Into the Apocalypse

by William Dunaway

  The one thing I had to get across to them is if we didn’t do this, in the near future we would have to make a frontal attack on their compound and if we did, some of us wouldn’t be coming back.

  I also had to remind them that we’d be attacking them while they were on a raid and having the full intentions of murdering Charlie and Martha, just to get some apples and their supplies.

  On Wednesday, though, we had quite the surprise. Amy, Jake’s wife, came running up to the house saying that she just received a call on the ham radio. It was Predator telling us that he’d be arriving at 10:00 a.m.

  Sure enough, at 9:59, we could hear a single chopper coming from the east. It was a single Blackhawk, obviously, Jim’s bird. But this wasn’t him stopping by after his wing had completed some mission. This was Jim and his crew by themselves, which meant this had to be something urgent, or at the least extremely important.

  When he landed, he had the pilot shut down the chopper, so I knew he would be staying for a little bit anyway. As soon as the door opened, he jumped out and ran towards a small group of us waiting on the edge of the garden area.

  “Well, this is a surprise,” I stated.

  He slightly grunted, “Well, I’m under orders. Can I talk to you, Kim and Brandy alone?”

  “Sure, come on in,” I yelled for Brandy to come with us and told everyone else to continue with their training.

  When we got inside, Kim asked Jim if he wanted some coffee, which he immediately agreed to. He took a sip then looked up at Brandy.

  “Well, apparently, your old man has quite a bit of pull. Through channels, which I don’t know from how high, our post commander received orders for me to fly out here and allow you to use the satellite phone for an unrestricted call. In other words, no time limit. You are to call your father.

  I take it that your father has connections with the military or what little government we have right now?”

  Brandy, with a surprised look on her face, responded, “Jim, I don’t know. He had lots of friends in government at the time, and I know he owned some companies with some military contracts, but I don’t know to what extent.”

  Jim chuckled, “Well, I’d say his connections were significant. Anyway, I have the number he wants you to call and, apparently, you can take your time.” He then took out his satellite phone and dialed the number and handed it to her.

  “Hello. This is Brandy Melrose, and I’m calling for William Melrose.” After a short pause, Brandy asked, “Dad? What’s going on?” she then started walking towards her room.

  As she left the room, Jim asked, “I take it that her dad is some high muckety-muck?”

  “Hell if I know, Jim. All I know about him is he was rich as hell as his father was the inventor or founder of some luggage company. All we know about them personally is they live in Kansas City and now they travel a lot.”

  “Well, he obviously knows someone that’s still alive and whoever that is, has some pull.”

  Kim asked, “Jim, what were you told?”

  “Very little…. I was called into the post commander’s office and was ordered to make contact with her and cooperate fully in allowing her to make this call.”

  Two or three times, we could hear Brandy raise her voice a bit, but we couldn’t make out what she was saying.

  Forty-three minutes later, Brandy came walking out, again with tears in her eyes. She walked up and handed Jim his phone and said,“Thank you,” very quickly then broke down a bit and finally said, “He’s making arrangements to fly out here and wants me to go with him. Jim, apparently, he’ll be flying into Whiteman. He says he will be here a week from Saturday.”

  We were all stunned a bit, and Jim commented, “Wow! Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

  “NO!. …..Yes…. If we were all going. I told him again that I wasn’t going unless we all got to.”

  “Brandy, we talked about this,” Kim responded.

  “Brandy, you need to go if you get the chance. You’ll be going back to a somewhat normal life.” I added.

  She then started saying, “I’m not going to abandon you guys….” when Jim’s phone rang.

  Jim hit a code and answered saying, “Colonel Range…… Yes, Sir. She’s right here.” and then handed Brandy the phone.

  “Hello…….. Dad, I told you……..What? Really?........ What about everyone else?” A long pause went by while Brandy just listened, then Brandy asked, “What about the supplies…… Well, we’ll see dad but ……. Ok, I’ll see you a week from Saturday. I love you.”

  With a happier look, but still with some frustration, she said, “ He says that he can take up to ten people, but they all have to have current passports. Also, we discussed on the earlier call that he’d bring supplies for everyone that has to stay, but it’d be a limited amount that he would be allowed to bring. Do you guys have a current passport?”

  I hesitated and then replied, “Brandy, all we have are Passport Cards for cruises and going into Mexico and Canada.”

  She started to cry, “See, how many are going to have a passport with them? This is such bullshit!”

  Kim gave her a hug, “Calm down. This will all work out. We’ll just have to see.”

  Jim spoke up, “Brandy, I barely know you, but I’ll say one thing then I have to go. If you have a chance to leave and have a halfway normal life, you need to take it. I know you don’t want to leave everyone, but I can tell you that things are going to hell all over the country and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.” He then cleared his throat, “Well listen; I have to get back to Whiteman. It sounds like I’m probably going to see you guys a week from Saturday at the latest. Brandy, again, if you can get out of here, do it.”

  I leaned down and whispered to Brandy, “Brandy, before you tell anyone any of this, I want to talk. So, keep it to yourself until I get back, ok?”

  She nodded her head, and I walked Jim out to his bird. As we were walking out, I told Jim that we had told her the same thing after she called her dad the first time.

  As Jim gave the signal to fire up his bird, he remarked, “Good luck. I know this is going to be hard for all of you.”

  “Oh, one last thing. Jana, the girl you rescued, told us that Pauley’s group is planning a raid on a neighbor friend of ours. We even know when, Sunday morning, so we’re going to have a big surprise waiting for them, all of them, except for Pauley himself.”

  He looked stunned momentarily and then smiled, “On your terms,… good! I’ll be calling you on the ham radio sometime Sunday evening to get a SITREP unless something comes up.” He stuck out his hand, “Be careful. I mean it and tell everyone to keep their heads down.”

  “We plan on it,” pointing at the training going on. “Oh, Jim, can you do me a favor? This is important.”

  “If I can. What do you need?”

  “Somehow, can you find out what the price of silver bullion is selling for in Australia?

  He looked at me with surprise, but then replied, “Sure. I’ll let you know Sunday when I call.”

  “Thanks, Jim”

  He smiled and ran to his bird and shortly it took off to the east.

  When I walked back in, I could tell that Kim and Brandy were having a heart to heart talk and her eyes were still full of tears.

  “Vince, I know you want me to go but how can I live with myself if I do? How can I be happy?”

  “Brandy, I know how you feel, I really do but how could we live with ourselves knowing you had a chance to leave and you didn’t take it?

  Remember what we talked about the other day? We just need to take this one step at a time.

  Now, your dad said he could take up to ten people, as long as they had valid passports, right?”

  “Yes but……..”

  “Ok then. We’ll call everyone together and see who has a passport. Don’t you want them to have a chance at a normal life?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “There you go, One step at a time.
Now, I’ll go have Mo and Mike get everyone together.”

  “Alright but that doesn’t mean I’m going.”

  “I understand. One step at a time,” and I walked out to the group.

  I watched the training for a few minutes. Red and Tag were putting them through the paces, and I could tell by what some of the individuals were practicing, the plan was coming together. I didn’t want to disturb them, but we needed to have a meeting.

  “They’re doing well.” Tag stated as he approached me.

  “Yeah, it looks like it. I hope you’re emphasizing that noise discipline and concealment is the priority.”

  He laughed, “Trust me, I’m sure they’re tired of hearing it.”

  “Well, you know as well as I do, they can’t hear it too much. I hate to disturb your training but get the main group together. We need to have a meeting. I want to restrict it to the main group right now, so have the others keep training or take a break.”

  “Will do.”

  I had everyone meet in the living room, including Jake, Ben, and Laura. Laura was still hurting, due to Blake’s death but I felt she needed to be included.

  When everyone came in, you could tell that Red and Tag were working them over. Even though an ambush consisted of a lot of hurry up and wait, it was crucial that they prepared mentally, as well as the physical training that Tag always insisted on.

  As everyone settled down, I asked, “How many of you have a current passport here with you?”

  You could tell they were surprised by the question, but finally, Mia raised her hand, followed by Laura, Santiago, Red, and Mike.

  “Mike, you have one?” I asked with a bit of surprise.

  “Yeah, remember when I went on the cruise with my army buddies? Even though I didn’t need it, I wasn’t for sure, so I went ahead and got one.”

  I could see a shocked and happy expression come over Brandy’s face.

  “Santiago, Laura, do you have them for your children also?”

  Laura replied, “Yes, we use to take a lot of trips off and on.”

  Santiago also acknowledged that the girls both had one.

  “Is that it? No one else has one here with them?”

  Everyone else shook their head no and then several started asking why and started talking among themselves.

  “Listen up. The reason Jim flew in today was to bring Brandy his satellite phone to call her father. He has made arrangements, I take it through the military, to fly here and he wants Brandy to leave with him, back to Australia. He stated that he could take a total of ten with them but only if they have current passports.

  For the rest of us, Brandy talked to him, and he’s bringing us some supplies. Just how much, I don’t know, but this is a chance for those of you that have passports to go back to a halfway normal life.”

  This statement stunned everyone as many had astonished expressions on their face. I could tell it was overwhelming and many didn’t know what to say.

  Finally, Brandy spoke up with reluctance, “I’ve already told Vince and Kim that I’m not sure I’m going but Wit, I told my dad to bring as many medical supplies as he could, including some IVs and some injectable antibiotics. He said that it’d be very hard to come up with, but he’d bring what he could.”

  This seemed to break everyone’s astonishment, and Mo looked at Brandy with a look of frustration and asked, “Brandy, are you nuts? You have a chance of going back to a relatively peaceful life, and I’m sure your parents need you, especially after hearing about….. You know, Carmen.”

  “Yes, Brandy. You have a chance for life. There is nothing for you to decide. You need to go.” Angela added with true compassion in her voice.

  Brandy got a flustered expression and started to react when Mike jumped into the conversation, “Brandy, you know how much I love you, and because of that, I’m telling you right now, you ARE going!”

  Again, she started to fire up when I proclaimed, “Well, Mike, I’m glad to hear you say that. But since you have a passport, you’re going with her.”

  “The hell I am! There is no way I’m leaving all of you here!”

  Brandy then fired up, “Oh, you say I have to go, but you’re saying you’re not going for the same reasons I have. That’s bullshit, Mike!”

  Both started arguing with each other when Kim spoke up, “Hey, hey now. Both of you, stop that. I want to say that we love all you guys as we are all family but all of you need to take advantage of this. Santiago, Laura, you both need to go for your children's sake.”

  “But how do we survive. I mean we’re talking about Australia. We’ll be going with no money, no place to stay. How do we survive?” Laura asked.

  “Laura, you’ll be going to a place where life is relatively normal. Just like the rest of the world, the economy is severely hurting but it’s a safe place and they speak English. Plus, I have something in mind that will help all of you.” I said, trying to reassure her.

  Brandy jumped in, “I’m sure my mom and dad will help anyone that goes. They won’t leave anyone stranded and alone.”

  I smiled, “That’s good, and I’m sure Brandy will make sure of that since she’s going to be there with you.”

  She got flustered again, but before she could speak, I continued, “Listen Brandy, Kim and I want to have a talk with you and Mike alone after we get done here. You can give us your arguments then. Really, we’d like to touch base with all of you with passports.”

  Everyone talked for another twenty minutes, and then the meeting broke up. I told everyone to take a little bit to talk among themselves but suggested that they didn’t talk in front of the others outside of our main group, because we didn’t need any problems or distractions created by this revelation.

  Mia asked if she could be the first to talk to us.

  When we called her in, the minute she walked in, she stated, “Before you two start on me, I want you to know that I’m not going.”

  “The hell you aren’t!”

  “No, I’m not, and I’ll tell you why. First of all, right now, all I have in my life is you two and Paul. Plus, my parents are going to be here in the states.” She looked me right in the eyes, “Vince, you can say what you want, but I’m NOT going. Just accept that fact!”

  Kim immediately spoke up, “Mia, this is a chance for a normal life.”

  “What kind of normal life would that be? You guys are a part of my life. If this is the tribulation, things are going to go to hell in Australia also, so what does going there do? Buy a short amount of time before things go to hell? Now, let’s say things get better, how am I going to see my parents again if I’m there?”

  I could’ve come up with several reasons for her to go, but I could see in her facial expression, that there was no changing her mind. I could’ve forced the issue, but she did have a valid point about seeing her parents. I honestly didn’t believe that things were going to get better but who knows for sure.

  I looked at her, and while trying to hide a smile, I asked, “Are you sure?”

  She smiled sweetly and gave me a kiss on the cheek, as she could see right through me, she knew I wasn’t going to fight her on it.

  “Yes, Vince, I’m sure.”

  “If you change your mind though, you’ll let us know, right?” Kim asked.

  “Of course…., but I won’t.” She then looked at me again and asked, “Can I get back to training now?”

  I chuckled “Sure. I know how hard headed you are.” Then with a laugh, I said, “Get out of here.”

  She stood up, leaned over and gave both of us a kiss on the cheek and said, “Thank you.”

  Next, we called in Red. When he walked in he had a blank look on his face and didn’t say a word.

  “Well, Red, it looks as though you’ll be with your family very soon. We’re so happy for you.”

  He sat there quietly for several moments, then stated sadly, “Vince, you know I wouldn’t be leaving if it wasn’t for my family.”

  “You don’t need
to say that, Red. I’d kick your ass if you said you weren’t going.”

  Kim added, “Red, you don’t need to feel bad at all. Your family needs you.”

  “To be honest, we didn’t even need to ask you. There was no doubt in our mind you’d be going.”

  “It’s still hard you guys. I feel like I’m betraying everyone to a certain degree. You know what I’m saying.”

  “Yeah, I know, but you don’t have a choice in the matter. You have to go to your family.” I paused and said with a chuckle, “but until then, you have a job to get these people trained. Now go do your job. You know we’ll talk later.”

  He looked at both of us, “Thanks for understanding. I…….”

  I started to tear up a bit, then pleaded “Will you just get the hell out of here?”

  He stood and shook my hand, then grabbed me with a hug, then gave Kim a hug and turned and walked out.

  “I’m going to miss that SOB,” I said while wiping my eyes.

  “Yeah, this is tougher than I thought and we’re not even saying goodbye yet,” Kim replied with tears of her own.

  We then talked to Laura, who was sad and scared the entire conversation. Her biggest request was she wanted to go to Blake’s grave and say goodbye. I told her we would, just as soon as we handled this little problem with Pauley’s group.

  When we talked to Santiago, he also felt he had to explain that he wouldn’t be leaving if it wasn’t for the girls. We assured him that we completely understood and also thanked him for everything he had done since arriving. He insisted that he needed to thank us.

  Finally, it was Mike and Brandy. I knew this was going to be a problem, but there was no doubt in our minds that both of them were going. As far as we were concerned, they didn’t have a choice. Kim and I had both discussed this, and we knew what we were going to say.

  When they walked in, I proclaimed, “Before you two say a word, we want you to listen. Mike, you want Brandy to go, don’t you?”