“Sir, they’re not a church. We’ve seen what they did to our people. They butchered them, I mean in the literal manner, and they ate them. No, I have no issues dealing with the church leaders.”
“Take pictures of the body of the dead church leader. We need to be able to show he died and didn’t return from the dead.”
“Yes, sir. I understand, I won’t let you down.”
@@@@@
General Spivey discovered his ‘stars’ in a small box in the SCIF with his name on it. He smiled and placed the new patch on his uniform blouse. He looked down enjoying the look of the dark star. When he exited the SCIF, the soldiers saw the star and snapped to attention. He smiled, “At ease, would one of you please find Colonel Smith and ask him to join me here?”
Colonel Smith quickly joined General Spivey and saluted the newly minted General. “Colonel, I have new orders, I’m going to take part of my convoy and return north…”
“Sir? Can you survive returning north?”
“The Pentagon believes we can. They’ve given us a special mission. I’m giving you orders to ensure the rest of the convoy has what it needs to continue their trip south. Do you have any intel on the trip from here to Middleburg?”
“The Poconos are a mess. There are a lot of raiders living in the cabins. They’ve thrived on anyone driving south, even our own convoys. We learned the hard way the National Guard left a hell of a lot of weapons and ammo behind. Many armories were stocked for missions overseas. Those weapons are now likely in the hands of the raiders who use them against us.”
“Damn them.”
“General, they were ordered to provide every inch of space for civilians. They followed their orders so don’t curse them to much. They saved many hundreds of thousands…”
“I know, I saw many of the reports. I’m also losing people from their weapons. If they had to leave them behind I wish they’d secured their armories better.”
“What equipment and how many people will you be taking with you?”
“I’m going to take four of the six tanks…
“Take all six, we have twelve…”
“Where are they? I didn’t see any tanks in the motor pool.”
“The motor pool has a basement, nine are there. The other three are outside patrolling the perimeter. Every once in a while we get lucky and find a group of raiders.”
“I could use canister reloads…”
Colonel Smith laughed, “They stocked us for a major war. Take all you want. My armorers came up an idea to better defeat the raiders, they replaced most of our Ma Deuce’s heavy machine guns with the 6.5mm mini-guns. They can fire a shit load of bullets while the old Ma Deuce throws a larger heavier bullet, we’re not shooting at armored vehicles or helicopters. The 6.5 is better in the wind and stays supersonic past 1,600 meters. It’s a real killer and firing from rotating barrels gives the raiders a headache. If you want them to upgrade your vehicles just say the word.”
“They can work remotely?”
“Yup, and easy to reload, they come with a case of 6,000 rounds, just swap the case and continue firing.”
“I didn’t know we had these in the inventory. When did you get them?”
“They delivered them to us around six months ago. I wish we had them back when we were fighting in the sandbox.”
“Me too. I’ll take you up on your offer. I agree the Ma Deuce is a hell of a weapon, but slow firing and we really don’t need the large bullet.”
Colonel Smith smiled, I thought you’d agree. I have already issued orders to the armorers to begin the installation on your tanks and now with your permission I’ll have them make the change to your LAVs, Bradley’s and MRAPS.”
“Thank you.”
General Spivey saw Jon in the mess hall, “Hi Jon, I have news for you. Please sit. I’m not going to be going with you to Tennessee. I’ve been ordered back north….”
“I see your rank patch changed. Is this a good thing?”
“Thank you for noticing. Yes, I got promoted to General…”
Jon hugged Spivey, “Sorry about that. I’m very happy for you.”
“Thank you. Please sit, you need to hear what I learned. The trip south through PA is going to be rough until you reach Harrisburg. There the conditions will improve until you reach the middle of Virginia. Interstate 81 is sometimes called the spine of Virginia. It runs down the western side of the state and it’s in the mountains. There are reports of heavy snow and blowing wind. There are also reports of heavy fighting. We’re doing everything we can to protect you. We’re going to add some armor to the doors of your SUV, and I learned they have run-flat tires in case they get hit. You won’t have to stop and change them. We’re also up gunning some of our vehicles which should provide the raiders with some new problems. Once you reach Wytheville, the conditions, both the weather and raiders will dramatically improve. It’s going to be a stressful ride, but I know you and your family will be able to handle it.”
“How far is it until we reach Wytheville?”
“486 miles…”
“WHAT? That will take us weeks.”
“I’m hopeful the road which is being used in Maryland and Virginia won’t need as much plowing and the new convoy will be able to make good time. We’re projecting it will take you two, maybe three days to make the trip.”
“Colonel, I mean General, excuse me, I have to get used to your new rank. That’s a very long time. What about fuel?”
“A couple of tanker trucks will be coming with you. I don’t have any intel if any of the rest stops or gas stations
