JAA Ch. 01: Aftermath

"Twenty minutes 'til mount up, dear."

"I know sweetheart, I know, be down in just a minute. You know I love you, don't you."

"Yes, dear heart, I do. I also know you love him too." George was gone before Michelle could react to that statement.

Michelle hurried and collected her equipment and rushed downstairs. Fifteen minutes later, she was sitting in the back of a hummer leading the convoy down the road.

Ten hours later, they were barely closer to their destination than that morning. There had only been one occupied barricade in their path but five blocked underpasses kept them from any kind of speed.

The occupied barricade took them about an hour to dig out the occupants. The convoy caught up with them before the fighting started. Waylon had tried to negotiate with them for half an hour before they started taking pot shots at him. He pulled back over the rise, Cappy and he were talking when the convoy arrived. Becker was the first to get there. Then the rest showed up ten minutes later.

Michelle ran up to where Cappy and Waylon were discussing their strategy.

"What's going on?' she asked.

Cappy looked at her while nodding to Waylon.

"Do it then. We're trying to find a way around these clowns."

"Oh. Any luck?"

"No. All roads around here are blocked with debris, looks like we'll have to take them out."

"Oh."

The dull thump of the mortars started just as Michelle turned to return to her hummer. Five thumps came from the mortars before the explosions started on the barricade. Within minutes, the barricade was a tangled mass of metal and concrete. As Michelle watched in horror, three white flags popped up and started waving.

Waylon and fifteen men started slowly forward toward the barricade. Twenty or so people came from out behind the junk that had been a barricade. The one in charge slowly approached Waylon and asked to speak to the man in charge.

"That would be me at the moment."

"You, in charge of all these white men," the guy said.

Linda was closest to him and her rifle stock slammed into the side of his head, hard.

"I'm not a man, asshole," she shouted glaring down at him.

"Bill shut up before you get us all killed. You'll have to excuse him, sir, ma'am, he is sort of a throwback."

Waylon chuckled as Cappy stepped forward.

"If you can behave yourselves you can join us. If you can't you might as well stay here," Cappy said looking down at Bill. Linda was still standing over him glaring. Cappy grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Bill climbed to his feet and just stood there glaring at all of them.

"He'll do whatever I say, sir..."

"Cappy, my name is Cappy. This here is Waylon and that little lady..."

"She ain't no lady..." Linda stepped forward jabbing her gun in his gut.

"...is Doctor Linda Taylor."

"Doctor, you have to be kidding..." Linda again jabbed him in the gut.

"Bill, I said shut up."

"Do we have an empty truck they could ride in?" Cappy asked Waylon.

"Yep, nice and clean too," Waylon chuckled.

"No, you can't put them in there, well maybe Bill can ride in that one," Cappy laughed aloud.

"No one laughs at..." His breath escaping his lungs as Linda shoved her rifle barrel into his gut caused him to double over in pain.

"I'm laughing at your asshole," Linda said to him as he collapsed to the ground.

"Now Linda, we don't want to kill anyone right now. Maybe you can play with him later. You, Bill, get your ass up and Linda will show you which truck you're riding in." Cappy could not help himself as he broke out in laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"What's your name?"

"Jim."

"Well Jim, the truck Linda is taking him too has a squad of marines in it, all black," Cappy told him with a smile.

"Shit, he is going to have a heart attack." Jim laughed aloud at his friend's predicament.

"Get in dumbass," Linda ordered him.

Bill flipped the corner of the rear cover up and almost fell off the back of the truck.

"He's riding with you guys," Linda told them.

"Here let me give you a hand there, mister."

"I don't need no help from no..." Linda's rifle barrel in his ass stopped him from making the biggest mistake of his life.

"You just ease up in there, real nice Bill and Leroy will introduce you to everyone."

Bill stood just inside the flap dumbfounded, looking at thirteen of the blackest faces he had ever seen. Leroy stepped forward.

"Bill, let me introduce you to my squad. I'm Leroy Jones, Chief Gunnery Sergeant, USMC Retired." Leroy put his arm around Bill's shoulders smiling as the flap dropped behind him.

Linda could hear Bill whimpering as she walked away from the truck.

The rest of the people climbed into a half-empty bus. Jim came with Cappy and Waylon. Linda was surprised as she climbed in the back of the humvee to see Jim sitting there.

"So Jim, what the fuck were you trying to accomplish with the barricade?" she asked him.

"That was Bill's idea, he and his buddies, which were killed back there, decided to throw that up and try and take for themselves. Didn't work out so well for them," Jim smiled at Linda.

"Uh-uh," Linda grunted. "Heard it all before, it was the other guy's idea, we were forced into helping."

"No honest..."

"Oh, just shut up and pay attention," Linda told him scowling at him.

"Okay, sure."

Cappy and Waylon climbed in and fired up the hummer. They were off.

Chapter 16

It was the third day of a planned two-day trip. Everyone was exhausted, hungry and depressed. Cappy and Waylon had not found a place to stay, like the night before, so everyone slept in a bus, truck or humvee. To say that not many got enough sleep would be an understatement. The gray sky overhead heralded the coming of a new day, even if it did not get much brighter.

"Cappy? You awake?"

"Yeah, I'm awake," Cappy, shouted from the back of the truck he had tried to sleep in.

"It's time to go, buddy, let's move it." Waylon pounded on the side of the truck as he walked away.

Cappy could hear the hustle and bustle going on outside. He could now smell what, probably were the last of the eggs cooking. Sitting up he rubbed his face in his hands and climbed to his feet. Stooping down he retrieved his weapon, pack, and started to climb out of the truck bed.

"Hey..." A muffled voice came from the pile of blankets Cappy had just thrown off.

"What..." The blankets flew up into the air, as Michelle appeared sitting up.

"You're not leaving without me are you?"

"No, of course not, when did you climb up here?"

"Last," Michelle started as she climbed to her feet, "night around midnight. You were snoring up a storm that's how I found you. You looked cold so I grabbed some blankets and climbed up here to cover you. You then grabbed me and pulled me down with you muttering something about getting shot."

"Geez, I thought that was part of the dream. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, it was kind of pleasant curled up next to you."

"Come on, George is probably looking for you. If not him then Kacy will be."

Cappy helped Michelle climb out of the truck. She waited for him to climb down beside her. They then walked to the center of the circle that the vehicles of their convoy made. Several puffs of dust jumped up out of the ground just ahead of them.

"What the..." Michelle did not have time to finish her question as Cappy was pushing her to the ground behind the wheel of a bus.

"Incoming!" Cappy shouted, firing his rifle into the air. Several bullets impacted the side of the bus just above their heads.

Cappy pushed Michelle under the bus as several more rounds popped into the side of the bus.

"You stay there...move back so you are out of sight is that clear?"

"I'm going to be needed so I might as well come with you."

Cappy shook his head then grabbed her hand and dragged her out from under the bus. He pulled her to her feet and pulled her along after him as he ran across to the truck opposite them. Waylon met them there as four of his marines laid down cover fire.

"Do we know where they are?"

"No. I think it's just one person, maybe two. Their using silenced weapons, probably pistols."

"That's my guess too."

"Smith and Sketcher are out working their way to them. We should know something soon."

Linda came running up to Cappy and sank to one knee.

"Any wounded?"

"Not yet, thank god," Cappy answered her.

She sank down to a sitting position and relaxed. Michelle all hunched up next to the bus and looking tight as a drawn bowstring shivered in the cold dawn air. Cappy smiled at her and nodded toward Linda. Michelle scrunched her face up and raised her eyebrows.

"He wants you to relax like me. They are obviously bad shots and there is little chance we'll be hit sitting behind these wheels." Linda smiled at Michelle while patting her on the arm.

Michelle smiled back as she too sat and relaxed. They all jumped at the sound of automatic weapons firing at some distance. Then muffled shouts were heard and more firing.

"Street Gang to base... " the radio in Waylon's hand crackled.

"Base, go."

"We have two in custody. They're just kids, we are going to need some backup, there are adults, or so the kids say."

"Roger. You four out there and give them a hand. Backup on the way." Waylon got up and started to follow his men.

Cappy got up as did Linda and Michelle. Cappy started to say something to them then thought better of it. It took them five minutes to reach the site where the kids were. What they found was startling. The kids had been using automatic silenced sniper rifles.

"We were damn lucky they were lousy shots," Cappy told Waylon as they looked over the rifles.

"I bet you couldn't hit a moving target at that distance," the older of the two kids said in a snide manner.

"Do you see that pine tree with that lone pine cone on the other side of the bus you were shooting at?" Cappy asked them.

"Yeah."

Cappy put the rifle to his shoulder and pulled the trigger. The pinecone exploded into dust.

"Now shut up and tell us where your parents are."

Ten minutes later the little group reached the kids camp, the six marines took covering position while Cappy, Waylon, the Doctors along with the two kids walked casually into camp. At first, no one noticed.

"Are these two yours?" Cappy said to the camp at large.

Every man in camp jumped up and went for their side arms. Six shots rang out spraying dust at their feet.

"Don't even think about touching those weapons."

"Who are you?" a big man standing by the fire asked.

"We were camped two klicks from here when these two decided it would be sport to started taking potshots at us."

"But who are you? The law? The military?"

"Does it matter who we are? These two could have killed some innocent man, woman or child."

"Well if you're not the law or military get the fuck off my land," the man yelled turning and drawing his weapon. A single shot rang out as he completed his turn. The bullet whizzed past Cappy's ear as a hole appeared in the man's forehead.

"Dumbass," whispered Michelle as she scanned the rest of the crowd around the fire.

Two others went for their guns, they died by the gunfire from the hidden marines. Three other men with side arms raised their hands and stood perfectly still.

"You two go stand over there," Cappy pushed the two children toward the fire. "The rest of you, very slowly take your weapons out and drop them on the ground. Then take four long steps back."

"Street Gang, collect the weapons," Waylon shouted.

Six huge marines stepped out of the brush, weapons at the ready and started collecting weapons. Three men attempted to stop them. The Marines brushed them aside. When they had all the weapons, the Marines carried them all past Cappy and the rest back toward the convoy.

"Your weapons will be two klicks to the east, you can't miss them there will be a fire beside them. The clips and ammo will be five klicks to the south, there will be a pole with a white flag beside them. The firing pins will be in a box, in a hole with a red flag flying above them five klicks further on. I see any of you again I will not hesitate to defend myself or mine with deadly force as fast as I can." Cappy waved Waylon, Michelle, and Linda back. He then backed slowly the way the Marines had gone.

As they made their way back to the convoy, they could sense the presence of the others in close pursuit. Not close enough to cause alarm but close enough to prove a distraction. It took twice as long to traverse the two klicks. The last four hundred meters the group sprinted, the flat and open ground from the foothills to the convoy.

As the engines turned over and exhaust started to rise from the convoy, about a dozen men came charging out of the hills. The chatter of a fifty and explosions at their feet caused enough confusion that they all halted as the convoy rolled out. Two hummers remained after all the other vehicles had departed.

The men in the rocks stood watching as the ammo and firing pins were stripped from their weapons, then dumped out the back of the hummers. The hummers accelerated away from the pile of weapons chasing the line of vehicles disappearing to the south.

Fifteen men ran out from behind the rocks toward the pile of useless weapons. Each man picked two off the pile, a pistol, and a rifle. Then, with determined looks on their faces, they turned south and started at a trot after the vehicles.

"Do you think we'll see them again?" Waylon asked.

"Probably, they didn't seem afraid of us."

"Maybe they're just too stupid to be afraid," Linda said.

"No, they didn't look stupid, ignorant maybe but, not stupid."

The two humvees swept past the convoy of buses and trucks and hummers. Once out front, they accelerated away.

By two o'clock that afternoon the two hummers were slowed to a crawl as a mist so thick that you could not see more than twenty feet in front of you, had moved over the road they were traveling. They were now sixty klicks from their beginning point for that day. They had dropped the ammo and firing pins just as they had said. Now Cappy wished he had not.

At the next exit, they crossed, they left one hummer on the road to divert the convoy off at that exit. Cappy and Waylon went on ahead to see if they could find somewhere defendable. They stumbled upon a place that would be perfect for their purposes if the need arose. Cappy, Linda, Larry, Dave, and Jeff stayed to scout out the place, while Waylon went back to lead the convoy.

"Jeff, Larry, see if there is any fuel left in the tanks. Dave, see if you can find a generator on the premises. Linda, you're with me."

Cappy walked up to the front door of the giant truck stop and pushed on the doors. They opened silently. Linda immediately went into a crouch, weapon aimed, eyes wide. Cappy took one step inside the door, then two more and relaxed. If anyone were going to shoot, it would have happened already. Cappy heard a gasoline engine sputter to life as the doors closed behind him.

Lights started to flicker to life as Linda and Cappy walked through the huge store, restaurant combination. The other three quickly joined them.

"Let's start shutting down some of these lights," Cappy said. "Jeff, what did you guys find out?"

"All the gasoline is gone. The diesel tanks are half full."

"Great, when the buses and trucks get here, top off all their tanks, the extras too."

"Cappy, the garage is fully stocked with tools and spare parts and such. We may want to get our trucks and buses in good running order before we continue on."

"I don't know how long we'll be able to stay here, we probably have fifteen or more men on our trail intent on doing us harm."

"You really think so?" Dave asked for the rest of them.

"If someone killed me, what lengths would you go to for revenge?" Cappy asked.

"You know the answer to that question. Any and all," Linda answered for the group.

"So you think their loyalty is any different than yours?"

"No."

"Then they are behind us somewhere and could very well catch up with us sometime tomorrow if this fog doesn't lift. Don't do any repairs that will take longer than the rest of the afternoon. Clear?"

"Clear Cappy," Jeff answered.

Ten minutes later the convoy slowed to a halt in line at the diesel pumps. All the passengers went inside and those with the know-how and skill prepared an afternoon meal in the restaurant. It was twelve past noon.

The fog took five more hours to burn off. Most of the passengers had slept after their meal. The evening meal was prepared and dished out. Repairs on those buses and trucks that needed immediate help were finished. Within an hour after eating, everyone was ready to continue.

"Head 'em on out," Cappy called over the radio.

The convoy lurched ahead, heading for the interstate they had been following. They were only one hundred and ten klicks from their destination. They should be there in four hours, barring any problems.

"How much further until we're in radio range with the base?" Cappy asked Waylon.

"Another twenty-five klicks should put us in range."

"Good, good. We'll be able to let them know we're okay."

The two lead hummers waited until the convoy had left the truck stop. Then taking one last look around they rolled out and over to the interstate. They went back the way they had come to see if anyone was following their tracks. To confuse matters the two hummers circled the area of the exit then shot down the opposite exit. The two traveled down the frontage road weaving back and forth to make it look like many vehicles passed that way.

Turning onto a side road, they turned back toward the interstate and up onto the road four exits down. Waylon accelerated to the maximum speed of the hummer, which was about fifty miles an hour. Within twenty minutes, they were in front of the convoy. As the sky darkened with night, they had to slow down. Soon the convoy had caught up and was closely following them.

Cappy called a halt for the night at a rest area. They had traveled twenty-five klicks.

The night was black as Cappy sat in front of the radio.

"Sheppard Five Niner to Tango One, Sheppard Five Niner to Tango One," Cappy said into the mic.

"Sheppard Five, this is Tango One, go." You could barely hear Sue's voice from the speaker.

"Sheppard Five, Tango One, we are OK, everyone is healthy and looking forward to getting there tomorrow."

"Roger, understand arriving tomorrow will deploy welcoming committee."

"Roger, see you then Tango One. Sheppard Five out."

A light breeze ruffled the dry leaves that remained on the trees. The mist that had covered the road ahead of them cleared for a moment. The lead vehicle slowed as a shadow loomed up out of the mist in front of them. It was a cow! Standing in the middle of the road, quietly munching on some dried grass it had found to the side.

Cappy jumped out, as he had done so many times recently, and gently pushed the cow out of the way.

"At least this one is female," Waylon cracked wise from inside the hummer.

The last one had been a bull and had chased Cappy back around to the other side of the hummer. At least it was out of the way so the convoy could get through. They were in radio contact with their new base just five klicks ahead. They had told Cappy and crew that the mist would lift in about four to five hours just as it did every day.

Cappy climbed back in the hummer and they slowly crept ahead into the mist.