Enforcing Home (18 page)

Sarge tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a headset that I put on, “You okay?” He asked once I had it in place.

I nodded, “Where the hell are we going?”

“Camp Riley up near Eglin.”

“What the hell is going on?”

“Colonel wants to see us; told me to bring your ass too.”

I shook my head, “Bring me for what? What the hell do they want me for?”

Sarge shrugged, “Hell if I know. He told me to bring my civilian counterpart.”

“Your what? I’m not your civilian counterpart. I’m not in any leadership position around here!”

Sarge replied curtly, “You are now.” He leaned back against the firewall of the helicopter, folded his arms, and closed his eyes.

I sat there for a moment staring at him, but it was apparent as far as he was concerned the conversation was over, so I turned my attention back to the view. Up as high as we were, the dawn came a lot faster than I would have expected. I watched the world below drift by, making note of the many small wisps of smoke I saw rising lazily into the sky. Nearly everyone cooked with fire now; and as their day began, the ritual of sparking a flame was once again the norm. A skill nearly lost to the incessant march of technology. It made me wonder how many people around the country died for want of fire.

Standing in stark contrast to those small wisps of smoke, were the billowing columns of smoke from several very large forest fires. I counted three, and they reminded me of what we’d just experienced. It made me start to think of the rest of the country. Out west, California in particular, suffered from severe fires in the summer. It was a safe bet that millions upon millions of acres were burning at the moment. Without man interfering to stop them, the natural cycle would take over once again. Fire was a necessity for nature and an inconvenience for man. This time, nature would win.

It was also very cool as high up as we were, which was nice. I looked the crew over; there was a gunner on either side of the ship. Both of them constantly scanned the landscape below. The machine appeared to be in very good repair. It was clean, and seemed unaffected by current events, unlike most complicated machines. Even the crew’s weapons were spotless. The feed chutes were filled with gleaming brass. It was like being in a different world, as if the recent past events had never happened. I settled in for the flight, having no idea how long it would last.

We flew for quite some time. I had no way of knowing how long because I didn’t have my watch on. But after what certainly felt like hours, a large complex came into view. As we turned to make our approach I saw two Apache gunships above and behind us. I’m sure they must have been there the whole time, and were responsible for ending the fight earlier. The Blackhawk continued its turn, eventually lining up on a runway. The pilot, in demonstration of sheer skill, set the bird down without even a bump. The pitch in the turbine changed and the crew started to exit.

A Hummer pulled up and I followed Sarge, climbing into the backseat. The driver didn’t say anything as he made his way through the base. It was kind of funny to stop at stop signs and traffic lights. Actual working traffic lights! I leaned forward and asked the driver, “You guys have power?”

He nodded, “Yeah, we got it back on about a week ago.”

“How?”

“Our engineers got it back up somehow. I don’t know what they did; I’m just glad to be able to take a hot shower now.”

“Is there a power plant here on the base?” I wanted to know how they did it, what fuel it used, and where they were getting it from. I had questions, and wanted answers.

“Like I said, the engineers did it. I’m not an engineer.” I wasn’t going to get my answers from him.

The Hummer pulled up in front of a brick building and stopped. Sarge got out and I followed him inside. Here too, it was like a different world. A young man in a crisp uniform sat at a desk shuffling through papers. As we came in, he looked up, “You First Sargent Mitchell?” Sarge nodded. The young soldier pointed to a door, “The General is expecting you.”

Sarge didn’t say a word and headed through the door. Once I came in and closed the door, Sarge boomed, “General! They just giving stars away now?”

The man behind the desk stood up, “The selection pool is shallow now.” He stepped around the desk and shook Sarge’s hand. “Good to see you again, Linus. Looks like you guys have been stirring the shit with a big stick.”

Sarge crossed his arms and rocked on his heels. “We’re doing what we can, but we need a bigger stick.” He looked back at me. “Colonel,” catching himself he looked back, “General, this is Morgan Carter, the local Sheriff.”

The man stepped up to me. “Sheriff, I’m General Fawcett; pleased to meet you.”

“Good to meet you, General. But if I may ask, what in the hell am I doing here? I’m not really even a Sheriff.”

“Yeah he is,” Sarge quickly retorted.

Fawcett smiled and gripped my shoulder, “Have a seat Sheriff.”

Sarge and I both took a seat, and Fawcett sat down on his side. Sarge looked around the room, “Nothing good ever comes from me sitting across one of these.”

Fawcett smiled, “Let this be a first then. You guys probably aren’t aware of the current situation, so let me fill you in. We’ve made considerable strides in securing the country. Assets that were outside CONUS were recalled, despite a lot of maneuvering from Washington. They’d hoped to keep those assets tied up and thus out of our reach. They seemed to forget we take care of our own.

“With the additional men and material, we’ve got the DHS on the ropes. I don’t know what they were thinking to begin with, trying to stand toe to toe. It’s been wholesale slaughter in places. As a result, they’ve moved into an insurgent posture. There are still a lot of them out there, and they are causing considerable trouble. Attacks on soft targets is on the rise.”

“We just had our first,” Sarge replied. “They hit a local market and killed a bunch of folks.”

Fawcett picked a paper up from his desk and put on a pair of glasses. “The joys of growing old,” he said, looking over the top of them. “You guys managed to take the camp down in Pine Castle and shipped the prisoners to Frostproof. But they never made it there.” Taking off the glasses, he dropped the paper back on his desk.

Sarge nodded, “Correct; and it looks like they’ve got some new friends now because they brought some heavy hardware in. Had it not been for your Apache this morning, I don’t know what we would have done.”

“What do you need?”

Sarge rubbed the stubble on his chin, “I need something that can take out the MRAPs when they show up. Ammo, lots more ammo. I have a small shopping list.” Sarge pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it across the desk. Fawcett looked it over. I can do most of this for you; maybe not the quantities you want for everything, but I think we can square you away.

Sarge smiled, “I appreciate anything you can do.”

Fawcett looked at me, “How’s the civilian situation?”

“We need medical supplies, lots of them. We have nothing left in the area. We also have a suspected TB outbreak and could use antibiotics.”

Fawcett’s brow furrowed, “TB? How many?”

I shrugged, “I’ve got one family quarantined right now, but I know others that are infected have passed through. The source was actually a group passing through. We were pretty sure they were sick, but had no way to quarantine them.”

The general noted, “We’re seeing major outbreaks of TB, Cholera and other diseases we haven’t seen in years, decades. Cholera is burning up the east coast and most major cities. California is a cesspool of disease. I can get you some antibiotics and some other equipment.”

“We need more than that,” I said shaking my head.

Fawcett picked up some papers from his desk, “You and everyone else. You’re not the only ones in a world of shit these days.”

“I know; I’m not blaming you. But I’ve got a bunch of people that were shot to shit by guys dressed up like your people.” I pointed at Sarge, “When the Guard showed up after the massacre, the crowd assumed they were the bad guys returning, and started throwing things at them. We had to take one guy to the ground that was about to shoot one of the Guard. If you can do something to show them you’re on our side, I think it would make a huge difference.”

Fawcett drummed his fingers on the desk. Picking up a clipboard, he flipped through the papers. “I can get you a field hospital with surgical capability.”

I was stunned, “That would be great!”

He held a finger up, “Don’t be so quick to agree; it comes with conditions.”

I held my hands up, “Let’s hear it. I’m game.”

“It will make you guys a regional clinic. People will be showing up for treatment, lots of people. It could also make you an even bigger target for the Feds. They’ll want to eliminate the resource. It’s part of what they’re doing all over the country.”

“I thought you guys had the Feds on the ropes.”

“We do in places, but it’s a big country. There are plenty of places we can’t deal with yet. We’re leaving the cities alone for now, concentrating our efforts on more rural areas. We’re making a big push right now in the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana.”

That confused me. “Why? There isn’t shit out there.”

“There’s plenty there,” Fawcett replied.

“Oil,” Sarge said.

Fawcett nodded, “Exactly; we’ve got an operational refinery in New Castle. It’s keeping us in fuel and other distillates.”

“Why not concentrate on the gulf? There are way more refineries there.” I noted.

“We own most of the Gulf already, but it’s taking a lot of time getting those larger facilities up and running. New Castle was in shutdown mode and wasn’t damaged nearly as badly, so we were able to get it up and running a lot faster. Plus, there are a lot of trains out that way we can use to move the product. Of course there’s still a lot of work to be done to get them running.”

I was surprised, “Wow, I had no idea. Back to your original point; we’re good with it. The DHS is already causing trouble. At least now we’d have a reason for it.”

Fawcett nodded, “Okay then; just remember this is a DOD asset. If the time comes that I need it, I’ll have to take it back. Just so we’re clear.”

Nodding, I replied, “I understand.”

Fawcett picked up Sarge’s note and looked at it, “Give me some time to get this together. I’ll also get to work on the field unit. Why don’t you guys go to the chow hall and get something to eat. I’ll send for you when we’re ready.”

Sarge jumped to his feet, “Sounds good to me, General.”

Fawcett looked at me. “Sheriff, would you mind giving me a minute with the First Sergeant?”

“Sure,” I said as I headed for the door.

I went out and milled around. The place was buzzing with people. It looked like your typical office; it could have just as easily been a mortgage company. The one thing missing though was the ringing of phones. Instead, there were a number of large green consoles stacked around. They looked a lot like Sarge’s Green Monster. It was from these the communications were handled.

After a bit, Sarge came out of the office and waved for me to follow him. I waited until I was outside to ask him what Fawcett wanted.

Sarge grinned. “Just to let me know the gloves were off, he said if we catch ‘em in military uniforms, we can execute ‘em.”

I laughed, “If you’ve had the gloves on this whole time, I don’t want to see what it looks like without them.”

Sarge winked at me, “You have no idea.”
Well that’s disturbing,
I thought. “Come on; we’re going to take a little detour.”

“Where to?” I asked.

Sarge smiled, “Want to check on an old friend of mine.”

I followed Sarge to a large fenced structure. A sign with an arrow read MOTOR POOL. “What the hell are we doing here?”

“I need a couple of things and want to visit an old friend.”

Sarge walked in like he owned the place and made his way out to a large shop. Stepping through the door, he looked around and shouted, “Hey Faggione! You in here?”

A barrel chested man rolled out from under a Hummer. He was on his back on a creeper looking up at Sarge. Taking a cigar from his teeth, he smiled. “You better not be here to tell me you’ve wrecked my buggies.”

Sarge smiled, “I told you I’d take care of them.”

Faggione got to his feet. The cigar seemed to be in perpetual motion, moving from one side of his mouth to the other. “Then you just dropped by to say hi?”

“I need some oil filters and oil. Couple tubes of grease and a few other things,” Sarge replied and handed him a slip of paper.

Faggione took the cigar from his lips, pinching it. Using it as a pointer, he gestured at Sarge, “I knew you wanted something.”

Sarge looked at the stogie in Faggione’s fingers. Pointing at he asked, “That’s not the same ones I gave you is it?”

Faggione smiled and looked at it, “No. Yours were good, but this, this is straight from Havana.”

“Cuba?” I blurted out.

Faggione nodded and Sarge implored, “Where the hell did you get those?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Sarge crossed his arms, “Try me.”

“We’re making flights down there, doing a little trading if you will. One of our loadmasters has gotten real friendly with a Cuban Colonel named Felix. We bring him some whiskey and he gives us cigars.”

“No shit! What kind of whiskey are you trading and where the hell are you getting that?” Sarge demanded.

Faggione smiled, “Come on Top, I can’t give you all my secrets. It’s business.” Faggione reached into his blouse pocket and pulled out a cigar, handing it to Sarge.

Sarge took the finely rolled tobacco and ran it under his nose, inhaling deeply. “Damn that smells good.”

Faggione motioned with his stogie, “Cuba’s finest.” He looked at the paper and then back at Sarge. “I can get this for you.” Smiling, he added, “And since I like you and you hooked me up in my time of need, I’ll add a little something to your order. On the house.”

Sarge cocked his head to the side, “On the house?” Faggione nodded. “Bullshit!” Sarge bellowed. “There ain’t no such thing as free!”

Faggione nodded his head slightly, “You’re a smart man Top; let’s just say you’ll owe me one.”