Trinity shook her head, “55 miles used to be around the corner, but now it feels like it’s at the end of the world. I hope we make it.”
Frank smiled, “We will. Do you see those tanks? Almost nothing can hurt them. They’ll protect us. The Colonel seems like he’s a really smart guy. I’m sure he has scouts out looking for trouble before it finds us.”
“A nice man named Gary found us and took us to the base. He knew the Colonel. He arranged for us to join the convoy heading south. My mother thought we could ride it out too, she was very wrong. It took time for my father to convince her to leave our home. The government was telling us every hour to leave, but she didn’t want too. I was surprised how bad the conditions were on the roads we had to drive on to reach the States and then how bad it was to reach their base. We already had a few accidents on the way here. The Colonel laughed that we were wrecking SUVs quicker then he could replace them.”
Frank laughed, “Yeah, I can see that. I’ve been driving for two years and even living in upstate New York, I’ve never seen the roads as bad as they are now or the blowing snow which makes it almost impossible to see.”
Trinity smiled, “I like the driving snow, but I’m not driving in it. It reminds me of science fiction movies. The blowing snow going by the SUV is like flying though a star field. I used to imagine we were in a spaceship exploring space.”
“I wish we could be anywhere but here.”
“Me, too, but I’m glad we met,” blushed Trinity. She said, “Look at the tank and look at the smoking snow on the hillside. There are lots of soldiers over there. I wonder what happened there.”
Frank turned and strained to see what he could see through the snow, “It must have been an attempted ambush. See, I told you the army would protect us.”
A moment later a rocket slammed into the vehicle behind Frank and Trinity. The shock wave rocked their SUV, Trinity screamed.
Chapter 27
Frank yelled, “Trinity, crack the window and do a mag-dump!”
“Huh? I don’t understand…”
“Stick the barrel out of the window and pull the trigger. Just hold it back until the mag is empty then put another in and do it again.”
“But I’m just spraying bullets out there…”
“Yes, just do it. You’re forcing anyone out there to keep their heads down and you might hit someone.”
Trinity fired through four 30 round magazines from her silenced M4. Even with the silencer, the SUV they were in echoed from the sound and the inside quickly smelled like gunpowder. Trinity’s hands shook from holding the vibrating rifle against the semi closed windows.
Very quickly Trinity’s shooting was joined by the sound of heavy machine guns firing and other M4s and M16s firing. The SUV then shook when one of the tanks, only two vehicles away fired. Trinity shook when she saw the muzzle flash from the cannon firing. “It looked like a fireball.”
“Muzzle flash from the cannon firing. Reload and get ready if they come closer.”
“I already did. We have ten more magazines for our rifles.”
“I hope it will be enough.”
@@@@@
The soldiers reacted without being told what to do. They used their thermal sensors to locate the attackers and they responded with all of their weapons. The deadliest were the tank’s canister shells which cut through the snow and bodies as if they weren’t there. The tanks fired five shells, but two were all that was required. The other three were a guarantee no one was still hiding in the snow. The quick reaction squads searched the pieces of bodies for any documentation which would tell them who they were and where their base was located.
Colonel Spivey was very frustrated by the constant attacks. He didn’t understand where all of these survivors were coming from. He’d been told most of the population had either relocated or died from the cold. They’d just crossed into Pennsylvania and had already been attacked twice. They had to travel only a few miles to Scranton and then 200 hundred miles to Middleburg at the Maryland border. Spivey wondered how many more attacks his convoy would encounter until they reached the end of their journey.
The convoy pulled into the Scranton FOB which Colonel Spivey discovered to be very well run. The convoy ran into the base’s guards a mile from the base. The guards were in dug in fighting positions with machine guns, their M4s and grenade launchers. They had thermal sensors ringing the area on white tripods which enabled them to see anyone approaching the base. Colonel Spivey met the guards and exchanged code words. Once confirmed the guards snapped to attention and saluted the Colonel. The Staff Sergeant in charge of the guards said, “Colonel, welcome, welcome. Lt Colonel Smith is waiting for you to arrive.”
“Looking at your emplacements, I expect you have had some attacks from the insurgents?”
“Yes, the Colonel can explain what’s going on and our preparations.”
“Please show us where the convoy should park and if you have room for all of us.”
“Our mess hall is huge, we’ve notified them you’ve arrived. The radio doesn’t work so we laid ground wires for old fashioned telephones. One of my people will guide your convoy to an underground parking garage which has plenty of space.”
“We had a little incident with the last garage we entered…”
“Sir, I assure you this one is safe, we use it to store our vehicles. It’s perfectly safe and its insulated. That keeps the temperature at a steady 48 degrees.”
“48 will feel like we’re at the beach. I haven’t felt 48 outside in years.”
@@@@@
Lt Colonel
