After The Fall (Book 4): Undercover

by Nees, David

  He seemed to Jason to not be too interested in giving him the background on Charlotte. Jason ordered a beer and a pork sandwich. He pulled some gold pieces from his pocket and laid them on the bar.

  “How much of this do you need?”

  The bartender hefted the gold, went to an old fashion cash register and grabbed a balance scale from underneath it. He brought it back and weighed some of the pieces and took two of them.

  “That’ll cover what you ordered.” Then he left to pour the beer and pass the sandwich order back to the kitchen.

  After getting the beer and sandwich, Jason started eating. The beer was reasonable indicating someone who knew about brewing had produced it. Electricity and enough grain to make bread and brew beer. Charlotte’s doing pretty well.

  As he was eating, one of the men sitting a few places down from him moved up next to Jason. “I think you got ripped off a bit there, friend,” he said.

  Jason gave him a questioning look.

  “Everyone using gold or jewels instead of currency gets taken on the exchange rate. He reached out his hand.

  “My name’s Harry, what’s yours?”

  Jason shook his hand. The man looked to be in his late forties or early fifties. He was short and solidly built, with a salt and pepper beard.

  “Name’s Jason. How bad did I get ripped off?”

  “Not too bad. Pete does that with everyone who doesn’t have any paper money, especially if you don’t know the exchange rate. It’s best you get your gold converted.”

  He pointed to the signboard over the back of the bar.

  “The prices are quoted in currency, but Pete can work any exchange to his favor if you don’t know what it is.”

  “Why the focus on paper currency? It’s worthless.”

  “So were dollars actually in the old days…pre-EMP attack. It’s just that everyone accepted they had some value. The powers that be want to get us away from barter and back to paper money. It makes trading easier.”

  “Guess getting ripped off on the exchange is the price I pay for being new. Where do I get this currency?”

  “They’re called Exchange Stores. You can find them in most neighborhoods. You’ll need an ID card to do business with them. You get that when you come into town and register.” The man paused. “I take it you haven’t registered. How’d you get into town?”

  “Just walked in.”

  “Not through any checkpoint then.”

  “No. I didn’t know I had to use a checkpoint.”

  “The authorities may not like that. ‘Course, if you look like you can pull your weight, contribute, they’ll probably overlook that. You got any skills?”

  “I’m good at surviving.”

  Harry smiled. “Where are you from?”

  “North of here.”

  Harry paused to consider Jason’s vague response. “What brings you to Charlotte?”

  “Survival.”

  The man nodded.

  “You can do that here.”

  Jason changed the subject. “How does the city generate electricity? They seem to be pretty generous with it.”

  “We have a coal-fired generation plant that the city brought back on line. It had been offline when the EMP attack occurred, so the generators and transformers weren’t damaged. They weren’t connected to the grid.”

  “And there’s enough coal?”

  “There’s enough.” Harry frowned. He glanced around him for a moment as if to check on anyone listening in. “All the coal trains stopped running when the EMP attack happened. All those tons of coal are sitting on the tracks. We’ve been harvesting them.”

  “But you can’t run the town for long on just what’s left in the trains.”

  “Hell if I know. That’s above my pay grade.” Harry looked around once more. “Whatever you do, be careful of getting on the wrong side of the authorities. You could get sent to a coal gang.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Teams that haul the coal to the power plant. It’s like a forced labor gang. I’ve heard a lot of people sent there don’t come back.”

  “So who runs the city?”

  Harry shrugged. “I just do my job. I’m not concerned about that.”

  Jason felt frustrated, but this was a beginning. More information would come.

  “What’s your job?” he asked.

  “I’ve got a garage near here. I work on getting older vehicles running again, trucks and cars. Junkyards are my domain. Old parts are now in demand. The city has taken over the yards. I’m contracted to put parts together to get these old, dead vehicles running. You could say I’m in the resurrection business.” He smiled at his well-worn joke.

  “Say, where are you staying for the night?” Harry asked.

  “Don’t know yet. Probably just sleep on the ground.”

  “I got an extra bed, if you like. I have a house a block from here.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but I have to ask you, why are you being so nice to me? Most people I’ve met have been very suspicious of strangers.”

  The man met Jason’s eyes. “You look like an honest guy and I can take care of myself. Besides, what would you steal? I got nothing of value, just a roof over my head and a bed.” He thought for a moment and said, “You could steal my extra pair of boots, but you’d risk ending up on the coal gang. I can tell you, that’s not worth the risk.”

  “Sounds like the city’s got some law and order established.”

  “Yeah. It can be pretty harsh, but it works. Most problems are from the few remaining gang members. People who cause trouble get sent away.”

  “I appreciate your offer for a bed, but I think I’ll wander further into town and just sleep outside. I’m used to being under the stars.”

  Harry shrugged. “Suit yourself. But if you’re thinking of going downtown, you can’t get into the central city without a special pass.”

  The man took his beer and moved away. Jason finished his sandwich and beer and left the bar. He’d keep wandering south and see what happened.

  In a few blocks he found a secluded place to sleep in a park. Tomorrow he’d try to get closer to the central part of the city. He needed to connect with the authorities, which he guessed were the mafia. And he needed to connect in a way that didn’t immediately get him sent to a chain gang which is what the coal gang that Harry mentioned sounded like.

  These first steps were tricky to navigate. Catch the eye of the mob, get them interested in him, and then bring him into their structure. This was not going to be easy for an unknown outsider.

  Chapter 9

  ___________________________________

  T he next evening, when people seemed to be off work, Jason was sitting in a bar close to the central downtown. He put his backpack down at his feet. When his beer came, he paid for it with another of his few remaining pieces of gold. The exchange caught the attention of some of the patrons. It stood out, marking him as a newcomer, and one that might not have arrived in the regular fashion.

  There were three men sitting a few seats away from Jason. The largest one watched the exchange with interest. Jason noticed the man and registered him as a possible problem. In a far corner of the bar, he had also noticed a group of four men who seemed to be treated with more deference and attention than the other patrons. Maybe they’re part of the power structure.

  Jason nursed his beer while he thought about how he might approach the men. Buy them a drink? That seemed too forward to him.

  The man from the first group stepped up close to Jason. The bartender was just putting down another glass of beer in front of him when the man reached over and grabbed it.

  “Thanks Ben. Two more for my buddies,” he said nodding over to the other two further down the bar.

  “That one’s for this guy,” the bartender said.

  “He can wait. You need to take care of your regulars first before you go waiting on strangers. Especially strangers who don’t follow the rules.”

  The
bartender, just shrugged and went to pour three more glasses of beer.

  “You don’t mind waiting a bit, do you?” the man asked leaning close. Jason could smell beer on the man’s breath.

  He didn’t answer and kept looking forward.

  “Cat got your tongue? Afraid to talk? We don’t like cowards here in town, or people who don’t follow the rules. We all got to follow the rules.”

  “I guess that doesn’t include the rules about being polite, especially to strangers.” Jason said, still staring straight ahead.

  “You trying to be smart with me?” The man’s voice started to rise. “How long you been in town? A day? Where the fuck do you come off telling me how to act? This is a neighborhood bar. You don’t belong here.”

  Jason finally turned to the man. He was slouched against the bar. Not the best posture for an attack. Jason set his feet firmly on the floor so he could launch himself forward if he needed to do so.

  “The bartender didn’t think so.”

  At that moment Ben came by. He set a glass down in front of Jason and took the other two over to the man’s friends. On his way back he told the man, “Leave him alone. I don’t want any trouble in here. Just go back to your friends. I got you all your beers.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do. I spend enough of my scrip here. You don’t tell me how to behave. If I think this sissy boy should leave, then he should leave.”

  Jason smiled.

  “You think I’m funny? That what you think?”

  “It’s just that I’ve been called a lot of things but never that.”

  “I’ll bet you have. But I don’t like your attitude. No respect for the citizens of Charlotte. You’re an outsider. You want to come in and take someone’s job? We got enough mouths to feed. I think you should go.”

  With that pronouncement he stepped back as if looking to see what effect his words would have. Jason sat there and took a sip of his beer. When he set it down, the man swiped his hand across the bar and flung the glass to the floor behind it.

  “Mack,” the bartender called out, “get back to your seat. I told you I don’t want any trouble in here.”

  The bar got quiet. Everyone was now looking at Jason and Mack.

  “We can settle this outside,” Mack said. He turned to Jason. “Can’t we? Unless you’re too chicken and just want to slink away. You ain’t earned the right to sit and drink with the rest of us.”

  “You’re drunk, Mack,” the bartender said. “Just leave him alone and go home.”

  “I’m not ready to go home, but I think this pansy is.”

  “It’s an interesting idea. I have to prove myself by beating you in order to drink in this bar?”

  A crooked smile worked its way over Mack’s face. Jason studied him. He stood a good three inches taller than Jason and probably outweighed him by thirty pounds. Jason also noted his long reach and meaty hands. A brawler. He’d come across them in the army. You didn’t want to fight them in any civilized fashion. Certainly not with studio-trained martial arts moves that were only practiced in fake contests, never with full contact. One fought dirty, employing whatever worked with the intent to inflict pain and damage quickly before your opponent could do the same to you.

  “I guess we go outside,” Jason said.

  Mack’s smile broadened. He was going to get the fight he was looking for.

  Jason hefted his backpack up on the counter. “Will you hold this for me?”

  Ben reached over and took the pack.

  “I’ll be back to claim it, after giving this pussy a beating,” Mack said.

  Jason stood and motioned for Mack to go ahead. The two other men stood as well and the four of them went outside. A buzz of conversation started around the bar as the men left.

  Outside, Jason and Mack squared up. Mack rubbed his hands together and closed them into large fists. Jason did likewise, taking a boxing stance. He had no intention of boxing the man, but wanted him to think so.

  Mack advanced, hunched over. Jason let him come. He placed his left foot forward and shifted his weight to his rear foot. Jason knew Mack’s longer arms would put him in range before he could land a punch. When he judged Mack was about to punch, Jason swung his right arm forward, twisting his hips and pushing off with his right foot. It was a feint. Mack’s left hand went up to block the punch and his torso straightened out.

  After pushing off, Jason let his right foot fly, using the push for momentum. The toe of his boot hit Mack between his legs and drove deep into his crotch, crushing one of his testicles. The man screamed and dropped his guard. As he bent over, Jason curled a left into the solar plexus followed by a right to his temple. Mack’s head flopped sideways and he dropped to the ground, dazed and in excruciating pain, struggling for breath.

  Jason turned in a ready position and looked at Mack’s friends. They stared back at him wide-eyed. One of them put his hands up, palms out.

  “We don’t want any trouble. This is between you and Mack.”

  “Looks like it’s over now. Grab his belt and pull it up. It’ll open his diaphragm and help him get his breath back. Then take him home. If any of you come back, I’ll break some bones, not just crush your nuts. Got it?”

  The men nodded and Jason turned and went back into the bar.

  The conversation stopped as he walked in. He went up to the bar and asked Ben for his backpack.

  “Where’s Mack?” Ben asked.

  “His friends are helping him get home. He’ll be sore for a few days.”

  “That was fast,” Ben said.

  Jason didn’t answer. Just then one of the men Jason had noticed sitting in the corner came up.

  “Let me buy you a real drink,” the man said.

  Jason looked at him.

  He didn’t wait for an answer, but turned to Ben and told him to get out a bottle of Jim Beam. Ben went into a cabinet at the rear of the bar and took out a bottle.

  “How do you like it?” the man asked.

  “Neat,” Jason replied.

  “Best way to enjoy it, especially since it’s getting so rare. My name’s Tony, what’s yours?”

  “Jason.”

  “Come on over to my table.” Tony nodded towards the corner. All eyes in the bar were watching the exchange.

  Jason followed his new acquaintance and sat down after he pulled up an extra chair. He introduced the others sitting at the table.

  “This is Rocco, Carlo, and Gino.”

  Jason nodded to each of the men. They were all dressed in casual dress clothes, not working men’s attire. Jason could see they didn’t do manual labor. He could also see the bulges of side arms under their jackets. He sat down.

  “That was quick,” Tony said. “What’d you do out there?”

  Jason shrugged. “Took him down. Wanted to do it quick so no one gets too badly hurt.”

  “He going to be okay?”

  “Maybe a crushed nut and a bad headache, but he’ll recover. I didn’t want to break any bones. That’s dangerous in these times.”

  “Dumbass deserves some broken bones,” Carlo said.

  Tony eyed Jason. “You know how to take care of yourself. How’d you get into town?”

  “I just walked in.”

  “Didn’t go through a checkpoint?”

  “That didn’t seem like a good idea at the time. Now I find I got to get an ID card in order to use the official exchange.”

  “Yeah. You probably been getting ripped off giving away gold.”

  “That’s what I’ve been told.”

  “What brings you to Charlotte?” Tony asked.

  “Looking for work.”

  “What do you do? You an electrician, mechanic plumber? We don’t need sales people, got too many of them. Most of ‘em don’t know how to do shit and there ain’t that much to sell now.”

  “I’m more in the security field.”

  “Bouncer or body guard?” Tony asked.

  Jason looked directly at him. “Kind of like that. I he
lped keep things and people in line.”

  “Oh really.” Tony gave Jason a careful look. “Who’d you work for?”

  “A guy named the Chairman. He runs Knoxville. You heard of him?”

  Tony nodded. “Some. Why’d you leave?”

  “He seemed too small time. Plus, he was going to get his ass kicked by Nashville. Hell, Hillsboro embarrassed his general and sent him packing with his tail between his legs.”

  “So you cut and ran?” Tony arched an eyebrow.

  “No. I tried to talk some sense to him. Tell him not to fight with Nashville but instead align with a town that could make a difference, like Charlotte.”

  “That mean you’re here on official business? You represent Knoxville?”

  Jason shook his head. “The Chairman didn’t want to do that. I think he’s afraid of playing second string. When I figured out he wanted to be the big fish in his own little pond, I decided to move on. Since I had talked to him about Charlotte, I figured I’d come and see it for myself.”

  Tony raised his glass. “Drink up. You deserve it for taking that loudmouth down.”

  Jason took a sip. It was good whiskey.

  Chapter 10

  ___________________________________

  T he men talked for another hour, getting something to eat along with more drinks. Jason’s altercation had attracted the right attention. Tony and his friends were connected; maybe to the people that made up the real power in Charlotte.

  “We might be able to use someone like you,” Tony said. “Someone who can handle themselves. ‘Course we’ll need to know more about you, but right now I want you to meet someone.”

  “Who would that be?”

  “You’ll find out when you meet him.”

  Tony turned to the other three men. “You guys go make your rounds. I’m gonna take Jason to meet Vincent.”

  Tony and Jason walked through the neighborhood towards the downtown. They were on a main road that ran under the interstate near the football stadium. Before reaching the interstate, Tony led them into an office building along the road.

  They stopped at the front door. Tony took Jason’s arm. “The man you’re gonna meet is my boss. His name is Vincent Bonocchi. Whatever he says goes. If he thinks you’re okay, I’ll find you some work. If he says no, that’s it. You go to an exchange office and get yourself registered. I don’t know what they’ll want to do about you sneaking in, but you don’t get to just wander around town. It don’t work like that.”