5 YEARS AFTER 2.5 Smoke and Mirrors. Richard Correll
platoon scurried close to the Stryker’s wheels for safety. A few ducked under a brief volley of fire from the main building again. The Commander tested his repaired machine guns and found them sluggish but effective. He grabbed the handle and felt the vibration of the rapid fire weapons. He wasn’t sure if he was hitting anything. That wasn’t the point. This was cover fire, allowing his platoon to get into position and assault the building. The back of another Stryker opened slowly to disgorge more troops to tip the odds further in their favor.
Smoke grenades ballooned in front of the entrance, perfect cover. Men with weapons raised and in crouching position moved forward at a quick step. The Commander fired a second burst above the soldier’s heads to keep the enemy pinned. A hand raised and tossed a canister into the building. A brilliant flash and a quick report brought the troops to their feet as they charged inside. The flash bang grenade had done its job. The shouting began a few seconds later.
“OKAY!! OKAY! WHOA-WHOA!!WHOA!”
The smoke began to clear like early morning mist retreating from sunshine. The figures came out one by one guided roughly by his soldiers. Their hands were behind their heads, covered in dust, one man sported a blackened spot on the side of his face, a flash bang could burn like that. The Commander eased himself up through the hatch and began to climb down the side of his Stryker. No casualties, good.
BOOOOOOOM!!!!!!
A fireball rose 150 yards away in the compound, it was like the misshaped head of a monster threatening their position. Specks of flaming debris began to rain down here and there. The prisoners and their captors alike ducked for cover under the new metal rain. The Commander tried to find its’ source with a hand over his eyes to shade out the sunlight.
He tried to jog his memory. Amid the chaos, firing, orders, counter orders and fighting, there had been something there.
A helicopter……
The body of the machine was burning fiercely now as the blades seemed to fall like petals from a dying flower. Flames licked around the inside of the machine and finally burned away and caused the plexi-glass windows to melt and pop out, they landed on the grass and concrete sizzling while their curved surface rocked back and forth. A second explosion inside the cabin, probably a fuel line, erupted and sent a second fireball into the sky. It was smaller, less voracious. But it made sure no one was getting their hands on this special kind of technology.
Gunfire.......
“Damnit.” The Commander scrambled up his machine to the radio. “What have we got?”
“We’re taking fire from the second level, sir.” The Corporal’s breathing was coming right through the speaker, “two, maybe three bad guys.”
“Okay, call in Able and Baker platoons” The Commander realized the building was built like a fortress. But this fort had too few people to man it. The ways in would be easy. “Have Able find a way in on the right and Baker on the left. Let’s box them in.”
“Birk, how is.....” his words trailed off as he turned the way that they had come. “My god...”
Birks’ vehicle was slowly backing into the fence while he fired another burst at the closest group. They scattered all over the grass like careless lawn decorations. There were thousands gathered at the first security fence pushing....pushing ....pushing. The concrete embedded posts began to bend to sheer, brute force. The top of the fence began collapsing into the grass inside Fort Knox. Figures began scurrying like spiders up the steel rungs. Birk was watching the deluge pouring through the first blasted gate. How do we stop this? Birk fired off one of his few remaining bursts. The shells riddled through the skin of the walking scarecrows and a few fell. A knee or cartilage that was hit by the massive shells was obliterated from their bodies. Their center of gravity would fail and the body would crash to the pavement to crawl. They’re still coming. It was a eerie feeling for the Commander as we watched Birk back up farther. It’s like shooting at a hailstorm isn’t it? How about the changing of the guard in the tides of time? He kept backing up, relieved at even the most miniscule increase in distance from them.
Safely inside the Commander called out for help and began pushing the fence closed. Birk was the last to pass through and he instructed the driver to turn around and push the square backside of the Stryker against the fence as it closed. Satisfied the Commander called for a halt and Birk eased down the sloped armor of his vehicle and landed feet first on the ground. The Commander’s attention seemed elsewhere as he was looking through the security fence. The slowly gathering pack began to arrive at the new fence line. It was hardly a collective emotion. The responses to the new barricade varied. Hissing, howls of defiance and hands that raked the metal links, feeling for a weakness. The Commander’s eyes slowing travelled from one face to the next. It was eerie to spot the threads of humanity they both shared. Dress, hairstyle and even occasional movements, here we are locked together for the rest of time. The Commander felt almost disembodied in the Kentucky sunshine.
He saw a thirteen year old girl. She had been watching him for some time. Her eyes were pus yellow like the rest. She wore a black goth-like long sleeved shirt with tight blue jeans. Her hair was a mixture of rainbows and blacks that had long grown out of any kind of pattern. It was her mouth that made him pause. She did not bare her teeth or hiss at him. Her mouth was a flat line on the right side of her face while the left was drawn up in almost a half-smile. Her head was arched to the right and raised in that rigid, stiff muscle tone that seemed to dominate the very way they walked. What is she doing?
Do you really think you’re safe? The upward curve of her lips seemed to say. Do you really think this is going to stop us?
More gunfire from the main building, short staccato bursts that were designed to keep the other guy down. They were almost warning shots.
“Let’s go.” The Commander said hoarsely as he turned away from the girl. “I want Echo Company to keep a close eye on that fence.”
“Yes sir.”
The bursts continued as he got closer to the building. There had to be no more than two or three of the enemy still resisting. A brutal image passed through him, take them down hard. Have a 75 millimeter poke its gun through one of the window slits and send them to hell.
Is that what you’ve become? Remember, the order you gave last night about a civilian? That’s how it starts, one order at a time. The Commander stopped for a moment and considered his options. To his surprise, Birk was still by his side.
“I’m gonna try and talk them into giving up.” He finally mused out loud.
“Yes sir.”
The Commander resumed his pace toward the building. He chanced another look over his shoulder. The girl was still there, frozen in time. The lips still curved into that mocking face line. You can’t stop us. We always win, you know we do.
His pace hurried.
“Hold off until I give the word.” The Commander spoke into a portable radio that had replaced the personal units. His platoons on the left and right were ready to move and crush what little resistance to his objective was left. “Let’s see if we can’t solve this peacefully.”
“Yes sir.”
“Yes sir, holding position, awaiting your word.”
“Hold your fire!” He raised his voice, it echoed off cement walls and metal doors. The forms firing at his men were somewhere in the dark. The open, two story section had a metal balcony that crossed the entire hall lengthwise. Standard metal railings were the only decorations save for a huge, circular door on the second level. The vault, the Commander recognized it. That had to be the vault. A silence began to settle over the building. A few echoes were the last ghostly reminders of battle.
“I wish to address the commanding officer of the unit I am engaging.” The Commander’s voice bellowed out toward the second floor balcony. Yes, they were up there. Silence was his only reply at first.
“This is he.” Came a reply
Click-clack-click-clack-click-clack..........