by R. P. Wolff
They had shot the driver in both shoulders, and he was bleeding profusely.
Captain White yelled, “Where is the Mother?”
“She’s dead,” the guy grunted.
“Bullshit! Tell me where the Mother is?”
“I’m telling you; she’s fucking dead.”
Captain White nodded for one of his men to exert more pain. Two of his men simultaneously pressed their boots on their prisoner’s shoulders.
“Aaaah!” The prisoner screamed. “Stop it, stop,” he pleaded.
“I’m only going to ask you one more time,” Captain White said. “Where is the Mother?”
Before the prisoner could respond, one of the dead men’s cell phone rang. White, using hand gestures, instructed one of his men to tape the prisoner’s mouth.
Captain White answered the phone, “yeah.”
“Did you get the men?” the male voice asked.
“No, it looks like it was a false alarm,” Captain White responded.
“Are you sure? I thought you said you saw some men parachuting in?”
“No, I was mistaken.”
“Well, good. I need you to get your ass to the University Park area. We have a suspect that we think is going to lead us to the Mother. I will text you when we have the exact location but get into the area.”
“Will do, sir.”
The man hesitated. Apparently, something White said made the man suspicious.
“Oh,” the man said, “I almost forgot … Mater?”
Shit, thought Captain White. It was a code word that required an immediate response that he had no way of knowing. Instead of guessing, he just hung up hoping that the person on the other line would think he didn’t hear them.
Captain White spoke to his men, “Shit, they have a code word starting with the word ‘Mater.’” Captain White ripped the tape off the prisoner. “What’s the response to the code word ‘Mater,’” White frantically yelled at the prisoner.
The cellphone rang again, no doubt the same man calling back to get White’s response to the code word. White slammed his boot on the guy’s right shoulder. “What’s the code response?”
The prisoner screamed in pain and squinted at Captain White and said, “Fuck you.”
The cellphone was now on its third ring. White contemplated whether to answer. Maybe the phrase ‘fuck you’ might be the code response but probably not.
White gritted his teeth, “Is ‘fuck you’ the code word?”
“Yes.”
White didn’t believe him. He didn’t answer the phone. Instead, he pulled out his pistol and pressed it against the prisoner’s forehead. “What’s the code response?”
The prisoner stared back at White with a blank stare. An expression that Captain White was all too familiar with. The expression of someone that knew that they were soon to die.
The prisoner sighed and repeated, “Fuck you, motherfucker.”
White shot him.
White nodded to his driver and said, “Let’s get to the University Park neighborhood. Our Mother is in the area.”
Chapter 47
Zelda, Colin, and her remaining two guards sat near the front window of the house across the street from their previous hideout. Two long agonizing days had gone by since she escaped from the attacks of her temporary headquarters. She had gone from getting ready to trap and capture Lance Hampton to being a person on the run.
She learned that she was on Purdue Street. Sheri suggested that they go to the house directly across the street because the family that lived there were loyal Mater followers. Sheri was right because the man of the house almost fainted when he saw Zelda. He immediately dropped to his knees and bowed to Zelda.
“I thought you were dead, my Mother,” he said.
Zelda put her hand gently on the teary-eyed man, “No, I’m alive. These infidels are going to pay for their lies.”
His wife and two kids followed their dad’s lead by also kneeling, bowing, and crying with tears of joy that their great Mother was still alive.
Zelda explained to them that she needed to hide in their house until the military was able to rescue her. She also demanded that the family hide in their master bedroom while Zelda and her men scoped out the house across the street. The family willingly obeyed.
Zelda, Colin, and her guards stared through a small opening in the wooden plantation shutters. They had been studying the other house for over two hours with no sign of the other guard’s return. Zelda was encouraged to hear the unmistaken sounds of fighter jets and even some vibrations of bombs in the distance. Zelda hoped that the Mater military would soon retake Dallas.
Zelda worried that the other guard wouldn’t return, and maybe he even turned himself in to fight with the infidels. She couldn’t trust anyone anymore. Every day that went by without Maters seeing her was another day of other people in her administration trying to take over the government. Who knew if even this guard was leading the resistance to her? This was why going to this other house across the street was a brilliant idea. Now, all they had to do was wait—and hope that the guard didn’t double cross her, get captured, or get killed.
She shuddered at the thought of any of these scenarios. She just realized that her only hope was in the hands of a lowly guard on the loose. And she also realized that he probably hadn’t double crossed her because he was able to infiltrate the radio station and broadcast her message, which she figured hundreds if not thousands would have heard. Maters knew she was alive and would spread the word, she hoped.
She sighed and said to the group, “Where the hell is he? He should have been back by now.”
Colin replied, “I know. Maybe he’s hiding out and waiting until there is clearance for him to come here.”
“Ahh, what if he doesn’t come back?” Zelda asked.
Colin glanced up to the ceiling. “If he doesn’t come back, then we keep hiding, and maybe move around a little bit. Maybe go to different houses because the less people who know where we are, the better.”
“Yeah, but then how are they supposed to rescue us if they don’t know where we are?”
“Well, if this guard doesn’t come back soon, then our only hope is for the Mater military to take over Dallas and, most importantly, reactivate our cellular and television signals. Once the cellular signals are back up, all you have to do is just call in our location.”
“Yes, that’s right. We just hang low until our wonderful and powerful military does its job.” Zelda paused and pondered Colin’s suggestion of moving around. She didn’t like it. The people in both houses were devoted Maters. They wouldn’t tell the resistance of their location.
Zelda said, “Yes, you’re right. Even if the guard doesn’t come back, we just wait for our military to save us. I have no doubt that our military will be no match for this hodgepodge resistance forces. They’re disorganized.”
“Yeah,” Colin replied, “now that I think of it, maybe it’s not such a good idea to wait for this guard. Even if he was able to alert another one of our bases to fight back, he might lead the resistance forces to us.”
“That’s true, but he doesn’t know we’re across the street. I say we hang tight in this house.”
Just as she said that the white SUV parked outside the house across the street, and the person slowly exited the car heading for the house, looking in all directions to make sure no one was observing him.
“There he is,” Colin said.
◆◆◆
It was a cloudy morning, and Lance, General Cook, and their entourage were on the move as the Mater in the white SUV started moving. The drones zeroed in on him. An army of Establishment vehicles were surrounding the Mater at a distance.
Lance couldn’t wait to confront the evil Zelda. He wanted to kill her for what she had done to his family.
It was great to hear his wife’s lovely voice. He missed her so much. He just wanted to go back to normal life before the Maters started to infiltrate themselves into society.
<
br /> The voice on the General’s speakerphone was informing everyone in the car of the Mater’s route.
“Okay, he’s turning down … Purdue Street,” the voice said. “The thirty-seventh hundred block of Purdue Street. He … um … is stopping … it looks like … um 3713 or 3715. He hasn’t gotten out of the car yet.” The person paused.
Lance held his breath. This sounded hopeful.
“Yes, he’s slowly getting out of the car,” the voice continued. “He’s looking around suspiciously. He’s dressed in the all-white Mater uniform. He’s our guy. What should we do?”
The General replied, “Okay, this is very crucial. We need to set up a perimeter right away, a one-mile radius. No one gets out on foot or by car. We need to inspect every single vehicle. Anyone who is not branded, should be taken as prisoners.”
The other person inside the car urgently waved at General Cook pointing to his cellphone.
The General said, “Hold on a second. I’m getting word on something here.” The person handed the cellphone to the General and he listened intensively. General Cook’s eyes opened wide. He turned towards his speakerphone. “Okay, apparently, one of our LUV’s has been hijacked. They didn’t know the code word. In fact, let’s make sure you know the code word. Maters.”
“Assholes, of course,” the voice said.
“Okay, you’re good.” The General sighed. “So there is a LUV roaming around. Somehow, the Maters may have some ground forces out there. This is bothersome. We must be careful. Everyone must know the passcode. Let’s make sure that everyone in a LUV knows the passcode but check all vehicles and make sure no other vehicles can hear the passcode. The last thing we need is for the Mater spies to hear the passcode response.”
“Sure thing,” said the voice.
The General continued, “Anyone who is armed that doesn’t know the passcode, kill them immediately. They are Maters.”
Lance had an obvious idea that he couldn’t believe anyone had thought of. Lance spoke, “Hey guys, don’t the LUVs have numbers stenciled on them?”
General Cook’s head popped up. “Oh the Gods. You’re right. Why didn’t I think of that?” The General pointed at the other person in the car. “Pete, find out the number of the LUV that was hijacked and notify everyone individually. Don’t do anymore group text messages because the infiltrators probably have the cellphones.”
The General turned his gaze to the speakerphone. “What’s the Mater guy doing now?” he asked.
“He’s going to the house. It is … 3713. He’s knocking on the door. He didn’t just walk in, so he doesn’t live there. Okay, they let him in quickly. What should we do, General?”
“Let’s kill her,” Lance barked.
“Oh, we’re going to kill her,” The General replied. “Okay, once the perimeter is secured, we go in right away.”
◆◆◆
Zelda anxiously observed the Mater guard enter the house across the street. She wondered how long they should wait before they tried to signal the guy to meet up with them.
“Okay, he’s in there,” Colin said. “Let’s see what happens.”
After a few minutes, Zelda said, “He must know by now that we’re across the street. Sheri must have told him by now. Besides, he knows we’re not there.”
“Let’s see if he signals us in any way.”
Zelda was not liking the situation. She was now thinking it might be a good idea to leave the neighborhood, find another safe house, and wait it out until the Mater military, which was surely leading a counterattack, rescued her.
Zelda spoke, “You know, Colin, I don’t like the feeling of this. I’ve changed my mind. I think we should get out of here, now.”
Colin sighed. “Let’s hang tight for a little while. If someone followed him, we should be seeing a resistance army here shortly.”
Just as the words left his mouth, ten to fifteen resistance forces dressed in army fatigues, started their quiet, but quick, advance to the house across the street.
“Oh shit,” Colin whispered. “Holy, fuck.” He glanced down the street. LUVs on both sides closed in. More soldiers sprinted towards the house. Now there were about twenty to thirty foot soldiers.
“Oh the Gods,” Zelda said. “Can we get out the back?”
Colin ignored her while he was accessing the scene.
“Colin,” Zelda yelled. “I think we need to get out of here. Sheri is going to tell them where we are.”
Colin exhaled. “You’re right. We have to get out now in the back before they find out, which they surely will.” Colin stood up. “Let’s get our weapons and get the hell out of here.”
Before they left, they saw that they advancing troops threw flashbang grenades through the windows at the house across the street and were barging their way through the front door as if the door offered no resistance. Zelda realized that they only had a few minutes to get out of there.
They rushed to the garage, which was in the back of the house. Colin instructed the two guards to go outside the garage door and scope out the area. If it was clear, they were supposed to knock gently on the garage door three times. Colin and Zelda got in the SUV and rolled down the windows, so they could hear the knock. Fortunately, Colin had backed the SUV into the garage, so now all they had to do was drive forward down the alley.
Chapter 48
Captain White and his men, driving the LUV, felt like they were closing in on the area where the Mother might be. The voice over the phone had said they thought the Mother was in the University Park area, which Captain White learned was not that large of an area. A short while after the call, they saw other LUVs and other vehicles with the Christian cross spray painted on the hood heading in the same direction. He followed them as if he were one of them.
Then, a LUV was behind them and sped up to their side. Captain White thought about attacking them but held off his command to his team. He needed to blend in. The other vehicle pulled close and someone in the LUV shouted to him, but Captain White couldn’t hear him. The guy repeated himself and shouted, “Mater?”
The code word, Captain White recognized, but he didn’t know the response. He had to think quick, and he had a great idea. He would pretend that he didn’t hear the guy, after all the engines were loud, and he would ask the other car to acknowledge the passcode, in effect giving him the proper response.
Captain White put both of his hands over his mouth with a funnel and shouted, “Mater?”
The guy in the vehicle hesitated, squinted his eyes, and didn’t fall for Captain White’s trap. Instead, the guy repeated, “Mater?”
Captain White smiled, something he did before he killed people by surprise to keep them at ease. He saw that there was an SUV and another infidel vehicle ahead but no one behind them. If they attacked the LUV to their side, the vehicles in front would notice and then they would have to battle with them, which he though his expert and experienced team could do.
“Mater?” the guy repeated and yelled, but this time the passengers started grabbing their weapons, readying for an attack.
Captain White gave the nod, and his men simultaneously shot their weapons and killed the passengers immediately before they could even point their rifles at Captain White’s team. Any chance of the other vehicles not noticing the attack were dismissed as the gunned down LUV sped up and almost crashed into the LUV in front of them.
The infidel vehicles screeched to a stop. Captain White’s driver slammed on the brakes but not fast enough before it crashed into the other LUV. Captain White’s men started firing upon the infidels, who were exiting their vehicles and firing upon Captain White’s team.
Before Captain White took cover, he noticed that these were the only two vehicles on the road, so if they could overtake them, they might have a chance to get to the Mother.
Both sides fired at close range, about ten to fifteen yards away, which was different than what Captain White’s team were used to. Captain White wanted to order his men to charge at the me
n, but the infidels would probably shoot up his men. One of the infidels sprinted away from the group, so now there were only six men versus Captain White’s six men, an even scenario with ordinary troops but not with his well-trained men. Captain White had the advantage, but the guy leaving worried Captain White. He was probably rounding up reinforcements.
Just as he had these thoughts, he heard a disturbing sound of vehicles behind him. He peeked and saw an LUV. “Damn,” he shouted to his men. “We’re fucking surrounded.” He hand-signaled to three of his men to keep attacking the initial battle and the other three to attack the oncoming new LUV. But the oncoming LUV engaged its massive machine gun on them. One of Captain White’s guys instinctively headed towards their own LUV machine gun only to have bullets rip threw him. His only hope was to exit the LUV, charge at the soldiers in front of him and try to break free. He gave them the all-out signal.
As they jumped off the LUV, they were all gunned down except Captain White, who miraculously dodged the bullets. It was over. He shot his hands up in the air, and yelled, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”
He closed his eyes and expected his life to end.
Chapter 49
Lance was pissed. He wanted to be on the team that advanced on the house that the Mater guy led them to. He wanted to be the one to confront the evil Mother. Instead, he and General Cook oversaw the perimeter, but they got real-time updates.
The voice on the speakerphone said, “They’ve entered the house. … There’s gunshots.” There was a paused. “The gunshots have stopped.”
“Is the Mother there?” General Cook asked anxiously.
“I don’t know. Hang on.”
They waited for what seemed like a long time.
