The Long Loud Silence

by Wilson Tucker

  A battered, paved highway wound along the valley floor less than half a mile distant and nothing but two small trucks occupied that highway. Two trucks! With mounting excitement he wriggled forward to gain a better view. Two green-paneled army trucks somewhat resembling that armored mail truck he had used years before; two trucks, halted and under siege in the lonely road. He looked to see why they had stopped. One truck was partially nosed over into the roadside ditch, and from this distance it looked as if a tire had been shot away, leaving it helpless. The second had stopped a few yards ahead. Gary studied the tableau. Rifle fire was pouring from the cabs of both vehicles, snapping the tall grass along the nearer ditch and searching out the terrain behind it.

  After a moment he located the machine gun. It was barking from a small broken window in the rear of the disabled truck. He saw a body lying on the road.

  Army trucks, their blunt noses pointed west toward the distant Mississippi.

  Instantly he concocted a plan of action. Half rising, he sped several yards downhill toward the raging battle and dropped again into the concealing grass — waited long seconds before rising and running again, following a zigzag path down the slope. As he worked his way in hasty, cautious spurts toward the stalled trucks he knew he was visible from the road, knew they couldn't help but see him, yet no bullet spat his way. As he drew nearer he ran shorter distances before dropping to earth again, put up his head for quick reconnaissance before making another dash. His method of approach should be obvious to the men in the trucks, should be familiar to them.

  Finally he located five men on the ground before him, fairly well hidden from the roadway but in positions that were open to his view. Four of the five were firing at the road; the fifth lay still.

  When he was within easy range he fell flat on the ground and opened on them a murderous fire.

  Startled, they turned to stare at him, half rising in their sudden fear. He fired again and one man fell. Rifle fire from their now unprotected rear increased sharply and the surviving three jerked around, aware of the trap. Abruptly the three broke cover and ran, attempting to flee along the ditch. Gary rose to his knees and loosed a final blast before sinking to the ground. The machine gun opened up once more as the three ran into its range, and then it was quiet.

  Gary could almost feel the solid silence.

  Without moving, he shouted, “Hold your fire!”

  Someone in the truck answered him. “Come out with your hands up.”

  Very slowly he rose to his feet, his hands high, still clutching the shotgun in a doubled fist. He cautiously made his way across the ditch to stand at the edge of the roadway, peering at the two men in the nearer cab.

  “Put down the gun.”

  Gary hesitated. “Not until you cover me — I don't want to get shot in the back.”

  “You're covered. Put it down fast!”

  He stooped to lay it on the cement.

  “All right now, who are you?”

  “Corporal Russell Gary… used to be with the Fifth in Chicago.”

  A helmeted head appeared in the window of the cab. The helmet bore a stripe of white paint. Gary absently added, “Sir.”

  “Do you carry identification, Corporal?” the officer asked suspiciously.

  “Yes, sir.” He dug down under his clothing to bring up the two dogtags hanging on a chain.

  The lieutenant peered at them and then up at the man. “Well, I don't mind saying thanks! You certainly helped us out of a hole.” He paused. “Are you alone?”

  “Yes, sir.” Gary looked down the road at the sprawled bodies. “Except for the casualties, sir.”

  There was a moment of silence as the officer sought for words. Gary stared at him, at the second face looking over his shoulder.

  The second face suggested, “Ask him about Chicago, Lieutenant.”

  “A-bombed,” Gary said without waiting for the other to repeat the question. “Hundreds of A-bombs. The place is just a pile of ashes now.”

  “How did you escape?” was the quick retort.

  “I wasn't there, sir. I was on recruiting duty downstate.” He thought to volunteer more. “The whole damned country is washed out, sir. A-bombs and disease everywhere. There can't be more than a couple of thousand people left.”

  “That many? Are you certain?”

  “Yes, sir. I've covered all the ground between Chicago and Florida in the last couple of years, sir. There was a lot more that first year, but I'd say there's only a few thousand this summer, Lieutenant.”

  “Well, I'll be damned. They said—”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Good work, Corporal, good work. We can't thank you enough. Now we'll have to repair that tire and move on.”

  “Sir?”

  “Yes?”

  “I was sort of hoping you could take me with you.”

  “Out of the question,” the lieutenant Snapped “You are contaminated. Was that why you opened fire on the enemy? I commend you, Corporal, but I can do no more.”

  Gary stared at him, his bearded face a carefully framed picture of disappointment. “I can't… ? But sir, I…”

  “No!”

  Gary shuffled his feet, made as if to leave and then turned back once more. “Say, Lieutenant, got anything to eat?”

  “None to spare, Corporal; I'm sorry. Our supplies must last out the trip. And now move down the road, please. We have to replace that tire.”

  Eagerly he said, “I'll fix it for you, sir. If you can let me have something to eat.” He waited for a moment and then added, “Please, Lieutenant — food is damned scarce.”

  The officer examined him, his thin body and ragged clothing. He turned once to exchange glances with the other man in the car and then faced Gary again. He struggled to keep his face emotionless.

  “All right, Corporal. We haven't too much ourselves but I dare say you need it worse than we do. Now — the tire.”

  “Yes, sir.” He started forward. “Give me the jack.”

  “Stop right there! Don't approach the truck, man, you're contaminated. We haven't our suits on. We'll throw the jack out to you.”

  “Suits?” Gary repeated stupidly.

  “Radiation suits — have to wear them in this damned place. Now about that tire…”

  “Yes, sir!” Gary walked around to the front of the truck and squinted at the wrecked rubber. That tire would never roll again. “Keep a sharp lookout, Lieutenant. Don't want somebody to take a shot at me.” He slid the jack under the front axle and began pumping. The wheel slowly rose in the air.

  Gary was in high humor but he was careful not to let it show on his face. These, he told himself with bitter amusement, these were some of the surviving heroes from the eastern cellars. The very adroit way he had taken them in revealed their ignorance of the harsh world they were passing through, revealed how little they knew of the dangerous men who now inhabited that world. They still trusted another man. These, then, were from some sheltered place in the East, journeying westward to some point on the Mississippi. Or across the Mississippi. That sudden thought shocked him, stilled his fingers.

  Their destination was on the other side of the river! Two trucks, each containing three men if he had judged correctly; two trucks and six men driving for the quarantine line, carrying with them their supplies and radiation Suits to protect them while passing through contaminated territory. With smoldering excitement he slid the wheel off the hub and replaced it with the spare. Unscrewing the valve cap, he reversed it and jammed it down inside the valve as he let the jack drop the car. There was a faint whisper of escaping air.

  He stood up. “You want the jack back, Lieutenant?”

  The man hesitated, struck by a new worry. He hadn't considered that complication before allowing Gary to work on the tire and now he was unsure whether allowing him to handle it had somehow contaminated the tool. His face mirrored his uncertainty and he cursed himself for his shortsightedness. Finally he ordered, “Put it in the back… easy now.”
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  “Yes, sir.” Gary went around to the rear and found the door opened for him. He peered into the darkened interior, found himself Staring into the bore of the machine gun. The gunner was seated on a packing case watching him, a cigarette hanging from his lips. The truck was loaded with similar wooden cases. Gary sniffed at the cigarette smoke.

  “Toss it in,” the gunner said sharply.

  “Okay, bud.” Gary dropped the jack on the nearest box and backed away, his eyes on the cigarette. The gunner reached out and closed the door.

  “Well done, Corporal,” the lieutenant called. “I shall mention this in my reports. You have been of valuable assistance to your government today.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Gary's face was expressionless. “The grub, Lieutenant?”

  “Oh, yes.” He tossed out two boxes of C-rations. “I'm sorry I can't give you more, but we are short. Just where are we, do you know?” He looked around as if expecting guideposts.

  “Thank you, sir. This is Ohio — pretty close to the Indiana line. And Lieutenant, I wouldn't stay in any of the towns overnight — they'd probably gang up on you. Keep to the open country.”

  “Thank you, Corporal. We've already found that sound advice. And now, don't recover your weapon until we are out of range.” He gunned the motor and put the truck into reverse gear, pulling it back onto the road. An impatient beat on the horn urged the other truck forward. “Good-bye, and good luck.”

  The two vehicles rolled away.

  Gary watched them go. “So long, you scurvy sonofabitch.” The machine gunner in the rear truck tossed a package of cigarettes through the broken window. Gary bent over to pick up the rations and turned to get the gun. When he straightened again the swiftly moving trucks were some distance away. He walked along the pavement, retrieved the cigarettes and stuffed them in an inner pocket. When the vehicles vanished from sight he quickly abandoned the road and took to the field, to follow. If he had guessed right on that leaking tire, he should overtake the convoy when they stopped for the night.

  * * *

  The trucks were parked back-to-back in a small grove of trees. That would mean a machine gunner sat in each cab, covering three avenues of approach. Gary studied the scene. They had stopped for the night in a small roadside park built and maintained by the state highway department, a stopping place originally installed for tourists. A gravel road curved off the highway and through the clump of green trees; there were two or three picnic tables that somehow had been overlooked in the search for firewood, a drinking fountain Probably fed by a fresh-water spring, and a pair of rusty cans for trash. The graveled path made room for a half dozen cars beneath the shading branches before completing the arc back to the highway. The trucks were but shapeless masses in the night; he might have missed them altogether had he been traveling along the paved road.

  Gary waited in the underbrush on the far edge of the grove, wondering how to take the convoy.

  They were green troops — they had allowed him to come this close undetected, but he knew they weren't so green as to permit him to simply walk up to the trucks. He had been lying at the edge of the grove for two hours, watching and waiting, and still he lacked a plan of action. Each cab held a man — they had betrayed themselves earlier and many times as they held matches to cigarettes. The flare of the matches revealed no other faces beside them, and although he could not be certain, he thought he could distinguish the shapes of men lying on the ground beneath the trucks. There may be one man in the rear of each vehicle, stretched out on the boxes. Maybe. If so, that left two on the ground.

  He was still there, patiently waiting an unknown time later, when a noise from one of the trucks alerted him.

  The sentry of one truck put his head out the window and called back to the other cab. Although he kept his voice low, the words carried quite clearly.

  “Hey — Jackson!”

  “Yeah?” The second head appeared in the opposite cab.

  “What time is it? My damned watch stopped.”

  “Almost midnight.”

  “That's close enough — let's wake these guys up and turn in.”

  “I'm ready — damn near asleep now.”

  There was a scuffling noise from the interior of the nearer truck, and hushed voices in the other. Gary crept closer. The sentries changed places in the seats of the cabs with noisy movement, awakening one of the figures on the ground. The man put his head out from under the truck and spoke sharply.

  “What's going on up there?”

  “Midnight, Lieutenant. Changing watch.”

  “Well be more quiet about it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The officer lay back on the ground, moved about as though he were hunting the spot where he had been sleeping, and abruptly rolled from beneath the truck. He stood up.

  “I'm going to take five. Keep your eyes open.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The lieutenant walked toward the spot where Gary lay, fumbling with his clothes. Gary hugged the ground and let him approach, waited until the man paused beside a tree. He rose up silently and smoothly when the officer's hands were occupied, and reached for him.

  After an interval Gary tautly stalked into the clearing and slid under the truck, ready to open fire if he were challenged. He rooted about on the grass, sighed, and lay still. Above him the newly awakened sentry scratched a match on the dashboard to light a cigarette. Gary hugged the lieutenant's automatic under his shirt and waited for time to pass. His first act was to eliminate the other sleeping man beside him, and two were out of the way.

  It required another half-hour to reach the sentry sitting behind the wheel, a tedious half-hour of creeping along the rocky ground without noise, of hugging the side of the truck and raising his body toward the window sill. He held a pebble in his hand. When he was standing upright slightly to the rear of the open window, he tossed the pebble over the truck and heard it strike the ground beyond. Clutching the barrel of the automatic, he curled his left arm around and through the window to catch the sentry on the back of the head. He caught the man before he could slump forward into the horn, and lowered his body to the seat. There was no other sound, no movement from within or from the second vehicle.

  Slowly and carefully he opened the door to let himself inside. The sentry of a short while before was sleeping soundly, and then he wasn't sleeping at all. There remained only the two in the other truck.

  He needed information, needed it badly if he hoped to cross the river alive. After turning over the problem in his mind, he suddenly opened the door of the truck with no attempt at concealment, and climbed out to walk back to the other cab.

  A head appeared before him. “Keep quiet, dammit! You want the lieutenant on your tail?”

  Gary rammed the automatic into his face. “Come out of there, slow and clean.”

  The face stared at him in the night, moved back to look down at the gun. “For Ch—”

  “Shut up and come out — now!”

  The sentry scrambled out. “Don't shoot!”

  “Get your buddy out here. Make it fast.”

  The sentry beat on the panel of the truck and after a moment a second face appeared in the open door. “What the hell is—” He stopped, staring.

  “This is going on,” Gary retorted. “Come on, outside.” He stood the two of them against the side of the truck, facing away from him, their hands atop their heads with fingers locked together. “Now you're going to give with the information or you're going to be dead ducks. Which is it going to be?”

  “I don't know nothing.”

  “You know where you're going,” Gary contradicted.

  There was a moment of silent hesitation. The two exchanged glances.

  Gary prodded one with the automatic. “Where?”

  “There's a bridge at a place called Fort Madison, Iowa,” the soldier told him sullenly. “We—”

  Gary chopped him short by reversing the gun and bringing the butt down on his head. The man crumpled t
o the ground. His companion stared down at the unconscious form.

  “The bridge at Fort Madison,” Gary said smoothly, “has a hole in it a mile wide. Now I'll ask you.” He stepped close to ram the barrel in the man's spine. “Where are you going?”

  “It ain't Fort Madison,” the other answered shakily. “It's a bridge called the Chain of Rocks, or some name like that. It's around St. Louis someplace. They're waiting for us there.”

  “Who is?”

  “I don't know — honest I don't. The whole damned army, I guess. We're just supposed to deliver these trucks.”

  “Why? What's in them?”

  “Some gold. Gold bricks.”

  “You're lying!”

  “Hold it — I'm not! Go look for yourself if you don't believe me. We had three loads of that damned gold. We lost a truck back there in the mountains somewhere.”

  “Lost it?”

  “They jumped us — like those guys did today. The captain was in that one.”

  “What in the hell does the army want that gold for?”

  “I don't know. We just had orders to deliver it.”

  Gary considered the matter, intently watching the man. “The government must be getting hard up; three trucks started out, eh? You guys are pretty green — I'm surprised you got this far. How's everybody in Washington?”

  The soldier half turned to look at him. “We ain't from Washington — we're outta Fort Knox.”

  “For…” Gary was instantly suspicious. “Then what the hell you doing this far north?”

  “I don't know, fella, I didn't write the orders. The lieutenant said we come this way and follow route 50. And we was doing just that.” He added bleakly, “Until you enemy agents showed up.”

  Gary let it pass. “What happens next — when you deliver the trucks to the bridge?”

  “Well, we just drive across and join ’em, I guess.”

  “Did they say you could?” Gary held his breath.

  “If we don't catch the plague. We was supposed to wear the monkey suits all the time, but the lieutenant said we didn't have to unless some of you ene… unless you guys bothered around. They're supposed to test us at the bridge and if we're clean, we can cross over.” He cast another backward glance at Gary. “Me, I'm damned glad you're healthy. I don't want no plague. Have you really been around since the bombing?”