Einstein examined the helmet. “I don’t know about that. I just know they use captured Americans to do the heavy lifting.”
“Then why didn’t they capture us when they had the chance?”
“Those guys we ran into weren’t collectors. They use a Fuchs and a supply wagon for that. They merely did what they came here to: take out the trash. Cannibals and others deemed undesirable are to be put down. Call it a mercy killing.”
For the longest time, no one said a word.
Quietly, Roper asked, “Why Japan? Why are they the ones here on U.S. soil?”
As all eyes looked to Einstein, who shrugged once more. “Why else? They feel we still owe them for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
“That was a long time ago.”
Einstein lowered the helmet. “Not to them. To them, it was yesterday. They’re here to collect.”
“Gay,” Omar said without affect.
Yamiguchi nodded her big helmet, which now seemed way too large for her head. “Drink. It’s very hot here.”
Omar took the bottle and downed it before handing it back to the woman.
“It is getting late. We will make camp out here if you would like to join us. Without your weapons, of course.”
“I think we’d rather just be on our way,” Omar said.
“We aren’t going to harm you. It is clear your friends are not coming back for you. Perhaps we can offer you a ride somewhere?” She said something in Japanese to her colleagues before returning her attention to the two men. “We are not the enemy, though I understand how you might think that. These suits, our weapons, all of this must seem a bit much to you, but trust me, our nations have spent thousands of hours researching the best methods for eradication.”
“Of what? The eaters and the eaten?”
She shook her head. “Of the virus and those infected with it. Many countries are attempting to make a vaccine. There are rumors that England has created a gas of some sort that shuts down the medulla oblongata and the pons.”
“The what?”
“The brain stem. The pons has been connected with sleep paralysis. If someone can create a gas that would destroy or shut down the zombies, they would become paralyzed and therefore easier to destroy. Like I said, it’s just a rumor. Anyway, please, feel free to stay with us this evening. You may have your weapons in the morning if you choose to go alone. We can even drop you off someplace. Like I said, you have nothing to fear from us. We are not the enemy.”
Omar looked at Hunter, who shook his head. “No. Don’t.”
“Could you give us a ride to Barstow?” Omar asked.
“Excellent. Then come down, we will take you there.”
“How far are we?”
“From there? Three hours. Perhaps less. It is...difficult to say with the roads as they are. Stay with us tonight. In the morning, you may have your weapons and a ride. We will not harm you. That…is not our job.”
Omar looked at Hunter, who had a deer caught in headlights look. “Can we have a second?”
“Certainly. We’ll be building fire for dinner over there,” she said, pointing. “We have food as well.”
When she was gone, Omar turned on him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“This doesn’t feel right, O. First off, Butcher would never have left us out here. Secondly, they weren’t heading for Barstow when they came shooting. They came from the other direction. And, lastly, I don’t trust her.”
“Neither do I, but right now we’re all out of exits. We have to do something. Us out here without our weapons is a death sentence.”
“I’d rather take our chances on the road, wouldn’t you? I say we run for it.”
Omar stared into the eyes of a man who rarely panicked or showed alarm...and there it was, hiding behind the flecks of yellow in Hunter’s gentle eyes: fear.
“Okay. We’ll play this one your way, pal. We’ll get our shit back and take our chances on the open road.”
Hunter heaved a sigh. “Thank you.”
When they walked back to the Jeep, Omar put a hand out to Yamiguchi. “Thank you for your hospitality, but we’d really rather have our weapons back so we can hit the road.”
Yamiguchi shook his hand and stared curiously at them. “You would rather fend for yourselves for another day or two rather than eating, sleeping, and getting a ride with us?”
Omar nodded. “Look, we appreciate you taking out the horde, but we don’t know you, don’t know why you’re wearing leather and mesh suits, don’t know when––”
Yamiguchi held up a hand. “To be fair, you’ve not really asked. Don’t you wish to know what is happening in the world since Isolation Day?”
Omar and Hunter exchanged glances. “Isolation Day?”
She nodded. “It is what the Global Tribunal calls the day of the outbreak. It is the day they cut you off from the rest of the world.”
“The who?”
Yamiguchi smiled. “There is much to share then. Please. Reconsider our offer. We’ve come to help the gay population, not hurt it.”
Omar didn’t have to look at Hunter to know his answer. “We appreciate it, but we’d rather shove off. Whatever is happening out there isn’t going to help us any.”
“So you’d rather fumble around in the darkness.”
Omar nodded. “Every day is dark. We’ll be fine. Thank you.”
Shaking her head, Yamiguchi motioned for one of the others to retrieve their weapons. “You Americans...” she said. “I knew you were stubborn. We were taught you were prideful. Arrogant. Willfully ignorant. I did not expect this attribute at all.”
“Which attribute is that? Foolishness? Stupidity? Recklessness?”
She smiled again. “No. Courage.”
Dallas
Dallas and her group made camp that night east of Barstow high up in the San Bernadino Mountains. Rations were limited, but no one was really that hungry. The news had shaken them up a bit, so she had had them pull up stakes and move away from the base before anyone noticed the hazmat guard Einstein took out was missing.
The rest of the group was growing restless. A couple of them had commented about wanting to get going on the road. They grew tired of the stops, of the detours.
Dallas couldn’t blame them. The road was always more dangerous.
Once everyone was situated around the camp, Dallas tossed Einstein some jerky and told him to continue with the rest of his story.
“Everything is in Japanese,” he explained, tearing off a piece of jerky. “Don’t know how the Koreans understand it. Maybe there aren’t that many of them, but the Japanese are clearly in charge.”
Roper warmed her hands between her legs. “You did well, kid.”
“Thanks, but...there was something...not right about the way they treated the prisoners. It was very clear that the Americans were forced labor, for lack of a better term. It...creeped me out.” He shook his head. “From what I could tell, they are here as part of a cleanup crew from some group they kept calling The Global Tribunal, or GT.”
“Yeah, tell us more about them.”
Einstein nodded slowly. “I don’t know the whole history behind it and didn’t think it prudent to ask any more questions. The most important piece of intel is that they have imprisoned Americans. This doesn’t appear to be a good thing, either.” He held up his hands. “And before any of you jump on the Japanese bandwagon, it doesn’t matter to me if they are gay or straight. I agree with Fletcher. The hostages are Americans. Period.”
“And?”
Einstein handed the helmet to Roper. “And I think we should help them.”
Everyone looked to Dallas for a response.
“I’m sorry, kid, but collecting Americans, gay or straight, is bad business. Those people could just as easily imprison us and I, for one, don’t feel too magnanimous these days to help anyone out. I mean, we can’t bring them all with us, so what are we going to do? Just release them into the desert? I don’t think so. We’ll wait for
Butcher and stay out of the way of the Asians.”
Roper stared at Dallas and shook her head. “You surprise me, love. You’re just going to turn your back on other Americans? Just walk away?”
“It’s not our battle.”
“And they wouldn’t come after us if the tables were turned,” Einstein said. “Straight Americans would leave you all to rot in there. I’m with Dallas; I say tough shit.”
Roper stared at them both. “Then what the hell are we doing here if we aren’t going to protect the U.S. from foreign invasion? Since when do we turn our back on those in need?”
“Since those you want to attack are gay. Since those you want to save wouldn’t spit on us if we were on fire. We can’t run in there, guns blazing, and kill a bunch of Asian gays who are here to clean up our country. At least someone is doing something to help us. We may not like the way it looks or the way they are treating Americans, but at least they’re being proactive.” Dallas shook her head. “I won’t kill other gays no matter what nationality they are. I’m sorry, baby, but we’re going to have to agree to disagree.”
Roper let out a loud sigh. “We don’t have to go in there and kill people, Dallas. There are other ways of getting in and out, you know?”
Dallas shook her head, suddenly feeling fatigued and disgusted. “I’m sorry, folks, but I won’t devolve into someone who kills as a first choice. There’s no reason to think those prisoners aren’t actually better off. I’ll let you all think about it tonight and we can revisit it in the morning. I’ve got first watch, West side. Ferdie will take East side.”
Once Dallas disappeared into the dark, the rest remained quiet for a long time.
Suddenly, Roper stood up. “This is bullshit. I can’t believe she’s willing to just walk away from people who need us. What the fuck was Angola about, then? What’s the point of all of this if we don’t help each other out?”
Ferdie rose and picked up the helmet to look inside. “Those Americans you want to save are the same assholes who caged women as sex slaves and cost Einstein the life of his girl. I get where’s she coming from, Roper. You can’t ask us to voluntarily put our lives on the line to save others who may or may not be Neanderthals. I won’t be part of killing gays over pieces of shit like those guys.”
Einstein’s head whipped around. “She wasn’t my ––”
“Sure she was, dude. Look. We all saw how you looked at her––how you protected her. A banana doesn’t need a label to still be called a banana. Like I said, I’m with Dallas. I won’t kill other queers to save those who wouldn’t lend us a hand.” Picking up his rifle, he slung it over his shoulder. “Besides, did it ever occur to anyone that maybe the Japanese would run a better government than ours? Thousands of years speak for itself. We died in less than three hundred. It’s something to think about.” With that, Ferdie trudged away.
Roper slowly sat back down. The silent anger was deafening.
When Fletcher finally spoke, his voice was so soft it was barely audible above the crackling of the fire. “I’ll go with you.”
Roper cocked her head in his direction. “What?”
“I know you, Roper. You won’t kill other gays, but you’re not turning your back on the Americans in there, either. I said I’ll go with you. That’s what you’re sitting here contemplating, right? I’ve been with you long enough to know that just because a conversation appears to be over don’t mean it is.”
“The two of us would be a suicide mission.”
“Would three of us be?” Einstein asked.
When Roper’s head swiveled around, he held his hands up. “I know what I just said, but I can’t let you guys go it alone. I’m not a kid anymore. I may not be the best shot, but no one can beat my support. Besides, I’m the only one who can speak Japanese. If we can get two more suits, it could be an easy in, release, and out. We could save some lives without taking any. That’s what we’re going for, right?”
Fletcher chuckled. “Never saw you as an idealist, kid. What you’re proposing––” He shook his head. “It’s probably the only way we’ll get close enough, but I wouldn’t bet we can do it without bloodshed.”
Roper studied Einstein. He was right. He wasn’t a kid anymore, and they needed to stop calling him that. He was a young man who had loved and lost just like everyone else. Now, he was willing to put his fuck it boots on and go for broke.
She wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
“We can do this, Roper.”
She turned and cast her gaze into the darkness that had swallowed Dallas up. She’d only been mildly surprised at Dallas’s position. Her lover had always been more peace-driven than everyone else, and maybe she should respect that. Maybe that single characteristic was what had prevented their group from devolving. Lord knew nearly everyone they’d come across since leaving Angola was half a notch above Cro-Magnon, and that fact had changed Dallas.
It wasn’t so much that she didn’t want to fight any longer. No, it was something different. Almost like she was tired of running, of fighting new enemies. Where Roper willingly stepped into a fight, Dallas was more pensive and thoughtful, weighing the pros and cons. Problem was, the cons were beginning to outweigh the pros and that’s why Dallas didn’t want to engage. She could no longer risk her people to save others.
Roper got that.
But was this a foolish move? Was it the right thing to do? One thing she’d learned in her twenty-seven years was that the right thing wasn’t always the best thing, and she and Dallas were beginning to disagree on which was which.
“What do you think, Roper?”
Roper looked at Einstein. She could feel the others’ eyes on her. “You’ve seen the area. Do you have a plan that’s more strategic that running and gunning?”
His eyes narrowed. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
When the word courage fell from Yamiguchi’s mouth, it was the last word she would ever utter as bullets found their way into all of the Asians sitting or standing at the Jeep. They crumpled like marionettes whose strings had been cut.
Bullets pinged off the Jeep, embedded in the ground, and continued to find their way into the suits as Omar and Hunter dove for cover.
“It’s Butcher,” Hunter said, his cheek pressed to the dirt. “I told you she’d never leave us. Asshole.”
“What else could I think? I sure as shit hope it’s her.”
“It is. Don’t you worry.”
When the shooting stopped, Omar and Hunter slowly came out of hiding with their hands in surrender.
“Let’s fucking hope so,” Omar muttered. “Or we’re fucked big time.”
It took a good two minutes for Butcher to make her way to them. “You guys okay?” she asked, her rifle still pointed at the vehicle.
Omar and Hunter looked at each other. “Uh...yeah...but...”
“Why the surprised faces? You didn’t think I’d just leave you out––” She stopped. “Oh my God, you did! You’re both are such assholes.”
“We didn’t know what to think,” Hunter said, lowering his arms. “You’ve...well...you’re a little edgy these days.”
She knelt down and slowly worked a helmet off the driver. “Help me with these. They may come in handy.”
Twenty minutes later, all of the hazmatters were piled up in only their moisture-absorbing undergarments.
“I oughtta bitch slap the two of you for even thinking I’d leave you out here,” Butcher threatened, piling the suits into the back of the Hummer. “Did you piss me off? Yes. Were you right? Yes. I let my emotions come before our safety, and for that, I am sorry. I was wrong.” She glanced around them. “Sorry it took so long to get here. It just took me a while to get a decent position to take them all out.”
“They were just getting ready to let us go.”
Butcher laughed. “You mean down the road?” She pointed toward the west, toward Barstow.
Omar and Hunter nodded.
“Yeah. There’s another military vehicle about
four clicks down the road. A transport vehicle. My guess is it’s filled with prisoners. Like what you’d be if you’d have left.”
Omar bowed his head. “Shit.”
“No harm, no foul, Omar. You said your piece, and you were right. I was foolish. Thank God it didn’t cost anyone a life. Now, let’s take their Jeep and get on higher ground. We can figure out what to do then.” Butcher jumped into the Jeep and waited for them. “You can fill me in about what you learned while I drive.”
“The Hummer?”
“Tucked away safely.”
“Luke?”
“Hanging in there. He’s tied up just in case. The kids are watching Egypt. Now,” she said as she started the engine, “who the hell are these people?”
Roper, Einstein, and Fletcher crept down to the repaired fence and quietly secured four suits without incident and without bloodshed, leaving the wearers gagged and tied inside an unused shed.
“No one talks but me,” Einstein whispered. “If anyone speaks the name on your helmet say, ‘hold on, I think I am going to be sick.’ Again, in Japanese, it sounds like ‘Tsukamatte iru. Watashi wa byōki ni naru to omou’ Fletcher?”
“Tsukamatte iru. Watashi wa byōki ni naru to omou.”
“Good. Repeat it until you have it down pat.”
They all practiced the phrase he’d taught them on the way to the base until they got it down perfectly...or as perfectly as possible with the time constraints.
“Act like you belong here. Keep your heads moving like you’re on patrol. They keep the prisoners in those barracks. Because I’m shorter, I’m going to walk right up to it, take the guards out, and exit through the back where Fletcher and you will be waiting. Once out the back, Roper will lead them through the chain link.”
“And we’re not killing the guards?”
Einstein shrugged. “As it is, getting everyone out alive is probably not going to happen. If we have to kill one of them to save dozens, then so be it.”
“Works for me,” Roper said.
“Good. Now, once you clear the fence, they have to scatter. Staying together is not an option. Send them out in groups of three...four, tops. They need to run as far and as fast as they can go.”
Pedal to the Metal (Riders of the Apocalypse Book 4) Page 9