"Ok, how's our situation looking? Kai first," Mary asked.
It had been a week since the report from the team sent to investigate General Stuart's murder had galvanised the colonists into a flurry of emergency defence preparations. The meeting with Mary chairing, included both military and civilian representatives and once again occupied the rear of the Mess Hall, with the grudging consent of the chef.
"The spare containers have been installed around the outer perimeter of the industrial sector and we have stacked them with enough bags of dirt to make them almost un-moveable. The three buried shelters are in place out near the farms and each is stocked with a couple of weapons, ammunition, a few MREs, water and some blankets, I couldn't think of anything else to put in them. The doors can be locked from the inside and we oxy'd some slits in the doors. I have made a point of ensuring that every farmer and anyone else who goes outside the wire knows where they are and how to use them. The range markers are all in place at fifty yard intervals out to a thousand yards where possible. We have used all our barbed fencing wire creating obstacles along the main approaches and trying to make the Sanctuary wall secure against pole runners. I can't think of anything else except Claymores, but they are too dangerous to deploy with civilians going about their normal business." Kai reported.
Sergeant Major Kylar reported, "I've audited our resources and we've enough of the ammunition we brought with us to deal with a couple of attacks the size of the Sierra One attack. If we're attacked by anything bigger than that, we will need to trust the stored ammunition. The stored ammunition is boxed so it will have to be loaded into magazines. The artillery shells are all from the store so there could be a reliability issue there, but the test shots were ok, so they should be good. I've stacked the ammunition just inside the Sanctuary in the front container and have racked swords, spears, bows, arrows and shields next to the container as well in case it comes down to that. My team is confident they can deliver ammunition as fast as you can use it, so we are as ready as we can be."
Mayor Sloan presented her update from the civilian administration perspective, "First of all, everyone has been emergency drilled to the point of exasperation, daily routines have been disrupted and everyone is pissed off. There has not been any sign that the threat is real, we are a long way from Fort Jones, and they haven't been attacked. People are beginning to talk about this being some sort of plan for the military to take control. I think it is time to relax the restrictions a bit and ease up on the emergency drills or we risk a cry wolf situation. That being said, the feedback I get from everyone doing the shield wall training, is that they absolutely love it, I hope they can continue it as a sport and not for real. Chef is not happy about the new arrangements, he says having his onsite stores back in the Sanctuary, doubles his team's workload. Generally you could say we are all sick of this heightened level of alert and want some common sense applied. I'd recommend we lower the alert level until there is some solid evidence the threat is real."
Reporting for the medical centre, Jean stated, "Doctors Dalal, Balmayne and Emmerson send their apologies and want me to tell you that they have done enough and are too busy to play war games with the kids. However, the medical centre is prepared for an emergency evacuation with all medicines and essential equipment now stored in a Hummer ready for a speedy exit. Currently we have three patients, but they are all able to be relocated if required, so unless there is an outbreak of something nasty, the medical centre is prepared. Dr Halal did want me to ask, for just how much longer will they be expected to work under these conditions? So that is the long and short of it, we are ready but not happy."
Advising of the school's readiness, Brian added, "Well we must be the exception, the kids love the emergency drills and always try to better their times. If something happens during school hours, you can be assured the kids will be safely tucked away in the Sanctuary and out of your way. The trainees out in the fields or around at the Industrial Sector may be more problematic, some of them have told me that they are "well over the drills" and as most of them are at that acrimonious age where they resent being forced to do anything, I wish their mentors luck.
The meeting continued with Sally reporting on behalf of the farmers and a soft spoken Ian Walski, one time Chief Civil Engineer for Mike Axell, now head maintenance engineer and spokesman for the industrial sector reported for the tradespeople. The common theme was that the general population now didn't think that there was a real threat and just wanted life to get back to normal. Mary was left wishing that General Stuart was still with them, he had had the political skills to navigate this sort of situation that she didn't. She addressed the meeting, thanking them for their reports and for their people's efforts. She promised to review the latest recon data and would be releasing another threat assessment later in the day.
"We seem to be as ready as we can be, I will hopefully be able to ease up on the restrictions in the next couple of days if the situation stays the same. But I have taken on board your concerns and you can let your people know that the emergency drills will be reduced from now on, and I won't pull a drill at night or during meal times," Mary conceded. "I suppose we had better let Chef have his Mess Hall back, thanks again."
Mary, Kai and Jill left the hall after a brief chat to Jean and Brian. On the way back to HQ Mary asked, "What do you think, do they have a point? I mean we haven't seen any evidence of a direct threat to us and there hasn't been any more attacks in the Clan territories, have I overreacted?"
Jill said, "Sally thinks we have gone too far, but Kai and I aren't so sure. Sally reckons that is because we're military and are programmed to think in terms of threats. I'm not so sure though, Charlie's evidence seemed pretty convincing."
Kai responded, "Well I think we have done the right thing and what we have achieved in the last week is amazing. The civvies will complain we are going too far, right up until the shit hits the fan then they will start complaining that we haven't done enough. We can't ever win that argument, we just have to manage it. Maybe easing some of the restrictions on going outside the wire and not making them carry weapons everywhere inside the wire might help for a while."
"Hmm, maybe you are right," mused Mary, "Jill, add Kai's ideas to tomorrows briefing, maybe that will settle things for a while." At HQ, Mary was briefed on the latest drone recon, there is no sign of activity as far out as Trader Town and no camp fire smoke anywhere in the forests between Sierra Two and Trader Town nor to the West either.
"The drone would need thermal detectors to be sure there is no-one under the trees, but with what we have, we can't identify any immediate threat. Also, the sentry on the watch tower above us has installed the motion detector half a mile back down the ridge to cover any approach from the West," reported the duty NCO.
"Ok, keep me up to date, the natives are getting restless, and I can't really blame them. Has everyone here had their range practice this week?" Mary asked as she backed out of the HQ, leaving Jill to deal with the answer.
Next morning at breakfast, Mary, Charlie and Little Joe joined the Axell twins, Robyn, Jill and Sally just as Sally was describing the butterflies infesting the greenhouse.
"I expect that later on, we will have a plague of grubs in the tomatoes and potatoes but I just can't bring myself to spray them. I don't know enough about butterflies to say what species they are, but remember Ruth? I bet she would have known," Sally said.
"I want to see the butterflies," Little Joe blurted out as he climbed onto his seat.
"Ah, no," answered his mother.
"Why not?" Little Joe fired back. "Aunty Sally can take me. Can't you?" he asked turning to Sally. Sally explained that the best time to see them was in the morning just after sunrise when the greenhouse starts to warm up. She was going out to the greenhouses that night as it was her shift on pest control, she offered to take Little Joe on a sleepover at the Horticulturist's office.
"Well there is still a threat," explained Mary.
"Go on, we have been living under this threat for ages now, don't your drone recons and early warning radars give us plenty of warning," Sally queried.
"What if this afternoon's recon shows no threat, then what harm could one night out do? We have the emergency drills, Sally has a phone so there shouldn't be a problem," added Charlie.
"Oh ok, as long as you see Jill about releasing an SUV and don't walk," Mary finally, but reluctantly agreed.
"Done. So little Joe, do you want a sleepover with me out at my office, so we can see the butterflies tomorrow morning?" Sally asked.
"Yay, a sleepover. Thanks mum," Little Joe accepted happily.
After breakfast, Little Joe was safely surrendered to the school and Jill headed to HQ to relieve Kai. Mary and Charlie walked together back to their house. Mary expressed her concerns about letting Little Joe out of the wire at this time. Charlie did her best to reassure her, to the point of offering to sleep at the HQ with a car on standby ready to run a rescue mission if needed. Charlie was rather taken aback when Mary agreed to the offer, but realising how worried Mary was, she didn't reveal that the offer had been a joke.
Making her way to the Castle, they crossed paths with the trainee hunter, Netta and her mentor Tammy, heading out loaded up with their packs and bows. Mary greeted them and on questioning, Tammy revealed that they were making their way up the hill to watchtower duty. Mary asked Netta how she was enjoying being a hunter. Netta stated that she loved it and thanked Mary for the opportunity to switch to the hunting stream, while Tammy agreed that Netta was a natural for the job. Mary thanked them both for their efforts allowing them continue on their way.
Tammy and Netta proceeded from town through the break in the wire and rounding the North side of the Industrial sector with its protective container wall, they then treaded west to the path up the hill. The climb to the watchtower was tough and Netta struggled with her heavy pack while Tammy following, helped with the odd shove over some of the particularly steep sections. The path up the hill led them further to the north so they still had a mile walk back along the ridge to the tower located above the Sanctuary. On arrival, Tammy greeted the two sentries they were relieving by name and took possession of the log, the radio and the binoculars. Politely feigning interest in the long verbal report that actually revealed nothing happened during the past two days, Tammy and Netta, climbed the ladder to the tower and stowed their gear.
The covered and camouflaged observation platform was about thirty feet from the ground, high enough for the observers to see over the low trees at the top of the hill out to the undulating tree-covered hills to the Colony's West. Apart from the odd bird passing through, there was no sign of life at all, nothing to break the monotony. It was obviously going to be another long, boring two days. Propping onto one of the stools, while Tammy heated water for tea on their solid fuel stove, Netta picked up the binoculars and scanned their area of responsibility, seeing nothing of interest out as far as the blue haze in the distance. She checked the radar screen again but it only displayed the faint echoes from wind blown shrubbery, nothing there.
"If anything big moves, you will hear the audio warning, you don't have to keep looking at it," advised Tammy.
"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with nothing," Netta sang over her shoulder.
"Well you had better hope it stays that way," responded Tammy, "The last thing I want to see is a whole bunch of Unworthy running up the hill at us."
"Even so, I'd rather be out hunting whatever killed that calf," Netta replied.
"That was a mountain lion, and you are not ready to take on one of those just yet," Tammy informed her, "Now if you want some tea, gimme your mug."
Before leaving the HQ, Mary had Jill brief her on the latest drone surveillance, nothing had been detected and as Tammy had just reported from the watchtower, no activity to the West either. Arriving home just in time, Mary helped Little Joe and Charlie finish packing his overnight bag. Charlie had packed in his pyjamas and tooth brush so Mary dug in the pantry for a ration pack, she extracted the fruit drink and the cookies and hid them in Little Joe's bag.
"Now Aunty Sally is the boss, whatever she says goes, immediately and without argument. Mary ordered sternly, "Do you understand?"
As usual, they caught up with the group at Thermae, missing Kai who was on duty that night, and after, continuing on to dinner together. Sally informed Mary that the SUV parked in the square at the front of the Mess was hers for the night so she could get Little Joe back home quickly if necessary. After dinner, Mary and Charlie surrendered Little Joe into Sally's care and as Charlie strapped him into the passenger seat, Mary dropped his backpack onto the back seat next to Sally's carelessly packed bag. Mary waved sadly as he was driven out of the square, and watched as the SUV continued through the gap in the wire and up the hill toward the Greenhouses.
"That is the start of him growing up," she said to Charlie, wiping an emotional tear, "Everything is happening so quickly."
"I know," agreed Charlie as she stroked her baby, "But when this one is kicking and pressing on my bladder, I sort of wish it would happen even more quickly."
"Oh, never wish that," Mary counselled as they headed home arm in arm.
Chatting excitedly about butterflies for the whole short trip out, Little joe laughed hysterically when Sally jerked the SUV roughly to a halt at the front of the one-room log hut serving as the Horticulturist's Office. Hearing her overnight bag flip off the back seat dumping its contents onto the floor, Sally swore, then clamping her hand over her mouth she glanced guiltily at Little Joe. Little Joe just erupted into more laughter, he was having a wonderful time. Sally roughly scooped her belongings from the floor and stuffed them back into her bag, in her haste not noticing her phone out of sight under the driver's seat.
Carrying his own bag into the office like the almost seven-year-old grown up he was, Little Joe then sort of helped Sally unfold the settee into a bed. They laid out their sleeping bags and before settling in for the night enjoyed a piece of Little Joe's chocolate, and made a production of cleaning their teeth. Sally opened the blinds on the windows to be able to watch for pests trying to get at the goodies growing in the green house. The thick walls of the cabin kept it naturally cool and dark inside, keeping all but the loudest noises out, so Sally was sure Little Joe would enjoy a pleasant uneventful sleep.
Rudely dragged awake by the loud ringing of her phone, and on seeing 'Duty Officer' displayed on the screen, Mary groaned aloud earning a mumbled query from Charlie.
Answering to a very formal Kai. "Sir, a critical situation has risen and you should return to the HQ immediately," he reported.
"What the fuck are you talking about, Kai?" exclaimed Mary, "What sort of critical situation?"
"Mary, what is going on?" questioned Charlie with growing alarm.
"We have just received an urgent and strange radio message on the HF frequency from an unidentified call-sign, warning us that we are going to be attacked at dawn this morning by an army of Unworthy," Kai answered, "Do I sound the Alert?"
"Dawn, what is the time now?" Mary demanded, reaching for her watch.
"Dawn is just under an hour away," Kai responded.
"Fuck, did it sound like Joe on the radio?" Mary asked.
"No, it was a female and she had a strange accent, but it sounded genuine and urgent," Kai replied.
"Shit! Sound the alarm, and ensure everyone knows this is NODUF. Get the Sergeant Major and the defence in place and get the farmers back in, keep me informed, and get Sally and Little Joe back ASAP!" she ordered.
"Charlie, we have to go, we are under attack. Hurry up," Mary shouted.
Arriving at the Sanctuary within minutes, their sprint from the house in Charlie's SUV serenaded by the scream of the air-raid siren and the confused shouting from the houses. Kai was on the radio directing the military into their defence positions and trying to co-ordinate the marshals keeping the unhappy civilians streaming into the Sanctuary away from the military preparations. The duty staff manned the phones, calling in the farmers and ticking off the names as they contacted each group. Jill arrived, breathless from running up the hill, to take charge of the civilian evacuation to the Sanctuary. Those emergency drills endured by the civilians now paid off as the evacuation continued smoothly with minimum chaos but not without a lot of complaints. Mary noted that the complaints stopped, to be replaced by concerned looks when the civilians realised that this time it was not a drill.
Mary was watching the last of the soldiers queue past Sergeant Major Kylar's ammunition point to be issued a bandolier holding ten loaded magazines, when she was interrupted by Jill.
"Mary, we can't get hold of Sally, she is not answering her phone and the SUV is still parked at her office," Jill reported.
"Shit, Little Joe! Where is Charlie? Mary asked, looking around wildly.
"Charlie is inside," Jill revealed.
Not waiting for more information, Mary sprinted back inside and located Charlie helping a woman herd a group of crying children into the Sanctuary.
"Charlie, we can't raise Sally or Little Joe, can you drive out and get them? For God's sake please hurry, bring my Joey back," Mary pleaded.
Pushing against the rush of civilians swarming into the Sanctuary and once out in the compound, Charlie sprinted for the SUV. The electric engine started on first push of the button and she nudged the vehicle slowly out against the stream of humanity. The people readily edged out of her way, realising that the vehicle was probably on an urgent mission. Once clear of the main road to the Sanctuary, Charlie accelerated through the town, out through the wire and cross country up the hill to the Horticulturist Office.
Charlie blared on the horn as she pulled the SUV in behind Sally's vehicle, behind her the wail of the siren shut down suddenly only to be replaced by a shocking volley of rifle and machine gun fire. Looking up as she clambered from the vehicle, Charlie was horrified by the sight of a horde of Unworthy warriors charging from the cover of the tree line only a couple of hundred yards away. She pounded on the cabin door and trying the handle found it unlocked. Flinging the door open she rushed inside shouting Little Joe's name to be greeted by a sleepy and confused Sally asking what was wrong.
Racing past Sally to grab up the sleeping form of Little Joe, Charlie screamed for Sally to get to the car, they were under attack. Pushed toward the door by Charlie, Sally grabbed for her clothes, stumbling out the door, she dropping her trousers but seeing the fast approaching warriors, didn't try to retrieve them. Slamming and locking the car door, Charlie pushed a drowsy and uncooperative Little Joe across to Sally. Throwing the SUV into reverse she swung it back towards the town. As she accelerated away, the first spear slammed into the side of the vehicle. Passing her pistol to Sally Charlie yelled at her to shoot. Sally rolled Little Joe over into the back seat and following him, began firing out the back window at the pursuing warriors. At the sound of the gun in the enclosed vehicle Little Joe began to scream in fright. With neither Charlie or Sally able to help, Little Joe curled into a ball on the floor and sobbed in fear.
On finding the way to the gap in the wire blocked by large numbers of crazed warriors, Charlie made a split second decision.
"Fuck," she shouted, "We can't get back to the Sanctuary, we've got to get to the shelter.
Slewing the SUV to the right, across the front of the attackers they reached the entrance of the buried container, locking the handbrake, Charlie skilfully skidded the vehicle around to align the back of the SUV with the container entrance. Slamming the vehicle into reverse, she accelerated backwards down the narrow ramp cut into the earth. Sally dispatched the two warriors trying to force the container door open as the SUV shuddered to a halt, jammed against the sides of the ramp a couple of yards short of the container door. It was impossible to open the car doors against the walls of the ramp so Sally clambering into the back of the SUV, kicked the tailgate open. Peering out she ensured the two Unworthy were dead with a couple of aimed shots, then forced the window frame up as far as the dirt walls allowed. Climbing back into the SUV, she eased Little Joe from the rear seat into the cargo bay of the vehicle.
"The gun!" Screamed Charlie from the driver's seat.
Stretching forward, Sally passed the pistol forward to a frantic Charlie who managed to squeeze off a round into the warrior climbing onto the front of the vehicle.
"Get Joe into the container then help me out of here," begged Charlie as she blew another of the attacking warriors from the front of the SUV.
Clambering from the vehicle, Sally wrenched the heavy handle down to unlock the container door. Trying to force the door open against the dead Unworthy, she had to drag one of the bodies back to open it wide enough to allow entrance. Lifting Little Joe from the SUV she pushed him into the safety of the container, shouting for him to go right to the back of the room.
Dropping the driver's seat back as far as it could go, Charlie fired again at the attackers before pushing herself clumsily over into the back seat. Climbing back in to the SUV, Sally seized Charlie's shirt and dragged her pregnant body into the cargo bay of the vehicle. Charlie, on impulse, grabbed Sally's shirt from the seat as she went, accidentally dropping the pistol as she did. The sound of another of the Unworthy leaping onto the front of the SUV spurred her on, Charlie rolled from the tailgate and clambering over a dead warrior squeezed into the container. Abandoning the SUV, Sally kicked the tailgate closed, slipped into the container, and slamming the door, swung the handle home locking it in place. For the moment, they were safe from their pursuers.
As they sat together on a box, huddled against the back of the container, as far from the door as they could get, Sally comforted a frightened Little Joe while Charlie began to swear.
"I dropped the fucking gun. I dropped my fucking phone, we can't contact Mary, she will be panicking," she said. "Oh, here take this," Charlie continued as she pushed Sally's shirt at her.
Sally looked at it in amazement, then realising she was still only wearing the shorts she had slept in, accepted it gratefully. They were startled by a loud banging on the front of the container as a number of the Unworthy tried to bash the door open. They could see movement through the firing slots cut into the door as the dawn began to lighten the sky. At one stage a spear was forced into one of the slots and twisted from side to side, trying to lever the door open. Outside the sound of firing continued unabated as Little Joe, continuing to sob but now beginning to take an interest in his surroundings.
"Are we safe from the bad men in here Aunty Charlie?" he asked meekly.
"They can't get us in here darling, we just need to sit tight and mummy will come for us soon," she answered.
With her eyes becoming accustomed to the darkness in their refuge, Sally realised that they were sitting a weapons case and there were similar boxes stacked against the other wall. Lifting the lid, Sally found, two boxes of loaded magazines and two A4 rifles, as well as two hand guns complete with ammunition. As Charlie gratefully selected a pistol and three of the loaded magazines, Sally opened one of the other boxes, it contained blankets and a couple of rolled up stretcher mattresses. The last box contained a number of MREs, water containers and a solid fuel stove. Rolling one of the mattresses out Charlie encouraged little Joe to curl up on it and cover his head with a blanket. She told him it was going to get loud so he needed to block his ears. Sally went one better.
"Here, I found these," as she handed out a couple of yellow plastic ear plugs joined by a blue plastic string.
Plugging her own ears, Charlie, leaving Sally to sort Little Joe out, loaded the pistol and advanced determinedly to the front of the container. With the warriors outside trying to bash the door open with rocks and spears, she fired through one of the slots and the spear stopped twisting. Spring forward, Sally seized the spear shaft and dragged it into the container. Charlie continued firing through the slots at anything that moved outside the container until there was nothing moving to shoot at. In spite of the ear protection, Charlie's ears were ringing and the acrid smell of the burnt powder was making breathing difficult.
Retreating to the back of the container again, they sat comforting Little Joe, watching the smoke slowly clear out through the firing slots in the door. Outside the screaming continued while the gunfire, overshadowed momentarily by a loud explosion, resumed at a reduced rate. Eventually the war cries stopped and the gunfire petered out. Sally ripped one of the ration bags open and shared out the chocolate, handing Little Joe the fruit drink. "He thinks it's Christmas now, look at the smile" she observed.
"Do you think it's over?" she asked.
Charlie walked over to the door and peered through one of the firing slots. "I can't see past the SUV, it is wrecked and I don't suppose we have insurance anymore," she quipped, "I think we should wait a bit before we open up though."
They rolled out the other mattress, prepared to settle down and wait it out. Just having sat down, Charlie put her arms around Little Joe drawing him onto her lap, when the gunfire began again in earnest. This time it wasn't directed their way and soon they could hear faint war cries from the North.
"So I was right after all, I think I'll do the 'I told you so' dance in front of Anne when we get back," was all Charlie could say as she cuddled Little Joe.
From her position beside the door to the Sanctuary, Mary observed the drama unfold as the host of Unworthy swarmed from the tree line in the pre-dawn gloom. Ordering fire at will, she watched in terror as Charlie's SUV was attacked, then reversed down the ramp to the buried container. Ordered to keep the container safe at all costs, one of the rifle sections concentrated their fire on any warrior who looked like approaching the container. Unable to help Charlie any more than that, Mary had to believe that they were safe. Relieved on hearing faint weapon fire from the direction of the container, she turned her attention to the main attack. The leading warriors were carrying, what appeared to be, leather covered ladders, she guessed they were planning to use them to cross the wire obstacles.
With all civilians now accounted for, Mary ordered the artillery to wipe the field with the anti-personnel, splintex rounds. All six guns fired as one with lethal darts from the anti-personnel rounds cutting wide swaths through the ranks of attacking warriors, Although fire mission decimated the mass of attackers, the Unworthy continued to push their assault. The gun crew reloaded for a second salvo, however, on the order to fire, the second gun from the northern battery exploded, violently blasting the crew back and inflicting horrific injuries on the three gunners. At the same time, one of the guns in the battery on the Southern side of the compound gate failed to fire. Feeling the explosion, Mary raced toward the compound entrance. Intercepted at the entrance by the shocked Battery Commander, she was briefed on the dire situation as medics raced past carrying their stretchers and kits. The Battery Commander from the other battery interrupted to report the misfire on one of his guns.
"Shit, check fire on the artillery," she ordered, "Give me a full report on the damage and a recommendation to fix it, I don't want to be without artillery. Keep me informed on the crew condition."
Mary hastened to the top of the compound in time to see the attack falter under the weight of the combined artillery and infantry fire, the attackers not even breaching the first wire obstacle. The whole attack was over in under thirty minutes.
On the watch tower, Netta was kicked awake.
"Wake up, get dressed, we are on high alert, the settlement is under attack," whispered Tammy.
"What?" asked Netta incredulously.
"I just got a call from HQ, they expect to be attacked at dawn," Tammy advised her.
"Shit! is there anything on the radar?" Netta asked.
There wasn't, and before Netta could ask another question all hell broke out from the compound behind them.
"Shit, that sounds bad," Netta exclaimed.
Just as the firing below reached a crescendo, the sleeping radar monitor before Tammy burst into life screeched a warning, then went black.
"Now what?" said Tammy as she tapped the screen.
"We had better go and have a look, I mean I will go," offered Netta.
"Ok, we will both go, it is probably just a deer kicking the box over again, but be careful it might be a bear. Treat this as if there really is an enemy coming this way and if there really is some enemy, run like hell back here and we will go over the rope, not down the path, get it?" advised Tammy.
Netta laced her boots, gathered her bow and slid down the ladder to the ground followed by Tammy. Stalking toward the radar's location half a mile further in the forest, they had only progressed about five-hundred yards when Tammy spotted some movement among the trees a hundred yards or so ahead. She signalled to Netta and they went to ground. As they watched, a number of heavily armed warriors carrying bows and spears emerged pushing through the undergrowth, one of them swinging the radar unit on the end of a piece of rope. As Netta watched, another large group of warriors emerged further to the North.
"Run," ordered Tammy, "Straight to the ropes, don't wait for me, just run and let Captain Kawalski know what you have seen, now go!"
Netta backed up carefully until she was out of sight then sprang to her feet and sprinted toward the watch tower. Tammy watched her go and reached for an arrow. She carefully sighted on the warrior swinging the radar unit and loosed the arrow, she quickly notched and loosed another arrow. Not waiting to see if it hit, she also backed away then made a break towards the watch tower. She heard shouting behind her but no immediate sound of pursuit, Tammy hoped the arrows would create enough confusion to give them time to get a warning through. By the time Tammy reached the tower, Netta was sliding back down the ladder.
"What are you doing, I told you to go directly to the ropes," she admonished her.
"I just radioed the contact to HQ," Netta answered.
"Fuck, I was going to do that. Ok let's get the hell out of here," Tammy retorted.
They raced along the cliff edge to where a couple of long ropes were coiled at the top of the cliff. Kicking one of the ropes over the cliff, Netta grasped the rope and walked backwards over the edge without a second look. Tammy paused, taking a deep breath, she had never been comfortable with heights, and this was the one frightening experience she had hoped never to have. However, the sound of shouting and heavy crashing through the forest helped make up her mind and she followed Netta over the edge.
It had been quiet for nearly half an hour and Mary was dealing with a delegation from the civilians.
"No, you cannot go back to the town yet, the emergency is not yet over and we still need to clear the battle field," Mary explained.
As Mary prepared to force her position, Jill emerged from the headquarters to advise her that the watch tower above them had just called to report a large number of warriors approaching through the forest from the West. Mary ordered the civilian delegation back into the Sanctuary, she was about to run back to the HQ, when two ropes snaked down into the compound from above. Seconds later, the two sentries from the watch tower joined them in the compound. Tammy identifying Mary, approached to report what they had seen. She explained that they had no idea how many warriors there were but that they were only minutes behind her. That was enough for Mary, sprinting back through the Sanctuary entrance to HQ she sounded the alarm again, sending the soldiers back to the walls. While discussing the state of their ammunition with Sergeant Major Kylar, she received an urgent summons from Kai waiting outside.
Mary returned to her battle position at the entrance of the Sanctuary and following Kai's pointing finger, observed see a large number of Unworthy emerging from the Western tree line about a mile to the North of the Sanctuary. There were over five-hundred of them by estimate, easily twice the number of the dawn attack. As the distant warriors spread over the plain, Mary understood that this was the main assault and that whoever was in command had given some thought to minimising the Americans' fire power superiority. Mary ordered the Sanctuary doors to be closed but to leave them open only wide enough for the ammunition party to pass through.
As the doors began to wind shut, Mary was surprised to see about fifty of the civilian militia, those who attend the sword and shield training, filing out with their weapons, to take up position in front of the Sanctuary entrance. On asking, Mary was told bluntly that they were there to protect the Sanctuary as a last resort. Mary was about to argue, but with the enemy horde beginning their advance, she left them to their Troop Commander's devices. Focussing on the attack, she noticed from the corner of her eye, the militia form into the three ranks of the shield wall. She hoped it didn't come to that.
Holding fire until the lead attackers crossed the three-hundred yard marker, Mary then ordered fire at will, the noise was terrific as the defenders opened up. The affect on the leading rank of attackers was marked as many of them fell under the hail of bullets. For a minute, Mary felt relief, it looked like they would be able to contain this attack, then her hopes sank as in the distance another wave of warriors at least as many as the lead wave, emerged from the tree line and spread out across the field. As the second wave began it's run, the first wave hit the container wall around the Industrial Sector. The wall seemed to provide a barrier, and for a while the attackers were held. As soon as an attacker climbed onto the containers they were quickly dispatched by the defenders' fire.
It was looking as if they could hold them, when the first arrow from the cliffs above the Sanctuary pinged from the flag stones at Mary's feet. Soon there was a stream of arrows raining from above into the compound. Mary ordered one of the rifle sections from the South wall to move to the front of the compound from where they would have a clearer view to clear the clifftop of archers. As the counter fire removed all the visible archers, the number of aimed arrows dramatically reduced and soon there were only a few poorly aimed arrows dropping in.
Suddenly a dozen or more ropes snaked down from the clifftop and unworthy warriors began dropping into the compound behind the defenders. The assault happened so suddenly that at least twenty of the warriors landed before the counter fire effectively stopped the attack and cut the ropes. Those warriors on the ground being between the military and the civilian militia, the soldiers could not immediately risk firing into them. Mary and Kai, were left standing exposed between the militia and the Unworthy. At a call from behind them, Mary and Kai backed through the Militia ranks as the shield wall locked into place in front of them.
The Unworthy warriors, confused by the noise, smoke and smell of the battle, nevertheless identifying something they understood in the swords and shields of the militia began to advance on the shield wall. The shield wall momentarily balked them, as they had no experience with this kind of warfare however after a second of discussion, they charged as an unorganised mob and crashed into the defenders shields. All that training on Mars Field paid off as the Militia held the wall against the charge. Trying to push their swords past the shields, in their drug induced frenzy, the individual warriors not acting together allowed the Militia as a unit, to force them back against each other further hindering the warriors' ability to fight. Following their training, the disciplined Militia stabbed their swords through and below the shield wall taking a savage toll on the unorganised and ill disciplined Unworthy. Mary didn't feel the need to intervene as the Militia broke the Unworthy attack apart, then made short work of the survivors.
As the Militia reformed in their guard position outside the Sanctuary entrance, Mary redirected her attention to the battle raging outside. She was dismayed to see a third wave of warriors emerging from the trees and again spreading out across the plain. This wave made no attempt to join in the assault while small a group of horsemen rode from the forest taking up position on a small hill overlooking the battle and about nine-hundred yards out. One of the horsemen carrying a couple of signal flags began gesturing with them, obviously directing the attack, as at his commands, the attackers suddenly swarmed en masse over the container wall in numbers too great for the defenders to deal with, finding cover in amongst the workshops in the Industrial Sector. The second wave followed with their assault on the container wall while the third wave finally began their run.
Mary began to doubt if they had the ammunition to withstand this attack noting that Sergeant Major Kylar's ammunition team were now breaking into boxes of loose ammunition and reloading magazines retrieved from the defenders. She hoped that, after being stored for five-hundred years, unlike the artillery shells, this ammunition was still viable, their very survival depended on it.
Mary sent a runner to fetch Private Nelson, the company sniper, from cliff-clearing duty, where he had been very successful in stopping more Unworthy roping into the compound. Mary pointed out the distant horsemen and asked if he could make the shot. He looked around as if checking the wind, reached into his ammunition pouch and extracted a range finder and ranged the target.
"915 meters Sir, I can take them," he reported.
"Do it," Mary ordered.
The sniper indicated to his spotter to leave the M110 and bring the Barrett M107 and the pair made the climb with their equipment to the guard tower at the front of the compound. A few minutes later, a louder than normal shot rang out as the Fifty Calibre Barrett barked. Mary turned back to the horsemen in time to see the man with the flags fly back wards from his saddle. The other horses fidgeted and as their riders looked around to see the source of this threat another loud shot sounded over the noise of battle and one more of the horsemen flipped backwards from the saddle. The horses began to mill around and after yet a third rider was ejected from his horse they decided to make for the safety of the trees. As they retreated under the trees another shot rang out but this time Mary didn't see a result. Private Nelson fired two more rounds into the trees at targets Mary couldn't see before climbing down from the tower and reporting back.
"Four confirmed kills and two maybes. I think I got a leader, the third target was an older man and his death seemed to spook the rest, but I can't be completely sure," he reported.
Mary thanked him, releasing him back to cliff protection duty and turned back to the battle at hand. The second wave of attackers began pushing over the container wall taking terrible losses however a large number still made it into the protection of the industrial area. With some of them dragging the same leather covered ladders as the first assault, it began to look like they might be in for hand-to-hand fighting. A couple of ladder wielders attempting to breast the compound wall were soon entangled in the defence wire around the wall and quickly eliminated. As they fell, the weight of the entangled warriors stripped the wire from the wall leaving it clear for the following wave of attackers.
With nothing now blocking their direct assault on the wall, a number of pole teams made the initial attempt, with their pole runners being forced up the wall. The first assault was easily repelled but as more and more began the run at the wall, things were becoming dire. To complicate the defence, Sergeant Major Kylar reported that he had been informed of a number of misfires with the five-hundred year old ammunition. Mary ordered the swords and shields be distributed urgently, as it was looking like they would soon be needed. He agreed and raced back to the Sanctuary to enlist civilian help in distributing the weapons.
It started subtly, sort of an unnoticed background noise that only slowly intruded into Mary's consciousness. Soon the realisation that she had heard the sound before, hit her like a physical blow. Over the sound of gunfire and screaming, a once familiar, but long forgotten whomp, whomp of helicopter gunships, intruded over the sound of battle.
"What the fuck!" Mary exclaimed as three unfamiliar helicopters swept out of the South.
The choppers swooped low over the Sanctuary then peeled out over the battle, the gunners leaning out the side doors waving to the defenders as they flashed past. From each of the choppers the unmistakeable canvas-tearing sound of mini-guns swept the attacking hordes away. One of the choppers swung back to the Sanctuary and with a few well directed bursts along the streets of the Industrial Sector, relieved the immediate pressure on the defenders. It was over in minutes and with renewed effort, the defenders on the Sanctuary walls rained death down upon those surviving attackers closest to the wall, clearing any immediate threat to the Sanctuary.
Out over the plain, the other two gunships made short work of the attackers exposed in the open and it is doubtful if more than a hundred of them made it to the relative safety of the trees. Mary herself lead the fighting patrol from the compound into the Industrial sector and dispatched any stragglers hoping to hide among the artisans' workshops.
With the immediate threat neutralised, it was time to take stock, firstly how many casualties had they suffered. It didn't seem that many to Mary but they hadn't been her priority during the battle. Then where the fuck did the Cavalry come from? And:
"Shit! Little Joe! Charlie!" she exclaimed out loud.
The helicopters could wait. Sprinting back into the compound, Mary spotted Misty Lister leaning in a daze against one of the vehicles parked along the South wall. She called for her to get the Hummer started. Misty jolted out of her introspection, climbed into the nearest vehicle. It was started and ready to go when Mary sprang on board. Mary gave Misty directions to the container where Charlie's SUV was parked and as the Hummer pulled out of the compound.
Radioing HQ to inform Kai she was going out to get Little Joe, Charlie and Sally, Mary delegated him to liaise with the helicopter people until she got back. During the short trip to the shelter, Mary urged Misty to hurry, difficult when trying to avoid running over the dead and injured Unworthy littering the battlefield. Misty slewed the Hummer to a halt just short of the shelter entrance with the SUV jammed in the ramp. Mary, holding her pistol ready, rushed to the SUV, peering over the hood, she called Charlie's name. Her relief was immediate when Charlie replied, followed by the heart wrenching call of "Mummy" from Little Joe. Charlie called that they were well but a little stir crazy and that they couldn't get the door open. Climbing over the SUV Mary looked down at the container.
"I see your problem," she said, "There are at least a dozen dead Unworthy jammed between the car and the door, you sure had fun here."
"Aunty Charlie and Aunt Sally saved me from the bad men, Mummy," a small voice called out.
"I know, they did really well," Mary answered, "Now you just need to wait a little longer and Misty and I will have you out of there."
While Mary had been chatting with the inmates, Misty had hooked up the Hummer's tow rope to the front of the SUV. As soon as Mary was safely away from the vehicle, Misty took the slack and with a screech of stone against steel, dragged the SUV clear. Surprisingly the tyres were still whole, but the SUV was in a bad way, all the glass was smashed, the roof and hood were crumpled down and the rest of the car was riddled with bullet holes. Attending to the grisly task of dragging the bodies from the door, Mary and Misty chose to move the dead to the side of the shelter to conceal the worst of it from Little Joe. Though Mary thought he may already have a fairly good idea about what had happened.
The reunion, when the container door finally opened was tearful, Charlie and Mary were hugging and crying in relief, while Little Joe was just happy to see his mum and wanted to tell her all about the big adventure. "Guns are very loud mum," he told her wisely, "You have to put plugs in your ears."
Mary just hugged him and hugged him until he complained and wanted to be put down. They were interrupted by the spluttering, then roar of the battered SUV kicking into life. Misty, bored by the mummy talk and with Sally in tow, decided to see if she could get the car started and she did. It was then that Charlie placed a gentle hand on Mary's arm and mentioned quietly that she had been getting cramps every fifteen minutes for the past hour or so and thinks she may be going into early labour. That was it, Mary bundled Charlie and Little Joe into the Hummer, then she retrieving a mattress from the container, pushed it at Charlie. "Here, it might be more comfortable to lay on this," she said as she climbed in the back with them.
Misty didn't understand the rush at first, until Mary yelled at her to get Charlie to the Medical centre now! Finally getting it, Misty, with Sally in the front and Mary, Charlie and Little Joe in the back, spun the wheels, speeding back to the town. On the way back, Mary filled Charlie and Sally in on the sudden arrival of the mysterious gunships and how they had saved the settlement from the huge Unworthy Army.
At the Medical Centre, Mary and Sally helped Charlie into the treatment room, and onto one of the beds while Misty raced back to the Sanctuary to fetch the doctors. Mary was torn, she had her responsibilities to the settlement as military commander, but also to her child and her companion. Charlie could see the indecision in Mary's eyes and made the decision for her. "You have to go and meet the helicopter people," Charlie told her, "You can't leave that to Kai and the Sergeant Major. Besides they might know where Joe is. Go, I'll be alright, Sally is here.
Charlie winced as another cramp wracked her but she waved Mary away. "Little Joe, do you want to see a helicopter? Mary asked him.
"Yes, I do," he answered, "What is a helicopter?"
Mary laughed as she hefted him onto her hip and headed out the door. The Choppers had landed at Mars Field and by the time Mary and Little Joe reached them, the field had been cleared of bodies and a number of men were standing around in groups talking. It was Little Joe who spotted him first. "Daddy!" he yelled as he launched out of Mary's arms.
Little Joe raced across the field to where the tall, bearded man was standing talking to Kai and a couple of light haired strangers. Joe heard the cry and spun around, his face lighting up with a huge smile. Little Joe hit him like a rugby forward and Joe flipped him up then crushed his son in the hugest welcome hug. He turned to greet Mary as she caught up and the three of them bonded in a tight embrace. Mary was the first to break the embrace.
"What the fuck!" she said waving toward the helicopters, "Where did you find these? Oh, and you could have got here a bit earlier, before the Unworthy breached the Industrial Sector, that place looks like a war zone now."
Joe laughed and still nursing Little Joe turned to the strangers and said, "Gentlemen and Sharon, please meet my demure wife, Mary. She is the reason there was still a community to save when we got here. Mary I would like you to meet Admiral Harold Moreton, Captains Sharon and Barry Moreton, married, and Sergeants Dave and Garry I don't know their last names, of the Australian Expeditionary Corps."
Mary looked back at the nearest helicopter, seeing for the first time the matt black kangaroo logo painted on the fuselage. She shook hands with the Australians and only half heard what they were saying, her head was spinning, it was just too much to take in. There was something else.
"Shit Joe, Charlie might be in labour, she's at the medical centre, you should go."
Joe eased Little Joe down and bolted toward the medical centre.
Mary turned to the Australians and simply said, "Charlie is our partner, she's having his baby. Thank you for coming to our aid, it was oh so very timely. There is a story here and I need to hear it, but over lunch. Little Joe get away from that Helicopter."