joe showed him.

"You don't have to believe it now," Jonas said. "But, that is what you will be facing when they attack. You will believe when you see it and must be ready to accept it. I don't want you frozen in terror. I don't want you to die because you can't accept what you see."

The police, under command of Clevis, had identified the park where the Cartel was massing for the attack. Various small planes and helicopters were used throughout the afternoon to keep tabs on the numbers that would attack the ranch. They had briefly considered attacking first at the park but discarded the idea for two reasons. First, there were too many homes around the park. There was too much chance of collateral damage. Second, it would be too hard to contain the Cartel soldiers at the park and many would escape. The ranch was isolated enough to eliminate any collateral damage and if they could get them into the silo there was no way for them to escape.

Jonas had stationed three men in the house and two in the barn with him, Brian and Anna. The rest of the men were hidden in fox holes behind where the cartel would park their cars. A backhoe made quick work of digging large comfortable holes for the fifteen men. They drove nails through plywood sheets and settled sod on the spikes to hold it in place. The men got in the holes and lowered the plywood on top of the holes by noon so anyone watching the farm would be unaware of the trap. The men had water, food, and a lot of ammunition with them. Seven claymores mines, convex plastic cases with half a pound of C-4 explosive and 680 steel balls facing forward, were set against concrete blocks lining the front of the barn. Jonas repeatedly asked every person what their job was when the battle started. The men in the holes would key on the claymore explosion. They would wait three minutes after the explosion to rise up and start firing. That would give the Cartel men time to get back up and attack again. The explosion was also the signal for SWAT to respond.

"Why is he waiting to attack after dusk?" Jonas asked.

A puff of a breeze across the open space between the house and the barn seemed to indicate a snort of laughter from Joe. "The Adversary has always believed that he is stronger in the dark. He isn't stronger then nor am I weaker then. The only advantage the Adversary has in the dark is the lack of reflections that he can see himself in. His reflection always seems to stop him for a period of time. I don't know if it is the Adversary's pride or the Red Agent's horror at what he has become."

"Really?" Jonas blurted aloud as he wondered in amazement at such a weakness. He glanced at the sun again as an idea began taking shape in his mind. It was nearly touching the tops of the trees. He grabbed a radio and called Benny.

"Hey Benny." Jonas called on the radio. "Go through the house and get every mirror you can find. I don't care if it's attached to the wall or on a door. We need every intact mirror we can find. That demon that I told you about isn't stopped by mirrors but they might slow it down a little. That could be the edge we need to beat him. Keep the biggest one in the house in case he comes in there but bring the rest of them to the silo. Hurry because we probably have about forty five minutes before they attack."

"Yes sir," Benny replied.

Sounds could be heard from the house as doors crashed and metal screamed in protest. Medicine cabinet doors were ripped off. Closet doors were removed with mirrors still on the backs intact. Decorative mirrors were removed from the living room and dining room. Even the door to the oven was broken off the stove because the surface was reflective. Benny was one of the men that believed the description of the demon and he wanted every edge he could get. Dusk was settling over the land when the men delivered the mirrors to the barn. Jonas quickly arranged them in the missile silo at the first ambush point. He thought it might be effective the first time but didn't know if they would be after that. Jonas knew that Carlos would be faster and stronger than any of them could prepare for. If they could stop or even slow him at an opportune time then they would have a chance to beat him. Bullets would still kill the monster. Knives could still cut him. Carlos could be destroyed but it would be very difficult.

"Be ready everyone," Jonas said over the radio. The light had faded to that nebulous point that a white thread could no longer be distinguished from a black thread. "They should be coming within the next 30 minutes."

The call over the radio could be heard by his men and the police. Clevis had staged the SWAT teams about a half a mile from the entrance to the ranch. There were three teams on this 'training' exercise. The cities fourth team was on standby for any other emergencies in the city that occurred during battle. They just happened to be maintaining their standby status near the home of Tony Rizzo. They all knew the main battle would be at the ranch but they didn't know if Carlos had sent a team against the Rizzo home as a diversion.

As if the call from Jonas was the cue, an explosion destroyed the gates leading to the Rizzo mansion. They later learned that it was an RPG, a rocket propelled grenade that hit the gates. No one was injured because the men had been warned to expect something like that as an opening attack. Ten men charged the open gates with automatic weapons. One man checked the gate house as they rushed past and reported it to be empty. The withering return fire from bunkers higher on the hill slowed the men as they rushed through the gate and took up positions. They had no intention of attacking the house. All they needed to do was make it look like the real attack for about 30 minutes before fading back through the gates and make their escape. Eight of them reached their positions to return fire towards the bunkers. Then they started receiving automatic fire from the gate house. The men inside had hidden in a small shelter that protected them from the blast. Moments later the cities fourth SWAT team blocked the gate with their armored panel truck. The entire engagement was complete within fifteen minutes after the explosion that started it. Only two of the cartel soldiers were left alive.

The radio crackled in Jonas's hand immediately after the RPG destroyed the gates to the Rizzo compound. "Jonas, they're moving. They just left the park and are heading for the ranch," the voice of Detective Jordan warned.

SUV's, cars and trucks roared through the entrance to the ranch within five minutes of the RPG attack on Tony's home in the city. Men with automatic weapons were standing in open moon roofs and sprayed the buildings with automatic rifle fire. Other men in the back of pickups were adding their own hail of bullets and two fired RPG rounds at the ranch house. Sporadic fire was returned from the ranch house and the barn. A group of ten cartel soldiers were directed towards the house and they charged through a hole in a wall that was opened by the RPGs. All lights had been extinguished so the flames licking up the side of the hole was clearly visible. The body flying back through the hole from the barrage of gunfire was also clearly visible. Carlos called over the loud speaker from his SUV to send five more soldiers then ignored the action at the house. He was sure he knew where the real targets were hiding. At his booming instructions from the loud speaker, all the rest of the cartel soldiers opened fire on the barn. More booming instructions started them moving forward in a ragged line as the attack on the barn began.

Jonas was sure that Carlos would send his men into the attack first. He knew that the Red Agent had no qualms about spending his men's lives to reach his goals. The only way that Carlos could be drawn into direct action against the barn was to kill as many men as possible as quickly as possible. A spotter at the end of the line of fox holes signaled the barn when the cartel soldiers were halfway to the barn and had no cover.

The explosion of the seven claymores going off at the same time shook the buildings and knocked men to their knees in the SWAT teams that were waiting a half mile away. 4760 steel balls ripped through the cartel force shredding flesh and bone and sending blood and body parts flying in all directions. The blast from the C-4 alone would have knocked them down with stunning force but the steel pellets killed and wounded every man in the open. The cars were riddled and one even exploded. Carlos started this attack with 127 fighters and in one explosive flash he had lost over three quarters of his soldiers. Carlos roared in rage. He screamed over the loud speaker for the rest of his men to attack the barn. When he saw the hesitancy of their advance, Carlos stepped out of the SUV.