EMP: Heading Home

by Harp, Wilson

  “Why you looking like that?” a Southsider asked me as I looked at another group.

  “Sorry, I saw a woman earlier and thought I recognized her.”

  “We don’t trade in ladies here, but there’s a camp about five miles out which might suit your needs. Head out there and see what you can find.”

  “Thanks, but that wasn’t what I meant.”

  “Suit yourself, but if you are looking to hook up with one of our women, you’ll get yourself in a world of trouble, pal.”

  “He doesn’t need one, we’re just looking for an old friend,” Anne said as she hooked her arm into mine.

  “Well, maybe you should both head out to the camp,” the man said. “Might find something for both of you.”

  He smirked and walked away.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “You’re drawing too much attention. Let’s find Ted and tell him what we know.”

  “What do we know?”

  “David, pay attention. The Southsiders seem to control all of the land to the east. At least starting five miles away. Probably more since they don’t want those girls in the tent to take off in the middle of the night.”

  We found Ted as he looked through a junk pile.

  “Have a nice little chat?” he asked me.

  “Sorry, I guess I was looking around too much.”

  “We did get some info, though,” Anne said. “They have a brothel about five miles to the east.”

  “Good. That helps. Anything else?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “He told me to stay away from their women.”

  Ted looked at me. “That was what we needed.”

  “What was?” I asked.

  “We’ll wait until dusk and then walk out to their tent. We’ll try to find a good location to slip off the road and go further east.”

  “What do you mean, Ted?” Anne asked.

  “The women they send into the marketplace aren’t working at the tent.”

  I was stunned. I hadn’t considered Lexi might have been forced into prostitution, but clearly Ted had thought of that.

  “That’s why he told David to stay away from them,” Anne said. “They must all stay back in Geneva.”

  “I think so,” said Ted. “All of the vendors at their stalls are men. Women are always escorted by at least the same number of men.”

  “How long do we wait?” I asked.

  “Not too much longer,” said Ted. “I have a feeling the crowds will start to thin before evening, then we can start our walk.”

  I gritted my teeth at the thought of killing time. I was so close, and yet I had to be patient just a little longer. We wandered back to the west side of the marketplace and browsed through the stalls. Ted was right and the crowds started thinning by late afternoon. We made our way back to the Southsider’s part of the market place and saw the sign advertising their tent outside the town.

  The sun had just touched the horizon when Ted clapped me on the shoulder.

  “Let’s go get Lexi and Emma,” he said.

  We walked down the highway to the east, a road I had traveled many times in my life to get home. A road where my family waited for me at the end of a long day. And I knew they would be there for me when I got to the end this time.

  When we heard the sounds of the little tent city the Southsiders had set up for their guests, Ted motioned us off the road to the north between two abandoned SUVs. We waited a few minutes in case our disappearance had been noticed then continued into an open field. We kept the tents in sight as we skirted around and saw the sentries on the road about half a mile beyond.

  “They’re watching the road pretty close,” Ted said. “But they aren’t paying attention out here.”

  We moved slow and silent in the pre-moon night until we saw another camp. This one had some wooden buildings and was full of men and women with packs. There were five or six campfires and the people seemed more subdued than the party tents closer to DeKalb.

  “It must be where they camp for the night when they’ve been in town,” said Anne. “I knew it would be too far to get to Geneva when they left so late.”

  “Lexi is in that camp right now,” I said. “And I have to spend another night without her.”

  “Just one more, David,” said Ted. “Then we’ll contact her if we can. Come on, let’s move on a bit and find a place to hide and rest tonight.”

  Not much further we found a couple of abandoned cars which had been flipped on their side. It looked like they had been used for target practice at some point, but they would shield us from any eyes.

  I took the first watch that night and didn’t wake Ted until almost three in the morning. I was just too excited to sleep, so I let the others get some rest. Even when I did wake him, I tossed and turned until the sky grew bright and he woke Anne.

  “David’s been up all night, so you might as well get up too,” he said.

  Anne stretched and looked at the distant camp.

  “Have they broken yet?” she asked.

  “Some women were up earlier and it looks like breakfast is almost ready, but we have some time before they start moving.”

  It was close to 9AM before a large group of them headed from the camp to Geneva. Not near as many men went with them, however.

  “The men will probably go back into town or maybe to their little pleasure camp,” said Ted.

  We followed the group heading east on the road from a distance. They passed several small groups headed west, all of them men with red hoodies under their heavy coats.

  “The women don’t seem to travel much,” Ted said. “At least not in large groups and without escorts.”

  A few hours after noon, the group we watched turned off the road to the south toward a large building.

  Ted pulled his binoculars out and took a look.

  “It’s a hospital,” he said. “It must be where they’re based.”

  “It’s a good choice,” said Anne. “Plenty of room and plenty of supplies.”

  “Let’s move in closer and see if we can find a place where we can watch the hospital. All I need is to get her attention for just a few seconds,” I said.

  “There’s a road which runs right up to it,” Ted said. “I don’t know if that’s watched as much as the DeKalb road. We need to be careful.”

  We moved at a snail’s pace. Every twenty or thirty steps, Ted stopped and scanned around with his binoculars. We didn’t see anyone glance out in our direction or see any sentries.

  We reached the highway going to DeKalb and crossed it at a walk. No sudden movements, no crouched posture, we just walked across like it was our back yard. Once we had, we ducked behind a wooden fence and froze. We didn’t hear or see anything which would cause concern so we kept moving. The fence ran behind one of the parking lots of the hospital and a section of the fence was missing. It opened between two cars and looked to be well hidden. We slipped in and took a good look at the hospital. There were several small groups of people moving about. One group wore the red hoodies of the Southsiders, but the rest looked like any group of small town people.

  “Do you see anything?” Anne asked.

  “No. I’m trying to see if the doors are guarded,” Ted said. “Not everyone is wearing their colors. If we ditch our packs, we should be able to blend in.”

  He pulled his binoculars out from his coat and looked carefully.

  “Yeah, there are hoodies inside that door,” he said. “But it doesn’t look like they are stopping anyone. They are armed, though.”

  “Let’s find a place to put our packs and mingle a bit,” I said.

  We went back to the section of fence which was open. Ted stepped through first. I heard a grunt and saw him fall to the ground. I jumped forward to help him when I heard Anne.

  “David!” she cried.

  I whipped around and saw a man with a red hoodie grab her from behind. Another stepped toward her. I reached for my sidearm, but my hand just found the empty holster. Then everything wen
t black.

  Chapter 21

  “Get up.”

  I heard the voice in the distance.

  “I said get up!” A sharp kick slammed into my ribs and my eyes popped open.

  “Dammit! Helling doesn’t want us to kill him.”

  “I’m up,” I said as I pushed myself up from the ground. I coughed hard and felt something dribble off my lip. I hoped it wasn’t blood.

  “Come on, on your feet,” the second voice said.

  A sharp pain along the back of my head competed with the newly bruised ribs in contest of which hurt worse. I got one foot under me and stood.

  “See, I didn’t hurt him. That was just a love tap,” a greasy haired kid said. He had the distinct smell of pot and body odor mixed in equal parts.

  “Yeah, he’ll live,” said the second kid. They were kids. Neither one could have been older than twenty. At least the second seemed like he had some sense about him.

  “This way,” the second one said. “Boss wants to see you.”

  I staggered out the door they held open and into the hallway. I was definitely in the hospital, Ted had been correct.

  “To the right,” one of them said.

  I turned and walked through the dim light. The sound of our footsteps echoed off the hard, flat surfaces. Tile floors in halls wide enough for beds to roll down and ceilings full of florescent lights created the distinct sound which all hospitals had.

  I saw Ted and Anne near a doorway. They had a few guards each. Ted looked like his face was swollen and he stood slumped over.

  “Hey,” I said as I approached. They both turned to look at me and I gasped. It looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to Anne’s face. The flesh around her eye was purple and black, and her eye itself was swollen shut. Her lips were puffy and split. Flecks of dried blood trailed down her cheek and throat.

  I just stared at her. Anger welled up in me as I looked at her face.

  “That’s what a rifle butt to the face will do,” she said. “They at least had enough grace to hit you on the back of the head.”

  I reached back and touched my head. My hand found a large knot and pain shot through me. I felt the crunchy residue of blood which caked my hair.

  “What are we here for?” I asked.

  “Boss wants to see you,” one of our guards said. “He’ll decide what happens.”

  The door in front of us opened before I could respond. The guards pushed us forward and we walked into the main lobby of the hospital. To our left was the main entrance and directly across from us was a platform with a large chair on it.

  Sitting on the throne was a big man. Muscular, but with a large pot belly. He had the look of tacky opulence and exaggerated importance. Half of his face was obscured by a large tattoo of an eagle.

  “Bring the prisoners forward,” he intoned.

  If the situation wouldn’t have been so lethal, I might have laughed. He looked like a man playing the part.

  “We caught you spying on us,” he said as we were pushed toward him. “What say you to those charges?”

  I wasn’t sure who should speak or if we should say anything at all. But I had always had the problem of trying to fill silence with words, and I found myself about to tell him we were just minding our own business.

  There was the sound of gunfire and yelling just outside the main doors of the hospital.

  “Go see what that is,” ordered Helling.

  Several of his men readied their weapons as they moved toward the entrance.

  “Grenade!” someone shouted.

  I dropped to the ground about the time a massive sound drove over us.

  My ears echoed and I was dizzy as I looked up. Everyone in the lobby was on the ground, and I had double vision. I decided the best place to be was prone during some sort of attack on the compound. I was in no condition to do anything else.

  I looked over and Ted and Anne both had their arms over their heads. Ted mouthed something and I looked back to the entrance.

  About a dozen men, some in tactical armor, came into the front doors. The glass on the entryway had been completely shattered. As the men moved in further, I saw they wore the blue arm bands of the Police.

  The loud buzz in my ears was all I could hear and I was worried my eardrums had busted. I reached up and rubbed my ears and looked at my fingers. There was no blood.

  I heard footstep and turned to the sound, which was a good sign. It would’ve been hard enough to escape as horrid as I felt; doing so while deaf would have been impossible. There were more footsteps, this time walking on crushed glass. I looked over at the main doors and pulled my head up for a better look.

  Among the body-armored police, there were two men in plain clothing. One had a pistol in his hand and the other had a shotgun. Alan and Terry were being escorted in by the police.

  My ears still rang, but I heard Alan speak.

  “Helling? Helling! Look up at me.”

  “What?” Helling shouted back. His ears rang as well, I imagined.

  “That flash-bang did the trick, didn’t it?” Alan asked Terry. “We should make sure we sweep up all of those we can find.”

  Alan looked back at Helling. “Go on, get in your little chair. I’m not going to shoot you. Not yet.”

  Helling crawled back up into his seat.

  “Now we have a problem. And the last time I was here, you told me there would be no problem, didn’t you?” Alan asked. “I told you you could accept my offer or decline my offer, but to let me know one way or the other by the beginning of the year. Right?”

  Helling nodded. “We sent word.”

  “You did? Well Barthalow said you didn’t,” Alan pointed to one of the Police. “And since he accepted my offer right away, and he has a radio, he was able to let me know you hadn’t talked to him since I left. Did you lie to me, Ty?”

  “No sir, I didn’t,” the big man said.

  “I mean, we meant to send word,” Helling said.

  “Oh, you meant to send word. Right. My mistake. You can tell me now, I guess. Do you accept or reject my offer?”

  “We accept,” Helling said. His eyes fell on me and he smiled as he made eye contact.

  “But I have something that will make you happy,” he said.

  “Well I sure could use some good news,” said Alan. “I haven’t had the best week. Go on, thrill me.”

  “We caught some spies from the military. From their main base.” Helling held out a few pieces of paper. I looked behind his seat and saw our packs. They had been opened and most of our belongings were in piles behind him.

  “You caught spies?” said Alan. “I seriously doubt that.”

  “No, they have passes,” said Helling. “Here, you can see for yourself.”

  Terry walked over to Helling and took the papers. He smiled as he looked at them, and then his smiled dropped into a frown.

  “You need to see this,” he told Alan as he walked back to his boss.

  Alan looked at the paper and glared at Helling.

  “Where are they?” he growled.

  “Get ‘em up,” Helling said. He smiled and motioned in our direction.

  Hands grabbed my shoulders and I was pulled to my feet. Alan marched over to us and looked each of us in the face. He whipped back to face Helling.

  “What happened to her?” he asked.

  “She resisted and took a rifle to the face,” said Helling. He looked confused and panicked. “They were outside here. Two days ago. We caught them with the passes from the military.”

  Alan turned back to us. “I would suggest you take your hands off them right now,” he said to the guards.

  I felt the hands drop from me and heard the Southsiders take a step back. Alan looked Ted and then me in the eyes.

  “At least you’re alive,” he said.

  He walked over to Anne and handed her the shotgun. “I told you I would get it back to you. Now, is there anyone you want to shoot?”

  He looked over at Hell
ing.

  “Miller! What are you doing! We had a deal,” Helling shouted as he jumped to his feet.

  “Miller,” said Anne. “You’re Miller. Maybe I want to shoot you.”

  He tilted his head and looked at her. “Because of your friend?”

  “Yeah, because of Kenny,” Ted said. “He’s dead because of your tyranny.”

  “No, he’s not,” said Alan. “But he might be executed when I go back. I haven’t decided yet. Eight men died because of him. And you. But I owe you my life twice over, so this score is square, like I said it would be.”

  “You knew all along,” I said. “From the beginning.”

  “No. And yes. It was sheer dumb luck you were at the station when we arrived. And you were the ones who let us in. But Kenny told me about you.”

  “You tortured him,” Anne said. She tightened the grip on her shotgun.

  Alan smiled. “I was going to, but he wouldn’t shut up. He told me the whole story. All about Kenton, your pilgrimage north. The compound Ted started, all of it. I didn’t believe him, of course, I thought he had developed an outrageous, outlandish, wonderfully entertaining story. But I had business up here. I locked him up until I returned.”

  “And then you met us on the road,” Ted said.

  “Yes. And every word Dawson said was true.”

  “Who are they? What are they doing here?” Helling asked.

  Alan turned and smiled at him. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Yes,” said Helling.

  “He’s my husband,” said Lexi. She walked up behind Helling and stood staring at me. “And he’s here to rescue me.” No smile touched her face or eyes. She just stared at me with contempt.

  “Your husband?” asked Helling.

  “Looks like you found her, David,” Alan said. “I would say this isn’t the welcome you were expecting, though.”

  “Lexi. Oh my God. I can’t believe I found you,” I said.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Why would you do this? You should have just left well enough alone.”

  “What do you mean? I’m here to get you and Emma and take you back.”

  “To where? That little dirt farm of a town? And it took you this long to come get me. Did you get bored down there? Now you want me to be bored, too?”