John Returns Read online

  Sam directed his two Rangers to follow him as he crossed Sam Ridley and headed down Jack Hunter Drive. They made it to the dead end, and Sam took out his field glasses to look at the houses east of their position on Mary Street.

  There was a recreation park between them and the houses; the grass and bushes were waist high, which cut down on his ability to see much more than the rooflines of the houses. His friend’s house and the others backed up to the park. He picked out his friend’s house and told his team that they were moving to that house to begin the search for his friends.

  They kept low as they crossed the park and maintained cover to remain hidden. He noticed that most of the houses were empty, but they could see people in or around houses on either end of the street. They were in the backyard of the house next door when he saw a woman walk out the back door of his friend’s house and start hanging clothes on the line. He recognized her as his friend’s wife just as a man came out the back door and yelled at her.

  “Bitch, get that done and get me some lunch on the table before I get mad.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  His friend’s wife looked ten years older and had filthy clothes on, but was still the same woman. He didn’t recognize the man. Sam crawled towards her keeping below the top of the fence until he was only a few feet away.

  “Marge, it’s me, Sam.”

  He raised his head and waved at her.

  “Sam, be careful. Carl will shoot you if he sees you talking to me. Go away.”

  “Where is Gary?”

  “Sam, Carl killed Gary and sold my kids to a farmer. Go away. Oh crap, here he comes.”

  Carl stormed out the back door and walked up to Marge saying, “Who were you talking too?”

  “No one.’

  “Don’t give me that crap. I heard a man’s voice.”

  Sam rose up with his suppressed 9mm and shot Carl between the eyes. Though still loud, the report was much quieter than an unsuppressed pistol.

  “Marge, are there any more of these assholes in the area?”

  “Yes, all of these houses belong to Carl and his gang.”

  “Is there anyone in your house now?”

  “Yes, Carl and I live there with another woman, Sheila. She’s okay. She was captured down in Murfreesboro and brought here.”

  “Let’s go in the house, and you can fill us in on the area and the gang.”

  “Okay, I’ll introduce you to Sheila.”

  Sheila was shocked that Carl was dead and was scared for her life. She sat on the couch and withdrew into complete silence for over an hour before she regained her composure.

  Marge told Sam, “All of the gang members have two or three women for wives. They treat us okay as long as we don’t try to escape and do what they say. I tried to escape twice, and this is what I received for my effort.”

  She pulled her shirt up in the back and had long scars covering her back.

  “They don’t kill you but make you wish you were dead. I gave up and just did what I was told after that. They would show my scars to the new women to make them afraid to resist.”

  “How many are in this gang?”

  “They added three more members last weekend, but they are spread out over this end of Smyrna, so I’d have to guess that there are maybe 40 on the low side and upwards of 60 on the high side as a guess.”

  “Is there any organized resistance to the gang from the Smyrna town’s people?”

  “There was for the first year after the lights went out, but the gang retaliated by kidnapping or killing the families of the leaders of the resistance and that ended the fight.

  Several of the women and young girls living with the gang are the city council and police wives and daughters. The scumbags are good at breaking a person’s will.”

  “Sheila and Marge, will you help us get rid of the gang?”

  “What can three of you do to these violent men?”

  “I’ll call for some help to speed up killing the rats. Then I want you two to start bringing a few of the gang at a time to meet with Carl. We’ll handle the rest.”

  Sam radioed his team to send six more Recon soldiers to help with the rat killing. He then called Imelda and filled her in on the mission creep. She agreed with the extermination plan.

  ***

  Imelda split her team into two teams with two ladies to be bait and a backup team of six Rangers to support each of them. Imelda led one team, and Ziva led the other. The teams were dressed in civilian clothes, and the bait gals wore plain jeans and tee shirts with nothing provocative. The four women had boot knives, and a Ruger, or Kel-Tec 9 mm pistol and a backpack.

  The backpacks contained a Kel-Tec SUB-2000 9mm carbine folded to fit in the bag plus extra 31 round magazines, food, and water. They made sure that their clothes were dirty and in need of repair.

  The intent was to look like the locals, seen on the way into town. The six-man backup teams had their usual M4 rifle and a 9mm pistol, but all had noise suppressors on the rifles. Her plan was to have the backup teams take up hidden positions in the area that the bait team would loiter in for a few hours to see if any of the rats tried to take them.

  This was a tactic Joan and Imelda had perfected over the years and guaranteed to bring out the perverts, hidden gangs and local despots trading in slaves and prostitution.

  Imelda was happy that most of their contacts with local citizens were positive in nature. There were offerings of food and clothing from several with only a few men hitting on them, but not being forceful. Several women warned them about not going to the west side of Lowery Street because of gang activity.

  “Girls, we stay on our side, and they stay on theirs. We have to bring them food and fuel from time to time, but for over a year we have had no trouble.”

  Imelda replied, “Thanks for the warning,” but thought, yeah, as long as your hand over your daughters.

  She and Amit crossed Lowery Street and headed into the heart of the gang’s stronghold.

  She called for Sam, “Hey, it looks like we’re fighting the same people. We will work our way towards Enon Springs and quietly take out any amorous gang members while you do your thing.”

  “Sounds good, we will keep our effort low key until they figure out that their friends are disappearing.”

  “Good, we have the same plan. The gang has a treaty with the local leaders.”

  “Yes, and they enforce it with hostages.”

  It didn’t take long before two men approached them and offered their protection in exchange for certain favors.

  “So let me get this straight, you two big strong guys protect us small, weak women if we give you what you want?”

  “Yes Doll, it’s good to see you understand how it works here.”

  “What if we don’t want to go along with you and just leave the area?”

  “Well you have trespassed into our neighborhood, and you have to pay for the protection that you have already received. Move your little asses into our office in the blue building, and we’ll collect your dues and send you on your way.”

  “Okay, let’s get this over with so we can move on north to Kentucky.”

  The two gang members laughed and ushered them into their office where they saw another man sitting behind a desk with his feet propped up.

  “Well look what we’ve got. A Mexican and what are you. You’re not as dark as a Mexican, but you’re not white either. The good news is that we love all women of all colors. We don’t discriminate. Now git shed uh them duds.”

  That was the last thing he said before Amit’s knife stabbed his thigh and cut his femoral artery. Blood sprayed from his leg covering the desk and floor. She turned to face the thug on her left and shoved her knife expertly between his ribs and into his heart before he could even realize he was dead. Amit then turned to her right to see Imelda breaking the neck of the remaining rat.

  Imelda looked at the dying rodent as he bled out from the femoral artery. As Amit wiped her blade on a
dead man’s shirt, she asked, “Was it as good for you as it was for us, honey?

  We prefer men who rape, abuse and kill to be dead. You will be dead in two minutes, asshole. Amit would have cut your dicks off, but I think that is almost barbaric. Now die like a good little titmouse.”

  Amit giggled, and said, “Titmouse, I love it.”

  Both teams pulled the same scheme twice more before deciding that they would just kill the men as soon as they showed their colors. Their backup team didn’t have much to do except drag bodies into empty buildings. They killed 18 of these perverts before linking up with Sam’s team.

  ***

  Marge walked to the houses west of her house and told three of the gang members that Carl wanted to see them. They followed her into the house where Sam’s team waited.

  They did not ask any questions, conduct a trial or care what made these men go bad. They just killed them as fast as Sheila and Marge could bring them to meet with Carl.

  Imelda’s backup team killed the rest at their roadblocks and offices.”

  ***

  “Imelda, the scouts are back from the Smyrna airport.”

  “The airport is secure. There are a couple of warehouses that the gang was stocking with drugs and storing their loot. We eliminated them all and now control of the airport. We need a day to clear the runways, but by nightfall, the airport will be ready to receive aircraft.”

  “Are there any aircraft that could be made operational?”

  “There are 43 small aircraft and 14 large commercial jets, and I’d guess 75 percent could be flying in short order if we have the correct parts to replace the fried electronics, which we don’t have.

  The good news is that there is an auto and truck museum in one of the warehouses next to the airport and most of the vehicles are pre 70’s, so most could be running this week, it’ll just be mostly tires and batteries, both of which are stored in abundance in warehouse number 6.

  You won’t believe the stores of paper goods.”

  “Paper goods?” asked Imelda.

  “Yep, tons of TP and feminine hygiene products.”

  “All right!

  Let’s get the main runway prepped by noon tomorrow. I’ll have a plane load of supplies and mechanics flown in to get these vehicles running.”

  “Roger that.”

  Imelda walked outside, and into a brisk wind that sent a chill down her spine.

  Speaking aloud to the wind, she said, “Yes, it is an ill wind that blows no good, no good for the bad boys and girls in Smyrna. Your time is now numbered in minutes.

  ***

  Imelda, we have a plane arriving on the main runway. John and his staff are the passengers.

  “Well, that took longer than I thought for him to make it up here. I’m surprised he didn’t bring the whole family.”

  John’s plane was an old DC3, a plane known as a Gooney Bird to Americans and as a Dakota to the Brits. By whatever name, one of the most enduring aircraft ever designed.

  John and Gus had captured this particular Gooney Bird up in the Northwest when they fought the Chupacabra drug gang before TC. Now, it was updated with modern avionics, weapons, and anti-missile capabilities.

  John’s personal guards climbed down from the plane first, led by Alice, the leader of John’s security team. Then John, Jim, Maria, Kristie, and Tom joined Imelda and Sam in the airport conference room while John’s security team received a separate briefing on the liberation of Smyrna, along with Kentucky and Tennessee.

  Imelda briefed John and his team, “We secured the airport on the second day and encountered resistance from a gang that controlled the west side of Smyrna. The gang held hostages to keep the town under their control. We eliminated them with the standard procedure and erased over 60 of those assholes.”

  “Great job, pass along my thanks to your team.” Now, smiling, John asked, “So, are there any pictures of you and Ziva dressed up like hookers?”

  “I’d give you the finger, but that would border on insubordination. Can we please get back to serious stuff?

  We haven’t secured the entire area, so use precaution. We haven’t encountered any more hostiles, but we know there are other gangs located south and north of here.

  Nashville has several gangs fighting the remaining citizens for control of the city. I’d like to help the city win.”

  “Oh, hell yes, Imelda, I agree, but let’s gain control of this area first. I’ll have Jim supply the good guys with better weapons and ammo until we can focus on them.”

  “Thanks. I’d hate to see them fall when we need good people to join our ranks in this area.”

  “Okay, Imelda, send Sam’s Recon teams into Nashville and have the Warthogs and Apaches pick out several bad boy targets to help hone their skills for a couple of days.

  Jim, after we soften them up, take the good guys a bunch of M4s and plenty of ammo. I’ll have Gen. Drake send in some firepower when we identify targets.”

  “Thanks, General. That will give us about 4,000 more people able to join the fight.”

  “Roger that, all right, good job, now get some rest, dismissed. Imelda, please remain behind.”

  The others left the meeting, and as they filtered out, Imelda was thinking that she had screwed up putting John on the spot about Nashville.

  John waited until everyone had left and said, “I need a favor.”

  “John, you know I’d do anything for you. Hell, I have to; you’re my boss’s boss. What is it?”

  “Kristie has just finished Ranger school, and I want her with our best units to help her learn from the best. Oh, and keep that best unit thing to us, ok?”

  Acknowledging with a nod, and a broad grin, Imelda said, “John, Kristie is eighteen if I remember correctly and is a grown woman so she will be treated like any other Ranger. I’ll be glad to kick her ass into shape.”

  “That’s why I brought her to you. No favoritism. There was enough of that crap in the world before TSHTF. I want our leader’s families treated the same as any grunt that joins our military. Only then will we truly have the respect of our fellow citizens.”

  “John, is Beth okay with this?”

  “She is like any mother sending a child off to war. She’s proud of her but scared as hell.

  We’re going to lose many good soldiers before this disaster is over. I want my family and loved ones to be the best trained hardest working sumbitches in our military because that makes them the hardest to kill. I want them able to slit a throat without hesitation, but always thinking about the civilians in our country who need our help. Imelda, I am proud of you. Now get your ass back to work.”

  She laughed as she saluted and left the room.

  “Sam, Private Fox has just finished Ranger school and is now assigned to your recon group. Make a soldier out of her. Give her the dirtiest jobs and stay on her ass every day.”

  “The same as I would do for all of my newbies?”

  “Yep.”

  ***

  The day before Gen. Drake’s main group left Mobile Gus sent a squad of Apaches trailed by four Blackhawk helicopters with four Ranger squads in case there were hostiles along the way.

  They cleared several roadblocks and eliminated a dozen small gangs located north of the Alabama border. They would patrol the route crushing any resistance to the large group to follow.

  Gus also sent six Apaches to accompany Gen Drake’s team as they traveled to Tennessee. They would rotate up, so at least two Apaches were with the convoy at all times. Only three hundred of Drake’s reinforced Brigade would drive up, the rest would be airlifted, by the huge movers out of Little Rock AFB, to the Smyrna airport now that it was secure.

  There were just under 90 military vehicles bringing troops, supplies, water, and fuel, five Bradley Fighting Vehicles, water plants, and generators. There were also 28 trucks hauling construction equipment and vehicles. However, the most fearsome were the Tank Company’s Abrams, 68 tons of 150 mm terror. Only the U.S. military had its
equivalent.

  The drive up was slow. The dozer blade added to an HQ. Company tank easily, albeit slowly, cleared a driving lane for the convoy.

  People kept flagging them down in Tennessee to ask for help. They gave medical aid when requested, and Drake left a squad of Rangers behind at Murfreesboro to help the citizens deal with a biker gang that was selling meth and trading in slaves.

  They arrived in Smyrna and set up their headquarters at the abandoned Marriott Hotel on the southeast side of town off Highway 24. Three Companies of Army Engineers immediately began inspecting the hotel for stability, and then began installing solar panels to provide electricity and move water.

  In just a week, the Engineers had installed five thousand solar panels and inverters around Smyrna. Gone were the days of alternating current. Direct current was the only means of providing electricity for the near future, and since Direct current is only good for short, inline distances, solar was the only real alternative.

  The Smyrna Airport was only a couple of miles straight shot down the Sam Ridley Parkway.

  There were five hotels at this intersection, and four of them were abandoned. The fifth hotel had a few people living there. These families would be relocated to apartments once the power and water were restored.

  John gave Tom Fox several Humvees and a platoon of soldiers for protection as he made contact with the local authorities.

  Tom had fled Smyrna with Beth and John a few days after the first bombs fell two years before.

  He was back home and was happy to assist in securing the area. The Mayor and Town Council were active and had kept the town together. They fought off several roving gangs before falling victim to the gang that took hostages and forced the city into an uneasy, hostage enforced, truce.

  They only needed water and power to get the town back in operation. John brought a Motor Maintenance Company to get all available vehicles running as quickly as possible.

  It only took a week to get the water flowing to a third of the town’s people, and the Army generators were supplying limited electricity to city government buildings. Civilians had priority on the solar construction. Most people said that it was about time the voters had a priority in something.