Fighting for War

by W. C. Hoffman

  “How about Collin War and his cronies?”

  “Still unaccounted for.”

  Hopper frowned. “Did they escape? Was the chaos just a cover for escape?”

  “I don’t know.” Denard shook his head. “We’ll find out when we begin questioning.”

  Cursing under his breath, he asked about his guards.

  “So far, we’ve counted thirty-one dead guards.” Denard shook his head slowly. “The tracks near the depot were damaged, we lost all the children, and our electrical system will be down for a few days at least.”

  “What the hell happened to the children?” The general was surprised by that update.

  “All are unaccounted for. My guess is they were taken. I’d bet if we find them, we’ll find Collin and the doctor,” Denard said, tapping his pencil against the clipboard. “Oh, and we found Susan murdered. Nasty affair, really.”

  “Christ!” Hopper grabbed Denard by the shoulder. “What else?”

  “That’s all I’ve got.”

  “Where’d you find Susan?”

  “She was in the morgue,” Denard said, motioning as if clawing at his face and grimacing. “Her face was melted. A nurse said a remnant of an implant was inside ...” He shivered.

  Hopper looked back out at the crowd. The drones lay on the floor with their hands bound. Guards took down names and checked them against a roster. As each person was checked off, other guards escorted them to lines against the wall. Security teams would then ferry them to refill their implants before taking them to their rooms, which were guarded and manually locked.

  “Have the teams made it to the refinery or Delta yet?” Hopper asked. He couldn’t think about Susan now. His heart ached. She’d been a strong ally, running the hospital and other operations with efficiency. The fact that he slept with her added to the pain.

  Denard cleared his throat.

  When an answer wasn’t forthcoming, the general whirled toward him. “Goddamn it. You said that was the last of it.”

  “It slipped my mind until I saw my notes.” He chewed his lip. “The motor pool came under attack and the vehicles were disabled. Some of them permanently. Several are missing which lends some credence to the idea that Collin and the others simply escaped.”

  General Hopper couldn’t wait for this day to end. He looked out at the people. They were basically starting over with conditioning them to obey. Without Blaine there it would take longer. His protocol was documented of course, and the general believed the staff could follow them. New protocols would have to be added. The general wouldn’t stand for another uprising like this.

  “Sir, look who we found.”

  Hopper turned around to see a soldier holding Doctor Julie Horner, beaming with pride. Julie’s head was drooped, but Hopper could see some blood on her face. Several exposed patches of scalp glistened in the harsh overhead lighting. It was clear she had put up a tough fight and lost. His eyes widened at the sight of her, and the gears began turning in his head. “Where’d you find her?”

  “She was part of the team that captured the children,” the soldier said. “We killed the guy she was with. I figured you would want to interrogate this one yourself.”

  Hopper stroked his chin. “Any sign of the other high-value targets?”

  The soldier’s positivity dimmed a bit. “No, sir.”

  “Great work, son.” Hopper clapped the man on the back. An idea formed in the back of his mind. “I’ll take her from here.”

  He moved Julie a little ways away and leaned in to whisper to the soldier. The man nodded and rushed off to fulfill the order. Turning back to the doctor, he grinned broadly. “Well, well. A puppy without a master, eh?”

  Julie glanced at him and scowled.

  “Where’s your master, bitch?” Hopper roared with laughter. He pulled her face up to look at him. She fought him but with her hands zip tied behind her back, it didn’t amount to much. “You really thought you could escape? Fool.”

  Julie stared at him hard for a second and then spat in his face.

  General Hopper turned away to wipe away the glob. He wasn’t one to hit a woman; he preferred to shoot them in the head. This woman deserved to suffer a while first. She’d helped cause too much trouble, so he just waited for the soldier to return before exacting his revenge. He snapped his fingers at a guard standing nearby.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Get me a microphone. Make sure it’s patched in campus wide.” He sneered at Julie. “You see Doctor, we used sound to break your uprising. Now I am going to use it to break their hearts. Time to inform Collin War of the new deal.”

  Denard was out on the floor with the guards, examining the drones. He glanced up and saw Hopper standing next to Julie. His eyebrows shot up, and he smiled. Hopper motioned for him to continue.

  The soldier returned with the item he asked for at almost the same time as the microphone arrived.

  “Perfect. Thank you, gentlemen,” Hopper said, starting to feel like things had turned around just as he’d promised Chancellor Montague they would. “Carry on.”

  The microphone went into his pocket. In his other hand, Hopper held a long coil of rope. He knotted one end of it and looked up at the rafters.

  “You, sit down,” he ordered Julie. Before she could comply, a guard rammed his knee into her thigh. A burst of pain buckled her knees, dropping her to the floor. She wretched in pain and watched the general with suspicion.

  Hopper looked up and spun the knotted end of the rope. When he had enough momentum, he hurled it up trying to get it over one of the beams. The first try bounced off the beam. His second try had too much power, hit the roof, and fell back. The third try wasn’t a charm. He took a few more tosses before finally getting the knotted end over enough that if he fed out more rope the knotted end would drop back down to him.

  He grinned and looked at Julie, giving her a wink.

  Julie made a tsk sound and looked away in disgust. Hopper relished the raw honesty in her face. She loathed him.

  It made him smile more as he reached up for the knotted end and pulled it down. He undid the knot and began to tie a new one. A particular type that he hadn’t used in a situation like this for quite some time. The technique was simple and in a couple of minutes, Hopper had a nice looking noose in his hand.

  Julie’s eyes bulged at the sight of it.

  General Hopper forced her to stand. Her thigh hurt so damn bad that she wobbled and almost fell over when he pulled her to the side and put the rough rope around her neck.

  “How’s that feel?” he asked with false concern. “Too tight?”

  Julie gagged a little, and her faced turned red.

  “Perfect.” General Hopper pulled the microphone out of his pocket and gripped the other end of the rope. Now if he pulled, it would choke Julie. She was bait and Hopper was angling for the biggest fish in the pond, Collin War. That motherfucker was going to show himself. He would pay a heavy price for the betrayal, for the death of his guards, the embarrassment in front of Montague, and for the destruction of his buildings.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  “This is General Hopper with a message for Collin War. You have ten minutes to put down your weapons and surrender in the assembly room or Doctor Julie Horner dies. Ten minutes. No negotiations. Unconditional surrender or Julie dies.”

  Collin grimaced at the announcement. How did they catch her? His heart sank. She should have been with Hunter. Where was his grandson?

  He could feel Charlie watching him to gauge his response. They had escaped to the hidden room on the fourth floor after barely escaping the sonic weapon’s effects. Like all sonic weapons, the device was directional, meaning it only worked when aimed at those it was intended to affect. Collin vividly remembered how devastating HAGS version was. Its area of effect had been impressive. He was grateful it was unable to penetrate the thick concrete structure of the building.

  “We have to go for her,” Collin said.

  Charlie frowned and
opened his mouth to speak, but Collin cut him off.

  “She’s the only one who can make the serum that makes us immune to the fever. Without her, we die anyway.”

  “Goddamn it.” Charlie put his hands on his head and let out a heavy sigh.

  “It’s a shitty scenario, but we can pull it off.” Collin put his hands on the table and leaned toward Charlie. “The people are still free from HAGS control for the time being. We can destroy the sonic weapon and then take out Hopper. Where is it?”

  “They call it Edison. You know, after Thomas Edison?” Charlie scoffed. “Don’t they know weapons are supposed to be given a woman’s name? Just like cars.”

  “True enough.” Collin made a mental note to tell Koby about Edison.

  “If they brought it into the building, it’s roughly the size of a portable home generator. I don’t think they have more than one though, so we’d have to go floor by floor and check each room. There’s no telling where they hid it.” Charlie looked at him.

  “Clearing the building would take too damn long.” Collin stood up. “We’ll have to get Julie first and then destroy the sonic weapon. She’s their trump card right now.”

  “Are you sure, sir?”

  “Yes.” Collin didn’t hesitate. He gave Charlie a warning look. “Let’s go there’s no time to waste.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  They checked their weapons and then left the room. Collin hoped it was the last time they’d have to hide from HAGS. He couldn’t stand scurrying around in the walls like a mouse. Collin was used to doing the hunting; he preferred to be the snake.

  Charlie led the way through the tunnels. The twists and turns were still too new to Collin and confused the hell out of him.

  “This is General Hopper with a message for Collin War.” The concrete walls muffled the sound, but they heard it well enough. “Your time is running out. Only five minutes left to save Doctor Horner. Tick-tock, tick-tock.”

  “How much farther?” Collin asked.

  “Almost there.”

  Charlie disappeared around a corner. Collin crawled after him. Then Charlie motioned for him to wait. He jostled around and began to climb down a tunnel that Collin couldn’t see yet.

  “Careful you don’t fall and be quiet. We’re close.”

  Collin nodded in response and gave his buddy a minute to move out of the way before he followed. Metal rungs were embedded in the concrete which made it easier to climb down. Pipes snaked up the wall and at the bottom he saw valves and a breaker box.

  The sounds of grunts, moaning people, and conversation filtered through a vent in the wall near the floor. Charlie patted his shoulder, pointed at his eyes and then pointed at the vent. He didn’t have much room to maneuver, so Charlie moved down a side corridor so Collin could lay on his belly and look out.

  On the other side of the vent, he saw people lying on the floor with their hands bound. Guards milled about. It was the assembly hall where they showed propaganda every day. On the stage, General Hopper stood with a mic in one hand and a rope in the other. The rope was tied into a noose around Julie’s neck.

  Collin gritted his teeth. Doctor Horner stood maybe fifty feet away looking nervous. Her hands were bound behind her back. He looked up at Charlie. How could they reach her without getting killed by all the guards?

  Charlie motioned for him to follow.

  The corridor extended another twenty feet behind the wall. Charlie went through a vent into one of the janitorial closets they used. Collin frowned. He didn’t know the tunnel connected here.

  “Carefully peek out the door,” Charlie whispered to him. “You might have a shot at the stage.”

  Collin’s eyebrows shot up. The hallway connected directly with the side access to the stage. He’d have to open a door to the assembly hall, but after that he could easily get a bead on Hopper.

  Just as Collin was maneuvering into position with Charlie watching his back, he could see Hopper look at his watch and shrug. They had to get inside. He set aside his PVC bow and quiver so he could peer through the small window in the door. He noted a guard on the other side. His back was to the door so he could watch the people inside the assembly hall.

  Damn fool.

  Hopper’s angry voice blared over the intercom system. “This is General Hopper with a message for Collin War. Time’s up, motherfucker. Did you think I was bluffing?”

  Collin watched as Hopper threw the microphone to the floor, sending a painful flood of feedback through the intercoms.

  Charlie pulled the door open, and Collin snatched the guard before he even turned around. With a strong thrust under the chin, Collin’s shiv sent the guard to meet his maker. Collin let out a breath; sometimes it was scary how easily his Marine Recon skills came back to him.

  Collin recovered his bow and quiver took a knee. His heart was racing. Hopper grabbed the rope with both hands and began to pull. Collin nocked an arrow. Julie’s body stiffened as rope stretched her to her tiptoes. Collin took a few steadying breaths and zeroed in on General Hopper’s ugly face.

  Collin let out his breath and released.

  A massive explosion rocked the building. Collin fell backward, stunned.

  “What’d you do?” Charlie shouted.

  Another round of explosions shook the building. Collin saw fire plumes throw the doors open at the far side of the hall. Guards turned, distracted.

  “Let’s go,” Collin said. He got up and ran for Julie. He couldn’t see Hopper but didn’t care. She was more important.

  The people on the floor got up and started fleeing the assembly hall, taking advantage of the chaos. Gunshots started ringing out. Collin saw guards drop out of his peripheral vision.

  Somehow, Julie was held two feet off the ground. Her feet kicked as her body swayed. The rope twisted, and she slowly faced him. Her face was beat red, eyes bulging and terrified.

  Collin raised his bow. Two guards had taken up the rope in Hopper’s absence. Had he killed the general? Where was the body?

  He fired and the surprisingly powerful bow fired true, dropping one of the guards. The arrow quivered in his chest as the wide-eyed man fell to the floor clutching the wound. He began to make a strange wheezing sound. Two more guards rushed the stage. Collin had to dive to the ground to avoid their wild shots. The rounds cracked past him, peppering the wall behind him.

  Collin launched a hasty shot at the other man holding the rope. The arrow buried itself deep into his ribcage under his raised arm. Julie couldn’t last too much longer. The guard jerked like a startled cat, and the rope slide from his grip.

  Something clipped the back of Collin’s thigh, and it began to burn like it was on fire. He rolled toward the first guard he’d shot and grabbed his rifle. Then he rolled again so he was behind the body, using it for cover like a stack of sandbags. Collin swiveled to the side and shot another one of the guards. A pink mist filled the air behind yet another guard when Charlie popped him in the head.

  Julie had crumpled to the ground. She lay on the floor gasping for air, coughing, and clawing at the rope around her neck. He let out a sigh of relief. At least she’s alive.

  Then he rose to a knee and shot the two men who’d held the rope to seal the deal. A man emerged from behind a curtain at the edge of the stage, clearly meaning to slink away like a coward. Collin squeezed the trigger. The guard made a choking sound as he hit the wall and slumped to the ground to join his buddies in hell. Blood spurted out of a bullet hole in his neck. Collin double tapped him just to be sure.

  What the hell happened to the general? Collin looked around quickly, panic rising in his chest. An irrational fear that Hopper might pop up behind him at any moment clawed at his mind.

  A sudden burst of light and sound surprised Collin. He clutched at his ears, fearing they’d been blown out. His head felt clouded and his vision blurred. Things moved weird and left trailing images behind them. He closed his eyes to fight back a wave of nausea.

  People poured into the assemb
ly hall. He took a chance and squinted at them.

  A boot pushed Collin over, and he found a rifle muzzle in front of his face. Collin’s head cocked to the side. The muzzle moved away, and he saw a smile hovering over him.

  “Frank?” he asked. It couldn’t be.

  “Nice to see you again, but why are you laying down on the job?” Frank said extending his hand.

  “Thanks.” Collin grasped his and was pulled to his feet. He looked around, confused. “Koby! Holy shit.”

  Wait a second. A rush of panic hit Collin.

  “Where’s Julie?” Collin said, spinning around. He nearly fell over, but Koby and Frank kept him upright.

  “You’re more wobbly than me, two legs.” Koby grinned at him. “She’s okay.”

  Julie came to him and threw her arms around his neck. Collin hugged her hard.

  “My God, I thought I lost you,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she said, sobbing into his shoulder.

  Collin stroked her hair and looked out at the assembly hall. The HAGS guards were dead or wounded. The prisoners were being freed.

  “Where’s Brady? Tiny?” Collin asked.

  “Brady’s moving up,” Koby said.

  Collin thought he saw a flicker of pain in his eyes.

  Koby pointed at the ceiling. “Gotta get all those HAGS fuckers.”

  Curiosity burned him. He gaped at what he was seeing.

  “How’d you guys find us?” Collin ran a hand through his hair.

  “We heard an SOS message that gave us directions,” Frank said.

  “We met up with them by pure chance.” Koby shook his head. He slid off his backpack and rummaged inside. His hand came out with two radios and held them up to Collin. “Here. The one with black tape is for listening to HAGS. The other goes to Brady.”

  Collin’s eyebrows rose for a moment. He looked down at Julie. “Where’s Hunter and the other kids?”

  “They’re safe. I got the children out first. Rico took them to a safe place, but I couldn’t stay with them. I came back for you with one of the other guys and then ...” She shrugged and held her hands out.