Story Market Day

Landcruiser

Contributing Member
It really sucks that they lost the Yeti before all the shooting started... and when does Kara show up with the ass kicking and the Fuel?
... I figure she's always up for a nice quiet drive...that always turns into a shitshow... possibly Heidi too...
 

Landcruiser

Contributing Member
I see, you want the 'look' factor, so maybe Heidi and Allyson, the red head and the pocket model?
I don't think Allyson would have an easy time with the mental Gymnastics it would take to decide that a local sheriff is the bad guy quickly... Kara wouldn't even need to slow down on her way through, Zed also would be able to deal with the moral aspects quickly. Availability & Skillset were the other reasons behind those two choices. You are correct though I don't believe Heidi would be separated from her daughter and Allyson would be another logical choice...


as it sits ... you are the Author and therefore always correct...
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Paige was in the entryway, sorting through the pile of weapons and bags on the floor. She found Sabine’s and Andrea’s first and carried them with the carbines to the den where Andrea was discussing antennas with Karl.

She noticed something more important, something giving her a drive to go on. Andrea was holding Sabine hand next to her heart. Andrea had not given up hope, she just hid it for a while so Andrea could do what had to be done, so she did not lose herself. Paige understood what she had to do now.

Paige finally broke into their conversation. “Andrea, here is your and Sabine’s bags along with the carbines. I recommend pulling out the bandoliers and be ready. I don’t know how many or how armed these guys will be. Remember, they had ARs at the roadblock.”

“I wish we had plate carriers or something.” Andrea commented as she unzipped the small backpack and started rummaging through it.

“I know, but those were buried in the bottom of the trailers, along with a bunch of other stuff that might be useful if we could get to them without getting shot,” was Paige’s reply.

While Andrea was pulling out stuff from the bags, Paige was consolidating ammo for the truck pistols. She combined the two partially empty magazines. This left them seven full magazines for four pistols, she thought. Paige handed one over to Andrea.

“Here, and two spare mags. These will be the best thing for close in for when they make it in the house.” Paige noticed Andrea turned a little green as she took the pistol.

Paige set another one on the couch close at hand. She turned towards the older woman holding Hera.

“Ma’am, this pistol is in case they get inside before we can stop them.”

She pointed at a lever on the side of the pistol. “This is the safety. Push it down, then it’s ready to go. If you have to use it, it’s a baby machinegun. With one pull of the trigger, it will keep shooting until you let up on the trigger or it runs empty. Be careful or after the first couple of shots, you will be putting holes in the celling.”

About this time, a short-haired brunette about thirty ran into the room from down the hall, a face twisted in rage.

“Dad! David said there are a dozen cars and trucks, including several deputy cruisers along the back across from the barn with plenty of people with rifles and shotguns! We told you he was going to do this!”

Karl absorbed the outburst like it was common. “I know, Karen. David saw the signs early, and I should have done more earlier to stop it. When the Sherriff died and this yahoo moved up, I should have done something then. When you guys came here and warned me about stuff out in the county, I should have done something.”

It was about this time Karen realized others were in the room. She took in the blood, Sabine on the coffee table, and Hera on the couch. If she was enraged before, this set new heights.

“****! They SHOT HERA! Mom, Dad, I………” She started to push past them towards the other hallway.

Isadora spoke up. “Karen? What are you getting ready to do?”

Karen whirled around. “Do? What am I going to do? I’m going to go to my room, get a couple of rifles and I’m going to start stacking some of these ****tards up to feed to the pigs, that’s what I’m going to do!”

Karl knew she had to be slowed down. When Karen’s temper was up, she had no self-preservation factor.

“Karen, yes, get the rifles, but don’t rush out and get yourself killed because you’re in a hurry to get them.

“What the **** dad! They shot your granddaughter! They are looking to kill us all! You want me to talk it out or negotiate? **** that!” Her rant was cut short by a voice and a person she didn’t know.

“Karen, it is Karen, right?” Paige said.

When Karen turned and nodded, she continued. “It’s not a matter of not killing them. It’s a matter of making sure none of them escape. I think your father just wants to figure out the best way and not act like some guy at the junior prom the first time they put their hand up a dress.”

At Paige’s analogy, Andrea was shocked, or maybe stunned. This didn’t sound like Paige, not at all. Where was the shy demure, easily embarrassed woman she knew?

Paige continued. “If you rush right out there, they kill you before you get them, and they win and everyone in here dies. It’s like one of my husband’s favorite jokes he used to teach planning and patients. He stole it from a movie and it was old then.”

She paused not necessarily believing she was telling Henrik’s favorite joke to these guys to emphasize their need to plan how to murder all the people around the house before they themselves get murdered.

“You see, there's two bulls standing on top of a mountain. The younger one says to the older one: 'Hey pop, let's say we run down there and **** one of them cows'. The older one says: 'No son. Let’s walk down and **** 'em all'.”

“So, if you rush out there and get killed right away, then in an hour or two, one of them will be standing over Isadora’s body as they put two rounds into Hera’s skull if she’s lucky. “ At this brutal picture Paige was painting, everyone in the room cringed, all for different reasons.

Andrea was scared. She was scared for these people, she was scared for Sabine, and she was scared and heartbroken for Paige. Paige’s voice held a tone and tambour she had never heard out of her before. Andrea was used to picking up subtle tonal qualities. She was, after all, in the business of listening. This new Paige, there was an intensity and brutality to her she had never seen before.

“Karl, we should look at how to keep watch all around the perimeter. We also need to find a way to contact the people coming down to meet us and let them know the danger so they don’t blunder into this shitstorm unaware.” Paige turned to Karen. “How good a shot are you and David, and Keven for that matter?”

“Kevin is decent, but I always beat him at the 4H contests. David isn’t a great shooter but he knows about how to hide and think. He grew up in Sarajevo as a little boy and was smuggled out through the tunnel under the airport towards the end of the siege. He told me he would do what he had to do.”

“Great! Right now, I think we need more info, so sir? How can we see them without being obvious about it.”

“Kevin and Karen know some ways and places.”

“Good. We need to plan and work things and not panic or rush. While they get info, can you and Andrea work on another antenna set up?”

“Sure, but I don’t have much extra and we might have a hard time reaching very far. This valley isn’t the best for reception. They trashed what I had and it’s not very safe to go out from under cover.”

Everyone moved off to their separate tasks. Paige went back to the entranceway to get what she needed from either Henrik’s or her gear. Alone, she reached into her bag to gear up. As she reached in, her hand bumped something she didn’t recognize. It felt like a small piece of board, no bigger than five inches by nine inches. She pulled it out. It was another one of Henrik’s surprises he liked to hide so he could see her smile when she found them.

It was a beautiful polished piece of wood with a hinge down one side. With trembling hands, she opened it. It was a picture frame. On one side was a group shot of everyone at the wedding. The other side was a shot of her and Henrik, full dress uniforms, cloaks and huge smiles on their faces as they showed off their rings. For a few minutes, there was no sound in the entryway but Paige’s crying.
 
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Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
So I think anyone following the story should prepare for a roughish ride. Looking back at other major transition points in this story, there has been a lull as the author edits the current section :apc: and prepares the final transition to the next part of the story so .....all y'all been warned.

There will be a major burst of action just around the corner and like impending weather, makes the joints ache & gives you an anticipatory head ache; can you feel it?? :devilish:

Not yet??

Wait for it .....Wait for it .....
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Paige was laying there in bed. She heard Henrik whispering in her ear “Paige, you need to get up. Sabine needs you.” She snuggled down into the bed a little deeper and risked an eye for the clock projected on the celling. She still had twenty minutes before she had to get up and get ready for work. “I’ll talk to her when the coffee is made.” She mumbled back at Henrik. Henrik squeezed her hand and kissed it. “Come on, hun, get up. She needs you.”

Wait. Something isn’t right here. Paige’s head was a jumble. She could hear Henrik’s voice in her ear, but the hand wasn’t right. The bed wasn’t right either. She was laying on shag carpet. She still felt someone squeezing her hand. But the hand was far too small to be Henrik’s monstrous paw. It couldn’t be him anyway. Her grief slammed back down on her like a pile of bricks.

Paige opened her eyes for real this time. She was in the dark den of Karl and Isadora’s home lying next to the coffee table holding Sabine’s hand. On the couch was Isadora, half asleep rocking Hera on her lap.

Sitting on the floor next to the couch was Penny, Isadora’s daughter-in-law and Hera’s mother. She was trying to rest a little before going over to relieve Kevin on watch. Karl was back over by the radio, having been relieved in the barn by David. Andrea was curled up over by Karl’s radio desk, barely asleep after working hard trying to get contact of any kind.

Paige was looking around in the low light from the couple of oil lamps turned low when she felt the squeeze on her hand again. She wasn’t imagining it. She was holding Sabine’s hand and Sabine was squeezing almost imperceptivity. Paige now knew this was a sign she was having a hard time breathing again.

Earlier Sabine was struggling to breath, even though she was unconscious. With at least two or three holes into her chest, Air was going where it shouldn’t. Like a hydrolocked engine, Paige had to relieve the pressure building up in Sabine’s chest or she wouldn’t be able to breath.

Paige fought and fought to remember how and where to do this. The simple way was to let the air out the way it came in, but she didn’t want to disturb the clots finally stopping the bleeding, at least on the outside. The answer was to use a really big needle and plunge it into her chest in the right spot, letting the air to escape from Sabine’s chest cavity.

Paige measured two fingers down from Sabine’s collarbone, then found the space between the ribs there. That was the easy part. The part she was squeamish about was next. Using a giant needle as long as a pencil and damn near as big a round, Paige slid the needle in between the ribs all the way to the hub of the needle. There was a small sound of air for the briefest of moments and Sabine seemed to breathe easier. Paige pulled the metal needle out of her chest, leaving the IV catheter in place to keep releasing any pressure that built up.

A couple of hours later, the pressure seemed to be building up again in spite of the IV catheter still being in her chest. Paige used a second needle and repeated what worked the first time, with the same positive results, but the chest rise didn’t return quite as well as the first time. Paige laid down for a brief rest.

Now, it looked like she would have to put a third needle into Sabine. This seems to be what Henrik woke her up for. He didn’t leave her, but she wanted to stay with him so bad! Paige tried to stay positive about some things since Sabine seemed to still be fighting. She had to get her to better medical care than here. Priority one, Get Andrea a way to survive and escape. Priority two find a way to get Sabine out of there and to real medical care. Priority three???

Paige wished she could just go back into the dream she woke up from a few moments ago and never wake up. She would be back with Henrik where all the pain and misery would be at an end. The only problem would be disappointing Henrik and letting Sabine and Andrea down.

Would Andrea have quit if it was Sabine who died and not Henrik? Paige shuddered at her next thought. She might just find out. She wasn’t sure how or if Sabine would survive until dawn, much less getting out of this trap.

Paige thought she knew the answer. Andrea would fight like hell to survive as long as she could as long as she was carrying the baby. If anything happened and she lost the baby, Andrea probably wouldn’t have the will to survive without Sabine as well.

Paige thought about Karen and how Isadora had glued the ends of the scalp wound together to stop the bleeding. Karen had run out onto the side yard to draw the assholes attention long enough for Olivia and Penny to run back to the house from the barn. In all the diving and rolling and shooting at them, somewhere in the process, Karen had either gashed herself on something or had a very near miss with a bullet.

Karen and Paige used the suppressed carbines to shoot out a few of the headlights on cars along the back of the property to throw the back of the barn into shadow. This was to help hide movement between the house and the barn. Between the temporary darkness and Karen’s gyrations, Penny and Olivia made it unharmed.

All of this scrambled Paige’s brain as she slid the needle into Sabine’s chest. Her breathing eased somewhat. They might see dawn but each hour after that nobody was breathing easier
 
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ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Dawn came, for better or worse. It was hard to see but it was there. Weather rolled in, dark and grey. The clouds were dark and thick with rain. It alternated between showers and mist making the weather match the mood in the house. There was dread in the air. No one was sure how they were getting out of this trap. There was some hope the weather would drive people away from helping the sheriff’s men, but either they were made of sterner stuff, or he had a greater threat over them. No one left the parameter.

It was show time, last stand at the Alamo. No one knew what was going to happen but all they could do was fight, fight to the last person and hope Paige’s Grandfather’s friends would get there soon. If they were coming and if they could help.

It was time to put Paige’s plan into action. Karen and Paige set up as a two women sniper team to whittle down the enemy now. They hated the thought but it was clear to all involved it was now kill or be killed. This was driven home by the attempt by several deputies to breach the house through a bedroom near dawn.

The deputies started by smashing the glass, followed by a flash bang grenade, all standard practice. Where things deviated was what happened next. They stuck the muzzles of their assault rifles over the windowsill and sprayed half a magazine into the room with complete disregard to who might be in the room.

The room this happened in ended up being the ‘library’, a bedroom with bookcases along the walls. This contained the bullets, preventing them from carrying on into other occupied rooms. After their reconnaissance by fire, three deputies entered the house to check their work.

The deputies didn’t get far. Kevin and David were ready with shotguns in the next room. Once the deputies were in the hallway, Kevin and David started firing at head height straight through the wall. As soon as the deputies were down, David stepped into the hall and finished them off.

David stripped all their gear off of them quickly. Kevin was a step or two behind in understanding but followed David’s lead. Once all the usable gear was separated from their bodies, David and Kevin rolled them back out the window to land in the flowerbeds outside.

The light was weak but increasing, unfortunately hope wasn’t increasing.
 
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ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
It was near lunchtime when a couple weak sounds came over the radio. At first, it was really hard to hear it over the downpour currently underway.

“Sprout, Blade 23 Inbound, do you copy?”

The female voice on the radio was a surprise. When they lost their antenna, there weren’t sure how well, or even if, they could reestablish contact again with the people her Grandfather sent to help them using the makeshift antenna parts they could get to.

Without contact, they didn’t know if help was even still coming. Worse, they couldn’t warn them about how things had gone to hell here. Then again, they could have run into their own problem, stopped at the county line, or a hundred other possibilities. This didn’t stop Andrea from trying a little of everything and having the radios set up for monitoring constantly. Paige was the nearest when a voice came over the speaker.

“Blade 23, this is Sprout! Thank God!”

“Sprout, what’s up? What’s your situation?” There was some definite concern in the female’s voice now.

“The locals have us barricaded in and trying to take us out. Please tell me you can help.” Paige’s voice had it all; worry, urgency, and even a bit of fear and desperation.

“We should be able to do something. How many enemy and how are they armed?” The voice was all business now.

“Over 30 people I think. They hit us last night, took out the main antenna and some of the friendlies. We have wounded as well, including our medic who is down hard. Enemy is limited to small arms for weapons as far as we can tell.” Paige tried for the same matter of fact tone and bearing.

“Copy, How many for Evac?”

“Huh?” The question caught her off guard. First, they were talking about being able to help and now evac? Why the shift in……Her thought train was derailed by the radio again.

“How many bodies need to evacuate from your perimeter. Focus!” The woman’s voice was harsh, sharp and commanding now.

“11 for Evac.” Paige paused to confirm the count in her head. “5 to 7 additional seats if you’re still bringing fuel, including two litter patients.” Paige added. She didn’t want to leave the vehicles, not with everything they had in them. She would rather burn them than leave them for the jackals attacking the farm.

“Copy, Wait one.”

Now they were so close, Andera and Karl’s radio lash-up could also pick up their conversation on the alternate frequency they were given. From what Paige was hearing, she figured they were transmitting back to wherever they were from based on what they said.

“ATC, this is Blade 23.”

“This is ATC, go Blade 23.” A strong male voice, not her grandfather’s, came over the radio.

“ATC, Blade 23 in contact with Sprout. Mission Change, I say again, Mission Change. Blade 23 is terminating the planned refueling mission at this time and initiating CSAR protocol. How Copy?”

“Blade 23, ATC, Understand terminating refueling mission and initiating CSAR Protocol. What do you need from us, Blade 23?”

“ATC, Sprout is Alamo. We need Seats for 11 counting ours and we need Athena, Thor and a Rampart box.”

The male voice was much more serious when it came back on the line. “Copy. Wait one.” A few minutes later, he returned. “Blade 23, Crusader flight, Viking 6 and Scarlet 38 are outbound to your location. Keep us in the loop for anything else you need.”

“Copy ATC, Glad to hear it! We may have to Son Tay and go all Rourke’s Drift to keep things viable. Transferring over to CSAR protocol at this time.”

Paige heard them come back up on the first frequency they were talking to her on.

“Sprout, do what you can to button up and stay alive. Get people and things ready to move fast if you can. Don’t you ****ing quit on us! Help is on its way!” The woman’s voice was full of hope and passion, all rushed and insistent. Then the radio fell silent.

Andrea had come into the room and was listening to all of this now.

“Paige, who the hell is your grandfather sending? A full-fledged ****ing TRAP team?”

Paige was at a loss as well. With the tone and nature of the radio communication, it sounded like some of the exercises she had been around with the Marine Expeditionary Units. Andrea was talking about a TRAP team. A TRAP team, or Tactical Recovery of Aircraft Personnel, is a team of service members assigned to be a reaction force for every flight or air mission. The team’s mission is to fly in to remove isolated personnel from bad tactical situations and bring them back to safety. Well, that was basically what they were doing, wasn’t it? The next question was where the hell did her grandfather get one of those?

About thirty minutes later, the next voice on the radio stole every bit of warmth from the room and filled it with some other dread emotion. Through the sound of wind blast over the radio they could hear it was a different female’s voice; cold and brutal, like the heartless fist of an angry god.

“Sprout, Keep your heads down. One minute out. Danger close, 290 true. Archangel, Inbound HOT!”

Here Ends Part Three
 
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Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
ccg,

Where are the grenades, explosives, rpg's, rockets, grenade launchers. The group just left a base and some of not all of this would have been available.

Texican....
 

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
"One minute out. Danger close, 290 true. Archangel, Inbound HOT!"
Says it all for me; make sure your mags are at hand and ready! Pick your targets!

The question is: will Part Four back track a tad to get here or .....
Start With a cataclysmic BANG!

Either way, I'll be here, waiting .....

Pick which makes your heart pound more: Inbound HOT! or Mike Target! Danger Close!
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
"One minute out. Danger close, 290 true. Archangel, Inbound HOT!"
Says it all for me; make sure your mags are at hand and ready!

The question is: will Part Four back track a tad to get to here or .....
Start With a cataclysmic BANG!

Either way, I'll be here, waiting .....

Pick which makes your heart pound more: Inbound HOT! or Mike Target! Danger Close!


The question is: will Part Four back track a tad to get to here-Answer is YES!
 
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