The light ahead changed to green and the red BMW that had been waiting shot out across the intersection even though he would end up blocking the road. There were only two other cars in line ahead of Bradley, and they moved forward. A red sports car blasted across the cross street and then barreled into the expensive sports car. Metal sounded on metal and pieces flew to clatter on the pavement.
Junior got in the center of the two way street and waved for a car to stop. It honked and roared past.
“Get back in the car, Junior!” Bradley yelled.
His son ignored him and flagged the next car which slowed. The driver nodded and Junior gestured for his dad to make the full U-turn.
“That’s a good kid right there,” Chris said.
“He has his moments. Moments that are going to get him killed if he’s not careful,” Bradley said.
He maneuvered the Bronco onto the pavement across the street, and then backed up a few inches. He cranked the wheel to the right again as Junior and Kirk hopped back in the car.
“Don’t do that again,” Bradley warned.
“Sorry, Dad, but it worked,” Junior said as he strapped on his seat belt.
Kirk smiled at his friend and the two high fived.
“Like I said. Don’t do that again. I’ll do it and you can drive. That way you can tell your mother how I died. Saves me from getting chewed out,” Bradley said.
Kirk snickered.
Bradley ignored him and joined the long line of traffic out of the city.
* * *
It was an hour and a half later. They’d been stuck in one backup after another, and Bradley wanted to scream in frustration. He had to piss so bad his teeth ached. Chris remained silent next to him, staring out of the window and occasionally looking like he had something on his mind. Bradley tried to engage him in small talk a couple of times, but each attempt was met with short answers.
“Sorry, it must be the thing in the city. Got a lot on my mind,” Chris had said at one point.
“And your sister,” Bradley said.
“What? Oh yeah. I hope she’s okay.”
Bradley’s phone finally buzzed as he sat behind a semi. He’d been stuck behind it for so long he had the “How’s my driving?” phone number memorized. Your driving would probably be good if we were actually moving.
He picked up his phone and saw it was Monica.
“Hey. You finally got through,” he answered.
“How long until you get home?” She sounded breathless.
“Hopefully in thirty more minutes or less. What’s going on?” he asked.
“There are people outside. I did what you said. Put those door stops up. Closed the blinds, and turned down the lights. But they aren’t leaving. They keep banging on the door,” she said.
“What the hell?” Bradley said. “Why are they out there? What do they want? How many are there?”
“I don’t know because I won’t open the door. I tried to call the police, but they can’t get anyone out here for an hour. They told me to stay inside and keep the doors and windows locked.”
“Dad?” Junior asked from the back of the car.
“I don’t understand,” Bradley said.
“I don’t either. I got the gun out that you left. I can use it, but I don’t want to,” Monica said.
“Stay inside. I’m not hanging up the phone until we’re there. Tell me what Jenny has been doing,” Bradley said to keep her distracted.
“Just sleeping a lot. I wanted to go get more cold medicine, but then those people showed up,” she said. “What was that?”
“Hon, what’s happening,” Bradley’s voice raised in alarm.
“They threw something at the house,” she said.
“Son of a bitch,” Bradley ground his teeth.
He accelerated at the first chance and wove into the left lane of traffic. A car honked at him, but he ignored it. He shot around another car and had to come to a sliding stop as he pushed his brakes to the floor.
“Go away,” Monica yelled.
“Don’t let them know you’re home,” he urged his wife.
“They already know or they would have left by now. They saw me closing the curtains,” she said.
“Why didn’t you do it when I left like I asked you to?”
“Because it’s such a nice day and the sun heats the house, which saves us money. What happened with Junior and Kirk? Did you see what happened in town?”
“I saw the smoke from the explosion but that’s it. We were too far away to make out anything else.”
Something banged against the house so loudly Bradley could make out the sound over the phone connection.
“Honey,” he said.
“I wish they would go away,” Monica said.
“Stay on the phone. Or do you want to try calling the police again?”
“I can try that,” she said. “Or I can try this.”
The sound of the door opening sent chills over Bradley. They had a metal security door that was heavy duty. Still. He didn’t want her engaging with the people.
“Go away! I’ve called the police.”
“Baby, don’t.”
There was some muffled talk he couldn’t make out.
Junior leaned forward and gripped the sides of the two front seats.
Bradley caught Chris looking in his direction out of the corner of his eye, but Bradley couldn’t read his expression.
“Everything cool?” Kirk whispered to Junior in the backseat.
“Monica. Tell me what’s happening.”
“There’s four people out there. Three men and a woman and they are angry. One of the guys has a baseball bat,” Monica said.
“Close the door right now!”
“He’s not here. Go away. I’m calling the police,” she yelled.
“You said you already called them. Just tell us where to find Bradley Adams and we’re out of here,” Bradley could make out the voice of one of the men.
“Close the door,” Bradley practically screamed.
Traffic picked up again, and he saw another break. He surged forward and cut off another vehicle, but it was like playing bumper cars. He once again had to slam on his brakes or he would have hit a white Cadillac Escalade that had tinted windows.
“I double locked the other door, and I’m putting the brace on now,” Monica said. Then she gasped.
“What?” Bradley said.
“Sounded like the guy with the bat pounded on the door. I’m getting scared,” Monica said.
“Take Jenny and go to the basement. Lock the upstairs door, then wedge the second metal door in place and stay there. We’re only about fifteen minutes away.”
“If I go down there, I’ll probably lose the call,” she said.
“Shit!” Bradley pounded on the steering wheel with his free hand.
“I can barely hear you, what?”
“Monica? Monica?” he said.
Then she was gone. Bradley rode the Escalades ass, and then glanced down at his phone. He hit redial and put the phone to his ear. He waited but it wouldn't dial.
“Want me to try while you concentrate on the road?” Chris asked.
“Yeah. Cool. Hand me the phone when she picks up.”
“What do they want? The people at your house.”
“I’m guessing they're Ed’s family and they want to talk to me. Only they want to talk to me with their fists and a bat.”
“Damn. What did you do to this Ed guy to piss him off?” Chris asked.
“I killed him yesterday,” Bradley said, and then turned his attention back to the cars ahead of him.
Chapter Nineteen
…The president has vowed, that he will no longer tolerate civil disobedience. Towns that allow this sort of behavior will be met with the full force of the American military. Critics have decried the order as unconstitutional, but with the rise of fighting, and in some cases, even deaths, President Henderson said he has no choice.
We will keep you upd
ated as the state of the nation changes. Already, reports are coming in of riots in the cities of Chicago, Pittsburg, and New York…
James Briggs couldn’t get over the feeling that this was just the start, and there would be more attacks coming in the following hours, days, or weeks. He and his squad had patrolled their area several times, but they kept wandering back and drifting toward the site of the explosion.
It was getting dark and he hadn’t been able to find sergeant Wells or Staff sergeant Miller. He wanted to know if he had new orders, something they could do to help out, but they were keeping a lot of the Guard from getting too close.
They came around the corner after skirting the campus, which was practically deserted now. The shooting had been bad enough, but the explosion that had rocked the city and collapsed most of the UIC pavilion, had sent most of the civilians in the area scurrying.
A couple left one of the student housing buildings. Both had backpacks, and they were dressed in thick jackets. The male and female couldn’t have been more than twenty years old. They walked quickly, making for the sidewalk after crossing a green and manicured lawn. When they came within sight of James’ patrol they came to a stop.
“Uh. Are we allowed out?” The man asked.
“Yeah. Where you all heading?” Cooper asked.
“Out of the city. This is too much. All of those dead people,” the woman said.
She was cute and had short blonde hair in a pixie cut. The ends were dyed light blue, and she had multiple ear piercings.
“Yeah, for now,” Cooper said. “But we strongly advise you stay indoors. In fact, you’d be safest in your home.”
“I told you they were going to crack down,” the woman said under her breath.
“It’s safe for now, but he’s right,” James said. “Best to stay inside where it’s safe.”
“You call that safe?” The man said and pointed in the direction of the pavilion, which still smoked.
She leaned over and said something in the man’s ear, then they turned and strode away from the patrol without glancing back. When they reached the intersection, they broke into a run and were gone from sight.
“Shit like that makes me fear for humanity,” Sanders offered. She shifted her M4 in her hands and looked in the direction they had disappeared in.
“They’re just scared,” James said and moved out on their patrol path.
He was surprised how quickly they had accepted him as the temporary fire team leader. He knew it was probably going to be short lived, and now that he was in command of three other people, he wasn’t sure he liked it. What if the shit hit the fan. Would he be smart and able to direct them? Would they even listen?
He had to trust that everyone’s training would kick in, and they would do as he asked without question. Although, if he did do something stupid, hopefully Skip would tell him he was being an idiot.
They entered Racine and walked to the North end of the street until they came in view of the scene once again.
James had seen videos of the twin towers falling during 9/11. He had watched other videos as well that displayed what happened during an explosion, mostly from the Middle East and some European countries. None of that had prepared him for the devastation he saw here. Right here in his new home town! He hadn’t even been here long enough to see much of Chicago, but he had a feeling he was going to see a lot of it very soon.
There had been hundreds of medics, doctors, firemen, all assisting with the clean up before the blast had gone up. They had rightfully converted the pavilion into a medical bay where they treated the injured. Then the entire front of the building had gone up.
James spotted sergeant Wells and waved. Wells motioned him over.
“How did that happen?” James asked.
“This is a fucked up situation. Word is, someone drove an ambulance here, parked it in front of the building, and it blew. It had to be filled with something nasty. Probably like the Oklahoma bombing. They used five thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to pull that off.”
“So, it has to be terrorists,” James said.
“Maybe. They are still saying it’s a fringe anarchist group and ain’t that an oxymoron?” Wells said. “How was your patrol?”
“Good, Sarge. People are scared. We talked to them, tried to keep them calm. Some appreciated it, some left even though we assured them they were safer in their homes.”
“Well that’s all about to change,” Wells said, glancing at his watch.
“It’s sixteen thirty now. In about an hour, the sirens will sound in the city so be prepared. Emergency broadcast will go up about what’s happening. Right now, it’s all coming from reporters on the scene. Lots of concern. Lots of rumors. The president is going to lock it down.”
“So, he’s really doing it?”
“I heard he signed the order half an hour ago,” Wells nodded.
“What are our orders?”
“Hang tight. We’re going to expand our AO. I expect we’ll be back on an MTV and heading to a new section of the city soon. We’ll need to get the roads cleared and start setting up check points.”
“I’ll get my guys ready,” James said.
“They doing okay with you in charge?”
“Seem to. Haven’t heard anyone cuss me out behind my back yet.”
“Good. Well, you’re it for now so stay on mission,” Wells said.
“What is our overall mission now?” James asked.
“You’ll know soon enough,” Wells said ominously. “Carry on.”
James saluted and moved off to tell his team what he had learned.
* * *
They were in the classic state the military loved to keep enlisted in. Hurry up and wait. They assembled with a couple of other squads from the 178th. When they had enough squads for a couple of trucks, they loaded into the back so they could hurry up and wait some more.
James took out his cell phone and found more messages from his girlfriend. He messaged her back and assured her everything was okay. She let him know she had locked up his place and was safe at her apartment now. James was cautious, but he couldn’t help but tell her to turn on the television in the next few minutes.
She messaged him back that it had been on all day.
She worked at a hair salon and it was her day off. They’d planned to spend it binging on Netflix shows before he was called up for duty.
Are you in any danger? They have been talking about the shooting and the explosion all day
Nah. We’re just here as a show of support
So, will you be home soon?
I don’t know
The last message was a little bit of a lie. He suspected that none of them would be home any time soon. Even if they did cut him loose for some reason, it would take forever to get home. They had been dispatching units to all corners of the city to help setup road blocks.
The police had brought in a number of militarized vehicles, and they were no on patrol near the site of the attack. Big black beasts that looked so out of place on the streets of Chicago.
When this is over. Let’s go ahead and do it.
Do it? He included a wide-eyed emoji.
Move in together. We just have to decide. Your place or mine?
Really?
Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and today you told me you love me. So, it’s kind of like a move in certificate.
I had no idea such a certificate existed.
It’s totally real. I just made it up today.
I can’t wait. We’ll figure it out as soon as all of this is over.
Then the sirens sounded and James peeled his eyes off the phone screen.
They blared away like something out of an old World War II movie set in Europe that used to warn civilians to go to bomb shelters. As soon as they stopped howling, James’ phone displayed a message. He read it carefully and let out a low whistle. The others in the truck had reactions ranging from disbelief to, “About damn time.”
> BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. THE CITY OF CHICAGO IS NOW UNDER MARTIAL LAW. THERE IS A STRICT 10:00 PM CURFEW IN EFFECT. PLEASE TUNE TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATIONS FOR MORE INFORMATION.
He clicked on the message and found it repeated. Then a long block of text appeared.
THERE IS A MANDATORY CURFEW IN EFFECT. WORKERS WILL BE PERMITTED GO TO THEIR JOBS. ALL OTHERS ARE SUBJECT TO DETENTION. LOOTERS WILL MEET WITH POTENTIALLY LETHAL FORCE. OBEY ALL ORDERS FROM MILITARY OR POLICE PERSONNEL. PERSONS FAILING TO OBEY WILL BE SUBJECT TO MILITARY LAW AND MAY BE DETAINED. MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW.
“Well shit. There goes your chance of getting anywhere in this city any time soon,” Wells said.
“Why’s that, Sarge?” Sanders asked.
“Because everybody and their dogs are in the process of heading to the nearest stores to clean them out. This city was gridlock before, now it’s only going to get worse,” Wells replied.
Sanders read the message on her phone again.
“Lethal force? Does that mean we have to shoot people?” She asked.
“We’re getting a new SOP. Standby,” Wells said.
Sergeant Wells got a call on his UHF radio. He held it to his ear and listened for a few seconds.
“All right. We’re on the move, folks,” he told the men and women in the back of the transport.
“Where to, Sarge?” Skip Koslowski asked.
“Your mother’s house. I hope she made soup,” Wells said, which elicited a few laughs, allowing some of the tension to drain out of the truck’s occupants.
“Harsh, Sarge,” Skip replied.
“We’re going to be setting up a check point. Engineers should meet us there. All joking aside, our mission is about to change and a lot of civilians aren’t going to like it,” Wells said.
James stared at the recovery efforts still taking place out on the street. He once again tried to count body bags, but as fast as they were being carried off in trucks, he still lost count at fifty.
DRUMS OF WAR: A Dystopian Thriller Series (Broken Patriot Book 1) Page 12