2020: Emergency Exit

by Hayes, Ever N

  The choppers lifted off the ground again and spread out, circling wide around them. Eddie could see a dozen small dots on the radar in front of them approaching their position. As the Blackhawks set down again behind him he watched a dozen more dots spread out from them. Then one helicopter passed overhead again, while the other elevated behind them, and a booming voice ordered him and his men to get out of their vehicles immediately. Definitely not American. If they failed to do so, they would be fired upon.

  Eddie knew if he surrendered they were all dead. He didn’t see any way he could talk his way out of this one. He had too much explaining to do, and the people he was working for didn’t care enough to listen. The army had no use for deserters or troops with their own agenda, however valid it may be. Add in that he’d killed the four Qi Jia men back by Hot Springs and there was no other way out of this. Too late to turn back now, Eddie knew his next action would change everything for himself and his men. They were about to go from the hunters to the hunted, from the predators to the prey.

  He ordered rockets to be fired at the helicopters. The split second the rockets were fired he wanted his troops out of the trucks. The rocket from the back jeep found its target on the helicopter behind them. That chopper countered with two rockets before it disintegrated into flames, one rocket taking out a truck still full of men, the other taking out a jeep of men. The rocket fired at the front chopper missed its mark, and that helicopter fired eight missiles off before another rocket took it down. The helicopter’s projectiles hit their mark, reducing six jeeps and another truck to scrap metal and flames, but taking much less of a toll on the captain’s men. With two trucks and seven jeeps gone, that left Eddie and his remaining thirty-one men with a single truck and five jeeps.

  The ensuing ground combat ended in Eddie’s favor, but cost him eleven more men. Before he died, one of the helicopter troopers was kind enough to tell Eddie a hundred troops were on their way from Hot Springs. Eddie thanked him. Then he shot him.

  Eddie, Lazzo, and their last twenty men climbed into the remaining jeeps and raced off as a long trail of distant headlights appeared behind them. It was forty-five miles to Lusk, Wyoming, then another 150 miles to Cheyenne. He had heard over the stolen radio two more Blackhawks were heading their way from Casper to meet up with the troops behind him. The Americans ahead of him were safe for now. He had to worry about his own men.

  THIRTY-THREE: (Ryan) “Battle of Cheyenne”

  We had also seen the lights approaching in the sky behind us. The two big red dots had appeared on the radar screen and zoomed in on our location. We figured we were done for. Out here there was nowhere to hide, and it being the first time we’d seen any aircraft at night, we figured the dots were connected to either Eddie or the dots we’d seen in Hot Springs and were definitely coming for us. Danny ordered us all off the road as he and Cameron set themselves up to defend as best they could from the limited cover of a roadside railroad trestle. Then we saw the hovering lights turn back and head the other direction. A few minutes later, we heard a couple of giant explosions. What the heck? Who were they attacking? Were these American helicopters? Were they attacking Eddie and his men? If they were Americans, where did they come from? Did we still have a base somewhere nearby?

  No matter who they were, they apparently weren’t here for us, and by the look of things the helicopters hadn’t fared so well in the attack. We never saw them again. Even if they were Americans, it looked like they’d lost. But they had succeeded in buying us a little more time. That was all Danny needed to urge us on. We raced to, and through, Lusk. Figuring whoever was following us would take the interstate, Danny decided to go the slightly longer way down 85.

  As we didn’t see anyone on radar or in the sky for the next two hours, Danny was confident he’d wagered correctly. Now, as we approached Cheyenne, Danny didn’t know what he should do. Thus far, we’d dodged every main city, particularly those with large airports or military bases. It made sense to do the same here. He led us in an eastern loop around Cheyenne and, just as we were about to head south on 85, the skies over Cheyenne filled with explosions.

  We could see more aircraft circling the city, guns blazing and rockets firing, and we watched as two more helicopters went down. They had to be Americans! “Guys,” Danny said to Wes, Cameron, Dad and I, who had climbed out of the vehicles to watch with him. “We may be safe. I think those are our Blackhawks.” It was either that, or the Blackhawks were firing on Americans. Either way, Danny couldn’t just sit ten miles away and do nothing. The first attack he was willing to dismiss. With a second one within a few hours of the other, he had to find out what was going on. But he couldn’t leave the rest of us defenseless.

  We all had gathered around to hear his plan. “Okay.” He took a deep breath, not sure even he liked his idea. “I have to find out what’s going on. But I can’t take the chance of bringing all of you into the city with me. I’m going to take Blake and Nathan with me.” He pointed at the two men from Medora. “We’ll try to figure out what’s going on. Cameron, you are going to take everyone else to that Horseface Reservoir outside Fort Collins where you and I went fishing two summers ago. Remember that abandoned mine on the north side where we got out of that freak hail storm?”

  Cameron nodded. “I think you mean Horsetooth Reservoir. But yeah, I remember.”

  “Okay.” Danny disregarded the correction. “Get everyone there. Stay out of the towns and go the back way around.”

  No one responded vocally, but Dad was shaking his head and Cameron was looking down, digging the toe of his boot in the dirt. None of us liked the idea of splitting up.

  “Look, guys.” Danny continued, sensing our collective discomfort with the idea. “It’s only forty miles to the reservoir. If we have to hightail it out, we will, and we’ll get there quickly… well before dawn. We’ll be fine. I—”

  “Don’t promise.” I cut him off. I hate it when they say “I promise” in movies. “Just do it.” I looked at my watch. It was close to midnight now.

  “I think you need another gun with you, Danny,” Wes said, volunteering.

  “I’ll stay,” I spoke up.

  “Ryan,” Tara objected.

  I looked at her, surprised. She said my name.

  “The hell you will,” Cameron agreed with her.

  “No, Dad,” Danny said, glancing at Tara as well. “You’re going to the reservoir. Wes, you’ll stay with us then.”

  Hayley elbowed me. “He said they need another gun, Dad. Not a mother hen.”

  “Ha ha,” I said, but I understood her point. This wasn’t a PlayStation game. I didn’t belong in that mix. Then again, I wouldn’t have done any better in the PlayStation game.

  Blake, Nathan, Wes, and Danny climbed into a truck and headed towards the fighting in Cheyenne. The rest of us filled up with gas again and continued south towards Horsetooth Reservoir. I didn’t like leaving Danny behind, but what if he was right? What if the war was turning here, and America was fighting back? What if it was almost over? It was the second time tonight we’d seen helicopters firing on what we assumed were soldiers chasing us. We had to know what was going on, and no one would get a better answer than Danny. As wrong as letting him go felt, I agreed it had to be done. And then it started pouring.

  Friday, October 23, 2020.

  Wyoming to Colorado.

  Danny parked the truck at the famous Cheyenne Depot Museum, and the four of them set off on foot in the direction of the gunfire, presumably at nearby F. E. Warren Air Force Base. Each of them carried a handgun and rifle, and they hadn’t gone far before the gunfire seemed to switch direction. Climbing to the roof of a parking garage to get a better view, Danny discovered an enormous crater where the Air Force base had been. He also confirmed that the gun and rocket fire sounds had indeed been ricocheted by the winds. The battle was raging behind them, at the far end of the depot.

  The depot was huge, with nearly two dozen sets of railroad tracks and long rows of abandone
d buildings. Not long ago, it had been a booming business district, and then the local economy tanked and most of the buildings were converted into freight and storage warehouses. These buildings would provide some cover for their approach, but a few smaller fights were being waged on the streets outside the depot, and moving nearer from here would put them directly in the middle. The rain only complicated everything more.

  They moved down and over to the main depot building and entered through an open door. They each put their night vision goggles on and inched closer to the flashing lights outside. A crashed helicopter burned in the parking lot to their right, while another was engulfed in flames in the middle of the tracks. They could see a few men running back and forth behind rail cars. Gunfire was raining down on the men from windows and balcony doors of the upper floors of the buildings across the way. It appeared as if the people in the buildings were greatly outnumbered. Based on what Danny had seen from the roof of the parking garage, it seemed the men in those buildings were being fired on from all sides. They were the ones who were trapped.

  By the yelling and uniforms of the people on the tracks, Danny knew they were not Americans. So either the men trapped in the building were Americans, or Danny’s gamble had sacrificed an incredible advantage and there hadn’t been any Americans here at all.

  Gradually the fighting lessened. Danny and the other three watched the men on the ground slowly but surely pick off the men in the buildings opposite them. Then all the gunfire stopped. There was some yelling, and a man was dragged out into the middle of the railroad tracks. Three men pointed guns at his head. Danny recognized the man from the cameras back in Wes’s cabin. It was the captain’s brother, Lazzo. What was happening? Why were the Qi Jia men holding Lazzo captive? A man with a megaphone shouted out through the rain, “Captain. It’s over. We have your brother and we kill him if you no come out now.” He waited a few seconds before continuing. “Send all you men out now. You come out and we no kill him.” Were they talking to Eddie? There was no reply. Whoever they were yelling at had to be weighing his options.

  One of the men bashed Eddie’s brother in the back of the head with his gun, and Lazzo dropped to the muddy ground. The other men yanked him back up to his feet.

  “You want you brother die?” one of them yelled out.

  “How I know you no kill him?” the captain’s voice boomed back. Yep, Eddie was here.

  “Show you self,” the man with the megaphone replied.

  At that second, Danny noticed a red dot on the back of Lazzo’s head. Only for a moment, then it was gone. He glanced at the three with him, but Blake and Nathan didn’t have lasers on their guns, and Wes had his off. It had to have come from upstairs. They weren’t going to let him live no matter what Eddie did. What the hell was going on? None of these people were Americans. Based on the uniforms they were all seemingly from the same military force. But for some reason they wanted Lazzo and Eddie dead. Had Eddie betrayed his own military somehow?

  Danny didn’t have time to think about it anymore. His initial instinct was to pull Wes, Nathan and Blake away from it all, and head for the reservoir. No one would even know they’d been there. If Eddie and Lazzo died here, so would their pursuit. But his moral compass was spinning, and he didn’t feel like it was right to let Lazzo die like this either. Especially if Eddie had somehow had a change of heart. Crap. Why do you care? Danny shook his head. Damn it.

  He quickly whispered instructions to Nathan, Blake, and Wes. They were to each take out one of the three men with guns to Lazzo’s head when the man with the megaphone fell. Danny was going to handle him.

  “Danny.” Wes grabbed his arm. “Are you sure about this?”

  “No.” Danny admitted.

  Wes looked at him, then at Blake and Nathan. Had any of them objected Danny would have listened, but no one did. “Okay.” Wes patted Danny on the arm again. “Let’s do it then.”

  Danny indicated to Wes he was going upstairs, but that the three of them should stay where they were. Wes flashed a quick thumbs-up, and Danny headed up the stairs. Entering a large empty room, Danny noticed two snipers in the windows. One was focused on the building across the way, the other locked on Eddie’s brother.

  “One…” the megaphone man yelled. Danny left the doorway, took several quick soft steps to the first sniper and slit his throat.

  “Two…” the voice boomed as the second sniper caught a peripheral glimpse of Danny and turned towards him in time to welcome a bullet to his forehead.

  “Okay!” Eddie yelled. “I’m here!” He stepped into the doorway as Danny shot the man with the megaphone and the three men with guns to Lazzo’s head went down. Danny quickly took out two more men hiding behind the railcars as Eddie’s brother scrambled for cover. Wes took out another one from below before Danny came running down the stairs.

  “Let’s go, guys,” Danny yelled to the other three. They ran out the door into the parking lot and directly into a barrage of gunfire. Nathan took several shots to the chest and head and went down in a matter of seconds. Danny grabbed Wes and pulled him back inside the building. Blake initially had been determined to reach Nathan, but realized he was too far out in the lot. Now Blake was trapped behind a pole and drawing heavy fire, with no way to safely retreat. As the troops circled, Blake looked frantically for a way out. Danny and Wes gave it to him with two quick shots each. Danny ended it with a grenade lobbed perfectly under the soldiers’ jeep. Headlights were turning into the lot at the other end of the depot, closing in on their location. Blake scrambled for Nathan, but again the quest to reach his friend was interrupted by gunfire. Bullets sprayed the ground around him and Blake knew he wouldn’t make it. They didn’t have a second to lose. They had to leave Nathan behind.

  Danny, Wes, and Blake raced to their truck, and within minutes they had cut through the back streets and were on their way out of town. For some reason the other vehicles didn’t pursue them. Either that, or they got lost.

  No one said a word until Cheyenne was a speck in their rearview mirror, and then Wes asked Danny, “Still feel right to you?” Blake pounded the seat in frustration, tears stinging his eyes. He couldn’t believe Nathan had gone down like that—couldn’t believe they’d had to leave him there.

  Danny was just as angry. He knew his decision had cost Nathan his life, so no, it didn’t feel like the right move to him. And he felt even worse about leaving Nathan behind, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent. Nothing he could say would make any of them feel better now.

  --------------------

  Eddie stepped into the doorway ready to accept his fate. Normally, with his back to the wall he’d have ended his own life. But he couldn’t watch his brother die right in front of him, even if he was certain they were going to kill both of them anyway. So he gave in. Arms up, head held high, ready for the kill shot that never came.

  Instead he watched, stunned, as someone opened fire across the train yard, surgically taking out at least seven men in mere seconds. As his brother scrambled for safety and his few remaining men covered for him, Eddie ran down the stairs to meet him. Lazzo ran into his arms. “You safe little brother. You safe man.” He heard a voice yell across the courtyard in clear English, “Let’s go, guys!” in the ensuing moments of silence. Then they heard the gunfire begin again across the way.

  As curious as Eddie was as to who had intervened on their behalf, he had lost too many men to stay any longer. Let them fight it out. He needed to get his men to safety. When they had retreated into the building, twenty-two men against a hundred soldiers (and two helicopters), he figured that was the end. “Lazzo, Omar, Cabo, get the rest. Let’s go,” he said, and he and his men began their run to the jeeps. They pulled out and turned onto Highway 85 south, beginning the drive towards Loveland. It was 2 a.m. His Americans were no doubt long gone by now, but he knew where they were going, and he knew there was no way they could make it through Denver. The Qi Jia army held Denver as one of their five national strongholds, and i
t dually served as the new command center of the entire country. There were more than a hundred thousand men there, and it was a fortress. No way in. No way out. Not alive anyway.

  No, the Americans were either heading west through Wyoming, or they were heading south and then west on one of the only other available routes: Highway 14 through Roosevelt National Forest, or Highway 34 through Estes Park. The Wyoming route would be too far out of their way and way too wide open. There had been no indication on any of the maps that was a route they would even consider. He had a feeling they were going one of the two more remote ways through Colorado. He intended to park halfway between their two options and, assuming they hadn’t already passed through, follow them whichever way they went. He and his men were headed for a body of water halfway between highways 14 and 34, called Horsetooth Reservoir.

  THIRTY-FOUR: (Ryan) “Great Wall of Colorado”

  As we entered Colorado, we couldn’t help but notice the massive wall under construction. It was almost twenty feet thick and only about five feet tall, but there were tower sections built every few hundred yards that were easily twenty feet tall. It appeared as if the enemy was intending to build a wall along the northern state line of Colorado. Could they be doing that around the other sides too? If so, would the southern wall be completed by the time we got there? This wall was a whole new problem we had never imagined. What was going on in this place?

  Cameron explained how the giant wall made sense to him. “Colorado would be the logical headquarters for this army, right in the middle of the country. Plus, the North American Aerospace Defense Command Center (NORAD) is in Colorado Springs. Our three primary defense centers are…or were…in DC, here and Hawaii. NORAD has a bunker here people can live in for years. That would have been where they were probably trying to move the president or vice president when this whole thing went down. Supposedly it’s impenetrable. If the enemy has control of it, we’re all screwed. They could wipe out whatever they want with nukes from the command center in there. I’d think getting into CM would have been priority #1 for anyone who knows our defense system. Fortunately, Colorado Springs is south of Denver. That place is probably crawling with enemy troops, whether or not they’ve taken over NORAD. That could be why there’s almost no one up here.”