Collapse (New America)

by Richard Stephenson

  "Copy that. I want all uniformed officers to assign another member of their team to take charge. Units 1-2 and 1-3, I want you to set up at the exit to the garage. County boys, I want you to block off the entrance and do your best to get civilians out of harm's way. Take instruction from Sergeant Reed until I arrive."

  "Gene! Let's go! Keys! Now!"

  Deputy Shacklewood tossed the keys to his cruiser to the Chief, and they jumped in and sped off. Max dug in his front shirt pocket and kicked back three pills. Eugene didn’t notice.

  Three short beeps.

  "Be advised, we have an officer down. One gunman is presumed dead. The second is barricaded on the second floor of the garage admin office."

  Maxwell Harris knew he had a second at best to make up his mind. Either freak out and get scared, or get angry and let adrenaline take over. He concentrated on the second gunman and let rage focus his mind. As they approached the scene, he could see lights flashing at both the entrance and exit to the garage. Good, that's covered. A second cruiser was fast approaching from the opposite end of the street. Soaked and frightened citizens were running all over the place, screaming, terrified. Max witnessed at least three traffic accidents right in front of him as cars smashed into each other in an attempt to speed away from the scene. Chief Harris ducked behind cars and made his way to the entrance of the garage. Keeping the second floor of the admin building directly above and out of his line of sight, he snuck behind some boxes and peeked over the top, trying to scan the concrete yard of the garage. Through the rain he could see an officer lying face down, a pool of blood underneath. He couldn't tell who the officer was; whoever it was had on a hat and was wearing a yellow rain jacket. The person was alive, he could see movement. About ten feet away was a motionless lump; Max knew immediately that it was one of the gunmen. The officer had shot the piece of shit dead, but not before he fired off a lucky shot in return.

  Max keyed up his radio. "This is Chief Harris on scene. All units, respond in sequence with status and location."

  "This is 1-2; 1-3 and I are covering the exit."

  "County 6, all of my men are at the entrance."

  Elizabeth.

  "1-1, this is 1-0, respond."

  Shit.

  "1-1, this is 1-0, Sergeant Reed, please respond."

  Please no.

  "Talk to me people, anyone seen Elizabeth? Is that her in the middle of the yard?"

  "1-0, this is 1-2. When we arrived on scene and secured the exit, I tried to get to the fallen officer. That asshole's on the second floor taking shots at anyone that comes near."

  "That's right, mother fuckers."

  "Repeat! Who is this? Identify yourself!" Max screamed into the radio.

  "I'm the asshole on the second floor. Anyone tries to help the pig that shot my brother is in for a surprise."

  Max was missing something. Clearly something was not adding up. He looked across the yard to the fallen officer and could see and hear the radio on the person's hip. How does this guy have a radio? Max quickly pulled out his smartphone and called the station. The phone rang at the desk, and Kathy Phillips answered.

  "Kathy! Are you hearing this?"

  "Yeah, Chief, what the hell is going on?"

  "Kathy, the gunman on the second floor, what's his radio ID?"

  "Crap! I didn't even think of that. Hold on a second. Too much radio traffic, get the guy to talk again and I can figure it out."

  Max keyed up his radio. "Who am I speaking with? What’s your name?"

  "My name is none of your fucking business! Do you even care about the innocent man you shot, you c..."

  "Kathy, whose radio is that?"

  "Chief, that's Elizabeth's radio."

  Max hung up the phone and keyed up his radio. "Listen to me. We need to start talking this out. What is it that you want?"

  "I want to get the fuck out of here alive is what I want! You assholes killed my brother and you're gonna kill me, too!"

  "Are you alone up there? Is anyone hurt? If you have anyone up there with you the thing to do is..."

  "I ain't got no one up here with me!"

  "How did you get that radio then?"

  "Fuck you, that's how I got it."

  Max clenched his jaw and knocked over the stack of boxes in front of him. Where is Elizabeth? Is she dead? Is she a hostage? Time was getting away from him quickly. Whoever was lying out in the middle of the garage yard might be dead soon.

  "County 6, 1-0"

  "County 6, go ahead Chief"

  "9-0 on scene?" Max hoped that the County Sheriff's office used the same code for ambulance.

  "10-4, they are standing by."

  "Listen to me on the second floor. It is important that we get those people out of the yard and to an emergency room."

  "Fuck that! My brother's dead. The pig that shot him’s gonna die, too!"

  "Listen to me. Your brother's not moving, that doesn't mean that he’s dead. There’s a chance that he can still be saved. Let us get him to a hospital and try to save his life while we still can!" Max hoped the second gunmen didn't see his brother get shot in the head or this idea was going to fail quickly.

  "OK, you're right! Shit! You get them out of there, but I swear, if one person so much as looks up here towards me I'm gonna start shooting."

  "You have my word that no one will hurt you."

  "Hurry the fuck up."

  "County 6, you hear all of that?"

  "10-4."

  "Go!"

  Two county deputies quickly escorted paramedics out to the middle of the yard to collect the fallen. They were ushered out and the ambulance screamed away.

  "Hey! Ambulance! Is my brother okay? Will he make it?"

  For the love of God, please lie; don't be stupid, Max thought.

  One of the deputies responded. "He has a pulse. They’re attempting to revive him now; that's all I know."

  "9-0, this is 1-0. Please identify the officer."

  "Standby." The deputy riding with the fallen officer replied. "Uh, Chief. This doesn't make sense."

  "Make some sense out of it."

  "Well, this officer doesn't have a badge or credentials."

  "Check the wallet."

  "Standby. Uh, guy’s name is Tom Williams."

  Son of a bitch. This is getting too weird, thought Max. The deputy mayor? With the two gunfighters on their way to the hospital, it was now time to focus on finding Elizabeth.

  "OK, your brother is getting help. Let's start talking to each other and see if we can figure this out. Why don't you come downstairs so we can talk face to face."

  "So I can get shot like my brother for no fucking reason? Don't think so!"

  "No one is going to shoot you, son, you have my word on that. Let's start by you telling me your name. My name is Max."

  "I'm Randy. I swear my brother and I didn't do anything. That asshole cop wouldn't listen to us, thought we were trying to steal gas. Our car broke down a few blocks from here, and all we wanted was to borrow some tools. This is a garage for Christ's sake!"

  "Randy, I believe you."

  "Really? You mean it?"

  "You hear the guy in the ambulance?"

  "Yeah, your cop forgot his badge, so what?"

  "The guy in the ambulance isn't a cop, Randy."

  "What? No way! He was wearing a radio and had on the same jacket as everyone else. He had a gun and shot my brother."

  "Randy, I want you to listen to me. This is just as weird for you as it is for me. That man is the deputy mayor. I deputized him this morning to help us distribute the gas."

  "So he is a cop! You're lying! You made him a cop this morning!"

  "No, Randy, listen. I just needed some extra bodies to help out the officers. Each of the stations I set up has a uniformed officer in charge. No one is to do a thing without clearing with their team leader. I have no idea what led to your brother being shot."

  "I jus
t told you what led to him being shot! That asshole kept telling us to leave and said we couldn't have any gas. We were on our way out, and he drew down on my brother. We both put our hands up and the guy just started shooting!"

  "Randy, I told you, I believe you. I need to ask you a question and it’s very important that you tell me the truth. Can you do that?"

  "I guess."

  "Good. I need to know how you got that radio. It belongs to one of my uniformed officers. Randy, if the officer is with you, it is very important that you tell me the truth so we can figure this thing out. If you let any hostage go we can start figuring out how to end this."

  "Dude, I already told you I ain't got no one up here with me!"

  "OK, Randy. So tell me, how did you get the radio?"

  "When that dude started shooting I ran up into this office. When I got here, I found a big belt on the desk that had a gun and a radio on it. No cop was here! I swear it! I just want to get out of here alive. I don't want to take a cop hostage! That's crazy! I'm a high school teacher, not a criminal!"

  Maxwell thought long and hard, his gut was telling him that Randy was speaking the truth. What happened to Elizabeth? Why would she leave her duty belt on the desk?

  She's in the bathroom.

  If the situation wasn't so serious, Max would probably laugh. Elizabeth had tossed her belt on the desk and walked down the hall to the bathroom. She was a neat freak and would never take her duty belt off in the bathroom.

  Why hadn't she made a move on Randy? Granted, the man was armed and she was not, but she could easily get the drop on him and disarm him if she was careful. Hell, at the very least she could sneak into the office on the other side of the bathroom and climb out the window. What was she waiting for? Did she need a distraction? Wasn't the storm outside loud enough? He could barely hear the radio over the blustering wind. Why would she stay on the second floor? What was keeping her there?

  Roscoe.

  Max had not seen Roscoe since he got to the garage. The man was in his late fifties and weighed three hundred fifty pounds. No way could he sneak out past Randy, let alone climb through a window and jump from the second floor.

  "Randy, I want you to listen to me. The radio you’re talking on belongs to one of my officers. His name is Roscoe. He's an old man who actually retired from the force a few years ago. He's not in the best of shape and is probably more scared of you than you are of him. I gave him a job here at the garage so he can keep busy. I'm betting he was taking a dump when you came upstairs. Roscoe has a bad heart. I really need you to let him know it’s safe to come out. Just call out his name and tell him Chief Harris said it’s okay to come out. Better yet, I want you to walk down the hall and turn up the radio as loud as you can. I will tell him myself. Deal?"

  "OK, man, but I swear if this guy does anything I don't like it ain't gonna be pretty."

  "You have my word, Randy." Max was lying to Randy. Roscoe was never on the force. He had worked in the city garage for decades. Randy had already expressed his distaste for taking a police officer hostage. Max hoped that Roscoe would play along and keep his mouth shut. If he did that, Elizabeth would pick up on the plan immediately and make her escape.

  "Alright, man, start talking. Got the radio up and I'm in the hallway."

  "This is Chief of Police Maxwell Harris. Officer Roscoe Stern, if you can hear me, I want you to listen very carefully. Randy here found your radio on the desk. He has agreed to let you go as long as you move slowly and do not make any sudden moves. Officer Stern, do you hear me?"

  Five seconds passed by, then ten, finally a muffled voice could be heard from the end of the hall. "I hear you, Chief, I'm coming out now. Please don't shoot me, Mr. Randy. Please."

  "C'mon dude, hurry up! I ain't gonna hurt you."

  A door towards the end of the hall slowly opened, and Roscoe Stern stepped out into the hallway. He had his hands up as high as they would go, his elbows locked. He kept his head down and stared at the floor. He was trembling with fear. The closer he got to the man with the gun the slower he moved.

  "Dude, seriously? I told you I wasn't gonna hurt you. Get your ass out of here man, c'mon!"

  "Th-th-ank you, Mr. Randy." Roscoe got to the stairs and descended to the first floor. Once he stepped off the stairs he shuffled out the front door and picked up Max in a bear hug.

  "Easy, big guy. C'mon, it’s alright. It’s over. Where's Elizabeth?"

  "I'm right here, Boss,” Elizabeth said as she rounded the corner. “Took you long enough to figure out what was going on. I like the promotion you gave Roscoe. Good thinking; Randy had no idea I was up there."

  Max grabbed up Elizabeth in his arms and kissed her on the mouth. She resisted at first, but let out a soft moan and returned the kiss. She ran her fingers up the sides of Max's face and into his hair. Max let her go and stepped back. His face was red with embarrassment.

  "I'm sorry I did that, Sergeant Reed. I'm just really happy that you’re okay. I almost lost it when you didn't answer the radio; I thought for sure that was you lying in the middle of the yard."

  "You better not be sorry you kissed me. It's about damned time, been waiting for you to do that. Not sure how many more signals I could throw your way."

  "Signals? How long have you felt like this?"

  "Maxwell, you are the smartest person I know, but sometimes you can be so damned clueless. Can we maybe talk about this some other time, like when an armed crazy person isn’t holed up above us?"

  "Yeah. Probably should tend to that."

  "Good luck, I'm rooting for you."

  Max keyed up his radio. "Randy, are you ready to come down now? How you doing up there, buddy?"

  "Uh, I don't want to go to jail, man. I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't shoot anyone. You guys killed my brother, man. You're gonna kill me, too. I just know it."

  "Randy, no one is going to hurt you, I promise. I want you to walk slowly down to the landing and peek around the corner at us. The only person you will see is me, and I will have my hands up; you can see for yourself."

  "OK, man."

  Max put his hands in the air and motioned for Elizabeth to take up position to the left of the staircase. He wanted her there in case things didn't go as planned. He had no desire to get shot. As long as Randy didn't have a weapon in his hands, he was going to let the man come downstairs so he could talk with him and sort this whole mess out.

  "OK, Randy? You ready? You can peek around the corner at me and see that I'm not holding a weapon. Once you’ve done that, I want you to toss the pistol down the stairs. As long as I can see both of your hands this is going to work out fine. We got a deal?"

  "OK, man, here I come."

  Max waited and eventually saw red hair begin to appear along the wall; then he saw a man's left eye.

  "That's good, Randy. See? This is going to work. Now, toss the pistol down."

  Max could see a hand appear as a pistol was tossed down the last three steps, hitting the floor with a metallic clatter.

  "Good, good. Now let me see both of your hands, and you can slowly walk down the stairs so we can talk."

  Max saw Randy's left arm and left leg appear from behind the wall. Then his entire face appeared.

  "Good, Randy, good! See? Everything is just fine. Now, let me see your other hand."

  "How do I know you're alone? How do I know I'm not gonna get shot as soon as I come down the stairs?"

  "Randy, c'mon, think about it. If I wanted to shoot you, don't you think I would have done it by now? I just want you to come out of this alive and for no one else to get hurt."

  Max saw a look of anger and fear cross Randy's face as the veins in his forehead began to bulge.

  "Randy! Randy! What's wrong? Take it easy!" Max could tell that Randy was no longer listening to him. Randy was staring intently at something at the bottom of the stairs. What was he looking at? What's got him so scared?

  Oh god. He sees Elizab
eth's reflection in a computer monitor.

  "I knew it! Mother fuckers ain't killin' me!"

  Randy's right arm came out from behind the wall. He was holding a shotgun. He leapt the three steps to the floor and took aim at Elizabeth.

  "NO! WAIT! RANDY! YOU DON'T UND..."

  Randy pulled the trigger and fired at Elizabeth. She was knocked off her feet and flew backwards. Before she hit the ground, Max had drawn his sidearm and shot Randy in the ear, blowing his brains onto the stairs. Max screamed and fell to the ground next to Elizabeth. A pool of blood was slowly growing beneath her.