A Private War Read online

  “Joe’s dead too. What say we get the hell out of here and head for Iowa? Because I’m not dying for these dirt bags” one man said, “What ya think?

  “Sound good to me, George! I’m tired of freezing my dick off for nothing. There is a bridge about three miles ahead that we can take south. Let’s turn north here and head down the other aside of this ridge. Then we….” Two quick shots ended what they might have said next as John shot each in the head from only ten feet above them. Massive Oak trees make for good cover from rifle fire and are easy to climb. The Bur Oak John was in had enough thickness high up to protect him from the grenade and the wild gunshots the two survivors had unleashed and still allow him to roll over and shoot straight down at them. That made the body count twelve since last night and left the number of searchers down to twelve. He called that a good day of hunting and made his way back to his snowmobile.

  The snow had started to fall again as Gaylon placed a booby trap in the snow in front of the search. It was a little trick he had learned in trapping foxes in the snow. First you dig a hole in the snow about a foot or so deep. Then you clear a shelf all the way around the hole on which another piece of snow is placed. Then you carefully shave away the piece of snow until it is level with the snow around it. Now, you have a trap in which no one can see and it leaves an open space for something to step in. The small booby trap was a pressure plate on which someone can step and it would fire a shotgun shell straight up into a person’s foot. It was nothing more then two pieces of wood, a shotgun shell, and a nail. The bottom piece had a hole drilled part way into it. And the nail was hammered through until it visible in the hole. The shell was then placed firing primer side down into the hole. This now only needed pressure for the nail to fire the primer and unload eight lead buckshot pellets into the person who stepped on the final piece of wood that was now on top of the shell. It would be a real blast for someone and could be the final thing they felt. Satisfied that the trap was now ready, he took a spruce branch and carefully brushed away his tracks and any snow left from his digging. He continued to clear away any tracks as far back as he could until he could step onto the rock ledge he had started from. His other two booby traps were closer to the rock face in which the searchers might look. So that if they were stepped on, the rest of the team would step away and should hit the final trap. Peters was doing the same thing farther up on the ridgeline. And was just finishing up when a bullet hit the tree next to his head with the sound coming a second later. John threw himself to the left and rolled until he had cover behind the large tree. He knew the shooter wasn’t far from him and he had missed by only three or four inches. They would not make that mistake a second time. So John quickly looked behind him at the covering trees and brush and belly crawled straight back and down the ridgeline until he knew he was free from sight. He stayed belly down and he moved from tree to tree until he had slowly worked his way back up to the ridge and better cover. He took a small periscope from out of his backpack and used it to sight around the tree safely. He could see two men slowly making their way along the ridge using cover and concealment. These two knew what they were doing. But, they needed patience as a good sniper would wait days without taking a shoot. In so doing, they maximized their chances on a one shot kill. These two were good deer hunters, no more. John figured the range as down to six hundred yards and a light six mile per hour breeze. The snow should not cause a deflected shot and he quickly set his scope for the proper mil settings. Sight on the leader, John started to calm his mind and body as he took slow easy breaths. His heart rate stated to drop and he again checked the range. Five hundred and ninety yards, as he set the scope’s cross hair on the leader’s chest and fired. He waited for the bullet to impact the body and he saw a splash of blood at the center of mass. The man’s body knocked backwards nearly six feet before it fell. On seeing the blood, his partner face dropped, and he turned around to run; too late as John’s second round took him high on his back. The hollow point bullet drilled through bone and spinal tissue before excelling out the front of the man’s neck. A wash of blood followed and the snow turned red as it soaked up the hot wetness. John turned around and headed back to his snowmobile that was farther down the hill side and out of sight from another more teams of searchers.

  Murdock roared into the radio when he was told of the losses so far. And he even heard the two gunshots as Cleaver was reporting to him on the two meter Ham radio transceiver. First they got their ass handed to them at the top of the hill awhile the semi trucks raced back to safety in Redway. His spy totally surprised by the whole affair and had begged for another chance to show themselves. Until finally Murdock had agreed that security had played a major part in Captain Samuels plan. But, he then warned of the beatings and torture that would wait of he was let down again. This threat loosened the spy’s tongue and they gave up the information that Gaylon Masters was living in a cave system not too far from town. They did not know the exact location but had been able to tell them of the river valley that must front it. This pleased Murdock and he had ordered the six 4 man teams to find the cave at all cost. So, on hearing of the team leader’s death and the loss of thirteen other men, Murdock totally lost control. After throwing the microphone across the tent at the radio man’s set, he yelled for his second in command, Taylor Smith, to round up as many men as possible and head to the river valley to take over the search for Gaylon.

  “I don’t give a damn how many men you lose, I want that son of a bitch found and found today!!”

  “Yes, Boss! I knew that stupid shit might let us down again. But, I thought Cleaver could back him up. Trouble is Cleaver ain’t the brightest pig in the mud.” Taylor replied, “But, we’ll found him for you, along with that new wife of his. She is some fine material I hear. I can’t wait to ride her myself.”

  “Just get the fucker, and bring him to me!” Murdock shouted as he turned back toward his own tent and the fine stuff he had waiting for him. Taylor rounded up the men and machines he needed and they shortly made their way out of camp and towards Gaylon’s Valley. They may be able to skunk Cleaver but no way in hell he could skunk Taylor and the fifty men that roared out of camp behind him. In the mean time, Gaylon and Peter’s finally linked up and they discussed what they should do next. The valley, which ran for a number of miles, was starting to peter out, and the location to Granite House was not too much farther. Luckily the snow was continuing to increase in strength along with the winds. And they decided to let Kate and Jill know what was happening and to restock on claymores, homemade booby traps, and to recharge the battery packs on the snowmobiles. The snowmobiles were working very well, but they had some trouble in how steep they could climb and how fast they could go. Matters they could do nothing about. As the totally quiet electric motors had been a great help in their being able to move about without being heard.

  So, getting back on their machine, they took a long winding trip back to the cave and hoped they would not be followed or seen. But, not too long after they left, the lead teams of Murdock’s men crested the top of the ridgeline to the north and they could still see the snowmobile tracks in the snow. But, it would take some time before anyone could reach the valley floor as the snow had made traveling difficult with massive snow drifts and blinding snow that was whipped up by the wind.

  The warmth of the tunnels after the icy snow had them stripping down to t-shirts while Jill and Kate got the snowmobile batteries hooked up to the charging units. Gaylon walked over to a workbench and started to break down all his guns for cleaning. The heavy snow has caused melt water to refreeze on his rifle stock and barrel. And it was inside the rifle as well. A jam at the wrong time could quickly get him killed. Peters finished helping Jill with the connections and walked over to clean his weapons as well.

  “We got lucky on some of those. Luck we may wish we had later on as well. I figure they will find us sometime around dawn tomorrow. They would be here sooner except for the snow,” he explained.” I thought we coul
d grab some hot chow and head back outside to set up some claymores.”

  “Yes, I was thinking about that too. I only used remote detonation claymores around the tunnels and entrances. Too much chance that something could set them off by accident. And that would let everyone know where we were. If need be we can bring down part of the hillside to block the front exit. But, that would only delay them a few days. Anything bigger would damage the cave system itself. If they do break in, there are a few tricks we can use against them. And we could try to get Captain Samuels here to reinforce us. But, that could endanger Redway as short-manned as they are already. I’m afraid we may have to abandon Granite House and destroy it. As leaving it would be too big a prize for Murdock. They’d never get him out again. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  John Peters placed the last of the Claymores mines across the front of the main entrance. The single block of C-4 attached to the ceiling should collapse the rock face and block the steel door without damaging the tunnel behind. It would buy them valuable time to stockpile supplies and weapons outside the cave system. Something Kate and Jill had already started while John and Gaylon had delayed things. But, that time was starting to run out.

  Kate packed the last box as full as possible and placed it where Gaylon could load it on the dollies to move into the back tunnels. She looked up and thought how bare the walls and living area had become. Now that everything was moved into a safer location. Even the kitchen stove and refrigerator had been removed in a last ditch effort to save what they could for the future. Granite House had many tunnels and not all of them lead to the outside. Whole areas ended with dead ends and they were now being filled with everything that could be moved. These tunnels would then be blasted shut so that only a strong determination could re-open them. Other equipment and supplies were moved to the back tunnel and the snow mobiles. The electric sleds did not have a long range but were better then nothing. And Peters had used one the night before to cache a number of weapons and supplies in snow caves in case they were needed in an escape. So that now there was only a waiting game that could end in any number of ways. Ways Gaylon still planned to win.

  The buzz of a motion detector was the first sign that Murdock’s men had discovered their location. A small remote camera in the entrance showed one, and then two men slowly searching the area for booby traps. One pointed to the block of C4 attached to the ceiling just as John fired it. The blast rocked the cave and a number of blocks of stone fell into the pool of water. As a rumble of sound indicated that the cliff outside was falling down upon the searchers, and Peters smiled at the thought. He had only hoped that the cliff face would fall was icing on the cake. They should have bagged a few from that one blast. Gaylon walked out of the tunnels after a quick check for safety.

  “The main tunnels are still open to the Maintenance Bay and the back door. I only had to move a few rocks that blocked the door from opening. So, let’s finish saving what we can and close the tunnels now. In case they start blasting to uncover the door.”

  “We are pretty much finished already. Just those last few boxes and our gear, our packs have all the ammo we can carry and then some. So, we will need the sleds to get as far as possible before we have to walk.” Kate explained, “I filled the thermos bottles with hot chocolate and lots of sugar. That should give us a boost when we need it. Jill’s and my rifle are already at the back door. Our two packs are with them. So, you gr….”

  A massive blast knocked them to the ground and water geyered everywhere as the water in pool flooded the floor area. Then it all drained away and light could be seen it the depths. Murdock’s men had blasted open the outflow to the cave’s water system. And it left them all open to attack.

  “John, hold them as long as possible! Kate, you and Jill head for the sleds and use them to get as far away as possible. I’ll blow the back tunnels and John and I will escape out the back, closing that tunnel behind us. We’ll meet you in Redway!” Gaylon shouted to be heard over the ringing in their ears.

  The sound of Peters gun let them know that pirates had entered the cave. Gaylon pushed both women into the tunnel and then grabbed both of the men’s packs and boosted one over each shoulder.

  “John, don’t wait long! I’m blowing the side tunnel in 60 seconds. You have to be at the back door before then. I’ll have your pack and reloads waiting for you.”

  “Ok, go!! If I’m not there don’t wait for me!” Peters shouted as two more shapes run up the blasted water way.

  Gaylon dropped the packs and raced back to the cross tunnel. A number of wires run in different directions. Gaylon grabbed the detonator “clicker” for the stored supply tunnel and clicked it three times. The blast sprayed rock and dust down the tunnel towards him. He quickly clicked the other detonators to the Maintenance Bay and Green house. Shutting them off as well. Then as Peters ran passed him, he clicked the last bomb. This one was deeper into the cave system and it pulsed through the rock walls and ceiling. Gaylon pulled his gun and fired twice before running back down the tunnel. A roar of sound raced him to the back door and Peters fired the tunnel’s ceiling as Gaylon leaped clear. The roar continued to build until it entered the front of the cave. A massive wall of water quickly flooded the area and burst outside into the open air. A vast underground lake had powered Gaylon’s hydroelectric plant. That water had been released by a number of shaped charges John Peters had placed weeks before. Just in case they needed to flood the cave system. So now, any of Murdock’s men who were in the cave were now drowned. The cave system was now totally un-useable to anyone. Only the few sealed tunnels were still dry and above the reach of the water and they lead nowhere. The loss of his home didn’t trouble Gaylon as they were all still alive and free. Such a small price to pay for their very lives. And maybe in the future they could come back and recover the hidden weapons, books, food, and supplies. Or their children could. Gaylon looked at Kate and Jill, still waiting for them with the sleds.

  “I told you to go! Why are you still here?!”

  “Gaylon, I’m sorry about Granite House. I know it was your dream,” Kate said.

  “That was a dream I built for another life. I’m happy to have you to share this one with. So, let’s get away from here before anything else happens.”