“Take the next left,” I said to Sonny. “Then a right, and pull over.”
“You want to stop?” he asked.
“I want to take a closer look. Maybe we can learn something.”
“I don’t know, it’s pretty risky. Are you sure?”
“Well, if nothing else, we might be able to find a way to disable their hummers,” I said. “That could prevent at least this group from chasing us if we’re spotted.”
He regarded me for a moment, a curious look on his face.
“Alright, I guess I buy that,” he said.
He took the next left and then turned right onto a parallel road before pulling into a dark alley.
“Who are you taking with you?”
“Luke,” I said, without even thinking. “I’d take you, but we can’t both go, we’re the only drivers. Plus, you’re still not one-hundred percent.”
“I’m going, too,” Indigo said. “I can’t let you and Luke have all the fun all the time.”
“Are you sure?” I asked her. “It could be dangerous.”
“No kidding,” she said, crossing her arms. “Don’t worry about me, I can pull my weight.”
“I never said you couldn’t but…” I said. The next words kind of tumbled out of my mouth without me thinking. “It’s just that I like you – a lot actually – and I’d hate if anything happened ...”
My sentence was cut off when she leaned over and put her lips on mine. Excitement shot through me like a bolt of electricity.
“I like you, too, Isaac,” she said, as she pulled away smiling. “And I don’t want you to get hurt either, but that’s not going to stop you from going, is it?”
“I guess not,” I said, my face glowing.
Suddenly the night didn’t seem so cold anymore and I wondered how Luke would feel when he found out Indigo had stolen a kiss from me.
“Alright,” I said. “I guess just be careful and I’ll try to do the same.”
“Deal, so, let’s get Luke and get started.”
We said our goodbyes to Sonny, who told us he would keep the truck running, but he was getting out to stretch after the long drive. We also agreed that if we weren’t back in half an hour, he would assume the worst and leave without us.
Indigo and I climbed out of the truck and went around to the back; Luke was already crouching by the door holding his crossbow as I opened it.
“What’s up?” he asked, then I saw his eyes widen as he saw the streetlights. “The power’s on? I take it this isn’t just another whizz stop then?”
He jumped down and the others looked on with interest.
“We’re in Concord,” I said. “The Chinese have occupied it but we didn’t have a choice about going around. Anyway, there's a bunch of Humvees at a bar around the corner and it looks like they’re letting their hair down inside. We’re going to go on foot and check it out.”
“Alright, who's going?”
“Me, you, and Indigo.”
“Indigo ...?”
“Yes, Indigo, unless you want to take it up with her?”
Luke took one look at Indigo’s determined face and shook his head.
“Nope, all good here.”
“Okay. So we’ll see if we can scavenge anything they might have out there and maybe learn something about their number and positioning in the city. But our main goal is going to be to disable the Humvees so they can’t chase after us when we leave town.”
Ben jumped out and I could tell by the look on his face he was disappointed he wouldn’t be going.
“Ben, I need you to stay here and guard the truck. If we’re not back in 30 minutes, you and Sonny will be continuing without us.”
“Okay. Just make sure you’re back,” he said simply.
We said our goodbyes and were turning to go, when Brooke called out for us to wait. She jumped down and hugged each of us in turn. Luke was last, and their hug seemed to linger. He avoided eye contact as we walked to the corner, but his red face and the knowing look Indigo had shared with Brooke said it all. I guess I didn’t have to worry about him trying to impress Indigo after all.
We stayed in the shadows as much as possible as we made our way around the block to the bar. I gave Luke a whispered account of our trip since the encounter with the bear, only leaving out the part where Indigo had kissed me.
The fresh snow was already nearly four inches deep here, and it was resting on a half-inch of older, compacted snow beneath it and our boots made squelching noises as we walked. Reaching the corner of the main road, we could hear the beat of music and laughter even though the bar was still another block away. There didn’t appear to be anyone guarding the vehicles in the parking lot. Why would there be? What exactly did they have to guard against? Hopefully, we could take advantage of their complacency.
“We should cross the street and sneak up along the front of those buildings,” Luke said. “We don’t want to be exposed in the street when we get close to that place.”
“Good idea.”
I looked both ways to make sure we weren’t being observed before ushering Luke and Indigo across the street.
We moved carefully in the snow and gathered under the awning of a drugstore on the other side.
“I’m glad you remembered to look both ways,” Indigo said.
“I wasn’t looking for traffic…” I started, then realized by her cheeky smile that she was ribbing me.
“Well my mom always told me, you never can be too careful.”
Their faces told me immediately that my attempt to continue the banter had fallen flat and I made a mental note not to mention ‘moms’ to people who have recently lost theirs.
The window of the drugstore was intact and I could see the shelves were still fairly well-stocked. If we’d had more time, we probably could have raided it for supplies.
We crept as stealthily as we could towards the bar, in a vain attempt to prevent our boots from making too much noise. The snow was still falling just as hard as before, but now a cold wind had begun to pick up, blowing straight down Main Street. We were close enough to make out the music now. It was country and western.
Luke raised a hand, bringing us to a stop. “Are they really listening to country music? Are we sure these are Chinese soldiers?”
“Who else would they be?” I asked.
As silly as it was, even that one little question planted a seed of hope in my mind. Could it be Americans who had switched the power on? Had the Flu been stopped before it wiped out the whole country?
“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Indigo said. “Let’s get closer; we’re still half a block away.”
Luke started forward again and we followed single file, our backs against the front of the buildings that lined this side of the street.
We stopped at the corner opposite the bar and watched it from the shadows. The Grand Slam Bar and Grill looked as lively as it had probably been before the Flu. Now that we were closer, we could see there were two more Humvees parked back where we couldn’t see them from further down the highway. Humvees which clearly displayed the Chinese flag.
I swallowed my disappointment, even though deep down I had known it would be the case. Six Humvees. If they were manned like the one at the gas station, we were looking at upwards of 36 soldiers in the bar.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Luke said quietly. He had obviously crunched the numbers, too.
“They’re all inside, and the windows of the bar are frosted and painted with baseball logos,” I said, knowing we would never get as good a chance again to do some damage to the Chinese.
“I don’t know,” said Luke, unconvinced.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll be okay as long as they don’t all come out at once, and from what we can hear I don’t think that’ll happen. We have to try and at least cripple the Hummers, Luke. Look, they have machine guns in the ring mounts just like the one from the gas station. Those things would tear the back of our truck to shreds if they cam
e up behind us on the freeway.”
“Sure,” said Indigo. “Let’s do it.
Luke still didn’t look keen on the idea but before he could say anything, we were interrupted by some atrociously off-key singing. The troops had clearly broken out the karaoke machine.
We all looked at each other and burst into giggling.
“Okay, I’m in,” said Luke, knuckle bumping us each in turn. “I can’t let that horrible singing go unpunished.”
“Great, that’ll keep them busy and cover any noise we make. Come on,” I said and started across the street, moving as fast as I dared in the snow. Indigo and Luke followed closely behind.
When we reached the parking lot of the bar we crouched down by the front fender of the Hummer furthest away from the door. Indigo kept watch on the building while I scanned the streets and Luke reached up to try the driver’s side door. It wasn’t locked. He opened it slowly and looked around inside.
“We could hop in and just drive it away,” he whispered. “It doesn’t even need keys. It has a push button ignition.”
“Is there anything we can use in there?”
“Not really, only an extra box of ammo for the machine gun in the back seat. If you wanted too we could climb in and rip up the other Humvees with the machine gun. That would cripple them for sure.”
“That would make a racket that even drunk, singing soldiers couldn’t ignore ... crap!” Indigo snapped. “Get down!”
We dropped and Luke quietly closed the Hummer’s door as the Chinese soldier Indigo had seen come through the door of the bar came stumbling down the front steps. My heart played a staccato rhythm in my chest as we watched the soldier through the grimy glass of the Hummer’s windows. He was very obviously drunk and wore a trench coat which marked him as a conscript. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything except trying to get his pants unzipped.
He didn’t even glance our way as he reeled a few steps along the wall on unsteady legs. Just as I thought he was about to fall, he came to a stop and propped himself against the wall and relieved himself. After what seemed like the world’s longest whiz, he re-zipped his pants, and then turned to stumble back to the bar.
That was when Indigo dropped the revolver onto the snow-powdered pavement. She snatched it up immediately looking horrified, but the damage had been done. Unfortunately, her fumble had come right in the break between songs and the soldier stopped instantly at the sound. We ducked down and my bruised ribs protested as I flattened to the snow-covered asphalt.
I could see his booted feet from that position and for the longest time, he stood in one spot as I silently encouraged him to go back into the bar.
Of course, he didn’t.
The boots turned our way and began a stumbling walk along the line of vehicles towards the one we were hiding behind. I scrambled to my knees and frantically waved the others to the rear of the Humvee.
Hiding behind the Hummer, Luke raised his crossbow to me with a question in his eyes. I shook my head; we couldn’t risk the soldier screaming if Luke’s shot didn’t kill him outright. It was then I realized that our footsteps and scuffs from hiding in the snow would be plainly visible when the soldier rounded the front of the truck.
I made a quick decision and looked around frantically. There was a garden a few feet away that bordered the rear of the parking lot and my eyes fell upon a smooth, fist-sized rock. I stooped and ran to it and picked it up before running back to the others. I hefted it in my hand and indicated I was going to run around the truck and come up behind the soldier.
Be careful, Indigo mouthed, her eyes big and scared.
I nodded and darted to the left rear corner of the Hummer just in time to see the soldier pass in front of the vehicle. I ran forward and stopped at the front fender before peeking carefully over the top.
The soldier stood on the spot, swaying and looking down at the scuffed snow and prints where we had ducked to the ground. Almost in slow motion, I saw his gaze follow our footprints to the rear of the truck. He reached for his sidearm and suddenly didn’t seem quite so drunk as he took a step towards the rear where Luke and Indigo were hiding.
I made my move.
15
To be honest, I am probably lucky he was drunk. He didn’t even twitch as I brought the rock down hard on the back of his neck. Just fell, as though boneless, to the snow-crusted ground. I stood over him, my chest heaving, but he didn’t move.
“Come help me,” I whispered.
“Nice work, Isaac,” said Luke, as he came around to me.
We each grabbed an arm and dragged the soldier to the rock garden and dumped him there.
“Check the back of the Hummer too, maybe there will be something useful in there,” I said to Luke, before scanning the street to make sure nobody was coming.
Indigo watched the bar door again – we all knew his buddies might come looking for the missing soldier at any moment. Luke rummaged in the back of the Hummer and a few moments later came back to us, carrying a long, sturdy wooden crate with Chinese characters on the side. With a grunt, he gently set down his heavy load and rushed back to the rear before closing the hatch and returning. This time, he was holding a length of what looked like rubber hose with some sort of pump attached to one end.
“Pay dirt in the trunk, Boss,” he whispered.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Fuel siphon,” he said, holding up the hose. “We can drain the tanks of these babies dry. They won’t be following us any place.”
“How do you know that it’s for siphoning fuel?”
“It was in a box that said, ‘Fuel Siphon,’” he said, grinning.
“Wise-ass! How long will that take?”
“I don’t have a clue, man,” he said. “I guess in the neighborhood of five minutes a truck, give or take a few, depending on how much diesel is in the tanks. There are three of us, and I’d guess each Humvee has one of these in the back, so we could probably get all six done in about 10 or 15 minutes, if we all pitched in.”
“What’s in the box?” Indigo asked.
“Well, I don’t read Chinese, but if it’s what I think it is, it’s gonna come in real handy ...”
Like an excited kid on Christmas morning, he pulled a long hunting knife out of the pocket of his ski pants and began to jimmy the top off. Another time and place, I may have asked where he had gotten the knife, but I was on edge, worried that at any moment another soldier might come out, looking for their missing comrade.
The lid came off with a soft splintering sound and he brushed away the Styrofoam beads to reveal a compact rocket launcher and three shiny rockets.
“Yes!” Luke said triumphantly. “It’s a reusable launcher.”
He pulled the weapon out of the crate and hefted it before resting it against his shoulder as he flipped the sight open. “Pass me a grenade, please Indigo.”
“Grenade?”
“Yeah. They’re not really rockets, they’re self-propelled grenades.”
She handed him the grenade which just looked like a rocket without the fins to me. Once again, I was amazed at his knowledge of weapons he really should have no clue about. Within a few seconds, he had the launcher loaded and hanging over his shoulder. He handed me and Indigo a spare grenade each. As I looked down on the deadly package in my hand, an idea began to formulate in my head.
“Screw the siphoning, we don’t have time,” I said. “Besides, I think it’s about time to get one back for our country.”
They both looked at me.
“Isaac!” said Indigo, reading my mind. “You can’t. It would be murder.”
As much as I craved her approval, on this one I wasn’t going to be swayed. I shook my head.
“You’ve seen what they’ve done to our country, Indigo. To our parents. What about all the kids who have starved ... the babies? The babies who died starving in their cots as their parents rotted in the same house – that was murder ...”
I saw a tear
run down her cheek and, even though I was confident I was right, I felt like a low bastard for making her cry. She nodded and wiped her tears away with the back of her hands.
“Fine, you’re the leader.”
It was clear it wasn’t fine though. I resisted the urge to try and justify my stance further.
“Come on,” I said softly. “Let’s cross to the other side of the road.”
Luke picked up his crossbow and re-pocketed the knife before we headed across the main road at a jog. We crouched behind a snow-covered Chevy sedan directly opposite the front of the bar. Luke placed his crossbow on the pavement and reached into his parka pocket again, this time pulling out two small yellow objects, stuffing them in his ears one at a time. Earplugs? I seriously had to find out what else he had in those pockets of his.
There was still no movement from the bar, just the muted sounds of country music and off-key singing.
“Can you get one through the glass of the front window? And will one do it?” I said as loudly as I dared.
He smiled grimly and nodded.
“These things are designed to stop tanks”, he said, propping the rocket launcher against his right shoulder. “One will do it. Put your fingers in your ears, these things are loud.”
He flipped the sight open.
“Ready?” he asked.
I nodded.
I took a deep breath and held it…
Without warning, the door of the bar opened and spilled light out onto the snow-covered parking lot as the silhouette of another Chinese soldier emerged.
Shit!
Thankfully the door closed behind him and, as my eyes adjusted, I saw him looking around and calling out, clearly looking for the soldier we had taken down.
“Still a go?” Luke asked me in a calm voice.
In answer, I pulled my revolver out and gave a sharp nod.
“After three. One ... two ... three ...”
There was a loud clap and whoosh that echoed off the empty buildings. I felt a quick burst of heat behind me, but all my attention was taken by the brief and bright journey of the grenade.
The America Falls Series: Books 1-3 : America Falls Box Set 1 Page 26
