Free The Fall of America: Premonition of Death by W.R. Benton Page B

know where they are?" I asked, suspecting they were in the house.
    "In the house, or that's where the last man I saw moved to get away from my buckshot."
    I moved to the battery on the floor near the table and picked up the wires to the napalm bomb we still had in my old home. I attached one wire and then said, "Move below the window, because I'm going to set this thing off. As soon as the blast is complete, get up quickly and cover the window again. Ready?"
    "Ready!"
    I attached the second wire, but heard no explosion. I unhooked the wires and move to the second battery, only again there was no blast. They've cut the wires, I thought and moved to the door.
    "What happened?" Sandra asked, still kneeling below the window.
    "They've either cut the wires or the batteries are dead."
    "What now?"
    At that exact moment, I heard an engine start and it didn't sound good. I recognized it almost immediately."They have a tractor or bulldozer!"
    "Good God, a bulldozer would be like a tank, right?"
    "If the blade is raised, we'll not hit the driver and you can be sure they'll have men moving in close behind it." I attempted to sound calm, but I felt fear deep in my gut.
    "What can we do?"
    I didn't answer, but stood deep in thought, until finally, "Get Sue ready to move. First I want you to saddle the horses and that includes one for Tom. We'll wait until we know for sure what we're facing, but if it's a dozer, we'll have to go out the back."
    "She can't be moved!"
    "By damn, she will be! I'll not leave her here to be used and then killed by these animals. Now, do as I said!"
    It was rare I lost my temper, but I had nothing to stop a dozer, and if Sue died as we moved, then it was out of my control. Only I'd not leave her, because I knew even unconscious they'd rape her. Less than fifteen minutes later, I glanced and saw the horses were ready to go. Looking out the door again, I saw an exhaust pipe exhaling a thin column of black smoke as a dozer rounded the corner of my house, heading right for us. My gut tightened, and I fired a shot just to let them know we were still here.
    I yelled, "It's a dozer! Go to the back door and if you have to make room, move the empty drums. They're not heavy and I only had them there so I could hear if someone tried to enter. I'll tie Sue to a horse!"
    Looking back at the dozer, I saw the blade was up, and nothing could be seen behind it. I squeezed off another round, and then moved to our backpacks. I quickly put mine on and then moved to Sue. She was either unconscious or asleep, but I waited for Sandra, knowing Dolly would warn me before anyone entered the barn.
    Just as I finished tying Sue to the horse and securing the three backpacks to saddle horns, I heard two shots strike the barn and saw Sandra running toward me. As she neared she said, "Raining harder now and the sky is almost black! How do you want to do this?"
    "Take Dolly with you, but go out the back and move South into the trees. I want you to travel about a quarter mile, to the fence line and wait for me there."
    "What about you?"
    "Move! I'll explain later!"
    As Sandra led the horses out the back door, I moved to the loft, where I could see much better. Even with the hard rain I counted over twenty men behind the dozer, and smiled as I pulled the last two Molotov cocktails from a shabby table. I might not be able to stop them from taking my place, but there'd be fewer of them to enjoy what I've worked hard to keep. It was then I heard two loud shots behind the barn and began to worry about Sandra. She's on her own, because I've got my hands full right now.
    When the dozer got to within twenty feet of the barn, I ignited the rags in both bottles and kicked the loft door open. I threw the fire bomb from my right hand, hard, and saw it explode into flames on the dozer, about a foot in front of the driver, who was immediately covered in the inferno. I think my move surprised them, because no one seemed to realize where the danger lay. I