After the Day- Red Tide

by Matthew Gilman

  “Where are they?” she demanded.

  One of the men pointed straight down. She moved to the edge and saw a row of men half a block away. She unfolded the bipod and kept her aim on the men as they approached. When they reached the corner and the point man looked down the street, she fired. She dropped the point man where he stood.

  “Well, kill these fuckers!” Lady Kim told the rest of the people on the roof. The loud coughing of rifles rang through the air. In a few seconds the men in the street were dead. They didn’t have time to call back to base. Lady Kim sent a few men into the street to strip the dead men of weapons and dump the bodies through the manhole cover.

  “What did the Chinese do to you?” Lady Kim’s grandson asked while they covered the street from the roof.

  “They killed my first husband in Korea after the war. He was a man of peace, a Buddhist. Now they can meet his wife, a war bitch from hell.” She turned back to her rifle looking down the sight.

  It would be a few hours before more men showed up unaware of the previous blood bath that had occurred. Every time they tried the same method. That would only last so long.

  Chapter 5: West Coast United States

  After weeks of battles in the city of Los Angeles, General Tzu was getting impatient with his troops. A student of history, he was upset that the troops at tried to take the city by the old method of running through the enemy lines and overtaking them. The method had left many men separated from their command and supply line. The Americans had grown wise to the tactic and started letting the Chinese troops through thinking it was an easy victory. Then, at the last minute, they would open fire surprising the Chinese, finding that they were surrounded. Many times the men would be stripped of everything including clothes. The Americans were using the Chinese soldiers to re-supply and collect better weapons.

  On the Chinese destroyer, Tzu looked at the city through his binoculars and started planning his final capture. This mission could very well define his military career. He was in his fifties now and didn’t have much to speak of. He had worked with North Korea’s Kim Jong-il before the turn of the millennium. Later he helped secure the oil fields in Darfur and made sure that the U.N. did not interfere with Chinese business. Aside from that he ran drills and would make public statements talking about destroying America if China was ever threatened. Now he could put those words to into action.

  The ship docked and the crew secured it. Placing the ramp down General Tzu was the first to exit. So far he liked Los Angeles. It was a perfect opportunity for him. He spent years preparing for a real war and it was finally here.

  “General Tzu,” a lower ranking officer greeted, bowing on the deck.

  General Tzu nodded slightly and continued to look around.

  “I am pleased to inform you that the dock and several blocks past are completely secured for your enjoyment.” the young man said unable to look Tzu in the eye.

  A high pitched hiss caused Tzu to duck. Then, the crack of a rifle a second later. Tzu pulled his revolver out of its holster. A Nagant 7.62, an old model by all standards but it was his father’s. Reliable and powerful with the larger 7.62 round, the gun had been in service for several wars and was built to be used with a silencer. Tzu picked three rooftops and fired a round at each.

  He stood proud and waited to see if there was a response.

  “Tell me again that this dock is secure.” Tzu said to the officer.

  The man was cowardly and couldn’t look up. Tzu walked next to him, looked around. The officer thought he was being spared for a second. Tzu raised the revolver to the young officer’s head and pulled the trigger. The young officer’s body fell into the ocean and filled the water with a steady stream of blood.

  Tzu looked at the other men that had been exiting the boat.

  “From this moment on we are going to operate like a real military. No more grandiose battles and glory seeking. We will operate efficiently and tactically. We will show these Americans why our civilization has lasted for six thousand years and why we are not going home. For those that don’t agree with me you can guess as to what you have to look forward to.”

  The men bowed repeatedly, jaw dropped, and stunned. One officer hollered out to secure the buildings around the dock. Others scrambled around to gather information on current operations and results.

  Tzu grew up hating his name. He always felt like he would live his entire life being compared to the man that wrote the book on war. It haunted him through the military academy and at the beginning of his military career. Now he felt different. He looked at the city before him and he felt awake and renewed. He not only would redefine warfare, but he would rewrite the book on it.

  Chapter 6: West Coast United States

  Choi’s group ran through the streets dodging bullets and Molotov cocktails from the Americans. They tried to fight their way to the center of the city but didn’t make it far. They changed directions trying to find the path of least resistance. Choi hadn’t fired his gun much. He was still using his first magazine. Many of the men were already halfway through their ammo. They found a street that seemed clear and stuck with the route.

  Many of the buildings started to have kanji written on them but he was not familiar with what they said. He assumed they were written in Japanese or Korean. Keeping an eye on the streets they moved around the neighborhood looking for Americans and food. They were far from the ships and they were now relying on what they carried and could find. One of the men even picked up a gold-plated Desert Eagle from a gangster they shot earlier in the day. It only had a few rounds left but it was better than his nearly empty AK.

  Choi was ordered to be point man and he led the group down a quiet street. Something didn’t feel right. He reached the corner of the block and looked around the intersecting street. There was nothing to find. He noticed spots of blood on the road. Then he noticed there were larger pools that were draining into the gutters. His eyes widened.

  “Everybody back!” Choi yelled. Then the first shots rang out.

  Choi looked up and saw the muzzles of several rifles pointed at them. He fell back, overwhelmed by the sheer fire power he was facing. He crawled back behind a car and stayed down as bullets hit the metal and glass. He looked at his men who tried to stand their ground. One after another they fell, riddled with bullets. Choi looked around and tried to find a place to retreat to. He couldn’t go back down the street or he would get shot in the back. He spotted a man hole cover and crawled over.

  On the rooftop the Korean’s stopped firing no longer seeing any movement. Then a body appeared from behind a car.

  “Kill him,” a man called out.

  “No,” Lady Kim said. “Let him find what is down there. He can get the message to not come over here. He can tell the rest what will be waiting for them.

  Choi pried the manhole cover up and slid down into the darkness feet first. He dropped to the bottom and found a soft spongy surface. He lost his balance and fell onto his back. He searched around for his gun in the darkness and finally found it. He put his hand on the ground to stand but felt fabric and cold flesh. He moved back against the brick curved wall. He patted his shirt and found his lighter that he had been issued. Flicking the flame to life he screamed as he saw the stack of dead bodies that had been thrown in the sewers. He continued to scream at the carnage. He looked down and tried to scramble out of the pool of blood he was standing in. Dropping his AK he hurried down the sewer away from the building that was shooting at him. He guessed that dozens of Chinese had already been killed there. His friends were dead. Somehow he survived. He should have been the first one killed. Kuan Ti must have been looking over him. He passed several manhole covers and waited to exit when he felt it was safe.

  He stayed below until the light outside was not as bright as it was. He crawled out to see a sunset. He didn’t know where he was but he knew the sun set in the west and that was where the boats were. He wanted to go home. These Americans were crazy and murderous. He was
told there were none left. It was a matter of staking your claim. They had lied. This was a bloodbath. Like any other way, the poor were sent to make rich men richer.

  Choi wandered the streets. He removed his green shirt and threw it to the side. He took his hat off and threw that away into the street. He was done fighting.

  From the rooftop they could hear the screams. The young Chinese boy had found the bodies of the men that had come before. Some of the Koreans laughed. Others waited to see if he would pop back out. They never saw him again. Lady Kim reloaded her BAR and stayed on watch on the roof.

  A few days later the Koreans knew that something new was happening with the Chinese. DJ Crash was dead. The Chinese had a new offense. They heard the sound of loud explosions. In the past days the Koreans had been able to add to their arsenal. Unused grenades, RPG’s, and many more AK-47s rested on the rooftops. They waited, and waited.

  The sound of rumbling was heard in the distance. Screeching metal and diesel echoed through the buildings. Then, in the distance, a large tank appeared. There were rows of soldiers behind it. Some of the Koreans started to panic. Lady Kim lifted her rifle to the man that was talking of retreat. She smacked him and threw him to the floor.

  “There will be no retreating, understood?” Lady Kim said.

  “The tank?” one of the women said.

  “Grab one of the grenades and go downstairs.” Lady Kim ordered.

  The woman had a look of shock on her face.

  “When it gets close we will cover you. Run out, pull the pin, shove the grenade in the barrel and run.” Lady Kim said.

  “Are you joking?” the woman asked.

  “Have you ever known me to joke?” Lady Kim retorted. The tank had a man on the turret with a large machine gun. In the front was the driver with his head sticking out.

  The plan was to take the driver out stopping the tank. The man on the turret was next. Anybody who tried to get out of the tank was to be shot.

  The Koreans waited. Sweat dripped off their heads. They had not been this nervous since the first time they shot the Chinese soldiers. The tank stopped at the end of the street and the two men in the tank debated where to go from there. Lady Kim rose up from the roof then aimed and fired her rifle at the tank driver. She fired several rounds and hit him. The rest of the Koreans opened fire and killed the man on the turret. The rows of soldiers ran for cover. What proceeded was the longest battle the Chinese would have. The Battle of Koreatown.

  RPGs flew through the air. The Koreans had an advantage firing down into the street. Many of the rounds from the Chinese flew over the roof doing nothing for their cause. The girl with the grenade ran out into the street toward the tank. The Koreans covered her only to see her fall by the barrel. She was shot but still moving. Lady Kim grabbed the RPG and fired at an alley where many of the Chinese soldiers had taken cover. The round exploded and a few seconds later there was a noticeable drop in gunshots from the enemy. The tank started to come back to life and the turret moved.

  The girl was back on her feet and crawled onto the tank. The barrel being too high for her to reach gave her no other option. The hatch with the dead driver was still open. Pulling the pin the girl threw the grenade inside and dropped in front of the tank. A loud bang exited the front and top hatch. Smoke rose out of the hatches and the tank was again dead. Soldiers from the Chinese army started to retreat back down the street. The snipers on the roof picked off the ones they could. Each Chinese soldier they took down would be one less to come back. The battle appeared to be a success but it would be short lived. There were still plenty of Chinese who would be on their way.

  A group of men were sent down to the tank. They pulled the bodies out and figured out the tank itself was still operational. It took an hour of trial and error but they figured out how to drive it. There were a dozen rounds for the main gun inside. Slowly driving the tank down an alley and to the back they hid it behind the buildings and decided to save it for what was to come.

  Chapter 7: West Coast United States

  After capturing the tank, many of the leaders of Koreatown were pushing for an offensive fight into L.A. They believed that the tank was a tool to take on the Chinese and beat them at their own game. Lady Kim listened for a long time and didn’t say anything. Some of the men thought her silence was a sign they were right and she would side with them. What they didn’t know was that she already had plans for the tank.

  “We can march behind the tank and use it to run over and push those bastards back into the sea.” one of the men said while hollering and punching his fist against the table. A dramatic exaggeration of what he was saying.

  “To not take this opportunity is to throw our favor back into the gods’ faces and deserve a death fit for cowards.” another man said.

  “To not use the tank to its best abilities is to ask for a quick death.” Lady Kim said. The rest of the room remained quiet. Lady Kim proceeded to talk and stood before the map of Koreatown.

  “We put the tank here, hiding it behind the garage doors. We use the radios to tell the people driving when to fire. They shoot the lead vehicle when they come again. After they take out the lead vehicle they exit through the back and park in the street and use the guns on any men that try to rush the building. Snipers will be placed on these rooftops turning the street into a shooting gallery. RPGs are placed at the end of the street taking the last vehicle out. That blocks in all the other vehicles.”

  “And if there is more than that? What then?” the man who was slamming his fist said.

  “We still have more than enough bullets.” she said.

  It was true, even with the several fire fights they had; the supplies of bullets she stockpiled were still close to where they were when they started fighting. Plus, most of the men and women were using AK-47s and they restocked their ammo with what they took off of the Chinese dead. The Chinese coming into Koreatown and being ambushed was supplying them with more ammo and guns then they used to kill them.

  “We’ve wasted enough time here. Get the men ready and into position on those buildings.” Lady Kim said.

  “What if we don’t win, what then?” a voice asked toward the back of the room.

  “If we don’t win, we go north to the mountains. Where else do Koreans run to?” It was a rhetorical question. She should have known that the people she was with didn’t remember the mountains of their home country.

  The men left and organized their troops. People were assigned to their buildings. Many figured out ways to booby trap the stairways and doors to the roofs so that they wouldn’t be caught off guard and would give them the chance to escape. The rooftops were assigned as Lady Kim said. She still stood on her roof. She would do her best to lure the Chinese into the end of the street and get them into position.

  A day went by. People remained on their roofs and waited for the next wave of Chinese to come through. When the second day went by and there was no sign of the Chinese, many of the Koreans started to make plans besides fighting. Some stuffed bags with food and belongings. The men on the rooftops set up rendezvous points in case things went bad. The longer they waited the more fearful they became of the Chinese finally showing up.

  A sunny afternoon and cool ocean breeze relaxed the tension. A young girl brought Lady Kim a cup of tea, a tall cup with a flower design, and a cover to hold the heat in. Lady Kim took the tea cup and lifted the cover. Steam floated out and disappeared into the cool breeze. Using the lid she pushed the loose tea leaves away from where she would sip. She blew on the surface of the tea and gently sipped the black tea. In the distance she saw the beginning of a convoy. Lead by a tank like she suspected, an army approached.

  The men on the rooftops stayed away from the edge waiting for their signal. Lady Kim sat in a folding chair sipping her tea as the army crept forward, the solders diligent in their surroundings. A few men had already spotted the old woman on the roof. Brushing her off as not a threat they continued their duty of clearing the street unaw
are of her BAR that sat waiting for them behind the edge of the roof.

  The convoy stopped at the end of the street and a man on top of the tank’s turret hollered up to her.

  “You! On the roof! Tell us where the rebels are hiding!” the man yelled in Chinese.

  The sound of the voice insulted Lady Kim. She hated the Chinese, the look of them, the sound of their language, how they carried themselves. She sipped the last of her tea and set the lid on her cup.

  “Hey, I’m talking to you! If you don’t tell us where the rebels are we will destroy your entire village.” the man shouted.

  The threat didn’t make much sense. It was a neighborhood, not a village. The man must have been a country bumpkin.

  Lady Kim laughed. The man looked insulted. She laughed some more standing up from her chair.

  “You little fool. How can you wage a war when you don’t know where it is you fight?” Lady Kim hollered from the roof.

  “You bitch!” the man hollered. He hollered down into the tank. What he said she didn’t know. She tossed the cup from the roof into the street below. It wasn’t far enough to hit the tank, but good enough to catch their attention. The man watched the cup fall, at first worried it was a grenade. When he saw the glass shatter he broke out into laughter. The belly driven laugh went on for a long minute. When he finally looked up to give his latest insult was when he looked down the barrel of the old lady’s machine gun. His jaw dropped, it was already too late.

  Lady Kim pulled the trigger, several rounds ricocheted off the turret but the few she needed hit the man in the chest, he dropped into the tank. A mystery arm reached up and pulled the lid shut. The tank was now sealed off from the outside world. It didn’t matter.

  Inside the building next to where the tank stopped rested the tank that the Koreans had captured. Poking his head out of the driver’s hatch one of the Koreans double checked that the barrel of the tank was lined up. Dropping down and closing the hatch he gave the second man a thumbs up and he fired the large gun. Both covered their ears and felt the tank rock back and forth from the pressure of the projectile.