Dread The Dawn

Alternate Future, or Possible Future?

 

DREAD THE DAWN

  

 

1

The attacks that wiped out America’s way of life were so sudden. The sleeper cells had been placed so long ago that no one knew they were even there. One day the man next door was your neighbor, the next he was blowing up the local police or radio station. They weren’t all Arabs like we thought. They were Muslims and other fanatics from all over the world from many religions. They were the private armies of drug lord’s made up of hit men and enforcers. They were from every part of the world; every culture with toomany vendettas’s to count. It seemed we had pissed the whole world off. In trying to be the policemen of the world we became the enemy of it. Forcing our ways upon the world. Our point of view, not theirs.

It wasn’t that it was wrong to try to help other nations, but the world just wanted to blow itselfto hell. People were just too angry and self-destructive. It was only a matter of time before it struck back and turned its anger towards us in full force. We were spread so thin around the world that before our forces could be called back, it was too late. One hundred embassies were hit in the first ten days of the attack. The car and sapper bombs killed thousands of people. The air bases were hit much in the same way. The Hoover Dam was blown at 2 AM on a Sunday, causing massive flooding and death, the ensuing wall of water wiping out whole towns along its deadly flow. Five off shore oilrigs were set afire. The Panama Canal was hit also. But not like we thought. All of the American interests were attacked. The boats flooded in full of mercenaries and the lawless.

The boarders fell like paper fences knocked down by a strong wind. We just didn’t have the manpower to stop the flow. We were overrun in weeks. People fought back as best they could. Your average family just wasn’tprepared to fight an armed invasion of well-trained soldiers and psychos with automatic weapons. The ones who were ready did the best they could. The police for the most part retreated under fire. They had families to protect of their own. The National Guard put up a hell of a fight where and while they could. Supply lines were cut. Bridges were blown. Surface to air missiles and heavy machine guns kept most helicopter gunship down. The massive invasion had worked in a most horrible way. The land of the free was now a land of fear and chaos.

 

2

 

As Michael looked at the sleek body and duel engines of his P-38 Lightning, he wondered if it would ever end. The real war was over with a few pushes of the button. No one knew for sure where all the nukes came from. Most people suspected from Old Russian missiles that were never destroyed as planned. Too many had not been unaccounted for. The United States was toasted in a few hours. Now there were only small skirmishes left here and there.

He was a neutral player. He fought for the surviving American people. The plane he used was out dated to say the least. The World War II plane did have its advantages. It could stay lower and slower than most of his current opponents. It had been modified to suit his needs.

The country had been spared much of the damage. A few nukes hit the major cities, military and missile bases. The senate had been wiped out in a blinding flash. The president and vice president were killed at Camp David boarding a helicopter. They were killed by a simple cheap hand held SAM. The secret service men patrolling the grounds quickly killed the terrorist that did it, but too late to save the nations leader. He sighed. Five years, had it been so long? He had been in a traveling air show flying old WW II fighters across the Eastern United States. He flew the P-38 Lightning mostly. The same plane his father along with his grandfather had flown before him.

Now he was a guardian of sorts. The transition had been simple, he and his flight crew boarded what planes they had fueled and had flown off as the whole damn world went to hell.

He wasn't a coward. His family would need him. The Air Force’s base commander had ordered all aircraft to leave the base as soon as the inbound missiles were detected. The base commander had ordered all fighters to get as far away from the bases as fast as they could. The old mountain airstrip had saved his life. His family had owned it for over fifty years. It was near where their hunting and fishing lodge was. The people he found hiding after days of walking had become part of his new family.

Food for everyone had been hard to come by at first. Plants didn't grow well in the states with the permanent over cast. They said it would clear in a year at the most. Now the morning was just a dull gray.

He had gone to an evacuated airstrip and taken a full tanker of fuel. After that he had gone to an Air Force reserve base a hundred and fifty miles away and taken a whole truckload full of rockets and ammunition for his bird from some hidden bunkers he’d discovered during an air show years back. He had made many returns to the bunkers for ammunition and more rockets over the last few. The base even had a small contingent of World War Two aircraft on display, which also came in handy for spare parts now and then. There was a small group of Airmen for security there, but they were gone within days with no command structure left to order them to stay. He supposed they were with their families now, hiding like the rest of the survivors. No one wanted to stay at a potential target and get nuked.

Most of the items Michael took were too old and dated for destruction. His stockpile was well hidden now. He had spent three weeks trying to get the small portable radar van and the dish to his new home. The REM's he stockpiled fed the ever-growing group. There were fifty people living in well-hidden cabins within ten miles of his base. The camouflage netting was dragged over the runway, logs and fake rocks rolled out after every launch and every return. They would leave it to be over grown by the long grasses when he wasn't in need.

Michael sat watching as one of his newer team members, a helicopter pilot named Kevin, as he uncovered his Huey. They had received a mayday transmission from twenty miles north near the Canadian border. A fresh water yacht in Lake Ontario was under attack.

With thirty people on board, and most unarmed they were desperate for help. When the attack started the ship immediately sent out a mayday to anyone listening, begging for help. There was no local law enforcement near enough or strong enough to handle the problem. Besides, most were on the take anyway. His people would check for any survivors if they couldn’t get there in time. The Huey would go in after he made a few passes to ward off any threats.

Michael was sweating in the cold pre-dawn air. His flight suit was getting old and loose. He looked down at himself, seeing how thin he looked; maybe he was just losing weight again. The lack of sleep must be getting to him, he thought.

He looked out over the airstrip, it was almost as black as night that morning. They could only use the lights when necessary to roll for take off and land. His ground crew was doing pre-flight on his bird. Michael wanted to get it over with. He hated the killing. There was no law left to protect the innocent, well, not any to speak of, just him and a few others for now.

The terrorist had invaded with what was left of their people. They were international forces. America had pissed off too many people around the world. Now only small roving bands were left. Renegade militant packs of wolves. Then there were the groups of American survivalists. They were almost as bad as the terrorists at times. Some had become Warlord like in their patrols demanding food and supplies from all the locals. They weren’t all bad; some stood up for the people and helped when they could. He worked with those groups when they needed him and his air support. He stood up as the rotors started to turn on the helo.

He walked to the ladder at the rear of his plane as the engines started.

His crew chief “Sam” climbed out and winked at him.

She’s ready to go Boss. 

Michael nodded at him as he climbed into the cockpit, “Yeah the engines sound good Sam, thanks.” 

Sam grinned, “Well, when you have the best, you get the best.”

Michael smiled as he pulled on his goggles, “You got that right, see you in a while.”

As he strapped into his harness he could see the women kissing their husbands goodbye. The ten men loaded with AR-15’s and S&W 9 mm submachine guns climbed into the Huey ready for departure. Kevin waved at him as he closed the canopy.

Kevin had been doing tour runs for his father in New York when it all started. He’d stumbled upon the field and requested permission to land almost out of fuel. 

Michael blinked his lights once and the switch was thrown. The runway lit up as he pushed the throttles forward a bit. He rolled out and lined up on the runway. The call had said that two smaller boats were circling the large yacht firing at the bridge sporadically.

He flashed his lights again and the Helo lifted. He watched as it banked towards the border. He checked his instruments and pushed the throttles all the way forward while pressing hard on the foot brakes until the rpm’s where high enough. He pushed back into his seat as he released the brakes and the higher G’s kicked in. He was lucky the Lightning had such a short take off roll. He pulled back slow on the stick as his speed came up and he felt the plane become one with him. He did a hard climb, and then checked his altitude and heading. He couldn’t see anything in his general area. There never seemed to be. He climbed to 3,000 feet and set his course. It would take the helo a while to get there. His people on the ground would try to warn him of any radar contacts, if they were detected.

Michael would be there in a much shorter time than the Huey. Most of the dust was at a much higher altitude than he flew, but he still had to clean his engines after every flight, as did the Huey. This morning wasn’t as bad as most. The recent rains had made the air damp and settled the dust a little, at least for now. Within minutes he reached the area of the yachts last know position. He looked hard for it as the morning came into being, it never came all the way, just a constant dawning.

He finally spotted the flashes coming from small arms fire as they repeatedly fired at the ship to his west. The larger ship was returning fire, mostly single muzzle flashes of Simi Auto’s from what he could tell. He rolled his plane in the direction that the flashes were coming from. He hit the transmit switch on his radio. “Ship in distress, I am inbound to your position; do not fire on aircraft approaching from stern! Repeat, do not fire on me, I’m here to help!”

First he would make a low fast pass and fire a warning burst. He banked in as the first boat turned out from its attack. He came in at two hundred feet above the water. His wings dipped as he lined up and pushed the throttle forward to speed up a bit. As he closed to just within 1,000 feet he opened up with his fifty calibers. The tracers stitching the water twenty feet in front of the small ski boat!

The driver put the boat into a sharp port turn! “Where the hell did that come from?” He demanded as the roar hit his ears and the dark shadow passed behind his boat “S**t! What the hell was that? You guys see anything?”

The other two men, one at the old thirty caliber machinegun mounted on the stern and the other holding an AK-47 near the pilot started looking everywhere. One stuttered. “I think it was a damn plane man! We aint no match for a plane shooting at us!”

 The other looked sky ward, “Yeah there it is! It’s climbing for another run! Lets get the hell out of here!”

The driver agreed. He grabbed his radio and called the other boat before it too was fired upon. Too late, the tell tale splashes of the rounds hitting the water gave the warning for him. The other boat banked hard to its starboard side to avoid the onslaught.

Michael watched as the two boats turned for the shoreline. He banked their way and buzzed them in the dim light at 500 feet and did a fast pull up and barrel roll right over the lead boat. They started zigzagging again and increased their speed, but kept running. He climbed hard and watched them until he was sure they would not return.

His fuel was limited so he banked back towards the yacht to do a high orbit of the area. There would be other boats around and people living along the shore who might have seen the encounter.

He waited until he heard the two clicks over the radio, telling him the Huey was inbound. “ Kevin, the area is clear. Come in low and slow. I’ll do a few low passes. Tell them who you are. I don’t want some idiot shooting at you. His radio buzzed back at him full of static, “Roger, we’ll start our approach heading now. Huey Out!”

“Ship in trouble, we received your mayday. We are friendly repeat friendly! Do not fire on our aircraft. Our Helo is in bound, please clear your aft deck. There is a medical team on board the chopper. Do not fire; stand down your weapons. If you read me please flash you deck lights twice?” The lights flashed two times showing they understood.

Good, he thought then transmitted. “Helo is one mile off your port bow, light aft deck now. Please keep aft area clear until Helo drops it’s rescue crew and banks away.” He wouldn’t stray far from the ship. It could be a trap. A few had tried to get him and his people before, only to find out that they weren’t so easy to kill. The Lightning was a hard target to hit if you didn’t understand its abilities. It was almost pure stealth until it was on you.

Michael would do what looked like lazy circles until the Helo team was off loaded, and then wider circles until they were picked back up. What he was really doing was drifting left and right, always changing altitude so he would be a hard target if any of the people fired at him. There was no need.

After a quick touch and go the field medic and rescue team patched up who they could. Most of the wounds were from pieces of wood and metal flying around as the bullets shattered the pilothouse walls. There had been only one death, a man in his late twenties.

He listened as the report came in. “This is Kevin, we have one fatality, male. He and his family were passengers. His wife is requesting that they be taken ashore to bury him.”

“Roger Kevin, tell them we’ll take them ashore.”

“Will do, uh, they don’t have anywhere to go. They were trying to find somewhere safe with these other people.” He paused, “They’re alone.”

Michael sighed before pressing send, “Ok, take them back to the base; they can stay with us until they find their own way. Out!”

Michael noticed his vision was blurring, he was starting to get misty again. He was angry, hell, he was mad!

He radioed Kevin to keep sharp and that he was checking for the boats again before heading for their last known position. He pulled into a slow climb to get a better view of the area. After a few minutes he spotted small fires a few miles northwest. He turned out and away from the fires to line up on his attack run if it turned out to be who he was looking for. As he banked back in and lined up on the flickering lights of the fire he started to pick up the tracers rounds passing by him as they tried to get a shot at him. Nothing came close. 

Michael pushed the throttles all the way forward increasing his speed. It’s pretty hard to hit a Lighting head on at its maximum speed. As soon as he was sure he wouldn’t miss he fired four rockets at the boats he now saw covered in tree branches and camouflage nets before banking away. It was the ones he was looking for all right. He saw the flashes as the rockets hit their targets. He knew he didn’t need another run.

Those b******s wouldn’t be doing any pirating anytime soon. With any luck he took out the crews also. He saw what must have been flashes from their fuel supply going up in the refection of his canopy, must have caught some fragments from the rockets, he figured. He took a slow deep breath and turned on a heading back to his high orbit of the yacht. He could see the Helo crew was climbing onboard now. As he returned Kevin radioed him again. The woman had asked that her husband be buried onshore, so the helo was taking his body and the family to the base. Apparently the woman didn’t know any of the other people onboard the yacht. They had paid for passage across and were now alone. Great, he thought to himself, more mouths to feed. Well, that was how it usually happened, they took in the strays and helpless.

Michael waited until the Helo was out over the forest before turning back to base. He would stay nearby until he was sure the Helo was safe. Once in the mountain ranges no one would find them. After a half hour he set his course for home. It was a short trip. He approached the airfield and sent his signal for the landing strip lights to be turned on.

To anyone fromthe air it would seem like he was crashing into the tall tree line. But in reality, the strip had been pushed back into the trees. They had spent many months laying the asphalt with the heavy equipment they borrowed from a construction sight a few towns away. Getting it up there was the fun part.

They almost had to build a road to get the big trucks up to the airstrip. An old dirt-logging road was their main way to and from the compound and airstrip. He banked in and lined up for approach. He cut his throttle back to 35% and added two notches to his flaps. A flick of a switch turned on his running lights to help him see the runway better.

At touch down he cut his engines back all the way and hit his brakes slowing the Lightning down to a crawl. After the short roll he turned around under the cover of the tall pines and the massive camouflage nettings that stretched between them. He applied power and rolled towards his small hanger.

His plane would have to be turned around and backed in after the wings were folded. Michael could hear the stutter of the engines. The dust had built up a bit. He’d have to have his ground crew take them apart and clean the intakes again. He coasted to a stop and waited until his crew brought the old vintage World War II jeep over and hooked the tow bar onto the plane. Michael opened the canopy and breathed in the fresh air, well it was as fresh as you could get now days. He knew would miss the O’2 from his mask, he always did.

 

3

 

Ten minutes later the Helo landed and off loaded it’s crew and the new family members. He would let them stay at his families lodge for now, just until they found their feet, and a new cabin could be made ready.

It was funny; for the most part his family had been wiped out. He wasn’t married, so had no direct family.Just aunts and uncles, and he didn’t know where all of them were. One aunt and uncle lived in Canada; he went there when he could. Most often he stayed near his new family for security reasons. He had stopped many wrongs from happening in the past five years. He was hunted and hated by the terrorists and the roving bands of lawless scum he fought against.

The terrorists now operated almost freely in the states. The only border still holding somewhat was with Canada, and it was where many had entered the United States in the first place. There and Mexico. Many people had moved there after the attacks, but now those borders too were closed. The two governments had enough problems trying to care for their own people, hell, the whole world did. The border guards had orders to shoot anyone attempting to cross in either direction. Many had died trying to seek refuge from the madness and radioactive fallout. New York City and Manhattan were leveled for the most part. Nothing moved within twenty miles of the city. Small fires still burned everywhere from gas mains that no one could shut off. 

Michael watched as the body bag was carried from the Huey. Behind it were thetwo small children and the wife, now widow. He lowered his head and cried silently while they backed him into the hanger. After he stopped moving he wiped his eyes and climbed out of the cockpit and slid off the back of the plane without even using the ladder. The crew noticing his mood said nothing to him.

Michael looked at Sam, “Tear the engines down and clean the intakes. I want her ready by dawn. Rearm, I had to use two rockets and a few rounds.”

Sam forced a smile as he spoke, “I’ll get right on it.” Then he turned to his helpers and growled, “You heard the man, let’s get moving!”          

A newer member of the team “Pete” started wiping the dust from the wings and doing his under carriage check, he spotting some dust covered lettering he called Sam over, “Hey Sam, what’s this say under here?”

Sam face seemed to take on a darker tone, “It says Dread The Dawn across the under belly.”

Pete shrugged, “Why does it say that?”

Sam looked at him with what could only be taken as an evil grin on his face, “Cause that’s when he comes for you, at dawn.” He turned back to checking the intake of the left engine as he continued; “He’s even been known to transmit it to his target at times. Oh, he’s done night missions here and there, but mostly he flies at dawn. When he comes for you, there’s no one that can help you. Five years and I haven’t had to patch many holes in this bird, aint she a beauty?” He smiled and patted the engine, gently like he was patting a small child on the head.

 

4

 

His full name was Michael James Finley, but everyone knew him as either Michael or Mike to a close few. His grandfather had taught his uncle and father to fly the Lightning for air shows when he was a small kid. They in turn taught him. If he had a son, he would teach him. But for now there were no thoughts of bringing another child into the mad world he lived in. There were a few other pilots within his group. They had two hidden seaplanes and a Cessna or two fueled and ready at all times. They had spent five years hiding their fuel and food stocks. Not many people knew they were there. The ones that did kept their mouths shut. They were protected, and most owed him and his people their lives.

Michael walked to the lodge, up the steps and entered the huge heavy wooden front doors. He found his friend Rebecca who helped as a housekeeper and sort of Den mother, and a few of the Helo crews wives trying to calm the crying woman and her children. He could hear that the woman’s name was Debra Lewis. The men were digging the gravefor her husband on “The Hill.” His name had been Richard Lewis. He had been a computer programmer in another life. It would have been nice to have him around, he thought.

The hill was where anyone who died was buried. It faced east to meet the dawn. The loved ones of the buried could go there and spend time alone with them. Every Sunday they would all go there and say a prayer for the dead. They also said a prayer for the living so that they might prosper and go on to rebuild their world and once again know peace.

Rebecca looked over at Michael standing in the doorway, the light shinning in from behind, hiding his face and remembered. She had been a neighbor and family friend who lived in the town at the bottom of the mountain. She and her husband had kept watch on The Finley Lodge in the winter for his family. She ran it during the summer when it and its ten cabins were rented to families and hunters. Now she lived there taking care of the lodge full time.

Her husband Frank had been killed by a group of crazed men who were going town to town robbing and killing the residents. When they had walked into her husbands store he had been ready. He saw them trying to sneak around out of his sight to get the drop on him. He kept a 357 magnum under his jacket and a12-gauge pump shotgun under the counter. He had seen one of the men reaching for his hidden gun, and haddrawn his first shooting him down. He had turned in time to put two rounds into the second man trying to draw his pistol from under his loose shirt. The man was thrown into a stack of filled propane tanks and squeezed the trigger of his revolver one time before his death. It was more than enough. All twenty-five of the small tanks blew!

Rebecca had been at the lodge and heard the explosion echo through the hills. She had gotten on the ham radio they used to talk to each other. She tried desperately over and over again to reach him, but it was no use. She had jumped into her old Ford F10 pickup truck and raced down the mountain roads until she was in town and saw the people running in all directions. Men were chasing them in trucks and on motorcycles. The murderers shot some people and ran others down.

Michael had been off on one of his missions of mercy that day when he had picked up the radio call from the dying sheriff.

She remembered seeing his sleek silver gray plane swoop in low right down Main Street under the power lines and phone cables. He had blown up two trucks before the crazed gunmen knew what was happening. He had pulled up just missing the Town Hall and climbed high, before rolling back in for another run killing two more men on motorcycles. The rest had fled town trying to out run his onslaught. They died a few miles down the road. She still remembered the sound of the explosions as his cannons fired and rockets detonated echoing their call to death through the mountains.

She had driven gone to her husbands store to find it, for the most part leveled and burning. There were dead bodies everywhere in the streets. She had to zigzag around them to reach the storefront. The remaining towns people had helped her recover and bury her husband after putting out the fires, most of the buildings were lost.

Two hours later Michael had come down the mountain in the lodges work truck and picked up her and what was left of her belongings up from her house in town. He was a good boy, now a man, she thought.

She watched as he crept up the stairs to his room. She could tell he was crying. He always did when the madness started to get to him. Later she would take him some dinner and they would talk as always. She felt like his mother now after living through so much together. They were family.

Michael walked into his room and started to peal his flight suit off. As he shifted to sit on his bed he saw the pictures of his father, uncle and grandfather standing by the Lightning with the P-51 Mustang in the background. He felt the tears coming again. His family owned five vintage WWII airplanes. The B-17 was down at the time of the photo as was the Michael-J and the Avenger. They were at the family’s private airstrip in Reno where his father had retired. One day he would fly there and see what was left of the other planes. He could also use the parts for his plane. The Mustang might even still be working. It would be a great addition to their little Air Force. He looked deep into the eyes of his father and grandfather in the photos. Their smiles weren’t faked; they loved to fly and had passed on their love of flying to him. He walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge. He was exhausted so laid back for a short nap.

 

6

 

Eight hours later he heard the knock at the door and looked at his clock. Damn, he thought to himself. He felt rested, but sad still. “Who is it?”

The familiar voice rang back through the door. “It’s Rebecca dear, you comin down, or do you want me to bring you something up?”

He thought about it for moment, “I’ll be down in a few.” He rolled to the edge of the bed and stood up heading for the washbasin to splash water on his face. She was like an old mother hen; he smiled to himself. He loved her; she kept him focused on what was real and what was the right thing to do. Out of all the people he knew, he cared for her the most. He had known her since he was ten years old. He washed and headed for the stairs and then the dining room. The new guest would be there tonight. He had to greet them properly and welcome them. He knew it would take time after such a great loss. He felt saddest for the children. His father had died when he was well into his twenties and flying already. He still felt the pain whenever he saw his pictures. After reaching the first floor he checked the message board and saw that the day had gone well after the rescue. The water filtering tanks and pump had been fixed. The green house food was doing ok with the new sun lamps and the steam heating system was working fine so they wouldn’t freeze in the winter.

They planned an excursion to a food storage building where a group of survivalist had taken much of the supplies they had stolen. Three days from now they’d make more enemies. It would be an armed mission. He would fly cover and distract the guards while Kevin’s Helo team dropped in a clearing two miles away. Kevin would wait until he was called to extract the team. Michael’s whole job was suppression. He hardly ever did the groundwork any more, only when there was no other way. Besides he was of better use up high where he could warn them of incoming threats to his people. He entered the dining room. Everyone was there, Sam, the new guy Pete, his girlfriend and the newest members of the group. Debra and her two kids sat quietly at the far end of the table. He stood at the back of his chair.

“Good evening everyone,” then he turned to Debra and her two children, “I’m Michael Finley. On behalf of all of us gathered here and to the members of our new family not here tonight I’d like to welcome you to our home. We are very sorry for your loss. You are welcome here for as long as you would like to stay.” He introduced everyone at the table and met Debra’s children. The oldest Phil was five years old, and the youngest son was Samuel age three. They spent the most of the night telling things about each other.

The next day was spent getting ready for and planning the mission. Michael would do a high altitude fly over later and take some pictures of the small compound. They knew the men guarding it were killers. They wanted to know what was in every inch of the target area. Providing the clouds weren’t to thick he’d get as many pictures as he could. It would be a ten-man insertion team very well armed with gunship and air cover from him and Kevin. It started to get dark around three pm now days. Michael decided to go ahead and get ready for his flight. As he walked to the hanger to alert his ground crew he passed the two small boys sitting on the front porch of the lodge and turned around to face them. “Hey, want to see my plane?”

The two boys looked up. The oldest boy Phil pulled at his brother and stood up. “Come on Samuel lets go see the plane. Ok mister,” he smiled.

Michael returned his smile, “I’ll even let you sit in her if ya don’t try to fly her off into the sunset,” he joked.

The older boy stared at him, a funny look on his face, “I wouldn’t do that, stealing is wrong!” My daddy and mommy told me so. You have to ask first. I don’t know how to fly anyway,” Phil looked down at his feet.

Michael smiled, “I can show you a few things, and we have an old airplane the other kids used to play in. It doesn’t fly, but you can pretend if you want?”

The boys looked up at him and smiled. The youngest boy looked up hopeful, “I can play fly?”

Michael laughed, “Yup, you can practice until you’re old enough to fly the real thing.” Michael waved and led them to the hanger. Once there, “Now boys, don’t touch anything on those tables. I hear the man that works on this plane is really picky about who messes with his tools.” That got laughs from the ground crew, and even Sam

Sam looked over at them as they rounded the plane and started climbing the ladder, “Hey kids, the real action is on the ground fixing these things after the pilot messes them up!”

That got more laughs and a smile from Michael. “But you are the best Sam, that’s why I like ya so much.”

Sam was rubbing a cloth on one of his wrenches, “ Yup, that’s why I make the big bucks!” The statement sent the whole hangar into rolling laughter. No one got paid. He’d have done it for free anyway. Rumor was that Sam was quite the pilot himself.

Michael’s dad had told him so years ago. That was before the accident anyway. He had been flying in an air show in old biplanes when his wing mans rudder cable snapped sending him into Sam’s tail section tearing it off. He had bailed out at a low altitude and broken his right arm and leg in his landing. While the chute saved his life he was too low and came down hard. He had also gotten a concussion. The other pilot had died instantly when his plane spiraled into the nearby field out of control. He hadn’t flown much since then as the story went. He just worked on the planes now.

Michael showed them the flaps controls; the throttle, guns and rocket launch controls. He showed them how to pre-flight the plane and even start it. He was about to show them the bomb release switch when their mother called for them.

Michael patted them on the heads as they climbed down the ladder to the ground, “Ok boys your mom wants ya, its time to go for now. I’ll teach you some more next time.”

He watched as they ran towards the lodge.

Sam sat a wrench down he was cleaning in his personal toolbox “You’d make a good dad Mitch, if you ever decided to settle down?”

Michael laughed. “Yeah if I had the time and it was a better world.”

Sam walked up and stood beside him watching the sky. He spoke in a low voice, “You’re making it better every day, we all are buddy, just takes a awhile. There’s always time for family and love. We won’t be doing this forever, God willing.” Then he walked back to his workbench and picked up another wrench to clean.

Michael turned watching him for a moment as he worked. Crazy old guy, he thought with a smile.

 

7

 

Michael climbed into the Lightning’s cockpit and started his pre-flight checklist. Well with any luck he’d get some good shots of the surrounding area. They would need a back up L Z just in case the first was compromised.

With a full tank Michael made the target area in a little over an hour and a half. From 3,500 hundred feet he couldn’t see very much with the afternoon creeping up on him. He decided to take it down to a lower altitude. “Around one thousand should do,” he whispered to himself. He banked westward and started to drop his nose and throttle down a bit. Once he had dropped his altitude enough he turned east again and lined up for a slow pass.

He picked up the Nikon 35 mm camera from the holster he’d strapped to the side of his seat, put the Lightning into a slight bank and started shooting as soon as the ground came into focus. He shot about ten shots in the first pass. He could even make out a guard or two. He was glad he opted for the 100X zoom lens. He made one more pass. In the second pass he saw muzzle flashes. At least four people were trying to hit him. Then he saw the heavy 50-caliber machine gun open up from a guard tower. He’d have to make sure he took that out in their first attack. He could do it with the rockets.

Michael figured that there were at least ten men in the shots he took. He set a course south to throw them off. Odds were they didn’t see his first pass at 3,500 hundred feet; he would be safe. He dropped his altitude and once he was in the low rolling hills he headed due east for home. He hadn’t expected on being spotted; they might be expecting trouble now. The assault team would have to be very careful.

That whole night the assault teams looked over the pictures of the compound and the surrounding area. Kevin noticed a back-up L Z if they needed a faster pick up. They were hoping to use one of the trucks there to move the food and supplies to a hidden location. The enemy force was at least one hundred strong when the whole group was there. They had been spotted leaving the area heading west three days ago over fifty miles away from the compound. They all knew that they could be heading back at any time. The word was that they went to the surrounding states raiding towns and villages. They took what they wanted and killed any opposition.

 The last town they hit a few weeks ago they killed the towns Mayor and hung him from the now useless phone lines in the towns square as a warning toall others who would oppose them. The towns inhabitants were told to leave him there hanging. If he were not there when they came next, they would kill ten of the town’s people. Michael knew he was headed for a big show down with their leader. He called himself General Havoc. His real name wasex -Major Marcus Hillen. Formerly of the local militant group Free American of that area. He had killed the commander after seeing a better way for them to survive. They would take what they wanted because they were stronger. First it started with tribute and fees for protection. Then the power drove him mad and he resorted to deadly force at every turn. Michael had tried to get more information on the man. Like where he stayed when he wasn’t out leading his band of murderers. No one seemed to know, or wouldn’t dare tell. 

Michael and Kevin decided that the team would split into two groups of five men each. They would be dropped off at the L Z furthest from the compound. The two groups would split up. One moving along a near by road under cover of the trees and underbrush. They would wait until Michael rolled in and took out the tower with the 50 Cal machine gun and then rush the guardhouse at the front gate. The other team would sniper the roving guards from the east side of the compound. Michael would stay high and warn them of any incoming threats from the main road. They would all be wearing woodland camouflage. The second target would be their generator so they would be in total darkness that night and unable to pursue them. That was on Michael’s to do list if the ground teams didn’t take it out. The confusion should be complete. Kevin would also make a few passes if they needed closer support to take out the guards. It was an extremely dangerous mission.

After they had gone over the plans a few more times they all split up to spend time with their families and friends. Two hours before the missions take off time they would all meet and go over the plan again as they cleaned and load their weapons. All of the men had spent time in the military. They did practice missions twice a month to keep sharp for times like these. They had been on other raids and rescue missions over the past five years. Their confidence was high, but no one was under the assumption that it would go their way. Michael had been spotted. They might be waiting for them. They would abort if the mission got too hairy.

While the men checked weapons and the recon photos Michael sat at the lodges dining room table talking to Rebecca. “I know I tell you all the time, but if something goes wrong I’d like you to have this place. It’s been as much a part of you as me, even longer. My parents loved you Rebecca, you were a really good friend to them, and have been to me. You’re more than a friend, you are my family now.”

 

8

 

Rebecca sat there with her head tilted to the side staring at the worn white lace tablecloth. “Every time you go on one of these things you tell me something like this. Honey, I know you’ll be all right. You always come back. You are a good man Michael. I watched you grow from a fine young man to the man you are today. Just don’t take any chances, and tell those friends of yours I’m making them a big dinner for when they get back. So you and Kevin bring them home.” She stood up and walked over to Michael and wrapped her arms around him kissing him on the forehead. “I’ll see you when you get back dear.”

Michael waited until she let go and stood up. “I have to pre-flight my plane. I’ll see you later Rebecca. Keep the dinner warm for me will ya?” Michael gave her a short hug before turning and heading for the door setting his mind to the task ahead.

Kevin was outside waiting for him. “Hey Michael. You ready for this?”

Michael shrugged, “I’m never ready for this kind of stuff, no one is. These men that are stealing from the helpless are mean as hell and trained to kill. They are either ex-military or just plain crazy!”

Kevin looked at him, hearing the anger in his voice. “Michael, you want to call it off? We could try hitting a smaller group somewhere else?”

Michael forced a smile, “No, they have it coming. We should be better armed with the Huey and the Lightning. Do you have the fuel dumps location mapped for me?”

Kevin handed him an enlarged photo. “It’s just fifty yards outside the main yard. Not far. The guys will set charges to blow it on the way in. If it looks like we can’t take the compound, they’ll blow it. Gonna make one hell of a big boom! Too bad we couldn’t take any with us. Once the teams are aboard, boom! No more fuel for the bad guys, except what’s in their tanks that is. It least it should slow them down for a while. They’ll be setting explosives on the ammo they can’t carry out. Any food still there will probably go up in the secondary explosions. Let the b******s starve,” he grinned.

Michael handed him the photo back. “ I wish we could take it back to the people they took it from.”

Kevin looked up, “Why couldn’t we? There are two trucks right there.”

Michael looked at him, “You’re nuts, Kevin, you know that don’t you?”

Kevin handed him the photo back. “No, look here,” he pointed to a spot on the map, “This is the road the gate team is taking. It heads east for miles. We could have one man drive it. You and me could fly cover. He’d just have to get ten to twenty miles away where we could off load the stuff and hide it.”

Michael stared at the photo. “You think we could do it? It looks like one hell of a chance to take.”

Kevin growled at him. “I’m tired of these guys getting away with this s**t! And think of all the people this could help. Not just us, but the other towns they’ve hit too! Hell we could even try to take that fuel truck at the dump. It looked loaded. Don’t tell me we have enough fuel to keep this stuff up much longer?”

Michael looked over at the team loading onto the helicopter, “It would take time to do this stuff. Time is fuel, fuel we can’t afford.” He turned back to Kevin, “I figured on a fast in and out, twenty minutes tops, can the men do it?”

Kevin laughed, “Damn right they can! Hell, after they load they drive the truck as fast as they can. I’ll stay near the trucks with the rest of the troops to help offload once they are clear. All you have to do is keep the bad guys from getting to us. I have the perfect stop in mind.’ He led Michael to the ready tent and took out a map of the target area. “This bridge right here. Will your rockets blow it up?”

Michael looked at the map, “How old is it?”

Kevin thought about it. “At the least fifty years old if not older.” The last time I saw itwas over ten years ago, and it didn’t look too good then.”

Michael paused a second and looked at the map as Kevin continued.

“They’d have to take this other road that goes twenty-five miles around the hills or four wheel it through ruff terrain and cross the river. That’s a bit far out of the way to catch us. I don’t think they’d do it, the river is too high this time of year.”

 Michael looked closer at the picture, “It could work. But will the bridge hold the trucks?”

Kevin thought a moment before answering. “They wont be stopping on it, and if they just went over at speed one at a time it should hold fine. Anyway, we can check it on the way in. It might not even be up still.”

Michael smiled. “This is crazy! Ok, talk to the men to see what they think of the new plan.”

Kevin went out and gathered the men while Michael waited and looked over the map for any other way that would let any enemy response team get ahead of them. He couldn’t find any. It was a fairly mountainous area. With luck they would pull it off.

As the meeting started the men looked happy about the new plan. They could load a lot of supplies instead of what they could carry to the L Z. The decision was made that the fuel truck would leave first with a driver and one man to ride shotgun. Six men would board the Huey. Two others would take the loaded supply truck. Kevin would fly close escort for the trucks. Michael would hang back and do a high orbit to take out any followers if need be. Then after the trucks crossed the bridge Michael would blow it if it became necessary and head for home. It all sounded good, Michael hoped it would stay that way. Every time they did a raid the wives looked at him with those eyes. The, “Bring them home to us eyes.” He would do his best, as always.

After they had worked out the new additions to the plan they rechecked their weapons and added extra ammunition for the mission. Everyone would be fully loaded. The Huey was ready. The rocket pods were half full. The guns had full loads and one box extra for each door gunner. The Huey would be a little heavy for the inward leg of the mission, but it could handle it. With the four men driving the trucks and the fuel they’d use getting there it would balance out perfectly, they hoped…

 

9

 

Although they took off at the same time Michael was miles ahead of Kevin and his teams on the Huey. He was cruising at five thousand feet where he could. The dust wasn’t cooperating today. He could hear it in his engine’s as they occasionally gave him a ruff sputter. He could feel it in the performance they were giving him. Michael would have to take it down as low as possible and see if it would help any. His rockets hung on their racks under each wing. He had also added a 250 lb high explosive bomb to drop on the bridge. The bomb was added after the thought that he might have to use his rockets on enemy cars and trucks. He was a little worried that the bomb would slow him down adding way too much drag. Also it could affect his ability to dodge incoming enemy rounds, or ever worse other aircraft.

Before they had taken off Kevin had come to him with another idea. There was a bridge further away on the other side of the compound about five miles away. If Michael took that one out it would slow any re-enforcements from coming to help. He was to blow it after he took out the guard tower. He wouldn’t attack until he got word that the ground team was in place. He was worried that the team on the road was fairly close to his first target. He asked that they move back twenty more yards, but it couldn’t be done. It would give the gatehouse guards too much time to react to his attack. Instead he would come in from their direction for his run to line up for the shot. Tree top level and pop up a little ways out to fire and peel off towards the bridge if he hit the guard tower. As soon as the assault started the whole ground team would eliminate the guards or capture them if possible. After the area was secure they would load the trucks as fast as possible and drive like hell to get safely away.

When Michael got within ten miles of the target he started to make lazy circles in the clouds. It looked like it would rain soon. That wouldn’t be good on this type of mission where he had to put his rockets and bomb on such small targets. Michael dropped out of the clouds and spotted Kevin’s Huey. It was about five miles out from the target. He called him to confirm that his route was clear as far as he could tell. “

“Kevin, it looks ok from where I am, you’re good for go.”

The ground team would take less than thirty minutes to reach their attack positions by stealth. At least the rain would make it easier for the ground team to move in to their positions faster. The rain beating down would muffle their sounds more than on the dry dead leaves and grass. He reached up and hit his transmit switch under his chin. “Kevin, we’re gonna get rain soon, be careful.” There was a short buzzing.

“Roger, will do Mike, Air two out!”

Michael knew Kevin had already seen the same cloud formations. He just wanted to keep it all business.

Kevincould see the small clearing coming up to his 11 o’clock. He banked towards it adding collective as he pitched the nose up and then backing off to settle her down soft in the swaying tall grass. It took his mind back many years to when he had done this in the war, but then it was sand. The new war was different for the most part. The combat was scattered and there were no major forces left to combat. He thought he knew how people in the countries he’d fought felt. They were in their minds turning back the invaders. Fighting for their country, for their way of life. Now he and his people were doing the same.

 

Kevin waited until the last man had jumped out and added collective, pulled back hard and banked eastward. He hit his transmit switch. “Ground teams away Mike”

He would head for another clearing a mile back deeper in the woods and wait for the signal to attack. His door gunners held tight as he took the Huey lower to the treetops and looked for the opening that betrayed the clearing.

Michael watched as the men off loaded. He couldn’t really see them from his altitude but he could see the dust off. Then he got the call. “Ground teams away!” It was on. The battle would begin soon. He banked his Lightning to the south. He had picked out a line of trees and a hill that would lead him right to his first target. It was a high and well-built tower. The compound had once been a detention center, almost a small prison. Mostly for the military, then it was sold off to a private company. Now it was a supply depot.

Michael stayed low hugging the trees and hills. As he made his way south he flew over a small farm. The fields were long over grown with the brown grass that never quite turned green. There were places in the world that didn’t suffer America’s fate. They had green grass and trees that were strong. Water that didn’t have to be filtered over and overagain to make sure it wouldn’t kill you. There was smoke coming from the chimney. He banked away and started his turn in. He picked up the signal. No words, just a series of clicks. He popped up and headed for the compound careful to spot the hill and tree line he wanted. The time had come.

Kevin heard the clicks also. “Ok! Look alive guys, we’re on. Check your weapons and snap those safety lines in!” The rotor started turning faster, he could hear the snap as the breeches were closed and the slides pulled back on the M-60’s. He did a fast systems check and armed the rockets and checked the fuel and oil gauges. He added collective and they were away. He would come in from the northeast after Michael’s pass and lay down suppressing fire where needed.

Michael was lined up pretty good when the rain started and the winds picked up. He fought the urge to pull up higher above the trees. Just a tap from one would send him kart wheeling to his death. He decided that another twenty feet wouldn’t hurt and took her up. Three miles out he gave the signal for heads down to the ground team near the front gate. It was met by a single click from each of the teams. He could see the glow of the compounds lights as he crested the last tree line and popped up for his shot. He pulled up taking the Lighting up another fifty feet, and then put it into a slow fifteen-degree dive at the front gates and tower. The rain would hide his approach until it was too late.

He saw the pen light flash of the ground team near the main gate. He saw the other from the team to the east and rear. They were as much out of the line of fire as possible. The winds would mean he had to get closer to make sure he hit his target the first pass. He pushed the throttle forward and lined up. Just as he was sure he was lined up good he saw something out of the corner of his eye move.

The two men yanked the camouflage netting from the 50-caliber machinegun west of the compound. The gunner pulled back the slide and opened fire!

“S**t!” Michael thought with excitement! He fired and pulled off hard right to the east as the tracers chased his retreating form. They never had time to line up before he was out of range. He hit his transmit switch. “Ambush! Ambush! Abort! Abort!” It was too late. He felt the impact hit his right fuselage! “What the hell?” he yelled as he pulled back and threw his stick right, adding right rudder he did a barrel roll looking back over his shoulder. “Christ!” He thought, was that a helicopter shooting at him? Yeah there it was, trying to line back up for a shot on him! It was small and fast! It banked with him and fired again as he rolled right and banked away from it.

Michael eased the stick forward dropping the Lightning’s nose down slightly to gain speed. This Lightning had been used in air races. There was no way that helicopter could catch him in a straight out run, but at low and slow it would have him if he weren’t careful. He jammed the throttles forward. The chopper couldn’t keep up with him but his bullets could. He had to get out of range. He pulled up slightly banking and trying not to give the chopper pilot a good angle for a kill shot and headed away from the compound area trying to lead the enemy chopper away. He grabbed fast for his transmit switch. “Kevin, pull them out, I have a hostile chopper out here after me.”

There was static for a second. “We’re ok! The gate team saw the AA after you took out the tower. They killed the crew and blew it. You are clear to come back. They were after you. They didn’t know we were here and ran right out in the open. We took the guards out. We have the compound Mike! You read me?” Kevin asked with excitement.

Michael was a little too busy to answer. The chopper was back on him again. He had been turning and it just cut the corner. “S**t!” What was he thinking? He nosed down just as his right engine took a hit. He felt the power draining away. He had to make his escape or take the b*****d out now! He jinked his plane up and down, left and right. He wouldn’t be an easy target for him. As he slowly built speed he got ready. He was still taking minor deflection hits in his wings and fuselage. The oil warning light for the right engine blinked and buzzed at him. He would have to make his move soon. The shots were getting closer as he slowed to draw him in. Just as the chopper started to fire he pulled back hard and went vertical! He felt the pull of the G’s as he climbed! Looking back over his shoulder he saw the stupid son of a b***h was trying to follow him up.

Big mistake. As he started to stall he pulled the stick back hard again his engines straining and hit full flaps! Then he stole a glance at the chopper, having reached its maximum arc of climb it had stopped firing and rolled right falling ground ward. The Lightning’s nose was coming down from the top of his loop; Michael pushed his throttle to max and took the flaps down two notches. The engines shuddered then roared to life as he gained speed and rolled his Lightning over. 

Just as the nose lined up the clouds broke and a beam of sunlight shown down, he was entranced as he guided his plane following it down. At the bottom of the stream of sunlight, the first he had seen in almost five years was the retreating helicopter. He lined up and hit his transmit on Open Com! “Dread the dawn you b*****d!” And fired everything gun he had and 2 rockets. He watched as the two smoke trails of his rockets, the 20mm cannon and the 50 caliber machineguns rounds streaked towards the cockpit of the enemy chopper.

Michael watched as they ripped through the cockpit and flew into the fuel tanks detonating the aviation fuel within the weak shells. The helicopter fell in small peaces across the trees. He pulled back hard to level off and rolled to his right, fighting the G’s as they tore at him to share the same fate. He had pulled up just in time. He started climbing and banked towards the heading that would take him back to the compound. As he approached he heard Kevin calling him.

“Michael, you all right man? Mike you read me?”

He glanced down at his hands and found they were shaking badly. He reached up and hit the transmit key again. “Yeah Kev, how’s everyone down there?”

Kevin started laughing. “Man, you scared the hell out of me! I saw the flash and smoke out in the direction you were headed. I take it that a*****e aint with us no more?”

Michael paused. “Yeah he’s dead. He was good too. The b*****d almost got me. I took damage so don’t expect me to dog fight anyone else for a while. Sam is going to be pissed,” he laughed.

Kevin laughed back at him, “S**t, wait until he sees my Huey. Two of the damn guards stitched me with AK’s before the gunners got them! I’ll be right next to you getting bitched at.”

Michael passed over the compound and banked west. “I’ll rocket or bomb the bridge to the west and take up an orbit until we reach the next. Air One out.”

Kevin frowned, he could see the holes in the fuselage as the Lightning flew overhead and turned west. “Lucky b*****d,” he thought…

Michael found the bridge with ease. He saw the trucks as they roared towards it only a few miles down the road. “Great!” He thought, then hit transmit. “ Ok Kevin, we have company. It aint over yet, get them moving fast. I’ll take out the bridge and keep an eye on the bad guys. They probably thought it was clean up time. “Sucks to be them,” he whispered.

Kevin yelled at the teams to get moving and keyed his transmit switch. “Roger Mike, give em hell. We’ll see you in a few. Air two out!”

Michael rolled in and lined up for the drop from 2,500 feet at a forty-five degree angle of attack. It was a steep angle, but he had to make sure he hit it solid. He released at 1,500 feet and rolled off and waited until he heard the report of the explosion. He changed course as the trucks started pulling up to the wrecked bridge and turned their attention to him. Their shots never came close. He rolled back in and fired at the lead truck with his fifty calibers. He was far enough away that the men had time to jump out and dive down the nearby embankments on either side of the road. He fired two rockets watching as the lead truck exploded and disintegrated into a million pieces. He then pulled off and headed east.

“Ok Kevin, you moving yet? These guys are a bit pissed off.”

“Roger that,” he heard him say back over the radio, “We’re rolling now. How long do we have?”

Michael looked to the northwest at the burning bridge. “They wont be coming your way any time soon. They aren’t sure if I’m coming back yet.”

Kevin smiled as he lifted shifted in his seat to see the faces of the men in the back. They looked exhausted, their adrenalin having left them. “Ok Mike, we’ll be at the bridge in ten minutes. Meet ya there!”

Michael made one last fake run and banked off at the last moment. He turned south and hit the deck to mislead the convoy. He went five miles out on the deck and turned east. After he was sure the hills would hide him he turned towards the road that lead to the next bridge. The Lightning was starting to act up a bit so he backed off on the throttle a little. He looked back and saw some of the damage. His left aileron wasn’t looking too good. He was having trouble with the rudder also. It would be a fun landing. He pushed the stick slightly to the right to compensate. He heard the radio click and Kevin’s familiar voice chime in.

“They’re at the bridge crossing now. You can blow it any time you want.”

Michael thought a second. “Call home. Tell them we’re ok. We are aren’t we?”

Kevin told him how the operation went. “Well, once they took out the AA crew we took the compound pretty fast. They were all out in the open watching you get chased. The Huey wasn’t fast enough to keep up with either of you or to take on that chopper, sorry. We took out the barracks and fired on the guards in the main yard. Once the boys on the ground opened up I hit the PA and gave them their options. Surrender or die. They fired for a few seconds more, so we have one wounded, nothing bad. We patched their wounded and got the hell out of there! So, how was your day?” He laughed.

Michael fought the stick and rudder. “Well, I took damage. My rudder is messed up. My right aileron is shot to hell and I hear something banging around under the carriage.  Tell them to be ready for a crash landing. I’ll blow the bridge in two minutes.” He paused, “I suggest you are far away from it. I’m going to unload every rocket I have left. I can’t land with them. See you at home Kevin, and tell Rebecca not to worry.”

Kevin held the mike tightly, “Will do Mike, I’ll tell her. I’ll also alert them at home to clear the field too. Just try to be careful buddy, Kevin out.”

Michael lined up on the bridge and pressed the button until the rockets stopped firing and peeled off hard left. The old bridge went up in a massive chain of explosions! He could see the supports give and the huge chunks of concrete and steel fly into the air! The bridge would never be used to invade the villages and small towns again east of the river. They would most likely find a new way around, and would know soon enough that they had fled east. Michael’s people would have to do more patrols than they were used to. They would have to deal with them again but not anytime soon he hoped. 

He stayed patrolling, watching the distant roads to make sure nothing of the enemy got through until he was to low on fuel to stay any longer. By now Kevin would be back at the airstrip and his people safe. He turned on a heading for the airstrip.

As he headed home he wondered who the pilot of the chopper was. If they could afford to get a chopper to come after him, what would be next? He called in just a few out from the small runway. “Anyone see an airfield around here?”

The radio screamed at him, “Michael, this is Rebecca, are you ok Hon?”

He smiled, “Yes Becca, I’m fine. Don’t worry, Just have dinner waiting for me, I’m hungry.” After a short pause, “Oh, and tell Sam to get the tape out,” he laughed.

The radio shot back at him, “That’s not funny Michael!” 

He saw the runway and lined up for his landing. He pulled the lever to lower his gear; the plane suddenly started rolling hard left! “S**t! He pushed the levers back to the closed position. He hit his transmit switch again. “Get Sam on the line.”

Kevin chimed in, “What’s up Mike?”

Michael looked at all the little blinking red lights on his dash before responding, “Clear the room Kev.”

Kevin looked around the room, “Sam you stay, everyone else go now!” After they all left, one of the assault team members having to pull Rebecca out slightly by her arm. “Ok Mike what’s up?”

Michael laughed a forced laugh. “My gear is all messed up. I guess I took more damage than I thought. Damn those 50 cals! Tell Sam I’m sorry.” 

Michael felt the whole plane start to shake as his airspeed dropped even more, “Please tell Rebecca,” he paused, “Tell her it’ll be, I’ll be fine. Get the crash truck ready I’m inbound in five. Michael out.”

The whole airstrip came alive. No one seemed to notice that it wasn’t getting darker, but brighter. The landing lights were on lighting the afternoon sky even more. Sam was at the wheel of the crash truck. Kevin was in the cab and the rest of his ground crew was standing by in the background. Everyone else including the one wounded man were moved further back to the cabin line. The only nurse they had was in a jeep ready to rush in. The medic was still with the wounded man patching him up.

Michael saw the truck lights at the end of the runway. He could see the runway clearer than ever before. He cut his engines back as far as he dared and immediately had to fight the stick and rudder harder than he ever had in his whole life. It was almost impossible to control. He tried to hold his approach level and took her in. He couldn’t hit his flaps so he decided to do a stall at the end of his landing. He would come in and at the end of his energy he’d pull back hard and pray. “Sam was going to be pissed as hell at him,” he thought.

Michael came in at almost twenty feet above the runway dropping slowly. He waited until the last second and pulled up hard just as he was about to touch down. His nose went up slightly and the twin tails hit the ground causing his nose to slap back down. He was thrown forward into blackness…

“Michael! Michael answer me damn it!”

He could hear the voice. It sounded far away at first. His head hurt. He could see light. It was bright. But he was bouncing around. He could almost make out Kevin’s face, and Rebecca. She was crying over him. Her face looked so worried. He tried to sit up but they held him down.

Kevin was talking, “Jesus Mike, you scared the hell out of us! How you feeling?”

He smiled and spoke in a distant voice. “Anyone look up lately? I need some sun glasses.”

Rebecca hugged him, almost crushing the air out of his lungs she clung to him so tightly. “You, you better never do that again! I thought I lost you too!” She started crying and hugged him even tighter.

He sobbed as he spoke, “I wouldn’t do that toyou, you’re like my mom now. You’re all my family now.” He could see Kevin start to cry also.

“Hang on buddy,” he heard from Sam in the front. “You’re almost home.”

They carried him in and up to his bedroom. For the next few days he was in and out of consciousness.

10

 

Within a week the nurse let him go out on the balcony. When Michael looked towards the runway he saw a group standing there in the glare. The sun was out a little every day now they had told him. They were picking up radio transmissions from all over the world. A new world order was coming. The nations untouched by the madness were going to help settle this mess. There would be peace some day they all swore. It would take time and cooperation from all.

Michael stood staring at the airstrip. There in the sunlight was his plane. It looked none for the worse. The props were gone. They would have to be replaced.

His nurse, a brown haired slender neighbor woman in her 40’s, named Missy walked in while he wasn’t looking. Seeing him standing on the balcony she walked over to him, patting his shoulder gently.

“They have worked day and night on that thing. Even old Sam said that was the best damn crash landing he has ever seen. Kevin said it was a miracle you lived at all with the way you smacked the nose down. Rebecca told them you’d be fine and to fix it no matter what, fix it. She didn’t have to ask twice. They wanted you to see how much they love you.”

Michael eyes started to tear up, “I knew already, I love you all too. You are all my family now.”

He turned as he heard giggling at the door behind them. Phil and Samuel were there. Their mother Debra was with them, he smiled at the boys. “Hey guys, how ya doing today?”

Phil ran over and hugged his legs; he leaned down and got another hug for his effort. “You said you’d teach us more. We’re glad that you’re ok. You scared Samuel, but I knew you’d be ok.”

He could feel the tears on his neck. “Well, I’m glad you all believed in me.” As soon as they let me I’ll teach you and your brother some more about flying.”

Their mother Debra walked in. “Ok Phil, lets let him rest now. We’ll see him at dinner.” She smiled at Michael. “I’m glad you’re ok too. Rebecca was so worried for the first few days. We can’t get her out of the kitchen. She’s making you a big dinner and has half the people around here coming. It’s a party for you she said.” She smiled again and pulled the kids out of the room and closed the door.

Michael smiled at the nurse as she too moved to leave. “I like those kids. They remind me of me when I was their age.”

The Missy looked back at him, “ Their mother seems to like you too. Maybe you two should hook up?”

Michael laughed, “What are you and Rebecca up to?”

The Missy smiled, “Oh nothing. She’s just been helping Rebecca take care of you. She gave you baths cleaned and dusted your room. She even fed you half the time. She spent the first few days with Rebecca watching over you. Then Rebecca asked her to stay and help out. She’s been here ever since.”

Michael blushed, “She gave me baths? Oh great.”

Missy laughed, “I think you’ll be ok alone for a while. I’ll go check with Rebecca and Debra to see when dinner is.” With that said she turned and left.

Michael sat down chair for a short while. He then stood and walked around a bit to get his balance back after so many days in bed. He still felt weak and hurt all over. He had to grab at a table and a wall a few times, but at least he was walking. He found the clothes laid out for him on a chair in the corner. He dressed slow, careful not to pull at the bandages he found wrapped around his ribcage. He then sat back down on the bed and waited until the nurse came back to check on him. He stood slowly, “Ok how do I look?”

She smiled, “You look fine. Dinner is in about ten minutes.” Do you need help getting down the stairs?”

Michael, shook his head no, “I think I can manage it on my own.”

Missy winked, “I’ll be down stairs if you need me.” She turned and left closing the door quietly behind her.

Michael sat down and waited five minutes. He had watched from the open balcony doors ashis friends, his family walked towards the lodge. Now he stood and walked to the door. He opened it and walked to the stairs. As he reached the top of the stairs he looked down at his family gathered at the landing below. 

Rebecca and Debra were at the bottom of the stairs as he started to walk down slowly, holding the rail as he went. He did pretty well until he reached the bottom last few. He got a little dizzy and stumbled slightly. Before he could catch himself, he was caught under his left arm. He focused on the face of Debra. She was smiling at him.

“You ok?” She asked.

He smiled back at her and then at his friends who stood ready to charge in if needed.

“I’m fine now, and I’m hungry.” Then he whispered to Debra. “Would you mind helping me to the table? I’m still a bit dizzy.”

She smiled at him and spoke softly, “Sure, come on.”

What he didn’t see was the looks exchanged between the Missy and Rebecca.

They winked at each other and headed for the dining room ahead of the group.

His new family sat there that night talking about the suns return. The new world they would face, the hard work coming. The men teased Michael about his landing. Then added how glad they were that he was all right now. The man who had been wounded was there too. His wounds were healing nicely. Sam complained about the Lightning and the Huey taking all of his time up when he could be fishing. They all knew he was joking. His new man was doing much of the work. Michael thanked them all.

Every time he looked to his right he would catch Debra staring at him. Her boys played in the smaller side dining room kept for the children. As he stole glances back at her he thought about the future. He thought about having a family of his own. She saw him looking and smiled. He leaned over towards her, “Would you and the boys like to go for a walk after dinner?”

She smiled and reached over and squeezed his hand, “If you think you’re up to it? Sure we’d love to.”

The rest of the night they talked and even held hands under the table. They went for that walk and ended up on a hill overlooking the airfield. The Samuel and Phil played trying to catch fireflies until late. Michael and Debra talked about her children. Debra spoke of her hopes for a future. Michael learned that the man who died was not her first husband. He had pushed her into the marriage in order for her to get his help. She didn’t love him or miss him. Michael held her as she cried.

After a while they returned to the lodge. Debra put the boys to bed and kissed them goodnight. Michael waited in the hall for her. Once she joined him they crept down the stairs and into the den where they sat and talked until very late. So late they fell asleep in each other’s arms on the big over stuffed sofa. Before Michael dosed off he thought to himself. I will never dread the dawn again. He knew in his heart he would embrace it, and his new family. That night he dreamed peaceful dreams for the first time in many years.     

The end.

 

Author's Note

This is another story I wrote a long time ago, just haven't submitted it to any publishers yet.