Homefront: A Story of the Future Collapse

by Matthew Gilman

  Shifting the M14 over to the Humvee, he watched the two remaining officers jump into the backseat of the Humvee, slapping the driver on the shoulders. The driver shifted into gear and started to drive towards Scott. Squeezing the trigger, he hit the driver in the chest and watched the Humvee veer into a light pole. The front of the Humvee caved in around the pole. The truck was still drivable, but the driver was dead. The men in the backseat tried to hide inside. He waited for the men to exit the vehicle, waiting for a clear shot. There was no point in going through all of this unless he could confirm the kill.

  “We should move,” Amber said, watching through the binoculars.

  “I’m not done yet,” Scott watched the Humvee waiting to see the men run.

  “You already have two shots. Let’s go.”

  Amber moved towards Scott and grabbed his shoulder. The rifle shifted, and the Humvee was moving out of sight in the scope.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Scott never received a response.

  Amber’s head jerked back and dropped to the floor of the office. Scott could smell the coppery scent of blood in the air.

  Lowering himself to the floor of the office, Scott looked at Amber and checked her pulse. There was no point. Somebody had found their location and took a shot. Scott moved to the side of the window and aimed at the backseat of the truck. He emptied his magazine into the roof and ducked back in time to avoid the bullets flying towards him. The window frame started to explode and Scott dove to the floor. He grabbed Amber’s backpack and other items from her pockets before crawling to the door.

  Instead of going down the stairs, he went to the roof and stayed low while moving to the fire escape. As he was descending the fire escape, men were moving up the stairwell to the office he was in. They would find Amber’s body without the rifle. The Chinese would continue to look for him. He ran to the nearest manhole cover and lifted the steel to the side. Crawling down into the darkness, Scott disappeared before the Chinese could figure out where he went.

  It was there in the darkness of the tunnel he let himself break down. It wasn’t the best time. He wanted to keep moving. To get far away from what happened was his first instinct. Instead he played that moment in his mind of watching Amber take a bullet instead of him. He knew the rule: shoot once and move. After killing a few officers, he had gotten cocky and thought he could start to break the rules. Doing so had gotten his spotter, his friend, killed. Maybe he didn’t fire the bullet, but if he had listened Amber would still be alive. Hugging his rifle, Scott moved down the tunnel to an exit he knew was safe. Using pieces of chalk, the resistance had started to mark the safe exits to help them move around and stop guessing where they were. Scott found such an exit and crawled out of the sewer.

  It was there, high above a lone rifle aimed down at him and before he could reach the side of the building, he would disappear into a lone bullet that pierced through his back and exited his chest. The stopping of his heart and separation of his spinal cord left little for him to feel in the final seconds of his life.

  Chapter 34

  The dirt bike moves through the mountains at a constant speed that comes with practice. The trail is well known after making the run a few times in the last year. When Budd reaches the fence on the border, he radios through with two clicks and waits for a reply. When two clicks are sent back he knows there are friendlies on their way. When the Canadians arrive Budd is smoking one of his last cigarettes, leaning against the bike.

  “Nice of you guys to show up.” That was the nicest greeting Budd could afford to give.

  “Why are you always a dick?” one of the Canadians asked. “What happened to the other guy?”

  “Who?” Budd walked over to the fence and stepped through as two of the Canadian soldiers pried it apart.

  “Big black fella, funny accent” one of the other soldiers said.

  “Clive is dead.” Budd looked at the men and saw the look of surprise on their faces. “You didn’t know.”

  “We hadn’t seen him,” the first soldier commented. “Thought maybe he was busy and that’s why he didn’t come back.”

  “Ya, well stop with all the mushy stuff.” Budd handed a sheet of paper with a list on it to one of the men. “These are the things we need. I can’t say what is coming up, but it’s big.”

  The soldier’s head nodded while reading the list.

  “That’s a lot of C4,” the soldier commented.

  “There are a lot of Chinese,” Budd added. “I swear they multiply like cockroaches.”

  The men walked back to the road where two trucks were waiting. Budd sat in the backseat and they drove back to the local police station.

  At a thousand feet above, a small drone flies along the border, focusing its camera on the area. The drone had picked up the bike two hours before and watched the area circling as the operator programmed it to. From its position the camera was able to pick up the two trucks and the Canadian soldiers walking out into the woods. When they returned there was an extra person with them.

  The operator picked up a phone and dialed a number posted inside his cubical. The phone rang.

  “Hello,” the opposite end answered in Mandarin.

  “Sir, this is drone surveillance. I think we have something you need to see.”

  “Send it to my email, and I’ll call you back.”

  The phone clicked.

  Below the phone number on the piece of paper was an email address.

  The operator turned the video into a mp4 file and sent it as an attachment to the email labeled URGENT.

  Inside the former Microsoft tower, Choi left his couch and walked over to his computer. The monitor had beeped a notification a minute ago and he looked at his email feed. There was the message as he ordered and he clicked on the attachment. The video was two hours long, but there was a note for the times that were important. Choi saw something moving through the trees in the first few minutes. It was moving towards the Canadian border. Moving the video ahead an hour and fifty minutes he saw the trucks pulling up to the highway and soldiers exit. Towards the end of the video the soldiers returned with an additional person that was not with them before.

  Picking up the phone, Choi ordered a helicopter to pick him up at the tower.

  “We can have one there in twenty minutes,” the soldier on the other end added.

  “Good,” Choi hung up the phone. Sitting on the couch was the blonde that he started to call Li. Chinese names were much easier to remember than the complex American names that made him feel stupid as he said them. Li fit for two reasons: he had a former girlfriend in the mainland with that name and he did miss her. The other reason was the double meaning behind the word. Li was a common woman’s name in China, but it also represented their relationship in English. The woman enjoying his company was a lie and so the name fit. He didn’t care. She said ‘yes’ to all of his dreams, desires, and demands. With Li nothing was off the table and that was almost a turn off. There wasn’t anything to work for. Some men liked that kind of control, but he liked knowing that he earned things. With her there was nothing to earn. When it came to her body anything was fair game.

  “Going somewhere?” Li asked, playing with her long strands of blonde hair.

  “Have to see the neighbors about something.”

  “Neighbors?” she said.

  “It’s nothing,” Choi said moving back to the couch. “It won’t take long. In the meantime, get yourself ready for that thing we talked about. I’m going to be all over you when I return.”

  “Okay babe,” Li said, giving him a kiss on the lips with her thick full lips.

  The response gave him a bit of disappointment. He wanted something that said she didn’t really want to. If she was acting, she was good. He wondered if she had been an actress before the invasion. The thought of that turned him on again. He let the fantasy play in his mind and didn’t ask about it, not wanting to ruin it.

  Choi grabbed his jacket from the closet and left th
e room.

  On the roof of the tower, Choi waited by the landing pad and watched as a Russian Mi 17v-5 transport helicopter flew in. The machine was large and looked like a whale hovering in the sky with its gray color. On the cloudy days it was great concealment in the harsh weather. The helicopter landed and Choi handed over the coordinates to the Parliament Building in Victoria, British Columbia.

  The helicopter took off and Choi buckled in his seat.

  Chapter 35

  Budd was handed a filled backpack and two bags that were loaded so they could slide into the saddlebags of the dirt bike. The amount of material he was handed was small compared to the trip. If he was driving a supply truck back, he would feel more justified in making the trip.

  The men sat in the trucks and drove back to the border.

  “I am ordered to remind you…” one of the soldiers started to say, until Budd cut him off.

  “I know. This never happened, and you don’t know me.” The trucks pulled up to the side of the road and Budd carried the bags to the fence.

  As Budd stepped through, he stopped and paused.

  “Forget something?” one of the soldiers asked.

  “Ya, I did.” Budd set the bags down and turned around. “You guys got any smokes?”

  One of the soldiers took a nearly full pack of cigarettes out and tossed it over the fence to Budd. Looking into it, Budd smiled and slid it into his chest pocket.

  “I love engaging in tax evasion,” he smiled and loaded up the saddle bags. After putting the helmet on his head, Budd turned around and waved goodbye to the Canadians.

  Chapter 36

  The flight took just over an hour and Choi’s helicopter landed with a welcoming party waiting for him on the landing pad.

  Among the people on the ground were Canadian senators and local politicians who were curious about the impromptu visit. Stepping out of the helicopter, Choi marched over to the Canadians where they shook hands and extended greetings. However, everyone on the Canadian side noticed the somber look on Choi’s face.

  The group walked inside the capital building where they met in a room with a fireplace and books lining the walls. The furniture was antique and almost Victorian in design. Choi was not impressed.

  “We were surprised to hear that you were coming on such short notice,” Senator Favre stated.

  “Have you ever been cheated on?” Choi asked. “Been with an unfaithful spouse?” The Canadians all looked at one another not understanding what Choi was getting at. “The best way to catch a cheater is to change your routine. Come home early. Surprise them with lunch. When you walk in and see them being used like Chinese finger cuffs they will still try to deny what you are currently seeing.” Choi placed his index fingers in front up him pointing them at each other and poked the tips towards one another. “Now what I’m about to say I will expect you to deny and that is to be expected. You are not to support or help the Americans in any way.”

  “We have no idea what you are referring to,” Favre said.

  “Yes. I know, of course.” Choi walked over to the table and looked at a book sitting by the lamp. He wasn’t interested in the title or the book. He was carefully choosing his words. “If you are caught again there will be dire consequences.”

  “You do not come here onto sovereign soil and made threats,” a local official stated. An older and robust man, the red hue to his skin spoke to his rising blood pressure.

  “It’s not a threat.” Choi continued closing the book and tossing the leather-bound edition to the side like trash. “Earlier today your soldiers escorted an American soldier over the border breaking the quarantine clause signed by the United Nations four years ago.”

  “Quarantine?” Favre asked. “If the plague is so deadly in the United States then why are you there?”

  “We are the only ones who are able to contain it.”

  “Bullshit,” the robust man added. “There is no plague. The quarantine is a load of shit and I’m not afraid to say it. You’re only there to steal what you want. You Chinese are nothing but a bunch of damn thieves.”

  “I’m not here to debate an agreement your government signed.”

  “Under gunpoint.” Favre said. “Next, we’ll have one of those nukes flying around in space accidently detonate over our country and then you’re telling the world we have a plague as well.”

  Choi smiled.

  “Now that we have an understanding it’s time for me to leave.” Choi only needed to hear them say what everyone already knew. The Chinese were the dominant power in the world and there was nothing anybody could do about it. If the Canadians did continue their interference with the occupation of Seattle, there would be hell to pay. Maybe another EMP. It would cut into the Chinese shipment of diamonds and tar sand oil, but they could make up for that elsewhere. The Canadians had nothing to threaten them with.

  Choi marched out of the office and the helicopter started up right away. Without clearance the chopper soared into the sky and moved across the border with no interruption. Less than an hour later, thanks to the winds pushing it along Choi landed back on his tower.

  In the apartment Li waited and feeling like a conqueror he carried her into the bedroom where he further fed his ego.

  Chapter 37

  Dallas, Kelly and Budd looked over the perimeter of the prison. They had to avoid three patrols while sneaking in this far and knew that they were surrounded by dozens of enemy soldiers at all times.

  Two guard towers stood at the corners of the east wall they were looking at. The north and south wall ran to the main building that once functioned as a school.

  “Looks like a FEMA camp,” Budd commented.

  “Stop talking that Alex Jones shit and get it together,” Kelly replied.

  Dallas looked at the compound through his binoculars. Only one guard was posted on each tower. Even with the spotlight that meant they could only see 180 degrees at one time. A distraction was easy to take the focus off what they were doing. Dallas looked at his old wind up watch and grunted at the time. The resistance fighters should have arrived fifteen minutes before. The mission was already going FUBAR and it hadn’t started yet.

  A twig snapped behind them. The men turned, leveling their rifles in the direction of the noise. “Rangers,” a voice whispered.

  “Ho,” Kelly responded.

  Two women stepped into view. Sophie and Jenny stood a few feet away. Sophie looked out at the guard tower that stood two hundred yards away. It was then she realized how amazing it was that anybody including her had escaped from that place.

  “Where is everybody else?” Dallas asked.

  “There is nobody else.” Jenny stated. “The sabotage team was gunned down putting sand into gas tanks. The other sniper team lost a duel with some specialists that were brought in from the mainland. We are all that is left.”

  The look Dallas gave Sophie betrayed his feelings. He wanted to hug her and take her back to the camp, but there was no camp. The entire place had been dismantled and River along with the rest of the people who had stayed behind were ordered to move deep into the forest. The Rangers were on a mission they likely would not return from. A slight shake of the head that only Sophie noticed and Dallas was back in the moment.

  “Okay we have two shooters and two towers. Guards on the ground and a wall to breach. In the meantime, we have a day to get to Belleview and grab the objective,” Dallas said.

  “Who is the objective?” Jenny asked.

  “Can’t say,” Kelly answered. “If you’re caught you could ruin the whole mission.”

  “So here is what I’m thinking,” Dallas said before looking back at the prison.

  The bridge to Belleview was one of the only pontoon bridges in the world. Large canisters filled with air kept the structure suspended. The odd feature was that the top was still layered in asphalt like any other road. There was no suspension system and the road literally sat on the water. The Rangers were able to steal three kayaks and carried
them to the shore. The structure was patrolled, but the guards watched the entrance on both ends as opposed to watching the sides. It was standard operating procedure. The men pulled themselves along the side of the bridge like the Australian Commandos of WWII. The Rangers planted the C4 along the bridge and moved to the opposite shore, landing on the Belleview side. Dallas checked his watch and noticed there was two hours left until sunrise. The men hid their kayaks along with the boats by the harbor and moved into the city. Even at night the city was dead and there were few patrols. There had been no attacks to this part of the city, except for the General being assassinated and that was a year ago.

  The men hid in an old Uncle Ed’s Oil Shop and that was where they spent the day until nightfall. The Microsoft building was only a few blocks away and according to Sophie, Choi spent his time on the twentieth floor with “some blonde slut,” as she referred to the woman.

  When night fell, the men left the oil shop and moved their way to the Microsoft building. They planned to gain access through the parking garage downstairs. In front of the entrance was a water fountain with a Lamborghini and Ferrari parked on opposite sides of it. They had been there since before the collapse and Choi never had them removed enjoying the design and sign of luxury.

  Two guards stood outside of the main entrance with three more in the lobby; the only thing separating them was a wall of glass and a turnaround. The entrance to the Microsoft building sat below a small park belonging to a mall. A concrete stairway led to the mall with long rows of potted flowers on both sides of the stairs overlooking the area.

  Dallas, Kelly, and Budd moved across the park and stopped at the potted plants. Behind them was an empty upscale clothing store still advertising their products with skinny European models that appeared to have not eaten in years. Dallas checked his watch and nodded at the men. Kelly and Budd moved along the plants towards the entrance to the basement garage. When they reached the end, Budd looked over the edge to see one of the guards leaning against the Lamborghini and the second standing in front of the fountain. They were in clear view of the lobby.