Greg tried to rub the cobwebs out of his eyes and he had a hard time focusing on his wife. She brought him a washcloth and wiped his face for him. “Did I sleep long?
“No, I’m sorry to say it was only about fifteen minutes.”
He looked at his kids sleeping together on their bunk. His heart went out to them. He loved them so much. His wife noticed him look at the kids. She knew his love for his family and so wanted to help him in their struggle to survive this awful situation they were in. Becky was not a regular church person. However, she did believe in God. And right now her belief in God had waned into not believing God could be responsible for this weather. Maybe some country has developed some method of weather control. She snapped out of it as Greg slipped his coat on and started for the door. She turned him around and gave him a big hug and a kiss.
“Honey, don’t worry so much, we will make it to where we are going. There are good people with us and you can count on them to help you make our way there safely,” she said with love in her voice.
Greg gave her a big bear hug and said, “We all have so much to live for and we will give it our best effort to make a new life under these miserable conditions.” He smiled and went out the door.
She stared at the door for a few seconds and then lay down with the kids and took a nap.
Greg was greeted at the door by Janet. She asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee and he told her he would love some extra strong coffee. He needed the caffeine stimulant to carry on. He sat down heavily into a comfortable chair at the conference table. Shortly Hilary came in with a very worried look on her face. Behind her came Carol carrying what looked like a tape recorder. Carol sat in on the table, plugged it in and looked at the president. Hilary nodded and Carol started the tape.
Right away he recognized the voices on the tape. He listened for thirty minutes and Hilary nodded to Carol to turn it off. Greg had been leaning forward with arms on the table and now he sat back with a sigh. Hilary looked at him and saw anger and pity from his intelligent eyes. She waited for him to speak. Greg said with a tired exasperated voice, “May I have another cup of hot coffee?”
Janet took his cup and filled it up with hot coffee and put a plate of stale cookies on the table in front of him. He took a sip of coffee, but ignored the cookies. He was hungry and couldn’t remember when he last ate something. His pants were loose and for the first time realized he was losing weight. He’d been fighting losing a few pounds for years now. He flashed on the passengers doing exercises and made a vow to join them soon.
He returned his attention to the president and finally, in a soft voice that would melt most women, said, “First I would like for you, Madam President to tell me what your intentions are for the treasonous acts of our two directors?”
Hilary went back thinking of what the two directors intended to do about the power structure of the present government. It was a fact they intended to usurp her power and take over the government with the two of them leading the new nation they talked about. She told herself there really was no choice but to house arrest them until Chicago or better yet, Colorado. Colorado is where their case could be heard.
Greg broke her thoughts with another question. “There were three voices on the tape. Who is the other one? Can you identify him?”
Hilary said, “Yes we can. He is a secret service agent, but not as senior as the rest of them. He came on just a year ago. Greg, I know I’m passing the ball to you but tell me how you would handle this situation if you were me. I know it’s not fair, but I don’t want my anger to cloud my decision making process.”
Greg said, sitting up straight, “Well, I will put them all under arrest and lock them in their rooms until we reach Chicago. Let it be known we have the evidence and we will interrogate them and have the witnesses sign a document stating the truth of the matter. Then I would execute them in Chicago. I know it sounds barbaric, but we are not equipped to deal with these kinds of people in a court of law.”
Hilary nodded her agreement and replied, “I was thinking the same thing, but taking them on to Colorado where they could be tried in a court of law.”
“That’s all well and good, but it would be a strain on the guards and their families for the next however long it takes for us to get where we are going. Best settle it now and put it behind us.”
“Yes, you are probably right Greg; I will let you handle the arrest along with the chief of the secret service whom I’m meeting in a few minutes with for him to listen to the tape.”
Greg told her he would go get Bubba and meet the secret service chief and his agents back here in thirty minutes or so. He left for the dining car and found Bubba fast asleep leaning on the counter at the small snack bar. He hated to wake him, but nothing he could do. He gently prodded the big guy in the back and slowly the big hulk rose up and looked at Greg with bloodshot eyes, but slowly a smile broke through showing beautiful white teeth. They moved to Greg’s table and sat down. Greg told him the story and what the plan was. Bubba never batted an eye and said he would be happy to accompany him to the rooms of the two ungrateful bastards. Bubba said with a lot of anger in his voice, “I don’t know why people can’t be satisfied with what they have. Now they will lose their lives and their families have to watch the execution knowing their lives will never be the same. The tag of traitors will haunt the family to extinction.”
Greg and Bubba went back to the president’s car and waited for her to invite them in. Carol came to the door and told them to come in. Sitting around the table were the two directors and the secret service guy who had joined the traitors. Their heads were hanging down to their chests in shame. Greg learned later that they vehemently denied the accusations until they heard the tape.
Greg sat down and with some anger in his voice said, “I have only one question of you two. After seeing the general of the Joint Chiefs executed for the very same thing you two were contemplating, what or how would you explain the situation when you reached Colorado?” He knew he would receive no answer but it made him feel better to ask it.
Hilary told all in the meeting to dictate a statement to her secretary for the record. In addition to the statements from the witnesses she told the two directors to hand write a confession and sign it for the record. Once the written confessions were completed they were escorted out and locked in their little rooms. Two hours later when a guard unlocked the doors of their rooms for something to eat, he found both directors and their wives dead. Later word went around that the president had slipped the directors suicide pills for the four of them.
After their discovery Greg ordered the train stopped and the bodies of the directors and their wives were given a quick funeral service and the train was once more on its way. Greg looked at his watch and four hours had passed since Cleveland. He thought about the bad guys if they were on their way or maybe a new bunch of terrorists waited for them in Chicago.
Blackie and his band of outlaws were struggling down the interstate. The going was slow as the westbound traffic because of the storm was headed west for a warmer climate they thought. At first the way was fairly clear, but soon as cars had run out of fuel or wrecked they had some problems getting around wrecked trucks and cars. Blackie was furious and screamed at nothing in particular as he pounded the dash. He kept looking at his watch and the mirror as they twisted and turned trying to avoid the snow piles that were the tombs of its occupants. They were not half way there and five hours had passed since Cleveland. All of his cars had CB radios and he kept yelling into the handset to keep up or they would leave them. To make matters worse, they had to stop and refuel soon and in this blizzard, that was no easy chore.
Chuck was dozing off sitting on a stool when the engineer shook him on the shoulder waking him up. A flashing red light on the safety machine told them something was blocking their way. The engineer had slowed the train down as quickly as he could without locking up the brakes. Greg was sleeping and woke up with a start. He quickly picked up the phone a
nd called the front engine. Chuck answered and told Greg the safety machine flashed a warning there was something on the track ahead of them. Chuck said he would go down and walk ahead and see what the situation was. Greg said to wait for a team of troops to go with him and dialed up the troop car. The colonel instantly answered the phone and listen while Greg told him the situation up ahead. The colonel said he would have a team on the ground in ten minutes. Greg cleaned up a little and left for the president’s car to inform her why the train was stopping.
He found the president sleepy-eyed like him. She was sitting talking to Janet and Carol with Jasper in his usual place at her feet. She looked at Greg with exasperation on her face and said, “Now what? I hope someone is writing a diary as this sure would make a good novel.”
Greg thought she looked very attractive in a pale yellow sweat suit. Janet and Carol both had on sweat suits only under their jackets a bulge could be seen. He picked up a phone and talked to Bubba to see how the passengers were faring. He gave Bubba what he knew and Bubba said the passengers were fine up and down the train. Some grumbling was heard but when he walked through the train just his presence quieted the talk. Greg laughed and said he would get back to him when he knew more.
He said to Hilary, “All is well with the passengers and soon we will know what is obstructing our way.”
They chatted about Chicago and how long it might take to refuel and be on their way. He told her it would take Chuck and the crew about two hours to refuel if all went well. He looked at his watch and said, “If there is nothing much in our way, we should be in Chicago in about four hours.”
They had passed through Toledo and kept going on to Chicago.
Almost an hour passed when the colonel called the president’s car. He told Greg that a pile up of cars on a crossing was blocking the way. Chuck told him that the train could move them out with the plow train in front and continue on their way in about fifteen minutes. Greg thanked him and told the president the report. The train started moving slowly and soon without feeling anything in the cars the train picked up speed again headed for who knows what in Chicago.
Greg went back to his room and instantly fell asleep with a very short report to his wife. He didn’t wake up again until the phone rang to tell him they were coming into the Chicago station. Greg washed up the best he could and dressed in his snow suit. Chuck had guessed a half hour until the station. Greg went to his dining car for a war meeting with the colonel and the captain. He had informed them to come there when they approached the city. Greg found them waiting for him drinking a cup of coffee. Greg sat down and waited for the colonel to talk to him about how they would protect the train and the fueling crew.
The colonel outlined his plan for protecting the train and the refueling team. Ten military men would go with Chuck to check out the generator that was used for emergencies in case of a power failure. Once they got it going, some doubt with the cold weather upon them, but it was housed underground so maybe not so difficult to start it up. As far as the train protection and down the track a snowmobile team of four would patrol and be on the lookout for vehicles with their lights on. The train itself would have thirty men inside and in the station itself to prevent someone from sneaking up on the train. Greg liked what he heard and felt relieved to some degree. He still had a nagging feeling in his neck that something was going to happen. “Colonel,” he said with total seriousness, “Be careful out there. These guys have nothing to lose and everything to gain so be on the alert for anything out of the ordinary. These guys might have a car full of explosives and try a suicide run or god knows what might happen.”
He passed Bubba on the way to the president’s car and he was armed to the teeth with a machine pistol and hand grenades. The passengers were all nervous, but felt safe with the military and Greg as their leader. Greg stopped by his room and gave Becky a handgun the colonel had given him to his wife. She was comfortable with the hand gun after taking lessons at Greg’s insistence. Now she was glad she did as god help someone who might harm her children. She told the kids to get under the bunks and packed blanket around them and sat and waited until her husband came back.
Greg went to the president’s car and saw that the bounty hunters had placed her in a bullet proof vest. No less than ten secret service men would protect her. All of the agents were armed to the hilt with bullet proof vests and machine guns. Now all they had to do was waiting for the train to arrive at the station and the refueling process.
Chapter 18
Blackie was having a fit. Eleven hours had passed and they still were an hour away from the station in the best of conditions. The refueling had been a nightmare. They had taken an off ramp to get under the freeway, but under the freeway were clogged with cars. To make matters worse the on ramp was similar to the underneath: clogged with cars unable to make it up the on ramp due to the snow. They had to take a side road and after an hour found a way back onto the freeway. Blackie had a road map and knew about where the station was, but in this weather, and road conditions, finding it might be another story.
First he needed some explosives. He was a natural with blowing things up having worked construction for many years.
One day a man approached him and asked him if he would like to make some real money for a change. Blackie was all ears and in a dark bar after work the man laid on the table ten thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills. He said, “This is only a small down payment and your cut would be close to two hundred thousand in cash.”
Blackie said, “Keep talking you have my full attention. Tell me what I have to do for an early retirement fund.”
Blackie sat there and downed some Wild Turkey neat and yelled for more. The man, dressed in a business suit was way out of place in a dive like this one, but anyone with sense would not tangle with Blackie. His reputation around the area was well known. The bartender knew him too well and told the girl to not keep the Neatherthal waiting. The ‘suit’ told him that his job would be to blow a hole in a concrete wall for entry into a bank.
“All you have to do is make a hole large enough for a man to crawl through and your job is finished.”
Blackie said, while shooting another one shot of Turkey feathers, “Name the place, time and I’ll be there.”
The ‘suit’ gave him an address to memorize and told him to be there on Sunday coming for a meeting.
The rest is history as Blackie recalled bitterly. He’d done his job and when the hole was blown and the dust cleared, they were surrounded by Federal agents and he spent the next ten years in jail. Every day he got bitterer until finally he got into a fight and killed a man. He was sentenced to life with no chance of parole. When the storm hit, the guards panicked and in the melee Blackie and his bunch escaped.
Blackie was in a foul mood. They were late and he had no idea how to find a hardware store for explosives so he had a thought: a construction site would do the trick. The city was dark even though it was early morning. They drove in the direction of the train station looking for a wall of plywood signifying a construction site. A half hour later he found what he was looking for: a high rise just starting construction with a plywood wall around it. They drove slow to find the entrance and in the middle of the block he found a double gate. He radioed the guys following to unload and follow him into the site. He told them to bring a large crowbar and in no time they found a building through the blowing snow marked high explosives. Two minutes later they were inside with flashlights and at a glance he took in what needed to go with them. Five cases of dynamite and a case of caps with fuse wire and they were gone. Back driving to the station Blackie was looking at the map of the city.
Blackie was not stupid. He figured a train like that would have a lot of protection and his small gang wouldn’t have a chance against the military. He thought to outsmart the dumb military and place his charge down the tracks from the station. He would place one of his jeeps on a crossing and when he heard the train coming, he would light the fuse and blo
w a hole in the ground ten feet deep in front of the train. He smiled to himself and told the driver to head west towards the train tracks west of the station. His only thinking was what if the train had already gone. He decided to send one of his jeeps to the station and report back to him if there was some activity there.
Blackie studied the map and found what he was looking for. At an intersection on a major street would be the place for his bomb. He would station his men around to pick off the military when the emptied the car after the engine ran off the tracks. Back in Cleveland he had seen the middle engine and he would just uncouple and use the middle engine. He decided to leave one jeep here for the jeep coming back from the station to see. Blackie took off to locate the major intersection with a smile on his face. Suddenly he was in a better mood.
Sitting in the president’s car Greg kept looking at his watch. They had arrived at the station an hour ago without any reception. Chuck was out with his crew for refueling and upon inspection of the station; they found hundreds of people down below struggling to live. The captain of security was talking to the leader inside the station and soon they would get a report on their condition. Greg’s radio came on from Chuck. Chuck reported they had found the generator and got it running. The refueling would start in a few minutes once they hooked up the fuel line. Chuck sounded a little strained and Greg knew it was from the cold weather affecting the old man. He reminded himself to make Chuck take a rest after clearing Chicago.
Greg was thinking about the route out of Chicago. Should he go straight to Kansas City or down to St. Louis? Going south meant passing through Joliet and that was the location of the notorious prison in Illinois. What route would the terrorists think he would take west? He was sure they were thinking they would go to St. Louis. Greg decided to head to Kansas when the refueling was completed.
Unearthly Snowbound Page 14
