“I really don’t know, I really don’t.”
The convoy came to a sudden stop. “Recon six to Butler six actual.”
“Recon six, this is Butler six actual go.”
“We’re stuck, large hole in the freeway.”
“Can you define large hole?”
“Maybe 100 feet across and deep, can’t see the bottom, must be a small sliver strike. Something heavy hit here, not only is there a hole in the freeway, but the two overpasses two clicks ahead are down, must have been blown down in the blast.”
“Shit, can we go around?”
“Negative.”
“There is an exit, we marked it with red smoke and marker, take that, there is a large truck stop at the bottom of the hill…”
“Wait, did you say hill?”
“Yeah, best we can do. Send the tanks ahead to clear the road.”
“Seems we don’t have any option. Good eyes. Okay, see you at the truck stop.”
A moment later the radio again spoke, “Attention convoy this is Butler six actual we have to make a detour, seems there’s a large hole in the freeway ahead, we’re taking the next exit to the right. Large truck stop where we’ll spend the night. 01 and above meet me at my vehicle at 2200 hours.”
Erin looked at Jon, “What’s an 01? I have no idea. These yanks speak funny. I guess we’re making a stop.”
Ariden asked, “Are we stopping at a hotel tonight?”
“No honey, but I’ll find out what we’re going to do at 10 PM when we meet the Colonel. We’re stopping at a truck stop…”
“Oh, good a bathroom, I really need to go.”
Jon didn’t tell his family he guessed there wasn’t anything left of the truck stop this long after the rock landed. He prayed the Colonel had something in mind for the night. After all his family wasn’t military and he had two young girls with him.
The 70-ton tanks slid down the hill but were able to use their plows to clear the snow enough for the following convoy to follow. Two thirds of the vehicles slid most of the way down the hill and into the parking lot where they came to a stop. Two MRAPs slid into the fuel pumps and their overhanging metal roof. The MP attempting to guide the vehicles jumped away from the sliding trucks, they were also very pleased the electricity was off so there wasn’t any fuel in the pipes leading to the pumps which had been knocked over. Unknown to the MPs, two techs had connected their generator truck to the station’s electrical box, when they did some of the fuel which was still in the storage tanks began to move up the pipes of the broken pumps, when it reached the top of the pipe, there wasn’t a pump to stop or hold the fuel at the ready so the fuel poured out of the pipes and began spreading across the parking lot.
Usually this wouldn't have been too much a problem since diesel doesn’t easily ignite like gasoline does, however two issues made themselves known, one the diesel increased the slipperiness of the ice and snow, thus the next six vehicles couldn’t come to a stop until they struck another vehicle. The other problem and this one was major, one of the tanks held gasoline, this did easily ignite when an MP tossed a lit cigarette towards a snow pile, the cigarette ignited the gasoline which got hot enough to ignite the diesel. In a moment there was a flash explosion, flames shot up and engulfed the vehicles already in the station’s parking lot.
The flames ignited a truck loaded with ammunition which exploded. The explosion sent shrapnel into the other vehicles and over sixty people. The explosion blew a hole through the blowing snow so even the dark gray sky could be seen. The heat from the fires melted the snow and ice before it quickly glazed over and refroze into sheets of black ice. Soldiers ran around grabbing fire extinguishers to put out the fires and try to save the vehicles and the people. Many who’s jackets and uniforms had caught fire dove into the snow and rolled around to put the fires out. At least twenty-one people suffered major burns. The caravan’s communication vehicle sat burning in the middle of a large fire. Its fuel tanks had ruptured and spread additional burning fuel across the parking lot.
The flames reflected off the bottom of the dense clouds, the blowing winds blew the fires towards the attached store and sandwich shop. When the flames reached the rear of the sandwich shop, they reached two large propane tanks which exploded with the force of a medium sized bomb. The building was blown apart, shrapnel flew in all directions, the shreds of metal and glass cut down more of the soldiers.
Jon’s Suburban slid down the off ramp which had been polished smooth by the other vehicles, he was horrified when he saw the propane tanks explode. He yelled, “Get down, everyone get down, this isn’t going to pretty, we’re on black ice, I can’t control where we’re going. If I say go, I want everyone to open their doors and get out of the SUV.”
Erin asked, “What do you mean get out? We’re moving.”
“Look at the fires and explosions ahead of us, I can’t control where we’re going, even with chains I can’t get enough traction, we’re on a down slope which is taking us directly into the fires, if we enter the fire, our gas will explode, so we need to take our chances by jumping. There’s snow on either side of us so we should be safe, if we end up in the fires at the bottom of this ramp, we’ll die, so get ready.”
One of Jon’s daughters, he wasn’t sure which said, “Daddy…”
“Listen to me, just do what I say and don’t argue, we
