1
The predawn light slowly appeared as a white envelope of humidity and fog. Cooler air moved in during the night, and the dense growth and damp ground gave up its moisture in surreal fingers slowly lifting toward the canopy of leaves above. Water dripped from the leaves, shook loose by a few twittering sparrows grumping sleepily at the new day.
The hilltops were seeing the tip of the sun as it came up, but the valleys between the hills remained shrouded in the gloom of shadow and night.
John Trent came awake with instant awareness, listening to the sounds of the forest as he opened his eyes. Something was wrong.
With awareness came action, and he silently snaked out of his blanket into the darker shadow of the huge boulder next to him. Breathing shallowly, with his mouth open to give his ears a better chance at hearing, he strained his senses into the dawn.
Turning slightly, he looked at Katie lying a few feet away, and saw that her eyes were open and staring at him. He made a slight hand motion, and after a startled glance around, she slowly started moving toward him. Once she gained the shadows, she quickly came to him.
He hadn’t realized she slept with her rifle, something he needed to file away for future reference.
Without taking his eyes off the forest, he pointed toward one of the sentries. Sitting on a rock and slumped over, his posture could easily have been mistaken for slumber.
“What’s wrong?” Her breath was soft and warm in his ear and he heard the nervousness in her voice. He hoped she wouldn’t panic, but suspected there was a lot of iron in this girl.
“His gun is missing.” He looked across the clearing and could barely make out the sleeping patrol. Gunny had spread his blankets away from his men, around a bend in the clearing. He hoped he was awake. He reached out and pulled Katie to him, as his hand unconsciously caressed her hair. His senses filled with her as he whispered. “Raiders. And they’re inside the perimeter.”
With hand signals, he had her cover the clearing to the left. He would take the right.
Trent thought of tossing a rock into the sleeping men, hoping to wake them, but he was too late. Someone tossed something else.
A serrated, round object bounced once with a metallic click on the rocky floor of the clearing.
“Is that a—” Her astonished voice echoed loudly between the rocks, but the indiscretion didn’t matter. Nothing would matter in about three seconds.
“Down.” He hurtled his body into hers, dumping her to the ground behind a boulder.
They heard the thump and roar of the explosion at the same time metal shrapnel and shredded rocks hit the boulder they were behind. Close behind came the sound of automatic weapons. Ears ringing, he rose up from behind a waist-high rock and began firing. Rushing bodies and gunfire filled the camp. The sleeping squad of soldiers leaped from their bedrolls after the grenade went off, and lost three men to gunfire before they went back to earth.
During a sudden lull in the firing, he heard someone screaming. He vaguely remembered seeing a wounded man dragged out of the camp and into the brush. The screaming abruptly stopped.
Again, the firing picked up. He reached for his pack of extra shells for his rifle. He saw Katie grimly shuck out a spent magazine, and slap in her last spare, never taking her eyes off the clearing.
“Let’s show them we’re still here.” His voice was level and cool. As she came to join him, he fired into likely places of concealment as he could pull the trigger. Katie’s AK-90 roared in short bursts.
Suddenly the clearing was full of rushing figures as men charged their position. Katie’s rifle was empty again, and she was trying to find another clip as three men darted toward them. His rifle was empty and, not having the time to reload, he palmed his .44 dropping two men as they came around the boulder. She pulled her small Browning .380 from her ankle holster and shot the third one, just as he was lining his sights on Trent. She then turned and expended the rest of the sixteen round clip at the retreating backs of the remaining attackers.
Wordlessly, Trent handed her a clip for the AK-90, and covered her while she reloaded. Snapping in the clip, she jacked back the charging handle and was ready, eyes wide with adrenaline and trying to look everywhere at once.
As suddenly as it started, the attack was over. The silence following the brief battle was deafening. Immediately reloading his rifle and pistol, he positioned Katie between two rocks and slipped into the forest. Single shots punctuated the morning each time he found a wounded raider.
Gunny and Trent walked into the camp from opposite sides, stopping as they caught sight of each other. Katie straightened with an audible sigh of relief. The surviving soldiers began drifting out of whatever cover they had found during the brief fight.
Gunny’s anger was scathing. “Look at them. These soldiers are really something.” He took a big private by the arm, the same one who’d given Katie trouble. “Where’s your weapon, Benson?”
The wild-eyed man was looking vainly for his MAC-10. “I don’t know, Gunny!”
“Well, find the damned thing so you can actually use it!”
“That’s enough, Gunnery Sergeant.” The lieutenant came walking up, brushing leaves and dirt from his uniform.
Gunny whirled around. “Enough? Christ, it’s not near enough. Not one round fired, Lieutenant. Not a single damned one. These recruits scattered like a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears kids. If it hadn’t been for Trent and this girl catching them by surprise, we’d all be dead.”
“We didn’t do bad.” The lieutenant’s voice had a plaintive edge to it. “It could have been worse.”
Walking toward Katie, Trent spoke as he went by. “Just where is your rifle, Lieutenant? You lost three men, plus your two sentries. That’s five. Our horses are all gone, plus the pack train. They got what they wanted. The only reason they attacked was to keep us busy. They got it all. All the supplies and ammo you have left is whatever is in your packs. I call that damn near a disaster.” Coming to Katie, he said softly so only she could hear. “Pack our gear. We’re leaving.”
She didn’t waste time arguing, just turned and began throwing their things together, knowing he wanted to keep watch on the forest. She was done in moments.
He turned to the soldiers. “You’re on your own, Gunny. We’re pulling out.”
The lieutenant blurted, “You can’t leave us, Trent. The colonel said you were to guide us.”
Ignoring him, Trent looked to Gunny. “We’re drawing too much attention. This crowd is too big. You’d do better to break into small groups and scatter. They know you are here. They’ll be nippin’ at your heels the rest of the way home. We’re going to use that to our advantage and just fade into the trees while they’re watching you. Katie can take me on in to Big Springs.”
“I’ll have to stay with them.” Gunny’s voice was regretful as he looked at the remaining men of the patrol.
“Watch your ass.” Trent held his hand out and they shook.
Gunny glanced around the clearing, littered with bodies and the smell of death. “Yeah, I hear that.”
“Ready, John.” Her voice was subdued, but her chin was up and her eyes steady. The smell of cordite was heavy in the moisture-laden air, and the morning sun was already promising the oppression of another hot day.
Leaving the clearing, Gunny’s voice followed them.
“Trent? If I don’t get fragged bottle feeding these damned killers, I’ll come by to see you.”
“You’re welcome anytime, Gunny.”
2
Midmorning found them on a bluff overlooking the river. They were still following Eleven Point Creek, and Trent knew they would have to turn away from the river soon, to head northeast toward the Current River and Big Springs.