Jerry Kozy was, to put it mildly, a fucking psychopath. His reputation earned him the nickname time bomb Jerry. Unfortunately, he was also my ex- partner. He was the most reactionary and unreasonable person ever to wear a badge. He was able to get away with his peevishness because he was a large man, about six foot inches of nasty. He carried a lot of fat on his exterior; and weighed in at about 350 pounds. He had the manners of a pig and the disposition of a pissed off badger, not the best combination for a public servant. We didn’t get along from day one, and he got me into tons of trouble with our Internal Affairs Division because of his antics. I was happy to be a witness to the incident that finally got him to resign.
We were on foot patrol in Bay View, an up and coming neighborhood. Prior to that, Bay View was a wretched hive of scum and villainy populated by less than desirable characters. Greasy spoon diners, liquor stores and check cashing places were the only businesses that could thrive in that environment. It would have stayed the low-rent neighborhood it was, but it was right next to the lake, making the property extremely valuable. Once the city realized the amount of tax revenue that could be generated if the place were remodeled, the Gentrification ball started rolling. The Police presence increased, and arrests for minor offenses became the order of the day. Then the inspectors came in and started condemning buildings where the less than desirable residents lived, forcing them out of the area for slightly less green pastures. Once the area was deemed safe, the progressives started to move in and buy the distressed properties up for nothing. The demand for services increased, and in a few short years what was once urban blight turned into quite a prestigious address. Unfortunately, the progressives had very little use for the police in general except for window dressing. They wanted us to be Nazis to those who looked cross-eyed at them, and drove their now expensive property values down, but they also wanted us to be all smiles when the public was paying attention to us. We were to keep the rif-raff at a minimum, and convince them to move on when they appeared. It was a tough place to work; we had to use our diplomatic skills, as well as our police smarts in creative ways. Jerry was about as diplomatic as North Korea, and the only tool he had in his repertoire was a hammer…which made every problem a nail.
One night, e got sent to the local Alderman’s house for a loitering complaint. Apparently, the local skater kids found that the Alderman’s alley was the perfect place to practice their tricks well into the evening. The Alderman finally had enough and summoned us to break them up and send them on their way. Jerry hated the alderman because he was a founding member of the progressive caucus in City Hall, and Jerry was politically to the right of David Duke. He grumbled all the way to the Alderman’s home about helping out “that liberal fuck," so It was decided that do all the talking.
I knocked on the door and the Alderman, Silas McCabe answered, “Ah, gentlemen, please come in.”
He led us into his home where the revelry of the skateboard kids could easily be heard coming from the alleyway.
“I don’t want to be any trouble, but those youngsters must move on for the evening. Please advise them that they are not to return or face citations.”
“I think we can do that sir.”
Jerry made his way into the kitchen, which led out into the backyard and out into the alley while I was talking to the Alderman and taking some notes, giving the him the impression that I was an efficient public servant. I could see the kids doing their tricks and making a nuisance of themselves in the darkened alley out of the rear window of the Alderman’s home as I gathered the details.
“While I was discussing some further options for the alderman to take, I heard a scuffle and my partner yelling profanities.
“Excuse me Alderman, I think my partner has made contact with the skaters.”
I proceeded out through the kitchen and entered the alley just in time to see my partner pick up one of the kids off the ground and violently throw him into a grassy patch while yelling, “This is what you get for calling me an asshole!”
The kid landed with an audible thump and a cry of pain.
My eyes grew as wide as saucers, “Jerry, what the fuck are you doing!” I tried to grab at one of his arms as he went after a second skater. He easily slipped my grip on his arm and grabbed another skater, throwing him in the direction of the first unfortunate youth. Unfortunately, the skater tripped over his feet and fell to the concrete, scraping his head and hands in the process, drawing blood and a loud cry of pain from the stricken boy.
Jerry roared like a madman and picked up a skateboard and threw it into the street, where it was run over by a car and destroyed. He stomped the three other boards left behind by the frightened skaters, breaking them all in half.
I knew what kind of trouble we were in and tried to stop my rampaging partner, “Jerry cut it out for Christ’s sake. We have to get some medical attention for these kids!”
He glared at me with madness in his eye, “These kids need to learn a lesson, and I’m going to teach it to them!”
He began to move towards the two kids on the ground, growling. I had no choice; I tackled him from behind, knocked him to the ground, and got on the radio.
“2264 to Dispatch, roll a supervisor and medical attention for two----“
Jerry threw me off his back and kicked me in the side of the head, leaving me dazed.
I heard him yell, “You fucking traitor!” from a far distance.
While I was lying in the alley, a couple of squad cars rolled up and tried to subdue Jerry. Jerry put up a fight against his fellow officers and had to be tazed by the arriving Sergeant. He succumbed to the taser with a scream, and the officers were able to handcuff him and strip him of his equipment belt. He got thrown into the patrol wagon rather unceremoniously, all the while screaming about how I was a fucking traitor, and how I would get mine.
The first boy Jerry attacked had a broken arm and several bruises, and the second boy was scraped up and had a mild concussion. Naturally, they sued and received a settlement from the city to keep them quiet.
I had no choice but to rat Jerry out in the internal investigation. After all, I wasn’t going down for his brutish and violent behavior. The other police witnesses, as well as the Alderman, reported that I had tried to stop Jerry from harming the skaters. Not wanting a full-blown criminal trial splashed all over the papers, they gave Jerry the option to resign or face criminal prosecution. He took the resignation, and then promptly got hired by his dad’s friend in New Berlin. Because he resigned, IAD couldn’t legally tell New Berlin what a fucktard Jerry was, so he started with a clean slate. I had the sneaking suspicion that Jerry didn’t forget about me and my imagined betrayal. Hopefully, time had mellowed him….but I suspected I was in for it if I came across him!
I was still musing on this new problem when I re-entered the room to comfort Simone. Simone looked stricken to the core, tears running freely down her face and occasionally sobbing.
I moved to her side and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, “How are you holding up sweetheart?”
She looked at me with red-rimmed eyes, “There’s nothing for me here anymore Ben. They were my reason for getting home. Now what am I going to do?”
“It seems Jeff is awful sweet on you, is there anything between you two?”
She sniffed “No, there was once, but it ended up hurting both of us. I won’t make that same mistake again.”
“I see, well, are you going to stay? It looks like your county needs you. I think Jeff wants you to stay as well; he needs experienced people like you to defend what little society decent people have left.”
She looked me in the eyes, “ I know Jeff wants me to stay, but I don’t think I could live with the ghosts here. I want to come with you Ben. I think I can make a life in Cambridge, can I come?”
I smiled, “If that’s what you want, you’re welcome to come with me. How are we going to break this to Jeff, we need to get the truck through Waukesha, so we need cooperative allies.”
“Leave him to me Ben, I’ll work it out with him. Let’s get ready to go, we can make New Berlin if we hump it”
We exited the conference room and found Jeff in the main office. He was discussing what appeared to be the finer points of perimeter security with one of his subordinates.
Jeff looked up, “How are you doing Simone?”
“Ok, it is a lot to absorb, but I know that you will do your best in locating the killers.”
“That’s a promise. So what’s up, I need a natural leader like you to whip these Militias into shape.”
“We’ll talk about that in a minute, have you made contact with New Berlin?”
“Yep. Ben, it looks like Jerry is pretty excited to hear from you. He says he’ll meet you at the roadblock on highway Y and Small Road bordering Muskego. He says he’ll give you safe conduct for you and your truck through town for old time’s sake.”
I didn’t believe that for a minute. “Great, I look forward to seeing him.”
Simone placed her hand on Jeff’s shoulder, “Hon, we got to talk, just you and me.” She led him back the conference room, and I stood in the command center watching all the activity buzz around me.
In about ten minutes, Simone and Jeff emerged from the conference room. Jeff looked like he got hit in the gut with a baseball bat. Just like every man looked like when their heart is broken by their one true love. Simone rejoined me followed by Jeff.
Jeff looked me over, “Simone says you want to push on to New Berlin, is that so?
“Yes Jeff, I think we can make my shelter before night falls. Thanks for your hospitality and assistance, I won’t forget it.”
“Just get your stuff and get back to Cambridge, I look forward to working with you in the future when we un-fuck this little part of the world.”
“You can bet on it Jeff, it was a pleasure to meet you.”
He led us out to the checkpoint at highway Y and watched us as we grew smaller in the distance. He turned and walked back to the command center with his shoulders slumped.
Chapter 25
Now it was my turn to put on speed. As the crow flew, it was only about six miles to my cache, so if we rode at a good pace, we would make the roadblock in about thirty minutes of riding. We were waved through the first New Berlin Roadblock without incident. Once we passed, my stomach sank, I was now within the reach of Jerry.
My guts knotted at the scenarios of meeting Jerry. Had he nursed a grudge all these years and was finally going to take revenge on me as I arrived? Was he going to kill Simone and me just to make a point? Was he going to imprison us and do all sorts of horrendous shit to us before killing us? Knowing Jerry I wouldn’t put any of those scenarios past him; he was deep down stupid and evil so we had to be as diplomatic as possible when dealing with him.
Simone interrupted my thoughts, “What are you brooding about Ben?”
I sighed, “Simone if this guy gets squirrelly, we got to gun him down. He and I had some bad blood in the past, and he's got a long memory. He might be walking me into a trap, so keep on your toes when we meet him.”
“Roger that. If he touches you he dies…..simple.”
As we were coming down the massive hill, we saw the roadblock. It was on the other side of a double rotary, which would slow down any potential traffic thanks to Wisconsin’s fetish for traffic circles. It looked pretty sophisticated; it had a zig-zag course for vehicles to go through and sandbagged emplacements with armed men inside them. We pulled up and got off our bikes.
“I’m looking for Jerry; my name is Ben Smith, I used to work with him in Milwaukee.”
“Just a minute, we’re calling him!” came the disembodied voice.
After about ten minutes of uncomfortable silence, a golf cart pulled up, and Jerry emerged from the passenger seat.
To say the years have been kind to Jerry was an understatement. Gone was the flabby exterior, replaced with the physique of Hercules. He had shaved himself bald, giving him the appearance of an evil Mr. Clean. His arms and legs were like over-developed tree trunks and he walked bowlegged thanks to the massive amount of muscle he had packed on. He left the protection of the roadblock and strode over to us in a relaxed fashion.
He stopped in front of me and looked me up and down, “How’s it going partner?” and grabbed me in a bear hug. He squeezed the breath out of me before dropping me to the pavement gasping for air. He let out a hearty laugh with just a tinge of menace to it as he hovered over me on the ground.
“It’s great to see you man, how’ve you been!”
I picked myself off the pavement, “Pretty good Jerry, this here is my friend Simone, she’s a deputy in Waukesha.”
He extended a massive hand in Simone’s direction, “Jerry Kozy, nice to meet you!”
Simone shook his hand, “Likewise Jerry.”
Jerry returned his focus to me, “What brings you to New Berlin?”
I summarized our adventures from the event to our arrival in Waukesha, explaining that I was here to get some of my stuff and then settle in Cambridge.
“I’ll be here for a little more than 24 hours and then on my way Jerry. I got a truck coming to pick up my stuff. They’ll be here tomorrow in the afternoon. We’ll be gone by 6am the next day. I hope that you can help me out by letting the truck through.
Jerry stroked his chin, “A truck? How did you get a truck running?”
“You’re going to have to ask Mitch the resident genius when he arrives. I’m sure he will share that secret with you as a form of appreciation.”
“Sounds good, where are you going in my fine little berg Ben?”
“Out to the warehouses off of Small Road, I got my cache there.”
Jerry looked me over once again and narrowed his eyes, “Yeah, I’ve heard from some of my friends in Milwaukee that you had become quite the prepper after your woman ran off on you.” He waited for a reaction to his insult.
I replied in a neutral tone, not wanting to anger the volatile giant in front of me “Well, a man has to keep busy Jerry.”
Jerry nodded, “Ok sport, you can get your stuff with my compliments…if you need anything I’m over at the Police station.”
“ That’s very generous of you Jerry, thanks for helping out.”
“What are old friends for Ben! Get out of here and get to your cache!”
Jerry swept his arm aside and led us through the roadblock. As we turned on to Small Road, I looked over my shoulder and saw Jerry’s mask slip a bit. His hatred for me burned across his face. I waved to him and acted like I didn’t notice it and made my way down the road with a churning stomach at what was to come.”
Jerry turned away from my retreating figure and snapped his fingers. A guard came running up and saluted, “Yes sir?”
“Roland, find what building our old friend Ben is in. Let his friends through tomorrow with smiles and rainbows. Once they’ve loaded the truck, we’ll kill them all except Ben and that black bitch. I want my old friend to know what the meaning of suffering is. And I want that bitch with him as my personal property; I’m going to enjoy introducing her to my kind of loving!”
He walked back to his golf cart and shouted at the driver, “Home James!” as he laughed manically into the falling evening.
We rode side by side down small road and up the hill leading to the business park. At the crest of the hill, the full park came into view. It was about 1 square mile of nothing but industrial buildings specializing in light manufacturing and warehouses. I stopped and dismounted, surveying the scene before me. Simone did the same. I looked over my shoulder and moved closer to my friend.
I whispered, “I think we’re being followed to see what building we enter. I want to make it as difficult as possible for Jerry to find us, so we’re going to ride fast down the hill and use a shortcut through that thicket of trees. The trees will shield us from prying eyes until I get us in the door to my cache.”
Simone nodded, “Ok, lead the way.”
I re-mo
unted my bike and began my descent down the hill. Halfway down the paved road I suddenly jumped off the roadway into the grass and dashed down the hill towards the northern cluster of buildings. Once I reached the corner of the block, I made a sharp right turn and shot down one of the alleys between the warehouses and stopped at a nondescript door with Simone hot on my trail. I produced a key from around my neck and slid it into a large industrial grade deadbolt. The bolt snapped open, and we were inside. I shut and bolted the door quickly and quietly as possible. We entered a hallway facing a large group of nondescriptly numbered doors with padlocks on each one. We had arrived at my cache, I hoped that Jerry’s spies didn’t catch us going in, or we had an interesting evening ahead of us.
I swept my arms around the large space, “Welcome to the treasure cave Simone! I’ll be your host, Ben Smith. Please follow me to the verandah for cocktails!” I directed her down the hall with a flourish of my arm.
We walked down the deserted hallway until we came to a room with AA123 written on it. I used the same key to enter the room and swung the door wide to take advantage of the fading light. I entered the room and flicked on the flashlight from my utility belt which illuminated a 20X30 foot room containing nothing except a couple of cots and a large garage door that could accommodate a tractor trailer. As I scanned the space with my light, I noticed a plain white envelope pinned to the wall with “BEN” scrawled across it. I opened the envelope and found that it was a letter from the man who gave me the space in the warehouse free of charge. It read:
Ben,
Well, I guess you were right; the shit hit the fan. I looked for you at your house and remembered that you were in Madison this weekend. Hopefully, you get back here someday. The advice you gave me on prepping has so far been invaluable, especially the pre 1970’s car. I was able to get here and grab the majority of my stuff before it got too hairy. Hopefully, I made it to the middle of South Dakota to my ranch to ride this thing out. I wish you well my friend, wherever you land. Thanks for being my friend and turning me on to the prepper lifestyle, you have saved me and my family!
Lights out in America's Dairyland: An EMP Adventure Page 21