William W Johnstone - Ashes 16

Author:Vengance in the Ashes
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-08-09T13:50:49+00:00

183

Ben took one look and knew these men had come to fight. Ned Hawkins had not only trained them in combat skills, but also in military discipline. The men all stood at rigid attention. And while they were all driving pickup trucks, these trucks were not quite the garden variety.

The trucks were all four-wheel drive with high clearance. They had been repainted in earth tones to blend in. In the back of the trucks, heavy machine guns had been mounted and the sidewalls built up for maximum protection. The windshield had been replaced and could now be lowered on one side or the other, or both sides down.

“I knew a good ol’ boy who used to bulletproof cars for a living,” Hawkins said. “We went to his shop-‘way out in the boonies-and reworked these babies. They won’t stop a rocket, but they’ll stop anything else fired from small arms. Except for a Haskins .50 caliber, incendiary-tipped. You got any of those, General?”

“Every one that was ever made, I believe,” Ben replied.

Ned grinned. “I figured you would. You people

184 took everything that wasn’t nailed down.”

“Still doing it,” Ben said, returning the grin. “But we also have a .50 caliber rifle that fires the same round but in automatic. Uses twenty-round clips. It’s a real jewel.”

“I bet it is! Come on. Meet the boys.”

Ben met several Jim Bobs and Joe Bills, a couple of Bubbas, and Cooter and Scooter. There was not a single Tex in the bunch. Neb Hawkins’s Texas Rangers-twenty-first-century style-were a combat-ready bunch. But they made it clear from the outset that they had plenty of respect for the Rebels.

“Any of your men married, Ned?”

“Some of them. What to do with the ladies is sort of a problem.”

“They’ll be safe at Base Camp One. We’ll fly them over there. Providing you all polygraph or PSE in without a hitch.”

Ned chuckled. “We all expected that, General. I’ll personally shoot any man who flunks it. I can’t abide a goddamned traitor.”

Ben looked at the man. “I really believe you would.”

“Oh, you can believe it. Like I told you, sir, we fight under two flags: Old Glory-or what passes for it now-and the flag of Texas. Any man who’d betray either one of them doesn’t deserve anything but a bullet or a hangman’s noose.”

Teams of doctors and polygraph and PSE operators were flown in and every one of the Rangers passed the grueling tests. The Rebels all knew the Texas men would fit right in when Ned winked at Ben and called to a man nicknamed Slim. Slim looked like a strong gust of wind would blow him away. But Ben correctly assumed that Slim was all whang-leather, gristle and bone and rawhide tough.

185 “Yes, sir, Colonel?” Slim said.

“I hate to tell you this, Slim,” Ned said with a straight face. “But I got to shoot you.”

“Shoot me! What the hell for?”

“Or maybe you’d rather be hanged. They tell me that’s a good, fast way to go.”

“Hang! Hell, no!” Slim hollered. “What’s happened, Colonel?”

“You failed all your tests, boy.

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