by Dalton Wolf
In the end, Calvin wisely chose to take both the Hedgehog and Paddy Wagon. It had worked out for them so far and everyone was comfortable with the arrangements. Gus and Scaggs weren’t happy about being left behind for the final mission, but the doctor insisted that they were to remain in bed. In the face of their incessant begging, however, he was forced to compromise, agreeing that the least they could do was operate the nail guns atop the engine as long as they experienced no lingering effects from their beating. Following this latest encounter, with actual civilians like themselves, and with one fight already under their belts, all parents were now armed, armored and ready for action. Saul had pointed out, rather belatedly, that perhaps if the parents had shown themselves to the crowd things might have gone differently, seeing as how they were all middle-aged ‘normal’ people.
Calvin steadfastly refused to allow the parents to tag along on missions or be allowed to become vulnerable in any manner, however. In his lone concession, for the sake and sanity of those stuck on the train, he allowed Felicia and Joel to wear chest cameras so the others could follow the mission on their monitors as if they were sitting back in a mission briefing room. They would be able to keep tabs through the communication system and could come to the aid of the main group if something too drastic occurred.
Twenty tension-filled minutes later, during which the alert group did little but watch leaf-stripped trees and equally empty fields pass innocently by, the train reached the intersection safely. The friends and family unloaded in near professional fashion. This was likely due to the fact that everyone took their cues from the soldiers. As soon as the train stopped in the center of the intersection thirty feet from the field through which the tracks passed, Captain Batmouche’ began shouting orders and all but Calvin set to with energetic abandon. Saul, Mr. Grissom, Ed McClintock and Mo manned the turrets. GI Jane and Gimp Bate were sent to provide additional cover from a group of trees lining the highway. Within two minutes both vehicles were backing out of the huge car.
Calvin once again rode in the passenger seat of the Hedgehog, Felicia next to him behind the wheel; everyone seemed more comfortable with her driving. The doctor and his precious case sat behind Calvin. Boomer and Lucy ran the turrets. When the vehicles had pulled into the center of the merging highways, the flaming-haired captain ordered her people into the back with Trip. The two privates, having remained just long enough to dig out comfortable sitting positions, slouched morosely back to the others. Quinn was once again driving his precious Paddy Wagon with Athena riding shotgun and Sarah in a jump seat behind them.
The tiny, well-armed caravan cruised quickly down highway 24 into the seemingly deserted college town entirely unchecked, occasionally noting heads popping out a door here, several curious people peeking through a window there. None of the town inhabitants showed their faces until the vehicles neared Kimball Avenue, the last turn before their destination. Once again a crowd blocked their way. Lacking noticeable weapons, however, this mob seemed much more peaceable, entirely populated with students wearing dirty, mud-stained jeans and grimy sweaters, some in blue K-State rain gear to keep out the damp midday drizzle. Instead of rifles, each held a sign that read; ‘Free the Uninfected!” and “Let us Out!” or “Tear down that wall!” or “We’re not sick, you fucking Prick!” and one bearded man in grubby jeans and a tie-dye shirt sat under a tree waving a sign that read “Legalize It/420,” even though they had, in fact, already done so. The others waved their signs in as threatening a manner as one who is holding flat plastic and cardboard could wave at two approaching vehicles that were armed with machine guns. At the approach of the Hedgehog, those sitting off to the sides stood and stepped into the street while the rest closed ranks behind them to block the roadway.
“How did they know where we’re going?” Boomer grumbled in disgust. “How the hell does everyone know where we’re going?”
“Politicians are involved,” Calvin explained. “The press probably knows what is going to happen before the orders are actually given.”
“But the government said they’ve blocked all of the signals,” Boomer spat.
“You can’t stop the signal, Man,” Tripper explained. “Everything goes somewhere.”
“Nice,” Boomer replied dryly. “Thanks Mr. Universe.”
“Seriously, though. You’ve still got satellite phones,” Tripper argued. “And they can’t block all of the radio waves. Plus the County Sheriffs and State Troopers have radios. Not to mention many old-fashioned ways of communicating. People are prepared for shit like this, man. Damn Government can’t keep us all down.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” Sarah cautioned. “These people might have been here the entire time waiting, knowing someone was going to have to come here eventually,” she suggested hesitantly, not believing her own story. She had realized they had yet another problem to worry about—how would they make it south to Hobbes Castle if everyone knew they were coming?
“I think they’re normal protestors and this outbreak just fits what they already had to say,” Athena stated casually, putting their minds at ease, if only slightly.
“Hi there,” Calvin called over the PA. “Beautiful day…could you please move?”
Instead of separating, the bodies moved closer together, forming a tighter line to blockade the road and sidewalks on either side.
“Ha ha. Funny. I meant out of our way. Please move or we will be forced to shoot you with many painful projectiles,” Calvin said, and then explained exactly what was about to happen for anyone paying attention. “It will hurt, but you will most likely not die and you will be forced to live in pain for a long time with inadequate medical treatment.”
Several of the less devoted protesters quickly stepped back off the street and away from the sidewalks, but bravely and energetically waved the signs to make up for their obvious lack of stupidity. The rest of the demonstrators, the hardliners, began to call the discretionary few names and some even sent obscene gestures their way. But the minority that had stepped aside knew a mismatch and imminent ass-whipping when it saw one, and had recognized just such an event rapidly approaching its clueless brethren.
“I’m gonna kick some serious ass when we get out of this,” Boomer promised.
“Get ready on the turrets,” Calvin ordered with a resigned sigh.
“They’re real people, Calvin,” Lucy complained. “I don’t want to shoot any more real people. Just run them over,” she suggested ardently, but her aim remained steady on the group of students blocking their way.
“Sure, that’s merciful,” Boomer snorted. “Let’s break their legs and crush other body parts and leave them to the mercy of what looks like is gonna be a good-sized thunderstorm instead of sending them out of here with a few minor puncture wounds.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Calvin said over the PA, pausing again to give anyone having second thoughts adequate time to step aside. “Look, we are just people like you and we’re on the most important mission in the country right now. We’re trying to save every one of you and don’t have time for delays.”
Only a young man and two women, all wearing K-State sweaters, ran over to the iron fence to stand out of the way with the others. “Ok, fire,” Calvin muttered angrily.
“Really?” Lucy asked. “Can’t we do something else?”
“You’re just shooting them with nails,” Tripper reminded her. “Hit them with a few darts each in the extremities. The options are to shoot them with guns or crippling them with vehicular assault. I think they’ll be very appreciative when they look back on it, maybe even count it as a life lesson one day.”
“Good point,” Lucy smiled. “I’m saving lives,” she grinned and started firing into the legs of the crowd.
Signs fell immediately to the ground as screams and yells erupted from the assemblage that could be heard quite clearly inside the approaching vehicles. The pair of gunners concentrated on the more active members and aimed at the fleshier parts of th
eir anatomy, the thick of the thighs, shoulders, right side of the chest and shoulder, the parts they felt would be least likely to kill. Soon all of the activists were far less preoccupied with holding their signs and chanting and instead much more intent on hobbling out of the path of the approaching vehicles. Many, however, moved bravely with middle fingers raised on one hand while the other clutched a cluster of nails protruding from flesh. A few had to be helped from the street by those who had opted out of this violent encounter and the two vehicles slowed to give them time to remove their friends, before casually rolling past and giving the students little more thought.
“Nice job Lucy, Boomer,” Calvin commended the pair of gunners as they rolled safely between two groups of limping college students who should have been thankful they were still alive, but still managed to shout more obscenities as they passed. Lucy did slam one more grouping of nails into the leg of a tall blonde man who used a particularly crude expletive to describe her and the others shut up.
There were more protesters milling around the fences of the medical facility, but the guards were keeping them clear of the black iron gates, which rolled open as they approached allowing both vehicles to continue through, unhindered. The doctor pointed over Calvin’s shoulder to a spot away from the main building and Felicia pulled over parallel to the curb, parking across three clearly marked parking spaces. Everyone had already said their goodbyes in case Dr. MacGreggor needed to leave in a hurry so now that the final moment was upon them, he simply stepped out of the vehicle and stood looking with a passive mask at the group in the Hedgehog.
“Later, Doc,” Calvin said.
“Good luck to you all,” the doctor replied with a nod and turned away. But he didn’t walk towards the large, fenced-in building surrounded by razor-wire and armed guards, as everyone had expected. Instead, with a skip in his step, he sauntered down a short sidewalk to a small brick shack that was easily dismissed as a tool shed. Deftly punching some numbers into a box beside the door, it swung open with ease. Turning with a flourish of his white lab coat, he stepped through the door and into the darkness beyond, the friends watching in wonder as his form slowly sank into the earth as he descended a set of stairs until the door shut, blocking their view.
“Huh,” Calvin stated firmly.
“I did not see that coming,” Athena agreed.
“Fucking government!” Tripper spat. “Can’t do anything straight up. Always have to mind-fuck everyone.”
“Pretty cool, though, wasn’t it?” Felicia asked.
“Heads up,” Lucy reported. “Coming out of the main building. Military.”
A powerfully built, six-foot Native American full-bird Colonel strode purposefully towards them through a light drizzle falling from an ever darkening sky.
“Should I shoot him?” Lucy asked.
“Easy, Lucy,” Tripper cautioned her. “I don’t think he’s making a bayonet charge on our foxholes. We’re already inside their first perimeter. Oh, and they’re on our side.”
“Well, what the hell? He’s not using an umbrella—that’s not normal. And…well, I mean no one’s ever just walked up to us before.”
“Good point.” Tripper conceded. “Maybe he ain’t right in the head.”
“Mr. Hobbes?” the colonel asked, stopping a neutral distance away in respect to the perimeter clearly enforced by the turrets on the vehicles.
“Yes?” Calvin asked, stepping from the Hedgehog and walking around to stand before the man, his armor instantly beginning to drip from the increasing rain.
“Sir, I am Colonel Matthews. We have been informed that all tracks heading south have been destroyed or blocked.”
“What? Who did that?” Tripper hopped from the back of the Hedgehog and stalked up to stand beside them.
“Trip Grissom,” Calvin informed the colonel, who nodded politely, if a bit stiffly.
“I don’t know. Some say we did it. Others are saying the civilians are trying to make sure you can’t get to the fortress you were heading for.”
“How could they know about that?” Captain Batmouche’ approached with the sergeant in tow. Both saluted the colonel, who returned their salutes and then promptly ignored their presence, addressing every response to Calvin.
“There is money flying around outside that wall like it rains from the sky,” the man informed them, a note of disgust clear in his deep voice. “There are reporters from all over the world crawling around every piece of Mother Earth they can find out there. It’s become something like a ring city with everyone coming from everywhere in trailers to volunteer to stand civilian watch on the wall with the National Guard and militias. Can you believe it? We’ve got honest to fucking god official state militias again,” he explained. “Not National Guard, but authorized Civil Militia with guns marching off the goddamned perimeter in four states, all of them ready to shoot any who try and go over or through that wall. And people putting up tents to sell stuff to all of those people.”
“Don’t they know if this thing breaches they’ll be the first to go?” Calvin asked.
“It’s free enterprise,” the colonel explained with a shrug. “This is America. Hell, I don’t know why half of you civilians do what you do,” he explained.
“You a lifer?” Calvin asked.
“Since I was seventeen and twelve months,” the man nodded.
“Thank you for your service,” nearly everyone said at once.
“No one ever said that to us,” the captain muttered over the headset.
“That’s because you showed up being a major pain in the ass, Captain,” Felicia whispered from the driver’s seat. “But thank you,” she added.
“So why are people trying to keep us from going to ground?” Tripper asked.
“You’re news now. People think you have answers. They’re going to either try and stop you or help you, but either way they’re going to try to get you. If they can do you a favor, you’ll owe them. Best way is to quickly build you a bridge that ‘somebody’ has destroyed, or more likely to charge you a toll.”
“But we don’t need train bridges,” Calvin explained to the colonel.
“Oh…I didn’t know that, and it’s probably not common knowledge yet, but it likely soon will be. They’ll block everything they can, believe me.”
“So what the hell are we supposed to do now?” Tripper complained.
“I am instructed to inform you that we have a facility prepared for you and your people approximately ten miles west, just outside Ogden Kansas.”
“How’s that possible?” Calvin asked.
“To be honest, it was the initial hope of my superiors that we could talk you into heading there so we could debrief all of you before letting you go home. They had a smaller area set aside for you to stay for a few hours. However, when we heard about the southern cities and the ones back to the east being blocked off one-by-one, we expanded the camp on this side of the wall. It is large enough for you and all of your people and has medical facilities and more modules and other resources will be dropped over the wall daily. This will be an ongoing project…”
“But?” Calvin asked.
“But what?” the colonel asked.
“There’s always a but,” said Calvin simply.
“But you have to follow the rules.”
“And those are?”
“To follow base protocols to the best of your ability. You’re going to be on the outskirts of Ft. Riley, and should treat the area with the respect an army base requires.”
“No way. We love you guys,” Tripper informed the colonel boldly. “But we’re going to have El Supremo blazing all night long, man,” Tripper informed the colonel.
The colonel looked confused.
“He’s saying many of us will be partaking in activities of questionable legality,” Felicia added.
The officer still seemed perplexed.
“We’ll be smoking marijuana, Colonel,” Calvin clarified. “And if you all have any problem with that, we ca
n find another place to go. And we will get there no matter who is blocking our path.”
The colonel sighed. “I regret to say it, but that was anticipated. I’m informed that little infraction will be overlooked for your stay in the facility, mainly because it will be legal soon anyway.”
“And they’ll put that in our list of supplies?” Tripper asked energetically.
“I’ll see what we can do. I am told your needs are being given top priority.”
“The other rules?” Calvin asked.
“No trying to get over or through the wall.”
“Of course.”
“They will want to keep you under observation, take periodic blood samples.”
Calvin nodded.
“You will remain until they feel they have all of the information they need.”
“Unless we feel they’ve kept us far past the time needed,” Calvin countered.
“You’ll be free to leave the facility any time you wish, Mr. Hobbes,” the colonel informed him stiffly. “It will be the honor system on both ends.”
“I think we can live with all of that, Colonel,” Calvin informed the man.
“In that case, let me extend the thanks of a nation to you and your friends for your help retrieving the doctor and package. Captain Batmouche’, you and your team are to remain with Mr. Hobbes to ensure they make their ultimate destination safely, no matter what that destination is.”
“You mean if they turn south, we stay with them?”
The colonel nodded brusquely. “But if they go to the base, you will be informed there of your duties. And my congratulations on the success of your mission, despite your…unorthodox tactics.”