Chapter 17
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Mace was awakened just before the sun by a rooster crowing in the distance. He had somehow managed a deep sleep. He reasoned it was the familiarity of the cot, though it had been years since he had slept on one. He stood and stretched before noticing that Jane was not in the room.
Mace walked out into the parking lot as Jane stepped down from the RV. “Anything wrong?”
“No, was just worried about Tonya, so I got up to check. She and Vanessa are both sound asleep.”
“Good. I'm glad she was able to get some rest.”
Jane stood, looking toward the coming dawn with her arms crossed. “Gonna be getting cold soon.”
“Can't say that it will make things easy, but I do love a good snow. I'm almost looking forward to it.”
Jane frowned. “I'm good with it for about a week. Then I'm pretty much done, ready for the warm again. Of course, the only real time I've spent in it was out west skiing. You ski?”
“On water. Tried the snow once. Girlfriend broke her leg, ending our trip on the first day. Never had the money to go back, and then along came the Army.”
“Johnny likes to cross country. I don't see the fun in it.”
Mace opened the door to the rec-room. “Never tried it.”
He looked around at the sleeping bodies before clapping his hands together and yelling: “Let's go Rangers! Time's wasting!”
Johnny slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. “I don't remember signing up for this.”
Mace laughed. “On your feet, soldier. There's a war going on out there and you're gonna be late!”
Tres sat up on his cot. “What's for breakfast?”
Mace pointed toward the RV. “Eggs. Just as soon as you get out there and cook 'em.”
Jane held up her hand. “Sit tight. I don't want any of you chowder-heads monkeying up my kitchen. I'll call you when it's ready.”
As they walked out the door into the parking lot, Henry was climbing into his van. “Y'all just leave everything as is. I'll be back in an hour or so. If you're gone by then, well, Godspeed to you and have a safe journey.”
Johnny nodded goodbye as he held up a thankful hand.
Breakfast was prepared and quickly downed. As the sun began to rise over the mountains in front of them, they pulled back on the road. Goose Creek Drive wound back and forth through the miles-long valley going up an incline marking the valley's end. The ride up to Bearwallow Gap took only minutes. There, the road going north was blocked by an abandoned police cruiser.
Don landed the helicopter in a nearby clearing.
Mace pulled the Jeep close before hopping out. “Road blocked for a reason?”
Don nodded. “Train derailment. There's a dirt road that would allow you to go around, but it's blocked by a truck. We'll have to take a cutoff down a couple miles. Although, you'll have to get around that cruiser first.”
Johnny answered from beside Mace. “Not a problem.”
Mace followed Johnny to the RV. A floor jack was pulled from a side bay, rolled under the rear differential of the cruiser, and jacked up.
Johnny gestured toward Mace and Tres. “You two walnuts just going to hang around looking stupid or you gonna push?”
The cruiser was moved back. Jane drove the RV and trailer past. The jack was dropped and stowed and they were again on their way.
The cutback road was a sharp turn heading back in the other direction. After several attempts, the trailer was unhitched. Jane maneuvered the RV onto the new roadway and the trailer was reattached.
From Buchanan the road led to Springwood and then southwest to Fincastle. From Fincastle they would go up and over the mountains to Marshalltown. After Marshalltown, they would cross another ridge of the Appalachians before descending the other side into West Virginia. A final stretch would take the caravan to Union and then up to Organ Cave, a two hour drive on a normal day.
As they moved up and over the mountains toward Marshalltown, the sky turned a decidedly dark gray. The road was quickly obscured as a thick bank of clouds rolled in. Visibility dropped to near zero.
Tres said, “Winter's on its way. The first one of these cold fronts usually comes with about a fifteen or twenty degree temperature drop.”
Mace replied, “The cold I don't care about. It's the not being able to see. The trailer is only twenty-five feet away from us and I can hardly see its taillights. This is gonna be slow moving.”
Mace frowned as the RV came to a stop.
Tres said, “Want me to go check it out?”
“Please.”
Tres returned seconds later. “Wow, I almost got lost coming back. That is some kind of pea soup out there. And it's definitely getting colder. You want a jacket? I can get one from the RV.”
“Nope, I'm good.”
Mace flipped on the emergency flashers. “But we might as well go up there where we have company. This doesn't look like it's breaking anytime soon.”
Tres tapped on the door of the RV and it opened.
Jane said, “Never been in fog this thick. Looking down, I can barely see the road.”
Johnny joined them. “Did we just land on another planet?”
Mace turned to face the kitchen, taking note of Tonya sitting in a chair with the two dogs on her lap. “You feeling better this morning.”
Tonya nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Mace smiled. “Call me Mace. We're all family here now. At least until all this is over.”
Tonya began to tear up.
Mace sat beside her, hoisting an eager Derwood onto his lap and rubbing behind his ears. “Sometimes the world can be a terrible place. What you have to remember though is that it's not the world, it's just a handful of the people that occupy it. Most are like us, but some, well, they have nothing but evil in their hearts.
Mace handed Derwood over to the girl. “If you have anything that you want to ask, or anything you want to say to any of us, please just say it. We are all on the same side here. We can't replace family, but we're the best each other has got.”
Tonya wiped her eyes. “Well, I am a little cold.”
Jane frowned. “Oh, honey, why didn't you say so? We have plenty of blankets. Look, while you’re here, treat this place as if you own it. If you're hungry, get or ask for something to eat. Cold, get or ask for a blanket.”
Jane looked around. “I know it's not the same, but just try to treat us like family, maybe cousins or something. Just don't worry about offending us, and please don't feel like you're putting us out. OK?”
Tonya smiled as Vanessa wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
They sat for twenty minutes before the clouds began to clear enough for them to see.
Tres returned after walking back to the Jeep. “Anyone leave the trailer open?”
Johnny scowled. “Crap. Out of my way!”
The lock had been clipped with bolt cutters. A dozen boxes of supplies, including ammunition, were missing.
Johnny said, “Right under our noses. Never heard a peep.”
Mace asked, “You have another lock?”
Johnny nodded. “Yeah, and they won't cut through this one. I should have used it instead. It's just harder to get through the hole of that latch so I used the cheap one.”
The lock was replaced and the caravan again rolled. At the bottom of the mountain they passed through Marshalltown. After moving through another valley they started up the next incline.
Tres looked back. “We've got two trucks that just came in behind us.”
Mace frowned. “I saw them.”
Tres glanced forward before looking out his window and up. “Wouldn't mind having Mr. Rogers up there scouting for us.”
“That cloud bank is too low. My guess is he's gone on ahead to the cave. Hopefully the weather is clear there.”
Tres pulled his weapon from the back seat, setting it in his lap.
Mace asked, “Safety on?”
Tres glanced down. “Yes.??
?
“Full magazine?”
Tres nodded.
Mace gestured with his head toward the back. “Wanna check mine? Not sure I topped off that mag after the rundown in Burkeville.”
Tres picked the AR-15 from the back seat. “Safety is on and... magazine is full.”
The magazine was shoved back into its block and the bolt pulled back. “Round is in the chamber.”
“Glad to see you're getting comfortable with that.”
“Still scares the crap out of me, but I'll get over it.”
The progress slowed as they approached a hairpin turn. The RV braked to a sudden stop.
Tres looked back. “Trucks are blocking up the road!”
Mace yelled. “Haul ass up there and get in the RV!”
“Where you going?”
“Just do it!”
Mace shoved the door of the Jeep open hard and bolted for the woods on the left side of the road. Pops of gunfire could be heard, followed immediately by the crackle and whiz of bullets zipping through and bouncing off the trees around him as he ran.
A voice yelled out. “Come out of them woods and we won't hurt ya!”
Mace stopped behind a tree, yelling back. “Get back in those trucks and leave I won't have to kill you!”
A single shot rang out, striking the large tree Mace stood behind.
The voice yelled, “Listen up! This is our road. Our mountain. You didn't ask our permission to use it, and that's gonna cost ya!”
Mace took a quick glance around the tree only to be rewarded with an arm full of splinters as a bullet skimmed the edge of the tree where his shoulder had just been. The attackers knew how to aim. Mace scanned the trees surrounding him, looking for a strategy. Gunfire could be heard from the front of the RV.
The Army Ranger estimated the position of his attackers as related to the tree before sprinting down a steep hill away from the road. Three shots blistered the trees around him as he ran.
A second voice could be heard. “Chicken ran off and left his friends. I'm going after him.”
The first voice replied, “No, get the bolt cutters. Let's see what's in that trailer.”
Mace continued his run, changing direction to parallel the road.
As he came to a stop, the first voice could again be heard. “Darryl, you and Sonny watch our backs. You see anything moving in the woods down there... shoot it.”
A voice replied, “Dale, I don't wanna shoot nobody. Can't we just hit the trailer and go?”
The voice of Dale called back. “Anybody shoots at me, I'm shooting at you. Understand?”
Darryl scanned the woods and frowned. “Yes.”
Again shots rang out from the front of the RV. Mace took another sprint, coming out at the road’s edge a hundred yards behind the attackers. He crept slowly along the tree line until the tailgates of the two pickups came into view.
The voices of the lead attackers carried down the road from the back of the trailer. “What do you mean it won't cut?”
A second voice replied, “I'm just telling you, that ain't a normal lock!”
The first voice growled. “Just give me that, you idiot.”
The second voice harped, “Oh, so what, you're stronger than me?”
The first voice smirked. “No, just smarter. I bet this latch ain't so tough.”
The two men came into view as Mace peered around the left side of a tree. The second of the two men fell to the ground screaming as a round from the AR-15 pierced the back of his right thigh.
The bolt cutters dropped to the ground as Dale yelled back at the others. “Find him!”
The second man cried out: “Gah! It hurts, Dale!”
Dale crouched behind him, propping his rifle on the man's side, aiming down into the woods. “Shut up and stop squirming! I think I saw him move!”
Darryl yelled back from the trucks. “I can't see him!”
Mace cut loose with three bursts of three. Several of the bullets skipped on the pavement before impacting the back of the downed attacker. He stopped moving. As Mace looked through his scope he took note of the small gun portal opening up on the back of the bus. A barrel slowly poked through. A muzzle flash preceded the man named Sonny falling to the roadway as a bullet punched a two inch hole out the back of his skull. A terrified Darryl dropped to the ground, his rifle falling to the side.
Dale yelled out. “OK! You proved your point! We'll go!”
Mace yelled back. “Drop your weapon and stand up with your hands over your head!”
Dale replied, “I do that and you shoot me dead!”
Mace yelled, “Maybe! Or maybe I'll just let my friend standing behind you do it!”
The man named Dale spun around. Mace used the opportunity to send out another three-round burst. The first skimmed off the road, striking his dead friend. The second caught Dale's left ear, nearly tearing it from the side of his head. The third found its mark, entering the lower back of his neck.
Mace sprinted from behind the tree and was soon standing over a crying and groveling Darryl as he looked at the dead body of his cousin Sonny.
Darryl said, “Please don't kill me, Mister.”
Mace gestured toward the road heading back to the valley. “You get up. Run as fast as you can back down that road. If I see you slowing down, or if I see you looking back this way, you'll get what Sonny got.”
The young man nodded. “Yes, sir. I won't look back, sir. I just want to go home.”
Mace shoved his arm with his foot. “Go then. And don't look back.”
The young man got to his feet and started into a run, fully expecting to be shot in the back. Mace made his way toward the RV. He could see two more trucks blocking the road in front.
He yelled from behind the RV. “Get in your trucks and go or I'll do to you what I did to your friends!”
The door to the RV opened, Tres stepped out. “Jane already shot three up there. A fourth ran off into the woods without his gun.”
Mace said, “Let's get these vehicles off the road.”
Tres shook his head as they walked past the two bodies in the road behind the trailer. “What we do with 'em?”
Mace replied, “Drag them to the side of the road for the buzzards to peck at. Let's just get this done so we can get out of here.”