by Hunt, Jack
Richard rose. “Hang tight, I’ll be back shortly.”
After leaving the room, Richard tracked down Eric. He was near the front entrance looking out at the crowd that had gathered. They were rowdy and many had damaged police cruisers by getting on top, and throwing bricks through the windows. He turned at the sound of Richard approaching. “Officers are doing their best to hold them at bay.” He scoffed. “They’re threatening to use rubber bullets and tear gas. Can you believe that? Did you ever think we would end up here?”
“Yes.”
Eric’s brow furrowed. “But you said…”
“Just forget what I said, Eric, and come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To have a talk with Sam. He’s requested you as his lawyer.”
“His lawyer? But he didn’t do anything.”
Richard shot him a glance.
“Oh, right,” Eric replied.
“Let me do all the talking,” he said. They passed numerous empty offices. The department was practically a ghost town, every officer that could be reached had been summoned by Chief Sanchez to gear up and prepare for a riot. But that was the least of his troubles. He wasn’t looking at the short-term issues but long term. If those missiles launched they wouldn’t have to worry about riots, they would be looking at Russia retaliating and leveling the United States.
They entered the second interview room where Sam was in restraints.
“You bastard,” Sam said the second he laid eyes on Richard. He struggled to get loose of his handcuffs.
“Settle down, Sam. You’ll get out soon enough.”
“You know full well that I wasn’t responsible.”
“I don’t care about that. I’m here to discuss your freedom.”
“My freedom?” Sam narrowed his eyes. “You arrogant son of a bitch.” He lunged forward but Richard was out of reach.
“See, this is what I was I telling Helen. You are unstable.”
“And you are out of your fucking mind if you think you control my freedom. Look outside, Richard. Can you hear that?”
The noise of the crowd had become loud. They could clearly hear the sound of rocks breaking windows. “You are no longer in control of this town, me, or anyone.”
Richard’s eyebrows rose. “You sure about that?”
Sam’s eyes bounced to Eric. “He has you on the payroll, doesn’t he?”
“Eric is here because you requested him.”
“Then maybe you can leave,” Sam sneered.
“Eric works for me.”
Sam laughed and sat back. “Of course he does.”
Eric looked at him as if he wanted to say something but he didn’t. He wouldn’t. He didn’t have the balls to. There were few people in the town that did. It wasn’t that Richard was an intimidating man, but his reputation preceded him. Those that had tried to go against him were quickly dealt with in various ways, most of which included a high-priced lawyer.
“Why are you here, Richard?” Sam asked.
“I have a proposition.”
“Like the one you proposed to me the week before you set me up?”
Richard snorted. “Still living in the past, aren’t you, Sam?”
“And you’re not?”
Richard remained standing, he didn’t trust Sam but on the other hand he had to, their lives depended on it. “One thing you are right about is that we are losing control of this town but that is not our biggest problem. The men responsible for bringing down the grid are going to launch Minuteman missiles at Russia. I don’t have to explain to you what the repercussions will be if that happens.”
“And?”
“And we have very limited options for stopping them.”
Sam shrugged. “I don’t see how any of this matters to me.”
“It should. Anna’s life would be at stake. It would be a terrible thing to lose her after such a beautiful reunion, don’t you think?”
Sam shook his head in disbelief. “Oh my God, man. Can you even hear yourself?”
“I’m putting together a team who will go with Mr. Blake Dawson to the launch facility not far from F.E. Warren Air Force Base. I want you to go with them.”
“And why would I do that for you?”
“Because you care about Anna. It’s not for me. Well, I should correct that, of course I will benefit if you’re successful but that’s not the issue here. Of course I won’t leave it entirely up to you and I’ll attempt to get in contact with the military by ham radio but right now you are the only person I know that is trained to lead a team of people for an operation like this. Now I can arrange for…”
Sam started laughing. At first it was just a chuckle then he broke into a full belly laugh. Richard looked at Eric and then back at him.
“Stop it,” Richard said in a calm tone.
Sam continued to laugh until there were tears rolling down his cheeks.
“I said, STOP IT!” Richard leaned forward and banged his fist against the table. In an instant Sam lunged forward and grabbed him by the head and bounced his face off the table. He released him then rocked back and laughed.
“Damn! That has got to hurt! Ooh, I hope you’ve got a good dentist on the payroll.”
Sam continued laughing uncontrollably.
Richard’s eyes watered and he winced in pain, as he cupped two hands over his face. Blood gushed down into his mouth, one of his teeth was chipped, and his lip was busted up. He turned and stormed out of the room cursing loudly. Eric followed him down the hall and into the bathroom. Richard yanked multiple brown paper hand towels and went over to the mirror and looked at his face. Bastard. He’d broken his nose.
“Are you okay?” Eric asked.
“Does it look like I am?” he spat back.
“You should really hold your head back. It helps stem the bleeding.”
Richard scowled at him and then did exactly that. He slumped down onto the tiled floor and shook his head. He should have known trying to reason with that lunatic wouldn’t have ended well.
“You want me to go and speak to him?” Eric asked.
He turned. “Would you?”
“Just tell me what you need.”
Richard placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re a good man, Eric.”
“They killed a fucking police officer!” Chase said.
“Get a grip, Chase.” Anna got up and made her way over to him. The pain was excruciating. If she didn’t get to a hospital soon she was liable to die of infection or a loss of blood. She felt nauseated and dizzy and for a second she lost her balance and stumbled into the wall.
“Anna.”
Chase rushed over and slipped an arm around her shoulders to support her. “We need to get you out of here. Screw it. They can have whatever they want.”
He guided her to the rear and placed her against the wall.
“Yeah, it’s the getting out part that’s going to be a problem,” she said. Chase went over to the window. He couldn’t see anyone out there but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. They’d killed two of them and injured another. Maybe now what they wanted in the house was them.
He swallowed hard and checked the ammo for the rifle.
“Look, we’re gonna have to make a run for it,” he said.
“And how do you suggest we do that?” Anna asked.
Chase rushed to the front of the house and peered out the window. He could see them preparing the chain on the back of the Jeep to do another window. If he only knew how many there were, he could figure out what they were up against. He had to assume there were more, in which case they needed another way out. The problem was with bars on all the windows they had pretty much imprisoned themselves.
He returned to Anna. “Besides the front and back. Are there any other exits?”
“The garage, that’s it.”
“That can’t be it.”
He paced the room for a minute or two, occasionally looking down the hallway expecting them to burst into the hous
e at any moment. In the attic there was an eyebrow dormer. It wasn’t very large but if he kicked it out, it offered an alternative means of escape. He would have to keep those on the ground distracted while she slipped out and made her way down onto the roof of the garage.
“Come with me,” he said.
“Where are we going?”
“I’ll show you.”
He led her upstairs and they climbed the ladder into the attic. Small bands of moonlight filtered through the bullet holes in the roof. He led her down to the dormer.
“Listen, I’m heading down. I’ll distract them. Wait until you hear me firing before you break the vents. Slip out, keep your head down and head to the west, towards your neighbor.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll follow but one of us has to keep them occupied.”
“Chase.”
“I’ll follow, just do as I say.”
With that he turned and exited the attic. No sooner had he made it halfway down the stairs than he heard a loud crash coming from the living room. He moved fast, in the hopes of cutting them off before they entered. Sure enough as he came around the corner, one of them was crawling in through the opening. They’d pushed over the cabinet. Chase brought the rifle up as the man glanced at him. A look of shock spread on his face before a bullet tore through his skull.
He fired another four shots near the window to keep the others back.
Go Anna, go, he thought as he took a knee and unloaded a few more rounds to distract them. Directly behind him he heard the bars being torn from the house in the dining area. Chase darted across and peppered the walls around it. He knew it was only a matter of minutes before they burst through one of the windows.
Chase unloaded a magazine and palmed the last one he had into place. Then he ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.
Sweat poured off him. His fear had reached new heights as he made it into the attic. He reached down and pulled up the ladder to buy himself some time. Once the attic door was closed he turned and ran towards the side of the house. Anna was gone as were the vents. There was no time to think about the threat of a gunman on the roof. He slipped out the hole and made his escape.
Chapter 17
Mia gasped as she bolted upright. Her eyes bulged as she looked around her, fear shot through her. Douglas was casually perched on the console with his feet on the seat. He was rolling a stress ball around in his hand and observing her through slitted eyes as if trying to decide what to do with her.
“Welcome back.”
She scrambled back from him, leaning against the blast door.
He laughed. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She reached up and felt the side of her face. It stung and felt slightly swollen.
“Oh, about that. Sorry but it was necessary. You didn’t really give me much choice.” He stopped rolling the ball around. “You know, going batshit crazy last night.”
She frowned. “It’s morning?”
“Yes, and that’s air you’re breathing.” He hopped off the seat and tapped the air vent. It let out a tinny echo. She instantly became aware of the steady drone of air being pumped into the capsule. She glanced up at the twenty-four hour clock on the wall. It was just after five in the morning. Her brow pinched together. It didn’t make sense. They should have been dead by now.
“How?”
“Like I told you, before you rudely kicked me in the face.” He glared at her letting the words sink in. “They’re not going to kill us. We’re the only ones who can open that door. And they won’t come through the escape hatch because they don’t know where it comes out. And if I’m right and I believe I am — the reason they want in is to protect themselves after launching those missiles so if they take a cutting torch to that blast door they are jeopardizing their own safety. Again, like I said, the safest place for us is in here.”
“How long has the air been on?”
He shrugged. “Three, maybe four hours. Four I think. They turn it on when he wants to communicate. He phoned several times while you were out cold. Strangely, he wanted to speak with you, not me. You wouldn’t by any chance know this individual, would you?”
She scowled at him. “No. Why would I?”
“I don’t know. The way you acted all irrational yesterday. Got me thinking.”
“About?”
“Ah it’s nothing. Just mulling things over. Oh, by the way…” Douglas walked over to the hand crank stripper and turned it. “It’s working. How about that, eh?”
She frowned.
“Don’t look so surprised, Mia. They obviously didn’t think this through. By my estimation the air has been running for the last…” He looked at the clock again. “Six hours, off and on. But the last time they turned it on was four hours ago. They haven’t switched it off in four hours. You know what that means?”
“I’m sure you’ll tell me,” she said rubbing her jaw.
“I think they’re gone.”
“No they’re not,” she replied.
Douglas walked over and crouched down just out of reach. “Mia. If you wanted to launch missiles would you wait around for us to open the doors? There is too much on the line to wait. I think they’ve changed their plan.” He got up and went over to the door. “I just wish we could see outside. You know, to be sure.”
“They’re not gone,” she said. “They’re waiting for you to open up.”
He looked back at her. “And why would we do that? We have enough food and water to last a week in here. They’re pumping in air. All systems are operating.”
Mia shook her head and rose to her feet, she lifted up the flooring that covered the additional supplies of food and water. “You sure about that?” she said. Douglas looked over and his eyes widened.
“Where is it? Where are the supplies?”
She shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I figured it was in there.”
Douglas dropped down to his knees and pulled up the next panel. It was empty; he did the same with the next three panels.
“No. No. That’s impossible. They always have this replenished.”
“Have you ever looked under here?”
Douglas looked at her, total shock setting in. He went over to the mini fridge and looked inside.
“Yeah, and we have practically worked our way through what we have,” she said.
“You knew about this?”
“No,” she said. “And I’d appreciate you not accusing me.”
He shook his head unable to grasp the gravity of their situation. She could hear him mumbling under his breath; something about they always kept it stocked, didn’t they? The truth was no one had checked. At least they hadn’t. The likelihood of them having to use it was slim to none. And any food that was under there might have been removed due to expiration dates. It was also possible that they had every intention of replacing it but the timing of the power grid going down may have interfered — or perhaps when they were talking about government cutbacks this was what they meant.
Douglas stumbled back, and slumped to the ground.
Now she understood why he wanted to stay inside, why he was acting so nonchalant about it. He thought they could survive at least another week.
“We need to head out,” Mia said. “Or we will die.”
“No, we have air. If they wanted us dead they could just shut off the air and leave.”
“Then they would be trapped down here with us. That’s why it’s on.”
“You don’t know that. For all we know, a few of them could be down here and the rest topside.”
“It’s been four hours since they called. I’m getting out of here.”
“No one is leaving,” Douglas said.
Mia sighed. “Let’s at least open the first door and head out onto the bridge. Maybe we can hear them banging around.”
Between the two blast doors was an area where the shock absorbers had been installed. Often, when they had the door open to let in the cook,
or next shift change, they would hear the elevator and security.
He looked back at her and for the first time since this whole thing had kicked off, he agreed.
After escaping from the house, they had no other choice than to head north towards the town of Frisco. It wasn’t just that St. Anthony’s Hospital was there and Anna needed medical attention but the streets in Breckenridge were chaotic. At first they were going to head for the town hall but several riots had erupted, and many businesses and homes were on fire. They’d seen a group of ten people attacking two police officers. Tear gas was fired into the angry mob but it didn’t stop them. Black smoked drifted across the roads, and the threat of being attacked made it too risky to stay.
Instead, they walked for three hours only stopping a few times to get water from the stream and to wash her hand. Several times Chase had suggested they stop at someone’s home and see if they could get a ride but Anna wouldn’t risk it. The only thing pushing her on was the thought that if she didn’t get treated she would die. She had no idea that someone could survive a bullet wound to the hand. All she saw was blood and lots of it.
They arrived shortly after two in the morning.
Police officers outside the hospital saw them stagger across the parking lot and hurried out to assist. She fell into their arms and passed out.
Now as her eyes fluttered open, she awoke to see the sun rising above the Rockies. The curtains were partially open and she could hear the EKG monitor beating steadily. Her head turned to see Chase asleep. He was sitting in a chair beside the bed, one hand clutching hers and his head resting on the sheet.
She groaned and he looked up.
“Hey,” he said scooting forward. “How you feeling?”
She pawed at her eye. “Like crap but rested.”
Chase smiled and gave her good hand a squeeze. “Can I get you a drink?”
She nodded and he left the room with a paper cup.
Anna stared at her room. Eleven days and the hospital was still operating. Despite the riots they’d witnessed the night before, it was good to know that some semblance of order still remained.
Mason stretched out his body, and looked across at the others inside the cramped cell. Due to the riots in town they’d seen an increase in people being jailed overnight and without enough room to hold them, a cell that was usually meant for one person now held five. He was in with Keith Boone, and three other nasty looking individuals. Two of them had arrived sometime in the night, drunk and belligerent. For a short while he thought he would have to defend himself but fortunately that wasn’t to be. After they banged on the door and cursed at the officer who’d tossed them inside, one of them slumped down and fell asleep while the others spent the next hour curled over the only toilet throwing up. As he awoke that morning, the smell of vomit and piss dominated. There was only one bed in the room — if it could even be called that — and Keith Boone had taken that, so Mason had slept in the corner, using his jacket as a pillow.
