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Aftermath – Complications & Setbacks

Thursday, March 26, 2015 8:55
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(Before It's News)

complication

Aftermath Episode 23
Complications & Setbacks

You can see the full series of this fictional story here.

Everyone stay cool, Jason prayed to himself, and slowly released his pistol back into his holster.

“Well, come on damn it!” the bus driver was waiting with the deer’s legs in hand. Jason joined him and together they dragged the deer off the road with ease. The driver seemed suspicious, especially since the other scout hadn’t joined them.  The noise of the helicopter was growing louder and Jason feared it would soon be on them. The driver gave Jason a funny look as they walked back to the bus, but Jason’s worry was for the chopper.  It’ll be sure to see the bodies we dumped, Jason thought, and then the whole thing is screwed. If the command center gets word of an attack, we’ll lose all hope of success.  He had to think fast. Regardless, Jason said to himself, we’ve got to have this bus. He followed the driver onto the vehicle and readied his weapon.

“Now what?” the driver asked not hiding his frustration. He flopped down into the driver seat and turned to see that Jason had removed his sidearm and was pointing it at him.

“What the hell?!” The driver started for his weapon.

“Don’t,” Jason barked, and the driver slowly raised his hands. The two looked at each other in tense silence, while Jason decided on his next move. Before he could speak, the radio began to crackle.

“Scout Two, this is Eagle One, do you copy? Over,” came the voice. The driver smirked with his hand in the air. Jason raised the gun to the drivers head and the smirk faded.

“Answer him,” Jason ordered.

“Copy Eagle One, this is Scout Two, I copy you. Over.”

“Scout two, procede with check-in code Alpha,” the voice replied. The driver began to speak into the radio receiver again, but Jason cut him short.

“Hold it!”

The driver released his finger from the talk button.

“Bring them down on us, and you’re a dead man,” he said with a cold stare, “check-in with the right code, no tricks, no distress signals, understand?” It was a threat Jason was willing to deliver upon, but he worried that the soldier might be brave enough not to care.  Jason motioned for the driver to carry on. If he’s a good soldier, he’ll alert his team regardless of personal threat, Jason ran it through in his head.

“Eagle One, this is Scout two: Alpha – Charlie – Alpha – Two – Two – Seven – Three. Over.”

“Copy that Scout two, all clear acknowledged.”

The driver released the receiver and dropped his gaze to the floor.

“It won’t matter,” he said slowly.

“What won’t” Jason asked.

“The all clear,” the driver replied, “They’re heading this way regardless, and when they see we’re not on our route, they’ll know something’s wrong.”  He spoke with a half smug half fearful tone.  Jason’s blood went cold as his mind scrambled for options.  The plan was to continue the recon run as scheduled and return to camp at the normal time so as not to arouse suspicion.  That won’t work though, Jason thought, they’ll see the bodies. If they took off now and made a run for it and arrived early, the other team wouldn’t be in position yet.  Not to mention the alert it would put the command center on. Either way he looked at it, Jason realized, they were screwed if that chopper showed up.

“Scout Two, be advised,” the voice interrupted the tense silence, “there is significant smoke rising approximately 23 miles east of your location. Over.”

“Copy,” the driver said.

“We have been ordered to investigate, and will no longer be providing air support for your patrol. Do you copy? Over.”

“I copy Eagle one,” the driver’s face lost all hope and it was Jason’s turn to smirk.

“Scout Two, command has asked us to remind you to be aware that the current estimates put the rebel outpost somewhere within a 30 to 40 mile radius of your current location. Keep your eyes peeled and your guard up. Over.”

The driver rolled his eyes and stared down the barrel of Jason’s pistol.

“Copy that Eagle One,” he said flatly.

Jason was relieved at the lucky break but the mission was far from over.

“You,” he said to the other disguised soldier, signal for Brunt and my son to descend on this position.  We’ll pick up the sniper when we turn this thing around.”

“Turn it around?” the driver asked, but he was met with an order to get up and exit the vehicle. Jason marched the driver out and around to the front of the bus, and secured his hands behind his back with zip ties. He could see Brunt huffing it up the road from behind the bus, and turned to see Jim doing the same from his position.  He was watching his son run across the field at full sprint when he heard the shot. Everything stopped, and for a second, Jason had no idea what had just happened.  Then he heard the body slump to the ground, and he turned to see the driver collapsed into a growing pull blood.

“What the hell was that!?” Jason shouted in the direction of the sniper.  “You dumb son-of-a-bitch!” Jason ran over to the man, but he was far too late.  Jason had no care for the man’s life, but the information he had was vital to their success.  Entry code-words, route plans, which radio frequencies and call signs to use, and not to mention he was going to double as a hostage if needed.  Now he was worthless, worse than that, his death posed a real problem.   Jason’s vision went red, and he wanted to wrap his hands around the sniper’s neck.  He should have known better, what kind of psycho kills a captured man anyway, there was no threat, it was senseless! Jason tried to control his thoughts and focus on the new set of problems at hand.

“What happened?” Jim asked, panting for breath from running across the field.

“That crazy asshole on top of the gas station killed out intelligence source,” Jason said heatedly. A big hearty laugh came billowing across the midmorning air.

“You find this funny,  Brunt?” Jason turned and glared at the hulking man.

“Look at the way he fell, looks like’n inch worm,” Brunt gurgled. The man had fallen onto his knees and face planted with his backside sticking up.  The bullet had passed clean through his neck. As Jason marveled at it in anger, he realized yet another problem.  Over the sound of Brunt’s idiotic laughter there was a trickling sound. Jason flattened himself on the ground and starred in horror at the steady flow of liquid leaking down from the engine block.

“What is it dad?”

“Oil.”

“How?”

“Goddamn sniper bullet must have hit the line.”

He hopped up and quickly jumped into the driver’s seat and turned the key. The engine choked, sputtered and finally turned over. He checked the gauges, and watched the check oil light blink to life.

“Perfect,” Jason cursed.

“What are we going to do?” Jim asked.

“We’re going to need another bus.”

Jason drew a diagram in the dirt for the new battle plan, and everyone, including the sniper, were gathered around in the shadow of the bus. “You two take up positions here, on the station roof, just like the first time.” Jason said to Brunt and the sniper while pointing out the position with a stick.  “Jim, you’re on the flank, and Jeff and I will take position here.” The stick pointed to an area on the road with the bus between them and the station.    “We’ll call in as if we’re under attack, tell them the bus was hit by a sniper bullet and request back up.  When they arrive, we’ll still be in disguise, that’s when you and Brunt,” Jason said to the sniper, open fire on the arriving soldiers. Jim, you don’t fire until Jeff and I make our move, understood? With any luck, they’ll only send a small reserve force out. We know they’re already down four, and if we make the threat sound small enough, we may get lucky.”

“Sure is risky,” the sniper cooed.

“Should have thought about that before you killed the bus, asshole.” Jason was furious at the complication and danger their operation now required.

Jeff, the other man in the D.D.T.F. uniform spoke next.

“What about the other team, I doubt we’ll make it back in the time we selected.”

“They’ll have a scout on the road, and they’re supposed to wait to see the bus before they blow the building.” Jason said.  They’ll see the response team sent out our way, and they’ll know something is up.  I’m not worried about them blowing the distraction, I’m worried they’ll think we’re toast and head home all together.”

The words hung out over the five of them in a thick and worried silence.

“Any more questions?” Jason asked. A few heads shook, and Jason clapped his hands. “Alright then, let’s get to work. We need to hide the bodies of these two scouts, well enough so that even the chopper won’t see’em. Brunt, carry’em into the service station.”

Jason got onto the bus and searched around for any clues as to call signs, channels or anything else that might help him deliver the bait to the command center.  Jim followed him on.

“This gonna work sir?”

“Has to,” Jason said, eyeing his son for weakness.

“Yessir,” jim replied.

“Listen, son,” Jason began, “if they send more than we can handle, you turn and run. There’s no sense in you getting killed too.”

Jim looked at his father and fought back the tears wanted to sting his eyes.

“But sir,” he began.

“But nothing.  I’ll signal you, right before Fred and I make our move. If I think the situation is hopeless, you don’t fire a shot, just take off for the camp, gather whatever supplies you can find, and then take off for the next town.  There’s bound to be another camp close, one where they don’t know you, get there.  I’d rather have you safe and in their camp than dead.”

A few tears now streaked Jim’s face, but he wiped them away with his sleeve and stiffened his upper lip.

“Yessir,” he choked out.

Brunt had disposed of the bodies in the station, and he and the sniper were now in place. Jim was hidden in the tree line and Jason held the radio receiver in his hand.  Here we go, he said to himself and pushed down hard on the button.

“Be advised, be advised, he shouted, Scout Two is under attack. Bus is down, repeat, bus is down, requesting back up for at least two unfriendlies, located at the service station at position…” Jason fired his weapon into the air a few times, before relaying the rest of the message.

“Scout Two, Scout Two, this is command, we copy, and are deploying back up.”

Bring’em, Jason said to himself, Bring’em on.

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Source: http://theprepperproject.com/aftermath-complications-setbacks/

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