Mark told Brad he was going to low crawl up into a better position. Brad kept watch as Mark moved forward. Mark was about 25 yards closer to the people now and he watched too. He heard some shots fired from the compound area and saw these people fire back. They weren’t wearing the Russian camo and he wasn’t sure who they were. He was wondering if they were good guys or bad.
He motioned for Brad to crawl up. Brad moved up slowly, very slowly. Mark could tell he wasn’t used to this. He looked over at Brad and pointed the people out. Brad looked at them and then back at Mark and shook his head no. These were definitely not part of Rob’s group. He told Brad he was moving over to line himself up better.
While he was moving the pair fired once again toward the compound. He heard the guy say he got one. “Good job, sweetie,” he heard.
This was a couple, he thought. He moved back toward Brad. “It’s a man and a woman, I’m going to go further east and come through the brickyard. You come along to a point and then provide me some cover. We can’t get them from here. I need to take a clean shot and can’t get one right now.”
They moved east and then found a place to cross. “You stay here. Brad. I’ll cross over and check it out. I’ll signal you when I want you to cross. Mark crossed over into the brickyard and made his way toward the couple. He peeked around a pallet of bricks and spotted two small children hunkered down behind them. He looked across at Brad and signaled him to back off a bit.
Over toward the main gate, some of the guys took pot shots at the militia positions. They were not able to effectively do anything. They tried to light the gel fuel. They tried bows and arrows and aiming high hoping the arrows would drop on the guys, but nothing was working. One of the guys took a shot at a vehicle and ruptured the gas tank. Everyone else just looked at each other.
They started shooting the vehicles themselves and were trying to puncture as many of the fuel tanks as they could. The militia pushed the vehicles in place but did not empty the tanks out. Gas was now flowing along the entire line of vehicles that the militia relied on for protection and cover at the front of the admin building.
Once a couple of tanks were punctured and the militia caught on to what was happening they fired toward the townspeople. They unleashed over 1,000 rounds to try and stop them. The militia had hit a man and woman who were injured and another man was killed. The people lit some fireworks and aimed them toward the vehicle barricade. Finally one struck gas and within minutes they all started to burn.
After about 10 minutes, the line of cars was so engulfed in flames you could hardly see through all of the smoke. The militia was able to pull back toward some secondary defensive positions rather safely. Only one man sustained a hit while making the moves, and it was just an injury that left him bleeding, but still able to fight. The townspeople took the opportunity to gather up any of their own wounded and get them to safety.
Haliday’s team popped the door open at the same time Chuck’s team did. The team members with the AR’s laid down prone while the men with shotguns took different stances. One kneeled and one stood, both using the thin hangar wall along the door jambs as cover. They instantly started firing toward their assigned militia positions.
The folks on the east and west sides fired as well. Haliday watched one man take off toward the center of the building complex and tried to lead his fire on him. Before he could fire on him though the concrete next to him shattered causing him to roll for cover. The two men with him continued to fire and eliminated the threat that fired on Haliday. The militia member running made it to another position, but this one was out of their view.
Chuck’s team didn’t have such good luck. As soon as they opened to fire, they took hits immediately. Chuck fired away, but one of the guys had his shotgun jam on him, and as he tried to eject the shell he was hit twice and went down. Chuck continued to fire as the other man pulled the injured guy out of the way. He returned to help Chuck. The snipers still didn’t have any shots on this militia position and couldn’t help Chuck’s team.
Rob had everyone moved up into the southern positions and now had a couple of guys in the buildings waiting. He went over to see if he could help Chuck. Chuck told him the guys were dug in pretty deep and wasn’t sure if they would be able to get them out of that position. They all backed up and waited. They called Haliday for direction. Haliday told them to send a couple to his location and he would come over and see what was going on.
Mark took another look around the area. He couldn’t spot anyone else so he made his move. He shouldered his AR and pulled out his pistol. He sprang around the corner of the bricks and took aim at the two kid, he put his finger to his mouth. He spoke quietly and told them to raise their hands up which they did.
Mark then had them lay down and he zip tied their hands together. The kids were maybe 10 or 11 years old, a boy and girl. Mark was shocked at this. “Here kids, you hide here behind the bricks while we go play army.” It was appalling in every sense. He didn’t like what he did next. He stood them up then called out to their parents.
The parents froze. All they heard was “Drop your weapons and approach your children with your hands raised high.” They had no idea who had their kids or what the person would do. The husband suggested he sneak over across the street and try and come up behind them. The wife protested. The little girl cried out, “Mommy I’m scared. One of the bad men has us.” Mark’s blood boiled at this.
Haliday walked in and looked down at the man from Chuck’s team who had gotten hit. The man was losing blood and would need help fast. Haliday grabbed his mirror and took a quick glance. No sooner had he put it in the doorway when the militia fired. The shots were too close for comfort and one came through the thin steel just above his head.
Haliday looked over at Rob. “Listen, get a few more guys up here. Have them take over here in the building. In the meantime Chuck and I will take our teams and enter that big ass building they are using to keep all the food and supplies in. If we can get to the west end, we can take them out.” Rob signaled for a couple more guys to come over and he said he would stay as well.
Chuck and Haliday got their teams together. They needed Rob to draw the fire and as soon as they started, they bolted for the door. They got the door open and entered it quickly without any tannerite can. They all kept low. They looked around. There were stacks upon stacks of food piled in here.
Over at the main gate, not only had the smoke and fire given the militia a chance to retreat, it also gave a few people the chance to move forward close to the line of cars. Four people had rushed forward and then laid down waiting for the flames to subside. This was as close as anyone had managed to get to the admin building.
Mark was waiting for the kids parents to approach. He heard the woman say, “Don’t hurt them. I’m on my way.”
Mark yelled out, “Both of you. I said both of you.” There was a pause and she said her husband was injured. Mark couldn’t believe these people were playing games with their kids. “Listen lady, I have two guys in the woods. If he ain’t injured he will be. You wanna keep playing games?”
He heard the man, “Ok, we’re both coming out, don’t shoot.”
Mark waited and both of them came walking out hands held high. Mark called out, “Brad, come on in, but tell your brother to keep his sights on these two.” Brad came out slowly with his rifle raised. Mark ordered them to the ground with their hands behind their backs. Brad approached and zip tied them.
The zip ties came in handy. They were cable ties from an electric supply shop, but Haliday had made sure everyone took plenty with them. He told them to tuck them in their boots, their ball caps, waist bands, wherever they felt comfortable putting them. This was the exact reason why.