The Independents (41 page)

Hawk had his arm around David’s shoulder
,
and
clearly,
David wasn’t happy about it. All smiles and happy, Hawk was showing off the hero of last night’s rescue. “Here he is ladies and gentlemen, the creator of a new sport – BOWLING FOR SKINNY DOLLARS!” Hawk’s comrades all laughed while David looked like he was going to throw up. Hawk w
ent on.
“You should have seen it
,
folks! This young man plowed into those charging skinnies like a bowling ball hitting pins. Those vicious killers flew through the air
-
it was a perfect strike!”

Bishop was moving. He could tell David was turning green
,
and
clearly,
the boy just wanted to get away fro
m these creeps. Bishop approached them
, taking D
avid by the arm and gently trying
to move him away. Bishop used an excuse
.
“Come on
. David.
I want to show you something.”
Hawk held onto the boy tightly.
“What
’s
the matter
,
Bishop
? C
an’t you stand to see someone else get the credit for doing something right?”

Bishop looked at Hawk and said, “Some people don’t like getting credit for taking human life
,
brother. It’s not something the Christian soul relishes.”

Bishop saw something odd flash
behind Hawk’s eyes
as the man spouted
, “Those animals aren’t human. What the boy did was nothing more than put down some rabid dogs.
”

It all clicked in Bishop’s mind. He had replayed the ambush in his head a dozen times and something just wasn’t right. Hawk had been right behind
him,
as they had left the compound. He should have been in
the
kill zone with Bishop. Hawk
dropped back for some reason and Bishop thought that was odd given the man’s nature to want to be in charge.
Hawk had been one of the main reasons Bishop had told everyone to watc
h their spacing and not bunch up
.
“Speaking of last night Hawk, where we
re you when we walked into the a
mbush?”

Agai
n, an odd expression flashed momentarily over
th
e man’s face
. “I was right there. You almost got all of us killed leading us into that trap.
If it hadn’t been for this boy, we would have all died last night.”

Bishop loo
ked at the two men with Hawk, and
recognized one of them as having been in the rescue party
. Bishop pointed to the man
.
“You were two men behind me
,
right?” The man nodded, wondering where this was going. Bishop continued, “Wasn’t Hawk between us?”

Again, the man nodded and th
en gave Hawk a questioning look.
“That’s right, you were right in front of me. Where did you go?”

Hawk removed his arm from David’s shoulder, but stood his ground. He protested in a shaky voice, “I had to tie my
shoe
. I was
there;
I just stopped for a moment to tie my shoe. No biggie.”

Bishop looked down at the man’s feet. He wore
high-topped
basketball shoes that had Velcro straps and no laces. There were several people standing around now, watching the exchange. Most of them looked down at Hawk’s shoes and a murmur went through the crowd.

Bishop kept pressing.
“Doesn’t anyone else find it odd the skinnies knew where we were going? Doesn’t it seem strange they had the time to set up an ambush? If I didn’t know better, I would say someone warned them. From what I hear, they seem to know
every
move you folks make ahead of time.”

Deacon Brown walked up. She had been listening to the discussion at the edge of the crowd
and now decided to take charge.
“Gentlemen, I think we should continue the conversation in my office. There
’s
no need to disturb everyone’s breakfast.”

She started to press between Hawk and Bishop when Hawk suddenly produced a knife and grabbed Deacon Brown. Before anyone could move, he had the knife at her throat and was pull
ing
her back toward the door. “Stand back! I’ll kill her if you don’t stand back!”

Atlas started to take a step forward, but Hawk yelled, “I’ll kill her before you can move
,
big man. Stay back!” A small line of blood appeared on Deacon’s Brown’s throat as Hawk’s pressure on the knife increased. Atlas froze.

Hawk was behind Deacon Brown, backing toward the door of the cafeteria.
When he was in the threshold, he released
the
woman, pushing her toward Bishop before running
. Atlas started to give chase, but Deacon Brown yelled, “Let him go!” The big man froze and then returned to his mother’s side.

Bishop released the woman,
“I think we found your spy
,
Deacon.”

Deacon Brown look
ed at Bishop and then the crowd.
“He’ll make for the gate and go to the other side. No one is to try and stop him. We
’ll
need to change our passwords and security.”

Bishop put his hand on David’s shoulder, “You okay?”

David gave Bishop a sh
eepish grin and nodded his head.
“Is there anything to eat?”

Estebon almost shuffled his way
to the back of the last
service truck where he looked at his
men, or at least the few who remained. After the failed
ambush, he had become withdrawn and seemed not to care about anything. The c
aptain had taken charge and was now making all of the
decisions for the group. He was shrewd enough to realize
that Estebon was still respected by many of the remaining
men, so he had let Estebon keep
the façade of leadership, but the captain
was really pulling the strings.

Since their
return
from the failed attempt at Mera
ton, the group had been busy burying their dead and consoling the widows of the f
allen. Unknown to Estebon, the c
aptain had sent two of his most trusted soldiers to a nearby town that advertised a mining museum. The idea had occurred to him while standing
guard
in
the visitor’s area of the main ranger s
tation.
The brochure for the museum
pictured a display of gold bars on the cover. The
photo
looked real enough
,
and the idea had occurred to him that they might be mistaken for Bishop’s gold long enough to free the hostages. Unlikely, but perhaps the
diversion would distract the cap
tors and allow a rescue attempt for his sister and niece.
  

He had convinced the now feeble Estebon easil
y enough. A
ll of the
remaining
men
would
escort the “gold” out of the park
and
trade for the women. The c
aptain
had little confidence in the plan’s ultimate success, b
ut he had few other options. He
felt compelled to try something to retrieve his family members,
and th
is plan couldn’t possibly be
worse than Estebon’s previous attempts.

Someone whistled
,
and he jumped into the back of the truck. The s
mall three vehicle convoy embarked on its winding journey down the mountain toward
the park exit and
then
on to Mexico.

Colonel
Owen’s 4/10 was deploying to its
forward positions. He had received word that a large formation of the Ironhorse
Brigade
had left the Dallas area that morning, destination unknown.
The Colonel
knew where they were headed – right at him.

Even with the additional tanks assigned to his brigade, he was outgunned almost four to one with heavy armor. He knew the Ironhorse was a
top-notch
unit
with
a lot of combat experience in recent conflicts, and he dreaded the thought of any sor
t of confrontation with them
.

His
concern over fighting a
superior force paled in comparison
to the emotion
he felt
when he
found out
it might be his fellow American
s shooting at him. Battle against an enemy of the United States was one thing –
fighting
his fellow citizens was another.

Despite the internal turmoil, Colonel Owen had made a commitment, and the
longer he was a part of
t
he Independents
, the better he felt about his dec
ision. The people calling the shots had kept their word, as well as their
vision
,
every single step of the way. He
had
even heard that a barge containing
several
tons
of food had docked at Baton Rouge the previous day. “
I’m on the right side
;
” he thought
,
“let’s hope it doesn’t come to a fight.”

The 4/10 did
have two tactical advantages. The first was that having arrived first, they could deploy in defensive positions. The second
was the speed of their Stryker fighting v
ehicles. These latest generation troop carriers were fast and carried significant firepower. While they were not armored like a tank, they had the advantage of maneuver
ability
. The thought broug
ht a slight
grin to
the c
olonel
’s face because he knew maneuver won more battles
than
actual
combat
.

Bishop spent the rest of the day
talking to some of the church’s
men about the skinni
es. Several of them had been
on scavenging patrols and tried to provide
him
information. A few even drew maps for him.
Dusk was appro
aching when David and Bishop
finished
packing Bones and double-
checking all of their equipment. Deaco
n Brown and Atlas watched. Bishop turned
and
pointed to
the church’s bell tower
.
“I have one more job to do before we leave. Is there any way to get up there?”

“There is a trap
door in my office that leads to a ladder. There’s not much room up there. We’ve tried to post a sentry up there, but it’s so cramped
, it was impractical to station someone there long
.”

Bishop peered
at the tower
again
and asked, “Is there room to stand?”

“Barely, but yes, you could stand.”

“Good enough,” Bishop said, and reached into Bones
, retrieving his big rifle.

When they arrived in the d
eacon’s office, Atlas reached up to the ceiling and pulled on a small cord hanging in the reception area. An extendable ladder unfolded as the giant lowered the door. Bishop slun
g the rifle and proceeded to climb the narrow
steps. Before his head disappeared into the opening, he paused an
d looked back at David.
“I need for you to be ready to leave as soon as I come back down. I am going to find their lookouts and disab
le them. They will figure out what’s going on pretty quickly, and we
need to be out of th
at gate before they replace their sentries
or send more people to see what’s going on.”

David nodded and headed back to the Humvee before things escalated
.

Bishop climbed
the
steps leading to the bell tower.
He estimated it was about four
stories high, or roughly forty-
eight feet. He reached the top
,
pushed open a second trapdoor
,
and stuck his head through the opening.
Deacon Brown was right; the area around the bells was tiny. There
was
room for him to stand, but that was about it. Without touching the large bells hanging from a center pulley, Bishop braced the big rifle against a support and started scanning the area around the complex.

He found the first lookout easily
enough. The man was lying prone on a
rooftop
a few blocks away. From ground level, he would have been almost impossible to spot, but from Bishop’s height
,
he stuck out like a sore thumb. The second lookout was a little more difficult to find. It was an open window that gave him away. A small
office building had four second-
story windows
,
and Bishop
noticed that
only one was open. A rifl
e barrel resting on the window fra
me was the confirmation he had discovered
another observer. The two lookouts were on opposite sides of the compound
,
and that was a problem. Bishop was sure
that
as soon as
he shot the first, the other
would catch on and try to escape. He scanned one last time
, making sure there weren’t three men watching the
compound. In a space so small
, he could quickly become a target himself
,
and there wasn’t anywhere to hide.

Bishop decided on the man in the window first. The lookout on the rooftop didn’t appear to have a weapon and was only watching the compound with binoculars. He wouldn’t be able to shoot back and had further to move to find cover.

The man in the window was a
concern
. Bishop really couldn’t see
him
, only the barrel of the rifle. He had to take a chance t
hat the man was right-
handed and had the rifle shouldered, watching the activity around Bones and the front of the church. He figur
ed the angle and used the rifle
scope
’
s built in rangefinder. The precision instrument indicated a distance of
650 meters to the window
,
and he had a downward angle of 25 degrees. A quick calculation told him he should aim five inches below the window glass. The second shot was simple. This man was only 200 yards away
,
and the downward angle had little impact on his aim at that
distance.
The
re was no bullet
drop compensation
either
.

Bishop practiced moving his rifle from one shot to the other a few times, making sure he cleared the structure of the tower as he moved. It was now or never
,
and he steadied the big rifle against the support, flicked off the safety
,
and exhaled slowly.
Send it.
The rifle pushed against his shoulder
,
and he quickly
placed
a second and then a third round into the open window. Since he couldn’t see the actual target,
the extra rounds would
increase his odds of disabling the man.
Before the third spent brass even struck the floor, he spun the rifle around to the man lying on the roof. The sound of the shots had alerted him
, and he was now searching
the bell tower with his glass. As Bishop centered on the triangle composed of the man’s shoulders and tailbone, the guy rolled away and scrambled toward a large air conditioner some ten feet away.
Send it.
The man flopped onto the roof and tried to stand.
Send it.
The
man jerked,
shuttered,
and then
lay
still
with his arms spread
wide
. Bishop swung the rifle back to the
open window
and was ready to fire again in case
the
first three
shots
had missed. The rifle barrel was now further extended out the window and at an odd angle. He could see the top of a man’s head resting against the sill.

Bishop felt exposed in the tower and hurried to get down into t
he ladder well. After he had descended a few steps, he relaxed and made his
way
carefu
lly to the bottom and into the d
eacon’s reception area.
He moved quickly out of the church to find David sitting in Bones
,
ready to go. He swi
tched rifles and started to hop
in when Deac
on Brown appeared. She extended
her hand and simply said, “Good luck.”

“I’m sure our paths will cross again
,
ma’am. You guys have a fighting chance now. Reach out to the good people of Meraton if you can.”

Bishop hop
p
ed into Bones and looked at David
.
“Ready?”

“Let’s roll.”

When they
exited the compound, Bishop instructed
David to head south.

“South? Isn’t the campus north?”

“It is, but I want to wait until it’s completely dark before we try and get up there. I just knocked out the skinnies
’
eyes and ears and if they have half a brain,
they will send reinforcements thinking something is
up. We will let them chill a little bit and
believe
we have left town. Then we can
try to sneak in. Head back to where we stayed before.”

David pulled Bones to the same location
they had parked the previous evening. They took time to
eat,
clean weapons
,
and r
eload the five rounds Bishop
used in the big rifle. Bishop told David he wanted to move through town the way they had before an
d both of them hoped for better results this time
.

After it was completely dark, they moved out.
Just as before, Bishop would scout ahead on foot and
when he found a good hiding spot,
radio David to follow. Whereas Bishop had tried to head directly north on the first attempt, he angled off to the east this time. The system worked well
,
and they made four moves without seeing anyone.
Bishop could see the outline of the stadium on the horizon through the night vision, meaning the outskirts of campus were straight ahead
. He radioed David to stay put
,
knowing Bones was practically invisible
, hiding in an abandoned
garage a few blocks away.

Bishop moved from shadow to cover into the campus. The street was littered with debris consisting of dead twigs and leaves, papers, shattered glass and t
he bones of a dog. The college book
store was next to a strip mall
, consisting of a pizza joint
,
a
bar
,
and
the
student union. As Bishop passed in front of the bookstore, he
scanned the utter destruction of the place through the broken window. Every shelf was over
turned and hundreds of books were
strewn all over the floor. The sales counter was smashed in several places. It looked like a tornado had hit the place. The Pizza Palace was in worse shape. Bishop could see a door from one of the walk
-
in freezers leaning against a table in the back. All of the chairs and tables had been randomly thrown around the dining area. Napkin holders, empty spice
jars,
and broken salt and
peppershakers
were everywhere. The cash register was in the street, evidently used as a projectile against the large front window.
Probably not a good time to call for
delivery
.

Bishop found the first human remains as he turned the corner. A delivery truck with signage declaring it belonged to United Parcel Delivery was lying on its side. The driver had been pinned underneath
,
and his skeleton somehow managed to show the man’s a
gony in death. The back doors w
ere open
,
and the
pavement was covered with dozens of opened boxes and shipping envelopes.
Someone had cleaned out the van, opening every single package.
Probably looking for cookies
that
grandma
promised she was sending.

As he moved around the delivery van, he froze. At the end of the street ahead of him
,
movement
caught his eye
. He peered through the night vision and saw a fountain in the middle of the student union. While there was no water shooting through the statue in the middle, evidently the surrounding pool still held some liquid because there were three people dipping a bucket. They, evidently, were as concerned about being seen as he was because the
y
kept looking around and were very quiet. After their bucket
had been filled, the three silently slipped
into the night.

Bishop back
tracked,
approach
ing
the stadium
from
a different angle. The combination of the overturned deliver
y
truck and
the fountain made this route
too dangerous
for Bones and David
. He
moved
back and down a few blocks
in a zigzag fashion, entering
a
n affluent
r
esidential area made up of ornate
Victorian
and plantation-worthy
houses that was fraternity row. Across from the frat houses was a city park running parallel for several blocks. Bis
hop crossed the street and ventured
into the overgrown park. He
was amazed at how quickly nature had taken ov
er what he remembered as being
manicured
,
golf course
-
like
grounds
. There wer
e patches of weeds almost waist-
high
,
and the once well-trimme
d shrubs rivaled Bishop’s height. As he strolled
the length of the park, he noted the overgrown landscaping
would be perfect cover to bring up Bones. He kept moving in the general direction of the stadium, listening and watching for any sign of movement at all. He was so intent on the surrounding
area that
he stepped on the first body and almost fell.