by Nate Castle
BRAHHH BRAHHHH
The horn sounded. Logan decided he would go last, to help the others if needed.Shelby moved to a spot where the exterior railings came together at a 90 degree junction. She climbed on top of the one railing while bracing herself by holding onto the adjacent one. She took a deep breath and went for it, jumping off of the train and landing in a patch of grass. The pillows might have done a little bit to soften the fall, that was all they could ask for. Noel went next. She took the same route as Shelby. When she got onto the railing and was about to jump she suddenly slipped and dove face first towards the ground. Her saving grace was the fact that her shoe got trapped in a small crevice formed by the two railings. She was dangling head first from the railing, a mere foot from the train’s wheel.
Logan went in for the save.
I don’t think I’ll be able to lift her up unless that foot is dislodged first, I don’t want to break her foot.
He placed one arm around her waist and used the other to get her foot out. It was only Logan’s arm that was preventing her from death at this point. He hoisted her back to his side of the railing using mostly adrenaline. The rescue took about 15 seconds. They made eye contact as she was on her way up. He could see he mouth the words ‘thank you’ as tears were streaming down her face.
Lifting her back onto the railing, he said, “You got this Noel, you’re too strong to let a minor hiccup bring you down.”
With that, she jumped and this time landed at her intended target. Logan looked to his left and saw that the train had entered the bridge. This threw a new challenge into the mix. He climbed back onto the roof of the train car so he could get a better view of his surroundings.
Maybe 30 seconds until this train derails.
The only viable option was to jump from the roof and land on the wall of the bridge. Jumping into the water below would be too risky, it was maybe 100 feet down. He got into a ‘dynamic ready position’, like his high school football coach used to call it, and leaped from the roof to the wall. The wall wasn’t wide enough to stand on comfortably, so it was the equivalent of jumping and landing on a balance beam. He landed on his two feet, but the impact caused a balance shift. His reflexes were fast enough to grab ahold of the top of the wall with his hands.
All that danger and no one even saw it.
6
Cage The Beast
“Arrivals are today, let’s get fired up,” General Kaplan said to a group of people he had chosen to be in charge of various tasks.
By 12pm the planes started landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National. The General wasn’t given too much information except that quite a few planes would be arriving today from various places in Europe and on the planes were volunteers that were going to help with the rebuilding and/or war efforts as needed.
The planes came in as scheduled, ten planes in total carrying an average of 300 passengers per plane. The DC crew had only managed to get two old buses up and running so they had to shuttle the arrivals on multiple runs to get all of them to the White House. Once at the White House, President Taylor had them assemble on the lawn so he could address them.
“Thank you all for coming here, your bravery and good hearts are second to none and we truly appreciate it. We will fill you in on more details tomorrow. Today my crew will be building bunks and/or setting up tents for all of y’all.”
The leader of the group spoke up, he had a German accent, “Thank you Mr. President. Fellas, I think we should assist these fine gentleman with building the bunk beds, what do you say?”
There was a unanimous ‘Here Here’ from the group.
The majority of the beds were to be built and located in a warehouse across the street. It had been emptied out of all its contents prior to the Europeans showing up. The group marched over to the warehouse, like they were apart of an army and found the Americans that had already begun manufacturing the beds.
Clyde woke up that morning with curiosity; he wanted to find out more information about this organization. Shutting the water back on was a start, but it wasn’t satisfying enough. He began browsing through the hard drive of the computer and found a lot of fascinating information. He perused through a member directory and found himself thinking a couple times Damn I know that guy, he really took a turn for the worst
Another thing that caught his attention was a map that depicted different territories in the US; they were color coded. Upon examining the legend, he determined that the green territories were ones that this organization already had control of the water supply in, the red ones were areas that they desired to take control of, and the yellow ones were for whatever reason not in the equation. It was almost like they predetermined that in certain areas of the country it wouldn’t be worth taking over the water supply.
What was this organization’s outcome goal?
He kept browsing and found an application called, StewardX. This must have contained extra sensitive information because it was password protected, possibly even fingerprint protected as well. Clyde didn’t ever back down from a challenge, so he began his attempt at hacking the program.
There was a knock at his door.
Clyde stood up slowly from his chair, possible scenarios were playing in his head, none of them good. He opened the door for a tall man in a grey suit with a yellow shirt. He looked like he just come back from the high roller’s room at a casino. Clyde had a heavy duty screen door that still stood between him and the man, but they could see each other.
“Hello sir, is your name Jeremy?”
Clyde wasn’t used to being called that.
“What might your name be big hoss?”
“That’s not your concern at this time. What is your concern though is that, I believe you have something that belongs to us. We would like that item back,” the man said.
“Ok listen bud, you’re gonna have to be a bit more specific than that. You give me some transparency and I’ll reciprocate,” Clyde said.
He opened the screen door and went onto the porch, this was part of his strategy. He stuck out his hand for the man to shake. Clyde was very observant. When the man stuck out his hand, his suit jacket lifted up just enough so that Clyde could see a pistol protruding out from the man’s pants.
Now I know what we’re dealing with here. This guy is unlikely to play nice.
“You have a computer of ours, does that ring a bell?” the man said.
“It doesn’t. My name is Clyde by the way but I do know of a Jeremy that used to live in one of the apartments next door, maybe that’s who you’re looking for?”
“No, I’m positive I have the right location.”
“Would you like to come in, I’ll make you a cup of coffee? We can try to figure out this misunderstanding?”
“That will not be—-“
“OH MY, WHAT IN THE HELL IS—“ Clyde said with authority, interrupting the man’s sentence.
That, combined with the terrified look on Clyde’s face, forced the man to look behind him. It was all an act. This gave Clyde just a small enough window of opportunity. He opened the screen, lunged at the man’s knees and uprooted him like a wrestler going for a takedown. Except, he didn’t take the man down; instead he used the momentum to spin the man around in his arms a few times before shot-putting him over the ledge beyond the railing. The ‘finishing move’ only took about three seconds and looked like something straight out of those Fast and Furious movies.
The man hit the pavement below hard. Clyde didn’t want to take any chances, so he grabbed the first thing he could find in his apartment and did his signature move over the staircase (rather than running down the stairs) before the man a few hard whacks in the head with a spec tennis paddle. Clyde has taken up spec tennis this past year because he found it more exciting than the similar sport of paddle tennis that used to be big in Southern California.
Really Clyde, you hit the guy with a paddle, you couldn’t have found a knife or hammer or something that resembled a weapon?
&nb
sp; After the deed was done, he emptied the man’s pockets; any info he had about this guy might come in handy later. He hustled back up to his apartment and started packing a bag. Not sure of his next destination yet, but he knew he couldn’t stay.
I have to get the hell out of here. They must have tracked me when I using the computer.
“What’s the progress?” General Kaplan said.
He was in the warehouse checking to see how the bed production was coming along.
“It’s coming, but to be honest, I would have preferred just my crew on this. Having the Europeans helping us is making everything more difficult, it is crowded in here with people running into each other, actually slowing the process down. Also, we’re having to teach most of them how to do everything, it’s like they’ve never swung a hammer before,” said Aaron, who was considered the project manager on a lot of the White House projects.
“Well shit, let me get them out of your way then,” General Kaplan said.
He put two fingers up to his lip and let out a fierce whistle that immediately got everyone’s attention.
“All foreign mates, head to the cafeteria, it’s lunchtime,” he said, and one by one they started filing out of the warehouse, leaving Aaron and his team of thirty others to finish the job.
“Thanks boss, I owe you a beer,” Aaron said.
The General nodded and before leaving the warehouse himself said, “Now remember Aaron, these beds don’t have to be much, they just need to be able to serve the purpose. Right now you got them all looking better than most beds on the market.”
“I take pride in my work. I didn’t want to a half ass it, you know what I mean?” Aaron said.
General Kaplan nodded again in agreement, but his concern was that the beds wouldn’t be completed soon enough. He walked from the warehouse to an underground tech lab, where a few guys and gals with headsets on were watching something on five large projector sized screens.
“Now without overloading me with too much info like y’all tend to do, please tell me do we have any developments?” he said.
Christina, who he had grown quite fond of because she was a straight to the point kind of lady said, “Have a look at this.”
She cued up a video which showed security footage from in front of a building in San Francisco.
“When played in slow motion, that’s the only way you notice it. At normal speed, it’s hard to detect.”
She was referring to a pinkish light that appeared to strike the pavement and then almost immediately, the cars that were in motion shut down.
“This same sort of pink light can be seen in a lot of different video feeds.”
She pulled up a scene from Chicago, then Little Rock, and then Reno, just to prove her point. They all had the pink lightning bolt that struck the ground prior to the cars being disabled.
“This is huge Christina, solid work. I’ll be back later on to chat more,” General Kaplan said.
He Ieaned in close and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
What the heck, you only live once right?
He was testing the waters to see what her reaction would be and if it was a pleasant one he would try to get things going with her. He estimated that he was a good 15 years old than she was, but stranger things have happened for sure.
She looked neutral following the kiss, which is not the reaction he was hoping for; it meant he probably wouldn’t push his luck. He exited and went directly to the President’s quarters.
President Taylor was speaking with a representative from the European team, so Kaplan waited outside of the room. The European nodded in passing and Kaplan entered.
“What’s up buddy? Can I get you anything, a stiff drink perhaps?” President Taylor said.
“Yes please, surprise me,” General Kaplan said.
President Taylor opened a cabinet that contained many bottles of fine liquor and after a minute, stirred up his creation. General Kaplan briefly told him about the pink lightning bolts that Christina showed him.
“Jesus, we might be in over our heads here Kap. One theory is there is a new sheriff in town. And by sheriff I mean new alien species besides the Zyrgians,” the President said.
7
Gravitational Pull
Clyde had made a promise to himself that if he ever went on a long road trip, long meaning twelve hours of driving time or more, he would do it on a motorcycle. Now was his opportunity. He remembered his formed neighbor Eddie who had one day come home with a shiny new Indian motorcycle.
That must have been at least eight years ago. I wonder if he still has that bike.
At his apartment complex, each unit was allocated a small garage. Many of the residents used the garage space as storage and just found parking on the streets. Clyde went to the garage labeled ‘203’ and tried the door handle. It was locked, so he went and got a power drill from his own garage, attached the sharpest bit he could find and went to town on Eddie’s garage door lock. The bit went through no problem and so now Clyde was able to raise the garage door due to the absence of the lock.
In the corner of the garage, there was something under a moving blanket. Sure enough it was the Indian bike. Clyde couldn’t remember if the government had recalled motorcycles too when everyone had to turn in their cars and upgrade to new government approved models, and if Eddie had kept his motorcycle to be a rebel. Either way, the bike was here now and it likely hadn’t been disabled by the attack.
Clyde fired it up and after a few attempts it was running like a champ. He transferred the contents from his duffel bag to the saddle bags on either side of the rear fender and took off.
I sure hope I get to see this place again
He meant the Redondo Beach area in general, he could care less about the apartment.
Clyde knew how to handle the bike from his work experience on the movie stunt crews. One thing that could present challenges on this trip was fuel. The gas stations would be hit or miss, some would have gas, others would have been looted. He pulled off to a Chevron station on his right on Sepulveda Blvd and parked it at a pump. A man came out of the office.
What the heck is this about?
He’d had enough action for one day and hoped he wouldn’t have to get in another confrontation. The man before he even got to Clyde said, “That’ll be $22 per gallon sir.
Is he insane that’s more than five times a normal price. Stay calm, Clyde, use your brain on this one.
The man looked out of place, it took him a minute to realize why; he was dressed way too nice in an Armani suit to be a gas station attendant. Clyde thought of an idea and let it fly.
“I’m with IHL, so surely I won’t be charged?”
IHL was the name of the corrupt organization that took over the water and the prescription drugs, and apparently now was trying to gain a monopoly on gas as well. He had seen the IHL logo on one of the computer screen savers when he broke into the Northrop Grumman building.
“Oh yes of course, my bad brother,” the man said. He lifted the pump and began to fill the bike with gas.
“Where ya headed?”
“To Texas, I’m overseeing a CBX down there,” Clyde said. His story was a lie but the man believed it because he threw in a common term used at the IHL.
“Well safe travels, and again it was nice meeting you,” the man said and Clyde got back on the road.
This is bigger than I thought, these suckers are trying to capitalize from every angle they can. I’m sure glad that he believed my BS story about working for the the IHL though.
They were all relieved to see that everyone made it off the train without too much harm. Logan had a few scrapes and cuts that had developed from his landing on the rock wall.
“Oh no babe are you hurt?” Shelby ran over to Logan.
“It looks worse than it is,” Logan said, confident that he wouldn’t need medical assistance.
“Phew that was a close one. I can’t thank you enough for saving my life back there. And also putting
your own life at an even greater risk,” Noel said and gave Logan a friendly kiss on the cheek.
“Well now we’re back to square one,” Hank said in a laughing tone, “They never said it would be easy.”
“Let’s find a main road and first find out where we are, and then determine our next move,” Logan said.
“We should try to call DC again, maybe by now they’ve found out a way to come pick us up. Our luck with traveling right now is just not working out,” Shelby said.
Hank had a good sense of direction and a knack for not staying ‘lost’ for too long, so they let him lead the way.
Are we near the Appalachian Mountains, it seems so isolated out here
They walked for close to twenty minutes before reaching what would be considered a major road, if people were driving.
“Roanoke, Virginia. Wow, that train took us in a roundabout way, but at least we got somewhat closer to DC I guess,” Noel said.
“What’s your ETA?” Shelby said.
“Less than five hours.”
They followed Hank into an abandoned diner called Lucinda’s Top of the World. There were many items to choose from in frozen storage. Hank didn’t waste any time throwing a bunch of ingredients together into a pot and cooking up a big scramble for everyone. Logan meanwhile got ahold of someone in DC, using the landline phone behind the cashier’s desk.
“We’re in the clear. They are sending a plane to get us, It should be here in 90 minutes. The only catch is that we have to meet them at the airport,” Logan said.
“That must mean it’s a big plane that can’t land just anywhere. I wonder what those DC boys have up their sleeve?” Hank said.
A few minutes later they were sitting at a booth enjoying Hank’s cooking. It was the first real meal they’d had for a few days; everything else was either protein bars or meal replacement drinks.