“Far side is clear.” Franklin’s voice crackles in Krandle’s ear piece, drawing him out of his math class.
“Stay in place, we’re moving up to make contact,” Krandle replies. Retracing his route, Krandle parts a branch. Keeping a low profile, he calls out, “Ahoy there in the road.”
All eyes snap in his direction, the panic visible even from a distance.
“We’re friendlies and coming out. Please don’t make any sudden movements.”
Into his mic, Krandle directs Franklin and the others to hold position on the other side. Those in the road rise, the ones by the tree remain frozen in place, all staring in this direction. Krandle rises and exits the bushes alongside Blanchard and Miller. There’s a collective gasp among those on the road as they observe three heavily armed, camouflaged soldiers emerge from the bushes.
“Are you Army?” one man calls out.
“Navy SEALS, sir,” Krandle says.
The held gasp is replaced by simultaneous sighs of relief, followed by a chorus of voices; some asking to help the wounded, others trying to explain what happened. Krandle holds a hand up, bringing silence.
“Blanchard, see to the wounded,” Krandle says. Into the mic, he continues, “Miller, Franklin, into the trees near the corner. Speer, Ortiz, the woods near the fallen tree.”
Blanchard unshoulders his pack and proceeds to triage those lying injured on the ground.
“What happened here?” Krandle asks the man who first called out.
“We were coming out of Portland, picking up others along the way, and came across this tree in the road. We got out to clear it, thinking it had fallen and were attacked from the sides. A couple of us were armed, but they took those away. We didn’t really have much of a choice,” the man says. “I’m Doug, by the way.”
“Chief Petty Officer Krandle. How many were there?” Krandle wonders how anyone could fail to spot such an obvious ambush, but leaves that unsaid.
“I don’t know exactly… fifteen? Twenty?” Doug says.
“Go on?”
“Well, they shot Shaun right away. They said it was to show us they were serious. After disarming us, they ordered everyone out and made us gather by the tree. They went through the vehicles, taking what they wanted. Then, they said they were taking ‘our women’ as they so quaintly put it. They started grabbing them. Mark fought back as they were grabbing his wife, Lindy. They shot him, then one of the assholes asked if there was anyone else who wanted a piece. I’ve never felt so damn helpless in all my life. I had to watch them drag our wives and daughters away.”
“Daughters?” Krandle’s anger rises.
“Yeah. They took everyone. Five of our wives and two teenage daughters,” the man says, tears forming in his eyes then streaming down his cheeks.
Krandle notes the man’s tightly clenched fist. “I know it’s difficult, but finish the tale if you can.”
“That’s it. They took our women and weapons. Oh, and shot Adam as they left, telling us not to follow them, that we should count ourselves as lucky and move on. Lucky? I wish they had killed me.”
“How did they leave? Vehicles?”
“A couple of vans drove up on the other side of the tree as they were leaving,” says Doug. “They loaded our supplies and threw the women in. I heard motors crank up in the woods and they left.”
“Did they take the turn into town?”
“No, they drove up the highway toward the bridge. I lost sight of them after a bit.”
“Okay. Do you have food and water?”
“Not anymore.”
“We have some. Where were you heading? What was your destination?” Krandle is curious if there was some haven they had in mind.
“Nowhere really. Just south. We planned on driving during the day, stopping where we could to refill our tanks… find what food we could. At night, we’d hole up out of populated areas. We kind of figured a place would just show up and we’d know it when we found it. Now, I’m walking until I find those fuckers and get my wife back.”
“Unarmed? Alone?” Krandle raises his eyebrows. He knows the anger and fear the man must be feeling… the hopelessness.
“I’ll find something along the way and I’m sure the others will want the same thing.”
“Hold that thought,” Krandle says.
“Are you going to chase them down? I guess I mean, will you?”
“Just hold that thought.”
Krandle removes what water and food he has, handing it to the man. “It’s not much, but pass it around to the others.” He steps over to Blanchard and crouches. “What do you have?”
“One with a sucking chest wound. Another with a hole in his stomach. The third one looks like he has a cracked femur, but he’ll be fine,” Blanchard says.
“And the other two?”
Blanchard sighs. “I can’t do much for the sucking chest wound. I have it sealed, but it will need constant deflating and he’ll need surgery pronto. He’s already exhibiting subcutaneous Emphysema, you know, bubbles under the skin. If we had a medevac available, he might have a chance. We don’t, so…
“The gut wound is iffy. I’ll do what I can, but if he doesn’t die from blood loss, there’s a good chance Sepsis will finish the job,” Blanchard says. “I’ve given them all morphine, so at least they don’t feel it.”
“Can they be moved?”
“They probably won’t survive the trip to the boat, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Krandle frowns in thought. “What about to that bridge?”
“I don’t know what good that will do, but probably that far and not much more. Honestly, chief, with night coming on, these people will be better off leaving these two and finding somewhere safe. If they leave now, they may be able to put enough distance between them and the town.”
“Do what you can,” Krandle says, rising and heading toward the now huddled group of survivors.
“Okay folks, here’s the deal. And, you may not like it much. I know you’ve already been through a lot, but I’m going to lay this out bluntly. First off, we can’t take you aboard the sub we came in on, there’s just not enough room. As you may already know, there’s a town on the other side of those woods, along with thousands of night runners. So, staying here is a death sentence,” Krandle says.
“So, you’re not going to help us? You’re going to just leave our wives and daughters in the hands of those assholes,” one man says.
“I didn’t say that. I’m just laying out the situation for you.”
“Let the man speak, Phil,” Doug says.
“Thank you. Two of your wounded may not make it… more than likely they won’t, and they can’t be moved far. With nightfall coming on in a few hours, one choice is to leave them and put as much distance as you can from the town. You’ll have to carry the man with the leg wound.”
“We can’t do that. We can’t just leave them to die all alone. That would be akin to murder,” another man says.
“I said that’s one choice. Another is stay here with them, but you won’t make it through the night. That’s just a fact and it won’t help your loved ones much. I know you’re wondering if we can help, both through the night and for your wives and daughters. I and the others will want to stay, but the overall choice isn’t mine to make. I know you may not understand, but we’re it for a bunch of other folks, too. It’s a fucked up world. It sucks, I know, but I just wanted to let you know your options if we can’t stay. I’m going to try and convince my boss to remain. I’ll leave you to talk things over.”
Krandle calls the others in and relates the information he received.
“How could they be so stupid?” Speer asks.
“You know, everything aside, leaving them with wounded to slow them down so they can’t follow makes some kind of tactical sense. That shows what we may be up against if we opt for a rescue attempt. Although, they may not have had that in mind and are just assholes,” says Franklin.