by Logan Jacobs
“A wife and two daughters,” Hepplewaite assured her.
“I know what you’re going to ask,” I cut in, “but they took the keys to the car, and none of us are really familiar with Peterborough.”
“You can take my minivan,” Hepplewaite offered. “It’s still in the employee lot since I carpooled to Coates. I swear, it’s not that far.”
“We’ll be driving all over bloody Britain looking for family members before we make it out of here,” Becka grumbled.
“It does seem unfair that we brought all those other families inside,” Hae-won sighed.
“Just one more,” Hepplewaite begged. “They really are the closest. Everyone else is too distant, and I don’t think anyone will expect you to find them.”
“Would you let us hang onto the keys and the minivan until we leave?” I asked. “And maybe take the minivan if we don’t get our bikes back?”
Hepplewaite looked like a stranded fish for a few moments as he opened and closed his mouth without saying anything, but he finally nodded.
“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “We’d rather take the bikes. The minivan will only be a last resort. We have to get north by any means necessary.”
“Here,” he replied as he handed over the keys for a Toyota.
“What is your address?” Hae-won asked as she pulled out her phone.
“Ah, here, I’ll enter it, and I’ll show you the best route,” he said.
“I don’t know why everyone keeps talking about the best route,” I mused. “It’s not like there are traffic jams right now.”
Hae-won and Hepplewaite chuckled as they looked over the map that popped up on her phone. He traced out a route, and then a backup route, and advised us to avoid the roundabout by the theater at all costs. Hae-won nodded along, and then she repeated the route back to him just to make sure she had it correct. It sounded quite simple, and I sincerely hoped that we could do this and be back before Walston even knew we were gone.
“I’ll try calling my wife,” Hepplewaite. “I’ll tell her to be ready to leave as soon as you arrive.”
“Do you have something we can show her?” I asked. “Just so she’ll know you sent us, in case you can’t reach her on the phone.”
“Um,” he paused. “I could write a note.”
“That will do,” I agreed.
“I left my clipboard over there,” he muttered as he wandered back toward the pipe.
He disappeared for a moment, though we could hear him banging around among the pipes. He returned a moment later with a clipboard in his hand, and after staring at the top sheet of paper for several moments, he flipped to the last sheet and started to jot down a note. The handwriting was cramped and tiny, and even when he handed me the sheet and I could really look at it, I thought I’d need a magnifying glass to read it.
“Will your wife be able to read this?” I asked.
“Oh, yes,” the engineer assured me. “She’s quite used to my writing.”
“We should go now,” Hae-won said. “While we still have plenty of light and no one else knows what we’re doing.”
“What if Walston gave the men at the gate orders not to let us leave?” Becka asked.
“Then we’ll find another way out of here,” I said. “But for now, we’ll try the straightforward approach and just drive away. We’ll tell the guards that Walston has us running another errand.”
“And if they refuse?” Becka pressed. “Or he calls Walston?”
“Then we’ll say we were…” I said and then paused as I tried to come up with a reason we would want to leave the security of the power plant.
“Going to the cathedral,” Hepplewaite suggested. “It’s quite lovely, and I understand it’s still open.”
“Er,” I hesitated.
“We need more condoms,” Hae-won said with her usual deadpan expression that I loved.
I felt myself start to blush, and Hepplewaite looked like he was about to faint from surprise.
“That will do,” Becka said with a grin. “No one will press for more details if you say that.”
“Yes, well,” the engineer muttered. “Right.”
“So off to the employee parking lot,” Hae-won said. “And I want to drive this time.”
The Korean girl snatched the keys from my hand and strode away so quickly that her waist-length hair streamed behind her. In her glinting armor and with the rifle slung over her shoulder, she looked like a miniature warrior heading off to battle.
“My daughters love Mulan,” Hepplewaite noted as he watched the Korean march off.
“She was Chinese,” Becka pointed out.
“Yes, but I can promise you, when they see your friend there, they will probably insist on calling her Mulan,” he said.
“We can discuss cultural sensitivities when we get back,” I said as I trotted after Hae-won. “Right now, we’re likely to get left behind if we don’t catch up to our warrior-princess.”
Hae-won was already standing by a dark blue minivan by the time Becka and I reached her. The Korean had the driver’s door and the sliding door open and was studying the console with approval when we joined her.
“All the latest,” she said. “We can listen to our playlists over a very nice sound system. And there’s headphones for the video screens so the kids can watch whatever they want to watch. I like my motorbike, but this will be acceptable to take if they won’t give us our bikes back.”
“I wonder if they have any good movies in the queue,” I mused as I stepped up into the van and took a seat in the very comfortable chair after I moved a stuffed pony to the floor.
“We do have a mission,” Becka pointed out.
“No reason we can’t be comfy while we’re doing it,” I replied. “Especially after some of the rides we’ve had.”
“We should go,” Hae-won said. “Some of the soldiers are starting to look at us.”
Hae-won climbed into the driver’s seat while Becka walked around the van to claim the passenger seat. The minivan was so quiet when Hae-won turned the key that the only way I knew we were ready to go was that all of the electronics came to life. A children’s song started to play through the speakers, and the small screen in front of me asked if I wanted to continue from the last scene. A gentle flow of air wafted through the cabin while the GPS system announced it was seeking a connection.
The blue-eyed Korean played around with some of the controls, and soon the happy chorus of children singing about five currant buns was replaced with male voices singing and almost rapping about a super clap and a lot of Korean that I didn’t understand. We backed out of the spot and drove toward the guard post, under the curious stares of the soldiers who stood nearby. The soldier with the close cropped hair was still on duty, and he cast a skeptical eye over the minivan as we drew up to the gate. Hae-won rolled down her window and flashed her best smile at the man, but he remained unmoved.
“And what do you think you’re doing now?” the soldier demanded.
“Making a supply run,” Hae-won said.
“Is that so?” the soldier snapped. “Why would we need to rely on the likes of you for our supplies?”
Hae-won managed to keep smiling though I saw a grimace cross Becka’s face as she turned to look at the soldier.
“Oh, these are supplies we need,” Hae-won said airily.
“And you think you can just drive off and find these supplies?” the guard asked.
This was starting to take too long, and word would soon leak back to Walston that we were driving away in a minivan. That alone would make him suspicious and put a quick end to our rescue operation, but I shouldn’t have doubted the girls.
“We need condoms,” Hae-won stated as she gestured back at me. “We like to have sex with our boyfriend many times each day.”
“Uhhh…” the guard glanced at me and cleared his throat. Then his eyes darted between Hae-won and Becka like a frantic ping pong ball.
“And some douches!” Becka laughed. “O
h, and tampons, of course. For that special time of month. Is there anything you need?”
The soldier backed away from the minivan like it had suddenly caught on fire and retreated into the shack. The arm went up and Hae-won drove through with a wave to the soldiers.
“Good thing there weren’t any women manning the gates,” I noted.
“She probably would have asked us to pick up a box or two for her,” Becka laughed. “Okay, so where do we go next.”
“We’re just going to the other side of the parkway,” Hae-won said. “To the Eastfield Road. We’re looking for the post office at the corner of Padholme Road.”
I tried to keep an eye out for dinos as we crossed the parkway and entered a less industrial part of the town, but between the beckoning movie screen and the very smooth ride, it was hard to worry about giant lizards. I fussed around with the video player and found Wonder Woman to watch while Becka and Hae-won started to sing along with the Korean boy band. Despite the cars left by the roadside, the occasional pile of debris, and even the remains of a smallish dino, it was one of the nicest drives we’d had since the whole dinosaur invasion had started.
“There’s the post office,” Becka called out.
“Okay, we turn here,” Hae-won said. “Past the post office to Saxon Road.”
We followed Saxon Road to Norman Road, and then to a street without a street sign. Hae-won drove nearly to the end before she slowed down and started to check house numbers. She stopped in front of a red brick home with a large bay window and a yard full of daisies and poppies. It was also missing one entire side, and we had a clear view of the interior of the house, from the destroyed sofa to the claw marks in the green wall paper.
“This doesn’t look good,” Becka murmured.
“Maybe we should have waited to see if he could reach his wife,” Hae-won replied.
“They could still be inside,” I said as I pulled the side door open. “We should check.”
Armed with our Glocks and rifles, we stepped out from the minivan into the street. I looked at some of the other nearby homes and saw more signs of a dinosaur attack, including a toppled tree, a hole in a roof, and a humongous pile of poop between two houses.
“It stinks out here,” Becka noted as she wrinkled her nose.
“I think the dino excrement is probably to blame,” I said.
“Ah, geez,” Becka groaned.
“It’s amazing we haven’t run into that more often,” Hae-won noted as she adjusted her chest rig.
“Come on,” I said. “The sooner we check the house, the sooner we can get out of here.”
We walked up to the front door and politely knocked using the heavy lion’s head door knocker. We waited a moment, but no one answered, and I didn’t see any signs of anyone moving around inside. I was abou to suggest we use the dino created hole, when a woman opened the front door of the next house on the street and stepped outside.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“We’re from the power station,” I called back. “Eugene Hepplewaite sent us to find his family.”
The woman considered that for a moment, and then she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“You’re a yank,” she said. “Are you out looting?”
“No, ma’am,” I replied. “We helped Mr. Hepplewaite get back to the power station earlier today, and he asked us to check on his family.”
“You’re saying Gene is alive?” the woman asked.
Before I could respond, a second woman appeared behind the first one. The first one was thin with a horsey face and a vaguely fifties style hairdo. The new arrival was only an inch or two taller than Hae-won and sported shoulder length brown hair and long, heavy bangs that nearly concealed her round face.
“My Gene is alive?” the second woman asked with a note of excitement.
“Are you Mrs. Hepplewaite?” I asked. “Gene asked us to find you and the girls and bring you back to the station. The army is there so it’s safer than staying here.”
“I can’t believe he’s alive!” the woman with the bangs declared. “I haven’t heard from him since he left that morning.”
“They had a few problems in Coates,” I said. “But we were able to bring everyone back.”
“You, personally?” the horsey woman asked skeptically.
“Yes, us,” Becka replied.
“It was very difficult,” Hae-won added. “But everyone is back at the station.”
“I don’t know about this,” the horsey woman warned. “This all sounds too good to be true.”
“What possible reason would we have for lying about this?” Becka asked.
“Oh, I can just imagine,” the horsey woman said. “You’ll tell her that you’ll take her to her husband, and then when she’s in the minivan, you’ll threaten to kill her if she doesn’t hand over all her money and valuables. No doubt you’ll leave her body by the side of the road somewhere while you drive off in Eugene’s pride and joy. Did you kill him as well?”
“I gather he wasn’t able to reach you on the cell phone,” I sighed. “He was going to try to call you before we arrived, but service has been spotty.”
“I’m afraid my phone was destroyed,” Mrs. Hepplewaite said apologetically.
“Here,” I said as I reached into my pocket. “Eugene gave us this just in case he didn’t reach you by phone.”
I walked slowly across the yard to the house next door. Mrs. Hepplewaite was vibrating with excitement, but the neighbor kept her effectively pinned behind her. I stopped two feet away from the pair and held out the note. Mrs. Hepplewaite started to reach for it, but the neighbor slapped her hand away and took the note herself.
The neighbor read the note, and it was obvious that she recognized Eugene’s handwriting. She still looked defiant, but she passed the note to Mrs. Hepplewaite, who grasped it like she was grabbing onto a lifeline. Mrs. Hepplewaite read the note several times, before she looked up at me with the giddy excitement of a schoolgirl waiting to meet her favorite idol.
“He is alive,” Mrs. Hepplewaite proclaimed.
“He is,” I said. “Though he had a tough time of it in Coates. He would have come himself, but they really needed him at the station. And, well…”
“We have the guns,” Hae-won added from behind me.
“I just need to get the girls packed,” Mrs. Hepplewaite said. “And you’ll need to pack for the boys.”
“No, no, no,” Becka said quickly. “We just came for you and the girls.”
“You can’t expect me to just leave Livvy here,” Mrs. Hepplewaite said in an offended tone. “Not after she took us in and shared her food with us.”
“The man in charge of the station right now isn’t that happy about having family members there,” I said. “I really don’t think he’ll allow neighbors to move in as well.”
“It’s all right,” Livvy said. “We’ll be fine here. You should go with them and be reunited with your husband. At least one of us will have that opportunity.”
“Oh, not without you,” Mrs. Hepplewaite insisted. “I refuse. And you’re just as good as family. You’re like a sister to me.”
“We can’t,” I said.
“We’ll tell them she’s my sister and the boys are my nephews,” Mrs. Hepplewaite continued.
“That won’t count,” Becka replied.
“Jason,” Hae-won said. “We should get moving soon. We weren’t supposed to be gone this long.”
“Mrs. Hepplewaite,” I tried again. “If you would just round up your girls, we could take you to the power station to be with your husband.”
“You said families, and Livvy is family,” the round-faced woman insisted.
I would have been fine with leaving the whole lot behind and letting Eugene sort it out by phone, but two young girls burst out from the house at that moment and ran straight toward Hae-won.
“Mulan!” they both cried out happily as they each latched onto a leg.
“Oh, dear,” Mrs.
Hepplewaite fretted. “Girls, please, let the nice young woman go.”
“Here’s the problem,” I said. “If we take you all there and the brigadier in charge decides not to let you in, you’ll have to figure out a way to get back.”
“If he’s an honorable man, he’ll let us all in,” Mrs. Hepplewaite said as she finally pushed past her neighbor so she could retrieve the girls.
“He’s a soldier who needs to keep his troops fed and armed while they do everything they can to protect the power station,” I said. “Saving families is a low priority for him, and he was barely willing to let the other families inside.”
“We’re all going,” Mrs. Hepplewaite insisted. “Girls, go pack your bags. Now, please.”
The girls finally released Hae-won and ran back into the house. Mrs. Hepplewaite followed more slowly, and she stopped next to her friend and slowly turned to face us.
“We’re all going,” the round-faced woman said. “Or none of us.”
“Then hurry it up,” Becka said. “And get into the minivan. We’ve been out here too long as it is. And if the brigadier kicks you out at the station, I’m not driving you back out here.”
Becka looked and sounded tough, and I’m sure the two fellow Brits believed her. Livvy paled, though she managed to raise her chin, and Mrs. Hepplewaite’s hands fluttered for a moment in front of her face.
“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” the neighbor declared. “It can’t be any worse than the dangers we’ve seen around here.”
“Go, go, go,” Hae-won urged.
The two women retreated into the home while I and my two companions kept an eye on the street. A smaller version of the Pterodactyl that had taken up residence on the dome of the library circled briefly overhead, but a shot from my rifle scared it away. Time dragged by, and we could hear something large slowly drawing closer. I motioned the girls back toward the minivan in case we had to leave quickly, and Hae-won had even taken her spot in the driver’s seat when the families emerged from the house.
The Hepplewaite clan consisted of the wife, the daughters, a guinea pig, a cat, and an oversized teddy bear. The neighbors were the mom, three boys, a dog, and a parakeet. Throw in the luggage they carried as well, and I had no idea how we were going to fit everything inside the van.