The Fall of America: Fatal Encounters (Book 2) (27 page)

Then more and more choppers landed and infantry troops began to secure the area.  As soon as the troops were off the aircraft, each chopper returned to the sky, flying in lazy circles.  A Lieutenant Colonel walked to Pankov and said, “We have secured the area, sir.”

“Thank you,
Yakubov, now have some of your men remove our dead.  Be sure to get me a body count of our troops.”

“What of the dead civilians, sir?”

“Leave them where they lay.  Pour gas on each truck that is beyond repair and when we leave, burn it all.”

A medic neared and said, “The co-pilot has a broken back, we are not sure about the pilot's back and both gunners sustained injuries, with one having a concussion.”

Pankov walked to what remained of Zheglov's helicopter and realized they'd never find enough of the man to bury.  Three fourths of the aircraft was gone and the only bodies seen were two men laying on the pavement, burnt to a crisp.  Both were so badly disfigured by the fire, their own mothers wouldn't recognize them.  Smoke from the fire still reached for the sky, but thinner now than just minutes ago.

Two hours later, dozers from the base cleared the highway and the troops returned to base.  Pankov was pissed about the attack, but not overly so, and returned to his room.  Once showered to remove the smell of death from him, he had supper in the officers mess and returned to his quarters for a few drinks.  He picked up a book and began reading when there came a knock at his door.

A young lieutenant was standing in the hallway when he asked, “Yes?”

The young officer saluted and said, “Colonel Vetrov has asked to see you immediately, sir.”

“Return to the Colonel and inform him I will be there as soon as I get my boots on.”

“Yes, sir.”

Pankov closed the door and thought,
What does the damned fool want from me now?  I suspect he wants an update on the partisan attack
, but why at this hour?  He placed his feet into the boots and then moved for the
door, thinking,
Well, he cannot blame this last attack on me, it was all
Zheglov's idea.

He entered the hospital ward to find Vetrov looking sour and pissed, staring at his hands.  The Colonel looked up and asked “And, where in the hell have you been?  I expected a report from you right after you landed.”

“I showered, had a bite to eat and had no idea you wanted to speak with me, sir.  You sent no word to me, nor did you say anything at the staff meeting this morning.”  
Like I can read your small brain.

T
hree days later, as John and Joshua scouted in cold weather, they spotted men moving toward them.  They crouched in the bushes and waited for the men to get closer.   Seeing they were Americans, John said, “That's close enough.  Who are you and what do you want?”

The man on point stopped, swung his weapon in John's general direction, but said nothing.

Long seconds passed before the man called out, “Bill, come to me.”

A minute later a tall man with black hair, said, “I'm Bill and was sent by Willy Williams.  We need to talk, if your name is John or Tom.”

“My name is John.  What does Willy want?”

“He wants a strike on Russian railroad traffic started immediately.  If possible, derail the engine and other cars when you do the job.”  Bill removed his pack and sat it on the ground beside him.

John smiled and said, “We can do that.”

“In the mean time, all other rail lines will be hit, too.”

“We'll start tonight.  Was that all he wanted?”

“Nope, I have a few pounds of C4 explosive for you to use on the job.”  He pulled a paper-wrapped bundle from his pack, handing it to John.

“Do you have time to eat?”

Shaking his head, Bill said, “No, I have to get back.  I'll inform Willy you'll start this evening.”

Donning his pack, Bill and the rest disappeared into the trees.

Glancing at the low clouds overhead, John said, “Let's get back.  It looks like rain or snow coming, and we've a mission to prepare.”

Once back at the cabin, they discussed the mission and how to do the most damage with the least effort.  Ideas were kicked around and around, until John said, “I like Tom's idea and think it will cause the most damage with the least danger to us.  We move at dark, only Dolly will stay here to give you a little more protection.”

At dark, three of them were moving north toward the railroad and it was quiet.  A light drizzle fell, so each wore a poncho, and the weather was cold. It was perfect hypothermia weather with temperatures in the mid thirties.  According to Sally, a train pulled into Edwards each night near midnight to offload supplies for the military.  Civilians were not allowed on the trains and the only traffic was military.  The only dangerous part of the mission, so far, was crossing the main highway, which they did one at a time.  They'd encountered no problems and a little before 2300 hours arrived at the tracks.

They quickly placed two Claymore mines facing each other on the opposite sides of the tracks and ran the wires from the mine on the far side, under the steel beams and covered them with small rocks.  Then fifty yards down the track, east, they placed some C4 which Tom rigged up to blow on command.

They then ran the wires from their explosives to a ditch that ran parallel to the tracks.  They'd be in the ditch when the C-4 and Claymores blew.  Joshua moved a distance behind to cover their rear as they did the dirty work.  Once the explosives were detonated, he was to join the other two in shooting up the train.

At 2345 hours they heard the train approaching and a bright light was shining from the engine.  The speed was low, approximately twenty-five miles an hour, and when it neared, John spotted people on a platform in front of the engine.  
They're using captives to make sure the train isn't attacked; well, it won't work today
, he thought as he picked up the clackers for the Claymore mines.

“We let the captives go by and when I yell now, we blow the mines.  Hopefully no civilians will be killed.  Okay?”

“I'll squeeze when you give the word.”

As John waited, he decided to set the explosives off a second before the engineer's door reached the mines.  John thought his forward speed would have him in the kill zone and most of the hostages out, but no matter where the civilians were, this train would be destroyed.

The engine ran over the C4 and kept moving and just before the engineer was between the two mines, John yelled, “Now!”

Both mines exploded, riddling and knocking the engine off the tracks, where it quickly fell on its side, smoking.  Tom exploded the C4 and two flatbed cars loaded with troops flew high into the air.  He then picked up his RG-6 and sent 40 mm grenades into the five remaining cars.

Joshua opened up and heard his bullets hitting cargo cars and pinging off into space. Then one car exploded, a large fireball lighting up the darkness as clear as day.  Screams were heard from the engine, so John ran to the train.  The engineer was dead, his bloody head almost ripped from his neck.  He quickly untied the prisoners and told them to go. They scattered into the winds in ones and twos and some had minor injuries, but he couldn't help them.  

Russian bodies were spread all over the place and all were dead.  John pulled an ace of spades from his pocket and placed it in the open mouth of a dead Master Sergeant.  He then used his right foot to close the dead man's mouth.

“We need to move and do the job now.  I'm sure they'll have choppers up looking for us shortly.”  Tom said.

The drizzle had changed to rain so they began a distance eating trot to put some distance between them and the tracks.  At the main highway, they crossed as a group, to lessen time needed to cross, and were soon back in the trees.

An hour later, choppers were heard overhead, but they simply stopped and hugged a tree.  Minutes later the aircraft moved away.  

Lightning flashed across the sky, lighting the area, and a few seconds later a loud
boom
or
crack
was heard.  They never slowed and soon saw the safety of the cabin in front of them.  It was pouring rain now and each was tired, wet and hungry.  John wanted to dry off, eat a little and then get some much needed sleep.

Walking up to the door, John knocked twice, waited a second and then knocked twice more.  Sandra opened the door and asked, “Well?”

“The Russians are short a train and a large number of men.  I'll tell all of you about it after we dry off, get something to eat.”

“There is some stew on the stove.  We opened a few rations and placed the canteen cups on the edge of the stove to keep warm.”

As soon as they'd changed into dry clothes, they each took a canteen cup from the stove and started eating.  John told his story as he ate.

When he'd finished, Sandra said, “Sounds like it went smoothly.”

He laughed and replied, “It did and that scared me, too.  Most missions have something go wrong, but not this time.”

“We're lucky, that's all.”  Tom said.  “I think because they've never been attacked before we got away with it, this time.  We need to space the attacks out and hit them on different days and not show any routine.  If they get the rhythm of our attacks, we're dead meat.”

“Yep, I know, so tonight we'll hit them again.”

“Tonight?  Have you lost your mind?”

“Nope, I honestly don't think they'll change much in 24 hours.  It takes time to make changes, and then we'll hold off for a week or ten days.”

“Are you taking the same people?” Sandra asked.

“Nope, I'll take Joshua and Sally.  Sally needs the experience and Joshua is a proven hand in the field.  Now, Tom, make out a guard detail for those that remain behind.  The three of us need to get some sleep.”

“You should take the RG-6, because it makes a big difference on the train cars.”

“We'll take it,” John said and stood as he continued, “because it adds firepower to the group.  The key is to avoid any injury to those held captive on the platform riding in front.”

“Hell, let the engine go.” Joshua said.

“Can't do that, because it's a valuable piece of equipment.  The engine must be blown and any fuels, petroleum or liquids destroyed.  Plus, any troops we can kill are an added bonus, because it keeps them out of the field looking for us.”

“When do we leave?”  Sally asked.

“At dark, so get some sleep.”

At 2000 hours they were ready, with the mines placed, and all three wide awake.  They'd walked nearly two miles closer to Edwards to avoid using the same ambush spot.  Just past the mines, they'd pulled the tracks out about four inches, which would cause the train to derail.  They had no idea of the train schedule, none were printed, or even if one would run this night, but John thought they would, to make up for what had been lost the night before. All faces were wearing camouflage paint and they'd be hard to see if explosions resulted from their attack.  Dolly lay near John's feet.

It was two hours later before Joshua lifted his ear from the steel track and said, “Something coming, but I can't tell if it's moving east or west.”

John looked both directions and saw a pin-point of light to the east.  “Looks like they're trying to resupply Edwards again tonight.  Look to my right.  Do you see the light?”  
Vicksburg gets most of their supplies shipped up river, on the Mississippi
, he thought.

 “Uh-huh.”  Joshua said and then grinned.

“Move back into the brush.  As soon as the Claymore fires, come up shooting.”

“Train coming?”  Sally asked.

“Yep, from the east moving toward Vicksburg.  I want you down low, behind that log, and do your shooting from there.  They may be ready for us this time, so we need to be more careful.”  John said as he squatted and picked up the clackers.

The train was moving fast down the tracks and Joshua knew they were afraid of an ambush, so he relaxed a bit.  
If they were well prepared for an ambush, they'd not be traveling so fast
, he thought.

Again, there was a platform of some sort welded to the front of the train and a dozen captives were seen chained in place.  John waited until the platform was well past the Claymore mines and then squeezed them.  The mines thundered in the air and the smaller mine gave a dull
boom
.  The train continued moving, until it hit where the track was pulled apart, and then it derailed.  The locomotive engine exploded, sending flames, dust and smoke high into the air.  Screams were heard all along the train—but most came from the front, on the platform.

Joshua stood and sent out 40 mm rounds at the rate of about one a second, and then ducked to reload.  Explosions shook the ground, fires erupted and men screamed as they burned to death inside the derailed cars.

Sally opened up with her AK-47 and began to walk her bullets down the short train.  When her weapon was empty, she inserted a fresh magazine and did the same thing again.  

From between two cars on their sides, a machine-gun opened up, with deadly results.  Sally screamed and rolled to her side where she began to jerk and twitch, the top of her head gone.