Nuclear War Club: Seven high school students are in detention when Nuclear War explodes.Game on, they are on their own. (29 page)

Karen returned his smile, and handed him a cup of coffee. He carefully wiped the dew off the truck hood twice, tested it with his finger, then spread out two maps. The first map was a Visual Flight Rules airplane map that showed power line easements, and telephone pole paths. The second was a road atlas with California and Nevada paper clipped.

“Doron has mapped the best route. We will cut away from the power lines later today, because they lead to Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas and Hoover Dam, which are all Stage 3 hot,” David said, as he pointed.

“We have three bladders full of water in the truck, or about a four day supply with no showers. But we are going through hard core desert. We will need to refill as soon as possible. With this new railroad truck we can haul more water if we can find containers, keep your eyes open for anything we can use,” David continued.

“We are ready to roll,” Karen said.

“Remember, the truck will be armed, all three circuits,” Doron warned, as soon as we leave.

“Armed,” Karen repeated.

“Armed,” said everyone.

Doron had invented a concealed, internal portal in the side panels of the truck bed which could be manually loaded with twelve gauge shot gun shells. He said he got the idea from the British Man of War sailing vessels. The truck bed had panels that could be removed to arm the shells. They were
spaced about every eighteen inches.

The shells fired through the side trim that had been replaced by thin, easily penetrated, metal strips. The hammer was cocked and trigger would be depressed by a metal switch if the electromagnetic field died. Because it was fail fire, not fail safe, it was insanely dangerous,

If the power died, or was shut off in any of the three circuits, (without disarming the safety), the hammer would fall, and the shotgun shells would fire out the primitive, six inch barrels fabricated from steel pipe. It was designed for last ditch defense against a swarm ambush. It was like a panel of sawed off double barreled shotguns.

Zeke called it the Doom Boom and the name stuck. Doron said he could not figure out a way to have the electrical power available cock the hammer, but he was working on it.

“Dangerous times, dangerous measures. It’s your call David,” Doron shrugged.

David didn’t like it, but he knew it could save them from a mass attack targeting the truck. The truck was the most likely target. And nothing put more lead in the air that shotgun shells. But it really bothered David when Doom Boom was armed.

Everyone in the truck had to be told, and acknowledge orally, that the truck was armed, and where the non-lethal escape route was located. The safest spot was in the truck bed, since all the shells fired outward. Next to the Mason Jar grenades Doron had improvised out of shotgun shells with nut and bolt caps, this was the best for last ditch ambush defense .

Doron had even rigged up an infrared remote control for his truck that could arm and fire Doom Boom from 200 meters, or 400 meters with a drone relay. Doron was especially proud of his suicide drones. You loaded an armed grenade, then launched the drone.

David remembered the heated discussion with Doron about the morality of his plan to place supplies in the back of the truck as bait, then remotely kill hungry predators when
they approached. Doron, to his credit, dropped the plan, unless they were under attack.

“Think like a camel,” Doron said. David tried to focus on what Doron was saying and not his absolute fear over the Doom Boom.

“We are heading to the high desert. Be sure every container in your backpack is filled with water before we leave. Drink all the water you can before we leave. Be on the lookout for semitrailers, particularly at truck stops, and when we cross the main railroad lines,” Doron said, nodding to David that he was finished.

“Stay in visual range of each other, and the truck. We will intercept the power line easement once we cross the creek. If you get separated, stay on the easement, use your signal mirror and whistle, and we will find you,” assured David.

“But stay within sight of each other at all times. No chasing off after anything interesting. Bad things will happen if you are alone,” David said.

“Any comments?” asked David.

“Zeke,” David said.

Zeke looked each one in the eye, and said “Watch out for ambushes. They can hear us approach.”

“Pause and search before sharp curves in the roads, narrow gaps between passes, any natural funnel between two hills or buildings that are possible kill zones. All of these can be a hasty ambush site. Look at these Ranger diagrams,” Zeke passed the small green book around.

“Look for recent tracks, garbage or debris,” Zeke said.

“Listen for gunshots, always scan the high ground,” Zeke said.

“If you see any recent dead bodies, fresh blood, or ones that haven’t swollen up, prepare for ambush and signal us,” Zeke said.

“Whistle, throw a rock like a grenade, or shoot if you think you see an ambush site,” Zeke finished.

“Good brief, Zeke. Let’s go,” said David.

They cranked up their motorcycles and headed to the valley below. David lingered behind to cover the truck’s rear. They would intercept the power line easement on the other side of the creek.

David watched Doron fold the airplane map over and clip it to the sun visor. Ashley sat in the cab with Samuel, and held the road atlas. Karen stood in the truck bed with the binoculars around her neck, and her sniper rifle resting on the cab roof. K-Bar stood in the truck bed, near the cab, alert. They waited for the motorcycles to get on point, then took off.

Since there was more room in the truck bed with Ashley and Doron able to walk, all three garbage bag water bladders were filled from the kitchen pump. Everyone put their sleeping bags wrapped in ponchos in the truck bed. There was still a lot of room in the cavernous F350 truck bed.

Zeke and all the motorcycles recklessly zoomed straight down the steep hill. David watched Doron try to slowly crawl straight downhill, but the angle was too steep with the truck loaded with water. Doron slowly began to switchback, pausing while the water sloshed. David made a mental note to tie the garbage bags into sections to reduce the slosh effect

David saw the dirt road, and paused. Something troubled him. There was a sharp turn to the right, at the creek, with thick woods on the left. He saw Liu and Zeke’s tracks, he had come up with the idea of special identifying cut marks on each of their shoe soles.

David parked his motorcycle down by the creek under the flat iron bridge. He grabbed his M-16, walked along the creek, then into the woods. He glanced back, Karen was in the sniper position in the back of the pickup truck behind sandbags scanning the hill. They had welded some metal that could hold sandbags, shielding the driver from a rear shot, and her from a front shot. He noticed she scanned the woods through the new scope Sarge had given her.

David came back in a few minutes and raised his thumb
as he stood his motorcycle up. Doron gunned the accelerator as the truck sped across the flat metal bridge.

Shots immediately rang out from somewhere on the other mountain. Karen ducked behind the cab, and David zig zagged, charging the area the shots had come from.

David watched Doron run off the road, and whip down the rocks on the creek bed. He saw Karen frantically disabling the Doom Boom, jerking out all eight shotgun shells.

Karen banged on the cab, then Ashley grabbed Samuel, and rolled into a drainage ditch that fed into the creek. Doron jumped in behind them.

He saw Karen jump out of the truck followed by K-Bar. She ran under the metal bridge behind the cement drainage culvert, and slid down on her stomach. David could see her raising her sniper rifle, scoping up the mountain as bullets ricocheted around her off the metal bridge.

77.

“Where are Zeke and Liu?” Karen screamed.

Suddenly she saw a rifle pointed in her direction through her scope. She strained to be sure it was not David, Zeke or Liu, then squeezed the trigger. At the same instant she saw the rifle jerk slightly upwards, as the sniper fired a shot at the truck. She heard her windshield shatter, just after she watched the sniper’s head explode in the scope.

Karen saw David in her scope shoot the body three times in the chest, then grab his sniper rifle. It was eerie to hear the sound muffled.

“I think we got him!” Karen shouted to Doron. “I am going up!”

“No!” screamed Doron. “Stay here until David clears the way, you could get shot in the crossfire.” Karen paused. She desperately wanted to run up the mountain. But Doron did make sense. She was at risk of being shot by Zeke or Liu. If she just knew where they were.

She frantically shifted the scope on either side of David. She saw footprints on the left of the shooter but was unsure if they were the shooter’s footprints, she couldn’t see if they had Doron’s sole markings. Karen shifted the scope back and saw David crawling on the ground, pointing to his left.

“Doron, I need a spotter on the binoculars!” Karen screamed. Doron immediately crawled down the creek bed to her culvert. Karen yanked the binoculars off, and yelled, “David is half way up the hill crawling, track my barrel. He is pointing to the left! Tell me if you have a target!”

Three more gunshots cracked. Karen still could not track any target on David’s left. David was now pointing more rapidly, he was laying behind a rock and not moving.

“No target in sight, there is a blind, a covered area to David left,” Doron said methodically. She turned and saw the covered area David was pointing at, and fired at the center of
the blind.

“Karen I do NOT have a target!” Doron yelled.

Karen broke the prime directive her Dad had always taught her, and fired without a known, visible, confirmed target. David was pointing, frantically, and moving his fingers like he was firing a pistol, so she would shoot at whatever he pointed at.

“Keep looking, David is no longer signaling left. Did you get a fix on where the shots came from?” Karen asked rapidly.

“The shots came from the same area as you shot at, not from David,” Doron said. At least three guns now fired simultaneously on full auto.

Karen saw the muzzle flash across from David, and she began pouring shots by sound. She could see David flatten out in the trail indentation as he held his gun up, and fired in the direction of the shots. Two guns fired at the shooters from the right, and Karen heard whistles. She swung back to David, who held his gun flat, and pointed to the new shooters and put his thumbs up.

Must be Zeke and Liu, Karen hoped. Karen now moved forward and Doron followed.

Bullets thudded around Karen as she ran, then David and Zeke charged and blasted all three ambushers.

Liu ran up, and took a position behind David covering his back. Karen was horrified when Liu calmly, unhurriedly, shot each ambusher again, in the head, without saying a word. Liu showed all the motion of someone buying a gallon of milk.
What are we becoming? Karen wondered
.

Suddenly it was quiet, and David shouted. “Zeke and Liu with me. I think we got them all! But stay covered and we will come down.” Doron and Karen stopped behind some trees.

Karen watched as Zeke, Liu, and David spread out looking for anyone else. The ambushers were four males about twenty five years old. They did not seem to be greens.

Karen instinctively knew it was important that they had
let the motorcycles pass, and waited for the truck, but she couldn’t think straight and put the pieces together now. David led them downhill without searching the bodies.

Karen burst into tears when David came. He briefly hugged her, pointing his and her gun down on their slings, and didn’t say anything.

She saw Doron’s hands were still shaking as he leveled his rifle uphill. Zeke puked all over a tree as soon as they stopped. Liu seemed ice cold, clinical, as she knelt on one knee, and aimed uphill.

How many of these firefights can we survive? Karen wondered. They were just driving along, then ambushed. She knew they needed a standard set of hand signals for everyone to direct sniper fire. If she felt David was in danger, she now knew she would blast away whether she could see the target or not. And that was reckless, foolish, and could get her people killed.

“Okay, we need to drive past this hill, then Zeke and I will come back and check the bodies and get the guns,” David said breathlessly, as they walked to the truck.

“Wait until I check the Doom Boom,” David said, jumping in the truck bed then began confirming, by sight and touch, that each shotgun slot was disarmed.

“I disarmed the Doom Boom,” Karen said.

But David continued to personally check each portal to be sure it had no shotgun shells.

“No more Doom Boom for me,” David said, “My nerves cannot handle the Doom Boom. It’s like a ticking time bomb”

Doron was able to turn the truck around on the rocks near the creek, and get back on the road. David smashed out the remaining glass windshield with the butt of his M16. His joke about now having a convertible, died, smothered by the tension. Everyone piled in the truck, and Doron drove up the hill. David banged on the top of the cab, and Doron stopped.

“I left my motorcycle here,” David said, jumping out.
Doron waited for him to start his engine and take off, up the hill. Zeke and Liu had dropped their motorcycles about fifteen yards below the top of the hill, and they stayed in the truck until Doron parked on the other side of the hill.

“Here,” Karen said to Doron.

“Ashley, be sure you scan our back, and that you are ready to shoot,” Doron said. Ashley and Samuel moved behind the pickup truck with her back to Doron, covered by a large rock.

Now they had the high ground and were scanning down both sides of the hill. Karen looked to see if they were below any other hills. They were fine except for a tall hill about three miles away which was not a factor.

Karen approached the first body, and held her left hand up. Zeke and Liu instantly took cover.

“Nasty,” she thought.

Karen’s shot to the head was brutal. There was not much left. She tried to focus on the body. The shooter had not worn the green shirt, but wore blue jeans, a dirty sweatshirt, and smelled of beer. She saw a small shortwave transceiver about two feet away which was still on. She turned off the volume, took out the battery, and put it in her pocket.