IN THE APOCALYPSE, A HERO RISES

by Vincent Fields

  Everyone stood up to get divided into groups. Tak motioned to a few officers that were normally on his shift to accompany him. He had three men and one female officer with him. The other Sergeants likewise picked their crews and the officers went out to police the city. Nervousness mixed with excitement in the air, but they were in good spirits and had the best of intentions on helping the folks of their city deal with this emergency. Most of them would be dead before this day was through.

  CHAPTER 9: SHTF

  Tak gathered up the four officers he'd have on his crew this day; Braxton, DeYoung, Hoyt, and Smith. Amy Braxton was the only female in the group. While petite in stature, she had established herself as an asset to her co-workers due to her ability to communicate well with the public and her willingness to assert herself aggressively when necessary. Her short red hair and freckles added another level to what was already a cute face. That often seemed to help when smoothing things out with the public in ways that a man sometimes just wasn’t able to do. Tak could talk about almost anything with her; but anytime a conversation got personal between them he felt like a nervous schoolboy. No other women in his life had ever had that effect on him. Tak was always careful not to stare and tried not to give any hint of his secret attraction to her. He assumed that he'd put his foot in his mouth so many times with her already that he didn't have a chance anyway. Plus he didn't want to ruin a good thing; she made a great partner he was fine with just that... or so he often had to tell himself.

  DeYoung and Hoyt had hired on together almost a decade earlier and were partners on the job. Longtime friends and former military, they would often have cookouts together with their families. DeYoung was an average built, 33 year old with short light brown hair. He was a German-American with a quick temper and a good bit of amateur boxing experience. He was normally a friendly man, but when he felt disrespected his anger appeared in a flash. Hoyt filled the role of balancing out DeYoung's temper very well with his own easy going style, which kept them them out of trouble... usually. Hoyt was thin at 170 pounds and six feet 4 inches tall. He had curly blonde hair and a constant smile.

  Smith was a mid-30's black man who wore glasses and kept his hair buzzed short. An avid runner; he was an asset to the force when chasing down criminals who choose to flee on foot.

  Tak had the three men ride together in one squad car; heeding his chief’s directions to stay in groups of at least two. He told them to head to the northwest district of the city to patrol and respond to calls for assistance until further notice. He and Amy Braxton would do the same. He and Amy often worked together, as they found their styles of policing complimented each other’s. He checked out the department’s 4-door Jeep Cherokee, designated as “Car 4”, and Amy jumped into her usual spot in the passenger’s seat. It had been modified with a suspension lift and bigger tires for situations in which they needed an off-road vehicle. Plus it had a cage with reinforced plexiglass between the front and back seat so they could safely put combative suspects in the back. Tak preferred to take the jeep out whenever possible.

  Tak drove off and headed towards his district. The police radio was full of near constant chatter already. There was no way the officers could respond to all of the calls coming in. Reports of looting and home intrusions were rampant. A few minutes into the drive a call came over the radio that the Wal-Mart was being looted. Tak was less than a half mile from there. Amy looked at Tak, who nodded at her and she replied over the radio that Car 4 was enroute.

  They arrived at a chaotic scene. Gunshots could be heard off in the distance… and some not that far off. Several fistfights were going on around the parking lot as people fought for looted goods. A few people had been trampled and were lying bloody near the doorways. Dozens of people were swarming in and out of the two front entrances like angry bees. Several of them had camouflage bandanas over the bottom half of their faces. People were running out with anything they could grab. Shopping carts overflowing with everything from groceries to sporting goods to clothes to TV’s and electronics. Tak pulled up about 25 yards from the entrance and began to talk over the Jeep’s loudspeaker as his blue and red lights flashed. “Attention citizens, this is the Marion police department. Everyone slow down and relax; you are trampling people underfoot. Stop shoving and pushing everyone, you are only going to get...” “CRACK”; his driver’s side rear window shattered and a few shotgun pellets pounded into the back of his bullet proof vest. Luckily the Jeep’s door and seats absorbed most of the energy from the blast. He looked over his left shoulder and saw a man about 10 feet behind and to the left of the Jeep pointing a smoking 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun right at him. The thirty-something year old man perfectly fit the stereotype of a redneck with missing teeth, a chew-stained goatee, a brown mullet and a dirty white wife-beater tank top. A camouflaged bandana was tied around his neck. Another slightly shorter man, who must have been a close relative based off of his looks, was pushing a cart next to him and wore the same bandana. The cart was full of freshly looted shotguns and rifles from the sporting goods department, as well as many boxes of ammunition. He was hurriedly picking rounds out of a fresh box of ammo and loading up a long barreled rifle. Both men wore camouflage bandanas around their necks. Officer Braxton rolled out of the right side of the vehicle, drew her pistol, and began running towards the back so she could round the rear corner to get a shot at the perpetrator. However the first redneck was already taking aim again, this time following Braxton’s form with the barrel of his shotgun as she ran to the back of the Jeep. Tak saw this as he exited his side and drew his service pistol; a Springfield Armory XD 45 caliber semi-automatic that held 14 big rounds of bone crushing lead. His glanced at Braxton to his left and realized that the redneck would get a shot off on her the instant she rounded the corner. She would have almost no chance to shoot the redneck before he shot her since her view of him was blocked by their Jeep but he was already aimed in at her, waiting for the moment she rounded the right-rear corner to kill her. He didn’t need to rack the action of the shotgun to load another round since a semi-auto shotgun quickly fired each time the trigger was pulled. The pupils of Tak’s blue eyes narrowed and flashed as he called forth the predator within. The neural pathways in his brain exploded in a frenzy of lightning-like activity. He became Hoshoku as time slowed down around him. The immediate danger was the first redneck who was tracking Braxton with the barrel of his shotgun as she was just about to round the corner of the Jeep. Tak could see him moving in slow motion; the redneck’s teeth were bared and grit was under the fingernail that was pulling the trigger. Tak steadied his breathing and took careful aim. He had plenty of time to aim as he focused on making this crucial moment pass by as slowly as possible. He carefully lined up his front and rear yellow glowing Trijicon night sights with the center of the man’s face. Tak squeezed off a well-aimed shot. His big 45 barked fire; a slow eruption of a flaming circle exited the barrel as a large chunk of lead burst forth. The hollow point round quickly made its way towards his target, spinning and leaving a faint vapor trail behind it. Tak feared that the man would still pull the trigger even after he was hit, so before his first round impacted he carefully adjusted his aim to the man’s trigger finger and squeezed off another one. The lead from Tak’s first round impacted just above the man’s nose, causing a horrific splatter of bones and brains to exit the rear of his head. Before the man even started to fall Tak’s 2nd round removed his trigger finger an instant before the shotgun would have fired. The redneck and his shotgun began to fall in slow motion. Tak shifted his focus the 2nd redneck, who was still loading his rifle. Tak sprinted over to him and hammered the magazine side of his pistol into the man’s left temple with a simple overhand strike. His real time speed was so fast that the man never even saw him move from the time he exited the vehicle. The blow immediately knocked him unconscious, and he began his slow fall to the earth. The redneck lost his grip on the rifle and it began to fall as well. Tak smoothly reached out with his left hand and gra
bbed it as it slowly crept towards the ground. He relaxed his focus and both men returned to falling at normal speed. They each hit the ground with a painful sounding “thump”. Braxton rounded the corner, preparing to fire with her gun and aiming in the directly of the now downed rednecks. “What the… Oh my God, are you ok?! Uhh, what happened? Are they dead?!” She couldn’t comprehend how Tak had dispatched both of them and gotten all the way behind the rear of the Jeep so quickly. Immediately changing the subject, Tak grabbed the shopping cart and pushed it to the back of the Jeep. “I’m fine. Hurry; open that up. We don’t want these falling into the wrong hands, we’ll put them in the armory at the station.” he said. Braxton opened the Jeep and they both loaded the contents of the shopping carts into the back. People were running by them and the scene was getting worse. Rapid gunfire picked up somewhere on the other side of the parking lot as they loaded up over two dozen shotguns and rifles and four times as many boxes of ammo.

  Tak spoke into the Jeep’s CB’s microphone. “Graves to dispatch; be advised I’m at Wal-Mart and it is completely overrun with looters. Shots have been fired and two suspects are down, but we’re OK. There’s no way just a few officers can handle this situation. Tell the chief we’ll need at least a dozen officers here to restore order here.” A female voice came over the speaker to him, “Roger that Graves.”

  A few moments later the radio silence was interrupted by a frantic voice. Officer Hoyt was panting as if he were running while yelling and gunfire could be heard in the background. “This is Hoyt! We’re in a gunfight on Carbon Street, just north of Main Street! Were pinned down and need backup now! I think Smith is dead! DeYoung has been hit!” Graves responded “10-4, car four is on the way. Hang in there Hoyt.”

  CHAPTER 10: SHOOTOUT

  As they drove off Amy looked at Tak with her mouth open wide, still trying to comprehend what had happened. He drove fast with his lights on, but no siren. They could see the smoke from several fires rising around the city. An ambulance and a fire truck quickly crossed in front of them from left to right several streets ahead, sirens blaring. Tak approached the scene of the shootout from the north side. There was a red mini-van full of bullet holes that had crashed into the side of a large blue metal industrial building. The bloody elderly driver appeared to be dead and a woman - presumably his spouse, was holding him on the ground just outside of the opened driver’s side door, wailing inconsolably. 20 yards southeast of Tak’s location a black civilian Crown Victoria with silver spinner rims was stopped about 10 yards behind the van, with four armed men firing at Hoyt’s squad car, which was another 20 yards to the south. The men appeared to be young black gang members with sagging pants, plenty of gold jewelry, hoods on their heads and each firing pistols. The each wore the same camouflage bandanas on their faces that Tak had seen on some of the Walmart looters. As Tak slid to a stop he spun the Jeep’s right side around so that it was facing the threat, whose backs were to his Jeep. He quickly drew his pistol and exited and Amy crawled out of the driver’s side while staying low, as they had practiced in training several times. Located at an angle between Tak and Hoyt’s vehicles, the gang bangers were now at a tactical disadvantage; caught in a crossfire. Upon seeing Tak’s police Jeep pull up the bangers scurried to the front of their vehicle in an attempt to get out of the new line of fire. However they couldn’t completely get behind cover because that would open them up to possible fire from Hoyt; although fire from his direction had almost completely stopped. They couldn’t see Hoyt, as he was laying down flat behind his passenger side tire trying to be as small a target as possible. Officer DeYoung was likewise lying down next to the rear driver’s side tire, struggling to use his belt as a tourniquet above the bleeding hole in his left thigh. Tak noticed that officer Smith was lying motionless in front of their police cruiser in a pool of his own blood around his head.

  The bangers opened up on Tak and Amy who were taking cover behind the tires and reinforced side panels of the jeep. Tak could see two of them firing from decent cover behind the rear of their car while a third was standing up next to them out in the open by a good couple of feet, firing off rounds as fast as he could from a pistol with a long, extended clip. The fourth man was out of site, presumably on the far side of the car where Hoyt should have a shot at him. Tak focused intently and again became Hoshoku. Time slowed to a crawl for him as his eyes flashed a seemingly unnaturally bright blue. His rear passenger side window cracked with the impact of a nine millimeter round. The glass began to spiderweb out from the impact in slow motion. Tak ignored it and took aim over the hood of the jeep. Of the three visible gang bangers, the one with the extended clip standing in the open firing carelessly seemed to be the least threat, so Tak began with the furthest most criminal to his left who was firing at them from a position of partial cover over their trunk. Tak carefully lined his front sight up on that one’s forehead and slowly squeezed his trigger once he knew his sights were not moving. His 45 erupted with a ring of fire and Tak could see the chunk of lead speeding down range towards its doomed target. He smoothly switched his point of aim to his second target and observed that thug’s most recent round speeding towards his direction along its course, about to pass six inches above and to the left of his head. He didn’t bother flinching since he saw that round would miss him. Tak heard the driver’s side rear window get impacted from the same round that had passed through the passenger’s side in what seemed like a full second earlier, in his perspective. Tak squeezed off his second shot when his sights were perfectly in line with the middle gang banger’s forehead and then smoothly transitioned his aim to his third target before the slide of his pistol had even traveled completely to the rear and automatically chambered another round. A round fired by this third attacker impacted the passenger’s side door and was pulverized against the steel plate welded to its inside. Tak’s could feel his concentration fading as time pulled against him; straining him to return to normal, like a rubber band in his mind reaching its limit and trying to snap back. He could feel his heartbeat pulsing through his head and he had to focus harder to remain in his slowed state of being for just a moment longer. He knew he didn’t have as much time to properly line up a head shot so he aimed at center mass of the last thug who was standing without cover and firing without properly aiming. He squeezed the trigger and immediately relaxed his focus, giving his brain a much needed reprieve. Time returned to its normal speed and his rounds resumed their natural velocity. Three impacts occurred from left to right on his three targets within a quarter of a second. Two heads exploded and a chest formed an unnaturally large cavity. Blood spray painted the wall of the blue building behind them. It sounded like a fully automatic pistol had fired off three rounds, and they had all hit their marks precisely. Amy yelped in pain. Tak looked over at her and saw her fall to the ground, clutching her left shoulder as blood came out from under her hand. He heard pistol fire coming from Hoyt’s car and looked over to see the last gang banger fall where he stood in the open, hit with several of Hoyt’s rounds. Apparently the first round that had passed through the rear side windows had hit Amy.

  CHAPTER 11: OFFICER DOWN

  Tak ran to Amy and pulled her right hand off of her wounded left shoulder so he could assess the damage. An inch to the right and the 9mm round would have hit her advanced nano-Kevlar vest instead of her soft shoulder tissue, but she hadn’t been that lucky. The wound looked painful but not life threatening. He said, “Oh it’s really not that bad” as he ran to rear of the jeep and opened it up, quickly grabbing a medical kit. He returned to her and cut her left sleeve off with a pair of medical scissors. He wiped off as much blood as he could and taped some gauze over the small hole. She grimaced as he grabbed her right hand and pushed it on the wound, applying pressure. He calmly said to her, “Keep that pressure on the wound.” He scooped her up swiftly but carefully with his right arm under her knees and his left arm under her back, as she draped her right arm around his shoulders. He whisked her around the rear of
the jeep to the passenger front door. He opened it and gently put her in the seat. “You’re going to be fine. I’m sure it hurts like hell but it’s in a non-vital area. I’ll take you to the hospital now where they will remove the round and clean the wound. You’ll be doing pullups again within three months”. His words and demeanor comforted her as she managed a quiet “ok” as he shut the door. Officer Hoyt yelled over to him, “Sergeant Graves, I’ll be taking DeYoung to the hospital; he’s hit in the leg. Smith didn’t make it. Tak looked him in the eyes and gave him a solemn nod, saying “Braxton was hit too. There aren’t any available ambulances. You need a hand getting Smith in your squad?” Hoyt replied back, “No sarge, I got this. Go take care of Braxton.” Tak answered back “10-4. Take the bad guy’s guns with you before you leave.” Hoyt was already on it. Tak radioed in to base that officer Braxton had been hit and he was taking her to the hospital. He also reported DeYoung’s injury and that Smith was KIA. He was told that all units were occupied and nobody could report to the scene of the shootout right then, which he already expected. He turned his lights and sirens on as he sped away.