“She’s gorgeous, ain’t she?” Moss replied. “We fired off a few test rounds before and let me tell you, this baby kicks like a mule.”
Nodding, John asked Moss how the checkpoints were coming along.
“We’re nearly done. Got a crew on Alberta Street finishing the last emplacement. We don’t have a whole lot to protect it yet, but a few more of these would be nice,” he said, patting the long black barrel. “That was the main reason I wanted our first .50 cal to be fully mobile. Any group of armed thugs won’t stand a chance. Only thing we’re missing is a protective steel plate on the front.”
John nodded. Moss was right, but of course the problem now wasn’t holding bandits at bay. The enemy at their doorsteps was much meaner and far more sophisticated. Enough to make their only heavy machine gun look like a pea shooter. John only prayed the IEDs could help change that.
“Do you have an update on the explosives?”
Moss shook his head and dismounted from the pickup. “I sent out two teams this afternoon and neither of them have returned. I’ll let you know as soon as they do.”
“Please do. You know where to find me.”
A few moments later, John was in the middle of turning into the parking lot at the mayor’s office when he saw Diane running frantically from one pickup to another. Members of the convoy who were busy offloading the dead, wrapped in white shower curtains they’d taken from the hardware store, stopped and pointed in John’s direction. She was always the worrywart. Those improvised body bags must have freaked her out. He pulled into the first parking spot he could find and got out, Jerry in tow.
“Don’t worry, honey, I’m fine,” John said. “We ran into a little resistance is all.” He pointed to Jerry. “This is—”
“Please tell me the boys are with you.”
“You mean Gregory and Brandon?”
“Of course, John. I’ve been looking for them all day. I just assumed they’d decided to go along with you to Oak Ridge at the last minute.”
John shook his head, feeling the horrible sensation that something was wrong. “They must be here somewhere.”
“They’re not,” Diane shouted. “I’ve searched everywhere. You don’t think they hopped that train to the front, do you?”
“I told them they couldn’t go, so they must be here somewhere,” John said, not entirely sure he believed it himself. But that stabbing feeling in his gut was quickly rising to his heart and with it the certainty that the boys had not only defied him but that they were headed for grave danger.
Reese was only a few feet away and John ran to him at once.
“You know, if I’d been the same age,” Reese said, “I’d have probably done the same thing myself.”
John felt the same way, but it was hardly any consolation. “These boys haven’t snuck out the window at night to go drink beer or shoot guns in the woods. There’s a war going on. This isn’t a game.”
Reese dropped his cigarette and stubbed it out. “I’m with you. So you want me to go fetch ’em?”
“I do,” John said, nodding. “And take someone with you.”
Moss arrived just then, his smile fading when he saw something serious was going on. John explained.
“Damn kids. Used to be cops and robbers when I was a kid,” Moss lamented. “Now boys just wanna play Call of Duty with real guns. Reese, I’d go with you, but—”
“I don’t need any help to rustle up a couple kids. Besides, I’ll go faster if I’m alone. Maybe it’ll give me a chance to knock some sense into ’em on the way back.”
“Take Betsy,” John told him, fishing in his pocket for the keys.
“We don’t have the fuel, John,” Moss informed him. “That’s what I was coming to tell you. The trip to Oak Ridge just used up the last of what we had. Might take a couple days before we can scrounge some more up.”
John wanted to swear, but held his cool. Having to swallow his anger only intensified the emotion. “Can you ride?” John asked, suddenly remembering the horses.
“Aren’t the free horses being used for farming right now?” Moss asked.
“Well, they can be recommissioned. Can you ride?”
Reese nodded. “You kidding? I rode competitively in the State Fair.”
“Good,” John said, feeling a small measure of relief. “Then pick the best horse we have.”
“He’ll need to take two, boss,” Moss said. “The boys are gonna need to ride something on the way home, unless you want them to walk.”
“Walking would do them some good. Just take whatever you need and hurry back as soon as you can.”
“Roger that,” Reese replied. He retrieved his Remington sniper rifle from the front seat of the pickup he’d driven from Oak Ridge and stalked off toward the barn.
John went into the mayor’s office to find Henry. He would send a message to Colonel Higgs to be on the lookout for Gregory and Brandon and ask him to hold the boys until Reese arrived to escort them home. From his previous conversations with the colonel, John knew the front was a chaotic and dangerous place. As a sniper and tracker, Reese was the best man for the job. No doubt about it. John only hoped that would be enough.
Chapter 20
The train steaming toward the front had just run through Newbern, Tennessee, only a few miles from their final destination of Dyersburg and the Mississippi river, when the two boys began hearing the concussion from distant artillery fire. Brandon caught the look of sudden fear on Gregory’s face, as though the plan they’d devised to help defend their country, one which had sounded positively awesome on paper, had in reality been a colossal mistake.
Had America not been in such a desperate situation, they would never have been allowed on this train in the first place. But wasn’t every able-bodied citizen expected to take up arms in whatever way they could? During one of his long chats with John, Brandon had learned about how the Germans had conscripted boys as young as Gregory to help defend Berlin against the Russians. It might not be something you saw on the nightly news—back when there was such a thing as TV and channels like CNN and Fox—but when able-bodied soldiers were in short supply, kids were often used in their place. That had been part of Brandon’s speech to Gregory as soon as they found their seats, the train still sitting at the station in Oneida. But now, feeling the earth tremble every time one of those shells landed, Brandon wondered if in the end he hadn’t been trying to convince himself.
The train was packed to the gills with soldiers, some in uniform, but most wearing regular clothing. Several were even standing in the middle aisle and had been the whole time.
Questioning looks from a few of those around them had been frequent at the outset of the trip. When a nervous-looking guy with short, wavy hair and dark-rimmed glasses had asked if they knew where this train was headed, Brandon explained they were going to the front to be messengers. That seemed to satisfy the man, who left them alone from then on.
A soldier with three chevrons on his arm pushed his way into their rail car and cupped his hands over his mouth. “Five minutes to Dyersburg. I repeat, we disembark in five minutes. Gather your things. Don’t leave anything behind or you will lose it forever. Once everyone’s off, this train is heading back to bring more troops and supplies. After you exit the train, you will be given a uniform, a weapon and organized into units.” He repeated the message two more times before shoving through to the next car.
With every passing second, this was becoming more real and more frightening.
Gregory’s eyes were darting around. “Maybe if we stay on the train it’ll head back to Oneida?” he suggested, not entirely able to hide the panic in his voice. His eyes were watery, as though he were on the verge of tears.