Militia (10 page)

With only three hours to get some rest of his own Mike made his way to a nearby condo that Steve and Mark had gone to sleep in. Mike walked upstairs and found one bed unoccupied. He kicked off his boots and lied down on the soft mattress. He had forgotten how long it had been since he fell asleep on a real bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was out and dreaming of battles to come.

Chapter Thirteen

T
hree hours later
Steve came barging into Mike’s room to wake him. “C’mon o’ fearless leader, your men are ready for some more killin,” Steve bellowed.

“Fuck,” Mike said groggily, “what time is it?”

“It’s just past ten. The battalion is outside getting into their order of movement. I figured I’d give ya a couple extra minutes of shut eye since you were the last one to get to sleep.”

Mike sat up on the edge of his bed, grabbed a fresh pair of socks from his rucksack, and got his boots on. He took everything except a few pairs of socks, some t shirts, and three days worth of food from his ruck, and headed out the door.

“Tell second battalion to gather up all the Chinese weapons, ammo, and any useful equipment while we are gone. With any luck we will have some new recruits in a few days.”

“Tim already has them on it,” replied Steve. “Let’s just hope that we can find these camps in better shape than the last two.”

“Any word from the scouts yet?” Mike asked.

“Not yet, Mike, but Rick is probably taking his time getting recruits and giving them medical attention. I wouldn’t worry about the kid. He knows what he is doing and I’m sure he will be here when we get back.”

When Mike walked outside he could see his entire battalion ready to move out. As tired as they all were these soldiers wanted nothing more than to get to the next camp and free more of their fellow Americans. With their recent victory still fresh in them, Mike could see that their spirits were high, and as he walked towards the street the men began to applaud. Hearing his men clap and cheer for him to lead them onto yet another mission Mike felt a surging sense of pride. Mike waved to his militia and walked to the front of their lines to lead the march.

As they moved out toward the camp Mike could have never told by their pace that any of them were tired from the battle. If anything the knowledge of a major American city being back in the hands of its rightful owners only seemed to awaken their spirits. These men now knew what it was like to win a huge victory for their country, something that Mike had never felt while fighting in Afghanistan. This was different. They were fighting for each other and for their country where Mike was just following the orders of a corrupt government in a foreign nation. This war reminded Mike of the American Revolution. This was a group of friends and neighbors that fought for real freedom just as their forefathers had done so many years ago.

Only a few hours into the march they ran into Rick with his scouts and what looked like a hundred or so newly freed prisoners. They appeared to be in better shape than the people at the last camps but still seemed badly malnourished.

“Rick,” Mike called, “how did it go?”

“It wasn’t as bad as the last ones if that’s what you mean. We recruited about a hundred and twenty men, most of them former soldiers. They said the Chinese were rotating them around the three camps but stopped about six months ago. A lot of their families are still in the other two camps. The Chinese keep the strongest and healthiest in the camp you are heading to. I guess those are the ones who are supposed to help the initial settlers from China get set up when they start moving into the region. There were about two thousand people in the camp, some of my scouts are still busy helping the rest of them eat and get ready to move north. Did my guys from the north camp get in yet?”

“Sounds good, Rick. Good job getting us some more troops. When we left the city your guys hadn’t made it back yet but I’m sure they will be there soon. When you get there link these recruits up with Tim, and then find a bed to sleep in.”

Rick nodded and turned to catch up to the front of his element. Mike did the same, running to catch up with his lead platoon. When he got to the front Steve was turned around waiting for him.

“So how did my boy do, Mike?” Steve asked.

“Well you were right, Steve, the kid is good. They got over a hundred new soldiers and said the strongest people are at the camp we are heading to. They are supposed to be the worker bees for the Chinese civilians when they get to Seattle. Can you imagine that? These assholes were going to make our people their slaves. I wonder how long it will take before they realize Seattle is no longer waiting to be settled.”

“Fuck em. I hope they send some civilians over and whoever decides to stay in the city from these camps can treat them accordingly,” remarked Steve. Mike couldn’t have agreed more.

As the day turned to night before their very eyes, not a single man slowed or even wanted to stop. It took every ounce of will that Mike had to stop their movement for the night and let them rest. As tired as he was, like his men Mike wanted to keep moving. That night all he could dream of was getting to the camp. Nothing else could enter his mind whether he was awake or dreaming until they had freed the large prison camp. With every minute he knew more people were suffering and dying waiting for rescuers they didn’t even know were on their way.

Before dawn the militia was back up and moving. Again the pace was fast and the spirits were high. Mike was relieved to think that even if it was for a horrible reason the people in this camp should be in better health and be able to move faster than the others. It was a long walk to the camp and it would be and even longer walk back with who knows how many more people. Mike didn’t kid himself into believing that they were going to find a camp full of healthy people. He knew they would still be starving and dying just not as bad as the others. One thing was for sure though; Mike would need as many recruits as he could get before turning south and heading for Los Angeles.

With each day first battalion moved fast and hard without a single soldier complaining about the brisk pace. Before they knew it they had reached the beginnings of Olympic National Park and were forced to abandon the roads for mountainous terrain. The ten miles they had to move through the mountains felt like fifty on their tired legs but they pushed on as hard as they could. By nightfall they were within view of the camp. It was at least as large as Rick’s scouts had described. It appeared to be ten times the size of the other camps.

Mike spent the next hour getting his best shooters in place to take out the tower guards while he got half of his battalion get into position to assault the guard’s barracks just outside the camp’s gate and the other half ready to storm into the camp itself. At eleven thirty Mike heard the shots taken on the towers and ordered the charge. Machine gunners ran up fast and set up at an angle to the barracks front entrance. The rest of the men angled onto the gate and directly towards the barracks. As Mike led the approach on the barracks, the waking guards ran out to see what was happening and the gun teams opened fire. Mike pointed his rifle at the door and started shooting into the barracks while listening to the screams of those inside. When the assault element was only fifty feet from the barracks the gunners moved their aim and shot the far wall to take out as many still inside as possible.

Mike was the first man to reach the open door of the large barracks. He put his back to the outside wall and took a quick look inside. Just as he got a view of the wide open room a bullet whizzed past his head. Mike grabbed a grenade off of his belt and held it out so that the men behind him could see it. Taking a step away from the wall Mike pulled the pins, reached his right arm away from the building and with a quick sideways swing of his arm lobbed the grenade up and into the middle of the room. As soon as the grenade left his hand he could hear the enemy scramble for cover inside and seconds later came the deafening explosion.

With a group of soldier pressed tightly to his back Mike rocked back to let them know it was time to go in. They rocked him forward and he entered the room moving away from the door and shooting anyone he could see whether alive or dead. With a group now inside with him scanning for moving targets, they moved slowly and carefully from one end to the other, making easy work of the few living Chinese who were deaf from the grenade blast and trying to hide under bunk beds or behind lockers. When they reached the far end Mike called the room clear and ordered his men to search everything and every dead body in the room.

While the barracks was being searched Mike ran through the camps only gate and joined the rest of his battalion in the fight. Once inside Mike soon realized that this camp was the size of a small town and housed thousands of prisoners. Only a few guards remained inside the wall, the grateful prisoners began running out of their crammed housing areas and assaulting their captors with punches and kicks before the militia could get to them. Mike stepped back and watched these newly freed men take bloody revenge on the Chinese guards who had oppressed them. He supposed they deserved to be the ones to kill the remaining guards, and didn’t blame them one bit for not showing mercy.

Mike yelled to his men to let the camps prisoners do what they wanted to the enemy and begin looking for food, water, and medical supplies to hand out. Soon the soldiers who had searched the barracks began coming into the camp with armfuls of weapons and supplies, making a pile in the middle of the camp as they had done in the others. The militia worked through the night, taking turns sleeping on the ground, while the soldiers that were awake began feeding and giving medical attention to the prisoners.

As day break approached Tom found Mike sleeping on the ground and woke him. “Hey, Mike, these people are waiting to hear from the man who freed them. You made all of this possible so you should be the one to address them.”

Mike got himself up off of the ground and looked around to see thousands of eyes watching him with curiosity. As he had done in the past Mike found a tall building and climbed to the roof. The crowd following him remained silent.

“My name is Mike Hoffman and I am the leader of the New American Army.” Mike felt that with their important victory it was time to graduate from a militia to a full army. “We have just defeated the Chinese in Seattle marking our first major victory in America’s second Revolutionary War. My scouts have freed the other two camps and your loved ones have been taken to our base camp in the city. The men you see here represent only half of our forces we will need many more people in order to build an army that can take back this great nation. Any of you wishing to join with us and take the fight south into California are welcome to join and will be armed and trained. The rest of you may come with us to Seattle where we will give you weapons and allow you to start your new lives in a free city. I know we have all seen hardships even before the takeover but I assure you that this country is worth saving. We will be able to build a government that follows the patriotism laid forth in our constitution. Our new nation will be truly free and its government will be in place to aid and defend its citizens not to oppress them. If you would like to join with us I will have my men ready to take down your information and arm you with what equipment we can.”

The thousands of free Americans cheered as Mike climbed off of the building and ordered a group of soldiers to begin the recruiting efforts. He was amazed by how quickly many thousands of them lined up to join. Mike knew that he needed as many of them as possible and by the looks of things he would have his much-larger numbers by the end of the day.

Chapter Fourteen

T
he men lined
up in droves to be recruited. With such long lines and so many volunteers it would take hours to finish the recruiting process. While they were obviously malnourished these people were in much better shape and spirits than any from the previous camps. Mike felt that if the Chinese had kept one large camp somewhat healthy in order to use the people in their efforts to move Chinese citizens into their new homes, there was hope in finding at least one of these camps near every major city.

Mike searched the camp looking for Steve as he had not seen his old friend since the assault had begun. “Mark where is that giant son of yours?”Mike called to Mark Gilson.

“The last time I saw him he was taking a handful of Chinese prisoners out of the camp. I didn’t know that we were taking any prisoners but if I had known I would have had my guys round some up before the camp natives stomped em all to death.”

“Prisoners? Who in the fuck said anything about prisoners? How long ago did he leave with them?”

“Must have been about an hour ago Mike. Don’t know what in the hell that boy is doing if you didn’t order it but let’s go find out. Do you want me to grab some of my men to come with us?”

“No. I’m not sure what Steve is up to but I’m also not sure letting anyone besides the two of us find out is such a good idea.”

Mike and Mark walked to the gate and casually stepped out of the camp unnoticed by the rest of the busy militia. It didn’t take long to find Steve who had set up only a hundred feet or so from the front of the camp. What they saw when they found him left the two of them both speechless. Steve had tied ten Chinese guards to trees and had them facing each other. Each guard had a gag tied to their mouths and fear in their eyes.

“Alright motherfuckers,” Steve began, “we are going to play a game together. I am going to walk around, patting each of you on the head calling you yellow bastard’s ducks until I find a goose. I wonder if any of you know what I’m going to do to my goose?”

Steve’s father stood next to Mike, both of them confused and in shock while Steve ignored them and started his game of duck, duck, goose. Steve walked around the circle of gagged uniformed guards, patting them on the head until finally grabbing one by the throat and yelling goose! With his giant hand holding the goose tightly by the neck, Steve reached up his sidearm, put it to the forehead of his victim and pulled the trigger leaving a mess of brain matter all over the tree and splashing his own face with blood.

“Steve what in the fuck are you doing?” Mike finally yelled. “Put the gun down Steve this isn’t how we are.”

Steve stared back at him with a glare in his eyes that Mike had never seen before and started walking around calling out “duck, duck, duck, duck…wait GOOSE.” Again Steve grabbed the man’s throat and again put a bullet right through his victim’s forehead.

Mike could hear the rest of the guards scream in terror through their t-shirt gags as another of their friends went limp against the tree he was tied to, his body sliding just enough through the ropes that his brains could be seen by the rest of them on the tree. “Steve I’m giving you a fucking order to stop!” Mike cried.

“Shit Mike I’m just trying to have a little fun with these assholes. I mean we are going to kill all of them anyway so we might as well make it interesting.”

“Son this is not who we are.” Mark started. “We are not like our enemy and we cannot lose sight of that fact or we will never be better than them. Now put down the gun and Mike and I will finish this humanely.”

“Humanely?” Steve asked. “Have you seen anything humane from them? I say treat em like shit and leave them in fear of us. It’s not like you two didn’t enjoy watching the slaughter we had in Seattle.”

“Steve what was done in Seattle was done because it had to be, and yes I myself enjoyed it but we didn’t purposely cause suffering.” Mike said. “This isn’t war, this is no different that some asshole torturing small animals for fun.”

“Well I am having fun guys and if you will leave me to it I can finish up and be back in the camp to help out in a few minutes.”

Steve raised his gun out to his side and without even looking at the terrified eyes of his next target shot another guard in the head.

“That’s enough,” Mark yelled. “Give me that fucking gun NOW!”

Steve looked at his father, grabbed the top of his sidearm, and handed it to him. It was obvious to Mike that this was not the same Steve he had grown up with. Steve liked to get violent on occasion but was never cruel like this. He watched as his old friend walked past him without so much as a glance or a word and headed back towards the gate. Mark yelled to the guards to close their eyes, not really caring if they understood him or not, as he and mike finished them off as quickly as possible.

“Have you ever seen this side of him?” Mike asked the senior Gilson.

“No Mike, to be honest if you had asked me just before we came out here if my boy was capable of this I would have taken offence to it. I don’t know what is going on but we better get to the bottom of this shit before he does anything else like this.”

“I’ll bunk up with him and talk to him when we get back to Seattle,” Mike said. “For now let’s just focus on getting these people through the trip back to the city and give him some time to calm down.”

When the two leaders had cleaned up after Steve’s mess and put an end to the sick and twisted game they headed back into the large camp together. When they finally managed to find Steve he was working with his men to help in the long process of recording information from the thousands of people wanting to join their army. He seemed to Mike to be the same guy that he had been when the militia was first formed but Mike knew now that there was something different about his friend.

“Hey Mike, we have a whole lot of work ahead of us to get all these people armed and trained up!” Steve said as if he didn’t even remember what had just taken place only an hour prior.

“Yeah Steve we have a real army now. We are going to need all the help we can find to fight the Chinese from here on out. I’m pretty sure they are going to notice that we are here and are a hell of a lot more than just a distraction when they figure out that they just lost a major city.”

Mike did his best to play along as the last thing he wanted were any of his men much less the new soldiers realizing there was a problem with one of his best leaders.

“So Mike how long do you think it will be until these newbies are ready to fight?”

“I don’t know man, it’s going to take at least a week to get them all back to Seattle and from there it will take months before they are healthy, trained, and ready for the battles we have ahead of us.”

Steve smiled and gave a thumb up as Mike turned and went to check on the rest of the camp. He was even more weirded out by how easily Steve seemed to put his little game in the past. If they were giving out military awards for acting Steve would be sure to get a few. Mike wanted badly to confront his friend and make sure that was actually him and not some evil twin that even his own father didn’t know about in those woods. It would just have to wait until they got back to Seattle and Mike could have a talk with him in private. For now he just wanted to get back on the march and get back to the city.

Portland was next on Mike’s agenda. While he didn’t think there would be the enormous enemy presence that he expected to find in Los Angeles, Mike figured there would be at least the same number as they had just fought in Seattle. Another obstacle that Mike foresaw was the length of time it would take for the Chinese forces to begin viewing his new army as a serious threat. With Seattle firmly in American hands it would not be long before the enemy started to prepare for them. The key, in Mike’s mind, was to get to the nearest cities as fast as possible, defeat the enemy before the Chinese had adequate time to reinforce their troops, and recruit heavily from the liberated camps. The only problem was that the new recruits would need time to mend.

Even if Los Angeles did not already have a large number of Chinese soldiers the city of angels most certainly would by the time Mike and his army was able to reach it. They would need as many soldiers as they could get and Mike would need his scouts to work harder than ever to map out the city without being seen. Rick was a great leader and with all of these new soldiers Mike wanted badly to promote him due to his proven leadership potential but knew that the success of his all important scouts to take on such a dangerous mission hinged on that very same leadership that made him so promotable. Rick would have to stay with the scouts at least until after LA.

As the lines of recruits began to thin so did the immense pile of weapons that had been confiscated from the camps guards. Each new recruit would come to the recruiting table, give their name and any helpful information, and then was directed straight to another group of Mike’s men to be given the proper equipment and at least one weapon. From a distance it appeared to be a soldier making assembly line. The organization of this process helped to speed the recruiting efforts dramatically. Once each man was properly armed and equipped they were told to eat and rest so that they would be as ready as possible to make the long journey back to Seattle.

By the next morning they were ready to move out. Movement through the mountains was difficult at best. Many of the new soldiers did not know yet how to move tactically in this environment and tired quickly due to malnourishment. Every hour Mike would stop the movement and allow for some rest. Each time they stopped Mike watched his soldiers make the most of the down time by starting to gather groups of new recruits and go over makeshift classes. The most well trained men from the original Middle Militia did most of the teaching, going over everything from basic marksmanship to building entry. Mike saw his now hardened veterans embracing the new soldiers as if they had been a part of their family all along. This was a family, an American family that regardless of their different backgrounds, races, and religious beliefs were brothers with the same dream of living once again in a free nation. Mike could now see the beginnings of a nation where all its citizens were truly equal, a nation where no amount of money, level of education, or a person’s ancestry would ever cause them to be looked down upon. As long as there was still American blood running free through the vanes of this beautiful country freedom would survive.

It took twice as long to get from the camp to paved roads as it had taken to move from the roads to the camps but Mike was relieved when they finally arrived on a flat surface. On the roads the veteran soldiers formed a line on each side of the road and spread out at an even distance just as Mike had taught them to do. The new soldiers were placed in the middle of the road where they would be in less danger in case of an ambush. Movement sped up considerably on the roads but Mike still stopped every hour and at every stop more classes were taught to his recruits.

The entire march Mike watched Steve closely. Still there were no signs of the violent psychopath who had recently played a deadly game of duck duck goose that made forced Russian roulette seem sane. Steve was still the same as he had always been, at least on the outside. There was no doubt in Mikes mind that his friend was hiding some dangerous issues.

When the long journey was over and the army arrived back in the Seattle peninsula with over five thousand new soldiers, second battalion was standing ready to accommodate the large numbers. The soldiers of second battalion had stations set up with food, clothing, and even more equipment and immediately took to the needs of the freed prisoners. As the new soldiers completed yet another assembly line they were escorted in groups to houses to make their homes and get rest. Both of Rick’s scout elements had returned without any incidents and each with over a hundred recruits that were already being trained and organized.