The Guardians (25 page)

"We have what appears to be a broken axle.  It's one of those GM corporate axles that holds the axle, wheel
, and all in with a c-clip.  If you snap an axle shaft, the wheel, axle, and all come out of the housing.  That would be hard to fake," said Hayes.

"Potential threats?" Miller then asked.

"Two Hispanic adult males," he said.  "Oh, and it looks like there may be one or two more occupants in the van that I can't get in my field of view."

"It's a long damn way back to where we can detour around this," Miller said in frustration.  "Still, it seems too fishy.  Gasoline is damn near impossible to get these days for your average person.  They are a long way out here to be burning fuel like that with no place to resupply."

"It looks like the two visible adult males at the van are arguing about something and pointing this way," interrupted Corporal Hayes,  "No wait, one of them is walking toward us now."

"Weapons?" asked Staff Sargent Miller.

"Negative," Hayes replied.  "At least nothing I can see."

"Well, damn it!  We don't want to be taking unfamiliar detours after dark with this load.  You guys keep your eyes and guns on the people at the van and the surrounding area
, and I'm gonna make contact."

"Roger that," replied Hayes.

As Staff Sargent Miller began to walk towards the man coming towards them, the man paused momentarily and then continued.  He met with the man about seventy five yards ahead of the convoy.  "¡Hola!" he said to the man.  "Are you having some trouble?" he asked.

"Howdy," the man said.  "We sure are as a matter of fact," the man said with a deep southern American accent.  "Who are you with?" he asked.

"The Texas State Guard," Staff Sargent Miller replied.

"Oh thank God," the man said relieved.  "My brother was afraid you might be federal, and from what we
have heard, you are better off if you can avoid them.  They've been confiscating weapons from people and detaining others.  My name is Lonnie Marinez, the other man at the van is Jeff, my brother, and my wife Celia and little boy Matthew are with us too."

"Where are you headed?" Staff Sargent Miller asked.

"San Buenaventura Mexico," Lonnie replied. "We held out in Louisiana as long as we could, hoping that things would get better, but that just doesn't seem to be happening.  Our family, our extended family that is, have a ranch down there.  We are hoping to hook up with them to ride this thing out."

"Where are you planning on getting fuel?" asked Miller.  "How did you get this far for that matter?"

"Natural gas!" he said proudly.  "I worked for Louisiana LP in Alexandria before we went out of business shortly after the collapse.  This was one of our service vans.  They were all set up to run on our own natural gas.  You'd be amazed at all of the abandoned homes you can find with tanks still full of gas.  If it's an abandoned house, I just tap into it.  If not, we offer barter for some.  I've got everything I need to tap into any line or tank I find along the way."

"Sir, that is the smartest thing I've ever heard," said Staff Sargent Miller.  "Would it be too much to ask to allow me to take a quick look at your vehicle?  We've had our fair share of bad encounters, and before I bring my people by your vehicle, I'd feel better if I got a closer look."

"Absolutely," Mr. Marinez said.  "Come with me."

The two men turned and walked together towards the van.  The convoy security personnel watched closely through their optics for signals from Staff Sargent Miller.  As the men approached the van, Corporal Hayes said to the others, "
I see movement in the vehicle."

"On it," replied Private Hicks, who zoomed in on the target with the Leupold Mark 4 mounted on his DMR rifle (designated marksman rifle).

As he glassed the target area, he zeroed in on the movement within the vehicle, ready to engage if so ordered by Corporal Hayes.  Corporal Hayes zoomed the magnification of his scope to 10x, and through the open rear door of the disabled van, he could see the person inside pick up a Kalashnikov pattern rifle.  He shouted, "AK! They've got an AK!"  The DMR fired on the figure with the gun in the van, dropping the person with one shot.  Staff Sargent Miller turned to face the convoy frantically waving his arms and began to scream NO as Lonnie's bother, in a fit of rage, drew a concealed handgun and fired two rounds into Miller's back, dropping him to the pavement.

The TSG security detail opened fire on the van, bullets ripping through the thin sheet metal and shattering the glass.  Mr. Martinez was hit several times while trying to shield his dying wife's body from the hail of gunfire.  His brother picked up a rifle to return fire
, but before he got a shot off he was cut down as well.

When all movement around the vehicle stopped, Corporal Hayes ordered a cease fire.  He and Private Hicks ran towards the vehicle to check on Staff Sarget Miller, who was struggling to breath, laying face down in pool of
his own blood.

"You stupid son's of bitches," he said through the pain.  "You slaughtered an innocent family.  They were good people.  She was simply getting the gun out so that I could see it in plain view.  I'll see you all in hell," he said as his last breath slipped through his mouth.

"Holy shit man, holy freakin shit!" Private hicks said as he looked inside the van to clear it of any potential threats.  "We killed a little kid and his mother!" he yelled out as he dropped to his knees in tears.  "We murdered an entire freakin family!"

"Shut up man! Shut your mouth, nobody has to know." said Corporal Hayes as he tried to calm down private Hicks.  "We can just tell everyone they were a legitimate threat."

"I'll know you son of a bitch!  I'll know it for the rest of my damned life," Hicks said as he stood up and walked up to Corporal Hayes, drew his side arm, and fired at point blank range into Corporal Hayes' head killing him instantly.  He then turned the gun on himself firing a shot into the side of his own head as tears streamed down his face.

Staff Sargent Miller, Corporal Hayes, Private Hicks, and the entire Marinez family now lay dead, where just a few moments before, a promising young family was on their way to reunite with relatives.  The remaining TSG personnel all just stood there in shock.  They could not believe what they had just been a part of, and what they had just witnessed.

Nate, Luke, and Rachel had been taking cover in the floor of the truck bed in which they were riding since the gunfire began.  One of the TSG soldiers ran to the back of the truck and pulled the canopy back and in a panic said, "We need you Doc, we need you bad."

Luke grabbed her by the arm and said, "Let's go!" and helped her down from the back of the truck.  The TSG soldier led them to the van where Rachel near
ly fainted from the horrific scene.  When she saw the dead child, who had been clearly killed by the TSG's own gunfire, she screamed, "Oh my God what have you done?"  What the hell happened here?"

"I don't know, I don't know," the frantic soldier said.  "It must have been a mistake.  Miller tried to wave us off as the gunfire started, but Hay
es and Hicks just kept shooting!  I didn't do any of it I swear!"

Rachel just dropped to her knees and began to cry as Luke checked the bodies for signs of life, just in case they had a survivor.  He just looke
d at her and shook his head no.

Rachel just put her hands over her face and started crying and yelling, "Why, why, why in God's name does this keep happening?  Will the killing ever stop?  Will the death and misery ever stop?  I just don't get it, I just don't understand.  This was a family with a child for God's sake!"  She then broke down into a deep sorrowful cry.

Nate climbed out of the back of the truck and joined saw them up at the van.  He walked up to them and saw the horrible scene.  "Dear God," he said aloud.  He said a quick prayer to himself and then walked over to the soldier that had accompanied Rachel and Luke to the van.

Two other soldiers from the convoy joined them as well, with the others remaining at their trucks as is Standard Operating Procedure.  Luke looked at the three confused soldiers standing there and said, "Who's the senior man now?"

"I am," replied a young Vietnamese American soldier. "I'm Corporal Nguyen.  It was Staff Sargent Miller, Corporal Hayes, then me."

"Well, what's done here is done." Luke said.  "Doctor Stewart and her team have to get to Corpus Christi with the medical supplies.  I think you should take charge, get the bodies on the trucks, and get a move on.  With reduced manning, our defensive capabilities are lacking so we need to get off the road ASAP.  Especially before someone gets word we've already been hit once.  They'll circle like sharks with fresh blood in the water."

"Agreed and on it," he said as he instructed the two men at the scene to begin secure the scene while he jogged back to the convoy to coordinate with the other soldiers.

The vehicles in the convoy simultaneously started their engines and crept up alongside the van.  Corporal Nguyen had a few of the men set up a security perimeter, while the others, with the help of Nate, Luke, and Rachel, began to bag the bodies for transport.  The slain family was loaded into the back of one of the M35's while the dead TSG soldiers were loaded into the other.  Nate, Rachel, and Luke would now be splitting up and occupying the three empty Humvee seats left vacant by the event. 

Nate was riding with Corporal Nguyen, as Private Hicks had previously occupied his passenger seat.  The rear of the Humvee was in the cargo configuration and was loaded to capacity, leaving only enough room for the two men up front.

"
How much further?" asked Nate.

"About a hal
f hour or so," replied Nguyen.

After a few moments of silence
, Nate said, "I was in the Navy when it all started, were you regular active duty before?"

"Yea, I joined the regular Army to get my citizenship.  I was based at Fort Bliss and left when everyone around me started bailing out.  I joined to the Texas National Guard, which soon became the State Guard, because some of my buddies did
, and I really didn't have anywhere else to go.  These guys have been like family to me, it's just been getting pretty rough around here lately.  I grew up in Vietnam and always dreamed of coming to America, where everyone had opportunity and had all of the comforts the world had to offer.  Now I wish I would have just stayed at home in Vietnam.  If they are in the same situation over there as we are over here, things didn't really change that much.  They are already used to getting by with a lot of work and very little things.  Now I just see Americans as being spoiled and soft, unable to cope with hardship."

"Yea, this
ordeal is sorting out the wheat from the chaff I guess," Nate said in agreement.  "The people that don't have what it takes, will either die, turn to crime, or turn to the government for handouts in exchange for loyalty.  The free rides are definitely over."

After a few more dusty but uneventful miles, they ar
rived at the TSG Operating Base that was being ran out of the Corpus Christi airport.  As Nguyen pulled up to the gate in the lead vehicle, he said to Nate, "Well, it looks like I have got some explaining to do.  I'm sure they expect Staff Sargent Miller to be the point of contact."

He stepped out of the vehicle and appro
ached the gate guard.  Nate watched as he spoke with the other soldier, who then made a radio call that was quickly responded to with the arrival of an armed security detail.  Nguyen explained himself to the senior man and then the responding security team was dispatched to search the vehicles.  Oh great, Nate thought.  They're gonna find the M4's and bust me for theft, and for trying to sneak them on base for sure.  His nerves were on edge as a soldier came up to his door and asked him to step out of the vehicle.  As he swung his prosthetic leg out of the Humvee to get out, the soldier saw it below his pantleg and said, "You TSG or a Vet?"

"Yep, I'm a V
et," Nate replied.  "But the drug cartels took the leg, not the oil cartels."

The soldier just gave him an approving grin an
d said, "Who are you with now?"

"I'm traveling with Doctor Stewart as part of her medica
l team," he said confidently.

"Oh, OK.  Carry on then," the soldier said as he moved on to the next truck in the convoy.  After their search of the convoy, Nguyen returned to the Humvee and led the convoy inside o
f the secure area of the base.

Once inside, and after a thorough debriefing on the events that took place during the trip from Victoria to Corpus Christi, Rachel coordinated with her contacts in Corpus Christi, and she was given lodging for the night for hersel
f, Nate, and Luke.  They were then escorted to their guest lodging for the night.  Their lodging was formerly a commercial hotel converted to a barracks, located adjacent to the airport property.  As they were saying their goodnights, Nate jokingly said, "Enjoy your beds and your morning shower, we may not get another for a while."

****

Chapter 26: The Drive

With Mildred's important items and clothes loaded up on the trailer being pulled by Evan's tractor, there was just enough room for Judith, Peggy, and Mildred, and for their security detail to ride aboard it as well.  Will Bailey and Billy Skidmore rode shotgun for Evan's trailer to provide security during the drive.  The two were armed with an M16A2 clone AR-15, and a Norinco SKS
, respectively.  The original plan was to have Billy provide cover from the rear on Jason's trailer, but once they realized Mildred had an enclosed livestock trailer that they could tow with a drawbar attached to the three-point hitch of the tractor, there was no longer a suitable place for him to ride, given the configuration.  They felt this worked out just fine, as it provided more protection for the women up front.