by J. G. Martin
“Please! I need some help!” She yelled, faking disorientation.
The men in the car spotted her and began whistling and howling. One banged on the roof for the car to turn down towards her. As the car turned and came down the street, she staggered into a small alley. Really it was nothing more than a gap between buildings, barely big enough for more than one person. The car pulled to a stop and the men practically fell over themselves to get out. Rora turned to face them and let them see her naked chest. All of them were practically drooling with lust and were completely unaware of anything but her.
They were very surprised when the commander and the colonel appeared from behind the trash piles and aimed their AK-47s at the gangbangers. Caught completely off guard they complied with the shouted demands to drop their weapons and lie down. Rora quickly grabbed one of the gangbanger’s loaded pistols, just in case one of them decided to fight back. She pulled her body suit back up only after the gangbanger’s were secured.
They armed themselves with the captured weapons and moved the still catatonic Anna to their new vehicle. It was in sad shape on the inside. The ceiling liner was long gone, the seats were duct taped to patch the holes, half the dashboard didn’t work, and there was a hole in the floorboard where the bottom had rusted out. And, their new ride smelled; but beggars couldn’t be choosers. It had an almost full tank of gas and the engine was in prime condition for an old car. The engine roared when she tapped the gas and settled into a smooth purr.
She had the men strip the gangbangers of their hats, sunglasses, and bandannas. Anything that would help disguise them from the other gang members searching for the astronauts. It wouldn’t pass close inspection, but it might buy them a few precious extra minutes to escape. And of course they took their shoes. It was obvious the gang members didn’t bathe much from the smell, but they didn’t have a choice. First thing she was going to do when they got back to NASA was shower.
Rora blew the fuming gang members a kiss as she drove away. Men were so easy to manipulate she thought, since they often thought with only one thing. She would have killed them, but again the commander and the colonel stopped her. Their continuous ignorance of the rules were going to get them all killed.
Chapter 6
June 26, 2029
I-405 North of Sepulveda Pass, Santa Monica Mountains, California
They made their way slowly through the neighborhoods of the San Fernando Valley until they reached the Santa Monica Mountains. Several times they passed close to other vehicles out hunting them, but their new vehicle was as of yet unknown and they were not stopped. Rora just turned down another road every time they saw or heard another vehicle. It was time consuming but they made it to the Sepulveda Pass unmolested. There the road choices narrowed to two. They had to either take Interstate 405 or North Sepulveda Boulevard to cross over the mountains. The problem with the Boulevard was that it passed through a tunnel that was most likely blocked by rubble or had collapsed.
The 405 was the best choice and it was almost a straight shot down to the airport, but she knew they would be entering another gang’s territory. This vehicle would be spotted quickly and stopped because it belonged to a rival gang. It would only get worse when they discovered it was being used by the fugitives. There would also probably be a checkpoint or two along the way. But, they had little choice. They had to cross the mountains. The commander suggested they at least wait until dark, so that it would make it harder to tell the car belonged to another gang.
She pulled the gang car behind a strip mall to wait until dark. They were starving because they hadn’t eaten since the shuttle crash landed. There were open containers of cheap alcohol in the car but that wasn’t going to sustain them. The colonel and Commander Khodorov had some to “calm their nerves”, but Rora didn’t partake. She had never had a drink and didn’t want to start clouding her mind now. They forced Anna to drink some and at least she stopped shaking.
After a few hours of nerve wracking waiting, it got dark enough that they decided to risk the passage. Luckily no one had spotted them during their pause. The continued chatter on the CB radio left no doubt that everyone was still looking for them. If anything, they were getting more agitated by the fact that the fugitives hadn’t been located. A few gang members had started to wonder what the Imperator might do if they were not found.
Rora left the head lights off and drove slowly in the fading twilight to the on ramp. They waited for a minute and listened for other cars and looked for headlights but saw none. So with a deep breath, Rora stomped on the gas and roared onto the 405. The road was wide open and in good repair. The fact that it was clear of debris indicated that it saw a good amount of use. The streetlights weren’t on; she assumed that they reserved what little electricity they could generate for more important projects.
They were two miles in when Rora spotted the roadblock. There was a car and a pickup blocking the way. Both were unarmed and unarmored, but she could see the outlines of armed men surrounding them. The car they were in wasn’t armored but its clearance would make it difficult for the men to shoot into the interior. The thick truck tires would probably absorb some damage before shredding, but it wouldn’t be that much. The twilight would make it difficult to see the vehicle and she figured the gang members would wait to make sure it wasn’t fellow gang members before shooting. So she slowed as she approached, and grabbed the CB microphone.
“Say what I tell you, and both of you be ready to shoot as we pass by.” She told the commander as she shoved the microphone in this face.
The commander repeated what she told him. “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot!” He said in Spanish. “We are your replacements.”
“It’s working.” Rora said as they got closer. “Say it again.”
The commander repeated himself even though other questions were coming back through the radio. The gunmen at the roadblock were confused long enough for Rora to get close enough to pick out a gap between the vehicles that they could pass through. She flicked on the headlights blinding the gang members manning the roadblock. Then she floored the accelerator. The car whizzed past the surprised gang members. Caught off guard they just stared as the monster car drove past them. The commander and Colonel Brandt fired as they passed by, aiming for the vehicle’s tires and not the men.
The tactic worked and they high fived after blowing out the tires of the vehicles at the roadblock. Rora kept the accelerator down and raced down the highway. If they could get out of the pass before gang members could block the other end of the pass, they had a chance to escape into the urban jungle of L.A. Getting into the airport itself was still iffy because she assumed there would be heavier security there.
The chatter started almost immediately on the CB radio. Rora had noticed that it was set to a different channel from the mini-van. It made sense that each gang had their own channel to avoid confusion and make it easy to communicate within the gang. That could prove to be an advantage if they could move from gang territory to gang territory. They would face some confusion communicating between the two gangs.
She gripped the steering wheel and kept the car at full speed as they barreled down the darkened highway. Able to stay in the center of the lanes, the car reached a speed of over one hundred miles per hour. She could hear the two men in the back breathing heavily as they traveled at a breakneck speed that was probably faster than they had ever gone in a car in their lives. Personally she was enjoying the thrill of driving the speeding car.
They had just passed out of the pass when the first headlights approached. Rora counted five sets of headlights approaching them. The light from the approaching vehicles made it impossible to determine what they were, but the raised level of the headlights indicated pickups or SUVs for two of them. Very likely they were technicals with heavy weapons; heavy weapons that would shred this car.
“Put on your seat belts.” Rora ordered the men in back.
“What seat belts?” The colonel cried. “This hunk of junk
doesn’t have any!”
“Grab hold of something then!” Rora snapped.
She wrenched the wheel to the left and they suddenly veered towards the side of the road. The car crossed the shoulder and passed through a gap in the metal barriers. It soared into the air as the ground dropped off just beyond the roadside. The car dropped down the embankment and crashed to the ground. The massive wheels and enhanced suspension caused the car the bounce wildly before stabilizing on the wide boulevard that ran parallel to the highway. The hard landing threw the two in the back around and left them in a tangled jumble on the back seat.
Rora gained control and pointed the car south on what she knew was N Sepulveda Boulevard. She had memorized the map while they were waiting for it to get dark. They could follow this road along the same path as the highway and then detour southwest to get to the airport. The airport wasn’t too far away, but they still had a gauntlet to run to get there.
Two pairs of headlights appeared behind them and she knew that two of the vehicles had followed them down the embankment. A minute later she could see the other headlights running parallel to them on the highway. They would join the chase at the next exit. That didn’t stop them from shooting down at the fugitives from their higher position. Trees had once lined the highway and would have prevented that, but they had long ago wasted away from the plant virus that had devastated the world.
The gunfire was sporadic and poorly aimed and didn’t hit anything, but a lucky shot could happen. It did slow Rora slightly and forced her to move to the far side of the road in an attempt to avoid it. That allowed the pursuers behind them to catch up and they opened fire as soon as they were in range; the blaze of the multiple guns firing lit up the dark behind them. She swerved erratically to try to make it harder for them to hit the car. But bullets still rattled off the trunk and shattered the rear windshield.
“Hang on!” Rora warned her passengers as she took a hard left.
The car slid sideways on smoking tires as she took the corner and headed down a side street. The heavy fusillade of gunfire halted as the pursuing vehicles were caught by surprise and shot past the side road. They skidded to a halt and backed up before continuing the pursuit. That bought Rora a little time and she took the first right taking them down a small side road lined by what had once been expensive McMansions, and turning off the car’s light. The streetlights weren’t on here either and if the view as they had exited the pass was any indication, there were very few lights on in the entire city.
She had hoped the pursuers would pass on by and they did. They zipped by without a second glance and she breathed a sigh of relief. But that was short-lived as she saw headlights return moments later. It was only one pair and she assumed they split up to cover more ground searching for the fugitives. Looking around she realized this road was a dead end that ended in massive gates before a palatial home. The headlights turned down the side road behind them and she looked desperately for another way out.
A gap between the houses indicated an open field beyond them so she turned the headlights back on and gunned the engine. The car lurched forward and tore onto what had once been a lush green lawn. Now it was just a dusty patch of packed dirt. The big wheels of the car threw a spray of dirt behind them as they raced up onto the lawn and to the side of the house. The vehicle behind them opened fire as soon as they saw the lights and heard the engine rev.
Bullets struck all around the car as Rora drove across the yard. They made Swiss cheese of what had once been a nice and very large garage door, now just a rusted hunk of junk. Siding exploded into splinters as the poorly aimed rounds struck the house. Rora crashed the car through a dilapidated wooden fence and the remains of a hedge and came out into a wide open field. She pressed down on the accelerator and they roared ahead.
The other vehicle followed them through the gap, bouncing wildly as it suddenly crashed down onto the open ground. Rora gave a gasp as she narrowly avoided striking a large stone that had appeared in front of her. She pulled onto a barely visible road that traveled the length of the field as she avoided several more. Looking right, she could see the boulevard they had just been on and she realized they were in the L.A. National Cemetery. The clear space would give the pursuer a good field of fire to hit them, but she could make use of her memorized knowledge of the area to get rid of them.
The road they were on ended in a small parking lot with buildings straight ahead. A small access road was to the right and connected to the main road for that section. Rora headed right at the buildings and turned at the last second, the car slid onto the access road in a cloud of dust obscuring the buildings ahead. The chasing vehicles headlights turned the cloud of dust into an impenetrable veil and Rora was rewarded by the sound of the vehicle crashing into the building at full speed.
She turned down the main road and headed for the main entrance and only exit. More headlights approaching squashed that plan and she circled back into the cemetery. Gunfire rang out as the new vehicles spotted them. Rora counted three pairs of headlights chasing them, but figured more were coming. The entrance was probably blocked and they figured they had the fugitives trapped. The way they had come was probably blocked also.
“Start shooting back!” She commanded the two men.
“Drive slower so we aren’t getting thrown around.” A bruised commander replied.
“I’ll do my best.” She replied through gritted teeth.
The two men grabbed their AK-47s and started shooting back through the blown out rear window at their pursuers. They weren’t doing any real damage but it was giving the chasing gang members something to worry about. The pursuing vehicles dropped back and gave Rora some room to maneuver. She swerved down one of the access roads. Now they were basically going in circles, it was only a matter of time before someone shot them.
“Aim below the headlights.” She instructed and slowed down.
The reduced speed allowed the commander and the colonel to get better aim and they responded with an inspired burst of fire. Aiming below the headlights they blew out the tires of two of the pursuing vehicles. Those two screeched to a halt in a spray of sparks from the rims, but the others were still on them. More vehicles had joined the chase and the volume of fire was increasing.
When the two men dropped down to reload, Rora swung the car onto one of the fields. The stone markers here were lower to the ground than the usual headstones and the elevated car could clear them. As she had suspected that wasn’t true for all of their pursuers. There were several loud crashes as the stone markers ripped out the undercarriage of a vehicle or the vehicle struck one head on. The number of pursuers dropped to three; probably SUVs or pickups with higher clearances.
They entered a new section of the cemetery and the headstones were full size and mixed with large monuments. This must have been the richer portion of the cemetery because the plots were larger and there was room between the stones to maneuver. Rora whipped by them swerving in and out of the stone obstacles. The pursuers slowed but followed and she couldn’t lose them. The gunfire was sporadic but it was getting more accurate. Bullets struck the trunk and frame with a metallic ping more and more frequently.
“Shoot back!” Rora screamed at the two men in the back.
She could see them share a glance and then turn and open fire out the rear window. The sudden gunfire caused one of the vehicles to lose control slightly and strike a stone monument. The monument shattered but the vehicle still stopped dead, its front end caved in. The other two were still hanging with them. If she didn’t lose them soon, more would join them and they would be done for. They had to get out of the cemetery.
Rora altered course and headed for the edge of the cemetery. Veteran Avenue was just on the other side of the fence and ran parallel to Sepulveda. She knew it joined up with Wilshire and she could take it under the 405 and towards Santa Monica. Then a thought hit her.
“Does every airport have the communication system?” She called back to the commander.
“Every major airport, why?” He replied.
“What about Santa Monica Airport?” She asked.
“It doesn’t, but it does or did have a collection of vintage planes.” The commander answered. “Colonel, could you fly one of those?”
“I could, but we all couldn’t fit into one.” Colonel Brandt informed them.
“We could if they have a working Douglas TBD Devastator.” Commander Khodorov argued.
“What are the odds on that?” The colonel asked doubtfully.
“Pretty good actually. It’s a Douglas Aircraft Company themed museum. Last time I was there they had a working version, but it was sixteen years ago.” The commander insisted.
“How do you know that?” Rora yelled back.
“I was a huge fan of vintage aircraft before the Collapse.” The commander said bashfully.
“Nice.” The colonel said. “If it is there and it works I can prep it and fly it.”
“The security is sure to be less than LAX and it is a lot closer.” The commander mused.
“And we could fly out rather than hope for a pickup.” Colonel Brandt added hopefully.
“What if they have their own aircraft?” Rora asked.
“I can outfly them.” The colonel said confidently.
“It’s decided then, we’re heading for the Santa Monica airport.” Rora told them.
The two men smiled and the colonel actually seemed excited for the possibility of flying the vintage plane. The smiles disappeared as Rora hit the fence surrounding the cemetery and they crashed out onto Veteran Avenue. The crash landing and hard turn sent both men sprawling and cursing. A portion of the fence caught on the car and was dragged for a little while creating a glow from the metal grinding on the pavement. It finally popped loose in a shower of sparks.
The two remaining pursuers followed them out of the cemetery and Rora finally got a good look at them. It was two armored SUVs with machine guns mounted on top. Both screeched to halt before managing to turn and follow the fleeing car. The gunners resumed firing as soon as they turned, but the car was just out of range.
