by Robert Boren
“Lovely,” Connie said. “Sounds like a risky trip.”
“Patrick just died,” Dr. Grace said.
“Oh no,” Connie said, tears coming down her cheeks.
“Sorry, nothing I could do,” Dr. Grace said.
“What should we do with the body?” Connie asked.
“We’ll bring it to the park for now,” Sam said. “Put it in the walk-in freezer.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’d suggest,” Dr. Grace said, “but we need to wrap it up good.”
Dr. Grace, Sid, and Sam carried the body to the back of Sid’s Jeep.
“I’ll lock up the gate,” Sam said.
“Already on it,” Connie said, holding up the big padlock.
Sam watched Sid drive away, and then helped Connie into the Tigr. “You okay, honey?”
“I’m pretty far from okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
They drove back to the RV Park and pulled up in front of the office, then rushed over to help Sid and Dr. Grace move Patrick’s body into the clubhouse kitchen. Sam unlocked the padlock on the walk-in freezer.
“Wait,” Connie said. “I’ve got some plastic sheeting.” She went into the pantry on the right and grabbed the big roll. It took about ten minutes to wrap Patrick up. “Careful, or the cover will tear.”
They lifted him and put him inside the freezer. Sam locked it back up.
“What now?” Connie asked.
“It’s not even two in the morning yet,” Sam said. “We should try to get a little sleep.”
“Doubt if I’ll be able, but it’s worth a try,” Yvonne said. Sid shrugged and followed her out the door of the clubhouse.
“I’ll sleep in the clubhouse, near the TV so I can keep an eye on the main camera,” Clem said.
“Okay, but try to get some sleep,” Dr. Grace said. “We’re getting a bit old for this kind of thing.”
“Let’s go back to bed, sweetie,” Connie said. Sam nodded, and they left for the office, going back into their residence behind it. John and Sarah left too, leaving Clem and Ryan alone in the clubhouse. Ryan was fast asleep after the pain meds kicked in. Clem sat in front of the TV screen and watched the night-vision image, not looking tired at all.
***
Sid and Yvonne climbed into their trailer. Sid sighed as he dropped himself onto the couch. “I don’t know if I can get to sleep.”
“I know,” Yvonne said. “I just wanted to be alone with you.”
“Something on your mind?” he asked.
She looked at him and trembled, breaking into sobs. He got up and rushed to her.
“Oh, sweetie,” he said. “I’m so sorry you had to see all that.”
“It isn’t the bloody bodies. I’m glad those cretins were killed. We can’t stay here. If we do we’re as good as dead.”
“I know,” he said. “Where do we go?”
“The reservation?” she asked.
“You think that’ll be safer than here?” Sid asked. “Hell, the UN will pay them a visit eventually. Some of my relatives don’t take too kindly to outside control.”
“I know,” Yvonne said, “but this is a death trap. We should take the people from your tribe with us.”
“There’s only a few, and they’re infirm,” Sid said. “They won’t go anyway. All of them have bad blood with the tribal leaders. That’s why they’re here.”
“Do you have bad blood?” Yvonne asked.
“No,” Sid said. “I made sure of that. We’ve visited there, remember?”
“I know, but we only spent time with your mom and your brothers. Not with the community at large.”
“We don’t have anything to worry about,” Sid said, “but I’d better call first to make sure it’s not worse there than it is here.”
“Do it in the morning,” she said. “Can you spend some time with me? Then maybe I can go to sleep.”
“I’m with you now,” he said. She looked back at him, tilting her head and smiling. Sid got a sheepish look on his face. “Oh. Yeah, I’d like that too. C’mon.”
They went into the bedroom, undressing each other as their passions rose.
“I love you so much,” Yvonne said, hugging him, their naked bodies touching. She started to cry.
“What?” Sid asked.
“I’m so afraid we’re going to lose each other,” she said. “I couldn’t take that.”
“We won’t,” Sid said. He kissed her tenderly, and they got onto the bed, ravishing each other until they fell apart, exhausted and sleepy. They slept until mid-morning, the sunlight hitting Sid’s face through the side window. He felt for Yvonne. She wasn’t there, making him panic until he heard her in the kitchen.
“Oh, good, you’re up,” she said as he walked towards her. “Careful, I’ve got the blinds up. Better put something on.”
“Oh yeah,” he said. “That was nice last night.”
“Don’t talk about it,” she said, shooting him an embarrassed smile.
He chuckled and went back into the bedroom to get dressed. He could smell bacon and eggs cooking. “That smells great,” he said as he came out and sat in the dinette.
“Hope you like it,” she said. “Remember what we talked about last night?”
“Going to the reservation?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m not as scared now. We should talk about it some more.”
“Changed your mind already?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe. I kept thinking about all the people we’d be leaving behind.”
“I think we ought to chat with Sam and the others about it,” Sid said. “Maybe we can leave together.”
“The reservation would take all of them?”
“I don’t want to go back there,” Sid said. “I left there for a reason. We ought to go someplace else. Maybe northeast. There’s a lot of places that have more than one way in. We’ve camped at some of them before, remember?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Sierra foothills, for instance.”
“Exactly,” he said. “Maybe we could head there. I still have friends living in that area.”
“I like what you’re saying, but there’s fear in your eyes,” she said, setting a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. She turned to grab hers and sat down across the table from him.
“It shows?” He took a bite. “Mmmmm, this is great.”
“Out with it,” she said.
“I’m afraid of the road,” he said. “I’m afraid of who we might run into. It might be worse than just staying here.”
“You’re leaning towards sticking around?” Yvonne asked, searching his eyes.
There was the sound of wheels on gravel outside. Sid pushed up the blind on the window next to the table and looked. “People leaving.”
“Close ones?” Yvonne asked, straining her neck to see through the window in the direction Sid was looking. “To our group, I mean.”
“No,” Sid said. “That’s one of the troublemakers.”
Yvonne laughed. “You mean one of the people who didn’t want guns out?”
“Yeah,” Sid said. “Look, there’s more leaving. Over by the back end of the park.”
“That woman,” Yvonne said. “The one who doesn’t like campfires.”
“Good riddance,” Sid said. They finished their breakfast while watching other people getting ready to leave.
“We should go talk to Sam and Connie,” Yvonne said. “See what’s up. Maybe they decided to leave.”
“That thought has crossed my mind,” Sid said. “You see how upset Connie was last night?”
“Yeah, I did. She’s a strong woman, but what happened last night really got to her.”
“I’ll do the dishes later,” Sid said. “Let’s go.”
Yvonne nodded, and they went out into the bright morning, heading towards the office as more people drove out the gate.
Chapter 2 – Saladin
The cell was lit by a single stark lightbulb, the dank air heavy. Three men were sleeping on c
ots hung by chains against three walls. The fourth wall was bars, thick with multiple layers of paint. The hot Sacramento sun warmed the cellblock.
A door creaked open and a man in the CHP Chief uniform walking into the hallway. He stopped at the cell and looked at the sleeping men, then laughed. “Hey, Saladin, get over here.”
A man walked up. He was in traditional Muslim garb, white and flowing, long beard down to the midpoint of his chest. “Why do you keep everybody alive in this country, Chief Smith? I would have killed them already.”
Chief Smith looked at him and shook his head. “You think everybody’s just going to snap to, don’t you?”
“You did,” Saladin said, not looking at him.
“I rounded them up because they were bucking the Governor and the Administration,” Chief Smith said. “They don’t get the death penalty for that.”
Saladin chuckled. “They will before we’re done.”
“Don’t you think they might have some information about other state leaders who won’t tow the line?
“They might know something,” Saladin said. “Knowing and telling us are two different things. We can’t trust what they say. They don’t follow the prophet. That will lead to their death.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Smith said. “I don’t follow the prophet either, and your civilization makes me sick. The Governor is in control. You’re just a useful attack dog. You help the Governor and the Administration with a narrative. That’s all.”
Saladin chuckled. “Have it your way. Any word on those two officers?”
“Ryan and Patrick?” Smith asked.
“Don’t play stupid,” he said. “What happened to them?”
Chief Smith sighed. “Last I heard, the UN squad killed one of them, and was using the other one to sneak into that RV Park and kill the people responsible for the blockage of the pass.”
“You haven’t heard back on that yet?” Saladin asked. “That was last night. Hours ago.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Chief Smith said. “We’re talking a bunch of retired people here. They’re all dead by now. Trust me.”
“You sent the UN after them,” Saladin said. “It’s like your peace corps with guns. They won’t do the job.”
“You son of a bitch,” said one of the men in the cell. The other two men stirred.
“Ah, the king speaks,” Chief Smith said.
“I promoted you, jerk weed,” the man said. “Something I regret now.” He sat up on the cot, a massive man with trim white hair.
“Commissioner Frawley doesn’t sound like he wants to talk,” Saladin said. “Perhaps his assistants will be more forth-coming.”
“I doubt it,” Chief Smith said. “They’re just as stubborn as Frawley.”
“Damn, you’re smarter than I thought,” said the man across from Commissioner Frawley. He was smaller with black curly hair, much younger than Frawley, with a feisty expression.
“Ah, Deputy Commissioner Katz.” Saladin sighed. “I’m sure you’ll share some Zionist lies with us now.”
“Stuff it, spinach chin,” Katz said. “I’ll see you fry.”
“Tough talk from inside of a cell,” Chief Smith said. “So what else is new?”
The third man chuckled. He was a black man of medium height with muscular build, gray mixing with the black on his close-cropped hair. “Spinach chin? Is he the doorman at the Oasis Hotel?” All three men in the cell laughed.
“What does he mean?” Saladin asked.
“Who cares what Assistant Commissioner Cooley thinks,” Chief Smith said. “He’s just a token lackey.”
“You’d think he would distance himself from reactionaries and Zionists, given his background,” Saladin said. “He should be out marching with his people.”
Cooley laughed. “They still have slavery in your countries, boss. Why don’t you go tell somebody who cares about your BS religion?”
“He doesn’t have good manners, does he?” Saladin said. “Maybe being a slave is all he’s fit for.”
“Don’t listen to this cretin,” Commissioner Frawley said. “Not worth the aggravation.”
“I like to mess with these sixth-century knuckle draggers,” Cooley said. “Gonna have some fun when we finally get out of here. I’m gonna snap his little neck like a twig.”
Katz looked at Saladin with his dark eyes, the hatred showing. “You won’t win.”
Saladin looked back at him silently, then turned to Chief Smith. “Ask them what you will, and then let’s get out of here. I have to meet with the Governor in an hour.”
“There’s a surprise,” Frawley said. “How is that old Marxist idiot, anyway?”
“Insolence,” Saladin said, disgusted look on his face.
“Zip it, Frawley,” Chief Smith said.
“Or what? You going to give me forty lashes? Stone me? Or do you only do that to women after you catch them driving?”
Saladin stared at him.
Chief Smith chuckled. “I might have some say in what happens to you guys, you know.”
“We’ll either get rescued or killed by your sixth-century heathen friends,” Frawley said. “You won’t be in control under either circumstance. Why don’t you bring somebody in here who has some power?”
Saladin smiled at Chief Smith. “This is pointless. I’ll send my men in here to dispose of them.”
“No, you won’t,” the chief said. “It’s up to the Governor. Not you.”
“The Administration is running things now,” Saladin said. “It’s only a matter of time before he wipes local control out of the way in all the states. That includes those who support him now.”
“The government won’t stop you piss-ants,” Frawley said. “The people will.”
Saladin looked at him with mad eyes, a thin smile on his face. “Your citizens will turn tail and run at the first sign of trouble.”
“Yeah, like they did in Austin, you moron,” Cooley said. “Our people are armed, unlike the sheep in your countries.”
Katz snickered. “A bunch of old retired folks here in California have killed a number of your fighters, and they cut off your only good route into San Diego. They aren’t even our best. You haven’t seen anything yet, heathen.”
“Heathen?” Saladin asked, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “How dare you?”
“You pervert a religion and use it to conquer and pillage,” Katz said. “Do I sound disrespectful? Hope so. You’re a traitor to your so-called religion.”
Saladin looked at Chief Smith. “Are you going to ask them anything?”
“Nah, they aren’t gonna answer us. That’s pretty obvious. We should be on our way. I’ll make sure the jailer forgets to turn on the air conditioning in this building.”
“Good,” Cooley said. “When it gets warm, it’ll remind me of Saladin and his allies burning in hell. I’ll enjoy that.”
“You round up their families yet?” Saladin asked Chief Smith.
“We don’t do that here,” Chief Smith said.
“Fine, I’ll take care of it,” Saladin said. “I’m leaving.” He turned and walked out in a huff. Chief Smith watched him go out the door, then turned back to the men.
“I was just kidding about the air conditioning,” he said, his voice lowered. “You guys won’t be harmed. The Governor will be here to talk to you later.”
“Get the hell out of here,” Frawley growled.
Chief Smith gave them a last look and then left the cell block. The three men glanced at each other as the door shut with a clank.
“Why did they bother to come here?” Cooley asked. “They didn’t even ask us anything.”
“They wanted to see if we’re scared,” Katz said. “I think we did a good job of showing them we aren’t.”
“I would be scared if our families were somewhere they could find,” Cooley said.
“Seriously,” Frawley said.
“You really think we’re going to be rescued?” Katz asked.
“Doubtful,” Frawl
ey said. “It’s too early. They’ll dispose of us or lock us up somewhere more permanent than this old abandoned prison. I do believe the citizens will rise up, though. The folks in that RV park are a good example. Our people are brave and resourceful in a way that idiot Saladin doesn’t understand.”
“What about the Governor?” Cooley asked. “You think he’s really coming to meet with us?”
“Who knows,” Frawley said. “Smith is a wannabe. He always makes himself sound more connected than he is. That was my main hesitation about promoting him. He would’ve been okay if the world didn’t go crazy, more than likely.”
“I never could figure that promotion out,” Cooley said. “He didn’t seem that qualified to me.”
“Oh, he’s qualified enough to be chief of the CHP in normal times,” Katz said, “but he’s no patriot. I wondered about it when you picked him too.”
Frawley sighed. “He’s related to the Governor. I did it as a favor to him. That kinda crap is the most distasteful part of my job.”
“You couldn’t just tell him to shove it?” Cooley asked.
“I could have, but I needed an increase in our budget allocation. He was holding those cards, so I gave in.”
“Hacks,” Cooley said. “Governor Sable is way outta his league.”
“Yeah, but he knows how to talk to the citizens,” Frawley said, “especially the ones along the coast and in Northern California. Still hard to believe that the people gave him two more terms after the mess he made in the first two.”
“You think they really want to kill those retirees in Dulzura?” Cooley asked. “What’s done is done.”
“Saladin probably wants to make an example out of them,” Katz said. “That’s what they do in his part of the world. Sometimes they kill every man in a village and take the women and children as sex slaves.”
“It won’t scare people into sitting idly by,” Cooley said. “It’ll more likely piss them off and get them involved quicker.”
“I know that and you know that,” Frawley said. “This guy doesn’t understand the American character, and all of his yes-men are afraid to tell him that.”
“Yeah, these folks have a nasty surprise coming, that’s for sure,” Cooley said. “Even with these stupid gun laws that Governor Sable keeps signing into law, there’s a huge number of arms in the hands of the public. Especially in the eastern parts of the state.”