by J. G. Martin
The two men looked at each other and sighed. Both nodded their heads in agreement and looked resigned to taking their chances with the blitz attack. Anna still sat silently, now she was rocking back and forth with a blank look on her face. The colonel helped her into a position lying on the floor where she would be safest and out of the way. The colonel grabbed an AK-47 and checked that it was loaded and the safety off. The commander manned the grenade launcher and Rora gripped an AK-47 in her right hand.
When they were ready, she threw the min-van into drive and headed for the checkpoint at a high rate of speed. The men manning the barriers looked up at the approaching vehicle but didn’t seem to be concerned. They apparently recognized the vehicle and didn’t see it as a threat. The gunners in the armored cars didn’t even rotate their turrets towards the oncoming mini-van. Rora smiled as she realized the plan might just work.
They were almost on top of the checkpoint before she slowed. There was a moment when the guards realized that the driver of the vehicle was female and white. Their mouths formed O’s of surprise and their eyes got wide. Before they could react or sound a warning, Commander Khodorov put a perfectly placed grenade into the cupola of the armored car on the right. The explosion knocked out the gun and killed the gunner with a blast of flame.
Colonel Brandt popped up and fired through the window to the right and Rora fired to the left. Guards scattered as bullets flew all around them. A couple went down, but their body armor may have protected them. Rora tossed her rifle aside as she tried to navigate through the barriers at the highest possible rate of speed. The commander rotated the grenade launcher and fired at the other armored car, but she grazed a barrier just as he fired. The grenade went high and missed completely.
The guards had started to return fire but the mini-van’s armor was absorbing their gunfire. The colonel had reloaded but was forced to keep his head down so he was firing blindly. Rora straightened out the mini-van and they were through the obstacles. She slammed down on the accelerator and the vehicle lurched forward. Bullets were bouncing off of the technical as they raced away. She could see the guards scrambling around in their wake. Two stayed down, and she assumed they were dead or badly wounded.
The rest jumped into the armored cars and started chasing after them. The armored cars obviously had much more powerful engines and began catching up, even though the mini-van had a head start. Heavy rounds from the intact machine gun on one of the armored cars became to impact the rear of the mini-van. The armor would probably hold, but the gunner would eventually switch to the tires and disable them. Then they would be sitting ducks.
Colonel Brandt and Commander Khodorov both fired their AK-47s out the rear of the technical, but it didn’t do any good. The main problem they faced was the same one that Rora and Derek had faced in D.C. Their main weapon was affixed to a pintle mount and could only be fired in a forward arc. Unfortunately their enemies were behind them, which meant only one thing.
“Get on the grenade launcher.” She screamed at the commander.
“But it only fires forward.” He yelled back.
“I know.” She announced seriously. “Get on the grenade launcher and everyone hang on!”
The commander and Colonel Brandt shared another look and the colonel shrugged. The commander climbed up to man the grenade launcher and hung on. The colonel braced himself and stared at Rora dubiously. Rora slammed on the brake and the gas at the same time and spun the wheel. Even though the colonel was ready, he still screamed involuntarily as the mini-van swung around wildly. Rora quickly slammed the gear into reverse and they were now driving backwards down the highway at full speed. But the grenade launcher now faced their pursuers.
The commander only took a second to compose himself and he opened fire. Rora knew he had some military training but didn’t know where or what his experience was. It must have been something involving combat because he was doing amazingly well for an astronaut. The first two grenades took out the remaining turret. A direct hit blew it apart completely. The pursuers were still firing their assault rifles through the gun ports on the armored cars. It wasn’t having much effect, but a lucky shot to the tires could still take them out.
The commander switched his aim to the armored car’s tires and used three grenades to obliterate the left front tire of the left hand Bearcat. The driver lost control and swerved crazily to the left, colliding with the other armored car. Then he over corrected and the armored car flipped and rolled along the highway spraying sparks and pieces of metal and glass. It finally slid to a stop upside down. The other armored car slowed and circled back to the wreck, allowing the mini-van to escape.
“That was awesome!” The commander howled gleefully. “Where did you learn to do that?”
“Derek showed me once.” Rora replied cheerfully.
“I can’t believe that worked.” The colonel added breathlessly. “Now we just need to get to the airport.”
Chapter 5
June 26, 2029
Soledad Pass, San Gabriel Mountains, California
They were ten minutes down the road and about halfway through the pass when the radio chatter took an angry turn. The idle chatter ended and several angry voices were demanding to know who attacked the Praetorians. Curse words and angry insults flew as the speakers ranted about the punishment they would inflict on the idiots who had attacked the checkpoint. Panicked denials followed the angry questioning.
“Uh oh.” Rora said with alarm.
“What?” The commander asked her.
“I think they are about to figure out we have the mini-van and that we aren’t gang members.” She replied.
“You speak Spanish?” The colonel asked in surprise.
“Among other languages.” Rora replied distractedly.
“What are they saying?” Commander Khodorov asked.
“The leaders are demanding to know who attacked the checkpoint and everyone is of course denying it was them.” Rora told him.
“So they don’t know it was us then?” He replied questioningly.
“It won’t take them long to figure it out when the original occupants of this vehicle don’t respond.” She explained. “So much for our hope they would be distracted blaming each other.”
The loud yelling and denials on the radio quieted after another ten minutes and there was an announcement to tune your radio to AM station 721 for an important message. Rora quickly turned on the car radio and tuned it to that channel. At first there was just the tone for the emergency broadcast system. But then the tone ended and a calm voice with a commanding presence began to speak.
“This is the Imperator. Infiltrators from the East have dared to attack my Praetorian Guard. This insult cannot be forgiven and is a direct attack on our alliance. The perpetrators are driving a stolen La Eme mini-van technical and were last seen heading through the pass into the San Fernando Valley. The infiltrators are wanted dead or alive, but preferably alive. I am offering ten thousand dollars in gold as a reward for every one captured alive and five thousand if they are dead. Your gang will also get two Bushmaster carbines and one thousand rounds of ammunition for each one you bring in dead or alive. Now get out there and find them!”
As the last demand thundered from the radio the colonel let out an involuntary gasp. Rora flicked off the radio and they all sat in silence as they drove further into the hornet’s nest. They couldn’t go back and their only way out was through the heart of gang territory. The entire city had been alerted to their presence and a huge reward was being offered. They were pretty much screwed.
“We have to go back! Every gangbanger in the city will be hunting us!” Colonel Brandt cried in a panic.
“Even if we get to the airport, there is no way someone will be able to come pick us up.” The commander agreed.
“No. Our only way out is through the airport.” Rora insisted. “Besides, they will have the exits blocked. The only way is forward.”
“Are you insane?” The colonel as
ked her. “Or do you just have a death wish?”
“I’m going to do what Derek would do, and get us out of here. We have to at least try to escape.” She replied.
“What if we turned ourselves in and explained what happened?” The commander wondered.
“Do you really think this Imperator will be forgiving after we killed his men and wrecked his vehicles?” Rora asked them. “We made him look weak. He has to crush us to maintain his image.”
“We are so screwed.” The colonel moaned.
Any further discussion was cut short by the appearance of a roadblock on the highway ahead of them. Three vehicles had been positioned to block any progress. One was a pickup technical with a light machine gun on the back, and the other two were regular sedans painted in gang colors and missing their windows. All three were painted black and gang signs painted in gold all over them. Armed men were positioned behind the vehicles with their rifles resting across their hoods and trunks.
“There’s only one grenade left!” The commander warned.
“Use it to blow a hole in that roadblock.” Rora ordered. “Wait until we get closer.”
The commander scrambled up into the hatch and manned the grenade launcher. Rora held down the accelerator and they roared straight at the blockade of cars. The machine gun opened up on them as soon as it saw them. Initially the distance was too far to be accurate, but as they got closer the rounds tore up the front of the mini-van. The gunmen added their fire but the rounds couldn’t penetrate. Sparks flew as the bullets ricocheted off the front armor and the grill over the front window. She ducked low as a few rounds pierced the grill and zipped through the mini-vans interior.
The commander fired the final grenade as they got close. It was a beautifully aimed shot. The grenade struck the front of the sedan on the left and ignited the gas tank. The explosion blew the car apart and created a hole for them to narrowly scrape through. They exited the cloud of smoke and fire created by the blast and raced away. The two remaining vehicles didn’t even wait to pick up the dismounted gunmen before pursuing.
“Shoot at their tires!” Rora yelled at the two men.
They got onto the back seat and began frantically firing on the pursuing vehicles. They managed to shoot out the two front tires of the technical before they ran out of ammo. It rolled to a stop on two front rims streaming sparks. The other car continued the pursuit. Two gunmen leaned out of the windows and fired relentlessly and ineffectively at the mini-van before pulling back in to reload. Rora took that opportunity and slammed on the brakes. Both the commander and the colonel were thrown from their seats as the vehicle’s momentum was suddenly arrested.
The move caught the gangbangers by surprise and they roared right by. They were past the mini-van before they could reload and bring their weapons to bear. Rora slammed on the gas just as suddenly as she had braked and the colonel and the commander were thrown back into their seats. She smiled at their panicked expressions. She could see why Derek thought this was fun.
The sedan had slowed and started to turn around when Rora clipped them with the mini-van. The mini-van struck the front driver’s side of the sedan right at the wheel well at full speed. There was a bone jarring crash of metal as the two vehicles collided. The heavier mini-van sent the sedan spinning around as it smashed through. The sedan came to a rest on the side of the road with its driver’s side front tire bent at an odd angle and smoke coming from under the hood.
The mini-van raced away and Rora headed for the interchange with I-5 and the direct path into the city. The makeshift armor welded onto the mini-van had prevented any significant damage but they were out of ammo and the vehicle couldn’t take much more damage. As she pondered what to do, a slightly bruised Commander Khodorov gingerly climbed into the passenger seat next to her.
“We need to get off the highway.” He stated. “They will have more road blocks and we are easy targets out in the open like this.”
“Where do you suggest we go?” Rora asked. “I don’t know my way around the city, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” He replied. “But I bet we can find a map in an abandoned gas station convenience store. You have an eidetic memory so you only need to see it once. We will be harder to find on the side streets; it’s a lot of territory for them to cover.”
Rora nodded and exited the highway at the next off ramp. There wasn’t much development as they exited, but they quickly found themselves in a much more urban area. Most of the buildings were burned out and missing all their windows. At least half of the buildings had collapsed into rubble or had gaping holes in them. Ruined cars littered the streets and it looked like anything of value had been stripped from every car, building, and light pole.
The commander spotted a convenience store and they pulled into the parking lot. The building was rundown and missing all of its windows. The parking lot was scattered with trash and debris and a stripped car sat up on blocks. The inside looked trashed, but at least it hadn’t been burned out. She parked the car in front but left the motor running. There was glass everywhere, and the commander didn’t have any shoes. So he wrapped strips of cloth around his feet to protect them.
“Wait here.” The commander told her. “I’ll go look inside. If I’m not back in five minutes, you drive off and don’t look back.”
He got out without even waiting for a response. He didn’t need to, it was the obvious plan. There was no need for all of them to die for a map if there was something bad in the store. Rora had learned that you couldn’t get too close to people because they had a high likelihood of dying; and because you might need to leave them behind to save yourself. Her mission was the most important thing right now. She couldn’t die here and let that die with her.
There was nothing to worry about and the commander came back in several minutes with a map in his hand and a smile on his face. That quickly turned to a frown and he ran to the mini-van as he looked behind them. Rora turned and saw a car slowly approaching. She pulled out of the parking lot as soon the commander scrambled in and headed in the opposite direction from the approaching vehicle.
The car was an old model sedan, possibly a Cadillac. It was painted on the same black and gold scheme as the vehicles at the roadblock. The gangbanger’s car rode on four oversize truck tires and had an enhanced suspension system. That made it sit a few feet off the ground and gave it a menacing appearance. With a throaty roar it sped up as the mini-van drove away, and began to chase them.
The monster car quickly caught up with them as it easily rolled over sidewalks and parking blocks to cut across the parking lot. Gang members popped their heads and upper bodies out of the windows and began firing on the fleeing mini-van with pistols and an assault rifle. None of the rounds penetrated the armor of the technical, but the bullets striking the vehicle made a deafening metallic hail noise.
Unable to shoot back, Rora would have to lose them quickly. They might not be able to do much damage to the mini-van but they could shoot out the tires and worse they would draw more pursuers. She could hear the screams and yells of the pursuing gangbangers as they enjoyed the chase. She kept them behind her as she headed into the denser urban area to their south. She would try to lose them in the maze of streets.
The shuttle crew held on for dear life as she careened around corners and over curbs. At one point the mini-van was on two wheels as she took a corner too tight. The sedan had a larger turn radius because of the oversize tires, but the gangbanger’s driver was able to stick with them. A lucky shot hit the passenger side rear tire of the mini-van and they all felt the lurch as the tire blew. The mini-van slowed dramatically and Rora had to fight hard to maintain control.
They were now in a section with large rundown apartment buildings and she spotted a narrow alleyway. Fighting the wheel, she drove them into it. The alleyway was so tight it knocked the side view mirrors off and she sent old trash cans and trash flying as they barreled down it. Just as she suspected it was too tight for the monster car, but the
y stopped just in time to avoid crashing or getting stuck.
“We need to find a place to hide.” The colonel insisted.
“We need another vehicle.” Rora told him.
The blown tire was now gone and they were running on the rim. It was leaving a trail of sparks behind them and slowing them almost to a crawl. Rora pulled the mini-van over behind a large pile of garbage. It was obvious that trash pickup was not provided by the Imperator or his men. So the inhabitants had taken to piling trash and junk in the alleys. Disgusting, but it would provide a little cover.
“We need to take one of their cars.” Rora said decisively.
“How do we do that?” The colonel asked, almost sarcastically.
“We create a diversion and then ambush them when they come to investigate.” She replied calmly.
“What kind of diversion?” The commander asked.
Rora sighed and began stripping off her body suit. “Grab the guns and be ready to look dangerous.”
“What are you doing?” The commander asked in shock.
“Creating a diversion.” Rora informed him. “I will lure them down here and you ambush them. They don’t know the guns aren’t loaded. Order them onto the ground and we can tie them up and take their vehicle and guns.”
She didn’t wait for their agreement; they all knew it was their only option. Rora paused to dirty her face and mess up her hair. Not that it took much doing to look disheveled, the last day or so had been very rough. Bared to the waist, she walked into the street. The jacked up car slowly prowled by looking for them; and as soon as she saw them she called out.