Youth Patrol

by Andrew Lueders

  The crowd applauds.

  I then see one of the hatches slide open. It’s time. I start up the Wasp; I’m about to move forward but someone steps right in front of me.

  I look up. It’s Taryn. What’s she doing? “Get out of the way!” She hurries over to the passenger side of the Wasp and pounds on the tinted window. I look over at Val’s shuttle and see the hatch slide shut. They must have seen Taryn too. I can’t get to them; they’re stuck. I don’t want any added attention so I open the Wasp’s door and Taryn sits down inside. I then remember Dirk’s L-Chip and snatch it from off the dashboard before she settles in. I don’t think she saw it.

  “Why are you ignoring me?” Taryn whines. “I’ve been calling you on your L-Chip all morning long. And don’t tell me you’re on L-Chip lockdown yet because I know you’re not.”

  I don’t say anything.

  She then places a small flat metallic oval device on the dashboard and turns it on. Where the hell did she get an L-Chip scrambler?

  “Look Dirk, I had a great time last night, but I’ve been thinking… a lot,” she sighs. “I don’t think we should go through with it. It was a dumb idea. I mean, I want to be lead singer and all, but murder, I don’t know. I’ll still have sex with you, but don’t kill Val, okay.

  I don’t respond. I’m actually stunned; Taryn wants to kill Val?

  “Why aren’t you answering me?” she demands. “Say something. Can’t you at least flip your visor up so I can see you?”

  She reaches for my helmet. I grab her wrist.

  “Don’t!” I growl.

  She looks at me suspiciously. She knows something isn’t quite right. “You’re not Dirk.” She tries to pull her arm back, but there’s no way I’m letting her go. She begins to panic. “Where’s Dirk?” she yells.

  I flip up my visor. The blood drains from her face.

  “Evan? What are you doing here?”

  “Murder?” I shout. “You’re going to kill Val because you want to be lead singer?”

  “No, that’s not true. Dirk and I were just talking; we were high. It was just talk. You don’t really think I’d kill Val, do you?”

  “I don’t know.” My grip tightens.

  “Ouch, you’re hurting me, Evan! Jesus Christ, we were just joking. You heard me say I didn’t want to go through with it. You can’t bust me for just talking.”

  I let go of her wrist. I catch her glancing down at the release switch to the door.

  “Don’t even think about it,” I say, gritting my teeth.

  “Okay Evan,” she says coolly, keeping her eyes glued on me. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “That’s good.”

  “What’d you do with Dirk, anyway?” she insinuates.

  “He’s um… He’s preoccupied.”

  “Preoccupied?” she says skeptically. “Preoccupied with what?”

  I don’t answer her; she knows I’m lying.

  “What are you doing here anyway, Evan? I heard you were in a coma.”

  “If I let you walk out of here, are you going to tell anyone you saw me?”

  “Am I not supposed to?”

  “Goddamn it Taryn, are you going tell anyone?”

  “No, no. Of course not.” Her answer is tentative; I don’t think she’s telling the truth.

  “I need to know for sure, Taryn. I need to know if you’re going stay quiet.”

  “And if I don’t?” she responds brazenly.

  “Don’t test me.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with you, Evan?” She then notices the uniform that I have on. Her eyes fall on my shoulders. She sees the service stripes and the bars of rank. “That’s not your uniform, is it? It’s Dirk’s. Why do you have Dirk’s uniform on? What are you up to? What did you do to Dirk?”

  My non-answer makes her tense. She lunges for the release switch to the door.

  I quickly subdue her and put her in a headlock. “Taryn, Taryn,” I say evenly. “Calm down, okay. I need you to calm down. I don’t want to kill you, I really don’t. Too many people have died already. Just hear me out, okay. If you hear me out, you’ll be the lead singer, all right.” I can feel her muscles relax within my arms. She isn’t struggling anymore, so I loosen my hold and she sits up. “Can I trust you, Taryn?” I ask her.

  She nods. “You can trust me, Evan, you can. So how do I become lead singer?”

  “So here it is Taryn, Val and I are escaping, we’re getting the hell out of Santa Verde. And if you play your cards right, Willenger will have no choice but to make you top dog. You’ll be the lead singer and you don’t have to kill anyone, all you have to do is say nothing.”

  She barely breathes; her expression is blank. “Where are you guys going?” she says in a way that makes me think she wants to come.

  “Just get out of the Wasp, Taryn, and you’ll be the Senator’s favorite. Just walk away.”

  Suddenly, a crackle comes through the transceiver on the dashboard. “Where the fuck is Taryn?” Jeremin’s voice comes blaring through the speakers. “Why isn’t her L-Chip on the radar?” I look out the tinted front windshield and see the Commander stomping around. “I swear to God! Why is it so fucking hard to get this convoy moving!”

  Taryn touches my hand. “Okay Evan, your secret’s safe with me. I won’t say a thing.”

  She grabs the scrambler, opens up the door and steps out. Jeremin sees her and becomes irate. “Do you mind getting your ass on the shuttle, Miss Storm?”

  “Sorry Jeremin,” Taryn says, acting all flirty. “We lost all track of time.”

  “Why wasn’t your L-Chip coming through on my visor?” he asks, looking at the Wasp. He then comes over to my side and knocks on the window. “Open the door, Turner!”

  Taryn comes running over and slips between Jeremin and the Wasp. “Don’t take it out on poor ‘ol Dirk. It’s my fault.” She then hands him the scrambler.

  “Where’d you get this?” he asks.

  She pauses; she’s trying to come up with a good lie. “Evan gave it to me,” she says quickly.

  “Evan? Why did he give it to you?”

  “Because he was cheating on Val with me, and he didn’t want everyone knowing about it.”

  “But that doesn’t explain why you’re using it with Dirk?”

  “Um, Well I wanted to have sex with Dirk, and I didn’t want everyone knowing about it, either.”

  “C’mon Taryn,” Jeremin laughs. “You and Dirk? I don’t think so.” He then bangs on the window again. “Open up Dirk!”

  She reaches out, touching his arm, gently caressing it. “Jeremin, Jeremin,” she says soothingly. “Please, don’t make it a big deal.”

  Jeremin softens. “So you and Dirk, huh?” he says with a smirk. “I didn’t know ugly guys were your thing.” He then looks at the tinted window thinking Dirk’s on the other side. “Alright Turner, you’re entitled to have some fun every once in awhile.”

  As Jeremin walks away, Taryn looks into the window one more time and places the palm of her hand on the glass. She then pulls it away and hurries off to the shuttle.

  I look over at the Town Square; Willenger is gone. The ceremony is over. Then, the override command starts my engine. The coordinates are set; we’re heading out. Val’s shuttle begins to move, and there’s no way I can get them out now. They’re trapped.

  CHAPTER 33

  The people cheer as we roll out of the Town Square and out onto the city streets. We drive through the gates of Santa Verde and hit the open road. The Drone Monster leads the way as we follow it to the highway.

  What am I going to do? I think to myself. According to the plan, Perry and Val are supposed to be in the Wasp with me right now. We were supposed to drive along with the convoy until the highway splits off. Then, I was supposed to send a text from Dirk’s visor to let Youth Patrol know I’m having engine trouble and that I’m doubling back to the Transportation Depot for repairs. On our way back, I’d pull off the highway somewhere and text Jeremin that I’m completely
broken down and that I’m waiting for the repair transport from Santa Verde to come and pick me up. The convoy would continue on its way, and I’d dump Dirk’s L-Chip on the side of the road. I’d get back on the highway and head for the mountains. It was a simple plan, but now, it’s all messed up. What am I going to do?

  We’ve been on the road for a few minutes now and we start to pass unauthorized vehicles driving along the highway. It’s not really illegal to drive on government roads, but it’s rather dangerous. The highways are filled with potholes, cracks and broken down overpasses. There are huge gaps in the road, and if you don’t have hovercraft capabilities like the government vehicles do, then it’s downright impossible to travel, and you’re taking your life in your own hands. It’s extremely risky. If someone crashes or breaks down, and doesn’t possess the proper classification for their vehicle, the government won’t send help. People have died out here. I used to think people were stupid to take their own cars when the shuttle buses are perfect modes of transportation, but now I’m beginning to understand why people would do it. The freedom to go anywhere and at anytime is quite empowering. It might even be worth dying for.

  Suddenly, Val’s shuttle begins to rock back and forth. It’s subtle, but I notice it nonetheless. Then, BOOM!!! There’s an explosion. The side of the shuttle is gone; it’s been blown away.

  “What was that?” someone yells over the transceiver.

  I override the autopilot and take the controls of the Wasp. I quickly drive up next to Val’s shuttle as it continues to speed down the highway. Even with a giant gapping hole in its side, the guidance system is still operational; the blast didn’t shut it down. I strain to look inside, but there’s too much smoke to see anything. Then, through the haze, Val appears, and then Perry comes stumbling into view. He’s hurt. Blood flows from a cut above his eye. Val helps him get to his feet. He then sees me and waves me over. I flip open the passenger door on the Wasp and get as close to the shuttle as I can. I notice in his hand, he’s holding a rifle; he must have used it to blow open the side of the shuttle. But where did he get it? From the driver? Did he kill the driver for his gun?

  Val inches her way to the edge of the shuttle. I hold the Wasp steady. She takes a breath and then goes for it. She leaps inside my car and lands on the seat next to me. “We’re still pregnant!” she cries out as she moves to the seat behind me.

  Then Perry jumps in. He pulls the door shut. “Keep driving, Evan,” he says decisively. “Don’t stop."

  “What’s happening, Dirk? Talk to me.” Jeremin’s voice comes through the transceiver’s speakers.

  Perry clicks it on, “Hey Jeremin, this is Perry. Valerie and I are fine. I think we’re under attack.”

  “Attack?” Jeremin shouts. “I’ve got nothing on the radar. We’re stopping the convoy!”

  Perry clicks off the transceiver and looks at me. “That’s it.”

  “What is?”

  “Our opportunity. When the convoy stops, we make a run for it.”

  “You want us to outrun the Patrol? That’s suicide!”

  “Just make sure you override the coordinates, and set all the controls to manual.”

  “And then what?” I ask.

  “Wait for my signal.”

  “All right, but tell me this, Perry, why the hell did you blow open the side of the shuttle? Wouldn’t it have been easier to use the emergency hatch?”

  “I would have, but then everyone would have seen Valerie and me sneak out. We needed a reason to leave the shuttle. I had to make it look like a terrorist attack. The explosion was the perfect cover for us to jump into your Wasp.”

  “Okay, I see your point.”

  The convoy begins to slow down and we eventually come to a complete stop. I set the controls to manual and override the coordinates. I now have complete control of the Wasp. The YP’s exit their vehicles and begin to look around; even Jeremin jumps down from The Beast. He then starts walking over to us.

  “Its now or never, Evan,” Perry says calmly. “It’s time to go.”

  I hit the accelerator and we’re off. We go barreling down the road at break neck speed, skimming across the potholed surface.

  “Dirk!” Jeremin’s voice shouts through the speakers. “What are you doing?”

  Of course we don’t answer him.

  “So what’s next, Perry?” I ask as I tighten my grip on the controls.

  He doesn’t say anything. He instead pulls out something from a compartment in his belt. It’s a remote control of some sort.

  “What’s that?” Val asks.

  “Plan B.” He pushes a button on the device. There’s another explosion.

  I look at the rearview monitor. “Oh my God!” I yell. The shuttle Val was riding in has thoroughly been destroyed. The blast has knocked over vehicles, killed YP’s; it’s carnage. Hopefully Jeremin was in the middle of it.

  “I had a feeling our plan wasn’t going to go as smoothly as I hoped,” Perry responds very methodically.

  “A feeling!” I exclaim. “A feeling?”

  “Yeah. I thought we might need a diversion. So I loaded up the shuttle with explosives last night.”

  Then the crackle of the speaker interrupts Perry. “Pick up the transceiver, Dirk!” Jeremin yells. “Get back here. There’s been an explosion!”

  “Shit, he still lives,” Perry says under his breath.

  We leave the transceiver unanswered and keep on driving down the road. Perry is fixated on the highway. He intently looks out the windshield, searching for something ahead of us. “That’s it!” he shouts, causing me to jump a little. He points to a sign. “South Lake Tahoe! That’s our road! Take it!”

  I adjust the steering, the tires lower and touch the asphalt; we change lanes. We’re now heading toward the mountains.

  “Dirk, come in Dirk, this is your commander. I order you to pick up.”

  “How long before they figure out that we had something to do with that back there?” Val asks.

  A warning alarm on the dashboard console goes off. I glance up at the review monitor again and see the Drone Monster coming up on us. “I guess not as long as we were hoping for,” I say. “Looks like Droney’s on our tail.”

  “Don’t worry about that, at least not yet,” Perry says, keeping his composure. “They’re not going to do anything while Val’s in the car. Willenger’s not going to risk harming her.”

  Then, from out of nowhere, a missile goes whizzing by, striking a broken down car parked 20 or 30 yards ahead of us. I swerve to avoid the blast.

  “You were saying?” I blurt out.

  “Stop ignoring me, Dirk!” Jeremin barks. “The next one… you won’t be so lucky!”

  “He’s bluffing,” Perry says. “Just keep driving, Evan.”

  “For how long? That Drone ain’t going away.”

  “Why don’t we just shoot it out of the sky?” Val chimes in.

  “We could try,” Perry answers. “But the avoidance mechanism on that Drone makes it almost impossible to hit.”

  “Then what are going to do?” I cry out.

  “We’re going to provoke it.” Perry picks up the transceiver and hands it to Val. “Tell them you’ve been kidnapped and that Dirk is going to kill you. Make it seem like you’re in danger. Beg Willenger to come and save you.”

  “What’s that gonna do?” she asks.

  “Just trust me.”

  She takes a deep breath and switches on the transceiver. “Oh my God, oh my God,” she shrieks. “Vinnie, Vinnie you’ve got to save me! He’s going to slit my throat! Oh God, no, no, noooo!” She then switches it off, cutting off her transmission. “How was that?” she says, smiling proudly.

  “That should do it,” Perry answers. “Oh and by the way, is everyone buckled in?” he adds.

  “Yeah, why?” I ask.

  “Just a feeling.”

  “Another feeling? Great.”

  Then, something hits the car. I look at the monitors. The Drone’s long metal tentac
les have penetrated the shell of the Wasp. It’s trying to pull us backward.

  “Is this what you were feeling?” I say.

  “Actually, it is,” he answers. “Why don’t you hit the brakes?”

  “What?”

  “You should really hit them now.”

  “Okay, if you say so.” I do it. The tires lower and make contact with the asphalt. The Wasp screeches to a stop as the Drone goes flying by, but since its tentacle is still tethered to us, it can’t go anywhere; it crashes to the ground. The force pulls us forward flipping us over several times. I’m expecting to see damage everywhere, but the Wasp is fine; it’s built for this kind of abuse. It holds up rather well, but the Drone is smashed to pieces. It’s totally demolished. Perry grabs Dirk’s rifle and jumps out of the Wasp. He initiates the laser function on the gun and starts to cut off the tentacle, but it’s taking way too much time. He finally breaks us free, but he doesn’t run back into the car right away. What’s he doing? He lowers the rifle and fires a few delayed detonator grenades right onto the Drone. They all stick to the metal cylinder. He then turns and hurries back to the Wasp and jumps inside.

  “You mind getting us back on the road again, Evan?”

  He doesn’t have to ask me twice. I switch it in gear and we speed away. We hear the various explosions going off.

  “Whooo hoooo!” Val exclaims. “We did it! We’re home free!”

  But another warning alarm sounds. I see eight blips on the radar coming after us. “You seeing that, Perry?”

  “Yes I do.”

  “What are they?” Val asks.

  “Probably Wasps,” Perry answers

  “Well they’re gaining on us. I can’t outrun them.”

  “You won’t be able to, Evan,” Perry says. “They’ve initiated the split sequence. They’re now lighter, faster. They’ll overtake us before we can get to the mountains.”

  “Then maybe we should do the same.” I reply. “It’ll make us faster.”

  “Just for one of us,” Perry clarifies. “The other half will be carrying two people.” He reaches for the transceiver and clicks it on. “Back off the Wasps, Jeremin. I swear if you get any closer I’ll cut her throat.”