The Fall of America: Fatal Encounters (Book 2) (5 page)

“Son, ya need to start payin' more attention to where you're walkin'.  Didn't you see any sign of our passing?”

“No, very little sign that I could tell.”

Either we're good, or this boy had his head up his ass as he moved
, John thought, but asked, “Why are you following us?”

Scratching his cheek, Brown said, “I was given a compass headin', and I've been followin' it the whole time.”  He was of average size, thin, with long brown hair and beard.  

John guessed his age to be mid-twenties and he had a reputation as being sharp.
Well, somewhere along the way today he screwed up, if he didn't know we were in front of him
, he thought.

Holland was close now and the man smiled in recognition.  He was tall, just over six feet, wore a nicely trimmed beard of black, and sported a crew-cut. This day he was wearing a camouflage ball cap, BDU blouse, and jeans.  

“John, excuse me for not saluting, but what are ya doin' out this way?”  He asked, his teeth white and even.  His smile was contagious, so John smiled in return.

“Movin' to our area after the break up, and you?”

“Same.  Are you headin' straight north?”

“Nope, so why don't you pass through us and go about your business?  We'll be behind you for a while, then change directions.”

“We can do that.”

“Joshua, your point man Brown never knew we were in front of him, so either we're good or he's got his head up his ass.  Usually he's pretty sharp, so I feel the need to warn you.”  John said in a voice just above a whisper.

Shaking his head, Holland replied, “He lost his wife during our prisoner exchange, and when I asked him about it, he said he could still do the job.”

“Well, I suspect he can't do the job. You do as you wish, but I'd replace him with somebody else for a week or so.”

Turning, Joshua spotted a man and said, “Hart, take our point. Brown, you slip back and walk drag a while.”  The Lieutenant then winked at me.

“Jay, pull the claymores and the rest of you saddle up; we'll leave after these folks pass.”

Shaking John's hand, Joshua said, “Best of luck to you, John.  I suspect we're in for some really hard times. Not sure, but I might move down about two miles and call it a day. We'll be gone at first light.”

John nodded and said, “Watch your ass, buddy.”

He turned, motioned his group forward and in a few short minutes, they were gone.

“We'll give 'em fifteen minutes, then I want Jay on point, and Margie on drag. Jay, keep your eyes open and stop if you feel something out of place. Just because they're in front of us, doesn't make us any safer.”  He said and then scratched Dolly's head.

“What direction?”  Jay asked.

“West for a mile or so. I want to be in position before darkness catches us unprepared.”

“I hear ya.” Jay replied, and then stuck the mines back in his backpack.

Two hours later, they were in their night position, Claymores were in place, and John established a guard schedule. The weather was warm, but not hot, and the overhead sky was clear.  Those who'd not eaten before, now had chow.  He opened an entree` and placed it in front of Dolly, watching it disappear in seconds. He smiled when she turned and stuck her big head in his lap.

Sandra, who was sitting beside him grinned as she said, “She's always been a daddy's girl, but you know that, huh?”

“She loves you too, but she knows she's special to me.  At times, I really miss the other dogs, especially Newt and Skillet.”

“I do too, but we'd better stop the chatter, because it's hard to say who we share these woods with tonight.”

She made sense, so he didn't reply.
Newt, you were such a lovable and fun dog
, he thought and then remembered Skillet.
He was huge, well over 150 pounds, and a big baby. I don't think he ever realized just how big he was, but then I remembered the day I put him down.  Enough of this, you need to get some sleep.

He pulled a blanket from his pack and was asleep in seconds.

He had no idea how long he'd been sleep, when he felt a gentle tap to his left boot. He opened his eyes and saw Jay. He leaned close, cupped his hands around John's ear and whispered, “I just heard one hell of a fight north of us. Gunfire and explosions. It was too far away to estimate distance.”

His mind shifted to Holland and his group.  He whispered back, “Wake another person and two on guard for the rest of the night. We can't help whoever stepped in the shit, so keep your eyes open.”

John saw him nod in the moonlight, so he went back to sleep.

Dawn arrived with gray clouds moving fast overhead and it brought a threat of rain.  He donned his poncho, took a sip of water from his canteen and then said, “We'll move back on our original course this morning. Now, according to Jay, a firefight took place far enough away that he heard it, but not close enough to wake any of us. If we come to the place where the fight occurred, do not touch anything and keep moving. It is very likely the bodies will have booby-traps, and keep your eyes open for mines or lines running across the trail. I don't know what we'll find, so stay alert this morning.”

“Why don't we just move off a bit when we come to it?”  Sandra asked.

“We may do that, but a lot depends on what I feel and see when we're there. Now, let's move.  I want Tom on point and Jay on drag.”

Less than an hour later, Tom stopped and motioned John forward.  They could see bodies and the dead looked to be Americans, but who John couldn't tell. He pointed at Tom and drew a circle in the air. The man nodded and moved away, to return about ten minutes later.

“It looks like it's clear. As near as I can tell, they were ambushed while moving.”

“Any idea who they are?”

“It was Holland's group, but the only body I got close enough to see was Brown's, the man they had on point yesterday. I spotted other bodies in the brush, but didn't want to do more than just look right now.”

“Jay?”  

“Yo.”

“You and I will enter the kill zone and check to see what happened.  We might find someone wounded, so go easy with your trigger finger. Tom, I want you and the rest to provide us security.  I'm sure the killers are long gone, but they may have left some wounded that are determined to take an American to hell with 'em.”

“I hear you.”  Tom replied, and then began positioning folks so they could cover them.  Of the folks providing protection, John liked Kate the best.  He'd actually seen her nail a dime at two hundred yards with her scoped rifle.

Both men immediately saw where the Russians had used a NON-50, their copy of the Claymore and many of the bodies were riddled badly. John looked around and quickly spotted where they'd been placed in trees, pointing downward, to give them a better dispersion of fragments when exploded. The dead had been walking one minute and dead the next, and it was a better death than most.  

Dolly, who was walking beside him froze and was looking at something in front of her.  John strained his eyes and eventually spotted a thin line stretched across the trail.  He suspected, but damn sure wasn't going to check, it was a NON-100 anti-personnel mine.  
I need to warn Jay not to touch anything, and to keep his eyes open for wires
, He thought.

John turned and was looking at the man, about to speak, when a loud explosion filled the air and the man flew apart from the blast. John fell to the ground and heard a loud ringing in his ears.  Dust, blood and bits of flesh rained down on him as he covered his head with both hands.  He knew the danger was over, but survival was his only thought. John was lucky the mine had been positioned toward Jay, so he'd missed the main force of the blast.

“Tom, keep everyone where they are!”  John commanded and then stood on shaky legs.  
I don't need a bunch of folks running in here and triggering more mines
, he thought.

“I hear ya.”

He glanced at Jay's body, or what little remained, and from the knees up, he was blown away.  He must have been close to the mine, because his jeans were smoking.  He looked in the direction he'd been moving and saw two dead bodies. He moved around the trip wire in front of him, and walked forward, slowly.  He encountered no more wires or pressure activated mines, and didn't find Lieutenant Holland's body. John didn't think he'd been taken prisoner, but he may have.
It's more likely he was unhurt or maybe injured and got away. It all depends on where he was when the blasts went off
, he thought as he called Dolly and moved back to his people.

Tom neared and asked, “And, Jay?”

“He triggered a NON-100 mine and we've lost him.  I'm not sure, but it looks like they mined every other body or groups of bodies. The good news, maybe, is I didn't find Holland.”

“I think if you circle the ambush site, Dolly will pick up his scent.”

“I'd thought of that.” John replied and then looking at his dog said, “Come on Dolly, we're going for a walk.”

Dolly and John took their time and were about half way around the site, when she pulled him toward the right.  “Tom, over here.  But look for tripwires as you come, because I saw a couple behind me.”

When the group arrived, Tom asked, “Any sign of blood?”

“Nope, but I'm going to take the point and have Margie pull drag. It's possible we'll find him alive and if we do, he may be a tad trigger happy.  No shooting, and if you see him, call out in English.”

Sandra moved to his side and said, “You be careful and don't be a hero.  It's very possible the Russians know where he is and are using him as bait.”

“I've considered that, too, but find it unlikely, since the ambush happened in the middle of the night. Now, I know they've got night vision goggles, but for one reason or the other, I suspect he made a clean getaway.”

Tom gave him a crooked grin and said, “Assume nothing when you get near him.”

“If they mine the dead, use extra caution if Joshua is seriously wounded. They may have him mined as well.  None of us are explosives experts, so use some common sense, if you find him.”

“Let's move and do the job now.” He said, knowing there were many variables in a given situation and a man needed to consider all of them, and quickly. He'd deal with Holland, if and when they found him.

They'd covered about a quarter of a mile, when he heard Kate say, “John, look, blood on a leaf.”

He stopped and he walked to her position. A fallen leaf had a slight blood stain, but it was impossible to tell if the injury was serious or not. It was dry and about the size of a dime.  

“He's bleeding some.” Tom said.

“Okay, we keep moving.”  John said and moved back into position. He suddenly heard a sharp crack of thunder and when he looked up, noticed rain clouds moving overhead.  The clouds were dark gray on the outside and almost black in the center.  He ignored the weather and followed Dolly.

It was almost another quarter mile before he heard her give him a low warning growl. He looked in the direction she was looking, but saw nothing. He raised a balled fist and everyone stopped moving.

John led Dolly toward the spot she'd been looking and saw the shape of a man wearing camouflage under a large pine tree. He was sitting on his butt, chin down, and knees up. He spotted a small patch of blood on his left arm and it'd been crudely bandaged. He held an M-16 in his hands and the barrel was pointing up. On Holland's black face, he noticed his eyes were open, and actually watched him blink a few times.

“Joshua, this is John, are you okay?”

“John?”  He asked, and appeared confused.

“I'm a cell leader, like you, remember?”

Joshua gave a low chuckle and said, “My arm hurts, not my head.  I'm in some serious pain and a bit messed up from blood loss.”

“Blood loss? We didn't see but one drop of blood on the way here. By the way, Dolly saved your ass.”

He gave a weak grin and then said, “I always did like her.  I have three or four used bandages in the cargo pockets of my BDU's, because I didn't want to just toss them away. Ain't no need to make it easy for anyone trailing me.”

“Josh, is it safe around you? I need to know before I allow anyone forward to treat you. We found mines back at the ambush site.”

“Yep, it's safe, and no one followed me. I've been here for hours and ain't even heard a fly fart.”

John turned and said, “Sandra, I need your help.”

She neared and asked, “Safe?”

“He claims it's safe and he should know.”

Sandra moved forward and squatted at Joshua's side. Opening her medical bag, she then turned her attention to the injured arm. As she worked him over, John checked out his folks and they were all alert and watching the woods.
Good bunch I have, and I hated to lose Jay
, he thought and turned to see Sandra cutting the shirt sleeve.  The bullet, from what John could see, was small caliber and had passed through the meaty part of his arm. While it'd bleed like hell and hurt, it wasn't normally a killing wound, not if kept clean.

“I need to get him to a safer spot and clean the wound.”  She said a few minutes later, “It's got debris from his shirt and the soiled cloth bandages he used.”

“I used what I had and that was my tee-shirt.” Joshua said.

“I'm not complaining, just telling John what needs to be done.” Sandra said.

“Tom?” John asked.

“Uh-huh?”

“Set up a perimeter as Sandra works on Holland.  Keep all alert and awake.”

“Not a problem.”  He turned and walked away.

Less than an hour later, Holland was wrapped up nice and pretty, and Sandra said, “I can't give you anything for pain yet, because we're on the move.  Once we're where we'll spend the night, I'll

take care of your pain. Right now, swallow these.” She handed him two pills, which John suspected were aspirin or some sort of over the counter pain reliever.  

He nodded and then looking at John, smiled and said, “If you'll help me up, I'll join your group.”

John moved to his side, helped him to his feet and then said, “Pull 'em in, Tom, we're moving again.”

As soon as Tom neared, he took Holland from John and slipped the man's uninjured arm around his shoulder. John heard Holland say, “Damn, Tom, I had no idea ya cared so much for me.”