The Army Comes Calling (3 page)

     John was on the radio now.

     “Are you sure there’s not time to get the livestock under cover?”

     “No way, John. Even if everybody was all out here helping, we wouldn’t be able to do it.”

     “Ten four. Everybody stand your ground. Bryan, are you currently under cover?”

     “I’m hunkered down between two rows of corn stalks. It’s the best I can do eighty yards from the barn.”

     “Ten four. Are they still coming this way?”

     “They’ve stopped about a hundred yards away now. They’re hovering just over the treetops. I can clearly see the man sitting behind the machine gun now, and it’s definitely military. It says ‘ARMY’ on its side. It’s one of those helicopters you see in all the Vietnam movies.”

     Frank got back on.

     “Mark, Hannah… how long before you get back to the compound?”

     “We’re still half an hour away.”

     Frank and John looked at each other. They could tell from Mark’s breathless voice that they were rushing back as fast as they could.

     “Slow down, you guys. Don’t make little Markie’s first fishing trip something he wants to forget. You can’t make much of a difference from where you are anyway. Are you coming back the same way you left?”

     Frank didn’t want to mention any tunnels, in case they were being monitored.

     “Yes.”

     They would reenter the compound through an evacuation tunnel which exited under the floor of a deserted cabin. By doing so, they could return to the compound without the helicopter seeing them.

     “Ten four. Let us know when you’re home.”

     Bryan was on again.

     “Okay, they’re turning. Now they’re flying away again, in the same direction they were headed before. But they’re flying slower than before. I think they just wanted to check out what was in the compound.”

     John took the microphone and said, "I want to call an emergency meeting of the security council, in the dining room, right after dinner tonight.”

Chapter 4

     “John, what should we do about this?”

     “Well, there’s really not a lot we can do at this point. I mean, we can prepare for another invasion, but let’s be real. Those helicopter gunships fire twenty caliber rounds. They’ll tear through concrete and whatever barriers we put in front of them. We don’t stand a chance against them, if they come in here with guns blazing.”

     Sarah asked, “Do you really think it’s the Army? Maybe it’s just a rogue group of bandits, and one of them just happens to know how to fly a helicopter?”

     Mark replied.

     “Well, I think the Army would be the lesser of the two evils. Assuming that whoever is flying that thing has access to the airfield, then it would stand to reason they’d also have access to the munitions. So whether it’s the Army or bandits, we should assume that either one of them have way more firepower than we have.”

     Frank spoke for the first time.

     “Look, I know I’m new here. I’ve tried to keep a low profile because I still consider myself an outsider, even as much as you’ve gone out of your way to make me welcome. But this is something I need to say.

     “I was in Vietnam in the 1970s. I didn’t want to go, and they took me kicking and screaming. But I went. And I saw first hand what that machine gun is capable of. Frank’s right. If they came in here with even one gunship, none of us would stand a chance. And if they came in here with several it would be over in minutes.”

     “What do you suggest we do?”

     “I suggest we take steps to put provisions back into the mine. Restrict the women and children to the first floor for the next few days. Even better, restrict them to the east wing of the first floor. That’s the part of the building that’s closest to the evacuation tunnel.

     “We can turn one of the apartments into a cafeteria and deliver their food there. Another apartment can become a temporary school house. The basement, right down the stairs, will give the children plenty of room to play.

     “And I think it would be prudent to start having evacuation drills. I know you said you haven’t done that since the last battle you had, and that’s probably made everyone a bit rusty. A bit slower perhaps. And that’s a bad thing, because now when the alarm sounds they’ll have to stop and think about what they need to do. It won’t be automatic anymore. Stopping to think may only take a second, but that second could be the difference between life and death. If they rehearse the evacuation enough times, it’ll become second nature. People will run for the exits as soon as the alarm sounds, instead of thinking about it.”

     Hannah said, “I like the evacuation training. The other part I’m not so sure about. I think that before we restrict anybody’s movements, even if it’s for a good cause, we should discuss it between everybody and put it to a vote.”

     Sarah said, “I second that. No offense, Frank, but what you’re saying sounds a little bit sexist. The women contributed a lot to the past battles. We can do more than just sit in a room and watch the kids while we’re waiting for all hell to break loose.”

     “I’m sorry. I meant no offense.”

     Sarah went and hugged him.

     “I know that. It’s just that you’re a man, and men always have this first impulse to protect their women and children. And it’s admirable. Gallantry in action, and all that. And I think moving the school and the play area close to the tunnel is a great idea. I would just like to give the other women a chance to vote on your idea before we tell them they’re restricted to only a small part of the building.”

     John said, “Agreed. So we call an emergency meeting with everyone after breakfast tomorrow. That’ll be the first topic on the agenda. Any other thoughts, Frank?”

     “Yes. As I said, I’d put provisions in the mine. I’d also put half of the livestock and half of the seed stores in the mine, as well as enough feed to feed the animals for a couple of months. That way if they attack us and we have to bug out, we won’t lose everything. If they have access to helicopters, they also have access to a military base. So they don’t need our compound. They’ll likely come in and clean us out and then leave again.

     “If we hide half of everything, we can reconstitute the compound after they leave.”

     “Great idea. It’ll make taking care of the livestock a lot harder. We’ll have to go over to the mine twice a day to feed and care for them. But it’s a great idea.

     But the group didn’t have a chance to meet with all the compound’s residents. They didn’t even have a chance to wrap up their meeting.

     Karen, who was walking out of her greenhouse and toward the main building, suddenly called in on the radio.

     “John! Frank! Whoever’s at the desk! The helicopter is back!”

Chapter 5

     The Huey hovered over the compound for several minutes. John, against all good judgment, went up to the roof and watched. It was a very bold and possibly very stupid move. If they had wanted to take him out, a short burst from their door gunner would have done the trick quite nicely.

     John wasn’t even sure why he went up. He supposed it was to show the Army he wasn’t afraid of them. To show them that if they wanted a fight, they had one.

     Inside the safe room, it was deathly silent. The bulk of the compound’s residents were lost in their own silent thoughts.

     Many of them were wondering if they’d seen their last sunrise. Many of the parents were wondering if the children would be spared, and what might become of them. Many of the children were close to tears, but didn’t want to be the first to start sobbing.

     At the control center, Sarah was doing the play by play.

     “Still no other activity on any of the other monitors. Even the long range cameras show no activity on Highway 83 or Interstate 10. I still can’t see the helicopter, it’s still out of camera view, but I know it’s out there. I can hear it.”

     John didn’t tell anyone he went up to the roof. He’d left the security center without saying a word. The key players in the security center probably assumed he went to check on the women and children.

     The women and children certainly assumed he was manning his usual station at security, plotting his next move.

     But here he was, standing on the roof, glaring at the invaders who’d had the nerve to violate the sanctity of their home.

     And wondering what the hell they were doing.

     He suspected they were looking for a place to land. But there just wasn’t sufficient space in the compound to do so. All the open space was now covered with crops.

     Perhaps they didn’t want to do damage to the plants. That might not be a bad sign, depending on their intentions. It might mean they were friendly, just paying a courtesy call, and didn’t want to do any damage to the property.

     Or, it could mean that they didn’t want to cause any damage to the wheat crop that would become theirs after they blew everyone away.

     After a few minutes the chopper suddenly rose and banked sharply. It flew directly over John’s head, and then hovered over the clearing at the front of the compound.

     Sarah gave an update.

     “Okay, the helicopter has moved to the south side of the compound. It’s hovering now, just a few feet above the ground. I can count three people in the back, and two pilots in the front.”

     Mark, Bryan and Brad stood with her, watching the monitors but not saying anything.

     John, before anyone else, knew they were coming to call. He was already off the roof, and working his way down the stairs, unbuckling his web belt along the way.

     He would go out alone, and unarmed. A handgun wouldn’t do him a lick of good against a machine gun. But it would give them cause to shoot him if they thought he was hostile.

     He might be walking into a death trap. But if that was their intention, it would happen whether he had his handgun or not.

     Sarah’s voice changed. She was obviously more excited now.

     “Okay, now they’ve landed. They’ve landed on the south side of the compound. The propeller blades are still moving, but slower now. Two men have stepped out of the back. The third man in the back is still sitting behind what looks like a machine gun. The two pilots are just sitting there.”

     When she paused, John took his turn on the radio. “One of you guys meet me at the walkthrough gate. I’m going out to see what they want.”

     Sami, in the safe room helping take care of the children, suddenly felt faint. She felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. Why John? Why her father? Why was he always the one putting his life on the line?

     Hannah recognized the cues and went to her friend and held her. So did little Markie.

     Mark tapped Bryan on the shoulder and motioned for him to come along. They met John at the gate and Mark said, “I’m going too.”

     Bryan said, “Oh no, you’re not. You have a kid. I don’t. I’m going.”

     Ordinarily Mark would have argued. But he had the sense there wasn’t enough time. And there was something in Bryan’s voice that told him he’d already lost the argument.

     John said to Bryan, “Lose your weapon. I don’t want to give them any reason to gun us down.”

     Bryan complied, and felt naked without his sidearm. But John made good sense.

     Mark called in.

     “Sarah, are we all clear?”

     “Yes. You can open the gate.”

     Sarah watched on the monitor and caught her breath as she saw her husband step through the gate with John. This was something she hadn’t expected.

     But Sarah was a trooper. She kept doing her job although her heart was breaking.

     “Okay, the two men standing outside the helicopter are just watching, like they’re waiting. John and Bryan are walking down the fence line, but they can’t see each other yet. Okay, now, John and Bryan are around the corner. They are approaching the helicopter with their arms stretched out to their sides. I hope you all are praying, because these guys need all the help they can get.”

     John and Bryan were within twenty feet of the visitors now. John immediately recognized the gold oak leaf insignia on one of the men’s brown flight suit. Sewn onto the other man’s flight suit was a blue eagle, its wings outstretched.

     Nothing on the men’s faces gave any indication whether they were friend or foe.

     John nodded at the man wearing the gold leaf and said, “Hello, major.”