JAA Ch. 01: Aftermath

"Right, twelve then, six to a vehicle."

"Anything else Cappy," Phillips asked.

"No, no, good work Nick."

Cappy turned and left the radio room turning to catch up with Waylon before he gathered his team. Cappy had just decided to go with him.

"Waylon, wait up," Cappy yelled to Waylon.

"What is it Cappy?"

"I think I'm going to tag along, who were you thinking of bringing?"

"Mark, John, Phil, Paul, Larry, Simon, Luke, Ham, Will, Collin, Jones, and Clark," Waylon ticked off the names.

"Good, except substitute Susan for Clark, she has more experience and we might need a doctor when we get where we are going."

"Sure thing. Are you tagging along Cappy?"

"Yep, need to stretch my legs a little. I'll take Will's place."

"Humph," Waylon grunted.

They walked together into the community cabin where Waylon spoke to each of the men he had named. Cappy continued upstairs to the infirmary to talk with Susan. This will be the first time that she and her husband would be starting out together on a scouting patrol. She was sitting talking to Michelle when he entered.

"Sue, get your things together we have a little trip to go on. We'll be riding and Mark will be going with us, so...Michelle, can you watch her kids while we're gone?"

"Uh, yeah, of course," Michelle answered looking at Sue. "Tell him."

"No."

"Tell me what?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"You tell him or I will Susan."

"Fine, Cappy I'm pregnant."

"Oh congratulations, how far along are you?"

"Six weeks."

"Then you can still go on our little trip?"

"Of course."

"No, she can't, she's pregnant!" Michelle shouted.

"Is there a medical reason she can't go?"

"No, but she's pregnant."

"Michelle, if...if things weren't the way they are, would she be fit enough to go to work?"

"Yes, but..."

"Is she fit enough to exercise?"

"Yes, but..."

"Would she be healthy enough to run a marathon?"

"Yes but, she's pregnant, with child, and you want her to go out on a patrol?"

"So, is she healthy enough to go?"

"Yes, but she's pregnant."

"Susan, do you want to stay here?"

"No. I want to go on patrol with my husband."

"Go get ready. Michelle..."

"What?"

"I know you were just trying to protect your friend but, she is quite capable of protecting herself."

"I know. But she is the first since, since..."

"I know and I'm very happy for her but, she can still be a part of any team for the next couple of weeks, can't she?"

"Yes, of course."

"You are a dear for looking after her but, I need her now. You can go next time."

"Next time?"

"You bet, we've been on patrol before and we will again. I always enjoy your company. Now I have to go," Cappy said leaning down and kissing her forehead. He turned and stepped out the door.

"That was nice, what you told her," Sue was waiting for him with her pack and fell in step with him.

"It is true."

"I know."

The pair walked out to the hummers waiting in front of the cabin. Mark had saved a place for Sue in the first vehicle so she climbed in the back with him. Waylon was driving the first hummer so Cappy pulled the passenger door open only to find Luke sitting there. Cappy frowned and jerked his head to the left. Luke reluctantly got out and ran back to the second hummer letting Cappy climb in the passenger seat.

Waylon started the engine and put it in gear as Cappy closed the door. The two vehicles roared out of the compound toward the road that followed the stream running through the center of the valley. It would take them the rest of the day to get halfway to San Antonio.

"Okay, Waylon, in there, behind those trees is as good a spot as any," Cappy told him, pointing.

Waylon swung the hummer to the left and around a pole, over a curb and behind the trees. The second hummer followed. The engines turned off and the patrol members dismounted. Two of the men spotted a picnic table further up the trail and went to drag it back to where camp would be set up.

Susan and Mark pulled a cook stove out of the back of the hummer and set it up to fix dinner. Waylon and Luke pulled the two six-man tents out of the back of the second hummer and started to put them up. The other men secured the perimeter, staking out defensive positions if needed.

Cappy and John pulled the two MA2's out of their storage compartments and mounted them on top of each vehicle. They had not needed them so far but they would be traveling far from the sanctuary of their valley. The camp was set and dinner cooked in next to no time. They all sat around and watched the spectacular sunset.

"That is so beautiful. Too bad we had to suffer so much," Sue said.

"It is beautiful," Mark agreed.

"But," Cappy started, kicking Mark.

"What?" Mark yelled.

"...not as beautiful as you, my darling," Cappy finished for him.

Sue laughed, as did the rest of the team. Mark gave a sheepish grin and whispered in his wife's ear. She laughed even harder this time and kissed him gently on the lips.

"All right, watch one you're on. Watch two hit the sack. Watch three you're on roaming."

"Got it," the answers came from the three watch leaders.

Cappy, Waylon, Mark, and Sue were on watch three. So they could sleep, stay up or whatever as long as all of them did not sleep at the same time. Not hard for Waylon and Sue, as they hardly slept two hours a night, Mark needed a little more than that and Cappy when in camp needed the most. However, when out on patrol Cappy could do twenty-eight hours without sleep, thirty-six if he pushed it. Mark had never been on a patrol longer than a day, this would be a first for him.

The night crept by slowly, Cappy dozed a while, then woke with a start. Something his subconscious had heard. There was something out there, beyond the illumination of the fire. As Cappy watched, a pair of eyes glowed for an instant. It had to be a dog. Then there was a low growl from whatever was out there.

Before Cappy could raise his weapon, a streak of dirty white flashed across the campsite. Right past Cappy and the prone body of Susan, out the other side. Then there was a growl and a high-pitched scream, the yowl of a cat, a big cat. Cappy went running in the direction of the dog and found it on the other side of the trees. It was holding a puma at bay. The cat had plenty of room to flee but it did not.

Cappy raised his rifle and pulled the trigger. The cat went down in a lumpy pile. The dog turned and looked at him, slowly backing away. Cappy held his hand up stopping everyone from charging out where he was. Slowly, he squatted down and patted the inside of his thigh. The dog whined slightly and sat looking him in the eye. Cappy reached in his shirt pocket and pulled a piece of Betty's homemade beef jerky out.

At the smell of the jerky, the dog's ears perked up. Cappy broke off a piece and tossed it at the dog's feet. He bent and gobbled it up, looking at Cappy when he finished. Cappy held the rest out in front of him.

"Come on boy, it's alright, we're not going to hurt you," Cappy said softly.

The dog slowly came forward stretching his neck out and sniffing at the jerky. Cappy held still, holding the jerky out in front of him. The dog came close enough to snatch the jerky out of Cappy's hand but, ran right back to where he had been to gulp down the tasty morsel.

"Sue, do we have anymore jerky?" Cappy asked.

"In the first hummer, in the glove box."

"Would you get it for me?"

She did not answer him, just got up and went to the vehicle and retrieved the jerky. She walked slowly up behind Cappy and handed him the bag over his shoulder.

"Stay," Cappy said.

"Do you mean me?" Sue asked.

"Yes, please."

The dog was looking up at Sue. He had sat down and was wagging his tail. Soon he was relaxed enough to start panting.

"Sue, take this piece and walk over to him showing him the piece of jerky."

Sue took the jerky and slowly walked toward the dog. The dog got up, wagging its tail as Sue approached. Sue stuck the jerky out, as she was close enough to the dog that she could touch him. He sniffed the jerky and gently took it from her hand.

"He's a ladies dog, that's for sure," Cappy said.

The dog turned at the sound of his voice tail still wagging.

"Good boy, yes you are. You're such a good boy warning us about that cougar. Yes, you are," Sue sweet-talked the dog.

His tail was whipping around in a circle as Sue squatted down and reached her hand out for him to sniff. The dog sniffed then stepped forward placing his head under her hand. Sue ruffled his head and scratched behind his ears. He pushed forward more and licked her face.

"You're such a good boy," Sue told him as she stood and walked back to Cappy.

She took the jerky from him and dumped it on the ground. The dog rushed forward and gobbled it up. Then looked up at Sue for more, she turned and walked back to the camp and pulled the pot of warm leftovers off the rock next to the fire.

"Luke, you and Simon drag that cat over across the road," Cappy shouted as he turned to go back to the campfire.

When he arrived, the dog was finishing up the leftovers in the pot. Sue was pouring some clean water in a bowl next to him.

"What are we going to do with him?" Sue asked.

"He'll come with us, I think."

"Are you guys finished with all the shouting and stuff?" Paul asked from under his sleeping bag. Cappy signaled Sue to follow him.

Cappy walked around the hummer and down the path to a second picnic table further down. He sat and Sue sat next to him. Cappy looked into her eyes and cleared his throat.

"I would hate to see such a beautiful animal get hurt just because we left it behind," Cappy started.

"I too would be upset. But couldn't he get hurt just the same if he came with us?"

"No, because you will be staying with the vehicles and he'll be staying with you."

"Oh, so that's the chore you have for me?" It was a rhetorical question.

"Sue, you are too valuable to be put in the thick of things. There will be three people staying with the hummers, you, Mark, Simon and the dog."

"Great," Sue said as she got up and walked away.

"That went well," Cappy told himself.

"It sure did," Waylon's voice came out of the darkness causing Cappy to jump.

"Geez, make a sound when you creep up on friends."

"I didn't creep. I was sitting here the whole time."

"You should have coughed then."

"I will next time."

"You better or I'll think you're some kind of pervert," Cappy said getting up and heading back to camp.

"Hahaha," Waylon laughed as he watched his friend go after his lover. In the end, she would do what he asked because she loved him, almost as much as she loved her husband. Waylon loved Cappy too but, not the same way Sue or Michelle did and certainly not the way Jenny had. Waylon thought of Cappy as a big, older brother, a wiser older brother. Waylon would do almost anything for Cappy unless the women overruled him. They were the bosses whether Cappy knew it or not.

The rest of the night was uneventful. The dog stuck to Sue like glue. It had even befriended Mark during the night. Cappy woke to a kick on his foot. Opening his eyes, he found Susan standing over him looking down at him with a smile on her face. Then the muzzle of the dog moved into his sight as a warm wet tongue licked his face.

"Good boy, good boy," Sue praised the dog.

"Make him stop please?" Cappy asked as he rolled to his right.

"Ok Max, stop," Sue commanded. The dog backed away and sat beside Sue.

"Max? How did you find out his name?"

"It was engraved on his collar," Susan laughed as they turned and headed toward the first hummer.

"I just love being made a fool of," Cappy said under his breath.

"But, you're so good at it," Waylon said from behind him.

"You can shut up anytime you know.

"That I do know, but then life would be so empty," Waylon laughed.

Ten minutes later, they were on the road again. Each hummer now had a manned fifty-caliber machine gun on its roof. The road they were on was quite clear of wrecks and abandoned cars. They were traveling through some pretty flat county. The rest of the morning was monotonous as the first day.

It was early evening when they were on a hill overlooking Lackland AFB. On the tarmac were three commercial airliners. Widebodies all of them, long distances fliers. Waylon and Cappy both searched the base with their binoculars.

"One o'clock, by the hanger," Waylon whispered.

"I see them," Cappy replied as he watched two men walk out to the closest plane.

The two men climbed the stairs and went inside. Cappy and Waylon continued to watch when the radio scanner clipped to Waylon's belt came to life.

"Boeing four-two-niner this is Lackland control, you are cleared to land on runway six-niner."

"Lackland control, Boeing four-two-niner, acknowledged, landing on runway six-niner."

"Confirmed, lights are on now."

"Roger Lackland, I have your lights, proceeding with our landing."

"Affirmative Boeing four-two-niner visual flight rules are now in effect."

Waylon and Cappy watched as another widebody airliner descended through the light cloud cover to land on the runway.

"Welcome to Lackland."

"Thank you."

"Proceed to hanger one-four-five, park next to the Continental seven-four-seven heavy."

"Roger Lackland."

As Cappy and Waylon watched, the plane taxied alongside the plane the two men had entered. It shut down its engines and the door just behind the flight deck opened. Two men stood in the doorway watching and waiting. A truck with a staircase attached to it sped out from behind a building and up to the plane. A man in military fatigues jumped out of the cab and waited at the bottom of the stairs.

Another truck, a deuce, and a half slowly moved out from behind the hanger. The plane's passengers started to disembark. The man at the bottom of the stairs waved them on out into the open away from the plane. The other truck slowly came forward and parked. The back was toward Cappy and Waylon. Looking into the back of the truck Cappy saw twenty to twenty-five armed men. As the flight crew came down the stairs, the men in the truck jumped out and surrounded the passengers.

"Crap, looks like the military has pulled out and the scum have moved in," Cappy whispered.

"It sure does," Waylon replied.

"How many you count?" Cappy asked.

"Twenty-two, plus the guy in uniform and the two in the other plane, twenty-five altogether."

"Plus however many more there are watching the passenger from the other planes."

"Yep, say another ten or so."

Cappy and Waylon watched as the men herded the passengers to the hanger. A door opened and the passengers filed inside. Half the armed men entered with them. The rest started back around the hanger. The truck slowly moved back behind the hanger.

"Okay, what do you suppose they want with all those people?" Cappy asked.

"Don't know, but I have a hankerin' to find out."

"Same here."

Cappy and Waylon walked back to the hummers and the rest of their team.

"What's going on down there Cappy?" Sue asked for the others.

"It seems that someone has gone into business capturing foreigners. Sue, Mark, Simon you're with hummer two. Make your way around behind that hanger with the passengers. Do it as quietly as possible. Make sure Max stays with you.

"Everyone else in the other hummer, except Waylon, Luke, Phil, and Collin, you will make your way through the fence to the planes. I want you there before we arrive. We will be going through the front gate and onto the airfield.

"Sue you are in charge of your group. There will be any number of armed men behind that hanger, keep an eye on them. If a commotion starts, don't let them come around to the front of the hanger. Clear?"

"Clear," Susan answered.

"Okay, Waylon, you have twenty minutes, go!"

Thirty minutes later Cappy's hummer was racing through the base on its way to the airfield. So far, he had seen two sentry's with radios so his approach would be no surprise. Suddenly the crack of a fifty opening up echoed in the air. The driver floored the gas pedal and the hummer lurched forward.

"Sue, make sure you keep your rounds high or in the dirt, there are people in that hanger."

"I'm not stupid, Cappy, you worry about your own shit!"

You could hear the clap of the fifty in the background along with the small arms fire from Sue and Mark.

Jones was making good time through the base, they would be at the airfield to lend support in thirty seconds. Then came two loud explosions and you could see smoke rising in the distance.

"When we hit the tarmac everyone out and find cover. You know the friendlies, anyone else with a gun is unfriendly. Shoot them before they shoot you."

Cappy unlimbered the fifty and pulled the bolt back. He was ready to lend supporting fire. The hummer screamed up a hundred feet from the front of the hanger and stopped, skidding sideways. Cappy snapped a couple of rounds at some armed men behind a portable generator. They went down like sandbags. Jones had parked the hummer so Cappy had a field of fire down the side of the hanger.

Swinging around that way he saw about ten men headed his way. He depressed the trigger. Ten rounds went downfield, three men went down like rag dolls. The rest stopped and aimed their weapons at him. Cappy pressed the trigger once more. The handles of the fifty shook in his hands. Five more men went down. Bullets were pinging off the shield in front of him. Cappy swung the fifty in small arcs, back and forth, pressing the trigger lightly.

Bullets as big as his thumb tore through the men downrange from him, they tore the men, the grass and the front of the truck that had just started out from behind the hanger. There was a dull thud to Cappy's left. Swinging around toward the sound, he saw Waylon and his men just outside the door to the hanger. Waylon was throwing stun grenades, one after the other into the hanger.

A loud explosion to Cappy's right brought his eyes to the truck trying to escape the machine gun fire from Sue. The explosion had been the fuel tank on the off side of the truck that was now in flames. A bullet pinged off the shield in front of him. Swinging the gun around toward the planes, he saw that the two men had stayed aboard and were now taking potshots at his men.

Lining the sights up on the door to the aircraft Cappy pressed the trigger once. One round smashed into the inside of the plane and two men dashed out and down the stairs. Cappy lined up again and let fly with a long burst, chipping concrete and asphalt as he followed the running men. They went down seconds later by withering fire from his group of men.

Then all was quiet. The remaining armed men just dropped their weapons and raised their hands. There was still fire coming from behind the hanger. Jones hopped in the hummer, fired it up, and swung around to the backside of the hanger. In Cappy's sights were about ten men.

"Jones, honk the horn."

The horn honking drew their attention to the mouth of the fifty and Cappy's smiling face. The firing stopped and the weapons dropped before Cappy could press the trigger. Sue's fifty stopped firing. Cappy swung the fifty to his left indicating that the men should come his way and around to the front of the hanger.

With their hands held high, the men walked toward the front of the hanger as Jones backed the hummer along with them. Waylon and several of Cappy's group met them halfway and took over the herding of the men. Cappy spun in the turret at the sound of an engine roaring and the tearing of chain link. It was Sue's hummer as Simon burst through the fence and onto the airfield.