Chapter 30
Delburg
The Gofinns were only in secluded pockets. Captain Durand's Company was consolidating more and more of the town within their control. Citizens were coming out asking if they could help. Whenever an enemy weapons was captured, there were three Delburg inhabitants ready to use it on the Gofinns. Victory was only a matter of time.
Durand used Logan "Angel" Howard's Platoon to help set up an impromptu indigenous self defense force. The Delburg defense force hated the Gofinns with a passion after the way they were treated. So the Delburgians were at least emotionally ready for a fight with the Gofinns
Word got to Angel that a fresh batch of Gofinns from the Indiana Main Headquarters was heading toward the Delburg HQ. The Gofinn reinforcement group had at least two "technicals", a name given to a vehicle, usually a truck with a machine gun custom mounted on it. Then there were dozens of other troops with the technicals.
Angel had his own Platoon-B and about 20 field recruits who wanted some Gofinns to shoot at. Guardsmen Platoon-B was in the main commercial hub of Delburg, only a few buildings from the Commandoes. The tallest buildings were 3 stories high. He put all of the Delburg natives in one of the buildings. He used his own people to primarily protect the entrances of the building, and secondarily look for Gofinn targets.
As expected, the Gofinns moved ever closer. The technicals went slow enough so they did not get ahead of their foot soldiers.
The front technical had a mounted medium machinegun and was full of armed riders. As they pulled up, some of the Delburg Irregulars started firing. They fired way too soon for Angel's liking. Consequently, the technical only took a couple of casualties. The riders jumped out and took cover behind some cars on the opposite side of the street.
The second technical was manned with a heavy machinegun and was also full of riders, who bailed out when the shooting started. The heavy machinegun opened fire on the building, shooting at every window. The Delburg fighters took several casualties before the much more disciplined Crawfordton Guard started hitting easy targets.
The first technical's main gunner was hit and then the Ford S-10 caught on fire. Seeing this, the second technical started backing up as it was firing. The large number of Gofinn foot soldiers moved into closer positions.
Hearing all the action, the Elite 1 Commandos moved into the area, then some of the OC troops started moving into the pitched battle. Also some of the Shanesville Raiders contributed, who were alongside the dismounted Scouts. Any Gofinn movements anywhere in town were soon met with superior numbers.
The Delburg liberators were taking casualties, but the Gofinns were taking more. They underestimated the size and will of the OC Coalition and lacked a plan other than marching up the gauntlet of a lead firestorm.
The turning point seemed to be when the first technical's gas tank exploded. The Gofinns showed their morale under the withering fire and started pulling back in an organized retreat. Some of the Gofinns who were previously pinned down saw this as their chance to escape the situation and ran toward the retreating reinforcements.
As the Gofinns took casualties and pulled back, many of their weapons were captured by unarmed citizens. They risked their lives to be able to put the hurt on their overlords. They had three years of pent up hatred of the regime's tyrannical abuse of power.
As the Gofinns pulled out of town, the retreat became increasingly hasty. Soon they were on the run. Delburg had finally been liberated after previous attempts had failed.
But the liberated population did not have satisfaction. They chased the Gofinns all the way to the Indiana border, where they originally came from.
The Ohio Confederation did not authorize its military to cross any historical borders. Even when they were fighting the Axis, they stayed within Ohio. This was a view not shared by all, but was more likely a reflection of the limited strength of the Ohio Coalition Army.
The next day, in Crawfordton, Wesley Crawford was laid to rest, along with a couple a couple of the Platoon-B Guardsmen. There were several Guardsmen from various platoons who had received injuries in the two battles. As long as no infection set in while they recuperated in the clinic, they would be fine. There was not much they could do for such patients during those times compared to before the trouble.
Later that week, Rata noticed that the crops they had worked on around the house were being destroyed. Patrick and Elijah had no idea what was going on, so they went to ask Phil.
Phil and Ayanna over to the Farm after school. "Lookey here," Phil said, pointing to the ground.
Elijah said, "Some kind of track. Hoofed animal. So that's a deer?"
"Yep," Phil said, "that's what it is. Looks like a heavy one. Sunk real deep."
"Oh man!" Rata said. "Fresh meat! Let's go look for it now!"
"You mean 'hunt'?" Patrick laughed.
Rata said, "Seriously. What's the difference?"
Phil said, "Let me go home and get my 'looking' rifle."
Elijah said, "Sounds great. Let's go."
On the way back to the House, Phil asked Ayanna, "You going with us?"
"I don't know," she said.
"Why don't you know?"
"I'm a vegetarian. . .kinda."
Phil thought about it. "Yea, I guess you are. . .kinda. You only eat the broth, not actual meat. We just never had that much meat around for me to realize it. Why don't you come with us anyhow, it will be fun."
"Killing, for fun?"
"Okay. Why don't you come along and help feed your family?"
"Okay, but I want a rifle that can do the job, not some girly kid gun."
"Fine. I can help you out with that."
They got to the house and Phil gave Ayanna a vintage German Mauser. "This thing will kick so don't put your face on it." It had a bayonet with it, but Phil took it off.
Phil asked Jayden if he wanted to participate, he was excited about the prospect, but then Jayden said he couldn't because of security.
Ayanna found that lugging the heavy bolt-action rifle was a chore. She started to question why she was involved again, but participating was for Phil.
The hunters all returned to the scene of the crime. Elijah said, "I tracked the deer. It came from, and went back to that nearest woodlot." Elijah remembered the area in the Battle of Dan's Hill, which the Fortress was now built upon. It seemed so long ago now. Maybe it was just because so much had happened since those days.
"Good work, Elijah," Phil said. "This is like your typical Hexmen hunting tactics, except there are only a few of us, and the target cannot shoot back. If you three will go on the other side and flush the deer out, we'll take the shot. We just have to make sure we don't shoot any of our own."
So Elijah, Patrick, and Rata went around to the other side of the small woodlot with their weapons while Phil and Ayanna got into position.
"This is boring," Ayanna said.
"It can be," Phil said, "but you have to think of the glory of getting the kill."
Ayanna made a face of disbelief."
"You think you can hit a deer with that thing?"
"Maybe."
They waited quite awhile. Ayanna was thinking back on her trip to hunt Hexmen. She remembered the smell . . ."Phil!"
"What?!"
"Phil! I smell Hexmen!"
"What?!" Phil said, wondering what to do. "Do we need to get outta here?"
"I think so. . .Hey! Look!"
Phil saw a massive overgrown feral hog come charging out of the woodlot.
"It's coming right at us!" Ayanna said.
"Breathe. Take a shot," Phil said.
The hog came charging in a straight line.
"Is it gonna attack?" Ayanna said.
"Just hit it."
The big pig was getting uncomfortably close.
BAM! It was a hit with the high powered round. But the hog kept charging, almost as if nothing had happened to it. Ayanna dropped her rifle and started running.
POW! POW! POW! Phil finished the job with his semi-automatic AR-15, thought by gun banners not to be useful as a hunting rifle.
Ayanna turned back and was breathing hard. She was ready to cry. "I turned and ran. I should have re-chambered another round. an put it into its skull."
Phil said, "Not many have that kind of nerve, darlin'. That's why I like the AR-15. I can miss and shoot again right away. Nice shot, by the way. It would have died from that wound later anyhow. So you get the kill. Good job."
A tear ran down her face. "That was really intense." She went over to the dead animal and was smelling it. "It does smell a lot like the Hexmen. I won't forget the difference though."
Phil chuckled. "Yep, lots of boredom and a short period of intensity."
The other three came out of the woods.
"Hell! Yes!" Rata said.
Patrick said, "Woooo! Ayanna! Bringin' home the damn bacon!"
Elijah said, "We gonna party tonight!"
They set up a barbeque pit that night and roasted the massive animal. It took a gang of men to lift up the pig onto the custom made spit. There was enough pork on the 600 pound monster to give a portion to anyone who wandered by the House. The lard was saved. The nasty pigskin was saved.
Everyone loved the meat. Even Ayanna ate a bit and had to admit it was tasty.
"Hey Phil," Rata said.
"What?"
"There's something wrong with this meat."
"Not from where I'm sitting. I'm liking this real well."
"Yea. . . but this deer meat tastes just like pork. What's up with that?"
Those who knew the story started laughing. Ayanna laughed a laugh that she would remember forever. Just the idea of Phil being wrong about something like that was a hoot.
Phil made it even more funny by playing the victim and trying to recover saying deer meat was "venison" and that the tracks look the same.
Elijah said, "I'm just a black guy from Detroit. It looks like a deer to me."
They started busting their guts laughing again. Then everyone had to come up with some kind of quip for Phil or themselves.
Ayanna said, "You can't pick on Phil too much, before this hog came out of the woods, I thought it smelled like a Hexman."
They stopped chewing and looked seriously at each other, then the subdued snorts and chuckles turned into guffaws of laughter again. They all looked at Ayanna in the eyes with approval.
Ayanna had never felt more accepted into the Community. Telling jokes on oneself was a good way to build empathy with people. That fact was not in the Bible, or Art of War, or any other book. It was just something a person had to find out on their own.
Amy looked at Ella. "Do you understand any of this?"
Ella had her mouth full of pork. She shook her head and clearly didn't care.