door. Someone’s here . He and Cameron woke everyone else up quietly and I crawled forward with the two of them to the railing, expecting the worst.
Instead we watched in stunned curiosity as four large white men in overalls staggered through the front of the dark store with as much grace as a grizzly bear in a butcher shop. Through our night vision gear and scopes we could tell they were each armed with hunting rifles or shotguns and were headed directly for the gun section of the store. They began collecting more weapons and didn’t seem to have any idea we were here. We could hear them talking now. More Americans? They moved about with ease and seemed to know the layout of the store. Clearly they’d shopped here before. There were doomsday preppers throughout the country. Who knew how many of them had actually survived? Either these guys fit that bill, or they were simply as lucky as we were to have somehow been beyond the chemical impact radius during the attack. It didn’t matter. They weren’t doing anything to mask their activities or heat signatures, and if anyone else had followed them here we all could be in danger. As thrilled as we were to have run into more survivors, we decided we were safest staying hidden. Danny crept down the stairs to the back door and peeked out enough to see two trucks parked in back, motors running, and both with at least one passenger behind the wheel. He came back and reported to us. This was not good. They were being far too careless .
Cameron moved the group into two military-grade tents back in the corner. U.S. forces used these tents to avoid heat signature and overhead radar detection. Danny had brought one up to the cabin last fall, and we felt invisible while hunting in them. Animals would come right up to the tent without knowing we were there. It was almost an unfair advantage. As if all the other tech toys we use aren’t . If it worked on animals and their senses, it probably worked just as well on humans. We were fortunate Cabela’s had a few. It was a fair advantage now.
Danny signaled Cameron to follow him back to the glass wall of the aquarium. As they reached the wall and relocated the four men, one of them shouted, “Mark, we’ve gotta go. Now, man!” We heard them crash through the store towards the back door and open it. Seconds later, the back of the store was rocked with a pair of explosions. Just what we were afraid of. Someone else was here.
TEN: “Hitting the Fan”
When the five Qi Jia companies arrived in Grand Forks around midnight, they set up camp at the Grand Forks Air Force Base a few miles west of town. Several men raided the local liquor sources and brought plenty of alcohol back for the large groups of soldiers settling around fresh-built fires. They were content to party a little tonight before heading out on their mission in the morning.
Eddie couldn’t wait. He sent four three-man patrols out on quick recon assessments. He listened to the accounts of dead bodies his men found everywhere, and marveled at the comprehensive effectiveness of Qi Jia’s attack. He was curious if there were any surviving Americans around at all, as eager as the rest of his men for some form of action. Perhaps even a little too eager.
When one of the patrols pulled into the Cabela’s parking lot around 4 a.m., their THIRST screen picked up two large heat signals behind the store, and after a closer scan, some additional movement inside. As the movement inside the store headed towards the back door, the soldiers moved in. When the four men emerged from the back of the store, the soldiers fired RPGs at the trucks, exploding them both and taking out two of the four men who had come out the back. The other two reversed course into the store, and the Qi Jia troops followed, unaware there were others inside. A close personal friend of Captain Eddie’s, Markus Malik, radioed to the other patrols to inform them they had found survivors and were in pursuit.
Instead we watched in stunned curiosity as four large white men in overalls staggered through the front of the dark store with as much grace as a grizzly bear in a butcher shop. Through our night vision gear and scopes we could tell they were each armed with hunting rifles or shotguns and were headed directly for the gun section of the store. They began collecting more weapons and didn’t seem to have any idea we were here. We could hear them talking now. More Americans? They moved about with ease and seemed to know the layout of the store. Clearly they’d shopped here before. There were doomsday preppers throughout the country. Who knew how many of them had actually survived? Either these guys fit that bill, or they were simply as lucky as we were to have somehow been beyond the chemical impact radius during the attack. It didn’t matter. They weren’t doing anything to mask their activities or heat signatures, and if anyone else had followed them here we all could be in danger. As thrilled as we were to have run into more survivors, we decided we were safest staying hidden. Danny crept down the stairs to the back door and peeked out enough to see two trucks parked in back, motors running, and both with at least one passenger behind the wheel. He came back and reported to us. This was not good. They were being far too careless .
Cameron moved the group into two military-grade tents back in the corner. U.S. forces used these tents to avoid heat signature and overhead radar detection. Danny had brought one up to the cabin last fall, and we felt invisible while hunting in them. Animals would come right up to the tent without knowing we were there. It was almost an unfair advantage. As if all the other tech toys we use aren’t . If it worked on animals and their senses, it probably worked just as well on humans. We were fortunate Cabela’s had a few. It was a fair advantage now.
Danny signaled Cameron to follow him back to the glass wall of the aquarium. As they reached the wall and relocated the four men, one of them shouted, “Mark, we’ve gotta go. Now, man!” We heard them crash through the store towards the back door and open it. Seconds later, the back of the store was rocked with a pair of explosions. Just what we were afraid of. Someone else was here.
TEN: “Hitting the Fan”
When the five Qi Jia companies arrived in Grand Forks around midnight, they set up camp at the Grand Forks Air Force Base a few miles west of town. Several men raided the local liquor sources and brought plenty of alcohol back for the large groups of soldiers settling around fresh-built fires. They were content to party a little tonight before heading out on their mission in the morning.
Eddie couldn’t wait. He sent four three-man patrols out on quick recon assessments. He listened to the accounts of dead bodies his men found everywhere, and marveled at the comprehensive effectiveness of Qi Jia’s attack. He was curious if there were any surviving Americans around at all, as eager as the rest of his men for some form of action. Perhaps even a little too eager.
When one of the patrols pulled into the Cabela’s parking lot around 4 a.m., their THIRST screen picked up two large heat signals behind the store, and after a closer scan, some additional movement inside. As the movement inside the store headed towards the back door, the soldiers moved in. When the four men emerged from the back of the store, the soldiers fired RPGs at the trucks, exploding them both and taking out two of the four men who had come out the back. The other two reversed course into the store, and the Qi Jia troops followed, unaware there were others inside. A close personal friend of Captain Eddie’s, Markus Malik, radioed to the other patrols to inform them they had found survivors and were in pursuit.
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