“Because they didn’t find one for us. When we make the next stop we’ll look. I promise you I’ll do my best to find us a new car, okay?”
“Okay, what if I need to use the bathroom?”
“You’ll have to wait until we reach our next stop.”
“How long until we stop?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure any of the soldiers do until their colonel tells them.”
“I don’t like it here.”
“I know honey, I know. I love you.”
A moment later the armored vehicle they were in shook, they heard the explosions which reverberated inside the troop compartment. They heard the pinging of the metal balls bouncing off the Bradley’s armor. Ariden screamed, “Daddy, what’s happening? Are we going to die?”
“The armor saved us, I don’t know what’s going on, but trust the soldiers, they know what they’re doing. If we had been in the SUV, we might be dead right now.”
Erin smiled, “See, the good Lord is watching over us. He put us in this vehicle to save us.”
The driver used the PA to say, “Will the Coats prepare to disembark the vehicle, the Colonel requests your assistance.”
Trinity asked, “Mommy?”
“It’s okay, you’ll see, we trust the Colonel. He’s saved us more than once.”
@@@@@
Moose waited as his father had drilled into his head. He waited until the tanks passed before he triggered the IEDs. A line of home-made bombs which had been surrounded with BBs exploded along both sides of the two-lane road the tanks were clearing. Most of the BBs bounced off the armor of the vehicles. Even the cargo trucks had been up armored so very little damage was done except for six blown tires. Colonel Spivey ordered every vehicle to remain buttoned up and to use their thermal sensors to search for the insurgents.
The tanks stopped, one held the point, two turned to provide support for the convoy, one drove through the snow on each side of the road. A gunner on the right-side tank called out, “I’ve got a group of contacts, 3 o’clock 40 yards. Antipersonnel is loaded in the main gun.”
“Target the group and fire.”
The 70-ton tank rocked backwards as the 120mm main gun fired. A large flame followed the canister shell out of the barrel. Once the canister exited the barrel, it opened like a giant shotgun shell. Hundreds of metal balls shot through the snow, the balls cut Moose and his brothers apart. None survived the one shell which left them looking like chop meat. Bear screamed when he crawled over to where his sons and their friends had hidden when they set off the IEDs. He rocked back and forth and cried, he screamed at the sky when two M4 barrels were pushed into his back. “Stand up and put your hands behind your head. Don’t turn around, don’t reach for anything. Don’t say anything. Our fingers are itching and we’d love to blow an insurgent like you away.”
One of the soldiers fell when a 30.06 round struck him at the back of his neck. Bear laughed at the other soldier, “You should surrender to me or you’ll die like your buddy over there. Think I’m stupid? I have snipers set up in case you discovered my boys over there. You done killed my boys, I ought to have you killed for killing them.”
“I’m not surrendering to you, you’re an insurgent who will be brought to justice.” The soldier dropped to his knees a fraction of second before a bullet buried itself in the snow to the side of him. Bear shook his head, “How did you know?”
“Sixth sense. Now unless you want to die a cold death, I won’t shoot to kill you, I’ll shoot to seriously wound you and I’ll leave you here in the snow to die. If you want to live, call off your sniper.”
“Ha! You’ll never find my brother, he’s good, the best.”
They heard a single shot from the direction of where the sniper had been. The soldier laughed, “Your brother may have been good, we’re better. Come with me.”
“If I don’t?”
“You’ll die. I have no more patience for you.”
Colonel Spivey interrogated Bear, he told Captain Tucker, “Here’s where their caves are, I think you’re going to be surprised what you find. Take two Bradleys and a couple trucks I think you’re going to find more supplies then you’ll be able to carry back.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll take the second squad with me.”
“Good.”
Two hours later Captain Tucker called the Colonel, “I think you ought to see this, you were right about the supplies and you should see the cave network they built.”
“How many people are there in there?”
“Fifty-six counting the kids.”
“Kids?”
“Twenty-three of them.”
“Okay, I’m going to bring the Coats with me, they have two daughters maybe they can help. Do you think it’s safe for them?”
“It’s safe, we caught them with their pants down, we’ve disarmed them. By the way, they’re sitting on a damn armory in here. Somehow they got their hands on a Guard convoy or found a way inside an armory that was left behind.”
“Shit, all we needed was a heavily armed group of insurgents in our rear. I’m going to come over in one
