Baxter’s War

by A. L. Roberts

  Robert needed a sly way to warn Moraine, or jumble the electronic signature in the Damascus Chips so the dogs worked at figuring out what new threat unfolded before them.

  Robert knew he owed Moraine. Many died from his experimental weapon unleashed on the unsuspecting population. The earthquake resulted in a big problem, the dogs became the horrible cherry on top.

  Robert sent the warning, but added extra numbers and words to scramble the transmission.

  He gazed around at the soldiers eating and sleeping. Others stood guard. Three helicopters sat close, and Grisby huddled inside a tent with other officers.

  Robert hoped he confused Black and White with the altered message, giving Moraine time to work her dangerous magic.

  62

  Gladys looked at her watch as the sun settled beyond a field covered with golden wheat. She spent the last few hours hurrying amongst the youngsters, conducting busy work to hide her intentions. After the refugees offered several bags of dog food, both her and Akiko organized the provisions for the children to haul.

  She paused a moment, toweling sweat off her forehead as the main army marched out. A large contingent of German shepherds remained behind, ensuring no one escaped or tried to save the kids.

  Gladys got the job done with Akiko’s help. The girl stayed sullen, and a few times she caught tears in Akiko’s eyes. Gladys came close to consoling her, but fear kept her at bay. Akiko might turn and sic the dogs on her out of spite.

  Gladys hated Akiko at first, her gloating smile as White rubbed his hairy balls on her twisted locks. The thought flashed the scene within her mind. She forced the vision away as anger flared.

  When she discovered Erik’s cellphone hidden in the diaper bag, she almost screamed with joy. The sense of excitement trembled her body. Once she activated the phone, hoping for a signal, a satisfying low peep erupted.

  Gladys hunkered besides a Bucky Brown, glancing Casey being fed by a ten-year-old girl. She focused on the cellphone and sent the messages. After gaining Moraine’s confidence, she gave her detailed plans for her and Casey’s escape.

  Afterwards Gladys opened Casey's bag, removing the bottles and plastic Ziplocs swollen with pills. She poured thousands of pills into an empty MRE pouch. She needed to chat with Moraine over her incredible pill collection, too many and measuring at suicidal strengths.

  Gladys disguised her actions while munching on an MRE brownie. She pulverized the bagged pills beneath her heel until they became a fine powder.

  She wanted an opportunity to dump the medication into their food or drink and put the four-legged vermin to sleep. With her task complete she hid the MRE package in her blouse.

  The baggage train set off after an hour of repacking and eating. For half a day they hiked over soft dirt, a blessing to her calloused feet and aching knees.

  By late afternoon they reached the Canine camp. The children, except for the tiniest ones, built campfires for the dogs while another team loaded bowls with dog food.

  Gladys busied herself with organizing the food and water. To her surprise, and through the god of good timing, the dogs camped near a well and horse trough.

  Akiko walked up to Gladys and pointed. “Fill that water thing.”

  Gladys lowered her eyes, nodded in obedience and left to conduct her duty. By then the sky bruised purple and stars burst across the heavens. A bright moon hung over the masses, throwing the world in a weak silver glow.

  She climbed a slight rise to the water pump, grabbed the handle and jacked. Water gushed from the spout, filling the metal trough to the rim.

  Gladys hummed a calm tune as German shepherds strolled the camp keeping the peace. Akiko performed heavier chores along with the older teens.

  Gladys grinned and pulled the brown MRE bag from hiding. She dumped the potent mixture into the water. All eight to sixteen hundred milligram strength of pain and sleeping medicine combined, perhaps tripling its original potency. All dissolved in an instant.

  “Aunty Gladys, what you doing?”

  Gladys’s heart experienced a dull twinge. She spun, confronted by a six-year-old girl with a dirty face and big green eyes. She held a yellow cup in hand, prepared to scoop water.

  “Oh, sweetie pie. Auntie Gladys just adding sugar for the doggies. And they love sugar in their water.”

  The girl smiled. “Can I drink?”

  Gladys eased her face to the child’s. A light aroma of piss and poo hovered around her tiny frame and Gladys fought the urge to clean her. “No, the dogs will get mad. And you don’t want the dogs to be angry do you?”

  She shook her head. “No, Auntie Gladys.”

  Gladys turned and finished emptying the crushed pills. She folded and slid the useless MRE bag underneath the trough.

  “Tell them the water is ready, baby.” Gladys straightened herself as the child dipped a cup into the tainted liquid and returned to the dogs. Soon, fifty children lined up to gather water from the trough.

  Gladys hummed again, doing her best to steady her nerves as the slaves placed food and water before each dog campfire. She searched out Akiko still busying herself with caring for the Canines. Black and White stood next to each other as if preparing a speech. And the pair howled for fifteen minutes straight, and the entire Canine army drank, ate, and partied throughout the night.

  63

  Gladys woke with a start. Her heart hammered in her chest as she rose on unsteady legs. A low mist clung to the cool earth, pearlescent from the moon's waning glow.

  She squinted hard, straining her vision against the dying night, desiring a lock on the world around her. She spied out a thousand humps or more on the ground. Both dogs and children.

  After the dogs ate and drank, the children did the same. She tried pumping fresh water into the trough but a good-sized group of thirsty kids drained the spiked water.

  She gave up on the task, yet kept Casey from drinking, rocking the baby until she napped in her brown arms. Heartbroken at her failed attempt at stalling the young ones, she watched them drink until their bellies swelled.

  She remained at Casey’s Bucky Brown and waited for the pills to work. After an hour the dogs and slaves laid out to slumber. This trailed a raucous moment of barking and prancing as if the dogs celebrated something special. A few engaged in mock battles, twirling and playing in the dust.

  Black and White sat with their nine pals. Yapping, lost in doggy conversation, and she slipped into sleep next to Casey and awoke to this. A silence so satisfying, she knew her plan succeeded.

  Gladys reached out and shook the girl’s tiny shoulder. Within seconds Casey’s eyes blinked open and Gladys placed a silencing finger against her own lips. She returned to her wagon, grabbed the diaper bag and met Casey. She gathered the toddler in her arms and set off, working through the slumbering forms as if she traversed a minefield.

  Gladys thought she might faint from her beating heart. She crouched with her load and stalked the darkness like a child molester. She eased herself amongst prone bodies, some curled in the fetal position.

  Every dog and captive slept, breathing deep, snoring. She didn’t see Akiko anywhere as she tiptoed in haste to escape. Her mind settled on the black and white dogs. She dared a peek and spotted them snoozing, surrounded by the same nine Canines from the party.

  Satisfied, Gladys pressed on until she entered the woods. She planted Casey on her small feet, dug in her pocket and pulled out the cellphone and this time called Moraine instead of texting.

  “Hi, Moraine. I'm on my way, girl. Okay, the main road is not too far. Here I come.” Gladys turned off the cell, picked up Casey and headed out at a fast pace.

  She traveled thirty minutes west until the trees and brush cleared and a lettuce field spread out before her. The day brightened against the east, with the sun preparing to rise. In the horizon a heavy engine rumbled and a dark truck came into view.

  Gladys hugged Casey tighter and began her trek over black soil sowed with wilting lettuce heads. Soon, her slow
trot became a full run.

  64

  Before Gladys worked her scheme to escape, Black and White gave the Canine army a treat.

  Black adhered to the scouts recommendations. They discovered a field of yellow wheat drenched by a fat setting sun. Ten acres of green grass corralled by a magnificent redwood fence housed galloping white horses. Edging this, benches and picnic tables sat tucked underneath shade trees. Water troughs dotted the scenery, built with both electric and manual wells.

  Black appreciated the gorgeous view. The horses running unhampered by humans riding their sturdy backs gave him a sense of freedom.

  Black spun away from the soft moment and returned to his responsibilities. Once the security teams deemed the site safe, White organized the camp into platoons. After much wrangling huge circles made of Canines decorated the abandoned horse ranch.

  Black kept pondering the electronic gibberish in his skull. He did his best to unlock the numbers given him. The word danger pulsed behind his shut lids, disfiguring a blur of mathematical figures.

  White surveyed the Canines grouped in their areas. “Answers, Black?”

  “No.”

  “This is an engineer’s formula. A bug meant to confuse the Damascus Chips programming.”

  Black paced, a low growl rolled from his throat. “And we can't communicate with the messenger.”

  White sat panting, studying his handiwork for flaws as the Canines set their camps. “They don't want to talk with us.”

  “Then why the message, White?”

  “Someone forced the sender to warn us.”

  Black’s eyes widened. He stopped pacing and stared at White as the baggage train arrived after a lengthy march. He admired the rustic sunset in the west as children's voices graced his ears. Akiko's voice echoed across the field.

  White’s teeth shown in hunger once the children gathered the food bowls. The female White dominated pulled bags of dog food from the wagons.

  Black yowled, and soon the Cadre formed a semicircle before their leaders. Molly and her team raced for the children, yapping in excitement.

  Black met each Cadre member’s eyes. “Tonight we celebrate our victories and give the army a four-day rest before moving on to Los Angeles.”

  The Cadre howled in delight. Alexander nodded as three child slaves scampered up and combed his luxurious golden hair.

  White flapped his tail. “Vane, are you not, Alexander?”

  Alexander yipped, a high and piercing noise of jubilation. “Somewhat, but I enjoy being clean. You two should partake in this. Being Emperors of such a grand army.”

  White opened his jaws, displaying his corn hued fangs. “I’ll take you up on the suggestion, Alexander.”

  Black agreed. “Yes. But, an enigma is pressing us. And the Cadre should know.”

  Everyone turned to Black.

  Black huffed as children carried to them bowls piled with dog food. “A warning entered my head a few hours ago. And we are using the Damascus Chips for an answer.”

  “What is the problem,” Alexander said.

  Romulus the pit bull crinkled his nostrils. “My intelligence is not as powerful as yours. I think I’m the least intelligent Canine here.”

  White delivered a short bark. “Never downplay your abilities, Romulus. None of you,” he said while staring at the Canines.

  “Maybe we can find a solution,” Alvito offered.

  White licked his mouth. “A warning burst into our heads, involving letters and numbers. Every time a letter arrives, a number distorts what we are seeing.”

  King the doberman gazed at the sky. “Who sent it?”

  “An outsider,” Black answered.

  “Human then,” Alexander responded. “Why is a human warning you?”

  “Who knows,” Black said.

  Brutus the German shepherd leaned forward. “Send Molly to watch the adult. I don’t trust her. No offense to you, White. But humans can bear any suffering to achieve their goal. Even to murder one of you.”

  White sighed, a sound akin to steam being released from a tire. “Ok.”

  Black rose and barked several times. Molly, standing near, pushed her way before the Cadre. “Molly, spy on Gladys, and stay hidden.”

  “Yes, Black.” Molly departed at a fast run, vanishing into the crowd and semidarkness.

  More children appeared with food and firewood. Minutes later Akiko presented herself, bowed, and lit the pyramid stacked wood. Orange and red flames bloomed before the dogs. The blaze cloaked the Canines in long shadows as they continued conversing, trying to solve the mystery swirling within Black and White heads.

  Molly rushed back to the Cadre members, her eyes wide and body trembling more than a Chihuahua. “Black, White, it’s Gladys.”

  Black placed a paw on Molly’s small snout. “Calm yourself, Canine. What happened?”

  “She is pouring powder into the water trough.”

  White stood, growling.

  “Wait, White. Molly, what did you say?”

  Molly took a breath, and with effort calmed her wagging tail and heavy puffing. “She poured powder, and lots, into our drinking water.”

  Black noticed the woman making busy work. “Keep talking, Cadre. Act as if you don’t know what is happening.”

  White closed his eyes. “What is she doing, Black?”

  “She’s peeking our way. Brutus and Draco, start the celebration as a cover.”

  “The powder,” Molly reminded Black. “She might be poisoning us.”

  “The Cadre will not drink. But the army must.”

  Alexander shook his head. “Why, White?”

  “It's important she believes in her plan. And we can follow her and kill those she is no doubt trying to reach. We need to end these impediments now.”

  65

  Moraine woke early, ate a quick breakfast as Jenny walked perimeter around the Unimog. After eating, her phone rang, and she answered with bated breath.

  “Gladys,” Moraine said. She listened to Gladys’s message and entered the Unimog. “Jenny, let’s go.”

  Jenny bounded into the Unimog passenger seat. “What’s up, Moraine?”

  “It’s Gladys. The dogs are knocked out, and she’s headed our way.” Moraine started the heavy truck and stomped on the gas, leaving everyone else.

  Moraine made several turns as Jenny gave directions from Erik’s cellphone tracker. She strained her eyes against the bumpy dirt road. A gentle glow appeared in the east, burnishing to an orange haze as the sun prepared to rise for the new day.

  “We’re close,” Jenny said, her head craning as acres of lettuce fields emerged into view. “Nothing yet.”

  Moraine slowed the truck, an act difficult as both heart and adrenalin pumped something fierce in her body. She scanned the fog-covered earth, squinting against the yellow glare of a rising star.

  “There,” Jenny called. “She's out of the woods.”

  Moraine turned the Unimog onto the field service road, pushing the truck harder. Not too far from the tree line a heavyset black woman ran with a child held tight in her arms.

  Moraine spotted Casey’s blond hair. God the girl looked so thin in the woman’s meaty grip. She ground the truck to a halt, grabbed her M4 and stepped out.

  Jenny climbed up into the gunners hatch with binoculars in hand. “I got them, Moraine. Shit, shit, shit.”

  Moraine took off running towards Gladys. “What, Jenny?”

  “Dogs,” Moraine. “I see dogs. And they’re gaining on her. Hurry, Moraine. Run!”

  66

  Gladys discovered running in a lettuce field almost impossible. Her muscles ached after the first few yards. To her, she assumed every bit of flesh on her body jiggled and jounced. Her butt trembled when she leaped rows of lettuce. Sweat broke across her forehead, rivulets slid down her back as Casey wrapped her tiny arms tighter around her neck.

  “I see them,” Gladys announced with shortened breath. She grinned as the bulky truck rumbled over the service
road with thick dust boiling from the heavy tires. The vehicle stopped and a woman, armed with a tan assault rifle, stepped out onto the road.

  “Must be, Moraine,” she huffed, driving herself to freedom.

  Casey pressed her cheek against Gladys’s hot face. “Doggy.”

  Gladys's chest hitched. Her lungs burned. “What, baby?”

  “Doggy.”

  Gladys snatched a peek at the world behind her. They remained obscured by the low fog, and soon they burst into the open. Three dogs pursued at an easy Sunday morning canter as if savoring the black meat for breakfast.

  “Jesus Christ, almighty,” Gladys said, pushing her fat legs harder.

  Gladys's mouth twisted in a rictus as her chubby frame cramped in one painful wave. Her temples throbbed as Rottweiler, pit bull, and Doberman took their sweet time chasing her.

  Gladys sensed her energy waning despite her effort to grind out the remaining distance towards Moraine. Pain in a bright bolt shot up her spine.

  “God, no.” Gladys groaned out the word, bent at the waist and opened her arms. “Run home to momma, Casey.”

  Casey stared at Gladys, fighting to make sense of something going wrong, not knowing what to do or why the sudden change.

  “Run to momma,” Gladys urged, her voice rising and cracking. Casey turned and threw her hands above her head.

  “Momma,” Casey shouted and ran for Moraine.

  Gladys placed her palms against her knees, watching the little girl’s awkward feet scramble over the cumbersome lettuce heads. She picked up the steady panting, and the soft padding against the soil.

  Gladys closed her eyes, waiting for the moment. She swallowed the wet air, bringing her anger and strength to a cusp. Casey would live, get big and have babies and grow old.

  Gladys straightened, making herself larger, and the dogs did not care. They launched at her, and she fought even as they tore into her salty love handles and thighs and meaty breasts. The Canines pulled her to the ground, and dark red blood pulsed into the black soil, adding rich nutrients to the earth nature deemed unnecessary.