A Change of Major (Chapter Twenty Two)

Dantwon "Red" Sturgis lay in the corner of the abandoned gas stations curled up in a ball. Both of his knee caps had been shot out and at this point, it was doubtful he would be getting up and boogieing down any time soon.

Rafe McCallister stood a few feet away, his matching .40 caliber Texas Department of Safety automatics sitting comfortably in their shoulder holsters while Rafe had his arms crossed leaned against a long empty cooler in the looted gas station.

"C'mon Rafe, I needs a doctor, oooohhh, this hurts so bad. We go way back, brother, help me out here." moaned Dantwon.

"Oh way back are we now? Like when you found those three girls hiding in that basement? Yeah, we shared all that didn't we? I gets to find out about it from Cheleco a week later. Or how about this? A little purple bag of coins and you didn't want to let ole Rafe in on it, didja? Lesse, we gots some big gold coins, some little gold coins, some big silver coins and where's old Rafe? Sitting outside plinking punks while Red counts his payphone money."

"Man, it ain't like that, see. The other guys, they gots to know I am the man. I canst' go playing up to you. You know how it works man, help me out, brother." begged Sturgis.

"Oh, I'll help you alright, "brother", replied Rafe as he drew one of his pistols and calmly shot Sturgis between the eyes.

"Feel better now, "brother"?"

Rafe strode out of the station and was met by one of his men,

"Tanks are empty boss. Nothing here but fumes." he said

"I figured as much. Get the the lieutenants over here by my truck and let's have a little pow-wow." said Rafe.

Rafe pulled a county map out of his truck and spread it out on the truck's hood. Four other men, all scruffy, tattooed and carrying a variety of weapons gathered around.

"We got to break up and hit these county roads and find some remote communities and farms. We need more fuel, food and guns and the best way to do it is in strike teams of ten to twelve men. If there are women, take em if you want em, but don't let it slow you down. I want everyone to meet up here in two days. I got a big target picked out and with the combined crews, it should be cake." said Rafe pointing a grimy finger at the map.

The men split up into teams, fired up their fleet of scavenged and stolen late model vehicles and pulled out in different directions leaving Rafe time to think. Had he known it, Rafe just confirmed what Ernie had said a few days earlier - that gangs would splinter and fight among themselves, but sooner or later a strong man would take charge and organize the remnants.

A few weeks ago, Rafe, Sturgis and most of the others were inmates at the Huntsville maximum security unit when The Day happened. Shortly afterward, the guards abandoned their posts, riots broke out and a couple of hundred remaining inmates managed to get out to freedom. The first few days were a spree of looting, rape, and murder inspired by large quantities of alcohol and drugs.

Now, with resources depleted and the more sheep herding together for safety, targets of opportunity were harder to find. Rafe knew that it would only become more difficult and eventually, his gang would have to move on. That was, unless they found a suitable community with the resources in place to house and entertain his gang for the uncertain future, then they might be able to stay in this area of operation.

Fortunately, Rafe had recently made contact with someone who just handed him the keys to the kingdom. If he believed in God, Rafe would have called it a miracle.

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Delbert and I went outside with flashlights and surveyed the damage. The first guy I shot on the porch took a round in the stomach and bled out. The rifle he was carrying which I brought in the house was a knockoff AR15 in need of a good cleaning. The satchel still on the body contained some spare magazines, loose rounds, a screw driver, duct tape and a piece of rope.

The second shooter which Brenda had taken down was armed with an M16 which caught Delbert's eye and he carefully examined the weapon closely and told me to put it up on the porch. This shooter also had a few additional magazines, but also had a small bag of coins Delbert called "junk silver" which meant nothing to me other than they were valuable.

The third shooter we located in the field had apparently crawled or walked thirty or so yards after being shot and after we found his weapon, a Ruger 10-22, in the approximate area.

We collected the weapons and took them to the porch. Then we moved the bodies, one at a time, to a central location where Delbert would pick them up with the backhoe and bury them in a common grave near the tree line.

The sun was starting to lighten the sky to the east when Jose drove up in the old two truck with two pit bull mixes tied down in the back.

"Well?" said Delbert as Jose pulled up.

"Got 'em. Dogs tore him up and he was all bled out dead by the time we got to him. We got the other four stacked like wood and stripped of anything useful." reported Jose

Delbert leaned in the cab and quietly spoke to Jose who only nodded and said nothing more. Jose then started the tow truck back up and drove off the property to the east.

"What was that about? What's the secret?" I asked Delbert.

"Wouldn't be a secret if I told you, ugly, now would it? Serious like, I just confirmed a hunch I had with Jose. I'll tell you about it later if it matters, but I think it will."

We went for the backhoe and Delbert set to work disposing the bodies. After we dumped them into an unmarked hole and covered it over, we drove back to the barn and then to the house. I was ready to go back to my trailer when Celina told me to come inside the house first.

She handed me a large cup of coffee and some leftover bread and butter and told me to have a seat at the dining room table. The look on my face must have given it all away.

"Don't look shocked. You did a good job this morning and I know it was not yours to do, but you helped save my daughter. Thank you. Brenda is perfectly able to take care of herself, but even three to one odds are more than she can handle.

I want you to finish that up and go on back to your trailer and get a few hours rest. Afterwards, we are going to be working in the covered beds doing some harvesting and replanting. In a few days, we are going to make another run and that includes stopping by your trailer park and dropping a few more things off. When we go, I want you to go with us, alright?" she said.

"Sure, hey is there any chance I can get a few more things for the folks over there?" I asked.

"What are you going to pay for it with? I am not giving you more food for labor." she replied.

"No, I have a couple of things which might be valuable, I don't know much about jewelry or gold so I will have to trust you." I said thinking of the ring and gold chains I took from Red out on the road.

"Fair enough, but what about you? You can't just keep paying for everyone else out there, you have to look out for number one too." Celina said.

"Seems I wasn't thinking that last night when those guys attacked the house with Brenda in it. I guess I am not that good at the number one game," I said with a smile.

I excused myself and went back to the trailer and found Chuck and Curtis getting dressed after waking up.

"Hey where you guys? I've been out there for a few hours, why didn't you come out after the shooting stopped?" I asked.

"We couldn't. After you went out, we laid low like you said, but when we tried to leave after the shooting, the door to the trailer was locked and we were stuck in here. Delbert just unlocked the door five minutes ago and told us it was safe to get out." said Curtis.

There was a loud knocking on the door and it turned out it was Tracy.

"You two, you're with me. We have harvesting to do so get ready to stoop and pick and don't waste a thing or we'll set Jose's dogs on you. You, knight in shining armor, you get to rest, but don't get used to it, you hear?" she said the last part directed at me.

"Rest? Wha..?" said Curtis.

"Forget that, who's the knight in shining armor?" asked Chuck. "Seems like there's more to this story than ole Mikey is letting on."

"Leave me along, I've been up all night." I said. After they left I hit my bunk and was out in one minute.

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Jimmy Cortez and his convoy of three beaters were moving down the country lane trying to scope out a remote target that was both juicy and out of the way. They weren't having much luck.
So far, they had only found one farm which looked good, but they were greeted with a half dozen warning shots when they go within 500 yards of the place. These hayseeds all seem to have guns and know how to use them, though Jimmy.

They were about to turn back when they saw some idiot walking down the side of the road. He was an old guy with white hair and carrying a fancy back pack like he didn't have a care in the world. He even stopped and held his hand in the air when Jimmy's truck approached like he was hailing a cab in New York.

The old guy likely had nothing of value, but Jimmy and the gang liked to get their kicks whenever the opportunity presented itself. They pulled over.

A Change of Major (Chapter Twenty One)

Delbert took us out back and showed us our digs. It was an old fashioned aluminum travel trailer like out of the 50's TV shows, but it was in great shape on the outside. We went in an found the interior was the like the outside and in good condition for such an old trailer.

There were three beds including the fold out up front by the hitch so we had to figure out who would sleep where, but it beat a tent on the cold ground.

"I suggest you make yourselves at home and don't go wandering around outside. Might get yourself hurt that way." said Delbert on his way out.

No worries, I thought. I am going to sleep in a real bed tonight!

We all changed and dropped off fairly quickly. While there was no bedding, our sleeping bags and existing blankets were enough considering how tired we were.

I had been asleep for a few hours when I heard a loud noice outside which forced me awake.

There was one, two, three reports from a gun of some sort followed by a long bbbrrraappp from what sounded like an automatic weapon. And it wasn't very far away from the sound of it.

"What the heck was that?" shouted Curtis from the front of the trailer.

"Who cares? Get down, it sounds close!" I shouted.

We hugged the floor and I reached up and dragged my shotgun down with me. I was wearing sweats and socks and I grabbed my boots and while laying down, laced them up. Next, I pulled down my coat and yanked my back pack out from under the bed.

"Keep your gear close if we have to bail, guys!" I shouted over the nearby gunfire.

I worked my way over to the door and cautiously pulled it open. The shooting was coming from our right and sounded like it was on the other side of the field from the back of the house, but I could not see anything.

I was about to go outside when I saw someone rise up in the dim light out in the field and slowly make their way towards the house. That made no sense as if it were Delbert or the others they would not appear to be sneaking as this person clearly was.

I stepped outside and keeping my head down, worked along the back of the house to the corner where the figure had disappeared. When I peered around the corner, I saw the back of someone who I did not recognize or know working their way to the front of the house.

I readied my shotgun and followed, only stepping when it appeared they were until we reached the front corner of the house.

When the figure turned the corner I saw for a moment it was some man with a dark beard and carrying a military type rifle along with a satchel over his left shoulder.

He stepped onto the porch and I lost site of him. I went to the corner myself just in time to see him trying the knob on the front door. It was locked, but clearly this was not going to stop someone sneaking up on a dark house in the middle of a gun battle.

My gut told me the shooting was a distraction so a closer individual or group could move in. My hunch was right when the man on the porch took two steps back and leaned over the rail and in the direction of the barn, let out one loud whistle. A signal if there every was one.

"Put down that rifle and your hands over your head," I whispered.

The figure ignored the request and slowly turned on his heels, his rifle already rising as he moved to his left. Here we go again..

I squeezed the trigger and easily caught him at midsection. He flew across the porch and his rifle clattered to the floor. At that same moment, two guns started firing in my direction from the yard between the house and barn.

I worked the action and dropped to the floor. Once flat on my stomach, I aimed at the first muzzle flare and fired in that direction. It worked as I watched the rifle fire arc and drop off. The other shooter on the right slowed for a moment, before changing his aim to close in on my position.

The shooter clearly had a semi-auto rifle with a decent punch as splinters were raining down on me from the rail, posts and house as his rifle found their wide mark.

I worked the slide on the shotgun and then crabbed my free left hand out in the dark trying to find the rifle dropped by the first shooter.

My fingers touched what felt like a sling and pulled it towards me. At that same moment, I could hear someone panting heavily just down the stairs from the front porch. It was clear he was only a few feet away from me and was going to have a bead on me in my open position lying on the porch.

I jumped when the front door of the house jerked open and a long burst of very loud rifle fire emitted from within. It raked the porch and across to the left clearly stitching its way across the shooter. Something found the target when I clearly saw in the muzzle flash generated light someone stand and fly backwards like a ragdoll away from the porch.

The rifle fire from the house ceased and for a moment, it was completely silent as best as i could tell with ringing ears. The shooter in the house lowered the rifle but I could hear a handgun action being worked.

"Who's out there? C'mon out or I'll shoot and let Delbert bury you in the compost heap." said a slightly shaky female voice.

"It's me, Mike. Don't shoot. I'm by myself but I got to standup first." I asnwered.

I stood and walked towards the front door holding my shotgun in my right hand and the rifle by its sling in my left hand.

The door opened slighly wider and I stepped into the pitch black house. I stepped on numerous rifle casings on the floor and walked carefully into the inky blackness as not to fall.

The door was still open and I could see in the dim light from outside a figure standing just off to the side.

"Were you hit?" she asked.

"No, I don't think so. Pretty shaken up though. Who were those guys?" I replied.

"Raiders, trash, who knows? They drew our fire down near Jose's place and these three came in for the kill. There may be more out there so we gotta keep it quiet and dark until Delbert says so." she said.

"Which one are you? Tracy or Brenda?" I asked.

"Brenda, Tracy's the younger one and is an idiot. It's not hard to tell us apart after that." she said.

"I'll remember that. Hey, I am going to move over here near the wall away from the door. I need to check my shotgun and safe this rifle I picked up."

"OK, just watch your step. I don't want you tripping and blowing your brains out," she said.

I moved to the right and ran promptly into a table or something and barked my shins. I said nothing and knelt down until I found the low coffee table with my hands.

I set the strange rifle on the ground and reached into the pocket of my hoodie and pulled three new shells out and loaded them into my shotgun. After setting the safety, I carefully set the gun down on the floor.

I then ran my hands over the new rifle. It had an adjustable stock, a high capactity magazine but no scope or night vision site. I carefully removed the magazine and worked the action until the round in the chamber popped to the floor. I set the safety and put the rifle aside.

I then sat down on the floor and looked at the dark shape near the door.

"So, is this a normal night on the farm, Brenda?"

"No, normally we make a bonfire, slaughter a goat for a sacrifice and then howl at the moon all night." she deadpanned.

"That's it? Girl, I went to A&M and where I come from, that's called Homecoming." I said which made her laugh.

"You're the smart one," she said finally. "You're the one who made it this far, aren't you?"

"Me? Smart? No, that's Chuck. I'm the sucker. The designated driver. The responsible one. The one who gets to sleep in the dorm lobby because his roommate has a girl over. No, I'm not the smart one, I just get stuck with the bag."

"Mom said to watch out for you," said Brenda,"You're not the bad guy, just the one to watch out for."

"I don't know your Mom and she doesn't know me. Hey, this is creepy. Why don't you and your Mom talk about something else? Like who won Post-Nuclear American Idol? I don't want to be the subject of your conversations"

I didn't have to worry. The front door was blocked for a moment and in walked some big figure. I grabbed my shotgun, but did not have to once the voice spoke,

"Put that away, ugly. You made enough of a mess out front for me to clean up. You okay Brenda? Looks like you got the last one?" he said.

"I'm fine." said Brenda, "They were popping away at junior here so had to do something. He had the clear jump on all three and he barely got two of the jerks".

Delbert stepped into the room and turned on a maglight. He played it around the room until he found a Coleman lantern which he lit and then closed the front door.

Delbert looked me over and said,

"Where're your two pals? Hiding under the bed?"

"I guess. Say, what happened out there? When I came outside, I found one guy and two more showed up who were with him. What was going on on the other side of the farm?" I asked.

"A group of five or more folks attacked a watch post we have over there. Turns out it was a diversion so the three little pigs could make a run on the house. They thought we had a limited number of people and with most of us out, they could loot the place." replied Delbert.

"What happened to the people who started this over there?" I pressed.

"Got 'em, or at least most of them. There are four dead and a trail to the fifth. He won't make it long, Jose's dogs are after them." Delbert said.

"Were they firing some sort of automatic weapon? I heard one when the shooting started."

"No, they weren't, we were. It's funny the stuff that turns up when folks are looking to trade for food." remarked Delbert.

"So where did they come from? Austin? Around here?" I asked.

"You sure ask a lot of questions, ugly. No, they did not come from Austin. They came from somewhere else and that someplace is causing me some consternation, I tell you what." said Delbert

Just then Celina came in from the back of the house. She was carrying an AR type rifle, wearing a load bearing vest and had some strange goggles sitting on top of her head.

"Brenda? You okay baby?" she asked.

"I'm fine mom. It was like you said, they came right to the front door, nearly lined up. Mike got two, and I got the other." Brenda replied.

"He did, did he?" Celina raised her eyebrows at me.

I shifted uncomfortably and decided it was time for me to head back to the trailer. Delbert had other plans.

"Where you going, ugly? We got a bunch od dead guys to take care of. C'mon."