Survivors (36 page)
Authors: Rich Goldhaber
Vince told us the convoy had stopped with
one fourth of the column still north of the
Bayshore Road Exit. “You will all begin to fire on
my command. As soon as I say cease fire, we will
leave this position and move west along Bayshore
Road.”
Vince ordered, “Fire at will.”
Kneeling on the front seat and facing the
rear of the jeep, I picked out the nearest machine
gun truck and began firing. Tracer rounds from
our guns lit up the night sky. It seemed we were all
firing at the same truck, and it immediately burst
into flames. I saw a soldier on fire as he jumped off
the truck and fell to the ground.
I picked out another truck carrying troops
near the front of our position and emptied my entire round of bullets into the vehicle. It burst into
flames as the gasoline tank exploded and once
again men on fire jumped out of the deadly flames.
I loaded another magazine and picked out another
truck with a machine gun. It was firing in our direction, but our defensive position in the woods
made for difficult targets. I emptied another hundred rounds into the rear of the truck and the gunfire ceased.
Suddenly, Vince ordered cease fire. Bruce
steered us out of the woods and onto Bayshore
Road along with the other jeeps. As we sped off toward the west, I could see chaos within the column
of vehicles. Vince’s jeep was the last to leave and
he continued firing at the convoy. The enemy definitely knew the direction we were headed.
Vince said, “Good job everyone. There were
no casualties and we inflicted a lot of damage. As
soon as we get into position at the Walgreens parking lot, I’ll monitor their response.”
We parked our jeeps behind the protection
of a four-foot high concrete wall and waited to see
the enemy’s response. Vince was looking at his
computer and said, “Okay guys, we’re in good
shape. They’re moving their M2s back to Bayshore
Road.”
I thought about what their commander
might be thinking. The main road leading to the
campus was just destroyed. He would look at his
navigation system and see there were two alternative approaches. The first was to move east toward
Lake Okeechobee, but the next bridge to cross the
river was a good thirty miles away. The second was
to move west along the river and cross at a number
of other bridges closer to Fort Myers.
Our attack clearly sent the message that a
significant force was located west of Interstate 75,
and like many commanders he would probably
want to engage the enemy. Vince interrupted my
thinking, “Okay, they’re taking the bait. We’ve got
six M2s headed this way. They’re moving three
abreast with machine gun trucks following close
behind.
“On my command use your machine guns
and try to hit the trucks. I will fire one Predator at
the lead M2. I don’t want them to think we have
overwhelming force just enough firepower so they
commit their full force.”
We all heard the M2s approaching. They
were moving at ten miles per hour with the machine gun trucks immediately behind. Vince ordered, “Fire at will.”
I picked out a truck near the back of the
grouping and poured a full magazine of fifty caliber
bullets into its front cab and the machine gun in
the rear. Suddenly I heard the whoosh of the
launched Predator and followed its flight. After
launching, it moved vertically to a height of a few
hundred feet and then headed straight for the lead
M2. When it was directly above the M2, it changed
course and plunged downward into the top of the
Vehicle. The M2 exploded, and as the vehicle
burned, a few surviving troops crawled out onto
the road.
Another of the M2s spotted where our fire
was coming from and suddenly automated cannon
fire from their 25 millimeter chain gun began destroying our concrete wall. One of the shells hit a
jeep and it seemed to split into pieces. Vince yelled,
“Fall back to the next defensive position.”
He didn’t need to ask again as our remaining team sped further west. I could see Jessie driving the jeep in front of ours. I wasn’t sure which of
our friends had been killed, but I was certain they
were gone. We arrived at the junction of Route 41
and Bayshore Road and hid in the woods. Vince
said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have success; they
have moved all of their M2s up to the front of their
column and their entire troop convoy is now following the M2s.”
I could hear Vince talking to Major Connors. “Major, blow up the three bridges crossing
the river around Route 41.”
Thirty seconds later, I could see the flashes
and hear the explosions of the three bridges crossing the river near our location. The enemy column
came into view. They were moving three abreast
and Vince said he would take the middle M2, Bobby should take out the one on the left, and I was
given the M2 on the right. Vince said, “Get ready,
and tell me when your targets are acquired. I
turned my Predator on and found my target in the
viewfinder. I pressed the acquire button and I
heard a rapid beeping sound and then a continuous sound indicating the target was acquired. I
told Vince, “I’ve got mine.”
Bobby followed shortly afterward. Then
Vince said, “Fire on my command. Ready, aim,
fire!”
My launch tube vibrated slightly as my
missile was released with a loud whooshing sound.
The three missiles rose into the air and a few seconds later three M2s were out of commission and
burning.
That’s when the shit hit the fan. It seemed
every enemy weapon was trained on us, and
Vince’s jeep suddenly exploded and was catapulted
into the air. It appeared to have just disintegrated
in front of my eyes. There was a prolonged moment
of silence, and I then heard Sergeant Gomez say,
“The Lieutenant is gone. I’m taking command. Everyone move quickly to Del Prado Blvd. I want them
to see us head south on Del Prado. Does everyone
understand?”
I heard a chorus of yeses, and we quickly
moved out of the woods and back onto Bayshore
Road heading further west. The commander of the
enemy force seemed to understand we would hold
the advantage if we had time to get to a fixed position and fire our missiles, so their entire convoy
followed us at the M2s top speed. We could easily
outrun them, but our goal was to get them to follow us, and we needed to match their speed.
I heard more bridges blow up as we moved
forward, and now the only remaining bridge over
the river was the Cape Coral Bridge. We turned
south on Del Prado Blvd. with their entire column
in pursuit. There was the sound of sporadic machine gun fire, but we stayed just out of range.
We dashed along Del Prado Blvd. and eventually crossed over the Cape Coral Bridge. We
turned south on Route 867, and I could see their
entire column driving at full speed over the bridge
in hot pursuit. We passed through Fort Myers
Beach and moved onto Estero Island and then
quickly drove past Lover’s Key State Park, and we
finally raced across a bridge at full speed onto Big
Hickory Island.
We now tried to put as much distance between ourselves and the advancing enemy as possible. We were travelling at over sixty miles per
hour when we cleared the bridge at the south end
of Big Hickory, and to my relief, I saw a force of
over two hundred of our troops waiting in defensive
positions just south of the bridge.
I heard the distant sound of the north end
bridge blowing up and Bruce parked our jeep next
to Arnie Connor’s command van at the back of our
forces. I heard him scream, “Blow the last bridge,
but nothing happened. What’s wrong Private?”
has malfunctioned. I need another battery.”
Arnie replied, “Stay at your post Private.
We’ll bring you another battery.”
I asked, “What kind of battery?”
“Any battery will do.”
“Will this car battery work?”
Arnie answered yes. Without thinking I
jumped in a jeep and headed back toward the
bridge at the south end of the island. The bad guys
had already arrived, and our force was trying to
stop their advance with a combination of Predator
missiles and small arms fire. I could hear the
sound of the A-10 Warthogs approaching from the
west.
As I neared the bridge, I could see one of
Arnie’s soldiers waving at me. I changed directions,
and under enemy machine gun fire, I headed for
the soldier and slammed on the brakes as I skidded to a stop, almost running him over. He had
removed the wires from his detonator system and
was running toward me when he was hit in the
back. He fell to the ground. I found the front hood
release of my jeep and crawled over to the fallen
soldier. He was still holding the two wires. I pulled
the wires out of his hand and ran back to the front
of the jeep.
I forced open the front hood and looked for
the jeep’s battery. Luckily it was within reach near
the front of the hood. I reached into the hood and
felt a sharp pain shooting down my spine.
The force from several bullets had slammed
me to the ground. I tried to get up, but my legs
seemed frozen. I tried using my arms and was finally able to pull myself up and lean into the engine compartment.
I touched the wires to the two battery terminals, and I was tossed to the ground from the
impact of the explosion. I had done it. They were
trapped now on the Island. Stunned from the explosion, I looked up and saw Sergeant Gomez and
Jessie pulling me along the ground to the safety of
our front line.
Jessie was crying, and I looked down to see
both my legs were missing a lot of flesh all the way
down to the bone. It didn’t look good at all. Gomez
and Jessie removed their belts and tied makeshift
tourniquets around my legs to stop the bleeding.
I heard Jessie scream, “I’m getting him
back to the campus.” One of the jeeps was set up
with a stretcher in the back, and Jessie and another soldier carried me onto the back of the jeep.
Through my half-shut eyes I could see blood still
running down my legs. I knew I wasn’t going to
make it. Jessie sped off trying to bring me to safety, but I knew it was too late. I was feeling no pain,
just woozy, and the last thing I remember before I
shut my eyes for the last time was the horrific
sound of Captain Sanchez’s Cruise missiles striking the island with great precision and creating
complete devastation followed by the A-10 Warthogs screeching overhead. I was certain we had
won.
It had been three months since Jessie had
visited my grave. She wisely had me buried next to
my wife and daughter. I could always count on
Jessie to do the right thing. She looked somber as
she sat on the small bench overlooking our graves.
“Jim, It’s been a while since I was here, but
I wanted to update you on some things. First, Mary
said our baby’s a boy. I’m going to name him
James. Don’t ask me why; it was a weak moment.
“A group of us saw the USS Jimmy Carter
off on the continuation of its tour of America.
About half the crew decided to stay here, including
Ray Fleming. He’s excited about starting up a medical school.
“We just finished a second trip to Wichita,
Kansas. We signed our first trading contract with
their survivors. They’ll supply us with flour and
corn, and we’ll restore their infrastructure and
provide free college tuition for their students. It’s a
win-win for both groups.
“The governors and Arnie paid a visit to the
group just outside of Boston. The results were similar to what we found in California. They’re using
hydroelectric power from the Niagara Falls area.
Arnie will send up some of his people to help eliminate the usual suspects.
“Margaret is fully recovered now, and has
added news from the other survivor groups to our
newspaper. Oh and by the way, Blaine and Ami are
getting married.”
Jessie looked down into my grave and I
knew she was getting to the reason for her visit.
“Jim, I’m afraid. Everyone wants me to run for another term as president, and I don’t know if I can
deal with all the stress. They’re all insistent, so I
guess I’ll agree. My goal for the next year would be
to set up a loose confederation of all the surviving
groups, and secure our gasoline supply. That’s
probably enough for one year, don’t you think.
“Hunter and Jasmine both miss you. They
still talk about you every day. Hunter wants to become a doctor, and Ray has taken him under his
wing.
“Well that’s all for today. I’ll try to stop by in
a few weeks.”
As Jessie stood up and turned to leave I
yelled, “Remember I gave you the owl feather on
our wedding day. Use it to govern our community
wisely.”
I’m certain she heard me as she left, because she stopped and looked back at me with a
smile on her face.