Armstrong mulled that one over. “The only possibilities I see would be Hayfield and Moore. Hayfield just gave his life for Eugene, and Moore nearly had his brain torched. No, I don’t think any of us are spies. I’m certain that rat lawyer, Phillips, told them about us.”
“Still,” Cassandra said, “how did they know about tonight?”
“It could be a coincidence,” Chad said. “Phillips knew that we know every checkpoint in front of every border. Local authorities might have decided to increase security at every checkpoint. There’s probably a bounty on our heads, and no doubt Phillips wants to claim it for himself. He probably bribed the civil patrols with part of the bounty.”
“If what you say is true,” Eugene said, “then how will we ever get across?”
“One thing at a time, Gene,” Armstrong said. “Let’s go to the kid crossing one.” Henry Piper told them of the crossing where the parents brought their children with them when on patrol. “If heavily fortified, we’ll pull over someplace and reassess the situation.” Everyone agreed.
The group resumed their trip only to find the same situation. There were several additional men, and no children.
“No question,” Ray said. “They know our plans and they’re going to block all the access points.”
Sandy suggested trying another time, but Chad, and the others agreed that they were out of time. They would get across the border tonight or die trying. Armstrong and the other Blues got together to hammer out a final plan.
“I believe we’ll have to get around the border fence,” Ray said. “We can use the woods to hide in. Sneak around, take out the guards, open the fence, and then drive through.”
“Sounds like the plan,” Armstrong said. “Ray and Cassandra, you take the right woods. Me, Foote and Wrenn will take the left. Turn your phones to airplane mode. We’ll coordinate our assault by time; half hour should be enough.” They told the others of their plan and decided for an assault for exactly 11:30.
All agreed on the plan, except Terry Foote. “You know, I’m a little uncomfortable about dividing up and then not being able to communicate with each other.”
“The woods may be full of enemy folk,” Armstrong said.
“All the more reason why it’s a bad idea,” Foote said. “What if one side needs help? What if they get the drop on one of us? Nobody else will know.”
“Foote’s got a point,” Ray said.
“But two groups have a better chance at succeeding instead of one,” Armstrong said.
“But which groups do the civilians join?” Ray said.
Armstrong paused to think, and then began shaking his head in agreement. “You’re right. We’ll have to stay together. I’ll take the lead. Ray and Cassandra, you lag behind. Wrenn and Foote: you take the flanks. Everyone else in the middle.”
“We should have a scout,” Cassandra said. “I’ll volunteer.”
“I don’t like that idea,” Ray said.
“In most cases that would be a good idea, but not now. We should stay in close quarters,” Armstrong said.
Everyone agreed, and the group started out, out of sight of the guards. The plan was to circle around to the back of the guards, and catch them napping. Wrenn took the north point and was the first to spot an enemy patrol. He was spotted and darted behind a tree, but the trunk was too small to offer much protection. He took his AR70 out, but then stopped. What if there are a lot more in there?
Armstrong spotted him and knew something was wrong, and then he spotted two shadows about twenty yards ahead moving quickly through the trees. The realization that the woods were full of enemies couldn’t be denied. Furthermore, they were probably spotted. He motioned for Wrenn to come to him, and to tighten up the ranks.
Suddenly, a shot rang out, and Wrenn instantly hit the ground. His heart was beating fast now. The bullet was so close he felt it graze the side of his cap, and he didn’t know who drew a bead on him; only that it came from a different direction than from the first guy he spotted.
Armstrong saw that Wrenn was all right, and drew everyone else close to him. “Eugene and Senator Moore, you still have your guns?”
“Yeah,” they both said. “Shoot only if you are close to the enemy. Each time you fire, move quickly. Don’t stay in the same position. Understand?”
They nodded affirmatively.
“We won’t be able to drive through now,” Armstrong said. “It’s run for the border through the woods.”
“Ray, Cassandra, lead our troops. Foote, guard their south flank. I’m going to help Wrenn out.”
“Shouldn’t we stay here?” Eugene said.
“No,” Armstrong said. “The enemy may thin out the farther west you go. We’ve got to get to the border. We’ll catch up with you. Stay low to the ground and hug the trees.”
Armstrong made his way toward Wrenn, crouching, but moving as fast as he could. Suddenly, a shot rang out from somewhere west of him and struck the leaves just behind his trailing foot. He quickly got up and scampered behind a tree as two more shots rang out. Wrenn fired back, but appeared to miss. After a minute or two, Armstrong made his way over to his buddy, and hid behind him and the tree.
“I think there are two of them where they fired on you, and a third to the north of west—over there,” Wrenn said, pointing toward a clump of trees. “It’s a good thing they don’t have floodlights attached to their scopes or we’d be dead.”
“I’ll run back over to where I was and draw their fire. Try to get a target and take them out. I’ll look for the third guy.”
Armstrong dashed for the other tree, but didn’t draw any fire. Then he yelled out. “Hey you, two. Drop your guns and come out. If you don’t you’ll be dead in the next minute. We know where you’re—”
Before Armstrong could get another word out shots from both guys rang out and Wrenn returned fire. He heard a groan and then the other guy shot at Wrenn. Armstrong returned fire, missed, and then drew fire again. Wrenn returned fire and didn’t miss. Both snipers were presumed dead. Armstrong then fired toward the third guy, but heard him run away. Wrenn then walked over to Armstrong.
“I sent the others west,” Armstrong said. “Ray and Cassandra are leading the way. Let’s catch up to them.”
“Christ.” Dennis just hung up the phone. His secretary just looked at him. She was getting used to this.
Dennis got up and made the long walk to the boss’ office. “Come,” Casimir said. Dennis walked in, saluted, and reported that he had some bad news.
“Jesus Christ, O’Reilly. You had every advantage. How in the hell did they get away this time? Were there any survivors?” He thought he was just mocking the past failures, and was genuinely surprised at Dennis’s answer.
“They were all killed, sir.”
“How many?”
“Three, sir.”
“Three? Goddamnit, O’Reilly. Jesus Christ! Three? Tell me you at least brought in the A-Team; the best of the best.”
“The squad leader was McElroy, a local brigade commander. The second was an experienced man, while the third was new, but he was eager.”
Jaydan just stared incredulously at his assistant. “Why, O’Reilly? Why settle on three morons?”
Dennis always could gauge how much trouble he was in by whether the boss called him by his first or last name. “They were the best I could get, sir.”
“Did you tell them about the million dollar bounty they get to share in?”
“They weren’t very interested, sir. They said they’d need ten times as much money, and that might not be enough. One guy—an ex-Blue—told me no amount would be enough. ‘You can’t spend the money when you’re dead’. That’s the prevailing attitude.”