Apocalypse Coming

by William Dunaway

  Wit smiled, “Thank you!”

  He looked around, not seeing Red and got a puzzled look on his face.

  “Your friends back in the restroom.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” and started heading that direction. He walked up to the door, knocking on it saying, “Hey, what are you doing in there, taking up residency?” He could hear Red grumble something. He then laughed and walked over to the shelves closest to the restroom to look for some junk food to take.

  The shelves were half empty but still had some cupcakes, candy, and other snack items. He picked up a few bags of peanuts, cupcakes, and some gum and headed to the counter to pay for it.

  About that time, a silver Buick with darkened windows, chrome rims, and the stereo playing so loud that the bass was shaking the windows, pulled up to the pumps and just sat there.

  “I heard that car coming when I was out pumping gas.”

  The music finally went off and two men, who looked as though they were covered with tattoos, got out of the car. The driver grabbed the handle of the pump and tried getting gas, but the pumps didn’t come on. The passenger pointed at the sign, which caused the driver to start speaking loudly and became very animated.

  The man behind the counter turned on the intercom so that he could hear them speaking.

  The two out at the pumps were speaking Spanish. Neither Wit nor the older man could speak Spanish but could tell they had a hostile tone. Then Wit heard the one that got out of the passenger side say “Cabrones de mierda.” He did recognize that as “fucking bastard.”

  Wit used to have a man under him that would cuss at him in Spanish. Once Wit found out what it meant, he taught the soldier not to call him names again by making sure he pulled CQ duty every weekend for a month.

  The man grumbled, “These guys look like trouble.”

  “Yeah, I just heard them say “fucking bastard.”

  The passenger came strutting up to the door and walked in. With broken English, he asked, “Hey my man, you want to turn on the pumps?”

  The older man, with the shotgun lying hidden on his lap, again pointed at the sign behind him, “Sorry, you have to pay in advance.”

  “Man, that ain’t right. We’re not going to steal your gas. Me and my partner are going on a long trip, and we will need more than 10 gallons also.”

  “Sorry, that’s the rules.”

  Just about that time, the other Latino came walking in. The first Latino said something to him in Spanish and the second one walked around Wit and walked over to the far right of the man behind the counter. Obviously, the first Latino was the leader.

  “Turn on the pump old man!” the leader yelled while pulling his shirt up showing a .45 handgun. Just then the older man pulled out the shotgun, leaning it on the counter and pointing directly at the leader’s gut.

  “Now, I said, you have to pay in advance, and there is a 10-gallon limit, but since you don’t seem to be able to understand that, I think you and your compadre need to leave.”

  Just then, a blast of gunfire rang out from the second Latino hitting the man behind the counter. When hit, it caused the older man to pull the trigger hitting the leader in the chest. The man behind the counter was knocked to the floor by the shot hitting him, while the Latino leader flew backward through the air onto one of the shelves.

  The second Latino turned his gun on Wit and was just a split second from pulling the trigger when a shot rang out from the back of the store, hitting the Latino in the head. He immediately dropped sideways to the floor. It was Red who heard the commotion, snuck out of the bathroom, and had the Latino’s head lined up with his sights.

  Wit immediately ran behind the counter to help the older man. He was unconscious. Wit checked him for wounds, and the man had been shot in the right shoulder.

  “Quick, run out and get my Med Kit!”

  Red ran out to Wit’s bike and pulled his med kit out of the saddle bag, and as he was running back into the store, the fisherman came running over with a small revolver.

  “What the hell happened?”

  “Your friend was shot by one of those bastards.”

  Wit had direct pressure on the wound as Red ran around the counter with the kit. While examining him, he also noticed that he had a large bump on the left side of his head.

  The fisherman looked over the counter and yelled, “Otis!”

  This seemed to wake him up, and after a few moments, he mumbled, “I’m alright. What the hell happened?”

  Wit said, “Now you just lay there. You were shot in the shoulder. It appears to have passed through without hitting any bones. You also have a large bump on your head, apparently from hitting the floor. Now just lay there while I treat your wound. Red, call 911.”

  As Otis became more alert, he slammed his fist of his good arm down on the floor and yelled: “Son of a bitch this hurts!” He then growled, “You’re not going to get anyone out here very fast. They’re all tied up assisting other agencies. There was a car accident with an injury yesterday, and it took them an hour and a half to get out here.”

  Wit dressed the wound, then sat Otis up and put an ice pack on the bump.

  Red hanging up the phone said, “He’s apparently right. I told them the situation, and they couldn’t tell me a time they could send someone out. All they said was “as soon as possible.”

  “Well, you need to go to the hospital and have these wounds treated and also check for a possible concussion. I put a Lidocaine patch on both wounds which will help deaden the external pain, but it’s only going to help a little. The reason you’re not feeling more pain is because you're in shock.”

  “I’ll take him,” the fisherman said.

  With Wit’s help, Otis stood up, seeing the Latino leader laying partially on one of the shelves. “So, I got the son of a bitch, uh? Where’s the other bastard that shot me?” They pointed at him lying on the floor.

  “Who got the other one?” The fisherman asked.

  “I did. I wish I would have gotten out here a little quicker though. That son of a bitch is MS-13; a very violent gang. I recognize one of the tattoos on his arm.”

  “Thank you, sir. You’re a good man.” Otis said while shaking Red’s hand. He then continued, “Now listen. You guys ought to get out of here. If a deputy ever arrives, you don’t want to get tied up with this. We’ll take care of everything.”

  “We don’t want to dump this on you.”

  The fisherman responded, “You ain’t dumping shit. We know the sheriff here; it’ll be ok.”

  “Well, I feel guilty doing it, but if you don’t mind, we do need to get on the road.”

  Both Red and Wit said thank you, and Wit reminded the fisherman to get him to the hospital. Wit grabbed the stuff he wanted to buy, plus Red grabbed a couple of items, and they set them on the counter.

  “I also need two cartons of L&M lights if you have them.”

  Otis, using his good arm, sat the two cartons down on the counter and sacked up the junk food and cigarettes.

  “So, what are you waiting for? Get out of here.”

  “Well, we need to pay for that. How much do we owe you?”

  “Didn’t I tell you to get the hell out of here? No charge.”

  Both Red and Wit objected, but there was no use. They agreed, and all shook hands.

  As they were walking out the door, Wit looked at the fisherman, “I know he’s a tough son of a bitch but get him to the hospital as soon as possible.”

  Chapter Twelve

  There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

  July 28th

  “Mr. Secretary, we have a confirmed Class 7 ELV. This isn’t a normal Class 4 satellite,” the General stated.

  “Hold up there General. Just what is a Class 7 ELV?” the Secretary of Defense asked.

  “Mr. Secretary, in layman's terms, an ELV is an expendable launch vehicle. It can be as simple as a rocket like we had in the ol
d Apollo missions. Or it can be what we classify as a Class 7, which has multiple stages, which can launch additional stages while in orbit. By the data we have, this is what we suspect Iranian One is.”

  “General, the Iranians announced that they were deploying both a surveillance and a weather satellite. Is it not possible that’s what this ELV is doing?”

  “No Sir! Not in our opinion. If that were the case, it would’ve launched the satellites as soon as it achieved orbit. To be honest, we’ve never seen a configuration like this before.”

  “Didn’t the Russian government confirm that there was a malfunction as soon as the Iranians took control and that the satellite or if you’re right, this ELV’s orbit is decaying?”

  “Yes Sir, but that isn’t the case. It’s still at its optimal orbit of 479 kilometers and is under power.”

  “Well, it sounds as though they corrected the problem. Let me talk with the President, and we’ll talk with the Russian government to get their clarification. Just stand by.”

  “Yes, Sir. We’ll continue at DEFCON 3 and monitor the ELV.”

  “DEFCON 3? Who the hell gave you the authorization to do that?”

  “Sir, I have full authorization to upgrade our defense level in cases such as this. More than that, it’s my duty. The Iranians have had an ELV launched, which is completely against rulings by the United Nations and the trajectory just happens to be over the United States. I think it was very prudent on my part to do so.” the General barked back on the edge of insubordination.

  “You better watch your tone, General. You’re talking to the Secretary of Defense, ...very well. Continue at your current status, and I’ll get back with you.”

  When the General hung up the phone, he mumbled, “Morons! They’re a bunch of Morons.”

  As the ELV passed the Atlantic coast, it launched its first part of its payload, which positioned itself over Washington, D.C. The rest continued to coordinate 42.00’ N 96.00’ W, which is right over the heart of Kansas.

  The Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader had demanded a meeting with the President, but they were advised by the President’s Chief of Staff that he was playing golf. When the Speaker heard this, he yelled, “The country is burning down, and the dollar has collapsed, and he’s out playing golf?”

  The President was well known for this. After three Americans had been beheaded by ISIS, he called the parents of the victims and gave his condolences, but then thirty minutes later, he was playing golf. His press secretary would always say that it was a stressful job and he played golf so that he could relax and think things out.

  Of course, most of the American people either didn’t seem to care or didn’t hear about it, as most of the network news agencies seemed to be in the Presidents pocket.

  Because he seemed to be trying to establish a dictatorship, both houses of Congress had convened to discuss the possibility of impeachment.

  Riverside-Jones Airport: Tulsa, OK

  Mia was out checking on the fuel and Carmen and her sister Brandy were sitting in the airport cafe, eating out of boredom. They had been hanging out in the pilot’s lounge, but they got tired of being flirted with by the few pilots that were there also. The cafe was run by an older lady who had been there for years, and she kept the pilots from bothering them, as she was used to keeping them at bay.

  “I just don’t see how you can do this. How can you be around a guy so much that you have such strong feelings for but can’t truly be with him?” Brandy asked Carmen with a tone of disapproval.

  “You know how I am at home and with my job. My guard is up all the time, mainly to stop anyone from getting over on me and because I’m going to make sure that I’m in charge of what happens in my life. But, when I’m around Vince, I just feel at peace, and I can be myself. I can let my vulnerabilities come out around him and not worry about being taken advantage of. I totally trust him.

  You know, I can count on one hand the number of people I truly trust. I don’t mean the kind of trust where you know someone isn’t going to steal your money or lie to you, but the kind of trust where you just know they’ll never intentionally hurt you, no matter what, and they’ll always be there for you, no matter how bad things get.”

  She then laughed, “He’s so funny too and tries to make everything fun.

  He also treats me with respect and I know how much he cares about me. Maybe not in the way I would want it under different circumstances, but I know he really cares.”

  “To me, that would be torture. You know, if dad ever finds out, he’ll have a fit. I don’t care if you are thirty. In his mind, you’re still his baby daughter and he would lose it due to the fact that you’ve got feelings for a married man….. Trust me, even if he was single, he wouldn’t be too thrilled about the idea that he’s that much older than you either.”

  “I’m not trying to have a romantic relationship with him. I just like to be around him, but even if I was, I wouldn’t care about his age. All the guys I’ve dated have been around my age, and they either treated me like I was their personal property and I wasn’t allowed to speak to another guy, or they were the modern-day clowns that think everything is owed to them. Then you always have the guys that are just after our money.

  With Vince, it takes an act of God to get him to let us pay for dinner sometimes. Once, when his tractor was down, I offered to loan him the money to buy a new one, and he got mad at me for even suggesting it…….. and he knows that we don’t have to worry about money.

  All I can say is he’s very special to me.”

  “Ok, he’s a sweet, funny and an honest man. I get it, but still….”

  Carmen interrupted, “If I’m not trying to have a romantic relationship with him, why are you so concerned? It’s not just Vince, I enjoy being around Kim as well. I would never do anything to hurt her. She’s a sweetheart. She’s so much fun to be around, and she is so wise. I admire her so much.

  We’ve talked, and she knows how I feel, and she doesn’t have a problem with it. I enjoy being with both of them and I feel safe and happy.”

  “Well, I think you're fooling yourself. You have stronger feelings for him than you are admitting and I’m sure Kim knows too. I don’t know how she handles it.”

  “Because she trusts us. She knows Vince would never be unfaithful to her and that I would never betray her.”

  Brandy just shook her head as though she couldn’t comprehend that kind of trust.

  Carmen then getting a little angry but making sure she talked in a low voice asked, “Why do you or anyone else have such a problem with this? I’m happy, and they’re happy. I understand that you’re saying this out of love because you don’t want me to get hurt, but I know what I’m doing.

  Sure, deep down inside I would love to have more but that isn’t possible. So, I’m going to accept the only thing I can have. Kim doesn’t have a problem with it because if Vince was the type that would screw around on her, she wouldn’t love him the way she does, and I wouldn’t love him at all because that would mean he isn’t the kind of person that he is.

  One of the reasons I care for him so much is because he treats women with respect and as an equal. I also love how much he loves Kim, and he would never intentionally hurt her, but he still knows how to show me a special kind of love.

  Kim isn’t the possessive type that lives her life with constant fears and insecurity. She knows that I’m not trying to steal Vince from her or secretly having sex with him behind her back. Only sick, twisted people would automatically assume that. Maybe they don’t have any self-control, but I do.

  Now, as long as I’m happy and they’re happy, why do you or anyone else have such a problem with it? It’s nobody’s business but ours. How’s that go? Judge not, lest ye be judged.”

  Brandy sighed, “I’m not judging you Carmen. I just worry about you. I have to admit though, you have been happier than I’ve seen you in a long time. Come to think about it, I shouldn’t be trying to give you advice on be
ing happy. I sure failed, look at the idiot I was once married to.”

  Just then Mia came through the door. “Get ready; they’re filling the plane up now.”

  Both of them jumped up immediately, and Brandy commented, “It’s about time. Three hours late but at least we got it.”

  Mia continued, “I just tried calling my parents but all I got was their voice mail. I did get ahold of Kim and told her we were finally getting fueled up. I would suggest if want to let your family know, now would be the time.”

  Johnson Farm

  When I saw the size of MO’s bus, I ran out to the driveway to show Mo where to park. Our driveway came off the road and circled to the garage on the back side of the house. I had Mo park on a little side driveway where I usually parked my truck.

  As we were walking out the door the phone rang, so Kim stayed in to take the call.

  As soon as Mo opened the bus, Tag came jumping out. Even though we hadn’t seen each other for years, we hugged each other like it had just been a few months earlier.

  Right away, we started giving each other shit about how old each of us had gotten. I started acting as though I was knocking on his belly, “Hello, is someone in there?”

  He immediately came back with, “How many chins do you have, two or three?”

  To be honest, Tag looked like Tag, just heavier. He had solid muscles on his arms and chest but had grown a bit of a beer belly.

  Mo then came bounding out of the bus. When I saw him, I asked, “What the hell have you been doing? You used to have a skinny basketball body; now you look like a starting linebacker on a pro football team.

  He started laughing with his classic Mo laugh, “I’ve been working out a bit.”

  “A bit?” I asked, and then grabbed him and gave him a hug.

  “Well, obviously you haven’t been working out.”

  Tag burst out laughing, which caused us all to laugh.

  I started shaking my belly, “Hey, this is just my reserves in case we have a famine. Remember, I have a few years on you guys.”

  If we had been saying this stuff to anyone else, they would have taken it personally. But even after all these years, giving each other shit was just a natural thing for us to do.