by Robert Boren
“This has a good chance of working, but everybody go armed,” Ramsey said, “and watch yourselves. Kip, you should notify Maria that we’re on the way.”
“Will do,” Hendrix said. “Do you think I can take my car, since I drove it in here?”
“I wouldn’t,” Wallis said. “I’ll see if I can round up some cars for us. Be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay, Gentlemen, you all know what to do,” Nelson said.
Nelson was left alone in his office. Brian came in.
“This sounds really risky to me, sir.”
“I know, but I don’t think we have much choice in the matter,” Nelson said.
“I’m gonna call my cousin, and have him bring his Jeep with a couple friends. They’re rednecks with guns. They can escort you until you’re out of the area.”
“That might get them killed,” Nelson said.
“They’ll be fine,” Brian said. “Those guys are tough and crazy. They’ll follow and step in if anybody tries to stop you.”
“Okay,” Nelson said. He got up from his desk. “I’m going to my quarters. I’ll be ready to go in about twenty minutes.”
Nelson left the office, heading down the long corridor, nodding to people as they walked by, then taking the stairs to the next level down. Thank God I didn’t bring my family here. He arrived at his door and input the code. The locks snapped open and he rushed in, stripping off his suit as he went, his hands trembling as he hung the pants on the hanger, then the coat.
Shave. Dammit. He got to work, trying to avoid eye contact with the mirror, feeling like a frightened animal. Calm down. His heart hammered in his chest as he scraped the hair and shaving cream off his face with short repeated strokes, his cheeks stinging from the pressure and the haste. Blobs of shaving cream built up in the sink. Afterwards he rushed to the closet, pulling out his jeans, then putting on a t-shirt and slipping into his sandals. Should I take more clothes? No way. Somebody might notice. One last look at the room as he grabbed his phone, keys, and wallet and went through the door, pulling it shut and hitting the keypad to lock it. He raced down the corridor, back into his office.
“I’m ready to go,” he said to Brian, who nodded yes.
“My boys are out there watching the exit. They know my truck. Be careful. You have your piece?”
“Oh, crap, almost forgot,” he said, reaching into is side desk drawer and taking his Colt auto, slipping it into the waistband of his pants, letting his shirt fall over it. He nodded to Brian and left for the elevators, people not recognizing him. Nobody said hello or nodded, even as he left the elevator and walked through the checkpoint. The sun was low in the sky, people making their way to cars or rapid transit as the day was ending. The lawn was full of people, reminding him of the days before the war, when his mansion loomed over the area. Now it was under construction, a high fence surrounding the lot. Almost there. The parking structure was before him, large and welcoming. He slipped inside and punched the elevator button, waiting as several others rushed over to get there before the doors opened. Then he was inside, traveling the short distance to the second floor, slipping out the door. A woman followed him out, the rest staying in for higher floors. The black pickup truck stuck out like a sore thumb, looking too tall to make it under the safety hanger at the gate. He got in, fumbling with keys, starting the engine, then messing with the mirrors and the seat.
There were two cars in front of him at the gate. C’mon. Hurry. When it was his turn, he flashed his card, not used for almost a month. The gate swung upward and he drove out onto the busy street, eyes darting around, accelerating when the light changed, trying to look like a normal person going home, the air conditioner frosting his newly-naked face. He caught somebody behind him in the mirror. The Jeep. Brian’s cousins. There was his street – 15 th. He made a left. It was almost traffic free, which was scary and a comfort at the same time. He sped up, the big engine in the truck roaring has he went forward. How far out are the enemy? Nobody was following him except for the Jeep…no, wait, now there was somebody else. Pickup truck. It was coming up fast. His heart pounded, making him dizzy, but then the truck ducked onto a side street and was gone.
Kip’s house was only half a block down now, the newly constructed high fence in view, parts of the second story already framed. He rolled up to the gate. The guard smiled.
“Nice look, Governor,” he said as he rolled the gate aside. “Mr. Hendrix and Chief Ramsey are already here. Drive around the back of the building.”
“Thanks,” Nelson said, his heart finally slowing down. He parked next to Kip’s SUV and rushed to the elevator structure, where another guard was waiting. He nodded and input a code, the elevator doors opening, getting downstairs in a moment, standing before the big vault door as it opened.
“Governor,” Hendrix said.
“Hi, Kip. Thought you weren’t driving your car.”
“I realized it’s not even mine,” Hendrix said. “I got it from the motor pool a couple weeks ago, since mine got crushed by the bomb attack. Figured it was worth the risk.”
“The rest on the way?” Nelson asked as he pulled the pistol out of his waistband. Hendrix eyed it. “Sorry, it’s not very comfortable.”
Hendrix chuckled. “Wallis and Gallagher are going to a different location, south of the Capitol. They thought it might be better if all of our eggs weren’t in the same basket.”
“Have they arrived yet?”
“Not that we’ve heard,” Hendrix said. “Should be any minute.”
“Good.”
“Hi, Governor,” Maria said, walking out with a drink. “Whiskey?”
“Yes, thanks,” he said, taking it and having a sip. “Hope this hasn’t shaken you up too much.”
“It was horrible until Kip got back here,” she said. “I didn’t want him driving there today.”
“You were right, as usual,” Hendrix said, smiling at her. “Ramsey is in the living room.”
They walked in, Ramsey rising to greet them.
“That was hairy,” Ramsey said.
“Tell me about it,” Nelson said.
“You look quite a bit younger without the beard,” Ramsey said.
“You went disguised too, I hope?”
“We did,” Ramsey said. “Mine wasn’t quite as permanent as yours.”
They all chuckled. Maria heard the console buzzer and rushed over to receive the message. “Gallagher and Wallis just made it to the other bunker. They’re coming on now.”
“Okay, we’ll be right there,” Nelson said. “How are we fixed for supplies?”
“Very well,” Hendrix said. “We never made much of a dent before.”
“Governor, the guards want to drive the cars away, all except for Kip’s,” Maria said. “You okay with that?”
“Of course,” Nelson said. “We don’t want it to look like you have company.”
“Okay, I’ll let them know,” Maria said. “Wallis and Gallagher are on.”
“Thanks, sweetie,” Hendrix said, leading the others into the console room.
“Glad to see you made it, Governor,” Wallis said.
“Yeah,” Gallagher said.
“We’re glad to see you guys made it too,” Ramsey said. “Look like anybody followed you?”
“Nope,” Wallis said. “You guys?”
“Not me,” Ramsey said.
“Brian’s cousins were following me,” Nelson said. “Ready to attack if anybody showed up.”
“Glad we didn’t have to fight our way here,” Ramsey said.
“So, what now?” Hendrix asked. “There’s a lot of people at the Capitol bunker we need to protect.”
“Send out a message to all employees who have already left. Tell them not to show up for work until further notice. Also tell the folks who are still there, except for the security folks. In fact, let’s add to the security detail.”
“Good call,” Gallagher said. “We’ll handle that from here.”
“You mind if
I call the Fort Stockton group?” Ramsey asked. “They’re worried.”
“Yes please, and thank them, okay?
“Will do, Governor.”
Chapter 3 – Tracking the Enemy
“We’ll be in Kenedy in a few minutes,” Lita said, looking at her phone.
“Good, it’s getting close to dark,” Richardson said, behind the wheel of the big rental truck. He fished his cellphone out of his pocket and handed it to her. “See if you can get a good enough connection to run the long-range app, and then put in the city name.”
Lita set her phone down on the console and took Richardson’s. “Where’s the app?”
“It’s on the third screen. You can’t miss it.”
“Okay, here it is,” she said as she tapped the tile. “This is a sizeable app. Takes a while to open.”
“I know,” Richardson said. “We’re going to miss having this when they pull it.”
“Why are they pulling it back, again?”
“It’s essential that they keep this app a secret until the final features are finished.”
“I wish they trusted us more.”
Richardson shot her a glance. “I know, but I don’t blame them. I want this war to end, and it won’t be enough to just kick them out of Texas.”
She sighed. “I know. Kenedy is clean. Not even one hit. Sure this thing is working?”
“Focus in on someplace else, like the city where we gassed up. We know there are bad guys there.”
She nodded, moving her hands on the screen. “Shit.”
“What?”
“There’s a swarm of hits right on top of that gas station we used.”
“Dammit, somebody told them about us,” Richardson said. “How the hell are they following us?”
“I don’t like this one bit. Nobody seems to be heading further south on Highway 123, at least.”
“Well, that’s something,” Richardson said.
“My God,” Lita said.
“What?”
“I just looked at Washington DC. It’s a sea of icons.”
“Wow, really?” Richardson asked.
“Yep. Are you really that surprised?”
Richardson was silent for a moment. “Now that you mention it, no. Not really.”
“Oh no,” Lita said.
“What?”
“Austin. It looks like the capitol area is surrounded by icons.”
“How many?”
“Too many to count,” Lita said. “Should we call somebody?”
“When we stop,” Richardson said. “There’s the outskirts of Kenedy. Which motel, again?”
“Turn left on Business Park Drive, then follow that down a couple blocks. There’s a Best Western on the north side of the street. Good location. Not visible from Highway 181, plus there’s a dirt road behind it if we need to high-tail it out the back.”
“Okay,” Richardson said. “I’ll keep my eyes open.”
“It’s not very far. It’s across the street from the Walmart.”
“Good, we could pick up a few things, then,” Richardson said. “There’s really nobody around here?”
“Not that I can see, and we know the app is working. How much of a chance is there that not all enemy fighters have chips?”
“Don’t know, honey,” Richardson said. “I’ve heard the leadership team say that everybody does, but we have no way to verify that.”
“I already see the Walmart sign,” Lita said.
“Got it,” Richardson said, “There’s a big gas station right past the street. Maybe we ought to gas up before we stop, just in case.”
“I like that idea,” Lita said. Richardson drove past Business Park Drive and turned into the gas station, Juan Carlos driving their truck in behind him.
“Hey, boss, how are you holding up?” Brendan asked as he got out to pump gas.
“Good. You?”
“I’m glad we’re almost done for the day. The motel is right back there, isn’t it?”
“Yep,” Richardson said. “Here comes Roberto and the others.” They watched as the camper and the International Harvester drove onto the gas station lot, followed by a Jeep and a station wagon.
“Hey, guys,” Gerald said, a smile beneath the bill of his railroad cap. His scraggly gray hair blew in the breeze. “See any cretins around here?”
“Not a one,” Richardson said. “Lita saw them swarmed around the gas station we were at earlier, though.”
“Dammit,” Roberto said as he started the pump. “Do you think that’s coincidence, or do they know we were there?”
“I can’t say,” Richardson said.
“Sounds like a little too much of a coincidence to me,” Hector said as he pumped gas into his Jeep. “You a light sleeper?”
“Most of the time, and Lita always is,” Richardson said. “If I get buzzed, one of us will notice.”
“We can keep track of movement over the evening,” Lita said. “They can’t hide from us now.”
“How much of the stretch between Seguin and here has no LTE coverage?” Brendan asked.
“That’s a good question,” Richardson said. “They’ll be invisible to us on the long-range app when they’re in areas with no LTE.”
“Coverage is pretty decent,” Lita said. “I was on a lot. Remember that we have a lot of little towns along the way, plus cell towers have been built out quite a bit over the last five years. It’s a lot better than it was back in 2016.”
“True,” Hector said. “I noticed a lot more coverage starting in about 2018. It keeps getting better.”
“I’m full,” Richardson said. He pulled the nozzle out and put it on the pump, then waited for his receipt.
“We’re just overnighting here, right?” Gerald asked.
“Yeah,” Richardson said. “I’d advise against getting drunk tonight, too. You never know what’s going to happen.”
“Amen to that,” Lita said.
“I’m done too,” Brendan said. “I think we can take that side road back to Business Park Drive. Behind the stores.”
“He’s right,” Lita said. “Saw that on my phone after we pulled in.”
“Good,” Richardson said. “See you guys over there.”
He and Lita got into their truck and drove to the access road, then made a right on Business Park Drive and a left two blocks down, into the Best Western parking lot. Juan Carlos pulled up next to them as they parked.
“Adjoining rooms?” Juan Carlos asked as he got out.
“Up to you guys,” Richardson said. “We should stay in contact. Text room numbers to each other.”
“Maybe we should give hourly updates about the position of the enemy,” Lita said. “If we see some starting to cruise south on Highway 123 from that gas station in Seguin, we’ll want to get the hell out of here.”
“Or draw them in and kill them all,” Brendan said.
“No, then they’ll know for sure it’s us,” Hannah said.
“Yeah,” Madison said. “How are they following us? I’m not getting this.”
“We aren’t even sure they are yet,” Juan Carlos said. “We need to keep that in mind.”
“What guns should we take with us?” Brendan whispered.
“Hand guns only,” Richardson said. “We should have plenty of warning to get the other guns out. Remember that the short-range app has a half-mile range. Plenty of time to get ready.”
“I hope so,” Hannah said. “Make sure that phone is someplace where it’ll wake you guys up tonight.”
“We will,” Lita said.
The two couples went to the front desk and checked in, taking rooms on the second floor. Roberto and the others got into the lobby just as they were heading to the elevators.
“Which floor?” Kris asked. Lita held up two fingers right before she got into the elevator.
“I wish I could settle down,” Lita said as they rode the elevator up.
“Me too,” Madison said.
“Maybe I can take you
r mind off things,” Juan Carlos said.
She smirked, then looked him in the eyes. “Yeah, maybe you can.”
“You aren’t even limping anymore,” Hannah said.
“I didn’t bring the crutches,” Madison said. “They’re in the boat, back at Roberto and Kris’s place.”
The elevator doors opened and the three couples got out.
“See you later,” Lita said. “Want to meet for dinner or something?”
“I think I’d rather just order in,” Hannah said.
“Me too,” Juan Carlos said.
“Cash only, okay?” Richardson said. “Everybody have enough?”
“Yeah, dude,” Juan Carlos said.
“Us too,” Hannah said.
Lita nodded and followed Richardson into their room. She closed the door behind them and put on the night lock, then ducked into the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a minute, honey,” she said. “Is there a mini-bar in here?”
Richardson laughed. “I thought we said no drinking.”
“We said don’t get drunk,” she said over the running of the sink water. “One drink would take the edge off. Don’t care if it costs too much.”
“Cheaper than the bar,” Richardson said as he opened the fridge. “Plenty of stuff in here. I’ll let you decide what you want.”
“You get with Wallis yet?”
“I sent a text to Jefferson. He said Wallis and the rest of the team already know about it.”
Lita walked out, naked from head to toe. “I need some us time. We can drink after round one.”
Richardson took in her beauty. “You don’t have to ask me twice about that.”
Chapter 4 – Call for Backup
The long convoy rolled south-west on Highway 70, now only a few miles outside of Roswell, New Mexico. The road had been empty so far, with the nearest enemy RFID hits near I-25. The vehicles were quite a sight, many bristling with machine guns or M-19 Grenade launchers. Tank flat-beds were at the rear, the entire convoy keeping their speed down to about sixty so they could keep up. It was good that the diesel tankers were with them, because the massive tank flat-beds were thirsty.
Eric was behind the wheel of his class C, eyes peeled, but not nervous the way he was before. Kim came up to the front seat from the back of the coach, Paco trotting along behind her, leaping into her lap before she could get her seatbelt on.
