by A. American
Tapping a few keys, Andy combined all the monitors on the wall into one large view. It was an image from one of the thermal cameras. It clearly showed the rioters’ positions, marked by large white spots of bonfires. The camera scanned the crowd that was, for the moment at least, rather calm. There were many small fires with groups gathered around them. There was almost a festival air to the scene of people gathered around and socializing.
The camera panned up the street. This is what Andy wanted everyone to see. On either side of the street, close to the faces of the businesses lining either side were lines of soldiers. Even in the fuzzy view of the thermal camera, it was obvious they were in full battle rattle.
Bob leaned back against the wall. “Oh, this is about to get real interesting.”
“What are they going to do?” Christy asked.
“Whatever it is, it ain’t going to be good.”
Teague rose and pointed at the monitor. “Now you’re about to see why they’ve cut all the communications. Shit’s about to get real.”
The bank sat at the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont in Buckhead. From that location, they could see the surrounding financial district, as well as the full length of either road. Just to the southeast across Peachtree was a large subdivision, Peachtree Park. Atlanta is one of those rare cities where suburbia reaches right into urban districts. High-rises sit in close proximity to homes, grocery stores and gas stations.
While the riots focused on the financial district, it was inevitable that it would spill out into the surrounding area. Many of the local businesses had already been looted and several of them burned. And many of the homes in Peachtree Park were looted, and some burned as well.
It was through the scorched businesses on Peachtree Rd that the troops approached from the southwest. As they closed in on the first line of the rioters, the soldiers seemed to fade away. They disappeared into the many buildings along the street. Some would reappear on the rooftops, taking up positions to cover the final assault.
“What are they doing? Where’d they all go?” Christy asked.
Teague sucked his teeth and lowered himself into a chair. “You might as well sit down. They’re going to wait. I imagine it will be after two AM before they make their move.”
“Why so late?” Andy asked.
“Because people sleep the hardest at that hour. It’s the witching hour for violence.”
Gene mopped his mustache with a napkin. Leaning back, he patted his stomach. “I guess we’ll see what’s going to happen in a few hours. I’m going to see what else I can hear on the ether.”
Christy looked at Daniel. “I’m tired. Can we go sleep for a while?”
“I think everyone should get some rest,” Bob said.
Gene was staring intently at the radio as he worked the dial. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
Daniel stood up and took Christy’s hand. “Come on, I’ve got a place we can crash for a while.”
Bob pulled a handheld radio from a multiple-radio charger. “Here, take this with you. I’ll call you if anything starts to happen.”
“Thanks,” Daniel said as he took the radio. Then he headed to the door with Christy in tow.
Christy leaned against the wall beside the elevator and ran her hands through her hair. “I’m so tired. What are we going to do? We’re stuck down here.”
The elevator dinged and they stepped in. “For now, we’ll wait. There’s nothing else we can do. But I need a little sleep.”
Daniel took her down to the room Bob had showed him earlier. The bed was a little small, but they would fit if they spooned, and that was fine with him. He lay on the bed with his face in Christy’s hair. It smelled incredible and relaxed him some. His mind was reeling from the day’s events. After a while, Christy seemed to sense it.
“You asleep?” She asked.
“No.”
She reached back and ran her hand over his leg. “You alright?”
Daniel thought for a moment. “I can’t stop thinking about the man I shot.”
“On the roof?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if I did, but I must have. It’s kind of strange. I can see the shooting in my mind but I don’t know if I killed him or not.”
“I can’t believe this is going on. I mean, there was a shooting and no cops came. What are we going to do? If the police can’t get here, how are we going to get out?”
Daniel let out a sigh. Shaking his head, he replied. “I don’t know. Things are getting out of hand. Maybe we should go to Texas. Maybe Teague has a good idea to go out there.”
Christy sat up on her elbow. “You want to leave Atlanta? What’s in Texas? Do you know anyone out there? Where would we go?”
He patted her leg. “I don’t know what to do, babe. I’m just thinking.”
Christy lay back down and draped her arm over him. “Let’s see what’s happening in the morning.”
Chapter 6
Daniel was looking for the next handhold. He reached back and chalked his hand as he surveyed the rock face. The breeze picked up and he looked back over his shoulder. The wind felt good on his face. Turning back to the rock face, he reached for the small bulge in the rock and his foot slipped.
Daniel! Daniel, you there?
He bolted upright in the bed, scaring Christy. She sat up, rubbing her face. “What’s wrong? What is it?”
Daniel picked up the radio. “Yeah, I’m here.” And he rubbed his eyes. He was sweating from the dream and felt disoriented.
Come back up, the show is about to start.
“On our way.” he replied. Looking at Christy, he said, “You coming, or do you want to sleep?”
She jumped from the bed. “Oh, I’m coming.”
Back in the security office, Bob was sitting in a swivel chair looking at the monitor. Once again, Andy combined the screens into one large view. Bob alternated between sipping coffee and smoking a cigarette. As Daniel and Christy came in, he saluted them with the cup.
“Perfect timing. Looks like they’re about to kick this thing off.”
Teague was sitting in a chair with his chin on his chest, asleep. Daniel looked around and asked. “Where’s Gene?”
“He went down to get some sleep.”
Daniel looked at the monitor. “What’s going on?”
Bob motioned at the screen with his cup. “They’re moving now. Let’s see how they handle these guys.”
Christy went to Bob’s office for a cup of coffee. This was easier said than done. While there was coffee, a cup was another issue all together. She tried several cups, one or two of which made her physically ill at the sight. She went back out to where everyone else was and found the cup she had used when they ate earlier and took it back.
After fixing her cup, she came out and offered Daniel a sip as she sat down beside him. Daniel took it, swilling down a large gulp. Smiling, he thanked her and turned his attention to the monitor.
Andy pointed at the screen. “The guys on the roof are moving.”
Daniel looked at the time in the corner of the screen and it showed 2:20.
Teague sat up and stretched, his face turning red as he did. “I told you it would be around 2:30 or 3:00.”
They watched as several men on the rooftops moved into their final positions, what certainly looked like firing positions. At the same time, the men on the ground began moving up Peachtree Rd. The protestors were oblivious and there was no movement inside their position. The men on the street stopped advancing, taking up positions behind cars and against buildings.
They watched in silence. There were no microphones for the cameras. As it was early and still dark, it was like watching an old black and white movie. They could see the flashes and streamers of smoke racing towards the protestors’ positions. While
they couldn’t see the other side of the rioter’s position, they could see additional smoke canisters arcing in from the other side of Peachtree, and there were many.
As the smoke landed, the troops moved in. These weren’t normal riot control troops. There were no bump helmets with visors, batons and plastic shields. These people were in full battle rattle as they began to run towards the rioters’ position. They’d piled up all manner of obstacles, but they weren’t very effective. As the troops swarmed in on foot, armored vehicles rounded the corner, spotlights blazing. They drove straight into the barricades, easily breaching them.
Christy held her hand to her mouth as she watched people being gunned down in the road. “Oh my God. They’re killing them.”
“Those ain’t rubber bullets,” Teague said.
Pointing at the monitor, Daniel said, “They’re handcuffing some of them.”
“They might be better off being shot right here,” Teague said.
The group watched for over an hour as people were marched out, their hands cuffed and chained at the waist, leg irons restricting their ability to walk. The men on the ground were dragging bodies out and placing them in body bags, which were quickly loaded onto trucks and hauled away.
“They’re not leaving any evidence,” Bob said.
Teague wagged a finger at the monitor. “They’re not leaving anyone behind.”
Christy looked at Daniel. “Where are they taking them?”
“Nowhere good.” Bob replied.
“How can they do this? I mean, those people weren’t doing anything,” Christy said.
Teague stood up. “There’s a dusk to dawn curfew. They were on the street, so in the eyes of the government, they are criminals.”
“But we have rights. How can they do this?”
Teague looked at Christy and shook his head. “Shit. You’ve only got the rights they allow you to have. The government has a monopoly on murder.”
About an hour and a half after it all started, it was over. The trucks were gone and not a single person could be seen on the street below.
“Looks like they wanted them gone before the sun came up,” Daniel said.
Teague stretched again. “No bodies, no crime. I’m going to get some sleep somewhere.” He left the office to find a place to grab a couple hours sleep.
Daniel rubbed his temples. “I’m tired too. I’m going back downstairs.” Looking at Christy, he asked, “You coming?” She nodded and followed him out of the office.
Daniel woke up when Christy got out of the bed. She looked over her shoulder. “I have to pee.”
Daniel sat up and looked at his watch. “What time is it?” They were in the basement of the building with no natural light coming in, so he had no idea if it was day or night. “Holy shit. It’s like nine in the morning!”
Christy came out of the bathroom. “Good, we needed the sleep. Let’s go up and see what’s going on.”
“Yeah, let’s get some coffee too.”
They went up to the café for some coffee. It had to be better than the swill Bob made in his office. At the café, they had to figure out how to get the big machine working. But between the two of them, they’d ordered enough cups and watched them being made that they muddled through it. It wasn’t long before the wonderful aroma of coffee filled the café.
While the coffee brewed, Daniel went in the back and found something for them to eat. He came out with a couple of croissants and egg salad. Christy was sitting at a table cradling a cup of coffee, another sitting on the table for Daniel. He set a plate down in front of her and pulled up a chair.
“Ooh, I love egg salad,” Christy said as she picked up her sandwich.
Daniel picked up his cup. “I need this.”
As they talked, Teague showed up. He looked like a toddler that just woke up from a nap. His hair was a mess and he had a red line on the side of his face. He bobbled up and looked at Christy, then Daniel. Then he looked at the sandwich lying in front of Daniel. Reaching out, he mashed a finger into Daniel’s croissant. “You gonna eat that?”
Daniel slapped his hand away. “Yes, get off it, dick.”
Teague smiled and headed for the coffee maker. He returned with a cup of coffee and the tub with the remainder of the egg salad. Taking a seat, he dug into the egg salad with a spoon. After shoveling a couple of spoonsfulls into his mouth, he looked at Daniel and asked, “What’s going on outside?”
Daniel shrugged as he took a sip of coffee. “No idea. We haven’t been upstairs yet.”
“Where did you sleep?” Christy asked.
Teague worked his neck. “On, I found a couch in some office. It sucked. Hard.”
Holding her coffee under her nose, Christy said, “You should have come down to the little rooms. The beds are pretty comfortable.”
Daniel stuffed the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth and stood up. “I’m ready to go up and see what’s going on. You guys coming?”
“Yeah. I’m curious to see what’s happening,” Christy said as she got up.
Teague waved them off. “You guys go on. I’m going to find something else to eat. I’ll be up in a bit.”
Bob was sitting in Andy’s chair when they got up to the office. Naturally, there was a coffee cup in front of him and another cup full of ashes. Bob looked up and smiled as they came in.
“You guys get some decent sleep?”
“We did.” Daniel replied. “What’s going on up here?”
Bob pointed at the monitors. “See for yourself.”
They looked at the big screen. It was focused on the area of the assault the previous night. There were no people in the frame. Several small wisps of smoke rose from various places, but there were no more fires.
“Everyone’s gone,” Christy said.
Reaching for the camera controller, Bob added. “From there at least.” He pulled up another view. Farther down Piedmont, they could see a large crowd gathered, a very large crowd. “Looks like they are grouping up into bigger crowds, maybe to try and defend themselves from what happened last night.”
“What’s the rest of the area look like?” Daniel asked.
Bob pulled up the camera on the roof and swung it around. As the camera passed the 400 expressway, Daniel yelled. “Stop!” Bob stopped the camera and Daniel pointed at the monitor. “Look at all the cars on the expressway.”
Bob nodded. “Looks like people are trying to get the hell out of town.”
“I think we should soon as well.” Daniel replied.
The camera started to move again, turning to the southeast. “There’s been a lot of helicopter activity over at the dome in downtown Atlanta,” Bob said.
As the top of the dome came into view, all they could see, even with the maximum zoom on the camera, was a Blackhawk helicopter dropping below the roof line.
“Is that the military?” Christy asked.
Bob nodded. “Yeah. They’ve been flying in all morning. Plus, I’ve seen several other choppers flying around too. State police, sheriff’s department and some with no markings, but they have to be feds.”
“I really believe we need to start thinking about getting the hell out of here,” Daniel said.
Bob let out a sigh and reached into his shirt pocket for his cigarette pack. It was empty. He shook it with exasperation, crumpled it and threw it across the room. Getting up, he walked back into his office and took a carton out of the freezer of the small fridge. There were two other cartons there. Bob didn’t like running out of smokes. Taking a pack out, he tossed the carton on his desk and went back out to join Daniel and Christy.
Bob lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. Blowing out the smoke, he said, “I’m waiting on Gene. I asked him to check the fuel levels of the generators.”
Daniel
stood up. “While you wait on him, I’m going out to the parking garage. I need some air.”
Christy jumped up. “I’ll come with you.”
They went to the top of the garage. The morning was clear and warm, but not yet too hot. Daniel leaned over the edge of the parapet wall and looked down. The fire hose they had used the day before was still there. Christy came up beside him.
“What are you thinking about, babe?” She asked.
“It just seems like the world is coming apart and we don’t have any idea what the hell is going on. No phones, no internet, no news. Nothing.”
“I know. It’s scary. I want to leave but I don’t know where to go.”
Daniel hung his head. “I know. Without info, we don’t know what’s safe and what’s not.”
Christy took his hand. “Let’s go back and see what Gene says.”
Gene and Teague were there when they got back to the office. But the look on everyone’s face told them the news wasn’t good. “What’s the word?” Daniel asked.
“There’s enough fuel for maybe another eight hours.” Gene replied.
Daniel was surprised. “So we’ll run out of fuel today.”
“Without a doubt.” Bob replied.
“So what do we do?” Christy asked.
Teague grunted. “Get the fuck out of Dodge.”
“I agree,” Bob said. “With the curfew in place, we need to get on the road early.” He pointed at the monitor that was now showing the 400 once again, and said, “There’s plenty of people moving around out there. We need to take advantage of it and get the hell out of here.”
“To where?” Daniel asked.
“Texas!” Teague shouted.
“Where in Texas? You know anyone there?” Daniel asked.
“I’ve got a friend in Nacogdoches,” Gene said.
Daniel was shaking his head. When Teague had previously said Texas, he hadn’t really thought much about it. But now that it was actually being discussed, he couldn’t believe it. “You realize Texas is like six hundred miles from here, right?”