Because of this, she and Mike both had to take showers and eat at the headquarters building.
“Well, if it isn’t Mr. High and Mighty! The dweller of the tower.” Mike said, chiding John on his apartment assignment.
“Hey guys,” John replied sheepishly. “I didn’t ask for it. I’m sorry you two are stuck where you are.”
“I hear you hooked up with a nice looking lady,” Mike said, continuing to torment his new friend. “I’m sure that helped get you that uptown location.”
“Honestly Mike, I don’t think that’s it. Everyone in my building is ex-military. I think that’s how I ended up there.”
“Sure, John. Just keep telling yourself that.” Beth countered, getting in on the fun. “I’ve seen little Miss DHS. She’s no wallflower.”
“Do tell!” Mike added. “I’d love to hear all about it.”
John blushed, trapped by the truth. His assignment to the tower wasn’t by Natasha’s hand, but his choice room assignment on the upper floor sure was.
“AH HA!” Mike smirked as he watched John struggle. “I was right! You tramp! You smooched your way into that tower, didn’t you!”
“NO! Honestly. She had nothing to do with getting me into the tower!” John weakly replied.
“Then what is it! I’ve been around enough guilty prisoners to know when someone isn’t telling the whole story!” Beth said with a smile. She was enjoying John’s discomfort, especially since she was without lights or running water herself.
“Well, she did get me my own room.”
“You don’t have to share?” Mike asked incredulously.
“You do?” John asked back, then immediately regretted saying anything when he saw Mike’s face.
“Darned right I do! I got three other people livin’ in that little apartment. And two of them snore like a freight train. It’s all I can do to get four hours of good sleep at night!”
“Mike,” Beth said with a smile. “You snore too. Don’t go playing innocent on us.”
“How you know that? You never slept near me!”
“Lucius does!” She simply replied. “He works with me. He told me all about you.”
Mike sat back, unsure about Beth and her information. He finally shook his head and grinned.
“Busted, I guess.”
“And you fart in your sleep, too!” She added with a sideways grin.
Mike looked aghast at his two friends. “I don’t do that!” He indignantly replied.
Beth stared at her plate, trying to keep her composure. John could see she was playing with the big lug, and finally she burst out in laughter. Her little frame shook and she began to laugh so hard, she snorted.
John couldn’t contain himself either. Glad he wasn’t the butt of the joke; and once he heard Beth’s snort, he finally broke up himself.
Poor Mike sat staring at the two of them. The young man stunned that the two older agents were giving him a hard time. And they were at least a decade older than him! But they sure weren’t acting like it.
“You two need to grow up!” Mike finally said as he attacked his meal.
John and Beth composed themselves and began to eat.
“So how are you holding up out there?” john finally asked after getting a few forks of food in him.
“It’s OK” Mike replied. “Just feel like I’m babysitting. Can’t help these people. I got folks coming up to me and asking for help ‘cause someone stole their food, or beat them up. And I can’t do a thing but give them some paper that tells them to walk to the airport where they’ll be put in a camp to be fed like a zoo animal. Just don’t sit well with me.”
“I know how you feel,” John replied. “I’m doing the same thing.”
“Have you had anyone refuse to go?” Beth asked.
Being stuck at HQ, she was hearing rumors secondhand. Being with these two gave her a chance to get the facts straight from the two men she trusted.
“Oh yeah,” Mike said. “But I just tell them that we can’t protect them if they stay. Usually, they tell me that they have a gun and can take care of themselves.”
“You call it in?” Beth asked. “You’re supposed to confiscate firearms.”
“I am not messing with someone’s guns,” Mike said firmly. “Not my business. Besides, they got the right to defend themselves. I just tell ‘em that they best not say that to any other agents or they’ll have a SWAT team visiting ‘em in the middle of the night.”
“What about you, John?” Beth asked. “You run across anyone with guns yet?”
“I’m sure,” John replied after swallowing a mouthful of what was probably TVP (textured vegetable protein) but was shaped like a slice of meatloaf. “But I don’t actually ask. When we go door to door, I let them know that the camps don’t allow firearms. That’s all I say. Let them decide what to do.”
“Well,” Mike replied. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that too much more.” The big guy finished his plate and pushed it aside to make room for a second course of meatloaf delight. “I’ll be right back!” He said as he went back for another round of food.
“What’s he talking about?” John asked Beth.
“He told me that the feds were organizing the postal workers to do a census of all the remaining residents that don’t voluntarily report to their assigned camps. I guess you guys will be escorting them.”
“Why would they do that?” John asked. “We’re handling it.”
“Maybe they figured that soldiers and cops would be hesitant about a conflict of interest with the 2nd Amendment. Anyway, that’s just me thinking out loud.”
Mike returned with another plate overflowing with reconstituted mashed potatoes and two thick slices of pseudo-meat.
“Oh my God, Mike. That meat is gray! That’s just not right.” John chided the big guy.
“Tastes just fine to me!” He said.
The three of them continued their banter, the kind of small talk that old friends have when they get together, which was strange since they had just met. But with the world upside down, they had known each other about as long as most did these days, given the world’s new reality.
“You know,” Mike said after they finished their coffee. “This whole thing bothers me. I don’t feel like I’m doin’ right.”
“Me too.” Beth said. “Even if you allow for the fact that things are still settling down, I feel like we’re just treading water while we watch a man drown right next to us.”
“Yeah,” Mike replied. “It’s just that the feds are sending in some help. They brought in some contractors today to patrol the area from Universal Studios to the Airport. They got busloads of people already deployed.”
“What? Where are they patrolling?” John asked.
“We were told that Sand Lake Road north to 50, all the way to 436 was a no-go zone for us.” Mike replied.
“That’s almost a third of the city!” Beth said. “That’s the whole south and southeast side of town.”
“Yeah,” Mike continued. “And the contractors they hired, they look a lot like some of the boys I used to guard at the jail. Saw a lot of gang tattoos on ‘em when they were unloading their busses.”
John immediately thought of Charlie and the others. He was scheduled to meet them tonight at their apartment. And now with this new development, he needed to warn them of the changing situation so they could adjust their plans accordingly. It was supposed to have been their last meeting before they were to leave, but this new development may change that.
“I’ve got to let Charlie know about this,” John said quietly.
“Yeah,” Mike said with a grin. “Beth told me about your little snatch and grab today.”
“All joking aside,” John replied. “Her boyfriend did save their lives,
and he seems to have a good head on his shoulders. But I know he was planning on heading south to be with his family.”
“Not through that part of town, I wouldn’t!” Mike said emphatically. “If they don’t want armed agents in there like me, I don’t think civilians would do too well.”
“Then I better get going,” John replied as he got up from the table.
The other two began to gather their utensils but John stopped in mid-stride and turned back to his two friends.
“You guys OK where you’re at?” He asked with concern.
“I’ll be fine,” Beth replied. “They said we should have electricity in a couple of days and the water in my building should be clear to use tomorrow.”
“How about you, Mike? I got room at my place if you want.”
Mike’s eyes lit up from the offer. “Yeah,” He replied. “I’ll could give it one more night. If they don’t give us any kind of time frame for when the power and water will be on, I’ll take you up on the offer. I do sleep good on a couch.”
“You’d never fit,” John chuckled. “I can crash on the couch. You can have the bed.”
“You’d do that?” Mike said appreciatively. “Running water? Cold air?”
“Running HOT water and ice COLD air!” John stressed to his big friend.
“Well,” Mike said. “I don’t like my roommates that much! So sure, I’ll take you up on that.”
“Meet me in the tower lobby tonight at 9:00,” John said. “I can get you in then. That’ll give me time to meet with Charlie and get back to my room.”
Mike’s toothy smile and deep laugh made John’s soul soar. The big guy got up and slapped John’s shoulder, grasping it and giving it a friendly shake.
“You’re alright, Agent Drosky!” he said. “I’ll see you at 9:00.”
“Oh, and don’t come lugging a huge suitcase,” John said. “I still don’t know if this is allowed.”
“Oh,” Mike replied. “You think it’ll be OK? I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I guess so,” John said. “I know a lot of the guys have girlfriends staying with them.”
“For hot water and air, I can do that!” Mike joked. “As long as I’m not gonna have to call you honey!”
Several hours later, John had returned to the tower following his brief meeting with Charlie and the others. It was a joyful group. Jorge and Maria had been reunited, and the group had finally planned out their separate journeys out of town. That is, until John brought them the bad news about the new “contractors” that were roaming the streets of south Orlando.
“What does this mean for us?” Jorge had asked. “We were planning on retracing the route I took to get here.”
“Not now, you shouldn’t.” John had replied, which sent the five of them into a frenzied discussion. John pulled back from their decision making, letting them come up with their own solution.
During their discussion, they asked John if he had gotten them any detailed maps of the city. He turned them over to the group, and within a few minutes, they had come up with an alternate plan.
“John,” Charlie had asked. “Can you review our plan with us? I want as many eyes on it as possible.”
John had heard their debate and had a good idea of what they were going to attempt. Heading east for a bit then north on 17/92, they could get to Winter Park where they could turn east, bringing Charlie to her father’s neighborhood. There, they could look for help from the neighbors and regroup. They would also be far enough north that Jorge and Maria could continue east and bypass the areas being patrolled by the new DHS “employees.”
“The big problem I see,” John had started, “Is that most of these major roads are infested with looters and criminals. DHS has us in the neighborhoods, handing out what amounts to eviction notices. We don’t go anywhere near commercial areas, and the crooks know it. I wouldn’t use 17/92 or any other major roadway. I’d stick to the neighborhoods and take my time getting to where I was going.”
“Well, crap!” Jorge said.
“That’s why I think we need to use the bicycle trails.” Charlie replied.
During their discussion, Charlie had reviewed their plan to use bicycle trails to move about town. Jorge had (rightly so in John’s opinion) pushed back against that idea. It was risky to move on narrow trails through unknown places. In the Marines, narrow lanes of travel were often called “fatal funnels,” because the enemy knew you had to pass at a certain place and that the Marines would all be bunched or lined up to get through that spot, creating the perfect killing zone.
But with the commercial areas all saturated with criminals, the best solution may finally come down to the bike trails that snaked throughout the city.
John briefed the five of them on some basic tactical knowledge in walking a patrol. Spacing of each individual in the formation was discussed along with simple hand signals. The need for stealth and silence was emphasized as well. Further, with Charlie’s history of biking and running some of these trails, she was able to identify a few obvious spots of possible trouble.
“I really think you need a few more days to let me get details on the situation. This is life or death; and if you make a wrong turn, you’ll pay for it with your life.” John said.
The group reluctantly agreed and John left for his high-rise apartment.
Now having returned to the tower and getting Mike into the building, John sat at his kitchen table reviewing yet more government handouts he had received at the end of his shift that day. Sure enough, their mission statement had already drastically changed. Their present orders were rescinded, and they were to begin escort operations with the postal workers while they did a census of the remaining population. John wasn’t sure they would complete all the sectors assigned to them in the time allotted, but it was clear that DHS expected them to do just that.
“I’ll see if Bru wants to start earlier,” John said to himself. In his mind, the only way he could finish his assignment was to put in more hours.
As he was starting on the second set of papers which described further changes in the hierarchy of the local DHS command, he heard a loud rapping on his door.
John sat for a moment, wondering who could be bothering him at this hour. It was close to 10:00, and he was wiped out from the long day already put in.
The knocking quickly returned at an even more frantic pace, jolting John out of the chair and swiftly to the door.
“HOLD ON!” He yelled as he finally grabbed the knob.
John swung the door open, ready to lay into whoever was making such a racket. But when he saw who it was, he stood frozen before her.
“Natasha!” He said with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“YOU!” She hissed and pushed past him into the apartment.
“Whoa!” John said as he closed the door and followed the woman into his place.
Natasha stood just past the threshold, scanning the room in front of her. The one-bedroom apartment was essentially a large kitchen/living room with a small, two-seat round table. A hallway stood to the left which had a half bathroom to the left, and the master bedroom to the right.
Having done a quick scan of the room, she turned to face John. She was dressed similarly to him, a sleeping shirt and shorts clung to her body, leaving little to the imagination. She was disheveled as if she had just woken up, or had been crying.
“What is it, Nat?”
“Don’t you DARE, call me that! I should have known!”
“Known what?” John said, totally confused at the situation.
“I thought we had something!” She replied. “I thought we had a future.”
“Hold on,” John said as he approached her. “I do like you. I don’t know why you’d think differently.”
“Oh really!” She said
as she backed up from his attempts to hold her. “Don’t touch me!”
John stood dumbfounded at her behavior. His confused looks must have been evident as Natasha saw his dismay and pounced.
“Just where the hell is she?” She mocked. “I know she’s here!”
“Who?” John asked. “What are you talking about.”
Just then, John heard the shower shut off. Natasha obviously did as well as she continued her rant.
“And I suppose that’s just a ghost!”
“No,” John began. “It’s not what you think.”
Obviously, she had heard that he had a “guest” in his room and assumed the worst.
“Oh, really? So you weren’t at the Fairgrounds today?”
“What?” John replied, slowly beginning to understand what may have happened.
“I reviewed my end of the day reports and low and behold, a refugee was released from the Fairgrounds. So, being the valued DHS employee I am, I did a follow up request for information. Seems that a certain agent and a female accomplice had removed a young woman into the man’s custody.”
“No,” John said, trying to diffuse the situation before Natasha was in too far. “I want to explain…”
“Keep it to yourself, Mister!” She shot back. “I’ve had enough experience with men to know when I’m being bullshitted. I can see it in your eyes. You’re hiding something, and it’s my guess that she’s right in there!”
Charlie's Requiem: Democide Page 15
