The Revolution Begins (Molon Labe) (15 page)

Chapter 59

Whiteman Air Force Base

“Fire on the group attacking the main force
!!  Fire now!” ordered the watch officer.

Un
til that moment Airman Amy Adams had only been an observer, directing the actions of the drones only to watch and report.  The moment she dreaded most now came crashing to reality.  With a prayer for a miracle on her lips, she pulled the trigger that would activate two armed hellfire missiles, and likely end the lives of some thirty to fifty fellow American patriots fighting for their freedom.

Chapter 60

I could hear the drone flying in fast for an attack and knew the hellfire missiles would undoubtedly crush the life out of the charge the citizens of Queenwood had started.  Many of Queenwood’s husbands and fathers would die a fiery death.   I had just said a prayer for a miracle when the unthinkable happened.  The predator drone that had been flying in at top speed for a missile strike lost all power and careened off into a nearby hillside exploding into a fireball. 

Chapter 61

Whiteman Air Force Base

Amy tried her best to hide a smile and silently wiped back tears as she reported to the watch officer, “Sir we lost Predator 2.”

“What do you mean we lost it?
” yelled the officer.

“Sir, I
no longer have video feed from the drone, and overhead real-time satellite imagery shows that it crashed into a hillside. What are your orders sir?”

“Predator One
, fire on the small group attacking the advisors and then reacquire the large group and fire”, shouted the now irate officer.

Airman
Amy, now confident that her prayer had been answered sent the command to the first predator to fire and watched the satellite imagery to confirm its similar fate to Predator Two.  With pleasure she reported to the officer of its demise.

Amy could barely contain her excitement and quickly
placed a call to Jonesy.  When he answered he was sullen.  “Baby girl, I watched from my backdoor feed.  The program worked just like I planned it.  You did good to call me.  Now you have to get yourself free from this place.  The program is uploaded to all of the drones active and in service as of now.  As long as the GPS coordinates show that the drone is over the United States, they will execute a total system shutdown if anyone tries to use their onboard weapon systems.  Unfortunately the programing can be traced directly back to me.  It can’t be undone, and I’m proud of what we did.  I’m waiting for them now. They will know who did this immediately.  Take care of yourself Baby Girl. You’re a true Patriot! “

Amy
could hear the gunshots ringing out as the UN provided MP’s broke through the door to Jonesy’s office.  The last she heard of Jonesy was his voice reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  It was silenced by a gunshot just as he said the words “Under God.” She bit back a tear and placed the phone slowly back onto the hook.

Chapter 62

Two predator drones down in less than two minutes.  The Gods of War were fighting on our side today.  I thanked God openly for saving those people.  The sounds of the explosions re-energized the town’s people and Jimmie and Gerome started throwing grenades and advancing again. 

Chapter 63

Vincent was busy clearing away rubble from Doc Martin’s doorway when the second blast shook the mine shaft.  It took his breath but the concussion was not as severe as the first since he was further away.  Everyone had the same reaction.  They all placed their hands over their heads and ducked low.  When the ceiling stopped dropping rocks, they went back to work digging for survivors.

The smoke
in the air was causing Vincent to cough and making the rescue work very difficult.  Several of the engineers who had been coal miners erected plastic sheet barriers to keep the smoke from contaminating the air. Within five minutes the air was somewhat clearer and Vincent was moving much faster. 

Vincent
had grabbed a sledge hammer and was breaking rocks and pulling debris loose.  It wasn’t long before the smiling but scraped up faces of Doc Martin and Nurse Nancy were looking back at him.  Happy to see the two alive, Vincent doubled his efforts and managed to free the pair within another five minutes.  Vincent sent them directly to the triage area they had started near what was left of the mess hall. 

Captain John was almost unrecognizable from the dust and grime that covered his body.  He had been digging out as many people as he could and
had quickly come to the realization that his base was a complete write off.  He had to get these people out of here or they all would die.  Vincent was moving past him in the shaft when John reached out and said, “Situation report?”

“Sorry sir,
I didn’t recognize you.  There are too many dead in the training area to count.  Doctor Martin and Nancy are ok. They are heading to the triage area we started near the mess hall.  We have a large number of wounded.  We can’t get to the hospital.  There was a cave in outside of the entrance.  Allison, and Mack are still unaccounted for”, replied Vincent.

It wasn’t the news John wanted to hear but he took it in and started making plans right away.  “Get the able bodied to the surface from exit two if it
’s open, exit one if it’s not.  This place is going to be completely on fire soon, and I don’t want anyone in here when it happens.  Gather as many Special Forces guys as you can find and secure the exit. “

Vincent
went and gathered seven Special Forces soldiers and ran to exit two.  There he found one lieutenant dead and another pinned down by fire coming from outside the entrance. 

Chapter 64

Neil had ordered his two sniper teams to hold their positions and keep the remaining enemy pinned down.  He took Chad and Kyle and flanked the Asians on the high ground.  He had been shocked to see the predator drones crash and was now more determined than ever to get past these soldiers and in to find Allison.  Within minutes the three of them had acquired the enemy in their crosshairs and precision firing put an end to the enemy ambush. 

Neil rushed towards the door to be greeted by Vincent’s rifle barrel. 
“Damn son, you almost bought it”, said Vincent.

Neil who was in no mood to joke cut straight to the chase.
“Where is Allison?”

Vincent’s look told him more than his words
. “We haven’t located her yet. We think she may have been in the hospital.  The hospital is blocked by a roof collapse.  We’re working getting through it.”

Neil never heard the last of Vincent’s information
as he and Kyle rushed past Vincent’s team to aide in the debris removal.

Vincent stepped outside and Chad
gave him a report letting him know that the area was relatively secured.  He went back in and ordered his team to start carrying out the wounded. He then joined Neil and Kyle at the hospital shaft.  The three of them started digging like wild men, moving rock and debris as fast as they could.

Chapter 65

At the main entrance, the locals were dishing out considerable punishment to the UN soldiers that remained.  Justin and I climbed on top of the tanks whose tracks we had disabled. We deposited two incendiary grenades on each tank directly over the crew areas.  It took only minutes and the grenades had burned through the armor and into the crew compartment. The hole that remained was large enough for us to drop fragmentary grenades in on the occupants.  The tanks were now completely out of play.

We spent ten more minutes watching the locals destroy the rest of the enemy with their strange assembly of hunting rifles and military weapons.
As we watched, Justin and I shared a knowing smile.  While the atrocity of war was a new site to most of these people, they were now completely invested in their own freedom and liberty.  It was a shot of adrenaline in the arm of an ailing republic.  Although it was only on this local level, I could picture it happening all over the nation, and the thought gave me chills. I was moved completely to tears when Mark Jones, assisted by two of his neighbors, climbed on top of the burned out wreckage of a UN troop carrier. He slowly reached into his backpack.  What he pulled out was the flag I had seen folded neatly in honor of his fallen son.  He unfolded it carefully and attached it to his Garand.  When he lifted it as high as he could above his head, the forest filled with the shouts of victory and I found myself standing at attention saluting the flag I had pledged my life to protect and serve.

Chapter 66

Allison was worried.  The smoke had started to clear, but she still in the dark, and unable to move.  She could hear voices near to her, but the effort of calling out to them was more than she could handle.  She lay there going in and out of consciousness until she finally drifted into blackness.

Neil was the first to break through the debris and he shined a flashlight through the opening.  What he saw made his gut form into a knot.  There was Allison, on the floor of the mine.
She wasn’t moving, and her legs appeared to be pinned under a large wooden beam. What worried him most was the dark puddle beneath her side.  He continued clearing debris and calling out to her.  “It’s ok Baby.  I’m coming to get you.  You‘ll be fine.  I’ll be right there Baby.  Just hold on.” 

Kyle and Vincent were preparing for the worst and both knew
that soon they may very well have to console a dear friend.

“It’s OK Baby
.” The words seemed to be from a world away. Allison was feeling peaceful and never felt the rough hands that gathered her into a lap and held her close.  She never felt the hands clear away the hair from her face.  She never felt the tears that were not her own trailing down her cheeks as lips pressed against her own and forced air into her lungs. 

Neil was working furiously to breathe life back into Allison.  He refused to give up.  Vincent and Kyle had cleared away the debris from her lower body and revealed that her right femur was broken and the bone was sticking out just above her knee.  The bleeding had come from that wound.  Kyle was splinting it in place and packing the wound to stop the bleeding.  Neil blew in one last breath and never heard a more welcome sound than when Al
lison started a weak cough.  “Baby I knew you’d make it. I’m here.  Stay with me.  We’re gonna get you out of here.”

She
coughed and smiled weakly.  She squeezed his hand lightly as he kissed her forehead and felt the feeling of true relief. They were quickly joined by Doc Martin who had just one IV bag left and used it to start badly needed fluids flowing into Allison’s veins. They were beginning to move her when she spoke softly to Neil “Marcie and Tanner are still in there. So is Mack.  Don’t leave them.” Knowing that they needed to get out, but unable to bear the thought of leaving anyone behind, they returned to digging.

Chapter 67

Kyle was the first to see it. He kept silent as he could tell by the color of her skin that Marcie was dead.  Breaking through the wall of debris, Neil caught his breath only to look around and see an image that would be seared into his brain for life.  Marcie had been crushed by a boulder that had fallen from the ceiling. That part was difficult to look at, but not nearly as painful to see as the rest. Little Tanner lay curled at his mother’s side.  He had wrapped her broken arm around himself and died there. The tears on Tanner’s face were still wet although his cheeks were cold and his face an ashen color. Mack lay twisted and broken near a pile of rubble that he had moved to free Tanner. In his own broken state he had freed Tanner from rocks that had certainly caused major internal damage.  Knowing the child would die, and unable to help, he gave Tanner his last wish to be with his mommy.

Neil turned to walk away from the
horrible sight only to come face to face with Matthew who had silently joined the group to free his wife and child. Neil embraced Matthew and held him close as they both felt the loss.  Matthew dropped to his knees sobbing.  When he gathered up the lifeless body of his son and began sobbing, it was more than Neil could take.  He turned from the heart wrenching scene and headed for the exit. 

When he got there
Neil found Allison and just sat beside her, holding her hand.  He knew now that the feelings he had for her were more than just love.  He couldn’t imagine the pain of being without her. He would protect her no matter what. Chad walked by and placed Neil’s battle gear near his feet.  After a knowing nod and squeeze of the shoulder, Chad left Neil and Allison.  Neil opened his bag.  Packed at the top of the bag, lay a small carefully wrapped package of syringes and insulin, and a new child sized baseball mitt.

Epilogue

The base was a total loss and the fire that raged inside cremated the nearly fifty soldiers and civilians that lay entombed in its shafts. The townsfolk who had rallied to fight for freedom took us all in willingly and we accepted the offer.  We were battered and beaten, but this battle had been won.  The people of the town were proud. The knowledge that they could stand up to the enemy gave them strength.  We took twenty of the locals and forty of our own soldiers and returned to Camp Dawkins. This visit resulted in the elimination of the enemy contingent remaining there.  We dropped the charade of wearing enemy uniforms and rolled in to the base in newly acquired troop carriers and hummers.