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Expensive Diary,
It’s me, Jessica.
I solely have a couple of minutes. Jack despatched me again at a run to deliver each ready physique to the marketplace for the struggle. Each ready physique included all the militia, like my Mother and Dad.
And, I used to be to examine in on Samson, let him out, feed and water him in fact. He was glad to see me however regarded unhappy to see me go.
The folks of the market made their selection clear to struggle the gang.
It’s the proper selection. However on the similar time, realizing what I noticed and what Jack mentioned, I do know various of the market individuals are going to die or get significantly wounded. It might even be my mother and father or me.
Diary, that offers me ‘oubts. Might there be a method to keep away from the battle? From what I’ve seen, it appears unlikely.
Extra later.
If there’s a later.
Entry two
Expensive Diary,
It’s me, Jessica.
After I informed Mother and Dad what was happening, we unfold the phrase. Throughout the hour, the entire militia shaped up, all armed, and set out on a quick march for the market. It was unusual as those that had been within the navy made jokes about what was about to occur, making enjoyable of one another as they did. Dad mentioned it was ‘gallows’ humor—to make comedy within the face of a doable violent dying.
Diary, I’m not going to lie, however I didn’t perceive it. However for some bizarre cause, they did. And it even appeared to raise their spirits. It appeared morbid to me.
By the point we arrived, it was within the late afternoon. Almost everybody was on the north facet of Previous River Highway. Although they didn’t have any operating vans, tractors, or different gas-powered means, via sheer brute drive of many individuals, they pushed, pulled, and swore these automobiles to kind a defensive barrier line from the one facet of Previous River Highway to the east, all the way in which to the cliffs overlooking the river to the West.
They had been tearing down all of the stalls on the North facet, reusing the nails, and making two to three-foot varieties in entrance of the automobiles from in regards to the floor to the highest of the doorways.
Others dug a three-foot-wide by two-foot-deep trench fifty yards in entrance of the line of defense. One other group used any container they might to fill the varieties with dust from the ditch. One other group cleared the areas in entrance of the barrier and trench to disclaim the gang cowl as a lot as they might.
As soon as our militia arrived, work on the defensive positions and clearing went even sooner. 4 teams of two males with axes working at a coordinated rhythm felled a number of timber whereas one man was sharpening two spare axes to rotate in when the working axes turned too boring to be of use. He would then sharpen these axes. They stripped the tree limbs right into a single log. They’d then use a six-foot-long, two-man handbook noticed to chop the log into extra manageable lengths. Two pairs of males stood and watched as the opposite two labored the noticed shortly. After they started to tire, one of many different pair of males would take over. The three teams rotating out and in might undergo a log in 5 to 10 minutes, relying on the dimensions of the log. When prepared to maneuver, they and a gaggle of males digging the ditch would cease digging after which use ropes, straps, and even linked leather-based belts, roll the log over them, and, in unison, raise the log and carry it, laying it in entrance of the defensive barrier. Somebody had the foresight to depart a three-foot extensive little bit of floor undisturbed in the midst of the ditch for them to make use of as a bridge and never should step down into the ditch itself. The logs had been large enough to offer cowl for somebody at a ‘low’ crawl.
Somebody thought forward to start out getting ready dinner for the complete market. A gaggle of ladies and younger kids had been pealing, roasting, boiling, seasoning, and cooking every thing from chickens, rabbits, lamb, deer, root greens, and bread to feed all these engaged on the defenses.
Sean referred to as for everybody to assemble across the 4 Corners at six for dinner and to listen to what was the plan. Jack’s plan.
Most sat on the plain floor with no matter plate, bowl, or container they’d for his or her meal, utilizing utensils from forks and knives to chopsticks. I introduced a collapsible camp bowl and a spork. We had been all scorching, sweaty, and drained. However we ate the meals with appreciation. With all of the operating I did that day, I used to be famished. I had a bowl of what I feel was a thick, wealthy venison stew with potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and herbs. The girl doling out the stew, I feel, gave me an excessive amount of, and I mentioned as a lot. She gave me a heat smile and mentioned, “You earned it, Jessica.”
Jack stood on Sean’s log to handle us as we ate.
His plan was an ambush.
When Jack and I had been jogging again from our ‘recon’ of the gang’s base, the tempo was slower as Jack was assessing the terrain for essentially the most ideally suited place for an ambush. Jack organized the militia and people within the market with essentially the most fight expertise or coaching into three groups: Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. There was one part of Previous River Highway to the North the place Jack might mount a frontal ambush with Workforce Alpha. Most of them could be from the militia. A barely wooded riverside to the West flanking could be the placement of the help group, Workforce Bravo. And a precision rifle group, Charlie, could be on a hill prime over trying the ambush web site to the East.
If the gang had been to press ahead to struggle previous the ambush, the Alpha Workforce would retreat to a fallback place. Bravo Workforce would fall again behind the gang. Having a drive not solely in entrance of them however behind the gang would make them cease and make them rethink their assault whereas having Charlie capturing from the hilltop to their Japanese facet.
If Alpha Workforce had been pressured from the secondary fallback place to the market’s line of defense, then Bravo and Charlie would hyperlink up and mount an assault on the gang’s rear. Alpha Workforce would maintain the line of defense to field them in.
Jack famous that this was the worst-case situation, forcing Alpha again to the market line of defense with Bravo and Charlie trying an assault from the gang’s rear.
The most effective-case situation was that at the beginning contact, the gang could be in disarray and instantly retreat. Alpha and Bravo would press their assault. Charlie was to maintain to the hills and woodlands, heading northward to the gang’s base. It will take longer, however as soon as they reached the identical hill Jack and I reconnoitered from, they had been to present precision help hearth from there.
The gang had no defensive fortifications and the houses had been body and stick building. Relying on what number of had been nonetheless alive, it may very well be over in minutes, or they may should burn them out.
Jack left it at that as a clumsy silence fell throughout the 4 Corners on the concept of burning them out.
It was at that second when Jack’s worst-case situation was not the worst-case situation.
The worst-case situation was when the gang arrived to hitch us for dinner.
Armed to the tooth.
Entry three
Most of us had completed our dinner, listening to Jack’s plan, when from the line of defense got here the sound of three high-pitched shriek of an orange emergency whistle. Then, the sounds of gunfire.
“Transfer!” Jack shouted, hopping down from the log, grabbing his rifle, and sprinting Northward.
Everybody dropped their dinner bowls and utensils, grabbed their weapons, and ran after Jack.
As soon as on the line of defense, we discovered a small group of women and men who had continued to work on the road whereas we ate. They noticed the gang arrive. Considered one of them sounded the alarm with the orange emergency whistle. The others started firing.
The excellent news was that the gang arrived to search out the clearing, the ditch, and the line of defense and had been clearly confused by the brand new state of affairs. The militia had marched straight to the line of defense and we had left our gear there. My backpack ‘package’ was not as in depth as Jack’s, however I had further ammunition, water, a primary support package, and a few snacks.
The unhealthy information was not solely did they’ve military-grade weapons, however they had been additionally carrying physique armor, helmets, and humorous issues on their ears. We later realized they had been ear safety with built-in walkie-talkies.
We confronted off in opposition to them at about 100 yards when the capturing began for actual. It was absolute chaos.’
I took up place subsequent to Jack on one facet and Rae on the opposite facet in a minivan in the midst of the barrier line.
That they had a number of machine weapons spraying the line of defense. The dirt-filled varieties we’d made in entrance stopped a lot of the bullets, however some who didn’t duck behind the varieties in time took pictures to the pinnacle or higher chest.
Below the duvet of machine gun hearth, the remainder of the gang ran as quick as they might to the ditch, however the weight of the physique armor slowed them down. As soon as they made it to the ditch, they supplied cowl hearth for the machine gunners to advance to the ditch.
At first I believed the three foot extensive and two foot deep trench was a ‘unhealthy’ concept, it gave them cowl. However then I spotted it was simply shallow sufficient, they needed to lay fully down for canopy at a totally awkward place because the three foot extensive wouldn’t allow them to lay in with their heads towards the line of defense and ft away towards the route they simply got here. They needed to lay parallel to the line of defense, making it troublesome to deliver their weapons to bear. And the 2 ft they must climb out was simply sufficient with their weapons and physique armor to depart them uncovered in the event that they tried to advance or retreat. In a way, they had been trapped.
Jack tried to present orders, nevertheless it was onerous to listen to over all of the gunfire and the screaming. When there was a pause from the machine gun hearth, I used to be about to pop as much as return hearth as others had been doing when Jack grabbed me by the arm and shouted into my ear,
“Move the phrase! Make groin pictures or the higher legs! Anyplace the physique armor doesn’t cowl! Go!” he yelled, pointing to the East of the line of defense. He mentioned the identical to Rae and despatched her West.
I nodded, jumped out of the minivan, and ran to the subsequent automobile to move the phrase.
Diary, I used to be scared. The sound and odor of gunfire, folks screaming, some crying. Those that couldn’t struggle had been dragging the useless and wounded out of automobiles, taking them away from the line of defense for medical consideration or lined as much as be buried later.
Among the automobiles had areas between them that I needed to cross. I needed to drop all the way down to a low crawl with the logs as cowl. I knew the logs had been there, however I nonetheless felt fully uncovered as bullets whizzed by. I made my method down the road, as quick as I might crawl or at a crouching run, passing the phrase to the others. I used to be on my method again when issues went from unhealthy to worse.’
The gang used the grenade launchers. On the similar time, all of them sat up on their knees to face the line of defense offering overlaying hearth whereas the blokes with the grenade launchers did the identical, launching the grenades.
The explosions had been deafening, much more so than the gunfire. I used to be low-crawling behind a log after I felt the concussion from the explosion sweep over me, from my hair to my toes in my boots. I even felt it in my tooth and in my intestine.
There have been 4 explosions. The primary one to the far West. The second appeared simply behind me. The final two fired into the center of the barrier line.
I regarded up in time to see the one automobile take a direct hit.
The second grenade exploded on the base of mini-van Jack was in the place the log was. The explosion lifted the mini-van twelve ft into the air and twenty ft backward, rolling because it flew, touchdown on its roof, collapsing it to grow to be even with the hood.
Watching the mini-van airborne and are available to relaxation in a heap, Diary, it was then like every thing went into sluggish movement. Even sound. I didn’t assume. I simply did. I stood up from behind the log, mounted my rifle to my shoulder, and similar to in snap capturing coaching, I took the shot on the first gang member I noticed. At fifty yards, it was a straightforward shot to the pinnacle. As Jack informed me to not stand round to admire my handiwork, I labored the lever motion onerous and quick to reload, searching for my subsequent goal as I did. That focus on was a gang member working the grenade a part of his rifle when he took the shot to the face. I used to be working the lever motion once more, my subsequent goal noticed his grenade launcher pal go down, had turned towards me and was elevating the machine gun in my route. Diary, I then had a really unusual however calm thought,
“He’s going to beat me to the shot.”
At that second, one thing slammed into me from my left, sending me flying behind the automobile when every thing returned to regular velocity and sound. I struggled to rise up to search out what had hit me was Jack. He had tackled me out of the house the place machine gun bullets ripped via the air the place I simply stood a second earlier than. Jack regarded down at me and shouted,
“What the heck had been you doing? Are you out of your dang thoughts? I skilled you higher than that!”
He then slowly gave me a smile.
Diary, I then understood what Dad meant by gallows humor. I gave Jack a brief chortle and grinned again. He pulled me up right into a sitting place behind the automobile as extra bullets peppered the dust varieties and the automobile. Jack regarded over his shoulder to a person and girl, each carrying precision rifles with ‘huge’ scopes on them. I didn’t know both of them. He shouted for them to observe and mentioned to me,
“Come on!”
At a crouching run, we made our method to the East finish of the line of defense. From there, we low-crawled up a delicate slope into the woods and Northward. My legs and arms had been on hearth from the hassle. My elbows, arms, knees, and legs could be bruised for days. We continued till we had been overlooking the ditch from a barely elevated place. There was not a number of cowl. From behind an outdated fallen useless tree, we might see the entire trench from East to West and all of the gang in it. I additionally felt that anybody of them might simply lookup and see us. Jack motioned for us to duck again down behind the tree. He mentioned we’d solely have time for 2, possibly three pictures at finest earlier than they might know we had been there and return hearth. We had been to divide the ditch into quarters. Carlos was to take the furthest, westward quarter. Anna, the subsequent quarter to the center of the ditch. Jack from the center of the ditch to the subsequent quarter. I might take the final and closest quarter.
“Grenadiers and machine gunners are precedence targets, in that order. Something after that may be a bonus. Once I give the order to run, run flat out for the line of defense. Obtained it?”
Carlos and Anna each mentioned, “Sure, sir!”
I mentioned, “I’m in!”
We lined up behind the log and acquired prepared.
Diary, I took three deep breaths and centered on what wanted to be accomplished. On what Jack and Rae had skilled into me.
“On three. One . . . two . . . three!”
It was as if all of us shot directly.
I do know I acquired a machine gunner behind his hip, his butt, actually. I used to be searching for my subsequent goal when Jack yelled for us to run after just one shot. One of many grenadiers had been trying in our ‘common’ route, noticed what occurred, and was aiming his grenade launcher at us.
We had simply cleared the log when the grenade exploded.
To Be Continued…
About 1stMarineJarHead
1stMarineJarHead shouldn’t be solely a former Marine, but in addition a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter.
He presently resides within the nice white (i.e. snowy) Northeast along with his spouse and canines. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, sometimes hogs, cows and typically geese. He grows varied veggies and has a bizarre fondness for rutabagas. He enjoys studying, writing, cooking from scratch, making charcuterie, goal capturing, and is presently increasing his woodworking expertise.
