Ashes - Survival In The Ashes Part 31

Ben and his columns rolled south out of Yakima.

They crossed the Columbia River into Oregon and connected with Interstate 84, turning westward toward Portland. At Hood River, Dan cut off from the main columns and took his people south on 35. About fifty miles later he would connect with Highway 26 and move toward Portland, approaching the city a few miles south of Ben.

Far south of the Rebels, Villar halted his people in California and stood them down, to wait out the battles soon to take place north of them. He would monitor the events by radio and move toward the north only after the Rebels had either won or lost; but Villar knew that thoughts of the Rebels losing was only wistful thinking on his part. Ben Raines and his Rebels did not lose comever! Over the past few days he had been entertaining the idea of somehow getting s.h.i.+ps and sailing back to Europe, and to h.e.l.l with Ben Raines and America.

But his s.h.i.+ps were three thousand miles and a continent away, and now in Rebel hands, according to radio transmissions he'd picked up. Ben Raines commandeered everything that wasn't nailed down.

G.o.dd.a.m.n Ben Raines to h.e.l.l!

Villar stood his people down in the Marble Mountain Wilderness area and dared them to even breathe hard, warning them, "This is a little too close to the Rebels for comfort, people. But we'll stay undetected if we're very, very careful. Maintain strict radio silence. Don't even use CB'S'-THE signals might skip and the Rebels pick them up. If that happens, we're f.u.c.ked. Build your cook fires under low-hanging branches to break up the smoke and douse them as soon as you' re done.

It'll take Raines two to three weeks to settle the Believers' hash, and then he'll move on. That's his pattern and I doubt he'll change it this late in the game. As soon as he moves out, we move up toward Alaska and safety. Don't screw up, people. Ben Raines doesn't give an enemy a second chance."

"General Jefferys on the horn, sir," Corrie said. Ben moved to a mic and picked it up. "Go, Cec."

"Bad news, Ben," Cecil spoke from outside Ta-coma. "The Believers have looted McCord AFB and Fort Lewis. This West Coast bunch now have long-range artillery capabilities and battle tanks."

"Have you any news about Portland? Dan's Scouts haven't been able to grab a prisoner for interrogation."

"That's ten-four, Ben. The creepies there raided numerous Army and Marine Corps depots. They are very heavily armed with enormous firepower at their disposal. This is going to be a slugfest."

"That's ten-four, Cec. We all expected it to be a tough one. I'm in position. We strike at dawn. Good luck." Ben glanced at Corrie. "Get me Colonel Gray, please."

"Standing by," she told him a few seconds later.

Ben lifted his mic. "Dan, you monitored that transmission from Cec?"

"Yes, sir."

"What's your situation?" "Looking down the barrels of long guns."

"Do the approximate locations of the holding pens for the prisoners still tally up, Dan?"

"That's ten-fifty, General. I ordered a fly-by and heat-seekers showed no large concentration of human beings at the locations the Judge told us about."

"d.a.m.n!" Ben muttered. He lifted the mic.

"Then they've moved them, Dan."

"Or eaten them," came the Englishman's reply.

Jersey looked at Ben and swallowed hard. The disgust all felt was very evident on the faces of those in the command post.

"We launch attack at dawn, Dan. We'll just have to take the city street by street and try to somehow rescue the prisoners. If that is at all possible," he added.

"That's ten-four, sir. We strike at dawn."

Ben clipped the mic and turned to his personal team. "This is going to be a son of a b.i.t.c.h, people. A b.l.o.o.d.y son of a b.i.t.c.h."

All Rebel units struck at dawn and were thrown back by heavy fire from the creepies'

well-fortified positions up and down the west coast of what had once been the state of Was.h.i.+ngton and the extreme northwestern part of the state of Oregon.

The Rebels did not gain one inch of ground, but neither did they lose any.

It was an impa.s.se. At least for the time being.

Ben stood alone, outside his CP on the edge of Portland, making some hard and difficult decisions in his mind. His team knew he did not want to be bothered, and they left him alone.

Ben walked back into his CP and told Corrie, "Order all units to hit it again. If we can't gain a better toehold, and keep it, fall back to original lines."

"Yes, sir."

From Bellingham in the north to Portland in the south, the Rebels attacked, and were once more thrown back, suffering heavy casualties.

After hearing the field reports, Ben made up his mind. But it was not a decision he liked or an order he enjoyed giving.

"Corrie, tell all commanders to fall back.

Order the artillery up. I won't kill any more of our people. I just can't justify it. Tell the FO'S to get in place and artillery to commence firing as soon as coordinates are charted."

"Yes, sir." Chase stood in the CP, sipping coffee and watching Ben. Although the doctor knew the emotion was there, Ben's face did not mirror his inner feelings.

Chase sat his coffee mug on a scarred table and walked to Ben's side. "It was the only logical order to give, Ben," the doctor said. "You tried to save the prisoners; you did your best. What would have been the point in losing more people?"

Ben shook his head. "Logical, yes. But I just signed the death sentence for a lot of prisoners in the cities, Lamar."

"If they are even in the cities, Ben. If. I don't like it either, old friend. My business is saying lives, remember? But you don't kill an entire ward of patients to save one. That isn't logical. If you hadn't tried a frontal a.s.sault, I'd have been in here jumping up and down and screaming at you. You tried it comtwice. It didn't work. Now we've got field hospitals filled with wounded Rebels and with no gain against the Believers. You did the right thing.

Keep that in mind and put the other thoughts out of your mind."

The artillery began booming, the sh.e.l.ls whistling and howling as they roared overhead. Downtown Portland exploded as the HE rounds impacted. High explosive was followed by white phosphorus and that was followed by napalm. The downtown area, from the waterfront over to 14th Street was soon blazing.

From Hoyt Street to Lincoln, fires were soon burning out of control as Ben ordered done what the Believers had bet their lives he would not do.

Ben walked outside, to stand watching as the skies above the city and the suburbs around it soon turned dark with smoke. He cut his eyes as Ther-mopolis walked around the corner of the building and up to his side, to stand quietly.

"There was a lot of history in that city that I wanted to save," Ben said. "A lot of history is now going up in smoke, never to be seen by the generations that follow us."

"Yes," Therm agreed. "That is true. But we'll be able to save some of it. Just like we did in New York City and all the other cities. It won't all be destroyed. Ben, you had no choice in the matter. The ratio of lives lost against possible lives saved was just too high."

They stood in silence for a time, watching and listening as the historic district along the waterfront burst into flames as sh.e.l.ls impacted and the gunners raised the elevation and began working toward the center of the city.

Ben lifted his walkie-talkie. "Corrie, order Dan's Scouts in, tanks spearheading, and our people to follow. Tell the artillery to take a break just as soon as the troops are in unfriendly territory."

Ben waited a moment. Corrie's voice popped out of the walkie-talkie. "Tanks up and spearheading, sir.

"That's ten-four, Corrie." He turned to Thermopo-lis. "Would you care to come along and visit the suburbs of this city, my friend?"

"Gee," Therm feigned great surprise. "I thought you'd never ask."

"See if you can get us to Burnside Street, Coop," Ben said. "Get off the Interstate here. This old high school should do nicely for a CP." He glanced over his shoulder.

"Where's Jerre?"

"Coming across with the medical team," Beth said.

"They're shorthanded due to all the wounded."

Ben knew the figures and just the thought made his face tighten up. They were far too high for the little ground the Rebels had gained.

"Look out, Coop!" Jersey yelled, just as a wildly driven car filled with creepies shot out in front of them. The big wagon slewed around as Cooper fought the wheel, the tires grabbing for traction on the rain-slick street. Ben lowered his window and gave the creep car a full clip from his old Thunder Lizard. The drivers' side window blew apart, taking most of the driver's head with it.

The car crashed into a building and exploded into flames.

"That building used to be part of the Bensen Tech High School," Beth said, after consulting a map.

"Thank you, Beth," Ben said, one eye on Cooper's antics as he tried to straighten out the still-fishtailing wagon, fighting the wheel. "I believe it would help if you would take your foot off the accelerator, Coop."

"Creepies," Cooper said, jerking his head forward.

Several carloads of creeps were gaining on them as the wagon slid backward around a corner.

"Pure luck," Jersey muttered. "Cooper, if you keep this up, we'll crash into that big building that is rap- idly coming upon us comf the rear. And going backward like this is making me sick at my stomach."

Muttering under his breath about women in general and Jersey in particular, Cooper got the wagon under control and roared toward the huge building Jersey had mentioned. He spun the wheel, did a sickening, sliding turnaround in the middle of the wet street, and drove the wagon up onto the sidewalk, with Ben's side facing the building.

"Your new GP, General," Cooper said with a grin on his face.

"Thanks, Coop," Ben said drily. "The ride was certainly . . . unforgettable, to say the least."

"That ain't exactly the word I'd use," Jersey spoke from the second seat. "s.h.i.+tty, would be my choice."

Slugs began yowling off the armor-plate of the big wagon. "Out, people!" Ben yelled, bailing out onto the sidewalk. "Grab everything you can and follow me."

"And away we go," Jersey said, scrambling out of the vehicle.

Inside the littered building, Gorrie began radioing their position to prevent any artillery or mortar fire from hitting them, and to let other Rebel units know their position.

Ben pointed toward the rear. "That's your baby, Beth. Don't let any b.u.g.g.e.rs surprise us."

Beth nodded and dropped into a protected position to cover the rear, laying out several grenades and clips for her CAR-15.

"Dan's people have a firm hold in their sector,"

Corrie announced. "Six blocks have been effectively neutralized."

"Where the h.e.l.l are we?" Ben said, looking at a map just as Jersey and Cooper opened fire on the creeps who had made the mistake of charging the building. The creeps were chopped down by auto- matic rifle fire. "I don't like this position,"

Ben muttered. "Coop! Is it clear out there?"

"For the moment."

"Let's get the h.e.l.l gone from here and get to the airport. We need a landing strip in case we get stuck in here and have to be resupplied by air."

They left the building and immediately ran into another group of creeps. But this time they caught the creeps in a cross fire between themselves and a Rebel patrol and reduced the cannibals to b.l.o.o.d.y rags in the rain-slick street. Ben waved the patrol to him and knelt down on the sidewalk, while the sounds of combat boomed all around them. Using a flashlight, Ben traced the route to the airport while Corrie radioed for tanks to come to their location. Only a few moments pa.s.sed before several main battle tanks clanked and rumbled up to their location. Using the outside phone so the commander would not have to unb.u.t.ton, Ben said, "We'll stay off the Interstates. The creeps probably have them mined.

Spearhead us over to Ninety-nine and then gradually work toward Airport Way. We'll pick up other units as we go and take the airport. Move out."

The tanks clanked out in front and Ben waved his people in behind him and then told Cooper to follow the huge machines of war. Little pockets of war were raging all around them as they made their way toward the airport: grenades slashed the wet day, followed by automatic weapons fire as the Rebels hammered out their advance. Ben's team slammed through the suburbs then cut under the Interstate and roared toward the airport, the tanks leading the way.

"Picking up a lot of creepie traffic from the airport," Corrie said. "They're waiting for us."

Ben nodded and twisted in the seat, his eyes picking up Thermopolis's bunch right behind them. Emil and his followers were close behind Therm. "Should be an interesting fight," Ben muttered.

The tanks s.h.i.+fted on their treads and cut off the main road to the airport, taking a blacktop road that ran alongside a chain-link fence that paralleled a runway.

"Tell them to bust through and let's take it," Ben told Corrie.

The tanks slammed through the fence and the column raced onto a runway, heading for the terminals.

Ben looked at the jets parked at the terminal gates. "Those jets will still have aviation fuel in them,"

Ben said. "Tell the tanks to lower their guns and let's see some fireworks."

Corrie relayed the orders, the tanks fired, and the jets blew, spreading flames all over the outside of the terminal. The flames soon ignited the interior of the long buildings as dusty carpets and tile caught fire and thick, choking smoke forced the creepies out of the terminals and into the rain and the guns of the Rebels.

The Rebels needed no orders; they opened fire.

Within minutes, the burning southeast corridor of the airport was in Rebel hands.

The rain became a downpour as the leaden skies opened up. The rain slowed the fiery march of flames, and then extinguished most of the fires outside the terminals. From his position on the river side of the airport, Ben lifted his mic. "Mortar teams set up and tank commanders lower elevation. Take the terminal down," he ordered.

The Rebels began to systematically destroy the main buildings of the airport. Ben pointed out a smaller building off to the side. "Check it out and clean it out. That's my new CP for this campaign." To Corrie: "Tell Chase he can set up a field hospital here. And we can fly the wounded out. We've got a firm toehold."

By late afternoon of the second day, most of the suburbs were solidly under Rebel control. That is to say the ashes of the suburbs were free of creepies. The Rebels had burned everything that could be torched and now stood poised to cross the Willamette River at eight points.

Ben glanced at Corrie. "Take the city, Corrie," he ordered.

She gave the orders and the Rebels poured across, tanks spearheading the drive.

Ike's people had cleared out their sector from the Canadian line down to Bellingham and were now driving south along Interstate 5, burning as they went. Five and Six Battalions had completed their sweep and Everett was no more than a smoking memory. Five and Six Battalions had s.h.i.+fted over to Highway 9 and were waiting to link up with Ike.

Cecil and West had fired Tacoma, driving the creeps out and west onto the peninsular and over into the Olympic National Park area. West bivouacked his people north of the smoking ruins and Cecil put his troops south, waiting for Ben to finish up in the Portland/vancouver area.

Dan had taken his people across the river into Vancouver and had pushed the creeps out of the city, driving them north with fire.

At the end of the fifth day, Ben ordered his people out of the smoking ruins of Portland and across the river.