Fly Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The radio crackled, request for aerial assist say again, request for aerial assist. I pulled the mic on my headset closer to my mouth and answered the call, this is Shade with 33rd air assault who’s this? Shade, this is Tucker with 5th regiment Minutemen, we need some recon and FPV if you got it. Yeah Tucker we’re here for you, what’s your location? 

I snapped my fingers to get Raines’s attention and turned up the speaker so he could hear. 

Tucker started relaying his grid coordinates, and Raines swiped across his tablet to bring up the correct point on the map.

He held out the tablet to me and I looked down on a satellite view of a rural area outside of town. Farm buildings surrounded by shell pocked fields and dirt roads. I could see the pipes of a  wheeled center pivot irrigation system left abandoned as a crop field was turned into a battlefield. We’ve got your twenty Tucker, what's the sit rep?

The infantryman explained, we’ve reached our LOA without any contact. Our intel said hostiles were sighted in this quadrant at oh nine hundred. I could use some fresh eyes to know what we’re walking into. Copy that Tucker, I said as I moved into the flight station and sat down. Kurgan grabbed a recon drone from a stack and disappeared up the stairs. Hans was sitting next to me and leaned over to ask, what’s LOA? I said, Line of advance, it means the point they planned on going to, they’ve reached it.

I keyed my mic again, Ok Tucker I’m gonna be launching a bird asap and I’ll see what you're up against. Man, we’d sure appreciate that, he said. I said, so the Minutemen huh? You guys are from Vermont? He responded, that’s right, Burlington national guard. I said, sweet brah, we’ll help you get this op banged out and when you come back we can jam some Phish and play a little ultimate. Tucker laughed, then he said, oh man, you think you’re poking fun, but honestly there is nothing I would rather be doing.

Kurgan came over the comm, drone’s ready for launch, Thanks Kurg. I switched channels and said, ok Tucker, I gotta fly, I’ll be in touch. Roger, he said. The flight took about seven minutes, then I said, Tucker tell your crew to hold fire, a friendly drone will be passing over you right now. From the camera on the drone I looked down as it passed over some of the US soldiers hunkered down in a treeline at the edge of a corn field. The farmer had managed to plant before the war pushed this far and the farm was abandoned. Without irrigation all the corn stalks turned dry and brown in the field. I flew towards the farm compound.

The farm had a silo sticking up like a castle tower. I pointed the camera at it looking for jamming devices or possibly a lookout. As I swept the camera back to the ground, Raines exclaimed, Oh shit! My mouth dropped open dumbstruck as I took in the scene. At least fifty enemy soldiers stood in the open area between farm buildings. They were eating food and smoking cigarrettes, some were sitting on the ground. They all looked up at me at once, some scrambled under the cover of the equipment sheds. Others raised rifles and started shooting at the drone. I swerved erratically and pulled up to a higher altitude. 

Raines bring two anti-personel drones up to Kurgan. I said, Hans, get ready to fly. I spoke into the mic, Tucker, I have contact with about fifty mooks bivied at the farm. They were standing around like a box of hammers so I’m guessing a bunch of green conscripts.

Roger that, Tucker said, we’ll set up a skirmish line and prepare to engage. Are you gonna stick around? Affirmative, I said, I’ll provide overwatch and guide attack drones.

Copy that Shade, we are Oscar Mike.

I stopped talking and flew the drone around the perimeter of the farm. Hans asked, Oscar Mike?

I said, OM for On the Move. Kurgan said, good to go Hans, and Hans started flying his first attack drone towards the farm.

As he flew along the route I said, I saw you were helping out with the wounded over there, hows that going? Those guys are in rough shape, he answered. Mari says they need to be evacuated as soon as possible. I grinned, Mari? The one from the MRAP crew? Yeah, her name is Marisol, she’s a combat medic, they dropped her here to stabilize those guys. Then the MRAP got called across town. I said, she seems nice. I looked at Hans. He had his goggles on as he flew, his lips turned up in a slight grin at the thought of her. Then the grin faded and he said, On station, where should I engage?

I took in the scene below. The Minutemen were firing air burst rpgs at the Indians from hidden positions in the corn. Explosions ripped the air as shards of metal peppered the ground. The Indians struggled to form a cohesive defense. The US soldiers used thermal optics to pick out the Indians through the corn stalks. The Indians set up a heavy machine gun and started shooting blindly into the rows, I said, that’s your target, the gunner. Hans brought the drone down low and started to get lined up. The machine gunner was firing from a shed with another soldier feeding  belt ammunition into the gun. At the sound of the drone the assistant picked up a bulky looking weapon and started searching for the drone. 

Hans started a high speed dive at the gun team and the Indian soldier started firing off rounds at the drone. The drone broke apart in the air and crashed to the ground exploding twenty feet away from the Indians. Shit! Hans said, what is that? I said, looks like an automatic shotgun. That’s not cool.

I was considering our next move when Kurgan spoke my name onto our ops channel. I answered, Yeah Kurg, what's up?

Kurgan answered in a hushed tone, We’ve got an enemy drone out here.

I felt the hair on my neck stand up. You hear a drone? Did you take cover?

Kurgan sounded dead serious, I’m back in the stairwell, but I can still hear it.

Hans take the spotter, I said. He tipped up his goggles and took the controller from me.

I pulled the laptop closer to me and started scanning through common drone control frequencies. The first two channels were blank. I turned the dial selector through more frequencies, then a view came on the screen that showed the bank building we were sheltered in. I was watching the video feed from the enemy drone as it searched for us. The drone circled the building then it found the stairwell door on the roof. I yelled into the mic, Kurgan get to cover! The drone picked up speed and dove at the door way. I watched it get closer, then just as the feed cut I heard a huge explosion from the floor above that rocked the building.

I ran out of the room and up the stairs to the second floor. I pulled open the door to the roof access and Kurgan tumbled out onto the floor. Dust and smoke flowed through the doorway as I knelt and pulled pieces of sheetrock off my partner. He coughed and instinctively patted his torso and neck feeling for injuries. His face and sunglasses were coated in dust, I pulled his glasses off revealing a clean outline around his eyes like a raccoon mask. You OK? I asked. He rolled over and sat up. He said loudly,  I think so, my ears are ringing. He let his arm fall to his side and blood ran out of his sleeve. And there’s that, he said as he twisted his arm around looking for the point of injury.

I helped him up, we gotta move. He said, yeah no shit. We came down the stairs and the lobby was a flurry of activity. Some soldiers had taken defensive positions at the windows, others were packing up equipment and maps.The position had been compromised and everyone was preparing to abandon it before the next attack came. Raines came running up to us and yelled, we’re falling back to position Foxtrot Bravo, a parking garage two blocks up and three blocks over. He pointed in the direction of our redoubt. He had his armor on and was struggling to get his helmet strap buckled. I gotta help with the evac, then I’ll catch up with you guys.

Ok, was all I could think to say. I grabbed his shoulder then headed towards the vault. Raines was a good guy, I hoped he’d survive whatever was coming. We moved into the vault and found Hans, where the fuck were you guys? He asked in a panic. Here! He thrust the shotgun into my hands and then reached for the M7 rifle and held it out for Kurgan. Let’s go! Hans said as he looked back at the arsenal of drones we were leaving behind. 

We moved into the lobby, the first batch of soldiers was making a run for it. Two soldiers ran out carrying the injured man in a stretcher while two others led the way in front of them. They had made it twenty meters from the door when an attack drone dove out of the air and hit the man carrying the back of the stretcher. The shrapnel tore through all three of them instantly and they crumpled to the ground. The two soldiers out front broke into a run for cover. We heard the sound of incoming artillery. Two massive shells hit the back wall of the bank and the dust blew through the building. 

Everyone in the lobby pushed out the front running for our lives. 

Another shell hit the parking lot off to our left sending pieces of pavement and shrapnel flying. I watched a soldier stop running and crumple to the ground. The barrage started coming faster, explosions were going off all around us. I stopped next to the shell of a burned car and looked for my team. Kurgan was ahead of me waving me in the direction most of the soldiers were running. I looked for Hans and saw him and another soldier taking cover behind another car. Three more rounds hit in close succession. I ducked as debris rained down around me. I squinted through the smoke and saw Hans and the other soldier climbing into a small drive-thru coffee hut. Kurgan grabbed hold of my harness and pulled me towards him. This way! He yelled and we followed another group of soldiers towards a strip mall. A massive explosion shook the ground and I looked back to see the entire bank building collapse in on itself. A massive wave of dust washed over us blotting out the sun. Kurgan and I made it to the strip mall and stepped through the door frame into a nail salon. Shattered glass covered the floor and one wall had a gaping hole in it.

Raines was already inside and rushed over to us as we entered. Where’s Hans he asked? I said, he took cover in that little coffee hut with another soldier. Kurgan aimed his rifle at the coffee hut and looked through the scope. It looks pretty stout, he said, it’s made of brick. 

I looked around the small shop and three other infantrymen were taking up perimeter positions and surveying our surroundings. Did the Lieutenant make it out? I asked Raines. I didn’t see, he said. Hey, there’s still guys out there, Kurgan said as he kept his eye on his rifle scope. 

I looked out across the parking lot, blowing dust and smoke filled the air. Raines squeezed in next to me and peered through binoculars. Then he wondered aloud,  How the hell did they end up there? Kurgan said, they must have gone the wrong way when the shells started falling.

Raines handed me the binoculars and spoke into his radio headset, Able Company at November seven, sound off. Say again, Any remaining Able Company from November seven sound off.

A woman’s voice answered, Raines it’s Hernandez, I’ve got Hans with me. Be advised there is a drone on site, likely hostile. Raines asked, Copy that, where do you see the drone? There was a pause. She spoke again, northwest corner of the parking lot, looks like a bomber drone. Raines said, shit. An unfamiliar voice came over the radio. This is Seely, I’m with Dunn we took cover in a culvert east of the bank. We can see the drone, and it looks like it’s found someone.

Kurgan and Raines watched the scene unfold through their optics. The bomber dropped a grenade on the two trapped soldiers, they started to run. The blast injured one of them, the other turned back to help and was killed with a second grenade.

Blood stained Kurgan’s sleeve, I told him we should patch it up. A second drone joined the bomber, we could hear it searching for us. He grumbled, I guess we aren’t going anywhere for a while.

The sun crept across the sky and started to drop. One of the guys trapped with us was a medic who put several stitches in Kurgan’s arm. The enemy drones were relentless, as the battery died on one, another would take its place. They dropped grenades in any place that looked like cover trying to flush out any trapped soldiers. One fell right outside the coffee hut, but the stout little building survived the blast. Hans and Hernadez didn’t panic, they remained hidden and the hunter moved on.

After dark an MRAP team offered to evacuate us, but enemy drones were still buzzing above. We told them to standby until morning. Each group of survivors spent the sleepless night hiding from the thermal imaging optics of the enemy drones. Raccoons crawled out of the storm grates to scrounge for food in our abandoned strip mall. 

Finally the night sky started to fade as dawn broke on a new day. I jerked awake, not realizing I had dozed off. Kurgan crouched like a stone sentinal still watching out the window. I cautiously walked over to him. They still out there? Kurgan coughed and said, I haven’t seen any since oh three hundred.

When the MRAP approached it drove through the strip mall and our group from the nail salon filed in. Then it drove to the edge of the parking lot and Seely and Dunn scrambled up from the safety of the drainage culvert. Once they were in, the truck picked its way around piles of rubble until it was near the smoke charred coffee hut. Hans climbed out and Hernandez moved deliberatly with her rifle at the ready. Her head twitched around scanning for any threat until they climbed into the armored truck.

The truck made one more stop. The diesel engine idled as we dragged on board the bodies of the Lieutenant and PFC Shippee, the soldier who had led Kurgan up to the roof on our first day. Inside the MRAP was crammed shoulder to shoulder like a rush hour subway train. All of us were exhausted. Kurgan and I stood with a few others in the aisle, while tired and wounded soldiers slumped in the jump seats. The truck jolted us all as it powered through a bomb crater in the road. I leaned heavily against another soldier as I stepped on something soft. I looked down and saw it was the Lieutenant’s outstretched hand. Sorry mate, I heard myself saying. 

The two dead men lay in the aisle. Shippee stared up at the ceiling with dull lifeless eyes. I looked down at him from above. I was still standing, he never would again, he felt no pain, he felt no hunger. He’d never be cold or tired again. I noticed the combat gloves he was wearing, hardly any scuffs on the hard plastic knuckles. The padding on the palms wasn’t torn or soaked with grease. I looked at my own gloves, my trigger finger wiggled through the torn seam running down the side of the glove. The straps meant to secure the gloves hung open because the velcro was so worn. I shook the thought away, I couldn’t steal the gloves off a dead comrade. His hands looked much too small.

The truck rocked hard again. I heard bullets ping off the side of the armor and the turret gun opened up with a furious sound. Hot shell casings spilled down into the truck cabin and piled on the floor. I watched a brass shell roll along the floor and come to a stop against a combat boot. That’s when I noticed the boot tenderly nudge against the smaller boot next to it. I looked up and saw it was Hans sitting next to Hernandez. She nudged his foot softly in return and a quick look flashed between them. 

The gunner in the roof turret yelled FPV! And dropped down into the back of the armored truck. Everyone covered their faces with their arms and braced for impact. The attack drone struck the rear hatch of the MRAP. A loud explosion made our ears ring and the interior went dark except for glowing sparks floating all around us like fireflies. I heard someone crying out behind us and others were shouting to secure the door. Somehow the armored door had absorbed the impact, but now it was barely hanging from its hinges. The truck kept racing out of the danger zone and if the door fell completely away we’d be left completely vulnerable for a second strike. 

 Kurgan was closer to the hatch so he and Raines braced to hold the door in place. Hydraulic lines had been severed in the strike and now they sprayed hot oil on the men as the automatic door function kept trying to stow the door in the closed position.

A second FPV attack never came and the MRAP steadily distanced itself from the frontline.