After The Fall (Book 4): Undercover

by Nees, David

  “How big a hole can there be? I didn’t hear much.”

  “Don’t be so damn lazy. It’s only fifty yards extra to walk. What the hell else are you gonna do? It ain’t like you can go back and go to sleep.”

  The men started forward again. Jason shifted his knife in his hand. He had to strike hard and fast. Slash one, stab the other and then finish them off before they even think to shout for help. Aim for the neck. The men came closer. They were only one column away now.

  “That’s enough,” the lazy one said. You can see the barrier’s not broken.”

  “Can you see up the sides? You can’t. You go climb up and check it out. Something came loose.”

  “I ain’t doing that. If you want it checked, do it yourself,” the first one said.

  “You lazy son-of-a-bitch.” It sounded like the man gave the first speaker a shove.

  “Fuck off, or I’ll deck you,” the first one said. His voice now threatening.

  “Yeah?” There was another shove.

  “You bastard.” the first man said.

  As he swung at his partner, Jason sprang from behind the column. He slammed into the first man, shoving them both against the second sentry. At the same time Jason’s knife slashed across the neck of the second man. The three fell heavily to the road. Jason landed on top of the first man when they hit the pavement and thrust his knife into the man’s neck. He then slashed the neck of the second man again, from his artery across his throat.

  “Oh God!” the first man exclaimed as he tried to staunch the flow of blood out of his neck. The second man was gurgling, unable to speak and beginning to choke on his own blood. Jason held his hand over the first man’s mouth. Their eyes met, victor and vanquished, predator and prey, as the man’s life seeped away and he fell unconscious.

  Jason stood up, his chest heaving. He wiped his hands on the clothes of the dead sentry. He stood still, looking at the two men, both now dead. A wave of what…remorse? Began to rise from within and overcome him. He tamped it down. No time for that. This is the enemy.

  Without further hesitation, he grabbed the legs of the first man and dragged him to the base of the barricade. Then he dragged the second man next to him. From the entrance to the underpass, they could not be seen. But someone’ll come looking for them, even before dawn. I’ve got to get under cover right away.

  He grabbed his gear and headed towards the exit. At the end of the underpass, Jason paused. The checkpoint was to his left, the direction he needed to go. He’d have to move deeper into the downtown before heading west. His goal was to get to an unoccupied high-rise building and set up on the roof. He moved forward, using the few trees or bushes for cover.

  Chapter 33

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  I t was still dark as Jason made his way through the downtown. Once past the barriers there were fewer sentries about. He found only an occasional guard at a building that was being used during the day. Few street lights were lit in an attempt to save energy, giving Jason more cover as he snuck through the city. He soon heard a commotion from behind. They must have found the bodies.

  He gave a wide berth to the city government center. There were numerous sentries posted around the building complex. A couple of them were heading south to check out what had happened at the checkpoint. Jason kept going north into the high-rise area. The major hotels were out of consideration. He knew some were occupied and used for various events. He needed a general office building that was now surplus, that had no use anymore in the post-EMP world.

  Five blocks from the city center compound he approached a glass high-rise. It looked unused as nearly as Jason could tell in the dark. He hiked around the building, almost a city block, trying all the doors, none of which opened. Parts of the street level held small shops and restaurants which had been abandoned. They were open and had long since been stripped, but they didn’t offer any access into the main building. On the north side of the building an enclosed second floor walkway led across the street to connect to another building.

  Jason tried the entrances to that building. After ten minutes he found an unlocked door and entered. He searched for a stairway and got to the second floor. From there he found his way to the connecting walkway and soon was inside his target building. More searching brought him to a stairwell. Now he had forty or more flights to climb to get to the top floor. An hour later, out of breath, he staggered into a hallway.

  Dawn was beginning to break over the city. The gray light seeped into the hallway from windows at each end. Now to find the roof entrance. He walked the length of the hallway until he came to another set of stairs. It was still dark inside the stairwell. He propped the door open to allow the dim light inside. There he saw another door labeled ROOF ACCESS. It was locked.

  The door didn’t have a dead bolt, just a door knob lock. Jason went back out into the hallway. He opened an office door. Inside was a spacious reception area with an expensive desk made of exotic wood and comfortable chairs for the visitors to wait. He walked on a cushion of plush beige carpet.

  Two doors headed off from the area. Jason opened one to reveal a large conference room with a massive table, the sides shaped in a long arc. At one end were multiple screens that could be pulled down. The table seemed to be wired and had connectors for various electronic equipment at each seating location. A projector was attached to the ceiling to direct visuals onto the screens. A bar was inset along one wall with a sink and refrigerator built in.

  The other door opened to a massive office with large windows looking to the south. Another, larger, polished hardwood desk in a modern design with intricate inlays of contrasting wood formed the anchor point to the room. It had a commanding executive chair behind it and four lesser, but comfortable looking, seats on the other side. Again, a bar graced one wall with a couch and stuffed chairs stationed along the other wall.

  The place reeked of corporate opulence which seemed out of place now. Jason went back out of the suite. What he needed was something he could use as a bludgeon on the roof doorknob. Farther down the hallway was a cabinet inset into the wall. It contained a fire extinguisher. Jason grabbed it and quickly returned to the stairwell. He swung the extinguisher against the knob. It took three blows and the doorknob fell off. Jason inserted his knife and unlatched the door.

  After opening it, he stood still and listened. If someone was in the building, nearby or in the stairwell, they might have heard the blows and might come looking. He would have to intercept that person if they came up the stairs.

  Within a minute he heard someone on the steps far below. Jason stood back from the rail and waited. The steps came closer.

  He readied his carbine. He didn’t want to shoot, but had to be ready to take command of the encounter and control it. As the footsteps slowly came closer, Jason opened the door to the hallway, being careful to not make a sound. He stepped back so he couldn’t be seen by the approaching climber. He didn’t want them to see him and have a chance to flee down the stairs.

  He could hear the puffing now as the climber came closer. Finally, the figure turned the corner and approached the landing. Jason stepped out with his carbine pointed at him.

  “Stop right there. Run and I’ll shoot.”

  The man was dressed in oversized jeans that had been cinched tight to his waist with a leather belt. He wore a plaid flannel shirt, two of them it seemed as Jason looked closely at him. He had long, unkempt hair and a full beard. He looked up at Jason staring at his carbine with wild eyes.

  “Whoa pardner. I’m not a threat to you. Don’t shoot me.”

  “I won’t if you don’t try to run.”

  The man raised his hands.

  “Come on up and let’s go into one of these offices and talk,” Jason said.

  “I’m comfortable here if it’s all the same to you.”

  “It wasn’t a suggestion,” Jason told him, in a stern voice.

  “Okay, okay. Don’t get testy.”

  He cl
imbed the last few steps and entered the hall as Jason backed up out of the man’s reach.

  “Head down there,” Jason nodded in the direction he had explored. He directed the man into the luxury suite. They went into the main office. Jason pointed to one of the chairs in front of the desk. He pulled another one away from the row and sat in it with his carbine on his lap.

  “You mind putting that away? It makes me nervous. I ain’t armed. Don’t believe in violence myself, but it seems like you might.”

  “What’s your name?” Jason asked.

  “Luke. Luke the Duke, my friends used to call me. Best card player on the east side of town. Friend to everyone and foe to none. Iff’n you don’t like me, that’s fine, but I like everyone. Everybody represents an opportunity. That’s my motto.”

  He smiled showing a large mouth full of now stained teeth.

  “Well Luke, what are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same question. Being’s you’re the stranger.” He paused as if sizing Jason up. “If you must know, I live here.”

  “On this floor?”

  “Heavens no. This is too damn hard a climb. I couldn’t manage that each day. I live tens of floors down, where the air ain’t so thin and the climbing ain’t so hard. What brings you all the way up to this rarified elevation? You looking for a place to hide?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  The man grinned at him and nodded towards Jason’s carbine. “That ain’t something you put on the welcome wagon…or take around with you on charitable outings.”

  Jason allowed himself to crack a smile. “You might have a point there. Still in these times one can’t be too careful.”

  “Indeed. That’s why I climbed those stairs after hearing the banging. Not sure that was a good idea now.”

  “I’d have run into you sooner or later.”

  “You think?” Luke smiled again at Jason. Iff’n I didn’t want you to see me, you never would. I been living here for two years. I know every inch of this building.” He looked around. “Course I never spent much time up here except to scavenge the high-priced liquor that was stocked in these offices.” He leaned forward towards Jason. “You’d think the captains of our industries,” he swept his hand around the office, “the ones who ran things and made a gazillion dollars, who inhabited these rarified heights, would have been less involved in drinking.”

  He shook his head. “No. From what I could tell, they liked their expensive booze.” He poked his chest with his thumbs. “And now I get to like it. How about them apples?”

  Luke sat back enjoying his sense of victory over the elite. “I camp in their offices, sleep on their couches, drink their booze. And, where are they? Probably dead and gone. They didn’t know how to survive when deprived of their protection and insulation.”

  “So you live here? All alone?” Jason cut into the soliloquy to try to get some useful information.

  “There’s a few others live in the building. We see each other once in a while, leave messages for one another if necessary, but we mostly stay to ourselves. I guess that’s why we chose to live here.”

  “And the authorities leave you alone?”

  “Why would they waste time looking for us or trying to root us out? We don’t bother them and they don’t bother us.” He thought for a moment. “I guess if they needed the building, they’d come and evict us, but they don’t need it. Too many empty buildings as it is. They got all the offices they need.”

  “The authorities know people are here and don’t bother with you?”

  “That’s what I said. What does the mob need offices for anyway? It seems like a violation of natural law or something to have a mobster sitting in a plush CEO office. Don’t you picture them in the back rooms of bars and restaurants? A good Italian restaurant, that’s the natural habitat.”

  Suddenly Luke looked concerned.

  “I’m sorry. You’re not Italian are you? I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just the everyone equates the mob with Italians.”

  “But not all Italians with the mob,” Jason replied.

  Luke laughed and smacked his hands together. “That’s it…in a nut shell. You got a quick mind.”

  In spite of himself, Jason couldn’t help but smile.

  Luke’s face now turned serious. “But why are you here? I see a pistol at your side and the rifle in your hand. You’re like a law man or an outlaw. You ain’t dressed like a mob-type.”

  “I need a place to lie low for a while.”

  “Ahhh, you’re on the run, are you? Cross the mob bosses? They don’t like being crossed here in Charlotte. We’re all pretty careful about that around here.”

  Luke crossed his legs and tried to slouch more comfortably in his chair. Jason could see his boots were pretty worn. It didn’t look like he had any socks on inside of them.

  “I need to decide what to do with you.”

  “Hey, boss. You don’t need to do anything with me. I’m no snitch. Like I said. The few of us in here just want to stay off the radar from those mob types. Next thing you know, they’ll be puttin’ us to work.” He shook his head. “Sweatin’ ain’t my thing, if you know what I mean. Fighting and working never sat well with me. I’m a lover. That’s my style.”

  “You mean you’re lazy, right?”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Luke sat up straight with an indignant tone in his voice. “It takes being clever and slick to get by without doing a lot of manual work.” He tapped his head with his finger. “I like to use my brain instead of my brawn. Save my body for the ladies.” He grinned broadly.

  “Well if you don’t have much to do with the mob, how do you eat?”

  Luke looked serious again. “That’s always a bit of a challenge. “I scavenge things of value from the building. Little things that were overlooked during the initial days. Gold plated letter openers, key rings, some crystal or jewelry missed in those rounds of looting. We can trade it for food. Certain establishments like our trade. Some of us will scavenge from other empty office buildings but the pickings get scarcer all the time.”

  “I’ve still got to figure out what to do.”

  “Boss. I can help you. Whatever you’re up to, I know the local territory. I can be your guide. I’d rather help you than get shot. That won’t do either of us much good…especially me.”

  “How can you help?”

  “Keep anyone from finding you, for one thing. Keep you from running into the others.” He pointed his finger at Jason. “And, if the mob comes calling, I can say no one’s been in here. They don’t want to search all forty floors, believe me, so if I tell them that I ain’t seen or heard anything out of the ordinary, they’ll be happy to go on their way and check this building off their list.”

  He leaned forward. “This is your lucky day, running into Luke the Duke.”

  Jason held himself back.

  “They might offer you a reward.”

  Luke snorted. “What are they going to offer me? A few meals? They’ll also want to put me to work. The more I interact with those types the less they’ll want to leave me alone.” He shook his head and looked sad. “No, there’s not much call for a card-playing man these days.”

  Chapter 34

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  T he conversation went on for some time. Luke was an engaging fellow for sure, but Jason figured him for a trickster.

  “I’d like to trust you. But you understand if I can’t leave you alone, especially at night.”

  “Hmm. I see your problem. We have to figure a way around it. I’m guessing you’re here, not just in this building, but in town, for some larger purpose. You look too serious to be a run-of-the-mill bandit or highwayman. Besides, if you were, why would you be here in town instead of out on the highways? The mob crushed the gangs a year ago. There’s not much space for other outlaws here anymore. They like a monopoly on that action.”

  Jason tried a new tack.

  “You’re smart so you must reali
ze that your lifestyle exists on borrowed time. You said yourself, the pickings from scavenging are getting slimmer and there’s no place for a card playing man in this new world. And even if you cleaned up and put on some sharp duds, there’s not much call for a gigolo either.”

  Luke looked at Jason. His face mirrored his confusion about how to take his comments.

  “Living off the ladies was something men did before the power went out. You seem like you had the skills for that, if you’re the lover you claim to be. But that time is gone.”

  “What’s your point?” Luke voice now was filled with caution.

  “I’m going to insert some chaos into things around here soon. Chaos provides opportunity and you seem like a man that can exploit opportunity. You help me and you get to make what you can of things when I break them apart.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Jason shook his head. “Not for you to know. What I need to know is if you’re in. If you’d like to see what you could make of a fresh set of conditions.”

  Luke looked thoughtful. “One doesn’t want to think about things like that…living on borrowed time, it brings you down. But it has sat in the back of my mind for a while. I’ll be needing a new plan. I don’t know if the others in this building think about that. When they can’t make it anymore, they’ll probably just go to the mob and get themselves assigned to anything the mob wants them to do. Become slaves to the system.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not for me. I’ll need a better plan.”

  “I don’t have a plan for you. I can just break the system and let you make what you can out of the ensuing confusion. The power structure is going to change. Maybe you can help make that happen.”

  Luke looked up at Jason with a serious face. “Me? I’m not part of the power structure.”

  “Not the current one. But you could find a role in the next one. You’ve got the makings of a politician.”

  Luke smiled at him. “You think so?”