He looked over at the Barrett, grabbed it and set it back up on the bi-pod. He looked through the scope for a target. Off in the woods he spotted one of the quads. He took aim and readied himself for the shot. He squeezed the trigger and watched the round. Aw crap, he said. He missed it, he was mad at himself. He had wanted to check the zero on the scope and the quad was the only readily visible target.
He looked at the scope; it had to be off just a bit. He had knocked it pretty good with his knee and it was just enough to take it off zero. The rifle set up this guy had was probably 12-15 grand when he purchased it and he couldn’t believe how the scope reacted to the hit it took. He didn’t have time to play with it. What was maybe a sixteenth of an inch on the scope base could equate to a couple of feet at 700-800 yards where the round would impact.
He couldn’t afford to use it. He needed accuracy and reliability, the system that he knew well. He ran about 20 feet away and brushed aside a pile of leaves and some loose branches and pulled out his M24. He ran back to the Barrett’s location and set up his own rifle. He scanned the area for another target.
Over by the woods, they would need the most help. He listened on his radio, but didn’t hear much traffic. The militia was still probing right now. They would advance or fire and then watch where the return fire came from. He kept scanning the area because someone would have to show themselves eventually.
A little more than half of the strobes were still working. He concentrated near the darker spots. He caught a glimpse of muzzle flash and started working on finding the person behind the gun. He’d have killed for a night vision scope. The illuminated reticle on his at night was only good for making sure you were centered over your target, but that was only if you could clearly see your target.
Alan wasn’t having any luck either. He was staying low and using one of Roger’s homemade periscopes to try and find some movement. Once he was able to locate someone, he would then try and fire on them. To just sit there exposed while he hunted for a shot was asking for more trouble than he wanted.
Alan looked down the street and spotted movement along the ditch. It was about 250 yards out. He took a deep breath and lifted his rifle into position using the notch as his protection and the wall as his bipod. The figure started to cross over from one side of the road to the other. He fired the round and ducked back down.
The round dropped more than he expected and entered the woman’s left shoulder. The round caught her off guard and she dropped to the asphalt and started to work her way to the ditch. Another militia member ran over and provided suppressing fire toward the crow’s nest. Haliday changed his own angle of aim.
The lady was toward the edge of the asphalt near the gravel shoulder of the road. The man continued to cover her by firing three and four round bursts. The muzzle flashes lit him up perfectly. Haliday fired and the round went through the man’s left chest area and came out through his right rear shoulder blade, hitting his aorta as well.
The woman sat up slightly and called toward the downed man. She crawled back over to him to check his injuries. Once she realized he was dead, she tried to crawl back toward the ditch. Alan watched this and popped back up put another round into her, hitting her leg. The woman now laid there. She had been hit twice and was calling on her radio for help.
Haliday just heard the crackle of the radio and a word or two. Road and help was all he could make out. He called Alan on the radio. “Be careful, but keep an eye on that woman. They might be coming to get her. You let me know if you see anything. We might be able to coordinate something.”
“Ok, Roger, what about the woods though?”
“I’ll watch those for right now.”
Roger called Mark next. “Mark, we have them moving in closer over in the wood line. You over there at all?”
“Ya, I have a spot next to Lisa and Kayla, who are in the fighting positions. We can’t really see anyone yet. They are holding off at quite a distance. All we’re getting are probing shots. I only have half our guys over here firing back to help keep up a level of surprise.”
Haliday heard a light thump followed by four more. He looked over at the street and saw smoke rising around the woman. The militia used their launchers and put smoke down on the road to attempt retrieval. They had a Jeep speeding in toward the location of the wounded woman.
The crow’s nest started to take more suppressing fire and Alan dropped down to the loft floor. He ran over to the middle of the cabin. Earlier he had removed a Velcro cover and piece of insulation. This revealed a one foot by one foot tin roof vent that he raised up. He would be able to avoid the shots at the crow’s nest, but still help fire along this side of the house to help out. He picked up an AR resting there.
Out past the woman, two rifles had started the barrage in order to provide cover for this Jeep. It was coming in completely dark, not a single light on. Mike was over on this side of the house and he launched a flare into the sky above the road. The smoke was illuminated and looked eerie. The Jeep laid on the brakes momentarily, then it continued on. NVG’s, Haliday thought, the flare ruined it. The driver had to stop and take them off.
The suppressing fire continued. They fired between the crow’s nest and Mike’s fighting position. Mike couldn’t get his head up to take any shots. Suddenly the wood line on the other side of the house erupted in gunfire. Mark ordered them all to return fire. Shots were being fired from both Haliday’s group and the militia regularly now.
Across from the neighbor’s house came even more fire. Kevin, Dawn and Diana returned fire striking the house and surrounding landscaping. Kevin swept the shrubs and trees from side to side anywhere from six inches to a foot off the ground. Dawn swept the areas from 2 to 3 feet off the ground and Diana sprayed the house and took aim at areas she saw muzzle flashes.
Haliday was ready to go and sought out the targets. He had taken over the hide after the militia sniper had fired in order to utilize it against the aggressors. None of them really knew what happened and with all the action they thought their own man was still over there covering their movement. Haliday put an occasional shot into a safe zone for just that effect.
The woman reached the motor pool area and ran inside. She opened the door and started the deuce that they had armored the side of. She moved it out and her first stop was by the downed militia member who had given her cover. The other militia man ducked beside the deuce and it inched its way toward the admin building as he dragged the downed man over there.
He laid the body along the side of the admin building. A few more people came out of the admin center. They climbed up into the back of the deuce and hunkered down low behind the plate metal. The deuce headed off toward the other buildings. It would pause and someone would get down and into a defensive position.
The positions the militia had set up had included sand bag emplacements, some short metal walls angled at 45 degree angles and placed near the corner of buildings and some cinder blocks that had been stacked two deep and filled with sand. They used whatever was found at the airport prior to the EMP strike.
The deuce made another trip and loaded up some more people. The townspeople could only take an occasional pot shot, but didn’t hit anyone. The group here at the airport was definitely the safest. The townspeople would have to regroup and figure out another plan of attack. The deuce delivered more militia to their positions.
They had twenty people dedicated to fighting positions around the buildings. The sniper on the roof would help extend their reach. The outlying areas of the airport they would have to leave alone for now. It was all open space and runway, so there were no buildings or supplies to defend. The rest of the militia was there to respond where needed and to help coordinate.