Demon:
With the women, Mitch, and the kids in the panic room, we hurried into our places. One of the guys rolled out the big surprise Anderson had brought us. It was a M-2 machine gun. Those of us who’d been in the military were very familiar with it. He’d also added a few other things to our arsenal—ones I was going to see if we could keep. He brought us M-72s which were single-use high-penetration round rockets and its big brother, the AT-4. This one had different rounds you could use—high explosives, high explosive anti-tank, and high-penetration rounds. While single use as well, they were the shit. For more longevity, he’d brought us grenade launchers that we could keep reusing. The HEDP—high explosive dual purpose—ones were able to pierce light armor.
In addition, we had our own stock of automatic and semi-automatic guns. My sniper rifle, the Mark 11, designated marksman rifle, I’d used while in the Corps. She and I had worked together for a long time. She was like an extension of my arm.
I saw others strapped down with their weapons. We’d all donned Kevlar vests. We had no idea what the enemy would have access to. As I was looking around, red streaks came soaring over the wall. I recognized them. They were M79 Thumpers. A grenade launcher that shot out rounds to mainly shoot red smoke. The red smoke was used to conceal movement or as a marker. In this case, I think they were hoping it would distract us.
The rat-a-tat of rapid fire was heard. A few of the cartel guys had scaled the walls using ladders. They were staying well back from the electrified razor wire we had at the top. The wire wasn’t always live, but tonight we’d used it. I could hear screaming as shots found their mark. I grinned in satisfaction.
The next several minutes were a world of explosions, lights, and booming of the guns. No way we’d keep the local cops from hearing this. Good thing Bull had warned police chief Scarelli what was likely to be coming. He’d keep the police safely away. I prayed no one else would come to investigate.
An earth-shaking boom had the metal reinforced gate blown half away. Shit, they had high explosive rounds too. With the gate compromised, this allowed men to pour into the compound. I ran up to aim for the first one who came into my field of vision. As I did, I heard a yell, “Clear a hole to the gate.” I scattered like my brothers. Then I heard the M-2 firing. It mowed them down like they were weeds. A few got out of the way. We easily took them down. It was over quickly.
“Come here, Demon,” Payne yelled. I saw him standing over a guy on the ground. I hurried over to him. He pointed to the guy. I looked down and saw the face of the guy Anderson had shared with us. It was Jefe Nunez himself. He was gut shot and dying. He glared up at me.
“You thought she’d be easy to take, didn’t you? We protect our own, especially from scum like you. Your little gang is done for, Nunez. We’ll make sure to mop up any stragglers.”
He spit at me. “Fuck you, pendejo.” I laughed as he closed his eyes and died.
“Let’s check and be sure we don’t have any stragglers. Then we’ll get Doc to look at anyone who needs help.” Payne nodded. We circled the yard, checking in with our guys. There were a few with wounds, but nothing critical. Anyone they found alive had been dispatched. Ten minutes later, we were looking at a yard littered with bodies. I sure hope Anderson could help us get rid of these.
I turned to go get Zara, only to see her running toward me. Jinx was behind her. He must have gotten her. She flew into my arms and started hugging and kissing me. I kissed her back.
“Calm down, baby. I’m fine. A few of the guys need to be checked out. Nothing serious,” I reassured her. Tears ran down her face.
“Oh my God, that was terrible. I love you, Luca.”
“I love you too, Hellion. Let’s get this mess cleaned up. Then I want to go to bed and make love to my woman.” She grinned. I let her go over to one of the guys. As she checked him out, I took off my Kevlar vest and headed toward the gate which was close by. I wanted to see what the damage was.
As I approached it, I saw a man step through the mangled door. He held a gun in his hand. His face was twisted up in rage. He was aiming that gun at me. I didn’t have time to say anything or pull my handgun. He pulled the trigger, and I felt red-hot pain burst through my gut. I heard Zara scream as I fell, and everything grew dark. I then heard the pop of another gun going off and then nothing.