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  VIGILANTE: INDIAN TERRITORY

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  VIGILANTE: BOOK 6: INDIAN TERRITORY

  Book 6 of the Vigilante Series by Cliff Deane

  Published by Creative Texts Publishers

  PO Box 50

  Barto, PA 19504

  www.creativetexts.com

  Copyright 2018 by Cliff Deane

  All rights reserved

  Cover design copyright 2019 Creative Texts Publishers, LLC

  This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

  The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual names, persons, businesses, and incidents is strictly coincidental. Locations are used only in the general sense and do not represent the real place in actuality.

  Kindle Edition

  VIGILANTE: INDIAN TERRITORY

  by Cliff Deane

  CREATIVE TEXTS PUBLISHERS

  Barto, Pennsylvania

  This book is dedicated to my faithful Medical Alert Dog Katie Deane

  for never finding complaint with my musings. She sleeps curled in my arm as I type. I hope you enjoy reading my book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  This book is dedicated to the United States Marine Corps. Happy 242nd Birthday, Marine! Thank you for being America’s 9-1-1.

  A Few Notes to My Readers

  In an apocalyptic environment, only the lucky one in ten will survive. Our hero does have a bit of luck and puts it to good use. I guess it is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Don’t forget the adage “You have to be lucky to’ be good.” If he were unlucky, I would have no story to tell…

  The science behind the premise of this book is factual.

  I sure hope you enjoy

  Vigilante: Indian Territory

  Clarification: While a Coronal Mass Ejection striking the Earth is at some point an absolute certainty, other than The Carrington Event, we’ve done well, so far. Just remember that not a bit of this story is true…yet, could happen though…js.

  A vigilante is a civilian or organization acting in a law enforcement capacity without legal authority.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  chapter nineteen

  chapter twenty

  chapter twenty-one

  chapter twenty-two

  chapter twenty-three

  chapter twenty-four

  chapter twenty-five

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  PRIMARY CHARACTERS

  Levi L. Levins –Retired U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class (SFC/E-7), Captain, then Colonel, Troop A, Defiance Militia

  Sarah C. Levins –Married to Levi, no children, Supervisory E.R. Nurse

  Ralph M. Basset –Owner Patriot Arms Gun Shop, Mayor of Defiance

  Ben Smith – Manager of Patriot Arms Gun Store, Levi’s Executive Officer (XO), a quintessential manager

  Bradley Cobb – Combat wounded in Berzerkistan and medically retired from Army as Staff Sergeant (SSgt./E-6), promoted to Troop A, First Sergeant (1st Sgt., Top)

  Mike Guyardo – Combat wounded in Kandahar, lost a foot, Sergeant (Sgt.) / Lieutenant / Captain, Marine Force Recon assigned instructor duties for Afghanistan (Berzerkistan) Army.

  Scott Eldridge – Former Army Ranger Sergeant, Sgt. / Staff Sergeant / Cpt / Major / Lt. Col. (whew), Walmart Store Manager

  Harry Primm-Former Army Infantry Sergeant/ Staff Sergeant

  The Doctors Monroe (Tom and Faith)

  – Defiance Medicos

  Jordan Daniels – Worshipful Master Masonic Lodge members of The Widow’s Sons motorcycle club…good guys.

  PRELUDE TO

  Book 6

  Vigilante: Indian Territory

  A novel by Cliff Deane

  An EMP Apocalypse in America

  ***

  Plato is the first to have recorded that “Only the dead know the end of war.”

  Even after twenty-five hundred years, his words ring down through the history of man with a clarity and truism that sadly cannot be denied.

  Synchronicity and fate mirror the words of Plato as they play a monumental role in the struggles of man.

  The history of our species is riddled with opposing forces stumbling blindly through the fog of war without ever knowing their enemy was directly in their path. These clashes have, in many cases, defined the often-tragic state of the human condition.

  Humanity’s Fragile Grip on a

  Civilization Built upon

  Electronic Zeros and Ones

  The technology of man had, in the end failed miserably to create a lasting super-society. The sun shot out a plasma spitball toward the 3rd rock from the sun and destroyed any semblance of Man’s great march to civilization.

  Now, humanity scavenged through the wreckage and refuse of the past. Our promising civilization was poised to reach for the stars. A civilization based on electronic ones and zeros demonstrated that its foundation was far too fragile and fell into destruction and anarchy, just as had so many that came before.

  Now, humanity crawled through the remains searching for the scraps to both survive and to find the means continue killing or enslaving our own species. There were few places where the human spark remained intact and they strove to preserve the basics of life in a post-apocalyptic world.

  The newly reformed Republic of America was one such group. The goal had been to create a safe place, safe from marauding bands of brigands that now roamed North America. The future looked promising and had been progressing as planned. From these most humble of beginnings this new nation, this Republic of America, had grown from a miniscule two-hundred acres to a perimeter of twenty miles. The thought had been, that from this meager and humble beginning, the ideals of the Founding Fathers of the old United States might still find a foothold sufficient to rebuild America. Like the Phoenix of legend, those ideals may yet save humanity.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Chase Continues

  7 May Aught 3

  The first seven days in May of 03, brought weather that continued to improve. The days became warmer as spring winds blew in off the Gulf of Mexico, and though it was well past Easter, those Lilies finally began popping up all over the town proper. Spring wildflowers raised everyone’s morale. The 1st Cavalry spent the week making final preparations for the inevitable movement to contact with the evasive Mercenary Light A
rmored Battalion that had been whittled down to a company sized element.

  5 May 03, 0800

  Merc Morning Briefing

  Corpus Christi, TX

  Corpus Christi began to grow warm as the Gulf of Mexico brought forth warm winds to dry the land. A cloudless and stunningly bright blue sky made it clear that the Black Knights must soon continue their westward movement.

  Like a caged lion, Colonel Rolf Steiner paced across the dirt floor of his Tactical Operations Center. He was anxious to the point of desperation to get back on the road. He knew that his company must quickly move west in the hope of putting many miles between his Knights and those damnable Ghosts. He had high hopes of fooling his enemy into thinking he was taking his force into Mexico. Steiner now knew that his tormentors had somehow managed to acquire functioning helicopters, and gunships to add insult to the injury of his wounded command.

  The ROA flew regular patrols over his forces in Corpus Christi. Steiner knew that to counter this threat, he must utilize bad weather which would ground the aircraft of the ROA during his escape.

  The mercenary leader ordered his last Company Commander to begin keeping the battalion on standby alert status to ensure that his force could depart on a moment’s notice. Now, he prayed for foul weather to cover his escape. His chance came on 5 May of aught 3. The oncoming spring storm front was ideal for the Black Knights as the imminent tempest’s low-lying clouds, heavy with rain would surely keep the enemy aircraft on the ground. Unlike the snow, rain left no tracks to betray the departure of the Mercenary force.

  Colonel Rolf Steiner, Captain Ernst Werner, and his most trusted friend, Sergeant Major Karl Kempovic met for the final planning session to finalize their upcoming departure from Corpus Christi before moving west.

  Steiner opened the meeting saying, “Our departure from Corpus must occur in the dark, early morning Hours. I believe the coming storm will provide us a covering rain sometime just before dawn. If this happens, then our departure will have begun when the roads were clear and dry. This will give us the opportunity for maximum speed for the first several Hours that we are on the road.”

  “Gentlemen,” said Steiner, “the second item on my agenda concerns the Helicopter Gunships of our enemies. We must secure Ground to Air Stinger missiles if we are to combat those Gunships. As I see it, we have two options in our movement. They are:

  Move to the munition’s facility at Camp Stanley Storage. It is just north of San Antonio and will have the Stingers and landmines we must have. The downside to this option is that it keeps us in the Cobra’s combat umbrella for a longer period of time.

  If we are forced to stop and take the time to search for our munitions, we will be giving our enemy the opportunity to gain ground on us, as well as remaining under the threat of an air attack.

  The upside is that we are no more than two days travel to the Storage Facility. Only twenty-five miles, off our route to Bliss.

  Option two is to make a dash across the I-10 corridor to reach Fort Bliss which sits on the Mexico, Texas, and New Mexico border. The downside here is the much greater distance to Fort Bliss than to Camp Stanley, which could put us under the helicopter’s guns until we can run out from under their range of operations.

  The upside is that we know that I-10 is much more open across the desert once we get past San Antonio. Gentlemen, your thoughts, please.”

  The Sergeant Major said, “Sir, I would suggest we dispatch a reinforced platoon to immediately make a run for Camp Stanley. If they leave within the hour, they surely will have sufficient time to locate the munitions, upload them, then wait there for us to catch up. I like the idea of running out of the Cobra’s range, but the Storage Facility is mostly along our route. Sir, I believe it is imperative that we secure the Stingers and mines at our earliest opportunity.”

  Captain Werner agreed with the Sergeant Major and encouraged Steiner to accept this plan.

  “All right,” said Steiner, “Sergeant Major, I do approve of your plan. Captain Werner, have a platoon prepared to move out in one hour.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Werner, who excused himself and departed to prepare the mission.

  Steiner looked at his friend and said, “Karl, this will be the most exposed, and dangerous portion of our run west. Do you agree?”

  “Yes, sir, I am positive that you are correct. Still we must acquire those missiles and landmines, or we will surely die.”

  “Yes, I concur. Karl, have the company prepared to move out as soon as this storm front is overhead. I anticipate that we should be able to cross our Line of Departure in the early pre-dawn Hours.

  Thank you, Karl. I have relied upon your recommendations for many years now. Come, my friend, let us prepare for the next phase.” Steiner then stood, signaling the meeting was over, and the Sergeant Major stood, saluted and set about his tasks.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Bug Out

  5 May Aught 3

  Corpus Christi, Texas

  The approaching stormfront brought heavy black clouds that promised a major storm front that would soon supply the heavy moisture that would cover the Black Knight’s retreat from Corpus Christi beneath a cold, windy, and lashing rain.

  Colonel Rolf Steiner smiled as he said a quick thankyou to Thor, the Patron god of all mercenaries as he mounted the running board of his command vehicle. He looked back at his force which now consisted of, at most, one company. He thought back to when his Armored Battalion had escaped from the White Sulphur Springs Bunker in West Virginia and lamented the fact that his Black Knights, of whom were all experienced, battle hardened warriors had been so easily reduced to less than one-quarter of its original size. An unknown, faceless and unrelenting enemy had pursued the Knights for nearly fifteen-hundred miles. An enemy that had been unyielding in their efforts to destroy his diminished command. He knew little about the Ghost Force chasing his Black Knights. He only knew that his communications center in the White Sulfur Springs Presidential Bunker had said that the attackers were not in American Uniforms. All right, wondered Steiner, if they are not Americans, who are they, and why do they bedevil us so?

  On this day and the days to follow, the Mercs would move with a total radio blackout. Then, Steiner turned for one final glance back at his command and with a waving of his arm, he signaled the convoy to move out.

  The mercenary force crossed the LOD (Line of Departure) on time and began their movement toward San Antonio. Steiner knew that the Patron Saint of Mercenaries, the Nordic god Thor, was surely smiling on his mercs as the movement was ushered in by a blinding flash of lightning and the titanic sound of rolling thunder that lit up the convoy just as the column initiated movement from the Naval Station in Corpus Christi, Texas.

  The Mercenary Armored Company said their silent goodbyes to their winter encampment as they fled into the teeth of the oncoming storm’s foreboding, inky darkness. Just before dawn, a near horizontal rain began to cover the Black Knight’s movement for seventeen Hours as they began their movement west, to parts as yet unknown.

  Steiner was correct in his assessment that the rain would begin to fall in earnest with the dawn. The merc commander knew this glorious rain would continue to fall for many more Hours. This blessing from Thor would allow his force to achieve the imperative that the mercs would need to be at least three hundred miles out and as far from the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station as possible before their tormentors realized they were gone.

  Steiner hoped that once the rain stopped, and the skies cleared his command would be well outside the combat envelop of his enemy’s helicopter gunships. His final instruction to Captain Werner, before departing Corpus had been to leave fourteen men behind to take with them the additional eight LAV IIIs already mounted on the Low-Boy Trailers. The squad left behind was instructed to run the engines for twenty minutes every hour in a staggered ordered to ensure that several vehicles were always running. This was to provide the Helicopter’s Infra-Red with evidence that the heat signatures from t
he LAVs would convince their enemy that the Knights were still in residence at Corpus Christi. Steiner hoped that once the rain stopped, and the skies cleared, his ruse would provide his force with an additional few days to ensure their escape from the combat umbrella of the Helicopter Gunships. The Rear Echelon Force was to wait for two days following the storm’s passing, then top off all of their vehicles. They were to then leave the extra eight LAVs idling in the hanger. The fourteen men detailed for this task were to depart during the Hours of darkness, taking the remaining trucks and then catch up with the Knights at their best possible speed.

  The storm blew itself out late in the day of 6 May. The Rear Guard then began running the engines for twenty minutes each hour in a staggered sequence. Early on the morning of 7 May, the lookout spotted two Super Cobras flying a recon mission over their maintenance hangar.

  “Base 6: Eyes 6. It appears the mercs are still in Corpus. We have heat signatures on eight vehicles, and several bodies moving around the hanger, it would seem that they are performing maintenance. Over.”

  “Eyes 6: Base 6. Roger, understand mercs still in Corpus. Over.”

  “Roger Base: Eyes 6: Out.”

  And in that very instant, the visions of a Medicine Man of the Apache, Taza Geronimo became etched in stone.

  Camp Stanley

  7 May Aught 3

  San Antonio, TX