Jernigan's War (18 page)

He fired up and headed south to where some other cousins lived. He found their home burned to the ground and no sign of anyone. He drove down to the family cemetery, there were no new graves. All that remained were memories, so he turned back north and headed toward Jonesville. He didn’t try to cross the bridge into Jonesville but first ran down the levee to try and get a look at the other side of the bridge. As expected there was a manned barricade. He watched through his binoculars and observed the activity for several hours. He ate an MRE while he waited.

Apparently it was shift change at the barricade. Through his binoculars he recognized the man arriving as the sergeant from the hospital in New Orleans. He fired up the four-wheeler and headed on in. The Sarge was surprised, “I never expected to see you again in this life, how’s Maggie and Doc?”

Dix could hardly get the words out. He whispered, “They’re dead along with the rest of my family.”

“I am so sorry, Dix. Thanks to you, I got to my family and with my brother we made it home. My family is secure on Dad’s ranch. A group of us reformed some military units based at Fort Polk near Alexandria, LA. Some of our officers have set up a provisional government based on the original constitution. We had to battle some of our own troops commanded by some of the President’s loyal officers. They folded pretty fast.”

It seemed that the only time the communists prevailed was when they had an overwhelming advantage. They didn’t have the desire to fight to the death, as those on the American side did. The communists were holding the major cities but the countryside was still open. The Chinese were entrenched at the ports of New Orleans, Houston, and on the West Coast. The Sarge told Dix, “They were delayed in New Orleans by a ship that sunk in the channel.”

Dix grinned, “I sunk the ship.”

“How in world did you sink it?”

Dix told him about the electric drill, five gallons of gas and some armor piercing bullets. He also told the Sarge about the tug boat on the sandbar north of Natchez in the river.

“Do you have any high explosives? We can probably bring down a bridge or sink the tug in the channel or both and slow them up to give us a chance to kill more. If we can get if off the sandbar, I believe two men and I could run it. I’m sure we could blow a hole in the bottom and sink it in the river or use it to ram a ship or we could pack it full of explosives and take down a bridge. If we could round up enough barges, we could sink them under the bridges and block the river to navigation.” “I’ll run it back up the line Dix, what are you going to be doing?” “I want to make a run up the road to see my parents.” Concerned the Sarge asked, “Do you think they are ok?” “I’m traveling up to the old cemetery in the country.” The Sarge understood, “Be careful, but I don’t have to tell you that.”

The Sergeant gave Dix a pass to use at the checkpoint on the other side of town. He headed north up the highway and turned down a road that went west out into the country. Here again there were scattered signs of people gardening and trying to go about their business. Everyone was armed, Dix was certain there were still bad guys running loose; but, their numbers had thinned out considerably by now. He finally wormed his way around the country until he came to the cemetery. It was somewhat neglected and could have used a good grooming. There were no fresh flowers and all of the solar lights were gone or dead. He spent about an hour sitting on the family headstone and finally broke down and collapsed. He was utterly alone, his sister and her children were all that was left; there was no one else. He had failed to save anyone but himself. He felt himself to be a complete and total failure.

If he went to his sister’s, he would be a drain on their resources as soon as the supplies he could carry ran out. Once again he had two choices, he could hole up somewhere and try to hunt and fish like old man Beagle Boyer or he could join the war. He still found himself consumed with taking down the people who had destroyed his life and family. He couldn’t help it; it was what drove him. He gathered himself and headed back to town. On the way he ran by his grandfather’s old farm house. The old house was still there just as it always had been. The big pine that his uncle had planted 60 years ago was still standing over the house. The barns were gone but the pecan trees planted by his grandfather were still standing.

When he got back to town he found Sarge and told him, “I’m going to continue the fight.”

“I figured you would, some guy cleaned out Ferriday a couple of days ago; so see, there are those like you out there.”

Dix pointed to the four-wheeler, “See that old Springfield, that’s what I used to clean out Ferriday.”

Sarge shook his head, “I should have known, head down to the motel, we’ve commandeered it for housing, we’ve got a natural gas generator to run the hotel and our command post. We’ve got water pressure and lights, not much else.”

Dix shook his head negatively, “I would feel trapped in the hotel or a house. I’ve been living out so long that I don’t know if I could stand being hemmed up inside. I’m going to travel back to my Uncle’s house and camp there. I’ll come back in the morning and decide where I’ll take a stand.”

Back at his Uncle’s house he found fresh sheets and drug a mattress into the front room. The propane tank still had gas so he turned on the space heater and warmed up the room. He barricaded the doors and settled in for the night. He ate dinner on the bar in the kitchen. He found some of his Uncle’s old paperback books and selected several of the Louis Lamoure westerns to put in his pack. The early evening was uneventful. He finished off the last pone of corn bread and went to bed. He fell asleep and as usual his nightmares returned. This night he was hiding from the mayor and his men, he woke and thought he heard something. Dix turned off the gas logs that were warming the room. The gas logs cast a small amount of light across the room which would enable anyone peering in to see him in the twilight. His four-wheeler and trailer were backed under the carport out of sight, but anyone seeing him come in would covet his supplies.

Dix slipped out a back window of the house. A bright moonlit night enabled him to see. He quietly eased out behind the pump house and spotted two men working on stealing the four-wheeler and trailer. Once he was down on his belly behind the pump house slab, he called out, “If you leave now I won’t kill you.” They answered with a shotgun blast into the night towards the sound of his voice. Dix instantly spotted the muzzle flash and opened up. He killed one and wounded the other with Jake’s AR15. He ran around the back of the house and came at
them from the opposite direction. He had no way of knowing he had killed one, but he could tell from the breathing that the other one was hit in the lung. He watched and listened in the dim light as the raspy breathing increased and the man rolled over and was soon quiet. He waited another 30 minutes before moving to make sure that they didn’t have any help coming or waiting. He flipped on his green cap light and found what he expected. Two unkempt men lay dead, one had a shotgun he recognized it as his Uncle’s. He relieved them of their guns and ammo. He reloaded his AR15 with a fresh magazine and topped off the one he used. He then used the four-wheeler to drag them up to the head of the driveway so everyone would know what would happen if they tried to do the same thing. The rest of the night was quiet.

The overwhelming sadness returned and the firm resolve grew clearer when he woke. He topped off the fuel tank of the four-wheeler and headed to town. The bodies were still lying where he left them. When he arrived he found the Sergeant at their command post. Sarge told him, “Captain Miller wants to see you.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s our new commander, the old commander’s in the brig.”

Dix was curious, “What happened to the old commander?”

Sarge explained, “The idiot decided to start confiscating guns to make the town safer, our new government is reinstalling the original constitution, he violated the 2nd amendment, so now he is under arrest. He’ll be court marshaled, and executed if convicted.”

Dix nodded in agreement, “I can’t wait to meet the new guy.”

Sarge led him to the motel restaurant where they had set up a command post. Captain Miller looked like a kid with a three day beard. To Dix they all looked like teenagers. Captain Miller looked up, “Are you Dix Jernigan?” Dix nodded yes, and the
Captain stood up, “I want to shake your hand. I’ve heard what you’ve been doing.”

“I’ve mostly been trying to keep from getting killed and getting even, I haven’t done anything to earn praise. All I have been doing is making people pay for what they’ve done to me and mine.”

Captain Miller nodded, “I’m not concerned with your motives; I’m prepared to offer you a battle field commission if you want to enlist.”

Dix chuckled, “I’m too old to enlist, I just want to keep killing bad guys. I would just hinder or hold back a bunch of young guys. I can operate at my own speed and time and be pretty effective. I couldn’t even pretend to keep up with you youngsters.”

Captain Miller replied, “If you enlist, I’ll put a half a dozen men under your command, and you’ll conduct a Gorilla action against the Communist Americans and against the Chinese. Our forces have secured a satellite control facility and have diverted satellite control to our headquarters at Fort Polk. A communications man will be part of your team. I can also redirect equipment and troops when available, just don’t count on much any time soon, we’re doing good just to eat. Constitution troops are still purging their ranks and securing facilities.”

“Did Sarge tell you about the tug on the sandbar?”

The Captain nodded, “Do you think you can get it down stream, Dix?”

“If I can get it off the sand bar I can get it down stream, I just don’t have a lot of room on my boat for six men and myself. I can take three. What I need are three men who grew up on a farm or around a mechanics shop.”

Sarge, who had been silent up until now, spoke up, “Dawson, Jacobs and myself grew up ranching and farming, I’ve seen the way Mr. Dix operates, I’m sure they’ll volunteer.”

Captain Miller asked, “Captain Jernigan, what do you say?” Dix shook his head, “I’m not going to join, I’ll act as a civilian contractor without pay, and I may need supplies from time to time, but other than that I just want to get even with those bastards.”

Captain Miller agreed, “Fair enough, I am putting Sergeant Taylor, and Privates Dawson and Jacobs at your disposal, what do you need?”

Dix thought for a minute, “I need 50 gallons of gasoline in five gallon cans, other than that I need the three men outfitted with rifles, ammo and gear. I’ve got enough food for the mission.”

“Done, when can you start?”

“We can start as soon as you guys get your gear together.” Meet me at the first checkpoint in Ferriday. I’m dropping some equipment off to my friend, Butch, and his friends.”

Dix topped off the gas in his four-wheeler with his last can of gas. He loaded up and headed back to Ferriday. He found Butch and some of the guys at the checkpoint. Dix asked, “Any problems while I was gone?”

Butch shrugged, “All’s quiet now, we finished rounding up the rest of the Mayor’s people and all his elected officials. We tried them yesterday and are going to execute them this afternoon.”

Dix pointed to his four-wheeler, “I’ve got five AK47’s on the trailer and about 2500 rounds of ammo in magazines for you guys; don’t waste your ammo.” Butch and his guys eagerly accepted the gift.

Dix told them, “You need to run over to Jonesville and see Captain Miller and tell him you guys are forming up over here, so you can coordinate your efforts. They’re part of the new Constitution Army. Also, there is an old man over on the river named Beagle Boyer, keep an eye on him for me, if you can.”

Butch nodded, “I remember the old man; we get catfish from him when we can.”

About that time Sarge and his men came driving up in a Humvee. They followed Dix over to the boat launch and unloaded their gear. The man driving waved, left the three men and their gear, and headed back in the Humvee.

Dix found old man Beagle paddling back to camp. He called out, “They haven’t got you yet?”

The old man grinned back, “They haven’t outsmarted me yet.”

Dix said, “I want you to unload most of my canned goods, I’m taking these guys on a trip and we won’t be taking time to cook. It looks like the river is rising.”

“Yep, it’s been easing up a little every day; snow must be melting up north.”

“I need you to do me a favor, Beagle. I need you to watch Ben and Frank for a while. They might get hurt on this trip.”

They unloaded all the food from the catamaran and left enough MRE’s to feed them for a week.

Dix called the old man over, “I’ve got something for you.” Dix handed him the 6
^th
AK47 and ten full magazines for it.

“Thanks, I’ll take good care of Ben and Frank until you get back.”

“I’m leaving the four-wheeler and a can of gas, it’s about half full of gas now. That should get you and the boys away in case you have to make a run for it. If you go to Ferriday ask for Butch Erwin and tell him I sent you, he’ll help you out if you need it.”

“I remember Butch. He’s been over here a time or two.” “Do you have time for some fried catfish, I just caught a mess.”

“You bet, there’s always time for a mess of fish.” Dix knew that this may be the last time he or the troops would have a hot meal or any meal for that matter.

CHAPTER 18