The Fall of America: Enemy Within (Book 3) (10 page)

They moved north and in less than a mile, one of the privates tapped Rusak on the shoulder.  When the Sergeant Major turned, the man was pointing a brass wire tied to a tree. Following it out a ways, he saw it was stretched across the roadway. He knew if a man on a motorcycle struck the wire, he'd be decapitated, or seriously injured. Pulling his sheath knife, he cut the wire.

Two miles later, Babin, who was in front stopped and motioned the Sergeant forward.  Without speaking a word, he pointed at four Americans digging a hole beside the highway.  About ten feet away, laying in the grasses, was a Russian 113
Kilogram
bomb. The Sergeant Major motioned for the men to get down lower in the bushes.  

Taking an old SKS rifle from one Private, he waited for the partisans to pick up the bomb.  Then, he thought,
It is not like a bullet will cause the bomb to blow up, so I will toss a couple of grenades when they are near the hole. If a grenade does not cause it to explode at least I will get the partisans.

An hour later, the hole was completed and the men walked to the bomb. They'd secured the explosive with two green oak limbs, making it easier to pack, and each man picked up an extension of the limbs and lifted.  When they neared the hole, Rusak threw the first grenade and it landed right under the bomb and then the second grenade landed within a foot of the other. The Americans seemed confused for a second and then one yelled what must have been a warning. The first grenade exploded and then the second, follow by a huge explosion that knocked leaves and small limbs from trees.  Dust, smoke and debris filled the air.

Minutes later, after the dust cleared, there was a fine red mist in the air, which the Sergeant knew was blood. There was no sign of the four men or the bomb and all that remained was a smoking hole, with blood in scattered pools on the ground.

“Let us move and do the job fast. We have no idea who heard that noise and may come to investigate.” Rusak said as he handed the SKS back and took his Bison. As they moved his ears were ringing from the explosion.

Colonel Alvang had the American Colonel released as soon as the prisoners he'd named were confined.  He'd not been allowed to return to the gulag and a private soldier escorted him to the gate. He kept thinking it was all a trick, but when he actually stepped from the Gulag, he knew he was free.

Unknown to the Colonel, his interrogator was in a tower near the gate with a sniper. The Colonel stopped about six feet from the gate, looked over his shoulder and saw the guard was gone.  He checked the towers and saw no one looking at him, so he started down the road.
Even if they shoot me in the back, it's a better death than burning alive,
he thought.
I'd not put it past the bastards to shoot me either.  If nothing else, the six names I gave them will rid the gulag of those we didn't trust and some who are known thieves.

A hundred yards later, just a few feet from the forest a shot rang out and the Colonel collapsed to the ground.

J
ohn walked into camp, turned the directional indicator on and then moved right to Sandra,
Good God, no
, his mind screamed.

“What are you doing?” Sandra asked and then added, “What is that beeping?” Her face was scarlet.

“Baby, I can't believe you're the traitor.” John said as he moved the device up and down her body. Finally he stopped, moved to her, and pulled a bug, identical to the one he'd found earlier, from her left coat pocket. He held it in front of her eyes and asked, “What in the hell is this?”

“I found it on the trail, John, and that's the truth.”

“Sonofabitch! Do you take me for an idiot?” he screamed and Dolly sat watching the conversation closely, unsure why John had raised his voice.

Tom moved to his friend, placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “She might be telling the truth. Think about this, John.”

“Don't talk to me like I'm a damned fool, Tom, because we both know that didn't happen.  All this time when our hiding places were found, good people died, and I now discover my wife, my damned
wife
, is the traitor!”

“I want to know why, Sandra!” he moved toward her, but Tom stepped between them.

Tom raised both hands and said, “She'll get a chance to tell her side to Willy.”

John pulled his pistol and said, “Why wait? I'm torn apart by this, Tom. She's my damned wife and how many deaths is this bitch responsible for? Huh? How many? I love her, but I don't want anything to do with her from this day forward. Keep her away from me, or I'll kill her!”

Tom shook his head and said, “Margie, tie Sandra's legs and hands. Tie her hands behind her back and I want everyone to listen up. Right now, Sandra is suspected of aiding the Russians, but she has not had her day in a court of law. Until that time, she's to be guarded well, fed and in no way mistreated. Nonetheless, if she tries to escape,” and he met her eyes as he said, “kill her.”

John was sitting on a stump crying, with Dolly's head in his lap, and he was unaware he was petting her. The last person he loved on earth was a damned spy for the Russians. He'd trusted her, loved her, and thought they'd spend their lives together, but now she was likely to be executed for being a traitor.

His mind was going a thousand miles an hour, when Tom walked to his side and said, “John, I think she's telling the truth about finding the device. I'm sure Willy will decide fairly when he hears both sides.”

At the mention of Willy, John's head snapped around hard and he gazed into his friends eyes as he said, “I won't talk about this. I want nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, to do with her. From this second on, I wash my hands of her. Y'all can feed her, beat her ass up, or even kill her and I won't try to stop you.  She did this, knowing full well our people would die.  How—could—she—do—this?”

“I don't have an answer. Hopefully, we'll turn her over to Willy in a day or two and he can deal with the issue. The truth will come out then.”

John turned to face Tom, his face wet with tears and his red-rimmed eyes reflecting his anguish. Tears flowed from his eyes and down his cheeks as he said, “She . . . was my . . . wife and I love her.  I . . . I'm . . . alone now.” He sniffled and then continued, “All I have . . . left now is . . . Dolly.  I'm alone . . . Tom, completely . . . alone. How could any American . . . do this to others?  How!”

Tom said, “That's enough of this feeling sorry for yourself bullshit. I can fully understand your grief, as well as your shock.  Remember, I had to deal with death too, but we haven't heard her side of the story yet. Besides, we don't even know if she's guilty.  Now, find something to keep your ass busy for a while.”

John, pushed his fears and grief aside as he asked, “Don't you think we should be moving?  This is the last known position the Russians have of us and when the squad we killed fails to radio in, they'll come looking.” He then wiped his running nose with the back of his hand.

“Good point. Margie, rig a stretcher for Esom, because we'll have to pack his ass out.”

“What about Sandra?” Mollie asked.

“Untie her feet and run a rope around her neck and keep the other end in your hand.  Keep her hands tied, but put her pack on her and tie her hands in front of her. Make the rope around her neck a slip-knot, so it'll be easier to control her. I don't want her mistreated, in no form, but like I said before, if she runs, kill her.”

Twenty minutes later, they were moving through the woods, with Tom on point and Margie on drag. Each wore NVG's, except Sandra, and seeing in the dark was easy now.  Tom spotted a huge buck standing on the edge of a field and appreciated the beautiful animal, even seeing it with the green tint of the goggles.

As they moved, Margie planted mines and set traps for anyone who would follow them. Often the Russians would send a dog handler and his animal to follow partisans. Some dogs, but not many, would identify mines by smell, so she only planted a couple of explosives. Her primary goal was to make anyone following them slow down and use extra caution, thus giving her group more time.

They moved throughout the night, stopping every hour for a few minutes of rest. While Esom wasn't a huge man, his weight grew heavy when carried by two people, so John had Sandra's hands untied and gave her a shift of packing the litter.

An hour before daylight, Tom stopped and then after a few minutes he returned to the group and said, “I have a crossroads about a hundred yards in front of us and it's manned by a Russian T-90.  I saw no other troops in the area.”

“We can go around it easily enough.” John said.

“True, but isolated like it is, I would really hate to pass up a good target like this.”

“It only has a crew of three, right?”

“Yep and it's very likely all three are inside asleep.” Tom said.

“Let's you and me move to the tank and drop a grenade down the hatch. I've yet to see a crew sleep with a hatch closed. I just hope they're really alone or we'll end up dead meat.”

“We'll circle the thing first, but we need to hurry, because it'll be daylight within an hour.”

“Let's go, and you take the left and I'll take the right side. We'll approach the tank from the rear.  Once on top, we drop two grenades down the hatch and then haul ass.”

As he moved, John scanned the countryside with his goggles, but saw no additional troops. It was when he was beside the tank that he saw a track was off and broken. Behind the tank he spotted a blast hole, and most likely a mine had exploded, damaging the track. He soon met with Tom.

“I saw nothing.” Tom whispered.

“Clean on my side too.”

Pulling two grenades, Tom handed one to John and said, “Move quickly and quietly. At the hatch, do not hesitate and drop your grenade as soon as possible. It's likely the munitions will cook off the fuel, so be moving fast before the grenades explode.”

“Don't worry about me, I'll be getting the hell out of Dodge. I've seen a few tanks go up and I don't want to be anywhere near when it blows. Now, let's move.”

At the rear of the Tank they each moved to a different side and then climbed up. Moving slowly and placing their feet quietly, they were soon near the hatch. John could hear one man snoring in the tank, as he pulled the pin and waited for Tom.

Once ready, both men held the their grenades side by side and then dropped them.  When they struck the floor, a loud clang-clang was heard.  As they jumped from the tank, a Russian was heard screaming. The drivers hatch flew open but before the crew could move, there came two explosions, one a second later than the other. Glancing over his shoulder as the first grenade exploded, John saw flames shooting out the drivers hatch and the top hatch. Beyond any doubt, the men inside were dead.  He broke into a faster run, knowing the gas and munitions were going to explode next, and soon too.

John had just reached the treeline when the tank blew, sending a huge fireball into the dark sky.  The turret tilted on it's side and then fell to the grasses beside the tank.  At this point, the munitions began to cook off.  Not waiting around, the group began to move south, and only the injured Esom kept them from running. The Russians would be pissed to discover they'd lost another tank to partisans.

Glancing back at the general location of the tank, John saw a large band of dense black smoke twisting into the sky. He knew if any Russian aircraft were in the area, they'd be attracted to the site.

Two hours later, as they neared the spot to meet with Willy, John turned the Russian directional finder on and almost fell over when it indicated multiple readings. One reading was off in front to them, but a louder one was coming from his own group.  

He called Tom to him and said, “Look at this shit.”

Tom turned to the his group and said, “Every damned one of you stand still.” When John approached the group his loudest reading came from Mollie. He had the others step aside and noticed no reading from them once away from her.

“So, the traitor is really you, isn't it, Mollie?” Tom asked.

Mollie lowered her head and began to cry. After a minute or so, she raised her head and said, “They have my parents, both of them, in a gulag. They threatened to kill them if I refused to work with them. They're all I have of my family still living. When I was found by y'all in the outhouse hiding with my son, I was already carrying a beeper for the Russians.”