We ran to the top of the road and spotted three decent sized trees that would provide a good hiding place to spring our ambush. They were within a few yards of each other, on the left side of the road.
We waited in silence for the next hour in case anyone approached on foot.
“What shall we do about Bernie? We can’t just leave him lying on the front lawn of the house,” Lea said.
“We can go back and give Bernie a burial after we’ve finished here,” I replied.
Jack held his arm in the air.
“Quiet. I think I can hear the sound of an engine.”
We waited and listened. Something was approaching. A minute later, a black Range Rover appeared in the distance.
“Jack, you and I will empty our magazines into the windows and doors. Lea, you run out and finish them off if required. Are we all okay with that?”
They both nodded.
As the Range Rover approached the turn off into Jerry’s drive, it slowed to a stop. I glanced around the tree and saw that two people dressed in black were in the vehicle. One was a man wearing thick glasses and the other a woman with her hair pulled back severely from her face. This certainly was a coordinated effort, but I had the feeling that we weren’t exactly dealing with elite soldiers. The Range Rover turned into the driveway and came slowly towards us. The woman in the passenger seat was holding a rifle up to her chest, from that position; she wouldn’t have time to react.
As the driver’s window came level with me, I shouted, “Now!”
Jack and I stepped out from behind our trees and started firing into the driver’s side window. It shattered, and then collapsed. We’d scored a number of direct hits into the side of the driver’s head and body. He was slumped sideways towards the passenger who was also motionless as the Range Rover rolled past us and came to a halt. Lea ran around to the passenger’s window and fired two shots. A spray of blood covered the interior of the windshield.
She looked back at us, “Her eyes were moving.”
“Let’s get them out of the way in case anyone else is coming,” I said.
We dragged the corpses out and put them into the back seats before taking the magazines out of their rifles and reloading ours, they were all the same type, AR-15’s, confirming these people were probably all part of the same group. I put the Range Rover into neutral and we rolled it around the side of Jerry’s house, out of view from the road.
“Come on, back in position in case any more of these amateurs show up,” I said.
We waited by the trees for the next two hours, but no one else appeared. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. The killers we encountered had been extremely dangerous and a serious weapon had been used to turn normal people into killing machines. I could imagine that a complex and coordinated attack of this scale would require huge resources and skills. However, what we had since seen didn’t match this level of competence. It was time to start making Jerry talk. We needed answers, and I wanted them now.
Lea volunteered to keep watch from outside the barn in case anyone else showed up, Jack and I both agreed. Lea would possibly disagree with our methods of obtaining information from Jerry, and I was going to suggest she stay outside of the barn anyway. I was quite confident, now we had a couple of loaded rifles that we’d be able to take out any other patrols, even if they saw us first from a distance. The evidence so far suggested that we were far more dangerous than they were.
I walked into the barn and untied the rope around Jerry’s head, pulling the rag out of his mouth at the same time.
“You’re going to fucking die. I am going to make sure of that. You all are,” he shouted, then spat in my face.
I resisted a strong urge to punch Jerry in the mouth. His words, not his actions would dictate his fate.
“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Jack asked.
“I’ve already told you the good news,” Jerry laughed.
“No, the good news is that we have killed your latest patrol. You probably heard the gunshots,” I said.
“There’s more where they came from,” Jerry replied. “You won’t get away with it. Even if they don’t get you, you’re still dead.”
“You didn’t ask me what the bad news was, Jerry.” When he remained silent, Jack continued, “We’re going to torture you.”
He didn’t laugh at the response this time.
“What? What are you going to do?”
“That depends on how cooperative you are,” I replied.
Both Jack and I knew a few different techniques from our days in the army.
Jack turned to me, “Do you think Jerry will enjoy waterboarding? Can you go into this piece of shit’s house and fetch me a t-shirt, two towels, and a few jugs of water.”
I nodded. I wasn’t sure if Jack was openly threatening Jerry to try and make him speak or if he was serious. If Jerry wasn’t prepared to speak to us, then I wouldn’t have a problem assisting Jack with waterboarding, it was the least that Jerry deserved after what happened to Bernie.
When I arrived back with two jugs of water and a couple of towels, Jerry was struggling violently.
“You fucking prick,” he hissed at Jack.
“Just tell me all you know,” I shouted at Jerry. “We’ll get it out of you eventually, so you’ll be saving yourself a lot of suffering if you talk now.”
Jerry had a spiteful and defiant smile across his face.
“You won’t kill me because you need information. Do your worst.”
Jack patted him on the head.
“Jerry, I don’t want to kill you, I want to know everything you do. The waterboarding is just the start. When I have finished with you, you’ll be singing like a canary.”
Leaning against one of the piles of food cans was a pair of bolt cutters; Jack walked over, picked them up, and then placed them on the table next to Jerry.
“You don’t scare me. Keep me here as long as you like — you’re dead anyway.”
I circled the table while maintaining a stare into Jerry’s eyes.
“I don’t think so. We can fight off the fools that get sent here for months, and every time we do, they bring us more weapons and ammunition.”
Jerry started laughing again.
“You have no idea what you are up against. You’re toast, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Let’s get started on him,” Jack sighed.
The radio crackled, I immediately spun to face it.
“This is Control. NY three. Please confirm the patrol has arrived. We have lost contact.”
“If I don’t respond, they’ll know something is wrong, and then all hell will be unleashed,” Jerry said smugly.
“Shall we respond? You could pretend to be Jerry,” Jack said.
“It’s worth a try. Gag him.”
Jerry tried to shout as Jack stuffed the rag back in his mouth and held it there. I sat in front of the radio, put on the headset and pressed the transmit button.
“This is NY three. The patrol has arrived,” I said, attempting to mimic Jerry’s Boston sounding accent.
“You are not NY three. Confirm your call-sign,” A crackled voice replied after around twenty seconds.
“I am NY three. The patrol has arrived.”
“What is the pass-code for today?”
I looked back at Jack who shrugged his shoulders, our cover was blown and there was no point trying to pretend anymore.
“Jerry’s told us all about you. I know where you are and I’m coming for you.”
I waited at the radio for two minutes, but there was no response. I walked over to Jack who was still holding the rag in Jerry’s mouth.