Our cages begin to rattle. Cars begin to pour out onto the field. They’re fast, sleek and very powerful. None of them hover; they all choose to drive on huge tires. They kick up salt and dust, adding to the excitement of the event. I notice one car has metal blades all along its body, while another one has two large spikes protruding from its grill. Some have cannons, a few have flamethrowers and others have machine guns. One even has an extra guy on its roof that operates a gun turret. All the cars are different, they all have their own style; they all have their own way of killing.
The Hunters speed in front of the grandstands, peeling out and showing off for the crowd. The sound is deafening; the engines are loud, louder than any motor I’ve ever heard. But how can that be? Cars aren’t that loud, are they? Maybe these cars aren’t electric; maybe they’re gas powered. Is that right? Could they be using gas turbine engines, engines that have been illegal for years? A week ago I would have been appalled to see such cars, but nothing surprises me now. Here they are, on display, in front of the politicians who outlawed them. After seeing the secret logging camp back at the cave, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that there are secret oil derricks and refineries all over this country built specifically to fuel these cars for these races.
Krog goes through the names of each Hunter and introduces them to the crowd. He announces names like ‘Killer’ and ‘The Annihilator.’ I’m pretty much ignoring him, but then– “We have a very special guest Hunter on loan from Youth Patrol,” Krog announces. “I’ve been told he’s the greatest Youth Patroller to ever don the uniform. Let us put our hands together and welcome this hero to Camp Utah. Ladies and genders, I give you, Commander Jeremin Jolt!”
I stand up in my cage and look out. I see the Youth Patrol Wasp way way out there, its hover capabilities are disabled; its tires are touching the ground. The car door flips up, Jeremin steps out and waves to the crowd.
CHAPTER 53
The first cage is lowered and a bunch of soldiers rush over to open it up. They drag out a scared little man.
“It’s our first racer of the morning!” Krog happily declares. “He was a pastor of a secret church, but his congregation is no more thanks to his adorable little girl, Janice. She attended a Youth Nation concert just 5 weeks ago, and when she heard the message of peace and tolerance, she knew she had to turn on her parents and rat them out. Let’s give this former, soon to be dead pastor, the welcome he deserves, let’s bring him out, my troopers!”
Boos and hisses are heard coming from the grandstands. The soldiers force the scared little man to get inside a pitiful looking automobile. The car is basically discarded scrap metal welded together.
“So let’s meet our first chaser of the day!” Krog declares. He flies down to a group of people sitting on a bench. They’re all dressed in shiny green and black flight suits. “Now which one of you is Britney Cox?”
“That’s me.” A young slender woman hops up, waving enthusiastically to a floating camera drone.
“Well hello there, Britney. Aren’t you a pretty little thing? Tell us a little bit about yourself, will you?”
“Well, I’m 25 year old, I work for Congressman Banks, I hope to hold public office one day. And um, let me think, oh, I love having sex,” she giggles, wiggling her butt.
“Oh, I bet you do.” Krog says flamboyantly. “Anything else, Miss Cox?”
“Yeah, I can’t stand One-Wayers, I wish they’d all die!”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place.” Krog laughs, mugging to the camera. “Are you ready?”
“Oh yeah!”
“Well let’s do it.”
She climbs onto a silver hover-scooter with a gun fixed to the handlebars.
“Is this your first time Miss Cox?” Krog asks her.
She nods, slipping a helmet over her big blond hairdo. “It’s my first time, so please be gentle with me, Mr. Krog,” she giggles again.
“Oh Miss Cox, go on.”
“I’m not doing it!” The scared little man suddenly shouts, interrupting the proceedings. He jumps out of the car and tussles with the soldiers. “I’m not driving! If you think I’m going to participate in your barbaric game, well you can all go to hell!”
“Looky here, we have feisty one, don’t we!” Krog jokes.
“Go to hell!” the man continues to scream. “Go to hell!” He breaks free for a second, but a large soldier comes over and kicks him in the chest. The little man goes falling backward into the car. The door is quickly slammed shut, locking the former pastor inside. The man pounds on the glass, but it’s futile. He’s trapped.
Krog then looks back at the young chaser. “All set, Miss Cox?”
She gives a big thumbs up, acting so cute I could… what did Merriam call it? ‘Throw up?’ Yeah, that’s it. I could throw up.
“On your mark,” Krog yells. “Get set, let’s roll.” The gun goes off, but the old broken car doesn’t move. The man makes good on his promise and refuses to participate. But there’s a soldier, hidden behind a partition, unseen by the crowd, operating a hologram dashboard. He pushes a button and the car starts right up. The engine sounds dreadful; it pops and hisses. The hidden soldier grabs the hologram steering wheel and pushes the proxy accelerator down. The half inflated tires on the broken down car begin to move forward and the crowd comes to life. The car slowly moves out onto the flats. It builds more and more speed, soon it’s traveling at a pretty good clip. Two of the Hunters come up and flank the jalopy on either side. I guess they do that just in case the driver inside decides to veer off course. It gets about a few hundred yards away, then Miss Cox is let loose. She flies after it. The hidden soldier, controlling the old car, whips the fake steering wheel back and forth, making it difficult for the girl to target the car. It makes the chase more exciting for the audience. But even if the car drove in a straight line, there’s no way she’d be able to hit it. She’s missing everything except the salt. She’s having a hard time driving the hover-scooter and operating the gun at the same time, but I don’t think she really cares. The hologram jumbotron shows her laughing and giggling. After a mile of this, it’s clear Miss Cox is not going to finish the job. That’s when the Hunters begin to move in. They come racing up to the old car, toy with it a bit, bump it, causing it to swerve left and right. It finally topples over and rolls to a stop. A Hunter drives up and torches the jalopy. The man crawls out a window and runs for his life. But the vehicle with the huge spikes gives chase and impales the man much to the delight of the crowd.
The day drags on. Nine races have come and gone and each one ends up like the first. Now it’s my turn, I’m the last racer of the day, and there’s really no other scenario I can think of where I won’t end up same way.
The sun breaks through the clouds. It shines down, warming me up. Nature tries to comfort me, but my fate is set, nothing can save me.
My cage lowers and I see Jeremin’s Wasp move into place. Up to now, he hasn’t moved all day.
“And now my fine friends,” The Colonel calls out. “It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for!”
Soldiers open my cage. They’re ready for me to bolt, but they have nothing to worry about, I walk out on my own freewill. I give them no resistance.
“We have the religious fanatic of all religious fanatics,” Krog continues. “He had us all fooled for all these years. He assimilated himself as a Youth Nationer, he even sang with the Youth Music Singers, but who knew that he was plotting to destroy Santa Verde from within. He’s killed scores of our bravest Youth Patrollers, kidnapped our beloved Valerie Star, he brainwashed her; raped her. Oh, the horrors she must have endured.”
As Krog goes on talking, a soldier comes walking up next to me. I sense he’s here for something other than guiding me to my car. I notice him motioning to the other soldiers to hang back. Soon we’re all alone walking down the long platform. “I knew I saw your girlfriend before,” he says, keeping his voice low as he spits out a glob of brown juice. I turn to look up at h
im. It’s the disheveled soldier that picked us up after the logging shuttle pod blew up. “Just keep looking forward,” he tells me. “Act like you don’t know me.”
“I don’t know you.”
He kind of chuckles a little. “That’s true, but I’m here on Brodie’s behalf.”
I turn to look at him again, but he quickly shoves me forward. “Don’t look at me, asshole!” he shouts. “Just keep walking.”
We come to the end of platform just as a tow truck drops off my ride. By the looks of the car’s frame, it was once a Wasp, but a much older model, the kind that doesn’t split in two. It’s covered with rust and dents, but compared to the other cars I’ve seen today, it doesn’t look that bad. The welding is more precise, more exact; there’s craftsmanship. Whoever got this vehicle ready, actually did a pretty good job. I try to climb inside, but the soldier stops me first. “We got to wait, Krog ain’t done.”
“Join us, as we celebrate the inevitable death of Valerie’s attacker! Let me introduce to you, for the last time, The Boy Who Changed Everything, the former Youth Music Singer himself, the ever-deceiving Evan Sparks. But he will always be remembered as thee religious fanatic, Adnan Asif!”
Listening to the crowd respond is terrifying. They truly hate me. The jeers finally die down a bit and the disheveled soldier reaches for the door and opens it. “Well,” he laughs. “I think this is your ride.”
I get in and sit down, but he doesn’t close the door right away, he instead sticks his head in, totally invading my space. He reaches over and buckles me in. He then adjusts some of the nobs and presses a few buttons. “I’ve overridden the proxy regulator,” he says. “The guy with the hologram dashboard can’t do a thing. You have total control; no one can operate the vehicle except you. And you see that contraption next to you? The one between the seats?”
I look down and see a large cylinder, running from the dashboard to the backend of the car.
“Flip that switch and things could get pretty interesting,” he says, grinning from ear to ear.
I look at him like he’s insane, but he just laughs.
“Don’t you recognize the guts of a Drone Monster when you see it?” he responds. “You gotta jet engine riding shotgun with you.”
“Is this some kind of trick?”
“No, man! Brodie wanted it in here. It’s one of the Drones you guys shot down yesterday. He had me go back and get it. He wanted to save Valerie Star, so he stayed up all night working on this car. He thought installing a Drone’s turbo thruster might do the trick, but since she ain’t in the race, Abby told me to give you the car instead. You now have the fastest car in Camp Utah.”
I suddenly realize I might actually have a chance to get across the flats. The emotion of knowing I may live is just too much.
“Are you crying?” the disheveled soldier teases. “Are you sad because Brodie wanted to save her, and not you?”
“No,” I say, laughing under my breath. “Not at all, I would’ve wanted him to do that.”
“Well good. So wipe your fuckin’ tears away and listen up. This is important. Most of the fuel in the Drone is gone, it leaked out when it was shot down. There’s just a little bit left in the tank, so you gotta wait till your halfway across flats before you flip the switch. You got that? …Wait halfway.”
“Why are you helping me out anyway,” I ask. “You a rebel?”
“Hell no, I ain’t into that shit. Brodie promised me his knapsack full of porno magazines. How could I refuse? And besides, there’s no way you’re getting’ through that blockade. That Youth Patroller guy that came to finish you off? I saw him this morning, holy shit; that is one intense motherfucker. I don’t care if you do have a rocket engine, you ain’t never gonna make it.” He then looks up at the windshield with a questioned look on his face.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him.
“Oh nothing, I just don’t remember seeing the windows tinted this morning. Brodie must have done it during the other races.”
“Will it make a difference?”
“No, not for you, it’s just the camera drones won’t be able to see you during the chase. Oh well. Good luck, Evan, I never thought I’d meet a celebrity like you in a place like this,” he laughs as brown juice drips down his chin. He shuts the door.
CHAPTER 54
I can hear Krog introducing the guy who’s going to chase me down. I look out the back window to see who it is. It’s not Willenger. It’s just some random guy, probably some politician, looking to get his thrills.
I look around the cockpit. There’s a huge pile of oil rags and blankets, discarded on the seat next to me; it smells. The steering device seems fine and some of the dashboard functions are brand new. Brodie really did do a great job fixing this thing up even if wasn’t meant for me.
“Okay, are you ready, Senator Smith?” Krog announces. “Are you ready, Hunters?” I hear the engines rev. “Ready or not, Mr. Sparks, it’s time for you to die. On your mark, get set, let’s rollllll!”
I punch it, but it’s barely moves. Wham! I’m hit… already. I thought they’d let me get some distance before they’d let the guy go. Wham! I’m hit again. The guy chasing me is a pretty good shot. Wham! “Shit!” I can tell by the sound of the impact that the caliber of the bullet isn’t that powerful. Krog probably doesn’t want the chasers to take us out too quickly, so he must intentionally make the guns weak. I’m sure he wants each race to drag on as long as possible so the people will be entertained. I swerve to the right to avoid another hit, but the Hunters flanking me keep me on course. Wham! He gets me again. I know the bullets aren’t doing much, but he is firing real ammo. I’m tempted just to flip the switch on Drone Monster now, but I know I have to wait; I have to wait a little longer.
Then, the blankets and the oil rags, piled up next to me, begin to move. Val pops out from underneath them.
“You know how hard it is to breathe under there,” she says, reaching up to buckle herself in.
“What the–” I want to look at her, but I know I’ve got to keep my eyes on the road. “What’s going on?” I shout. “Is that really you?”
“It’s me, baby!”
Wham!
“Seriously Evan, at this rate, we won’t even make it half way.”
“How’d you get in here?”
“I’ll tell you later, just drive.”
Wham! Another hit. This guy is good. Wham!
I look out the front window to see how close we are before I can flip the switch. We still have another a mile or so. I see Jeremin far off, still waiting patiently for me to arrive.
Wham!
“We’re never going to make it.” I mumble.
“Hold on, will this help?” Val reaches down by her feet and pulls out Dirk’s rifle. “Abby gave it to me before I got in the car.”
“Oh my God,” I laugh. “When were you planning on giving it to me?”
“Sorry Evan, I’m too excited, I just forgot.”
“No problem, you mind taking the controls for a sec?”
“Not at all, baby.”
I grab the weapon while she grabs the steering console on her side. I flip around in my seat and open the hatch in the back just enough for me to stick out the barrel of the rifle. I pull the trigger and let the bullets do their thing. The hover-scooter is shredded to pieces. There’s little chance the man could have survived. I then switch the gun over to ‘missile launch.’ I fling open the hatch all the way. I fire at the Hunter to my right, and then at the Hunter to my left. Both are direct hits. I then point it at Jeremin’s Wasp and let the projectile fly. But he’s too good and easily avoids it as it goes whizzing by him. That was my last missile, but it wasn’t all in vain. I did get Jeremin to move slightly. I now have a clear shot to the other side of the Salt Flats. I close the hatch and take the controls from Val. Bullets begin ripping through the shell of the car. They’re coming from Jeremin and these bullets are definitely a better caliber. I turn the steering control hard to avoi
d another barrage, but this allows him to circle around and come up next to us. He slams into the car. It takes all I have to keep us from flipping over. I veer off course to get some distance from him, but he’s closing in. I adjust the car slightly. Now–we’re heading straight for Utah.
“Flip the switch!” I yell.
“But we’re not halfway!”
“Just do it!”
“I love you,” Val says.
She flips the switch and the booster rocket engages. We take off; we’re pinned to our seats. We leave Jeremin and all the other Hunters in our dust or I should say… salt. We even outrun the camera drones. But the car violently shakes, and the side panels begin to peal off. I’m trying my best to hold us steady, but then the axle gives way and we begin to tumble and roll. We flip over and over and we just keep on going. Finally we come to a stop. We’re alive; we somehow survived. We unbuckle ourselves and get to our feet, we run toward the Resistance.
“Don’t look back!” Val yells.
I remember her telling me about the woman looking back and turning into salt. I can hear the Hunters gaining on us. They’ll be on us in seconds, it’s over; we didn’t make it. The border is so close, and we didn’t make it. Just then, artillery goes flying over our heads. It’s coming from the Utah side, It’s coming from the Resistance. They’re firing at the Hunters. Can they do that? If they’re firing at them, then we must have crossed the border. We must have made it. We’ve made it to Utah.
PART 6
UTAH
CHAPTER 55
The Hunters ignore the border; they’re determined to capture us at any cost. But as they cross the boundary, they’re systematically picked off one after another. The Resistance has forced the remaining Gladiators to retreat. But across the Salt Flats, Drone Monsters are released from Camp Utah. They come flying across the plain, heading in our direction. However, they’re met with the same onslaught of artillery that the Hunters faced. The rebels have held off the U.S. army… for now.
Youth Patrol Page 29
