Gearing Up

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “You won’t go alone,” Gary said firmly. “I’ll get the others and we’ll end this today. I was afraid to act. They took the guns on the second day, claiming that they were upgrading them. Most of the folks who kept theirs back had accidents on the third day, and Lister collected their guns then. It was then we knew that we had made a massive mistake. Anyone who spoke out against Lister since then has either been forced into line, or has been killed.”

  “Fine. Get your people together, we’re going to do this the hard way,” Alvin said as he sat back down. “Olivia, can I get another Coke?”

  Chapter Thirty

  Olivia was in a bit of shock, but she shook it off enough to bring more drinks to the table. Gary picked up his chair and the old man from the bar came over. “There are normally five of Lister’s men keeping an eye on the fields. If we took them out, it would leave him with maybe another ten inside his fort, and the two at the roadblocks to the south and north.”

  “Are you up to taking out the sleazes at the south gate?” Becky asked. “I think Trevill might flip if we can get his wife away from Lister. You should explain that to him, Gary.”

  “I’ll go,” the old man said.

  “Anders, that might get you killed,” Gary said seriously.

  Anders’ raspy laughter preceded his reply, “I made it through the war. If the damned Nazis couldn’t kill me, then no kid pretending to be a cop is going to.”

  “Do you even have a gun?” Alvin asked.

  “My Garand is still in the attic,” Anders said.

  “Gary, do you have a pistol?” Alvin asked. “It would be better if you could switch up with Anders. He’ll want something more concealable than the Garand, and you can use the long gun in the fields with us.”

  “I have something put away,” Gary said. “My Beretta can do the job.”

  Anders nodded. “I’ll go grab my gun and meet you back here in ten.”

  Gary got to his feet. “Same.”

  When the two men left, Becky walked over and looted the corpses. She handed two XP tokens to Alvin. “There we go.”

  Alvin absorbed the XP without paying attention to it while he finished off his second Coke. “Olivia,” Alvin said, getting her attention from where she was slumped against the bar. “The food was good, thanks.”

  Eyes glazed, Olivia nodded absently. “You’re welcome.”

  “Hero, I’m a little curious—why are we doing this exactly?” Becky asked softly.

  “I’m pretty sure that if I kill Lister, I can mark the kiosk as mine, so I’ll get the fifteen percent from what they all buy. I just hope they pick a better leader. I also want to go see the shaman about the Orb we picked up, which we can’t do if Lister is calling the shots,” Alvin shrugged. “Selfish reasons, again.”

  Becky chuckled, “Okay, then. I thought maybe you were going all paladin on me and wanting to right an injustice.”

  Alvin rolled his eyes. “Gods, no lawful stupid for me. I’ll play it off that way for these people, at least some, but no, entirely selfish reasons.”

  “How are we going to deal with the field guards and the northern checkpoint?” Becky asked.

  Alvin grinned. “The old fashioned way. At range, with superior firepower.” Pulling the 700 from his backpack, Alvin set it on the table. “Sniping is always a good pastime.”

  “I don’t have a good rifle for that,” Becky said plaintively.

  “Yeah, which means you get the harder job,” Alvin said leaning forward. “You’re going with Gary to the north roadblock and taking out the two guards there. Use your charms to get close, then end them in brutal fashion. I’d suggest taking the Tommy instead of the shotgun for that one. It might not have the upfront punch, but for mowing down two people in the shortest time, it’s the clear winner.”

  Becky nodded and fished the Tommy out of her fanny pack, switching it with the shotgun in her glove. “I’ll get it done. You sure you can take everyone in the field by yourself?”

  “I’ll get it done,” Alvin gave her a smile. “Once you finish with the guys at the checkpoint, hurry over to the town, just in case one of mine runs for it.”

  “Why don’t we send Jarvis over to deal with the roadblock?” Becky suggested. “Then I can go with you, or at least be in a position to intercept them easier. Gary will be there with the Garand, as well.”

  Alvin nodded. “That works.”

  The jingle of the bell brought both Alvin and Becky around, but it was only Anders and Gary. “We’ve switched guns already.”

  “Anders, you got this?” Alvin asked to be sure, but the elderly man was wearing a smile.

  “Been a long time since I had to put down evil men, but today seems like a good day for it, young man.”

  “What’s the plan for the rest of us?” Gary asked.

  “I’m going to send my Humvee over to deal with the roadblock,” Alvin said. “I need you and Gothy to intercept anyone from the fields who tries to make it back to warn Lister. I also need to know if there are any elevated positions I can use to get a good line of sight on the fields.”

  “The barn on the north end of town is your best bet,” Gary said. “At least one of Lister’s men is always there to make sure nothing goes missing. Who’s going to drive the Humvee?”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Becky smiled. “Is that it for the people not inside the fort?”

  “Well, there is the roadblock to the west, but they’re two miles out of town.”

  “Something to worry about after the fields are dealt with,” Alvin said. “Once they’re down, you’re going to need to rally those that will risk their lives against Lister and whatever he has left. I’ll get the Humvee to the west to stop those guys from coming back to help.”

  “That will leave eight men in the fort with Lister,” Gary said. “We’ll have enough people for that.”

  “Gary, is this the right thing to do?” Olivia asked from the bar, obviously still in shock.

  “It’s the only thing to do. In time, he was either going to kill us, or we’d just give up living, Olivia,” Gary said, getting up to go to her. “Just keep your head down. After he’s gone, we’ll have to establish a council of some kind to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

  “I’d suggest reaching out to the Natives, as well,” Alvin said. “It would help them to know that reparations are starting.”

  “That is indeed something we’ll have to atone for,” Anders said sadly. “I felt horrible when I found out about what happened. I used to know one of the Code Talkers. He would have been appalled.”

  “Where were you at the time?” Becky asked.

  “I was in the forest. I came back to find this place, as it is, just three days ago.” Anders checked the Beretta and pocketed it. “I was still thinking about what I could do to fix it when y’all showed up and got things rolling.”

  “Well, this isn’t going to fix itself,” Alvin said, getting to his feet. “I’ll deal with the guy at the barn while you all get ready. I just need to stop by the Humvee first. If you see any of Lister’s men reacting, then open fire if they’re close enough. Once this is done, meet back here and we’ll figure our plan for the assault on the fort.”

  “Don’t do us wrong, boy,” Anders said as he left the bar.

  “I didn’t catch your name,” Gary said to Becky as they started leaving.

  “I’m called Gothy. That back there is Hero, but you can call him Al,” Becky said as the door shut behind her.

  “Olivia,” Alvin said firmly, bringing her head up. “Go home and wait for Gary to come get you. Tell your cook to take the day off, too.”

  Nodding, Olivia moved as if in a daze. Once she was out of the room, Alvin headed to the Humvee and opened the door. “Ready for your part, Jarvis?”

  “Indeed, sir,” Jarvis said as the Humvee started up. “I’m to deal with the north roadblock, then the west roadblock. What do you wish me to do after that, sir?”

  “Come back here and wait for us,” A
lvin said. “Time to go to work.”

  Alvin started north, his Type 56 in his bag and the Remington 700 in his left glove. The streets were uncomfortably empty as he made his way through the small town. Once he was past the houses on the north side, he could see a large barn rising up near the fields.

  Walking across the road like he belonged there, Alvin kept his eyes moving, looking for the guard. He frowned when he got to the fenced in yard and still hadn’t spotted him. Alvin wondered where the man was.

  “Oh, no, don’t worry. I promised you, didn’t I, that when I hand out the tokens tomorrow, you’d get a little something extra?” a male voice said from inside the barn.

  “As long as you promise. Jake needs the extra so we can get the medicine from the kiosk,” a female voice was saying as Alvin came alongside the barn.

  “I promise, I promise. Now get on your fucking knees already,” the man snapped.

  “But I’m not that kind of boy,” Alvin said, stepping into the doorway with his suppressed UMP in hand. “As for her getting XP, I’ll cover that,” Without giving the guy a chance to pull his pants up, Alvin squeezed off a burst of fire, making the woman on her knees scream.

  As the man fell over, Alvin advanced and put more rounds into him, making sure to hit the head a few times. He switched the gun to safety and let it vanish back into his glove. Alvin looked at the cowering woman, who was stuttering incoherently, and sighed. Looting the corpse, he flicked the token at her, hitting her in the head.

  “Take the card and go get your medicine for Jake,” Alvin said as he started to climb the ladder to the loft, “then stay hunkered down. I have some vermin to kill.”

  Eyes wide, the woman watched him climb the ladder. She looked around, then saw the XP token on the ground next to her. That, and a few blood splatters, were all that remained of the guard Alvin had shot. “Who… are you?”

  “Some call me… Hero,” Alvin said as he looked around the second floor and found the hatch to open the doors on that level. “Now get going.”

  The woman scrambled away, pulling her dress up as she went. Alvin put her out of his mind as he looked out the door to find a winch anchored to the roof beam. Grabbing one end of the rope threaded through it, he tied that off to a beam inside. “Time for maximum effort,” Alvin sighed, using the other end of the rope to climb to the roof. The tricky part was grabbing the beam that the pulley was attached to and swinging himself up onto the roof. Panting for a moment, Alvin lay there and caught his breath before he summoned the 700. He got it set up and looked out over the fields, easily able to spot five of Lister’s guards among those tending to the crops.

  “Wish I had a way of marking them, like most stealth sniper games do,” Alvin lamented briefly. “Then again, I might as well wish for a mini-map while I’m at it.”

  Once he was ready, Alvin took his time finding the target picture for the first shot. “Okay Jarvis, show time,” Alvin muttered as he feathered the trigger. The 700 bucked in his grip, but made almost no sound thanks to the suppressor and the Silent rune.

  The goon Alvin had aimed for definitely felt the shot. He jerked backwards like he’d been kicked by a mule, and looked around wildly to find the shooter, yelling for the other guards in the field. Alvin feathered the trigger three more times rapidly; two of the shots hit the man in the chest again, while the third hit him in the head as he ducked.

  “One,” Alvin said, shifting his aim to the next guard in line, who had started toward the dead guy, “Back shots, eh? Good thing I’m an asshole.” The next goon took five shots to put down, and Alvin switched the gun over to safety so it would reload. “That was two,” Alvin said as he watched the other three all go low in the fields. The townsfolk had all hit the dirt long ago.

  Chuckling, Alvin watched the three men all start running for town. The sound of the M240B opening up was clearly audible to everyone in the fields. The three men all went fully prone, looking for the source of the gunfire. Adjusting his position, Alvin took the gun off safety, and took aim at the men now belly crawling toward the sound of machine gun fire.

  “This little piggy had roast beef,” Alvin chuckled at the unintended pun as he took aim at the back of the CHP uniform. He put the shots center mass, firing four times before the guy came to a jerky stop. “Three.”

  The two guards left panicked, shooting their friend when the dead man started to animate. Scrambling to their feet, they ran for town. Alvin tsked as he took aim at the fourth goon, getting three shots in before Becky appeared and finished killing his target. The last gunman rapid fired at Becky, who ducked under her jacket and went around the corner. This left the guard’s back to Gary, who calmly stepped out and unloaded the entire en bloc clip into him, carefully sending the last round through the dead man’s head. Becky popped out to make sure hers had been shot in the head, too.

  “West, Jarvis,” Alvin said. “Also, remind me to ask about some kind of communication device so I can talk with you outside of the car.”

  Alvin switched out the 700 for his Type 56 and slid down the rope to the ground. Alvin smiled at Gary and Becky as they met up. “Well, that was some good work.”

  “Are you sure the roadblock is clear?” Gary asked with a worried look.

  “Not positive, but if it wasn’t, Jarvis would still be firing,” Alvin said. “Go get your people calmed down. Find Jake and tell him that whoever that woman was, she went to get his medicine.”

  “You ran into Liz?” Gary blinked.

  “I guess. I ran into a blonde who was going to whore herself for XP to get medicine for someone named Jake,” Alvin shrugged. “Lister’s man died with his pants down, and she was all kind of freaking out when I went up to the roof. I gave her the loot to get her out of my hair.”

  “I looted the two back there,” Becky said.

  “Then we need to get the three in the field and those over at the roadblocks,” Alvin said. “Up for a stroll?”

  “Always, Hero,” Becky smiled as she fell into step beside him.

  “See you back at the Hippo in a bit,” Alvin said over his shoulder to Gary, who watched them with a blank expression.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Anders and Trevill were already there waiting when Alvin and Becky got back to the Hippo. Anders was grimacing while Trevill bandaged his arm. “You could have warned me,” Trevill was saying as the couple walked in.

  “You shot Anders?” Alvin asked.

  Shooting them a dirty look, Trevill went back to bandaging the old man. “He should have warned me before he gunned down Quintan. I shot him because he was killing someone.”

  “I killed a vermin,” Anders said through clenched teeth, “not a person.”

  “You think you’re just going to waltz into Lister’s fort and end this?” Trevill asked as he finished tying off Anders’ bandage.

  “Pretty much,” Alvin nodded, “unless he has his door locked.”

  “He has a dozen men inside that fort at all times,” Trevill said.

  “No,” Becky replied, “he has three less than normal, and he might be wondering what’s taking them so long.”

  Trevill paused. “You killed the team sent to collect the XP?”

  “Yeah,” Alvin shrugged. “Once Gary gets back with the others, we’re going to go straight into Lister’s home and kill him. Is there anything we need to know, like if he keeps the women handcuffed to a throne or anything?”

  “He keeps them in the bottom-most room, and it’s rigged to explode if he dies,” Trevill said.

  “Nope, not possible,” Alvin snorted. “Electronics that advanced don’t work anymore. He would need a radio detonator, an old one that doesn’t use microchips. I’m guessing he might have it rigged, but with a hard switch. Is he always sitting in a specific seat?”

  “Yeah, he has an ornate chair he likes to sit in,” Trevill nodded slowly. “It’s up on a balcony so he’s always looking down at you.”

  “Is there any way to get in and down to the women that isn
’t through the main door?”

  “Yeah. There’s a back door, but it’s always guarded. The door to the room itself is always guarded, too. It's not easy to do, or I would have done it already.”

  “Besides your wife, who else does he have in there?” Becky asked.

  “Gary’s wife, Olivia’s husband, and another two dozen people.”

  Alvin nodded. “So we need to go in the back, kill two guards without raising unholy hell, and then get the room open.” Looking at Becky, Alvin sighed, “Gothy, I need you to do the hard part.”

  “You want me to walk in and deal with Lister?”

  “I need to go in with Officer Trevill to get the room open,” Alvin said. “I doubt anyone here has the skills to do it.”