A Private War Page 5

  The weather was turning much colder then it had been last year at the same time and as she looked at the fast moving clouds she wondered what the coming winter would bring with it. Could the war have caused the weather to change for good or would the radioactive fallout high in the upper atmosphere cause more light to be reflected back into space. The thought chilled Kate more than the cold and she quickened her pace for the warmth of her room and a hot bath.

  Gaylon carefully packed the Alice pack that he had checked out of stores. The trip to Austin would take several days and he wanted to be able to carry enough supplies for the trip and any additional ammo that might be needed. He sent Kate down to the armory for a new M-4 rifle and any other firepower that she thought she might need. The only thing that he had told her was to get a handgun and a holster for it, but knowing her, she would pick up the biggest thing she could find. Gaylon checked over the compact backpacking stove and stored it with the small mess kit. He wondered if the supplies that Sally had given he would taste better than some of the cardboard meals that he had eaten on the trail before. As Kate walked in, the first thing he noticed was the gun slung across her shoulder. An HK MP5SK (SK for short stock) with a suppressor, not exactly what he had in mind when he sent her to get a new gun.

  "What's with the MP5? I thought you were going to get a rifle to replace the one you lost," Gaylon asked, "You still need a handgun.”

  "Got that too, see!" Kate stated and reached under her coat and pulled out a small gun," it's a Ruger Mark I with a silencer in the barrel. Captain Samuels showed it to me and said it might come in handy in a tight situation. He used one like it in Iraq during some of his patrols. And the HK MP5SK is a 9MM, just like the Glock 17 you got at the Armory so we can use the same ammo; plus it's light and deadly out to hundred yards. The suppressor screws off and it doesn't cut down on the velocity of the bullet. Beside that I did get an M-4, the Armory wanted to scope it and sight it in first. They also gave me a shoulder rig for the MP5 so I can wear it under my coat. It should give someone a nasty surprise!"

  "Good point, you about packed?"

  "Yes, Sally helped me with mine before I went to the armory."

  "Did Samuels tell you that we are taking some samples of the gas with us to Austin to show them what it can do. So you'll have to carry a mask, too."

  "Yeah, he told me, I have it in my pack. Do you really think that these few grenades and some pressure bottles are going to get the help we need?"

  "All we can do is try."

  The first flakes of winter were falling the next morning as Gaylon and Kate walked toward the headquarters building to say good-bye to Captain Samuels. Kate looked at the falling snow and hoped that it wasn't a sight of what was ahead and that it wasn't going to get worse on the long walk ahead. If only they still had the weather satellites and the people to use them, but the war took care of that. There were no smiling weathermen on the six o'clock news and no more storm warnings at least not for many years to come. Gaylon pulled his coat up around his neck and pulled on the shoulder straps of his pack to adjust the weight. Gaylon looked at the falling snow and frowned.

  "Shit, that's all we need!"

  The snow would make it easy for the pirates to track them. But on the other hand it would also keep them close to their camp fires. As Gaylon walked up the steps of the building, Kate could still hear him cursing under his breath.

  "Kate, you sure I can't talk you out of this trip. With the snow coming down this hard it's going to be a long trip in the cold." Gaylon asked, "I'm not real crazy about it myself right now."

  "Gaylon, don't even try. Like you said, it's going to be a long trip and I don't want to start it by fighting with you. I'm going, ok?!"

  “Yes, madam."

  Captain Samuels smiled as they walked in and dropped their packs, then handed both of them a hot cup of Chicory based Coffee. Kate brushed the snow from her hair and sipped the hot brew.

  "Gaylon, I hate to still send you both out in this, but this trip is too important. And don't forgot to contact the men I told you about from the 82nd and 101st. I heard they were home on leave the night of the war and should still be alive. Knowing John Peters, he should be heading up the defenses around Austin. Specially get in touch with him, I know he'll help you all he can." Samuels explained as he watched the falling snow.

  "We'll contact him as soon as we get there, anything else?"

  "Yes, be careful, both of you and stay in touch by radio using CW and PSK31."

  "Don't worry, we'll will, and we'll get the men we need somehow," Gaylon said as he shook Samuels hand good-bye. Lifting the Alice pack back on his shoulders again, he then helped Kate with hears and walked out into the falling snow. Kate kissed Samuels on the cheek,

  "Like the man said, don't worry about us. We've been through worse then a little snow. So tell Sally to keep the coffee on." Kate waved and followed Gaylon as Samuels turned back to the window and stared into the falling snow, a prayer on his lips.

  Gaylon scanned the trees ahead for any signs of the pirates. The day was passing quickly and he wanted to find a safe place for the night. Sighting a good spot he pointed it out to Kate, and then began to take off his pack. In a thick grove of evergreens was a small clearing just big enough for their self supporting tent and the overhanging branches cut out most of the cold wind and snow. As Gaylon began to assemble the tent, Kate cut brushes to lay under it to insulate them from the cold ground. More would be used to cover the tent for camouflage and add more insulation. Finished cutting the branches, Kate cleared the snow from the ground as best she could with the side of her boot and laid out the evergreens in an overlapping pattern. Spreading out the tent under the overhanging branches, Gaylon quickly placed the tent’s canvas bottom where he wanted the tent opening to be and popped up the support poles in their assigned places and in a matter of minutes the tent was assembled. Helping Kate, Gaylon placed more branches over the tent and placed the packs inside, being careful to brush off the snow first. Then taking another branch, Gaylon walked out of the trees and brushed away their tracks as best he could. By the time Gaylon got back, Kate had the pack stove lit and was melting a pan full of snow for hot water and the sleeping bags were laid out on their pads.

  "Where did you learn to snow camp so well?" Gaylon asked, "I didn't have to tell you a thing. Have you ever done any climbing or anything like that?"

  "I went with a group of friends to Colorado a few years ago and we did some climbing in Estes Park. There was still deep snow and it was cold as hell, but it was a lot of fun. The snow made everything so beautiful."

  "I know the feeling. I've been there, too. I also did some time in Alaska when I was in the Air Force years ago. I always wanted to go back, but my wife was a city girl and she couldn't stand camping in the sticks. That was one of the reasons I built Granite House, so I could get away from everything and just enjoy life. I’d spend most of my life in the country and I hate the city. My wife and I were a pretty strange pair, I guess, but I liked it," Gaylon explained and then turned to his pack and left Kate in silence. Later as Gaylon stirred the contents in their stew pot, he thought back on his life and found that even with all the death that had come with the war, he was happy. He had found the woman who he loved, work that he was the best at and a valued place in the town. All his life he had been an outcast and a loner with few friends, and a job that moved him and his wife every few years. But he had enjoyed his work and advanced far before the War. He had been on leave when he decided to get out and become a civilian again. He thought at first of trying his hand as an instructor at one of the many Intelligence/Security schools. He had already even been asked to be a consultant within some of the current elite Security Agencies that became big after 9/11. Later on he thought he would then open one of his own and do direct consulting with the many government agencies dealing in Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism. With the money he had already saved he built Granite House and stocked it as best he could. And it turned out that no
t having to put up walls and a roof like a regular house had saved him funds for other things like the Maintenance Bay and the Greenhouse. Seeing Gaylon lost in thought, Kate reached under her coat and pulled out a paper bag.

  "Guess what Sally gave me before we left?" Kate asked as she opened the bag, "she said it was something you like."

  "Beats me, what is it?"

  "Give me a kiss and I'll tell you," she wheedled, "you'll like it."

  After he did so, Kate slowly unwrapped the package and displayed four pieces of fried chicken that she had kept warm under her coat all day. Sally's chicken was famous all over town and with the shortage of live chickens after the war, very few had been able to have even the smallest taste. Gaylon ate his half of the chicken and the stew with a hardy appetite after all the miles they have traveled that day and then reaching outside the tent, washed the dishes out with snow. Looking out through a small opening in the trees, Gaylon could see that over a foot of snow was already on the ground and the winds were blowing at near blizzard level. Gaylon hoped that it would stop by the time they had to leave in the morning. As thick as the snow was outside, Gaylon decided the pirates would be holed up in their camps that night and told Kate to get some sleep as she would need all her strength for the next day. Then he sat by the light of a 100 hour burning candle (said to burn continuously for 100 hours) and worked with his Gerber Mark II, cutting and shaping branches for two pair of snowshoes for Kate and himself. Using pieces of tough nylon cord he tied the ends of two branches together and cutting a small notch on the inside of both of them, fitted a small spacer between them and tied it down very tightly. Then he tied the other two ends together and looked at his work. The spacer between the two branches gave the snowshoes their classic shape and using several long pieces of nylon, began weaving a supporting lace work between the two sides of the shoe. The snowshoes would not be as good as the former manufactured ones, but Gaylon thought that they would last till they could get to Austin. Finishing the last one, Gaylon placed it with the others and pulling one of the Kimber CQP II's from its holster, placed it near at hand in case of trouble. Then blowing out the candle, he lay in the darkness and listened to the wind as the snow blew against the side of the tent. Early in the morning hours, he slept.

  Kate slowly stirred as the sun peaked above the tops of the trees. Rising the tent flap, Kate looked upon the white drifts of snow and slipping on her boots and coat, she stepped out into the completely white world. At least two feet of snow had fallen and there were drifts more then five feet high at the edge of the tree line. Kate turned and looked back at the tent. All she could see was a mound of snow and her tracks leading to it. Suddenly Gaylon's head and shoulders appeared at the center of it and he slowly crawled out and stood up right. Thick streamers of mist were coming from his nose and mouth. Kate laughed as he brushed against a tree branch and a huge pile of fresh snow fell on his head. Grabbing a handful of snow Gaylon tried to make a snowball, but the snow was too dry to stick together so as he threw it at Kate, he watched it blow away in the wind. Kate laughed harder.

  "You may think it's funny, but I'm the one with the with the snow down his neck, Smart Ass! How about some breakfast and then we hit the trail. We still have a long way to go and we slept half the day away already. Think you can do anything with those damn powdered eggs to make them eatable."

  "I'll do my best, but I can't do much with them either. How about we just make some coffee and munch on some of the jerky in my pack?"

  "Well, it would be quicker, you make the coffee and I'll start taking down the tent. Don't forget next time to bring your gun with you as the pirates could be out and about too."

  "Yes, boss!"

  Gaylon crawled back into the tent and began to repack the sleeping bags and the placed the snowshoes he made outside where they would be handy when they were ready to leave. Finished packing, Gaylon dragged the packs out of the tent and placed them on top of a snow drift. Then he cleared the branches off the tent and began breaking it down. Brushing snow off the tent, he folded it back up and placed it, and the rain fly, back in it's carrying case and secured it to his pack frame. And putting the branches on top of the others, he covered them with snow to try and cover up any sign of their being there. Kate hummed a tune to herself as she sat near the small pack stove and watched the snow as it slowly melted and then added more. They say it take ten inches of snow to make an inch of water, she believed it. When there was finally enough, she poured the hot water into two cups and added instant coffee and sugar. A lot of sugar! They would need all the energy they could get for the trip ahead. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out some jerky and two candy bars that Sally had placed there. Handing the hot coffee to Gaylon, she unwrapped a candy bar, took a bite, and then passed it to Gaylon too. Gaylon looked up, smiled, and took a bite himself. In silence they enjoyed the sweet candy and they both wondered if they would ever taste such a beautiful thing again. Kate finished her coffee and taking Gaylon's empty cup, washed them out with snow and put them in her pack and the cooled pack stove back in Gaylon's. Then Gaylon helped Kate with her snow shoes and pack and reaching down tied on his own. Then with a little help, get on his own heavy pack frame. Checking the action on his M-4, as Kate checked her own, Gaylon started back on the trail to Austin. Reaching into her coat pocket, Kate pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. The glare off the fresh snow was blinding and even with the sunglasses, Kate and Gaylon could hardly see and Gaylon was having an even harder time of it. Then Kate laughed as Gaylon pulled out a pair of clip-on sunglasses and put them on over his other pair. Leave it to Gaylon to think of that! But she was thankful as he pulled out another pair and handed them to Kate. A beautiful winter wonderland was revealed and every where she looked, it shone with a bright light and she knew that she would always remember this day.

  Four long days later, Gaylon studied the layout of the town of Austin through his glasses. Numerous watchtowers and machine gun emplacements ran around the side of the town that he could see. Whoever had set up the defense of the town had known what they were doing. He hoped that they would listen to what he had to say.. Touching Kate on the shoulder, he pointed to the patrol that was making it's way around the base of the hill. Standing up, he waved toward the men to get their attention without getting shot, then helped Kate to her feet. Reaching the bottom of the hill, Gaylon laid his gun near his feet and held his arms in the air and Kate did the same. The town's people would be uneasy seeing two strangers approach and Gaylon wasn't about to get shot by the very ones they had come to see. As the patrol got nearer, the team leader had some of his men check the back trail to see if there was anyone else around as he kept the two of them under his gun.

  "Who are you and what do you want?" the team leader asked, "and if you are looking for food, we can't help you."

  "I'm Gaylon Masters and this is Kate Johnson. We're from Redway and we're here to talk to your town leaders. There is something we need to show them. Also I have a letter from Captain Samuels of the Paramilitary for a guy named "Sgt John Peters", is that you?" Gaylon asked.

  "That's right, you said Samuels, small guy so tall?"