Red Walker

by Scott Allen

  “Our troops are fighting valiantly in the southwest. They have stopped the enemy advance in the redwood forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Los Angeles was fully evacuated before fighting turned it almost entirely to rubble. Towns north of Los Angeles are being evacuated, as far as San Francisco. Missiles are being used in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to make it impossible for the enemy to travel any further north. There are unconfirmed reports of enemy bombs and missiles striking in parts of Utah, Colorado, and Oklahoma. We will have more news as it develops,” said a female voice. Another voice came on, discussing weather across the United States.

  The sky they could see from their window at the ceiling darkened. Then, they heard explosions, rather near, and then a number of loud pops.

  All the lights went out.

  The Matron’s viewscreen went silent.

  The two men sat there in the dark, quietly. Finally, Dana said, “I wonder if the power is out over the entire town?”

  “Let’s go see,” said Blake.

  There had been power outages before over the past few years, usually as a result of bad storms and tornados, but the power had been restored within a few hours. This seemed different.

  The two men were joined by the four others in the dorm on the upper stairway landing. None could see much, but they realized there were too many of them together. Simultaneously, they decided that they didn’t care, and all went down together.

  There was no sound coming from the Matron’s office. One of the men knocked on her open door and said, “Matron?” There was no response. She was gone. The men stepped out into the summer night and saw no lights anywhere. There was silence. They could make out buildings by thin moonlight. There were no vehicles moving, no headlights. They heard the sound of an aircraft overhead, which passed into the distance. Then, silence again.

  Dana was about to surprise himself. He pulled Blake aside and whispered, “Do you want to run? I know a place we can get our hardware off.”

  Blake whispered, “And then what?”

  “Then we make our way to the Mexican army, either on foot or in a vehicle. I have a friend who can help us,” said Dana.

  Blake asked, “What are our chances?”

  Dana responded, “I don’t know. But, I’ve decided I don’t want to spend the next twenty-eight years like this, and then get electrocuted anyway. I’d rather die like those five guys today than live like this anymore. This is the best chance I think I’ll ever have.”

  “Can’t they track us?” asked Blake.

  “I don’t think so,” said Dana. “I think all their systems are down. I think they’re going to be down for a long time, since electricity is out all over the town. I think the main power generating plant took a hit. If we can just get to my friend’s house before the electricity comes back on, and get the hardware off, they can’t track us.”

  Blake took a deep breath. “OK, which way do we go?”

  “Let’s get some nutrition bars, first,” said Dana. They walked into the matron’s office, found the closet where a supply of bars was kept, and stuffed 6 bars each into their pockets.

  Dana said, “Follow me.” They began walking.

  One of the four men at the door of the dorm yelled, “Where are you guys going?”

  Dana yelled back, “Just looking around for a Male Control officer.”

  The two men turned the corner and continued walking. Dana said, “They gave us black clothing, which is perfect. We need to stay in the shadows and not draw attention to ourselves. If someone approaches, we need to hide.” Dana was surprised at his own calmness and willingness to take the lead. He had decided, in a moment, that death was preferable to his life in this place, and now he was filled with purpose in addition to his fear.

  “What if someone finds us?” whispered Blake.

  “We’ll have to talk our way out. We can claim that we were searching for an MC office to report our missing Matron. We may have to kill someone to keep them quiet.” Dana was astonished at himself for saying that. Blake may have been astonished as well, because he became quiet.

  The two men walked on for about thirty minutes, eyes continuing to adjust to the glimmer of moonlight. Dana was navigating by landmarks, by the shapes of buildings he knew. As they approached the newer suburbs, the buildings got further apart and there were fewer shadows to hide in. At that point, Dana decided to brazen it out.

  “We’ve only got another 500 steps to go. Let’s just put our heads up and walk like we belong here,” said Dana.

  They arrived at Marjorie’s door. There were no lights anywhere. Dana knocked on the door. It opened a crack and a thin beam of light played on his face. ”Dana!” it was Marjorie’s voice. The light went out. “Come in, quickly,” she whispered.

  “I brought my friend Blake,” said Dana.

  “Fine,” said Marjorie. “Let’s get that hardware off.” She was speaking in a more normal voice now.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  She led them through the hallway into the big glass-walled living room that looked out onto the garden. There was a little moonlight in the room, and Marjorie had a hand-light. When they reached the room, Marjorie turned to Blake and put out her hand and said, “I’m so happy to meet you, Blake. Could you please hold this light on the back of Dana’s neck? Dana, would you please sit down in this chair, after I get the tool from underneath the cushions?”

  Marjorie produced a tool that looked like a pair of pliers that were about 30 centimeters long, with the fulcrum close to one end, and thick handles. At the business end, Dana could make out two small, sharp teeth.

  Dana sat down and prepared himself for a burning pain. Marjorie told Blake to shine the light where the business end of the pliers were. Marjorie felt with her fingers along the top and bottom edge of the back of his neck ring.

  “My friend who provided this told me to find the small indentations at the back of the ring. They aren’t visible, but you can feel them with your fingers. Ah! There they are. Now I have to fit the teeth into them, clamp tight, and press the button on the handle.” Dana felt warmth on the back of his neck, something he had felt before, and then heard a click. The neck ring sprang open.

  He felt an immediate sense of freedom. “Blake! Sit down here!” Dana leapt up and exchanged the chair for the hand-light, rubbing his neck in places he had barely touched in nine years. Marjorie removed Blake’s neck ring. She handed Dana the removal tool, and a hand-light.

  Marjorie looked on with approval. “I think you gentlemen can figure out how to remove your other hardware. I’m going to drive out of town and see if the army is checking vehicles on the back roads. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Raid the refrigerator. It’s all going to spoil anyway, unless the power comes back on pretty soon. When you get the hardware off, take them outside and put them under the bushes in front. Male Control will eventually get around to tracking you here. I can tell them I never saw you. Maybe they’ll believe it.”

  Blake and Dana began finding the tiny indentations on their ankle rings and wrist rings and springing them off. They quickly and quietly went out into the dark front of the house and tried their best to hide the hardware under a bush. Blake whispered, “Why is she helping us? She could get herself tortured and killed.”

  Dana said, “It’s a long story, but basically, she wants justice for her husband and her sons, who were killed by MC. Now, let’s raid that refrigerator.” They both turned on hand-lights.

  It was a happy moment for the two men. There were meat cold cuts, cheese, several kinds of fruit, several kinds of bread, and some appetizers that appeared to be left over from a party. They made sandwiches, filled their plates, and ate their fill. Dana found some softening ice cream in the freezer compartment. Blake had never had ice cream, and ate some so fast it gave him a brain freeze. Dana got him some warm water. Blake asked about drinking the bottle of wine on the counter. Neither of them had ever tasted wine. Dana said no. He pointed out that they would be runnin
g tonight, and they would need their wits about them. Blake seemed disappointed, and scowled.

  They sat in the living room, more satisfied than they had ever been, while Dana told Blake about their options. “If Marjorie finds that the army isn’t stopping cars on the back roads south of here, then she’ll take me in the trunk of her vehicle to someplace near the border, and come back for you. If the army is checking, we’ll have to make our way to the Red River on foot. Marjorie knows people who can hide us along the way.”

  It had already been a long day for both of them. They slept in the chairs in the dark room.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The men woke up when Marjorie returned. They heard the garage door into the living room close. “I’m afraid I have bad news,” she said. They are stopping cars everywhere, at every intersection to the south, southwest, and southeast, even on the minor roads. They usually opened the trunk. The soldiers at the intersections are armed with automatic rail rifles.” Seeing the quizzical expressions on the faces of the men, she elaborated, “Guns that use a magnetic field to shoot little steel bullets, a lot of them very fast.” She continued, “There’s a lot of army vehicles on the roads. Most of them look like ambulances carrying wounded north. I don’t think escaping by vehicle is going to be an option.”

  Dana felt afraid. “So, we’ll have to run across country?”

  Marjorie nodded her head. “But, you’ll make it if you’re bold. And careful. You’ll have to hide during the day in a place where camera drones can’t see you. I’ll give you some names and addresses to memorize, and a map. I can also give you an old GPS unit so you can see where you are and where you need to go. It will tell you where there’s a lot of traffic. At night, you’ll need to avoid intersections and any inhabited places, except the homes of my friends. You two will make it, Dana.”

  Dana looked at Blake. “Is all this OK with you, Blake?

  “We’re already dead, anyway,” said Blake. “If they catch us, I mean. We can’t stay here. The rebellion is our only option.”

  “OK, then,” said Marjorie. “We have a lot to do, and you should probably be gone in an hour or an hour and a half. I think that will be enough time to get you well out of town and into a hiding spot by daybreak. First thing is to plot a route.” She went to a drawer in a piece of furniture and laid a laminated map onto the coffee table between them, pointing a hand-light at it. The words “Oklahoma Highway Map” were on the front, had a picture of a woman that Dana assumed was some former governor. “This is the map that my husband and I used to teach our kids how to navigate. GPS units don’t really show you everything you need to know, especially if you are avoiding roads.” She unfolded the map. “Now, to protect me and my friends, we must not make any marks on this map. Let me show you where you are.”

  It was obvious which direction they had to go. East, then south. Going directly south would take them through towns that, like Valley, were on the east side of what Marjorie called the Old Highway. Going west would take them over the highway, which was probably being heavily used. They needed to get into areas of low population density to the east before they turned south. To the southeast was mostly farmland and even some forested parkland that, according to Marjorie, was seldom visited.

  Marjorie produced two brown backpacks, larger than Dana’s yellow workpack. She said, “We’re going to stuff these with food and tarps. Also trowels to dig and cover your latrines, and hand-lights. Don’t use them unless you’re sure there’s nobody around. And, that removal tool. Maybe you’ll run across men who can be freed.”

  She took them into the kitchen and opened a cupboard. “I thought these might come in handy,” she said, shining her hand-light inside. The cupboard was full of nutrition bars, but not the kind the men were used to. These were designed to appeal to people’s tastes, and were wrapped in plasticized foil. There were also packages of dried meat and dried fruit. While the men stuffed their backpacks with the packaged foods, Marjorie brought each one a dark green tarp, large enough to cover a man. She also handed each one two water bottles and a water purification straw. Finally, the removal tool went into Dana’s backpack.

  Marjorie said, “When you lay up during the day, try to find an area with trees and a lot of underbrush, well away from roads and houses. Pile up leaves to lie on, lay down the tarp, then cover the tarp completely with brush. Crawl under the tarp, and sleep. You should be safe if you don’t move until dark. Don’t leave any evidence of your passing. Bury food wrappers and bury your own waste. Don’t leave footprints.”

  Marjorie gave each man a sandwich and then activated her wristscreen. “Now for a hard part,” she said as the men munched away. “You are going to need to memorize the names, locations, and pictures of three of my friends who are on your route. Each of them has a home out in the countryside, and they will put you up for a day or two and give you food. I can’t forewarn them that you are coming – it might be discovered. When you reach their houses, just knock on the door and say, ‘Marjorie sent us,’ and they will know what to do. I’m not going to record anything. My friends are taking enough risk as it is. But, every one of them agrees with me. They’ve taught their daughters and granddaughters about how things used to be, and some of them are my friends, too. If there is no one at home, don’t break in – it may trigger a burglar alarm. Wait for them to come home, or move on.”

  She then showed the men a name on her wristscreen, and then an address. They found the general area on the laminated map, and then input the address into the GPS unit. Marjorie showed them how to navigate using the GPS unit, and showed them how to dim the light from it. She pointed out that the advantage of the GPS unit was that it did not transmit a signal, so they couldn’t be traced. However, the battery would only last a few hours, so they had to use it sparingly until they reached a friend’s house to recharge it. The GPS unit wanted them to take roads, as if they were in a vehicle, so they needed the map to figure out how to avoid intersections and travel through fields.

  Marjorie had them repeat the address and name over and over. Then, she showed them a picture of the woman. This one was elderly, appearing to be about Marjorie’s age. Then, they went through the same process with the two other friends, further south, one older middle-aged, one young. The young one was actually just inside the Texas border, across a shallow lake and the Red River from Oklahoma. Then, to test them, she began asking the addresses of each woman in turn. She gave addresses and asked who lived there. She showed a picture, and asked for the name and address. She asked them to point out the addresses on the map. It took 45 minutes of drill before she was satisfied. She showed them how to enter and then delete addresses from the GPS unit. She said, ”Remember, you must never leave an address in the GPS unit. I’ve cleaned out all the previous addresses. The first thing the military would do if they caught you would be to search the GPS unit for evidence of who is helping you. You must not tell them!”

  “Now, you two be brave and get moving,” Marjorie said. The men strapped on their backpacks. “I think you have a bit less than five hours before daylight, so move quickly, but don’t draw attention to yourselves.” As they approached the front door, she gave Blake a hug, and then Dana a long, hard, almost desperate hug, that reminded him of his mother’s. She whispered to him, “Be free, Dana!”

  Like that, they were out on the street in the black night, walking east as fast as they could without looking hurried or making noise.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Dana and Blake walked quickly through the dark streets, past darkened houses and buildings, and it wasn’t long before they were out of the suburbs and into the countryside. It was still warm from the day, but cooling. Neither of them had ever freely traveled outside of a city or suburb, so it was all new to them. They had no time to marvel at the stands of trees or at the crops growing in neat rows, barely perceptible in the dark. They aimed for stands of trees, and where there were none, they aimed for fields with corn or wheat. Walking through corn or wheat, the
stalks were only up to mid-torso on the two men, so Dana insisted that they walk quickly between the rows bent over. It became painful for his back, and Dana looked behind him to see Blake trotting fully upright with his arms over his head. Dana stopped. He hissed, “Blake, anyone scanning the field would notice you, even in this dark. Bend over!”

  “The hell I will,” replied Blake in a hiss. Those corn leaves are sharp, and they’re cutting up my arms. And, my back hurts!”

  “Blake, you’ll hurt a lot more if we get caught. Fold your arms across your chest. Bend over, we’re almost through this field, and then into the woods. Please, Blake.”

  “Oh, dammit, all right!” said Blake.

  They tried very hard not to make noise, but there were twigs and other things that snapped or rustled in the woods as they walked over them. In the vast, quiet darkness, Dana felt they must sound like a herd of large animals. When they came to a road, they crawled out to where they could see up and down the road. Several times they had to backtrack a little and wait behind cover because of traffic on the road. They were both very tense, spoke seldom, and then in whispers. Once, a dog barked at them, making them even more tense, but eventually stopped as they moved on.

  The sky was beginning to show a faint glow in the east as they entered a forest. It was time to stop for the day. Dana had been keeping track of their location on the GPS and the map. It looked like they were about one-third of the way to the first target house. They agreed they needed to prepare places to sleep some distance apart, so that if one were discovered, the other might still have a chance.

  Blake whispered, “Hey, Dana, let’s settle down next to this brook! We can fall asleep to the sound of the water. I’ve never done that!”

  Dana looked around and then said, “Well, the ground next to the brook is low. Feel that cool wind? It’s going to rain. The water will drain right off onto this ground and soak us. There’s higher ground over there. We might not hear the brook, but we won’t get soaked.” Once again, Blake took Dana’s advice, but with poor humor.