Nathan Jones: Determination

He returned the hugs and kisses, ruffled Jim’s hair and got his promise to mind the animals while they were gone, then turned and led the way to the edge of the refuge camp.

Catherine was waiting with the other volunteers when they arrived, and before they joined the group she came forward to shake all their hands. “I’ve still got my doubts about this raid,” she said solemnly. “But if you’re going to go I wanted to wish you Godspeed. Be careful, and if things look like they’re going wrong don’t be afraid to call it off and come home.”

Lewis returned her firm grip. “We’ve prepared as well as we could, so things should turn out okay. But even so we won’t take any unnecessary risks.”

She nodded firmly. “Take care of my daughter and her husband,” she said in a low voice, nodding at Tam and Carl. “Bring them home safely.” She went on to shake Jane’s hand, and then his dad’s and Uncle George’s, giving them each their own quiet words of caution and encouragement. Then the Mayor went over to give her daughter and son-in-law one last hug.

Once she stepped back Lewis nodded to her, then turned to his volunteers. “Anyone need anything before we go?” Aside from a few shrugs there was no response. “All right then, let’s go.”

He turned to start east with Jane walking next to him, and everyone fell in around them.

They used the same path he and Jane had taken to get down into the valley, reaching the cliff with plenty of time before the sun set behind them. Jane went first, clambering down using the rope and harness they set up and reaching the bottom in no time flat. Once down she tossed the harness up for the next person, and one by one the others rappelled down as she kept watch, while Lewis did the same from up above.

If they were seen the plan was off right then and there, and they probably wouldn’t be able to use this path again. They couldn’t afford to be spotted.

Uncle George stood beside him, waving off other people’s offers for him to go down next. Before too long they were the only people left, and Lewis motioned for him to go. His uncle still hesitated. “I used to rock climb a lot when I was your age,” he said out of the blue. “Pretty gnarly cliffs, too.”

Lewis nodded. He knew all about that since George had talked about it plenty of times at family gatherings, and they’d even gone to indoor rock climbing places when he and Trev were younger so they could try out climbing themselves. “This is a piece of cake.”

His uncle sighed. “Yeah, it should be. I’ve free climbed cliffs twice this hard before.” He reluctantly began putting on the harness Martin threw up to him. “It sucks getting old, bud.”

It was hard to tell for sure, but Lewis had the feeling the cliff wasn’t what George was really having trouble with. “Are you going to be okay doing this?” he asked quietly. “You can always stay behind and cover our backs.”

The older man paused, giving him a serious look. “I’m fine,” he said just as quietly, sounding determined. “I’ll admit I don’t like the thought of what you’re going to have to do to clear the shelter, but it has to be done. And I’m a bit ashamed to say I don’t mind being one of the ones waiting in the tunnel until you’re done.” He hesitated. “Unless you need me, of course,” he offered reluctantly.

Lewis shook his head. “A few people is probably best.”

“Yeah.” George gave him a concerned look. “It’s probably not my place to ask, but will you be able to do it when the time comes?”

This wasn’t his favorite topic of conversation, and he could’ve done without the question. “It’s not much different from when I took out the scouts in the canyon. And it helps to know what the enemy’s been doing out there. Whatever their grief and rage at their countries being obliterated in the Retaliation, they’ve lost any moral high ground when they’re murdering innocent people in cold blood.”

His uncle nodded dubiously and finished the last few buckles, reaching for the rope to clip the carabiner on. Lewis watched him descend, battling his own doubts about his response. What they’d be doing in the raid tonight wasn’t much different in the end result, maybe, but worlds apart in what it would take to get the job done.

He wasn’t looking forward to it, and not just because of the risk involved.

Lewis and his volunteers for the raid waited at the bottom of the cliff, as twilight turned to full dark and the waxing moon moved across the sky towards them.

He’d encouraged everyone to get whatever sleep they could, taking the watch himself as the long hours passed one after the other. He would’ve taken his own advice and had other people take the later shifts, but he’d already known that he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Instead he’d done his best to prepare in advance by taking a long nap just after noon.

It would have to be enough to carry him through the night.

The moon set just after 2 a.m., and Lewis quietly moved around waking everyone up. Once they were all gathered with their gear, staring at him expectantly with night vision, he nodded to each of them. “Slow and cautious. Just like against the raiders.”

The only response was return nods. He turned and slipped silently down the path towards the valley, moving from cover to cover. He could hear soft rustles and the thud of footfalls as his volunteers followed.

He knew the still, quiet night was deceptive. When he looked at the emplacements he and Jane had picked out earlier, he could see the outlines of blockheads positioned there. He could also follow the movements of the patrols they’d tracked, which he’d been watching all night. The enemy wasn’t sleeping.

Forearmed with their previous scouting of the blockhead troops, he was able to maneuver his people from cover to cover through the openings. They moved slow and careful, and he and Jane always had their eyes on the enemies stationed around them who might catch a glimpse of their movements. That way if they were spotted they’d hopefully be able to respond in time to get away, or at least make a fight of it.

The blockheads didn’t have much in the way of night vision, from what he’d seen, but they made sure their night sentries and patrols were equipped with what they had. Arguably waiting until the moon set hadn’t done much to improve their chances of avoiding detection, but every little bit helped. More importantly, the later in the night they waited before moving out the less vigilant the enemy would be.

Discipline did a lot, but some things were just human nature. Even the most careful and vigilant person lost their edge as the night dragged on. With that in mind Lewis had been careful to time their attack to come near the end of a shift. Hopefully the sentries would be looking forward to their beds, not looking at the empty landscape around them.

Another thing going for them was surprise. As far as he knew nobody from here south to I-70 had even tried to attack the Gold Bloc forces in the valley. They’d been content to dig in and let the blockheads come to them. Like when he ambushed the scouts in the canyon a few days ago, or when Matt and their volunteers down there faced a bigger assault along Highway 31.

He and his volunteers had a lot of things going for them with this attack. If nothing went wrong things should go smoothly from start to finish.

Over the next two hours Lewis led them about two thirds of the distance to the shelter, leaving only a mile or so to go. At that point the first unexpected thing happened, when headlights appeared from around the shorter hill. One of the trucks parked at the outpost heading due west, which would take it south of them. Either a vehicular patrol was setting out earlier than they had the previous nights, or they had some other late night business.