by Chris Hechtl
“Yeah boss,” Tater said with a nod.
“And another thing,” Shane said pointing to a house nearby. It was pretty overgrown with alien plants, but he could see something had covered the windows from the inside. The front door looked like it was hanging from its top hinge.
“Yeah?” Tater said turning. He grimaced as he shaded his eyes and caught sight of the door. “Um, okay, so I don't need to knock down that one,” he muttered.
“More than that, as soon as you're done here I want you to get your potato gun and shoot out every window and skylight you can in that place. Something tells me its a big nest,” Shane said.
“Shit,” Tater said shaking his head. “How the hell can I get to the skylights from the outside boss?”
Shane pointed to the trucks. “Get someone to pull up to the curb then climb on top. That should give you the elevation you need.”
“Just don't scratch the paint,” Bobby joked. Tater shot him the finger. Bobby snorted.
“Jer,” Shane said looking around.
“Yo!” the outside assistant foreman said waving a hand.
“Get a crew to check this growth. Pics for doc and the eggheads then take a chain saw and a mulcher to it,” he ordered.
“Sure thing,” the foreman said nodding and slapping his hands together. “Larry, Moe, you heard the man. Find Curly and get your asses in gear!” he said pointing his gloved hand over his shoulder to the worst of the growth.
“Just clear paths to get in and out fellas!” Shane yelled. He turned to Tater and the team. Tater was set up by the door. He nodded, ready to swing the big, heavy bar.
“Go for it,” Shane said, putting his helmet on.
“Let's rock and roll!” Tater said with a grin and mighty swing. The door cracked but didn't break right away. It took a second swing before it was open. Tater stepped back as the point team moved in.
“Go go!” he said, stepping back and dropping the door opener and heading to the truck. Shane handed him his potato gun as he passed.
“Thanks honey,” Tater joked.
“Sure dear,” Shane said shaking his head and getting down to work.
...*...*...*...*...
Spencer noticed the guy, a bit of a shambling wreck moving slowly along the edges of the room towards the line. He nodded his chin to Kendra. When the girl didn't catch his sign, she was after all scanning the crowd, he touched his mike twice.
The double click made every guard in the room look at him. He nodded to the guy looking out of place.
Kendra pursed her lips and then leaned her head to the side and spoke quietly into the mike. “Transient boss. I've seen him once or twice before.”
“Shit,” Spencer sighed. So much for a slow day. He started over to the guy.
The guy caught the movement and stopped then started to back into a corner, out of the way.
“Hey, um, you okay man?” Spencer asked, keeping his hands where the guy could see them, near his utility belt.
“I'm... its the voices...”
“Shit,” Spencer sighed mentally. “Really?” he asked as Kendra came over behind him to back him up. “I've got a bet some of our people would love to hear it.”
“The voices,” the guy said, eyes wild, darting around as he realized he was cornered. He licked his lips. “The voices...”
“Okay, let's just see if we can help you with that,” Spencer said, noting the room was quieting and people nearby were backing out of the area. “Don't panic him,” he said quietly touching his mike.
“Medic, we need a team in the food court,” Kendra said into her mike. “Code Charlie,” she said.
“Look, why don't we go somewhere quiet where you can tell me about the voices and we can get you some food and water okay?” he asked gently, eyes on the man. Slowly the man sank to the floor in a puddle of misery, hugging his knees in a fetal position.
...*...*...*...*...
“At least he wasn't violent,” Adrienne said sleepily as she listened to the report. Spencer had finally chased Bill and Ross off an hour ago to go to bed so he was justifiably reluctant to wake either guy. But damn, one cup of decaf tea didn't cut it for her. Not to mention that she hadn't even had it yet.
“No, but he could have been. How the hell did he get in here?” Spencer asked, shaking his head.
“Any intel on him?” She asked, scratching an itch. Her skin was dry. Hell; everyone's skin was dry.
“Doc says he's a transient, homeless guy with moderate paranoid schizophrenia.”
“Lovely,” Adrienne sighed. She tried to fight a yawn but eventually gave in.
“Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up,” Spencer said.
“Its okay, its what? One?” Adrienne asked.
Spencer checked his watch and then nodded. “Close enough,” he said.
“Boss will be in in a couple of hours so I might as well get an early start on things. Anything else?”
“What do we do about this guy?” Spencer asked.
“Let doc deal with him. He'll get some meds into him and he'll be functional I hope,” Adrienne said with a shrug.
“Really?” Spencer asked skeptically.
“Sometimes the world really is out to get you, hell, he might be the sanest person here in another year or so,” she said with a head shake. She stretched, arms wide. “Fear and paranoia are survival traits.”
“Yeah well, that's no way to live,” Spencer said shaking his head.
“Seen the world outside the perimeter lately?” Adrienne asked with a snort. She waved. “Write it up and then get some down time.”
...*...*...*...*...
Shane nodded to the group of kids as his team unloaded. “What's up?” he asked. He'd seen the gathering of kids and adults outside the motor pool when they'd pulled through the gates and it had him curious. He pulled his headset off and stretched his neck and shoulders.
“A bit of a meet and greet,” Tamara said with a smile, resting her hands on the shoulders of a little girl in a red sun dress. The little girl looked up at Tamara and then looked at him. After a brief inspection she fell into a shy routine he recognized right away. She was even sucking her thumb, something he was pretty sure she was too old to be doing.
“Nice to meet you all,” Shane said, nodding to the group. Tater came around the side of the truck and nodded, crossing his arms. “This is Tater, I forgot his real name,” Shane said by way of introduction.
Tater snorted. “Sure you did boss. Name's Johnathan. Just call me Tater, I'm used to it by now,” he said.
“Right,” Shane said with a nod. He returned his attention to the group.
“I've got a kid just like you,” the big guy said, pointing to a little boy in the back. “Name of Tater tot. Any of you in the same class as him?” he asked looking around. The kids snickered.
“Why do they call you Tater?” the little girl asked looking at Tater curiously.
He smiled down at her and tipped his hat back. He was wearing a cowboy hat he'd picked up this morning. It didn't quite fit, but he seemed to like it. The peacock feather on one side probably had something to do with that. “Cause I work the potato gun,” he said with a grin.
“What's a...” the girl wrinkled her nose.
“Potato gun?” he asked. He reached into the truck and pulled out the improvised air weapon. It was a long piece of PVC with a torch on the end. “See, we put something in the barrel, that's the pipe. Then pull the trigger and whoom!” he said making a recoil motion. “Off it goes. See, people used to use this to launch potatoes. I liked it and well...” he shrugged.
“That's a waste of food,” the girl said after a moment.
“Yeah well, it was before the... well, you know,” Tater said putting the gun away. He looked a little sheepish.
“Right. Now he doesn't shoot potatoes with it, he shot other stuff. Stuff that can smash windows or spread fire where we want it.”
“Oh,” the little girl blinked and then hid in the shadow of the day care lad
ies.
Tamara looked down at the little girl and smiled. She felt the little girl's hands curl around her finger and stroked her hair with her free hand. “We're here because Molly and the others are still having trouble sleeping,” she said, looking at Shane.
“Ah,” he said nodding. “Boogy men?”
“Monsters,” a little boy said. Shane looked at him. The kid was rail thin, with dark circles around his eyes.
“Yeah well, you see the people around me? We go out to kill the monsters during the day,” Shane said, carefully modulating his voice to project confidence without overpowering the kids. He waved a hand to indicate his squad who had slowed their unload to listen. “See them? These folks know what they're doing. They kill the aliens all the time.”
The kids and adults looked a the squad. A few of the squad wiggled fingers in hello or hey there signs. “But at night...” the little kid said and then quivered.
“Well... at night we have to sleep too, just like you,” Shane said, smiling a little. He turned and motioned for them to follow. The group watched him until he turned and made hurry up motions. Quickly Tamara goosed her charges into motion.
They caught up with him as he slowed, walking to the nearest outer wall. A few of the kids were hanging back. He looked back to see Tater and a few of the squad scooping them up and putting them on their shoulders or on their backs.
“Now, see... we've got a bit of a climb here. Watch it,” he said pointing to the ladder. “Or... No, better yet...” he looked around and then nodded. “Come on,” he said changing directions. He headed for the nearest gate. They passed through it and then on around the bend and up the slight hill to the outer wall.
“Where we going?” Tamara asked, huffing a little. He snorted. “A bit of walk is good but I'm well...”
“Tired? You and me both, but I think we need to illustrate this a bit for the kids,” he said. It took them a minute or two, but they finally got to where he'd set out for, to the gate. He nodded to the guards and pointed to them and the top of the wall. “See them?” he asked, turning in place.
The gang caught up to him and looked up to see the four men and women standing there looking down at them. One poked the other two and then turned to look out beyond the gate. After a moment the third nodded to Shane and returned his attention to the outside.
“These are the gate keepers. They watch over the gate and this section of the wall.” He pointed to the large wall. It was still improvised with pieces of shipping containers and concrete, but it was over 10 meters tall and it looked quite sturdy. “Now, to get in...” he waved. “Yo!” he said.
“What?” the guard leader asked turning to him. “Sir.”
“Can you open the gate? We're going to take a look.”
“Sure, nothing's going on. Nothing is around. Its safe,” the guard said. He nodded to the others and the door creaked open.
“Now, we're going to peek outside and then come right back in,” Shane explained. A few of the kids were trembling. He pointed to Tater and then the others. “See? We're here, its safe,” he said.
Tater gave him a dirty look but didn't say anything as they went through the gate. On the other side he started to point to the various defenses as the kids got their bearings.
“Any of you see a castle?” he asked turning back to them. A teen raised a hand and then lowered it. He nodded. “Anyone else?” he asked. When they just shuffled around but didn't look at him just each other he nodded. “Okay, well, what we're turning the mall into is a castle. A fortress. This is the start,” he said. “This,” he said wrapping the outer wall with a fist. “This is our outer curtain wall. Its actually one of the last lines of our defense,” he explained.
“It is?” a kid asked looking at the trenches and rows of spikes and barb wire. “So this is a moat?” he asked pointing to the broad trench. It was about four meters wide and five meters deep. Right now it was lined with plastic and it had a little water on the bottom. Not much though.
“Got it in one,” Shane said with a nod and smile. “See, the aliens that come here will get a shock if they touch that outer fence,” he pointed to a chain link fence in the outermost layer, twenty meters from the outer wall. “We've ripped up the street and houses so we can protect this area better.”
“Which was a pain,” Tater sighed. Tamara and an adult gave him an amused look. He shrugged. “Well, it was. Glad I wasn't in on it,” he said.
Tamara pursed her lips as the guy snorted. Shane shook his head. “See, if any alien pops over that fence then its got this barb wire to contend with. That'll rip them all up and get them all tangled. If they get past that... Well then there are all these traps here,” he pointed to a blank looking area just in front of the moat. “All sorts of nasty things there. Anything that gets in that area is going to get either burned or blown up or shot,” he said. He pointed to the men and women on the wall. His audience turned to look at the wall. “See?” he said. He gave the guys and gals on the wall the thumbs up. One of them returned it with a nod. That helped the audience settle a bit. Good.
“What are we looking at... oh the guns?” the teen asked.
“Right,” Shane said with a nod. “We've got fifty cals up there, among other things. Anything that gets close and won’t turn from the electric fence will get shot. It'll get so filled with holes we can use it as a colander,” he explained.
“Don't you think we should get back inside?” Tamara asked nervously looking at the setting sun.
“We're fine,” Shane said looking at the sun then looking away. “Plenty of time. We've got an hour before sunset. The aliens don't come out much during the day,” he explained. He pointed to the wall. “These people up there, they are there to make sure none of the aliens get through,” he said. He pointed to the spikes sticking out of the ground at an angle. “Anything that charges this and gets over the moat is going to spear itself on those,” he said.
“I see what you mean,” Tamara said nodding.
“Okay, now, everyone see what they want to see?” he asked looking around. When the gang nodded he motioned for them to file back through the gate. When they did the gate keepers closed it. He ignored the dirty look the gate keeper was shooting his way. “Now,” he said motioning for them to follow. “If say, something flies in, or gets past all that...” He pointed back to the mall. They were all focused on the mall and its inner wall. Good.
“What you're seeing is the defenses on the mall. We've got cameras and guns and stuff all over the place. Both on the inner wall and on the mall itself.”
“Yeah that's another thing,” Bobby said, hefting a girl on his hip. He tweaked her nose and then pointed under her chin and then up to the light they were near.
“Right, see all the lights? Aliens hate lights. They freak when they get lit up. Hate it, hate it, hate it!” Wendy said with a grin.
“Right,” Shane said. “Which is why we've got spotlights on the wall and light traps all over the place. When the aliens get hit with light they freak. They run away with their tails between their legs.”
“Which is why you can see the electric fencing around the lights,” Bobby said, bouncing the girl.
“Exactly. Now, you see them?” he pointed to a pair of SUVs slowly going around the perimeter. They looked and then looked back to him and nodded.
“Right, that's a fast reaction team. If anything is going on they get to the area and help stop the aliens if they need to. Think of them as firemen.”
“We also have flame throwers and all sorts of goodies,” Tater said with a nod. He snorted as the lead truck pulled up and rocked to a stop. After a second Bill climbed out of the passenger seat.
“What's up Bill?” Shane asked with a wave.
“I was going to ask you the same thing. Got a radio call you were out here,” Bill said.
“And that's another thing,” Shane said, turning to the class. “We've got radios so we can call each other and let people know what's going on or if we need help. S
o you see, its not that bad here folks, you can sleep. We've got it covered.”
“But just the same, if you want to sleep with a night light, I wouldn't blame you. The aliens hate them. Really hate them,” Tater said, tickling a girl. She giggled and hugged him. He smiled softly, stroking her hair.
“That's not a problem. Not at all,” Shane said with a nod. “We've got to have night lights anyway for people to get around and see and not trip over each other.”
“Thank you,” Tamara said, nodding to him and then to the class. “I think we've seen enough. Does anyone have any questions?”
The girl in the red dress looked up at him. He smiled down at her and she turned away, blushing. “Okay squirt, out with it, what do you want to know?” he asked.
She flinched. Tamara ticked her a little but she shook her head and buried her face in Tamara's leg. Tamara looked up with a half shrug and smile of apology. “She's shy. Her mom and dad didn't...” she grimaced.
“Ah,” he said with a nod, feeling a pang. “I see,” he said slowly. “Well hon', you've got my word and the word of all the smelly big men and women here that we'll do our best to make sure nothing gets you. Okay?” he asked. She nodded.
“What about the weapons? Do you have rocket launchers?” a voice asked. He turned and snorted as Tater grinned.
“Dude, do we have rocket launchers? Are you kidding me? We've got some wicked ones, just wicked!” Tater said. The big guy was practically hopping. “I so wanted to carry one but they won’t let me for some reason,” he pretended to pout. A few of the kids and adults snickered.
“Dur, like we're going to let you blow holes in the walls. Its bad enough you've got that tater gun,” Bobby said on cue. Shane smiled as a few of his squad rolled their eyes and nodded.
“Right,” Shane said. “We keep most of the rocket launchers for defense right here.” He pointed to an RPG mounted on Bill's roof rack. “See?” he said. “RPG. I tell you what, if any of you have questions about weapons or other stuff, ask Tamara or your teacher to e-mail us or Kyle or Ross. If enough of you e-mail, I'll see if I can get a couple of people to show you the guns and how they work. Vehicles too,” he said. “That okay with you?” he asked them.