Matthew Mark - Dark Days Rough Roads

The four wheeler made it in and they evacuated the wounded and the dead using the two four wheelers. The injured were taken next door to the police station and the dead were placed next door to that for the time being. The medical staff got busy working on everyone.

The group had managed to take full control of the south end of the airport and some key buildings. They also controlled the main gate entrance now as far as anyone being able to get in that way. The next push would be even harder. Haliday went into one of the buildings and came back out with a case of water. He opened a bottle and drank it down. Most of the other guys did the same.

He had a few cases of water taken out and a bunch of granola bars and snacks. It had been a long time already, almost six hours. They started around 0800 and they only had about four hours of daylight left now. Haliday sat down and cracked open a fruit roll up.

During the lull in activity Mark had a couple of people get the prisoners and take them to the jail. They had rigged up a wood stove courtesy of the tractor supply store and it was nice and warm in there. Mark asked Haliday for more food and Haliday agreed. They loaded up a bunch and took it over to the police station as well.

Haliday was drinking some more water when he stopped and dropped the bottle. He held his hand up and listened. He called Mark on the radio. “We have a deuce inbound. It sounds like it’s coming from the south.” Haliday started shouting out orders. Everyone started running in different directions. “Mark, get over here quick. Everyone, heads up, inbound bad guys from the south.”

The deuce was barreling down the road. Everything was quiet and as he was standing there he heard the shifting of the engine. He was kneeling down behind one of the militia emplacements they had taken when he saw it approach. It was a small three vehicle convoy. The deuce along with a pickup and an older van.

The three vehicles entered the south fence line breach and spread out. Haliday had militia north in the buildings and south. He called Mark. “Mark, where you at buddy, any idea what’s going on.”

Mark told him to wait a minute as he was checking them out. Mark called him, “Ok, I have the info. We have problems.”

Mark gave him the rundown of what was going on. “The deuce is in the middle and the other vehicles are left and right of it about 20 yards and it looks like a makeshift spearhead formation. The vehicles look like the drivers are armored up. They make the approach with any foot troops and you’re screwed.”

“The deuce has an upper turret. The pickup truck has an armored portal on the back of it as well. I count six people in the van, two in the pickup and eight in the deuce. All Russian camo and all carrying AR’s except for the deuce and pickup turrets. They have 7.62’s for sure. Roger, they have a ton of ammo with them. The deuce has armor on the sides of the bed. Maybe 36 inches tall.”

Haliday said, “That’s wonderful. The guys in the woods can’t take shots until they get closer and once that happens they are close enough to run us out. We’re going to lose the ground we have taken and a lot more lives. Mark, coordinate what you can. Do what you can. Let me know. Make sure the north holds their positions and keeps them busy.”

Haliday told them that anybody on the east and west that could take shots at these guys should do it. “Go for the tires, go for the gunners and concentrate on the rest after that.” The snipers had to hit the gunners and drivers. They had to stop the vehicles.

Mark came on the radio again. “Roger, they are finalizing their plans and gear.” Haliday looked at his watch. It had been about 40 minutes from the time he heard the deuce until now. They were toward the end of the runway and had about ¾ of a mile to reach them.

The vehicles started moving slowly forward. The deuce was leading with the others about 35 feet behind and off to the sides. The pickup had a driver and two gunners in it. The deuce had a driver, gunner and four men in the back. The van just had a driver and one man who had slid the side door open. The other five men moved on foot. Mark called and told everyone they were moving

The pace was slow and the suspense was getting on everyone’s nerves. The guys in the tree line started to take some shots at the vehicles but they were still a little too far away. The militia accompanying the vehicles was keeping a sharp lookout to the sides and behind them. The anticipation was growing.

They were much closer now and the tree line on both sides erupted with fire. The first vehicle to take a hit was on one of the back tires of the deuce, but that was like a scratch and didn’t phase it. The deuce paused and one of the guys on foot dropped the tailgate and the rest climbed in the back. They continued to move toward Haliday.

The gunners in the deuce lit up the tree line where they spotted a sniper. The man was hit and started to fall out of the tree, but just dangled from his tree stand harness. He was wounded and trying to free himself as he continued to take fire from the militia. After just a few more moments he went limp after sustaining more hits.

The man who had been using the front loader as cover was in a bind, he was exposed no matter where he went. He looked around for a way to get to safety rather than stay in place and stay safe. He made a run for another position, but the pickup truck gunner took aim and hit the man twice. The man tumbled forward and fell. The gunner put another round into him.

The men in the tree line fired again and hit the van’s front tire. The tire deflated and the rim dug into the grass and dirt slowing it down. The rear tires started to spin as they lost traction trying to propel the vehicle forward. The van only made it another 25 feet before it wouldn’t move anymore. It was now stuck where it was. The militia men inside readied themselves to make a run for it.

The deuce paused so the men from the van could get in. The driver leapt out and ran for the deuce and the man at the side door of the van jumped down. His feet had barely hit the ground when Mark fired half of a magazine into the guy. The militia returned fire on Mark, who was lying prone behind one of the metal portals the shop had built. He could hear the rounds strike the plate and the woods around him.

Mark called out some instructions so they would keep him covered. He would have to wait it out for a little bit before he would be able to get to a safer position. The assault from the front and now the rear caught them off guard and they were reforming their plans to adjust for the increase in militia members fighting them.

The deuce and pickup started to move forward again. The pickup now moved in a bit closer to the deuce so they could cover each other’s vehicle. This was an amateur move and could put the militia in greater danger. Concentrating troops in a small area like this could make it easier to take out more at once.

They could gun it and rush Haliday’s positions and then all jump out near the emplacements, but that was suicide. Mark was waiting, but he was still pinned down and we stayed still because it was his only option. He still had to wait for a better opportunity before he could move out. He called Haliday and told him.

Haliday was only able to grab a quick peek once in a while. The gunners were a threat and were keeping Haliday and his men down low and unable to fire back. The pickup and deuce made it to about 200 yards away from Haliday and slowed again. Haliday literally didn’t know what to do. He had to think quickly.

They could try and bail over to the buildings and fight inside but that wasn’t any better. They would simply be pinned inside with no way out. Haliday was ticked off that they didn’t have a better grip on their own rear position, especially since this was how they got in themselves. He heard a voice on the radio.