Solaris Mortem: The New Patriots

by Rusty Henrichsen

  He dropped to his belly and clamored for the fallen rifle.

  “Stop. Right. There,” a voice said, behind him. The bolt on his rifle clicked to accentuate the point.

  “Okay.”

  “Stay down and spread eagle unless you want me to shoot you in the back.” Vince stayed down. “I got him!” Trevor shouted back to his cohorts.

  More footsteps approached, their sound muffled by the snow. “Well, well, what have we here?” Vince recognized the voice—Rick.

  “Hands behind your back.” Vince complied, and Trevor cuffed him, tight.

  “Why don’t we all get out of the weather for a bit?” Rick said, his tone fit for suggesting a Sunday drive or maybe a walk in the park. The other man heaved Vince up by his hands bound behind his back. The muscles in his shoulders burned and tore slightly.

  Vince marched around to the double door, rifle muzzle in his back. The soldier threw him down and shined an LED flashlight in his face.

  “So, Vince,” Rick began. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  “Yeah….”

  “Though, I wish you and your buddies hadn’t dragged me all the way out here. This has been a real inconvenience for me—for us all. One of my men is dead. But, so is one of yours,” Rick said, holding his hands out to his side, teetering like a scale.

  Vince just stared at him.

  “So…why don’t we just get on with it and tell me where the rest of your company is.”

  Vince continued to stare at him, mouth in park, but his mind spun.

  “Go on…. I promise you, this is your best option. Your only option, actually. You will talk. The only question is how much you’ll suffer before you do.”

  “It was just Duncan and me,” Vince said. “The rest are already dead.”

  Rick studied his face, casting long shadows, in the shadowy metal box. “I don’t know, Vince…. That just sounds…really convenient.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  The other man kicked Vince in the ribs for his lie.

  “It’s not. Now, cut the shit,” Rick said. “Where are they?”

  “I told you—they’re dead.”

  The other man kicked Vince again. Harder, this time. Ribs broke in front of Trevor’s steel toe.

  Rick paced. “How?” How did they die?”

  Vince looked up to Rick, laboring to breathe. “Looters…on the road. We were attacked, and just me and Duncan got out. The rest are dead.”

  “You’re lying,” Rick said. “At least, I think you're lying.” He nodded at Trevor, who kicked Vince again. “I've found pain to be the best instrument for freeing tongues. So, I'm going to ask you again. Where are they, Vince?”

  “I’ll kill you,” Vince said between ragged breaths. Trevor's rifle butt cracked Vince’s skull, and he slumped over, quiet for awhile.

  “Do you believe him?” Trevor asked.

  “I don’t know,” Rick said, “but if they are still alive, they’re close. I’ll bet we can spook ‘em out. Maybe we already have.”

  “If they’re close, they probably heard the gun shots.”

  “Exactly,” Rick said, looking around the container. “This looks like a fine place to call home for the night. Let’s get everybody in here and have a look at Anthony’s shoulder.”

  “Yes, Chancellor,” Trevor said and saluted.

  “Trevor?”

  “Sir?”

  “We don’t really have to do that out here.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Trevor said, and he went about gathering the others and making camp. Rick stood over Vince and waited for him to wake.

  * * *

  A muted candle burned down to nothing and put itself out. The sun’s rays were visible behind the mountain, and the snow had stopped, at least for the time being. Terry and Alisia had kept a sleepy guard all throughout the night with nothing to report, thankfully.

  Kat was fixing breakfast for them all. Vienna sausages, crackers, and cheese—from a can. Terry looked forward to the day when they were settled and could hopefully eat a little better. “So, what’s next?” Kat asked, spreading the pseudo cheese over crackers.

  “We’ve gotta keep moving,” Terry said, rubbing his palm over the stubble on his face. “We keep scavenging, and hopefully, we find another gun or three.”

  “Rick’s up ahead,” Kat said, passing out paper plates.

  “I know he is,” Terry said, begrudgingly putting a cold, jelly-slicked sausage in his mouth.

  “Maybe we can just sneak around him or hide out until he leaves,” Kat said.

  “I’m not eating this,” Diane said, crossing her arms.

  “Can I have it?” Jonathan asked. He liked Vienna sausages and cheese from a can, bless his heart.

  “Mom, you have to eat,” Alisia said. “Please.”

  “I’m not eating that. And I’m freezing!”

  Alisia sighed. “Okay.” She wondered if she should have just left her mom behind in New Seattle. “I’ll light you a candle, Mom.”

  “A candle,” Diane murmured.

  Just then, when Terry’s sleep deprivation threatened to crack his cool, he heard something. “Shhh!” he hissed, rolling down the window a couple inches.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are. Come out or we kill your friend, Vince, here.” The announcement echoed up and down the freeway corridor. Rick was up ahead, not too far, with Vince and a bullhorn. “We’ve got your buddy, Vince. Come out and join us. We just want to talk.”

  “Rick will never stop,” Terry said. “We kill him, or he kills us. We have to finish this.”

  “Duncan’s dead, but Vince is still alive…for now. Vince, why don’t you say a few words?”

  “I already told you. They’re dead.”

  Rick thrust the bullhorn into Vince’s bound hands. “I wasn’t asking.”

  Vince shook his head, then squeezed the trigger on the bullhorn and cleared his throat. “This is Vince.” He passed the bullhorn back. “Happy?”

  “Very,” Rick said, taking the bullhorn back. “You’ve got twenty-four hours. If I don’t hear from you by then, Vince joins Duncan in the hereafter.”

  * * *

  “I, for one, say we go and talk to him,” Diane said. “I’m ready to go back home.”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Terry said. “You’re already a part of this, for better or for worse. He doesn’t just want to talk to us, Diane.”

  Tabitha clung to her mother. “I want to go back home, too, Mommy.”

  “I know, sweetie. I know you do,” Kat said and stroked her hair. Tabitha closed her eyes and snuggled in a little closer.

  “It’s gonna be okay,” Jonathan said, patting his sister on the back.

  “Maybe I could go and talk to him, Terry,” Kat said. “Maybe…we should go back.”

  Terry’s eyes rounded, and his jaw dropped. “My God. You did not just say that! If we go and talk to Rick, or if he finds us, we are dead. That’s it. That’s how this works. We have to fight him.”

  “With what?” Kat said. “One shotgun and our wits? Somehow, I don’t see that working out in our favor.”

  “We set up an ambush.”

  “We don’t have the weapons for that.”

  “Maybe not…but we do have gasoline…and fire,” Terry said. “There was a train tunnel a little ways back. If we could get all of them in a space like that somehow…and then light it up.”

  “So, what if I went and talked to him, told him I made a mistake, buttered him up a little and then led him back to the tunnel?” Kat said. “He’s not going to hurt me, Terry.”

  “He is going to hurt you, Kat.” Terry was getting flustered.

  “Maybe there’s another way,” Alisia said. “I could go and talk to him instead.”

  “No,” Terry said. “No way.”

  “Just hear me out. I’m the only doctor they have. He needs me. I think I’ll be safe.”

  “You’re a deserter, Alisia,” Terry said. “In his eyes, that’s all you are now.”


  “Not necessarily. I mean, he doesn’t know that; not for sure. Maybe it was the Antis who kidnapped me…. They needed a doctor too. And the flasher, so they kidnapped me.”

  “And your mom?” Terry said. “What about her?”

  “They kidnapped her, too. That’s how they got to me; got me to go along…. As long as he thinks he’s got something to gain by keeping me alive, I’ll be okay. He hasn’t killed Vince yet, has he?”

  “And what about Duncan?” Terry said. “Rick’s mercy failed him.”

  “It has to be me, Terry. You know it does,” Alisia said. “I’m the only one that even has a chance.”

  “I don’t know,” Terry said, shaking his head.

  “If I don’t do this, then we’re all dead anyway. Let me do this.”

  * * *

  Vince opened his eyes, his head throbbed and for a moment, and he wondered where he was. Then he saw Rick.

  “Good morning, Sunshine. Did you have a nice nap? I was starting to think Trevor hit you a little too hard.”

  “Fuck you,” Vince said.

  “Such a mouth on you. I’m sure your mother would be proud,” Rick said. “I’m going to ask you again, where are the rest of your friends?”

  “I already told you, they’re dead. If you’re going to kill me, then you may as well just get on with it.”

  “Your spirit, your loyalty, it’s admirable. It really is,” Rick said. “It’s too bad you’re fighting for the wrong side, though. Say…that gives me an idea. Perhaps, if you switched teams, give me what I need, maybe there could be a way out of this alive for you. How does that sound?”

  “I’ll never join you,” Vince said. “Never.”

  “Maybe I should have Trevor come back in…. Talk to you a little more?”

  Just then, Trevor did come in. “Sir.”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s the doctor. We’ve got her, and she wants to talk to you.”

  Rick threw a sideways glance at Vince. “They’re all dead, are they? You stay put. Trevor, watch him.”

  Rick walked outside and flicked his sunglasses down. The sun was up—the snow, blinding. “Doctor Casswell! So good of you to join us.”

  She was handcuffed, and one of the soldiers held her by the arm. “Chancellor,” Alisia said. “Boy, am I glad to see you.”

  “Somehow, I doubt that,” Rick said and grinned.

  “The Antis, they kidnapped my mother and me. I need your help.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Rick laughed. “Oh, you are a pretty little liar, aren’t you?”

  “I swear, it’s the truth,” Alisia said.

  Vince strained to hear what was being said outside.

  “Well then, how about you explain the little switcheroo with the flasher then?” Rick said. “Let’s start there.”

  “I am so sorry about that, Sir. They, Terry, he stole it from me. I…thought I could get it back…so, I didn’t tell you, and I switched it. I just didn’t want him to get hurt.”

  “And why not?”

  “I thought I knew him better than I did,” Alisia said, tearing up. “I thought I cared about him. I thought he cared about me. I thought that I could talk some sense into him before it was too late.... I was wrong, Chancellor.”

  Rick eyed her suspiciously. “And then what? They snatched you up and fled town with you and your mother?”

  “They took my mom…. Said they would kill her if I didn’t keep my mouth shut and come with them. I was scared, so scared—I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what to do, and I went. I was afraid they would kill her. Please, I’m still afraid they will when they see I’ve gone.”

  “Where are they?” Rick said.

  “In a train tunnel, a couple miles back. Please, we have to hurry before they wake up!”

  “Before they wake up? Sleeping in, are they?”

  “They sleep during the day, when it’s warmer, and move during the night.”

  Rick considered this, then nodded his head. “And why didn’t you bring your mother with you? Why did you come this way, further up the pass?” Rick said. “It seems to me, you would’ve gone downhill. Back to New Seattle.”

  “I heard the shots last night. We all did. And the bullhorn. I hoped I would find you, or your men here to help us.”

  “That doesn’t explain why you would leave your mother behind. The one you were so concerned about. Remember that?”

  “She twisted her ankle so badly that she can barely walk. This is our only chance, Sir. Please, help us. Please.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Rick said, and he went to the storage container. He came back out a moment later with Vince. “Vince, the doctor here has a fascinating story about you and your crew. Says you kidnapped her and her mom. Any truth to that?”

  Vince paused for only a second. He’d already pieced together what was being said and knew how to answer. “We needed a doc. And she was the only one that knew how to use that flasher thing.”

  “You wouldn’t bullshit me now, would ya’ Vinnie? I mean, ya’ have been lying to me all along,” Rick said.

  “Good luck with her mom,” Vince said. “She’s a real pain in the ass. They're kind of a package deal, though.”

  “Sorry, Vince, old pal,” Rick said. “You’re just not that useful anymore.”

  Alisia cringed at the rifle report. She could cry about it later.

  * * *

  While Alisia manipulated Rick, Terry and Jonathan set up the trap in the tunnel. It was rudimentary at best, but it would do the job.

  Two five-gallon jugs of gas and a Molotov cocktail were the keys to their salvation. They would enter from the east end, and Terry would wait for them on the west end. When they got close enough to the jugs, Terry would light the rag in the bottle and throw it.

  They set up camp, just in front of the gas cans. Two sleeping bags, stuffed with snow; some extra pots and pans. He hated to sacrifice the bags, but this had to look legit.

  With any luck at all, they would blast the sleeping bags to hell then move in to inspect their kill. Then Terry would blast them to hell and hopefully not himself, too in the process.

  He heard a shot echoing in the distance.

  “What was that?” Jonathan said, eyes darting about in the darkness.

  “It sounded like a gunshot,“ Terry said and continued stuffing snow.

  “Is Alisia okay?”

  “I hope so, buddy,” Terry said. “C’mon, help me finish this up and then I want you to go and wait with the others.” Everyone had moved behind the tunnel a few hundred feet to another rig, waiting it out.

  “But I want to stay with you, Uncle Terry,” Jonathan protested.

  Terry ruffled his hair. “I appreciate that, but I need you there with your mom and the girls. To help keep an eye out for them. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Jonathan said. “Why are they doing this, Uncle Terry? Why are they chasing us?”

  “That’s a great question, but…I don’t know. I just know that they are, and we have to put a stop to it.”

  “Yeah,” Jonathan said, shoving the last of his snow in the bag. “Is that enough?”

  “Just about. Why don’t you go grab one more load and then we’re done.” They were hauling snow in the wagon from the west end of the tunnel to fill the bags. One set of footprints led out of the east end, and with any luck, many more would soon be on the way to trample them underfoot.

  Jonathan returned with the last load of snow. “Are you scared, Uncle Terry?”

  “Uh, yeah. I am.” Terrified would be more accurate, Terry thought. “But this is going to work. Don’t you worry.”

  “Okay,” Jonathan said. “I’m scared too.”

  “That’s all right,” Terry said, placing his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. “Sometimes, we should be scared. This is probably one of those times. The important thing is that we keep going. We don’t let the fear stop us. Know what I mean?”

  “Yeah,” Jonatha
n said, and he smiled.

  “Good work, today. I couldn’t have done it without you,” Terry said,

  Jonathan beamed with pride.

  “Let’s get you back to your mom.”

  * * *

  Terry waited for what seemed like days. In reality, it was an hour. An hour is a long time when your life and the lives of the ones you love hang in the balance.

  What if I’ve screwed up? Terry thought. What if I’ve sent Alisia off to her death? Then what? It killed him not to know. He missed the days of cellphones and text messages.

  He thought, too about the men he was prepared to kill. Surely, not all of them deserved it. Rick deserved it, but some of these guys were probably decent men—before all of this started, anyhow. Not that they’d given him much choice. Terry tried not to think too much about it. This was the world now.

  Terry didn’t hear them coming, not until they were already in the tunnel. He readied his Molotov and his Zippo. They didn’t speak, nor did they use their lights. Only their quiet footfalls gave them away.

  Moments later, a staccato roar filled the tunnel. Terry’s ears rang. I’ll be deaf after this, he thought. Why didn’t I bring something to plug my ears?

  The firing stopped, and the men scuffled forward, lights on now. Terry waited from twenty-five feet out. He turned and concealed the light of the Zippo, setting the rag fuse ablaze. He hurled the incendiary, sparking the next round of gunfire. Bullets whizzed by, ricocheting off walls and Terry dropped to the ground, hands over his ears.

  For one sickening second, nothing happened. He thought his plan had failed. Then a boom and a whoosh! The air was super heated, and he felt his breath pulled from his lungs. Flames rushed over his head, seeking escape from the tunnel. A two-quart saucepan flew by at terminal velocity. Men screamed, but he couldn’t hear it. There was no more gunfire, just a 150 decibel ringing in his ears. They roared like they would bleed.

  Terry grabbed the shotgun and began firing blind. If any had survived the explosion, none would live to tell the tale. What if Alisia was in here? What if they dragged her in too? He shook it off and kept firing till he got only a dry click. He thumbed six more shells in, rapidly as he could and walked forward.