William W. Johnstone - Ashes 12 - Survival In The Ashes

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Survival in the Ashes

Ashes 12

William W. Johnstone

"Over the mountains

Of the moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,

Ride, boldly ride,"

the shade replied,

"If you seek for Eldorado."

- Edgar Allan Poe

Chapter 1

Ben Raines and his army of Rebels had fought many

battles over the decade since the world exploded in

germ and nuclear war, bringing an end to civilization as

people had come to know it. But as Ben and his Rebels

drove towardSt. Louis , after waging war in the

Northwest against the racist forces of Malone, Ben

was thinking that this upcoming battle could well be the

greatest and most decisive battle of his

decade-long career against anarchy and for the

restoration of civfliza-tion.

On the east side of 1-55, massing in great

numbers, were the mercenary forces of Kenny Parr, the

terrorist forces of Khamsin-the Hot Wind-and the

mercenary armies of Lan Villar. Very conservative

estimates placed their numbers at ten thousand

strong.

Behind Ben Raines and his Rebels, coming up from the

west, were the forces of Sister Voleta, Ashley,

and a ragtag assortment of human crud, all of

whom had but one thought in mind: to destroy Ben

Raines and turn the world into an outlaw haven.

The clanking of the engine pulled Ben out of his musings.

"What the hell's wrong with this thing?" he asked his

driver, Cooper, as the four-wheel-drive

vehicle bucked to a halt, smoke wafting from under

the hood. Those inside quickly evacuated the

vehicle, grabbing equipment as they exited.

"Blew an engine," Cooper said. "Damn, this thing

was supposed to have been rebuilt." He lifted his

mic.

"This is Cooper. Bring the other vehicle up. The

Eagle's been grounded."

Rebels quickly extinguished the fire under the hood

and the equipment was off-loaded just as a

nine-passenger, four-wheel-drive wagon pulled

up. It looked enormous sitting next to the disabled

Blazer.

"When and where did you find this boat?" Ben asked,

inspecting the big wagon.

"Two weeks ago" Dan Gray said, walking

up. "I've had people working on it at every stop since

then. You need more room. It's armorplated and the

glass is bulletproof. The engine is the largest

we could find. Four fifty something or another.

You'll have a lot more room in this, General."

Ben looked at his watch. "Hell, we're close

enough. Let's break for lunch, Dan. Dismount the people

and tell them to find shelter. This is where we make

our stand."

They were a few miles south ofSt. Louis proper.

Cecil was in command of the battalions inSt. Louis

. . . or what was left of the city. General

Striganov and his people were digging in between the city and Ben

and West's position. Ike was north of the city,

digging in.

Ben walked to the communication's van and stuck his head

inside. "What's the latest word?"

"Hostile forces still pulling in and setting up on the

east side of the river, General," she told

him. "They're facing us along a thirty-mile

stretch. Latest estimates are about eight thousand .

. . with more expected. They have artillery, but no

tanks as yet."

"Lan Villar is confirmed?"

"That's ten-four, sir. Our scouts report that

Khamsin and Kenny Parr have been spotted as

well."

Ben nodded and thanked her. He walked away,

chewing on a sandwich and washing it down with water from his

canteen.

"Traffic coming up from the south, sir," a Rebel

pointed out.

Ben turned, squinted his eyes, and smiled. The

un-

mistakable rattle of many VW engines reached his

ears. To the rear of the VW column, a shiny black

hearse was rolling stately along.

Ben walked out onto Highway 61/67 and waited

until the strange convoy drew abreast of him. A

familiar face looked out at him from the lead VW

van.

"For a peace-loving hippie, Thermopolis," Ben

said, "you certainly pop up in the most violent of

places."

"We were listening to your radio transmissions,

Ben," the aging hippie said. "Actually it was

Emil who convinced us that we should lend a hand in this

fight. It concerns us all."

"What command do you want to fight under, Therm?"

"Doesn't make me the slightest bit of

difference."

"Well, I've got the short battalion, so you

can stay here with us." He smiled. "You feel like

putting up with Emil?"

"I've been putting up with him for five hundred

miles, Ben."

"We've had some additions since I saw you last.

Some outlaw bikers have joined up. They're called

the Wolfpack; headed by a man called Leadfoot.

Another group of female bikers is with them. Wanda

and her Sisters ofLesbos ."

Themopolis stared at him and finally shook his head.

"Ben Raines, you attract the strangest goddamn

bunch of people I have ever seen in all my life. And

I was a hippie inNew Orleans for ten years!"

Ben laughed and looked inside the VW van.

"Hello, Rosebud."

Therm's wife returned the smile. "Hello,

General Raines."

"What'd you do with the children?" Ben asked.

"Took them to Base Camp One and left them.

We felt they'd be safe there." Thermopolis

smiled. "Even though by the time we return, their

heads will be pumped full of patriotism and duty

and all that crap. We may never be able

to deprogram them."

"You're a fraud, Therm," Ben told him.

"You're just as much a hardass as I am. The only

difference between us is that you need a haircut."

Thermopolis laughed and put the VW in gear.

"In your opinion," he said, and drove off toward

the staging area.

As the van passed by him, Ben caught a glimpse

of blond hair in the back seat. He gritted his

teeth. Jerre. He nodded his head at her. She

returned the curt nod.

As the caravan of hippies passed, Ben nodded and

spoke to Zipper and Fly, Santo and Swallow,

Whistler and Wren, Wenceslaus and Zelotes,

Adder and Ima, Udder and Ura,Willow and the others

who made up the large commune.

The platoon of Rebels who had been assigned

to the commune passed by and they waved and yelled at the

general. Ben tossed them a left-handed

mock salute and waited for Emil Hite to pass

by. At least Ben hoped he would pass by and not

stop.

The black hearse stopped and Emil jumped out. The

little con artist who professed to be the earthbound

voice of the Great God Blomm drew himself up and

saluted.

"Lafayette, we are here!" he shouted.

Ben sighed and eyeballed the little man. Emil had

discarded his flowing robes and changed into tiger-stripe

BDU'S, black beret, and high-heeled cowboy

boots. He was a bit unsteady on his feet.

Buddy and Tina, Ben's kids, walked up, both

of them smiling. Colonel Dan Gray, CO of the

Scouts, stood by them, his little dog,Chester , by his

boots. Dan struggled to hide his smile.

With some assistance, Emil climbed up on the hood

of the hearse.

"Oh, no!" Ben muttered.

Emil started to slide off the hood and waved his arms

frantically, finally regaining his balance. "We have

traveled many a hard and dangerous mile to reach you,

General Raines. Through fog and rain and gloom of

night . . ."

Ben tuned him out as best he could, hoping that

the speech would be a short one. For all his

theatrics, Emil and his followers had proved to be

some tough fighters; they would stand against terrible odds.

Emil finally wound down and managed to get off the

hood of the hearse without busting his butt.

"Good to have you with us, Emil," Ben said. And Ben was

telling the truth. Ben liked the little con artist, for

Emil could always be counted on to provide some comic

relief when the situation got grim. "Follow

Ther-mopolis and his people and dig in."

"At your orders, sir!" Emil shouted, saluting.

"My people will fight to the death . . ."

"Emil!"

"dis . . We shall fight on the beaches and the hedgerows

. . ."

Ben groaned.

"dis . . We shall fight in the streets and from the

bunkers . . ."

Even the little dog,Chester , was looking at Emil very

strangely.

"Right, Emil," Ben said. "I appreciate your

coming up here . . ."

"And when ammunition is no more, we shall fight with

entrenching tools and clubs . . ."

"Thank you, Emil. Your loyalty is very

nearly overwhelming."

"We shall never surrender and ever with liberty and

justice . . ." Emil looked confused for a moment.

"I said that wrong."

Ben patted the man on the shoulder. "It's all

right, Emil. I understand."

With Emil gone, Ben turned to Dan Gray. "Have

there been any shots exchanged, Dan?"

"Negative, General. Both sides appear to be

too busy digging in."

"So it's shaping up to be an artillery battle."

"At first, yes. But that will change very quickly as

those on the east side of the river learn we have them

outgunned."

"We're going to have to keep a sharp eye on our rear

and our flanks. Voleta and Ashley will be coming up

hard and fast."

"I've set up posts stretching fromHannibal in

the north toSalem in the south. They're dug in and

well concealed alongside every road capable of

sustaining heavy traffic."

"Good. All right, Dan. Let's go see how our

people are doing."

Dan took the lead and assigned Scouts to the rear

of the short column, with Ben and his personal

team in the center, Cooper at the wheel of the big

wagon.

Everyone who could use a shovel was busy filling

sandbags, digging bunkers, and finding heavy timbers

to add support. Tanks and artillery were being

positioned and fortified. Along the river, working

unseen, Rebels were quietly occupying empty

warehouses and other buildings and setting up heavy

machine gun positions, fortifying their positions with

sandbags and railroad ties.

Ben and his teams moved into General Striganov's

sector. The Russian had dug his people in deep and

quickly. Striganov handed Ben powerful binoculars and

moved them toward a window of his CP, located

close to the river. "Take a look, General."

The activity across the river jumped into the lenses.

"Jesus!" Ben said. "It looks like the staging area

inEngland before D-Day."

"My thoughts exactly," the Russian agreed with a

smile. "I, too, have seen old newsclips of the

storming of the beaches."

Ben turned to Corrie. "Tell Ike to send his

demolition people north and south, Corrie. Blow the

bridges that are still standing fromQuincy toCape

Girardeau. We'll make the bastards come

across the river if they want us. After you've done that,

bump Base Camp One and have all PU!'S

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SurvivalintheAshes Ashes12 WilliamW.Johnstone "OverthemountainsOfthemoon,DowntheValleyoftheShadow,Ride,boldlyride,"theshadereplied,"IfyouseekforEldorado."-EdgarAllanPoe Chapter1BenRainesandhisarmyofRebelshadfoughtmanybattlesoverthedecadesincetheworldexplodedingermandnuclearwar,bringinganendtociv...

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William W. Johnstone - Ashes 12 - Survival In The Ashes

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