Shelter: Book 2, A Long Days Night by Ira Tabankin Read Free Book Online

microphone, he clicks it three times, “Attention, attention, we are the advance unit of four US Army platoons. We are here to help you. We’re bringing food, bottled water, and medical supplies. Please don’t shoot at us, if you do, we’ll be forced to return fire. Our mission is to provide you with security, provisions, and assistance.”
     
    A voice yells back, “How the hell do we know you are who you say you are?”
     
    “May I exit my vehicle?”
     
    “Unarmed. Walk towards the roadblock with your hands up. Tell your buddies not to move the machine guns in the LAVs or we’ll kill you. The round that scared the crap out of your brown bar was a warning shot. We bet he’s got a brown stripe in his shorts to match the one on his collar. We have trained snipers who are watching you. If we wanted you or your LT dead, you would be lying in the street.”
     
    “I agree to your terms, I’m going to open the rear door of the LAV, I’ll exit with my hands up, unarmed.”
     
    Sergeant Hill exits the LAV with his hands up. “Walk towards the overturned school bus.”
     
    Sergeant Hill slowly walks towards the school bus, repeating, “I’m unarmed.”
     
    “Take off your shirt.”
     
    Sergeant Hill complies, he slowly turns around so the sniper can see he’s unarmed. “Come forward.”
     
    When Sergeant Hill reaches the school bus, he’s met by three men and a woman. The woman is holding a 7.62 caliber sniper rifle with a large scope attached. “I’m US Army Staff Sergeant Hill.”
     
    He’s patted down by a man wearing a police officer shirt and camo pants. I’m Tuscola police captain Blake Edwards. Sergeant, what brings you here?”
     
    “May I put my arms down?”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “We’ve been ordered to scout and provide aid between Chicago and Nashville. We have two groups, one traveling south on Interstate 65 and us traveling south on Interstate 57. We’re commanded by US Army Captain Black, who is a couple of towns back. We’re bringing food, water and we have a couple of MASH units traveling with us. I know this sounds funny and full of bullshit, but we’re here to help.”
     
    “Damn, I never thought I’d hear anyone associated with the government really look me in the eye and say that. You’re a little late, we needed you six weeks ago. Why didn’t the government send us any help when we needed it? We tried contacting everyone we could. We, like most of the other towns, were attacked by motorcycle gangs and roaming thugs. They slid into town in the middle of the night. Before we knew it, our mayor and most of my police officers were lying dead on the street. They stripped our town bare, they took our food, alcohol, broke into our only drug store emptying it, and kidnaped six teen girls. Where the hell were you when they were being raped? What good are you to us now? Are you able to find our people? Return our dead officers, bring the girls back to their parents? Bring our medicine back? We’ve already lost eight people because they ran out of their medications. You’re part of the government that left us defenseless. You outlawed us owning the weapons we needed to fight off the gangs. As the local police captain, I was ordered to use nonlethal force against criminals. That didn’t work very well. We built the roadblock to protect us in case another gang tried to take the little we have left.”
     
    Sergeant Hill looks at the people in front of him, all are gaunt, their eyes are sunken, their clothing hangs on their bodies. He looks at the woman with the sniper rifle holds it ready. “Are you the one who scared the crap out of my LT?”
     
    “If I wanted to hit him, he’d be dead. I only wanted to get his attention.”
     
    “You did that, he almost returned fire, he would have wiped you all out.”
     
    The sniper laughed saying, “I don’t think so.” She whistles, ten people armed with shotguns and Molotov Cocktails exit the woods that line the interstate. “We