We Go On (THE DELL) (22 page)

A very attractive woman with white-blonde
spiky hair stepped from behind the door and called the name Whittaker. Without
taking his eyes off me he said, "Yes, Ma’am." She started walking
toward us and told him to relax. He complied but his stance didn't change.

As she came up to the three, she
stepped around them to face me and with a big smile on her beautiful face. "I
would like to speak to whoever is in charge please,” she said sweetly. “I have
a proposition for him.” She continued to smile as I considered what she'd said.
Before I could say anything she asked, "That’s not going to be a problem,
is it?" I told her to wait a minute and I'd let the boss know. She nodded,
and I stepped back inside the gate.

The guards pushed the gate shut as
I stepped inside and I walked a few feet away so I could talk on the radio to
Jim without anybody hearing. Jim answered as soon as I called. I told him the
situation and what I wanted him to do. I wanted him to play the leader of The
Dell. I told him what she had said about a proposition and not to commit to
anything. He said he understood and would be ready. I went back to the gate and
motioned for the guards to open it.

I stepped back out and faced the
woman again. She smiled as I told her the boss would meet with her. She started
to turn and go back to her vehicle when I said wait. She paused and turned back
to me. "Only one vehicle and one security guard," I said. Before the
could speak the guy named Whittaker stepped up. "No way. She doesn't go
anywhere without a detail."

I shrugged. "No problem. You
have a nice day then." I turned and started back toward the gate. I was
about to step through when she said ‘wait.’ I paused and turned back to her.

"We need to reach a
compromise here," she said, the smile still glued to her face.

"You feel free to compromise
all you want, lady, but the boss said one vehicle and one guard. That's all
that's getting through this gate. You need to decide how bad you want to talk
to the boss," I said.

Whittaker stepped around and right
into my face as he growled, "Listen you fu..." The woman shoved his
shoulder before he could go any further.

She stepped back around him. "Calm
down Whittaker," then turned to me. "We don't have anything to worry
about, do we?" I assured her she was perfectly safe. She turned back to
the man named Whittaker. "See, it's safe. Our new friend says it is."
She turned back to me and flashed her best toothy smile. I smiled back and
nodded.

They loaded into the first vehicle
and I had the guards open the gate to allow them entry. I had Dave stay at the
gate in case anything happened while I was in the village, "Don't take any
chances," I told him. "They aren't here on a friendly visit. Whatever
they want, it's a good bet that it's bad for us so don't hesitate. If it looks
like they’re going for their guns kill as many as you can." He nodded and
I went to the ATV to lead the black Ford Excursion to Jim's office.

It only took a minute to reach
town and park in front of the Village Office. Jim waited outside and greeted
the woman and Whittaker, inviting them inside. I followed and continued to play
my part as security. A surprising number of people stood along the wall of
Jim’s small office and I could see a few were armed. I hoped we wouldn’t need
that but I was glad they were there. Jim indicated for the woman to sit as he
moved around behind his desk and took his seat.

As soon as she was seated she
introduced herself, "My name is Doctor Alanis Dumont and I work for the
Department of Defense."

Before she could go further, Jim
interrupted. "Who's Department of Defense?" She told him the United
States Department of Defense and Jim replied, "I was under the impression
that the United States government no longer functioned."

For the first time, her smile
slipped but only for a second. "Of course, the government’s functioning.
Why else would I be here?" she said.

"I have no idea. Why are you here?"
Jim asked.

"I'm here to purchase this
compound on behalf of the U.S. government,” she said.

Her comment caught me by surprise
and the only thing Jim could say was, "Huh?" Everyone in the room
looked at each other as if they weren't sure what they'd heard. We all turned
to her and waited.

She didn't make us wait long and
repeated, "I want to buy this place. I'm here to offer you a lot of
money." The smile came back and she did her best to sound perky and
upbeat. I still couldn't believe what I heard. Was she crazy? Didn't she know
what was going on? This was nuts.

Eventually Jim spoke. "Miss
Dumont, I'm not sure what you're talking about. What do you mean offer us
money?"

She started to look flustered as
if she talked to a bunch of simpletons. "Mister Holley, it’s simple. You
sell me this compound and I pay you money. You act as if you've never sold
anything before," she said trying to sound funny.

"I understand buying and
selling, miss. My problem is, what do you expect us to do with money?" Jim
asked, looking as confused as he sounded. The good Doctor seriously got
flustered. She started to fidget in her chair and the smile slipped as a pink
tinge crept from her neck up into her cheeks.

She looked at Jim. "I don't
care what you do with the money. Buy another place somewhere else. Move to
Florida and buy a condo for all I care, but you people need to get out of this
compound. It belongs to the U.S. government now."

Jim tried to keep his cool. "Miss
Dumont, are you aware what’s going on out there? There is not a U.S. government
and money is worthless. We have no intention of leaving this place. We just
finished building it."

Jim glanced at me and I nodded to
assure him he was right. Miss Dumont had evidently had enough of dealing with
us because she chose that moment to flip out. "Who do you think you are?
And it’s Doctor Dumont. I represent the government. You can't tell me no,"
she screamed, her face flushed red now.

I watched Whittaker intensely now.
I had a feeling he’d react poorly and I wasn't disappointed. As the crazy woman
continued her rant, he slipped his right hand down to the holstered pistol on
his hip. I had my right side turned slightly away from him and had already
eased my 45 out and held it against my right leg. As soon as I saw his thumb
unsnap the holster, I moved. In a split second, the muzzle of my pistol was
pushed into his right temple none to gently. "Don't," I said.
"If that pistol starts out of the holster, I'm going to put a great big
hole in your head." I think he believed me because he froze. The screaming
had stopped and all eyes in the room were on us now.

"Very slowly, I want you to
put your hands on top of your head. Nod once if you understand." I said as
I backed away from him a couple of steps. He nodded and his hands rose. As soon
as he followed my orders, I stepped forward and removed the pistol from his
holster. I tucked it into my belt in the small of my back and then told Jim to
call Camille at the EOC and get some security over here. Jim got on the radio
and did as I asked.

I looked at Dr. Dumont and
introduced myself. "Doctor, my name is Scott Williams and I'm in charge
here. Jim works for me." She looked at me with undisguised contempt but
didn't say anything. "There will be no deal. We’re not interested in your
money or selling The Dell. You will be escorted back to the gate. My advice to
you is to get in your vehicles and go back to where ever you came from and
leave us alone. You will not be happy with the results if you persist in trying
to take this place away from us."

Her smile completely vanished and
she no longer tried to hide the fact that she was totally bat shit crazy.
"Mister Williams, I intend to own this compound and I'm going to have it
no matter what it takes. I'm prepared to give you five million dollars. You can
either profit from this or I will see you all dead."

"Lady, get in line. You are
just the latest in a long line of people that want us dead. We aren't selling
and your threats don't concern me. Frankly, you can go to hell," I
replied. That pretty well ended the conversation and when the security team
showed up we shoved Dumont and Whittaker into their vehicle and headed them
back to the gate.

Once at the gate, I walked up to
the driver’s side of the vehicle and Whittaker rolled down his window. He sneered
at me and asked for his hand gun back. I pulled the pistol out of my belt and
looked at it; I hadn't looked at it in Jim's office. I was impressed; it was a
Heckler and Koch USP 40 caliber. Nice pistol. I dropped the magazine out and
pulled the slide back to eject the round in the chamber. Once it was clear, I
flipped it around so that I held the barrel and with all my strength I winged
it over the T-wall. Whittaker's eyes followed the pistol as it spun up, over,
and out of sight. I pitched the magazine in through the window so that it
landed in his lap. He looked down at the magazine then back up at me. He smiled
at me. "You know I'm going to kill you for that,” he said.

"Give it your best shot. Hope
you don't mind if I resist a little." I rebutted and motioned for the
guards to open the gate. I glanced past Whittaker to where Dr. Dumont sat. She
sat back straight staring out the windshield. Her teeth were gritted and her
face was flushed with anger. I couldn't believe I had thought she was
attractive when I first saw her. She was, in fact, a very ugly woman.

As soon as the gate opened I told
Whittaker, "Get out and don't come back." He didn't respond just
gassed the big vehicle through the gate. I told the guards to close it and
asked Dave to join me. He climbed down from the tower and asked what happened.
It took a couple of minutes to fill him in and he expressed surprise that I had
let them go. I told him I didn't want those two assholes here any longer than
necessary. He asked what I thought would happen next.

We didn't have long to wait to
find out. Before I could answer automatic weapons fire erupted all around us. I
heard rounds impacting the wood of our guard towers and looked up in time to
see the body of one of the guards tumble out and fall to the ground. He bounced
slightly and was still. I yelled for Dave to get on the radio and tell the
tower guys to take cover as I ran to the downed guard. When I reached the guard,
I could see blood running from several holes in his back. I rolled him over and
it was obvious he was dead. He was one of the Sea Bees that had just come in
and I didn't know his name. I'd have to tell Camille about the loss. It was
sure to hit her hard.

Dave's radio was alive with calls
from the guard towers spaced around the wall. I could hear the call for
evacuation of wounded and knew there were more casualties. The situation was
bad and getting worse as we tried to get our shit together. Whittaker's people
were trying to disable our eyes; to make us blind and they were doing a damn
fine job so far. If we couldn't see what they were doing then we couldn't be
ready for them.

"Dave we have got to get our
heavy weapons into the fight," I told him.

He nodded his head emphatically. "Yeah,
I know, but how? We can't shoot over the wall. The only way would be to open
the gate and send the gun trucks and MRAP out there and hope they don't have
anti-armor weapons." I considered what he'd said and he was right. I
didn't like the idea of going outside at all. I was trying to figure out what to
do next when I realized the shooting had stopped. I looked around noticing that
all the tower guards were down out of sight. I had an idea and wanted to test
it so I headed over to the ladder to the right side tower. Dave asked what I
intended and I told him. He looked shocked then responded with I’d get myself
killed.

I climbed into the tower staying
on my hands and knees to be below the top of the wall. Once I got set, I raised
my head and shoulders above the top of the wall and was rewarded with a burst
of full auto fire. Thankfully, I expected this and dropped as soon as I popped
up. With my idea proven, I climbed back down and told Dave. "They've
blinded us. There's only one reason they would do that."

"They're planning to assault
us," Dave finished for me. I nodded and told him to make sure that the
perimeter was covered. I wanted the gun trucks spread around our side of the
wall in case we had to fight inside the compound. He said he'd take care of it
and I took the ATV to the Security Office. At the EOC I told Camille about her
man being killed. She took it better than I expected and immediately turned
back to work. As soon as Dave showed up, the three of us started trying to find
a way out of this situation. It was dark before I knew it and I told Dave I
needed to go see about Kat. He told me he had it and that if anything happened
he'd call on the radio.

I took the ATV up to the cottage
and talked to Kat a few minutes. She fixed me a cup of coffee and added a
healthy shot of Bookers. After finishing the cup, I felt fortified and told her
I needed to get back out. She told me to be careful and I kissed her, grabbed
my rifle and vest, and went out the door. There was a spot on the wall that had
a slight bend in it due to the way the land laid. It’s the only blind spot in
our security and I had a feeling that Whittaker knew about it. If his people
were going to try coming over the wall, that would be the best place. I
intended to be waiting.