ROAD TRIP THROUGH THE APOCALYPSE

by Vincent Fields

  The soldier behind the desk began to draw his sidearm. Nobu, standing about 10 feet away, had expected his master’s attack and had his hand on a black throwing spike in one of the folds of his kimono when his master had burst into action. With no hesitation he stepped and strongly hurled the spike at the soldier, as he'd practiced thousands of times before. The double pointed spike turned a half circle in midair before it penetrated the soldier's left eye socket with a "SPLAT", burying in so deeply that only a couple inches of the eight inch long piece of steel was sticking out.

  Two women in the waiting area screamed and everyone who had been waiting there bolted for the door. Tadashi ignored them and walked quickly down the hallway, deeper into the Armory. Nobu and Shinji followed his lead; both their swords as they went. As Tadashi neared the T intersection about 20 feet down the hallway, two officers came running around the corner from the right with their pistols drawn. The boots of three soldiers carrying M-16 rifles were quickly clunking down the hallway from the left side of the intersection. They would round the corner a couple seconds after the officers from the right side did. The five armed men didn't concern Tadashi in the least as he strode confidently into their midst. He was well rested and could easily tap into the gift of his heritage. From the instant he focused his enemies had no chance in this fight. Shinji and Nobu were lifting their swords to charge into the soldiers, but before either man could get close all of the enemies before them were defeated. Tadashi seemed to disappear except for a blur that sped first to the police to the right and then down the left side of the hallway before his voice came around the corner, "Come on, this way." The first cop had slammed into the left-side corridor wall with enough force to brutally break his neck, leaving him in a heap with his head bent straight sideways over his right shoulder and a large bulge of bone bulging against but not quite breaking out of the left side of his neck. The second cop's head had seemed to instantly rotate completely backwards where his nose was lined up with his spine, and he began to slowly fall over; already dead before hitting the ground. As Nobu and Shinji rounded the corner the three soldiers to the left were likewise already down. One man had been completely severed in two at the waist and lay blinking next to his lower half as he bled out. Another had been stabbed through the heart and lay on the ground with a red stream spurting from his chest. The third man’s arms were both severed at the shoulders as he fell to the ground with a yelp, adding to the bloody macabre scene in the hallway. His M-16 had been cleanly severed through its thickest part and parts of the rifle lay on each side of his armless torso.

  Tadashi stood motionless now, holding his three foot long wakizashi sword down by his right side as the blood dripped from it. The Order had it specifically designed to hopefully stand up against the legendary meteorite bladed sword that had been stolen from them, and it’s design and production had cost them over 10 million dollars. His amazing sword was the pinnacle of modern sword making technology. The blade sparked from tip to handguard, looking like it was made of a million specks of diamond. It was made of diamond carbon nano-tubes in a ceramic composite with a single molecular edge. It would slice through a boulder almost as easily as a sheet of chunk of meat. Even its scabbard was a technological marvel, magnetically realigning the edge each time it was sheathed to reform the entire length of the edge to a single molecule. It would cut through anything of this world. Tadashi wasn’t sure if it would stand up to his family’s stolen blade or not, but it was his best chance if it came to that.

  Nobu and Shinji looked at their master with respect and admiration. This is why they served him. Regardless of his personality flaws, this man was a god amongst men, deciding who lived and who died. Surely those with this gift were chosen by the gods. They both instinctively bowed deeply to their master, showing their respect, which contained a good dose of fear. Tadashi happily accepted it; always willing to make time to be admired.

  Just then Major Medina burst from his office into the hallway, wearing only a pair of green boxer shorts. The middle aged stocky Hispanic man wore a flat top haircut and carried a 45 pistol in his right hand. He was an experienced combat vet who had put more enemies in their graves than he cared to remember. He took in the scene quickly and began to lift his pistol towards Tadashi, "Who the hell..." He saw a glimpse of an evil grin and then there was only a blur before he was slammed face down on his desk with his right arm somehow wrenched up behind his back. His right cheek was pressed up against the desk and he watched his pistol fall to the ground over by the door, several feet in front of him. It didn’t make any sense to him; he’d just been in the hallway about to fire his pistol and now he was almost 20 feet from that point… and his pistol was now clanging on the floor still out in the hallway. He began to squirm and kick back towards whoever held him down but Tadashi suddenly chopped the base of his skull with the outer ridge of his hand; instantly knocking him unconscious.

  Tadashi held him there as he spoke to Nobu, "Rope." Nobu began to untie and remove a thin black cord that was wrapped several times around his waist. Tadashi gave a quick command to Shinji, who nodded and then went to the front right corner of the room as he drew a pistol and a suppresser and quickly threaded them together. He aimed towards the door where anyone who ran through it would immediately expose themselves to his line of fire. Sure enough within 10 seconds three more soldiers and a police officer came charging into the room. Shinji put an almost silent round into the first man's left temple, and then there was a blur before Tadashi suddenly appeared just outside of the office behind the intruders as blood began to spray against the hallway ceiling and wall. Each of the three men’s heads toppled as Tadashi admired his handiwork from behind. Up close a normal man just didn’t have a chance against him; gun or not.

  Nobu continued to tie the Major up, securing him to the big office chair with the thin black cord. Shinji stood watch at the door for any more soldiers or police to follow. Once the Major was secured Tadashi gave him several slaps to the face until he woke up.

  The interrogation lasted about an hour. The Major wasn’t giving them the information they needed as Tadashi questioned him with Nobu helping with the translation. Salty ol’ Major Medina was quite familiar with techniques to mislead interrogators, and he used every trick in the book. He used the language barrier to his advantage, often pretending to misunderstand the question as he gave false or misleading answers. He feigned ignorance and played dumb. Near the end he was beaten and bloody, but hadn’t given in. They didn’t come tougher than this old warrior, and it helped that these brutes weren’t trained interrogators. In the end when his bedroom locker was gone through and they found his family’s address in a journal, Tadashi threatened to pay them a visit and the Major told them what they wanted to know… almost. He knew that a lie that contained a good bit of truth was the most believable kind.

  “Fine, ok, ok. I’m done… I’m done. I don’t know what good this information will do you but I’ll tell you the truth. Tak said he’s moving down to some RV park in St Petersburg Florida to live with Amy’s family. It’s the truth, I swear.”

  “What RV park exactly?”

  “They didn’t tell me, I just know that Tak went down there with Amy. There can’t be that many RV parks in that one city anyway. She said her parents told her there is an extra RV down there that they can live in. There’s supposed to be a nice community. I’m telling you the truth.”

  “Officer Amy Braxton, yes? The red head in this picture.” Tadashi held up the printout of the newspaper picture he kept on him.

  “Yes, I told you, yes. Amy said she’d spoken to them and they were invited to go live down there with her parents. Tak’s home was destroyed a few days ago and he said he was done living here in Southern Illinois.” Tadashi recognized a bit of truth in the Major’s words. He knew from first-hand experience that Tak’s home had just burned down.

  Tadashi stepped back from the Major. He spoke in his native tongue while Nobu translated. “I believe you Major. But I wan
t you to know, if I find out that you are lying then I will come back and torture your whole family before they die.”

  The Major knew that these men didn’t need a good excuse to kill his family, and he wasn’t about to tell them the entire truth if he could help it. He wouldn’t betray a friend, and he figured he wouldn’t survive this day anyway. “There’s no need for that. I’ve told you the truth, but it won’t help you anyway. Now you remember my words… if you ever find Tak it will be the day you die. I hope you find him soon, you son of a bitch.”

  Tadashi grinned when he heard the Major’s words through Nobu’s translation. He pulled up the left sleeve of his kimono to reveal the black leather strap around his wrist. There was more to the strap than appeared to be. It was actually two thin straps of leather sewn together. On the edge closest to his wrist was an inch-wide opening. Directly behind it was a small and thin square black rubber pouch; well concealed and somewhat protected between the two strips of leather. The small internal rubber pouch was barely an eighth of an inch thick and half an inch long on each side. The edge of the pouch that was closest to Tadashi’s palm also had a half-inch-wide slit in it, lined up with the slit on the edge of the leather strap. That allowed him to insert the tip of his right thumb blade directly into the pouch, coating it with the small amount of gel-like substance it held. As he pulled the thumb blade out of the rubber slit in the pouch he angled the blade upward so while the rubber wiped most of the substance off of the top side of his nail there was still a smear of it remaining on the bottom edge.

  The Major watched Tadashi insert and withdraw his thumb blade into the leather strap on his wrist. He clenched his jaw and stayed strong; never even considering begging for his life. He had too much pride and knew it would do no good anyway. Tadashi spoke calmly as Nobu translated, “Truly I do not know if my mother was a bitch, Major. However I will arrange for you to meet her so you can decide for yourself.” He reached over to the Major’s securely bound left hand. The old warrior struggled to get loose, but Nobu had done the bindings well. Tadashi slowly put the edge of his thumb blade on back of the Major’s hand and barely slid it along his skin, leaving only a small scratch as he continued to grin and enjoy the Major’s predicament.

  Major Medina expected pain to flood his arm, but instead experienced almost the opposite; nothing. The nothing inched its way up his hand and forearm, leaving him with the ability to do nothing with it… to move nothing it had affected. Tadashi moved his face close to his victim’s, now hovering only a few inches away. He moved so he was looking directly the Major’s eyes. He saw desperation appear on the man’s face, and he enjoyed the spectacle. He spoke while Nobu continued to translate. “What you are experiencing is fugu… pufferfish poison. It has been carefully extracted from the liver of a fugu, which is a rare and dangerous feast only the brave enjoy in Japan. I have enjoyed its delicious meat on several occasions.”

  The toxin had entered the Major’s blood stream and gone to work. He lost the ability to move first his fingers, then his entire left hand, then his forearm. He became paralyzed one inch at a time as the deadly poison worked its way through his veins.

  Tadashi was enjoying the scene tremendously as he explained while Nobu continued to translate. “The poison in the fugu is tetrodotoxin. It is a powerful neurotoxin that paralyzes its victim’s muscles while leaving them fully conscious… but unable to breath. It is over 12 hundred times stronger than cyanide… and unfortunately for you Major… there is no antidote.”

  Once it hit the Major’s chest he immediately began to struggle to breathe, like some invisible great weight was crushing him and preventing him from inhaling. Panic threatened to overcome him… but he couldn’t scream. He fought hard to force out one more word, but he only produced a small puff of air as his lips moved. Tadashi tilted his head, “Nani? … What’s that?” He smiled as he leaned in close with the hopes of hearing the Major’s final utterance. Some threat that he could never bring to fruition, no doubt. The Major’s entire body was now becoming affected by the poison and it was quickly locking up. He had only seconds left where, only by pure force of his strong willpower, he could force any movements at all. With his final push to action that was the hardest physical thing he’d ever done in his life, he leaned his head forward and put Tadashi’s entire right ear in his mouth and latched down on it with all his might. Tadashi instinctively reacted by jerking back, which was definitely the wrong thing to do. As he shot back his ear stayed right where it was in the Major’s mouth, ripping it loose and taking a strip of skin down a couple inches on his cheek before the whole mess came free. Tadashi screamed and reeled in pain as blood ran from the nasty wound. The fibrous muscles that had been hidden underneath the skin of his upper cheek were now revealed. Nobu and Shinji started to come forward, but there was nothing they could do. They looked first to Tadashi but wisely stayed back out of his way as he spun in a frenzy. He kicked the desk and then a hole through the wall. As every muscle in the Major’s body finally seized up and he could no longer draw breath, he somehow seemed to still grin behind the bloody ear in his mouth as his final vision was his enemy in rage and agony.

  CHAPTER 19: TAKEN

  A s Tak followed Bull through the parking lot he continued to scan the crowd for his friends; hoping they were already back at the RV. Bull went directly to his large chromed up Harley, parked near the main gate. Bull looked over to him, “I’ll meet you at your RV.” Tak nodded and continued towards the rear of the parking lot, which was now even more chaotic than when he arrived. He saw no less than five bloody fights as he passed through the rows of parked vehicles towards the RV. People were killing each other over their goods. He saw the van a few rows up ahead that had been rockin’ when he’d passed it earlier. The same scraggily haired man who had stood guard behind it earlier still leaned up against its bumper. This time a rail thin woman in a black leather miniskirt and low cut tank top sat next to him and smoked a cigarette. From the way her eyes were blurred and out of focus she was obviously high on something. As Tak walked by the pimp yelled over to him, “Hey man… you’re up next! Spend the last of any cash ya got here while it’s still worth somethin!” Tak ignored him and quickly moved on as the man looked for another potential customer.

  As Tak got closer to the back row of RV’s, he discovered that his was gone and a large rusty black windowless van was parked in its place. He stopped in his tracks and scanned the area. He saw feet moving from underneath the RV’s parked on either side of the van. The large side door slid open and two bikers stepped out of the back, and another stepped out of the passenger seat. Four more bikers stepped out from behind the two RV’s parked next to it. Bull pulled up on his bike and stopped right next to Tak. Tak wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but if these men moved to attack he’d try and end them before any barrels were aimed his way. Tak looked over at Bull out of the corner of his eyes, “What’s going on here?” Bull seemed awfully confident sitting next to a man with a sword as he didn’t even bother dismounting or speaking. In a flash Tak ran around behind bull, drew his sword and held it up in front of the giant’s throat. “I’m not going to ask again. Speak now or you never will again.” Bull slowly turned his head and lowered his goggles to look Tak in the eye. He didn’t seem concerned with the possibility of losing his head. Just then Doug yelled from behind Tak as he made his way towards them. “Easy buddy… take it easy. Put the blade away or you’ll never see your friends again.” Tak looked at him; Doug stood with his pistol still holstered and only the radio in his hand. He seemed to know something that Tak didn’t. Tak slowly lowered his sword and then sheathed it; knowing that he could draw and kill with it in far less time than any of these men could get a shot off on him, if need be. Doug walked up to him and spoke into the radio. “OK, Zulu, Zulu. We’ve got the Asian cop here. You’ll need to tell him what’s up if you want us disarm him without fuckin him up.” A voice came through the radio that Tak recognized… he had spoken over the radio to Doug back a
t the booth and was apparently at wherever they kept the gas. “Hand him the radio.” Doug did so and Tak took it as a feeling of dread began to creep over him. The voice came through the radio again, “OK listen carefully officer. I’d like to do this without anyone getting hurt, but that’s up to you. You make one wrong move and you’ll never see your friends again. My men are going to disarm you and you will follow their directions and go with them. Here… let me motivate you to do so.” A moment of static and then silence hit the radio. Tak held it anxiously. Suddenly the man’s voice came over the radio again, “OK... bitch, say hi to your friend.” To Tak’s dread, Amy’s voice came over the radio, sounding defeated. “I’m sorry Tak… we were taken. They got us but were ok. There was just too many of them… they were waiting on us.” Panic threatened to take over, but Tak forced himself to stay calm as he keyed the radio and spoke into it. “What do you want from us?” The voice replied, “If you comply you have my word that neither me nor my men will kill any of you. I know that don’t mean much to you now, but it’s the truth. I’m the leader of the Death Keepers Motorcycle Club. You don’t have a choice anyway. Now we don’t need a scene there. Don’t try and be a hero. If you don’t disarm and comply with my men’s directions, they will kill you. If you happen to get lucky and somehow take any of them out I’ll kill your friends before you can get halfway to where I’m at. If they don’t call in with a predetermined code, I’ll kill them. The only way you’ll see them safe again is if you comply and go with them to where I’m at. You’d better be here within 15 minutes or… well you get the idea. I’m not one to underestimate anyone, and I won’t do that with you. So what’s it going to be officer?”

  Tak considered his options. He could tap into his gift and end each the men that surrounded him in less than a second. Or he could kill them all but one, most likely Doug, and torture him for information. But the man on the other end of the radio seemed to have a contingency for that… a code word system. Without more time to properly interrogate Doug he’d have a hard time working out the code; and even then he couldn’t know for sure if Doug was telling him the correct code. He couldn’t take that risk with his friend’s lives. If these men wanted him dead they would have tried to kill him already. He didn’t see a choice… he’d have to do what they said and wait for the right moment to take action… a moment when he had a chance of saving his friends. He handed the radio back to Doug and put his hands up. “OK, I’ll do what you say.” Doug nodded and reached up to remove Tak’s sword and scabbard. It felt very unnatural for Tak to just stand there and allow him to remove it, but he did. The other bikers moved in around him and one of them gave him a quick and rough pat search, removing his hidden pistol from behind his belt. The bikers grabbed him and quickly walked him to the van. Tak could still take these men out if he chose to. He decided to listen carefully as Doug was about to speak into the radio again. If he didn’t use some sort of code word signaling that everything was ok he’d chance it and take all of them but Doug out now, figuring the whole code word thing was a bluff. Doug spoke into the radio again, “OK Buck, he’s complied. Stage one complete, Alpha Charlie 47. Stage two in five mikes. On my mark… GO.” Doug hit a timer on his watch as he spoke the word “GO”. The voice replied back over the radio, “10-4 Alpha Charlie 47. Initiate stage two in exactly five mikes or else I will initiate cleansing protocol.”