We Go On (THE DELL) (24 page)

It would be interesting to see how
they reacted to the death of their boss. My plan had gone right out the window
when Whittaker went for his gun and I didn't think I would be able to convince
his guy's that I hadn't started the gun fight. I left the gate area and went
back to the EOC. I wanted to talk to Nate to get his feelings on what they
would do now.

When I arrived at the EOC I found
Nate being briefed on our rules by Dave. I pulled both of them into the same
room where I had conducted the interview and told them about what had happened
at the gate. Dave didn't say much but Nate acted like he couldn't believe it. I
assured him that the events had happened just the way I said but he still
looked at me skeptically. When I asked what part of the story he doubted, he
told me he had trained with Whittaker for over six years and had never seen
anybody as fast with a handgun. I told him he was welcome to go to the gate and
look at the body. I was sure it was still there but first I wanted to know what
he thought would happen now.

Nate shrugged and started to pace
around the room. "If I had to guess his second in command, a guy named
Rodney McKay, another former Ranger would take his place. He is not as big of
an ass as Dick was. You might be able to talk to him."

Nate was wrong; Mister McKay was
even less willing to negotiate than Whittaker was. It may have had something to
do with the fact I had killed his old boss and then the tower guards had to
kill him and his security men again when they came back as Stinkies. We offered
McKay the opportunity to retrieve the bodies but they were left lying outside
the gate. He declined to meet with me and sent a message saying the only
acceptable outcome would be for us to pack up and leave. He would ensure our
safe passage out of the valley. Nice guy. We, of course, declined.

The situation deteriorated and the
next two weeks were spent sniping at each other. They were hoping the siege
would break us. We have lost three more security people and have killed several
of theirs. It's even more a battle of wills now to see who is the most
stubborn. Kat still bet on me but each time one of our people was wounded I
wondered if this was the right choice. After all we had made it this far and we
had built The Dell into our home. I knew we could do it again if we had too,
that was if they let us leave unharmed. That was a pipe dream. There was only
one way they would let us leave and that was dead, really dead.

On March thirtieth, McKay sent
word that we had until 8 a.m. the following morning to surrender the compound
or they planned a full assault. I talked the situation over with Jim, Dave, and
Camille. Dave and Camille both gave the same advice and for the first time Jim
was in complete agreement with them. Dave wanted to attack them while they were
still preparing their attack on us. His view was the best defense is a good
offense. We didn't have a choice so I told Dave to make the preparations.

At 4:30 a.m. on the thirty-first,
the entire security detachment was lined up at the gate. We had made the move
blacked out and a few people at a time to keep from alerting the observers we
knew watched us. We had moved some of our non-security folks to fill in inside
the compound. It wouldn't matter that there were no experienced people left
inside because if we lost this fight it was over for us anyway. We were going
all in with this option and to survive we had to succeed.

An MRAP with its 50 cal. heavy
machine gun was in the lead. Behind it came one of the seven ton flame trucks,
then two of the Humvee’s, the other seven ton truck, the third Humvee, and last
the second MRAP. Once outside the gate, we would spread out abreast and charge
across the intervening distance to the enemy positions. I wanted to roll out at
5 a.m. and the last thirty minutes dragged by like eternity. Finally, the time
to go arrived and the nerves I had been feeling disappeared. That's the way it
had always been for me. I might be scared or nervous during the planning and
the wait for an operation to start. But once the operation kicked off all those
feelings went away and it was all business.

I would direct the attack from the
lead MRAP and when the time came I signaled the gate guards to open the gate. I
wanted to hit them fast and hard and push them away before they had time to
organize and react. I told my driver to go and he hit the gas hard. I reminded
everyone over the radio to keep up and we rolled out of the compound. As soon
as we cleared the serpentine the vehicles behind mine started to spread out on
either side. Once everyone had taken their place we sped up and charged across
the field.

I wanted to hold fire as long as
we could in order to maintain surprise. That meant that McKay's people would
get the chance to fire first. We made it about two hundred yards from the cut
through the hills before the enemy woke up to our presence. When they became
aware of us they didn't hesitate. We were taking fire from dozens of positions.
Our gunners had been instructed to fire at the muzzle flashes and they zeroed
in on the enemy positions with precision. As our rate of fire increased the inbound
fire decreased. We were having an effect and the enemy positions were being
silenced.

Once we were closer and the flame
weapons came to bear they had an immediate effect. The soldiers in front of us
broke and began to retreat through the cut. My plan was to pursue them as long
as we could maintain contact. I wanted to hurt them and hurt them badly.

As we reached the cut our vehicles
had to converge back into trail formation. This didn't go as smoothly as I'd
hoped and we lost contact briefly. My constant yelling on the radio to keep up
finally worked and we were able to reengage. The narrow portion of the road was
only about three hundred yards long and was a perfect place to set up an
ambush. I wanted to get through that area quick as possible even if it meant we
bypassed some of the enemy. We could always mop up after the main force was
broken.

My vehicle exited the narrows and
we were back in the open. I told my driver to slow down so the other vehicles
could re-take their places abreast of my vehicle. About a mile down the road
there was an old farm house on the right side. I could see lights around this
house and suspected they were using it as a command post. That would be our
primary target. All of the retreating soldiers were headed toward it and we
pursued them relentlessly. So far the attack had gone nearly flawless. We had
taken some hits but none had disabled a vehicle and we had no casualties yet. I
kept hoping this would work.

We rolled forward at about ten
miles an hour so it took us several minutes to reach the farm house. As we came
in range we engaged the vehicles parked around the old house. Some were trying
to get under way, others were being loaded. We showed no mercy and fired at
anything and everything. McKay's people were taking heavy casualties and their
response fell apart as they tried to get away from our overwhelming fire.

I sent the flame trucks forward
and told them to burn the house. It was quickly accomplished and the house was
an inferno within minutes. The gun trucks continued to engage the opposing
vehicles and personnel. The remaining enemy tried to scatter and evade away
from us. The Humvee’s were the most maneuverable and I told them to hunt down
and kill any of those trying to escape. My vehicle and the flame trucks stayed
at the farm house to ensure no one escaped.    

I hoped Dr. Dumont was in the
house when we engaged it. I was sure if she survived our attack she would
eventually come back to haunt us again. The house was now completely engulfed.
Anyone still inside was surely dead. I directed the men operating the flame
weapons to burn the vehicles and they directed the gouts of flame at them.

I took a radio call from Dave in
one of the gun trucks and he told me that the soldiers he had been pursuing had
made it into the trees and he was breaking off. I asked how many had escaped
and he responded that about twenty had gotten away from them. That was more
than I had hoped but there wasn't much we could do about it now. I knew we had
killed a large number and we were momentarily safe from the expected morning
attack. They might be able to regroup but I doubted they would have the numbers
to be able to force the issue with us.

I told Dave to let them go and
rejoin us at the house. He told me he would and I ordered our vehicles to back
away so we could observe for any of the enemy that remained. We stopped about
three hundred yards away and continued to hunt for survivors. As I watched, the
house fell in on itself and the flames shot hundreds of feet into the air. No
one could live in there and the firing had dwindled to nothing. Less than an
hour after the attack started it was finished.

I kept everyone ready for a
counter attack for another half hour but nothing happened. At around 6:30 a.m.,
I called the operation complete and we headed back to The Dell. We came through
the cut back into the valley and for the first time I felt a sense of relief.
Maybe it was over. If we had successfully broken the siege we would be safe for
a while.

The rest of the day was spent in
anticipation of a counter attack that never came. That evening when I went home
to our little cottage Kat met me at the door. She asked how things had gone and
I told her I thought there was a good chance we had beat them. She smiled. "I
told you that you were the most stubborn." I laughed and she hugged me. We
stood like that for several minutes and it felt good to be in her arms again
without the worry of an impending attack. I felt as if a weight had been
lifted.

The next several days were just more of the same. Waiting
for an assault that didn't come and hoping it never would. After a week of this,
I finally decided that it was time for us to get back to our regular schedule.
On April eighth, we sent a foraging party out with a large security detail.
When they returned they told me about run in’s with Stinkies that had been part
of McKay's group. There had been no other sign of our enemy. Whatever had
happened to the survivors of our attack, they were no longer around the Dell.

It was finally over. I couldn't believe how lucky we had
been. After all the worries, all the fear, we had beaten Dr. Dumont and her
mercenaries. We had overcome fear, death, and despair. We had risen to meet
every challenge and our confidence was high but I was still unsure of the
continued success of The Dell. One thing I was sure of, we would continue to
struggle; to fight and we, the human race would go on.

Now it’s time to see what comes next.

STEPHEN WOODS
is a retired US Army Special Forces
soldier and a former police narcotics detective. Stephen currently works as a
Police Advisor to the US Army in Afghanistan. An avid zombie fan,
We Go
On
is his first book.