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Pricey Diary,
It’s me, Jessica.
Daniel, Savannah, and several other others had arrange fires again and to the far aspect of the barrier. Over the fires, that they had massive pots of boiling water. They had been sitting on logs with medical shears and knives, chopping a pile of mattress sheets into strips for bandages. It will need to have been a lesson realized from the Battle of 4 Corners. They might then boil to sterilize the bandages and allow them to cool in different clear pots.
Jack walked alongside the barrier, passing the phrase for everybody to verify their reloads, to “make prepared,” and to not waste ammunition on machine gun nests except that they had a very good, clear shot. He gave phrases of reassurance, even making jokes to ease the stress within the air. A number of started to joke again with him or to others round them.
Then, Rae began it in her wealthy, Southern voice,
“I admit, at first, I used to be afraid; I used to be petrified.”
It was the opening track line from that soccer film we had line danced to, I Will Survive.
I joined in.
Surprisingly, so did Sean.
Then others throughout the barrier.
Savannah obtained up from her log and commenced to line dance.
Rae and I each hopped out behind our positions and synced with Savannah. So did Sean and some others.
Jack facepalmed, however I might see his shoulders shaking with laughter.
It could not have been a battle hymn, but it surely was 4 Corners.
The sharp bark of a brief burst from the machine gun on the hill ended our track and dance routine as we jumped again into our positions.
The cellular machine gun nests had been on the transfer. Below the burden of the heavy wooden and the plate metal, the boys pushing from the rear slowly superior them towards the barrier. After they had been a few hundred yards, the nests stopped, and the machine weapons opened hearth with a roar. There have been two medium machine weapons in every nest. Every gun fired different lengthy bursts all alongside the barrier. Bullets slammed into the barrier, and the metallic construction of the autos that made up the barrier ripped via the air simply above our heads as we took cowl.
We heard a protracted burst from our personal machine gun, together with single photographs from the marksmen. The lads who pushed the cellular machine gun nests tried to run again to their strains, however a couple of of them obtained reduce down; the remaining stopped and ran again to take cowl behind the nests.
Behind the cult’s wagon strains, a pole was raised with two flags on it. The higher one was crimson, and the decrease one was white. The machine gun nests paused. All 4 weapons pulled again into the nests.
Within the sudden deafening silence, Sean requested, “What are they doing?”
“Swapping out barrels,” Jack responded. “Loading contemporary belts.” Jack shouted to the barrier’s left and proper, “Stand prepared!”
The barrels of the machine weapons reappeared. All 4 weapons fired in longer bursts all alongside the barrier. Nobody might return a shot with no actual likelihood of getting shot within the head. From their wagon line, a dozen or so males shot at our machine gun place at speedy hearth, pinning them down.
Two teams of 4 riders from either side of their wagon line got here round, below the quilt of the machine weapons, and rode proper between them. Their horses simply jumped over our defensive trenches. Grappling hooks had been tossed over the wood panels Jack and the others had put in in the course of the night time. The hooks rode up on our aspect of the wooden, as soon as they topped the panels and the riders “set” them. A second later, the panels had been ripped down.
These of us who noticed what occurred cried out in alarm.
“It’s okay,” Jack shouted. “They did the work for us!” He then turned, dealing with South, and shouted, “Ship them! Ship them!”
Others who took cowl alongside the North Highway, handed the phrase down the road.
The machine gun nests continued to fireplace as their riders returned to their strains. As soon as once more, they paused to swap out barrels and reload contemporary belts.
Jack nodded to nobody, stepped out into the now empty area the place the wood panels stood a couple of moments in the past, aimed a rifle with a grenade launcher beneath the barrel at one of many machine gun nests, and fired a grenade. Whereas Jack had essentially the most expertise with a grenade launcher, it fell simply brief and impacted below the entrance of the cellular machine gun nest. The end result was nonetheless devastating. The explosion flipped over the whole nest ten toes within the air, touchdown simply behind the place it was. The lads taking cowl behind the nest who weren’t killed within the explosion had been crushed because it crashed down on prime of them. The nest field collapsed below its personal weight and the consequences of gravity.
Jack famous the grenade’s affect and stepped again behind the barrier, adjusting to the grenade launcher sights and reloading multi functional swift motion. He then stepped again into the open area as he shouldered the rifle. The barrels of the machine weapons reappeared. Jack took the shot.
This time, the grenade struck the nest slightly below the gun slot, and the entire entrance finish was destroyed. The drive of the explosion launched the nest again a number of toes, killing a few of the males taking cowl behind it and maiming others.
Everybody on each side was in shock as to what simply occurred. Nobody moved, nobody mentioned something.
Then I felt it earlier than I heard it. The bottom was rumbling. What appeared like thunder within the distance grew nearer. I turned to look. Mr. Miller, Mrs. Miller, Billy, Janet, and Justin had been driving what needed to be 100 head of cattle up the North highway towards the barrier at a run.
It was a stampede. As they approached the barrier, the cattle noticed the opening the place the wood panels had been and funneled themselves via, previous the defensive trenches and towards the cult’s wagon line. With no opening, the cattle stampede straight via. A number of the wagons had been overturned. Others had been tossed to at least one aspect solely to be thrown once more by different cattle. Some males on their line tried to shoot the cattle. They died first, both below an upturned wagon or below 1,200 kilos of hooves. Others turned and tried to flee, solely to get run down. The 2 smaller tents had been razed. One-half of the massive tent got here down. The horses that pulled the wagons, feeling, listening to, and seeing the oncoming stampede, all pulled on their picket strains on the identical time, northward and ripped the anchors for the picket strains out. The horses ran away in a panic.
It was absolute chaos.
“Yeah,” Jack mentioned aloud, watching from the open area within the barrier, rifle butt on his one hip, the sound of the stampede receding within the distance.
“That turned out higher than I deliberate.”
Entry two
Jack handed the phrase for everybody to keep up their positions and maintain watch. He referred to as for a “harm” report. Regardless of the machine gun hearth, nobody on the barrier was harm or killed. Apart from Jack, nobody on the barrier even obtained an opportunity to return hearth. The positions on the hillside had been the one ones who did. Two of the marksmen on the hill took hits however weren’t severe. Jack merely mentioned, “We obtained fortunate.”
We might see some motion. A number of undamaged wagons had been hooked up to the rider’s horses and turned away from their line. After an hour, Jack turned to me, held out the binoculars, nodded towards the hillside, and mentioned, “Test it out. Take your time. Ensure that of what you see.”
“On it, Jack.”
I didn’t trouble to low crawl this time however sprinted as much as the hillside place. After about thirty minutes of watching via the binoculars, I returned to report.
“I didn’t see any motion. Plenty of our bodies on the bottom, doubtless extra below the overturned wagons or within the tents. A number of useless horses and cows.”
Jack nodded. After a second, he referred to as up three groups to recon the scenario. One to every aspect of the highway, one up the center.
Jack lead the center staff, I used to be at his one aspect, my rifle at “the prepared,” as was the remainder of the staff.
The remaining wagons had been in varied circumstances of destruction. Some may very well be salvaged. Others had been firewood. As I reported, there have been some useless males below the wagons. There have been many extra between their line and the tents.
Jack stopped and stood over one physique.
I solely acknowledged him by his clothes. The top and physique had been smashed so many occasions by the stampede, driving the physique practically flush with the bottom.
It was their army tactician.
We discovered different our bodies in comparable situation. People who weren’t completely crushed clearly had extreme head wounds they died of or had been twisted and mangled in unattainable positions.
A type of our bodies twisted and mangled into unattainable positions was Sarah. I knelt down over her. I reached out to show her over however stopped myself. I didn’t wish to see what was left of her face. I pulled my hand again.
Diary, I didn’t really feel glad, glad, or triumphant at that second. We had received, with no losses. However kneeling over her physique, I might solely really feel unhappy for her. For what she will need to have endured below the life within the cult. Getting used as a spy. Solely to die like this.
Entry three
After our sweep, we discovered solely the useless. The cult’s survivors had taken what they may with the remaining wagons and left. Reverend Ishmael’s physique was not among the many useless. Fortunately, neither had been the opposite two spies, Samuel and Abigail.
We took the horses and cows that died and would have our personal celebration after we had a funeral pyre for his or her useless. By our depend, thirty-four of the cult members died – principally males however a couple of girls too.
Whereas many ate properly, drank, sang, and danced, I sat down subsequent to Billy with a plate of steak and roasted greens. I knew I used to be hungry however didn’t really feel it.
Billy was variety sufficient to note my temper. He instructed me of how Jack talked together with his father, then staged the pretend revelation in entrance of the spies, and he and his dad would truly go to the East to seek out one of many free herds of cattle to carry them in for the stampede. Billy famous one, possibly two calvings, and people free herds would turn out to be utterly wild. They might be just like the wild water buffalo of South Africa or the Bison of the American Nice Plains.
I noticed he was making an attempt to alter the topic and reached out with one hand to his and mentioned, “Thanks.”
I then modified the topic myself and talked about how I loved educating studying to my college students and marksmanship.
Diary, Billy, and I ate our dinner, talked, and laughed. We even danced later across the fires. Within the quiet moments, I couldn’t assist however consider Sarah.
Entry 4
Diary, it seems our home is now the central sq. of the neighborhood.
With Dad’s open invitation to make use of his outside oven and range, folks had been continually coming over to bake bread, cook dinner a meal, or smoke meat. Dad constructed a big wood desk eight toes lengthy by 5 toes vast. Individuals would roll out their bread into loaves on both aspect of the desk whereas chatting.
Mother completely loved having folks over to speak to. Some would carry baggage of tea for decent or chilly drinks. Others would make just a little additional of their breakfast or lunch to share.
HAM Man would come by often to offer us the newest information he heard on the radio nets. Somebody would at all times give him a plate of meals or a loaf of bread in change.
A number of teams had been now declaring themselves as the brand new federal authorities, every with their very own president. Every is promising to rebuild and restore America to its former self. A number of introduced their very own separate nations solely. There have been a couple of coalitions and one New England confederacy. HAM Man gave a snort on the irony of a New England “confederacy.” And one man has pronounced himself because the King of New America.
The HAM man within the metropolis reported there’s a flu going round. He says it doesn’t appear too dangerous however folks with younger youngsters and the aged are holding away from others as a precaution. The gang that Jack went to the town to commerce for antibiotics has established their “turf” from different gangs. There’s an occasional combat between gangs, however issues are principally peaceable. They can not afford a chronic struggle they usually do must commerce with one another typically.
Our HAM Man made a reference to a girl claiming to be from Eire. In response to her, the UK and the EU have collapsed into common chaos. Most of them nonetheless have energy however there’s plenty of combating within the streets. Gangs with weapons have overpowered native governments and have taken over complete cities and cities in nations with strict gun management legal guidelines. There have been un-verified accounts of ethnic cleaning of every kind. She additionally mentioned there was a struggle happening however nobody appears to know who’s combating who or the place. So far as she is aware of, Iceland and Greenland are the one nations utterly unscathed. She heard stories that America was having its personal civil struggle.
HAM Man simply shrugged his shoulders and mentioned he would attempt to keep up a correspondence along with her.
There’s rancher up north HAM Man was speaking to on the radio nets even earlier than the facility went out. He reported they already had snow. It’s a good two or three weeks early for them. He was fortunate he had a very good summer time and leftover hay from the earlier yr to maintain his herds fed, however he thought he must both cull a part of his herd or allow them to go wild. Culling the herd, there was no market to ship them to. He, his household, all of the ranch arms, and their households couldn’t eat that a lot beef with out it going dangerous. Wild appeared the higher thought.
A man down in Texas reported at first, after the facility went out, the Mexican drug cartels got here throughout the border en masse and tried to take over complete areas. Management corridors for his or her drug commerce. Then the Texas Nationwide Guard confirmed up and would shoot anybody and everybody who couldn’t show they had been People. With tanks, APCs, helicopters, and troop numbers, the drug cartels had been shortly out-gunned and out-manned.
But HAM Man mentioned, “Right here is the true kicker. With the facility out and all our infrastructure down, the drug cartels now not had entry to their market. There isn’t any means to promote to their patrons. Their patrons now not had entry to cash. And it didn’t take lengthy till cash had no which means. Everybody was combating over issues like meals and gas. They left. There was no revenue in it. Then, they discovered themselves in the identical scenario as we had been in Mexico. No energy.
Abruptly, issues obtained actual native, actual quick.”
The man in Texas even mentioned there have been stories of inexperienced card holders crossing again into Mexico as they felt it was safer there than in America.
Diary, how tousled is that?
About 1stMarineJarHead
1stMarineJarHead will not be solely a former Marine, but additionally a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter.
He presently resides within the nice white (i.e. snowy) Northeast together with his spouse and canine. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, often 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.
