Part 22 (2/2)
”A lot of them, yes. There are a lot of good people out there.” He waved his hand. ”We just have to find them.
Punks and crud and sc.u.m just seem to naturally come together, like flies on a pile of s.h.i.+t. But we're finding more and more decent people in our travels.”
Ben washed down the last bite of his rations with warm water from his canteen and screwed the cap back on.
”All right, people,” he said, standing up.
”Let's gear up and b.u.t.ton down. Playtime is over.”Buddy met the column about a mile north of the town. ”The outlaws say we don't have the right to come in here and tell them what to do, Father. Texas Jim said, and I'm quoting directly here: ”There ain't no government and there ain't no laws, and just 'cause your name is Ben Raines that don't spell jack-s.h.i.+t to me.” his ”My, but he does coin a lovely phrase, doesn't he?”
”Yes. Very quaint.”
”Prisoners?”
”Not according to the man my team went in, pulled out, and questioned. They've had prisoners, slaves, but they just traded several dozen of them to another group of trash down the road. For drugs.”
”Where is this man?”
”He died.”
”I see. How unfortunate for him. How are the outlaws armed, son?”
”a.s.sault rifles, grenades, light mortars.
According to the thug we questioned, there are no SAM'S here or anywhere else in the zone.”
”Ben Raines!” The shout came pus.h.i.+ng out of huge speakers located at the edge of town. ”My name is Texas Jim, and I got this here to say to you and your soldier boys and girls. You beside' carry your a.s.ses on away from here, ”fore I decide to kick all your a.s.ses clear over into Arizona.”
The Rebels all shared a good laugh at that.
”Oh, my,” Ben said. ”Do you think we should run away and hide, son?”
”That thought did not enter my mind, Father.”
”Well, then, how do you suppose I should reply to his challenge?”
”I'm sure you'll think of some highly appropriate answer,” the young man said dryly.
”Ummm.” Ben feigned deep thought, then snapped his fingers. ”By golly, son, I think I've come up with something.”
”I knew you would. I have great faith in you, Father.”
”Thank you, son. Corrie, tell the tank commanders to crank up their 105's and start dropping in HE and incendiary rounds, please.”
Ben let the thunder roll and roar for five minutes, until the entire northern section of the town was blazing. Ben then moved the column up to within a few hundred yards of the edge of town. Buddy handed his father a bullhorn.
Ben lifted the horn to his lips. ”Now you listen to me, you redneck a.s.shole!” Ben's voice boomed over the short distance. ”You have three choices: stand and die, surrender, or cut and run.
Make up your mind, p.r.i.c.k!”
The elaborate speaker system of Texas Jim had been destroyed during the first salvo. Using a bullhorn, the outlaw screamed, ”I'll kill you someday, Raines! I swear on my mother's pitcher I'll cut your nuts off and do a diddy-wa-diddy on them, you son of a b.i.t.c.h!”
Ben lifted the bullhorn. ”You have one minuteto respond, armadillo-breath.”
Linda cut her eyes at him and started giggling.
”Armadillo-breath!”
Buddy was lying by the turret of a tank, behind sandbags, looking at the town through binoculars. ”There they go, Father,” he called. ”They're heading south.
I don't understand this, because we're going to have to fight them someday. Why not do it now and get it over with?”
Ben looked up at the young man. ”You know anything about herding cattle, son?”
”I can't say that I do.”
”I didn't either, until I started writing Westerns, years ago.” Ben winked at Linda and walked off.
Buddy jumped down from the tank. ”Now what in the h.e.l.l is he up to?”
”He'll tell us when he's ready,” Beth replied.
”I'm a-tellin” you, Banniger,” Texas Jim said to the outlaw at his headquarters just over the line at Yuma, ”Ben Raines is a-comin' and there ain't nothin' on this earth gonna stop him. He's a devil, man. A devil straight out of h.e.l.l.”
”He's a man, just like us. What we got to do is come up with a plan, Jim,” Banniger said.
”Mexico is no safe haven for us no more. Not since the people down there rose up and threw us all out.
G.o.dd.a.m.n greasers. Who'd have thought them stupid peasants would ever do something like that?”
”We can't stop them Rebels, Banniger.
They're outnumbered ten, twelve to one over in southern California, and they're steady kickin'
a.s.s.”
”I know,” Banniger said.
”Well, what the h.e.l.l is we gonna do then!”
”We do some thinking, Jim. That's all we can do.”
”We're picking up a lot of transmissions in Spanish, General,” Ben was informed. ”Garcia is translating and he says there has been a major revolution in Mexico. The people have risen up and reclaimed their country. They're redistributing land and power and are picking up the pieces and putting their country back together.” He paused. ”They are patterning their laws after the laws being set up in this country by one General Ben Raines.”
”It was only a matter of time,” Ben said, sugaring his coffee. ”We've known there were many survivors down there, and they knew we were up here. But so far, they have not asked for our help. Advise them that we will lend a hand if they need it. And also ask the commanders if they would help us if we request it.”
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