Eli and the Blue Star

By Xlibris US

This book ELI and the BLUE STAR is a spin off from this authors previous book ELI. In the book ELI, the United States was attacked with Nuclear weapons delivered by countries that have long awaited to deliver death and destruction upon the U.S.

The character ELI and the men that follow him take the fight to the enemy that invade us. These men are those that would be responsible for turning things around in our favor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499008302

Book preview

Eli

and the

Blue Star

Charles F. David

Copyright © 2014 by Charles F. David.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014907805

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 05/21/2014

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1: Slow-Moving Stream

Chapter 2: In Their Gut

Chapter 3: Only A Mule

Chapter 4: Check Out

Chapter 5: Look-See

Chapter 6: One Hell Of A Night

Chapter 7: On Top Of Things

Chapter 8: Blue Eyes

Chapter 9: Warning Shot

Chapter 10: Broken Arrow Ranch

Chapter 11: Trigger Happy

Chapter 12: Chill Out

Chapter 13: White Eagle

Chapter 14: Bury The Hatchet

Chapter 15: San Diego

Chapter 16: After Dark

Chapter 17: Without Him

Chapter 18: Standing There

Chapter 19: Break Loose

Chapter 20: Keep Down And Stay Low

Chapter 21: Too Damn Many

Chapter 22: All For It

Chapter 23: Under Way

Chapter 24: Wake-Up Call

Chapter 25: Rear Guard

Chapter 26: Wise To Us

Chapter 27: Blood Trail

Chapter 28: Cover Fire

Chapter 29: Go Into Action

Chapter 30: Think About This

Chapter 31: Let’s Hear It

Chapter 32: Stop Them

Chapter 33: Scope It Out

Chapter 34: Out Of Range

Chapter 35: Back On The Trail

Chapter 36: Crossing

Chapter 37: Take A Look

Chapter 38: Sasquatch

Chapter 39: Get Off The Trail

Chapter 40: End It All

Chapter 41: Out Of The Fire

Chapter 42: Blue Star

COVER ILLUSTRATIONS BY:

D.E. FERGUSON

DEDICATION

T his book is dedicated to the men and women in our armed forces that fight for this great country of ours. To those that fight and die for the freedom we sometimes take for granted.

The future of the United States and the world, precarious as it is, could lead us into World War III. If and when this happens, we will all need to take the fight to our enemy, whoever they may be.

INTRODUCTION

T his book, Eli and the Blue Star, is a spin-off from the author’s book Eli .

In the book, the character Eli is an ex-Navy Seal that had put in his time and returned to his home in the hills of Idaho. Eli was thrown from his quite laid-back world into a time of confusion and uncertainty.

North Korea and China, along with other old enemies, had attacked the United States with nuclear weapons. Eli’s world is now thrown back in time a hundred years from his time. The way he and others would learn to fight would be like his ancestors had, sometimes with primitive weapons and on horseback.

With no radio contact with the outside world, Eli and his small group of men head toward the closest populated city, Helena Montana, to sort things out. Up to this point, they have no idea who has attacked the United States. Once there, they go up against the North Koreans, airborne troops who drop out of the sky into their midst. Along the way, they also learn that China is in on what went down.

After days of fighting and losing men along the way, Eli decides to head toward San Diego, California. His destination is the Navy Seal base on Coronado Island. Once there, he hopes to learn if the base is operational and hopefully the whereabouts of his brother Jay Brady, also a Navy Seal, who was on active duty when the attack on the United States took place.

This is where the book Eli and the Blue Star has its start, the beginning of what could be the end.

CHAPTER 1

Eli and the Blue Star

SLOW-MOVING STREAM

A new day is about to dawn. Eli and the men that follow him are about to head into the unknown. They are gearing up to leave their mountaintop sanctuary and head west to California. Their goal is to see if San Diego is still on the map with the U.S. Navy Seal base on Coronado Island operational. They need to find where the U.S. planes are based that are regularly hitting the enemy truck convoys.

With all this to accomplish, their leader Eli needs to seek out and find the whereabouts of his brother Jay. His brother was an active duty Seal when the United States was attacked. They would have a long journey to put behind them before any of their desires could hopefully be realized. The time had come to get under way.

Josh, are the men ready to shove off? We need to hit the trail and burn some daylight. San Diego and the Seal base on Coronado are a long way off.

The men are ready to jump into whatever the hell is out there, Eli. They, the same as you, want to know what this country has gotten into. I hope the hell it’s only the Chinese and the North Koreans that have attacked us.

"You better hope that’s all we have to look forward to, Josh. I don’t know how many troops the North Koreans had, but I do know there’s probably a billion screaming Chinese out there someplace. I think between the both of them, it will be enough to handle. Let’s hope they are the only ones involved in this mess. If the Russians got in on all this, it might be more than the United States can handle. Remember that flick that came out a few years ago? I think the title was Red Dawn. In that movie, the Cubans and the Russians hit us. I think we won the war in that movie. I hope the hell we win this one. If we lose, you’ll be speaking Russian or Korean. Did you put the Indian out on point?"

You can bet your ass I did. He’s kept us out of trouble so far. I’m counting on him to keep it up. That Indian is your lucky charm, Eli. Joe will keep us on the straight and narrow. He’ll keep us from walking into something.

I’m hoping the North Koreans and the Chinese are all we have to worry about on this trip, Josh. There could be a lot out there that we don’t expect to see. Remember that bunch we ran into on our way in to Helena, the ones that we came across on the kid’s ranch that tried to take our horses from us? More than likely, there are probably a lot more just like them out there waiting to hassle us. We had to fight and kill the lot of them to get them off our back. It’s a bitch when you have to take on your own countrymen.

Well, all we can do is watch our step and hope that things don’t shake out that way, Eli. I guess all we can do is take it as it comes and hope for the best. I for one will be glad when we make it to San Diego. When I can smell the salt air and hear the sound of the surf roll in, I’ll be one happy SOB. Let’s hope we find the Seal base on Coronado up and running.

My thoughts to a T, Josh. If the base is operational, they’ll be able to tell me if Jay survived the attack and where I can find him. My gut tells me he’s still alive. I hope the hell I’m right. I need that more than anything.

With Eli there to guide them, twenty riders were now on their way heading down the mountain they all called home. Some of them leaving loved ones behind to fend for themselves, eighteen men and two young women all eager to do whatever it takes to reach San Diego, all on horseback strung out along the trail.

Josh, did you check to see that the men loaded enough ammo and supplies for this journey? Will the packhorses make it with what they have to carry to get us through?

Took care of it personally. Each man will have two hundred rounds of ammo at his disposal. Carrying any more than that will slow us down to a crawl. If we need more than that, it will be because we’re in a bad neighborhood. That will be the kind of place we’ll need to stay out of. We can always scrounge more ammo along the way, if need be. At least I hope we can. We’ll be all right, Eli.

A hundred rounds isn’t very much, Josh. Hell, we could go through that just being in one skirmish. If we make enemy contact like we have in the past, we could wind up wishing we had more.

We’ll do like we have in the past, Eli. We’ll take it from the Gooks after we kick their ass. It will give the men incentive to fight and win. I told the Indian to rein up when we’re ten miles out to take our first break. I also told him to stay clear of the main road.

Good thinking, Josh. We need to stay as far from that road as possible. Our planes seem to be keeping a sharp eye on any movement they see using it. If we get caught down there in the open, we could wind up like those enemy convoys, shot up and out of commission. If and when we run out of supplies, that’s when we’ll chance it. The vehicle traffic that got stopped down there when this all started could be a source of things we might need before this trip is over. I’ll bet there’s a string of trucks as far as the eye can see. Those trucks will be where we’ll pick up odds and ends that we can put to good use. Check your map, Josh, and see if you can pinpoint our first stop. We’ll need to stay away from the big cities and only stop long enough in the small towns to check them out.

The first day on the trail was uneventful. They were close to ten miles out and were ready to take their first break of the day. At the time, things looked to be going well. Eli, at the head of the column, could see the Indian off his horse under a tree in the shade and out of the sun that was now high overhead.

Josh, there’s Joe up ahead. I guess we’ve put the first ten miles of this trip behind us. I hope the next ten miles goes as smoothly as these ten miles have. When we stop, check out the men and see how things are going.

The going had been slow but steady. When Josh checked out the men, he found that one of the packhorses had picked up a rock and was about to come up lame. Josh made his way to where the men with the packhorse were off their mounts, checking out the animal.

What’s happening back here? Don’t tell me one of the packhorses is ready to cave in? What happened to him?

This packhorse picked up a rock back there someplace, Josh. He was about to come up lame when we realized it. How do you want us to handle it?

Well, he’s had it. He’ll be of no use to us now. Distribute his load and place it on the other packhorses. Turn him loose. He’ll find his way back home or wind up a meal for a pack of wolves. Move up with the rest of the column and take a break. There’s a stream up ahead. You can water the horses there. I’ll give Eli the bad news.

The day the men thought was going off without a hitch was about to change. With one of the packhorses down, the loss would burden the others that would need to pick up the slack. It would slow the column down considerably. Josh was quick to lay the bad news in Eli’s lap.

Bad news, Eli. We just had a problem thrown at us.

What’s going on at the rear of the column, Josh? What’s all the commotion back there? What’s slowing us down? If we don’t pick up the pace, we’ll never get to San Diego.

One of the packhorses came up lame, Eli. I had the men offload the supplies he was carrying and split it between the others. He was loaded down with the ammo. Guess it was more than he could handle. I had them turn the animal loose. He’ll find his way home.

That’s going to really screw us up, Josh. One packhorse less will slow us down to a crawl. Joe, what’s the chance of us picking up another horse along the way?

Can’t say, Eli. All I can do is keep an eye out for a stray that might be wandering around out here. I’ll see what I can do.

The first day on the trail was starting to have its problems. Losing one of the packhorses would surely overburden the others that would now be carrying more than they should. They would have to come up with a replacement to solve the problem that was now facing them. The scout would try to find the horse they badly needed.

Eli, while you and the men are taking a break, I’ll scout ahead to see what we can expect. You might want to try that trout stream. There’s a few fish in that creek big enough to fill a few bellies. If you have any luck, save a few bites for me. I’ll get back by the time you’re ready to leave. Don’t leave without me.

After the Indian left, Josh got with Eli. Eli, that Indian can get pretty squirrely at times. Does he think we’re going to be here long enough to catch him a fish dinner? We’ll need to get back on the trail soon to make up the time we’re going to lose not having that packhorse we lost.

Cool it, Josh. Another hour won’t kill us. Just make us a little off on our time table. Knowing that Indian the way I do, I expect him to find that horse we’ll be needing. Cut him some slack. He’ll surprise us and come through with what we need sooner or later.

I suppose you’re right, Eli. Maybe I’ll go drop a line in that creek and see what I come up with. The thought of catching a few nice trout is starting to get my attention. If you need me, you know where to find me.

Josh resigned to the fact that they were not going anywhere until the Indian got back and walked down to the trout stream to try his luck. His thoughts now were about catching a stringer of fish to take back, to put on a stick to cook over the fire the men had built in anticipation of him making a score.

As he walked along the stream’s edge, he began to notice what looked to be traces of blood floating on top of the slow-moving water going in his direction. After taking a closer look, he realized that’s what it was. Startled for a moment, he decided to check out its source. He yelled to a man that was on the opposite side of the stream, who was in the process of filling a water bag. You over there, stop what you are doing. I think we have a problem that needs solving. I believe that is blood that’s swirling around on top of the water in front of you. I wouldn’t fill that water bag until I get a chance to look up its source. Cool it until I give you the word one way or the other.

Josh now took off and headed upstream in the direction the blood was coming from. Armed with only a Colt 45 on his hip, his first thought was to go back to where he left his horse and get the old rifle out of the scabbard that held it. Thinking it over, he decided to keep moving to track down the source of what he thought was blood. He hoped that he would not regret the decision he had made to forgo the trip back to pick up the Winchester.

As he moved along the water’s edge, he began to notice a blood trail that was easy to see on the rocks that lined the stream. He now decided to unholster his side arm and hold it at the ready.

As he approached a bend in the creek, he noticed a boot that was on a man’s leg that was lying in the water. A huge rock hid the upper part of the man’s body. He had found the source of the blood that was floating freely on the waters of the—SLOW-MOVING STREAM.

CHAPTER 2

IN THEIR GUT

W ith his 45 now out of its holster and in his hand, Josh stopped to take a closer look at the man’s leg that was lying in the stream. It didn’t take him long to realize that the boot was on the foot of an enemy soldier. He slowly made his way around the boulder that hid his enemy from full view. As he cautiously approached, he found a wounded half-dead Chinese trooper. The man, almost gone from loss of blood, looked up at Josh with a look of despair written across his face.

Next to the dying man lay a Chinese burp gun that he tried to reach. The half-dead Chinese soldier rolled over and went for the weapon. Josh, realizing he was about to take a Chinese bullet, raised his 45 colt and emptied a full clip into the dying man. This brought Eli and the others running to check out the gunfire.

Josh, what the hell is going on? What the hell was all that shooting about?

Came across this half-dead Chink, Eli. The son of a bitch went for that burp gun lying over there so I let him have it. Found the Chink lying in the creek, bleeding out. Somebody got to him before I came across him, screwed him up pretty bad. We need to spread out to see if there are any more like him taking cover along this creek.

Eli gave the word to spread out to look for other enemy troops that could be there hiding out. It wasn’t long before they came across more of them that were as dead as the one Josh had put a bullet in.

Josh, over here. We found more dead Chinks. There are six more lying over here, deader than a door nail. Looks like somebody used them for target practice. They look like they were knocked off sometime ago. They’re as stiff as a board.

Josh looked them over before calling Eli over to where they were found. Eli, you need to have a look-see. The men found a few more just as dead as the one I took out. They look like they were taken out with automatic weapons’ fire. You don’t suppose there are friendlies in the neighborhood? This one looks like he was taken out at close range. These Chinks could have walked into an ambush.

If that’s the case, Josh, there’s a good chance we could run into them. Let’s hope they don’t take us for bad guys. One thing, whoever it is sure knows what they are doing. These dead Chinks never knew what hit them.

As the men looked over the dead enemy, another discovery was made. Off to the side under a lone tree was a freshly dug grave. A makeshift cross marked the location of the gravesite. Hanging from the cross was a single dog tag. Eli was again summoned.

Eli, here’s something that might interest you. We found one of the friendlies that might have been responsible for taking out those Chinks over there. He’s as dead as those Chinks that were taken out. I found this dog tag hanging from that cross that marks his resting place. Looks like he was a Navy Seal lieutenant by the name of D. E. Cummings.

Give it here. That name strikes a bell. If my memory serves me, I’ve heard that name before. Seems like I heard my brother Jay mention him a time or two. I think he and Jay put in some time together. This is starting to get real interesting. It proves one thing: there are Navy Seals still out there kicking Chink ass. Put it back on that marker. His buddies will more than likely be back for him if they survive. I wish the hell we could wait here for them to return.

Josh came up with an idea and passed it on to Eli. Why don’t we leave something of ours with the lieutenant’s tag? This would be a good chance to let whoever returns to pick up the lieutenant’s remains know that we are out here.

Hell of an idea, Josh. What should we leave? We can’t make it too obvious in case the Chinks find it before our guys do. The less the enemy knows about our presence, the better.

The Indian standing nearby, taking it all in, came up with an idea of what to leave behind to get the attention of those who might return. Eli, I’ve got just the thing that could do it. I’ve got a deck of cards that has an ace of spades in it. In fact, all the cards in the deck are the ace of spades. We could leave one of the cards behind. I’m sure that would do the trick.

How the hell will that work? What the hell will the ace of spades do to let the Seals know that there are friendlies out here? Where did you come up with a deck of cards with all aces in it?

The cards were given to me years ago, Eli. I’ve been carrying them around ever since, wondering what I would ever do with them. I was told they used them in Nam. Remember that war way back that this country of ours got tangled up in? It was the GI’s calling card. They would drop them on the dead Cong after they took them out. Believe it or not, my grandfather fought in that war. That’s where the cards came from. When I was growing up back on the reservation, I listened to him and a few others talk all about it. If we leave one of the cards on the lieutenant’s grave, I’m sure the Seals will understand what it’s all about. Vietnam didn’t happen that long ago. They’ll come away knowing that they are not the only Americans out here fighting this screwed-up war. The Chinks will never pick up on it.

Good thinking. It might just work. I think whoever finds that card will know that it was left by someone that’s on their side of the fence, fighting on their side. Hell of an idea using the ace of spades as a calling card. Never knew you were a history buff, Joe.

When the Indian left to place the ace of spades on the lieutenant’s grave, Eli had something to say about it all. Josh, that Indian never ceases to amaze me. He comes up with some off-the-wall shit sometimes. I would have never thought of using the ace of spades as a conduit. I always looked at the ace of spades as the death card. Turns out that it has something to do with life after death.

Like I said many times before, Eli, that Indian is your lucky charm. He had to have been sent to us by the big guy upstairs. Maybe the Blue Star has something to do with it. That’s the only explanation I have for it. When you think about it, I guess we all need to give thanks.

Eli, remembering that the Indian had gone up ahead to scope things out, brought up the subject and asked him what he had come across. Joe, how long have you been back? Did you find anything up ahead of interest? You weren’t gone very long.

Ventured out about five miles, Eli. It looks real quiet out there. While I was out there, I went down to the main road to scope it out. It’s like you said, vehicles are strung out in both directions. Don’t know where everybody got to. It’s like a graveyard down there. It’s as spooky as all git-out. Those poor souls had to have vanished into thin air. I guess you can say they vaporized. I wonder what the hell the Chinks hit us with. I think the Blue Star will appear before all of this is over.

No fear of that happening, Joe. I told Old Joe back on the mountain to try and keep a lid on that so it wouldn’t happen just yet. I’ve got a lot to accomplish before that comes at us. I need to find my brother and find out just what went down before that takes place. Get the men up and ready to move out, Josh. We need to burn some daylight before nightfall closes in on us.

The men were now ready to get under way. The word was passed down the line that it was clear up ahead. With the way clear, they hoped to make up some of the time they had already lost. Little did they know things were about to take place that would again slow them down.

Back in the saddle and on the move, they headed toward San Diego only to be stopped once again by the sound of gunfire coming from the direction they had left earlier in the day. The column was again brought to a halt. They stopped to listen to try and figure out what was going on.

"Eli, that gunfire sounds like trouble. It sounds like it’s coming from no more than two or three miles